Aaron [A Text Adventure]

[Telamon]

The harsh buzz of your phone vibrating against the wooden shelf snaps you out of your stupor. You stumble out of bed, lurching towards the phone, its backlighting the only source of light in the room. As you pick it up, you note with a groan that it's 4 PM. Less surprising is the fact that it's Jonathan calling. He's the only one who still calls you on a regular basis.

You: Mrghmumph.
Jonathan: Sorry, did I wake you?
You: Oh, no, no, I don't sleep any more. You know how I operate.
Jonathan: You should probably try to do something about that. How's it going otherwise?
You: Uh...well, I managed to eat a whole sandwich today. It had lettuce and ham.
Jonathan: Baby steps.
You: Yeah. How's it going with you?

He starts going on about some idea he has for a new invention. You walk back and collapse on your bed, not really listening. You're a good listener, you feel, since you're not likely to interrupt. Most of the friends you attract tend to be talkative types. You drape your free arm over your eyes and make the appropriate noises whenever he pauses. Still, he seems to sense something is amiss, as he eventually stops his monologue.

Jonathan: I think we really need to find you something to do.
You: There is nothing to do.
Jonathan: There's everything to do. Just look around you and find something you want to do and do it.
You: There is nothing I can do.
Jonathan: Forget can do, what do you want to do? If you could do anything in the world, what would you do?
You: I want it to be August so I can go back to school.
Jonathan: That's not what I asked. If you could do anything in the world, even out of this world...If you could be doing anything at all, anything you can think of, what would it be?

You don't know why he's asking it, but what can it hurt to answer? He is one of your closest friends, and answering will probably make him feel better, even if it won't help you. What will you say?

[All suggestions, unless otherwise noted, should be submitted in dialogue form, i.e. you supply what the character says next.]

[Ashtastic]

> 'Play videogames.'

[goggleman64]

> "Assassinate someone".

[Telamon]

> "Assassinate someone".

Jonathan laughs at your answer. He doesn't believe you, of course. He thinks you're joking. The two of you make a lot of jokes in poor taste, but this is deadly serious.

As if in response to your wish, your phone rings. Not the one you're currently talking on, of course. This is the one that is in fact implanted in your head, speaker in your ear, microphone in your throat. You hang up on Jonathan without a word, and answer the call with a touch to the subcutaneous sensor on the side of your head. A rendezvous is set. You grab your sunglasses, leave your room, leave the house, walk to your car, start to drive. Twenty-three minutes later an unmarked helicopter picks you up at an empty football field. Fifteen minutes after that you are on a jet, headed south.

It's already dark when you arrive at your destination, but that doesn't hinder you. The seedy, poorly lit streets are clear as day in your vision. In spite of all the suffering their side effects have caused you, your physiological and neurological enhancements do their job well. Your senses are tingling, time seems to be moving slowly. Externally, you look like just another American tourist, probably unaware just how dangerous this part of the world is. Once your target passes and is dispatched, you'll simply melt into the crowd and make your own way north.

You tense as a pickup truck full of armed men drives past. The locals don't bat an eye at such a sight, but you note the identity of the man in the front. Wherever HE goes, your target is never far behind. You tense, clutching the explosives (disguised as a water bottle) in your right hand. Another pair of headlights rounds the corner...

Jonathan: So is this guy you're whacking a drug lord, or does he work for the government?

You find yourself back in your room, in darkness. How long have you been talking? Were you describing something that really happened, or were you making it up as you go? Reality is so confused these days.

You: Forget about it.
Jonathan: No, man, that was a good story. How does it come out?
You: I'll tell you about it later. I'm going to go get online, you can ask me there.
Jonathan: I'll be on later. You really should write some of this down, it really is good shit.
You: Sure it is. I'll talk to you later.
Jonathan: See ya.

You end the call and get up off the bed. Scratching your temple, you walk to your desk and turn on your monitor. You switch your Trillian status from 'Away' to 'Online' without bother to check who's online. After a few minutes of desultory webpage surfing, you receive an IM.

Fennec Fawkes: Hey Aaron! How are things this fine afternoon?
You: is it afternoon? I hadn't noticed
Fennec Fawkes: Must be nice. I just got off work, been on shift since 6 AM.
Fennec Fawkes: So tired.

This is Nicki. The two of you go way back. You love her dearly, but just as a friend. What will you say?

[Epamynondas]

>"Is it even legal to work that many hours?"

or

>"What is your job, by the way? Actually, do I do something for a living? I feel like I don't know a lot about myself."

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Hello <3

[goggleman64]

You: Man, isn't there a union for pharmacists that you could talk to?
You: Or, uh, a union for people who work at pharmacies?
You: Pharmaceutical Desk Clerks Local 103?

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Also, I think your writing style is excellent. I only stumbled on this because the name intrigued me, but I'm subscribing now.

[Telamon]

>"What is your job, by the way? Actually, do I do something for a living? I feel like I don't know a lot about myself."

There's a pause before she responds to your question. You might think that the strangeness of your answer is what is causing her to hesitate, but Nicki has always been very cautious, slow to speak or act.

Fennec Fawkes: I'm working as a waitress, just for the summer. I suppose maybe I hadn't mentioned it to you before.
You: don't be silly, i'm sure you did. i just can't keep anything straight these days
Fennec Fawkes: Well, you told me last month that you don't feel up to working right now.
You: yeah, that sounds like something i would say. i remember coming home from college at the end of semester, then things sort of imploded. at this point i have no idea if what i remember about myself is real, and what i just made up
Fennec Fawkes: Maybe you should just try talking about it. I'm always ready to listen.

She's just so nice you could just about cry. You know you wouldn't put up with your own bullshit if you were on the receiving end of it. What will you say?

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Hello <3

Hello, dear [appropriate smiley from list I haven't been able to find in this crazy new format]

Also, I think your writing style is excellent. I only stumbled on this because the name intrigued me, but I'm subscribing now.

Perhaps you would be interested in my old completed/abandoned adventure? It is only 50,000 words long.

Seriously, though, I'm glad you like what I'm doing now.

[Pyro-Dude]

>"I can't tell the difference between reality and my imagination. I don't even know if this is real, or if this is something
I'm dreaming up. Shouldn't I at least know that?"

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I was missing your textventures

[Korona Korm]

>"I can't tell the difference between reality and my imagination. I don't even know if this is real, or if this is something
I'm dreaming up. Shouldn't I at least know that?"

Seconded so hard you wouldn't believe.

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Good to see you writing again. Loving it!

[The Random One]

>"I can't tell the difference between reality and my imagination. I don't even know if this is real, or if this is something
I'm dreaming up. Shouldn't I at least know that?"

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HOORAY TELAMON IS BACK I LOVE YOU FOREVER

[Telamon]

>"I can't tell the difference between reality and my imagination. I don't even know if this is real, or if this is something I'm dreaming up. Shouldn't I at least know that?"

Fennec Fawkes: It's hard to know when you live in your own head so much. You need to get it out, even if it just means talking about it.
You: i don't want to talk
Fennec Fawkes: Please, do it for me. Just tell me about what you dream.

You feel like she probably wouldn't want to hear about the assassin thing, but you have plenty of other stories, or fantasies, to talk about. What will you say?

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Thanks for the love, my bromo sapiens

[Korona Korm]

"SPACEMONAUGHT!"
Or "Airship Officer..."

[Telamon]

"Airship Officer..."

Fennec Fawkes: You mean like an airline pilot?
You: no, not a plane. think more like a floating city

There's a longer than normal pause before her response.

Fennec Fawkes: That definitely sounds like a dream.
You: it's certainly not something from our world
You: But there's a different world, one where airships carry thousands of people, high above an environment that is far more hostile to humans than our own. There, we can grow our own food, manufacture our own goods.
You: But there are still things we need from the surface. Phosphate for fertilizer. Ore to repair hulls. Uranium for our reactors. For those, we depend on the hardy minority that live on the surface, picking nature's pockets for its wealth, in the face of constant danger.
You: The airship's life is defined by the slow crawl from mine to mine, bartering for the necessities that keep it floating. So for months and months at a time we float, maybe fifty miles in a day, over an unimaginable landscape fecund to the point of madness.
Fennec Fawkes: But, Aaron, I've known you for years.
Fennec Fawkes: You've never disappeared for months.
You: time moves differently there
You: and when i'm there, i'm still here, too. but this life becomes hazy, distant. surely there are times when you've noticed that i don't seem all here?
Fennec Fawkes: I suppose you do.
Fennec Fawkes: So what is it that you do on this airship?

You are about to respond when you get another message.

FevertoYell: Hey
FevertoYell: Hey
FevertoYell: Hey
FevertoYell: I just heard a tip about an abandoned ice rink a few towns over.
FevertoYell: Wanna go explore it tonight?

It's Dean. You and a few other dudes sometimes get together and go places you're not supposed to. You're not sure if you're up to it tonight, however. Or maybe you are?

What will you say?

[Please suggest answers for either conversation, specifying who you're responding to.]

[Korona Korm]

To FF: PARTY!!1!
No, but really, Chief Petty Officer in charge of Munitions. It's my job to stop Sky Pirates from disrupting the lives of those on board."
To FY: Will there be NON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES?

[Telamon]

To FY: Will there be NON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES?

FevertoYell: You KNOW it, bro! Zero ABV is just how we roll.

Some, hearing two young men sommunicating in such a manner, might suspect insincerity belying a meaning opposite of what is being said, but you and Dean are not joking. In a way, it was the shared rejection of the culture of intoxication of your peers that brought you together as friends in the first place. You mainly just joke about it now, but it's nice to know you have someone you can count on, even if you can't be counted on, sober though you may be.

The ache in the pit of your stomach seems to be loosening a little at the thought of getting out of the house. Still, you'd have to shower and everything...

You: who else is going?
FevertoYell: Not sure yet, probably just Brent and Gel.

Gel, eh? You make up your mind and tell Dean you'll be there, and he sends you the address so that you can get directions. You agree to drive there yourself, meet them around eleven.

Still need to answer Nicki's question, about what you do on the airship. What will you say?

[awolf]

"I repair the stuff."

[Ceyla]

"I head the maintenance crew. That is, janitorial staff. I don't have many mechanical skills."

[omegawill]

I'm the saboteur, sneaking onto other people's ships and taking them down.

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If you can make it sound like you go down with the ship and can somehow miraculously evade explosions at the last minute, bonus points

[goggleman64]

> FF :
You're the navigator. You know all the mines and other safe points, and you know the lands inbetween. In fact, you know them far more intimately than you would like, from the time before you were on any airship crew.

EDIT:

Perhaps you would be interested in my old completed/abandoned adventure? It is only 50,000 words long.

I was interested, and I did read and enjoy and finish, despite a gross underestimation of the length of '50,000 words'. It is now 2:30am.

It is a good story with good writing, and boy do I appreciate them both. Thank you very much for writing it.

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Also, observations made while reading -- when combined with another instance I know of -- make me suspect that thegreenspark cannot say good things about an adventure without sending its author into paroxysms of happiness. It may be an immutable law.

DOUBLE-EDIT: Oh my God, I never knew two-thirty could be such a cuddly time!

[Telamon]

"I head the maintenance crew. That is, janitorial staff. I don't have many mechanical skills."

You: i know it's not much, but it's better than life in this dumb world
You: i get to order people around, too
Fennec Fawkes: Wouldn't it be easier if people just dumped their garbage over the side?
You: wasteful, wasteful
You: such an american take on life
You: When every trip to the surface is filled with incalculable danger, we can't afford to let any mass go to waste. Everything is recycled, and littering is strictly punished. Material maintenance is a vital component of the efficient running of the ship, and I'm well respected for the job I do. It's a beautiful craft, and I'm proud to help keep it that way.

You realize how defensive you are getting, but it is nice to feel something other than apathy again. How you wish you could go back there!

Fennec Fawkes: So what is this amazing craft called?

What will you say?

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Hey there Ceyla :3

Also, observations made while reading -- when combined with another instance I know of -- make me suspect that thegreenspark cannot say good things about an adventure without sending its author into paroxysms of happiness. It may be an immutable law.

Not only did he like it, he drew one of the awards I won! He DREW Fran! I was giddy for a week!

[omegawill]

The Flying Muskrat (Apparently that's already a thing)

The Yog-Sothoth

[goggleman64]

The Weatherlight!

The Dawn Treader!

Metropolis!

[Korona Korm]

The Maoscand

[Telamon]

The Maoscand

Fennec Fawkes: That sounds like you made it up on the spot.
You: did not
Fennec Fawkes: Okay.
You: it's a whole different world. of course the names are going to sound different
Fennec Fawkes: I suppose.
You: maybe i did make it up. that's the whole point, i don't know any more
Fennec Fawkes: I think you just have a very impressive imagination.
You: whatever. look, i'm going out with dean in a little, i need to go get ready

You put up an away message without waiting for her reply. Really you have several hours before you have to leave, but it seemed like a plausible enough excuse. You take a quick shower, then throw all of the requisite gear (crowbar, flashlight, camera) in your backpack and leave it by the door. You then lie down on the bed to read a trashy fantasy novel, only half taking in the words.

Some time later, your phone buzzes. You pull it out of your pocket and see you have a text message.

Jonathan: Shank any more dudes lately?

What will you say?

[Korona Korm]

Only a turkey. And even then it was after I cooked the thing.