Counterfeit Monkey — 114 of 292

Book 2 - Act II Among Smugglers

Part 1 - Secrets and Concealments

Chapter 1 - The Fish Area

Section 1 - Deep Street

[The mixed architecture of Deep Street is an echo of the dreamlike buildings I once saw in the French seaside town of Cerbère, on the Mediterranean just across the border from Spain.]

Deep Street is a proper-named road. "This road descends steeply from [southwest] to [northwest], passing between [white concrete buildings] to provide access to the marina [--] the Fish Market, the Docks, and a bar or two. The street is in deep shadow, protected from sunlight from almost any angle by its narrowness and by the height of the walls."

Instead of going southeast in Deep Street:

say "The [Post Office] is of course shut down for the holiday."

The Post Office is a facade in Deep Street. It fronts southeast. It is scenery. Understand "postoffice" as the Post Office. The description is "Postal service on the island is easy [--] no one lives very far from anyone else, after all [--] but very necessary considering the limited uses of internet and telephones. This building is the one in which mail from the outside world is processed before being sent on, and is consequently a bit grander than most."

The convenience store is a facade in Deep Street. It fronts northeast. It is scenery. Understand "shop" or "grocery" as the convenience store. The description is "During normal business hours, it sells the usual assortment: sandwiches, cold drinks, bus tickets, recharge packets for letter tools, disposable cameras. Currently it is shut, however."

The white concrete buildings are scenery in Deep Street. Instead of entering the white concrete buildings, say "They're all private apartments, run down but nevertheless expensive on the grounds of location alone." The description of the white concrete buildings is "Each has its [balcony] and its [laundry] flapping on clothes lines; but there the uniformity ends. Some are decorated in a curious fantasia of [painted Moorish patterns]; others a daring kind of art nouveau, all organic curves and windows that glance out under lowered concrete lids."

The painted Moorish patterns are part of the white concrete buildings. The description is "Black, gold, rose and red, they mark out arches and stripe eaves."

The balcony is part of the buildings. Understand "balconies" as the balcony. Instead of climbing the balcony, say "The lowest is still many feet above the sidewalk level." The description of the balcony is "Many are rounded, like boxes at the opera."

The laundry is part of the balcony. The description is "Mostly bleached t-shirts and underpants and the odd sheet pinned to a line." Understand "clothes" or "lines" or "line" or "underpants" or "odd" or "sheet" or "t-shirts" or "bleached" as the laundry.

[say "Then [you] turn south across a lane of traffic. One guy honks and another makes a gesture that doesn't actually apply to us in our current anatomy. There are protesters here, too [--] lots of them.

As we move down the street, we can see police with riot gear starting to cut off side exits, containing the protest.

A woman on the curb bangs on the hood of our car. 'You! You're guilty!' she says, pointing at us.

I nearly have a heart attack, but she pulls back. 'We are [i]all[/i] guilty!' shouts the voice. 'If we really objected to what is done in our name, we would storm the Bureau[--]'";

wait for any key;

say "[paragraph break]There's a bright light and a catastrophic bang and world goes eerily silent. The protesters are gone. The cars on the street are still moving, slowly.

A policeman in blue is cuffing a single old woman in a Not Guilty shirt. Her eyes meet ours. They're wild with fury and fear and simple madness.

And that, my friend, is why civil disobedience doesn't tend to work around here. We've just seen a depluralization.";

remove protesters from play;

wait for any key. ]

Deep Street is northeast of Roundabout.

A description-concealing rule:

if Counterfeit Monkey is unvisited:

now aquarium-exterior is not marked for listing.

aquarium-exterior is a facade in Deep Street. It fronts east. The printed name is "Aquarium Bookstore". Understand "aquarium" or "shop" or "window" or "bookstore" or "store" as aquarium-exterior. "[The Aquarium] is to the east." The introduction is "It is an esoteric bookstore (and purveyor of other things), but one whose owner has helped you in the past[if the player knows lena-needed and aquarium is not visited]. That would be Lena, the woman that [you] need to talk to about Slango[end if]."

The description is "[if Aquarium is visited]The outside manages to give an impression of poverty, gloom, and probable drug use; though, having seen the inside, I am going to guess that the real issues are sloth and kookiness[otherwise]I've never been inside the Aquarium: the outside never looked terribly savory. Perhaps that's the point[end if]."

Rule for writing a topic sentence about aquarium-exterior when aquarium-exterior is not as-yet-unknown:

say "[The Aquarium] is to the east. [if aquarium-closed-sign is visible]There's a closed sign in the window and a forbidding atmosphere[otherwise]It's dim inside, but occasional movements suggest that the proprietor, Slango's friend Lena, is inside[end if]. ";

A ranking rule when aquarium-exterior is not as-yet-unknown and Aquarium is visited and a car (called target) is in the location:

increase description-rank of the target by 20.

Rule for writing a topic sentence about the car (called target car) when the location is Deep Street and Aquarium is visited and aquarium-exterior is not as-yet-unknown and aquarium-exterior is mentionable:

say "Our pathetic little [target car] is parked right outside [the aquarium-exterior]. "

Instead of searching aquarium-exterior:

if the aquarium-closed-sign is visible:

say "Now that the shade is down, it's impossible to see inside.";

otherwise:

say "The interior of the shop is so much dimmer than the outside that it's hard to get a good look inside, but from the occasional signs of movement, I think Slango's friend Lena is in there."

Before going to the Aquarium when the Counterfeit Monkey is unvisited:

say "I'm sure that would be interesting under other circumstances, but [you] have an appointment to keep." instead.

Before approaching the Aquarium when the Counterfeit Monkey is unvisited:

say "I'm sure that would be interesting under other circumstances, but [you] have an appointment to keep." instead.

Before going to the Aquarium when player can see the aquarium-closed-sign:

say "[rejection-from-aquarium]" instead.

Before approaching the Aquarium when the aquarium-closed-sign:

say "[rejection-from-aquarium]" instead.

To say rejection-from-aquarium:

say "[one of]Lena has rolled down the shades and put up the closed sign.[or]I try tapping on the door, but Lena calls from inside, 'Go away, we're closed!'[or]'I'm napping!' yells Lena from an upper room. 'Go away!'[or][You] knock again. No good.[stopping]"

The aquarium-closed-sign is a privately-named thing. The printed name is "closed sign". Understand "closed" or "sign" or "shades" or "shade" or "red" or "placard" or "white lettering" or "lettering" as the aquarium-closed-sign. The description is "The shades have been rolled down over the Aquarium window, and a red placard with white lettering announces that the shop is closed."

After going from the Aquarium when Slango is in the Counterfeit Monkey:

say "'This would be a good time to stop for lunch and a little siesta,' says Lena, following us to the door. As we go out, she's rolling down the shades and putting up a closed sign.";

move the single ream to the repository;

move the odes-book to the repository; [The ream object actually does double-duty and will reappear when we need to fix the printer.]

now the aquarium-closed-sign is part of the aquarium-exterior;

continue the action.