Seven Bullets

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 404>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveColdandCalculating").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockColdandCalculating").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“Hhhmm,” Maurer nods. “Zhat is a very good choice. I hope it will serve you vell. I ask only that you remember zhis act of friendship and tell no one of zhis place or my secrets.”\n\nYou nod and take the red case.\n\nThe woman leads you out the mansion and back to the BMW. She remains emotionless, but you feel as though there is a softness to her expression. Maybe you’re just seeing things.\n\nYou put the car in gear and drive, staying a little under the speed limit. When this is all over you may have to pay Maurer another visit, but for now, you need to put this little detour on the back burner. You still haven’t managed to start a crime war and Gillian isn’t getting any safer.\n\nYou take a long breath and try not to think of what the Boss might have done to her. Either way he’ll get what he deserves soon enough.\n\nBut first, a little distraction to set the gears of war in motion. You pull a burn phone from your bag and @@color:#000081;text Jimmy Lee.@@ If he really was trying to take the kid from the Russians, then he probably still thinks they have him.\n\nYour Russian is a little rusty, but you @@color:#000081;text him@@ to bring a ridiculous amount of money to the docks for a trade. You send the same text message to the Russians.\n\nSince the address just happens to be a heavily guarded building owned by the Boss, everyone’s guns and tempers should make for a nice mess. It’s almost too bad you won’t be able to see it.\n\nWith any luck, it should clear out most of the thugs from the Boss’s penthouse and with this beautiful sniper rifle you should be able to clear out the rest. Now it’s just a matter of set-up.\n\nYou’re about a block from the Boss’s penthouse. You see two good vantage points to the top floor: the highest level of a parking garage or an adjacent office building. The parking garage provides easy access to an escape vehicle and gives you a better view of the streets if the cops get involved. The only problem is that twenty percent of the penthouse is obscured.\n\nThe office building provides better visibility which means fewer surprises, but getting in and out will take time, leaving Gillian unprotected while you try to exit the building.\n\n[[The parking garage]]\n[[The office building]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 905>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +26>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +95000>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +10>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>If you can maneuver all of the Boss’s thugs into the building, that gives you and Gillian a better chance of escaping. It also means you’ll need to keep them distracted as long as possible. You’ll just have to risk the gunfire on the stairs. The second floor is a better @@color:#000081;vantage point,@@ and you’ll need every advantage you can get.\n\nThe Boss isn’t going to come at you soft. He’ll bring an army, and you’ll need to be ready. You climb the stairs to the second floor. You take down one of the paintings and hang the assault rifle on the wall in its place.\n\nGiven the other pieces, no one should think twice about a rifle being on display. Yeah, okay so it’s not the best @@color:#000081;disguise,@@ but it’ll have to do.\n\nYou head back down the stairs and into the crowd. You see the Boss step through the front entrance with Gillian at his side. She looks tired and shaken, but mostly unharmed. You count at least four thugs enter a few steps behind the Boss.\n\nThe Boss smiles at you and motions for you to come to him. You scowl and walk to him. It’s better if he @@color:#000081;thinks@@ he’s still in control.\n\n“If I had known you were so interested in art,” the Boss pulls Gillian closer. “I would have shown you my collection.”\n\nIt takes all of your @@color:#000081;self-control@@ not to strangle him right there. “It wouldn’t be the first time you underestimated me.”\n\nThe Boss shrugs, “Perhaps, but I certainly won’t make that mistake again.”\n\n“Enough small talk. Give me Gillian.”\n\n“Tsk, tsk.” The Boss waves his finger. “You know how this goes. Show me the money.”\n\nYou groan and unzip the duffle bag halfway. You reach inside to show him the money.\n\nThe Boss’s smile widens. “Wonderful,” he says. “I’m so glad we could come to an agreement. And please don’t take my little threats personally. I simply can’t have my employees doing whatever they want. That’s just bad for business, and I’m a businessman at heart. Now,” he reaches out his hand. “The money please.”\n\nBefore you take your hand out of the bag, you subtly pull the pin on one of the @@color:#000081;grenades.@@\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;One Mississippi.@@\n\nYou drop the bag and slide it to the Boss.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Two Mississippi.@@\n\n“Lovely,” the Boss says, pushing Gillian toward you.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Three Mississippi.@@\n\n“There’s something you should know,” you say.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Four Mississippi.@@\n\nYou grab Gillian and sprint for the stairs. “I’m an assassin at heart.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This is one scene where I tried to use font color to create an emotional reaction. It’s very subtle and deliberately unintrusive.<<endif>>\n@@color:#000081;BOOM!@@\n\nYou hear the @@color:#000081;explosion@@ and a cloud of dust fills the exhibit. Gillian coughs and stumbles.\n\n“Stay down,” you say, pushing her behind the concrete railing.\n\nYou grab the assault rifle from the wall and point it toward the smoke and fire. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger,@@ taking out two of the thugs. Part of the ceiling collapses, obscuring the Boss. You reposition the rifle and take out the second set of @@color:#000081;thugs.@@\n\nThree more shoot through the glass of the front entrance. You duck behind the railing.\n\nGillian shakes with terror.\n\n“Everything’s going to be alright,” you reassure her. “You just need to trust me.”\n\nYou peek over the railing and take out another @@color:#000081;thug.@@ They should have a good idea of where you are now and reinforcements should be entering the building any second, which is exactly what you wanted.\n\nYou pull out the clip and replace it with blanks. You flip a switch on the gun. It’s a little mod you had installed a few years back. It will make the gun @@color:#000081;auto-fire@@ in controlled bursts until the clip runs out. The thugs will think you’ve bunkered down. It should buy you at least ten minutes, which is more than enough time to get out of here.\n\n“Come on,” you tell Gillian. “And stay low.” You set the rifle behind the railing, then both of you @@color:#000081;sneak@@ around the corner.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Blam. Blam. Blam.@@\n\n“Get them,” you hear one of the thugs shout. “They’re still up there.”\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Blam. Blam. Blam.@@\n\nYou open the window at the end of the hall and jump down onto the dumpster. She hesitates. You help Gillian down and squeeze her hand. “We’re going to make it,” you say firmly. “I promise. Now come on.” You point to the car. “Get in.”\n\nShe gets in the passenger seat as you start the engine. You put the car in gear and drive out through the alley. With all the explosions and gunfire, the cops should be arriving soon. They should slow down the Boss’s thugs even more.\n\nYou glance at Gillian. Her arms and hands tremble. It’ll be awhile before the adrenaline and shock wear off, but she’s alive. The hardest part is over. Starting over won’t be easy, but she’s safe ...Finally.\n\nYou keep the car just a little under the speed limit. The Boss will have the airport and train station under surveillance. The harbor will be harder to watch. You turn left onto the bridge toward the harbor.\n\nSuddenly you feel @@color:#000081;something@@ cold against the back of your neck.\n\n“Hello,” Alana says. “That cold metal against your neck is my gun.”\n\nYou see her smile in the rearview mirror.\n\n“Did you think we didn’t know about your car, or your stash?” She lets out a soft laugh. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to kill you.”\n\nYou’re as good as dead. You need to do something...\n\n[[Provoke Alana]]\n[[Swerve the car into traffic]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1068>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<endnobr>>You kneel down and draw a rectangle on the pavement.\n\n“You’re breathing, right? Is something else supposed to happen?” Jazelle asks.\n\n“I don’t know,” you reply. “Nothing feels different.”\n\n“Maybe that thing was lying.” Jazelle points at the campfire.\n\nYou shrug. “Why would it? It seems convinced we won’t make it to the exit.”\n\n“It could still be lying.”\n\n“I’m not saying I trust it. I’m not saying I trust anything in Hell, but we need to try something... Unless you’d like to keep walking.”\n\n“Obviously not. You don’t trust anything here... does that include me?” Jazelle demands.\n\nYou hesitate. “I trust you more than I trust it,” you point at the demon head. “But honestly, I don’t even trust myself. I’m still not 100% sure this is Hell. Drugs, a concussion, delirium – those aren’t off the table yet.”\n\nJazelle glowers at you. She’s about to speak, but you interrupt her, “Wherever we are, we’re in this together.”\n\n“Even if I’m just a figment of your delirium?”\n\n“Yeah” you sigh. “But that would be worse than Hell. If you’re in my head, how am I supposed to get rid of you?”\n\nJazelle glares at you. “Very funny. Now what about this door?”\n\nYou glance down at the rectangle. “It’s still missing something.” You lean down to @@color:#000081;draw a doorknob.@@ As you push yourself up, you cough and try to keep the gash across your stomach from splitting open again. Your breath causes part of the outline to sparkle.\n\n“Did you see that?” Jazelle exclaims. “The chalk, it started to—”\n\n“I saw,” you say, leaning down to @@color:#000081;breathe@@ on the rest of the outline.\n\nThe rectangle shimmers and, oddly enough, resembles a door. You grab the chalk doorknob and pull open part of the pavement. It’s too dark to see inside, but you’ve obviously created some kind of doorway.\n\n“It worked,” Jazelle says with surprise.\n\n“We still don’t know where it leads,” you say matter-of-factly.\n\n“I guess that means you want me to go first.”\n\nYou shrug. “Why not?”\n\n“If this goes wrong, I’m blaming you,” she says, stepping down into the chalk doorway.\n\nYou give the demon head a quick wink. It winks back.\n\nYou have the sudden and sick feeling you’ve been tricked.\n\n“Jazelle,” you say in a panic, but she’s already through the darkness.\n\nYou slide in after her.\n\nThe darkness tingles your skin and makes your head swim. You can’t tell if you’re falling or swimming or standing still. Suddenly you feel something tangible.\n\nThe ground.\n\nIt’s dry and hard. You’re on your belly, @@color:#000081;feeling sick.@@ You vomit and try to keep everything from spinning. You focus, take a deep breath, and re-examine your surroundings.\n\nYou’re in some kind of city. It looks barren and old. You can’t see any people or plants. The buildings are spotted with beige and white. Aqueducts of lava twist between the buildings. The walls flicker with red and orange as the lava sloshes against the aqueducts.\n\nYou grab your head, still disoriented. “Jazelle? Jazelle?” You glance around, but there’s no sign of her. “Jazelle?” Somehow you must have gotten separated when you went through the doorway.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>In several other plotlines in Hell, the main character and Jazelle have trouble remembering what they’re doing and why. The natural tendency in Hell is for people to be mentally enslaved and tortured. The longer a person stays in Hell, the more that force takes over (and their clarity fades).In this case, the main character forgets that they’re in Hell and restarts the Hell sequence. I hoped this “déjà vu” moment would show the elastic nature of Hell and be a meta-joke for CYOA readers.<<endif>>\nYou stop mid-thought as a mixture of laughter, screams, and shouting echo off the buildings. The demons must have snagged her before you made it through, and judging from the shrieks, they aren’t interested in making friends.\n\nYou shake off the nausea and slink around the buildings, hugging the shadows. You follow the sounds to the center of the city. Crowds of monstrous creatures dance around a giant fountain of lava. They laugh and shout at one another as if they were drunk.\n\nYou sprint to the next building and sneak through the shadows to get a closer look. You almost can’t believe it, but there are bodies in the fountain, and they’re alive. They scream and writhe against the burning lava. It’s as if they’ve been snared like caught fish.\n\nOne of the creatures snatches a body and tosses it to the ground. It rolls and convulses with pain. The creature rips open the person’s chest and pulls out the bones one by one.\n\nThe other creatures jeer and laugh. They grab at the bones and suck out the marrow.\n\nThe person screams and pleads for mercy. Even as part of their spine is torn lose, they stay conscious and alive.\n\nIf this is your subconscious, you’re more disturbed than you thought. You glimpse a woman floating in the aqueducts. Her head bobs below the lava before you can get a good look. It could be Jazelle. You have to go after her before she reaches the fountain. There’s no way you could save her if she's surrounded by those creatures.\n\nYou sprint for the aqueduct and grab her arm as it bobs in the lava. You just hope it’s attached to her body, assuming there’s anything left of it. You pull hard and try to avoid the splashing lava.\n\nIt’s a woman, but not Jazelle. The expression on her face is pure agony. You’ve already got a hold of her, you might as well pull her out. \n\n“No,” she gasps. “I won’t leave him.” She helplessly reaches back toward the lava. She’s not strong enough to grab him – whoever he is. You glance over your shoulder. The creatures still haven’t noticed you...at least not yet.\n\nYou reach into the lava a second time and help her take hold of him. The lava burns your arm and shirt, but you manage to free the two of them. They reel in pain and tremble on the ground.\n\nYou can’t leave them in the open. The creatures will see them. “Quiet,” you whisper.\n\nTheir ears are mostly burned. They may not have heard you. And it’s even less likely they’ll be able to move on their own. You’ll have to drag them someplace out of sight. You take a quick look around.\n\nThere’s a fair amount of shadow in an alley on the other side of the aqueducts. It’s a long way to drag them, but it has at least four escape routes if you get seen.\n\nThere’s also a building nearby. It’s closer than the alley, but who knows what’s lurking inside. If it is empty, it’ll probably be the best place to interrogate them.\n\nYou hear the two of them moan. They’re bound to start screaming soon. You need to move them now.\n\n[[Drag the two bodies into the shadows of the alley]]\n[[Drag the two bodies into the adjacent building]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 667>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<endnobr>>These Blue Wizards are conniving and devious. They’ve already used poison, and now they’ve trapped you in the darkness, waiting for you to slipup. They could have had this trap...or game...planned for weeks or months. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to outsmart them on their home turf. You’ll need to be @@color:#000081;cautious,@@ even cold and calculating.\n\nYou grab one of the soldiers and shove him toward the light. @@color:#000081;“Go@@ check it out,” you @@color:#000081;demand.@@\n\nThe soldier hesitates. His arms shake with fear. He glances at Avengral with pleading eyes. Avengral uses his sword to point at the light in the distance.\n\nThe soldier is barely brave enough to draw his own sword, but he manages. The sword shakes in his hand as he wearily shambles toward the light.\n\n“What do you see?” Avengral shouts.\n\n“I-I-I,” the soldier swallows nervously. “It looks like a mirror.”\n\n“Mirror?” Avengral says under his breath.\n\nThe soldier seems somewhat relieved. “It’s only a mirror. I don’t think we--”\n\n“Wait!” Avengral yells. “Do not look into it.”\n\nIt’s too late. The soldier gazes deeply into it.\n\n“No,” Avengral gasps. “Weapons at the ready!” He commands.\n\nSuddenly, the soldier screams. He stumbles backwards, trying to retreat. He screams again more frantically. The mirror jumps into the air, morphing and bending into thousands of reflective glass scales. The pieces twist and contort into a shape...something large and animal like.\n\nThe soldier shrieks even louder and sprints back toward the group. His panic causes him to stumble and slide against the stone floor.\n\nA creature rises up from the mirror shards.\n\n“What is that?” You shout to Avengral.\n\n“The Dread Mirror of Slabaz IV. Whoever gazes into the mirror shall see their nightmares realized.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Dread Mirror of Slabaz IV is connected to the elfin king, Slabaz, mentioned earlier in the book. The Mirror is one of several magical artifacts that were left over from the Old Ways when magic was accepted and embraced.If you re-read the Ragnoss segment several times, the larger history of Ragnoss and Sarrejiinn will be clearer. No single story branch reveals all of the mythology. Dividing and dispersing the lore was my way of rewarding readers who were willing to re-read the story several times.<<endif>>\n“Nightmares? You mean...” You don’t bother finishing the sentence. The mirror shards have formed into a colossal and ferocious dragon.\n\n“Great,” you groan. Sending the most terrified person to investigate a nightmare mirror, in hindsight, was probably a bad idea.\n\n“Spread out,” Avengral bellows to the soldiers. “Remember to avoid its tail.”\n\n“How do we stop it?” You shout.\n\n“I do not know. I have never encountered such a creature.”\n\nThe glass dragon steps around the terrified soldier. It screeches wildly as it spreads its wings wide.\n\n“Hold your ground!” Avengral demands.\n\nOne of the soldiers drops his sword and flees in the opposite direction. The dragon leaps into the air with a single flap of its mighty wings and lands on the retreating soldier. The soldier screams as the talons crush his back. The glass dragon jerks down and bites off the soldier’s head. Blood squirts from his ragged neck.\n\nThe other soldiers are paralyzed with fear. You notice the dragon growing larger. A second set of horns jut from its head, its snout grows longer, and more razor sharp teeth fill its mouth.\n\n@@color:#000081;“It’s fear,”@@ you shout to Avengral. “The dragon, or mirror, its power comes from fear.”\n\n“Yes,” Avengral agrees. “The fear of whoever looks upon it. It has been enchanted.”\n\nThe glass dragon uses its razor sharp tail to slice through the next closest soldier. His body splits apart effortlessly and falls to the floor in two pieces. The third soldier runs at the glass dragon with his sword.\n\nThe dragon jolts forward, clamping its fangs into the soldier’s stomach. The soldier screams for half a second then goes limp as the dragon snaps his spine.\n\nThe dragon is powered by the fear of those that look upon it, that’s what Avengral said. You glance back at the one remaining soldier. He’s curled on the stone floor, crying and begging for mercy. If the dragon is an enchantment, the terrified soldier could be the source of its power. If you ended him, then maybe the spell would end too.\n\nIt’s not like you know anything about this world’s magic. Killing the soldier might not do anything to stop the glass dragon, and killing him for nothing would just add one more horrible thing to weigh your conscience.\n\n[[Fight the glass dragon]]\n[[Kill the terrified soldier]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 569>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You told Gillian you would be good from now on. Maybe the old you would chop the soldier’s head off without thinking twice, but you’re not a killer anymore...you’re not an assassin. You’re a @@color:#000081;good person.@@\n\n“You’re a good person,” you say the words under your breath, trying to reassure yourself.\n\nThe soldier might die, but it won’t be by your hands.\n\nYou turn to Avengral. “What now?”\n\n“I’ll draw its attention. You attack its belly. That should be its weakest point.”\n\n“Maybe for a real dragon. This one is all glass.”\n\n“What other choice do we have?”\n\nKill the terrified soldier... @@color:#000081;No...@@\n\nYou take a firm grasp of the green speckled blade. “Fine,” you say @@color:#000081;sprinting@@ right.\n\nAvengral nods and sprints left. “Ugly beast,” he shouts and waves his blade in the air. “I wish to slay you! Fall into my blade if you wish your death quick!”\n\nThe glass dragon twists its head around and screeches at Avengral. It thrusts its tail forward.\n\nAvengral rolls to avoid it and shouts more insults at it.\n\nThe dragon turns away from you. Now’s your chance.\n\nYou sprint forward, ducking under the dragon’s serrated tail. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ your sword across the dragon’s stomach. The metal grates against the glass sending little sparks into the air.\n\nThe glass dragon staggers back more surprised than hurt. It shrieks at you and unfurls its sharp wings. The glass wing cuts your @@color:#000081;face@@ and @@color:#000081;chest,@@ sending you into the air. You slide across the stone floor. Your sword slips out of your hands and slides in the opposite direction.\n\nIt’s out of reach.\n\nYou spit out blood and little shards of glass. A modeling career is probably out of the question now. You try to roll to your knees, but the pain in your @@color:#000081;chest@@ is too intense. You cough up more blood and glass.\n\nAvengral tries to lure the dragon away, but its vacant eyes are fixed on you. It slams Avengral away with its massive wing. It shrieks at you again and tilts its head, taking time to enjoy the kill.\n\nYou try to crawl away, but it bites into your @@color:#000081;leg@@ and flings you in the air. You feel weightless for a moment, then a set of razor sharp teeth clamp down on your @@color:#000081;stomach.@@ You scream as the pain surges through you. The dragon shakes its head wildly like a dog with a chew toy...unfortunately you’re the chew toy.\n\nYou feel something inside your body @@color:#000081;snap.@@ Then you fall. You see your legs fly in the opposite direction as you hit the ground hard. The last bit of life slowly drains from your upper half.\n\nYou always knew your life would end violently, but being bitten in half by a giant glass dragon didn’t even make it in your top fifty. You think about Gillian...how you failed her. Who knows what horrible things have happened to her...or will happen to her since you abandoned her?\n\nShe deserves better than you...you’re literally torn up about it.\n\nYou try to laugh, but only blood spits out.\n\nFrom the corner of your eye you see the glass dragon stomp the life out of Avengral. If only there was some way you could go back and make better choices...if only you could somehow learn from your fatal mistakes...If only you could start over.\n\nThe darkness swirls around your head, and then you suddenly feel nothing.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 627>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You help Jazelle up and slip under her arm. The damage isn’t too serious, just painful. She can barely walk. You lug her to the boulders and nod toward the first one.\n\nAyporos scrawls the door on the stone and lightly blows on the outline. The chalk glimmers.\n\n“Why do you blow on it?” Jazelle groans.\n\n“All good doors are built with a lock. In Hell, demon’s breath is the key.”\n\n“Gross,” she retorts.\n\n“If germs are a concern for you while in Hell, you should reevaluate your worry.”\n\n“That’s easy for you to say. It’s your breath.”\n\nAyporos shakes his head and opens the door.\n\nYou follow him through.\n\nYou step onto an orange desert with long thin, black blades of grass jutting out of the ground. “That wasn’t so bad. Where to now?”\n\n“Wait for it.”\n\n“For what?”\n\nThe ground begins to move – not shake, move. The whole desert rises and tilts. You grab a blade of grass with one hand and Jazelle with the other.\n\n“Hey,” you shout at Ayporos. “What’s happening?”\n\n“Slight detour. They must have remapped some of the passageways. We are at least,” he looks like he’s calculating something in his head. “A little bit off.”\n\n“How much is a little bit?” You bark.\n\nHe points down. “Enough to be a problem.”\n\nYou look down and barely hold back a scream. You see a giant head missing its features. You follow the head to the neck, to the shoulder, to the arm which is what you’re barely holding onto.\n\nIt’s not a desert at all. Suddenly you realize the blade of grass you’re tightly gripping is actually a follicle of hair.\n\n“I thought you knew how to get out of here.”\n\n“I do,” Ayporos says. “But it might be slightly more complicated than I anticipated.” He grabs onto a blade of hair as the arm tilts further up. “You remember earlier when I said that whichever rock you chose did not matter?”\n\n“You mean half a minute ago,” Jazelle yells.\n\n“Correct. It is possible I may have been wrong about that.”\n\n“And don’t tell me,” you growl. “Things are about to get worse.”\n\nAyporos raises his eyebrows helplessly. “That is one way of putting it.”\n\nYou pull Jazelle up, and she wraps her arms over your shoulder and around your chest. “I told you not to trust him.” She shouts in your ear.\n\n“Yeah,” you groan. “But look at the bright side; it’s not like we need to worry about dying.”\n\n“I kind of wish that option was still on the table.” Jazelle looks down. “I mean that guy doesn’t even have a face. They probably cut it off and threw it on a stove to burn for eternity or something.”\n\nAyporos laughs. “I wish it was that simple.”\n\n“What is that supposed to mean?”\n\nBefore he can answer, the giant arm twitches. It’s all you can do to hang on. A scratching sound comes from below the skin. The surface cracks in a multitude of places as thousands of giant ants climb out the openings.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;kick@@ one away as it gets a little too close for comfort. It has a face – not the face of an ant. It’s a human face. You glance around. All of the ants have the same face.\n\nThe ants rush toward the featureless head. They bite and claw at the skin as they travel. The body reels with pain.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>As a child, one of my most terrifying recurring nightmares was being covered in angry, biting ants. Several of the other torture chambers in Hell are based on nightmares I’ve had.<<endif>>\n“Grab on. Now!” Ayporos shouts as he grabs the back of an ant. \n\nIf you don’t grab an ant now, you’ll lose him. He was already wrong once. You could do worse without him, but not by much. Now could be the time to part ways. It’s not like you have time to deliberate though.\n\n[[Jump on the back of an ant]]\n[[Climb up the arm]]\n

<>\n<<remember $makingFriends = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Making Friends\n Meet Jazelle\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 246>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<endnobr>>You take a deep breath and let it out slow. “Alright,” you say. “The @@color:#000081;old formula’s@@ been working for me so far. Let’s give it a try.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>I never specify the main character’s age for two reasons: I didn’t want to alienate any potential readers and I wanted to keep potential plotlines open (such as when the old formula was created).Some details about the main character’s age can be assumed. The main character is old enough to drive a car and Gillian is the younger of the two siblings.<<endif>>\n“Very well,” Clark says a little disappointed. “I suppose it’s your life that hangs in the balance.” He opens a small refrigerator and removes a tiny green vile. He slides it into a needle gun and abruptly shoves the needle tip in your arm.\n\n“Ow,” you grunt. “How about a little bedside manner.”\n\n“I’m not that kind of doctor.”\n\n“Obviously.”\n\nClark returns to the console and carefully examines the monitor. “The formula appears to be bonding as it should...” he hesitates. “Wait...”\n\nYour arm feels like it’s on fire... so does your neck and chest. “Ahh,” you scream.\n\n“Something’s wrong,” Mason says.\n\n“Yes,” Clark says sharply. “I’m aware of that.”\n\n“Fix it,” you growl.\n\n“I’m trying.”\n\nYour veins feel like they’re full of molten lava instead of blood. Your arms and legs spasm.\n\n“Your immune system is rejecting the old formula” Clark says “And in turn, your entire organic system. The new formula is proliferating through your body at an incredible speed, but without something to bond to, it’s ripping apart your cellular structure.”\n\nYou want to scream. You try to scream, but your lungs are already liquefying.\n\n“Get back,” Clark says, pulling Mason behind the console. “There’s nothing we can do.”\n\nYou slip from the chair. As your body hits the floor, it scatters into a thousand gooey pieces.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 40]]\n

Slap Sound Effect\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1033>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +15>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Screw this.\n\nYou’re used to doing things your own way. That’s @@color:#000081;how you work best.@@ This Ayporos guy is rubbing you the wrong way. He’s obviously hiding something, and you shouldn’t trust him. He’s a demon, and this is Hell. You can’t forget that.\n\nMessing with reality here is just the kind of thing you should be doing. And like Ayporos said, existence is a constraint you must unlearn. This seems like as good a time as any.\n\nYou sprint around the corner and @@color:#000081;grab your other self.@@ Before you can explain what happened to Gillian and how you died, your head swirls with delirium. The other you mirrors your painful expression.\n\nYour vision blurs and darkens around the edges. You stumble backwards and collapse to the ground. The ceiling whirls above you.\n\nYou suddenly feel very sleepy and the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[Open your eyes]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 812>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +3200>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -99>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It’d be foolish to rush the room. You can’t be sure where they’re keeping Gillian. It’d be better to flank them, and maybe, if you’re lucky, catch them off guard.\n\nYou move to the study and force open a window. You @@color:#000081;crawl@@ out onto the ledge and inch your way toward the back room. You peek through the window.\n\nGillian is sitting in a chair. One thug is beside her. The other is behind a dresser on the other side of the room. Both of them have their guns pointed at the door.\n\nYou’ve only got one shot at this. If they realize what’s going on, Gillian is dead.\n\nYou climb up the building and move to the other side of the window. You work your way around the corner to the south facing window.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the thug behind the dresser. His body slumps forward. The other guard shouts something. You hurry back around the corner to the first window and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the remaining guard in the back. His body falls onto the bed. Gillian screams and falls out of the chair.\n\nLuckily she isn’t tied down.\n\nYou tap on the window glass. She turns and, for a brief moment, she looks relieved. She opens the window and helps you inside.\n\nHer arms tremble. Her eyes look frantic. She’s not like you. She’s not so comfortable with death.\n\nYou grab her hand and squeeze until she acknowledges you.\n\n“We need to get out of here now. Gillian, Gillian? Hey,” you lightly shake her, “We’re going to get through this, but you need to be strong for a little while longer. Can you do that?”\n\nShe pushes you away. “Of course I can you idiot. Why’d you have to kill them?”\n\nYou look at her dumbfounded.\n\nShe hits you in the arm. “I bet you killed all the guards in the lobby too.”\n\nYou shrug. “Maybe.”\n\n“Oh,” she shouts. “Unbelievable. You @@color:#000081;killed everyone?”@@\n\n“Just the ones that got in my way... which I guess was most of them... okay, maybe all of them.”\n\nShe hits you in the chest. “You idiot! We’re going to die now.”\n\n“Didn’t you hear what I said? They’re all dead.”\n\n“No, no. You don’t understand. They were protecting me.”\n\n“Ha,” you laugh. “They weren’t doing a very good job.”\n\n“Yeah, no thanks to you.”\n\nYou scowl. “You’re my little sister, I’ll protect you.”\n\n“You can’t protect me from this.”\n\n“From what?”\n\nShe shakes her head and turns away from you. “It’s bigger than you. It’s bigger than anyone. I don’t even think your Boss can stop it.”\n\nThe Boss being powerless? The thought gives you chills. Whatever’s coming, it’s obvious your sister is terrified – terrified enough to get mixed up with the Boss. “Why him?”\n\n“I-I,” she sighs and lowers her head. “I needed someone with a global reach, and with his...history, I knew I could trust him.”\n\n“Trust him?”\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is another scene where I tried to make the reader rethink their relationship with the Boss - is he a good guy or bad guy? What’s the real situation involving your sister?The questions aren’t answered in this section. I thought of these scenes as having malleable meaning - a dozen future endings (with drastically different outcomes) would add and explain the significance of this situation differently.<<endif>>\n“Sometimes the enemy you know is safer than the one you don't.” She takes a step closer. “This thing, it’s so big most people don’t even know they’re a part of it. It’s in everything. Don’t you—” Her face is distorted in pain. She looks down at her chest. Red spreads across her shirt. She looks back at you in horror.\n\nYou sprint to her, pulling her down as another bullet flies past.\n\n“Sniper,” you snarl. “Stay down.”\n\nShe grabs your arm and coughs up blood. The bullet must have hit her lung. She doesn’t have much time. Moving her is only going to make it worse.\n\n“Hey stupid, where are the shots coming from?”\n\nYou turn. Alana, one of the Boss’s top assassins, is hiding in the hallway.\n\n“South window. Adjacent building.”\n\nAlana smirks then ducks out of sight.\n\nYou try putting pressure on Gillian’s wound, but it doesn’t seem to help. She’s starting to drift. “Hey,” you shout. “Stay with me.” You squeeze her hand. “You’re going to be fine.”\n\nAlana just barely steps into view. “I need a distraction.”\n\nYou grab your pistol. “I’ll be back.” You let go of Gillian and crawl to the window. Two bullets burn past your shoulder. You prop your gun on the windowsill and @@color:#000081;blindfire@@ toward the shooter.\n\nSuddenly Alana stands over you with a giant rocket launcher.\n\nUh oh.\n\nYou plug your ears as the rocket hisses out of the cradle. It spirals through the air and blows a @@color:#000081;chunk@@ out of the distant building and, with any luck, the shooter.\n\nAlana tosses the launcher on the bed and rushes to help Gillian.\n\nYou try to stand, but your strength is gone. You look at your hand and follow a trail of @@color:#000081;blood@@ to your chest. The bullet must have done more damage than you thought.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slump@@ forward.\n\nYour vision blurs and the last thing you remember is the blank and empty stare of your dying sister.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 570>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The money is important, but it’s better to do this right. Gillian is counting on you. You can’t let her down. You keep your @@color:#000081;distance@@ and let the drug deal go through. The moving vans pull into the warehouse and the twelve thugs exit with two duffle bags. The bags look heavy with cash. They toss them into an SUV and drive off. There goes your retirement plan. You grit your teeth and try to control your anger.\n\nTime for plan B.\n\nIf you do this right, no one will ever know you were at the warehouse, and it’ll be months before the Boss realizes the safe is empty. At most, he checks it every two months.\n\nYou sprint and @@color:#000081;duck behind@@ a stack of crates.\n\nDodging the cameras and the guards will be tricky. You peek over the edge of the top crate. The guards are locking up and leaving. Quitting time is early today – must be a baseball game later. You smirk. Lackeys just aren’t what they used to be.\n\nThis will be easier than you thought, but you still need to hurry. Gillian can’t wait.\n\nYou climb the crates, jump to the lamppost, and do a few wall steps to reach the window. You @@color:#000081;slip@@ the lock with a magnet and slide through the small opening. You climb down some shelving and drop silently to the ground. The warehouse is empty and dark. Luckily you’ve been here enough times to have the floor plan memorized. You make your way to the back office where the safe is kept.\n\nYou kneel down next to the keypad. You’ve seen the Boss use it before, each time you made certain to catch a glimpse of the next number in the code. It took you months, but you managed to learn it all. You never planned on stealing his money. You just know the value of owning someone else’s secret.\n\nYou enter the code and the air tight seal hisses @@color:#000081;open.@@ You pull a bag from the adjacent shelf and put the money in it. There are only four stacks, not as much as you had hoped, but it’ll have to do.\n\nYou also see a manila folder. You don’t recall the Boss ever putting it in the safe. It must have been there before you started working for him. You pull it out and open it.\n\nA photograph of your mother slides out. It looks old. It must have been taken before you were born. You can’t understand why the Boss would have it. You look at the other documents in the folder, but they’re in some kind of secret code. You’ll need a cipher.\n\nThis information complicates things. Your mom disappeared a long time ago. Everyone told you she was dead, but Gillian was too stubborn to believe it. She never stopped searching for her. Maybe it wasn’t the Boss who found Gillian. Maybe it was Gillian who found the Boss.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The main character’s mother is only briefly mentioned in this section. Her disappearance is never fully explained in Seven Bullets (although it’s alluded to at the secret facility in Montana).This section offers a “false” choice. Checking out the address doesn’t reveal any new information about the mother. The reader must re-read the story from the beginning (making different choices) in order to learn more about the mother.I use “false” choices in several other areas (with Mr. Wong, the Boss, Alana, and others). I hoped these false choices would encourage readers to re-read the story.<<endif>>\nYou swallow hard. Maybe this whole thing is not about you at all...But what would the Boss want with your mother or your sister. It doesn’t make sense.\n\nThere’s an address on the back of the photo. It might be worth checking out. Then again, whatever the causes may be, Gillian is still in danger. If you don’t get to her soon you may lose your chance. Plus, she may have dug up some answers on her own.\n\n[[Check out the address]]\n[[Burn the warehouse and rescue Gillian]]\n

The landlord of the apartment complex was a middle-aged, potbelly man by the name of [[Jim Long]], who went by James. He made every effort to remind young [[Karen Ward|Karen]] that he was single.\n\nHe didn’t care that she was into witchcraft or whatever it was because, as he often shouted from his doorway, she had a great rack and an even better ass.\n\nThe other tenants of the apartment complex had grown accustom to his rude, though harmless, outbursts and had given up filing complaints. For despite his vulgar demeanor, he was a diligent and caring landlord.\n\nThe apartment complex was in perfect condition, and he addressed complaints or requests almost immediately.\n\nThe other tenants got along well with [[Karen Ward|Karen]] and her [[roommate|two]], but they felt the two girl’s interest in witchcraft and magic was a foolish endeavor, though they never made their feelings known.\n\nAfter hearing sounds of a struggle, the occupants below and beside [[Karen's|Karen]] apartment immediately contacted [[Jim Long]]. They did not hear shouting per se, but the loud commotion was unusual and very disturbing.\n\nEver since [[Karen|Karen]] had conducted her strange [[experiment|experiments]], the neighbors had grown suspicious of her behavior and began to question the safety of their home. It was as if a discomforting presence or some unseen [[entity|spirits]] had settled within their well cared for apartment complex.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 835>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<endnobr>>You never thought rescuing Gillian would be this troublesome. Not only did you screw things up with the Boss, but now you’re not even on Earth...You have no idea how this day could get any worse, but you have a feeling you're about to find out.\n\nYou let out a sigh and look at Quintus. “You know, I haven’t done any fishing in awhile...this’ll probably be the closest I ever get to a vacation.”\n\n“I would hardly call it a vacation,” Quintus says skeptically.\n\nYou shrug. “If only you knew my line of work... So, how do I catch this fish?”\n\n“Right, yes,” Quintus says eagerly. “I had hoped you would choose to pursue the Cetorix. It is the safer choice...in the long run. Go to the harbor and speak with Taz Moir. He has a ship and a crew. Mention my name and he will be agreeable.”\n\n“Agreeable?”\n\n“Yes,” Quintus says with a slight hesitation. “He’s a gruff man...a mercenary and pirate by trade. He lives in a very grey area of the law, a place I assume you’re quite familiar. Taz Moir owes me a favor for the work I did on his leg. Here,” Quintus takes a bracelet off his wrist and gives it to you. “If he questions your relation to me, which he is likely to do, show him this bracelet. Once he knows I have sent you, he will be...agreeable.”\n\nYou take the bracelet and slip it around your wrist. “Okay, so this Taz Moir guy will take me south on his ship and then what? Does he have equipment to catch the Cetorix?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The original concept of the Cetorix was a composite of three stories: Pinocchio, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.As a child the monstrous whale in Pinocchio terrified me, but the notion that people could live inside its belly also fascinated me. I decided if I was going to write a whimsical fantasy adventure there needed to be a giant sea monster that could swallow boats whole.<<endif>>\n“The details of the Cetorix still elude me. I know that Taz Moir has enough cannons and munitions to destroy an entire fleet. If nothing else, you should be able to kill the creature with little difficulty. You may think me a cold and vicious person for saying such a thing. I value all life, I truly do, but we have little time, and the survival of our entire planet has fallen to us. We must be bold and unyielding.”\n\nAvengral steps forward. “Two traits I have in abundance. You will need a knight if you are to travel past the King’s blockade.”\n\n“Oh,” Quintus grits his teeth. “I nearly forgot. The King has issued an embargo against all ingoing and outgoing ships until higher taxes are agreed upon.” Quintus puts his hand on Avengral’s shoulder. “I have not given you all the details of my experiments, but you know the realm is in grave danger.”\n\n“Yes,” Avengral nods. “Your sorcery is still a mystery to me, but I am a knight, and I know when I am needed.”\n\n“Good,” Quintus says. “Then you will help?”\n\nAvengral formally kneels. “Your quest is my quest. I swear it on my honor and the name of my ancestors.”\n\n“Yes, yes,” Quintus says, pulling him back up to his feet. Quintus takes a green hooded cloak from a hook on the wall and hands it to you. “Disguise yourself with this and hope that you remain unnoticed. You must go now before it gets any later.”\n\nYou wrap the cloak around your shoulders and fling the hood over your head. At a casual glance, you could pass for a native. You’ll still need to keep a low profile.\n\n“As wizard Quintus has said, we must make haste.” Avengral pauses at the doorway, expecting you to follow.\n\n“Go,” Quintus says. “And @@color:#000081;good luck.”@@\n\nYou have a feeling you’ll need it. You give Quintus a slight nod, and then you follow Avengral out the door. He leads you through the courtyard, past several rows of stone cottages, down a long set of steps, across a large oak bridge. You keep the hood and cloak tight to obscure your face and Earth clothes.\n\nAvengral leads you through another neighborhood of cottages. The further you get from the castle, the poorer the houses become. The people pay little attention to you. They’re too busy staring at Avengral. You travel further down the hill through several more markets and neighborhoods before you reach the harbor.\n\n“There,” Avengral whispers. “The ship.”\n\nYou see an enormous wooden vessel with three large sails. You count at least fifteen sailors on deck. You and Avengral approach the plank leading up to the deck.\n\nYou suddenly feel something sharp between your shoulder blades.\n\n“That’s me knife,” a gruff voice says. “Tell me why yer boarding me ship or I’ll send this steel through yer heart.”\n\nThat’s probably Taz Moir. When he says he’s willing to kill you, you can tell he means it. You could show him the bracelet. That should make him more agreeable, but he’s likely to think you’re a wimp. He may not respect your authority later on. \n\nIf he’s anything like the Boss, he respects strength and toughness. This is your chance to show him the kind of person you really are, the kind of person who doesn’t like having a knife to their back.\n\n[[Show Taz Moir the bracelet]]\n[[Force Taz Moir to respect you]]\n

<center>Dead Sexy\nAfterward</center>\n\nAnd there it is ladies and gents, that’s the end, bikinis, babes, nukes, zombies and the apocalypse. Not bad for a short story...especially a free one.\n\nYou may be wondering how such a tale came to be woven into the words before you. It began as a challenge. I had gotten a silly notion in my head that all of my stories should be written for specific people, and so I started taking requests.\n\nI required three details: genre, setting, and the main character’s name.\n\nMy cousin requested: horror, the Playboy Mansion, and the name Michael (which incidentally is identical to his name).\n\nI wrote the story in five installments and posted them online over the course of a week. I can only hope you enjoyed the story as much as my cousin did.\n\n\nWhy zombies?\n\nIn recent years, zombies have become the definition of horror (...and action, and entertainment in general). I’ve wanted to write an apocalyptic zombie novel for a long time, but as you’ve probably realized by now, this short story is more satire than suspense.\n\nIf you’re reading this, then I’m sure you’re as much a zombie fan as I am, so you know most of the great zombie stories make a point of avoiding the origin of their undead apocalypse.\n\nI’ve spent many nights pondering possible zombie genesis stories (which, I’m sure, will appear in future books). “Dead Sexy” grew from one of my more ridiculous ideas.\n\nThe idea came about as a result of two questions:\n\nHow does the zombie epidemic spread?\n\nAnd does the zombie virus occur naturally, or is it engineered?\n\nIn a sense, the first question answers the second and with a setting like the Playboy Mansion, it doesn’t require a mental leap to reach a one word conclusion: sex.\n\nZombies are driven by a singular and overwhelming urge. Typically that urge is hunger or blind aggression, but (if you believe Freud) sex is just as potent as any human drive, so why shouldn’t a zombie be motivated by sex?\n\nA zombie more interested in a nightcap than your brains is a scary thought. And the irony that sex, an act which creates life, is the same process that kills and distorts humanity should be equally as scary. It might be the only time you’ll want to skip the foreplay...\n\n\nWhat’s different in Edition 1.1?\n\nI’ve made several major changes to “Dead Sexy” in this edition. The style, which was originally third person, is now second person (with a gender neutral protagonist). The story was intended for my cousin, but in this form (as an ebook) it’s intended for you loyal reader, whoever you may be.\n\nThe second major update is the addition of the four Found Documents: Stew’s Diary entry, the CDC excerpt, Hef’s Science Log, and the government memo. I hope they’ve helped to immerse you in this fantastically ridiculous story.\n\nLastly, I’ve revised dozens of sentences, removed some grating words, and generally made the story easier to read. I’ve done all this for you loyal reader. Enjoy!\n\nCloud Buchholz\n1-20-2014\n\n<center>[[Unlocks]]\n[[Table of Contents|deadSexyTOC]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 425>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -25>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab the tan key and head out the door. You click the security button on the keychain. The lights on a Jaguar flicker.\n\nNice.\n\nThe car seems vaguely familiar like you’ve seen it somewhere recently – a restaurant maybe. No, that’s not it.\n\nYou shake your head. There’s no time to worry about that now. You open the door, toss the bag of guns in the passenger seat, and get inside.\n\nYou need to put some distance between yourself and the Russians. If they saw you driving off with their car, you’d have some serious explaining to do.\n\nYou turn the key. The alternator clicks, but the engine doesn’t start.\n\nCrap.\n\nThe car could be busted. This is a repair shop after all. You take a deep breath and turn the key again. The alternator clicks twice and the engine revs.\n\nYou sigh with relief, put the car in gear, and pull out as silently as possible.\n\nThe thought is still itching at your brain though. Why is this car so familiar? You’ve seen it before. Was it parked? No, but it wasn’t moving.\n\nA photograph – that’s where you saw it – in the Boss’s files. The car belongs to @@color:#000081;John Davis,@@ the senator. But what would the Russians be doing with the senator’s car?\n<<if $introComments is true>>John Davis is a character that appears in The Last Darling, one of the first books I wrote.If you read my books carefully, you’ll notice some characters have small cameos throughout my writing.<<endif>>\nThe senator made some bold statements about cracking down on crime recently, and he already allocated more funds to the police.\n\nThe Boss thought about having him killed since he couldn’t be bribed. The Russians were probably thinking the same thing. They may have even worked it out together.\n\nYou’re struck by a sudden pang of fear. You reach under the seat.\n\nYou sigh.\n\nLuckily there’s no bomb.\n\nYou better check under the car as well. You pull to the side of the road and tap the @@color:#000081;brakes.@@\n\nThe car doesn’t slow down. You tap the brakes harder. Instead of slowing down the car @@color:#000081;accelerates.@@\n\nYou swerve left to avoid a car. Then right to avoid another. The car keeps accelerating. You jump past 50mph than 60mph.\n\nThe Russians must have rigged the brakes.\n\nYou try grinding into the cement divide. It barely slows you down.\n\nThe car hits 90mph.\n\nYou veer right to avoid a semi. The Jaguar breaks through the metal railing and crashes into the river below.\n\nYou hit your head hard on the door. By the time you come to, the car is full of water. You fight to get your seatbelt free, but it’s too late.\n\nYou feel the water seep into your lungs and then—\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 14]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 878>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +22>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $force = $force +7>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>On the other hand, what good is a conscience if you’re dead? You need to survive this. If you don’t, Gillian is as good as dead. Doing the bad thing now means you can do the right thing later...at least that’s what you tell yourself.\n\n“Close your eyes!” You shout to Avengral.\n\n“What? Have you gone mad?”\n\n“No,” you shout. “Just crazy. Now close your eyes. You have to trust me.”\n\nAvengral begrudgingly closes his eyes.\n\nYou sprint to the terrified soldier, swinging your sword as you near him. The green speckled blade @@color:#000081;severs@@ his head at the base of the neck. The soldier slumps forward, instantly dead.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This scene was a way for me to contrast Avengral’s honor-bound code with the main character’s heritage. While Avengral views the world in absolutes, the main character lives in a grey area.Avengral’s strict code made him one of the more enjoyable characters to write. I thought of him as Captain America with a sword.<<endif>>\nThe glass dragon twitches and yowls. You look away as the shards of glass tumble to the ground, @@color:#000081;inanimate@@ once again. You wait until the loud clatter of glass has stopped.\n\n“Earth Wizard?” Avengral asks while swaying his sword left and right blindly. “Are you dead? What was that noise? Can I open my eyes? Earth Wizard?”\n\nYou think about letting him sweat a little longer, but decide against it. “You can open your eyes.”\n\n“By the Seven,” Avengral gasps. “The dragon is slain. How did you accomplish such a task?” He turns to you. He sees the decapitated soldier beside you and the blood on your sword. He frowns.\n\n“It was necessary,” you assure him.\n\n“You may be right, Earth Wizard, but it does not bring me any relief.”\n\n“It’s the one thing the wizards knew you wouldn’t do, so I had to do it.”\n\nAvengral hangs his head in shame. “And we are saved.”\n\nSuddenly the wall slides apart and a bright light illuminates the room. “Come on,” you say. “We can’t let his death be in vain.”\n\nAvengral nods.\n\nYou both keep your blades drawn and ready as you walk through the light. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust.\n\nThe old wizard, Kailvo, stands in front of you. His beaming smile makes you sick. Kailvo applauds fervently. “Quite a show,” he cheers. “Quite a show indeed. I truly did not believe you had the resolve to see it through. Your viciousness surprises even me.”\n\nYou give him a @@color:#000081;menacing@@ stare and point your sword at his chest. “We played your game. Now give us what we came for or the next game we play is how many cuts does it take to get to the center of an ugly wizard.”\n\n“Oh,” Kailvo coos. “Name calling is hardly necessary. You have proven to be more entertaining than we could have imagined. We are already prepared to give you what you want. See,” Kailvo holds up a small round compass. “The compass has been enchanted to find your Prince. Follow the compass and there he will be.”\n\n“And what of my soldiers?” Avengral’s eyes burn with rage.\n\n“Well, they are dead of course.”\n\n“What!?!” Avengral growls. “You said they would be fine.”\n\n“I lied. Consider it a reminder of what doing business with us costs.”\n\n“Trust me wizard,” Avengral grabs the compass. “I will not forget.” The words come out ominously dark with a vileness you did not think Avengral capable of.\n\n“Good,” Kailvo grins. “Then our business is concluded. I trust you will see yourselves out.” Kailvo turns and leaves the room as if your interactions were inconsequential.\n\n“Foul wizards,” Avengral grunts.\n\nThe two of you walk through the courtyard and out the large oak drawbridge. You stand in a field of grass. A small dirt road winds its way toward the horizon.\n\nYou glance at Avengral. “I guess that portal thing is off the table?”\n\n“It would be unwise to trust such liars. We might end up at the bottom of the ocean.”\n\n“So how long will it take us to get back to the castle?”\n\n“Several days,” Avengral says, walking along the path.\n\nYou jog to him and tap your wrist as if he would know what it means. “My timetable requires something a little faster.”\n\nAvengral holds up the compass. The needle points right. Avengral shakes the compass and examines it again. It points the same direction.\n\nAvengral growls with frustration. “Even the compass they give us is broken. They would have me believe the Prince is on this island? Treacherous wizards.” Avengral turns right, following the compass’s direction.\n\n“If the compass is pointing the wrong direction, why are you following it?”\n\n“I must prove, without a doubt, that the compass is broken. Then, with the King’s approval, the Blue Wizards will be removed from the Accords and dealt with accordingly.”\n\n“I’m sure that’s a great plan,” you say scratching your head. “But don’t you still have a prince to save...not to mention the ride I need to catch.”\n\n“The Prince?” Avengral says with surprise.\n\n“Yeah,” you nod. “That’s what I said, the Prince.”\n\n“No,” Avengral grunts. “The Prince!” He shouts louder and sprints forward.\n\nYou glance up. In the distance you see a man on his knees, tied to a wooden stake. Avengral runs to him. “Prince!” He shouts again.\n\nThe Prince? \n\nIf the Prince was kidnapped on the other side of the continent, how did he end up over here? And isn’t this supposed to be neutral territory? Why would he be tied up? You’ve got a bad feeling about this.\n\n[[Try to stop Avengral from doing something rash]]\n[[Stay back and let Avengral spring the trap, if there is one]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 388>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -8>>\n<<endnobr>>Before you can do anything, Cecil @@color:#000081;shoves you@@ into the street. The moonlight blinds you. The creatures turn in unison. @@color:#000081;They stare@@ at you with beastly hunger.\n\nYou glance back at Cecil and Sylvia. They gawk at you full of lust and excitement. Cecil waves you on while Sylvia blows you a kiss. \n\nYou’re about to call them traitors, but you realize using your words on them is a lost cause. They passionately kiss and then climb up the side of the building to get a better view of your soon demise. You’ll have to get payback later, assuming you’re still in one piece.\n\nA creature lunges at you. \n\n[[Roll under its arm]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1395>>\n<<endnobr>>“Come on,” you say. “Let’s search the second floor.”\n\nShe steps behind you. “How come you get to hold the sword?”\n\n“Because I’m going first.”\n\nShe nods. “Yeah okay, that’s fair.” She holds the metal vase tighter. “So, do you think everyone in Hell has to relive their worst nightmare?”\n\nYou push open the door and walk into a large study. “I don’t know and I don’t care.”\n\n“I mean, I was trapped on the beach trying to save my son, and then there was that thirsty guy.” She shudders at the thought. “It was like something was forcing us to keep replaying our most painful memory, like we didn’t have control of our body, but we could still feel the pain.”\n\n“What’s your point?”\n\n“How’d you get free?”\n\n“I didn’t.”\n\n“What?” She shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”\n\n“Let’s just say I never made it to orientation.”\n\nShe looks at you with surprise. “How is that even possible?”\n\nYou examine the books. They’re hand stitched with leather binding like something you’d find in a museum, but they look and feel new. You push open another door. “Come on.”\n\n“Aren’t you going to answer the question?”\n\n“No.” You sigh. “I’m not trying to be mean. I just don’t know.”\n\n“Maybe someone’s looking out for you.”\n\n“Like who? This is Hell remember.”\n\nShe examines one of the paintings on the wall half-heartedly. “Well, if someone isn’t trying to help you, then maybe they’re trying to use you. There’s obviously something different about you.”\n\nYou laugh. “So what, is it like a demon conspiracy or something?”\n\n“I don’t know,” Jazelle shrugs. “I’m just saying it’s weird, that’s all.”\n\n“Everything here is weird.”\n\n“Yeah,” she nods. “That’s true, but aren’t you at least curious?”\n\n“Curious about what?”\n\n“Your nightmare – the memory you’d have to keep reliving.”\n\nYou think about Gillian and how she’s still out there, in danger. You couldn’t protect her and now she’s alone. She’s alone against overwhelming odds. You let her down. You failed her. You shake the thought and glance back at Jazelle. “I have no idea what it could be.”\n\n“I guess you’re lucky then.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “I miss my son, but I don’t want to relive that moment ever again.”\n\n“Do you hear that?” You whisper.\n\nShe listens carefully. “Is there something in the wall, like a rat maybe?”\n\n“It sounds more like chewing to me.”\n\n“Chewing?”\n\n“I think it’s coming from that room.”\n\nJazelle grabs your shoulder. “Let’s not do anything hasty. Maybe we should leave it alone.”\n\n“Would you rather keep wandering aimlessly?” You whisper. “We finally have a real lead. We can’t leave it alone.”\n\nJazelle lifts the vase for action. “Fine, but you go in first. You have the sword, remember.”\n\nYou push open the door with the sword, tense, and ready for a fight. Instead, you see an extravagant dining table set for a banquet of twenty people. There are at least a dozen platters of steaming meats and exotic dishes. You don’t see anyone – not a guest, a waiter, or a cook.\n\n“That’s not exactly what I was expecting,” Jazelle says, scratching her head.\n\n“You still hear that chewing noise though, don’t you?”\n\n“Yeah. It sounds like it’s coming from—”\n\n“What?” You ask, glancing at her.\n\nShe stares at the ceiling.\n\n[[Follow her gaze.]]

“Dead Sexy” (A Short Story)\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 270>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $guns = $guns -2>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -20>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +13>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +26>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost + 500000000000000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You hit @@color:#000081;Disengage.@@\n\nNothing happens.\n\nYou hit it again. And again.\n\nThe screen flickers.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Disengage initiated...\nPower exceeding upper limit...@@\n\nYou scream in @@color:#000081;pain.@@ Your arm shakes uncontrollably, as if it’s being stabbed by thousands of tiny needles.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;WARNING...\nOrganic tissue exceeding safety parameters...\nWARNING...@@\n\nYou stumble against a wall. Blood @@color:#000081;drips@@ from your nose and eyes. Your chest feels tight.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Synaptic Interface exceeding heat limit...\nBandwidth failed to meet minimum requirements...\nData corruption detected...\nShutdown initiated...\nERROR...\nPower discharge imminent...@@\n\nThe tip of the arm cannon ignites with a blinding light. Your vision blurs from the pain. Your arm droops against the wall.\n\nThe light expands. The floor vibrates. You feel a sharp pinch in your shoulder. The arm cannon bursts with energy, blowing a hole through the floor. It’s so powerful you can barely see.\n\nThe light fades slightly – enough for you to glimpse the destruction. The beam of energy travels down through the building, @@color:#000081;tearing@@ a hole through at least seventeen floors.\n\nYou can hear faint @@color:#000081;screams.@@\n\nYour shoulder @@color:#000081;rips@@ in three places. The pressure is too much. It feels like something in your brain is being squeezed.\n\nFinally the beam stops. Steam erupts from the vents on the side of the arm cannon.\n\nYou collapse and cough up black goo.\n\nYour vision gets hazy around the edges. The hole reaches down to the lobby. If you weren’t aching from every part of your body, you would probably be impressed.\n\nYour head swims with pain, and you don’t have the strength to lift it. You can barely keep your eyelids up. And then the darkness takes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 11]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 451>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<endnobr>>You pry open the doors to the elevator shaft. It’s a long drop. You shouldn’t have looked down.\n\nGillian grabs your shoulder. “You can’t be serious?” \n\n“We don’t have a lot of choices.” You lean into the elevator shaft and grab a thick metal cable. You turn back to Gillian. “And don’t worry about the fall. From this height, the impact would kill us instantly.”\n\nShe scowls at you. “That’s really comforting.”\n\nYou smile. “Hold on to me as tightly as you can. It’s fourteen floors so we might be sliding for awhile.” You slip the cable between three hooks around the frame of the shotgun. “Just remember not to let go.”\n\n“Like that’s something I would forget.” She locks her arms and legs around you. “You know what you’re doing, right?”\n\n“Don’t I always?”\n\nShe rolls her eyes. “We’re going to die.”\n\nYou grin and jump into the elevator shaft. Sparks erupt from the points where the shotgun and cable intersect. \n\nYou tighten your grip and bound off the wall to slow down. \n\nThe cable is shorter than you thought. You fall the last twenty feet. \n\nYou do your best to absorb the brunt of the @@color:#000081;impact,@@ but Gillian’s leg hits hard. She yelps in pain. \n\nThe impact has you seeing stars. It takes you a minute to realize Gillian is crying. You didn’t hear the bone snap, but there’s a good chance her leg is broken.\n\nYou push yourself up. Your vision is blurry, and it takes you a moment to orient yourself. You slide under Gillian’s arm and help her up.\n\n“It hurts. It hurts,” she pleads.\n\n“We can’t stay here.”\n\nShe grits her teeth and fights the pain. \n\nPart of the elevator shaft is busted, and there’s enough room for you and Gillian to get through. You lower her into the stairwell and then drop down behind her. \n\nYou slip back under her arm and guide her to the lobby. You kick open the door.\n\nThe Boss and his five most menacing killers are patiently waiting for you. You’ve still got the arm cannon, but using it would mean you’d have to drop Gillian. She’d be as good as dead.\n\nThe Boss tilts his head, “Fascinating,” he stares at the arm cannon. “Most test subjects didn’t survive the binding process. Even fewer were capable of firing it.” He sighs. “At least some good will come of your childish tantrum.” He raises his cane and points it at your sister. “If you want her to live, you’ll give her and the weapon to me.” The Boss calmly removes his hat. “You have one minute to decide. By that time your sister will pass out from the blood loss.”\n\n[[Give him your sister and the arm cannon]]\n[[Use the arm cannon on the Boss]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 680>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +5>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +45300>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You slip open the box and count eight grenades. That should be enough to do some damage. You put the car in gear and slam down the gas pedal. The tires screech as you turn through a few corners. You pull onto the main street and turn the car so it faces the Boss’s penthouse.\n\nYou look at your watch. One minute and forty seconds. Gillian should have reached the first basement level by now. Time for a diversion.\n\nYou toss your bag on the sidewalk, put the car in neutral, and shove the box of grenades onto the gas pedal so the engine revs.\n\nAt this distance, with a 2.0L engine at full RPMs it should take less than eight seconds to crash into the lobby of the Boss’s building. You take one of the grenades, shift the car into drive, pull the pin and @@color:#000081;toss the grenade@@ into the passenger seat.\n\nYou pick up your bag and count backwards from ten.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,@@\n\nThe car @@color:#000081;shatters@@ the glass entrance and demolishes part of the inner wall.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;4, 3,@@\n\nYou casually walk to the adjacent building.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;2, 1...@@\n\nNothing happens. You scratch your head and glance at the lobby.\n\nThen @@color:#000081;BOOM@@. Eight small @@color:#000081;explosions@@ go off in unison. A cloud of smoke thrusts the shattered windows into the street and obscures the lobby.\n\nNow that’s a @@color:#000081;distraction@@.\n\nYou enter the building and double time it down the stairs.\n\nDue to his overwhelming paranoia, the Boss had a secret passageway built connecting his building with the office across the street. Only the Boss’s most trusted employees know about the passageway and you happen to be one of them.\n\nIt’s hard to say why the Boss turned on you and kidnapped your sister. Guess he just has a hard time saying goodbye.\n\nYou sling the bag onto your other shoulder and kick open the door to the parking level. You walk through two maintenance doors and pull up a metal drain cover. You hop down and walk in the dark for about a minute until you reach another metal cover. You take your silenced pistol from the bag and lightly push open the drain cover.\n\nYou’re in the other parking garage. It should be empty except for Gillian, but one or two of the goons may have followed her down.\n\n“Gillian,” you whisper into the phone. “Where are you?”\n\nSilence.\n\n“Tap the phone twice if you can’t talk.”\n\nYou hear two taps.\n\nWell that’s just perfect. You open your bag, disconnect your sniper scope, toggle it to thermal and scan the parking garage. Three heat signatures. One of them is horizontal. At least she made it to the SUV.\n\nYou slide the bag over your shoulder, keeping the scope in one hand and the silenced pistol in the other. You walk to a cement pillar, keeping out of the goons’ line of sight. You toggle the scope to x-ray, angle your pistol around the pillar, and @@color:#000081;take down@@ both of them. Normally you’d hide the bodies, but there’s no time.\n\nYou open the SUV door, toss your bag in, and embrace your sister.\n\n“We have to go.”\n\nHer body shakes from the adrenaline, or maybe from the sight of the two men you just shot. It's hard to tell. At least she’s alive, and you’re almost certain the blood on her clothes belongs to someone else.\n\nYou take a bottle of pills out of your bag and give her two red ones. “These will calm you down.”\n\nShe takes them without thinking.\n\nShe might be able to drive.\n\n“Hey,” you take her by the shoulders, “I need you to focus. The exit to the parking garage is guarded. I won’t be able to shoot him from the car. I’ll need you to drive so I can sneak up to him on foot. Do you understand?”\n\nHer eyes are glazed, but she nods.\n\nYou know she’s tough, but she’s been through a lot today. Maybe she’s not up for it. You can’t afford to make a mistake now.\n\n[[“I’ll drive; just keep your head down.”]]\n[[“Gillian, I need you to be strong for a little bit longer.”]]\n

Lazy like the Tips of Her\n\nSometimes, when I think of you,\nI feel like a towel full of sand\nthat's shaken into the shore,\nidling on the beach until the ocean rises\nto carry me to some far off place.\n\nI am complacent to watch the days graze\nthe edges of me, to leave me placid\nand self-contained, but sometimes,\n\nwhen I think of you,\nmy thoughts are dismantled and shipped\nto all the places you might go.\n\nI am like a wave that has been kicked\ninto one thousand tiny pieces,\nhoping just one droplet reaches you\nbefore returning.\n\nSometimes, when I think of you,\nyou are like the heat of a fevered forehead,\npulling back an open palm of sweat\nand I am waiting like a child-\nproof bottle of pills.\n\n\n3-17-2011\n\n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 662>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“What do you know about my sister?”\n\n“So she is alive... astounding. Trust me,” Clark says. “No one has a right to worry about your sister more than I do. Gillian was my crowning achievement.”\n\nYou’re ready to punch him in the face, but his words seem @@color:#000081;genuine.@@ “Speak plainly,” you growl.\n\nClark sighs. “What I’m about to say will be difficult for you to accept or perhaps even understand. It’s important that you keep an open mind.”\n\n“Get to the point.”\n\n“You and your sister were part of an experiment... a truly remarkable experiment. The experiment, or incarnations of it, have existed in various forms for nearly eighty years; first backed by the government and later by intuitive investors. It began as an initiative to create a hardier human...a perfect human you might say. My superiors often used the term. But you see, perfect is a rather arbitrary term. Skin color, height, build, gender -- how can any one variation of those be deemed perfect? And in truth, why should they?\n\n“Perfection, as you can imagine, is a pathetically short-sighted concept for our strength as a species is in our diversity... our genetic variation. The perfect human does not exist, nor should it. Unfortunately, my superior officers did not share my perspective. To them, 'perfect human' and 'soldier' were interchangeable.”\n\n“How does this concern Gillian?” You demand.\n\n“Yes, yes,” Clark assures you. “I’m getting to that. You see, the formula I created changed the nature of humanity on a genetic level. It made the body stronger, but at the cost of the soul. The early experiments produced an unusual kind of emotional detachment that often led to aggression, self-mutilation, and in most cases, stark insanity. In essence, the perfect soldier. The only drawback was the disappointingly short shelf-life. Most subjects did not survive more than five years. So, you can understand why I was so surprised to see you here now... alive.”\n\n“Whoa, what are you saying?”\n\n“Isn’t it obvious? You and your sister were among the first test group. While the other subjects drifted between bouts of delusion and masochism, you and your sister seemed to remain... normal... or at least sane. While you excelled at killing, your sister excelled at empathy. She was, or I should say is, the culmination of years of work, and my best hope for humanity.”\n\n“Great story, but I think I would remember something like that.”\n\n“We have the ability to manipulate the genetic code. How difficult do you think it is to tweak a few memories?”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Dr. Clark’s big speech is the climactic scene of the secret facility segment. I had three goals:1) Connect the intro segment with the secret facility segment2) Provide a context for why Gillian was kidnapped3) Validate this segment as an independent story arcGiven the main character’s unique fighting abilities and snarky disregard of morality, I thought the “super-soldier” concept was a fitting way of tying the story together.I didn’t want to overuse the super-soldier plot device which is why it only appears in 14 sections of this segment.<<endif>>\nYou scratch your head. “Alright, fine. Let’s say I really was the subject of your weird experiment. How come I’m not in a test tube right now?”\n\nClark scoffs and shakes his head. “The same reason any revolution falls flat, a lack of funding. The government had a difficult time comprehending our vision. A new administration, a new budget, and a new concept of justice. You and your sister were the only subjects that had yet to go insane. The administration thought it was only a matter of time, so they shut the project down and ordered us to destroy the research which included all organic forms from the study, meaning you and your sister. I was under the assumption that the two of you had been eradicated with everything else, but obviously, since you’re standing before me, that is not the case. Now tell me of your sister. Is she alive?”\n\n“She’s alive, but she’s sick.”\n\n“Yes, I imagine so. We were in the process of stabilizing the system when the experiments were terminated. It’s a miracle she’s survived this long. We’d best get to work. I’ve come a long way since the first formula. You’d be surprised what I’m capable of now. I have a secondary lab not far from here. We should go there so I can analyze your DNA.”\n\n“I hate to interrupt,” Mason says, interrupting, “But the others are counting on us. And we need to get back.”\n\n[[Take Dr. Clark back to the others]]\n[[Stay and let Dr. Clark run the tests]]\n

<center><img src="img/trophy.png" width="100%" align="center" hspace="6"></center>\n@@color:#B2B2B2;For reaching Level 11, you earned this amazing trophy and the title of World's Best Assassin! (If it's engraved on a trophy then you know it must be true.)@@\n\n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 447>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost + 133000>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveColdandCalculating").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockColdandCalculating").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Keeping your distance and being able to monitor every angle means you’ll be able to @@color:#000081;control@@ the situation, at least you hope. Every plan has its weaknesses, but you can’t worry about that now.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I used this choice (taking the sniper rifle) as a guide for creating future choices in this section. The kind of person who would prefer a sniper rifle might be emotionally distant, more comfortable working alone, more plan oriented and less rash.I tried to tilt the main character’s internal monologue toward those traits, and I offered choices that would be more in line with that kind of personality.If the reader chooses the shotgun instead, most of the choices in that section are emotional, rash, and directly confrontational.<<endif>>\nYou slide the sniper case into your bag and walk to another crate. You open it and sling the bazooka over your shoulder. You fire a rocket at the distant wall, @@color:#000081;blowing@@ half the warehouse into the ocean. You hurry through the opening, reload the bazooka, and fire another rocket into the multitude of crates.\n\nThe warehouse @@color:#000081;explodes@@ into a mushroom cloud of fire and smoke. A handful of smaller @@color:#000081;explosions@@ occur as the other ammunitions catch @@color:#000081;fire@@. The warehouse and its contents are @@color:#000081;destroyed@@.\n\nYou double time it to the street and take a left into an alley. Given what’s about to go down, it’s best not to be seen. You’ll have to steal a car and dump it near the penthouse. The cops won’t find it for a couple of days and by then you and Gillian should be out of the country. You should pick something discreet, but it’s not like you have a lot of options.\n\nAn old Honda will do the trick. You take a thin wire from your bag, slide it between the window and the door, then lightly tug until the lock pops @@color:#000081;open@@. You toss your bag into the passenger seat and get in.\n\nYou don’t have much time. It looks like John Two Toes is already calling the Boss. If you factor in traffic and set-up time, that gives you less than 30 minutes.\n\nYou put the car in gear and drive, staying a little under the speed limit. After years of covert assassinations, you’ve learned to push fear and paranoia out of your mind. You’ve learned to stay calm under the most deadly of circumstances. Running and gunning will only get Gillian killed.\n\nYou take a long breath and try not to think of what the Boss might have done to her. Either way he’ll get what he deserves soon enough, but right now Gillian is your priority.\n\nThere are two good vantage points to the Boss’s penthouse: the top story of a parking garage or an adjacent office building. The parking garage provides easy access to an escape vehicle and gives you a better view of the streets if the cops get involved. The only problem is that twenty percent of the penthouse is obscured.\n\nThe office building provides better visibility which means fewer surprises, but getting in and out will take time, leaving Gillian unprotected while you try to exit the building. You’ll have to decide before you get too close.\n\n[[The parking garage]]\n[[The office building]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 542>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $melee +14>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The man looks at you @@color:#000081;wide eyed.@@ “You’re one of them. You’re going to bore your drills into my brain and steal my thoughts. Never! I’ll never let you.” He jumps back into the room, grabs an iron statue from the desk, and wields it like a cudgel.\n\nYou duck under his swing and @@color:#000081;pivot@@ around him. “I guess some people don’t get sarcasm.”\n\n“You can’t have my brain juice. It’s mine,” he raves. “I only brought enough for me, and I’m not sharing!” He screams, swinging the statue at you wildly, just barely missing your cheek.\n\nYou sidestep and @@color:#000081;jab@@ him in the kidney. His legs falter, and he stumbles into the wall.\n\nThis is crazy, you think to yourself. It has to be the drugs.\n\nOf course that doesn’t explain—\n\nYou duck and roll behind the desk as the businessman takes another swing at your head.\n\nYou have no idea what this businessman could be a manifestation of... unless he’s not a manifestation at all. Either way, he really doesn’t like you. And if you let him keep swinging that cudgel, he’s eventually going to hit you.\n\nHe comes at you again. He’s resilient. You have to give him that. It won’t do him any good though.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;parry@@ the statue with a hardbound book then @@color:#000081;slam@@ the book into the businessman’s face. He tumbles backwards into the wall and slides to the floor.\n\nHe could be one of the thugs that drugged you. But why would he have been standing half way out the window – unless it’s not a window. You shake your head.\n\nThis is too confusing.\n\nBesides, if he was really a thug, he would have shot you with his gun by now. But if they only wanted to kill you, why would they go to the trouble of drugging you.\n\nUnless maybe the drugs were an attempt to make you talk – some kind of truth serum. You know more than your share of dark secrets. You’re usually the person they hire to keep the secrets secret. A fraction of what you know could topple governments.\n\nIt’s a good thing these idiots underestimated the Boss's training. There’s no way drugs will make you talk. Of course, it’s not like your training could stop all the hallucinations either, which still doesn’t answer the question: who is this guy?\n\nYou glance down at his limp body. You @@color:#000081;kick@@ him lightly in the stomach. He groans @@color:#000081;helplessly.@@\n\nNow that he’s simmered down, this might be a good time to get some answers. Then again, in this condition, staying in one place for too long is probably a bad idea.\n\nYou look around the room. The ladder and the hole you climbed through are gone. The only exit is the window. You glance out the window from a distance. A giant volcano spits out lava where the street should be.\n\nIf you leave, you’ll get an uncomfortably close view of that volcano, but then again, the volcano is obviously a manifestation of your fever which is obviously a result of the poison that’s working its way through your system... obviously... You hope...\n\nIt could always be worse. You could actually be in Hell. You can’t help but laugh. At least there’s a silver lining.\n\n[[Force the businessman to talk]]\n[[Escape out the window while you can]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 285>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>What’s the worst that could happen?\n\nYou @@color:#000081;lunge@@ to your right and slam down the @@color:#000081;red button.@@\n\n“No,” the brute gasps. “What have you done?”\n\n“I’m getting out of here.”\n\n“You’ve killed us both.” There’s genuine panic in his eyes.\n\nMaybe hitting the button was a bad idea.\n\nSuddenly your skin tingles. It feels like every atom in the room is breaking apart. Your body feels like it’s turning inside out and backwards – like you’re being pulled in every direction at once. It looks like the same thing is happening to the brute.\n\nEverything twinkles to white and the next time you open your eyes, you’re drifting through space. You see the brute in the distance floating helplessly. His body @@color:#000081;shrivels@@ from the pressure and the cold.\n\nYou feel the same thing happening to your own body. You slowly twirl in the zero-gravity. You see a giant red planet. It looks so beautiful. And in the distance you see a glowing orange sun. It’s so bright it’s blinding.\n\nYou search for Earth – just one last glimpse of home, but it’s not in the orbit it should be. In fact, none of the planets look right.\n\nAs you twirl, you see the brute a second time. It looks like he’s screaming with pain, but you can’t hear a sound. You’re almost glad for the silence.\n\nYour muscles @@color:#000081;twist@@ into deformed @@color:#000081;knots.@@ The pain is @@color:#000081;unbearable.@@\n\nThen it hits you – you’re in another galaxy – someplace far, far away. You’ll never see Gillian or the Boss or even the Earth again. It’s all over, and maybe there’s some peace to be had in that.\n\nSuddenly the freezing pressure @@color:#000081;squeezes@@ the life out of you and everything goes black.\n\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]

A Photo of My Dog!\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 886>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I don’t know anything about ancient magic or deciphering scrolls. I’ll just get in your way; besides, clearing the dungeons will give us a better @@color:#000081;escape route@@ if things go bad.”\n\n“Let us hope things do not go bad,” Avengral says patting your shoulder. “We part ways now and return with whatever evidence we find. Or, if necessary, destroy the evidence so that it cannot be used to harm the citizens or the King. Good luck. May the Seven Sons watch over you.”\n\n“Just let me bash some skulls,” Able grunts. “And I’ll be fine.”\n\nYou watch Avengral and Evie climb the stairs.\n\n“Come on,” Able says hefting the hammer over his shoulder. “Let’s try to beat them to the tower.”\n\n“Not another race,” Mos groans. “You remember last time. You got stuck in that tar pit.”\n\n“I got out,” Able says smugly.\n\n“Only after pulling me in.” Mos lifts his bow and keeps his fingers lightly clutching the arrow. “We do it my way this time. We use stealth and silence.” He glances back at Able. “Lots of silence.”\n\nAble rolls his eyes. “You just like taking the fun out of everything.”\n\n“Shh,” Mos responds.\n\nYou travel down a set of stairs. The corridor is faintly illuminated by a dwindling torch on the far wall. You can hear noises - faint whimpering and moaning, almost animalistic. Something’s down here.\n\nMos motions for Able to go right and for you to follow him left. Despite his size and usual outbursts, Able is exceptionally quiet. He turns right and continues in that direction without putting up a fight. Mos pulls back the arrow and continues forward.\n\nThe stone walls gradually become iron bars. The room splits into dozens of cages. Decaying corpses hang from shackles bolted to the ceiling. They must have been dead for months. The corpses are human, but it’s impossible to tell if they were Sarrejiinn slaves. You have no idea what kind of justice the Blue Wizards dish out to their own kind. You need more evidence.\n\nMos motions for you to stop, then he signals forward and to the left. You see a Blue Wizard. His light blue robe is splotched with blood - not his own. He uses his large staff to shove a creature into the cell.\n\n“A disappointment,” the old wizard mumbles. “That’s what you are. Just another disappointment. If the incantation doesn’t work tomorrow, we’ll shove a knife through your heart. You have that to look forward to I suppose. If it was up to me, I would have killed you weeks ago, but for whatever reason Wizard Kailvo prefers to work on Sarrejiinn humans.”\n\nThat’s the evidence you were looking for. Before you can signal Mos, he lets loose an arrow. It spins between the cell bars and hits the wizard in the back, plunging straight through his heart. Mos sprints forward with silent speed.\n\nIt wasn’t the kind of due process you were expecting, but it's not like you have time to get lawyers involved. You sprint after Mos. He rolls the wizard over and yanks out the arrow.\n\n“Did you have to kill him?” You whisper.\n\n“You heard what he said. They’ve been experimenting on Sarrejiinn people.”\n\n“Yeah, but we could have gotten more information out of him. We don’t know how many people they’ve taken, or how long they’ve been doing this, or even why.”\n\n“Details,” Mos shrugs. “They’ve been breaking the King’s laws, that’s all Avengral needs to know.” Mos points to the cell. “There’s the proof.”\n\nYou glance at the cell. A shadowy figure twitches, but stays in the darkness.\n\n“It’s alright,” you say. “The Prince sent us here to help.”\n\n“Help?” A shaky voice replies. “You can fix us?”\n\nYou look at Mos and then back at the cell. “What do you mean fix us?”\n\n“What they’ve done... We want to be ourselves again... We want to be human.”\n\n“Come into the light,” you say calmly. “Let us see you.”\n\nA large paw slides forward and then another...and then the creature. It’s the most disgusting thing you’ve ever seen. The skin is morphed into spasming clumps. A third arm juts from the creatures back. A second head is congealed to the side of its stomach. It looks like animals and humans were tossed in a blender and this thing is what came out.\n\nThe creature slinks back into the shadows and sobs. It was impossible to hide the disgust on your face.\n\nYou look at Mos. “What did the wizards do to it...to them?”\n\n“Blood magic,” Mos says tersely.\n\n“Can you undo it?”\n\nMos shakes his head. “Anything done with blood magic can only be undone with blood magic. And besides, the only way to return them to their separate forms would require all of their original parts. From the look of that thing, pieces are missing, and there’s no way of knowing where those pieces are. The kindest thing we can do is kill it.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The experiments in the dungeons are the Blue Wizards’ failed attempts at Blood Magic. Despite their devotion to knowledge, the Blue Wizards have little understanding of Blood Magic since most of the ancient texts were destroyed during the war.When characters discuss Blood Magic in the story, their knowledge comes from rumors and myths that have been passed down through word of mouth.<<endif>>\n“There has to be another way.”\n\n“That thing is made out of a whole bunch of different creatures, and look, it’s obvious the parts don’t fit together right. The pain it’s in must be incredible. I’m surprised it can even breathe. It should be put out of its misery. If you don’t do it, then I will.”\n\n[[Put the creature out of its misery]]\n[[Stop Mos and set the creature free]]\n

<center><img src="img/theLastDarlingCover.jpg" width="400" height="600" align="center" hspace="6">\n[[Continue|DarlingStart]]</center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1355>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You walk along the shoreline. The water licks at the sides of your feet. It’s sand and ocean as far as the eye can see. A slight haze blurs the horizon and the sand. It’s hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. The breeze is hot and crisp. You look back at the woman. @@color:#000081;“This way.”@@\n\nShe doesn’t look excited, but she doesn’t disagree.\n\n“So what should I call you?” You ask.\n\nShe looks up. “Jazelle, and don’t bother telling me your name. I don’t want to get attached.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>“Jazelle” was a carefully chosen name. I wanted to pick a name that was uncommon. There’s no linguistic origin for the word Jazelle, but it has English and French (Gisèle) influences.I always imagined Jazelle living during an 1890’s America reminiscent of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. I was careful never to mention the actual date when Jazelle was alive because I wanted the fate of her son to be the detail that defined her.<<endif>>\nYou shrug. “Fair enough.” You have a feeling she’s not interested in talking. You can’t blame her. After what she’s been through, wanting a little quiet is understandable. You decide to keep your mouth shut and try to enjoy this strange and awkward stroll.\n\nYou suddenly feel hot and sticky. You shield your eyes and glance up. The ceiling of the cavern is gone. All you see is a baby blue sky and a bright blazing sun.\n\nYour back and armpits are starting to sweat. The sand feels warm, but the water keeps your bare feet from getting too hot. It might even be comfortable if you could shake the nagging thought that this place really is Hell.\n\nYou glance back at Jazelle. She looks out at the ocean longingly.\n\nThis place has really messed with her head, that’s not to say she wasn’t messed up to begin with, but it makes you wonder what kind of effect this place is having on you. Of course, you were pretty crazy to begin with too so...\n\nJazelle grabs your arm and pulls you down. “Aren’t you paying attention?” She whispers.\n\n“What?” You whisper back. “And why are we whispering?”\n\n“Shh,” she says, pointing down the shoreline.\n\nYou drop down and follow her gaze. There’s a man on his knees, clawing through the sand, trying to reach the water.\n\nYou feel like kicking yourself. You were lost in thought, and this is not the time to be getting distracted. Absentmindedly walking into another one of these twisted scenes is a bad idea, and worse, whoever runs this place is probably looking for you by now. That’s someone – or something – you’d like to avoid.\n\n“You recognize him?” You whisper to Jazelle.\n\n“No. Am I supposed to?”\n\n“I don’t know. You’re both sharing the same shoreline.”\n\n“You saw what I was like,” Jazelle says sharply. “Did it look like I did much exploring?”\n\nYou give her a soft look. “Sorry.” You nod toward the thirsty man. “What about him?”\n\n“I don’t know,” Jazelle shrugs. “You’re the one leading this little expedition.”\n\n“Yeah,” you groan. “I had a feeling you were going to say something like that.” You scan the ocean and the sand. “Stay here. I’m going to check it out.”\n\n“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”\n\n“No, but he’s human, and that should count for something. Besides, it’s not like we can just walk around him.”\n\n“You don’t have to convince me,” Jazelle says sitting down. “Do whatever you want. His part of Hell can’t be that different from mine. Besides, if he’s here in Hell, he probably deserves whatever he’s getting, just like the rest of us.”\n\n“Way to stay positive.”\n\nSuddenly Jazelle’s eyes go wide with panic. “Get down,” she gasps.\n\nBefore you can react, she tackles you into the ocean. A wave crashes into your head, and you’re pulled under; Jazelle with you. You fight your way back to the surface with your arm around her.\n\n“What are you thinking?” You growl into her ear.\n\n“Shh,” she cautions. “Quiet. There’s something coming, a monster. We need to stay hidden. If you don’t believe me, look for yourself.”\n\nYou glance back at the thirsty man. You have to squint and fight the waves, but there’s something in the distance. It can’t be real though. A mirage maybe or maybe there’s water in your eyes, or something.\n\n“You believe me now,” Jazelle says, judging your silent expression.\n\n“Maybe,” you say glaring at her. “Now be quiet.”\n\n“You first,” she whispers.\n\nYou roll your eyes and grip a heavy rock with your feet to keep your head from bobbing in the water. If you’re lucky you should be relatively concealed and close enough to keep an eye on the thirsty man. You can only hope the thing in the distance is coming for him and not you.\n\nThe thirsty man doesn’t seem to notice anything except the water. It’s like he’s in a trance, like Jazelle was before you rescued her.\n\nAs the figure approaches, you realize it’s not one creature, but two – a human like creature riding a giant snail. The snail’s body flickers with flames and glows like lava. Its shell is covered in ferocious spikes. It travels at an unbelievable speed. It’s so hot the sand beneath it turns to glass. The glass trail leads far into the distance.\n\nThe figure is tall and thin, but in the most perverse way. Chunks of bone jut out from its joints as if its muscles stopped growing, but its bones haven’t. Clumps of hair dot its head and hang down in a sinewy mess. Its eye sockets are empty and its lips are curled back like a snarling dog.\n\nIts fingers are abnormally long, and the fingernails have been removed. Instead, bone has grown out from the tips and been filed into razor points.\n\nThe snail circles behind the thirsty man and slows to a stop. The figure jumps down and walks to the man.\n\n“Please,” the man begs. “Just a drop. Please, just one drop. I’m so thirsty.”\n\nIt’s hard to tell, but you think the creature smiles.\n\n“Of courssse,” the creature hisses and motions toward the water.\n\nThe man tumbles forward as if the sand has suddenly given way underneath him. He cups his hands and dips them in the water. The coolness seems to refresh him. He lifts the water toward his lips, but stops abruptly. “No,” he screams. “No!”\n\nHe stumbles back and fights his way through the sand. “They’re dead,” he screams. “They’re supposed to be dead.” The sand slips out from under him making it impossible to escape.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>To make Hell more interesting I decided the torture chambers (which have a spiritual automaton quality) needed occasional maintenance kind of like a questionable carnival ride.This should give the reader hope that escape is possible.<<endif>>\nThe creature seems focused on him. This is your chance to get a closer look. You let go of the rock and let the current take you around an alcove and behind a dune. You get out of the water. “Come on,” you whisper back at Jazelle while running toward the dune. You stay low and scan the shoreline.\n\nYou can’t see anything until, suddenly, bodies wash up on shore, dozens of bodies. They’re pale and bloated. Chunks of their flesh have been eaten away by fish and the current. The bodies seem to share the same uniform.\n\n“No,” the thirsty man shrieks. “They’re gone. They’re dead.”\n\nThe boney figure kneels down and tilts its head. “Not thirsssty?”\n\n“No,” the man screams. “No! No,” he sobs. “No.”\n\nThe figure leans down and drinks from the water. Immediately, and in unison, the corpses thrash and jerk, until their bodies explode with tiny crabs. The crabs swarm toward the man, covering his body. His shrieks and howls are muffled by the small creatures.\n\nBlood stains the sand as the crabs make millions of cuts in the thirsty man’s body. He collapses and the current carries him into the ocean. You have a sick feeling that that won’t be the end of him.\n\nThe creature mounts the snail and waves its hand in the air. The wind and sand swirl into a small, focused cyclone. The snail moves toward it. The creature has its back to you. Now’s your chance. You could catch it by surprise.\n\nThe creature has power here. Maybe it’s not running the place, but it should know a way out. Who knows, the cyclone might just be the exit you’re looking for. There’s only one way to find out.\n\nThen again, the glass trail the snail left is still there. It should lead to something resembling an exit.\n\nThe snail is almost through the cyclone. You better decide quick.\n\n[[Follow the snail through the cyclone]]\n[[Follow the glass trail through the desert]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 775>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’m @@color:#000081;with you,”@@ you say, nodding to Avengral. “You seem to know where you’re going.”\n\n“Aye. Your confidence in me is appreciated.” Avengral points to Grat Grimworth. “Take Mos Vestermire, Evie Greengrass, and four of the soldiers. Use the caverns. Left, left, right, left, right. That is the path that will lead you to the hunting grounds. If you find the Prince, return here and blow the horn twice. If you find nothing, blow the horn once. Understood?”\n\nGrat nods.\n\n“Then may the winds of victory blow swiftly at your backs.” Avengral turns to you. “The rest of you follow me.” He descends the mountain, moving toward a small, dry river bed.\n\nYou, Nev Naysayer, Able No-name, and four of the soldiers follow him.\n\n“Huh,” Able No-name grunts. “Strolling into the Ferralliise capital is like swimming with a rock tied to your foot.”\n\nNev Naysayer lifts an eyebrow. “When have you ever gone swimming?”\n\n“I-” Able glowers. “Plenty of times.”\n\nNev grins. “You’re a regular Squamarian. I bet your girlfriend’s a mermaid too.”\n\n“Maybe she is,” Able growls.\n\n“Quiet,” Avengral says sharply. “We’re nearing the sewers. Our voices will echo, and Ferralliise have adept hearing.”\n\n“Yeah,” Nev glances at Able. “Shhh.”\n\nAble frowns.\n\nYou feel like you’re going into battle with the three stooges. If someone throws a pie...\n\nAvengral motions left. You see what used to be a large spire. The stone is rubble in most places. Vines and roots grow up through the cracks. An iron gate is rusted halfway open. Avengral points to it. He slides through on his belly. You and the others follow.\n\nThe tunnel is dark and stinks of sulfur and rotten meat. It’s almost too dark to see, but Avengral seems to know exactly where he’s going. He was a captive and slave since he was a child... you can relate. Working for the Boss was a kind of slavery. If there’s time when this is over, maybe you and Avengral can talk about it. That is, if you don’t die first.\n\nHe turns left. You feel Able grab the back of your shirt for guidance. The soldiers follow behind him, and Nev is a few steps behind them.\n\nAvengral makes several more turns and then stops. You try to make a mental note of each turn in case you need to get back on your own. Avengral points to a small break in the ceiling. He motions for you to give him a boost.\n\nYou kneel, letting him step on your leg and then your shoulder. You push him up until he reaches the opening. He peeks through to make certain it’s clear, then he climbs over. He leans halfway out and pulls you up. You’re in an old cellar. The stone walls are in shambles, and the roof isn’t much better. It looks like it’s been abandoned for years.\n\nAvengral motions for your help, and the two of you pull the others up.\n\nAble peeks through a crack in the wall. “It looks empty,” he whispers. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”\n\n“It is as I remember it.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Bastossell was originally one of the greatest human cities in all of Sarrejiinn, but during the war it took a brutal beating. Most of the inhabitants of Bastossell either became Ferralliise or were devoured by them.The city was so vast that some humans continued to live in fortified districts long after the Ferralliise emerged as a significant threat.It wasn’t until the Ferralliise began kidnapping and enslaving the humans that the city was completely abandoned.<<endif>>\n“I can’t hear people ...or anything else,” a soldier says nervously. “Shouldn’t we be able to hear something? We’re in the middle of their capital.”\n\n“The bazaar is further toward the coast,” Avengral says quietly. “That is where most of their numbers will be. We must remain cautious though. The ruins are patrolled often. If we are discovered before we reach the bazaar, the Prince will surely be killed.”\n\n“Not to mention us,” Nev Naysayer adds.\n\nAble No-name swallows uncomfortably and grips his hammer tightly.\n\nAvengral leads you through the ruins. You smell the ocean and cooked meats mixed with spices. The bazaar must be near.\n\nAvengral stops the group behind a broken chunk of the outer wall that once lined the city. He motions toward a row of tents along the northern edge of the bazaar.\n\nHe whispers, “If the Ferralliise realized they had the Prince, they would have taken him directly to the Ferralliise King, there. However,” he motions toward the southern edge of the bazaar, near the coastline. “If the Prince managed to conceal his identity, he would have been taken to the slave cages, there,” Avengral points in the other direction, “near the coast. Half of us will search for the Prince there. The other half will search the King’s tents.”\n\n“The Ferralliise King,” a soldier says with hushed panic. “That’s suicide.”\n\n“No,” Avengral says, giving him a cold, hard stare. “It is our duty. True, the Ferralliise King poses the greatest risk, and so I will bare that burden. Who is with me?”\n\n[[Search the tents of the Ferralliise King with Avengral]]\n[[Search the slave cages south of the bazaar]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 675>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -6>>\n<<set $wpn = "The Cake is a Lie!">>\n<<endnobr>>You awkwardly grin. “How could I miss it?” You take a bite of cake and inch your way toward the exit. You take another bite and nod approvingly.\n\nShe smiles back but holds her gaze a bit longer than normal.\n\nYour arms fill heavy. And your legs lose their strength. You lean against the wall as the @@color:#000081;room spins.@@ Your eyes won’t stay open. You try to fight this feeling of exhaustion, but it washes over you in a sudden wave.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;collapse@@ against the floor just steps shy of the exit.\n\nThe elderly woman kneels down next to you. “Oh dear, I may have put a bit too much @@color:#000081;chloroform@@ in your slice.” She sighs. “Not to worry though. That just means you’ll wake with a splitting headache.” She shrugs. “But I suppose that’s a small price to pay considering the trouble you’ve caused across the street. I know someone who’s very eager to have a chat with you.” She smiles and wipes a smudge of @@color:#000081;frosting@@ from your cheek.\n\n“Oh, don’t look so surprised,” she coos. “You didn’t think the Boss could amass such an empire without a little help.” She laughs. “It's ironic how you endearingly call him the Boss when he’s such a small player.”\n\nShe continues to talk but the drugs take hold and you drift into darkness.\n\n******\n\nYou wake up handcuffed to a chair.\n\n“You’ve gotten soft,” an old familiar voice coos. “I thought I trained you better than that.”\n\nYou glance up and open your eyes. It’s the Boss.\n\nHe sits down in front of you. “I had hoped we could reach an understanding before it came to this, but unfortunately my hands are tied...perhaps not as literally as yours, but there’s nothing more I can do.”\n\n“Do?” You growl. “You mean kidnapping my sister wasn’t enough?”\n\nThe Boss rubs the bridge of his nose. “I know it may be difficult for you to believe, but I had very little to do with your sister’s kidnapping. It was not my idea.”\n\n“Am I supposed to believe someone else is running the show now?”\n\n“Unfortunately, yes.” The Boss glances at a tinted window. You see several shadowy forms.\n\n“Where’s Gillian?”\n\n“Safe...I assume. There’s very little they’re willing to tell me.”\n\n“Then what is this all about?” You growl and yank at the handcuffs.\n\n“Honestly,” the Boss shrugs. “I have no idea. They wanted you specifically, and they mentioned the Moscow job. They said you were exposed to some kind of alien particles or radiation or something of that nature.”\n\n“There was an explosion...but I’m fine.”\n\n“They believe otherwise. They’re going to run some tests. I only wanted to say goodbye.”\n\n“Do something,” you growl. “Don’t just leave me here.”\n\n“As I said,” the Boss turns away. “My hands are tied.” He leaves the room and closes the door behind him.\n\nYou see the shadowy figures shuffling back and forth with excitement. Maybe the Boss was telling the truth, maybe not. Either way, he’s going to get what’s coming to him. You’ll see to that.\n\nSuddenly a set of giant fans spin. The floor vibrates. It sounds like an engine kicking into overdrive.\n\n“Hey,” you shout at the tinted window. “Let me out of here.”\n\nThe walls sweat with blue and purple globs of goo. The goo pools at the center of the room and congeals into a giant glowing sphere. The room feels hotter, almost like an oven. The sphere pulsates.\n\n“Hey,” you shout again. “Let me out.” You struggle and yank at the handcuffs, but it’s no use.\n\nThe chair slides closer to the sphere, almost as if the giant gooey ball was emitting its own gravitational pull. The chair tilts and you hit the ground. You slide closer. It pulses with waves of blinding light.\n\n“You’re making a mistake,” you shout. “Please!”\n\nYour foot enters the sphere. Your skin feels like it’s on fire. You try to move, try to fight it, but you’re helpless. You feel the light envelop you. Then everything fades to black.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

<>\n<<set $wpn = "Déjà Vu">>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +8000>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTheButterflyEffect").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTheButterflyEffect").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You're disoriented and tired. The gun tastes like iron. It rattles against your teeth. You look up at the thug holding it. This feels like something you just dreamed about.\n\nThe thug leans in. He looks nervous. His eyes dart around the room. Somehow you know he’s about to say something about Gillian.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This scene is a “soft-reset”. I thought of it as a fun, playful way to maximize a single read-through word count. I know this is kind of gimmicky which is why I only use this kind of soft-reset three times in the story.<<endif>>\n“I’m sorry,” he says. “The Boss wanted you to know that Gillian is in good hands.”\n\nThe phrase cuts at your heart. You’ve heard it before. How many times? Why is this so familiar? Have you done this before?\n\nYou did your best to get Gillian out of the city. It must not have been good enough. The Boss probably has her at his penthouse with his army of goons – each one of them itching to have their way with her.\n\nGetting her out won’t be easy, but you already know that, like you’re speaking from experience. The Boss, the guns, Gillian... why can’t you remember? Then again, there are more immediate problems to deal with, like the gun French kissing your mouth.\n\nYou slide your finger in front of the hammer then use your other hand to @@color:#000081;punch@@ the thug in the crotch. He groans and falls on the floor. You swing around to kick him in the face, but you know it won’t hit him because...\n\nHe rolls, pulls a knife from his belt and flings it at you.\n\nYou deflect it with the gun, but hesitate pulling the trigger because you know he’s going to slip into the kitchen unscathed. You take cover behind the adjacent wall. You’re having a really bad case of déjà vu.\n\nYou can’t explain when or how, but you’ve already lived through this. That’s impossible though. But then again, why do you know he’s going to throw two kitchen knives at you as you peek around the corner?\n\nYou inch around the corner. Two kitchen knives fly past your ear and stick to the wall across from you. That’s just great. Somehow you can see the future... or you’ve finally gone insane.\n\nYou decide it’s time to end this quick. You aim the revolver at the cupboard across from him and @@color:#000081;pull@@the trigger.\n\nThe cupboard @@color:#000081;explodes,@@ sending the goon into the opposite wall. His head bleeds, and he’s out of breath. He probably didn’t realize you keep a box of grenades in with your dishes, but then again, you can never be too sure who’s stopping by for a meal.\n\nYou can’t let him follow you, but you promised Gillian you were turning a new leaf, so you @@color:#000081;knock him unconscious@@ and tie him to a chair.\n\nHow could you have known what was going to happen? Maybe it was just your heightened senses. Maybe all your training has finally culminated to a new @@color:#000081;unprecedented@@ level.\n\nBut why can’t you shake the feeling that you were with two other people? You hate having those kinds of dreams. It’s going to be bothering you all day. Where were you? Someplace unpleasant probably. It must be the baggage of working for the Boss, assassinating all those people.\n\nToo bad you can’t be free of it. The Boss’s goons will be storming your apartment once their buddy doesn’t check in. There’s no way you can come back. You pull a bag out from under the bed. It has money, clothes, guns, and documents to get you into or out of just about any country.\n\nHopefully it will be enough to get Gillian away from the Boss. He hasn’t killed her yet. He’s too masochistic for that. Since he knows she’s your sister, he’ll drag her suffering out for years.\n\nYou don’t have years. You don’t even have hours. If you’re going to get her back you need to act now. That nagging dream will have to wait. Going after the Boss is going to require all of your attention – Gillian’s life is on the line.\n\nYou can’t attack the Boss head-on. You’ll have to hit him sideways, knock him off balance. If you can thin out his army of goons, you might have a chance.\n\nHe hasn’t worked out his trade routes with the Chinese yet, and if they think the Russians are involved they won’t deal. He’ll have to keep the peace with a display of force and money. That should keep things wound tight enough for you to slip in and out of his penthouse unnoticed. Of course, there are a lot of moving parts and things could go bad quick...But you’re not going to die...Why did that thought pop into your head? It’s like you’ve seen it happen already...Is that what you were dreaming?\n\nYou shake your head. No, you need to stay positive.\n\nThe other option, though not as subtle, would involve blowing up several of the Boss’s warehouses on the docks. With an unknown enemy he’d have to protect his other facilities, thinning out his goons at the penthouse. The threat of a war might make them jumpy. Getting out could be a problem. You need to think of what’s best for Gillian.\n\nWhy do you have this nagging feeling that you’re already dead and you just don’t know it yet? That’s so unlike you. You need to focus on the mission at hand. How are you going to reacquaint yourself with the Boss?\n\n[[Keep him occupied with the Chinese]]\n[[Blowing the warehouse is quicker]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1488>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Just because you aren’t bound doesn’t mean you aren’t a prisoner. You’ve spent enough time with the Boss to know that much. You twist around, @@color:#000081;grabbing@@ the knight’s arm. You pull it behind his back and shove him against the wall with lightning speed.\n\nHe groans, but keeps his resolve. “By the Seven, wizard, what are you doing?”\n\n“This may be your kingdom and castle, but I’m @@color:#000081;nobody’s prisoner@@ or servant.”\n\nHe grits his teeth. “Aye.”\n\n@@color:#000081;“Good,”@@ you say, taking his sword and knife. “Then we understand each other.” You release his arm and give him a light push toward the small opening. “And you can go first.”\n\nHe rubs his arm and wrist and glares at you. “For a wizard, you are unusually quick and strong.”\n\n“Have you fought many wizards?”\n\n“No, but I have seen them in battle. They use the elements and illusion with great veracity, but they seldom fight in close combat or with much physical vigor.”\n\n“The wizards of Earth are a lot hardier.”\n\n“Wizard Quintus has amazed me with his many feats, but I have yet to see him fight in such a manner, or at all. Your training resembles the Red Wizards of the North. Is the Kingdom of Earth near the island of Vizzairn?”\n\n“Uh,” you better be careful how you answer. “You mean Quintus hasn’t told you?”\n\n“No, he speaks fondly of Earth, but never of its location. He has charted the stars many times but to no avail. Some believe he is lost.”\n\n“That’s one way of putting it.” You point at the small passageway with the swords. “Now get in there before the guards come back.”\n\nThe knight frowns, but squeezes through. You follow behind him.\n\n“I do not wish to offend,” the knight says. “But what meaning are we to take from the glowing orbs?”\n\n“You mean the portal?”\n\n“Aye. Some believe they are a sign of Rajongar, the end of the world. Wizard Quintus provides only the King with details of the matter.”\n\n“Then maybe you should ask the King.”\n\n“He does not speak of such things openly, not even with the knights of his court. If I am to defend the Realm and protect the King I must know the enemies I am to face.”\n\n“The end of the world isn’t something you can defeat with the tip of a sword.”\n\n“You speak truly Wizard of Earth, but that does not mean I will sit idly by and accept my end willingly.”\n\nYou laugh.\n\n“Do my intentions amuse you?” The knight says angrily.\n\n“No. I felt the same way when I woke up this morning, and I’m beginning to wonder if taking fate into my own hands was a good idea.” You squeeze out the corridor’s exit.\n\nYou stand in a small stone room. It’s dark and smells like moldy clothes.\n\nThe knight points to the left. “The stairs,” he says, leading the way. He opens the first door and steps into a large laboratory.\n\nQuintus turns at the sound, then calms at the sight of the knight. “Ah, finally.”\n\nThe knight lowers his head. “Apologies. We were delayed by an ogre which your wizard brethren slayed.”\n\n“Brethren?”\n\n“Yeah, Earth bro,” you say, hefting the green speckled blade against your shoulder. “Apparently I’m a wizard just like you.”\n\nQuintus sighs. “Yes, wizard.” He rolls his eyes. “I am sorry for the manner in which you have arrived here. If time and circumstance allowed, I would have been much more hospitable; however, the Hyperion vortex is becoming drastically unstable, and time is of the essence. I have studied my dead colleague, and I believe there is a way to circumvent the volatility of the flux relays.”\n\n“If I knew what that meant, I’m sure I’d be impressed.” You hand the knight back his weapons. “All I really care about is getting home, which you said you could do.”\n\n“Yes, I hypothesized a solution. There are still substantial obstacles to overcome, but I take it this means you have decided to join forces?”\n\nYou lean against a table. “It’s not like I have much else to do.”\n\nQuintus turns away from the desk and stares at you sternly. “Our situation is not one to be taken lightly. We are on the verge of a critical event. The portals that connect this world and Earth are increasing exponentially both in appearance and duration. If they continue to do so, the resulting energy surge could, in the least damaging scenario, destroy our chances of returning home.”\n\n“And the worst case scenario?”\n\n“Most of Earth and this planet would be destroyed.”\n\n“Well,” you say, scratching your head. “No pressure than. I assume, since you’re telling me all this, that you have a plan to stop that from happening.”\n\n“Yes, well, as I said, it’s more of a hypothesis. I have spent the last several months scanning for anomalies in this region, essentially tracking the appearance of fully-formed vortexes. That is how we came upon you so quickly. From the data I’ve collected, I believe there may be two ways of returning home. Both are extraordinarily dangerous and, of course, time sensitive.”\n\n“Get to the point,” you groan.\n\n“Yes,” Quintus nods. “As I stated earlier, I believe I have found a way to stabilize the vortex. The problem is that I do not have the power to do so. I have considered the possibility of harnessing a vortex that occurs naturally, but my tracking equipment is too slow, and we would arrive only after the portal had closed.”\n\nYou shrug. “So what is it you want me to do?”\n\n“Legends speak of an enormous fish, the Cetorix, which is large enough to consume boats whole. Over time, the chemicals in its stomach calcify, and given its size, the calcified ball should produce enough power to stabilize an artificial portal.”\n\n“Whoa,” you interrupt. “Don’t tell me this plan relies on legends and speculation.”\n\n“On this planet, legends often contain more truth than speculation. The lights and machinery in this room are powered by a series of calcified balls produced in similar fashion by much smaller fish.”\n\nYou glance at the lights and machinery. They seemed so familiar you must have overlooked them. They are being powered by electricity, or at least something like electricity.\n\nQuintus continues, “I believe the Cetorix, is a cousin to these smaller fish and shares the same unique trait. The Cetorix has only been seen in the far south, outside the protection of the King’s armies. You would have to go there, catch or kill the Cetorix and retrieve the calcified battery.”\n\n“Long hikes, fishing, sleeping in nature, it’s almost like a vacation.”\n\n“Well,” Quintus hesitates. “There is another option, though it would be a bit like catching lightning in a bottle.”\n\n“Go on.”\n\n“The vortexes,” Quintus takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “They have been appearing at random within the realm, but if we had a means of predicting their formation, we could circumvent the need of a battery. There is an elfin text that speaks of an ancient crown that allowed the elfin king, Slabaz, to see ripples in the sky and air that revealed a hidden civilization. I believe that hidden civilization was humanity and the ripples were early manifestations of the vortexes.”\n\n“You expect me to steal the family jewels too?”\n\n“Your humor is unappreciated.”\n\nYou shrug.\n\nQuintus continues, “Slabaz has been dead for centuries, and most of the elfin cities are in ruins. The elves that remain would give little resistance. With the crown, I should be able to track the portals faster and with much more accuracy.”\n\n“So what’s the catch?”\n\nQuintus swallows uncomfortably. “The elfin ruins are not far from here, and I certainly would have examined them myself, but the locals are too frightened to go into the jungles surrounding them. No one knows exactly what destroyed the elfin civilization, but they believe it still lives among the ruins.”\n\n“So it was one creature that destroyed the elfin cities?”\n\n“No one knows. Those who have attempted to explore the ruins have never returned.”\n\n“Okay,” you groan. “What kind of time frame am I dealing with?”\n\n“I can’t be certain. Soon. I wish I could be more specific. Even after seven years, there’s much I don’t know about the vortexes.”\n\n“That’s reassuring.”\n\n“If we don’t come up with a solution soon, I guarantee you we will either die or be trapped here until we do.”\n\n“And this day was starting off so well. Not to--”\n\nSuddenly the door burst open. “Quickly,” a peasant shouts. “The King demands your presence!”\n\n“Concerning what?”\n\n“Troubling news from the outer regions.”\n\nQuintus grumbles something under his breath then turns to you. “I must see to matters regarding the King.” Quintus motions toward the knight. “Avengral will provide you with whatever you need for the journey. Have you decided which path to take?”\n\n[[Travel south for the calcified battery]]\n[[Travel to the elfin ruins for the ancient crown]]\n[[Stay and listen to the King’s troubling news]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 528>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>These soldiers have been through @@color:#000081;enough@@ ...and you use the word soldiers loosely.\n\nThey look ready for a nervous breakdown. Sending one of them to investigate the light would put all of you in @@color:#000081;danger.@@ Avengral is smart and tough, but the wizard seems to know his weaknesses already. If it wasn’t for you, he would have eaten that poisonous food.\n\nThe only thing the wizards can’t count on is @@color:#000081;you.@@ You aren’t steeped in their old traditions, and that’s something you’ll have to use to your advantage. “Alright,” you say turning to Avengral. “You guys stay here. I’ll check out the light.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>If the reader chooses to examine the light, I make the assumption they’re feeling noble which is why two of the three choices at the end of this scene lead to death.<<endif>>\n“Verily,” Avengral nods. “Be mindful of their trickery.”\n\n“Trust me," you say, gripping the green speckled blade. "I will.”\n\nYou slowly make your way across the room @@color:#000081;toward@@ the faint light. As you draw near, you see a sign with a series of symbols. You realize the light is not emanating from the sign, but being reflected off the sign from an almost invisible pinhole in the ceiling.\n\n“What is it?” Avengral shouts.\n\n“A bunch of symbols,” you shout back.\n\nOf the group, Avengral is probably the only other person capable of reading, assuming these symbols are a language. “They look like squiggly lines grouped into shapes.”\n\n“The Language of the Dead,” Avengral jogs toward you, but still shouts. “Wizard Songlie has told me tales of such symbols. Only the oldest and greatest of wizards are capable of knowing their meaning.”\n\n“Is there a reason they call it the Language of the Dead?”\n\nAvengral stops a few steps behind you. “It is said that the bones of the most powerful wizards, when broken and scattered, form symbols such as these. The symbols, if deciphered properly, lead to something of great value. Some say the Spring of Life.”\n\n“Well,” you groan. “I’m not sure how that helps us.”\n\nSuddenly, you hear a loud boom, and the floor rumbles. The other soldiers scream in panic. You look back in time to see chunks of the floor crumble underneath them. The soldiers fall into the dark abyss below. Their screams break into gurgling whimpers. The floor continues to collapse, crumbling in your direction.\n\nYou take a shaky step back against the wall. You feel one of the symbols give slightly. You realize they’re buttons. If you can figure out what order to press them, maybe the floor will stop crumbling.\n\n“Hey,” you shout to Avengral. “Over here. We need to press these in the right order.”\n\nAvengral looks at you helplessly. “I do not know the Language of the Dead.”\n\n“Neither do I, but we need to figure something out.”\n\n“I would not know where to begin.” Avengral presses himself against the wall. “You must do it, Earth Wizard.”\n\nThe floor continues to collapse. You’re running out of time.\n\nYou examine the symbols again. Three shapes stand out: a triangle with seven squiggly lines, a circle with four squiggly lines, and a square with two squiggly lines.\n\nIt’s not like you have a lot of choices. If you don’t press one then you die. A guess is better than nothing.\n\n“Hurry,” Avengral urges. “Or death will soon greet us.”\n\n[[Press the triangle with seven squiggly lines]]\n[[Press the circle with four squiggly lines]]\n[[Press the square with two squiggly lines]]\n

[[Karen's|Karen]] grandfather, Ethan Ward, was a stern man, raised in a [[Christian|Father Isaac Cooper]] home. He was known to have a kind heart and stubborn spirit. Though he would never have admitted it, he was an extremely superstitious person.\n\nAt the age of seventeen, he saw his youngest brother thrown from a horse. The fall broke his neck, and he died soon afterward.\n\nIn the years that followed, often times a horse would be found outside the stables equipped with a saddle as if it had been ridden. And, though he could not explain it, Ethan thought he saw the apparition of his departed brother feeding the horses and restocking the stables.\n\nEthan did not speak of these events until many years later and only to his favorite granddaughter, [[Karen Ward|Karen]].\n

//The Song of the Myst Martyrs// is a heroic epic poem about a village on the precipice of hell. In the tale, a red mist rises out of the earth and hangs heavy in the air like a thick fog.\n\nThe villagers become so disoriented by the haze that, one by one, they fall off the edge of the world into the mouth of a [[demon|spirits]] who waits patiently to devour them.\n\nAfter many months and missing people, the village elders summon a hero to find the origin of the red mist and put an end to it.\n\nThe hero and his band of warriors follow the red mist to a hole that leads to the [[spirit realm]]. Once there, they battle three [[entities|spirits]]: Azor the Eye-eater, his brother Orza the Sinew Swine, and their mother Roza the Wronged.\n\nWhen they finally reach the demon, they discover their manmade blades are unable to strike a fatal blow for the beast heals quicker than their blades can kill.\n\nOut of desperation, they cut the monster to pieces and devour it so that nothing remains.\n\nThe red mist recedes and the village becomes safe once again. The hero and his warriors, however, are unable to return to the natural world for the demon, now trapped in their bellies, binds them to the [[spirit realm]] where they can never escape.\n\n[[Karen|Karen]] applied this notion of devouring a being to gain power and control to her [[experiments]]; however, the second volume of the work was missing and [[Karen|Karen]] never knew what came of the hero and his band of warriors.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 633>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<script>>\n\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\n\tUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Gunfire will only alert more guards. You need to stay hidden and hope the fire upstairs is enough to occupy the rest of them. You grab the throwing knifes - sharp, silent, and deadly - the perfect combination ...although, you have a feeling Wong’s guards won’t see it that way.\n\nAs the first thug steps into view you fling one of the knives. It hits the guard @@color:#000081;center mass.@@ He slides down the rest of the stairs and hits the floor with a hard thump. You step over him and climb the stairs back to the freezer. You stop before you reach the top. You see the silhouette of a figure... someone guarding the door.\n\nLuckily the stairs are dark enough to keep you concealed. You twirl the throwing knife around in your hand. This’ll need to be a close kill. You silently slink up the rest of the stairs.\n\nIn a single, fluid motion you wrap your arm around the figure’s neck and shove the knife into its chest. The knife clicks against metal... body armor?\n\nThe figure lurches forward. You swing for his neck as he flips you over his shoulder against the @@color:#000081;cold floor.@@ You cough and wheeze as the breath goes out of you. With that second swing the guard should be dead, but he’s standing over you. Black goo drips down his neck and chest. There’s some on your hand. It smells like oil.\n\nOil?\n\nYou twist and roll around a crate of frozen fish. “Chu? Is that you? I thought you were dead?”\n\n“I was... for a time.”\n\n“I felt really bad about setting off those explosives in Paris. You know it wasn’t personal, right? They were never meant for you.”\n\n“Yes. We each must serve our own masters. You must serve yours just as I must serve mine.”\n\n“Are you sure we can’t make a deal? I must have something you want.”\n\n“My desires in this life are no more. My will is but a mirror for my master’s.”\n\n“Uh... You really don’t seem like yourself Chu...”\n\n“I am not myself. I am something better.”\n\nYou’ve got a bad feeling about what comes next. You twist around the crate and fling two throwing knifes. One hits Chu in the chest. The other sinks into his cheek.\n\nHe doesn’t back pedal or flinch. He doesn’t even try to avoid them. He stares at you calmly. “A deal has already been reached,” Chu says calmly. “You will become like me.” He pulls the knife out of his chest and cheek. Instead of blood, you see more black goo. He drops the knives on the ground.\n\nYou take a cautious step back. “What happened to you?”\n\n“I am more than bone and blood. I am the next stage of humanity and soon,” he walks closer, “You will be too.”\n\nYou see wires protruding from the gash in his neck... and it looks like a circuit board inside his chest. “You’re...” You hesitate. It’s almost impossible to believe. You knew the Chinese were making advancements in cybernetics but this... this is just insane. “You’re a robot...”\n\n“The Boss has made arrangements to provide you with the same procedure. My master, Mr. Wong, is preparing for the operation now.”\n\n“You mean this was the Boss’s plan all along... He knew I would come here... He knew I would try this...”\n\n“Yes,” Chu says calmly. “Your movements have been anticipated.”\n\nYou turn to run, but Chu sprints to block your path. He’s so fast you can barely see him move. His heavy metal hand punches you in the @@color:#000081;face.@@ It’s like getting hit with a bag of bricks. You hit the ground hard. Everything spins.\n\n“You will find great satisfaction in serving your master.” Chu flings you over his shoulder. “You will be programmed to find pleasure in nothing else.”\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 129>>\n<<endnobr>>This plan was going to get messy eventually. You walk to a parked truck, slide your hand under the rear wheel well until you feel a key. You use it to unlock the doors. You get in and drive to the Boss’s penthouse.\n\nYou pull around a corner so the lobby is visible. It looks like a goon convention inside. Whether they know you’re coming or not, they’re prepared for a fight.\n\nEven if you shoot your way through, you may not get to Gillian in time. You’ll have to use all your ammo just to get to the elevator.\n\nYou could give yourself up and maybe the Boss will let Gillian go. Then again, he’s never been the generous type. Either way the odds are stacked against you.\n\n[[Let the bullet casings fall where they may]]\n[[Give yourself up willingly]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 455>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -6>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +14>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;“Alright,”@@ you shout to the sailor. “I’ll try to give you as much time as possible.”\n\nThe sailor ignores you and unties the boat.\n\nHe must not be the talkative type. It’s just as well.\n\nYou take a deep breath and ready yourself. The first wave of fish creatures is four strong, then three, then another four. If you can keep them in those small numbers, you might win...or at least hold them off without dying.\n\nThey each have a curved blade instead of a spear. You’re not sure if that’s a good thing yet. You take another deep breath and angle your blade down and back.\n\nThe first Natanus leaps at you. You sweep the blade up and twist hard. The force nearly @@color:#000081;splits@@ the creature in two. You follow through with the swing, @@color:#000081;cutting@@ across the chest of the next creature. It squeals and staggers sideways.\n\nThe third one comes at you from an angle. The curved blade slices the back of your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ You roll to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ the second swing and @@color:#000081;parry@@ the fourth creature’s blade. You @@color:#000081;elbow@@ it in its scaly face. Purple blood squirts from its nose holes.\n\nFrom this angle you can see the boat. The sailor rows at breakneck speeds. He’s nearly halfway to the ship.\n\n“Hey!” You shout.\n\n“With or without ye!” He shouts back, though his voice is faint being so far away.\n\nHe sold you out. @@color:#000081;Left you behind.@@ He never planned to help you.\n\nYou feel something hard thump against the back of your head. You flop face first into the sand. Your vision blurs, but you’re awake long enough to see a dozen of those fish creatures stand over you... then you...\n\n[[Pass out.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 709>>\n<<set $force = $force -8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Hello,” you say slowly stepping out of the bushes. “I’m @@color:#000081;not@@ looking for a fight.”\n\nThe knight brandishes his sword and gives you a menacing stare.\n\n“Hold,” the scientist shouts.\n\nThe knight lowers his sword, but doesn’t sheath it.\n\nThe scientist jogs to your position. “Remarkable,” he says examining you from a distance. “You’re alive. Does this mean the problems with the flux relays have been resolved?”\n\n“Uh,” you shrug. “I’m not sure what a flux relay is.”\n\n“You’re part of the Hyperion project, aren’t you? You’ve come to rescue me. You’re here because the team has found a way to stabilize the portal. It’s been nearly seven years. I must look very different now. My name is Quintus Villarreal. I am, or was, the lead physicist on the Hyperion Project.”\n\n“I’m not part of any project. I have no idea who you are. And as far as teams, if I had to guess, I’d say things didn’t go to well for them.”\n\nThe scientist swallows nervously. “If you’re not part of the Hyperion project, then who are you?”\n\n“Unlucky,” you say. “I was trying to rescue someone, just not you and not here, wherever here is. I got sucked through this purple glowy thing, and I woke up here. I’m not looking to cause trouble. I just need to get back to the city, so if you could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.”\n\nThe scientist laughs and points to the sky. “You see that tiny glimmering speck in the sky. That’s Earth, so the city would be roughly in that direction.”\n\nYou keep the gun down, but you make sure the scientist can see it. “Quit fooling around and tell me how to get back to the city.”\n\n“Believe me, if I knew how to get back, I would have done so by now. I’ve been here for nearly seven years. Don’t you think I want to go home?”\n\n“I have no reason to believe you,” you say sharply.\n\n“Then look around and see for yourself. Does this look like home to you?”\n\nNow that you think about it, the trees do look different, almost bluish. The medieval knights and the double moons do add to his point. “Okay,” you say. “If this isn’t Earth, what is it?”\n\n“The Hyperion team referred to this place as R4TS89. It was a static blip that appeared and reappeared in our scans of the Hyperion vortex, the purple glowy thing, as you so elegantly put it. The static had a cadence and pattern which we determined to be a planet. The indigenous people call it Ragnoss.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Hyperion project and Quintus Villarreal are mentioned several times in the opening segment of the book (sometimes not directly). In all the instances, his groundbreaking experiment goes awry; he vanishes, and is presumed dead.There are several “suspend your disbelief” moments in the world of Ragnoss that you might have noticed. 1) Why does everyone on Ragnoss speak English? 2) Why is their social hierarchy similar to Middle Ages’ Earth? 3) How could aliens on a distant planet look exactly the same as human?None of these questions are answered in Seven Bullets. I feel a little guilty for never addressing these glaring narrative holes, but I felt these unknowns never limited the fun playfulness of the adventure.I rationalized the human qualities of Ragnoss as something similar to one of the alien planets on the TV show Stargate SG-1, though there’s no evidence or explanation suggesting that in the text.<<endif>>\n“What, so you’re saying I travelled millions of miles through space?”\n\n“Millions of billions would be a more appropriate magnitude. And, like me, you’re now trapped here.”\n\n“Well, why don’t you just open up the vortex thingy, and we’ll go back the way we came.”\n\nQuintus shakes his head. “You’re obviously an uneducated buffoon. The vortex is unpredictable and dangerous.” Quintus kneels down next to the dead body. “I knew this man. He was my friend and colleague. We were both caught in the vortex together only seconds apart; however, I arrived here seven years ago, while he arrived with you, only moments before. Without some instrument to measure the cadence of the vortex, there’s no way of determining when, exactly, something will exit the portal.”\n\n“Yeah, okay. I can see how that would be a problem.”\n\n“As far as I can tell,” Quintus says, laying a handkerchief over the dead man’s face. “You and I are the only two humans to survive travel through the vortex. That makes us uniquely special. Once I can determine why my friend is seven years late and dead, but you and I are not, I will be much closer to resolving the problems with the flux relays and finding a safe way to return home. I would prefer it if you came with me willingly.”\n\n“You make it sound like I don’t have a choice.”\n\n“No, you really don’t, but then again, neither do I. You could be the key to unlocking the secrets of the Hyperion vortex. If you want to get home, which I believe you do, we must join forces.”\n\n[[Join the scientist]]\n[[Don’t join the scientist]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1070>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab @@color:#000081;Ayporos’s hand@@ and get to your feet. You pat the dirt off your clothes. “Where are we?”\n\n“Closer to our goal,” Ayporos says with a faint grin.\n\n“Our goal,” Jazelle grunts, while pushing herself up. “I’m not buying it.” She spits dirt out of her mouth. “If you are a demon shouldn’t you be able to leave whenever you want? And,” she pokes Ayporos in the chest. “Why would you want to leave? Don’t you get off from all this sadistic torture stuff?”\n\nAyporos rubs his chest. “After centuries of similarly meticulous tasks, as pleasurable as they may appear, even a demon can tire of its obligations.” Ayporos steps closer and glares down at Jazelle. “I have seen the spark that ignited the universe. I have felt the edge of creation expand. I have stood at the center of suns as they imploded into oblivion. Why would I desire to reside in this maze of self-loathing and despair?”\n\nJazelle swallows hard and steps back slightly afraid.\n\n“Torture is a form of entertainment I have grown tired of.” Ayporos leans in close to smell Jazelle’s neck and hair. He almost whispers. “The fragile and tedious world that you want so badly – is it impossible to believe that I would not want it too?”\n\n“I don’t know,” Jazelle says sheepishly.\n\nAyporos turns and swings his arm into the air. “This place is a shadow, a perverse reflection of your world. This is not my home nor has it been my choice to stay here. I am trapped just as you are. My transgression,” he snarls, “is that I want more than an eternity of servitude. I want what you were freely given. I want a choice.” He sighs as if a heavy weight rests on his shoulders. “After so many millennia my desire has not changed.”\n\n“Oh,” Jazelle says, though it’s more of a noise than a thought.\n\n“Well that’s just dandy,” you say surveying the area. “If you’re done whining, maybe we could find a way out of here?”\n\n“Yes, of course,” Ayporos nods. “This way,” he says, pointing toward the sound of a @@color:#000081;screaming voice.@@\n\nYeah, that should have been your first guess.\n\nYou follow Ayporos through a small opening between two rocky mountains. The ground becomes a flat plain of jagged rocks and barbed cactus.\n\nIn the distance you see a horse pulling an empty chariot. About six feet behind the chariot, a man screams in agony. His feet are bound together and tied to the back of the chariot. His body is cut and bruised. Bits of his flesh dangle from his back and chest. He’s covered in blood and thorns. It looks like he’s been dragged for miles.\n\nAyporos whistles and the horse makes a hard left toward you. “Hurry,” Ayporos says. “The horse will not stop.” He starts running.\n\nYou sprint beside him. “Why are we running?” You shout between breaths.\n\nAs the horse gallops past, Ayporos grabs the chariot. You grab the other side and @@color:#000081;pull yourself in.@@\n\nAyporos twist the reins and the horse turns back toward Jazelle. She runs slowly, but you manage to grab her arm and pull her into the chariot.\n\nShe coughs and wheezes obviously out of breath. “What,” she takes a breath, “the,” she takes another breath “hell.”\n\nAyporos grins. “You have the right sentiment, but the wrong question. A more accurate query would be Where in Hell.”\n\n“Rrrr,” she growls and glares at the back of his head.\n\n“This is one of the older wings. A bit more simplistic in design, but,” he points over his shoulder. “I think it remains true to the founding principles.”\n\nYou look at the centurion being dragged behind you. He shrieks as jagged rocks tear through his back and arms. You lean down to untie him.\n\n“Stop,” Ayporos says. “If you free him, the horse will quit running.”\n\n“How could you know that?” Jazelle asks, though it’s more of a condemnation.\n\n“I know because I engineered this small region of torment. Look closer at his body. You see, there,” Ayporos points at the gash on the man’s forehead. Before he finishes the words, the gash stitches itself back together. “His wounds heal within moments and thus, his torment lasts indefinitely.”\n\nJazelle looks away. “What did he do to deserve this?”\n\nAyporos shrugs. “I do not know. It was never my concern.”\n\n“You made this horrible place to torture him, but you never wondered what he had done?”\n\n“His judgment did not fall to me, and so I thought little of it.”\n\n“That’s horrible. You’re horrible.”\n\n“I am a demon and this is Hell. Here, I am exceptional. And as they say,” he glances back at the centurion and smiles, “when in Rome.”\n\n“Ugh,” Jazelle says with disgust.\n\nAyporos laughs and whips the horse to go faster. “We will be there shortly.”\n\n“Why can’t you just draw another door here?”\n\nAyporos glances at you warmly. “Some passageways are more heavily guarded than others. We must be cautious. If the others discover what we are attempting to do our punishment will be,” he shudders with revulsion, “unpleasant.”\n\n“Where are you taking us?”\n\n“We must cross another chamber before reaching the Gatekeeper.”\n\n“The Gatekeeper? I remember him.” You give Ayporos a hard stare. “I don’t think he’ll be happy about us getting out of here.”\n\nAyporos tilts his head like a mother chastising her child. “Everything has a price if you know the currency.”\n\nHis words make you feel a little uneasy. It’s not like dollars are the currency of choice around here. Maybe they use kittens or puppies – then again, it’s not like you have any of those either.\n\nYou feel the horse slow.\n\n“Jump,” Ayporos shouts.\n\nYou jump and land just shy of a cactus. Jazelle is not so lucky. Her hip bounces off a rock and her shoulder skids into a short stubby cactus.\n\nShe yelps with pain and glares at Ayporos. “Why didn’t we just cut the centurion loose and stop the horse?”\n\nAyporos looks genuinely surprised. “I had not even thought of that. I suppose I have been in Hell too long.” He looks back at the chariot which is already out of reach. He shrugs. “Something to keep in mind for the next occasion. Here,” he says pointing to three large boulders. “It makes little difference, but you may choose which boulder the door is placed upon.”\n\n[[Choose the first boulder]]\n[[Choose the second boulder]]\n[[Choose the third boulder]]\n

<>\n<<remember $honorBound = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Honor-bound\n Rescue the Prince\n

Satan confiscated your reward... o(╥﹏╥)o\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 706>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -25>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -3>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;sheath@@ your pistol. It’s too risky. You’ll have to wait for another opening. “Yeah, alright, I’m listening.”\n\n“Splendid.” The Boss says, clasping his hands together. “Do come out now.”\n\nYou step out from behind the wall. All the guns are pointed at your chest.\n\nYou see Gillian in the helicopter as it lifts into the air. You stare at the Boss. “So talk.”\n\nHe rolls his eyes. “Manners, please. Haven’t I taught you anything?”\n\nYou scowl and toss your pistol out of reach.\n\nHe takes a step closer to you. “This isn’t the place to discuss such... sensitive and urgent matters.” He motions for the door. “After you.”\n\nYou turn in time to see a jet cut through the sky overhead. It fires a missile and in an instant the helicopter erupts into a ball of flames. It plummets into the roof. The blast sends you and the Boss through the air like a pair of @@color:#000081;rag dolls.@@ You both flop and slide across the lower platform.\n\nYou reel in pain. Your rib is @@color:#000081;broken,@@ and you’re @@color:#000081;bleeding@@ bad from the side of your head. “Gillian,” you groan and try to stand. You stumble toward the flames but collapse. Everything spins.\n\nThe Boss stands over you and shouts something you can’t understand. Two thugs drag you to the stairwell. You see the Boss sprint to the wreckage and pull a body out. Your vision blurs before you can tell who it is.\n\n“Gillian,” you try to say, but only a faint groan comes out. Then everything goes black.\n\n******\n\nYou wake up in a bed. Your wounds have been @@color:#000081;bandaged.@@ You’re on some serious pain killers, but you still feel achy. “Gillian,” you say, but the words come out scratchy. You look around the room. The Boss is sitting next to you. “Gillian,” you say again.\n\n“Alive,” the Boss assures you. His expression suggests that’s not the whole story.\n\nYou sit up. “I want to see her.”\n\nThe Boss lowers his head and points to a curtain on the other side of the room. You get up and shamble to the other side of the room. You take a deep breath and pull back the curtain.\n\nYour sister floats in a large glass tank. It’s filled with a light blue gelatin. Tubes stretch from her nose, chest, and arms to a machine that’s monitoring her vitals.\n\n“Is she--”\n\n“Comatose,” the Boss says.\n\n“What happened?”\n\n“One of my projects is set to disrupt the financial interests of several competitors. The stakes...and costs have never been higher. We are on the precipice of a new age. When my plans are fully realized, humanity will never be the same. There are other parties hell-bent on stopping me.”\n\n“What else is new? That’s why I wanted to quit this business.” You stare up at Gillian’s limp body.\n\n“Then it seems you cannot quit yet. The explosion contained a toxin. We were all exposed. We are all dying. We have weeks...perhaps less. We must put aside our disagreements and seek vengeance jointly. I’ve traced the origin of the toxin to a facility in Montana. I have intercepted several secret transmissions. There appears to be a cure, but the facility is in disarray. Some of the patients have gone missing.”\n\n“What?” you grunt. “Am I just supposed to believe this isn’t another one of your elaborate stunts?”\n\n“I truly wish it was. Trust me, I would send all of my agents if I thought it would make a difference, but in this particular situation, I think you have the most to lose. And that means you have the greatest reason to fight. You see your sister there. You see her wounds are real.”\n\nYes, you see her wounds. You look away shamefully. If this is a ploy, the Boss knows what strings to pull. “Is that it?”\n\n“There is another option,” the Boss says. “My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius, who is quite knowledgeable in matters such as these. I offered her a small fortune, which she has rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work toward a cure, it will accelerate our recovery.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = ($wordcount + 200)>>\n<<set $wpn = "Fists of Fury">>\n<<set $melee = $melee + 4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns + 2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp + 5>>\n<<set $force = $force + 3>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost + 24120>><<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You slide your finger in front of the hammer then use your other hand to @@color:#000081;punch@@ him in the crotch. He groans and falls on the floor. You swing around to @@color:#000081;kick@@ him in the face. He rolls, pulls a knife from his belt and flings it at you.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I work hard to give each of my books a unique style. “Summer Blockbuster” was the codename I used to describe the style used in Seven Bullets.The pacing and dialogue was inspired by fun, big budget, action movies.<<endif>>\nYou deflect it with the gun, then twirl the gun with your fingers and @@color:#000081;fire@@ three rounds. He slips into the kitchen before a bullet can find him. You take cover behind the adjacent wall – can’t be sure if he’s still packing.\n\nYou inch around the corner. Two kitchen knives fly past your ear and stick to the wall across from you. That’s just great. He’s trying to kill you with your own cutlery.\n\nYou decide it’s time to end this quick. You aim the revolver at the cupboard across from him and pull the trigger.\n\nThe cupboard @@color:#000081;explodes@@, sending the goon into the opposite wall. His head bleeds, and he’s out of breath. He probably didn’t realize you keep a box of grenades in with your dishes, but then again, you can never be too sure who’s stopping by for a meal.\n\nYou smirk and point the revolver at him.\n\n[[Shoot him|Shoot him]]\n[[Knock him unconscious|Knock him unconscious]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 416>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +3>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +345>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -99>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveThatsFamily").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockThatsFamily").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>There are too many goons to make a clean escape. You’ll have to stay and draw their fire. It’s the only way to keep Gillian safe. “Drive,” you shout, “Go now.”\n\nThe tires squeal as Gillian peels out of the parking garage.\n\nThe goons outside pose more of a threat. You pull out your second pistol and twist around the corner with lightning speed. You fire @@color:#000081;two quick shots,@@ taking out one of the @@color:#000081;henchmen,@@ then you duck behind a car.\n\nYou see another henchman trying to flank your right side. You drop to the ground and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ from beneath the car. You @@color:#000081;clip his ankle@@ and he falls to the ground screaming.\n\nThe other thugs are still advancing. They’re too spread out for you to do serious damage, but maybe you can make a hole. You @@color:#000081;fire@@ a few rounds at one of the thugs so he’ll keep his head down. Then you make a sprint for the lobby and the smoke cover.\n\nYou feel a sharp @@color:#000081;pain@@ in your chest and you stumble forward. Your shirt turns red. Your vision blurs. You drop to your knees as the strength leaves your body.\n\nYou glance over your shoulder – the thugs from the parking garage. You almost forgot about them. You try to raise your guns, but you feel another sharp pain in your chest. You drop the weapons and slump against the pavement. In the distance you see Gillian pull around a corner, out of sight. She’s made it. She’s free. You actually saved her. \n\nYou @@color:#000081;cough@@ and blood splatters down your chin. The bullet must have pierced your lung. You’ve beaten the odds before, but this...\n\nYou’ve seen death enough times to know what it looks like...\n<<if $introComments is true>>There are four kinds of endings I use in Seven Bullets: The noble death, the goofy mistake, the tragedy, and the just dessert.Most endings at the beginning of the book are noble deaths or goofy mistakes because these encourage more read-throughs.The tragedy and the just dessert feel more final and appear closer to the end of the book.<<endif>>\n“No,” you hear an old familiar voice shout. “You were supposed to live.”\n\nYou don’t have the strength to tilt your head, but you recognize the voice. It’s the Boss. He kneels down beside you, cradling your head in his arms. “It was never supposed to end like this,” he whispers as the tears well up in the corners of his eyes.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;try to speak,@@ but only blood comes out.\n\n“No,” the Boss cries, “No, no, no, no,” his voice trails off. “I had so much planned for you.” \n\nYour @@color:#000081;grin@@ is faint but full of satisfaction. No one thought you’d stay in retirement... maybe this is the only way to prove them wrong. You think about Gillian one last time and then everything fades to black.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 463>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;Surveying@@ the environment is the priority right now. Once you have your bearings, you can make a map and get out of this uncanny place.\n\nYou walk to the ladder cut into the rock wall. You test the first few notches. They seem strong enough to hold you, so you climb.\n\nA faint light glimmers above you. It’s too distant to see its source.\n\nYou keep climbing.\n\nThe light seems manmade. You’re suddenly struck by an uncomfortable thought. You have no idea what the people are like here. You don’t even know where here is. You can't let your guard down.\n\nThe crow made it sound like the inhabitants wouldn’t like you personally. There’s not much you can do about that, except get ready for a fight.\n\nYou almost laugh. You’re obviously going insane. This place is just an illusion – a hallucination. There are no people. There isn’t even a mountain. You’re probably just climbing a fence or a couch.\n\nYeah, yeah, that definitely has to be it. You sigh and keep climbing.\n\nIt’s hard to tell how long you’ve been @@color:#000081;climbing.@@ You glance down. The flickering light from the alcove looks like a tiny speck. You glance up.\n\nThe light above doesn’t appear any closer. You lean against the rock wall a few inches from your back and flex your fingers. This place doesn’t make sense. Of course, there are a lot of things that don’t make sense. You can’t help but think of Gillian.\n\nYou don’t know where she is or even how to find her. All you know for certain is that you're to blame. You shake your head. Guilt won’t help you find her. You need to push those thoughts aside.\n\nYour little sister is out there somewhere, and you’re going to find her. You’re going to keep her safe. And anything that stands in your way won’t be standing for long.\n\nYou start climbing again with new @@color:#000081;determination.@@ It only feels like an instant, but you reach the top of the ladder and pull yourself up, into an expensive looking office. It’s almost as nice as the Boss’s.\n\nA businessman stands near an open window.\n\n“Hello?” You say.\n\n“I’ll do it,” he screams. “Don’t come any closer. I swear I’ll do it.”\n\n“Do what?”\n\nHe slides his foot out the window and onto the ledge.\n\n“Oh,” you say. “Don’t let me stop you. I’m just here for the view.” \n\n“What?” The man says.\n\n“Yeah, don’t mind me. I really @@color:#000081;don’t care.”@@\n\nThe man looks back at you nervously. “What?”\n\n“You’re not going to be long, are you? I need to use the window too.”\n\nThe man glances over the ledge then back at you. His tie flaps against his shoulder. He looks almost relieved. “You’re jumping too?”\n\n“Uhh...”\n\n[[“Well yeah, of course I’m jumping too.”]]\n[[“No, but I’ll give you a little push if you need one.”]]\n

The two shamans [[Karen|Karen]] consulted were brothers. They lived in a rundown camper in a sparse part of the desert many miles outside of town. They had chosen this deserted location because it provided a more suitable environment to communicate with the [[spirit realm]].\n\nOn occasion, when they were desperate for money, they would hold séances, perform exorcisms, and, though they despised it, read palms and tarot cards.\n\n[[Karen|Karen]] was willing to pay them a large sum of money to help her travel to the [[spirit realm]], but they refused her for two reasons. First, [[Karen|Karen]] did not yet have enough spiritual fortitude to [[spirit walk]].\n\nAnd secondly, travel in the [[spirit realm]] had become dangerous, and the [[entities|spirits]] there were growing restless.\n\nThe two shamans could not explain this strange turmoil, but they warned [[Karen|Karen]] to stay away from the [[spirit realm]] until tensions settled.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 441>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +1340>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You turn around and head into the kitchen. Customers scream in the other room. Most of them run for the exit, at least that’s what it sounds like. A few little explosions can have that @@color:#000081;effect.@@\n\nYou’ve heard rumors about the exotic weapons Wong has collected. The guy you talked to said Wong kept them in a giant freezer, and, as it just so happens, restaurants have giant freezers. A couple of the chefs yell at the waiters. They’re trying to put out a @@color:#000081;blazing fire@@ on the far wall. Luckily, they haven’t noticed you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slip@@ into the freezer. There are shelves of frozen food, but no guns. Your contact wouldn’t have lied about something like this. Then again, this could be the wrong freezer. Or maybe there’s a hidden passage somewhere. Or worse still, Wong may have moved the guns already.\n\nYou’ve made it this far; it’d be a waste not to at least look. You rub your fingers along the shelves and the walls searching for a switch or a button, something that might open a hidden door.\n\nThere, behind a package of chicken, a small red button. You press it.\n\nThere’s a faint click, and the whole shelf hisses open. You pull it out all the way, revealing a set of stairs. You follow the stairs down into a small, well lit room. The walls are lined with guns and the corners are lined with crates of equipment. It’s an armory befitting a small army. Some countries don’t have this many guns.\n\nEach weapon looks custom made and handcrafted to @@color:#000081;perfect specifications.@@ They look exotic, elegant, and particularly deadly. It’s almost impossible to choose one.\n\nWong must have spent a fortune to have these weapons built...or stolen. Your contact was right. It’s an impressive collection. Wong won’t mind if you take just one. You grin and imagine his crazed expression when he learns some are missing.\n\nYou grab a bag and peruse the isles. It’s a tough decision. They’re all so incredible.\n\nAfter what feels like an eternity, you limit your selection to three weapons. A light and durable sniper rifle with a very impressive and unusual scope, a large and oddly shaped shotgun with an assortment of ammunition, or a metal case containing a collection of strange and exotic throwing knifes.\n\nSuddenly, you hear voices coming from the stairs. You’ve spent too much time drooling over these weapons. Wong’s thugs are probably making sure his stash is safe.\n\nThose stairs are the only way in and out. Looks like you’re in a bad way.\n\nYou better grab a weapon quick and get ready for a fight.\n\n[[Grab the sniper rifle]]\n[[Grab the shotgun]]\n[[Grab the throwing knifes]]\n

Logan Miller, the professor overseeing [[Karen's|Karen]] thesis, had told her, on more than one occasion, that her theories belonged in a creative fiction class, and despite the research she had done at the [[University Library]] and the large sum of first hand experiences she had collected, he simply could not except her theories as fact and was forced to drop her from the class.\n\nHer thesis had attempted to prove that a [[spirit realm]] did, in fact, exist and could be accessed given the right conditions.\n\nSince she had lost the support of her teacher, she decided to conduct an [[experiment|experiments]] on her own that would prove, beyond a doubt, that her thesis contained more substance than speculation.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 917>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +6>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $force = $force +6>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The Ferralliise are breaking through the wall too quickly. Even if Quintus had the machine running and ready to go, you’d be overrun. You need to push back this wave and secure a perimeter around the lab. Maybe the outcome of this war isn’t your problem, but getting home is, and you need to keep that lab @@color:#000081;safe.@@\n\nYou run alongside the King. “What’s the plan?”\n\nHe smiles. “We kill them all.” He slices through two Ferralliise as if they were twigs. He’s obviously strong and knows how to fight, but that doesn’t mean the peasants are capable of the same.\n\n“These people are fighting with pitch forks and rocks?” You warn. “They’ll get slaughtered.”\n\n“They fight for the glory of their kingdom and their King.”\n\nThat wasn’t exactly the answer you were looking for. You @@color:#000081;parry@@ a Ferralliise attack and shove the creature into a @@color:#000081;burning@@ building. “The weak and injured need to fall back. They’ll only get in the way. We need to siphon off one of the openings and funnel those creatures into a crossfire.”\n\nThe King laughs. “We will crush our enemies wherever they stand. If they wish to dash into our swords, then we ought let them.”\n\n“We need tactics,” you growl. “And a plan.”\n\nThe King ignores you, moving further into the chaos of battle. He’s gleeful with rage and blood. His passion is killing. You can see that now. It’s possible he wanted this war to happen all along just so he could kill unrestricted.\n\nAs usual, you’ll have to take matters into your @@color:#000081;own hands.@@ The knights won’t be much use. They’re honor-bound to follow the King even if it means suicide. You need to block the hole in the wall before it spreads.\n\nYou search the crumbling houses for something that will burn. You find some hay and two jugs of alcohol. You @@color:#000081;fling@@ the two jugs into the opening. They shatter against the ground and wall.\n\nThe Ferralliise hesitate at the smell and then realize what you’re doing, but they’re too slow. You ignite the hay and toss it into the liquid. The opening and a handful of Ferralliise light up with flames. They reel and @@color:#000081;flee@@ back into the hoard.\n\nIt won’t keep them out forever, but it should slow them down. If you can thin out the Ferralliise coming through the gate, you just might survive this wave.\n\n“NO!” A deep voice bellows.\n\nYou turn to see the King sprint toward the wizard’s tower.\n\nIt’s the Prince.\n\nSome of the Ferralliise must have broken through the line. They have him surrounded.\n\nThe King is too close to the front gate. He’ll never make it in time.\n\nThe Ferralliise pounce on the Prince, sinking their teeth into his neck. Blood spasms out the wound with fatal speed.\n\n“NO!” The King growls again. He signals for all of his knights to move to the Prince.\n\n“Stop,” you shout. “You can’t leave the gate undefended.”\n\nThe King ignores you again. He slays the Ferralliise surrounding his son, but it’s too late. The Prince’s body is limp and pale. No one could survive that much blood loss.\n\n“Knights,” you command. “Defend the gate.”\n\nThey want to comply. They know what’s at stake, but they’re honor-bound to obey the King. They form a protective circle around him and the dying Prince.\n\nMore of the Ferralliise push through the gate. You’re quickly becoming outnumbered.\n\n“Kill them!” The King screams. “Kill them all!” The King lays the Prince on the ground and sprints for the front gate. His knights follow.\n\nThey bash and kill their way through. The King lifts his sword at the hoard outside the wall. “Charge!” He yells.\n\n“No,” you shout. “Stay behind the wall.”\n\nThe King is too emotional, too overcome with grief. He’s not thinking clearly. If he wants to get himself killed, fine, but you can’t let the city fall.\n\nYou sprint to the wall. “Aim for the enemies on the King’s right,” you shout to the archers.\n\nThe archers hesitate.\n\n“By order of the King!” You @@color:#000081;shout.@@\n\nThe archers unleash a flurry of arrows. A cluster of Ferralliise are struck, giving the King just enough room to retreat safely.\n\nHe sees the opening, but ignores it. He pushes further into the hoard. He and the knights will be dead in seconds. There’s not much you can do about that now.\n\nThe only good thing is that the King’s suicide attack drew some of the Ferralliise away from the front gate. You shout down to the peasants, “Barricade the gate!” You motion toward two wooden carts and some of the stone boulders.\n\nYou grab a bow from a dead archer and aim at one of the few remaining giants. The arrow hits him in the ear, and he howls with pain. You turn back to the archers. “Ignite your arrow tips with fire and concentrate your attacks on the giants.”\n\nThe archers nod.\n\nIf the giants fall, the wall has a chance at staying up, but that still leaves the hoard and the Blue Wizards. You’ve faced worse odds and lived. You glance down at the peasants and weary warriors. They already look beaten. You need them to fight. You need them to believe they’ll win this battle. You need to inspire them.\n\nYou were never one for speeches, but now might be a good time. On the other hand, you already declared this castle was under your protection, and the time for talk is over.\n\n[[Inspire the people with a speech]]\n[[Inspire the people with action]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 403>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $wpn = "A Spoonful of Sugar">>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You duck behind the kid with your arm around his throat.\n\n“You think I won’t shoot him too.” She says. “I will. I’ll do it.”\n\n“If you wanted the kid dead you would have @@color:#000081;shot him@@ when we walked through the door. Now lower your gun.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>Is this an overt morality choice?Initially you might think so, but for a choice to have a moral component it needs to have a consequence. In this case, the choice doesn’t result in punishment or reward.Alice in Wonderland was part of the inspiration for these arbitrary choice/outcomes. I love the way the story diverges in Alice in Wonderland and I tried to capture that playfulness in some of these scenes (even if they seem a bit violent).<<endif>>\nShe swallows hard and keeps the pistol aimed at your head. “No, you listen to me. Put your—”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shoot@@ her in the arm before she can finish the sentence.\n\nShe drops her gun and falls against the desk. She groans with pain, but manages to keep from screaming.\n\nShe’s been trained. She’s not as good as you, obviously, but she’s good. You pick up her pistol.\n\n“You won’t get away with this,” she says through gritted teeth.\n\n“Really?” You say while pushing her onto her side to search her pockets. “And what is it you think I’m trying to get away with?”\n\n“He doesn’t belong to you.”\n\n“Who said I wanted him?”\n\n“Don’t hurt him,” she pleads. “He hasn’t done anything.”\n\nYou find her wallet then push her into the corner. “You’re in timeout until you can learn to play nice.”\n\nShe groans as her arm hits the wall.\n\nThe ID in her wallet says she’s private security and a cop. You look back at the kid. “You recognize her?”\n\nHe nods his head.\n\nYou sigh. “Well who is she?”\n\n“My nanny.”\n\nYou glance back at the woman. “You’re doing a bang up job – a regular @@color:#000081;Mary Poppins.”@@\n\nShe scoffs at you.\n\n“The kid’s yours.” You toss the wallet onto her lap.\n\n“Wait, is that it? You’re just leaving?”\n\nYou stop and turn around. “You’re absolutely right. A thank you would be nice.”\n\n“What?” She shouts. “I’m not thanking you. You shot me in the arm.”\n\nYou shake your head. Some people are impossible to please.\n\n“You can’t just go. You have to help us.” She pushes herself up. “If you’re not one of the people who kidnapped Seth then prove it.”\n\n“I’d really love to indulge your morality but,” you count your remaining ammo, “I’m already late for a meeting.”\n\nShe smirks. “What are you going to do about the snipers?”\n\n“They’re yours, aren’t they?”\n\nShe shakes her head.\n\nYeah, that probably would have made things too easy.\n\n“If you really aren’t responsible,” the woman says. “Then you’ll help us escape. And besides, there’s no way you’ll get to that car on your own.”\n \n[[Help her]]\n[[Leave her]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 867>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -16>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>As much as you’d like to leave, you’ve got a feeling this research is more important and far reaching than you can imagine. You need to @@color:#000081;uncover@@ as much as you can before destroying it.\n\nYou take a deep breath and focus your mind. As you concentrate, the cold slowly @@color:#000081;vanishes@@ from your arms and legs. The pain and icy chill no longer exist. Your body feels warm. You know it’s only an illusion – a little mental trick you learned from the Boss, but it should allow you to sustain these subzero conditions a bit longer.\n\nYou dig deeper into the documents. A whole section is dedicated to non-terrain species. Non-terrain? What is that supposed to mean? Aliens?\n\nYour brain stutters for a moment.\n\nThe star charts. The teleportation device. The strange genetic code. Assuming aliens are involved isn’t that much of a stretch... or is that still the drugs talking?\n\nBefore you can debate yourself, a heavy metal object @@color:#000081;slams@@ across the back of your head. You unintentionally @@color:#000081;head-butt@@ the console and roll to the ground.\n\nYou blackout for half a second, but your training kicks in, and your body automatically fights the urge to pass out. Instead, your head throbs with pain, your knees quiver, and you feel warm blood soak the back of your shirt.\n\nYou’ve recovered from worse, but you’re still disoriented when the second blow comes. You twist, but not fast enough. You feel a metal flashlight smash into your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ You growl with pain and roll behind one of the servers as the third swing sends the metal flashlight clanging against the floor.\n\nYou hear laughter.\n\n“Everyone said you were supposed to be sooo dangerous. HA. Bested by a flashlight. Ha ha ha.” The guard is euphoric with laughter.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>From the opening scene of the book, the main character’s reputation is a key factor in much of the conflict. Old grudges or other killers looking to make a reputation are the most common antagonists in the story.<<endif>>\nYou can make out his basic form through the green coolant. He’s big – maybe twice your size. Judging by his stance and physique, he’s been trained – ex-US military most likely. He was able to sneak up on you, which means he’s more than the brute he appears to be. You’ll need to be careful.\n\n“I’ve already got the information,” you groan. “Anything happens to me, and it goes viral.”\n\n“Ha,” the guard laughs again. “Let it go public. It won’t change a thing. You and your little friend will be the first to go, then the city, and soon the world.”\n\nYour little friend? Could he mean Gillian? You suddenly feel a burning rage ignite in your chest. “You just said the wrong thing pal.” You step out from behind the server. “I’m going to mess you up good.”\n\nHe grins and tosses the flashlight aside. “Won’t need this.” He knots his hands into fists.\n\nHe’s probably right. You already have a concussion, and this cold isn’t helping your speed any. The odds of beating this guy are slim. Your best chance is to provoke him into making a mistake and then use that as a means of escape. He’s arrogant enough, it shouldn’t be too difficult.\n\nYou yawn disinterested. “This is already boring me.”\n\nHe glares at you to mask his surprise. He’s probably not used to such blatant disregard of his strength.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;casually@@ lift your arm and motion for him to come at you.\n\nHe snorts with rage and charges at you like a bull – just what you were counting on.\n\nYou roll back, @@color:#000081;slamming@@ your heels into his stomach. He inhales with a jerk as the wind’s knocked out of him. You use his own momentum to @@color:#000081;fling@@ him through the air and into the opposite wall. His body makes a loud thud and slides to the floor. He’s hurt, but he won’t be down for long.\n\nYou struggle to your feet. Your arms and legs are already shaking from the cold. You sprint through the door and down the hall. You hear voices coming from the elevator. You’ll have to double back and wait for an opening.\n\nYou hurry past the server room. You can hear the brute growling and getting up. You reach for the PDA, but it’s not in your pocket – not in any of your pockets. You must have @@color:#000081;dropped it@@ in the struggle. You’ve lost your one advantage. You’ll just have to improvise.\n\nYou duck into a side room full of electrical equipment. You search for a weapon or something you could use to defend yourself. There’s nothing worth grabbing.\n\nYou glance back at the machinery. You @@color:#000081;recognize@@ it from the schematics. It’s the teleportation device. If it works, it just might get you out of this mess. The UI and keyboard have strange symbols on them. It’s impossible to read, almost like an ancient hieroglyphic language. If only there was a manual or something.\n\nSuddenly you hear the door slide open. It’s the brute.\n\n“You can’t escape,” he snarls. As he says it, his eyes glimpse a red button to your right. He looks away quickly, but he knows you’ve seen it. The red button must activate the teleporter, and he knows it – and now he knows you know it.\n\nYou have no idea where the teleporter will take you, but what are the odds it’s worse than the situation you’re in now?\n\n[[Hit the red button]]\n[[Don’t hit the red button]]\n

Quentin Weaver was an exceptional athlete, earning a full scholarship for his skills in Track & Field. He was attractive enough and funny when the moment required. He made friendships easily and without reservation for he was a kind and mostly good person.\n\nHis only flaw, if it could be called a flaw, was his 3.4 GPA. His father would tolerate nothing less than an ‘A’ and made every effort to chastise and encourage his son to do better.\n\nWhen Quentin was not in class or on the field, he was busy studying at the [[University Library]]. On many occasions he worked late into the night reviewing notes and memorizing formulas which, despite his hard work, provided little improvement to his test scores.\n\nWhen he received his final grade in Calculus, a B-, he cried and feared the moment when the news would reach his father. He returned to the [[Library|University Library]] to study, but found it impossible to open a single book.\n\nInstead, he stared intently at the librarian, [[Karen Ward|Karen]]. He had fantasized about her for months, but had been too busy to introduce himself. On this particular evening, since nothing was holding him back, he started a conversation which led from the library to her [[apartment]].\n\nThey kissed and cuddled and slowly drifted to sleep.\n\nAt 3 AM, Quentin was jostled awake by a shadowy figure that resembled his departed mother. She stood at the foot of the bed and stared affectionately at him. Her lips moved, but her voice came from the mouth of [[Karen Ward|Karen]] Ward who was still asleep.\n\nShe spoke lovingly to him and encouraged him to enjoy his hardships as much as his victories then she slowly faded into the darkness.\n\nQuentin felt a sense of joy at seeing his mother, but he also felt perplexed and a slight discomfort. He could only explain the event as some sort of Freudian dream in which he linked [[Karen|Karen]] to his mother.\n\nHe quickly left her bed to pace unnervingly in the living room where he met [[Emma Fisher|two]], Karen’s roommate.\n\nHe told [[Emma|two]] of the strange dream and how he could not bear to look at [[Karen|Karen]] again without envisioning his deceased mother.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 366>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +1>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s time to get your hands dirty, literally.\n\nYou unlock the door and yank the vocal employee inside. You @@color:#000081;jab@@ him lightly in the throat and fling his head into the bookshelf – not hard enough to knock him out, just enough to daze him. You slam your knuckle into his thigh, then pinch his cheeks hard until they’re rosy red.\n\nYou prop him against a wall, open the door, and shout, “Security.”\n\nYou pull the sniper rifle apart and put the pieces in the desk drawers. It’s too cumbersome to take and wouldn’t be much use once you’re inside the penthouse. The only thing you pocket is the scope. You run back to the doorway and shout, “Security.”\n\nThe employee is wide-eyed. He mumbles something at you and shambles your direction. You lead him out of the office and act as if he’s threatening you. “Security,” you shout.\n\nYou let the employee grab your collar and shake you. Two guards restrain him.\n\nYou shake your head and straighten your clothes. “You think you can come to work drunk? @@color:#000081;You’re fired.”@@ You look at the security guards. “Would you escort this degenerate out of the building.”\n\nThey nod and carry him off. He tries to fight them.\n\nThe other employees stare at him bewildered.\n\nYou use the outburst to your advantage and slip around the corner in the opposite direction. You take the stairs to the lower floor and use the elevator to reach the lobby.\n\nYou glance across the street. There are maybe five guards in the lobby. You can’t see Gillian. She should have made it there by now. That incident in the office couldn’t have slowed you down that much.\n\nYou hear a faint noise in the distance – a sound unusual for the city. You glance to your right.\n\nA helicopter.\n\nCrap. \n\nLooks like they’re taking her to the roof.\n\nOnce they get her in the air, it’ll be almost impossible to get her free. You have to move quick.\n\nIt’d be tough to takeout the helicopter from here – the bazooka is still at your apartment. The guards in the lobby shouldn’t be a problem, but you may not reach the roof in time.\n\n[[Focus on the helicopter]]\n[[Race to the roof]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 225>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -3>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You park in front of the school. “Come on kid.”\n\nHe doesn’t move. “You’re supposed to open the door for me,” he says.\n\n“Is that right?”\n\nHe nods eagerly.\n\nYou rub the bridge of your nose and @@color:#000081;open the door.@@ The kid hops out and takes your hand.\n\nYou have a feeling it’s going to be a long day.\n<<if $introComments is true>>What time of day is it? As the writer I should know that ...but I don’t. The reader knows the story begins in the early morning but beyond that, time of day is only mentioned two other times: once while in Hell and once in the fantasy world of Ragnoss.<<endif>>\nThe kid tugs your arm. “Do you want to see my drawings?”\n\nBefore you can respond, a bullet slices across your @@color:#000081;shoulder@@ and ricochets off the pavement in front of you.\n\nYou stumble forward and grab the kid. Based on the sound, the bullet belonged to an assault rifle. That’s probably the only reason your head is still in one piece. And given the trajectory, the shooter must be across the street to your right, maybe seven stories up.\n\nYou push open the office doors and slide behind a desk. You glance at the secretary. “Get down, there’s a gunman outside.”\n\nShe pulls a pistol out from under her dress and @@color:#000081;points it at you.@@ “I know.”\n\nYou glance down at the kid. “This would have been a good day to play hooky.”\n\nHe shrugs.\n\n“Give him to me and you’ll die quick. I promise.”\n\nThe threat doesn’t even make you flinch. She points the pistol at your kneecap.\n\n“Well, when you put it that way...”\n\n[[Give her the kid]]\n[[Use the kid as a shield]]\n

<>\n<<set $luck = $luck +20>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +19>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +420000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s Alana.\n\nShe’s half-unconscious and propped against the wall. What is she doing here? The Boss wouldn’t have sent her to save you. Unless she came here with you.\n\nYou slide the ID badge through the scanner, and the air-tight door hisses @@color:#000081;open.@@\n\n“I knew you’d find a way to get us out of here,” she groans.\n\n“What are you talking about?”\n\nShe slowly stands. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”\n\n“Wait,” you say. “Tell me what’s going on.”\n\nShe gives you a perplexed look. “Don’t you remember?”\n\n“Remember what?” There’s agitation in your voice.\n\nAlana looks surprised. “You really don’t remember.” She takes a deep breath and leans against the wall. “The U.S. Government hired us, specifically you, to kill a man named Vince Mielke, the CEO of this company. We went to their headquarters to meet with a mole, but she double-crossed us. They roughed us up and eventually threw us in these cells.”\n\n[[“What about Gillian?”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1116>>\n<<set $force = $force -25>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +17>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +48>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +4>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +6000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It would feel really good sticking it to those “more than global” entrepreneurs, but you’ve only got a small advantage now and going after a handful of jumpy armed guards would mean giving that up. It’s better to escape, regroup, and come after them later once you’ve acquired some big guns ...and your sanity.\n\nRunning isn’t exactly the heroic way; sometimes it’s the @@color:#000081;only way.@@\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slip@@ over the ledge, drop onto the dumpster, and roll to the ground. You’re adjacent to the loading bay.\n\nYou see four guards walk out and you twist behind the dumpster. A handful of trucks and vans are parked around the loading bay. It looks like the guards are moving all of them.\n\nThey must be abandoning the building. Looks like your little @@color:#000081;outburst@@ has jeopardized their entire operation. Just imagine what would happen if you were actually trying to hurt them. You can’t help but grin.\n\nYou watch the guards take the keys from the foreman’s office. If you’re careful, you should be able to sneak in, take a set of keys, and escape in one of the vans. With all the vehicles moving out, you’ll blend in perfectly.\n\nIt’s a little risky, but stealing one of the trucks is better than hoofing it on foot. You’ll just have to wait for the guards to leave, but they aren’t leaving. They’ve taken defensive positions around one of the vans.\n\nThey must be moving something important or dangerous.\n\nYou twist around the dumpster and sprint to the adjacent wall for a closer look. Two guards exit the building carrying a prisoner between their arms.\n\nIt’s Gillian.\n\nIt takes all your self-control to stay in the @@color:#000081;shadows.@@ Starting a fight now would only put Gillian at risk. Your pistol isn’t enough to stop them all anyway. You need a plan, but there isn’t enough time.\n\nThey’re loading her into the van now. You can’t let them escape or you might never see Gillian again.\n\nYou wait for the guards to cram into the van, then you sprint through the loading bay to the foreman’s office. The other trucks should slow their departure a bit, but you’ll need something faster than a truck to catch up to them. The foreman has a set of personal keys on his desk. You glance out at the parking lot. They belong to a motorcycle. That should be more than fast enough.\n\nYou sprint for the parking lot, but immediately @@color:#000081;duck@@ behind some crates as a pair of guards walk past. You slowly twist around the crates, staying just outside their line of sight. In your haste, you almost forgot about the dangers of your immediate environment.\n\nYou’re smarter than that. You just need to let your training kick in. Gillian being part of this equation is really messing with your head – not to mention the drugs. You walk to the motorcycle both determined and casual. As long as you don’t panic, you should be able to get out of the loading bay unnoticed. The helmet should keep your identity obscured.\n\nYou calmly turn on the bike and @@color:#000081;drive@@ toward the van.\n\nIt’s too bad your plan only goes this far – but what would the fun be if you had everything worked out ahead of time. You grin. The Boss would kill you for being so reckless. Of course at this point, it’s not like you have a lot of options.\n\nYou weave between the large semi trucks. The van’s already on the street and moving toward the freeway. You shift up and give it some gas. The bike barrels forward and the semis blur. You twist around the onramp and merge onto the freeway. It’s speckled with cars.\n\nThat means a lot of innocent people. You can’t risk using the pistol unless you’re closer. You push the bike harder until it’s going nearly double the speed limit. You fly past the van. You see Gillian in the center seat wearing a seatbelt. The guards have their guns holstered. That’s @@color:#000081;fortuitous.@@\n\nYou shift down and hit the back brakes. The bike jolts up into a wheelie. You pull out the pistol as the van reaches the side of the bike.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the driver, tap the brake, and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the three guards in the back seat as the van accelerates past you. It swerves erratically into the @@color:#000081;center divider,@@ rolls onto its side, and @@color:#000081;skids@@ another twenty feet. Smoke erupts from the engine, and glass paves the street. You veer around it and park the bike.\n\nOne of the guards tries to climb out the window. You grab him by the shoulders, drag him out, and give him a swift @@color:#000081;kick@@ to the head. He thuds against the pavement unconscious.\n\n[[“Gillian?”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 904>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<endnobr>>You pull your hand back. Maybe he doesn’t deserve this, but it’s not your problem. If you spend all your time getting him free only to be trapped in this desert forever, what good will that do anyone? You have to @@color:#000081;leave him.@@\n\nYou turn back toward Jazelle. “Come on,” you say walking toward the glass trail.\n\n“You’re just leaving him?”\n\n“You think adding another person to our getaway team is going to make it any easier for us to stay under the radar?”\n\nShe’s taken back by your coldness. “I think I underestimated you.”\n\n“Yeah, I get that a lot too. Now hurry up.”\n\nShe glances back at the crawling man one last time and then tries to forget about him.\n\nYou step onto the glass trail. It’s smooth, but there’s enough traction for you to walk. Jazelle has a bit more trouble. She slips forward and grabs your arm. You help her to her feet.\n\nShe slips sideways, but manages to stay upright. “If I had some ice-skates this would be a lot easier.”\n\n“Yeah, ice-skates in Hell – who would have thought?”\n\n“So you finally believe we’re in Hell?”\n\n“I never said that.”\n\n“Really?” She says mockingly. “After everything?”\n\nYou groan. “It’s weird, I’ll admit that much. For all I know, you could be a delusion, and I’ve gone crazy. I’ve been hit in the head enough times.”\n\n“So I’m just a figment of your imagination now?” She gives you a fierce look. “What are you trying to do to my self-esteem?”\n\n“If we are in Hell, that’s the least of your worries.”\n\nShe nods. “You have a point.” She glances over her shoulder. “How long do you think we’ve been walking? It feels like hours, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve gotten very far.”\n\nYou glance over your shoulder and in every direction. All you see is the desert melting into the horizon. “Yeah, this place has a strange way of doing that.”\n\n“It’s like my internal clock is off.” She stops walking. “I don’t even remember the last time I slept or ate something.”\n\n“Are you tired or hungry?”\n\n“Not really. Are you?”\n\n“No. And now that you mention it, I’m having a hard time remembering how long I’ve been here.”\n\n“You mean the desert?”\n\n“No, here – wherever here is.”\n\n“Wait,” she says quizzically, “There was an ocean wasn’t there? We were at the ocean, right?”\n\nYou stop walking, close your eyes, and search your memories. “I think so.”\n\n“I thought—” Jazelle stops mid-sentence. “Why were we at the ocean?”\n\n“I’m not sure. Were we meeting someone?”\n\n“Who?”\n\nYou shrug. “My sister?” You shake your head, “No, that’s not right.” You try to think harder. “My sister. Gillian. There was something about Gillian, and it was important.” You focus on her and build a timeline backwards to your most recent recollection of her. “She’s in danger.” You look at Jazelle. “Gillian’s in danger. I can’t remember what exactly, but I know she needs me.”\n\nJazelle looks at you with confusion.\n\n“This place. The longer we stay here, the more we forget.” You grab Jazelle by the shoulders. “Your son, try to remember your son.”\n\nShe gives you a blank stare.\n\n“He was in the ocean,” you say starkly.\n\n“The ocean,” she whispers. Suddenly her face flashes with recognition. “But he’s gone. How could I forget?”\n\n“That’s how they keep people imprisoned here – they make them forget. We need to find a way out of here now, but...” You suddenly realize that in the confusion you can’t remember which direction you were traveling. The sun hasn’t moved the entire time you’ve been walking. There isn’t even the hint of a shadow. Everything is just sand and hazy blue sky. “Which way were we going?”\n\n“How about that way,” Jazelle says pointing at a large glass mansion.\n\n“What?” You stare at the intricate stained glass walls. “How-how did that—” You’re overwhelmed by its beauty and seemingly random appearance. But that sort of thing happened before with the trail, and the cave, and the oasis. This place must be constantly changing, but how?\n\nMaybe Hell really is a fitting name. Of course, it doesn’t matter what you call it, you still need to find the exit.\n\n“Well are you coming?” Jazelle asks, interrupting your thought process. She pushes open the glass fence.\n\n“Wait,” you half-shout. “We need to be careful.”\n\nShe’s already out of view. So much for sticking together.\n\nIt’s not like you're besties, but it is in your best interest to keep her in one piece. As much as you’d like to think of yourself as a lone gunman, there are times when a buddy (or scapegoat) can come in handy.\n\nYou slip through the gate. There’s no point in being stealthy. If there were any traps, she would have triggered them by now.\n\nYou gaze up at the enormous mansion. The glass has been cut into the shape of bricks and stained red. A casual glance and you’d think it was the real deal. The craftsmanship is unparalleled.\n\nThe front door, which is also glass, is open slightly and there’s no sign of Jazelle. You’ll have to go in after her. It might be a better idea to survey the grounds and find a less conspicuous entrance. On the other hand, if there were “demons” inside, they’re probably busy tormenting Jazelle which means you could sneak through unnoticed.\n\n[[Survey the grounds for a less conspicuous entrance]]\n[[Walk through the front door]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 363>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +25>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -50>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;can’t trust@@ these people. They’ve already captured you once. Who knows what they’ll do after they get to their destination. You’re better off on your own.\n\nYou aim the pistol at the knight and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ The bullet hits the metal armor, and the knight topples from his horse. He’s probably not dead, but it should be awhile before he gets his breath back. Plus, he’ll think twice before trying to come after you again.\n\nYou hop toward the forest since your hands and feet are still bound.\n\n“No,” he groans. “You mustn’t...”\n\nLooks like he’s begging you to come back. He knows how badly he’ll be punished if you escape. He should just be happy you didn’t kill him.\n\nYou hop into the shadows of the woods and sit against a large tree. The knots are tighter than you thought. You’ll need something sharp to cut yourself loose. You rub the rope against the edge of a tree root. It’s not ideal, but it’s something. You should still have a little bit of time. That giant gray thing should keep the knights occupied for awhile.\n\nSmall strands of the rope snap apart. “Ha,” you say under your breath. Now if only you knew where you were. It’s obviously not the city, unless maybe it’s some kind of simulation room. But if that’s true, how did you get here?\n\nSuddenly, you feel something hot against the back of your neck. You turn and look up.\n\nA body drops from the ogre’s mouth. It’s a suit of armor. All the muscle and fat have been sucked from the bone.\n\nYou try to run, but your feet are still bound. You trip and hit the ground hard. The gun slips out of reach. You try to grab it, but something takes hold of your legs. It drags you across the ground and hefts you into the air.\n\nIt’s the ogre.\n\nIt stares at you intently and licks its lips. Before you can react, half your body is in its mouth. Then you feel an unimaginable @@color:#000081;pain@@ as your skin and muscles get sucked from your bones. You don’t even have time to scream.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 37]]\n

<html>\nThis ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.\n \n\nNo part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Cloud Buchholz. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.\n \n \nThis is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.\n \n\nEdition 1.1\n \n\nCopyright © 2013 by Cloud Buchholz\nAll rights reserved.\n \n \nEdition 1.0 originally published 2011</html>\n[[Continue|DarlingIntro]]

Assassin Paper Doll\n

<>\n<<remember $consolationPrize = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Consolation Prize\n Fail to save Gillian and die in the process\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 658>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -16>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -8>>\n<<endnobr>>The white lines look like a crosswalk, and pedestrians use crosswalks. You must be the pedestrian. That has to be it. You follow the white lines to the other side of the lab. You see three more machines with switches and dials.\n\nThe next instruction says to make a U-turn and wait for the red light to turn green.\n\nYou examine the dials.\n\nThe middle dial is shaped sort of like a U. That must be the one. You turn it 180 degrees and glance at the light on the main machine, which is red.\n\nThe journal says to wait for the red light to turn green.\n\nYou hear more of the walls crumble outside. Waiting is the last thing you want to do, but it’s not like you have a choice.\n\nSuddenly the machine kicks to life. It sounds like a dozen vacuums being turned on and off at random. The light flickers from red to purple to green to blue. Steam spirals out from the fittings of the machine.\n\nYou’re not an expert, but you’re almost certain this is not how the machine is supposed to work.\n\nYou shield your face as some of the wires spark and catch fire.\n\nThe ground shakes, and you hear lightning and thunder outside. It feels like the whole planet is breaking. A chasm splits the lab in two, spreading across the castle and the wall.\n\nDozens of the Ferralliise fall in as it tears through the ground beneath them. The few that still have their bearings flee from the wall, their faces contorted in terror. They must think this is part of your powerful magic. You did threaten them before. At least there’s a silver lining.\n\nFire spits out from the machine. Whatever dials or switches you touched were obviously the @@color:#000081;wrong@@ ones. You jump across the chasm and run to the other side of the room to put out the fire. If the machine gets destroyed, you’ll never get back home.\n\nYou grab an old blanket and beat down the flames, but it’s too late. You hear gears grind and the machine blares like an out of tune horn. You feel the heat before the explosion.\n\nThe machine goes silent for less than a second, then erupts with a deafening noise that shatters the walls and sends you flying through the air. You @@color:#000081;slam@@ through the crumbling wall and into the open. You roll across the ground and into a crowd of peasants. They scream and flee in panic.\n\nBlood drips from your forehead and two of your ribs are probably @@color:#000081;cracked.@@ You push yourself up.\n\nThe castle walls are fractured and collapsing. The ground is a spider-web of chasms. The sky is dark, and lightning splits several trees around the castle.\n\nThe horde of Ferralliise and the Blue Wizards are confounded by the destruction. They can’t escape the speed or breadth of the quake. Half of their army has already fallen into the dark abyss.\n\nYou look back at the lab. It’s buried by rubble. There’s no way you’re getting home in the next few hours, but with the machine out of commission, the destruction should stop soon ...at least that’s what you’re hoping. But that still leaves half of the monsters to deal with.\n\nIf the Ferralliise think this destruction is part of your magic, they’ll be so afraid of you that they’ll never attack the castle again. That would give you time to regroup and maybe piece together what’s left of the lab. Then again, Quintus’s note said the connection home would be severed within a day so putting the machine back together wouldn’t be much good anyway.\n\nTruthfully, you don’t even know if the machine is out of commission or if the destruction can be reversed. Now may be a good time to cut your losses and run. This world has some good things to offer, and being alive is always better than being dead.\n\n[[Take credit for the destruction]]\n[[Cut your losses and abandon the castle]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 731>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’m heading right toward the tail. We’re going to need a way off of this thing, and that’s our best bet.”\n\n“In all me days,” Taz Moir shakes his head. “I never seen such a creature. I never thought it be real 'til I be touching it with me own two hands.”\n\n“Let’s just hope it doesn’t decide to touch back,” you say wearily.\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir says. He waves his hand in the air and a dozen crewmen assembled behind him. He turns and frowns at the numbers. “This be all?”\n\n“Aye,” a crewman says. “The others be wounded.”\n\n“Humph,” Taz Moir grunts. “You lads’ll do.” He singles out eight of them. “You eight travel right. Find what ye can. Report back. The rest of ye with me. We travel left toward the creature’s head.”\n\nThe crewmen look at each other nervously.\n\n“Move!” Taz Moir demands.\n\nThe eight light torches. You take one. “I’m with you guys,” you say.\n\nThe crewmen grunt in approval. The nine of you travel right toward the Cetorix’s tail. The pirates look a little shaky, but they follow the orders.\n\nTaz Moir and the four other crewmen travel right, toward the creature’s head. The crewmen spread out, creating a small perimeter around Taz Moir.\n\nThe crewmen with you walk in two loose rows. You travel for what feels like miles. Chunks of land and plants and trees dangle from the sides of the creature. You haven’t found anything useful except two birds and a lizard a crewman killed with a bow and arrow. Aside from that, it’s been uneventful.\n\n“We’re looking for a safe way off of this thing,” you say.\n\n“Aye,” a crewman groans. “If we aint dead before sunrise.”\n\n“True enough,” another one jeers. “I saw a big hole in the ship. Even if she touches water, she’ll sink before she floats.”\n\n“By the Seven Sons,” another whimpers. “We’re dead. We’re all dead. Nobody’s seen the Cetorix and lived. I don’t want to die,” he mumbles.\n\n“All of you calm down,” you say sternly. “We aren’t dead yet. Maybe you think that means you can complain about it, but if you’re so worried about dying, why don’t you pull out your sword and stab yourself with it. Get your dying over with now.”\n\n“Anhgh,” a crewman screams.\n\n“Whoa,” you say, twisting around. “I wasn’t serious.”\n\nA spear juts through the man’s chest. He stares down at it in disbelief. Then he collapses.\n\nA dozen more spears slice through the air. You duck to avoid one.\n\nGleaming eyes flash in the trees surrounding you. The bodies... you’re uncertain... but they look like fish.\n\nAnother crewman screams in agony as a spear pierces his thigh.\n\n“Run,” you shout, but the crew already sprints past you.\n\nYou sidestep to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ another spear. You’re nearly surrounded. You sprint in the only direction you can, further toward the creature’s tail.\n\nThe crew is bunched in front of you. “Run,” you shout again, but they don’t move. You try to stop. Your feet stutter and slide. You crash into the pile. A crewman screams as he’s pushed over the edge.\n\n[[The edge...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 494>>\n<<endnobr>>You lug the bag over your shoulder and double time it to the top of the parking structure. It’s nearly deserted. You count five cars. At least you don’t have to worry about civilians getting in the way.\n\nThe Boss’s penthouse is on the southeast side. Luckily the afternoon sun will be working in your favor. If all goes as planned, the guards won’t discover your location until after you’re done shooting. You let out an uncomfortable sigh and click open the sniper rifle case.\n\nIt would take six months to plan this assault properly. You’ve got six minutes. This day has just been one disaster after another. First Jimmy Lee, then Wilson and the kid, now this. If you make it out of this alive it’ll be a miracle.\n\nYou assemble the sniper rifle and line up the shot. You’ve done this enough times it’s second nature. Your hands and fingers move on their own.\n\nGiven the small earthquake you caused earlier the guards should be preoccupied with securing the Boss’s more delicate products in the subbasements. The building won’t be empty, but the guards should be spread thin. \n\nIt’s not the kind of distraction you were hoping for, but you’ll take what you can get.\n\nYou slide the scope into place and lay flat along the cement barrier on the very edge of the building. Your foot dangles off the edge. You try not to look down. The drop may not kill you, but it wouldn’t feel good. You flick out the metal stand and position the sniper rifle toward the penthouse. \n\nYou take a deep breath and try to relax your muscles. The slightest twitch or tremble could send the bullets in the wrong place, like the back of Gillian’s head.\n\nYou look through the scope and adjust the focus until a lamp on the far side of the room is visible. You toggle the scope to thermal. You count eight bodies: three in the bedroom, four in the adjacent room, and one in the hall.\n\nYou’ve got more skill than most, but there’s no way you can get all of them before they get to Gillian.\n\nAnd Gillian doesn’t have the stomach to kill someone, so when the chaos erupts; all she can do is run. If you can get her to the east elevator, she’ll be safe until the ground floor...but the guard in the hall is blocking the elevator.\n\nYou’ll need to take him out eventually. Given the amount of walls you’d have to penetrate, the bullet may never reach him, and even if it does, there’s no guarantee it will kill him.\n\nOn the other hand, you’ve got a clean shot of the two thugs guarding Gillian. If you take them out first, you might be able to lure the others into a weak position and guide Gillian around them. You glance at your watch. There’s no time to think about it. You’ll just have to choose.\n\n[[Shoot the thug in the hallway]]\n[[Shoot the two thugs guarding Gillian]]\n

<>\n<<remember $happyEndings = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Happy Endings\n Rescue Gillian (and survive)\n

Your head throbs with pain. You try to move your arms, but they’re bound. So are your legs. You open your eyes.\n\nYou’re sitting in a giant caldron of water. The water is comfortably warm. You glance around to get a sense of your surroundings.\n\nHundreds of Natanus stand around the caldron, staring at you.\n\nYou realize the water is getting hotter...a lot hotter.\n\nThen you notice chopped vegetables and spices floating in the water with you. It’s...\n\nIt’s a soup.\n\nYou’re a soup.\n\nThree of the Natanus slowly lower a lid over the caldron.\n\n“Wait,” you shout. You try to fight against the ropes, but they’re too tight. You can’t get free. And the water gets hotter...boiling.\n\nThe lid seals shut over you. And the water keeps getting hotter.\n\nYou’re being cooked alive...\n\nThe heat is too much to bear...You feel like this must be a strange kind of revenge for all the times you had lobster...\n\n“Wait,” you shout again, but the words come out a whimper.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 216>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<endnobr>>The Boss has to respond to an act of @@color:#000081;aggression@@. He has too many enemies to play things soft. You know blowing the warehouse is the quickest way to get his attention, and if you plan things right he’ll spend the next few hours running around like a chicken with its head cut off, giving you enough time to get Gillian out of his grubby mitts.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I designed the Boss as a surrogate father figure for the main character. When writing his character I imagined the intimate, cordialness of a Southern gentleman mixed with the quick, sharp bite of a viper.I never thought of the Boss and the main character as equals. The Boss is always the stronger of the two.<<endif>>\nThe only question is which warehouse to blow. He has three, but they’re spread out so you’ll only have time to hit one of them.\n\nWarehouse A has guns and ammunition which would prove useful for the assault on the Boss’s penthouse. And if things go south with the Chinese or the Russians he wouldn’t have anything to defend himself.\n\nWarehouse B has drugs and money. Blowing that would cripple the Boss’s long term income, and the money would give you and Gillian a better chance at starting a new life.\n\nWarehouse C is the Boss’s personal storage. It has exotic cars, motorcycles, and boats. Blowing that wouldn’t cripple his business, but it sure would make him angry. Plus, you could use one of the vehicles in your rescue attempt. And who knows, maybe it'll give the Boss a heart attack and he’ll die, but that's probably just wishful thinking.\n\n[[Warehouse A – you can never have too much firepower]]\n[[Warehouse B – money makes the world go round]]\n[[Warehouse C – this is personal]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 503>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +20>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Yeah, maybe you should run, but Cecil still hasn’t gotten what he deserves. You can’t let him snake his way out of this one. You run through the door and @@color:#000081;slam@@ the bookend into the back of his head. He grunts deliriously and collapses back on top of the demon.\n\nHe looks sideways at you with a scowl of rage.\n\nYou smile. “Don’t take it personally. You seem to know how to take care of yourself.”\n\nCecil’s eyes go wide, and he screams as the demon bites into his shoulder.\n\nTwo more demons emerge from the stairs. They drop to all fours and claw their way through the hallway. The quickest one sinks his teeth into Cecil’s thigh, tearing off a chunk of muscle. Cecil lets out another agonizing scream.\n\nThe slower demon, realizing there’s not enough of Cecil to go around, turns his gaze toward you.\n\n“Uh oh,” you groan and twist into a sprint. You know you aren’t going to be fast enough. Your legs still aren’t fully healed.\n\nYou turn back to see Sylvia fling herself on top of the demon. She’s quickly overpowered. Her screams are even more heart-wrenching than Cecil’s. They got what they deserved, but maybe, hopefully, fate can make an exception for you. Gillian still needs your help, and you can’t let her down.\n\nYou jerk left, pushing off the wall. The demon shreds @@color:#000081;the air@@ beside you, a little too close for comfort. The next swing will definitely make contact, and then you’re done for.\n\nYou glance at the human jacket still held tightly in your fist.\n\nIts eyes are full of terror and anguish, but it knows you don’t have a choice.\n\n“I’m sorry,” you say, @@color:#000081;flinging@@ the jacket over the demon’s face.\n\nDisoriented, the demon trips over itself and into a wall. It bites and claws at the jacket, suddenly @@color:#000081;disinterested@@ in you. It’s probably the only chance you’ll get to escape. You try not to think about the tortured soul that lost its only chance at salvation, instead you @@color:#000081;run@@ as fast and as far as you can. There’s no point in staying for the rest of this freak show.\n\nYou run, and run, and run until the screams are too distant to hear. It’s hard to tell how long you’ve been running. It feels like the hallway stretches for miles.\n\nThe walls are rough and uneven now. The light is dim and flickering from a few mounted torches. You’re not sure exactly when it happened, but the mansion has funneled you into a rocky, underground passage.\n\nThe path branches right and left. You glance back toward Cecil and Sylvia, but all you see is darkness. It’s as if the mansion never even existed. There’s not one bit of evidence that you were even in a building.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Disorientation is one of the main tactics demons in the story use to control the humans.Clarity is salvation, uncertainty is anguish.<<endif>>\nAll you know for certain is that this place is getting weirder and more dangerous the further you explore. What you really need is an exit, but for now, you’ll just have to keep moving.\n\n[[Go left down the rock corridor]]\n[[Go right up the rock corridor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 310>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Maybe if you keep Maurer talking he’ll let something slip. You can’t let him know you’re frightened, or even suspicious. You need to play it cool. “So... uh... tell me about becoming a candidate...”\n\n“Wonderful,” Maurer grins. “I knew you would be interested.” He waves his arm in the air and suddenly a dozen metal arms protrude from the ceiling and floor. The little metal claws grip your arms and legs before you can run.\n\n“Hey,” you shout. “Wait a second.”\n\nMaurer is too enamored with the process to register your pleas. “You will become a fixture of zhe future. All zhe knowledge we have learned will be unlocked to you, but we must be rid of your pesky organs.”\n\n“What?” You growl.\n\n“Yes, yes,” Maurer continues. “Zhey will only be in zhe way.”\n\n“Me and my organs are very close,” you say struggling against the metal bonds. “I’d hate to part with them.”\n\n“Ho,” Maurer laughs. He points to the woman and the boy. “Zhey felt zhe same way at first, but zhey are so much more now... and you will be too.”\n\n“Hang on,” you plead. “Maybe I’m happy being unhappy.”\n\nMaurer taps your stomach. “Don’t be foolish.” He pulls a giant drill down from the ceiling. “It will only hurt for a moment.”\n\nYou feel the drill puncture your stomach. Suddenly your insides feel like mush. Maurer inserts a small metal box into your stomach. You feel a jolt of electricity. The box explodes into a flurry of wires and circuits. You feel them snaking through your body, merging with your muscles and nerves.\n\nIt’s as if you’re burning from the inside out. You scream with pain.\n\n“Zhe pain is only natural,” Maurer says trying to calm you. “And when you wake up, you will be one of us. You will be perfect.”\n\nYour head slumps forward and you blackout.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 999>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<endnobr>>You kneel down next to the fountain and draw a rectangle on the side of the stone.\n\n“Well, we’re already breathing. Is something else supposed to happen?” Jazelle asks.\n\n“I’m not sure,” you reply. “Nothing feels different.”\n\n“Are you sure we can trust that thing?” Jazelle points at the campfire.\n\nYou shrug. “It seems pretty confident we aren’t going to escape no matter what we do.”\n\n“That still doesn’t mean we should trust it.”\n\n“I’m not saying I trust it. I’m not saying I trust anything here in Hell, but we need to try something unless you’d like to keep walking.”\n\n“You trust me, don’t you?” Jazelle demands.\n\nYou hesitate. “I trust you more than I trust it,” you say, pointing at the demon head. “But honestly, I don’t even trust myself. I’m still not 100% sure this is Hell. Drugs, a concussion, delirium – those aren’t off the table yet,” you say. Jazelle looks like she’s about to shout at you. You interrupt her, “Wherever we are, we’re in this together. I trust you.”\n\n“Even if I’m just a figment of your delirium?”\n\n“Yes,” you sigh. “But that would be the worst. If you’re in my head, how am I supposed to get rid of you?”\n\nJazelle glares at you. “Very funny. Now what about this door?”\nYou glance down at the rectangle and realize it doesn’t quite look like a door. “It’s missing something,” you say, leaning down to @@color:#000081;draw a doorknob.@@ As you push yourself up, you cough and try to keep the gash across your stomach from splitting open again. Your breath causes part of the outline to sparkle.\n\n“Did you see that?” Jazelle exclaims. “The chalk, it started to—”\n\n“I saw,” you say, leaning down to @@color:#000081;breathe@@ on the rest of the outline.\n\nThe rectangle shimmers and, oddly enough, resembles a door. You grab the chalk doorknob and pull open part of the stone fountain. It’s too dark to see inside, but you’ve obviously created some kind of doorway.\n\n“It worked,” Jazelle says with surprise.\n\n“We still don’t know where it leads,” you say matter-of-factly.\n\n“I guess that means you want me to go first.”\n\nYou shrug. “You trust me, don’t you?”\n\n“Oh,” Jazelle says with a little sass. “I didn’t think you’d play that card so quickly.” She steps into the chalk doorway and slips into the darkness. You give the demon head a quick wink and slide in after her.\n\nSuddenly, you’re submerged in water. You fight your way to the surface. “Jazelle?” you cough. The water pulls you back under, and you @@color:#000081;slam@@ into a metal console. The water muffles your cry. You use the console to steady yourself.\n\nYou take a giant gasp when you reach the surface. A red light tints the objects around you. “Jazelle?” You say again with less zeal.\n\n“Here,” she says to your left. She tries to push a metal door shut but water erupts from the edges.\n\nYou see metal walls and more metal consoles. You must be in some kind of ship or submarine. “Where are we?” You groan.\n\n“Sinking, that’s where,” a rough voice barks. “Now help us or drown.”\n\n“You heard the man,” Jazelle shouts. “Help me with this door.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, and the 1986 film Labyrinth influenced some of the travelling methods in Hell.There’s a scene in Sandman where a witch cuts off a person’s face, nails it to a wall, and then (using magic) interacts with it. The scene was as disturbing as it was fascinating.In the opening scene of Hell, the Gatekeeper, a giant bodiless face, swallows the main character - beginning the reader’s journey. I liked the idea of blending life, magic, and some form of physical sacrifice.I thought of the chalk as a composite of human bones that have been regurgitated by the demons/monsters overseeing their torture (see an early scene in the stone city).<<endif>>\nYou swim toward her and push the door shut.\n\n“Good. This way,” the rough voice orders. “There’s still a chance we can reach the escape pods.” The voice belongs to a mustached sailor with a gladiator’s build.\n\nWater sprays from the bolts along the wall. The room is flooding.\n\n“Come on,” you say, pulling Jazelle toward the sailor.\n\nHe helps you through the door and seals it behind you. The water is up to your ankles, but the room seems safe. You take a moment to catch your breath and empty the water from your ears. “So where are we? And why are we sinking?”\n\nThe mustached sailor glares at you with disdain. “You’re a crewman on this vessel and you don’t know where we are? As Commander, I should reprimand you. And if the situation allowed for it, I certainly would.”\n\nJazelle leans in close and whispers, “He’s been calling me ensign since I dropped in here. He must be reliving some horrible event like those other tortured people. It’s probably better if you play along for now.”\n\n“Uh, I hit my head sir.”\n\n“Oh, sorry lad,” he says, reaffirming the fantasy. “By now, we’re likely a fathom from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. We haven’t got much time. We need to reach the escape pods. Through here,” he says stepping into another room.\n\n“Help,” a weary voice shouts. “My leg – it’s broken, I think.” The young sailor limps in from an adjacent hallway.\n\n“No,” the Commander growls, “The escape pods – only one of them is left, but it’s been damaged. There’s not enough oxygen for all of us to reach the surface.”\n\n“It hurts so bad sir,” the young sailor cries. “Please don’t leave me.”\n\n“How fascinating,” a silky voice says behind you. The Commander and the ensign don’t seem to notice.\n\n[[Turn around]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 277>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +9>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The spear is the source of his power. You’re sure of it. With it out of the way, Skraz should be a pushover. You twist the sword and angle the blade. The spear thrusts into the ground next to your ear. The fire @@color:#000081;burns,@@ but it’s not enough to distract you from the real goal.\n\nYou thrust your @@color:#000081;elbow@@ into Skraz’s nose as he tumbles forward, then @@color:#000081;shove@@ the blade into his hand.\n\nHe squeals, and his fingers involuntarily release the spear. Without the spear for balance, he thumps against the ground next to you.\n\nThe spear still ripples with flames. There’s no way for you to touch it. That doesn’t mean you can’t cut it in half.\n\nYou push yourself up before Skraz’s shock can wear off. You lift the green speckled blade back and swing it into the upright spear. The spear erupts with a loud crack and @@color:#000081;splits@@ cleanly in two. The fire dwindles and then goes out.\n\n“Ha,” you shout, pointing the sword at Skraz, who cradles his wounded hand. “Give up and you can live.”\n\nBlood streaks down his nostrils and lips. He gives you a bloody smile. You have a hard time believing that’s the face of a quitter.\n\nHe moves to a standing position. The smile is still plastered on his face. It’s really starting to creep you out. “Give up,” you say again.\n\nHe stands firmly, unflinching, with a broad toothy smile. It’s almost like he wants you to kill him.\n\nYou half glance at Ignis. She makes no sign that the match is over. It looks like you may have to see this one through to the end.\n\n[[Sheath your sword and end the fight]]\n[[Kill Skraz]]\n

My Mom’s Meatloaf Recipe\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 930>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +6>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +11>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -50>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Come on,” you say, grabbing Jazelle by the hand. You pull her up and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ for the cyclone.\n\n“Are you crazy?” She shouts.\n\n“Do you even need to ask?”\n\n“Rrrr,” she growls and sprints after you. “You’re going to get us killed, again.”\n\nYou grin and grab a spike on the snail’s shell. The pull of the cyclone twirls you in the air like a ragdoll. Jazelle grabs your arm with both hands and digs her nails into your skin.\n\nThe snail moves faster. You feel the tug on your arm, but you’re so nauseous you can’t tell which direction is up.\n\nThe snail jolts to a stop, sending you flying into the back of the boney creature. Jazelle slips out of your hand and rolls across the ground.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Why a snail in Hell?I was working in a small (makeshift) garden in my yard which was under assault by snails.I thought if a plant was ever sent to Hell, snails would be the most painful form of torture for them and so I added them to the story.<<endif>>\nThe creature turns like a rabid wolf and shoves its razor fingers into your @@color:#000081;stomach,@@ lifting you into the @@color:#000081;air.@@ You groan in pain and grab at the creature’s arm. It calmly tilts its head and examines you with its empty eye sockets. A forked tongue slithers between its teeth – an eyeball rests on each tip of its tongue.\n\nThe pain is @@color:#000081;excruciating,@@ and it’s all you can do to keep from passing out.\n\n“Misssplaced,” the creature hisses. “You are misssp—” The creature bites down on its own tongue as you @@color:#000081;kick@@ it in the chin. You shove your foot into its chest and push.\n\nThe razor fingers slide out of your gut, and you fall against the snail shell. It’s hard to breathe. You awkwardly put your @@color:#000081;intestines back@@ in your body.\n\nThe creature growls at you, black goo dripping from its mouth. “Much pain for you.” It grins. “Much pain.”\n\nIt lunges at you like a bolt of lightning. You fall back between two spikes on the snail shell. The demon catches on them, just barely slicing your cheek. You hit the ground hard. Your intestines spill @@color:#000081;back out.@@\n\nThe demon twists between the spikes, flips through the air, and lands on top of you. Its boney feet cut into your thighs. You hold back a scream, but just barely.\n\nThe demon’s finger and thumb slide together like a pair of scissors. “Sssnip-sssnip,” it says moving toward your ear.\n\nYou struggle, but it’s too strong.\n\nSuddenly you hear a horse whiney and hooves slam into the demon’s temple. Its head twists in a direction it shouldn’t, and there’s the distinct crunch of bone breaking. The demon goes limp and hits the ground beside you.\n\nYou glance back at the horse. Jazelle sits atop it with a sinister grin.\n\n“Where’d you find a horse?” You cough.\n\n“Really, that’s the question you’re going to ask right now?” She points at the demon. “Shouldn’t we make sure it’s dead?”\n\n“Yeah,” you shove your @@color:#000081;intestines back in@@ your body – again. “I doubt a horse can kill a demon.”\n\n“Fingers crossed,” she says.\n\nYou walk toward the fallen demon. “Hey, do demons have pulses?”\n\nShe shrugs.\n\n“How do I know if it’s dead?”\n\n“Here,” she says, throwing you a long, thin sword. “Cut off its head.”\n\nYou catch the sword by the handle while your other hand cradles the gash on your gut. “Where’d you get the sword?”\n\n“I found it with the horse.”\n\n“Oh.” You’re about to ask her where she got the horse again when the demon starts twitching. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ the sword quick. \n\nThe demon’s head rolls a few feet from its body. Black goo slowly oozes from its severed neck.\n\nYou glance back at Jazelle. “You seem to have all the answers, now what?”\n\nShe shrugs. “I don’t know. This is a first for me.” She grimaces at the sight of your torn stomach. “Doesn’t that hurt?”\n\n“Surprisingly, it’s not so bad. After the first few seconds it just went @@color:#000081;numb.”@@\n\n“Must be a perk of being dead.”\n\n“Yeah,” you groan. “A perk.” Now that you’re not getting sliced into little pieces, you’ve got a chance to survey your surroundings.\n\nYou’re standing in a meticulously manicured lawn with parterres of flowers and elaborate fountains. In the distance you see a large chateau. “This looks like the 16th century.”\n\n“Maybe it is,” Jazelle says. “Or maybe it’s something worse.”\n\n“Way to focus on the silver lining.”\n\nShe nods.\n\nIt’s impossible to tell if this has gotten you any closer to an exit. Gillian is still waiting for you somewhere out there – among the living. You have to get back to her. You can’t let anything stop you, @@color:#000081;not even death.@@\n\n“Much pain.”\n\nYou twist around. The demon’s head stares at you. It uses its tongue to slowly crawl toward your ankle. “Much pain for you here,” it hisses.\n\n“I’ve heard that before,” you say, picking up the demon by its boney horn. It hisses and tries to bite at your fingers but can’t reach.\n\nYou need to find the exit, but what you really need is information. This place is still a mystery and for all you know, you could be going in a giant circle. The demon may have what you’re looking for, but getting it out of him may be harder than it sounds.\n\nHe seems to be handling his new bodiless lifestyle surprisingly well. Torture probably won’t be the best way to make him talk. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t try.\n\nOn the other hand, he came here for a reason. There may be something at the chateau worth looking into. Either way, standing out in the open with a severed demon head is probably not the smartest thing to do while you’re in Hell.\n\n[[Force the demon to talk]]\n[[Explore the chateau]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 718>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +18>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Marjorie really does remind you of Gillian, which makes the choice even harder, but if you save her, who will save Gillian?\n\nSometimes sacrifices have to be made for the @@color:#000081;greater good.@@ That means Marjorie is on her own, but her death won’t be in vain. She’ll be the @@color:#000081;distraction@@ you need to escape.\n\nYou hear her scream as the hound tears into her neck. Blood squirts across the road and against the wall. Its jaws clamp into her chest and flail her about like a ragdoll.\n\nThe roads and the roofs aren’t much of an option now – not with that hound in view. You’ll need to find another way. You @@color:#000081;slip@@ back out of sight and carefully make your way into the building.\n\nIt’s not much of a building – just four walls and a ceiling. A circular staircase is cut into the center of the floor. It leads down... so far down you can’t see the bottom. Taking your chances on a bottomless pit or a hellhound – this is just going to be one of those days.\n\nYou think about Mathew and how much distance he put between himself and Marjorie. What kind of person would leave their little sister behind like that? You feel a sharp pain in your chest as you think about Gillian. You didn’t exactly abandon her, but you didn’t do much better.\n\n“I’m coming Gillian,” you tell yourself. “Just hang on.” You hear the hellhound sniff and paw at the walls around the door.\n\nYou make your way down the staircase. It gets dark quick, and you have to place your hand against the wall for direction. The wall is hard and lumpy, but surprisingly smooth.\n\nAfter a few minutes, your eyes adjust to the darkness. You pull your hand away half-panicked. The wall you’ve been groping is made from human skulls and each step is made from thousands of teeth.\n\nObviously the architect studied at the school of creepy and disturbed. There’s probably a sexy leg lamp somewhere down here too.\n\nThe hound's growls become distant. You're out of his reach down here, but you have a feeling you’re far from safe.\n\nThe staircase opens into a small dimly lit room. A candle statue flickers on a table at its center.\n\nA hooded figure stands on the other side of the room with his back to you. “Are you afraid?” His rough voice echoes off the bone walls.\n\n“Of what, delusions?” You keep your expression hard and threatening even if your sanity is still in question.\n\nThe hooded figure turns. His face has deep wrinkles, and most of his hair is gone. “We didn’t expect you to make it this far. You should feel pleased with yourself.”\n\n“Yeah,” you say, giving him your assassin stare. “I’m ecstatic.”\n\n“They said you would be a handful. That’s such a rarity. You have no idea how thrilled we’ve been watching your progress.”\n\nYou take a threatening step toward him. “What do you mean we? Who else is here?”\n\nThe old man lifts his hands in playful defeat. “I’m not the enemy, really. Your stay here could be temporary if the right conditions were met. This doesn’t have to be as painful as you might make it.”\n\n“The pain is going to be moving your direction in a minute.”\n\nThe old man smirks. “Must everyone you meet be an adversary?”\n\n“Yeah, that’s usually because they are.”\n\n“Do you know where you are? Do you know why you’re here? Do you even know who I am or how to get out?”\n\nYou swallow hard and try not to show your uncertainty. Everything about this place has been weird and wrong. You’ve just been going along with it because that’s what you do – that’s how you survive.\n\n“What you need,” the old man smiles. “Is a friend.”\n\n“And I bet you have someone in mind.”\n\nThe old man shrugs. “I might. Are you willing to trust me?”\n\nYou’ve only just met this guy, but you're certain there’s something dangerous, maybe even sadistic, about him. Whether or not you trust him, one thing’s for sure, he has answers. You could play along and be his friend. He might be more willing to talk.\n\nThen again, you could always beat it out of him. That’s always worked in the past.\n\n[[Play along and trust him]]\n[[Force the old man to talk]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 660>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab a lab coat from a hanger and a pair of goggles from the counter. You @@color:#000081;put both on@@ and walk toward the crowd.\n\nSuddenly a burst of light floods the room. You lift your hand to cover your eyes. The light flickers, and a bright sphere appears above the crowd. It pulsates and swims with color. It expands and contracts in dangerously large bursts of energy.\n\n“Stabilize it!” A woman shouts.\n\n“I-I,” a man fumbles with the control panel. “I can’t. It’s fluctuating too rapidly.”\n\n“Adjust the frequency.”\n\n“It’s not that simple. There are too many variables. It’s becoming volatile. We need to terminate the sequence.”\n\n“NO!” The woman shouts. “We’re too close. I won’t allow another failure.”\n\nThe man shrugs helplessly. “We don’t have a choice.” He hits a large red button on the center of the console.\n\nThe sphere sputters and disappears.\n\nThe woman slaps the man in the face. “I told you not to do that.”\n\n“We would have died,” he pleads. “Everyone in this facility would have died.”\n\n“When I tell you to do something, you do it,” she growls. “Maybe if I bring your daughter down here it might help motivate you.” She grins. “I’ll start with her right index finger. Maybe tomorrow it will be her whole hand.”\n\nHe looks at her with horror. “You wouldn’t.”\n\nShe shrugs smugly. “Nothing’s stopping me.”\n\n“Wait, please. She’s just a child.”\n\nThe woman’s face turns vicious. “I want results. When I come back, I expect that field to be stable.” She turns and walks to the elevator.\n\nYou grab a clipboard from the nearest desk and twist around to face one of the machines. You try to blend in with the other tech grunts. She’s too agitated to notice you.\n\nTalk about a close call, and what’s with the light show. If you didn’t need to rescue Gillian, you’d spend a little more time poking around down here. Instead, you amble over to the guy at the console, who is obviously Wilson.\n\nYou sit down next to him, but stare straight ahead. You direct your voice to him. “Stay calm.”\n\nHe glances at you. “What?”\n\n“A series of events are about to happen that might frighten you. It’s important that you stay calm.”\n\nHe looks scared. “Who are you?”\n\n“I’m a friend of your daughter and if you want to survive, you’ll do exactly what I say.”\n\n“You know, I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. What makes you any different?”\n\n“Do you want to see your daughter or not?”\n\n“Alright, alright,” he whispers. “What do you want me to do?”\n\n“Can you get to the elevator?”\n\n“Yeah, but there are guards everywhere on the upper floors.”\n\n“Let me worry about them. We’ll need a distraction. How volatile is this stuff anyway?”\n\n“It’s, well, it’s...” He shakes his head. “With the fields disengaged there’s enough material here to cause a small earthquake. If the fields were active it would destroy everything in a three mile radius. I mean...” He shrugs. “Theoretically it could stretch as far as six miles. I-I don’t know though.” He gets anxious and fidgets with his hands. “It’s-It’s not, I-I can’t—”\n\n“Just relax. We haven’t done anything yet.” But you’re going to have to soon. You’ve still got the stun gun in your pocket. You sigh and look at Wilson. “Your daughter is hiding under the bar in the den.”\n\nHe gets wide-eyed and pale. “Is she—”\n\n“She’s fine. Start walking to the elevator now. I’ll catch up to you in a second.”\n\nWilson nervously nods and starts walking.\n\nYou twist around the console. Four large wires – red, blue, yellow, and black – stretch from the rear of the console to a large dish where the sphere appeared. If you short the machine, some sort of chaos should ensue. The stun gun should have enough power to get things started. Now it’s just a matter of picking the right wires.\n\n[[Join the red a blue wires]]\n[[Join the yellow and black wires]]\n[[Join the blue and yellow wires]]\n

Cloud Buchholz

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 788>>\n<<endnobr>>You grin at the demon. “You think it’s bad now, wait until you have an itch on the tip of your nose.” You lob the head into the closest fountain. The demon curses at you as its head sinks into the water. The frantic gurgling makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Yeah, you deserve to be in Hell.\n\n“You don’t think that’ll kill it, do you?”\n\nYou glance over your shoulder at Jazelle. “Probably not.”\n\n“Maybe you should have annoyed it to death,” she says, bringing the horse close behind you.\n\n“It crossed my mind,” you say, leaning down next to the headless body. You push its arms and legs out and then roll it over.\n\n“What are you doing?”\n\n“Looking for a set of keys, or a map, or,” you shrug. “Something that might help us get out of here.”\n\n“You mean something like that?” She points at a bag on the back of the snail.\n\n“Yeah, maybe,” you say climbing up the spikes. The bag is tied to one of the barbs. You pull it free and open it.\n\n“Well what is it?” Jazelle demands, trying to get a peek.\n\nYou shake your head. “I don’t know. It’s just a couple sticks of chalk.”\n\n“Chalk?”\n\n“Yeah.”\n\n“Huh,” she shrugs. “A demon that likes to play hopscotch.”\n\nYou raise an eyebrow. “I bet it’s the official game here in Hell.”\n\n“No,” she shakes her head. “That’d just be stupid.”\n\nYou roll your eyes, untie the bag, and put it in your pocket. It was the only thing the demon was carrying so it has to have some kind of value – best to take it with you.\n\nYou step from the snail to the back of the horse and slip your arms around Jazelle’s waist. “Alright, let’s check out that chateau.”\n\n“Oh, so you’re giving the orders again? As I recall, I found the horse, the sword, and I saved you from the demon. I think that makes me the one in charge.”\n\n“Alright,” you sigh. “What do you want to do?”\n\n“I think we should check out that chateau.”\n\nYou glare at the back of her head as the horse kicks into a gallop.\n\nIf your insides weren’t sloshing around partly outside your body, this would be a pleasant little spot. The sky is slightly overcast. A warm breeze blows through your hair. The trees sway peacefully while the birds sing happy melodies.\n\nIf it wasn’t for the Hell part, this place would be a perfect vacationing spot. Of course that whole Hell thing is kind of hard to overlook.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>In Hell time is elastic. In Seven Bullets, the beginning of time and end of time converge in the “spiritual realm”. Imagine Hell as a prism and time as a beam of light being “bent”.Using this logic I could have incorporated futuristic human civilizations but I chose the safe route and only used easily identifiable historical settings. I hoped that would give Seven Bullets a more timeless quality. ...which is why this is a chateau and not a robot health clinic.<<endif>>\nThe horse slows to a stop. You awkwardly get off, though fall is a bit more accurate. Jazelle gracefully dismounts like an experienced rider. “Ugh,” she says, staring at your stomach. “That looks really bad. Here,” she hands you her blouse. “Wrap this around it.”\n\nYou twist the blouse into a makeshift bandage and wrap it around your waist. It’s not like you need to worry about an infection or dying, but it’s probably a good idea to at least try to keep your organs inside your body. You may need them eventually.\n\nYou follow Jazelle into the chateau. The door squeaks ominously. That’s always a good sign. The entry way is decorated with expensive paintings and statues. A grand staircase rises up to the second story.\n\nJazelle tugs your arm. “If escaping doesn’t work out, we could always stay here.”\n\nYou have a feeling the glamour is only skin deep. “Just keep your guard up.”\n\nShe runs her finger across the frame of a painting. “Are you always so serious? We could do worse – don’t forget this is Hell.”\n\n“So it’s //we// now?”\n\n“What,” she says. “You think I’ve gotten attached?” She laughs and looks you over. “You’re //really// not my type.”\n\nYou sigh and glance up the staircase. The second floor looks dark. You twist back and look down the hallway. It’s empty too. “That’s strange.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“Where is everybody? A place like this, we should have stepped on someone’s toes by now.”\n\nJazelle swallows hard and tries to mask her fear. “There are plenty of reasons we haven’t seen anyone yet.”\n\n“Yeah, like what?” You say, pulling the thin blade from your belt and holding it at the ready.\n\n“Uhm,” Jazelle stalls. “Maybe they’re at a party or on vacation.”\n\nYou shoot her a glance.\n\n“It’s possible.” When she thinks you’re not looking, she grabs a sturdy metal vase, dumps the flowers, and holds it like a cudgel.\n\nYou glance over your shoulder. “We’ll have to search this place room by room.”\n\nShe doesn’t disagree, but her expression isn’t comforting. You feel the same way. It’s just a matter of picking a direction.\n\n[[Search the chateau’s first floor]]\n[[Search the chateau’s second floor]]\n

The Love Song of\n\nI.\nanother day\naching to eat and breathe\nwhile I wait to take\nthe ripples from the sea\nlike all the works of days before\nthat have peeled paint\nand gathered shells along the shore\n\nor mornings with the window in the nook\nthe smell of apples in the sun\nand bananas turning soft and brown\nand how I thought of taking one\nyesterday before you brought them home\n\n\nII.\nThe couch cushions are soft from your hips\nand how you lay like a morning stretch\nthen curl about the house like yellow smoke\n\nthe smoke that walks through narrow streets\nand throws its empty shoes upon the beach\nto count the seashells blue and white and red\n\nso how should I presume to wait\nand how should I begin\n\nI took your slippers from the dog\nand wiped the teeth marks off\nand saved them for when you get home\n\n\nIII.\nAnd there will be time to come\nand go from room to room\nthrough empty halls and half\nshut doors to wonder do I dare\n\nto turn back and wonder still\nif your legs have grown too thin\nto descend the stairs\n\nor if you'll have me guide you down\nwith arms that wrap about you like a shawl\n\nthe years digress and malinger\nbut let us still talk of you and I\nand cheap hotels and restaurants and\noyster-shells\n\nthere will be time after all\n(you have said so yourself)\nand I am waiting still\n\n\nIV.\nI have stood in the dooryards\nand searched the sprinkled streets\nto find you so meticulous\n\nwalking the stone paths each to each\nyou seem almost ridiculous\nalmost a fool but\nthat is not what I mean at all\n\n\nV.\nShould I hem the bottom of your white\nflannel trousers or fix the part\nin your hair or be of use\n\nan easy tool\n\nthe tea kettle whistles\nand I move to the noise\nto pour a glass of something warm\n\nto warm our throat and tongue and arms\nand all our indecision\n\ndrying by the furnace\nwith your boots and socks\nand melting snow\nwould you say it has been worthwhile\n\nto know the mornings, evenings, and afternoons\nto know them all already\ncan you say just what you mean\nin a smile\n\n\nVI.\nI am tired of counting saints\nlike sheep to sleep so tired\n\nof the moss that grows in cracks\nalong the fence or rain\nthat gathers oil in the street\nand pools rainbows for our feet\nand the wheels of our cars\n\nI have heard you singing as you sleep\nlike the yellow smoke that lingers on the beach\nbut I know you do not dream for me\n\nI have felt you turning in the sheets\nand I have counted\nthe white hairs I have left to grow\n\nif you hear a whisper as I leave\nit was only to say goodnight\n\n\n10-21-07\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;"The Love Song of" is a reference to T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (first published in 1915).@@\n\n<<back>>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 574>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +22>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<endnobr>>Let the scenario continue unimpeded? You don’t even know what the scenario is. This demon may look delicate, but he’s probably strong enough to take you down with one arm tied behind his back. \n\nGoing against him now would be @@color:#000081;stupid.@@ And, it doesn’t seem like he wants to turn you in, so you might as well be polite. This is his job after all.\n\n“There’s no reason we’d want to get in the way,” you say, trying to maintain the illusion that this is what you would have done anyway.\n\n“Then, as you humans say,” Ayporos grins. “Enjoy the show.” He flicks his finger at the Commander.\n\nSuddenly, it’s as if the Commander is struck by a dire decision. He pushes the wounded sailor aside and jumps into the escape pod. \n\nThe wounded sailor cries as his leg bends the wrong way.\n\nThe Commander ignores the young sailor’s sobs and seals the door.\n\nSuddenly, the metal walls buckle and water spews in from the bolts. The floor floods with water. The Commander realizes he made the wrong choice.\n\nHe pounds the door. “Help,” he pleads, but the wounded sailor only laughs. The Commander pounds on the door again. “Let me out,” he screams, “Please.” He looks at you.\n\nYour eyes @@color:#000081;stay cold@@ and trained on the metal behind him. He pounds the door again.\n\n“Aren’t we going to help him?” Jazelle asks.\n\n“He made his choice. You saw him.”\n\n“You know it doesn’t work like that here.”\n\n“If we try to save every single person we come across, we’ll never make it out of here.”\n\nThe Commander frantically searches the small space for something to force open the door, but he comes up empty handed.\n\nThe water continues to rise. It’s nearly up to his knees. \n\nHe keeps pounding on the door. The wounded sailor laughs louder and louder.\n\nThe water splashes against his neck. He treads water, gasping for every breath. His head bobs under the surface as the last bit of air is filled with ocean.\n\nJazelle looks away. “I can’t believe we’re letting this happen.”\n\nAyporos looks down at her lovingly. “Some events are inevitable.”\n\n“Is that supposed to be comforting?”\n\n“No, it simply is.” Ayporos motions toward the corridor. “Shall we go?”\n\n“You’re not coming with us,” Jazelle says sternly. \n\n“The trails in Hell are treacherous and misleading. You will need a guide.”\n\n“You make it sound like we’re going hiking. Why should we trust you?”\n\n“I have the strength to overpower you and the means to alert your demon keepers, but I have done neither. Our desires are not mutually exclusive. We both seek to escape this realm. Our attempt is better served with cooperation.” \n\n“He’s got a point,” you say. “We could use a compass.”\n\n“There’s always a catch,” Jazelle says sternly.\n\n“We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.”\n\nJazelle huffs like an angry child. “Fine, just remember I told you so.”\n\nAyporos pulls out a small bag of chalk and draws the outline of a door on the metal wall of the corridor. He lightly blows on the chalk outline causing it to glow. He twists the circle at its center and opens the rectangle as if it were a door.\n\nYou step through behind Jazelle.\n\nYou immediately fall face first into a hard plot of dirt. You groan and roll onto your back.\n\nAyporos extends his hand to help you up.\n\n[[Take Ayporos’s hand]]\n[[Refuse his aid]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 506>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +4300000>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -88>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s not like you can let these people get off unscathed. Maybe they didn’t kidnap your sister, but they imprisoned you and the Boss for over a month. You can’t let that slide. A little @@color:#000081;payback@@ is to be expected.\n\n“Go,” you say to the Boss. “I’ll catch up.”\n\nHe nods and wearily moves through the tunnel.\n\nYou double check the PDA. The guards and scientists are still in the other sections. You jog around the corner and access the console.\n\nA virus should do the trick. And if it happens to destroy all of the research and data on this network, well, that’s just icing on the cake.\n\nYou login to the server at your apartment and use it to upload a virus you’ve been @@color:#000081;engineering@@ for just such an occasion.\n\nSuddenly the screen flickers with a jumble of text and symbols. You hear a sharp pop as the drives overheat. Every cell door hisses @@color:#000081;open@@ simultaneously.\n\nThe creatures screech and howl. They sound eager to rip their captors apart. As much as you’d like to stay and watch the show, the creatures have no way of distinguishing you as a friend.\n\nIt’s time to run.\n\nYou twist around and sprint for the tunnel. You hear frantic shouting and gunfire, then nothing but ear-piercing screams.\n\nThat should teach these business types a thing or two about hospitality.\n\nYou duck into the tunnel and immediately slam into a wall. It’s too dark to see. The hazardous waste must be on an automated system.\n\nYou switch on the PDA and use it as a flashlight. You see the faint silhouette of the Boss in the distance. He’s making decent time for an old man.\n\nSuddenly you stagger as the ground shakes. A loud grating sound echoes from the back of the tunnel. That virus may have been more @@color:#000081;powerful@@ than you expected. It sounds like the whole building is coming @@color:#000081;apart.@@\n\nYou shine the PDA behind you.\n\nA stack of hazardous waste barrels catch on the automated arm. They slam into each other creating a @@color:#000081;bottleneck.@@\n\n[[“Oh no...”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 869>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Look at what the Blue Wizards have already done,” you say with a heavy sigh. “There’s no way we can trust them. I say we @@color:#000081;sneak in.”@@\n\n“Very well,” Avengral nods. “It is settled. We must sneak into the wizard’s castle and hope that the political ramifications do not effect the King.”\n\n“Yeah,” Able says hefting the giant hammer over his shoulder. “Because that’s what we were all worried about.”\n\n“I have only been to this island once before,” Avengral says. “And I did not see much then. I believe there is a sewer to the northwest that may lead into the castle.”\n\n“The sewer grate has a magic seal,” Mos Vestermire interrupts. “It would take hours to counter the spell.”\n\n“You have been here before?” Avengral asks cautiously.\n\nMos nods. “I spent two years of my youth on this island. When the Sarrejiinn inquisitors exiled me for having magic, they mistook me as an illusionist and sent me here. When I was found out, the Blue Wizards sent me to that dead rock of an island, Vizzairn. There is an old dock cavern to the east that has been abandoned. With a little bit of swimming, we should be able to reach the castle.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>When I outlined the five wizards who would help the main character, I made certain to give each character a backstory that correlated to a different part of Sarrejiinn. No matter what choice the reader made, one character in the group could provide information (lore) and guide the reader through uncertain areas.In this case, Mos Vestermire spent part of his childhood living with the Blue Wizards and knows some of their customs. I chose to give Mos a less identifiable (nature related) name to more align him with the Blue Wizards.<<endif>>\n“As long as it’s not sewer water,” you say.\n\n“Verily,” Avengral nods. “Then let us move with haste.”\n\nMos leaps from one boulder to the next with incredible speed. You have to jog to keep up. He leads you along the coast until you see a large cavern cut into the cliffs below. The ocean waves slap against the opening with savage force.\n\n“There,” Mos says. “Through that opening and to the right.” He grins and dives into the ocean, disappearing beneath the water.\n\nAble dives in after him.\n\n“A little bit of swimming,” you say under your breath. “Talk about an understatement.” You climb up the boulder and jump. You spin in freefall, breaking through the water feet-first. It’s ice cold, almost paralyzing. You @@color:#000081;swim@@ low through the opening and turn right. The current slows, and you break the surface for air.\n\nThe cavern is enormous. A large system of wooden docks line the west wall and old pulleys hang from the ceiling. The dock is large enough to hold at least ten full sized ships. It looks like it hasn’t been touched in years.\n\nYou swim to Mos and Able and then climb onto the wooden platform next to them. “Wow,” you say. “Nice place, but why build it where ships can never reach it?”\n\n“That was not always the case.” Mos says, squeezing the water from his shirt. The rocks along that wall were enchanted. Any ship baring the proper sigil would pass through the rocks unscathed like a spirit.”\n\n“Handy,” you say helping Evie up. “So why did they abandon it?”\n\n“I don’t know.” Mos says pulling Avengral up. “The Squamarian were attacking the ships I think. Or maybe it was pirates. I’m not sure. All I remember is that the ocean wasn’t safe.”\n\n“It makes no difference,” Avengral coughs. “We are here now.” He points to Mos. “Lead the way young wizard.”\n\n“It’s been a long time. Things have likely changed, but there should be a corridor leading to the base of the spire.” Mos walks along the crumbling planks with ease. He stops in front of the dark corridor and picks up a sliver of broken plank. “Glizco Vita,” he whispers. The tip of wood glows with light. He turns back to Avengral. “Stay close and quiet. Children sometimes play down here and being seen is ill-advised.”\n\n“Even by children?” You say skeptical.\n\n“Yes,” Mos says firmly. “The children’s magic may be rudimentary, but it's enough to cause dementia. You could spend the rest of your life walking the corridors aimlessly.” He says it like he has some experience walking aimlessly. It’s best to believe him.\n\n“Avoid children in dark scary places, got it,” you say with a nod. “I would have done that anyway.”\n\nAvengral draws his sword and Evie unfurls her whip. You unsheathe the green speckled sword and step in line behind Able. Mos leads you through the darkness. Left, left, right, up a set of stairs, and another right.\n\nHe pauses and stomps out the light. “The dungeons are ahead,” Mos whispers. “And the tower is up a set of stairs to the right. If the Blue Wizards have been trading in slaves, we will find the slaves in the dungeons. But evidence of blood magic or their plans regarding the Prince will be somewhere in the tower where they conduct their spells.”\n\n“We will not have enough time to investigate both,” Avengral says with a frown.\n\n“We should split up,” Evie whispers. “We will have an easier time staying concealed.”\n\n“Agreed,” Avengral nods. “I will search the tower. If I am discovered I can fain political parley.”\n\n“I will go with Avengral,” Evie says. “He will need someone to decipher the tomes and scrolls.”\n\nMos draws his bow and readies an arrow. “Able and I will search the dungeons. We’ll meet you at the base of the tower with whatever we find.”\n\nAvengral turns to you. “And what of your destination Earth Wizard?”\n\n[[Go with Avengral and Evie to the tower]]\n[[Go with Mos and Able to the dungeons]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 455>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Just tell me what’s going on now,” you @@color:#000081;shout.@@\n\nMaurer looks annoyed. “Must I explain for a small child?”\n\n“Yeah,” you say, pointing the gun at him, “Before I have a tantrum.”\n\nBefore you can pat yourself on the back for such a witty retort, the woman grabs your arm, nearly @@color:#000081;ripping@@ it from the socket. She twists you into the air and @@color:#000081;slams@@ you into the tile hard. The gun slides across the floor out of reach.\n\nMaurer grins. “Time for that tantrum, yes?”\n\nYou’re about to respond, but the woman steps on your shoulder and @@color:#000081;you groan@@ in pain.\n\nMaurer walks toward you. “Everyone wants—” he points to his temple. “But,” he shakes his head. “It is mine. You will not take it."\n\n“Who says I wanted it?” You groan.\n\n“You are a liar. You take and take, but I will not let you take zhis.” He makes a grand gesture to his laboratory. His eyes suddenly become wide with excitement. “I will give you somezhing zhough, somezhing for your hard work.” He points at a chamber.\n\nThe woman lifts you off the ground and throws you inside. The doors seal around you.\n\nYou kick on the glass. “Let me out of here.”\n\nMaurer gets so close to the glass that you can see the white hairs in his nostrils. “Soon,” he says. You have a feeling he doesn’t have your best interests at heart.\n\nHe types at a console. The walls of the chamber glow. The floor vibrates. You hear what sounds like the hum of an engine. A bright blue light floods the chamber.\n\nYou see Maurer’s slightly crooked teeth as he glares at you with a haunting grin. “My recent work is still untested, but zhe simulations suggest it must be very painful.”\n\nThe light whips through the chamber like tentacles. One of them grabs your leg and pulls you off the ground. The whole chamber pulsates. It’s so hot you can barely breathe.\n\nThe gravity in the room shifts and you feel weightless. You try grabbing hold of something, but there’s nothing to grab.\n\nYour body feels like it’s being torn apart, like every molecule is moving in the wrong direction.\n\nYou look at the woman. She remains motionless and stares at you blankly.\n\nYour fingers glimmer and disappear. The same happens to your arms and legs.\n\nIt’s like you’re on fire, like you’re burning from the inside out. You try to move, try to fight it, but you’re helpless. There’s nowhere to escape to. You see Maurer rub his hands together like a maniacal villain.\n\nYou almost expect to hear him laugh, but instead, you feel the tentacles of light envelop you. Then everything fades to black.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 322>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +3>>\n<<set $infamy +6>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +325>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The green really makes your eyes pop. You load it into the shotgun. Using untested prototype ammunition based on its color... what’s the worst that could happen?\n\nYou push yourself against the wall and peek around the doorway. The thugs are still a little stunned from the first blast, but they’ve got their guns aimed in your direction. Don’t they know it’s rude to point?\n\nYou raise the shotgun and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@\n\nThe green round whizzes through the air, thuds against one of the guard’s body armor, and drops to the floor. It rolls by his feet.\n\nThat was a bit anticlimactic.\n\nYou duck behind the counter. “Yeah,” you shout. “And there’s more where that came from.” Maybe you can confuse them to death. It probably wouldn’t be hard.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is one scene when humor trumped violence. In an earlier version I described in detail how the guard’s body is eaten away by the toxic gas and his skin dissolves in messy chunks.It was so graphic; it overshadowed everything else in this section. I liked the “And there’s more where that came from” line so much, I decided to trim the violent details and keep the story light and fun, keeping focus on the one-liner.<<endif>>\nYou hear a click and the hiss of gas. You take a quick glance over the counter. The green round spins on the tile floor, spraying @@color:#000081;green mist@@ from its casing.\n\nThe mist drenches the guard’s pants. It eats through the material, and then his skin. In less than a second his bones @@color:#000081;dissolve.@@ He drops to the ground, screaming. The mist spreads toward the other three guards. They run for the exit as it eats through their clothes and armor.\n\nThe guard stops screaming. His body is mush. His skin seeps between the cracks in the tile. You shake your head. Some people just don’t know how to keep it together in pressure situation.\n\nYou pull out the clip and stuff it into your bag. Too dangerous to use around Gillian. You double time it to the elevator and head up to the penthouse.\n\nYou better figure out how to come at the thugs without getting Gillian hurt. The pistol is a safe choice. Of course the guards will probably be sporting automatic weapons. You’ve still got two grenades... they could be useful. Then again, the shiny blue shotgun round is very tempting.\n\n[[Lead with the pistol]]\n[[Lead with the grenades]]\n[[Lead with the blue shotgun round]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 201>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -99>>\n<<endnobr>>You jerk your arm up and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ Instantly, the sniper rounds knock you to the ground. You can't breathe. The bullets must have @@color:#000081;punctured@@ a lung.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;cough@@ up blood.\n\nIt hurts to move, but you tilt up your head.\n\nJimmy holds his groin. Blood runs down his pants.\n\nHe stares at you with rage. “You shot me in the—” His words trail off as he falls against the wall.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;smirk.@@ Looks like there won’t be any little Jimmies running around.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;cough@@ up more blood.\n\nThe Boss kneels down next to you and shakes his head. “How disappointing. I had such plans for you.”\n\nIf you could lift your arm, you’d use it to slap him in the face. Instead you @@color:#000081;glare@@ at him.\n\nYou try to speak. You want to tell him to let Gillian go. You want to tell him to smoke a stick of dynamite while taking a bath in acid. The words come out a @@color:#000081;painful gurgle.@@\n\nWong stands over you. He reveals a sword concealed within his jacket. Like a bolt of lightning, he draws the sword and shoves it into your chest.\n\nYou feel it pierce your heart and then—\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 23]]\n

Unlocks:

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 232>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +30>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -6>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<endnobr>>You slam the trunk shut. The kid’s @@color:#000081;not your problem.@@\n\nAnd who knows, there’s a shot he could live through this. It’s not like you’re setting the car on fire or driving it off a cliff. The kid’s got at least a 50/50 chance. Those are better odds than you ever had.\n\nThe kid kicks at the trunk again.\n\nYou would tell him to shut up, but you’ve got a feeling it won’t do any good. Wong’s restaurant isn’t far off. You can probably make it there before the noise becomes a problem.\n\nYou can’t let this complicate things. You have to stick to the plan. During the week, Wong always has an early lunch at his restaurant. You need to start the gunfight before he arrives or there’s a good chance his bodyguards will overpower you.\n\nJust because this crazy plan relies on chaos doesn’t mean you get to act reckless. You take a deep breath and try to forget about the kid.\n\nYou get back in the car and pull out of the alley. You drive under the speed limit, making a point to follow the law exactly. This is the kind of situation where it’s best to stay under the radar.\n\nYou see blue and red lights in your rearview mirror. Maybe you spoke too soon. Suddenly the siren wails and the @@color:#000081;cop@@ signals for you to pull over.\n\n[[Pull over]]\n[[Hit the gas]]\n

[[Karen|Karen]] shared the small [[apartment]] with another girl by the name of Emma Fisher. Emma and [[Karen|Karen]] first crossed paths at the [[University Library]], immediately becoming the best of friends.\n\nEmma had just received her degree in Business and was working toward her reality license when she accepted an internship at a small reality firm near the University. She gave notice to the [[Library|University Library]] and spent the next two weeks training her replacement, [[Karen Ward|Karen]].\n\nHaving so much in common, [[Karen|Karen]] and Emma began renting an [[apartment]] together, sharing clothes, cookery, and, often times, boys.\n\nDuring the strange [[afternoon]] in which [[Karen|Karen]] [[fell]] from the [[seventh]] story [[window]] of their [[apartment]], Emma had been hiding in her bedroom with [[Quentin Weaver]].\n\nThe two were hiding because their romantic and secret relationship was a delicate subject since only three days before [[Quentin|Quentin Weaver]] and [[Karen|Karen]] were involved in a serious, though crumbling, fling.\n\nWhen [[Quentin|Quentin Weaver]] and Emma heard the loud commotion in the living room, they refused to investigate, fearing that [[Karen|Karen]] would discover their secret. Instead, they turned up the stereo, locked the door, and continued to fool around under the sheets.\n\nWhen [[Detective Phillip Michaels]] interviewed them, neither one could explain what had happened or why.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 532>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Who knows what these Blue Wizards are capable of...for all you know this could still be part of their twisted game. You should err on the side of caution.\n\nYou slow to a stop and let Avengral sprint toward the Prince @@color:#000081;unrestrained.@@ Maybe you're just paranoid, but if there is a trap, you won’t be the one who springs it. Besides, Avengral is too enamored by duty and honor. There’s no way you could stop him in time.\n\n“The Prince!” He shouts with frantic joy. He doesn’t slow down. He barely even looks back. He’s too focused on the Prince. He’s not watching his surroundings.\n\nThere, in front of him... It’s a trip wire.\n\n“Look out!” You yell, but it’s too late. Avengral’s foot catches the wire. A giant spiked tree trunk swings down from a set of ropes. The spikes slam into Avengral’s side, launching him into the air. He skids across the ground, bloody and nearly unconscious.\n\nYou take a step forward, but @@color:#000081;hesitate.@@ You can’t be sure that was the only trap.\n\n“Mhmhmm,” the Prince mumbles. The gag in his mouth keeps him from talking, but his eyes frantically dart toward the woods.\n\n“Magnificent,” an old voice coos.\n\nYou recognize the voice. You turn to see Kailvo pointing a wand at your forehead.\n\n“Your viciousness is truly astounding,” Kailvo says with pride. “It would be a waste to kill you.”\n\nYou reach for your green speckled blade.\n\n“Tsk, tsk,” Kailvo says, waving the wand. “Even if you are faster than me, which I highly doubt, there is no way you are faster than all of them.” His eyes glance into the woods in every direction.\n\nYou glance out of the corner of your eye. You see the faint silhouettes of large furry creatures. There are dozens of them.\n\n“If you were going to kill me," you say dryly. "You would have done it already.”\n\nKailvo grins. “Very astute. A person of your talents could be very useful to me and my plans.”\n\n“Thanks,” you say giving him a weary look. “But I’ve had my fill of demented egomaniacs.”\n\n“Yes,” Kailvo shrugs. “I had a feeling you might say something of that nature. Perhaps thirty years of quiet contemplation will change your mind.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“Marmor Salvus Duratus,” Kailvo says with a quick flick of the wand.\n\nA gray speckled fog swirls around you. You try to unsheathe your sword, but your arm doesn’t move. You try your legs... your fingers... your neck... even your eyelids...\n\nYour body is completely paralyzed.\n\nKailvo holds up a small blade to show you your reflection. Your skin and clothes are gray stone. You’ve been transformed into a statue.\n\nYou try to scream, but no sound comes out.\n\nKailvo leans in close and whispers. “I’ll see you again... in thirty years. A little time should calm you down.”\n\nThe creatures drag Avengral’s body into the darkness of the forest. There’s nothing you can do. You can’t even scream at them. Kailvo and the creatures take the bound Prince and leave.\n\nYou’re alone... completely alone...\n\nA bird flutters onto your shoulder. It squawks and poops down the front of your shirt... you have a feeling it’s going to be a long thirty years...\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<center>Seven Bullets\nAssassin Paper Doll\n\n<img src="unlocks/paperDoll/PaperDoll_01.jpg" width="150" height="208" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/paperDoll/PaperDoll_02.jpg" width="150" height="212" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/paperDoll/PaperDoll_03.jpg" width="150" height="196" align="center" hspace="6">\n\n<html><a href="unlocks/paperDoll/SevenBullets_PaperDoll.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></html>\n\n<<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 888>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -15>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Uh, alright demon,” you say, pointing at his @@color:#000081;right hand.@@ “I choose that one.”\n\nAgares smirks. “Very well,” he says, slowly pulling back his fingers to reveal a key. “Your fate awaits you beyond that door.”\n\nYou look at the door. It’s large and old, but sturdy. It looks like it’s been standing there for years, thousands of years. The handle and lock are iron like something from the dark ages. You feel a cold chill the longer you look at the door. It’s almost like it’s emitting its own electrical field.\n\nYou look back at Agares. “That’s it. I just take the key and open the door?”\n\nAgares lifts an eyebrow. “For someone who has made it this far, you are not particularly bright.”\n\nYou scowl at him. “Bright enough, I guess.”\n\n“We shall see,” he says, nodding toward the key.\n\nYou haven’t got much of a choice. It’s either the key or the Hellhound.\n\nYou have a feeling you’re just trading the evil you can see for the evil you can’t. Then again, how will you know if you don’t try.\n\nYou take the key and walk to the door. The key feels light and squishy, like a sponge. You glance down at it again. It looks like an old, iron skeleton key, but it feels like something you would pull out of the ocean.\n\nYou shake your head. There’s nothing normal about this place, why would it be any different for a key. You swallow uncomfortably and stare at the door. There’s no way around it. You’ve already made the deal, and Agares doesn’t seem like a second chance kind of guy. You just have to go for it.\n\nYou press the key into the lock and turn it. There’s a soft click of gears falling into place. You shove down the cold handle and pull open the door.\n\nImmediately, you’re sucked through the threshold into a warm, heavy liquid. You flail your arms and kick your feet until; finally, you find a semblance of equilibrium.\n\nYou’re in some kind of liquid, the ocean maybe, but the water is warm and thick and \n\n[[...red?]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 451>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $force = $force +6>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $wpn = "A Game of Chicken">>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +6>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +54000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The truck engine is blown. You’ll need a car to get back to the school – might as well take theirs. You step out from the alley and walk to the center of the street. The SUV makes a U-turn. The driver sees you and revs the engine.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;smirk.@@ Nothing like a game of chicken to get your blood pumping.\n\nThe tires squeal and the SUV barrels down the street.\n\nYou calmly raise your pistol and @@color:#000081;fire a single bullet.@@ It cuts through the windshield and hits the driver in the ear. He screams and twists the wheel. The SUV barrels through a @@color:#000081;fire hydrant@@ and slams into a @@color:#000081;building@@ a few feet from you.\n\nA pillar of water shoots into the air.\n\nYou walk to the SUV and pull out the driver. His forehead is covered in blood. The thugs in the backseat are dazed. You should probably find out who they’re working for.\n\nYou drag the driver to the spewing water. You speak into his good ear. “Who are you working for?” Before he can answer you shove his head into the erupting water.\n\nHe squirms and convulses.\n\nYou pull him back and let him catch his breath.\n\n“Talk. Now.”\n\n“Jimmy,” he coughs. @@color:#000081;“Jimmy Lee.”@@\n\nYou laugh. “Jimmy? And what did Jimmy want you to do?”\n\n“The kid. He wanted us to bring him the kid.”\n\n“Just the kid?”\n\n“I-I don’t know.”\n\nYou press the pistol against his remaining ear.\n\n“Wait, wait. All he said was he wanted the kid, and we were supposed to keep him safe.”\n\n“Safe from what?”\n\n“Jimmy wouldn’t say, but he hired the whole crew. He seemed real scared. That’s all. Don’t kill me man, please.”\n\nJimmy’s gotten ambitious since the last time you spoke. That is, if Jimmy is actually behind this. He could be just as much of a puppet as this dope. Either way, he deserves a visit.\n\nYou yank the three other thugs out of the SUV and take their guns. “You come after me or the kid, I’ll kill you. Now lay on the pavement belly down.”\n\nThey cry and plead for you not to shoot them.\n\nTalk about @@color:#000081;amateurs.@@ Whoever hired them was looking for cheap labor or expected them to fail. Their interest in the kid still doesn’t explain how he ended up with the Russians.\n\nYou get in the SUV and drive to the school. All these questions are getting hard to keep track of. You could always stop asking them.\n\nYeah, that’s not really an option.\n\nYou park the SUV halfway up the curb, cut off the engine, and toss the keys in the backseat.\n\nYou get in the BMW and put it in gear.\n\n[[Look for the cop and the kid]]\n[[Go to Wong’s restaurant]]\n

Prototypes of the Seven Bullets ebook cover\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 979>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -13>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You look down at the key and then up at the light brown door. It’s elegant craftsmanship and intricate woodworking is too good to be done by human hands. It has a faint shimmering glow that could only be supernatural. It must be the gateway back to the living.\n\n“Alright Agares, I choose that one,” you say pointing to the beautiful, light brown door.\n\n“If that is your decision,” Agares motions toward the door. “Then give weight to your words with action.”\n\nYou swallow hard and walk toward the door. It gives off a warm energy that makes your skin tingle. As you lift the key, it’s drawn to the lock and slides effortlessly into place. You look back at Agares. He smiles with anticipation.\n\nYou turn the key and @@color:#000081;open the door.@@ A blinding light conceals the contents of the room. You have to shield your eyes to keep from going blind. The light is warm like the sun. A cool breeze rushes through the opening.\n\nIt reminds you of the park where you and Gillian used to play as kids. You were both so different than. Life was simple and easy. You were both innocent, and the future had so much potential.\n\nIt’s almost as if you can smell the cut grass and hear the soft laughter of children playing. You open your eyes and slowly adjust to the brightness of your surroundings.\n\nYou’re standing in the park. You see the children playing, and you feel the cool breeze and the warm, wonderful sun. You’re back home.\n\nYou pinch your cheek just to make sure it’s not a dream.\n\n“A wonderful place indeed,” an old voice says cheerfully.\n\nYou turn.\n\nAgares gives you a toothy grin. “So much as changed since my last visit. I can hardly recognize this world.”\n\n“How’d you get back here? I thought we had a deal.”\n\n“We certainly did. And you lost.”\n\n“What?” You say, lifting your fist. “I made it back home. I chose the right door.”\n\n“No.” Agares takes in a deep breath of fresh air. “You chose a door, not the proper door.”\n\nYou furrow your brow. “You said one of the doors would lead me back home.”\n\n“And so it did, but I did not say it was the correct door.”\n\n“You cheated.”\n\n“No. You failed to observe the rules of the game, and you lost.”\n\n“How could I lose? I’m back home, aren’t I?” You regret saying the words before they’ve left your mouth. You know this is the part where Agares proves you wrong.\n\n“There have been so many before you, but none have had the substance required to escape Hell. You have proven to be more than I could ever have hoped for.”\n\nYou take a step back and look around for a weapon.\n\nAgares grins. “Only one of your kind can open a door back to this realm, and only with the proper key. You have no idea how long it has taken me to acquire both, but here we are, finally.”\n\n“Somehow that doesn’t sound comforting.”\n\nAgares lets out a little laugh. “It wasn’t meant to, not for you anyway. You do recall the rules of the game? I promised you an eternity of torment if you lost. Now it’s time to collect your reward.”\n\nYou take another step back.\n\nAs Agares laughs, his body shifts into a swarm of flies. They buzz and swirl through the air, enshrouding your body. You feel a pinch, and then a bite, and then thousands of bites. The flies dig and claw at your skin until each one of them has burrowed through.\n\nYou spasm and contort with pain. You feel them climb through your veins and flutter against your chest. You slam your fist against your chest and arm, hoping to smash them, but it’s no use.\n\nAs the pain reaches its peak, you hear an old voice in your head. “I am Agares, the Grand Duke of the North Western region of Hell, and your body is now in my possession.”\n\n[[Fight the pain]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 460>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -17>>\n<<endnobr>>This blood is becoming a real problem, or at least the fact that it’s not staying in your body. The leather seats are covered with it and your face is starting to look @@color:#000081;pale.@@\n\nYou’ve got a medical kit in your bag, but even if you had the strength to keep from passing out, you’d need two hands to sow your shoulder back together. You’ll have to find a doctor – someone who’s willing to work off the books.\n\nNormally you’d go to the Boss’s personal physician, but that’s obviously not an option.\n\nYou’re heading towards Wong’s restaurant anyway – there’s a surgeon you’ve heard rumors about. He does a lot of work for criminals. They say he’s good enough, and better still, his loyalty is only to money.\n\nYou pull into an alley. Sounds are starting to seem @@color:#000081;muffled.@@ That’s not a good sign.\n\nYou glance in the mirror. You have dark circles under your eyes, and your cheeks look @@color:#000081;sullen.@@ Your arm feels numb too. It seems a doctor is just what you need.\n\nYou grab two stacks of cash from the bag and hobble to an old wooden door. It creaks open. You stand in a tiny waiting room. The wallpaper peels at the corners, and the ceiling is stained from leaking water.\n\nThe receptionist sits in a small room protected by metal bars. A cigarette hangs from her lips. She casually glances at the blood dripping down your shoulder. “Cash only, and upfront.”\n\nYou set the two stacks on the counter.\n\nShe sighs and takes both. “Have a seat. The Doctor will see you in a moment.”\n\nThere are only three chairs. Each is caked with blood and other bodily fluids. They probably haven’t been cleaned for months...or ever.\n\nYou look at the wall. It’s not much better, but you lean against it. Working for the Boss did have its perks. He knew how to take care of his employees – when he wasn’t sending them to their death. You’re still not sure how you came out of that last mission alive. And the look on the Boss’s face; he seemed more surprised than you were.\n\n“You,” the secretary belts. “The Doc’ll see you.” She points her cigarette to the door across from you.\n\nYou take a deep breath and force your legs to carry you there. The room’s not much cleaner than the lobby. You’ll probably die from an infection before you bleed out.\n\nThe Doc takes the cigarette from his mouth and licks his lips. “So, you here for a checkup?”\n<<if $introComments is true>>I think every gritting revenge story needs a disturbing, ethically ambiguous doctor. (See: Bruce Campbell in Escape from L.A.)<<endif>>\n“Yeah, let’s call it a checkup.”\n\nThe Doc grins and rolls toward you on his stool. He points to a well used examining table. It looks like something he stole from a morgue in the 1800s.\n\n[[Lie on the examining table]]\n[[Don’t lie on the examining table]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 547>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“We need to @@color:#000081;attack!”@@ You shout.\n\n“Fire the cannons!” Taz Moir yells in agreement.\n\nAnother voice echoes the command from below deck. Then you hear a dozen thundering booms. The ship jostles, and a stream of cannonballs fly toward the creature. The cannonballs bounce off its skin and splash into the water.\n\nThe attack didn’t even slow it down. If anything you only made it angrier. The creature continues to rise out of the depths.\n\n“Reload!” Taz Moir commands with a steely calm.\n\nSuddenly the islands tilt and climb out of the water with the beast. They’re connected to something below. All of the islands around you rise higher into the sky. The water drains from beneath your ship.\n\nThe horizon seems distant the higher you rise. The ship tilts and twists sideways. You tumble over the side and skid across the ground with half the crew. But something feels strange...the ground is warm and tough like leather...and it moves with the slow, steady cadence of breathing.\n\nThat’s when you realize it can’t be the ground. It must be the creature...the Cetorix. You’re standing on the huge dome back of the Cetorix. The islands are a part of it, dozens of them, shaped to the curvature of its back.\n\nThe Cetorix is the southern islands...\n\nYou’re definitely in over your head. And you’re going to need a bigger boat.\n\nThe crew stares at each other with bewilderment.\n\nAvengral limps toward you. “Are you alright?” He winces. He’s obviously in pain.\n\nYou stand up. “Fine,” you say, giving your arms and legs a quick look over.\n\n“What happened? Where is the beast? How are we now on dry land?”\n\n“This isn’t land,” you say starkly.\n\nAvengral gives you a confused stare.\n\nTaz Moir staggers toward you, limping slightly due to his mechanical leg. “The Cetorix!” Taz Moir says astounded.\n\n“Where?” Avengral grabs his sword and glances over his shoulder.\n\n“Right here,” Taz Moir taps his metal leg against the ground.\n\nAvengral stares at it.\n\n“We be standin’ on the beast.”\n\n“By the Seven,” Avengral gasps. “This is madness.”\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir agrees. “The sea be mad today.”\n\n“Well,” you interrupt. “We aren’t dead, so there’s that, but we aren’t exactly going anywhere. How are we supposed to get back without a ship? And what about the calcified battery?”\n\nTaz Moir gives you a blank stare. “I be knowin’ as little as ye.”\n\nHe has a point. How often do a series of islands turn out to be a giant creature which you are now riding to who knows where? “We need to explore our surroundings, see if we can find anything useful.”\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir nods. “We send two teams in opposite directions to scout fer supplies.”\n\n“Alright,” you agree. “Which directions?”\n\nTaz Moir points left. “If the beast be movin’ that way, then the head be in that direction,” he points right. “And the tail be there,” he points left.\n\n“I will stay with the ship,” Avengral groans. “I fear I will only slow you down.”\n\n“That’s fine,” you pat Avengral’s shoulder. “Someone needs to stay with the ship.”\n\nHe nods regretfully. “I will see to a fire,” He says limping back toward the ship.\n\n“And what of ye?” Taz Moir asks. “Which direction ye be taking?”\n\n[[Travel left toward the Cetorix’s head]]\n[[Travel right toward the Cetorix’s tail]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 537>>\n<<endnobr>>In a haze of confusion you gaze down at the kid. In his hand a little mechanical turtle wattles forward. It looks too real and lifelike to be a toy, but there’s no way it could be alive.\n\nYou reach down to touch it. Its head darts back into its shell.\n\n“This is Arty,” the kid says. “He’s kind of shy.”\n\nYou look back at the woman’s arm. You stare at the wires and circuit boards. “This is—” You shake your head. “This is impossible.”\n\n“Ho,” Maurer laughs. “Only zhe impossible is impossible.”\n\nYou look back at the old man. “Is she?”\n\n“Yes.” He points at your gun. “Would you please?”\n\nYou holster it. “How is this possible? Your patents didn’t have circuitry this advanced.”\n\n“You have read my work?”\n\n“I understood about a third of it.” You kneel down next to the woman and examine her arm more closely. “How were you able to integrate the circuitry so fluidly with the rest of her body? The responsiveness is incredible.”\n\nMaurer grins. “Integration is zhe lezzer problem.” He walks behind the woman and presses on her shoulder, neck, and forehead.\n\nYou hear a click and the front layer of her face swings up like the hood of a car. Underneath lays an intricate pathway of circuits and micro-components. Even her eyes are a collection of diodes and mirrors.\n\nShe stares at you as you stare at her. “How did you create such—” You can’t find the words to describe it. “The realism is uncanny.”\n\nMaurer looks away with shame. “Zhe credit is not precisely mine. Zhough I am zhe engineer, I am not zhe creator.” He presses a few buttons on a small electronic device. The wall of the room slides down and apart, revealing a set of monitors.\n\nOne screen displays a slideshow of earlier events from the woman’s perspective, as if her eyes were cameras – though that’s probably because they are. There are images of you carrying the kid as bullets fly past. From this angle you look almost heroic.\n\nAnother screen displays a set of numbers and graphs that constantly fluctuate. Whatever object or event they’re tracking isn’t displayed on the screen.\n\n“What am I supposed to be looking at?”\n\nMaurer points to the third monitor.\n\nIt’s a video feed of Earth from some distant planet.\n\n“I don’t understand.”\n\nMaurer nods. “It was difficult for me to understand too. I have already spoken with zhe others. Zhey agree; you would be a good candidate.”\n\n“Candidate? Others? What are you talking about old man?”\n\nHe points to the first screen. “We have seen your potential. Zhere is a place for you here, if you so desire.”\n\nYou swallow hard. The room feels claustrophobic. You glance at another monitor. It’s a video feed of a room – the room you’re in right now. You see the back of someone’s head. It takes a moment, but you realize it’s your head. You turn in a panic.\n\nThe kid’s standing behind you. “You’re—” you glance at the monitor and then back at the kid. “You’re a—” You look at Maurer.\n\nHe nods.\n\n“And you?”\n\nHe nods again. His crooked teeth beam through an ominous smile.\n\n[[Ask about becoming a candidate]]\n[[Tell Maurer you’re not interested]]\n

October was, as [[Karen's|Karen]] research indicated, a very spiritual month and given her [[theories]] about the [[spirit realm]], she decided it would be the perfect [[time]] to carry out some of her [[experiments]].

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 742>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Who knows what these Blue Wizards are capable of...for all you know this could still be part of their game. You should err on the side of @@color:#000081;caution.@@ And so should Avengral. If there’s a fight, you’ll need his help. Hopefully you can stop him in time.\n\n“Wait,” you shout. “Think this through.”\n\n“It’s the Prince!” Avengral shouts back with frantic joy. He doesn’t slow down. He barely even looks back. He’s too focused on the Prince. He’s not watching his surroundings.\n\nThere, in front of him... It’s a trip wire.\n\n“Look out!” You yell, but it’s too late. Avengral’s foot catches the wire. You sprint forward, shoving Avengral to the right, barely @@color:#000081;dodging@@ a spiked branch as it swings down from the nearest tree. You roll to Avengral’s left. “It’s a trap,” you say between heavy breaths.\n\n“Trap?” Avengral shakes his head, finally realizing the situation. He glances at the Prince.\n\n“Mhmhmm,” the Prince mumbles. The gag in his mouth keeps him from talking, but his eyes frantically dart toward the woods.\n\nYou follow his gaze...\n\nLarge, furry creatures emerge from the bushes and trees. The creatures are double the size of a normal person. Their teeth are jagged and their claws are long. You hear rustling in every direction...you’re surrounded.\n\n“The Ferralliise,” Avengral growls. “But how?”\n\n“Is it not obvious?” An old voice coos.\n\nYou recognize the voice.\n\nKailvo steps out from behind one of the Ferralliise. “Did you think these beasts capable of such cunning or restraint?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Blue Wizard’s relationship with the Ferralliise may seem drastically different in other branches of the story, but in the broader perspective they’re all connected.I imagined the events spread out on a timeline and depending on the reader’s choices different stages of Kailvo’s scheme would be revealed.The reader can influence events in subtle ways by visiting the Blue Wizards later rather than sooner.<<endif>>\n“You!” Avengral snarls. “Dastardly wizard! Release the Prince at once.”\n\n“How noble,” Kailvo laughs. “Despite your own dire circumstances, you still vie for the safety of your Prince.”\n\n“I would die for my kingdom.”\n\n“Yes,” Kailvo smiles. “You will.” He raises his arms and dozens more Ferralliise jump from the bushes and trees. They snarl and growl at you like wild animals.\n\nThe ground rumbles and quakes beneath the Prince. He sinks into the soil as if it were quicksand.\n\n“Prince!” Avengral demands in a panic. He slides across the dirt, trying to grab the Prince’s garment, but the cloth slips through his gloved hand. “No,” he shouts, digging and pawing at the ground, but the Prince is gone.\n\n“We have bigger problems,” you shout over your shoulder at him.\n\nThe hoard of Ferralliise slowly surrounds you. Even if you had your full arsenal, there’d be too many to fight.\n\nAvengral twists around waving his sword at Kailvo. “Why!?!” He screams. You see tears drench his cheeks.\n\n“Why?” Kailvo says lightly. “Has your common mind not grasped the situation?”\n\nAvengral glares at him.\n\nKailvo laughs again. “I suppose not.”\n\nYou stand next to Avengral with your sword drawn. “It’s the same thing every demented egomaniac wants: power, wealth, and fame.”\n\nThe Ferralliise move closer.\n\nKailvo nods obviously pleased with your brazenness. “With the Prince missing, the King will dispatch his army across the realm in search of his dear boy. With no one protecting the castle we, the Blue Wizards of the East, will reclaim our right as sovereign lords of the realm.”\n\n“Heresy,” Avengral growls through gritted teeth.\n\n“Perhaps,” Kailvo shrugs. “But we were the rulers of this land long before you, and we will be the rulers long after you are gone.”\n\nSuddenly, the Ferralliise pounce on you and Avengral. You can barely swing your sword in time. You manage to @@color:#000081;cut@@ one across the chest, but another immediately takes its place. You feel something sharp clamp into your @@color:#000081;shoulder@@ ...a hundred razor sharp teeth. You twist and swing the sword back, but the creature won’t release.\n\nAnother beast bites into your @@color:#000081;leg.@@ You stumble sideways, and then a dozen more pile on top of you. Avengral doesn’t fair much better.\n\nYour blood @@color:#000081;drains@@ fast. The creatures revel in it. Your hands and feet feel cold. The green speckled blade falls from your weak fingers. Your strength @@color:#000081;drains@@ as quickly as your blood.\n\nKailvo stands over you. “What a pity,” he says despondently. “You had such promise.”\n\nYour vision blurs...\n\nYou think of Gillian. She’s out there, somewhere, completely on her own. You failed her. If only you had a second chance...if only there was some way you could go back and save her...\n\nYou feel bones snap in your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ A creature scampers off with your arm in its mouth. Your body is @@color:#000081;torn@@ apart with savage force. After all the bad things you’ve done...somehow you feel like you deserve it.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 849>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +7>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -9>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +18>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Stealth is your only advantage. Just because they’re holding Gillian as leverage doesn’t mean they won’t shoot her, or worse. There are plenty of ways to hurt someone without killing them – that’s a fact you know firsthand.\n\nIf you’re going to get her back safely, you’ll need to be smart about it. You keep @@color:#000081;shimmying@@ across the building toward the chopper.\n\n“Get us out of here now,” a gravelly voice yells.\n\nYou peek above the ledge. A bearded man in army fatigues with a briefcase handcuffed to his left wrist signals the pilot. The helicopter blades speed up.\n\nWhatever’s in that briefcase is obviously important which means you should steal it. If you’re lucky it might be about you. If not, you could hang on to it as leverage.\n\nThe helicopter lifts off the roof. You’re out of time.\n\nYou climb faster, but there’s no way you can make it.\n\nThe helicopter hovers toward you and dips slightly once it passes the building.\n\nThis is your only chance.\n\nYou brace your legs against the wall and @@color:#000081;lunge@@ at the landing struts. You fly through the air and awkwardly @@color:#000081;grab@@ at the metal, but it’s more difficult than you expected. The helicopter tilts from the unexpected weight. You manage to @@color:#000081;swing@@ your leg over the skid.\n\nYour arms slip free and you twist upside-down. You see the guards on the rooftop running toward you. No reason to waste this vantage point. You grab the submachine gun dangling from your shoulder and rain bullets down on them. You @@color:#000081;nick@@ at least three. The rest scatter for cover.\n\n“Look out,” Gillian screams.\n\nYou glance up. The bearded man with the briefcase points a harpoon at you. “Just because we need you alive, doesn’t mean we need you whole.”\n\n“A harpoon? Seriously?”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>The unnamed harpoon guy was one of my favorite wacky villains. He was reminiscent of a Bond villain like Jaws or Oddjob.<<endif>>\n“You’d be surprised how satisfying it is to shoot someone in the—”\n\nGillian shoves him out of the helicopter before he can finish.\n\nHe twists around and shoots the harpoon into the side of the chopper. It lodges into the metal and he dangles in the air from a thick piece of rope. “Interrupting someone is just rude,” he shouts at Gillian.\n\n“Uh,” she shrugs. “Sorry?”\n\nYou point the submachine gun at him. “What do you want from me? Why’d you drug me?”\n\nHe shakes his head. “You’ll have to shoot me.”\n\n“Fine.” You pull the trigger. The submachine gun clicks @@color:#000081;empty.@@ “Crap.” You throw it at him and pull out your pistol. “You’re going to die one way or another.” You @@color:#000081;fire@@ two rounds.\n\nThe first misses. The second, he deflects with the briefcase.\n\nHe’s got some skill; you have to give him that.\n\nYou line up your sights, but before you can shoot, the helicopter veers right. Your legs slip free and you fly into the air.\n\nYou drop the pistol and @@color:#000081;grab@@ the rope, gracelessly @@color:#000081;slamming@@ into the bearded man. You both groan.\n\n“You’re going to talk,” you growl.\n\n“I was about to say the same thing.”\n\nYou awkwardly @@color:#000081;punch@@ at each other while the helicopter veers between skyscrapers.\n\n“Hey,” Gillian yells from the helicopter. She aims a gun at the bearded man... and unfortunately you.\n\nYou look at her wide-eyed. “Wait. Don’t—”\n\nShe pulls the trigger. The bullet ricochets off the briefcase.\n\n“What are you doing?” You shout.\n\nShe fires again. The bullet almost grazes your cheek. “I’m helping,” she shouts back.\n\n“Well quit helping!” You shout as the bearded man punches you in the @@color:#000081;nose.@@ You reel back.\n\n“What should I do then?” Gillian yells.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shove@@ your thumb into the bearded man’s left eye. “The pilot,” you bark. “Get him to land.”\n\nThe bearded man bites your @@color:#000081;arm.@@ You holler with pain and pull your arm back.\n\n“You think killing me will stop them from coming after you?” The bearded man laughs. “The information in your head is too valuable.”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;punch@@ him in the mouth. One of his teeth comes @@color:#000081;loose.@@ “Who said you’re the only one I’m going to kill.”\n\nHe punches you in the @@color:#000081;ear.@@ “You’re insane if you think you can stop them.”\n\n“I’m dangling from a helicopter flying through downtown – insane is an understatement.” You @@color:#000081;hammer@@ your knuckles into his thorax. He coughs and drops his arm.\n\nThere’s your opening.\n\nBANG.\n\nBefore you can react to the noise, the helicopter veers left, nearly hitting a building.\n\nYou stare up at the cockpit. The window is covered in blood. “What happened?” You shout up at Gillian.\n\n“Uhm,” she pokes her head over the side. “I think I was a little too persuasive.”\n\n“You killed him?”\n\nShe shrugs. “Oops.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Here’s an alternate persona for Gillian. There are several different versions of Gillian in the book. Sometimes she’s scared and overwhelmed, sometimes angry, and sometimes bold and snarky (like in this scene).I didn’t want Gillian to always appear like a damsel in distress, so I made certain to add a handful of scenes like this one where she’s assertive (and sometimes plucky).<<endif>>\nThe helicopter takes a hard right. You and the bearded man swing helplessly through the air.\n\n“Try to keep the helicopter level,” you shout. “And try to avoid the buildings.”\n\n“Right,” she says, disappearing back into the helicopter.\n\nYou’re pretty sure she doesn’t know how to fly a helicopter. Leaving her up there for too long is a bad idea, but you still haven’t gotten the briefcase. You @@color:#000081;punch@@ the bearded man one more time across the face and he blacks out.\n\n[[Get the briefcase before climbing up]]\n[[Forget the brief case, living sounds like a better idea]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 654>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab Avengral’s arm, keeping him from eating the food. You give him a silent and subtle signal to @@color:#000081;wait.@@ You watch the other soldiers devour the food frantically as if they haven’t eaten for days.\n\nAvengral looks at you with confusion.\n\nYou motion for him to @@color:#000081;wait longer,@@ until all the food is eaten.\n\nThe soldiers lean back in their chairs very proud of themselves.\n\n“You know,” one of the soldiers proclaims. “These Blue Wizards aren’t so bad.”\n\n“Yeah,” another one agrees. “I don’t care what people say about them, I haven’t eaten that good my entire life.”\n\n“Nor I,” another nods.\n\nSuddenly, the first soldier falls out of his chair. He grabs at his stomach and squeals in agony. “My insides are burning.”\n\nAnother soldier stumbles backward screaming the same.\n\nTwo more drop to their knees trying desperately not to vomit.\n\nAvengral stands. “Poison!?!” He suddenly realizes. He draws his sword. You do the same.\n\n“They’ve betrayed us,” Avengral says coldly.\n\n“Oh,” an old voice coos. “Do not be so dramatic.” An old man emerges from the shadows almost as if he had been invisible. He claps and bows to you. “Well done.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>There aren’t a huge amount of overtly moral choices in Seven Bullets. I wanted Gillian’s safety to be the main character’s motivating force - maybe that means sacrificing a bunch of NPCs in a hailstorm of bullets, maybe it means saving a box of kittens from a burning building.I didn’t want morality to be the reader’s primary mentality for making decisions. Instead of good vs. evil, I wanted the reader to make choices because the outcomes seemed interesting.In Text Adventures, sometimes failure is the most enjoyable part.<<endif>>\nYou point your sword at him.\n\nHe laughs. “I am unarmed. I assure you.”\n\n“My soldiers are evidence to the contrary.”\n\n“They will be fine. A painful bout of diarrhea and vomiting perhaps, but otherwise fine.”\n\nAvengral glares at the old man.\n\nThe old man ignores him and looks you over instead. “Very clever,” he says with genuine interest. “You suspected the food of ill-intent and yet you did nothing...or more precisely, you chose to do nothing. You were willing to viciously disregard your comrades’ safety in order to maintain tradition and presumably get whatever it is you came here for...very conniving. You passed the first test.”\n\n“Test!?!” Avengral growls. “We don’t have time for your games, old man.” \n\nThe old man grins. “But you are already playing.” The old man bows. “I am Master Wizard Kailvo Kalraan, First Mage of the House of Cerulean Sky and your host.”\n\n“Some host,” you say dryly.\n\n“Yes,” Kailvo shrugs. “Well, entertainment is sparse in this part of the realm, and every demand comes with a price...You are here to make demands, are you not?”\n\nAvengral reins in his anger and semi-bows. “We seek your aid in recovering the kidnapped Prince.” The words come out controlled and steady. Avengral may be a soldier, but he obviously has some sense of politics. He knows this confrontation won’t be won with a sword.\n\nKailvo grins. “Wizard Songlie mentioned something of that nature. If it is a spell you seek, then you will need to earn it.”\n\n“Time already works against us wizard. Do you mean to do the same?”\n\n“Win the game, and gain the spell. Lose the game, and forfeit your life.”\n\n“And if we do not agree to those terms?” Avengral says sharply.\n\n“Silly knight. You are still under the impression that you have a choice.”\n\n“Foul wizard!” Avengral draws his sword and swings at Kailvo, but Kailvo’s body dissipates like a cloud of smoke before the blade can touch him. Avengral roars with anger. “Cursed wizards! Your trickery will not go unpunished.”\n\nOnly four of the soldiers remain, plus you and Avengral. Otherwise, the room is empty. The food and platters have vanished as well as the tables. The orange orbs dim and then go out. The soldiers whimper and cry in panic.\n\n“We’re going to die.”\n\n“The Seven have mercy on me.”\n\nAvengral keeps his sword at the ready and turns to you. “We never should have trusted these Raizaarian scum.”\n\n“It’s a little late for that now.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral agrees. “Choices?”\n\nYou see a faint flickering light in the distance. It could be a clue or an exit, but somehow that feels a little too easy. It’d be safer to send one of the soldiers to check it out.\n\n[[Examine the light yourself]]\n[[Send a soldier to examine the light]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 817>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +40>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You look down at the key and then up at the white, water damaged door. It doesn’t look like much, but there’s something organic about it. The handle looks well used, and the peeling paint reveals dark wood, rich with color. This door is vibrant with years of use, love, and neglect – everything that reminds you of the living. It must be the gateway back home...It has to be...\n\n“Alright Agares, that’s the one,” you say pointing to the worn and water damaged door.\n\n“If that is your decision,” Agares motions toward the door. “Then give weight to your words with action.”\n\nYou nod and walk toward the door. It gives off a calm and cool energy like standing near an ocean. It feels heavy and good.\n\nAs you lift the key, it’s pulled toward the lock, sliding into place effortlessly. You look back at Agares. The crow on his shoulder lifts its wing as if to say goodbye.\n\nYou turn the key and @@color:#000081;open the door.@@ A blinding light conceals the contents of the room, and you have to shield your eyes to keep from going blind. The light is cold and ominous like a full moon in fall.\n\nIt reminds you of Gillian’s porch the night you told her you were working for the Boss. She told you that kind of work was dangerous, but you wouldn’t listen. If only you knew how dangerous it would be for her. It’s one of those few moments you truly regret.\n\nIt’s almost as if you can still hear the crickets chirping on that bitter autumn night.\n\n[[Open your eyes|Open your eyes 02]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 161>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s better to get a sense of your surroundings before you start pulling people into the room. You relight the torch and raise it into the air. You’re in a small room, though room isn’t the right word...organ maybe? Or intestine?\n\nIt’s hard to say.\n\nDozens of tiny holes perforate the pink, malleable walls.\n\nSuddenly, a yellow gas wisps out the holes. The torch ignites the air. The room belches with fire.\n\nYou drop and roll, but it’s no use. Your entire body is consumed by @@color:#000081;flames.@@ You scream, but your lungs can’t find enough oxygen for your voice.\n\nThe rope ladder catches fire and snaps. You hear the others fall...screaming.\n\nThe tiny holes expel more yellow gas...too much. The entire chamber explodes. You feel the creature jerk left slightly. This must seem like nothing more than indigestion.\n\nThe explosion pushes you out of the chamber. You splash into the @@color:#000081;acid.@@ You’re dead in seconds...nothing more than a late night snack.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 636>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The plumbing van is parked away from you, so it should be easy to sneak up on the driver, assuming the driver is someone you need to be sneaking up on.\n\nYou sprint across the street and try to stay in the van’s@@color:#000081;blind spot.@@ You peek around the side of the van and glance at the passenger side mirror. There are two guys sitting inside. Both are wearing expensive black suits.\n\nIt’s hard to imagine a plumber leaning over a toilet in something like that. They must be the rest of Jimmy’s retrieval squad.\n\nThe passenger window is rolled down, which should be enough to start some trouble. You run forward and@@color:#000081;yank@@ the guy in the passenger seat out the window. You jerk the seatbelt around his neck and tug it down hard. His eyes bulge, and his cheeks turn purple.\n\nYou take the gun from inside his jacket and@@color:#000081;slam@@ it against the back of his head. He goes @@color:#000081;limp.@@ \n\nThe other thug sprints around the front of the van with his gun drawn. You twist quick and@@color:#000081;shoot@@ him in the chest twice. \n\nHe hits the pavement and groans in pain. You kick the gun out of his hand. He’s not bleeding. You rip open his shirt. The two bullets are smushed against his bulletproof vest. He’s smart; he’s just not very good.\n\nYou kick him in the face, and he’s@@color:#000081;out cold.@@\n\nYou loosen the other thug and pull him all the way out the window. He slumps against the street lamp. You get in the van and drive. You didn’t see any witnesses, but that doesn’t mean the gunshots went unnoticed. Between the guards in the mansion, the rest of Jimmy’s thugs, and the possibility of the cops, it’s probably best if you were gone before they realized you’re the one they should be looking for.\n\nYou take two lefts and a right, until you reach the freeway. \n\nYou take a quick inventory of the van. The walls are lined with weapons, enough to make an assault on the Boss’s penthouse a viable option.\n\nFingers crossed, maybe you aren’t too late. You take the next exit and head for the penthouse. \n\nGillian is counting on you, and you can’t let her down.\n\nYou turn the van down a side street and park in an alley across from the penthouse lobby. You twist around the seat and into the back. There are a variety of weapons, some more interesting than others.\n\nYou pull a duffle bag from under the rack and open it. You grab two silenced pistols and a box of grenades. You slide both into the bag.\n\nYou need to choose your tactics carefully. Gillian’s life is at stake. The sniper rifle and the shotgun catch your eye. They look different than the ones you’ve seen on the market. Jimmy must have gotten a hold of some prototypes. \n\nThey both look deadly, but it’s only practical to take one. You need to stay light and quick.\n\nThe sniper rifle requires some distance and a lot of height. The Boss’s room is on the fourteenth floor, which is probably where he’s keeping Gillian. There’s a parking garage and an office building that could provide a good vantage point. \n\nThen again, the further you are from Gillian, the harder it will be to keep her safe if something goes wrong.\n\nThe shotgun will definitely send a message. You’d have to assault the penthouse directly though – either make an aggressive push through the main entrance to the lobby or try to sneak back around through the service entrance.\n\nIt all comes down to tactics, and you don’t have much time to plan this out. All you can do is grab your weapon of choice and double-time it to one of the locations. \n \n[[The parking garage]]\n[[The office building]]\n[[Take the main entrance]]\n[[Take the service entrance]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 610>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $wpn = "Jimmy's Favorite Lamp">>\n<<endnobr>>You grab Jimmy and @@color:#000081;shove@@ his head against the wall. Blood squirts from his nose as he stumbles to the floor.\n\n“What the hell,” he gurgles.\n\nYou grab his foot and drag him to the balcony.\n\n“Whoa. Hey. What are you doing? Come on, let’s talk about this. Hey—”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slap@@ him in the face. “I’m not one of your half-wit enforcers. And I’m not falling for one of your stupid schemes.” You shove him halfway over the edge. “We made a deal Jimmy, and if you’re not going to keep up your end, why should I keep up mine?” You push him out a little further. His arms scramble against the wall, but can’t find a grip.\n\n“This is crazy. Hey. Hey. Just calm down. We-we can talk this through.”\n\n“I don’t know,” you say coldly. “I’m starting to like the idea of someone scraping you off the pavement with a shovel.”\n\n“Come on.” Jimmy squeals. “You think this is helping your sister?”\n\nThe question hits you by surprise. “What do you know about my sister?”\n\n“The Boss has her. Everybody knows it. We just don't know why.” Jimmy gloats, “I guess he has you on a short leash.”\n\nThe comment hits you in that emotional part of your brain. You’re pretty sure it knocks something loose.\n\nYou grab the lamp from the desk and wrap the electrical wire around Jimmy’s throat. Then you toss the lamp over the side. Jimmy @@color:#000081;chokes.@@\n\n“I bet you didn’t realize how heavy that lamp was until now.”\n\nJimmy coughs. He struggles to speak. He tries desperately to say something.\n\n“What was that Jimmy?” You pull the wire a little @@color:#000081;tighter.@@ “You’ll have to speak up. Were you going to say something else about my sister?”\n\nHe frantically shakes his head.\n\nYou loosen the wire. “Good. The next thing you say had better be something I want to hear.”\n\nHe coughs, still frantically grabbing at the rail. “Alright, alright.” He coughs again. “I’ll talk to Wong.”\n\nYou pull Jimmy up and remove the electric wire. The lamp drops and shatters on the sidewalk outside. Jimmy looks over the edge and rubs his neck. “That was my favorite lamp.”\n\n“Yeah. Let that be a lesson to you.”\n\nJimmy shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “You’re a bastard you know that.” He reaches for the envelope. “So, if I show Wong these files is he going to shoot me in the leg?”\n\nYou shrug. “That’s a possibility. Then again, if you do it right, you might get a promotion.”\n\nJimmy swallows hard like the thought is caught in his throat.\n\n“And if you don’t show Wong—”\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” Jimmy waves his hand at you. “You’re going to come back and assault more of my @@color:#000081;furniture.”@@\n\nYou smirk. If you didn’t hate him so much, you might actually like him. “Deliver the files now and don’t screw around.”\n\n“Fine.” He wipes the blood from his chin and under his nose. “Next time you can just ask.”\n\n“You know how shy I am.”\n\n“Right,” Jimmy says sarcastically. “I forgot.”\n\nYou exit the building and head back to your motorcycle.\n\nBy the time you reach the Boss’s penthouse, Wong will have made his move and the Boss will be busy cleaning up a mess. At least that’s the idea.\n\nThis is a rush job, and a dangerous one. A lot of things could go wrong, especially to Gillian.\n\nYou pull into an alley and stare up at the Boss’s penthouse.\n\nThe lobby looks barren. You count two guards. The rest must have already cleared out.\n\nSomething feels off. You’re good, but this is too easy.\n\n[[Play it safe and go around back]]\n[[Make quick work of the guards in the lobby]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1557>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +6>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "Magic?">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>This scientist seems to know what he’s talking about. You don’t have a reason not to @@color:#000081;trust him.@@ If this was all just a trick, it’s a very elaborate one. Besides, that portal left you more tired than you thought. You haven’t got much energy to fight, and seven bullets won’t get you very far.\n\nYou keep your head up and your back straight despite the urge to collapse. “Suppose I do join you, what then?”\n\nQuintus nods graciously. “We would return to Sarrejiinn castle so that I may study you and my fallen colleague. I had hoped the increased appearance of the portals meant the rescue team was getting closer to a breakthrough, but given your materialization and not theirs, I fear we are on our own.”\n\nYou shrug. “Sorry about your team.”\n\n“No, no. I’ve had my suspicions for some time. This merely confirms it.” Quintus motions for the knights to gather their belongings, including the dead body. “My friend, I only hope his passing was a peaceful one.”\n\nConsidering how painful it was for you, you figure the dead guy’s suffering must have been seven times worse. You make sure to keep that detail from Quintus.\n\n“It is fortuitous that you appeared when you did,” Quintus says. “I had begun to worry that I was the only one capable of traveling through the vortex, but you are alive and seemingly healthy.”\n\n“Why do you look like that’s a bad thing?”\n\nQuintus frowns. “If your materialization here is accidental, then it is unlikely, for whatever reason, that my team is continuing to work on the Hyperion project. That would mean the increased appearance of the vortexes is a result of artificial or natural causes on this world and not Earth.”\n\nYou watch the knights load the dead body onto a small wagon. “Does it make a difference?”\n\n“The vortexes are becoming more unstable with each successive appearance. I had first assumed this was due to the limited hardware back on Earth, and their increasingly zealous attempts to retrieve me. Perhaps it was a ridiculous assumption, but it kept my hopes up, and for a time, it was all I had.” Quintus shakes his head. “But I digress.”\n\nYou notice the knights mount their horses as Quintus sits firmly at the head of the wagon. “Apologies,” he says. “But there is only room in the back of the wagon with,” he looks back at the dead body.\n\n“I’ve seen plenty of dead bodies,” you groan. “One more won’t hurt.” You climb into the back of the wagon, and do your best not to touch anything dead.\n\nQuintus continues, “The increased appearance and volatility of the vortexes suggests their source, whatever that may be, is moving toward a critical event.”\n\n“Critical event... Okay that sounds bad.”\n\n“Yes,” Quintus says, tugging at the reins causing the horses to trot. “Though bad would be a tragic understatement. Imagine a bicycle chain with overworked gearing. In some cases, as the cyclist increases his speed, the chain will jump the teeth of the gear and go slack. In other cases, the chain will snap and cut the peddler’s leg.”\n\n“I’m guessing we’re the leg in this analogy.”\n\n“Yes. But if the chain snaps, the energy released would be enough to kill all of us and most of this planet.”\n\n“And if the chain jumps the gear, we lose our ride back home.”\n\n“Correct,” Quintus nods. “Though I have no idea what kind of affect it will have on Earth.”\n\n“Earth?” You immediately think of Gillian. Saving her will be a lot more difficult if Earth explodes. “So how do we stop it?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Since saving Gillian is impossible while the main character is on Ragnoss, I needed to replace their primary motivation with something more direct. The critical event and closing the portals becomes their new objective and drives most of the storyline here on Ragnoss.Quintus acts as the “quest giver” in this instance. He appears at the very beginning of this segment and then again near the very end (depending of the reader’s choice).<<endif>>\nQuintus shrugs. “I’ll need to do more research. Studying you and my late friend should help expedite the formula, but I don’t have the equipment to properly study the vortexes. Considering I started with nothing, I’ve done well rebuilding my old laboratory, but it’s not enough. It’s not even close to being enough.”\n\n“Labs aren’t really my area of expertise,” you say.\n\n“As is the case with most people here. Magic is the predominant science, which as you already know, is why they call me wizard.”\n\n“I figured as much.”\n\n“I doubted it too when I first arrived, but I assure you, magic is very real on this world. I have yet to explain it in scientific terms, but it is much more than parlor tricks.”\n\n“I’ll keep an open mind. I did just travel a bijillion miles through space. Give me some time to adjust.” You stare out at the forest and the distant mountains. There’s no sign of civilization, no smog in the sky, no flickering lights. And then of course, there are the dual moons. Magic could be real, or you could just as easily be insane.\n\nInstantly the knights halt.\n\nThe horses spread out and get unusually quiet. The knights stare at the tree line.\n\nThe animals and birds go silent. It’s quiet, dead quiet. You recognize the knights’ stance and expression.\n\nAn enemy is close.\n\nYou ready the gun and follow the knights’ gaze into the woods.\n\nSuddenly the shrill crack of splintering wood erupts in front of you. An enormous tree topples into the road ahead, blocking the path. You’re trapped. It’s an ambush.\n\nOut of the corner of your eye, you see a grey hairless creature step out of the woods. It’s as tall as a two story building and as fat as a car. It groans and snarls with violent indifference.\n\nThe knights look afraid, but raise their weapons for battle.\n\nYou aim the pistol at the giant creature’s face and pull the trigger. The bullet cuts through the air and the creature’s @@color:#000081;left eye.@@ It stumbles forward and falls, belly first, to the ground.\n\nThe knights stare at it and then you. Their faces are contorted with @@color:#000081;awe and fear.@@\n\n“Your strangely shaped wand has slain the ogre with a @@color:#000081;single@@ blow,” the knight says dismounting his horse. “You must be a fierce and powerful wizard.”\n\n“Uh, wizard,” you say, glancing at Quintus. “Yeah, uh, that’s right. I’m a great and powerful wizard so, uh, you better respect my @@color:#000081;authority.”@@\n\nQuintus rolls his eyes.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>In the realm of Sarrejiinn, magic is feared and mostly unlawful (with only a few exceptions). Because magic practiced in secret (or in exile) most commoners would believe a gun to be a wand.I presented the gun as a supernatural item this early in the Ragnoss plotline to make the reader carefully ponder using each of the seven bullets (or in this case six).<<endif>>\nThe other knights kneel in front of you as a sign of loyalty and servitude. You grin and try to keep from laughing. Now you know what the Boss feels like. “Alright, alright, you can get up already.”\n\n“They have a tendency to dramatize things," Quintus says. “In any case, well done. Ogres are usually very difficult to kill.”\n\nYou shrug. “Didn’t seem that difficult to me.”\n\n“Verily,” the knight says. “Now you must claim the spoils of your victory.” The knight motions toward the ogre. The other knights immediately move to it and roll it onto its back. The leader shoves his sword into the ogre’s side and cuts a long hole up across its stomach.\n\nGuts and organs slide to the ground. The smell is horrid.\n\nYou pinch your nose. “You know, I think I’m fine.”\n\nQuintus leans over. “It is customary for the slayer to retrieve whatever valuables are inside the beast. Ogres habitually eat their victims whole as well as their belongings.”\n\n“First of all, gross. And secondly,” you motion toward the gun. “This is all I need.”\n\n“Perhaps,” Quintus nods. “But following local customs would serve you better in the long run, trust me. Besides, it is a great honor.”\n\n“Fine,” you groan and walk to the disemboweled ogre. You notice something shiny inside its stomach. That must be what the knights are talking about. You hold your breath and push your arm through the ogre’s fat into its innards.\n\nYou feel something metallic and hard amongst the goo. You slip your fingers around it, and yank it free.\n\nIt’s a sword. The blade glistens with green and silver speckles.\n\nThe knights inhale in unison. “By the Seven Sons of Unthor,” a knights exclaims. “The Blade of Garlrock. It was thought to be lost.”\n\nThe blade feels light and agile in your hand. The air trembles at its swing. The green and silver speckles glimmer and shine as if touched by sunlight though the sky is dark.\n\nIt’s been a long time since you’ve used a sword, but you can tell this one is special.\n\n“Well,” the head knight says. “You are truly charmed wizard.”\n\n“If we are to reach Sarrejiinn by dawn,” Quintus interrupts. “We must make haste.”\n\n“Verily,” the head knight says. “I will ride with you while the rest of my knights finish dispatching of the ogre.”\n\nYou glance at the other knights. They’re busy shoving their arms deep into the ogre’s belly to retrieve more items. Already you can see a metal helm, chunks of armor, a few small weapons, and other trinkets. You climb back into the wagon and admire your new weapon.\n\n“Very well,” Quintus agrees. “Then we will go.” He flicks the reins and the horses trot. “With your little display, we may not need to avoid the King. With Knight Avengral’s testimony, the King just might consider you a valuable ally. \n\n“If we go to him directly, that may provide you with more freedom within the kingdom. Otherwise, we will return to my laboratory and discuss the rest of my plan in secret. The risk lies with you, so the decision must be yours.”\n\n[[Clear your arrival with the King]]\n[[Travel to the laboratory and remain in hiding]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 426>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveRIP").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockRIP").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You hug yourself against her body, trying desperately to snuff out the flames, but it only seems to feed the fire. The flames nip at your neck and shoulder. Your arms are already badly singed. The blaze leaps onto your shirt, and the inferno grows.\n\nGillian stares up at you with regret and anger. “It burns,” she screams. “It burns, and it’s all your fault. It's all your fault. You killed me,” she shrieks. Her arms lock around you as the flames ignite your clothes. You try to struggle free, but she pulls you back toward the building and the fire.\n\n“What are you doing?” You plead.\n\n“You have to pay for what you’ve done to me. I’ll make you pay.”\n\n“Gillian, no.” You try to pull her back. You try to save her, but somehow she’s stronger than you.\n\nHer skin melts and bubbles. Her hair curls into tiny burnt strands. She smiles at you, though her lips are only tiny black slivers of skin. “You will burn for what you’ve done,” she says, dragging you into the fire. You scream as the flames blanket your skin and burn your flesh.\n\nYour muscles contort from the intense heat. Your skin peels and bubbles. You stare back at Gillian. Her eyes are full of pride and pleasure as you thrash in pain. \n\nShe cheerfully releases you, and you helplessly drop to your knees since the bones in your legs are brittle and cracked. Your head swims with agony. \n\nYou see a figure in the distance. He stares at you intently. It’s an old man. He wears a long gray robe. His wrinkles are deep. His beard and hair are long and bleach-white. He stands atop a large crocodile, and a crow is perched on his left shoulder.\n\nHe looks at you as if you were an old friend. There's something strangely familiar about him, but you’re in too much pain to say what it is exactly.\n\n“Help me,” you wheeze.\n\nHe smiles and contently watches you convulse. You feel as though you’re forgetting something...or someone. If only you could remember what it was...or who...\n\nIt's like you’ve done this before – like you’ve done this hundreds of times. You're so close to remembering, but then another wave of pain overwhelms you, and you scream in agony.\n\nAs the fire burns through your retinas, a bright light washes everything with white. The torment is so intense you lose consciousness.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This is one of several endings in which the main character becomes a permanent resident in Hell.In this torturous nightmare I wanted to combine the main character’s sinister deeds as an assassin and the guilt they feel for failing Gillian.<<endif>>\nYou open your eyes and slowly adjust to the dimness of your surroundings. You’re in a small metal vent...\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

Though its small size, [[Karen|Karen]] was particularly proud of her sparse and somewhat Zen decorations. Her roommate, [[Emma|two]], had added a bookshelf, two lamps, and a coffee table, though she seldom, if ever, used them.\n\nDespite its size, the bookshelf held only thirteen books and the coffee table held three candles spaced exactly [[seven|seventh]] millimeters apart.\n\n[[Emma|two]] had only purchased the items so that each room in the [[apartment]] would contain [[seven|seventh]] large objects. The amount and placement of the objects acted as means of discharging the spiritual energy that built up from the spells and [[experiments]] they tried.\n

<center><img src="unlocks/maps/CDC_report.jpg" width="100%" hspace="6">\n[[Chapter 3|deadSexyCh3]]</center>\n

<>\n<<if $totalWordcount === undefined>>\n\t<<set $totalWordcount = 0>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $neverGiveUp === undefined>>\n\t<<set $neverGiveUp = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $governmentSecrets === undefined>>\n\t<<set $governmentSecrets = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $starTrippin === undefined>>\n\t<<set $starTrippin = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $soThatsWhatHappens === undefined>>\n\t<<set $soThatsWhatHappens = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $crankItTo11 === undefined>>\n\t<<set $crankItTo11 = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $rampage === undefined>>\n\t<<set $rampage = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $humanWreckingBall === undefined>>\n\t<<set $humanWreckingBall = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $naturalDisaster === undefined>>\n\t<<set $naturalDisaster = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $murderer === undefined>>\n\t<<set $murderer = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $serialKiller === undefined>>\n\t<<set $serialKiller = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $trueAssassin === undefined>>\n\t<<set $trueAssassin = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $turnTheOtherCheek === undefined>>\n\t<<set $turnTheOtherCheek = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $sheHadItComing === undefined>>\n\t<<set $sheHadItComing = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $IQuit === undefined>>\n\t<<set $IQuit = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $yippeeKiYay === undefined>>\n\t<<set $yippeeKiYay = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coldAndCalculating === undefined>>\n\t<<set $coldAndCalculating = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $upCloseAndPersonal === undefined>>\n\t<<set $upCloseAndPersonal = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $chauffeur === undefined>>\n\t<<set $chauffeur = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $daddysLittleGirl === undefined>>\n\t<<set $daddysLittleGirl = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $makingFriends === undefined>>\n\t<<set $makingFriends = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $getBehindMeSatan === undefined>>\n\t<<set $getBehindMeSatan = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $theDreadPirate === undefined>>\n\t<<set $theDreadPirate = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $joinTheATeam === undefined>>\n\t<<set $joinTheATeam = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $originStory === undefined>>\n\t<<set $originStory = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $whoNeedsFriends === undefined>>\n\t<<set $whoNeedsFriends = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $honorBound === undefined>>\n\t<<set $honorBound = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $dazedAndConfused === undefined>>\n\t<<set $dazedAndConfused = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $saveYourself === undefined>>\n\t<<set $saveYourself = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $happyEndings === undefined>>\n\t<<set $happyEndings = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $thatsFamily === undefined>>\n\t<<set $thatsFamily = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $thePlotIsALie === undefined>>\n\t<<set $thePlotIsALie = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $theBestLaidPlans === undefined>>\n\t<<set $theBestLaidPlans = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $consolationPrize === undefined>>\n\t<<set $consolationPrize = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $RIP === undefined>>\n\t<<set $RIP = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $theButterflyEffect === undefined>>\n\t<<set $theButterflyEffect = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $itsOver9000 === undefined>>\n\t<<set $itsOver9000 = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $iReadGood === undefined>>\n\t<<set $iReadGood = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $bookworm === undefined>>\n\t<<set $bookworm = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $librarian === undefined>>\n\t<<set $librarian = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $shakespearesGhost === undefined>>\n\t<<set $shakespearesGhost = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $introComments === undefined>>\n\t<<set $introComments = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $hellComments === undefined>>\n\t<<set $hellComments = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $ragnossComments === undefined>>\n\t<<set $ragnossComments = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $montanaComments === undefined>>\n\t<<set $montanaComments = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#7C7C7C;You’re a skilled assassin ready to retire, but before you can call it quits, the Boss kidnaps your little sister, and now you need to use your arsenal of deadly skills to get her back.\n\nWill you make the choices that bring her home safely? Or will you get caught in a web of intrigue, assassins, and deadly combat?\n\nOnly you can decide how this story ends... Do you have what it takes to survive?@@\n\n<center>[[Start Reading|Intro]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 386>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<endnobr>>You pull the submachine gun from your bag. It’s identical to the ones issued to the Boss’s grunts. You check the clip. It’s full, plus one extra in the bag – more than enough for a little chaos.\n\nYou wonder why Hallmark hasn’t made ammunition. Nothing says I’m thinking of you like a bullet.\n\nYou shove the gun in the bag and sling the bag over your shoulder. First stop is a car repair shop on the outskirts of town.\n\nSince the FBI recently upped its interest in gun trafficking, the Russians have been disassembling their guns and packaging the pieces with car parts. So far they’ve stayed under the radar, but rumor is the cops have finally picked up the scent.\n\nYou’ll have to be careful. If the Russians catch you, they’ll cut off your fingers and drown you in the lake. If the cops catch you, you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail. Either way Gillian will be stuck with the Boss. Those are not good options.\n\nYou’ll just have to make sure not to get caught.\n\nYou get on your motorcycle and drive across town.\n\nIt’s early. Most of the lower level thugs will still be asleep, but at least three of the leadership will be working. They have to report back to Russia and the time difference isn’t kind.\n\nYou park across the street behind the garage and @@color:#000081;scout@@ for security cameras. You count two. Both are easy to avoid. You crouch behind some rundown cars and slowly work your way toward the garage.\n\nYou hear the clatter of tools.\n\nYou peek around the corner. You see a pair of legs jutting out from under a car. He hasn’t noticed you and probably won’t. Best to @@color:#000081;avoid him.@@\n\nYou turn down the hallway.\n\nLast time you were here, they kept the guns in the second room on the left. With any luck, they still do. You open the door.\n\nIt’s packed with crates. You crack one open. @@color:#000081;Guns@@ – lots of them.\n\nYou stuff two assault rifles in your bag. And grab a few grenades.\n\nYou also nick the pack of cigarettes on the desk. They should be useful as incriminating evidence down the road.\n\nYou exit the room, but before you can make it down the hallway, you hear voices approaching.\n\n[[Exit out the front]]\n[[Confront the voices]]\n

A Drawing of Me! (The Author)\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 408>>\n<<endnobr>>You press the button. A gust of wind erupts from the floor. The edges of the circle glow, and you sink – the whole circle sinks, faster and faster. You feel dizzy. You drop to one knee. The strange elevator suddenly slows and stops. You take a moment to regain your balance. You can’t tell how far down you’ve gone.\n\nThe door opens, and you’re immediately blinded by a light almost as bright as the sun. You shield your eyes. \n\nIt appears to be some kind of spherical object in the distance swirling with blues and purples. It floats near the ceiling, and you get the sense that it’s very, very hot.\n\nThe room is a large cement bunker. It’s huge, maybe the size of a stadium. Computer equipment lines the wall, but it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.\n\nIn the distance, two people stare at a large screen.\n\nA woman’s voice punctuates the silence. “It’s destabilizing.”\n\nYou quickly conceal yourself behind one of the large metal machines.\n\n“We need to adjust the frequency,” she says.\n\n“To what?” The old man next to her replies.\n\n“I don’t know, but we have to-” The light flickers then slowly fades. The woman sighs. “That’s just perfect. There goes another week’s worth of work.”\n\n“We’re getting closer,” the old man says, trying to sooth her.\n\n“No, we’re not any closer than we were seven months ago.” She slams her clipboard against the desk. “Quintus figured it out.”\n\nThe old man shakes his head. “Your brother was smart, but he over-reached and that’s what got him killed. I-”\n\n“He’s not dead. He’s just...misplaced. I know we can find him. I know we can,” she says sternly. “We can save him.”\n\nYou understand where she’s coming from. You think about Gillian. You should never have let her get mixed up with the Boss. It’s your fault she went poking around. And now, if you don’t hurry up and rescue her, she’ll be misplaced permanently.\n\nTrusting Jimmy was a bad idea, and he’ll get what’s coming to him, but for now you need to get out of here and focus on Gillian. You peek your head around the corner. The woman enters data into the computer while the old man studies the contents inside a microscope.\n\nBefore you can move, the alarm blares and red lights flash. You hear footsteps down the hall, and the click of guns in the elevator. So much for subtle.\n\n[[Elevator]]\n[[Hallway]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1011>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Avengral knows how to handle himself. He doesn’t need your help. Besides, if you go with him, the other group won’t @@color:#000081;stand a chance.@@ The faster each group searches, the faster you’ll all get out of here...preferably alive.\n\n“I’ll search the slave cages south of the bazaar,” you whisper.\n\n“Verily,” Avengral nods. “Able No-name and you three soldiers with me. The rest of you search the bazaar. If there are no incidents, then meet back at the dragon spawn.” Avengral turns and follows the crumbling wall toward the tents.\n\nYou turn to Nev Naysayer. “You ready?”\n\nHe nods, closes his eyes, and chants, “Escio Vata, Escio Vata, Escio Vata.”\n\nYou feel a dark cool mist cover your body and seep through your clothes.\n\nNev slowly opens his eyes and takes a deep breath. “That should do it.”\n\n“Do what exactly?” You ask.\n\n“We should be almost invisible to them now.”\n\n“Almost?”\n\n“The Ferralliise’s sense of smell and sound are too powerful for us to go unnoticed with an invisibility spell, so I made us so ordinary and boring that when they do sense us, they’ll ignore us as if we were mere trifles.”\n\n“I’ve heard of that spell before. It’s called high school.”\n\n“High school?” Nev says with bewilderment. “Sounds strange, Earth Wizard.”\n\nYou sigh. “Never mind. Let’s just get this over with.” \n\nYou, Nev, and the few remaining soldiers walk into the bazaar. It’s crowded with Ferralliise who grunt and howl in an intense game of bartering. The creatures are mostly humanoid, but look as if they’ve been mixed with several other animals. They notice you and the others, but don’t seem to care. Nev’s spell must be working.\n\nYou slowly make your way through the horde toward the slave cages.\n\n“Alright,” Nev says. “What does the Prince look like?”\n\nYou shrug and shake your head. “I don’t know. I thought you knew.”\n\n“Me?” He says with surprise. “I was five the last time I set foot on the Sarrejiinn mainland. How would I know what the Prince looks like?”\n\nYou turn to the soldiers. “You guys search for the Prince. We’ll be the lookouts.”\n\nThe soldiers grimace, but do as you command. They fan out and search the cages. \n\nYou turn to Nev. “These Ferralliise don’t seem the type to keep slaves. I didn’t see any at the bazaar. They can’t all be for the Blood Festival, can they? I mean, what else are they being used for?”\n\nNev shrugs. “It’s not any of my business. Us Vizzairns like to keep to ourselves.”\n\n“That’s cold,” you say.\n\n“It’s more courtesy than they’ve shown us. Anyone like me, a magic wielder, gets exiled as soon as they show signs of sorcery. I was five when the soldiers took me from my family and sent me to the Isle of Vizzairn. As far as I’m concerned the Ferralliise, the slaves, and the missing Prince are the King's problem, not mine. I’m only here because Ignis Ustrina ordered me to obey the knight.”\n\n“It’s good to know which side you’re on.”\n\n“I’ll hold up my end of the deal. It’s in my best interest.”\n\n“I’ve heard that before,” you groan. “Trust me, when the choice is dying or breaking an oath, people have an easy time forgetting their promises.”\n\nNev smirks. “Not all of us are honor-bound like your knight Avengral, but we have our pride. Sometimes I think it’s the only thing we actually possess. My kind has been waiting a long time for a situation such as this. The Sarrejiinns need us. We finally have leverage. When the Prince returns safely because of us, the King will have to acknowledge the rights of my people. So, you see, I can’t fail, and neither can the others. We want to save the Prince more than you or your soldiers.”\n\n“They’re not my soldiers. And you’ve convinced me, not that I needed much convincing.”\n\n“Over here,” a soldier shouts. “I’ve found him.”\n\nYou and Nev hurry to the soldier.\n\n“We need to pry open these bars,” the soldier says.\n\nYou unsheathe the green speckled blade and use it to snap the lock.\n\n“Shh,” Nev whispers to the slaves. He motions for them to go south into the woods. “We’ll double back for them,” he tells you. He turns back to the soldier. “Where’s the Prince?”\n\n“There,” the soldier points to the back of the cage. “He’s unconscious, but it’s him.”\n\nA young man in tattered clothes droops against the cage. A long gash streaks across his forehead and cuts cover his body. Obviously he was on the losing side of the battle. \n\n“At least he was smart enough to ditch his noble’s uniform before the Ferralliise got a hold of him,” Nev says. “It’s probably the only reason he’s still alive.”\n\n“Yeah,” you interrupt. “But if he’s here, than who are they sacrificing at the Blood Festival?”\n\n“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Nev glances at the soldier. “You’re sure it's him?”\n\n“Aye,” the soldier replies.\n\n“Alright, we’ll have to carry him back.”\n\n“Whoa,” you say, grabbing his shoulder. “Aren’t you going to do your magic thing and make him invisible.”\n\n“I can’t, not without undoing the original one first. It would take several moments to draw in the power to enable a second one, and the Ferralliise would notice us long before I could finish the spell.”\n\n“Yeah,” you say. “But aren’t they going to smell him before we can reach the dragon spawn?”\n\nNev hesitates. “Well, if you have a better idea, I’m listening.”\n\nA better idea...\n\nA helicopter would be nice, or a bazooka, or a tank. Unfortunately, you’re trapped on this bizarre, backwater world which means you’re just going to have to make do. The Prince is the priority. You could use the other slaves as a diversion. That should, hypothetically, give Nev enough time to cast the spell, but that would mean sending the slaves to their death...better them than you.\n\nOn the other hand, you could just risk it. What’s the worst that could happen?\n\n[[Tell Nev to redo the spell]]\n[[Get out of Bastossell while you can]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 630>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Fine,” you shrug. “Then you’re on your own.” You turn and walk toward the window.\n\nThe girl screams as loud and shrill as possible.\n\nYou twist around. “What do you think you’re doing? Be quiet.”\n\nShe sucks in another chest full of air and screams even louder.\n\n“Shut up,” you half whisper. “You’re going to alert the guards.”\n\nShe smirks and screams again. You’d think someone was dragging her over hot coals she was shrieking so loud.\n\nYou grab her by the arm and cover her mouth with your hand. “Quit that. Do you want the guards to come back?”\n\nShe @@color:#000081;nods@@ her head.\n\nShe’s obviously insane. Maybe you should have left her in the cuffs. Before you can think what to do with her, she bites your finger. You yelp and pull your hand away. She screams again.\n\nYou cover her mouth, but not soon enough. You hear someone fiddle with the locks on the door. The guards are probably coming to gag this little brat. You look down at her. “I hope you’re happy.”\n\nShe nods and pushes your hand away. “Now you have to help me.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>This scene is an example of how intent is more important than action. Helping the girl or leaving her result in the same outcome - you have to help the girl.Even though these choices have the same outcome, I felt it was important to offer them so the reader could construct their own retired assassin persona.<<endif>>\nYou stare at her with surprise. She’s a clever kid. You toss her onto the bed. “Act like you’re still cuffed,” you whisper while ducking behind a large dresser. “And keep screaming.”\n\nShe slips her arms under a pillow and screams again.\n\nThe guards walk in looking angry. “This kid is more trouble than she’s worth. Her pops will never know if we killed her. I say we just get it over with now.”\n\nThe other guard chokes out a laugh. “If you kill her, Miss Wasylyk will kill you, and then she’ll probably kill me too. She doesn’t pay us to think, remember.”\n\n“Yeah, well, I didn’t sign up to babysit either.”\n\nThe guards walk to the bed and stare down at the shrieking little girl. “You sure you want to use the gag.”\n\n“What else would we use?”\n\n“I could just zap her with the stun gun so she passes out.”\n\n“Man, what’s wrong with you? She’s just a kid.” He reaches back his hand to take the gag. “Come on @@color:#000081;Steve@@ give me the gag. Let’s get this over with. Steve?” He turns around.\n\nSteve is on the floor. His head’s @@color:#000081;bent crooked@@ and you’re standing over him.\n\nThe other guard looks panicked. “Oh shi—”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;punch@@ him in the jaw, grab his shirt, and slam his face into the dresser.\n\nHe groans and drops to the floor. You @@color:#000081;punch@@ him one more time across the temple. He goes limp. You take their gear – radios, phones, stun guns, keys, handcuffs, etc. – and toss them on the bed.\n\nYou handcuff and gag the two guards together and then stuff them in the closet. You poke your head out the door in each direction. It’s still quiet.\n\nYou glance back at the kid. “Alright you little nut case, we can look for your dad. You know where he’s being held?”\n\nShe shrugs.\n\n“Of course not.” You scratch your forehead. “Do you at least know the layout of this place?”\n\n“There’s a basement.”\n\n“A basement?”\n\nShe nods.\n\n“That’s it?”\n\nShe shrugs.\n\n“What happened,” you say surprised. “Did you suddenly lose your nerve?”\n\nShe glares at you and punches you in the shoulder. “We’re rescuing my dad!” She demands.\n\n“Alright, alright,” you say, trying to calm her down. “We’ll just have to do this blind.” You take the stun gun with one hand and the little girl with your other. “Stay behind me,” you tell her. “And don’t try that screaming trick again, got it?”\n\nShe nods, looking a little too serious to be a kid.\n\nThe hallway goes in both directions. You’ll just have to pick a direction at random.\n\n[[Turn left down the hallway|Turn left/right down the hallway]]\n[[Turn right down the hallway|Turn left/right down the hallway]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1062>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +26>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +25>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -3>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +5>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Without some cash, passports, or shoes, you’ll have a hard time leaving the country. Plus, giving up everything is going to be hard enough for Gillian as it is.\n\n“We’ll pick up a few things at my apartment, then we’re out of here.”\n\nShe nods.\n\nYou turn the helicopter around and fly toward your apartment.\n\n“So,” Gillian sighs. “Where are we going to end up?”\n\nYou look at her with surprise.\n\n“I know we’re running,” she says. “I don’t need to know who we’re running from. They’re obviously bad people. I’d just like to know where we’re running to.”\n\nYou rub the back of your neck nervously. “I was thinking South America. I’ve got a few contacts down there.”\n\n“And they don’t want to kill you?” She says jokingly.\n\n“Very funny.” You adjust the radio to listen for police chatter. “Believe it or not, they actually owe me a favor. We should be able to hide out there for awhile – at least until things settle down.”\n\n“I guess that means I have to leave all my stuff behind?”\n\n“Yeah, sorry.”\n\nShe shrugs. “I wanted to move anyway.”\n\nYou set the helicopter down on the roof of your apartment. “Come on,” you say. “It’s best if you don’t leave my side.”\n\n“What is that supposed to mean? Isn’t it safe here?”\n\n“Probably.”\n\nShe glares at you. “Probably?”\n\n“Just hurry up.”\n\nShe follows behind you. You’d feel a little more comfortable if you had a gun or even a knife, but you’ll just have to make due. Once you reach the apartment and your arsenal, you’ll feel a little more at ease.\n\nYou peek down the hallway. It’s quiet. So far, so good. You walk cautiously to your door and open it. “Alright,” you glance back a Gillian. “I need to pack some essentials. You go to the bedroom and pack two bags of clothes.”\n\nShe nods.\n\nAs you turn back around, the butt of a gun slams into the side of your @@color:#000081;face.@@ You hit the ground and the room spins. You hear four more thugs come down the hallway. You should have been more @@color:#000081;careful.@@\n\nTwo thugs cuff you and drag you to the couch. They cuff Gillian and put her at the opposite end of the room. One of the thugs rests his pistol against her shoulder. “You’ve cost us quite a bit of money. We knew getting you to talk was going to be difficult, but we genuinely underestimated you.”\n\n“Yeah, I get that a lot,” you groan.\n\n“You’ve obviously seen what we’re capable of.”\n\n“I wasn’t impressed.”\n\n“Neither was I,” your sister adds.\n\nThe thug glares at you. “I always thought those methods were too elaborate. Three bullets and a loved one is really all you need to motivate someone.” He glances down at Gillian.\n\nYou take a calm, deep breath.\n\n“Tell me about the mission in Germany or your sister ends up with a few extra holes in her head.”\n\n“You really shouldn’t have said that.”\n\n“You’re cuffed and your sister has a gun to her temple,” the thug growls. “Don’t act like you have leverage in this situation.”\n\nYou yawn. “You look like an idiot, but I’m going to make you this offer anyway. If you and your thugs walk away right now, I won’t @@color:#000081;kill@@ you.”\n\nThe thug laughs. “You kill us? You’re outnumbered and outgunned.”\n\n“Am I?”\n\nThe thug stops laughing and swallows nervously. “Yeah, of course you are.”\n\n@@color:#000081;You smile.@@\n\nHe points his gun at you and steps closer. “Stop smiling.”\n\nYou maintain your ominous grin.\n\nHe takes another step closer. “I said stop smiling. Now,” he screams. “Tell me what I—”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;lunge@@ forward, swing your legs around his neck, and @@color:#000081;twist.@@ Both of you twirl through the air into the end table. He takes the brunt of the impact and falls @@color:#000081;lifeless@@ to the ground. You roll and grab his gun.\n\nYour hands are still cuffed behind your back, but your aim is still better than most people’s. You @@color:#000081;shoot@@ two of the thugs dead. The other two take cover behind the kitchen counter.\n\nYou take a few steps forward and knock Gillian to the floor. At least that way she’ll be a little less of a target. \n\nBefore you can focus on the thugs again, one of them shoots you in the @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ You groan with pain and fall against the coffee table. The gun drops from your hand. The other thug kicks it away and flings you onto your @@color:#000081;back.@@\n\nHe aims his pistol at your head.\n\nYou hear the thunder of the shot. \n\n[[Continue...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 693>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +13>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp-95>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Gillian’s strong. She can handle it. You can’t stop now. “We’re almost there, just a little farther.”\n\nGillian climbs to the next outcropping. You grab hold and help push her higher. She grabs the ledge and pulls herself onto the roof. You’re right behind her.\n\nYou dust yourself off. “Alright, over here.” You pull out your pistol and point it at a door. You blow off the handle and kick in the door. There’s a slim metal ladder leading down. “This way.”\n\nYou slip the pistol into your belt and climb down the ladder. It leads to a set of metal rafters in the elevator shaft. You take the rafters to another metal ladder. It should lead to the breaker room for the top five floors. From there you can reach the main stairs.\n\nYou turn back. Gillian is still descending the ladder.\n\n“It’s not much farther,” you whisper. “The hard part is over.” You wait for her to catch up, then you climb down the second ladder. You drop into a small hallway and follow it to the breaker room.\n\n“Shhh,” you whisper.\n\nGillian freezes.\n\nYou hear voices. The explosions from earlier... the Boss must have sent someone to fix the power. Judging by the sound, there’s at least two.\n\nYou ready your pistol and keep to the wall, walking as quietly as possible. You peek around the corner. Two thugs, armed, and absorbed with fixing wires.\n\nYou sprint from around the corner, @@color:#000081;kicking@@ one in the knee. He screams and falls into the wires. The other thug pulls his gun, but you grab his arm and twist it behind him until you hear something in his shoulder pop. You shove his head into the wall and @@color:#000081;punch@@ him in the kidney. He drops to a knee and groans.\n\nYou turn back to discover the first thug grunting into the radio.\n\n“...in the breaker room. Send everyo--”\n\nYou shoot the radio and part of his hand, then slam the butt of the gun against his temple. He slumps over unconscious.\n\nThe second thug comes at you with a metal bar. You duck and @@color:#000081;slam@@ your fist into his stomach. He winces. You kick in his knee and slam his head into the wall again. This time he stays down.\n\nThe radio call went through, which means they’ll be waiting for you, unless you can reach the lobby before they do. You have to hurry.\n\nYou grab Gillian’s hand and pull her down the corridor. You push open a door to the main stairs and descend.\n\n“Wait,” Gillian gasps. “Slow down.”\n\nYou glance up the stairwell. You see movement. Maybe four bodies. You tug on Gillian’s arm. “We have to keep going.”\n\nShe coughs and grabs her side. “I can’t.”\n\n“You have to try. Here,” you slide under her arm. “Put your arms around my shoulders and hang on.”\n\nShe rests most of her weight on you.\n\nYou adjust your balance and keep descending. By the time you reach the lobby, you’re gasping for breath. You head for the back exit. The halls and rooms are empty.\n\nYou kick open the door and run through it without thinking.\n\nThe Boss and his five most menacing killers are patiently waiting for you.\n\nCrap.\n\nThe Boss calmly tilts his head. “I didn’t expect you to disappoint me.” He takes a step forward leaning heavily on his cane. “But somehow you always do.” He sighs. “Of all my employees, you had the most potential. That’s why this is so difficult for me.” He pauses. “You see, I can’t even do it myself. Alana,” he motions with his hand. “Would you please?”\n\nShe raises her gun and pulls the trigger.\n\nTwo piercing jolts @@color:#000081;resonate@@ through your chest. You drop to one knee. It’s hard to breathe. Your vision blurs. Gillian shouts something. Maybe it’s your name. You can’t tell.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is one of the few instances when Alana gets to kill the reader. This was one of the last opening scenes I wrote and I felt after all the trouble the reader causes, Alana deserved to kill them at least once.<<endif>>\nYou collapse to the pavement.\n\nThe Boss stands over you. He props your head up with his cane. He looks as if he’s going to scold you, but instead he shakes his head and walks away.\n\nYou see Alana smirk in the distance, then the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 8]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 733>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Dealing with more of Wong’s thugs, not to mention the fire, sounds like a real hassle. The silenced pistols should be enough to take out at least two of the Boss’s thugs. Their machine guns would make quick work of the other henchmen in the lobby. You need to be mindful of the entrances to the –\n\n“Hey,” someone shouts, interrupting your train of thought. “Stop and turn around.”\n\nYou sigh and turn. It’s Chu, one of Wong’s top assassins. He’s wearing a chef uniform and a scowl.\n\nYou’ve heard rumors about him, none of them pleasant. You’re still a distance from the vehicle. The pistols and grenades are out of reach.\n\nYou’ll have to resort to a fist fight. You’re quick with your fists, but you’ve got a bad feeling Chu is quicker. You’ll have to find a different kind of advantage.\n\n“So,” you say, relaxing your shoulders. “Were you a chef before you were an assassin, or was it the other way around?”\n\nChu gives you a hard stare.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Chu was a composite of Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon), Gary Cooper, and a cemetery statue.<<endif>>\nYou take off your jacket and toss it on the parked car nearby. It rolls off the hood and lands on the asphalt. “I heard that massacre in Berlin was your handy work.”\n\nChu calmly unbuttons his jacket, carefully folds it, and lays it on the hood of the car beside him. He turns toward you and nods.\n\nYou laugh. “Leaving a fortune cookie for each of the dead guys, that was a nice touch.”\n\n“That was Mr. Wong’s idea.”\n\n“I guess it was more of a misfortune cookie then, huh?”\n\nChu shrugs. “It would seem.” He pulls his right leg back and lifts his arms in a fighting pose.\n\n“Yeah,” you swallow hard. “I guess it’s about that time, isn’t it? Any chance you’d just let me go?”\n\nChu sprints at you and twists his body in the air. You pull back, his foot barely grazing your nose.\n\nHis other foot spins at you. Your arm @@color:#000081;blocks@@ as a reflex, but the force sends you staggering into the nearby car.\n\nYour arm is already tingling from the blow. You can’t take too many more hits like that.\n\nChu’s leg comes at you again. You duck and twist, @@color:#000081;punching@@ him in the side of the thigh. He winces and pulls his leg back. There’s a huge dent in the car.\n\nHe comes at you with a flurry of punches. You’re only able to block about half of them.\n\nYou grab his arm and @@color:#000081;slam@@ your forehead into his nose. He’s stunned for half a minute, long enough for you to catch your breath. You cough and spit out blood where your lips been cut. Your nose is bleeding too, not to mention the soreness around your ribcage.\n\n“Arhg,” you groan. “How many times did you hit me?”\n\nChu wipes the blood from his nose. “You are still standing. Impressive.”\n\n“Yeah,” you say, rubbing your jaw. “I get that a lot.” You’re closer to the pistols now, but the bag is still out of reach. You give Chu a wily grin. “You ready for round two?” You signal for him to come at you.\n\nHe faints with his right hand, then swings with his left. Your right arm goes up, and you move with the blow, @@color:#000081;dispersing the force.@@ You send your left fist into his gut and push him back.\n\nHe counters with a swift kick at your chest. You @@color:#000081;redirect the impact@@ with your arms up as a shield. You let the blow send you closer to the window. You see the bag in the passenger seat.\n\nYou reach for the pistol, but your arm goes limp. You feel a sharp pain in your chest. It’s immediately hard to breathe.\n\nYou glance down. There’s a circle of red at the center of your shirt. It slowly expands. You look back at Chu. He seems as surprised as you.\n\nYou look past him at the rear entrance to the restaurant. A waiter aims a pistol at you. He’s a pretty good shot, but he really should have got you in the head.\n\nYou drop to your knees and collapse against the dirty parking lot.\n\nChu kneels down next to you. “I am sorry our dual was interrupted. Perhaps we will fight again in another life.”\n\nHis words are muffled and distant. You suddenly feel cold and extremely tired. Then everything fades to darkness.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 723>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +500000>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +23>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You shove the stun gun against the red and blue wires. This isn’t the craziest thing you’ve done, but it’s nearly the stupidest. You take a deep breath. It’s not like you have a lot of choices at this particular moment.\n\nYou turn on the stun gun. The rubber wire covers melt, and sparks fly at you. The wires are so hot they fuse to the tip of the stun gun. The dish behind you spasms and the floor shakes.\n\nYou’re knocked off your feet and land hard on your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@\n\nThis is happening a lot faster than you expected. You push yourself up and sprint for the elevator. The cement floor splinters under your feet. You leap to one side and run faster.\n\nYou hear people scream as bits of machinery @@color:#000081;explode@@ and the floor @@color:#000081;crumbles.@@\n\nYou catch up to Wilson and push him into the elevator. You hit the button for the ground floor.\n\n“Wait,” Wilson says. “What about them?”\n\nYou glance through the glass plated window. The strange sphere pulsates above the dish. It looks unstable and particularly deadly. People scream and run in panic as the room is consumed with @@color:#000081;flames@@ and bursts of @@color:#000081;electricity.@@\n\nYou calmly glance back at Wilson. “I bet their funerals will be very sad.”\n\nHe looks at you with @@color:#000081;horror.@@ “You’re just going to let them die?”\n\n“They held your daughter hostage. Is their safety really your first concern?”\n\n“But they’re human beings,” he says opening the elevator.\n\nYou pull him back and shut the doors. “In about a minute they’re going to be little bits of molecules floating through the air. And if we’re lucky, everyone is going to think you’re just as dead as them.”\n\nHe opens his mouth to speak, but suddenly realizes the logic of the plan. He sighs and leans against the back wall of the elevator.\n\n“I’m glad you decided living was a good idea,” you say, hitting the button for the ground floor again. The elevator jolts to life and hurtles @@color:#000081;upward.@@ “So what is the damage going to look like up there?”\n\nWilson stares vacantly at the corner.\n\n“Hey,” you say, shaking his arm. “The damage up top, what’s it going to look like?”\n\nWilson blinks. “Uhm, it could be similar to a mild earthquake or it could be nothing. I don’t know.” He rubs his forehead in shock. “No one has ever blown up the laboratory before.”\n\n“What about that glowing sphere thing?”\n\nHe shakes his head. “Without power it should dissipate – theoretically, of course.”\n\n“Well, there’s not much we can do about it now.” You take off the goggles and the jacket. “Alright, when the doors open, we take a right. I go first, got it?”\n\nHe nods.\n\n“Hey, are you going to be able to move or am I going to have to drag you?”\n\nHe looks up at you with an empty stare. “I can move.”\n\n“Well you better. Your daughter is counting on you.”\n\nHe nods again.\n\nThe doors slide open. Paintings have fallen from the walls. Bookshelves are on their sides with books strewn across the hallway. Tables have toppled. A mild earthquake is a good description.\n\nYou head down the hallway to the study. The three suits are gone. You go to the bar. The alcove is empty.\n\nThe girl’s gone.\n\nShe’s a smart girl. She wouldn’t have moved unless she had to – or she thought she had to. Maybe the earthquake scared her.\n\nNo, she’s too tough for that to have forced her out of hiding.\n\nSomeone must have—\n\nYou hear a gun cock behind you.\n\nA silky female voice says, “Don’t turn around or I’ll put a bullet through your brain.” The woman glances to her left. “Wilson, I didn’t think you had it in you. I’m almost impressed.”\n\nWilson takes a step forward. “I just—”\n\n“Shut up,” she says with a sharp smoothness like the edge of a knife.\n\nHe cowers back.\n\nShe directs her voice at you. “Who are you, and why are you here in my business? This little brat can’t be your only reason.”\n\nYou hear the little girl mumble through a gag. You try to catch a reflection off a glass bottle. It looks like the woman has her arm around the girl’s neck.\n\n“Get on your knees,” the woman commands.\n\n[[Get on your knees]]\n[[Don’t get on your knees]]\n

<>\n<<remember $governmentSecrets = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Government Secrets\n Reach the secret facility in Montana.\n

“Lazy like the Tips of Her” (a poem)

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 635>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -52>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The dragon is more useful alive, assuming it doesn’t turn you into an early dinner. You sprint to the weak portion of the wall. “Hey!” you shout. “Godzilla reject, over here!” You pick up a few rocks and throw them at the dragon.\n\nIt jerks around to face you. It screeches, stomps its feet, and charges.\n\nYou hold your ground until the very @@color:#000081;last second@@ and then dive to the right.\n\nThe dragon head-butts the wall with such force the entire section fractures. The Ferralliise devolve into @@color:#000081;chaos@@ as the stone seats morph into a splintering chasm.\n\nThe dragon thrashes trying to get free of the rock. You duck to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ its wild tail. It rears back and bucks the stone from its head.\n\nYou sprint between its legs and @@color:#000081;climb@@ the rubble of the wall. The dragon looks dazed. You need it back in action. It may seem suicidal, but you need it to charge at you again. If the Ferralliise don’t stay distracted, there’s no way for you to escape alive.\n\n“Hey, you ugly lizard,” you shout again. “I’ve got a pair of shoes made out of your cousins! Hey, over here!”\n\nThe dragon shakes its head and snorts. It stomps three more times than rushes at you again. You aren’t waiting around this time. You grab the next ledge, then the next and finally @@color:#000081;roll@@ into the stands as the dragon collides with the rock again.\n\nChunks of stone slide into the arena. The Ferralliise scatter in panic. You shove a few over the edge as you sprint for the exit. The dragon eagerly swallows them whole. If you can just reach the exit, you’ve got a chance.\n\nThe giant Ferralliise with the long mane drops in front of you swinging his staff. You @@color:#000081;duck@@ and roll left. Your side @@color:#000081;aches@@ from the fight with the dragon.\n\nThe Ferralliise swings the staff again. You barely dodge it. He wears a toothy necklace and other trinkets around his neck, wrists, and waist. He looks like some kind of shaman.\n\nWhatever he is, he’s got you on the defensive, which is a bad place to be. You don’t need to beat him; you just need to get past him. He’s more than three times your size so getting past him is going to be more than a challenge.\n\nYou grab a handful of dirt and @@color:#000081;fling@@ it at his eyes. He staggers back and growls. You twist around him, but he grabs your arm. His claws dig into your skin. He flings you in the opposite direction. You skid across the dirt and almost over the edge. The dragon jumps at you, but, luckily, can’t reach.\n\nThe shaman shouts something you can’t understand. Suddenly his staff glows with a searing white light. The sky overhead becomes dark and swirls with clouds. You hear the crack of thunder and then...\n\nThe bolt of lightning strikes the top of your head. Your whole body spasms out of control, and you’re thrust into the air like a ragdoll. It feels like a fire spreading through your veins. You see the dragon underneath you.\n\nThere’s nothing you can do.\n\nYou’re caught in freefall.\n\nYou feel the thick, jagged teeth @@color:#000081;clamp@@ into your torso. The dragon jerks you about like a dog playing with a chew toy. Then you feel something give out, maybe your @@color:#000081;spine.@@\n\nYou fall to the ground. Bits of your intestines dangle out of the dragon’s mouth. The rest of your organs slosh out the hole in your stomach.\n\nYou were so close.\n\nGillian is on her own now...\n\nMaybe it’s for the best...\n\nMaybe...\n\nYour body spasms with pain. You always thought the job would kill you, but you never could have imagined it would all end in the jaws of a crippled dragon.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 756>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<endnobr>>You tell him the address of the Boss’s penthouse. “And step on it,” you say.\n\n“Sure thing,” the driver says slamming his foot on the gas. The car jerks into the street.\n\nYou know the Boss has Gillian, and you know he wants you for something. Maybe it’s another job, or maybe he didn’t like the idea of you getting out of the business. He did spend a lot of money training you. If his other employees thought they could walk away, the Boss would never make a profit. Maybe he wants to make an example out of you.\n\nToo bad he decided to bring Gillian into the equation. Now you need to be the one to make an example out of him. Anyone who messes with your family will have to deal with you and a whole lot of @@color:#000081;bullets.@@\n\n“Whoa,” you tell the driver. “Pull over here.” You don’t want to get too close.\n\nThe driver pulls over, and you pay him.\n\nYou unzip the windbreaker so it’s easier to reach the pistol. Things may get violent quick. You’ll need to be ready. Confronting the Boss may be a dangerous plan, but you can’t do much else until you figure out where Gillian is.\n\nYou peek into the lobby. You see two people at the counter and another sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.\n\nThe Boss has let his security get lax, especially if he’s worried you’re coming for him. With only three guards you can afford to play this a little more subtle.\n\nYou walk into the lobby and step up to the front desk. “I’d like to speak with the Boss.”\n\nThe clerk sees your face. “Yes, of course. The Boss has been expecting you.” The clerk motions toward the elevators. “There is no need for you to be burdened with those weapons.”\n\n“I’ll carry them all the same.”\n\n“Yes...” The clerk says. “Of course.”\n\nYou walk to the elevator. If the Boss wanted to kill you, he would have done it already. That thug that showed up at your apartment was a novice at best, not the kind of person the Boss would have sent if he really wanted you dead... unless he wanted to kill you with his own hands. You shudder at the thought.\n\nThe elevator dings at the Boss’s penthouse floor and the doors slide open.\n\nIt’s quiet. You see a dim light in a distant room.\n\nThen you hear casual laughter.\n\nLaughter? Now the Boss is just trying to insult you. You’re sure he knows you’re coming by now.\n\nYou pull out the pistol and keep it at the ready. You cautiously walk toward the light. You hear more laughter. This time from a woman. You twist around the corner slowly.\n\n[[“...Gillian?”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 728>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You slow the car down and swerve to the @@color:#000081;side of the road.@@ The cop @@color:#000081;speeds past@@ you. Two more cop cars follow suit.\n\nYou let out a sigh of relief. Talk about a @@color:#000081;close call.@@ You wait a full three minutes before starting the engine again. If someone had reported the car missing, stolen, or used in a kidnapping, the cops would have been all over you by now. It seems you’re in the clear.\n\nYou put the car in gear and merge into traffic.\n\nWong has no idea you’re coming which should make for a nice surprise when the dust settles – and there should be plenty of dust when you empty two clips of assault rifle rounds into his restaurant.\n\nYou pull into the parking lot across the street. There are at least five henchmen waiters and three civilians in the restaurant. Wong’s car isn’t out front which means you have a few extra minutes to set the scene.\n\nYou take a pair of black gloves from your bag and put them on. You grab a cloth and rub down the steering wheel, the doors, the buttons, the knobs, the trunk, and everything else you touched. Fingerprints would be a dead giveaway – emphasize the dead part.\n\nYou grab the pack of cigarettes you stole from the Russians and light three of them at once. After they’ve burned a bit, you shove them into the cement next to the car.\n\nYou sling the bag over your shoulder and take the car keys. If everything goes smoothly, this could be over in minutes. Then again, if Wong catches you, you’ll be dead, and that’s only after he tortures you for days or weeks. He's not exactly known for his self-control.\n\nThere’s a story about a henchman who showed up twenty minutes late for his shift. Wong was so angry; he chopped off the henchman’s ear, ground it into dust, baked it into a fortune cookie, and then made the henchman eat it.\n\nJust thinking about it makes you cringe. It's more like a mis-fortune cookie. You’re almost glad you skipped breakfast.\n\nYou sneak into an antique shop through a side door and make your way to the roof. From there you’ve got a great vantage point of the restaurant.\n\nYou light three more of the Russian cigarettes, wait for them to burn, then shove them into the cement roof. That should do it. The car, the guns, and the cigarettes should be enough to incriminate the Russians and throw suspicion on the Boss.\n\nNow all you need are some fireworks.\n\nYou align the assault rifle with the restaurant lobby and take a deep breath. The secret to causing chaos is simple: make a loud noise and keep exit points to a minimum. People can usually handle the rest. Dead bodies just cause a lot of people to ask a lot of questions, which is why you make sure no one is in your line of sight.\n\nYou fire a few rounds through the front window and wait for the henchmen to run out with their guns. You nick one in the leg and the other in the arm. You fire another round through the remaining window. The glass shatters across the sidewalk.\n\nThat should be enough to get their attention. Best to leave now while the getting’s good.\n\nYou sling the bag over your shoulder, hurry down to the antique shop, and exit out the back. You jog for two blocks and turn right. You hail a taxi and head to the Boss’s penthouse.\n\nWith any luck, the Chinese will have pulled out of the negotiations and retaliated by the time you reach the penthouse.\n\nYou tell the driver to circle around the building once. The amount of guards in the lobby is double the normal amount, and it doesn’t look like they’re moving any time soon. Either the Boss knows about your plan, or someone forgot to invite you to the henchmen ball. Either way you slice it, your chances don’t look good.\n\nYou’ll have to use all your ammo just to get to the elevator then hand-to-hand from the top floor back down. It's a good thing you have a hard time saying no to impossible odds...but what about Gillian's odds. So many thugs and guns...her chances aren't good. You could always give yourself up willingly.\n\n[[Let the bullet casings fall where they may]]\n[[Give yourself up willingly]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 273>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +2999>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>There’s a reason it’s experimental. Who knows what kind of side effects it’s having on you. Hopefully you don’t grow a third arm somewhere.\n\nThe pistol will have to do. You press into the corner of the elevator and slide the pistol into your belt. You take a grenade from the bag and pull the pin. Based on the floor plan, the Boss is probably holding Gillian in the study which is down the hall on the right. That puts two walls between her and the grenade. The guards in the hallway... well, that’s a different story.\n\nThe elevator door dings and slides open. The goons blindfire through the gap. You @@color:#000081;roll@@ the grenade toward the noise. You hear a panicked voice shout, “Get Dow-”\n\nA thundering @@color:#000081;explosion@@ cuts him off. Dust and smoke flood the elevator. You slip through the chaos into the living room. You @@color:#000081;shoot@@ two thugs as they turn the corner.\n\nYou count three down the hall, plus the two in the doorway. That leaves two more at the most. You stay flat against the corner and listen. You hear a woman’s voice behind the door, probably Gillian. There are two other voices, neither one is the Boss.\n\nYou’ve got one grenade left. You could use it to create a distraction and then rush the door. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to shoot both thugs before one of them shoots Gillian.\n\nOf course, you’re using your off hand, and the arm cannon is weighing you down so you won’t be as quick. It might be better to flank them, or you could be completely unpredictable and try negotiating.\n\n[[Create a distraction and rush the door]]\n[[Flank them]]\n[[Try negotiating]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 347>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $wpn = "Machine Gun">>\n<<endnobr>>Screw it. This isn’t your problem. You grab the thug’s @@color:#000081;machine gun@@ and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ at two of the other thugs. You nick one in the leg and the other in his bullet proof vest. It won’t kill them. It probably won’t even leave a scar, but it might slow them down enough for the scientists to make an escape.\n\nIt’s better than nothing.\n\nYou get in the elevator and hit the button for the @@color:#000081;ground floor.@@ You’ve already wasted enough time with this little detour. If you’re lucky, the Boss is still holding Gillian at his penthouse. Sure, it might be a fortress, but it’s the only chance you’ve got.\n\nThe Boss has connections all over the world. If he moves her, you might never be able to find her. He’d have leverage against you for the rest of your life or, more precisely, the rest of Gillian’s life. You can’t let that happen. It’s hard enough to imagine what he’s already done to her; a whole lifetime would be unbearable.\n\nThe elevator slides back into place at the floor of the garage. The guard you knocked unconscious and threw in the corner has a bullet hole in the side of his head, probably the work of Jimmy’s thugs.\n\nYou open the garage door and glance outside. It’s quiet, dead quiet. You sprint through the trees, shimmy up the stone fence, and land @@color:#000081;gracefully@@ on the other side next to your motorcycle. \n\nDespite your best efforts, the bike won’t start. You examine the engine. Someone stole your sparkplugs. Probably another annoyance you can attribute to Jimmy’s thugs. \n\nThe bike’s useless. You’ll have to find another vehicle.\n\nJimmy’s thugs had to drive here just like you. Their car must still be here, probably nearby. \n\nYou glance down the street in both directions. You see two vans. One has a giant flower shop logo printed on the side. The other one belongs to a plumbing company. \n\nBased on the amount of thugs, it’s possible both vans belong to Jimmy. There’s only one way to find out for sure though. \n\n[[Check the flower van]]\n[[Check the plumbing van]]\n

Assassin Concept #2\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1040>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +24>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Nikola doesn’t know how bad you’ve been hit. You’ll have to use that to your advantage. You push yourself up. The pain is excruciating, but through years of training you’ve learned how to @@color:#000081;suppress it.@@ You focus your mind and take a deep breath. As you let it out, the pain dissipates.\n\nYou glance at the elevator. You’ve only got one shot at this. You’ll need to time it perfectly. The light above the elevator reads: 3... 2... 1. There’s a second ding and the door starts to slide open.\n\nYou blindfire toward Nikola and sprint for the elevator. Two goons exit. You @@color:#000081;right hook@@ one with your weak hand and shove the other back into the elevator while @@color:#000081;shooting@@ him in the chest.\n\nThe other thugs are caught off guard. You @@color:#000081;kick@@ one in the knee and grab his hand before he can draw his gun on you. He @@color:#000081;fires@@ two rounds into the elevator and two more into the ceiling before you can twist the gun back toward his head. You hit his arm so he @@color:#000081;shoots himself,@@ then you twist to @@color:#000081;elbow@@ another goon in the face.\n\nThe goon groans as blood erupts from his broken nose. You shove him into the other thug and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger@@ twice. They both slide to the floor. The elevator’s @@color:#000081;covered in blood.@@ You take a moment to catch your breath then press the button for the penthouse suite. The elevator ascends.\n\nYou hear a woman crying. You look down and roll over one of the goons.\n\nGillian.\n\nShe sobs uncontrollably.\n\nYou reach down to pick her up, but she whimpers in pain. You glance at her stomach.\n\nTwo bullet holes and a lot of blood.\n\nHer breathing is weak. You press your hands against her stomach trying to stop the bleeding, but you know it’s not going to change what happens next.\n\n“Gillian, hang on, please, please hang on,” you whisper.\n\nHer body goes limp.\n\n“No, Gillian...Gillian.”\n\nThe elevator dings and the door slides open. Six thugs aim their guns at your chest. You’ve lost the will to fight. You’ve lost the will to live.\n\nWhat happened to Gillian is your fault.\n\nThe goons @@color:#000081;throw you@@ against the floor and bind your hands. You stare at Gillian’s body. All you can think about is how this is your fault – this is all your fault.\n\nThe thugs carry you to the Boss’s penthouse and throw you onto the couch. You roll onto your side, ready to vomit. How could you let that happen to Gillian... How could you be so foolish... You feel sick.\n\n“A tragedy,” the Boss’s soothing voice coos from the other side of the room. “I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed, but I am hurt.”\n\n“You!?! How could you possibly be hurt?” Your words come out as a snarl. “You’re not the one who’s dead... at least not yet.”\n\nThe Boss laughs. “Empty threats will do you no good. And to be fair, they are hardly warranted.” The Boss steps into view. He’s old. The wrinkles on his face show. He casually leans against his cane and waves toward the hallway.\n\nThe thugs drag in Gillian’s dead body and lay her on the coffee table in front of you.\n\nYou give the Boss a cold stare and try your best not to look at her.\n\nThe Boss reluctantly smiles. “I really must know what gave her away.”\n\nYou swallow uncomfortably and try to pretend you know what he’s talking about.\n\n“The doppelganger,” he presses. “The double, how did you know she was @@color:#000081;a fake?@@ The plastic surgeons assured me she was a perfect likeness.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>The doppelganger idea came to me from a Magic the Gathering card I have: <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=vesuvan+doppelganger" target="_blank">Vesuvan Doppelganger.</a><<endif>>\nYou can’t help but look surprised.\n\n“Oh,” the Boss laughs again. “You didn’t know. Well, I suppose keeping someone alive is much more difficult than killing them, at least for you. There’s no point in keeping up this ruse any longer. As I’ve so blatantly misspoke, you obviously now know that this woman is not your sister. I had hoped to use her as a ploy to motivate you, but plans have unfortunately changed.”\n\n“Where’s Gillian?” You say sharply.\n\nThe Boss sighs. “Do you honestly think me foolish enough to keep her here?” He shakes his head chastisingly. “She’s alive and safe. That is all you need to know. I do hate being blunt, but our circumstances require it. You and your sister share a gene that when manipulated properly can have a profound effect on the human body. Using the doppelganger, I had hoped to convince you to join the project willingly.”\n\n“Right,” you groan. “Sending a thug with a gun is just begging for cooperation.”\n\n“Yes, well,” the Boss shrugs. “The plan did deviate a bit.”\n\n“That’s one way of putting it.”\n\n“In any case,” the Boss says calmly. “Here we are. The cards are on the table. I have your sister. You want her back. And I want you to work for me. A reasonable arrangement can be made.”\n\nYou glower at him. “I’m listening.”\n\nThe Boss smiles and sits down across from you. He casually crosses his legs as if he had all the time in the world. “The details of the project are unimportant...for the time being. What I require are some of your more abrasive skills.”\n\n“Get to the point,” you growl.\n\n“Yes, of course,” the Boss nods. “A new drug is being tested in Montana. Some of the human test subjects have gone missing. Retrieving them would be...very productive for the project. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality. I hear the drug trials are almost near completion.”\n\n“That’s it? You just want a stupid drug? You could have sent anyone for that.”\n\n“It’s hardly that simple, as you’ll soon be aware.” The Boss reaches for the teacup and takes a sip. “There is another option. As infinite as my wealth may appear, it is not always enough to motivate some people.\n\n“There is a doctor, a genius, who is quite knowledgeable in matters concerning the project. I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work for me, it might accelerate your sister’s return. \n\n“Choose carefully. There’s plenty at stake, not the least of which being your sister’s life.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

Assassin Concept #1\n

Seven Bullets Twine Map

Blinking Dog Gif\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 719>>\n<<endnobr>>“Yeah,” you sigh, “Alright.” You know this is going to be a long day, and you’re probably going to regret asking but, “Tell me about the containment labs,” you say.\n\nThe woman points to a computer screen. “The containment labs were designed to handle a variety of experiments.”\n\n“Wait,” you interrupt. “I thought the power was down?”\n\n“Yes,” she says. “Everywhere else in the facility except for this lab...and the containment labs. Each room is on a separate power grid, as well as a separate air and water filtration system. We can hold up here for months if necessary.”\n\n“Good to know.” You nod at the monitor. “So tell me about this containment lab.”\n\n“As I said, it should be part of a self-contained system, but given the explosions and gunfire over the last few days, it’s impossible to know if the system is even active.”\n\n“Why do I get the feeling that’s worse than you’re making it sound?”\n\n“The creatures you’ve already seen are not the only experiments at this facility. All of the work being done here involves some form of organic life...and not all of which can fit in a Petri dish.”\n\n“You mean like mice and monkeys? Because I can handle those. As long as I’m not ambushed by those other creatures again, I’ll be fine.”\n\nThe woman shakes her head and sighs. “Perhaps I’m not making myself clear. Yes, the creatures you’ve already encountered are terrifying, but don’t think that they are the most dangerous life forms here.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>The size and scope of the secret facility is known to only a few investors (and even fewer government officials). The research being done at the facility is compartmentalized and even the scientist working there are unsure of its true size.<<endif>>\nYou shrug. “If it’s alive, I can probably kill it. The only thing I’m worried about is how long it’s going to take. I’ve got a very demanding schedule, and I’d like to carve out some time for a juice box and a nap.”\n\n“Your confidence isn’t wasted on me, but I assure you, the hazards are very real.”\n\n“Aren’t they always,” you say dryly.\n\n“The cages in the containment labs may or may not be locked. As for the creatures, I really have no idea what you should expect. It’s been nearly a day since they’ve been fed, so I guarantee you they’ll be hungry. As for Dr. Clark’s creatures, I have something that may prove useful and,” she points at the assault rifle and shakes her head. “It certainly won’t be that. It may wound the creatures, but it won’t kill them. Their healing abilities are uncanny. Before Dr. Clark was taken, he was working on a prototype.” She takes a bag from her pocket and hands it to you.\n\nYou open the bag and count seven glowing, neon red bullets.\n\n“They’re coated with a serum that should neutralize the creatures’ growth. If you’re lucky, the bullets should render the creatures unconscious as well...if not kill them.”\n\n“Only seven bullets, huh?”\n\n“Unfortunately,” she says. “Dr. Clark was going to make more once we reached this laboratory, but as you know, he’s not here.” The woman gives you a small earbud. “We’ll be able to stay in contact with this. I can guide you through the facility should you become lost. I’ll also be able to monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and location.”\n\n“Which really won’t matter since no one will be able to rescue me if something goes wrong.” You slide the earbud into your ear. “I don’t even know your name.”\n\n“Dr. Samantha Kapur.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>If you’ve read The Last Darling the name Dr. Samantha Kapur might seem familiar. Her sister, Dr. Shivani Kapur, is a minor character early in the story (see: page 17).<<endif>>\n“Alright Doc, let’s do this.” You glance over your shoulder at the soldier. “Are you in?”\n\nHe swallows uncomfortably. “Someone needs to keep this location secure. The creatures could attack again.”\n\nAfter what happened earlier, you’re not surprised. Even the toughest soldiers are allowed to be afraid sometimes. It’s strange how you never seem to have that problem. “It’s for the best,” you say. “I work better alone.”\n\nYou press a button on the wall, and the heavy metal door slides open. You walk out, and the door slides shut behind you.\n\n“Testing,” Samantha’s voice echoes in your ear. “Testing, can you read me?”\n\n“Loud and clear Doc. Which way?”\n\n“Right, down the hallway. There should be a blue stripe painted on the wall. It’ll lead you to the containment labs.”\n\n“Thanks Doc,” you say.\n\nYou follow the light until the hallway gets dark. Even when your eyes adjust it’s difficult to distinguish the colors of the stripes.\n\n[[Ask Samantha for directions]]\n[[Navigate on your own]]\n

“Wake up,” Avengral whispers. “Wake up. We have reached Raizaa.”\n\nYou rub the sleep from your eyes and the drool from your chin. “How long was I out?”\n\n“Long enough,” Avengral says, helping Evie down. “I flew in low and unseen. Given the circumstances, I thought it may be necessary to break protocol.”\n\n“You break protocol?” You say shocked.\n\n“Indeed. If the Blue Wizards have conspired with the Ferralliise to kidnap the Prince and plan to return to the ways of blood magic, than we are at war and must act accordingly."\n\nYou look around. You’re on the edge of a rocky shore. A small cliff obscures your view of the land. The ocean is at your back and stretches as far as you can see. It feels tranquil. Your body feels lighter, and your muscles more relaxed.\n\n“Since you are not my soldiers and I cannot issue commands, we will have a vote. All in favor of following protocol and addressing the Blue Wizards formally?” Avengral asks, lifting his hand in the air.\n\nEvie lifts her hand in agreement.\n\n“And those who wish to sneak in?”\n\nAble and Mos raise their hands.\n\nAvengral looks at you. “The tie break must be yours.”\n\n[[Follow protocol and address the Blue Wizards formally]]\n[[Sneak into the Blue Wizard’s castle]]\n

When you come to, the fighting is over. The Ferralliise are dead or gone, and you count at least twenty dead slaves. Your skull aches like someone hit you in the back of the head with a bat. You manage to stand, but not without leaning against a tree. Two soldiers block your path. Their swords are drawn.\n\n“I feel like I just got hit by a bus,” you groan.\n\n“Bus?” One of the soldiers asks bewildered.\n\n“Where’s Avengral?” You ask, pinching the bridge of your nose. “And what happened?”\n\nAvengral pushes between the two soldiers and throws an old man onto the ground in front of you. “You were bewitched by this piece of Raizaarian scum.”\n\n“Bewitched?” The word comes out rough and awkward.\n\n“He’s a High Wizard of the Blue Court. His presence here is no accident. When the slavers heard us coming, he performed a spell to sow the seeds of paranoia and distrust. Since you were the closest, it affected you the worst.”\n\n“And now twenty people are dead,” you say with a heavy heart.\n\n“Twenty-four,” Able No-name corrects. “The Blue Court is full of cowards and liars. I’m not surprised by this fool’s trickery.”\n\n“Wait,” Evie Greengrass interrupts. “Though his trickery is obvious, we have no knowledge of its root cause.”\n\n“Humph,” Able grunts. “I say we kill him and be done with it.”\n\n“I want answers,” Avengral growls. His fist clenches his sword handle so tightly his knuckles turn white. “These people are citizens of Sarrejiinn, and I am honor-bound to bring them justice.”\n\nYour head hangs low. Your heart hurts almost as much as your head. If you had just fought your fears for a few seconds longer maybe these people wouldn’t be dead.\n\n“Do not blame yourself,” Evie Greengrass says. “Greater knights have been tricked by weaker wizards. The spell he used was a powerful one.”\n\n“What happened, happened,” you say solemnly. “I can’t bring them back.”\n\n“No,” Avengral says firmly. “But you can bring them justice.”\n\nHe has a point. You can’t fix what happened, but you can make sure it doesn’t happen again. “Is that all he told you?” You ask, nodding toward the Blue Wizard.\n\n“He invoked the Aproxiona Accord. I cannot ask him more than his name and title, nor can I harm him in any way. As a knight of the King’s court, I am honor-bound to make certain all citizens of Sarrejiinn uphold these laws.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Aproxiona Accord is a treaty signed by all the major cities and guilds in Sarrejiinn. Due to some of the extreme forms of torture used during the war, a major article of the Accord protects enemy prisoners from torture depending on their military rank and social stature.<<endif>>\nYou smile. “Then it’s a good thing I’m not from around these parts.” You glance down at the old wizard. “You better start talking while you still have a tongue.”\n\n[[Use the Boss’s interrogation tactics]]\n[[Go along with the Aproxiona Accord]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 726>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -30>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -95>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +12>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve already put too many people at risk. That’s half the reason Gillian is in this mess. Creating a diversion is dangerous, especially when you consider how fast and strong these creatures are. There’s no way you can ask the soldiers to do it... not if you want to save Gillian and still have a @@color:#000081;clean conscience.@@\n\n“We’re going to lure the creatures into a kill zone,” you say. “I’ll be on the ground over there. I’ll light fires funneling the creatures into a line. I expect the two of you to use your weapons to slow the creatures down before they can reach me.” You point to the closest soldier, “You will be positioned halfway up that tree to the right, providing cover.” You point at the other soldier. “You will be in this tree sniping the creatures.”\n\n“What about me?” Mason asks.\n\n“You stay back, out of sight. Make sure you’re standing downwind. I’m not sure how powerful their senses are, but we can’t take any chances.” You turn to the soldiers. “After the two of you weaken the creatures, I’ll finish them off with the neon bullets. Understood?”\n\n“Yes,” both the soldiers say in unison.\n\n“Good, then move out.”\n\nThe soldiers sprint to the positions you pointed to. Mason scurries back into the forest and hides underneath some bushes.\n\nYour arm still hurts a bit, but you can manage the pain... you have to. As soon as the two soldiers are in position, you light two fires, creating a small corridor from the building to a clearing where your assault rifle is waiting. You hoot and shout and howl.\n\nSuddenly, three creatures burst out of the building and bound for your position. You sprint through the corridor of flames. The creatures nip at your heels. You hear a Tat-Tat-Tat, Tat-Tat-Tat of an assault rifle. The creature stumbles and slides across the grass.\n\nYou keep sprinting for your rifle.\n\nThe second creature leaps over its fallen friend and claws at your back. You twist as the razor sharp nails slice your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@\n\nTat-Tat-Tat\n\nThe creature staggers through the fire as another burst of bullets carpet the area.\n\nYou finally make it to the assault rifle... a little worse for wear. You take a deep breath and let it out slow. You focus the sight and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@\n\nThe bullet hits the first creature in the chest as it tries to stand. It @@color:#000081;collapses.@@ The creature’s body changes. The fur falls off, and the body shrinks into a thin, naked woman. She looks pale and weak... and helpless.\n\nThe third creature grabs the woman’s body and uses it as a shield as the soldiers unload another clip. The creature flings the frail, dead woman at the soldier in the trees to the right. The soldier is caught by surprise and gets knocked out of the tree.\n\nYou take another deep breath and focus on the third creature. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ The creature darts left avoiding the shot. You turn, trying to get a second shot.\n\nThat’s when the second creature lunges from the bushes beside you. You feel the claws tear into your @@color:#000081;stomach.@@ You scream.\n\nYou hear a flurry of bullets rip into the creature’s back. It slumps forward, smushing you. You manage to grab the assault rifle. You point it at the creature and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ The fur falls off, and the body shrinks into a thin, naked woman. You push her off with the little strength you have left.\n\nThat’s when you see the gash in your stomach. Your @@color:#000081;intestines@@ are spilling out. You try to shove them back in.\n\nThe third creature emerges from the trees behind you. It grabs your foot and hurls you into the air. You spin helplessly until you crash into the other soldier. He tumbles out of the tree, hitting several branches as he falls.\n\nYou’re too weak to grab hold, and so you fall with him. Your escaping intestines catch on the branches as you fall until you @@color:#000081;dangle@@ in the air. You swing from your organs helplessly.\n\n@@color:#808080;Your vision blurs. The pain is overwhelming.@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;You think about Gillian. How close were you to saving her?@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;You’ll never know.@@\n\n@@color:#C6C6C6;You feel cold and helpless and alone.@@\n\n@@color:#D7D7D7;But you’re not alone...@@\n\nThe creatures circle underneath. So this is how it ends... You’re nothing more than a fleshy, pathetic piñata.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Did you know this choice would lead to death?I consider it a “noble death” scene. It’s not a hard ending because the story continues in the Hell segment. Most of the deaths that lead to Hell are considered noble deaths.I hoped this subtle push toward morality would add depth to the opening scene in Hell. I wanted the reader to feel a little bit of guilt for the “seven bullets that strayed from their hand”.<<endif>>\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 404>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;“Keep moving@@ forward,” you say.\n\nThe soldier grimaces, but follows the order.\n\nThen you hear the noise too... rustling leaves and the creak of branches being weighed down. You glance up, but not soon enough. A creature drops on top of you, kicking the rifle out of your hands. The soldiers open fire. The creature’s hit five or six times in the back, but it doesn’t slow down.\n\nIt viciously claws at your face. You manage to get your hand up in time. You scream as the creature’s claws @@color:#000081;shred@@ your left forearm. It’s better than your face.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;kick@@ yourself free of the creature and awkwardly fall down the side of a soft cliff. The creature sprints after you. The creature’s too powerful and fast to fight head-on. “The rifle!” You shout to the soldier.\n\nThe creature’s built up a lot of speed, maybe too much. You can use that to your advantage. You grab a branch as the creature lunges for you. You twist and @@color:#000081;kick@@ the creature in the back of the head. It's caught by surprise, loses its footing, and rolls down the rest of the hill.\n\nThe soldier tosses you the rifle. You take one of the red, neon bullets and load it into the rifle. You take a calm breath and aim for the creature’s heart.\n\nYou pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@\n\nThe creature drops to the ground @@color:#000081;lifelessly.@@ You watch the creature’s body change. The fur falls off, and the body shrinks into a thin, naked man. He looks pathetically weak, equally as helpless ...and dead.\n\nAs the adrenaline slows, the @@color:#000081;pain@@ in your arm resonates through your body. The gash is bad. You’re losing a decent amount of blood... enough to slow you down, not to mention how much it hurts.\n\nThe soldiers help you up. “I told you I heard something.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” you groan. “I’ll be sure to trust your ears next time.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>You may feel guilty for disregarding the soldier’s warning, but you shouldn’t. Being scratched by the creature is an unavoidable moment in the secret facility segment.<<endif>>\nThe other soldier keeps his weapon pointed at the forest. “You think there are more of them?”\n\n“If there were,” you say. “I doubt they would abandon their buddy like that. If I had to guess, I’d say he was a sentry. They left him out here to guard the path. They weren’t counting on these special bullets though.”\n\n“Yeah,” the soldier says. “Lucky for you.”\n\nYou limp free of the soldiers.\n\n“Your arm,” the scientist says. “You need that looked at immediately.” He’s very insistent.\n\n[[“You’re right. I could use a Band-Aid and some drugs.”]]\n[[“No, I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 614>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +19>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +375>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Taking out a helicopter here would mean a lot of collateral damage – best to leave at least a little deniability. If the Boss disposes of the bodies, which he will, no one will be able to tie the gunshots to any crime, and with a little bribe the media will publish whatever he wants them to. Of course, if you takedown a helicopter in the middle of downtown people are going to have some questions.\n\nThe Boss would do just about anything to keep your name out of the papers, or more specifically, his. Anything incriminating you incriminates him. Plus, getting out of the country will be a lot easier if your face wasn’t plastered on the television.\n\nPenthouse lobby it is.\n\nYou cross the street and grab a newspaper. You flip it open and use it to hide your face, clutching your pistol lightly in hand. You casually walk into the lobby. The guards are jumpy. Someone must have radioed that you were coming to cause trouble.\n\nYou grin.\n\nNo reason to disappoint them.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;fire@@ two rounds through the newspaper. One @@color:#000081;hits@@ a guard in the shoulder. The other @@color:#000081;hits@@ the adjacent guard’s thigh. They both collapse and scream with pain. You calmly slip behind a large stone pillar that rises up to the ceiling.\n\nYou take a deep breath. Some jobs require an invisible hand and deadly precision. Then there are other jobs that require an overt and sloppy enthusiasm.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Sloppy enthusiasm is how I approached this book.<<endif>>\nThis is one of the latter.\n\nYou twist out of cover with an expression of @@color:#000081;giddy insanity.@@ The guards are terrified. You @@color:#000081;shoot@@ three more before they can draw their guns. You make a point not to kill them, just wound them badly.\n\nThe screams are your real weapon. You grab one of the guard’s radios and @@color:#000081;turn it on.@@ You set it on the counter so it can capture all the cries and screams with perfect clarity.\n\nThe guards were frightened of you before – now they’re terrified.\n\nYou run to the elevator and head for the highest floor. From there you climb to the roof.\n\nTwo thugs are waiting for you. They’re trembling. No reason to waste a bullet.\n\nYou slip between them, @@color:#000081;elbowing@@ one in the nose while kicking the other in the side of the head. The first falls down the stairs. The other pulls you through the door and onto the roof.\n\nImmediately a flurry of bullets cut at you. The guard gets hit in the chest and arm. You roll under a metal railing and behind a wall.\n\nYou can hear the helicopter land. Another wave of bullets chip away at the wall you’re hiding behind.\n\nEven if you had a clear shot of the pilot from here, it’d be too dangerous with Gillian in the back. You have to get close.\n\n“Now, now,” a calm and caring voice interjects. “Is that any way to treat your dear friend and benefactor?”\n\nYou swallow hard. It’s the Boss. “I hate to be childish,” you shout, “But you started it.”\n\n“That couldn’t be farther from the truth. After all, you were the one who abandoned me.” The Boss speaks as if his tongue was a cold knife.\n\nYou laugh and silently twist around a corner. “I quit. Do you have to take everything so personally?”\n\n“Only when it matters,” He says smugly. “Your sister’s perfectly well, that is if your little stunt hasn’t traumatized her. Now, if you don’t mind, there’s a matter I’d like to discuss.”\n\nYou stay low and twist around another corner. You see the helicopter and Gillian. You count five thugs with automatic weapons, plus two in the helicopter, not to mention the Boss.\n\n[[Hear what the Boss has to say]]\n[[Finish what you started]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 524>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Really, you’re jumping into the volcano too?” He asks excitedly.\n\n“No, that was sarcasm. Wait, what do you mean volcano?”\n\nHe points over the ledge. “The volcano.”\n\n“If there was a volcano outside your window, this room would be burning hot.” Almost as soon as you say the words, you begin to sweat. The air feels dry and @@color:#000081;uncomfortably@@ flammable.\n\nThe man steps back from the window and walks toward you. “There must be a sacrifice. After what I did to those people, I thought it should be me, but now that you’re here,” he grabs an iron statue from the desk and wields it like a cudgel.\n\n“Now hold on a minute, I think your first plan was perfectly fine, really.”\n\nHe swings the statue at your head. You @@color:#000081;duck@@ and twist around him. You @@color:#000081;jab@@ him in the kidney and his legs falter.\n\nHe swings the statue back at you wildly, just barely missing your cheek.\n\nNo, you think to yourself. This is crazy. It must be the drugs. The volcano is obviously a manifestation of your fever which means whatever you were poisoned with is working its way out of your system.\n\nOf course that doesn’t explain—\n\nYou @@color:#000081;duck@@ and roll behind the desk as the businessman takes another swing at your head.\n\nYou have no idea what this businessman could be a manifestation of... unless he’s not a manifestation at all.\n\nHe could be one of the thugs that drugged you. But wait, why would he have been standing half way out the window – unless it’s not a window. You shake your head. This is too confusing.\n\nBesides, if he was really a thug, he would have shot you with his gun by now. But if they only wanted to kill you, why would they go to the trouble of drugging you.\n\nThis is insane. You don’t even know who they are.\n\nThen again, after all the jobs you’ve done, they could be just about anyone. You do know where all the bodies are buried, literally, and you know who paid to have them put there. That kind of information would be valuable to a lot of people.\n\nMaybe the drugs were an attempt to make you talk – some kind of truth serum. They must not know about the Boss's training. There’s no way drugs will make you talk. Of course, it’s not like your training could stop all the hallucinations either, which still doesn’t answer the question: who is this guy?\n\nYou @@color:#000081;parry@@ the statue with a hardbound book then @@color:#000081;slam@@ the book into the businessman’s face. He tumbles backwards into the wall and slides to the floor.\n\nThis might be a good time to get some answers. Then again, in this condition, staying in one place for too long is probably a bad idea.\n\nYou look around the room. The ladder and the hole you climbed through are gone. The only exit is the window. If you leave, you’ll get an uncomfortably close view of that volcano. \n\nIt could always be worse. You could actually be in Hell. You can't help but laugh. At least there's a silver lining.\n\n[[Force the businessman to talk]]\n[[Escape out the window while you can]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1080>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +18>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You swing the bag over your shoulder and wait with Team B. If you really want to figure out what’s going on, you need to get on the @@color:#000081;scientist’s@@ good side. Based on the way things have been going, that’s not going to be easy.\n\nYou stand beside her. “Hey,” you say softly. “We’ve got a little bit of time. Why don’t you fill me in on what happened.”\n\nShe swallows uncomfortably. “I don’t know where to start. Almost all of it’s classified anyway.”\n\n“Don’t you think the situation is beyond that point now?”\n\nShe shakes her head. “I really shouldn’t. I don’t even know you.”\n\nYeah, okay, you walked into that one. You’ll need to earn her trust before she’ll tell you anything. Given the situation, it won’t take long for you to act heroic. You’ll just have to be a little more patient.\n\nYou wait for about fifteen minutes and then the group exits the room. You travel down a long hallway. The lights flicker making it difficult to see clearly. You count a dozen more deep scratches on the wall and nearly two hundred bullet holes. There was obviously a fight. Judging by the scratches, you’d say it was a pack of bears...or maybe something bigger.\n\nA soldier flashes up an arm, motioning for everyone to stop. A deadly silence falls over the group. The soldier motions for the rest of the soldiers to fan out in a defensive pattern. You glance at the darkness, trying to see what’s frightened him, but it’s just shadows.\n\nThe soldiers look terrified like they might drop their guns at any moment and flee.\n\nSuddenly, you hear scratching overhead. The group whimpers and cries with fear.\n\n“Hold your ground,” the soldier whispers.\n\nThe scratching gets louder...but it’s too overt. Even a wandering creature would be quieter than that.\n\nIt’s a @@color:#000081;trap.@@ It has to be. Whatever’s making that noise is trying a little too hard. It’s trying to frighten the group...trying to pressure you into a vulnerable position.\n\n“Pull your men back,” you whisper to the soldier. “It’s a trap. Pull your men back now.”\n\nThe soldier scowls at you and ignores your warning.\n\n“Aghah!” A soldier screams from the perimeter.\n\nYou hear the sound of flesh being ripped apart. The man’s screams abruptly stop.\n\n“Aghahaa!” Another soldier screams as he’s dragged into the darkness.\n\nYou move forward, near the head soldier. “Pull them back now.”\n\nHe grimaces, and you see the terror in his eyes.\n\n“Aghahah,” another soldier screams.\n\nYou hear metal being dragged and then a loud thump. A massive roar echoes off the walls from far behind the group. A bloody torso slides across the floor. The people panic and try to rush forward.\n\n“Wait,” you say, standing up. “Stay where you are. The rest of the soldiers fall back, protect the group.”\n\nThe people are so terrified they don’t know what to do. They hesitate for a moment. It’s not long. It only gives you a small window of opportunity. You sprint to the bloody torso and yank free the assault rifle and two flash grenades. You pull the pin on one of the grenades and @@color:#000081;lob it@@ down the hall. There’s a flash.\n\nYou see a creature. It’s furry and big. It has to slouch to fit in the hallway. You @@color:#000081;shoot@@ a few rounds at it, but it darts around the corner. The bullets ricochet off the metal wall. Whatever that thing was, it was fast.\n\nYou sprint back to the front of the group, pull the pin on another flash grenade, and @@color:#000081;hurl it@@ forward.\n\nIt clanks against the ground. The flash illuminates the hallway.\n\nYou count three more creatures. They were waiting for you to scatter in that direction so they could pick you off. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger,@@ releasing five short, controlled bursts. You hit two of the creatures and they scamper down the hallway. You didn’t kill them, but they’ll need time to lick their wounds.\n\n[[“Let’s move!”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 644>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +65>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +18>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +550>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveWhoNeedsFriends").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockWhoNeedsFriends").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’m sorry,” you say.\n\nJazelle turns. “What?” Her eyes widen with surprise as the knife enters her chest. She gasps for air.\n\n“I’m,” you can barely say the words. “I’m so sorry.” You @@color:#000081;push her@@ toward the stone face.\n\n“Yes,” Ayporos hisses.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Each of the four core segments in Seven Bullets (Intro, Hell, Ragnoss, and Montana) have a “morally” charged climactic moment. This is Hell’s.There are dozens of storylines that lead to this moment - most, but not all, portray Jazelle as a caring ally - which hopefully made this decision difficult for the reader.<<endif>>\nThe stone face opens its vacant mouth and @@color:#000081;devours Jazelle@@ whole. “Your toll is sufficient. What destination do you seek?”\n\n“My sister. Take me to my sister.”\n\n“Very well,” the stone face’s gravelly voice echoes through the cavern.\n\nYou turn back toward Ayporos. His grin is sinister and twisted.\n\n“Wonderful,” he says, sprinting toward you.\n\nHe moves so fast you don’t have time to lift your arms in defense. He leaps into the air, straight for your chest. Instead of a violent impact, you feel a cold, wet mist slap across your face and chest. The mist immediately soaks through your clothes and seeps through the pores of your skin.\n\nYour whole @@color:#000081;body shivers.@@ It’s difficult to move, like your limbs have turned to ice. You groan as your heartbeat slows.\n\nYou hear Ayporos speak. “Do not be alarmed.”\n\nYou turn and twist, but you can’t see him. “Where are you?”\n\n“We had a deal, did we not? I am a humble passenger within your mind and soul.”\n\n“Is that why I feel so cold?”\n\n“The sensation will pass. You have nothing to fear. My oath is still in effect. I cannot harm you.”\n\n“You could have warned me.”\n\n“If I had warned you, it would not have worked. The Gatekeeper has granted us passage. We should go.”\n\nThe right eye of the stone face reflects the image of the Boss’s penthouse. You hesitate before you step through it. You think of Jazelle.\n\n“Her sacrifice was necessary.” Ayporos says. “Do not forget why.”\n\nYou sigh. There are a lot of bad things you’ve done; a lot of regrets you still need to account for, but now isn’t the time. Gillian has been waiting for you, and you can’t let her down.\n\n“We cannot let her down,” Ayporos adds.\n\n“Quit doing that.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“Reading my thoughts.”\n\n“It cannot be helped. We are one now.”\n\n“Then how come I can’t read your thoughts?”\n\n“You will, soon enough.”\n\nThat’s one more little detail that makes this partnership seem a lot less appealing. You’ll just have to add it to the list of things to sort out after Gillian is safe.\n\nYou step through the portal nestled in the eye of the stone face. There’s a rush of wind and heat like you’ve just been spit through a volcano. You cough and reel on the ground as your senses @@color:#000081;slowly return.@@\n\nYou feel pavement and the smell of garbage. As your eyes adjust to the light, you realize you’re lying in the alley beside the Boss’s penthouse. Your legs wobble, but you manage to stand. Getting inside may be a problem. You don’t have a gun.\n\n“You will not need a gun,” Ayporos says. His voice is calm and smooth. “You already possess more power than a manmade weapon could ever provide.”\n\n“You keep saying that, but what does it even mean? I don’t feel like getting shot...again.”\n\n“Relax your right arm.”\n\nYou’re not really in the mood for any more of these little games, but you figure going along with it will be quicker, so you relax your right arm. Suddenly, and without your control, your arm @@color:#000081;punches@@ right like a burst of lightning. It dents the metal frame of a @@color:#000081;dumpster,@@ sending it hurtling through the air.\n\n“Whoa,” you gasp.\n\n“Power,” Ayporos says. “And it was only a tiny bit. Shall we save your sister now?”\n\n“Yeah,” you grin. “That sounds like a really good idea.” You exit the alley and walk through the front entrance. The lobby looks like it’s been remodeled, but you still recognize the place. You walk to the receptionist.\n\n[[Ask nicely to see the Boss]]\n[[Stir up trouble for old time’s sake]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1015>>\n<<endnobr>>You look down at the key and then up at the short, stubby door. It doesn’t look like much, but that’s probably what the demons want you to think. It’s about half the size of a regular door and twice as wide. It doesn’t look like it was made for a human.\n\nTo get through it you’ll have to crawl, but that seems only fitting – scraping on your knees, begging to get your life back. It must be the gateway home.\n\n“Alright Agares, that’s the one,” you say pointing to the short, stubby door.\n\n“If that is your decision,” Agares motions toward the door, “Then give weight to your words with action.”\n\nYou nod and walk toward the door. It gives off a warm and electric energy like standing near a set of power lines. Your limbs almost feel like they’re floating.\n\nYou kneel down and lift the key. An invisible force pulls it toward the lock, and it slides into place effortlessly. You look back at Agares. The crocodile below him opens its mouth and bares its teeth. You’re not sure if that’s a good omen or a bad one.\n\nYou turn the key and open the door. A blinding light conceals the contents of the room, and you have to shield your eyes to keep from going blind. You slowly inch your way through the doorway on your hands and knees.\n\nIt smells like dust and old metal. It reminds you of the time in Germany when you had to crawl through the vents of that warehouse with Alana. The Boss sent you both there to retrieve some information, but Alana wanted to do more than that. She wanted to send a message.\n\nShe just wouldn’t let those double agents escape alive. The fire destroyed three buildings and killed thirteen innocent people. That was the moment you decided to quit working for the Boss. You feel sick just thinking about it. Sure, you’ve killed plenty of people, but they all deserved to die. And all of your kills were clean and contained.\n\nYou open your eyes and slowly adjust to the dimness of your surroundings.\n\nYou’re in a small metal vent. You look back, but the door’s gone. This doesn’t look like Hell, but it doesn’t exactly look like home either. There’s something familiar about it though. You better look around before you jump to any conclusions.\n\nYou cautiously and quietly crawl through the vent and around the corner. There’s a faint light gleaming through the grating in front of you, and a package duct-taped to the flooring. You undo the tape and open the package.\n\nIt’s a rifle, and it’s identical to the one you used in Germany. Now that you think about it, this vent bears a strange resemblance to the one you were crawling through back then too.\n\nSuddenly you hear faint voices below and across the warehouse. You quickly put the rifle together and use the scope to scan the other side of the warehouse. It’s Alana and the double agents, but that’s impossible. Those agents are dead.\n\nThis can’t be right.\n\nYou read Alana’s lips, “Do you have it?”\n\nOne of the double agents gives her an envelope.\n\n“Good,” she says. “And one more thing.” She draws her pistol and shoots the nearest agent in the chest. He topples back and hits the ground hard. The other agent sprints for cover.\n\nIt’s happening again. Somehow you’ve gone back in time, but that’s impossible. Then again, you did just tramps through Hell, so //impossible// might be too strong a word.\n\nYou glance back through the scope. The agent on the ground scrambles behind a parked car. He was wearing a bulletproof vest. He says something into a radio, and five more agents move out of cover, surrounding Alana.\n\nShe waves at you to start shooting.\n\nYou haven’t got much of a choice. You fire two warning shots at the agents behind her, giving her a path to retreat, but you know she won’t. Instead she grabs two grenades from her bag and tosses them across the warehouse.\n\nThe agents jump aside, but not fast enough. The explosions consume them and two nearby cars. You see Alana laugh and pull a remote detonator from her bag. You know she’s rigged one of the cars with C4.\n\nShe waves at you to keep shooting. You let four more bullets loose to provide her with cover. She sprints toward the exit while pressing the button. You preemptively cover your eyes as the explosion lights up half the warehouse. Flames dance through the air as smoke billows off the walls and ceiling.\n\nAlana turned a harmless information trade into a human BBQ. Maybe you could have done something to stop her, but now all you can do is run.\n\nYou know the fire and smoke will provide cover. You have to reach the rendezvous on foot. This warehouse will be swarming with police, agents, and trouble soon. And whether it’s real, a dream, or some weird time warp, you can’t be here when they arrive.\n\nYou leave the rifle and slide back out of the vent. You drop onto a metal catwalk and slide down a ladder as a second explosion sends half the wall into the street. The flames catch hold of the wind and ignite the adjacent building, but you already knew that was going to happen.\n\nThe only way to get to the rendezvous is through the alley that’s engulfed in flames, but you already knew that too.\n\nYou sprint through the exit and down the alley. A handful of screaming civilians flee the adjacent building. Their bodies are covered in flames. Their eyes are full of terror and panic. One of them catches your eye. \n\nIt’s Gillian...\n\nBut that’s impossible.\n\nShe wasn’t here when you took this mission. She’s never even been to Germany.\n\nHer arm and back are covered with flames, and her eyes flash with horror as she sees you. “Help me,” she screams.\n\nYou can't stand to see her like this. You have to do something.\n\n[[Use your body to extinguish her flames]]\n[[Throw her to the ground and tell her to roll]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 190>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You slip through the bushes along the side of the garage. The guard pulls out a cigarette. His gun hangs from a strap around his shoulder. You pin his arm back and lock your other arm around his throat. He struggles a bit then @@color:#000081;blacks out.@@ You slide the gun out from under him and throw it in the bushes.\n\nYou examine the door to the garage. Instead of a keyhole you see a palm scanner. Even a rich, paranoid person isn’t going to have security this tight. It’s looking more and more like Jimmy lied to you.\n\nYou lug the guard against the wall and place his hand on the scanner. The door hisses open with an air tight seal. You pull the guard inside and lay him in a corner.\n\nThe garage is uncomfortably empty. There are no other doors or windows. All you see is a red circle painted on the floor and a small console near its farthest edge. You walk to the console. It has a full keyboard and a set of buttons similar to an elevator. Up or down. It’s almost impossible to resist.\n\n[[Up]]\n[[Down]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 226>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<endnobr>>You hit @@color:#000081;Engage.@@ The tip of the arm cannon ignites with a blinding light. Your arm feels as if it was on @@color:#000081;fire.@@ Your vision blurs from the pain.\n\nThe light expands. The floor vibrates. You hear what sounds like the hum of an engine. Bright blue and purple tentacles of light slither from the tip of the arm cannon.\n\nThe beams twist into a sphere.\n\nIt pulsates in front of you. The room gets hotter.\n\nYou can’t seem to look away from the sphere. It glows and distorts the objects behind it.\n\nYou look closer. There’s something inside the sphere. You can’t quite tell what it is.\n\nThe gravity in the room shifts. Everything is pulled toward the sphere. You try to grab hold of the wall or a table, or doorframe, but it’s no use.\n\nYou slide across the floor and into the air. You manage to grab the couch, but the pull is too strong. The legs of the couch scrape against the tile as you slowly inch closer to the sphere.\n\nThe room is hot. You sweat profusely. You feel your foot enter the glowing sphere. Your toes feel like they’re on fire.\n\nYou try to move, try to fight it, but you’re helpless. The radiance pulls you in. You feel the tentacles of light envelop you. Then everything fades to black.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 475>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveYippeeKiYay").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockYippeeKiYay").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Chucky was always quick, but he was never much of a shot with that hand cannon. Best to play his little game for now.\n\nHe draws and fires. The bullet whizzes past your shoulder and shatters a picture frame on the wall behind you.\n\n“Dagnabit,” he shouts and stomps his boot. “At least I was closer than last time.”\n\nYou smirk. “Last time I was standing at 50 paces.”\n\nHe shrugs. “Alright, let me have it.”\n\nYou quick draw your pistol. The bullet @@color:#000081;hits@@ him square in the chest. He falls against the bookshelf. You twirl your pistol and slide it back into the holster.\n\n“At least you sent me out right,” he says, pulling a few books down as he smacks against the floor.\n\n“For what it’s worth, I always thought the hat was cool,” you say, stepping over his body. You push open the bedroom door. Gillian is tied to the bed. You try not to imagine what they’ve been doing to her.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The hat is totally cool!<<endif>>\nYou untie her and pull the gag from her mouth. “We need to move. Can you walk?”\n\nShe nods her head. Her body shakes. You see the bruises on her face and arms. It makes you feel sick. If you had the strength you’d kill them all, and who knows, you still might.\n\nYou’re a little light headed from the blood loss, but you help her up. You take her hand and walk back into the living room. “Stay behind me.”\n\nShe nods.\n\nYou drop your pistol and grab the two revolvers from Chucky’s dead body. You stuff one in your belt and lead with the other. “Come on.” You say, pulling her to the elevator. She stares at the dead bodies...or at least what’s left of the bodies.\n\n“Those,” you say innocently. “Those were there when I got here.”\n\nShe gives you a stark look.\n\n“What?” You press the button for the lobby.\n\nThe elevator descends, but suddenly jolts to a halt.\n\n“I never expect you to disappoint me,” the Boss calmly says over the intercom. “But somehow you always do.” He sighs. “Of all my killers, you had the most potential. That’s why this is so difficult for me.” He pauses. “You see, I can’t even do it myself. Alana,” he shouts. “Would you please?”\n\nThe intercom cuts out. You hear an elevator cable snap. The elevator drops a few feet and bounces. You grab Gillian. You try to reach the escape hatch on the ceiling, but the remaining cables snap.\n\nFor a moment you’re weightless. You reach out for Gillian’s hand. You know this is your fault. You know Gillian is going to die. You know that you’re going to die. The only thing you don’t know is what to say.\n\nAs you grab her hand, the elevator smashes into the pavement and the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1029>>\n<<endnobr>>You pull Gillian from the fire and throw her to the ground. You roll her body left and right, trying to snuff out the flames, but it only seems to feed the fire. The flames nip at your neck and shoulder. Your arms are already badly singed. The blaze leaps onto your shirt, and you fall back trying to keep the fire from reaching your face.\n\nGillian stares up at you with rage and regret. “It burns,” she shrieks. “It’s all your fault. It's all your fault. You killed me,” she screams. She pushes herself up and staggers toward you. The fire blazes across her arms and back. It doesn't slow her down.\n\nShe lifts you up with one hand and grabs you with the other. She smiles as the flames leap from her body onto yours.\n\n“What are you doing?” You plead.\n\n“You must pay for all of the horrible things you’ve done.”\n\nYou try to break free, but she’s too strong. “Gillian, stop this, please.”\n\nHer skin melts and bubbles. Her hair curls into tiny burnt strands. She smiles at you, though her lips are only tiny black slivers of skin. “You will burn for what you’ve done,” she says, dragging you into the fire. You scream as the flames blanket your skin and burn your flesh.\n\nYour muscles contort from the intense heat. Your skin peels and bubbles. You stare back at Gillian. Her eyes are full of pride and pleasure as you thrash in pain. \n\nShe cheerfully releases you, and you helplessly drop to your knees since the bones in your legs are brittle and cracked. Your head swims with agony. And as the fire burns through your retinas, a bright light washes everything with white. The agony is so overwhelming you lose consciousness. \n\n*** ***\n\nYou open your eyes and slowly adjust to the dimness of your surroundings. You’re in a small metal vent.\n\nYou must have dozed off. You’re still jetlagged from the flight. You haven’t adjusted to Germany’s time yet. You’re just lucky Alana didn’t see you. She can get violent sometimes. \n\nYou cautiously and quietly crawl through the vent and around the corner. There’s a faint light gleaming through the grating in front of you, and a package duct-taped to the flooring. Alana planted it there for you two nights ago. You undo the tape and open the package.\n\nIt’s a rifle. It’s not your favorite model, but it’s all Alana could find on short notice. The Boss sent you here last minute. He said there was a good chance things would get heated, and Alana would need backup. You immediately hopped on a plane, because that’s what you do. The Boss says jump, and you're already in the air.\n\nYou hear faint voices below and across the warehouse. You quickly put the rifle together and use the scope to scan the other side of the warehouse. It’s Alana and the double agents. You’re not even sure what the details of this mission are – just some sort of information drop.\n\nYou read Alana’s lips, “Do you have it?”\n\nOne of the double agents gives her an envelope.\n\n“Good,” she says. “And one more thing.” She draws her pistol and shoots the nearest agent in the chest. He wobbles and then stumbles to the ground. The other agent sprints for cover.\n\nThis is just like Alana to throw you in the middle of a double-cross without filling you in.\n\nYou take a deep breath and refocus the scope on the two agents. The agent on the ground scrambles behind a parked car. He must be wearing a bulletproof vest. He says something into a radio, and five more agents move out of cover. Alana's surrounded.\n\nShe waves at you to shoot.\n\nYou don't have much of a choice. You fire two warning shots at the agents behind her, giving her a path to retreat, but she doesn’t take it. Instead she grabs two grenades from her bag and tosses them across the warehouse.\n\nThe agents sprint for cover, but not fast enough. The explosions consume them and two nearby cars. You see Alana laugh and pull a remote detonator from her bag. She must have rigged something with C4. Things are about to get really messy.\n\nShe waves at you to keep shooting. You let four more bullets loose to provide her with cover. She sprints toward the exit while pressing the button. You preemptively cover your eyes as the explosion lights up half the warehouse. Flames dance through the air as smoke billows off the walls and ceiling.\n\nAlana turned a harmless information trade into a human BBQ. Maybe you could have done something to stop her, but now all you can do is run.\n\nThe fire and smoke will give you enough cover to escape, but you need to reach the rendezvous on foot. The warehouse will be swarming with police, agents, and trouble soon, and you can’t be here when they arrive.\n\nYou leave the rifle and slide back out of the vent. You drop onto a metal catwalk and slide down a ladder as a second explosion sends half the wall into the street. The flames catch hold of the wind and ignite the adjacent building.\n\nThe path to the rendezvous is compromised, but you’ll just have to risk it.\n\nYou sprint through the exit and down the alley. A handful of screaming civilians flee the adjacent building. Their bodies are covered in flames. Their eyes are full of terror and panic. \n\nThey’ve seen your face. They can identify you. Alana would tell you to shoot them, but you doubt it will matter. The fire will do the job for you.\n\nTheir pleading eyes burn into your memory banks, and there’s no way you could ever forget their horrid expressions. Suddenly one of them blocks your path. \n\nIt’s Gillian.\n\nBut that’s impossible.\n\nWhy would she be in Germany? Why would she be here?\n\nHer arms and back are covered with flames. Her eyes flash with horror as she sees you. “Help me,” she screams. "Help me."\n\nYou can’t stand to see her like this. You have to do something.\n\n[[Try to save her]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 200>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Clark, as promised, finds Gillian and gives her the treatment she needs to survive. When she recovers, he tells her how brave and heroic you were, but unfortunately you did not survive. It’s difficult for her to accept that you’re really gone. You always seemed invincible to her. She doesn’t take your passing well.\n\nPursuing a hunch, Clark realizes the mutation in Gillian’s body is much more adaptable than yours and has the potential for medical applications never conceived of. He convinces her to work with him, and over the next three years the two of them devise several huge medical breakthroughs. The moment the drugs hit the market, they both become billionaires.\n\nGillian lives a long and happy life. On the holidays, she visits your gravestone to recount the highlights of her year. Your coffin, however, is empty since your body...or what was left of your body...was never recovered.\n\nAfter the last of the scientists escaped, the facility was sealed shut and abandoned. The final outcome of the patients remains unknown to all but the few scientists that survived the incident. Any persons who attempted to investigate the facility or its research have experienced abrupt, or sometimes fatal, conclusions.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 864>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +12>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +17>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $wpn = "Playing with Dead Bodies">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You throw the bag of marshmallows at him. “Is this some kind of joke? Are you trying to be funny?”\n\n“No, no. please,” he snivels.\n\nYou take a step toward him. “You don’t need all your @@color:#000081;teeth@@ to tell me what I want to know.”\n\nHe rips open the bag of marshmallows and swallows one. He immediately convulses and foams at the mouth. “You’ll never,” he chokes. “Escape.” Then he goes limp.\n\nSo much for that lead. What kind of sicko laces marshmallows with poison? The people you’re dealing with must be really twisted.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This is a scene informed by the reader’s prejudices.Because the reader is skeptical, I write the scientist as a scheming and defiant sicko. If the reader decides to “Eat the marshmallows”, the scientist becomes an ally.There are several other areas in the story where characters’ personalities drastically change based on the reader’s “situational awareness”.<<endif>>\nYou kneel down next to the dead scientist and search him. No wallet or keys. He’s got an ID badge though. You slide it into your @@color:#000081;pocket.@@ You roll him over and search his other pockets. A pack of bubble gum. Some lint. Wait... that might be a phone. You pull the small device out of his pocket and power it on.\n\nNo signal, but it looks like you can still make calls through the building’s private network. It must be their way of filtering and controlling information when the facility is compromised... like when a trouble-causing lunatic is running amuck... someone just like @@color:#000081;you.@@\n\nThey’ll be tracking the transmission. It's useless to call for help, but then again who would help you? You’ve done a lot of horrible things and just about everyone who knows you would sleep easier knowing you were dead.\n\nThat’s a depressing thought.\n\nYou could call the Boss. He would help... for a price. Of course, you’re not desperate enough to turn to him just yet.\n\nThe device is connected to the building’s network which means it should give you access to some of their resources like floor plans, personnel, and current projects. That won't be enough to cripple whoever’s after you, but it should be enough to get out of this building.\n\nIf only that scientist was still alive. You could have pushed him for more information. Your memory is still foggy and twisted. You can’t tell what’s real and what’s fantasy. Either way you’ve got a sick feeling Gillian is still in danger, but that could just be the drugs talking ...You hope.\n\nYou can worry about Gillian once the drugs are out of your system. For now you’ve got some networks to hack.\n\nYou close the office door and @@color:#000081;lock it.@@ Someone’s bound to find you missing by now. It’s only a matter of time before an army of soldiers come after you – and they’ll need an army to stop you. Once these delusions settle, they’ll learn just how vicious you can be.\n\nOf course figuring out who they are is one more thing on your exceedingly long to-do list.\n\nThe device has limited functionality. Most of the network features are locked. It’s more advanced than anything you’ve seen. You can’t be sure, but it looks like it requires a retina scan to unlock and constant facial recognition to stay connected.\n\nThey’ve designed the device to be operated by one user and one user only. You glance down at the dead scientist. Playing with dead bodies isn’t something you expected to do in this line of work, but it happens more than you’d like to admit.\n\nYou prop the dead scientist up and curl behind him. You slide your arms around his and use your head to keep his head propped up. Good thing you locked the door. Someone walking in might get the @@color:#000081;wrong idea.@@\n\nYou force open his eyelids and use the device to scan his retina. The device dings and connects to the secured portion of the network. The screen pauses to scan his face. A red light on the bezel of the device turns @@color:#000081;green.@@\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Welcome back Dr. Vallem,@@ the screen reads.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Level 12 clearance verified....\n\nFor continuous level 12 access, please keep your face in view of the camera.@@\n\nThe device loads the network protocols and displays a list of files and folders. The folders are listed by date and experiment number. They go back over ten years.\n\nYou open the most recent entry. The data is a little hard to understand. You’re not a scientist, but it looks like DNA sequences. The heading says it’s a failed attempt – whatever that means.\n\nThere’s an attached video file. You try to play it, but the screen goes black and text appears:\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Level 14 clearance required.\n\nHardwire connection necessary to access content.\n\nUse secure console to view level 14 materials.@@\n\nWhatever these level 14 materials are, they’re obviously important – and secret. They may have nothing to do with you, but then again, they might reveal some clue about who you’re dealing with. If you at least knew what these people wanted, you’d have a better chance at getting some leverage, but that means finding a secure console which is probably buried behind more layers of security.\n\nIt’s obviously risky, and you’ve only barely managed to make it this far. Running back into the lion’s den in your condition is just stupid – of course that’s probably the last thing they’d expect you to do.\n\nOn the other hand, you have no idea what you’re dealing with. You could be walking right into a firing squad.\n\n[[Hack the device and escape]]\n[[Find a secure console to view level 14 materials]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 111>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Without your help, Quintus is never able to finish his machine or stabilize the portals. As the vortex collapses in on itself, the two worlds are literally ripped apart.\n\nMillions of people die as chunks of the planet drift into space. Nearly a third of Earth’s population becomes caught fazed between the two worlds, drifting in and out like deranged ghosts.\n\nThe Earth is so damaged; its orbit wobbles, and it drifts closer and closer to the sun. The few people that manage to survive, Gillian being among them, are slowly roasted alive as the temperatures on Earth rise exponentially.\n\nYou not only failed Gillian; you failed the entire human race.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 722>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTheDreadPirate").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTheDreadPirate").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;can’t@@ use violence to solve all your problems, that’s what Gillian keeps telling you. It’s about time you finally listened. You lift up your hand, revealing the bracelet. “A friend sent me.” The pressure of the blade lightens. “Quintus,” you say more confidently.\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir says, @@color:#000081;sheathing@@ the knife. “A friend indeed. Why aint he here?”\n\n“Other obligations,” you say dryly. “You’ve got me instead.” You take a step forward, turn around and examine Taz Moir. He’s a tall man, almost twice your size, with a dark brown beard and scraggly shoulder-length hair. His jacket is red with dozens of mismatching patches. He has broad shoulders and thick arms. He’s rough and intimidating ...or at least he would be to most people. You’ve seen worse.\n\nThen you notice his right leg. It’s metal from the thigh down. A series of springs and cogs keep it balanced and bent without collapsing. It looks like Quintus’s handiwork.\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir grunts. “Take a good long stare.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Taz Moir is a scraggly, tough-as-nails pirate whose only passion is sailing the sea. In his youth he was a promising sailor, the youngest to reach the rank of Lieutenant in the King’s navy.During a surveying expedition in South-Eastern waters, his ship is ravaged by a storm. The few sailors that survive are stranded and adrift for nearly a week, during which time a pod of mermaids devours the weary survivors one by one. Taz Moir manages to fight them off but not before losing his right leg to their hunger.He steers the debris into a north bound current and eventual reaches the island of the Blue Wizards. Using magic, they carefully resuscitate him. In order to repay such a debt, he spends three years working for them doing secret and sometimes illegal jobs.Eventually he scraps together enough funds to buy a ship and hire a crew. He continues working secret and illegal jobs, but now as a self-employed pirate.<<endif>>\nYou look up at him slightly embarrassed. “I-I didn’t mean-”\n\n“Most don’t. What do ye want?”\n\n“We need to travel south. There’s a creature, the Cetorix, we need to find it.”\n\n“The Cetorix? What would a wee thing like ye want with the Cetorix?”\n\n“Quintus needs it. He sent me to get it, and you’re going to help.”\n\nTaz Moir lets out a deep and hearty laugh. “Ye’ve got stones little one, comin' onto me ship and giving me orders.” He pushes past you to get to the deck. “Even if I wanted to take ye south for the beast, there aint no ships travellin' in these waters. The blockade is up. We'd not make it past the bay.”\n\nAvengral pulls a small cloth from his belt and unfurls it. “The King’s symbol,” he says. “Fly this in place of your flag and we may travel freely.”\n\nTaz Moir stares at it with surprise. “Official business, then?” He leans in closer. “Why would the King need a reformed pirate for official business?”\n\nAvengral interrupts you, “You are a citizen of the realm. The business of the King is not your concern - only that it is carried out.”\n\nTaz Moir stares at his crew cynically and then back at Avengral. “I’m a citizen of the sea. Yer obligations mean little to me but,” he takes the King’s flag and hands it to one of the crew. “I be in debt to the Sorcerer Quintus, and I always pay me debts. Get on the ship.” He turns to the crewman. “Fly the King’s flag. We travel south in search of glory and death.”\n\nThe crew jolts to life, pulling in the ropes and plank, unfurling the sails, and raising the flag. You push out from the dock. The ships blockading the bay see the King’s flag and let you pass.\n\nThe sails catch the wind and the ship jerks forward and picks up speed.\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir growls with pride. “This ship be the fastest in all of Sarrejiinn and the wind favors us. We'll make quick time.\n\nYou feel the cool, salty wind hit your cheeks and blow back your hair. The ship sways as it kicks over the waves. You see Avengral stagger forward. His cheeks look green, and his face is drenched with sweat. He rushes to the railing and vomits over the side of the ship.\n\nTaz Moir laughs. “Looks like arr brave knight finally be finding an enemy he can’t defeat.” Taz Moir laughs again, and this time the crew laughs with him.\n\nAvengral waves them off as he vomits over the side again.\n\nYou would almost feel bad for him if it wasn’t so @@color:#000081;funny.@@\n\nYou stare out at the sea. The land becomes a faint sliver on the horizon. For a moment you feel free, but only for a moment. The thought of Gillian suddenly rushes back into your head. She’s still in danger, and you can’t even be certain from what or who...not to mention the entire planet. You can already feel the worry lines forming. You have no idea how the Boss is able to look so young.\n\n“Ahoy,” a sailor shouts. “Port side.”\n\nTaz Moir slides out his scope and peers to the left. “A ship,” he says. “Adrift by the looks of it. Could be worth salvaging.”\n\n[[Steer clear of the drifting ship]]\n[[Search the drifting ship for loot]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 71>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>To your surprise, you’re not entirely dead, paralyzed from the neck down ...but not dead. You drift feebly on the cold water. Your head bobs along the surface, catching gasps of air. You have no control of your direction or speed.\n\nDays pass.\n\nYou ache with @@color:#000081;hunger.@@ You’re dehydrated and weak.\n\nYou drift helplessly for another day until a group of sea turtles decide you look delicious and @@color:#000081;nip@@ you to death.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 125>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The fish people, known as Squamarians, or more specifically the Natanus, take your body to their underwater city. Their priests curse your spirit and chop your body into one hundred and thirteen pieces, a number they consider unholy. They fasten the pieces to hooks and let them drag behind the large shell as they travel through the ocean.\n\nThe act, which to a human might resemble fishing, to a Natanus represents the greatest form of defilement a being can endure. And so, after cursing your spirit and defiling your body, a process which lasts roughly a week, the Natanus reel in what’s left of you.\n\nIn total your chopped up body manages to lure twelve lesser fish...a good yield for a person of your size.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 95>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#009933;The creature, as it morphs into an even larger form, regurgitates you onto the stone floor. As you attempt to hop away, the creature quickly eats you again.\n\nUnknown to you, the creature has six stomachs and each one requires a different level of digestion. In another day the creature will regurgitate you and eat you again before passing you to its next stomach.\n\nEach time you’re consumed, the stomach acid eats away at another layer of your skin. It will take nearly three painful weeks for you to properly die...but eventually you will die.@@\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 206>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Your sacrifice proves to be a fatal blow to the Blue Wizards. The few that still live scatter and never use their magic again. The Kingdom of Sarrejiinn is safe.\n\nTales and songs are written of the Earth Wizard, the Warrior of Dust, the one who rose up from the ashes of the dead to protect the people from danger and strife; the warrior who will rise again should the people ever be in need.\n\nStatues and tapestries are made in your honor. You are seen as the great savior of the people.\n\nAs the years pass, the tales of your glory morph into divine allegories. Groups of people build shrines in your honor and place gifts at your statues. Some will even pray and offer sacrifices.\n\nA belief system will eventually form based on your “teachings” and sacrifice. Followers will quibble about the most minuscule details of your life and intentions.\n\nIn time, disagreements about your Will fracture societies, and wars are fought in your name and for your glory. Many will die believing you will accept them into the Kingdom of Earth where great riches and wonders wait for them.\n\nYou, of course, will know nothing of this extravagant worship because you are dead.\n\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 698>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You spin erratically. It takes all your strength @@color:#000081;not to vomit.@@ The air feels thick and humid. Your shirt clings to your body as if you’d been sweating for hours.\n\nSuddenly a blinding light pierces the crumbling walls and obscures your vision. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust. You’re thousands of feet in the air. The land stretches for miles. It’s another cavern.\n\nAnd you’re still falling.\n\nYou twist around. This strange underground is so vast you can see the curve of the horizon.\n\nIn the distance, intricately carved aqueducts carry molten lava in multiple directions around a large... you can hardly believe your eyes. It’s... It’s a city.\n\nIt’s an enormous city carved out of stone. The molten lava snakes around and through the buildings, providing light. It’s beautiful; though that doesn’t particularly matter since the ground is approaching quickly and will definitely kill you.\n\nYou take a deep breath and close your eyes, preparing for a painful splat.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;hit@@ the rock floor hard and bounce into the air, @@color:#000081;tumbling@@ for a while. When you finally stop, you’re certain your @@color:#000081;legs@@ and @@color:#000081;arms@@ are broken. At least three ribs are @@color:#000081;cracked,@@ and you spit up blood which means one of your lungs is @@color:#000081;punctured.@@\n\nEven if you wanted to call for help, all you can do is wheeze. It’s a miracle you survived.\n\nSuddenly, you hear something... a rustling. You’re too torn up to look back. You feel a large, rough hand curl around your neck and lift you into the air.\n\nYou groan and choke from the pain. Your vision blurs. You hear a voice, but the ringing in your ears still hasn’t stopped. You can’t make out the words. You feel a hand reach into your stomach and @@color:#000081;tug@@ at your spine. The pain is unlike anything you’ve felt before. The needley fingers @@color:#000081;rearrange@@ your organs and bones. You feel body parts @@color:#000081;snap back@@ into place.\n\nIt's like you've been @@color:#000081;set on fire@@ straight down to the bone. The rough hands release their grip, and you hit the ground a second time, but the pain isn’t as bad.\n\nYou can breathe.\n\nMaybe miracle is too strong a word.\n\nYou take a @@color:#000081;deep breath,@@ and let it out slow. Your lungs are working again. You move your hand to your side. Your @@color:#000081;ribs@@ are back in place. They aren’t even sore.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>The main character’s health is elastic here in “Hell” and I wanted to make certain that supernatural property was clear early on. Death shouldn’t be the main character’s fear - being trapped and imprisoned should be a concern.<<endif>>\nAnd now that you think about it, both your @@color:#000081;arms@@ are fine – same with your @@color:#000081;legs.@@\n\nYou stand up and look around. You don't see anyone, just an arid, rocky field. The stone city is far in the distance.\n\n“Hello,” a high-pitched voice squawks.\n\nYou spin around. “Who said that? Show yourself.”\n\n“I’m right here.”\n\nYou don’t see anyone.\n\n“Over here.”\n\nYou feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn to stare at a tree. A few leafless branches jut from its gray and half-dead trunk.\n\n“Alright then, come out,” you say nervously.\n\nA crow hops out from a hole in the tree trunk and sits on the highest branch.\n\nYou peek around the tree with your fists up. “I said come out.”\n\n“But I did.”\n\nYou glance up at @@color:#000081;the crow@@ and then shake your head. None of this makes sense. You must have been drugged. You’re hallucinating. That has to be it. You turn and walk toward the stone city.\n\n“Humph,” the high-pitched voice scoffs. “Predictable. See, I told you they always choose that direction.”\n\nYou look back at the bird. Was it talking to the tree? From this angle, the tree’s branches oddly resemble arms.\n\nIf this is a hallucination, then maybe this figment is part of your subconscious giving you advice. “What’s wrong with that direction?” You say, keeping your distance.\n\nThe tree branches lift in a shrug. “Nothing,” the crow says. “It’s a fine way to go. I just wouldn’t recommend it to a person like you.” The crow ruffles its feathers. “You could always go that way though.” The tree twists its branches and points in the opposite direction. You see an ominous looking mountain with dark clouds overhead.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Here’s another scene that has some influences from Alice in Wonderland. The crow is meant to resemble the Cheshire cat - a somewhat ominous character giving questionable advice. You should know that trouble is waiting in either direction.<<endif>>\nIf these figments are your subconscious, maybe you ought to listen. Then again, that mountain doesn’t look very inviting.\n\n[[Walk to the stone city]]\n[[Walk to the ominous mountain]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 159>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>As you had hoped, the blast kills everything on the island: the plants, the animals, and all the people. The ground becomes black and dry, and a dark haze perpetuates the air. Rumors claim that the island was cursed after a spell went awry.\n\nOut of fear, the peasants, fishermen, and even the pirates avoid the island of Raizaa. The island remains abandoned for over two hundred years until an ambitious and desperate merchant crashes on the island by accident.\n\nWith a minor background in magic, he realizes the ashes, or more specifically your remains, which have mingled into the dirt, have magical properties. He bottles the special dirt and sells it as an exotic elixir. \n\nWhen people discover the potion has the side-effect of adding another hundred and thirty years to their lives, the tonic becomes wildly popular, and the merchant becomes equally as rich.\n\nHis innovation and good fortune does you little good because you are already dead.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 782>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +14>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Sure, running straight to the ship would be easy, but that wouldn’t solve your problem in the long run. The Boss taught you to be @@color:#000081;cunning,@@ and that means planning ten steps ahead.\n\nYou need to redirect these weird fish things away from the ship so you can make a clean escape. Hopefully the other sailors will be as smart...hopefully.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;deflect@@ another spear and sprint further into the jungle, away from the ship. You hear at least three creatures on your tail.\n\nYour plan's working.\n\nAnother spear whizzes by your head and stabs the tree in front of you...maybe “working” is the wrong word.\n\nThis plan is only good if you survive. You need to even the odds.\n\nYou yank the spear free and keep sprinting, just a little further, until you reach a slight clearing. You twist around and fling the spear. It wobbles through the air and @@color:#000081;sinks@@ into a fish creature’s leg. It stumbles forward and rolls to a stop. You were aiming for its head... you obviously need to work on your spear throwing skills.\n\nYou twist around and keep sprinting. You hear the other two fish things trip over their friend. They squeal at each other. That should buy you some time.\n\nYou need to travel further inland, obscure your path, and double back. It’s hard to say how much ground those fish creatures, the Natanus or whatever they’re called, can cover, or where the other crewmen fled. You just have to assume you’re on your own...as usual.\n\nYou keep @@color:#000081;sprinting@@ until you reach a stream. You follow the stream left a ways and then cut back toward the ship. You stay quiet but fast. If the creatures haven’t stopped altogether, then they should still be heading inland, away from the ship.\n\nYou finally make it back to the shore. The ship is in the distance, and the boat is still tied to the stake. Nobody else is in sight. Were you the only one to make it back alive?\n\nMaybe you're just faster and smarter than the others. Maybe they need more time. You slip under a sand dune and keep an eye on the boat.\n\nTen minutes, that's all you'll give them, then they’re on their own.\n\nYou take a minute to catch your breath. Fish creatures, knights, portals, pirates...if you weren’t so worried about Gillian, you might actually be enjoying it. You still don’t know where she is or what the Boss wants with you.\n\nOf course, you don’t actually know if the Boss is the one pulling the strings. Plenty of people want to hurt you, and they’d be willing to use your family to do it. But what good is fretting over it now. You’re not even on Earth.\n\nSuddenly, a man screams. You turn to see a sailor break through the treeline toward the boat. Three of the fish creatures chase after him. He’s losing ground. They’ll be on him in seconds.\n\nYou sprint after the fish creatures, staying just behind their line of sight. You @@color:#000081;slice@@ through the one in the rear. It crumples helplessly. The other two turn at the sound of their fallen comrade.\n\nThe closest creature lunges at you. You side step, taking a claw across the @@color:#000081;arm.@@ The wound is minor. You pivot and thrust the sword forward, @@color:#000081;stabbing@@ the unprepared Natanus.\n\nIt squeals and then goes limp.\n\nThe other one lunges on your back and bites into your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ You scream from the pain and stagger forward. You don’t have any leverage with the sword.\n\nThe sailor swings an oar into the creature’s head. The oar snaps and the creature falls off you, unconscious. The sailor stabs the broken oar into the creature’s chest. Purple blood squirts into the air.\n\nThe sailor looks back at the shore. “We best not linger,” he says.\n\n“What about the others?”\n\n“We be it.” He yanks up the stake, tosses it in the boat, and pushes the boat into the water. “Well,” he says without turning. “Have ye decided to stay or do you want to live?”\n\nYou help him push the boat, then you both jump in and paddle. Taz Moir won’t be happy about his crewmen being dead, but it was hardly your fault. You’ll get an earful from Avengral too.\n\nYou tie the boat to the ship and climb up a rope ladder.\n\nThe deck's empty.\n\n“Hello?” You shout. “Taz Moir? Avengral?”\n\nThe crewman grabs your arm as he climbs over the rail. “Shh,” he whispers.\n\nSomething is obviously wrong. There’s no way Taz Moir would leave the deck empty. The crewman points to the captain’s quarters and then the lower rooms. He wants to explore the ship.\n\n[[Explore the captain’s quarters]]\n[[Explore the lower rooms]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 418>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +3>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "Vein Pinching">>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You squeeze her hand. “Just drive normally and stay calm. You won’t be able to see me, but I’ll be with you the whole time.”\n\nShe nods nervously.\n\n“We’ll get through this,” you say reassuringly.\n\nHer hand trembles as she turns the key. It’s not the reaction you were hoping for, but it’ll have to do.\n\nYou sprint up the ramp to the next level. You see the exit. Only one guard. He’s old, probably one of the Boss’s first henchmen.\n\nYou shake your head. So this is what retirement looks like. You keep your pistol at the ready. It’s a good thing you got out of this business when you did. You hear Gillian turn the ramp and pull onto this floor. Okay, so maybe you should have got out a little sooner.\n\nIt still doesn’t make sense. The Boss doesn’t need you to keep his empire running. There’s no reason – no financially sound reason – for him to kidnap your sister. You shrug. It’s not like it matters now.\n\nYou slink between the parked cars, staying @@color:#000081;shrouded in shadows.@@ You slip behind the guard room as Gillian pulls up.\n\nYou hear the elevator ding in the distance.\n\nCrap.\n\nMore thugs are on the way. Hopefully they haven’t figured out your plan. Either way, you need to leave now.\n\nAs the guard leans forward to check Gillian’s ID, you @@color:#000081;twist@@ his arm back and @@color:#000081;pinch the veins@@ in his neck until he passes out, then you lay him gently on the floor. You @@color:#000081;flip@@ the release switch for both blockades.\n\nThe goons from the elevator spot you and start sprinting your direction.\n\nThe blockades aren’t going down fast enough. You fire @@color:#000081;three quick shots,@@ nicking one of the goons in the shoulder. The other two dive behind cars.\n\nYou glance outside. Four more thugs race toward you from the lobby. You fire two shots, and they scatter for cover. The blockades still aren’t down, and you’re running out of time.\n\nIf you stay and shoot it out, Gillian might have a chance to get free. The Boss was never really interested in her. He only wanted to use her to get to you. It’s your fault she got dragged into this, and you’re the only one who can get her out.\n\nThen again, you’ve got a chance to escape with her and start a new life. Gillian can drive while you shoot from the backseat. You only need to make it a few blocks and the rest is easy.\n\n[[Stay and shoot it out]]\n[[Jump in the backseat]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 376>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +500>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You pull the pin on the grenade and toss it in the adjacent room. As soon as you hear it @@color:#000081;blow,@@ you @@color:#000081;kick@@ in the door. Portions of the wall splinter and fly through the air. One thug flops against the floor. The other shields his face. His arm locks around Gillian’s throat.\n\nYou tap your trigger twice. One bullet grazes Gillian’s cheek, shattering the thug’s teeth, @@color:#000081;disconnecting@@ his spine. His body goes limp and falls into the bookshelf.\n\nThe other bullet burns past Gillian’s inner thigh and @@color:#000081;hits@@ the fallen thug in the chest. His gun goes off as he gasps for breath. The bullet @@color:#000081;hits@@ Gillian in the back. She lurches forward. Her face twists with pain.\n\nYou catch her before she hits the ground. “Gillian.” You feel the warm blood soaking her shirt. Her eyes look blank. Her head dips. \n\n“No. Gillian stay with me. Gillian.” You put your arm around her and pull her up. This is going to be a problem.\n\nYou drop the pistol and use both arms to keep her from falling. You carry her to the elevator and hit the button for the first floor.\n\nGillian tries to say something. It’s barely a whisper. You can’t understand her. Blood bubbles from her mouth. The bullet must have nicked her lung.\n\nYou press against her wound, but the bleeding doesn’t slow down. The elevator dings and the doors slide open. You lift her to the stairs and guide her to the lobby. You kick open the door.\n\nThe Boss and his five most menacing killers are patiently waiting for you. You’ve still got the arm cannon, but using it would mean you’d have to drop Gillian. She’d be as good as dead.\n\nThe Boss tilts his head, “Fascinating,” he stares at the arm cannon. “Most test subjects didn’t survive the binding process. Even fewer were capable of firing it.” He sighs. “At least some good will come of your childish tantrum.” He raises his cane and points it at your sister. “If you want her to live, you’ll give her and the weapon to me.” The Boss calmly removes his hat. “You have one minute to decide. By that time your sister will have drown in her own blood.”\n\n[[Give him your sister and the arm cannon]]\n[[Use the arm cannon on the Boss]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 605>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +3>>\n<<set $force = $force +3>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +12400>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You take the car keys and the ID badge from Gillian. “Everything is going to be alright,” you say assuringly, though it’s hard to tell if she understands you. She lies down in the backseat.\n\nYou keep the silenced pistol in your left hand, obscured by the door. You’re an okay shot with your left hand, better than most, but it won’t matter. The guardroom is enshrouded in bulletproof glass and reinforced cement. Even if you hit it head on with the SUV the guard will remain unharmed. At best, he might spill his coffee.\n\nThen, as soon as he sees you, he’ll alert the others which will make leaving the city very difficult. Your best chance at escape is to weaken the blockade with some bullets and hope the momentum of the car will do the rest. Once you’re far enough away, you can switch vehicles and work on a plan to get out of the country.\n\nOf course, there are more immediate problems like the @@color:#000081;three goons@@ that just exited the elevator. There’s no reason to be subtle now. You hit the gas. The tires @@color:#000081;squeal@@ as they grip the road and the SUV lurches forward with incredible speed.\n\nThe goons behind you pull their guns and manage to hit your bumper and taillights. Luckily their aim sucks.\n\nYou twist around the incline to the second level, then the first. You see the exit. You punch it. The engine roars. You pull out your gun and shoot at the first @@color:#000081;blockade@@. Your aim is @@color:#000081;perfect@@, but it doesn’t matter. The guard raises the second blockade. The goons must have warned him.\n\nYou slam on the breaks. The SUV skids to a stop. “Gillian,” you shout. “Get in the driver’s seat now.” You have to lower both blockades manually, which means dealing with the guard. You can hear shouting from the stairwell. The goons are on their way.\n\nYou pull the second pistol from your bag as well as a thin metal box. You click open the box and take out what looks like two thin pieces of gum – one red and one blue.\n\nYou get out of the car and casually walk to the guardroom. You press the two pieces of gum together, then stick them to the bulletproof glass. The guard looks at you with bewilderment.\n\nYou walk behind the SUV, then point your pistol at it. When the gum turns purple, you @@color:#000081;pull the trigger@@. The whole side of the guardroom explodes, sending the guard in the opposite direction. He hits the desk hard and blacks out.\n\nYou step over the @@color:#000081;rubble@@ and flip the release switch for both blockades.\n\nThe goons in the stairwell see you and sprint in your direction. The blockades aren’t going down fast enough. You fire three quick shots, nicking one of the goons in the shoulder. The other two dive behind cars.\n\nYou glance outside. Four more goons race toward you from the lobby. You fire two shots and they scatter for cover. The blockades still aren’t down, and you’re running out of time.\n\nIf you stay and shoot it out, Gillian might have a chance to get free. The Boss was never really interested in her. He was only using her to get to you. It’s your fault she got dragged into this, and you’re the only one who can get her out.\n\nThen again, you’ve got a chance to escape with her and start a new life. Gillian can drive while you shoot from the backseat. You only need to make it a few blocks and the rest is easy.\n\n[[Stay and shoot it out]]\n[[Jump in the backseat]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 588>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You hold the human jacket as far from yourself as possible and limp up the stairs. “It’s nothing personal,” you say to the jacket. “But you’re kind of gross.”\n\nThe jacket whimpers in agreement.\n\nYou keep against the wall and take a quick glance at the second story hallway. It’s so long you can’t see the opposite wall. As far as you can tell it’s empty.\n\nYou hear the gruff, growling voices echo below you. The group sounds like it’s splitting up. You can hear heavy feet, or hooves, stomp up the steps at a slow, steady pace.\n\n“Quickly,” the jacket whimpers. “Into,” it gasps. “One of the rooms.”\n\nYou push open the nearest door and quietly close it behind you. The room is dark. Your eyes haven’t adjusted, but you hear moans coming from the bed... moans of pleasure. They sound human.\n\nYou feel for a heavy object, a bookend or a statue, and lift it like a cudgel. So far, your stealth skills have kept you unnoticed, but you should be prepared. Whatever’s moaning may not need eyes to see, and there are always the creatures climbing up the stairs.\n\n“Shh,” a female voice whispers. “I think something’s in the room with us.”\n\n“Hmm,” a male voice says eagerly. “Yes, the demons might catch us at any moment.”\n\n“No,” the woman interrupts. “I heard the door open.”\n\nThe voices sound familiar, but it couldn’t be. You switch on the lights.\n\nCecil and Sylvia are in the bed, naked and tightly clutching one another.\n\nSylvia @@color:#000081;gasps@@ at the sight of you.\n\n“You,” you say with a snarl.\n\nCecil laughs and smiles. “That was a close one, friend. We thought you were one of them.”\n\nYou lift the bookend threateningly. “Don’t think you’re better off with me.”\n\n“Oh,” Sylvia coos. “Are your feelings hurt? Don’t take it so personally. Someone had to stay behind and distract the demons.”\n\n“And,” Cecil adds. “You seem to know how to take care of yourself.” He gestures at your intact, though burned, body. “As is evident by your presence here, wouldn’t you say?”\n\nYou take an @@color:#000081;aggressive@@ step forward. “I’m going to take care of both of you in a minute.”\n\n“Tisk, tisk,” Cecil says wagging his finger. “You really shouldn’t do that. As I’m sure you’re aware,” he points to the hallway. “We’re not alone.”\n\n“Besides,” Sylvia says, seductively rubbing the bed. “You could always join us.”\n\n“Yeah,” you say sarcastically. “Because people trying to kill me is a real turn on.”\n\nSylvia smiles. “Isn’t it though?”\n\nYou roll your eyes more annoyed than angry.\n\n“Shh,” the jacket interrupts. “The demons,” it says fearfully.\n\nYou can hear the stomping feet approach. “The lights,” you whisper.\n\nCecil quickly reaches over to turn them off. Suddenly, the stomping stops. The room and hallway are silent. It’s a moment of inaudible panic.\n\n@@color:#000081;“In here@@ you ugly fiend!” Cecil shouts.\n\n“What are you doing?” You whisper.\n\nSuddenly, light shines in the room as Sylvia pushes open the curtains and steps out the window. “It’s been fun,” she says. “But all good things must come to an end.”\n\nCecil is behind her.\n\n“You got that right,” you snarl and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ after Cecil before he can get halfway out the window. You grab his leg and @@color:#000081;fling@@ him across the room just as the demon bursts through the door. Cecil and the demon @@color:#000081;collide@@ and tumble into the hallway.\n\n“Cecil,” Sylvia cries from the window ledge.\n\nYou don’t have time to gloat. You need to make an exit.\n\n[[Run down the hallway]]\n[[Escape out the window]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 903>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $wpn = "Magic?">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You can deal with these knights later. If nothing else, they’ll give you a free ride to civilization, assuming they’re alive.\n\nYou aim the pistol at the ogre’s face and pull the trigger. The bullet cuts through the air and the ogre’s @@color:#000081;right eye.@@ The ogre stumbles forward with its last bit of life and falls, belly first, to the ground.\n\nThe knights stare at it and then you. Their faces are contorted with @@color:#000081;awe and fear.@@\n\n“You have slain the ogre with a single blow and yet you are bound. You must be a fierce and powerful wizard,” the knight says dismounting his horse. “For saving our lives,” he kneels in front of you and lowers his head. “We are honor-bound to release you.” The knight unsheathes a small knife and cuts the ropes binding you.\n\n“Uh, wizard?” You say, pushing yourself up. “Yeah, uh, that’s right. I’m a great and powerful wizard so, uh, you better respect my @@color:#000081;authority.”@@\n\nThe other knights kneel in front of you as a sign of loyalty and servitude. You grin and try to keep from laughing. Now you know what the Boss feels like. “Alright, alright, you can get up already.”\n\nThe knights stand in unison. “Though we are honor-bound to free you,” the leader says. “We are also honor-bound to deliver you to the grand city of Sarrejiinn, into the care of the great wizard Quintus.”\n\n“Is that right?” You say with a raised brow.\n\n“Indeed.”\n\n“Yeah, alright. I’d like to see this grand city of yours.”\n\n“It is the greatest in all of Ragnoss, but first, you must claim the spoils of your victory.” The knight motions toward the ogre. The other knights immediately move to it and roll it onto its back. The leader shoves his sword into the ogre’s side and cuts a long hole up across its stomach.\n\nGuts and organs slide to the ground. The smell is horrid.\n\nYou pinch your nose. “You know, I think I’m fine.”\n\n“No, wizard. You must claim your victory.”\n\n“Let me guess, you’re honor-bound to make me.”\n\n“Verily.”\n\nYou groan and walk to the disemboweled ogre. You notice something shiny inside its stomach, something metal. That must be what the knight is talking about. You hold your breath and push your arm through the ogre’s fat into its innards.\n\nYou feel something metallic and hard amongst the goo. You slip your fingers around it, and yank it free.\n\nIt’s a sword. The blade glistens with green and silver speckles.\n\nThe knights inhale in unison. “By the Seven Sons of Unthor,” a knight exclaims. “The Blade of Garlrock. It was thought to be lost.”\n\nThe blade feels light and agile in your hand. The air trembles at its swing. The green and silver speckles glimmer and shine as if touched by sunlight though the sky is dark.\n\nIt’s been a long time since you’ve used a sword, but you can tell something is special about this one.\n\n“Well,” the leader says. “You are truly charmed wizard. Let us be on our way. If we are to reach Sarrejiinn by dawn we must make haste.” He mounts his horse and outstretches his hand to you.\n\nYou glance at the other knights. They’re busy shoving their arms deep into the ogre’s stomach to retrieve more items. Already you can see a metal helm, chunks of armor, a few small weapons, and other trinkets.\n\n“The ogre eats its victims whole as well as their belongings,” the knight says. “The others will return with the valuables shortly, but we must be on our way.”\n\nYou take hold of his arm, and he pulls you up onto the back of the horse. He nudges the horse into a gallop.\n\nYou ride for what feels like hours, though it’s impossible to tell with the two moons overhead. The dense forest thins, and you smell salt carried on an ocean breeze. You’re nearing the coast. In the distance, built against the cliffs, you see an immense castle with a sprawling city around it.\n\n“Sarrejiinn is most magnificent in the dawn light,” the knight says with pride. “It is unfortunate we do not have the time for such a viewing. The walls will be unguarded for only a moment, and we must use that to our advantage if you are to enter unseen.”\n\nYou would respond with something witty, but you’re too busy staring at the castle. It’s taller than the Boss’s building and nearly as wide as two city blocks. You’ve never seen anything like it. It must have taken decades to build.\n\n“So what does the King have against outsiders?” You ask. \n\n“We are at war, young wizard. How is it that you do not know such a thing?”\n\n“I’m not from around these parts.”\n\n“Where is it you herald from wizard?”\n\n“Uh,” you hesitate. The less this knight knows the better. Then again, what do you really know anyway? “Earth,” you say.\n\n“Ah,” the knight nods. “You are kin to the wizard Quintus Villarreal. That is why he wishes you safe. I understand,” the knight whispers as he rides up near the wall.\n\nHe pushes in a brick and a small portion of the wall slides open. It’s just barely enough room for one person to squeeze through.\n\nHe dismounts his horse and helps you down. “We must continue on foot,” he says, motioning for you to enter first.\n\n[[Enter first, as the knight commands.]]\n[[Make the knight enter first.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1094>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<endnobr>>You glance at the PDA. You’ve got about two minutes before the virus reaches it. You quickly memorize the map and then pop out the battery pack. The virus can spread through background updates so if you want to keep the circuits in one piece, you’ll need to pocket it until you’re clear of the building and the network.\n\nYou slip out the door and sprint around the corner as a set of computer nerds turn down the hallway behind you and angrily enter the server room. You grin at the thought of them trying to navigate a screen of rainbow @@color:#000081;unicorn chaos.@@\n\nYou hear two guards shuffle in behind them. They won’t be much help.\n\nWhen the door slides shut, you sprint to the elevator and slide the ID badge through the scanner. The elevator doors slide open. You get in and press the button for the holding cells. The elevator jolts upward.\n\nYou almost forgot about the virus affecting the elevator systems. They should be one of the last systems affected. So far you haven’t plummeted to your death, so the plan is still a go.\n\nHopefully you didn’t just jinx it.\n\nThe elevator stops and the doors open. You step into a huge room. It has twenty rows of cells divided into three columns. It feels vaguely familiar. You remember something about falling.\n\nThat’s right. You were being held in one of the upper cells. You struggled with someone – a scientist maybe, or was it a guard? Then the two of you fell over the edge. Then... then... something to do with hell. It’s still a blur.\n\nWithout the PDA you won’t be able to track the movement of the guards. You’ll have to be careful. You can’t explain it, but you’ve got this weird feeling – like you need to explore some of the cells – somewhere on the upper levels.\n\nIt’s like you’re forgetting something important... or was it someone? You sneak around a corner, @@color:#000081;avoiding@@ one of the scientists. You take the stairs to the third level. You let your intuition guide you.\n\nAs you near the cells, the inhabitants scream and plead for release. The voices are human, but distorted and perverse – not just from torment. It sounds as if someone has augmented their bodies to make the horrible noises.\n\nYou glimpse into one of the cells. The creature you see could hardly be called human, but there’s a soul buried deep beneath its eyes. You see anguish and the flicker of hope. The creature screeches at the sight of you and beats its scaly arms against the door. You look away and keep moving.\n\nWhatever that thing was, there’s not much you can do for it now; except maybe put it out of its misery. If only you had the time, and there’s no guarantee a bullet would kill it.\n\nYou glance in the next cell. It’s a similar creature, but even more deformed. Its body is armored with scales but instead of arms, long blue tentacles dangle from its shoulders. Probably another failed experiment. Each cell must have one. That’s over sixty in this building alone. There were at least twenty other facilities mentioned in those documents.\n\nWhy? What possible benefit could this torture have?\n\nIn any case, it explains the DNA reports you saw earlier. They’re creating new lifeforms – maybe super soldiers. But why would they go to the trouble of kidnapping and drugging you? You don’t know anything about this science stuff, and if they only wanted a test subject, there are easier ways to get one.\n\nYou must know something.\n\nYou stop suddenly.\n\nThis spot – this is where you broke free. You glance in the cell. It’s empty. If they were keeping you here, they must have been planning to experiment on you, but that couldn’t have been all they wanted from you.\n\n[[Examine the next cell.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 446>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<endnobr>>“No, @@color:#000081;I’m fine,”@@ you say feeling a little @@color:#000081;light headed.@@ “Let’s keep going.”\n\n“Are you sure that’s wise,” Samantha says. “The claws are known to contain toxins.”\n\n“I’ve had my share of toxins,” you groan. “And this is @@color:#000081;barely@@ a scratch. I’ll be fine.”\n\n“You know your limits better than I do,” she says. “Just remember you aren’t the only one whose life is in jeopardy.”\n\nThe thought of Gillian flashes through your mind. “I know.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>This choice doesn’t have an immediate negative impact on the story. There isn’t a variable tracking the spread of the poison (ebooks can’t use variables).This choice is meant to play out in the reader’s imagination. I hoped there would be a nagging voice in the back of their mind reminding them that their recklessness might have consequences.<<endif>>\n“Alright,” Samantha demands. “Then get to Clark’s lab.”\n\nYou follow the soldiers and the scientist toward Clark’s lab. “So what’s your name?”\n\nThe scientist turns to you. “Green. Mason Green. Bio-engineer.”\n\n“So you’re one of the people responsible for these creatures?”\n\n“No, no...not exactly. This facility contains hundreds of experiments...not all of them successes. I evaluate the fail rate of specific ventures and determine if any of the gained knowledge can be repurposed.”\n\n“So you’re an intellectual repo man.”\n\n“In so many words...yes. Though that’s putting it crassly. Knowledge gained does not necessarily mean knowledge applied. Finding the right place for investors to put their money is sometimes even more difficult.”\n\n“And how would you say this little experiment has done?”\n\n“Not well...though, surprisingly, not yet a failure.”\n\n“Tell that to the people who are dead.”\n\n“Yes, a tragedy. I certainly will not deny that, but the truest innovations often arise from the ashes of tragedy. My task, as cold as it may seem, is to weigh the costs of the moment against the potential gains of the future. A few lost lives now will hardly outweigh the millions of lives we could save in the future.”\n\n“Why do I have the feeling you’re not telling me something.”\n\nMason laughs. “You know what you need to know.”\n\nYou stagger against a tree and vomit.\n\n“The toxins,” Mason says.\n\nYou wave him away. “I’m fine.” Your shirt sticks to your back with sweat. You feel hot. You wipe the vomit from your mouth and take a deep breath. You’re fine; at least that’s what you tell yourself. You’ve been through worse and for lower stakes. This is different. It’s personal. Gillian needs your help, and you won’t let her down...you can’t.\n\n“I’m fine,” you say again. “I’m fine.”\n\nOne of the soldiers taps your arm. “Up ahead,” he whispers.\n\nYou see a large metal building extending from the wall. It’s three stories high and simple in design. The roof is covered with sensors.\n\n“I think someone is inside,” Mason whispers. “What should we do?”\n\n“We don’t have much ammunition left,” one of the soldiers adds.\n\n“Alright,” you sigh. “I have a plan, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”\n\n[[Have the soldiers create a diversion]]\n[[Create the diversion yourself]]\n

//The Gates of Brutavius// was an incomplete compendium found at a dig site just outside of Rome. The archeology team that discovered the book was specifically interested in architecture and building materials used between 40 and 50 BC.\n\nAt first, and full of exhilaration, they believed the book contained detailed diagrams and measurements of the city, but after closer examination the information proved to be complete nonsense.\n\nThe book detailed objects and landmarks that never existed, or would not exist for many years, referencing names and figures that were absent from every other record.\n\nAfter three months of intense study, the team decided the book was a fiction and must have been modified by future generations. Disappointedly, the only value they believed the book possessed was as a historical artifact for its construction and materials were incredibly well preserved.\n\nThe book traveled with the exhibit across Europe and America, until it was eventually left to the [[University Library]].\n\n[[Karen|Karen]] had taken a particular interest in the book after a pair of [[shamans|two shamans]] referenced it during a heated discussion about the [[spirit realm]].\n\nAfter careful inspection, [[Karen|Karen]] noticed that the book used specific locations interchangeably with people as if the place and the person were the same. When she connected that logic with [[The Song of the Myst Martyrs]], she saw a pattern of hierarchy. The placement of landmarks determined the power or value of the name associated with them.\n\nUsing the two books, [[Karen|Karen]] was able to create, what she believed to be, an accurate map of the [[spirit realm]].\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = ($wordcount + 170)>>\n<<set $wpn = "Sleeping with Grenades">>\n<<set $xp = $xp + 5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy + 4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly + 2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Thugm guh kiuhm,” you mumble. Your eyes @@color:#000081;glance@@ down at your right hand.\n\nThe thug follows your gaze. He sees the grenade in your fist, then he slowly pulls the gun out of your mouth.\n\n@@color:#000081;You smile. @@“What is that expression about shooting the messenger?” You grab the thug’s jacket with your left hand, push the grenade next to his face. “I’ve always preferred explosions.”\n\nHis gun angles away from you. @@color:#000081;His eyes tear up.@@\n\n<>You don’t make it a habit of @@color:#000081;sleeping with grenades@@, but sometimes being a workaholic has its benefits.<<endnobr>>\n<<if $introComments is true>>Seven Bullets isn’t a comedy, but I thought it would be a great chance to play with some one-liners reminiscent of movies like Commando and The Last Boy Scout.The core of any fun, gritty, power fantasy is the witty one-liner.<<endif>>\n“I-I-I didn’t want to k-k-kill you,” the thug whimpers. “Really, I didn’t. I’ve always respected you. I-I-I have a son.” He lowers the gun and drops it on the bed. “Please don’t kill me.”\n\nYou sigh and take his gun. You never meant to earn such a vicious reputation, but you can’t deny that it fits nicely.\n\nThis thug is going to talk to the Boss, now it’s just a matter of what he ends up saying.\n\n[[Shoot him|Shoot him]]\n[[Knock him unconscious|Knock him unconscious]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 750>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You can’t explain it, but you have an overwhelming @@color:#000081;urge@@ to press the circle with the four squiggly lines. You slam your hand down on the @@color:#000081;symbol.@@ The rumbling immediately stops. The floor stabilizes and the crumbling ends.\n\n“Ha,” you shout. You turn to Avengral. “Did you ever doubt me?”\n\n“I was too busy fearing for my life,” Avengral says sarcastically.\n\n“Funny,” you say surprised. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”\n\nA portion of the wall slides apart and a bright light illuminates the room. You both keep your blades drawn and ready as you walk through the light. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust.\n\nYou see the old wizard, Kailvo, waiting at the center of the room. His beaming smile makes you sick. Kailvo applauds fervently. “Quite a show,” he cheers. “Quite a show indeed.” He gives you a slight nod. “I had a feeling about you. The others did not think you would survive, but I knew there was something...unique about you. Only a handful of people can read the Language of the Dead.”\n\n“It was more like a lucky guess.”\n\n“Impressive none the less,” Kailvo declares. “True, guessing and intuition are not always the same, but the results are undeniable.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Lore is another important expectation of fantasy readers. Throughout the Ragnoss segment I make reference to several artifacts, events, and special people.Only some of the Lore in Ragnoss is developed in-depth. “The Language of the Dead” is a piece of lore that is never mentioned beyond this scene (and maybe one other).In my notes, it was going to be one of several clues linking earth’s civilization to Ragnoss, unfortunately that plotline was dropped and the implications of reading the Language of the Dead was left a mystery.<<endif>>\n@@color:#000081;“Enough small talk,”@@ you groan. “We won your stupid game. Now it’s time for you to hold up your end of the deal.”\n\n“Yes,” Kailvo nods. “Of course.” He pulls a small compass out of his robe.\n\nAvengral hesitates. “And what of my other soldiers?”\n\n“Dead,” Kailvo says dryly.\n\n“What!?!” Avengral growls.\n\n“A wizard’s bargain always has a price...or did you think you would get this for free? It is a hard lesson to learn Sir Knight, but all magic has a cost, and now you have paid it. If this displeases you, I will keep your trinket and you may leave with a clean conscience.”\n\nAvengral grabs the compass before Kailvo can put it back in his robe. “I will remember your bargain wizard, but know that some blades cut both ways.”\n\n“What a quaint expression,” Kailvo nods. “Follow the compass and there your Prince shall be. If that is all, and it is, then our business is concluded.” Kailvo turns and walks toward the adjacent hallway. “I trust you will see yourselves out.” He says as if your interactions had been benign and inconsequential.\n\n“Raizaarian scum,” Avengral scoffs as soon as Kailvo leaves the room.\n\n“It could have gone worse,” you say, trying to lighten the mood.\n\n“How?”\n\n“We could be dead.”\n\nAvengral frowns, but agrees.\n\nThe two of you walk through the courtyard and out the large oak drawbridge. You stand in a field of grass. A small dirt road winds its way toward the horizon.\n\nYou glance at Avengral. “I guess that portal thing is off the table?”\n\n“It would be unwise to trust such liars. We might end up at the bottom of the ocean.”\n\n“So how long will it take us to get back to the castle?”\n\n“Several days,” Avengral says, walking along the path.\n\nYou jog to him and tap your wrist as if Avengral would know what it means. “My timetable requires something a little faster.”\n\nAvengral holds up the compass. The needle points right. Avengral shakes the compass and examines it again. It points the same direction.\n\nAvengral growls with frustration. “Even the compass they give us is broken. They would have me believe the Prince is on this island? Treacherous wizards.” Avengral turns right, following the compass’s direction.\n\n“If the compass is going in the wrong direction, then why are you following it?”\n\n“I must prove, without a doubt, that the compass is broken. Then, with the King’s approval, the Blue Wizards will be removed from the Accords and dealt with accordingly.”\n\n“I’m sure that’s a great plan,” you say scratching your head. “But don’t you still have a prince to save...not to mention the ride I need to catch.”\n\n“The Prince?” Avengral says with surprise.\n\n“Yeah,” you nod. “That’s what I said, the Prince.”\n\n“No,” Avengral grunts. “The Prince!” He shouts, sprinting forward.\n\nYou glance up. In the distance you see a man on his knees, tied to a wooden stake.\n\nAvengral runs to him. “Prince!” He shouts again.\n\nThe Prince? If the Prince was taken on the other side of the continent, how did he end up over here? And isn’t this supposed to be neutral territory? Why would he be tied up? You’ve got a bad feeling about this.\n\n[[Try to stop Avengral from doing something rash]]\n[[Stay back and let Avengral spring the trap, if there is one]]\n

[[Karen|Karen]] had purchased ten candles, a box of salt, lavender, cinnamon, goat’s hair, herbs, sheep’s blood, and as many other summoning ingredients as she could afford.\n\nShe had tried three different spells so far, but the only result was a foul smell lingering in the [[apartment]] and a mess to clean up.\n\nShe had read several more books at the [[University Library]] about witchcraft and consulted with a Spirit Eater and [[two shamans]] about accessing the [[spirit realm]].\n\nFollowing their advice, she put the summoning ingredients in the closet and waited for her spirit to grow stronger in preparation for a proper summoning. Her only mistake was neglecting to tell her [[roommate|two]] to leave the summoning ingredients untouched.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 527>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You head toward the flower van. \n\nThe guy in the driver’s seat sees you coming. He starts the engine and guns it straight for you. \n\nYou sprint back toward the motorcycle. The van is gaining on you. \n\nYou push off the motorcycle and land on the hood of the van as it slams into the stone fence. \n\nThe driver hits his head against the steering wheel, and the van swerves back into the street. You roll over the edge and hit the asphalt. \n\nThe van collides with a street lamp and jolts to a stop.\n\nYour arms are @@color:#000081;scraped@@ up pretty good, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. You get up, sprint for the driver side door, and yank the thug out of his seat. He’s dazed, and it doesn’t take much to @@color:#000081;knock@@ him unconscious. \n\nYou get in the van and check the back. The walls are lined with weapons, enough to make an assault on the Boss’s penthouse a viable option. \n\nYou close the driver’s side door and drive. If you play this right, you just might be able to rescue Gillian without getting yourself killed. It’s a long shot, a really long shot, but she’s your sister and there are just certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed. You need to send a clear message.\n\nYour knuckles go white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. You take a breath and try to relax. Getting worked up and being overly emotional is the kind of thing that will get you killed.\n\nYou need to be at your best. You’re already outnumbered and outgunned. Just getting through the lobby is going to be a challenge.\n\nYou turn the van down a side street and park in an alley across from the penthouse lobby. You twist around the seat and into the back. There are a variety of weapons, some more interesting than others.\n\nYou pull a duffle bag from under the rack and open it. You grab two silenced pistols and a box of grenades. You slide both into the bag.\n\nYou need to choose your tactics carefully. Gillian’s life is at stake. The sniper rifle and the shotgun catch your eye. They look different than the ones you’ve seen on the market. Jimmy must have gotten a hold of some prototypes. \n\nThey both look deadly, but it’s only practical to take one. \n\nThe sniper rifle requires some distance and a lot of height. The Boss’s room is on the fourteenth floor, which is probably where he’s keeping Gillian. There’s a parking garage and an office building that could provide a good vantage point. \n\nThen again, the further you are from Gillian, the harder it will be to keep her safe if something goes wrong.\n\nThe shotgun will definitely send a message. You’d have to assault the penthouse directly though – either make an aggressive push through the main entrance to the lobby or try to sneak back around through the service entrance.\n\nIt all comes down to tactics, and you don’t have much time to plan this out. All you can do is grab your weapon of choice and double-time it to one of the locations. \n \n[[The parking garage]]\n[[The office building]]\n[[Take the main entrance]]\n[[Take the service entrance]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1009>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +12>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Secrets can be more deadly than bullets – you’ve been an assassin long enough to know that. Whatever these level 14 materials are, they’re the key to everything going on in this building. That kind of knowledge is the @@color:#000081;leverage@@ you need to keep Gillian alive and out of danger – not to mention your own self-preservation.\n\nYou’re going to need to find that secure console though and dragging Dr. Vallem’s body around isn’t exactly an option. You use the device to access the server you have hidden in the basement of your apartment complex and execute some pre-made code that @@color:#000081;cracks@@ the device security and gives you basic networking privileges. That should allow you to access the network without carrying around Dr. Vellum’s dead body.\n\nYou run another program that @@color:#000081;scrambles@@ the tracking protocols in the device. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it should give you some time – at least until the security overrides your program.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>The main character has a variety of skills - mostly weapon related, but computer hacking, being multi-lingual, piloting aircraft, and some medical awareness are mentioned at different stages of the book.The main character’s assassin training is meant to explain most of these abilities - like James Bond. His spy training happens before the movie starts and the viewers just go with it because the movie’s fun.<<endif>>\nYou also take his ID badge. You’ll need it to open the doors, but you can’t be sure if he has level 14 clearance. Attempting to reprogram the security doors might reveal your position, especially since the guards are looking for you already. You’ll just have to hope the keycard gets you close enough, otherwise you’ll just have to cross that bridge when you come to it.\n\nYou search the network for detailed floor plans. A 3D diagram fills the screen. The labs and subject chambers are underground. That’s probably where they were holding you. The map shows you, or what it thinks is Dr. Vallem, on the second floor. Even in a delusional state you had the right idea.\n\nMaybe if you had made a few different choices you’d be out of here by now. You shake your head. There’s no point dwelling on the past. All you can do is focus on the future.\n\nIt looks like the map has advance live diagnostic tools. You switch it to thermal and search for the greatest heat signature. The hottest location is two rooms below the labs. Three squares glow dark red and judging from the schematic, that’s the only room with an independent power and air-conditioning unit. It’s most likely the server room.\n\nPlugging directly into those servers should give you access to everything. And, if you were so inclined, you could throw a wrench into their digital infrastructure by uploading a homemade virus. Nothing says thanks for trying to kill me like a virus that destroys decades of expensive R&D.\n\nThe thought makes you @@color:#000081;giddy.@@\n\nYou’re really not a vindictive person. You just take immense pleasure in hurting the people who drugged you and tried to kill your sister. That’s perfectly normal, right?\n\nThe thermal scan shows body signatures moving throughout the building. You can’t tell which are guards and which are civilians, so it’s best to avoid them all.\n\nYou wait for the elevator to clear, then you casually walk to it, slide the ID badge through the scanner and hit the button for the server floor. The elevator jolts downward. It looks like Dr. Vallem has level 14 clearance after all (and your luck hasn’t run out just yet).\n\nThe elevator dings and the doors slide @@color:#000081;open.@@ You’re immediately hit by an icy chill. This floor has to be below freezing. If those servers were as hot as the schematic showed, and this floor is clocking in at a consistent subzero, then they must be processing impossibly huge amounts of data or the system is broken. Either way it’s unusual.\n\nYou hurry to the server room. Even with your advanced training, there’s only so much your body can endure and frostbite isn’t something you’d like to experience a second time. The faster you get this information and get out, the better.\n\nYou swipe the ID badge through the panel and push open the door. The servers are submerged in a glowing green liquid. The hardware is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Not even the secret government supercomputers compare.\n\nYou find the main console and attach the PDA. A translucent screen materializes in front of you. This kind of technology only exists in theory. How do they have it operational and in everyday use?\n\nYour body starts to @@color:#000081;shake.@@ You can’t tell if it’s from the cold or the bad feeling in the back of your brain. Either way you need to get this information quick.\n\nYou work your way through the documents until you find the sensitive material. There are a collection of star charts and detailed schematics for a teleportation device – at least that’s what it looks like. You can only understand about a fifth of the documents.\n\nYou’re no expert, but if the drawings are only half true, commercial space travel isn’t just possible, it already exists. But if they have this technology, why haven’t they implemented it yet... unless...\n\nYou search the subset of documents concerning the experiments. The text describes genetic splicing, but all the experiments have been deemed failures. One set of DNA is human. The other is something else. Admittedly, you’re a little out of your depth here, but the other set of DNA doesn’t have the right number of chromosomes to be human. Maybe if you had studied a little harder in school, you could tell what it was.\n\nIn any case, you should have enough information to be a threat. You @@color:#000081;download@@ as much as you can to the PDA and upload a mirror image to the server at your apartment. You don’t have enough storage to keep all the information. You’ll have to leave the rest.\n\nYou could try to memorize the important bits, but that means you’d have to stay longer. Your toes and fingers are already starting to turn red, not to mention the effort it’s going to take to get past the guards.\n\nThen again, there’s that computer virus you’ve been working on. You’ve been waiting months to put it to use. Every automated system would go crazy and in the chaos you could make your escape.\n\n[[Stay and push for more information]]\n[[Send the virus and escape]]\n

Quitting is its own reward...\n

<>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab the woman scientist by the arm. “Which way?”\n\nShe points to the adjacent hallway. You travel through the hallway, down a stairwell, and through another hallway. The woman swipes her ID badge and scans her finger. A large metal door slides open.\n\n“In here,” she says.\n\nThe group floods inside, panicked and exhausted. You keep the assault rifle aimed at the stairwell. You back pedal into the room with the last of the scientists.\n\n“How’d you know that was a trap?” The woman asks.\n\nYou shrug. “Because that’s what I would have @@color:#000081;done.”@@ You click on the gun’s safety and sling it over your shoulder.\n\nOnly about half of Team A is in the room. Those that made it are covered in blood and severely wounded. “What happened?” You growl at the head soldier.\n\nHe shakes his head. “I-I-I don’t know. We were ambushed. The creatures... they started eating the others... all we could do is run.”\n\n“Where’s Dr. Aiden Clark?” The woman scientist asks sharply.\n\n“He was taken,” the soldier replies wearily. “It’s like they singled him out... like he was the one they were after.”\n\n“So he’s alive?”\n\n“They didn’t eat him... or kill him in front of us, so maybe.”\n\n“Who is Dr. Aiden Clark?” You ask.\n\n“He was the lead researcher of Project OVID,” the woman says. “He was responsible for creating those things.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Project OVID - the name “OVID” refers to a Roman poet: Publius Ovidius Naso. His epic poem, Metamorphosis deals with creation and transformation - concepts that fit this segment of Seven Bullets.Dr. Aiden Clark is the project lead of OVID and he’s the one who named it. He is the person most directly responsible for the transformation of the “patients”.<<endif>>\n“Wait a second,” you put the pieces together. “You’re saying those things are the missing patients?”\n\n“Yes,” She nods. “Though missing doesn’t seem the appropriate word now.”\n\n“No kidding,” you groan.\n\n“We need to get Dr. Clark back.”\n\n“I hate to rain on your parade, but that’s not going to happen,” the soldier says dryly.\n\n“You don’t understand,” she says. “He wasn’t just the lead researcher; he was the genetic engineer that singlehandedly created the formula. He’s the only person who knows how to reverse the process.”\n\n“And they just happened to take him?” You ask.\n\n“Well,” she continues. “If they took him alive, that means they’re planning to use him for something. Whatever that something is, we can’t let it happen. We need to rescue him.”\n\n“Okay,” you sigh. “Let’s say I believe you. We don’t know what they’re planning or where they’re going. How are we supposed to find them?”\n\n“Clark’s laboratory was in a separate part of the facility,” she says. “That must be where they took him. Only two paths lead to his lab: the artificial forest or the containment labs.”\n\n[[Tell me about the artificial forest]]\n[[Tell me about the containment labs]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 186>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +3>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +3>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +41125>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You sprint back to the elevator and head for the highest floor. If you’re going to take down the helicopter, you’ll need to get close. You unzip your bag. Eight grenades, two silent pistols and four extra clips – not exactly the arsenal you need, but you can make this work.\n\nYou get out of the elevator and move north. Looks like they’re renovating this floor – how convenient. You move through some scaffolding, grab a hammer, and slam it into the glass. It barely leaves a mark.\n\nYou roll your eyes, draw your pistol, and shoot three rounds, shattering the glass. You peer over the edge. It’s a long drop. You look to the right – helicopter’s getting closer. You’ve only got one chance at this.\n\nYou yank some wiring from the wall and use it to tie two of the grenades together. You pull the pins, count to three, then lob them to the left of the helicopter.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Stories are more interesting when bad things happen. Plus helicopters are cool.<<endif>>\nThe helicopter swerves toward you as the grenades @@color:#000081;explode.@@ You count one pilot and two armored goons in the back – one carrying an assault rifle. The chopper’s in range.\n\n[[Jump for it]]\n[[Finish them off]]\n

<>\n<<remember $totalWordcount = $wordcount + $totalWordcount>>\n<<zeroKillsCheck>><<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>><<wordcountChecker>>\n<<if $xp < 20>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 1>>\n<<elseif $xp < 30>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 2>>\n<<elseif $xp < 40>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 3>>\n<<elseif $xp < 60>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 4>>\n<<elseif $xp < 80>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 5>>\n<<elseif $xp < 100>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 6>>\n<<elseif $xp < 130>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 7>>\n<<elseif $xp < 160>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 8>>\n<<elseif $xp < 200>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 9>>\n<<elseif $xp < 230>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 10>>\n<<elseif $xp >= 230>>\n\t<<set $lvl = 11>>\n<<endif>><<endnobr>>\n<img src="img/SevenBullets_1020x680.png" align="left" width="100%"><center>\n<<if $melee < 5>><img src="img/melee/Knife-000.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 10>><img src="img/melee/Knife-005.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 15>><img src="img/melee/Knife-010.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 20>><img src="img/melee/Knife-015.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 25>><img src="img/melee/Knife-020.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 30>><img src="img/melee/Knife-025.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 35>><img src="img/melee/Knife-030.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 40>><img src="img/melee/Knife-035.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 45>><img src="img/melee/Knife-040.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 50>><img src="img/melee/Knife-045.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 55>><img src="img/melee/Knife-050.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 60>><img src="img/melee/Knife-055.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 65>><img src="img/melee/Knife-060.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 70>><img src="img/melee/Knife-065.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 75>><img src="img/melee/Knife-070.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 80>><img src="img/melee/Knife-075.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 85>><img src="img/melee/Knife-080.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 90>><img src="img/melee/Knife-085.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 95>><img src="img/melee/Knife-090.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee < 100>><img src="img/melee/Knife-095.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<elseif $melee >= 100>><img src="img/melee/Knife-100.png" align="left" width="350" height="69"> <<print $melee>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $sly <5>><img src="img/sly/sly-000.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <8>><img src="img/sly/sly-005.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <10>><img src="img/sly/sly-010.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <15>><img src="img/sly/sly-015.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <18>><img src="img/sly/sly-020.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <20>><img src="img/sly/sly-025.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <25>><img src="img/sly/sly-030.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <30>><img src="img/sly/sly-035.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <35>><img src="img/sly/sly-040.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <40>><img src="img/sly/sly-045.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <45>><img src="img/sly/sly-050.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <50>><img src="img/sly/sly-055.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <55>><img src="img/sly/sly-060.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <58>><img src="img/sly/sly-065.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <60>><img src="img/sly/sly-070.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <62>><img src="img/sly/sly-075.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <64>><img src="img/sly/sly-080.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <68>><img src="img/sly/sly-085.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <70>><img src="img/sly/sly-090.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly <75>><img src="img/sly/sly-095.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<elseif $sly >=75>><img src="img/sly/sly-100.png" align="left" width="350" height="123"> <<print $sly>>\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if $guns < 5>><img src="img/gun/gun-000.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <10>><img src="img/gun/gun-005.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <15>><img src="img/gun/gun-010.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <18>><img src="img/gun/gun-015.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <20>><img src="img/gun/gun-020.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <25>><img src="img/gun/gun-025.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <28>><img src="img/gun/gun-030.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <30>><img src="img/gun/gun-035.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <35>><img src="img/gun/gun-040.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <38>><img src="img/gun/gun-050.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <40>><img src="img/gun/gun-055.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <42>><img src="img/gun/gun-060.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <45>><img src="img/gun/gun-065.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <48>><img src="img/gun/gun-070.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <50>><img src="img/gun/gun-075.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <52>><img src="img/gun/gun-080.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <54>><img src="img/gun/gun-085.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <56>><img src="img/gun/gun-090.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns <60>><img src="img/gun/gun-095.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<elseif $guns >=60>><img src="img/gun/gun-100.png" align="left" width="350" height="93"> <<print $guns>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $force <5>><img src="img/force/force-000.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <10>><img src="img/force/force-005.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <15>><img src="img/force/force-010.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <20>><img src="img/force/force-015.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <25>><img src="img/force/force-020.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <30>><img src="img/force/force-025.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <35>><img src="img/force/force-030.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <40>><img src="img/force/force-035.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <45>><img src="img/force/force-040.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <50>><img src="img/force/force-045.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <55>><img src="img/force/force-050.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <60>><img src="img/force/force-055.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <65>><img src="img/force/force-060.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <70>><img src="img/force/force-065.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <75>><img src="img/force/force-070.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <80>><img src="img/force/force-075.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <85>><img src="img/force/force-080.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <90>><img src="img/force/force-085.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <95>><img src="img/force/force-090.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force <100>><img src="img/force/force-095.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<elseif $force >=100>><img src="img/force/force-100.png" align="left" width="350" height="163"> <<print $force>>\n<<endif>>\n\n\n<<if $luck <5>><img src="img/luck/luck-000.png" align="left" width="105" height="100"> \n<<elseif $luck <8>><img src="img/luck/luck-005.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <10>><img src="img/luck/luck-010.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <12>><img src="img/luck/luck-015.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <14>><img src="img/luck/luck-020.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <16>><img src="img/luck/luck-025.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <18>><img src="img/luck/luck-030.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <20>><img src="img/luck/luck-035.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <24>><img src="img/luck/luck-040.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <28>><img src="img/luck/luck-045.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <32>><img src="img/luck/luck-050.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <34>><img src="img/luck/luck-055.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <38>><img src="img/luck/luck-060.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <40>><img src="img/luck/luck-065.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <42>><img src="img/luck/luck-070.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <44>><img src="img/luck/luck-075.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <46>><img src="img/luck/luck-080.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <48>><img src="img/luck/luck-085.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <50>><img src="img/luck/luck-090.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck <52>><img src="img/luck/luck-095.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<elseif $luck >=52>><img src="img/luck/luck-100.png" align="left" width="105" height="100">\n<<endif>></center>\n/% \n<<if $infamy <10>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-000.png" align="left" width="106" height="100">\n<<elseif $infamy <20>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-010.png" align="left" width="106" height="100">\n<<elseif $infamy <30>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-020.png" align="left" width="106" height="100">\n<<elseif $infamy <40>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-030.png" align="left" width="106" height="100">\n<<elseif $infamy <50>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-040.png" align="left" width="106" height="100">\n<<elseif $infamy <70>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-050.png" align="left" width="300" height="282">\n<<elseif $infamy <90>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-060.png" align="left" width="300" height="282">\n<<elseif $infamy <100>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-070.png" align="left" width="300" height="282">\n<<elseif $infamy <120>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-080.png" align="left" width="300" height="282">\n<<elseif $infamy <130>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-090.png" align="left" width="300" height="282">\n<<elseif $infamy >=130>><img src="img/infamy/infamy-100.png" align="left" width="300" height="282">\n<<endif>> %/\nLevel: <<print $lvl>>\nXP: <<print $xp>>\n\nFavorite Weapon: <<print $wpn>>\nDamage Cost: $<<print $damageCost>>\n\nKills: <<print $kills>>\nInfamy: <<print $infamy>>\n\nWordcount: <<print $wordcount>>\nTotal Wordcount: <<print $totalWordcount>>\n\nAssassin Codename:\n<<print either("The Club", "The Diamond", "The Jack", "The Pink Salamander", "The Timid Cat", "The Curse", "The Pirate", "The Exhausted Elder", "The Slapper", "The Tickler", "The Bootlicker", "The One-Shoed Bandit", "The Vegan", "Steve", "The Vice President", "The Secretary", "The Quarterback", "The Jockey", "The Theologian", "The Pacifist", "The Hippy", "The Vampire", "The Zombie", "The Stinky Werewolf", "The Mad Cow", "The White Rabbit", "The Pope", "The Garbage Man", "The Cheerleader", "The Hunter", "The Bashful Baby", "The Blue Bugle", "The Tambourine", "The Strangler", "The Lazy Actor", "The Whiney Child", "The Heavy Diaper", "The Toy Soldier", "The Tailor", "The Seamstress", "The Peasant", "The Deserter", "The Convict", "The Prisoner", "The Salesman", "The Piglet", "The Pilot", "The Particle", "The Unicorn", "The Dwarf", "The Librarian", "The Dentist", "The Nurse", "The Pharmacist", "The Therapist", "The Physician", "The Administrator", "The Analyst", "The Phlebotomist", "The Engineer", "The Veterinarian", "The Assistant", "The Researcher", "Bob", "The Manager", "The Nutritionist", "The Technician", "The Programmer", "The Worker", "The Pathologist", "The Accountant", "The Fixer", "The Advisor", "The Bookkeeper", "The Lawyer", "The Collector", "The Optician", "The Exterminator", "The Agent", "The Hairdresser", "The Patrol Officer", "The Specialist", "The Chauffeur", "The Logistician", "The Therapist", "The Translator", "The Director", "The Plumber", "The Clerk", "The Groundskeeper", "The Heart", "The Spade", "The Sword", "The King", "The Scorpion", "The Wild Dog", "The Plague", "The Ninja", "The Obsidian Punch", "The Phoenix", "The Ox", "The Nomad", "The Bullet", "The President", "The Surgeon", "The Slayer", "The Skull-Smasher", "The Dark Lord", "The Glimmering Vampire", "The Brain Eater", "The Hatter", "The Sweaty Centaur", "The Red Minotaur", "The Demigod", "The Slasher", "The CEO", "The General", "The Sergeant", "The Captain", "The Desperado", "The Thin Man", "The Corpse", "The Trump", "The Ace", "The Dark Passenger", "The Avenger", "The Eater", "The Fat Man", "The Lady", "The Rolling Stone", "The Ceiling Fan", "The Masher", "The Pretty Statue", "The Third Baseman", "The Center", "The Slow Pitch", "The Geyser", "The Preacher", "The Sinner", "The Poet", "The Painter", "The Mathematician", "The Statistician", "The Actuary", "The Viper", "The Broadcaster", "The Taxi Driver", "The Attendant", "The Officer", "The Historian", "The Meteorologist", "The Geologist", "The Orthodontist", "The Astronomer", "The Consultant", "The Archeologist", "The Inspector", "The Recruiter", "The Judge", "The Designer", "The Stockbroker", "The Operator", "The Drafter", "The Attorney", "The Economist", "The Chemist", "The Conservationist", "The Editor", "The Choreographer", "The Carpenter", "The Artist", "The Janitor", "The Author", "The Welder", "The Installer", "The Cashier", "The Photographer", "The Buyer", "The Maid", "The Butcher")>> <<print either("of Cold Cuts", "of Baloney", "of Hong Kong", "of Monday Mornings", "of Lucky Charms", "of Potato Salad", "of Desperation", "of Tiny Balloons", "of Spring", "of Fall", "of Peace", "of Fools", "of Sorrow", "of Brunch", "of Supper", "of Hopscotch", "of Seattle", "of Justice", "of Surprise", "of Canada", "of Detroit", "of Butterflies", "of Sweet Smelling Flowers", "of Lawn Gnomes", "of Miniature Golf", "of Petting Zoos", "of London", "of Mexico", "of Sydney", "of Playing Cards", "of Cosplay", "of Burritos", "of Drive-in Movies", "of Retirement Homes", "of Old Age", "of IHOP", "of Nerds", "of Fiction", "of Flatulence", "of Flapjacks", "of the Wilderness", "of Slippery Tongues", "of Bad Poetry", "of Mullets", "of Chickens", "of Punching", "of Kicking", "of Karate Chops", "of Headbutts", "of Bedtime Stories", "of Weapons", "of War", "of Spikes", "of New York", "of Dead Leaves", "of the Desert", "of Scholars", "of Lies", "of Summer", "of Winter", "of Soft Kisses", "of Bald Heads", "of Fat", "of Time", "of the Opera", "of Congress", "of Parliament", "of Wall Street", "of Fairy Tales", "of Rome", "of Tokyo", "of Mars", "of Mayonnaise", "of Hollywood", "of Goodwill", "of Christmas", "of Dirty Socks", "of Saturday Morning Cartoons", "of the Moon", "of the Asylum", "of Rust", "of Mayhem", "of Chaos", "of Turmoil", "of Bedlam", "of the Masses", "of Havoc", "of TV", "of Sci-fi", "of Cats", "of Lions", "of Broadway Musicals", "of Side Hugs", "of the Future", "of the Past", "of Forever", "of Serial Killers", "of Psychopaths", "of America", "of Underwear")>> \n\nBased on your choices, you will be reincarnated as:\n<<print either("a Cow", "a Pig", "a Chicken", "a Butterfly", "an Eagle", "a Unicorn", "a Flamingo", "a Prairie Dog", "a Squirrel", "a Monkey", "a Goldfish", "an Aardvark", "an Alpaca", "an Armadillo", "a Donkey", "a Baboon", "a Badger", "a Barracuda", "a Bear", "a Beaver", "a Bee", "a Bison", "a Caribou", "a Cheetah", "a Chinchilla", "a Crocodile", "a Dolphin", "a Dragonfly", "a Duck", "an Elephant", "a Falcon", "a Fox", "a Giraffe", "a Horse", "a Hummingbird", "a Jaguar", "a Jellyfish", "a Kangaroo", "a Komodo Dragon", "a Lemur", "a Lion", "a Llama", "a Mongoose", "a Moose", "an Owl", "an Otter", "a Parrot", "a Pelican", "a Red Panda", "a Rhinoceros", "an Ameba", "a Parasite", "a Moth", "a Cockroach", "a Bat", "an Ant", "a Hyena", "a Flea", "a Tick", "a Wasp", "a Caterpillar", "a Crab", "an Eel", "a Ferret", "a Fly", "a Frog", "a Gnat", "a Goat", "a Goose", "a Guinea Pig", "a Hamster", "a Hedgehog", "a Lobster", "a Locust", "a Mantis", "a Mole", "a Mosquito", "a Newt", "an Octopus", "an Oyster", "an Ostrich", "a Pigeon", "a Porcupine", "a Quail", "a Raccoon", "a Raven", "a Sheep", "a Skunk", "a Snail", "a Spider", "a Stinkbug", "a Termite", "a Turkey", "a Vulture", "a Weasel", "a Wombat", "a Worm", "a Zebra", "a Woodpecker", "a Yak")>> <<print either("with allergies", "with anti-social behavior", "with asthma", "with back pain", "with bladder problems", "with high blood pressure", "with low blood pressure", "with dizziness", "with dry mouth", "with dandruff", "with diarrhea", "with dry eyes", "with food cravings", "with gas", "with gout", "with hay fever", "with headaches", "with hearing loss", "with heartburn", "with hemorrhoids", "with hot flashes", "with iron deficiency", "with irritable bowel syndrome", "with insomnia", "with joint pain", "with leg cramps", "with low blood sugar", "with meningitis", "with memory problems", "with nasal congestion", "with nausea", "with neck problems", "with obesity", "with premature aging", "with pinkeye", "with PMS", "with Pneumonia", "with Rickets", "with tooth decay", "with ulcers", "with warts", "with gingivitis", "with a lazy eye", "with a death wish", "with acne", "with athlete's foot", "with body odor", "with cellulite", "with diarrhea", "with diabetes", "with epilepsy")>> \n\n<center>[[Next|Support the Author]]</center>

[[Karen|Karen]] did not make a habit of leaving the window open, but after a tray of cookies caught fire in the oven, she thought it necessary to air out her tiny lodgings.\n\n[[Karen|Karen]] was not the one who had put the cookies in the oven, and she was particularly surprised to find them there for her [[roommate|two]], who was obviously responsible, was nowhere to be found in the tiny two [[room]] [[apartment]].\n\nReluctantly, [[Karen|Karen]] scrapped the burnt cookies into the garbage.\n\nThe sick and strange smell made her cough and cover her mouth and nose with a towel. She did not know the cookies had been made using some of the excess ingredients she had used in her [[experiments]], nor did she realize the bizarre effect the mixture of smells was having on her body.\n\nShe had already been feeling [[unwell]], but suddenly her arms and legs seemed to move of their own volition. She did not mean to propel herself through the window, but it was as if an invisible force or [[entity|spirits]] had taken dominion of her.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 470>>\n<<endnobr>>He’s still dazed. You @@color:#000081;slap@@ him again.\n\n“What is your destination?” The elevator chimes.\n\n“We want the penthouse,” you say grabbing the guard by the throat.\n\n“Penthouse,” he coughs.\n\n“Authentication level verified. One moment please.” The elevator bolts upward and then suddenly stops. The doors slide open. “Please have a pleasant stay.”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;punch@@ the guard in the face and then step into the penthouse. “Hello,” you shout. “Old man!” You walk into the living room. “You have a guest.”\n\n“I have been called many things, but old man is not one of them,” an old female voice says.\n\nYou turn right. A woman in her nineties stands in the hallway with a shotgun pointed at your heart. “You know that thing has a mean kick,” you say with a smirk.\n\nShe raises an eyebrow unimpressed. “Either you’re stupid or incredibly stupid.”\n\nYou shrug. “The Boss must be in dire straits if he’s hiring old ladies to be his bodyguards.”\n\nShe shakes her head. “Who is it you think you’re talking about?”\n\n“The Boss, the guy that owns this building and controls seventy percent of this city, where is he?”\n\nShe tilts her head with bewilderment. “I own this building, and I control eighty-five percent of this city.” She keeps the shotgun level at your chest. “What did you really come here for?”\n\nYou sigh. “Just tell me where I can find the Boss. I don’t make it a habit of @@color:#000081;beating up@@ old ladies, but don’t think I won’t make an exception.”\n\nShe pulls the trigger and the buckshot tears through your shoulder. You twist over the back of the couch and hit the wooden floor hard. “Why didn’t you do something?” You say in your head.\n\n“You advised me not to. I am, after all, only a guest,” Ayporos says.\n\nYou groan. “Quit acting like your feelings are hurt and start helping. Maybe you didn’t realize, but your host is @@color:#000081;bleeding out.”@@\n\n“Are you certain?” Ayporos asks.\n\nYou hear the old lady reload the shotgun. “Yes, yes. I don’t plan on going back to Hell just yet.”\n\nSuddenly your arms and legs move under Ayporos’s control. You twist over the couch and across the room with incredible speed. The old woman lifts the shotgun toward you, but you twirl it around and @@color:#000081;pull@@ the trigger. She slides across the floor with a hole in her stomach.\n\nAlmost as quickly, your muscles fall under your command. You feel them ache and tingle. “You didn’t have to shoot her,” you say to Ayporos.\n\n“You openly made your threat against her and she refused to heed it.”\n\n“Still, she was just an old lady.”\n\n[[Set the shotgun on the table.]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 171>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -95>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -12>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<endnobr>>You think of the meanest, most horrible thing you could say to the Boss and then you try to say it. You try so desperately to say it. You @@color:#000081;struggle@@ and fight to say it. Your muscles clench and twitch as your will struggles against the blue gelatin.\n\nThen suddenly you feel something in your lower gut.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Oh no...@@\n\nYou know that feeling... why’d you have to think about peeing earlier... Struggling against the blue gelatin only made it worse. You have to use the toilet so badly, but the blue gelatin is blocking all of your body parts.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;It’s too late now...@@\n\nNo one can see the @@color:#000081;panic@@ on your face because your expression hasn’t changed. If only they could read your mind.\n\nYour gut twitches and suddenly your intestines @@color:#000081;explode.@@ The Boss and the thugs have no idea. The gelatin hasn’t moved.\n\nEven though you can’t close your eyes, everything fades to black. Of all the explosions that could have killed you... intestines were the only one you weren’t prepared for@@color:#000081;...@@\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 5]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 170>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;Sneaking@@ around back is what you would have done anyway and besides, the lobby has too many cameras. You grab two pistols and head around the building to the rear entrance.\n\nIf you’re lucky, the guards won’t see you coming, and they’ll go down quietly. That’s a big if.\n\nYou enter the password you @@color:#000081;stole@@ from Alana six months back. The keypad light turns green and you walk inside. Before you can take a second step, the butt of a gun @@color:#000081;slams@@ into the back of your head. You collapse to the floor, seeing stars.\n\nYou twist around.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is another instance when playing it safe doesn’t have a “positive” outcome. After I wrote a large chunk of the intro, I realized Jimmy Lee never actually defeated the main character.This scene was my way of giving Jimmy Lee a little more credibility. If the reader thinks Jimmy Lee can kill them then they’ll react differently to him the next time they read the story.<<endif>>\nJimmy stands over you with a gun pointed at your head. He grins. “I bet that hurt; at least, I hope it did.” His eyes sparkle with excitement. “Your little visit really got me thinking. What you said about promotions – your head on a platter would get me a big one. And if you’re wondering, this is business,” he shrugs, “but it’s also @@color:#000081;personal.”@@\n\nYou hear the gun go off and then—\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 22]]\n

Seven Bullets

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 108>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>After your untimely demise, several more assassins are sent after the woman, each one dying more gruesomely than the last. The Boss finally decides pursuing the genius doctor is too expensive, and he moves his resources elsewhere. This, of course, will not stop the genius doctor from pursuing him.\n\nWhile yachting through the Mediterranean, the Boss is accosted by two freakishly large sharks. The sharks are so large, they are able to tear a hole in his ship. As he falls over the side the two sharks devour him. Footage of the sharks causes panic among the locals and tourists, but mysteriously, the creatures are never seen again.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 134>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Clark, refusing to let his research go to waste, collects as much of your gooey remains as possible. When he and the other scientists are finally rescued, he immediately continues his research concerning your genetic mutation.\n\nOver the course of several years, he develops a formula using your remains... a formula that could only be described as the fountain of youth. Any person who drinks Clark’s serum and bathes in your gooey remains is healed of their wounds and regains up to thirty years of life.\n\nEventually Clark is able to duplicate and mass produce your remains. The product is so popular that almost every household in North America and Europe has Clark’s serum and a bathtub full of your gooey bits. As a result, the average human life expectance increases by four hundred years.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 821>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You limp to Jazelle, slip under her arm, and help her up. The damage isn’t too serious, just painful. Her ankle is twisted, maybe worse. You lug her to the boulders and nod toward @@color:#000081;the second one.@@\n\nAyporos scrawls the door on the stone and lightly blows on the outline. The chalk glimmers.\n\n“Shall we,” Ayporos says encouragingly.\n\n“Wait,” Jazelle groans. “Why do you blow on it?”\n\nAyporos grins. “All good doors are built with a lock. In Hell, demon’s breath is the key, at least, for the paths that are more obscured.”\n\n“Gross,” she retorts.\n\n“If germs are a concern for you while in Hell, you should reevaluate your worry.”\n\n“That’s easy for you to say. It’s your breath.”\n\nAyporos shakes his head and opens the door. “You humans are very peculiar.”\n\nYou follow him through the opening into the darkness. You bump into Jazelle.\n\n“Ow,” she says, shoving you back. “Watch it.”\n\n“Shh,” Ayporos whispers. “It is best if we traverse this location with care. Disturbing the objects here is ill-advised.”\n\n“What is that supposed to mean?” Jazelle whispers back.\n\nAyporos shushes her again. “See for yourself,” he says, pointing behind you.\n\nYou turn expecting to see the chalk door, but it’s gone. Instead, you stare at a small bedroom through the slats of a closet door. Someone is in the bed sleeping. The room feels very familiar. “Where are we?” You whisper.\n\nAyporos motions for you to be silent and points at the bed.\n\nA man walks into the room. There’s a gun in his hand and a stern look in his eyes. You’ve seen him before, but you can’t quite place him.\n\nThe man grabs the person in the bed and shoves the gun in their face. “I’m sorry,” he says. “The Boss wanted you to know that Gillian is in good hands.”\n\nThe phrase cuts at your heart.\n\n“Hey,” Jazelle whispers. “That looks a lot like you.”\n\n“That’s because it is me.” You glower at Ayporos. “Where are we? When are we? What’d you do?”\n\n“I have taken us down a path the other Fallen will not think to travel.”\n\n“Does that mean we’re back home?”\n\n“Hardly.” Ayporos touches your temple. “We are inside your mind. A dangerous place it would seem, but if we are to avoid detection, it is the most concealed route.”\n\nYou slap Ayporos’s hand away. “How is that even possible? I can’t live inside my own head.”\n\nAyporos lifts an eyebrow with a pinch of annoyance. “Why do you still think in terms of what is and what is not? Existence is a constraint you must unlearn. Your memory is as real as any other reality in Hell and, as such, can be used to connect other segments of time and place.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Existence and time are challenging concepts particularly when discussing religion. What does a person look like in Heaven? Are they corporeal? What about age and memory? What if a person dies senile and feeble? How is a person’s identity (physical and mental) defined after death?In A Proud Taste of Scarlet and Miniver by E. L. Konigsburg, residents in heaven choose their age and appearance. That idea really stuck with me and when Ayporos says “memory is as real as any other reality” it’s a reference to Konigsburg’s book.<<endif>>\n“Not that I don’t appreciate the lecture,” Jazelle interrupts. “But how much time are we going to spend in this closet?”\n\n“Of course,” Ayporos agrees. “In a moment we shall proceed.”\n\nYou glance back at yourself.\n\nThe other you punches the man in the crotch. He groans and falls on the floor. You swing around to kick him in the face. He rolls, pulls a knife from his belt and flings it at you.\n\nYou deflect it with the gun and fire three rounds at him. He slips into the kitchen before a bullet can find him. You take cover behind the adjacent wall.\n\nYou inch around the corner.\n\n“Now,” Ayporos says, pushing open the closet doors.\n\nYou move into the bedroom. You can hear the fight continuing in the kitchen.\n\nAyporos lifts his hand for you and Jazelle to wait.\n\n“If this is all in my head, what does it matter if my other self sees us?”\n\n“Were you not paying attention? As I said, this is a reality. The events that happen here ripple through the other realities in Hell, including the reality in which you are traversing your own memories.”\n\n“What?” You say bewildered.\n\n“Who cares,” Jazelle says. “Why don’t you just draw the chalk door already?”\n\n“Patience.”\n\nSuddenly the kitchen cupboards explode causing fire and smoke to tear through the hallway.\n\n“Now,” Ayporos says, walking into the smoke. “This way.”\n\nYou only understood about half of what Ayporos was saying, but if you change the reality of your memory that means you can change the reality of Hell. That may not be such a bad idea. You have no clue what to do or what kind of affect it will have, but any kind of change has to be a good one. You’re talking about Hell after all.\n\nThen again, Ayporos seems to know what he’s doing and, as far as you can tell, he wants to get out of Hell as much as you do, but he is a demon, and they aren’t known for being trustworthy. He has to have some ulterior motives. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to screw you over.\n\n[[Try to mess with reality]]\n[[Follow Ayporos through the smoke]]\n

Seven Bullets Outline #2\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1024>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +9>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Okay, maybe this is just the concussion talking, but this plan is crazy. You’re dragging two half dead bodies through the street toward an alley, where you plan to interrogate them while monsters suck the marrow out of living people. \n\nYou’re obviously not as sane as you thought you were, but you’re committed to the plan now, so you keep dragging the bodies until you reach the @@color:#000081;dark shadows@@ of the alley.\n\nYou peek around the corner. The street is empty, and the creatures are still dancing around the fountain, sucking on bones. Looks like it’s your @@color:#000081;lucky day@@... @@color:#000081;relatively@@ speaking.\n\nYou twist back into the alley. The shadows are dark, and you can barely see the two burnt bodies you plucked from the lava. It’s probably best if you don’t have to stare at their disfigured faces. The lava burnt through most of their flesh. Hopefully they still have enough of their tongues and lips to talk.\n\nYou kneel down next to the woman and whisper, “Tell me what you know about this place. How’d you get here?”\n\nShe mumbles and shakes with pain. She’s more traumatized than you thought.\n\n“Did someone bring you here?” You ask.\n\nShe shakes her head.\n\n“Well it’s not like a giant stone face swallowed you whole, right?” You say sarcastically.\n\nShe nods frantically and grabs at your arm.\n\nThat’s not the @@color:#000081;answer@@ you were expecting.\n\n“How’d you end up in the lava, and what are those creatures?”\n\nShe gives you a blank stare. It seems she knows as little about this place as you do. Maybe the guy saw something she didn’t. You glance over at him. “Do you know where we are?”\n\nHe nods and grins. “Hell,” he whispers. “We’re dead, and this is Hell.” His voice is raspy and forced as if his windpipe was partially burnt.\n\n“No,” you sigh. “This can’t be Hell because that would mean I’m dead too.”\n\nHis grin widens.\n\nIt was a waste of time saving them. They’re obviously more insane than you are. You frown. You won’t get far with these two tagging along. You’ll have to ditch them. You stand and turn.\n\n“Wait,” the woman says. “I remember.”\n\nYour @@color:#000081;curiosity@@ gets the better of you. You turn and kneel. “Alright, I’m listening.”\n\n“There were bullets,” she gasps, “hundreds of them. They hurt.” She touches her chest and stomach. “They killed us.”\n\n“It was glorious,” the guy says ecstatically. “We were legends, and they had to kill us because they feared our power.”\n\n“Right,” you say apathetically.\n\n“It took more than twenty of them to finally stop us,” the woman says with revelatory pride.\n\nYou look closer at her face. The skin regenerates before your eyes. The burns are almost completely gone. You glance over at the man. He's healing too.\n\n“How?” You shake your head. This is all just part of your delusion. That has to be it. That still makes more sense than Hell.\n\n“Incredible,” the man says staring at his arms and fingers. His skin is pale, smooth, and completely healed. You see a dozen small circular scars on his chest. They resemble bullet wounds.\n\nThe man stands with reinvigorated strength. “I am Cecil, and this is my wife Sylvia. We are in your debt young stranger.” Cecil bows, “And we always repay our debts, isn’t that right honey?”\n\nSylvia stands, bearing a wide grin, “Of course, sweetheart.” She gazes at you. “You’ve given us a second chance. Who are you?” Her eyes try to pry into your soul. They’re cold and piercing, vacant and hungry. \n\nYou’ve seen that look before in the most vicious of killers. You see the same look in Cecil’s gaze. “It’s not important who I am," you say coldly. "All that matters is getting out of here.”\n\n“Understandably so,” Cecil says rubbing the scars on his chest. “We all have lives to get back to, don’t we?”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Cecil and Sylvia are bad people who have been sent to Hell/Hades as punishment for Earthly crimes. I imagined them as a more sadistic version of Bonne and Clyde.Most of the inhabitants in Hell suffer from an extreme indulgence. In the case of Cecil and Sylvia, I saw them as thrill seekers who sacrificed (murdered) other people for excitement and sexual gratification.Cecil and Sylvia are (potentially) the first humans the main character meets in Hell. I hoped the reader would see a correlation between them since they’re both in Hell.<<endif>>\nSylvia falls against him and kisses him feverishly. “Yes, such wonderful lives.”\n\nYou sigh and rub your forehead. “Maybe you guys could postpone that lovey-dovey stuff until after we get out of here?”\n\n“What would the fun be in that?” Sylvia says coyly. “The risk makes it so much more,” she lays her hand on your shoulder. “Intense.” She leans in close, letting your cheeks touch. “But why don’t you let me show you?” She whispers softly into your ear.\n\nYou step back, @@color:#000081;push her@@ hand away, and glower at her. “I’m fine, thanks. I’d rather get out of this alive.”\n\n“Alive?” Cecil says playfully. “You can’t be certain that state of being applies to us anymore.”\n\n“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Either way I’m finding a way home.”\n\n“Yes, as are we,” Sylvia says rubbing her hands against her new skin. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t pleasure to be had along the way.”\n\nYou have a feeling her type of pleasure involves a set of carving knifes and a pair of handcuffs. “I’ll pass,” you growl. If you let them wander, there’s a good chance they’ll get you caught. It’s better to keep an eye on them, at least until you can get out of this city. “Just stay quiet and don’t slow me down,” you bark.\n\n“Hmm,” Sylvia coos. “I love it when they crack the whip.”\n\n“Yes,” Cecil says lustfully.\n\nYou roll your eyes. This is why you like to work alone. “Follow me,” you whisper. You turn left, right, left, @@color:#000081;weaving@@ your way through the narrow gaps between buildings. Cecil and Sylvia stay close and manage to match your speed.\n\nYou slow down and press against the side of a building. You can hear at least five creatures snarling and laughing and the faint whimper of humans... at least what’s left of them.\n\n“Quiet,” you whisper. “We’ll have to wait for the creatures to clear out.”\n\n“You mean Demons,” Sylvia corrects you.\n\nYou motion for her to be silent.\n\nCecil yawns. “How tiresome. Perhaps we can at least find a perch to watch from.”\n\n“Oh, yes,” Sylvia says eagerly. “I want to see.” She shoves her lips against Cecil’s.\n\nAny more noise and the creatures are going to discover you.\n\n[[Ask politely for them to be quiet]]\n[[Force your hand over Sylvia’s mouth]]\n

<center>Hef's Science Log</center>\n\nI have seen an unusual change in subject 173-12 (Brandy), but I have yet to pin down the root causes of her current mutation.\n\nI am at a loss, and I fear time is too great an adversary to resolve this new strain. If my findings are accurate (God help us all, I hope they are not) then humanity has reached a point of true dissonance.\n\nIt has become apparent that I will not be able to save subject 173-12. Her contribution to science and humanity deserves recognition, but as is obvious, this information must remain classified. My only hope is that the subject’s sacrifice will bring this project one step closer to a cure ...a cure that continues to elude me.\n\nI fear I am humanities only hope and the days to come will be too trying for my old and weary bones. Where does that leave the populace?\n\nI do not know.\n\nDeath comes for us all. I accept this fact as a natural phenomenon, but this change...this mutation...is far from natural.\n\nThe future is full of monsters...\n\nAnd we are the future...\n\n<center>[[Chapter 4|deadSexyCh4]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1030>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Alright fine, you can come with us.”\n\n“You can’t be serious,” Jazelle shouts after vomiting one last time. “We can’t trust him.”\n\n“Do you have a better idea?”\n\nShe huffs and crosses her arms. “No.”\n\nAyporos steps between you. “A demon’s oath is unbreakable. I swear I shall not harm either of you.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Ayporos does not speak using contractions. I felt contractions were more of a human expression and demons were too constrained by formality to be that expressive. (See: Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation)<<endif>>\n“As comforting as that may be,” Jazelle leans on her hip with some sass. “I still don’t trust you.”\n\n“Then a gesture of goodwill.” He walks next to you and presses his soft, delicate hand against your stomach. You feel a wave of heat and the sensation of a knot being tied around your abdomen.\n\nAyporos takes his hand away. Your stomach is back to @@color:#000081;normal.@@ There’s not even a scratch.\n\n“Thanks,” you say slightly bewildered. “What about him?” You point to the tortured man sitting helplessly.\n\nAyporos shrugs. “He would only slow us down.”\n\n“Wait,” Jazelle interrupts, wiping her mouth. “We can’t just leave him.”\n\nYou glance back at her. “You can be the one to hall him around if you want. I doubt those legs will carry him.”\n\nShe gives you an @@color:#000081;angry glare.@@ “He’s human too.”\n\n“And like you said before – if he’s here in Hell, he probably deserves this.”\n\nShe’s about to contradict you, but she doesn’t. “Fine,” she says. “What does your new BFF think we should do?”\n\nYou look over at Ayporos.\n\n“We should leave,” he says, straightening his 16th century shirt and pants. “Obviously.”\n\n“Obviously,” she scoffs. “Why don’t you go ahead and lead the way then.”\n\n“As you wish,” he says pulling a small cloth bag from his pocket. He opens the bag and pulls out a piece of chalk. “Follow me.”\n\nYou glance at Jazelle and shrug.\n\n“Fine,” she sighs and follows Ayporos.\n\nYou follow her.\n\nHe walks out the backdoor and kneels against the stone floor of the veranda. He draws a large rectangle on the ground and a small circle near its center. He takes a deep breath and exhales into the carefully drawn lines. The chalk shimmers.\n\nAyporos reaches out, turns the circle, and pulls the rectangle open as if it were a door. “This way,” he says, stepping into the newly formed entrance.\n\nYou watch Ayporos disappear into the darkness.\n\n“You go next,” Jazelle says, lightly pushing your shoulder.\n\n“Yeah, alright,” you say, just a little nervous. This demon may seem friendly enough, but Jazelle’s right. Just because you need him doesn’t mean you need to trust him. You take a deep breath and focus your mind. If this is a trap, you need to be prepared and ready to fight.\n\nYou nod back at Jazelle and then step into the dark, chalk-drawn doorway.\n\nAs your foot emerges on the other side you realize you’re falling, tumbling head over feet. You hit something and bounce into the air again. Everything appears red and slightly distorted. You’re too disoriented to describe what you’re seeing. You hit a wall. It feels rubbery and light. You’re flung into the air again and eventually bounce like a @@color:#000081;ragdoll@@ against the elastic ground.\n\nBut it’s not like the ground. It feels like the wall – rubbery and light, slightly transparent. You finally manage to stand. You’re in some kind of bubble – a red, oval shaped bubble. No, it’s not a bubble. It’s a balloon. It’s a giant balloon.\n\nYou’re about to grab Ayporos when you hear Jazelle yelp and bounce off the wall into your back. You both tumble to the ground and bounce against the springy material.\n\nYou push Jazelle off and stand. It takes a little extra effort to balance yourself. You grab Ayporos by the shirt. “Where are we?” You growl.\n\n“Do not be alarmed. To remain unnoticed, we are obligated to take the less traveled roads,” he tilts his head. “Though it would be wise to act with haste.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>There are several other rules Ayporos must adhere to, the most important being that he cannot break an oath or tell a lie.In much of the Christian New Testament, the Devil is portrayed as a deceiver. I felt it would be too easy for Ayporos to get what he wanted simply by lying.In my opinion, temptation is most effective (and interesting) when it withholds the truth instead of fabricating it.<<endif>>\n“Tell me what you’re—”\n\n“Hey,” Jazelle interrupts you. “Hey, what’s that?”\n\nHer face squishes against the thin, red rubber. You follow her gaze. Suddenly you realize the balloon is floating in the air. You must be 11,000 feet off the ground. Dozens of other balloons float around you. You can make out some of the objects below.\n\nThere’s a couch, a chair, a television, a coffee table. You’re in a suburban living room. Seven children scamper through the room and out the adjacent hallway. The gust of air sends the balloon whirling through the room.\n\nYou slam and press into the elastic wall of the balloon. You feel dizzy and nauseous. The balloon slows and the three of you slide to its center.\n\nAyporos pushes Jazelle’s leg off his face. “As I said, we should move with haste.”\n\n“Yeah,” you say trying not to vomit.\n\nAyporos takes another stick of chalk from his bag and draws a door.\n\nYou stare through the thin elastic wall. This must be another one of the torment chambers...some poor soul reliving this weird nightmare. The person probably isn’t one of the laughing children enjoying a birthday party.\n\nYou scan the room.\n\nThere.\n\nOne of the balloons is different from the rest. Something’s inside it. The other balloons are obstructing the view. You move to the left until you can see.\n\nIt has a slight orange hue. There are bones and organs floating inside it and a woman’s head on the top of it.\nIt looks like she’s screaming.\n\nAs the balloon twists, you realize her head isn’t just connected to the balloon, it’s part of it. You see two arms and legs jut out from the sides and bottom of the balloon. It’s her body – the balloon is her body.\n\nThe children rush back into the room and swing at the balloons with foam bats – or grab the balloons and sit on them until they explode.\n\nYou turn back to Ayporos. “Make haste already.”\n\nHe lightly blows on the chalk outline causing it to glow. He twists the circle at its center and opens the rectangle as if it were a door.\n\nYou grab Jazelle and jump through right behind him.\n\nYou belly flop into a hard plot of dirt. You groan.\n\nAyporos extends his hand to help you up.\n\n[[Take Ayporos’s hand]]\n[[Refuse his aid]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 879>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +25>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I don’t mean to sound @@color:#000081;selfish,”@@ you say. “But maybe I ought to go first. If something goes wrong and you’re gone, I @@color:#000081;wouldn’t know@@ how to fix this thing.”\n\n“Yes,” Quintus says begrudgingly. “I know. I’m just so terrified I wanted to go first, but someone needs to operate the machine, and I’m the only person qualified.”\n\n“Sorry,” you say.\n\n“Yes, well, we’ll both be sorry if we don’t leave now.” Quintus points to a circle etched in the floor. “Stand within that circle, please.”\n\nYou stand in the circle. “So is this going to fix the problem with the portals too?”\n\n“I hope,” Quintus says with a weary shrug. “Now be quiet and don’t move.”\n\nYou take a deep breath and remain motionless.\n\nQuintus finishes adjusting the machine. “I’ll be right behind you... also, this may hurt a bit.” He yanks a lever down and the circle glows with blue and purple light. Blinding strands of luminosity whip out from the ground like tentacles.\n\nYou grimace from the @@color:#000081;pain.@@ It hurts worse than the first time. “Are you sure this is going to work?” You ask through gritted teeth.\n\n“It has to,” Quintus says. “Now stop struggling. You’ll only make it hurt more.”\n\nYou try to relax, but each breath feels like you’re inhaling liquid fire. The ground beneath you cracks and spasms with rays of light. You fall. The light envelops you, and your head reels in agony. It’s like your body is being twisted and yanked in every direction at once, and then...\n\nYou cough, and realize you’re curled in a ball, lying in a field of grass. Your body aches in every muscle and bone. You painfully stand. It’s dark. The moon is overhead -- just one. You’re back. You have to be back.\n\nBut where?\n\nYou examine your surroundings, mostly grass, a few trees in the distance, a baseball diamond. It’s the park near city hall.\n\nYou made it @@color:#000081;home.@@\n\nYou shamble to the bleachers and wait for Quintus to appear.\n\nA few minutes pass.\n\nAnd a few more.\n\nYou wonder if something went wrong. He said he would be right behind you. The creatures might have breached the castle, or maybe the machine broke, or...\n\nYou shake your head. “No,” you tell yourself. “Don’t think like that.” Maybe you’ve got a bad feeling, but you need to stay positive. You made it home and Quintus will too. You won't abandon him. He got you home. The least you can do is wait a few more minutes.\n\nSuddenly, the air cracks with electricity and a blue orb forms at the center of the field. You have to shield your eyes it’s so bright. Then, in an instant, the field is dark again.\n\nIt takes a moment for your eyes to adjust.\n\nA person is curled on the ground.\n\n“Quintus,” you shout while running to him. You kneel down beside him. “You’re going to feel dizzy for a couple minutes.”\n\nQuintus rolls onto his back and groans in pain.\n\nYou freeze in shock.\n\nThe man’s face is old and wrinkled. His hair is gray and thinning. His slender and frail hand grabs your arm. “Did it work?” He gasps.\n\n“Shh,” you say. “Save your energy.”\n\n“We’re home, aren’t we?” \n\n“Yes, it worked. We’re home. You did it.”\n\nHe sighs with relief. Then he notices his wrinkled hand. His eyes look confused. He touches his face, feels the sagging skin and wrinkles. “What’s happened to me?”\n\nHe was only minutes behind you, but it looks like he’s aged forty years. “I-I-” You don’t know what to tell him. You help him into a sitting position.\n\n“How long,” he takes a breath, “was I gone?”\n\n“A few minutes.”\n\nHe sighs and wearily nods. “The portal...” He coughs vehemently and takes a moment to regain his breath. “I had to make certain,” he takes a breath, “the bridge to our world was closed.”\n\n“Does that mean Earth is safe?”\n\nHe nods. “For now.”\n\nYou help him to his feet. “You’re going to be alright.”\n\nHis legs are so weak he can barely move them. “A few minutes can make all the difference,” he says.\n\n“Don’t worry,” you tell him. “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”\n\n“It won’t matter,” he says. “I don’t have much time left now.”\n\nYou help him to the bleachers.\n\nHe sits down wearily. “Here,” he says, handing you a small crystal. “All of my research,” he says. “You may need it.”\n\nYou have no idea how to read a crystal, but you don’t tell him that, instead you nod. “Of course.”\n\nHe leans back and closes his eyes.\n\n“Quintus?” You say. “Quintus?”\n\nHe doesn’t move.\n\nYou check his pulse. He’s gone.\n\nNo one will know what he did to save the Earth, no one except for you. He made the ultimate sacrifice, but there’s nothing you can do for him now. He’s dead.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Poor Quintus. There’s no situation in which you and Quintus can escape Ragnoss alive and together. This is one of the big climactic moments for the Ragnoss segment.I think escape should require some form of sacrifice - in this case, Quintus.Writing tip: A bit of suffering is good for any plot.<<endif>>\nGillian’s alive, and if you work quick, maybe she’ll stay that way.\n\nYou need to get some weapons and some food. Your apartment’s on the other side of town. In your current condition, you probably wouldn’t make it more than five blocks. You’ll have to find someplace closer.\n\nIt’s a good thing you keep supply stashes all over the city.\n\n[[Go to the supply stash at Gillian’s house]]\n[[Go to the supply stash at the Gym around the corner]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 250>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -24>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -26>>\n<<endnobr>>“Just give me the painkillers and some bandages.”\n\nThe Doctor yawns. “You won’t get far.”\n\n“I’ll worry about that.”\n\n“You don’t understand.”\n\n“Just hand them over,” you say sharply.\n\nThe Doctor yanks open a few drawers. He gives you some bandages and a bottle of pills. “Take two every eight hours.”\n\nYou can barely lift your arm to take them. You push open the door and shuffle to the lobby. You bump into @@color:#000081;someone.@@ It takes you a moment to realize it’s Chu – Wong’s top assassin and personal chef. The chef thing was always confusing.\n\nOf course, now’s not the time to ask for his BBQ recipe. You keep your head low and hope he doesn’t recognize you. He doesn’t look hurt so he must have brought someone else.\n\nWith the blood loss and the pain, your reactions are slow – a little too slow. By the time you reach the lobby, you’re staring @@color:#000081;Wong@@ in his old wrinkly face.\n\nHe shouts something you can’t understand.\n\nYou turn and sprint for the door, but before you can even take a step, Chu punches you @@color:#000081;three times@@ in the back.\n\nYou drop to the dirty tile floor. The pain is gone, but so is your ability to move. You can’t even tilt your head. Wong’s wanted to kill you for years, but since you were working for the Boss you were protected. That isn’t the case anymore.\n\nWong shouts a command. Chu raises his leg and brings it down on your @@color:#000081;face.@@\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 18]]\n

An Artistic Rendering of my Cat!\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 434>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +35000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s been awhile since you’ve relied on stealth for a mission, but if you want the Boss constantly looking over his shoulder, you’ll need to attack from the @@color:#000081;shadows.@@ He needs to believe that you can hurt him no matter where he is or what he’s doing. If you can get to him with nothing more than throwing knifes, you can get to him with anything.\n\nYou wrap a belt around your waist and notch the throwing knifes onto it. It only holds twenty, so you need to make every single blade count. You slide a silenced pistol on each side of the belt. You’ve got one last thing to do. \n\nYou walk to another crate and push it over. A few missiles roll across the cement floor. Heh, this should be interesting. You crack open another crate and pull out four cubes of C4. You place two on the biggest struts of the warehouse, you leave one near the crate of missiles, and you attach one on the main door frame.\n\nYou peek through the window. John Two Toes bawls like a baby as his car burns. The two other thugs jog toward the warehouse. You sprint for the opposite door and twist around the side of the building, @@color:#000081;avoiding@@ the security camera’s line of sight. As you make it to the street, you hear the warehouse @@color:#000081;explode.@@\n\nThat should get the Boss’s attention.\n\nFire billows through the sky. You glance over the hood of a parked car. Three smaller @@color:#000081;explosions@@ take out what’s left of the walls. The warehouse crumbles in on itself.\n\nYour arms and legs tingle with excitement. The fun’s just getting started. You shatter the passenger window of a nearby Buick and unlock the doors. You tear out the plastic cover underneath the steering wheel, revealing a tangle of wires. You cut four of them and twist two of them together. You strike the other two together while tapping the gas pedal. A few sparks singe your finger, but the engine revs. You twist the other two wires together and put the car in gear.\n\nYou’ve got limited range using the throwing knifes which means you’ll need to get close and getting close will require darkness to stay concealed. The Boss has a generator room in the subbasement. Taking that out will cut the electricity to most of the building. You’d need to travel through the sewers to get to the subbasement which isn’t exactly comfortable ...or sanitary.\n\nOn the other hand, you could sneak in through a second story window and work your way to the penthouse from there.\n\n[[Take the sewers to the generator room]]\n[[Sneak in through the second story window]]\n

A Map of Sarrejiinn\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 310>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -80>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -80>>\n<<endnobr>>After an intensive ennee minnee minee mo vote, you load the blue round into the shotgun. You raise the barrel and pull the trigger. You hear a click and then a grinding sound.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Uh oh.@@\n\nThe shotgun quakes then gets so cold it burns your fingers. Before you can drop it, the chamber @@color:#000081;explodes@@ with blue gelatin. The gelatin covers your arms and expands up and around your body.\n\nYou can’t move. It enshrouds your legs and chest and finally your head. Even your eyeballs are frozen, but you’re still fully conscious.\n\nThe goons circle with their guns aimed at your head, though they seem more confused then you are. Being frozen like this is going to make rescuing Gillian almost impossible. It’s going to make just about everything impossible. You try not to think of what’s going to happen when you need to pee. Okay, this is probably like the second worst rescue mission you’ve ever attempted.\n\nWell done.\n\nIf you weren’t frozen you’d pat yourself on the back.\n\nThe thugs stare at you blankly for a few more seconds then one of them slides a dolly under you and rolls you to the elevator. You’re completely frozen. There’s @@color:#000081;nothing you can do@@ to stop them. The thugs prop you in the Boss’s penthouse, in front of the Boss.\n\nThe Boss grins.\n\nYou want to punch that smile off his face, but you can’t move your arms.\n\n“I knew you were giving me the cold shoulder,” the Boss chides. “But I never thought it was so literal.”\n\nYou try to glare at him but your expression won’t change...It can’t.\n\n“I had intended to enlist you in one of my plans, but the thought of you becoming a permanent trophy in my collection is almost too good an offer to refuse.” The Boss’s old wrinkled face beams with happiness.\n\n[[Insult the Boss]]\n[[Stay calm and endure the Boss's chastising]]\n

/% Place your story's setup code in this passage.\nAny macros in this passage will be run before the Start passage (or any passage you wish to Test Play) is run. %/\n/%\n<<set $neverGiveUp = false>>\n<<set $governmentSecrets = false>>\n<<set $starTrippin = false>>\n<<set $soThatsWhatHappens = false>>\n<<set $crankItTo11 = false>>\n<<set $rampage = false>>\n<<set $humanWreckingBall = false>>\n<<set $naturalDisaster = false>>\n<<set $murderer = false>>\n<<set $serialKiller = false>>\n<<set $trueAssassin = false>>\n<<set $turnTheOtherCheek = false>>\n<<set $sheHadItComing = false>>\n<<set $IQuit = false>>\n<<set $yippeeKiYay = false>>\n<<set $coldAndCalculating = false>>\n<<set $upCloseAndPersonal = false>>\n<<set $chauffeur = false>>\n<<set $daddysLittleGirl = false>>\n<<set $makingFriends = false>>\n<<set $getBehindMeSatan = false>>\n<<set $theDreadPirate = false>>\n<<set $joinTheATeam = false>>\n<<set $originStory = false>>\n<<set $whoNeedsFriends = false>>\n<<set $honorBound = false>>\n<<set $dazedAndConfused = false>>\n<<set $saveYourself = false>>\n<<set $happyEndings = false>>\n<<set $thatsFamily = false>>\n<<set $thePlotIsALie = false>>\n<<set $theBestLaidPlans = false>>\n<<set $consolationPrize = false>>\n<<set $RIP = false>>\n<<set $theButterflyEffect = false>>\n\n<<set $itsOver9000 = false>>\n<<set $iReadGood = false>>\n<<set $bookworm = false>>\n<<set $librarian = false>>\n<<set $shakespearesGhost = false>>\n\n<<set $introComments = false>>\n<<set $hellComments = false>>\n<<set $ragnossComments = false>>\n<<set $montanaComments = false>>\n%/\n<<set $wordcount = 0>>\n\n<<set $xp = 0>>\n<<set $lvl = 1>>\n\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<set $infamy = 5>>\n<<set $luck = 10>>\n\n<<set $melee = 0>>\n<<set $guns = 0>>\n<<set $sly = 0>>\n<<set $force = 0>>\n\n<<set $kills = 0>>\n<<set $wpn = " ">>\n<<set $damageCost = 0>>\n\n<<set $codename1 = " ">>\n<<set $codename2 = " ">>\n<<set $rebirth1 = " ">>\n<<set $rebirth2 = " ">>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 352>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +20>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +19>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +45>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve made it too far to die like this... like some pathetic weakling. You feel a @@color:#000081;blinding rage@@ in the pit of your stomach. You let it well up into your arms and legs, giving you @@color:#000081;strength.@@ Nobody threatens to kill you and gets away with it. Clark should know that... or at least he will in half a second.\n\nYou roll off the cot as the bullet tears through the canvas. You twist around one of the soldiers, @@color:#000081;ripping@@ out his Adam’s apple as you spin. Why’d you do that? It’s @@color:#000081;violent@@ even for you.\n\nYou twirl the dying soldier around and use him as a @@color:#000081;human shield.@@ Bullets rip through his chest. You throw his Swiss cheese body at the next closest guard. You could grab his weapon, but some part of you doesn’t want it. You have claws and teeth for killing... And you have the urge to use them.\n\nYou leap at two more soldiers. You @@color:#000081;bite@@ into the neck of one while snapping the arm of the other. It feels good to be so violent, like you were meant for it all your life. Why did you bury this feeling? Why did you ever feel sympathy?\n\n@@color:#CC0000;The Hunt...@@\n\nThat’s what you were meant for.\n\nYou pounce on Clark, batting the gun away. You shove your @@color:#000081;claws@@ into his chest and relish in his screams. You @@color:#000081;tear@@ out his heart and bite into it as he watches with his last bit of life. Your fur is matted with blood.\n\nYes, your fur... It’s thick now and warm.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>When I began outlining the secret facility segment I knew there needed to be at least one ending in which the main character transforms into one of the monsters.If you’ve read the Ragnoss segment and been confronted by the Ferralliise, then you’ll notice some similarities between those creatures and these.I tried to make several distinctions between the two:1) The “patients” have a victim mentality and are meant to appear more sympathetic. The Ferralliise have social customs and a culture built on hundreds of years of history.2) The Ferralliise have magical origins and are slaves to certain magical/spiritual entities. The human patients are grounded in (fictional) science inspired by werewolf mythology (the neon bullets resembling silver bullets).<<endif>>\nYou drag Clark’s limp body to the door as the other survivors flee in panic. You press his hand against the scanner. The door slides open. The creatures are there, in the hallway waiting.\n\nEach one sniffs you. They acknowledge your smell and accept you into the pack. They rush into the room, devouring the frantic survivors. Their screams sound delightful and the blood tastes delicious. You want more of it. You @@color:#CC0000;need@@ more of it.\n\nThere are millions of helpless pathetic humans at the surface, and you know just the path to get there...\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 373>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveChauffeur").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockChauffeur").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Yeah, okay maybe you’re a killer, but you’re not @@color:#000081;heartless.@@ He’s just a kid and, from the looks of it, a scared one.\n\nYou lean in. “Alright kid, I’m going to pull the gag out of your mouth, and I need you to stay quiet. You understand.”\n\nHe nods.\n\nYou pull the gag out of his mouth.\n\nHe coughs and spits over the side of the car. “You’re rescuing me?” He says full of hope and wonder.\n\nYou scratch your head. “Yeah, something like that.” You help him out of the trunk and @@color:#000081;untie the ropes.@@ “So, you recognize this car?”\n\nHe looks at it and shakes his head.\n\nThat’s good news – that means there’s a good chance the cops aren’t looking for it.\n\nIt’d be easy to leave the kid here – just call the cops and let them sort it out, but your little sliver of a conscience is tugging you in the other direction.\n\nYou motion toward the door. “Get in.”\n\nThe kid gets in the backseat. So he’s used to getting chauffeured around. That’s just swell.\n\nYou stare at him from the rearview mirror. “Alright kid, where do you live?”\n\nHe shakes his head. “I don’t know. We just moved here.”\n\n“Right,” you groan. “Of course you did.” The private school’s your only lead. Good thing it’s in the same direction as Wong’s restaurant. You glance back at the kid. “Buckle up.”\n\nWhen he does, you start the engine and head for the school.\n\nThe Russians have plenty of money so they must have taken the kid for leverage. “Hey kid, what’s your name?”\n\n“Seth.”\n\n“No, your last name.”\n\n“Maurer.”\n\n“Maurer?”\n\nHe nods.\n\nCrap. That explains why the Russians snatched him. Three months ago every global conglomerate wanted a piece of the Maurer patents when they went to auction. Even the Boss threw in a bid, but before a deal could go through, the patents were pulled and Maurer disappeared.\n\nWhy the Russians waited until now to take the kid is a mystery. Then again, it’s not your problem.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I wanted the criminal element in Seven Bullets to seem alive and actively independent of the reader’s choices. Seth Maurer was the embodiment of that idea. He’s been kidnapped by the Russians and you inadvertently stumble into his abduction (mucking up things for the Russians).I wanted other criminal “missions” to overlap and sometimes interfere with the reader’s attempts to rescue Gillian. My hope was to create the illusion of a larger criminal world.<<endif>>\nYou see the school up ahead. All you have to do is drop the kid off at the front office, but something in your gut is screaming get out of there.\n\n[[Walk the kid to the office]]\n[[Keep driving and circle back]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 530>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -70>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<set $wpn = "Enforcing Naps">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You veer left, run a red light, and take a hard right until the school is at least three blocks away. You park in a side street. “The kid and the car are yours as long as you leave me out of the report.”\n\nShe pulls another gun out from under her dress and points it at you. “What report?”\n\n@@color:#000081;Crap.@@ “How many guns do you have down there anyway?”\n\nShe grins. “The car and the kid are already mine. And you were dead the moment I saw you.”\n\nThe good news: she’s a fake cop. The bad news: her gun’s not, and it’s currently pointed at your stomach.\n\n“A bullet to the stomach is a slow way to die.” She says with a sadistic smile.\n\n“Listening to you jabber is a slow way to die.”\n\nShe sneers and pulls the trigger. You feel a sharp pain in your @@color:#000081;stomach,@@ and when you touch it; your fingers come back red.\n\nShe @@color:#000081;hits@@ you with the butt of the pistol then reaches over you to open the door. You grab her arm and squeeze the broken bone. She groans with pain.\n\nYou spit blood into her eyes. “You think I haven’t been shot in the stomach before?”\n\nShe looks at you wide-eyed. “Who are you?”\n\nYou yank her out the open door and @@color:#000081;twist@@ so her head hits the pavement hard. She lifts her arm and the pistol, but you hit the inside of her elbow and twist the gun into her chest. “You’ll never know,” you growl and squeeze her finger and the gun’s trigger.\n\nShe’s dead @@color:#000081;instantly.@@\n\nYou take the gun and try to stand; instead you @@color:#000081;fall@@ against the pickup. The pain is excruciating. You press your hand into the wound hoping to stop the bleeding. It doesn’t work.\n\nYou haven’t got much time.\n\nYou pull the fake cop’s shoes off and check the inside of the sole. There’s a folded sheet of paper. It’s a map and list of instructions – looks like it leads to Maurer and explains how to kidnap his son. You look down at her dead body. It seems she was a little late to the party.\n\nYou pull yourself into the driver’s seat and wait for your head to stop spinning before you start the engine. The kid sits next to you. He looks shaken.\n\n“Did you kill her?” He asks.\n\n“Uh, no kid. She’s just taking a nap.”\n\n“Oh,” he nods his head. “Okay.”\n\nYou put the pickup in gear and backup over her skull. “Now she’s @@color:#000081;dead,”@@ you say with a smirk. And Gillian thinks you’re bad with kids.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Is this too dark?<<endif>>\nYou drive to the kid’s house. Your head feels heavy. You can barely keep it up. Your fingers and toes tingle, and your shirt and pants are drenched with blood.\n\n“My house,” the kid says with excitement. “Do you want to see my turtle?” He hops out of the car and hurries in through the front entrance.\n\nThat’s one problem you’ve taken care of. Now what to do about all this blood?\n\nYour head @@color:#000081;falls@@ against the steering wheel. Your arms spasm, and your vision gets fuzzy, then the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 21]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 430>>\n<<set $force = $force +20>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>That’s just peachy.\n\nYou slam your foot on the gas. The engine revs and the BMW jumps forward. You @@color:#000081;swerve@@ between traffic trying to lose the cop.\n\nHe blinks with surprise then yells something into his @@color:#000081;radio.@@\n\nHe’s at least three cars behind you now. You’re not in the clear yet.\n\nYou take a hard right and then a hard left. You can’t stay with this car for long. The cop may have gotten a glimpse of your plates.\n\nUnderestimating the local cops is a mistake. They’re organized and surprisingly skilled at manhunts. You can’t run for long.\n\nYou grin. Running’s not really your style anyway, and Wong’s restaurant is just around the corner. You hit the gas and push the BMW as hard as it'll go. The tires squeal as you run the red light and tear through the corner.\n\nThe car smashes through the front window of Wong’s restaurant, shoving tables and chairs into the far wall. You grab the assault rifle and empty a clip into the ceiling. You sling the bag over your shoulder, toss the pack of cigarettes onto the dash, throw a grenade toward the bathrooms, then run for the kitchen.\n\nThe @@color:#000081;explosion@@ shakes the whole building. Pipes burst from the walls and erupt with water. You shoot three rounds into the stove until it blows. The fire and water mix into steam, providing a little cover as you sneak out the back.\n\nYou hear five or six cop sirens blare behind you. Talk about a close call.\n\nYou sprint through the alley and hail a taxi. You give the driver the address to the penthouse. You take a deep breath. This isn’t exactly the plan you had in mind. It’ll take Wong awhile to find the guns – but you definitely gave him something to think about.\n\nHopefully it will be enough for the Boss’s negotiations to fall through... hopefully.\n\nYou tell the driver to circle around the building once. The amount of guards in the lobby is double the normal amount, and it doesn’t look like they’re moving any time soon. Either the Boss knows about your plan or it’s the henchmen ball. Either way you slice it, your chances don’t look good.\n\nYou’ll have to use all your ammo just to get to the elevator then hand-to-hand from the top floor back down. It's a good thing you have a hard time saying no to impossible odds.\n\nBut then again, no matter how horrible the odds are for you, they're going to be worse for Gillian. You could still give yourself up willing.\n\n[[Let the bullet casings fall where they may]]\n[[Give yourself up willingly]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 975>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +80>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -30>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +247>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“No,” you say giving Avengral a stern gaze. “It can’t be you. Your people don’t trust Evie, and they don’t know me. You’re the only person they'll believe. And Evie is the only one of us who understands this magic stuff, which means I have to @@color:#000081;stay.”@@\n\nAvengral averts your gaze shamefully. “I fear you are right, Earth Wizard. I did not wish to place such a burden on your shoulders.”\n\n“It’s alright. I’ve been in worse binds and made it out alive -- none quite like this, but I’ll be fine.”\n\nEvie touches your arm. “Few outsiders have ever earned the respect of the Vizzairn wizards of the North, but I will tell Ignis Ustrina of your bravery. You will always have a home among my kind.”\n\n“Thanks,” you give her a weary smile. “The two of you need to get out of here while you still can. I’ll lead the creatures upstairs. Now go.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral nods and then moves to help Evie.\n\n“I’m fine,” she says. She gives you one last look and then descends the stairs.\n\nThe heavy door thumps against the table. Dozens of creatures peer through the opening. Their boney arms reach through the gap trying vainly to grab you.\n\n“That’s right you ugly monsters or wizards, or whatever you are, come and get me.” Okay, that wasn’t your best insult, but odds are they can’t understand you.\n\nYou clang your sword against the wall and shout more @@color:#000081;incoherent insults@@ at them.\n\nThe table slides in a little further. They can almost get through the door. Their eyes are fixed on you with savage rage. They don’t seem to notice Avengral or Evie’s absence. Hopefully, you’ve given them enough time to escape.\n\nThe table slides further, and a creature shoves its head through the opening. Its wolf like nose sniffs the air. It has your sent. It’s time to move. You sprint up the stairs, down the hallway, and up the second set of stairs. Unfortunately, Evie didn’t say which room the dried pixie wings were in.\n\nSuddenly, you hear the sharp crack of splintering wood. The creatures must have busted through the door and the table. You don’t have much time.\n\nYou swing open each door and take a quick glance inside. You hear claws scrape against the stone floor below in a rapid flurry.\n\nFinally, you find a room full of crates, jars, cartons, and barrels. You slip inside, leaving the door propped open. \n\nNone of the containers are labeled. You frantically pry open lids using the green speckled blade until a strong scent of cinnamon and strawberries hits your nostrils. You see thousands of tiny, translucent wings inside. Okay, one down.\n\nYou keep prying lids open until a pungent smell of gasoline and rotten meat nearly knocks you over. You cover your nose and mouth with your shirt and glance inside. You see hundreds of long fleshy tongues. Each one is a different color and shape. You try to move the crate, but it’s too heavy.\n\nYou get behind the crate and tip it over toward the barrel of pixie wings. Slimy tongues slide across the floor like flopping fish. You fight the urge to vomit.\n\nThe creatures claw the walls and doors below as they move toward the stairs. \n\nYou need to wait.\n\nYou need to get as many of those creatures in the blast radius as possible. Evie said it would be powerful enough to destroy the tower, but she wasn’t very specific. Maybe you can still make it out of this alive.\n\nYou glance down the hallway. Dozens of the creatures funnel out of the stairwell. They claw and climb over one another in a frantic rage, eager to taste your blood.\n\n“Over here!” You shout.\n\nEach set of beady eyes locks onto your voice. You definitely got their attention.\n\nYou go back in the room and push the door shut. You slide the barrel of dried pixie wings in front of the door. It’s not the most elegant trap, but when the creatures bash in the door, the pixie wings should spill onto the dragon spawn tongues, and then KA-BOOM. You just need to make sure you’re outside the blast radius. Unfortunately, you’re in a room with one door which means you have to jump.\n\nYou shatter the stained glass window with your blade and clear the glass around the edges. You slide off the extra armor to fit through.\n\nIt’s a long drop, closer to three or four stories. The courtyard is paved with blue stone tiles. Your landing won’t be soft. You’re probably going to break something, but it’s better than being at the center of a fiery explosion.\n\nYou take two deep breaths and jump. You land @@color:#000081;hard@@ on your right leg and roll. The roll turns into an @@color:#000081;uncontrollable slide.@@\n\nOnce you finally lose momentum, your forehead and back are @@color:#000081;shredded@@ and bloody. Your right shin feels broken. And your vision is blurry. Even if you wanted to move, you wouldn’t get far.\n\nYou stare up at the tower.\n\nA wave of blue rippling light eradicates the entire second floor. Chunks of stone and creature parts fly through the air. Then, like a @@color:#000081;sonic boom,@@ you hear the blast. The wave of heat tingles your skin.\n\nThe tower lurches up and tilts. \n\nA cold shadow covers your body as the tower falls.\n\nEven if you could run, you wouldn’t be fast enough. The tower is too big.\n\nYou think about Earth and Gillian. At least they’re both a little safer now. This one good deed doesn’t balance the scales, but you can die knowing you did the @@color:#000081;right thing.@@\n\nThe tower blocks out the remaining light. You feel the weight against your legs, then your stomach, until all of your organs @@color:#000081;squish@@ out the holes in your head.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

“Let’s just get this over with,” you say. \n\n“Indeed,” Avengral agrees. “May this dark veil be lifted soon.” He pushes open a large wooden door. The room stretches almost the width of the castle. The walls are lined with bookshelves, each stuffed to capacity. Eight tables are equally spaced along the right side of the room. Each one holds a variety of ingredients and mixing equipment.\n\nA short, slender woman turns toward you. Her green robe swishes from her briskness. Her hair is so long that it nearly touches the floor. She lowers her archaic glasses and examines you. “Yes?” She says quizzically.\n\n“The gateway,” Avengral says softly. “We must travel to the Elfin ruins, and we must do so quickly.”\n\n“The King has ordered such a thing?” She asks with disbelief.\n\n“I have been sent by Quintus, the Wizard of Earth. Our quest is of the utmost importance. The--”\n\n“Safety of the realm,” she says finishing his sentence. “Yes,” she shrugs. “It always is.”\n\nAvengral steps closer to her and whispers, “With this task I will earn the King’s respect, and he will certainly give us permission to wed.”\n\n“And what of the last time,” Songlie says. “Or the time before that? Your King and his customs are the only thing keeping us apart.”\n\n“Hold your tongue,” Avengral whispers harshly. “Such talk is treason. You must trust me. Please.”\n\nSonglie takes four stones from the table and walks toward two large stone columns. The columns are patterned with dozens of holes. “Of course I trust you. Your word is not the one I fear will be broken.” She pushes the stones into the columns.\n\nImmediately, streaks of light jump between the columns as a pillar of brightness forms at their center. An image materializes in the gateway like something reflecting off a body of water.\n\n“The gateway,” Songlie says, gesturing toward the light.\n\nAvengral steps toward the gateway, but pauses in front of Songlie. “I may serve my King and his customs, but what I do, I do for the people of this realm, and for you.” He bows to her, then turns to you and motions toward the gateway.\n\nYou walk through. It feels cold, and then suddenly icy. You open your eyes. You’re floating at the bottom of a lake or an ocean. Avengral pushes against you as he steps through the gateway. You push off the pillar and swim for the surface. Avengral is close behind.\n\nThe water is freezing. Your skin is already turning blue, but you see the light above. The surface is close. Your lungs burn, but you control the amount of oxygen you let out.\n\nYou’re so close to the surface. Suddenly your hand hits something cold.\n\nIce.\n\nThe surface is completely covered with ice. You punch at it and dig at it with your sword, but it’s too thick. Avengral tries the same.\n\nHe squirms and spasms, trying to keep from inhaling the freezing water. You aren’t doing much better. This explains why it’s been centuries since someone traveled to the Elfin ruins. Unfortunately, that fact doesn’t do you any good right now.\n\n@@color:#808080;You feel dizzy. You need oxygen...@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;You need...@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;You...@@\n\nYour arms feel heavy and lifeless. Your vision blurs. Your quest is over before it even began...How pitiful. If only you could start over. If only you made better choices. If only...\n\n@@color:#808080;If only you...@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;weren’t...@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;drowning...@@\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 36]]\n

Father Isaac Cooper had ministered to the Ward family for many years, starting with Elly Mae Marshal, moving on to [[Ethan Ward|grandfather]], her son, later [[Zoe|mother]], his daughter, and finally [[Karen|Karen]].\n\nBy the time Father Cooper was introduced to [[Karen|Karen]] Ward, he was a very old man. He had survived two bouts of cancer and a painful knee surgery that had left him with a permanent limp.\n\nThough he had passed on many of his official duties to his younger replacement, he still attempted to aid his congregation in whatever capacity he could.\n\nWhen [[Karen Ward|Karen]] approached him with questions about the [[spirit realm]], he did his best to answer her honestly and, more importantly, instill in her a sense of caution.\n\nThere were [[forces|spirits]], he explained, that could only gain satisfaction by harming the innocent and, despite God’s protection; it would be unwise to provoke such malicious [[entities|spirits]].\n\n[[Karen|Karen]] agreed with him whole-heartedly, but he feared that she would not heed his warnings. He prayed for her nightly, asking that God’s Grace keep her safe.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 657>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +20>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $wpn = "Business Card">>\n<<endnobr>>You pour yourself a glass of alcohol, sit on the couch facing the door, and try to look as @@color:#000081;comfortable@@ as possible. You can only hope your shabby attire doesn’t give you away.\n\nThe three suits walk through the door and stare at you with surprise.\n\n“Hello gentlemen,” you say, taking a casual sip at your glass. “I’m not late, am I?”\n\n“Late?” One of the old men scoffs. “Who are you? How’d you get in here?”\n\nYou keep your head tilted down and glance up at him. “Are those really the questions you ought to be asking right now?”\n\nHe swallows hard. “What is that suppose to mean? You know there are five guards in the other room with guns.”\n\nYou chuckle lightly. “Don’t be so dramatic. If I wanted to kill you, we wouldn’t be having this stimulating conversation.” After years of watching the Boss negotiate deals, you’ve learned how to stay vague, threatening, and charming all in the same @@color:#000081;sentence.@@ Of course, the Boss is still your superior when it comes to that. You’d hate to think what would happen if he ever decided to become a telemarketer.\n\n“Alright then,” one of the old men says with a southern drawl. “What is it you want?”\n\nYou smile and motion for them to sit down. “Gentlemen, it’s not about what I want. It’s about what I can do, more specifically, what I can do for you.”\n\n“Quit yanking the bull’s tail and get on with it,” the southerner says, rubbing his chin.\n\nYou really should have thought this part through. You keep @@color:#000081;smiling@@ and try to stay casual. “Men such as yourselves, important men with money, become targets for obvious reasons.” You take another sip from your glass. “At some point in the future you may require the services of a professional.” You pull a business card from your pocket and lay it on the table.\n\nThe old man picks it up and gives you a skeptical look. “This is for dry-cleaning.”\n\nOkay, so dry-cleaning is a bit of a curveball. It was the only business card in your pocket. Which reminds you – your shirts should be done by three. You’ll have to pick those up on your way out of town.\n\nYou give the old man a @@color:#000081;stern look.@@ “As I said, I’m a professional, and I know the value of discretion.” You set your glass on the table and standup. “It took me less than @@color:#000081;three minutes@@ to break into this mansion and pour myself a glass of your bourbon. I don’t even like bourbon.”\n\nThe southerner grins and slips the card into his jacket pocket.\n\nYou walk to the far door. “I’ll see myself out.” You close the door and step into the hall. Your heart races, and you lean against the wall to catch your breath. You’ve learned a lot from the Boss, but you’re not the liar he is. You’d take a knife or shotgun over an @@color:#000081;awkward conversation@@ any day.\n\nLuckily, since there aren’t any alarms going off, it seems like they believed you. You’ll have to go back for the kid later. You didn’t even get her name.\n\nYou could just leave her in that cupboard, but something’s tugging at your conscience, which is strange because until a few minutes ago you didn’t realize you had a conscience.\n\nYou hurry through the hall until you come across an elevator. You get inside and hit the button for the basement. It jerks to life and travels for awhile. Based on the time and speed, the basement must be really far underground.\n\nOnly the most dangerous experiments require that kind of precaution.\n\nThe elevator halts and the door slides open.\n\nYou step into a large cement bunker. It’s only one room, but it’s huge, maybe the size of a stadium. There’s equipment setup, but it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen.\n\nPeople are in the distance, staring at a computer screen.\n\n[[Try to blend in]]\n[[Stick to the shadows]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 507>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<endnobr>>“Saving a few people right now may seem like the honorable thing to do, but we need to think about the @@color:#000081;bigger picture.”@@ You pull Avengral aside. “If we don’t find the Cetorix and that calcified battery thing, billions of people are going to die.”\n\nAvengral lowers his head. “The greater good begins with tiny deeds.”\n\n“Perhaps,” you say, putting your hand on Avengral’s shoulder. “But why save a few people who may already be dead if they’re only going to die later because we didn’t get back to Quintus in time?”\n\nAvengral shakes his head. “I do not know. I am only a knight, and I am honor-bound to do what is right.”\n\n“It’s called sacrifice,” you say calmly. “Always doing the right thing doesn’t always mean the right thing will happen.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral groans as he immediately dry heaves over the railing.\n\nHe’s a good soldier, loyal. Maybe that’s why it’s hard for him to understand. You can’t save everybody...sometimes you can’t even try to save them. Gillian is the only thing that matters...and Earth. As far as you’re concerned, everything else is collateral damage.\n\nYou turn to Taz Moir. “So, any good loot?”\n\n“Aye,” he grunts. “A bit of gold and the like. Should be a worthy hall. Don’t be worryin’. You’ll get your cut.” \n\n“Trust me, I’m not worried. What about the crew?” \n\n“They be in high spirits. That should go a long way to catchin’ your fish.”\n\n“Good,” you nod. “How long now?”\n\nHe shrugs casually and takes a puff from his pipe. “The islands be on the other side of the horizon, not long from here. Your fish...I don’t be knowin’ that. It swims where it likes.”\n\n“Somewhere around the islands though?”\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir nods and saunters toward the other side of the ship. \n\nYou give him his space and instead examine the rope and rigging on the deck. You’re not sure how big or dangerous the Cetorix is. You’re not even sure if the ship will be able to hold it. You may have to get inventive.\n\n“Fore!” A voice shouts from the crow’s nest.\n\nThe crew scrambles to their stations. You look to the front of the ship. Several islands lay on the horizon, perhaps more islands further on. You jog to Taz Moir. “Have we made it?”\n\n“Close,” he says. “The islands still be a ways off. We’ll likely reach land by nightfall. We should go to shore, restock our water and gather supplies while the light favors us.”\n\n“Supplies? But we’ve sailed for barely a day?”\n\n“The King keeps the ships sparsely rationed so the Captains can’t travel too far from port. Our food and water will last no more than three days. It be wise to resupply.”\n\n“But that would add at least another day to our journey,” you sigh. “We may not have that much time. Isn’t it possible that we could find the Cetorix and return before the supplies run out?”\n\n“Aye, but our chances be slim.”\n\nYou’ve dealt with worse odds before.\n\n[[Go to shore and resupply]]\n[[Keep searching for the Cetorix]]\n

Ragnoss Commentary\n

<>\n<<remember $trueAssassin = true>>\n<<endnobr>>True Assassin\n Kill 100 or more people in a single read-through\n

<>\n<<remember $theBestLaidPlans = true>>\n<<endnobr>>The Best Laid Plans\n Watch Gillian Die\n

<><<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 904>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“You almost make it sound like I have a choice.”\n\n“Yes,” the Boss says calmly. “Of course you have a choice...though can you say the same for your sister?”\n\nYou’re not sure if that’s a threat or a genuine warning. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with the Boss. Either way he’s right. Gillian can’t do much to save herself. You’re her only hope which means you’re going to be jumping through hoops for awhile longer. “Alright,” you groan. “I’ll go to Montana and check out this secret facility.”\n\nThe Boss nods. “Wonderful. The arrangements are already in motion.” He snaps his fingers and Alana emerges from an adjacent room. “Alana will take you to the airport. My private jet is already fueled and waiting.”\n\nYou give the Boss a hard stare. “You seem confident I was going to make that choice.”\n\n“Prepared,” the Boss corrects you. “I know you love your sister but, I also had contingencies in place.” He points at the side of your head.\n\nA tiny red dot moves from your temple, down your shoulder, to your chest.\n\n“A sniper?” You say dryly. “Isn’t that beneath you?”\n\n“When it comes to you,” his grin widens. “I find it prudent to cover all my bases.”\n\n“Well aren’t I special,” you sigh. “Now let’s just get this over with.”\n\nThe Boss motions toward the door without getting up. He takes a book from the table and casually reads.\n\nYou look at Gillian one last time, and then you follow Alana to the parking garage. She drives you to a private hanger at the airport.\n\n“What about my equipment?”\n\n“It’ll be provided for you when you touch down,” she says without turning back. “And don’t do something stupid like get yourself killed.”\n\nYou laugh. “I didn’t know you cared.”\n\n“I don’t,” she says sharply. “If anyone’s going to kill you, it’ll be me.”\n\nYou roll your eyes and climb into the jet. She really knows how to hold a grudge. There’s not much you can do about that now. You lean into the leather seat... \n\n[[Drift to sleep...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 241>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>This is too important to make stupid mistakes. You get up and @@color:#000081;lock the door.@@ Depending on the amount and positioning of the guards this could take up to fifteen minutes. Given the noise, someone in the office is bound to hear you. If you’re lucky, the confusion and panic will disguise your escape.\n\nYou pause for half a second. It sounds like singing on the other side – Happy Birthday.\n\nWell that’s nice. Maybe you can grab some cake on your way out.\n\nWith everyone occupied, you just might pull this off. There’s no time to cross your fingers though.\n\nYou slide back onto the desk and get a comfortable hold on the sniper rifle. You toggle the scope to detect heat.\n\nThere are eight bodies on the floor, one of those being Gillian. You zoom in and toggle on the x-ray scope. Gillian is on the bed. Two thugs are in the room with her. Three thugs are sitting at the table in the living room playing cards. One thug is in the kitchen. The other is in the bathroom.\n\nThere are two ways of going at this. You can try picking them off one at a time. It might take a little longer, but it’d be safer for Gillian.\n\nThe other option is to cause so much chaos the thugs won’t know where or who was attacking. If you create enough of a distraction, Gillian could slip out unnoticed.\n\n[[Pick them off]]\n[[Cause panic and chaos]]\n

<>\n<<remember $shakespearesGhost = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Shakespeare's Ghost\n Read a total of 300,000 words\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 559>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -55>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +24300>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You push yourself off the dumpster. The momentum gets you halfway there, but a bullet slices the back of your @@color:#000081;leg,@@ and you somersault forward just shy of the car.\n\nTwo more bullets hammer the grass beside you.\n\nGood thing this sniper is an amateur or you’d be dead already. Of course, it’s a lot harder to miss with a shotgun, which is what the two thuggish guys are pointing at you right now.\n\nYou twist against the car as shrapnel tears through the rear taillight of the BMW. Talk about @@color:#000081;cutting it close.@@ Another shotgun blast shreds the back tires. There goes your escape plan. At least you still have the assault rifles in the backseat. Getting them won’t be easy since the thug is making his way around the trunk.\n\nYou’ll have to take him out.\n\nYou haven’t got much room to maneuver. As bad as that sniper may be, he’s still got you pinned.\n\nYou lean into the car and grab the shotgun barrel as the thug turns the corner. The gun @@color:#000081;goes off@@ – luckily you’re able to shove the barrel down in time.\n\nYour torso doesn’t have a gaping hole. The thug’s foot, on the other hand, is in about a @@color:#000081;hundred pieces.@@ He screams and drops to the ground. You swing the shotgun around so it’s pointed at his head.\n\nBefore you can pull the trigger, a bullet slams into the trunk. You duck behind the car.\n\nThat sniper just won’t give up. Is he even bothering to use his scope?\n\nYou reach in your pocket for the keys to the car. They’re gone. They must have fallen out.\n\nYou glance back at the dumpster. You see the glint of metal in the grass. It happens to be just outside of cover.\n\nThat’s just perfect.\n\nYou hear the second thug rounding the other side of the car.\n\nYou drop to the ground, slide under the car, and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the thug in the legs.\n\nHe screams and hits the ground hard. In that split second before the pain overtakes him, he sees you and manages to pull the trigger.\n\nHis shotgun blast ripples through the underbelly of the @@color:#000081;car.@@\n\nThe gas tank @@color:#000081;explodes,@@ hurling you and the car into the air. You hit the ground @@color:#000081;three times@@ and slide across the lawn.\n\nThe car lands on the thug, and he’s consumed by the @@color:#000081;flames.@@\n\nYou try to move, but it’s almost impossible. Your arm has @@color:#000081;third degree burns@@ and your leg is @@color:#000081;broken@@ in two places. You’re alive though, which is probably a miracle.\n\nJust as you think the words, a bullet hits you in the @@color:#000081;stomach.@@ You reel from the pain. The sniper finally hit his mark. It was sloppy though. A wound like this will take awhile to kill you – hours maybe.\n\nYou hear tires screech from the other side of the school. A car pulls out and guns it through the corner.\n\nYou catch a glimpse of the driver. It’s the woman. The kid’s in the passenger seat.\n\nShe sees you. For a moment it looks like she might even stop the car and help you, but she doesn’t.\n\nThe car hurtles down the street and out of sight.\n\nYou stare up at the sky and wait to die as the blood slowly leaks out of the gaping hole in your stomach.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 16]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 300>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -99>>\n<<endnobr>>The Boss has had plenty of time to explain himself. You know who he is. And it’s time someone finally put an end to his power hungry ego...and life. You probably won’t make it out of this alive, but at least you can take the Boss down with you.\n\n“Alright, fine,” you groan. “I’ll go along with your little plan.” You lift your hand to shake on it. You just need to get a little closer, then you can use the Boss as a human shield, fight your way to an exit and finish him off as part of your escape... you just need to get a good grip on him.\n\nYou take a step closer and then @@color:#000081;lunge@@ at him. You try to grab at his arm, but your hand passes through his body. You stumble forward, falling through him.\n\n@@color:#000081;A hologram.@@\n\nYou twist around to see his image flicker.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Setting and technology are loosely described in Seven Bullets - the not too distant future, in a highly populated metropolitan city. I never outlined the specific limits of the culture or the technology because I felt it would date the story and limit the immersion of the reader.<<endif>>\n“Did you honestly think I would be foolish enough to stand in the same room as you?”\n\n“Call it wishful thinking,” you groan.\n\nThe image of the Boss pixilates and then abruptly repositions to face you. “I had heard rumors that you had defected after the Switzerland job. I thought this might be an opportunity to prove those suspicions wrong. Alana was more than willing to finish you off at your apartment, but I wanted to give you one final chance. I’m...... How can I put it.... disappointed.”\n\nYou get to your feet. “I’m sure it won’t be the last time.”\n\n“Perhaps,” the Boss agrees. “But it will be the last time that you disappoint me. Goodbye.” The holographic image disappears.\n\nYou hear the safeties click off on all the assault rifles. Suddenly a barrage of bullets @@color:#000081;rip@@ through your back. You lurch forward, dead before you hit the cold concrete floor.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 1]]\n

<>\n<<set $hp = $hp -90>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve made it to the very end of the creature. The ocean's below, and it’s a long drop. You twist around to search for cover, but the fish creatures already have you surrounded.\n\nA razor tipped spear slams into the man beside you. He screams and stumbles over the edge. You duck as a spear cuts your shoulder and stabs the man behind you. He screams and grabs your arm as he falls backwards.\n\nHe slips over the side, pulling you with him. You try to regain your balance, but a spear pierces your right calf. Your leg crumples, and you topple over the edge.\n\nYou’re in freefall.\n\nAs you twist in the air, you see the other crewmen slaughtered by spears and curved blades. You try to grab the side of the Cetorix, but the skin is slimy and wet.\n\nA tail fin rises out of the water. You’re directly above it. You don’t have the leverage to avoid it. With your momentum...it’s going to be messy.\n\nYou hit the razor-sharp fin stomach first. It @@color:#000081;slices@@ through your body like a knife through butter. You twist helplessly, your legs fall in one direction as the rest of you spirals in another.\n\nYou’re dead before you hit the water.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 535>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +9000>>\n<<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The pickup looks like it knows how to take a beating. “Over here,” you say, helping Wilson and the girl into the truck.\n\nYou rev the engine and @@color:#000081;slam@@ through the flimsy metal garage door. The tires @@color:#000081;skid@@ through the grass, kicking up dirt. You turn back onto the cement drive and slam your foot down on the gas pedal.\n\nThe truck lurches forward with colossal speed.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;crash@@ through the metal security fence as the tires squeal across the asphalt. You switch gears and merge into traffic.\n\nYou’ve got at least two minutes before they realize the truck is gone and another five minutes worth of a head start. That should give you enough time to reach the Boss’s penthouse unnoticed. They’d have no reason to think you were going there anyway.\n\nYou’ve wasted enough time with this little detour. Gillian can’t wait any longer. You’ll be sure to deal with Jimmy Lee appropriately once you’ve got this business with Gillian sorted.\n\nAfter driving for awhile, you pull into an alley near an office building. “Alright.” You turn to Wilson. “This is my stop.”\n\n“You’re just leaving?” The little girl says, grabbing your arm.\n\n“Yeah, I’m just leaving. I’ve got some business on the other side of town. If you’re going to get out of this alive, we need to part ways.”\n\n“We could help,” she says.\n\n“No. This is,” you pause, trying to think of how to explain it. “This is personal business.”\n\n“Oh,” she says crestfallen. “We’ll see you again though, right?”\n\n“Maybe.” You turn to Wilson. “The truck is yours, just be careful. They’ll be looking for it. I’d say you’ve got about fifteen minutes before you need to dump it.”\n\nWilson nods. His eyes look sad. “Thanks,” he says.\n\n[[Smile]]

<div align="right"><<back>></div>\n<center>Unlocks</center>\n<<if $neverGiveUp is true>>Never Give Up:\n[[Hell Commentary|commentaryInfo]] <<if $hellComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>> 4.6k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Never Give Up:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $governmentSecrets is true>>Government Secrets:\n[[Secret Facility Commentary|commentaryInfo]] <<if $montanaComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>> 1.8k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Government Secrets:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $starTrippin is true>>Star Trippin’:\n[[Ragnoss Commentary|commentaryInfo]] <<if $ragnossComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>> 5.4k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Star Trippin':\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $soThatsWhatHappens is true>>So That’s What Happens:\n[[Intro Commentary|commentaryInfo]] <<if $introComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>> 4k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;So That's What Happens:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $crankItTo11 is true>>Crank it to 11:\n[[World's Best Assassin Trophy|assassinTrophy]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Crank it to 11:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $rampage is true>>Rampage:\n[[A Photo of my dog!|DylanPhoto]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Rampage:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $humanWreckingBall is true>>Human Wrecking Ball:\n[[An Artistic Rendering of my Cat!|cat]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Human Wrecking Ball:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $naturalDisaster is true>>Natural Disaster:\n[[A Drawing of Me! (The Author)|pictureOfMe]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Natural Disaster:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $murderer is true>>Murderer:\n[[A Map of Sarrejiinn|SarrejiinnMap]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Murderer:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $serialKiller is true>>Serial Killer:\n[[Assassin Concept #3|assassin03]] Nikola & Chu 500 Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Serial Killer:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $trueAssassin is true>>True Assassin:\n[[“Dead Sexy”|deadSexy]] Edition 1.1 8.7k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;True Assassin:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $turnTheOtherCheek is true>>Turn the Other Cheek:\n[[Slap Sound Effect|slap]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Turn the Other Cheek:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $sheHadItComing is true>>She Had It Coming:\n[[Assassin Concept #1|assassin01]] Alana & Fei Yen 290 Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;She Had It Coming:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $IQuit is true>>I Quit:\nIt was its own reward...<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;I Quit:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $yippeeKiYay is true>>Yippee Ki Yay:\n[[Assassin Concept #2|assassin02]] Chuck Laroche & Ada Wolff 475 Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Yippee Ki Yay:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $coldAndCalculating is true>>Cold and Calculating:\n[[Seven Bullets Outline #1|Notes01]] Unused Ragnoss Plotline 2.9k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Cold and Calculating:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $upCloseAndPersonal is true>>Up Close and Personal:\n[[Seven Bullets Outline #2|Notes02]] Hell Notes 900 Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Up Close and Personal:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $chauffeur is true>>Chauffeur:\n[[Spinning Rims|spinningRims]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Chauffeur:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $daddysLittleGirl is true>>Daddy’s Little Girl:\n[[Assassin Paper Doll|paperDoll]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Daddy's Little Girl:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $makingFriends is true>>Making Friends:\n[[Blinking Dog Gif|BlinkingDog]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Making Friends:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $getBehindMeSatan is true>>Get Thee Behind Me Satan:\n[[Campfire Gif|campfire]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Get Thee Behind Me Satan:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $theDreadPirate is true>>The Dread Pirate of Dreadiness and Looting:\n[[The Last Darling]] Pirated Edition @@color:#B2B2B2;(Shh, I won't tell)@@ 30k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;The Dread Pirate of Dreadiness and Looting:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $joinTheATeam is true>>Join the A Team:\n[[“The Disappearance of Karen Ward”|Karen]] Edition 1.0.3 5k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Join the A Team:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $originStory is true>>Origin Story:\nReward: Not getting bit by a spider!<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Origin Story:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $whoNeedsFriends is true>>Who Needs Friends:\n[[Neutral Evil Meme|neutralEvilMeme]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Who Needs Friends:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $honorBound is true>>Honor-bound:\n[[“The Red Speckled Blade of Brother Brighton”|Brother Brighton]] Edition 1.0.1 5.8k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Honor-bound:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $dazedAndConfused is true>>Dazed and Confused:\n[[Seven Bullets Outline #3|Notes03]] Short plot outline & Stats 1.9k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Dazed and Confused:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $saveYourself is true>>Save Yourself:\n[[Prototypes of the Seven Bullets ebook cover|oldCovers]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Save Yourself:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $happyEndings is true>>Happy Endings:\n[[8-bit Victory Jam!|8bitFun]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Happy Endings:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $thatsFamily is true>>That’s Family:\n[[Detailed Character List|charList]] 3.3k Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;That's Family:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $thePlotIsALie is true>>The Plot is a Lie:\n[[My Mom’s Meatloaf Recipe|meatloafRecipe]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;The Plot is a Lie:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $theBestLaidPlans is true>>The Best Laid Plans:\n[[Seven Bullets Glitch Art Cover|glitchArtCover]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;The Best Laid Plans:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $consolationPrize is true>>Consolation Prize:\n[[Seven Bullets Twine Map|sevenBulletsTwineMap]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Consolation Prize:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $RIP is true>>R.I.P.:\nSatan confiscated your reward... @@color:#B2B2B2;o(╥﹏╥)o@@<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;R.I.P.:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $theButterflyEffect is true>>The Butterfly Effect:\n[[Origami Butterfly Effect|butterfly]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;The Butterfly Effect:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $itsOver9000 is true>>It’s Over 9,000:\n[[Seven Bullets Afterward|sevenBulletsAfterward]] 540 Words<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;It's Over 9,000:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $iReadGood is true>>I Read Good:\n[[“Haiku #142”|Haiku142]]<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;I Read Good:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $bookworm is true>>Bookworm:\n[[“Lazy like the Tips of Her”|Lazy like the Tips of Her]] @@color:#B2B2B2;(a poem)@@<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Bookworm:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $librarian is true>>Librarian:\n[[“The Love Song of”|The Love Song of]] @@color:#B2B2B2;(a poem)@@<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Librarian:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n<<if $shakespearesGhost is true>>Shakespeare’s Ghost:\n[[“Ode to the Assassin”|assassinSonnet]] @@color:#B2B2B2;(a Modern Sonnet)@@<<else>><html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html>@@color:#B2B2B2;Shakespeare's Ghost:\nLocked!@@<<endif>>\n\n\n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 171>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<endnobr>>“You really think I have time to eat cake? I’m trying to @@color:#000081;run a business!”@@ You shout. “Do you like your job?”\n\n“Yes,” the voice says timidly.\n\n“Do you like your job more than you like cake?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Then get back to work and deduct the cost of the cake from your next paycheck.”\n\n“Uhm...Okay.”\n\nYou look back at the penthouse. They’ve subdued Gillian and they’re moving her. You don’t have a clear shot. You’ll have to get close.\n\nIt’ll take them less than two minutes to reach the lower levels where they’ll be better equipped to move her. After that you’ll lose the small advantage you had. You’ll need to improvise.\n\nYou still have the box of grenades and the silent pistols. A diversion could give you some extra time, but if the authorities haven’t been alerted already, an explosion will definitely get their attention.\n\nYou could use stealth to keep the situation compact and controllable, but every thug that gets in your way is going to slow you down.\n\n[[Create a diversion]]\n[[Use stealth]]\n

8-bit Victory Jam!\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1024>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -3>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -3>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Thanks for the generous offer,” you say firmly. “But we’re doing just fine on our own.”\n\n“Is that so?” Ayporos says with genuine surprise.\n\n“Yeah,” Jazelle grunts. “We don’t need your kind of help.”\n\n“Disappointing,” Ayporos sighs. “I mean you no ill will. Your ambition mirrors my own heart. As a gesture of my friendship, I present you with a warning. At this moment, three of the Fallen pursue you and are nearly upon this location.”\n\n“What kind of trick are you trying to pull?” Jazelle growls.\n\nYou grab her arm and pull her back. “Why would you tell us something like that?”\n\nAyporos smiles calmly. “I want you to succeed, truly I do.”\n\n“I bet that’s what all the Hell spawn say.” Jazelle puts her hand on her hip. “For all we know, you’re the one who told the Fallen we were here.”\n\n“I did not,” Ayporos says. “I am unable to lie about such matters, but I see that you do not, and will not, believe me. I will make no further attempt to persuade you.”\n\n“Finally,” Jazelle says.\n\n“Though, I would remind you not to let my warning go unnoticed. They will be upon us soon.”\n\n“Come on,” you say, grabbing Jazelle’s hand. “We need to get out of here.”\n\n“You don’t believe him, do you?”\n\n“It doesn’t matter. We’ve stayed here @@color:#000081;too long@@ already.” You stare at Ayporos.\n\nHe lifts his hands in dainty surrender. “I will not follow you, nor will I divulge the direction you have taken.”\n\nYou nod. “Good.”\n\n“We can’t trust him.”\n\n“We don’t have a choice. Now come on.” You turn back toward the hallway, but collide with Jazelle as she stops abruptly.\n\nThree figures @@color:#000081;block the exit.@@\n\n“He sold us out,” Jazelle whispers.\n\nThe figures glare at you with rage and hate, and a faint glimmer of jealousy. They look like super models with beautiful features and sensual bodies. If you weren’t terrified, you’d be in awe.\n\nThe closest of the three sprints at you. You’re just barely fast enough to get your arm up to @@color:#000081;block the kick.@@ The force sends you sliding across the floor. Your arms tingle with pain. You won’t be able to take another hit like that.\n\nYou look over at Jazelle. “Run.”\n\nShe tries to run, but the Fallen grabs her hair and she's jerked backwards against the floor.\n\nYou don’t have the strength or the speed to take on one of them. There’s no way you could stop three. You turn toward Ayporos who has been standing with calm disinterest. “If you really want to help,” you groan, “Now would be a good time.”\n\nAyporos smiles. “Do you truly wish it?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Very well human. We are allies.” In a blink, Ayporos is across the hallway. His punch sends the closest Fallen hurling into the other two. The others are too surprised to dodge and slam against the wall.\n\nAyporos lifts and carries Jazelle with one hand. Unruffled, he turns to you. “Get up, follow me, and make haste, they will be upon us in moments.”\n\nYou get to your feet and sprint after him. Your arms throb with pain, but your legs manage to keep up. Ayporos was willing to betray his own kind to save you, or at least it would appear that way. He may have helped you with this mess, but who’s to say what he has planned. You’ll have to keep your guard up.\n\nAyporos pulls a small cloth bag from his pocket. He opens the bag and takes out a piece of chalk. He kneels against the floor and draws a large rectangle.\n\n“Is this really the best time for hop-scotch?” You say glancing over your shoulder.\n\nAyporos ignores you.\n\nThe three Fallen have gotten up and walk toward you menacingly.\n\nYou glance at Ayporos. “This is part of the escape plan, right?”\n\n“Indeed,” he says, drawing a small circle near the center of the rectangle. He takes a deep breath and exhales into the carefully drawn lines. The chalk shimmers.\n\nAyporos reaches out, turns the circle, and pulls the rectangle open as if it were a door. “This way,” he says, stepping into the newly formed entrance.\n\nYou watch Ayporos disappear into the darkness.\n\nJazelle looks at you with nervous apprehension.\n\n“Sorry,” you say pushing her through the chalk-drawn doorway. “But there’s no time.” You jump in after her.\n\nAs you’re consumed by the darkness, you realize you’re falling, tumbling head over feet. You hit the ground hard.\n\n“Where are we?” You say, rubbing your head.\n\nAyporos pushes Jazelle’s leg off his face. “Do not be alarmed. To remain unnoticed, we are obligated to take the less traveled roads.” He pushes the rest of Jazelle off and stands. “Given the tenacity of our pursuers, we should not loiter.”\n\n“Our?” Jazelle says doubtfully.\n\n“Yes.” Ayporos pats the dust from his shirt. “I am as culpable as you now. Your past and future offenses in this realm are my burden as well as your own. Also, you are welcome.”\n\nJazelle huffs.\n\n“We are accomplices,” Ayporos says stepping in front of you. “I swear I shall not harm either of you. A demon’s oath is unbreakable.”\n\n“As comforting as that may be,” Jazelle rubs the thigh that she landed on. “I still don’t trust you.”\n\n“Then a gesture of goodwill.” He walks next to you and presses his soft, delicate hand against your stomach. You feel a wave of heat and the sensation of a knot being tied around your abdomen.\n\nAyporos takes his hand away. Your stomach is @@color:#000081;back to normal.@@ There’s not even a scratch.\n\n“Thanks,” you say slightly bewildered.\n\nAyporos takes another stick of chalk from his bag and draws a door.\n\nHe lightly blows on the chalk outline causing it to glow. He twists the circle at its center and opens the rectangle as if it were a door. “We must continue without hesitation.”\n\nYou sigh. “That’s something we both can agree on.” You grab Jazelle and jump through behind Ayporos.\n\nYou belly flop into a hard plot of dirt. You groan.\n\nAyporos extends his hand to help you up.\n\n[[Take Ayporos’s hand]]\n[[Refuse his aid]]\n

<>\n<<remember $thatsFamily = true>>\n<<endnobr>>That's Family\n Sacrifice yourself to save Gillian\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 603>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve only got seconds before the plane is completely submerged. You need to act now. You unbuckle the seatbelt and move toward the tear in the plane. You take a deep breath and fight through the gushing water. You swim down, trying to avoid the sinking wreckage, but you’re not fast enough. Part of the broken wing snags your leg. You’re pulled further under.\n\nYou kick and yank until your foot is finally free, but you lost a lot of oxygen in the process, and the surface is looking further away. You won’t make it.\n\nYou feel a cold shadow encircle you...Something metal...More of the plane?\n\nNo...\n\nIt’s something else...Something massive...\n\nA submarine.\n\nA round metal shell dangles from the submarine and clamps shut around you. You feel the enclosure jerk upward. You’re being dragged into the sub. You hear the creaking of an old hinge.\n\nSuddenly the enclosure splits open. You spill out with the water, landing hard on a metal grate. You cough and fight for air.\n\n“Alive?” A voice scoffs. “Surprising.”\n\nYou finally get some oxygen back to your brain. Your legs wobble so you can’t risk standing yet, but you examine your surroundings which, unfortunately, resemble a cell. You glance in the direction of the voice.\n\nIt belongs to a woman. Her hair is black with streaks of gray and wound into a tight bun. There are a healthy amount of wrinkles on her face, but you wouldn’t describe her as old. The black and green wetsuit she wears seems well used.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>The genius doctor doesn’t have a name, but she’s one of the few characters that I describe in detail. This segment is so different from my original notes that the genius doctor became a completely different character.Truthfully, I’m not sure what or how she does what she does... I’m not even sure why.This whole segment was adlibbed.<<endif>>\n“Where am I?” You groan.\n\n“On my ship,” she says. “As my prisoner.”\n\n“Prisoner?” You sigh. “Well I guess that makes sense considering the amount of luck I’ve had today.”\n\n“You seem much calmer than your predecessors,” the woman says dryly. “Do you think I won’t kill you as well?”\n\n“I’m harder to kill than you think.” You touch the cut on your forehead which has finally stopped bleeding. “But I’m not here for a fight.”\n\n“You’re certainly in no condition for one...if that’s what you mean.”\n\n“Good point,” you say, finally getting to your feet. “You wouldn’t happen to be the genius doctor I’m looking for, would you?”\n\n“I believe I am,” she says stepping closer to the cage, though still out of reach. “And I suppose your reasons for seeking me are noble and just?”\n\n“As a matter of fact they are. I have no idea who you really are or what you do here, but my sister’s sick, and I heard you’re the only one with a cure.”\n\n“You’ve travelled a long way and wasted a great deal of money to disprove a rumor.”\n\n“First off,” you casually lean against the metal bars. “I had the frequent flyer miles saved up. And secondly, judging from your expression, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I’d like to be civil about this, but there isn’t enough time. You’re coming back with me one way or another.”\n\n“Coming back...” she smiles, “In your jet?”\n\n“Okay, you make another good point. I hadn’t thought that far ahead but,” you say assuredly, “Hopefully I won’t need to because you’ll decide to do this willingly.”\n\nShe examines you more closely. “I think you’re in no position to make demands. If anything, you’re likely to plead for concessions any second.”\n\n“Is that right?” You say confidently.\n\nShe points toward your feet.\n\nYou look down to see several sharks circling inches below the grate. You look back at the woman. "Sharks? Isn’t that a little cliché?”\n\nShe holds up a large red button. “They need to eat, just like everything else.”\n\n[[Plead for your life]]\n[[Act tough]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 207>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<endnobr>>The Chinese are a good @@color:#000081;distraction.@@ Not to mention that nagging fear of the Russians getting involved. The Boss will have his hands full playing politics which will leave only a few goons guarding Gillian. You might even be able to rescue her without killing anyone, but there’s no time to worry about that right now.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I never overtly say the story takes place in America but that’s what I originally intended. If Seven Bullets is ever translated into other languages (like Chinese or Russian) I’d give the Chinese and Russian gangs unique gang names to make the story more inclusive.<<endif>>\nYou pull a laptop from your bag then boot up the backdoor hack you installed on the Boss’s servers. You download some sensitive information about the Chinese, translate it into Russian, re-upload it and print out a hard copy.\n\nGetting it to the Chinese will be tricky. You don’t want it to seem too obvious or easy and, more importantly, they can’t know it was from you.\n\nOne of their low level hitters, Jimmy Lee, owes you a favor since you spared his life four years ago. He should be middle management by now. He could have stumbled onto the info. They’d believe that. Then again, you never really trusted him.\n\nThe other option is a bit more violent. You could attack the Chinese using the Boss’s guns, throw around some Russian paraphernalia and let the cards fall where they may. Both are risky, but the bigger risk is doing nothing.\n\n[[Jimmy Lee owes you and it’s time to collect]]\n[[You can’t waste time, a gunfight will expedite things]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 666>>\n<<set $force = $force +20>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +15>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You shove Clark against the wall and give him a sharp @@color:#000081;backhanded@@ slap. “You tell me what you know now before I decide to get violent.”\n\n“Aggression... very interesting.”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slap@@ him again and grab a scalpel from the table. “Don’t kid yourself. This isn’t aggression; this is @@color:#000081;foreplay.”@@\n\n“I’ll talk,” Clark shouts. @@color:#000081;“I’ll talk.”@@\n\nYou loosen your grip on him.\n\nClark straightens his lab coat and collects himself. “As I said, aggression was, or in your case is, a common side-effect of the original formula.”\n\n“What do you mean original formula?”\n\n“This project, or some incarnation of it, has existed in varying forms for nearly eighty years; first backed by the government and later by intuitive investors. It began as an initiative to create a hardier human...a perfect human you might say.” Clark shrugs. “The idea, as you can imagine, is a pathetically short-sighted one for our strength as a species is in our diversity...our genetic variation. The perfect human does not exist, nor should it. Unfortunately, my superior officers did not share my perspective. To them, perfect human and soldier were interchangeable.\n\n“I could spend hours elaborating on their idiocy, but in short, the formula changed the nature of humanity on a genetic level. The early experiments produced an unusual kind of emotional detachment that often led to aggression, self-mutilation, and in most cases, stark insanity. In essence, the perfect soldier. The only drawback was the disappointingly short shelf-life.”\n\nYou give Clark a hard stare. “And how does any of that concern me?”\n\n“Isn’t it obvious?”\n\nYou stare at him blankly.\n\n“You survived this long, but how? All the people around you seem to die, but you don’t. Why is that? Your skills perhaps? Your training? Your indomitable spirit? Or is it that you’re different...perhaps even special.”\n\n“Quit stalling and get to the point,” you say sharply.\n\n“Simply put, I am literally the architect of your survival. I designed you on a genetic level. You are my crowning achievement.”\n\n“Humph,” you groan. “That’s a tall tale if I ever heard one.”\n\n“Then ask yourself, why does fighting come so naturally to you? Why are you stronger, faster, smarter, and more ruthless than everyone else?” Clark grins. “You were the only subject to reach stage six. It was a thing of beauty. Your sister failed to surpass stage five...she always showed too much emotion, but you...you were unapologetically vicious. Nothing got in your way.”\n\n“I think I would remember something like that.”\n\n“We have the ability to manipulate the genetic code. Do you really think it’s that difficult to tweak a few memories?”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Dr. Clark’s big speech is the climactic scene of the secret facility segment. I had three goals:1) Connect the intro segment with the secret facility segment2) Provide a context for why Gillian was kidnapped3) Validate this segment as an independent story arcGiven the main character’s unique fighting abilities and snarky disregard of morality, I thought the “super-soldier” concept was a fitting way of tying the story together.I didn’t want to overuse the super-soldier plot device which is why it only appears in 14 sections of this segment.<<endif>>\n“Alright, fine. I’ll bite. Let’s say I was the subject of your twisted experiments. How come I’m not in a test tube?”\n\nClark laughs. “The same reason any revolution falls flat, a lack of funding. The government had a difficult time comprehending our vision. A new administration, a new budget, and a new concept of justice. You and your sister were the only subjects that had yet to go insane. The administration thought it was only a matter of time, so they shut down the project and ordered us to destroy the research which included all of the test subjects. I was under the assumption that you and your sister had been eradicated with everything else, but obviously someone decided to keep you alive since you’re standing before me now. What of your sister? Is she still living?”\n\n“She’s alive, but...” You hesitate, having already said too much.\n\n“Yes, yes, I understand. We were in the process of stabilizing the system when the project was terminated. It’s a miracle she’s survived this long. We’d best get to work. I’ve come a long way since the first formula. You’d be surprised what I’m capable of now. I have a secondary lab not far from here. We should go there so I can analyze your DNA.”\n\n“I hate to interrupt,” Mason says, interrupting, “But the others are counting on us. We need to get back.”\n\n[[Take Dr. Clark back to the others]]\n[[Stay and let Dr. Clark run the tests]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 746>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;try@@ to make the soldiers postpone eating, but they’ve already devoured half a platter. “Just hold on a minute,” you say, pushing their hands away from the other two platters.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;examine@@ the food and the platters. The cuts of cheese and fruit have a unique shape and pattern.\n\nYou push them aside. A symbol is etched into the platter underneath the food. You turn to Avengral. "Does that symbol mean something?”\n\n“Poison!?!” A soldier gasps. He spits out his food. The others quickly do the same.\n\n“What is the meaning of this?” Avengral growls. He dumps the food from the other platters and examines the symbols more closely. The platters are divided into poisonous and non-poisonous sections, a detail that would only be known after all the food had been devoured.\n\nSuddenly, a soldier collapses to the ground and grabs his stomach. “Ahhh,” he squeals. Two other soldiers drop to their knees trying desperately not to vomit.\n\n“They’ve betrayed us,” Avengral says coldly.\n\n“Oh,” an old voice coos. “Do not be so dramatic.” An old man emerges from the shadows almost as if he had been invisible. He claps and bows to you. “Well done.”\n\nYou keep a hand on the handle of the green speckled blade.\n\nThe old man waves his hands in the air theatrically. “It was only a game...a test if you would like to call it that.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This scene was partly inspired by Vizzini’s poison drinking game in The Princess Bride.The Blue Wizards are meant to be intellectuals and they’re dangerously smart, but like Vizzini I wanted their arrogance to be their undoing.<<endif>>\n“And what of my soldiers?” Avengral demands, taking an aggressive step forward.\n\n“Fine," the old man says. "Fine. A few hours of diarrhea and vomiting...nothing life threatening, I assure you.”\n\nTwo more Blue Wizards emerge as if out of nowhere. They take hold of the sick soldiers and lead them into an adjacent hallway.\n\n“Our physicians will guarantee their safe recovery.” The old man bows. “I am Master Wizard Kailvo Kalraan, First Mage of the House of Cerulean Sky and your host.”\n\nAvengral begrudgingly bows.\n\nYou quickly do the same, trying to blend in.\n\nKailvo takes a step closer and looks you over. “How did you know to check the platters?”\n\n“Just a feeling I guess.”\n\nKailvo smiles. “I find it interesting that you would break such an old tradition just to test a feeling.”\n\nYou can see what he’s trying to do, and you won’t be intimidated. You give him a @@color:#000081;hard stare.@@ “I could say the same thing about you.”\n\nKailvo laughs. “How lovely. It is not often we have such fascinating guests.”\n\n“Our visit is not absent of purpose,” Avengral says angrily.\n\n“Yes, yes.” Kailvo pats Avengral’s chest as if he were a small child. “Wizard Songlie spoke of a kidnapping, or a war, or some such tedium.”\n\nAvengral bites down his frustration and regains his composure. “We seek your aid in matters concerning the kidnapped Prince.”\n\n“Yes,” Kailvo’s expression hardens. “This was never a friendly visit, was it?”\n\nAvengral focuses his gaze in an obvious attempt to avoid revealing any sensitive information. “As I said, the Prince has been kidnapped. We ask for your assistance in locating him.”\n\n“A spell then?”\n\nAvengral nods.\n\nKailvo grins. “Yes, I am fluent with such a spell.” He turns his back to you and takes a few steps forward. “Though it is no small task. I would, of course, want something in return.”\n\nAvengral’s annoyance froths. “What?” He says tersely.\n\nKailvo turns back around to face you. “A little game, that is all.”\n\n“We do not have time for games,” Avengral growls.\n\n“Oh,” Kailvo coos. “But you are already playing. Win the game and I will help you. Lose and you will die.”\n\n“Foul wizard!” Avengral draws his sword and swings it at Kailvo, but Kailvo’s body dissipates like a cloud of smoke. Avengral roars with anger. “Cursed wizards! Your trickery will not go unpunished.”\n\nOnly four of the soldiers remain, plus you and Avengral. Otherwise, the room is empty. The food and platters have vanished as well as the tables. The orange orbs dim and then go out. The soldiers whimper and cry in panic.\n\n“We’re going to die.”\n\n“The Seven have mercy on me.”\n\nAvengral, keeping his sword at the ready, turns to you. “We never should have trusted these Raizaarian scum.”\n\n“It’s a little late for that now.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral agrees. “Choices?”\n\nYou see a faint flickering light in the distance. It could be a clue or an exit, but somehow that feels a little too easy. It’d be safer to send one of the soldiers to check it out.\n\n[[Examine the light yourself]]\n[[Send a soldier to examine the light]]\n

Seven being her lucky number, [[Karen|Karen]] felt the seventh floor would bring her good fortune, particularly given the recent bad luck she had endured.\n\nThe death of her [[mother]] and the loss of her job had taken their toll, and despite her upbeat outlook, [[Karen|Karen]] knew unfortunate events occurred in threes.\n\nShe also knew this unforeseeable and unfortunate event could not be stopped, so, instead of worrying about it, she turned her energy toward her main passion: the supernatural.\n\nShe returned to the University in the hope of studying unexplainable phenomenon involving ghosts, [[spirits]], and demons.\n\nTo lessen her inevitable third misfortune, she enrolled in seven classes. She worked at the [[University Library]] three hours a day, four days a week which, using numerology, added to seven. And she carried seven pennies in her pocket that she had found facing up.\n\nOddly enough, she [[fell]] from the seventh story [[window]] of her [[apartment]] on the seventh of [[October]] and, based on [[Jim Long]]'s call to the police, she was seen hitting the ground around seven pm.\n

Seven Bullets Afterward\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 725>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +14>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You rip open the bag of marshmallows and stuff a few in your @@color:#000081;mouth.@@ “I don’t feel any different.”\n\n“You have to digest them first,” the scientist says.\n\n“Well how long will that take?”\n\n“Based on the way you’ve reacted to the drug thus far, you might start to feel better in about ten minutes.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Why would marshmallows cure a hallucinogenic drug? I have no idea. I used marshmallows to lighten the story and keep the plot in the “popcorn fiction” category.Taking an injection or pill just didn’t seem as fun or funny.<<endif>>\nYou nod. “Alright, now tell me more about them.”\n\nThe scientist shakes his head. “I don’t know much. They’re a small group of like-minded entrepreneurs. They have lots of money, and their reach is more than global.”\n\n“More than global? What is that supposed to mean?”\n\n“Space is the new frontier. Whoever controls it, controls the future. It’s not unlike the trains of the wild west.”\n\nYou shake your head. “Are you taking your own products or something? You’re talking crazy.”\n\n“The most brilliant minds often appear crazy to some degree.”\n\n“So you’re saying they’re building a train through space?”\n\n“Well,” he rolls his eyes. “Yes, if you want to put it in terms a toddler would understand.”\n\n“What does that have to do with me?”\n\n“I don’t know?” The scientist shrugs. “What does it have to do with you?”\n\nYou glare at him.\n\n“They’re trying to extract information from you, not me. You must know something. Maybe you don’t even realize it.”\n\nYou try to think, but everything still feels fuzzy. The drugs are making your eyeballs swim in your head. You stumble against the desk. The room feels like it’s @@color:#000081;tilting.@@\n\n“Just calm down,” the scientist says. “This is a perfectly normal reaction. It’s happening a bit quicker than I had expected, but you should be feeling mildly better soon.”\n\nSuddenly your legs feel @@color:#000081;rubbery,@@ and you slide to the ground.\n\n“Don’t try to fight it. If you fight it, the pain will be exponentially greater.”\n\nYou groan, “Fighting is all I know how to do.”\n\nThe scientist chuckles. “If anyone were to stand up to them, I suppose it would be you.”\n\nHe helps you into the padded office chair.\n\nYour skin feels like it’s on @@color:#000081;fire,@@ and you bite back a scream.\n\n“You’ve been exposed to R4TS89 for several days. What you’re experiencing is a kind of withdrawal.” He lifts your eyelids and examines your pupils. “Normally we would spend several weeks progressively limiting the dosage. But in your case,” he pulls your arms against your lap and stuffs a few more marshmallows into your mouth. “We don’t really have that option.”\n\nYou shake with the chills. “W-w-why ar-r-re you h-h-helping me?”\n\n“Despite what you might think, I’m a doctor first and an evil villain second.”\n\n“That’s c-c-comforting.”\n\nHe smiles. “Isn’t it though.” He hands you the bag of marshmallows. “Keep eating.”\n\nYou stuff a few more in your mouth and swallow them down. Suddenly your head and eyelids become @@color:#000081;heavy.@@ You try to stay awake, but your head falls against your shoulder and everything goes black.\n\n******\n\nYou’re jostled awake by a noise – specifically the sound of shouting. Three lizards wearing suits are yelling at the scientist.\n\nLizards?\n\nThe drug must not have worn off yet. Your head aches, but the chills are @@color:#000081;gone.@@\n\nYou grab the statue from the desk and @@color:#000081;slam@@ it into the closest lizard. He falls into the bookshelf and pulls a row of books to the ground with him.\n\nThe second lizard reaches into his jacket for a gun. You grab his arm, @@color:#000081;head-butt@@ him, and yank the pistol from his jacket. The third lizard takes a swing at your head.\n\nYou duck, @@color:#000081;jab@@ him in the stomach, and @@color:#000081;knee@@ him in the face. He twists backwards into the desk.\n\nYou grab the scientist. “How long was I out?”\n\n“An hour, maybe two.”\n\nYou pull him to the door. “Come on, it’s time to go.”\n\n“Wait. More guards will be coming from that direction.”\n\nYou cringe. You’re in no shape to fight an army of guards and given your condition, using a pistol is probably a worse idea. “Well what do you suggest?”\n\n“The window.”\n\n“Are you serious? I’m still seeing things. I don’t want to fall to my death.”\n\n“We’re only two stories @@color:#000081;up.”@@\n\n“Oh.”\n\nA two story drop won’t kill you, but it will definitely hurt. Then again, if you’re only two stories up, you won’t have to fight through as many guards to get to the exit.\n\n[[Fight the delusions and exit through the window]]\n[[Risk using the pistol on the guards in the hallway]]\n

body {\n\t/* This affects the entire page */\n\tbackground-color: #FFFBF7; /* was #FEFCFA or #FFF9F2*/\n\tfont-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;\n\tfont-size: 1.2em;\n\tcolor: #242400;\n}\n.passage {\n\t/* This only affects passages */\n\tbackground-color: #FFFBF7; /* was #FEFCFA*/\n\tfont-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;\n\tfont-size: 1.3em;\n\tfont-color: #000000;/* was #242400 */\n\twidth: 600px;\n}\n.passage a {\n\t/* This affects passage links */\n\tfont-color: #4466dd;\t\n}\n.passage a:hover {\n\t/* This affects links while the cursor is over them */\n\tfont-color: #3399FF;\n}\n/* tooltip popup */\n[data-tooltip] {\n display: inline-block;\n position: relative;\n cursor: pointer;\n padding: 4px;\n}\n/* Tooltip styling */\n[data-tooltip]:before {\n content: attr(data-tooltip);\n display: none;\n position: absolute;\n background: #4466dd;\n color: #fff;\n padding: 4px 8px;\n font-size: 14px;\n line-height: 1.4;\n min-width: 100px;\n text-align: center;\n border-radius: 4px;\n}\n/* Dynamic horizontal centering */\n[data-tooltip-position="top"]:before,\n[data-tooltip-position="bottom"]:before {\n left: 50%;\n -ms-transform: translateX(-50%);\n -moz-transform: translateX(-50%);\n -webkit-transform: translateX(-50%);\n transform: translateX(-50%);\n}\n/* Dynamic vertical centering */\n[data-tooltip-position="right"]:before,\n[data-tooltip-position="left"]:before {\n top: 50%;\n -ms-transform: translateY(-50%);\n -moz-transform: translateY(-50%);\n -webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);\n transform: translateY(-50%);\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="top"]:before {\n bottom: 100%;\n margin-bottom: 6px;\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="right"]:before {\n left: 100%;\n margin-left: 6px;\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="bottom"]:before {\n top: 100%;\n margin-top: 6px;\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="left"]:before {\n right: 100%;\n margin-right: 6px;\n}\n\n/* Tooltip arrow styling/placement */\n[data-tooltip]:after {\n content: '';\n display: none;\n position: absolute;\n width: 0;\n height: 0;\n border-color: transparent;\n border-style: solid;\n}\n/* Dynamic horizontal centering for the tooltip */\n[data-tooltip-position="top"]:after,\n[data-tooltip-position="bottom"]:after {\n left: 50%;\n margin-left: -6px;\n}\n/* Dynamic vertical centering for the tooltip */\n[data-tooltip-position="right"]:after,\n[data-tooltip-position="left"]:after {\n top: 50%;\n margin-top: -6px;\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="top"]:after {\n bottom: 100%;\n border-width: 6px 6px 0;\n border-top-color: #4466dd;\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="right"]:after {\n left: 100%;\n border-width: 6px 6px 6px 0;\n border-right-color: #4466dd;\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="bottom"]:after {\n top: 100%;\n border-width: 0 6px 6px;\n border-bottom-color: #4466dd;\n}\n[data-tooltip-position="left"]:after {\n right: 100%;\n border-width: 6px 0 6px 6px;\n border-left-color: #4466dd;\n}\n/* Show the tooltip when hovering */\n[data-tooltip]:hover:before,\n[data-tooltip]:hover:after {\n display: block;\n z-index: 50;\n}\n/* Character List Styles */\np.Char-text {\n\tfont-weight : normal;\n\tfont-style : normal;\n\tfont-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;\n\tfont-size: 1em;\n\tcolor: #242400;\n\ttext-decoration : none;\n\tfont-variant : normal;\n\tline-height : 1.6em;\n\ttext-align : left;\n\tpadding-left: 1.5em;\n\tmargin : 2px;\n}\n/* Assassin Concept Styles */\np.introComment {\n\tfont-weight : normal;\n\tfont-style : normal;\n\tfont-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;\n\tfont-size: .9em;\n\tcolor: #B2B2B2;\n\ttext-decoration : none;\n\tfont-variant : normal;\n\tpadding-left: 2.5em;\n\ttext-align : left;\n\ttext-indent: 2em;\n\tmargin-top: 0;\n margin-bottom: 0;\n margin-left: 0;\n margin-right: 0;\n}\np.indentedNotes {\n\tfont-weight : normal;\n\tfont-style : normal;\n\tfont-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;\n\tfont-size: 1em;\n\ttext-decoration : none;\n\tfont-variant : normal;\n\tpadding-left: .5em;\n\ttext-align : left;\n\ttext-indent: 1.5em;\n\tmargin-top: 0;\n margin-bottom: 0;\n margin-left: 0;\n margin-right: 0;\n}\n/* Assassin Concept Styles */\np.assassin-text {\n\tfont-weight : normal;\n\tfont-style : normal;\n\tfont-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;\n\tfont-size: .9em;\n\tcolor: #242400;\n\ttext-decoration : none;\n\tfont-variant : normal;\n\tline-height : 1.2em;\n\ttext-align : left;\n\tmargin : 2px;\n}\n\n/* The Last Darling Styles */\np.Body-text {\n\tfont-weight : normal;\n\tfont-style : normal;\n\tfont-size : 1.1em;\n\ttext-decoration : none;\n\tfont-variant : normal;\n\tline-height : 1.8;\n\ttext-align : left;\n\tcolor : #000000;\n\ttext-indent : 45px;\n\tmargin : 4px;\n}\np.copyright {\n\tfont-weight : normal;\n\tfont-style : normal;\n\tfont-size : 0.82em;\n\ttext-decoration : none;\n\tfont-variant : normal;\n\tline-height : 1.2;\n\ttext-align : left;\n\tcolor : #000000;\n\ttext-indent : 0px;\n\tmargin : 0px;\n}

<center><img src="unlocks/pets/Dylan_02.gif" width="300" height="300" hspace="6">\n@@color:#D8D8D8;Blinking Dog Gif@@\n<<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost + 740000>>\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The light is blinding, and it takes you a moment to adjust. You’re back in the city, standing in an alley next to the Boss’s penthouse. Those insane cultists were right, but that means...\n\nYour hand wrenches left, thumping against the building’s wall. The wall immediately @@color:#000081;fractures.@@ The split climbs up the side of the building until large chunks of wall topple to the sidewalk.\n\nYour body walks into the street and belches a @@color:#000081;stream of fire@@ into oncoming traffic. The cars swerve and ignite with @@color:#000081;flames.@@ The pedestrians scream and run. You hear loud, shrill laughter, but suddenly you realize it’s coming from your own mouth.\n\nYour leg kicks right, sending a @@color:#000081;truck@@ twisting through the air into the adjacent @@color:#000081;building.@@ More screams flood the street.\n\nYour body turns and spits up more @@color:#000081;liquid fire.@@ The ground bubbles with @@color:#000081;acid@@ in the places where you’ve stepped. The apocalypse is happening right in front of you, with your own body, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.\n\nIf only you could fight it... just enough to get control of your leg. You concentrate, putting all of your training to use. Your leg tingles. You’ve got control again, at least a little bit. You use your leg to push yourself into oncoming traffic.\n\nThe car rolls over your @@color:#000081;face@@ and @@color:#000081;chest,@@ then crashes through the front window of a @@color:#000081;restaurant.@@ Your leg slips back out of your control.\n\nYour body stands and dusts itself off, completely @@color:#000081;unharmed.@@ The people scrambling through the street stare at you with shock. You want to tell them to run. You want them to get as far away from you as possible, but you can’t speak. You can’t move. All you can do is watch as the world is destroyed.\n\nEven if Gillian is alright, what kind of world are you leaving her? You failed her while you were alive, and now you’ve failed the whole world while you were dead.\n\nYou wish you could look away, but you don’t have control of your eyelids. You have to watch as the world is overrun by unimaginable horrors. It’s the end of the world, and you have the best seat.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +5>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveGovernmentSecrets").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockGovernmentSecrets").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You wake up when the jet touches down in Montana. You feel well rested, but not well. The thought of Gillian in the Boss’s clutches like that...It makes you sick. Once this is over and she’s safe, you and the Boss will need to have a little talk, and by talk you mean shootout.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;step out@@ of the jet into an underground hanger. Six soldiers dressed in fatigues armed with assault weapons wait for you.\n\n“Let me guess,” you point at the soldiers. “You guys are members of the lollipop guild.”\n\nThe soldier in front scowls. “You’re it?” He grunts. “You’re the Fixer?”\n\n“Why? Is there something wrong with the plumbing?”\n\nThe front soldier snorts with disapproval. “I thought we were getting a team, a squad!” He growls. “All we get is you? They have highly underestimated the threat level here.”\n\n“A couple missing patients and you crank up the threat level?”\n\n“Patients!?! You really have no idea what’s going on here. We need to move, now!” The soldier motions toward a large metal door. A dozen deep scratches cover its surface. You follow the soldiers through several hallways and a couple flights of stairs. They open and close the doors with ID badges and fingerprints. They lead you to a large laboratory where about forty other soldiers and scientists are waiting.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Each of the four core segments (Intro, Hell, Ragnoss, and Montana) in Seven Bullets focus on a different genre. The secret facility at Montana is a variation of the monster/thriller genre.Vampire stories have been stealing the limelight recently and really softening the horror genre (See: Twilight and glimmering vampires). I decided the monsters in this segment should have fierce werewolf characteristics and have a nagging but semi-suppressible bloodlust.<<endif>>\nA woman in a lab coat hurries forward. “Where are the supplies? And the team, did they not arrive?”\n\nThe soldier points at you. “That’s your team right there.”\n\nThe woman shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”\n\n“That’s it. That’s all they sent. No supplies. No team.”\n\n“That can’t be right,” the woman says, pacing. “We sent out the distress signal before the computers went down. I’m sure of it.”\n\n“Distress signal?” You groan. What did the Boss get you into this time?\n\n“You mean you don’t know?” The woman says frantically. “They didn’t tell you?”\n\n“Tell me what?”\n\n“Oh dear,” the woman says shaking her head. “Only part of the signal must have gotten through.” \n\n“Okay,” you grimace. “You’re probably not going to like this question, but what signal?”\n\n“No,” she gasps and continues to pace. “The signal had to go through. Why else would you be here?”\n\n“A concerned investor got news that some patients were missing.”\n\n“But that,” she hesitates. “That was nearly five days ago.” She stops pacing and stares at you. “But that would mean the second message never went through. There’s no retrieval team. There’s no rescue.”\n\n“Rescue?”\n\nThe woman turns to the soldier. “We aren’t safe here. We were under the assumption that a rescue team was en route, but that’s no longer the case. We need to move to a more secure location.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>I thought of the secret facility as a massive scientist playground. Dozens of unrelated (and dangerous) experiments are unfolding simultaneously - often with unforeseen consequences. The TV show Eureka and the video game Bioshock were two major influences for this segments.<<endif>>\n“Agreed,” the soldier nods. “Gather what you can. We move now.”\n\n“I really hate to be a third wheel,” you say. “But would someone please tell me what’s going on?”\n\n“Move first,” the soldier says tossing you a bag of equipment. “Talk later.” He waves his hand in the air to get everyone’s attention. “We break into two teams and move to the sub-labs where we can better fortify ourselves. Team A with me. Team B wait fifteen minutes then follow. Understood?” He waits less than a second. “Good,” he says. “Team A move out.”\n\n[[Join Team A]]\n[[Join Team B]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 699>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You see the knight’s sword glimmer as he steps into view. You grab his metal gauntlet and swing the knight @@color:#000081;headfirst@@ into the tree trunk. His armor clangs and grinds as he slides to the ground. It’s loud and the others are already moving on your position. So much for being stealthy, but then again, when’s the last time you had to fight someone in a suit of armor?\n\nYou grab the sword and sprint to the left. Another knight steps out from behind a tree. The armor slows him down, and he’s surprised by your quickness. You @@color:#000081;jump kick@@ him in the breast plate before he can lift his mace. He bounces into the tree and twirls to the ground.\n\nYou hear movement from behind. You turn in time to see the flash of a sword. You sidestep just before it cleaves you in half. You @@color:#000081;deflect@@ the second attack with the stolen sword and aim your gun at his head.\n\nHe looks at the gun with confusion.\n\n“Wait!” The scientist shouts. “Wait.”\n\nImmediately, the knight lowers his sword and steps back.\n\n“Please,” the scientist gasps as he runs toward you. “Please, no more fighting.” The scientist stops a moment to catch his breath. “We’re not enemies. Quite the opposite.”\n\nThe remaining knights form a circle around you. Their weapons are lowered, but at the ready.\n\n“You’re from Earth, aren’t you?” The scientist’s eyes are full of excitement.\n\nYou give him a weary look. “Where else would I be from?”\n\n“Oh,” the scientist shakes his head and half smiles. “How rude of me. Formal introductions. My name is Quintus Villarreal. I’m sure I look different than you imagined.” He takes a step forward and extends his hand.\n\nThe knight steps in front of him. “Be mindful wizard. This warrior is fierce.”\n\n“Wizard?” You say surprised.\n\n“Yes. It’s a bit of a story, but you are here after all, so your story and my story are not so different.”\n\n“What is that supposed to mean?”\n\n“You came through the portal, didn’t you? You’re from Earth, aren’t you?”\n\n“Why do you keep asking me that? Of course I’m from Earth. We’re on Earth.”\n\n“Oh dear,” the scientist says, staring at the ground with concern. “Then you’re not part of the Hyperion project? No, no, of course you wouldn’t be. Not if you’re so unaware. But then how did you come to be on this planet? Surely you must have gone through the portal?” \n\n“You mean that giant purple swirling ball of light?”\n\n“The Hyperion vortex, yes. Then you do know of it. And the others. They’re coming soon too then?”\n\n“If it’s who I think you’re talking about, let’s just say things didn’t go too well for them. Now what do you mean planet? Where are we?”\n\n“The rescue team...” The scientist looks agitated. “How could you...”\n\n“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” You let the heavy sword rest against the ground. “Nobody sent me. This is more of an accident than a rescue.”\n\nThe scientist looks crestfallen. “I should have known.” He rubs his forehead. “They’ve forgotten me. Of course they have. They probably think I’m dead.”\n\n“Would you just answer my question already? Where am I?”\n\n“You're on R4TS89, or what the indigenous people refer to as Ragnoss.” The scientist motions for the knights to fall back. “It would be in your best interest to come with us.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The code R4TS89 appears in multiple scenes in Seven Bullets with different contexts.<<endif>>\n“And suppose I don’t want to.”\n\n“We’re on the other side of the universe. So far,” the scientist points at the dead body. “You and I are the only two humans to survive the trip. If you ever want to get back home, I’m the best chance you’ve got.”\n\n“Well, it doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice.”\n\n“No, you really don’t, but then again, neither do I. You obviously know how to fight, and you’re strong enough or stupid enough to take on a handful of knights in melee combat. You’re certainly not a scientist or a civilian. You’ve been trained to survive, and that’s an asset I’m in need of. If you want to get home, which I believe you do, we must join forces.”\n\n[[Join the scientist]]\n[[Don’t join the scientist]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 602>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve held up your end of the deal. Besides, this battle was obviously a long time coming. If you stay, you might kill a few more monsters, but you wouldn’t do much to resolve the bigger problem. Sometimes social policies just need to work themselves out.\n\nYou push past the knights and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ for Quintus’s lab. If you’re lucky, the hoard will stay thin enough for you and Quintus to start the machine and get back home. Of course, you keep assuming Quintus got it working. For all you know, you could already be trapped here forever.\n\nTwo more boulders slam into the wall and a handful of Ferralliise climb up over the ledge. Forever may be a lot shorter than you thought.\n\nYou clench the green speckled blade and push through the crowd. The Prince waves to you for help defending the wizard’s tower. You ignore him and keep sprinting. The crowd thins as you move closer to the lab.\n\n“Quintus,” you shout. “Quintus?”\n\nYou twist around the corner and into the lab.\n\nIt’s empty.\n\n“Quintus?” You shout again.\n\nStill nothing.\n\nYou search the lab. There are a lot of strange machines and contraptions, but you have no clue what they do or how to use them. “Quintus?” You shout again. On his desk you see a note and a leather-bound journal.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Another writing technique that seems to be common for fantasy novels is the formal letter, so I figured I had to add at least one. This is it.<<endif>>\nThe note reads:\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;As you must already know, I have left without you. I am truly sorry, but my fear is more profound than my loyalty. I could not be certain of your return or even your survival. If you are reading this than there is still hope for you.\n\nIn my journal, I have included instructions for you to operate my machine and return home. The instructions, however, are in a secret code that hopefully only you will be able to decipher. I could not risk this technology falling into the wrong hands.\n\nThe connection between the two worlds should sever within a day, so you must act quickly. Please forgive me, and good luck.@@\n\nYou open the journal. You recognize street names from home. Turn right here, left there. Wait at the red light. You shake your head. How are directions through the city going to help you operate this machine?\n\nYou look at the machine.\n\nIt’s covered in switches and lights and little bits of circuitry. Then you notice a small cut in the machine that looks like the old cathedral downtown.\n\nYou look back at the journal. The first line is the cross street for the cathedral. The switches are based on a map of the city. Turning left or right must be the direction of the switches.\n\nYou follow the map’s instructions, flipping switches on the grid.\n\nYou pause.\n\nThe journal says to watch for pedestrians...\n\nYou examine the machine...\n\nPedestrian couldn’t refer to a switch, could it? You look around the room. Two white lines are drawn on the ground almost like a crosswalk. Maybe you’re supposed to follow the lines to the other side of the room.\n\nYou look back at the machine. Maybe pedestrian refers to a mechanism you’re supposed to remove, like a lock. You have to wait for pedestrians to move out of the way before you can go forward...\n\nThere’s a screw on the machine near the switch you were just touching. Maybe you’re supposed to remove it.\n\nSuddenly, you hear a loud crash outside the lab. The giants must have knocked down the wall.\n\nHowling, and screeching, and screaming echo off the hard stone. The Ferralliise sound furious.\n\nThe lab is going to be overrun any second.\n\n[[Follow the white lines to the other side of the lab]]\n[[Remove the screw from the machine]]\n

[[Karen|Karen]] had read many books describing the odd [[architecture]] of the spirit realm, and to her surprise; the spirit realm was not exclusively populated by simple spirits or, as they’re more commonly known, ghosts.\n\nThe spirit realm contained [[entities|spirits]] far more powerful and stranger than she could ever have [[imagined]].\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 630>>\n<<set $wpn = "C4">>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $force = +10>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +54000>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Quick and messy – sounds like every relationship you’ve had. Maybe the Boss will get the idea and stay out of your life. Yeah, @@color:#000081;fingers crossed@@ for luck.\n\nYou pull the shotgun out of the box. It’s big, but light. Looks like it has an enhanced stabilizer and recoil counter balance; the metal seems different too – must be an updated model.\n\nHow the Boss got a hold of these prototype weapons is still a mystery. It’s no secret that he has friends in the Department of Defense, but you were never able to figure out who or what they were being offered. The money trail didn’t exist.\n\nThe only thing that is certain is that every six months the old crate disappears and a new crate takes its place. The Boss never spoke of the guns and, from what you could glean, he never found a buyer. The crates just keep showing up and disappearing. It’s one of those mysteries that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Something just isn’t right about it.\n\nThe Boss has a way of keeping his business investments slinking from one shadow to the next. His skills of deception are, unsurprisingly, better than yours. Sometimes, when he looks you over, you get the distinct feeling that he’s examining one of his projects. Creepy doesn't do the feeling justice.\n\nWell, it doesn’t matter now. All that matters now is getting Gillian back... and maybe blowing up some stuff.\n\nYou flip open another sleeve in the case and pull out some clips and attachments. You toss them all in the bag and sling it over your shoulder.\n\nYou walk to another crate and push it over. A few missiles roll across the cement floor. Heh, this should be interesting. You crack open another crate and pull out four cubes of C4. You place two on the biggest struts of the warehouse, you leave one near the crate of missiles, and you attach one on the main door frame.\n\nYou peek through the window. John Two Toes is bawling like a baby and the two other goons are jogging back to the warehouse. Uh oh. No time to move the C4.\n\nYou sprint for the opposite door. You turn and @@color:#000081;wave@@ at the security camera, adding a little insult to injury. It’s important to make time for the little things.\n\nYou roll behind a parked car in time to hear the @@color:#000081;explosion.@@ Fire billows through the sky. You glance over the hood. Three smaller @@color:#000081;explosions@@ take out what’s left of the walls. The warehouse is in ruins.\n\nYour arms and legs tingle with @@color:#000081;excitement.@@ The fun’s just getting started. You shatter the passenger window of a nearby Buick and unlock the doors. You slide into the driver seat and toss the bag into the open seat.\n<<if $introComments is true>>My dad drives a Buick. It’s a nice car. If only the A/C worked...<<endif>>\nIt’s been awhile since you’ve hot-wired a car. You tear out the plastic cover underneath the steering wheel, revealing a tangle of wires. You cut four of them and twist two of them together. You strike the other two together and tap the gas pedal. A few sparks singe your finger, but the engine revs. You twist the other two wires together and put the car in gear.\n\nThe shotgun is only useful close-up which means you need to be quick and direct. The only way to the penthouse is through the lobby, but the lobby has two entrances: the main entrance and the service entrance.\n\nThe main entrance is the most direct route to the elevators, but it’s also going to be the most heavily guarded.\n\nThe service entrance leads through a series of small hallways and the kitchen before it reaches the lobby. It will take a bit longer, but it might give you a tactical advantage.\n\n[[Take the main entrance]]\n[[Take the service entrance]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 736>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +5>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveMakingFriends").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockMakingFriends").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You sprint for the dock. You untwist the rope, toss it in the boat, and paddle hard for the little boy’s location. The water’s calm enough that you can gain some speed.\n\nYou turn left to block the woman’s path. The waves crash against her shoulders, and she has to tread water. You reach out your hand. “I can help you find your son.”\n\nHer eyes widen at the mention of her son. She grabs your hand, and you pull her into the boat. “My son,” she says. “I need to find my son.”\n\nYou squeeze her shoulder. “We need to find your son.”\n\n“We,” she says to herself, slightly confused. “We need to find my son. There,” she points to the circling sharks. “He’s right there.”\n\nYou paddle toward the sharks. There’s a body in the water floating face down. It’s a boy with blond hair.\n\n“My son,” she shouts.\n\nYou grab her before she can jump out of the boat. “We’re not close enough yet. You have to wait.”\n\nShe looks at you confused.\n\nYou row closer until the boy’s within reach. She immediately leans out to grab him.\n\nA shark juts out of the water for her arm. You @@color:#000081;slam@@ the paddle into its nose. It twists back into the water, stunned by the unexpected assault.\n\nYou slam the paddle into another shark on the other side of the boat. “Hurry,” you tell her. You glance back at her. She leans out too far, almost like she wants the sharks to take a chunk out of her.\n\nYou grab her arm and pull her back. Her other arm wraps around the boy. They both land in the middle of the boat. \n\nShe holds him tightly. “My boy,” she sobs. “My baby boy. I let you die. It’s my fault. I should have been there. I should have—” She presses her face into the nook of his neck. His body dissolves into tiny glimmering specs that curl around her arms.\n\nThe sharks disappear under the depths of the water, and the waves calm.\n\nWhen you glance back at her, the boy is gone and you see a long gash along each of her arms from her wrist to her bicep.\n\nShe looks up at you teary-eyed. “I missed him so much. I couldn’t stand it.”\n\nYou see the veins in her arms. They’re cut and ragged, but there isn’t any blood, not even a drop.\n\nShe wipes the tears from her cheeks. “He was my world. I couldn’t—” She lowers her head and wearily nods. “But he’s gone now.”\n\nYou row back to the shore. You swallow hard and ask, “Where are we?”\n\nShe shrugs. “Hell.”\n\n“What? That’s impossible.”\n\nShe holds up her sliced wrists. “I died. You must have died too. Don’t you remember?”\n\n“No. I can’t be dead.”\n\n“How do you explain all of this?”\n\n“I don’t know – an illusion, or a trick, maybe some kind of hypnotic drug.”\n\nShe shakes her head and stares at you with her old, weary eyes. “This place is hell and you’re dead just like me.”\n\nYou turn away from her gaze because deep down you feel like she might be telling the truth. This place, it’s too bizarre and twisted to be real.\n\nThe boat slides against the sand. “Well, there has to be a way out.”\n\nShe laughs. “You think we can just walk through a door?” She steps out of the boat and walks along the shore.\n\nYou jump out and catch up to her. “If there’s a way in, there’s a way out.”\n\n“We’re here for a reason. We’ve done things. We deserve to be punished.”\n\n“So what. Even if I was dead, I wouldn’t let it stop me.”\n\nShe points her arm out at the ocean and swings it across the distant shoreline. “Where do you recommend we go? Do you see an exit?”\n\nYou turn back the way you came, but the path is gone. All you see is ocean and sand. That’s a problem. “I don’t know,” you sigh. “This place keeps changing, but if we stick with one direction, we’re bound to find something.”\n\n“Yeah,” she says. “Searching for something in Hell – that sounds like a great idea.”\n\n“It’s better than doing nothing.”\n\nShe laughs again. “Is it?”\n\n“Yeah, it is. Are you coming or what?”\n\nShe looks at you doubtfully and shrugs. “Lead the way.”\n\n[[Follow the shoreline]]\n[[Travel further inland]]\n

<center>Assassin Concept #1</center>\n<center>Alana</center>\nAlana is the Boss’ top assassin (second only to the main character). She’s violent and aggressive, killing indiscriminately and without remorse. She considers the main character a personal rival and hopes to be the person to kill them. Her weapon of choice: whatever will cause the biggest explosion.\nAlana was a composite of three fictional characters: Xenia Onatopp (played by Famke Janssen in Goldeneye), Boyd Crowder (from TV’s Justified), and every over-the-top action star from the 80’s (See: Escape from New York and Mad Max). Aside from some of the Boss’ past exploits, Alana was the first assassin I developed for Seven Bullets and I used her as a template for all the other assassins.\nAlana’s playful, almost flirtatious view of violence is matched only by her competitive jealousy. While the main character is snarky and detached, walking the line between psychopath and workaholic; Alana sprints a mile before she realizes the line’s been crossed.\nAlana represents what the main character would have been absent of Gillian’s moral influence.\n\n<center>Fei Yen</center>\nFei Yen is a freelance Chinese assassin. She’s generally known for her poise and preference for blades. Despite being freelance, most of her jobs come from Wong or the Chinese government.\nFei Yen’s character was partly influenced by actresses like Maggie Q (Nikita) and Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). While Alana is rash and impatient, Fei Yen is calm and reserved. Her system for assassinations is methodical and well rehearsed.\nThough Fei Yen’s appearance in Seven Bullets is brief, I hoped it would reinforce the idea that many criminal organizations are constantly skirmishing for control of the City. The Boss and his plans are not the only threat, merely the most immediate one.\n<center><<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 747>>\n<<set $force = $force +7>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The small building is @@color:#000081;closest@@ and getting to it shouldn’t be much trouble. You limp through the street and push open the door.\n\nIt’s not much of a building – just four walls and a ceiling. A circular staircase is cut into the center of the floor. It leads so far down you can’t see the bottom. You glance back through a small crack in the door. A faint light flickers in the distance, and you can hear the remote screeches of the creatures. They’re too far away to see you, but they’re getting closer.\n\nYou’re @@color:#000081;safe,@@ for now, but the longer you stay here, the more likely they’ll find you. And just running isn’t much of a plan. That’s what Alana always told you. Of the Boss’s assassins, she was the most vicious and devious. But it’s not like you would turn to her for advice right now, even if she might be right.\n\nYou glance at the circular staircase. On any other day, it might look foreboding, but today it’s a comfort – never mind that it could be a bottomless pit.\n\nYou think about Cecil and Sylvia, how they threw you into the street without warning. They were so excited to see you die. It was like some sort of twisted game for them. You feel a sharp pain in your chest as you think about Gillian and the Boss. You never meant for her to get involved. You were always so nonchalant, so casual and detached. And when she really needed you, you let her down.\n\n“No,” you tell yourself. “It’s not over yet. I’ll @@color:#000081;find you@@ Gillian. Just hang on.” You hear the creatures’ howls getting closer.\n\nYou make your way down the staircase. It gets dark quick, and you have to place your hand against the wall for direction. It’s hard and lumpy, but surprisingly smooth.\n\nAfter a few minutes, your eyes adjust to the darkness. You pull your hand away half-panicked. The wall you’ve been groping is actually a collection of human skulls, and the steps are made out of thousands and thousands of teeth.\n\nObviously the architect studied at the school of demented and creepy. There’s probably a sexy leg lamp down here too.\n\nThe creature noises become distant and quiet. You're in the clear... for now. The staircase opens into a small, dimly lit room. A candle statue flickers on a table at its center.\n\nA hooded figure stands on the other side of the room with his back to you. “Are you afraid?” His rough voice echoes off the bone walls.\n\n“Of what, delusions?” You say, keeping your expression hard and threatening even if you’re starting to doubt your sanity.\n\nThe hooded figure turns. His face has deep wrinkles, and most of his hair is gone. “We didn’t expect you to make it this far. You should feel enormously pleased with yourself.”\n\n“Yeah,” you say. “I’m ecstatic.”\n\n“They said you would be a handful. That’s such a rarity. You have no idea how thrilled we’ve been watching your progress.”\n\nYou take a @@color:#000081;threatening@@ step toward him. “Who’s the 'we' you keep talking about? And what is it you want?”\n\nThe old man lifts his hands in playful defeat. “Truly, I’m not your enemy." He gives you a coy look. "Your stay here," he shrugs. "Could be provisional if the right conditions were met. This doesn’t have to be as painful as you're use to.”\n\n“The pain is going to be moving your direction in a minute.”\n\nThe old man smirks. “Must everyone be your adversary?”\n\n“Yeah, that’s usually because they are.”\n\n“Do you know where you are? Do you know why you’re here? Do you even know who I am or how to get out?”\n\nYou swallow hard and try not to show your uncertainty. Everything about this place has been weird and wrong. You’ve just been going along with it because that’s what you do – that’s how you survive.\n\n“What you need,” the old man smiles. “Is a friend.”\n\n“And I bet you know the perfect person.”\n\nThe old man shrugs. “I might. Are you willing to trust me?”\n\nYou’ve only just met this old man, but you feel like there’s something dangerous about him. Whether or not you trust him, one thing’s for sure, he has answers. You could play along and be his friend. He might be more willing to talk.\n\nThen again, you could always beat it out of him. That’s always worked in the past.\n\n[[Play along and trust him]]\n[[Force the old man to talk|Force the businessman to talk]]\n

<center>Assassin Concept #3</center>\n<center>Nikola Abrankovich</center>\nNikola Abrankovich was born in Novosibirsk, Russia. He joined the Soviet Army and later the KGB. After taking dozens of bribes, he realized working directly for Burundukov, an international criminal, was more profitable and so he pursued a career as an enforcer.\nNikola travelled to the City as one of Burundukov’s criminal scouts with the singular goal of establishing a Russian foothold. Unfortunately for Burundukov, the Boss learned of the plot and offered Nikola more money and a better job. Nikola, having become accustomed to a plush lifestyle, followed the money.\nNikola was neutral toward the main character until an assassination partnership went awry resulting in the long, deep scar on Nikola’s face. After which, Nikola becomes obsessed with two things: money and vengeance (not necessarily in that order). His weapon of choice is a Dragunov sniper rifle which he is hoping to one day use on the main character.\nAs an assassin, Nikola is quiet and brooding, prone to drinking and long cigarette breaks. Because of his connections in Russia and Europe, he quickly rose to become one of the Boss’ most valued assassins.\nThe brutality and slaughter Nikola commits while under the Boss’ employ eventually take their toll and he develops a “good guy” alter ego named “Alex Vice”. Alex Vice is a decent guy who sometimes solves (or prevents) crimes for fun.\nIn Seven Bullets, Nikola epitomizes the destructive nature of assassin relationships. When assassins meet, even as allies, egos collide and violence ensues.\n\n<center>Chu</center>\nChu was born in Qinghai, China to a poor family. Having little money and fewer prospects, Chu’s parents sold him to a slave merchant who, several days later, sold twenty-five children (including Chu) to Mr. Wong.\nMr. Wong forced the children to repeatedly fight each other in one-on-one duals. Of the twenty-five children only five survived. Chu was considered the weakest of the five and the one least willing to kill, but he had passed the first test.\nWong erased all records of the children’s identities. The following years were brutal for Chu. Day and night he trained to fight and kill until he was Wong‘s most proficient assassin. Though Chu hates killing, his mind is so warped by the horrible acts he was forced to commit, he doesn’t dare rebel against his master, Mr. Wong.\nDuring a long-term assassination mission in France, Chu assumed the identity of a chef. Attempting to blend in, he found that preparing food brought him great joy, particularly seeing his meals enjoyed by others. He briefly pondered a different life for himself, but Wong’s hold over him would proof too strong.\nIn his private time Chu reads cookbooks and secretly desires to retire from killing and open his own restaurant.\nWhen designing Chu I pulled characteristics from Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), and just a little bit of Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs). Chu is serious, elegant, and reserved ...and of course deadly.\nChu is a sympathetic character. He represents an assassin with a moral code who lacks the backbone to choose virtue over loyalty to his master, Wong. Chu symbolizes the kind of person the main character would be if they remained under the thumb of the Boss.\n<center><<back>></center>

<center>Assassin Concept #2</center>\n<center>Chuck Laroche</center>\nChuck Laroche is one of the Boss’ elite assassins. He’s a French born citizen but having fallen in love with the Wild West as a child, thinks of himself as an American Cowboy. Chuck has his own sense of justice and has refused or prevented assassinations based on his code. His weapon of choice: two silver revolvers.\nChuck’s preferred method of assassination would be a dual in the street at high noon, but in the modern era that’s not much of an option. That hasn’t stopped him from making the attempt. On several occasions he’s challenged the main character to a pistol dual (with inconclusive results).\nChuck Laroche’s character had dozens of influences most notably Clint Eastwood westerns (High Plains Drifter, Hang ‘Em High) and Gary Cooper classics like High Noon. The main difference is that Chuck Laroche’s cowboy antics are meant to seem out of place and outdated. In Seven Bullets, he’s meant to appear more comedic than threatening.\nChuck Laroche is one of the Boss’ more eccentric assassins. As I was designing and outlining assassins I noticed a trend toward serious, violent, psychopaths. Chuck Laroche represents the other side of that spectrum. He’s still a killer, but his oddball shtick reminds the reader that Seven Bullets is a fun action adventure, not a grim psychopath parade.\n\n<center>Ada Wolff</center>\nAda Wolff is one of the Boss’ newer recruits. She was born into a wealthy, well respected family and given nearly everything she desired. Despite her privilege, she felt real supremacy could not be garnered by dispensing or accumulating money. After a maid “accidentally” fell into a stone fountain and drown, Ada discovered a new, exhilarating pleasure: murder. Her “hobby” eventually lead her to the Boss and a career.\nHer temper and inexperience make her a liability in the field. As a result, her actions are directly supervised by the Boss or Alana. Her weapon of choice: Piano wire.\nAda Wolff doesn’t have an opinion of the main character having joined the Boss’ organization after the main character had already “retired”. She sees violence as the most elevated and direct method of displaying one’s power, which is why she believes becoming an assassin is the only way she can gain true respect and adulation.\nAda Wolff was the last assassin I added to Seven Bullets and her appearance was the result of a continuity error. While revising the completed book, I found an early scene where Alana is interrogating you with the Boss and then in the next scene (depending on your choices) she has a sniper rifle trained on your chest. Instead of rewriting the entire segment, I decided to replace Alana in the first scene with a different assassin, Ada Wolff. I thought Ada was such an interesting character I added her to other portions of the book.\n<center><<back>></center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 531>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -3>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -97>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>There’s no way the Boss would leave the passage way in the sewers unguarded. It’s been a long time since you checked it. The Boss probably put an automated security system in place... something you don’t have the tools or time to mess with.\n\nRight now, the Boss thinks you’ve been dealt with... that’s the only advantage you have. He won’t be expecting you to attack through the second story window. If you can hit him fast enough and hard enough, you and Gillian should be alright.\n\nYou drive across town to the penthouse, then cut through a side street and park near the rear of an adjacent building. You count four SUVs exiting the parking garage. \n\nThe tinted windows make it impossible to see who’s inside. You’ve got a good feeling it’s a bunch of thugs the Boss sent to check out the burning warehouse.\n\nFour cars with five people per car... that’s about a third of the Boss’s manpower. The building won’t be barren, but the odds are looking better.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;sneak@@ through the alley that leads to the left of the Boss’s building. At this time of day, Nikola always takes a smoke break in the rear offices. He cracks a window and thinks no one notices.\n\nYou climb up the dumpster and grab onto a tiny ledge. It’s barely a finger hold, but it’ll do the trick. You shimmy up the side of the building stopping just shy of Nikola’s window.\n\nYou hang there for about five minutes until you hear the window slide up. Nikola lean his head out the window, blowing out a mouthful of smoke. You jump up, grabbing the window. It @@color:#000081;slams@@ down on his neck.\n\nHe squirms and flails, trying to reach it, but he has no leverage. His eyes flash with surprise when he realizes it’s you.\n\nYou smile. “Don’t you know, smoking will kill you?”\n\nHe grimaces and you see the rage in his eyes... until they roll back in his head, and he stops moving. You grip the window ledge, push open the window, and slide inside. You’ll need to make your way to the penthouse. That’s where the Boss will be holding Gillian.\n\nYou hear footsteps in the hallway...\n\n“Hey Nikola, is everything alright? I heard a--”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;fling@@ the throwing knife at the doorway as the thug steps into view. The knife @@color:#000081;bounces off@@ his body armor.\n\nThe impact surprises him.\n\nYou have time to throw another knife. It ricochets off his helmet.\n\nYou’re beginning to think the throwing knifes may have been a bad idea...\n\nThe thug lets loose a flurry of bullets. You feel two @@color:#000081;hit@@ your chest and another hit your leg as you dive behind a desk.\n\nWhat kind of idiot thinks they can use throwing knifes to storm a building guarded with fully automatic assault rifles and body armor... You’re such a moron.\n\nYou never even stood a chance...\n\nYou feel cold. A pool of blood swells beneath you.\n\nYou failed Gillian... If only you had a second chance...If only you could make a different set of choices... if only... if...\n\nYour eyelids feel heavy... so does the rest of your body... Everything goes dark, and you feel... hollow...\n<<if $introComments is true>>The knife throwing scene was originally meant to be much longer, but due to time and exhaustion I decided to cut it.This was one of the last sections I wrote as I was tying up loose ends. It’s one of those moments when I almost go meta on the reader... If only you could make a different set of choices...I can only hope the reader doesn’t take this quick kill too personally.<<endif>>\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 4]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 620>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You swallow uncomfortably. Evacuating the civilians is the right thing to do, but you’ve got a timetable to think about. You’re about to tell the Prince to get out of your way, but then you hesitate.\n\nYou told Gillian that you were a different person, that you were done with that old life. You promised her that you would do the right thing from now on. If you can’t do the right thing now, when it really counts, then you haven’t changed at all.\n\n@@color:#000081;“Fine,”@@ you groan. “I’ll help you with the civilians, but I don’t have much time.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>I had no way of tracking the collective moral choices of the reader in the original Seven Bullets (no variables in an ebook). Instead, when the reader was nearing an ending, I offered them a series of moral choices. The more the reader chooses to do the right thing, the harder it becomes for them to return home.In this case, choosing to evacuate the civilians and save the children prevents the reader from escaping Ragnoss successfully. Refusing to help the civilians offers several potential happy endings.<<endif>>\n“Sadly,” the Prince says. “I believe that truth is one we all may share.”\n\n“No kidding,” you nod. “So how do we get these civilians out of here? We’re practically surrounded.”\n\n“To the wizard’s tower. I am certain Songlie has an escape portal in progress.”\n\n“Are you sure we can trust her? The magic community and your dad obviously have some issues.”\n\nThe Prince looks at you as if the thought had never crossed his mind. “Songlie is loyal to the crown. There,” the Prince points to the tower, “The blue light is evidence that she is generating a passage out of the castle.”\n\n“Let’s hope it leads out and not in.”\n\nThe Prince gives you a hard stare. “Gather the civilians lingering at the south-western wall. It is the most compromised.”\n\n“Just because I’m sticking around to help doesn’t mean you can boss me around,” you say jogging toward the south-western wall.\n\nThe Prince sighs and rolls his eyes, then returns to directing the peasants toward the wizard’s tower. Those strong enough to fight he sends to the inner castle. The weak and injured he sends to the wizard’s tower. He still plans to hold the castle which is good because you need time for Quintus to finish the machine.\n\nYou jog a little faster. There are at least four rows of wooden houses and shops between the inner and outer walls, about a small city’s worth of people. “To the wizard’s tower,” you shout to them as you jog past.\n\nThe south-western wall is further around the corner. You have to push through crowds of peasants and merchants to get there. You see portions of the wall crumbling. The giants did a lot more damage here. If their assault had lasted just a few seconds longer, these people would be dead.\n\nThey’ll have to thank you later. “To the wizard’s tower,” you shout again.\n\nA small crowd lingers around a collapsed building.\n\n“It’s time to go,” you shout. “The city’s being evacuated.”\n\n“No,” a peasant yells. “We can’t leave them.”\n\n“Who?”\n\n“The children.” The peasant points to the collapsed building. “They’re trapped inside. One of the boulders...” The peasant cries and pulls at the rubble.\n\nYou sigh and scratch your head. “You’re sure they’re alive?”\n\n“Aye, we can hear their wee voices,” another peasant says.\n\nYou lean into the rubble. “Hello,” you shout. Three distinct and weak voices plead for help.\n\n“We can’t leave the little ones behind,” another peasant shouts.\n\nBefore you can respond, you hear a battle horn erupt from the other side of the wall. The trolls yowl in unison, and a large boulder thumps against the outer wall.\n\nYour little ruse is over. Whether or not the Blue Wizards believed what you said, they’re attacking, and more fervently than before. The wall won’t last much longer.\n\nGetting those children out is going to take time, and based on the amount of boulders hitting the wall, it won’t be enough. There’s a line between doing the right thing and being a suicidal super-hero.\n\nGillian would understand if you left these kids behind to die, wouldn’t she?\n\n[[Leave the children and return to the lab]]\n[[Stay and free the trapped children]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 351>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -80>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -80>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>After an intensive ennee minnee minee mo vote, you load the blue round into the shotgun. Using untested prototype ammunition based on its color... what’s the worst that could happen?\n\nYou push yourself against the wall and peek around the doorway. The thugs are still stunned from the first blast, but they’ve got their guns aimed in your direction.\n\nYou raise the shotgun and pull the trigger. You hear a click and a grinding sound.\n\nUh oh.\n\nThe shotgun quakes and then gets so cold it burns your fingers. Before you can drop it, the chamber @@color:#000081;explodes@@ with blue gelatin. The gelatin covers your arms and expands up and around your body.\n\nYou can’t move. It enshrouds your legs and chest and finally your head. Even your eyeballs are frozen, but you’re still fully conscious.\n\nThe goons circle with their guns aimed at your head, though they seem more confused then you are. Being frozen like this is going to make rescuing Gillian almost impossible. It’s going to make just about everything impossible. You try not to think of what’s going to happen when you need to pee. Okay, this is probably like the second worst rescue mission you’ve ever attempted.\n\nWell done.\n\nIf you weren’t frozen you’d pat yourself on the back.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I’m such a fan of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine I thought about adding an ending in which the reader is frozen in the blue gelatin for thousands of years and eventually wakes up after humanity is long dead. The crabs on the beach are all that’s left on Earth...Instead, your bowels explode and you die. I think it’s obvious who the better writer is...<<endif>>\nThe thugs stare at you blankly for a few more seconds then one of them slides a dolly under you and rolls you to the elevator. You're completely frozen. There's @@color:#000081;nothing you can do@@ to stop them. The thugs prop you in the Boss's penthouse, in front of the Boss.\n\nThe Boss grins.\n\nYou want to punch that smile off his face, but you can’t move your arms.\n\n“I knew you were giving me the cold shoulder,” the Boss chides. “But I never thought it was so literal.”\n\nYou try to glare at him but your expression can’t change.\n\n“I had intended to enlist you in one of my plans, but the thought of you becoming a permanent trophy in my collection is almost too good an offer to refuse.” The Boss’s old wrinkled face beams with happiness.\n\n[[Insult the Boss]]\n[[Stay calm and endure the Boss's chastising]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 433>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>> \n<<endnobr>>You push the Prince’s hand away. “I’m not a knight in your court. I’m @@color:#000081;not honor-bound@@ to do anything for you. I’ve bought you some time. That’s the best I can do.”\n\nThe Prince scowls but acknowledges your position. “I wish you well then, Earth Wizard. And do not worry about the deaths of these innocents. They are not your responsibility.”\n\nIf only the Prince knew the whole story. You are worried about the death of an innocent, your sister, Gillian - not to mention the entire planet if those portals go haywire. “Trust me Prince, I’m plenty worried.”\n\nThe Prince turns without saying anything and leads a group of civilians toward the mage tower.\n\nAt least you don’t need to worry about an awkward goodbye. You sprint for Quintus’s laboratory. Smoke billows out the windows. It looks like it might have been damaged in the attack.\n\n“Quintus,” you shout. “Quintus?”\n\n“Over here,” a faint voice mumbles.\n\nYou push aside some fallen stone columns and step around a few small fires. “Are you alright?”\n\n“I’ve been better,” Quintus says.\n\n“What about the machine?”\n\n“It should still work, I think. It’s not like I’ve had the chance to test it.”\n\n“That’s comforting. I bought us some time, but that army is still out there, and they’re going to be even crazier when they realize I was bluffing. In other words, we need to go now.”\n\n“I don’t disagree,” Quintus says adjusting a few dials. “The machine should be calibrated to bring us back home a few minutes after you went through it.”\n\n“What do you mean it should”\n\n“This is the first time I’ve actually used it, and I’m almost certain we should have enough power.”\n\n“You’re not making me feel any better.”\n\n“I did the best I could given the constraints I was under. The portals are becoming more unstable. We can’t wait any longer. I almost thought about leaving without you.”\n\nYou glower at him. “Thanks for being so considerate. Why do I have a feeling there’s still a catch?”\n\n“Only one object can enter the machine at a time... One of us will have to go first and the other will have to wait for the machine to recalibrate.”\n\n“How long will that take?”\n\n“A few minutes at the most.”\n\nSuddenly, a set of horns trumpet from the other side of the wall. They must be a signal for the Ferralliise to attack. Your bluff didn’t last as long as you had hoped.\n\n“Whatever we decide,” Quintus urges. “The machine won’t be able to sustain another attack. We need to choose now.”\n\n[[Go through portal first]]\n[[Let Quintus go first]]\n

<img src="img/SplashScreen_1000x667.png" align="center" width="100%">\n<center>\n[[Continue|setup]]\n</center>

Assassin Concept #3\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 889>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Whoever kidnapped the Prince has had him for almost a full day, and if they wanted him for this Blood Festival then there’s no way they would have stopped until they reached their destination. Even with the dragon spawn, searching the roads would take too much time.\n\nThe only real chance you have at rescuing the Prince is to stop these Ferralliise creatures before they have a chance to sacrifice him. You need to get to the Blood Festival, wherever it is, @@color:#000081;before they do.@@\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>In order to keep track of all the locations in the Ragnoss segment I drew a (crude) map. Since all the names are made up, the map was also useful for getting the spelling right.<<endif>>\n“We go to the Ferralliise capital,” you shout to Avengral. “We know that’s where they’re headed. It’s our only chance of finding the Prince in time.”\n\n“Agreed,” Avengral nods. “Though we will be greatly outnumbered and deep in enemy territory, the Prince’s safety is of the utmost importance.”\n\nYou grimace. “Way to bolster morale.”\n\nAvengral grins. “Verily. There is no greater honor than serving the crown.” He tugs the reins and the dragon spawn veers left and climbs higher into the sky. The other dragon spawns follow.\n\nYou glance at Grat Grimworth, the Red Wizard beside you. “So what are these Ferralliise creatures anyway?”\n\n“Have you not heard the stories as a child?”\n\n“Uh,” you shrug. “I’m not from around here.”\n\nGrat gives you a disbelieving stare. “An outsider fighting for the Sarrejiinn King? How is it that you are not bound and imprisoned in the dungeon?”\n\nThe less these people know about the truth, the better. “You’ve seen how persuasive I can be.”\n\nGrat grunts and then shrugs. “If we could all be so lucky. My kind are exiled as soon as they show signs of sorcery. The soldiers are seldom kind, especially when we use persuasion such as yours. You may fight well outsider, but your lies require more effort.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Red Wizards’ names correspond to their personalities. Here Grat Grimworth is being a bit ...grim.Having names that matched their personality also made it easier for me to remember how they would react in a given situation.Usually when I write, I reference 3-5 simple Notepad documents containing information about characters, setting, and plot points. My computer screen has a tendency to get very cluttered when I write.<<endif>>\nYou give him a strong and confident stare. “We all have our reasons for doing this. You’re not here for the King, or the Prince, or out of the goodness of your heart, but you’re here, and you’re going to see this job through to the end just like me. Now tell me about the Ferralliise creatures.”\n\nGrat nods calmly as a sign of respect, acknowledging your motives as secret. “The Ferralliise,” he says coldly, “were once one of the great races of Ragnoss. Their culture and intellect were envied by all other civilizations...all except for the dragons, who ruled over the land with claw and fire. The dragons kept peace throughout the realm, crushing any group that acquired too much power or control. Magic was common place and admired during the reign of the dragons, but it was chaotic and disorganized.\n\n“It is said that the Ferralliise secretly collected and organized the sorcery into tomes of knowledge. After years of surreptitious and pious study, they crafted a magic so powerful that it rivaled even that of the dragons.\n\n“It was in this manner that they discovered the power to transfigure life itself. They were no longer bound to the limitations of humanity.”\n\n“Uhh,” you interrupt. “The way everyone’s been referring to them, I thought they were monsters or beasts.”\n\nGrat frowns. “Beast is too kind a word. What they are now is an abomination. All magic has a cost, and they have paid dearly. All you must know of the Ferralliise is that death is the only kindness we can show them.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Ferralliise (Fair-ra-lease-see) are shapeshifting (semi-vampiric) beasts with human-like intelligence. Sometimes they’re depicted as savage killers, sometimes as well reasoning foes - in each case they’re extremely dangerous.They use blood as the core source of their magic. The Blood Festival is a large scale fighting tournament in which the winner kills their opponent and absorbs some (random) aspect of their being. This is the method Ferralliise use to acquire new shapeshifting forms.<<endif>>\n“So negotiating is out of the question?”\n\n“Yes,” Grat nods grimly. “The language they speak is not of this world, but of the one after.”\n\nYou hold up your sword. “There’s one language everyone speaks, and trust me, I’m fluent.”\n\n“You will put those claims to action soon. We are nearing our destination, the Bonebottom Mountains. There,” Grat says pointing left.\n\nYou see a jagged set of mountains and chasms cut into the earth. The trees are sinewy and dark and climb out of the tiny crevasses like little fingers. Avengral leads the dragon spawn through the small opening between the mountains.\n\n“The old city of Bastossell is just beyond. It is the last city of the Ferralliise. If we are to find any of their kind, it will be there.” Grat takes hold of his long sword. “Be ready outsider.”\n\nAvengral eases the dragon spawn through the trees and into a small opening. The other dragon spawn land close behind him.\n\nAvengral dismounts. “We must be swift and silent. If we are discovered, we will likely die. The great city of Bastossell lies below that ridge. The Sarrejiinn slaves are likely being prepared in the bazaar. Otherwise, they will have been taken to the sacred hunting grounds to the north. The Ferralliise shaman will be there prepping for the Blood Festival. We will split into two groups and search both.”\n\nEvie Greengrass interrupts, “How is it that you know so much about the Ferralliise city? I thought this part of the realm was forbidden?”\n\n“I was captured as a child by the Ferralliise slave traders and lived as a captive in their city for several years. We will get into the city in the same secret manner in which I escaped it.” \n\nAvengral points to a cavern cut into the mountain. “One group will take the cavern to the hunting grounds. The other will follow me into the city.” Avengral looks at you. “Which path will you take?”\n\n[[Follow Avengral into Bastossell]]\n[[Take the cavern to the sacred hunting grounds]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 707>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab one of the razor edged roses and @@color:#000081;shove@@ it against the gardener’s throat. “This might be a delusion,” you say menacingly. “So what’s stopping me from slitting your throat?”\n\nThe gardener grins. “Nothing,” he says, shoving your hand and the rose into his own throat. He gurgles and coughs as the glass @@color:#000081;severs@@ his jugular vein.\n\nHalf shocked, you drop his body and watch it spasm against the broken glass on the ground. You’ve seen some crazy things, but never a thug or guard willing to do that.\n\nYou glance around expecting someone to shout murderer except the garden’s empty and quiet. You look back at the body with a strong impulse to hide it.\n\nYou look closer.\n\nThere’s no blood. \n\n[[Why isn’t there blood?]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 813>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“You’re right,” you tell Nev. “It’s @@color:#000081;too risky.@@ We’ll just have to make do.” You use the green speckled blade to @@color:#000081;smash@@ the locks on the other slave cages and motion for the people to escape into the forest.\n\nSo far the Ferralliise haven’t noticed you. They must be used to the smell of humans in this area because of all the slaves. Getting through the bazaar will be much more difficult.\n\nYou motion for the soldiers to circle around the Prince. If all of you appear almost @@color:#000081;invisible@@ then maybe you can camouflage the Prince.\n\n“You think this will work?” You ask Nev.\n\nHe shrugs. “It’s not like we have a lot of choices.”\n\n“I mean, will the Ferralliise see the Prince?”\n\n“I don’t know. I’ve never tried something like this before.”\n\n“Great,” you groan. “This could get ugly.” You walk in a tightly packed circle toward the bazaar. Nev carries the Prince at the center of the circle.\n\n“Think boring thoughts,” Nev whispers. “It will make the spell stronger.”\n\nThe Ferralliise tilt their heads as you pass, but they don’t seem to notice you. Then they turn toward the slave cages as if realizing something was wrong. A few of the Ferralliise walk past you to investigate. You try to think boring thoughts, but suddenly Gillian pops into your mind. You know she’s in trouble, probably being tortured, or worse. You don’t want to think about the gruesome details. It’s too painful, too...\n\nNev pokes you, and then you notice the Ferralliise staring directly at you. She has a puzzled look on her face like she can’t quite recognize you, but she knows something’s not right. It must have been all that thinking. If only you could put Gillian out of your mind, but you can’t. She’s the only thing that matters.\n\nYou remain perfectly still, breathing so soft and shallow it’s impossible to notice, but it’s too late. The Ferralliise grabs your shirt and pulls you forward. Her eyes go wide as she sees the Prince.\n\nShe’s about to howl, but you give her a swift uppercut before she can make a noise. The other Ferralliise will discover you soon. You turn to Nev. “Go,” you tell him. “Run.”\n\nHe lobs the Prince over his shoulder and sprints for the sewers that Avengral brought you through. The soldiers stare at each other in panic and dash for cover.\n\nYou need to buy Nev some time. There’s no way he could outrun one of these creatures, especially while carrying another person. You see him disappear into the tree line toward the crumbling wall.\n\nAs soon as he’s out of sight you feel lighter, as if a heavy robe just slipped from your shoulders. There’s an immediate and eerie silence. Every one of the Ferralliise stare at you. The spell must have stopped when Nev was out of sight. They can see you.\n\nThe Ferralliise pounce almost immediately.\n\nYou do your best to fend off the attack, but you’re surrounded and heavily outnumbered. You feel a painful @@color:#000081;thump@@ against the back of your head. You drop to the ground. A Ferralliise stands over you holding a cudgel. The beast swings a second time.\n\nEverything goes black...\n\n\n******\n\nYour head aches. You wipe the blood from your left eye. You lie in a giant pit cut into the side of a mountain. It resembles an arena. Thousands of Ferralliise line the upper edges of the pit, jeering and snarling at you. Three giant corridors are cut into the mountain’s side. You have a strong feeling they aren’t the exit.\n\nA Ferralliise, nearly twice the size of the others with a long mane, lifts his arms into the air and howls. The other Ferralliise go silent. He growls and hoots in a language you can’t understand. Suddenly the ground shakes in a steady rhythm, like the march of enormous feet.\n\nThe crushed bones of soldiers and slaves litter the arena. Their bodies are ripped in half or clawed to pieces. Blood oozes from the walls and stains the ground.\n\nThis must be the Blood Festival Avengral warned you about. It looks like a battle to the death, and judging by all the corpses, the odds are not in your favor. You reach for the green speckled blade and your gun, but both are missing. You should have known.\n\nYou have to do this old school. You have to fight with whatever you can find. You see an iron ball and chain shackled to a corpse’s leg. It might work as a mace. The weight would do some damage, but you’d have to get in close to use it.\n\nOn the other hand, the bone from the giant lizard corpse to your left would make a good spear. You have no idea what you’re going up against. A little distance would be a good thing.\n\n[[Use the iron ball and chain as a mace]]\n[[Use the lizard bone as a spear]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 691>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -15>>\n<<endnobr>>“How sure are you of this @@color:#000081;new formula?”@@ You ask.\n\n“Very sure,” Clark says, his grin widening.\n\n“Is that something your mutated patients would agree with?”\n\nClark waves off your accusation. “That was the old stuff. I’ve accounted for all the variables with this new batch. The bonding agent in the original formula degrades overtime, as is evidence with your sister’s illness. The new formula overcompensated resulting in a drastic physical mutation, but the new variation mixed with the bonding agents already in your body should result in a perfect... how shall I put it... a perfect harmony.”\n\nIf he’s right, that serum could save Gillian, but there’s no way of knowing until he tests it. “Fine,” you say. “Inject me with the new formula.”\n\n“Wonderful,” Clark says gleefully. “I’m so glad you made that decision.” He opens a small refrigerator and removes a tiny red vile. He slides it into a needle gun and abruptly shoves the needle tip into your arm.\n\n“Ow,” you grunt. “How about a little bedside manner.”\n\n“Apologies. I’m just so excited. It’s been so long since I’ve had such an exceptional subject to work on.” \n\n“I’m not one of your experiments.”\n\n“Technically--”\n\n“Not anymore,” you say, cutting him off.\n\n“Yes, well, you’ve returned to my laboratory none the less.” Clark returns to the console and carefully examines the monitor. “The formula appears to be bonding as it should...”\n\nYour heart beats fast, harder than usual. You feel hot, out of breath.\n\n“Accelerated heart rate and quickness of breath are perfectly normal,” Clark says dryly.\n\n“How... would you... know... you said... hypothetical...”\n\n“Did I?” Clark says smugly. “I suppose what I should have said was: it’s about time you arrived.”\n\n“What?” You say struggling for breath. Suddenly metal straps whirl from the chair around your wrists and ankles.\n\n“I was almost certain you wouldn’t believe me,” Clark sighs. “My acting is appallingly bad, but the Boss assured me that the mention of your sister would appropriately distract you. I’ve been waiting so many years to get you back. The formula... You have no idea how many patients were expended to perfect the serum which is now coursing through your veins.”\n\n[[“What did you do to me?!”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 245>>\n<<endnobr>>You look out the window and click the security button on the keychain. The lights on a BMW flicker.\n\nNice.\n\nYou unlock the doors and get in. When the Chinese run the plates and realize the car belongs to Burundukov, the deal with the Boss will fall apart. It’s almost too easy.\n\nYou back out, pull into the street, and drive around the corner. You’re in the clear, at least for now. It’ll take them awhile to realize the car is missing, and by then a crime war will cover your tracks.\n\nNow you just need to figure out where to ambush the Chinese.\n\nYou hear something thumping in the trunk like maybe a part came loose.\n\nYou pull into an alley and park behind a dumpster. The last thing you need is for a cop to pull you over on a technicality.\n\nYou pop the trunk and stare down at a young boy who's bound and gagged. He couldn’t be more than eight. He’s wearing an expensive private school uniform. You recognize the emblem. The school is on the nicer side of town.\n\nHe mumbles and moans at you frantically.\n\nThis is probably some sort of ransom. There’s a good chance someone’s already looking for this kid, or worse, the car. Either way, you’ve got a giant bull’s-eye painted on your back.\n\nThat doesn’t change the plan – start a war, kill a bunch of people, and save Gillian.\n\nYou look down at the kid.\n\n[[Close the trunk]]\n[[Untie him]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 298>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s not like you’ve got a lot of choices here, and who knows what these double suns are doing to your skin. You should have packed some sunscreen, but when you woke up this morning, it’s not like you could have counted on something like this happening.\n\nAnd maybe the inhabitants here are friendly. Although, now that you think about it, it’s strange there isn't anyone walking around outside. Just one more reason you should get indoors.\n\nYou sprint for the nearest building. Finding the door proves to be harder than you thought. You walk nearly the whole perimeter before you discover a small scanner. You press your hand against it.\n\nSuddenly a red light envelops your body, and your skin tingles again. Before you can react, you realize you’re standing inside the building. You were just teleported through the wall.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Like Ragnoss, this is an alien planet and in order to make the distinction between the two, I made this world much more advanced.<<endif>>\nYou take two steps forward and then your lungs feel like they’re on @@color:#000081;fire.@@ You @@color:#000081;cough@@ and @@color:#000081;choke.@@ Something’s wrong with the air.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;collapse@@ against the wall. The atmosphere – the building must be filtering the air, but why would it be toxic?\n\nThen you’re struck by a revelation. The teleportation device, the star charts, the genetic experiments – the company that drugged you – they must be working with the aliens. If humans can breathe the atmosphere here but the aliens have lost the ability then human genes could be used to genetically manipulate the future generations of aliens so they could survive on this planet.\n\nIf only you had known.\n\nYou try to reach for the scanner, but you don’t have the strength. Blood @@color:#000081;drips@@ from your eyes, nose, and ears. You curl into a ball on the floor trying to fight the pain.\n\nSuddenly you feel something @@color:#000081;burst@@ in your chest and everything swirls with black.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 465>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +3>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +5>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +1300>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You toggle the scope to x-ray and adjust the secondary focus so the first and second walls are transparent. The thug in the hallway is sitting in a chair reading a book. He looks unassuming, but in your experience those are usually the ones to watch out for.\n\nYou adjust the angle of the rifle slightly so the bullet hits his center mass. You relax your body and @@color:#000081;pull the trigger@@. His body slumps over and out of the chair.\n\nThe noise will have alerted the other guards. You’ll have to be quick now. You’re about to realign the rifle when you see the guard you just shot stand up. Even if he was wearing body armor, a bullet with that velocity would have killed him instantly.\n\nHe turns, and for a moment it’s as if he’s staring directly at you. You glance at his chest. There’s no blood. Instead, black goo drips from the wound – if you could even call it a wound.\n\nHe sets the book on the hall table and steps in your direction. His movements are mechanical, and his expression is unnaturally calm.\n\nYou fire the sniper rifle a second time. The bullet cuts through the air. The guard steps left avoiding the bullet.\n\nBefore you can say impossible, you fire again. Another miss. You swallow hard and rethink your strategy. Okay, so this man, or thing, can dodge bullets – that just means you’ll have to shoot something you know you can hit.\n\nYou align the rifle with the hall closet and fire three rounds, @@color:#000081;igniting@@ the crate of booze the Boss had been saving for a special occasion.\n\nThe hallway is consumed with flames. “Dodge that,” you jeer. Your victory is short-lived. The guard emerges from the flames. His clothes and skin are burning, but he continues to calmly walk toward you.\n\nOkay. “Impossible.” There, you’ve said it.\n\nBits of flesh and clothes slide from his frame. A metallic hue resides underneath. He walks to the edge of the room and kneels.\n\nIn an instant he thrusts himself into the air. The remaining flesh is ripped from his blue metallic body. He lands on the roof of the parking garage with such force the cement ripples and cracks.\n\nHe, if you can even call it a he, sprints at you, grabbing your neck before you can roll over the edge.\n\nIt stares at your face, deep into your eyes.\n\nYou see Chinese characters and numbers engraved on its chest.\n\nWell, that explains what the Chinese were bringing to the table for the Boss’s big deal. You stare into its black oval eyes. You’re about to be killed by a glorified toaster. Great.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I was nervous about this scene because of its surprise, gotcha moment - a robot, built by Wong, kills the main character.I allude to Wong’s criminal activities (and robots) in other parts of the book (I even have a longer robot subplot involving Seth Maurer and his “father”) but nowhere in the choices previous to this one.This was meant to be foreshadowing for an alternate plotline involving Wong (or Maurer).<<endif>>\nYou feel your @@color:#000081;neck snap@@ and a gust of wind as the robot drops you over the edge.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 13]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1343>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +9>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s not like you have time for a brutal, drawn out fight. Besides, it’s been a long day, and you’re @@color:#000081;tired.@@ Talking it out with these intellectual wizards sounds a lot easier than swinging a sword. With all your experience dealing with the Boss, their illusion and manipulation should be a piece of cake. You scratch your head and stare at Quintus. “So these Island Wizards are all about mental dexterity, huh?”\n\n“Yes. The Island Wizards, or Blue Wizards as they’re sometimes called, are highly adapt at solving complex problems, or manipulating others into doing the work for them. Though the King forbids the use of unsanctioned magic in the realm, the Blue Wizards were able to convince the other lords to exile magic users instead of killing them. Only twelve wizards remain in the castle, and only by special order of the King.”\n\n“So that’s how you got to stay here?”\n\nQuintus frowns. “As you know, I don’t actually practice magic, but our science is so different from theirs, wizard was the only term they had to describe me. If I had been a child born with such powers, the authorities would have exiled me to Vizzairn, the volcano city in the north, or Raizaa, the wizard island to the east. The children of Raizaa spend the entirety of their life contemplating and studying ancient spells and tomes. Though they have little skill in the ways of armed combat, they are considered to have the most brilliant minds in all the realm.”\n\nYou stretch your legs. “So a lot of egg heads, huh?”\n\n“Do not underestimate them,” Quintus warns. “They respect skill and power. They think ten moves ahead. If they view you as an inferior opponent, they will likely make a game out of killing you.”\n\n“What else is new,” you groan. “Someone’s always trying to kill me. So how long’s it going to take to get to this island?”\n\n“Not long. Wizard Songlie is most likely opening a gateway now.”\n\n“Gateway? You mean like the portal?”\n\n“No, no. Nothing so advanced. Each of the ancient cities within the realm has a magical gateway connecting it to each of the other cities. Five in total, though the Elfin gate and the Squamarian gate are inactive, most likely destroyed centuries ago.”\n\n“Is that anything like the--”\n\n“Pardon my interruption,” Avengral cuts you off. “The Prince is in peril, and we must make haste.”\n\n“We?”\n\nAvengral nods. “I have volunteered to lead our cause for reinforcements.”\n\n“How noble,” you say dryly.\n\n“Verily,” Avengral motions toward twelve other soldiers. “Our ranks comprise untrained vagabonds and mercenaries. My presence will ensure their loyalty.”\n\n“Or you kill the ones that run.”\n\nAvengral glowers at you. “I am their leader, and I am honor-bound to protect these soldiers with my life.”\n\nYou shrug. “Alright. Let’s just get this over with.” You glance at Quintus. “I’ve got someplace else I need to be.”\n\n“Then follow me,” Avengral says, heading back into the castle with a brisk march. The other would-be soldiers follow with less enthusiasm.\n\n“Good luck,” Quintus says. “By the time you return, my device should be nearly finished.”\n\n“Or we’re stuck here forever, right?”\n\nQuintus gives you a stern and weary smile. “I trust you to do what needs to be done. You must trust me to do the same.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” you groan. “Just make sure everything’s ready when I get back.”\n\nQuintus nods and hurries back to his lab.\n\nYou turn toward Avengral. He’s nearly out of sight. You jog to catch up. He leads you through several long, stone corridors and up two spiral staircases. “Wizard Songlie is generally agreeable,” Avengral says. “But it would be prudent to treat her with the respect she deserves.”\n\n“I would dream of nothing less,” you say sarcastically.\n\n“Good,” Avengral replies. “She is one of the most powerful wizards in the realm.” He says the words with a soft sweetness.\n\nYou’ve heard people talk like that before. He obviously cares about her, but it’s not any of your business. All you need to worry about is getting home. Gillian is out there, and nothing's standing between her and the hoard of thugs, criminals, and assassins trying to get at her. You shudder at the thought.\n\n“Is something wrong?” Avengral asks.\n\n“No,” you say. “Let’s just get this over with.”\n\n“Indeed,” Avengral agrees. “May this dark veil be lifted soon.” He pushes open a large wooden door. The room stretches almost the width of the castle. The walls are lined with bookshelves, each stuffed to capacity. Eight tables are equally spaced along the right side of the room, each one holding a variety of ingredients and mixing equipment.\n\nA short, slender woman turns toward you. Her green robe swishes at her briskness. Her hair is so long that it nearly touches the floor. She lowers her archaic glasses and examines you. “Yes, yes. The gateway is nearly ready. I was beginning to think you had decided against using it.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Wizard Songlie is a character I added at the last minute (thankfully). Avengral is a significant part of this segment and I felt he needed a little bit more of a personality - more internal motivation beyond honor.Songlie and Avengral are secretly in love and, because of tension regarding magic, must keep their love hidden. This is the first example of the social injustices that exist in Sarrejiinn and foreshadowing for what’s to come with the blue and red wizards.<<endif>>\n“We have no other choice,” Avengral says softly. “Time is against us.”\n\nThe woman smiles. “It seems something is always against us. The fear of war must keep you busy.”\n\nAvengral’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “It is not fear that motivates us now.”\n\n“Yes,” Songlie says. “You are afraid of nothing...except perhaps your King and his customs.” She takes four stones from the table and walks toward two large stone columns. The columns are patterned with dozens of holes. She pushes the stones into the columns.\n\nImmediately, streaks of light jump between the columns as a pillar of brightness forms at their center.\n\n“The gateway,” Songlie says. “And your destination?”\n\n“The island city to the east,” you say before Avengral can respond.\n\nSonglie glances at him for confirmation.\n\nHe nods.\n\nShe pushes the final stone into place. An image forms in the gateway like something reflecting off a body of water. It’s a large city made of blue stone buildings. The buildings are illuminated by hovering orbs of orange light.\n\nAvengral motions for the soldiers to enter the gateway. They begrudgingly do as he commands.\n\nAvengral pauses in front of Songlie. ”I may serve my King and his customs, but what I do, I do for the people of this realm, and for you.” He bows to her then turns to you and motions toward the gateway.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;walk through.@@ It feels cool and damp like walking near the ocean. You open your eyes. You’re in the courtyard of a large castle. The stones have a faint blue glow with sigils etched at their center. Orange orbs hover near the wall in place of torches. The orange light flickers off the metallic stone.\n\nAn old man dressed in a blue robe greets you. His long white beard swishes back and forth as he walks near. “Good day,” he says. “Songlie informed us of your visit. Please,” he gestures toward a great hall. “Follow me.”\n\nYou, Avengral, and the soldiers follow the old man into the great hall and sit at the large oak table he gestures to.\n\n“Master Wizard Kailvo Kalraan will be with you momentarily. Enjoy some refreshments.” The old man waves his hand over the table and three platters of food suddenly appear.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This is one of several scenes in which Master Wizard Kailvo Kalraan is mentioned. In each instance he is a villain, but each scene explores a different aspect of his schemes.I continually reused Kailvo for two reasons:1) Exploring different phases of his devious plan allowed me a chance to create a coherent structure for the Blue Wizard’s magic and expand the Ragnoss universe in a meaningful way (instead of a series of one-shots).2) Combining storylines and consolidating narrative branches is much easier when I only have to track one villain (remember, variables weren’t an option).<<endif>>\nFor playing mind games and being manipulative, these Blue Wizards seem unusually nice, which doesn't explain why danger bells keep ringing in your head. That’s when you notice the intricate way the food has been placed on the platters.\n\n@@color:#000081;“Wait,”@@ you say, grabbing a soldier’s arm before he can touch the food. “Something’s not right.”\n\n“Yeah, I’ll say,” the soldier growls while yanking his arm free. “I haven’t had this good of a spread ever, and I’m hungry.”\n\n“Yeah,” another soldier says. “We’re all hungry, and there’s plenty for everyone.”\n\nAvengral turns to you. “Etiquette dictates that we must partake of the refreshments our host provides. It is tradition. Is there something wrong?”\n\nYou shrug. “I’m not sure. Something feels off.”\n\nAvengral hesitates taking the food. “What would you suggest?”\n\n[[Examine the food and platters]]\n[[Let the other soldiers eat first]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 275>>\n<<endnobr>>You walk to the elevator and check each machine gun until you find one that works. You wipe the blood and bits of people off. You motion to Gillian. “Over here.”\n\nYou point the machine gun at the floor where the first grenade went off. You grin at Gillian. “Plug your ears.” Then you empty the clip around the weakened floor. Not quite a @@color:#000081;perfect circle,@@ but it’ll do.\n\nYou stomp until the circle of floor splits and crashes to the room below. You glance at Gillian. “Let’s go.” You drop down the opening and motion for her to follow.\n\nShe hesitates, but does what you ask. You catch her as she drops. Her knees seem weak and her arms still shake, but she manages to walk.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Gillian was a tricky character to write. A normal person in her situation would understandably be scared and compared to the main character’s daring she seems even more fearful.I didn’t want her to appear to be a damsel in distress, but if she was too strong, it would undercut the need to save her, so in these early scenes I wrote her as timid and then in later scenes she shows more pluck.<<endif>>\nThey really did a number on her. You can’t think about that now though. The thugs will be coming soon, and you’re her only chance at getting out of here alive.\n\nYou’ll get her justice, just not today.\n\nYou grab her hand, and she flinches. “Gillian, it’s going to be alright,” you tell her.\n\nHer eyes faintly meet yours. \n\n“Now come on,” you say, pulling her toward the stairs.\n\nYou ease the door open and listen. Footsteps – about six guys, paired up in groups of two. You’ve got about ten bullets left in the machine gun and a few in the pistol. It’s enough to get you down the stairs, but it doesn’t leave you much once you get to the lobby.\n\nThe stairwell is thin, makes for good hand-to-hand combat. You won’t have that kind of luck with the lobby. The thugs are getting closer and quick.\n\n[[Fight hand-to-hand and conserve ammo]]\n[[Use the machine gun]]\n

<<back>><center><h1>Seven Bullets\nCharacter List</h1></center>\n<center>Characters from the City</center>\nThe Boss\nThe Boss is a shrewd and sometimes sadistic businessman who controls a large portion of the City’s criminal element. He acts as a surrogate father for the main character and Gillian. Imagine the cordialness of a Southern Gentleman mixed with the quick, sharp bite of a viper.\nGillian\nGillian is the main character’s younger sister. She’s smart and kind - most notably defined by her strong moral compassion. At times she’s plucky but the criminal and assassin world is foreign to her.\nAlana\nAlana is the Boss’ top assassin (after the main character left). She’s violent and aggressive, killing indiscriminately and without remorse. She considers the main character a personal rival and hopes to be the person to kill them. Her weapon of choice: whatever will cause the biggest explosion.\nChuck Laroche\nChuck Laroche is one of the Boss’ elite assassins. He’s a French born citizen but having fallen in love with the Wild West as a child, thinks of himself as an American Cowboy. His weapon of choice: two silver revolvers.\nNikola Abrankovich\nNikola Abrankovich is an assassin the Boss poached from the Russians. As an assassin, he’s quiet and brooding. After a side job with the main character goes awry (resulting in his facial scar) he swears vengeance. His alter ego “Alex Vice” is a decent guy who sometimes solves crimes for fun. His weapon of choice: Dragunov sniper rifle.\nAda Wolff\nAda is one of the Boss’ newer recruits. Her temper and inexperience make her a liability in the field. As a result, her actions are directly supervised by the Boss or Alana. Her weapon of choice: Piano wire.\nR5E8-a1\nR5E8-a1 is an experimental robot assassin designed by Dr. Maurer, commissioned by the Boss. R5E8-a1 is human in appearance for covert purposes only. It is capable of superhuman feats of strength, endurance, and dexterity.\nJohn Two Toes\nJohn Two Toes is an undercover FBI agent whose singular mission is to arrest the Boss. After nearly six months he’s managed to become a “respected” member of the Boss’ henchmen. His secondary passion is a mint green Camaro which he rebuilt himself.\nMr. Jenkins\nMr. Jenkins is a hardnosed CEO working in the building across from the Boss.\nWalter\nWalter works with Mr. Jenkins, handling hiring and firing of employees.\nThe Doc\nThe Doc was once a respected surgeon. After a tragic and accidental car accident killed his wife and two children, he numbed his sorrow with pain killers and prescription drugs. His self-prescribed therapy quickly became an addiction. While under the influence he botched two surgeries, killing one patient. His addiction became public and he was blacklisted from the medical field. He opened a secret clinic focused on treating criminals (cash only). Needing more money to pursue his addition, he resorted to stealing organs and sealing them on the black-market.\nChu\nChu is Wong’s top assassin (and personal chef). Chu was sold to Wong as a child and spent the entirety of his life training to be an assassin. He hates killing but does not dare rebel against his master. During an assassin mission in France, while undercover as a chef, he fell in love with the art of cooking. His secret desire is to retire from killing and open a restaurant. His weapon of choice: Mixed Martial Arts.\nMiss Wasylyk\nMiss Wasylyk is a private contractor who uses torture, blackmail, and extortion to “solve” problems. She originally worked for the CIA, but they found her methods to be “excessive” and let her go. She now works for the highest bidder. She’s a tall, slender, exceptionally beautiful woman with long black hair and a scar across her right cheek in the shape of a seven. Her weapon of choice: using family as collateral.\nVito\nVito is a retired “old school” assassin. He owns and operates “The Gym” a secure and neutral location for assassins to store equipment and train. Because Vito worked for the government, every crime family and most longstanding organizations, his reputation allows The Gym to operate with impunity (as long as he remains neutral).\nWallis\nWallis is a trigger-happy henchman who generally acts without thinking. He’s spent years working for the Boss. His dream is to become one of the Boss’ assassins. He is the person who shoves a gun in the main character’s mouth at the beginning of the story (which didn’t go so well for him).\nBurundukov\nBurundukov runs the Russian mob in the City. He’s a gruff, dangerous man with ambitious plans. Though his resources are limited, he sees himself as an equal to the Boss.\nWilson\nWilson is a genius scientist whose research is focused on renewable energy. Despite his genius, he’s very timid and insecure. His confidence was further crushed after his wife left him (and their daughter) for a young, attractive research assistant. Wilson’s research is so envied, his daughter is kidnapped by Miss Wasylyk in an attempt to extort his work. (His daughter’s name is never mentioned in the story.)\nFei Yen \nFei Yen is a freelance Chinese assassin. She’s generally known for her poise and preference for blades. Despite being freelance, most of her jobs come from Wong or the Chinese government.\nAdwoa\nAdwoa is an African warlord that tortures the main character during a mission that takes place before the story begins.\nSanders Long\nSanders Long is one of the Boss’s henchmen. His brother is Jim Long from the short story “The Disappearance of Karen Ward”.\nSeth Maurer\nSeth is Dr. Maurer’s son. He is kidnapped by the Russians in an attempt to extort Dr. Maurer and gain access to his profound research. Seth is ten and goes to an exclusive private school.\nDr. Maurer\nDr. Maurer is a genius who holds several dozen patents relating to weapon design, energy production, robotics, and space flight. Early in his career he designed cutting edge weapons and military tech for the government. With age, he’s attempted to reposition his research toward energy, medicine, and robotics. Criminal organizations seeing the potential in Dr. Maurer’s military work have spent decades attempting to purchase his knowledge... more recently they have resorted to extortion and kidnapping.\nArty\nArty is a robotic turtle owned by Seth Maurer.\nSenator John Davis\nSenator Davis is a good, incorruptible politician. Given his firm support for the police and his unwillingness to be bought, he has become a target for some criminal organizations such as the Russians. He also appears in the novella, The Last Darling (see: page 73).\nDr. Vellum\nDr. Vellum is a doctor and researcher for an unnamed criminal organization. He is responsible for creating the hallucinogenic drug: R4TS89. He directly oversees the interrogation and torture of captives. For a criminal and torturer, he’s a relatively nice guy.\nVince Mielke\nVince Mielke is CEO and public face of the unnamed criminal organization Dr. Vellum works for. He’s a shrewd and clever businessman best known for his charming smile. Given his public visibility, the CIA has taken an interest in his business practices.\nLeroy\nLeroy is a hapless and inept henchman working for the Boss.\n\n<center>Characters from Ragnoss</center>\n\nQuintus Villarreal\nQuintus is the lead physicist on the Hyperion Project. During an attempt to recreate the Hyperion Vortex, Quintus and several other scientists are accidentally pulled through. He is the only survivor and has been stranded on Ragnoss for seven years. He’s a middle aged man with a scruffy beard and a ragged white lab coat (which he wears on principle).\nAvengral Swiftsteel\nAvengral is the First Knight of Sarrejiinn castle, Third Sword in the House of Sun and Steel, and leader of the Knights Guard. He has taken a particular interest in Quintus’ work and dedicated himself to helping the “Earth Wizard”. Avengral is honor-bound to follow and uphold the law. Despite his deep love for Wizard Songlie, the King’s Law prevents him from marrying her.\nGrat Grimworth\nGrat is a Red Wizard. His magic specializes in plant manipulation, and command of animals. His weapon of choice is the long sword. He is the most experienced of the five wizards that join the main character, and he acts as their leader. Grat has a serious, grim personality.\nMos Vestermire\nMos is a Red Wizard, but due to the unique quality of his magic he was confused as a Blue Wizard and spent his childhood with them on Raizaa. He prefers using a bow equipped with magically enchanted arrows.\nNev Naysayer\nNev is a Red Wizard that reluctantly joins you. He doubts Avengral’s promises and is skeptical of the mission in general. His magic focuses on fire, light, and shadow. He prefers using stealth and the identical daggers hidden in his armor.\nAble No-name\nAble is a Red Wizard. His magic specializes in manipulating rocks, dirt, and metal. He prefers direct confrontation and honesty. He may be a bit dim, but he’s good-natured. His weapon of choice is a giant, oversized hammer.\nEvie Greengrass\nEvie is a Red Wizard. Her magic specializes in manipulating water. She’s book-smart and very knowledgeable about magic in general. She’s kind and open-minded though a bit timid. Her weapon of choice is a magically enchanted whip.\nKing Sarrejiinn\nThe King is an old man with a graying beard and a golden crown. His muscles are broad and sinewy. Despite his age he’s still a formidable warrior in battle. His political skills are capable but he still relies on force. He is skeptical of the old ways and sees the use of magic as a perversion of nature. This is mostly due to the decades of warfare that consumed his youth.\nThe Prince\nThe Prince is a good natured young man. He’s more political and much less forceful than his father. He’s open-minded to the use of magic within the realm but keeps silent out of respect for his father, the King.\nThe Ferralliise\nThe Ferralliise (Fair-ra-lease-see) are shapeshifting (semi-vampiric) beasts with human-like intelligence. Sometimes they’re depicted as savage killers, sometimes as well reasoning foes - in each case they’re extremely dangerous. They use Blood Magic as the core source of their power and transformative abilities.\nThe Seven Sons of Unthor\nUnthor was a powerful warlord responsible for uniting the continent of Sarrejiinn. When he died, his seven sons divided the kingdom and ruled as a democratic monarchy. They embraced magic and after defending the realm from thirteen invasions were rumored to have supernatural abilities (or blessings).\nElven King Slabaz\nBefore Unthor united the continent, the elven tribes had control of Sarrejiinn (then known as Aksi Vosii). Slabaz was the last recorded king of the Elven Tribes. Most Sarrejiinn scholars believe Slabaz’s poor leadership was mostly to blame for the Elves decline.\nFriar Lowin\nFriar Lowin is a healer and scholar who works at Sarrejiinn Castle. He is a close friend to the Sarrejiinn King, having fought alongside him when they were both much younger.\nWizard Songlie\nWizard Songlie is the King's commandant wizard. She is neither a Red or Blue wizard and instead swore allegiance directly to the King. She is one of only twelve wizards the King allowed to stay within the castle. She is a short, slender woman with (very) long hair and crude glasses. Like all the King’s wizards, she wears a green robe. She is in love with Avengral but because she wields magic, her civil rights are limited and she is forbidden to marry a Sarrejiinn man without direct permission from the King.\nSquamarian\nSquamarian is the broad term used to describe any of the intelligent aquatic life on Ragnoss. Squamarian subtypes include mermaids, Squal, Carcoso, the Natanus, the Cetorix and a variety of others. Squamarian and land civilizations usually don’t mix and generally have bad political relationships.\nNatanus\nA Natanus is a human like figure about half the size of a normal person with red scaly skin and gills. Its head is long and pointy like a trout. Its mouth is lined with two rows of hundreds of small, razor sharp teeth. The Natanus have highly cultivated cities and an advanced, intricate language. Most of their submerged cities are located to the south of Sarrejiinn.\nIgnis Ustrina\nIgnis is the leader of the Red Wizards of the North. She is one of the few wizards capable of manipulating all of the elements, though her preference is fire. She became the leader of the Red Wizards after defeating all the challengers in combat. Her weapon of choice is an enchanted mace.\nSkraz\nSkraz is a teenage boy and one of the weakest among the Red Wizards. He specializes in manipulating fire. His weapon of choice is a flaming spear.\nAzarii\nAzarii is a teenage boy and, second to Skraz, is the weakest of the Red Wizards. He specializes in manipulating rocks and dirt. His weapon of choice is a large hammer.\nThe Lorefaiin\nThe Lorefaiin is an old god that lived and ruled over Ragnoss before civilization existed. The Lorefaiin has one head with three faces: a goat, a lizard, and a bear. An epic battle between the Lorefaiin, the other gods, and the dragons ended with the Lorefaiin being exiled to a spirit realm. Lorefaiin acolytes (attempting to free their master) were one of the main causes that lead to the Great War.\nMaster Wizard Kailvo Kalraan\nKailvo Kalraan is First Mage of the House of Cerulean Sky and one of the leaders of the Blue Wizards. He’s a manipulative and devious schemer concerned with advancing his own power. His fascination with the Ferralliise and blood magic is all consuming. He’s convinced it’s the key to unlocking ultimate power.\nThe Cetorix\nThe Cetorix is an enormous, legendary creature that lives in the oceans south of Sarrejiinn. Few sailors have seen the creature and lived. Its existence and characteristics are derived from rumors and speculation. Quintus believes that over time, the chemicals in the Cetorix’s stomach calcify producing a ball capable of produce enough power to stabilize an artificial portal.\nTaz Moir\nTaz Moir is a scraggly, tough-as-nails pirate whose only passion is sailing the sea. In his youth he was a promising sailor, the youngest to reach the rank of Lieutenant in the King’s navy. During a surveying expedition in South-Eastern waters, his ship is ravaged by a storm. The few sailors that survive are stranded and adrift for nearly a week, during which time a pod of mermaids devours the weary survivors one by one. Taz Moir manages to fight them off but not before losing his right leg to their hunger. He steers the debris into a north bound current and eventual reaches the island of the Blue Wizards. Using magic, they carefully resuscitate him. In order to repay such a debt, he spends three years working for them doing secret and sometimes illegal jobs. Eventually he scraps together enough funds to buy a ship and hire a crew. He continues working secret and illegal jobs, but now as a self-employed pirate.\nThe Dread Pirate of Dreadiness and Looting\nYour appropriated pirate name.\nDragon Spawn\nWhen the dragons were nearing extinction, they mated with other animals creating half-breed spawnlings. Each generation of the Spawnlings became progressively less intelligent. The current generation is nothing more than trainable beasts.\n\n<center>Characters from Hell</center>\nThe Ferryman\nThe Ferryman is an immortal whose sole responsibility is to ferry souls to hell. He requires one item of gold before he allows passage. He is neither good or bad and incapable of passing judgment.\nThe Gatekeeper\nThe Gatekeeper is an immortal responsible for keeping souls in or out of hell. He is a large rock face carved into the side of Hell. The Gatekeeper is the only entrance (and exit) to Hell. He does not pass judgment; he only executes it.\nJazelle\nJazelle is a woman who has been trapped in hell for a very long time. In life, her son drowned partly due to her irresponsibility. She carried that guilt with her into Hell and must relive the horrible moment of her son’s death as punishment for her earthly crimes.\nMathew & Marjorie\nMathew and Marjorie are siblings. In life, they were rich, entitled brats who suffered little for their arrogant attitude. During a drunk night of partying, Mathew crashes his car into oncoming traffic, killing two children and their mother. Marjorie was in the passenger seat and did little to stop him from getting behind the wheel. Having not worn seatbelts, he and Marjorie also die in the crash.\nCecil & Sylvia\nCecil and Sylvia are lovers. In life, they were known as “The Sweetheart Killers.” They stalked young, newlywed couples and brutally mutilated and killed them. They were responsible for murdering eight couples before the police found them. Cecil and Sylvia were killed in the shootout with police.\nAyporos\nAyporos, Third Duke of the Southern Realm of Hell, is a demon. Ayporos does not have a gender (but is referred to as he). He reveres the “Creator” and is subject to most of the Creator’s laws. There are several other rules Ayporos must adhere to, the most important being that he cannot break an oath or tell a lie. Ayporos still tries to game the system by manipulating humans (specifically the main character). Ayporos is particularly jealous of humanity’s freedom and if he cannot claim it for himself, he plans to experience it vicariously through the main character.\nAgares\nAgares, Grand Duke of North Western region of Hell, is a demon. He is depicted as an old man riding a crocodile with a talking crow that sits on his shoulder. He is subject to the Creator’s laws and cannot break an oath or tell a lie. Agares, like most demons, enjoys manipulating and torturing humans.\nThe House of Cataclysm\nThe House of Cataclysm is a doomsday cult that believed their mass suicide would bring about the end of the world. They now reside in a small portion of Hell still adamant their actions with bring about Armageddon. Titles they reserve for the chosen one: Bringer of Flies, the Naysayer, the Child of Sorrow.\nThe Purveyor\nThe Purveyor is the first and most deliberate inhabitant of Hell. He goes by many names: the Devil, The First, Son of the Morning, the Prince of the Power of the Air, the Old Serpent, Lucifer, or Satan. More recently he has consigned himself to a secluded portion of Hell where he tends a garden of glass flowers.\nThe Fallen\nThe Fallen is a broad term used to describe demons. A Fallen’s title and strength varies depending on when they joined Lucifer.\n\n<center>Characters from the Facility</center>\nZach Walker\nZach Walker is the head soldier at the secret government facility. Originally he was just an ordinary security guard but after all the real soldiers died he was “promoted”.\nDr. Samantha Kapur\nDr. Samantha Kapur is a scientist at the secret government facility. Her sister, Dr. Shivani Kapur, is a minor character in The Last Darling.\nDr. Aiden Clark\nDr. Clark is the lead scientist of Project OVID. He is a stern sometimes cruel man driven by scientific ambition. He views scientific progress above human life and his experiments reflect that sentiment.\nDr. Mason Green\nDr. Mason Green is a scientist at the secret government facility. While he may be a genius, his timid nature has limited the advancement of his career. He works as a subordinate to Dr. Aiden Clark. his broad responsibility is to evaluate the fail rate of specific ventures and determine if any of the gained knowledge can be repurposed (like an intellectual repo man).\n\n<<back>>\n

<center><img src="unlocks/maps/SevenBullets_TwineMap_Small.jpg" width="100%" hspace="6">\n<a href="unlocks/maps/SevenBullets_TwineMap.jpg" target="_blank">Larger Version</a></center>\n@@color:#D8D8D8;Note: Download and reference the larger Twine map if you get stuck. (Or if you want to cheat!)@@\n\n<center><<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1022>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "Fei Yen’s Ferrari">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’ll take the Ferrari,” you shout to Wilson. “You and the kid take the Subaru. Whatever happens, just keep driving. Don’t worry about me. You and the kid need to get out of here now.”\n\nWilson nods. “You don’t need to tell me twice.” He and the kid get in the Subaru.\n\nYou open the garage door then slide into the Ferrari. You notice a metal briefcase in the passenger seat. You pop it open.\n\nIt’s a disassembled sword and a collection of throwing knives. The blade is familiar. You’ve seen it before ...but where?\n\nWas it the job in Hong Kong?\n\nYeah, that was it. You ran into a crazy assassin who only used blades. What was her name... Fei Yen? She took out an entire building of soldiers with a butter knife just to prove that she could. You just barely got out of there alive. You’re not exactly eager for a rematch, at least not right now.\n\nIf those blades are hers that means this car must belong to her too. She’s not the kind of person you should steal from, but then again, this is a really, really nice car.\n\nYou start the engine and put it in gear. You motion for Wilson to follow you. You lead him down the drive and through the back gate. Four black SUVs swerve through the gate behind you. You hear machine gun fire.\n\nYou tap the brake and twist the steering wheel. The Ferrari spins behind the Subaru. You swerve left and right, slowing down the SUVs. Wilson manages to get a little bit more distance.\n\nThe bullets tear through the Ferrari. You can’t take much more. You’re about to slam on the gas pedal when you hear something thump against the roof. It’s louder than a grenade...\n\nSuddenly a sword stabs through the car roof, nearly slicing off the tip of your nose.\n\nFei Yen.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Fei Yen is a freelance “problem solver” (assassin). I wanted to include some exceptional killers to the story that weren’t associated with the Boss, Wong, or the Russians.And despite how this encounter ends, Fei Yen definitely survived.<<endif>>\n[[Uh oh.]]\n\n

With the moderate inheritance [[Karen|Karen]] had received after her [[mother]]’s untimely death, she decided to return to college for another degree. She began working at the University Library because of its proximity to her classes, but also because it allowed her to do research unencumbered.\n\nThe books she sought were old and particularly difficult to come by. The University had three of the [[seven|seventh]] tomes [[Karen|Karen]] had been searching for: [[The Stolen Ones]], [[The Song of the Myst Martyrs]], and [[The Gates of Brutavius]].\n\nOver time, the tomes had been damaged to a degree that forced the University to keep them in a protective enclosure in a temperature regulated room.\n\nOnly a select group of people were allowed to examine the books and only for a brief period of time during the day. Given her position, [[Karen|Karen]] had access to the books afterhours for as long as she desired.\n\nShe spent many months studying the old manuscripts, particularly [[The Stolen Ones]], which proved useful in forming her [[theories]] about the [[spirit realm]] and her later [[experiments]].\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 491>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +3>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +66400>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Gillian can’t afford to wait any longer. You stole this car for a reason, and it’s time you pay Wong a little visit. You drive down the street for a while, take a right, and keep driving.\n\nYou pull through an alley and turn left into the employee parking lot of Wong’s restaurant. You park the car near the back, a little out of sight.\n\nYou grab the Russian cigarettes and light three of them. After they burn a bit, you stamp them out and leave them on the pavement near the car as @@color:#000081;incriminating evidence.@@\n\nYou grab the assault rifle from the backseat and a couple of grenades. You could start shooting into the building, but a lot of innocent people would die and a brutal massacre may make it easy to get into the penthouse, but it would make it impossible to get out of the city.\n\nThis needs to be a precision strike, probably best if you destroy their stash of drugs. That makes it seem more business oriented.\n\nThere are a few cars in the parking lot, but otherwise it looks deserted. \n\nYou get out of the car, calmly walk to the restaurant, and climb the stairs to the second story where they keep the drugs.\n\nThe door is reinforced steel with a little slide window. You tap the door twice. The window slides open.\n\nThe guy looks startled to see you. He tries to close the window, but you @@color:#000081;shove@@ the barrel of the gun through the opening. He slams the metal against the gun, but it won’t close.\n\nYou pull the pin from a grenade and push the grenade through the tiny hole. You hear shouting in Chinese then a loud @@color:#000081;explosion.@@\n\nSmoke and dust @@color:#000081;blow out@@ the opening and the edges of the door. You toss two more grenades inside.\n\nThe blast destroys part of @@color:#000081;the wall.@@ You crouch through it, @@color:#000081;shooting@@ two of the henchmen as they try to attack you.\n\nA crate of liquor is shattered against the floor and soaking into the carpet. You light another Russian cigarette and toss it into the cracked bottles. It immediately @@color:#000081;ignites.@@\n\nThe fire should destroy most of @@color:#000081;the drugs@@ – enough to make this little attack very personal. You toss the assault rifle into the fire and duck through the hole in the wall. You jog down the stairs.\n\nYou pause, struck by a sudden flaw in your plan. If you go to the penthouse now, you’d be unarmed. Wong is bound to have some high-powered weapons stashed somewhere in the building, but that would mean you’d have to go back in and fight your way through the fire and thugs.\n\nYou’ve still got a couple grenades and some pistols in the car. Those might be enough to get you through the lobby. You could always improvise from there.\n\n[[Fight your way through fire and thugs]]\n[[Use the grenades and pistols plus a little improvising]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 718>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveColdandCalculating").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockColdandCalculating").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab the sniper rifle and sprint for cover behind the largest crate. You kneel to stay out of sight, so the thugs shouldn’t see you unless they’re standing right next to the crate.\n\nYou grab a combat knife from the wall behind you and throw it into the lights. They shatter and the room @@color:#000081;goes dark.@@ That should buy you some time.\n\nYou weren’t able to grab the box of ammo, so you’ll still need to do that before you can get yourself out of this mess.\n\nYou hear the voices move closer. They’re in the room now. Based on the shuffling of feet, there are at least three of them. You can take out three guys without a problem, but who’s to say how many would be waiting in the kitchen if there was gunfire or one of them radioed up top.\n\nYou’ll have to be @@color:#000081;stealthy@@ about this.\n\nOne of the figures is getting close. He’s dressed as a waiter. You wait for him to pass then grab him around the neck in a @@color:#000081;choke hold.@@ He flips you over his shoulder, and you fly into the @@color:#000081;opposite wall.@@ So much for being just a waiter.\n\nYou roll to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ his kick; unfortunately you roll right into one of the other waiters. He yanks a katana from the wall and swings it toward your head. You @@color:#000081;parry@@ with the sniper rifle and scramble to your feet.\n\nHe swings again. You twist around it and @@color:#000081;slam@@ the butt of the sniper rifle against the back of his head. He staggers forward. Before you can hit him again, the first waiter kicks you across the jaw, and you stumble over a crate.\n\nYou grab the combat knife from the floor. When he kicks again, you @@color:#000081;shove@@ the knife into his foot. He screams and falls back into a shelf.\n\nYou twist around the shelf and @@color:#000081;punch@@ the second waiter as he gets up. You toss the combat knife aside and take his katana.\n\nSuddenly you’re flung forward from a kick to the back. It’s the third waiter.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;hit@@ the wall where the sniper rifle was originally displayed. It wasn’t the most elegant way of getting across the room, but you lean down and grab the box of sniper rifle ammo.\n\nThe third waiter sees the katana in your hand and keeps his distance until he notices the katana on the wall beside him. In a fluid motion, he pulls the sword from the wall and swings it at your chest. He’s quicker than you, but you manage to @@color:#000081;deflect@@ his attack.\n\nYou push past him for the stairs. He swings again, knocking the katana from your hand. You stumble back, pushing a crate into his path.\n\nYou have one grenade left in your jacket pocket. You pull the pin and throw the grenade at his face as hard as you can.\n\nIt @@color:#000081;hits@@ him in the forehead, and he’s stunned for half a second – long enough for you to climb the stairs and slam the secret door shut.\n\nYou hear a faint @@color:#000081;explosion@@ and the floor rumble beneath you.\n\nYou think about saying something about leaving a tip, but you’re too tired to be witty.\n\nWith the sniper rifle and the ammo safely in the bag, you shamble out of the freezer and the restaurant. You head back to the other vehicle and get the rest of your goodies.\n\nWith any luck, this little adventure should clear out most of the thugs from the Boss’s penthouse and, with this beautiful sniper rifle, you should be able to clear out the rest.\n\nYou jog through the back alley and hail a cab once you reach the street. It drops you off about a block from the Boss’s penthouse.\n\nYou see two good vantage points for the penthouse: the highest level of a parking garage or about half way up the adjacent office building.\n\nThe parking garage provides easy access to an escape vehicle and gives you a better view of the streets if the cops get involved. The only problem is that twenty percent of the penthouse is obscured.\n\nThe office building provides better visibility which means fewer surprises, but getting in and out will take time, leaving Gillian unprotected while you try to exit the building.\n\n[[The parking garage]]\n[[The office building]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 665>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +15>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +37>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +12>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveThePlotIsALie").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockThePlotIsALie").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“What is it?” The Boss asks.\n\n“Nothing,” you say. “Let’s @@color:#000081;get out@@ of here.” You step into the tunnel and help the Boss in.\n\nHe’s still weak from imprisonment, but he hardens his resolve.\n\n“I’m fine,” he says, reading your expression. “I don’t need any coddling.”\n\nYou nod and keep moving. Your brain still feels hazy. It’s hard to believe everything involving Gillian was just a drug induced dream. She’s safe though, and that’s all that matters. Of course, that doesn’t explain why the Boss acted the way he did in your dream.\n\nThe scientists could have implanted memories or suggested things. They obviously have the technology for such invasive techniques. Or maybe it was your subconscious telling you to quit this business while you still can.\n\nThe Boss doesn’t want you to die, but how many assassins make it to retirement. And if the last month isn’t proof enough, these assignments are just getting more and more dangerous. So far you’ve been lucky, but if you aren’t careful, you’ll be dead – and you can honestly say you know what that feels like now.\n\nYou’ve got enough money set aside to disappear. That’s about as close to retirement as you’re going to get. You could get Gillian and escape this city, and this life. You could start over – create a new identity. That’s not so hard. You’ve done it before.\n\n“Over here,” the Boss says. “I see the exit.”\n\n“Careful,” you whisper. “Let me go first.” You slowly open the door and glance through the crack. It’s empty and quiet. The PDA won’t be much use to you now. If anything, they might be able to track it. You toss it to the ground and stomp the life out of it.\n\nSince you didn’t cause any trouble with the cells, the security shouldn’t even think to find you here. You should still have enough of a head start to get out of this clean – or at least alive.\n\nYou motion for the Boss to follow you.\n\nYou sprint through the door to the stairs and make your way up to the loading bay. The Boss wheezes and limps. He’s making good time without his cane. At his age even walking is impressive. It’s probably best not to tell him that.\n\nHe yanks you behind a large plastic barrel as a guard casually walks by. @@color:#000081;“Pay attention,”@@ the Boss whispers. “We're not liberated yet.”\n\nYou nod in agreement and make a note to kick yourself later. You stay low and cautiously move to the parking lot.\n\nYou find an older car – one with @@color:#000081;old school@@ security. You pop the passenger door lock and rework the ignition wires while the Boss climbs into the driver seat. \n\nThe @@color:#000081;engine revs@@ and the Boss carefully pulls out of the parking lot. He drives for several miles.\n\nNo one follows you. You don't hear any alarms or sirens. You made it out @@color:#000081;safely.@@\n\n“Alright,” you say. “Pull over.”\n\nThe Boss stops at the side of the road. You open the passenger door and get out of the car.\n\n“What are you doing?” The Boss asks in a hushed tone.\n\n“I think it’s time we split up.”\n\nThe Boss looks at you sternly. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”\n\n“It’s better for both of us.”\n\nThe Boss nods. “Very well.”\n\nYou see the sadness in his eyes – the slightest sign of hesitation. He knows what you’re asking. He knows this is goodbye. He’s not in a position to stop you – that doesn’t mean he won’t try in the future, but for now, he has to let you go.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>There are less than five endings in which the Boss and the main character part ways cordially. This is one of them.<<endif>>\nYou watch him drive off. You’re on your own now. You’re free from your old life. It’s time to start over – time to wipe the slate clean. You take a deep breath, and for the first time you feel a strange sense of @@color:#000081;relief.@@ The future could be anything. All you have to do is choose what you want it to be.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<center><h1>Seven Bullets\nGlitch Art Cover</h1>\n<img src="unlocks/pets/SevenBullets_GlitchArt.png" width="100%" hspace="6">\n\n\n<<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1551>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -6>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<endnobr>>Aside from the thump to the head, these knights haven’t been much of a problem. Now that they think you’re a wizard, you seem to have gained their respect. There’s no point in letting that go to waste. The more this knight trusts you, the more information you can get out of him which, in the long run, is a @@color:#000081;safer plan@@ considering you don’t know what’s going on.\n\nYou nod and smile with calm compliance, then squeeze through the small opening. The knight follows close behind you.\n\n“So,” you groan. “You’re at war, huh?”\n\n“Indeed. The vile and crude Ferralliise are no longer content in the Dire Lands. They attack our caravans and pillage our cities. Three suns ago they burned the settlement of Galeerosin to ash, and the people with it.”\n\n“So that makes all outsiders a threat?”\n\n“It is difficult to say. The Ferralliise are wild, treacherous creatures who take great joy in transforming into humans or animals only to torment and trick those of our kind. They are a bane and annoyance, but only recently have they attacked in numbers.”\n\n“So you thought I could have been one of them?”\n\n“Yes, apologies. When I saw the magic go forth from your hand, I knew you could not be one of them. Though they possess great powers of shifting and deception, that is the extent of their magic. Only humans, trolls, fishers, elves and dragons possess that kind of magic.”\n\n“Right.”\n\n“Nevertheless you fight with the same ferociousness as their kind.”\n\n“I’ll take that as a compliment,” you say sharply.\n\n“Oh,” the knight says softly. “I did not mean to offend. Your skills as a warrior are of equal merit to your magic. Seldom is such a combination seen in this realm. I am surprised you have not been recruited by the Red Wizards of the north. You would certainly be high among their ranks.”\n\n“I don’t work for anyone anymore.”\n\nThe knight looks at you with confusion. “Then you are the lord of your realm?”\n\n“Not exactly. I’m retired.”\n\nThe knight shakes his head. “Retired? I do not know this word.”\n\n“Of course you wouldn’t. Uh, it’s like a knight who no longer has a lord.”\n\n“But a knight is honor-bound to serve until the fates deem him worthy to die.”\n\n“I had a feeling you were going to say something like that. What about a knight who serves an evil lord?”\n\nThe knight stops abruptly. “You speak madness Wizard of Earth. I do not wish to hear any more of it. I am a good and loyal servant to my lord just as all the subjects of the realm.”\n\n“Yeah,” you sigh. “I get the idea.” The sad truth is that what he’s saying reminds you of home. You never should have trusted the Boss so blindly. Now he has Gillian, and you’re on the other part of the universe, or completely insane.\n\n“Aye, we are nearly there wizard.”\n\nYou squeeze out the opening into a small stone room. It’s dark and smells like moldy clothes. The knight steps out behind you. “The stairs,” he says, leading the way. He opens the first door and steps into a large laboratory.\n\nQuintus turns at the sound, then calms at the sight of the knight. “Ah, finally.”\n\nThe knight lowers his head. “We were delayed by an ogre which your wizard brethren slayed.”\n\n“Brethren?”\n\n“Yeah, Earth bro,” you say, hefting the green speckled blade against your shoulder. “Apparently I’m a wizard just like you.”\n\nQuintus sighs. “Yes, wizard.” He rolls his eyes. “I am sorry for the manner in which you arrived here. If time and circumstance allowed, I would have been much more hospitable, however the Hyperion vortex is becoming drastically unstable and time is of the essence. I have had time to study my dead colleague, and I believe there is a way to circumvent the volatility of the flux relays.”\n\nYou lean against a table. “Oh, well when you put it that way.”\n\nQuintus glowers at you. “You have no idea how difficult it’s been, or how long I’ve had to work at this. When I was spit out of that portal I had nothing. Nothing, you understand. What you see before you is seven years of grueling work, so when you think of home, know that you will only reach it because of my labors.”\n\nYou raise your hand in defeat. “Alright, alright. I’m listening.”\n\nQuintus takes a moment to collect himself. “I have spent the last several months scanning for anomalies in this region, essentially tracking the appearance of fully-formed vortexes. That is how we came upon you so quickly. From the data I’ve collected, I believe there may be two ways of returning home. Both are extraordinarily dangerous and, of course, time sensitive.”\n\n“What else is new?” You groan.\n\n“Yes,” Quintus nods. “It would appear those are circumstances you are accustomed to, which is one more reason I need your help. Due to the war, my resources have grown thin. The King has a habit of taking what he wants when he wants.”\n\n“No more lab assistants, huh?”\n\n“I have been allowed only seven knights, and only under the condition that I produce enhanced weapons for the King’s army.”\n\n“Right, time of war and all that. So what do you want me to do?”\n\n“As I said, I believe I have found a way to stabilize the vortex. The problem is that I still don’t have the power to generate an artificial one. I have considered the possibility of using a vortex that is produced naturally, but my tracking equipment is too slow, and we would arrive only after the portal had closed.”\n\nYou shrug. “I doubt I could help with that.”\n\n“I have been studying many of this world’s ancient texts, and I believe there may be a solution. Legends speak of an enormous fish, the Cetorix, which is large enough to consume boats whole. Over time, the chemicals in its stomach calcify, and given its size, the ball should produce enough power to stabilize an artificial portal.”\n\n“Whoa,” you interrupt. “You’re saying fish vomit is an energy source.”\n\n“How do you think the lights and machinery are powered in this lab?”\n\nYou must have overlooked it, but now that he mentioned it, the lab does have lighting. It’s not like the bulbs back home, but it does look electrical.\n\n“There is a much smaller fish species,” Quintus continues, “that produces the calcified batteries I use in this lab. I believe the Cetorix is a cousin to this fish and shares this same trait. The Cetorix has only been seen in the far south, outside the protection of the King’s armies. You would have to go there, catch or perhaps kill the Cetorix and retrieve the calcified battery.”\n\n“And what’s behind door number two?”\n\n“Well,” Quintus sighs. “It would be a bit like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. The vortexes have been appearing at random within the realm. It might be possible to navigate a naturally generated portal if we could reach it early enough in its formation. There is an elfin text that speaks of an ancient crown that allowed the elfin king, Slabaz, to see ripples in the sky and air that revealed a hidden civilization. I believe that hidden civilization was humanity and the ripples were early manifestations of the vortexes.”\n\n“So you want me to steal a king’s crown?”\n\n“Yes, technically, but Slabaz has been dead for centuries, and most of the elfin cities are in ruins. I doubt the elves would put up much of a fight. With the crown, I should be able to track the portals faster and with much more accuracy.”\n\n“If it’s only ruins, that doesn’t sound so bad.”\n\nQuintus swallows uncomfortably. “The elfin ruins are not far from here, and I certainly would have examined them myself, but the locals are too frightened to go into the jungles surrounding them. No one knows exactly what destroyed the elfin civilization, but they believe it’s still living among the ruins. Those who have attempted to explore them have never returned.”\n\n“There’s always a catch, isn’t there?”\n\n“There is, unfortunately, more.” Quintus steps closer. “Based on the data I’ve gathered thus far, I believe the vortexes are building up to a critical event.”\n\n“What kind of critical event?”\n\n“Imagine a rope tied to the bumpers of two cars going in opposite directions. In one instance the rope snaps. In another, one of the bumpers is torn loose.”\n\n“Sounds pleasant. Do you know which is more likely?”\n\n“No, but if either of the events were to take place, our return to Earth would be impossible.”\n\n“So what kind of time frame are we dealing with?”\n\n“I’m not sure. Soon. I wish I could be more specific. Even after seven years, there’s much I don’t know about the vortexes.”\n\n“That’s reassuring.”\n\nSuddenly the door burst open. “Quickly,” a peasant shouts. “The King demands your presence!”\n\n“Concerning what?”\n\n“Troubling news from the outer regions.”\n\nQuintus grumbles something under his breath then turns to you. “I must see to matters regarding the King.” Quintus motions toward the knight. “Avengral will provide you with whatever you need for the journey. Have you decided which path to take?”\n\n[[Travel south for the calcified battery]]\n[[Travel to the elfin ruins for the ancient crown]]\n[[Stay and listen to the King’s troubling news]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 557>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -18>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Are you alright?” Mason asks while glancing back at you.\n\n“Yeah, just give me a hand. I @@color:#000081;haven’t given up@@ yet.”\n\nMason slides under your shoulder and helps you through the broken doors.\n\nYou hear another set of howls.\n\n“They’re nearly on us,” Clark says. “We’re moving too slow.”\n\nIt takes all your strength just to walk. You don’t have the energy to banter. You tap the earpiece. “Samantha, are you there?”\n\n“Yes,” a static voice chimes.\n\n“We’ve got Clark, and we’re heading your way, unfortunately so are the creatures. We need something to slow them down.”\n\n“I’m on it,” Samantha says. “Just keep moving.”\n\n“We keep moving,” you say to Mason and Clark. “A plan is in the works.”\n\nClark grimaces. “I hope it doesn’t involve us dying.”\n\n“Everyone’s a critic,” you groan and motion toward the hallway.\n\n“At least give me the gun,” Clark says. “You can barely hold it.”\n\nUnfortunately he makes a good point. You give him the assault rifle. “You know how to use this?”\n\n“I spent twenty years in the army,” he says checking the clip. “I know how to use a gun.”\n\n“Are you through the hallway?” Samantha’s voice chimes in your ear.\n\n“Almost... okay, we’re moving to the next corridor.” You hear the large metal doors slide shut and seal behind you.\n\n“We’ve managed to get some of the generators back online,” Samantha says. “I’ve rerouted some of the power to the security doors in your area. That should buy you some time.”\n\n“Thanks,” you say as the creatures slam and bang against the doors. “And not a minute too soon.”\n\nYou continue down the hallway drifting in and out of consciousness. You can’t tell exactly where you are or where you’re going. Mason, still under your arm, guides you. The pain burns through your @@color:#000081;chest@@ and stomach. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. It’s like your organs are being @@color:#000081;liquefied@@ and mingled together.\n\nSuddenly you’re on a cot... You’re back with the other survivors. You try to stand, but it’s too disorienting and you fall back down. You’re hot and @@color:#000081;sweating@@ profusely. The other soldiers have their guns pointed at you. “What’s going--” the words come out as mumbles. You can barely speak. Your mouth feels strange... You’ve grown fangs.\n\nThen you notice your hand... It’s hairy. So is your arm. Your body feels different.\n\nYou sniff the air. Each person has a distinct smell. It’s almost like you can map out the room based on their odor.\n\nClark stands just out of your reach. “There have been some... complications. Once the old formula was exposed to the new one, your body began to mutate. I was uncertain of the final results, but it’s clear now. You’re changing into one of them. The transformation is happening much slower than the other subjects, but it’s still happening.”\n\nClark takes a gun from one of the soldiers and loads the neon bullets.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Of the four core segments, the secret facility segment is the shortest at roughly 19,000 words (about 75 pages). In order to maximize the length of a single read-through (and show off the epic scale of Seven Bullets) I decided to write only six hard endings for this segment, each of them result in the main character dying or failing to save Gillian. The other seven endings send the main character to “Hell”.<<endif>>\n“We don’t have access to the facilities to properly contain you, nor do we have the medication to sedate you, and given the circumstances, our survival is possible only if yours is not. You were some of the best research years of my life, and I truly wanted you to live, but we took a vote...and I lost.”\n\nHe points the gun at your head. “I’m sorry. I am truly sorry.”\n\n[[Let Clark shoot you]]\n[[Roll off the cot]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 78>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -20>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<endnobr>>You can already feel the bloodlust rising up from your gut. You have a desire to hunt and kill. What perfect prey these pathetic humans would make... No... No, you’re better than this. You’re not a monster. You’re a @@color:#000081;good person.@@ That’s what Gillian always wanted you to be... a good person.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>I used a very subtle fade in font to represent dying. For the Twine version of Seven Bullets I tried several different formatting styles.While I would have preferred the Twine version to look more like the ebook in formatting (specifically paragraph indentation and line spacing) I opted instead to optimize the reading experience for computer screens.<<endif>>\nYou only have one real @@color:#000081;choice.@@ You take a deep breath and press your head against Clark’s gun.\n\n@@color:#808080;You hear the loud thunder of the gun...@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;And then...@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;Nothing...@@\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 39]]\n

This is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.\n\nNo part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Cloud Buchholz. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.\n\nThis is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.\n\nCopyright © 2014 by Cloud Buchholz\nAll rights reserved.\n\nEdition 1.1\n\n[[Conitune|deadSexyCh1]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 164>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>In truth, your death would do little to keep the survivors alive. In the process of dying, your body gives off a natural and very specific pheromone which permeates the facility and leads the creatures directly to the scientists.\n\nWithin minutes the creatures breach every entrance to the room and devour all of the scientists. Not a single person survives. The investors, attempting to cut their losses, seal the facility and destroy any evidence that it ever existed.\n\nHaving never received the treatment she required, Gillian dies a slow and painful death. The Boss, despite his prickly exterior, feels a great loss after your sister’s passing and your presumed death. He pays for the funeral arrangements and personally takes care of Gillian’s cat.\n\nOnly a few people attend your service. Their somber look and teary eyes do not stem from your untimely passing. They grieve because secretly (or not so secretly) they wanted to kill you and now they will never get the chance.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<remember $starTrippin = true>>\n<<endnobr>> Star Trippin'\n Travel to the planet of Ragnoss\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 389>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You start drawing a door on the cavern floor, but you’re so @@color:#000081;nervous@@ the chalk snaps. You pull another piece from the bag and continue drawing. At least at this angle Ayporos won’t realize what you’re doing until it’s too late.\n\nYou glance over your shoulder. Ayporos calmly walks toward you. His eyes are fiery red and judging from his expression, he wants to carve your heart out with a grapefruit spoon. For all you know human heart could be his favorite breakfast.\n\nYou lean in and breathe on the chalk outline. It glows. You grab the handle and yank open the door. “Come on,” you shout to Jazelle.\n\nAyporos sees the opening in the floor and realizes what you’re planning. He reaches for his belt only to find the bag of chalk missing. He roars with fury and flies toward you. “You fool,” he growls. He’s faster than any creature you’ve seen.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slip through@@ the doorway behind Jazelle and close the door just in time for Ayporos’s talons to tear chunks off the cavern floor.\n\nYou twist through the air helplessly. You’re shrouded in darkness. “Jazelle,” you shout. “Jazelle, can you hear me?”\n\nSilence.\n\nThere’s not even an echo off the rocks – if there even are rocks. You swing your arms and legs out, but all you feel is the wind as you fall. “Jazelle,” you shout again. Still silence. She went through the door just seconds before you. She couldn’t be that far ahead of you.\n\nIf only it wasn’t so dark. Your eyes don’t seem to be adjusting either.\n\nYou feel weightless. You must have reached terminal velocity. How long have you been falling?\n\nHours? Minutes? Days?\n\nYou can’t tell. You feel disoriented. You were trying to get somewhere, weren’t you? It’s on the tip of your tongue. And there was someone with you, wasn’t there?\n\nNo, that can’t be right. You like to work alone.\n\nThe wind feels relaxing, and your mind drifts into a tranquil blankness.\n\nWait, no.\n\nYou fight the urge to relax.\n\nThere was something you were supposed to do. Gillian. She needs you. You need to concentrate. It’s like there’s a part of your memory that’s missing now. If only you could remember.\n\nWait, why are you falling? Where are you? This doesn’t seem right. You need to do something.\n\n[[Blindly try to grab a ledge]]\n[[Keep falling]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = ($wordcount + 135)>>\n<<wordcountChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The gun tastes like iron. It rattles against your teeth. You look up at the thug holding it – not exactly how you planned on starting your day. You hope bullet isn’t on the breakfast menu.\n\nThe thug leans in. He looks nervous. His eyes dart around the room. He won't face you.\n\n“I’m sorry,” he says. “The Boss wanted you to know that Gillian is in good hands.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>The name Gillian is inspired by my love of X-Files and Gillian Anderson the actress.<<endif>>\nThe phrase cuts at your heart. You did your best to get her out of the city – guess it wasn’t good enough. The Boss probably has her at his penthouse with his army of goons – each one of them itching to have their way with her.\n<<if $introComments is true>>One of my main goals for Seven Bullets was to create a gender/race neutral main character. I never used the pronouns he or she while referring to the main character, and I never describe the main character’s physical appearance.<<endif>>\nGetting her out won’t be easy, but then again, there are more immediate problems like the gun French kissing your mouth.\n\n[[Try reasoning with the thug]]\n[[Let your fists do the talking]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 458>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $force = $force +25>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +3500>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $wpn = "Culinary Bias">>\n<<if $upCloseAndPersonal is false>>\n\t<<script>>\n\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\n\tUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>Just because you have a people shredding shotgun strapped to your arm doesn’t mean you need to throw tactics out the window. Plus, if you’re heading through the kitchen you can grab a little snack. Mass murder and destruction have a way of building up an appetite.\n\nYou drive across town to the penthouse, then cut through a side street and park near the rear of the building. You sling the bag over your shoulder, walk inside, and duck into a janitor closet. You pull out the shotgun and equip some explosive rounds. The pistol is still handy, but why bother using it.\n\nYou move through the hall and turn into the kitchen. The chef is grilling something that smells delicious. He normally keeps his recipes a secret, but you’re feeling especially persuasive today.\n\nNo, no. You need to stay focused. You @@color:#000081;hit@@ him across the back of the head and drag him to the freezer. You hear voices in the hall.\n\nCrap.\n\nYou duck behind the counter.\n\nTwo fat goons enter the kitchen. They rummage through the refrigerators, then turn their attention to the simmering pan. They dip their dirty fingers in the sauce for a taste. They both nod and stick their fingers in the sauce again.\n\nThose double-dipping barbarians. You grab two knifes from the counter and @@color:#000081;throw@@ them without thinking. One @@color:#000081;hits@@ the front goon in the chest. He collapses into the stove and knocks over the sauce.\n\nThe butt of the other knife strikes the second goon in the forehead. He’s dazed for half a second, but manages to pull his gun and get off two rounds.\n\nSacrebleu! The sound will definitely alert the other guards.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I wanted to reference Emeril Lagasse’s catchphrase “BAM” instead of “Sacrebleu” but I couldn’t think of a simple, clear way to make it work. Failure!<<endif>>\nYou aim and fire the shotgun as a reflex, forgetting about the explosive round. As soon as it hits the fat goon, his body @@color:#000081;explodes@@ into a million tiny pieces. The whole room is immediately covered in gooey bits of blood and flesh.\n\nWhat a waste. Now the sauce is @@color:#000081;ruined.@@\n\nYou hear shouting from around the doorway. Time to move. You pull a grenade from your bag and toss it around the corner.\n\nYou sprint through the other door without waiting for the @@color:#000081;BOOM.@@ You shoot an explosive round into the @@color:#000081;wall@@ at the end of the hallway and dive through it.\n\nYou quick draw your pistol and take out the @@color:#000081;two thugs@@ in the office, then fire an explosive round through the @@color:#000081;doorway@@ into the lobby. The blast sends @@color:#000081;four guards@@ into the opposite wall, though you can’t tell what body parts originally belong to whom.\n\nYou pull the trigger again, but nothing. Clip’s empty.\n\nYou grab your bag. Need to find some more ammo. The shells aren’t labeled, just two colors: green and blue.\n\n[[Equip the green rounds]]\n[[Equip the blue rounds]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 420>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<set $wpn = "Half Eaten Sandwich">>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;slam@@ through the kitchen door swinging your fist hard. It @@color:#000081;hits@@ the first thug square in the jaw. His head thumps against the counter and then the floor.\n\nThe second thug grabs a knife and jabs it at your stomach. You twist and grab his arm, @@color:#000081;breaking@@ it at the elbow. He screams. You grab a half eaten sandwich and shove it in his mouth. He chokes for a second. You twirl him, face first, into the refrigerator. He goes @@color:#000081;limp@@ and drops to the floor.\n\nYou were quick to @@color:#000081;gag@@ his scream, but someone had to of heard.\n\nYou listen at the opposite door. The thugs playing poker get up. You recognize the distinct metallic click of guns.\n\nYou grab the two unconscious bodies and drag them through the door into the hallway. You prop them against the door. They’re not going to stop anybody, but the pseudo-barricade might slow someone down.\n\nYou sprint down the hallway and turn left. \n\nIt’d be easy to run, but you promised to help the girl find her dad. You shouldn’t have promised that. This is a big pile of mess you’re in now.\n\nYou turn left again, almost smacking another guard in the face. He’s more stunned than you are, but he manages to reach for his gun. \n\nLuckily you’re quicker and pull it from his holster. He grabs your wrist with one hand and tries to choke you with his other. \n\nYou lock his arm under your shoulder and @@color:#000081;slam@@ your forehead into his nose.\n\nHe yelps and stumbles back.\n\nYou slam the butt of the pistol against the side of his head. He drops into a crawl, but he doesn’t go down. He lunges back up, yanking at the pistol. You knee him in the ribcage twice. He coughs and drops back to the ground. \n\nThe pistol slips from your hand and slides down the hall. You @@color:#000081;punch@@ the guard in the face until he blacks out.\n\nYou turn to get the pistol when you hear more guards approaching from that direction.\n\nYou hurry through the hall until you come across an elevator. You get inside and hit the button for the basement. It jerks to life and travels for awhile. \n\nThe elevator halts and the door slides open.\n\nYou step into a large cement bunker. It’s only one room, but it’s huge, maybe the size of a stadium. There’s equipment setup, but it’s like nothing you’ve seen before.\n\nPeople are in the distance, staring at a computer screen.\n\n[[Try to blend in]]\n[[Stick to the shadows]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 132>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You wake-up half dazed. You’re still in the ogre’s mouth, being carried somewhere. It hasn’t completely eaten you yet. Chunks of your skin are missing, but you’re not dead ...there’s still a chance you might make it.\n\nThen you realize the ogre has brought you back to its cave. It spits you out, and you land between several ugly ogre children, perhaps the age of toddlers. The ugly little beasts fight over you.\n\nYou’re alive just long enough to feel your arms and legs get @@color:#000081;ripped@@ from your body as the little brats fight over your tastiest parts.\n\nThe mother ogre separates the children and breaks your body into even pieces so each child gets an equal share.\n\nAt least you were able to bring one family together... even if it wasn’t your own.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 619>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>These are all figments of your imagination manifesting due to drugs or poison – this can’t be real, so obviously the direction you go shouldn’t matter. You’re probably trapped in a padded room walking in circles.\n\nThen again, maybe you’re unknowingly making your escape, and your subconscious is feeding you clues. Might as well @@color:#000081;listen.@@ It’s not like you have something better to do.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This is one of the early scenes where I foreshadow the possibility of drugs or poison as an explanation for these unusual circumstances.<<endif>>\nYou look up at the dark and foreboding mountain. “You’re sure this is the direction I should go?”\n\n“Well, yes of course,” the crow whistles. “You would absolutely prefer that direction over the other.” The crow flies from the tree to your shoulder. “If it was me, I wouldn’t go in any direction.”\n\nYou glare at it.\n\n“But that’s just me.” The crow ruffles its feathers. “Every direction is a bad direction.” The crow nods its head toward the mountain. “If you must go somewhere, that’s the least bad direction to go.”\n\n“Thanks,” you say shooing the bird off your shoulder.\n\nIt flies back to the tree. You’re not sure, but it looks almost like the branches wave goodbye. You shake your head and try to keep from going crazy... that is, if you’re not crazy already.\n\nYou walk toward the mountain. Maybe nothing's there, but from that height you should be able to survey most of this weird place. If anything, you could always go back and check out the stone city later. \n\nHopefully you won’t need to. Of course, you’ve never taken advice from a bird before or been swallowed by a giant stone face, so there are a lot of firsts happening today.\n\nYou wipe the sweat from your brow. It feels like you’ve been walking for hours, but you aren’t hungry or particularly tired. It may have only been a few minutes. You’re feeling slightly bewildered.\n\nYou see the stone city in the distance. It looks further away. And somehow, though you don’t remember climbing, you’ve @@color:#000081;reached@@ half way up the mountain. This place is almost like a dream – a very bad dream.\n\n“It’s just the drugs or the poison or something,” you tell yourself.\n\nThe words don’t sound convincing.\n\nYou’ve been trained to handle the most impossible and improbable situations, and this is no different. You just have to calm down and focus.\n\nYou take a deep breath and re-examine your surroundings.\n\nYou see a large wooden door on a distant ledge. Maybe that was what the crow was talking about. You back up as far as you can, sprint, and jump.\n\nYour hands grab the ledge, and you pull yourself up. The door looks old, but somehow sturdy. It’s heavy and takes some effort to yank open.\n\nYou walk inside.\n\nIt’s dark. You can barely see. Maybe this was a bad idea. You stop for a minute and think about turning back.\n\nYou hear scratching inside the walls. The sound isn’t alarming, not yet. You remain motionless. Your muscles are relaxed, but more than ready.\n\nLittle beetles crawl through cracks in the rock walls. Their bodies swirl and glow with a red and yellow hue. As you get a closer look, you’d swear their bodies were made of lava.\n\nAfter a few minutes, the lava beetles seem comfortable with your presence. You reach for one nearby, but immediately pull back your hand. The tiny beetle body singes your @@color:#000081;fingertips.@@\n\nIt really is lava.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Some of this sequence resembles the world of Ragnoss, and I was careful to emphasize that this area was abnormal, potentially supernatural. The lava beetles are an example of a creature that seems just a little too strange to be part of the real world.<<endif>>\nYou shake your head. No, it must be part of the hallucination... or the drugs. In any case, the lava beetles provide enough light for you to see most of the rock alcove.\n\nA corridor is carved into the left wall, and ladder notches are cut into the opposite wall. Looks like you can go left or further up.\n\n[[Climb up the rock ladder]]\n[[Go left down the rock corridor]]\n

<>\n<<remember $serialKiller = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Serial Killer\n Kill 20 or more people in a single read-through\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 868>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -70>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You take a step closer to the cage. “I’ve known a lot of monsters. I’ve even worked for some. You’re not one of them, but I can end your pain.”\n\n“Pain...” The creature speaks as if a weight had pressed all the air out of its lungs.\n\n“I know how to kill,” you say solemnly. “It’ll be quick. You’ll only feel a slight pinch.”\n\nThe creature slowly shuffles toward you. You want to vomit when its grotesque features come into view, but you fight the urge. “Turn around,” you say.\n\nThe creature turns around. “Please,” it says. “Kill me.”\n\nYou align the sword with the creature’s brain stem. Your arm is so quick the movement of the blade is barely visible. The creature lurches forward and falls to the ground, @@color:#000081;instantly dead.@@\n\nYou look away. During your time as an assassin you did some horrible things, but this feels worse. The creature was innocent...it was a victim.\n\nAt least its pain is at an end. You look at Mos. He stares at the other cages. You follow his gaze.\n\nDozens of creatures emerge from the shadows of their cells.\n\n“Kill me!” One howls.\n\n“I want to die,” hoots another.\n\n“Me first!” A third cries.\n\nOthers simply moan or whimper indiscernible pleas for death.\n\nMos takes a step back. “By the Seven...”\n\n“There has to be at least a hundred down here.”\n\n“We can’t kill them all,” Mos says struck by shock and disgust.\n\nThe creatures continue to hoot and howl and pound against the iron bars.\n\n“We can’t just leave them here either,” you say.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>If you noticed that this scene bears a striking resemblance to an early scene at the secret facility in Montana, then you’d be right. I wanted to give each of the four core segments moments of pseudo déjà vu.It’s very difficult to create a clear sense of plot progression when the story has so many narrative branches and converging plotlines. These little déjà vu cues were my way of creating a subtle meta story arc, signaling to the reader that a story climax was coming up.<<endif>>\n“Shut up!” An old voice shouts from the opposite corridor. “Or I’ll send a jolt of lightning through your cages.” The old wizard steps into view. He sees you.\n\nMos sends an arrow hurtling toward the wizard’s head. The wizard thwacks it away with a gust of wind. “Foolish thieves!” The old wizard shouts. “I’ll have your intestines wrapped around a tree!” The wizard points his staff at your chest.\n\nAble steps around the corner and slams his heavy hammer into the wizard’s head. The wizard jerks sideways into the iron bars, then hits the ground, dead.\n\n“Finally,” Able sighs. “I was beginning to think I’d never get to smash something during this trip.”\n\n“Get down!” Mos shouts.\n\nAble moves, but too slowly. A bolt of lightning strikes his head. He groans, staggers, and then his head explodes.\n\n“No!” Mos screams. He lets loose three arrows in quick succession. Four more wizards emerge from the corridor, deflecting them with ease.\n\nYou wipe the bits of brain and skull from your face. Able’s headless body is an arm’s length away. It twitches as the last bit of life goes out of it.\n\nYou sprint forward, twist around a bolt of lightning, and @@color:#000081;jab@@ your sword into the closest wizard. His face cringes with pain. You twist the blade and kick him into the other wizards.\n\nMos uses the opening to sink an arrow into another disoriented wizard’s chest.\n\nYou use the dead wizard as a @@color:#000081;shield@@ while two more electric bolts fly past.\n\nMos sprints around the cages trying to flank the wizards.\n\n“No,” you shout. “There are too many of them. We need to fallback and regroup.”\n\nMos ignores you. He draws his short sword and stabs it into a wizard’s eye. The wizard yowls and crumples to the ground.\n\nYou see five more Blue Wizards emerge from the corridor. Mos is almost surrounded.\n\n“Mos!” You shout. “Fallback.” You @@color:#000081;slice@@ through another wizard trying to give him an opening, but he doesn’t take it. His blind rage is matched only by his grief. You can’t move any closer or you’ll be surrounded too. “Mos!” You shout again.\n\nOne of the wizards pulls out a tiny wand. “Calor Vata,” the wizard says while waving the wand. A spiraling funnel of fire erupts from the tip of the wand. It slithers between the other wizards until it touches Mos’s arm, then the flames wrap around his body like a snake constricting.\n\nHe screams and flails helplessly.\n\nThere’s nothing you can do...except warn the others, but even that might be impossible.\n\nYou turn to run, but an old, wrinkled wizard blocks your path.\n\n“Calor Vata,” he says. The fire spirals through the air, wrapping around your body. You drop the sword and scream in @@color:#000081;pain@@ as the fire @@color:#000081;tightens@@ around you.\n\n“Peculiar,” the old wizard says, tilting his head to examine you. He whips the wand back and the fire diminishes. “You are not like us,” the old wizard says, scratching his chin.\n\nYou can barely move. Your skin is @@color:#000081;burnt black@@ in most places. Every breath is a struggle. All you can do is stare at the old wizard.\n\n“Yes,” the old wizard says with a broad, toothy smile. “You are from the other world...Yes, yes, perhaps your anatomy will suit our blood magic better than the commoners of this world.” He waves for the other wizards. “Take this one to my incantation chamber immediately.”\n\nTwo wizards take hold of your arms and legs. You’re too weak to fight. You’re too weak to even move. Your head swims with pain, and the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 29]]\n

<>\n<<remember $theDreadPirate = true>>\n<<endnobr>>The Dread Pirate of Dreadiness and Looting\n Meet Taz Moir\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 915>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +36>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +28>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +6>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Who are you kidding? Gillian would never forgive you if you let these defenseless children die. Being a decent person is a lot harder than you thought. @@color:#000081;“Fine,”@@ you groan. “I’ll help, but we do this my way.”\n\nYou pull one of the peasants back and point at two others. “You and you, take those two wooden beams and shove them under the rubble over there.”\n\nThe peasants stop and look at you with confusion.\n\n“Do you want to save these children or not? Now do exactly what I tell you to do, and we just might get out of this alive.” You say the words @@color:#000081;sharply@@ and without hesitation.\n\nThe peasants immediately do as you command, though they’re still a bit bewildered.\n\nAnother boulder crashes into the wall. Large chunks of stone thump into the ground. The wall looks like it can only take two or three more hits.\n\n“Faster,” you shout. You point at another peasant. “You, start digging here. It’s called @@color:#000081;leverage.@@ Now pull down on the beams.” As the peasants lift the boulder out of the foundation of the house, you and three others push it forward. It takes all of your strength, but the boulder rolls @@color:#000081;free.@@\n\nThe peasants quickly pull the children out of the rubble. “Praise the Seven,” they gasp and embrace the children.\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” you growl. “Save it for later. It’s time to run,” you say, pushing the peasants toward the wizard’s tower.\n\nAnother boulder crashes into the wall, only this time, it smashes through and rolls over several houses. Part of the wall is down. You can see through to the other side. The Ferralliise howl and shriek with rage, then rush through the opening.\n\n“Move,” you shout to the peasants. “Now!”\n\nThe peasants scramble forward in a panic.\n\nYou take hold of the green speckled blade and hold your position. The peasants carrying the children are moving slow, too slow. You need to give them more time. You need to hold off this hoard for as long as possible.\n\nYou sprint forward @@color:#000081;thrusting@@ the sword into the first Ferralliise. Its eyes go vacant. You kick the Ferralliise free of the sword and quickly @@color:#000081;parry@@ the attack of another monster. You duck and pivot left. The sword cuts across the back of the creature’s leg.\n\nIt squeals in pain and stumbles to the ground.\n\nYou stab @@color:#000081;another@@ and @@color:#000081;another,@@ but you’re soon surrounded. You see hunger and rage in the Ferralliise eyes. They may be savage beasts, but they’re savoring the moment of devouring you.\n\nYou glance over your shoulder at the peasants.\n\nThey’re out of danger. If only the same could be said for you. You grip the green speckled blade. You won’t go down without a fight.\n\nThe first Ferralliise charges. You @@color:#000081;slam@@ the hilt of your sword into its snout, then swing at the next one. It stumbles backwards.\n\nSuddenly you feel a sharp pain in your @@color:#000081;shoulder@@ as a Ferralliise sinks its teeth into you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;elbow@@ it in the stomach twice, but it won’t let go. You stumble sideways and the rest of the beasts pounce. You scream as teeth bite into your @@color:#000081;leg@@ and @@color:#000081;arm.@@ You always had a feeling you were going to die painfully, but being bitten to death... There are probably worse ways to go, but you can’t think of any.\n\nYou hear more screaming, only this time, it’s not from you. The Ferralliise are being yanked and kicked off of you.\n\nIt’s the King’s knights. They’re back. The Prince’s message must have gotten through. You reel in pain for another moment. One of the knights extends her hand to help you up. “Thanks,” you groan. “You guys have good timing.”\n\n“Indeed,” the King says over the knight’s shoulder. “And the Prince, where is he?”\n\n“Near the wizard’s tower, trying to evacuate the peasants.”\n\nThe King nods. “Good.” The King pats your shoulder. “I have seen your selfless act, young warrior, and you have served this kingdom well. Is there fight left in you?”\n\n“Yeah,” you grab the green speckled blade. “There has to be.”\n\n“Excellent,” the King smiles. “There is still much killing to do this day. We will spill the foul beasts’ blood together.” The King lifts his sword. “Attack!” He shouts, sprinting toward the wizard’s tower.\n\nThe rest of the King’s knights battle outside the castle. It looks like they caught the Blue Wizards by surprise. It didn’t seem possible, but you might have the upper hand.\n\nYou run alongside the knights, cutting down straggling @@color:#000081;Ferralliise@@ as you move toward the front entrance. Then you see it.\n\nThe gate is busted open as is part of the wall. Ferralliise and trolls battle the Prince. He barely manages to hold them off, and there are casualties to prove it. The King’s knights should balance the odds... At least they should. The Blue Wizards could still have more monsters or magic they’ve been holding back.\n\nBut why are you even thinking about that? You’ve done more than enough. You saved the Prince and some defenseless children. You’ve earned your ticket out of here. Quintus’s lab is just around the corner. This is your chance to get back home.\n\nThen again, more and more of the Ferralliise are flooding through the openings as it is, and they’re only the first wave. Once the giants and Blue Wizards break through, the castle won’t stand a chance.\n\nNot to mention those knights just saved your life. You do owe them.\n\n[[Fight alongside the King]]\n[[Fight alongside the Prince]]\n[[Let them clean up their own mess]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 492>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -35>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +6>>\n<<set $force = $force -6>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -98>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -60>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;Fleeing@@ through the window like a @@color:#000081;common@@ criminal... Your advanced assassin training is obviously paying off. Good thing the Boss can’t see you now. Or Alana. You’d never hear the end of it.\n\nIt’s better than dying... just barely.\n\nYou climb out the window, slip over the ledge, and land in a dumpster. Your fingers and toes feel numb. The drugs must have moved to your nervous system. Good thing you didn’t stay and fight. You might have been bested by a potted plant.\n\nAt least the hallucinations are over.\n\nYou push a moldy pizza slice off your shoulder and glance at the loading bay. You count six guards loading computers and paper documents into a set of vans. Your escape must have worried someone. They’re evacuating all the sensitive material.\n\nIf a drug-induced idiot can scare them this much, just imagine what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it. Unfortunately that time isn’t now. You need to get out of here and get your sanity back.\n\nThe vans still have the keys in the ignition. All you need is an opening.\n\nAs the last of the guards turns back for the warehouse, you sprint for the van, though sprint is not the right word. Your arms and legs are soft and @@color:#000081;rubbery.@@ They flail about wildly. You can barely control them.\n\nYou stagger into the side of the van and slide to the pavement. You try to will your arm up to the handle, but it sits @@color:#000081;lifelessly@@ on your lap. You try to command your legs upright, but they’re as flimsy as taffy. There’s no way you could drive a vehicle.\n\nYou hear the stomp of guards approaching.\n\nYou roll awkwardly in front of the van and peek around the side. They @@color:#000081;didn’t notice@@ you. You’ll have to wait for them to return to the warehouse. Hopefully by then your legs will be agreeable.\n\nYou hear the van doors slam shut. The guards slide into the front. The engine revs. They’re leaving. You need to move.\n\nYou glare at your legs frantically hoping they’ll spring into action. They lay idle. Your arms are no better. Your body’s betrayed you. The @@color:#000081;drugs...@@ it has to be the drugs.\n\nJust move! Your mind screams the words, but to no avail. MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!\n\nYou feel the van push forward.\n\n[[There’s nothing you can do.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 339>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<endnobr>>“It’s too big to attack head-on!” You shout. “We need to @@color:#000081;flank@@ it and search for a weakness.”\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir says, already giving the signal for the ship to make a hard left turn.\n\nThe wood creaks as the ship fights the current.\n\n“We are not moving fast enough,” Avengral yells. “The creature is matching our course.”\n\nHe’s right. The creature is too agile. There’s no way you can avoid it.\n\n“The cannons,” you say to Taz Moir.\n\n“Not until the ship levels out.”\n\nThe Cetorix moves even faster as it emerges from the depths. It’s enormous, larger than anything you’ve ever seen. Its giant mouth opens as it approaches. The ship is sucked into its massive jaws.\n\nIt’s pitch black. The ship spins, topsy-turvy. The rudder snaps and the ship’s steering wheel spins wildly, until the ship smacks into something hard. It’s too dark to see what.\n\nYou pick yourself up. “Is everyone alright?”\n\nTaz Moir lights a torch. “Fine, but the ship is done for.”\n\n“Have we stopped moving?” Avengral groans.\n\nThe crew lights several more torches, illuminating your surroundings. Dozens of crushed and crumbling ships line the walls. It smells like rotten garbage and bad breath.\n\n“Are we...” You hesitate.\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir says, “In the stomach of the beast.”\n\n“What?” Avengral frowns in disbelief. “That is-”\n\n“Impossible?” Taz Moir interrupts. “But here we be.”\n\n“It can’t be safe in here,” a crewman adds.\n\n“Yeah,” you agree. “We shouldn’t put down roots, but we did come here for a reason.”\n\n“The magic stone,” Avengral nods, remembering his duty.\n\n“We aren’t dead,” you say. “And the stone has to be around here somewhere, so the mission is still on.”\n\nTaz Moir scratches his long beard. “The ship won’t steer. It’ll not even float. We need an escape route.”\n\nIt’s just like a pirate to worry about fleeing, but he has a point. Even if you find the calcified battery, it won’t do you much good if you’re stuck in this thing’s stomach.\n\nYou need a plan.\n\n[[Figure out a safe exit first]]\n[[Search for the calcified rock]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 645>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +22>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -40>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The cannons are a good idea; unfortunately, these crab creatures are blocking half the crew from getting to the lower decks. It’s best if you stay and clear a path for the other crewmen. Besides, what do you know about using a cannon... It’s not exactly a weapon you’ve trained with... or ever needed to use for that matter.\n\n“Mind the right!” Avengral shouts to you while brandishing his sword. You see two more of those crab creatures move toward you.\n\nTheir awkward pincer arms are slow and easy to dodge. You @@color:#000081;dip@@ under the arm and @@color:#000081;slice@@ across the creature’s side. It’s like you’re scraping stone. The creature’s skin is too tough. It doesn’t even realize you attacked it. This is going to be harder than you thought.\n\n“We need to clear a path to the cannons,” you shout to Avengral.\n\nHis cheeks are still slightly green. He’s obviously not at his best.\n\n“Are you up for this?” You ask.\n\nHe nods and wipes the vomit from his chin. “I am First Knight of Sarrejiinn castle, Third Sword in the House of Sun and Steel. I do not yield to any enemy.” He lets out a fierce battle cry and lunges at the flanking monster. His sword slashes across the creature’s chest and face. The creature squeals when the sword nearly cuts its eye.\n\nThat’s it.\n\n“Aim for the @@color:#000081;squishy parts,”@@ you shout. “The eyes, the armpits, the mouth!”\n\nAvengral twists out of the way of a swinging pincer. The creature turns toward him. You’re in its blind spot. Now’s your chance.\n\nYou sprint under its arm, twist, and @@color:#000081;shove@@ your blade into its eye socket. It tumbles backwards. Its enormous claw @@color:#000081;slams@@ into your chest. The sword slips from your hand, and you slide across the deck. The creature stumbles down the stairwell, @@color:#000081;dead.@@\n\nAvengral understands. “The eyes!” He shouts to the rest of the crew. “Stab through the eyes!”\n\nYou shamble to your feet as a dozen more creatures fling themselves onto the deck. You’re outnumbered three to one.\n\nA crab creature lunges at you. You search for the sword then realize it’s below deck lodged in the creature’s head. You roll into the railing, barely @@color:#000081;avoiding@@ the pincer. You’re surrounded.\n\nYou grimace and barely avoid another swinging claw. You were saving the gun for an emergency...but maybe that means you should have used it sooner.\n\nYou quick draw the gun and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the crab creature through the eye. It falls backwards @@color:#000081;lifelessly.@@ You coil around to shoot another monster when a giant pincer clamps down on your @@color:#000081;bicep.@@ You scream as the claw crunches through your @@color:#000081;bone.@@\n\nYour arm and the gun flop against the deck. Blood @@color:#000081;squirts@@ from your severed stump. And the shock sets in. You can barely think. The ship and everything on it swirls in your vision. You feel cold.\n\nAnother claw comes at you. You try to sidestep, but you’re too weak and disoriented to avoid it. The claw @@color:#000081;smacks@@ you in the shoulder, and you tumble over the railing.\n\nYou face-flop into the freezing ocean, but you’re too delirious to feel the sting.\n\nYou see a massive, upside-down city built underneath the enormous shells. There are individual buildings and tiny waterway roads and neon algae lights. It’s a whole civilization...or maybe you’re just hallucinating.\n\nIt doesn’t matter. The blood spewing from your arm obscures your vision. You’re too weary to swim, and you wouldn’t get far with one arm.\n\n@@color:#808080;You need air.@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;You need...@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;You...@@\n\nYou inadvertently gulp in a mouthful of water.\n\nYou’re drowning.\n\nGillian is alone and in danger ...you failed her.\n\nIf only you could go back. If only you could start over. Maybe you could save her. Maybe you could save the world. Maybe...\n\nYour body fights and spasms against the ice cold water filling your lungs.\n\nAnd then the darkness finds you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 36]]\n

<>\n<<set $melee = $melee +11>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -6>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You roll under its arm and @@color:#000081;slide kick@@ another in the knee. The leg cracks inward, and the creature yowls. A claw strikes you across the @@color:#000081;back.@@ You stagger forward. It feels like acid eating through your skin.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Should you really trust anyone in Hell? After all, there’s a reason they ended up there...Betrayal is another theme that repeatedly appears throughout Hell. Escape from Hell is presented to the reader in only one type of action - betrayal.<<endif>>\nYou focus away the pain and @@color:#000081;sidestep@@ the next swing. The creature tears away part of your shirt, barely missing your stomach. \n\nYou @@color:#000081;pivot@@ around as another creature kicks. There are too many of them. You won’t be able to keep this up much longer. You glance at the adjacent roof. Cecil and Sylvia kiss ravenously while watching you get ripped and torn to pieces. The violence seems to exhilarate them more. The creatures are too occupied with you to notice them.\n\nIf you could just split these creatures up, you might stand a chance. They’re sluggish and slightly disinterested due to a full stomach. Once they get their appetite back, you’re done for. Running is probably a better idea, but even at a sluggish pace, they’re still faster than you.\n\nYou sidestep and duck, @@color:#000081;avoiding@@ another lunging creature. They’re just toying with you, playing with their food until they’re ready to suck the marrow out of your bones.\n\nYou see an aqueduct of lava flowing away from the city. You could jump in and let it carry you somewhere out of the creatures’ reach. Your body might regenerate like Cecil and Sylvia’s, but you can’t be sure where you’d end up.\n\nThe adjacent alley is thin and only one of those creatures could get through at a time. One on one, you might get the upper hand. If nothing else, it would put a little distance between you and them.\n\n[[Use the aqueduct of lava to escape]]\n[[Try to put up a fight]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 173>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Of all the statues in the courtyard, the birds seem to find your head and shoulders the most comfortable. All day they squawk and chirp and poop on your stone body. You want desperately to shout or wave your arms at them, but you know it’s impossible because you’re a statue.\n\nYou spend the next seven years attempting to develop the skill of Pyrokinesis in the pathetic hope of dealing with the birds. On the eighth year you go insane and wonder if you were ever human to begin with...perhaps you were always a statue...perhaps you just dreamed up that other life.\n\nOn the twelfth year you forget the strange dream you had conjured so long ago. Instead, you begin to love the birds. You can’t recall the reason you hated them. You name one of the birds Gillian. You’re not sure where the name came from. Perhaps you heard it from a passerby, or perhaps a little bird chirped it in your ear. Wherever it came from, you feel...somehow connected to it.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 845>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +6>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You sigh from exhaustion. \n\nYou’re not sure when you became such a decent person, but it’s starting to get annoying. You glance down at the tortured man. “You want water, huh?”\n\n“Water,” he groans. “Need water.”\n\nYou nod, “Alright.” Maybe if you just give him a little water he’ll snap out of it. Simple enough. You cup your hands and dip them in the spring. The water is cool and smells surprisingly sweet. You’re almost tempted to have a drink yourself.\n\nYou walk to the thirsty man and @@color:#000081;tip your hands@@ into his parted lips. He zealously laps at the water, licking every drop from your palm. You pull your hands away a little disgusted.\n\n“Is that it?” Jazelle shouts from behind the dune.\n\nYou shrug and stare at the man. “You feel better?”\n\n“Yes, yes,” he says excitedly, “So much better.” His mouth is still dry.\n\n“Good. Let’s get out of here,” you say, waving at Jazelle.\n\nShe slides down the dune and walks toward you. “That wasn’t so bad.”\n\nYou grin. “I guess I’m getting better at this.”\n\nSuddenly, the man coughs and grabs at his throat.\n\n“I think he’s choking,” Jazelle says.\n\nThe man tries to vomit, but nothing comes up.\n\n“Get back,” you say, pushing Jazelle aside. “Something’s not right.”\n\n“Yeah, I’m glad you noticed.”\n\nThe man squeals and groans with pain. A large lump moves from his stomach to his chest, up through his neck. He drops to one knee and dry heaves. His eyes go wide, and his jaw splits apart. Two decomposing fists violently thrust through his mouth. The man spasms in pain as an entire corpse claws its way out of him. \n\nJazelle grabs your arm. “Maybe you should reconsider helping people.”\n\n“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”\n\nThe corpse stands with its eyes fixed on you. The man rolls onto his back and coughs up another corpse. \n\nJazelle yanks you toward the glass trail. “Run.”\n\nShe doesn’t have to say it twice; you’re already @@color:#000081;sprinting.@@ The corpses thrash after you. Their decomposing muscles are surprisingly spry. \n\nYou hear the faint whisper of the man gasping for water. The corpses immediately halt and sprint back toward the spring.\n\nYou stop for a moment to catch your breath.\n\n“I don’t know about you,” Jazelle wheezes. “But I’m not stopping for anything.” She wearily keeps jogging.\n\nYou can’t argue with her logic. You jog after her until the oasis is a tiny spec on the horizon. It feels like you’ve been jogging for hours, maybe even days, but the sun hasn’t moved the entire time. There isn’t even the hint of a shadow. Everything is just sand and hazy blue sky.\n\n“Which way were we going?” You say exhausted.\nJazelle shakes her head. “I’m not a compass.”\nYou pinch your side. “What happened to the glass trail?”\n\nJazelle shrugs. “I was following you.”\n\nYou hate to admit it, but you’re lost. And even if you weren’t lost, you're in the middle of the desert. Who knows how long it would take to find civilization. Does civilization even exist in Hell? “You got any bright ideas?”\n\nJazelle taps the back of your shoulder. “What about that?” She says pointing at a large glass mansion.\n\n“What?” You stare at the intricate stained glass walls. “How-how did that—” You’re bewildered by its beauty and seemingly random appearance. “Was that here the whole time?”\n\n“I don’t know,” Jazelle says. “It must have been.”\n\nThings have been making a habit of appearing and disappearing. It happened with the room, the trail, and the cave. This place must be in a constant state of change. It doesn’t make sense, but there’s no other way to explain it.\n\nMaybe Hell really is a fitting name. Of course, it doesn’t matter what you call it, you still need to find a way out. Gillian’s alone and you have no idea how long it’s been.\n\n“Well are you coming?” Jazelle asks, interrupting your thought process. She pushes open the glass gate.\n\n“Wait,” you half-shout. “We need to be careful.”\n\nShe’s already out of view. So much for sticking together.\n\nYou’re already responsible for Gillian getting hurt. You can’t let the same thing happen to Jazelle. Maybe you don’t know her that well, but she is the only friend you’ve got down here – maybe the only friend you’ve got in general. If you don’t look out for her, who will?\n\nYou slip through the gate and gaze up at the enormous mansion. The glass has been cut into the shape of bricks and stained red. If you weren’t close enough to see all the details, you might think the mansion was really made of brick. The craftsmanship is unparalleled.\n\nThe front door, which is also glass, is open slightly. There’s no sign of Jazelle. You’ll have to go in after her. It might be a better idea to survey the grounds and find a less conspicuous entrance. On the other hand, if there were “demons” inside, they’re probably busy tormenting Jazelle which means you could sneak through unnoticed.\n\n[[Survey the grounds for a less conspicuous entrance]]\n[[Walk through the front door]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 320>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +14>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#B2B2B2;It’s not the weapon that defines the warrior, for a warrior’s true weapon is the soul...@@\n\nThat’s something the Boss taught you. Disarming Skraz isn’t enough to defeat him. If you aren’t going to kill him, you need to @@color:#000081;destroy@@ his spirit.\n\nThe flaming spear inches closer to your face. If it was any closer, your eyebrows might ignite. You need to act quick. You twist the sword and angle the blade. The spear thrusts into the ground next to your ear. The fire @@color:#000081;burns,@@ but it’s not enough to distract you from the real goal.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shove@@ the blade handle into Skraz’s nose. He grunts with pain. As he twists, you @@color:#000081;shove@@ your foot into his left shin. He screams and hits the ground hard.\n\nYou roll toward him, swinging the sword down at him.\n\nHe rolls, but not fast enough. The blade @@color:#000081;slashes@@ his lower back. The damage isn’t bad, but it should slow him down.\n\nYou stand between him and the spear.\n\nHe starts to chant.\n\nYou sprint forward and @@color:#000081;kick@@ him in the jaw before the words can get out. He tumbles backwards, and a trail of blood follows him through the air. He hits the ground again, but this time he doesn’t get up.\n\nYou turn to Ignis. “This fight is a joke. If your guy takes it any further someone’s really going to get hurt.”\n\nIgnis grins. “You may be right.”\n\nYou hear Skraz groan. He manages to push himself into a standing position. Blood streaks down his nostrils and lips. He smiles causing the blood to stain his teeth.\n\n“Give up,” you say. “I don’t want to kill you.”\n\nThe smile remains plastered on his face. It’s almost like he wants you to kill him.\n\nYou half glance at Ignis. She makes no sign that the match is over. It seems like you may have to see this one through to the end.\n\n[[Sheath your sword and end the fight]]\n[[Kill Skraz]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 394>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +10>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +18>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +16>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +1320>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You tilt the rifle toward the thug in the kitchen as he paces between the refrigerator and the cupboard. He eyes a bag of potato chips on the counter.\n\nYou wait a few seconds for him to walk behind the center island. He reaches for the bag. You squeeze the @@color:#000081;trigger,@@ and instantly he drops to the floor. You smirk. Greasy foods are a real killer.\n\nYou realign the rifle with the thug in the bathroom and fire another round. It @@color:#000081;cuts@@ through three walls and @@color:#000081;knocks him@@ off the toilet. He slams into the shower @@color:#000081;door@@ making what you can only assume is a loud noise.\n\nThe thugs at the table look at the bathroom. One stands and walks that direction.\n\nUh oh.\n\nOne of the guards exits the bedroom and moves toward the kitchen. Here’s the chance you’ve been looking for. Now there’s only one thug in the room with Gillian.\n\nYou reposition the rifle and squeeze off a round. The thug bounces off the bed onto the @@color:#000081;floor.@@\n\nGillian screams.\n\nThe thugs turn toward her in unison. Things are about to get messy.\n\nYou target the next closest thug and pull the trigger. The bullet @@color:#000081;rips@@ through his shoulder, disconnecting his arm. The other thugs stare at it in a daze, which gives you enough time to get off another round.\n\nWhen the next guy’s head @@color:#000081;explodes,@@ the other thugs dive for cover. It won’t do them any good.\n\nYou take out the other @@color:#000081;four@@ without breaking a sweat.\n\nNow it’s just a matter of navigating Gillian through the army of thugs heading up the stairs and elevator.\n\nYou pull out your phone and dial a number you’re more than familiar with. The phone next to Gillian rings. “Come on, pick up,” you say to yourself.\n\nGillian, obviously in shock, reaches a shaky hand for the phone.\n\n“Okay, Gillian I need you to-”\n\nShe drops the phone and frantically runs in the opposite direction of the door.\n\nYou glance over. Two thugs. Crap. Two more in the hallway. How’d they get there so fast?\n\nYou take a deep breath and realign your shot.\n\nA knock at the door startles you. “Excuse me, Mr. Jenkins. Would you like a slice of cake? It’s really very good.”\n\nThe two thugs are almost on top of Gillian. You really don’t have time for this.\n\n[[Take the shot]]\n[[Address the person behind the door]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1074>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +12>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "Stealth">>\n<<endnobr>>You glance at the second story balcony. It’ll have to do.\n\nYou slink behind some bushes and drop flat as a guard walks by. He @@color:#000081;doesn’t notice@@ you. Based on how he’s holding the gun and his general demeanor, he’s probably military. You could take him, but it wouldn’t be easy. Someone would hear the struggle, and then you’d be in a bad way.\n\nYou’ll have to keep out of sight for @@color:#000081;now.@@\n\nYou stay low and work your way to the side of the house. You count at least two cameras positioned on the second story. Getting to the balcony will require a slight detour.\n\nYou look back at the three guards. They’re busy staring at the fence, walking the perimeter. The fourth patrols the wraparound balcony. You won’t be able to avoid him.\n\nKeeping this quiet just got a lot harder. As soon as the guard turns the corner, you @@color:#000081;shimmy up@@ the side of the house, using the window ledge and the moldings as footholds. The security camera is positioned on the balcony so you climb all the way to the roof.\n\nYou creep across the roof and lightly tilt the camera in the opposite direction. The guard rounds the corner. He doesn’t seem to @@color:#000081;notice@@ the skewed security camera.\n\nHe stops midstride, and your heart skips a beat.\n\nHe pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lights one. You let out a silent sigh of relief.\n\nYou grab an outcropping with your legs and @@color:#000081;lower yourself,@@ headfirst, behind the guard. As he reaches up for the cigarette, you yank his arm back and shove your other fist into the back of his neck, @@color:#000081;strangling@@ him with his own arm.\n\nHis body goes limp, and you let it slide against the wall. He’ll wake up with a headache and a stern lecture from his boss. You smirk and flip down to the balcony. You push the guard into a corner and take his radio.\n\nYou debate taking his gun, but decide against it. Submachine guns aren’t really known for being @@color:#000081;stealthy.@@ Instead you take the magazine from the gun and toss it on the roof.\n\nWith that done, you jimmy open the window and slip inside.\n\nIt’s a bedroom. Judging by the posters and stuffed animals, it probably belongs to a young girl.\n\nAs you near the door, you hear voices in the hall.\n\n[[Crap]]\n\n

On the bottom of the shell... It looks like an immense, upside-down city with thousands of coral shaped buildings. The crab creatures swim in and around them. A group of them stop abruptly when they see you.\n\nYou need to get to the surface. You need air. You keep swimming, keep searching, but the shell fragment is too large. You can’t see the sky. Everything gets darker. The shell sinks, pushing you down with it.\n\n@@color:#808080;You need air.@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;You need...@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;You...@@\n\nYou inadvertently gulp in a mouthful of water. And another.\n\nYou’re drowning.\n\nIt’s too dark to see anything.\n\n@@color:#808080;You feel a pincer clamp around your leg and pull you down deeper.@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;This is how it ends...@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;This is how it all...@@\n\n@@color:#C6C6C6;You gulp down another mouthful of water.@@\n\n@@color:#D7D7D7;You can’t breathe.@@\n\nYour body spasms and jerks for oxygen, but it can’t find any.\n\nYou think about Gillian one final time, and then the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 35]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 199>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<endnobr>>Sure, you and Gillian will be out of the country by the time they realize you were the one who stole their guns and started a war on their behalf, but you have a feeling they’d have a hard time letting that go. It’s probably best if they @@color:#000081;never see you.@@\n\nYou turn right toward the front entrance. It’ll take too long to double back for your bike. You’ll have to steal one of their cars. Talk about adding insult to injury.\n\nAnyway, a Russian car at a Chinese crime scene with one of the Boss’s guns in the back – that should be a very interesting police report. And when the media gets wind, it’ll be a bloodbath.\n\nYou pause for a moment. If you set these events in motion, a lot of people will die; of course most of those people probably deserve it.\n\nYou shrug.\n\nA lot of people were probably going to die anyway. At least this way you’re @@color:#000081;not one@@ of them and, fingers crossed, neither is Gillian.\n\nThere are three sets of car keys hanging from a board in the front office. They aren’t labeled, and there’s no time to check each of them.\n\n[[Take the silver key]]\n[[Take the tan key]]\n[[Take the square key|Take the silver key]]\n

<center>Table of Contents\n[[Copyright|DarlingCopyright]]\n[[Intro|DarlingIntro]]\n[[The Last Darling|DarlingStory]]\n[[Afterward|DarlingAfterward]]</center>\n

<>\n<<remember $theButterflyEffect = true>>\n<<endnobr>>The Butterfly Effect\n Travel through time in order to save Gillian\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 281>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Alright,” you look down at the creature. “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me what your buddies are planning, and I’ll put you out of your misery. Does that sound fair?”\n\n“Yes...” The creature takes a wheezy breath. “Fair...”\n\n“Okay, talk.”\n\n“The others...” the creature says. “Wish... to use lab... make change... permanent...”\n\n“Why?”\n\n“Stop pain...”\n\n“They can’t change you back?”\n\n“That would... mean death...”\n\n“So you don’t have a choice.”\n\n“No...” the creature says.\n\n“Alright,” you sigh. “I’m sorry, for everything.” You take one of the red, neon bullets and load it into the rifle.\n\n“Hurry...” the creature growls. “The change... Happening...” The creature snarls. Its eyes turn bright red. It stares at you as if you were a slab of steak.\n\nWith a burst of energy, the creature lunges at you. You raise the rifle, but not in time. You and the creature roll over a soft cliff. You scream as a claw @@color:#000081;shreds@@ your left forearm.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;knee@@ the creature in the face and push off its stomach. As you slide back, you pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ The bullet slices through the creature’s heart. It slides into a tree trunk motionless.\n\nThe soldiers run to your aid but the fight is already over. \n\nYou watch the creature’s body change. The fur falls off, and the body shrinks into a thin, naked man. He looks pathetically weak, equally as helpless ...and dead.\n\nYou wish his death could have been more elegant... but how often is any death elegant. At least his suffering is over.\n\n“Your arm,” the scientist says.\n\nThe gash in your arm is bad. You’re losing a decent amount of blood ...enough to slow you down.\n\n“You need that looked at immediately,” the scientist insists.\n\n[[“You’re right. I could use a Band-Aid and some drugs.”]]\n[[“No, I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 620>>\n<<endnobr>>For all you know, these aliens eat human brains like grapefruit. You didn’t accidentally travel to another galaxy just to be a breakfast morsel. At least there aren’t any aliens in sight. Of course that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.\n\nIt’s a straight shot to the wilderness, and you’ve got a feeling it’s best to be gone by the time they’re up and around.\n\nBefore you can start sprinting, a loud siren echoes off the walls of the buildings. What are the chances they’d make such a fuss over one little human like you? Yeah, you’ve got a feeling that question answers itself.\n\nSuddenly the ground shakes and five metallic pods erupt from the building. They tear through the air in your direction. You’re pretty sure a welcoming committee wouldn’t go to all this trouble just to bring you milk, cookies, and a key to the city.\n\nYou sprint for the wilderness. If you’re lucky, the foliage will be enough to keep you hidden.\n\nYou sprint as hard as you can, but the wilderness isn’t looking any closer. In fact, it’s the ground that’s looking further away.\n\nYou nearly trip over yourself as you realize you’re floating in the air. One of the metallic pods hovers above you.\n\nYou must be caught in some kind of tractor beam. Suddenly a red light envelops your body, and your skin tingles again. Before you can react, you realize you’re strapped to a bed with drills and needles uncomfortably close to your head.\n\nYou must have been teleported again.\n\n“Hello,” an old woman’s voice says cheerfully. “We’re so pleased that you decided to visit.”\n\n“I had a few vacation days saved up,” you say pulling at the straps binding your arms and legs.\n\n“We were so surprised to receive you. I really hope we can be accommodating.”\n\nYou glance at the needles. “More than hospitable, but I should be getting back now.”\n\n“Oh,” the voice pauses. “Perhaps my translation is not accurate. I mean your body will be accommodating to our experiments.”\n\nYou swallow uncomfortably. “This isn’t the part where you start probing things, is it?”\n\n“You have nothing to fear. We are not savages.” An old woman steps into the light. She looks exactly like your grandma. “You see,” she says with a smile. “I have taken this visage from your memory to make you feel more comfortable.”\n\n“Getting probed by my grandma – comfortable isn’t the word I’d use.”\n\n“You really are special.”\n\n“I bet you say that to all your enslaved experiments.”\n\n“Oh no,” she says sincerely. “You really are extraordinary. You are the first organic being to traverse this distance without imploding. The previous tests have not been as successful. We must discover and duplicate your uniqueness. Only then will a full invasion of your planet be possible.”\n\n[[“Invasion?”]]\n

<center><h1>Seven Bullets</h1></center><center>Author</center>Cloud Buchholz is an indie author writing on the California coast. He's written a novel, <a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com/chewingOnPenCaps.html" target="_blank">Chewing on Pen Caps</a>, a book of poetry, <a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com/americanIdlers.html" target="_blank">The American Idlers</a>, a novella, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Darling-ebook/dp/B004SY5P04" target="_blank">The Last Darling</a> and an erotic romance, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/21-Nights-Cloud-Buchholz-ebook/dp/B00KR1RWQW" target="_blank">21 Nights</a>.\n\nYou can read more of his short stories and poetry at:\n\n<center><a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com/" target="_blank">www.cloudbuchholz.com</a></center>\n\n\n<center>Other Credits</center>This story was created with [[Twine|http://twinery.org/]] and is powered by [[SugarCube|http://www.motoslave.net/sugarcube/]], which is based on [[TiddlyWiki|http://tiddlywiki.com/#HelloThere:HelloThere%20GettingStarted%20Upgrading%20Features%20Community%20RoadMap%20Docs]]\n\nTwine v1.4.2\nSugarCube v0.9.9\n\n\n<center>Copyright</center>This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.\n\nCopyright © 2014 by Cloud Buchholz\nAll rights reserved.\n\nEbook originally published in 2013\n\nEdition 1.1.1\n\n\n<center>Other Books</center>\n<img src="img/theLastDarlingCover.jpg" height="250" width="166" align="left" hspace="6"><a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com/theLastDarling.html" target="_blank">The Last Darling</a>\nThe beautiful and naive Clover Collette has been in the clutches of her overbearing mother for twenty-four years, but when Francis Darling unintentionally penetrates her defenses, the two suddenly and secretly fall in love. Within hours they’re engaged and on the run.\n\n<img src="img/21NightsCover.jpg" height="250" width="166" align="left" hspace="6"><a href="http://cab35.blogspot.com/2014/06/21-nights-excerpt.html" target="_blank">21 Nights</a>\nThe arrangement was simple: meaningless sex, no strings. That's what she wanted. That's what she told him she needed. But when their game of desires crosses the line between love and sex, she knows their kinky escapades are more than just a casual fling.\n\n<img src="img/theAmericanIdlersCover.jpeg" height="250" width="166" align="left" hspace="6"><a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com/americanIdlers.html" target="_blank">The American Idlers</a>\nThe American Idlers is a collection of 75 poems that explore the fragile and fleeting moments of two young lovers as their relationship and intimacy gets punctuated by political tension, disillusionment, and the invisible hand of freedom.\n\n<img src="img/chewingOnPenCapsCover.jpg" height="250" width="166" align="left"><a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com/chewingOnPenCaps.html" target="_blank">Chewing on Pen Caps</a>\nLemon, an eccentric and compulsive recluse, learns his estranged, Vietnam vet father is ill. The news forces him to reconnect with relatives and uncomfortable stories from his childhood.\n\n<img src="img/DeadSexyCover.jpg" height="250" width="166" align="left"><a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com/deadSexy.html" target="_blank">Dead Sexy</a>\nDead Sexy is satirical zombie apocalypse set at the Playboy Mansion.\n\n \n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 974>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +3>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The thug holding Gillian swallows hard. “We’re willing to negotiate. The Boss just wants to talk.”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shoot@@ three thugs in quick succession. The others don’t realize until the bodies hit the cement. You point the pistol at the leader. “I’m listening.”\n\nHe staggers back in fear. His pistol hand shakes. “The Boss, he needs you for one more mission. It’s, it’s important.”\n\n“It must be.”\n\n“He said you were the only one that could pull it off. He said it had to be you.”\n\n“Did he?”\n\n“We weren’t going to hurt her. We just needed you onboard. You understand, don’t you?”\n\nYou shrug. “Fine, I’ll do it. Let her go.”\n\nThe thug looks at his buddies nervously and then back at you. “Promise?”\n\n“Do you want me to pinky-swear?”\n\nThe thug lowers his gun and lets Gillian go.\n\nHer body shakes with fear and adrenaline. She walks to you.\n\nYou keep your gun pointed at the leader. “I am going to have to shoot you though.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“You kidnapped my sister and used her to blackmail me. Where do you want it: arm or leg?”\n\nHe scrunches his eyes and thinks it over. “Arm.”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shoot@@ him in the arm. He drops to the ground and screams in pain.\n\nYou look at the other thugs. “Alright, take me to the Boss. He and I need to have a little chat.”\n\nThe thugs keep their guns pointed at your chest. There’s no way they’ll let you pull a stunt like that again...at least not willingly. Gillian hurries to you. You hug her and then lean on her for support. Your body’s @@color:#000081;weaker@@ than you thought. The guards lead you down the stairs to an office. The entire floor is clear except for one desk, three chairs, and a small table for tea.\n\nThe Boss casually glances over at you. “You’re late. I hope your skills haven’t dulled since you left.” He waves his hand toward the guards. “You may leave now.”\n\nThe guards stare at him with confusion.\n\n“It’s fine.” The Boss assures them.\n\nThey don’t know what else to do but follow his orders, so they leave. It’s just you, Gillian, and the Boss.\n\n“Please,” the Boss gestures toward the chairs. “Sit. Would you like some tea?”\n\n“What makes you think I’m not going to shoot you where you sit?” You say sternly.\n\n“If I wanted to kill you,” the Boss says calmly. “You would be dead. That’s true for your sister as well. Aren’t you curious why I orchestrated this little game?”\n\n“Because you’re insane.”\n\nThe Boss chuckles softly. “You and I both know that’s not true. Come. Sit.”\n\nYou and Gillian sit down across from the Boss. He pours two cups of tea and slides the cups in front of you. “I’ve been presented with a particularly difficult problem. I believe there is a traitor within my organization, and I’d like you to find out who it is. You, of all people, are one of the few employees I can still trust. I put on this little show to convince my adversaries that you and I had a falling out.”\n\n“We did have a falling out.”\n\n“I required a more public display of your dissatisfaction. Which I might add was a superb delivery on your part.”\n\n“Tell that to your dead employees.”\n\n“It was important the action was believable.”\n\nYou stretch your arms and legs. “Whatever,” you groan. “Let’s skip ahead to the part where I kill you.”\n\nThe Boss rolls his eyes with a pang of boredom. “Your life could have been extingished at any moment had I but said the word. Or did you think I would be unable to anticipate your emotional outbursts when your dear sister was at jeopardy?”\n\nAs skilled as you are, the sad truth is that everything you know, you learned from him. He’s always been five steps ahead of you...even now. “Well,” you glower at him. “I’m listening.”\n\nHe smiles. “I have been pursuing several new revenue streams and the returns have proven...disappointing. I am a patient man, but progress is slower than I would prefer. I have constructed this elaborate ruse not only to confuse my enemies, but also to force your hand.”\n\n“Get to the point,” you growl.\n\n“Of my several investments, two have proven to be especially troublesome. Progress on a new drug being tested in Montana has come to an unexpected halt. Some of the human test subjects have gone missing. Retrieving them would be...very productive for the project. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality.”\n\n“What?” You interrupt. “What genetic abnormality?”\n\n“Oh,” the Boss smirks, “Did I forget to mention that? Yes, I took the liberty of having my scientists infect you and Gillian with a rare genetic abnormality.”\n\n“What!?!” you growl.\n\n“Calm yourself,” the Boss says soothingly. “You and your sister are fine, for the moment. No unnecessary harm will come to either of you as long as you do as I command...just like old times.”\n\nYou mull over the notion without speaking. Killing the Boss now would be very satisfying, but there’s still a chance you can get Gillian out of this alive. You have to do what’s best for her.\n\n“There is another option,” the Boss says. “There is a doctor, a genius. I believe she may have stolen some of the research that belongs to me. If there is a mole, this woman should know who. I sent a small team to retrieve her, but they have yet to return which means I underestimated how dangerous she is. \n\n“If you could bring her in or perhaps persuade her to work for me, it would help to accelerate a resolution between the three of us because, as you already know, your sister is staying with me until I get what I want.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1146>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<endnobr>>You’re about to interrupt Avengral but decide @@color:#000081;against it.@@\n\n“Earth Wizard,” he says, motioning for you to come near. “Take my seal.” He slides off a gold ring and hands it to you. “Show this to the other knights of Sarrejiinn and they will heed your words as if they were my own. Tell them what has transpired this day, and they will take action.”\n\n“Are you sure this is what you want to do?”\n\n“A knight is not motivated by want, only by need. Here,” he hands you a sealed envelope. “Please deliver this to the Wizard Songlie. She...means a great deal to me.”\n\nYou nod. “Of course.”\n\nAvengral takes a deep breath and collects himself. “I will lead as many of the creatures upstairs as I can. You must go now. You have served this kingdom well, Wizard of Earth. May the Seven Sons guide your blade in troubled times.” He turns to Evie. “Red Wizard of Vizzairn, Evie Greengrass, you have proven your people worthy of freedom. May they find it through peace and keep it until Rajongar comes.”\n\nEvie nods.\n\n“Go,” Avengral says calmly. “These beasts are eager to test the cold steel of my blade, and I will not disappoint them.”\n\nIt’s not often you find someone so honorable. He deserves a better end than this, of course, he probably wants to go down swinging. You feel Evie tug at your arm. You look back at Avengral one final time.\n\n“We cannot let his sacrifice be in vain, Earth Wizard. We must hurry.” Evie pulls on your arm again.\n\nYou follow her down the stairs until you reach the dungeon. A few dozen torches line the walls. There are large rooms on both sides of the stairs divided into smaller sections by thick metal bars. Decaying corpses are shackled to the ceilings of the caged rooms. They were probably bound there for decades. It’s impossible to know why.\n\nYou follow Evie further into the dungeon. “Are you sure this is an exit?”\n\n“No,” she says tersely. “But what other choice do we have?”\n\n“Right,” you sigh and grab a torch from the wall. “Army of monsters, suicidal bomb, or further into this creepy dungeon... just the kind of choices I like.”\n\n“Your humor is ill-timed Earth Wizard.”\n\n“Isn’t it always.”\n\n“We must--” Evie is cut off as Able and Mos sprint around the corner. They skid to a stop just barely avoiding Evie.\n\nMos leans against the wall. He coughs and tries to catch his breath. His bow is covered in blood and only two arrows remain in his quiver. “Fancy meeting you here.”\n\n“What happened?”\n\nAble wipes the blood off his face with the inside of his shirt. “Monsters. Something the Blue Wizards must have summoned.”\n\n“No,” Evie shakes her head. “Those are the Blue Wizards.”\n\n“What?” Mos rasps. “You’re joking, right? Those things were not human.”\n\n“It’s a long story,” Evie waves them forward. “I’ll explain after we get out of here.”\n\n“I don’t recommend going that way.” Mos rubs his wounded leg. “We cut down a dozen of those things just to get this far.”\n\n“Hey,” Able interrupts. “Where’s Avengral?”\n\nYou shake your head.\n\n“Humph,” Able grunts. “For a Sarrejiinn Knight, he wasn’t so bad. I almost liked him.”\n\n“He’s not dead yet,” Evie says. “Any moment he’ll mix a crate of dragon spawn tongues and a barrel of dried pixie wings, which is why we need to keep moving.”\n\n“Yeah,” Mos groans. “No kidding. With that amount he’s likely to sink the whole island.” Mos slings the bow around his shoulder and pulls out his short sword. “Like you said, we need to move.”\n\nAble hefts the large hammer over his shoulder and follows Mos. You and Evie follow behind him. The dark corridor leads into a long series of cages. The iron bars and shackles make it difficult to see.\n\nLittle orange beads glow near the outskirts of the room. You realize the beads are actually eyes. You tug at Evie’s arm.\n\n“I know,” she says. “They're watching us.”\n\n“Probably leading us into a trap,” Mos whispers.\n\n“So what,” Able growls. “Let them try.”\n\n“The trap is already sprung,” the voice is a deep, bestial rumble echoing off the stone walls.\n\n“Show yourself,” Able shouts. “So I can smash your head in.”\n\n“Quiet,” Mos whispers.\n\nThe glowing orange eyes move to surround you.\n\n“We need a plan,” you whisper to the others.\n\n“Fighting is futile, as is running,” the deep voice rumbles. “You have already lost.”\n\n“Say that in the range of my hammer!” Able yells.\n\nThe beastly voices laugh.\n\nYou glance at Evie. “So they can talk now?”\n\n“Yes,” Evie says. “It appears they are regaining their old abilities.”\n\n“Does that include magic?”\n\n“I fear it does.”\n\nYou keep the sword pointed at the glowing eyes. “So what do we do?”\n\n“You become our servants,” the gravelly voice says.\n\n“No thanks,” you shout back. “I have a strict 'no master' policy.”\n\n“You misunderstand,” the bestial voice replies. “It was not an offer. Your allies have already succumbed to our spell.”\n\nYou glance at the others. They’re crouched on the ground. “Hey,” you say to them. “Get up. Come on.”\n\nThey growl savagely. Their eyes glimmer with flecks of red.\n\n“Hey,” you say again. “Evie. Snap out of it.” You touch her shoulder, and her hand shoves you away.\n\n“Don’t touch me!” She snarls. Her teeth are sharp and larger than her mouth. “I-I cannot fight it,” she screams.\n\n“I can feel them inside my head,” Mos shrieks.\n\nEven Able is curled on the ground whimpering.\n\n“Fascinating,” the bestial voice coos. “You are somehow unaffected by our spell...a soul not of this world, perhaps? It does not matter. If you do not change, then you will become food for those who do.”\n\nAble, Mos, and Evie stop screaming and calmly stand. Their ember red eyes fixate on you. You pivot around, keeping the sword between you and them. “Fight it!” You shout to them. “You’re stronger than them.”\n\nThey growl at you in disagreement.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>These pure forms of Ferralliise have a wider range of illusion and manipulation magic at their disposal. I compiled traits from werewolves, vampires, and dark elves for their physical appearance and abilities.Here, the Ferralliise are able to enthrall Able, Mos, and Evie much like a vampire. In an alternate narrative branch the Ferralliise are shown transforming and fighting more like werewolves.<<endif>>\nYou take a step back. You don’t want to kill them, but what choice do you have? And even if you do manage to kill them, what about all the other creatures.\n\nSuddenly, the ground shakes like a violent earthquake. A deafening thunder echoes through the corridors and off the walls.\n\nAvengral must have mixed the pixie wings and dragon tongues...\n\nYou feel a wave of heat as the pillar of fire twirls through the corridor and fills the dungeon. The creatures scream in agony, and then you realize your screams are as loud as theirs.\n\nIt lasts less than a second. You think of Gillian and Earth, and you hope that not a single creature escapes this blast. You hear your bones @@color:#000081;pop and shatter@@ from the heat... then everything goes black.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 31]]\n

Seven Bullets Outline #1\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 370>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>That’s the great thing about your line of work – all the exotic locations and exciting opportunities, at least that’s what the assassin brochure said on career day.\n\nIf only all those doubters could see you now.\n\nFleeing through the sewer really isn’t that unusual for an assassin, and truthfully you’re surprised you haven’t had to do it more often. In any case, you’ll just be glad when this day is over. A hot shower is on the top of your to-do list. Well, calling Gillian comes first, then a hot shower.\n\nYou take a quick glance at the PDA to see if any of the guards or scientists are nearby. Looks like you’re in the clear. You sprint to the elevator and make your way to the next floor up. From there, you take an immediate left into a utility closet. You yank the sewer grate open and @@color:#000081;slide@@ down the ladder.\n\nThe tunnel is barely visible. You turn on the PDA and use it as a flashlight. The device erupts with three loud beeps. The computer virus is trying to gain access. You pop out the battery and slide both in your pocket.\n\nIt shouldn’t take the virus more than a few minutes to run its course, than you can start using the PDA again ...theoretically. The virus is moving much faster than you anticipated. As much as you’d like to pat yourself on the back, if the virus is too destructive, too quickly it could be problematic for you.\n\nYou’ve barely had a chance to test this thing. The kind of effect it might have on an infrastructure this complex and regulated is anyone’s guess. All you can be sure of is how important it is to get away from here as soon as possible.\n\nAs you take another step forward, you @@color:#000081;slam@@ into a concrete wall. You groan and rub your forehead. Without the light and the map from the PDA, you’re lost. You thought this tunnel only went straight, but you’ve hit a wall – literally.\n\nYou can barely see, but it feels like the tunnel splits in two directions – right and left. If you had a coin, you’d flip it. You’ll just have to use your intuition or something.\n\n[[Take the tunnel to your right]]\n[[Take the tunnel to your left]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 320>>\n<<endnobr>>You walk to the table and inspect the components. At first they just seem like bits of wire and circuit boards, but as you look closer you see the frame of a body. It’s a small body, perhaps resembling a child.\n\nYou gaze at Maurer with shock. “The kid—”\n\nHe grins. “Yes.”\n\n“But how?”\n\nHe chuckles. “You would not understand. Sometimes I do not understand. I am responsible for only some of zhis.” He shrugs, “Zhe other architects elude even me.”\n\nYou look back at the woman. “So she?”\n\nMaurer nods. “She is an earlier design. Stronger, but less intuitive – zhough, it is strange, she seems to trust you.”\n\n“Why are you telling me this?”\n\n“You are good for my boy.” He motions for the woman. She walks to the console. Her finger splits in two and attaches to a hole in the machine.\n\nSuddenly an image appears on the screen beside you. It’s a slideshow of events from the woman’s perspective, as if her eyes were cameras – though that’s probably because they are cameras.\n\n“You zee here,” Maurer points at the image of you carrying the kid. “You have kept him safe and returned him to me. My zhanks is not enough. Come.”\n\nYou follow him down the hallway and into another room. It’s an armory. The walls are lined with weapons of all sizes and types. Their designs seem familiar, but their technology and craftsmanship seem alien.\n\n“My earlier work. I have no use for zhem now. You may take one of your choosing.”\n\nYou examine the weapons on the wall and the metal cases on the floor. Each gun is one of a kind. It’s almost impossible to choose.\n\nAfter what feels like an eternity, you limit your selection to two cases: a red case containing a sniper rifle with a very impressive scope and an orange case containing a shotgun with an assortment of ammunition.\n\n[[Take the red case]]\n[[Take the orange case]]\n

Secret Facility Commentary\n

<>\n<<remember $bookworm = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Bookworm\n Read a total of 100,000 words\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 293>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’ve gotten better prizes out of crackerjack boxes. You’re offering eternal suffering – you need to sweeten the deal. And besides, aren’t you demons supposed to be good at tempting helpless humans?”\n\n“I should remind you,” Agares gestures toward the hound. “You are in no position to negotiate. Your boldness, however, has amused me, and so I will sweeten the deal. If you prevail, you will be rewarded with second life, immense wealth, and twenty of the finest horses.”\n\n“Horses? It really has been awhile since you’ve talked to one of my kind.” You stand up. “Yeah, alright old man, you’ve got a @@color:#000081;deal.”@@\n\nAgares nods graciously. “Then let us continue.” He holds out each of his fists and stares at you intently.\n\n“What are you doing?”\n\n“The game has begun. Choose a hand and learn your fate.”\n\n“That’s it? You just want me to pick a hand.”\n\nThe old man grins. “Yes, of course, what were you expecting?”\n\n“I don’t know; trials and tribulations or something.”\n\n“Some of the most consequential choices are arbitrary, are they not?”\n\nYou rub the side of your head. “I guess you have a point. I’ve already made a few arbitrary decisions today. One more isn’t going to hurt.”\n\n“If you choose correctly,” Agares reminds you.\n\n“Right,” you sigh and examine each of his outstretched hands. “How do I know you aren’t going to trick me?”\n\n“You do not, but that is the game.”\n\nYou’ve got plenty of reasons not to trust him. He is a demon after all. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be a game if there wasn’t a real way to win. You examine the demon’s outstretched hands again. This is harder than you thought. There’s no skill involved. It’s all up to chance.\n\n[[Choose the demon’s right hand]]\n[[Choose the demon’s left hand]]\n

<center><img src="img/DeadSexyCover.jpg" width="400" height="600" align="center" hspace="6">\n[[Next|deadSexyTOC]]</center>

[[Karen's|Karen]] mother, Zoe Ward, was a cynical and sometimes cruel woman. She had not always been so spiteful, but at the age of seventeen, when her high school sweetheart abandoned her at the hospital during labor and never returned, she decided that no person was worth trusting completely and, despite the immense love she felt at the first sight of her daughter, her heart quickly became cold and bitter.\n\nShe swore an oath that her daughter would never experience that same kind of vulnerability. She never embellished young [[Karen|Karen]] with impossible dreams or fanciful stories and discouraged the use of [[imagination|imagined]] whenever possible.\n\nShe instructed [[Karen|Karen]] to be rational in all facets of her life, most specifically with love.\n\nWhen [[Karen|Karen]] began to acquire a large collection of imaginary friends, Zoe felt her motherly commands had not gone far enough, and so she severely scolded her young daughter whenever she spoke of, or appeared to glimpse these imaginary acquaintances.\n\nGiven her pragmatic nature, Zoe did not notice that the imaginary friends [[Karen|Karen]] described resembled people who had recently died within the area. And at times, Zoe found it peculiar that Karen could articulate violent events before the newspaper and television reported them.\n\nShortly after [[Karen|Karen]] left for college, Zoe felt an unexplainable discomfort in the small and empty house. She would return home to find drawers, cabinets, and desks opened and rummaged through.\n\nNothing was ever stolen, though each time it occurred; the house was searched with a greater frenzy. The only room that remained untouched was Karen’s old bedroom which, oddly enough, never collected dust.\n\nExactly [[seven|seventh]] months after [[Karen|Karen]] left home, her mother’s dead body was discovered on the floor of the kitchen by a worried neighbor. There were a set of handprints around Zoe’s neck which the police were able to identify.\n\nThe fingerprints belonged to a man by the name of John Shaw, a disturbed inmate of the Heartly Asylum. Sadly and strangely, the man could not be brought to justice for two weeks prior to Zoe’s death; his lifeless body was found in the Harken River after he drowned during a failed escape attempt.\n\nThe authorities could not explain how his fingerprints appeared on Zoe’s neck, nor could they explain the river water that appeared in her lungs. Despite their best attempts, they were unable to resolve the case and informed young [[Karen Ward|Karen]] that there were [[forces|spirits]] in this life that were often unfair and unexplainable.\n

<>\n<<remember $iReadGood = true>>\n<<endnobr>>I read Good\n Read a total of 65,000 words\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 613>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +1200>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The briefcase is the only @@color:#000081;leverage@@ you’ve got against these people, which makes it even more important since you don’t have a clue who these people are. And besides, it’s not like the last couple of days haven’t been risky enough already. What’s one more near death experience?\n\nYou search the bearded man’s jacket and pants, but you can’t find the key. It wouldn’t really make sense for him to be carrying it anyway.\n\nYou tug at the handcuff. It’s too new. Trying to pick the lock would be a waste of time. If only you had held onto that pistol. Suddenly the helicopter swerves left and descends.\n\n“Pull up,” you shout. “Pull up. Pull up.” The building in front of you is getting closer.\n\n“Sorry,” you hear Gillian yell from the cockpit.\n\nThe helicopter climbs. It looks like it’ll miss the building, but the same can’t be said for you. The rope goes taught and you swing toward the side of the building.\n\nYou try to scramble up the rope, but the handcuff catches on your pants. You slip down. The building’s so close. You yank your leg up.\n\nThe bottom of your foot @@color:#000081;scrapes@@ the ledge of the roof.\n\nSuddenly the briefcase feels lighter.\n\nYou glance down and see a hand dangling from the end of the handcuffs – just a hand. If only his whole arm had made it, you could have said something witty about disarming him.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Disarming him... this scene always reminds me of the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in Star Wars.In Jr. High I had the <a href="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Premiere_Limited" target="_blank">“Disarmed”</a> card for the Star Wars playing card game and for about two days all my friends were jealous.<<endif>>\nYou @@color:#000081;grab@@ the briefcase, toss the hand away, and climb up to the helicopter. You push the dead pilot’s body over the side and watch it @@color:#000081;splat@@ against a roof. “Alright,” you say to Gillian. “Out of the pilot’s seat. I’m getting us out of here.”\n\nShe gives you a dejected look. “But I was just getting the hang of flying.” \n\nYou laugh. “Tell that to the bearded guy who’s probably street pizza by now.”\n\nShe huffs. “Fine.”\n\nYou hand her the briefcase and sit down.\n\n“What’s this?” She asks.\n\n“That’s our @@color:#000081;backup plan.@@ I’ve seen enough of those to know that whatever’s inside isn’t meant for the public. As long as we have it, and they think we might use it, they won’t give us any problems.”\n\n“Mutual destruction, huh?”\n\n“Yeah, something like that.”\n\nShe examines the briefcase. “Well, let’s open it. I want to see what’s inside.”\n\n“We can’t. Not yet, anyway. We don’t have the key or the tools to crack the locks. Your curiosity will have to wait.”\n\n“Whatever,” she says, sliding the briefcase under the seat.\n\nYou glance at her. “You seem awfully calm for someone who was just kidnapped.”\n\n“Kidnapped?” She says surprised. “I don’t know if I’d call it that. I mean, I hate work as much as the next person, but it doesn’t really count as kidnapping.”\n\n[[“Wait, what?”]] \n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 856>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTheDreadPirate").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTheDreadPirate").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Taz Moir is obviously a thug and a pirate. He only respects brute strength and violence, which is exactly what you’re going to give him.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;grab@@ the knife in Avengral’s belt and twist, @@color:#000081;parrying@@ Taz Moir’s blade as he thrust it forward. You pivot around him and @@color:#000081;fling@@ him over your shoulder, onto the dock. He rolls across the wood and slides to his feet.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;sprint@@ at him before he can fully regain his footing and @@color:#000081;thrust@@ the blade at his chest. He rolls back and kicks his metal leg into your @@color:#000081;stomach.@@\n\nYou stagger right and tumble into a crate. You notice his right leg is metal from the thigh down. A series of springs and cogs keep it balanced and bent without collapsing. It looks like Quintus’s handiwork.\n\nYou grin.\n\nYou’re @@color:#000081;enjoying@@ this fight a little too much. You can’t let it get out of hand. You don’t want to kill him. You just need him to know you’re serious. You twirl the blade around, handle first, and wait for him to get to his feet.\n\nAvengral draws his blade, but you motion for him to @@color:#000081;stop@@ before he can attack. Taz Moir sees the gesture and grins. He waves one hand in the air. You notice a man on the ship lower a crossbow.\n\n“So ye can fight,” Taz Moir grunts and wipes the blood from his lower lip. “What do ye want?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Taz Moir is a scraggly, tough-as-nails pirate whose only passion is sailing the sea. In his youth he was a promising sailor, the youngest to reach the rank of Lieutenant in the King’s navy.During a surveying expedition in South-Eastern waters, his ship is ravaged by a storm. The few sailors that survive are stranded and adrift for nearly a week, during which time a pod of mermaids devours the weary survivors one by one. Taz Moir manages to fight them off but not before losing his right leg to their hunger.He steers the debris into a north bound current and eventual reaches the island of the Blue Wizards. Using magic, they carefully resuscitate him. In order to repay such a debt, he spends three years working for them doing secret and sometimes illegal jobs.Eventually he scraps together enough funds to buy a ship and hire a crew. He continues working secret and illegal jobs, but now as a self-employed pirate.<<endif>>\nYou lift your hand in the air, revealing the bracelet. “A friend sent me. He’s calling in a favor.”\n\n“And why would Quintus not be here hisself?”\n\n“Other obligations,” you say, handing the knife back to Avengral. He glowers at you and puts the knife back in his belt. You glance at Taz Moir. “You’re dealing with me now. Is that going to be a problem?”\n\n“Ha,” Taz Moir snorts. “I owe Quintus a debt, and I always pay me debts. If that debt be you, then so be it.”\n\nYou motion toward the ship. “Let’s talk.”\n\nHe follows you and Avengral up the plank and onto the deck. The other sailors seem casual, but each one eyes a weapon in case the conversation turns sour.\n\n“We need to travel south,” you say sternly. “We’re hunting the Cetorix, and we don’t have much time.”\n\n“Hmh,” Taz Moir grunts. “Time is all we have. Even if I wanted to take ye south for the beast, there aint no ships traveling in these waters. The blockade is up. We wouldn’t make it past the bay.”\n\nAvengral pulls a small cloth from his belt and unfurls it. “The King’s symbol,” he says. “Fly this in place of your flag and we may travel freely.”\n\nTaz Moir stares at it with surprise. “Official business, then?” He leans in closer. “Why would the King need a reformed pirate for official business?”\n\nAvengral interrupts you, “You are a citizen of the realm. The business of the King is not your concern - only that it is carried out.”\n\nTaz Moir stares at his crew cynically and then back at Avengral. “I’m a citizen of the sea. Yer obligations mean little to me.” He takes the King’s flag and hands it to one of the crew. “I may be a thief, a killer, and an outlaw, but I always honor me debts.” He turns to the crewman. “Fly the King’s flag. We travel south in search of glory and death.”\n\nThe crew jolts to life, pulling in the ropes and plank, unfurling the sails, and raising the flag. You push out from the dock. The ships blockading the bay see the King’s flag flying overhead and let you pass.\n\nThe sails catch the wind and the ship jerks forward, picking up speed.\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir growls with pride. “This ship be the fastest in all of Sarrejiinn, and the winds favor us. We’ll make quick time.”\n\nYou feel the cool, salty wind hit your cheeks and blow back your hair. The ship sways as it kicks over the waves. You see Avengral stagger forward. His cheeks look green, and his face is drenched with sweat. He rushes to the railing and vomits over the side of the ship.\n\nTaz Moir laughs. “Looks like arr brave knight finally be finding an enemy he can’t defeat.” Taz Moir laughs again, and this time the crew laughs with him.\n\nAvengral waves them off as he vomits over the side again.\n\nYou would almost feel bad for him if it wasn’t so funny.\n\nYou stare at the sea. The land becomes a faint sliver on the horizon. For a moment you feel free, but only for a moment. The thought of Gillian suddenly rushes back into your head. She’s still in danger, and you can’t even be certain from what or whom...not to mention the entire planet. You can already feel the worry lines forming. You have no idea how the Boss is able to look so young.\n\n“Ahoy,” a sailor shouts. “Port side.”\n\nTaz Moir slides out his scope and peers to the left. “A ship,” he says. “Adrift by the looks of it. Could be worth salvaging.”\n\n[[Steer clear of the drifting ship]]\n[[Search the drifting ship for loot]]\n

<>\n<<remember $daddysLittleGirl = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Daddy's Little Girl\n Meet Wilson's Daughter\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 771>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +20>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +18>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -64>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Sure the iron ball and chain could do some damage, but it’s heavy and slow. You’d only get a few good swings in before it wore you out. You need to stay light and @@color:#000081;agile.@@ Any kind of monster or monsters could emerge from those dark corridors. The spear is a solid and safe choice.\n\nThe @@color:#000081;distance@@ will keep you alive. At least, that’s what you’re hoping.\n\nYou sprint to the lizard corpse and pry free a rib bone. It’s fatter than a normal spear, but lighter and sturdier. The end curves into a sharp point. Slicing and jabbing will inflict some pain.\n\nThe corpses around you look fresh. Steam rises out of their wounds. The bodies are strewn haphazardly like a quick succession of one-on-one fights. The killing blows could have been done by teeth and claws. The bodies are too mangled to know for sure.\n\nYou have a feeling champion in this arena looks a lot like something’s dinner; and unfortunately, you’re about to put that theory to the test.\n\nThe tall Ferralliise blows into a shell horn and the crowd of monsters chant in response.\n\nA faint light emerges from the darkness of each corridor. The light is attached to antenna protruding from large centipede-like creatures.\n\nThe creatures have hundreds of tiny legs jutting from curvy scale bodies. Each one moves toward you. Their strategy seems to be driven by a primitive hunger not a higher intelligence. Of course, that won’t make them any easier to kill.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;jab@@ the spear at one and @@color:#000081;slice@@ at another. They hiss at you and reel back. You twist behind the lizard carcass to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ the third creature. It slithers across the ground in front of you.\n\nThey’re fast.\n\nYou can’t fight them all at once.\n\nYou need to split them apart. One-on-one you stand a chance, but you’ll need a distraction.\n\nYou cut loose a dead soldier’s arm and @@color:#000081;fling@@ it toward the closest centipede. \n\nThe centipede catches the rotten flesh with its tiny pincers and devours it eagerly. The other two slither up the wall, trying to flank you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;thrust@@ at the centipede to your right. The spear finds a weakness between two of the scales and cuts through the creature’s abdomen. Green goo spits out of the wound as the creature @@color:#000081;struggles@@ against the spear.\n\nThe third centipede moves closer. You yank at the spear, but it won’t budge. It’s lodged in the stone wall. There’s not enough time to pull it free.\n\nYou roll left, barely @@color:#000081;avoiding@@ the centipede’s grasp. You dash toward the lizard carcass for another rib, but the centipede winds and slithers in front of you. You make a hard stop and take a half step back.\n\nOut of the corner of your eye, you see the first centipede eat the last of the arm. You don’t have much time. You need a weapon.\n\nThe centipede in front of you hisses loudly and jerks forward. You stumble backwards over a pile of corpses to avoid its reach, but not quite far enough. It grabs your leg with its tiny legs and @@color:#000081;bites@@ into it.\n\nYou growl at the pain and kick at the centipede’s head. It won’t let go. You reel and roll trying to jerk free, but it’s no use.\n\nThen you feel it, a tiny dagger clasped to a soldier’s belt. You pull it from the sheath and @@color:#000081;stab@@ it into the centipede’s beady head.\n\nThe monster centipede lets out a shriek and flails wildly. You slide out of its reach as it spasms on the ground in weakening intervals.\n\nIt coils into a ball and @@color:#000081;dies.@@\n\nYou let out a sigh of relieve. You’re alive. You did it. Your leg’s in bad shape, but you can still walk. Now it’s just a matter of...\n\nYou feel a sudden coolness come over you as a shadow envelops your body.\n\nThe third centipede.\n\nYou forgot about the third centipede.\n\nYou try to sprint, but it’s too late. The tiny claw legs latch onto your shoulders. Hundreds of tiny legs climb up your back and neck. The centipede looms overhead.\n\nFor a moment, everything slows down. The jeering of the crowd becomes a slow muffled wail. And the movement of every particle of dirt and bead of sweat stands still. You’ve dreaded this moment. You know what’s coming next.\n\nYou try to think about Gillian, but death is the only thing that races through your mind. The monster centipede sinks its teeth into your @@color:#000081;forehead.@@ Its scaly body cocoons around you. Electric pain jolts through your body until you spasm into agonizing oblivion.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 26]]\n

<<widget "zeroKillsCheck">><>\n\t<<if $kills is 0>>\n\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTurnTheOtherCheek").processText());\n\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTurnTheOtherCheek").processText());\n\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t<</script>>\n\t<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>><</widget>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 328>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<endnobr>>You point your @@color:#000081;pistol@@ at Maurer’s face. “What’s going on here?”\n\nHe looks away from the gun a little nervous, but otherwise calm. “Zhis is no place for you.” His German accent is thick. “You must go.”\n\n“I want answers. What’d you do to her? And why is everyone interested in the kid?”\n\nHe shakes his head with a hint of disgust. “Answers are useful only when zhey belong to zhe proper questions.”\n\nYou take a step closer to him. “I didn’t ask for a fortune cookie. I want the truth.”\n\n“Yes, yes,” he sighs. “Zo pushy,” He shakes his head and walks around you to the cop – if she ever was a cop. \n\nMaurer takes a soldering gun from his tool box and roughly connects some of the wires in the woman’s arm. “Zat should do,” he nods.\n\nShe bends her arm and flexes her fingers. You watch with bewilderment.\n\nHe pats the young boy’s head. “Schoolwork,” he says and points to the opposite room.\n\n“Oh, do I have to?”\n\nMaurer gives him a stern look.\n\nThe boy grabs his bag and shuffles into the other room.\n\nMaurer walks past you down the adjacent hall. “Come,” he says, motioning with his hand. The woman stands behind you and waits for you to move. You feel uncomfortable, like maybe you aren’t calling the shots anymore.\n\n“Nutzlos,” Maurer grunts as he walks past the security guards. He looks back at you impatiently.\n\nYou follow him.\n\nHe leads you down a long staircase to a basement level of the mansion. A row of networked servers line one wall, while five large tables, evenly spaced, span the center of the room. Each table contains an abundance of electrical components. It appears to be something like an assembly line.\n\nMaurer walks to the third table. “Your answers,” he says pointing to the components. You can’t make them out from here. You’ll have to get closer. You’ve got a bad feeling about it.\n\n[[Look at the components]]\n[[Demand answers]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 644>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You go left down the rock corridor. The path slants down, and after a few minutes of walking, the rough ground becomes warm sand. Your bare feet feel a little relief. The path curves into an ’s’ and you see pools of water around each bend.\n\nYou carefully check the water with your toes. It’s cool and pleasant unlike the burning lake from earlier. There’s a faint breeze, and the scent of salt in the air.\n\nThe path opens into a beach. The ceiling of the cavern is so high you can barely see it. The rock is speckled with orange spots that glimmer like stars. The body of water stretches into the distance. It’s large enough for medium waves to billow and crash against the shore.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>There are a variety of settings in Hell: an apartment, an ocean, a dessert, a chateau, a city infused with molten lava, a disturbing suburbia.I refer to each of these locations as “torture chambers”. Each torture chamber is designed for one person and usually relates to the guilt or crime associated to their Earthly lives.The monsters or actors in the torture chambers are more like spiritual automatons designed (by demons) to carry out one act and one act only. If their routine is broken, they cease to exist.<<endif>>\nThere’s a woman near the water. Finally someone who might know where this place is. You jog toward her. “Hey,” you yell to her. “Hey.”\n\nShe ignores you and walks further into the water. “My son,” she says. “He’s drowning. I have to save him.” The water climbs up her thighs.\n\n“Wait,” you shout, searching the waterline for her son. Further out, just beyond the waves, you count eight sharks dashing through the water. “Stop,” you yell to her. “You’ll die.”\n\nShe keeps walking. “My son. I have to save my son.” The waves crash against her shoulders, and she has to swim to stay afloat.\n\nShe’s out of reach. There’s nothing you can do now.\n\nYou run to the water. “Come back. You have to come back.”\n\nIt’s no good.\n\nA shark rockets through the water and bites into her leg. She screams in agony. The water swirls with red. Another shark digs into her torso. Her screams turn into gurgles as she’s pulled under. The water thrashes and red streaks coil through the waves.\n\nShe’s gone.\n\nPart of her body floats to the surface and gets caught by a wave. You can’t see much of it, but that’s probably because there’s not much of it left. It drifts on the water until it finds land further down shore.\n\nYou sit on the sand and sigh. You didn’t know the woman. You had no reason to go in after her, but seeing her die like that, it takes a little bit out of you.\n\nYou can’t help but think of Gillian. She’s out there somewhere – still in danger – while you’re lost in a stupid cave. You can’t give up. Your little sister needs you.\n\n“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice startles you.\n\nIt’s her – the woman that just got ripped to pieces. She looks completely unharmed, identical to how she looked before she got in the water.\n\n“Excuse me,” she says, “Have you seen my son? He’s ten years old with blond hair. I fell asleep for just a minute and now he’s gone. I’m sure he hasn’t gotten far.”\n\nYou stand up and look her over. She doesn’t remember anything.\n\nShe walks past you toward the water. “He wanted to go swimming in the ocean, but I told him to wait. I told him to play in the sand. I only closed my eyes for a minute. I was so tired.” The water laps against her shins. “I think I see him. There,” she says, pointing at the sharks, “He’s right there.”\n\nThis whole place is upside down and wrong. You have to stop her, even if it’s just to end this sick torture. And if you’re lucky, she might have answers about this strange place.\n\nThere’s a small dock further down shore, and you see a metal fishing boat tied to it. You could use the boat to reach her son, but you’d have to contend with the sharks.\n\nThen again, she’s only waist deep in the water. You could probably pull her back to shore, but there’s no way to tell how she’d react.\n\n[[Use the fishing boat]]\n[[Pull her back to shore]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 265>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +3>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy+2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You push open the door to the second office and walk inside. A guy sits behind one of three desks.\n\n“Excuse me,” he says sternly. “What do you think you’re doing in here?”\n\nThis must be his office, and there’s a good chance he won’t be too happy about your plans. You’ll have to keep him distracted for awhile. “Someone in the lobby wanted to speak with you sir. They said it was urgent.”\n\nHe scowls at you. “Well who are you? I’ve never seen you here before. Who do you work for?”\n\n“Uh, I’m new.”\n\nHe looks you over and then walks toward the door. “I didn’t think we were hiring. I’ll have to speak to Walter about this. The budget really isn’t flexible enough for—”\n\nYou slip your arm around his neck in a @@color:#000081;choke hold.@@ He struggles for a bit then passes out. “Sorry,” you say while laying him against the bookshelf behind his desk.\n\nAt worst he’ll wakeup with a slight headache. He’s seen you though, and when he wakes he’ll describe you to the authorities. By then you and Gillian should be out of the city, so you won’t need to kill him ...probably.\n\nYou twist one of the desks around and push it against the window. There are three desks total, which means he probably shares the office with two other people.\n\nYou adjust the blinds then assemble the sniper rifle on the desk and align it with the Boss’s penthouse. You lay on the desk and adjust the scope.\n\nSuddenly you realize you forgot to lock the door.\n\n[[Get up and lock it]]\n[[Don't bother]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 223>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<endnobr>>“Fine, give me the address.”\n\nJimmy opens a drawer and gives you a file. “The girl is stubborn, and she has bodyguards. I’ve already had two guys come back with broken parts.”\n\nYou glare at Jimmy.\n\n“But I’m sure you can handle it. I mean, you’re you so,” he gives you a dopey smile.\n\nYou weigh the pros and cons of shooting him in the leg. You decide it’s not worth wasting a bullet. An assassin of your caliber doing grunt work, that’s just @@color:#000081;embarrassing...@@ Almost a reason to unionize.\n\nYou leave the office and drive to the address. It’s a mansion, well guarded and remote. The girl sent Jimmy’s guys home busted up – that means she has moxie. She also didn’t call the cops which could mean something illegal. Best to keep your guard up. You’d normally do some reconnaissance, but you don’t have that kind of time.\n<<if $introComments is true>>In an earlier draft the woman Jimmy refers to was a big part of this story arc. She was vicious and cruel - torture and gambling were involved in her tactics and the writing style moved toward gritty noir.It was good but the story took a darker turn and lost some of its playfulness.I decided to replace her with Miss Wasylyk and focus the core of the action on helping Wilson’s daughter. The reader’s interactions with the young girl kept the story fun and playful while also reinforcing the need to rescue your kidnapped sister.<<endif>>\nYou hop the stone fence and take @@color:#000081;cover@@ behind a tree. You peek up the hill toward the mansion: four guards with submachine guns, eight security cameras and five heavy duty flood lights. Jimmy obviously wasn’t telling you something. You’ll have to beat it out of him later.\n\nThe two least guarded entrances to the main house are the garage and the second story balcony. The odds are even for both. How to get inside...\n\n[[The garage]]\n[[The second story balcony]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 726>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +18>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -24>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +6>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Kailvo must think all of you ate the poisonous food, why else would he remain so unguarded. You need to @@color:#000081;act now@@ while his defenses are low.\n\nYou sprint forward sending a hard @@color:#000081;right hook@@ into the side of Kailvo’s nose. You follow it up with a left to his @@color:#000081;gut.@@\n\nKailvo staggers backwards. Blood drips down his chin. He reaches for the wand on the table and swings it toward you. You duck under it as a bolt of lightning singes past your head. You twist around and @@color:#000081;punch@@ him hard in the kidney. He grunts in pain.\n\nYou turn to Evie. “Get them out of here now. I’ll buy you some time.”\n\nShe nods and slides under Avengral’s shoulder, helping him to his feet. He leans against the wall and vomits. Evie hurries to help Mos and Able.\n\n“Escio Abditus,” Kailvo says. Suddenly he vanishes.\n\nYou keep your arms up in a guarded position. “Did he teleport away?” You shout over your shoulder.\n\n“No,” Evie says hefting Mos up. “He’s just invisible.”\n\n“Oh,” you sigh. “Is that all?” An invisible fist slams into the side of your @@color:#000081;head,@@ and you stumble sideways. Your ear stings like crazy.\n\n“His magic is limited when he’s invisible. Use that to your advantage.”\n\n“That’s easier said than done.” Another invisible @@color:#000081;punch@@ knocks you into the bookshelf. You wipe the blood from your nose.\n\n“I was going to kill you quickly,” Kailvo taunts. “But now your suffering will be limited only to my imagination.”\n\nYou grab a book and throw it toward the voice. It slides across the floor. You throw books in every direction until the stone floor is @@color:#000081;covered@@ with strewn open manuscripts.\n\n“Your attempts are pathetic even by Sarrejiinn standards.” Kailvo laughs. “Killing you will be a kindness to your race.”\n\nYou stay motionless and focus on your peripheral vision. One of the books slides forward slightly. With a burst of speed you @@color:#000081;axe kick@@ the air above the book about where a head would be. Your foot makes contact, and you hear Kailvo slide sideways.\n\nHis body phases back into view. He lies motionless on the stone floor. You caught him completely by @@color:#000081;surprise.@@\n\nYou hurry to Able and slide under his arm. He groans and manages to get to his feet. Evie lets go of him and goes back to help Mos.\n\n“We need to hurry,” you tell her.\n\nAble falters, and it takes all your strength to keep him propped up.\n\n“We must depart before the other wizards are alerted,” Avengral says. His cheeks look green.\n\n“Are you sure you’re alright?”\n\n“I will be fine.”\n\nEvie and Mos move ahead of you. You fall further behind because Able is so heavy. Evie pauses to wait for you.\n\n“Don’t wait for us,” you say. “Just keep going. We’re right behind you.” As you say the words you feel a sharp electric pain in your @@color:#000081;back.@@ Your arms and legs go limp. You and Able fall against the steps. You see Kailvo behind you with a wand in his hand.\n\nYou can’t stand to fight. You can’t even move. You’re @@color:#000081;paralyzed.@@\n\nKailvo jerks the wand toward Able. A bolt of lightning liquefies Able’s body. Goo and blood splatter against the wall and your body. You want to scream, but your body won’t let you.\n\nKailvo stands over you. “You’re a clever little thing, aren’t you?” He grins. “Your little trick with the books...”\n\nYou see Evie, Mos, and Avengral turn the corner.\n\nKailvo leans down. “Don’t worry,” he whispers. “I’ll let them run. They can go back to their little castles and littler armies. It certainly won’t save them now.” Kailvo leans in even closer.\n\nYou feel his warm breath on your cheek.\n\n“You may be wondering why you’re still alive...but I think you already know the answer.” Kailvo touches the blood under your nose. “You’re different from them. You’re different from all of us. You’re from the other world. I can sense it in your blood. It is so rich with power. The magic I can perform with just a pint of your blood could decimate the entire continent. Oh,” Kailvo’s grin widens. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you. I plan on keeping you alive for a very, very long time.” He grabs your foot and drags you back to the dungeon.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 28]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 356>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -18>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +9>>\n<<set $force = $force +6>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You back up as far as you can, slip both pistols into your belt, and sprint for the opening, hurling yourself @@color:#000081;into the air.@@ The rifle toting thug is mesmerized at your insanity. You twist your legs, @@color:#000081;hitting@@ him in the chest.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I should have added a line: Get to da Choppa!<<endif>>\nHis head slams into the metal, then he twirls backwards into the air. His safety rope catches and he dangles below the chopper.\n\nThe other thug stomps at your face. You deflect his foot with your arm, and @@color:#000081;kick@@ in his knee. He drops hard against the metal. You swing at him again, but the chopper makes a sharp left and you both grab the seat to keep from falling.\n\nHe eyes the pistol in your belt. You grab his hand as he reaches for it.\n\nThe chopper swings left.\n\nYou’re flung in the opposite direction and out the opening. You grab the landing gear. You glance at your belt. The goon has one of your pistols. You look up in time to see him point it at you.\n\nYou release, just barely dodging the bullet while twisting in freefall. You draw the remaining pistol, and @@color:#000081;fire@@ two rounds at his chest as you grab the dangling thug.\n\nThe goon drops the pistol and falls out of the chopper. You see him plummet past you.\n\nThe chopper swerves again. The momentum sends you up. You shoot the safety rope, arc through the air and tumble onto the penthouse roof.\n\nThe landing is rough. Feels like you @@color:#000081;dislocated@@ your shoulder. You unlatch the assault rifle from the thug in time to shoot a guard coming up the steps.\n\nYour body aches and standing feels impossible, but you’re going to see this through. You can’t let Gillian down. You limp toward the only door.\n\nSeven guards burst through with Gillian in front of them. You don’t have a clear shot. And even if you did, you couldn’t kill seven of them with one bullet.\n\nThe thugs spread out in a half circle around you, guns aimed at your chest. One of them has his arm locked around Gillian’s throat. His pistol is pressed against her temple.\n\n[[Talk things out]]\n[[Bluff]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 856>>\n<<set $force = $force +25>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +15>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab him and @@color:#000081;fling@@ him into the wall. “I trust you as far as I can throw you.”\n\nThe old man hits the wall hard and slides to the floor. He stares at you wide-eyed, taken completely by surprise. He wheezes for breath and tries to stand. You @@color:#000081;slam@@ your fist into his cheek, and he collapses back to the ground.\n\nYou give him a hard stare. “This is me being @@color:#000081;friendly.@@ Start talking or I get mean.”\n\nThe old man spits out blood. His confidence is @@color:#000081;shattered.@@\n\nYou grab him by the hood and @@color:#000081;fling@@ him into the opposite wall. He hits nose first. A stream of blood covers his lips and chin.\n\n“Maybe I didn’t make a good first impression.” You grab the statue on the table. “I have a feeling this’ll help.” You twist it around like a @@color:#000081;cudgel.@@\n\n“Wait,” the old man pleads. “Wait.”\n\nYou take another step closer. “Where are we?”\n\n“Where do you think we are?” The old man says elusively.\n\n“This conversation is getting boring quick. I think I ought to bring it to an end.”\n\n“Is that what Gillian would want you to do?”\n\nHer name hits you like a knife. “Gillian?” You hesitate.\n\n“Yes,” the old man says soothingly. “Gillian needs you, doesn’t she? She was taken by--”\n\n“The Boss,” you say finishing the sentence.\n\n“That’s right,” the old man nods. “You need to find the Boss.”\n\n“...No...” You shake your head. Something feels off. You step back and lean against the table, but it’s not a table. It’s a desk... and the walls aren’t made of bone. They’re white stucco like an office.\n\nThe old man wipes the blood from his mouth. “Look into my eyes,” he commands. “Look into my eyes. We were in Hell and you were searching for something, weren’t you?”\n\nYour head aches. “No,” you groan. “Not Hell. I was... I was drugged... Hallucinating...”\n\n“No, no,” the old man says soothingly. “You were in Hell. The Boss kidnapped Gillian. You need to get her back.”\n\n[[Slap yourself in the face!]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 473>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +10320>>\n<<set $xp = $xp+2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You stay behind the corner and reach your arm around to lightly @@color:#000081;knock at the door.@@ “You know who I am?”\n\nA skittery voice chokes out the word, “Yes.”\n\n“Then you know what I’m going to do to you if I don’t get my sister back.”\n\nThere’s a slight pause.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I added this scene as an afterthought. I was getting burnt out writing action scenes so I decided to throw in some dialogue.Writing a multi-branching story is a bit tricky because as you write, each choice creates an extra loose end. I tried to write each story arc to completion before returning to fill in the loose ends, but this particular assault on the Boss’s penthouse was full of action scenes.The reader may only see two or three of them, but there are more than ten in this sequence.<<endif>>\nThe skittery voice returns. “The Boss gave orders.”\n\n“The Boss isn’t the one standing behind this door. Now give me back my sister or you’re going to die.”\n\n“What does it matter? If we don’t give her to you, then you kill us. If we do give her to you, then the Boss kills us. Either way we die.”\n\n“Ha,” you laugh. “I never said how I was going to kill you. It’s not going to be with a bullet or a knife. That’d be too quick.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“Your buddies out here had it lucky.”\n\n“They’re dead?”\n\n“Every last one of them. I’m giving you a way out of this that doesn’t involve a @@color:#000081;layover at the morgue.@@ You should take it before I change my mind.” \n\nIt’s silent for a moment.\n\n“You promise not to kill us?”\n\n“As long as Gillian is unharmed, you can walk out of this alive.”\n\n“Alright then, we’re coming out. And you promise not to kill us, right?”\n\nYou sigh. “I promise.”\n\nThe door creaks @@color:#000081;open.@@ The two henchmen walk out with Gillian in front of them as a shield. “We’re walking to the elevator.” His voice is shaky. “We go down first, then you can do whatever you want, deal?”\n\nYou nod.\n\nThey walk backwards to the elevator. They step inside and push Gillian back into the hallway. When the elevator doors slide shut, you rush to Gillian and wrap your arms around her. “It’s going to be alright.”\n\nShe cries into your shoulder.\n\nYou hear something in the elevator shaft snap. There’s a shrill sound of metal scraping and a loud @@color:#000081;crash.@@ Dust and smoke blow through the tiny openings of the elevator.\n\nThe grenade and the gunfire must have taken their toll. You had a funny feeling that elevator wasn’t going to make it to the lobby in one piece. Maybe you should have shared that information with the two henchmen. You shrug and smile. “Justice is a funny thing.” \n\n“Yeah,” Gillian looks at you. “But how do we get down?”\n\nYou look at the floor. It was heavily damaged from the grenade you threw. If you could find some way to make the hole bigger, you could drop to the next floor and take the stairs. \n\nIf you take the stairs, you’re bound to run into more thugs. The shotgun is durable enough; you might be able to lock it onto one of the metal cables in the elevator shaft and slide down to the lobby. It probably won’t be any safer though.\n\n[[Drop to the next floor]]\n[[Slide down the metal cables]]\n

“Ode to the Assassin” (a sonnet)

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1069>>\n<<endnobr>>“That ancient crown sounds tempting. You think I can keep it as a souvenir when this is all over?”\n\n“Yes, well, perhaps,” Quintus groans. “But it would be in both our best interests if you thought about the task at hand. Are you certain you feel comfortable traveling to the elfin ruins?”\n\n“Sure,” you say casually. “As long as you can get your gizmo working. A theory won't be enough to get us home.”\n\n“That’s one thing we both agree on.” Quintus turns to Avengral. “And what of you? This journey will be a dangerous one.”\n\n“I have sworn an oath to serve you Wizard of Earth. I will fulfill my duty.”\n\n“Good,” Quintus nods. “Very good. And what of the other knights? Will any join our cause?”\n\nAvengral shakes his head. “I do not think so...Not without direct permission from the King.”\n\n“I feared as much,” Quintus groans. “Then it appears our goals rest squarely on both of your shoulders.”\n\nAvengral bows. “As it must be, so I will serve.”\n\nYou sigh. “Yeah, whatever. I’m in.”\n\nQuintus gives you a weary stare then turns to Avengral. “Speak only to Wizard Songlie. Convince her to use the gateways to--”\n\n“Whoa,” you interrupt. “Gateway? You mean like the portal?”\n\n“No, no. Nothing so advanced. Each of the ancient cities has a magical gateway connecting it to each of the other cities. Five in total, though the Elfin gate and the Squamarian gate are more difficult to activate.”\n\n“What do you mean by more difficult?”\n\n“Neither of the two destinations have been accessed in centuries. There is a strong suspicion that the Squamarian gate was destroyed during the Old War. And the Elfin gate... well... most soldiers are too terrified to even attempt the voyage.”\n\n“Afraid, huh?”\n\n“Yes, the superstitions of this world are very...convincing. Now, I must see to the King. Avengral will see you to the gateway. Good luck.” Quintus stops in the doorway and turns. “And remember, the entirety of Earth is counting on our success.”\n\n“Yeah, no pressure or anything.”\n\nQuintus leaves.\n\nAvengral motions toward the door. “Follow me please,” Avengral says, heading back into the castle with a brisk march. You have to jog to catch up. He leads you through several long, stone corridors and up two spiral staircases.\n\n“Wizard Songlie is generally agreeable,” Avengral says. “But it would be prudent to treat her with the respect she deserves.”\n\n“I would dream of nothing less,” you say dryly.\n\n“Good,” Avengral replies. “She is one of the most powerful wizards in the realm.” He says the words with a soft sweetness.\n\nYou’ve heard people talk like that before. He obviously cares about her, but it’s not any of your business. All you need to worry about is getting home. Gillian is out there, and nothing's standing between her and the hoard of thugs, criminals, and assassins trying to use her to get to you. You shudder at the thought.\n\n“Is something wrong?” Avengral asks.\n\n[[“No.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 710>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<endnobr>>Even if Clark is only remotely telling the truth, you’d be a fool not to @@color:#000081;investigate.@@ Sure, a secret government project that resulted in modifying your genetic code would explain why you’re so awesome, but you had training ...lots of training.\n\nEven though Clark’s story has some holes, he’s still probably the only one with the knowledge and experience to save Gillian, and that’s the only reason you’re here.\n\n“We’ll get back to the others soon enough.” You pat Mason’s shoulder. “But first we let Clark run his tests.”\n\n“Excellent,” Clark grins. “This way.” He enters a code into a keypad and part of the floor slides open. “It’s best we take a more concealed path.” He motions for you and Mason to enter.\n\nYou step down the steep stairs as the lights flicker on. The corridor is long and thin. Mason steps down behind you.\n\n“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Mason asks. His legs shake with fear.\n\n“Honestly,” you say. “I don’t know, but Clark is the only one I’ve met who actually has some answers. And we’re going to see where those answers lead.”\n\n“I just wish it wasn’t in the opposite direction of home.”\n\n“Move along,” Clark says as the door slides shut behind him. “The other lab isn’t far.”\n\nYou walk through the corridor for about ten minutes until you reach another set of stairs. Clark lets the keypad scan his fingerprint and the door slides open. You climb the stairs into the lab. It’s smaller than the other lab, and there are fewer machines.\n\n“If you wouldn’t mind sitting here,” Clark says, patting what looks like a dentist’s chair.\n\nYou sit in the chair.\n\nClark turns on the computer and types a series of commands on the keyboard. “We’ll run a gamut of tests to see what kind of changes have taken place since your last visit.”\n\nThree metal boxes slide down from the ceiling and scan your body.\n\n“Interesting,” Clark says.\n\n“What?” You ask.\n\n“Shhh,” Clark demands. “You must be still.”\n\nSuddenly the computer blurts out a painful noise.\n\n“Oh no,” Clark mutters. “How is this possible? The genes are mutating, but when would you have been exposed to the new formula?”\n\n“What? What’s going on?” You ask, trying to listen in. “What formula?”\n\n“The scratch,” Mason declares. “It was the scratch!”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>You knew that scratch was a plot device, right? If the reader chooses the secret facility, they will be scratched by one of the patients within the first four choices.<<endif>>\n“Scratch?” Clark says, peering over the console at your arm. He grimaces. “This won’t do at all. Your body is changing, albeit, at a particularly slow pace, but changing none the less.”\n\n“Changing how?” You demand.\n\nClark scratches his head and sighs. “Changing in the same way the other patients have changed. Your body will take on a more... primal form.”\n\n“You mean I’ll become one of those creatures?”\n\n“Unfortunately, yes.” Clark steps out from behind the console and walks toward you. “My original formula has been acting as a prohibitor thus far, but I have no idea how long it will last or what kind of side-effects the two formulas will have once they finally stabilize.”\n\n“What are my options?”\n\n“The original formula seems to be keeping your body normalized for the time being. I could inject you with another dose and hope it completely disables the change.”\n\nYou give Clark a hard stare. “What do you mean hope?”\n\n“You have to understand, this is all groundbreaking science. None of it has ever been done before. You, and of course your sister, are the only survivors of the original experiment. The predicament we’re currently in, up to about seven days ago, has been almost entirely hypothetical. In truth, I have no idea what kind of effect injecting you with more of the serum will cause... you could die, or perhaps you might become even stronger. I don’t know.”\n\n“Some doctor you are,” you groan. “So what’s the other option, not do anything?”\n\nClark smiles. “I’ve made some modifications to the new formula. I believe it is completely stable. It should override the previous two versions and, in theory, create a more adapt human.”\n\n“In theory,” you frown.\n\n“Yes,” Clark agrees. “Every stage of scientific evolution began as a theory. This one is no different. In any case, action must be taken or I guarantee you will become one of those creatures.”\n\n[[Take an injection of the old formula]]\n[[Take an injection of the new formula]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 547>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -20>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You knew there’d be a price. There always is. You just wish it was one you could pay.\n\n“Why’d it have to be her?” You whisper. “Why couldn’t we take one of the other tortured souls we came across?”\n\n“The other demons would know,” Ayporos whispers back. “They would find us. It has to be her.”\n\n“Isn’t there another way?”\n\n“You could sacrifice yourself.” Ayporos shrugs. “You humans have done similarly idiotic acts in the past.”\n\nYou frown. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind. Can’t we fight our way out?”\n\nAyporos laughs. “None in Hell are more powerful than the Gatekeeper. An entire demon horde has tried and failed.”\n\n“I’ve beaten worse odds before.”\n\n“True, but that was in your realm. You give yourself too much credit here.”\n\n“Hey,” Jazelle interrupts. “I thought we were going to find an exit. Why am I doing all the work while the two of you are over here gossiping?”\n\n“Apologies,” Ayporos says with a slight bow. “We were merely formulating the next course of action.”\n\n“Which is?”\n\n“Uhm,” you hesitate. “We wanted you to check out that group of rocks over there.”\n\nShe glances over her shoulder. “For what?”\n\n“Now is your chance,” Ayporos whispers.\n\nYou raise the knife. You knew it was going to come to this sooner or later. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ the knife back into @@color:#000081;Ayporos’s chest.@@\n\nHe grunts with pain and surprise. “What—”\n\nYou shove the blade in as far as it will go, rip the bag of chalk from Ayporos’s belt, and @@color:#000081;shove@@ him down the stairs. “Sorry,” you shout as he tumbles helplessly.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Choosing to save Jazelle is far less rewarding (narratively) than stabbing her. Sacrificing Jazelle was the “intended” way to escape Hell. I designed it to be the climactic moment in the Hell sequence.<<endif>>\nJazelle turns. “What did you just—”\n\n“It’s not important, just run.”\n\nJazelle stands confused.\n\n“Run!” You shout, grabbing her arm and pulling her behind you. You fumble with the bag of chalk. “We need to draw a door.”\n\n“What are you talking about,” Jazelle says bewildered. “And why are we running?”\n\n“There’s no time to explain. Just trust me. And run.”\n\nA loud and angry scream echoes through the rock corridors. Ayporos must have pulled the knife out. You stabbed him through the heart, so it should take him at least a few minutes to recover, that is, if he even has a heart. It’s not like you’ve had a chance to study demon anatomy.\n\nJazelle yanks you to a stop. “That didn’t sound good. What’s going on?”\n\n“I might have stabbed Ayporos in the chest and shoved him down a flight of stairs. And he might want to torture us for the rest of eternity now.”\n\n“What?” She shouts.\n\n“It was either you or him. If anything, this is a testament to the lengths I’ll go to for friendship.”\n\nJazelle glowers at you.\n\n“Uh oh,” you say wide-eyed.\n\n“What?” Jazelle turns to see Ayporos clawing his way up the stairs. His body is covered in gray scales. Long white wings extend from his back. His fingers have been replaced with talons, and his teeth are long and razor sharp.\n\nJazelle steps back, shaking with fear. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to play nice?”\n\n“Define nice,” you say, pulling out a piece of chalk. You glance around the room for a place to draw a door. It’ll have to be close. Ayporos will be on you in seconds.\n\n[[Draw a door on the cavern wall]]\n[[Draw a door on the cavern floor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 248>>\n<<endnobr>>\nYou shove the stun gun against the yellow and black wires. This isn’t the craziest thing you’ve done, but it’s nearly the stupidest. You take a deep breath. It’s not like you have a lot of choices at this particular moment.\n\nYou turn on the stun gun. The rubber wire covers melt, and sparks fly toward you. The wires are so hot they fuse to the tip of the stun gun. The dish behind you spasms and the floor shakes.\n\nThe strange sphere suddenly flashes above you. It feels so hot your skin tingles.\n\nYou try to run for the elevator, but your feet can’t find any traction. You’re being pulled toward the sphere.\n\nYou grab for one of the wires, but it’s too late. You’re in the air, heading toward the sphere.\n\nAs it pulsates, burning waves of heat crash into you.\n\nIn the distance, you see Wilson step into the elevator. He looks at you with terror, and then the elevator doors close.\n\nYour foot feels like it’s on fire – your leg too. You look up toward your foot. It’s entered the sphere. Your whole body is being pulled in.\n\nYou sweat as the temperature jumps exponentially. It’s like your whole body is on fire. You scream in pain and try to move, try to fight it, but you’re helpless.\n\nThe purple goo of the sphere inches up your chest, up your neck. You cover your mouth and try to pull away.\n\nThen everything goes black.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 614>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveStarTrippin").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockStarTrippin").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Your neck aches like someone just @@color:#000081;stabbed@@ you with a screwdriver, and your body tingles from your toes to your shoulders. Your stomach feels @@color:#000081;twisted@@ like you could vomit. There’s puke on the ground, so maybe you already have.\n\nYour eyes burn from the brightness, and you have to shield them with your hand.\n\nYou’re not dead. You’re in too much pain to be dead.\n\nYour legs are shaky, but you manage to @@color:#000081;stand.@@ You try piecing together what happened. Even your memories ache. There was an explosion, and a bright swirling light, wasn’t there? And it felt like you were being sucked into a drain about half the size of your body. Then it was like your skin and bones and body were being stretched and yanked through a series of pipes. You still feel a little crooked.\n\nIt’d be an understatement saying you were somewhere else. It’s just a question of where, and how long it’ll take to get back. Gillian is still out there. Were you even close freeing her?\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>I’ve wanted to write a choose your own path story for a long time. Partly inspired by the CYOA novels of the 1980’s and partly inspired by modern narrative driven video games (The Elder Scrolls series is my favorite), I saw interactive fiction as having huge potential.One of the concepts I wanted to explore most was “genre-shifting”. Originally I had hoped to build a series of choices that would guide the reader into a genre of their own choosing.Unfortunately, my early designs were too cumbersome and impractical without using variables (I was writing Seven Bullets as a traditional book). I was forced to resort to hard-breaks in which the reader has little control.The genre-shifting isn’t as elegant as I had hoped, but the initial disorientation helps with the suspense (See: A Kid in King Arthur’s Court or the book it was based on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain)<<endif>>\nStay focused. Subdue the pain and prioritize your problems.\n\nWhere are you?\n\nA soft breeze cools your skin. The air is crisp and clean. Wherever you are, it can’t be the city. Your eyes finally adjust. You see trees, lots of trees, and dirt. The birds sing, but otherwise it’s quiet. No cars or people shouting, not even in the distance.\n\nA body lays three steps to your right. You roll it over, and immediately wish you hadn’t. The smell nearly knocks you over. Whoever it was, they’re dead, and based on the decomposition, they’ve been dead for awhile. They’re wearing a lab coat and goggles. Probably an unlucky scientist.\n\nA gun rests by the scientist’s foot. You pick it up and check the clip. @@color:#000081;Seven bullets.@@ It’s not exactly an arsenal, but you could do worse.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Here’s one explanation for the book’s title: Seven Bullets. Each of the three core segments after the intro (Ragnoss, Hell, Montana) have different explanations for the seven bullets.The working title for this book was: Sex, Sin, and Seven Bullets. In my original (overly ambitious) notes I intended to have a potential romance subplot and stronger religious themes in the Hell segment.The romance subplots presented huge obstacles when dealing with gender and pronouns. (Remember, this was written as a traditional novel first and adapted into a Twine story later.) And the religious themes made the story too serious, so I cut both from the outline and trimmed the title to Seven Bullets.<<endif>>\nNow it’s just a matter of getting back to the city and Gillian. You glance up at the sky to get your bearings. You must have hit your head harder than you thought because you’re seeing double. There are two moons.\n\nYou close your eyes, take a breath, and look again. Still two moons.\n\nThat can’t be right. Maybe you need to sit back down or see a doctor.\n\nSuddenly you hear a voice, an eager sounding voice. You slip behind a large tree trunk and wait.\n\n“The anomaly appeared within this radius. Spread out and search for unusual objects, but make certain not to touch them. They could be dangerous.”\n\nHe’s got that right. You grip the gun and peek around the tree trunk through a bush. You count at least eight armored soldiers, not modern military armor; they’re wearing breast plates, and greaves, and chain mail. They wave their swords and maces defensively as they fan out and search the trees. Wherever you ended up, the military is a few centuries behind.\n\n“Something should be here,” the voice says again. “My machines registered a huge spike in activity.”\n\nYou search for the person doing the talking. It’s a middle aged man with a scruffy beard and a ragged white lab coat. He’s a scientist, or at least he was. He looks like he’s been here for years, wherever here is. And why would he be using knights as protection?\n\nYou slip back into the shadow of the tree. You’ve got a gun, so these medieval madmen shouldn’t be much of a problem, but you’ve only got seven bullets, and who knows how many more soldiers are out there. It’s best to pace yourself.\n\nYou hear one of the knights move closer. This could be your chance to get the upper hand.\n\n[[Subdue the knight quietly]]\n[[Make your presence known to the scientist]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 540>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +18>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +9>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve overstayed your welcome as it is. The longer you’re here, the more likely you’ll get a bullet to the head. It’s luck that’s gotten you this far, but by now you must be @@color:#000081;running@@ on empty.\n\nYou use the device to access the server hidden in your basement. It executes a pre-made @@color:#000081;crack@@ that unlocks the device’s security, giving you basic networking privileges. That should allow you to access the network without carrying around Dr. Vellum’s dead body.\n\nYou run another program that @@color:#000081;scrambles@@ the tracking protocols on the device. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it should give you some time.\n\nYou take the ID badge from your pocket and @@color:#000081;reprogram@@ the security doors to read it as a master key that unlocks everything – or at least enough doors to reach an exit. Some doors can only be unlocked from a hardwired console.\n\nYou search the network for the floor plans. A simple diagram fills the screen. All the labs and subject chambers are underground. That’s probably where they were holding you. The map shows you on the second floor. Even in a delusional state you had the right idea.\n\nBased on the floor plans, there’s a loading bay near your side of the building. If you take that exit, you’ll be able to steal a vehicle. That’s better than leaving on foot – or at least faster. The loading bay will have its share of guards.\n\nThe blueprint shows an underground tunnel linking the subject chambers to another building about a mile outside the city. You recognize the building. It’s responsible for disposing of nearly half of the city’s hazardous waste.\n\nThey could be using the tunnel to secretly dispose of their failed experiments. The tunnel probably has light security, if any, and traveling through the subject chambers would give you a chance to see some of the experiments before you go. Without a secure terminal, you won’t be able to program the ID badge to access the labs, but you don’t really have time for that anyway.\n\nJust a quick glimpse and then you’re out of there.\n\nYou pull up the security roster. There are at least thirty guards on duty. More would have been called in once they learned of your escape. You use the device to track the guards’ ID badges. Red dots appear all over the map. You’re practically surrounded.\n\nYou grab Dr. Vellum’s body, drag it to the other side of the room, and stuff it @@color:#000081;under@@ the desk. It should be awhile before they find him.\n\nYou notice his documents. They contain information about labs all over the world just like this one. And star charts mapping galaxies and resources in space.\n\nYou shake your head. The pieces still aren’t coming together. Maybe you’re just loopy from the drugs. Whoever you’re dealing with has a global reach, maybe more than that. Judging by these documents their ambition reaches further than our galaxy, which doesn’t make sense. That kind of technology doesn’t exist.\n\nYou tell yourself it doesn’t matter, and if you don’t get out of here in one piece, it really won’t.\n\nYou look at the device. The red dots are practically on top of you You need to move now.\n\n[[Escape through the window and head toward the loading bay.]]\n[[Use ID badge to investigate 'experiments' on your way out.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 644>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -18>>\n<<set $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You drop to the floor and groan in pain just like Able and Mos. You’re not going to win any awards for your @@color:#000081;acting,@@ but it gets the job done. Kailvo laughs heartily and turns his attention to Evie; the only one of you left standing.\n\nThe food must have been poisoned, and Kailvo knew Avengral was obligated to eat it. He was lying from the beginning. He must have known the King would send someone to investigate. Getting you down here must have been his plan all along. The poison seems to be quick acting, but the potency is impossible to say. For all you know, it could be the equivalent of the flu.\n\n“I promise,” Kailvo says soothingly. “If you surrender now, your death will be painless. Otherwise,” he points at the pit.\n\nEvie takes another step back. There’s no way she could make it up the stairs in time, and she left her whip back with the dragon spawn, so fighting won’t be much of an option.\n\nYou wait for Kailvo to take another step forward until you’re out of his peripheral vision. You get up slow and @@color:#000081;sneak@@ behind him. All the objects that could be used as melee weapons are out of reach, but you need to act fast or Evie will end up dead.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;punch@@ Kailvo in the kidney hard and lock your arms around his neck in a @@color:#000081;full nelson.@@ He coughs in pain.\n\n“Run,” you shout to Evie. “Take the others and go.”\n\nShe hesitates, then slides under Avengral’s shoulder and helps him to his feet. He leans against the wall and vomits. Evie hurries to the others.\n\n“Foolish,” Kailvo seethes through gritted teeth. “You will suffer for this.” His body goes limp. “Volito Jacio!” He growls.\n\nSuddenly, the two of you float above the ground. Your bodies jerk across the room and thump against the wall. You slide to the ground with the wind @@color:#000081;knocked@@ out of you. Kailvo wearily stands. “Volito Jacio,” He says again, waving his hand.\n\nAn invisible force throws you across the room again, and you @@color:#000081;slam@@ into the adjacent wall. Your vision blurs and the room spins.\n\nKailvo throws Able into the pit.\n\nEvie tries to heft Avengral and Mos up the stairs, but she moves too slow.\n\n“I’m going to rip the organs out of your bodies and show them to you before you die!” Kailvo screams.\n\nYou need to get up. You need to stop him. You need to find your strength. You feel a sharp pain in your right arm. You glance down to see the @@color:#000081;bone broken@@ and jutting through your skin. You fight the urge to faint.\n\nYou push yourself up and shamble behind Kailvo. He turns as you swing your right arm into his chest. Your ragged bone @@color:#000081;punctures@@ his lung. His eyes go wide with shock and pain. He tries to speak but the words don’t come out. He stumbles sideways.\n\nYou try to pull your arm out of his chest, but it’s caught on his rib cage. He lurches backward, and you’re pulled with him. He gasps for air and slips over the ledge, into the pit. You try to pull free, but your bone is @@color:#000081;hooked@@ into his. You both tumble over the side.\n\nThe Ferralliise glances up. Its face is covered with Able’s blood and guts. It pounces on Kailvo and sinks its teeth into his neck. You feel the warm blood splatter against your face. You’re not even an arm’s length from the creature’s face.\n\nYour arm is still caught in Kailvo’s chest. Your adrenaline is wearing off. The little strength you have left isn’t enough to get free.\n\nThe creature glares at you, its feral eyes seeking vengeance on whatever life it can find. It lunges forward. You feel its razor sharp teeth tear through your neck.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 27]]\n

“The Red Speckled Blade of Brother Brighton”\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 615>>\n<<set $force = $force -8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>So even if you are dead and wandering through Hell, that doesn’t mean you should stop being @@color:#000081;cautious.@@ There are still plenty of things that can go wrong.\n\nAnd who says you are in Hell. This could just be a dream or an illusion or side effects from some experimental drug. Or maybe you’re in a hospital bed somewhere working your way through a coma.\n\nNothing’s impossible. You’ve seen governments and corporations do worse. In fact, you’re the one who saw some of those projects through to fruition. This kind of elaborate setup is rare, but hardly undocumented.\n\nYou take a deep breath and try to stop yourself from over-analyzing. Whatever’s happening to you has to be dealt with – maybe not head-on, but you can’t sit around and do nothing.\n\nJazelle is in that glass mansion somewhere, and you’ll need to do a little recon before you rush in to find her.\n\nYou leave the front door open and @@color:#000081;sneak@@ around the side of the building. Everything is made of glass – the bushes, trees, flowers, even clumps of grass.\n\nYou stay low and quiet, doing your best to avoid the razor sharp edges of pretty much everything.\n\nYou see a sitting room through one of the windows. It’s empty. You’d think such a big place would have more people.\n\nYou peek around one of the corners. A gardener dusts off a row of roses. The glass roses are bright and translucent in every color you can imagine. And there are little glass statues propped on pillars throughout the flowerbed. It’s obvious this garden is well taken care of, even if it is made of glass.\n\nThe gardener looks normal enough, but what is normal in a place like this?\n\nIt’s probably best to disarm him while you still have the upper hand. You use the bushes as @@color:#000081;cover@@ and sprint around to his right side. He continues to dust unaware of your presence. You stand and swing your arm while he turns. Your fist @@color:#000081;hits@@ him square in the nose.\n\nHe stumbles back, knocking over the glass roses as he recoils against the sand.\n\nHe grabs one of the glass roses and lunges at you. You duck and twist around him. This is absurd, isn’t it? Fighting in a garden of glass? It can’t be real, but what about Jazelle? You talked with her. You know about her son. But she’s gone too. If she’s not real...\n\nThe gardener comes back at you with a left hook. You sidestep and @@color:#000081;elbow@@ him in the kidney. His legs falter, and he drops to one knee.\n\nThis gardener could be one of the thugs that drugged you ...if you were drugged. But why would he be dusting glass roses – unless they aren’t roses. You shake your head. This is too confusing.\n\nBesides, if he was really a thug, he would have shot you with his gun by now. But if they wanted you dead, why would they go to the trouble of drugging you.\n\nYou don’t even know who they are. Or if you were even drugged.\n\nThen again, after all the jobs you’ve done, they could be just about anyone. You know where all the bodies are buried, literally, and you know who paid to have them put there. That kind of information would be valuable to a lot of people.\n\nMaybe you were injected with some kind of truth serum. That would explain some of the things you’ve been seeing... It couldn’t be Hell... And you can’t be dead.\n\nWhy do you keep coming back to the drugs unless there was some truth to it? Drugs? Why is that word resounding in your head?\n\nMaybe the gardener knows.\n\n[[Force the gardener to talk|Force the businessman to talk]]\n[[Use a glass rose to put him out of his misery]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 450>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +3>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Sure, you can take him off my hands.” You say, throwing the kid into the woman.\n\nShe falls against the wall. You grab her hand before she can raise the gun and @@color:#000081;break@@ her arm at the elbow. She groans and slides to the floor. She obviously knows how to handle pain.\n\nYou lift the kid off her and set him under the cover of the desk. “Stay.” Then you drag the woman into a corner out of the window’s view.\n\n“Why,” she groans through gritted teeth, “Are you so interested in Seth?”\n\nYou glance at the kid. “I’m not.”\n\n“Then why do you have him?”\n\nYou can’t help but laugh. “I’m trying my best to get rid of him.”\n\nShe looks at you with @@color:#000081;horror.@@\n\n“I’m not trying to get rid of him. I’m trying to get rid of him. I would have given him to you if you didn’t try to kill me.”\n\n“Why would you steal him just to give him back? What kind of monster are you?”\n\n“I didn’t steal him. Well, okay so technically I did steal him, but only from the people who had already stolen him. And I wasn’t even trying to steal him in the first place. Hey, why are you asking all the questions? I’m the one with the gun.”\n\n“Maurer already said he would do what you wanted.”\n\n“What I wanted?”\n\n“He said he would build it. Now leave his son alone.”\n\n“Build what?”\n\n“What you told him to build.”\n\n“What I told him to build?”\n\n“Your people.”\n\n“And what people are those?”\n\n“The bad ones.”\n\nYou laugh. “There are a lot of bad people in this city. You’ll have to be more specific than that.”\n\nShe looks down and away.\n\n“Who else is out there?” You say. “How many shooters?”\n\nShe doesn’t respond.\n\nYou examine her gun. It’s police issue. You search the desk. There’s a badge. She’s a cop.\n\nCrap.\n\nYou just assaulted a police officer and she knows what you look like.\n\nAnd you thought things were complicated five minutes ago.\n\nYou toss the badge at her. “You’re a cop.”\n\n“And you must be Sherlock Holmes.”\n\nYou rub the bridge of your nose. Yeah, this is definitely going to be a long day. “Alright,” you kneel down next to the cop. “There’s been a little bit of a mix up. The kid’s all yours. And for the record, I’m not the scumbag you’re looking for.” You get up to leave.\n\n“What about the snipers?”\n\n“They’re yours, aren’t they?”\n\nShe shakes her head.\n\nYeah, that probably would have made things too easy.\n\nShe gives you a desperate look. “If you really aren’t responsible, then you’ll help us escape.”\n\n[[Help her]]\n[[Leave her]]\n

[[Karen's|Karen]] interest in supernatural phenomenon began at the young age of five when she imagined her [[grandfather]] singing her to sleep. This would not have been a particularly odd thing to have imagined except for the fact that her [[grandfather]] had died the night before only [[moments|time]] before she had seen him in her bedroom.\n\nThe next day, Karen’s mother, [[Zoe|mother]], told her young daughter that this vision was merely a dream and not worth thinking about a second time. When [[Karen|Karen]] insisted it was more, her mother took her to see [[Father Cooper|Father Isaac Cooper]] in the hopes that her impressionable daughter would not remain so gullible.\n\nFrom that day forward [[Karen|Karen]] took a keen interest in the paranormal, but made certain her [[mother]] never found out.\n

<>\n<<remember $upCloseAndPersonal = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Up Close and Personal\n Take the Shotgun\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1088>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;ignore him@@ and push yourself up.\n\n“Where are we?” Jazelle asks, patting the dirt off her clothes.\n\n“Closer to freedom,” Ayporos says with a faint grin.\n\n“Freedom,” you grunt. “I’m not buying it.” You massage your bruised wrist. “You demons live like kings here. You get to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Why would you,” you poke Ayporos in the chest. “Want to leave? I bet you get off from all this sadistic torture stuff too.”\n\nAyporos rubs his chest. “After centuries of similarly meticulous tasks, as pleasurable as they may appear, even a demon can tire of its obligations.” Ayporos steps closer and glares down at you. “I have seen the spark that ignited the universe. I have felt the edge of creation expand. I have stood at the center of suns as they imploded into oblivion. Why would I desire to reside in this maze of self-loathing and despair?”\n\nYou swallow hard and take a step back.\n\n“Torture is a form of pleasure I have grown tired of.” Ayporos leans in close to smell your neck. He almost whispers. “The fragile and mundane world that you want so badly – is it impossible to believe that I would not want it too?”\n\n“I don’t know,” you say.\n\nAyporos turns and swings his arm into the air. “This place is a shadow, a perverse reflection of your world. This is not my home, nor has it been my choice to stay here. I am trapped just as you are. My transgression,” he snarls. “Is that I wanted more than an eternity of servitude. I wanted what you were freely given. I wanted a choice.” He sighs as if a heavy weight rests on his shoulders. “After so many millennia my desire has not changed.”\n\n“Oh,” you say, though it’s more of a noise than a thought.\n\n“Well that’s just dandy,” Jazelle says surveying the area. “If you’re done whining, maybe we could find a way out of here?”\n\n“Yes, of course,” Ayporos nods. “This way,” he says, pointing toward the sound of a screaming voice.\n\nYeah, that should have been your first guess.\n\nYou follow Ayporos through a small opening between two rocky mountains. The ground becomes a flat plain of jagged rocks and barbed cactus.\n\nIn the distance you see a horse pulling an empty chariot. About six feet behind the chariot, a man screams in agony. His feet are bound together and tied to the back of the chariot. His body is cut and bruised. Bits of his flesh dangle from his back and chest. He’s covered in blood and thorns. It looks like he’s been dragged for miles.\n\nAyporos whistles and the horse makes a hard left toward you. “Hurry,” Ayporos says. “The horse will not stop.” He starts running.\n\nYou sprint beside him.\n\n“Why are we running?” Jazelle gasps between breaths.\n\nAs the horse gallops past, Ayporos grabs the chariot. You grab the other side and @@color:#000081;pull yourself in.@@\n\nAyporos twist the reins and the horse turns back toward Jazelle. She runs slower, but you manage to grab her arm and pull her into the chariot.\n\nShe coughs and wheezes obviously out of breath. “What,” she takes a breath, “the,” she takes another breath “hell.”\n\nAyporos grins. “You have got the right sentiment, but the wrong question. A more accurate query would be Where in Hell.”\n\n“Rrrr,” she growls and glares at the back of his head.\n\n“This is one of the older wings. A bit more simplistic in design, but,” he points over his shoulder. “I think it is still quite effective.”\n\nYou look at the centurion being dragged behind you. He shrieks as jagged rocks tear through his back and arms. You lean down to untie him.\n\n“Stop,” Ayporos says. “If you free him, the horse will quit running.”\n\n“How could you know that?” You ask, though it’s more of a condemnation.\n\n“I know because I engineered this realm of torment. Look closer at his body. You see, there,” Ayporos points to the gash on the man’s forehead. Before he finishes the words, the gash stitches itself back together. “His wounds heal within moments and thus, his torment lasts indefinitely.”\n\nYou look away. “What did he do to deserve this?”\n\nAyporos shrugs. “I do not know. It was never my concern.”\n\n“You made this horrible place to torture him, but you never wondered what he had done?”\n\n“His judgment did not fall to me, and so I thought little of it.”\n\n“That’s horrible,” you say, shaking your head.\n\n“I am a demon and this is Hell. Here, I am exceptional. And as they say,” he glances back at the centurion and smiles. “When in Rome.”\n\n“Ugh,” you say with disgust.\n\nAyporos laughs and whips the horse to go faster. “We will be there shortly.”\n\n“Why can’t you just draw another door here?” Jazelle asks.\n\nAyporos glances at her warmly. “Some passageways are more heavily guarded than others. We must be cautious. If the others discover what we are attempting to do our punishment will be,” he shudders with revulsion. “Unpleasant.”\n\n“Where are you taking us?”\n\n“We must cross another chamber before reaching the Gatekeeper.”\n\n“The Gatekeeper? I remember him.” You give Ayporos a hard stare. “I don’t think he’ll be happy about us getting out of here.”\n\nAyporos tilts his head like a mother chastising her child. “The Gatekeeper only cares about payment and anything can be bought if you know the currency.”\n\nHis words make you feel a little uneasy. It’s not like dollars are the currency of choice around here. Maybe they use kittens or puppies – then again, it’s not like you have any of those either.\n\nYou feel the horse slow.\n\n“Jump,” Ayporos shouts.\n\nJazelle jumps awkwardly and unintentionally toward a cactus. You jump just barely in time to push her out of the way. She rolls across some soft dirt. You’re not so lucky. Your hip bounces off a rock, and your shoulder skids into a short, stubby @@color:#000081;cactus.@@\n\nYou yelp with pain and glare at Ayporos. “Why didn’t we just cut the centurion loose and stop the horse?”\n\nAyporos looks genuinely surprised. “I had not even thought of that. I suppose I have been in Hell too long.” He looks back at the chariot which is already out of reach. He shrugs. “Something to keep in mind for the next occasion. Here,” he says pointing to three large boulders. “It makes little difference, but you may choose which boulder the door is placed upon.”\n\n[[Choose the first boulder]]\n[[Choose the second boulder]]\n[[Choose the third boulder]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 793>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -18>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -10>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You hate to revert back to the Boss’s policy of @@color:#000081;kill first@@ and talk later, but this is one of those times when he had the right idea. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ the green speckled blade into the wizard’s neck. It cuts clean through and clatters against the stone floor.\n\nRed dusts puffs out the sputtering veins. The wizard’s head shatters as it hits the ground. The body falls on its side and goes still.\n\nSuddenly, the torso thrashes forward and a creature climbs out the hole in the dead man's neck, splitting the frail wizard’s body in two.\n\nThe wizard wasn’t bluffing. You should have killed him when you had @@color:#000081;the chance.@@\n\nThe creature is small and thin. Its body is charred black. It hisses violently at you. Its teeth look like thousands of tiny needles. Its body grows little tufts of hair. Its eyes burn with hunger...and it looks like you’re the main course.\n\nYou swing the sword again.\n\nThe creature rolls effortlessly out of the way and lunges at you.\n\nYou try to knock it back, but you’re too slow. Its razor sharp teeth sink into your shoulder. You scream and stumble against the wall. You don’t have the leverage to use the sword. You grab the heavy oak door and slam it into the creature’s head. You do it two more times until the creature fumbles into the hallway half dazed.\n\nYour left shoulder is bleeding bad. Your arm feels numb. You swing at the creature again, nicking its side. It rolls into the opposite wall and hisses.\n\nSuddenly, its muscles spasm and curl. Its arms and legs double in size, then its body morphs to matching proportion. You realize it’s still growing. In less than a second it’ll be twice your size.\n\nYou sprint down the hall toward the stairs. The creature claws across the wall and ceiling after you. It jumps to the bottom of the stairs, blocking your path. You’ve already built too much momentum. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ up with the sword and twirl sideways.\n\nThe creature’s claws tear through the aqua armor and into your @@color:#000081;back.@@ You @@color:#000081;slide@@ across the stone floor. A trail of blood lingers behind you. The sword slides out of your hand and down the hall. The pain is almost too much to bear, but you have to move. The creature nips at your heels.\n\nYou push yourself up. Your back is @@color:#000081;wet@@ with blood. You don’t have the strength to fight. You barely have the strength to walk.\n\nThe creature’s shrill hissing has turned into a gravelly roar. Its body is covered with a thick coat of fur, and it has to arch its back to fit in the hallway. You shamble to the next set of stairs. You know there’s no way you’ll be able to reach the courtyard.\n\nYou don’t want to die, but the choice may be out of your hands. Then you remember Earth. It’s still in danger. If creatures like this get loose, there’s no telling what kind of destruction they’ll cause, not to mention all that blood magic stuff.\n\nYou have to destroy it... no matter the cost.\n\nYou hurry into one of the side rooms and slam the door shut. The creature claws at the wood. You don’t have much time. You need to destroy the research so the monsters won’t reach Earth. You search the room for a bomb, something to destroy the tower.\n\nAll you find is a bunch of magic stuff, nothing you know how to use.\n\nThe door splinters. The creature will break through any second. You need to do something... anything. You grab the glass vials on the shelf and throw them at the door. They flash with light and steam and sparkles. You have no idea what you’re doing.\n\nThe creature cracks the door in two and howls through the opening.\n\nThe noise startles you and the vial @@color:#000081;slips@@ through your fingers. It shatters between your feet. A pungent smell burns your nostrils. You feel dizzy. The room spins. You try to balance yourself on the table, but hit the ground instead.\n\nYour hand, it’s not working. And your clothes are several sizes too big... and getting bigger. So is the room. Everything looks giant size. Your skin feels slimy. You try to gasp for breath, but instead let out a loud, “Ribbit.”\n\nYour skin... @@color:#009933;it’s green.\n\nThe potion... it transformed you into a frog.\n\nYou hop under the shelf as the creature breaks through the door. It slides its claws around your slimy waist before you can get away. You “Ribbit” in panic.\n\nThe creature gives you a toothy grin and then dangles you over its open mouth.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Robert Creeley wrote that “Form is an extension of content” and I’ve taken that philosophy to heart - especially when it came to this version of Seven Bullets.I’ve read some very interesting Twine stories that experiment with form, but often at the cost of content. When a story is difficult to read due to flashy text and colorful animation, it loses some of its enjoyment value.I think the need to “enhance” interactive fiction stems from a feeling of curiosity and insecurity. How could a text adventure compete with Call of Duty and the Mario Brothers?It can’t and it shouldn’t!My stylistic goal for Seven Bullets was to make the text readable and let the reader dictate the pacing of the story.The green font is playful and a bit gimmicky which is why I use the technique very sparingly and only at the very end of segments.<<endif>>\nAll you can think is, “It’s not easy being green.”\n\n...then the creature swallows you whole.@@\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 32]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 910>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;turn away@@ from Ayporos and climb up the arm by @@color:#000081;jumping@@ from one hair follicle to the next. The weight of Jazelle around your shoulders slows you down, but you make good time.\n\n“Where are you going?” Jazelle shouts.\n\n“I don’t know,” you shout back, doing your best to avoid the raving ants.\n\n“Do you at least have a plan?”\n\n“Define plan.”\n\nJazelle growls at you annoyingly.\n\nSuddenly the blade of hair you’re clinging to slips free of the skin. You fall backwards into an ant and tumble helplessly into the air. You manage to grab Jazelle’s arm, but you’re both still falling.\n\nAt least you tried to escape. That’s more than some people can say.\n\nImmediately you’re jerked to a halt, and your shoulder feels like it’s been ripped from the socket. You glance up. Ayporos tightly grips your wrist as you and Jazelle dangle in the air.\n\n“Perhaps,” Ayporos says calmly. “I should have been more specific in my instructions.” He effortlessly pulls you and Jazelle onto the faceless head. “Sometimes I underestimate the simpleness of your kind.”\n\n“Yeah, well,” Jazelle groans. “Not all of us have the luxury of living for thousands of years.”\n\nAyporos tilts his head in half agreement.\n\nYou can’t say exactly what it is about him, but you’ve got a knotted feeling in your gut. So far he’s been more than helpful, but you know there are strings attached – strings that probably resemble a noose.\n\nThen again, not following at this point could prove worse. You glance back at the perverse ants clawing and biting their way toward you. Yeah, things could get a lot worse.\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” you say pushing Ayporos forward. “Us humans are real stupid. Let’s get out of here already.”\n\nAyporos moves to the cheek and draws a fat, square door.\n\nThe giant ants march closer.\n\n“Faster,” you say over your shoulder.\n\nAyporos ignores you.\n\nThe ants climb up the neck. They stop where the mouth should be and burrow through the skin, making a long, thin hole. The body reels with pain. You and Jazelle stagger, but stay upright.\n\nAyporos breathes on the outline and pulls open the door.\n\nJazelle pushes her way past both of you and jumps through. Ayporos motions for you to go next. You close your eyes and pinch your nose like you’re jumping into a pool.\n\nYou land in a dimly lit cavern. A few torches line the walls, and the faint flickering is enough to see a bit of your surroundings.\n\nYou’ve been in this place before. It feels like it’s been years or maybe days – you can’t tell. Everything in Hell has blurred together. This cavern is the last memory that’s still vivid in your mind. You remember trying to rescue Gillian, then things get foggy, but the cavern – you remember that. “This is the entrance.”\n\nAyporos glances over his shoulder. “It is also the exit. We just need to make one more stop.”\n\nYou follow him to a set of stairs carved into the side of the cavern. They lead up.\n\nAs you journey upward, the walls crumble and shake. The air feels hot and sticky. The steps curve around a colossal face that’s been carved in the hard rock.\n\nThe lips jostle and the eye sockets bend toward you. The rock face twists like awakening from a deep sleep. It yawns. “The price for passage is death.”\n\n“But we’re already dead,” Jazelle says. “How are we supposed to get through?”\n\n“All who wish to cross this threshold must pay the toll.” Its breath feels like the heat from a volcano, and its words echo like the sound of crumbling rocks.\n\nAyporos pulls you aside and whispers, “If you want to see your sister again, you must pay the toll.” He hands you a knife. “Life is the currency here.” He glances at Jazelle. “And we have enough for one trip.”\n\nYou look down at the knife and then back at Jazelle. “You can’t be serious.”\n\n“It is the only way.”\n\nYou push the knife back toward him. “I won’t do it.”\n\n“You are the only one who can.” Ayporos says coldly. “I swore an oath not to harm either of you. That oath cannot be broken.”\n\n“No,” you whisper. “Besides, your math is off. There’s only one of her and there’s two of us.”\n\nAyporos lets out a soft chuckle. “A demon cannot cross the threshold of the Gatekeeper, no matter how much he pays.”\n\nYou glare at him. “How are you supposed to get out of here then?”\n\n“Through you.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“You clear out a small part of your brain and soul where I can reside.”\n\n“You mean a possession.”\n\n“It is not as bad as it sounds.”\n\n“I bet,” you say sarcastically.\n\n“You will need me. The world is a different place since you have been gone. I can make you stronger and faster. Your body will heal from terminal wounds. You will be capable of feats that you never thought possible.” He puts the knife back in your hand. “Think about what you have been working for. Are you willing to give that up?”\n\n“Hey,” Jazelle says, walking toward you. “Are you guys going to help or do I need to find a way out of here myself?”\n\nAyporos waves to Jazelle while whispering in your ear. “Do not do it for me. Do it for your sister. She still needs you, does she not?”\n\n[[Stab Jazelle]]\n[[Don’t stab Jazelle]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 588>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Some of the crewmen are injured. They won’t be much use searching for the stone. It’s @@color:#000081;safer@@ for them if you find an exit now. Besides, you don’t want to stay in this stomach any longer than you have to.\n\n“Taz Moir is right,” you say. “We need to find a safe exit first, then we can search for the stone.”\n\n“Are you sure that is wise?” Avengral groans, still suffering from motion sickness. “Without the stone, this expedition will be for naught.”\n\n“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We can’t bring the stone back if we’re dead.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral wearily nods. “If you believe it best to find a safe pathway out of this foul beast, then I will fall to command. I have not been thinking clearly since we stepped onto that cursed vessel.”\n\n“Humph,” Taz Moir grunts. “Don’t blame the ship for yer weak stomach. She be a fine vessel...was a fine vessel.” Taz Moir wipes the tears from his cheeks and looks at his battered ship. “She sailed valiantly. Like a thing of beauty.”\n\nYou have a feeling he could go on for hours about his beloved ship. “This isn’t a wake,” you say sternly and point at two of the crew. “You and you, pull up that rigging. You and you,” you point at another two. “Take the ropes there and make a grappling hook.”\n\n“What are ye planning?”\n\n“There’s a bit of light up there. I think it may be another chamber, maybe even a way out.”\n\n“Who knows how many chambers and organs fill this foul beast?”\n\n“True,” you agree. “But I’d like to have some options.”\n\nThe crewmen fashion a grappling hook and shoot it through the small opening with a crossbow. The rest of the crew twist the scaffolding into a ladder tied to the rope.\n\nA crewman steps up the makeshift ladder and tugs on the rope. “I think she’ll hold.”\n\n“Good,” you say. “Now two of you climb up there and tell me what you see.”\n\nTwo crewmen climb the rope and peer into the high chamber. “Another room. It looks big.”\n\n“Like it might lead out?” You shout.\n\n“Aye,” the crewman shouts back.\n\n“Alright,” you say turning to Taz Moir. “We’ll set up three teams to--”\n\nSuddenly the ship shakes. The living walls vibrate and pulse.\n\n“What is happening?” Avengral asks, staggering sideways. “I thought you said the ship had stopped moving?”\n\n“It’s not the ship,” you say, trying to keep your balance.\n\n“Do ye hear that?” Taz Moir leans over the railing. “It sounds like a swell.”\n\n“Swell?”\n\nWater splashes against the opposite wall of the chamber. It surges toward the pile of battered ships. The wood sizzles and pops as it gets hit. That’s when you realize it’s not water...It’s stomach acid.\n\n“We’re being digested!?!” You shout. “Quick, up the rope.” You @@color:#000081;shimmy up@@ the rope ladder as fast as possible. Avengral and Taz Moir are behind you.\n\nThe ship tilts as the acid eats through its hull. Several crewmen fall over the edge. You look away, but you can hear their screams as the acid disintegrates their bodies.\n\nThe ship sinks and the rope swings free. Nearly half the crew is stranded. They jump for the rope, but the ship dips too quickly.\n\nThe acid splashes against the side of the ship. You hear more screams.\n\n“Faster,” Taz Moir yells. “We can do nothing fer ’em now.”\n\nYou climb into the upper chamber. It’s dark. You make out a few faint shadows.\n\n[[Relight your torch and check the chamber]]\n[[Help Avengral into the chamber first]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 599>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<endnobr>>Whether you like it or not, this kid is your problem. Suppose he dies because you weren’t around. If Gillian found out, she’d never forgive you.\n\nYou sigh.\n\nTurning a new leaf is harder than you thought; not to mention how exhausting it is trying to keep someone alive. Pulling a trigger is so much easier. Then again, no one said @@color:#000081;being decent@@ was easy.\n\nYou drive a few blocks and turn right where the kid and the cop should have exited the alley. No sign of them. You drive a little further and take another right.\n\nUp ahead you see the cop and the kid get into a sedan. There are three other guys with them wearing suits and ear pieces – probably private security. Expensive too if the suits are any indication. How many cops or two-bit criminals buy from Gucci?\n<<if $introComments is true>>Seven Bullets is divided into four sections, each one emphasizing a different genre. The intro is action, Hell is horror, Ragnoss is fantasy, and the secret facility is a monster/thriller.In this section I start to transition the story into a different genre.<<endif>>\nYou decide to tail them. Subtlety is one of those overlooked weapons. It’s definitely not as fun as a bazooka, but sometimes it’s the quickest way to get a job done. There are too many questions surrounding this kid. A little distance may put some of those to rest.\n\nNot to mention the cop. She knew how to shoot, and a broken arm barely fazed her. It was almost inhuman. She was trained by a professional, that’s for sure.\n\nYou follow the sedan across town and up the mountain to a secluded mansion. You park about a mile away and pull a pair of binoculars out of your bag.\n\nThe cop and the kid get out of the car and walk to the entrance. The cop swings her arm like nothing happened to it.\n\nYou remember hearing the bone crack. Either she has some really good pain killers or you’re going crazy.\n\nYou grab a gun and the binoculars. This is worth a closer look. You hop the cement wall and sneak through the trees and shrubbery until you’re up against the house. You work your way around a corner and peer through a window.\n\nAn old man embraces the kid and the cop. You try to read the kid’s lips. It looks like he called the old man papa or maybe popcorn. You were never very good at reading lips.\n\nThe old man kisses the cop on the cheek and then examines her arm. He motions for her to sit down. Then he leaves the room for a moment.\n\nThe old man’s probably Maurer. He looks too old for the kid to be his son. He’s got to be pushing ninety, but who are you to judge.\n\nMaurer returns with a toolbox. He pulls out a hand drill. He turns it on and moves it toward the woman’s arm.\n\nHe’s gone mad.\n\nYou shatter the window with the butt of your gun and roll inside. You jab one guard in the solar plexus and the other in the throat. You try to reach her in time, but you’re too late.\n\nYou hear the gurgly sound of the drill bit entering her arm. She sits casually and gives you a perplexed stare.\n\nTalk about Zen. It’s like she doesn’t even feel it.\n\nYou move closer. There isn’t any blood – not even a drop.\n\nMaurer pulls the drill back and looks at you with surprise. “Oh dear,” he says with a thick German accent.\n\nYou stare at her arm. Instead of bone and muscle you see wire, rubber, and gelatin. You look back at Maurer.\n\nThe kid takes your hand. “I knew you’d come back,” he says with an eager grin. “Do you want to see my turtle?”\n\n[[Look at the kid’s turtle]]\n[[Don’t look at the kid’s turtle]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 271>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -6>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +24>>\n<<set $wpn = "Painting">>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +4000450000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Compromise is for the @@color:#000081;weak.@@ You’ve got a tank strapped to your arm – no point in letting it go to waste. You grin and suppress the @@color:#000081;pain@@ tingling through your arm.\n\nThe elevator dings and the door slides open. The arm cannon automatically @@color:#000081;targets@@ the thug at the end of the hall and turns his body into @@color:#000081;wall art.@@\n\nYou struggle to pull your arm back. It seems to have a life of its own.\n\nIt jerks right and blows another thug to @@color:#000081;bits.@@ The blast is so powerful it takes out @@color:#000081;two walls@@ in the process.\n\nYour fingers feel @@color:#000081;numb.@@ It’s hard to breathe. You grab the nearest wall for balance. The screen on the arm cannon flickers and beeps. Your vitals are sporadic.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;WARNING...\nOrganic tissue exceeding safety parameters...\nWARNING...\nAutomatic shutdown initiated... ... ...\nError...\nUnable to retrieve disengage protocols...\nManual override required...@@\n\nThe arm cannon jerks left, @@color:#000081;disintegrating@@ a thug, @@color:#000081;three walls,@@ and a chunk of the @@color:#000081;adjacent building.@@\n\nYou groan with @@color:#000081;pain@@ and drop to one knee. A regular person would have passed out by now. The @@color:#000081;pain@@ is almost unbearable. You can’t find the manual override. With your luck today, it might be one of the features that never made it into this prototype.\n\nPerfect.\n\nYou randomly select options in the menu. The screen flickers, displaying a blueprint of the building. It adapts the image into a 3D model. Red dots appear in different areas.\n\nThe arm cannon hums. It gets hot. Steam hisses out from the vents. The screen flashes.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Thermal-mapping protocols engaged...\nOrganic targeting active...\nRange – maximum...\nPower – maximum...\nParameters initiated...\nWeapon ready...@@\n\n[[Engage weapon]]\n[[Disengage weapon]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 242>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<endnobr>>Money can be just as deadly as a gun, but far more @@color:#000081;versatile,@@ and if you want to start a new life, money will accomplish more than any bullet. Plus, you have to think of what’s best for Gillian.\n\nYou take a taxi to the docks and get out a block from the warehouse. There’s a camera at each entrance and probably two or three thugs inside, at least that’s what you’d normally expect. You see three moving vans backing into the warehouse and about twelve thugs standing around outside.\n\nUnfortunately for you, it looks like the negotiations with the Chinese have moved the Boss’s drug shipment ahead by three days. The Boss probably figured the deal with the Chinese might not go through, in which case it’s better to have his drugs inside the city and nearby.\n<<if $introComments is true>>One of my original goals was to make the criminal underbelly of the City seem active and threatening. The main character may have exceptional killing skills, but the City still offers plenty of criminal competition.The Chinese and Russian gangs have an equally skilled set of assassins who pose a peripheral threat.<<endif>>\nIf you let that drug sale happen, you can kiss your money goodbye. You’ll still have time to blow the warehouse, and with the drug stockpile destroyed, the Boss’s drug trafficking will be crippled for months, but without the money your escape plan will be resting on shaky legs.\n\nOn the other hand, the Boss always keeps a little bit of cash in the safe. It won’t get you far, but it’s enough to get you started. Clearing out four guys is easier than trying to clear out twelve, not to mention the time constraints you’re under. \n\nBetter decide quick; they’re almost done unloading.\n\n[[Move on the money now]]\n[[Wait for the thugs to thin out]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 559>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Yeah, alright old man, let’s be @@color:#000081;friends.”@@\n\nThe old man nods graciously. “And as I suspect, you want answers – in time child. Now you must meet the others.” The old man waves his arms toward the walls. They crackle and shake.\n\nThe bones twist and animate into human forms then push themselves free of the wall. Organs and muscles grow and coil around the bones – then skin and eyeballs and little bits of hair.\n\nThe old man lets out a hearty laugh. “Isn’t it wondrous?”\n\nYou take a step back. “What’s happening?”\n\nTwo of the fleshy-bone bodies grab you.\n\n“It’s just as the prophecy foretold,” the old man says overzealously. “You are the one.”\n\n“And what does that make you?” You say, struggling to get free.\n\n“I am the prophet and these are my acolytes. We have longed for your presence so the apocalypse could commence and drown the unworthy with pestilence and tribulation.”\n\n“Great,” you groan. “Just what I need, one more friend who wants to kill me.”\n\n“Oh, no,” the old man says joyously. “We would never harm you. You are The Bringer of Flies, The Naysayer, The Child of Sorrow. You will bring about the end of the world.”\n\n“Of course I will. How about I start with you?”\n\n“We have spent decades planning and waiting for this moment. The death of your parents, your fortuitous meeting with the Boss, the disappearance of your sister, your death, even your path through Hell – we have been slowly inching you closer and closer to this moment.”\n\n“Gillian,” you say in shock. “What have you done with her?” You growl. “I’ll rip your head off.”\n\nThe old man laughs again. “Patience child. Your time will come soon. Once the ritual is complete, your rage will ripple across the globe like a flurry of Hellfire and horror. Come,” the old man says, waving to the regenerating bodies.\n\nThey lift you onto the table while the others form a circle around you.\n\n“We are the House of Cataclysm,” the old man says firmly. “We entreat the demon gods of our ancestors to enter this vessel and bring their will to flesh.” The others lift their arms and join hands.\n\nIt looks like even Hell has kooky cults. You expected to see some Kool-Aid somewhere, but maybe that’s the next phase of this little ritual.\n\nThe others chant as the old man pulls a large knife from his robe. “By blood and in blood the new world will be made.” He lifts the knife into the air.\n\nThese cult clowns mean business, and you have a feeling it starts with the pointy end of that knife, but they did say they weren’t going to hurt you. Of course demon gods entering you doesn’t exactly sound pleasant. But who’s to say these demon gods are even real... although you are in Hell, so they might live next door or something.\n\nEither way, letting an old crazy guy hold a sharp object is never a good idea, especially when that object is pointed at your chest. You’ll have to disarm him, but you’re still pinned to the table and outnumbered.\n\nYour feet are free. You could use them to snag his arm and kick away the knife. Or you could twist away at the last minute and let the blade get stuck in the table.\n\n[[Kick away the knife]]\n[[Twist away at the last minute]]\n

Achievements\n\n<<if $neverGiveUp is true>><strike>Never Give Up:\nYou won't let a silly thing like death stop you.</strike><<else>>Never Give Up:\nYou won't let a silly thing like death stop you.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $governmentSecrets is true>><strike>Government Secrets:\nReach the secret facility in Montana.</strike><<else>>Government Secrets:\nReach the secret facility in Montana.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $starTrippin is true>><strike>Star Trippin':\nTravel to the planet of Ragnoss.</strike><<else>>Star Trippin':\nTravel to the planet of Ragnoss.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $soThatsWhatHappens is true>><strike>So That's What Happens:\nRead at least one Epilogue</strike><<else>>So That's What Happens:\nRead at least one Epilogue<<endif>>\n\n<<if $crankItTo11 is true>><strike>Crank it to 11:\nGain enough XP to reach Level 11.</strike><<else>>Crank it to 11:\nGain enough XP to reach Level 11.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $rampage is true>><strike>Rampage:\nCause more than $50,000 of damage to the city.</strike><<else>>Rampage:\nCause more than $50,000 of damage to the city.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $humanWreckingBall is true>><strike>Human Wrecking Ball:\nCause more than $1,000,000 of damage to the city.</strike><<else>>Human Wrecking Ball:\nCause more than $1,000,000 of damage to the city.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $naturalDisaster is true>><strike>Natural Disaster:\nCause more than $1,000,000,000 of damage to the city.</strike><<else>>Natural Disaster:\nCause more than $1,000,000,000 of damage to the city.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $murderer is true>><strike>Murderer:\nKill 5 or more people in a single read-through</strike><<else>>Murderer:\nKill <<print $kills>>/5 or more people in a single read-through<<endif>>\n\n<<if $serialKiller is true>><strike>Serial Killer:\nKill 20 or more people in a single read-through</strike><<else>>Serial Killer:\nKill <<print $kills>>/20 or more people in a single read-through<<endif>>\n\n<<if $trueAssassin is true>><strike>True Assassin:\nKill 100 or more people in a single read-through</strike><<else>>True Assassin:\nKill <<print $kills>>/100 or more people in a single read-through<<endif>>\n\n<<if $turnTheOtherCheek is true>><strike>Turn the Other Cheek:\nReach an ending without killing anyone</strike><<else>>Turn the Other Cheek:\nReach an ending without killing anyone<<endif>>\n\n<<if $sheHadItComing is true>><strike>She Had It Coming:\nKill Alana</strike><<else>>She Had It Coming:\nKill Alana<<endif>>\n\n<<if $IQuit is true>><strike>I Quit:\nKill the Boss</strike><<else>>I Quit:\nKill the Boss<<endif>>\n\n<<if $yippeeKiYay is true>><strike>Yippee Ki Yay:\nKill Chuck Laroche</strike><<else>>Yippee Ki Yay:\nKill Chuck Laroche<<endif>>\n\n<<if $coldAndCalculating is true>><strike>Cold and Calculating:\nTake the Sniper Rifle</strike><<else>>Cold and Calculating:\nTake the Sniper Rifle<<endif>>\n\n<<if $upCloseAndPersonal is true>><strike>Up Close and Personal:\nTake the Shotgun</strike><<else>>Up Close and Personal:\nTake the Shotgun<<endif>>\n\n<<if $chauffeur is true>><strike>Chauffeur:\nHelp Seth Maurer</strike><<else>>Chauffeur:\nHelp Seth Maurer<<endif>>\n\n<<if $daddysLittleGirl is true>><strike>Daddy's Little Girl:\nMeet Wilson's Daughter</strike><<else>>Daddy's Little Girl:\nMeet Wilson's Daughter<<endif>>\n\n<<if $makingFriends is true>><strike>Making Friends:\nMeet Jazelle</strike><<else>>Making Friends:\nMeet Jazelle<<endif>>\n\n<<if $getBehindMeSatan is true>><strike>Get Thee Behind Me Satan:\nMeet Ayporos</strike><<else>>Get Thee Behind Me Satan:\nMeet Ayporos<<endif>>\n\n<<if $theDreadPirate is true>><strike>The Dread Pirate of Dreadiness and Looting:\nMeet Taz Moir</strike><<else>>The Dread Pirate of Dreadiness and Looting:\nMeet Taz Moir<<endif>>\n\n<<if $joinTheATeam is true>><strike>Join the A Team:\nI pity the fool who doesn't join Team A</strike><<else>>Join the A Team:\nI pity the fool who doesn't join Team A<<endif>>\n\n<<if $originStory is true>><strike>Origin Story:\nMeet Dr. Aiden Clark and learn your origin</strike><<else>>Origin Story:\nMeet Dr. Aiden Clark and learn your origin<<endif>>\n\n<<if $whoNeedsFriends is true>><strike>Who Needs Friends:\nSacrifice Jazelle to escape Hell</strike><<else>>Who Needs Friends:\nhidden<<endif>>\n\n<<if $honorBound is true>><strike>Honor-bound:\nRescue the Prince</strike><<else>>Honor-bound:\nRescue the Prince<<endif>>\n\n<<if $dazedAndConfused is true>><strike>Dazed and Confused:\nOvercome your drug induced stupor</strike><<else>>Dazed and Confused:\nOvercome your drug induced stupor<<endif>>\n\n<<if $saveYourself is true>><strike>Save Yourself:\nReach an ending alive, but without Gillian</strike><<else>>Save Yourself:\nReach an ending alive, but without Gillian<<endif>>\n\n<<if $happyEndings is true>><strike>Happy Endings:\nRescue Gillian (and survive)</strike><<else>>Happy Endings:\nRescue Gillian (and survive)<<endif>>\n\n<<if $thatsFamily is true>><strike>That's Family:\nSacrifice yourself to save Gillian</strike><<else>>That's Family:\nSacrifice yourself to save Gillian<<endif>>\n\n<<if $thePlotIsALie is true>><strike>The Plot is a Lie:\nReach an ending that has nothing to do with Gillian</strike><<else>>The Plot is a Lie:\nReach an ending that has nothing to do with Gillian<<endif>>\n\n<<if $theBestLaidPlans is true>><strike>The Best Laid Plans:\nWatch Gillian Die</strike><<else>>The Best Laid Plans:\nWatch Gillian Die<<endif>>\n\n<<if $consolationPrize is true>><strike>Consolation Prize:\nFail to save Gillian and die in the process</strike><<else>>Consolation Prize:\nFail to save Gillian and die in the process<<endif>>\n\n<<if $RIP is true>><strike>R.I.P.:\nBecome a permanent resident in Hell</strike><<else>>R.I.P.:\nBecome a permanent resident in Hell<<endif>>\n\n<<if $theButterflyEffect is true>><strike>The Butterfly Effect:\nTravel through time in order to save Gillian</strike><<else>>The Butterfly Effect:\nTravel through time in order to save Gillian<<endif>>\n\n<<if $itsOver9000 is true>><strike>It's Over 9,000:\nRead more than 9,000 words</strike><<else>>It's Over 9,000:\nRead more than <<print $totalWordcount>>/9,000 words<<endif>>\n\n<<if $iReadGood is true>><strike>I Read Good:\nRead more than 65,000 words</strike><<else>>I Read Good:\nRead more than <<print $totalWordcount>>/65,000 words<<endif>>\n\n<<if $bookworm is true>><strike>Bookworm:\nRead more than 100,000 words</strike><<else>>Bookworm:\nRead more than <<print $totalWordcount>>/100,000 words<<endif>>\n\n<<if $librarian is true>><strike>Librarian:\nRead more than 200,000 words</strike><<else>>Librarian:\nRead more than <<print $totalWordcount>>/200,000 words<<endif>>\n\n<<if $shakespearesGhost is true>><strike>Shakespeare's Ghost:\nRead more than 300,000 words</strike><<else>>Shakespeare's Ghost:\nRead more than <<print $totalWordcount>>/300,000 words<<endif>>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 402>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $wpn = "Campfire Songs">>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>After the second round of singing Kumbaya, the demon squeals with unrelenting horror. “No more, no more,” it pleads.\n\nYou pull its head out of the @@color:#000081;campfire.@@ “This reminds me of how much I miss camping. So, are you ready to talk?”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Playful and forceful torture is the best kind, right?<<endif>>\n“Ssspeaksss, yesss,” the demon hisses.\n\n“That was easier than I thought,” Jazelle says, trying not to vomit from the smell.\n\nYou grin. “I’ve had practice @@color:#000081;motivating people.”@@\n\n“Is that what you call this?”\n\nThe demon lets out a gooey laugh. “No essscapesss for you.”\n\n“Go ahead, keep stalling,” you say, dangling the head over the fire. “I know @@color:#000081;all the verses@@ to Silent Night too.”\n\nThe demon growls and tries to bite at your fingers, but fails and glares at you. “Chalk isss door.”\n\n“No,” Jazelle interrupts. “Chalk is chalk. Where’s the door.”\n\n“Chalk isss door.”\n\n“What chalk?” You demand. You turn to Jazelle. “Check his body.”\n\n“Ew. I’m not touching that thing. It’s already decomposing.”\n\nYou roll your eyes and toss the head back in the fire. “We wouldn’t want to offend your delicate sensibilities,” you say, searching the body. You roll it over and search the other side. There’s a small cloth pouch in one of the pockets. It has four sticks of @@color:#000081;chalk@@ inside. “Alright,” you say to the demon. “What do we do with the chalk?”\n\n“Make door,” it howls as the fire boils its skin.\n\n“You mean draw a door?”\n\n“Yesss.”\n\n“And then what?”\n\n“Breathesss.”\n\n“Breathe? Is that supposed to be a riddle?”\n\n“No tricksss, just breathesss ssstupid human.”\n\nThat makes about as much sense as anything else here in Hell. If you want a door, just draw it. Why not? In a way, it’s perfect logic. Everything seems to appear and vanish at random. A portable door is an elegant and insane solution. It seems fitting.\n\nYou glance back at the demon. “If I make a door, where will it lead?”\n\n“Sssomewhere elssse.”\n\n“Don’t get cheeky,” Jazelle interrupts. “Or your cheeks will be the next thing we cut off.”\n\nYou groan and pinch the bridge of your nose. “We’ll have to work on your menacing banter.”\n\nThere are only two spots large enough for the door you need to draw: the pavement, or the fountain. It may not even matter where you draw the door, but you’ve got a feeling you should @@color:#000081;think@@ it over carefully. There’s obviously something the demon isn’t telling you.\n\n[[Draw chalk door on pavement]]\n[[Draw chalk door on fountain]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 576>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +47>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +24>>\n<>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<endnobr>>The dragon is barely even a dragon. It can’t breathe fire or fly. All it can do is stomp its feet and charge at you. It’s basically a giant bull. If you’re smart, killing it won’t be that @@color:#000081;difficult.@@ And after everything it’s been through, death is probably a kindness.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;swing@@ the iron ball over your head a couple of times and @@color:#000081;fling@@ it at the dragon’s head. It snaps against the dragon’s left eye.\n\nThe dragon wails in pain. It stumbles sideways then glares at you with its good eye. It jerks its head forward trying to breathe fire, but only a tiny puff of gray smoke erupts from its nostrils. It hoofs the ground and charges.\n\nThat was the opening you were waiting for.\n\nYou step right, into the dragon’s blind spot. You dash between its legs and grab a notch on its tail as it charges. The dragon stops and tilts its head to search the arena with its good eye. You @@color:#000081;climb@@ up its back toward its neck. You follow the spinal column to the base of the skull.\n\nYou get your arm around the dragon’s neck and give a hard @@color:#000081;knuckle punch@@ to the vertebrae near the skull. You @@color:#000081;punch@@ two more times until you hear a snap.\n\nThe dragon lurches forward and hits the ground face first.\n\nIt’s @@color:#000081;dead@@ before the dust settles.\n\nA one hit kill the Boss taught you...although it took you three hits, so that shows how good of a student you were.\n\nYou step down from the dragon and turn to the giant Ferralliise. You take a calm confident step forward. The Ferralliise stare at you with silent astonishment. It’ll take more than a dragon to kill you.\n\nThe giant Ferralliise lifts his staff into the air and chants. “Aksi’a Sul’vosii razz! Aksi’a Sul’vosii razz!” The other Ferralliise chant with him.\n\nYour intimidation plan doesn’t seem to be working. If anything, they gawk at you with a perverse kind of pride.\n\nSuddenly the ground glows in the shape of odd looking runes. The dragon’s body is absorbed by the light. The Ferralliise chant louder.\n\nYour skin feels hot. Your shoulders and arms itch. Your whole body feels like it’s being pricked with tiny needles. You drop to your knees as the pain overwhelms you.\n\nThe itching gets worse. As you scratch, your skin peels. Long strips of skin fall from your body. Underneath sharp scales @@color:#000081;emerge.@@\n\nYou scream from the pain, but instead of sound, fire belches from your mouth.\n\nThe dragon...\n\nYou’re becoming the dragon...\n\nThis must be what the Blood Festival was about...\n\nThey’re increasing their ranks. You’re becoming one of them. You’re becoming a Ferralliise...\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This is the most direct scene explaining the power and “culture” of the Ferralliise. Sarrejiinn is one of several continents on the world of Ragnoss, and I plan to revisit this concept of Blood Magic and transformation in future fantasy books that take place on other continents in the world.<<endif>>\nYour memories become hazy. You try to focus. Gillian...Why is that name racing through your mind? Is it someone important? Someone related to you maybe...or is it your own name? The thought drifts out of reach as the rush of new smells fill your nostrils. You feel the sudden urge to hunt and fight.\n\nThe giant Ferralliise jumps into the arena. He waves the staff over your head and then points it at the crowd of monsters, but you don’t see them as monsters, not anymore. They’re your brothers and sisters now.\n\nThe crowd cheers. The howls and shrieks and hoots wash over you like a wave of acceptance. You’re a member of the pack now. Your chest swells with pride and a desire for the hunt.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

Campfire Gif\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 554>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -2>>\n<<endnobr>>Sure, an exit is important, but your search for the calcified rock may not lead back to this room. Looking for an exit in here would be a waste of time.\n\n“We search for the rock @@color:#000081;first,”@@ you say.\n\n“The wounded stay behind,” Taz Moir growls. “Salvage what you can. The rest of you, follow this idiot.” He points to you.\n\n“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” you groan. “Quintus said the rock was made from the digestive juices of the Cetorix so it has to be around here...assuming this is the stomach. Fan out,” you command. “And search for the rock.”\n\nThe crew fans out and searches for the rock.\n\n“Suppose it has more than one stomach?” A crewman asks.\n\n“Don’t be stupid,” another crewman scoffs. “Of course it has more than one stomach.”\n\n“Right, right,” the first crewman concedes. “Suppose the rock is in one of those other stomachs?”\n\n“I-” The second crewman hesitates obviously dumbfounded.\n\nSecond stomach...you @@color:#000081;hadn’t thought@@ of that either. This creature is big, and since you’re not floating in a pond of stomach acid, maybe this isn’t the real stomach. Maybe the Cetorix has four stomachs like a cow. Being digested four times...definitely not a pleasant thought.\n\n“Over here,” a crewman shouts.\n\nYou head to the voice.\n\nThe crewman points at a large, chalky white boulder. “Is this it?” He asks.\n\n“Maybe,” you say, examining the large rock. “It’s bigger than I thought.” The Cetorix’s muscles have grown around the boulder. They twitch each time you get near them.\n\n“What are we supposed to do with it now?” The crewman grumbles.\n\n“We roll it back to the ship and figure out what to do with it there,” you say, pulling on the boulder.\n\nIt won’t budge.\n\n“Give me a hand,” you say.\n\nTwo of the crewmen pull at the boulder with you. “It’s no use,” the crewman grunts. “It’s lodged in there real good. We need some picks.”\n\n“No,” you say. “We can’t risk damaging it.”\n\n“Here,” Taz Moir hands you a short sword. “Use this to cut it free.”\n\nYou shove the short sword between the stone and the muscle and wrench the blade left and right. The muscle convulses and spasms. The crew staggers back as the whole area shakes.\n\n“Ye must have hit something,” Taz Moir growls.\n\n“Wasn’t that the idea?” You say, yanking the sword free.\n\nSuddenly, the boulder jettisons from the muscle. It knocks over the two crewmen and rolls down the spongy corridor.\n\nIt wasn’t just a muscle; the boulder was blocking a sphincter. The sphincter erupts with green liquid. You pull back your arm, but not fast enough. Some of the green liquid burns your skin.\n\nIt’s acid... Stomach acid...\n\n“Run,” you shout.\n\nThe crewmen try, but the floor is spongy and wet. They can’t get enough traction...and neither can you. The stomach acid splashes against your @@color:#000081;leg.@@ It demolishes your pants and burns your @@color:#000081;skin.@@ You fight back a scream and try to run faster, but the stomach acid just keeps spewing.\n\nYour leg gives out. You stumble. The @@color:#000081;stomach acid@@ washes over you.\n\nYou reel in agony.\n\nThe crew is no better off.\n\nYou splash for air, but it only makes it worse. Your skin is being eaten away. \n\nYou’re being @@color:#000081;digested.@@\n\nYou’re nothing more than a high protein snack.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 36]]\n

<>\n<<remember $whoNeedsFriends = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Who Needs Friends\n Sacrifice Jazelle to escape Hell\n

<>\n<<remember $chauffeur = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Chauffeur\n Help Seth Maurer\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 526>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +16>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -99>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Gillian is fading fast. There’s no time to @@color:#000081;prance@@ around like a ninja. It doesn’t matter how much ammo you have if you’re dead. You press Gillian against the wall. “Stay here. Wait thirty seconds and then follow me. You understand.”\n\nShe nods nervously.\n\nYou ready the machine gun and point the barrel down the stairs. You’re going to need to make these bullets last. Six guys and ten bullets – if you don’t miss, that leaves you two for the lobby. Two won’t be enough to kill them all, but you’ll have to make it work.\n\nYou turn a corner and duck behind the railing. You pull the trigger twice as two thugs overzealously round the corner. They both @@color:#000081;drop.@@\n\nOne scrambles back up. He’s wearing body armor.\n\nCrap.\n\nHe lifts his pistol and fires. The bullets ricochet off the metal steps. You sprint up and around the landing. Two more bullets whiz past. The other footsteps are getting louder. Sounds like an extra four sets of feet – eight guys total.\n\nNow it’s a party.\n\nYou hate parties.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Even though I avoided describing the main character’s gender and appearance, I still made certain assumptions about the character’s persona - skilled with weapons, spycraft, combat, comfortable killing but hesitant due to an inspired sense of morality.A line like “You hate parties” is me (the author) overtly telling the reader what kind of persona to assume not necessarily the persona the reader wants to play as.I decided to leave some of these persona cues because they’re non-discriminating. That kind of sentiment could be expressed by any race or gender.<<endif>>\nYou peek over the railing and line up your shot. He keeps his head low. You can just barely see his gun. He fires one or two rounds without aiming, waits a few seconds then fires two more. He’s smart – obviously waiting for backup.\n\nIf he wasn’t in your way, you might commend his pragmatic nature. Then again, this isn’t a time to be handing out trophies.\n\nYou pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ The bullet knocks the gun out of his hand and maybe a finger or two. He screams.\n\nYou sprint down the stairs and @@color:#000081;kick@@ him hard in the face. He’s dazed, but not out. You’re about to punch him in the throat when you see four thugs round the corner below you.\n\nYou drop to the ground and use the thug as a shield. Bullets slam into his vest, and he groans from the pain. Good to know there’s loyalty among henchmen.\n\nYou grab his pistol from the ground. His severed finger is still clutching the trigger. You pry it lose and fire down the stair well.\n\nTwo thugs @@color:#000081;crumble@@ while the rest dive for cover.\n\nYou grab the vest tight and force the thug forward. He limps. Looks like a bullet nicked his thigh. You have the gun angled over his shoulder.\n\nYou fire two rounds as one of the thugs peeks over the railing. His head @@color:#000081;explodes@@ against the nearest wall. You turn the corner in time to see his eyeball rolling down the stairs. The other thug sees it too and darts for the nearest exit. Who could blame him?\n\nYou slam the vested thug into the wall. He slides to the floor. You turn back to get Gillian, but your leg is caught. You look down. The vested thug is grabbing your ankle with his left arm. He stretches out his right and opens his hand.\n\nA grenade slips out and rolls underneath you.\n\nHe’s bold. You’ll give him that.\n\nYou grin.\n\nHe kind of reminds you of yourself when you were—\n\nThe grenade @@color:#000081;explodes,@@ filling the stairwell with smoke and flames.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 6]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 299>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $wpn = "Rainbow Unicorn Virus Attack!">>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>These people deserve a little taste of their own medicine – and by medicine you mean a devastating computer virus that will destroy years of research and priceless hardware, but they should have expected as much for picking a @@color:#000081;fight@@ with you.\n\nYou haven’t killed them all... at least not yet, which is evidence that you’ve got a strand of mercy, or maybe you’re getting soft. Gillian’s moral tirades must have finally gotten through. Don’t kid yourself though, this virus will do plenty of damage, and there will always be time to kill them if it comes to that.\n\nYou download the virus to the server and @@color:#000081;launch it.@@\n\nImmediately a stampede of rainbow unicorns covers the translucent screen. The core temperature of the server increases as the virus spreads. Within minutes the rainbow unicorns of @@color:#000081;digital mayhem@@ will spread to every computer on the network. You’ll need to finalize your plan quick and disengage the PDA from the network before it gets infected too.\n\nYou load the map on the PDA. If you remember right, there should be two feasible exits within range – the holding cells and the industrial sewer pipes. Yeah, feasible doesn’t mean pretty, but climbing through sewage has gotten you out of trouble in the past – as long as you don’t mind smelling like disinfectant for a week.\n\nLuckily, it looks like these sewer pipes aren’t active at the moment due to remodeling. That means getting through won’t be as painful.\n\nOf course your curiosity is tingling in all the right ways and getting a glimpse at what’s hiding in those holding cells would scratch a brain itch you’ve had since you woke-up. It’s not like you’d be walking into a petting zoo of monsters... at least probably not. You can’t be sure what these people are into.\n\n[[Escape through the holding cells]]\n[[Escape through the sewer pipes]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 745>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>He hasn’t let you down yet. You might as well give him the benefit of the doubt. You @@color:#000081;follow Ayporos@@ and Jazelle through the smoke.\n\nAyporos moves some debris off the man your other self just blew up. He draws a chalk door on the man’s chest.\n\n“Don’t tell me we have to walk through that guy’s body,” Jazelle fusses.\n\n“Then I will not tell you,” Ayporos says with pleasure. He finishes drawing the handle and gently blows on the outline until the chalk glimmers. He pulls open the man’s chest as if it were a door. “Come along. We must not dally.”\n\nYou follow him through.\n\nYou step onto an orange desert with long, thin, black blades of grass jutting out of the ground. “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Are we there yet?”\n\n“No, though we should have been.”\n\nJazelle steps around you. “Are we lost?”\n\n“What an arbitrary question.” Ayporos pats away some of the soot from his shirt. “And no, we are not lost. We are misplaced.”\n\n“Misplaced is lost.”\n\n“This is merely a detour. It has been some time since I have left my corner of Hell, and it appears that the others must have remapped some of the passageways. We are at least,” he looks as if he’s crunching numbers in his head. “A little bit off.”\n\n“How much is a little bit?” You bark.\n\n“Enough to be a problem.” He points down. “We must navigate another torture chamber.”\n\nThe ground begins to move – not shake, move. The whole desert rises and tilts. You grab a blade of grass with one hand and Jazelle with the other.\n\n“Hey,” you shout at Ayporos. “What’s happening?”\n\n“The torture is commencing.”\n\nJazelle shouts at him in a panic. “Who would want to torture a desert?”\n\nAyporos points down. “This is not a desert.”\n\nYou look down and choke back a scream.\n\nYou’re staring at a giant head missing its features. You follow the head to the neck, to the shoulder, to the arm which is what you’re barely holding onto.\n\nIt’s not a desert at all. “It’s not a desert!” You shout.\n\n“I know!” Jazelle screams back.\n\nSuddenly @@color:#000081;you realize@@ the blade of grass you’re tightly gripping is actually a follicle of hair.\n\n“I thought you knew how to get us out of here.”\n\n“I do,” Ayporos says. “It is only slightly more complicated than I anticipated.” He grabs onto a blade of hair as the arm tilts further up. “You remember earlier when I said that whichever rock you chose did not matter?”\n\n“You mean like ten minutes ago,” Jazelle yells.\n\n“Yes. It is possible I was wrong about that.”\n\n“And don’t tell me,” you growl. “Things are about to get worse.”\n\nAyporos shrugs. “That is one way of describing it.”\n\nYou pull Jazelle up, and she wraps her arms over your shoulder and around your chest. “I told you not to trust him,” she shouts in your ear.\n\n“Considering everything we’ve been through, this shouldn’t scare us.”\n\n“Yeah,” Jazelle yells. “Tell that to the heart attack I’m having.”\n\n“Look at the bright side; it’s not like we need to worry about dying.”\n\n“Is that supposed to be comforting?” Jazelle looks down. “That thing doesn’t even have a face and we’re probably next. For all we know the demons could have cut it up and eaten it.”\n\nAyporos laughs.\n\n“What’s so funny?” Jazelle growls.\n\n“Your human minds are so simple and unimaginative.”\n\nSuddenly the giant arm twitches. It’s all you can do to hang on. You hear something scratching below the surface of the skin. The skin cracks in a multitude of places, and thousands and thousands of giant ants claw out of the openings.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;kick@@ one away as it gets too close for comfort. It has a face – not the face of an ant. It’s a human face. You glance around. All of the ants have the same face.\n\nThe ants rush toward the featureless head. They bite and claw at the skin as they travel. The body reels with pain.\n\n“Grab on, now!” Ayporos shouts as he grabs the back of an ant.\n\nIf you don’t grab hold of an ant now, you’ll lose him. His little detour has gotten you into this mess. You could do worse without him, but not by much. This might be the time to part ways. It’s not like you have much time to deliberate though.\n\n[[Jump on the back of an ant]]\n[[Climb up the arm]]\n

“Why’d they take her?” You ask. “Where is she?”\n\n“Gillian?” He says quizzically. “She has nothing to do with this.”\n\n“So she’s not here?”\n\n“No, not to my knowledge.”\n\nYou rub the side of your head. “Okay, good. How long have we been captive?”\n\n“It’s been nearly a month. You don’t remember anything?”\n\n“No, but that explains why they kept me alive. They wanted to know who approved the hit.”\n\nThe Boss chuckles. “Then it seems they bit off more than they could chew.”\n\nYou glance toward the other cells. “What about these creatures? What are they?”\n\n“That I don’t know.” He adjusts his shirt and hair. “But we really should go. I assume you’ve devised an exit strategy.”\n\n“More or less.” You check the PDA. A guard just turned the corner. “We’re clear. Come on.”\n\nYou follow the stairs down, turn left, and then right through a corridor. You point to the tunnel. “This is our exit. It leads to a hazardous disposal facility outside the city.”\n\nYou hesitate.\n\nThe locks to the subject chambers are digital, and there’s a good chance you could access them through the network. You could unlock all the doors and let the creatures get their revenge. The chaos would be good cover for your escape.\n\n[[Unlock all the cell doors]]\n[[Save revenge for another day]]\n

The [[spirit realm]] is not unlike the tangible world, and in fact, exists in the exact same space. In her thesis, [[Karen|Karen]] described it as a layer of dust that had lingered on an object for too long and is only noticeable when a gust of wind scatters it into the air.\n\nBecause of this, the [[spirit realm]] has a fluid and unstable construction. Once an object has been touched, it can no longer be the object it once was. Objects are not intrinsically one thing, but instead many things.\n\nThe architecture of the [[spirit realm]] is a constantly shifting, unmappable blueprint, much like a person’s palette of emotions on a single day.\n\nNot even the [[entities|spirits]] that reside in the [[spirit realm]] are capable of navigating its ever shifting design. This is one of the reasons it is so difficult to cross between the [[spirit realm]] and the tangible world.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 954>>\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +25>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +5>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveNeverGiveUp").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockNeverGiveUp").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>\nYour eyes suddenly open, and you cough as if your lungs were full of liquid.\n\nYour chest aches, but you feel surprisingly good considering the mess you were just in – which doesn’t explain how you’re @@color:#000081;still alive.@@\n\nYou push yourself up. There’s @@color:#000081;not a scratch@@ on you.\n\nYour clothes are different too. Someone must have changed them. You’re wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. Your shoes are gone though, and so are your weapons.\n\nYou’ve got a bad feeling about this.\n\nYou check your pockets for a match or a lighter, something to brighten this dark room.\n\nImmediately, a torch ignites on the opposite wall.\n\nYou’d feel relieved if it wasn’t so creepy. You walk to the torch and pull it from the mount. You swing the torch in every direction.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>“Hell” is a loose concept for this realm. It was inspired by Christianity, Hades from the Greek myths, and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics.I was trying to walk a fine line describing some of this content. It pulls in some religious components and I didn’t want to offend anyone. That’s one of the reasons these opening scenes emphasize the Greek Myths with concepts like “the Ferryman”.The next few segments show a very distorted reality as a way of distancing the story from true religious ideas.<<endif>>\nYou’re not in a room at all. It’s a humongous cavern made of red rock. There’s a lake in the distance stretching farther than you can see.\n\nYou rub your hand along the rough wall, trying to feel for a small gust of air or a crack that might lead to an exit.\n\nThere’s nothing.\n\nYou’re probably at the back of the cavern, which means the entrance has to be on the other side of the lake.\n\nLooks like you’re going for a swim.\n\nIt doesn’t make sense though. Why would someone strand you in a cave? And who would want to? The Boss wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble just to put you down here. And Wong would have just tortured and killed you.\n\nThe Russians might want to ship you back to Russia, but if they were going to put you underground, it’d be in a coffin. Then again, there are plenty of other people who would love to see you suffer. You’ve done a lot of bad things to a lot of bad people.\n\nYou walk to the lake and dip your foot in. You pull it out quick. The water feels like liquid fire. This cavern must be part of a volcano or maybe a hot spring. Either way, you won’t be swimming through it.\n\nThe lake stretches the whole width of the cavern. There’s no way around it. Whoever put you here has to be watching. “Alright,” you shout. “Who are you, and what do you want?”\n\nThe water splashes. You turn to see a large cloaked figure standing in a long wooden boat. You can’t see his face or physique, but his proximity makes you feel helpless and very uncomfortable.\n\nThe figure steers the boat into the shore. “I am the Ferryman,” he says. His voice is old and heavy, like a rusty chain being dragged across the ocean floor. He stretches out his hand. “I require one piece of gold.”\n\nYou swallow hard and stare at his withered hand. It’s so old the flesh is transparent and hangs limp from the bone.\n\n“Gold?” You ask, keeping your distance.\n\nHe nods. “To cross this lake, payment is required.”\n\nWhoever put you here has a sick sense of humor. If you want to escape, it looks like you’ll have to play along. “You mean like a gold coin?”\n\n“One piece of gold,” he says coldly.\n\n“Right,” you sigh, searching your pockets. You glimpse your gold wristwatch. You loosen it and show him. “What about this?”\n\n“That is acceptable.”\n\nHe motions for you to board his boat. You sit near the front, still holding the torch. He pushes the boat forward. Time seems displaced somehow, and you reach the other side in moments. You get out and look back at the lake. It stretches farther than you can see. It must be some kind of illusion.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>I gave Hell a temporal quality - the setting constantly changes and shifts. (This concept is explained in more detail if the main character joins Ayporos.)I wanted the structure of Hell to be linked to the characters’ mental state.<<endif>>\n“Fare thee well,” the Ferryman says, traveling back the way he came. “May your spirit find what it has earned.” He disappears into the darkness.\n\nAs far as parting words go, that was about as eerie as it gets.\n\nYou turn away from the lake. A set of steps jut from the cavern wall leading further down.\n\nAs you descend, the walls crumble and shake. The air feels hot and sticky. The steps curve around a colossal face carved into the hard rock.\n\nIt’s a dead-end.\n\nYou turn to go back.\n\nThe lips jostle, and the eye sockets bend toward you. The rock face twists like awakening from a deep slumber. It can’t be real. It must be another illusion, or a trick.\n\nIt yawns. “I have been expecting you for some time.”\n\nYou stare at it wide-eyed. “Impossible.”\n\n“I have gone by many names, but that is not one of them.” Its eye sockets and mouth are pitch black and empty.\n\n“Where am I? What are you? Who put me here?”\n\n“I am not the being to ask such questions, nor is it my place to possess such answers. I am the Gatekeeper. I am responsible for only one thing.”\n\nThe Gatekeeper, the Ferryman, and a burning hot lake – this is beginning to sound a lot like Hell.\n\n“This is not Hell young one, not yet,” the stone face sighs.\n\n“You can read my thoughts?”\n\n“I can do many things. You are here to accept judgment young one,” the stone face says wearily. “You have taken many lives during your time above. Seven of those lives were innocent. You must atone for the seven bullets that strayed from your hand. These truths you cannot deny, nor can you escape them for judgment has been made, and your path has been cleared.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once” helped shape the concept of tortured souls reliving their worst moments. I wanted the punishment of these “evil” people to be as much emotional as it was physical.<<endif>>\nSuddenly, the stone face groans and sucks in the air. It’s so powerful, you’re pulled from the stairs. You tumble against the rocks and into its stone mouth. You’re shrouded in darkness. You feel weightless, as if you were falling.\n\n[[Blindly try to grab a ledge]]\n[[Keep falling]]\n

@@color:#B2B2B2;<center>The Last Darling</center>\nThe beautiful and naive Clover Collette has been in the clutches of her overbearing mother for twenty-four years, but when Francis Darling unintentionally penetrates her defenses, the two suddenly and secretly fall in love. Within hours they’re engaged and on the run.\n\nMadly in love, they drift through the heartland of America confronted by bank robbers, maniacal doctors, a Wall Street tycoon, an absentminded poet, and a blind artist - each one troubled by a heart wrenching tale of love.@@\n\n<center>[[Continue|DarlingStory]]</center>

<<back>>\n<><center>The Red Speckled Blade</center>\n<center>of Brother Brighton</center><<endnobr>>\n\nBrother Brighton was not, nor had he ever been, skilled with a blade. His gifts, as the Abbot wearily observed, included eating, looking aloof, and smelling of manure, none of which added to the reputation of the priory.\n\nIt was not that Brother Brighton was unliked among his brothers, for he enjoyed the friendship of them all. The simple and sad fact was that his sensibilities were a bit slower and slightly stranger than the fellows he fondly called family.\n\nBrother Brighton had become heart-wrenchingly aware of his limitations one afternoon when the prior scolded him for leaving a basket of vegetables in the stable where they were quickly gobbled up by the horses.\n\nAs punishment, Brother Brighton was reprimanded and sent to his room without supper, which, given his passion for eating, made him cry and wail all the more.\n\nIn his excited and sorrowful state, Brother Brighton ran past his room, down the hallway, up the stairs, and into a part of the priory he was not allowed to enter. By the time his spirit had calmed, he found himself surrounded by ancient relics and weapons that, having been untouched for years, were layered with dust.\n\nHe admired the metal helms and heavy shields. He was mesmerized by the amulets and jewel encrusted rings. He gawked at the spears and blades nestled into bundles against the wall. His glee, however, quickly turned to terror when he recognized the emblem of the Gray King.\n\nIt was common knowledge, even to the dim Brother Brighton, that objects of the Gray King's rule were forbidden within the kingdom and anyone who possessed them would, like the Gray King, be beheaded.\n\nBrother Brighton did not have the sense to wonder why these forbidden objects remained in an untouched room of the priory, nor did he consider who their present owner might be for he was overcome with an idea that could restore his standing with the prior and, if he was quick enough, also his supper.\n\nThere was one object that had not been branded with the Gray King's symbol. It was an oddly shaped sword, slightly smaller than the others, with a long white handle and a blade shimmering with specs of red. It was light and well balanced and, though the red specs showed signs of rust, Brother Brighton knew the sword was easily worth a basket of fresh vegetables.\n\nAnd so, in the short-sighted nature he was accustomed to, young Brother Brighton took the sword, snuck out of the priory, and, with the optimistic notion of selling the blade, traveled to town.\n\nHe would not have the chance to negotiate terms with a blacksmith or merchant for his arrival in Hollow's Crossing was interrupted by a band of brutish thugs harassing the townsfolk. And though Brother Brighton had taken an oath to help the helpless, he had no intention of interceding on anyone's behalf.\n\nHe slipped behind a bale of hay and tightly shut his eyes, hoping to remain unnoticed. When one of the brutes detected him and demanded his possessions or his life, Brother Brighton was too frightened to even cry.\n\nHe reached at his side to surrender the sword, but when his fingers gripped the handle, he felt a strange fire surge through his arm and shoulder.\n\nInstantly, and completely unaware, Brother Brighton parried the brute's blade and severed his arm from its socket.\n\nThe man blinked with surprise and staggered back. He glanced a few paces to his right where his lifeless arm had landed. Then he collapsed.\n\nBrother Brighton, now more terrified than before, tried to apologize to the unconscious man. As he attempted to move forward, his arm jerked right and, to his astonishment, the red speckled blade caught a bulbous metal mace as it descended toward his head.\n\nThe sword twisted and, in a single swing, parted the second brute's head from his body. The head hit the dirt while the body took three more steps before joining it.\n\nThe bandits, after seeing their leader so easily beheaded, fled Hollow's Crossing and disbanded shortly thereafter.\n\nDespite the battered peasants' applause, Brother Brighton still felt sickened by his actions for it was as if his arm moved of its own volition. He hid the sword within his robe and returned to the priory carrying three baskets of fresh vegetables that he had received as gifts for his heroic, though unintentional, service.\n\nThe truth, which young Brother Brighton had yet to learn, was that the red speckled blade had had a multitude of owners since its creator had discarded it, the most recent being the Gray King.\n\nYears before he had earned, or more precisely stolen, the title of King, The Gray King had acquired the blade from a gray mountain troll nearly three days journey from Hollow's Crossing.\n\nThe King, then a young soldier known as Vallis Muridus, was part of a group of soldiers sent to fortify the roads between Hollow's Crossing and the passage into Shadowcrest. The task was not an easy one for the path stretched across the unlived wilderness, and many monsters and beasts needed to be slain before progress could be made.\n\nAfter nearly a full day of fighting, as the soldiers reached the shadow of the mountain, a fat gray troll smashed their ranks with a tree trunk and proceeded to eat the men alive, sucking their skin and bone out through the holes of their armor.\n\nNo matter how valiantly they fought, the soldiers could not overtake the troll for his skin was tougher than the hardest of rocks and their spears and swords shattered on impact.\n\nYoung Vallis Muridus, being both clever and bold, pleaded for just one thing before he was to be eaten. He asked graciously to see the troll's wondrous bridge.\n\nThe troll looked at the young man with confusion for he did not, nor had he ever been in possession of a bridge.\n\nVallis continued to lay his trap carefully. He acted surprised and pondered, quite loudly, how a troll as fat and strong as the one before him could not be in possession of a bridge.\n\nThe gray troll, innately stupid and immensely jealous, demanded a bridge immediately though he did not in fact know what a bridge was or what he would do with it.\n\nVallis humbly offered to build the troll a bridge for a few measly items in the troll's possession - the items included two sacks worth of gold coins, the red speckled sword, a worn cart and, of course, his life.\n\nThe troll, Thrall Stinkerbottom, having already devoured the other soldiers of Vallis Muridus' company and being quite content, agreed to the young man's terms and swore an oath to protect the bridge once it was built.\n\nMany citizens of the kingdom believe that is how the King, Vallis Muridus, affectionately became known as the Gray King, but that is merely a rumor spread to cast doubt on the truth.\n\nThe origin of his name came about some weeks after he usurped the throne and seized the kingdom. Though he was young when he possessed the crown, he appeared older and more worn. Some attributed his aged appearance to the three year war he fought to claim the kingdom, but most knew that not even the most rugged battle could twist time so quickly.\n\nThe day the King acquired his nickname was the same day Valerian Woodwolf, a swordsman and assassin, made an attempt on his life.\n\nValerian challenged the King to a duel, and because of the King's oath to the House of Sun and Steel; he had no choice but to accept. The battle lasted nearly a full day and half the night, carrying with it a heavy toll.\n\nThe King drew the red speckled sword and a silver goblin shield while Valerian relied on two short blades of blue steel.\n\nValerian swung first and quick, but his best attempts were deflected with ease and the King swiftly countered with a flurry of thrusts. Normally, a single strike from the red speckled sword meant death, but Valerian dodged and parried attacks the way a bird slips between branches on a tree.\n\nThe swordplay broke through the large hall, across the courtyard, and into the north spire, eventually ending on the crumbling west wall overlooking the cliffs and water below. The King and Valerian traded blows on the edge of the deathly drop.\n\nThe King twisted, parried, and thrust the silver goblin shield into Valerian's unguarded nose. He tumbled backwards, losing one of his blue blades over the edge of the cliff. The King moved with inhuman speed and strength and Valerian knew he had lost.\n\nInstead of suffering the imminent and uncomfortable death he mostly deserved, Valerian jumped from the ledge and took his chances with the ocean below.\n\nThe King, though victorious, had suffered a wound that was irreversible. This wound was not inflicted by the adept Valerian Woodwolf though it was indeed a result of the duel.\n\nThe King had entered the battle as a relatively young man, but he ended it as a feeble and weary old one. His hair and beard were gray. His back slouched. His skin was wrinkled and spotted with age. And he spoke in drawn-out whispers.\n\nTo the surprise of all who had observed the duel, this transformation had occurred in mere hours. The more vicious the King fought, the older he seemed to become until he needed help lifting even the small, silver goblin shield.\n\nThe Royal Council hid the King in the castle for many years until his appearance more closely matched his age, but those who had seen the incredible battle affectionately began calling him the Gray King.\n\nBrother Brighton was not aware of these events, nor would he have been smart enough to link them to his current troubles for thinking was not one of his best traits. He did, however, notice deep creases on his pudgy cheeks and around his eyes which had not been there the day before.\n\nHe attributed these worry lines to the excitement in Hollow's Crossing and not to the red speckled sword hidden under his bed. If he had known the history of the blade, perhaps he would not have carried it with him as he traveled about the priory, but the weight of it on his belt gave him a sense of confidence and worth.\n\nHis self-indulgence proved useful on one occasion when a fire sprite accidentally set the winery ablaze. Fire sprites have a particular taste for honey beer and raspberry wine which the priory had in abundance, since it was their primary source of income. And though fire sprites are generally friendly, or as friendly as a floating ball of fire can be, they are more than willing to burn through a wall to get at a sweet and intoxicating nectar.\n\nNormally young Brother Brighton would have ignored the cries for help coming from within the burning building, but Gali Riazzi, the tavern owner's daughter, was at the priory running errands for her father.\n\nBrother Brighton, like most men after looking upon Gali Riazzi, was immediately in love and felt compelled to impress her for her beauty was far greater than any other within the kingdom.\n\nHe gripped the white handle of his sword as a means to collect his courage, and then he entered the burning building to save his trapped brothers.\n\nThe old wood burned bright and the flames licked at the young Brother Brighton's robe, and though the fabric sizzled and caught fire, his skin remained unharmed, and in fact quite cool. He could not explain this phenomenon, nor did he particularly care, for the ceiling beams cracked and fell toward his head.\n\nInstantly the red speckled sword swung up, cutting the heavy wood in two. The blade was so quick and focused it was as if even the air had been sliced in half. The sudden collapse sent flames spiraling up through the roof, enshrouding Brother Brighton in a pillar of fire and ash. His clothes and shoes disintegrated before his eyes and were carried away by the wave of heat.\n\nSlightly embarrassed, but completely unharmed, Brother Brighton stepped through the flickering flames naked as the day he was born.\n\nHe found his three brothers cowering in a corner, fenced in by the fire. He had grown accustomed to the other brothers laughing and jeering at his own cowardice, but in that instant, when he saw them weeping and pleading for mercy, he felt a surge of power tighten around his spirit.\n\nOvercome with confidence, he swung the sword down at the flames. A razor sharp burst of air extinguished the fire and tore a hole through the stone wall. The four of them escaped through the opening and, like the other residents of the priory, wearily watched the winery burn to the ground.\n\nThe other brothers hailed Brother Brighton as a champion and hero for his timely, though completely unexpected, courage. His survival was a mystery and a miracle for not even a single scratch could be found on his body. The only strangeness was that his hair had gone gray around his temples.\n\nThough denser than most, Brother Brighton had, by now, begun to suspect the red speckled blade of being more than simply a blade. The thought both excited and terrified him for he could not imagine the other strengths it possessed.\n\nOne of the previous users of the blade, Azura Azazzi, while using the sword's fire immunity to scavenge a volcano for her missing father, discovered another property of the blade that would unfortunately follow her to her grave.\n\nHer father did not make it a habit of visiting volcanoes and, in truth, spent little time outside the confines of his metal works for it was, aside from gambling and his daughter, his greatest passion. His reputation as a blacksmith was known throughout the kingdom and, to such a degree that many claimed it was not the Gray King who had won the three-year war, but actually Szevor Azazzi due to his finely crafted weapons.\n\nThis was, of course, partly true. Szevor Azazzi's emblem, which marked every weapon, shield, and armor of the Gray King's army, had garnered so much fame and respect during the war that the Gray King took the emblem as part of his own.\n\nThe Gray King paid his good and long time friend with this honor by giving him nearly a third of the gold taken during the assault on the capital city, which Szevor Azazzi was more than willing to accept since his gambling debt was exceedingly long and well overdue.\n\nHe designed a slightly different emblem for himself and continued his trade as a blacksmith. Though his abilities as a blacksmith were celebrated, his skills as a gambler were almost equally renowned for their awfulness.\n\nHe lost at Ogre Dice, Faerie Bones, and especially Seersight, despite his passion for it. Soon even the success of his business could not match the failure of his gambling and his debt was greater than it had ever been. As a result, Orewiin Triseltree demanded immediate payment or the wedding vows of Szevor's beautiful daughter.\n\nThe only thing Szevor loved more than gambling and metal works was his daughter, and his heart ached that she should be punished for his foolish mistakes.\n\nHe decided to craft a set of armor so incredible that a gray mountain troll could not crush it, nor a red goblin pierce it with a spear. It would be so durable that not even Valerian blue steel would leave a scratch after striking it.\n\nThe armor would more than pay for his debt. The only reason he had yet to craft it was that a scavenger had not yet been brave enough to bring him the deadly materials required for its construction and so, with a guilty heart, Szevor Azazzi travelled alone to the volcano in search of the first set of ingredients.\n\nIn order to melt the ore and fold the metal to the degree that would be required, regular fire could not be used for it would not burn hot enough. Only Dragon's fire from an orange-tailed cave dragon, which resides in volcanoes, would have the consistency and temperature needed.\n\nWhen Szevor had not returned after nearly a week, Azura went searching for him. Though it did not belong to her, and despite instructions not to touch it, she brought the red speckled sword for she knew it contained powers that would protect her from the flames.\n\nWhile there, among the molten lava and toxic gasses, she was confronted by a swarm of red winged dragon larks. Dragon larks are small, about the size of a cat, with mild fire-breathing and an inquisitive temperament.\n\nA single dragon lark is a mild annoyance, but a swarm had been known to destroy whole caravans and burn travelers so badly they died within moments.\n\nAzura, having spent years testing her father's weapons and armor, was exceptionally skilled with a blade, but she knew a swarm of dragon larks could easily overtake her. As a reflex she lifted the blade in a defensive gesture.\n\nThe dragon larks cowered at its presence. They tucked their tail between their legs and skittered back into the small crevices of the cave. Whichever direction she lifted the blade, the dragon larks immediately fled. They reacted to the blade as if it was a recognized predator.\n\nWith an unobstructed path, it didn't take Azura long to reach the interior of the volcano. She found torn cloth resembling her father's wardrobe. She followed it through the maze of caverns until she reached a nest of dragon eggs. There were at least five eggs, each one speckled with shades of orange.\n\nShe saw her father curled in a ball and half unconscious at the rear of the cave. She ran to him. He was alive, but just barely. Scratches covered his body and there were several long gashes across his head and legs. She slid under his arm and tried her best to carry him, but he was heavy and they moved slow.\n\nA shriek echoed off the walls of the cave. Azura looked up in time to see an orange tailed cave dragon descending on their path. It screeched and stretched its long, sharp wings across the breadth of the cave.\n\nAzura lifted the sword, readying herself for a fight she knew she could not win. The dragon's eyes widened at the sight of the red speckled blade. It pulled its wings back and lowered its head in concession.\n\nThere was a softness to its gaze and a glimmer of respect. Azura did not stop to ponder the strange gesture; instead, she seized the moment by carrying her father through the caverns and into the safety of the woods.\n\nThe moment they returned home, Szevor had the red speckled blade returned to the Gray King and Azura never got the chance to explore the blade's extraordinary power over dragons.\n\nEven if the blade had remained, Azura would not have had the time to use it for she had to immediately prepare for her engagement and eventual wedding to Orewiin Triseltree since her father had failed to pay his debt.\n\nBrother Brighton had noticed that in some ways the red speckles on the blade resembled scales, but he had never once associated the speckles with those of a dragon's for Brother Brighton had never actually seen a dragon.\n\nHe did however, due to his overzealous confidence, believe that he could slay a dragon if he was ever confronted by one.\n\nAfter the winery incident, he openly began carrying the sword around the priory and quit his afternoon choirs in order to practice his swordsmanship which was a horrendously awkward sight.\n\nHe swung the blade in unwieldy directions and vehemently attacked a bale of hay, missing it nearly a third of the time. The other brothers could not question Brother Brighton's methods for, when the time came and no matter the odds, he was always victorious.\n\nSince the honey beer and raspberry wine had been devoured by the fire sprite, the priory had barely enough money to satisfy their daily needs and when winter came, they would most certainly starve.\n\nIt was decided, purely out of desperation, that Brother Brighton would enter the annual arena tournament held by the House of Sun and Steel. The victor would receive three bricks of solid gold and the title of Champion of the West Roads.\n\nThe three bricks of gold would be enough for the priory to last two winters and half of a third. The prior, though reluctant, gave Brother Brighton his blessing.\n\nThe tournament was broken into three parts. First, battle against beasts. Second, battle of similar armaments. And finally, battle for champion.\n\nBrother Brighton's first opponent was a blue tongued carnecorus. Its big bulbous eyes protruded from the side of its head and its long blue tongue hung from its wide, toothless mouth. Its tiny legs barely touched the ground for the majority of its weight rested on its two muscular appendages, which in a perverse way resembled arms. Its rough hide dripped with slime, and, given its intense slouch, it measured just about the same height as Brother Brighton.\n\nThe red speckled sword twisted left, deflecting the blue tongue as it shot across the arena. The force sent Brother Brighton tumbling to the right, but he regained his footing quickly.\n\nThe tongue darted out again, but this time the sword jerked forward, splitting the tongue in two. The carnecorus jerked back with pain and galloped to the left.\n\nThe sword yanked Brother Brighton to the right in pursuit.\n\nThe carnecorus leaped into the air and swung its sharp claws at Brother Brighton's neck. The blade caught the claws and redirected the creature's momentum, sending it into the wall.\n\nIt hit hard, shook its head, and stumbled forward slightly disoriented. Rage darkened its eyes. The creature heaved twice then spewed yellow vomit at Brother Brighton. It sizzled like acid and burnt through his robe. He threw the robe to the ground before the yellow poison touched his skin.\n\nHis arm and shoulder jolted with pain as if on fire, but not from the acid. The pain originated at the tips of his fingers where they tightly gripped the white handle of the sword. It was as if the red speckles were pulsing to the rhythm of his heart.\n\nThe sword felt lighter, but at the same time his heart suddenly felt heavier.\n\nThe blade heaved backwards, sending Brother Brighton into a roll. His blade arm jerked upward, directly into the chest of the creature.\n\nAs Brother Brighton finished turning, the blade slit the creature from its chest to its waist, killing it in single stroke.\n\nThe crowd howled and cheered while Brother Brighton walked to the exit. When he sheathed the sword, his joints began to ache and he felt unusually short of breath.\n\nFor the second tier of the tournament, Brother Brighton fought Knight Errant Unni Escalus - a skilled warrior who favored a battle axe and, when necessary, a broad and crescent shaped short sword.\n\nEscalus was a large and tall man, nearly a head taller than Brother Brighton. His armor had a blue glimmer and a sigil belonging to the red wizards of the east. His axe had similar symbols, though Brother Brighton could only guess at their meaning.\n\nEscalus bowed to the head of the House of Sun and Steel, then to the crowd, and finally to Brother Brighton.\n\nBrother Brighton quickly and awkwardly bowed in return.\n\nEscalus drew his axe with incredible speed and slammed it into the dirt of the arena. The earth rippled. Four boulders erupted from the ground and spiraled toward Brother Brighton. He rolled, dodging one, as another cut across his shoulder.\n\nHe yelped with pain and stumbled to the dirt. His shoulder bled, but just barely. He drew the red speckled blade and felt the sharp tingling pain in his arm once again, but the pain stretched across his whole body now.\n\nThe blade darted forward, diverting the axe head while slicing the glimmering breast plate. At the instant of impact, the armor radiated an intense gust of scorching wind.\n\nBrother Brighton was flung into the air and tumbled across the arena. His skin would have been blistering if the red speckled blade did not shield him from the heat.\n\nHe begrudgingly stood and lifted his sword toward Escalus. The crowd cheered and hollered for more.\n\nEscalus sprinted forward, swinging the axe horizontally. Brother Brighton pulled back, sidestepping the arc, while slamming the hilt of his sword into the back of Escalus's head.\n\nThe crowd gasped for in that moment, Brother Brighton's hair had gone gray.\n\nEscalus rolled forward, swinging his axe as he turned. Brother Brighton caught it with the red speckled blade. The symbols on the axe began to glow and Escalus's strength seemed to double.\n\nBrother Brighton slammed his free hand into Escalus's nose and twisted the blade against his axe hand.\n\nThe axe dropped and Escalus fell to his knees. Brother Brighton's arm shimmered with speckles of red and in an instant Escalus felt the blade lightly touch his throat. He lifted his arms in defeat.\n\nThe crowd screamed with excitement as Escalus left the arena feeling like a lesser man.\n\nBrother Brighton tried to sheath the red speckled sword, but his hand would not release it. He pulled harder until finally his hand came free, but bits of his flesh stuck to the white handle.\n\nHe immediately collapsed, feeling as if a fire had been lit within his chest. His muscles felt knotted and his joints refused to bend. The prior and two brothers had to carry him back to the tent.\n\nThey laid him in a bed where he stayed for a full day and night. He could not explain what was happening to his body, but he knew it was a side effect of the red speckled sword.\n\nHis arm glimmered with blotches of red identical to the blade, and he felt a strange need to hold it once again. He could not say why, but he had a strong sense that the sword was much more than an enchanted piece of metal.\n\nAnd, in a sense, he was correct for the sword was not enchanted, nor, in fact, was it made of metal. The original owner of the sword, Wynn Oxx, was a kind man of common birth who kept the sword not as a weapon, but as a remembrance.\n\nA long time ago, when the kingdom was still only a small collection of tribes, when the Swamp Singers of the South and the Nine Giants of the North kept order and held the world in subterfuge, it was the red winged sky dragons of the east that saw the potential of humanity.\n\nThe dragons, once the dominant species of the realm, had been pushed to near extinction and exiled to the east by the Swamp Singers of the South. Their numbers remained too small to go to war and they feared their home would forever be forfeit. But one dragon, Ossk Skevv, noticed how quickly the humans were capable of breeding and realized how swiftly an army could be made.\n\nThe other Dragon Lords agreed, but the humans were weak. Nearly two hundred would be needed to defeat a single swamp singer, many more for a giant of the north. Weapons would be required - weapons stronger than iron and steel.\n\nAnd so, out of pride and desperation, the Dragon Lords performed an ancient and forbidden ritual to guarantee their young's survival.\n\nFive of the Dragon Lords were chosen. They danced in a circle of vibrant blue flame and sang to the spirits of their fallen. A shaman's brew was spread across their wings and the scales of their body until the air was heavy with its smell and the five dragons collapsed from the pain.\n\nA swarm of faeries rose out of the earth and bit into the dragon's sinewy bodies, removing a portion of bone, muscle and scales. Then, using an ancient red goblin recipe, the faeries fashioned the organic pieces into five weapons suitable for a human's physique.\n\nThe dragons distributed the five weapons to human soldiers chosen at random for the dragons knew that the weapons could not belong to one human for long.\n\nThe weapons drew their power from the life-force of their wielder and humans were far too weak to handle a dragonborn weapon for long. It aged them. And though it would not kill them, their bones would become so brittle; a single step could shatter their body.\n\nThe dragons knew of this risk, but felt there were so many humans that when one fell another would swiftly appear to wield the weapon at the following battle.\n\nWynn Oxx was one of the first five humans to wield a weapon, and unfortunately, the only one not to be killed by it.\n\nHe travelled south, battling three swamp singers before becoming feeble. He fought valiantly and deliberately took difficult assignments so that his fellow soldiers could avoid the brunt of the battle.\n\nHis noble heart caught the attentions of Ossk Skevv, who did not realize humans were capable of such compassion. Skevv suddenly felt a sense of guilt for it was his plan that had sent so many humans to their deaths.\n\nDefying the wishes of the Dragon Lords, Skevv flew into battle and took hold of Wynn Oxx before the blade had crippled him. They flew far away from the battle and hid deep in the woods.\n\nBy the time they had landed, Wynn was already a very old man. All the hair had fallen from his head and he could barely walk, let alone stand.\n\nSkevv returned Wynn to his hometown of Icehedge and remained there to care for him until his death some years later.\n\nThe red speckled sword, as the Dragon Lords had predicted, was acquired by another soldier and carried into the following battle where it proved to be especially effective against the swamp singers.\n\nBrother Brighton was not aware of the weapon's pedigree, nor would it have mattered much for the prior insisted that Brother Brighton continue the tournament. There was too much at stake to withdraw now.\n\nAnd so, with a stern look and unapologetic heart, the prior and the two other brothers pulled Brother Brighton out of bed and carried him to the arena.\n\nThe opponent for the final match was a red wizard by the name of Faye Rayner. She was of average height and slender, wearing a scarlet robe. Her arms and neck were covered with colorful and intricate tattoos.\n\nIn one hand she held a short serpent-tipped sword, in the other a white wand. Her rings and necklaces had a faint purple glow. She looked confident and worse, eager.\n\nBrother Brighton drop to his knees and coughed. He felt dizzy and sick. Bits of his hair had begun to fall out and some lay on the dirt in front of him. The prior tossed the sword at Brother Brighton's side and said a short blessing for him then quickly left.\n\nBrother Brighton stared at Faye Rayner. He didn't feel like fighting anymore. He didn't feel like being champion either, but he had to fight or die or worse, starve.\n\nHe took hold of the red speckled sword and the crowd began to cheer for blood.\n\nFaye flicked her wand and a burst of lightning cut through the air.\n\nBrother Brighton rolled left, avoiding it. His body tingled as energy surged between the blade and his arm.\n\nFaye flicked the white wand again.\n\nBrother Brighton dipped right, swinging his sword into the dirt. A whirlwind of dust leaped across the arena at Faye. She thrust her hand forward. Her purple ring shimmered as the dust flew around her.\n\nShe swayed the wand through the air in a circular pattern. A cold mist swirled above her head, then she slammed the wand downward. Three lines of razor sharp ice raced across the dirt, slicing Brother Brighton across the thigh.\n\nHe groaned and tried to move, but his leg was frozen in place.\n\nFaye flicked the wand again, sending another bolt of lightning.\n\nBrother Brighton deflected it with his sword. His arm quivered at the force. He knew he wouldn't be able to take another direct hit from her wand.\n\nHis blade glimmered from the heat of the lightning. He shrugged and shoved the hot blade against the ice around his leg. Almost immediately the ice melted. He limped left while the feeling returned to his foot.\n\nFaye swung the wand in another pattern, this time at her side. The air around her crackled and flickered with intense heat.\n\nSuddenly a stream of liquid fire and molten lava exploded from her wand. It enveloped Brother Brighton and the crowd gasped.\n\nBrother Brighton was, of course, unharmed for the red speckled blade protected him from the heat and flames, but he felt a strange sensation across his body. It was like every part of his body was working without his consent.\n\nHis arm shoved the blade outward and began moving forward though the burning liquid. It spilled across his shoulders and streamed down his back, but to him it felt only like a strong breeze.\n\nHis arm thrust the sword through the lava, splitting the white wand in two. Faye twisted back surprised. She awkwardly swung the serpent-tipped short sword.\n\nBrother Brighton parried her blade and punched her across the jaw. She stumbled back and before she could regain her footing, Brother Brighton was already behind her with the tip of his blade lightly touching the back of her neck.\n\nThe crowd was speechless.\n\nAfter stepping out from the lava, Brother Brighton appeared old and decrepit, as if he had already been dead for some time. His arms and legs were as thin as twigs. His cheeks were sullen and his skin was nearly transparent.\n\nThe sword suddenly felt very heavy in his hand. His strength was fleeting and his head weary. He stumbled backwards. When his body hit the ground, it shattered into gray powder and mixed with the dirt. The red speckled blade clattered beside him completely unharmed.\n\nThe crowd gasped with disbelieve then suddenly cheered and howled with excitement for they had never seen such an intense duel.\n\nThey attributed Brother Brighton's demise to the powerful magic of Faye Rayner. She, of course, could not explain how her opponent had turned to dust and, luckily, did not have to.\n\nThe head of the House of Sun and Steel pronounced her the Champion of the West Roads and presented her with the three bricks of gold which the prior enviously glared at.\n\nThe red speckled sword was returned to the priory and placed in storage where it collected dust for many more years.\n\nAfter the tournament, while inspecting the sword, the prior thought he noticed an additional red spec glimmering on the blade, but he could not be sure and thought little of it after that day.\n\n<<back>>

<center><h1>Author Commentary</h1></center>\nWhen the author commentary is turned “on” short paragraphs will appear throughout Seven Bullets providing insight on a particular scene, character, or theme.\nThe paragraphs will appear in a different font and color similar to this one.\nThe author commentary can be toggled on or off from the Options menu.\n\n<>\nCommentaries Unlocked\n \n<<if $soThatsWhatHappens is true>>Intro Commentary <<if $introComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>><<else>>@@color:#B2B2B2;Hidden@@<<endif>>\n<<if $starTrippin is true>>Ragnoss Commentary <<if $ragnossComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>><<else>>@@color:#B2B2B2;Hidden@@<<endif>>\n<<if $neverGiveUp is true>>Hell Commentary <<if $hellComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>><<else>>@@color:#B2B2B2;Hidden@@<<endif>>\n<<if $governmentSecrets is true>>Secret Facility Commentary <<if $montanaComments is true>>is ON<<else>>is OFF<<endif>><<else>>@@color:#B2B2B2;Hidden@@<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 113>>\n<<endnobr>>You push open the door to the first office. It’s empty. The vantage point is a little off, but with your skills it won’t matter. You shove everything off the desk and push the desk against the wall below the window.\n\nThe windows are reinforced and, unfortunately, don’t open. Normally you would have brought something to deal with that, but you’ve been a little busy.\n\nIt’ll be messy and loud, but the bullet will do the job ...It’ll have to.\n\nYou assemble the sniper rifle on the desk and align it with the Boss’s penthouse. You lay flat on the desk and adjust the scope.\n\nSuddenly you realize you forgot to lock the door.\n\n[[Get up and lock it]]\n[[Don't bother]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1061>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Your hands are shaky, but you put the car in gear. You step on the gas and a wave of pins and needles shoot up your side.\n\nYour arm feels like it’s screwed on backwards, and your shoulder feels like the seat is made of razor sharp forks. You’ve made it through worse before, but you didn’t have to worry about Gillian then. And if things got really bad, you could always count on a team to extract you. Now, you can’t even count on your arms to work.\n\nYou could use a few days of rest, probably a few weeks, but Gillian doesn’t have that long. Who knows what the Boss is doing to her right now – or having done to her. He’s more the voyeuristic type.\n\nJust thinking it makes the hairs on your neck stand up.\n\nYou rub the dry blood from your cheek and try to clear your head. You’re not the type to fall on your sword, but getting stabbed one more time is really the least of your worries.\n\nGillian wouldn’t even need to think about it. She’d risk herself to save you no matter the cost. That’s what family does, and she’s all the family you have left.\n\nYou twist the car around and drive to the penthouse.\n\nYou can’t count on the Boss to be merciful – you can’t even be sure he has a conscious – but he is a business man, and he’ll be willing to make a deal if the terms are compelling enough. He knows you’re one of the best, and he doesn’t know how badly you’ve been hurt. As long as he doesn’t call your bluff, this just might work.\n\nYou pull into an alley near the penthouse. You reach into the backseat, which hurts tremendously, and take a burn phone from the bag.\n\nYou call Alana. She’s not like your BFF or anything. The last time you saw each other she tried to massage your back with a power drill, but of all the Boss’s assassins, she’s the only one that never leaves his side.\n<<if $introComments is true>>When creating a fictional character, it’s important to give them at least one likable quality, one flaw, and one passion. Alana is my exception to that rule.She doesn’t really have a likable quality. If anything, she’s like a jealous dog that will bite and claw to get the Boss’s attention.<<endif>>\nYou hear her pickup. “Hey besty,” you say coldly. “I have a message for the Boss.”\n\nYou can tell she’s biting her tongue.\n\n“Tell him to let Gillian go and I’ll turn myself in. Otherwise,” you keep the pause long for dramatic effect. “Boom.”\n\nYou hear her cover the receiver with her hand. A moment later you hear her silvery voice. “Can you see the entrance?"\n\nYou pull a pair of binoculars from your bag.\n\nGillian is standing in the lobby. Alana is behind her with an arm wrapped around Gillian’s waist. Something glitters in her hand – probably a knife.\n\nAlana’s voice is crisp and playful. “Come inside now or we get to see what your sister’s intestines look like.” She almost hangs-up, then pulls the phone back to her mouth. “Bring whatever toys you want, just remember what happens if you try to play with them.”\n\nYou hear Gillian whimper over the phone as the knife presses into her stomach.\n\nSo much for that whole bluffing idea.\n\nYou grab a pistol and a grenade. You probably won’t get a chance to use either, but just having them is reassuring.\n\nYou cross the street and approach the entrance from an angle.\n\nThe Boss waits for you inside. Alana grins when she sees you. She reminds you of a shark that’s caught the scent of blood.\n\n“Alright,” you say, making sure they see the gun in your hand. “Let her go.”\n\nThe Boss glances at Alana, and she begrudgingly @@color:#000081;releases Gillian.@@\n\nThe Boss opens his arms in a helpless manner. “You know how enthusiastic Alana can get. I only wanted to speak with you.”\n\n“Try using a phone next time.”\n\n“We both know I would need more than a phone to get your attention.”\n\nHe’s right about that.\n\n“Well, you’ve got my attention now.”\n\nHe smiles. “It would seem so, though I wish it was under different circumstances.”\n\n“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. So talk already.”\n\n“There’s no delicate way to put this,” he sighs, but continues smiling. “Your sister is dying. So are you for that matter.”\n\nYou aim the pistol at his head. “What did you do?”\n\n“I am acting entirely as a friend in these matters,” he says soothingly. “I recently received information concerning your condition. Your sister has been my guest while I investigated the matter further.”\n\n“I didn’t know trigger-happy was a condition.”\n\n“Humph,” he laughs. “The condition I speak of is genetic. I’ve already run the tests. Your sister has been very helpful.” He motions toward her.\n\nShe opens her jacket. Tubes and electrical wires run from her chest to a small box around her waist. “I’m sorry,” she says.\n\nThe Boss turns his attention back to you. “The gene is something you both share. We don’t know what or how it’s triggered, but if we can’t find a cure, you’ll die just like her.”\n\nYou look at the tubes jutting from your sister’s side. “How do I know you aren’t the one that did this to her...or me?”\n\n“Modify your genes? You give me too much credit.”\n\nYeah, that’s true. The Boss is a lot of things, but this just isn’t his style. “So what’s the catch? Why are you helping us?”\n\nHe smirks and rolls his eyes as if the answer was obvious. “My employees are my family, and I always take care of my family.”\n\nThat last bit makes you feel a little nervous. You bet Lizzie Borden said the same thing.\n\nThe Boss continues, “A new drug is being tested in Montana. The results have been impressive, to say the least. The subjects suffer from the same genetic abnormality as you and your sister. I hear the drug trials are nearly complete. Unfortunately, some of the human test subjects have disappeared. Retrieving them would be...very productive.”\n\nHe pauses for a moment. “There is another option, of course. My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius I hear, who is quite knowledgeable in matters such as these.” The Boss strokes his mustache. “I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused.\n\n“If you could persuade her to work for me, she might be able to accelerate your sister’s recovery.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 597>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $force = $force -8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Like you could ever really trust a demon in Hell.\n\nYou grab the Commander’s shoulders and shake him hard. “This @@color:#000081;isn’t real.@@ You need to remember.”\n\nHe looks at you with bewilderment.\n\n“Maybe something horrible did happen here, but you need to let it go. You need to move on. Try to remember.”\n\nHe looks down and away, trying to recall. “The ship was sinking and,” he struggles with the memory. “I was going to do the honorable thing. I was going down with my ship. It was my responsibility, but I changed my mind at the last minute.”\n\nHe glances back toward the bridge. “I ran for the lifeboats and,” his eyes go wide. “I left him behind. There was a wounded sailor. I could have helped him, but I was scared. I ran.” He glances at the escape pod and then back at Ayporos as if he was remembering an eternity of torment.\n\n“No,” he whispers. “I know you. I-I know you,” he says pointing frantically at Ayporos. “No more,” he screams. “No more!”\n\nThe Commander grabs your arm, flings you into the escape pod, and swings the door shut.\n\n@@color:#000081;“Wait,”@@ you shout. Your voice is muffled and even if it wasn’t, you’ve got a feeling the Commander wouldn’t listen. “Jazelle,” you try to yell.\n\nAyporos touches her shoulder and she immediately @@color:#000081;vanishes.@@\n\n“No,” you scream.\n\nThe Commander dashes down the corridor and out of sight.\n\nAyporos casually walks to the escape hatch. He gives you a dissatisfied smile. “Do not worry. He will not get far. We are on a sinking ship after all.” Ayporos sighs longingly. “I truly wish our brief entanglement was more beneficial. I had such wonderful plans for the both of us.”\n\nHe gracefully waves his hand through the air like a conductor. “It was not easy orchestrating your escape and keeping you hidden from the others. I had hoped we could come to an agreement. Our desires are not mutually exclusive.” Ayporos shakes his head. “You had such potential. Perhaps your sister will fare better.”\n\n“No,” you shout. “I’ll help you. I’ll do whatever you want, just leave her out of this.”\n\n“If only it was that simple. This place may be a demon crafted fiction, but once the gears are in motion, they must turn. I am truly sorry.” He turns and casually walks down the corridor after the Commander.\n\n“Wait,” you shout. “Just open the door. Come back. The door,” you scream, but he’s already out of sight. Suddenly, the metal walls buckle and water spews from the bolts. The floor floods with water.\n\nYou pound on the door. “Let me out,” you cry, but no one can hear you. Looks like you’re on your own. You frantically search the small space for some kind of crowbar or lever to open the door, but there’s nothing.\n\nThe water rises. It’s nearly up to your knees. Then you remember the chalk. You can use it to draw a door. You rummage through your pockets until you find the bag. You fumble with the opening and yank out a piece of chalk.\n\nThe water’s up to your waist. You draw a rectangle, but the water keeps washing away the outline. You try again and again, but there’s just too much water. It’s already up to your neck now. \n\nThe chalk slips out of your fingers. You tread water, gasping for every breath. Your head bobs under the water as the last bit of air is consumed by the ocean. You feel a heavy coldness in your lungs and then...\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 254>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;press No.@@ The console blinks. You hear fans spin on the other side of the lab.\n\nAnother line of text appears: @@color:#B2B2B2;Error. Simulation cannot be terminated at this time. Input variables are outside the parameters of the system...@@\n\nAnother line of text appears: @@color:#B2B2B2;Attempting re-calibration...@@\n\nThe screen flashes.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Re-calibration failed. Memory corruption detected.\nSimulation initiated with errors...@@\n\nThe screen flashes again.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;{dhhkoe :/29xr 9 = = - 03] @jsll ;/&#kjdim..\ni(#8jd + =38.8 %jdj .uq {:k/od ] [opp]\n[23> dki :/dd <dk [23!xr] {ps&45} .s]\n\n... ... ...\nError: system operating outside parameters.\nError: heat limit exceeded.\nError: hardware failure imminent.\nPlease input shutdown override code:@@\n\nThe fans spin louder. Sparks erupt from the machines. The floor begins to vibrate. You hear what sounds like the hum of an engine. Bright purple and blue lights flood the room. A glowing sphere appears in the center, pulsating and pulling machinery into its center.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The garbled computer text here always reminds me of the hacking game in Fallout 3 ...that was such a good game.<<endif>>\nThe room gets hotter. The light whips through the room like tiny tentacles. The gravity shifts toward the sphere. Everything is being pulled toward it. You try to grab hold of the console, but one of the tentacles twists around your leg, pulling you into the air.\n\nYour foot enters the sphere. Your toes feel like they’ve been set on fire, and your ankle, and your leg. You try to move, try to fight it, but you’re helpless. You feel the tentacles of light envelop you. Your skin feels like it’s being dipped in acid. Your brain reels from the pain. Then everything fades to black.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

Spirit walking is a meditative act in which the spirit temporarily leaves the body to traverse the [[spirit realm]]. While spirit walking, a person’s fortitude and field of vision is determined by the vitality of their soul.\n\nA spirit walk should not be confused with a spirit gaze. A spirit gaze can be preformed by novice shaman or an adept person, but only the most powerful of souls can spirit walk.\n\nDuring a spirit gaze, the spirit remains within the body, but the gazer is able to see not only the tangible objects around them, but also the emotional scars that have been inflicted on those objects – in a sense, allowing them to glimpse elements of the past and the future.\n\nDuring a spirit walk, the soul journeys outside the body and, depending on the skill of the walker, accesses a certain depth of the [[spirit realm]]. During a spirit walk, the walker’s body becomes a doorway that other [[spirits]] can pass through allowing them entry into the tangible realm.\n\nFor this reason, spirit walking becomes extremely dangerous for anyone but the most fortified of souls.\n\n[[Karen|Karen]] was adept at sensing the [[spirit realm]], but had never actually entered it. She had hoped her [[experiment|experiments]] would be the first step in eventually spirit walking unencumbered, but, as the [[two shamans]] had feared, she had underestimated the influence and power she evoked.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1041>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +12>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +24>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>This may not be your fight, but if the castle is overrun your chances of getting home are nonexistent. If the hoard breaks through the barricades, then the walls will be useless. “I’ll fortify the barricades,” you say.\n\n“Very well,” the Prince nods. “The wall is mine. I will send word to my father. You must hold the barricades until his armies return.”\n\nYou point at the Blue Wizard. “What about him?”\n\n“The Aproxiona Accord is suspended against enemies during a time of war. Given our situation, I would deem him an enemy of Sarrejiinn. His fate is... in your hands. Good luck.” The Prince grabs a bow and a quiver of arrows from a dead soldier and sprints across the wall.\n\nYou glance toward Quintus’s lab as you hurry down the stairs. It looks undamaged ...for now. You’ve still got a chance at getting home, but you need to hold these outer walls until reinforcements arrive. \n\nYou see a few peasants and warriors on the lower level. “Are these all the soldiers you have?” You shout to the closest soldier.\n\n“Aye, the rest are searching for the Prince.”\n\n“That’s not enough to make a dent,” you growl.\n\n“Everyone who can fight is holding a weapon, be it a sword, a stone, or a fist.”\n\nSome of the people are barely strong enough to lift a sword, let alone swing one. “Come on,” you shout while getting behind a large wooden cart. “Help me move this in front of the door.”\n\nThe soldier helps you push the @@color:#000081;cart.@@ You might be able to fight off a dozen of those monsters, but if any more than that make it through... You try not to think about it. “Are there any weak points in the wall?”\n\n“No,” the soldier says. “There is no stronger wall in all of Sarrejiinn.”\n\n“I hope that’s true.” You stare at the peasants shivering with terror. “Do any of you know how to fight?”\n\nThey look at each other blankly and then back at you.\n\nThese people don’t stand a chance. You’re going to have to play this @@color:#000081;smart.@@ “Is there a way to get out there without the enemy seeing?”\n\n“Well sure.” The soldier scratches his head. “But why would you want to? It’s not safe on that side.”\n\n“Yeah,” you grown. “I know. I just wish I had a better plan.” You point your sword at the Blue Wizard cowering on the ground. “Take off his clothes.”\n\nThe Blue Wizard stares at the soldier with panic. The soldier shrugs, but does as you command.\n\n“If I’m lucky,” you say, putting on the blue hooded robe. “I can trick some of those creatures into moving away from the gate. Just make sure the archers know not to shoot at me, got it? Now how do I get out there?” \n\nThe soldier points to an iron door. “Through there,” he says. “Then take the hatch down. Make two lefts and a right.”\n\nYou follow his directions and climb out from underneath a large tree. The battle is behind you. You’re in a good position, now you just need to be convincing.\n\nYou wave your arms like the other @@color:#000081;Blue Wizards@@ and walk toward the Ferralliise. In a deep and commanding voice you tell them to fall back. You try to convince the ogres and trolls to do the same. There’s @@color:#000081;chaos@@ in the ranks. The enemy stumbles over itself trying to follow two different sets of orders.\n\nThen the Prince shouts something from the wall, and a torrent of arrows darken the sky. You @@color:#000081;spin@@ behind a Ferralliise as the arrows fall. Two arrows punch through the Ferralliise’s chest. One nearly sticks your arm. You roll the Ferralliise onto the ground.\n\nYou’ve thrown a wrench in their machine, but it won’t be enough to stop them. You need to make them truly afraid. Fear among the troops won’t last. You need to hit higher up the chain of command.\n\nYou sprint further across the battlefield. This is the shot that really matters. You target the Blue Wizard commanding the hoard. It’s a long shot, even for you. You suppress the noise and the disorder. You take a deep breath and concentrate. You pull the trigger.\n\nThe bullet ricochets off a tree.\n\nYou take another deep breath and empty the clip in the direction of the Blue Wizard. You see him jerk backwards and grab at his @@color:#000081;chest.@@\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>There are several different scenes (prior to this one) when the reader might have used the gun. I couldn’t be 100% sure how many bullets were left so I used the phrase “empty the clip” as a catchall.Throughout Seven Bullets there are phrases that have several different interpretations. It’s a little trick I used to maintain continuity between multiple narrative branches.<<endif>>\nYou grin and a hush falls over the battlefield.\n\nYou throw off the blue robe. “I am the great and powerful Wizard of Earth,” you shout. “This castle is under my protection. Any creature that aims to do it harm will die by my magic. Leave now and I’ll let you live,” you say the words the way the Boss would say them, calm but @@color:#000081;threatening.@@\n\nIt’ll take the wizards at least half an hour to figure out you’re bluffing. Hopefully Quintus will have the machine working before then. Now you just need to get back inside the castle in one piece.\n\nYou turn and walk calmly toward the front gate. Appearance is the only thing that matters when you’re bluffing. That’s one of the first things the Boss taught you. And you’re definitely bluffing. These creatures could tear you apart in an instant. You have to stay @@color:#000081;confident.@@ You have to seem in control.\n\nThe Ferralliise hiss and growl at you, but keep their distance.\n\nThe gate opens wide enough for you to get through and then slams down behind you. As soon as you turn the corner, you collapse against the wall out of fear. Your hands shake and you need a moment to catch your breath.\n\nThat little act bought you some time, not much, but hopefully enough to get out of here.\n\nYou jog across the courtyard toward the lab.\n\n“Wait,” the Prince says, grabbing your arm. Blood drenches his face and clothes. “You have the power to defeat their army?”\n\n“No. It was a bluff.”\n\nThe Prince chokes back a laugh. “You are insane and foolish Earth Wizard.”\n\n“It’s been working for me so far.”\n\n“We must use this time to evacuate the civilians.”\n\n“I’ve got someplace I need to be.”\n\n“These people are defenseless. We must help them.”\n\n[[Help the Prince evacuate the civilians]]\n[[Go to Quintus’s lab]]\n

<center>Seven Bullets\nOutline and Notes #03\n\n<img src="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_p01.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_p02.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_p03.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_p04.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_p05.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_p06.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_p07.jpg" align="center" hspace="6">\n\n<html><a href="unlocks/notes/SevenBullets_notes_01.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></html>\n\n<<back>></center>

Haiku #142\n\nThe wind through palm leaves \nisn't rain. California \nwinters are warm ghosts.\n\n\n6-1-2013\n\n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 292>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +96>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +300000000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You turn right and follow the tunnel until you feel a cold metal ladder. You climb it to the surface and roll onto some cool, wet grass. You’re finally free, and it feels good.\n\nYou see the facility in the distance. Black @@color:#000081;smoke@@ billows out of several windows, and @@color:#000081;fires@@ flicker from the upper floors. The virus must have substantially compromised the core systems.\n\nYou pull out the PDA and plug the battery back in. It takes a moment for the system to boot up. As soon as it does, a video alert appears on screen.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Power cores compromised...\nPlease evacuate the facility immediately...@@\n\nThe screen cycles through video feeds from different parts of the facility. You recognize the offices, the server room, and the holding cells.\n\n@@color:#000081;Something@@ catches your eye. You cycle back to the video of the holding cells.\n\nIt’s Gillian.\n\nShe’s locked in one of the cells... but how could you have known...\n\nIf only you had you might have been able to free her. Maybe there’s still time. You sprint for the building.\n\nA wave of @@color:#000081;heat@@ cuts through the air. You’re halted mid-stride as the facility @@color:#000081;explodes@@ and rips in two. The pieces @@color:#000081;collapse@@ and @@color:#000081;crumble@@ to the ground. \n\n[[Stare at the static on the PDA...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1054>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -8>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>These knights and wizards don’t care about you. They don’t care if you make it home. They don’t care what happens to Gillian. All they care about is their precious Prince. They’ve painted a target on your back, and now they’re lining up @@color:#000081;their shot.@@\n\nYou’re on your own. You can’t count on anyone to look out for you. Maybe some of these slaves are going to die, but it’s @@color:#000081;you@@ or them. You don’t have a choice.\n\nYou sprint out of hiding and into the camp. The slaves moan and plead at seeing you. They stretch their skinny arms through the cages begging for your help. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ the green speckled blade against the locks, hurrying from one cage to the next.\n\n“NO!” You hear someone shout from the tree line. It’s Avengral. He sprints toward you. Now he’s showing his true colors.\n\nThe slaves pour out of the cages in a panic. Their bodies are too weak to fight. Some of them can barely even walk. They’ll make for perfect @@color:#000081;cover.@@\n\n“What are you doing?” Avengral yells. “They will get massacred!”\n\n“So you’d rather have me die, wouldn’t you!” You shout back.\n\n“What?” Avengral says confused. “You speak madness. I am your ally.”\n\n“That’s why you set this trap for me?”\n\n“Trap?” Avengral shakes his head. “The only trap is the one you have laid for yourself.”\n\nDoes he take you for a fool? He won’t trick you a second time. No one will ever take advantage of you again. You shove one of the slaves into Avengral and thrust your sword at him. He parries and twists around you. “To the tree line!” He shouts to the slaves.\n\nThey rush toward you and Avengral, nearly trampling you both. You use the chaos to @@color:#000081;jab@@ Avengral in the face.\n\nHe stumbles backwards. “By the Seven Sons of Unthor, you are bewitched.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Unthor was a powerful warlord responsible for uniting the continent of Sarrejiinn. When he died, his seven sons divided the kingdom and ruled as a democratic monarchy. It was a golden age, considered one of the most prosperous and happy times in Sarrejiinn history.Magic was commonly practiced and considered an integral part of social interaction and custom. Wizards and priests oversaw weddings and funerals equally.During their reign, the seven sons repealed thirteen different invasions and fortified Sarrejiinn as a major power on Ragnoss.<<endif>>\n“Nice try,” you say, taking another swing at him.\n\nHe deflects your sword and shoves his fist into your @@color:#000081;nose.@@ You lose your balance and trip over one of the slaves. As you fall, you notice several birds and squirrels sitting intently in the trees above you. Normally you wouldn’t think anything of it, but they stare at you in unison as if they were waiting on something. You can’t be sure, but one of the squirrels just smiled at you.\n\nYou glance back at Avengral. By now, nearly sixty of the slaves are scattered throughout the clearing. The chaos, makes tracking and large scale fighting nearly impossible. Now’s your chance to make a run for it, but then, suddenly, all of the squirrels and birds jump from the trees. As they fall, their bodies transform into other creatures, bears, lions, wolves, and other strange animals you’ve never seen.\n\nThe creatures land on the slaves, tearing the frail human flesh like it was made of paper.\n\n“The Ferralliise!” Avengral shouts as a giant bear lunges at him.\n\nBefore the bear can strike, a flaming arrow pierces its left eye. The bear yowls and tumbles sideways. Avengral stabs it through the chest before its body hits the ground. Two more Red Wizards emerge from the trees, sending bolts of snow and fire down on the Ferralliise.\n\nThe slaves scream and flee, but they’re defenseless in the disarray. You count seven dead already. Three more arrows fly past your head, felling two Ferralliise that had shifted into wolves.\n\n“There,” Avengral growls. “Among the trees.” He cuts the head from a giant anaconda constricting his leg and waist, then he sprints for the woods.\n\nAlmost immediately, you feel a sharp @@color:#000081;pain@@ in the back of your brain. The @@color:#000081;pain@@ is so intense you blackout.\n\n[[Continue...|continue 04]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 744>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<endnobr>>The real priority is getting back to Gillian. Who knows what horrible things have already happened to her? The longer you spend here, the worst it gets for her.\n\nYeah, okay, sending these slaves to their @@color:#000081;death@@ is kind of extreme, but if you had to choose between them and your sister, you’d choose Gillian every time.\n\nNow that you think about it, it’s hardly even a choice. Gillian is more important than all of them, and you need to do whatever’s necessary.\n\n“Redo the spell,” you say tersely. “Let me worry about the Ferralliise.”\n\n“Are you sure?”\n\n“Just do it.” You slam your @@color:#000081;sword@@ into the locks on the other slave cages. “Go,” you command. “Hurry.” You direct the slaves toward the bazaar. They’re too exhausted to know any better.\n\nNev grabs your arm. “You know what you’re doing, don’t you?”\n\n“You just talked about what’s at stake. We have to prioritize what’s important. That means making the tough decision. Now finish the spell.”\n\nNev gives you a hard stare then returns to chanting.\n\nYou suddenly feel lighter, as if a heavy robe just slipped from your shoulders. You hear rustling near the bazaar and howling. The Ferralliise must have sensed you after the spell diminished. The slaves realize the bazaar is a deathtrap, but it’s too late. \n\nThe Ferralliise pounce.\n\nYou turn back to Nev. He’s @@color:#000081;gone.@@ So is the Prince. “Nev,” you shout. “Nev!” You fight your way through the chaos.\n\nA faint voice reaches your ears. “You’re absolutely right. We need to prioritize what’s important.”\n\n“What?” You growl. “Where are you?”\n\n“You can’t expect us to give up our only leverage,” Nev says sharply. “The Prince is more valuable if he returns with me to Vizzairn.”\n\n“Traitor,” you snarl.\n\n“Hardly,” Nev says smugly. “Your knight ordered us to retrieve the Prince safely. He said nothing of your wellbeing. In fact, he appeared to undervalue it.”\n\n“Don’t be stupid!”\n\n“Stupid? How is what I’ve done any different than you deciding to send these slaves to the afterlife for your own benefit?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Nev is true to his name - he doubts your leadership and refuses to help you. I liked this little exchange because it reveals the political tension between the Sarrejiinn King and the Red Wizards.<<endif>>\nHe has a point. If only you could see him, you might be able to change his mind with a swift punch to the face.\n\n“It’s been fun,” Nev says self-satisfied, “for me anyway. Enjoy getting torn to shreds by rabid monsters.”\n\n“Nev!” You shout. “Nev!” But the voice is gone.\n\nDozens more Ferralliise descend on the slaves and the soldiers. You thrust the sword into one of the beasts while elbowing another in the snout. The soldiers panic and break file. There’s no way you can push back the onslaught.\n\nYou feel a painful @@color:#000081;thump@@ against the back of your head. You drop to the ground. A Ferralliise stands over you holding a cudgel. The beast swings a second time.\n\nEverything goes black...\n\n******\n\nYour head aches. You wipe the blood from your left eye. You lie in a giant pit cut into the side of a mountain. It resembles an arena. Thousands of Ferralliise line the upper edges of the pit, jeering and snarling at you. Three giant corridors are cut into the mountain’s side. You have a strong feeling they aren’t the exit.\n\nA Ferralliise, nearly twice the size of the others with a long mane, lifts his arms into the air and howls. The other Ferralliise go silent. He growls and hoots in a language you can’t understand. Suddenly the ground shakes in a steady rhythm, like the march of enormous feet.\n\nThe crushed bones of soldiers and slaves litter the arena. Their bodies are ripped in half or clawed to pieces. Blood oozes from the walls and stains the ground.\n\nThis must be the Blood Festival Avengral warned you about. It’s looks like a battle to the death, and judging by all these corpses, the odds are not in your favor. You reach for the green speckled blade and your gun, but both are missing. You should have known.\n\nYou have to do this old school. You have to fight with whatever you can find. You see an iron ball and chain shackled to a corpse’s leg. It might work as a mace. The weight would do some damage, but you’d have to get in close to use it.\n\nOn the other hand, the bone from the giant lizard corpse to your left would make a good spear. You have no idea what you’re going up against. A little distance would be a good thing.\n\n[[Use the iron ball and chain as a mace]]\n[[Use the lizard bone as a spear]]\n

<>\n<<remember $naturalDisaster = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Natural Disaster\n Cause more than $1,000,000,000 of damage to the city\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1038>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;hesitate.@@\n\nAvengral is right. What you’ve discovered is enough evidence to rally an army. More tangible evidence would be nice, but the longer you wait, the worse it'll get. You can’t stop these Blue Wizards on your own. You need an @@color:#000081;army.@@\n\nYou nod to Avengral. “You’re right. We should move now.”\n\nAvengral leads the way through the hallway and down the stairs until you reach the lobby. He opens the door a crack and peeks through.\n\nThe courtyard is still empty.\n\n“Hurry,” he whispers.\n\nYou sprint toward the stairs that lead to the abandoned docks.\n\nSuddenly, hundreds of claws and growls echo off the stone walls. To your right, large, charcoal black creatures run through the open drawbridge. They’re twice the size of an average person, and their teeth look like a collection of razor sharp needles.\n\nA dozen of them drop from the wall in front of you, blocking the stairs. Avengral skids to a stop, brandishing his sword and thrusting it in a single motion. The creature dips left to avoid it. It looks as comfortable on four legs as it does on two.\n\n“Calor Aquati,” Evie says while snapping the whip. The whip thong immediately expands with razor beads of water. It strikes one of the creatures in the face.\n\nThe creature reels back, pawing at its snout in agony.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;deflect@@ a set of claws with the green speckled blade and shove the creature against the wall.\n\n“Back to the tower,” Avengral growls. He swings again without hitting flesh. “Before we’re surrounded.”\n\nYour @@color:#000081;sword@@ makes contact with the creature’s ribs. It hisses violently and bites at your face. You @@color:#000081;slam@@ the sword pummel into the creature’s snout and @@color:#000081;kick@@ it into another advancing creature.\n\nYou hear Evie scream. A creature bites into her shoulder.\n\n“Unda Irrigo!” She shouts. A burst of water erupts from her wound sending the creature into the wall with such force its neck snaps. Evie drops to one knee.\n\nYou sprint to her side, @@color:#000081;thrusting@@ your sword into another creature before it can attack her. You feel Avengral at your back.\n\n“Take her,” he says. “I will clear a path.”\n\nYou slip under her arm and lug her toward the tower as fast as you can.\n\nAvengral fights like a man on fire. He thrust left, swings right. Head-butting one creature while kicking in the knee of another. His movements are frantic and fierce, and impossible to anticipate. A fighting style he’s chosen deliberately. The creatures hesitate in their attacks, giving Avengral just enough time to avoid their razor sharp claws.\n\nYou hurry through the small path he’s created, shoving open the tower’s heavy oak door. Avengral slams the door shut on several clawed hands. He slices through the hands with his sword, and the door slides shut.\n\n“The table,” he shouts. “Bring it here to secure the door.”\n\nIt takes all your strength to @@color:#000081;nudge@@ the heavy oak table in front of the door. Evie helps as best she can, but you see blood drip down her arm and the pain in her expression.\n\nAvengral uses his body weight to keep the table in place as the creatures claw at the door.\n\n“What are those things?” You ask, trying to catch your breath.\n\n“Demons the Blue Wizards have summoned to kill us,” Avengral grunts.\n\n“No,” Evie groans as she slips her arm out of her torn armor. “Those are the Blue Wizards...or what's left of them.”\n\n“You speak madness.” Avengral wipes the blood from his face. “Those creatures were not human.”\n\n“They were once,” Evie says, examining her wounds. “The emblem on the five Ferralliise books represents one of the ancient gods, the Lorefaiin.”\n\n“The gods of old have been silent for centuries,” Avengral says. “Some question if they existed at all.”\n\n“Silence is not evidence of absence.” Evie conjures water to clean her wounds. “There are rumors that some of the Ferralliise shamans cast a spell to escape the chasm of fire they were cast in at the end of the war. Some believe their souls were spirited to Lorefaiin’s realm, waiting to return one day.”\n\n“Hang on,” you say tearing off part of your shirt to make a bandage for Evie’s shoulder. “You’re saying those creatures are Ferralliise shamans that are thousands of years old?”\n\n“Yes,” Evie says. “I believe the Blue Wizards summoned the Lorefaiin to gain his blessing when performing blood magic, but when they opened the portal to his realm, the Ferralliise shamans snuck through and took possession of their bodies.”\n\n“The Ferralliise books were a trap?” Avengral says with uncertainty.\n\n“I believe so. The Ferralliise shamans knew the promise of power through blood magic would lure ambitious wizards to summon the Lorefaiin, and ultimately their return.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This scene presents one of several variation of the Ferralliise anatomy. I imagined these creatures as the purest version of the Ferralliise. They’re darker in color and sharper in physic.In this initial stage of their transformation they don’t speak, but later (once fully formed) they are capable of eloquent speech and etiquette.The Lorefaiin is an Old God that had spent centuries trapped in an alternate “spirit realm”. Lorefaiin acolytes (attempting to free their master) were one of the main causes that lead to the Great War.<<endif>>\n“So what now?” You say tightening Evie’s bandage. “There are too many of them to fight, but we can’t leave all this magical stuff lying around for them to use.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral nods. “They are too powerful already. I do not wish to see what they are capable of with the Blue Wizard’s resources.”\n\n“One of us needs to stay behind and destroy the tower. Any ideas how?”\n\n“Yes,” Evie says, getting to her feet. “On the second floor I saw a storage room with a barrel of dried pixie wings and a crate of dragon spawn tongues. Mixing the two should cause a large enough explosion to destroy the tower’s foundation. But,” Evie looks at the stone floor. “Whoever mixes the two, will not escape the blast.”\n\n“A suicide mission.” You look at Avengral and then back at Evie. “Are you sure there’s no other way?”\n\n“There are always other options but,” Evie shakes her head. “We do not have time for any of them.”\n\n“So this is how it has to be.” You swallow uncomfortably. You really don’t want to die, but if you don’t stop these creatures, everyone on Earth could die. You can’t take that chance.\n\nIf you cause the explosion, at least you know the job will get done right. You’re about to offer yourself when Avengral interrupts you.\n\n“As First Knight of Sarrejiinn and Third Sword in the House of Sun and Steel, I am honor-bound to fulfill this task.”\n\n[[Let Avengral cause the explosion]]\n[[Insist that you should be the one to cause the explosion]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 814>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +12>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Let him think he has the @@color:#000081;upper hand@@ – he’ll get what’s coming to him soon enough.\n\n“By blood and in blood the new world will be made,” the old man chants again.\n\nThe acolytes echo his words.\n\nHe swings the knife down. You’re about to twist away, but the knife never comes. The old man stabs himself in the chest.\n\n“By blood and in blood...” he says with his dying breath.\n\nThe nearest acolyte pulls out the knife and stabs herself. The next acolyte takes the knife and does the same. So does the next acolyte until all of them are dead and bleeding on you.\n\nBy the time it’s over, your body and clothes are covered in blood. You wipe the blood out of our eyes and stand up since there’s no one left to hold you down.\n\nAnd you thought the Boss was sadistic. You shake your head and laugh. That kind of crazy always has a way of burning itself out, you just didn’t think you’d be in the middle of it. At least it’s @@color:#000081;over.@@\n\nSuddenly the ground quakes and the walls crumble. A fissure splits the room in half, and you stumble against the crumbling walls.\n\nScaly, jagged-toothed creatures climb out of the pit. They hiss at one another while clawing at the floor and wall. They’re only about two or three feet tall, but they slouch making them look even smaller. Their eyes are red and bloodshot. Their fingers are long, knotted knifes. Their noses are two ragged slivers as if the cartilage had been ripped off.\n\nYou curl into the corner – not because you’re scared, but because the room is so crowded. There must be nearly thirty of those demon gods... or whatever the old man called them.\n\nEach of their beady, red eyes turn in unison toward you. They spring into the air and collide with your body. It feels like you’ve been struck by a heavy, cold mist.\n\nWhen you open your eyes, the room is empty.\n\nYou try to stand, but your legs @@color:#000081;won’t move.@@ You lift your hands, but you realize they won’t move either. Your head twists and turns as if it’s examining the room for the first time, but you’re not the one moving it. Your body stands, but you’re not controlling it either.\n\nYou feel your arms and legs jerk forward and back. Your hands open and close... The demons are controlling you.\n\nYou’ve been possessed.\n\nYour fingers jolts forward and draw a door on the wall with blood. Your other hand reaches for the handle and pulls @@color:#000081;open the door.@@ You try to stop your legs from moving, but you’re not strong enough.\n\n[[Step through.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 552>>\n<<set $force = $force +20>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee + 10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -25>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -1>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve spent years training, but the Boss could never have prepared you to fight these creatures. They don’t behave like normal humans, or animals for that matter. They’re fast and ruthless. They have no fear, and the only thing that seems to motivate them is inflicting pain and despair.\n\nThat’s not the kind of enemy you would normally get in a scuffle with, but, just like almost everything else that’s happened today, you just have to @@color:#000081;go with it.@@\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slam@@ your fist into the closest demon and sprint for the alley. It’s tight enough that even you have a hard time squeezing through.\n\nThe demon, overly-eager to get revenge, violently slams into the small opening. Its shoulders get lodged between the two buildings. It can barely lift its arms. It squeals and struggles, and uselessly claws at the buildings.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Even though the main character refers to these creatures as “demons”, I view them as lesser creatures in Hell. The true demons (like Ayporos) are human in appearance and usually attractive.In some texts, demons are described as having a hierarchy of power. I thought it would be interesting if I extended that concept to bestial animal-like creatures. Even demons could have pets, right?<<endif>>\nYou give it two swift @@color:#000081;kicks@@ to the face. It’s half stunned. You @@color:#000081;kick@@ it one more time. Something inside its head crunches unnaturally, and the beast goes @@color:#000081;limp.@@\n\nSo far, your plan is working. Hopefully you didn’t just @@color:#000081;jinx@@ it.\n\nAnother demon climbs over the unconscious one and leans sideways between the two buildings. It’s a tight squeeze, but the demon inches its way closer to you.\n\nThe @@color:#000081;bottleneck@@ you just created is working, sort of. It should buy you some time. You move as quickly as you can through the tight alley. The demon yowls in frustration as you get further and further away.\n\nYou grin and let out a laugh. You really didn’t think it was going to be that easy.\n\nYou hear another howl, but this time, it’s above you. You glance up.\n\nThe demons are scaling the building and scampering along the roof.\n\nYou scowl and start running again. You just can’t get a break today.\n\nA demon leaps from the rooftop. You jump right, but not fast enough. A claw takes a chunk out of your @@color:#000081;leg.@@\n\nYou hold back a scream and spin your other @@color:#000081;leg@@ around into the demon’s nose. It twitches hard and staggers.\n\nYour brain goes dark as your instincts take over. You push away the pain, and the fear, and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ as far and as fast as you can. You can't beat them in a fight, but maybe you can put enough distance between you and them that it won’t matter.\n\nYou keep @@color:#000081;sprinting,@@ through side streets and shadows. You can’t tell how long you’ve been running, but it feels like hours. Your muscles are @@color:#000081;weak.@@ Your arms shake from the rush of adrenaline. You @@color:#000081;limp@@ at a slower pace. Your strength is fleeting. You need to find cover.\n\nYou scan your surroundings. A building is the best place to hide. It’ll have to be close. You can't know what’s waiting inside, but it's better than sitting in the open.\n\nThe first building is to your right. It’s small and square, probably a storage space. The second building is to your left. It’s large, with four floors and dozens of rooms. Even if there are people inside, or monsters, finding a place to hide shouldn’t be much trouble.\n\nStopping for even a minute could get you killed. You don't have the strength to fight, and with that leg wound more running is out of the question. You need to find cover.\n\n[[Hide in the small building]]\n[[Hide in the large mansion]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 744>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +15>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +325>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Gillian is the only good thing in your life. She’s the reason you were quitting the assassin business and turning your life around. She’s your little sister. It’s your job to keep her safe, and that’s exactly what you’re going @@color:#000081;to do.@@\n\nYou close your eyes and search the ape’s body until you find its pistol.\n\nThat gives you two. If you’re conservative with your ammo, you should be able to take out almost everything the guards throw at you, assuming they don’t have anything crazy like a bazooka or a tank or something like that.\n\nYou shrug. There was that one time in Moscow when you destroyed a tank with a pistol, a pair of tube socks, and a @@color:#000081;stapler,@@ but you haven’t got time to search for a pair of tube socks right now.\n\nYou sprint back to the elevator. If this is a trap, it won’t matter if you get pinned down, you’ll be dead either way. Whoever these people are, they’re probably expecting you to run as far from this place as possible. They don’t understand the importance of family. You might be able to catch them by @@color:#000081;surprise.@@\n\nYou hit the button for the highest floor and the elevator jolts upward.\n\nEven if you get Gillian back, it doesn’t explain what these people want from you. And just because you escape this time doesn’t mean they won’t keep coming after you. You could just kill them all, but Gillian wouldn’t be too happy about that. Besides, a building full of corpses is probably not the best way to start a new life.\n\nYou sigh. Being good has so many rules. The first priority is getting Gillian out of harm’s way. You can settle up after that.\n\nThe elevator dings and the doors slide open. You get out and sprint for the stairs. You’ve got at least two more flights before reaching the roof.\n\nIt’s lucky you haven’t come across any guards yet. Most of them must be waiting at the exits. Getting to Gillian may be the easy part. Getting out –\n\nYou shake your head. Best to focus on one thing at a time.\n\nYour head’s starting to feel a little better like maybe those @@color:#000081;marshmallows@@ are finally taking effect.\n\nYou catch your breath and slowly, quietly open the door to the roof. You can hear the helicopter nearing the building. You hug the wall and @@color:#000081;sneak@@ around the corner. You count at least eight guards, two of them holding onto Gillian, plus at least three more in the chopper.\n\nIt is Gillian, you’re sure of that. Even with the drugs, you’d know it was her.\n\nYou sprint to the nearest guard, yank him around the corner, and @@color:#000081;silently@@ subdue him with a @@color:#000081;choke hold.@@ He goes limp.\n\nYou peek around the corner. Your assault went unnoticed, but you haven’t got much time. The chopper’s touching down.\n\nYou take the guard’s submachine gun and sling it over your shoulder.\n\nYou sprint around an air-conditioning unit and wait for the next guard to come near. As he passes, you @@color:#000081;kick@@ out his legs, @@color:#000081;jab@@ him in the throat, and shove him over the side of the building. There’s no time to watch his body go @@color:#000081;splat,@@ another guard moves your direction.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slip@@ over the side of the building and grab onto the ledge.\n\n“Hey Leroy, the commander wants you to check the elevator. Leroy?” The guard walks closer. “If you’re taking another smoking break at a time like this I swear I’m—”\n\nYou grab his belt and @@color:#000081;yank@@ him over the side of the building. He screams and squeezes off a few rounds. They smash into the @@color:#000081;wall@@ beside you.\n\nThe other guards definitely would have heard that. Hopefully it echoed off enough of the surrounding buildings they won’t be able to pinpoint it. That still leaves five guards, plus the three on the chopper.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shimmy@@ across the side of the building and around the corner. You listen carefully. It’s quiet enough. You poke your head up.\n\nThey’re moving Gillian to the chopper. You’re almost out of time. If you act now, it will compromise your stealth advantage, but you’ve got a straight shot at the chopper. You should be able to make it if you sprint, but there are still five guards out there carrying submachine guns.\n\nYou could keep shimmying across the ledge, but there’s no guarantee you’d make it to the chopper in time.\n\n[[Blow your cover and sprint for the chopper]]\n[[Keep shimmying across the side of the building]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 960>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<endnobr>>The Boss could have thugs watching the Gym. He knows you train there sometimes. He already has Gillian, so there’s no reason for him to be watching her house. You should be able to get in and out without a @@color:#000081;problem.@@\n\nSure, it’s a little bit further away then the Gym, but you could use a reminder of home, or at least the closest thing you have to a home.\n\nYou look back at Quintus. Maybe when you and Gillian are free and safe, you’ll see about getting him a proper burial, but one thing at a time.\n\nYou lay a newspaper over his face and have a moment of silence. You can’t be sure if Heaven and Hell exist, but you hope he ends up in the right one.\n\nYou turn in the direction of Gillian’s house and jog. Your head is still sore, and you try to keep from looking at anything too bright like street lights or buildings. You make two lefts and a right, until you’re standing in a residential area.\n\nIt’s been a few years since you’ve been here, and it looks like the neighborhood has changed. Gillian’s house was the third one on the right. You keep your @@color:#000081;distance@@ at first, making certain the Boss’s goons aren’t staking it out.\n\nIt looks clear so you catch your breath and casually walk to the front door. You take the spare key from under the flower pot and unlock the door. It’s dark, and your eyes need time to adjust. Even if the house isn’t being watched, it’s best to stay under the radar.\n\nObjects start to form in the darkness - a couch, a chair, coffee table. You make your way to the kitchen. You open the lower cabinet and remove some glass bowls. Gillian never knew about the secret compartment you put in here. If she ever found out you had weapons, passports, and money stashed at her house, she would probably kill you. Given the circumstances she--\n\n“Don’t move!” A female voice shouts from behind you. “I’ve got a gun, and I called the cops.”\n\nIt doesn’t sound like Alana or one of the other assassins. Besides, they would never threaten you with the cops. You step back and turn around slow. “You really don’t want to point that thing at me. I’ve had a long day, and there’s no telling what I might do.”\n\n“This is my house, and I have a strict policy about thieves.”\n\n“Your house?” You say bewildered. Maybe Gillian’s was the fourth house on the right. “Whatever you think is going on, I promise you, I wasn’t stealing from you.”\n\nShe keeps the gun pointed at your chest. “Mixing bowls are kind of a strange thing to steal.”\n\n“Right,” you say with half a laugh. “That only proves what I’m saying.”\n\n“We’ll just wait here and see what the cops have to say.”\n\n“There’s no time for that. Someone very important to me is in danger, and I’m the only one who can save her.”\n\n“Has that line ever worked?”\n\nYou sigh with frustration. “It’s not a line. My sister Gillian is being held hostage. The criminals are expecting--”\n\n“Gillian?” The woman interrupts. She lowers the gun slightly. “Who told you to say that? Who are you?”\n\nYou look closer at the woman. Her features resemble Gillian’s in slight ways, her eyes and nose, the cadence of her voice. \n\n[[“Who are you?”]]\n

<>\n<<remember $dazedAndConfused = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Dazed and Confused\n Overcome your drug induced stupor\n

The forces that resided in the [[spirit realm]] obey a certain kind of hierarchy. The more complex and capable of reasoning an entity was, the more dangerous it became both to the other spirits in the realm, but also to the beings in the tangible world – or so [[Karen|Karen]] had read in [[The Gates of Brutavius]].\n\nThe companion work, [[The Song of the Myst Martyrs]], stated that simple spirits were a kind of life-force that permeated the spirit realm. The simple spirits were harmless, having a similar quality to an echo, but sometimes, when the conditions were suitable, the spirits were able to congeal into a different, more complex entity.\n\nThe characteristics of this entity depended on the nature of the spirits that formed it.\n\nSome have described these entities as spirit guides, demons, or djinn. The most malicious of these beings have one desire – more power. They eat as many of the lesser spirits as their form will allow.\n\nSome have even been known to gather enough influence to cross between the two realms where they’ve attempted to steal and devour young children or beings near death, as [[Karen|Karen]] had read in [[The Stolen Ones]].\n\nDuring her [[experiment|experiments]], she had hoped to communicate with a simple spirit, but without proper training, as the [[two shamans]] told her, it would be the equivalent of calling a payphone and waiting for anyone to answer.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 101>>\n<<set $force = $force -12>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -12>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -12>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +124>>\n<<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Your @@color:#000081;hesitation@@ causes your foot to slip. Your hand catches the ledge, but the molding is @@color:#000081;loose@@ and @@color:#000081;breaks@@ free. You twist back around, @@color:#000081;hitting@@ your head on the balcony ledge. You tumble over the edge and fall through the air.\n<<if $introComments is true>>In Seven Bullets not all the “responsible” choices move the story forward. Some of my favorite video games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect have a very clear morality attached to the story choices (“Paragon” and “Renegade”).I wanted the choices in Seven Bullets to be a bit more morally ambiguous. In this instance hesitation ends this story arc while assertiveness and force advance it.<<endif>>\nGillian appears more and more distant. The wind blows through your hair and you feel almost weightless. If you weren’t about to die, it might be relaxing.\n\nYou turn to face the pavement. It’s better than looking at Gillian and knowing you let her down. As the pavement gets closer, you close your eyes and let the darkness overtake you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 9]]\n

Ode to the Assassin @@color:#D8D8D8;(A Modern Sonnet)@@\n\nOf all the ways your fates may run\nescape will not outpace the swift\nand silent assassins’ gun.\nThough time for some will seem a gift\nyou will not know before the Hit.\nYour name once scrawled upon the list,\ntarget of sniper scope and knife’s tip,\nwill be well known but never missed.\n\nYet what of those, the killers too -\nassassins skilled and friends of death?\nThe fates would need to start a queue\nto see who draws the last lone breath;\nfor when assassins dual and brawl,\nthey certainly will kill us all.\n\n\n10-27-2014\n<<back>>

<center><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6">\n<img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6">\n<img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6">\n<img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6">\n<img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/pets/rim.gif" width="70" height="70" hspace="6">\n\n@@color:#D8D8D8;Spinning Rims@@\n<<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 468>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>This kind of situation requires all the facts. If you go in guns blazing the wrong person is going to get hurt. This problem requires a surgical and @@color:#000081;precise solution.@@\n\nYou stuff the folder into your bag and close the safe. Burning the warehouse will have to wait. You pull a set of keys from the wall and exit from the side door. You keep your head down and covered so the cameras @@color:#000081;won’t capture@@ your image.\n\nThe Boss is a reasonable man. He may appear sadistic sometimes, but his motivation has always been about profits. Kidnapping Gillian is out of character. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do it; it just means there are more moving parts to this than you’re able to see.\n\nYou use the keys to unlock a windowless van – one the Boss uses for drug transport. You drive to the address. It’s in a rundown part of town. The buildings are old and crumbling. Windows and doors are boarded up. You see eviction notices on some of them. Even during its best years this neighborhood couldn’t have been a safe place. You leave the bag in the car, but make sure to keep your pistol handy.\n\nYou walk to the front door. It looks like the house has been abandoned for years. You push it open. It’s not even locked. You click off your gun’s safety and get ready for trouble.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is another instance of a massive, undefined city. There are skyscrapers, docks, bridges, slums, suburbia, rural areas - basically anything I thought might be interesting for a fight scene.Some authors like to draw maps of their narrative worlds, but the City in Seven Bullets is more conceptual. I did draw a map for the world of Ragnoss - being fantasy I thought it was fitting.<<endif>>\nThe house is empty.\n\nThe furniture, the appliances, even the carpet’s been ripped out. If this place had anything valuable, someone probably already took it. Or maybe the address meant nothing.\n\nYou cautiously walk down the hallway, glancing into every room. They're each the same – completely barren.\n\nThis is starting to feel like it might have been a waste of time. When you get to the end of the hall you lean your head against the wall and sigh. The photo was probably nothing.\n\nYou hear three clicks and the hall light turns on. You twist with your gun raised and ready. No one’s there.\n\nThe wall behind you flickers with text: @@color:#B2B2B2;DNA accepted. Processing...@@\n\nYou realize it’s some kind of screen. A new line of text flashes: @@color:#B2B2B2;Authorization approved. Elevator engaged.@@\n\nSuddenly the floor sinks. Air rushes up from the edges. The interior doors become blocked by reinforced metal. The whole hallway descends with rapid speed. You try to balance yourself.\n\nThe hallway jolts to a stop and one of the walls slides open.\n\nYou steady yourself and glance through the doorway. It looks like a laboratory, but the machinery... You’ve never seen anything like it before. It looks almost alien.\n\nYou step out of the elevator. A console displays the word: @@color:#B2B2B2;Welcome.@@\n\nAs you walk into the room, a beam of light scans your face. Another line of text appears: @@color:#B2B2B2;Continue Simulation?@@\n\n[[Press Yes]]\n[[Press No]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 198>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +9>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost + 3100>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You take the shot. The thug’s head @@color:#000081;explodes,@@ and his body falls on top of Gillian. She screams frantically as a geyser of blood @@color:#000081;erupts@@ from his neck.\n\nThe three other thugs lunge into the adjacent room. They probably think Gillian is the one with the gun. Have to take them out fast, before they shoot her.\n\n“Oh dear, are you alright? I heard a crash. Mr. Jenkins?” There are three loud knocks at the door. “Mr. Jenkins? Was that, was that a gun? Mr. Jenkins?” The door handle rattles. “The door’s locked. Sir, is everything alright?”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;fire@@ another round as one of the thugs turns the corner.\n\n“Sir,” There’s another two knocks at the door. “That definitely sounded like a gun. I’m calling security.”\n\nGreat, like there weren’t enough guests at this party already. You fire another two rounds. Both find their @@color:#000081;mark.@@ Gillian’s safe, but she’s alone and covered in blood. Even if she was calm enough to make a run for it, she wouldn’t make it past the guns in the lobby. You need to make it to Gillian before they do.\n\nOf course, you have a more pressing problem just outside the door.\n\n[[Force your way out]]\n[[Find an alternative exit]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 437>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -50>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You hurry through the side door and into the atrium. It feels warmer in the open air and sticky with humidity.\n\nThe architecture is incredibly detailed, and if you had time, you’d give it a closer look. Gillian always loved looking at old and interesting buildings. You almost wish she could see this one, that is, if it wasn’t in Hell... and you're almost certain this is Hell.\n\n“Mugh,” the jacket mumbles.\n\nYou glance over.\n\nHorrid looking creatures enter through the opposite doors. You slip behind one of the columns, but maybe @@color:#000081;not fast@@ enough. You can’t be sure if you were seen.\n\nYou try to stay quiet, but being pressed against the squishy skin jacket really isn’t helping. The smell alone makes you want to @@color:#000081;gag.@@\n\nYou peek around the column. The figures aren’t like the ones before. They’re smaller in size and shape, more like humans, but their skin and faces have been removed. You see their muscles twitch and pulsate as they walk in a zombie like patrol across the room.\n\nYou look down at the jacket and then up at the skinless creature. You have an uncomfortable feeling the two are @@color:#000081;linked.@@\n\nYou turn back toward the first door, hoping to make a run for it. Four demons stand in front of the doorway with their eyes hungry and fixed on you.\n\nYou just can’t seem to get a break. You’ve already seen what those demons can do, and you’re not in any hurry to see it again. You never thought you'd say it, but you’ve got better odds facing off with the skinless zombies.\n\nYou groan and twist around the column. Despite their faceless features, the skinless zombies are immediately aware of your presence. They go berserk and sprint at you. \n\nYou duck and @@color:#000081;pivot@@ around one, but the other two clamp onto your legs. You lurch forward and hit the ground hard. Before you can kick free, the demons stand over you.\n\nThey speak to each other in a language you can’t understand, but you’re pretty sure pain, despair, and eternity are mentioned.\n\nOne of the demons picks up the skin jacket you were carrying and puts it on. You hear the jacket moan in agony. The demon nods and smiles at his brethren.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>A Demon wearing human skin as fashion is another example of how envious demons are of humans.It puts the lotion on! (see: Silence of the Lambs)<<endif>>\nThe demon on his right, the only one without a human jacket, studies you while making measurement gestures. \n\n[[“I’m out of style, really.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1002>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +4>>\n<<endnobr>>“The tower will take longer to search,” you whisper. “You’ll need another person if you want to get it done in time, so I’m with you guys.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral says. “Then we part ways now and return with whatever evidence we find. Or, if necessary, destroy the evidence so that it cannot be used to harm the citizens or the King. Good luck. May the Seven Sons watch over you.”\n\n“Just let me bash some skulls,” Able grunts. “And I’ll be fine.”\n\nAble and Mos disappear into the darkness toward the dungeons.\n\n“Let’s move,” Avengral whispers.\n\n“Wait,” Evie says grabbing his shoulder. “Aquati Laminam,” she says, waving her hands in the air. Water seeps out of the walls and floor and rushes toward Avengral. It congeals around his chest. She performs the same action for herself and you.\n\n“It’s aqua armor,” she explains. “It should provide some protection against magic attacks and projectiles.”\n\nYou touch the semi clear blue liquid. It’s cold and jiggles around your chest like a vest of jello. “Weird.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral agrees.\n\n“You won’t be saying that when a Blue Wizard hurls a lightning bolt at you,” Evie says.\n\n“Good point,” you say climbing the stairs toward the tower. “If we’re lucky, it won’t come to that.” Then again, given your lack of luck today, you’re probably about to fight an army of giant acid breathing velociraptors.\n\n“Hold,” Avengral whispers. He points at the opening up ahead.\n\nYou see sunlight. It must be the courtyard. Even if they don’t have patrols, you’ll be in plain sight. There won’t be any shadows to hide in or walls to duck behind. You’ll have to be quick.\n\n“One at a time,” Avengral says, motioning for you to go first.\n\nYou glance around the courtyard and up at the outer walls. It’s empty...and unusually quiet. You chalk it up to @@color:#000081;luck@@ (finally) and sprint for the tower. You open the door slightly and glance inside. An old man dressed in blue scuttles around a corner and out of sight. You motion for the others to follow and then slip inside.\n\nSmall glowing orbs float around the ceiling providing ample light. They look like a horizontal lava lamp, congealing and splitting apart in an endless cycle. The walls and floor are made of turquoise stone blocks with strange symbols etched into them. The staircase on the left leads down. The one on the right leads up.\n\nEvie slips through the door and then, a short time later, Avengral.\n\n“Where to now?” You ask.\n\n“The scrolls, spells, and tomes become more advanced the higher we climb,” Evie says. “The highest floor belongs to the most powerful wizards.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This idea that the more powerful scrolls and tomes are located on the higher floors of the tower is very impractical. The more advanced wizards are much older (having studied for decades) and the notion that they’d be willing to climb dozens of flights of stairs is ludicrous.The idea is a variation of medieval notion that an object was more “divine” if its proximity was closer to heaven. Even though the Blue Wizards are highly intelligent, I left this small absurd detail in the story to show that they are still superstitious.<<endif>>\n“Then we climb,” Avengral says sprinting up the stairs to the right. The rooms on the first floor contain a few potions and books but nothing suspicious. The three of you move to the next floor and the next. Both seem ordinary and absent of people.\n\n“Do you guys think it’s strange that this place is so empty?”\n\n“Yes,” Evie says with hesitation. “I thought we would have seen someone by now.”\n\n“I agree,” Avengral says discouraged. “When I was last here, there were more wizards than I could count, but this place seems barren. We must find proof of the Blue Wizard’s treachery or all the pain the Prince endured will be for naught.”\n\n“He wasn’t the only one,” you say.\n\n“Aye,” Avengral agrees with a heavy sigh.\n\nYou travel up two more floors without finding anything.\n\n“Wait,” Evie says pointing into one of the rooms. “There. That looks like...” She hesitates. “It can’t be.” She opens the door and examines the ingredients on the large oak table.\n\n“What is it?” Avengral demands.\n\n“Check the books over there.”\n\n“For what?” You ask.\n\n“Describe the cover.”\n\n“Uhm,” you turn the book around. “There’s a goat head, a lizard head, and a bear head forming a circle around some squiggly lines.”\n\n“Oh dear,” Evie says. “They have three of the five Ferralliise tomes.”\n\n“Okay, I get that that’s bad,” you say, handing the book to Avengral. “But I’m still not sure why.”\n\n“The books explain how to perform some of the most powerful and violent blood magic, and worse, they contain secrets that only the ancient Ferralliise shamans knew.” Evie flips through several pages. “This is really, very bad.”\n\n“Explain,” Avengral demands.\n\n“The books describe another world like ours but very far away, a world the old shamans could see using the portals,” Evie swallows uncomfortably. “The Ferralliise scribes wrote instructions in these books describing how to kill the foreign population and use their blood to achieve ultimate magical power on our world.”\n\n“What,” you say, pulling her book into view. “What did they say about the other world?” The text is in a language you can’t understand, but the drawing is one you’d recognize anywhere. It’s Earth.\n\n“Are you sure this is their plan?”\n\n“The ancient ways were violent and destructive. These books are the collected and detailed evidence of that.” She points at the table. “They have already gathered some of the ingredients. If we travel further up the tower, I am sure the evidence will be even more pronounced.” Evie turns to Avengral. “We need to alert Ignis Ustrina and your King.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral says through gritted teeth, his anger obvious. “An army will descend on these traitors and fell this tower.”\n\n“Wait,” you interrupt. “Sure, this might be their plan, but we don’t know what kind of objectives or resources they have. We need more information to build the best strategy.”\n\n“We have made it this far unseen, but the longer we stay,” Avengral says firmly, “The more likely we are to be discovered. Returning with some information is better than not returning at all.”\n\nHe makes a good point, but his kingdom isn’t the only thing at stake. These Blue Wizards just brought Earth into the mix. You can’t stand for that. Plus, what good is getting back home if everyone is dead?\n\n[[Take the three books and return with Avengral]]\n[[Explore more of the upper floors]]\n

You wake up groggy and in pain. Your hands and legs are bound with heavy chains. You can barely move.\n\nThe pirates jeer and laugh while a poor sailor pleas for mercy. Then you hear a splash in the ocean and someone shout, “Next!”\n\nYour eyes finally adjust. You see Avengral and some of the other crewmen bound. The pirates stand in a semicircle...and then you see the plank.\n\nThat’s just perfect...\n\nAvengral mumbles to you through his gag. You can’t understand what he says. You wipe the caked blood from your mouth and chin on your sleeve.\n\nYou hear another splash.\n\n“Next!”\n\nA pirate grabs your shirt and drags you to the plank. The other pirates holler for blood.\n\nYou get to your feet and address the tall pirate. “Avengral and I have nothing to do with this. We work for the King. Let us go.”\n\n“Oh,” the tall pirate grins. “We will let you go... go right over the edge.” He laughs heartily and kicks you onto the plank.\n\nEven with the heavy chains, you’re a good enough swimmer to survive the drop...then you see the sharks. The water swirls with blood from all the previous victims.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>As soon as included pirates I knew one of the endings had to involve walking the plank.<<endif>>\nYou’re about to sprint back and fight your way free when someone hits you with an oar. You stumble sideways and awkwardly fall off the plank.\n\nA shark launches into the air, biting into your torso before you can hit the water. Your screams are muffled by the freezing cold ocean. Chunks of your body are torn off in a frenzy.\n\n@@color:#808080;There's nothing...@@\n\n@@color:#A6A6A6;you can...@@\n\n@@color:#B8B8B8;do...@@\n\n@@color:#C6C6C6;but...@@\n\n@@color:#D7D7D7;die.@@\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1264>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -20>>\n<<set $force = $force +18>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +22>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +14>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -19>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You were never much of a hacker to begin with and now that this new, weird technology is in place, you’d probably strain a brain muscle. You’ll just have to do things @@color:#000081;old school.@@\n\n“Old school?” Ayporos asks.\n\nYou feel another sharp @@color:#000081;pain@@ in the back of your head as a flood of memories flash before your eyes.\n\n“Ah,” Ayporos says. “To be violent as a means of gathering information. This is a method of communication I am familiar with. In fact, you might say demons are very old school.”\n\n“Beginning of time old school, right?” You rub your forehead and try to suppress the looming headache. “Would you quit shuffling through my brain? Aside from the privacy thing, it’s really starting to hurt.”\n\n“We are not attuned to one another yet. The pain will subside soon. Apologies.”\n\nAt least he’s a polite demon, but that doesn’t solve your current problem. “Uhm, okay elevator, what floor am I authorized to access?”\n\n“One moment please,” the elevator says. “ID badge not found. Authentication level: Guest. Welcome guest. As a guest you are granted access to the lobby, the parking garage, and floors one through three. To attain security clearance or a day pass, make an appointment with the security personnel in the lobby. Do you have a preferred destination?”\n\nThings have definitely changed. “Take me to floor three, please.”\n\n“Very well,” the elevator says, suddenly jolting upward. It stops, and the doors slide open. “You have arrived at floor three. Have a pleasant day.”\n\nThe elevators are a lot faster than you remember too. You step out of the elevator into a large open reception area. A receptionist is at the desk, and there’s a guard at each door.\n\nYou walk up to the receptionist. “Hi,” you say.\n\n“Do you have an appointment?”\n\n“You could say it’s been long overdue.”\n\nShe smiles and nods out of routine. “Name please.”\n\nBefore you can respond, your hand grabs the metal pen on her desk and flings it into the neck of the adjacent guard. He clutches at his throat and @@color:#000081;collapses.@@\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Initially Ayporos can take control of the main character’s body in short bursts usually in a fight or flight response. I saw this as another way Ayporos can manipulate the system by piggybacking on a body’s defensive mechanisms.I have no idea if a Biblical possession would behave like this, but I thought it fit with the notion of temptation and trickery.<<endif>>\n“Old school, correct?” Ayporos says excitedly.\n\n“No, that’s not old school. That’s @@color:#000081;murder.”@@\n\n“There is a difference?”\n\n“Of course there’s a difference,” you say ducking behind the desk as the guard draws his pistol. “And quit taking control of my body.”\n\n“You do not mean to interrogate all of them, do you?”\n\n“No, we only need one.”\n\n“Then let the deaths of the others serve as an example.”\n\n“That may have worked in Hell, but we’re not in Hell anymore.”\n\n“True,” Ayporos ponders. “Perhaps I am in the wrong. Allow me to remedy this mistake.”\n\n“Wait,” you try to tell him, but your body is already out of your control. You feel your legs bend and your hands grip the desk. A burst of power pulses through your muscles as Ayporos uses you to @@color:#000081;fling@@ the desk at the second guard. It pins his gun arm against the wall. He growls with pain.\n\n“There,” Ayporos says satisfied. “He is not dead.”\n\nYou sigh and glance at the receptionist. “We can’t leave her.”\n\n“Indeed not,” Ayporos says using your hand to @@color:#000081;grip@@ her throat.\n\n“Well don’t kill her.”\n\n“Of course not,” Ayporos says as the receptionist passes out. “She is only unconscious.”\n\n“Good,” you say. “And quit using my body like it was your own. You’re still just a guest.”\n\n“Apologies. Explaining my actions would have robbed us of our advantage.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah, alright. Let’s just get this guy in the elevator.”\n\n[[Drag the guard into the elevator]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 371>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -13>>\n<<endnobr>>“He’s right,” you say. @@color:#000081;“The others@@ are expecting us to be back soon.”\n\n“What about the research... and your sister?” Clark pleads.\n\n“You’ve heard of multitasking, right? We find a @@color:#000081;safe@@ way to deal with these creatures, or patients, or whatever they are, we rescue what’s left of the survivors, and then you find the cure to save Gillian. Easy, right?”\n\nClark grimaces. “It’s not what I had in mind, but I suppose we all have to make sacrifices. If you’re set on leaving, then lead the way.”\n\nAt least you’re on the same page. You switch clips on the assault rifle. You’ve only got three of the neon bullets left. It’s safer if you save them for an emergency. “Keep up,” you say jogging through the woods back the way you came.\n\nYour arm throbs with @@color:#000081;pain.@@ You feel hot, and your skin @@color:#000081;itches@@ like crazy. It feels like thousands of tiny feet are crawling all over you.\n\nYou stumble against a tree and @@color:#000081;vomit.@@\n\n“Those symptoms?” Clark mutters to himself. “But when would you have been exposed to the new formula?”\n\n“The scratch!” Mason proclaims. “It’s the scratch.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>You knew that scratch was a plot device, right? If the reader chooses the secret facility, they will be scratched by one of the patients within the first four choices.<<endif>>\n“What scratch?” Clark looks at your arm. “Did you come into contact with one of the creatures? Did your blood mingle?”\n\n“You could say that,” you groan and vomit again.\n\n“It’s the change. Your body... your DNA... it’s mutating. The old formula mixed with the new... the outcome is untested. Anything might happen...”\n\n“I’m fine,” you say. “I’ve been through worse.”\n\nYou hear howling from Clark’s lab.\n\n“The patients,” Clark gasps. “They realized I’ve escaped.”\n\n“Then we better keep moving.” You push off the tree and try to jog. You move slower. It’s harder to breathe. Even Mason is keeping pace. Soon you’ll just be slowing them down.\n\nThe howling sounds closer... maybe a dozen creatures. You don’t have enough bullets to stop them, but you could slow them down. You could give the scientists a head start. They might be able to reach the other survivors. Then again, you’re not dead yet.\n\n“There,” Mason says, pointing at the two massive doors.\n\nEvery breath of air aches like a dagger through your @@color:#000081;lungs.@@ You can fight the pain. You can keep running. You might make it.\n\n[[No, stay and give the scientists a head start]]\n[[Fight the pain and keep running]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1013>>\n<<set $force = $force +14>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +15>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The people you’re dealing with are smart, calculating, and cautious. The only way to keep them off balance is to do something so unbelievably @@color:#000081;stupid@@ they would never imagine it.\n\nYou have to travel further into the facility.\n\nIt sounds crazy, but it’s the last thing they would expect, and it’s going to keep you alive ...You hope.\n\nYou glance at the PDA. You’ve got about ten seconds before the guards turn the corner into your hallway. You slip out the door and sprint for the stairs.\n\nYou check the PDA again. Another set of guards are climbing the stairs below. A confrontation now would ruin the escape. You hurry up the stairs to the third floor and wait.\n\nYou hear the guards shuffle onto the second floor. When the door slides shut, you sprint down the stairs. They lead to a floor below the lobby. It’s empty except for an elevator.\n\nYou slip the ID badge through the scanner and the elevator doors slide @@color:#000081;open.@@ You get in and press the button for the lowest floor. The elevator descends.\n\nWell, you’re not dead yet, so the plan is working.\n\nHopefully you didn’t just jinx it.\n\nThe elevator stops and the doors open. You step into a huge room. It has twenty rows of cells divided into three columns. It feels vaguely familiar. You remember something about falling.\n\nThat’s right. You were being held in one of the upper cells. You struggled with someone – a scientist maybe, or was it a guard? Then the two of you fell over the edge. Then... then... something to do with Hell. It’s still a blur.\n\nYou check the PDA. Only two red dots and three blue dots on this floor. Blue dots must be the scientists. It’s probably best to avoid them too. But you’ve got this weird feeling – like you need to explore some of the cells – somewhere on the upper levels.\n\nYou can’t explain it, but it’s like you’re forgetting something important ...or was it someone? You sneak around a corner, avoiding one of the scientists. You take the stairs to the third level. You let your @@color:#000081;intuition@@ guide you.\n\nAs you near the cells, the inhabitants scream and plead for release. The voices are human, but distorted and perverse – not just from torment. It sounds as if someone has augmented their bodies to make the horrible noises.\n\nYou glimpse into one of the cells. The creature you see could hardly be called human, but the eyes – somewhere buried deep beneath the eyes is a soul. You see anguish and the flicker of hope. The creature screeches at the sight of you and beats its scaly arms against the door. You look away and keep moving.\n\nWhatever that thing was, there’s not much you can do for it now; except maybe put it out of its misery. If only you had the time, and there’s no guarantee a bullet would get the job done.\n\nYou glance in the next cell. It’s a similar creature, but even more deformed. Its body is armored with scales but instead of arms, long blue tentacles dangle from its shoulders. Probably another failed experiment. Each cell must have one. That’s over sixty in this building alone. There were at least twenty other facilities mentioned in those documents.\n\nWhy? What possible benefit could this torture have?\n\nIn any case, it explains the DNA reports you saw earlier. They’re creating a new life form – maybe a super soldier. But why would they go to the trouble of kidnapping and drugging you? You don’t know anything about this science stuff. And if they only wanted a test subject, there are easier ways to get one.\n\nYou must know something.\n\nYou stop abruptly.\n\nThis spot – this is where you @@color:#000081;broke free.@@ You glance in the cell. It’s empty. If they were keeping you here, they must have been planning to experiment on you, but that couldn’t have been all they wanted.\n\nYou glance into the next cell. It’s the Boss. He’s half-unconscious and propped against the wall.\n\nYou slide the ID badge through the scanner and the air-tight door hisses @@color:#000081;open.@@\n<<if $hellComments is true>>If you’ve read the segment in Ragnoss with the Blue Wizards and the holding cells, you see a number of similarities with this scene.This is one instance of thematic overlap between the four core segments of the book. The concept of imprisonment should resonate with the concept of the Boss forcing the main character to remain one of his assassins.<<endif>>\n“I knew you’d find a way to get us out of here,” he groans.\n\n“What are you talking about?”\n\nHe stands slowly. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”\n\n“Wait,” you say. “Tell me what’s going on.”\n\nHe gives you a perplexed look. “Don’t you remember?”\n\n“Remember what?” There’s agitation in your voice.\n\nThe Boss looks surprised. “You really don’t remember.” He takes a deep breath and leans against the wall. “The U.S. Government hired us, specifically you, to kill a man named Vince Mielke, the CEO of this company. We went to their headquarters to meet with a mole, but she double-crossed us. They roughed us up and eventually threw us in these cells.”\n\n[[“What about my sister?”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 300>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTheButterflyEffect").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveHappyEndings").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTheButterflyEffect").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockHappyEndings").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;“It’s Gillian.”@@\n\nYour heart skips a beat. That can’t be right. She’s so old. That means you’ve been gone for decades.\n\n“She speaks the truth,” Ayporos says within your head.\n\nYou look at her again. Now you see it. Her features – they’ve aged of course, but they could only belong to her – your little sister.\n\nYou embrace her as a wave of relief and sadness overwhelms you. She’s alive but, “How?” you ask. “How did you end up here?”\n\n“When you died,” she takes a deep breath. “When they told me you died, all I could think about was revenge.” Her eyes well up with tears. “I’ve done things, horrible things. When I heard they killed you, I had to make them pay. It took years, but I made certain they all suffered, especially him – the Boss.” She wraps her arms around you and presses her old, wrinkled face against your chest. “I’ve missed you so much.”\n\n“I’ve missed you too,” you whisper. You’ve lost so much time, missed so much of your sister’s life...practically all of it. You squeeze her tighter. She did all of this for you. It’s almost impossible to believe. She’s stronger and braver than you ever could have imagined, but right now all you want to do is hold her.\n\n“You’re going to stay, aren’t you?” She asks.\n\n“Of course.” \n\nShe smiles.\n\nYou’ve got a lot of adjusting to do. All the people you knew are probably dead. The world has spent the last sixty or seventy years advancing. You’re not even sure if people still use money? Plus there’s that demon renting space in your brain, but you’ve got time to sort all that out.\n\nYou glance down at Gillian and smile.\n\nYou’ve got a feeling everything is going to work out just fine.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<html><img src="img/badge.png"height="23" width="15"></html> Trophies\n \n<<script>>\nUISystem.addClickHandler("#Achievements", null, function () {\n var dialog = UISystem.setup();\n new Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieve").processText());\n});<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<html><img src="img/lock.png"height="18" width="15"> </html> [[Unlocks]]

<>\n<<remember $coldAndCalculating = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Cold and Calculating\n Take the Sniper Rifle\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1468>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Her laugh is unnerving and insulting, but you try not to let it show. You point to the guy on the right. “That one.”\n\n“Ha,” Ignis grunts. “This will be over faster than I thought.” She points at you. The crowd takes three steps back as Azarii steps forward. He brandishes a large heavy hammer. The head glows green and orange.\n\n“Fight!” Ignis screams.\n\nImmediately, Azarii twirls the hammer around his head and slams it against the ground. Streaks of rock and fire tear across the charred earth directly at you.\n\nYou roll left, just barely escaping a jagged line of stone. The other soldiers scatter in panic. Quintus wasn’t kidding about the magic here. That rock attack wasn’t an illusion. It came from the hammer, and Azarii was guiding it.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Azarii and Skraz were designed to show the reader the basic capabilities of the Red Wizards (and magic) before introducing them to the five Red Wizards (Grat Grimworth, Mos Vestermire, Nev Naysayer, Able No-name, and Evie Greengrass) who help them later in the story.<<endif>>\nYou’ll need to keep your guard up. Fighting someone who knows how to use magic is a first for you, and there’s no way of knowing what this guy will be capable of... but, then again, that just means the fight will be more @@color:#000081;interesting.@@\n\nYou grin and grab the green speckled blade. Using the gun now would be too easy. Azarii hesitates at the sight of the blade. It’s only for a second, but it’s long enough for you to see that he’s scared. The blade must be powerful or belonged to someone powerful.\n\nAzarii shakes off his fear and sprints at you. He slams the hammer down.\n\nYou roll and twist behind him, @@color:#000081;swinging@@ the blade against the back of his leg.\n\nThe cut isn’t deep, but it’s painful. He yelps and staggers forward.\n\nYou swing again, but he deflects it with the hammer and @@color:#000081;hits@@ you hard with his shoulder. You stumble backwards but keep your balance.\n\n“Ralizio!” Azarii shouts while spinning in a circle. “Ralizio!” He spins faster and faster, creating a cyclone with his body. “Ralizio!” It’s so fast rocks and debris are pulled toward him. Your feet skid. You’re being pulled too.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Magical words like “Ralizio” are made-up words that have a small Latin influence. The root word usually corresponds to the magical action taking place.<<endif>>\nInstead of fighting it, you @@color:#000081;sprint@@ forward and leap into the air, doing a half-flip so your foot @@color:#000081;hits@@ Azarii in the nose. You hear the cartilage crunch. The cyclone wobbles, sending you both in opposite directions.\n\nYou skid across the charred dirt.\n\nAzarii staggers, but comes at you again.\n\nAs a reflex, you draw the gun and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@\n\nThe bullet hits Azarii in the leg. He skids across the ground in pain and surprise. The crowd of wizards draw in a breath. They’re almost as surprised as Azarii.\n\nYou calmly turn to Ignis. “This fight is over.” You stand up. “So, are you going to help us now or what?”\n\nIgnis quickly collects herself. “You have defeated the weakest among us. That is hardly a praiseworthy feat, but as I promised, I will hear your proposal.” She motions for two of the men in the crowd to retrieve Azarii.\n\nYou’ve only got five bullets now. You probably shouldn’t have relied on the gun, but old habits die hard. You glance back at Avengral. “The rest is on you.”\n\nHe steps forward and addresses Ignis. “Ignis Ustrina, Grand Master of the Red Wizards of the North, King Sarrejiinn formally requests your army and support in defeating the Ferralliise beasts of the Dire Lands.”\n\n“Army?” Ignis says with a raised brow. “Do we appear as starkly organized as your king expects?”\n\nAvengral looks at the charred homes and barely clothed villagers. “No, it would appear not.”\n\n“And what support do you expect us to provide? Has your King become so poor that he would turn to us for scraps?”\n\nAvengral frowns. “You are citizens of the realm of Sarrejiinn and as such, you are obligated to serve your King when he commands.”\n\n“Ha,” Ignis laughs. “Do you see the King’s banner here? Do you see his seal on our coins? Do you see any coins at all? The King has abandoned my kind. He has exiled us to this wasteland, and yet, you expect us to serve him.”\n\n“Yes,” Avengral nods. “He is still your King, and this is still part of his realm.”\n\nIgnis grunts with frustration. “Your resolve is admirable knight, but your loyalty is foolish.” She watches as Azarii gets dragged into a hut. She looks back at Avengral. “Very well knight,” she says walking toward him. “I will entrust you with seven of my best wizards and in return, the King will publicly recognize Vizzairn as a sovereign nation. He will renounce any claim he thinks he holds over it, and he will allow wizards and others like them to travel freely throughout the realm.”\n\nAvengral ponders her requests carefully. “As to your demands, Grand Wizard, I can authorize and guarantee the first two. The third is beyond my station, but if this threat is dealt with, I believe the King will be receptive to your request.”\n\n“Fine,” Ignis sighs. “Your terms are acceptable, but you will get five wizards instead of seven.”\n\nAvengral nods. “I am honor-bound to fulfill this agreement. I swear it on my life and my family’s honor.” He extends his hand.\n\nIgnis shakes it. “The agreement is made.” She raises her arm. “Grat Grimworth, Mos Vestermire, Nev Naysayer, Able No-name, Evie Greengrass, step forward.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Red Wizard’s names have a direct action or natural theme similar to Native Americans. Since the Red Wizards use elemental magic I thought they should be more aligned with nature. Also the names reflect the direct, genuine aspect of the Red Wizard’s culture.<<endif>>\nFive of the villagers step forward and walk to Avengral.\n\n“These are five of my most capable wizards,” Ignis says. “They will be well suited for whatever situation you find yourself in.” Ignis turns to the five. “Serve this knight as you would serve me.”\n\nThe five nod in unison.\n\n“Alright,” you say. “Now that we have that out of the way, how do we get to the Dire Lands?”\n\nIgnis glares at you. “You may take three of my red-tailed dragon spawn as far as the Bonebottom Mountains just so I can be rid of your stupid faces.”\n\n“Dragons?” You whisper.\n\n“Dragon spawn,” Ignis says, correcting you. “True dragons have been long dead in this realm. Only their half-breed spawnlings remain. You should have heard the stories as a child.”\n\n“Right,” you say. “The stories... I must have hit my head during the fight or something.”\n\nIgnis gives you a strange look then shakes her head. She whistles loudly and three large creatures emerge from a cave in the side of the mountain. They sore through the sky and land in a bare segment of land beside the village.\n\nEach creature has a long and jagged set of wings, but their bodies are different. One has antlers and hoofs like a moose, but its body is covered in scales, and its teeth are sharp and pointed. Another is covered in red fur like a fox with a long fluffy tail. The last is slimy and fat like a frog. Its tongue is long and dangles out the side of its mouth.\n\n“What kind of dragons are those?” You say bewildered.\n\n“Not dragons,” Ignis corrects you again. “Dragon spawn. When the dragons were nearing extinction, they mated with other animals which resulted in these spawnlings. These three breeds are relatively tame. I’m almost certain they won’t try to eat you.”\n\n“That’s comforting,” you mutter.\n\n“You have been most gracious,” Avengral says with a very formal bow. “Now we must be on our way. If we remain here any longer we risk the Prince’s safety more than is necessary. Goodbye Master Wizard Ignis Ustrina.” Avengral motions for the other soldiers and the wizards to mount the dragon spawn.\n\nYou follow his lead and mount the moose looking dragon spawn. The scales are cool and glimmer with green and blue. The dragon spawn has a large leather basket strapped to its back with ropes. The basket looks big enough to hold eight people. You sit with one of the wizards and two of the soldiers.\n\nSuddenly the dragon spawn jerks up and forward. You grab the side of the basket as it jolts into the air. The ground quickly becomes distant, and the villagers look like tiny specs. You see more lava spill out from the active volcano.\n\n“We must pick a destination,” Avengral shouts. He tilts the dragon fox so you’re both closer. “It’s possible the Ferralliise slave traders were responsible for the Prince’s kidnapping. But even if they weren’t, they would know the best roads to conceal an escape. Interrogating them would be a prudent choice.”\n\nYou wipe a lump of slime from your shoulder as the dragon frog passes overhead. “Or?” You ask.\n\n“The Prince’s banner man spoke of the Ferralliise Blood Festival. If the Prince is already in the Dire Lands, then tracking him would be pointless. In order to save him, we would need to find the location of the Blood Festival before they could complete the ritual. You have proven yourself twice now, Earth Wizard. I trust your instincts. How should we proceed?”\n\n[[Search for the slave traders]]\n[[Travel to the Ferralliise capital for information on the Blood Festival]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 292>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +15000>>\n<<set $wpn = "A Pack of Matches">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“You know I would,” you say, @@color:#000081;lunging@@ for the whisky bottle on the table. “But I have this thing about getting shot in the back of the head.” You twist over the couch and throw the bottle into the ceiling above the woman.\n\nShe shoots two rounds into the couch. They miss you by about an inch.\n\nShe laughs and wipes the alcohol out of her eyes. “You have horrible aim.”\n\n“Are you sure about that?”\n\nHer face turns stern like someone told her a joke she didn’t understand. “I’ve still got the girl, and it’s hard to miss when the gun is pressed to her temple.”\n\nYou grab a pack of matches from the table and light the whole pack on fire. You knock a lamp over as a diversion and then @@color:#000081;toss@@ the flaming matches into the woman’s hair.\n\nHer whole head lights up like a candle.\n\nShe shoots frantically at you, missing every time. She pats at her head and falls to the floor. The little girl breaks free and runs to Wilson, who catches her in his arms.\n\nThe woman rolls on the ground @@color:#000081;screaming.@@ The flames won’t kill her, but she’s going to have a bad hair day for the rest of her life.\n\nYou grab her gun and glance at Wilson. “Come on.”\n\nYou head through the kitchen toward the entrance. Three guards burst through the door.\n\n“Turn around,” you say, pushing everyone back. “This way.” You lead them through a door into the garage.\n\nThe guards run past you.\n\n“Hey,” Wilson says. “Look at this.”\n\n“Shh, quiet,” you say.\n\n“Hey,” Wilson whispers. “Look at this.”\n\nThere are three vehicles in the garage with keys still in the ignition. It’s just a matter of picking one.\n\n[[Take the rusty Chevy pickup]]\n[[Take the blue Subaru]]\n[[Take the Ferrari]]\n

<>\n<<remember $yippeeKiYay = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Yippee Ki Yay\n Kill Chuck Laroche\n

<<widget "damageCostChecker">><>\n\t<<if $damageCost > 1000000000>>\n\t\t<<if $naturalDisaster is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveNaturalDisaster").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockNaturalDisaster").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $damageCost > 1000000>>\n\t\t<<if $humanWreckingBall is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveHumanWreckingBall").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockHumanWreckingBall").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $damageCost > 50000>>\n\t\t<<if $rampage is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveRampage").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockRampage").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>><</widget>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 624>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +11>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;Slow and steady@@ wins the race... you’ve heard that somewhere before. If you aren’t careful, you’re going to make a mistake... a mistake that could kill you before you even have a chance to rescue Gillian. You need to play this safe. You can’t let your emotions overpower your reason.\n\nYou might lose a day, but that’s better than being trapped at sea without supplies. “Alright,” you say, turning toward Taz Moir. “We’ll go to the island and resupply, but we need to be quick about it.”\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir says pulling the pipe from his mouth. “Me crew be far from lazy.” He points toward the center of the ship. “Team one on deck.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>I tried to avoid overt slang and accents, but I couldn’t help myself with Taz Moir and his crew. They’re pirates, Aarrrr!<<endif>>\nSeven sailors scramble to the deck in a loose line.\n\n“Good,” Taz Moir commands. “On your toes lads. We scavenge the island for supplies. No dawdlin’.”\n\nThe seven sailors get into a boat and lower it toward the water.\n\n“Wait,” you say. “I’m going with you.”\n\nThe sailors look to Taz Moir for approval.\n\nHe shrugs. “Do as ye wish. Here,” he says tossing you a bag and leather jug. “For supplies.”\n\nYou get on the boat, and they finish lowering it into the water. They row the boat to shore without speaking. Each sailor has a bag and two large leather jugs. They pull the boat into the sand, shove a stake into the ground, and tie the boat to it.\n\nThe sailors move into the jungle without saying a word. They’ve obviously done this before. They have a rhythm and routine. Your presence might be throwing them off. It’s hard to say. One of them nods to you, then points forward. You see a small pond. You follow the sailors to it.\n\nThey dip the leather jugs into the water. The jugs glug, glug as the water fills them.\n\nSuddenly a cry erupts from one of the sailors. You twist around. A spear juts through the man’s chest. He staggers forward and collapses into the water. A dozen more spears slice through the air.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;duck@@ and roll as a spear lodges into the mud behind you. The spears fly from every direction. You must be surrounded.\n\n“The Natanus,” a sailor shouts. “Run!”\n\n“Where?” Another one yells in a panic.\n\nNo one has an answer.\n\nYou draw your green speckled blade and search the tree line for the attackers. Another spear whizzes by your head. Then you see it...\n\nIt’s a human like figure about half the size of a normal person. Its skin is red and scaly. Its head is long and pointy like a trout. Hundreds of sharp teeth fill its wide mouth. It’s some kind of weird fish person. It chucks another spear at you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;deflect@@ the spear with your sword and sprint toward the fish creature. It jumps at you, swinging a curved blade at your head. You @@color:#000081;duck@@ and twist, @@color:#000081;cutting@@ across the creatures back...and fin. The creature lurches forward and collapses to the ground.\n\nYou can’t be sure if it’s dead, but you’re not sticking around to find out. The sailors have scattered in every direction. You count at least three dead crewmen. You need to run and regroup.\n\nIt’s a straight shot back to the ship, but you’d be leading these fish people...what where they called? Natanus? You’d be leading them straight to the ship. With the whole crew, you should be able to defeat the creatures, but how many more crewmen would die?\n\nYou could run further into the jungle and double back. You might be able to obscure the trail back to the ship. It’d be safer for the crew, but a lot more dangerous for you. The one thing that’s certain, you can’t sit out in the open. \n\n[[Retreat directly to the ship]]\n[[Travel further inland and double back]]\n

Seven Bullets Glitch Art Cover\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 523>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<endnobr>>“He’s right,” you say to Taz Moir. “We should search for survivors. They may have information about this area. If they’ve already done reconnaissance, their intel could save us some time.”\n\n“And what of the time we waste searching for ’em?”\n\nHe has a point. “We’ll circle out from the sinking ship and then head south. That won’t put us too out of the way, will it?”\n\nTaz Moir gives you a weary stare. “This not be a game. Monsters lurk in these waters, and we’d be wise to avoid ’em.”\n\n“I didn’t figure you to be the type to run from a fight,” you say @@color:#000081;sharply.@@\n\n“I be a pirate. I fight fer loot and me life, and not in that order.”\n\n“Just give the command,” you say sternly.\n\nTaz Moir shakes his head. “You heard the fool boys, circle out and head south.”\n\nThe ship jerks east, making a wide arc around the sinking ship.\n\n“Eyes out!” Taz Moir commands. “We be searching fer the livin’!”\n\nThe ship continues on. The waves are rigid, and the ship bobs and dips.\n\n“There,” a crewman shouts. “A rower!”\n\n“Bring her in,” Taz Moir yells.\n\nThe ship slows slightly and nears the tiny boat. You count three survivors. They look emaciated and dehydrated, nearly dead. It’s hard to tell how long they’ve been drifting.\n\n“Pull ’em aboard,” Taz Moir snarls.\n\nTwo crewmen slide down ropes and tie the ropes to each end of the boat. “Bring her up!” They yell in unison.\n\nTwo other crewmen reel up the boat by turning two pulleys. The survivors slump against the deck. They're so weak they can barely speak.\n\n“Horrible,” a survivor mumbles. “The monsters.” He grabs your arm. “RUN!” He screams and collapses.\n\n“Go,” another survivor groans. “We need to go.”\n\n“Water!” Taz Moir commands. “Bring these sailors water.” Taz Moir kneels down. “Now tell me boy, what attacked yer ship.”\n\nThe survivor flails pathetically. “No,” he groans. “No more. No more.” His head goes limp and falls against Taz Moir’s shoulder. “No more,” the boy says wearily.\n\n“It’s alright boy, ya be safe now.”\n\nSuddenly the ship wobbles as if the whole ocean was in a jar being shaken. You stumble sideways and grab the railing. Then you see it...\n\nAn enormous shell rises out of the ocean. It’s the size of a skyscraper. Another one, of equally size, emerges on the other side of the ship.\n\nYou look to Taz Moir. He’s as speechless as you are.\n\n“No!” The survivors scream. “No! No!”\n\nLittle holes are cut into the shells and dozens of creatures climb out of them. They dangle from sinewy ropes and swing to the ship. You grab the green speckled blade and @@color:#000081;slice@@ at one as it lands on the deck.\n\nThe sword scrapes against the creature’s back, doing little damage. Its skin is thick and hard like a carapace or an exoskeleton. You leap back to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ its massive pincers. It’s like a weird humanoid crab.\n\nIt hisses at you, and it doesn’t sound friendly. A dozen more roll onto the deck.\n\n“The cannons!” Taz Moir shouts. “Ready the cannons!”\n\n[[Ready the cannons]]\n[[Stay and protect the deck]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 482>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<if $coldAndCalculating is false>>\n\t<<script>>\n\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveColdandCalculating").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockColdandCalculating").processText());\n\tUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You pull into the parking garage and drive to the top story. There are only a few cars. It’s @@color:#000081;deserted@@. At least you don’t have to worry about civilians getting in the way.\n\nYou park the car and grab your equipment. The Boss’s penthouse is on the southeast side. Luckily the afternoon sun will be working for you and, if all goes as planned, @@color:#000081;they won’t@@ be able to figure out your location until you and Gillian are almost out of the city.\n\nYou click open the sniper case and assemble the weapon. You’ve done this enough times you don’t need to think about it. Your hands and fingers move on their own.\n\nGiven the distraction you caused earlier the guards should be minimal – probably five. The two guarding Gillian should be visible from here. The other three may pose a problem, and that’s assuming there are only three. It’s a good thing you nabbed the x-ray scope. You slide it into place and toggle it to the standard sight.\n\nYou lay flat along the cement barrier on the very edge of the building. Your foot dangles off the edge. You try not to look down. The drop may not kill you, but it sure wouldn’t feel good. You flick out the metal stand and position the sniper rifle toward the penthouse. This isn’t the most comfortable or secure position, but it’s the only one that keeps Gillian and the east elevator in your line of sight.\n\nYou take a deep breath and try to relax your muscles. The slightest twitch or tremble could send the bullet in the wrong place, like the back of Gillian’s head.\n\nYou look through the scope and adjust the focus until a lamp on the far side of the room is visible. You toggle the scope to thermal. You count eight bodies, one of those being Gillian. That’s two extra guards.\n\nEven if you take out the two guarding Gillian, that leaves four in the adjacent room and one in the hall. There’s no way you can get all of them before they open fire.\n\nGillian doesn’t know how to use a gun, so she won’t be much help. If you can get her to the east elevator, she’ll be safe until the ground floor; unfortunately, the guard in the hall is blocking the elevator.\n\nYou’re going to have to take him out eventually. Given the amount of walls you’d have to penetrate, the bullet may never reach him, and even if it does, there’s no guarantee it will kill him.\n\nOn the other hand, you’ve got a clean shot of the two thugs guarding Gillian. If you take them out first, you might be able to lure the others into a weak position and guide Gillian around them. You glance at your watch. There’s no time to think about it. You’ll just have to choose.\n\n[[Shoot the thug in the hallway]]\n[[Shoot the two thugs guarding Gillian]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 490>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $wpn = "A Showdown!">>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +4325>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Your conscience gets the better of you. Gillian’s safety comes first. \n\nBlah. Blah. Blah.\n\nYou stuff the shotgun in the bag and slide the bag behind you. You grab the two grenades with your off hand and take the pistol with your other.\n\nThe elevator dings and the door slides open. You @@color:#000081;fire@@ two rounds, dropping one of the thugs in the hallway. The other sticks his gun out from around the corner and blindfires. Two bullets @@color:#000081;graze@@ your arm. You fall against the wall, dropping the grenades. They roll toward the thug.\n\nYou’ll just have to make due. You fire at the grenades and twist for cover. They blow a @@color:#000081;hole@@ in the wall and the thug. You grab his submachine gun as you dive into the opening.\n\nBullets fly past your legs. One @@color:#000081;grazes@@ your foot. You groan and take cover behind an oak desk. Your shoulder bleeds badly, and blood oozes out the hole in your shoe.\n\nThat’s disappointing. Those were your favorite pair of shoes. You take a second to morn.\n\nYou glance around the room. You’re in the study. Gillian must be in the bedroom on the other side of the penthouse.\n\nYou check the submachine gun clip. Less than half. Should be more than enough. If you killed two thugs already that leaves three at the most.\n\nYou hobble to the door on the other side of the room. The door’s slightly open already. You lunge through it, firing the submachine gun as you slide behind the couch. You @@color:#000081;hit@@ the thug twice in the chest and once in the head.\n\nAs you fall, you glimpse a large cowboy hat, which means Chuck Laroche is here.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Chuck Laroche is one of my favorite assassins in the story. While other assassins like Alana and Nikola are serious and dark, Chuck Laroche is more like a cartoon character mixed with a Luc Besson movie villain.I figured for a person to be a professional assassin, they’d have to be a little crazy and that kind of crazy might lean more toward a Looney Tune than a serial killer (some of the time).<<endif>>\nCrap.\n\nYou prop yourself against the couch. “Hey Chucky. It’s been awhile.”\n\n“Indeed it has,” he says with an awkward southern drawl.\n\n“You still lugging around that revolver?”\n\n“I’ve got two now.”\n\nThat’ll make him twice as hard to kill. “You’re definitely not compensating for something. And it sounds like you’re still using that ridiculous accent.”\n\n“It sounds tough, don’t it.”\n\n“No, it sounds like you belong in a bad carnival. You’re the only Frenchman I know who thinks he’s a cowboy. How do the other assassins take you seriously?”\n\nA bullet tears through the couch just above your head.\n\nYou rub at your hair, hoping there’s not a @@color:#000081;bald spot.@@ “Forget I asked.”\n\n“You got nowhere to go, but how bout I give you a chance.”\n\n“Ha,” you laugh, “You still want a showdown?”\n\n“I gots to know who’s the quickest.”\n\nIt’s not like you can out maneuver him. “Fine,” you sigh. “The rules?”\n\n“One bullet a piece.”\n\nYou look at your pistol clip. You only have one bullet left anyway. “Yeah, @@color:#000081;alright.”@@ You push yourself up and square off with him. “The mustache is a nice touch.” You try to keep from laughing. “It really brings the wardrobe together.”\n\nHe grins with pride. “Don’t it though.”\n\n[[Draw first]]\n[[Wait for him to flinch]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 726>>\n<<set $force = $force -8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<endnobr>>You can’t be sure if all the Blue Wizards are part of this scheme or just a few bad apples. If you start poking around people are going to die, and you still might not get any answers.\n\nYou need to play this @@color:#000081;smart.@@ You need to know the extent of the corruption before you can dish out justice. That’s what the Boss taught you to do. It won’t be easy, but it is necessary.\n\n“I say we follow protocol. We need to find the head of the snake before we can cut it off.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral nods. “Then it is settled. We will approach the Blue Wizards on foot as a royal envoy from the King. You four will be my diplomatic emissaries. For the intent of this mission, you will not mention your Vizzairn association, nor will you display your magical abilities. You will follow all manner of civil conduct and,” Avengral stares at Able. “You will not speak unless spoken to. Are these rules clear?”\n\n“Yes,” the four of you groan in unison.\n\n“Good,” Avengral says. “Now, if we are to make this ruse believable, you must leave your weapons here. Under the Accords only the head knight may carry a weapon into friendly negotiations.”\n\n“Whoa,” Able groans. “I don’t mind the not talking, but my hammer stays with me.”\n\n“Not only do your weapons identify you as Vizzairns, they also give away your intention. The Blue Wizards are clever, and we must not give them any opportunity to doubt us.”\n\n“He’s right,” Evie sighs. She unlatches her whip and tosses it into the basket on the back of the dragon spawn. “We won’t get any information if they think we’re here to kill them.”\n\n“So that’s all this is?” Mos asks while tossing his bow and short sword next to Evie’s whip. “We’re just here to talk?”\n\nAvengral nods. “Even if we wanted to initiate combat, we do not have the resources to do much, if any, damage. The evidence we find will be damaging enough.”\n\nYou never thought Avengral could be so scheming and political. “For someone so honor-bound you seem really comfortable lying.”\n\n“I will not lie, but that does not mean the truth must be forthcoming. We must give them no provocation to ask direct questions or I will be forced to speak honestly.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>One of the core themes in the fantasy genre is formality and code of conduct. I think nostalgia has some correlation to a sense of order. The past seems more pleasing because it’s easier to define and categorize. The present has too many unknowns.This scene is playing into that notion of order and formality. If you’ve read other sections of Ragnoss, you’ll notice these two choices are very similar to another set in the book; however, the outcomes are drastically different.<<endif>>\nYou toss your sword and gun in the basket. “Sounds like you’re walking a thin line.”\n\n“A line I will not cross. If we are in agreement, then let us continue onward.” Avengral marches toward the wizards’ castle.\n\nAble grimaces, but leaves his hammer behind.\n\nYou and the others follow Avengral. The dirt road winds through the forest like a snake. It’s relatively pleasant. If you were traveling under different circumstances, you might even enjoy it. Unfortunately, you have a feeling these wizards won’t be so easy to deal with...and even if you do manage to get answers, you still have to get home, find, and then free Gillian. The odds aren’t exactly in your favor.\n\nThe castle looms ahead. Avengral stops in front of the giant draw bridge. “Wizard’s of Raizaa, I am Avengral Swiftsteel, First Knight of Sarrejiinn castle, Third Sword in the House of Sun and Steel. I greet you as emissary of the Sarrejiinn court. I wish to enter your estates so we may discuss the future of our two kingdoms.”\n\n“Your arrival has not been prearranged,” a voice bellows from the wall. “State your business more clearly.”\n\nAvengral stays firm. “I wish to discuss the growing threat of the Ferralliise within the realm.”\n\nThere’s a moment of silence, then the draw bridge lowers. “Very well,” the old voice says. “Come in.”\n\nAn old man in a long blue robe greets you in the courtyard. “This way,” his shaky hand directs you to the main hall. The five of you follow him inside.\n\nHe gestures to a table, and the five of you sit.\n\n“Master Wizard Kailvo will be with you momentarily,” the old wizard says dryly. “Would you like some food and drink while you wait?”\n\nIt’s hard to say when you last had a decent meal. Now that you think about it, your stomach does ache, and you feel a little dizzy. Food would be nice, but then again, is it smart to trust these Blue Wizards about anything?\n\n[[Accept the food and drink]]\n[[Don’t accept the food and drink]]\n

\n\n\n<html>\n She was a pretty girl – still a girl her mother reminded her, even at the supple age of twenty-four – her breasts perky, her legs long. Suitors presented gifts and songs, chocolates and jewelry though none of them made it past the diligent screenings of her mother. And so it came to be that the young Clover Collette was struck by a troublesome bout of depression.\n\n She was alone – always alone, with the exception of her scheming mother.\n\n Her mother refused to call her Clover; instead she summoned her with the term Honey or soothed her with Sugar or, when angry, she called her by her father’s last name, Collette.\n\n It was her father who had given her the name Clover due to the simple fact that she was conceived in a field of clover. Her mother hated the name and the memory of her one indiscretion.\n\n Clover’s father had died suddenly on account of a fast moving train and a bag of particularly potent acid, which he had taken all at once after fearing the police were following him. The police were in fact following him, but only to return his dropped wallet.\n\n On the brighter side, the police were able to use the photo on his driver’s license to identify his mutilated body – an act of efficiency which they prided themselves on later.\n\n Ellie, claiming the body with a slur of curses, thought Clover’s father had jumped to his death out of desperation after discovering he was a parent. Her fears could not have been farther from the truth. For on learning of his fatherhood, Jackson was overjoyed and invigorated with a hunger for life. He was on his way to sell and swear-off his drugs.\n\n With his mix of misdemeanors and parking tickets, he feared jail time might keep him from his daughter. It was through this painful twist of fate that Clover Collette lost her father forever – a loss she could not describe or comprehend having never met him.\n\n Ellie, thinking a man would rather die than be with her, had developed an abandonment complex which she often enacted on her daughter. Clover did not leave the proximity of the house without her mother’s hand, nor did she speak outside of her mother’s presence. The children of the neighborhood had come to the conclusion that Clover was either deaf or dumb and avoided her except to tease her misunderstood silence.\n\n Her shapely breasts and curving legs soon transformed their laughter into bumbling applause. Her silence became a mystery every young boy hoped to solve, which they would not, even if they penetrated her mother’s fortifications. For though Clover had the beauty of a playboy bunny, she lacked the social skills to match.\n\n Her time was spent invested in books or speaking to the plants in her garden. She did not know the friendship and love that she lacked – she simply felt a cold and heavy depression cover her body and weigh down her heart. She could not explain the uneasiness and slowness that every day brought. For twenty-four years she allowed the coldness to cover her spirit until she could bare it no longer.\n\n She gathered her things and planned her escape.\n\n Her exodus brought her as far as the detached garage. A noise startled her curiosity.\n\n A man, covered in blankets, was curled in the back of their broken Chevy pickup. He struggled and stretched but could not sleep.\n\n Clover was transfixed by the unaware man. It was the first time she had seen a man outside the presence of her mother, especially one in such a vulnerable position. She stayed the whole night watching him through the window.\n\n As the sun rose, Clover hurried back to the house, fearing her mother’s wrath. As soon as she was able, which was not until late afternoon, Clover rushed back to the detached garage. She peered through the window but found the truck empty. She cautiously unlatched the door and entered.\n\n The man was gone and his absence tied a knot in her stomach. She searched the bed of the truck. A small note was tucked into the rusted metal corner. It was addressed to her.\n\n She opened it.\n\n The words rushed over her like burning coals melting the ice surrounding her soul. The poetry was pure and beautiful, and she began to cry realizing someone had written the words specifically for her.\n\n She could not explain the connection she felt with the crumpled note, but she held it tightly to her chest. She thought about the man she had seen the night before and she smiled.\n\n She ran back to the house and spent the rest of the day lying in bed thinking of him. She did not, nor would she ever, know that the note had been written by her father only minutes before his death.\n\n The news of her birth had spurred his inner muse and he scrawled a poem before leaving to dispose of his drugs. Unaware of his soon demise, he did not think to sign his name and so, twenty-four years and eight months later, Clover Collette found herself madly in love with a complete stranger, a result of a poem anonymously written by her father.\n\n She waited until night fell and the sound of her mother’s snoring echoed through the house; then, cautiously, she tip-toed to the detached garage and hid in the darkest corner. There she waited; her head and eyes drooping as hours passed.\n\n Suddenly the side door creaked and she fluttered awake. The excitement beat through her chest and shook her arms with adrenaline. Her breathing was shallow and her eyes alert.\n\n The man set down his backpack and his plastic bags. He pulled out and unfurled a blue tarp and a thick blanket. He laid both in the bed of the truck. He slid off his shoes and took off his hat, then curled in-between the tarp and the blanket, his head resting on his arm.\n\n Clover watched him carefully.\n\n Like all the times before, she could not speak, nor did she know the proper way to greet him, so she simply stood and hoped he might notice her. When he did not, she took a step closer – again nothing.\n\n She stepped closer and closer, but he did not stir.\n\n She began to feel warm and nervous, as if she had gone about this in all the wrong ways. She shook her head and fortified her courage. She stepped into the bed of the truck and slid under the covers next to the man.\n\n The man, suddenly feeling a draft, turned to discover the unnatural beauty of the young Clover Collette. She did not think to smile or move in any way for she had never been so close to a man, not even in her mother’s presence.\n\n The man screamed so loud and shrill the window glass shook. He frantically pushed himself away from her and fell from the truck. He ran out the side door and into the darkness faster than Clover could turn her head to see the direction he ran.\n\n Stunned, she laid in the truck bed thinking that perhaps the current events had not gone in her favor. She did not, nor would she ever, know the circumstances of the man she had startled.\n\n He had once been a professor, renowned in certain circles for his dry but profound essays. This slight fame only served to bolster his less agreeable habits. For though he was an exceptional teacher, he had a certain affluence for young female students insatiably homesick and eager to please.\n\n After bedding them, they suddenly became less interesting and, like most intellectuals, his vanity pushed them out of his head and house. After one such evening, a brunette left his house and this life after guzzling a bottle of sleeping pills.\n\n Her death brought his extracurricular activities to light and he was stripped of his position just months shy of tenure. When he could not remember the girl’s name, an overwhelming sadness constricted his heart and he suffered from a mild heart attack.\n\n Waking up in the hospital, he rediscovered his morality. He got out of bed and, wearing only a hospital gown, left the city, walking for days, living how he felt, like a wounded animal.\n\n When he turned to see young Clover Collette, her beauty pierced his soul. He had never seen such magnificence – it was angelic. And, in fact, he thought she was an angel sent to exact revenge for all the girls he had taken advantage of.\n\n Her silence was like a death sentence, and so he ran. The panic and exhaustion mixed into a bow of thorns that wrapped tightly around his heart. A mile from her house he collapsed, dying face down in a puddle of warm mud. His body would not be discovered until a week later when a truck driver nearly ran it over.\n\n Clover sighed.\n\n She waited in the truck until morning, but when the man did not return, she snuck back into her room and tried not to think of him. Her patience lasted three days and then she rummaged through his things.\n\n She found smelly clothes and canned food, a metal spoon and a used toothbrush, two books, neither of which she had read, a small radio with a broken antenna, a deck of playing cards which she later learned were missing a queen of hearts and a three of clubs, a broken tape, and a bag of stale peanuts which she later regretted eating. These objects she linked to her first love, but, having no use for them, she threw them out.\n\n The poem she kept, but, fearing her mother would discover and take it, she hid it in the rusted metal corner of the truck bed.\n\n Late at night she would sneak out and, with a dim flashlight, she would read it over and over. She did not know why the man had fled from her, but she began to search for the grotesque feature she feared was hidden on her face.\n\n It was this insecurity that led her one night to the large covered mirror stored in the attic of the house. She pushed away the cobwebs and the dust and slid off the cover.\n\n She stared at the reflection of her face, and neck, and chest.\n\n She could not see anything wrong, but she also knew that her knowledge of such things was very small. She took off her shirt and pants then examined the reflection.\n\n Still, she could not see any blemish.\n\n She took off her bra and panties. She turned and twisted, but she could not understand why a man would write such beautiful words about her only to flee upon seeing her.\n\n She wept.\n\n She reached up, pulling the cover down when a large, fat spider sunk its fangs into her hand. She stumbled back.\n\n Her vision blurred.\n\n Her legs trembled and lost their strength.\n\n She tried to grab hold of something, but she fell, half her body hanging out of the small attic opening.\n\n If it had been any other time, her mother would have scolded her for being both naked and in the attic; however, her mother was at her monthly Bible study and would not be home for another two hours, so Clover hung, upside down and quite delirious, for nearly an hour before a neighborhood boy spotted her voluptuous and defenseless breasts swaying like a pair of piñatas.\n\n He entered through an open window and slunk through the hall.\n\n He licked his lips at the sight of her nipples. He reached up and palmed them, snickering as she remained half-conscious, but still very helpless. He squeezed until dark red marks remained in place of his fingers.\n\n She mumbled and tried to raise her arms. The spider toxin kept them paralyzed.\n\n The boy’s eyes widened with excitement. He leaned forward and stuck a nipple in his mouth. He took a step closer and as he did the floor creaked. His paranoia overtook him and he fled, knocking over the hall table as he ran.\n\n By the age of seventeen, he would overcome his paranoia and rape seven women before the year was out, the last of which would accidentally die due to an undiagnosed and forceful case of asthma. Her father, rich and well connected, instigated a manhunt lasting three days until the rapist’s body was found with a bullet in his head and crotch.\n\n The police could not determine which bullet had entered the boy’s body first, though the amount of blood suggested the latter. On hearing the news, her father was quoted in the media as saying the justice was swift, but disappointing.\n\n No one knew, nor would they ever know, that his $10,000 had paid for the two bullets used in the murder – nor did the police find, or exert much effort to find the assassin. Clover Collette knew nothing of these events and, in fact, remembered very little of the nipple sucking incident.\n\n She awoke in the hospital with a strong but gentle hand holding her own. It belonged to one Francis Darling who, after seeing his young brother mischievously flee from the Collette house, decided to investigate. Upon seeing the naked and seemingly lifeless body of the beautiful Clover Collette, he wrapped her in a blanket and immediately drove her to the hospital, waiting with her until the doctors could examine and stabilize her.\n\n The capable doctors found no trace of venom in her body, but there was a contusion on the side of her head and five red stripes on her breast. She could explain neither and Francis Darling, suspecting his younger brother, said nothing.\n\n His omission came, not from a fear of his brother’s safety, but from a desire to avoid his mother’s grief, for though he loved his mother, he hated seeing her upset, which, given his troublesome brother, happened quite often. In fact, the veins on her neck and forehead were in a perpetual state of excitation.\n\n Francis, unable to stand the barrage of yelling and thrown cutlery, was making his escape out the second story window when he spotted his rascal brother leaving the Collette house. He did not know, nor had he seen the stunning Clover Collette for work kept him outside the realm of rumors and romance, but upon seeing the pure and enchanting beauty of the young Clover Collette, he made a silent oath that she would one day be his wife. This thought, like all his future thoughts, came out immediately and without hesitation, though the words were not in the order he had intended.\n\n The abruptness and volume of his voice startled her, but something about his proximity made her feel extremely good. This sensation, which she later described as love, did not originate from the awkward Francis Darling, but from the Vicodin in her IV drip which the doctors had just then administered.\n\n When Clover smiled and clutched his hand tighter, Francis, thinking his gibberish to be the equivalent of the greatest sonnet, kissed her – her first kiss – then she drifted into a euphoric sleep. She would forever associate her euphoria with the touch of his lips.\n\n The doctors, seeing the intensity of their intimacy, assumed the two to be married and proceeded to treat them as such.\n\n Clover’s contusion would require seven stitches and regular doses of antibiotics over the next two weeks. The attending physician was one Dr. Shivani Kapur, a beautiful and forward thinking Indian woman who had excelled in all facets of her medical education.\n\n She came to America hoping her paycheck would match her underappreciated intelligence. She was, however, very disappointed. Though her skills were unmatched, she never managed to catch the attention of her superiors. She did not understand why until she examined the red marks on Clover Collette’s voluptuous breast.\n\n Perfection is not the right word, but it is the closest approximation of what Dr. Shivani Kapur felt. She had never regretted having small breasts, and in fact, her breasts were of ample size, but she suddenly realized that her breasts should reflect her ego, which meant at least one cup size larger.\n\n She would have her breasts augmented and acquire two promotions as a result. Her surgical career, however, would end shortly after a particularly delicate procedure went awry, her arm catching on her own unnaturally large breasts, the scalpel cutting the patient’s vein in a way that could not be sutured in time.\n\n The patient died and though Dr. Shivani Kapur did not lose her medical license, the insurance rates made it impossible for her to enter an operating room.\n\n Her career would advance, but only in a managerial capacity. With her ego crushed, she ate uncontrollably. Within a year her weight doubled. Her beauty waned and her speech became bitter.\n\n Clover would not learn of these events, nor would she learn that her breasts were their cause. She only thought it a bit strange the way Dr. Shivani Kapur kept massaging her breasts during the examination.\n\n The news of Clover’s incident spread quickly, reaching Ellie before her Bible study had ended. She rushed frantically to the hospital fearing Clover had made the same unpleasant choice as her father.\n\n When sexual assault was mentioned as a possibility, Ellie was suddenly relieved. Happy at the thought of her daughter’s rape instead of death, her sensibilities were shaken and she directed her anger toward the only thing she could – someone else.\n\n She pointed her sharp fingers at Francis Darling, shouting repeatedly that he was a rapist and a fiend. She became so adamant three nurses were needed to subdue her. Before she was carried out of the room, she swore that Francis Darling would suffer the wrath of God and a hundred angels would tear his body to pieces. She, of course, would never know how close her prediction was to the truth.\n\n Francis Darling tried to explain his innocence, but his pleas were a dyslexic soup of vowels. Ellie interpreted his gibberish as a youthful and new age insult, which only infuriated her more. The nurses, still under the impression that Francis was Clover’s loving husband, forced the mad woman out of the hospital and did not let her back in again.\n\n Ellie, fearing she might lose her daughter forever, devised a devious and desperate plan. When night came, she snuck back into the hospital and spied the dedicated Francis Darling from the room across the hall. When he left to use the restroom, she followed him.\n\n He unzipped his pants and relieved himself in the urinal.\n\n Ellie crept up behind him and struck him across the back of the head with the brick hidden in her purse. He fell to the tile floor clutching his head.\n\n She sat on his crotch and slid forward and back.\n\n When he remained flaccid, she groaned and tried using her hand.\n\n He pushed her away and staggered to the wall.\n\n She grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the closest stall. He fell against the toilet, hitting his head again.\n\n She spit in her hand and tried rubbing him once more, but, given his head injury and sudden fear, he would not stiffen. Ellie, growling with frustration, took the brick from her purse and began hitting herself with it – first on her inner thighs, then her vagina, finally her face, making sure the blood stained Francis’ clothes. \n\n She collapsed, overcome by her own strength.\n\n Francis stumbled out of the stall baffled and nearly unconscious. He pulled up and zipped his pants unable to look away from Ellie’s unmoving body. He thought of himself as a good looking man, but his looks had never driven a woman, his future mother-in-law no less, to such madness.\n\n He had managed to resist her enthusiasm, but he might not have the strength a second time. He decided to avoid women from that point forward – specifically Ellie.\n\n His love for Clover would, against all odds, remain greater than his libido. He and Clover left that night to find a place void of people and temptation.\n\n Ellie would wake up in a hospital bed surrounded by police. She would explain how Francis Darling had first violated her and then ruthlessly beat her. She demanded police protection and immediate justice.\n\n When she led the police to Clover’s room, it was empty and Ellie’s fears were realized. She filed a missing persons report and cried for three full days.\n\n After months had passed, she knew her daughter would never again return. Ellie walked to the train tracks where the love of her life had died. She laid down there until a train tore her body into tiny bits.\n\n The police, unable to identify the pieces, cremated them unclaimed and unmarked. She died gratified by the thought of Francis Darling being found, arrested, and later raped in prison.\n\n Clover and Francis would never learn of Ellie’s death, nor would they learn of Francis’ arrest warrant, for two days after Ellie’s death the police, investigating an unrelated case, discovered a hidden video camera in the hospital’s restroom containing footage of Ellie’s self-mutilation.\n\n The video camera belonged to a young male nurse by the name of Ron Wallace. His crimes included blackmail, extortion, attempted murder, and an assortment of sexual harassment charges. The video camera was hidden in the hopes of catching Dr. Tara Collins in the act of coitus.\n\n Rumors of her explicit behavior had set the hospital abuzz though no evidence could corroborate the gossip. Ron Wallace, aroused by the rumors, had taken an interest in her shapely figure and bloated paycheck. If she refused to pay him or at least gratify him, then the video would make its way into every employee’s mail box.\n\n When she refused to pay him, he demanded sex.\n\n A struggle ensued.\n\n She quickly overtook him due to her advanced skills in jiu-jitsu, krav maga, and kempo. His pride was damaged worse than his body and, after regaining consciousness, he immediately filed a complaint with the police.\n\n In his haste, however, he forgot to remove the video camera from the restroom vent and when the police investigated his claim, they discovered it and its contents.\n\n Ron was arrested and the rumors of Dr. Tara Collins continued to spread without validation.\n\n Clover and Francis would never learn of these events and, in fact, after eloping at City Hall, never return to the city. They placed their few belongings in a small bag and walked as far from temptation as their feet would allow. Their path led them deep into an unexplored portion of the forest void of people, except for one.\n\n After a full two days of walking, Clover and Francis came upon a small log cabin. They did not wish to disturb the resident, but their lack of food left them little choice.\n\n A skinny man with a long beard opened the door.\n\n He said nothing – his nervous eyes studying every part of their person.\n\n Francis, feeling emboldened as a new husband, attempted to explain the series of events leading to this unfortunate moment. The words were loud and sharp and utterly confusing. However, when the mountain man heard the grumbling of Francis’ stomach, he opened the door fully and motioned for them to enter.\n\n Francis grinned with pride, feeling for the second time that his ability to communicate was unmatched. He squeezed Clover’s hand and secretly attributed his new vocal dexterity to her incredible beauty and positive influence.\n\n The mountain man poured two bowls of soup and set them on the table, then returned to his desk to solder and pack wires into a small box. The box would be a gift – though not a pleasant one. Upon opening the cardboard flaps a thin wire would be pulled out of place setting off an explosive reaction within the box aimed upward at the intended recipient’s hands and face.\n\n Already five men and two women had lost their hands – three others had lost the use of their eyes as well. The recipients, though different in almost every way, shared exactly one commonality – they were regional managers of national bank chains.\n\n The mountain man had once been a Wall Street mogul, making more money in a month than most families could make in three years. Despite his wealth he remained frugal, living off the interest his investments earned.\n\n He cared little for the world – breaking relationships into carefully measured equations, comparing the dividends and potential risk of investment, managing his emotions much like a stock portfolio. He was a mathematical genius and since the early age of seven came to the conclusion that all worthwhile commodities could be interpreted and described by a number.\n\n He doubted this philosophy only two times in his life. The first time occurred during his second year of college – four months and eight days before his seventeenth birthday. Nine other students had discovered his intellect and began using his work as a cheat sheet for upcoming tests.\n\n One of the students, a senior, for reasons that not even she could explain, took him into an empty bedroom and made love to him while the other students vigorously studied in the adjoining space.\n\n He could calculate the perspiration rate of her skin, the angle and velocity of her gyroscopic motion, her increased air consumption based on her elevated heart rate – he could measure the heat generated by the friction of their skin, the force exerted on the mattress as their bodies moved, the compressed wavelength of her voice as she climaxed – as he climaxed.\n\n The numbers he compiled were an exact representation of the event; though, somehow, they failed to describe what he felt. He buried this feeling as best he could for the next day the woman was gone and he never saw or heard from her again.\n\n Exactly fourteen years, two months, and three days later a young girl stood in front of his door, claiming to be his daughter. She was bright, like him, though she carried with her a vibrant charisma that – he postulated – must have come from her mother.\n\n The only object the girl desired was the affection of a missing father.\n\n He tried to recapitulate her request into a manageable equation, but before he could finish his composition, her mother, full of worry and desperation, arrived to claim her. She was beautiful, even in her frantic state and he felt something wonderful – which he quickly calculated as a mixture of adrenaline, testosterone, and endorphins with a faint hint of caffeine.\n\n She took her daughter and apologized.\n\n He told her not to and he gave her his business card. She took it and left in a hurry.\n\n Despite her speed, she and her daughter would not make it home that afternoon. A truck traveling at exactly 83mph (43mph over the speed limit) would fail to stop at a red light. The driver, intoxicated on pain killers and sleeping pills, would swerve at the exact time and angle needed to hit the car containing the woman and her daughter head-on. The police would inform the Wall Street mogul of these events and he would spend the next three days calculating the measurements contained in the police report.\n\n At the funeral he would explain how the velocity and angle of impact meant the woman and her daughter died instantaneously and given the bruising of the bodies and blood patterns in the car it would have been impossible for any nervous system to have processed the pain. The results would not provide any comfort. For the second time in his life, his precious numbers refused to explain the loss and pain that made his body ache.\n\n He studied the life of the man driving the truck hoping to derive an equation that would explain the events. After months of work, he decided more data was needed. He expanded his study to incorporate the entire city, eventually the country, and finally the world.\n\n Years passed.\n\n He diligently and unapologetically shattered established theories of probability and physics. Though his work was revolutionary, he refused to publish it for none of it contained the answers he craved.\n\n After nearly ten years he had devised an equation, both simplistic and elegant, that mapped probable eventualities on a macroscopic scale. This equation, like his earlier work, would fail to restore the vitality of his heart. It would, however, have an alternately catastrophic effect. For in the fluidity of his numbers, the Wall Street mogul discovered a demoralizing pattern.\n\n His presumption involved the fluctuation of capital into and out of stagnant economic locations – specifically how resources such as water, real estate, fuel, and electricity could be manipulated and often withheld to control the behavior of seemingly helpless citizens.\n\n He used the life of the man driving the truck as a case study, though how the Wall Street mogul linked bank executives with the death of his first love and daughter is, and always will be, a mystery. His rage and decisive revenge was quite clear, both to the bank executives and the authorities.\n\n After his unnerving discovery, he sold all his assets and withdrew his money from the several banks he had invested in. He stuffed the $500,000 stacks into pillow cases and drove them to his secluded cabin. They resided there with him as he sent his death boxes to the prestigious banks across North America.\n\n He had begun the construction of his eighth gift when the knocking hand of Francis Darling interrupted his concentration. He did not plan on opening the door, but an emotion overtook him when he spied the faultless Clover Collette through his peep hole.\n\n Her perfect aesthetics fascinated him and he felt at once excited. It was as if his equation had taken form as a fleshy body. He wished to study her more closely and so he ushered them both in and poured each a bowl of soup.\n\n Over the years, Clover had grown accustomed to strangers gawking at her and in fact thought it was a kind of politeness, much like shaking hands, so, when the mountain man stared deeply and unyieldingly at her, she stared back.\n\n It had been a long time since anyone had looked at him so candidly. He was at once reminded of the young girl on his doorstep claiming to be his daughter. He could not explain this moment of whimsy or the tears that gathered along the creases of his face, and he suddenly feared his equation might fail him once more.\n\n He quickly finished his package and left the cabin hoping to escape the pain that could not be bandaged with mathematics.\n\n Clover and Francis would not see or hear from the mountain man again, for exactly one hour and thirty-four minutes later he was swiftly apprehended by the authorities as he approached the front counter of the Post Office.\n\n He was sentenced and sent to prison, dying there three years after his trial. He never spoke of his cabin in the woods and in fact, to the dismay of the media, he did not speak at all, dying in silence and very much alone.\n\n Clover and Francis would never learn of these events, nor would they begrudge the mountain man, who was once a Wall Street mogul, as the rest of the world did. For seven days they guessed at their host’s whereabouts, but on the eighth day they said a silent prayer for him and began living in the cabin as if it was their own.\n\n The mountain man had amassed a wide variety of food and supplies which allowed Clover and Francis to live quite happily and in solitude for over a year; during which time, their love blossomed into something mature and lasting.\n\n On a particularly cold winter night, when the generator had failed to start, Francis was forced to arrange and light a handful of candles. He neither cared for the fire or the smell, but he found the flickering light to be quite romantic and upon seeing Clover he immediately took her in his arms and kissed her. She could not resist the euphoric feeling she associated with his lips, and immediately kissed him back.\n\n They quickly disrobed and stood naked, for the first time, in front of one another.\n\n Their love could not have been more genuine – their knowledge and skill, however, was anything but proficient. Francis, having spent the majority of his days working in a small office or attempting to calm his agitated mother, knew very little about sex. Clover, given her isolation, knew even less.\n\n Francis had seen a number of couples kiss before and he felt quite comfortable with the act so, for nearly an hour, the only body parts that touched were their slightly parted lips.\n\n Growing bolder, he pulled their bodies closer together – to the point of touching – though what action occurred afterward, he was not sure and so he simply held her tighter.\n\n Clover, excited and slightly startled by the naughtiness of being naked, suddenly recalled the man in the back of the truck who fled after seeing her. She wondered if Francis, like the man, would find her disgusting. \n\n She felt the urge to flee, but before she could stand, Francis wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. They remained in that embrace until the sweat from their bodies mingled into one and they could no longer tell what body parts belonged to whom.\n\n As the night progressed and the candles dimmed, the young couple would learn, through a series of affectionate and awkward gestures, how to make love – much like a child bending jigsaw pieces to fit a puzzle. It would not be the last of their lovemaking, though it would be the first and only act resulting in a child.\n\n During the spring months, when Clover’s belly had grown large, she complained of pains in her back and legs. These pains she attributed to the lumpy mattress that had once belonged to the mountain man. Francis, diligently doting on his wife, hurried to alleviate her problem, but on closer inspection, he realized the mattress was not in fact a mattress, but a bundle of pillow cases tied together. Within each pillow case was the exact sum of $500,000.\n\n Francis, deciding Clover’s health was all important, flung two pillow cases over his shoulder and, taking his wife’s hand, left the cabin immediately. They walked nearly a full day until reaching a small bank in a small plaza of a small city.\n\n Francis informed the teller of his intent to open a new account, but before he could show her the money, five masked gunmen entered, demanding to make a withdrawal – that is to say, they were robbing the place.\n\n The five gunmen were in fact brothers – or more exactly, they shared the same mother. Not one of them knew the name or location of their father. The only concrete fact was that not one of their fathers was the same man.\n\n Their mother, who had spent her childhood dancing naked in a fenceless backyard, discovered the same act, if done near a long metal pole, could provide a substantial income. She made this discovery one night when she stole away in the back of her father’s car.\n\n Her father had an affinity for sex, alcohol, and public acts of indecency – that is not to say he was a bad father, for he was not. He, like his daughter, possessed a loose and wandering spirit which experienced the world in a free and feverously wonderful way. He had done his best to shield his daughter from such predilections, but her curiosity overcame his precautions and he unknowingly led her to a nudie bar on the outskirts of town.\n\n When she spotted a group of beautiful and glittering women, she slipped out of the car and followed them into a back entrance. She was mesmerized by the incredible outfits they wore and how comfortably they wore them. The way they danced was inspiring and the young girl, unencumbered by moral taxation, fell in love with the nudie bar on the outskirts of town.\n\n Her father, having gotten drunk and handsy with the half-naked girls, was relieved of his money and thrown out. If his decency had lasted only a few minutes longer, he would have discovered his young daughter dancing on stage in her underwear.\n\n The sex-starved men were amused and suddenly struck with a sense of adulation and love – a sense they had never linked with the nudie bar, or in fact experienced for quite some time. Their devotion to the young girl was unanimous and unwavering.\n\n One of the exotic dancers would help the young girl dress and later drive her home, but for the young girl, the night was a revelation. She would return to the nudie bar years later, claiming the same applause and adulation she had as a child. Her eagerness and unrestrainable joy would make her one of the most successful dancers in the state.\n\n She loved everyone she met to the fullest of her soul’s capacity, both men and women – a choice which only helped to kindle her popularity. Her abundantly liberating love would quickly lead to the births of her five sons.\n\n Though her exotic dancing career was successful, her income just barely supported the needs of her five children, so when a disgruntled and drunk patron beat her after she politely refused to get in his car, she would not have the money to fix her disfigured face or scarred body. Her five sons, the oldest twenty-five, had acquired a small sum of money, but it would not be enough to cover even the most needed surgeries.\n\n The patrons, still very much in love with her, had little interest in seeing her dance and her successful career was quickly lost as well as the money it provided. Financially ruined and physically grotesque, she never lost her joy for life or her passion to love. She would return to the nudie bar briefly to work behind the counter serving alcohol and appetizers, but she would never dance again except in the privacy of her own home.\n\n The disgruntled and drunk patron, now sober, would return to the nudie bar to discover what he had done. \n\n His guilt overtook him.\n\n He withdrew all the money he possessed and, after giving it to the woman, he hung himself from the rafters in his garage. In his Will, he left all his possessions to the woman and her five sons. Though the sum was considerable, not even it was enough to pay the medical bills required to restore the woman’s beauty.\n\n It was at this desperate stage that the five sons devised a plan. They first attempted to get a loan from the bank, but given their age and lack of credit, they were sadly and immediately declined. With their hopes quickly diminishing, they took the little money they had left and bought black masks, cowboy hats, and a matching set of guns – an act of continuity that would bolster their resolve and give them the name: The Five Desperados.\n\n Their politeness and old fashioned charm made them an immediate success with the media – the authorities, however, felt quite the opposite.\n\n After the fourth bank had been courteously drained of its funds, the police began heavily defending the remaining reserves. Four to seven armed officers escorted the reserves until they were safely and securely within each respective vault.\n\n Clover and Francis, while waiting for a teller, counted six officers in the corner with a large lead dolly. The officers, armed with assault rifles and mustaches, vigilantly guarded the box. It was at this exact moment, and very unaware, that The Five Desperados pushed through the doors of the bank.\n\n They immediately saw the uniformed officers, and the youngest brother, in an overzealous moment of fear, fired a warning shot into the ceiling. The bullet, meant to insight paralysis but remain harmless, excelled at the first, but failed at the latter, for the youngest brother was unaware of the bank’s second story offices.\n\n The bank manager had made an unfortunate habit of smoking a single cigarette in his office while the other employees had gone out to lunch. His act of silent defiance would prove fatal when the wandering bullet penetrated his leg, chest, and brain.\n\n The medical examiner would describe his death as immediate, but the manager would take exactly three and a half minutes to die, just long enough for him to watch his cigarette burn up inches out of reach. His last thought would not be about his wife or his two sons, but instead his eyes and mind would linger on the burnt carpet of his well manicured office.\n\n When his heart had finally ceased to beat, enough blood had gathered that it trickled from the first floor ceiling. The first drop hit Clover’s head. The second, third, and fourth hit her pregnant belly.\n\n The second oldest brother, already uncomfortable holding a gun, saw the blood and was overcome with guilt for he thought the pregnant woman had been shot. He hurried to save her, but almost a foot before reaching her; he dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.\n\n Since the age of fourteen, he had fallen under the assumption that the local Catholic priest, who had since been promoted to bishop, was in fact his father. He had no empirical evidence confirming his suspicion, but like his supposed father, he decided to rely on faith.\n\n He prayed everyday for a sign and when he could not find one, he prayed harder. His diligence was soon interrupted when his mother was severely beaten, and he, like his brothers, quickly forgot the past to consider their mother’s future.\n\n He did not think of the priest who might be his father again until that day when he saw the bloody image of Jesus painted, miraculously, on the pregnant woman’s belly. How she could stand after getting shot was a miracle in itself and he knew his sign and hopes had been realized.\n\n He immediately decided to surrender to a power that was greater than himself.\n\n Neither Clover, Francis, or the authorities would learn the reason for the man’s sudden surrender. His brothers pleaded and pulled at him, but he would not move, and they were forced to flee without him. The police would immediately arrest him and he would fully cooperate and confess to everything, not lying, but also not implicating his brothers. He would spend twenty years in prison preaching the virtues of Jesus Christ and daily praying for the salvation and safety of his saint, Clover Darling.\n\n On his release, he would form a small church that would grow into a televangelistic conglomerate stretching across the globe. His sermons would be translated into eight different languages and his books would go on to sell millions of copies. At the age of forty-seven he would confront his would-be father, the bishop, only to discover that the bishop was born with a genetic defect making it impossible for him to have children. The news would be devastating and the once young bank robber would spend the rest of his life, a meager five years, in a state of confusion and doubt, not preaching a single word up to his death.\n\n His four brothers, after escaping with the money, took their mother and fled to Europe. Their fortune was large enough to completely restore their mother’s beauty, but when she discovered how they acquired their wealth, she refused every operation they offered.\n\n With little else to do, they invested almost everything they had into a French vineyard and spent the rest of their days making and selling wine. They refused to learn the language and instead hired a permanent translator to live and work with them.\n\n The translator was an old man known for his subtle kindness and large bulbous nose. He was blind in one eye after a tenuous bar fight and walked with a limp due to an almost deadly case of frostbite. His many misadventures had given him a calm and wonderfully quiet demeanor. He fell in love with the grotesque woman and, eventually, he not only shared a roof with her, but also a bed. They never married, but also never parted, dying on the same day and only moments apart.\n\n Clover and Francis would never learn of these events, and in fact, the bank robbery would have little effect on their financial and emotional outlook for The Five Desperados had failed to inspect, or even notice, the two pillowcases slung over Francis’ shoulder.\n\n The banks in the region had suffered several blows over the course of the year, starting with an exploding package that nearly killed a board member, to an accidental fire that claimed half a building – not to mention a series of failed investments and a generally slow economy. The robberies were the last in a long list of problems, which is why, when the teller saw two pillowcases full of cash, the CEO instructed her to open an account immediately and without the regular precautions.\n\n It was in this way Clover and Francis unknowingly revitalized the local economy and returned the Wall Street mogul’s money into the banking system he so despised.\n\n The CEO, a man by the name of Thomas Stearns, was so grateful for the influx of cash (that most definitely saved his job and reputation) that he wrote Clover and Francis a series of poems, delivering one every Friday over the course of the following year.\n\n Thomas Stearns had inherited his small fortune and career from his father, who had inherited it from his father, who had in turn inherited it from his father before him and so on, liberally tracing their lineage and finances to the Mayflower.\n\n Their lineage was, at most, half true.\n\n A distant ancestor had, in fact, crossed the Atlantic, but with his heart set on Canada. And his fortune was not made in banking but in furs. His eventual residence in America was completely accidental and somewhat tragic.\n\n He was a clever man, but unfortunately also very clumsy and absentminded. He designed the most elegant and impressive animal traps of his time, but he would often forget where he had placed them.\n\n One afternoon, while pacing in his dimly lit cabin, the gnarled teeth of one of his own designs clamped shut around his left leg. It would be four days before another person heard his screams. By that time his leg would be almost completely sawed through.\n\n His leg would be removed just below the knee, and it would be almost five months before he had the strength to speak. The event, though traumatizing, was a revelation, for the person who found him was a beautiful young girl by the name of Melinda. Despite her young age, then only fourteen, he made an oath that she would be his wife. However, during his recovery, she turned fifteen and was immediately engaged to another trapper farther north – a man she was very much in love with.\n\n The clumsy trapper, after hearing the news, cried profusely. He went to humbly congratulate her father and, to his great satisfaction, learned that Melinda and her family had never actually seen the fiancé and communicated with him only in the form of letters. Melinda and her mother were, at that exact moment, heading north to meet him.\n\n The clumsy trapper readied his sled, riding day and night in order to arrive a full day before Melinda and her mother. He tricked the over-excited fiancé into drinking more alcohol than he should have, then subdued and stripped the unconscious body in a back room of the poor man's cabin.\n\n When Melinda and her mother arrived, he assumed the role of her fiancé, always keeping a handkerchief or cloth covering his face, claiming a case of frostbite had made him unsightly. The wedding was immediate and quickly consummated in the hallway of the adjacent tavern.\n\n The clumsy trapper, knowing he could not stay disguised forever, took Melinda and fled to America, far from the young girl’s family. Once there, he revealed his true identity and enforced the strictest bonds of matrimony.\n\n He did his best to cherish and support her; her happiness, however, can only be guessed at.\n\n In his haste, he forgot about the subdued fiancé – an error which led to the poor young man’s death after a particularly bad and abrupt snow storm covered his cabin with snow and sleet. When the locals removed the snow and found his body naked and bound, they assumed Melinda had killed him in a perverse and sexual way. Four other sexually motivated murders were attributed to her despite the victims being women. For a brief time Melinda was considered Canada’s most depraved and deviant killer, though no official police reports linked her to the crimes.\n\n How the clumsy trapper discovered an aptitude for banking is uncertain, but what is known is that he was able to triple his wealth over the small span of two years. As each new generation inherited the company, its wealth and influence diminished. By the time Thomas Stearns had acquired the title of CEO, only four branches remained and, due to a fire, only three were operational. The truth was, Thomas Stearns had little interest in banking, and in fact, cared little for money in general. He would lock the door to his office and spend hours writing poetry – most of it bad and all of it unpublished.\n\n When Clover and Francis singlehandedly saved his failing business and bohemian lifestyle, he decided, with nervous resolve, to share his poetry with them. Clover, having been forbidden to read poetry due to its sensual nature, was overjoyed and immediately impressed with the verses Thomas Stearns gave her. Francis, having little interest in books, simply smiled and nodded encouragingly – an act which would secure Thomas Stearns’ everlasting friendship and loyalty.\n\n With this new encouragement, Thomas sold his rundown mansion to the Darlings for nearly nothing and moved into a tiny utilitarian condo where he spent the majority of his time transforming his short and terrible poetry into much longer and even more terrible poetry. Over the course of his life he would write 11,240 poems, none of them published, not even posthumously.\n\n His greatest poem, which was of average quality, was written for Clover Darling the day after her death. This poem he valued over all others. He had the original copy buried with him in the romantic hope of sharing it with Clover and Francis in the afterlife.\n\n Clover and Francis, eager to settle down and start a life suitable for a baby, began making repairs to the old and almost unlivable mansion. Mold and termites had claimed large chunks of the walls and floorboards. Pipes on the second story had cracked and water stains speckled and spread along the ceiling and walls. The electricity was permanently off due to a set of rats that gorged themselves on copper wires. Fires had erupted two different times and the scorch marks were still visible. The house had three bathrooms, but only one toilet worked and only half the time. Thomas Stearns had enough money to fix these obvious imperfections, but he felt the destructive atmosphere would be conducive to his creative endeavors and so allowed the old house to slowly and quite literally fall apart.\n\n Francis had never thought of himself as a craftsman, but when he saw the aged mansion he was enraptured by its ancient beauty and elegant design. He knew little about carpentry or wiring, and even less about architecture, but he loved the idea of building a home for his wife. He purchased the land and house for a tenth of its value.\n\n Clover, having grown accustomed to the drafty and isolated cabin, was satisfied by any house with four walls and a ceiling. What excited her more was the proximity of their house to neighboring homes and the possibility of talking, face-to-face with another human being – in essence, making friends.\n\n She introduced herself to each neighbor, making sure to silently stare at them an ample amount of time, as she thought was the custom. The neighbors, at first confused and then later amused, fell in love with Clover’s eccentric and often alien behavior – the rumors that circulated concerning her incredible wealth may have helped soften the neighbors’ potentially bitter resolve.\n\n Clover was so excited by the prospect of making friends, she stared at everyone she met, waiting patiently and motionlessly for them to speak, smile, or respond in some way that she could mirror. Most people were so stunned by her beauty, they could think of nothing to say, in which case the silence could last as long as twenty minutes. The more eccentric and strange Clover acted the richer and more respected she seemed. Eventually the whole city was captivated by her beauty and oddities.\n\n Only one person overlooked Clover’s peculiarities, almost entirely due to the fact that he could not see them at all. Leo Vega, once a renowned artist, owned and operated a small lumber yard on the outskirts of town. Though he had only been a resident for three years, he had already built a reputation for his beautiful statues and stone work which were displayed haphazardly around his shop.\n\n His blindness had occurred at the age of thirty-one almost immediately and completely by accident. In his early twenties he created a series of oil paintings that garnished him with fame in Mexico and parts of Europe. The unexpected notoriety only agitated his lonesomeness and perfectionism.\n\n He considered each of his paintings a disappointment for failing to capture the wonderment of his heart. Colors were perversely plain and lines meandered mildly. If he had not sold the paintings, he would have burned them all. And in fact, in a drunken stupor he tried such a thing while his painting still hung on a benefactor’s wall. The rich man managed to put the fire out, but only after it had burned a quarter of the work and a small portion of the wall. Leo Vega, before being thrown out, called the singed canvas an improvement.\n\n Hoping to create a work matching his vision and reputation, Vega spent eight months mixing chemicals and compounds producing colors so vivid and intense, crowds gathered outside his window attempting to catch just a glimpse of his creations. After constructing two new shades of green, three new shades of blue, and one of purple, his ambition was still unsatisfied.\n\n He took the little amount left of his fortune and acquired chemicals that were illegal and unknowingly toxic. While mixing, the fumes burned his eyes and nostrils.\n\n The next day he was blind.\n\n His eyes had failed in every way except in their ability to make tears.\n\n With his money gone, his fame diminishing, and his sight consigned to a single shade of black, Leo Vega embellished his drinking habit and eventually spent most of his nights sleeping in an alley outside a bar – usually the bar with the cheapest liquor.\n\n In an act of desperation and melancholy, he returned to the rich benefactor, pleading for pity and a job. The benefactor was pleased to see his old friend, hugging him and kissing his cheeks. The rich man offered Vega food, money, and a room with one request: the young artist must produce a piece of art worthy of the rich man’s mistress.\n\n It was not a secret that the rich man had a mistress. Everyone in the city knew, even his wife, though she viciously pretended not to.\n\n Vega, overcome by the man’s kindness, agreed, though he had no idea how or what he might create. It was the rich man who had suggested a statue, life-size, and of the finest marble. Vega had almost no experience with stone, but he knew no way of refusing.\n\n Over the next five weeks Vega regained his strength and sensibilities, submitting himself completely to the study of stone. Since his eyesight had been taken, his sense of touch and sound had improved exponentially. He allowed his hands to caress the rough grooves, finding and following the grain hidden within the slabs of stone. His ears articulated every chip and crack as the metal tools fragmented the marble into smoother shapes. He quickly became a master, achieving a degree of precision that was unrivaled.\n\n Once he was secure with his skill, he met with the mistress. She undressed and stood naked before him. He slowly moved his hands and fingers along the softness of her skin, memorizing the contour of her legs, the softness of her stomach, the curvature of her breasts, the small bend of her shoulders, her sharp chin, warm lips, high cheeks, and long silken hair. He then found the same shape in the cold stone. Each day he dedicated his hands to a different part of her body until he could mimic its shape with a chisel and hammer.\n\n For seven months she stood naked before him. During that time, they talked of many things and became closer than any touch could bring them.\n\n Vega knew his heart belonged to the mistress, but he also knew his debt belonged to the rich benefactor. He yielded to his conscience and begged the rich man to release him from the work, if only to release him from the woman it was for. The rich man refused, attributing the artist’s skittery behavior to that of a creative and emotional mind.\n\n The blind artist returned to the statue.\n\n Late one evening, while the blind artist was smoothing the final blemishes out of the marble, the mistress found him. The lights were off and the room was dark, as it often was when he worked. For a moment the mistress was blind like him, slowly wandering with her arms stretched out in front of her.\n\n Her fingers touched his chest and arm.\n\n He laid down his tools.\n\n She unbuttoned his shirt and pants so that he stood naked before her.\n\n She closed her eyes and slowly moved her hands and fingers along his skin, memorizing the shape and contour of his body, the strength of his thighs, the sharp cut of his chest and arms, his warm lips. She kissed him and his heart could not contain itself.\n\n They made love below the statue, allowing the grey dust to cover their hair and shoulders and backs. Their bodies stayed tangled until the sun warmed their skin the next morning.\n\n They put on their clothes and confronted the rich benefactor, telling him of their love. He was stunned and saddened by the news, but nodded and kissed them both. He offered them a small sum of money and his lasting friendship.\n\n The mistress and the blind artist gathered their belongings, but before they could leave the estate, the rich man’s wife, overcome with jealousy and unaware of the morning’s events, drove her car into the mistress, pinning the poor girl’s body against a stone wall. The wife backed up and hit the mistress again and again, until more skin was attached to the car than the girl’s bones.\n\n The blind artist could not see these events, but he could smell the blood, feel the broken bones and torn muscles, hear the gurgling of her lungs filling with blood – and for seven minutes his exceptional senses were overwhelmed by the vision of the mistress, his love, dying in agony.\n\n The wife was arrested and sentenced to death.\n\n The blind artist lost the will to eat, spending several weeks on a diet of crackers and rain water. He slept in the streets and cuddled with wild dogs to stay warm. He drank as often as he breathed and lost all sense of time.\n\n The rich man, despite his wealth, could not find a cure for his friend. When he saw the marble statue he was overwhelmed by its beauty and realism – so much that he thought the mistress had returned as a ghost. \n\n He bought a plot of land at the center of the city and buried the mistress there, placing the statue above her for all to see. The radiance and intricacy of the statue’s expression drew crowds of people from all over Mexico. The name Leo Vega became famous once again and to a greater degree.\n\n In a bout of loneliness, Vega went to the statue, allowing his hands and fingers to caress the soft stone that resembled skin, touch the lips that were once warm. He let his ear rest against her chest and pretended for a moment that a heart beat beneath it.\n\n The police, thinking a vagrant was defiling their prestigious statue, immediately arrested Vega, throwing him in jail without a second thought. The rich benefactor found him there and took him home, nursing him back to health and sobriety.\n\n Vega’s fame and the popularity of the statue only reminded him of his missing love and the single shade of black that covered his heart. He left Mexico, traveling to a small American town where he could spend the rest of his lonely days in obscurity. Before he left, he asked the rich benefactor for one favor. Every year on the anniversary of her death, the rich man was to cut a large slab of stone from the wall where she died and send it to Vega wherever he may be. The rich man agreed, knowing of no way to refuse his friend.\n\n Vega used the stone and his obdurate memory to carve perfect replicas of the mistress. He scattered the statues around his home and shop. When loneliness overtook him, he held the cold stone hands, caressed the hard cheek, and kissed the unmoving lips.\n\n As time passed, he began speaking to the statues, carrying on for hours. Customers attributed the erroneous behavior to his blindness and not to his heart – until Clover Darling entered his shop in search of wood flooring.\n\n She saw Vega speaking to the beautiful statue and, having almost no sense of social etiquette, she joined the conversation, speaking to the stone mistress as if she were a close friend.\n\n The blind artist was overcome by an emotion he could not describe. He felt as if a veil had been lifted from his heart and some of the love he felt for the mistress spilled out onto Clover Darling.\n\n For a moment, he thought of the young girl as his daughter – the thought lasted only an instant, but he could not relinquish it.\n\n He smiled.\n\n Clover went on to explain the construction she and Francis were doing on the house, but before she could finish, she let out a painful scream and fell to the floor. Sharp pains stabbed at her stomach and legs. She cried out again and the blind artist could smell blood. He called an ambulance and held Clover’s hand. He could feel a warm and sticky substance on her legs and the floor. She squeezed his arm and cried into his shoulder. She pleaded for him to get Francis, but when he called, the line would not respond.\n\n The ambulance took them both to the hospital, Vega never once letting go of her hand. He spoke soothing words to her, wiping the sweat from her brow and the tears from her cheeks. At the hospital he tried calling Francis once more, but again the line would not respond. He called the police, instructing them to bring Francis Darling to the hospital immediately.\n\n The doctors moved quickly and fought valiantly. The baby was a boy and with special care he would survive. Clover Darling, however, would not. The blind artist knew this when her hand, now cold, failed to squeeze his.\n\n Her death was drawn-out and full of pain, but her happiness had never been greater. For exactly one minute and twenty-five seconds she stared affectionately at her son. After that, the breath left her lungs and the warmth left her skin. Still, Leo Vega would not leave her side or release her hand.\n\n It would be seven and a half hours before the police found and brought Francis Darling to the hospital. He did not know of the events that had taken place, nor did he know of his son’s birth. His excitement fluttered his stomach with butterflies and made his hands shake. He brought with him a bouquet of flowers and a small stuffed animal.\n\n When the nurses directed him to the morgue, he was confused but continued onward. An orderly tried to explain, but Francis, struck by a sudden wave of fear, pushed open the doors. A woman was lying on a metal slab, the blind artist standing next to her. Francis did not want to move, but his feet and doubt pulled him forward.\n\n It was her.\n\n Clover.\n\n He held her until his chest and arms were as cold as hers. The blind artist explained the events as best he could. Francis nodded wearily and left Clover to find his son. The blind artist followed.\n\n Upon seeing the small baby, Francis could not distinguish his melancholy from his joy and cried as much from happiness as from sorrow. He named his son Leo Vega Darling in honor of the blind artist’s kindness and appointed him godfather.\n\n The following years could not be described as easy. Francis Darling loved his son unimaginably, but the sight of the small baby would sometimes and uncontrollably bring him to tears. He would sob for hours as he rocked his small son to sleep.\n\n He stayed awake for days at a time, napping briefly on the floor in front of his son’s crib. The blind artist and Thomas Stearns, knowing of no way to comfort their friend, slept in turns at the run-down mansion.\n\n Francis tried every way imaginable to obstruct the memories of his wife from reaching his heart, but he could not and spent the rest of his life with an unrelenting ache at the center of his chest. He became obsessed with repairing the mansion. He bought Vega’s lumber yard and three other shops, using almost ninety percent of their products for his own purposes.\n\n He spent months designing and constructing rooms only to demolish them the following week. He planted trees and shrubs in the front yard, but forgot to include a watering system so all plant life remained brown and on the brink of death. He avoided working on practical projects like the roof or the plumbing. In raining weather the roof leaked to such a degree there was not enough pots and pans to contain the water. The one toilet that worked half of the time soon worked none of the time and an outhouse had to be dug and erected in the backyard. It was in this environment young Leo Darling spent his childhood.\n\n It was at the age of six that the tiny Leo Darling began attending school. He was the youngest in his class and also the smallest in size – his courage, however, was unmatched. More than once he defended his classmates from the third grade bully – each time resulting in a timeout and a handful of bruises.\n\n His grades were in the worst percentile and his teacher suspected the poor boy was suffering from a disability. The truth was, young Leo Darling excelled at nothing due not to stupidity or ailment, but a chronic case of boredom. The daily challenges of his peers seemed trivial and pointless.\n\n His teacher, of course, disagreed. He was detained after class and during recess almost every day, being forced to work and rework tests and homework.\n\n His teacher, Miss June Watts, a relatively young and attractive woman, not only cared for young Leo Darling’s education, but felt especially invested in the boy’s wellbeing. Her dedication came, not from a sense of pride or commitment, but from guilt.\n\n As a child, she dreamed of one day becoming a famous movie star. Her younger sister, however, had inherited more beauty and charm than June could ever hope to achieve through training – she was reminded of it every time her parents doted on her younger sister.\n\n June’s jealousy and anger manifested in cruel ways and always in the direction of her gullible sibling. April, sobbing and wailing, would discover all of her dolls decapitated or her dresses torn to pieces or her crayons thrown out a window. She could not explain these horrible things, but she never once suspected her big sister. April would run to her, crying into her lap until their mother scooped her up and scolded June by sending her to bed without dinner.\n\n April loved her sister to the point of absurdity. She followed her like a puppy dog and mimicked her in every way possible. The loving affection only upset June more. One afternoon she used her sister’s devotion in the worst way by convincing her to drink the chemicals hidden under the sink.\n\n The effects were immediate.\n\n April convulsed on the floor, her eyes looking empty and away. June stood horrified that her sister so eagerly drank the poison. She was immediately afraid of being caught. Her arms shook and her knees felt weak. She took a ball and box of chalk, walking to her friend’s house, ready to deny everything.\n\n Her mother returned home to find April unconscious and sweating profusely. She wrapped the little girl in a blanket and drove to the hospital. The fever worsened, lasting three days. On the fourth day, April awoke, and though her reactions were sluggish and sometimes inaccurate, she was responsive.\n\n The doctor explained how the pressure and poison had damaged her brain. The injury was irreparable and would have lasting effects – her reasoning and reflexes would be slower and only capable of simple activities.\n\n June felt a terrible knot twist in her chest. She wanted her parents to punish her, but they never once accused her or looked at her unlovingly.\n\n June became increasingly protective of her sister, though she never had the strength to look her in the eyes. April entered high school, keeping her relatively happy and somewhat slow demeanor. Some of her beauty had faded and the medication caused her to gain weight, making it clear which sister was prettier. Watching her little sister’s splendor wane only made June feel worse. As the year went on, April developed a crush on the JV quarterback, hoping, with excited whispers, that he might take her to the homecoming dance.\n\n June privately pleaded with him to take April and when he refused, she made him an offer. One evening with April would mean one night with June. He smiled, buying the tickets before school was out.\n\n At the dance he was the epitome of gentlemanly romance, his arm resting sincerely around April's waist, displaying her as the most envied of prizes. His friends of course knew that it was not April he was parading, but instead the promises of June. April was none the wiser and in fact, happier than she had ever been.\n\n When the dance was over, the JV quarterback safely returned April to her parents, and then met June at a hotel. They silently undressed and slid under the sheets. He rolled on top of her, awkwardly and quickly.\n\n It was over before June could spread her legs.\n\n She felt the rapid and hard thump of his heart against her chest.\n\n He stayed on top of her, too embarrassed to look at her face or move. She remained frozen, uncertain if he was done or had yet to get started. After two hours she pushed herself out from under him and put on her clothes, leaving in the dark just before midnight.\n\n The next day, out of embarrassment and wounded pride, the JV quarterback bragged to as many people as he could find – the reason for his temporary deafness, he would explain, was because June had been moaning in his ear all night while they were having sex. The rumors spread quickly, reaching April before lunch.\n\n She was humiliated and cried so hard her whole body shook.\n\n As she sat in a stall of the bathroom, tears staining her shirt and cheeks, she made a sudden realization, connecting all the traumatic moments of her childhood – her secret tormentor had, and never ceased to be, her sister. She was filled with anger and, in a rare and brief moment of lucidity, she planned her revenge.\n\n She bought four cupcakes from the cafeteria and snuck home. She took the poisonous chemicals from under the sink, mixed them with frosting, and spread them on top of the cupcakes. She put them neatly on a plate with a note that read, “For June.” Then, she hurried back to school and did her best to act normal.\n\n June, filled with guilt and shame, ditched her last class and came home to escape the pitiless snickers and probing glances of her classmates. She saw the cupcakes and the note, which only made her feel worse. She took the note, crumpled it, and threw it in the garbage. She went to her room, shutting the curtains, turning off the lights, and pulling her headphones snugly over her ears, planning to stay there until the world ended.\n\n When April returned home, she saw the cupcakes and became excited, for in her eagerness to act innocent and happy, she had, in fact, returned to her normal state of mind and her plan had become nothing more than a half-remembered dream. All that remained was a biting sense of resentment toward her big sister and so, in an ill-timed act of spitefulness, she decided to eat all the cupcakes without sharing even one.\n\n Their mother returned home from work to find April on the kitchen floor, cold, stiff, and pale. June, calmly lying on her bed with her music turned up loud, could not hear the shrieks and howls erupting from her mother, nor could she hear the ambulance sirens or the crowd of neighbors that rushed into the house.\n\n The funeral was three days later.\n\n June stood in front of the coffin, but could not cry because there was nothing left inside her.\n\n During the years that followed, June avoided all forms of intimacy even, and especially, with herself. She refused to wear make-up or brush her hair. She wore plain and unattractive clothes. She made deliberate efforts to conceal or obstruct her beauty. She lost her ambition and became a teacher only because she needed the money.\n\n In each of her students she saw something that resembled her sister. She had already misdiagnosed three students prior to Leo Darling and she would go on to misdiagnose five more, three of which would spend several years taking drugs they did not need.\n\n June would never fall in love, though she would marry. The marriage was one of convenience. The man was good and kind, but slightly ugly. He taught history and Spanish in the adjacent room. They had sex sometimes and, though he was generous, June refused to enjoy herself.\n\n Three times she discovered she was pregnant and each time she secretly had an abortion. She spent the rest of her life as sad and alone as the day that her sister devoured the four poisonous cupcakes.\n\n Leo Darling would never learn of these events, nor would he particularly care. Shortly after being accused of having a handicap, Leo Darling’s boredom would overtake him completely and he would decide to stop going to school altogether. He still continued his morning routine, but instead of turning right after exiting the front door, he turned left – a path that would lead him to Leo Vega’s lumber yard.\n\n He would spend the mornings watching the blind artist carve stone into the most beautiful shapes. Each shape was part of the same subject and, in fact, the only subject the blind artist used since he fled Mexico. He never told the boy of the mistress; instead, he spoke of love. He said it was like a large slab of stone. Stone could be carved and cut and broken into many tiny pieces, but each of those pieces was still stone. Young Leo Darling did not understand everything the blind artist told him, but he liked watching him work and listening to his old gravelly voice.\n\n The boy’s presence made Vega feel good and he could tell the boy had an aptitude for art, so he began teaching him – many of his lessons not yet found in books. Each day young Leo Darling was challenged with new work and new ideas.\n\n The blind artist was merciless and smacked Leo with a long wooden art brush when he did not respond fast enough. His praise was of an equal merit. When young Leo showed mastery of a technique, the blind artist handed the boy a small round peach. The peaches were the boy’s favorite, and he was always excited to receive one. They were from a tree in Vega’s backyard and were sweeter and more flavorful than those found in any store.\n\n In the evenings, Leo Darling tended to his father’s wild architectural whims. They built stairs that lead nowhere, doors that opened onto the roof, rooms that were missing ceilings or ceilings that were missing walls. They dug tunnels from the front yard to the backyard so guests would not need to enter the house to get to the garden, though they did not, nor would they ever, have a garden, or guests for that matter.\n\n The more ridiculous a project sounded, the more Francis yearned to complete it. He had dirt hauled in and placed on a portion of the roof so tomatoes could be planted and plucked from a bedroom window. When the roof caved in, he decided to leave the hole as it was, stating that the tomatoes would need the sunlight and walking downstairs to pluck them was not that much of an inconvenience.\n\n Thomas Stearns thought the chaos was wonderful and spent many hours sitting in the sunroom writing poetry. The mansion was in such a degraded state that more snakes, insects, critters, and stray animals could be found inside the house than in the surrounding landscape. Francis referred to each of them lovingly as a pet, though more than once he had been startled by a snake in the pantry.\n\n Vega furiously confronted him one afternoon after being bitten by an unknown creature. Francis gently squeezed the old man’s shoulder, explaining that the rats would be eaten by the snakes, the snakes eaten by the cats, the cats chased off by the dogs and so on, assuring him that everything would work out.\n\n For ten years Leo Darling learned the skills of an artist and craftsman, becoming so proficient and imaginative that people refused to believe he was capable of such greatness. He convinced a restaurant in town to display his work. The customers thought the paintings and sculptures were too good for such a young boy to have created and laughingly chided him for taking credit.\n\n Insulted and angered, he punched the men in their faces and pushed the women out the door, establishing a reputation for his great talent and temper. No other shop, restaurant, or business would display his work fearing that he might scare off customers.\n\n Francis, seeing how distressed his son was, decided to add a gallery to the house where his son’s art could be displayed, but like all his previous projects, he started with the most frivolous element – the stairs. \n\n His designs were elegant, but extremely ambitious. He began work that night and would continue working for the next three months. A wooden frame had been constructed and a system of levers and pulleys were in place so that one person could easily lift or lower materials without descending or ascending the tall and dangerous ladder. Francis had built a series of platforms that lead spirally to the top floor, but he had yet to attach them with stairs. His attention had been diverted to an even more frivolous project – a stained glass window.\n\n The window was not initially in his plans, but one afternoon when the generator went out and he was forced to work in darkness, he was suddenly struck by a desire for a large and intricate window that could capture and project the sun. His design involved mirrors, prisms, colored glass, and a variety of adhesives.\n\n He connected portions of the window on the ground and then carried the pieces up the ladder. He then laid on a wooden slat attached to ropes and put the window in place. His designs were exceptional; his execution, however, was sadly and irreparably flawed. In his haste, he failed to apply the proper amount of adhesive and a segment of glass became dislodged. It was not enough to ruin the window, or even enough of a blemish for Francis to notice; however, as he continually repositioned himself on the wooden slat, the glass silently cut into one of the ropes.\n\n If it had been any other day, he might have noticed, but that day he was especially distracted for it was young Leo Darling’s sixteenth birthday and Francis had forgotten to wrap his son’s gift, or even hide it. He felt a slight pinch of anxiety, uncertain if his son would mind.\n\n He began to think about what his son’s reaction might be, but he would never complete the thought for at that exact moment the rope snapped, sending his legs crashing into the window. Shards of glass, mirror, and metal sliced Francis’ face and legs while his arms frantically gripped the swinging wooden slat. He hung for a moment, completely helpless and very much afraid.\n\n A small amount of hope still clung to his heart giving him the faintest sense of safety, but it would be misleading for, out of his view, one of the glass shards had caught on a pulley. Just as Francis was taking a calm breath, a second rope snapped. He and the wooden slat fell as another set of boards were pulled into the air.\n\n Francis and the boards collided and swung in opposite directions – slamming into the unfinished platforms. The damage normally done by this kind of collision would have been minimal; however, Francis had never completely hammered the planks into place so, when he struck the platform, boards and nails slapped against his body and tore his skin. His arms lost their strength and he fell, headfirst, into the glass and metal. As the blood leaked out of his head and chest, he thought about Clover – how much he missed her and how it would be nice to see her one last time, then he died.\n\n Leo Darling returned from Vega’s lumber yard feeling particularly good. For his birthday, Vega had given him a large slab of stone and a set of tools to work it. He had already thought of several things he could carve, but he was so enveloped by the thought, he did not notice the framed photograph on the counter or the note lying next to it. He simply hurried to the stairwell where he knew his father would be working.\n\n He saw the blood and body.\n\n He had to take four more steps into the room before he could identify the face.\n\n It was his father.\n\n Leo Darling leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. He hugged his knees to his chest and stared into his father’s open eyes. He remained there the entire night and a good portion of the morning.\n\n He did not sleep or move or eat or cry.\n\n He was too startled and sad to even think.\n\n The death was not reported to the police until early that afternoon when Vega arrived with wood and supplies for the stairwell. He closed Francis’ eyes and sat on the floor with Leo Darling. They did not speak or touch, not even when the police arrived, or when the body was lifted onto a gurney and rolled out.\n\n When night came, Vega stood and walked back to the lumber yard. Leo Darling silently followed him.\n\n Vega took a cot from the attic and laid it out next to his bed. Leo did not want to sleep, but his body was tired and his eyes were heavy. He waited for the blind artist to quietly snore. Then he went to the garage where his gift, the stone slab, was kept.\n\n He found a sledge hammer and repeatedly struck the stone until all that remained were tiny pieces. Then he crushed the tiny pieces into dust.\n\n He angrily wept and fell asleep on the floor, the grey dust covering his clothes and skin.\n\n The blind artist was not in fact asleep when Leo Darling left the room. His exceptional ears heard every swing of the hammer and every sob. Though the stone had been very expensive and difficult to acquire, the blind artist did not stop Leo Darling from destroying it for he knew that even its destruction was a kind of art, though not one that could be seen or lasting.\n\n Later that week a lawyer arrived at the lumber yard explaining that no other family members could be found, and the custody and care of the boy had fallen to Leo Vega. The news was a surprise, but not a shock for Vega had already thought of the boy as his son and treated him as such.\n\n The following month, a different set of lawyers arrived bringing with them police officers and warrants. They put the blind artist in handcuffs and led him into the back of a squad car.\n\n When the officers refused to explain what was happening, Leo Darling’s temper overtook him and he struck several of them with his carving hammer. Their wounds were painful, but not severe. Before he could grab a chisel or knife, the police struck him across the back of the head. He awoke in a hospital with a bandage around his head and an officer outside his door.\n\n Leo Vega’s incarceration was, in fact, justified, though obviously excessive. In his eagerness to leave Mexico and the painful memories of his lost love, he had never completed the proper forms to become a United States citizen and was knowingly an illegal resident within its borders.\n\n This crime became evident when Leo Darling’s Social Security, insurance, and substantial wealth fell to a Mexican born alien. The matter would normally have been dealt with reasonably and Leo Vega would have had the opportunity to become a citizen; however, it was an election year and an example needed to be made, or at least that was the philosophy of John Davis, the sitting senator.\n\n John Davis had entered politics as an idealist, both young and helplessly in love with his country. His first political experience occurred at the age of twelve when his older brother came home with a black eye and several bruises. John learned the damage was the result of a neighborhood bully who was nearly twice his size.\n\n Instead of telling his parents, John took his brother aside and told him to act as if everything was normal. He saved his lunch money for a month and, when he considered it a large enough sum, he found the three biggest football players in high school and hired them to pretend to be good friends with his brother, walking home with him for the next week, and once a month after that until the year was out. The results were astoundingly successful. Not only did the bully stop harassing his brother, but the three football players and his brother found it so easy being friends that they continued to do so throughout high school.\n\n John had no interest in governmental politics; his skills came from a practical necessity. His family was lower-middle class and put more money into credit cards than a savings account. Both his parents worked and when they were not working, they slept from exhaustion, which left John’s three brothers and two sisters in a constant power struggle.\n\n His clothes and toys were second hand and, in many cases, once belonged to his sisters. His parents managed to scrape together enough money for one of their children to go to college, but the bank took most of it when the house payments fell behind, so John had to work two jobs to make his way through a small state college.\n\n When hundreds of people, including his father, had their benefits cut and their pensions in jeopardy of the same, John temporarily left school to help the union organize. His work was so efficient, both for the company and the workers, that it was featured for two full days by the national media.\n\n The senator took notice, almost immediately hiring John as a legislative assistant. John worked under the senator for four years, learning the intricacies of government and the best ways to avoid a scandal.\n\n One early afternoon, the senator’s daughter arrived for a lunch date with her father, but due to a late meeting, the senator told John to accompany her instead. John’s charm and winning smile led to several more dates and eventually a wedding engagement.\n\n John, at first, would assume his pleasant personality and dashing good looks had won her over, and for a brief time they had, but she had grown bored of his respectful distance and unwavering ethics. When he proposed, she took three days to give him an answer.\n\n The truth was, the senator’s meeting had not run late and, in fact, had never taken place. The senator, being a skilled manipulator, had planned for his daughter and John to meet.\n\n Over the years, he had come to respect and admire John, so much so, that he wanted John to take his senate seat. After he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, the senator knew there was no way he could run in the next election.\n\n He could not stand the thought of leaving politics and planned to live vicariously through someone. He had encouraged his daughter to be active politically, but she had never shown an interest. John, on the other hand and with a little bit of work, would be the perfect candidate, but their bond needed to be more permanent, so when the senator’s daughter told him how she planned to refuse John’s offer of marriage, the senator persuaded her to reconsider.\n\n He knew her hesitation came from the sexual exclusivity that marriage required, and so he explained that John, like all politicians, would have many affairs over the course of his career and that it was only fair for her to do the same. She accepted his logic and John’s offer the next day.\n\n The marriage occurred five months later and was one of the largest social events of the year. The senator used it to announce his retirement and to endorse John as his replacement. With the senator’s money and John’s skill, the senate seat remained in the family.\n\n John pursued the obligations of his career vehemently. He traveled through his districts often, making lasting friendships with the local business owners. He found ways of cutting costs without cutting jobs and he remained on good terms with the labor unions.\n\n He spent nearly a third of the year, regrettably, away from his wife. During that time, he never once thought about cheating. His wife, however, could not claim the same.\n\n Within the first six months of marriage she had already had fourteen sexual encounters with three different partners. After a year she was pregnant and, knowing the child was not her husband’s, she immediately bought a ticket to D.C. and abruptly had sex with him on the large wooden desk in his office. Almost a month later, full of surprise and excitement, she would tell him she was pregnant.\n\n The ex-senator, keeping tabs on his son-in-law, was surprised to learn that John had remained loyal. He decided, for the betterment of everyone involved, John needed to sleep with a woman other than his wife, and so the ex-senator hired a discreet and sophisticated call girl (from an agency he was already very familiar with) to seduce his daughter’s husband.\n\n The call girl, disguised as a reporter, found John, alone, in his hotel room. She began the encounter by asking legitimate questions and presenting problems which she had been pondering as a constituent for some time. John answered her questions completely and without reservations. She was compelled by his candidness and genuine interest in her opinion.\n\n When she kissed him and tried to reach her hand down his pants, he gently held her back and calmly explained that he was married and very much in love with his wife.\n\n She slid down her dress, revealing her black thong and naked breasts. She smiled and stepped closer to him.\n\n He shook his head and put his hand up to stop her.\n\n She pressed it against her breast.\n\n It was warm and he could feel her heart beat. He pulled his hand away, his eyes sad, and his jaw clenched. He picked up her dress and gave it to her.\n\n Again, and calmly, he explained how much he loved his wife and how he would never do anything to hurt her. Then he offered to call and pay for a taxi because she needed to leave.\n\n The call girl’s heart was pierced by his loyalty and kindness. She wept because she could not imagine a man loving her with such respect and devotion.\n\n She put on her dress and apologized.\n\n The mascara ran down her cheeks and stained her fingers as she tried to hide her face. She felt like he was the last and only good man she would ever meet. She told him the truth about his father-in-law and his wife, and what they wanted her to do.\n\n He returned home two days early, and secretly. He discovered his wife in their marriage bed with another man.\n\n He collapsed, his heart giving out.\n\n The doctors said it was a mild heart attack, but none of the damage would be permanent with a proper diet, exercise, and relaxation.\n\n The next day he confronted his wife about the affair. She openly admitted to everything and accused him of cheating just as much as her. He denied it, but she would not believe him. \n\n He returned to work because there was nothing else he could do. She continued to have affairs and he became very sad. He took some of his son’s hair and had a DNA test done. The results remained in a manila envelope, unopened. He slept in a separate bedroom and on sleepless nights he would stare at the envelope and wonder about its contents.\n\n It was an election year and some rumors were beginning to spread about his crumbling marriage, almost all of them implicating him as the offending party. Either way, a scandal would ruin his career. He did not care until a tabloid threatened to publish his son's DNA results which they had underhandedly acquired.\n\n John, using a political technique he had learned from his father-in-law, created a sensational problem where none existed and then secretly helped the media discover it. The problem was immigration, specifically Leo Vega. With a heated political subject the press would forget the unsubstantiated rumors of his personal life and focus on the fabricated, but very important issues of illegal immigration.\n\n John had no intention of hurting anyone and, once re-elected, planned to redact any life-changing policies he claimed were necessary. He, unfortunately, would not get the chance.\n\n When the media discovered Leo Vega’s true identity, they immediately fell in love with his story and his art. They pronounced him to be one of the greatest artists of the age and wanted desperately to keep him in America.\n\n The resentment toward John was unanimous. He lost the election by a landslide and, shortly after, his family troubles became public. The DNA results proved his son was not actually his son and the world knew it. He was devastated and divorced his wife.\n\n He would eventually move to California to work in the private sector as a personnel manager for a tech company. He would go on to have a series of relationships, some serious, but none lasting. He would not marry a second time, nor would he have children.\n\n When he had acquired enough money, he would buy one of Vega’s sculptures, setting it on the dining room table for all of his guests to see. He would die relatively happy, successful, and only somewhat alone. In his Will, he would leave the sculpture to the boy who, for a brief time, was his son.\n\n The blind artist and Leo Darling would never learn of these events, nor would they see each other again in this life, for the new senator, keeping John's promise, had the blind artist deported.\n\n Leo Vega would return to Mexico both famous and rich. Demand for his art would be high and its value would quadruple and continue to increase. He would spend most of his fortune searching for Leo Darling in the hopes of bringing him to Mexico, but neither he, nor his money, would find him.\n\n Leo Darling, waking in the hospital with a guard outside his door, realized something was terribly wrong. His stubborn and combative temper overtook him. He hit the guard with a bedpan and fled the hospital, returning home to gather a few of his belongings. When he entered, he saw a framed photograph on the counter. Next to the frame was a note that read: To my son, who I love very much. Happy Birthday.\n\n The photograph was of Francis and Clover standing outside a cabin. Clover was pregnant and smiling. Leo Darling felt a sudden joy having, for the first time, seen an image of his mother.\n\n He took the photograph and placed it in his bag, as well as a second set of clothes and a little bit of food. He left the city without saying goodbye to anyone, not even the blind artist, who he would not have been able to find anyway.\n\n He walked for a full day, never once looking back. When night came, he curled under a tree next to the highway. His body shook from the cold air and his stomach growled. His stubbornness helped him to suppress these things and he slept for a few hours before being shaken awake.\n\n The hand shaking him belonged to a young woman. She was worried and scared. She saw Leo Darling’s body as she drove past and, thinking he was dead or convulsing uncontrollably, she turned her car around to help him. As a young child she was instilled with the idea that helping someone, no matter the circumstances, was always the right thing to do. At the age of five she had given her life over to Christ and, with the encouragement of her family, she had adopted all of his teachings with incredible fidelity. She was twenty-five and, of all the Bible’s commandments, she had broken only one.\n\n During her first year of college she had earned a reputation for being the designated driver since she refused to drink alcohol, and it was not unusual for strangers to call her late at night for a ride. The calls sometimes aggravated her, but she always agreed to help.\n\n Late one night she received a call and drove to a party looking for its owner. Normally, the drunken person, or persons, would be waiting in the front yard, stumbling or vomiting with amusement and a weary grin. On this particular evening, she had to exit her car and walk into the house.\n\n The party was still crowded and loud.\n\n She went room to room looking for the caller. While in an upstairs bedroom, two drunken men entered and blocked her exit. She tried to explain her purpose and, if possible, get their assistance.\n\n They laughed and pushed her onto the bed.\n\n She tried to get up, but they pushed her back down.\n\n One of the men pulled down his pants and underwear, revealing himself. Her face turned red and she looked away, which only made the men laugh louder. One man held her while the other penetrated her, convinced that she wanted it immediately and rough.\n\n She was, at first, too confused and disoriented to cry or even move. When it was over, she picked up her panties, calmly walked to her car, and left.\n\n She would not cry about the event until two months later when she knew, for certain, that she was pregnant. She had not, nor would she ever, tell her parents of the event. She could barely even mention it to God in her prayers.\n\n She could not stand the thought of having the child because she knew looking on it would remind her of the event and so, secretly and sadly, she went to a clinic and had it removed.\n\n Her guilt was overwhelming.\n\n Her parents saw a change in her, but they could not find its source. She left the church and her home, certain that God could not love her for what she had done.\n\n She traveled across America, working menial jobs, leaving each city after only a few months had passed. Her loyalty to Christ never wavered and she continued to help people, even when it threatened her own wellbeing.\n\n She did not think of heaven or prayer because she felt she was not good enough for either. Her spirit was strong, but had grown quiet over the years, and she spoke very little, if at all.\n\n After Leo Darling awoke, she took a blanket from her car, wrapped it around him, and kneeled down next to him while the warmth returned to his fingers and arms.\n\n She walked to her car, waiting for him to follow her and get in. She set the heater to the highest setting and drove. She did not speak, and if she had, he would not have heard for the motion of the car soothed him back to sleep.\n\n He awoke a second time from her touch. It was late afternoon. She motioned for him to wait while she entered a building across the street. He did not know how long she had been driving or what path she had taken, but he found himself surrounded by old brick buildings and large skyscrapers. He had never seen such architecture except in books and, he was so mesmerized by their enormity and design, he left the car and explored the city.\n\n He did not realize his one item of food, a container of peanut butter, had fallen from his bag, for if he had, he most certainly would have reclaimed it. He would not notice its absence until many hours later when his hunger superseded his wonderment.\n\n The woman would return to her car disappointed to discover the man gone, and surprised to find a container of peanut butter in his place. Upon seeing it, she would cry uncontrollably, for during her pregnancy, the first and only food she craved was peanut butter, and since then, she had refused to eat it because of the memories it conjured.\n\n She would once again, and for the last time, think of the event and the child that never was. She would be so wrought with pain that suicide fastened itself to her heart. She would find an empty road, accelerate her car over 70mph until it collided with a tree.\n\n If her seatbelt had been working properly, she would have died painfully and slowly from the fire and smoke that consumed the vehicle; however, a small latch would snap in such a way that her body would be thrown through the windshield into a patch of brush and bushes. She would endure two cracked ribs, a broken arm, cuts, bruises, and a severe concussion, but she would survive.\n\n The doctors would restore her body in almost every way except for one. They would explain how the brain was a very complex organ and did not always adhere to a sensible and consistent set of rules. This would not explain or cure her amnesia, nor would it trouble her, for she would awaken with a sense of relief and joy that she could not explain.\n\n Her breathing would be difficult and her body would ache. It would be months before she would walk again on her own, but she felt happy. She would go on to marry a good man and have three children, living well and never once recognizing or remembering the details of her past.\n\n Leo Darling would never learn of these events, nor would he think much about the woman, except to remember her kindness and the loss of his peanut butter.\n\n The sky was dark when his stomach overtook his curiosity. He found a small restaurant, ordering a turkey sandwich and a glass of water. His wallet felt light and he knew he had enough cash to last only three days. Before worry could trouble his thoughts, his eyes captured the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was tall and thin with long black hair and tattoos covering her arms. He took what was left of his sandwich and followed her out the door and down the street. She walked for nearly two blocks then entered a tattoo parlor.\n\n Leo Darling gazed at the drawings displayed in the front window. He took time to examine every one. He had never thought of a human body as a canvas, nor had he thought of a needle as a brush, but he was at once fascinated by the medium of a living body.\n\n He saw the woman through the window and his hand, reacting of its own accord, took a marker from his bag and drew her form on the window-glass of the door. He was so quick and skilled; he had finished half the drawing before anyone inside had noticed.\n\n He drew her naked and in a natural pose just as the blind artist had taught him. He added a few quick lines for shading before two stout and muscular employees grabbed him and threw him from the door. His elbow and cheek caught the cement and bled, but he did not feel any pain for his heart was preoccupied with the woman that he knew would be his wife.\n\n He looked past the two grim and grumpy faces that blocked his path, hoping to get just a glimpse of the woman’s reaction, but he could not see her. He sat down in the alley beside the shop, fearing that if he left, he might never find it or her again. He stayed there the whole night, warmed only by the fire in his heart and the thought of her in his mind. He could not know that his spontaneous act of affection had caused her to hide in fear, nor could he know the causes of her retreat.\n\n As a young girl, Rose Fox had developed a wild and rebellious personality. Her family moved, often and abruptly, from one military base to another. Her father’s career and stern presence dictated all facets of his family’s life. His love was matched only by his demand for discipline. Rose, frustrated by the constant hazard of losing friends and the unyielding pressure to be polite, had attempted, in every way possible, to abolish the rules and edicts her father had instilled in her.\n\n She drank and smoked before the law allowed, took whatever drugs she could find, pierced her ears, eyebrows, and nipples, stole and vandalized military property, had sex with strangers, kept a generally unpleasant disposition around her family and anything else that contradicted her father’s mandates. The values he held dearest, she broke most often.\n\n By the age of thirteen, she had acquired the skills necessary to sneak into bars and clubs. Once there, she would trick soldiers into buying her drinks. She earned the nickname Foxy due to her exceptionally good looks and her cunning wit. She was discovered only once when a General who worked closely with her father recognized her name and asked if she was related.\n\n She said yes and then flashed her breasts at him. He was so taken aback and amused he did not know how to tell her father.\n\n Rumors burned through every ear on the base and her father eventually found out. He said nothing to his daughter and she returned home one afternoon to discover her windows nailed shut and her door removed from its hinges – neither of which would stop her debauchery.\n\n By the age of seventeen, when she learned her father had gotten another promotion, she refused to relocate. Before the day was out, she found the boyfriend her father hated most and married him.\n\n The marriage was, at first, unpleasant, but eventually it became unbearable. He proved to be more demanding than her father and far less loving. These truths she attempted to displace by contemplating the amount of pain her parents felt by her absence. Her suffering, she believed, would be mirrored in her father and so, enduring every degrading and disgusting act placed before her, she satisfied the desires of her terrible husband.\n\n One evening, under the influence of opiates and alcohol, he tied her arms to the rafters of the garage, ripping at her clothes until she swung naked and helpless. His behavior was a result of rage as much as lust. \n\n He was not a particularly attractive man, nor was he ambitious, funny, nice, or wealthy. When he attempted to count the qualities he did possess, he could not find a single one that would convince Rose to stay with him. His reasoning reached only so far before his jealousy took hold.\n\n He called her ugly and worthless, shouting other incoherent profanities while he slapped her face, thighs, and breasts. He told her that no one else would ever love her because she was hideous and pathetic. He tore one of the rings from her nipple and repeated the phrase until she sobbed and shook with fear. Then, just to be sure that no one else would love her, he took a long, serrated knife and cut deep gashes into her breasts and thighs so that her grotesqueness reflected his insecurity. When he was satisfied, he calmly walked back inside, took a piss, then curled into bed and fell asleep.\n\n Rose, covered in blood and tears, swung for another two hours in the darkness.\n\n When she was certain her husband had passed out, she yanked, kicked, and fought until the wooden rafter snapped and she fell to the cement. She grabbed what was left of her shirt and pants, leaving the house without loosening the ropes knotted around her wrists.\n\n She stumbled barefoot for two miles until reaching a clinic where she collapsed – her injuries not life threatening, but very permanent.\n\n She spoke in short sentences perforated by long pauses. She did not implicate her husband and, in fact, had difficulty speaking her own name. The nurses, unable to identify or comprehend her, gave Rose a box of crayons and a white piece of paper, telling her to write her name.\n\n She did as they instructed and found the act soothing. She kept the crayons and paper next to her bed, scribbling and sketching when the pain was particularly noticeable – a habit that would stay with her until her death. Her wounds would require a minor surgery, twenty-four stitches, and careful monitoring.\n\n After her recovery, which lasted nearly two weeks, she withdrew every cent from the joint bank account and left the state, traveling as far from her husband as she could afford.\n\n Due to her rebellious youth, she never finished high school and had difficulty finding work. Her contagious smile and sweet-tempered wit made her well suited for bartending, and for some years she survived on quarters and crumpled bills. She never left the safety behind the counter and, though she flirted brazenly, she never touched, nor was touched by, the patrons. During breaks or slow shifts, she took a drawing pad from her bag and sketched the faces of strangers.\n\n An old and friendly biker saw her drawings and asked her to sketch a portrait of his friend who had died years before from liver disease. She accepted – drawing, erasing, and re-drawing what he described to her.\n\n He was so impressed with her portrait that he had it tattooed on his arm. The tattoo artist was equally impressed and off-handedly wished the unknown artist worked for him.\n\n The biker happily relayed the request.\n\n When Rose heard the offer, she quit bartending and traveled to the tattoo parlor, which was three cities over. She was excited at the prospect of being paid to draw; however, when she arrived, the tattoo artist had no idea who she was or the position she had been promised.\n\n He conceded that many of his offers were made absentmindedly and almost always worthless. He was impressed with her portraits and apologetic of the situation, but he simply did not have the money to hire another artist.\n\n His sympathy overtook his budget, as it often did, and she was hired as a temporary receptionist. Her role, which at first only entailed answering the phone and scheduling, soon encompassed accounting, marketing, concepting, and budgeting. Her cleverness and business savvy proved to be more useful than any of the employees realized.\n\n The tattoo parlor, which was consistently on the brink of bankruptcy, was revitalized and, with Rose’s help, achieved a positive stability. She was hired permanently and almost immediately handed the mantel of CFO. The bookwork kept her busy and she was only able to handle three tattoos a week.\n\n Though she was happy, she remained distant from her co-workers. It would be four years before she openly called them friends and another two years before she spent time with them outside of work. She never spoke about her past and seldom spoke about her personal feelings. Her wardrobe consisted of long jeans and closed-collar shirts, which she wore even in hot weather in an attempt to conceal her scars. Her co-workers, each strange and displaced in their own way, were unaffected by her oddities and accepted her without explanation for they knew her silence was a kind of scar too.\n\n Though she continually had a number of romantic offers, she refused to indulge any of them. She could barely stand looking at her own body and the thought of someone else gazing at it was too much to bear, so when she saw Leo Darling’s drawing, she felt painfully self-conscious.\n\n He had drawn her naked and so accurately she feared he had seen what she so desperately tried to hide. She fled to a back office, crouched behind a desk, and failed to keep her body from shaking. She remained there until late in the evening, hours after closing time.\n\n When she was certain everyone had left, she gathered her few possessions and exited the shop. She walked exactly three steps before her path was obstructed by Leo Darling.\n\n He had not intended to stop her and, in fact, did not even notice her for his attention was occupied by an angry and knife-wielding transient. The transient had been rummaging through a dumpster, haphazardly throwing garbage about and making noise. Leo Darling, doing his best to remain calm, asked the man to leave.\n\n The man grunted and threw a fist full of used coffee grounds in Leo’s direction.\n\n Leo wiped them from his shirt and cheek. He pushed the transient against the wall and punched the side of his nose – his temper matched only by his speed.\n\n The transient dropped to the ground, blood dripping from his nose and lip.\n\n Leo readied a second swing but the transient recoiled with a blade, slicing Leo’s forearm.\n\n Leo pivoted back, guarding his wound, as the transient lunged. They slammed and rolled against the pavement in front of Rose Fox.\n\n She was too startled to scream, or move.\n\n Leo got to his feet, but quickly fell against a parked car as the knife cut his shirt and jacket. The transient spit and smirked, swinging the blade again. It tore across Leo’s chest, immediately causing blood to soak through the thin shirt.\n\n Rose, startled by the blood, dropped her purse. The transient turned at the sound.\n\n He saw her horrified expression and was overcome with guilt. He dropped the knife and fled back into the alley, out of sight.\n\n Rose did not, nor would she ever, know the circumstances of the man she had startled, nor would she learn his purpose for trafficking the alleys behind her shop. He had once been a soldier honorably discharged after suffering a mental breakdown during an excursion in Afghanistan.\n\n A section of road, tactically invaluable, had been layered with enemy mines, a detail he was aware of only after walking half its length. He did not see his friend and fellow soldier explode; he only felt the warm fleshy sludge cake his face and uniform.\n\n The three other soldiers in his unit halted, now alert of their mistake.\n\n They tried to form a line, walking in the first soldier’s footsteps, but two explosions cut their numbers by half. Eventually, only he remained.\n\n Convinced his life would end that day, he closed his eyes, then walked straight and without hesitation.\n\n He reached his destination unscathed.\n\n He could not explain why he had survived when better men had not, and so he collapsed from exhaustion and guilt. Hospitalized at the base, he sat on a bed, rocking forward and back, until the army discharged him.\n\n He returned to America rot with guilt and confusion. He had difficulty keeping a job, a family, and friends. The only kindness and friendship that could withstand his rage and guilt came from Brigadier General Tilden Fox, Rose’s father.\n\n The soldier heard Tilden talk about Rose with such adoration and purpose, he thought that seeing her and speaking to her would give him a sense of clarity. He had spent a week wandering the alleys behind her shop, building enough courage to speak with her. He did not mean to fight the boy, nor did he mean to hurt him. His anger and training commanded his limbs and his tormented instincts made him vicious. He knew the boy would be fine. It was Rose’s expression that struck his conscience.\n\n Gazing into her eyes, he did not attain clarity, nor did he relinquish his guilt. He simply felt vulnerable. He went to the nearest and tallest bridge he could find. He stood at its ledge and prayed to the forces of the universe.\n\n He closed his eyes, then walked straight and without hesitation.\n\n If he had been less distressed and more observant, he would have noticed a boat passing underneath his falling trajectory; so instead of drowning, he broke through the wooden deck, shattering his leg in two places and interrupting the engagement party of a young couple. When he realized his fall had been cushioned by an elderly woman who was now dead, he laughed so loud and hearty that the guests felt more nervous than sad.\n\n During his trial for involuntary manslaughter, he was deemed mentally unfit and sent to an asylum where he spent the rest of his days quietly staring out a window. Occasionally, and abruptly, his silence would be punctuated by bursts of laughter. The nurses and patients could not explain his mirth and attributed it to the cocktail of drugs he was taking.\n\n Leo and Rose would never learn of these events, nor would they speak of the knife-wielding transient a second time for young Leo Darling dropped to one knee watching the blood soak the front of his shirt.\n\n Rose immediately went to his aid. She slid under his arm, led him into the tattoo parlor, and laid him in one of the chairs. He carefully tore off what was left of his shirt while Rose acquired a first aid kit.\n\n She took a cloth, dabbed it against his chest, then squeezed it over the sink. She did this two more times before applying rubbing alcohol.\n\n He winced, grabbing her hand tightly.\n\n She froze, unaccustomed to the touch of another person, more specifically, a man’s.\n\n She was, at once, reminded of her husband and the night of her disfigurement. She quickly yanked her hand away, inadvertently causing Leo Darling to fall from the chair.\n\n His shoulder hit the floor and he yelped as much from surprise as from pain. When he regained his footing, he saw Rose curled against a wall, her knees hugging her chest, her eyes staring blankly at the opposite wall. He could not explain her behavior, but he could recognize its symptoms.\n\n He sat on the floor next to her.\n\n They did not speak or touch, nor did they exchange glances – they remained motionless, like two statues cut from the same stone.\n\n The next morning, woken by the sound of two employees entering the shop, Rose fluttered to life, tossing Leo a shirt and pushing him out of the room. She motioned for him to leave, pointing toward the back door. His wounds had stopped bleeding, but remained unbandaged. Bruises had formed around the cuts and on part of his arm. He did not want to leave her and refused to move.\n\n One of the employees, recognizing Leo from the day before, shouted a slur of curses and rushed toward him, his right hand clenched in a fist. Rose quickly stepped between them. She knew explaining the boy’s presence would leave her exposed and vulnerable, so she lied. She said that he had just arrived looking for a job that the owner had absentmindedly promised.\n\n The employee angrily grunted, but was calmed.\n\n Rose knew Leo’s drawing hand had been damaged in the fight and, if he could even grip a pen, he would barely be able to draw a straight line, so when he failed to sketch a simple circle, she could be rid of him. Before she could request a sample of his work, Leo Darling had already pinned four blank pages to the wall, taken a black marker from the desk, and began drawing with his off hand.\n\n He quickly sketched portraits of the two employees, including even the smallest details with incredible accuracy. Then, from memory, he drew a landscape of the alley at night with deep shadows and sharp perspectives. Finally, without lifting his pen from the page, he drew a peach with a thick outline and a soft shadow.\n\n He took a step back, tossed the pen on the desk, and yawned. The two employees gazed at his artwork. Never before had they seen life articulated with such speed and precision. Though he had only used variations of black, his images looked more vivid and real than any color drawings they had made.\n\n Rose, regrettably impressed and realizing her plan had backfired, was forced to hire him. The following months she trained him in the use of needles and ink. She showed him how to clean the equipment and handle the tools. She taught him how the texture and color of skin affected ink, how sun damage and freckles affected color dye, how wrinkles could change the image over time. He absorbed every word she spoke and practiced late at night after the store had closed.\n\n When he was tired, he secretly slept in the back office, curling on the floor with his shoes as a pillow. Rose discovered him one morning still dreaming. She never spoke of it, though later that night he found a blanket waiting for him.\n\n When his proper hand had finally healed, he attempted innovative and interesting variations of ink work. He mixed colors and augmented designs as the blind artist had taught him. After a month of experimentation, Leo Darling had crafted a style that was unique and unequaled. Customers never stopped praising his work, and his reputation quickly spread through the tattoo community. Customers of every background and lifestyle came to the tattoo parlor looking for the kid.\n\n Every one of them left satisfied.\n\n The only person Leo Darling failed to satisfy was Rose Fox.\n\n Despite his best efforts, she would not reciprocate his affection. She showed only a mild appreciation of his work, praising him just once during the five months of his employment. She would not return his glances or smile in his direction. She flirted playfully with everyone, even women, but she would not flirt with him.\n\n They touched only once since he had been hired and he was almost certain it was by accident. One of the muscular employees, while rearranging the back offices, haphazardly pushed a desk into the hallway catching Leo’s leg. At the exact same moment, and completely unaware, Rose exited her office.\n\n Leo collapsed into her – the desk pinning them both against the wall and each other. Leo was quick enough to slide his hand behind her head and back, softening her fall. The desk, which just barely fit through the door, caught on the hinges. It took the muscular employee exactly five minutes and forty-three seconds to shake it lose, during which time, Rose and Leo were uncontrollably pushed into one another.\n\n He could feel her heart beat hard and her breath quicken. He tried to control his excitement, but every attempt to restrain it was thwarted by her soft breasts and warm cheek against his own. His excitement manifested below his waist and was almost immediately felt by Rose.\n\n Her cheeks reddened and she failed to hold back a small laugh – a laugh everyone shared when the desk was dislodged and Leo’s erection was revealed to the rest of the shop. The women cheered and whistled, which made Leo smirk until he realized they were staring at his crotch. Embarrassed and bright red, he hurried into Rose’s office.\n\n He did not, nor would he ever, know that Rose had enjoyed their embrace more than he did and, after the first thirty seconds, had enough space to slip free; instead, she pressed closer to him, not wanting to escape his grasp. When she felt his cock against her body, she secretly enjoyed it, momentarily forgetting about her scars.\n\n That night, for the first time in nineteen years, she dreamt about sex – waking hot, sweaty, and wet. She stretched her arms across the bed, thinking they would find the naked body of Leo Darling. When they did not, she was dejectedly thrust back into reality.\n\n She left the bed and examined her scars in the mirror. She wanted Leo Darling to want her, but she feared rejection more than anything, and so she kept a safe distance from him, doing her best to avoid and resist his advances.\n\n During the weeks that followed, Leo Darling, still young and uneducated in love, interpreted Rose’s distance as disgust. His love for her never wavered, but his affections, untethered, stirred toward a woman younger and more coltish than Rose. She was a client and tattoo enthusiast by the name of Leanne Laboe. Her short blond curls and kittenish smile immediately caught Leo’s gaze.\n\n When she accused him of staring, he turned red and sheepishly smiled. Amused by his innocence, she kissed him on the cheek. Later that night, once the tattoo parlor had been closed and secured, she took Leo’s hand and led him to her apartment.\n\n In the safety of her home, she undressed and described the intricate and ambitious tattoo that would stretch and wrap around her body. Leo took a marker from his bag and, without asking permission, began drawing on Leanne’s skin. She was, at first, startled by the cold marker tip, but soon discovered that Leo’s assertiveness excited her.\n\n The truth, which the young Leo Darling had yet to ascertain, was that the limber Leanne Laboe had lured him to her apartment and stripped in front of him with the sole intention of having rough and meaningless sex – an act she was both skilled and exceptionally comfortable with, but, before Leo Darling could finish the sketch around her lower stomach which would lead him to her vagina, she grabbed his hand, fell over his shoulder and painfully vomited down his back. Her stomach lurched into her chest a second time and her muscles stiffened. She covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet.\n\n Leo, confused and a little disgusted, took off his dirtied shirt, tossed it in the bathtub and kneeled down next to Leanne in order to hold her hair out of the toilet bowl. He did not know the origins of her sickness, and she would make certain he never did. As she gagged a third time and spit into the toilet, she knew that her symptoms pointed to the most serious and incurable of ailments – motherhood.\n\n She had married young and for all the right reasons. They were madly in love, had just enough money to feel comfortable, and a mutual desire for many children – seven to be exact. Two months after the wedding she became pregnant. The news made them both happier than they had ever been. Like first time parents, they fretted over everything and enjoyed every moment of it. Thinking himself a gentleman and loving husband, Peter insisted on driving, at least during Leanne’s pregnancy.\n\n On one occasion, while on their way to the hospital for a routine checkup, another driver, neglecting a stop sign, smashed into the passenger side of the Laboe’s car. If her husband had allowed Leanne to drive as she had wanted, their unborn son might have lived, but, given the trajectory and impact, he would not survive the ambulance ride to the hospital. The doctors managed to stabilize Leanne, but the damage to her uterus, they quietly explained, would leave her barren.\n\n Her husband stayed with her for one year, making sure her injuries had fully healed, then one morning he and all of his possessions were gone. She found signed divorce papers on the dining room table and a note explaining that he still loved her, but needed a woman that would provide him with a family.\n\n She cried, screamed, and broke whatever was in reach.\n\n In the years that followed, she would have three worthwhile relationships – each one ending when she felt it had grown too serious. Eventually, she found it more convenient to have weekend flings or one night stands. She engaged in sex so often, and with so many partners, she did not bother remembering or learning their names. Being barren, she did not worry with condoms or contraceptives, and, when she missed her period the previous month, she thought little of it. However, while Leo Darling gently rubbed her back as she vomited in the toilet, she thought very carefully about the recent months.\n\n She did not know who the father was, nor did she care, for she was overcome with a sudden and urgent desire to have a family – a family absent of an unreliable man. She stood, wiped her mouth, and abruptly pushed Leo Darling out of her apartment. She was so quick and decided in her action that he did not have time to grab his shirt.\n\n He stood in the hallway half-naked, cold, and very confused.\n\n Leanne Laboe, returning to her bed, would not sleep that night due to the excitement and joy that spilled out of her heart. Nine months later she would have a healthy son who would be the center of her universe. She would never marry, nor would she have another romantic relationship. Her only source of happiness would be her son and, later, her seven grandchildren.\n\n Leo Darling would never learn of these events, nor would he think much about the woman, except to remember her kittenish smile and the loss of his favorite shirt. When she would not respond to his knocking or shouts, he assumed she had returned to the toilet due to more unpleasantness. Knowing of no other way to assist her, he walked back to the tattoo parlor. The sun had risen by the time he reached his destination and Rose was waiting at the front counter.\n\n The night before, Rose had fretfully watched him leave with the cute and flirty blond, and though she could not explain the sharp and uncomfortable pain in her chest, she told herself that it was, most definitely, not jealousy.\n\n At home, she paced, counted sheep, drank warm milk, turned off the lights and curled into bed, but nothing cured her restlessness. Seeing the time, she decided to forfeit her sleep and return to work. She could not explain why she had brought a pillow for the young Leo Darling, but when she could not find him asleep in the back office she became agitated.\n\n She waited at the front counter with a pen and pad of paper, sketching unflattering pictures of him, which she then crumpled and threw into the garbage.\n\n When she saw him enter the shop shirtless and shivering, she threw the pad of paper at him and stormed off, thinking he had slept with the blond tart. She did not notice the smell of vomit on his clothes or the distraught expression on his face for she was too frustrated to notice anything but her own heartache.\n\n Leo, confused and reconsidering his chances with women, allowed his temper to get the better of him. He shouted at Rose – his words honest, but piercing.\n\n She turned, furious and full of fire. She called him ugly and worthless and shouted other incoherent profanities while she slapped his face and pushed against his chest.\n\n He grabbed her hands, their lips almost touching in the struggle.\n\n She could feel the desire in her heart spilling out and she feared it might reach him. She tried to break free from his grip, but he was too strong. She screamed and cried that he would never love her. Her head fell against his chest. He pulled her closer and softly whispered that his love for her was unimaginable.\n\n She shook her head, stepped away and, with her eyes tightly shut, took off her shirt and slid down her pants revealing her secret and grotesque scars. She stood before him, shaking with terror and embarrassment – more defenseless and vulnerable than she had ever been.\n\n He stepped toward her, his hands and eyes moving deliberately and with a kind of caringness she was unfamiliar with. He touched her skin as if it was uncut stone, searching it for the potential beauty buried beneath – just as the blind artist had taught him.\n\n He kissed her scars and her stomach and her thighs and her hands and her fingers and her lips and every part of her he could. His heart and cock swelled, and he made certain she felt both. She whimpered as much from surprise as relief.\n\n In the back office, Leo unfurled his blanket on the floor and laid Rose upon it. He made love to her with a slow and attentive pace so that she always felt safe and in control.\n\n As the months passed, they kept their romance a secret, sharing glances when no one else was looking, lightly grazing one another as they passed in the hall, leaving the shop at different times only to meet at Rose’s apartment together.\n\n One evening, a month after moving in together, Leo Darling presented Rose with a gift. It was a clever and well crafted design for a tattoo that would almost completely disguise her scars. It was bold, but still feminine and, with his skills, it would only require three sessions to complete. She was hesitant, but since they had started having sex regularly, she had regained some of her confidence, and so agreed to his request.\n\n For three nights, after the shop had closed to the public, Leo worked on Rose’s chest and thighs, creating what he would later describe as his greatest masterpiece. On the left side of her chest he sketched the trunk of a peach tree, its branches and peaches stretching across her breasts, covering her scars. Along her thighs, he sketched a series of roots that directed the eyes up and away from her lingering wounds. He enhanced the tattoo with a variety of vibrant and unique colors.\n\n When he was finished, he made her stand naked in front of a mirror.\n\n She was astonished.\n\n Even when she stood very close and squinted, she could not distinguish the scars from the tattoo. She knew the scars had not vanished, but she felt as if something had been restored in her.\n\n Overcome with a sense of wholeness, she eagerly pushed Leo Darling into the tattoo chair, making playful and sensual love to him five times before the sun rose the next day. That night would not be the last time they made love. It would, however, be the first and only time that resulted in a child. They would discover this exactly one month and seventeen days later when Rose exited the bathroom with a positive pregnancy test.\n\n Realizing they could no longer keep their romance a secret, Leo and Rose disclosed everything to the other employees, who, nodding with approval, said it was about time.\n\n When the men heard Leo was going to be a father, they insisted on taking him out to celebrate. Even though he was well under the legal drinking age, they used their connections to get him into a local bar. He drank cranberry juice while they guzzled beer and hard alcohol.\n\n Their hearty laughter and general cheerfulness lasted late into the night. It was interrupted only once and quite tragically when a stranger slammed an empty mug onto the table in front of Leo Darling demanding it to be filled.\n\n The muscular employee stood, poured the contents of his glass into the stranger’s mug and, with a jolly smile, raised his empty glass to toast Leo Darling. The rest of the group merrily raised their mugs, but before they could speak, the stranger stumbled into an adjacent table, spilling his beer down the shirt and pants of another patron.\n\n The drunken stranger had once been a successful student working toward his engineering doctorate at a prestigious New England university. He lost interest in his studies shortly after his girlfriend refused his marriage proposal.\n\n He had worked hard to shape his life around the qualities he thought she desired, but when he learned that she did not, nor would she ever, reciprocate his love, he refused to open another book, attend another class, or start his adult life until she spoke to him. She, unfortunately, embarrassed beyond words, refused to even consider meeting with him and so, the poor student, in a bout of self-loathing, abandoned his potential and embraced his genetic disposition for alcohol.\n\n He entered bars, taverns, pubs, and any other alcohol dispensary, chatting-up patrons in the hopes of getting free booze. Women sometimes propositioned him, but he left only if they could prove alcohol was waiting for him at their residence.\n\n He got into fights no less than three times a week and, given his dejected demeanor, he lost every one. He had learned early on that booze flowed freely at parties and celebrations, which is why he slammed his mug down in front of Leo Darling.\n\n The failed student had been drinking heavily that night, and though he had developed a tolerance, he was past his tipping point. He did not mean to fall into the adjacent table or spill his drink, but he was too drunk to care. He rolled onto the floor and passed out in a pile of his own vomit.\n\n The patron, now covered in beer and smelling of pungent vomit, demanded retribution. When he could not take his anger out on the drunken stranger, he directed it toward Leo Darling. He shouted, threw his glass bottle, and kicked at Leo’s chair.\n\n Leo, now equally offended, punched the patron in the stomach and face so that he fell backwards knocking over the table and chair.\n\n The patron’s three friends stood, and a bar fight ensued.\n\n The police arrived exactly thirty-four minutes later; however, the damage was already done. Aside from a small fire, some broken bones, cuts, and bruises, everyone was fine. Leo Darling would receive the only wound that was irreversible.\n\n In the chaos, a broken glass bottle had stabbed a hole through Leo’s right hand and severely cut his left. Despite a series of operations and experimental treatments, he would never fully regain the use of his fingers. Though he could hold a tattoo needle, he lacked the finesse to use it. He was just as bad with a pen, paint brush, and chisel.\n\n His career and livelihood were over. And though the owner of the tattoo parlor asked him to stay on as a consultant, he refused. He could not bear the sight of artists when he could no longer count himself among them. He swore off all forms of art and made Rose promise never to mention them in his presence.\n\n By this time, Rose had reached her final trimester and it was only a matter of weeks until the baby would arrive. Rose and Leo, trying to savor every moment, had decided to let the gender remain a secret, creating two lists of names – one set for girls, the other for boys. They jokingly argued over the names and lovingly disagreed over the gender.\n\n Leo suppressed his frustration and melancholy with thoughts of the baby – who it might become, what it might achieve, who it might love, if it would have children of its own one day. These thoughts made him happy and he could almost tolerate the absence of his artwork.\n\n One evening while the tattoo employees were visiting, the absentminded owner cradled a watermelon as if it were a baby and jokingly sung lullabies to it. He handed the watermelon to Leo, telling him to practice.\n\n When Leo attempted to hold the large round melon, it slipped from his hands and cracked on the floor. He tried to pick it up, but his fingers were neither agile nor strong enough. He spent nearly ten minutes failing to hold the cracked watermelon.\n\n The guests became silent and sad.\n\n Leo, covered in juice and seeds, fell against a cabinet and cried, realizing that he would be incapable of holding his child. His pride and temper got the better of him. He shouted at the absentminded owner and stormed out of the apartment.\n\n He walked without a destination. It became dark and difficult to see. Neither his anger nor his sadness subsided. If he had been more focused and less agitated, his death could have easily been avoided.\n\n A car, making a blind turn, over-steered and jumped the lip of the sidewalk. Leo rolled over the safety rail, missing the bumper by only a few inches. His momentum was so great he slid down the embankment into a pool of muddy rain water.\n\n The driver, nervous and new to driving, convinced herself a deer had grazed her hood, not a man, and so did not bother to pull over or inspect the road. Once home, she would find a long scratch along the front and side of her car. Using fingernail polish, she would do her best to hide the damage from her parents, who still owned the vehicle. She would eventually forget the incident and years later, when selling the car, have no explanation for how the strange discolorment came to be there.\n\n Leo Darling would never learn of these events, nor would he have much time to ponder them for he would die moments later. Soaked in mud and feeling as if a second chance had reached him, he wished only to return home to a warm shower and the love of his life, Rose Fox. He would, however and unfortunately, do neither.\n\n While climbing up the steep embankment, his fingers, failing to grip a patch of grass, slipped and his head, colliding with a rock, sent him back into the muddy water, unconscious. His body would be found four days later by a pair of joggers.\n\n The news devastated Rose, and her heightened emotions induced labor. She was rushed to the hospital and, despite the death of Leo Darling, the birth was as safe and uneventful as it could have been.\n\n Rose, expecting a boy, planned to name him Leo in honor of his departed father. When the nurses laid a beautiful baby girl in her arms, she was overjoyed, but uncertain what to call her. She decided on the name Daisy, thinking it to be the name of Leo Darling’s mother.\n\n Daisy Darling was a healthy and happy baby. Her early childhood, like her birth, was safe and uneventful, which was, most certainly, attributed to Rose’s careful precautions.\n\n After Leo’s death, Rose silently promised that Daisy would never have to endure the misadventures of her parents. Less than a week after leaving the hospital, Rose sold all their trivial possessions and relocated to a small and quiet suburb where Daisy could make lots of friends and avoid the pitfalls of loneliness and deviancy.\n\n Rose, now a single mother and no longer employed at the tattoo parlor, was forced to work three jobs to support her daughter. The first two jobs, data entry and outbound sales rep, were done from home. The third, a part-time receptionist at a dental office, was within walking distance. The receptionist job guaranteed Daisy would have health insurance – the data entry job guaranteed enough money to hire a babysitter. \n\n Collectively the three jobs, though time consuming and mindless, provided enough money for Rose and her daughter to live comfortably. Rose, however, purchased only the necessities, placing all the extra money in a savings account for her daughter.\n\n Once Daisy was old enough for kindergarten, Rose quit the first job and began taking classes online. Within three months, she had acquired her GED and considered attending a nearby junior college. She would postpone these thoughts when the school informed her that Daisy had contracted chickenpox. Holding her motherly duties above all others, Rose took two weeks off from the dentist’s office to care for her daughter.\n\n One night after a bath and bedtime story, Daisy gazed at her mother’s tattoo with wonderment and awe. She was old enough to recognize the images, but still too young to understand their meaning. Each night Daisy asked her mother many questions about the beautiful peach tree tattoo, but each night, to Daisy’s dismay, Rose answered only one.\n\n Daisy became obsessed with the peach tree tattoo, filing down a whole box of crayons trying to recreate it. Though she was passionate and eager, she had no proficiency for art. This sad fact she realized months later while finger painting with her fellow classmates.\n\n She excitedly covered her construction paper with greens and blues and reds, which resulted in a brown and purple mess that was neither pretty nor interesting. Somewhat discouraged but still eager, Daisy glanced at her classmates’ work which displayed a wonderful array of colors and shapes far better than her own. With a pouty scowl, she took the small containers of paint and emptied them all in the sink – an act that would keep her in timeout for the rest of the afternoon.\n\n Though Daisy quickly gave up her short-lived art ambition, she never lost interest in the peach tree tattoo. Each night she asked her mother a new question and each night her mother provided her with a complete and unapologetic answer. The one and only question Daisy never managed to ask involved the identity of the artist.\n\n When she hinted at the tattoo’s creator, Rose was incapable of letting his name escape her throat. She felt that if his name ever parted her lips, it would part from her soul as well and so, when she learned he had left this life, she swore to never say his name again. This was particularly difficult at the funeral and the months that followed.\n\n Sometimes, late at night, when the infant Daisy began to cry, Rose would lean into the adjacent pillow and almost whisper his name. She felt foolish and depressed when she remembered he was gone, but she did her best to keep the sadness far from her daughter.\n\n Daisy knew the artist was a man who had been close to her mother. Over the years, she had developed a number of theories about his identity. Perhaps he had been a stranger that saved her mother’s life, or a relative that had died, or a lover that had gone to war, or perhaps he was a rapist that had mutilated her body with beautiful art.\n\n The more Daisy thought about him, the more bizarre and vivacious her theories became. Soon, she fantasized about him. In each fantasy he had a different set of attributes; sometimes he was tall, sometimes strong, sometimes short, sometimes skinny, or alternating combinations of each. His skin type and age differed as well. Sometimes he even turned out to be a woman.\n\n Daisy studied the figure in her fantasies, trying to understand his behavior and the variables that influenced it. Eventually her fantasies transformed into case studies that she applied to living people.\n\n One afternoon during high school algebra, Daisy observed a boy in the seat across from hers. She memorized his physicality, mannerisms, and as much of his personality as could be observed. That night, in the safety of her room, she fantasized about him – not for pleasure, but to test her skills of deduction.\n\n Based on her observations, she fictionalized the size and decoration of his room, the contents of his dresser and desk, the personalities of his parents, the type and color of his pets, the number and type of his siblings, his hobbies, and his reactions to different situations.\n\n The next day, after school, she introduced herself, being friendly and somewhat flirty. Unaccustomed to the attention of a pretty girl, the boy happily led her to his room where she discovered almost every one of her theories to be accurate.\n\n She was wrong on two counts. She guessed he had two sisters and one brother when, in fact, he had only one sister and no brothers. She was so excited and pleased with herself that she made out with him for the rest of the afternoon.\n\n To avoid any unflattering rumors, she called him boyfriend for the remainder of the school year. Their relationship would end that summer when he discovered Daisy and his sister kissing in his bed.\n\n Daisy would explain that their actions were purely scientific which he would not believe, or even hear over his own shouting. His sister, Jaclyn, would be just as surprised by Daisy’s dry and logical explanation. For though Daisy had described the act as an experiment, Jaclyn assumed it was an experiment of the heart, not the mind, and agreed to kiss only because she hoped Daisy’s heart would be a mirror to her own.\n\n Out of embarrassment and heartache Jaclyn would keep her affections a secret and instead pledge her loyalty in the form of friendship. Her desires would sometimes spill out in subtle ways – an embrace lasting too long, a casual kiss, cuddling during movies or sleepovers, and other small forms of physical affection that not even Jaclyn was aware of.\n\n Daisy’s inquisitive mind and personal experimentation gave her a keen awareness of the human condition, but she failed to apply this knowledge to the people closest to her – her mother, Jaclyn, and, later, the men that speckled her sex life. This blind spot got her into trouble more than once.\n\n On one occasion, while studying the effects of alcohol at a party, she stumbled into the arms of a man she had never met and remained there almost the entire night as he slowly peeled off her clothes. He was about to take her to a secluded room and remove the few clothes she had remaining when Jaclyn punched him in the face twice and carried Daisy to the car.\n\n Jaclyn managed to get Daisy into her own bed and then, motivated by worry and sexual desire, she curled under the sheets next to her.\n\n The next day, Daisy’s only regret was the loss of her green tank top and the slight hangover that lasted well into the afternoon. She did not, nor would she ever, thank Jaclyn for providing her with protection; instead, she would immediately move on to her next experiment while Jaclyn remained her silent and unacknowledged sentry.\n\n When Daisy was accepted to a university on the other side of the country, Jaclyn followed her, ignoring the scholarships she had earned for several Ivy League schools. The truth was, since the moment they had kissed, Jaclyn could not imagine loving anyone except Daisy Darling. She was attracted to other women – even had a few short and secret relationships, but none of them could ignite her heart the way a casual glance from Daisy could, and did.\n\n Daisy, slightly self-indulgent and always occupied with thought, had not noticed Jaclyn’s affections, nor had she even hinted at them. She was too enveloped by the wonders of college. She had discovered there was a name for her passion – psychology, and she committed herself entirely to it. She snuck into upper division classes and sometimes eavesdropped on professors and TA’s. She read everything she could find within the differing curriculums, and then searched for ideas that were newly published.\n\n Jaclyn had taken an interest in botany, specifically its uses in medicine. Though she had little passion for it, she minored in psychology in the hopes of having a few extra classes with Daisy. This plan would have been successful if Daisy had been a normal student, but Daisy’s passion took her far beyond the entry level classes that Jaclyn was forced to take.\n\n After sneaking into a particularly difficult post-graduate class, Daisy made the error of correcting the professor after he had misquoted the book. The professor had been known to fail or embarrass students for far less – a fact Daisy had yet to learn.\n\n He commanded her to stand up and proceeded to bombard her with questions.\n\n She calmly and correctly answered each one.\n\n His final question was not in fact a question, but a trick for it had no solution. Daisy scrunched her eyebrows in thought, but could not divine an answer.\n\n The professor, smug and smirking, asked for her name and grade. She said both and he was astonished to learn that she was merely a freshman. He allowed her to audit the class. Then he scolded the rest of the students for being so lazy and stupid.\n\n The first case study involved the mental state of trauma patients during and after their rehabilitation. Each student was responsible for a different subset of patients. Categories ranged from burn victims to suburban abuse.\n\n Daisy’s case study focused on cancer.\n\n She followed the recovery of five patients ranging in age from thirty-four to sixty-five. She carefully observed their physical and emotional reactions and then, later, the expectations of their children and spouses.\n\n Daisy realized early on that if she was to remain objective, she must also remain distant. Instead of referring to each patient by name, she referred to them by number.\n\n #1 – thirty-four, married eight years, mother of two, breast cancer\n\n #2 – forty-one, married twelve years, father of three, testicular cancer\n\n #3 – sixty-three, divorced, mother of three, grandmother of seven, melanoma\n\n #4 – sixty-five, divorced, father of one, lung cancer\n\n #5 – seventy-one, married forty years, five children, eleven grandchildren, died before treatment could be administered\n\n Daisy was so focused on the work that when she was not at school, she was at one of the patients’ homes or at the hospital closely following their treatment.\n\n One morning, shortly after the case study began, patient #4 fell out of his bed and injured his leg. Daisy met him at the hospital just in time to hear the doctor order an x-ray. She followed #4 to radiology, taking notes about his behavior as a nurse pushed his wheelchair. He was nearly finished explaining, for the second time, how he had fallen when the nurse told Daisy to wait in the adjacent room.\n\n With a slight scowl and a huff, Daisy did as the nurse commanded, but as soon as the nurse turned her head, Daisy snuck back into the room. Before she could congratulate herself, a man, no older than thirty, pulled her aside. He motioned for her to sit and she did as he asked almost without thinking. She could not explain the quiet hold he had over her, nor could she stop gazing at him.\n\n He smiled and nodded at her before adjusting the x-ray console. For the first time in her life, Daisy felt embarrassed and speechless. Her cheeks turned red and she bashfully looked away.\n\n She later learned that he was a radiology technician by the name of Jack Dassow and he had worked at the hospital a little over two years. She had to acquire this information from a nurse because her nerves had blurred the events of that morning.\n\n It would take Jack and Daisy exactly four dates to realize that they were meant for each other. The forth date occurred on a Saturday evening at Jack’s apartment. Over the course of his bachelor life, Jack had developed two passions: fishing and cooking; and while he excelled at the first, he failed at the latter.\n\n He was, unfortunately, oblivious to these facts. Though he had the skills to calibrate complex medical equipment, he had never been able to transcribe that knowledge to his oven or stove. His finest meals were usually black around the edges – a feat some of his friends described as a miracle.\n\n That particular evening, while Jack and Daisy sat nervously next to one another, the smell of burnt lasagna punctuated their silence. Jack rushed to the kitchen, pulling his scorched and burning meal from the oven. He patted the fire out with a pair of oven mitts and shamefully scraped the food into the garbage.\n\n Daisy, attempting to be a polite guest, had brought a bottle of wine and a loaf of freshly baked garlic bread, which Jack just then handed back to her. He cracked two windows and turned on a fan, which he had become accustomed to doing, and led Daisy out of the apartment.\n\n He was almost certain he had ruined the evening and, more importantly, his chances with Daisy, so he decided there was no harm in being himself. He joked and laughed without reservation, told embarrassing stories, and attentively listened to hers.\n\n They spent the evening walking through the city without a destination or a plan, sharing the bottle of wine and the loaf of garlic bread. They did not realize how long they had been talking until they saw the sun rise over the eastern skyline. Hand in hand, they walked back to Jack’s apartment and spent Sunday morning lying in bed together – their hearts too excited to sleep.\n\n Jack wanted to propose that afternoon, but out of decency, he waited another four months. Daisy of course accepted, wondering why it had taken so long for him to ask.\n\n Jaclyn cried at the news and embraced her dear friend. Her tears were not a result of happiness as Daisy assumed, but instead owed their origin to a knot of sadness tied around her heart.\n\n Jaclyn’s embrace was not meant to congratulate. It was meant as a goodbye. She knew Daisy would never love her the way she wanted to be loved and she could not stand the thought of watching her love another. She agreed to each of Daisy’s requests with the intention of ignoring them all.\n\n The next day Jaclyn would take an internship in South America studying plants for a pharmaceutical company. She would inform Daisy only after the plane had landed in Argentina. She would spend the next six months rummaging through jungles and forests, collecting specimens with her particular focus being fungi. When she returned to America, Jaclyn would neglect to tell Daisy and, in fact, do her best to never think about or mention her again.\n\n Daisy would never learn of these events, nor would she begrudge her best friend for she was happy that Jaclyn had finally found a passion for her life.\n\n The planning and wedding continued on schedule – Jack’s oldest sister taking the place of Jaclyn as maid of honor. Daisy had no other close friends and only a little family, but Jack’s large sum of relatives easily made up the difference and warmly welcomed Daisy into their lives.\n\n After the wedding, Rose embraced Daisy and presented her with a gift – the last and only possession of the departed Leo Darling.\n\n Daisy unwrapped the small present.\n\n It was a framed photograph of a man and woman standing outside a cabin. The woman was pregnant and smiling. Daisy did not recognize the woman or the man, but she felt a strange connection to them. The photograph was faded, with warped edges, and a small crease near the middle.\n\n They were family, Rose explained, but that was as much as she knew for the young Leo Darling, who had been silently homesick, had spoken very little about his past – a trait Rose tragically shared.\n\n Daisy held the photograph to her chest and kissed her mother.\n\n Later that night, after making love to her husband, Daisy would take the photograph from her suitcase and examine it. She would be mesmerized by its contrast and framing. She would wonder about the camera and photographer used in its making.\n\n Then she would think about the two people affectionately holding onto one another. She would contemplate their names and how they came to be there, but Daisy Dassow would never learn of these events, nor would she think much about how the photograph came to be in her possession, except to admire its fidelity and smile at the beautiful woman that seemed so familiar to her.\n</html>\n\n<center>THE END</center>\n\n<center>[[Afterward|DarlingAfterward]]\n[[Unlocks]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 553>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -3>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -3>>\n<<endnobr>>You shake your head. “I’m on a diet.”\n\n“Oh, nonsense. I insist.”\n\n“No thank you,” you say in the politest way possible, then turn to leave.\n\nShe grabs your arm and shoves a stun gun against your neck. You @@color:#000081;convulse@@ and drop to the floor.\n\nThe old woman kneels down. “You should have gone with the cake.” She motions at two other employees. They grab you by the arms and drag you into a dark room. You feel the cold squeeze of metal cuffs, then the pinch of a needle. Your head swims and your vision blurs, then you pass out.\n\n******\n\nYou wake up handcuffed to a chair.\n\n“You’ve gotten soft,” an old familiar voice coos. “I thought I trained you better than that.”\n\nYou glance up and open your eyes. It’s the Boss.\n\nHe sits down in front of you. “I had hoped we could reach an understanding before it came to this, but unfortunately my hands are tied...perhaps not as literally as yours, but there’s nothing more I can do.”\n\n“Do?” You growl. “You mean kidnapping my sister wasn’t enough?”\n\nThe Boss rubs the bridge of his nose. “I know it may be difficult for you to believe, but I had very little to do with your sister’s kidnapping. It was not my idea.”\n\n“Am I supposed to believe someone else is running the show now?”\n\n“Unfortunately, yes.” The Boss glances at a tinted window. You see several shadowy forms.\n\n“Where’s Gillian?”\n\n“Safe...I assume. There’s very little they’re willing to tell me.”\n\n“Then what is this all about?” You growl and yank at the handcuffs.\n\n“Honestly,” the Boss shrugs. “I have no idea. They wanted you specifically, and they mentioned the Moscow job. They said you were exposed to some kind of alien particles or radiation or something of that nature.”\n\n“There was an explosion...but I’m fine.”\n\n“They believe otherwise. They’re going to run some tests. I only wanted to say goodbye.”\n\n“Do something,” you growl. “Don’t just leave me here.”\n\n“As I said,” the Boss turns away. “My hands are tied.” He leaves the room and closes the door behind him.\n\nYou see the shadowy figures shuffling back and forth with excitement. Maybe the Boss was telling the truth, maybe not. Either way, he’s going to get what’s coming to him. You’ll see to that.\n\nSuddenly a set of giant fans spin. The floor vibrates. It sounds like an engine kicking into overdrive.\n\n“Hey,” you shout at the tinted window. “Let me out of here.”\n\nThe walls sweat with blue and purple globs of goo. The goo pools at the center of the room and congeals into a giant glowing sphere. The room feels hotter, almost like an oven. The sphere pulsates.\n\n“Hey,” you shout again. “Let me out.” You struggle and yank at the handcuffs, but it’s no use.\n\nThe chair slides closer to the sphere, almost as if the giant gooey ball was emitting its own gravitational pull. The chair tilts and you hit the ground. You slide closer. It pulses with waves of blinding light.\n\n“You’re making a mistake,” you shout. “Please!”\n\nYour foot enters the sphere. Your skin feels like it’s on fire. You try to move, try to fight it, but you’re helpless. You feel the light envelop you. Then everything fades to black.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

“The Disappearance of Karen Ward”\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 700>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +213999>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +11>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The money is too important. The plan won’t succeed without it. You have to move now. If you get any closer they’re going to spot you. Subtly is @@color:#000081;out@@ of the question.\n\nYou pull out your pistol and point it at the moving van. You aim three inches in front of the rear wheels. You @@color:#000081;fire@@ two rounds into the van. The thugs drop and scatter. One of them spots you and readies his assault rifle. You take a deep and calming breath, then fire another round into the van.\n\nAs soon as the bullet hits, the van @@color:#000081;erupts@@ in a mushroom cloud of fire and smoke. Four of the thugs are thrust into the air. They hit the ground hard and stay down. The gasoline from the van catches the surrounding crates on fire.\n\nThe goons are frantic and confused. They swing their guns in every direction. The smoke and chaos keeps you concealed. Now’s your chance.\n\nYou sprint to the warehouse and duck behind some burning crates. You @@color:#000081;fire@@ two bullets into a thug as he rounds the corner. You grab his submachine gun before he hits the ground. Then you twist behind the unharmed van.\n\nYou pop open the door, grab the coffee cup on the dash, and use it to wedge the gas pedal down. You secure the submachine gun against your shoulder and shove the shifter into first gear. The van moves forward into the warehouse. You use it as cover and unload the submachine gun into any thug that crosses your line of sight.\n\nThe van grates against some shelving and swerves into a wall. You see the two duffle bags of cash on the table. You’re about to make your move, but the submachine gun is out of ammo.\n\nYou duck and roll as bullets chip away at the shelf and wall. You push yourself up and swing the butt of the submachine gun. The gun collides with a thug’s face. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ it again, and he blacks out. The bullets whiz past you, but the duffle bags are still out of reach.\n\nYou throw open the thug’s jacket pocket and pull out a lighter. It’ll have to do. You lob it at the two thugs, draw your pistol, and shoot when it’s in front of their faces.\n\nThe lighter @@color:#000081;explodes@@ with liquid fire. The thugs scream as their shirts ignite. You sprint for the duffle bags, throw both over your shoulder, and slide into the rear office. You kick the door shut behind you.\n\nThe fire outside is starting to die down. Time to start another one.\n\nYou peek through the window. On the opposite side of the warehouse you see cartons of chemicals used to synthesize the drugs. A little spark should do the trick.\n<<if $introComments is true>>In the entirety of Seven Bullets I never specify the drugs that are being bought or sold. And nowhere in the book are the “drugs” ever consumed.My peculiar moral compass is to blame. Describing in detail a henchman being ripped apart by a shotgun is okay, but someone casually using drugs seemed ...wrong.<<endif>>\nYou wait for the rest of the thugs to enter the warehouse, then fire two quick shots at the table legs so the chemicals gush and splash against the floor. You hear the thugs duck for cover. You fire one more shot at the cement.\n\nThe chemicals blaze with blue and orange flames. The shelves and crates catch fire. You see the flames inching toward the van. Uh oh.\n\nYou double time it to the exit and sprint for the water. You hear a loud @@color:#000081;BOOM@@ as a gust of hot air thrusts you off the ground. You twirl uncontrollably and hit the water while the flames nip at your feet.\n\nYou reorient yourself and swim for the surface. The cash is wet and heavy, but it’s yours and there’s a lot of it.\n\nThe warehouse buckles from the heat of the explosion. Part of the roof @@color:#000081;caves in.@@ Looks like some of the goons made it out alive. If they can identify you, which they probably can, and the Boss finds out it was you, he might do something unpleasant to Gillian. You try not to think about his collection of fingers.\n\nCatching up to the goons will be tough, and even if you do kill them, they may have already warned the Boss, in which case you’re wasting time thinking about it. You might be better off rescuing Gillian as fast as you can.\n\n[[Eliminate the goons before they can talk]]\n[[No, rescue Gillian now]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = ($wordcount + 246)>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +1>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>This is a fine @@color:#000081;mess@@ you’re in now. There’s no way you can come back to the apartment. You pull a bag out from under the bed. It has money, clothes, guns, and documents to get you into or out of just about any country.\n<<if $introComments is true>>There are several moral choices in Seven Bullets, but most choices are adventure driven. I debated whether or not to add more but ultimately decided against it. I wanted to keep the plot more in line with the original Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1980s.Some of my favorite choices from the old CYOA books were completely arbitrary, and I’m a slave to nostalgia.<<endif>>\nHopefully it’ll be enough to get Gillian away from the Boss. He hasn’t killed her yet. He’s too masochistic for that. Since he knows she’s your sister, he’ll drag her suffering out for years.\n\nYou don’t have years. You don’t even have hours. If you’re going to get her back you need to act now. Going after the Boss head-on is suicide – have to hit him sideways, knock him off balance. You’ll need to thin out his army too.\n\nHe hasn’t worked out his trade routes with the Chinese yet, and if they think the Russians are involved they won’t deal. He’ll have to keep the peace with a display of force and money. That should keep things wound tight enough for you to slip in and out unnoticed. Of course, there are a lot of moving parts, and things could go bad quick.\n\nThe other option, though not as subtle, would involve blowing up one of his warehouses. With an unknown enemy he’d have to protect his other facilities, thinning out his goons at the penthouse. The threat of a war might make them jumpy. Getting out could be a problem. You need to think of what’s best for Gillian.\n\n[[Keep him occupied with the Chinese]]\n[[Blowing the warehouse is quicker]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 421>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -7>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<endnobr>>You can’t explain it, but you have an overwhelming urge to press the square with two squiggly lines. You slam your hand down on the @@color:#000081;symbol.@@ The rumbling immediately stops. The floor stabilizes and the crumbling ends.\n\n“Ha,” you grunt. You turn to Avengral. “Did you ever doubt me?”\n\n“I was too busy fearing for my life,” Avengral says sarcastically.\n\n“Funny,” you say surprised. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”\n\nAvengral takes a small step away from the wall and gives you a perplexed look. “If you have deciphered the symbols correctly, why has a door not been revealed?”\n\nHe has a good point. You glance around the room searching for an opening or doorway, some hint of an exit. You don’t see anything. You glance back at the symbols. “Maybe there’s more to the code...maybe that was just the--”\n\nSuddenly all four walls rumble and slowly slide inward.\n\n“Whoa,” you gasp as the wall pushes against you.\n\n“Earth Wizard,” Avengral growls. “What is the meaning of this?”\n\n“I don’t know.” You shove your weight against the wall, but it does nothing to slow it down. \n\n“Try the symbols again,” Avengral shouts.\n\nYou reach for the symbols, but they crumble before you can touch them.\n\n“Foul wizards!” Avengral shouts at the darkness. “I will have your heads; if not in this life, then in the next!”\n\nThat old wizard tricked you. Maybe there was never a right answer. Maybe they were always going to kill you. You know thinking about it won’t do you any good.\n\nYou shove all your weight against the wall, but the mechanisms pushing is are far stronger than you. “Avengral,” you shout. “Do you see a weakness?”\n\nAvengral fervently swings his sword into the wall, but it leaves only a small scratch. “No,” he growls.\n\nThen you’re dead...\n\nYou feel the walls squeeze tighter and tighter ...and tighter. You can barely breathe. You hear Avengral’s armor crack and snap under the pressure of the encroaching walls.\n\nYou don’t have much time...\n\nYou think about Gillian. She’s on her own. You failed her... and there’s nothing you can do.\n\nThe walls press against your chest like a stone vise. You feel your ribs @@color:#000081;crack@@ and snap. All of your insides mush together. You imagine how a bug might feel when a giant foot stomps on it.\n\nYour eyes @@color:#000081;pop out@@ of their sockets, and your brain @@color:#000081;explodes@@ out of your ears...For some reason you always felt you would die like this...\n\n...The pressure finally got to you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 744>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveMakingFriends").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockMakingFriends").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You scan the waterline, but you can’t see a boy or signs of a drowning. All you see are the vicious sharks.\n\nYou stomp through the water and @@color:#000081;grab@@ the woman’s arm before she can get too deep.\n\nShe tries to pull it away. “My son,” she yells. “My son.”\n\n“There’s nobody out there,” you yell back.\n\n“My son,” she screams irrationally.\n\n“Don’t you see the sharks? If you go out any further, they’ll tear you apart...again.” You wrap your other arm around her waist and yank her back toward the shore.\n\n“NO,” she screams. “My son.” Her fingernails dig into your arm and shoulder.\n\nYou groan and toss her into the sand.\n\nShe scrambles to her feet, but you block her from getting back in the water.\n\n“No,” she sobs and points at the sharks.\n\nYou take a half glance. There’s a boy splashing against the waves. It’s as if he appeared out of nowhere. How could you have missed him?\n\nThe sharks circle him and then disperse. It’s some kind of twisted miracle. “Stay here,” you tell the woman. “I’ll get your son.”\n\n“No, no. He’s going to...” her words trail off into sobs.\n\nAs you sprint for the water, a giant wave lifts the boy into the air and slams his body into a handful of razor sharp rocks. When his body collides, it explodes into a billion glimmering specs.\n\n“How?” You glance back at the woman. “He?”\n\n“He died,” she says between sobs, “And it was my fault. I should have been watching you. My baby boy.” She breathes slower and reclaims control of her senses. “The rocks,” she whispers. “He was thrown against the rocks, and I couldn’t save him.” She looks up at you teary-eyed. “I missed him so much. I couldn’t stand it.”\n\nThe glimmering specs swirl past you and curl around her arms forming long cuts from her wrist to her bicep.\n\nYou see her veins. They’re slashed and ragged, but there isn’t any blood, not even a drop.\n\nShe wipes the tears from her cheeks. “I couldn’t be part of the world if he wasn’t in it.” She lowers her head and wearily nods. “But he’s gone now.”\n\nShe takes a deep breath and scans the surroundings as if she knows exactly where you are.\n\n“So,” you say carefully. “Where are we?”\n\nShe shrugs. “Hell, obviously.”\n\nEven with all the bizarre things that have happened, that couldn’t be true. “No,” you shake your head. “We must be drugged or something. This is just an illusion. Hell isn’t real.”\n\nShe holds up her slit wrists. “I died. You must have died too. You just can’t remember.”\n\n“I would remember dying.”\n\n“I didn’t. Not until you snapped me out of it.”\n\n“So what are you saying? You think I need to be snapped out of it?”\n\nShe shrugs. “I don’t know, but you’ve got an eternity to figure it out.”\n\nFor some reason the words sting like they contain a little more truth than you’d like to admit. “No,” you say defiantly. “If this place has an entrance, than it has an exit, and I’m going to find it.”\n\n“What,” she laughs. “You think we can just walk through a door?”\n\n“Maybe...Why not?”\n\nShe shakes her head. “Good people don’t get sent to Hell. I don’t know what you’ve done, but if you’re here than you deserve to be punished just like me.”\n\n“So what,” you scoff. “Even if I was dead, even if I deserved to be in Hell, I wouldn’t let it stop me. There’s someone counting on me, and I’m not going to let her down.”\n\n“It doesn’t matter,” she says walking away from you. “You can’t change any of this.”\n\n“I don’t need to change it. I just need to escape it.”\n\nShe points her arm out at the ocean and swings it across the distant shoreline. “Where do you recommend we go? Do you see an exit?”\n\nYou turn back the way you came, but the path is gone. All you see is ocean and sand. That’s a problem. You sigh. “I don’t know. This place keeps changing, but if we stick with one direction, we’re bound to find something.”\n\n“Yeah,” she says. “Searching for something in Hell – that sounds like a great idea.”\n\n“It’s better than doing nothing.”\n\nShe laughs again. “Is it?”\n\n“Yeah, it is. Are you coming or what?”\n\nShe looks at you doubtfully and shrugs. “Lead the way.”\n\n[[Follow the shoreline]]\n[[Travel further inland]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 538>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab the crewman’s arm. “I’ll search the lower rooms. You search the captain’s quarters.”\n\nHe scowls at you, but nods in agreement.\n\nYou unsheathe your sword and walk to the lower deck ladder. The crewman cautiously walks in the other direction toward the captain’s quarters. The lizard part of your brain is screaming. You know something is wrong; you just can’t be sure exactly what it is.\n\nThis planet is so different. The sky is a different color. The animals are strange. Even the air smells different. Not to mention all the weird medieval customs. It’s impossible to tell what’s out of place because everything feels out of place.\n\nYou slowly descend the ladder. The old wood creaks. You hear mumbling. “Avengral?” You whisper. “Taz Moir?” You hear a thump, and the mumbling stops.\n\nYou keep the green speckled blade ready, but in these cramped rooms, you won’t do much damage with it. You can block and thrust, but any kind of broad swings will catch on the wooden ceiling or walls.\n\nYou put the sword back in the sheath. Hand-to-hand combat is more effective down here...Then again, you still have the gun.\n\nYou take out the gun and walk forward. It’s quiet... deathly quiet. You push open the door with your foot. The crew is bound and gagged. They mumble frantically. You follow their gaze, but not fast enough.\n\nA dagger flashes toward your throat. You jerk back. The blade nicks your @@color:#000081;neck.@@ You grab the extended arm and @@color:#000081;head-butt@@ the attacker. He staggers backward.\n\nAnother dagger flashes to your right. You twist and @@color:#000081;deflect@@ the blade with the barrel of your gun.\n\nA third attacker tackles you at the hip. You both @@color:#000081;skid@@ across the wood and down a second set of stairs. Your hand hits a cannon and the gun slips free, sliding out of reach. You see two long rows of cannons and a dozen stacks of cannon balls and ammunition. You’ve fallen into the gun room.\n\nThe pirate leaps back on top of you. He lands a punch before you can stop him. You taste the blood from your lip. You grab his shirt and pull him forward, headfirst into a cannon.\n\nHe grunts in pain and rolls off you.\n\nYou get up, ready to fight the other pirates when you see your gun...unfortunately it’s in the hands of a pirate, and he’s pointing it at your head.\n\nHe pulls the trigger. The bullet bounces off the cannon behind you. He pulls the trigger again. Another ricochet. The good news: he’s a horrible shot. The bad news: you’re standing in a room full of @@color:#000081;explosives.@@\n\nYou lunge at the pirate, grabbing for the gun. The pirate resists. You both tumble sideways over a cannon. The gun goes off.\n\nYou feel a wave of heat before you hear the explosion. A keg of gunpowder erupts in a fiery blast. The spitting fire causes a chain reaction. The entire room is engulfed in flames before you can blink. You feel a wave of liquid fire envelop your body and sear your skin.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This is one scene that always bothered me because a logical continuity issue becomes more obvious here. If the pirates have gunpowder and cannons then the main character’s gun (despite being modern) wouldn’t seem like magic (which undercuts the opening scene when the knights think the player is a wizard).I tried to rationalize this contradiction by imagining the cannons not being powered by gunpowder but a magical dust.<<endif>>\nThe ship ruptures in two as a ball of fire shatters the deck.\n\nYou’re dead before your body hits the water.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 545>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -2>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve wasted enough time already.\n\nNot only do you need to find this Cetorix creature, but you have to kill or catch it, bring back the calcified battery thing, and then create a wormhole or whatever just to get back to Earth.\n\nThat doesn’t even include finding and rescuing Gillian. You can manage going @@color:#000081;without@@ a few supplies. You’ve got bigger problems to worry about.\n\n“We keep searching for the Cetorix,” you say sternly.\n\n“That be a bold, but foolish choice.” Taz Moir grunts. “Are ye sure?”\n\n“Yeah,” you nod. “I expect your crew can handle some lighter meals and a little less rum.”\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir groans. “That be true.”\n\n“Good. Consider it an incentive to finish the mission.”\n\n“Incentive...” Taz Moir touches his throat. “Or noose. The two be easily confused.”\n\n“Trust me,” you say threateningly. “If it was a noose, you’d know.”\n\n“Humph,” Taz Moir grumbles. “Steady lads,” he shouts to the crew. “We push on through the southern islands.”\n\nThe crew follows his orders, but you can tell they aren’t pleased. Hopefully it won’t be a problem later on. If you find the Cetorix soon enough, their grumbling won’t matter.\n\nThe sails catch the wind, and the ship powers through the waves. The current is quick between the islands.\n\nYou turn to Taz Moir. “Is this speed normal?”\n\n“Aye,” he says. “The waters be deep and warm. Mountains of fire and lava be seated on the ocean floor. They say the old gods slumber here in the murky depths. The Cetorix be their watchful eye.”\n\nThere are dozens of islands. The ship swerves between them almost as if by its own volition. The current is so fast, the crew can barely control the rudder.\n\n“Have you seen it, the Cetorix?”\n\nTaz Moir frowns. “All sailors know of the Cetorix, but none have seen it...and lived.”\n\n“If no one’s seen it, how do you know it’s real...or here?” That’s a question you should have asked Quintus...\n\n“The destruction it leaves be unmistakable. The old sailors, long dead, told tales of the beast. All who be wise fear these waters and avoid ’em.”\n\n“It is good to know you are brave,” Avengral adds.\n\n“Brave?” Taz Moir says quizzically. “I be a pirate, and no pirate be brave. I carry a debt, and I always pay me debts. The crew...They be too stupid to know bravery, but that makes them a good pirate crew. The one be--”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This scene delves a bit into Taz Moir’s philosophy. I saw him as a self-interested realist with a waning conscience.<<endif>>\n“Hey,” you interrupt. “Do you see that? Is that another ship?”\n\nThe sky is dark and a few stars twinkle above. A faint yellow light flickers in the distance, drawing nearer.\n\n“At that speed,” Taz Moir mutters, “It be no ship I’ve ever seen.”\n\n“It’s getting closer,” Avengral says.\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir agrees. “Ready the battlements!” He shouts to the crew.\n\nThe crew scrambles into position. You hear the cannons being loaded.\n\nThe bobbing light moves faster. The water parts. A green fin emerges...and then a scaly body.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This scene was inspired by the 1954 film, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea. I love when the lights of the Nautilus slowly rise out of the ocean’s depths for the first time.<<endif>>\nIt’s the Cetorix. It has to be.\n\nThe glowing light is part of an antenna. The body continues to rise out of the depths. It’s huge. The nearby islands tilt. The bobbing light moves directly at you...like it’s going to ram the ship. You need to do something.\n\n[[Tell Taz Moir to attack immediately]]\n[[Tell Taz Moir to flank left and look for a weakness]]\n

<center>The Last Darling\nAfterward</center>\n\n<html>\n I came to write The Last Darling completely by accident. That is not to say the words came out like a sententious sneeze or a creative cough; they were struggled over and painfully revised. What I mean, is that the words, while I was writing them, were never intended as a book.\n\n Strange for a writer to say, I know.\n\n Writers, whose self-involvement is matched only by their self-loathing, assume every intimate act, written or otherwise, is ready and deserving of print. I am no different. The only prejudice a writer imposes is in segregating the words that soothe from those that sell.\n\n The Last Darling was my attempt at self-medication.\n\n My grandpa was dying. He had been dying for years. Alzheimer's. Each day erased a little more of him. Even walking required careful thought and reflection. Eventually, his mind would not even allow him that.\n\n When he was confined to a bed, unaware of his strength or his needs, the family took turns caring for him. Friday night through Monday morning I slept on the couch beside his bed. He sang and shook through the night. His cheeks were sullen and white. His ribs were sharp against his large frame.\n\n His lips pursed as we raised spoonfuls of soup or baby food for his meals. He struggled and resisted when we rolled him on his side to clean and change him. His grip was strong, at times almost painful. His words were gone, but still he struggled to speak.\n\n ...Seeing what a proud, accomplished man was reduced to.\n\n A good man is gone.\n\n The inevitable truth perforated my thoughts every time I looked at him.\n\n A good man is gone.\n\n His bed was rolled into the corner of the living room, and I watched him from the dining room table where I wrote.\n\n I had invested 10k words and an elaborate outline on a novel that was darker and more depressing than was fitting for my circumstance. My focus was elsewhere.\n\n A good man is gone.\n\n  \n\n  \n\n My grandpa had three children: two daughters and a son. His son had three daughters. The genealogical implications did not strike me until my cousin, young and single at the time, said she would keep her surname when she got married.\n\n Odd, I thought. Until I realized there were no sons to pass on the family name. It would be lost.\n\n Erased.\n\n Overwritten.\n\n My grandpa, in time, would be like his name, gone. His memories were already fleeting. His adventures, his heartaches, and his joys would go with him, beyond our reach or understanding. His thoughts and life only ever belonged to him and as they slipped from his grasp, so would they slip free of the world. The proof that he existed would be forgotten.\n\n His condition, acting as a painful representation of how history’s slow distortion effects us all, reminded me that we are, all of us, the last of something...\n\n No matter how daring our adventures or profound our emotions we will be forgotten. The Last Darling began with that premise.\n\n ...they did not, nor would they ever, learn of these events.\n\n My grandpa’s history, intended or accidental, has shaped my life and character in ways I will never know...not unlike the characters in the book.\n\n I wrote The Last Darling sitting at the dining room table, watching the days, and then minutes, overpower a man who was like my father.\n\n Grief comes for us in different ways and not all at once.\n\n My family cried.\n\n I wrote this book.\n\n  \n\n A good man is gone.\n\n  \n\n  \n\n Cloud Buchholz\n\n 12-14-2013\n</html>\n\n<center>[[Unlocks]]</center>

<center>Seven Bullets\nOutline and Notes #01\n\n<img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p01.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p02.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p03.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p04.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p05.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p06.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p07.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_p08.jpg" align="center" hspace="6">\n\n<html><a href="unlocks/notes/Ragnoss_Notes_01.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></html>\n\n<<back>></center>

<center>Seven Bullets\nOutline and Notes #02\n\n<img src="unlocks/notes/Hell_Notes_p01.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Hell_Notes_p02.jpg" align="center" hspace="6"><img src="unlocks/notes/Hell_Notes_p03.jpg" align="center" hspace="6">\n\n<html><a href="unlocks/notes/Hell_Notes_01.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></html>\n\n<<back>></center>

<>\n<<remember $neverGiveUp = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Never Give Up\n You won't let a silly thing like death stop you.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 170>>\n<<set $force = $force +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +3500>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +3>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +3>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You toggle on the x-ray switch and align the sniper rifle with the elevator turbine. @@color:#000081;One bullet@@ should put it out of commission. That should buy you a few extra minutes and keep the guards winded.\n\nYou pack up the sniper rifle and try to look business casual. If you’re lucky, the employees will still be clueless. It’s strange though; despite years working for the Boss, this building has always been a bit of a mystery. The paperwork indicates corporate lawyers and accountants, but now that you’ve seen the interior offices and security that just doesn’t make sense.\n\nBest to ere on the side of caution and keep your head down. Once you make it out of the country none of this will matter. No reason to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.\n\n“You aren’t leaving without cake, are you? The party planning committee put a big effort into this. You really shouldn’t miss out.” An elderly woman smiles and offers you a plate with ice cream and cake.\n\n[[Take the cake]]\n[[Decline]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1009>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +40>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -75>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Uh, alright demon,” you say, pointing at his @@color:#000081;left hand.@@ “I choose that one.”\n\nAgares smirks. “Very well,” he says, slowly pulling back his fingers to reveal a key. “Your fate awaits you beyond that door.”\n\nYou look at the door. It’s an average door, wooden and sturdy. It looks clean and unused, the kind of door that holds nothing particularly important. The handle and lock are metal and simple in design. You feel a warm draft around the edges of the frame, as if it’s emitting its own gentle aura.\n\nYou look back at Agares. “That’s it. I just take the key and open the door?”\n\n“Would you prefer to stay? My hound could use a new chew toy.”\n\nYou half glance at the hound. Its wide, toothy grin is not reassuring. “A deal’s a deal.”\n\n“And so it is,” Agares says, nodding toward the key.\n\nYou take the key and walk to the door. The key feels heavy, extremely heavy. You have to use two hands to lift it. You glance down at it again. It’s an old, iron skeleton key. You shake your head. There’s nothing normal about this place, why would this key be any different.\n\nYou swallow uncomfortably and stare at the door. It’s not that threatening, but you have a feeling you’re just trading the evil you can see for the evil you can’t. There’s not much else you can do. You’ve backed yourself into a corner.\n\nYou press the key into the lock and turn it. There’s a soft click of gears falling into place. You shove down the metal handle and pull open the door.\n\nThe room is pitch black. You can’t see a thing. You can’t even guess at the size of the room. Wherever it takes you, it has to be better than here ...you hope.\n\nImmediately, the door swings shut, shoving you through the threshold and into the darkness.\n\n“Hey,” you shout. “Wait.”\n\nThe room is murky and dry. You keep your arms up and out, fearing something might jump at you. You feel your way through the darkness. Your fingers touch a wall. You pound your fist against it. “Let me out of here. Hey, I know you can hear me. I said let me out.”\n\nSilence.\n\nScreaming and pounding isn’t working. You take a deep breath.\n\nThink. Just calm down and think.\n\nYou feel your way along the wall until you touch the door. You grab the handle and shove it open. \n\n“You thought you could get rid of me that easily you piece of—” You stop suddenly. Agares and the hound are gone. So is the room. Instead, you’re in an office hallway.\n\nThe florescent lights are hard on your eyes. You squint and look down the hallway in both directions. It’s empty.\n\nYou glance back. The room you just escaped was a janitor’s closet. There’s no sign of demons or tortured bodies or Hell. You let out a laugh. Agares was telling the truth. You must be back home, but where exactly and why here?\n\nFaint voices come from an adjacent room. You move silently through the hallway and peek around the door.\n\nIt’s the Boss.\n\nYou must be at his training facility. It looks a lot cleaner than you remember. And now that you think about it, the Boss looks different too. There are still black streaks in his hair and fewer wrinkles on his face. He must have had some work done while you were gone. He looks ten years younger. Speaking of which, how long were you gone?\n\nIt felt like months or years or days maybe. It’s so hard to tell. In any case, you’re back. You can sort out the details later. Right now, you need to make sure Gillian is safe, and there’s only one man you need to talk to.\n\nYou’re about to push open the door to confront the Boss when another person catches your eye. You freeze mid step. It’s impossible. That person talking with the Boss...\n\n[[It's...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 184>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<endnobr>>You turn back and point the gun at Skraz. His entire body is covered in flames. His clothes have burned away. You can’t see his face or skin. He’s a human campfire, and he’s walking right at you.\n\nYou pull the trigger. There’s a faint hiss as the bullet @@color:#000081;evaporates@@ before hitting his chest. The fire is so hot, it liquefies the ground he touches.\n\nYou shoot the gun two more times, but it doesn’t faze him. The fire @@color:#000081;melts@@ the bullets before they touch him.\n\nHe grabs you in a tight bear hug. The flames burn your @@color:#000081;skin@@ and @@color:#000081;clothes.@@ You scream in agony and fight to get free. You look to Avengral for help. He looks away in shame. It’s a dual. He can’t intervene. He’s honor-bound to let the battle take its course.\n\nYou shriek as your body’s consumed by @@color:#000081;fire@@ and heat. You hear Ignis laugh in the background. “Take the others to the volcano!”\n\nYou try to shout, but the fire’s gotten to your lungs. You feel the faint pop of your bones @@color:#000081;exploding@@ from the heat, and then...\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 25]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 755>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You hear Cecil scream with blind panic, and you can’t help but smile. This would be the part where you tell him he had it coming, but you don’t even have time to look back. You jump out the window, @@color:#000081;grabbing@@ Sylvia as you fall.\n\nYou may only be two floors up, but hitting the ground from this height, and in your condition, would be a game ender. It’s a good thing you’re using Sylvia as a @@color:#000081;cushion.@@\n\nShe hits the ground hard, and her screaming stops. The air jerks out of her, and she gasps for breath. You roll off her and groan. You probably could have come up with something a little more elegant, but seeing that terrified, wide-eyed look in Sylvia’s @@color:#000081;face@@ was worth the pain.\n\nYour legs shake, and your back throbs with sharp @@color:#000081;knots.@@ You stand and stumble toward the opposite building. You make it two steps when a shrill howl cuts through the air.\n\nYou glance up at the shattered window.\n\nA giant hound howls at the sky and lunges through the opening. Its front paws land on Sylvia’s legs, crushing the bones. She’s too stunned to scream.\n\nYou give her a wink. “How's that for foreplay?”\n\nAnother hound leans out the window and jumps to the ground. Its eyes lock onto you.\n\n“Spoke,” the jacket says. @@color:#000081;“Too soon.”@@\n\n“Yeah,” you groan. “I have a habit of doing that.” You twist back around and sprint as fast as your weary legs will carry you which, you have a strong feeling, isn’t fast enough.\n\nThe hound kicks up pieces of the road with its large, sharp claws as it hurls itself after you.\n\nYour miniscule lead is quickly diminished. The beast is almost on you.\n\nYou glance at the jacket. “I’m sorry.”\n\nIts horrid face grimaces in anticipation of what you’re about to do.\n\n“I’m sorry,” you say again. You @@color:#000081;toss@@ the jacket back. It furls through the air. The hound leaps up, catching it between its teeth. You hear a faint and muffled cry.\n\n“I’m sorry,” you say again under your breath. Maybe this place really is Hell. Maybe those things really are demons, but it doesn’t matter. The only thing that’s certain is that you’re getting out of here and getting back to Gillian.\n\nAfter sprinting around several corners and alleys, you bend over, pinch your side, and cough for some air. You see another hound gallop around the corner, nose in the air, chasing @@color:#000081;your sent.@@\n\n“Seriously,” you wheeze. You turn and try to sprint, but your legs are rubber.\n\nThe hound @@color:#000081;pounces@@ on top of you, sending you both through the wall of a building. The two of you roll down a set of @@color:#000081;stairs@@ and into another @@color:#000081;wall.@@\n\n“Heel,” an old, deep voice commands.\n\nThe hound immediately quits snarling and takes three steps away from your body.\n\n“Sit,” the old, deep voice demands.\n\nThe hound calmly sits.\n\n“How good is he at playing dead?” You say, wiping blood from your forehead. You stare at the old man. He wears a long gray robe. His wrinkles are deep. His beard and hair are long and bleach-white. He stands atop a large crocodile, and a crow is perched on his left shoulder.\n\nThe old man smiles. “How amusing. Few have lasted so long with one of my hounds, and even fewer have retained their sense of humor... @@color:#000081;and extremities.@@ You may call me Agares. I am the Grand Duke of the North Western region of Hell.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This is one instance when the reader meets Agares, the Grand Duke of the North Western region of Hell.While Ayporos (a demon that appears later in the story) wants to escape Hell, I saw him as an exception to the rule. Agares is meant to represent the typical deceptive demon who enjoys torturing humans.<<endif>>\n“Royalty? I would bow, but somehow it doesn’t seem appropriate.”\n\nAgares shrugs with the slightest bit of interest. “You’re moving of your own volition. That’s a rarity in this realm. Most of your kind have already been despirited when they cross my path. It has been ages since I have conversed unencumbered.”\n\n“No pressure then.”\n\nThe old man cocks his head. “Are you not afraid? I am among the most powerful of demons. I could rip your spine out through your throat as casually as a child plucks a flower.”\n\nYou give him a painful smirk. “It’s obvious your small talk doesn’t need any work. And as much as I’d like to stay and chitchat, I’ve got places to be.”\n\n“Yes, of course,” Agares says with a wave. “I suppose you have provided a modicum of amusement. I will offer you a wager young one. If you win, you may leave this realm and return to the living; however, if you fail, your suffering will last for eternity. Are these terms agreeable?”\n\n[[“Yeah, alright Agares. I’ll play your game.”]]\n[[“No way, let’s negotiate.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 339>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The others are dangling above a pit of acid... maybe you ought to help them @@color:#000081;first.@@ You grab Avengral’s arm and @@color:#000081;yank@@ him into the room. You’re surprised he can climb at all with such heavy armor.\n\n“Come on,” you say, grabbing Taz Moir’s hand. You pull him up too.\n\nAvengral helps what’s left of the crew. Only six survived.\n\nTaz Moir relights his torch. Though he tries to hide it, he’s obviously devastated. You know there’s nothing you can say to comfort him, so you don’t even try.\n\n“Where are we?” Avengral asks.\n\n“Not sure,” you say. “Probably another part of the digestive track.”\n\n“Is that a good thing?”\n\n“Nothing about this beast be good,” Taz Moir says, punching the pink, malleable wall. Yellow flakes burst into the air. Taz Moir coughs.\n\nHe keeps coughing and drops to his knees. You lean down to help him. His mouth and hand are covered with blood. You step back.\n\nSuddenly little yellow flakes erupt from each of the walls, covering the room in a haze of yellow dust.\n\nYou all cough.\n\nYour lungs feel like they’re on @@color:#000081;fire.@@ Your throat feels like you gulped down a smoothie of glass and lava.\n\nAvengral grabs your shoulder. His eyes are bloodshot and pleading for help. You try to speak, but your throat is too swollen. The yellow powder must have been some sort of defense mechanism or a part of the creature’s digestive system. Or maybe Taz Moir just knocked something loose.\n\nIn seconds it won’t matter.\n\nYou drop to your knees, coughing up @@color:#000081;blood.@@ Your insides feel like they’re melting...maybe they are. Your body’s shutting down...each of your organs are slowly giving out.\n\nYou failed Gillian.\n\nIt’s your fault she was taken, and now it’s your fault she’ll never be saved. If only you could go back...If only...\n\nYou reel in @@color:#000081;pain.@@ You can barely think. You can barely breathe. You think of Gillian one last time. You think of the life you might have had...what a good life it might have...\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 329>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You tear off part of your shirt and wrap it around your neck. The bleeding has @@color:#000081;slowed down,@@ but the wound will leave a scar.\n\nYou take a deep breath and keep the gun concealed as best you can. Since you don’t have the kid or the cop hanging from your coattails, the thugs will have a harder time noticing you. It’s best to keep it @@color:#000081;that way.@@\n\nYou’ve got a few blocks to run and not much time to get there. The cop’s a good shot and smart. She should be fine on her own for awhile, but not forever.\n\nYou duck behind a parked car as the second SUV drives past. It looks like they’re doubling back. They must have lost sight of the cop and the kid.\n\nWhen they turn the corner, you sprint for the school. The sniper would have moved by now. The police should be at the school any second. You can already hear sirens.\n\nYou stay low and count four points of cover just in case. You make it to the BMW and rest until your chest stops hurting.\n\nYou pop open the door, @@color:#000081;get inside,@@ and pull the bag onto the passenger seat. You can’t be sure how soon you’re going to need it.\n\nYou start the car and drive away from the school. If the police start a perimeter search, you have more than enough evidence in the car to go away for life.\n\nA police car flashes its lights and drives past you. It’s going in the opposite direction of the school. The woman may have called for backup. If she did, those cops have no idea what they’re getting themselves into.\n\nThe cop car takes a hard right, but the alley where you left the cop and the kid is to the left.\n\nYou sigh. This isn’t even your problem. You handed the kid off. You’ve done your good deed. \n\nThe cop car is almost out of view.\n\n[[Follow the police car]]\n[[Look for the cop and the kid]]\n[[Go to Wong’s restaurant]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 796>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +1250>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You toggle the scope to x-ray and adjust the secondary focus so only the first wall is transparent. Gillian is sitting in a chair. One thug sits next to her with his legs propped up. The other paces on the other side of the room.\n\nYou target the pacing thug. You take a deep breath, and as you let it out, you @@color:#000081;pull the trigger@@.\n\nHe crumbles to the floor.\n\nYou slightly tilt the rifle, setting your crosshair on the other thug. He stands with a confused look and walks toward his fallen friend. You take another deep breath and @@color:#000081;pull the trigger@@.\n\nHis body drops. Blood and brains @@color:#000081;streak@@ the wall. Gillian @@color:#000081;screams@@. That’s just perfect. The one thing you weren’t counting on.\n\nYou toggle the scope to thermal. The other guards have pulled their guns and are about to assault the room. You toggle back to x-ray and target the door. You manage to get a round off in time. One of the thugs @@color:#000081;drops@@ before he can open it. The others take cover. You have less than ten minutes before more goons arrive. It might have been easier just to ring the bell.\n\nYou pull out your phone and dial.\n\nThe body next to Gillian rings. She stops screaming and looks at it. It rings again. She pushes it over, closes her eyes, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out the phone.\n\n“It’s me,” you say calmly. “Don’t speak, just listen. I know where you are, and I know what’s going on. If you want to live, you need to do exactly what I tell you.”\n\nShe nods.\n\n“Good.”\n\nShe frantically gazes out the window.\n\n“That's right, I’m watching you, and I’m going to walk you through this.”\n\nShe looks relieved, but only for a moment. You can hear the goons shouting at her.\n\nYou keep your voice steady and calm. “There are four guards outside your room. When I tell you to run, get to the east elevator as fast as you can. Nod if you understand.”\n\nShe nods nervously.\n\n“Good. The man you took this phone from, I need you to reach into his back pocket and take his wallet. Inside his wallet you should find an ID badge. You’ll need that to get out. Inside his other pants pocket you'll find a set of car keys. Take those too.”\n\nHer hands shake, but she manages to do what you ask.\n\n“Okay, good. Once you get to the elevator, go to the basement parking garage on level three. I’ll meet you there. Look for the black SUV that matches the set of car keys. Hide there until I reach you. Are you ready?”\n\nShe nods.\n\n“Good.” You position the sniper rifle on the closest thug. “Run.”\n\nAs she runs through the door, you squeeze off @@color:#000081;two rounds,@@ taking out the two closest guards. One jumps behind the kitchen counter. The other dives further into the hall, blocking the elevator.\n\n“Stop,” you shout. “Get behind the wall.”\n\nGillian drops to the floor and curls next to the wall, clutching the phone to her ear.\n\nYou wait until the guard peeks his head around the corner. You pull the trigger. Blood @@color:#000081;splatters@@ against the wall and onto Gillian.\n\n“Gillian,” you calmly say. “Take the radio from his belt then run for the elevator.”\n\nShe shakes and cries on the floor. She’s not like you – so cold and calculating. She doesn’t know how to compartmentalize. She’s not a killer...not like you. \n\nYou focus your crosshair just above the kitchen counter. “Do it NOW,” you shout.\n\nAs she grabs the radio and runs for the elevator, the guard rises from behind the counter. You @@color:#000081;pull your trigger@@ before he can pull his.\n\nThe elevator doors close and Gillian is safe, for now.\n\n“Press the twelfth floor, let the door open, but don’t get out,” you say, angling the sniper rifle downward. When the elevator doors open, you take out two more thugs on the twelfth floor.\n\nYou can hear the radio through the phone, “Shots fired on the twelfth floor. She’s getting away.”\n\nYou toggle the scope to thermal and count at least seventeen goons heading for the twelfth floor. That should buy you some time.\n\nYou grab the sniper rifle and run for the car. It’ll take Gillian less than two minutes to reach the SUV. That’s two minutes she’ll be unprotected. You’re going to have to improvise.\n\nYou still have the box of grenades and the silent pistols. A diversion could give you some extra time, but if the authorities haven’t been alerted already, an explosion will definitely get their attention.\n\nYou could use stealth to keep the situation compact and controllable, but every thug you face is going to slow you down.\n\n[[Use the grenades to create a diversion]]\n[[Use the silencers to stay incognito]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 794>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You reach out your arms. Your fingers hook a ledge, and you immediately slam into a brick wall. Your right shoulder feels @@color:#000081;dislocated,@@ and you groan from the pain. It’s nothing you can’t handle though.\n\nYou pull yourself up and over the ledge. You fall against some cheap linoleum. You look up. You’re in a kitchen. It’s bright and tranquil. Birds chirp outside. You look back at the ledge, which is actually a window. The sun shines through, and you feel...pleasant.\n\n“Hey,” someone interrupts your thought. “Good morning,” a man says, pouring cereal into a bowl.\n\nYou look around the kitchen and then back at him. “Good morning,” you say suspiciously.\n\n“I just know it’s going to be a great day today, don’t you?” He searches the table and around the bowl for a spoon, but can’t find one. “Hmm,” he says, walking to a drawer near the sink. “It looks like we’re all out of spoons. My wife must have forgotten to wash them again. She can be so forgetful.” He takes out a sharp knife instead. “I can’t be late for work today. That promotion is mine for sure,” he says with a grin.\n\nHe dips the knife in the bowl and then shoves it in his mouth. It cuts his lips and tongue. He does it again and again as if by some strange compulsion. Blood drips from the cuts in his cheeks and his mouth, but he doesn’t stop. He smiles and stares at you.\n\nAnd people think you’re insane.\n\nYou see a door on the other side of the room and figure any place is better than here. You walk around the table, keeping as much distance from him as possible.\n\nYou step into the living room. You see a woman in the adjacent bedroom. She’s on the bed. Her body’s stiff and covered in blood. It looks like she’s been stabbed at least a dozen times.\n\nThe man looks over his shoulder at you. His face is drenched with blood. His top lip barely hangs to his face, and bits of his tongue fall onto his shoulder as he speaks. “I just know it’s going to be a great day,” he slurs. “If you see my wife, tell her to bring me the paper. I hate it when she makes me wait.”\n\nYou glance back at the dead woman and figure hate is maybe an understatement.\n\nSuddenly the man’s eyes widen as if he’s just woken up. He drops the knife and feels at his torn face. He screams and cries. “What have I done?” He shrieks. “What have I done?”\n\nHe stands and frantically runs toward you. Blood splashes down his shirt and speckles the floor. He turns into the bedroom and slams the door. He screams frantically until eventually, slowly the blubbering fades.\n\nYou stare at the bedroom door with shock, disgust, and complete disbelief. Your shoulder hurts too much for this to be a dream, but what else could it be?\n\nSuddenly the bedroom door opens. The man stands before you. His face is normal, and his clothes are clean. “Good morning,” he says, walking to the kitchen. “I just know it’s going to be a great day today, don’t you?” You hear him fumble with the cereal bowl. “It looks like we’re all out of spoons.” He steps into view. “If you see my wife, tell her she really needs to get some housework done.” He smiles and rolls his eyes. “I swear, if it wasn’t for me, this place would have gone to Hell years ago.”\n\nYou passively nod as he steps back into the kitchen. You hear him grab the knife.\n\nThere’s no point in staying for the rest of this freakshow. You exit out the front door. It slams shut behind you.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>What does eternal damnation mean to you?I spent a long time contemplating this idea before writing Seven Bullets. Burning in a lake of fire is one concept of after-death punishment. If a person was to burn for eternity, their body would need to heal continuously. For Seven Bullets, I took that regenerative/torture concept and mixed it with some Freudian theories dealing with guilt, regret, and repression.Characters in this fictionalized version of Hell must repeatedly endure perverse and painful reenactments of their traumatizing crime. They live in a zombie-like trance only aware enough to feel the pain.They’re destroyed and rebuilt, destroyed and rebuilt indefinitely much like a physiological lake of fire.<<endif>>\nInstead of a front yard, you’re standing in a rock corridor. The walls are rough and uneven. The light is dim and flickering from a few torches mounted to the wall. You hear faint and muffled screams coming from both directions.\n\nThe screams aren’t the typical kind – the kind that come from a broken arm or a gunshot wound. You’ve heard plenty of those.\n\nThese screams are the kind that come from despair, guilt, and spiritual agony.\n\nYou need to find a way out of this place, now. This is not a good spot to loiter.\n\nYou’ve only got two options, right or left. Then again, you could always try going back out that kitchen window. You turn toward the front door, but it’s gone. It’s like it never even existed.\n\nThis place is surreal. You can’t figure out how they keep pulling off all these illusions, but you’ve got a feeling you shouldn’t stick around to find out.\n\n[[Go left down the rock corridor]]\n[[Go right up the rock corridor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 796>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +25>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You start drawing a door on the cavern wall, but you’re so nervous the chalk snaps. You pull another piece from the bag and continue drawing.\n\nAyporos calmly walks toward you. His eyes are fiery red and judging from his expression, he’s not coming over to pat you on the back. Well, maybe he’d pat you on the back with a hot iron.\n\nYou lean in and breathe on the chalk outline. It glows. You grab the handle and yank it open. “Come on,” you shout to Jazelle.\n\nAyporos finally realizes what you’ve done. He reaches for his belt only to find the bag of chalk missing. He roars with fury and sprints toward you. He’s faster than any creature you’ve seen.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slip through@@ the doorway behind Jazelle and close the door just in time for Ayporos’s talons to tear chunks off the cavern wall. \n\nYou fall against some pavement and vomit from the disorientation. Jazelle does the same. Your ears ring, and your eyes are half-blind as if you had just stared into the sun.\n\n“Where are we?” Jazelle coughs.\n\n“Not sure,” you groan. “My head’s still spinning.” Now that you think about it, everything feels a bit heavier, a bit more real. “It feels different, doesn’t it?”\n\n“Maybe it’s just part of the illusion?”\n\n[[“Maybe.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 711>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<endnobr>>You glance down at the red dots on your chest and then back up at the Boss. “You really have a way with @@color:#000081;words.”@@\n\n“I take it that’s a yes,” the Boss says wryly.\n\n“It’s not like you’ve left me with much of a @@color:#000081;choice.@@ Either I do what you want or I end up dead.”\n\n“Just the way I like it,” the Boss says with a smile. He turns to Wong and says something in Chinese. Wong frowns and then glares at you. His desire to sauté your intestines is obviously going to have to wait.\n\nThe Boss snaps his fingers and one of the red dots disappears. A few seconds later Alana emerges from a side room.\n\nYou scratch your head and yawn. “I thought you said this was time sensitive?”\n\n“Yes, of course, but one can never be too careful.” He nods to Alana, and she takes all of your weapons and gear.\n\n“There is a doctor,” the Boss says calmly. “She is one of the greatest minds in her field. I have offered her a disgustingly large sum of money to work for me, but she has--”\n\n“A conscience,” you interrupt.\n\nThe Boss frowns. “A set of desires that elude me. Since she will not adhere to reason, she must succumb to force.”\n\n“Which is where I come in?” You groan. “If this is just a glorified kidnapping, why don’t you send Alana? That’s the kind of low class thing she’s good at.”\n\nAlana growls something under her breath and stares daggers at you. You smirk and give her a little wave.\n\nThe Boss @@color:#000081;slaps your fingers@@ with his cane. “I would prefer the scientist remain alive. Alana, as you know, is capable of many things, but keeping hostages alive is not one of them. I have arranged for a private jet to deliver you to the island where the scientist conducts her research. Several other parties have shown an interest in her work. I have invested too much time and effort into this project to allow them to reap the rewards before me.”\n\n“Yeah, fine. I get the picture.”\n\n“If you fail to bring me the scientist, your sister will die. If you attempt to run, your sister will die. If you try to assault my penthouse or other holdings again, your sister will die.”\n\n“Alright,” you groan. “I get it. There’s only one scenario where Gillian doesn’t die. Can we just get this over with?”\n\n“Very well,” the Boss says motioning toward Alana. “As long as you know the stakes of the game. Alana will take you where you must go.”\n\nYou follow Alana to the parking garage. She drives you to a private hanger at the airport.\n\n“What about my equipment?” You ask.\n\n“What,” she grunts. “A private jet isn’t enough?”\n\nYou roll your eyes and climb into the jet. She really knows how to hold a grudge. There’s not much you can do about that now. You try not to think about Gillian or the Boss or the mission. You need to clear your head. Maybe this scientist can give you some leverage against the Boss, but there’s no way of knowing that until you find her. It’s best to conserve your strength until then. You lean into the leather seat and drift to sleep while the jet takes off.\n\n******\n\nYou’re jostled awake by heavy turbulence...and screaming.\n\nThe jet dips hard to the right. You hit your head against the wall. Out of the corner of your eye...you see something on the wing...but it can’t be real...It’s impossible...It looks like a giant pterodactyl. The creature claws and thrashes into the metal wing.\n\nSuddenly the jet barrel rolls as the wing snaps. The intercom hisses with static...something about remaining calm. The jet nosedives. For a moment you’re weightless, then the plane collides with the water. The metal frame shreds from the force and rips in two.\n\nWater floods the cabin.\n\nYou’re disoriented...the blood gushing from your forehead is nearly blinding. You don’t have much time. You take a deep breath and block out the pain. You need to escape. The jet is sinking. The water is up to your knees and rising. Every second you waste takes you further from the surface.\n\n[[Swim through the tear in the plane]]\n[[Pop open the emergency door]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 107>>\n<<set $force = $force -25>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -98>>\n<<endnobr>>“Wait,” you shout, “Don’t shoot. @@color:#000081;I give up.”@@ You slide your pistol across the floor. “I surrender.”\n\nNikola cautiously walks toward you with his pistol raised.\n\nYou painfully push yourself up and lean against the wall. You clench your side, trying to stop the @@color:#000081;bleeding.@@ Blood seeps out between your fingers anyway.\n\nNikola stands over you. His gun lines up with your right eye. “The Boss wants you breathing but,” he shrugs and slowly rubs the scar on his face, “Mistakes happen.”\n\nYou hear the click of the chamber and the thunder of the bullet exploding from the barrel, then the cold and immediate @@color:#000081;clutch@@ of darkness.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 2]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 375>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>This day started bad, and it hasn’t gotten any better. You’re not usually the kind of person to run from a fight, but sometimes you have to know when to cut your @@color:#000081;losses,@@ and this is one of those times.\n\nSure, you told Gillian you had changed, that you were a good person now, but how good can you be when you’re dead?\n\nYou glance at the castle.\n\nThe Prince is still trying to gather the peasants into the wizard’s tower. The ground beneath him cracks and splinters like a branch being snapped. The Ferralliise and the trolls block the front entrance. Your only chance is east.\n\nHalf the peasants have the same idea, and you get swept up in the momentum of the crowd. No one knows exactly where they’re running except that it’s away from the chasms in the ground, which oddly enough, are spreading from Quintus’s lab. Hopefully you’re the only one who sees that connection.\n\nSuddenly the ground quivers and breaks apart in front of you. You try to turn back, but the crowd is too thick and slow. The cracks turn into a chasm, and then a giant abyss.\n\nYou’re falling.\n\nAll the people are falling.\n\nThe ground beneath you crumbles into small rocks and powder. The air turns hot and thick. It’s hard to breathe. You twist around in the air.\n\nThat’s when you see it, the giant molten pit of lava spitting and bubbling up from the abyss. The peasants see it too, but they’re too terrified to even scream.\n\nYou try to fight your way to the rock wall, but it’s still crumbling and too far away.\n\nThe peasants splash and sizzle in the burning liquid. You’re only seconds above them.\n\nWas this always your fate?\n\nWhen that gunman told you Gillian had been kidnapped, you never could have imagined your journey would end in a pit of lava on a distant alien planet, but here you are, falling to your death and out of choices.\n\nYour @@color:#000081;legs@@ hit first. The heat destroys them almost instantly. Then your @@color:#000081;stomach@@ and @@color:#000081;chest.@@ You hope Gillian had a better go at life than you...\n\nThe fire licks at your @@color:#000081;cheeks.@@ Then you feel a numbing heat...\n\nAnd finally nothing...\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 620>>\n<<set $force = $force +13>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +2000>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -15>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -40>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -14>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You lug the duffle bags to a parked pick-up, throw them into the bed, smash the passenger window, pop open the door, and slide into the driver seat.\n\nIt’s been awhile since you hot-wired a car. You tear out the plastic cover underneath the steering wheel, revealing a tangle of wires. You cut four of them and twist two of them together. You strike the other two together and tap the gas pedal. A few sparks singe your finger, but the @@color:#000081;engine revs.@@ You twist the other two wires together and put the truck in gear.\n\nThe goons are almost out of eyeshot. They’re in an old Chevy. Smoke seeps out from under the hood. The radiator must have been hit in the gunfight. That should slow them down, but you need to reach them before they hit traffic – can’t have witnesses for what’s about to happen.\n\nYou drive the truck as @@color:#000081;fast@@ as it’ll go. Your only hope is to run them off the road and take care of business discreetly. You make the corner without slowing down. The tires squeal. You hear a fire truck and cop sirens in the background. You can’t slow down now.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slam@@ into the side of the Chevy, hoping it’ll spinout. @@color:#000081;No luck.@@ The vehicle’s too heavy, and the driver is surprisingly good.\n\nOne of the passengers pulls out a gun and shatters your window with a few bullets. You slam into them again and harder. They @@color:#000081;rub paint@@ with a few parked cars. You pick up your pistol and aim for their tires. From your angle it’s a tough shot. You manage to hit the hood instead. Smoke billows from the holes.\n\nBefore you can take another shot, you swerve to the left, just barely missing a @@color:#000081;police car.@@ It makes a hard turn, flips on its sirens, and dogs you. Like you didn’t have enough problems already.\n\nThe Chevy rams you this time and you almost lose control of the wheel. You need to stay focused and end this quick.\n\nThe second passenger pulls out a shotgun and blows a hole in your front tire before you can avoid it. Part of the shrapnel @@color:#000081;burns@@ through your thigh. You bite back the pain and shove the pick-up into the side of the Chevy again. This time the driver over compensates, twisting the steering wheel so hard the car is hurled into the air.\n\nYou squeeze off a full clip into the car before it hits the ground. Unfortunately, due to the blown tire, your handling is shot and the truck spins into a streetlight. You @@color:#000081;hit@@ your head against the door and your vision blurs.\n\nYou unbuckle the seatbelt and fall out of the pick-up. Your leg is bleeding badly. It’s almost impossible to stand.\n\n“Don’t move! Hands where I can see them!”\n\nYou look up at the cop. His gun is pointed at your head. You won’t be able to get out of this one. You glance over your shoulder. No one in the Chevy is moving. At least that’s taken care of.\n\nThe cop shoves your face against the pavement and cuffs you, keeping his knee pressed against your back so @@color:#000081;you can’t move.@@\n\nYou glance at the back of the truck, where the money is. It was almost yours.\n\nNow the Boss is going to have his way with Gillian, and there’s nothing you can do to stop him. \n\nYou failed.\n\nYou close your eyes hoping to suppress the pain and guilt, but it doesn’t work. You’ve heard bad things about prison, but you have a feeling you won’t survive long enough to see a cell. The Boss has connections everywhere. You’re as good as dead already.\n<<if $introComments is true>>You may think this section ends abruptly and that’s because it does. In my original outline I planned to have an entire story arc take place in prison. It involved an elaborate escape plan and an epic fight/friendship with one of the Boss’s assassins (probably Alana).I wrote the Hell sequence and the Ragnoss sequence (nearly 200k words) before returning to this section. I was exhausted and ready to be done with the story, so the prison sequence was cut.<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

Haiku #142

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 682>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<endnobr>>You swipe the screen on the arm cannon and @@color:#000081;disengage@@ the combat mode. The metal dislodges from your skin. Steam rises from the vents. The weapon returns to its compact design. The gel drips from your arm, and you’re suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of @@color:#000081;exhaustion.@@\n\n“Yes,” the Boss nods, “The chemical enhancements wear off quickly. You’ll experience dehydration and a splitting headache momentarily.” Before he finishes the sentence your head swirls with pain.\n\nThe Boss motions toward Victor. He catches your sister as you collapse. He tends to her wounds as you shake uncontrollably. The Boss kneels down next to you. “We’re family. You know that don’t you,” He props your head up with his cane. “And you can’t quit family.” He nods at Alana. She slams her foot into your face.\n\nYour vision blurs and you blackout.\n\n******\n\nA hard slap across the face wakes you. You’re tied to a chair. Ada Wolff slaps you again. She’s one of the Boss’s more refined assassins. The last time you saw her, she tried to strangle you with a piano string. Hopefully this conversation will be more productive.\n\n“Owah,” you groan. “I’m awake.”\n\n“So,” Ada grunts. She’s about to hit you a third time when the Boss stops her. He sits down on the chair in front of you.\n\n“Your little temper tantrum has cost me quite a bit of money.”\n\n“What did you expect?” You say, still a bit groggy.\n\n“Yes, I suppose the events of today have spiraled out of hand.”\n\nYou look around the room. “Where’s Gillian?”\n\n“Alive,” Ada says with a pinch of disappointment.\n\n“And quite safe,” the Boss adds. “Though the doctors have delivered some very interesting news. Your sister appears to have an abnormal gene, one that could have a very negative impact on her life.”\n\n“I’m going to have a very negative impact on your life.” You scowl at him. “Why should I believe you?”\n\n“Because you have the gene as well.” The Boss leans back in the chair. “That’s what all of this has been about. You’re dying, and now I know your sister is no better off.”\n\nYou laugh and shake your head. “This is some game you’re playing. When I get out of these ropes, I’m going to kill you.”\n\nAda immediately slaps you across the face. The Boss pulls her back before she can do it again.\n\n“I’m sure this is difficult for you to understand, but despite the manner in which we parted, I still consider you a valuable part of my company. I always assumed you would return so, you see, I have no incentive to kill you. On the contrary, you’re worth more to me alive, even if you are no longer under my employ.”\n\n“Sorry if I dozed off, but I think I’ve heard this story before.”\n\nThe Boss opens a folder and lays it on your lap. “The results from your sister’s exam. She has months to live. You have weeks.”\n\nYou’re not a doctor, but the stats look real. Gillian really is dying...and so are you. “Weeks?” You whisper.\n\n“I have been making heavy investments in medical research related to your condition the returns of which have proven to be...disappointing. Of my several investments, two have shown the most promise, but there have been setbacks.\n\n“Progress on a new drug being tested in Montana has come to a halt. Some of the human test subjects have gone missing. Retrieving them would be very productive in finding a cure. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality.”\n\n“Drug tests? You could have sent anyone for that.”\n\n“The tests, aside from being exorbitantly expensive, are more dangerous than you might expect. There is, however, another option,” the Boss says, taking another sip of tea. “My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius, who is quite knowledgeable in matters concerning the project. I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work for me, it might accelerate your sister’s recovery...as well as your own.”\n\nThe Boss motions toward Ada. She grimaces, but cuts you loose.\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +50>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveHappyEndings").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSheHadItComing").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockHappyEndings").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSheHadItComing").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Alana stops midstride.\n\nShe stares at you as if her brain needed a few extra seconds to realize what happened.\n\nShe takes a step back, but her head doesn’t move with her body. Instead, it rolls off her shoulders and bounces a few feet from her @@color:#000081;corpse.@@\n\nYou move your hand up to your neck and smile. “I guess you’ve had it up to here with me.”\n\nAlana doesn’t respond ...mostly because she’s dead.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The red speckled blade is a potentially important plot point in Ragnoss; however, if the reader has returned to the City then they wouldn’t have read those scenes.I wanted to bridge the two worlds and killing Alana with the sword seemed like the perfect solution. Besides, every fantasy novel needs at least one beheading (just ask George R. R. Martin...)<<endif>>\nYou fall back against the car as your vision swirls. If the Boss did survive, Alana’s decapitation will send a strong @@color:#000081;message.@@ You stuff the rest of the money in the first aid bag and walk to the passenger door.\n\n“Gillian,” you groan. “We need to go.” You open the door and help her out. You pull the driver out of the truck and make sure he isn’t dead. “Sit tight,” you tell him. “Paramedics are on the way.”\n\nYou help Gillian into the truck and then slide in beside her.\n\nYour vision spins, but you need to stay conscious. You’re so close to being free.\n\nYou put the truck in reverse, turn it around, and drive to the harbor.\n\nYou carry Gillian to the boat. She starts to drift.\n\n“Stay awake,” you tell her.\n\nYou toss the bag and sword under the table and lay Gillian in the chair. You start the engine and set out for the horizon. You aren’t sure exactly where you’re heading. You just know it’s someplace far, far away from this city.\n\nThe cold ocean breeze stings your face, and it feels better than you ever could have imagined. You look down at Gillian. “We’re @@color:#000081;safe...@@ I really mean it this time.”\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 585>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +1520>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>That ordeal at your apartment forced you to leave in a hurry. Being on the run means you have to travel light. Your sniper and assault rifle were too cumbersome to carry, not to mention your bazooka.\n\nYou’re good with a pistol, but it will only get you so far. Plus, you’ve only got three clips left. A withdrawal from the Boss’s personal armory is just what you need. Not to mention shooting the Boss with his own guns has a certain kind of irony that makes you feel warm and fuzzy.\n\nYou take a taxi to the docks and get out a block from the warehouse. There’s a camera at each entrance and probably two or three guys inside. Not much security considering the stash of weapons.\n\nYou climb to the roof of the adjacent warehouse and pull a rope from your bag. You string it into a hand launcher and fire it into the wall of the Boss’s warehouse. You @@color:#000081;shimmy@@ across and peek through a window.\n\nTwo guys are at a table playing cards and a third is in the back room.\n\nYou recognize one of them – John Two Toes. He’s an undercover FBI agent, a detail you learned recently and neglected to tell the Boss.\n<<if $introComments is true>>John Two Toes was originally going to be a one-shot character, but I liked him so much I decided he needed to be in other parts of the book (and he is).I’d like to write a short story explaining (in more detail) why his nickname is “Two Toes”.<<endif>>\nIf you kill him, the FBI will hunt you down. They take that kind of thing personally, or so you’ve heard. Best to be @@color:#000081;civil@@.\n\nYou pull out your pistol and aim at a green Camaro in the parking lot. You @@color:#000081;fire@@ two rounds into the hood. The alarm goes off. You wait a few seconds then fire one more round. The hood erupts with @@color:#000081;smoke and flames@@.\n\n“John, John!” One of the goons shouts. “Your car’s on fire, man.”\n\n“What!”\n\nYou hear the table shuffle and three sets of feet run out. That should keep them busy. You pop the cover off a vent and slide down. After two turns and an incline, you kick another cover off and drop into a small office. You’ve been here enough times to know where the best guns are kept.\n\nYou take a set of keys from the wall and walk to a locked trunk in the back room. You @@color:#000081;unlock@@ and open it. You take six more clips, three more pistols (silencers included) and a box of grenades. You put them in your bag.\n\nYou also find a sniper rifle, a shotgun, and a carton of throwing knifes. You’ve only got enough space to carry one, especially if you want to keep your mobility. Each one will require a different tactic for assaulting the Boss’s penthouse.\n\nThe sniper rifle comes with an assortment of scopes and sensors, including an experimental x-ray scope. You could clear out the thugs and guide Gillian from a distance, but the farther you are from her, the harder it will be to protect her if something goes wrong.\n\nThe shotgun would send a clear message, and the Boss would think twice before trying to hurt Gillian again. Plus, cleaning out the penthouse would be quick and messy just like your relationship with the Boss. You’d just have to make sure Gillian doesn’t get hit in the crossfire.\n\nThe carton of throwing knifes and the silenced pistols would get you to Gillian undetected, which means she has the best chance at staying alive. Being stealthy is going to cost you some time though and when it really comes down to it; a knife is no match against a shotgun or an assault rifle.\n\n[[Take the sniper rifle]]\n[[Take the shotgun]]\n[[Take the throwing knifes]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 569>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $force = $force -8>>\n<<endnobr>>“A trophy would be nice,” the Boss shrugs, “but you play an important role in my plans. Besides,” the Boss smiles. “Who’s to say you weren’t one of my trophies already.”\n\nYou try to glare at him, but your eyeballs won’t move.\n\nThe Boss snaps his fingers at one of the guards, and they hand the Boss a spray can. “I had yet to see the effects of the blue rounds. Truly fascinating, though I suppose they’re meant to incapacitate the target and not the shooter. You have such a tendency to act rash. Did you even bother to read the instructions? Never mind,” the Boss laughs. “I know you never do.”\n\nThe Boss sprays the blue gelatin, emptying almost the entire can. The blue gel cracks and splinters. You feel a bit of leverage in your arms. You twist and jerk your way free of the goo. You smell like @@color:#000081;rotten eggs.@@\n\nThe Boss pinches his nose. “Obviously there is more than one side-effect worth noting. Please, don’t bother sitting. I would prefer not to have the furniture reupholstered.”\n\nYou stretch your arms and legs. “Whatever,” you groan. “Let’s skip ahead to the part where I kill you.”\n\nThe Boss rolls his eyes, smiles, and sits down across from you. He casually crosses his legs as if he had all the time in the world. “Do you think your sister would appreciate wasting time with petty threats? And if the thought of your sister’s safety isn’t enough to calm your hand... I could always kill you now.”\n\n“Well,” you glower at him. “I’m @@color:#000081;listening.”@@\n\n“Splendid,” he smiles. “I’ve been pursuing several new revenue streams and the returns have proven ...disappointing. I’m a patient man, but progress is slower than I would prefer. I’ve constructed this elaborate ruse to force your hand.”\n\n“Get to the point,” you growl.\n\n“Yes, of course,” the Boss nods. “Of my several investments, two have proven to be especially troublesome. Progress on a new drug being tested in Montana has come to an inconvenient halt. Some of the human test subjects have gone missing. Retrieving them would be ...very productive for the project. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality.”\n\n“What?” You interrupt. “What genetic abnormality?”\n\n“Oh,” the Boss smirks, “Did I forget to mention that? Yes, I took the liberty of testing your DNA after I found the gene in Gillian.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>Did the genetic abnormality throw you?I re-wrote some of this section so it would be more in line with the Dr. Clark plotline at the government facility in Montana.I knew the Montana section would involve werewolfish creatures, but I wasn’t sure exactly how it would connect to the main character until after I wrote a third of it, which meant I needed to clean up some of these earlier sections.<<endif>>\nYou take a threatening step forward. “What did you do to Gillian!?!”\n\n“Calm yourself,” the Boss says soothingly. “She’s fine. No unnecessary harm will come to her as long as you do as I command ...just like old times.”\n\nHe has a point. Killing him now won’t get you any closer to rescuing Gillian. You need to be patient and play his little game. “Is she sick?”\n\n“Thanks to my doctors, she’s stable, though her condition could change at any moment if it remains untreated. You realize I’m providing you with an opportunity to save your sister...to save yourself. This is mutually beneficial.” \n\nYou mull over the notion without speaking.\n\n“There is another option,” the Boss says. “My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius, who is quite knowledgeable in matters concerning the project. I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work for me, it might accelerate your sister’s return.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<center>Slap Sound Effect!\n<img src="unlocks/pets/slap.gif" width="400" height="400" hspace="6">\n<html>\n<audio controls autoplay loop>\n\t<source src="unlocks/music/slap.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">\n\tYour browser does not support the audio element.\n</audio>\n</html>\n\n<a href="unlocks/music/slap.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> \n@@color:#B2B2B2;(alt + click to download)@@\n<<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 535>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +27>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -3>>\n<<set $force = +25>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -15>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +14>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +42599>> \n<<if $upCloseAndPersonal is false>>\n\t<<script>>\n\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\n\tUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>Subtlety is for @@color:#000081;insecure sissies.@@ Besides, the Boss already knows you’re coming after him – why waste time hiding in the shadows.\n\nYou drive across town to the penthouse. The lobby’s packed with goons. A few of them have submachine guns. There are probably shotguns tucked under the check-in counter, not to mention what’s waiting for you in the actual penthouse.\n\nYou grin. The odds are stacked against you in every way and you feel euphoric. And to think, you planned on sleeping in today.\n\nYou slam on the gas, and the car @@color:#000081;punches@@ through the plated glass wall of the lobby. You twist the steering wheel left into the counter, @@color:#000081;pinning@@ two thugs to the wall. You grab three grenades, pull the pins, and lob them across the room. The wall @@color:#000081;explodes@@ as bits of furniture and tile rip through the air.\n\nYou slide the bag behind the counter and use the smoke as cover. You @@color:#000081;quick draw@@ your pistol and drop two thugs trying to flank you, then duck behind what’s left of the counter.\n\nYou unzip the bag, take the shotgun and load a clip. You pop over the counter and pull the trigger. Nothing happens.\n\nUh oh.\n\nYou drop behind the counter as bullets whiz by your head.\n\nThat’s just perfect. Maybe you should have brought the instruction manual; or maybe you picked the one prototype that was defective.\n\nCrap.\n\nYou examine every crevice of the shotgun. A latch on the back pops open. It reads: Insert and Pull.\n\nYou shrug and shove your hand in until you feel a gel substance, then you pull.\n\nThe weapon clicks twice, then the metal body splits in four places and expands up your arm. You hear another click, and then the metal clamps into your skin. You grunt with @@color:#000081;pain.@@ The gel encircles your arm.\n\nA screen flickers on the side of the weapon.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Initializing...\nBio-imprint acquired...\nCustomizing system...\nEnvironment and ammo presets engaged...\nCombat ready...@@\n\nThe screen flickers again. It displays your vitals, ammo count, and shell selector. Your prototype shotgun just turned into an arm cannon and it’s not even Christmas.\n\nYou raise the cannon over the counter and squeeze the gel. A jolt of electric buckshot rips through the air and @@color:#000081;melts@@ the goon in front of you.\n\nYou turn and squeeze the gel again. The buckshot @@color:#000081;tears@@ a hole through the cement pillar and half of the guy behind it. He slumps to the ground.\n\nThe other thugs stare at his very visible insides, then frantically race for an exit.\n\nYou pick up the bag, casually walk to the elevator, and tap the button for the penthouse. The gel on your arm and hand starts to burn. Your vitals are sporadic, and your chest goes numb. That explains why this is a prototype.\n\nThere can’t be more than four or five guards in the penthouse. You could probably take them with your pistol, but you’d be using your off hand which means your accuracy would only be a little bit better than theirs.\n\nIt seems like the arm cannon needs a cool down, but maybe the pain is normal. Two or three more minutes of use wouldn’t hurt...probably wouldn’t hurt.\n\n[[Use the pistol]]\n[[Use the arm cannon]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 908>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +5500>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The Subaru is versatile, and there’s room for three. “Get in the backseat,” you say, flipping the switch for the garage door to open.\n\nA guard sprints up the driveway when he glimpses Wilson.\n\nYou grab a hammer from the wall and @@color:#000081;fling@@ it at the guard. He turns into it. The hammerhead clocks him in the forehead. He tumbles backwards, sending a spray of bullets into the ceiling of the garage.\n\nWilson screams louder than his daughter.\n\nIf the guards weren’t looking for you before, they’ll be looking for you now. You grab the guard’s machine gun and twist around the hood of the car.\n\nYou get into the driver seat, put it in gear, and slam down on the gas pedal. The tires squeal and thump over the unconscious guard.\n\nThe little girl sticks her head out the window. “Sorry,” she yells.\n\nYou roll your eyes and stick your head out the window. “Get back in the car,” you say, pressing the butt of the machine gun against your shoulder.\n\nYou aim at the hinges on the metal gate and pull the trigger. A wave of bullets @@color:#000081;rattle@@ the gate.\n\nThe machine gun clicks empty. You toss it aside and duck back into the car.\n\n“Hold on,” you say as the car slams into the gate. The @@color:#000081;hinges snap@@ and the car pushes the gate into the street.\n\nYou hit the brakes. The metal gate skids across the asphalt into traffic.\n\nYou shove the car in reverse, turn the wheel hard, and drive in the opposite direction.\n\nAfter awhile of breakneck speeds, you slow down, merge into traffic, and try your best to stay inconspicuous.\n\nYou glance at the rearview mirror. “You alive back there.”\n\nWilson groans.\n\nThe little girl pokes her head over the seats. “That was fun. Can I shoot the machine gun next time?”\n\n“No,” you groan and shake your head. “Sit back down and get your seatbelt on.”\n\nYou glance at the passenger seat. There’s a black duffle bag. “Hey,” you say to the backseat. “Did either of you put this bag here?”\n\n“What bag?”\n\n[[Unzip the bag.]]

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 896>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll take my chances alone.”\n\n“That is unfortunate, but I can understand your reservations. It took quite a bit of time for me to trust anyone in this bizarre and frightful place. Unfortunately,” Quintus lifts his hand. “You and I do not have the luxury of time.”\n\nYou feel a sharp thump against the back of your @@color:#000081;head.@@ Your legs go limp, and you crumple to the ground. A knight stands over you with the hilt of his sword red with your blood. He takes your sword and returns it to its rightful owner.\n\n“I'm truly sorry,” Quintus says. “You must know that we are allies, but circumstances do not permit more hospitable behavior, as you’ll soon understand. If we are to have our freedom, you must abstain from yours for a bit. The King has a prickly demeanor toward outsiders.”\n\nOne of the knights hefts you into the air and over the back of a horse. “You wish this outsider to live?” The knight says with surprise.\n\n“Yes, yes, of course. And speak to no one of this.” Quintus says, waving the knight on. “And be certain the bonds are secure. I have a feeling this outsider is more dangerous than we’ve seen thus far.”\n\n“Verily,” the knight says with a grunt as he kicks the horse into a trot.\n\nYour ears ring and stars twirl around your head. That knight hit you hard. Normally you wouldn’t let yourself get taken by surprise, but that portal or vortex or whatever it was must have taken more out of you than you thought. You’re in no shape to fight, or even run. All you can do is lay across the back of the horse and hope your strength returns soon.\n\nDespite being so close to the horse’s rear, the air is fresh, breathable, almost too clean. This is definitely not the city, not even close, but how could it not be Earth? \n\nWhat was that scientist guy, Quintus, trying to pull saying you were on the other side of the universe? What’s his angle, unless maybe he’s crazy, then he’s probably in good company. These knights are committed to their roles. But if this is a trick, what would they want from you? And why would they go to so much trouble? There’s just no way this could be real.\n\nYou stare out at the forest and the distant mountains. There’s no sign of civilization, no smog in the sky, no flickering lights. And then of course, there are the dual moons...Maybe you’re the one who’s crazy.\n\nImmediately the knights halt.\n\nThe horses spread out and get unusually quiet. Your neck still hurts, and you can barely crane your head to see. The knights stare at the tree line.\n\nIt’s quiet, dead quiet.\n\nThe knight you’re riding with slowly draws his sword. The air feels thick and electric. You know the feeling well. It’s the surge of dormant energy as the environment readies for a fight. You can’t be sure what’s coming, but strewn across the back of this horse is not a safe place to face it.\n\nYou could make a run for it, but you wouldn’t get far. Your hands and feet are bound.\n\nThen you see it, the shiny reflection of your gun.\n\nIt’s roped into the saddle of the adjacent rider. He must have taken it after he knocked you out. If only you could reach it.\n\nSuddenly, you hear the shrill sound of splintering wood. An enormous tree topples into the road ahead of you, blocking the path. You’re trapped. It was an ambush.\n\nThe knights ready their weapons and let out a fearsome battle cry. If only that was enough. Out of the corner of your eye, you see a grey hairless creature step out of the woods. It’s as tall as a two story building and as fat as a car. It groans and snarls with violent indifference.\n\nYou can tell the knights are afraid.\n\nOne charges with his sword raised high. The creature bats him away with a casual swing of its arm. The other knights fan out and surround the creature. You watch as your gun trots a few more steps out of reach.\n\n“Back foul ogre,” the knight shouts while sliding his visor shut. “You are not welcome in the realm of Sarrejiinn. Return to your rotten smelling cave or prepare for death.”\n\nThe ogre grunts and stares at the knights like a child deciding on which ice cream flavor to taste first.\n\nThe other knights draw their bows and let loose a wave of arrows. The steel tips ricochet off the ogre’s thick skin.\n\nThe knight readies his spear and gallops at the ogre.\n\nThe ogre bats him away as easily as the first. The knight and horse slide across the dirt. Your gun slides from his pack a few paces away.\n\nYou loosen the binding on the knight’s horse and roll @@color:#000081;free.@@ You hit the ground hard and scramble to the gun.\n\nThe knight feels the shift in weight and twists the horse around to retrieve you, but he’s too late. You’ve already got the gun. You angle it up.\n\nYou’ve got a clear shot at the ogre, but you’ve also got a clear shot at the knight. You’ve only got seven bullets, so every shot needs to count.\n\n[[Shoot the ogre]]\n[[Shoot the knight]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 729>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You don’t know much about this place or its inhabitants. You’re riding a weird dragon thing after all. Getting some @@color:#000081;intel@@ first is the smart thing to do, and you can’t afford to make any mistakes now, not if you want to get home. You need to play this smart and slow. You don’t even know what the Ferralliise look like.\n\n“The slave traders,” you yell. “They’ll give us a better chance of finding the Prince.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>While slavery is illegal in Sarrejiinn, it’s commonly practiced in other parts of Ragnoss. During the war enterprising criminals used the chaos as a means of kidnapping Sarrejiinn citizens. The practice continued after the war because the trade routes were never disbanded.In an alternate scene (while confronting Taz Moir) the reader leans that a blockade is in effect. One reason for the blockade is a tax dispute; the other is to determine which captains are engaged in the slave trade.<<endif>>\nAvengral nods. “Wise choice, Earth Wizard. Let us proceed,” he says, pulling the reins. The dragon fox descends and cuts right.\n\nThe Red Wizard beside you, Mos Vestermire, tugs the reins and follows Avengral. The dragon spawn glide above the trees, twisting to avoid stray branches, then Avengral dips into a small glade. Your group drops in pursuit and lands beside him. The dragon frog, still uncomfortable with wings, hops a few paces before stopping.\n\n“What are we doing here?” You ask.\n\n“Shh,” Avengral whispers with a finger to his lips. He motions to the right and draws his sword.\n\nSo much for a game plan. You’ll just have to play this one by ear. You draw your green speckled blade and follow him.\n\nHe motions for a third of the soldiers to move right, another third to move left, and the rest to follow him. They push branches and leaves aside, keeping low, but not doing much to stay silent. They obviously haven’t had the same training you have.\n\nYou tap Avengral’s arm. “They’re @@color:#000081;too loud.”@@ Your words are barely audible, and Avengral has to read your lips.\n\nHe frowns and nods. He raises his left arm and the soldiers freeze, concealing themselves as best as they can. Avengral points at Mos Vestermire, Nev Naysayer, and you, then he continues forward. The four of you are deathly quiet. The two Red Wizards might even be quieter than you.\n\nAvengral stops and points at the small clearing below. You count twelve to fifteen cages built out of iron. At least five to seven humans are secured in each cage.\n\nAvengral points to Vestermire and then up toward the branches of the trees. Immediately, Vestermire shimmies up the trunk and hops, silently, from branch to branch. Avengral sends Nev to circle around the slaver’s camp, then he gestures to you. His signals are a little difficult to understand, but it looks like he wants you to go down into the camp and create a distraction to flush out the Ferralliise slavers.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;nod@@ and descend toward the camp. As you get closer, you hear the humans weeping and groaning with pain.\n\nThe slavers are going to pay. You’re sure of that. The only problem is that you can’t see any slavers. The camp looks barren except for the cages. There aren’t any tents or fire pits or supplies. It’s not like the slavers would abandon so many slaves.\n\nYou’ve got a bad feeling about this. You’ll just have to trust the others to watch your back.\n\nYou can’t help but think of Alana, Nikola, Chuck Laroche, and all the other assassins that worked for the Boss. They would have turned on you in a second, and they were the closest things to friends that you had.\n\nYou barely even know these medieval miscreants. They could be walking you into a trap.\n\nAvengral didn’t have much trouble finding these slavers. It’s almost like he knew exactly where they were. That seems suspicious, but maybe he knows the land better than you think. Not to mention, he’s honor-bound by everything. Betraying you has to be against his code.\n\nYou shake your head. All that time you spent with the Boss has made you paranoid, but then again, that doesn’t mean you’re wrong. Either way, you need to explore the slaver camp. If you stay hidden for too long, the others will know something is up.\n\nIf it is a trap, you could free the slaves now and use them as cover to escape. Sure, some of them might die, but you’d get away.\n\nBut why do you feel like someone is out to get you. It’s like the feeling just suddenly came over you. Those slaves are people. You can’t let them get hurt. Gillian would want you to protect them. They’re safer in the cages, at least until you can figure out what’s going on.\n\n[[Free the slaves]]\n[[Don’t free the slaves]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1394>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<endnobr>>“Yeah, alright,” you shrug. “I’ll go with you. Besides, I’ve never seen a Ferralliise King before.”\n\n“Few have,” Avengral agrees. “And lived,” he adds with a stiff nod.\n\n“We really need to work on your motivational speaking skills,” you say.\n\nHe smiles and firmly grabs your shoulder. “Honesty is a warrior’s greatest asset. We face dangers that others would shrink from. That is what makes us bold. That is what strengthens our spirit. We know death is always an arm’s length away, and we would embrace her happily if it was our duty to do so, but we must do so with the full knowledge of what we risk. Honor and loyalty must never be blind.”\n\nYou wish someone would have told you that before you met the Boss. “Yeah, yeah,” you lift your arms in defeat. “I get the point.”\n\nAvengral nods and then turns to Nev Naysayer, “Take Able No-name and two of the soldiers. Search the slave cages near the bazaar. If you find the Prince, return to the landing site and blow the horn twice. If you deem it necessary to leave us behind for the safety of the Prince, you have my permission.”\n\nNev snaps at two of the soldiers then moves into the shadows toward the bazaar.\n\nAvengral motions at the two remaining soldiers and you, then he moves north toward the tents. You stay low and quiet, following his movements as best you can.\n\nA dozen thick, hide tents cover the area in disheveled rows. They’re stained red with blood. Piles of bones lie along each tent, and spears are propped near each entrance. It looks like they’ve taken decorating tips from a horror movie.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Ferralliise live in tents for two reasons:1) I saw them as living more like animals than humans. They value strength, endurance, and force over infrastructure and cleverness. A rugged, harsh lifestyle is more valued in their culture.2) I thought of them as tribal wanderers, more interested in pursuing prey than fortification and farming.<<endif>>\nYou hear snoring or soft growling in some of the tents. Avengral points to the furthest tent. It’s larger than the others with a giant reptile skull hanging above its entrance.\n\nInviting is not the word that comes to mind.\n\nAvengral sends the two soldiers to the left while you and he circle right. He uses his sword to cut a tiny slit in the tent. Then he peeks through. He glances back at you with relief.\n\n“The Prince is alive,” he mouths the words without making any noise. “Inside,” he motions toward the back. You’re not familiar with all of his gestures, but it seems like he wants you to sneak around back and pull the Prince out while he creates a distraction.\n\nYou nod in agreement.\n\nYou keep the green speckled blade ready and @@color:#000081;sneak@@ around back. You’re not sure exactly what Avengral has planned, but you’re pretty sure you’ll know when it happens.\n\nIf only rescuing Gillian could have gone this smoothly. Of course, it was just you against an army of thugs and assassins. You should have done a better job of making friends. When you and Gillian start a new life that will be one of the first things you work on.\n\nSuddenly you smell something in the air... smoke... fire. The tents across and adjacent are ablaze. That’s probably your cue.\n\nYou cut a vertical slit near the bottom of the tent and slip through. The Prince is tied to a wooden pole next to you. His eyes dart to the doorway.\n\nThe Ferralliise King leans halfway out the tent, sniffing the air. He’s more than twice your size with brown shaggy hair covering his body. Knotted horns twist around his head like antlers. The horns are spotted with razor sharp thorns. He lets out an angry snort and rushes out the tent to put out the flames.\n\n[[Now’s your chance.]]\n

<<widget "killsAchieveChecker">><>\n\t<<if $kills > 100>>\n\t\t<<if $trueAssassin is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTrueAssassin").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTrueAssassin").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $kills > 20>>\n\t\t<<if $serialKiller is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSerialKiller").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSerialKiller").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $kills > 5>>\n\t\t<<if $murderer is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveMurderer").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockMurderer").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<endif>>\t\n<<endnobr>><</widget>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 119>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>When the car is finally fished out of the water, your violent drowning causes a brief @@color:#000081;scandal@@ involving Senator John Davis. Did he know? Was he there? Who was driving? Does he have a drinking problem?\n\nYour death consumes the national media for one news cycle until allegations are directed at another congressman who made the foolish mistake of appearing in some elicit topless photos attached to an oddly worded text message sent to a young, though not impressionable, girl.\n<<if $introComments is true>>See The Last Darling page 73.<<endif>>\nConspiracy theories flourish concerning your drowning, but none are ever substantiated or seriously investigated. Senator John Davis is re-elected that year, but loses the following election on account of his wife’s extramarital affair which resulted in an @@color:#000081;illegitimate child.@@\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 139>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Once your death is confirmed, the thug that killed you, Sanders Long, is awarded a big bonus and your parking spot which, incidentally, is the last thing he said to you: “By the way, I'm getting your parking spot.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>Sanders Long was originally named Jim Long, a character from a short story I wrote, “The Disappearance of Karen Ward” (one of my first Twine stories) but I decided Jim Long was too good natured to associate with criminals like the Boss, so instead I think of Sanders as Jim’s brother.<<endif>>\nSanders' career as an assassin, though promising, is cut short when Gillian exacts her revenge for your murder. You did fortunately teach her a thing or two about starting a new life. She steals what's left of Sanders' fortune, acquires a new identity, and moves to Canada where she becomes a history professor at a small university.\n\nUsing a pen name, she writes several best-selling novels about an assassin who has an uncanny resemblance to you. She assures her publisher the books are based on true events, but for the safety of everyone involved, the writing is classified as fiction.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 151>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +15>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>With the last bit of your strength, you scrawl a message in @@color:#000081;your own blood.@@ It's a confession with a server address and password that contains detailed information about every mission and assassination you've preformed for the Boss. An FBI agent, John Two Toes, who has been working undercover in the Boss's organization for months and is familiar with the case, deciphers the code and arrests the Boss.\n\nThe evidence is so thorough the trial only lasts two weeks. The Boss is convicted and sentenced to several lifetimes in a state penitentiary.\n\nUnfortunately, the confines of prison do little to impede the Boss’s illegal activities. He continues, quite successfully, to run his operations from jail.\n\nSeveral days after your death, one of Gillian’s co-workers files a missing persons report on behalf of your absent sister, whose mysterious disappearance is never explained or resolved, not even after the authorities open an investigation.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 175>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You wake up in a kitchen. Your arms, legs, and body are tied to the counter. Wong stands over you, sharpening his butcher knife. Saying you have a bad feeling would be an understatement.\n\nWong slams the cleaver down on your fingers, and then your wrist, and then your arm. He chops your body into little bits. As he chops off pieces of you, he slides the pieces into a frying pan...and cooks you alive. You try to tell him you're out of season and mostly gristle, but you pass out from the pain.\n\nWong mixes your cooking flesh with chow mien, egg rolls, wontons, sweet & sour batter, and several other dishes. He wraps them in a nice box and signs the card: May our future endeavors be warm like this meal.\n<<if $introComments is true>>While I was revising and proofing the book I was surprised to discover so many of these endings involve the main character being eaten. I have no idea why... I must have been hungry.<<endif>>\nHe has the box of food (or what’s left of your corpse) delivered to the Boss’s penthouse. The henchmen, who have been waiting anxiously for your arrival, eagerly devour the food, noting that the meat is a bit salty, but very delicious.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 137>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -13>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You wake-up in the chemical stink of a taxidermy office. Your hands and legs are bound. The Boss smiles from the corner of the room. You've seen that @@color:#000081;expression@@ before. He's going to make an example out of you.\n\nSuddenly you feel a needle pierce your stomach. Your insides are being sucked out and replaced with chemicals. You scream at the taxidermist beside you. He continues his work... You’re being stuffed alive.\n\nOnce the taxidermist is finished and you’re dead, he mounts your body on a stand, places it carefully in a shipping crate and delivers it to the Boss’s office.\n\nThe Boss positions you beside his desk and when anyone questions his authority, he simply points at your stoic body and lets them stare for a moment.\n\nThat usually shuts them up... it kept you @@color:#000081;quiet@@ after all.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 154>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +85>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Having no feasible way to explain the immense damage to the building and city, the authorities deem the incident an act of terror, which the Boss eagerly agrees to.\n\nYou are demonized as a traitor and terrorist by the media, a falsehood which the Boss vehemently encourages. Some of your exploits as an assassin are anonymously leaked to the press by the Boss. The footage is so disturbing that critics question your sanity. Somehow the bad economy, global warming, and the extinction of several species are linked to your @@color:#000081;heinous acts.@@ Your legacy, if you ever had one, is forever ruined.\n\nIn an odd twist of fate, the media and citizens sympathize with the Boss so much and hate you with an equal though opposite fervor, that thousands of donations are made to the Boss’s organization. The contributions are so generous that within three months the Boss's wealth doubles... and it’s all thanks to you.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 141>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +65>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveThatsFamily").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockThatsFamily").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>In order to cover up your death, the Boss convinces the authorities that you were a news reporter with a @@color:#000081;drinking problem,@@ and the whole incident was an unfortunate accident...this only works after the Boss pays the Chief of Police a large sum of money.\n\nAs an extra precaution the Boss also acquires your body from the morgue and cuts off your hands, feet, and bits of your hair. He gives a small vile of each to his top assassins with the strict order of leaving some at each kill zone.\n\nOver the next five years your fingerprints and DNA show up at over one hundred crime scenes. You quickly reach the top of the @@color:#000081;FBI most wanted list.@@ Unfortunately, the massive amount of resources and money the FBI spends to catch you is entirely wasted since you are already dead.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 115>>\n<<set $wpn = "Industrial Vacuum Hose">>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The robot grabs your leg before you fall to your death. It throws you over its shoulder and delivers you to Wong.\n\nInstead of killing you, Wong decides to use your body as part of his new project. Your arms and legs are removed and replaced by hoses. Your stomach and organs are integrated with electronics and tiny engines. Microprocessors are implanted in your brain, and you lose what’s left of your freewill.\n\nBy the time the conversion is finally done, you realize you’re nothing more than a glorified, voice-controlled @@color:#000081;vacuum@@.\n\nWong is full of pride with his new creation. You spend the next 375 years involuntarily cleaning the many homes of the Wong dynasty.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 328>>\n<<endnobr>>You take the man’s jacket and glasses, put both on, and try to look business casual. You shove the sniper rifle under the desk and take a stack of folders from the cabinet. It’s not the best disguise, but it should get you off this floor.\n\nYou take a deep breath and exit the room. The rest of the office seems unaffected – business as usual.\n\nYou turn left, avoiding two security guards. Two more block the exit you were eyeing. They haven’t spotted you, but they’re heading your way.\n\nYou swipe the badge against the nearest door. It unlocks and you calmly walk inside, doing your best to avoid suspicion.\n\nYou’re standing in a long white hallway. It’s empty and unusually clean. It’s almost like you’re in a different building. You can’t help but feel uneasy.\n\nYou walk to the only other door and slide the badge against the lock.\n\n“I’m sorry,” a computerized voice says. “To proceed further, DNA verification is required.”\n\nA strange urge comes over you and without thinking you place your hand onto the scanner.\n\nYou hear three clicks behind your head. You twist with your gun raised and ready. No one’s there.\n\nThe wall beside you flickers with text: DNA accepted. Processing...\n\nYou realize it’s some kind of screen. A new line of text flashes: Authorization approved. It has been 21.7 years since your last visit. Welcome back.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The 21.7 years was meant to be a reference to the secret facility in Montana but nothing in this sequence directly confirms it.<<endif>>\nSuddenly the floor sinks. Air rushes up from the edges. The interior doors become blocked by reinforced metal. The whole hallway descends with rapid speed. You try to balance yourself.\n\nThe hallway jolts to a stop and one of the walls slides open.\n\nIt looks like a laboratory, but the machinery appears to be almost alien. You’ve never seen anything like it before.\n\nYou step out of the elevator. A console displays the word: Salutations Doctor. As you walk to it, a beam of light scans your face. Another line of text appears: Continue Simulation?\n\n[[Press Yes]]\n[[Press No]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 119>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Wong, being the truest kind of psychopath, brings your almost dead body back to his estate. He personally nurses you back to health, taking special care with each of your wounds. Once you've fully recovered, he tortures you again and again.\n\nTwice a day he cuts off a small chunk of your body and feeds it to the dozens of koi in his elaborate pond. It takes nearly three years, but eventually there's nothing left of you.\n\nWhen you’re finally dead, Wong delicately puts your head in a wooden box, wraps it with pink paper and ties it down with a yellow ribbon, colors symbolizing happiness. When the wrapping is perfect, he hand delivers the box to the Boss.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 216>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>After the Doc removes your heart and several other organs, he shoves your body in with the other hazardous materials, a skill he’s mastered over the years. There's no trace of you at the hospital. No one even realizes you're dead.\n\nAfter several weeks of waiting, the Boss comes to the conclusion that you are a coward and that you have little interest in saving your sister. The Boss is so frustrated with the disrespect you’ve shown him that he takes it out on Gillian. In a fit of anger, which he will later regret, the Boss sells her to a rich oil sheik. The sheik, a man who is known for his perverse passions and disturbing desire for western women, confines Gillian to a room on his yacht. She is never heard from again.\n\nAs for the Doc, he continues his wayward practices, butchering 341 operations until the police finally kill him during a raid at one of his clinics.\n\nThe Boss and his other assassins assume that you have discarded your sister for a life of leisure. Though no evidence supports their theory, they imagine you on a tropical beach drinking mojitos while watching the waves crash against the shore...a scene which couldn’t be further from the truth since you are most definitely dead.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 526>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +13>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +42000>>\n<<set $wpn = "Hellfire">>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +45>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +13>>\n<<set $force = $force +14>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -6>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Everything that’s happened to Gillian, everything that’s happened to you – the Boss is at the root of it. One word from him and she would have been out of harm’s way. He could have ended this before it even started, but he didn’t. He’s earned a little @@color:#000081;payback.@@\n\nYou feel the rage burning through your chest. “Where,” you take a step closer, “is,” another step closer, “my,” another step, “sister.”\n\nThe Boss sweats as if the temperature in the room had doubled. His eyes are wide and afraid. “What,” his old voice quivers. @@color:#000081;“What are you?”@@ His face and cheeks are pale as if he had just seen a ghost.\n\nYou suddenly realize the room is on fire. The blaze spreads out from your @@color:#000081;footprints.@@ The @@color:#000081;carpet@@ and @@color:#000081;curtains@@ burn, and the fire slowly surrounds you and the Boss. He lets out a whimper as the flickering flames nip at his wrinkled skin.\n\nThe fire doesn’t seem to bother you.\n\n“Nor should it,” Ayporos adds. “Demons are immune to @@color:#000081;Hellfire@@ and by our union, so are you.”\n\nYou lean in close to the Boss. “Tell me now.”\n\n“I loved you both like my own. I never wanted this to happen.”\n\n“What to happen?” You growl.\n\n“She never stopped searching for you. She couldn’t accept that you were gone.”\n\nYou grab his throat and lightly squeeze. “Tell me where she is or the next thing you hear will be your @@color:#000081;neck snapping.”@@\n\n“There were so many people that wanted you dead. Her search for you was so compelling that the others started to @@color:#000081;believe@@ you had survived – that you were just in hiding. They took her, hoping to draw you out. I knew you were dead. I tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen.”\n\n“Quit stalling,” you roar.\n\nTears stream down the Boss’s cheeks. “I was too late. I was too late. I was,” he glances over his shoulder at the urn on the mantle.\n\n“No,” you whisper.\n\n“It is true,” Ayporos says consolingly. “The remnants of your sister reside in that urn. She is no longer of this realm.”\n\nThe guilt and rage twist around your heart as your fingers twist around the Boss’s throat. He @@color:#000081;chokes@@ and feebly pulls at your arm.\n\n[[Squeeze harder]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1061>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Fine,” you say. @@color:#000081;“You go first.@@ If any of the creatures breach the wall, I’m better suited to fight them.”\n\n“Alright,” Quintus nods. “I’ve designed the machine to work with the press of a single button. Stand in that circle, wait for the console light to turn green, and then press this red button. Do you understand?”\n\n“Yeah, yeah, I get it. When the light turns green, press the red button.”\n\n“Good,” Quintus says. “Then I’ll see you on the other side.” He steps onto the small circle etched into the ground and then presses the red button.\n\nThe circle glows with blue and purple light. Blinding strands of luminosity whip out of the ground like tentacles. Quintus grimaces. You can tell he’s in pain.\n\nYou remember how painful crossing over the first time was. “The pain is normal,” you shout. “I think.”\n\nQuintus tries to smile. His mouth moves as if to say something, but then he falls through the portal before the words can escape.\n\nAlmost immediately the room goes dark.\n\n“Alright,” you tell yourself. “Just wait for the light to turn green, then it’s home sweet home.”\n\nYou feel the entire wall shake as boulders bombard it once again.\n\nThe soldiers have already moved to the inner castle. If any of the creatures breach the castle walls, you’re on your own. Quintus said it would only take a few minutes. The walls should hold for at least that long.\n\nA few minutes pass...\n\nAnd then a few more...\n\nThe light is still red.\n\nQuintus wouldn’t have lied to you. It’s just taking longer than he thought, that’s all...\n\nYou hear the western wall collapse. The creatures must have gotten through. You draw the green speckled blade and stay as quiet as possible. The creatures will focus most of their attention on the inner castle. You should be safe for a little while, if only this stupid light would turn green.\n\nYou hear grumbling and snarling in the hallway outside the laboratory. Luckily the room is still dark. They should be around the corner in a few seconds.\n\nSuddenly the lights flash back to life. The console erupts with noise. The machine is running again...\n\nBut the light is still red.\n\nThe creatures thrash through the hallway and into the room. You count eight and more on the way. You reach for the gun, then remember you’re out of bullets.\n\nYou stay in the circle with your sword ready.\n\nThe creatures hiss and growl as they slowly surround you. They realize you have nowhere to run, and they know they can draw out the kill.\n\nYou keep one eye on them and the other on the red light.\n\nThey fain attacks, taunting you, relishing in your fear.\n\nThen the light turns green.\n\nYou hit the red button as a creature leaps toward you.\n\nThe circle glows with blue and purple light. Blinding strands of luminosity whip out of the ground like tentacles.\n\nThe creature’s hand breaches the wall of light. It screeches in agony. Lights on the console flash, and the machine makes a horrible grinding noise.\n\nWhat did Quintus say about one object being in the circle at a time?\n\nYou shove the sword into the creature’s @@color:#000081;chest,@@ sending his body to the ground and outside the circle. The console returns to its previous state. The creatures cower in fear.\n\nThe light burns your @@color:#000081;skin,@@ and your body feels like it’s @@color:#000081;melting@@ from the inside out. Then, suddenly, everything goes dark, and your head reels with pain.\n\n[[Continue...|continue 05]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 244>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -25>>\n<<endnobr>>Your body’s aching bad, and your eyelids feel heavy. Just a few minutes of rest won’t hurt. You barely need to try and you’re asleep.\n\n******\n\nYou’re jostled awake by a sharp pain in your chest. It’s impossible to say how long you’ve been out. The room doesn’t have windows.\n\nYou try to move, but your arms are @@color:#000081;strapped@@ to the examining table.\n\nThe secretary stands over you. “Doc,” she says, “The anesthetic is @@color:#000081;wearing off.”@@\n\n“I told you to use a full dose.”\n\n“There wasn’t enough left. You’ll just have to be quick.”\n\nYou glance over at him. His hands and shirt are covered in blood. Someone is lying on the table next to you. His chest is cut open. You see two bodyguards at the door.\n\nThe Doc looks down at you. He gives you a tough-luck smile. “You should have left kid.” He sticks his hand into your chest and you feel something snap. “It’s nothing personal. Rent is expensive.” He tilts his head toward the body on the other table. “My landlord really appreciates what you’re doing. I may have told him you were @@color:#000081;terminal.”@@ The Doc shrugs. “I suppose I should have said you will be terminal after I pull out your heart.” He smiles. “If it’s any consolation, your little contribution will keep this place open for at least another six months.”\n\nBefore you can react, you feel another hard snap in your chest and everything goes black.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 19]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 303>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $wpn = "Baton">>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You know the guns are going to be a problem, best to KO the guards before they have a chance to point them at you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;sprint@@ toward the elevator and @@color:#000081;jab@@ one guard in the solar plexus. He tumbles back in the elevator. The elevator’s your only way out so you follow him in. The other guards are wide-eyed with surprise. You @@color:#000081;punch@@ one in the throat while @@color:#000081;kicking@@ another in the knee.\n\nThe fourth guard manages to get a solid hit on your @@color:#000081;jaw.@@ You fall against the wall, but use your momentum to pull a @@color:#000081;baton@@ from the guard’s belt. You use it to @@color:#000081;parry@@ the second punch, then @@color:#000081;slam@@ the tip into the attacker’s nose. He drops to the floor with the other @@color:#000081;three guards.@@\n\nYou hear the others coming from the hall. You push yourself flat against the wall hoping to avoid their sight and gunfire.\n\nNothing happens.\n\nYou glance around the corner. The guards have their guns pointed at the woman and the old man. They’re either the worst guards ever or their agenda is not what you expected. As long as the guns aren’t pointed at you, it’s not really your problem. You slip back into hiding.\n\nYou hear one of the guards give a command. He’s speaking Chinese. Looks like Jimmy is a bit smarter than you thought. This facility must be housing some impressive tech, and he probably figured his crew could steal it, leaving you to take the fall.\n\nYou smile at the thought of dopey Jimmy getting the @@color:#000081;better of you.@@ That won’t be happening again, and not just because you’re going to kill him.\n\nThe elevator’s clear. Leaving won’t be a problem. Then again, Jimmy’s thugs are looking for something, and it just doesn’t seem right for them to find it.\n\n[[Escape is the priority]]\n[[There’s always time to knock a few skulls together]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1101>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>A lot of people have died because of this insidious plot. You have a score to @@color:#000081;settle.@@\n\nSure, your little sister still needs you, but you can’t let these crimes go unanswered. You promised Gillian that you were done with that old life. You told her that you were a good person now, and being good sometimes means making the hard choices.\n\nYou will get Gillian back, but right now you need to do the right thing. You need to help Avengral finish this, and judging by what these Blue Wizards are capable of, he’s going to need all the help he can get.\n\nYou nod to Avengral. “I’m with you.”\n\n“Verily,” he says, returning your nod. He turns to Grat Grimworth. “See to the Prince’s safety. You have served your kingdom well.”\n\nGrat puts the Prince on the frog dragon spawn and climbs up beside him. The others mount the moose dragon spawn. They gallop into the air and fly low and out of sight.\n\n“Well,” Able No-name grunts from the front of the fox dragon spawn. “Are we gonna bust some skulls or what?”\n\n“Indeed,” Avengral says climbing in next to Able. “Skulls will be busted.”\n\nYou help Evie up and then climb in. Mos Vestermire leaps into the seat behind you. “Unless our goal is to be eaten by the Ferralliise hunting us from the tree line, we should take flight.”\n\n“Aye,” Avengral says whipping the reins. “Our dealings with the Ferralliise must wait for another day.”\n\n“Dealings is one way of putting it,” you say.\n\nThe fox dragon spawn sprints into the air and flies above the trees. You feel its soft, red fur with your hand. For a moment, this place felt normal. You almost didn’t give the dragon fox a second thought, but now that you’re safely soaring through the air, and you’ve finally caught your breath, you realize this place is nothing like home. With all these monsters and mythical creatures, you’re surprised you haven’t seen a vampire or werewolf yet.\n\n“So,” you glance at Evie Greengrass. “Who are these Blue Wizards anyway, and why would they deal in slaves?”\n\nEvie shakes her head with uncertainty. “Why would anyone deal in slaves? Perhaps it was the Ferralliise who influenced them. Slaves are a kind of currency to them.”\n\n“Ha,” Able grunts. “The Ferralliise influencing the Blue Wizards, that’s just crazy.”\n\n“I would not normally agree with my rock-skulled friend,” Mos Vestermire says leaning forward. “But he has a point. The Blue Wizards pride themselves on manipulation and illusion. It is unlikely that anyone, particularly the Ferralliise, could influence them.”\n\n“So you’re saying it was the Blue Wizards who started the slave trade?”\n\n“I would not be so sure,” Avengral says over his shoulder. “The Ferralliise did not begin taking people until the city of Norvaz was built on the outskirts of the Dire Woodlands nearly 300 years ago. It is more likely that the Blue Wizards have taken advantage of a horrible situation.”\n\n“Maybe,” Able says. “But I’ve heard stories about the kind of magic they’ve been doing.”\n\n“What kind of stories?” You ask.\n\n“Everyone knows the Blue Wizards have spent the last 100 years searching for the elder tomes of ancient Ferralliise magic. Well, I heard that two winters ago they finally found one. Slaves would be the best thing to experiment on if you were trying to use ancient Ferralliise blood magic.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>I always intended for the Red wizard sequence to overlap with the blue Wizards. Originally I had hoped I could attach these scenes with others I had already written, saving myself some time, but the plot points never lined up well enough.Instead I wrote 23 unique scenes totaling about 17,000 words. These scenes contain some of the most detail about the Blue Wizards’ evil scheme.<<endif>>\n“Blood magic is outlawed,” Avengral growls. “Punishment for such a thing is death. If your words are true Able No-name, I fear we may not have enough coffins to wield justice.”\n\n“Coffins,” Able laughs. “Why don’t we just throw them into the ocean and let the Squamarian eat the bodies.”\n\nMos slaps Able across the back of the head. “Maybe we ought to toss you in with them.”\n\n“Hey,” Able grumbles. “I thought you hated the Blue Wizards more than anyone.”\n\n“I do," Mos proclaims. "But you can’t just throw them in the ocean, not if they’ve been dealing in blood magic. You have to cut off their head and burn it separately from their body; otherwise they can use their own blood to perform a resurrection spell.”\n\n“We don’t know that for sure,” Evie says. “We don’t really know anything about blood magic. It hasn’t been used for thousands of years.”\n\n“Nor should it ever be used again,” Avengral adds.\n\n“Yeah, but even if they are using blood magic, what’s the bigger plan? Why go to so much trouble?”\n\n“Immortality,” Mos says.\n\n“Ultimate power,” Evie adds.\n\n“Or an army of obedient, unkillable soldiers,” Avengral says with a frown.\n\nYou groan. “Sorry I asked.”\n\n“Yeah, but, if none of those things have happened, then they must not know how to read the book.” Able says optimistically.\n\n“At least not yet.” Mos leans back and sighs. “But that’s assuming they have one of the books. This guessing is pointless.”\n\n“We shall find out soon enough,” Avengral says sternly. “It will be hours before we reach Raizaa. You should all rest. I have a strong feeling we will need our strength.”\n\nYou can’t disagree with that. You haven’t slept since you learned about Gillian being kidnapped. How long ago was that? You’re not even sure. The hours have blurred into a series of problems that seem almost unsolvable. A little sleep wouldn’t hurt. You close your eyes and...\n\n[[Continue...|continue 06]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 723>>\n<<set $force = $force +16>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +47>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +56>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +56>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<set $wpn = "Dragon of Electric Death">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>There’s nothing you could say that would inspire these people. They look like they’ve been beaten and downtrodden for decades.\n\nThey've barely survived this much; they don't have the emotional fortitude for another fight. They need to see something heroic and bold. They’ll believe they can win this battle when they start to see some @@color:#000081;victories.@@\n\nYou grab the green speckled blade and lift it into the air. “I am the great and powerful Wizard of Earth, and this is my castle.”\n\nThe peasants look up at you with hesitation.\n\nYou hop down from the wall and move to the gate which is being overrun by Ferralliise. The blade feels weightless but somehow electric, almost like it’s one with the nerves in your arm. You slice through two @@color:#000081;Ferralliise@@ with ease.\n\nYour arm feels like it’s moving of its own volition. The sword jerks left then right, @@color:#000081;blocking@@ a pair of claws and @@color:#000081;parrying@@ a spear. Neither attack you were even aware of.\n\nThe peasants watch with surprise and @@color:#000081;disbelief.@@\n\n“That’s faster than the King,” one shouts.\n\n“And all the knights,” says another.\n\nYou kill @@color:#000081;all@@ the Ferralliise that made it through the gate. Avengral seemed to think there was something special about this sword. Maybe he was right.\n\nFighting feels effortless.\n\nWith each swing you feel stronger, more energized, but you should hold your ground. That would be the smart thing to do, but the sword @@color:#000081;pulls@@ you beyond the walls into the hoard. It’s like it has a mind of its own.\n\nThe blade slashes and stabs and hacks through a dozen @@color:#000081;beasts@@ before you feel a sharp electric @@color:#000081;pinch@@ move up your arm. Involuntarily, you thrust the blade into the sky.\n\nThe heavens darken and the air becomes crisp and dry. Lightening spits and spasms out of the green speckled blade. The jolts hover and dance into shapes, and the shapes form into a giant electric @@color:#000081;dragon.@@\n\nThe Ferralliise freeze with @@color:#000081;terror.@@ The Blue Wizards are no better.\n\nYou swing the blade down and the dragon follows your command. It soars forward, breathing electric death into the @@color:#000081;hoard@@ of monsters. The Ferralliise scatter, at least the few that are still alive.\n\nYou swing the sword right, and the dragon clutches one of the giants. It carries him high into the air, then releases him above the Blue Wizards.\n\nSeveral of the wizards are @@color:#000081;crushed@@ under its weight. The others stare at you with dread and bewilderment. And to tell the truth, you’re feeling a little bewildered yourself. You’re not complaining, but how could you have known this sword had so much power?\n\nYou point the sword at the remaining Blue Wizards. Immediately, they throw up their magic shields and flee toward the forest. You have a feeling they won’t be coming back.\n\nThen you notice it... your hand... It doesn’t look like your hand. It looks old and wrinkled. You let go of the sword, and suddenly your body feels extremely @@color:#000081;exhausted.@@ You can barely stand. You drop to one knee and try to catch your breath.\n\nThe electric dragon dissipates.\n\nA knight is dead on the ground beside you. You see your face reflected in her armor, but it doesn’t look like your face. It looks old and wrinkled. Your hair is gray and thinning. The sword must have been using your life energy somehow... some kind of magical feedback loop.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This is the only scene that explains the significance of the green speckled blade. I wrote a short story titled: “The Red Speckled Blade of Brother Brighton” in which a magical sword imbues its wielder with unique abilities.The green speckled blade and the red speckled blade were meant to be part of a set forged during the war. (For more details you’ll have to read “The Red Speckled Blade of Brother Brighton”.)<<endif>>\nYou hear the peasants cheer behind you, “Earth Wizard! Earth Wizard! Earth Wizard!”\n\nThe monsters flee. The battle is over. You’ve won... though at what cost. Your bones feel so @@color:#000081;brittle.@@ Every breath of air is agony. You try to stand, but your legs @@color:#000081;collapse@@ underneath you. You fall into the muddy, blood-soaked ground. Sure, you saved these people, but what about Gillian? What about getting home?\n\nYour body feels dry, like all the life and moisture have been drained from it. Your legs and fingers calcify and disintegrate. You feel your body slowly @@color:#000081;crumble.@@ It must be the price of using the sword.\n\nYou crane your neck back toward the castle.\n\nYou see Quintus near the gate. He knows what you sacrificed. If only you could tell him about Gillian, maybe he could save her, but it’s too late.\n\nYour chest turns to dust, and your neck and...\n\nYou think of Gillian one last time, and then the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 33]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 637>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -13>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +7>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +9000>>\n<<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You notice Alana @@color:#000081;isn’t@@ wearing a seatbelt. She always did have a problem following the rules.\n\nYou swerve the car into oncoming traffic and shove the gas pedal down. The car slams into a @@color:#000081;truck.@@ The front of the car buckles like an accordion from the impact.\n\nAlana is propelled through the windshield. She bounces off the hood of the truck and through its windshield.\n\nYou push the airbag down. There’s a good chance your nose is @@color:#000081;broken.@@ You glance at Gillian. Her forehead is bloody, and her body’s limp.\n\n“Gillian,” you say. “Gillian.”\n\nHer head wearily tilts toward you. She groans in pain.\n\nShe’s alive, but the car’s totaled. You kick open the door. “Come on Gillian. We can’t stay here.”\n\nShe groans at you, but doesn’t move. She’s going to need a minute.\n\nYou step out of the car. Your head throbs with agony. You fight back the pain and concentrate. You can’t leave the money behind, not if you want to start a new life.\n\nYou pop the trunk and walk to the back. You empty the first aid bag and stuff it with money. Suddenly, the trunk slams down on your @@color:#000081;arm,@@ and a fist hits you across the @@color:#000081;face.@@ You stumble backwards.\n\nAlana stands in front of you. Blood and glass cover her face. She limps toward you. “It’ll take a lot more than that to kill me.”\n\n“Yeah,” you shrug and stare at her tattered face. “But it probably killed your dating life.”\n\nShe growls and takes another swing at you.\n\nYou lift your arm @@color:#000081;quick@@ enough to absorb most of the impact. She jabs two more times, and your vision blurs. You probably got a concussion from the wreck. You can’t take too many more hits. You have no idea how Alana is still standing.\n\nApparently she really, really wants to kill you.\n\nYou twist around and fall against the trunk as she kicks at your @@color:#000081;ribs.@@ Then you see the sword. You almost forgot about it. You let Alana throw one more punch so her neck’s within range.\n\nYou grab the sword and [[swing as hard as you can.]]\n\n

<center><h1>Winner!</h1></center>\nYou successfully rescued Gillian!\n\nFor all your hard work, here's an 8-bit jam! Now party like it's 1989!\n\n<center><html>\n<audio controls autoplay loop>\n\t<source src="unlocks/music/8-bitBeat.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">\n\tYour browser does not support the audio element.\n</audio>\n</html>\n\n<<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 560>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The hallway is the quickest way to the exit.\n\nMaybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was the nap, but either way you’re feeling @@color:#000081;better@@ – not great, but better. If you keep calm and collected, maybe you won’t shoot an innocent person. \n\n@@color:#000081;Fingers crossed.@@\n\nYou check the pistol clip. It’s full. If there aren’t too many guards out there you should be fine. You grab the scientist’s arm. “Let’s go.”\n\nHe pulls his arm free. “I can’t.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“I’ve kept you alive, but I haven’t helped you escape. That means they won’t kill me.”\n\n“What’s the difference?”\n\n“They need you to talk, which means you need to stay alive. I’ve done my part to make that happen. This is as far as I go.”\n\n“Fine,” you nod. “Do you want me to shoot you in the arm to make it look like you put up a struggle?”\n\n“What, no. Are you crazy? They have cameras in every room. They’ve already recorded everything that’s happened.”\n\n“That’s too bad,” you smile. “I really wanted to shoot you.”\n\n“Very funny,” the scientist says waving his arm. “I hope everything works out for you.”\n\n“Don’t worry. It usually does.”\n\nYou open the door a crack and glance down the hallway in both directions. It’s empty – for now. If they have cameras monitoring every room, you won’t be alone for long.\n\nYou sprint down the hallway. Suddenly the carpeting feels like sand. It becomes harder to lift your feet. You glance back down the hallway, but all you see is rocky terrain.\n\nYou stop and take a deep breath. You concentrate, focus on your breathing. It’s just a hallucination. It’s not real. @@color:#000081;Focus.@@ Think about what’s real. You know what’s real. You take another deep breath and open your eyes. You see office walls with rocks and plants jutting out. It just barely resembles the hallway.\n\nIt’ll have to do.\n\nYou tell your legs to move.\n\nYou see the elevator. You shake your head. No, it’s too easy to get pinned down in there. You sprint for the stairs. You hear movement ahead and push yourself against the wall. You glance through the window in the door.\n\nYou see an ape wearing a red tie. No, that’s just the drugs. It’s probably not a civilian, but it might be. You’ll have to avoid lethal force.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;kick@@ in the door. It hits the ape in the face. You @@color:#000081;grab@@ its tie before it falls down the stairs. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ the ape into the wall and @@color:#000081;jab@@ it in the face.\n\nIt slides to the floor unconscious.\n\nYou hear radio static coming from the ape. You kneel down and search for the noise. It’s coming from inside the fur. “Okay,” you say to yourself. “Just stay calm. This is an illusion.” You take a deep breath, reach into the fur, and pull out a radio.\n\nYou adjust the dial.\n\n“Units four and five,” a static voice commands. “Take the west stairwell. Units seven and eight move the girl to the roof for evac.”\n\nThe girl? That might be Gillian. You need to get to the roof.\n\nYou pause.\n\nIf the girl isn’t Gillian – if it’s just a trap, there’s no way you’d be able to fight yourself free.\n\nBut if it is Gillian, and they move her, finding her a second time will be nearly impossible.\n\n[[You can’t risk it. Escape now.]]\n[[Gillian is worth the risk. Sprint to the roof.]]\n

<center>Chapter 3</center>\n\n“Uh, hey, this is part of your plan, right?”\n\nYou look at the encroaching horde of undead, sex-starved, playboy bunnies. “Plan?”\n\n“You know, quarantine, cure, and all that.”\n\n“Right. Uh,” you shrug. “Oops.”\n\nSara grabs you by the side of the shirt. “What do you mean oops?”\n\n“I think we’re all about to get humped to death.”\n\nStew grimaces. “I guess there are worse ways to go.”\n\nSara looks at the pale, blue veined girls, black vomit still dripping from their mouths. She looks back at Stew. “Really?”\n\nHe smirks. “At least we only die once.”\n\nYou motion toward the hill. “I wouldn’t be too sure.” The other two look up to see Brandy falling and flailing, the muscles of her arms and legs void of tension. She can barely stand, but somehow, as if by desire alone, she contorts her body onward. Her eyes are transfixed on you.\n\nStew sighs. “There’s no silver lining for you, is there?”\n\nYou glance at Sara. “We’re not dead yet. That counts for something.”\n\nYou back up shoulder to shoulder. Sara clutches your hand. “Goodness me.” The girls get closer, hunger in their eyes. “Wait, what was that? Do you hear that?”\n\nYou turn. There, at the top of the hill, it’s... no, it couldn’t be?\n\nHugh Heffner...driving a golf cart?\n\nHe zooms past Brandy, down the hill. “Come with me if you want to live.”\n\nYou run past the two girls climbing out of the pool. Sara jumps into the seat next to Hef.\n\nYou and Stew grab the back. “We’re on.”\n\nHef makes a hard 180, right of the grotto, up a small trail.\n\n“Wait,” Stew shouts. “We’re going back to the mansion?”\n\nHef nods. “I know a safe place.”\n\nHe pulls into a small portico and slides out of the golf cart, still spritely at 83. “Let’s go.”\n\nWhat else can you do but follow him...up a small set of stairs, down a hall. He stops. He smiles at the photo of Marilyn Monroe. He pulls it to the right. The frame clicks and part of the wall swings open.\n\n“In here.” He motions toward Sara. “Ladies first.”\n\nShe steps inside. You and Stew follow.\n\nHef pulls the wall back into place behind him. “We should be safe here.”\n\nSara looks at the 1950’s inlaid bed, the mirrors, the lotions, the mood lighting. “Is this-”\n\n“Yes,” Hef nods. “Yes it is.”\n\nStew smiles. “So it is real. Oh man,” he nudges you. “The world’s hottest women have been naked in that bed.”\n\nHef shrugs. “It’s been years since that bed’s been put to use.”\n\n“Still.” Stew falls onto the mattress and curls his head into the pillows.\n\nYou give Hef a hard stare. “Do you know what’s going on Mr. Hugh Heffner?”\n\nHis smile vanishes. His head sinks. “Yes, I believe I do.” He sighs and sits down. “I warned her. I told her to pace herself.” He shakes his head with disappointment. “Brandy, she was just too beautiful and outgoing to stop.”\n\n“Stop?” You take a step closer. “Stop what?”\n\n“Having sex.”\n\nSara glances at you and then back at Hef. “What do you mean?”\n\n“She just loved it too much. One day she came to me. She asked for my help. She said she had met a man, a stranger, who had given her crabs. I told her we would take care of her, and I sent her straight to the doctor. A few days passed and she returned. It was a different man this time who had given her Gonorrhea. Again, I sent her straight to the doctor. Over the next two weeks she returned. First with Syphilis, then Herpes, later Chlamydia and Hepatitis. Her desire for sex was...unapologetic.” Hef sighs. “Ever since the 60’s I feared this day would come.” He stands up. “Follow me.”\n\nYou follow him. He slides open a door, revealing an elevator. He motions for you to enter. He presses the B3 button. The elevator shakes to life and descends with incredible speed.\n\n“Where are you taking us?”\n\nThe elevator jolts to a halt. He opens the door. “My lab.”\n\nYou gaze into a warehouse of computers, gurneys, microscopes, incubators, EKG machines, cages with mice, monkeys and cats and dozens of other machines you’ve never seen before.\n\nHef walks toward the nearest computer. “Well, come on.”\n\nYou and Sara follow.\n\nHef gestures at the equipment. “I’ve spent the last 50 years preparing for this day, and it’s all been for nothing.” He hits a few keys on the keyboard. “Look here. You see, this is Brandy’s DNA before her first encounter with crabs.”\n\n“Wait, what are you doing with her DNA?”\n\n“I take a sample of all the women’s DNA when I hire them. You see here, it’s completely normal. But see how it changes after the fourth, the fifth, the sixth introduction of the new strain of disease. The STD’s have merged and mutated into something completely new. The transformation was so violent it’s modified her DNA.”\n\n“Wait, wait, wait,” you shake your head in disbelief. “So you’re saying that what’s happening to those women out there is just some kind of super STD?”\n\n“Yes,” Hef lets out an exhausted sigh. “Yes, that’s exactly it.”\n\n“And you’ve spent the last 50 years trying to create a cure?”\n\n“Yes, why else would I have built the Playboy Mansion? It’s reasonable to say that the most attractive women have a higher probability of having sex and as a result, are more likely to encounter an STD; ergo they make the perfect test group.”\n\n“So the nude photos and the persona are just a cover?”\n\n“Scientific progress requires money.”\n\n“Right, right,” you say skeptically. “Of course it does. So what about this cure?”\n\nHef’s head droops with shame. “I could not complete it. The disease is still mutating. I need a current sample of Brandy’s DNA before I can pin down a cure.”\n\nYou point at the blood and bits of flesh on your pants. “What about this?”\n\nHef bends down and examines the stain. “Yes, yes I think that may work. This sample was deposited right after her transformation?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\nHef scoops some onto a slide and pushes it under a microscope. “Hhm, this should help, but the disease hasn’t stopped its mutation cycle. I’ll need a newer sample.”\n\nSara beams with hope. “So you can make a cure?”\n\n“Perhaps. I don’t know yet. We need to find Brandy.”\n\nYou sigh. “That means we’re going back out there, doesn’t it?”\n\n“No, no, you stay in the room. You’ll be safe there. I can find her on my own. Come on, let’s go back. I’ll show you where the food is kept.”\n\nYou follow him into the elevator. He presses F1. The elevator ascends and then jolts to a halt.\n\nHef slides open the door. “You should be safe if you stay in this room. The food and water should last several months, and the oxygen is filtered with the same system as the lab. This is the safest place in the whole mansion.”\n\nSara pinches her nose. “Do you guys smell that?” She points at the bed. “And where’d Stew go?” She walks around the corner. “Stew?”\n\n“Maybe he’s in the bathroom?”\n\n“It sure smells like it.” You knock on the bathroom door. “Hey Stew, you in there? Maybe we should give you a pack of matches.”\n\nA low grumble erupts from behind the door.\n\nYou take a step closer. “You alright?”\n\n“GGggrrrrrraaaaahhhh!”\n\nThe door explodes forward. The hinges snap. The weight and force throw you flat against the ground. Stew stands over you. Black foam drips from his lips. His pants are at his ankles. His skin is pale and clear.\n\nHe stares at Sara.\n\n“Gggrrrraaaahhh,” he screams, taking a step forward, almost crushing your chest.\n\nYou lurch forward. You glimpse the bathroom. The toilet is broken. Vomit and excrement are everywhere except in the bowl.\n\nYou cough and try to regain your breath. “Stew, no.” You roll onto your side.\n\nStew grabs Sara’s arm and breast and thrust her to the ground.\n\n“No,” she screams. “Stew, don’t.”\n\nHef tries to restrain Stew’s arm, but he lacks the strength. Sara claws and punches at Stew’s face. It doesn’t slow him down. She manages to kick his leg and crotch, but his desire is unrelenting.\n\n“Ggrraaaahhh,” he screams again, black goo spitting from his mouth, staining Sara’s pink tank top.\n\nShe tries to cover her eyes and mouth. “Help,” she barely whimpers. “Help.”\n\nYou stand, stagger, and fall into the wall, still out of breath. “No,” you tell yourself. You push your body forward. The momentum is all that keeps you going. You drive your foot into Stew’s temple.\n\nStew spirals off Sara, blood and black goo erupting from his head. Flesh slides from his skull and splatters against Hef’s face. Hef falls. Stew lands on top of him hard, and they collide against the wall.\n\nYou topple into the side of the bed. “Sara,” you cough. “Are you alright?”\n\n“Fine.” She takes a difficult breath. “What about Hef?”\n\nYou look over. “Not good.”\n\nHef signals for you. “Closer,” he whispers. “Come closer.”\n\nYou crawl to him. Stew lays motionless.\n\n“Is he...”\n\n“Yes,” Hef nods. “But it won’t do me much good.”\n\nYou grab Stew’s shoulder. “Just let me move him.”\n\n“NO,” Hef painfully commands.\n\nYou immediately stop and examine Stew’s body. The bone in Stew’s left arm is shattered, and the pieces of bone are hooked into Hef’s stomach, pinning them both to the wall.\n\nYou look up at Hef. “You’re going to be fine. You’re,” you hesitate. “You’re going to be fine.”\n\nHef tries to laugh, but instead wheezes. “I’m old not stupid. Here,” his arm quivers and he can’t manage to lift it. “In my pocket,” he says. “Can’t reach.”\n\nYou pull a USB drive from Hef’s pocket.\n\nHef coughs. Blood squirts from his stomach. “My research,” he says agonizingly. “...is on a server. This--” His head droops.\n\nYou prop his head upright. “Hef,” you say. “Hef stay with me.”\n\nHef blinks back to life. “It has the codes to access the server.” Hef glances at Sara and then back at you. “Even if life is just a shake of the dice,” he wheezes. “Don’t waste your chance.” He smiles and coughs up more blood. “Go,” he groans. “Like you said, I’ll be fine.”\n\nYou watch Hef’s eyes close as his head droops against his shoulder. His body slumps to the left.\n\nYou take Sara by the hand and stand. “We need Brandy’s DNA.”\n\n“How are we going to catch her?”\n\n“The same way you catch anything, bait.”\n\n<center>[[Hef's Science Log]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1191>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -1>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveJoinTheATeam").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockJoinTheATeam").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You swing the bag over your shoulder and leave with Team A. If you want access to the better @@color:#000081;weapons,@@ you’ll need to get on this soldier’s good side. Based on the way things have been going, that won’t be an easy task.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Even before the outlining stages began, I wanted to include achievements and unlockable content in the story, but because Seven Bullets was originally designed as an ebook, I was forced to limit my ambitious plans.This scene was a little joke always meant to correlate with an achievement name: Joining the A Team (referencing the 1980’s TV show The A-Team).It’s one of several scenes where I wanted to add a specific achievement even though (at the time) I didn’t know how.<<endif>>\nYou jog up beside him. “Hey,” you say softly. “I’ve got a unique set of skills. I could be useful in a situation like this.”\n\n“You have no idea what the situation is,” the soldier grunts. “What makes you think you know how to be useful?”\n\nOkay, so maybe you walked into that one. “Give me a weapon and I can prove it to you.”\n\n“Humph,” he shakes his head. “Get back in line, and shut up. This isn’t a game.”\n\nLooks like you @@color:#000081;overplayed@@ your hand. If you’re going to get his respect, you’ll need to earn it. You have a feeling it won’t take long for a problem to come up that only you can fix...until then you’ll just have to be patient.\n\nYou travel down a long hallway. The lights flicker making it difficult to see clearly. You count a dozen more deep scratches on the wall and nearly two hundred bullet holes. There was obviously a fight. Judging by the scratches, you’d say it was a pack of bears...or maybe something bigger.\n\nYou lean over to one of the scientists. “So what happened?”\n\nHe looks frail. “I don’t know,” he says, twitching nervously. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”\n\n“Okay,” you say soothingly. “It’s okay.”\n\nHe stares forward, ignoring you. He’s in shock. He won’t be much use to you.\n\nThe soldier flashes up an arm, motioning for everyone to stop. A deadly silence falls over the group. The soldier motions for the rest of the soldiers to fan out in a defensive pattern. You glance at the darkness, trying to see what’s frightened him, but it’s just shadows.\n\nThe soldiers look terrified like they might drop their guns and flee at any moment.\n\nSuddenly, you hear scratching overhead. The group whimpers and cries with fear.\n\n“Hold your ground,” the soldier whispers.\n\nThe scratching gets louder...but it’s too overt. Even a wandering creature would be quieter than that.\n\nIt’s a trap.\n\nWhatever’s making the noise is trying to frighten the group into a vulnerable position.\n\n“Pull your men back,” you whisper to the soldier. “It’s a trap. Pull your men back now.”\n\nThe soldier scowls at you and ignores your warning.\n\n“Aghah!” A soldier screams from the perimeter.\n\nYou hear the sound of flesh being ripped apart, and then the man’s screams end abruptly.\n\nYou move forward, near the head soldier. “Pull them back now.”\n\nHe grimaces, and you see the terror in his eyes. “Fall back,” he says.\n\n“Aghahah,” another soldier screams.\n\nYou hear metal being dragged and then a loud thump. A roar erupts from far behind the group. A bloody torso slides across the floor. The people panic and try to rush forward.\n\n“Wait,” you say, standing up.\n\n[[“Stay where you are.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 401>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You can’t avoid them and hiding in one of their side rooms all day isn’t an option. Maybe this can work out in your favor.\n\n“Hey,” you @@color:#000081;shout.@@ “I’ve been waiting for nearly an hour. I expected you guys to be punctual?”\n\nThey look at each other confused. “We don’t have anything scheduled.”\n\n“Not officially. The Boss wanted this off the books.”\n\n“The Boss? We heard you were no longer under his employ.”\n\n“Yeah, that’s what eveybody else thinks too.” You give him a coy @@color:#000081;grin@@ and hope the lie is convincing.\n\n“Hmm,” he ponders. “And what about this business that you’re so eager to discuss?”\n\n“The Boss wants to renegotiate the agreement you’ve made concerning the docks.”\n\n“Really? The arrangement is already mutually beneficial. What are his revised terms?”\n\n“You know he only discusses those details in person. He’s going to be at the docks all day if you’re interested in voicing your objections.”\n\nHe looks at you with a sour face. “Why would we have objections?”\n\n“Like I said, that’s something you’ll have to discuss with the Boss.” You lightly bow your head. “Have a good day gentlemen.” You turn and walk toward the front entrance. You stay @@color:#000081;calm and casual.@@ If they don’t shout after you, you’ll be in the clear.\n\nWhen the Russians go to the docks, which they inevitably will, they’ll discover the merchandise the Boss is importing from the Chinese. When they see how much business the Boss is doing with their rivals, stern accusations will be made. The Russians are too smart to use their guns, but when you start trouble on the other side of town with the Chinese, the Russians will look more than guilty.\n\nYou pause for a moment. If you set these events in motion, a lot of people will die; of course most of those people probably deserve it.\n\nYou shrug. A lot of people were probably going to die anyway. At least this way you’re not one of them and, fingers crossed, neither is Gillian.\n\nYou turn into the front lobby. It’ll take too long to double back for your bike and if the Russians press you further you’re bound to slip up.\n\nYou glance to your right. Three sets of car keys hang from a board behind the desk.\n\nYou grin.\n\nHow convenient.\n\nThe car keys aren’t labeled, and there’s no time to check each of them.\n\n[[Take the silver key]]\n[[Take the tan key]]\n[[Take the square key|Take the silver key]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 377>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +12>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -89>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -3>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You quick draw your pistol and @@color:#000081;fire@@ two rounds into Maurer’s forehead. Sparks and shrapnel pierce the air.\n\nYou roll left to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ the kid as his foot splits the oak table you were leaning on. His head pivots and his eyes lock on to you. His fingers and hand twist into a cannon. You tumble over a chair as a beam of energy seers the wall beside you.\n\nYou stare back at the kid. They grow up so fast. You spend half a second reminiscing, then you @@color:#000081;shoot@@ three rounds into his stomach.\n\nThey don’t even @@color:#000081;faze him.@@ In fact, it looks almost like he’s smiling. Talk about creepy.\n\nYou glance back at Maurer. His body is putting itself back together. Wires slither and whip through the air as they climb out of his chest and reconstruct his face. Some people just don’t know when to die. Wait, is he even a person?\n\nBefore you can get philosophical, you hear the woman come at you from behind. You @@color:#000081;duck and roll,@@ just barely missing her fist.\n\nYou sprint around the corner and down the hall, back to the window. You’re about to jump through it when you realize there’s nothing on the other side. All you see is the darkness of space with the faint glimmer of stars in the distance. What happened to the backyard?\n\nMaurer rounds the corner. His arm, like the kid’s, has morphed into a cannon. He points it at you. “Quite zhe view,” he says. His voice sounds synthetic since his throat is still being assembled. “Zhe others will be disappointed.” He shrugs. “Ah vell.”\n\nThe cannon glows and a beam of light @@color:#000081;slams@@ into your chest. The force thrusts you out the window. You twirl helplessly through zero gravity. Your chest feels like someone lit a fire in your @@color:#000081;ribcage.@@ The pain is brief though. The harsh coldness of space has already frozen your fingers and toes – soon your legs, arms, and chest.\n\nAs you twirl, you glimpse Earth. It’s beautiful – like nothing you’ve ever seen before. You try to hold on to the image, but soon your jaw and nose are frozen solid. You feel a slight pinch in the back of your head and the darkness overtakes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 20]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 343>>\n<<set $infamy -5>>\n<<set $luck -10>>\n<<endnobr>>The Boss made this personal when he took your sister. You’re just returning the favor. The only thing you regret is that there won’t be enough time to watch all of his exotic cars burn.\n\nYou take a taxi to the outskirts of the city, near a barren stretch of land. The warehouse is almost the size of a football field. Completely destroying it may take longer than you expected.\n\nThere are a few security cameras positioned around the building. You avoid them easily, sprint a few steps up the wall, and shimmy through a window.\n\nYour feet make a soft tap as they hit the concrete floor. The interior is pitch black. The Boss might have a guard posted nearby. It’s best to stay silent until you’re certain the building is clear.\n\nYou’ve been to this warehouse once before, a long time ago. It takes a moment to recall the floor plan... the light switches were to the right, along the wall. You slink quietly through the darkness until you feel the switches. You flip them on.\n\nThe lights flicker to life. You turn to examine the exotic cars, but instead of cars, you see @@color:#000081;three dozen thugs,@@ each one armed with an assault rifle. You’re about to attack the closest thug when the Boss’s voice jolts you to a halt.\n\n“I’d rather not kill you,” the Boss says calmly.\n\n“Really?” You groan. “I thought death was part of your severance package?”\n\nThe Boss frowns. “Don’t be so cynical. I value my employees... all of them... especially you. Not to mention how difficult it would be for me to make money employing a corpse.”\n\n“I’m beginning to think there’s more to life than money.”\n\nThe Boss’s smile returns. “Yes, there’s also power.”\n\n“You think you can just do whatever you want and no one will stop you?”\n<<if $introComments is true>>The relationship between the Boss and the main character is complicated. I wanted their aggression against each other to be more like a child rebelling from a parent.<<endif>>\n“Many people have tried... and failed, but that is beside the point. I knew that you would come to this warehouse, just as I know what needs to be done concerning Gillian. Would you please allow me to explain?”\n\n[[Allow the Boss to explain]]\n[[Try to kill the Boss]]\n

<>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveGetBehindMeSatan").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockGetBehindMeSatan").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The fattest man you’ve ever seen sits at the head of the table. His arms are so fat he can barely lift them and even if he could, you doubt they’d reach past his several chins. His stomach is so large a half circle has been cut into the table and form fitted around him. His eyes are set deep in his head, though it could just appear that way because of his puffy cheeks.\n\nHe looks sad and helpless. A person sits beside him – a beautiful, delicate featured person with a strong, but somehow sensual build. It’s embarrassing to say it, but you can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman.\n\nThe person sets the fork of food down on the fat man’s plate and turns toward you with a dangerously warm smile. “Guests? What a delightful surprise.” The person’s voice is smooth and comforting. “Do have a seat, both of you.”\n\nJazelle steps in from the doorway and stands beside you. “Ugh,” she says in disgust, turning her face away from the fat man.\n\nHis whole body jiggles as he sobs.\n\nThe person stands and bows. “You may call me Ayporos if you so desire. Please sit.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>The design of Ayporos, Third Duke of the Southern Realm, was most influenced by Christian documents describing angels and demons.\nHere are several angel/demon characteristics that inspired Ayporos:-Demons were once angels but, lead by Satan, rebelled against God and fell out of favor-Angels and demons have no gender and can’t reproduce. Their capacity for sexual lust is unclear but they are considered well versed in presenting temptation.-Angels and Demons have no need to eat, instead their power comes from God (which would suggest they’re outside the “normal” circle of life).-There is a hierarchy of angels and demons which determines their role and abilities.-Angels and Demons are not omniscient and cannot know the thoughts of humans.Ayporos reveres the Creator and is subject to most of the Creator’s laws. However, Ayporos still tries to game the system by manipulating humans (specifically the main character).Ayporos is particularly jealous of humanity’s freedom and if he cannot claim it for himself, he plans to experience it vicariously through the main character.<<endif>>\nJazelle shrugs and sits in front of the roasted duck. “You know, I’m not really that hungry, but this looks so good.”\n\nAyporos grins and motions generously. “Take what you wish.”\n\nJazelle immediately piles food onto her plate.\n\nAyporos glances back toward you.\n\nYou put your hand against the deep gash at your belly. “I have a feeling it wouldn’t stay in my stomach for long.”\n\nAyporos nods passively. “Sit, will you not?” \n\nYou have a feeling it wasn’t meant as a question. You cautiously sit next to Jazelle, keeping your eyes locked on Ayporos.\n\n“There is no need to be so guarded. I know you do not belong here, and truthfully I do not particularly care. Enforcing the attendance of this realm is not a task that has fallen to me, and I have little interest in such things.” Ayporos leans forward resting his chin on his hand. “I am curious though,” there’s a flicker of excitement in his eyes. “You have made it this far of your own volition, correct?”\n\nJazelle nods with a mouthful of food. “Oh sure, well,” she stuffs another forkful of food in her mouth. “I had a little help.”\n\nAyporos looks past her. He, though it might be she, stares at you quizzically. “Only a few humans have escaped this place.” Ayporos sighs like a young girl in love. “I truly hope you make it. Things would be so much more interesting if you did.”\n\nYou’ve got an uncomfortable feeling about this. Ayporos knows more about this place than a guest should. You stay calm and resolved. “What are you?”\n\nAyporos shrugs. “I am in many ways like you, a guest who has grown tired of his visit.”\n\nYou shake your head. “I’ve seen the guests here and you’re not one of them.”\n\nAyporos laughs. “Do you think I would reside here willingly?”\n\n“It’s not so bad,” Jazelle chimes. “We’ve seen worse.”\n\n“Have you?” Ayporos says, grabbing a cutting knife from the table. He stands with a feminine grace.\n\nYou quickly push the chair out and stand.\n\n“Oh,” he grins with pleasure. “I promise not to hurt you.” He lifts his hand into the air. “Demon’s honor.”\n\nJazelle coughs, “You’re not a demon. You can’t be. We already fought one of those and you look nothing like it.”\n\nAyporos looks amused. “You mean the boney creature riding a burning snail?”\n\nJazelle nods. “That’s the one.”\n\nAyporos erupts with a hearty laugh. “That was no demon. That was barely even a minion.” He chuckles lightly. “I have enjoyed this conversation immensely. It has been centuries since I have conversed with your kind. I have forgotten how pleasant it can be.” He chuckles a bit more and walks next to the fat man. He shoves the knife into the fat man’s side and carves out a large chunk of meat. The fat man screams and moans in agony.\n\n“Waiter,” Ayporos shouts.\n\nA blank-faced man walks out with a silver tray. Ayporos sets the large slab of flesh on the tray. He turns to Jazelle. “Did you enjoy that?”\n\nShe looks at him confused.\n\n“You know, I think we will have another one of those. And give the chef my regards.”\n\nThe server nods and takes the tray to the kitchen.\n\nJazelle stares at her plate in revulsion. She spits the food out of her mouth and vomits over the side of her chair. “How could you let me eat that?”\n\nAyporos looks genuinely surprised. “Was the taste unsatisfactory?”\n\n“No,” she vomits again. “It was just wrong.”\n\n“I will notify the chef immediately.” Ayporos claps his hands together.\n\n“No,” Jazelle groans. “Don’t bother. Let’s just get out of here.”\n\n“Wait,” Ayporos pleads. “Let me come with you. I am a prisoner here just as much as you.”\n\n“No way,” Jazelle shouts. “You turned me into a cannibal.”\n\n“You will need a guide.” Ayporos lays the knife on the table and steps toward you. “The roads in Hell are treacherous and easily misleading. I could show you the way. All I ask is that you take me with you.”\n\nTrusting a demon in Hell just seems like a bad idea, but he has a point. You need a guide. You’ve gotten this far on luck. You’ll need more than that to get back to Gillian.\n\n[[Allow the demon Ayporos to join you]]\n[[Turn the demon away]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 864>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +28>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You dig your fingers into the metal covering and pull it off. You grin. @@color:#000081;Demon strength@@ is something you could get used to. You examine the circuitry. It’s a little more complex than you were expecting.\n\nYou cut a few wires and wrap them together. A garbled digital voice erupts from the speaker.\n\nOkay, so that didn’t work. You put the wires back in their original place and @@color:#000081;try another@@ set. “Penthouse,” you say. The lights flicker. That’s something, but obviously not enough. Any more little mistakes and security is bound to investigate.\n\n“Hey,” you say out loud. “How much do you know about electricity?”\n\n“More than you,” Ayporos says condescendingly.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Here’s a subtle example of the demon mentality I tried to capture in Seven Bullets. Ayporos thinks he’s smarter than the main character and feels entitled to have more control of their physical body.One of the best ways to gauge the amount of power a person possesses is to measure the amount of freedom they have to make choices.Demons are beholden to God but humans have freewill. By possessing the main character, Ayporos is attempting to gain more freedom.<<endif>>\n“Yeah, yeah,” you groan. “Make it work already.”\n\nYour fingers thrust forward of their own volition and @@color:#000081;rework the circuit.@@ You’re amazed by their speed and for a moment it’s hard to believe they’re connected to your hands.\n\nSuddenly they stop and you can move them again. “Penthouse,” you say. The elevator jolts upward. It’s so fast you have to steady yourself against the wall.\n\nIt stops as abruptly as it started. You feel your stomach turn. The elevator doors slide open. You step into the hallway.\n\nIt’s the Boss’s penthouse, but the furnishings are different – less elegant and more quaint. It has a woman’s touch. Last time you checked, the Boss was too self-involved to have a partner, business or otherwise. This is definitely not his place, and there’s no way he would have sold it, so the real question is who took it from him.\n\nThey’d have to be ruthless and clever – able to kill without remorse. In this city that list isn’t a short one, but not just anyone could take down the Boss.\n\nHis elite assassins might have the skill, but at best they’re nothing more than deadly courier pigeons. They would never have the patience to cross the Boss, and he would never have handed over his kingdom willingly which means whoever’s here is a third party – one you may not be familiar with. You’ll have to keep your @@color:#000081;guard up.@@\n\nYou walk down the hallway quietly. You hear faint classical music in the adjacent room. As you move further into the living room you see a photograph on the wall. It’s you as a kid.\n\nThat’s odd.\n\nYou don’t know of any crime lords that would hang your photo on their wall – not unless they were planning to shoot at it.\n\nYou turn right and walk toward the classical music.\n\nYou push the door open all the way.\n\nAn old woman, in her nineties, sits behind a desk. “I told you I didn’t want to be disturbed.” She puts her book down and glances up at you. Her eyes widen and her mouth hangs open with surprise. @@color:#000081;“Impossible.”@@ She takes her glasses from the desk and puts them on. “It can’t be,” she says, examining you.\n\nShe looks vaguely familiar, but you can’t recall from where.\n\nIt takes her some effort to stand. “You’re,” she shakes her head in disbelief. “You’re just the same.” She reaches out to touch your cheek. “You haven’t changed a bit?”\n\nYou move your head away from her hand and take a defensive stance. “I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing in the Boss’s penthouse, but I want answers now.”\n\n“It’s me,” she says.\n\n[[Maintain your stern look.]]\n

Spinning Rims\n

<>\n<<remember $thePlotIsALie = true>>\n<<endnobr>>The Plot is a lie\n Reach an ending that has nothing to do with Gillian\n

<center>Chapter 4</center>\n\nSara looks into the rear view mirror of the pickup. “For the record, this is a stupid idea.”\n\nYou stand in the bed of the truck. “I know. Just drive.”\n\nShe exits the portico and travels down toward the pool. The sky is dark. The moon glows, casting the yard with hard shadows. Trails of excrement, vomit, and blood lead in multiple directions, but the girls are nowhere to be found.\n\n“Brandy,” you shout. “Brandy, sex.” You move to the other side of the truck and shout for her again.\n\nSara scans the bushes. “It’s really quiet.”\n\n“Don’t let it bother you.”\n\n“I can’t even hear the crickets.”\n\nYou swallow uncomfortably. “Yeah, no crickets.”\n\nSara brushes a strand of hair out of her face. “And what about the CDC or the military or the police? Shouldn’t there be lights and sirens? Shouldn’t they be here by now?”\n\nYou look out at the horizon. It’s dark. “Yeah, they should be here by now.” You hadn’t even noticed it before, how quiet it is.\n\nPeople are dead, well, more or less dead and not one cop car, no helicopters flying overhead, no news vans or reporters. You shake your head. “We need to stay focused. We’ve got to get Brandy’s DNA.”\n\n“You really think this is the best way?”\n\n“No, right now, it’s the only way.” You walk to the edge of the truck. “Brandy, sex.”\n\nStill quiet.\n\nYou move to the other side of the truck. “Sex, Brandy, sex.”\n\nA rumbling.\n\n“There,” you shout. “In the bushes.”\n\nSara flips on the headlights.\n\n“Gggraraaah!”\n\nThe shadows shoot in multiple directions. Four undead, sex-starved, playboy bunnies howl, stunned by the light.\n\nThey run at the truck.\n\n“Uh-oh.” Sara puts it in reverse and hits the gas. The jolt knocks you forward. Your head hits the back window. The glass shatters. You fall hard against the bed of the truck.\n\nSara hits the brake and twists the steering wheel hard until the truck does a 180. She shifts gears and hits the gas.\n\nTwo undead, sex-starved, playboy bunnies drop from the trees. Two more emerge from the bushes.\n\nThe momentum is too much. “Sorry girls,” Sara winces.\n\nShe hits them head on. Two of the girls shatter on impact. The other two clutch the front grill. Their legs and feet drag under the truck.\n\nSara switches on the windshield wipers. “Hey,” she shouts. “You alright back there?”\n\nThe side of your head is bleeding. You can feel the hot blood stream down your chin. Your eyes won’t focus. You take a deep breath and get to your knees. Out of the corner of your eye you see them. Two zombie playboy bunnies climb up the back of the truck.\n\nYou can’t think straight. “Sara.” You clutch your head. It hurts to speak. “We have a problem.”\n\n“Yeah, that’s understating it.”\n\nThe zombie girl on the grill, her hand slips. Her leg catches on the tire. She’s pulled under. Her body explodes in the wheel well. Flesh and black goo gum up the tire.\n\nIt loses traction.\n\nThe vehicle spins as if it was on ice. Sara turns the truck into the spin, trying to realign the wheels.\n\nYou fly against the side of the truck. You try to guard your head with your arms. The two undead bunnies grab at your pants and crotch. You see a group of trees ahead. You grab the metal ring welded to the side of the truck.\n\nThe truck continues to spin.\n\nUntil it slams into a tree.\n\nThe undead girls tear strips from your pants as they twist through the air. One hits a branch with such force it rips her in half. The other bounces off the ground like a skipped stone.\n\nYou let go of the metal ring. You cough up blood, roll onto your back, and rub your leg.\n\nSara blinks slowly. Her cheek and part of her ear are bleeding from hitting the door. She undoes the seatbelt. A long red stripe stretches across her chest, already starting to bruise. She tries to move. “Uagh,” she groans. She leans back in the chair. “Are you alive back there?”\n\n“Yeah,” you moan.\n\n“Next time, I’ll come up with the plan.”\n\nYou let your head fall against the metal bed of the truck. “Alright.”\n\nSara pushes her way across the backseat and through the window. She lies down next to you. She sighs.\n\nThe stars flicker and flash in the sky above. You glance at Sara. “You know, it’s almost romantic.”\n\n“If I didn’t have bits of people in my hair I would agree.”\n\nYou try to laugh, but grab your chest instead. “Uagh,” and cough.\n\nSara looks at you. “Hey, do you hear that?”\n\n“What?”\n\nShe peeks over the side of the truck. “I don’t believe it.”\n\nYou get to your knees. “What?”\n\n“Look for yourself.”\n\nYou peer over the back of the truck. In the distance, something moves. It’s getting closer. You can’t make it out. You hear a faint whisper of, “Sseesxs.”\n\nYou smile. “It worked.”\n\nSara looks at the smashed truck, the dead girls, the blood dripping from your head. “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.”\n\nYou hop out of the truck. “Come on, let’s get that DNA.”\n\n“Hey, be careful.”\n\nYou run closer to Brandy. She barely moves. Her leg muscles are gone, only bone remains. Bits of intestine trail behind her from the gash in her stomach. Her jaw is loose on one side, and her right eye hangs from the socket. A pool of blood expands underneath her, and a trail leads back up the hill.\n\nShe sees you...and her lips curl into a smile.\n\n“Sseesxs.” As she says it, her jaw falls out of place and hangs from the side of her face. Her tongue fights against the air, but slumps against her neck. Drool drips down her chest, or at least what's left of her chest.\n\nYou kneel down near her. You take a long DNA swab and brush it against her dangling mouth. You slide the swab into a container, and stand.\n\n“Wait.” Sara stares at Brandy. “We can’t leave her like this.”\n\n“There’s not much else we can do?”\n\nSara hands you a shovel.\n\n“What?”\n\n“You have to kill her.”\n\nYou look at the shovel and then down at Brandy. “I can’t. You do it.”\n\n“I’m not strong enough. It should be done in one swing.”\n\nYou swallow hard and wipe the blood from your forehead. You walk behind Brandy. You line up the tip of the shovel with her neck. You look back at Sara, hoping for some other option.\n\n“Do it,” she says.\n\nYou raise the shovel back.\n\n“You have to do it now.”\n\nYou look down at Brandy.\n\n“Sseesxs,” Brandy says solemnly.\n\nYou swing the shovel down hard, almost tripping as it sinks into the ground. Brandy’s head dips and rolls a few feet in front of her body. Her arms go slack. Her body lies motionless.\n\n“She’s dead.”\n\nYou open your eyes and let go of the shovel. “Should we say something?”\n\n“Oh god.”\n\n“Uhm,” you shrug. “Shouldn’t we say something longer?”\n\n“No,” Sara points. “Behind you.”\n\nYou turn. “Oh god.” Three undead, sex-starved, playboy bunnies emerge from the darkness.\n\n“Time to run,” Sara gasps and grabs you by the hand. She yanks you in the opposite direction.\n\nYou run, past the truck, the pool, the grotto, the mansion, down the entrance toward the city.\n\nIt’s dark.\n\nThe whole city is dark, pitch black.\n\n“I can’t even see the car lights,” you say.\n\n“What do we do?”\n\nYou look back, up at the entrance. You see the undead bunnies. “We have to take our chances somewhere.”\n\nSara looks back. She sees the bunnies too. She looks down at the city. “City it is.”\n\nYou run down the street. The bunnies follow.\n\nBANG. BANG. BANG.\n\nShots ring out.\n\nYou and Sara drop to the ground. You look back in time to see the heads of the bunnies explode.\n\n“Look.” Sara motions forward. Three soldiers push forward with their guns drawn. An APC pulls up behind them.\n\n“Keep your heads down,” a soldier shouts. More shots erupt. You hear the sound of bullets tear through flesh. The zombie bodies hit the ground.\n\nThen silence.\n\nAnd footsteps.\n\n“Sir, ma’am. This is a red zone. You should not be here.”\n\n“We need to find the CDC,” you try to explain.\n\nThe soldier moves closer, his assault rifle at the ready.\n\n“Wait, wait. I’m not infected.”\n\nThe soldier whistles. Two medics get out of the APC. They swab your mouth and put the swab in a container of liquid. They shake the container.\n\n“It’s clear.”\n\nThey do the same for Sara. “She’s clear too.”\n\n“Alright.” The soldier motions toward the APC. “Get in. All civilians are being evacuated. The city is FUBAR.”\n\n“What happened to the city?” Sara asks.\n\n“I’m not at liberty to disclose that ma’am.”\n\n“Well, where are you taking us?”\n\n“Someplace safe.” He nods at two other soldiers. “Take her.” The two soldiers take her by the arms and put her in the APC.\n\n“Wait,” you shout. “Wait. I need to speak to the CDC. I think I have a cure.”\n\n“Cure?” The soldier grunts. “A lot of good that’ll do us. They already set off the nukes.”\n\n<center>[[Project STAG Memo]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 275>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<endnobr>>“We can’t afford to make any mistakes,” you say. “Check it out, but be @@color:#000081;cautious.”@@\n\nThe soldier moves right. You follow a few paces behind him.\n\n“What the hell...” The soldier grunts. “You’ve got to check this out,” he shouts.\n\nYou jog up to him.\n\n“I think it’s still breathing,” the soldier says, poking a furry lump with his gun.\n\n“It’s one of the creatures,” the scientist proclaims.\n\n“If it aint dead, I say we kill it.” The soldier pokes it again harder.\n\nYou count a dozen bullet wounds in its back. The creature rolls and props itself against a tree trunk. The soldiers and scientist stumble backwards fearfully.\n\nThe creature’s fur is matted with blood. It’s large, more than double your size. Its face resembles a wolf with a stubby nose. It must have been wounded during the earlier attack.\n\n“...please...” the creature groans. “...please...”\n\nIt can talk... you weren’t expecting that. You keep the assault rifle pointed at its head. “Where’d your buddies take the scientist?”\n\n“You must... kill me...” the creature whispers. “Kill me... now... before I... heal.”\n\n“You want to die?”\n\n“Please... so much... pain.”\n\n“Tell me what I want to know,” you demand. “Why’d they take the scientist, Aiden Clark?”\n\n“Fix us... bodies hurt... the change... is painful.”\n\n“Where?”\n\n“The lab...” the creature tries to point, but its arms are too weak.\n\nYou take careful aim with the rifle.\n\n“Wait,” the scientist interrupts. “You can’t kill it. We need to study it. Just imagine the knowledge we can gain.”\n\nThe soldier pushes the scientist back. “It killed our people. Now we kill it. That’s the way this works.”\n\n“Yes...” the creature groans. “Kill me...”\n\nIf only it was that simple.\n\n[[End the creature’s misery]]\n[[Knock it out, tie it up, and store it somewhere]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1072>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +4599>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You take the grenade from your pocket, pull the pin, and @@color:#000081;smile.@@\n\nHe looks at you with horror. “You wouldn’t.” He jerks your sister closer. “Not with her this close.”\n\nYou shrug. “You were going to kill her anyway.”\n\nHe swallows hard. “Was not.”\n\nYou glare at him with the cold viciousness of an assassin. “Let her go.”\n\n“Fat chance. As soon as she’s out of reach, you’ll shoot me in the head.”\n\n“If I wanted to shoot you in the head, I would have done it already.”\n\n“Ha,” he laughs nervously. “Look at your arm. You can barely lift that heavy piece.”\n\nYou slowly point your pistol at his head. The pain is @@color:#000081;excruciating,@@ but you hide it @@color:#000081;well.@@\n\nHe starts to sweat. “The Boss, he just wanted to talk. He needs you, and you weren’t returning his calls.”\n\n“You’ll have to do better than that,” you snarl and take a step closer.\n\n“Wait, wait,” he pleads. “The Boss said he would only talk to you about it. He said it was that important.”\n\nYour strength is dwindling fast. You won’t be able to keep this charade up for long. “Fine, I’ll hear what he has to say. Now let my sister go.”\n\n“And you’re not going to shoot me?”\n\nYou lower the pistol. “I promise not to shoot you.”\n\nHe nods. “Okay.” Then he lets her go.\n\nHer body trembles. She walks to you.\n\nYou motion toward the upper platform. “You might want to check on your buddy.”\n\nThe thug nods at the others. “Take him to the Boss.” Then he jogs past you up the steps.\n\nYou grin and toss the grenade back. It bounces twice and rolls next to him.\n\n“What the—” The @@color:#000081;explosion@@ cuts him off.\n\nThe other thugs frantically point their guns at you.\n\n“What?” You shrug. “I only promised not to shoot him. Now take me to the Boss.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is one of my favorite scenes. You promise not to shoot him so you blow him up instead.The main character has just enough of a moral compass not to lie, but too much aggression to let the threat slide. That’s the mentality I used when constructing most of these fight scenes.<<endif>>\nThe thugs keep their guns pointed at your chest. There’s no way they’ll let you pull a stunt like that again...at least not willingly. Gillian hurries to you. You hug her and then lean on her for support. Your body’s weaker than you thought, but you need to keep up this bluff...if not for the guards, then for Gillian.\n\nThe guards lead you down the stairs to an office. The entire floor is clear except for one desk, three chairs, and a small table for tea.\n\nThe Boss casually glances over at you. “You’re late. I hope your skills haven’t dulled since you left.” He waves his hand toward the guards. “You may leave now.”\n\nThe guards stare at him with confusion.\n\n“It’s fine.” The Boss assures them.\n\nThey don’t know what else to do but follow his orders, so they leave. It’s just you, Gillian, and the Boss.\n\n“Please,” the Boss gestures toward the chairs. “Sit. Would you like some tea?”\n\n“What makes you think I’m not going to shoot you where you sit?” You say sternly.\n\n“If I wanted to kill you,” the Boss says calmly. “You would be dead. That’s true for your sister as well. Aren’t you curious why I orchestrated this little game?”\n\n“Because you’re insane.”\n\nThe Boss chuckles softly. “You and I both know that’s not true. Come. Sit.”\n\nYou and Gillian sit down across from the Boss. He pours two cups of tea and slides the cups in front of you. “I’ve been presented with a particularly difficult problem. I believe there is a traitor within my organization, and I’d like you to find out who it is. Surprisingly, you are one of the few people I can trust. I put on this little show to convince my adversaries that you and I had a falling out.”\n\n“We did have a falling out.”\n\n“I required a more public display of your dissatisfaction. Which I might add was a superb delivery on your part.”\n\n“Tell that to your dead employees.”\n\n“It was important the action was believable.”\n\nYou stretch your arms and legs. “Whatever,” you groan. “Let’s skip ahead to the part where I kill you.”\n\nThe Boss rolls his eyes with a pang of boredom. “Your life could have been extingished at any moment had I but said the word. Or did you think I would be unable to anticipate your emotional outbursts when your dear sister was at jeopardy?”\n\nAs skilled as you are, the sad truth is that everything you know, you learned from him. He’s always been five steps ahead of you...even now. “Well,” you glower at him. “I’m listening.”\n\nHe smiles. “I have been pursuing several new revenue streams and the returns have proven...disappointing. I am a patient man, but progress is slower than I would prefer. I have constructed this elaborate ruse not only to confuse my enemies, but also to force your hand.”\n\n“Get to the point,” you growl.\n\n“Of my several investments, two have proven to be especially troublesome. Progress on a new drug being tested in Montana has come to an unexpected halt. Some of the human test subjects have gone missing. Retrieving them would be...very productive for the project. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality.”\n\n“What?” You interrupt. “What genetic abnormality?”\n\n“Oh,” the Boss smirks. “Did I forget to mention that? Yes, I took the liberty of having my scientists infect you and Gillian with a rare genetic abnormality.”\n\n“What!?!” You growl.\n\n“Calm yourself,” the Boss says soothingly. “You and your sister are fine, for the moment. No unnecessary harm will come to either of you as long as you do as I command...just like old times.”\n\nYou mull over the notion without speaking. Killing the Boss now would be very satisfying, but there’s still a chance you can get Gillian out of this alive. You have to do what’s best for her.\n\n“There is another option,” the Boss says. “There is a doctor, a genius, I believe she may have stolen some of the research that belongs to me. If there is a mole, this woman should know who. I sent a small team to retrieve her, but they have yet to return, which means I underestimated how dangerous she is. If you could bring her in or perhaps persuade her to work for me, it would help to accelerate a resolution between the three of us because, as you already know, your sister is staying with me until I get what I want.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<center><img src="img/SplashScreen_1000x667.png" align="center" width="100%" hspace="6"></center>\nThank you for taking the time to experience Seven Bullets. If you enjoyed it and would like to read more interactive fiction in the future, support me (your humble author) and buy the Twine version of Seven Bullets, the original ebook, or the app.\n\nSeven Bullets is an epic Text Adventure with:\n• 280,000 words (1,000 pages)• More than 500 unique passages• 80+ endings• 35 unlockable items (>300 pages)• 40 achievements\nBuy the Twine Version: <a href="http://cloud-buchholz.itch.io/seven-bullets" target="_blank">itch.io</a>\nBuy the ChoiceScript App: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seven-bullets/id957845861" target="_blank">iOS</a> <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.hostedgames.sevenbullets" target="_blank">Android</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hosted-Games-Seven-Bullets/dp/B00TT5WT7E/ref=sr_1_5?s=mobile-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1425406279&sr=1-5" target="_blank">Amazon</a>\nBuy the ebook: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Bullets-ebook/dp/B00FXF0E30" target="_blank">Amazon</a> <a href="http://goo.gl/krXG4S" target="_blank">iBooks</a> <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seven-bullets-cloud-buchholz/1118069480?ean=2940148147336" target="_blank">B&N</a> <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/367868" target="_blank">Smashwords</a>\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Note: The original ebook does not include achievements or unlockable items. And the ChoiceScript App does not include unlockable items.@@\n\n<<back>>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 818>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +16>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $wpn = "Movie Quotes">>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Without the people, this castle will never stand. You need them as much as they need you, and right now, they need a @@color:#000081;leader.@@\n\n“Hear me sons and daughters of Sarrejiinn!” You shout from the wall.\n\nThe peasants and soldiers glance up at you with halfhearted stares.\n\n“If we are marked to die, the mark upon us is a noble stain; for we, the small and meager few, stand as giants. Today, our shadows will stretch across all of time. Every child and wrinkled sage will know that we brave and noble few stood and fought and died when others ran. Today,” you lift the green speckled blade into the air, “Our actions will @@color:#000081;echo through eternity!”@@\n\nThe peasants perk up. You’re pretty sure they won’t recognize the @@color:#000081;movie quotes.@@ You glance over the wall as the Ferralliise overrun the last of the knights. Doomed isn’t the right word, but it’s close.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The referenced movies: Patton, Henry V, and Gladiator.<<endif>>\n“I actually pity those beasts we’re going up against,” you continue. “We’re not just going to stab the poor creatures, we’re going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the metal of our blades. We aren’t holding on to this castle. We’re holding onto the enemy. We’re going to grab them by the snout and kick them in the tail.”\n\nThe peasants pickup their pitch forks and rocks.\n\n“Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandchildren on your knee, and they ask you what you did during the battle for Sarrejiinn, you can tell them that you bled like kings. For the ghosts of this day will haunt any beast or fool wizard who thinks they can take this land from us!”\n\nThe peasants cheer.\n\nYou turn and point your sword at the Blue Wizards, but before you can tell them to dine in hell, the ground quakes.\n\nA bright light emanates from Quintus’s lab. He turned on the machine... He’s leaving @@color:#000081;without you.@@\n\nThe lab sounds like a dozen vacuums turned on and off at random. The light flickers from red to purple to green to blue.\n\nSteam spirals out from the ceiling and the cracks in the walls. The air feels electric, and a purple haze obscures the castle and seeps onto the battlefield like a thick fog.\n\nThe vortex thing must have reached the critical event Quintus was talking about. He had to activate the machine or you’d all die ...at least that’s what you tell yourself.\n\nThere’s no way you can reach the lab in time. All you can do is hope the machine has enough energy for a second trip ...and that Quintus left you instructions.\n\nYou glance over the wall. The purple haze creeps as far as the Blue Wizards. The Ferralliise look fearful and timid. This is a small stroke of luck that you need to capitalize on.\n\nYou turn back to the peasants. “We will not yield! We will not falter! You were born servants, but this day you will die champions!”\n\nThe peasants @@color:#000081;cheer@@ in unison.\n\nYou face the Blue Wizards and point your sword directly at the leader. “I am the great and powerful Wizard of Earth. This castle is mine. You have laid siege to it long enough. Now you will know my @@color:#000081;wrath!”@@ You shout the words with confidence and anger.\n\nThe ground shakes and trembles more. Cracks splinter out from Quintus’s lab. You grab the wall to steady yourself. The air tingles and burns like the moment you first went through the portal.\n\nThe peasants hit their pitchforks and rocks against the wall and chant.\n\nThe Ferralliise become frantic with fear. The Blue Wizards can’t control them. The hoard @@color:#000081;scatters@@ into the woods with a blind fury.\n\nThe ground shakes more violently. A loud thunder erupts from the lab, sending jolts of red lightening into the sky. Suddenly the lab collapses in on itself.\n\n[[The machine is destroyed...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 500>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>As much as you hate the idea, you climb out the window. “Hey,” you stick your head back inside. “Aren’t you coming?”\n\n“Are you crazy? I’m not going to fall to my death.”\n\nYou scowl at him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. What about the guards?”\n\n“For all they know, I did my best to subdue you. Now get out of here before more of them show up.”\n\nYou grin. “You’re alright.” You pull out your pistol and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ him in the leg.\n\nHe screams and drops to the floor. “What’s wrong with you?” He growls.\n\n“Don’t be such a baby. The bullet barely grazed your leg. This way, they’ll definitely believe your story. You’ll probably even get a promotion out of it.”\n\n“Thanks,” he says sarcastically.\n\n“Just remember to put pressure on it.”\n\n“Yes, I know. I’m a doctor.”\n\n“Right,” you nod. “Thanks for the help doc. I hope the next time we meet I don’t need to shoot you.” You smile cheerfully, but the @@color:#000081;threat@@ still comes across loud and clear.\n\nThe doc grins at you nervously.\n\nYou twist back out the window and start @@color:#000081;climbing.@@ The easiest way to get to the street is from the other side of the building. You’re not sure how you know that... Or how you know there’s an alley that will provide additional cover, but you know that’s where you need to go. Maybe the drugs are finally wearing off.\n\nYou glance down at the street, but instead of sidewalk and asphalt you see bubbling lava and pillars of flame. You hug the wall and close your eyes as a wave of heat surges through your body. You start to sweat. Maybe the drugs are stronger than you thought.\n\n“No,” you say to yourself. “It’s just a hallucination. It’s not real.” You take a deep breath. “It’s not real.” You look back down. Liquid fire drips from the streetlights and the street flows with lava, but you can tell where the sidewalk ends. If you didn’t know about the drugs, you might actually believe you were in Hell.\n\nYou take another deep breath. It’s best to focus on the work at hand. You start climbing again. You gently twist around the corner. You see a few dumpsters below. If you get a little lower, you should be able to drop to them without breaking anything.\n\nBefore you can move, you hear the thundering whirl of helicopter blades. You glance up in time to see a helicopter landing on the roof.\n\nThe chopper could be for any number of things. They could be evacuating high value personnel or unloading sensitive documents. You can’t be too sure what kind of panic your escape has caused. A little detour to investigate wouldn’t be a bad idea. Whatever it is, it must be important to them which would make destroying it even more satisfying.\n\nThen again, you’re still delusional which makes any kind of confrontation extra dangerous. You’d be risking a lot just for payback.\n\n[[You could never pass up a chance for payback]]\n[[Escape now and worry about payback later]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 606>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "Looting!">>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>How often do you get to loot a ship with a bunch of pirates? Not often enough, that’s for sure.\n\n“Arr,” you growl in the pirateyest voice you can manage. “The vessel be ours to @@color:#000081;loot and plunder!”@@\n\nTaz Moir gives you a weary stare.\n\n“What?” You shrug.\n\nHe rolls his eyes. “To the drifting ship,” he commands.\n\nNow all you need is a parrot and one of those cool hats, and maybe an intimidating name like The Dread Pirate of Dreadiness and @@color:#000081;Looting!@@ Okay, maybe the name needs a little work.\n\nThe ship turns and slowly approaches the abandoned vessel.\n\n“Ahoy!” Taz Moir shouts.\n\nThe other ship is silent.\n\n“Swing over lads,” Taz Moir orders as he swings from a rope onto the other ship.\n\nYou grab his rope as it swings back. Several of the crewmen leap to the other ship's deck. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ from the rope and land next to Taz Moir. \n\nThe ship is slanted, and the wood creaks as if it were very fragile.\n\n“Three months, I’d say.”\n\n“What?” You ask.\n\n“The ship be drifting for three months,” Taz Moir says. “And sinking. The hull be cracked. Make it quick boys.”\n\nThe crew scrambles through the ship, scavenging whatever supplies they can find.\n\n“Survivors?” You ask.\n\n“Possible,” Taz Moir says dryly and points to the side of the ship. “The boats be missing.” He walks toward the captain’s cabin.\n\n“What happened?” You ask, following him.\n\n“Mermaids,” a crewman whispers under his breath.\n\nTaz Moir bats him across the side of the head. “I’ll not hear the name of those foul creatures again.” He glances at the rest of the crew. “That name shall not be spoken!”\n\nThe crew keeps their heads down and continues rummaging for supplies.\n\n“That’s weird,” you say to Taz Moir. “I thought that guy said mermaids?”\n\n“He did,” Taz Moir growls. “And we’ll speak of it no more.”\n\nYou obviously touched a nerve. It’s probably best to drop the subject. You follow him into the captain’s cabin. A small table is at the center of the room with a map nailed into it. There’s no sign of the captain or the crew.\n\nTaz Moir examines the map. He points to an emblem at the upper corner. “Employed by the Blue Wizards.”\n\n“A trading ship?”\n\n“No,” Taz Moir points to the red line on the map. “Scouting ship. They were likely looking fer,” he cringes at the word. “Mermaid scales.”\n\n“I thought you said that word was--”\n\n“Fools,” Taz Moir cuts you off. “They got themselves killed. These waters are not fer the faint of heart. They must have come across a pack of those vile beasts.” Taz Moir rips the map from the table, rolls it into a tight circle, and stuffs it in his jacket. “Fer safe keeping,” he says, patting the outside of his jacket. “We best be makin’ haste.”\n\n“That’s it?” You say full of disappointment. “All we’re taking is a map?”\n\n“Aye,” Taz Moir says walking to the door. “And our lives. Last call lads!” He shouts from the deck. “Take what ye can. We leave the rest fer the ocean.”\n\nThe crew lugs boxes, crates, and whatever else they can carry to Taz Moir’s ship. He grabs a rope and hands it to you. You both swing back to the ship.\n\n“Survivors?” Avengral asks. His cheeks are still green.\n\n“None aboard,” Taz Moir says with zero emotion.\n\n“But they may still be alive?” Avengral presses.\n\n“Anything be possible, though not likely.”\n\nAvengral looks to you. “I know time works against us, but the honorable action would be to search for survivors.”\n\n[[Force Taz Moir to search for survivors]]\n[[Travel to the southern islands without searching]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1039>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“No,” you grab Mos’s arm before he can draw his short sword. “That was a human once...or humans, but it can still feel and think. It’s still aware. We @@color:#000081;can’t@@ just kill it.”\n\n“Listen to yourself,” Mos grimaces. “Whatever it is, it’s not human anymore. It’s part of a horrible experiment, one that will make the Blue Wizards even more powerful. It needs to be destroyed.”\n\n“No,” you grin. “What it needs is @@color:#000081;vengeance.”@@ You turn to the creature. “Do you know who did this to you?”\n\n“Yes,” the creature moans. “I know their smell.”\n\n“And what do you want to do to them?”\n\nThe creature steps forward. You see its gruesome face covered in scars and a patchwork of other creatures’ skin.\n\n“Kill them,” the creature hisses. “Rip off their faces...eat their hearts...break their bones with my teeth.”\n\nDozens of creatures emerge from the shadows of their cages.\n\n“Kill them!” One howls.\n\n“Must die,” hoots another.\n\n“Mine to kill!” A third cries.\n\nOthers simply moan or whimper indiscernible pleas for revenge.\n\nMos takes a step back. “By the Seven...There has to be at least a hundred down here.”\n\nYour grin widens. “It’s not an army, but it’ll do.”\n\nThe creatures continue to hoot and howl and pound against their cages.\n\n“Shut up!” An old voice shouts from the opposite corridor. “Or I’ll send a jolt of lightning through your cages.” The old wizard steps into view. He sees you.\n\nMos sends an arrow hurtling toward the wizard’s head. The wizard thwacks it away with a gust of wind. “Foolish thieves!” The old wizard shouts. “I’ll have your intestines wrapped around a tree!” The wizard points his staff at your chest.\n\nAble steps around the corner and slams his heavy hammer into the wizard’s head. The wizard jerks sideways into the iron bars, then hits the ground, dead.\n\n“Finally,” Able sighs. “I was beginning to think I’d never get to smash something during this trip.”\n\n“Quit fooling around,” Mos says. “And start unlocking these cages.”\n\nAble scratches his head. “Are you sure?”\n\n“Just do it,” Mos shouts.\n\nAble shrugs and slams his hammer against the cell doors while Mos uses a small lock pick to pop open the catches. You @@color:#000081;shimmy@@ your blade between the door and the bars and cut through the bolt.\n\nSeveral more wizards emerge from the dark corridor. They grab at their wands, but the grotesque creatures pounce before a spell can be said. The creatures tear the wizards apart as if they were tiny rag dolls. Blood squirts and splatters the walls. The wizards don’t survive long enough to even scream.\n\nThe creatures, as a coordinated feral pack, gallop down the corridor and out of sight.\n\nYou turn to Mos. “Where does that lead?”\n\n“The tower.”\n\nAble saunters beside you. “Isn’t that where Avengral and Evie are supposed to be?”\n\n“Yeah,” you frown.\n\n“Those creatures know they’re on our side, right?”\n\n“Not sure,” Mos glares at you. “Somebody thought it was a good idea to let them all go free.”\n\n“Well,” Able grunts. “Then we better get up there to warn them. Besides,” he turns and sprints toward the corridor. “We can’t let those creatures get all the glory.”\n\nMos shakes his head. “You know what you’ve gotten us into, right?”\n\n“A very elaborate and violent escape plan. Now let’s find Avengral and Evie and get out of here.”\n\n“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Mos readies his bow and sprints after Able.\n\nYou follow behind him. The corridor leads to a spiral set of stairs that open into the lobby of the tower. The walls are splattered with red, and chunks of wizard parts are strewn across the floor. At least five dead, but there are so many pieces it’s hard to tell. You hear screams come from every direction.\n\n“Any sign of the others?” You shout.\n\n“Outside,” Able hollers back. “They’re alive.”\n\n“Let’s go,” Mos yells while kicking open the door. He lets two arrows fly in quick succession. Both hit wizards before they can finish casting spells.\n\n“Over here,” you yell to Avengral.\n\nHe deflects a bolt of lightning with his shield while Evie snaps her whip from over his shoulder. He sees you and motions for the draw bridge as an escape.\n\n“Follow Avengral’s lead,” you shout to Mos and Able. “The draw bridge.”\n\nThey nod and sprint forward, clearing a path. The wizards are too preoccupied with the creatures to put up much resistance.\n\nAvengral glowers at you. “Was this your doing?”\n\n“You said we needed evidence.”\n\n“This is not what I had in mind.”\n\n“Well,” Evie interrupts. “We’ll just have to make do.”\n\n“Indeed,” Avengral growls while deflecting another bolt. “We must move as one.”\n\nThe five of you form a defensive circle and move toward the draw bridge. Three wizards block your path.\n\nThey begin to chant. “Marmor Salvus Duratus. Marmor Salvus Duratus. Marmor Salvus Duratus.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>In an earlier ending Master Wizard Kailvo uses a similar incantation (“Marmor Salvus Duratus”) to turn the main character to stone.Even though the magic words are made-up, I wanted to make sure they were consistent. While writing the Ragnoss segment, I continually referenced a text document with all of the magical terms and their effects.There are about thirteen specific magical incantations used in the story.<<endif>>\nA wall of grey dust billows out of the ground and softly envelops the courtyard. As the grey dust touches the creatures and the wizards, they immediately turn to stone, the grisly expression of combat frozen on their faces forever.\n\n“Run!” Avengral growls.\n\n“They know they cannot win the battle,” Evie gasps between breaths, “So they are turning everyone into stone.”\n\n“Hurry,” you yell to Mos, but he’s not beside you. “Mos?” You turn.\n\nHe and Able are already statues.\n\n“No!” You scream.\n\n“Leave them,” Avengral commands.\n\nThe grey dust moves too quickly. You can’t escape it. You feel a cold shiver run down your back and then...everything is at a standstill.\n\nYou try to move your arms and legs, but nothing happens.\n\nThe grey dust blows past you and envelops Avengral and Evie. You watch their skin morph into stone. You’re all helpless.\n\nYour mind races with ideas and plans for escape, but your body remains pathetically idle. You’re a statue in a courtyard full of statues. You think about Gillian, and suddenly you realize that’s all you’ll be able to do...just think. Think. Think. Think.\n\nThink.\n\nThink.\n\nThink.\n\nSuddenly your nose starts to itch and you have no way of scratching it...\n\nYou want to scream, but even that’s impossible. All you can do is think about screaming.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 30]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 807>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You limp to Jazelle, slip under her arm, and help her up. The damage isn’t too serious, just painful. You lean on each other and limp to the boulders. You nod toward the third one.\n\n“Hold-up,” you say. “How do we know this is the right way? Shouldn’t we be worried about what’s on the other side?”\n\n“Whichever direction we take,” Ayporos says coolly. “There will be something unpleasant waiting for us. It is unavoidable. This, after all, is Hell.”\n\n“Yeah, okay, I get that, but what should we expect? Do we need to deal with another one of those torture chambers?”\n\n“That should not be necessary. The Gatekeeper, and our fate, is just beyond.” Ayporos motions toward the third boulder. “Shall we,” he says encouragingly.\n\n“Yeah, alright,” you say cautiously.\n\nAyporos scrawls the door on the stone and lightly blows on the outline. The chalk glimmers. He opens the door and steps through.\n\nJazelle grabs your arm. “Wait.” She looks concerned. “Are you really sure we can trust him?”\n\n“We’ve made it this far, haven’t we?”\n\n“I guess, but—”\n\n“I have to get back to Gillian. I’m the only person looking out for her.”\n\nJazelle doesn’t seem convinced.\n\n“Just because I’m going along with his decisions, doesn’t mean I trust him. He knows the way out and if following him means I can get back to Gillian, then I’ll stick to him @@color:#000081;like a shadow.”@@ You soften your stare. “If you had a chance to get back your son, wouldn’t you take it, no matter the cost?”\n\nShe looks away. “Alright,” she says. “I just had a bad feeling, that’s all.”\n\n“Let’s go,” you say, @@color:#000081;stepping through@@ the chalk doorway.\n\nYou step in a dimly lit cavern. A few torches line the walls, and the faint flicker is enough to see a bit of your surroundings.\n\nYou’ve been in this place before. It feels like it’s been years or maybe days – you can’t tell. Everything in Hell feels hazy and patched together. This cavern is the last memory that’s still vivid in your mind. You remember trying to rescue Gillian, then things get foggy, but the cavern – you remember that. “This is the entrance to Hell.”\n\nAyporos glances over his shoulder. “It is also the exit. We just need to make one more stop.”\n\nYou follow him to a set of stairs carved into the side of the cavern. They lead up.\n\nAs you journey upward, the wall crumbles and shakes. The air feels hot and sticky. The steps curve around a colossal face that’s been carved in the hard rock.\n\nThe lips jostle and the eye sockets bend toward you. The rock face twists like awakening from a deep sleep. It yawns. “The price for passage is death.”\n\n“But we’re already dead,” Jazelle says. “How are we supposed to get through?”\n\n“All who wish to cross this threshold must pay the toll.” Its breath feels like the heat from a volcano, and its words echo like the sound of crumbling rocks.\n\nAyporos pulls you aside and whispers, “If you want to see your sister again, you must pay the toll.” He hands you a knife. “Life is the currency here.” He glances at Jazelle. “And we have enough for one trip.”\n\nYou look down at the knife and then back at Jazelle. “You can’t be serious.”\n\n“It is the only way.”\n\nYou push the knife back toward him. “I won’t do it.”\n\n“You are the only one who can.” Ayporos says coldly. “I swore an oath not to harm either of you. That oath cannot be broken.”\n\n“No,” you whisper. “Besides, your math is off. There’s only one of her and there’s two of us.”\n\nAyporos lets out a soft chuckle. “A demon cannot cross the threshold of the gatekeeper, no matter how much he pays.”\n\nYou glare at him. “How are you supposed to get out of here then?”\n\n“Through you.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“You clear out a small part of your brain and soul where I can reside.”\n\n“You mean a possession.”\n\n“It is not as bad as it sounds.”\n\n“I bet,” you say sarcastically.\n\n“You will need me. The world is a different place since you have been gone. I can make you stronger and faster. Your body will heal from terminal wounds. You will be capable of feats that you never thought possible.” He puts the knife back in your hand. “Think about what you have been working toward. Are you willing to give that up?”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This is one of the few scenes when morality plays a significant role in the decision making and outcome of the narrative.When I was first outlining Seven Bullets, this scene (sacrificing a companion) was always a focal point for Hell.<<endif>>\n“Hey,” Jazelle says, walking toward you. “Are you guys going to help or do I need to find a way out of here myself?”\n\nAyporos waves to Jazelle while whispering in your ear. “Do not consider my desires, or even your own. Consider the life of your sister. How long will she survive without your protection?”\n\n[[Stab Jazelle]]\n[[Don’t stab Jazelle]]\n

<>\n<<remember $sheHadItComing = true>>\n<<endnobr>>She Had It Coming\n Kill Alana\n

<>\n<<remember $crankItTo11 = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Crank it to 11\n Gain enough XP to reach Level 11\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 196>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Evie, Mos, and Avengral manage to reach Sarrejiinn Castle and warn the King. With their message as a recruitment tool, the King amasses a mighty army and attempts to storm the Island of Raizaa. His forces are nearly victorious until Kailvo appears and destroys almost all of them with a single spell...a spell that derived its power from your blood.\n\nThe King and his forces retreat, overwhelmed by Kailvo’s new found power. Kailvo is so strong that even the other Blue Wizards begin to fear him. The war continues for thirteen years; during which time, Kailvo keeps you in shackles and always nearby.\n\nWhen his power wanes, he harvests more of your blood. He keeps you as a glorified pet, feeding you well, keeping you safe, but always bound.\n\nDuring the course of the war Kailvo destroys Sarrejiinn Castle, its armies, and nearly half of its people. When the war is finally over, Kailvo declares himself Emperor and ruler for all of time.\n\nThere is little you can do to stop him since you are shackled and guarded continuously.\n\nYou will eventually die; but just as Kailvo promised, it is nearly sixty years later...from old age.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 537>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "A Nervous Wilson">>\n<<set $damgeCost = $damageCost +15000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You drop to your knees. She’s got you dead to rights.\n\nYou’ll have to @@color:#000081;talk@@ your way out of this. “Wait,” you say confidently. “What about the money?”\n\nShe stops. “The money?”\n\n“Of course the money,” you lie. “What else would this be about?”\n\nIn the glass reflection, you see her gun hand lower. You grin. The megalomaniac types always care about the money, or the power, but a lot of times the two aren’t exclusive. Seems like she took your bait.\n\n“Now that I’ve gotten a look at your operation here,” you try to @@color:#000081;secretly motion@@ toward Wilson. “I’m not so impressed. My organization’s weekly profits easily overwhelm yours.” You gesture at Wilson again. “Your technologies are interesting though, and I believe your setbacks are something our two organizations could tackle together.”\n\n“Really?” She says.\n\n“My organization would act as a silent benefactor. As I said, money really isn’t a problem for us.”\n\nShe lowers the gun and takes a step closer. “What kind of assurances can you pro—”\n\nHer voice cuts off as Wilson tackles her to the ground. The gun fires two bullets into the opposite wall. You grab the little girl and pull her out of the way. The gun goes off two more times. \n\nYou twist back around, ready for a fight.\n\nWilson and the woman lie on the floor. Neither one moves. You take the gun and roll Wilson over.\n\nHe cries pathetically. “I didn’t mean to. I-I-I-”\n\nThe woman has two bullet holes in her chest. Blood soaks through her shirt. She’s already dead.\n\nYou pull Wilson up. “She had it coming. If you didn’t kill her, then I would have.”\n\nHis hands shake uncontrollably. “I’ve never done that before. I don’t think I can—” He runs to the sink and vomits.\n\nYou sigh and scratch your head. “Hey,” you say cheerfully. “She’s breathing. I think she might pull through.”\n\nWilson looks up at you wide-eyed. “Really?”\n\nYou point the gun at her head and @@color:#000081;pull the trigger.@@ “Nope.”\n\nWilson jumps at the sound.\n\nYou smile. “See, you only roughed her up a bit. I’m the one that finished her off. Feel better?”\n\nHe vomits into the sink again.\n\nYou sigh and shake your head. Some people just don’t know how to say @@color:#000081;thank you.@@\n\nYou lift the little girl into your arms. “Quit fooling around Wilson. We need to go.”\n\n“Yeah dad,” the little girl adds. “We need to go.”\n\nWilson looks at her with surprise then wipes the vomit from his chin. He wearily nods and follows you.\n\nThe entire mansion @@color:#000081;shakes@@ from another tremor. You fall against the wall.\n\nYou look back at Wilson. “We’ve got enough time to get out of here, right?”\n\nHe shrugs.\n\nYou crack open the door and glance down the hallway. The guards are running through the mansion in a panic. They’re not really looking for intruders. “Let’s move,” you say, sprinting down the hall and through another door. It looks like the garage.\n\n“Hey,” Wilson says. “Look at this.”\n\n“Shh, quiet,” you say.\n\n“Hey,” Wilson whispers. “Look at this.”\n\nThere are three vehicles in the garage with keys still in the ignition. It’s just a matter of picking one.\n\n[[Take the rusty Chevy pickup]]\n[[Take the blue Subaru]]\n[[Take the Ferrari]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 229>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -7>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +1>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +299>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You just got comfortable, and you’ll be moving soon. It’s better not to @@color:#000081;waste time.@@\n\nYou toggle the scope to detect heat.\n\nThere are eight bodies on the floor, one of those being Gillian. You zoom in and toggle on the x-ray scope. Gillian is on the bed. Two thugs are in the room with her. Three thugs are sitting at the table in the living room playing cards. One thug is in the kitchen. The other is in the bathroom.\n\nYou align the rifle with the thug in the kitchen.\n\n“What’s going on here? What is this!”\n\nThe voice jars you. Your arm twitches slightly, offsetting the angle. The bullet @@color:#000081;shatters@@ the window in the living room. The guards drop and roll. You didn’t even hit one.\n\nYou turn toward the voice. A man in an overpriced suit stares at you with horror. “This is @@color:#000081;my office!”@@ He grabs the phone from the floor. “Get security to my office now!”\n\nCrap.\n\nYou slide off the desk, grab a thick book, and @@color:#000081;slam@@ it into the side of his head. He groans and slumps to the floor. You grab the phone. Dial tone. Security will be here soon.\n\nPlan needs to change. Sniper rifle is out. You’ll have to adapt. You take the man’s ID badge and slide the sniper scope into your pocket. You need to move now.\n\n[[Use the ID badge]]\n[[Find an alternative exit]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 482>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $force = $force +14>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +27>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +28>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +11>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +2800>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You need to send a message. If you don’t go at this hard and messy the Boss may decide it’s worth trying a second time – not to mention all the governments and criminal organizations you’ve angered over the years. Without the Boss’s protection they’d be more than eager to exact revenge.\n\nYou’ll have to make an @@color:#000081;example@@ out of these poor saps. You grin. It’s not like they don’t deserve it.\n\nYou exhale slowly, align the rifle with the thug in the bathroom, and lightly pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@\n\nThe bullet cuts through @@color:#000081;three walls@@ and tears through the back of his knee. He slams into the shower door making what you can only assume is a loud noise. He rolls on the tile floor while the other guards run toward his @@color:#000081;screaming.@@\n\nOne of them kicks open the door, slips on the blood, and falls on his side. His face lands on the detached leg. It takes him a moment to realize what it is. He @@color:#000081;screams@@ and pushes it away.\n\nAnother guard steps over him and presses a towel against the spurting blood. He frantically shouts at the others. You can’t make out what he’s saying, but one of the others takes off his belt and hands it to him.\n\nWhat a perfect opportunity.\n\nAs he steps into the small bathroom, you pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ The velocity of the bullet causes his head to @@color:#000081;explode@@ with such force pieces of bone @@color:#000081;shatter@@ the mirror. Blood erupts from his neck drenching the wall and floor. His body tumbles on top of the others. That should keep them occupied for a bit.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The violence in this scene is very graphic and even now part of me wants to re-write it in a softer way.All the direct violence the reader commits is against criminals (who are usually trying to kill them). I know that’s not a justification but it does lighten the weight on my conscience.I think High School is age appropriate for the story. Jr High... I’m not sure.<<endif>>\nYou turn your attention to the bedroom. The two guards look nervous. The screams must be getting to them. It’s almost too easy.\n\nYou pull out your phone and dial a number you’re more than familiar with. The phone in the bedroom rings. The guards nearly jump out of their skin. The closer one reluctantly answers.\n\n“Run,” you say ominously. You keep your voice vague. The Boss has a lot of enemies. Any one of them could be trying to kill him. Before the guard has a chance to finish counting all of the Boss's enemies, you @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the phone receiver.\n\nThe guard falls back against the wall. He scrambles up and out the door. The other guard follows after him. You @@color:#000081;shoot@@ him in the shoulder. He twists and falls, squirting blood in a descending arc against the wall and desk.\n\nYou glance over. The two thugs from the bathroom are heading down the hall. They must have given up on their buddy.\n\nYou take a deep breath and realign your shot.\n\nA knock at the door startles you. “Excuse me, Mr. Jenkins. Would you like a slice of cake? It’s really very good.”\n\nThe two thugs are almost on top of Gillian. You really don’t have time for this.\n\n[[Take the shot]]\n[[Address the person behind the door]]\n

<>\n<<remember $rampage = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Rampage\n Cause more than $50,000 of damage to the city\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1042>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +25>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +24>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -12>>\n<<set $force = $force +20>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +35>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Maybe you were going to start a new life. Maybe you were going to be a good person and prove to Gillian that you had a conscience, but Gillian isn’t here, and your new life hasn’t started yet. This old man manipulated you into getting twenty-four people killed. You’re not going to let him walk away unharmed. You’re probably not going to let him walk away at all.\n\nYou grab the old wizard’s index finger and @@color:#000081;break it@@ at the knuckle. You grab his middle finger and @@color:#000081;break it@@ too. The old man screams and wallows in agony.\n\nYou kneel down and smile at him. “I haven’t even asked you a question yet. Just imagine what'll happen when we really start to dialogue.” You grab his ring finger and @@color:#000081;break it.@@\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This was the main scene I wanted to write when I started the slave trader story arc. I realize it’s a little graphic which is why I made certain it was a clear choice for the reader.<<endif>>\nThe old wizard whimpers and crumples to the ground.\n\nAvengral scowls at you, but then looks away ambivalently. Evie Greengrass looks away too. Able, on the other hand, nods with approval.\n\nYou lean down and grab the wizard’s thumb. He looks at you with panic and fear. You smile.\n\nYou slowly bend his thumb back. “Right now, you should be wondering what happens when you run out of fingers.” You @@color:#000081;snap@@ his thumb out of place.\n\nHe wails and weeps. “You’re making a mistake. I’m a High Wizard of the Blue Court. I’ve invoked the Aproxiona Accord,” he begs. “You can’t do this to me.”\n\nYou smile very politely. “I was hoping you’d say something like that. You probably think I want to get this over with as soon as possible, but I’m going to take my time. I don’t care about the missing Prince or the Aproxiona Accord. You manipulated me into getting twenty-four people @@color:#000081;killed.@@ I could feel you rummaging through my brain, making me feel those things. Now I’m going to make you hurt.”\n\n“Wait,” the old wizard pleads. He directs his words at Avengral. “You’re a knight of the court. You can’t let this happen.”\n\nAvengral continues to look away. “The Aproxiona Accord extends only to the citizens of Sarrejiinn. The Earth Wizard is not subject to its edicts.”\n\nThe old wizard looks back at you. The reality of his situation finally sinks in. “Wait,” he shrieks. “No, no more.”\n\nYou grab his arm and slowly bend it in the direction it isn’t supposed to go.\n\n“Please,” the old wizard begs. “I’ll tell you everything.”\n\nYou continue bending his arm. \n\n[[“Then talk.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 237>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<if $coldAndCalculating is false>>\n\t<<script>>\n\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveColdandCalculating").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockColdandCalculating").processText());\n\tUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You zip up your jacket, sling the bag over your shoulder, and casually walk to the office. You were never much for the spy stuff – getting close, dealing with idle chatter, and putting up with fake people. It was all so exhausting.\n\nA reliable gun and some distance are all you need to get a job done. Of course this is not just a job; this is your sister. If you can’t deliver, she’s going to die.\n\nYou take a deep breath and confidently walk past the security at the front desk. You’ve learned how to blend in – jungle, forest, desert, or a crowd – it doesn’t matter which; you’ve @@color:#000081;trained to be invisible.@@\n\nCrowds are the most dangerous though. People can be ...unpredictable.\n\nYou step into the elevator with a group of suit wearing workers. You don’t exactly look the role, but the office holds enough employees to give you a little bit of anonymity – at least for now.\n\nOnce you reach the fourteenth floor you’ll need a cover story to reach a north facing office. The elevator dings and the door slides open. Fourteenth floor already.\n\nYou step out and walk past the receptionist without a second thought.\n\n“Wait. Wait please. Excuse me. You can’t just go in there.”\n\nYou groan under your breath – almost made it. The receptionist grabs your arm. He doesn’t look happy. You’re going to need that cover story sooner rather than later.\n\n[[Act like an intern]]\n[[Act entitled]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 510>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -13>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +900>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’re a trained assassin. You don’t need bullets to get a job done. You check the few clips you have left. It’ll have to be enough. You stuff them in your pockets and casually walk to the lobby. A thug smoking a cigarette near the entrance does a double take when he sees you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shove@@ your palm into his throat before he can call for help. As he lurches forward, you pull the pistol from inside his suit jacket and @@color:#000081;hit@@ him across the head with it. He drops to the pavement.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;walk inside.@@ The other guards don’t seem to notice you. Then you feel the cold metal of a gun barrel against the back of your neck.\n\n@@color:#000081;Crap.@@\n\nGood-bye upper hand.\n\nYou hear a raspy growl, “Hands up. And don’t be stupid.”\n\nYou recognize the voice. “Hey Nikola.” The two of you were friends once, but it ended badly. You glance over your shoulder at the long deep scar across his face and his crooked nose – yeah, maybe badly is an understatement.\n\nHe pushes the pistol hard against your neck, “Move.” He motions for one of the guards to frisk you. This rescue mission is off to a rocky start. You’ll need to change that.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The Boss’s assassins have aggressive (and often violent) rivalries with each other. The two achievements they treasure most are: 1) being the most skilled assassin and 2) being the Boss’s favorite.The assassins often work alone, but on the rare occasion when they work jointly, their darker natures emerge and someone usually dies. Nikola holds a particularly vicious grudge against the main character for an assignment that went awry.<<endif>>\nYou twist and duck, using the guard as a @@color:#000081;human shield.@@ Two of Nikola’s bullets hit the guy’s chest. You grab his belt to keep him up while quick drawing your second pistol. You @@color:#000081;drop@@ the two closest thugs and take cover behind a cement pillar.\n\nYou take a swift peek around the edge: four guards behind the counter, three behind the lobby furniture, two by the entrance, plus Nikola – not to mention the ones that’ll be coming from the elevator. You’ve got about two minutes before you’re surrounded.\n\nYou fire two shots at the @@color:#000081;counter@@ and three @@color:#000081;more@@ toward the entrance. You hear two bodies hit the floor accompanied by painful screams.\n\nYou slide right across the tile floor, firing two bullets into the couch and one into the flipped table. Two bodies @@color:#000081;slump lifelessly@@ into view.\n\nYou aim at the entrance, but before you can pull the trigger, a bullet @@color:#000081;grazes@@ the side of your chest and your arm falters from the pain. You turn to see Nikola hopping over the counter, his crosshairs pointed at your heart.\n\nAnother bullet @@color:#000081;whirls@@ by your shoulder. You roll to the right as three more bullets ricochet off the floor. You push off the pillar and return fire. Nikola ducks and slides behind cover.\n\nYou use the lull to reload your pistol. You hear the elevator ding. Uh oh. You’re about to be pinned down.\n\nIt hurts to move, and your side is sticky with @@color:#000081;more blood@@ than you’d like to admit. The bullet must have done more than graze you.\n\nYour arm trembles from the pain, and your accuracy is sixty percent, at best. There’s still time to hand yourself over and try to talk this out. Then again, you’re closer to the elevators now. You could make a run for it.\n\n[[Take your chances and sprint for the elevators]]\n[[Surrender and try to make a deal]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 431>>\n<<set $wpn = "Stun Gun">>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<endnobr>>You yank the kid out of the room and travel down the hall for a bit. There’s a set of stairs twisting around to a lower floor. You look back at the kid and signal her to be quiet.\n\nShe nods.\n\nYou get the stun gun ready and make your way down the stairs as quietly as possible.\n\nYou hear voices, and you push the kid against the wall.\n\nYou hear two sets of feet shuffle closer. The voices talk about an experiment – something about Wilson taking his time. You suck in a breath as the two guards walk past you.\n\nYou wait for them to turn the corner then you look down at the kid. “Who’s Wilson?”\n\n“My daddy,” she says, looking like someone just poked her with a needle.\n\n“And what, he’s a scientist?”\n\nShe nods, wiping a few tears from her cheek. “The best scientist ever.”\n\n“And who decided it was 'bring your daughter to work day'?”\n\nShe looks at you confused.\n\n“Never mind,” you say, taking her hand, “Come on.”\n\nYou follow the hallway into a kitchen. To the left, through a small crack in the door, you count five guards sitting around a table. It looks like they’re playing cards. Best to avoid them.\n\nYou take the right door. It leads into a large, open room. The whole left wall is made of tinted glass and you see the guards patrolling outside. The fireplace in the center of the room is lit, and there are three glasses on the table still half full.\n\nHalf full – whoever was here is bound to be coming back soon. You sprint to the door on the other side of the room and glance through the opening. Three men with graying hair and expensive suits walk toward you.\n\nYou race back toward the kitchen, but stop just shy of slamming into the door. You hear someone rummaging through the cabinets. The guards must be taking a snack break.\n\nYou’re @@color:#000081;trapped.@@\n\nYou grab the kid and push her into a small alcove under the bar. “Don’t make a sound. No matter what happens just stay here, stay quiet, and wait for me to come get you, got it?” You turn before you can see her response.\n\nYou haven’t got a lot of options here. If you take on the guards in the kitchen, the noise might alert somebody. If you try to confront the three suits, they might figure out you don’t belong here and alert somebody. Looks like you’re going to have to pick the lesser of two evils and quick.\n\n[[Confront the three suits]]\n[[Fight the guards in the kitchen]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 397>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“Hhhmm,” Maurer nods. “Zhat is a very good choice. I hope it will serve you vell. I ask only that you remember zhis act of friendship and tell no one of zhis place or my secrets.”\n\nYou nod and take the orange case.\n\nThe woman leads you out the mansion and back to the BMW. She remains emotionless, but you feel as though there is a softness to her expression. Maybe you’re just seeing things.\n\nYou put the car in gear and drive, staying a little under the speed limit. When this is all over you may have to pay Maurer another visit, but for now, you need to put this little detour on the back burner. You still haven’t managed to start a crime war and Gillian isn’t getting any safer.\n\nYou take a long breath and try not to think of what the Boss might have done to her. Either way he’ll get what he deserves soon enough.\n\nBut first, a little distraction to set the gears of war in motion. You pull a burn phone from your bag and @@color:#000081;text Jimmy Lee.@@ If he really was trying to take the kid from the Russians, then he probably still thinks they have him.\n\nYour Russian is a little rusty, but you @@color:#000081;text him@@ to bring a ridiculous amount of money to the docks for a trade. You send the same text message to the Russians.\n\nSince the address just happens to be a heavily guarded building owned by the Boss, everyone’s guns and tempers should make for a nice mess. It’s almost too bad you won’t be able to see it.\n\nWith any luck, it should clear out most of the thugs from the Boss’s penthouse and with this elegant shotgun you should be able to clear out the rest.\n\nThe shotgun is only useful close-up which means you need to be quick and direct. The only way to the penthouse is through the lobby, but the lobby has two entrances: the main entrance and the service entrance.\n\nThe main entrance is the most direct route to the elevators, but it’s also going to be the most heavily guarded.\n\nThe service entrance, on the other hand, leads through a series of small hallways and the kitchen before it reaches the lobby. It will take a bit longer, but it might give you a tactical advantage.\n\n[[Take the main entrance]]\n[[Take the service entrance]]\n

<>\n<<remember $murderer = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Murderer\n Kill 5 or more people in a single read-through\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 766>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You glance in both directions. Neither one is a standout choice, but you remember @@color:#000081;Alana@@ telling you it was always best to take the higher ground. Without much else to go on, you turn right and @@color:#000081;walk@@ up the rock corridor.\n\nThe path is steep, but not unpleasant, at least compared to the other things you’ve seen in this bizarre place. If it wasn’t for the faint sound of heart-wrenching screams, this little walk might actually be quaint. But, then again, after all the horrible things you’ve done, quaint is a subjective word.\n\nYou follow the path as it twists up and around into the precipice of a cliff. You see miles into the distance. There’s a clear blue ocean below you and a long calming shore. The distance has to be impossible, but somehow it’s not – like a bad dream... If only you could wakeup.\n\nThere’s movement below. You squint your eyes to get a better view.\n\nIt’s a woman standing near the water's edge.\n\nFinally someone who might know where you are and how to get back home. You jog to the cliff’s edge. “Hey,” you shout to her. “Hey.”\n\nShe doesn’t seem to hear you. Instead she walks further into the water.\n\nYou can barely hear her. “My son,” she says in a haze. “He’s drowning. I have to save him.” The water splashes against her thighs.\n\n“Wait,” you shout, searching the waterline for her son. “There’s no one else out there.” You search further out, just beyond the waves, you count eight sharks cutting through the water. “Stop,” you yell to her. “Sharks.”\n\nShe keeps walking. “My son. I have to save my son.” The waves crash against her shoulders, and she has to swim to stay afloat.\n\nShe’s too far out. Even if you jumped, there’s no way you could reach her in time.\n\n“Come back,” you scream. “You have to come back.”\n\nIt’s no good.\n\nA shark slices through the water and bites into her leg. She screams in agony. The water swirls with red. Another shark digs into her torso. Her screams turn into gurgles as she gets pulled under. The water thrashes, and red streaks spiral through the waves.\n\nShe’s gone.\n\nPart of her body floats to the surface and gets caught by a wave. You can’t see much of it, but that’s probably because there isn’t much left. It drifts on the water until it finds land further down shore.\n\nYou sit on the edge of the cliff and sigh. You didn’t know the woman. You had no reason to go in after her, but seeing her die like that, it takes a little bit out of you.\n\nYou can’t help but think of Gillian. She’s out there somewhere – still in danger – while you’re lost in a stupid cave. Your little sister needs you. You can’t give up.\n\n“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice startles you.\n\nIt’s her – the woman that just got ripped to pieces. She looks completely unharmed, identical to how she looked moments before she got in the water.\n\n“Excuse me,” she says. “Have you seen my son? He’s ten years old with blond hair. I fell asleep for just a minute and now he’s gone. I’m sure he hasn’t gotten far.”\n\nYou stand up and look her over. She doesn’t seem to remember anything.\n\nShe walks past you toward the edge. “He wanted to go swimming in the ocean, but I told him to wait. I told him to play in the sand. I only closed my eyes for a minute. I was so tired.” Her foot dangles over the edge. “I think I see him. There,” she says, pointing at the sharks. “He’s right there.” She steps over the edge.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>This is one instance where the reader can meet Jazelle. While some of the other humans in Hell are sadistic or selfish, I wanted Jazelle to represent a more sympathetic tortured soul.Like the main character, she’s trying to rescue a family member she loves, but she’s already failed.She’s another reminder that the main character still needs to rescue Gillian.<<endif>>\nYou grab onto her arm, but not soon enough. You slip over the edge with her and hit the water hard. It takes you a moment to shake off the disorientation.\n\nThis place is upside down and wrong. You see her moving toward the sharks. You have to stop her, even if it’s just to end this sick cycle of torture. And if you’re lucky, she might have answers about this strange place.\n\nThere’s a small dock further down shore, and you see a metal fishing boat tied to it. You could use the boat to reach her son, or at least where she thinks her son might be, but you’d have to contend with the sharks.\n\nThen again, she's only waist deep in the water. You could probably pull her back to shore, but there’s no way to tell how she’ll react.\n\n[[Use the fishing boat]]\n[[Pull her back to shore]]\n

Intro Commentary\n

<>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveGetBehindMeSatan").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockGetBehindMeSatan").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>A man dangles in the air, hooked to thin strands of wire. His cheeks are sullen, and his body is so thin you can see his bones stretching the skin. He’s so emaciated most of his clothes have fallen to the floor.\n\nHe thrashes in the air, trying desperately to reach the food. The delicious smell tempts him with every swing, and despite how violently he struggles, the food is always just barely out of his reach.\n\n“I would introduce you,” a voice says, “But as you can see, he is too obsessed with his hunger to present a proper introduction.”\n\nYou glance right, toward the voice. It belongs to a beautiful, delicately featured person with a strong, but somehow sensual build. It’s embarrassing to say it, but you can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman.\n\nThe person slides a plate of grilled meat under the nose of the anorexic man and then turns toward you with a dangerously warm smile. “It is so lovely to have guests.” The person’s voice is smooth and comforting. “Do have a seat, both of you. And feel free to indulge yourselves.”\n\nJazelle steps in from the doorway and stands beside you. “Ugh,” she says in disgust, turning her face away. “How can you just sit there?”\n\n“The chair does most of the work,” the stranger says with a smirk. “How rude of me. Introductions are in order.” The stranger nods graciously. “I am Ayporos, Third Duke of the Southern Realm.” Ayporos motions toward the table. “Take what you wish.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>The design of Ayporos, Third Duke of the Southern Realm, was most influenced by Christian documents describing angels and demons.Here are several angel/demon characteristics that inspired Ayporos:-Demons were once angels but, lead by Satan, rebelled against God and fell out of favor-Angels and demons have no gender and can’t reproduce. Their capacity for sexual lust is unclear but they are considered well versed in presenting temptation.-Angels and Demons have no need to eat; instead their power comes from God (which would suggest they’re outside the “normal” circle of life).-There is a hierarchy of angels and demons which determines their role and abilities.-Angels and Demons are not omniscient and cannot know the thoughts of humans.Ayporos reveres the Creator and is subject to most of the Creator’s laws. However, Ayporos still tries to game the system by manipulating humans (specifically the main character).Ayporos is particularly jealous of humanity’s freedom and if he cannot claim it for himself, he plans to experience it vicariously through the main character.<<endif>>\nJazelle stares at the hanging man. “I think I’ve lost my appetite.”\n\nAyporos glances toward you.\n\nYou put your hand against the deep gash at your belly. “I’d have a hard time keeping it down.”\n\n“Humor,” Ayporos says smiling. “Is that the secret to how you have gotten this far?”\n\n“You know where we are?”\n\n“Yes. Of course.”\n\n“Then you wouldn’t mind helping us find the exit.”\n\n“You will have to be more specific. There are many exits and not all of them lead out.”\n\n“Whoa,” Jazelle interrupts. “Am I the only one who sees the half-naked guy dangling in the air? Shouldn’t we do something?”\n\n“But we are,” Ayporos says calmly. “We are doing nothing. My ward has spent the better part of a century attempting to curtail his self-indulgence, but he continues to disappoint himself. Even now, his willpower evades him. He cannot help but chew and devour his own tongue.”\n\n“What?” Jazelle says with horror. She looks up at the anorexic man. The chewing noise, it’s coming from the man. As she looks closer, she can see the bits of blood dripping from his lips. “Ugh,” she gags. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She turns around and vomits against the wall.\n\nYou stare hard at Ayporos. “So that means you must be one of them.”\n\n“Them?” Ayporos leans back. “A demon, you mean?” He laughs. “I have gone by many names. I suppose that is one.”\n\nYou lift the sword, ready to fight.\n\n“There is no need to be so guarded. I know you do not belong here, in my region, and truthfully, I do not particularly care. Enforcing the attendance of this realm is not a task that has fallen to me, and I have little interest in such things.” Ayporos leans forward resting his chin on his hand. “I am curious though,” There’s a flicker of excitement in his eyes. “You have made it this far of your own volition, correct?”\n\n“Yeah,” you say, trying not to give anything away.\n\nHe stares at you quizzically. “Only a few humans have escaped this place.” Ayporos sighs like a young girl in love. “I truly hope you are among them. Things would be so much more interesting if you were to succeed.”\n\n“Why is that?”\n\nAyporos shrugs. “I am in many ways like you, a guest who has grown tired of his visit.”\n\nYou shake your head. “I’ve seen the guests here, and you have it pretty good, relatively speaking.”\n\nAyporos laughs. “Do you think I would reside here willingly? My desire to escape this torment is of equal weight to your own, if not heavier from years of service.”\n\n“Let’s just get out of here,” Jazelle groans. “Before he decides to starve us for centuries.”\n\n“Wait,” Ayporos pleads. “Let me come with you. I am a prisoner here just as much as you.”\n\n“No way,” Jazelle shouts. “You’re a sick monster.”\n\n“Great idea Jazelle, antagonize the demon.”\n\nShe glowers at you.\n\n“You will need a guide.” Ayporos pushes the chair out and stands. “The roads in Hell are treacherous and easily misleading. I could show you the way. All I ask is that you take me with you.”\n\nJazelle crosses her arms and stares at you. Trusting a demon in Hell just seems like a bad idea, but he has a point. You need a guide. You’ve gotten this far on luck. You’ll need more than that to get back to Gillian.\n\n[[Allow the demon Ayporos to join you]]\n[[Turn the demon away]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 682>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -7>>\n<<set $wpn = "Blood... Blood... Blood... Blood!">>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You give her a hard stare. “Why go to the trouble of saving me only to feed me to your pets?”\n\nShe smiles. “Who said I meant to save you?”\n\nYou let out a soft laugh. “Okay, let’s say you do kill me, do you seriously think I’ll be the last person to come after you. They’ve got more resources than you can imagine, and they have an unhealthy tendency of getting what they want.”\n\n“They aren’t the only ones with resources.”\n\n“You’ll spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.”\n\nShe tilts her head quizzically. “And I suppose you can help me with that problem?”\n\n“Yeah,” you say. “Problem solving is at the top of @@color:#000081;my resume.”@@\n\n“Oh,” she says wide-eyed. “So you’re looking for a job.”\n\n“No,” you groan. “I’m looking for a clean way to quit my job. I really do have a sister, and she really is sick. I need your help to save her. You can do whatever you want with the others. I don’t care. All I want is my sister.”\n\nShe brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. “For some strange reason I believe you. Your loyalty, however, is a concern. If you’re so willing to betray your current employers, why should I believe you wouldn’t betray me at the next convenient moment?”\n\n“We want the same thing,” you say sternly. “They want you under their thumb. They’ve already got me under their thumb. I want them gone just as much as you do. We’re talking about something that’s mutually beneficial.”\n\n“I believe your story,” she sighs. “I just don’t trust you...yet.”\n\n“Yet? What do I need to do to prove it?”\n\n“Nothing,” she says. “Just relax.”\n\n“What?”\n\nShe pushes the red button. A green mist spews from the vents into your cell.\n\n“What are you doing?” You cough.\n\n“I’m guaranteeing your loyalty.”\n\n“By poisoning me?”\n\n“Hardly,” the woman says smiling. “You see, I have decided to employ you, but my contracts are much longer than you thought... in fact, you might even call them a @@color:#000081;lifetime.”@@\n\nThe grate slides open and you see the sharks circling with excitement. “I won’t be much use to you dead.”\n\n“I’m not going to kill you, but I’m not going to let all that information in your head go to waste. You know exactly who’s after me. And you know the easiest way to kill them, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do. You’re going to kill them...all of them.”\n\nA shark leaps into the air and chomps into your torso, but instead of tearing away flesh, its body and your body mingle. Your bones crunch and crack as they merge with the shark.\n\n“They’ve always wanted my experiments,” the woman says. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to give them.”\n\nYour body feels like it’s on fire. Your skin turns gray and thick. You feel two extra sets of teeth push their way into your mouth. Your muscles contort and grow. You feel the gills form around your neck. You’re becoming a monster...a hideous monster.\n\nYour nose protrudes, and you can smell the blood. It’s like an explosion of flavors you had never imagined. It tastes so good...you want it...it’s maddening how much you want it. You feel like killing something...anything. It’s like an itch in the back of your brain.\n\n“Yes,” the woman says laughing. “You know exactly who you must kill.”\n\nYour mind races with thoughts of the Boss. You must... “Kill!” You growl.\n\n“Yes,” the woman says. “That’s right. Kill.” She presses a button on the console.\n\nYou hear a valve open beneath you. You swim down and follow it to the ocean. You’re in open water. You’re free. You have a nagging thought... someone you were supposed to save or rescue...\n\nNo...\n\nNo, that’s not right...\n\nIt’s blood you want. It’s killing you’re meant to do. The Boss. That’s who you’re supposed to find. You must kill the Boss. Your new senses buzz with @@color:#000081;excitement@@ and information. You swim back toward the city with the overwhelming promise of @@color:#520000;blood...@@ @@color:#B20000;blood...@@ @@color:#CC0000;blood...@@\n\n@@color:#FF0000;Blood... Blood... Blood...\n\nBLOOD... BLOOD...@@\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>This is another example of how I used color to enhance the text. I debated using a different font for the last three lines, but in the end I decided font consistency was more important.In a future story I’d like to use a different font for each character kind of like comic books. (See: Deadpool and Batman)<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<remember $soThatsWhatHappens = true>>\n<<endnobr>>So That's What Happens\n Read at least one Epilogue\n

The Last Darling (Pirated Edition)\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 424>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $wpn = "Stun Gun">>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You rub the bridge of your nose and sigh. “Alright kid, @@color:#000081;we’ll look@@ for your dad, but if things get serious we’re out of here, you got it?”\n\nShe nods.\n\n“Good,” you sigh. “Now we don’t have a lot of time. Do you know where your dad’s being held?”\n\nShe shakes her head.\n\n“Alright, do you at least know the layout of this place?”\n\n“There’s a basement.”\n\n“A basement?”\n\nShe nods.\n\n“That’s it?”\n\nShe shrugs.\n\n“Okay. That’s probably a good place to start.” You examine the door. There’s no way you’re getting it open without explosives. You walk back to the window. “Come on,” you say over your shoulder.\n\n“But my dad?”\n\n“We’ll get to him. We’re just taking a detour. Come on.”\n\nShe huffs, but follows you.\n\nYou glance back at her. “Stay behind me and don’t make a noise, got it?”\n\nShe nods.\n\nYou slip through the small opening of the window and then help her through. Something feels off. You glance at the corner. It’s empty.\n\nCrap.\n\nThe guard must have woken up.\n\n“Hey,” the little girl shouts.\n\nYou turn in time to dodge the butt of a machine gun swinging toward your head. You duck and twist around the guard, @@color:#000081;elbowing@@ him hard in the kidney.\n\nHe groans and stumbles forward.\n\nYou shove him into the wall, pull the stun gun from his belt, and give him a good @@color:#000081;zap@@ to the side of the neck. He @@color:#000081;convulses@@ and drops to the floor, making a loud thump.\n\n“Get down,” you whisper to the girl as you drop flat against the cement. “Now,” you whisper again, grabbing her by the shirt and pulling her down.\n\nYou crawl to the edge and stare down at the other guards. They haven’t noticed you.\n\nYou keep the stun gun and crawl to the nearest window. “Stay low,” you whisper back to the girl. The other guards haven’t made a move yet which means you bumped into this guy before he could alert anyone else – at least you hope he didn’t alert anyone else.\n\nYou push open the window and slip inside. The girl follows you.\n\nYou’re in a library or a study. The walls are lined with books. There has to be hundreds of them. They look old – collector’s items maybe.\n\nYou walk to the door. It’s unlocked. You peek around the door. The hallway is empty and quiet. It’s long too and stretches in both directions for awhile. They both lead further into the mansion.\n\nYou’ll just have to pick one at random.\n\n[[Turn left down the hallway|Turn left/right down the hallway]]\n[[Turn right down the hallway|Turn left/right down the hallway]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 251>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -2>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;press Yes.@@ You hear fans spin on the other side of the lab.\n\nMore text appears:\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Power active...\nTurbines engaged...@@\n\nThe room gets warm and the air gets hazy.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Calibrating input variables...\nParameters within acceptable range...\nProcessing data...\nSystem active... ... ...@@\n\nAt the center of the room, three pillars glow. Their tips ignite with flickering blue flames.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;DNA confirmation required to proceed...@@\n\nYou wipe dust from the screen, looking for a button or a keyboard.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;... ... ...\nDNA accepted. Simulation engaged... ... ...@@\n\nThe flickering tips spark and a chain of lightning surges between the pillars. The air feels heavy and electric. Small smoke clouds form between the pillars. They thunder with light and strands of electricity.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Computer text in the Twine version of Seven Bullets is light grey and italicized. In the ebook version I use a different margin and font.I debated several different styles of “computer prompt” but decided a subtle difference made the text more readable.<<endif>>\nAt the center of the pillars a glimmer cuts through the air. It distorts and bends the light.\n\nYou move closer, shielding your eyes. The glimmer expands. It looks like something could be inside it. You move closer trying to glimpse what it might be.\n\nA spark of blue lightning catches your arm and then passes through it. You take a step closer. The lightning passes through your body as if you weren’t even there.\n\nThe glimmer grows larger, encompassing your foot. It’s ice cold. Suddenly your foot won’t move. It feels like something has grabbed a hold of it. You’re being pulled in.\n\nYour whole body is being dragged into this glimmering thing, and you’re not strong enough to stop it.\n\nYou feel an overwhelming rush of cold and darkness.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 750>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -1>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The Prince is trying to defend the wizard’s tower with a few peasants. He could use the most help. You slice through two Ferralliise and shove a troll off the stairs leading up to the tower. The Prince looks relieved to see you.\n\n“By the Seven,” the Prince gasps. “I thought we were done for.” The Prince lowers his sword. You can tell his strength is almost gone. He takes a weary step toward you. “You saved my life.”\n\nYou point over your shoulder. “They’re the ones who saved mine, so now we’re even.”\n\n“My father,” the Prince exclaims. “He got my message. We have a chance now.”\n\n“These people are fighting with pitch forks and rocks?” You warn. “Chance might be an overstatement. You won’t be able to hold the outer wall beyond this wave. We need to finish evacuating these people.”\n\n“But...” the Prince hesitates. “My father, he will not yield for anything less than victory.”\n\n“If he knows what’s good for his people, he’ll fallback and regroup.”\n\nThe Prince shakes his head. “My father never retreats.”\n\n“Of course not,” you groan. “How’d I know you were going to say something like that.” You see the King and his knights battle their way toward the front gate. \n\n“Hurry,” the Prince shouts. “We must do our part.” He sprints toward the wall before you can respond.\n\n“We need tactics,” you growl. “And a plan.” But the Prince obviously can’t hear you. You sprint after him, up the stairs and across the wall.\n\nThe Prince grabs a bow and tosses another to you. “We must protect the King.” The Prince fires two arrows in rapid succession. Two Ferralliise drop to the left of the King.\n\nThe King pushes forward unaware. He looks gleeful with rage and blood. Killing is something he’s more than comfortable with. He enjoys it. For all you know, he allowed this war to happen just so he would have an excuse to kill. But none of that matters right now.\n\nYou draw back the bow and send an arrow hurtling into a Ferralliise. It hits the beast in the @@color:#000081;chest,@@ immediately knocking it to the ground. You turn to the Prince. “We can’t focus all our attention on the King. There are too many weak points on the wall.”\n\n“We must protect the King,” the Prince insists.\n\nThe King and his knights bash and kill their way through the enemy. The King lifts his sword at the hoard outside the wall. “Charge!” He yells and sprints beyond the wall. The knights follow.\n\n“Fool,” you growl. “That’s suicide.”\n\n“Hurry,” the Prince shouts while running to the higher section of the wall. It was one of the places that was hit the hardest. Rock and debris line the battlements. It looks like it could crumble at any moment. \n\n“You need to come back,” you shout. “You’re completely exposed.”\n\nThe Prince ignores you and continues to fire arrows at the monsters surrounding his father.\n\nSuddenly, a boulder hits the wall just below the Prince. The rock beneath him crumbles. You try to grab his arm, but you’re @@color:#000081;too late.@@ He slips backwards along with a large chunk of the wall. He’s dead as soon as he hits the ground.\n\nThere’s nothing you can do.\n\nHe’s gone.\n\nYou take a breath and refocus. \n\nYou draw back the bow and aim at the giant that threw the boulder. The arrow hits him in the ear, and he howls with pain. You turn back to the archers. “Ignite your arrow tips with fire and concentrate your attacks on the giants.”\n\nThe archers hesitate, looking down at the smashed Prince.\n\n“Do it,” you command. “Now.”\n\nThe archers unleash a flurry of arrows.\n\nThe King and his knights push further into the hoard. They’ll be dead in seconds. There’s not much you can do about that now. He’s made his choice, now it’s time to make yours.\n\nIf the giants fall, the wall has a chance at staying up, but that still leaves the hoard and the Blue Wizards. You’ve faced worse odds and survived.\n\nYou glance down at the peasants and weary warriors within the castle walls. They already look beaten. You need them to fight. You need them to believe they’ll win this battle. You need to inspire them.\n\nYou were never one for speeches, but now might be a good time. On the other hand, you already declared this castle was under your protection, and the time for talking has passed.\n\n[[Inspire the people with a speech]]\n[[Inspire the people with action]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1143>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +24>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveHonorBound").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockHonorBound").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You hesitate and take a step away from the old wizard. You promised Gillian that you had changed. You aren’t an assassin or thug, not any more, that’s what you told her. You were going to start a new life, one where your @@color:#000081;conscience@@ actually mattered.\n\nTwenty-four people died because of this @@color:#000081;old man,@@ but hurting him isn’t going to bring them back. It will only prove that you are what the Boss made you, and you’re not. You’ve @@color:#000081;changed...@@ at least you’re trying to.\n\nYou look at Avengral. “If this wizard keeps his tongue, how do we make him use it?”\n\nAvengral frowns. “We must bring him to the Wizards of Sarrejiinn and prove that he is a traitor.”\n\n“That would mean it’s his word against ours,” Nev Naysayer grunts. “And Sarrejiinn wizards don’t make it a habit of believing us northerners.”\n\n“The law is the law,” Avengral says, gritting his teeth.\n\n“Your law isn’t my law,” Able No-name smirks and swings his large hammer down on the old wizard’s right foot. You hear the bone crack in at least three places. The old wizard wails in pain\n\n“No,” Avengral growls. “You cannot.”\n\nAble lifts the hammer for a second blow.\n\n“Wait,” the old wizard screams. “Please. I’ll tell you everything.”\n\nAvengral hesitates.\n\n“Then talk old man,” Able demands.\n\n“The-the-the Prince is here,” the old wizard stutters. “There,” the wizard says, pointing at a slave. “He’s in a trance. Touch his shoulder and speak his name.”\n\n“If this is a trick,” Able growls. “I’ll bash your head in.”\n\nEvie Greengrass puts her hand on the slaves shoulder and whispers the Prince’s name.\n\nThe slave blinks three times and shakes his head as if awakening from a deep sleep. “What,” he groans. “What happened? And where are my clothes?” He stares at Evie with bewilderment. “And who are you?”\n\nAvengral examines him. “By the Seven Sons, this is the @@color:#000081;Prince.@@ How did I not recognize him before?”\n\n“A veil,” the old wizard croaks while cradling his wounded foot.\n\n“Avengral? How did you get here?” The Prince groans. “What’s going on?”\n\n“You were kidnapped, my Prince, but now you are safe.”\n\n“Why is that Blue Wizard bound? And where are my riders?”\n\n“All but one of your riders is dead,” Avengral says gravely. “This Blue Wizard is one of the criminals responsible.”\n\n“A High Wizard of the Blue Court?” The Prince shakes his head. “That’s difficult to believe knight. What proof do you have?”\n\n“Do you remember nothing, my Prince?”\n\n“No,” the Prince says, taking Avengral’s cloak. “I remember riding with my men when a strange fog overcame us. The rest is like a fleeting dream. I remember nothing more than talking beasts and being forced into a crowded cage.”\n\n“This Blue Wizard kept you veiled from us and was making plans for you to be sacrificed at the Ferralliise Blood Festival.”\n\n“I kept you veiled,” the old wizard interrupts, gasping for breath, “from the Ferralliise in an attempt to rescue you, an attempt,” he gasps, “that was ruined by these violent and brutish soldiers. You can count the dead for yourself. My plan was peaceful and practical.”\n\n“Lies,” Avengral growls. “This blue-blooded dog attempts to twist your ear with deceit. You cannot trust him.”\n\nThe Prince lifts his arm, and Avengral immediately goes silent. “Though his story is highly skeptical,” the Prince says calmly. “We must uphold the customs regarding these matters. He and the accusations against him will be brought to the Wizards of Sarrejiinn. Until a decision is made, he will be treated with the respect a high wizard is deserved. This is the law of the land as put forth by the King himself.”\n\nAvengral scowls. “And I am honor-bound to serve and obey.”\n\n“My foot,” the wizard wheezes. “They’ve shattered my foot.”\n\nThe Prince glances at the wizard’s bleeding and broken foot. “I assume this injury was not carried out by you Avengral, nor a citizen of Sarrejiinn. The laws are very clear.”\n\nAvengral lowers his head in shame. “I-”\n\n“I did it,” Able interrupts him. “And I’m no citizen of Sarrejiinn.”\n\nAvengral glowers at him. “You are a subject of the King’s realm.”\n\n“Not anymore.” Able smirks. “We’ve retrieved your Prince. Vizzairn is an independent nation now, as to your agreement. I’m not a citizen of Sarrejiinn, so the Accords don’t apply to me.”\n\n“You were a citizen of Sarrejiinn when you broke the wizard’s leg. The law is still valid.”\n\nThe Prince holds up his hand and the two go silent. “What agreement?”\n\n“If the Red Wizards helped us rescue you,” Avengral explains, “then the King would allow Vizzairn to be a sovereign nation.”\n\n“And did they help in rescuing me?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Then it would appear they are no longer citizens of Sarrejiinn, and the Accords hold no weight.” The Prince lets out a soft laugh and glances down at the old wizard. “You have been outwitted by a Vizzairn boy. If you had only managed the pain for a moment longer, it would have been this boy in chains instead of you. Now, I will make certain your head rests firmly on a pike instead of your shoulders.”\n\nThe wizard swallows uncomfortably, realizing his mistake.\n\nAble continues to grin.\n\n“Thank you for saving my life,” the Prince says, nodding to Avengral and the rest of the group.\n\nAvengral bows in return then points at the Blue Wizard. “He stays bound the entire way back.”\n\nThe soldiers nod.\n\nAvengral turns to Grat Grimworth. “Summon the dragon spawn. Take Nev Naysayer and the rest of the troops back to the castle. Able No-name, Evie Greengrass, and Mos Vestermire are with me. We head to the East Islands to confront the Blue Wizards with their treachery.”\n\nGrat Grimworth blows a few notes on his bone flute, and the dragon spawn approach.\n\nAvengral looks at you. “You have fulfilled your promise to Quintus and the King. I should ask no more of you; however, I believe you may wish to regain your honor by bringing this Raizaarian scum to justice. I would gladly have you with us. The choice is yours Earth Wizard.”\n\nVengeance does sound nice. These Raizaarian scum probably deserve it, but it’s not like you have a lot of time to spare. Quintus said the portals were becoming unstable. You only have a small window of opportunity and then you’ll be stuck here forever...or dead.\n\nThat’s not exactly a comforting thought. That still leaves Gillian. Who knows what’s happened to her. The longer you’re away, the worse it gets for her.\n\nBut what about the twenty-four dead slaves?\n\nAvengral can handle himself in a fight, but what can he really do to these Blue Wizards? He’s honor-bound to uphold the law which they know how to manipulate. He could use an outsider like you to get things done.\n\n[[Take the Prince back to Sarrejiinn Castle]]\n[[Go with Avengral to question the Blue Wizards]]\n

“The Love Song of” (a poem)

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 137>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>With a profound sense of satisfaction, Alana drags your corpse to the incinerator in the basement. She digs out the two bullets before shoving your body into the flames.\n\nWith her biggest rival out of the way, she knows there will be no limits to her success.\n\nShe fashions the two bullets into a necklace which she wears for the rest of her life. The necklace is a symbol of her skill, determination, and success.\n\nJust before each mission, she rubs the two bullet fragments for luck and smiles at the thought of killing you.\n<<if $introComments is true>>One of the outlining/planning stages that I loved the most was developing the assassins, their origins, and their deaths. There are about five assassins that play a key role in the narrative, Alana playing the largest part.<<endif>>\nIn an odd twist of fate, while on an assignment in Holland, Alana is ambushed by another assassin and choked to death by the same necklace she attributed to her success. A cruel joke you would happily enjoy... if you weren't already dead.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 138>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveThatsFamily").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockThatsFamily").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Being both a master manipulator and incredibly rich, the Boss covers up your death by creating a skydiving shell company, saying that your fall was a skydiving accident. He uses your death as an excuse to fraudulently collect the insurance money, 850k dollars, which he gives to Gillian.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is one of several endings showing the Boss’s softer side. I had hoped these endings would encourage the reader to approach the Boss differently when re-reading the book.<<endif>>\nShe accepts the money and moves to France where she starts a new life. She gets married to a kind and honorable man. They have two kids and remain, for the most part, happy.\n\nGillian is reminded of you only two times: once when her husband is in a car accident, and later when her daughter briefly goes missing at a museum. Both times she imagines that you are somehow the hidden cause of the chaos, and she feels a guilty sense of relief when she remembers that you’re dead.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 151>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveThatsFamily").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockThatsFamily").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The Boss is profoundly disappointed when he learns that you’re dead. It takes nearly two weeks to properly clean your body parts from the stairwell walls. During which time the Boss makes peace with your absence and decides he has no other choice but to move forward with his plans.\n\nHe orders one of his other assassins to have plastic surgery to look like you. He has a microscopic chip implanted in their throat to mimic your voice. And he has them memorize your mannerisms to the minutest detail.\n\nThey’re so convincing that everyone believes the rumors of your death were greatly exaggerated. You were always so difficult to kill. It’s no surprise that you would suddenly turn up alive.\n\nThe imposter is so convincing that not even Gillian can tell the difference.\n\nAs far as anyone is concerned, you’re alive, and your working relationship with the Boss couldn’t be better.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Some endings present the Boss as a maniacal villain while others suggest he’s a loving mentor. Though his personality and methods remain constant, his motivation changes (sometimes drastically).Those kinds of changes (I hope) make each read-through more entertaining and a little less predictable.<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 110>>\n<<set $wpn = "Self-loathing">>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTheBestLaidPlans").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTheBestLaidPlans").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s impossible to know where that last bit of strength was hiding, but you manage to @@color:#000081;kill@@ the thug before he can radio what happened. You steal his drivers license and use it to create a new passport and identity. With Gillian dead you have no reason to stay in the city.\n\nYou travel to South America and bartend at a rundown tavern. You live in a persistent state of self-loathing and regret for the rest of your miserable life. Sometimes, when you see a woman that almost resembles Gillian, you @@color:#000081;cry profusely.@@\n\nEveryone in the small town thinks you’re crazy and only bothers you when they’re thirsty for liquor.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is probably my favorite sad ending. I’m not sure why...<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 168>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveThatsFamily").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockThatsFamily").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The thug, having never actually killed someone before you, feels a sudden and overwhelming pain in his chest which he eventually realizes is guilt. In a daze of disillusionment and remorse, he quits the mercenary business, joins the Peace Corps, and travels to third world countries to appease his aching conscience.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The epilogues have a stylistic similarity to The Last Darling (one of my earlier books). And, like The Last Darling, dialogue is entirely absent.Third-person, semi-omniscient is one of my favorite styles, but it creates such a detached feeling ...maybe that’s why I like it?<<endif>>\nNikola, who miraculously survives, takes credit for killing you. He is immediately promoted and heralded, in secret circles, as the greatest assassin in the city. Just in case anyone doubts him, he chops off your ears and wears them as a necklace to remind everyone that you are in fact dead... or at least deaf.\n\nThe Boss, having no real use for Gillian, and still doubting the validity of your death, implants a GPS chip in Gillian’s skull and releases her unharmed, hoping that one day she will unknowingly reveal your location.\n\nThe Boss and a team of henchmen monitor Gillian twenty-four hours a day for the rest of her life. Occasionally, when she gets the strange feeling of being watched, she thinks of you and wonders if you a guarding her from beyond the grave.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 67>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Since the blue gelatin was so experimental, the Boss has no safe way of getting you free. Instead, he integrates you into a fountain sculpture in the lobby of one of his buildings. Whenever he passes by, he tosses a penny in just for you and reminds you that he will always be the Boss. \n\nThere is little you can do to argue since you’re already dead.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 168>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Nikola, suddenly regretting his overzealous hatred of you, realizes the Boss will punish him severely for killing you. In a panic, he drags your body to the kitchen, hacks it into six pieces, and stuffs the pieces into a potato sack. He immediately drives to his timeshare cabin just outside the city and hides your body under the floorboards.\n\nYour body would have remained undiscovered if it had not been for a pack of hungry raccoons which tore through the floorboards and gorged on your decaying body. A family, attempting their first vacation in years, discovers your gruesome remains and notifies the authorities.\n\nAfter the horrid event, the family never attempts another vacation because all their money is spent on therapy for their children who were irrevocably scarred upon finding your severed head.\n\nThe police would investigate a man named Alex Vice, one of Nikola’s many personas, but never find a substantial lead. The case would eventually go cold and interest in finding your killer would ultimately wane.\n<<if $introComments is true>>I think Alex Vice would be a great name for a cop in an 80s TV show. I’d like to write a spin-off detective book series starring Alex Vice. Retired assassin, noir detective - sounds great, right?<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 60>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The Boss, having grown fond of you over the years, has your cubed remains collected and bronzed.\n\nHe places the cubes in a box beside his desk.\n\nWhen his grandchildren visit, he lets them play with the cubes. They build little square forts and towers which, like everything else in your life, are ultimately kicked into crumbling pieces and ruined.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 118>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The thugs, following standard protocol, toss your body in the back of a truck, drive to a meat processing plant, and dispose of any evidence suggesting you ever visited the warehouse or even existed at all. They hack your body into three parts and feed each part into a meat grinder.\n\nThe last time someone thinks about you is when a woman bites into a hamburger only to discover your severed finger. She sues the restaurant and wins $700,000. Your finger remains in an evidence bag in a cardboard box in the dark corner of an evidence locker.\n\nWith you gone, the Boss has no reason to keep Gillian, and he disposes of her in a similar fashion.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Epilogues serve two functions: 1) they allow a multi-branching storyline to have a conclusion and 2) they reward the reader for making “bad” choices.My favorite part of the original CYOA books was discovering all the ways I could fail and die. (Best one: I was shrunk and eaten by a cat.)<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $xp = $xp +15>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveHonorBound").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockHonorBound").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You cut the Prince @@color:#000081;free@@ and push him out the back of the tent. You understood Avengral’s plan up to this point, but now what? Your exit is a giant mess of fire, and the other Ferralliise are bound to show up soon.\n\nAvengral sprints around the corner. He holds a torch instead of a sword. “Where are the other soldiers?” He asks between breaths.\n\nYou shrug. “I don’t know?”\n\n“Fine,” he grimaces. “We will make do without them.” He lights two more torches and hands one to you and the other to the Prince.\n\n“Uh, thanks?” You say taking the torch.\n\n“Fire distorts their senses. If we stay close to the fire, they will not notice us.”\n\n“Sounds fine to me, but what happens when we run out of tents to burn?”\n\nAvengral lights the Ferralliise King’s tent on fire. “It is not a perfect plan.”\n\n“No kidding,” you say propping the weary Prince up. “Light stuff on fire and run. Is that the first thing they teach you at knight academy?”\n\nYou glimpse the two soldiers in the distance frantically fighting a handful of Ferralliise.\n\n“Hey,” you shout to Avengral. “We aren’t leaving them behind, are we?”\n\nAvengral frowns. “We must. The fires will not last much longer. If we do not reach the old city before the others arrive, we will all die.”\n\nHe’s right. You don’t have a choice. It’s the @@color:#000081;greater good@@ and all that. Avengral tosses his torch on the last tent and slips under the Prince’s other arm. With his help, you double your speed and safely reach the rubble @@color:#000081;before@@ the Ferralliise notice.\n\n“The Blue Wizards,” the Prince growls. “They are the architects of this scheme.”\n\nAvengral looks uncertain. “But they are allies to the crown. Surely they would not betray us?”\n\nThe Prince takes in a few deep breaths. “On the road, when I was attacked, it was them.”\n\n“You are weary Prince, perhaps it was only figments of your exhaustion?”\n\n“No,” the Prince insists. “The Blue Wizards were at the Ferralliise camp. They bought the slaves.”\n\n“Human slaves?” Avengral asks with bewilderment. “But why?”\n\nThe Prince shakes his head. “I cannot be sure. What they did to me... I was... I...” His voice trails off. “I wish to return home. That is all.”\n\n“Yes,” Avengral nods. “Of course. I will see to it at once.”\n\n“No,” the Prince hesitates. “We must know what the Blue Wizards are scheming. Take a small group and go to their island. I expect you to learn the truth.”\n\n“Yes, my lord, of course, but first we must regroup.”\n\nYou and Avengral heft the Prince to the sewer entrance where Nev Naysayer, Able No-name, and a dozen slaves are waiting.\n\n“You’re alive,” Nev says surprised. “And you have the Prince. We thought you set the fire for us to escape.”\n\n“No,” you groan. “We just wanted to do some redecorating.” You nod at the slaves. “Where’d they come from?”\n\n“We freed them,” Able says as two weary slaves dangle from his shoulders. “I couldn’t let them rot in a cage.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral agrees. \n\nThe group follows Avengral through the sewers back to the landing spot.\n\nGrat Grimworth, Evie Greengrass, Mos Vestermire, and the other soldiers sprint through the woods only moments ahead of you. An old man in a blue robe is bound and flung over Grat Grimworth’s shoulder.\n\nEvie notices you and shouts over her shoulder, “Hurry, we need to leave now!”\n\nYou hear a loud roar in the direction they were running from. Looks like things went about as well for them as it did for you.\n\n“They’re right behind us,” Mos Vestermire yells. “Hurry.”\n\nYou heft the Prince over your shoulder and run faster. You nod at the restrained old man. “Who’s that?”\n\n“Blue Wizard,” Grat grunts. “Caught him,” he takes a breath. “Kidnapped Prince.”\n\n“This old guy?” You say skeptically.\n\n“Blue Wizards,” Grat groans. “He confessed.” \n\nGrat Grimworth slows to a walk and then blows a few notes on his bone flute. Immediately the dragon spawn approach.\n\nAvengral turns to Grat Grimworth. “Take Nev Naysayer and the rest of the troops back to the castle. Able No-name, Evie Greengrass, and Mos Vestermire are with me. We head to the East Islands to confront the Blue Wizards with their treachery.”\n\nGrat nods.\n\n“Hey,” Able interrupts. “I don’t mind stomping some Raizaarian heads, but maybe we ought to figure this out in the air.”\n\nThe shrieks and roars sound closer.\n\n“Agreed,” Grat says.\n\nAvengral looks at you. “You have fulfilled your promise to Quintus and the King. I should ask no more of you; however, I believe you may wish to see the Blue Wizards brought to justice. I would gladly have you with us. The choice is yours Earth Wizard.”\n\n[[Take the Prince back to Sarrejiinn Castle]]\n[[Go with Avengral to question the Blue Wizards]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 32>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The Ferralliise eventually devours you. The only fight you can manage is to give the creature a bit of heart burn and some bad gas, none of which are lethal or lasting.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 437>>\n<<set $wpn = "Headshots!">>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $force = $force +6>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +135>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You turn right and follow the cop car. There’s a good chance it’ll lead you head-first into trouble. This is becoming a recurring theme today. Hopefully you won’t get shot again.\n\nThe cop car makes a hard left and screeches to a halt.\n\nYou drive past it slow and study the scene. The thugs are cornered. There are maybe six of them. One has his arm around the cop’s throat and a gun to her head. Another is holding the kid up as a shield.\n\nYou count four police cars and at least eight officers – each with a gun.\n\nEach side is shouting at the other to lower the weapons, but neither one will listen.\n\nIt’s about to get real messy if you don’t step in.\n\nYou hesitate for half a second, then you grab the sniper rifle from the bag. You said you would help her, and you always see a job through to the end.\n\nYou sprint to the fire escape of a nearby building and climb to the roof. It’s not the best venue, but it’s not like you have the time to be picky – especially if you have to use a silencer. That’s going to cut your range almost in half.\n\nIt’s a small price to pay for a little anonymity. You can’t get bogged down by a police investigation. You’ve still got a crime war to start.\n\nYou assemble the rifle and aim at the first thug’s mouth. The bullet slices through the air and rips through his head and neck. It has enough velocity to hit the thug behind him too. @@color:#000081;Both crumble@@ instantly.\n\nThe other thugs drop their weapons and raise their arms in @@color:#000081;surrender.@@\n\nThe cops look at each other stunned.\n\nOkay, so maybe it still got a little @@color:#000081;messy,@@ but at least it was only the bad eggs that got scrambled – and by eggs you mean brains.\n\nThe cops can handle the paperwork and the glory. You need to get out of here before they realize what they’re looking for.\n\nYou sprint back to the car and shove it in gear. You hear someone shout to your left. You swallow hard and glance out the window. It’s the kid. He waves at you. The cop stands next to him. She smiles at you and nods her head.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is what I call a “bridge sequence”. Its purpose is to connect two different narrative branches. I use “bridge sequences” to keep the story from ballooning out of control. Seven Bullets is roughly 280k words (over 1,100 pages) and without these bridge sequences it would be at least triple that size.<<endif>>\nThat’s about as close to a happy ending as you’ve been. Too bad it’s not yours to enjoy. Gillian is still being held by the Boss, and if you don’t start a big distraction soon, you’ll never be able to make it through the army of goons waiting at his penthouse.\n\n[[Go to Wong’s restaurant]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 699>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You don’t have time to fight. If these Ferralliise shamans are coming back, that will change how Avengral attacks the castle. You need to @@color:#000081;warn him.@@\n\nThe wizard’s body twitches, and little claws crack through his back. You grab the book and the nearest statue and slam the door shut behind you. You shove the statue between the curved door handle and the wall. It won’t slow the creature down for long, but it’s better than nothing.\n\nIf all of these Blue Wizard’s have transformed into whatever that creature is back there, then that explains why the castle is so barren, but that doesn’t explain where all the creatures are...or what they want.\n\nYou sprint down the stairs and the hallway and the next several floors until you reach the lobby. You hear growling outside. It’s loud despite the thick stone walls. It sounds like dozens of creatures. You won’t be able to travel that direction, but you need to know what you’re dealing with. You move to peek through the door when Avengral suddenly shoves it open.\n\nHe pulls Evie inside and slams the door shut on several clawed hands. He slices through the hands with his sword, and the door slides shut. “The table,” he shouts. “Bring it here to secure the door.”\n\nIt takes all your strength to nudge the heavy oak table in front of the door. Evie helps as best she can, but you can tell she's weak from a wound on her shoulder.\n\n“We are surrounded,” Avengral coughs, trying to catch his breath. “They were in the woods. They must have been waiting for us.”\n\n“They weren’t waiting,” you say, tossing Avengral the book. “They were performing a ritual, something about a beast called the Lorefaiin.”\n\n“The Lorefaiin?” Evie groans as she slips her arm out of her torn armor. “How could you have--”\n\n“I ran into one of our blue robed friends upstairs,” you say, cutting her off. “He warned me about the Ferralliise shamans, then he turned into one of those...things.”\n\n“Ferralliise shamans?” Avengral grunts, keeping his weight against the table and door. “Impossible. The dragons of old burned all of the Ferralliise shamans in a chasm of fire.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Ferralliise have shamans and not wizards or priests because shamans believe in reaching altered states of consciousness and communicating or channeling spirits.The ritual and spirit channeling associated with shamans fit well with the Ferralliise’s transformation process.<<endif>>\n“Apparently not,” you say tearing off part of your shirt to make a bandage for Evie’s shoulder. “They hid wherever that Lorefaiin creature lives, waiting for a bunch of idiots to summon him so they could sneak back.”\n\n“This changes things,” Avengral says grimly.\n\n“Yeah,” you groan. “No kidding. So what do these shamans want?”\n\n“Power,” Evie says wearily. “That is what they have always wanted. Their ambition has no limits and their conscience has no fortitude. If you are right, then we are in more danger than anyone could have imagined.”\n\n“So what now?” You ask tightening Evie’s bandage. “There are too many of them to fight, but we can’t leave all this magical stuff lying around for them to use.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral nods. “They are too powerful already. I do not wish to see what they are capable of with the Blue Wizard’s resources.”\n\n“One of us needs to stay behind and destroy the tower. Any ideas how?”\n\n“Yes,” Evie says, getting to her feet. “On the second floor I saw a barrel of dried pixie wings and a crate of dragon spawn tongues. Mixing the two should cause a large enough explosion to destroy the tower’s foundation. But,” Evie looks at the stone floor. “Whoever mixes the two, will not escape the blast.”\n\n“A suicide mission.” You look at Avengral and then back at Evie. “Are you sure there’s no other way?”\n\n“There are always other options but,” Evie shakes her head. “We do not have time for any of them.”\n\n“So this is how it has to be.” You swallow uncomfortably. You really don’t want to die, but if you don’t stop these creatures, everyone on Earth could die. You can’t take that chance. If you go, at least you know the job will get done. You’re about to offer yourself when Avengral interrupts you.\n\n“As First Knight of Sarrejiinn and Third Sword in the House of Sun and Steel, I am honor-bound to fulfill this task.”\n\n[[Let Avengral cause the explosion]]\n[[Insist that you should be the one to cause the explosion]]\n

<>\n<<remember $turnTheOtherCheek = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Turn the Other Cheek\n Reach an ending without killing anyone\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1069>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +6>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Okay so maybe this isn’t one of your greatest plans, but you’re committed to it now. You grab an arm from each of them and @@color:#000081;drag them@@ to the building. You open the door as quietly as possible. Somehow you knew it would be unlocked.\n\nThe first room is silent and dark. You place the woman onto a stone couch, and you drag the man to the ground next to her. You hurry back to the door and peek through the opening.\n\nYou haven’t been noticed.\n\nYou lightly pull the door @@color:#000081;closed@@ and search for a lock. There isn’t one.\n\nStealing probably isn’t a crime here, and considering how they like to have fun, murder probably isn’t either.\n\nYou walk back to the couch and lean down next to the woman. “Tell me what you know about this place,” you whisper. “How did you get here?”\n\nShe shakes her head. “The car—” She reaches down to touch the man’s shoulder. He recoils in fear. “An accident,” she continues. “He only drank a little bit.” She closes her eyes and scrunches her face in disappointment or perhaps pain. You can’t tell.\n\n“How long have you been here?” You ask.\n\nShe shrugs in agony. “Hours," she says. "Days. I don’t know," she mumbles. "I don’t know.” \n\n“Do you know where here is?”\n\nShe shakes her head.\n\nYou glance down at the man. “What about you? Do you know?”\n\nHe flinches at the sound of your voice. He probably won’t be much help. You can’t really blame him... or her for that matter. They’ve been skinny dipping in molten lava. They probably need a minute to catch their breath.\n\n“I’ll be right back,” you whisper.\n\n“Don’t go,” the woman blurts.\n\n“I’m just getting a second look,” you say walking to the window. You’ve done surveillance before. You know how to stay unnoticed, but this place – it’s surreal. Those two should be dead, or at least unconscious.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;peek@@ out the window. The creatures are still ripping the bones out of people and sucking out the marrow. The bodies become limp and rubbery, but the people are still alive – still attempting to scream. It’s impossible. It can't be happening. You don't know how to explain it.\n\nAnother creature tosses the remaining body parts into a lava aqueduct leaving the city. You doubt their destination is any better than this one.\n\nThe creatures aren’t interrogating these people for information. It’s as if they’re torturing them purely for fun. That doesn’t put you any closer to figuring out why you’re here or where here is... all it does is @@color:#000081;terrify@@ you.\n\n“At least tell me what you remember,” you say walking back to the woman. Nearly all of her wounds have healed. You have to take a second look to make certain it’s still her. “What? How?” You glance down at the man. His body is healing too.\n\nThe woman shakes her head. “I don’t know.”\n\n“Unfortunately, that’s something we both have in common,” you whisper. “Tell me more about how you got here.”\n\n“There was a party, we had a few drinks and,” she thinks for a moment. “The car swerved into the other lane. We, oh my—” her voice cuts out, and she covers her face. “We died,” she sobs. “And I think we killed a lot of other people too.”\n\n“Died?” You sigh. That stone face said something about dying. And you’re almost 95% sure this isn’t heaven. “What happened next?”\n\n“I’m not sure. The lava I think. It’s all blurring together like a nightmare, like a horrible nightmare.” She sobs again uncontrollably.\n\nYou glance at the man. “You have anything to add?”\n\nHe shakes his head. “What do you know?” He asks.\n\n“Not much more than you.”\n\n“Well how do we get out of here?” He says raising his voice slightly.\n\n“I was hoping one of you would know. That’s why I dragged you out of that lava.”\n\n“Well we don’t know,” the man retorts.\n\nYou walk back to the window. The creatures are still dancing and torturing. “You might as well drop the attitude. It looks like we’re stuck together for awhile longer.”\n\nThe man grunts. “A lot of good it’ll do us.”\n\n“I’ve survived worse.”\n\n“Really?” The woman asks. \n\n“Well, sort of. We’re not exactly in Kansas anymore, are we?” You glance back at them. “What should I call you?”\n\n“I’m Mathew and this is my sister Marjorie.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Mathew and Marjorie are a sibling pair meant to remind the reader of their relationship with Gillian. Marjorie, the younger sister, is swept up in her sibling’s problems and ultimately suffers the same fate as her selfish brother. I wanted their situation to mirror the main character and Gillian.Marjorie is an example that some semi-innocent people can end up in this fictionalized version of Hell.<<endif>>\n“Hi,” Marjorie says wiping away some tears.\n\n“Hi,” you say with a nod. “Now that we’re all @@color:#000081;friends,@@ and the two of you look fit enough, I think we need to move.”\n\n“What?” Marjorie gasps. “We can’t go back out there. You’ve seen what they’re like.”\n\n“Staying here is worse. Those creatures—” \n\n“You mean demons,” Mathew says cutting you off.\n\nYou sigh. “Yeah, alright, those demons seem occupied for now, and it’s not going to stay dark forever. Not to mention the fact that this building belongs to someone.”\n\n“Wait,” Mathew says sternly. “If we hadn’t healed, you were just going to leave us here to die, weren’t you?”\n\n“Honestly, I only thought you’d live long enough to answer a few questions, and if you were dead what would it matter where I left you? And by the way, you’re welcome – unless you were enjoying that lava bath.”\n\nMathew grunts and shakes his head in disbelieve. “Why should we trust you now?”\n\n“Trust me or don’t trust me. I don’t care. Right now the only bit of humanity we have left is each other, and I bet I’m looking real friendly compared to those things out there.”\n\n“He has a point,” Marjorie says timidly.\n\nMathew frowns. “Fine, but don’t think you can boss us around.” \n\n“I wouldn’t dream of it,” You say sarcastically. “Now come on, if that’s okay with you, of course.”\n\nMathew nods pompously. \n\nYou peek out the door. The right leads to the lava fountain and the demons, so that’s out of the question. You can try to go back the way you came. The path was vacant enough the first time. It probably still is, and the shadows would provide good cover, but you’d have to move slow and cautiously.\n\nOn the other hand, the buildings are so close together you could move from roof to roof until you reach the edge of the city. It’d be faster, but it’d also leave you the most vulnerable.\n\n[[Escape the way you came]]\n[[Escape by jumping from roof to roof]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1012>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +3>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<endnobr>>The front door’s already open. You might as well walk through it. What’s the worst that could happen – you die and get sent to Hell?\n\nThe absurdity almost makes you laugh.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;step into@@ the foyer. The table, the plants, even the paintings on the wall – everything is made out of stained glass. Someone went to a lot of trouble building this mansion, and you’ve got a bad feeling about it. It’s not like people are buying a lot of real-estate in Hell.\n\nYou glance in the sitting room. The chairs and couches are made from tiny round shards of glass. Even the glass cushions appear to have glass frills.\n\nA shrill scream breaks the silence. You stumble into the end table. The glass edge cuts your @@color:#000081;stomach.@@ It hurts worse than it should, but it @@color:#000081;won’t slow@@ you down.\n\nThat scream sounded like Jazelle.\n\nYou sprint down the hall and around the corner. You take the next two turns slower until you hear voices in the room ahead. You creep toward the door and glance through the small opening.\n\nThe room is immense and full of sand. A man sits at its center chipping at shards of glass with his teeth. He’s naked, and the distressed look in his eye suggests he’s not doing it for fun.\n\n[[Peer around the doorway a little further]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 465>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +13200>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You keep driving – slow and steady. You don’t want to draw any unwanted attention, but something feels off. You can’t say what exactly, but you’ve learned to trust @@color:#000081;your gut.@@\n\nBesides, this kid is a valuable commodity. Just because the Russians had him doesn’t mean other organizations aren’t looking for him too. There’s plenty of—\n\nThe BMW rolls onto two wheels as a parked car @@color:#000081;explodes@@ next to you. You twist the steering wheel hard and lean into the blast. The BMW bounces back onto the street. You hit the gas and turn as another RPG flies past you.\n\nIt explodes into the side of a building. You slam the brakes and make a stiff right to @@color:#000081;avoid@@ the falling rubble.\n\nSo much for a slight detour.\n\nYou scan the building tops. You count at least four thugs, each one with a rocket launcher. You shift the car in reverse, but not in time. A rocket hits the pavement just in front of your car. The blast flips it backwards.\n\nYou feel a sharp pain in your @@color:#000081;shoulder@@ from the seatbelt. The blood runs down your @@color:#000081;forehead.@@ You push the airbag out of the way and slide out through the window. You glance in the backseat. “Hey kid, you still breathing?”\n\n“That was fun. Can we do it again?”\n\nYou almost laugh. This kid might be crazier than you. You grab his arm and pull him out through the window. You can smell gasoline. “Hurry up kid.”\n\nYou yank him into a nearby store as the BMW explodes. You sprint for the back exit, but a thug blocks your path – or more specifically, his shotgun blocks your path.\n\nYou reach for your pistol, but your hand comes back empty. The gun must be in the wreckage.\n\nThe thug smiles.\n\nYou wipe the blood from your forehead and give the thug a hard stare. “What do you want with the kid?”\n\nHe looks surprised. “What kid?” Then he glances to your left. He laughs. “Are you babysitting now?” He turns his attention to the kid. “Beat it. The grownups are talking.”\n\nThe kid looks up at you.\n\n“Go on. Do as he says.”\n\nThe kid runs out the door and around the corner.\n\n“Good,” the thug says. “I’d hate for him to see this. By the way, the Boss sends his warmest regards, whatever that means.”\n\nThe shotgun blast rings in your ears, and you suddenly feel very heavy. You look down at your stomach or what’s left of your stomach. You’re not sure how you ended up on the floor, but you have a feeling it doesn’t matter now.\n\nThe thug steps over your body and heads for the door. He stops and turns. He says something, but you're too far gone to understand him.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 15]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1016>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -10>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +12>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -12>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Asking for help doesn’t mean you’re weak; it just means that you’re part of a team, and this kind of job requires @@color:#000081;a team.@@ You tap the earbud. “Samantha, you there?”\n\n“I read you.”\n\n“It got real dark, real quick. I’m gonna need help navigating through this maze of hallways.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>There’s nothing wrong with asking for directions...<<endif>>\n“Yeah,” she says. “I had a feeling. I’ve been working here for nearly twelve years, and I still get lost. Alright, just keep going straight, then turn left down the second corridor. Follow that corridor for awhile until it dead-ends and then turn right. Take the third corridor on the left. The power seems to be partially working in the containment labs so you should be able to see some kind of light once you reach the end of that corridor. There’s a freight elevator at the back of the labs. Take it to the lowest level. From there Clark’s lab should be a straight shot.”\n\n“Got it,” you say. “I’ll be in touch.” You tap the earbud again.\n\nYou follow Samantha’s directions until you see a flickering light at the end of the final corridor. That must be the containment labs. You load the red neon bullets into a clip and slide the clip into the gun. It’s better to be safe than sorry.\n\nThe rooms on both sides of the hallway have large shatter-proof windows. The back walls are lined with empty cages. You’ve got a bad feeling...\n\nYou cautiously walk to the room at the end of the hallway, where the light is brightest. You keep the rifle aimed and ready. You peer into the room and count four of the creatures tearing through drawers and cabinets... almost as if they were searching for something.\n\nOne of the creatures tilts its nose in the air, sniffing. It jerks its head in the direction of the doorway. You twist back into the hallway, but you know it’s too late. The creature already has your scent.\n\nYou sidestep into the doorway and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger@@ on the rifle. The bullet @@color:#000081;hits@@ the first creature in the chest. It stumbles into a desk and hits the floor. The creature’s body morphs and changes. The fur falls off, and the body shrinks into a thin, naked woman. She looks pale and weak... and helpless.\n\nAnother creature lunges at you. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger@@ again and twist out of the way. The creature slides into the hallway. Its fur falls out and its body shrinks like the first. It’s a naked man. He’s dead.\n\nYou twist back into the doorway and @@color:#000081;fire@@ two more rounds. You hit one creature and nick the other. They scamper through the door and down the hall, knocking you against the wall as they flee. They’re safely obscured by the darkness before you can get your bearings.\n\nThere’s a long gash across your arm. The creatures must have @@color:#000081;scratched@@ you as they ran past. You take a deep breath and fight back the pain.\n\n“Thank you,” a nervous voice says from the other side of the room.\n\nYou angle the rifle up and aim at the voice. It’s a middle-aged man in a lab coat.\n\n“Wait, wait, don’t shoot,” the voice quivers. “I’m on your side.”\n\n“Who are you?”\n\n“I-I-I’m Dr. Mason Green. I w-w-work here. I’m a scientist. I-I-I thought they were going to kill me. I was separated from the others, and, and I-I had to hide in one of the cages. I thought I was going to die. What about the others? Are they alright?”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>I based Dr. Mason Green’s appearance on “Mr. Green” from the board game Clue. My grandma has an old edition of the board game Clue and my cousins and I loved to play it when we were younger.<<endif>>\n“They’re fine for now.”\n\n“Good,” Mason sighs with relief. “I didn’t think they would send someone to save me.”\n\n“Technically, they didn’t. I’m here for Dr. Aiden Clark.”\n\n“Oh,” Mason says slightly disappointed. “Was he missing too?”\n\n“He was taken.”\n\n“Taken?” Mason shakes his head. “Oh dear.”\n\n“The others are holed up in a bunker not far from here.”\n\n“Yes,” Mason nods. “That’s typical procedure.”\n\n“If you know the way, you can head their on your own, but you’re probably safer staying with me.”\n\n“Yes, I know the way,” Mason says nervously. “But I’d rather stay with you.”\n\n“Fine, help me find the freight elevator. We need to get to Clark’s lab.”\n\nMason hesitates. “Your arm,” he says pointing at the deep gash.\n\nYou grab a first aid kit from the wall and wrap your arm with gauze. “I’ll be fine. I’ve survived worse.”\n\nMason seems skeptical, but he doesn’t put up a fight. “The elevator’s over here.”\n\nYou follow him into the elevator. He presses the button for the lowest floor. The elevator jolts downward. After a few seconds it stops and the doors slide open.\n\nMason leads you through a long winding hallway. He points to a ladder. “Clark’s lab.”\n\nYou climb the ladder and peer into the room. It seems clear.\n\n[[Climb up.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1120>>\n<<endnobr>>These people and their customs aren’t your problem. Gillian is the only thing that matters right now, and you need to get back to her.\n\nYou glance at Avengral and shrug. “This is your fight, not mine.”\n\nAvengral sighs. “Very well, Earth Wizard. I wish you well.”\n\n“Yeah, you too.”\n\n“We must go,” Grat Grimworth interrupts. “While the winds favor us.”\n\nYou glance back over your shoulder at the slaves. “What about them?”\n\n“There are too many for the dragon spawn to carry,” Grat says. “We travel light. You, me, Prince Sarrejiinn, and the Raizaarian. The troops remain. We’ll send a caravan and supplies once we reach the castle.”\n\nYou lift your hands in concession. “You won’t hear any complaints from me. I just want to get back home.”\n\nAvengral waves from the back of the dragon fox as it lifts into the air. “Remember,” he shouts. “The Prince’s safety is your primary concern. If anything happens to him, all of this is for naught.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” you say waving him on. “I know the drill. Go get some vengeance already.”\n\n“Not vengeance,” he shouts. “Justice.”\n\nYou smile and watch the dragon fox quickly disappear into the horizon.\n\n“Like you,” Grat says grabbing your shoulder. “I am eager to return home. Let us not waste any more time with trivial goodbyes.”\n\n“Yes,” the Prince adds. “The sooner we return to the castle, the sooner we can send aide to these people.”\n\nGrat pulls the Prince into the basket strapped to the back of the dragon moose. The Prince extends his hand to pull you up.\n\n“So you’re the kind of Prince willing to get his hands dirty, huh?” You say grabbing his hand.\n\n“Why do you ask?” He ponders while pulling you into the basket. “Do you consider yourself so unclean that I would be stained by your touch?”\n\n“No, that’s not what I meant.”\n\n“When a soldier speaks in such terms,” the Prince says quietly. “It often points to a weight they carry in their own heart.”\n\n“Well, that’s not the case.”\n\n“Perhaps not,” the Prince shrugs. “But you should take comfort in the good deeds you have done this day. You have saved my life and the lives of all those who would be slaves.”\n\n“Trust me,” you laugh. “That’s not enough to tip the scale. It’s not even close.”\n\nThe Prince smiles. “Be happy with the good that you //can// do instead of wallowing in the evil you cannot undo.”\n\n“That sounds like an excuse to me,” Grat grunts. “There’s plenty the King can do to fix what’s happened to my people. Any commoner showing signs of magic is killed or exiled. And they can only return to the realm if they’ve been summoned like a dog.”\n\nThe Prince looks down in shame. “My father, the King, has made his feelings very clear concerning magic. It is dangerous and a risk to the welfare of the realm.”\n\n“Humph,” Grat grunts. “The King has deemed many things dangerous. Will breathing be outlawed next? The King’s laws are like a noose, and soon his people will die or cut themselves free.”\n\n“You speak out of turn Red Wizard.”\n\n“I’ll speak how I want. I’m a citizen of Sarrejiinn no longer.”\n\n“So it would seem,” the Prince nods. “So it would seem.”\n\nThey turn away from each other and remain quiet the rest of the way.\n\nThe sky grows dark as the sun kisses the horizon. The two moons rise from the opposite hemisphere. In the distance, you see a faint orange glow and black billowing smoke.\n\n“Hey,” you hit Grat’s shoulder. “Is that normal?”\n\n“No,” the Prince answers before Grat can respond. “The castle is under siege.”\n\n“By who?”\n\nThe Prince shakes his head. “I do not know.” He turns to Grat.\n\nGrat scowls at him. “The Red Wizards have no interest in your pathetic castle.”\n\n“The Ferralliise are not trained in siege warfare,” the Prince says.\n\nYou see the worry on his face. “The Blue Wizard,” you say under your breath. “It was a setup.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“Your kidnapping, it was a ploy,” you say. “They knew the King would react the way he did. They knew he would send most of the knights to search for you. The castle was defenseless.”\n\n“But the Ferralliise would never devise such an elaborate scheme.”\n\n“What about the Blue Wizards?”\n\nThe Prince looks at you skeptically. “The Blue Wizards are loyal to the crown.”\n\n“What about the one that kidnapped you?”\n\n“In any group, there are always some defectors. You are implicating all of them.”\n\n“I’m not from around here, so I don’t know the nuances of your political system, but judging by this guy’s smile,” you point to the bound Blue Wizard. “I’m guessing his buddies are responsible.”\n\nThe Blue Wizard laughs despite the gag in his mouth.\n\n“I can hover over the east side of the castle but,” Grat says. “There won’t be enough time to land. Once they see us, we’ll have a target painted on our backs.”\n\n“Then you won’t help defend the castle?” The Prince asks.\n\n“I promised to get you to the castle. After that, your safety isn’t my problem.”\n\n“Yes,” the Prince swallows uncomfortably. “Your agreement would be fulfilled. Would you like to make a new agreement?”\n\n“You reap what you sow,” Grat says with a grin. “You should be happy I’m not fighting on their side.” Grat nods at the combat below.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The pacing of an interactive story is hard to gauge. I tried to break up some of the action scene with long bits of dialogue. This is one of those scenes.The fallout from the slave scene and the battle that’s soon to take place at the castle are action heavy and this scene was a way for the reader to catch their breath.<<endif>>\nYou see hordes of monsters assault the castle. The frontlines are full of large beasts like the Ferralliise you fought earlier, then ogres and trolls, even a few giants. In the back, you see a handful of Blue Wizards casting spells and commanding the horde. The castle is well fortified, but against those kind of forces, it may not hold for long.\n\nGrat maneuvers the dragon spawn between the volley of arrows and boulders battering the castle walls. He positions the dragon spawn near one of the towers. “You have to jump,” he shouts. “Hurry.”\n\nYou toss the Blue Wizard over the side. He hits the stone hard. You help the Prince down and then jump down yourself. Grat twists the dragon spawn around. It spits a ball of fire into the Ferralliise climbing the walls. They scream and burn while plummeting to the ground.\n\nGrat burns a few more as he flies away.\n\n“There are not enough soldiers,” the Prince shouts. “We have to stop this wave or the city will fall. Are you good with a bow?”\n\n“I can manage.”\n\n“Good,” the Prince says. “One of us should stay here and keep the walls from being overrun. The other should fortify the barricades on the ground. Which will you have?”\n\n[[Defend the city walls]]\n[[Fortify the barricades]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 686>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -25>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You need to go into this fight @@color:#000081;swinging,@@ literally. The mace is heavy and capable of some serious damage.\n\nWinning this fight isn’t enough; you need to make a statement. You’re outnumbered and alone. The only possible advantage you might have is a psychological one.\n\nYou need to make these Ferralliise fear you. You won’t be able to do that with a gentle speech and a soft touch. You need to get close, personal, even messy and wild. You need to show these creatures they aren’t the only animals with teeth.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shout@@ at the crowd of monsters and misshaped beasts.\n\nThe ground trembles again, and you nearly fall. Whatever’s coming is big.\n\nYou sprint to the corpse and crack the leg bone in half. The iron shackle slips free. You grab it and take a few practice swings. The iron ball is bulky, and you won’t have much mobility while holding it. You’ll have to make each swing count.\n\nIt’s not like you’ve had a lot of practice in medieval arenas. The Boss trained you with hundreds of different melee weapons, but ball and chain wasn’t exactly at the top of the list.\n\nThe ground trembles again, and this time you fall sideways.\n\nSomething shimmers in the center corridor. You push yourself up.\n\nThe crowd goes silent.\n\nA large reptile foot steps into the light and then another. They’re each the size of school buses. A long scaly snout is close behind.\n\nA dragon...\n\nYou take a nervous step back.\n\nYou’re looking at a giant dragon. It’s the size of a small building. Long, deep scars cover its body. Its wings look like they’ve been sawed off. Judging by the scars this dragon must have been fighting for decades, probably forced to stay locked up in this arena for even longer.\n\nThe dragon drops its jaw and shrieks at the crowd and you. You’re not sure whether to be terrified or sympathetic. In a few seconds it’ll probably try to eat you, so maybe you can save the sympathy for after you survive.\n\nThe dragon charges at you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;roll@@ left, barely escaping its talons as it slams, shoulder first, into the wall.\n\nThe whole structure shakes.\n\nThe dragon's stunned for less than a second, but that’s long enough for you to do some damage. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ the iron ball into the dragon’s back foot. The talon cracks, and the dragon screeches in pain.\n\n“It’s nothing personal,” you say, hefting the iron ball back. “But if one of us has to die today, it won’t be me.” You @@color:#000081;swing@@ the iron ball into another talon.\n\nThe dragon staggers sideways, swinging its thick tail. It @@color:#000081;smashes@@ into your side and thrusts you into the air. You and the iron ball @@color:#000081;slam@@ into the wall then drop to the dirt. You can barely breathe. You’d be surprised if one of your ribs wasn’t @@color:#000081;broken.@@\n\nYou’re defenseless. Luckily the dragon is preoccupied with the Ferralliise. It jerks its head forward and back at the crowd as if it was gagging. It looks almost like it’s trying to breathe fire, but nothing comes out, not even a fizzle.\n\nWhoever cut off its wings probably also removed the organ that let it breathe fire. Why else would the Ferralliise seem unconcerned?\n\nThe dragon wants to get out of this arena as badly as you do. Maybe you can use that to your advantage. If you can just convince it not to kill you.\n\nThe walls of the pit look weak in some areas. If you can get the dragon to bash them hard enough then maybe, if you’re lucky, they might crumble, and you could escape. Unfortunately, as soon as you’re out, every single Ferralliise will be after you. You wouldn’t get far.\n\nOn the other hand, this dragon is a lot weaker than you were expecting. It may be big, but it doesn’t breathe fire or fly. There’s a good chance you could put the poor thing out of its misery. Plus, once the Ferralliise see how powerful you are, they might treat you better...though better is probably relative.\n\n[[Lure the dragon into smashing the wall]]\n[[Kill the dragon]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 435>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab Clark and pull him close. “Whatever happens, promise me you’ll find a cure for Gillian.”\n\n“Of course,” Clark says, “But you--”\n\n“I’ll be right behind you,” you say, cutting him off. “I’m just going to slow them down. You guys will need every minute you can get.”\n\n“But,” Mason hesitates. His voice trails off as he realizes what you’re doing.\n\n“Just make sure Gillian gets the cure.”\n\nClark gives you a firm nod, then he grabs Mason by the arm and pulls him through the broken doors and down the hall.\n\nYou wait for them to be out of sight, then you drop to your knees as the @@color:#000081;pain@@ burns through your stomach. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. It’s like your organs are being @@color:#000081;liquefied@@ and all of your insides are being mixed together.\n\n“No,” you say to yourself. “Must focus... focus...” You have to give them as much time as possible. You crawl to the console. “Samantha, are you still there?”\n\n“Yes,” the voice in your earpiece chimes.\n\n“Good. Mason and Clark are headed your way, unfortunately so are the creatures. I’m going to slow them down, but I need the security override for the doors.”\n\n“R4TS89. But you would manually need to close the doors from the inside. You’d be trapped with--”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>If you’ve read Seven Bullets several times then “R4TS89” will look familiar. In the Hell segment it’s the drug you’ve been sedated with, and in Ragnoss it’s the scientific name for the planet.Since every segment potentially leads to Hell, I wanted to incorporate “R4TS89” as a way of foreshadowing the drug induced plotline that’s part of “Hell”.Repeating the sequence in several places was meant to be the main character’s subconscious warning them. Otherwise it just seems like a random string of characters and numbers. There are several other repeated phrases and codes hidden throughout Seven Bullets ...you’ll have to find those on your own.<<endif>>\n@@color:#000081;“I know,”@@ you say wearily. “Clark is supposed to take care of a woman named Gillian. Make sure he does.”\n\nThere’s a hesitation. “Okay,” she finally says.\n\nYou enter the code and the air pressure rushes out of the door locks. It takes all of your strength but you manage to slide the doors shut. The automatic locks kick in. The air hisses, and the doors seal shut.\n\nYou’re trapped.\n\nThe howling stops which means the creatures are close. You lay the gun down on the adjacent console and aim it at the broken door. Your clip is nearly empty, and you only have three of the neon bullets left.\n\nA shadow darts through the door. You pull the trigger. A creature growls and slides across the floor. Another creature rushes through the opening, and another, and another. They’re fast... too fast to properly aim at ...or maybe it’s your eyes giving out.\n\nYou keep @@color:#000081;shooting@@ until the rifle clicks empty. You reach for the clip with the neon bullets, but a creature tackles you to the floor. The gun slides across the room.\n\nYou’re too weak to fight. You can barely lift your arms. The creature howls and mindlessly tears into your @@color:#000081;chest.@@ You feel your ribcage @@color:#000081;snap.@@ The room spins. Your lungs stop. Everything goes black.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 38]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 631>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +14>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +45000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ll just have to risk the thugs in the back offices. The route is more direct, and with the chaos you have planned, you and Gillian should be gone before they know what hit them.\n\nYou walk to a statue of a Greek god spray painted to look like a clown. You sling the assault rifle over the statue’s shoulders. Given the other pieces, no one should think twice about a clown holding a gun.\n\nAs you move through the crowd, you see the Boss step through the front entrance. Gillian is beside him. She looks shaken, but unharmed. Two thugs stay a few steps behind them.\n\nYou move to the center of the room and wait for them to @@color:#000081;come to you.@@\n\nThe Boss smiles. “What an interesting venue. Fitting I suppose.”\n\n“Let’s skip the small talk. Give me Gillian.”\n\n“The money first.”\n\nYou sigh and unzip the duffle bag halfway. You reach inside to show him some of the money.\n\nThe Boss’s smile widens. “Lovely,” he says. “And despite what you may think, I am a businessman at heart, and this is simply a business transaction. You shouldn’t take it personally. Now,” he reaches out his hand. “The money please.”\n\nBefore you take your hand out of the bag, you subtly pull the pin on one of the @@color:#000081;grenades.@@\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;One Mississippi.@@\n\nYou drop the bag and slide it to the Boss.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Two Mississippi.@@\n\n“Excellent,” the Boss says, pushing Gillian toward you.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Three Mississippi.@@\n\n“There’s something you should know,” you say.\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Four Mississippi.@@\n\n“I’m an assassin at heart.” You grab Gillian and sprint for the assault rifle.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This is one scene where I tried to use font color to create an emotional reaction. It’s very subtle and deliberately unintrusive.<<endif>>\n@@color:#000081;BOOM!@@\n\nYou hear the @@color:#000081;explosion@@ and a cloud of dust fills the exhibit. Gillian coughs and stumbles. You keep her upright and pull her onward.\n\nYou grab the assault rifle with your free hand and point it toward the Boss. “This is just business. Don’t take it personally.” You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger@@ and take out two of the thugs. Part of the ceiling collapses before you can finish off the Boss.\n\n“Come on,” you tell Gillian.\n\nYou both sprint for the back offices. You count at least four thugs. You don’t waste time aiming. Instead you @@color:#000081;fire@@ a barrage of bullets as cover. Killing these idiots isn’t a priority, escaping is. You point to the car. “Get in.”\n\nGillian hesitates. Between the gunfire and the explosion, she’s shaken up bad. You grab her arm. “Look at me Gillian.”\n\nShe stares at you blankly.\n\nYou squeeze her arm lightly. “Gillian, everything’s going to be alright. I promise. Now get in the car.”\n\nGillian nods, still in shock, but she gets in the car. You @@color:#000081;fire@@ a few more rounds into the building to keep the thugs inside.\n\nYou get in the car, start the engine, and drive. With all the commotion, the cops should be arriving any second. You need to @@color:#000081;stay calm,@@ and more importantly, under the radar. You have to fight the urge to slam on the gas.\n\nYou glance at Gillian. Her arms and hands tremble. It’ll be awhile before the adrenaline and shock wear off, but she’s alive.\n\nShe’s safe.\n\nFinally.\n\nYou keep the car just a little under the speed limit. The Boss will have the airport and train station under surveillance. The harbor will be harder to watch. You turn left onto the bridge toward the harbor.\n\nSuddenly you feel @@color:#000081;something@@ cold against the back of your neck.\n\n“Hello,” Alana says. “That cold metal against your neck is my gun.”\n\nYou see her smile in the rearview mirror.\n\n“Did you think we didn’t know about your car, or your stash?” She lets out a soft laugh. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to kill you.”\n\nYou’re as good as dead. You need to do something...\n\n[[Provoke Alana]]\n[[Swerve the car into traffic]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 508>>\n<<endnobr>>“You almost make it sound like I have a choice.”\n\n“Yes,” the Boss says calmly. “Of course you have a choice...though can you say the same for your sister?”\n\nYou’re not sure if that’s a threat or a genuine warning. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with the Boss. Either way he’s right. Gillian can’t do much to save herself. You’re her only hope, which means you still need to jump through some hoops. “Alright,” you groan. “I’ll have a little chat with this genius doctor you’re so fond of.”\n\nThe Boss nods. “Splendid. The jet is already being fueled. Take off is in fifteen minutes.” He snaps his fingers and Alana emerges from an adjacent room. “Alana will take you to the airport. The information for this job is waiting for you on the jet. I expect you to read it thoroughly. The agents I sent have yet to report back.”\n\nYou give the Boss a hard stare. “You seem confident I was going to make that choice.”\n\n“Prepared,” the Boss corrects. “I know you love your sister but, I also know you have a tendency for the dramatic.” He points at the side of your head.\n\nA tiny red dot moves from your temple, down your shoulder, to your chest.\n\n“A sniper?” You say dryly. “Now who’s being dramatic?”\n\n“Well,” his grin widens. “I find that you work best under certain motivational forces.”\n\n“Right,” you sigh. “Let’s just get this over with.”\n\nThe Boss motions toward the door without getting up. He takes a book from the table and casually reads. “Oh, and do be careful. I’d hate for anything bad to happen to you.”\n\nYou ignore him and look at Gillian one last time, then you follow Alana to the parking garage. She drives you to a private hanger at the airport.\n\n“What about my equipment?”\n\n“What,” she grunts. “A private jet isn’t enough?”\n\nYou roll your eyes and climb into the jet. She really knows how to hold a grudge. There’s not much you can do about that now. You lean into the leather seat and drift to sleep while the jet takes off.\n\n******\n\nYou’re jostled awake by heavy turbulence...and screaming.\n\nThe jet dips hard to the right. You hit your head against the wall. Out of the corner of your eye...you see something on the wing...but it can’t be real...It’s impossible...It looks like a giant pterodactyl. The creature claws and thrashes into the metal wing.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>This was the very last segment I wrote. At this point I had spent nearly a year and a half writing 270,000 words (over 1,000 pages) and I was exhausted. I knew I still needed to proof the manuscript, design the cover, format the ebook, and market the book.Even though I was in the last phase of the writing process, finishing still seemed impossible. I was six months past my initial deadline and I wasn’t financial prepared to spend another year and half working on the book.I knew something had to be cut, unfortunately for the genius doctor; it was her portion of the story.In my original outline her segment was meant to be roughly 50,000 words. In its current form, it’s about 3,000 words - quiet the reduction!I wanted the reader to explore the genius doctor’s island and be confronted by her heinous experiments similar to The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells.There are only two monsters seen in this segment: a giant pterodactyl and a shark.This segment is so short I considered cutting it entirely, but too many of the intro choices linked to the secret facility or looking for the genius doctor I had to leave it in.<<endif>>\nSuddenly the jet barrel rolls as the wing snaps. The intercom hisses with static...something about remaining calm. The jet nose dives. For a moment you’re weightless, then the plane collides with the water. The metal frame is shredded and ripped in two.\n\nWater floods the cabin. You’re disoriented...the blood gushing from your forehead is nearly blinding. You don’t have much time. You take a deep breath and block out the pain. You need to escape. The jet is sinking. The water is up to your knees and rising. Every second you waste takes you further from the surface.\n\n[[Swim through the tear in the plane]]\n[[Pop open the emergency door]]\n

<>\n<<remember $humanWreckingBall = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Human Wrecking Ball\n Cause more than $1,000,000 of damage to the city\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 212>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>@@color:#000081;“Splendid,”@@ Agares says cheerfully.\n\n“So what are the rules?” You ask.\n\nAgares waves his arm. “One of the doors in this room will return you to the living. The others will lead you to eternal torment. Here is the key,” he says, giving you a long iron key. “Unlock the door and cross over. That is the game.”\n\n“That’s it? No hoards of demons to fight? No hounds to chase after me? I just pick a door?”\n\n“Indeed,” Agares says with pleasure.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>The more elevated demons view torture as a game, using playfulness and charm as one of their tactics.<<endif>>\nYou look at the key. “No tricks, right? One of these doors will lead me back home?”\n\n“Of course. It would not be a game otherwise.”\n\nThere are three doors – a light brown door with elegant craftsmanship, a white door with water damage and peeling paint, and a short, stubby door with strange symbols.\n\nYou take your time examining each door. You try to look through the keyhole and around the edges, but you can’t see anything. There’s no way to tell which one leads home and which one leads to eternal torment.\n\n“Aren’t there any clues?” You ask.\n\n“Yes, but I will not point them out to you. What would the fun be in that?”\n\nYou frown and look back at the doors. This is harder than you thought.\n\n[[Go through the light brown door]]\n[[Go through the white water damaged door]]\n[[Go through the short, stubby door]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 245>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $force = $force -8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<endnobr>>You drop to your knees. “Pretty please... pretty, pretty, pretty please with a @@color:#000081;cherry on top...”@@\n\nShe looks at you with bewilderment.\n\n“I don’t want to die. I really do have a sister out there, and she needs me. I’ve never begged for anything before in my life, but I’m begging you now, you need to let me live.”\n\nShe regains her composure. “I don’t need to do anything. I thought perhaps you would have the fortitude to fulfill my plans, but I see that you are no different than the others.” She presses the red button and the grate beneath you slowly slides apart.\n\n“Wait,” you plead more fervently. “Wait. Others will come after you. I won’t be the last. We can make a deal.”\n\n“If you’re any representation of what’s to come, I’ll certainly be fine.” She kneels down and waves to the sharks. “Eat up my little babies. We’ve got a long trip ahead of us.”\n\n“Wait, you don’t underst-” Suddenly the grate @@color:#000081;slides@@ out from under you, and you splash into the water. There’s no outcropping to hold onto... no weapon to grab...\n\nThe sharks circle you.\n\n“I have information,” you shout, but she has no interest in listening. She’s probably heard it all before.\n\nYou feel a set of razor sharp teeth clamp into your torso. Another set latches onto your leg. The sharks thrash about in a frenzy until your body is ripped in two and the water is stained red...\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 41]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 809>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -45>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +12500>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Alana’s always had a hot temper. Maybe you can use it against her, trick her into dropping her guard.\n\n“It must dig at you knowing the Boss @@color:#000081;loved me@@ more than you,” you say smugly. “You think he’d go to this much trouble if you left?”\n\n“You’re nobody,” Alana growls. “And once you’re dead, the Boss will forget about you. It’ll be like you never existed.”\n\n“And what? You think you can replace me?” You laugh.\n\n“Of course I can.” Alana scowls. “I’m a better shot. I’ve done double the jobs you have. And in a few seconds, I’ll be the only one of us alive.”\n\n“Ha,” you laugh again. “If all the Boss cared about was getting the job done, then you’d be his favorite, but you don’t have any class. When the Boss wants to send a message, I’m the one he uses. He can’t even stand you.”\n\n“I’ll beat you to death, you stupid piece of,” Alana snarls and pulls back the gun to slam it into the side of your head, which is what you @@color:#000081;wanted.@@ You grab her wrist before the gun can make contact.\n\nThe gun goes off twice, shattering the windshield. The other drivers panic, and you have to swerve to avoid hitting them. Alana’s other hand reaches around the seat and takes hold of your neck.\n\n“Gillian,” you choke, “Hit her.”\n\nYou can tell Gillian’s afraid, maybe in shock.\n\n“Gillian,” you say again louder.\n\nHer eyes flicker as if awakening from a deep sleep. She looks at Alana. Her fight or flight response finally kicks in. She claws and slaps at Alana’s face while biting her arm.\n\nAlana yelps with surprise and pain, more annoyed than hurt.\n\nThe gun goes off again, @@color:#000081;hitting@@ a car in the opposite lane. You hear at least three vehicles collide.\n\nAlana tries to pull her arm back. You let go of the steering wheel and grab her wrist with your other hand. If she gets that gun behind you, you’re as good as dead. She’s got more leverage than you, but you manage to keep the gun from pointing at you or Gillian.\n\nThe car swerves. Your legs pressing against the steering wheel won’t be enough to keep it on the bridge.\n\nSuddenly, Alana turns her attention to Gillian. She elbows Gillian in the nose and grabs at her throat. “Your weak spot,” she coos.\n\nShe’s right. Everything you’ve done is to keep Gillian safe, not that you’ve done a very good job. If Alana gets a good grip, she’ll snap Gillian’s neck.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;yank@@ Alana’s gun arm back toward you. Alana twists into the seat face first. She growls and curses at you with a muffled voice.\n\nThe gun goes off two more times.\n\nYou feel a sharp pain in your @@color:#000081;stomach@@ and @@color:#000081;leg.@@\n\nAnd blood.\n\nLots of blood.\n\nYou suddenly feel @@color:#000081;woozy.@@ Your vision waivers. The car accelerates. You try to lift your foot, but nothing happens.\n\nThe car accelerates faster and faster.\n\nAlana tries to pull away, tries to escape. You use the last of your strength to @@color:#000081;lock@@ your arm around her.\n\nThe car hits a @@color:#000081;truck@@ and then the @@color:#000081;railing.@@ It twists and rolls over the edge. For a moment, your body feels weightless, almost at peace. Then you hit the water. It guzzles into the car through the broken windshield.\n\nYou feel Alana struggle, but you refuse to let go. You manage to unbuckle Gillian’s seatbelt. “Go,” you gasp. “Swim for the shore.” You crane your neck for air as the water slaps against your face. “Don’t stop running. Go.”\n\nGillian sobs, her eyes plead for you to come with her, but you can’t move your legs.\n\n[[“Go.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1315>>\n<<endnobr>>“Come on,” you say. “Let’s search the first floor.”\n\nShe steps behind you. “How come you get to hold the sword?”\n\n“Because I’m going first.”\n\nShe nods. “Yeah okay, that’s fair.” She holds the metal vase tighter. “So, do you think everyone in Hell has to relive their worst nightmare?”\n\nYou push open the door and walk into a large study. “I don’t know and I don’t care.”\n\n“I mean, I was trapped on the beach trying to save my son and then there was that thirsty guy.” She shudders at the thought. “It was like something was forcing us to keep replaying our most painful memory, like we didn’t have control of our body, but we could still feel the pain.”\n\n“What’s your point?”\n\n“How’d you get free?”\n\n“I didn’t.”\n\n“What?” She shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”\n\n“Let’s just say I never made it to orientation.”\n\nShe looks at you with surprise. “How is that even possible?”\n\nYou examine the books. They’re hand stitched with leather binding like something you’d find in a museum, but they look and feel new. You push open another door. “Come on.”\n\n“Aren’t you going to answer the question?”\n\n“No.”\n\n“Well aren’t you at least curious?”\n\n“About what?”\n\n“Your nightmare – the memory you’d have to keep reliving.”\n\nYou think about Gillian and how she’s still out there, in danger. You couldn’t protect her and now she’s alone. She’s alone against overwhelming odds. You let her down. You failed her. You shake the thought and glance back at Jazelle. “I have no idea what it could be.”\n\n“I guess you’re lucky then.”\n\nSuddenly there’s the sound of metal clattering against stone and a faint gurgling. You pull the sword up defensively.\n\n“It came from behind that door,” Jazelle whispers.\n\n“Shhh,” you whisper back, motioning for her to stay. You walk to the door and press your ear against it. You hear a muffled voice and more gurgling, maybe even crying. You kneel down and peek through the keyhole.\n\nYou see an extravagant dining table set for a banquet of about twenty people. There are at least a dozen platters of steaming meats and exotic dishes. You don’t see anyone – not a guest, a waiter, or a cook. Those noises are human though, maybe not a happy, well-adjusted human, but still human.\n\n[[Prepare for the worst and open the door]]\n

<>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +27>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveThatsFamily").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSheHadItComing").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockThatsFamily").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSheHadItComing").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’ll be right behind you,” you lie. “Now go.”\n\nGillian pushes off the dash and out the broken windshield as the car sinks further into the dark ocean.\n\nAlana struggles and squirms. You grab the @@color:#000081;seatbelt@@ and wrap it around her neck. The gun goes off again into the dash.\n\nShe drops the gun and claws at the belt.\n\nThe water inches up your cheeks. The car will be completely submerged soon. You put your weight against the seatbelt and Alana gags. “Did you ever think it would end like this,” you say quietly into Alana’s ear.\n\nHer eyes bulge and her cheeks turn blue.\n\nYou won’t have the strength to hold her much longer, but soon it won’t matter. All you can do is hope that Gillian made it to the surface and that once you’re gone, maybe the Boss will leave her alone.\n\nYou take your last breath of air as the car sinks. Then you wonder, what’s the point. You’ll be dead in seconds anyway. You glance at Alana still writhing for oxygen. If you die, so does she.\n\nAt least you’ll do one @@color:#000081;good deed@@ before you go.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 242>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +450000000>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab another grenade, pull the pin, and aim for the pilot. Before you can lob the grenade, a bullet @@color:#000081;slams@@ into your shoulder. The pain and force throw you off balance.\n\nThe grenade slips, bounces off the henchman’s rifle and out the other side of the chopper. The @@color:#000081;explosion@@ launches another henchman into the air. You don’t have time to see him fall to his eventual pancake death. You’re too busy trying to avoid the chopper.\n\nThe pilot overcorrects and the blades @@color:#000081;chip@@ away at the glass. You stagger toward the bag for a pistol. The thug sees you and empties a clip in your direction. His aim is horrible, but he manages to hit the bag.\n\nThe @@color:#000081;explosion@@ flings you across the room into the opposite wall. The impact stuns you for a second and you’re half-blind from the burst, but you still manage to see the floor @@color:#000081;crumbling@@ around you.\n\nThe blast must have torn through some of the lower beams. The room @@color:#000081;slants@@ toward the street.\n\nYou slip and try to grab for something – a pipe or a board, but they’re all tumbling toward the opening with you.\n\nYou plummet through the air with all the debris. The chopper swirls below you.\n\nAnd the blades...\n\nYou feel dizzy as you see your lower half a distance away. So that’s what @@color:#000081;intestines@@ look like, you think as you twist helplessly through the air.\n\nThe pavement gets closer and clos—\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

Achievement Unlocked:

World’s Best Assassin Trophy\n

<>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +6>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The people are so terrified they don’t know what to do. They hesitate for a moment. It’s not long. It only gives you a small window of opportunity. You sprint to the bloody torso and yank free the assault rifle and two flash grenades. You pull the pin on one of the grenades and @@color:#000081;lob it@@ down the hall. There’s a flash.\n\nYou see a creature. It’s furry and big. It has to slouch to fit in the hallway. You @@color:#000081;shoot@@ a few rounds at it, but it darts around the corner. The bullets ricochet off the metal wall. Whatever that thing was, it was fast.\n\nYou sprint back to the front of the group, pull the pin on another flash grenade, and @@color:#000081;hurl@@ it forward.\n\nIt clank, clanks against the ground. Then the flash illuminates the hallway.\n\nYou count three more creatures. They were waiting for you to flee in that direction. They would have torn the group apart. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger,@@ releasing five short, controlled bursts. You hit two of the creatures, not fatally. They scatter down the hallway.\n\n“Let’s move,” you command.\n\nThe soldier stands up and motions for the group to keep moving. You travel through the hallway, down a stairwell, and through another hallway. The soldier swipes his ID badge and scans his finger. A large metal door slides open.\n\n“In here,” he says, waving his arm into the room.\n\nThe group floods inside, panicked and exhausted. You keep the assault rifle aimed at the stairwell. The soldier taps your shoulder, and you back pedal into the room with the last of the scientists.\n\n“How’d you know that was a trap?” The soldier asks.\n\nYou shrug. “Because that’s what I would have done.” You click on the gun’s safety and sling it over your shoulder. “So what were those things?”\n\nHe shakes his head. “I don’t know...monsters.” He leans against the wall. “I don’t know,” he says again. “I’m not even a soldier. I’m just a security guard, but all the real soldiers are dead.”\n\nSuddenly the metal door slides open behind you. You swing the assault rifle around and flip off the safety.\n\nThe woman scientist rushes through with a dozen other people. They’re covered in blood and crying.\n\n“It’s us,” the woman says. “We were attacked only moments after you left. We couldn’t afford to wait.”\n\n“Did the creatures follow you?” You ask, keeping the rifle trained on the stairwell.\n\n“I don’t know,” she says, shaking her head. “They started eating the others...I think they lost interest in us.”\n\n“Let’s hope so.” You take a step back into the room as the large, metal door slides shut.\n\n“The creatures took Dr. Aiden Clark,” the woman continues. “It’s like they singled him out...like they knew who he was.”\n\n“And who is he?” You ask.\n\n“He was the lead researcher of Project OVID. He was responsible for creating those things.”\n\n“Wait a second,” you say, putting the pieces together. “Those things are the missing patients?”\n\n“Yes,” she nods. “Though missing doesn’t seem the appropriate word now.”\n\n“No kidding,” you groan.\n\n“We need to get Dr. Clark back.”\n\n“I hate to rain on your parade, but that’s not going to happen.”\n\n“You don’t understand,” she says. “He wasn’t just the lead researcher; he was the genetic engineer that singlehandedly created them. He’s the only person who knows how to reverse the process.”\n\n“And they just happened to take him?”\n\n“Like I said, I think the creatures singled him out. If they wanted to kill him, they would have done it right then and there, but they didn’t. They took him, which means they’re planning to use him for something. Whatever that something is, we can’t let it happen. We need to rescue him.”\n\n“Okay,” you sigh. “Let’s say I believe you. We don’t know what they’re planning or where they’re going. How are we supposed to find them?”\n\n“Clark’s laboratory was in a separate part of the facility. That has to be where they’d take him. There are only two paths they could use to get there: the artificial forest or the containment labs.”\n\n[[Tell me about the artificial forest]]\n[[Tell me about the containment labs]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 818>>\n<<set $force = $force -30>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +12>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Even if it was her, how much good would you be? You’re still coming down from the drugs. You’re hardly in a condition to overpower a building full of guards. You’re staring at a giant ape in a room with plants growing out of the walls – that’s not exactly top fighting form.\n\nAnd worse, what if you confuse Gillian for one of your delusions and end up hurting her. You’d never forgive yourself.\n\nIt’s better to @@color:#000081;run@@ and fight another day.\n\nYou turn down the stairs and head for the lobby. If they’ve been monitoring you, then the floor you were on is compromised, but from the radio chatter it seems like their forces are spread thin. You just might make it out of here in one piece.\n\nYou open the door a crack and peek through. It looks like a giant aquarium. The air feels thick like water. Bubbles float up the walls, and there’s a treasure chest and an atmospheric diving suit at the center of the room. Plus a handful of exotic fish swim in every direction.\n\nYou close your eyes and take a deep breath. It’s just the drugs. It’s all in your head.\n\nYou look at the lobby again. It’s still @@color:#000081;underwater,@@ and you still see the fish, but they’re wearing clothes. Some are dressed as civilians, others are dressed as guards – at least they might be guards. What you’re seeing are sharks wearing suits. You can only assume that’s your subconscious showing you the predators to avoid.\n\nYou duck behind the door. Shooting your way out is a @@color:#000081;bad idea.@@ You’re still too drugged to tell if you’re even hitting the right targets. You’ll have to find another exit.\n\nYou turn right toward the back of the building. There has to be a loading bay somewhere nearby. Your body moves slower in the watery atmosphere, and you feel the impulse to swim, but you bury it. You don’t want to draw any more attention to yourself.\n\nYou turn down another hallway. The door’s locked. The longer you stay in this building, the worse your chances of escape get. You’ll just have to risk the noise. You point the pistol at the door handle and fire three rounds. You hear the lock pop, and you push open the door.\n\nIf the guards weren’t aware of your location before, they are now. You try your best to sprint down the hallway, but you struggle against the water. You can’t help but wave your arms like you’re swimming. It doesn’t seem to help.\n\nYou shove your way through the next door. You see the loading bay – it’s fashioned out of coral, but you’re certain it’s the exit. You awkwardly swim toward it, pushing aside the seahorses that have appeared.\n\nYou hear some fish and duck behind a giant turtle shell. The fish speak bubbly gibberish to each other and swim past. You stay low and in @@color:#000081;cover@@ until you’re certain they’re gone, then you move toward the exit. You can hear the guards. They’re almost on top of you.\n\nYou make it through the loading bay, but stop dead in your tracks.\n\nYou’re @@color:#000081;surrounded.@@\n\nYou see a handful of crabs holding machine guns. They’re all aimed at you. Even on your worst day, you’re quicker than most, but there’s no way you could shoot them all.\n\nSuddenly, you hear a loud rumbling overhead. It’s a stingray carrying five people – one of them being Gillian. The girl they were talking about @@color:#000081;was her.@@\n\n[[Focus.]]\n

Dear Diary,\n\nWorking at the Playboy Mansion is the best. I’m making so many new friends and the girls are so nice. I’m spending a lot of time with Brandy. She’s already had to go to the clinic three times this week. I hope she’s alright. We’re all worried.\n\nI still haven’t told her how I feel. There are so many men interested in her. I just don’t know how I can compete. Maybe when I take her to the clinic tomorrow I’ll ask her out to dinner. She might need a shoulder to cry on...but who am I kidding. She’d never go for a guy like me.\n\nTiffany and Marissa say I should just go for it. I should probably listen to them, but being around all these women is turning me into a girl. I need some man time.\n\nToo bad all my buddies only want to stare at the girls. Maybe I should give Michael a call. I know he’d give me some good advice, if he’s willing to pull his head out of a medical book once in awhile.\n\nI don’t mean to seem dreary. I’ve got a good feeling about tomorrow. I just have to keep telling myself everything is going to be alright. Fake it till you make it, right?\n\nWell, until tomorrow...\n\n<center>[[Chapter 2|deadSexyCh2]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 531>>\n<<set $sly = $sly+4>>\n<<set $force = $force -2>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You drive around to the back of the Boss’s building. Most of the thugs will be on the twelfth floor. The silent pistols will be quicker, and obviously quieter than explosives.\n\nThe longer the guards waste their time searching for you in the building, the more time you’ll have to navigate the city.\n\nYou grab your bag, the sniper scope, and the @@color:#000081;silenced@@ pistols. You’ll need to avoid the cameras. If security sticks to regulations at least four guards will remain on the ground floor – one at the desk, one at the back entrance, and two patrolling.\n\nKilling them won’t be a problem. The hard part will be keeping their attention focused on the upper floors.\n\nThe rear door has a camera. If you destroy it, they’ll figure out your plan.\n\nYou go to the adjacent building, climb the fire escape; and from there, you jump across the small alley and grab the molding of a second story window.\n\nThe window’s already open. Some of the thugs like to smoke and never remember to close it.\n\nThere’s a noise in the hall. You stay low and move to the @@color:#000081;shadows@@.\n\nIt’s the two guards patrolling. You @@color:#000081;let them pass@@, then slip out the door and down the hall in the opposite direction.\n\nYou toggle the sniper scope to detect heat and scan the lower floor. If you avoid the front desk, you’ll be in the clear.\n\nYou slip around the corner and make it to the elevator. You check your watch. Gillian should have made it to the SUV by now. Hopefully she’s waiting for you.\n\nThe elevator dings and the door slides open.\n\nYou hear two goons checking cars.\n\nWell that’s just perfect.\n\nYou slide the bag over your shoulder, keeping the scope in one hand and the silenced pistol in the other. You scan the parking garage. Three heat signatures. One of them is horizontal. At least she made it to the SUV.\n\nYou walk to a cement pillar, using the shadows for concealment. You toggle the scope to x-ray, angle your pistol around the pillar, and @@color:#000081;take down@@ both of the thugs. Normally you’d hide the @@color:#000081;bodies@@, but there’s no time.\n\nYou open the SUV door, toss your bag in, and embrace your sister.\n\n“We have to go.”\n\nHer body shakes from the adrenaline, or maybe from the sight of the two men you just shot. It's hard to tell. At least she’s alive, and you’re almost certain the blood on her clothes belongs to someone else.\n\nYou take a bottle of pills out of your bag and give her two red ones. “These will calm you down.”\n\nShe takes them without thinking.\n\nShe might be able to drive.\n\n“Hey,” you take her by the shoulders, “I need you to focus. The exit to the parking garage is guarded. I won’t be able to shoot him from the car. I’ll need you to drive so I can sneak up to him on foot. Do you understand?”\n\nHer eyes are glazed, but she nods.\n\nYou know she’s tough, but she’s been through a lot today. Maybe she’s not up for it. You can’t afford to make a mistake now.\n\n[[“I’ll drive; just keep your head down.”]]\n[[“Gillian, I need you to be strong for a little bit longer.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 361>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<endnobr>>There’s still a chance you can fight your way out of this. You don’t even know what the red button does. It’s just as likely to be a giant self-destruct button. These people are crazy and paranoid enough. You wouldn’t put it past them.\n\nYou’ve got better odds at @@color:#000081;fighting@@ your way past this brute. Of course, your last trick isn’t going to work on him a second time. Even he’s not stupid enough to fall for that twice. You’ll need a new tactic.\n\nBefore you can elaborate on the large circumference of his mother, he hits the red button.\n\n“Ha,” he snarls and waves good-bye.\n\nYour arms and legs suddenly feel like they weigh a hundred times their normal weight. You glance at the ground. You’re standing in a circle. You must not have noticed it before.\n\nSuddenly your skin tingles. It feels like every atom in the room is breaking apart. Your body feels like it’s turning inside out and backwards – like you’re being pulled in every direction at once. Everything twinkles to white and the next time you open your eyes, you’re kneeling against a dark blue, rubbery floor.\n\nSteam emanates from your @@color:#000081;skin,@@ and your clothes smell lightly burnt. Your @@color:#000081;head@@ feels like it’s been stuffed in an oven, and your eyes can’t seem to focus.\n\nYou topple forward and cough up black vomit, which makes you feel surprisingly better. Slowly your eyes adjust to the light. You’re surrounded by enormous golden and red buildings. The architecture is unlike anything you’ve seen before. The walls are giant spirals that twist through honeycomb shaped squares. The spirals stretch so high you can’t see their end.\n\nYou’re still disoriented, but you manage to stand. The sky is ivy green, and there are two suns at the horizon.\n\nThis can’t be the drugs. You must have been teleported somewhere, but where? This place definitely doesn’t look like Earth. Is it possible that you just jumped to another galaxy?\n\nThe thought only makes your head hurt more.\n\nCalling a taxi doesn’t seem like an option either. You’re on your own and staying out in the open is probably a bad idea.\n\n[[Find cover in one of the buildings]]\n[[Sprint for the wilderness]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 662>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<endnobr>>You aren’t planning to fall on your sword, but Gillian is the only family you have left. If anything happened to her... well, you’re not going to let anything happen. That’s why you’re giving yourself up. Once she’s out of the Boss’s crosshairs, you and he can settle up. Right now, she’s your only priority.\n\nYou leave the guns and gear in the vehicle and @@color:#000081;walk@@ to the lobby. The thugs are speechless. They can’t decide whether to pull their guns or run for their lives.\n\nStupid and jumpy is a recipe for disaster. You slowly raise your arms in a @@color:#000081;sign of surrender.@@ The thugs seem to calm down. They strong-arm you inside and signal to the front desk.\n\nThe closest thug frisks you. “The Boss wants to meet in the penthouse. Don’t try anything stupid.”\n\n“Stupid? Of course not,” you shrug. “Irresponsible, dangerous, and reckless are more my style.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>One of the inspirations for the main character’s witty banter is Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files book series by Jim Butcher.<<endif>>\nThe thug sighs and shakes his head. “None of that either.” He pushes you to the elevator. Three other thugs get in.\n\nYou get out at the penthouse and walk to the living room. The Boss shoos the guards away. “Your presence won’t be necessary.”\n\nThey look at each other confused, but do as he commands.\n\nHe crosses his legs and glances up at you. “I’m sure you’re curious as to why your sister is in my care.” He motions toward the couch. “Do sit down. Would you like some tea?”\n\n“Where’s Gillian?”\n\nHe sighs. “You were never one for etiquette, but I suppose that’s forgivable considering your other, hmm, more interesting talents – or have you put that behind you now?”\n\n“I won’t ask again.”\n\n“Tsk. Tsk.” He says with a bashful smirk. “You shouldn’t be so rude to an old friend, especially one as generous as me.”\n\n“We’re friends?”\n\n“Oh,” he huffs. “Don’t be so hurtful. Your sister is in the room behind you. Though you should know, it was she who sought me out.”\n\nYou rush to the door and push it open. You’re frozen in horror.\n\nYour sister floats in a large glass tank. It’s filled with a light blue gelatin. Tubes stretch from her nose, chest, and arms to a machine that’s monitoring her vitals.\n\n“She came to me for help,” the Boss whispers over your shoulder. “She’s dying.”\n\n“Why wouldn’t she tell me?”\n\nThe Boss shrugs. “People do strange things for strange reasons.”\n\nYou press your hand against the cold glass. “What have you done to her?”\n\n“In simple terms, we’ve slowed her body on a molecular level. The disease is still spreading. Though, instead of killing her in days, it will take months.”\n\n“What good will that do? She’s still going to die.”\n\nThe Boss calmly rubs his right temple. “And what if there was a way to keep that from happening? How far would you go to save your dear, dying sister?”\n\n“What’s your angle? How do I know you aren’t the one who got her sick?”\n\n“Humph,” he laughs. “Even my reach has its limits. The disease is genetic. I’ve already run the tests. You have the gene as well. We don’t know what or how it’s triggered, but if we can’t find a cure, you’ll die just like her.”\n\nYou look at your sister floating in the tank. “What do I have to do?”\n\n“A new drug is being tested in Montana. Some of the human test subjects have disappeared. Retrieving them would be...very productive. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality. I hear the drug trials are almost near completion.”\n\n“Is that it?”\n\n“There is another option,” the Boss says coolly. “My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius I hear, who is quite knowledgeable in matters such as these. I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work for me, it might accelerate your sister’s recovery.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 498>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +20>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -25>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +224>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>There’s no way to play this safe, and you can’t go wasting bullets. You press Gillian against the wall. “Stay here. Wait thirty seconds and then follow me. You understand.”\n\nShe nods nervously.\n\nYou sprint down the stairs. The years of training have taught you to stay silent and agile. The thugs @@color:#000081;don’t notice@@ you until it’s too late.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;swing@@ the butt of the machine gun into the first thug’s jaw and twist over him so your foot @@color:#000081;slams@@ hard into the second thug’s left ear. His head bounces against the wall. As you land, you hook your foot behind his and @@color:#000081;elbow@@ him in the chest. He somersaults backwards down the metal steps. You hear a @@color:#000081;crunch@@ as his neck hits the lower platform.\n\nAs you turn, the first thug throws a right hook just barely @@color:#000081;nicking@@ your chin. You slip backwards and grab the railing to keep your balance. The thug comes at you again with his left leg. You grab his ankle and @@color:#000081;thrust@@ it over the railing. His crotch hits the metal bar, and you hear him whimper.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Thug, henchman, goon, guard - those are some of the terms I used to describe the minions the reader has to fight. I tried to be careful about how I described the minions because I knew their physical description would (in a small way) be a reflection of the reader.I tried to use a lot of action to mask the generic quality of the henchmen, or I used a specific, unique weapon to give the illusion of a personality type.<<endif>>\nYou twist with the momentum and kick him over the edge. He hits the opposite railing, tumbles down the stairs, and @@color:#000081;crashes@@ into the second set of thugs.\n\nTheir machine guns discharge in random directions and @@color:#000081;ricochet@@ off the walls.\n\nYou drop to the ground as a bullet @@color:#000081;slices@@ past your shoulder.\n\nThey know you’re coming now. You can’t waste time with a silly thing like pain. You @@color:#000081;dash@@ to the lower platform and jump across the gap to the next platform, @@color:#000081;knocking@@ one of the thugs into the wall with your knee.\n\nYou push his machine gun against the rail. Four bullets hit his recovering friend and paint the wall with bits of @@color:#000081;brain.@@ You yank the machine gun forward, then @@color:#000081;shove@@ it back into his nose. He rolls against the wall and down the stairs.\n\nYou twirl the machine gun around and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ the two remaining thugs as they round the corner.\n\nBlood @@color:#000081;drips@@ down your arm, and your shoulder hurts bad. You turn and look up the stairs. “Gillian, it’s safe.”\n\nShe doesn’t respond.\n\n“Gillian.” You painfully climb the stairs. “Gillian?” You see blood on the steps. Gillian holds her stomach. Blood seeps out between her fingers. A stray bullet – what are the odds.\n\nMoving her won’t be easy. There’s so much blood. It’s hard to say what organs have been hit.\n\nThe door behind you kicks open, and a thug has his pistol pointed at the back of your head. Part of you wishes he would pull the trigger. Instead, he @@color:#000081;hits@@ you in the back of the neck. You crumple forward.\n\nWith your last ounce of strength, you reach for Gillian’s hand. Her fingers don’t move. You try to shout her name, but only a faint mumble comes out.\n\nYour vision blurs and your head falls into a pool of blood which you can only hope doesn't belong to her.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 7]]\n

<center><h1>Origami Butterfly Effect</h1></center>\n<center><img src="unlocks/origami/butterfly.png" width="200" height="164"><img src="unlocks/origami/butterfly_02.png" width="200" height="173"></center>\nMake your very own origami butterfly (with a crudely drawn picture of Ashton Kutcher from The Butterfly Effect). All it takes is 12 easy steps!\n\nInstructions\n<img src="unlocks/origami/butterflyPrint.png" width="100" height="100" align="left">1. <html><a href="unlocks/origami/butterflyPrint.png" target="_blank">Download</a></html> the butterfly effect print or use your own square sheet of paper.\n \n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_01.JPG" align="left">\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_02.JPG" align="left">\n2. Fold the paper in half\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_03.JPG" align="left">\n3. Fold the paper in half again\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_04.JPG" align="left">\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_05.JPG" align="left">\n4. Fold the corner down\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_06.JPG" align="left">\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_07.JPG" align="left">\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_08.JPG" align="left">\n5. Fold the other corner down\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_09.JPG" align="left">\n6. Fold the bottom corner up so it’s aligned with the top of the triangle\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_10.JPG" align="left">\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_11.JPG" align="left">\n7. Fold the other bottom corner up\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_12.JPG" align="left">\n8. Flip over the triangle and fold more than half of the paper (so the tip extends past the bottom of the triangle)\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_13.JPG" align="left">\n9. Push the tail fins flat, bending the paper\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_14.JPG" align="left">\n10. Bend the tip under the paper\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_15.JPG" align="left">\n11. Fold the paper in half (creating the wings)\n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_16.JPG" align="left">\n12. Make a small fold near the base of the paper, defining the butterfly wings \n\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_17.JPG" align="left">\n<img src="unlocks/origami/step_18.JPG" align="left">\n\n<<back>>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 766>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -7>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +1>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +445>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You fought this hard to get Gillian; you’re not going to lose her now. “Drive,” you shout, running toward the backseat. You flip open the door and jump in as she pulls out of the parking garage.\n\nYou hear the goons shout as they fire their weapons. Four bullets ricochet off the SUV. You take out both pistols and @@color:#000081;return fire.@@ You manage to hit three of them, not fatally.\n\nTwo more goons exit the parking garage and squeeze off a few rounds. You hear one of the tires squeal as the SUV swerves right. It @@color:#000081;careens@@ into a parked car and rolls to a stop in the middle of the street.\n\n“Gillian. Gillian?” You rush to the front seat.\n\nShe’s slumped over the steering wheel. Her chair is red with blood. Her eyes look empty. You frantically try to find where the bullet hit her, but there’s just too much blood. You get out of the SUV and gently lay her on the street.\n\n“Gillian,” you barely whisper. “Gillian, please.”\n\nThe goons have you surrounded. You’re out of options. The Boss is probably going to kill you, but all you can think about is Gillian and how you let her down.\n\nBefore you can say or do anything, a goon @@color:#000081;smacks you@@ in the head with the butt of his gun. Your vision blurs, you hit the pavement, and everything goes black.\n\n******\n\nA @@color:#000081;hard slap@@ across the face wakes you. You’re tied to a chair. Ada Wolff slaps you again. She’s one of the Boss’s more refined assassins. The last time you saw her, she tried to strangle you with a piano string. Hopefully this conversation will be more productive.\n\n“Owah,” you groan. “I’m awake.”\n\n“So,” Ada grunts. She’s about to hit you again when the Boss stops her. He sits down on the chair in front of you.\n\n“Your little temper tantrum has cost me quite a bit of money.”\n\n“What did you expect?” You say, still a bit groggy.\n\n“Yes, I suppose the events of today have spiraled out of hand.”\n\nYou look around the room. “Where’s Gillian?”\n\n“Alive,” Ada says with a pinch of disappointment.\n\n“And quite safe,” the Boss adds. “Though the doctors have delivered some very interesting news. Your sister appears to have an abnormal gene, one that could have a very negative impact on her life.”\n\n“I’m going to have a very negative impact on your life.” You scowl at him. "Why should I believe you?”\n\n“Because you have the gene as well.” The Boss leans back in the chair. “That is what all of this has been about. You’re dying, and now I know your sister is no better off.”\n\nYou laugh and shake your head. “This is some game you’re playing. When I get out of these ropes, I’m going to kill you.”\n\nAda immediately slaps you across the face. The Boss pulls her back before she can do it again.\n\n“I’m sure this is difficult for you to understand, but despite the manner in which we parted, I still consider you a valuable part of my company. I always assumed you would return so, you see, I have no incentive to kill you. On the contrary, you’re worth more to me alive, even if you are no longer under my employ.”\n\n“Sorry if I dozed off, but I think I’ve heard this story before.”\n\nThe Boss opens a folder and lays it on your lap. “The results from your sister’s exam. She has months to live. You have weeks.”\n\nYou’re not a doctor, but the stats look real. Gillian really is dying...and so are you. “Weeks?” You whisper.\n\n“I have been making heavy investments in medical research related to your condition the returns of which have proven to be...disappointing. Of my several investments, two have shown the most promise, but there have been setbacks.\n\n“Progress on a new drug being tested in Montana has come to a stop. Some of the human test subjects have gone missing. Retrieving them would be very productive in finding a cure. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality.\n\n“There is another option,” the Boss says. “My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius, who is quite knowledgeable in matters concerning the project. I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work for me, it might accelerate your sister’s recovery...as well as your own.”\n\nThe Boss motions toward Ada. She grimaces, but cuts you loose.\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 501>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +2300>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The sniper isn’t that great of a shot, but at this range he just might hit you. Safety is one of those unfortunate necessities in this situation.\n\nYou keep pushing the dumpster. The thugs start jogging. It looks like you’ll reach the car about the same time they do.\n\nThis’ll be close.\n\nThe dumpster hits the front of the car. You reel back as a bullet bounces off the hood. You put a little too much weight on your @@color:#000081;right arm,@@ and your shoulder feels like it’s on fire again. You sweat and your @@color:#000081;vision blurs@@ around the edges. You’re about to pass out.\n\nNo, no you can’t pass out. Gillian is counting on you. She needs you. Besides, you’ve only been shot once. You can start to feel woozy after getting hit by three or four more bullets. You lean your head against the dumpster and let the cold metal calm your nerves.\n\nYou glance at the hood – barely even a scratch. The Russians must have reinforced it. If you’re lucky the whole car is @@color:#000081;bulletproof.@@\n\nYou stay low and push yourself forward. You’re almost to the door when a thug rounds the back of the car. He’s holding a shotgun, and it’s pointed at your chest.\n\nYou swing open the door and use it as a @@color:#000081;shield@@ as the shotgun erupts. The door rocks forward, but remains intact. You’re alive. Unfortunately, that trick will only work once.\n\nThe thug steps around the door and grunts with amusement. He’s not likely to miss from this range. At least it’ll be over quick.\n\nYou hear a @@color:#000081;gunshot,@@ but it’s not from him... or the sniper.\n\nThe thug crumbles to the ground. You glance to the right. The woman stands near the window with her gun. She gives you a nod. Looks like you owe her one.\n\nYou twist around the door and get in the driver’s seat. You close the door and lock the rest. You’ve got maybe a minute and a half before the cops arrive. That’s still plenty of time for the thugs to get the kid.\n\nBeing in debt to a cop is just embarrassing. You’ve got a reputation to maintain.\n\nYou take an assault rifle from the bag and lay out in the back seat. Based on the trajectory of the bullets the sniper is probably on the roof of the building to your front-left, and he’s probably stupid enough to still be there.\n\nYou roll the window down a crack and shove the rifle through. Once you see the reflection of his scope, you take the shot – @@color:#000081;three quick rounds@@ evenly spaced. You may not have killed him, but he won’t be moving for awhile. The cops can tidy up the rest.\n\nYou climb back into the driver’s seat and put the car in gear. You nod at the cop. She nods back. Hopefully she won’t go bragging to everybody how she saved your life. That’d be so embarrassing. All the other assassins would laugh at you.\n\n[[Drive to Wong’s restaurant]]\n[[Find someplace to patch up your wounds]]\n[[Drive to the penthouse and give yourself up]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 626>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<endnobr>>You see the desire in the “reformed” pirates’ eyes. This is what they live for - freedom and loot...and maybe killing.\n\nYou can understand the appeal, at least of the first two, but this mission isn’t about @@color:#000081;loot.@@ It’s about getting back home and keeping the planet from imploding or phasing or whatever it was Quintus was talking about.\n\n“No,” you say sternly to Taz Moir. “We steer clear of the drifting ship.”\n\n“That’ll not do well for morale.”\n\n“What we’re after is @@color:#000081;more important@@ than the loot on that ship.”\n\nTaz Moir looks through his old metal scope again. “It be a Sarrejiinn ship...battle worn. Attacked I would say. We best be ready for blood.”\n\n“A Sarrejiinn ship,” Avengral coughs and wipes the vomit from his mouth. “Out this far...why?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>I think a character’s flaws and weaknesses are usually the most interesting thing about them. Avengral is so upstanding and strong there weren’t many moments to explore his faults.Making him sea sick was a spur of the moment decision which (I think) turned out really well.<<endif>>\n“A question better answered by yer King.” Taz Moir pulls a long pipe from his jacket and lets it hang from the side of his mouth. “Steady course lads,” he shouts to the crew.\n\nThey begrudgingly follow orders. Not stopping for loot may have cost you the loyalty of the crew, but that’s assuming you had some to begin with.\n\n“Squamarians,” Taz Moir grunts. “We be in their waters now, and they don’t take kindly to trespassin’. It be likely they attacked yer King’s ship and ate the survivors.”\n\n“Ate?” You say uncomfortably.\n\n“Aye. Have you not heard of the Squamarians?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>“Squamarian” is a broad term used to describe any aquatic (and intelligent) creature capable of developing a culture. The two main subcategories of Squamarians are: Mermaids and Natanus.The Natanus are fish-like people that can live in water or on land.<<endif>>\n“Uhm,” you shrug. “I’m not from around these parts.”\n\n“You land walkers are a peculiar lot.” Taz Moir points at Avengral. “If you’re not mindless of the sea, than you be puking down the side of me ship. I fear the moment we come across something more dangerous than a wave.”\n\nYou put a hand on your green speckled blade. “Fighting won’t be a problem. And, trust me, I want this to be over as quickly as you do.”\n\nTaz Moir lifts a skeptical eyebrow and then turns to look out at the ocean.\n\nYou stand next to Avengral. His cheeks are still green, but he’s managed to stop vomiting, probably because there’s nothing left in his stomach. He clings to the railing and points to an island in the far distance. “The island of Raizaa. Home of the Blue Wizards. The southern islands will not be far off.”\n\nYou pat him on the shoulder. “Let’s hope so. I’m not sure how much more your stomach can take.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral groans as he immediately dry heaves over the railing.\n\nYou give him some space and walk to the other side of the ship. You examine the rope and rigging. You’re not sure how big or dangerous the Cetorix really is. You’re not even sure if the ship will be able to hold it. You may have to get inventive.\n\n“Fore!” A voice shouts from the crow’s nest.\n\nThe crew scrambles to their stations. You look to the front of the ship. Several islands lay on the horizon, perhaps more further on. You jog to Taz Moir. “Have we made it?”\n\n“Close,” he says. “The islands still be a ways off. The sky darkens. We’ll likely reach land shortly before nightfall. We should go to shore, restock our water and gather supplies while the light favors us.”\n\n“Supplies? But we’ve sailed for barely a day?”\n\n“The King keeps the ships sparsely rationed so the Captains can’t travel too far from port. Arr food and water will last no more than three days. It be wise to resupply.”\n\n“But that would add at least another day to our journey,” you sigh. “We may not have that much time. Isn’t it possible that we could find the Cetorix and return before the supplies run out?”\n\n“Aye, but our chances be slim.”\n\nYou’ve dealt with worse odds before.\n\n[[Go to shore and resupply]]\n[[Keep searching for the Cetorix]]\n

Reward: Not getting bit by a spider!\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1450>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +12>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Yeah, okay, maybe this Quintus guy seems trustworthy, but that’s how you felt about Alana, Chuck Laroche, Nikola, and all of the other assassins that worked for the Boss until they turned on you. Quintus seems a little too eager to please his benefactor, the King, and who’s to say he won’t turn on you too.\n\nGetting a @@color:#000081;firsthand@@ account of the King is the only way you’ll know what you’re really dealing with.\n\n“Hey Quintus,” you say. “I’m tagging along. I want to see what this King of yours is like.”\n\nQuintus frowns. “I would advise against it. As I said, he has a particular distaste for outsiders, and every minute you waste here is time you’ll need to acquire the supplies my machines require.”\n\n“I want to know what I’m getting into, and who I’m working with.”\n\nQuintus sighs. “You still don’t trust me after everything I’ve told you.”\n\n“I’ve put my trust in people before, and it didn’t end well.”\n\nQuintus takes a step closer. “If we’re going to return home, we need to trust each other. It may not be easy, but it’s the only way.”\n\nYou put a hand on your holstered @@color:#000081;gun.@@ “I’ll decide what the only way is.”\n\n“Fine,” Quintus motions for Avengral. “Fetch a hooded-cloak. If you insist on meeting the King, then you should blend in as much as possible.”\n\nYou take the cloak and use it to obscure your Earth clothing. Avengral also hands you a belt and sheath for your sword.\n\n“We should go,” Quintus says. “The King does not like to be kept waiting.”\n\nYou nod and follow Quintus and Avengral through the courtyard and into the castle. You go up several stairs and through as many hallways until you reach the King’s court.\n\nA crowd of knights and noblemen form a half-circle around the King’s throne. The King stands and lifts his hand. The gathered crowd goes silent.\n\n“We are at war,” the King’s voice echoes off the stone walls.\n\nYou follow Quintus around the crowd until you get a good view of the King. He’s an old man with a graying beard and a golden crown. His muscles are broad and sinewy. It’s likely he took the crown by force. Even in his old age, he looks like a formidable warrior.\n\n“We have tolerated the Ferralliise’s pillaging and assaulting our outer cities with the hopes of peaceful resolution, but the Ferralliise have gone too far. They have kidnapped the Prince and intend to sacrifice him during their Blood Festival.”\n\nThe crowd jostles with gossip and fear.\n\n“Impossible,” one of the noblemen shouts. “The Ferralliise would never travel so close to the castle.”\n\n“Aye,” another nobleman jeers. “They are no better than wild beasts. What knowledge do they have of tactics?”\n\n“Silence,” the King commands. “The Island Wizards of the East spoke of peace, but they have failed us. Our steel will taste blood, and by the Seven Sons of Unthor, we will kill every last one of the Ferralliise brood.”\n\nThe knights cheer for battle.\n\n“Our main force will pursue the kidnapped Prince.” The King continues, “And two smaller groups will be sent out for reinforcements. The Red Wizards of the North are always eager to fight. Their allegiance should come easily. Another group will beseech the aid of the Island Wizards. Where they have failed us in virtue they will make up for with combat.”\n\n“Aye!” The knights cheer.\n\nThe King turns toward Quintus. “You have promised me a weapon Wizard, and yet, you appear before me empty handed. Am I to take this as a sign of incompetence or subversion?”\n\nQuintus kneels and bows his head. “Neither, my lord.”\n\n“Then it must be my eyes that have betrayed me for I see no sign of the weapon you were to build. I have given you shelter, and food, and wealth, and yet you give me nothing. You amuse me with your strange tales wizard, but do not confuse that with friendship. I shall have the weapon you promised me, or I will have your head. Which will it be?”\n\nQuintus swallows uncomfortably. “It stands before you, my liege.”\n\nThe King scans the crowd of noblemen and then scowls. “Do you expect to deceive me Wizard? My patience is not as sturdy as my sword.”\n\n“No my lord. The weapon is there,” Quintus points at you. “It stands plainly before you.”\n\nThe King scowls. “If I wanted a person, I would have enlisted a maiden and one of my knights.”\n\n“Indeed my lord,” Quintus stands nervously. “But that is the genius of this weapon. It only appears to be human, a disguise that will fool even the highly attuned Ferralliise.”\n\nThe King steps in front of you and examines your face and arms. “A golem?”\n\n“Yes, a golem which has been constructed from my most vigorous magic. That is why the knights and I fled the castle at such a late hour, to genuinely evaluate the worth of this weapon before presenting it to you this morning. Avengral can attest to its strength in battle. It fell an ogre with a single blow.”\n\nThe King seems unconvinced. “A single blow?” He squeezes your shoulder and bicep. “Your golem’s disguise is appropriately understated wizard, perhaps too well. Even my perceptions are of the opinion it is merely a person.”\n\n“A demonstration then,” Quintus says, waving his arm toward you.\n\nYou grab the King’s arm, twist it behind his back, pull the dagger from his sheath, and hold it against @@color:#000081;his neck.@@\n\nThe knights immediately draw their swords.\n\nThe King waves for them to stand down. “Impressive enough Wizard. Now call off your golem.”\n\nQuintus nods and you release the King. He rubs his shoulder and stares at you. “Your craftsmanship, as usual, is unrivaled. This... weapon... is not what I had in mind, and will likely not suit the needs of this situation, but I do not have time to debate its design. Send it to meet with one of the wizard groups. If nothing else, they will be impressed by your...vigorous magic.”\n\nQuintus bows his head. “That is very generous my lord.”\n\n“Now, I must prepare for war. Avengral will relay your decision.” The King continues shouting orders at several of the noblemen and knights as he storms out of the room toward the armory.\n\nAs soon as the King’s out of sight, you turn to Quintus. “Are you crazy?”\n\nQuintus shrugs helplessly. “I panicked, alright. The thought of getting decapitated has that affect on me. And how could I have known the Prince was kidnapped?”\n\n“I thought I was supposed to blend in.”\n\n“I’m sorry. How many times do you want me to say it? And besides, this could work to our advantage.”\n\n“Our advantage?” You whisper sharply. “I’m the one getting sent to the front lines.”\n\n“And if you don’t come back, it’s my head on the chopping block, literally. They have a chopping block.” Quintus pulls you aside. “But this could still work in our favor. I need time to finish my equations and the less time you spend here in the castle, the less questions people will ask concerning you and the portals. If the King knew I was still working on the portals and not his weapon, he would destroy my research, and we’d never get home. You know how to handle yourself, so just go along with the knights, deliver the message and keep your head down. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”\n\nYou sigh. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more to it than that. So what do I need to know about these wizards?”\n\nQuintus leads you further away from the group. “I know only a little. The Red Wizards are violent by nature and resolve most arguments with a battle of some kind. They favor elemental magic as well as swords and maces. I believe their citadel is built upon an active volcano which is used to test their most elite wizards. They are generally direct and almost always truthful. If you can best them in combat, then they will treat you fairly.”\n\n“And what about the Island Wizards?”\n\n“They are a calculating and manipulative group, or so I’ve been told. Their magic is focused on illusion and manipulation. They are highly political and always have ulterior motives when making transactions. They were responsible for the negotiations between the Sarrejiinn and the Ferralliise which have obviously failed. Any dealings with them will require a great amount of mental dexterity.”\n\n“Swell,” you groan. “This place is already starting to feel like home.”\n\n“Both our lives hinge on your safe return. Which group are your skills best suited for?”\n\n[[Travel to the Red Wizards of the North]]\n[[Travel to the Island Wizards of the East]]\n

<<widget "lvlChecker">><>\n\t<<if $xp >= 230>>\n\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t<<script>>\n\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveCrankItTo11").processText());\n\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockCrankItTo11").processText());\n\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t<</script>>\n\t<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>><</widget>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 713>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -14>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<endnobr>>You nod to the crewman, unsheathe your sword, and walk to the captain’s quarters.\n\nThe crewman cautiously walks in the other direction toward the lower rooms. The lizard part of your brain is @@color:#000081;screaming.@@ You know something is wrong; you just can’t be sure what it is.\n\nThis planet is so different. The sky is a different color. The animals are strange. Even the air smells different. Not to mention all the weird medieval customs. It’s impossible to tell what’s out of place because everything feels out of place.\n\nYou slowly push open the captain’s door with your sword. “Taz Moir,” you whisper. “Are you in here?”\n\nIt’s quiet... deadly quiet.\n\nYou step inside. The cabin is surprisingly large and ornately furnished. You see Taz Moir in his chair, face down on his desk. “Taz Moir,” you whisper again.\n\nHe doesn’t flinch.\n\nYou’ve got a bad feeling.\n\n“Hey,” you say a little louder. You nearly slip on a slick spot. You grab the desk to steady yourself. The floor is covered in blood, blood that’s pooled under Taz Moir. You prop up his body.\n\nHis head nearly falls off. That’s when you notice the slash on his neck going from ear to ear. His eyes are vacant, and his face is ghostly white. He’s dead...but for how long. And what about the crew?\n\nOh no, the lower deck...That crewman was walking into a trap. You have to warn him.\n\nYou twist around only to find a sword pointed at your forehead. It’s the crewman. He gives you a conniving grin.\n\nA dozen other pirates are with him, each one pointing a sword or spear at your chest.\n\n“A mutiny?” You growl.\n\n“Hardly,” the tallest pirate says stepping forward. “It aint a mutiny if the ship be yers from the start. Now drop yer sword.”\n\nYou hesitate long enough to annoy the once loyal crewman. He pulls back his hand to @@color:#000081;hit@@ you with the hilt of his sword. You use the split second to your advantage by @@color:#000081;slamming@@ the sword handle into his throat and twisting him into a @@color:#000081;human shield.@@\n\nThe other pirates lunge forward. Their swords tear into the crewman’s chest. He cries in pain.\n\nYou draw and fire your gun at the tall pirate, but miss. Hopefully it's a good enough distraction.\n\nYou shove the dead crewman at the pirates and sprint for the window behind you.\n\nYou lurch forward as a spear hits your @@color:#000081;leg.@@ You slide across the floor just shy of the window.\n\n“Tie that land walker up,” the tall pirate yells.\n\nYou try to struggle to your feet, but a boot swiftly kicks you in the face.\n\n[[Everything goes dark.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 388>>\n<<set $force = $force -15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<endnobr>>Before you can do anything, Cecil @@color:#000081;shoves you@@ into the street. The moonlight blinds you. The creatures turn in unison. @@color:#000081;They stare@@ at you with beastly hunger.\n\nYou glance back at Cecil and Sylvia. They gawk at you full of lust and excitement. Cecil waves you on while Sylvia blows you a kiss. \n\nYou’re about to call them traitors, but you realize using your words on them is a lost cause. They passionately kiss and then climb up the side of the building to get a better view of your soon demise. You’ll have to get payback later, assuming you’re still in one piece.\n\nA creature lunges at you. \n\n[[Roll under its arm]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 648>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +22>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -75>>\n<<set $hp = 100>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>As the old man swings the knife down, you catch his arm with your leg, @@color:#000081;shove@@ your foot in his stomach, and @@color:#000081;kick@@ the knife out of his hand. It whirls through the air and @@color:#000081;stabs@@ one of the acolytes in the chest.\n\nYou use the distraction to yank your right arm @@color:#000081;free.@@ You roll off the table, flinging the fleshy-bone body over your shoulder directly into the old man. He grunts and topples to the floor.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slam@@ your fist into the next closest cultist and then sprint toward the stairs, but somehow they’re gone. You pad at the wall trying to find a hidden switch or a secret passage.\n\n“You’ve seen how strangely this plane of existence behaves,” the old man says from the floor. “You’ve seen landscapes vanish and appear.”\n\n“So.”\n\n“Then you should realize the exit to this room no longer exists. In simple terms, you’re trapped, but more importantly, you can’t escape your fate. You are the chosen one – you will bring about the apocalypse.”\n\nYou turn around. The acolytes have you surrounded again. You won’t get a second chance to run. These psychopaths are going to make sure their apocalypse happens. Yeah, okay, maybe they’re crazy, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. After what you’ve seen in this place, anything is possible.\n\nRight now Gillian still has a chance. It’s slim, but it’s a chance. If you cause the apocalypse, she’s as good as dead.\n\nYou step forward and rip the knife out of the fallen acolyte’s chest. “There’s always one way to get out of a locked room.” You @@color:#000081;shove@@ the knife into your own @@color:#000081;chest.@@\n\n“No,” the old man shouts. “What have you done?”\n\nYour body slowly dissolves into the floor. Your legs are too weak to stay upright. You collapse. Your body surges with pain.\n\n“You fool,” the old man shouts. “You’ve ruined everything.”\n\nYou smile. At least you can say you saved the world, even if that just means taking yourself out of it. You body aches, and your mind surrenders to the pain. You whimper and slowly melt through the floor.\n\nThe old man runs toward you and tries to pull you back, but your liquidy body slips through his fingers.\n\nYour gooey form twists through the air helplessly. You’re shrouded in darkness and falling. You can’t explain how you're still conscious, but you’ve learned those questions are pointless to ask here.\n\n“Hello,” you shout. “Old man?”\n\nIt’s silent.\n\nThere’s not even an echo off the rocks – if the rocks are even here. You swing your arms and legs out, but all you feel is the wind as you fall. “Old man,” you shout again. \n\nStill silence.\n\nYour arms and legs feel strange like they’re congealing.\n\nHow long have you been falling? Hours? Minutes? Days?\n\nAnd why are you falling? That seems like something you should know. Did someone push you? You can’t seem to remember.\n\n“Hello?” You shout. Your voice echoes off the rock walls. You must be in a cavern.\n\nIf only it wasn’t so dark. Your eyes don’t seem to be adjusting either.\n\nYou feel weightless. Have you reached @@color:#000081;terminal velocity?@@\n\nYou can’t tell. You feel disoriented. You were trying to get somewhere, weren’t you? But where? It’s on the tip of your tongue. It was... It was... you can’t remember.\n\nBut there were people with you, weren’t there? A group... or a team maybe...\n\nNo, that can’t be right. You like to work alone.\n\nThe wind feels relaxing, and your mind drifts into a tranquil blankness.\n\nWait, no.\n\nYou fight the urge to relax.\n\nThere was something you were supposed to do. Gillian. She needs you. You need to concentrate. It’s like there’s a part of your memory that’s missing. If only you could remember. You need to remember.\n\nWait, why are you falling? Where are you? This doesn’t seem right. You need to do something.\n\n[[Blindly try to grab a ledge]]\n[[Keep falling]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 215>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<endnobr>>This is starting to feel like a bad idea. “Do you ever clean this place?”\n\n“Oh, don’t worry. The cockroaches don’t bite, and the spiders are practically a decoration.” He taps the examining table expecting you to sit.\n\n“I’ll stand.”\n\nThe Doctor licks his lips and shrugs. “Suit yourself. You’re about to fall down anyway.”\n\nYou are feeling @@color:#000081;woozy.@@\n\nThe Doctor puts his glasses on and examines you from his seat. “I’d say you’ve lost a lot of blood.”\n\n“Is that your professional opinion?”\n\n“Hhm,” he groans. “It seems your funny bone’s intact.”\n\n“Just patch me up and give me some painkillers.”\n\nHe takes another puff of his cigarette. “If only it was that easy. The bullet's still lodged in your shoulder.”\n\nThat’s what you were afraid of. “How long will the surgery take?”\n\nThe Doctor pulls a whiskey bottle from his coat pocket. “I’d say,” he points to the top of the bottle. “From here to here.” His finger slides to the bottom of the bottle. He chuckles.\n\nThat’s reassuring.\n\nYour knees are @@color:#000081;feeling weak,@@ and your head’s getting @@color:#000081;heavy.@@ You could probably get by with a twenty minute nap. You paid enough for that much. Then again, this place will probably give you nightmares.\n\n“Well?” The Doctor grunts as he lights another cigarette.\n\n[[Rest your eyes for just a minute]]\n[[Take the painkillers and go]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 791>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I get it,” you say to Avengral. “You have to look out for your own, but so do I.” You point at the drawing of Earth. “That planet means a lot to me and if we leave now, we may never know how to keep it safe.”\n\nAvengral frowns. “Stay if you must, Wizard of Earth, but know that once we depart, we will not return to save you should you be caught.”\n\n“I feel more comfortable working @@color:#000081;alone@@ anyway.”\n\n“As you wish. May the Seven Sons keep you safe.” Avengral puts a hand on your shoulder. “You have done well to serve the King and his people. You have my gratitude and friendship. Be well Earth Wizard.” Avengral takes the two other books from Evie and puts them in his satchel. “We will wait at the dragon spawn till quarter sun, then we will leave with or without you.” Avengral and Evie descend the stairs in the direction you came.\n\nYou’re on your own again, and since they aren’t waiting up for you, you need to make this quick. You hurry up the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. You probably should have asked Evie what to look for. You’d be fine hacking a computer or scanning covert documents, but magic books and potions are not exactly in your wheelhouse.\n\nYou’ll just have to make do. You glance into each room searching for anything related to Earth or that symbol of the goat, the lizard, and the bear.\n\nYou pause.\n\nOn the mantle you see three crystal statues identical to the animals on the cover of the book. You slip into the room and slide the heavy oak door shut. You’ve still only seen one wizard in this whole tower which is really strange.\n\nIt’s not like you’ve been here before, but you’d expect to see a lot more. The castle and the tower are large enough for thousands of people. It’s like they’ve all taken a holiday or something.\n\nYou search the oak table at the center of the room. Dozens of ingredients and crushed minerals are organized into piles. A book is propped open as if someone had just been reading from it.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;flip@@ through a few pages. Like the earlier books, the writing is in another language. You have no idea what it says. Luckily there are drawings.\n\nA large beast with cloven feet and three faces: a goat, a lizard, and a bear is drawn on the left page. Below the beast are dozens of humans groveling and pleading. On the next page the beast breathes fire from its three mouths and ignites the humans. The following page shows the humans’ burnt bodies being cracked open and creatures climbing out.\n\nYou set the book down. Whatever this magic is, it looks like people have to pay the price. Not a pleasant thought. Maybe this is what the wizards have in store for Earth. You grab the book. Evie will have to translate it for you.\n\nAs you move toward the door, a low rumbling voice calls out to you.\n\n“W-w-wait,” the deep voice growls.\n\nA Blue Wizard shambles from the shadows. His back is hunched over. His face is contorted in agony. His skin looks like it’s been dipped in a deep fat fryer. His blue robe is shredded as if he had just been in a fight.\n\n“Wait,” he says again. Talking is torture for him. “We have made a horrible mistake.”\n\nYou keep the green speckled blade ready. “What do you mean mistake?”\n\n“We could not control it.”\n\n“Control what?” You point to the drawing of the beast. “You mean this thing?”\n\nThe Blue Wizard wearily nods. “The old shamans wrote lies in the books. It was a trick.” The Blue Wizard leans against the table. “You must heed my words or be doomed to suffer my fate. The Lorefaiin, the beast, he does not bestow power. He takes it. The Ferralliise shamans hid their life-force in his realm, and by performing the spell to summon him, we have become the catalysts for their return. I tried to warn the others, but they would not listen.” The Blue Wizard screams as his skin cracks.\n\n“What about Earth,” you shout. “The other planet, what happens to it?”\n\n“Please,” the Blue Wizard groans. “You must kill me. Kill me now before--” He screams again as his bones snap out of place.\n\n“The other planet,” you demand. “What was the plan?!”\n\nThe Blue Wizard shakes his head. “There is no time. You must--” His body jerks to the floor, and his eyes roll back in his head. His body spasms as if something was trying to claw its way out of his chest.\n\n[[Try to kill whatever it is before it gets out]]\n[[Warn Avengral and Evie before it’s too late]]\n

<center><h1>Campfire Gif</h1>\n<center><img src="img/Campfire.gif" width="200" height="200" hspace="6">\n@@color:#B2B2B2;Warm up by the fire! You should get used to it now since you're going to be spending so much time in Hell.@@\n\n<center><<back>></center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = ($wordcount + 246)>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp + 5>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>This is a fine @@color:#000081;mess@@ you’re in now. There’s no way you can come back to the apartment. You pull a bag out from under the bed. It has money, clothes, guns, and documents to get you into or out of just about any country.\n<<if $introComments is true>>There are several moral choices in Seven Bullets, but most choices are adventure driven. I debated whether or not to add more but ultimately decided against it. I wanted to keep the plot more in line with the original Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1980s.Some of my favorite choices from the old CYOA books were completely arbitrary, and I’m a slave to nostalgia.<<endif>>\nHopefully it’ll be enough to get Gillian away from the Boss. He hasn’t killed her yet. He’s too masochistic for that. Since he knows she’s your sister, he’ll drag her suffering out for years.\n\nYou don’t have years. You don’t even have hours. If you’re going to get her back you need to act now. Going after the Boss head-on is suicide – have to hit him sideways, knock him off balance. You’ll need to thin out his army too.\n\nHe hasn’t worked out his trade routes with the Chinese yet, and if they think the Russians are involved they won’t deal. He’ll have to keep the peace with a display of force and money. That should keep things wound tight enough for you to slip in and out unnoticed. Of course, there are a lot of moving parts, and things could go bad quick.\n\nThe other option, though not as subtle, would involve blowing up one of his warehouses. With an unknown enemy he’d have to protect his other facilities, thinning out his goons at the penthouse. The threat of a war might make them jumpy. Getting out could be a problem. You need to think of what’s best for Gillian.\n\n[[Keep him occupied with the Chinese]]\n[[Blowing the warehouse is quicker]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 272>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +1>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +3>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +175>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Security is easy enough to elude or incapacitate, but avoiding them altogether is best. You yank free the electric wire from the lamp on the floor, wrap it around the leg of the desk, and loop it around your hand.\n\nYou peer over the edge. It’s a long drop. You inch your way out the window. The desk scrapes against the carpet as it takes your weight.\n\nYou draw your pistol, @@color:#000081;shoot@@ a hole in the window of the lower floor, push off the building and release the wire, using the momentum to @@color:#000081;curve@@ into the opening. Some of the glass @@color:#000081;cuts@@ your arm. It’s not bad, but the amount of blood will make you conspicuous. You grab a newspaper from the desk and stuff the sheets into your shirtsleeve. It’s not ideal, but it should hide the blood until you can get out of the office.\n\nYou’re about to leave when you hear a faint noise in the distance – a sound unusual for the city. You glance to your right, out the broken window.\n\nA helicopter.\n\nCrap.\n\nLooks like they’re taking her to the roof.\n\nOnce they get her in the air, it’ll be almost impossible to get her free. You have to move quick.\n\nIt’ll be tough to takedown the helicopter without an RPG. You pulled it off once before in Helsinki, but you were using that experimental mech suit at the time. Two pistols and a box of grenades aren’t quite the same.\n\nThe guards in the penthouse lobby shouldn’t be a problem. You could blaze through them in moments, but you may not reach the roof in time.\n\n[[Focus on the helicopter]]\n[[Race to the roof]]\n

<>\n<<if $soThatsWhatHappens is true>>\n\t<<optiontoggle "$introComments">>Intro Commentary\n\t\t<<onchange>>\n\t\t\t<<if $introComments is true>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $introComments = false>>\n\t\t\t<<else>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $introComments = true>>\n\t\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<</optiontoggle>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $starTrippin is true>>\n\t<<optiontoggle "$ragnossComments">>Ragnoss Commentary\n\t\t<<onchange>>\n\t\t\t<<if $ragnossComments is true>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $ragnossComments = false>>\n\t\t\t<<else>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $ragnossComments = true>>\n\t\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<</optiontoggle>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $neverGiveUp is true>>\n\t<<optiontoggle "$hellComments">>Hell Commentary\n\t\t<<onchange>>\n\t\t\t<<if $hellComments is true>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $hellComments = false>>\n\t\t\t<<else>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $hellComments = true>>\n\t\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<</optiontoggle>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $governmentSecrets is true>>\n\t<<optiontoggle "$montanaComments">>Secret Facility Commentary\n\t\t<<onchange>>\n\t\t\t<<if $montanaComments is true>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $montanaComments = false>>\n\t\t\t<<else>>\n\t\t\t\t<<remember $montanaComments = true>>\n\t\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<</optiontoggle>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>[[Buy the Book|buyTheBook]]\n[[Credits]]

<>\n<<remember $RIP = true>> \n<<endnobr>>R.I.P.\n Become a permanent resident in Hell\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 323>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>What’s that saying third time’s the charm? Hopefully that applies to offices. You walk to the third office and assertively push open the door. Three heads turn toward you.\n\n“Do you mind? This is a private meeting,” the woman behind the desk says.\n\n“You have no idea,” you say, showing her the pistol.\n\nHer face goes white. “Please,” she begs.\n\nThe two men in front of her stand and stagger back with their arms raised over their heads.\n\n“Calm down,” you say softly. You quickly flash your wallet as if it were a badge. "I’m @@color:#000081;with the FBI.@@ We’ve received a bomb threat regarding the building across the way. We’re conducting a slow evacuation of the surrounding buildings in order to keep panic to a minimum.”\n\n“What?!?” The woman gasps. “That’s ridiculous. Why aren’t there any authorities on the ground?”\n\n“There are,” you say confidently. “You and the terrorists aren’t meant to see them. We’d like to catch these criminals in the act. For your own safety, you need to calmly exit this building. Your employees are under the watchful eye of the US Government.”\n\n“But--”\n\n“Now!” You interrupt. “Every second I have to explain myself is another second for the terrorists to get the upper hand.”\n\nThe three office workers grab their things and move to the door.\n\n“Remember,” you say. “Walk calmly to your vehicles and speak to no one.”\n\nThey nod nervously.\n\nYou watch them @@color:#000081;leave.@@ It’s hard to tell if they really bought it, but fear is a powerful motivator. Even with their doubts, you should have at least a few minutes. You need to make them count.\n\nYou twist one of the desks around and push it against the window.\n\nYou adjust the blinds then assemble the sniper rifle on the desk and align it with the Boss’s penthouse. You slide onto the desk and adjust the scope.\n\nSuddenly you realize you forgot to lock the door.\n\n[[Get up and lock it]]\n[[Don't bother]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 664>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +6>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;sneak@@ silently behind the wall of computers. There’s enough space for you to walk without catching on anything and just enough shadow to keep you obscured. \n\nIt’s hot though. Whatever these computers are doing, it must be intense because the fans are spinning loud, and the heat is searing your skin.\n\nYou cover your face with your jacket and hurry through as fast as possible.\n\nYou stay low and near the wall. Some technicians adjust one of the machines near you, but they’re too involved to notice your presence.\n\nYou peek around the final colossal computer tower. A bright sphere of light hovers in the air. It pulsates and swims with color. It expands and contracts in dangerously large bursts of energy.\n\n“Stabilize it!” A woman shouts.\n\n“I-I,” a man fumbles with the control panel. “I can’t. It’s fluctuating too rapidly.”\n\n“Adjust the frequency.”\n\n“It’s not that simple. There are too many variables. It’s becoming volatile. We need to terminate the sequence.”\n\n“NO!” The woman shouts. “We’re too close. I won’t allow another failure.”\n\nThe man shrugs helplessly. “We don’t have a choice.” He hits a large red button on the center of the console.\n\nThe sphere sputters and disappears.\n\nThe woman slaps him across the face. “I told you not to do that.”\n\n“We would have died,” he pleads. “Everyone in this facility would have died.”\n\n“When I tell you to do something, you do it,” she growls. “Maybe if I bring your daughter down here it might help motivate you.” She grins. “I’ll start with her right index finger. Maybe tomorrow it will be her whole hand.”\n\nHe looks at her with horror. “You wouldn’t.”\n\nShe shrugs smugly. “Nothing’s stopping me.”\n\n“Wait, please. She’s just a child.”\n\nThe woman’s face turns vicious. “I want results. When I come back, I expect that field to be stable.” She turns and walks to the elevator.\n\nThe man slams his fist against the console and stands. \n\nHe must be Wilson.\n\nHe mutters something under his breath and walks to the computer your hiding behind. He examines the display. \n\nNow’s your chance.\n\nYou put your hand over his mouth and yank him behind the machine. “If you want to see your daughter again, you’ll listen to what I have to say. Don’t make a noise, understand?”\n\nHe nods his head.\n\n“I’m on your side,” you whisper. “And your daughter’s safe, for now, but we need to hurry. If we don’t get back to her soon, well, there are a lot of people in this place with itchy trigger fingers, you know what I mean? And for the record, I’m the only person capable of getting you out of this alive. I’m going to let you go now. Don’t make a sound.”\n\nYou release your hold on him. He falls to the ground and crawls to the wall. He breathes heavy.\n\nYou wipe his slobber off your hand. “We’re going to need a distraction. If I fiddle with your machine is it going to blow me up?”\n\nHe shrugs helplessly. “I don’t know. There are a lot of unstable elements. I really can’t explain it all.”\n\n“Something bad will happen though, right?”\n\n“Yes, something extremely, definitely bad will happen.”\n\n“Good,” you say. “Now give me your lab coat and your goggles.”\n\nWilson takes them off and gives them to you.\n\n“Get to the elevator as fast as you can,” you say, sliding the coat and the goggles on. “I’ll catch up to you.”\n\nHe stares at you blankly.\n\n“Go,” you say. “Go now.”\n\nHe turns and nervously walks toward the elevator. \n\nYou twist around the machine and duck behind the console. Four large wires – red, blue, yellow, and black – stretch from the rear of the console to a large dish where the sphere appeared. If you short the machine, some sort of chaos should ensue. The stun gun should have enough power to get things started. Now it’s just a matter of picking the right wires. \n\n[[Join the red a blue wires]]\n[[Join the yellow and black wires]]\n[[Join the blue and yellow wires]]\n

<>\n<<remember $itsOver9000 = true>>\n<<endnobr>>It's Over 9,000\n Read a total of 9,000 words\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 671>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<endnobr>>You press the button. The edges of the circle glow.\n\nThe floor vibrates.\n\nYou feel strange... almost weightless... then your stomach lurches into your chest, and the gravity triples. A white light glitters down from the ceiling, surrounding you.\n\nYour body feels disconnected... disjointed down to the cells. The light is so bright, it’s blinding. You collapse...\n\n******\n\nWhen you open your eyes, you realize the floor is different... so is the air. It tastes... recycled. You’re not in the garage anymore. But where are you?\n\nYou look around. The floors and walls are metal. A thick paned window is in the distance. You can’t believe your eyes.\n\nIt’s Earth.\n\nYou’re staring down at Earth... but that means you must be... in outer space...\n\nHow is that possible? You were on Earth only a second ago. No. You shake your head. No. This must be some kind of illusion or trick. It can’t be real.\n\nAs you move toward the door, it automatically slides open. You step into the hallway. Jimmy was definitely holding something back when he sent you on this little excursion. You’ll have to give him a good talking to when you find him, and by talk you mean stab.\n\nYou hear voices from around the corner. They’re getting closer. You shouldn’t let them know you’re here until you know where here is.\n\nYou sprint for the closest room and hide inside. The footsteps march past. You grab at the door handle, but there is no handle. It’s just wall.\n\nYou search for a light switch, but it’s gone too. You’re trapped.\n\nMuffled voices echo from the adjacent room. You barely make out what they’re saying.\n\n“We need to adjust the frequency,” a woman says. “If we can’t overcome the three second threshold, they’re going to cut our funding.”\n\n“We still have time,” an old man says. “We shouldn’t rush this. That’s how mistakes happen.”\n\n“We’re not any closer than we were seven months ago,” she says sharply. A clipboard slams against the desk. “Quintus had the equations. He knew.”\n\n“No,” the old man says wearily. “Your brother was smart, but he over-reached and that’s what got him killed.”\n\n“He’s not dead,” she interrupts. “He’s just...misplaced. I know we can find him. I know we can,” she says sternly. “We can save him.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>There are several scenes in which a set of scientists have a similar conversation. Each scene reveals a slightly different aspect of Quintus’s situation (Quintus is the scientist you meet in Ragnoss).I wanted the woman’s desire to rescue her brother to mirror the main character’s desire to save Gillian.Unfortunately there’s only one ending in which Quintus returns home safely.<<endif>>\nYou’re suddenly reminded of Gillian. She’s your little sister. It’s your job to keep her safe. How can you do that when you’re not even on Earth? You push the thought aside. Thinking about it won’t do you any good.\n\n“Commencing test #1371,” the woman says.\n\nThe floor feels hot. The room lights illuminate. You see the woman and old man through the window in the wall. They stare at you with shock and surprise.\n\n“Who?” The woman gasps then turns to the old man. “Turn off the machine.”\n\nThe man fiddles with dials on the computer in front of him.\n\n“Turn it off,” the woman repeats.\n\n“I can’t,” the old man says full of panic. “Something’s wrong. It’s not working.”\n\nThe woman pushes him aside and types on the keyboard.\n\nThe walls glow. It’s hot like an oven. The floor vibrates more violently. You hear the hum of an engine. Blue and purple lights swirl out from the walls like beads of sweat. They pool at the center of the room and congeal into a large sphere. The sphere pulsates with violent waves of heat.\n\nYou look back at the woman. She stares at you helplessly. “I’m so @@color:#000081;sorry,”@@ she says.\n\nThe gravity in the room shifts. Everything is pulled toward the sphere. You try to grab hold of something, but the room is empty. You slide across the floor toward the sphere.\n\nIt’s so hot. Your sweat makes you slip faster. Your foot enters the sphere first. Your toes burn. You try to escape, try to struggle free, but the pull is just too strong.\n\nThe strange light envelops you. Your body spasms as if you were being dipped in lava. Then everything is consumed by a bright, blinding light.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 490>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +7>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +32500>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Who doesn’t love a good explosion ...except maybe the guys getting exploded. You shrug. You can’t make everyone happy.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Since I originally wrote Seven Bullets as a normal book, and I couldn’t use variables to gauge the reader’s intent, I had to use other subtle methods to give the reader what they wanted.When I created the choices I tried to attach an emotion to the action. In this case, a person who leads with grenades is probably rash and direct. So the following choices are slightly more impulsive than the last, that is until the reader dies or is presented with a reboot moment.<<endif>>\nYou grab three grenades from the bag and slide the pistol into your belt. The elevator dings and the door slides open. You pull a pin and toss a grenade down the hall while diving into the study. You hear it clank against the floor, then @@color:#000081;blow@@ a hole through a wall. You sprint through the hole and @@color:#000081;slam@@ into a dazed guard.\n\nHis head hits the wall hard, and you @@color:#000081;swing@@ your fist into his jaw before he can recover. He slumps to the floor. You pull the pistol from his jacket and fire a few rounds down the adjacent hall. You hear someone shout in pain.\n\nYou keep the pistol drawn and walk down the hall. A guard pivots from a doorway. You shoot him in the shoulder then swing the grenade into his forehead. He cringes. You pull the pin, drop the grenade down his shirt, and kick him back into the room.\n\nYou hear him frantically pull at his body armor, then a loud @@color:#000081;BOOM.@@\n\nYou step into the room and walk through the @@color:#000081;blown wall@@ into a closet. You pull out your second pistol and kick open the closet door. Gillian’s tied to the bed with two thugs standing over her. It takes them a moment to realize you’re not coming from the main door, but that’s more than enough time.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;fire@@ two bullets. Both hit their mark. The thugs crumble to the ground.\n\nYou untie Gillian and pull the gag from her mouth. “We need to move. Can you walk?”\n\nShe nods her head. Her body shakes. She has bruises on her face and arms. It makes you feel sick. You try not to imagine what they’ve been doing to her. If you had the strength you’d kill them all, and who knows, you still might.\n\nYou stick one of the pistols in your belt and take her hand. “Come on.”\n\nYou hurry to the elevator, but it looks like someone’s using it to come up. It’s the only exit ...the only reasonable exit.\n\nCrap.\n\nYou push Gillian against the wall. “Stay here.” You take the last grenade from your pocket and pull the pin. When the elevator dings, you toss it down the hall. It bounces into the elevator.\n\n“What the--” The @@color:#000081;explosion@@ cuts him off.\n\nYou glance back down the hall. The elevator is covered in body parts. It’s probably @@color:#000081;busted@@ now too. Have to find another exit. The only way out is through a window. You’re on the top floor. It wouldn’t be hard climbing to the roof. You glance over at Gillian. Her shaking hands may not be up for it.\n\nThe first grenade did some damage to the floor. If you could find some way to make the hole bigger, you could drop to the next floor and take the stairs.\n\n[[Climb to the roof]]\n[[Drop to the next floor]]\n

<>\n<<remember $joinTheATeam = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Join the A Team\n I pity the fool who doesn't join Team A\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 89>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +130000>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>As your lifeless body drifts through space, you collide with a @@color:#000081;satellite@@ orbiting Earth. For several minutes the television broadcast on the west coast of the United States falters.\n\nThe service providers, after receiving several dozen angry emails, issue 20% off coupons and a free movie rental to resolve the matter ...which, considering your involvement, is technically your last contribution to humanity.\n<<if $introComments is true>>This is what I think happens when my TV goes out - some assassin is floating through space.<<endif>>\nAs your body dissolves in the atmosphere, only a small handful of people see a faint streak in the sky, though none of them know that it's you.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<remember $librarian = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Librarian\n Read a total of 200,000 words\n

<center><img src="unlocks/maps/Stag_memo.jpg" width="100%" hspace="6">\n[[Chapter 5|deadSexyCh5]]</center>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 600>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +7>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +17500>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -72>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You turn right at the corner just in time to see two cop cars barrel down the street. It’s a good thing you were keeping the car at a @@color:#000081;reasonable speed@@ and wearing your @@color:#000081;seatbelt.@@ The seatbelt hurts though, and you’re still bleeding some.\n\nYou’ve been shot before. You can handle the pain, but the @@color:#000081;blood loss@@ is making you weak. Your hand’s already starting to shake. You need to be careful. Even at full strength, assaulting the Boss’s penthouse is a coin toss.\n\nAny tiny mistake and Gillian could die or, worse, remain his prisoner. You’re not strong enough to use brute force to solve your problems, at least not today, not now. You’ll have to be smart about this.\n\nThat’s why you’re driving to Wong’s restaurant. If you can cause enough collateral damage to divert the Boss's attention, you won’t have as much trouble getting through the thugs at his penthouse.\n\nWong won’t be an easy target though. He’s almost as vicious as the Boss, and his thugs are twice as skilled.\n<<if $introComments is true>>Wong is the immigrant counterpart to the Boss. I wrote both characters in roughly the same way; the only difference is that the Boss cares about what happens to you and Wong only wants to kill you.From a narrative perspective I thought of the Boss and Wong as two warring gods and the assassins (and you) are the demigods they use to fight.<<endif>>\nYou pull through an alley and turn left into the employee parking lot of Wong’s restaurant. You park the car near the back, a little out of sight.\n\nYou grab the Russian cigarettes and light three of them. After they burn a bit, you stamp them out and leave them on the pavement near the car as @@color:#000081;incriminating evidence.@@\n\nYou grab the assault rifle from the backseat and a couple of grenades. You could start shooting into the building, but a lot of innocent people would die and a brutal massacre may make it easy to get into the penthouse, but it would make it impossible to get out of the city.\n\nThis needs to be a precision strike, probably best if you destroy their stash of drugs. That makes it seem more business oriented.\n\nYou get out of the car. Your whole body aches. It hurts to move and one of your arms is limp. You @@color:#000081;hobble@@ to the restaurant and climb the stairs to the second story where they keep the drugs.\n\nThe door is reinforced steel with a little slide window. You tap on the door. The window slides open.\n\nThe guy looks surprised to see you. He tries to close the window, but you @@color:#000081;shove@@ the barrel of the gun through the opening.\n\nYou pull the pin from a grenade and push the grenade through the tiny hole. You hear shouting in Chinese then a loud @@color:#000081;explosion.@@\n\nSmoke and dust blow out the opening and the edges of the door. You toss @@color:#000081;two more grenades@@ inside.\n\nThe @@color:#000081;blast@@ destroys part of a wall. You crouch through it, @@color:#000081;shooting@@ two of the henchmen as they try to attack you.\n\nA crate of liquor shatters against the floor and soaks into the carpet. You light another Russian cigarette and toss it into the cracked bottles. It immediately ignites.\n\nThe @@color:#000081;fire@@ should destroy most of the drugs – enough to make this little attack very personal. You toss the assault rifle into the fire and duck through the hole in the wall. You jog down the stairs and back toward the car.\n\nYou drop to one knee after a couple steps. You’re out of breath, and you’re @@color:#000081;bleeding@@ worse.\n\nMaybe you pushed yourself a little too hard.\n\nIt’s difficult to stand. You manage @@color:#000081;two more steps@@ then you fall to the pavement hard. Everything is spinning. Your eyelids feel heavy. You can’t keep them up. Your shirt and pants are @@color:#000081;drenched with blood.@@ You've got a strong feeling the blood is yours. Everything is... @@color:#000081;slowly.....@@\n...@@color:#000081;fading@@.... ....@@color:#000081;to@@....\n......@@color:#000081;black@@......\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 17]]\n

Detailed Character List\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 434>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You veer right. A bullet shatters the rear window and cuts across your @@color:#000081;neck.@@ You swerve the pickup across traffic into a parked car. There’s a lot of blood and it hurts bad, but it could have been worse. All your main arteries are intact ...at least you hope.\n\nYou regain control of the truck and hit the gas before the sniper can get another lock on you. Their only leverage is the kid, and they won’t risk shooting him. They’re either going to track you and kill you when you run out of gas or they’re going to blow out the—\n\nYou hear an automatic pistol and then your rear tire explodes. You tap the brakes and realign the steering wheel. You glance at the side mirror. Two SUV’s are hot on your tail. The thugs inside have assault rifles and automatic pistols.\n\nThe cop reaches into your lap and grabs the gun. She shoots three bullets into their radiator. Smoke and steam spit into the air. The SUV swings into the opposite lane.\n\nThe second SUV slams into the side of the pickup and you spin. The cop shoots out the windshield at the exact moment you’re hood-to-hood with the SUV.\n\nThe thug driving takes a bullet to the head. The SUV takes a hard right and flips.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;twist@@ the wheel into the spin and realign the pickup as best you can. The rubber on the rear wheel is gone and the metal ignites the road with sparks.\n\nThe second SUV catches up to you. The thug in the backseat sends a barrage of bullets into the front of the truck. You feel the engine give as some of the belts snap.\n\nYou’re losing momentum and if you aren’t careful your life will be next. You tap the brake and make a quick right down an alley. The truck sputters to a stop and black smoke billows from the edges of the hood.\n\nYou look at the cop. “We’re walking. Get the kid. And give me the gun.” She tosses you the gun and takes the kid with her good arm. She stumbles into the wall.\n\nYou pop the hood and prop it up. “Use the black smoke as cover.”\n\nShe nods and heads down the alley.\n\nYou check the clip. Five rounds left. You’ll have to make them count. All your goodies are still in the BMW. Hopefully five bullets will be enough to get you there.\n\nIt’s impossible to say how many thugs are waiting for you. The only thing you can say for certain is that it won’t matter.\n\n[[Take out the second SUV]]\n[[Make a dash for the BMW]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1260>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -55>>\n<<endnobr>>There has to be some rule about not poisoning emissaries while they’re in your castle. It would be a little heavy handed after all. If Avengral died here, all of Sarrejiinn would know it was the Blue Wizards that did it and that would be enough evidence for the King to go to war.\n\nThe Blue Wizards are smarter than that. They’ll probably still try to kill you, but poison food is a little on the nose.\n\nYou nod graciously at the old wizard, remembering Avengral’s rule about talking.\n\n“Your offer is generous,” Avengral politely smiles. “And humbly accepted.”\n\nThe old wizard half bows and exits through a door to the right.\n\nEvie leans forward. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”\n\n“I was obligated to accept his offer, just as he was obligated to present it to me.” Avengral leans back stiffly. “The traditions and practices must be followed both by the host and by the guests. Now sit upright and stay quiet.”\n\nYou do your best to look proper, as do the others. The old wizard returns with two platters: one full of sliced meat, cheese, and warm bread, the other containing six glasses of honey wine. The old wizard slides the platters onto the table in front of you.\n\nThe old wizard bows. “I wish we could be more hospitable given your unannounced arrival.”\n\n“This is more than satisfactory,” Avengral says without flinching.\n\nThe old wizard departs.\n\n“I don’t know about you guys,” Able grabs a handful of meat and cheese. “But I’m starving.” He swallows it almost without chewing.\n\nAvengral takes a bit of cheese and honey wine. Evie and Mos do the same. They don’t fall over dead, so you grab a glass of honey wine and some bread.\n\nIt tastes @@color:#000081;delicious.@@ Better than anything you’ve ever eaten. For all you know, they have magically enchanted ovens. There’s no other way you could explain the flavor.\n\nYou’re enjoying the food so much you almost don’t notice a middle-aged wizard with a long goatee and dark blue robe step beside the table.\n\n“I am Master Wizard Kailvo Kalraan, First Mage of the House of Cerulean Sky. How can I be of service to you knight of Sarrejiinn?”\n\nAvengral calmly sets his glass on the table. “As you know, the Ferralliise hoard has been a problem in the realm for years, but over the last several months, their attacks have increased significantly, far beyond annoyance. The King wishes to see an end to these violent outbursts and has sent me here, to the wise and powerful Wizards of the East, so that you may share in the glory of putting an end to these foul beasts.”\n\nKailvo smiles and casually leans forward. “The East Wizards have sworn an oath to aid the King and his realm, but I fear we will be of little use concerning these matters. The Ferralliise hoard resides so far from our humble island that we have had little opportunity to study the beasts.”\n\n“And yet,” Avengral shrugs. “The magical origins of the beasts are a known fascination of the Blue Wizards.”\n\n“True, true,” Kailvo nods. “But alas, our fascination has little substance in fact. Our knowledge comes from wrinkled pages of worn out text or whatever news you have chosen to graciously share with us.”\n\n“Oh,” Avengral laughs. “You do yourself an injustice. Your ability to acquire knowledge is respected throughout the realm. You would have me believe that even the great Blue Wizards have not gleaned new facts about the Ferralliise origin?”\n\nKailvo lifts his hands in concession. “I see that I cannot keep our research from a knight as intelligent as you.” Kailvo stands. “Come, let me show you the truths we have discovered.”\n\nYou all stand and follow Kailvo out of the great hall, through the courtyard, and into the large tower. He leads you down several flights of stairs. The light is faint and flickers as you walk by the torches hanging on the walls.\n\n“Where are we going?” Avengral asks.\n\nKailvo grins. “The accommodations leave much to be desired, but I assure you, the substance of our project is well worth the discomfort.” Kailvo turns left into a large room. The walls are lined with books, jars of ingredients, and mixing tools. A deep pit is at the center of the room. Kailvo gestures to it with pride.\n\nA Ferralliise is chained to an iron bar at the center of the pit.\n\n“By the Seven...” Avengral gasps. “What is this madness? You have one of the beasts...”\n\n“We have more than one.” Kailvo takes a wand from the table and points it at the Ferralliise. “They are far more capable than we give them credit for. We are mere beasts compared to the genius of their design. You see,” Kailvo jerks the wand forward and a bolt of lightning strikes the iron bar. As the electricity hits the creature, its body shifts into a different animal shape.\n\nKailvo sends another bolt of lightning at the creature, and it changes shape again. “It is quite remarkable, is it not?” Kailvo lays the wand back on the table. “I have artificially induced the change, but under different circumstances the creature could control this behavior on its own.”\n\n“The Ferralliise are said to be the spawn of blood magic, and yet you have such power over them...I do not understand.”\n\n“Well,” Kailvo glances at Avengral smugly. “You see, the Ferralliise were not merely created with blood magic, they are the essence of blood magic. Their blood is the spell constantly being recast each time it pumps through their heart. Nothing short of miraculous.”\n\nAvengral clinches his jaw. “Then you are dealing in blood magic.”\n\n“Well, of course. This knowledge would not be possible otherwise.”\n\nAvengral puts his hand on his sword. “And what are your intentions with such knowledge?”\n\n“To return the realm to its former glory and reign supreme over everything as the Raizaarian Wizards were always meant to do.”\n\n“I cannot allow that to happen.” Avengral draws his sword. You and the others spread out and look for weapons.\n\n“Yes,” Kailvo chuckles. “I expected as much sir knight.”\n\nAvengral drops the sword as if it weighed tons. You feel @@color:#000081;strange@@ too. You drop to one knee. It feels like a car just fell on your @@color:#000081;head.@@ The others don’t look any better.\n\n“Your honor has undone you. The food which etiquette required you to eat was laced with poison.” Kailvo kicks Able and Evie into the pit. They fall helplessly.\n\n“No,” Avengral growls. “You cannot--”\n\n“I already have,” Kailvo laughs. “Take comfort in knowing you will die with honor...but you will die.” Kailvo drags Mos to the pit and throws him in. “You would be surprised how much a single Ferralliise can eat.”\n\nYou try to stand, but all your strength is @@color:#000081;gone.@@ You can’t even speak.\n\nKailvo grabs your leg and drags you to the pit. The creature has already eaten most of Able. Evie and Mos lie helplessly watching, literally paralyzed.\n\nKailvo continues speaking to Avengral. “The fate of you and your allies is death, but it is an immense kindness compared to what I have planned for your precious King.” Kailvo kicks you into the pit. You @@color:#000081;hit@@ the ground hard and lie motionless. You feel Avengral land on top of you.\n\nYou watch the creature devour the rest of Able, Evie, and Mos. Then it grabs your arm and chews.\n\nYou close your eyes and try to go to your happy place...\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 27]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1046>>\n<<endnobr>>“Yeah,” you sigh. “Alright.” You know this is going to be a long day, and you’re probably going to regret asking but, “Tell me about the artificial forest,” you say.\n\nThe woman points to a computer screen. “The forest was designed to handle a variety of experiments.”\n\n“Wait,” you interrupt. “I thought the power was down?”\n\n“Yes,” she says. “Everywhere else in the facility. This lab is on a separate power grid. It also has a separate air and water filtration system. We can hold up here for months if necessary.”\n\n“Good to know.” You nod at the monitor. “So tell me about this forest.”\n\n“The forest was developed to test mechanical and organic KITs within real world parameters.”\n\n“KITs?”\n\n“Knowledge based Interactive Testing. It’s a universal set of protocols we use to determine the potential applications of an experiment. Basically, will the experiment or product work and if not, why. But we really don’t have time to get into the technical details. For all intents and purposes, the forest is exactly as you would imagine it: trees, dirt, sky, small wildlife. It’s roughly twenty acres and heavily wooded.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Dr. Clark’s motto: “Success is verification by way of reproducible results”. The artificial forest is a means of testing experiments in “real” world environments.When I began writing the secret facility segment, I wasn’t sure what rogue experiments or technology the reader might encounter. I decided to keep the facility’s purpose a mystery.<<endif>>\n“Sounds manageable. What about those creatures? I’m not walking into another ambush. What are they?”\n\n“As you stated earlier, they’re human, specifically the patients that went missing, or more accurately, the patients that escaped. They were originally here of their own freewill. They were dying from a genetic malformation. They only had months to live so they were willing to try almost anything. Dr. Clark was trying to save them...at first anyway.\n\n“I’m not sure how, but he managed to find a way to modify the genes, but by that time he quit answering to me. The investors saw the potential in his work and supervised him directly.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>The investors (such as the Boss) work with the government to manage covert missions and the advancement of government sponsored spycraft. If something goes wrong (like it has) the government has a failsafe in place to seal the facility and blame the private sector for any abnormalities.<<endif>>\nYou scratch your head. “So you don’t really know anything.”\n\nShe sighs. “Unfortunately, that’s all of what I know about the project...That, and the fact that these creatures have taken over the facility.” She points at the assault rifle and shakes her head. “I also know that won’t do you much good. It’ll hurt the creatures, but it won’t kill them. Their healing abilities are uncanny. Before Dr. Clark was taken, he was working on a prototype.” She takes a bag from her pocket and gives it to you.\n\nYou open the bag and count seven glowing, neon red bullets.\n\n“They’re coated with a serum that should neutralize the creatures’ growth. If you’re lucky, the bullets should render the creatures unconscious as well.”\n\n“If I’m lucky? You’re doing wonders for my morale Doc. So you’ve only got seven of these magic bullets, huh?”\n\n“Dr. Clark was going to make more once we reached this laboratory, unfortunately, as you know, he’s not with us.” The woman gives you a small earbud. “We’ll be able to stay in contact with this. I can guide you through the facility should you become lost. I’ll also be able to monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and location within the facility.”\n\n“Which won’t really matter since no one will be able to rescue me if something goes wrong.” You slide the earbud into your ear. “I don’t even know your name.”\n\n“Dr. Samantha Kapur.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>If you’ve read The Last Darling the name Dr. Samantha Kapur might seem familiar. Her sister, Dr. Shivani Kapur, is a minor character early in the story (see: page 17).<<endif>>\n“Alright Doc, let’s do this.” You glance over at the soldier. “Are you in?”\n\nHe hesitates. You can tell he’s nervous. “Someone needs to stay back and make sure this laboratory is secure,” he says without making eye contact.\n\nYou can’t blame him for being scared. You’d be scared too if you weren’t so worried about Gillian. You give him a firm nod and then address the rest of the group. “Anybody else with me?”\n\nTwo soldiers and a scientist step forward. “Dr. Clark was my friend,” the scientist says. “I’ll help you find him.”\n\n“Yeah,” the soldiers agree. “Besides, you’re gonna need backup.”\n\nAfter what happened earlier, you’re surprised anyone would be willing to leave this room. Three is better than nothing. “Alright then, let’s move out.”\n\nYou press a button, and the heavy metal door slides open. The four of you walk out, and the door slides shut behind you.\n\n“Testing,” Samantha’s voice echoes in your ear. “Testing, can you read me?”\n\n“Loud and clear Doc. Which way?”\n\n“Left, down the hallway. There should be a green stripe painted on the wall. It’ll lead you to the artificial forest.”\n\n“Thanks Doc,” you say. “Alright fellas, try not to get yourselves killed.”\n\nOne soldier walks in front, slightly to the right. The scientist walks directly behind you. And the other soldier lags behind a bit. You have the assault rifle aimed and ready. You follow the green stripe down several hallways and through several rooms until you step into a colossal warehouse space. The walls and floors are grey cement.\n\n“There,” the scientist says, pointing at two massive doors. The doors are bent and scratched, creating enough room for one of the creatures to pass through.\n\n“Looks like we’re on the right track,” the lead soldier grunts.\n\n“Then let’s stay with it,” you say motioning at the opening.\n\nThe soldier steps through. You and the scientist follow. The smell of pine hits you immediately. The ground feels soft, almost powdery. You glance up. The ceiling is so high, you can’t even see it. Instead you see a hazy blue sky and something resembling the sun.\n\n“Incredible, isn’t it?” The scientist says proudly. “I was part of the team that designed the dynamic weather systems. Every time you feel a breeze, or a drop of rain, or a moist fog, it’s something I created.”\n\n“Impressive,” you say, genuinely meaning it. “It feels so real.”\n\n“That’s because it is,” the scientist boasts. “Or at least most of it. Nearly ninety percent is a naturally occurring organic phenomenon managed and monitored by a computer. The sun and sky are obviously artificial, but we’ve recreated their properties almost exactly.”\n\nYou tap the earbud. “Are you getting this Doc?”\n\n“Yes,” Samantha says. “Clark’s lab is east of your position. The artificial sun is positioned identically to the real sun. You should be able to use it to navigate.”\n\n“Got it,” you say. You motion forward. “This way.”\n\nThe soldier in front stops abruptly. “Did you hear that?”\n\n“I didn’t hear anything,” the scientist says.\n\n[[Investigate the noise]]\n[[Keep moving forward]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 840>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +20>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>If only there was time.\n\nThese people are capable of sending two armed choppers after you within ten minutes of your escape. They’ve probably been waiting at your apartment for hours. There’s no point in going back. You’ve got Gillian and a means of escape. It’s time to @@color:#000081;quit@@ the game while you’re still in one piece.\n\nYou turn to Gillian. “We’ll head to the train station. I’ve got a locker there with a little bit of money. It’s not much, but it should be enough to get us out of the city.”\n\n“What about all of my stuff?”\n\n“We’re starting over... completely. You don’t own any stuff now. You don’t have a bank account, or an apartment, or clothes, or friends. This is a clean slate.”\n\n“So we’ve got nothing?”\n\n“Yeah. It’s the only way to break free of this.”\n\nShe groans. “We’ve done it before. I guess we can do it again.” She rubs her forehead.\n\n“I wish there was another way, but there’s not,” you sigh. “I might be able to get someone to pick up your stuff later, but you’ll have to do without for awhile.”\n\nShe shrugs. “I was getting tired of this city anyway. You know, I always wanted to travel Europe.”\n\nYou nod. “I know a few good places.”\n\nYou fly the rest of the way in silence. It won’t be easy for her to give everything up, but the only way to escape these people is to disappear.\n\nYou set the helicopter down in a field about a mile from the train station. “Come on. They’re probably tracking the chopper. We haven’t got much time.” You grab Gillian’s hand and jog toward the train station.\n\n“What if they follow us? Do we need to constantly be looking over our shoulder?”\n\n“I’ll take care of it.”\n\n“You can’t kill all of them.”\n\nYou grin. “I can try.”\n\nShe glowers at you. “Be serious. We need a better plan.”\n\n“For now we run. We’ll work out the details once we catch our breath. Now quit talking and try to keep up.” You pull her forward.\n\nThe train station is up ahead. You slip through the parking lot and into the building. The lockers are to the left. You find yours and open it. There’s an extra set of clothes, shoes, two stacks of cash, and a disposable phone. You hand Gillian a stack of twenties. “You’ll have to buy the tickets. They’ll be searching for me.”\n\nYou pull out the shoes and put them on.\n\n“Uhm,” Gillian says, tapping your shoulder.\n\n“What?” You glance up at her. “What is it?” You stand up and look over her shoulder. Your heart nearly stops.\n\nIt’s the Boss and three of his top assassins.\n\nYou step in front of Gillian and stare at the Boss. “What do you want?”\n\nHe sighs and leans on his cane. “Must you always be so difficult? I’m here to provide you with assistance. After the excitement you caused downtown, it was obvious you were in over your head.”\n\nYou shake your head. “And what? Out of the goodness of your heart, you decided to lend a helping hand?”\n\nHe sighs. “Despite your malicious assumptions, I hold no ill will toward you for leaving my employ. I wish nothing but the best for you... and your sister. The heart of the matter involves the terms of your departure.”\n\nYou glance at the three assassins. “Departure, right.”\n\n“Oh,” the Boss huffs. “Quit being so childish. If I wanted to dispose of you, this conversation would not be taking place.” He takes a step closer. “Now, as I was saying; given the nature of our work, discretion is more than a politeness, it’s a necessity. First off, I need to know the details of your capture.”\n\n[[“I didn’t talk.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 492>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +17>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $infamy +4>>\n<<set $force = $force +5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You look down at the baton in your hand and smile. A gun would make things easier, but for some reason you know this will be more @@color:#000081;satisfying.@@ You make a quick @@color:#000081;dash@@ toward the thugs, @@color:#000081;smashing@@ the baton into the back of one’s legs while pulling back on the guy’s helmet. The thug spins in the air and lands hard against the floor.\n\nAnother thug lifts his gun toward you. You grab the nearest henchman’s wrist and wrench it behind his head as you spin, using him as a @@color:#000081;shield.@@ The bullets slam into his vest. You can hear his ribs crack.\n\nYou let his body fall, then quickly @@color:#000081;strike@@ the gun with the baton. The henchman’s fingers bend in a way they aren’t supposed to. The gun drops.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;swing@@ the baton into his nose then throw him into the final thug. They both fall over a desk. You slide over it and @@color:#000081;strike@@ him in the face one last time.\n\nBefore you can pat yourself on the back, you hear the click of a gun. You turn in time to see the broken handed thug pull out a second pistol.\n\n“Down,” you shout, while pulling the woman to cover.\n\nThe thug empties his whole clip. The computers spark and flash. Glass shatters from the windows. “No,” the woman cries.\n\nThe floor vibrates. You hear what sounds like the hum of an engine. A bright blue and purple light floods the room. The sphere reappeares behind you. It pulsates with violent spasms. The room gets hotter.\n\n“We have to shut down the system,” the woman shouts. “It’s going critical.” She pulls a keyboard from the desk and tries typing, but the computer won’t respond.\n\n“What can I do?” You shout.\n\n“Are you a theoretical physicist?”\n\n“Uh... no...”\n\nShe shakes her head. “Then I don’t know.”\n\nYou look back at the sphere. The light whips through the air like rabid tentacles. One of them grabs the thug and pulls him off the ground.\n\nThe gravity in the room shifts. Everything is pulled toward the sphere. You try to grab hold of the desk or the computer or something, but it doesn’t do you any good. The pull is too strong.\n\nThe thug screams as his legs enter the sphere. He seems helpless, completely overpowered. His whole body is pulled into the spasming sphere, and his screams become muffled, as if he was drowning. Then suddenly, you can’t hear him at all.\n\nYou look at the woman. “Turn it off.”\n\n“I can’t,” she yells. \n\nYou both slide closer to the sphere. You’re being pulled toward it just like the thug.\n\nYou sweat from the heat. It feels like you’re inside a volcano. Your foot enters the sphere. It’s like your toes are on fire. You try to move, try to fight it, but you’re powerless. You feel the tentacles of light envelop you. Then everything is consumed by a bright, blinding light.\n\n[[Overcome the agony]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 543>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -8>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You loop around a tree as a spear sinks deep into the trunk. There’s no guarantee you’ll make it back to the ship as it is. Traveling further inland is practically suicide. You shove your @@color:#000081;blade@@ into the chest of the nearest Natanus and sprint for the ship.\n\nAt least with the rest of the crew you’ll stand a chance. You duck under branches and jump over fallen limbs. You see two more dead crewmen pinned to trees with spears through their backs.\n\nYou double your speed.\n\nYou smell the salt water. You’re nearing the shore. You trip over a stump and roll across the sand dune. You hear strange squeals behind you. They sound like dolphins. It must be the fish creatures. They're on your tail (so to speak), but you’re so close to the ship, you should be safe.\n\nThen you see it...\n\nPatches of fire and smoke spew out from the ship. It’s under attack...but from what?\n\nThe water around the ship splashes violently.\n\nMore of the Natanus?\n\nIf they’re dangerous on land, they must be even worse in the water. But you’ll have to risk it. Without the ship you’ll be trapped on this island.\n\nThe boat is still tied to the stake. You must be the first one to make it back. Then you hear a man scream. You turn to see a sailor running toward the boat. Three of the fish creatures chase after him. He’s losing ground. They’ll be on him in moments.\n\nYou sprint after the fish creatures, staying just behind their line of sight. You @@color:#000081;slice@@ through the one in the rear. It crumples helplessly. The other two turn at the sound of their fallen comrade.\n\nThe closest creature lunges at you. You side step, taking a claw across the @@color:#000081;arm.@@ The wound is minor. You pivot and thrust the sword forward, @@color:#000081;stabbing@@ the unprepared Natanus.\n\nIt squeals and then goes limp.\n\nThe other one lunges on your back and bites into your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ You scream from the pain and stagger forward. You don’t have any leverage with the sword.\n\nThe sailor swings an oar into the creature’s head. The oar snaps and the creature falls off you, unconscious. The sailor stabs the broken oar into the creature’s chest. Purple blood squirts into the air.\n\nThe sailor looks at the ship. “Cursed mermaids!” He shouts.\n\n“Mermaids?”\n\n“Aye,” he growls. “Vile creatures. Far worse than these Natanus half-breeds.”\n\n“Seriously, mermaids?”\n\nThe sailor scowls at you. “Aye, that’s what I said, land walker. Mermaids!” He picks up the oar piece. “We need to get back to the ship. They be movin’ for deep water with or without us.”\n\nSeven more of the fish creatures sprint toward you. “What about them?”\n\nThe sailor curses under his breath. “Can ye hold ’em off while I see to the boat?”\n\n“I guess, but I’m not sure I want to.” \n\n“The Natanus don’t venture into mermaid waters. Ye’ve got a better chance of fighting ’em on land.”\n\nFour more emerge from the tree line. “I caught the last three by surprise. I’m not sure how well I’ll do against eleven...”\n\nThe sailor ignores you and jogs to the boat. If you’re not going to fight, then you should help him.\n\n[[Fight the Natanus on the beach]]\n[[Help the sailor ready the boat]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 406>>\n<<set $force = $force +20>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<endnobr>>A sane person would spend at least three months planning an assault on the Boss’s penthouse. You’ve spent about three minutes. But then again, no one has ever accused you of being sane. You grab two pistols from the bag and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ for the entrance.\n\nYou aim at the front desk, but the guards are gone. The lobby and hallway are empty too. It’s a little early for a lunch break, but you really, really hope this is a lunch break.\n\nYou run for the elevators and tap the button a few times. Nothing happens.\n\nCrap. This is beginning to feel a lot like a—\n\n“Hello,” the Boss says. He adjusts his bowtie and gives you a toothy grin. “It’s so nice of you to visit. I had a strong sense you’d be stopping by.”\n\nYou turn to face him.\n\nHe motions to his left. “I believe you’re already acquainted with Mr. Lee and Mr. Wong.”\n\nJimmy Lee and Wong step into the hallway.\n\nJimmy shrugs. “Sorry.”\n\nYou glare at him. “You will be.”\n\n“Come on. What’d you expect me to do?”\n\n“You shouldn’t blame him,” the Boss says soothingly. “The business between Mr. Wong and I is far more important than a few questionable documents.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>Criminal dynamics in the City are complicated (to say the least). In this instance, the Boss and Mr. Wong work together to overpower you, and it’s the only scene which they appear together.Wong may understand English but he never speaks it. I felt that the silence made him more intimidating.On the other hand, the Boss sometimes seems delicate (almost feminine). I hoped his “politeness” would get the reader to drop their guard.<<endif>>\nYou glance back at the Boss. “So what now?”\n\nThe Boss sighs. “I think Mr. Wong would like to see your intestines ripped from your stomach and dipped in boiling oil.”\n\nWong licks his lips.\n\n“Of course,” the Boss continues, “I had something more agreeable in mind. You could always come back and work for me.” He pauses for a moment. “You have been missed.”\n\n“What about my sister?”\n\n“When you return, she’ll be covered by our health and dental insurance. And if anything ever happened to you, she’d be well taken care of.”\n\nYou cringe at the Boss’s implication.\n\n“This is a time-sensitive decision.” He points his cane at your chest.\n\nYou glance down to see three red dots over your heart.\n\nThe Boss grins.\n\nIt’s not comforting.\n\n“I do hope you understand, you were one of my best employees and I would consider it a personal failure if you decided to leave.”\n\nYou’ve still got the two pistols. You might be able to hit one of them before the snipers kill you. Of course that doesn’t leave Gillian with much of a chance. It’s not like the Boss is going to let her go just because you’re dead.\n\n[[Take the Boss’s offer]]\n[[Test how quick those snipers really are]]\n

During any other afternoon, [[Karen|Karen]] would have been diligently working at the [[University Library]], but on this particular [[October]] day she felt so [[unwell]] she returned home early.\n\nShe immediately ran to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. Her sickness, though unpleasant, was not particularly painful. It was more of an annoyance than anything, and she remained on the couch waiting for the sudden and unpleasant urge to return to the bathroom.\n\nWhen [[Emma|two]] saw that [[Karen|Karen]] was feeling [[unwell]], she offered to make some chicken noodle soup and a batch of chocolate chip cookies.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 773>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +24>>\n<<set $force = $force +22>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -6>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +8>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +3200>>\n<<set $wpn = "Managing Schedules">>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It feels like it’s been forever. Roughing up a few of the Boss’s thugs is the best way to recall your humanity ...okay, maybe not, but it sounds like a lot of @@color:#000081;fun.@@ You haven’t been around to keep them on their toes. They’ve probably gotten flabby and slow – only one way to find out.\n\n“Indeed,” Ayporos adds.\n\nYou frown. “Quit doing that.”\n\n“Doing what?” The receptionist asks.\n\n“Great job,” Ayporos says sarcastically. “Your foes are going to think you are crazy.”\n\n“That’s not much worse than being possessed. And when did you start using sarcasm?”\n\n“I do not know. Perhaps it is a side effect of the possession.”\n\n“Excuse me,” the receptionist says confused. “Who are you talking to?”\n\nWell there goes your @@color:#000081;intimidating comeback.@@ Now you just look crazy – but you can work with that.\n\nYou slam your fist into the front desk, @@color:#000081;shattering@@ it in half. You reach under the counter and grab the concealed shotgun. You rest it against your hip like a movie star and grin at the receptionist. “I’m looking for the Boss. Don’t worry.” You @@color:#000081;shoot@@ a hole in her computer. “I’ll clear his schedule.”\n\nThe loud blast sends the civilians fleeing frantically for the exit. Four thugs remain. They reach into their jackets for what you can only assume will be oversized pistols. Unfortunately for them, they’ll never have the chance to use them.\n\nYou lunge for the nearest thug. Your new speed is incredible – almost too incredible. You underestimate how fast you’re sprinting and slam into the thug. The force sends him @@color:#000081;hurtling@@ through the air and into the opposite wall. He slides to the floor unconscious.\n\n“You are stronger and faster than you can imagine,” Ayporos says. “Do not let the limitations of your old life dictate the conditions of your new one.”\n\nYou might as well put this new body through its paces.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;kick@@ the couch in front of you. It sails across the room and into one of the thugs. He slams against the floor with at least two broken ribs.\n\nThe two other thugs look at you with shock and surprise. You give them a toothy grin in response.\n\nYou sprint toward one and unleash an @@color:#000081;uppercut@@ straight to his chin. He shoots up like a rocket and cracks the @@color:#000081;ceiling@@ before @@color:#000081;falling@@ back to the floor. The final thug throws down his gun and sprints for the nearest exit.\n\nYou casually turn and walk to the elevator.\n\n“This is only the beginning,” Ayporos says. “We will become stronger.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>There are about five different scenes in which the main character can get possessed by a demon. The other scenes usually result in an apocalyptic, world destroying ending.With Ayporos, I wanted to create a softer kind of corruption - emphasizing temptation and power over fear and mutilation. This isn’t The Exorcist or The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Ayporos’ ultimate goal is to corrupt the main character, not destroy them.As the scene progresses you can see their two personalities begin to merge and the main character gradually lose their autonomy.Stealing freedom with subtle, insignificant gestures is the most effective way.<<endif>>\nThe thought isn’t exactly unpleasant. That kind of power could come in handy.\n\nYou tap the button for the Boss’s penthouse and the elevator doors slide closed.\n\nYou set the shotgun against the wall. “So what do you mean we’ll become stronger? How much stronger?”\n\n“I am not of your world. My powers are...restricted here. As our life-forces intermingle, I can share more of my power with you.”\n\n“So we don’t have to sacrifice a box of kittens or kill a virgin, right?”\n\n“That will not be necessary... unless you desire a team building activity.”\n\nYou roll your eyes. “I think I like my demons with less sarcasm.”\n\n“It cannot be helped. Just as my traits are expressed through you, your traits are expressed through me.”\n\n“Until we become one. Right, right, I get it. Let’s just save my sister already.”\n\nThe elevator dings and the doors slide open. You’re in the Boss’s penthouse. You walk into the living room and glance at the old man sitting on the couch with a newspaper covering his face.\n\n“I said I was not to be disturbed. Whatever you need, Alana can take care of it,” the old man says.\n\n“You were never one to be inhospitable. Even killers should show civility. Isn’t that what you taught me?”\n\n“That voice...” The Boss sets down the newspaper and stares at you. “You, you were dead. How...” He looks you over. “You’re just the same. You haven’t aged at all.”\n\nNow that you think about it, the Boss does look a lot older, but that doesn’t matter. “Where is she? Where’s Gillian?”\n\nThe Boss lowers his head.\n\n“Tell me. Now!” You’re surprised at the anger in your voice. “I’ve done horrible things to get back here. Don’t think I’ll stop just because it’s you.”\n\nThe Boss lets out a heavy sigh.\n\n“He is withholding knowledge,” Ayporos says.\n\n“Yeah,” you say in your head. “That’s obvious.”\n\n“Shall we threaten him with death?” Ayporos says trying to hide the excitement in his voice.\n\n“I’m not sure that would do any good.”\n\n“Perhaps your time in Hell will provide inspiration.”\n\n[[Follow Ayporos’s advice]]\n[[Maintain your civility]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 254>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -40>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -8>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +560000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You turn left and follow the tunnel. It’s dark and cold. You walk for awhile and the exit still doesn’t seem to be any closer. The floor is puddled with muddy water – at least you’re calling it mud. Judging by the smell, it’s obviously something much worse.\n\nSuddenly the cement @@color:#000081;shakes@@ and @@color:#000081;cracks.@@ You fall against the wall and slide into a pile of... @@color:#000081;mud.@@ You hear a thundering @@color:#000081;explosion@@ and the snap of pipes. The virus must have moved into the core systems too quickly. You made it @@color:#000081;too destructive.@@\n\n[[Move faster!]]\n

<>\n<<remember $originStory>>\n<<endnobr>>Origin Story\n Meet Dr. Aiden Clark and learn your origin\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 475>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $force = $force -3>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -99>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve seen almost all of the beautiful cities in the world, unfortunately; you’ve also seen their sewers which, unsurprisingly, really ruins the experience. It seems like every mission you’ve been on involves slogging through garbage and filth. One more sewer won’t make much of a difference.\n\nBased on the schematics you stole from the Boss years ago, there should be a secret tunnel system leading into his building. The tunnels were originally meant to be a secret escape route, but the plans were never completely finished. A few hammer strikes and the wall separating the sewers and the building should crumble.\n\nYou drive across town to the penthouse, then cut through a side street and park near the rear of the adjacent building. You take the tire iron from the trunk and use it to @@color:#000081;pop open@@ the sewer grate. You climb down the stairs. The stink hits your nose harder than a punch.\n\nYou reel back and pull your shirt over your nose. It doesn’t help.\n\nYou knew this city was dirty, but it’s only gotten worse. You focus your mind on the task at hand...saving Gillian. You’re her only chance at getting out of this alive. You can’t let her down. You won’t let her down. You’ll need to take a hundred @@color:#000081;scolding showers@@ to get this stink out of your hair and skin, but that’s a small price to pay for your sister’s safety.\n\nYou slink through the sewers. Left, right, right, left until you see the discolored brick. The Boss’s building is above you. You kick out the middle brick and yank the others loose until there’s enough room for you to fit through.\n\nYou see a small metal door up ahead.\n\nYou take a step forward. The floor clicks and suddenly a light flashes over your body.\n\n“Identification necessary,” a friendly computer voice says. “Please wait...”\n\nThis is new... and a lot more advance than you remember...\n\nThe light abruptly flashes red.\n\n“Verification failed. Access denied,” the computer voice chimes. “Please wait for a representative to escort you off the premises.”\n\nEscort?\n\nThat really doesn’t sound like the Boss. Kill, maim, disembowel... those are more his style. Either way, his thugs know you’re here. You better run and regroup.\n\nYou turn back toward the exit. A grid of red light blocks your path. A red beam singes off a piece of your shoe as you step forward... lasers.\n\nThe laser grid jerks forward. There’s no way around it.\n\nYou’re trapped.\n\nYou backpedal to the small metal door. You grab the handle, but it’s locked. There’s no way out. You feel the red hot lasers pass through your body as if it were made of butter. The lasers jerk to a halt and turn off.\n\nEverything feels strange... incoherent...\n\nYou try to take a step back, but your body @@color:#000081;collapses@@ into a dozen tiny cubes.\n<<if $introComments is true>>The alternate death scene for this section involved crocodiles with lasers attached to their heads...<<endif>>\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 3]]\n

During the five years Detective Phillip Michaels had been working homicide, he had never worked a case as bewildering as the disappearance and presumed death of [[Karen Ward|Karen]].\n\nThough he was hard-working, he was in no way hard-boiled. The sight of blood made him dizzy, the thought of violence made him nervous, and, for three of his five years, he had deliberately left his pistol locked in a safe at the floor of his closet.\n\nThe only reason he had remained in homicide and continued to receive commendations was due to a strange ability he had developed in high school.\n\nWhile driving home from a football game, his car slid across a patch of black ice and collided with a tree. His body was not discovered until the following morning.\n\nThe paramedics, with a sudden jolt of terror, were surprised to find him alive for his wounds and the severe cold should have proven fatal.\n\nThe truth was, young Phillip Michaels had died for a very brief amount of time and his spirit had, in fact, left his body to traverse the surreal [[spirit realm]] where he conversed with a multitude of extraordinary and terrifying [[entities|spirits]].\n\nWhen he was revived, it was as if a part of that world had returned with him and he was able to see and sense where the two overlapped.\n\nThe violent scene at [[Karen Ward's|Karen]] [[apartment]] was speckled with evidence of the [[spirit realm]]. On the pavement, where her body should have been, he sensed a second set of grotesque footprints that appeared to have carried young [[Karen Ward|Karen]] away from the scene. He followed them for three blocks until they slowly dissipated.\n\nKaren’s roommate, [[Emma Fisher|two]], and her boyfriend, [[Quentin Weaver]], had nothing to say about the incident and seemed almost suspiciously quiet.\n\nThe [[two shamans]] [[Karen|Karen]] had consulted for her thesis said her unfortunate demise was her own doing and refused to comment further.\n\nDetective Michaels had a sick feeling they were telling the truth.\n

<center>The Last Darling\n\nCloud Buchholz\n\n\nPirated Edition\n\n[[Next|DarlingTOC]]</center>\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1080>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You glance back at the stone city. It looks old. You can’t see any power lines or asphalt or skyscrapers. It’s obviously not the pinnacle of civilization, but there’s bound to be people there. And you could use a little bit of reassurance right now.\n\nThere’s a good chance you’re @@color:#000081;going insane.@@ What did that stone face thing mean when it said you weren't in Hell yet?\n\nYou probably just hit your head, or maybe there was an explosion. This has to be a concussion – or drugs. That's the only rational explanation. It's certainly more likely than Hell. If you could just find some people, you could piece together what happened.\n\nYou glance up at the crow. “Thanks for the advice, but last time I checked, crows don’t talk.”\n\n“As you will,” the crow says ruffling its feathers. “But be weary of the dangers. This place is seldom friendly to your kind.”\n\n“For me, that makes it feel like home,” you say walking toward the stone city.\n\n“You will soon see,” the crow says hopping to a higher branch, “Until we meet again.”\n\nYou shake your head and laugh to yourself. You’re still talking to the bird as if it was real. You’ll have to be careful. The next figment may not be as friendly.\n\nYou stare into the distance. The stone city is at least a day’s walk. If you started jogging, you might reach it in five or six hours. Judging by the height of the sun, you might make it before nightfall, though you would move a lot faster if you had shoes.\n\nYou bend down to pull a thorn from your toe. When you rise, the stone city is right in front of you. You take a step back, startled. You twist around. The tree and mountain are tiny specs on the horizon.\n\nYou feel confused and disoriented. Somehow, though you don’t remember walking, you’ve @@color:#000081;reached@@ the stone city. The sun rests at the horizon, and the sky is dark. You could have sworn only a few minutes had passed, but it’s already dusk.\n\nThis place is like a dream – a very bad one.\n\n“It’s just the drugs or the concussion or something,” you say to yourself. The words don’t sound convincing. You’ve been trained to handle the most impossible and improbable situations, and this is no different. You just have to calm down and focus.\n\nYou take a deep breath and re-examine your surroundings.\n\nThe city is barren of vegetation. In fact, it looks barren of almost every color too. The ground is hard dirt. The buildings are spotted with beige and white. The only light emanates from the lava filled aqueducts that twist around the buildings. The walls flicker with red and orange as the lava sloshes against the aqueducts.\n\nThe city looks dry and abandoned. You would have assumed it was vacant if not for the mixture of laughter, screams, and shouting echoing off the structures. You’ll have to be cautious. The three of those sounds combined are seldom a good sign.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>What should a demon civilization look like?For creatures that are meant to have lived since the beginning of time, you’d think they’d have a lot of time to develop their tastes.Since the environment is based on the mental/emotional state of the people and demons that reside within it, I decided the demon city should look as bland and non-expressive as possible.Pulling some of the concepts from Christianity, I limited the expressiveness and freedom of the demonic creatures. Their existence is designed around obligations and traditions not necessarily passions or pleasures.<<endif>>\nYou slink around the buildings, hugging the shadows. The sun dips behind a mountain, and the city suddenly becomes dark. You can’t complain – the hard shadows will help conceal you.\n\nYou follow the sounds to the center of the city. Crowds of monstrous creatures dance around a giant fountain of lava. They laugh and shout at one another as if they were drunk. \n\nThey could be wearing costumes. You're still too far away to get a good look.\n\nYou sprint to the next building and sneak through the shadows to get a closer vantage point. You almost can’t believe it, but there are bodies floating in the fountain... and they’re alive. They scream and writhe against the burning lava. It looks as if they’ve been snared with giant hooks through their ankles and wrists. \n\nA creature snatches a body from the lava fountain and tosses it to the ground. The body rolls and convulses with pain.\n\nIt's a woman.\n\nShe screams and tries to crawl away, but the creature pulls her back, flips her over, and rips open her chest. It howls to the sky then pulls her bones out one by one. You twist back into the shadows and try not to vomit.\n\nThe other creatures jeer and laugh at the woman. They grab at her bones and suck out the marrow. She screams and pleads for mercy. Even as part of her spine is torn lose, she stays conscious and alive.\n\nYou’ve seen horrible things, most of them done with your own hands, but this is more horrific than all of them combined. If this is some delusion working through your head, then you’re more disturbed than anyone could have guessed... unless this really is Hell.\n\nYou shake your head. That’s just crazy.\n\nMaybe if you grab one of those people you can get some answers. You peek back around the corner. A few bodies are still floating in the aqueduct. You could grab one before it reaches the fountain.\n\nYou sprint for the aqueduct and grab an arm bobbing in the lava... You just hope it’s attached to a body. You pull hard and try to avoid the @@color:#000081;splashing lava.@@\n\nIt’s a woman. The expression on her face is pure agony. “No,” she gasps. “I won’t leave him.” She helplessly reaches back toward the lava. She’s not strong enough to grab him – whoever he is. You glance over your shoulder. The creatures haven’t noticed you... at least not yet.\n\nYou reach into the lava a second time and help her take hold of him. The lava burns your arm and shirt, but you manage to free the two of them. They reel in pain and tremble on the ground.\n\nYou can’t leave them in the open. The creatures will see them. “Quiet,” you whisper.\n\nTheir ears are burnt. They may not hear you. And they can barely move on their own. You need to drag them someplace out of sight.\n\nYou survey your surroundings quick.\n\nAn alley on the other side of the aqueduct has enough shadows to keep you hidden. It’s a long way to drag them, but it has at least four escape routes if you get seen.\n\nAn adjacent building is closer, but who knows what’s lurking inside. If it is empty, it’d be the best place to interrogate them.\n\nYou hear the two disfigured bodies moan. They’re bound to start screaming soon. You need to move them now.\n\n[[Drag the two bodies into the shadows of the alley]]\n[[Drag the two bodies into the adjacent building]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 629>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $wpn = "Making offers that can’t be refused...">>\n<<endnobr>>“Maybe it’s just all the guns pointed at my head, but for some strange reason I’d really like to @@color:#000081;hear@@ what you have to say.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>The moral choices that appear in the story usually have two choices: 1) What the Boss taught you to do and 2) What Gillian would want you to do.I imagined it as a devil and angel whispering in the main character’s ears.<<endif>>\n“Excellent,” the Boss nods. “I knew you would eventually come around. Please follow me,” he says, walking toward the center of the warehouse. “I’ve put some precautionary upgrades in place since your last visit.” He stands in a medium size red circle painted on the floor. As soon as you stand beside him the circle glows, and the floor sinks.\n\n“As I said,” the Boss continues, “Power has a strange effect on the peripheral aspects of one’s life. Respect, fear, adoration... these are not uncommon emotions in the hearts of those around you. The weak will always submit to the strong, but power should not be wielded without mercy.”\n\nThe platform lowers into a large laboratory. Scientists, deep in thought, are hunched over microscopes and computers. You glance over at the Boss. “What is all of this?”\n\n“Your sister came to me. She was sick, and her condition was only getting worse. She had spent several years consulting with doctors. It was a genetic disorder accelerated by certain, unknown triggers. She wanted to warn you... I won’t say abandoned, but you were away. That’s why she came to me, you see. She knew that I could find you.”\n\n“You mean she’s here? Gillian’s here?”\n\nThe Boss hesitates. “It’s best if you follow me.” He leads you through the laboratory, down a long hallway, into an ornately furnished living room. “There was a point in time when your sister did not have the strength to leave this laboratory, and so I had living quarters built to accommodate her.”\n\n“Where is she?” You demand.\n\nThe Boss sighs and gestures at a thick red curtain.\n\nYou rush to the curtain and yank it aside. You’re frozen in horror.\n\nYour sister floats in a large glass tank. It’s filled with a light blue gelatin. Tubes stretch from her nose, chest, and arms to a machine that’s monitoring her vitals.\n\n“She came to me for help,” the Boss whispers over your shoulder. “She’s dying.”\n\nYou press your hand against the cold glass. “What have you done to her?”\n\n“We’ve slowed the deterioration of her body on a molecular level. She’s still dying, but at a much slower pace. There still may be time for you to find a cure.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>Gillian’s illness is one of several moments I use to reboot the narrative. Seven Bullets was originally written as a normal book. In order to maintain the narrative without using variables, I relied on fixed points (like this one) to reset all the hundreds of possible storylines that lead into this moment.I would have been much happier using variables, but ebooks still have a lot of catching up to do.<<endif>>\n“Me? I don’t know anything about this stuff.”\n\n“No,” the Boss agrees, “But there are people who do.” He walks to the couch near the center of the room and sits. “I have the utmost confidence in you. And I’m certain you won’t have any trouble finding the motivation to see this through.” He motions toward the adjacent chair.\n\nYou ignore him and remain standing. “What am I supposed to do?”\n\n“I’ve reached out to certain persons and companies to aid me in finding a cure, but they have been less than agreeable.”\n\n“And you’d like me to make them @@color:#000081;an offer@@ they can’t refuse?”\n\n“I’ve been civil and patient with them, but your sister is running out of time. There is a new drug being tested in Montana. Some of the human test subjects have disappeared. Retrieving them would be... very productive. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality. I hear the drug trials are almost near completion.”\n\n“You said there was another option?”\n\n“Yes,” the Boss says. “My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius I hear, who is quite knowledgeable in matters such as these. I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work for me, it might accelerate our chances at finding a cure.”\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

You swerve right and then left. She dangles from the handle of her sword. You slam on the gas and veer around a steep bend. The left guard rail is gone and there’s a vertical drop down a ravine.\n\nFei Yen swings around the side of the Ferrari and kicks through the driver side window. You lose grip of the steering wheel and the back tire dangles off the side of the cliff.\n\nYou grab a throwing knife from the briefcase and @@color:#000081;slam@@ it into Fei Yen’s leg. She screams and loses her grip.\n\nThe car twists. You try to reach for the steering wheel, but it’s too late. The car barrel rolls over the edge. You push open the passenger door and leap for the rock face. Your fingers manage to @@color:#000081;snag@@ a jagged rock, and you dangle. You watch the car roll down the ravine. The gasoline ignites and smoke spits up from the wreck.\n\nSuddenly the gas tank @@color:#000081;explodes@@ and a @@color:#000081;mushroom cloud@@ of fire sets the nearby trees ablaze. It doesn’t look like Fei Yen made it out. You hear the SUVs squeal to a halt. You press against the rock face, out of sight. The guards peer over the edge.\n\n“There’s no way someone survived that,” one of them grunts.\n\n“Yeah, we better get out of here before the cops show up.”\n\nYou hear the car doors open and close and the SUVs drive away. You climb up the cliff and pull yourself up over the ledge. You see the blue Subaru parked by the road. Wilson and the kid help you up and to the car.\n\n“I thought I told you to get out of here?” You groan.\n\n“She made me come back for you,” Wilson says sheepishly. “You’ve made quite an impression.”\n\nYou glance down at the kid. “Thanks for coming back.”\n\nShe nods as if there never should have been a doubt.\n\n“The guards had one thing right. We need to get out of here before the cops show up. Come on.” You get in the driver seat of the Subaru. The other two follow you. You put the car in gear and drive. \n\n“Alright,” you sigh. “I can’t protect you forever, but you came back for me, and that means something.”\n\nYou pull the car into an alley and park. “Drive the car to the airport and dump it there. Then take a taxi out to the suburbs and stay at this address.”\n\nYou write the address on a piece of paper and give it to Wilson. “Once you get there, call this number.” You point to the phone number below the address. “It’s a police detective who owes me a favor. Tell him what happened, but be sure to leave me out of the official report, got it?”\n\nWilson nods.\n\n“Good. He’ll look out for you.” You open the car door and step outside. “I’m heading in the opposite direction so this is where we part ways.”\n\nWilson slides into the driver seat.\n\n“Wait,” the girl says. She hefts a big duffle bag out the window. “This might help.”\n\n[[Unzip the bag.|Unzip the bag 02]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 510>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’ve been this way before,” you say. “It should be clear.”\n\n“Should be?” Mathew jeers.\n\n“It’s not like I’ve got a schedule to go by, but yeah, it should be.” You glance back at him. “Now be quiet.”\n\nHe gives you a hard look, but stays quiet.\n\n“Alright, let’s move.” You slip out the door and duck into the @@color:#000081;shadows.@@ You’re almost completely invisible and silent. You’ve done this stealthy stuff plenty of times. Those two on the other hand; they’re wildcards. They probably aren’t even good at hide & seek.\n\nYou would have been better off leaving them behind, but it’s @@color:#000081;comforting@@ to see people who are in worse shape than you. And it’s not like you’ve gotten attached, though seeing them together kind of reminds you of Gillian. She still needs you, and you have to get back to her.\n\nYou look over your shoulder to check the two strays. “Stay in the shadows,” you whisper to Marjorie.\n\n“Oh, sorry,” she whispers while tiptoeing back into the darkness.\n\nYou stop at a corner. The road is drenched in moonlight meaning you’ll be seen if you try to cross.\n\n“What’s taking so long?” Mathew whispers sharply.\n\n“We’ll have to go around.” You nod toward the adjacent building. “We’ll sprint there and work our way around until we reach the other side of the road.”\n\n“But we can cross right here.”\n\n“Bad idea,” you whisper while pointing at the moon. “We might be seen.”\n\n“I thought you said it was clear?” Mathew peers around the corner. “And besides, I don’t see anything.”\n\n“That doesn’t mean something isn’t out there. We need to be @@color:#000081;cautious.”@@\n\n“No, we need to get out of here.” Mathew grabs Marjorie’s hand. “Come on. We’ll do this on our own.” He yanks her into the moonlit road. They’re completely visible.\n\nYou stay low and hug the @@color:#000081;shadows.@@ If they want to go their own way, you won’t stop them.\n\nSuddenly, you feel a faint rumbling through the walls, and you hear the growl of a large beast. Above you, on the roof, a six-legged hound, the size of a horse, leaps into the road and chases after Mathew and Marjorie.\n\nMarjorie screams at the sight and stumbles. Mathew hesitates, but only for a moment. He sprints around a corner and down an alleyway without her. She’s alone, and she doesn’t stand a chance.\n\nYou can’t help but think of Gillian. If only there was someone there to look out for her. It doesn’t have to be like that for Marjorie. You could save her. You could give her enough time to escape, but that means the freak hound would have your scent, and it’s not like you could defeat it with your bare hands.\n\nBut why take the risk? You barely know Marjorie. You already made the effort of pulling her out of the lava. Shouldn’t that be enough?\n\nBesides, if that hound is clawing and biting into her, that means it’ll be too busy to chase after you. Either way, you need to move now. \n\n[[Save Marjorie]]\n[[Use her as a distraction]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 900>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +8>>\n<<endnobr>>You feel light headed and a little @@color:#000081;weak.@@ “Yeah,” you agree. “I think your right.”\n\n“Of course I’m right,” the scientist says. “You could be infected. We need to run a scan now.”\n\nThe soldier slides under your arm and keeps you balanced.\n\n“Hey Doc, are you getting this?”\n\nThere’s a bit of static in your ear, then Samantha says, “Yes, you could be compromised.”\n\n“It’s barely a scratch,” you groan. Suddenly your feet give out. You sweat, and your stomach feels like it’s tied in a thousand knots.\n\n“Hurry,” the scientist says to the soldier. “We need to get to a medical compartment immediately.”\n\nThe soldiers nod. One of them slings you over his shoulder.\n\n“Left,” you hear Samantha say.\n\n“Left,” you groan.\n\nThe scientist turns left and stands in front of a tree. “Ah,” he says, pressing the trunk in several places. Immediately the trunk slides apart like a door. “Through here. We should be safe for the time being, but we best not dally.”\n\nYou’re taken down a long spiral staircase until you reach a wide rectangle room. The scientist lets the room scan his face.\n\n“Good evening Doctor Mason Green,” a computer voice says. Suddenly a dozen screens turn on.\n\n“Computer, what are the battery reserve levels?”\n\n“27% with limited functionality,” the computer responds.\n\nMason sighs. “We don’t have much time.” He points at an operating table. “There,” he says. “Hurry.”\n\nThe soldiers lay you on the bed. You shake with chills. It’s difficult to focus.\n\nMason pulls a machine down over you. He presses several buttons and a light scans your body. He walks back to the computer and waits for the data.\n\n“Strange,” he says. “Have you ever been to this facility before?”\n\n“No,” you moan. “Why?”\n\n“Your DNA and biometric data are already in the system and...” he hesitates. “This can’t be right...”\n\n“What?”\n\n“That data looks like it’s been gathered and catalogued since the day you were born.”\n\nYou take a deep breath and try to calm your heart rate. You push the pain out of your mind and try to focus. “What are you saying?”\n\nMason rubs the back of his neck. “I’m not sure exactly, but this kind of data collection is almost identical to the work we do on the patients here.”\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>This scene is foreshadowing for the scene in which the main character confronts Dr. Aiden Clark. It’s possible for the reader to fail before reaching Clark and I made certain to give this scene just enough detail to stand on its own.If the reader fails, they’ll still have a feeling that there’s more “story” to the secret facility and want to re-read it.<<endif>>\nThe machine dings. Mason examines the data. “A chunk of claw is still in your arm. The poison must be leaking into your bloodstream.” He stands beside you and gently presses a @@color:#000081;scalpel@@ into your arm.\n\nYou grit your teeth and bite back a scream.\n\n“Oh yes, sorry,” he says. “This might hurt a bit. I should have said that first I suppose. Usually my patients are already dead.” He takes a pair of tweezers and removes a shard of claw from your arm.\n\nYou almost immediately @@color:#000081;feel better.@@\n\nMason sprays some antiseptic on your wound and carefully bandages it. “The claws contain toxins,” Mason says. “Based on the size of this shard, I’m surprised you haven’t fallen into a coma.”\n\n“I’m tougher than I look,” you say sitting up. The haziness and chills are already starting to fade. “What were you saying about my DNA?”\n\n“Systems at 13% power reserves. Operational Status: limited functionality,” the computer interrupts.\n\n“We need to keep moving,” Mason urges.\n\n“Wait,” you say. “Check the system for a female named Gillian.”\n\n“We really don’t have time for this. The systems are barely operational as it is.”\n\n“Just do it.”\n\n“Fine,” Mason grumbles. He enters a few parameters into the computer. You see a photograph of Gillian on the screen.\n\n“Wait,” you say. “There.”\n\nSuddenly all the screens turn off. “System at 10% power reserves,” the computer says. “All non essential medical equipment has been powered down.”\n\n“Hey,” you slap the monitor. “Turn back on!”\n\n“There must be a power leak somewhere,” Mason says. “It’d be a waste of time to get the computers back on. We can check the system again when we reach Clark’s lab.”\n\n“Fine,” you painfully agree with him. “We’ve already wasted enough time. Let’s get out of here.”\n\n“Are you sure you can even stand?”\n\n“I’m fine,” you groan. “I’ve been through worse.” You wobble on your legs for a moment, but steady yourself.\n\nMason shakes his head in disbelief. “I was almost certain you were going to die.”\n\nYou give him a painful grin. “If I had a nickel for every time I heard that.”\n\nYou follow Mason and the soldiers up the stairs and through the woods. You let them take the lead. You’re busy thinking about that computer file.\n\nIt’s possible some of your records would end up here. The Boss does a thorough job of vetting his employees, but the file had information dating back to the day you were born. That’s taking thorough to a whole new level. But that still doesn’t explain why Gillian would be in the system. What would the Boss, or anybody, need with her DNA?\n\nOne of the soldiers taps your arm. “Up ahead,” he whispers.\n\nYou see a large metal building extending from the wall. It’s three stories high and simple in design. The roof is covered with sensors.\n\n“I think someone is inside,” Mason whispers. “What should we do?”\n\n“We don’t have much ammunition left,” one of the soldiers adds.\n\n“Alright,” you sigh. “I have a plan, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”\n\n[[Have the soldiers create a diversion]]\n[[Create the diversion yourself]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 401>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -15>>\n<<endnobr>>Help her escape? Does she think you’re a charity or something? “You’ve got the kid, be grateful.”\n\n“You really are a @@color:#000081;scumbag.”@@\n\n“I never said I wasn’t. I'm just not the one you’re looking for.”\n\nShe scoffs at you and shakes her head. “At least give me my gun. We’re defenseless.”\n\nIf she ends up dead, which is likely, and you’re found with her gun, that won’t look so good. You wipe off the finger prints and put the gun on the desk. “Don’t try anything stupid until I’m gone.”\n\n“Like I have a choice?”\n\nYou smile at her and shrug. “I never said you did.”\n\nYou stay low and work your way down the hallway to the side exit. If the sniper is still out there you’ll need to double back to get the car. This little detour will be a complete waste if you can’t use the car to start a crime war.\n\nYou take a quick survey of the exit and the surrounding landscape. It looks clear.\n\nBefore you can take three steps out the door, a bullet hammers into your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ You stumble forward and hit the ground hard. You roll behind a dumpster as another bullet ricochets off the pavement.\n\nThe adrenalin is immediate, but not enough. You feel the warm blood soak your shirt. You’re feeling light headed.\n\nYou know staying here isn’t an option. The sniper saw you with the kid which means he probably thinks you still have him. With this much gunfire, the cops should be just around the corner. Too bad you don’t have that much time.\n\nThe sniper won’t be acting alone. He’ll have at least two spotters and three footmen. This isn’t an assassination; it’s an abduction. They want the kid alive and they think you have him, which means the footmen will be on you soon – and so will their shotguns.\n\nThe pain in your shoulder is overwhelming. Your right arm is useless. You can barely lift it. You lean all your weight into the dumpster and roll it toward the street.\n\nIf you can just get close enough to the car you’ll be able to grab one of those assault rifles.\n\nYou see two thuggish guys exit a building across the street. They’re heading straight for you. The gunshots don’t faze them, which means they know they’re not the target.\n\nThe car’s maybe four long steps away.\n\n[[Sprint for the car]]\n[[Keep pushing the dumpster]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 349>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +10>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +12>>\n<<set $melee + $melee +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -12>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Alright,” you look down at the creature. “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me what your buddies are planning, and I’ll put you out of your misery. Does that sound fair?”\n\n“Yes...” The creature takes a wheezy breath. “Fair...”\n\n“Then talk.”\n\n“The others...” the creature says. “Wish to... use lab... make change... permanent...”\n\n“Why?”\n\n“Stop pain...”\n\n“Can’t the scientists change you back?”\n\n“That would... mean death... Bad genes...”\n\n“So you don’t have a choice.”\n\n“No...” the creature says.\n\n“I’m sorry,” you say. “For everything.” You flip the rifle around and smack the butt into the creature's face. It groans and slumps sideways.\n\n“You promised... to kill me...” the creature whimpers.\n\n“Yeah,” you swing the rifle butt into the creature’s face again. “I @@color:#000081;lied.@@ Until I know what’s really going on, you’re staying alive.”\n\n“No...” the creature moans. “You lied...”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;swing@@ the rifle butt again, but the creature bats it away with a weary arm then lunges at you. You and the creature roll over a soft cliff. You scream as the creature’s claw @@color:#000081;shreds@@ your left forearm.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;knee@@ the creature in the face and push off its stomach. You slide back and crawl to the rifle. The creature pounces at you, but you’ve got the rifle ready this time. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@ Three bullets tear through the creature’s chest. It stumbles on top of you. You roll it off. You take one of the red, neon bullets and load it into the rifle.\n\n“Wait,” the scientist pleads. “We need to study it.” \n\nYou’re done listening. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger@@ and put the creature out of its misery. You watch the creature’s body change. The fur falls off, and the body shrinks into a thin, naked man. He looks pathetically weak, equally as helpless...and dead.\n\nThe scientist stares at you slack jawed.\n\n“It was @@color:#000081;too dangerous.@@ I had to put it, him, down.”\n\n“No,” the scientist points a shaky hand at your forearm. “You’re bleeding.”\n\nThe gash in your arm is bad. You’re losing a decent amount of blood ...enough to slow you down.\n\n“You need that looked at immediately,” the scientist insists.\n\n[[“You’re right. I could use a Band-Aid and some drugs.”]]\n[[“No, I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 188>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -6>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<endnobr>>You slam your hand down on the @@color:#000081;triangle@@ with seven squiggly lines, then the circle and then the square. You wait for something to happen...\n\nYou keep waiting...\n\nThe floor continues to collapse.\n\nAvengral glances at you crestfallen. “You did your best Earth Wizard. May the Seven watch over you in the next life.”\n\nThe next life...you don’t like the sound of that. There’s so much you still have left to do, saving Gillian being at the top of the list. You watch the floor crumble and collapse.\n\nAvengral closes his eyes as if at peace.\n\nYou have no idea how he could be so calm. The Boss trained you to live, not die. You pound on the symbols frantically, but nothing happens. They must be locked in place now.\n\nYou feel the ground give out under you.\n\nYou’re falling.\n\nThen you feel it...The spike pierces your @@color:#000081;chest.@@ You feel the blood @@color:#000081;drain@@ from your body. Everything is cold. You glance to your left.\n\nAvengral gasps as the last bit of life flees from his body.\n\nYour last thought is of Gillian ...and how much you hate @@color:#000081;triangles@@ ...and @@color:#000081;wizards.@@\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 600>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -75>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’m heading left toward the head. I want to see what this thing’s face looks like.”\n\nTaz Moir grins. “Ye read me mind.” He waves his hand in the air and a dozen crewmen assembled behind him. He turns, slightly disappointed by the numbers. “This be all?”\n\n“Aye,” a crewman says. “The others be wounded.”\n\n“Humph,” Taz Moir grunts. “You lads’ll do.” He singles out eight of them. “You eight travel right. Find what ye can. Report back. The rest of ye with me. We travel left toward the creature’s head.”\n\nThe crewmen look at each other nervously.\n\n“Move!” Taz Moir demands.\n\nThe eight light torches and travel right. They look a little shaky, but they follow the orders.\n\nYou, Taz Moir, and four crewmen travel right, toward the creature’s head. A crewman hands you a torch. Then the crewmen spread out, creating a small perimeter around Taz Moir.\n\nTaz Moir leans toward you. “In all me days, I never seen such a creature.”\n\n“Yeah,” you swallow uncomfortably. “Me neither.”\n\nTaz Moir laughs. “I never thought it be real until I be touchin’ it with me own two hands.”\n\n“Let’s just hope it doesn’t decide to touch back.”\n\nTaz Moir lets out another hearty laugh. “Aye.”\n\nYou travel for what feels like miles. The islands jut from the creature’s sides, plants and trees dangling in places. You haven’t found anything useful except two birds and a lizard a crewman killed with a bow and arrow. Aside from that, it’s been uneventful.\n\nThe sun crests the horizon in the east. The creature’s head, if it even has one, is still miles away.\n\n“We’ve been walking all night,” a crewman complains.\n\n“Aye,” another agrees. “We aint found nothin’ and me feet be achin’.”\n\n“Alright, alright,” Taz Moir growls. “We travel a wee bit further and then ye sissies can turn back.”\n\nThe crew grumbles.\n\n“Anhgh,” one of them screams.\n\nYou twist back to see a spear jut through the man’s chest. He stares down at it in disbelief. Then he collapses.\n\nA dozen more spears slice through the air. You duck to avoid one. Beady eyes glimmer in the trees. The bodies...you’re uncertain...but they look like fish.\n\nAnother crewman screams in agony as a spear pierces his thigh.\n\n“Run!” Taz Moir shouts.\n\nYou’re already sprinting. Here’s one more monster you can add to your list.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slip.@@\n\nThe ground, or skin, is oily and wet.\n\nA hole is up ahead. You try to turn back, try to stop, but it only makes you slide more. There’s nothing to grab onto. You slip over the edge into the darkness. It’s hot and moist. You land in a gooey pool of... snot.\n\nOh no.\n\nA blowhole.\n\nAs soon as you think it, you feel the gooey snot condense. A vibration pulses up through your legs. Something’s happening...\n\nYou try to climb the walls, but they’re too slimy.\n\nSuddenly, the blowhole erupts. You’re flung into the air with a spray of snot and goo. You tumble higher and higher. You can see the full length of the creature. It’s enormous, like a small continent. The ship looks like a tiny spec.\n\nYou’re so high... too high...\n\nFor a moment you’re weightless, then you fall.\n\nFaster and faster.\n\nYou try to straighten yourself, prepare for the impact, but the goo and snot make it difficult to move.\n\nThe ocean gets closer.\n\nCloser.\n\nCloser.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;hit hard.@@ Your neck @@color:#000081;snaps@@ back with the sound of bones @@color:#000081;crunching.@@ In that fraction of a second, you know you’re dead...\n\nThere’s nothing you can do...\n\nIt was a killer belly flop though.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 34]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 573>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’re not usually one to @@color:#000081;run@@ from a fight, but you don’t even know what you’re fighting. You climb out the window and hug the side of the building.\n\nYou see the volcano below. The lava bubbles and the extreme heat singes the hair on your arms. You try to convince yourself it’s not real, but the heat is too distracting, too believable.\n\nYou nearly fall, but quickly grab an outcropping. You need to be more careful. It’s a long drop and even if it is a hallucination, it just might kill you.\n\nYou slowly shuffle toward the nearest window.\n\nSuddenly your leg catches and you falter. You teeter over the edge and feel the businessman grab your ankle. You try to shake free, but it only makes you more off balance.\n\nYour hand slips from the outcropping. You twist through the air.\n\nYour fingertips hook the ledge. The heat from the volcano burns the bottoms of your feet. “What’s wrong with you?” You shout.\n\nThe businessman snarls, “There must be a sacrifice.”\n\n“And I thought I was crazy,” you mumble.\n\nThe businessman steps onto the ledge. He slams his heel against your left @@color:#000081;hand.@@ You pull it back by impulse and feel the strain on your right hand. You won’t be able to hold on much longer.\n\n“Someone must burn. Someone must—”\n\nYou grab his leg and yank him over the edge. He screams and @@color:#000081;belly-flops@@ into the molten lava. You hear the hiss and pop of his bones melting. You smile down at him. “You were right about that last part.”\n\nYou gloat for a second longer then examine the side of the building. The window you were heading toward is gone. All you see is rock. You shake your head. It must be the drugs playing tricks with your eyes again.\n\nYou take a deep breath and examine the lower part of the building. You see a window on the floor below. It’s the closest one.\n\nYou find some better footing and work your way down to the lower ledge. The heat from the volcano cracks your lips, and if you stay out here any longer, it’ll probably burn your eyebrows off too. Better get inside soon.\n\nLuckily the window’s open a crack. You slide it up the rest of the way and slip @@color:#000081;inside.@@\n\nInstead of an office, you’re in a rock corridor. The walls are rough and uneven. The light is dim and flickering from a few torches mounted on the wall.\n\nIt’s cold, so cold a chill runs down your spine.\n\nYou glance in both directions. The corridor stretches farther than you can see. You hear faint and muffled screams echoing from both directions.\n\nThe screams aren’t the typical kind – the kind that come from a broken arm or a gunshot wound. You’ve heard plenty of those.\n\nThese screams are rooted in despair, guilt, and spiritual agony.\n\nYou turn around, but the window’s gone – replaced by cracked rocks and dying plants.\n\nYou’ve got a feeling this is a bad place to loiter.\n\nYou’ve only got two options, right or left. It’s like the building and the volcano never even existed.\n\nYou shake your head. This place is surreal. It’s hard to believe the drugs could be this powerful. Someone must have gone to a lot of trouble to mess with your head. Since you have no idea who, all you can do now is keep moving.\n\n[[Go left down the rock corridor]]\n[[Go right up the rock corridor]]\n

//The Stolen Ones// was an old fairy tale [[Karen|Karen]] discovered by accident while searching for [[The Gates of Brutavius]]. The tale was hidden among several others in a relatively decrepit and worn-down manuscript.\n\nThe story would have gone almost completely unnoticed if [[Karen|Karen]] had not recognized an emblem that was identical to the one worn by the hero in [[The Song of the Myst Martyrs]]. She set the manuscript aside with the intention of studying it further, but difficulties with her boyfriend, [[Quentin Weaver]], kept her from returning to it.\n\nThe story was about a [[Shade|spirits]] that crept through the gaps in windows to steal children from their beds and rip babies from their mother’s breast.\n\nThe following morning, the distraught mothers discovered a large boulder in their children’s bed or crib. They could not explain the appearance of the stone and put it at the center of town. Soon, the boulders piled higher than the roofs of their homes.\n\nA wandering shaman, moved by the tears of the women, swore to ascertain the source of their sorrow. Late that night, he steadied his soul and began a [[spirit walk]], following the children’s souls as they traveled out of the village.\n\nThey lead him to a cavern where the [[Shade|spirits]] resided. The [[Shade|spirits]] was a horribly twisted being with several heads that bit and fought against one another. It had several arms and legs that were knotted together and shook with anger.\n\nThe shaman battled the [[Shade|spirits]] all through the night. As the sun rose the following day, he waved his staff and chanted a curse sending the [[Shade|spirits]] back to the [[spirit realm]]. Exhausted, the shaman slept in the cavern for three days and nights before he returned to the village.\n\nHe struck the boulders with his staff and the children came tumbling out, unharmed.\n\nIf [[Karen|Karen]] had inspected the story more closely, she would have seen that the [[Shade's|spirits]] heads equaled the same number of warriors in [[The Song of the Myst Martyrs]] and the necklace the [[Shade|spirits]] wore was identical to the one worn by the hero of that story.\n

<<widget "wordcountChecker">><>\t\n\t<<if $totalWordcount > 300000>>\n\t\t<<if $shakespearesGhost is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveShakespearesGhost").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockShakespearesGhost").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $totalWordcount > 200000>>\n\t\t<<if $librarian is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveLibrarian").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockLibrarian").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $totalWordcount > 100000>>\n\t\t<<if $bookworm is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveBookworm").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockBookworm").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $totalWordcount > 65000>>\n\t\t<<if $iReadGood is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveIReadGood").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockIReadGood").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<elseif $totalWordcount > 9000>>\n\t\t<<if $itsOver9000 is false>>\n\t\t\t<<print " ">>\n\t\t\t<<script>>\n\t\t\t\tvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveItsOver9000").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\t\t\t\tnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockItsOver9000").processText());\n\t\t\t\tUISystem.show();\n\t\t\t<</script>>\n\t\t<<endif>>\n\t<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>><</widget>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 874>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +6>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>It’s not like it comes naturally to you, but Gillian would want you to do the @@color:#000081;right thing.@@ And maybe if you had been a better person, you wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Saving Marjorie is a false choice. Its outcome is similar to using her as a distraction. Both result in a confrontation with Agares or permanent death.Some of the choices in Seven Bullets are more overtly moral. In this case, saving Marjorie is the obvious “good” choice. Sometimes how a reader feels about a choice is more important than the choice itself.If the reader is more aligned with the “good” persona, then they’ll react to Agares differently, which I hope makes the story more interesting.<<endif>>\nYou glance at the six-legged hound and cringe at the thought of getting in its way. You can’t find any weaknesses, but maybe you can use its size to your advantage. “Marjorie,” you @@color:#000081;shout.@@ “Run into the alley.”\n\nThe hound jerks its head up at you without slowing. Its eyes are blood red and furious.\n\nMarjorie scrambles to her feet and sprints for the alley. The hound ignores her. Its muscular legs thrust off the ground. You duck and @@color:#000081;roll@@ as the hound skids in front of you. It’s faster than you thought.\n\nSlobber drips from its snarling lips. It looks hungry, and you feel like a roasted chicken.\n\nIt lunges at you again. You trip and roll into a @@color:#000081;sprint@@ through the alley. Marjorie is only a few steps ahead of you.\n\n“Now what?” She pleads between breaths.\n\n“Do you see a dog catcher anywhere?”\n\n“No.”\n\n“Then we keep running.”\n\n“I’m glad you thought this through.”\n\n“You’re still alive aren’t you? Well,” you shrug. “You know what I mean. This way,” you say @@color:#000081;pushing@@ her around a corner.\n\n“Eventually that thing is going to catch up to us.”\n\nYou glance over your shoulder at the rooftop. “It already has. We need to find a smaller path.” You hear the hound snarl and howl.\n\n“Sorry,” you tell Marjorie.\n\n“For what?”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shove@@ her through the nearest door. She stumbles into the building and out of sight. You pull the door shut. “Stay quiet and don’t move,” you whisper.\n\n“Wait,” she whispers back.\n\n“I’ll @@color:#000081;distract@@ the hound," you say. "When you hear it run past, sprint in the opposite direction as fast as you can.”\n\n“But,”\n\n“Quiet!” You shout as you see the hound’s blood red eyes glimmer in the moonlight.\n\nIt growls from the rooftop above you.\n\n“That’s right you ugly pup, I’m going to make you work for your dinner.” You sprint down the alley. You turn left, right, left, weaving your way through the narrow gaps between buildings. The hound jumps from roof to roof. You can’t seem to lose it.\n\nYou feel tired. You can't keep this pace forever. You need to change your tactics. You force open a door and climb up the steps to the roof. The hound is two buildings away. It finds your sent and twists around. You take three deep breaths and sprint toward it screaming and @@color:#000081;flailing@@ your arms like a maniac.\n\nIts eyes go wide as it realizes you’re chasing it.\n\nThe hound takes a few timid steps back and lowers its head, obviously confused. It’s not much of an opening, but it’ll have to do. You scream as ferociously and sadistically as you can. The hound is so baffled it doesn’t know whether to run or attack.\n\nYou leap across the roof, grabbing the hound around the neck with your arms and tightening your legs around its waist, almost as if you were riding a horse without a saddle.\n\nThe hound leaps and bucks and rolls, but you hold tight. It nips and bites, but you’re just barely out of its reach. It sprints across the roofs wildly until its foot slips, and you both crash through a building into a large banquet hall.\n\nThe hound rolls and writhes against your grip, but you refuse to let go.\n\n“Heel,” an old, stern voice says.\n\nImmediately the hound sits.\n\n“How good is he at playing dead?” You say between breaths. You keep a stern grip around the hound's neck. You stare at the old man. He wears a long gray robe. His wrinkles are deep. His beard and hair are long and bleach-white. He stands atop a large crocodile, and a crow is perched on his left shoulder.\n\nThe old man smiles. “How amusing. Few have lasted so long with one of my hounds, and even fewer have retained their sense of humor... and extremities. You may call me Agares. I am the Grand Duke of the North Western region of Hell.”\n\n“Royalty? I would bow, but I’m not sure you’d let me get back up.”\n\n“How true,” Agares says with a slight nod. “You’re moving of your own volition. That’s a rarity in this realm. Most of your kind have already been despirited when they cross my path. It has been ages since I have conversed unencumbered.”\n\n“No pressure then.”\n\nThe old man cocks his head. “Are you not afraid? I am among the most powerful of demons. I could rip your spine out through your throat as casually as a child plucks a flower.”\n\n“I hope that's not the only trick in your magic act,” you say exhausted. “And as much as I’d like to stay and chitchat, I’ve got places to go and people to see.”\n\n“Of course,” Agares says with a shrug. “I suppose you have provided a modicum of amusement. I will offer you a wager. If you win, you may leave this realm and return to the living; however, if you fail, your suffering will last for eternity. Are these terms agreeable?”\n\n[[“Yeah, alright Agares. I’ll play your game.”]]\n[[“No way, let’s negotiate.”]]\n

<center>My Mom's\nMeatloaf Recipe</center>\nMeatloaf1 1/2 to 2 lbs hamburger1 to 2 raw eggs1/2 cup chopped celery1/2 cup chopped onions1 tsp salt1/2 tsp pepper1/2 tsp garlic1/4 tsp dry mustard1 cup bread crumbs\nTurn on oven to 375°\n\nMix all ingredients in one bowl\nPut in loaf pan\nBake in 375° oven about 1 hour\n\nTopping1/2 cup ketchup1/2 cup mustard1/2 cup brown sugar\nStir topping ingredients\nPour mixture on top of meatloaf\nBake meatloaf an additional 10 minutes\n\nEnjoy!\n\n\n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 430>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Even if you do find answers at the address, what good are they if Gillian is dead? You stuff the folder in your bag and close the safe. Maybe when all of this is over you and Gillian can check the address out together. Until then, you have to stay focused.\n\nYou still need to set this warehouse ablaze. You push over a few shelves, spilling chemicals on the floor. The fumes are so strong you have to cover your mouth and nose. It’s best if the Boss never learns who to blame for this mess. You’ll need to make it look like an @@color:#000081;accident,@@ like one of the lackeys screwed up. That means you can’t be caught on camera. You’ll need to go out the way you came in.\n\nYou climb the wall, grab hold of the window ledge, and toss the bag through.\n\nThe chemicals have spread across the room, underneath the drugs. You pull a pack of matches from your pocket, light them, and let them fall to the ground. The floor lights up in a flicker of blue and orange.\n\nYou slide through the window, push yourself off the wall, roll off the crates, and @@color:#000081;silently@@ land outside the view of the security cameras.\n\nYou don’t bother to look back. Even if the warehouse is still standing, the drugs will be useless and by morning the Boss will be too preoccupied to chase after you and Gillian, but that doesn’t do much to help you now. The fire is burning too slow to be noticed and if you make an anonymous call to one of the thugs, they’ll put the fire out too soon. Looks like that army of goons guarding Gillian is still in the way.\n\nThis plan was going to get messy eventually. You walk to a parked truck, slide your hand under the rear wheel well until you feel a key. You use it to unlock the doors. You get in and drive to the Boss’s penthouse. The Boss may not know when you’re coming, but he’ll be prepared for anything. That army of goons won’t make it any easier. There’s one option you hadn’t thought of till now. You could give yourself up and hope the Boss lets Gillian go. At least that way you don’t have to worry about a stray bullet hitting her.\n\nYou pull into an alley with a clear view of the penthouse lobby. It looks like a goon convention. You’ll have to use all your ammo just to get to the elevator. Maybe messy was an understatement.\n\n[[Let the bullet casings fall where they may]]\n[[Give yourself up willingly]]\n

<>\n<<remember $IQuit = true>>\n<<endnobr>>I Quit\n Kill the Boss\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 428>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp - 50>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +8>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveYippeeKiYay").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockYippeeKiYay").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Before he finishes, you quick draw. Your arm’s a little shaky from the loss of blood. The bullet only @@color:#000081;nicks@@ his neck. He draws less than half a second after you. The bullet hits your shoulder so hard it knocks you to the ground. The @@color:#000081;pain@@ is intense, and it takes all your strength to keep from blacking out.\n\n“Ooh Doggie,” you hear him shout. His boots tap against the floor as he dances a jig. “I always knew I was the quickest.”\n<<if $introComments is true>>When I wrote Chuck Laroche’s character I imagined a European taking on the persona of an American out of pure and fervent love.<<endif>>\nIf the bullet doesn’t kill you, his gloating will. He saunters toward you, grinning ear to ear. You can barely move your arm, but you manage to grab the submachine gun and tilt it up.\n\n“Aint that the way it—” Bullets @@color:#000081;rip@@ up through the couch and hit him in the chest. He stumbles back with a look of confusion and defeat. He crumbles to the ground.\n\nYou grab the back of the couch and slowly pull yourself up.\n\nYou stare at his dead body. “Yippee ki yay, partner.” You toss the machine gun next to him and stagger toward the bedroom leaving a trail of @@color:#000081;blood@@ behind you. “Gillian,” you shout. “Gillian.”\n\nYou push open the door. Gillian is tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth. You untie her, but your strength is going quick. Your eyelids feel heavy.\n\nGillian slides under your arm to keep you from falling. “Come on,” she says, lightly slapping your cheek. “Stay with me.”\n\nThe room spins, but with her help you stumble to the elevator. It descends.\n\nYou take a clip from the bag and load it into your pistol. “When the doors open,” you mumble. “Run as fast as you can. Don’t look back.”\n\n“But,”\n\n“I’ll be right behind you.” Blood streams down your arm and pools on the carpet. Gillian stares at it with worry. \n\n“Just trust me,” you say trying to keep your head from drooping. The elevator dings and the door slides open. Gillian runs for the exit.\n\nYou take a few steps forward and try to raise your pistol. Your arm doesn’t have the strength, and as you take another step, you realize your legs don’t either.\n\nYou collapse against the tile floor. More thugs appear from the hallway. You shoot two as they turn the corner. Gillian runs through the exit and out of sight. You turn back to the hallway and empty your clip into the wall, giving Gillian as much of a head start as possible.\n\nYour head swirls with pain and everything goes black.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 10]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 688>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“I’d like to speak with the Boss. He and I are old friends.”\n\nThe receptionist looks at you with confusion. “The Boss?”\n\n“Yeah,” you lean on the counter. “You know, crazy old guy with a sadistic sense of humor and an air of superiority. Always wears a suit. Walks around with a cane he doesn’t really need. You know, the Boss.”\n\nHer confused expression doesn’t change. She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you’re speaking of. Are you sure you’re in the right building.”\n\nYou’re taken aback. If she’s lying, then she’s one of the best liars you’ve met.\n\n“She is not lying,” Ayporos says inside your head.\n\n“So you can read her mind too?”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Ayporos can’t read the main character’s mind despite being a part of it. I thought of the main character’s mind more like a library and the books are like memories and emotion which Ayporos must “checkout” before gaining access.Ayporos does have access to the main character’s unfiltered physical senses (touch, taste, sound, smell, sight) but he’s getting the information raw and out of context.<<endif>>\n“No. That would be ridiculous.” Ayporos says amused. “I felt the @@color:#000081;vibration@@ of her heart beating through the stone of the countertop. She was speaking the truth.”\n\n“Right,” you say sarcastically. “And I bet you can tell what that guy had for breakfast by feeling the vibration of the floor.”\n\nAyporos tries to speak, but you cut him off. “Not another word.”\n\n“What?” The receptionist says.\n\nYou must have said that last bit @@color:#000081;out loud.@@ “Uhm, nothing, nothing.” You turn and walk to the other side of the lobby. “If this is the Boss’s penthouse, how come no one recognizes his name or me for that matter?” You say the words inside your head.\n\n“There is a detail I should have brought to your attention sooner.” Ayporos says.\n\n“This sounds like the beginning of bad news.”\n\nIf Ayporos could shrug, you imagine that’s what he’d be doing. “Hell does not operate in the same fashion as your world. Time travels forward and backwards indiscriminately. When we traversed so many chambers, time’s interval became abstract. Years, minutes, decades – they exist interchangeably.”\n\n“What does that mean?”\n\n“It is not a question of where you are, but when.”\n\n“When? But the Gatekeeper said Gillian was here.”\n\n“Then she is here. The Gatekeeper cannot lie.” Ayporos pauses to mull over the words. “Be warned young host, Gillian may not be the sister you remember.”\n\nYou scoff at the thought. “She’s my sister. That’s all that matters.”\n\n“For both our sakes, I hope that is true.”\n\nYou push his warning aside. “We just need to find her.”\n\nThe man standing next to you gives you a strange look, folds his newspaper, and walks away.\n\nYou must have said that last bit @@color:#000081;out loud@@ again. It’s getting hard to tell what’s in your head and what’s real. You take a deep breath. “We’ll check the penthouse first.”\n\n“Very well,” Ayporos says. You imagine him giving a formal bow.\n\nYou walk to the elevator and look for the penthouse button, but there aren’t any buttons at all. Maybe it’s broken or something.\n\n“It is @@color:#000081;operational.”@@ Ayporos says. “The mechanisms and circuits are in working order.”\n\nYou pull your hand away from the wall. You’re not sure how it got there. “So how do we get to the penthouse?”\n\n“Penthouse,” a digitalized voice says. “Voice recognition failed. Access denied. Please acquire proper authentication before proceeding to your destination.”\n\nVoice recognition? Proper authentication? That’s new. And, now that you think about it, the security is a lot more relaxed since the last time you were here. You only counted three guards and each of them had nonlethal weapons.\n\nIf the Boss was running the place that isn’t something he’d tolerate. You feel a sharp pain in the back of your head as a flood of memories flash before your eyes.\n\n“Ah,” Ayporos says. “The Boss. He is a fascinating human.”\n\nYou press two fingers to your temple and groan. “What’d you just do?”\n\n“I accessed your memories relating to the Boss. You are correct in your assumption.”\n\n“Don’t mess around in my head.”\n\n“I thought you wanted to find your sister as soon as possible. Accessing your memories is the most efficient method available.”\n\n“I’ll decide what the most efficient method is.”\n\n“Very well,” Ayporos says half-heartedly. “You humans are peculiar creatures.”\n\nYou push down the pain and focus. The elevator is going up one way or another.\n\n[[Hack the elevator console]]\n[[Force a guard to take you to the penthouse]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1027>>\n<<endnobr>>You hug yourself against her body, trying desperately to snuff out the flames, but it only seems to feed the fire. The flames nip at your neck and shoulder. Your arms are already badly singed. The blaze leaps onto your shirt, and the two of you stand at the center of a growing inferno.\n\nGillian stares up at you with regret and anger. “It burns,” she screams. “It burns, and it’s all your fault. It's all your fault," she shrieks. "You killed me.” Her arms lock around you as the flames ignite your clothes. You try to break free, but she pulls you back toward the building and the fire.\n\n“What are you doing?” You plead.\n\n“You have to pay for what you’ve done to me. I’ll make you pay.”\n\n“Gillian, no.” You try to pull her back. You try to save her, but she’s somehow stronger than you.\n\nHer skin melts and bubbles. Her hair curls into tiny burnt strands. She smiles at you, though her lips are only tiny black slivers of skin. “You will burn for what you’ve done,” she says, dragging you into the fire.\n\nYou scream as the flames blanket your skin and burn your flesh. You feel your muscles contort from the intense heat. Your skin peels and bubbles. You stare back at Gillian. Her eyes are full of pride and pleasure as you thrash in pain. \n\nShe cheerfully releases you, but it's too late. You're as good as dead. You helplessly drop to your knees since the bones in your legs are brittle and cracked. Your head swims with agony. And as the fire burns through your retinas, a bright light washes everything with white. The agony is so overwhelming you lose consciousness. \n\n*** ***\n\nYou open your eyes and slowly adjust to the dimness of your surroundings. You’re in a small metal vent.\n\nYou must have dozed off. You’re still jetlagged from the flight. You haven’t adjusted to Germany’s time zone yet. You’re just lucky Alana didn’t see you. She can get violent sometimes. \n\nYou cautiously and quietly crawl through the vent and around the corner. There’s a faint light gleaming through the grating in front of you, and a package duck taped to the flooring. Alana planted it there for you two nights ago. You undo the tape and open the package.\n\nIt’s a rifle. It’s not your favorite model, but it’s all Alana could find on short notice. The Boss sent you here last minute. He said there was a good chance things would get heated, and Alana would need backup. You immediately hopped on a plane, because that’s what you do. The Boss says jump and you're already in the air.\n\nYou hear faint voices below and across the warehouse. You quickly put the rifle together and use the scope to scan the other side of the warehouse. It’s Alana and the double agents. You’re not even sure what the details of this mission are – just some sort of information drop.\n\nYou read Alana’s lips, “Do you have it?”\n\nOne of the double agents gives her an envelope.\n\n“Good,” she says. “And one more thing.” She draws her pistol and shoots the nearest agent in the chest. He jerks back and hits the ground hard. The other agent sprints for cover.\n\nThis is just like Alana to throw you in the middle of a double-cross without filling you in.\n\nYou take a deep breath and refocus the scope on the two agents. The agent on the ground scrambles behind a parked car. He must be wearing a bulletproof vest. He says something into a radio, and five more agents move out of cover, surrounding Alana.\n\nShe waves at you to start shooting.\n\nYou haven’t got much of a choice. You fire two warning shots at the agents behind her, giving her a path to retreat. She doesn’t take it. Instead she grabs two grenades from her bag and tosses them across the warehouse.\n\nThe agents sprint for cover, but not fast enough. The explosions consume them and two nearby cars. You see Alana laugh and pull a remote detonator from her bag. She must have rigged something with C4. Things are about to get really messy.\n\nShe waves at you to keep shooting. You let four more bullets loose to provide her with cover. She sprints toward the exit while pressing the button. You preemptively cover your eyes as the explosion lights up half the warehouse. Flames dance through the air as smoke billows off the walls and ceiling.\n\nAlana turned a harmless information trade into a human BBQ. Maybe you could have done something to stop her, but it's a little late for that now.\n\nThe fire and smoke will give you enough cover to escape, but you’ll have to reach the rendezvous on foot. The warehouse will be swarming with police, agents, and trouble soon, and you can’t be here when they arrive.\n\nYou leave the rifle and slide back out of the vent. You drop onto a metal catwalk and slide down a ladder as a second explosion sends half the wall into the street. The flames catch hold of the wind and ignite the adjacent building.\n\nThe path to the rendezvous is compromised, but you’ll just have to risk it.\n\nYou sprint through the exit and down the alley. A handful of screaming civilians flee the adjacent building. Their bodies are covered in flames. Their eyes are full of terror and panic. \n\nThey’ve seen your face. They can identify you. Alana would tell you to shoot them, but you doubt it will matter. The fire will do the job for you soon enough.\n\nTheir pleading eyes burn into your memory banks. There’s no way you will ever forget their horrid expressions. Suddenly one of them steps out in front of you. \n\nIt’s Gillian. \n\nBut that’s impossible.\n\nWhy would she be in Germany? Why would she be here?\n\nHer arms and back are covered with flames. Her eyes flash with horror as she sees you. “Help me,” she screams. "Help me!"\n\nYou can’t stand to see her like this. You have to do something.\n\n[[Try to save her]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 345>>\n<<set $wpn = "Tipping Your Waiters">>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +7>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockUpCloseAndPersonal").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>You grab the shotgun and sprint for the wall beside the door. As the first thug steps into view you @@color:#000081;slam@@ the butt of the shotgun into his nose. He yowls with surprise and stumbles back into the other two thugs behind him. They slide down the stairs and onto the floor.\n\nThey’re dressed as waiters, but you know better. At Wong’s restaurant even the busboy is a skilled assassin. These waiters must be at least two steps above that.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;shove@@ one of the heavy shelves on top of them. There’s a harsh crunch of bones breaking. You scramble over the shelf, up the stairs, and into the freezer.\n\nYou pause when you feel one extra grenade in your pocket. You run back and open the secret door. You pull the pin and toss the grenade down the stairs. It clanks against the steps twice.\n\n“I always tip my waiters,” you shout, slamming the secret door shut.\n\nYou hear a faint @@color:#000081;explosion@@ and the @@color:#000081;floor rumble@@ beneath you.\n\nYou sprint through the kitchen and out the back door. You head back to the other vehicle and get the rest of your goodies.\n\nWith any luck, this little adventure should clear out most of the thugs from the Boss’s penthouse and, using this vicious shotgun; you should be able to clear out the rest.\n\nYou jog through the back alley and hail a cab once you reach the street.\n\nIt drops you off about a block from the Boss’s penthouse.\n\nThe shotgun is only useful close-up which means you need to be quick and direct. The only way to the penthouse is through the lobby, but the lobby has two entrances: the main entrance and the service entrance.\n\nThe main entrance is the most direct route to the elevators, but it’s also going to be the most heavily guarded.\n\nThe service entrance, on the other hand, leads through a series of small hallways and the kitchen before it reaches the lobby. It will take a bit longer, but it might give you a tactical advantage.\n\n[[Take the main entrance]]\n[[Take the service entrance]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1777>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>So far this medieval mistake hasn’t been so bad. You know how to handle yourself on whatever planet or time period you’re in. Meeting the King is just a @@color:#000081;formality.@@ You might as well get it over with. Besides, it’s not like he’s as bad as the Boss.\n\n“Yeah, alright,” you say indifferently. “Let’s go meet the King.”\n\n“Verily,” the knight says. “He will most certainly be impressed by the tale of your victory. I have never seen an ogre slain so quickly or with so little effort.”\n\n“Uh, well,” you elbow Quintus. “Us great and powerful wizards are... uh... great and powerful.”\n\nQuintus rubs the bridge of his nose with annoyance. “Do not overplay our hand young... wizard, or you may see us both killed for it.”\n\n“They started it,” you say childishly.\n\nQuintus rolls his eyes again. “I hope the portal hasn’t affected your brain. You need to understand that on this world customs are more than social niceties. They are a way of life, and if you are not willing to adhere to them or at least remain anonymous in your indiscretions, than the consequences could be worse than death, and on this planet that constitutes a long list.”\n\n“Alright,” you say compliantly. “I won’t start trouble ...intentionally. I’ll blend in and stay quiet.”\n\n“Good,” Quintus nods. “The King is likely to be in an agitated mood. He expects me to build him a weapon to subjugate the Ferralliise if they move beyond the Dire Lands, but I have no weapon nor do I plan to build one.”\n\nYou laugh. “And you thought I was going to cause trouble. People accustomed to power are more than agitated when they don’t get what they want, trust me, I know.”\n\n“There have been rumors of Ferralliise within the kingdom for years, but as yet, there have been no acts of violence or revolt. The King will likely be upset by my slow progress, but his anger should be manageable.”\n\n“I do not mean to speak out of turn Wizard Quintus,” the knight interrupts. “But the kingdom is at war, and the Ferralliise pose an imminent threat. We must not sit idly by and manage the situation with empty words. We must take action and prevent whatever maliciousness they intend before it can be carried out.”\n\nQuintus sighs. “You speak truly Knight Avengral, but can you describe what heinous act they intend for us or where it will be carried out?”\n\nAvengral frowns. “Of course not wizard. I do not have seer-sight. If I did, the matter would be resolved and not discussed.”\n\n“Would you travel the kingdom at random like a drunk dog searching for an ethereal scent?”\n\nAvengral lowers his head. “I have spoken above my station. Apologies,” he says, riding ahead.\n\nQuintus glances at you. “They have strong feelings on the subject. They have been at war for hundreds of years, though during my time here I have yet to see a battle take place, merely the threat of one.”\n\nYou shrug. “It’s none of my business. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of me getting home, they can do whatever they want.”\n\n“How political of you. You should think carefully of what you will tell the King. It is important you avoid discussion of the portals and Earth,” Quintus says. He stares at the road ahead and leaves you to your thoughts.\n\nYou ride for what feels like hours. The dense forest thins, and you smell salt carried on an ocean breeze. You're near the coast. In the distance, built against the cliffs, you see an immense castle, with a sprawling city around it.\n\n“That is Castle Sarrejiinn,” Quintus says. “Despite the technical limitations of this world, their architecture is astoundingly beautiful.”\n\nHe has a point. The city and castle are more breathtaking than any building you’ve seen on Earth. The castle is taller than the Boss’s building and nearly as wide as two city blocks. It must have taken decades to build.\n\nQuintus directs the cart to the front entrance. The knight has already notified the guards, and one of the thick metal doors is open. “We will approach the King first. He should be--”\n\nSuddenly, a horseman cuts past the cart and gallops through the entrance. His clothes are torn and bloody.\n\n“The King!” The rider yells. “I must speak to the King!”\n\nThe knight approaches the rider. “You are one of the Prince’s banner men. Yet you ride alone? Where is the Prince and the other knights?”\n\n“We were attacked,” the rider says between difficult breaths.\n\n“And what of the Prince?”\n\n“I must speak to the King.”\n\n“Speak,” Avengral demands.\n\n“Taken,” the rider gasps. “Kidnapped.”\n\n“Kidnapped!” A voice booms from the balcony.\n\nYou look up to see an old man with a graying beard and a golden crown, the King. His muscles are broad and sinewy. It’s likely he took the crown by force. Even in his old age, he looks like a formidable warrior.\n\n“Attacked,” the rider coughs. “We were attacked.”\n\n“By whom,” Avengral commands.\n\nThe rider shakes with fear and exhaustion. “Their form changed from man to beast. They killed everyone and took the Prince.”\n\n“The Ferralliise,” Avengral snarls. “They are not the kind to leave survivors.”\n\n“I was wounded and thought dead. I speak the truth, I swear. The Prince has been taken.”\n\nThe King jumps from the balcony and lands firmly on his feet. He sprints to the rider and catches him as he falls from the horse. “Get Brother Lowin and the apothecary now.”\n\nAvengral immediately races into the castle.\n\n“Speak banner man,” the King demands. “Why did they take my boy?”\n\n“I,” the banner man drifts near unconsciousness.\n\nThe King shakes him awake. “Speak boy before death overtakes you.”\n\n“Rajongar,” the banner man whispers. “The Blood Ritual.”\n\nThe King scowls. “Are you certain?”\n\nThe banner man struggles to nod and then his body goes slack.\n\nAvengral returns with Friar Lowin and two young monks.\n\n“See to this man’s care,” the King orders.\n\nFriar Lowin nods and the two monks carry the banner man into the castle.\n\nThe King turns to Quintus. “Did you know of this?”\n\n“No. I have learned of it now, just as you have.”\n\nThe King glares at Avengral. “Ready the knights. We ride before high sun.”\n\nAvengral nods and moves toward the barracks.\n\n“Wizard,” the King turns back to Quintus. “You promised me a weapon. I shall have it or your head. Which will it be?”\n\nQuintus swallows uncomfortably. “It stands before you, my Liege.”\n\nThe King glares at the cart and the area around it. “Is your great weapon under a veil of invisibility or do my eyes fail me?”\n\n“No my lord. The weapon is there,” Quintus points at you. “It stands plainly before you.”\n\nThe King scowls. “If I wanted a person, I would have enlisted a maiden and one of my knights.”\n\n“Ah, but that is the genius of this weapon. It only appears to be human, a disguise that will fool even the highly attuned Ferralliise.”\n\nThe King stands in front of you and examines your face and arms. “A golem?”\n\n“Yes, a golem which has been constructed from my most vigorous magic. That is why the knights and I fled the castle at such a late hour, to genuinely evaluate the worth of this weapon before presenting it to you this morning. Avengral can attest to its strength in battle. It fell an ogre with a single blow.”\n\nThe King seems unconvinced. “A single blow?” He squeezes your shoulder and bicep. “Your golem’s disguise is appropriately understated wizard, perhaps too well. Even my perceptions are of the opinion it is merely a person.”\n\n“A demonstration then,” Quintus says, waving his arm toward you.\n\n“Do you take me for a fool Wizard? We do not have time for such trivial things. My only son has been taken by the foul shifting beasts of the Dire Lands. Every moment we waste here is one they will use to advance their barbaric agenda.”\n\n“Indeed, my lord.” Quintus bows. “Another time then.”\n\n“No,” the King orders. “Your word is worth much to me. If your golem is as effective as you claim, then I believe you. While my knights and I ride west in pursuit of the Prince, your golem and a small band of warriors will enlist the aid of the Red Wizards of the North or the Island Wizards of the East. I despise speaking with either of them. Perhaps they will be impressed with your magic golem and give us what we require without a tirade of negotiations. And if, for whatever reason, your golem does not return, then I’m sure you will see it again in the afterlife.”\n\nQuintus lowers his head. “That is very generous my lord.”\n\n“I must prepare for war. Avengral will relay your decision.” The King continues shouting orders at peasants and servants as he returns to the castle.\n\nAs soon as the King’s out of sight, you turn to Quintus. “What were you saying about me overplaying my hand?”\n\nQuintus shrugs helplessly. “I panicked, alright. How could I have known the Prince would get kidnapped? And besides, this could work to our advantage. I still need time to finish my equations and the less time you spend here in the castle, the less questions people will ask concerning you and the portals. You seem to know how to handle yourself, so delivering a message shouldn’t be too difficult.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Another detail you might have noticed by now is that each of the sections in Ragnoss are much longer (sometimes 3-4 times longer) than other parts of the book.Because this is the fantasy genre, I tried to use techniques that are common to fantasy novels - specifically length. Since most fantasy novels are longer than normal novels I thought fantasy fans would want longer sections.Intro sections are on average about 200 words. The Ragnoss sections are about 1500 words on average.<<endif>>\n“You’re lucky I don’t have anything better to do,” you groan. “So what do I need to know about these wizards?”\n\n“I know only a little,” Quintus says. “The Red Wizards are violent by nature and resolve most arguments through battle or duals. They favor elemental magic as well as swords and maces. I believe their citadel is built upon an active volcano which is used to test their skill. They are generally direct and almost always truthful. If you can best them in combat, they will treat you fairly.”\n\n“And what about the Island Wizards?”\n\n“They are a calculating and manipulative group, or so I’ve been told. Their magic is focused on illusion and manipulation. They are highly political in the realm and almost always have ulterior motives when making transactions. If you make any agreement with them, you can be certain it will come with a high price. Any dealings with them will require a great amount of mental dexterity.”\n\n“Swell,” you groan. “This place is already starting to feel like home.”\n\n“Both our lives hinge on your safe return. Which group are your skills best suited for?”\n\n[[Travel to the Red Wizards of the North]]\n[[Travel to the Island Wizards of the East]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 424>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -52>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +8>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve survived plenty of torture before, but getting your bones ripped out one by one doesn’t sound like a walk in the park, mostly because you’d be a helpless pile of jelly. No one would blame you for @@color:#000081;running,@@ which is what you’re going to do.\n\nYou duck around one of the creatures and use its back as a springboard. You @@color:#000081;leap@@ into the air and @@color:#000081;grab@@ the stone aqueduct. The creature snarls and claws at you, but you lift your legs just in time and twist over the ledge into the lava.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Since light bulbs, street lights, and other electrical devices are manmade, I didn’t think they belonged in a demon city. Instead constantly flowing, neon bright lava streams throughout the city in aqueduct-like systems as lighting.Technology and innovation aren’t cornerstones of demon civilization.<<endif>>\nIt @@color:#000081;burns@@ more than you could have imagined. The current is so fast, you’re immediately pulled under. Your hair @@color:#000081;sizzles@@ and your skin @@color:#000081;bubbles.@@ You feel chunks of your flesh @@color:#000081;burn away.@@\n\nThe creatures chase after you, but the lava moves @@color:#000081;too fast@@ for them to keep up. You hear them howl and screech and beat their chests as you flail through the aqueducts and around a building.\n\nYou get pulled under again. You try your hardest to fight the current, but it’s like fighting against liquid fire. Your body glows red where the skin is seared, and your muscles spasm from the pain. You can’t tell how long you’ve been traveling, but you’re certain those creatures are out of range.\n\nYour muscles are weak from the severe heat, but you manage to grab the ledge. Your arms shake from the strain. You twist over the side and plummet to the ground. You hit hard and remain there half dazed.\n\nYour clothes are burnt rags, and your skin sizzles. Smoke fizzles from your wounds. You’re not dead, but you’re not exactly combat-ready either. It’s hard enough to stand; limping is almost impossible.\n\nIt took awhile for the other two to recover. You scan your surroundings, but you can’t find any cover. If you’re going to hide, you’ll need to find a building, and it’ll have to be close. There are two that might work, but it’s impossible to tell what’s inside.\n\nThe first building is to your right. It’s small and square, probably a storage space. The second building is to your left. It’s large, with four floors and dozens of rooms. Even if there are people inside, or those creatures, finding a place to hide shouldn’t be much trouble.\n\nIf you stop for even a minute, those creatures will be on top of you again. You don't have the strength to fight, and you can barely limp. You can’t keep standing here in the open. You need to find cover.\n\n[[Hide in the small building]]\n[[Hide in the large mansion]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 844>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -10>>\n<<endnobr>>The screw is blocking your path to the next set of switches. It must represent the pedestrian ...It has to. It must be the final failsafe to keep the locals from teleporting to Earth.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;twist@@ out the screw and look at the next direction.\n\nThe journal says to make a u-turn and wait for the red light to turn green. You move your finger along the switches until you come across a set of dials. One of the dials is shaped sort of like a U.\n\nThat must be the one.\n\nYou turn it 180 degrees and glance at the light on the main machine, which is red.\n\nThe journal says to wait for the red light to turn green. You’ve got a bad feeling about this. You can’t explain it. It’s like a sharp pain in your gut. You felt the same way a few seconds before the underground lab in Antarctica blew up. The only reason you survived was pure luck, and you have to be running out of luck by now.\n\nYou hear more of the walls crumble outside. The Ferralliise are getting closer. Waiting is the last thing you want to do, but it’s not like you have a choice. The light is still red, and the journal doesn’t have any more directions.\n\nSuddenly a machine kicks to life. It sounds like a dozen vacuums being turned on and off at random. The light flickers from red to purple to green to blue. Steam spirals out from the fittings of the machine.\n\nYou put your hands over your ears to muffle the noise. You have no idea what the machine is supposed to sound like... or how it’s supposed to get you home, but you’ve got a strong feeling something’s gone @@color:#000081;wrong.@@\n\nThe ground shakes. Little trinkets and gizmos fall from the shelves. You grab a table to steady yourself. The light on the machine turns green, bright green -- brighter and brighter until the light explodes.\n\nThe air feels electric, and a purple haze obscures the room. It’s thick like a heavy fog. Your body tingles and burns like the moment you first went through the portal. The machine must be working...at least you hope.\n\nYou close your eyes and ready yourself for the pain...\n\nThe pain...\n\nIt’s going to hurt...\n\n[[But...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 586>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +2>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You @@color:#000081;duck@@ and roll under the crab creature’s giant pincers, sliding down the stairs onto the cannon deck. Taz Moir is right, if you don’t push back or destroy those massive shell ships, you’re all dead. They’ll just keep dropping more of those crab creatures on you.\n\n“Cannons!” A pirate shouts.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;lob@@ a heavy metal ball into the barrel of the cannon and twist away.\n\nThe cannon thunders and jerks back.\n\n“Another!” The pirate demands.\n\nYou heft @@color:#000081;another@@ cannon ball into the cannon and twist away.\n\nIt booms and jerks back.\n\nYou glance out the porthole. The shell looks unscathed ...not even a scratch. “It’s not working.”\n\nThe pirate gives you a frantic shrug. “Try another?”\n\nYou roll @@color:#000081;another@@ heavy ball into the cannon. He lights it.\n\nThe cannon thunders and jerks backward.\n\nYou peer out again. Still nothing. “It’s no use. We need something stronger?”\n\n“Stronger?” The pirate scratches his head and thinks. “Aye,” he mumbles. “But it be strong.”\n\n“We don’t have a choice. Get it.”\n\nHe grimaces then nods and runs to a small cabinet. He takes out a round, red ball. It looks like it’s made from clay, but the way he cradles it, you’d think it was C4.\n\nHe carefully slides it into the cannon and lights the fuse. He waves for you to get back. You sprint back and peek through a porthole.\n\nThe cannon erupts with fire and a jolt of lightning. The ball rockets through the air leaving streaks of red in its wake. The red ball hits the shell and explodes. The blast is so strong, the shock tilts your ship. You look back at the pirate. “What was that thing?”\n\n“I calls it a Boom Drop.”\n\nA shrill crack erupts from the shell. You glance outside. The shell fractures and breaks.\n\nYou cheer, but only for a moment.\n\nThe largest chunk of the shell tips directly over the ship. You shout to Taz Moir, but it’s too late.\n\nThe fragment of shell plummets through the center of the ship. The ship splinters like it was barely a twig.\n\nYou're flung in the air and hit the ceiling hard. The ship tilts and you tumble back to the floor. A cannon rolls on top of you.\n\nYou grab at the wooden planks, but you can’t get a good grip. You and the cannon slide into the cold ocean water. \n\nFinally you slip free of the cannon, but the surface is obscured by the shell and the sinking ship. You swim further out, trying to find an opening.\n\n[[Then you see it...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 250>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "Bad Acting">>\n<<set $luck = $luck +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Oh, jeeze,” you awkwardly stutter. “I must have,” you franticly search your pockets. “I must have lost my ID. Oh,” You scrunch your eyes and let your lower lip quiver a bit.\n\nYou glance over the receptionist’s shoulder at the placards on the wall until you see the biggest name. “Jenkins is going to kill me.”\n\nThe receptionist looks wide eyed. “You’re Jenkins’s new intern?”\n\nYou shrug helplessly and pat your bag. “If I don’t get him his lucky clubs, I’m dead.”\n\nThe receptionist shakes his head. “I wouldn’t want to be you. Alright look, I’ll buzz you in @@color:#000081;this time,@@ but you better have your ID when I see you again.”\n\n“You’re a lifesaver,” you say with an exhausted sigh.\n\n“And hey, a little advice," the receptionist adds. "Jenkins will want you to get him an afternoon cup of coffee. Grind up four Tylenol tablets and mix them in. He’ll be mellow the rest of the day. Consider it a little gift for everyone.”\n\nYou nod eagerly. “Will do.”\n\nA light on the door frame turns green and you @@color:#000081;slip inside.@@ You’re a little surprised the receptionist bought the story...and your @@color:#000081;acting.@@ Jenkins must be a real jerk.\n\nYou walk past some cubicles and turn toward the north offices. Everyone has their heads down. They must be working on a big project. If everything goes smoothly, they’ll never know you were here ...if things go smoothly.\n\nOkay, three of the offices will work. Which one is it going to be?\n\n[[The first office]]\n[[The second office]]\n[[The third office]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 844>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -5>>\n<<endnobr>>You twist behind the corner and lean Gillian against the wall. “Stay here.” You tap the screen on the arm cannon and select burst mode. You turn back into view and @@color:#000081;squeeze@@ the gel. The metal constricts your arm. You groan in @@color:#000081;pain@@ and drop to the floor.\n\nThe Boss lowers his tea and lightly tugs at his gloves. “How disappointing.”\n\nYou try to stand, but the @@color:#000081;pain@@ is too overwhelming. You look back at your sister. She’s slumped over. You can’t tell if she’s breathing.\n\nThe Boss stands. “Did you think a weapon of that caliber would lack a failsafe?” He sheepishly chuckles. “You foolish pup. I’ve trained you better than that, haven’t I?” He sighs. “Well, no matter.” He nods at Alana. She presses a series of buttons on a small device. Your arm jolts with pain.\n\nThe metal dislodges from your skin. Steam rises from the vents on the side of the cannon. The weapon returns to its compact design. The gel drips from your arm, and you’re suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of exhaustion. Your brain feels like it’s been lit on fire. You can barely keep your eyes open.\n\nThe Boss kneels down next to your sister and brushes the hair out of her face. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” He turns back toward you. “The lengths a person will go to keep their family safe. You know,” he stands and walks toward you, “I’ve always thought of this company as a family. I’ve always thought of you as one of my many children. That’s why this is so difficult.” He raises his cane and swiftly slams it into your head.\n\nYour vision blurs and you blackout.\n\n******\n\nA hard slap across the face wakes you. You’re tied to a chair. Ada Wolff slaps you again. She’s one of the Boss’s more refined assassins. The last time you saw her, she tried to strangle you with a piano string. Hopefully this conversation will be more productive.\n\n“Owah,” you groan. “I’m awake.”\n\n“So,” Ada grunts. She’s about to hit you a third time when the Boss stops her. He sits down on the chair in front of you.\n\n“Your little temper tantrum has cost me quite a bit of money.”\n\n“What did you expect?” You say, still a bit groggy.\n\n“Yes, I suppose the events of today have spiraled out of hand.”\n\nYou look around the room. “Where’s Gillian?”\n\n“Alive,” Ada says with a pinch of disappointment.\n\n“And quite safe,” the Boss adds. “Though the doctors have delivered some very interesting news. Your sister appears to have an abnormal gene, one that could have a very negative impact on her life.”\n\n“I’m going to have a very negative impact on your life.” You scowl at him. “Why should I believe you?”\n\n“Because you have the gene as well.” The Boss leans back in the chair. “That’s what all of this has been about. You’re dying, and now I know your sister is no better off.”\n\nYou laugh and shake your head. “This is some game you’re playing. When I get out of these ropes, I’m going to kill you.”\n\nAda immediately slaps you across the face. The Boss pulls her back before she can do it again.\n\n“I’m sure this is difficult for you to understand, but despite the manner in which we parted, I still consider you a valuable part of my company. I always assumed you would return so, you see, I have no incentive to kill you. On the contrary, you’re worth more to me alive, even if you are no longer under my employ.”\n\n“Sorry if I dozed off, but I think I’ve heard this story before.”\n\nThe Boss opens a folder and lays it on your lap. “The results from your sister’s exam. She has months to live. You have weeks.”\n\nYou’re not a doctor, but the stats look real. Gillian really is dying...and so are you. “Weeks?” You whisper.\n\n“I have been making heavy investments in medical research related to your condition the returns of which have proven to be...disappointing. Of my several investments, two have shown the most promise, but there have been setbacks.\n\n“Progress on a new drug being tested in Montana has come to a halt. Some of the human test subjects have gone missing. Retrieving them would be very productive in finding a cure. The subjects, like you, suffer from the same genetic abnormality.”\n\n“Drug tests? You could have sent anyone for that.”\n\n“The tests, aside from being exorbitantly expensive, are more dangerous than you might expect. There is, however, another option,” the Boss says, taking another sip of tea. “My wealth, as infinite as it may appear, is not always enough to motivate some people. There is a doctor, a genius, who is quite knowledgeable in matters concerning the project. I offered her a small fortune, which she rudely refused. If you could persuade her to work for me, it might accelerate your sister’s recovery...as well as your own.”\n\nThe Boss motions toward Ada. She grimaces, but cuts you loose.\n\n[[Go to Montana]]\n[[Look for the genius doctor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 752>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +12>>\n<<set $force = $force +8>>\n<<endnobr>>You tell him the address for the Art Gallery. “And step on it,” you say.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Maybe it’s because I had just watched the film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, but I thought an art gallery would be a really cool setting for a shootout.<<endif>>\n“Sure thing,” the driver says slamming his foot on the gas. The car jerks into the street.\n\nYou know the Boss has Gillian, and you know he wants you for something. Maybe it’s another job, or maybe he didn’t like the idea of you getting out of the business. He did spend a lot of money training you. If his other employees thought they could walk away, the Boss would never make any money. Maybe he wants to make an example out of you.\n\nToo bad he decided to bring Gillian into the equation. Now you need to be the one to make an example out of him. Anyone who messes with your family will have to deal with you and a whole lot of @@color:#000081;bullets.@@\n\n“Whoa,” you tell the driver. “Take me to the back entrance.”\n\nThe driver pulls over in back of the Art Gallery, and you pay him. You need to be @@color:#000081;smart@@ about this. You can’t leave anything to chance. You’ve donated enough money to the Arts that the staff here know you by name. Getting in isn’t the problem. Getting out is.\n\nThe Gallery is a big place with lots of people. The chaos of an explosion should provide enough cover, at least enough for a head start.\n\nYou walk to a parked car and reach under the front wheel well until you feel a set of keys taped to the metal. There are several other cars like this around the city that you left for emergencies. You can never be too sure who’s trying to kill you or when. It’s best to be @@color:#000081;prepared.@@\n\nYou pop the trunk and swap the money for some counterfeit bills you found two years back on a side job. At a glance the Boss won’t know any better. You put the green speckled blade in the trunk as well. As much as you’d like to use it on the Boss, it just wouldn’t be practical.\n\nYou zip the duffle bag and shut the trunk. If all goes well, you should be able to escape with Gillian and the money ...if all goes well.\n\nYou walk into the Art Gallery through the back entrance and head toward the closest office. One of the directors waves to you. You wave back casually and politely. You use the office phone to call the Boss’s personal line.\n\n“It’s me,” you say. “And I want my sister back.”\n\nThe Boss sighs. “I was beginning to think you didn’t love her.”\n\n“What would you know about love?” You say sharply.\n\n“Oh,” the Boss coos. “There’s no reason to be so hurtful.”\n\n“I’m done working for you,” you say the words hard. “Give me back my sister, let us both walk away, and I’ll give you all the money from the Switzerland job.”\n\n“Alana said the money was lost.”\n\n“That’s what I wanted her to think.”\n\n“Humph,” the Boss grunts.\n\nYou can tell he’s chewing on the idea.\n\n“Very well,” the Boss says calmly. “The money for your sister.”\n\n“And our freedom.”\n\n“Yes, of course,” the Boss says as if struck by a sudden case of boredom. “Shall we meet at my penthouse.”\n\n“Do you think I’m stupid?” You growl. “We’ll meet at the @@color:#000081;Art Gallery.@@ And keep your goons to a minimum.”\n\n“I assume you’re already there waiting for me?”\n\n“Yeah, so hurry up.” You hang up the phone before the Boss can respond. Knowing him, he probably already has a team assembled and on the way. You don’t have much time. You need to finish setting up.\n\nYou leave the office and enter the exhibit hall. The art is an abstract convergence of pop culture and the atrocities of war. It’ll be perfect for concealing your weapons. Now you need to decide where the best vantage point will be.\n\nThe second floor has a clear view of both entrances plus the side door on the right. If the exchange happens on the first floor, which is likely, you’d be defenseless while climbing the stairs. Sure, you have a bullet proof vest, but what about Gillian?\n\nYou could hide the assault rifle on the first floor, but that would force you through the back offices to get to the car. The offices would be packed with thugs by then.\n\nEither way, you need to hurry. The Boss and his thugs can’t see you planting the assault rifle or your plan is ruined.\n\n[[Conceal the assault rifle on the first floor]]\n[[Conceal the assault rifle on the second floor]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 478>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -8>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<endnobr>>If you called for help every time you wandered through a dark hallway, you’d almost always be on the phone. You’re a professional. You can figure this out on @@color:#000081;your own.@@ How hard could it be?\n\nYou glance at the wall. You find the @@color:#000081;stripe@@ again... or at least you’re pretty sure it’s the same stripe. You follow it down the hallway and turn right. You slide down a ladder to a lower floor and keep walking. You can hear machines in the distance. You must be heading in the right direction.\n\nYou push open a large door. The room is dark. You count several rows of computers stacked to the ceiling. There’s a console built into the wall on the other side of the room. You walk toward it cautiously.\n\nYou tap the earbud. “Hey Samantha, I thought you said this room was supposed to be full of experiments and life forms.”\n\n“Room?” Samantha says bewildered. “What room?”\n\n“The containment labs,” you say.\n\n“What are you talking about?” She says concerned. “You’re not even on the right wing of the facility. The readout says you’re in the backup server room.”\n\nYou grimace. You must have been following the wrong stripe. “Yeah, yeah. I knew that. I was just... uh... forced to take a little detour. That’s all.”\n\n“Is everything alright?”\n\n“Yeah,” you say, turning back to leave the room. You abruptly stop. You didn’t notice them before, but from this angle, with the light from the console, you count at least twelve of them... the creatures. They’re asleep, curled against the computers trying to stay warm.\n\nLuckily they haven’t noticed you.\n\nYou move slow and carefully between their sprawling bodies. You hesitate as a creature rolls onto its other side. Its leg falls on top of your back foot. If you try to move, there’s a good chance you’ll wake it ...and the others.\n\nYou lean forward slightly and gradually slide your foot out. The creature jostles faintly, but remains slumbering. You sigh with relief.\n\n“Are you sure everything is alright,” the earbud hisses with Samantha’s voice. “The readout says you haven’t moved.”\n\nYou reach up to turn off the earbud, but it’s too late. You see the creature’s eyes flash open. You were standing too close and it heard Samantha’s voice.\n\nThe creature roars.\n\nYou hear claws scamper across the cement floor around you. You sprint for the door as a last ditch effort. Claws dig into your left @@color:#000081;leg.@@ You hit the cement hard. You try to reach for the gun, but it’s caught on your shoulder.\n\nThe creatures pounce on you creating a massive pile of claws and razor sharp teeth. You scream as the creatures @@color:#000081;tear@@ into your flesh. You’ll be dead in seconds.\n\n“What’s happening?” Samantha shouts into your ear. “Are you there? Hello?”\n\nAll you can do is @@color:#000081;scream.@@\n\nIf only you had asked for directions...\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 340>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +2>>\n<<set $wpn = "Fake Tears">>\n<<set $luck = $luck +5>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Do you know who I am?” You say with a stern and condescending voice.\n\nThe receptionist is taken aback. “I, uhm, no. No, I don’t know who you are.”\n\n“Really, well then maybe you’ve heard of my Father,” you glance over the receptionist’s shoulder at the placards on the wall until you see the biggest name. “Mr. Jenkins.”\n\n“Jenkins? Wait, Jenkins doesn’t have any kids.”\n\nCrap. That’s what you get for going into an op without doing your research. You’ll have to change tactics. You force your eyes to tear up, and you let your lower lip quiver. “No children that he knows of.”\n\n“Uh,” the receptionist looks a little uncomfortable.\n\n“It’s just been so hard not having a dad, you know?” You cry a little. “I thought he walked out on us. I thought he didn’t want me – I thought,” you grab the receptionist and sob into his shoulder. “He doesn’t even know I exist.”\n\nThe receptionist puts an arm around you. Looks like he’s @@color:#000081;buying it.@@ Better not oversell it though.\n\nYou pull back and lower your gaze. “I just wanted to meet him once. I just,” you shake your head with a faint sense of regret, “I just wanted to know what he looks like in person.”\n\nYou look up. The receptionist is crying. “I didn’t know my father either.” He nods, “I understand,” and hugs you.\n\nWow, what are the @@color:#000081;odds?@@\n\nHe presses a switch on his desk. A light on the doorframe turns green. He gives you an @@color:#000081;approving nod.@@ “Good luck.”\n\nYou’re a little surprised he bought the story ...and your acting, but the truth is, you can use all the luck you can get. You sigh. “I’ll need it.” Then you slip inside.\n\nYou walk past some cubicles and turn toward the north offices. Everyone keeps their heads down. They must be working on a big project. If everything goes smoothly, they’ll never know you were here ...if things go smoothly.\n\nOkay, three of the offices will work. Which one is it going to be?\n\n[[The first office]]\n[[The second office]]\n[[The third office]]\n

Seven Bullets Outline #3\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 559>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +15>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +2>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +20>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You need to make an example out of these “more than global” entrepreneurs. There are repercussions for attacking you and threatening your sister. They can’t just throw money at the problem to make it go away. This is going to cost them @@color:#000081;blood.@@\n\nYou climb up to the roof and peek over the ledge. The helicopter is just sitting there with its blades spinning. Whatever the important cargo is, it hasn’t been loaded yet. You count at least six guards spread out across the roof.\n\nBetween the volume of the helicopter and the cover of the air conditioning units, you should be able to disarm most of the guards before the cargo can get to the roof.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;silently@@ twist up over the ledge and sprint behind the opening for the stairs. You hear a guard approach. You stay low and quiet. As soon as he’s in range, you yank him around the corner, @@color:#000081;slam@@ his face into the wall, and lock your arm around his throat in a @@color:#000081;choke hold.@@ Within a minute, his body goes @@color:#000081;limp.@@\n\nYou take his submachine gun and sling it over your shoulder. It should come in handy soon enough. His unconscious body stands out like a sore thumb. You drag it to the ledge and @@color:#000081;fling@@ it over the side. You hear the faint crunch of his body bouncing off the dumpster. You sprint back to the wall and stay low.\n\nAs much as you’d like to unload the submachine gun clip into the rest of the thugs, you know this situation calls for @@color:#000081;stealth.@@ If they think the roof’s been compromised, there’s no way they’d bring the cargo up here. You’ll just have to hold off until it’s actually in sight – whatever it is.\n\nOf course that doesn’t mean you can just sit around and twiddle your thumbs.\n\nYou sprint around an air-conditioning unit and wait for the next guard to come near. As he passes, you @@color:#000081;kick@@ out his legs, @@color:#000081;jab@@ him in the throat, and @@color:#000081;shove@@ him over the side of the building. There’s no time to watch his body go splat, another guard moves your direction.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;slip@@ over the side of the building and grab onto the ledge.\n\n“Hey Leroy, the commander wants you to check the elevator. Leroy?” The guard walks closer. “If you’re taking another smoking break at a time like this I swear I’m—” The guard glances in both directions then shakes his head. “I guess I have to do everything myself.” He turns and walks toward the stairs.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>If you’ve re-read the book several times, you’ll notice some of the henchmen reappear. Leroy is one of them. In a previous section he (unknowingly) runs the main character over with a van.Steve is another henchman to watch for.<<endif>>\nYou shimmy across the side of the building and around the corner. It’s hard to hear much with the helicopter blades spinning, but you swear you can hear a woman’s muffled shouting. You peek over the ledge.\n\nIt’s Gillian.\n\nShe’s the cargo.\n\nTwo guards escort her to the chopper. You’re almost out of time. Once that chopper’s in the air, you’ll have no way to follow it. She’ll be as good as dead.\n\nIf you act now, you’ll lose the small stealth advantage you have, but you’ll have a straight shot at the chopper. You should be able to make it if you sprint, but there are still five guards out there carrying submachine guns.\n\nYou could keep shimmying across the ledge, but there’s no guarantee you’d make it to the chopper in time.\n\n[[Blow your cover and sprint for the chopper]]\n[[Keep shimmying across the side of the building]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 798>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +12>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +24>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’re still feeling a little weak from fighting that creature, and creating a diversion is dangerous enough already. It’s safer @@color:#000081;for you@@ if the soldiers are the ones creating the diversion.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Sacrifice is a theme throughout Seven Bullets. In each segment I wanted at least one moment that required sacrificing someone else in order to advance the plot.If the reader chooses to be noble and create the diversion themselves, they will die and continue the story in the Hell segment.<<endif>>\n“We’re going to @@color:#000081;lure@@ the creatures into a kill zone. You,” you point to the first soldier, “will be on the ground over there. Light fires to funnel the creatures into a line. Use your weapon to slow them down if you have to. You,” you point to the other soldier, “will be positioned halfway up that tree providing cover. I’ll be in this tree sniping the creatures as the two of you weaken them.”\n\n“What about me?” Mason asks.\n\n“You stay back, out of sight. Make sure you’re standing downwind. I’m not sure how powerful their senses are, but we can’t take any chances. Understood?”\n\n“Yes,” both the soldiers say in unison.\n\n“Then move out.”\n\nThe soldiers sprint to the positions you pointed to. Mason scurries back into the forest and hides underneath some bushes.\n\nYour arm still hurts a bit, but you can @@color:#000081;manage@@ the pain...you have to. You climb the tree until you reach a good downward viewpoint of the soldiers. You have six of the special red, neon bullets left. You load all of them into the assault rifle.\n\nYou set the rifle into the V of two sturdy branches. You wave to the soldiers. The one on the ground starts two fires, creating a small corridor from the building to his position. He hoots and shouts and howls.\n\nThree creatures burst out of the building and bound for his position. He unloads his clip into the first creature. It stumbles and slides against the grass. The soldier in the tree unloads his clip into the second creature as it leaps over the first. It darts through the fire avoiding nearly half of the bullets.\n\nYou take a deep breath and let it out slow. You pull the trigger.\n\nThe bullet @@color:#000081;hits@@ the first creature in the chest as it tries to stand. It collapses. The creature’s body changes. The fur falls off, and the body shrinks into a thin, naked woman. She looks pale and weak ...and helpless.\n\nThe third creature grabs the woman’s body and uses it as a shield as the soldier unloads another clip. The creature flings the frail, dead woman at the soldier in the trees. The soldier is caught by surprise and gets knocked out of the tree.\n\nYou take another deep breath and focus on the third creature. It’s already on the soldier tearing at his chest. You pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@\n\nThe creature slumps sideways. The soldier is covered in blood. You see his intestines spilling out of the wound in his stomach.\n\nThe creature’s body shifts and spasms as the fur falls off. The body shrinks into another thin, naked woman.\n\nThe other soldier emerges from the bushes and sprints to his fallen friend. As he does, the second creature lunges from the opposite tree line, sinking its teeth into his neck. You re-aim the rifle and pull the trigger. The bullet @@color:#000081;hits@@ the creature in the back of the head. It’s dead instantly.\n\nThe soldier slides away. He’s alive, but just barely. By the time you reach him, he’ll be dead. You look back at the building. It’s quiet. If there were anymore creatures, they would have attacked by now. You’re in the clear.\n\nYou climb down the tree and get Mason. You stay low and in cover as you sprint to the soldiers. They’re both dead... so are the creatures ...or patients.\n\nYou cautiously walk up to the building\n\n[[Peer through the doorway.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 477>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Her laugh is unnerving and insulting, but you try not to let it show. You point to the guy on the left. “That one.”\n\n“Ha,” Ignis grunts. “This will be over faster than I thought.” She waves her hand and the crowd takes three steps back as Skraz steps forward. He brandishes a long red spear. The tip glows orange and red.\n\n“Fight!” Ignis screams.\n\nImmediately, Skraz twirls the spear around his head and slams the tip against the ground. A streak of fire tears across the charred earth directly at you.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;roll@@ right, just barely escaping the flames. The other soldiers scatter in panic. Quintus wasn’t kidding about the magic here. That fire wasn’t an illusion or pyrotechnics. It came from the spear, and Skraz was guiding it.\n\nYou reach for the gun, then hesitate. You’ve only got six bullets and you need to make every single one count. Besides, you can’t be too sure how these people would react if you shot their friend. It’s better to use the gun as a last resort.\n\nThen you remember the green speckled sword. You’re not sure how well it will fair against a fire breathing spear, but it’s better than nothing. You pull the sword from the sheath and ready yourself for the next attack, but when you look up, Skraz is gone.\n\nIt’s not like you could have scared him off.\n\nYou hear a loud howl and glance up. Skraz dives at you with the spear. You awkwardly @@color:#000081;deflect@@ it with the sword and stumble back.\n\n“Glizco, Glizco, Glizco,” Skraz chants until the spear ignites with flames. The fire enshrouds his hand and part of his arm, but doesn’t seem to burn him. He thrusts the spear at you again.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Magical words like “Glizco” are made-up words that have a small Latin influence. The root word usually corresponds to the magical action taking place.<<endif>>\nThis time, you @@color:#000081;parry@@ and @@color:#000081;jab@@ at his chest. He twists, and the blade only glances his arm.\n\nHe twirls around you and swings the spear wide. “Unda Calor,” he shouts.\n\nYou jerk forward to avoid the spear when a wave of fire @@color:#000081;hits@@ your shoulder blades, thrusting you hard against the ground. You roll onto your back as Skraz slams the spear into the ground where you were.\n\nYou lift the sword in time to @@color:#000081;block@@ his next attack. The heat from the spear singes your arm and chest, but luckily the sword absorbs most of the flames. Skraz puts all his weight behind the spear. It moves closer and closer to your face. In a few seconds you’ll know what a marshmallow feels like. You need to do something.\n\nYou can’t let Skraz dictate the pace of this fight. You need to go on the offensive. His fire attacks seem to rely on the spear. If you could somehow get rid of it, he’d lose his advantage. Then again, maybe you should worry about the flames that are about to rearrange your face.\n\n[[Focus your attacks on the spear]]\n[[Focus your attacks on Skraz]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 527>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<endnobr>>It’d be nice to reminisce at Gillian’s house, but you don’t have time for that. The Gym is closer, and you’ve got better @@color:#000081;weapons@@ stashed there anyway. \n\nYou only spent a day or two on that other planet, but who knows what that translates to in Earth time. For all you know, years could have passed or, like Quintus said, only a few minutes. \n\nBut look at him. He’s old, and worse, dead. If he could be wrong about that, who knows what else he could have been wrong about.\n\nYou shake your head.\n\nHe was a good man. He did his best, and he helped you. Maybe when you and Gillian are free and safe, you’ll see about getting him a proper burial, but one thing at a time.\n\nYou lay a newspaper over his face and have a moment of silence. You can’t be sure if Heaven and Hell exist, but you hope he ends up in the right one.\n\nYour legs feel stiff, but you make it around the corner and into the Gym. You wave to Vito, the owner. He gives you a weary nod and eyes the sword strapped to your back. He’s seen a lot worse. He knows about your stash. You pay him to keep it safe and discrete. You enter the code for the lockers. The light beside the door switches to green, and you push open the door.\n\nThe Gym may look old fashioned, but that’s only decoration. Vito keeps the place on the cutting edge of technology. Most of the other assassins in the city use his gym to train and store an 'escape stash'. It’s considered neutral ground. The whole block is off limits. It’s been a long standing tradition since the first crime families were formed.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Vito and the Gym was a really interesting concept I wish I had included in the intro segment. By the time I wrote this, the intro had been long done.I worried that if I went back and fiddled with things I would ruin the continuity, so (unfortunately) this is the only place that Vito and the Gym are mentioned.<<endif>>\nYou find your locker, enter the code, and pass the retina scan. The metal door clicks open. You pull out a black duffle bag. You unzip it and double-check the contents: three different passports, a pistol, assault rifle, box of ammo, two grenades, bullet proof vest, change of clothes, and enough money to start a new life.\n\nYou change clothes and put on the bullet proof vest. You slip on a light windbreaker to conceal the vest and pistol. You slide some of the ammo into the pocket of your cargo pants. You toss the rest in the duffle bag with the rifle, the sword, and the cash.\n\nIt’s not the most intimidating arsenal, but it’ll have to do. Gillian can’t wait on you forever. You need to act now. You grab the duffle bag and a protein bar on your way out.\n\nYou hail a taxi. It pulls up beside you and you get inside.\n\n“Where to?” The driver asks.\n\nYou better think carefully about how to approach the Boss. Who knows what kind of mood he’s in? You could take the direct route and meet him at his penthouse, or maybe it would be safer to meet somewhere public. You glance at the clock. 8:34pm. The Art Gallery usually has an exhibit now. It should be public enough.\n\n“So what’s it gonna be?” The driver asks again.\n\n[[Meet at the Boss’s penthouse]]\n[[Meet at the Art Gallery]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 413>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -15>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Stupid @@color:#000081;conscience.@@ “Fine, I’ll help, but I’m keeping the gun.” It’s not like it’d be much use to her anyway. You grab the kid and help the cop up.\n\nThe kid’s the key to all this and whoever has the sniper rifles won’t try to kill him. You and the cop, on the other hand, well, that’s a different story.\n\n“So where are the rest of your cop buddies?”\n\n“I’m here unofficially.”\n\n“Have you radioed for backup?”\n\n“No radio and the telephone lines are cut.”\n\nShe’s not going to be much use to you right now and neither will her badge.\n\nYou head for the side exit. All your gear is in the BMW which means you’ll have to double back for it. You can’t lose sight of your main mission. Gillian still needs to be freed from the Boss’s unpleasant grip.\n\nYou look at the cop. “Are you able to drive?”\n\n“If it’s an automatic, yeah probably. You did a real number on my arm.”\n\n“You’re lucky that’s all I did.”\n\nShe glowers at you.\n\n“Alright,” you lift the kid up to your chest. “We’ll head for the pickup.”\n\n“What about the keys?”\n\n“You leave that to me.” You say, peeking through the window of the door. “With any luck, both of you will cease to be my problem soon enough.” You pull back from the window. No sign of snipers, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. You’ll have to be careful and quick.\n\nYou kick open the door and sprint for the pickup – though sprint is maybe an overstatement. The kid and the cop are weighing you down. You elbow the passenger window and unlock the door. “Get in,” you tell the cop as you slide the kid across the seat.\n\nYou dash to the other side and shove your head under the steering wheel. It’s been awhile since you’ve hot-wired a car. You tear out the plastic cover underneath the dash, revealing a tangle of wires. You cut four of them and twist two of them together. You strike the other two together and tap the gas pedal. A few sparks singe your finger, but the @@color:#000081;engine revs.@@ You twist the other two wires together and put the car in gear.\n\nIt’s not the most elegant solution, but it should work.\n\nThere’s a flash in the rearview mirror – like maybe a scope reflecting the sun. You hit the gas and swerve out of the parking spot. The exit’s ahead.\n\n[[Turn left]]\n[[Turn right]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1016>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You climb up a small embankment of sand and stare at the distant horizon. It’s a desert as far as you can see. A slight haze blurs the sky and sand. The breeze is hot and crisp. You look back at the woman. @@color:#000081;“This way.”@@\n\nShe doesn’t look excited, but she doesn’t disagree.\n\n“So what should I call you?”\n\nShe looks up. “Jazelle, and don’t bother telling me your name. I don’t want to get attached.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>“Jazelle” was a carefully chosen name. I wanted to pick a name that was uncommon. There’s no linguistic origin for the word Jazelle, but it has English and French (Gisèle) influences.I always imagined Jazelle living during an 1890’s America reminiscent of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. I was careful never to mention the actual date when Jazelle was alive because I wanted the fate of her son to be the detail that defined her.<<endif>>\nYou shrug. “Fair enough.” You have a feeling she’s not interested in talking either. You can’t really blame her. After what she’s been through, wanting a little quiet is understandable. You decide to keep your mouth shut and walk.\n\nThe sand feels warm and your bare feet start to sting a little. You glance up. The ceiling of the cavern is gone. All you see is a baby blue sky and a bright blazing sun. Your back and armpits start to sweat.\n\nIt feels like you’ve been walking for hours, but in this place a few hours might just be a few minutes. You glance back at Jazelle. She’s taken off her blouse and wrapped it around her head. You can’t see the ocean or any evidence of the cavern.\n\nIt’d be really easy to get lost in this place – if you’re not lost already. Finding a way out is going to be a lot harder than you thought, especially since your path disappears behind you. It’s a good thing turning back never crossed your mind.\n\nSuddenly you hear camels in the distance. You glance back at Jazelle.\n\n“Yeah, I heard it too.” She runs up next to you and grabs your arm. “Wait, we should be cautious.”\n\nYou hate to admit it, but she’s right. Haphazardly walking into another one of these twisted scenes is a bad idea, and worse, whoever runs this place is probably looking for you by now. That’s someone – or something – you’d like to avoid.\n\n“Stay low,” you whisper while pulling Jazelle behind one of the dunes. “And stay quiet.”\n\n“You first,” she says, glaring at you.\n\nYou roll your eyes and keep your mouth shut. There’s a valley of sand and a small oasis on the other side of the dune. You count three camels near a spring and a man crawling through the sand a few feet from the water.\n\nHe tries desperately to reach the spring, but each time he makes progress the sand slips beneath his weight and returns him to the spot he began. The three camels laugh at him and lap up the water. They jeer and taunt him and spit near him.\n\nHe’s so thirsty he reaches for the spit, but even that is beyond his reach. His skin looks rough and cracked. His hair is long and white. You wonder how long he’s been out there struggling for a drink. In this perverse place it may have been years – or decades.\n\nYou’re about to run over the dune and help him, but Jazelle pulls you back. “Don’t be stupid,” she says. “He probably deserves that and besides, something’s coming.”\n\nYou drop flat and follow Jazelle’s gaze. There’s a figure in the distance riding a giant snail. The snail’s body flickers with flames and glows like lava. Its shell is covered in ferocious spikes. It travels at an unbelievable speed. It’s so hot the sand beneath it turns to glass. The glass trail leads far into the distance.\n\nThe figure is tall and thin, but in the most perverse way. Chunks of bone jut out from its joints as if its muscles stopped growing, but its bones haven’t. Clumps of hair dot its head and hang down in a sinewy mess. Its eye sockets are empty, and its lips are curled back like a snarling dog.\n\nIts fingers are abnormally long and the fingernails have been removed. Instead, bone has grown out from the tips and been filed into razor sharp points.\n\nThe snail circles around the oasis and stops behind the thirsty man. The figure walks past him and scratches one of the camels behind the ears.\n\n“Please,” the man begs. “Just a drop. Please, just one drop. I’m so thirsty.”\n\nIt’s hard to tell, but you think the figure smiles.\n\n“Of courssse,” the figure hisses and motions toward the spring.\n\nThe man rushes forward, dipping his hands in the water. He takes a handful of water to his lips, but stops just shy of drinking it. “No,” he whispers. “No,” he shouts, throwing the water back. He falls backward and frantically tumbles away from the spring.\n\nYou glance back at the water. Three decomposing corpses float to the surface.\n\nThe boney figure kneels down and tilts its head. “Not thirsssty?”\n\n“No,” the man screams. “No! No,” he sobs. “No.”\n\nThe figure leans down and drinks from the spring. The corpses thrash in the water then suddenly claw their way through the sand. The man screams and runs toward you. The sand slips underneath him, and he climbs in place, never reaching the top.\n\nThe corpses stumble and crawl toward him. As they touch him, their bodies turn to sand and scatter through the air. The force knocks him to the ground. Half delirious, he stands and sees the spring.\n\n“Water,” he says exhausted. “Need water.” He crawls toward the spring, but can’t find traction in the sand. He crawls in place, reaching helplessly for the water.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>To make Hell more interesting I decided the torture chambers (which have a spiritual automaton quality) needed occasional maintenance kind of like a questionable carnival ride.This should give the reader hope that escape is possible.<<endif>>\nThe figure mounts the snail and waves its hand in the air. The wind and sand swirl into a small, focused cyclone. The snail moves toward it. The figure has its back to you. Now’s your chance. You could catch it by surprise.\n\nThe figure has power here. Maybe it’s not running the place, but it should know a way out. Who knows, the cyclone might just be the exit you’re looking for. There’s only one way to find out.\n\nThen again, the glass trail the snail left is still there. It should lead to something resembling an exit. \n\nThe snail is almost through the cyclone. You better decide quick.\n\n[[Follow the snail through the cyclone]]\n[[Follow the glass trail through the desert]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 599>>\n<<set $force = $force +6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You quietly slide the door closed. “We’ve wasted too much time already. We need to get out of this city @@color:#000081;now.”@@\n\n“Yeah, alright,” Mathew says nodding. “I’m onboard with that.”\n\n“We’ll take the roof. That means we’ll be in the open, so we need to move fast.”\n\n“Fast isn’t a problem,” Mathew says condescendingly. “I ran 400m hurdles in college.”\n\nYou glance at Marjorie. “What about you? You still look shaken.”\n\nShe shrugs timidly. “I’m fine.”\n\n“Can you run?”\n\n“I think so.”\n\n“You’ll have to because we can’t slow down.”\n\n“Don’t worry about her,” Mathew says waving his hand. “She’ll be fine. Let’s just get out of here already.”\n\nYou sigh. “I can’t argue with that.” You lead them up the stairs to the roof. The moon weighs heavy in the sky and illuminates the rooftops. You should be able to see your footing easily, but that also means you’ll be easier to spot.\n\n“I recognize some of these buildings.” You point to the right. “If we keep going this direction we should reach the edge of the city soon.”\n\n“Then I’ll see you there,” Mathew says sprinting and leaping through the air. \n\n“Mathew,” Marjorie hesitates. He’s already two buildings away by the time she has the courage to take her first jump.\n\n“Is he always like that?” You whisper after @@color:#000081;landing@@ on the roof behind her.\n\n“He can be competitive sometimes,” she says before jumping to the next building.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;leap@@ after her. She looks tired, and Mathew is nearly out of sight.\n\nMarjorie steps onto the ledge to jump, but her foot slips, and she thumps against the opposite building then crashes to the ground. The noise is noticeable.\n\nYou immediately drop flat against the roof, hoping to stay out of sight. “Are you alright?” You whisper down.\n\n“I think so. How do I get back up?”\n\nShe’s too far down for you to reach her. “Is there anything you could climb?”\n\n“Maybe.” She limps around the building and steps into the moonlight before you can stop her.\n\nSuddenly you feel a faint rumbling through the roof. Then you hear the growl of a large beast. Across the road a six-legged hound, about the size of a horse, burst out of an alley and dashes toward Marjorie.\n\nMarjorie screams at the sight of it and stumbles backwards.\n\nYou glance up for Mathew, but he’s too far away to even hear the noise. Marjorie’s alone, and she doesn’t stand a chance.\n\nYou can’t help but think of Gillian. She’s on her own. There’s no one to look out for her. It could be different for Marjorie. You could save her, or at least give her enough time to escape, but that means you’d be taking her place.\n\nThere’s no way you could defeat that hound with your bare hands. You’d have a hard enough time fighting it off with a gun. And it’s even less likely that you could outrun it. Those aren’t good odds, but you’d stand a better chance than her.\n\nBut why take the risk? You barely know her, and you already made the effort of pulling her out of the lava. Shouldn’t that be enough?\n\nBetter still, if that hound is clawing and biting into her, that means it’ll be too busy to chase after you. You hesitate for a second. Gillian would want you to do the right thing. She would want you to save Marjorie, but if saving Marjorie means you get ripped to shreds, how will you ever be able to save Gillian?\n\nThat beast will tear into Marjorie any second... \n\n[[Save Marjorie]]\n[[Use her as a distraction]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1212>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +8>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You’re out of the killing business, at least you’re @@color:#000081;trying@@ to be. You’re going to get back to Gillian, and you’re going to do it on the terms that you set. Maybe people will die, but this kid doesn’t need to be one of them.\n\nYou slip the green speckled blade into its @@color:#000081;sheath@@ and turn to Ignis. “This fight is over. Your guy lost.”\n\n“Did he?” Ignis says with a smile. “Are you certain?”\n\nYou look back at Skraz. Both his arms are enveloped with flames. His eyes look cold and full of vengeance. He chants something under his breath, and the flames rise up like glowing wings. He sprints at you, lifting back one of the flaming wings like an axe he’s about to throw.\n\nAs a reflex, you draw the gun and pull the @@color:#000081;trigger.@@\n\nThe bullet hits Skraz in the leg. He skids across the ground in pain and surprise. The crowd of wizards draw in a breath. They’re almost as surprised as Skraz.\n\nYou calmly turn to Ignis. “Like I said, this fight is over. So are you going to help us or what?” \n\nIgnis quickly collects herself. “You have defeated the weakest among us. That is hardly a praiseworthy feat, but as I promised, I will hear your proposal.” She motions for two of the men in the crowd to retrieve Skraz.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Azarii and Skraz were designed to show the reader the basic capabilities of the Red Wizards (and magic) before introducing them to the five Red Wizards (Grat Grimworth, Mos Vestermire, Nev Naysayer, Able No-name, and Evie Greengrass) who help them later in the story.<<endif>>\nYou’ve only got five bullets now. You probably shouldn’t have relied on the gun, but old habits die hard. You glance back at Avengral and shrug.\n\nHe steps forward and addresses Ignis. “Ignis Ustrina, Grand Master of the Red Wizards of the North, King Sarrejiinn formally requests your army and support in defeating the Ferralliise beasts of the Dire Lands.”\n\n“Army?” Ignis says with a raised brow. “Do we appear as starkly organized as your King expects?”\n\nAvengral looks at the charred homes and barely clothed villagers. “No, it would appear not.”\n\n“And what support do you expect us to provide. Has your King become so poor that he would turn to us for scraps?”\n\nAvengral frowns. “You are citizens of the realm and as such, you are obligated to serve your King when he commands it.”\n\n“Ha,” Ignis laughs. “Do you see the King’s banners here? Do you see his seal on our coins? Do you see any coins at all? The King has abandoned my kind. He has exiled us to this wasteland, and yet, you expect us to serve him.”\n\n“Yes,” Avengral nods. “He is still your King, and this is still part of his realm.”\n\nIgnis grunts with frustration. “Your resolve is admirable knight, but your loyalty is foolish.” She watches as Skraz gets dragged into a hut. She looks back at Avengral. “Alright knight,” she says walking toward him. “I will entrust you with seven of my best wizards and in return, the King will publicly recognize Vizzairn as a sovereign nation. He will renounce any claim he thinks he holds over it, and he will allow wizards and others like them to travel freely throughout the realm.”\n\nAvengral ponders her requests carefully. “As to your demands, Master Wizard, I can authorize and guarantee the first two. The third is beyond my station, but if this threat is dealt with, I believe the King will be receptive to your request.”\n\n“Fine,” Ignis sighs. “Your terms are acceptable, but you will get five wizards instead of seven.”\n\nAvengral nods. “I am honor-bound to fulfill this agreement. I swear it on my life and my family’s honor.” He extends his hand.\n\nIgnis shakes it. “The agreement is made.” She raises her arm. “Grat Grimworth, Mos Vestermire, Nev Naysayer, Able No-name, Evie Greengrass, step forward.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Red Wizard’s names have a direct action or natural theme similar to Native Americans. Since the Red Wizards use elemental magic I thought they should be more aligned with nature. Also the names reflect the direct, genuine aspect of the Red Wizard’s culture.<<endif>>\nFive of the villagers step forward and walk to Avengral.\n\n“These are five of my most capable wizards,” Ignis says. “They will be well suited for whatever situation you find yourself in.” Ignis turns to the five. “Serve this knight as you would serve me.”\n\nThe five nod in unison.\n\n“Alright,” you say. “Now that we have that out of the way, how do we get to the Dire Lands?”\n\nIgnis glares at you. “You may take three of my red-tailed dragon spawn as far as the Bonebottom Mountains just so I can be rid of your stupid faces.”\n\n“Dragons?” You whisper.\n\n“Dragon spawn,” Ignis says, correcting you. “True dragons have been long dead in this realm. Only their half-breed spawnlings remain. You should have heard the stories as a child.”\n\n“Right,” you say. “The stories... I must have hit my head during the fight or something.”\n\nIgnis gives you a strange look then shakes her head. She whistles loudly and three large creatures emerge from a cave cut into the volcano. They soar through the sky and land in a bare segment of land beside the village.\n\nEach creature has a long and jagged set of wings, but their bodies are different. One has antlers and hoofs like a moose, but its body is covered in scales, and its teeth are sharp and pointed. Another is covered in red fur like a fox with a long fluffy tail. The last is slimy and fat like a frog. Its tongue is long and dangles out the side of its mouth.\n\n“What kind of dragons are those?” You say bewildered.\n\n“Not dragons,” Ignis corrects you again. “Dragon spawn. When the dragons were nearing extinction, they mated with other animals which resulted in these spawnlings. These three breeds are relatively tame. I’m almost certain they won’t try to eat you.”\n\n“That’s comforting,” you mutter.\n\n“You have been most gracious,” Avengral says with a very formal bow. “Now we must be on our way. If we remain here any longer we risk the Prince’s safety more than is necessary. Goodbye Master Wizard Ignis Ustrina.” Avengral motions for the other soldiers and the wizards to mount the dragon spawn.\n\nYou follow his lead and mount the moose looking dragon spawn. The scales are cool and glimmer with green and blue. The dragon spawn has a large leather basket strapped to its back with ropes. The basket looks big enough to hold eight people. You sit with one of the wizards and two of the soldiers.\n\nSuddenly the dragon spawn jerks up and forward. You grab the side of the basket as it jolts into the air. The ground quickly becomes distant, and the villagers look like tiny specs. You see more lava spill out from the active volcano.\n\n“We must pick a destination,” Avengral shouts. He tilts the dragon fox so you’re both closer. “It is possible the Ferralliise slave traders were responsible for the Prince’s kidnapping. But even if they were not, they would know the best roads to conceal an escape. Interrogating them would be a prudent choice.”\n\nYou wipe a lump of slime from your shoulder as the dragon frog passes overhead. “Or?” You ask.\n\n“The Prince’s banner man spoke of the Ferralliise Blood Festival. If the Prince is already in the Dire Lands, then tracking him would be pointless. In order to save him, we would need to find the location of the Blood Festival before the Ferralliise could complete the ritual. You have proven yourself twice now, Earth Wizard. I trust your instincts. How should we proceed?”\n\n[[Search for the slave traders]]\n[[Travel to the Ferralliise capital for information on the Blood Festival]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 910>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +2>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You let go of the hair and twist backwards, @@color:#000081;grabbing@@ on to the back of an ant. It chatters angrily and grips the skin tighter. You just barely @@color:#000081;avoid@@ its biting mouth. It keeps descending the arm toward the head.\n\nYou see Ayporos further down, near the shoulder. “Great plan,” you shout sarcastically. “Now what?”\n\nAyporos points at the head and shouts something, but between the noise of the ants and the distance you can’t understand him. All you can do is hold on tight and keep a watchful eye.\n\nJazelle shoves her face into your shoulder. “These ants are revolting.” She shifts to one side as an enormous ant pushes alongside her. “Get away! Get away!” She shouts, kicking it.\n\nThe ant turns toward her and hisses.\n\nYou get a good glimpse of its human face. The eyes are insane with hunger, but otherwise its expression is vacant. Its mouth looks normal enough except for the three rows of razor sharp teeth.\n\nYou glance back. Thousands of ants still crawl out of the holes in the skin. The body shakes and staggers with agony.\n\nYou look back at the faceless head and hope Jazelle doesn’t realize the trouble hot on your heels. “Jazelle, whatever you do, don’t turn around.”\n\nSuddenly she screams into your ear and frantically squeezes her grip.\n\nYou groan and tilt your head away. The ringing in your ear is already deafening. “I told you not to look.”\n\n“I couldn’t help it,” she cries. “Hey, what is Ayporos doing?”\n\nYou glance down at the featureless head. Ayporos draws a door on part of the cheek – or at least what would be the cheek.\n\n“He’s not leaving us behind, is he?”\n\nYou’re not sure how to answer her.\n\nThe ants stop just above the chin, where the mouth should be. They burrow through the skin, making a mouth-shaped hole.\n\nThe ant you’re riding twists around the shoulder and up the neck. Suddenly you see Ayporos’s outstretched arm and grab it. He pulls you up onto the cheek. “You took your time.”\n\n“Traffic,” you say.\n\nHe gives you a toothy grin. “We need to hurry.”\n\nJazelle releases her death grip on you, and you both follow Ayporos to the chalk door. He opens it and jumps through without a second thought. You and Jazelle are right behind him.\n\nYou’re ready for the drop this time and land on your feet. Jazelle has to grab your shoulder to keep from stumbling.\n\nYou’re in a cavern. A few torches line the walls and the faint flickering is enough to see a bit of your surroundings.\n\nYou’ve seen this place before. It feels like it’s been years or maybe days – you can’t tell. Everything in Hell has blurred together. This cavern is the last memory that’s still vivid in your mind. You remember trying to rescue Gillian, then things get foggy, but the cavern – you remember that. “This is the entrance.”\n\nAyporos glances over his shoulder. “It is also the exit. We just need to make one more stop.”\n\nYou follow him to a set of stairs carved into the side of the cavern. They lead up.\n\nAs you journey upward, the walls crumble and shake. The air feels hot and sticky. The steps curve around a colossal face that’s been carved into the hard rock.\n\nThe lips jostle and the eye sockets bend toward you. The rock face twists like awakening from a deep sleep. It yawns. “The price for passage is death.”\n\n“But we’re already dead,” Jazelle says. “How are we supposed to get through?”\n\n“All who wish to cross this threshold must pay the toll.” Its breath feels like the heat from a volcano, and its words end like the sound of crumbling rocks.\n\nAyporos pulls you aside and whispers. “If you want to see your sister again, you must pay the toll.” He hands you a knife. “Life is the currency here.” He glances at Jazelle. “And we have enough for one trip.”\n\n“You can’t be serious.”\n\n“It is the only way.”\n\nYou push the knife back toward him. “I won’t do it.”\n\n“You are the only one who can.” Ayporos says coldly. “I swore an oath not to harm either of you. That oath cannot be broken.”\n\n“No,” you whisper. “Besides, your math is off. There’s only one of her and there’s two of us.”\n\nAyporos lets out a soft chuckle. “A demon cannot cross the threshold of the Gatekeeper, no matter how much he pays.”\n\nYou glare at him. “How are you supposed to get out of here then?”\n\n“Through you.”\n\n“What?”\n\n“You clear out a small portion of your brain and soul where I can reside.”\n\n“You mean a possession.”\n\n“It is not as bad as it sounds.”\n\n“I bet,” you say sarcastically.\n\n“You will need me. The world is a different place since you have been gone. I can make you stronger and faster. Your body will heal from terminal wounds. You will be capable of feats that you never thought possible.” He puts the knife back in your hand. “It is the only way you will return to your sister.”\n\n“Hey,” Jazelle says, walking toward you. “Are you guys going to help or do I need to find a way out of here by myself?”\n\nAyporos waves to Jazelle while whispering in your ear. “Do not do it for me. Do it for your sister. She still needs you, does she not?”\n\n[[Stab Jazelle]]\n[[Don’t stab Jazelle]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 893>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +48>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +120>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +18>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +12>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You can’t be sure if Quintus finished the machine, but if his lab gets destroyed then there’s no way you’re getting home. You have to keep this city intact long enough for reinforcements to arrive.\n\nYou grab a bow from one of the dead archers. “I’ll defend the walls. You fortify the barricades.”\n\nThe Prince nods. “I’ll also send word to my father. We must hold the outer walls until his armies return.”\n\nYou point at the Blue Wizard. “What about him?”\n\n“The Aproxiona Accord is suspended against enemies during a time of war. I’ll leave his fate to your... judgment. Good luck.” The Prince pulls a falchion from a dead soldier and sprints down the stairs.\n\nYou sling a quiver of arrows over your shoulder and glance over the side of the wall. Thousands of monsters fling themselves against the wall, trying to climb. The trolls use tree trunks to batter the entrance while the giants hurl boulders at the towers. You won’t be able to stop them all. You need to focus your strikes. The giants and trolls are doing the most damage.\n\nYou place the arrow and draw the bow. You take a moment to aim, then release. The arrow hurls through the air, @@color:#000081;striking@@ a troll in the eye. It veers right, swinging the tree trunk as it falls. A handful of Ferralliise get @@color:#000081;crushed@@ in the process.\n\nYou equip another arrow and draw the bow. You aim high toward a giant in the rear of the hoard, then let the arrow fly.\n\nIt sails through the air, @@color:#000081;hitting@@ the giant in the cheek. It stumbles back, dropping the boulder on a @@color:#000081;Blue Wizard.@@ The giant wipes the arrow from his face, lifts the boulder again, and lugs it into the air. It slams into the castle wall.\n\nAside from squashing a Blue Wizard, all you did was annoy the giant. Its skin is too tough for you to do any real damage with an arrow. You sprint across the wall. “Focus your fire on the trolls,” you shout.\n\nThe other archers take heed and reposition their attacks. Two more trolls go down.\n\nIt won’t be enough though. Too many of the Ferralliise and other monsters are making it over the wall. You toss the bow aside and draw your green speckled blade. You @@color:#000081;kick@@ a creature over the side before it can get its bearings, then you swing the blade into another creature, @@color:#000081;severing@@ its arm at the shoulder.\n\n“Are these all the soldiers you have?” You shout to the closest archer.\n\n“Aye, the rest are searching for the Prince.”\n\n“We’re not even making a dent,” you growl.\n\n“Everyone who can fight is holding a weapon, be it a sword, a stone, or a fist.”\n\nYou @@color:#000081;thrust@@ the sword into the chest of a green scaly creature. Green blood squirts against the stone. “It’s not going to be enough.” Then you remember the gun.\n\nYou don’t have enough bullets to stop an army, but they don’t know that. Those knights were willing to believe you were a great and powerful wizard. These Ferralliise aren’t any brighter. It won’t stop them for long, but it should buy you some time.\n\nYou grab the pistol and aim it at the giant. The skin is tough, but a bullet should get the job done as long as you make the shot count. You take a calm breath, aim, and pull the trigger.\n\nThe bullet slices through the air, the giant’s open mouth, and out its @@color:#000081;spinal column.@@ The giant takes a stuttering step forward then collapses onto three dozen @@color:#000081;monsters.@@\n\nYou aim at the second giant and pull the trigger. The bullet pierces its @@color:#000081;right eye.@@ It howls and flails its arms in a panic. Several Ferralliise get caught in its swing. You didn’t kill it, but it should be out of commission for awhile.\n\nNow for the shot that really matters. You target the Blue Wizard commanding the hoard. It’s a long shot, even for you. You take a deep breath and concentrate. You pull the trigger.\n\nThe bullet ricochets off a tree.\n\nYou take another deep breath and empty the clip in the direction of the Blue Wizard. You see him jerk backwards and grab at his @@color:#000081;chest.@@\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>There are several different scenes (prior to this one) when the reader might have used the gun. I couldn’t be 100% sure how many bullets were left so I used the phrase “empty the clip” as a catchall.Throughout Seven Bullets there are phrases that have several different interpretations. It’s a little trick I used to maintain continuity between multiple narrative branches.<<endif>>\nImmediately the creatures pause as if the signals from their brains were simultaneously halted.\n\n“By the Seven Sons,” the archer gasps. “What sorcery?”\n\nYou grin.\n\nA hush falls over the battlefield.\n\n“I am the great and powerful Wizard of Earth,” you shout. “This castle is under my protection. Any creature that aims to do it harm will die by my magic. Leave now and I’ll let you live,” you say the words the way the Boss would say them, calm but @@color:#000081;threatening.@@\n\nIt’ll take the wizards at least half an hour to figure out you’re bluffing. Hopefully Quintus will have the machine working before then. You sprint down the stairs toward the lab.\n\n“Wait,” the Prince grabs your arm. Blood drenches his face and clothes. “You have the power to defeat their army?”\n\n“No. It was a bluff.”\n\nThe Prince chokes back a laugh. “You are bold and foolish Earth Wizard.”\n\n“It’s been working for me so far.”\n\n“We must use this time to evacuate the civilians.”\n\n“I’ve got someplace I need to be.”\n\n“These people are defenseless. We must help them.”\n\n[[Help the Prince evacuate the civilians]]\n[[Go to Quintus’s lab]]\n

Origami Butterfly Effect\n

During a cloudy [[October]] [[afternoon]], Karen Ward [[fell]] from the [[seventh]] story [[window]] of her small, [[two]] [[room]] [[apartment]].

<>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +10>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +999999999999>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The machine goes silent and the ground stops shaking...\n\nYou open your eyes. The purple mist is nearly evaporated. You’re still in the lab. Smoke spirals out from the machine, and it smells like the mechanisms inside are burnt to a crisp. You’re no scientist, but you’re almost certain it’s broken.\n\nSo much for getting home. There’s nothing more you can do now except try to survive here. You grab your green speckled blade and prepare to fight the hoard of Ferralliise when something strange strikes your nostrils.\n\nThe smell of hot dogs, and smog, and the loud echo of car horns.\n\nYou’re back in the @@color:#000081;city.@@ You’re back on Earth. You sprint out the lab.\n\nYou see the giant skyscrapers, and the blue, normal sky, and... @@color:#000081;the castle...@@\n\nYou twist around. All of Sarrejiinn came through the portal. All the peasants. All the Ferralliise. All the trolls. All the giants and Blue Wizards. You brought them @@color:#000081;all back@@ with you.\n\nSuddenly a car spirals through the air, into the castle. Then another. The Blue Wizards and their hoard are still attacking the castle, and worse, they’re hurting people in your city. You have to do something. At least now that you’re back home, you’ll have access to some decent weapons.\n\nYou twist around the corner to head for your apartment when a police car lands on top of you.\n\n[[You scream!]]\n

<center>Chapter 1</center>\n\n“Hey, what took so long?” Stew asks agitated.\n\nYou give him a hard stare. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”\n\n“Yeah, yeah, look,” he waves his hands in the air. “This is a really messed up situation, so you can’t go blabbing about alright? I mean it, if word got out...” Stew swallows nervously.\n\nYou give him a skeptical glare. “I thought you said this was the flu?”\n\n“Flu?” Stew shakes his head. “I don’t know. I mean, yeah, it could be, but I don’t know.” He cringes and looks away. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen the flu cause a person to do something like that...”\n\n“What aren’t you telling me?”\n\nStew fidgets. “She tried to bite me.” He rubs his neck as if to make sure it was still there. “She came back from the club around four. She looked sick, you know, just like a ghost. I figured she must have over done it. You know how these girls like to party. So I take her hand to lead her to her room, but then out of nowhere she starts screaming and puking everywhere. I mean everywhere - the walls the ceiling, everywhere. The other girls were screaming and ducking behind the furniture.”\n\n“Where?”\n\n“The other room. I had to close it off.” Stew shakes his head again. “It’s surreal. She started shaking like she was having a seizure or something, and then she dropped to the ground and messed herself.”\n\n“Was she epileptic?”\n\n“Uh,” Stew scratches his head. “I don’t think so. If she was, no one told me. I didn’t know what else to do so I dragged her to the closest bedroom. I tried to clean her up. But before I could do anything, she attacked me, I mean full on attacked me. I threw her on the bed, forced the door closed, and called you. You’re a doctor, so you’ve seen stuff like this all the time, right?”\n\n“I won’t know until I examine her.”\n\n“Right,” Stew nods. “Well, this is where I left her.”\n\n“And she’s still in the room?”\n\nStew points at a closed door. “I had to lock it because she was getting so violent. I couldn’t let her hurt one of the other girls.”\n\n“And you’re sure she’s still inside?”\n\n“Yeah.”\n\nYou pause for a moment. “It’s quiet.”\n\n“She must have fallen asleep. Probably wore herself out.”\n\n“Maybe.” You gesture for him to stop. “You should stay here. What’s her name?”\n\n“Brandy.”\n\n“Brandy, I’m a doctor, and I’m here to help you. I’m coming in now.”\n\nYou push open the door. A woman is lying belly down on the bed. Her clothes are torn to pieces and scattered on the floor. The sheets are ripped too. It smells like excrement and vomit. The walls and ceiling are covered with it.\n\n“Brandy, can you hear me?” You take a step closer. “Brandy, I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to check your pulse.” You pull the plastic gloves from your pocket and put them on.\n\nHer legs hang off the bed. You see the rash spreading from her inner thigh, something like boils, but you aren’t sure.\n\nYou place your fingers on her neck to check her pulse.\n\nNothing. You wait a moment. Still nothing.\n\nYou’re too late. “She’s dead,” you say with a heavy sigh.\n\n“What do you mean, she’s dead?”\n\n“There’s nothing we can do for her now.”\n\n“Are you sure?” Stew asks from the doorway. “You barely touched her.”\n\n“She doesn’t have a pulse.”\n\n“What killed her?”\n\n“I’m not sure.” You walk to the other side of the bed and look at her face. “The rash on her leg and mouth look like some kind of STD, but I’ve never seen anything like it. You said there was no sign of it last night?”\n\n“The rash, none. She looked like she was gonna have a bad hangover in the morning, but no rash.”\n\n“What was she doing last night?”\n\n“I don’t know,” Stew shrugs, “clubbing with some of the other girls.”\n\n“And the other girls, have they shown any symptoms?”\n\n“You mean like vomiting and all that? No, no, they’re fine.”\n\n“You’re sure?”\n\n“I’ll call them and you can see for yourself.” He pulls out his cell phone and dials.\n\nYou look closer at Brandy’s body. Blood drips from her eyes and ears. Her skin is thin and almost clear, as if strands of it were ready to fall off. Her tongue is black and dangles against a thin layer of foam at the corners of her mouth. “We may have to call the CDC.”\n\n“Who?”\n\n“The Center for Disease Control,” you say.\n\n“No way,” he jumps back into the hallway. “You mean this is contagious?”\n\n“I don’t know. We have to assume it is.”\n\n“I spent all day with her, dude, you know, cleaning up her vomit and mess. Oh, oh man, I’m gonna die.” Stew falls back against the wall. “I’ve got whatever she has, don’t I? You’ve got to give me the antidote. Come on man, hurry up and get out of there.”\n\n“Calm down,” you say, trying to be reassuring. “We don’t know what killed her yet. We just have to wait. Did you call the other girls?”\n\n“Yeah, they’re on their way.”\n\n“Good. I’ll call the CDC.”\n\n“Yikes,” Stew exclaims.\n\n“What?”\n\n“She moved. Her arm, it just moved.”\n\n“It’s alright. That happens sometimes. Her central nervous system is still shooting signals up and down her body. It should stop soon.”\n\n“Oh golly, there it is again. Her head, the eyelid opened. I-I-I think she’s looking at you...”\n\n“You’re overreacting. Just take a deep breath,” you say. “We need to stay calm. We don’t want to start a panic.”\n\n“Panic?” Stew cringes. “Speak for yourself. I’m terrified. Hey, hey,” Stew waves his arm toward you. “Does that nervous system thing make bodies stand up?”\n\n“No,” you shake your head. “That’d be impossible.”\n\n“Well, then how come she’s standing up?”\n\n“What?” You turn.\n\nThe woman, Brandy, she stands upright. Her eyes are wide and awkwardly examine the room as if seeing it for the first time. Black ooze spills from the corners of her mouth. She takes an uneasy step forward.\n\n“Impossible,” you gasp.\n\nShe takes another step forward. The skin around her inner thigh slides from the bone. She stumbles into the wall.\n\nIs she mumbling something? You can barely understand her.\n\n“Ihg wanhnt seesxs,” she says, taking another step forward. “Ihg wanhnt seesxs,” she says again louder.\n\nYou half glance at Stew. “Can you understand what she’s saying?”\n\n“I don’t know dude. It sounds like she said she wants sex?”\n\n“Seesxs.” She hurls her body at you, grabbing at your shirt and jacket. You fall backwards. She’s on top of you, pulling herself closer, tearing at the buttons of your shirt, the zipper of your pants. You try to escape, try to pull away, but her grip is too firm.\n\nBlood drips from her eyes and nose. It runs down her face and breasts. Is she smiling?\n\nShe straddles your leg and rubs against it like a piston. Faster and faster.\n\nShe’s definitely smiling, humping your leg?\n\nThe black ooze bubbles and foams at the corners of her mouth. The rash looks like it’s spreading. Right before your eyes, it’s spreading.\n\nYou have to get away.\n\nYou’re close to the door. If only you could reach it.\n\nJust.\n\nA little.\n\nFurther.\n\nShe grinds your leg harder. It’s starting to hurt.\n\nYou look down. The flesh and muscle have fallen from her inner thigh. It’s just bone. She’s humping you with her bone...and she’s smiling.\n\nYou have to get away.\n\nYou roll on top of her and push yourself free. She tears at your jacket. You let your arms slide out. She falls into the desk. The jacket covers her face. You run to the hallway, slamming the door shut as you sprint through.\n\n“Lock it,” you shout. “Lock it now.”\n\nStew fumbles with the keys. “Which one, which one. There.” He locks the door. You hear Brandy slam into it. “Seesxs!” She screams “Seesxs!”\n\nYou lean against the wall and slide down to the floor.\n\n“What,” Stew struggles for breath, “happened to her?” He looks at you with shock and disgust. “She was like some kind of sex zombie.”\n\n“I thought you had my back?” You groan between breaths\n\n“Are you kidding? I wasn’t going in there.”\n\nYou look down at your pants. They’re covered in blood and little bits of flesh. “I don’t think this is the flu.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” Stew nods tensely. “Definitely not the flu.”\n\n“No one’s allowed to open that door until the CDC gets here.”\n\n“You don’t have to tell me twice.”\n\n“Oh my goodness,” a female voice gasps. “What happened?”\n\nYou look up. It’s Playmate of the Year Sara Stratton.\n\nShe kneels down next to you. “Are you alright?”\n\nYou give her a hard stare. “Were you with Brandy last night?”\n\n“Why, did something happen to her?”\n\nYou frown. “Just answer the question.”\n\nShe looks at Stew.\n\n“It’s alright,” he nods.\n\nShe looks back at you. “Only for a little bit. We had a few drinks at the club then I went home.”\n\n“But she stayed?”\n\n“Yeah, she was flirting with some guy.”\n\n“But you had never met him before?”\n\n“No. And neither had Brandy, but it’s so easy for her to meet new people, especially guys. She has that kind of personality, you know? She’s just really friendly. Now tell me what happened.”\n\n“Your friend Brandy is sick and I need to know everything she’s done in the past 48 hours.”\n\n“Sick? How sick? Is she going to be alright?”\n\n“I won’t lie to you. I think she’s already dead.”\n\n“Dead?” Sara gasps. “Oh my goodness. But I was with her last night, and she was fine.” Tears gather at the corners of Sara’s eyes. She glances at Stew. Her eyes get wide. “Stew, your ear.”\n\nHe wipes the inside of his ear with the tip of his finger. He stares at the blood on his fingertip. His ears are bleeding...\n\nHe looks at you, his eyes are wide with terror. “It’s spreading.”\n\n<center>[[Stew's Diary]]</center>

<>\n<<set $hp = $hp -100>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveTheButterflyEffect").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockTheButterflyEffect").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“I asked you first,” she says swallowing nervously.\n\nYou stand up and look into the living room.\n\n“I said don’t move.” She aims the gun at your chest again. Her hands shake.\n\nYou see the photographs on the wall and the ones propped on the mantle. They’re of Gillian and a man you’ve never met, a wedding, vacations, a baby, the baby growing into a girl, and later a woman, the woman standing before you.\n\nYou look back at her. “You’re her daughter...” You step closer.\n\n“Don’t move,” she says.\n\n“What’s the date? What year is it?” You say in a panic.\n\nThe woman looks even more nervous. “D-Don’t-don’t move. Just stay there.”\n\nYou rub your head in a haze of anger and disbelief. “After everything I’ve done to get back here, I’m too late.” You point at the woman. “Don’t you understand? I missed her life, and I’ve missed most of yours. I wasn’t here for either of you.”\n\n“Don’t come any closer,” she says with more resolve.\n\n“You don’t understand.” You take another step closer. “I’m here for you.” You take another step closer. “I’m--”\n\nThe gun goes off.\n\nYou feel a sharp pain in your @@color:#000081;chest.@@ You glance down. Your shirt is red.\n\n“I-I-I told you not to move.”\n\nYou step back and @@color:#000081;fall@@ against the cabinet. The woman’s voice sounds muffled. You can’t understand what she’s saying. Something about the paramedics maybe.\n\nYou slide sideways, and your head hits the cold tile floor. You see the photographs. Gillian had a good life, a husband, a career, a family. All it took was for you to be teleported to another planet.\n\nYou’re back for a few minutes, and you’ve already traumatized her daughter. It would have been better if you had never come here. Gillian was better off without you. Her daughter will be too.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This isn’t a time paradox, but I thought it was a really interesting irony that would stick with the reader.My favorite episode of the TV show Lost was “The Variable” (Season 5, Episode 14). I won’t give away any spoilers, but my favorite line is spoken by Daniel Faraday to Eloise Hawking at the end of the episode.Some of the events in season 5 of Lost influenced scenes like this one.<<endif>>\nThe woman, Gillian’s daughter, presses some towels against your chest to stop the bleeding. You push her hand @@color:#000081;away.@@ You feel the life slip out of your body in little spasms, and you want to let it go. You barely have enough strength to speak, but what could you possibly say.\n\nYou don’t want the woman to know who you are. Instead you feel cold and tired, and you slowly close your eyes.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<center>Chapter 2</center>\n\n“I’m gonna die,” Stew whines. “I knew I was gonna die. I told you, didn’t I?”\n\n“Calm down and stop pacing,” you say firmly. “You need to keep your heart rate down.”\n\n“Die?” Sara glares at you. “What does he mean he’s gonna die?”\n\n“Brandy had a virus or,” Stew keeps pacing. “Or, or something, some kind of disease or something, and now I have it too. And I’m gonna die. Hell’s bells, I need to pray.” He drops to his knees, clinches his hands together, and looks up to heaven.\n\n“You need to relax and breathe,” you warn again. “The faster your heart beats the quicker it’ll spread through your body.”\n\n“What do you mean spread?” Sara demands. “What’ll spread? Tell me what’s going on.”\n\n“I’m not sure. All I know is that your friend Brandy is dead and whatever killed her is working on killing Stew.”\n\n“You mean it’s contagious?”\n\n“It looks that way.” You turn to face Stew. “We need to quarantine you.”\n\n“Can’t I just sit here and pray.”\n\n“No. You’ll be safer in a locked room.”\n\n“She touched you just as much as she touched me. You practically made it to second base.”\n\n“You’re right.” You look down at the blood and bits of flesh caked on your pants.\n\nSara follows your gaze. “You mean all that...that blood belongs to Brandy?”\n\n“Yes,” you sigh. “All three of us might be infected, just like anyone who was with her last night. Where are the rest of the women?”\n\n“They’re in the middle of a photo shoot,” Sara says. “They said they’d be here as soon as they could.”\n\n“That may not be soon enough.” You grimace. “We need to quarantine them, as soon as possible. Symptoms start to manifest within 12 hours.”\n\n“What does that mean?”\n\n“It means we may already be too late.”\n\n“You called the CDC, didn’t you?” Stew groans. “Can’t they fix everything?”\n\n“They can block off the mansion, but as far as the sickness goes, they know about as much as we do. The best thing we can do right now is isolate the people who we know had contact with Brandy within the last 12 hours.”\n\n“But,” Stew scratches his head. “That’s like a quarter of the girls here at the mansion.”\n\n“That’s not good,” you groan. “That’s really not good.”\n\n“Wait. Quiet you guys.” Sara closes her eyes. “Can you hear that?”\n\n“Hear what?”\n\n“I don’t know. It sounds like scratching. I think it’s coming from behind that door?”\n\n“No, don’t open it.”\n\n“Why? What’s in there?”\n\n“Trust me. It’s better if it stays closed.”\n\n“Yeah, but the scratching’s getting louder.” Sara steps closer to the door and kneels. “It’s coming from down here. Listen.”\n\n“No,” you growl, grabbing her by the waist, yanking her back. The two of you fall against the opposite wall.\n\n“Ouch,” Sara groans. “What was that for?” She rubs her elbow.\n\n“You just have to trust me.”\n\n“Hey,” Stew points at the door. “Look.”\n\nYou and Sara stare at the door. There, by the carpet, a little finger works its way out from under the door. It pulls and claws into the carpet until the fingernail snaps off and a voice yowls.\n\nThe finger starts at it again, pulling and clawing. A whisper slithers out from under the door, “seesxs. Plaaeses seesxs.”\n\nThe voice gets louder. “seesxs. plaaeses seesxs.”\n\nAnd then a BANG at the door, and another BANG, and another BANG.\n\nSara grabs your hand. “What is that?”\n\n“Brandy.”\n\n“But I thought you said she was dead?”\n\n“I think she is.”\n\nBANG, BANG, another BANG. The door splinters.\n\n“What do we do?” Stew whimpers. “She’s trying to break out?”\n\nAnother BANG. The door cracks.\n\nYou shake your head. “I don’t know.”\n\nBANG. BANG.\n\n“Do you have anything to barricade it?”\n\n“I-I-I don’t know,” Stew stutters.\n\nBANG. BANG. Another BANG.\n\n“Christ on a bike!” Stew sobs. “What do we do?”\n\nBANG. BANG. BANG.\n\nThe center of the door cracks apart. The wood splinters and falls to the floor. An arm emerges...and shoulder. It reaches out for you.\n\nMore of the door splinters free. Brandy tries to force her head through, but the wood tears at her face. Her cheek rips open. You see her teeth and black tongue through the jagged hole.\n\nShe pushes harder. It nearly takes her jaw off, but her head plunges through.\n\n“Sseesxs,” she says, staring at you. Her arm reaches for you, clawing at the air. Her big breasts catch on the fractured wood.\n\nShe riles against the door. Up and down. The hinges shake. Her fleshy breasts rip and tear as the sharp edges of wood cut into them like a saw. Blood and black goo cover the door and carpet. She’s halfway through.\n\nYou stand, still clenching Sara’s hand. “Run,” you growl.\n\n“Where?” Stew moans.\n\n“The photo shoot,” you say. “Maybe we can get to the other women in time.”\n\n“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Stew pushes past the two of you, and sprints down the hall, running as fast as he can.\n\nYou look at Sara. “Come on.”\n\nYou sprint down the hallway, turning the corner as the door splits and collapses. You hear Brandy scream incoherently, “Sseesxs.”\n\nYou run faster, tugging Sara as you go. You try to keep up with Stew. Down some stairs, through another hall, into a big room...you turn left, down another corridor, and finally stop in a smaller room where Stew is waiting.\n\nStew slams the door closed behind you. He falls against the wall exhausted. You and Sara hunch over, trying to catch your breath.\n\n“Wow,” Stew takes a breath. “She really has the hots for you.”\n\n“Yeah,” you take a breath. “I guess I have a way with undead, sex-starved, playboy bunnies.” You take another breath. “So where are we?”\n\n“The photo shoot.”\n\n“No one’s here.”\n\n“That’s not my fault.”\n\nSarah tugs at your arm. She tilts her head toward Stew. “Look.”\n\n“I know,” you say with a scowl.\n\n“What?” Stew asks. “Why are you guys staring at me like that?”\n\n“Your tongue,” Sara swallows nervously. “It’s black.”\n\nStew’s eyes go wide. “What?” He sticks his tongue out trying to get a glimpse of it. “Are you sure?”\n\n“There’s still time,” you try to reassure him. “The other symptoms haven’t manifested yet.” You sigh. “Look, we have a plan. We quarantine anyone who had contact with Brandy so the virus, or whatever it is, doesn’t spread. Hopefully that will give the CDC enough time to get us the cure. You have to trust me. This plan is the best chance we have for surviving. Now,” you look over at Sara. “Where are the other women?”\n\nShe stares at the door. Her hands tremble with fear and adrenaline.\n\n“Sara,” you say. “Sara snap out of it. Where are the other women?”\n\nShe blinks her eyes and focuses on you. “The other half of the shoot is at the pool.”\n\n“Alright, then we go to the pool.” You motion for Stew to lead the way.\n\nStew stands up slow. His back and legs seem to be giving him trouble. “This way,” he says.\n\nYou walk out a side door and down a set of stairs until you’re outside. The sun sits on the horizon. Stew looks back at you. “It’ll be dark soon.”\n\n“Then we better hurry.”\n\nYou jog down a grassy hill, through a set of trees, over a small wooden bridge until you reach the pool.\n\n“Oh my goodness.” Sara gazes at the chaos.\n\nLights and Cameras are in pieces, scattered on the cement. Two girls lie face down in the pool, a trail of vomit leads from their submerged heads.\n\nScreams and moans come from behind the bushes. A path of excrement leads toward the noise.\n\nThe other girls grab at their heads or crotches. “It burns.” They scream. “It burns.” Blood streams from their noses and ears.\n\nBlack goo froths around their mouths and drips from the insides of their thighs.\n\nOne girl cries so violently she can barely speak, “Please.”\n\nShe runs toward Sara. “Please.” She stops and clutches her mouth.\n\nShe can’t control it.\n\nBlack goo erupts between her fingers. She hunches over, vomiting up more black and green goo.\n\n“Ugh,” Stew winces and looks at you. “I think we’re too late.”\n\nYou can barely speak. You can barely move. You stare at the vomiting woman in front of you. You’ve dealt with a lot, but nothing like this.\n\nThe girl convulses. Vomit shoots in every direction as she loses complete control of her body. You hear her scream between the painful eruptions of fluid.\n\nSuddenly she stops.\n\nHer body goes stiff.\n\nHer skin looks pale and clear. The blue veins bulge in her arms and neck and stomach. Her eyes roll into the back of her head. The rash around the inside of her thigh has spread down to her knee.\n\nSara looks at you. “Is she-”\n\n“I’m not sure.”\n\n“I don’t know about you guys,” Stew says nervously. “But I don’t want to stay and find out,” he motions back toward the mansion.\n\n“Hey, over there,” you point at the bushes as four women stand. Black ooze is caked at the corner of their mouths. Their skin is pale and clear. The blue veins bulge in their arms and neck and stomach.\n\nBehind the rock waterfall two more women appear. Three more crawl out from the trees.\n\nThe two women in the pool convulse and splash wildly in the water.\n\n“Look.” Sara points at the girl in front of you. “Her hand.”\n\nThe fingers twitch...and the arm. Her head twists. Her eyes stare at Sara.\n\n“Oh no.”\n\nStew turns franticly. He counts four more infected girls approaching from the grotto. “We’re surrounded,” he moans.\n\nThe three of you stand back to back. You swallow hard. “At least it can’t get any worse?”\n\n“Really?” Stew points at the top of the hill. “You just had to say that, didn’t you?”\n\n“SEESXS,” Brandy screams, dragging the boney stump of her leg, crawling and limping her way closer.\n\nSara looks at you. “So when was this supposed to be a good idea?”\n\n<center>[[CDC Report]]</center>\n

<center>Chapter 5</center>\n\n“What do you mean nukes?”\n\nThe soldier looks stern. His lips curl into a snarl. “Get them into the truck.”\n\nThe two soldiers grab you by the arms and force you into the APC. They slam the door shut. You sit down next to Sara. Three other people are in the vehicle.\n\nYou glance at them. “What happened to the city?”\n\nAn old man with blood and dirt caked on his face speaks. “I-I-I don’t know. The news said there was some kind of terrorist attack. And then everything went dark, the TV, the telephone, everything.”\n\n“Was there a bomb?”\n\n“No... I don’t know. Maybe.” The old man covers his face with his hands. “My wife, my wife was...” He sobs.\n\nYou grimace and look at the next closest person. It’s a teenage girl. “Do you know what happened?”\n\nThe girl stares vacantly at the floor. She doesn’t move her head or her eyes. She doesn’t even flinch at your voice.\n\nYou look at Sara. “I don’t think this epidemic started with Brandy.”\n\n“Where did it start then?”\n\n“I don’t know, but the soldier said something about nukes, which means the whole world’s involved now, that is, if they weren’t involved from the start.”\n\n“What are you saying?”\n\nYou lean closer and whisper, “Maybe this was planned.”\n\n“What was?”\n\n“The virus, the super STD, maybe it was engineered.”\n\n“By who?”\n\n“I don’t know. Terrorists? An evil genius? A rogue government? I don’t know, but I’m beginning to think this was a deliberate attack.”\n\n“What? Who would do something like that? Why?”\n\n“Why? Why does anyone do anything?”\n\n“That’s--”\n\nEveryone jolts forward and back as the APC moves forward. Sara grabs the wall and your arm to stabilize herself. “Does anyone know where we’re going?”\n\nA middle age woman wearing pajamas looks up from the floor. “Outside the city. I think they said the mountains.”\n\nYou give her a hard stare. “Do you know if they have clinics set up?”\n\n“Clinics? It sounds like you know more than I do.”\n\n“What about a bomb?” You ask. “Have you heard anything about a bomb?”\n\n“They said something about it on the radio; how we were going to nuke a country. I don’t know which one. They were using code.”\n\nThe APC pushes through abandon cars and piles of junk. You hear more gunfire.\n\nThe APC accelerates. You travel for several hours, maybe more. It’s hard to tell. The APC stops sporadically so the soldiers can clear an area, then you move on. You travel down a highway, maybe an off-ramp. You can’t see out the windows.\n\nFinally, the APC stops, and the door opens. It’s morning. You must have been driving all night. You and Sara get out.\n\nYou’re in a forested part of the mountains. Thousands of people crowd between several large tents. Soldiers patrol the perimeter.\n\nYou take Sara by the hand. “We need to stay together.”\n\nShe nods.\n\nYou find the soldier who escorted you. “Who’s in charge?” You demand. “I need to speak to the person in charge.”\n\nThe soldier motions to his right. “The big green tent.”\n\nYou and Sara walk inside. A group of generals sit around a table. You see a map of the United States at its center. New York, LA, Chicago, and D.C. have large red circles around them. A speakerphone is on the far side of the table.\n\nYou hear the voice of the President of the United States, “If there are no other options, then we must proceed. God help us all.”\n\n“Wait,” you interrupt. “There might be a cure.”\n\nThe Generals turn in unison and stare at you.\n\n“I have data and DNA that we can use to make a cure.”\n\nThe General with the most ribbons sighs. “No, there is no cure.”\n\n“You don’t understand,” you plead. “I know this sounds crazy but Hugh Heffner was working on a cure for 50 years. All his data is on a server.” You pull out the USB drive. “We can access it.”\n\n“We know,” the General says starkly. “Who do you think he was working for?”\n\n“What?”\n\n“I admire your spirit,” the General leans forward. “But Playboy is a government funded operation. All the data you have, we’ve already processed. You should feel proud to have made it this far, but your work is done. There is no cure.”\n\n“No,” you argue. “That’s impossible. Hef said there was a cure.”\n\nThe General stands. “It’s true, the disease can be halted, but it can never be removed. The mutation lays dormant until it’s passed onto the host’s children. Once that happens, the disease becomes irreversible.” The General walks closer to you. “We’d be giving life to a generation of monsters.”\n\n“But,” you lower your head. “What you’re talking about... It's--”\n\n“Necessary. We have to think of the greater good. We can rebuild. We’re the best nation there is at rebuilding.” He lowers his head and sighs. “But people need to survive if there’s going to be something left to rebuild.”\n\nYou grab his jacket. “You’re going to let thousands, maybe even millions, of people die?”\n\n“No.” He pushes your hand away. “We’re going to save the billions of people that still have a chance.” He takes the USB drive and motions for two of the guards. “Get them out of here.”\n\n“Wait,” you plead. “There has to be another way.”\n\n“God help me, I wish there was.”\n\nThe guards take you and Sara outside and let you go.\n\nSara looks at you. “I can’t believe they’re just going to let them die.”\n\n“I think it’s worse than that.”\n\n“What do you mean?”\n\n“Which direction is LA?”\n\n“Uhm, the sun rises from the east, so LA is,” she points just below the intersection of two mountains. “Over there.”\n\n“If a virus can’t be quarantined, there’s only one other thing that can be done.”\n\n“What?”\n\nYou squeeze her hand. “You burn everything it touched to the ground.”\n\nAs you say the words, the sky flashes. A faint boom echoes in the distance. A mushroom cloud rises between the two mountains.\n\nSara’s eyes go wide. Her face goes white. “Oh my goodness.”\n\nThe thousands of people on the mountain turn to see it. They gaze at the explosion. Their expressions are stark and stupefied. They stare at the destruction in silence.\n\nSara looks at you. “What now?”\n\nYou look at the mountains, the people, the tents, and then back at Sara. “We rebuild.”\n\n\n<center>@@color:#B2B2B2;The End@@\n\n\n[[Dead Sexy Afterward]]\n</center>\n\n\n

Jim Long saw [[Karen|Karen]] fall through the sky on that [[October]] [[afternoon]], though at the time he thought she was an animal.\n\nEver since [[Karen|Karen]] had performed her [[experiment|experiments]], animals had been jumping from the [[window]] ledges, and not just cats, which sometimes happened, dogs, birds, even hamsters and goldfish. It was as if the animals were trying to escape something, and for whatever reason, death was a better alternative.\n\nIn any case, it was creepy and more than one resident had complained. Jim was going to spend the weekend investigating the problem and possibly replace some of the windows, but when [[Karen|Karen]] [[fell]], [[Detective Phillip Michaels]] asked him to hold off until after a proper amount of evidence could be gathered.\n

<>\n<<set $hp = $hp -20>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -10>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“Oh yes. Your resources should sustain us for many generations. Your arrival has expedited our plans by decades.” The old woman reaches for one of the needles. “Your nervous system differs from ours in such a strange way. You are capable of feeling so much more than us. I cannot be certain, but I suspect this procedure will stimulate the unpleasant portions of your brain. If so, I apologize in advance,” she says, @@color:#000081;shoving@@ the needle into your forehead.\n\nYou scream with pain.\n\nYou’ve really screwed this one up. Not only did you fail to save Gillian, but you brought a full scale alien @@color:#000081;invasion@@ to Earth – not to mention the torture being inflicted upon you by an alien that looks like your @@color:#000081;grandma.@@\n\nYou really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>I think this is one of the funnier and more disturbing endings in the book.<<endif>>\nYou scream again as another needle gets shoved into your head, and then another, and another.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 399>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Your unconscious body is dragged to the Wizard’s incantation chamber and placed on top of a rune etched into the floor. When you wake up, it’s as if an invisible wall has grown up from the edges of the rune symbol.\n\nYou’re trapped.\n\nFive wizards surround you and chant. The rune glows brighter and brighter with each new word they speak. Your body feels strange. Your mind drifts back into a primal state.\n\nSURVIVAL and HUNGER...the words ring through your body.\n\nYou feel the change before you see it. Your arms and legs become broader and twist with new muscles. Your back stoops and stretches. You fall on all fours. Your spine knots and spasms. Your skin peels and underneath you discover large tufts of hair.\n\nYou’re becoming a monster...like one of the creatures in the cages...\n\nYou want to scream, but the sound comes out a howl. You beat against the invisible, magic wall. You’re stronger now, stronger than you ever could have imagined. You hear the wall crack, and then suddenly you topple against the stone floor.\n\nThe wizards scatter, completely surprised.\n\nYou run for the exit, but your fingers and toes are long claws now, and you slide against the stone floor. As you near the door, the old wizard jumps upon your back and slits your throat with a glowing dagger.\n\nYour blood glows like the dagger.\n\n“Hurry,” the old wizard shouts to the other wizards. “Scoop it all up. Quickly. It’s finally worked.”\n\nThe other wizards grab cups and bowls and buckets attempting to collect every last drop of your blood.\n\n“Yes,” the old wizard cheers. “This will be enough to triple our powers. Sarrejiinn Castle will be ours.”\n\nOnce you’re unconscious again, the wizards hang your body upside down and drain the rest of your blood. Using your blood, they create a potion that exponentially increases their magic power. They attack Sarrejiinn Castle and the other cities of the realm. They kill the soldiers and enslave the people.\n\nQuintus is one of the many that die in the first assault. He’s never able to finish his machine. Several months after the Blue Wizards proclaim victory, the portals become completely unstable and the two worlds are yanked together in a cosmic explosion.\n\nOn the bright side, you stopped all those thugs from hurting Gillian, but that’s only because the galaxy was destroyed.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Nothing says THE END like destroying the galaxy...<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 636>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -4>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $wpn ="Knife">>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +2>>\n<<set $force = $force +4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You slip further behind the large machine and wait for the guards to come out from the hallway. It sounds like five, maybe six of them. If you wait for the last one to turn the corner, you might have a @@color:#000081;small advantage.@@ The odds, like always, are still against you.\n\nThe first guard comes into view, but it’s not a guard. It’s a man dressed in a lab coat and goggles. He carries a stack of papers. Three more scientists are behind him and a fifth trails a little farther behind.\n\n“Still no luck?” He shouts.\n\n“None,” the woman replies. \n\n“Did you try adjusting the frequency?”\n\n“Yes,” she says with frustration. “It was the first thing we tried. Do you think we’re in here baking @@color:#000081;cookies@@ or something?”\n\n“Alright, alright,” he lifts his hands in defeat. “Relax. I wasn’t trying to start trouble.”\n\n“I’ll decide when we need to relax,” she says firmly.\n\n“We’ve been at this for six months and the vortex still isn’t sustainable,” he says, plopping the stack of papers on top of the desk. “We may need to approach this from a different angle.”\n\n“Quintus got it working, and so will I.” \n\nYou twist around the large machine and glance back at the elevator. The guards should have made their presence known by now. The fact that they’ve stayed so quiet makes you nervous and, given your drought of luck today, that probably means the worst.\n\nYou count six guards, each with a matching suit, haircut, and machine gun. They’ve fanned out across the large bunker in a row. They stare at the woman working the console and march toward her.\n\nIt doesn’t seem like they’re down here searching for you. It’s more like they’re trying to be intimidating. You take a second look at one of the guards. He’s familiar, but you can’t quite place him.\n\nThen it hits you. He’s one of Jimmy’s henchmen – some low level guy. In fact, all of the guards look like guys you’ve seen at Jimmy’s apartment.\n\n@@color:#000081;Crap.@@\n\nThey aren’t guards. They’re Jimmy’s retrieval squad, and you just led them straight to what they were looking for. \n\nYou’ve been used by Jimmy – dopey Jimmy. You feel a chill down your spine like maybe Hell just froze over.\n\nThere’s no question about it; Jimmy has to die, but first you’ll have to dispose of his thugs.\n\nYou sneak behind the closest one and @@color:#000081;snap his neck,@@ then slowly lower his body to the ground. You slink behind the large computer equipment and back into the shadows. \n\nYou get close to another thug. He has his gun pointed at the old man. You shove your finger behind the trigger, pull the knife from the thug’s belt, and @@color:#000081;stab@@ him in the throat. There’s a faint gurgling noise.\n\nYou yank him into the shadows and out of sight as another thug turns to examine the noise.\n\n“Come with us now!” A thug shouts.\n\nYou swallow hard, but stay motionless.\n\n“No,” you hear the woman shout. “Let me go.”\n\n“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” He lifts his gun and fires into the air.\n\n“Stop,” the woman cries. “Please.”\n\nThe thug grabs the old man. “You come with us or his head goes splat.”\n\nYou shake your head. Jimmy needs to get his thugs some better one-liners. You sprint through the shadows back toward the elevator. One thug guards the door.\n\nYou throw the @@color:#000081;knife@@ into his chest. He blinks and looks down at the knife, then he @@color:#000081;collapses@@ against the wall. You grab the baton from his belt and @@color:#000081;slam@@ it across his face for good measure.\n\nThe elevator’s clear. Leaving won’t be a problem. Then again, Jimmy’s thugs are looking for something, and it just doesn’t seem right for them to find it.\n\n[[Escape is the priority]]\n[[There’s always time to knock a few skulls together]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 918>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +15>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +35>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +10>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +1>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You feel a strange and overwhelming desire to free the slaves and use them as cover. It’s almost like it’s not your thought at all. It doesn’t feel ...right. It’s not something you would do. It’s @@color:#000081;not@@ something you’re going to do.\n\nYour head @@color:#000081;aches@@ and throbs with pain. You press a finger against your temple and try to concentrate on something besides the @@color:#000081;sting.@@ Even with your training and tolerance for pain, it’s more than you can take.\n\nSomething drips down your chin... @@color:#000081;blood.@@ Your nose is bleeding. You feel @@color:#000081;woozy.@@\n\nYou stagger forward and stumble to your knees. It feels like someone tossed hot coals into your skull and gave your head a good @@color:#000081;shake.@@\n\nThe pain isn’t natural. Someone is doing this to you. You don’t know how, but @@color:#000081;someone@@ is messing with your brain, and they have to be close by.\n\nYour ears ring and everything becomes muted. @@color:#B2B2B2;Free the slaves. Free the slaves.@@ The words keep echoing through your mind. @@color:#B2B2B2;Free the slaves.@@\n\nNo, you tell yourself. You’re too @@color:#000081;stubborn@@ for these mind games. The pain may be bad, but the Boss trained you not to break, and you won’t.\n\nYou take a deep and steady breath. You exhale slowly and focus on the cool dirt, and the soft breeze, and the faint cries of the slaves. Your body is still in agony, but it’s like it’s happening to someone else and you’re only watching.\n\nYou need to find the person that’s doing this to you. You scan the camp and the surrounding forest.\n\nThere... near the tree at the center of the camp... It’s like a faint shimmering in the air, almost a kind of camouflage. It’s the person. It has to be.\n\nYou sprint forward, though wobble is probably more accurate. You @@color:#000081;slam@@ into the shimmering air and @@color:#000081;tackle@@ it to the ground. The pain returns to your head like a wave of razors. You @@color:#000081;swing@@ blindly and feel your hand make contact with flesh... a head.\n\nYou swing as many times as you can until you feel something @@color:#000081;snap.@@\n\nSuddenly the pain in your head is gone. You feel Avengral and Vestermire pull you back. You didn’t even realize they were near. It takes you a moment to regain your composure.\n\nYou see an old man dressed in blue lying on the ground. His face is bloody, and he’s not moving.\n\nAble No-name crouches over the body. “He’s dead. Looks like you broke his neck.”\n\n“A Blue Wizard,” Avengral frowns. “That is a mortal offense.”\n\n“Perhaps,” Evie Greengrass interjects. “But why is he here? He does not appear to be a slave.”\n\n“Yes,” Grat Grimworth adds. “And the air is thick with magic. A controlling spell if I had to guess.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The Blue Wizards have exceptional illusion and manipulation skills, but I never wanted their magic to have complete control over someone. Freewill, after all, is the core component of a Choose Your Own Path novel.<<endif>>\nAvengral examines your eyes. “I fear you are correct wizard Grimworth. It appears our friend has been meddled with.” Avengral gives you a firm stare. “What do you remember?”\n\nYou shake your head. “I’m not sure exactly. A voice kept telling me to free the slaves. When I wouldn’t do it, the pain got worse.”\n\n“Fascinating,” Evie Greengrass says, examining one of the slave cages. “The locks have been enchanted. If they were opened by anyone besides the caster, the cages would explode.”\n\n“A trap then,” Avengral ponders. “I did not realize the Ferralliise understood such magic.”\n\n“They don’t,” Able No-name grunts. “It’s the work of the Blue Wizards.”\n\n“That is a strong accusation,” Avengral grimaces. “You are suggesting the Blue Wizards are responsible for enslaving the people of Sarrejiinn.”\n\n“Perhaps worse,” Evie Greengrass adds. “I believe that is your Prince.”\n\nAvengral turns and hurries to the slave cage. “Prince?” He examines the slaves. “Prince!” He exclaims. “We must free him at once.”\n\n“Hhmm,” Evie nods. “I'm working on it, but blue magic is particularly delicate.”\n\nGrat Grimworth crosses his arms. “Why would the Blue Wizards wish to see your Prince dead?”\n\nAvengral glares at the Blue Wizard’s dead body. “A question I too am wondering. If only this traitor was still alive, we might learn of his motives.”\n\n“There,” Evie proclaims as the cage door swings open.\n\n[[Follow Evie's gaze.]]\n

Neutral Evil Meme\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 163>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSaveYourself").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSaveYourself").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>After Maurer hears the odd tale from his son and realizes you're dying in his front yard, he hurries to your aid. He takes you to his private hospital and research facility where the drugs and technology mirror the miraculous.\n\nWith great difficulty and skill Maurer manages to save your life, but only after forcing you into a coma. After two years of unconsciousness, you finally come around; unfortunately, you have no recollection of who you are or the events that transpired prior to your accident.\n\nMaurer, knowing only that you adamantly cared for his son, hires you as a nanny.\n\nYou have the strange feeling that your life was meant for greater things ...though you can't seem to articulate what those things might be. The only certainty you know is that you have the strong desire to blow things up and the sense that you've lost someone very important.\n\nYou attribute these strange feelings to your accident and think of them very little.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1061>>\n<<endnobr>>Avengral seems to know his way around, and he can handle himself in a fight. He should do just fine without you. If the two of you split up, you can cover more ground. The faster you find the Prince, the faster you can get back to Gillian.\n\n“I’ll take the cavern to the sacred hunting grounds,” you say.\n\n“Verily,” Avengral nods. “A bold choice. Take Mos Vestermire, Evie Greengrass, and four of the soldiers. The caverns can be treacherous,” he says grimly. “Left, left, right, left, right. That is the path you must take to reach the hunting grounds. If you find the Prince, return here and blow the horn twice. If you find nothing, blow the horn once. Understood?”\n\nYou nod.\n\n“Then may the winds of victory blow swiftly at your backs.” Avengral turns to Grat Grimworth. “The rest of you follow me.” He descends the mountain, moving toward a small, dry river bed.\n\nYou glance at Evie Greengrass. “I guess we should get this over with then.”\n\n“Indeed,” she agrees.\n\n“Here,” Mos Vestermire hands everyone a stick. “Glizco Vita,” he says. The stick tips ignite with a bright orange ember. “It’s better than a torch,” he says with a smirk. “And it won’t burn out until you let it touch the ground.”\n\n“Clever,” you say.\n\nMos enters the cavern first. You’re close behind him, then Evie and the soldiers.\n\nThe cavern is pitch black except for the glow of the sticks. Tiny bugs scurry across the walls and ceiling. Their shells glimmer with red neon light. It looks beautiful like a hundred stars swirling across a black sky.\n\nThe incandescent bugs give a faint sense of the rooms and corridors, but anything could be lurking in the shadows.\n\nYou pull out the green speckled blade. It glimmers too, as if a faint energy was emanating from it.\n\n“Strange magic, Earth Wizard,” a soldier says.\n\n“Yeah,” you say in agreement. “So do any of you know what the hunting grounds are like?”\n\n“I haven’t seen them,” Evie says timidly. “But everyone who trains with sorcery has heard the stories. Creatures of all kinds, even the Ferralliise, are part of the hunt.”\n\n“The hunt?”\n\n“Yes,” Evie says. “It was described in one of the ancient Ferralliise songs: All are hunters and all are prey, but only blood will mark the way. One will rise through flesh and bone to claim the power the blood has shown.”\n\n“That doesn’t sound creepy at all,” you say sarcastically.\n\n“It’s blood magic,” she says sternly. “The sacred grounds were imbued by the first Ferralliise as a transmutation altar. The life, strength, and magic of the murdered are transferred to their killer. That is how most believe the Ferralliise have taken on animal qualities.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>All are hunters and all are prey,but only blood will mark the way.One will rise through flesh and boneto claim the power the blood has shown.This little song is my tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and all the songs he included in that epic series.<<endif>>\n“Wait, so you’re saying that if someone kills a bird on the hunting grounds, then... what... they’ll grow wings?”\n\nEvie shrugs. “I don’t know. They might grow a beak instead, or feathers. It’s impossible to know. Blood magic is chaotic and dangerous even by the most skilled and powerful wizards. There’s a reason it’s been forbidden for centuries.”\n\n“Apparently not everyone follows the rules. I suppose that’s what this Blood Festival is about.”\n\n“Perhaps,” Evie says hesitating. “The Ferralliise are no longer rational beings. Their rituals are faint shadows of their ancestors’ magic. They may not even realize what they’re doing.”\n\n“I don’t know if that’s good news or bad news.”\n\n“Either way,” Mos Vestermire interrupts. “We’re the ones who have to clean up the mess.”\n\n“I guess that would make it bad news,” you say with a sigh.\n\n“Shh,” Mos hushes you. “Did you hear that?” He draws back his bow. “//Glizco Vita//,” he whispers lighting the arrow tip on fire.\n\nYou can hear it now too, a sticky chirping sound. It echoes off the walls...or are you surrounded?\n\nA soldier screams.\n\nYou twist around, but he’s already gone. The darkness feels constricting.\n\n“Circle up,” Evie says.\n\nThe soldier’s body is spit out from the darkness. His flesh and muscles are gone as if something sucked his bones clean. The remaining soldiers panic and sprint in the opposite direction.\n\n“Wait,” Mos shouts. He releases the arrow. It slips between them into the scaly belly of a giant centipede. The creature hisses with rage and pain. It curls through a crevasse in the wall. The hissing and chirping erupt into a roar.\n\nSomething bursts out of the ground behind you, some kind of colossal insect. It spins, hitting you in the back. You tumble sideways into the rock wall. You feel a painful thump against the back of your head. The others shout, but you can barely hear them. Everything goes black and you slide to the ground unconscious...\n\n******\n\nWhen you open your eyes, you’re lying in an enormous pit cut into the side of a mountain. Thousands of Ferralliise line the upper edges of the pit, jeering and snarling at you. The pit is huge, like an arena. Three giant corridors are cut into the mountain’s side. You have a strong feeling they aren’t an exit.\n\nA Ferralliise, nearly twice the size of the others with a long mane, lifts his arms into the air and howls. The other Ferralliise go silent. He growls and hoots in a language you can’t understand. The ground shakes in a steady rhythm, almost like enormous footsteps marching closer.\n\nYou see the crushed bones of soldiers and slaves. Their bodies are ripped in half or clawed to pieces. Blood oozes from the walls and stains the ground.\n\nThis must be the Blood Festival Avengral warned you about. It’s some kind of arena, or battle to the death, and judging by all these dead people, the odds are not in your favor. You reach for the green speckled blade and your gun, but both are missing. You should have known.\n\nYou have to do this old school. You have to fight with whatever you can find. You see an iron ball and chain shackled to a corpse’s leg. It might work as a mace. The weight would do some damage, but you’d have to get in close to use it.\n\nOn the other hand, the bone from the giant lizard corpse to your left would make a good spear. You have no idea what you’re going up against. A little distance would be a good thing.\n\n[[Use the iron ball and chain as a mace]]\n[[Use the lizard bone as a spear]]\n\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 156>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +5>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>To say that Jimmy became distant after his manhood was so violently removed would be an understatement. He avoided his wife almost entirely. The shame and embarrassment were too great for him to ever explain. \n\nWhen she mentions the prospect of having children, he becomes stern and violent, telling her they must wait until after his next promotion. After three years of waiting and arguing, Jimmy’s wife leaves him, taking with her the fine china, the car, and the dog. \n\nThe doctors tell Jimmy he’s lucky to be alive. Another inch and a half on either side and the bullet would have nicked an artery. He would have died in minutes. The news does little to raise his spirits... or his manhood. He spends the rest of his life alone and lonely.\n\nEvery year on his wedding anniversary, he goes to your grave and @@color:#000081;spits@@ on your tombstone.\n\nAt least it’s nice to know you weren’t forgotten.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 121>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>Taking the phrase very literally, Jimmy saws off your head, puts it on a platter and delivers it to Wong. Wong is so pleased with Jimmy’s initiative that he promotes him to the head of his drug division.\n\nUnfortunately, after killing you Jimmy’s greed and ambition become more unwieldy. In a feat that most would consider suicidal, Jimmy manages to embezzle and escape with nearly 45% of Wong’s funds.\n\nThe shame of being swindled by Jimmy is so great that every lowlife trying to prove themself thinks they can steal from Wong. A gang war erupts, thousands of people die, and the city turns into a violent wasteland...all because you weren’t willing to deal with Jimmy when you had the chance.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 318>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>As your body sizzles and burns, Ignis Ustrina orders the others to be taken to the top of the volcano. The soldiers cower and plead. They all beg for their lives ...all but Avengral. The Red Wizards poke and prod the soldiers with fire tipped spears, forcing them up the volcano.\n\nThe molten lava bubbles in the pit below.\n\nIgnis Ustrina shouts a command and the Red Wizards pause. “I will spare your life,” Ignis Ustrina grins, “On one condition: You must pledge to be my slaves for as long as you live.”\n\nBefore she can finish the sentence the soldiers drop to the ground, groveling with acceptance ...all but Avengral. He stands firm at the edge of the volcano mouth.\n\nIgnis Ustrina turns to him. “And what of you Knight?”\n\nAvengral’s voice is steady and calm. “We have made an agreement, and I am honor-bound to uphold it.”\n\nIgnis Ustrina stares at him in disbelief.\n\nAvengral takes a deep breath. “I am Avengral Swiftsteel, First Knight of Sarrejiinn Castle, Third sword in the House of Sun and Steel. I live and die with honor.” And without looking away, he steps backwards into the mouth of the volcano.\n\nA faint black smoke sizzles up from the molten lava as his body sinks in the agonizing heat.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>This was a scene I wrote after most of the Ragnoss segment was finished. I thought it was a fitting death for Avengral - he always keeps his word.<<endif>>\nWith Avengral dead, Quintus loses his only ally among the knights and lacks the muscle to complete his machine. Without the machine, the portals increase in size, duration, and appearance. Large chunks of Earth and its population are ripped through the portals and deposited on Ragnoss.\n\nMillions of people die. Hundreds of Millions of families are separated. Even more people are killed in the panic that follows... Gillian is among the latter - trampled to death as a mass exodus of people flee the city.\n\nSo many people dead because you couldn’t win a simple fight... hardly the legacy you had hoped to leave the world.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 68>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +999999999999999>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +999999999999999>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>The violent tremors fracturing the lab are not exclusive to the facility. As the machine spits and spasms uncontrollably, tremors and @@color:#000081;earthquakes@@ ripple throughout the world. Japan, South America, the entire West Coast of America... they are hit the worst.\n\nWhen the convulsing finally stops, California is gone and Nevada is prime waterfront real estate.\n\nMillions die and even more are injured ...all because you had to connect two wires.\n\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 425>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +54>>\n<<endnobr>>You feel exhausted, but you manage to pull yourself up onto the examining table. The Doc takes a pair of scissors and cuts your shirt open.\n\n“Huh,” he says with the cigarette drooping from his lip.\n\nYou can smell alcohol on his breath and see the deep wrinkles on his face. At least his hands aren’t shaking. “Don’t tell me you're confused Doc.”\n\n“No, no,” he says, waving his hand. Some of the cigarette ash falls on your stomach. “I’ve seen this sort of thing plenty of times.” He pulls out a pair of latex gloves. “The bullet is lodged against your bone. It’s gotta come out.” The latex gloves slip onto his hands with a snap. He leans over you and grabs a pair of tongs from the table.\n\nHe glances at the other scars on your chest and arms. “So this isn’t the first horse to kick you at the rodeo.”\n\nYou look at him hard.\n\n“Now calm down. I’m not looking for your life story here.” He laughs. “Hell, I’m better off not knowing your name.” He shakes his head. “You kids are wound so tight these days.” He shoves the tongs into your wound and digs for the bullet. “You need to learn to relax.”\n\nYou grit your teeth and fight the pain.\n\nThe Doc pulls the tongs out and drops the @@color:#000081;bullet@@ in a tin cup. “Well,” he says. “Looks like I only got half of it. Ready for another go?” He looks down at you.\n\nYou reel from the pain.\n\n“Oh,” he grins. “Anesthetic is extra. Did I forget to mention that? I’m so forgetful.” He shrugs. “It was only one bullet. You’ll be fine.” He pats you on your other shoulder.\n\nHe shoves the tongs in a second time.\n\nYou fight the urge to blackout. You try to focus on something – anything. You think about Gillian and how much she needs you. You can’t let her down.\n\n@@color:#000081;“There now.@@ That wasn’t so bad.” The Doc’s voice sounds muffled. Your vision blurs at the edges.\n\nThe Doc leans in close. “You aren’t going to die.” He blows smoke across the side of your face. “But I sure hope whatever that horse kicked you for was worth it.” He takes some @@color:#000081;bandages@@ and wraps your shoulder. “It’s a slow day, so you can take a few minutes to rest up, just remember this isn’t a motel.” He slides a bottle of painkillers into your pocket. “You better not be here when I get back.”\n\nThen you hear the door close.\n\n[[Rest your eyes for just a minute]]\n[[Grab your jacket and go]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 244>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockConsolationPrize").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockSoThatsWhatHappens").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>When the insect is finally done gorging on your brains, your corpse crumples to the ground. Dozens more insects emerge from the cave or burrow up out of the ground. As the disgusting bugs mate, an eager couple tumbles on top of your dead body.\n\nAfter the two insects copulate, the female buries her fertilized eggs in your stomach. In a few weeks, larvae dig through your guts and eat what’s left of your body.\n\nBack on Earth, your disappearance and death remain a mystery. The Boss, over the course of his life, spends nearly a million dollars attempting to find you, but his money and efforts are in vain since you are already dead...and not even on the planet.\n\nAfter several more months of work, Quintus finally gets his machine operational. Since you failed to return, he assumes you're dead and returns home without you. His machine, unfortunately, is miscalibrated and he reappears in 1954.\n\nHaving no money, friends, or family, Quintus resorts to gambling and wins a small fortune since he already knows the outcome of almost every match. He uses his winnings to form a company concerned with manipulating global affairs and ultimately changing the course of history for the better.\n\nUnfortunately, a young man eventually (and successfully) orchestrates a hostile takeover of the company, steering its operations toward assassinations and spying.\n\nAfter the victory, the young man, a megalomaniac by nature, sheds his old name and assumes a new one: the Boss.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>I’m really proud of this ending. It’s one of few instances I could play with a time travel paradox without screwing up the story.I’d really like to write a time travel novel that wades into the much of paradoxes. Maybe I could write a Time Bandits sequel...<<endif>>\n[[The End|Buy the book]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 172>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +1>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +3>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +499>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You toggle the x-ray switch and align the sniper rifle with the fuse box. @@color:#000081;One bullet@@ should put it out of commission. With the building dark, you should be able to sneak in and out with fewer problems.\n\nYou pack up the sniper rifle and try to look @@color:#000081;business casual.@@ If you’re lucky, the employees will still be clueless. It’s strange though; despite years working for the Boss, this building has always been a bit of a mystery. The paperwork indicates corporate lawyers and accountants, but now that you’ve seen the interior offices and security that just doesn’t make sense.\n\nBest to ere on the side of caution and keep your head down. Once you make it out of the country none of this will matter. No reason to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.\n\n“You aren’t leaving without cake, are you? The party planning committee put a big effort into this. You really shouldn’t miss out.” An elderly woman smiles and offers you a plate with ice cream and cake.\n\n[[Take the cake]]\n[[Decline]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 711>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +4>>\n<<endnobr>>You jog after the sailor. “I’ll help you with the boat. Two of us rowing will be @@color:#000081;faster@@ than just one.”\n\n“Fine,” he groans. “We best not dally.”\n\nYou yank up the stake and throw it and the rope into the boat. “By the way, you’re welcome.”\n\n“Fer what?”\n\n“I just saved your life from those fish creatures.”\n\n“The Natanus, I had ’em right where I wanted ’em.”\n\n“Right,” you say skeptically. “Of course you did... sorry I ruined your... uh... plan.”\n\n“Aye,” he shrugs. “Think nothing of it.”\n\nYou roll your eyes and push the boat into the water. The sailor jumps in and pushes off with the oar. Once you reach deep enough water you jump in beside him. You grab the broken oar and row.\n\nThe ship is blotched with fire and smoke. You may have escaped those Natanus just to reach a sinking ship.\n\n“She’ll hold,” the sailor says, almost as if he were reading your mind. “A swarm of mermaids won’t bring her down.”\n\nYou wish he could say the same about your little boat. You glance back at the shore. The Natanus stand waist deep in the water. They glare at you full of rage, but hold their position. At least you don’t need to worry about them ...for the moment.\n\nThe water around the ship splashes violently. Fins and tails dash above the water, but only for a split second. The creatures, or mermaids, are faster than you can perceive.\n\nAs you near the ship, you hear the crewman shout at one another and curse the mermaids. At least it’s proof they’re alive.\n\n“Stop rockin’ the boat,” the sailor barks.\n\n“I wasn’t rocking the boat,” you bark back. “I thought you were.”\n\n“Oh no...” The sailor gasps.\n\nSomething slams against the bottom of the boat. You grab the side to keep from falling into the water.\n\n“Steady,” the sailor whispers. “The beasts have found us.”\n\nYou pull the oar out of the water and wield it like a weapon. The sailor does the same.\n\nThe ocean is quiet around the boat...too quiet. Just a bit more rowing and you would have made it to the ship.\n\n“Shh,” the sailor whispers and points to your shoulder. “They must smell the blood.”\n\n“Blood?” You whisper back. “What kind of mermaids are these?”\n\n“The only kind,” he says sharply. “Monsters.”\n\nSomething splashes out of the water behind the sailor. The creature wraps its arms around his throat and yanks him into the water. It’s so fast he doesn’t have time to scream.\n\nThe creature looked like a woman...at least you think it was a woman. You didn’t get a good enough look. You move to the center of the boat. You drop the oar in favor of your sword. The boat is surrounded by water. The attack could come from any direction. You hear a noise.\n\nYou swing left. Then right.\n\nYou turn and swing again.\n\nThe creatures... the mermaids... They’re toying with you. You hear a skittering, “Ee, Ee, Ee.” It sounds almost like laughing.\n\nYou swing the blade right again. Then you feel something grab hold of your shoulder. You’re yanked back into the freezing water. You twist, trying to swim for the surface, but you're too disoriented. You can’t be sure which way is up.\n\nThen you see the light from the burning ship. You swim to it...to the surface.\n\nSomething grabs your ankle. You’re yanked back down. A woman stares at you quizzically. Her lower body is a giant fin.\n\nA mermaid.\n\nShe doesn’t look so bad, until she smiles. Her mouth is full of razor sharp teeth. Three more mermaids swim up behind her. The mermaid grabs you by the collar and sinks her teeth into your neck. You scream, but only bubbles of air come out.\n\nThe water swirls with red.\n\nThe other mermaids bite into your flesh. Chunks of skin and muscle are ripped from your body. You try to fight, try to thrash free, but you’re helpless in the water.\n\nDozens more mermaids feast on your flesh in a feeding frenzy. The water fills your lungs. You taste your own blood. The ocean is thick with it.\n\nThe surface becomes further and further out of reach...\n\nYou’ve failed Gillian...\n\nKilled by a mermaid. How embarrassing...\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 737>>\n<<set $force = $force -8>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -4>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -4>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +16>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +16>>\n<<set $luck = $luck +50>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“Even demons maintain a certain amount of @@color:#000081;etiquette,@@ don’t they?” You say in your head.\n\n“You speak truth,” Ayporos says regretfully. “It has been many centuries since I have had the privilege of causing mischief. Perhaps I am overzealous in my advice.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>I saw Ayporos’ possession more like a debate in which Ayporos makes a point and the main character must make a counterpoint. The main character is always on the defensive against Ayporos’ “advice”.<<endif>>\nYou walk to the adjacent couch and sit down. “The guards should be storming the penthouse any second. I may have overdone it downstairs. You still offer dental and health insurance, don’t you?”\n\nThe Boss rubs his forehead. “I don’t understand. You were dead. I saw what was left of your body.”\n\nYou shrug. “It’s kind of a long story.”\n\n“But why? Why would you setup this elaborate scheme? Why would you stay in hiding for all these years?”\n\n“Whoa,” you say lifting your hands, “What do you mean all these years?”\n\n“You’ve been gone for nearly thirteen years.”\n\n“What? I was just—”\n\nAyporos interrupts you. “There is a detail I should have brought to your attention sooner.”\n\n“I should have known there was a catch.”\n\n“What?” The Boss looks at you with @@color:#000081;confusion.@@\n\nYou’ll have to remember to stop thinking this stuff out loud. “What detail?” You say in your head.\n\nIf Ayporos could shrug, you imagine that’s what he’d be doing. “Well, Hell does not operate in the same fashion as your world. Time travels forward and backwards indiscriminately. When we traversed so many chambers, time’s interval became abstract. Years, minutes, decades – they exist interchangeably.”\n\n“What does that mean?”\n\n“It is not a question of where you are, but when.”\n\n“So the Boss is telling the truth.”\n\n“It is likely.”\n\nYou look up at the Boss. “Thirteen years?”\n\n“Where have you been?” The Boss asks with genuine concern.\n\n“Like I said, it’s a long story. I just want to find Gillian and get out of here.”\n\n“At least give me some kind of explanation.”\n\n“You don’t deserve an explanation,” you growl.\n\n“Perhaps not, but she does,” the Boss says glancing over your shoulder.\n\n[[You turn]]\n

<>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveGetBehindMeSatan").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockGetBehindMeSatan").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>A person stands beside Jazelle – a beautiful, delicate featured person with a strong, but somehow sensual build. It’s embarrassing to say it, but you can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman.\n\n“Another guest?” The stranger says with surprise and pleasure. “How delightful.” He addresses the man at the center of the room, “It has been such a long time since we have had visitors – forever actually.” The person’s voice is smooth and comforting. He, or maybe she, turns toward you with a dangerously warm smile. “There is no need to be shy.”\n\nYour cover’s blown. You’ve lost whatever miniscule advantage you had. So far things are civil. You might as well go along with it. You step into the room and walk toward Jazelle. You keep out of anyone’s reach just to be safe.\n\nThe stranger bows. “You may call me Ayporos if you so desire. Please,” Ayporos points toward the sitting man. “Enjoy the view.” He leans in and whispers, “This is my favorite part.”\n\nAs he speaks, the sitting man groans and squeals. His body contorts in pain and his eyes plead for relief. Little boils form on his skin until his chest erupts with flames. He screams as the inferno spreads to the rest of his body. The fire blazes red, then blue, and finally white. It’s so hot the sand around him melts and fuses into glass.\n\nThe man cries out one last time as the fire spirals up out of his body. He collapses into the pile of glass. His skin is burnt and melted. What’s left of it sags from the bone. He’s alive just enough to feel the pain.\n\nJazelle drops to the ground and vomits from disgust.\n\nYou wearily glance at Ayporos.\n\nAyporos smiles proudly. “It was beautiful, was it not?”\n\n“No,” Jazelle shouts. “It was horrible,” she says wiping vomit from her lips. “That poor man. How could you let that—” She stops suddenly. “You’re—” She runs to your side. “He’s one of them. He’s a demon.”\n\nAyporos grins playfully. “You say that as if it were a bad thing.”\n\nJazelle steps back, surprised at his admission. “Don’t come any closer,” she yells.\n\n“If I meant you harm, you would be painfully aware of such an act by now, would you not?”\n\nShe swallows nervously. “Just-just stay right there.”\n\n“As you wish,” Ayporos shrugs. “I am in many ways like you, a guest who has grown tired of his visit.”\n\nYou nod toward the extra crispy man. “We’ve seen how you treat your guests.”\n\nAyporos laughs with a feminine grace. “Do you think I would reside here willingly? Do you think anyone would reside here willingly? I did not choose this...obligation. I am like every other creature.” He glances upward. “I am at the mercy of a higher power.”\n\n“That’s why you enjoy this so much,” Jazelle jeers.\n\n“I fulfill my obligation because I am compelled to, but after centuries of listening to the same pathetic screams, it has become...tedious.”\n\n“Tell that to him,” Jazelle says pointing at the burnt man as he nibbles away at the glass shards. His skin is still burnt and bubbling, but slowly regenerating. Jazelle can’t help but vomit a second time. \n\n“I would free him if it was in my power. I have no quarrel with him, nor do I hold any interest in his guilt or crime, but we are bound by a greater force.”\n\n“Convenient excuse,” Jazelle says trying not to vomit a third time.\n\nAyporos tilts his head like a schoolgirl playing hard to get. “You humans live and act of your own volition. Do you think I do not desire the same? Enforcing the attendance of this realm is not a task that has fallen to me, and I have little interest in such things. If my will was truth, I would see us all free of this place but,” Ayporos sighs like a young girl in love. “Few humans have found a means to return, and I truly hope you are among them. Things would be so much more interesting if you succeed.”\n\n“Come on,” Jazelle says, grabbing your shoulder. “Let’s go.”\n\n“Wait,” Ayporos pleads. “Let me come with you. I am a prisoner here just as much as you.”\n\n“No way,” Jazelle shouts.\n\n“You will need a guide,” Ayporos says, stepping toward you. “The roads in Hell are treacherous and easily misleading, but I know the way. All I ask is that you take me with you.”\n\nTrusting a demon in Hell just seems like a bad idea, but he has a point. You need a guide. It’s not like wandering through the desert is something you want to do twice.\n\n[[Allow the demon Ayporos to join you]]\n[[Turn the demon away]]\n

<>\n<<remember $saveYourself = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Save Yourself\n Reach an ending alive, but without Gillian\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 671>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $wpn = "Pessimism">>\n<<endnobr>>It’s you or them, and you’ve survived too much to let something like this get you killed. You tried to do the right thing, but you have your @@color:#000081;limits.@@ “The Prince is evacuating the city. If you manage to survive, go to the wizard’s tower.”\n\nThe peasants pull at the boards and stones, trying to clear the rubble. An old woman glances back at you. “Aren’t you going to help?”\n\nYou frown. “What good is saving the children when you’re all going to @@color:#000081;die@@ as soon as the wall is breeched?”\n\nThe old woman shakes her head and curses at you under her breath.\n\nSo much for that thank you.\n\nYou turn and sprint for Quintus’s lab. If you’re lucky, the wall might hold for another few minutes. Hopefully that’ll be enough time to turn the machine on and get back home. Of course, you keep assuming Quintus got it working. For all you know, you could already be trapped here forever.\n\nTwo more boulders slam into the wall, and a handful of Ferralliise climb over the ledge. Forever may be a lot shorter than you thought.\n\nYou clench the green speckled blade and push through the crowd. The Prince waves to you for help defending the wall. You @@color:#000081;ignore@@ him and keep sprinting. The crowd thins as you move further from the tower.\n\n“Quintus,” you shout as you near the lab. “Quintus?”\n\nYou twist around the corner and into the lab.\n\nIt’s empty.\n\n“Quintus?” You shout again.\n\nStill nothing.\n\nYou search the lab. There are a lot of strange machines and contraptions, but you have no clue what they do or how to use them. “Quintus?” You shout again. On his desk you see a note and a leather-bound journal.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Another writing technique that seems to be common for fantasy novels is the formal letter, so I figured I had to add at least one. This is it.<<endif>>\nThe note reads:\n\n@@color:#B2B2B2;As you must already know, I have left without you. I am truly sorry, but my fear is more profound than my loyalty. I could not be certain of your return or even your survival. If you are reading this than there is still hope for you.\n\nIn my journal, I have included instructions for you to operate my machine and return home. The instructions, however, are in a secret code that hopefully only you will be able to decipher. I could not risk this technology falling into the wrong hands.\n\nThe connection between these two worlds should sever within a day, so you must act quickly. Please forgive me, and good luck.@@\n\nYou open the journal. You recognize street names from home. Turn right here, left there. Wait at the red light. You shake your head. How are directions through the city going to help you operate this machine?\n\nYou look at the machine. It’s covered in switches and lights and little bits of circuitry. Then you notice a small cut in the machine that looks like the old cathedral downtown. You look back at the journal. The first line is the cross street for the cathedral. The switches are based on a map of the city. Turning left or right must be the direction of the switches.\n\nYou follow the map’s instructions, flipping switches on the grid. You pause. The journal says to watch for pedestrians...\n\nYou look at the machine...\n\nPedestrian couldn’t refer to a switch, could it? You look around the room. Two white lines are drawn on the ground almost like a crosswalk. Maybe you’re supposed to follow the lines to the other side of the room.\n\nYou look back at the machine. Maybe pedestrian refers to a mechanism you’re supposed to remove, like a lock. You have to wait for pedestrians to move out of the way before you can go forward...\n\nThere’s a screw on the machine near the switch you were just touching. Maybe you’re supposed to remove it.\n\nSuddenly, you hear a loud crash outside the lab. The giants must have knocked down the wall.\n\nHowling, and screeching, and screaming echo off the hard stone. The Ferralliise sound furious.\n\nThe lab is going to be overrun any second.\n\n[[Follow the white lines to the other side of the lab]]\n[[Remove the screw from the machine]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 267>>\n<<set $hp = $hp +5>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve got a sick feeling about this place, and it isn’t because of the cockroach crawling across the counter or the cobwebs behind the door. Wong’s thugs traffic this establishment often enough, and it’s safe to say you’re not on the best of terms.\n\nYou choke down one of the @@color:#000081;pain pills@@ and push yourself up. The room spins. You lean against the counter. Luckily the cockroach doesn’t mind.\n\nYou grab your jacket, painfully slide it on, and zip it up. Your shirt’s done for, but if you can keep it together, no one will realize you’ve been shot.\n\nIt’s not like you have time to rest up anyway. If you can’t get to Gillian before the end of the day, there’s a good chance the Boss will move her to a secondary location – a location obviously out of your reach.\n\nYour legs feel heavy. It hurts to lift them, but you make it to the door and out the lobby. You fall against the car. At least it’s in better shape than you.\n\nYou see blood on the seats and dash. It’s hard to believe it’s all yours.\n\nYou open the door and get inside.\n\nEven with the pain pills, your shoulder is throbbing and your arm is almost useless. You can barely hold the steering wheel.\n\nTaking on Wong and framing the Russians may be a pipe dream given your current condition. Driving may be just as difficult.\n\nYou could always give yourself up. The Boss might let Gillian go.\n\nOf course, he might kill her too.\n\nYou put the car in gear and drive.\n\n[[Drive to Wong’s restaurant]]\n[[Drive to the penthouse and give yourself up]]\n

<center>Seven Bullets\nAfterward</center>\nIf you’re reading this, it means you’ve experienced at least a little bit of Seven Bullets. I can assure you there’s plenty more to discover. With over 280,000 words (1,000 pages), more than 500 unique passages, 80+ endings, 35 unlockable items totaling more than 75,000 words (300 pages), and 40 achievements to attain, Seven Bullets is one of the most epic Text Adventures you can read.\n\nThough this interactive tale is gigantic, it began with a very simple desire...\n\nAs a kid I loved reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books by Edward Packard and R. A. Montgomery. I wasn’t much of a reader, mostly comic books (Fantastic Four and X-Men) but there was something so captivating about deciding my own fate and bemoaning my untimely demise.\n\nI would spend hours re-reading the books, searching for the most interesting outcomes (not necessarily the right ones). That level of interaction was so new and exciting; remember, at the time, Mario was still an 8-bit plumber (barrel jumping) and Donkey Kong had yet to lose his stash of bananas for the first time (busy kidnapping princesses instead).\n\nOnce I decided to pursue writing as a career, I knew one of my novels needed to indulge my nostalgia for the classic CYOA of my childhood. Of course, interactive games have come a long way since those early Text Adventures, and I had no idea if there was even a market for that kind of fiction anymore.\n\nWhen I was scrawling down the early concepts for Seven Bullets, games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, and Gears of War 3 were topping the charts. Those are some very impressive feats of entertainment and epic narrative experiences (particularly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESx42MJ58p4" target="_blank">Skyrim</a> and Arkham City which I spent too many hours playing...). How could my “old school” text adventure compete with those titans of entertainment?\n\nEven now, despite Seven Bullets’ epic scale and 75k words (300 pages) of bonus content, I still doubt the book could contend with the average video game, which is the main reason I decided to design Seven Bullets as an ebook and not as a game or an “app”.\n\nThe static, linear properties of the ebook format (particularly its lack of variables) meant I needed to rely heavily on outlining and narrative “tricks” to create the illusion of continuity. My author commentary and notes (once unlocked) describe my methods in more detail.\n\nIt took about two years to write, proof, and produce the book - a task I accomplished on my own (absent a publisher, editor, or team). The Twine version (which you’re currently reading) was a side project worked on sporadically between other books and short stories. It was a passion project in the truest sense.\n\nI hope it inspires you the way those early CYOAs books inspired me. Seven Bullets appears here in its entirety, for free, because I wanted to share my passion with you.\n\nThank you for taking the time to experience it. If you enjoyed Seven Bullets and would like to read more interactive fiction like it, support me (your humble author) and buy the Twine version of Seven Bullets or the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Bullets-Cloud-Buchholz-ebook/dp/B00FXF0E30" target="_blank">original ebook.</a>\n\nThank you and keep up the adventuring!\n\n\n<a href="http://www.cloudbuchholz.com" target="_blank">Cloud Buchholz</a>\n10-25-2014\n\n<<back>>

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 661>>\n<<set $force = $force +18>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +4>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +14>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +9>>\n<<script>>\nvar dialog = UISystem.setup("Achievement Unlocked");\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achievementUnlocked").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("achieveDazedAndConfused").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\n\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("UnlockedItem").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("blank").processText());\nnew Wikifier(dialog, tale.get("unlockDazedAndConfused").processText());\nUISystem.show();\n<</script>>\n<<endnobr>>“I want answers. Start talking or I get crazy...er.”\n\nThe man swallows hard. Blood runs down his nose from where you hit him. “What are you talking about?” He says wearily.\n\n“Who pumped me full of drugs, and why?”\n\nHe looks at you wide-eyed.\n\nMaybe you didn’t ask the right question. “Let me ask it a different way.” You pick up the statue. “How much do you like @@color:#000081;pain?”@@\n\nHe squirms into the corner and shields his face with his arms.\n\n“Answers,” you snarl. “Now.”\n\n“I-I-I’m just @@color:#000081;a scientist.@@ It wasn’t my idea. Please don’t kill me.”\n\n“What did you give me?”\n\n“It’s,” he whimpers. “It’s called R4TS89. It only exists in our lab.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>R4TS89 is a code that appears in other parts of the book (like the secret facility in Montana as a door code). I think adding little bits of overlapping content like this adds to the re-readability of the story and enhancing the fullness of the world.<<endif>>\n“Where’s the antidote?”\n\nThe man snivels and sobs.\n\n“The antidote,” you say again @@color:#000081;harder.@@\n\n“There is no antidote. You have to wait for the effects to wear off.”\n\nYou grab him by the collar. “How long?” You @@color:#000081;shout.@@\n\nHe shakes with fear. “The dose we administered should have kept you sedated for weeks.”\n\n“Weeks? How long have you been drugging me?”\n\n“They brought you here several days ago. I don’t know how long they’ve had you prior to that.”\n\n“Days,” you feel a knot in your chest. “What about my sister? What about everything that’s happened?”\n\nThe man shakes his head. “I don’t know how much of your memory is true. All I know is that they wanted something in your head – a memory, a password, a name – I don’t know what, but they were willing to go to extreme lengths to get it and they won't stop. If you think they have your sister then they probably do.”\n\n“So it’s not all a hallucination?”\n\n“R4TS89 is powerful, but it’s only a drug. In order to get the information out of you, they need to convince you to give it to give it up willingly. They may have taken your sister just to make the hallucination seem more believable.”\n\n“So they have Gillian?”\n\n“I don’t know.”\n\n“What do you mean you don’t know?”\n\n“They keep the departments compartmentalized. I didn’t know you had escaped until you were standing behind me. The probability that you would wake up and free yourself is @@color:#000081;impossibly@@ small. How did you do it?”\n\n“I don’t know. It’s all fuzzy. I think, or I thought, that I had died and this was Hell.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Originally the drugged segment was a much smaller part of the Hell sequence, but I had so much fun writing it, it ballooned into 43 unique sections totaling 22,000 words, including 10 endings.I thought drug induced mind games were a clever way of explaining all the crazy events that had happened in the story up to this point.<<endif>>\n“Really?” The man looks away as the gears in his brain turn. “Yes, yes that would do it. The simulation of death would be enough to jostle someone free of the drug’s hypnotic effects. Still, there’s no way you should be able to stand.”\n\n“Let’s just say I’ve built up certain immunities.”\n\n“Fascinating. And you say you’re seeing delusions of Hell? Hmm,” he scowls. “R4TS89 has never manifested in such an unpleasant way. I can only assume your psyche is exhibiting guilt over something.”\n\nYou stare at him. “I’ve done some bad things.” You grip the statue tighter. “And I’ve got a feeling they’re only going to get worse.”\n\nThe man looks up at you with terror in his eyes. “I-I-I was only doing my job. It wasn’t personal, really. I’m just a scientist. I have no idea why they took you. They’re the ones you should be after, not me.”\n\n“Who are they? And how do I find them?”\n\n“I don’t know.”\n\nYou tilt the statue just enough for him to notice. “Then I guess you stopped being useful.”\n\n“Wait, wait. Don’t hurt me. I can help you. I can. I can help you.”\n\n“Then get to it.”\n\n“In the desk. Second drawer on the left.”\n\nYou walk to the desk and open the drawer. You pull out a bag of marshmallows. “What is this supposed to be?”\n\n“It counteracts the properties of the drug. I can’t explain why. You’ll just have to trust me.”\n\nYou glower at him. “Trust you, really?”\n\n“I don’t want to die. And besides, they won’t let you escape – no matter how much you’ve recovered.”\n\n“We’ll see.”\n\n[[Eat the marshmallows]]\n[[Don’t eat the marshmallows]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1150>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<endnobr>>Given the knights’ initial reaction to you, maybe it’s best to stay @@color:#000081;under the radar.@@ Just because they think you’re a great and powerful wizard, doesn’t mean they won’t burn you at the stake.\n\nYou glance at Quintus. “I’ll have more freedom if I don’t have to answer to anyone.”\n\nHe nods. “The King can be demanding at times, perhaps unreasonably so. Given the tension between the Sarrejiinns and the Ferralliise near the Dire Lands, and the display of power you just showed, the King might expect you to fight as a sign of loyalty.”\n\n“Aren’t you expecting me to do the same?”\n\n“Yes,” Quintus agrees. “But our ultimate goal is the same. You would be fighting for your own causes as much as my own. We both wish to return home.”\n\nHe has a point, and he knows this place better than you. For now, you’re stuck hearing him out. “Fine,” you groan. “Let’s just get to your lab and get this over with.”\n\n“Agreed,” Quintus says. He nudges the horse into a gallop.\n\nYou ride for what feels like hours, though it’s impossible to tell with the two moons overhead. The dense forest thins, and you smell salt carried on an ocean breeze. You’re nearing the coast. In the distance, built against the cliffs, you see an immense castle, with a sprawling city around it.\n\n“Sarrejiinn is most magnificent in the dawn light,” Avengral says with pride. “It is unfortunate we do not have the time for such a viewing. The walls will be unguarded for only a moment, and we must use that to our advantage if you are to enter unseen.” He rides up to the wall and pushes in a slightly discolored brick. Suddenly a small portion of the wall dislodges and slides open. It’s barely enough room for one person to squeeze through.\n\nHe dismounts his horse and helps Quintus down. “We must continue on foot,” he says, motioning for you to enter.\n\nYou squeeze through the tight passageway until it opens into a small stone room. It’s dark and smells like moldy clothes. Quintus steps out behind you.\n\n“The stairs,” he says, leading the way. He opens the first door and steps into a large laboratory. “It may not look like much compared to the laboratories back home, but I assure you this room contains the most advanced science in all of the four kingdoms.”\n\n“I wouldn’t know either way,” you shrug. “Besides, all I care about is getting home, so as long as it works, I won’t complain.”\n\n“That is the problem,” Quintus says, taking off his jacket and gloves. “My theories are sound, but I have no manner of testing them. As I said earlier, I believe I have found a way to stabilize the vortex. The problem is that I do not have a means to test my hypothesis.”\n\n“If you’re looking for a lab rat, you’ve got the wrong person.”\n\n“No, that is the least of my concerns. Sustained power is the true enemy. In order to return home, we must stabilize a portal. To do that we would need a tremendous amount of power. This world does not have the technological advances or infrastructure to sustain the machinery I’ve created. This dilemma leaves me with one of two solutions: find a power source with a large enough capacity to generate an artificial portal, or find a way to control a portal that appears naturally.”\n\nYou shrug. “I doubt I could help with that.”\n\n“Perhaps not scientifically, but I have been studying many of this world’s ancient texts, and I believe there may be a solution. Legends speak of an enormous fish, the Cetorix, which is large enough to consume boats whole. Over time, the chemicals in its stomach calcify, and given its size, the ball should produce enough power to stabilize an artificial portal.”\n\n“Whoa,” you interrupt. “You’re saying fish vomit is an energy source.”\n\n“How do you think the lights and machinery in this lab receive power?”\n\nYou must have overlooked it, but now that he mentioned it, the lab does have lighting. It’s not like the bulbs back home, but it does look electrical.\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Because magic was such a prevalent part of Sarrejiinn culture for such a long time, most scholars devoted their education to the study of spirits, spells, and potions. And even though magic has been outlawed within the realm for nearly a decade, most scholars still regard “science” as a subordinate subject of magic.Quintus has managed, with some success, to bridge earth science and the magically charged objects of Ragnoss (such as the “calcified fish vomit”).I saw Quintus as a variation of Leonardo da Vinci - a Renaissance man in a hostile medieval world.<<endif>>\n“There is a much smaller fish species,” Quintus continues, “that produces the calcified batteries I use in this lab. I believe the Cetorix is a cousin to this fish and shares this same trait. The Cetorix has only been seen in the far south, outside the protection of the King’s armies. You would have to go there, catch or perhaps kill the Cetorix and retrieve the calcified battery.”\n\n“Alright, what’s option number two?”\n\n“Well,” Quintus sighs. “It would be a bit like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. The vortexes have been appearing at random within the realm. It might be possible to navigate a naturally generated portal if we could reach it early enough in its formation. There is an elfin text that speaks of an ancient crown that allowed the elfin king, Slabaz, to see ripples in the sky and air that revealed a hidden civilization. I believe that hidden civilization was humanity and the ripples were early manifestations of the vortexes.”\n\n“So you want me to steal a king’s crown?”\n\n“Yes, technically, but Slabaz has been dead for centuries, and most of the elfin cities are in ruins. I doubt the elves would put up much of a fight. With the crown, I should be able to track the portals faster and with much more accuracy.”\n\n“Ruins don’t sound so bad.”\n\nQuintus swallows uncomfortably. “The elfin ruins are not far from here, and I certainly would have examined them myself, but the locals, including many of the knights, are too frightened to go into the jungles surrounding the ruins. No one knows exactly what destroyed the elfin civilization, but they believe it still inhabits the ruins. Those who have attempted to explore them have never returned.”\n\n“Well, that sounds like a pretty big catch. So what kind of time frame are we dealing with then?”\n\n“I’m not sure. The volatility of the portals is increasing. If I had to guess, I’d say not long. I wish I could be more specific. Even after seven years, there’s much I don’t know about the vortexes.”\n\n“That’s reassuring.”\n\nQuintus sighs, “I cannot convey the importance of this task. Both our lives depend on your success. I will do what I can to continue my research here, but I am under considerable constraints.”\n\nQuintus walks toward a second door. “I must see to matters regarding the King. If I do not return to court, the King will wonder at my absence. I realize I have not given you much time to consider, but you must make a decision now.”\n\nQuintus motions toward the knight. “Whatever you decide, Avengral will provide you with whatever you need for the journey. What will it be?”\n\n[[Travel south for the calcified battery]]\n[[Travel to the elfin ruins for the ancient crown]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 453>>\n<<endnobr>>You get on your motorcycle and drive across town. Jimmy’s been running some insurance scams the last couple of months. There’s a good chance you’ll find him at the North Office.\n\nYou make your way through traffic and park the bike in a side alley. You see him in his office shouting into the phone. He always had a temper.\n\nYou climb the stairs and get to his door in time to hear something smash against a wall. It’s comforting to know someone else’s day is going as badly as yours. You knock twice and push the door open.\n\n“I said I didn’t want to be dis-” Jimmy lowers his voice when he sees it’s you. He swallows hard. “What do you want?”\n<<if $introComments is true>>Jimmy Lee is the ambitious middle management guy who doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing, but still thinks he’s doing it better than everyone else. He’s an annoying antagonist that’s not quite enough of a threat to kill.I wanted to give the impression that Jimmy and the main character have a long and complex history. Favors can quickly turn into threats or vice versa.Not all the criminals in the City are skilled assassins - Jimmy is the proof of that.<<endif>>\nYou tilt your head in a threatening way. “A favor.”\n\nJimmy groans. “Last time I did you a favor, I lost a finger.”\n\n“That’s better than your life.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah. You’re a real saint. Now what do you want.”\n\nYou pull an envelope from your jacket pocket. “I have some information I’d like you to pass along.”\n\n“Is it legit?”\n\n“Do you care?”\n\nHe sees a stack of 50’s in the envelope. “Not really.” Then he sees the Russian documents. “Wait, wait. This is-” Jimmy shakes his head and throws the envelope back. “This is a death sentence, and I’m already down $10K. A war is bad for business.”\n\nYou glare at him. “So is a funeral.”\n\nHe shakes his head and paces. “Okay, okay. Look, Wong wants me out. I’m losing territory and bleeding cash. He’s not going to listen to me – not with something like this. I mean, maybe if I had his money then he’d hear what I had to say.”\n\nYou sigh. “What do you mean his money?”\n\n“Well, okay, so there was some property – completely legit. It was supposed to double in value, but then the real-estate bubble popped, and now my cash is tied up in vacant buildings for the next six months. But if you were able to get me some money before then—”\n\nYou reach for your gun.\n\n“Wait, wait, not your money. There’s this kid, real rich, throws his money around, starts gambling and losing big. We squeeze him for the cash, but then his pop dies and all the money goes to his sister.” Jimmy shrugs. “If you convince her to pay his debt it’d be good for both of us.”\n\nKeeping Jimmy in Wong’s good graces will pay off in the long run, but Gillian doesn’t have that kind of time. Maybe you need to be more persuasive. Once you get Gillian and leave the city, you're never going to see Jimmy again...his usefulness has an expiration date.\n\n[[Keep Jimmy in Wong’s good graces]]\n[[Gillian doesn’t have that kind of time]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 771>>\n<<set $force = $force +15>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You need to think about the big picture.\n\nGetting home isn't impossible. You've still got a @@color:#000081;chance.@@ You’ve faced worse odds before, and here you are alive and kicking. You can’t let a little thing like the end of the world or an army of monsters stop you.\n\nYou sprint up what’s left of the castle wall and stare out at the panicking hoard. “I am the great and powerful Wizard of Earth. I warned you, and now you will all @@color:#000081;die!”@@ You shout the words boldly. A second later lightning strikes a tree near the Blue Wizards.\n\nThe hoard is erratic with terror. They climb over one another trying to @@color:#000081;escape.@@ A dozen more fall or get pushed into the chasm. Even the Blue Wizards look scared.\n\nAs they turn to retreat, the King and his knights block their path. The knights slaughter the few remaining monsters and capture what’s left of the Blue Wizards.\n\nThe ground slowly stops shaking and the chasm stops spreading. The sky remains dark, but the lightning and thunder ease.\n\nYou turn as someone grabs your arm.\n\nIt’s the Prince.\n\n“Well done,” he says. “For a moment, I thought you were going to abandon us.”\n\n“Me?” You say sarcastically. “Never.”\n\nThe Prince looks at all the damage. “I thought your magic was a bluff?”\n\n“Yeah,” you shrug. “So did I, but everything worked out ...more or less.”\n\nThe Prince gestures toward the castle. “We will need to rebuild. I am grateful for your magic Earth Wizard, but perhaps next time you should be more... precise.”\n\n“Let’s just agree there won’t be a next time.”\n\n“Indeed,” the Prince says smiling. “The King is nearing the castle. Let us go to meet him. He will be pleased to hear of your great deeds.” The Prince hurries down the steps toward the front gate. “Raise the gate,” he yells.\n\nYou follow him down. The only way to get at Quintus’s lab is with the King's blessing, so it’s probably best to play into this role as wizard hero.\n\nThe King rides through the gate with his band of knights. The Blue Wizards are bound and corralled by the knights. Only a handful of Blue Wizards survived.\n\n“Son?!” The King exclaims. “You have defended the castle like a true King. You have made me proud.”\n\n“Well,” the Prince hesitates. “The work was not mine alone.”\n\n“Yes, yes, of course. The citizens of Sarrejiinn are strong! They do not yield to any enemy, no matter their number or deceptive tactics.”\n\nThe crowd of peasants and soldiers cheer.\n\nThe Prince points at the bound Blue Wizards. “And what of them? Our dungeons are in no shape to hold them.”\n\n“Ha,” the King laughs. “These traitors will never see a dungeon. They will die today, right now in fact.” The King waves to the knights.\n\nThe knights return a stern nod and stab each of the Blue Wizards through the chest.\n\nThe Prince takes a step back. “But-”\n\nThe King interrupts him. “These conspirators planned to kill you and take my kingdom. That behavior will not be tolerated.” The King turns to the knights. “Place the wizards’ heads on pikes and display them throughout the kingdom. They will be a symbol of what happens to traitors and magic users.”\n\n“Magic users?” The Prince asks confused.\n\n“Yes, my son.” The King walks closer to you and the Prince. “Those that use magic defile the natural order of life. They are the cause of all this bloodshed and destruction. I have been too lenient with them. Exile is no longer enough. From this day forth, all persons who wield magic will be deemed traitors of Sarrejiinn and killed on the spot.”\n\n[[“Killed?”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 153>>\n<<endnobr>>From the roof you’ll have access to the maintenance stairs. It’s not likely the Boss will have guards posted there. You grab Gillian’s hand and pull her to the balcony. You point up. “That’s where we’re going.”\n\nShe looks up and swallows hard.\n\n“We’ll be fine, just don’t look down.”\n\nShe automatically looks down, then grips your arm in a panic. Okay, this might be harder than you thought. “If you slip, I’ll be right here to catch you.”\n\nShe doesn’t look convinced.\n\n“This is just like climbing a tree. Come on, you first.” You gently push her to the ledge. She grabs the wall. You push her up, and she manages to get a foothold, but she looks nervous.\n\n“Keep going. I’m right behind you.”\n\nShe goes up a little farther. Her legs tremble. You can’t tell if it’s from fear or exhaustion. Both could be deadly. You can still go back.\n\n[[Keep climbing]]\n[[Go back and regroup]]\n

<>\n<<remember $getBehindMeSatan = true>>\n<<endnobr>>Get Thee Behind Me Satan\n Meet Ayporos\n

[[Karen|Karen]] had been feeling unwell for several days, particularly since she had attempted to open a pathway to the [[spirit realm]]. The [[experiment|experiments]] had been a failure and left the [[apartment]] smelling awful, which her [[roommate|two]] quickly and angrily pointed out.\n\n[[Karen|Karen]] assumed it was the rancid smell that had been making her stomach ache, but after the smell had dissipated, the pain in her belly only got worse.\n\nHer stomach had begun to swell slightly and she found herself particularly hungry, eating almost twice what she normally would have.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1127>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +9>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>Maybe you are hungry, but starving makes more sense than trusting these Blue Wizards. You know they’re guilty. The only reason you’re here is to prove it. There’s no way you’re eating anything they give you, but you have to keep up this @@color:#000081;charade.@@\n\nYou nod graciously at the old wizard, remembering Avengral’s rule about talking.\n\n“Your offer is generous,” Avengral politely smiles. “And humbly accepted.”\n\nThe old wizard half bows and exits through a door to the right.\n\nEvie leans forward. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”\n\n“I was obligated to accept his offer, just as he was obligated to present it to me.” Avengral leans back stiffly. “The traditions and practices must be followed both by the host and by the guests. Now sit upright and stay quiet.”\n\nYou do your best to look proper, as do the others. The old wizard returns with two platters: one full of sliced meat, cheese, and warm bread, the other containing six glasses of honey wine. The old wizard slides the platters onto the table in front of you.\n\nThe old wizard bows. “I wish we could be more hospitable given your unannounced arrival.”\n\n“This is more than satisfactory,” Avengral says unflinchingly.\n\nThe old wizard departs.\n\n“I don’t know about you guys,” Able grabs a handful of meat and cheese. “But I’m starving.” He swallows it almost without chewing.\n\nAvengral takes a bit of cheese and honey wine. Mos does the same.\n\n“Is it wise to eat that?” Evie whispers.\n\n“I do not have a choice. I am honor-bound to accept their gift. It is tradition.”\n\n“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Evie sighs and leans back.\n\nThey don’t fall over dead, but that doesn’t mean the food isn’t poisoned. You aren’t going to risk it. You pick up one of the glasses and hold it, but @@color:#000081;never drink@@ from it.\n\n“Delightful,” says a middle-aged wizard with a long goatee and dark blue robe. “I apologize for the meager offerings. If we had known a knight of your stature would be visiting, we would have prepared the finest feast.”\n\n“It is I who should apologize for this unannounced visit.” Avengral sets the glass down and formally bows to the wizard. “I am Avengral Swiftsteel, First Knight of Sarrejiinn castle, Third Sword in the House of Sun and Steel. Thank you for receiving us.”\n\n“Of course,” the wizard bows. “I am Master Wizard Kailvo Kalraan, First Mage of the House of Cerulean Sky. How can I be of service to you knight of Sarrejiinn?”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Instead of corporations, Sarrejiinn is divided into guilds. Guilds represent a person’s social standing as well as their profession. The House of Cerulean Sky is a guild that deals in knowledge and secretly in magic (since its overt study is outlawed).First Mage is one of the highest ranks in the guild, second only to the “Supreme”. The Supreme is voted into power by the top thirteen mages in the guild. Votes are usually gained through manipulation and careful political maneuvering.The House of Sun and Steel’s highest rank is “The Blade’s End”. Every four years a tournament is held. Every guild member is obligated to fight. The tournament winner earns the rank of “The Blade’s End”.<<endif>>\nAvengral motions for the wizard to sit. “As you know, the Ferralliise hoard has been a problem in the realm for years, but over the last several months, their attacks have increased significantly, far beyond annoyance. The King wishes to see an end to these violent outbursts and has sent me here, to the wise and powerful Wizards of the East, so that you may share in the glory of putting an end to these foul beasts.”\n\nKailvo smiles and casually leans forward. “The East Wizards have sworn an oath to aid the King and his realm, but I fear we will be of little use concerning these matters. The Ferralliise hoard reside so far from our humble island that we have had little opportunity to study the beasts.”\n\n“And yet,” Avengral shrugs. “The magical origins of the beasts are a known fascination of the Blue Wizards.”\n\n“True, true,” Kailvo nods. “But alas, our fascination has little substance in fact. Our knowledge comes from wrinkled pages of worn out text or whatever news you have chosen to graciously share with us.”\n\n“Oh,” Avengral laughs. “You do yourself an injustice. Your ability to acquire knowledge is respected throughout the realm. You would have me believe that even the great Blue Wizards have not gleaned new facts about the Ferralliise origin?”\n\nKailvo lifts his hands in concession. “I see that I cannot keep our research from a knight as intelligent as you.” Kailvo stands. “Our research is of perhaps an alarming nature, but I will let you decide. Come, let me show you the truths we have discovered.”\n\nYou all stand and follow Kailvo out the great hall, through the courtyard, and into the large tower. He leads you down several flights of stairs. The light is faint and flickers as you walk by the torches hanging on the walls.\n\n“Where are we going?” Avengral asks.\n\nKailvo grins. “The accommodations leave much to be desired, but I assure you, the substance of our project is well worth the discomfort.” Kailvo turns left into a large room. The walls are lined with books, jars of ingredients, and mixing tools. A deep pit is at the center of the room. Kailvo gestures to it with pride.\n\nA Ferralliise is chained to an iron bar at the center of the pit.\n\n“By the Seven...” Avengral gasps. “What is this madness? You have one of the beasts...here, of all places.”\n\n“We have more than one.” Kailvo takes a wand from the table and points it at the Ferralliise. “They are far more capable than we give them credit for. We are mere specks compared to the genius of their design. You see,” Kailvo jerks the wand forward and a bolt of lightning strikes the iron bar. As the electricity hits the creature, its body shifts into a different animal shape.\n\nKailvo sends another bolt of lightning at the creature, and it changes shape again. “It is quite remarkable, is it not?” Kailvo lays the wand back on the table. “I have artificially induced the change, but under different circumstances the creature could control this behavior on its own.”\n\n“The Ferralliise are said to be the spawn of blood magic,” Avengral growls. “And yet you have such power over them...I do not understand.”\n\n“Well,” Kailvo glances at Avengral smugly. “You see, the Ferralliise were not merely created with blood magic, they are the essence of blood magic. Their blood is like a spell constantly being recast each time it pumps through their heart. Nothing short of miraculous.”\n\nAvengral clinches his jaw. “Then you are dealing in blood magic.”\n\n“Well, of course. This knowledge would not be possible otherwise.”\n\nAvengral puts his hand on his sword. “And what are your intentions with such knowledge?”\n\n“To return the realm to its former glory and reign supreme over everything as the Raizaarian Wizards were always meant to do.”\n\n“I cannot allow that to happen.” Avengral draws his sword. You and the others spread out and look for weapons.\n\n“Yes,” Kailvo chuckles. “I expected as much sir knight.”\n\nAvengral drops the sword as if it weighed tons. You see Able and Mos drop to the ground as well. You need to act quickly.\n\n[[Feign sickness until you can find a means of attack]]\n[[Attack the Wizard Kailvo now]]\n

More accurately, [[Karen Ward|Karen]] was //pushed// from her [[seventh]] story [[window]], though pushed is an unusual word to describe it as [[Detective Phillip Michaels]] soon discovered. Detective Michaels was the officer in charge of investigating the fall and presumed homicide of young [[Karen Ward|Karen]].\n\nThe [[apartment]] was in a state of disorder, which looked like the result of a struggle. Bookshelves, couches, and chairs had been thrown on their sides and other valuables had been broken.\n\nThe [[window]] had shattered outward and, given the splintering of the wood, it was unlikely a person had gone through it willing.\n\nThere were, however, two peculiarities. The door to the [[apartment]] was locked from the inside and, despite the amount of blood on the pavement, a body was not found at or near the scene.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 714>>\n<<endnobr>>You’ve only got seconds before the plane is completely submerged. You need to act now. You unbuckle the seatbelt and move toward the emergency door. You have no idea where the plane crashed or what direction to swim once you hit the water. At least from this height you can get some basic navigation.\n\nThe jet is almost vertical now. You jump from one seat to the next, climbing your way to the emergency door. You twist the latch and pop open the door. The ocean stretches to the horizon. There’s something faint in the distance...an island perhaps. It’ll be a long swim, but you should be able to make it.\n\nYou climb onto the edge of the door and jump. Suddenly you hear a violent screech behind you. It’s the giant pterodactyl.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>Whoever decided the spelling for “pterodactyl” must have been a sadistic person.<<endif>>\nThe creature swoops down and clutches you with its massive talons. You fly through the air, or more accurately, you dangle in the air. You struggle to get free, but the creature pecks at your arms and screeches wildly at you. You give up the struggle before it decides to bite off your head. It wants you alive for some reason...probably to feed you to its hideous babies.\n\nThe creature tilts its massive wings and catches a wind current toward the island. If you fall from this height you’d end up a human shaped pancake. The creature dips and makes a hard right. You see a building. It’s been intentionally obscured by trees and dirt.\n\nThe creature glides over a pipe and releases its grip on you. You fall into the tube and slide down a metal shaft. You land hard on a metal grate and cough for air. Metal bars seal shut above you.\n\n“Alive?” A voice scoffs. “Surprising.”\n\nYour legs are still wobbly so you can’t risk standing yet, but you examine your surroundings which, unfortunately, resemble a cell. You glance in the direction of the voice.\n\nIt belongs to a woman. Her hair is black with streaks of gray. It’s wound in a tight bun. A healthy amount of wrinkles crease her face, but you wouldn’t describe her as old. The black and green wetsuit she wears seems well used.\n<<if $montanaComments is true>>The genius doctor doesn’t have a name, but she’s one of the few characters that I describe in detail. This segment is so different from my original notes that the genius doctor became a completely different character.Truthfully, I’m not sure what or how she does what she does... I’m not even sure why.This whole segment was adlibbed.<<endif>>\n“Where am I?” You groan.\n\n“In my facility,” she says. “As my prisoner.”\n\n“Prisoner?” You sigh. “Well I guess that makes sense considering the amount of luck I’ve had today.”\n\n“You seem much calmer than your predecessors,” the woman says dryly. “Do you think I won’t kill you as well?”\n\n“I’m harder to kill than you think.” You touch the cut on your forehead which has finally stopped bleeding. “But I’m not here for a fight.”\n\n“You’re certainly in no condition for one...if that’s what you mean.”\n\n“Good point,” you say, finally getting to your feet. “You wouldn’t happen to be the genius doctor I’m looking for, would you?”\n\n“I believe I am,” she says stepping closer to the cage, though still out of reach. “And I suppose your reasons for seeking me are noble and just?”\n\n“As a matter of fact they are. I have no idea what your name is or what you do here, but my sister’s sick, and I heard you’re the only one with a cure.”\n\n“You’ve travelled a long way and wasted a great deal of money to disprove a rumor.”\n\n“First off,” you casually lean against the metal bars. “I had the frequent flyer miles saved up. And secondly, judging from your expression, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I’d like to be civil about this, but there isn’t enough time. You’re coming back with me one way or another.”\n\n“Coming back...” She smiles, “In your jet?”\n\n“Okay, you make another good point. I hadn’t really thought that far ahead but,” you say assuredly, “Hopefully I won’t need to because you’ll decide to do this willingly.”\n\nShe examines you more closely. “I think you’re in no position to make demands. If anything, you’re likely to plead for concessions any second.”\n\n“Is that right?” You say confidently.\n\nShe points toward your feet.\n\nYou look down to see several sharks circling inches below the grate. You look back at the woman. “Sharks? Isn’t that a little cliché?”\n\nShe holds up a large red button. “They need to eat just like everything else.”\n\n[[Plead for your life]]\n[[Act tough]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1287>>\n<<endnobr>>With all this political noise and science mambo jumbo, you would feel a lot better just hitting something. You scratch your ear and stare at Quintus. “So these Red Wizards are all about fighting, huh?”\n\n“Yes. The King forbids unsanctioned magic within the realm. Any child that shows supernatural inclinations is sent to Vizzairn, the volcano city in the north, or Raizaa, the wizard island to the east. The children of Vizzairn spend the entirety of their life training. They are formidable in combat, both with magic and a blade.”\n\nYou stretch your legs. “Sounds like fun.”\n\n“Do not underestimate them,” Quintus warns. “They respect skill and power. If they defeat you in first combat, they will not hesitate to kill you.”\n\n“What else is new,” you groan. “Someone’s always trying to kill me. So how long’s it going to take to get to this volcano city?”\n\n“Not long. Wizard Songlie is most likely opening a gateway now.”\n\n“Gateway? You mean like the portal?”\n\n“No, no. Nothing so advanced. Each of the ancient cities within the realm has a magical gateway connecting it to each of the other cities. Five in total, though the Elfin gate and the Squamarian gate are inactive, most likely destroyed centuries ago.”\n\n“Is that supposed to--”\n\n“Pardon my interruption,” Avengral cuts you off. “The Prince is in peril, and we must make haste.”\n\n“We?”\n\nAvengral nods. “I have volunteered to lead our cause for reinforcements.”\n\n“How noble,” you say dryly.\n\n“Verily,” Avengral motions toward twelve other soldiers. “Our ranks comprise untrained vagabonds and mercenaries. My presence will ensure their loyalty.”\n\n“Or you kill the ones that run.”\n\nAvengral glowers at you. “I am their leader, and I am honor-bound to protect these soldiers with my life.”\n\nYou shrug. “Alright. Let’s just get this over with.” You glance at Quintus. “I’ve got someplace else I need to be.”\n\n“Then follow me,” Avengral says, heading back into the castle with a brisk march. The other would-be soldiers follow with less enthusiasm.\n\n“Good luck,” Quintus says. “By the time you return, my device should be nearly finished.”\n\n“Or we’re stuck here forever, right?”\n\nQuintus gives you a stern and weary smile. “I trust you to do what needs to be done. You must trust me to do the same.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah,” you groan. “Just make sure everything’s ready when I get back.”\n\nQuintus nods and returns to his lab.\n\nYou turn toward Avengral. He’s nearly out of sight. You jog to catch up. He leads you through several long, stone corridors and up two spiral staircases. “Wizard Songlie is generally agreeable,” Avengral says. “But it would be prudent to treat her with the respect she deserves.”\n\n“I would dream of nothing less,” you say sarcastically.\n\n“Good,” Avengral replies. “She is one of the most powerful wizards in the realm.” He says the words with a soft sweetness.\n\nYou’ve heard people talk like that before. He obviously cares about her, but it’s not any of your business. All you need to worry about is getting home. Gillian is out there, and nothing's standing between her and the hoard of thugs, criminals, and assassins trying to get at her. You shudder at the thought.\n\n“Is something wrong?” Avengral asks.\n\n“No,” you say. “Let’s just get this over with.”\n\n“Indeed,” Avengral agrees. “May this dark veil be lifted soon.” He pushes open a large wooden door. The room stretches almost the width of the castle. The walls are lined with bookshelves, each stuffed to capacity. Eight tables are equally spaced along the right side of the room, each one holding a variety of ingredients and mixing equipment.\n\nA short, slender woman turns toward you. Her green robe swishes at her briskness. Her hair is so long that it nearly touches the floor. She lowers her archaic glasses and examines you. “Yes, yes. The gateway is nearly ready. I was beginning to think you had decided against using it.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Wizard Songlie is a character I added at the last minute (thankfully). Avengral is a significant part of this segment and I felt he needed a little bit more of a personality - more internal motivation beyond honor.Songlie and Avengral are secretly in love and, because of tension regarding magic, must keep their love hidden. This is the first example of the social injustices that exist in Sarrejiinn and foreshadowing for what’s to come with the blue and red wizards.<<endif>>\n“We have no other choice,” Avengral says softly. “Time is against us.”\n\nThe woman smiles. “It seems something is always against us. The fear of war must keep you busy.”\n\nAvengral’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “It is not fear that motivates us now.”\n\n“Yes,” Songlie says. “You are afraid of nothing...except perhaps your King and his customs.” She takes four stones from the table and walks toward two large stone columns. The columns are patterned with dozens of holes. She pushes the stones into the columns.\n\nImmediately, streaks of light jump between the columns as a pillar of radiance forms at their center.\n\n“The gateway,” Songlie says. “And your destination?”\n\n“The volcano city in the north,” you say before Avengral can respond.\n\nSonglie glances at him for confirmation.\n\nHe nods.\n\nShe pushes the final stone into place. An image forms in the gateway like something reflecting off a body of water. It’s a city with black charred buildings illuminated by a glowing orange light.\n\nAvengral motions for the soldiers to enter the gateway. They begrudgingly do as he commands. Avengral pauses in front of Songlie. “I may serve my King and his customs, but what I do, I do for the people of this realm, and for you.” He bows to her, then turns to you and motions toward the gateway.\n\nYou walk through. It feels warm, and then suddenly very hot. You open your eyes. You’re in the center of a small village. The buildings are tiny stone huts containing barely enough room for a bed. A few dozen villagers gawk at you. Their clothes are ragged and burnt in places. Though they look weary and fatigued, you can tell their muscles are sinewy and strong as if their bodies were in a constant state of intense exercise.\n\nTo your left a volcano stretches into the sky. Bits of orange molten lava streak down its ridges with the strong smell of sulfur. When you look back, the crowd of villagers has surrounded you. Avengral appears behind you and the gateway closes.\n\nA woman steps forward from the crowd. “I am Ignis Ustrina, the leader of the Red Wizards of the North. Speak your business or be ready for death.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>Ignis Ustrina is the leader of the Red Wizards, though given the prejudices in Sarrejiinn her “kingdom” is very limited. About fifty years earlier a great war ended and the accord resulted in the banishment of (most) magic users.When children begin to show signs of magical aptitude they are banished to one of two places: An island (volcano) to the north or a distant island to the east.Red Wizards of the north tend to be direct, sometimes rash but generally honest. Because of their elemental abilities the Sarrejiinn King perceived them as the greater threat and made deliberate attempts to oppress them which is the primary reason for their dilapidated town.<<endif>>\nAvengral steps forward. “I am Avengral Swiftsteel, First Knight of Sarrejiinn Castle, Third sword in the House of Sun and Steel. I represent the King, who seeks your aid in retrieving his kidnapped son.”\n<<if $ragnossComments is true>>The House of Sun and Steel is also referenced in the short story “The Red Speckled Blade of Brother Brighton” - which happens to be an unlockable item.<<endif>>\nIgnis spits. The spit turns to steam before it hits the ground. “Why should I believe you First Knight?”\n\n“Because I am honor-bound to speak the truth.”\n\nIgnis looks annoyed. “You’ll have to do better than that.” She tilts her head and grins. “Prove your words with a show of combat.” Ignis raises her right arm. “Skraz! Azarii!” She shouts.\n\nTwo teenage boys step forward.\n\n“These are the least skilled among us,” Ignis says. “One of them should be more than enough for one of you. Should you happen to win, I’ll listen to the rest of your offer. Otherwise,” she yawns with disinterest. “We’ll throw you into the volcano.”\n\n“Very well,” Avengral nods. “We will follow the customs of your land.” He glances at the soldiers. They all look petrified with fear. Avengral looks at you. “I am sorry Earth Wizard, but this task must fall to you. As leader, I am not permitted to fight in this match, and I do not think the soldiers would be of much worth. You slew the ogre with such ease, this battle should prove inconsequential.”\n\n“Inconsequential combat, that’s what I’m here for.”\n\n“Verily,” Avengral says while giving your shoulder a firm squeeze. “Then combat there shall be.” He pushes you forward. “Our champion!” He proclaims.\n\nIgnis laughs. “And who would you fight, champion?”\n\n[[Fight Skraz]]\n[[Fight Azarii]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 846>>\n<<set $force = $force +10>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -10>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +5>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +51>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +7200000000>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +20>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>What good is the briefcase if you die in a fiery explosion? You can find leverage somewhere else. Besides, your current situation is a little too chaotic to think about the @@color:#000081;long term.@@ And if Gillian flies a chopper the way she drives a car, then you haven’t got any time to waste.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>If you’re wondering what’s in the briefcase, keep wondering. The content of the briefcase is never revealed.I debated exposing the content, but I decided the mystery of not knowing was much more interesting.<<endif>>\nYou leave the bearded man dangling and climb the rope. Your ribcage is sore and your heart feels like it’s about to leap out of your throat – must be the last effects of the drugs. The pain is setting in. Your whole body tingles, but there’s no time to think about that now.\n\nYou pull yourself into the chopper. From this vantage point you can see most of the city. You’re still in the heart of downtown, and there are a handful of skyscrapers to maneuver around. You grab the dead pilot and shove him out the side of the helicopter. You sit in his chair. It’s sticky and warm with blood.\n\nYou cringe with disgust and try not to think about it. Training can never really prepare you to sit in a pool of someone’s blood – on the brighter side, at least it doesn’t belong to you.\n\n“What took so long?” Gillian stares at you wide-eyed.\n\nYou roll your eyes. “I missed you too.”\n\n“What?” She shrugs. “You were taking a really long time.”\n\n“Sorry if the army of thugs and my drug induced stupor inconvenienced you.”\n\n“Hey,” she says starkly. “They kidnapped me because of you.”\n\n“Yeah, yeah, details. Let’s get out of here already.”\n\n“You mean before something @@color:#000081;worse happens.”@@\n\nBefore you can respond, two helicopters cut past and twist behind you. The radio hisses. “Land, now. We’ve got missiles locked on your position, and we will open fire.”\n\nYou glare at Gillian. “You just had to jinx it, didn’t you?”\n\n“What? It’s not my fault they want to kill you.”\n\n“Us. They want to kill us.”\n\n“Don’t lump me in with your mess.”\n\n“Oh, so you’re just here for the ride?” You make a @@color:#000081;hard right,@@ nearly hitting a skyscraper. The two other helicopters are hot on your tail. Their piloting skills are as good as yours – probably better. You won’t be able to lose them. You should have spent more time training in the Boss’s helicopter simulator.\n\nYou take another hard @@color:#000081;right@@ and then a @@color:#000081;left.@@ At least while you’re swerving between these buildings they won’t be able to lock on with their missiles.\n\nOn the other hand, their machine guns could clip you... but this area is too populated. They’d be crazy to open fire here. A wave of bullets whiz past and tear through a nearby @@color:#000081;building.@@ Looks like they’re crazier than you thought.\n\n“They’re shooting at us,” Gillian shouts.\n\n“I can see that.” You veer @@color:#000081;left@@ and pull up. Something catches your eye. You peer out the window. It’s the bearded man. He screams for his life and frantically clutches the rope.\n\nYou smile. Sometimes things just have a way of working themselves out.\n\nYou nose @@color:#000081;dive@@ and whip the chopper right. The bearded man swings left, slamming into the helicopter behind you.\n\nThe helicopter wobbles, and the pilot overcompensates, nicking the skyscraper to his left. The blades buckle and shatter. The chopper spins out of control, colliding into the opposite @@color:#000081;building.@@ It bursts into @@color:#000081;flames@@ and hurtles toward the @@color:#000081;street@@ below.\n\nYou glance out the window. The bearded man still clings to the rope, though he looks a little rattled. You give him a thumbs up. “You’re doing a great job.”\n\nHe shouts something, but you can’t make it out. Judging by his expression, it’s probably not the accolades you deserve.\n\nAnother set of bullets tear through the side of your chopper. You almost forgot about your second pursuer.\n\n“Get us out of here already,” Gillian yells.\n\n“Oh sure, let me just add that to my to-do list.” You veer around a skyscraper and make a hard @@color:#000081;180.@@ The bearded man swings helplessly through the air.\n\nThe other helicopter turns just in time to catch the arc of his swing. His upper half catches on the blades, severing the rope and his @@color:#000081;intestines.@@ His lower half shatters the windshield, kicking the pilot in the face.\n\nThe metal briefcase hooks onto one of the blades, cracking it in two. The chopper somersaults into the nearest @@color:#000081;building@@ and @@color:#000081;explodes.@@ The force of the blast rocks your helicopter forward, but you keep it level.\n\nGillian shakes her head. “What a way to go.”\n\nYou shrug. “Getting chopped in two and then blown up... he kind of had it coming. After all, he did kidnap you.”\n\nShe nods. “Good point.” She looks out at the city. “So what now?”\n\nYou check the helicopter dash. You’ve got enough fuel to reach the edge of the city. You could touchdown near the train station and leave from there, but you haven’t got money, a passport, or even a pair of shoes.\n\nStopping back at your apartment for a few things wouldn’t be a bad idea. It probably isn’t swarming with henchmen yet.\n\n[[There’s no turning back now. Head to the train station.]]\n[[Go back to the apartment for your things.]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 179>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +6>>\n<<set $force = $force +12>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -8>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +67500>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>“If you wanted to talk, you should have called.” You twist around the corner, @@color:#000081;fire@@ four rounds and roll behind the stairs. Three bullets hit their @@color:#000081;mark.@@ You stay low and crawl across the metal grating as a wave of bullets ricochet off the stairs.\n\nYou pull yourself up and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ for the chopper. It’s already in the air and moving away from the building. You thrust yourself off the ledge and into the air.\n\nYour arm catches the landing gear, and the chopper dips from the added weight. You drop the pistol and wrap your legs around the metal bar.\n\nA thug slides open the door and stomps at your hand. Your fingers slip and you dangle by the loosening grip of your legs.\n\nThe pavement is a long way down.\n\nThe chopper jerks right to avoid a building. You’re thrust into the air and @@color:#000081;hit@@ the side of the building hard. Then you tumble backwards into freefall. The ground gets closer with every twirl until you feel a sharp and overwhelming @@color:#000081;pain.@@ Then the darkness takes you.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 12]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 461>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +5>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -2>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +8>>\n<<set $force = $force -4>>\n<<lvlChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>The mansion has plenty of nooks and crannies to @@color:#000081;hide@@ in, plus there are better odds of finding @@color:#000081;a weapon.@@ You’re not sure what kind of weapon will hurt these creatures... or demons as Sylvia put it, but having something to hit them with will make you feel a little better.\n\nYou limp through the street and cup your ear to the mansion door.\n<<if $hellComments is true>>Even though a hierarchy exists among the demons, possessions and property are of little importance - especially since the environment is malleable.Inspired by Christianity, the demons in Seven Bullets are genderless, don’t need to eat, and have no need for sleep. The buildings serve no real purpose for them except as a means of resembling humans.The demons in the story hate and envy humans because humans have so much freedom, which is one of the reasons the demons are so hostile.<<endif>>\nIt’s quiet.\n\nYou push @@color:#000081;open@@ the door. A faint light flickers at the end of the hallway, and you hear cheerful voices echo from a distant room. At least five or six people, or demons, or whatever these creatures might be. You’re in no shape to face them.\n\nYou’ll have to find cover until your body has regenerated. You open the closet door and a putrid stench immediately hits your nostrils. It emanates from the jackets, but as you take a closer look, you realize they aren’t jackets. They’re large pieces of human skin that have been sown into jackets and suits.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;stumble@@ backwards into the staircase. Whoever lives in this house has a sick fashion sense.\n\nSuddenly you hear a faint sound, like a voice muffled within the jackets in the closet.\n\n“Help,” the stifled voice whispers. “Please.”\n\n“Who’s there?” You whisper back.\n\n“Help me.”\n\nYou push yourself up. Your body still stings as if alcohol was being rubbed into your cuts. You feel the burns slowly healing, but it aches. You take a breath and refocus your pain threshold. You stare at the closet. “Who are you? What are you doing in there?”\n\n“They put me here.”\n\nYou step toward the closet. “Where? I don’t see you.”\n\n“Here,” the voice says agonizingly. “Here.”\n\nYou stare at the jacket made of skin.\n\n“Here,” the voice repeats. “Please.”\n\nSlowly, you twist the jacket around. A face is stretched and stitched into the back of the jacket. Its eyes stare at you with relief and agony. “Help me,” it begs.\n\nThe skin is so stretched and worn that you can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman, though in this state it doesn’t really matter. You swallow uncomfortably. “What happened to you?”\n\n“They,” the face struggles to speak, “Did this.”\n\n“How are you still...”\n\n“No time,” the face gasps. “Must run. Must,” the face toils for breath. “Hide.”\n\nYou can’t argue with that. The voices down the hall are getting louder, and you’ve got a feeling this entryway is about to have company. You glance at the talking jacket. Maybe it’s a monstrous piece of living apparel, but it was human once, and that should count for something.\n\nYou cringe and grab it from the rack. It’s warm and squishy. You already regret touching it.\n\nYou can hear the voices getting closer. You need to move.\n\n[[Take the stairs to the second floor]]\n[[Take the atrium to another part of the mansion]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 1041>>\n<<set $force = $force +20>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +4>>\n<<set $sly = $sly -6>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +24>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +3>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -70>>\n<<set $guns = $guns +12>>\n<<set $melee = $melee +18>>\n<<set $luck = $luck -2>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost + 150000000>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You can’t let Gillian get taken a second time. It’s @@color:#000081;now@@ or never.\n\nYou twist up over the ledge and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ toward Gillian and the helicopter. You use the submachine gun to take out two of the @@color:#000081;guards@@ near the roof entrance.\n\nThe helicopter blades muffle the noise, but one of the guards casually turns around. His eyes go wide when he sees you. He shouts something into his radio and lifts his submachine gun. You @@color:#000081;punch@@ him in the face before he can pull the trigger. He slams into the side of the chopper.\n\nThe other guard fires at you. You weave around it and push his gun away. The bullets tear into the chopper. Suddenly the chopper lifts off the roof and spins erratically. The pilot does everything he can to keep it level, but you can tell he’s losing control.\n\nYou see Gillian onboard. She grabs the seatbelt, trying not to get flung over the edge.\n\nAnd you @@color:#000081;didn’t think@@ things could get any worse.\n\nYou grab the guard’s arm, @@color:#000081;pop it@@ out of the socket, and @@color:#000081;slam@@ the submachine gun into his nose. He drops to the ground and gurgles in pain.\n\nThe helicopter swirls around the roof. It doesn’t look like the pilot will be able to land it. “Gillian,” you shout. “Gillian, you need to jump.”\n\nShe can’t hear you.\n\nYou need to find a way to level it or slow it down before it crashes.\n\nBefore you can think, a barrage of bullets cut through the air and ricochet off the landing pad. You roll over the side of the building and @@color:#000081;grab@@ the ledge.\n\nOne bullet grazed your @@color:#000081;leg.@@ Another nicked your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ The cuts sting, but you’ll live. It’s a good thing these guards have horrible aim – or maybe they’re just trying to keep you alive. They still want that information.\n\nAt least you don’t need to @@color:#000081;worry@@ about keeping them alive. You lift the submachine gun onto the ledge and @@color:#000081;blindfire@@ at the guards. You hear one scream. You grin. At least now they’ll think twice before taking another shot.\n\nYou sling the submachine gun over your shoulder and @@color:#000081;shimmy@@ around the corner. You peek over the ledge. Two more guards exit from the stairs. That radio call must have alerted the others. The roof is going to be swarming in minutes. You don’t have time for anything flashy.\n\nYou roll back onto the roof and duck behind an air conditioning unit. You’ve got maybe half a clip left in the submachine gun. That should be enough to take down the current set of guards, but the helicopter is still swirling through the air, and it doesn’t look like it’ll stay up much longer.\n\nYou need to focus on Gillian. The helicopter descends in a pattern. It’s still spinning chaotically, but if you time your jump just right you should be able to make it.\n\nYou twist around the corner and @@color:#000081;shoot@@ one of the guards. Then you drop the submachine gun and @@color:#000081;sprint@@ for the edge of the building where you hope the helicopter will be. You try not to think about if the helicopter will be facing the wrong direction or slightly tilted so a spinning blade chops you in half.\n\nYou push the thought out of your mind and leap into the air.\n\nYour leg hits part of the metal shell and you twirl into the @@color:#000081;cockpit.@@\n\n“What the—” The pilot looks at you with terror in his eyes.\n\nYou @@color:#000081;kick@@ him in the head and grab the controls. You aren’t much better at it than him, but you @@color:#000081;manage@@ to pull the helicopter up and toward the adjacent building. The tail’s busted so the rotation is random at best.\n\nYou grab Gillian’s hand. “Jump,” you shout while yanking her out of the chopper.\n\nYou hit the roof and roll. Your leg makes an uncomfortable @@color:#000081;crunching@@ sound. Her landing isn’t any softer. You watch the helicopter dip below the ledge of the building. Then you hear a loud @@color:#000081;explosion@@ and the whole building shakes.\n\nYou crawl over to Gillian. “You still alive?”\n\n“Barely. I think my arm’s broken,” she groans.\n\n“Same with my leg,” you say.\n\n“Aren’t we a pair.” She laughs then groans.\n\n“We need to keep moving. We have to reach the lobby before they do.”\n\n“Yeah,” she says pushing herself onto her feet. “What about that broken leg?”\n\n“I’ll be fine. I’ve been through worse.”\n\nSuddenly, there’s a sharp boom from a sniper rifle. You glance at your @@color:#000081;shoulder.@@ For some reason it really hurts. And your shirt is suddenly turning @@color:#000081;red.@@ It takes a moment for you to realize you’ve been shot. Then you @@color:#000081;collapse.@@\n\n“No,” Gillian cries.\n\nShe runs to you.\n\n“Stay down,” you groan. Your shoulder throbs with pain, and you feel @@color:#000081;dizzy.@@\n\n“They finally brought out the big guns. They must be playing for keeps now.”\n\n“Come on,” she pleads. “We need to move. You said so.”\n\nYou try to move, but not much happens. Between your shoulder and your leg, you won’t be much use. You pull out the pistol with your off hand. “Go,” you groan. “I’ll be right behind you.”\n\n“I’m not leaving you.”\n\n“I need to set up a diversion,” you lie. “I’ll be right behind you.”\n\nShe doesn’t look convinced.\n\n[[“Trust me.”]]\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 413>>\n<<set $hp = $hp -99>>\n<<set $kills = $kills +26>>\n<<set $xp = $xp +26>>\n<<set $damageCost = $damageCost +600000>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy +15>>\n<<lvlChecker>><<killsAchieveChecker>><<damageCostChecker>>\n<<endnobr>>You shove the stun gun against the blue and yellow wires. This isn’t the craziest thing you’ve done, but it’s nearly the stupidest. You take a deep breath. It’s not like you have a lot of choices at this particular moment.\n\nYou turn on the stun gun. The rubber wire covers melt, and sparks fly toward you. The wires are so hot they fuse to the tip of the stun gun. The dish behind you spasms and the floor shakes.\n\nYou’re beginning to think this was a bad idea, but it’s too late to turn back now. You sprint for the elevator. You can hear the scientist screaming at one another and the machine.\n\n“The machine... Who turned on the machine!?!”\n\n“It’s unstable!”\n\n“Reverse the polarity!”\n\n“It’s not working! Nothing’s working!”\n\nSuddenly the floor tilts. You slide backwards. The machine is imploding. Everything is being pulled toward it, even the concrete floor. Streaks of @@color:#000081;electricity@@ spasm from the computers. The scientists flail from one keyboard to the next trying to stabilize the machine, but they have no idea what happened or how to fix it.\n\nThe ground @@color:#000081;cracks,@@ and a giant chasm splits the lab. Computers and desks and equipment slide into the massive hole. You reach for something to grab... a cord.\n\nYou dangle over the ledge, staring down into the black pit. Several scientists slide past you, tumbling into the darkness. Their screams echo off the jagged @@color:#000081;rock walls.@@\n\nMaybe you underestimated what sabotaging the machine would do... Maybe you don’t have to blow-up everything you come into contact with... Maybe you could--\n\nSuddenly the cord slips. The lamp it’s attached to jerks free of the rubble. You fall into the pit. You twirl helplessly. The light from the room becomes smaller and smaller as you tumble in circles. You’re beginning to think this was a really, really bad idea.\n\nYou bounce off a protruding rock and @@color:#000081;slam@@ against the ground. Two or three of your ribs are broken and maybe your leg too, but you’re alive. You glance up. The light is barely a sliver.\n\nHow far have you fallen?\n\nSuddenly you hear the faint sound of an @@color:#000081;explosion@@ and the walls of the chasm shift. They’re moving closer. You try to escape or at least move, but your muscles don’t have the strength. Your body’s in shock.\n\nThe walls shift closer. They’re @@color:#000081;smashing@@ together...\n\nYou’re caught in the--\n\nYour organs @@color:#000081;pop out@@ of your body like a bug being squeezed between two fingers.\n\n[[I'm not quite dead yet...]]\n[[Epilogue 24]]\n

Hell Commentary\n

Time was the most significant difference between the [[spirit realm]] and the tangible world for though the two shared the exact same space; the [[spirit realm]] existed in a disjointed time – at least that was the claim of the [[two shamans]] that [[Karen|Karen]] had questioned.\n\nThey explained that, on certain occasions, the two disjointed times would tic in a similar resonance causing the barrier of time to become permeable; more specifically, giving common [[entities|spirits]] and [[spirits]] the ability to appear in both realms.\n

<>\n<<set $wordcount = $wordcount + 545>>\n<<set $sly = $sly +10>>\n<<set $force = $force -10>>\n<<set $infamy = $infamy -3>>\n<<endnobr>>Jazelle looks like she’s about to sprint for the cyclone. You grab her arm and @@color:#000081;pull her back@@ below the dune. “No,” you whisper. “We need to play this smart.”\n\n“What is that supposed to mean?” She says sharply.\n\nYou nod toward the glass trail. “We follow that to the exit.”\n\n“What makes you think that leads to an exit?”\n\n“It’s better than dueling with a demon.”\n\n“You think he’s the only demon in Hell? You’re more naive than I thought.”\n\n“I’ve gotten us this far haven’t I?”\n\n“You mean wandering through an endless desert until we happened upon a corpse infested oasis?”\n\nYou shrug. “When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound so impressive.”\n\nShe glowers at you. “It’s too late now. The cyclone is disappearing.”\n\nYou glance back at the cyclone. It swirls through the sand until the giant snail and the demon vanish and the wind subsides.\n\n“Great,” Jazelle groans. “We’re going to be stuck in this desert forever.”\n\n“That demon snail thing had to come from somewhere, right? We just need to retrace its steps.”\n\n“It just vanished into thin air, who says it didn’t appear the same way?”\n\nCrap. You hadn’t thought of that. “Well I’m following the glass trail. Are you coming or not?”\n\n“Oh, well,” she says cajolingly. “I was going to lie out in the sand and work on my tan for the next hundred years.”\n\n“Fine,” you growl. “Enjoy your sunbath. And you’re welcome for liberating you from an eternity of torment.”\n\n“What?” she growls back. “Who says I’m free? This is still Hell, isn’t it? And,” she points at the man clawing through the sand, “the torment is far from over.”\n\nShe’s right. You’re not any closer to being free. You take a deep breath. “I said I would get us out of here and I will. You don’t need to believe me. You don’t need to trust me. You just need to follow me.”\n\nShe takes a step back, stunned by your conviction. “Alright,” she says sheepishly. “It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.” She nods toward the man again. “What about him? It doesn’t seem right to just leave him like that.”\n\n“Yeah, that’s true, but how do we get him free?”\n\nShe shrugs. “How did you get me free?”\n\n“I don’t know. I guess I just got in the way.”\n\n“You have a knack for doing that don’t you.”\n\n“So I’ve been told.” You climb over the dune and slide down toward the crawling man. “Hey,” you say soothingly.\n\n“Water,” the man gasps. “Need water.”\n\n“I can help you,” you say reaching out your hand.\n\n“No,” the man growls, pushing your hand away. “Water. Must find water.”\n<<if $hellComments is true>>A vast and bizarre world of unrelated nightmares - that was my guiding principle for creating this fictionalized version of Hell. Reality and logic are like a dream and the main character (though skeptical at the beginning) has a “just go with it” attitude.<<endif>>\nBeing civil didn’t work. If you’re going to get through to him, you’ll have to be a little more invasive, but it’s not like you’ve got time for something so complex. The longer you stay here, the more likely the glass trail will get obscured by sand, and if that trail is gone, you’ll lose your only lead.\n\nYou have no obligations to this guy, and like Jazelle keeps saying, if he’s down here he probably deserves to be tortured. On the other hand, he’s human and that should count for something.\n\n[[Leave him and follow the glass trail]]\n[[Help him break free of his torment]]\n