Euphoria

Being named Henry is the least of your worries. You're stuck aboard the I.P.S.S. Euphoria. [[What?]]

(if: $henryExit is false)[[[Henry]]] (if: $charlieExit is false)[[[Charlie]]] (if: $henryExit is true and $charlieExit is true and $hartExit is false)[[[Hart Dvorak]]] (if: $henryExit is true and $charlieExit is true and $hartExit is true)[[[An omniscient narrator]]]

Your name is [<input type="text" name="cName" placeholder="******">]<cName|, but everyone knows you as Charlie. <button type="submit" onclick="customScripts.submitName('cName')">That's me.</button> [[Why haven't you told them yet?]] (live:100ms)[(set:$realName = ?cName)]

Your name is Henry. It's a very ordinary name. [[Contemplate present circumstances]] [[Curse your luck]]

Your name is Hart Dvorak. You think that's a pretty cool name. [[Bop along to some jazz]]

Well...you're certainly kind of eff'd. [[Curse your luck]]

Ok. So, you're stuck aboard the I.P.S.S. Euphoria. So what? You were born and raised here. It's the only home you know. Why are you cursing your luck? Why is this so upsetting? Shouldn't you be glad that you're still here? No...of course not! You're all alone now. You're almost positive that nobody even knows or cares that you're here. And you're stuck. There's no way out. You're absolutely alone. [[Contemplate present circumstances really hard]]

"I inter-planet-ary Space station S I-P-S-S I-P-S-S" That little ditty still gets stuck in your brain. There was a dance to go with it, too. It was sort of like the Itsy Bitsy Spider. You smile to yourself. There were other songs, too. For example, you were taught, via song, all the names of the Seven Sisters -- the great chain of stations linking Earth, Luna, Mars, the AMR, Jupiter, and Callisto. There's Sky City on the El, S2H and Seventh Heaven, Kettle-Geier, Sky Blue Dragon SBD, Outer Australia, and Kyllini. You start to hum to yourself. It keeps other things off your mind. Things like how you're a sweaty, grubby mess, or how you haven't eaten in two days. The sound of your humming is very, very loud. [[Focus]]

You spend several hours in a state of high anxiety. You're so nervous that you want to throw up, but you can't. Your body simply refuses. You feel electrified, in the worst sense. You're sweating and shaking and tingling all over, and your thoughts race from one horrible idea to the next. This is absolutely unbearable. [[Despair]] [[Get high]]

You know there's only one thing that can make you feel better right now... You rummage around in your pockets, with hands that are meally and wet with sweat, tears, and Lord only knows what else. You feel disgusting and low. But once you get some wasp in you, you know you'll be feeling fine. [[Aha! Finally!]]

You fold in on yourself, sitting on the floor of the station with your knees drawn up to your chest. You're so lonely and sad that it literally makes you feel sick. You can barely lift your head from your knee caps without wanting to throw up. You sit like this for hours, or maybe only a few seconds. Every moment seems to drag on, like the the long, slow heat-death of the universe. You're clammy with sweat, you're trembling, and your whole body seems to buzz. Jeez, man, pull yourself together! [[Panic]] [[Get high]]

You're absolutely alone. Nobody knows you're here. There's no telling how much food is on board. You might freeze or burn or choke to death once the life support systems start to go. [[Panic]] [[Despair]] [[Get high]]

You turn on some Henry Mancini, your favorite. You are definitely one cool cat. You're a writer AND an investigator, you love lounge music, and you are so smoking-hot, all the ladies love you. Btw, it's pronounced "Duh-vor-ack". Also: "she" and "they" pronouns, please. [[Get writing]]

Sigh. (if: $realName is "")[(set: $realName = "Denise")] You often ask yourself why you haven't told anyone yet. But how could you? You're nervous. You don't know how to explain how you feel. Everyone sees you as a Charlie, but you're really a $realName. How can they ever understand? [[Stop moping]]

You're dreaming. You see a man...no, a boy. He's skinny and tall and much more pale than you are. He's only a teenager, but his eyes are sunken in and surrounded by dark bags, like an old man's eyes. His name is Henry. Maybe he is an old man, after all. The only Henrys you know are old people. However, you suspect that this is not the case. You suspect that Henry simply grew up somewhere where Henry is still a popular name. Such a place seems very strange to you. You, $realName, don't know any Henrys. Anyway, the main reason this dream is creepy really has nothing to do with Henry's weird old man name, or even Henry's weird old man eyes. The main reason this dream is so creepy is that you know that Henry is alone. Utterly alone. Adrift-in-the-middle-of-interplanetary-space alone. [[You shiver]]

Your dream-self shivers. Huh. Your dream-self? Usually, you aren't really aware of your dream-self. You're just you. Oh! Right! You're dreaming. Of course. You knew you were dreaming from the very start. Now it's time to try something fun. You imagine flying. Just levitating a little, you know, nothing too scary. You feel your dream-self lift off the ground. You hang in the air gleefully. You shoot up, somersault, do barrel rolls. But then you remember Henry. [[Fly off]] [[Talk to Henry]]

The I.P.S.S. Euphoria. The S.S. stands for "Space Station". The "I" and the "P" stand for "InterPlanetary". You always thought it was a bit silly how they picked and chose which letters to put into the acronym. You recall how, in preschool, you'd recite what the letters meant in a little song. But you're getting off track. Gosh, it's hard to think straight... [[Continue to think about nonsense]] [[Focus]]

After rummaging in your pockets for what felt like hours, if not days, you yank out a foil blister pack of little yellow tubes. Each tube ends in a translucent white plastic cap that snaps off to reveal a needle tip. The neon yellow liquid inside sloshes as you flip the tube over to get at the blunt end. You bite this end and pull. The tube extends into a kind of telescope shape. The new half is hollow, yet empty. It's actually the plunger for the syringe. You twist it to lock it in place. Your hands are shaking with excitement... You roll up your pant leg. You tap the tip into your thigh. You shoot. [[Hell yes]]

The sweating stops. The shaking stops. Your thoughts quiet. The grey metal walls and dim flourescent lights around you seem to brighten immediately. Particles of dust sparkle and dance at the edges of your vision. They transform into blooming geometric shapes that play tag with one another, leaving colorful trails as you shake your head from side to side. Oh Lord...yes...you feel so much better now. A part of you distantly complains that this is precisely what got you into this mess. But so what? You live in the moment. And just a few moments ago, you were completely miserable. [[Who are you right now?]] (set: $henryExit = true)

Well, you know, whatever. Maybe someday you'll find the words. You'll live as $realName. It'll be sweet. For now, though, you just need to get through school and make some friends. You're 10. You have time. [[Do you really?]]

Your Aunt Billie is always telling you you have plenty time to figure things out, but you're 10, and you want to get started right now! [[Get started]]

First things first: making friends. You live in the downtown center of New Rowark, a bustling city on a group of islands located along the East Coast. However, you feel very alone. From your window, on the top floor of a vintage six story walk-up, you can see crowds of people walking the cobblestone square below. Across the way is Asherlev Tower, an enormous clock tower as well as a favorite tourist destination. You have the world at your fingertips, yet you're sitting alone in your room like a dork. You've always been very short, you wear thick glasses, and you've recently put on a great deal of weight. You're also darker and hairier than the other kids in your neighborhood, something which even adults have commented on. It makes you feel awkward and judged. Sometimes you get down on yourself about it, but you know it's not right of them. You don't care what people think! Unless they're threatening you. Then you stand up for yourself, like Aunt Billie and Uncle Terry tell you to. Because of your physical differences (and your bookish, earnest personality...(and the fact that you live with 4 co-parents who look nothing like you...)) you've always gotten along better with adults. You've decided that you should just roll with it. Who needs kids? You're going to join one of the local groups that meet at the public library, and you're not even going to care if there's nobody your own age attending. [[Head to the library]]

Your local neighborhood library is located more or less downstairs. Your family runs a tourist shop on the first floor of the walk-up, and right next to it is a branch of the NRPL. So you run down the stairs, trot out the door, and you're practically there already. While trotting over to the library (it's literally 6 feet away), you notice a police officer speaking to an akani porter. You glance over and feel a pang of concern. [[Stop and watch]] [[Onward to the library!]]

Akani is what they call themselves. But this officer is calling the porter a troll. He's ticketing the porter for blocking the sidewalk, which is also kind of silly. Akani are generally well over 9 feet tall, so they take up a lot of space whether they want to or not. This one is carrying a hotdog cart, and by lifting it off the ground instead of pushing it in the usual way, the porter is arguably blocking less traffic than otherwise. Other passers-by have stopped to watch the scene. The akani is acting very meekly as the officer berates them. It makes your heart hurt. [[Yell something at the officer]] [[Onward to the library!]]

Stepping away from the problem outside, you push through the heavy wooden doors. This library is like a second home to you. It's really cool and there's always lots to do. There are tables full of computers, a maze of bookshelves, a wall of 3D printers, private audio/video rooms for chatting with people off-world, and VR headsets for designing awesome things or exploring tourist spots remotely. You always see flyers up for this group or that group, but there's not a whole lot targeted at kids your own age. For example, you could sit in for a rousing read-along from a picture book...or take a computer class that teaches the elderly how to use Atlas-Avigdor Perfect 5. But today's the day you're no longer going to be a mere spectator. You're going to let your inhibitions go. You're going to join a group whether or not it's aimed, specifically, at kids. As long as it interests you, that's all that matters. [[Examine bulletin board]]

"Stop calling them a troll!" you shout. The crowd laughs uneasily. "Who said that?" asks the officer. "Mind your own business, kid!" It's so crowded he can't see over the heads of the others to make you out, but the akani spots you immediately. They stare at you in surprise. You lock eyes for a moment. You're startled by their intense gaze. The porter's eyes are deep-set within the white, skull-shaped callus that covers their long face. Somehow, their eyes remind you of your own Aunt Harley's eyes. They're the same shade of golden brown, and they seem very canny and wise. You're so startled that all you can do is nod at them in acknowledgement. "Don't call them a troll!" you shout as you scurry away. You're anxious and excited at behaving so boldly. [[Onward to the library!]]

The bulletin board lists a bunch of activities for today. There's group exercises, a beginner class on using VR headsets to code, and a lucid dreaming club. [[Join the group exercise lesson]] [[Learn to code]] [[Join the dreamers]]

You decide to go do some light exercise downstairs. Most of the folks there are old. So old. They can probably remember a time before computers, or even a time before space flight. They look at you a bit funny, but you hold your head up high and smile and say hello. One grandmotherly woman smiles back. Most seem uninterested. It's a big, hard city but you're going to make it. The instructer walks in, and they seem delighted by your presence. They are very tall and wiry and have skin the same dark shade as yours. You grin at them shyly. You say hello. [[Stretch those joints]] (Actually, now that you think about it, computers and space go hand-in-hand. It's impossible to imagine computers ever getting as advanced as they are now without the space colonies. And all of the big computer companies have their own sponsored space stations. You are now thinking about this a lot. Gosh, computers and space are so cool.)

The coding class seems interesting, but you're kind of late. And when you walk up to the second floor to join them, the room is practically empty. You peek at the person leading the class. They give you a grumpy look. You shrug and walk away. Oh well. It sounded cool...in theory... [[Join the group exercise lesson]] [[Join the dreamers]]

You go to a little side room near the stairwell on the first floor of the library. There's a soft orange carpet, mats, pillows, and beanbag chairs inside. It looks cozy and inviting. [[Sit]]

You do a bunch of warm-ups, stretching and bending and jogging in place. You've put on so much weight so quickly, you're not really used to how your body wants to move anymore. You are, in a word, clumsy. [[Feel the burn]]

Now the group is getting into the exercises, proper. The instructer goes through a series of acrobatic poses. Even though everyone is old, they've had a lot of practice at this, and they make it look easy. Whereas it is not. Not for you. You try really hard to keep pace and execute every move perfectly, but you know you're not doing so well. Hey, you're trying your best! Uncle Julio always says there's no shame in working hard and trying your best, even if the end result is not as good as you had hoped. [[Take a breather]]

The class takes a 15 minute break. You huff and puff over to the water fountain by the stairwell. You contemplate leaving for the dreamers group. [[Tough it out]] [[Leave for the group early]]

You are tough and resiliant! You rejoin the class, despite your moment of doubt. It's not easy, but you feel a little refreshed, and the thought of completing the lesson fully pushes you through. The instructor seems impressed. Now what? [[Introduce yourself]] [[Join the dreamers]]

You decide that the exercise lesson isn't really worth it. [[Join the dreamers]]

You eagerly speak to the instructor once the lesson is over. You tell them all about your day. They smile and nod and say, "That's nice" a lot. They tell you you did a really good job. Their name is Travis. You think that's a very nice name, and you say so. You feel like you've made a friend. [[Exit the library]] [[Join the dreamers]]

You go home, elated by the thought of a new friend. You wonder if you could have made friends with the porter, too. You hope they're ok. You tell Aunt Billie and Aunt Harley and Uncle Terry and Uncle Julio about your little adventure. They seem pleased. You're still curious about the dreamer group, but you'll leave that for another day. [[Venture out again]]

Welcome to "Euphoria," the interactive tale of space teenagers, plucky kids, and clickbait writers. [[Who are you right now?]] (set: $charlieExit = false) (set: $henryExit = false) (set: $hartExit = false) (set: $realName = "")

You sit on the floor. Slowly, other people file in. They seem a little surprised by your presence, but they also don't seem to mind. Most of the others are college-aged adults, but there's one kid your age. They're of a reddish complexion, with long brown hair tied back in a clip. You think they're cute. The kid seems very serious and not exactly friendly, though. You note that they have very lean, muscular arms and legs. Most 10 year olds aren't exactly jacked, but this one...hoo boy. Wow. [[Stop staring at their muscles]]

The group leader walks in. They're tall and kind of pale. The crown of their head is bald, kind of like Uncle Terry's. The leader says their name is Geraldo. He says he goes by "he". Geraldo also says he is pleased to see some new faces. You smile and make a tiny little wave. The group laughs gently. You feel pretty good about this. [[Say your name]]

There's a bit of a go-around. Everybody in the group says their name, their pronouns, and their favorite fruit. You've never had to explicitly state your pronouns before. It makes you uncomfortable, but also a little bit thrilled. You could say anything you like! -- if you want to. But do you want to? You're not sure As for your name? Well, you don't really know these folks, even if they seem friendly. You decide to keep $realName to yourself. You pay extra attention when it's the kid's turn. Their name is Hildegard. Their favorite fruit is raisins. The kid says they go by "they" and "them", but "she" is fine, it doesn't offend them. You feel envious of how casual they are about it. They seem worldly and sophisticated, throwing around words like "she" and "them" like it's absolutely nothing. You wish you were so bold. Eventually, it's your turn. You tell the group your pronouns, and that your name is Charlie, and that you like soursop. [[Let's get down to business]]

Now with introductions out of the way, the group discussion starts. The other folks talk about their recent dreams, if they remember any at all. Then Geraldo opens up a cubby and passes around some weird headsets. They're kind of like what you would wear when you do VR, except that the visors are opaque black, and the ear pieces are mostly there just to muffle outside sound. Geraldo explains that these headsets help people lucid dream when they nap. They're very effective, though nothing is 100 percent perfect at triggering lucid dreaming every time. Everyone is supposed to put on a headset, take a nap, then share their experiences after they wake up. Sounds a little boring if you don't have a lucid dream, but it's worth a go. [[Get ready]]

As with the VR sets, you have to put on a disposable skullcap first. It's for hygeine purposes. Of course, all of the materials being handed around are intended for adults, so your skullcap is comically baggy around your head. The headset just barely fits you if you clamp it down completely. You can't wait to grow up. You'll be tall and big, so everything will fit right. It's a little tricky to slot the electrodes on the skullcap into the receptacles on the headset when everything is so loose, but Geraldo helps you. While fitting the headset onto your head, he tells you a story about how, when these things first came out, you also had to clean your skin with q-tips and put goo on each and every electrode. That sounds weird and gross. You laugh. There's a little button on the left earpiece, that you press to start up the set. Tiny stereo sensors inside the goggles monitor the movement of your eyes, via the bump your iris makes underneath your eyelids. When your eyeballs start flipping all over the place even though your eyes are closed, the headset knows that you are dreaming. The set also track brain activity, but it's very low res. It knows when you're asleep, and it knows when you're either awake or dreaming. However, it's not like it can record your dreams or anything. The earpieces block out noise, but they also makes a soft tone at constant intervals. It supposedly triggers lucid dreaming by waking you up ever-so-slightly enough to notice that you're in a dream. [[Try to sleep]]

The headset is surprisingly lightweight, and it's flexible enough to allow you to rest your head flat. The skullcap helps make it more comfortable. You curl up on a beanbag chair and close your eyes... [[Have a weird dream]] [[Have a funny dream]] [[Have a creepy dream]] [[Wake up]]

You see a dog. The dog is wearing pants. How absurd. It meows at you. [[Have a funny dream]] [[Have a creepy dream]] [[Wake up]]

It's been an hour. It's time to wake. You have vivid memories of ...nothing? Something? Everything? [[Who are you right now?]] (set: $charlieExit = true)

You see a dinosaur. It might be an allosaurus, or a t-rex. You can't tell. You don't even know what time period you're in. The dinosaur is standing on a stage. It's in front of a tree. The tree is a pen. It's a microphone. The dinosaur is wearing a plaid suit. There's a spotlight on it. It is roaring. It is saying, "What is the deal with those childproof caps? Do you see these arms? How the heck am I supposed to open childproof caps? I'm a top predator. It's humiliating. They're dinosaur proof caps if you ask me!" Everyone laughs. You're not sure who everyone is, though. Where is the audience? Are you dreaming...? [[Have a weird dream]] [[Have a creepy dream]] [[Wake up]]

You shoot through the ceiling. It's like you're a ghost. You go higher and higher and you can see a city stretching out below you. It's so exciting. But so quiet. And lonely. And you know Henry is stuck here. You could fly away if you wanted, but you don't. You want to help Henry. [[Talk to Henry]]

Henry is all alone up here. Except for you, you suppose. You must be the only person who knows Henry is out here, drifting in space! It makes you sad. You come back down, hovering a few centimeters off the ground. "Henry?" you ask, floating over to him. "What the hell?!" shouts Henry. That seems...entirely reasonable. [[Boldly go on]]

Although Henry's reaction makes you nervous, you know you need to communicate with him. You can't just give in. He doesn't have anyone else. "Hi, Henry. My name is $realName. I know you're alone up here. I want to help." Henry seems to be in awe. All he can muster is a soft "Whoa". "Henry?" He's just staring off into space. "Henry, I want to be friends. I want to help. Please talk to me!" "I could really use some food," Henry slurs, finally. "I haven't eaten in a real long time." "I'm not sure if I can help with that. But maybe I can," you say. You try to imagine food into existence: a nice, big, pizza pie. But this appears to be beyond you. [[Another idea]]

"Maybe I can fix you something from the kitchen," you say hopefully. "The kitchen? There's a kitchen? Where?" Henry asks. "Well, ok, um...," you say. "Huh. Where are we anyway?" "I think we're in a garage." "No, but where?" You gesture around you. It's actually pretty evident that you're in a garage. The walls and floor are all metal, the ceiling and sides are lit with flourescent lights, and there are loads of high-tech power tools and parts lying around everywhere, almost like a mad scientist's lab. "I think this might be on Minx Street. In Caleb. Uh...yeah," Henry says. He registers your confusion and continues: "The I.P.S.S. Euphoria. Located out in AMR space and Mars space. The Interplanetary. We're on a space station, you know. So there's a whole bunch of kitchens, all over the place. Maybe not here, in this building. But, um, like, you know. It's a station. It's like a big city in a tin can." "Oh," you say, stunned. "The Euphoria..." [[Worry a lot]]

The I.P.S.S. Euphoria was very recently decommissioned by Atlas and Ashpoole. Everyone on board was forced to leave. It was all over the news! It was one of the oldest space stations in the area, there had always been problems from the start, and now with newer stations on line, working the Asteroid Mining Region and providing waystations for ships running between Mars, Outer Australia, and Callisto, it just wasn't worth it for Atlas and Ashpoole anymore. The two companies were sick of doing repairs and upgrading the station, as well as taking care of the folks on board. And those folks needed a lot of help, too. The way the news made it seem, everyone aboard the Euphoria was poor and a criminal and addicted to wasp. The truth, from what you've heard, is that the people were indeed poor, but mostly because the station was crappy and nobody wanted to use it. So ships and freighters would skip to better stations, and the mining companies opted for the huge new factories. At least, this is the truth that you've heard from your Uncle Julio. He was really, really mad about it. He was always talking to you about it over lunch and watching news stories about it. He's not exactly an unbiased source. However, all sides agree that the station was certainly not making money for anyone, so it was evacuated. It would drift forever more through space, an empty tin can kicked to the gutter by progress. Except they left poor Henry behind, too. [[Omg]]

"Oh em gee," you say out loud. "This is the Euphoria? We've got to get you off of here!" "I know!" Henry says. "But I don't know how." "How did this even happen?" you cry. "I...I fell asleep," Henry says. "In the garage. Underneath a fuselage or whatever. I don't know. I was asleep for a long time. I, well, ok, I passed out. What do you care? You're not even real. I'm talking to a hallucination anyway, it's not like you don't know I have a problem." "I do care," you say. "I want to save you!" Henry stares at you coldly. He seems to steel himself, sighs, and says, "I haven't eaten in days. I don't even care if this is real or not. Just get me food. I don't know what the heck is going on! I'm not really sure where I am. I might be on Minx Street. This is so confusing!" [[Search for food]]

You want to ask Henry where to look, but he's clearly too distressed to give you a straight answer. You look around for an exit. You catch sight of a red sign. You float out the exit without opening the door, passing straight through. You're now in a huge, cavernous space, almost so big that you're convinced that you're outdoors. The only signs that you're not are the distant shadows of walls and columns, and the oddly dull sky. It's very dim, but there are lights far up above your head, like stars, and other lights bordering the pavement on the ground. There is so much grass, growing feral and tall -- but it is yellowing in the eternal twilight. There are houses. They look pretty ordinary, if run-down. They have peaked roofs, and square doors and windows, and shutters and welcome mats. It looks a lot like one of the rougher neighborhoods in New Rowark, actually, although the foundations for all of the houses seem to be molded straight out of the ground. Well then. There's a pink house, a yellow house, and a blue house right in front of you. Which will you search? [[The pink one]] [[The yellow one]] [[The blue one]]

The pink house is boarded up. It would be tough for Henry to get inside, but you can just float on through. So you do. It's pitch black, but the lightswitch still works. There isn't much to see. There's no furniture, no carpets or rugs on the floor, and no decorations on the walls. There are crumbled-up papers and other trash in the corners, but nothing that would seem out of place in any other messy room. You think the room off to the right might be the kitchen, so you float in skeptically. You don't expect to find any food there. And you don't. Which house should you try next? [[The yellow one]] [[The blue one]]

The yellow house's door is hanging off the frame. It almost looks like someone else may have broken into it. The light from outside shines in through the door. You can see all sorts of things scattered around on the floor by the entrance: broken shapes that might be electronics or old toys. The further reaches of the house are invisible, completely cloaked in darkness. You hover by the front door, afraid to go in. Maybe you should try somewhere else...? [[The blue one]] [[The pink one]]

The door to the blue house is closed, but it isn't boarded up or anything. You decide, on a whim, to go in the usual way: by trying the door knob. It works. You wonder how it is that you can float through walls and handle objects at the same time, but that's immaterial. After all, you're in a dream. You drift into the front room. It looks oddly pristine. There's a carpet on the floor, pictures on the walls, a big TV set, a low table for the TV, and a couch. The owners didn't seem to have packed up and brought anything with them at all. This makes you hopeful that you can find food. You float into a hallway and find the entrance to the kitchen. [[Explore the kitchen]]

There's another meeting of the dreamer group coming up. Do you want to go? [[Join the dreamers]] [[Nah]]

You're content to play video games inside instead. So, you play video games for four straight hours. Uncle Terry tells you to get off the dang computer and get some fresh air. [[Join the dreamers]]

The kitchen is a different story. It looks ransacked. Cabinets are left hanging open, and there are empty food packages, broken glass, and mysterious small shapes on the floor. You're glad you can float; otherwise, you might step in something sharp or gross. Light from outside streams in through the window, so you don't need to try the lightswitch. You do, anyway. The lights turn on and off, on and off, as you play with it. You decide to leave the lights on. You're about to check the fridge, when you hear an awful crashing noise from outside. [[Someone is coming]]

A woman barges in through the front door. She's screaming. She's cursing. She's holding a big stick. "Don't be afraid of me!" you shout. "I'm just looking for food for my friend!" "Oh my good Lord, what is that?" she says, backing away in startlement. "Is that, are you, an alien?" "Um, sure," you say. "I'm a space alien. Grr. Can you help me find food?" "Look, I'll give you anything you want," says the woman. "I'll give you my right arm." She's cowering. You're not sure that telling her "I'm not going to hurt you" will help anything at this point. You stare at one another. Neither of you move. This goes on for a long, long time. Finally, you ask, "Could you give me some food to give to my friend? Like, anything. Cans or a sandwich or a pizza or anything?" "I don't have a lot to give, but I can give you something," she says. She's still very scared, but she's doing her best not to show it. You follow her out the house, keeping a good distance so you won't make her jumpy. She goes toward the yellow house, and removes a bag from a compartment built into the moulded foundation. It might have once contained some complicated equipment, but now it's just full of the woman's stuff. She shakily hands you a box of Grahamn crackers. There are tears in her eyes, but her expression is stoic. "If you see Henry around, help him out, ok?" you say. "I'm going to try to help you both get out of here." "I have to stop with the wasp," the woman says as you float away. [[Give the crackers to Henry]]

You return to the garage. You can see now that it's part of some kind of vehicle repair shop. You had floated out through the back door. You have no idea how Henry might have gotten in originally, but this is a dream. It doesn't have to make sense. Henry is sitting on the floor, staring at nothing. You come up in front of him. You hand Henry the box of crackers. He seems absolutely bewildered, like he's never seen you, or Grahamn crackers, before. "There's a woman outside. You should work together," you say. "She gave me this. I think she might live in a yellow house." "Thank you," says Henry. His eyes are watering. [[Wake up]]

Well, you would, if you had anything to write about. You work for ListFiend. They have a whole herd of writers running assignments. But lately, things have been kind of dead. You have to generate your own leads. It's tough to pitch things to them, but sometimes it works out. [[Message Pikadeth]]

Pikadeth is your favorite editor. You like to work with him as a team. You've never met him in real life, but you consider him a good friend. You ask Pika is he knows of anything interesting going on. He says there's always some weird crap going on in the IPN. You agree, there's so much going on off-world that folks never even get to hear about. But you want something specific. He says he's heard a few rumors. [[Get the gossip]]

Pikadeth says there have been rumors that the Euphoria wasn't completely cleaned out. "You mean to say, there are still people on board?" you ask incredulously. "You bet," he says. "That's not the best part, though. The latest evidence in this conspiracy theory is, basically, a psychic hobbit. It's so damn silly." "Who thinks this?" you ask. "Mostly Grumblr. You know, that weird-ass website." "Oh, right. I should have known." [[Contemplate your pitch]]

You decide that you're going to write about this weird-ass conspiracy theory. But you need a better hook than "This is yet another weird-ass conspiracy theory" or even "Shocking facts! Here are the top 10 conspiracy theories they don't want you to know." You tap your fingers to the beat of the incessant jazz that accompanies you. Look. You're already in a space port. What if you found somebody to take you to the station? [[Are you sure about this?]]

Hell yes, you're sure! Euphoria is located along one of the most important trading routes in the whole IPN. It's also in the middle of nowhere, but it's not like it would be hard to find a freighter approaching its orbit. Space is big, but they put the damn thing right near where a lot of ships would be passing through on runs from Jupiter to Mars. [[Can you even imagine it?]]

You could make this into a whole series of articles, cataloging your journey to the solar system's largest haunted house. And you barely even need any money to do it. You can just hop aboard a freighter on-contract as crew. They'll pay you. You just need to let them know ahead of time that you'll only stay for a while. A lot of people do it. They jump ship at SBD or the mining colonies. Nobody cares. There's always more crew. [[This could be just what your career needs]]

Yeah. You'll show them. You're not just another hack, writing about funny cats. You're an old-school journalist, going on wild adventures to reveal the capital-T Truth. Hart Dvorak, investigative reporter. This is exactly what you changed your name for. You could make a whole book about this. And you'd be paid along the way. [[Maybe you're just all sugared up]]

Yeah, you might be getting a little too excited about this. Maybe the sugar is getting to your head. You've been eating nothing but frozen waffles for days. That's how broke you are. Sky City is a mean city. It's tough to make it here. But hey. You know what? You're going to book yourself aboard a freighter anyway. You're going to look into this. If worse comes to worse, you'll have the money from hauling ice. And what if it's true? What if there are people on board the station? It's not true, but if it is, wouldn't that be terrible? You'd be the hero. You'd save them. [[Pikadeth is trying to reply]]

"Pikadeth, I'm going out to the AMR," you say. "Oh, right. Of course," he laughs. "Don't sass me! You're coming along." "Like hell I am. I'm making good doing editing work." "Well," you say. "You know the lag times between the El and the AMR are ridiculous. So it would be nearly impossible to keep in touch like this, chatting. While I'm working on my book." "Hart, do whatever. Go run off again. You know we can email." "Fine," you drawl. "I'll find another partner in crime. And when this story blows wide open, they'll be the one beside me, getting the credit." "Uh huh." "That's right." "Well, don't get yourself hurt." [[Who are you right now?]] (set: $hartExit = true)

You are an omniscient being. You can see the whole solar system at once. You jump from one life to the next, watching and knowing and gaining entertainment from it. But not all things are certain. You're not sure if Hart will make it in time, or if Henry can survive on Grahamn crackers, or what the heck happened with $realName during the dream. You also wonder about the porter, and Uncle Julio, and the Atlas company, and Hildegard, and the IPN, and ListFiend, and the Seven Sisters, and the woman in the yellow house. You fear there will never be any resolution of these things. Maybe you're right. Some things just aren't knowable. If they were knowable, you would know them. You're omniscient. QED, right? It's not like these folks are hiding anything from you. How could they? They're barely even real, at least compared to you. You exist on a loftier, more real plane. You're omniscient! You go play some Pokemon. THE END

<h1>Euphoria</h1> Content warning: drugs, depression/anxiety, nausea, derealization, abandonment, cops, needles, food [[>]]