Counterfeit Monkey — 91 of 292

Section 9 - Escape

Landing is a scene. Landing begins when Seeking Brock ends. Landing ends when the location is nautical.

Definition: a thing is unoriginal if it is not original.

When Landing ends:

if Brock is in the repository and something (called b-target) is proffered by Brock:

say "Slango gels [the b-target] easily enough. Then he and Brock turn the restoration gel on us. Slango ";

move b-target to the repository;

otherwise:

say "Before we can really start a conversation, Slango has a rough go at us with a washcloth and a tub of restoration gel. He ";

say "is determined to separate you from me before he has a real talk with either of us; and it's not until a number of swipes in that he realizes how wrong things are.

'This isn't working,' he remarks, tossing the gel and washcloth aside.

'We're fused,' [you] explain, not very coherently. 'Something happened. I don't know if it can be fixed.'[line break]";

if Brock is in the repository:

say "Brock looks at us for a long moment and then turns away. He vanishes into the galley.

'I'm sure he's just gone to get you a cup of tea,' Slango says. He takes a deep breath, stands. 'The T-inserter specs better be worth what Brock says they are.'[line break]";

otherwise:

say "'And Brock?' Slango demands. 'Have you got him?'

[You] shake our head. 'But he'll be released soon,' [you] say. 'I'm pretty sure I've seen to that.'

'Pretty sure,' Slango repeats.

[You] just look at him.

'Okay,' he says, though it isn't. 'Okay.' And he goes to the cockpit and fires up the engine, while we watch the lights of Atlantis get farther away and finally dim.";

now Slango is not alert;

now Brock is not alert; [we don't want them both asking questions constantly]

change the initial appearance of Brock to "Brock is leaning against the railing, looking up at the town.";

record "returning to the yacht" as achieved;

complete "Return to yacht";

now everything enclosed by the player is marked for listing;

repeat with item running through marked for listing things:

if the item is part of something:

next;

otherwise if the item is the restoration gel:

next;

otherwise if the item is edible:

now the item is in galley cabinet;

otherwise if the item is wearable:

now the item is in wardrobe;

otherwise if the item is freaky:

now the item is in the galley refrigerator;

otherwise if the item is the roll of bills or the item is the flash drive:

let the target be a random drawer which is part of your bed;

now the item is in the target;

otherwise if the item is long:

now the item is in Sunning Deck;

otherwise if the secret-plans proffer the item:

now the item is on the built-in table;

otherwise if the item is essential:

now the item is in Brock's Stateroom;

otherwise if the item is the pots or the item is the pot:

now the item is on the galley stove;

otherwise:

let the target be a random drawer which is part of your bed;

now the item is in the target;

now every thing is not marked for listing;

now every thing is not essential;

remove island from play;

remove the oar from play;

now the sun is part of the sky;

now the current daytime is early afternoon;

move cathedral-view backdrop to all outdoors nautical rooms; [change the scenery; we've gone to Mallorca]

pause the game;

complete "Escape the Bureau";

say "[dreams]";

pause the game;

say "[i]72 hours later[/i][paragraph break]";

now the player is in your bed;

now the player is reclining;

move Brock to the Sunning Deck;

assign "Check out the paper and see what's going on" at the Galley;

move the newspaper to the built-in table;

remove Slango from play;

follow the compass-drawing rule;

Rule for writing a topic sentence about the newspaper when the newspaper is on the built-in table:

say "Today's [newspaper] is laid out prominently on [the built-in table]. [no line break]";

Understand "paper" as the newspaper.

The description of the newspaper is "It's the Chard-Farmer's Daily from Atlantis. A huge headline is splashed across the front:

'REFERENDUM ANNOUNCED!'

The picture on the front shows the Atlantida statue decked out with lights like a Christmas tree and people posing next to her for pictures.

My father has been promoted, apparently, to something called the Provisional Committee for Orthographic Reform. He is quoted as saying that the amnesty for Cold Storage prisoners is an important step forward. 'Of course, government by citizen referendum brings its own problems, and further constitutional work may be needed if we mean to bring Atlantis in line with the European Union.'"

[Before reading a command when Landing has happened:

if Brock is enclosed by the location and Slango is enclosed by the location:

now addressing everyone is true;

otherwise:

now addressing everyone is false; ]

To say dreams:

say "In the rocking boat, with the sound of the motor beneath us, you dream[paragraph break]";

say "of a ceremony on a clifftop with our two families seated looking on, and us in a long white dress, carrying a bouquet of scrabble tiles, walking down an aisle alone to be formally unified with ourself[paragraph break]";

if Brock recollects Brock-smoochies:

say "of Brock painting the letter A between your breasts while you alternately laugh and tell him off for not using a seriffed letter form[paragraph break]";

say "of wearing a suit and meeting with some very rich men to talk about how to bring my language to Africa, and Brock giving us advice about how to handle them[paragraph break]";

say "of gathering all the indigenous languages, all the little dying languages, all the languages shoved aside because they lack linguistic efficacy, into a firefly bottle, where their letterforms flicker desperately[paragraph break]".