Counterfeit Monkey — 142 of 292

Section 9 - Graduate Student Office

South of Samuel Johnson Basement is the Graduate Student Office. The description of the Graduate Student Office is "A small windowless room divided into cubicles for individual graduate students." Graduate Student Office is indoors.

A tiny refrigerator is a refrigerator in the Graduate Student Office. The tiny refrigerator is not scenery. The fridge-top is part of the tiny refrigerator. It is a supporter. The scent-description of the tiny refrigerator is "onions".

On the fridge-top is a coffee-maker. The coffee-maker is a device. A coffee-pot is part of the coffee-maker. The coffee-pot is a container. Understand "coffee pot" or "coffeepot" as the coffee-pot. Understand "coffee maker" or "coffeemaker" or "maker" or "coffee" as the coffee-maker. The scent-description of the coffee-maker is "damp, aging coffee grounds".

Instead of switching on the coffee-maker:

say "[You] don't have time to go brewing ourselves a pot, but I can set your mind at rest on one point anyway: it generally comes out horrible."

A ranking rule for the tiny refrigerator:

increase the description-rank of the tiny refrigerator by 100.

After printing the name of the silver platter while writing a paragraph about the tiny refrigerator:

if something is on the silver platter:

if at least two things are on the silver platter:

say " (littered with [if the shrimp tail is on the silver platter]the remains of a party, including [end if][a list of things on the silver platter])[run paragraph on]";

otherwise:

say " bearing [a list of things on the silver platter][run paragraph on]".

Rule for writing a paragraph about the tiny refrigerator:

say "A [tiny refrigerator] stores lunches (sometimes) and looted leftovers from department receptions (when available)";

if the tiny refrigerator is open:

say ". The door is currently open[if something is in the tiny refrigerator], revealing [a list of things in the tiny refrigerator][end if]";

say "[if something is on the fridge-top]. On top of the fridge there [is-are a list of things on the fridge-top][end if].";

say line break.

Instead of putting something on the tiny refrigerator:

try putting the noun on the fridge-top.

The description of the coffee-maker is "It's the cheapest possible variety, donated by one of the older students, and it is constantly overflowing and needing to be taken away to be cleaned of loose grounds. But it does work, more or less, most of the time."

In the tiny refrigerator is a cream. The indefinite article of the cream is "some". The description of the cream is "Kept around to go with the coffee. It doesn't seem to have gone off yet, which is a wonder." The cream is edible, contained, and fluid.

In the tiny refrigerator is a silver platter. The heft of the silver platter is 2. On the silver platter is a crumpled cocktail napkin and a shrimp tail.

The description of the silver platter is "Evidently the platter is left over from a department function, and no one has bothered with doing the dishes."

The silver platter is portable.

The description of the shrimp tail is "There's no meat left; just the remains of one shrimp tail with the flesh bitten off."

The description of the crumpled cocktail napkin is "It's trash. Why it wound up being archived in the refrigerator is anyone's guess."

A ranking rule for the cubicle:

increase the description-rank of the cubicle by 25.

The cubicle is a fixed in place enterable open container in the Graduate Student Office. It is not openable.

The description is "Little more than a [swivel-chair] and a [built-in desk], now."

The introduction is "I cleared everything subversive out of there ages ago, and now I do most of my work at home in the apartment. It's safer that way."

Rule for writing a topic sentence about the cubicle:

say "My cubicle is the one with [the swivel-chair], towards the back of the room by [the water cooler]. [no line break]"

A built-in desk is a desk. It is part of the cubicle.

A swivel-chair is in the cubicle. It is a chair. Understand "chair" as the swivel-chair.

The description is "It is grey with small white dots on the fabric."

The introduction is "I bought the swivel-chair with my own money, because sitting on the plastic bucket seat supplied by the department made my legs sticky in the summer."

[In an earlier version of the game, there's an NPC hanging around the department who no longer appears: a grad student with a long-running crush on Alex, which he's never quite reciprocated. He's not that into her, and anyway, he keeps figuring he's going to leave the island and doesn't want to get into a relationship.

That element didn't tie into any puzzles and so felt kind of purposeless and unbalanced (and even from a story perspective, she had no special reason to be in the department on a holiday, and Alexandra had no reason to be talking to her when there's this important getting away to do).

So I cut the character, leaving only this covert element, a message of solidarity and warning that she's left behind.]

The sticky is a thing on the swivel-chair. The description is "[i]Please be careful. The blue hats are watching you.[/i]". Understand "writing" or "message" or "handwriting" or "note" or "warning" as the sticky.

The introduction is "I half recogn[ize] the handwriting, but I'm having trouble placing it. One of the other grad students, but I'm not sure which."

Instead of putting the sticky on something which is not a supporter:

say "[The sticky] doesn't have enough gumminess left to stick to anything new."

The water cooler is fixed in place in the Graduate Student Office. The description is "Perpetually empty because no one down here can be bothered to go up to the office, demand a refill, and lug the replacement bottle down the stairs."

Instead of drinking the water cooler:

say "The water cooler does not contain any water at the moment."