(set:$Key1 to false)
(set:$Key2 to false)
(set:$Key3 to false)
You find yourself in a boiler room.
It is locked.
There is a keyhole in front of you.
The room is nearly pitch black. It smells of dust and old heat. You are running out of oxygen.
What do you do?
[[Look for keys.]]
[[Hold my breath until I stop being scared.]]
[[Shout for help.]]
[[Look for a light.]]
(if:$Key1 is true)[ [[Try to open the door - With Key]] ]
(else:)[ [[Try to open the door]]]You take a deep, pained breath, as hard and deep as you can.
[[A minute passes.]]It's tough to get much of a sense of your surroundings, but after scrambling around, you manage to slide your hand across something wooden, no, metallic, something,
After a while, something hollow and cylindrical slides off and clangs to the ground.
After swipping your hand more, it catches on something sticky.
[[Examine the thing that fell off.->Examine the spray paint cans]]
[[Examine the sticky thing]] After stumbling around on the floor blindly, you find a small disposable lighter.
What do you do?
[[Illuminate surroundings]]
[[Swallow the flame.]]
[[Throw the lighter as hard as humanly possible in order to make a sound.]]The only thing made visible is an empty metal shelf full of cobwebs, forgotten spray paint canisters, and gaff tape.
[[Examine the cobwebs]]
[[Examine the spray paint cans]]
[[Examine the gaff tape]]
[[Return to the lighter's pull->Look for a light.]]
[[Ignore the lighter and search more for answers->The Boiler Room]] You eat the lighter.
It goes down poorly.
You nearly choke to death, and now you don't have a lighter.
Why?
[[Sit with what you've done]]The lighter ricochets off the metallic tube of the boiler, bouncing chaotically until it lands somewhere in the room out of your limited sense of view.
[[Return to your search->The Boiler Room]]
[[Debate why you did that]]You are running low on air.
The room feels sickly warm, humid. It's darker now.
[[Keep holding]]
[[Exhale, look around more.->The Boiler Room]] Your head is throbbing with the sound of your heartbeat.
Every pulse reminds you that this is against your body's wishes.
Your lungs are screaming to get out.
[[Ignore the signs to stop. Keep going.]]
[[Exhale, look around more.->The Boiler Room]] At first, your voice feels quiet, deafened, like in a nightmare.
Then, after a moment, and a hacking fit, you manage to regain something and manage to choke out a call for help.
A minute passes. It seems like no one is coming.
[[Call out again.]]
[[Return to the search->The Boiler Room]] A senile series of spiders lived here long ago. These webs are old, misshappen, and covered in more dust than activity.
[[Look back at the shelf.->Illuminate surroundings]]This would probably be really bad, or really good for inhalant abuse. These cans of spray paint are at least 30 years old, they're definitely expired, and they definitely have chemicals in them that are no longer in use for safety reasons.
One is gold metallic, one is black matte, another is 50% gray.
[[Leave the cans be and find some light->Look for a light.]]
[[Huff the gold spray paint->A minute passes.]]Looking closer, the gaff tape appears fresh, it's basically a brand new roll.
Closer than that, you notice a small piece of green yarn hooked around its edge.
Even closer still, you see a key hooked to the piece of yarn.
(set:$Key1 to true)
(if:$Key1 is true)[Congrats, you've found a key!]
[[Unlock the door, leave.->Try to open the door - With Key]]
[[Search around more->The Boiler Room]] Your lungs are dulled, numb, but involuntarily jerking back and forth, attempting to get fresh oxygen that you are sorely depriving them of.
Much longer this way, and you'll surely feel something of permanence.
There's no backing out now.
[[Keep going.]]Suddenly. A clink is heard nearby. It startles you, causing you to exhale violently.
After a coughing fit, you manage to catch your breath. Your lungs feel sore and bad. Your head hurts. There was no upside to that.
However, upon closer inspection to the clinking noise. You see a small glint reflected back.
A key.
(set:$Key1 to true)
(if:$Key1 is true)[Congrats, you've found a key!]
[[Unlock the door, leave.->Try to open the door - With Key]]
[[Search around more->The Boiler Room]] You try once more, this time even louder, more desperately.
Another minute passes.
Nothing.
[[Call out again, louder.->Call out again.]]
[[Return to the search->The Boiler Room]] The door swings open, a vacuum of darkness rushes foward, pierced by a small ghostlight in the distance.
After a few seconds adjusting, you realize what lay ahead.
The backstage of some kind of theatre, illuminated only by a single, dim light on a stand.
What do you do?
[[Investigate the backstage area]]
[[Push past the curtain onto the main stage]]
[[Investigate the ghostlight]]There's a few reasons, perhaps it was [[something to do with your family life]]. However, it could be you [[trying to gain a sense of control over your surroundings]]. Another option still is that you [[just didn't care very much about a stupid lighter]] that you found in a boiler room, and [[you have other ideas on how to get out]].Really? I mean, I suppose it's possible. Some people might suggest that an overbearing parent or domineering sibling would cause a person to lash out like this, do you have either of those?
[[No. It must have been something else.->Debate why you did that]]
[[Overbearing Parent]]
[[Domineering sibling]]That's probably it. I mean, this is clearly a really bad scenario you've found yourself in. When was the last time a person actually woke up stuck in a boiler room? I
It's -- no sugarcoating it -- a bit embarrasing. That being said, throwing the lighter did give you a brief moment of control over the situation. It was like saying "Look at me boiler room, I don't care how to get out, or if this will stupid lighter will get me closer to doing that, what's important now is that I'M in charge!"
[["Am I in charge?"]]You know that's not true. It was a beautiful lighter. It had a floral pattern!
[["I hate floral patterns."]]
[["Perhaps it was a different reason all together..."->Debate why you did that]]
[["Eh, good point, but I think the more important thing is getting out of here and focusing on what's ahead!"->The Boiler Room]]...You do?
[[Yes! I definitely do, thousands!]]
[[...No, not really. This place is pretty locked up, huh?->The Boiler Room]]
[[I...think I did it for a different reason actually.->Debate why you did that]]No. Not really. You're trapped in a boiler room.
It's unfortunate, but, let's be realistic, something has obviously gone very off the rails. If you were actually in the driver's seat, you wouldn't be locked in here in the first place, would you?
[["I suppose not."->The Boiler Room]]
[[Debate the lighter situation more.->Debate why you did that]]Well, that's probably the answer then! They must have done quite the number on you to cause such a violent and unhinged freakout like that, you know, throwing a lighter and all. You definitely should seek out proffessional help after this. This being, you know, the situation at hand. You, being trapped in a boiler room, and instead of actually trying to leave, throwing a lighter, and immediately getting caught in up in your own psychological profile in an attempt to medicalize and distance yourself from the reality in front of you. Which is, again, the fact that you are TRAPPED. IN A BOILER ROOM.
[[...Time to get a move on->The Boiler Room]]
[["No, no, that doesn't seem right, there's definitely a better reason that I threw the lighter."->Debate why you did that]]Ahh, well, that can happen. Sometimes one kid is just a lot more ramunctious than the other. Or, more likely, a couple years older. They probably didn't let you play player one or sit in the front seat or pick movies in the family movie night, and THAT's why you threw the lighter //as hard as you could// instead of simply using it as a source of illumination and attempting to actually remedy this scenario.
Very self sabataging behavior, don't you think you should use this as fuel for why you might get up and leave?
[["No, I need to think about why I did this more! I have to figure it out!]]Well, Jung would say that it has something to do with your psychological profile perhaps. Or maybe that's a complete misread! Maybe it has something to do with Mark Fisher.
[["That's probably it. Tell me more about Mark Fisher!"]]
[[That doesn't sound right. It's probably something else...->Debate why you did that]]
[["I'm just going to assume that makes sense, I think I need to get out of my own head and this boiler room or I'll go insane."->The Boiler Room]]...Seriously? You want to take the time to meditate on Mark Fisher while you're presumably running out of oxygen in a boiler room?
[[Yes!]]
[[...On second thought, I think I need to get out of here.->The Boiler Room]]...Okay! Mark Fisher was a media theorist and philsopher who talked about capitalism, pop culture, and all sorts of other things. Does that cover it?
[[No, I need more!]]
[["Yeah I think I'm good."->The Boiler Room]]
[["You know what? This train of thought is way off base, I don't think I threw the lighter because of Mark Fisher, I think it was some other, dumber reason!"->Debate why you did that]]Fine.
Mark Fisher's most widely acclaimed text is probably his book, "Capitalist Realism". Through the lens of media and cultural analysis, he details how neoliberal capitalism creates media that can generate feelings of "Reflexive impotence", acting as a steam valve for our activism as opposed to generating real calls to action that would under mine the status quo. In the book, he also talks about history, why culture can often feel stagnent in the 21st century, and plenty of other interest concepts about the world around us, which can give readers a lens by which to view reality, media, and the real politique.
Does that give you enough info? The book is available online for free from the publisher. It's about 80 pages and a //very// quick read.
[["I absolutely must know more about Mark Fisher now."]]
[["That about covers it! I think this definitely explains why I threw that lighter."->The Boiler Room]]There's not much more I can tell you, this is a projection of your internal subspace. You must have heard about him on a podcast or somthing already, I'm just repeating it back to you. The only other thing I can really remember at this point is that he also wrote about something called the "Vampire's Castle", but not in a horror sense, in like a...go talk to people around you sense. I think.
[["Huh, neat! Tell me about Capitalist Realism again."->No, I need more!]]
[["Wow, this guy was pretty cool. I think that pretty much summurizes it all right there!"->The Boiler Room]]
[["On second thought, I think it might have been something in my childhood or whatever that made me throw the lighter, I don't care about other people or things that happen around me in society!"->Debate why you did that]]"I could repell from the ceiling, or break down the door with my shoulder, or scream for help, or even cry!"
[[Wonderful, you should try any of those ideas!->The Boiler Room]]
[[Hm, I don't think that's it, you did this for a different reason, didn't you?->Debate why you did that]]That's absurd, you know that isn't true. Get a grip or get lost!
[["Fine, it's probably another reason I threw the lighter, not the floral patterns!"->Debate why you did that]]
[["No, I really do! They're ugly!"->"I hate floral patterns."]]
[["I need to get a grip on this whole situation, why am I sitting here debating this when I'm trapped in a boiler room?!"->The Boiler Room]]It's really difficult to make out without any sense of light, maybe you'd be better served looking for that?
[[Look for a light.]]
[[Examine the clanging object->Examine the spray paint cans]]Outside of the boiler room, there's a few things.
[[The props area]]
[[The scenic workshop garage]]
[[The catwalks]]
[[Examine the stage more broadly->Try to open the door - With Key]]As you burst onto the mainstage past the curtain: You see the house lights are on, dimly illuminating the rows of red chairs in front of you. The hardwood of the stage clacks and reverberates in the empty space. It's not a small theatre, probably upwards of 1000 seats, but it feels warm, comforting. A space outside of time.
[[Head toward center stage.]]
[[Head backstage.->Try to open the door - With Key]]
[[Press on-ward into the audience]]Haunting.
A precautionary light. They use these in theatres because a theatre is a very dangerous place on the stage when you're not paying attention in the dark. This stage is probably pretty high up, falling off wrong could mean serious injury, especially if you don't even know you're doing it. The catwalks would be confusing too.
[[Examine the stage more broadly->Try to open the door - With Key]]A spotlight shines down, volumetrically coned from all the dust floating around in the air.
It lights up a set of marks dead-center stage. Why would someone need marks for that when it's so obvious? It's not clear.
There are echos of a past-lives here. Of people shaped like you dressed a hundred different ways shouting incoherrent diatribes to non-existent groups of non-existent people. That's okay.
Maybe there was something more, or less at one point, but now, it's a space on it's own. A comfortable memory for you to inhabbit.
[[Daydream for a while.]]
[[Investigate the marks center stage.]]
[[Head back.->Push past the curtain onto the main stage]]Not much to report here it seems. Some old regency era costumes, a few props (a rotory phone, a potted plant, a radio). Just a lot of open, dark space.
[[Investigate the backstage area]] Opening up a large garage door, it immediately becomes colder. This area is not insulated. Inside, power tools, large flanks of unfinished wood, and the smell of sawdust.
[[Investigate the backstage area]] After scaling a spiral staircase in the dark, you arrive at a tiny ladder that leads into the catwalks proper. Are you sure you want to go up there?
[[No, let's head back down, this gives me the creeps!->Investigate the backstage area]]
[[Of course, I came all this way!]]The chairs feel velvety, soft. Some are in need of replacement, but most are in good condition. This is a well loved space.
The footlights in the audience make for relatively easy navigation once you climb down from the stage.
The stage itself is maybe 10-12 feet up from the audience. The sight-lines from the first row would be not ideal as an audience member.
Perhaps not as hoffiying a revelation as it should be:
There are no exits. The marked sign just hits what is clearly a painted wall. This is your world.
Toward the back of the main area, you see a control booth. If you take the flight of stairs past the balconies, there's a painted white ladder that leads into it.
[[Climb the security ladder into the control booth]]
[[Climb back onto the stage->Push past the curtain onto the main stage]] A cramped room with switchboards and blue-tinted lights.
On one of the monitors you see the following written on a sticky note in sharpie:
"PART 0: THE WEBSITE YOU KNOW AND LOVE, A URL FROM BEYOND THE VEIL"
It feels excessively complicated. Uneccesarily so, in fact. They probably could have just written, "Remember to go to a website" or something. Plus, the URL is missing.
(if:$Key2 and $Key3 is true)[The terminal glows brighter than before.]
(else:)[A terminal glows in front of you. This would clearly be the place to enter a solution if you found one.]
(if:$Key2 and $Key3 is true)[ [[Try to put together all the pieces...]] ]
(else:)[ [[Try to put together all the pieces]]]
[[Head back down.->Press on-ward into the audience]]You float in a hazy memory of this place. It's unclear if you've invented this in the moment, or if it's something you really experienced. It's unclear what it even is. Maybe you saw a show here with a handful of friends, maybe you did a performance here after hours with a buddy or two in the audience to support you. Perhaps it was both, or neither.
The memory; however, is warm and comfortable.
You could stay here for as long as you like, it occurs to you. This place would allow for it.
[[Stay in the memory for a while.]]
[[Return to your surroundings.->Head toward center stage.]]On the marks you find something, a piece of writing written in scrawled sharpie.
"PART ONE: 'DOGMA' "
It feels deeply symbolic. As if you having a part two would spell out some great solution.
(set:$Key3 to true)
[[Return to the stage at large->Head toward center stage.]] Dust floats in the light above you, the light is tungsten and calm.
You take a deep breath, and exhale gently. The hum of the space is restorative.
[[Keep daydreaming->Stay in the memory for a while.]]
[[Recenter yourself.->Head toward center stage.]]The catwalks proper.
After squeezing your way up into the catwalks, you're able to pear below at the theatre.
It feels different up here. The 40,000 ft view is less inviting, less comfortable. It smells like sweat and well tread carpet. It feels like a place where people have done things in the dark they know they aren't supposed to.
Every footfall clangs mightily against he metal, despite the shag carpet's attempts to dull it.
To the left you see [[a shortcut to the control booth->Climb the security ladder into the control booth]]. To the right, [[another catwalk with lights mounted above it]]
[[Below, the theatre from whence you came.->Investigate the backstage area]]Looking at the lights, you see an XLR cable mounted to the back of a motorized one, fancy and new. It's label is hand-written. It reads as follows:
"PART 2 - 'FUTURA.html' "
Huh. Wonder what it all means.
(set:$Key2 to true)
[[Head back to the main catwalks->Of course, I came all this way!]]
[[Head down->Investigate the backstage area]] The door is locked. You already knew that.
[[Look around some more->The Boiler Room]]
A moment passes.
Your stomach begins to grumble horribly.
[[Hold your belly]]Your stomach rumbles horribly. Increasingly groaning more and more, painfully.
[[Start retching]]Your gag reflex kicks in.
The lighter went down VERY poorly.
After several strained, painful, doubled over gags, the lighter slides back up, and onto the floor with a soggy //clack//.
Moments of shame and naseua later, you regain yourself.
[[Return to the search->The Boiler Room]] Boiler Room]]Oh yeah, it's all coming together...
You DEFINITELY know what's happening...
First of all,
[[The boiler room, like, what was all THAT all about?]]
PART 0
PART 1
PART 2...
It means something. Clearly a url of some kind.
"PART 0: THE WEBSITE YOU KNOW AND LOVE, A URL FROM BEYOND THE VEIL"
That has to be a reference to the people that made this place. It's scrawled every where, digitally and physically...
[[Keep letting it click into place]]
"PART ONE: 'DOGMA' "
An obvious reference to DOGMA 2025...given, well, you know.
So far, the URL would be something like...
(text-colour:green)['http://brightafternoonproductions.com/DOGMA']
But there's more to it, the PART 2 clue, if you will...
[[Finish the equation, Matt Damon style]]Part 2...
FUTURA.
And, since BAP doesn't know how to actually hide the .html part of their site...and the code it all from scratch...
[[EUREKA!]]THE URL MUST BE
(text-colour:green)[http://brightafternoonproductions.com/DOGMAFUTURA.html]
That's it! I've done it! HAZZAH!
[[Hm...I know I beat everything this constructed world has to offer...but I'd like to explore some more!->Climb the security ladder into the control booth]]
[[I want to go back and do it all again! There was something I missed about the quiet splendor of the Boiler Room closet!]]
(Congrats! You've gained early, special access to a very important page, and anouncement! Make sure to reach out and let us know so we can tell you how cool you are!)Are you sure? This will reset your progress and you'll end up back in the boiler room closet again.
[[Yes, I'm sure->The Boiler Room]]
[[On second thought...let me look around some more...->->Climb the security ladder into the control booth]]
[[On third thought...what was the URL again?->EUREKA!]]Yes...the spray paint...gold...gaff tape...the uh...LIGHTER...yes...
[[You...definitely...totally have it...all...together...or....yeah]]The solution is...
[[GOLD...uh...LIGHTER...SPRAY!!!]]...Okay...that wasn't right. Maybe I'll [[try again later.->Climb the security ladder into the control booth]]