Thursday 26 January 2017

Chapter III: Knock, Knock, Knocking...

The story so far…
Ellis Cobalt, after finding themselves at a murder scene with no memory of how they got there or whether they even did the murder, ended up in a full on fire fight with almost an entire robot police force, before killing an innocent detective and finally taking on some kind of giant special weapons police robot. Shot half to death, their memory resetting itself every few minutes, their behaviour… erratic at best, Ellis Cobalt is not in a good state. Right now they are lying on the floor of the elevator on the verge of death. The elevator has moved, but I’m afraid poor Ellis doesn’t even have enough semblance of memory to ask why it happened.
So, hello! Sorry about the delay this week. Now that Ellis has escaped the apartment of the late Clagg Mastodon, and no longer has a whole robot police force chasing him down, I’ve had a chance to really open up the world. Once Ellis leaves this elevator they will find themselves in a rich and vibrant new world full of opportunity, mysteries and essential information about the world Ellis lives in and the larger mystery they don’t even realise exists yet. I’ve spent all week writing scenery descriptions, character back story and vital snippets of dialogue. I am prepared. I am ready for anything.

You are now chatting with a total stranger! Say something interesting other than: ASL?
Don't forget to Register a profile on iMeetzu to keep track of your new friends.
Stranger: M
You: You have no memory of how you got here, what you’re doing, or even who you are. All you know are your surroundings. In one hand you’re holding a notebook that reads TAKE LOTS OF NOTES. YOU DIDN’T KILL HIM. YOU DID KILL THE DETECTIVE GUY. From the bulges in your coat pockets it seems you’re carrying a bunch of other stuff as well. That’s not really important right now though because frankly, you’re pretty messed up. You’re standing, shakily, on the (admittedly, plushly carpeted) floor of an expensive looking elevator, you’re riddled with bulletholes and you seem to have a whole bunch of wires, fibre-optics and circuit boards spilling out of the places most people keep their guts. Also, you’re in SO MUCH PAIN. I don’t see a huge number of options here, but what do you want to do?
Stranger: Asl
You: You're speaking to an empty elevator. Nobody answers.
Stranger: Exctli correct
Stranger: Then who r u?
You: I am narrating.
Stranger: M taking notbook
Stranger: As u say
Stranger: Wats ur name?
You: I'm not really here, I'm an abstraction that allows you to understand what you are hearing, seeing and feeling. What do you want to do next?
Stranger: Ok...then tell me...wat d nxt?
You: You tell me. What would you like to do? You're pretty messed up.
Stranger: Noting....now i dont knw
Stranger: U say?
You: I can't really make suggestions.
Stranger: Ur gender?
You: You ask the elevator what it's gender is. It doesn't respond, because it is an elevator.
Stranger: Oooo realli
You: Really.
Stranger: M also a elevator
You: Wow. Whatever just happened really has messed you up. You seem to believe you're an elevator.
Stranger: Great
You: As an elevator, what would you like to do?
Stranger: Dont bore plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......if u hv smthng intrsting ....then say
You: Maybe you want to try to get out of the elevator?
Stranger: Yea
Stranger: Plz u shold also out frm elevator
You: You get to your feet, it hurts and you have to old your guts, or wiring, or whatever, in with one hand. You see your reflection in the doors.
You: Your reflection is that of a tall and lean figure of indeterminate gender, wearing a long beige raincoat. You are completely hairless. You also notice that your skin is wearing a little thin in places. Around your otherwise exquisite cheekbones the colour has begun to wear away revealing the grey organi-plastic underneath. And of course, you're swiss cheesed with bullet holes and have a tonne of wiring on the outside that you're pretty sure should be inside.
You: There's a button by the door.
Stranger: N m not hairless
Stranger: Sri
Stranger: Wat u say.......i cant understnd
You: That's what your reflection looks like. If it doesn't look familiar that makes sense- your memory isn't what it was. What do you want to do?
Stranger: I wanna killu
Stranger: Kill u
You: Also, the lack of hair, it has to be said, is less worrying than all the bullet holes.
You: You wave your hands around at something that isn't there. It has no effect. The button by the door is green. And flashes.
Stranger: R u mad?
You: I'm not the one riddled with bullet holes waving their hands around at a narrative abstraction in an elevator.
Stranger: I ask some questuion....rpli plzzzzzzzz
Stranger: Plzzz...no more rubbis
Stranger: Plzzz

I honestly wasn’t expecting this to be a huge challenge. But here we are.

You: What would you like to know? I can tell you anything about your surroundings, situation and options.
Stranger: Where i m?
Stranger: In one word
You: An elevator.
You: A lift if you're British.
Stranger: Wat i wear?
You: You're wearing a shirt, trousers and a brown raincoat, all which are ripped up and riddled with bullet holes.
Stranger: Wat u wear?
You: I am not there. I am merely a disembodied voice describing everything that happens.
Stranger: R u a girl?
Stranger: Yes or no
You: The narrator's voice has no gender.
Your chat has been disconnected. Click here to chat again.

This is Ellis Cobalt’s eternal problem. They haven’t only lost their memory. They’ve lost their very nature. And there is no way to tell what they will turn out as next…

You are now chatting with a total stranger! Say something interesting other than: ASL?
Don't forget to Register a profile on iMeetzu to keep track of your new friends.
You: You have no memory of how you got here, what you’re doing, or even who you are. All you know are your surroundings. In one hand you’re holding a notebook that reads TAKE LOTS OF NOTES. YOU DIDN’T KILL HIM. YOU DID KILL THE DETECTIVE GUY. From the bulges in your coat pockets it seems you’re carrying a bunch of other stuff as well. That’s not really important right now though because frankly, you’re pretty messed up. You’re standing, shakily, on the (admittedly, plushly carpeted) floor of an expensive looking elevator, you’re riddled with bulletholes and you seem to have a whole bunch of wires, fibre-optics and circuit boards spilling out of the places most people keep their guts. Also, you’re in SO MUCH PAIN. I don’t see a huge number of options here, but what do you want to do?
Stranger: Hola
Stranger: No comprendo
You: That is understandable. It's a pretty intense situation.
Stranger: Q estas en una situación intensa...?
Stranger: Spanins
You: No recuerdas cómo llegaste aquí, lo que estás haciendo, ni siquiera quién eres. Todo lo que sabes es lo que te rodea. En una mano usted está sosteniendo un cuaderno que lee TOMA POR LOTES DE NOTAS. NO LO MATASTE. MATASTE AL INDIVIDUO DETECTIVO. De las protuberancias en los bolsillos de su abrigo, parece que está llevando un montón de otras cosas también. Eso no es realmente importante ahora, porque francamente, estás bastante desordenado. Usted está de pie, tembloroso, en el piso de un ascensor caros, usted está plagado de bulletholes y parece que tiene un montón de cables, fibra óptica y placas de circuito que se derrama fuera de los lugares La mayoría de la gente mantiene sus tripas. Además, estás en TANTO DOLOR. No veo un gran número de opciones aquí, pero ¿qué quieres hacer?
Stranger: I am from colombia
You: ¿Qué vas a hacer?
Stranger: Jejeje pues desapareser
Stranger: Tu eres hombre o mujer
You: No puedes desaparecer. Estás atrapado en un ascensor.
Stranger: Pues armado o sin armas
You: En sus bolsillos encuentra un arma. Tiene "Turing" escrito en el barril. 
Stranger: Jajaja no te entiendo tu q harias
Stranger: ....?
You: Puedes mirar alrededor del ascensor. Puedes examinar tu reflejo en la puerta. Puede ver un botón verde parpadeando junto a la puerta.
Stranger: Botón de salida o q la verdad no te entiendo lo q me quieres decir
Your chat has been disconnected. Click here to chat again.

Colombian Ellis Cobalt came close to pressing the button and getting out of the lift, but unfortunately disconnected at the last second. When Ellis’ personality next rebuilt itself, they were speaking English again. Unfortunately their go-getting attitude had disappeared with the Spanish language….

You are now chatting with a total stranger! Say something interesting other than: ASL?
Don't forget to Register a profile on iMeetzu to keep track of your new friends.
You: You have no memory of how you got here, what you’re doing, or even who you are. All you know are your surroundings. In one hand you’re holding a notebook that reads TAKE LOTS OF NOTES. YOU DIDN’T KILL HIM. YOU DID KILL THE DETECTIVE GUY. From the bulges in your coat pockets it seems you’re carrying a bunch of other stuff as well. That’s not really important right now though because frankly, you’re pretty messed up. You’re standing, shakily, on the (admittedly, plushly carpeted) floor of an expensive looking elevator, you’re riddled with bulletholes and you seem to have a whole bunch of wires, fibre-optics and circuit boards spilling out of the places most people keep their guts. Also, you’re in SO MUCH PAIN. Your finger is hovering over the button for the doors. I don’t see a huge number of options here, but what do you want to do?
Stranger: M
You: What do you do next?
Stranger: I'd go back to sleep

I mean it. There's some really cool stuff outside this elevator.

Stranger: Probably I'm dreaming
You: You drift off and have a really nice dream about some electric sheep. When you wake up you are lying on the floor of the elevator, and still riddled with bullet holes
Stranger: I should stop doing drugs
Stranger: *thought in my head*
You: It's possible drugs led to this. Or getting shot. Your memory is a total blank, so any theory is valid at this point.

You get to see a giant mech at one point. I mean, I don't want to give too much away, but we definitely see one.

Stranger: I'm just horny
Stranger: You got anything for me?
You: I'm afraid the lift is empty apart from your bullet riddled body.
Stranger: A picture could be fine..
Stranger: I don't expect a human
You: If being in critical condition after multiple gunshot wounds is your thing, you are getting your rocks off big time.
Stranger: Haha lol

There's also a mysterious figure from Ellis's past who has some important information.

You: There is a digital camera in your pocket.
Stranger: You still didn't answer my questions
Stranger: Any pictures
You: You want to check the camera?
Stranger: And I want to see the pics you sent
Stranger: Come one
You: The camera has no photos on it.
You: Sorry.
Your chat has been disconnected. Click here to chat again.

And so we leave Ellis, for now, lounging across the floor of the elevator, very slowly dying and not seeming that bothered about it. We’ll visit them again next week and see if they’re feeling more active.
There is some really cool stuff on the other side of that elevator door.

3 comments:

  1. That... that was rough. Excitedly refreshing the page for a week... and no one would play along except for Colombian Ellis, which totally would've been interesting.

    Did you just dump your narration into Google translate, or did you have to meticulously re-type it only to have Colombian Ellis bail? If you translated it because you know Spanish, I'm not insulting your Spanish, my Spanish isn't good enough to know if it's machine-translated.

    Welp: there's always next time. Makes me wanna make a bot to just open chat connections, scrape to see if I got your narration and then restart a new connection if not... but that would probably violate the spirit of this very interesting project :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had two tabs open the entire time- one for Spanish to English, one for English to Spanish, and I was copying and pasting like a mofo throughout the entire session (the quality of the translation will bear this out).
    For what it's worth, I don't think Colombian Ellis bailed. Sometimes you'll just get dodgy connections or random time outs, which is annoying when you've got a player who's really into it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, damn, that would be literally the worst.

      I mean, what if these folks finally got to cyber with someone that shares their kitchen-fetish and then BAM: dropped.

      Delete