Windows CE - The Ultimate Companion/ROMMAN_CE.iso/Files/Games/Frotz CE Games/PIECE_V3.Z5

Z-code for Z-machine | 1997-08-18 | 106KB | 407 lines

Resident data ends at 32b8, program starts at 32b8, file ends at 19c40

Starting analysis pass at address 32b5

End of analysis pass, low address = 32b8, high address = 16ec4


[Start of text]

S001: "



Piece of Mind"
S002: "
An Interactive Short Story
By Giles Boutel
Inform is Copyright (C) 1995 by Graham Nelson.
Type <Help> for further instructions.
"
S003: "951024"
S004: "5/12"
S005: "a"
S006: "You can't go that way."
S007: "the"
S008: "the"
S009: "the"
S010: "the"
S011: "the"
S012: "the"
S013: "the"
S014: "the"
S015: "the"
S016: "the"
S017: "the"
S018: "the"
S019: "Darkness"
S020: "It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing."
S021: "
About five foot eight - with brown hair and a lean build - but lets not talk
about me."
S022: "Nameless item"
S023: "your former self"
S024: "Piece of Mind"
S025: "Instructions"
S026: "Credits"
S027: "Walkthru"
S028: "You want help? With what?:

     Instructions
     Credits
     Walkthru"
S029: "
If only I hadn't left my glasses at work, I'd be able to see it perfectly from
here. As it is - it's just a colourful blur, along with everything else not in
the immediate vicinity."
S030: "A strange phosphorescent smoke covered the area, catching several hues
from an unknown light source. A charge was in the air, as if lightning were
about to strike. The hairs on the back of my neck were erect. I had this
terrible feeling that at any moment someone would wander up and ask me to
dance."
S031: "
I tried to wander off, but I ended up back where I started - kinda like trying
to give up catholicism."
S032: "Ahh - Another Visitor"
S033: "Stay Awhile"
S034: "Stay...Forever"
S035: "
I think it was some form of Pink Laser, ripping things out of my mind - but
it's hard to be sure."
S036: "
Let me see - if I take the window as north-east, which I guess it is, then I
can go north, north-east, east, south-east, and south. Phew - the options!"
S037: "
Without being sleazy (heh heh) some of my best work has been done within its
confines. Sleep has always been a source of great inspiration to me, as my
subconscious mind seems to work overtime while I rest. If I could keep the
remaining two of Freud's happy trio out of the psychic gutter I could probably
accomplish something. The bed itself is a cosy queen size, covered in a cream
duvet and liberally sprinkled with cat hair. I haven't seen Stinky the cat
since I woke up. Probably found some other sucker with a better line in fish
heads."
S038: "
An eclectic assembly of spurious pop-prints, or cheap posters as the
cognoscenti put it. I've had them up for years and now they kind of blend in
with the wallpaper. Of course, the room doesn't have wallpaper, but that
distinction is of as much interest to me as the posters. One of them has a
suspicious lump in it."
S039: "
It's a wall - nothing more, nothing less. It's taller than me and not as
conversational."
S040: "
Actually, looking at it closely, it's not that suspicious at all. Sorry."
S041: "There is a bottle of wine here, lurking."
S042: "leftover"
S043: "
A piquant little number - whatever the heck that means. It's probably got ripe,
tropical melon flavours with a full rounded palate, yet still retaining a
lively crisp finish. But who cares, as long as it gets you squiffy."
S044: "The mixture fizzes happily."
S045: "This is the top left corner of the room - from the TV's perspective on
the other side. I've got a wardrobe of some antiquity here - which I use for
the illicit purpose of hiding fashion crimes. It's quite a nice wardrobe - sort
of 1940s and itinerant."
S046: "
Um, I think the best directions to go in here are south, east, and southeast.
If you wanted me to go into the wardrobe, then that's to the north."
S047: "
It's a wardrobe - quite large. Stinky the cat hangs out in and on it at various
times. I can fit in there myself - and have done, when the mood takes me.
Brings back memories of childhood and the cellar, and the thing in the pit. Ah,
Lovecraft - if I had half his vocabulary I'd eat my words.

There's a carving on it too. A lamppost in a snowy forest. Nicely done, I might
add. Reminds me of something."
S048: "
There's the wardrobe door to the south, and some fur coats to the north."
S049: "
A rather dapper black linen suit, with all those annoying creases linen seems
to get so easily. I bought it shortly after I graduated in the mistaken belief
that it would help me get a job within the space of two years. There's only a
small amount of cat hair on it, which suggests I got it cleaned recently."
S050: "
Furry coats to the north obscuring the back of the wardrobe. Their presence
here is something of a mystery, as I have never owned a fur coat in my life."
S051: "
Unless you can think of a way to get through the doors to the north, there's
only south."
S052: "
I wander past the desk and try some of the doors on the northern wall. I'm
unable to open them, however. Attempting an educated guess as to why that is
the case, I must surmise that their inoperability is largely due to some
padlocks the size of my head preventing them from opening."
S053: "
I turn the object over in my hand and can feel a pleasant heat inside it. It's
a smooth, glowing stone, imprinted with a runic symbol, the intense power of
which I can tangibly detect."
S054: "
It looks like this...

(c).

Awesome."
S055: "
Ok - the padlocks aren't really as large as my head. But they're still thumping
great whoppers of their kind."
S056: "
An anaemic looking gentleman who has obviously spent far too much time indoors.
The magnification of his spectacles suggests extreme myopia. I'm sure he's a
nice person though. Perhaps it's the naive way he picks his nose."
S057: "
Row upon row of dusty books line the walls of the office. I read once that 70%
of household dust was actually human skin. Gross, huh? I blow a few flakes of
bureaucrat away, to try and make out a title or two. 'The Rise and Fall of
Phallocentricity' sits next to 'Able to Cane - a history of corporal
punishment'. Not really my cup of tea."
S058: "Oh, Yes"
S059: "Such Wonderful Acquisitiveness"
S060: "Soon I Shall Acquire You"
S061: "
I think I'd end up someplace far better if I went south, west, or even
southwest."
S062: "You See..."
S063: "Inside My Grasp"
S064: "...As You Will Be"
S065: "A guitar rests here, against one wall."
S066: "
It's a rather beaten up old Ibanez Artiste. Its burgundy colouring is starting
to fade, and its strings need replacing. Still, it works and it cost me a
pittance - probably because its previous owner 'acquired' it under dubious
circumstances."
S067: "I am by the only door to my room. There is a large desk beside the door
which I keep neurotically neat, not because I'm a particularly tidy person,
more because Stinky the cat has a tendency to wilfully destroy anything light
enough to be manipulated by paws.

A personal computer squats at one side - I keep it on in case inspiration
should strike. "
S068: "
I could go absolutely any direction except south-east or northeast. Or up or
down. Or upside-down."
S069: "
The door goes through the wall. Well, it leads through the wall, while staying
motionless."
S070: "
It's a printout of a poem I wrote. I have to admit it's the first piece of
creative writing since I entered into the reprehensible state of gainful
employment. It's not very good, but it's a start."
S071: "Very Wise, No Time For Such Trivialities."
S072: "Excellent - Keep It Inside Where It Belongs"
S073: "An ever shifting array of colours appears before me. Far Freaking Out.
Along the six lines of symmetry, random vertices and hues appear and fade
without recognisable rhythm. It is an endlessly fascinating display, quite
hypnotic with its chromatic drifts and spins, and it's giving me a migraine."
S074: "
I wander towards the pulsing lights and stare at them for a while. They seem to
react to my presence, coming closer like flames to a moth. Now there's a happy
thought. The beautiful scenery intensifies my migraine, so I wander back."
S075: "
It's a virtual box in pseudo 3d. A trademark on one side says 'Smallfloppy
Corp.'"
S076: "Floating before me is a Password Protection Dialogue Box."
S077: "The Password Protection Dialogue Box is open at the top, and spilling
out of it is an unpleasant amount of spaghetti code."
S078: "Oh - So Very, Very Lateral"
S079: "Bravo - Bravo"
S080: "
Ugh - it's a huge pile of spaghetti code. Somewhere in there, tiny compared to
the morass of strings, routines, and other things I wouldn't want to touch with
a ten foot centipede, is the password."
S081: "Oh - So very, very lateral"
S082: "Bravo - Bravo"
S083: "Oh - So Very, Very lateral"
S084: "Bravo - Bravo"
S085: "I'm in a blank, featureless, and apparently endless corridor, which
stretches to the east as far as the eye can see."
S086: "East or west only, sorry. You get that two direction limit thing with
corridors."
S087: "
I wander down the passage way - as I do, something strange seems to happen to
the walls. They gain a lustrous sheen, kind of like a silicon snail trail.
"
S088: "I am standing before a huge arch which seems to lead into a much larger
room. The archway itself is made of something like basalt - a dark, black stone
that reflects the light like a torch."
S089: "There's only a room to the east through the archway. And there's the way
I came, back west."
S090: "
Two halves of a Chromillium Knight lie on the floor."
S091: "
Hmm, there's a lot of smoking circuitry poking out of the severed portions. I
guess it was some kind of psycho guardian android killing machine. Now it's
toast. Yeehaaa!"
S092: "A huge suit of chromillium armour blocks the archway, wielding some kind
of flickering energy sword. Something about his cheerful attitude means I don't
think I'm supposed to go in here. But so what. I get the feeling my final
destiny lies inside."
S093: "
The darkness of this Knight Sinister cannot be made clear with mere sentences.
It was hewn of solid chromillium, probably forged in the anvils of
stru'kme'dum, undoubtably programmed by the walkers of the psychopath. As much
as you could say it lives, it lives to extinguish life.

(I can tell all this because I saw the episode of 'The Outer Files' it appeared
in)

The light sword it carries is aflame with a reddish energy - yet for some
reason it is only barely visible."
S094: "The archway shimmers as I pass through it, and then dissolves like so
much aspirin in a glass of water. Oh dear. Final destiny or not, I'm starting
to get a baaaad feeling about this...
"
S095: "
The pillar is divided into three sections, the top and bottom thirds being only
a smooth black substance. The centre, however, is both transparent and
luminescent."
S096: "A Touching Reunion"
S097: "Now LOOK AT ME!!!"
S098: "
A slab of black silicon has appeared before the pillar. Stinky lies sleeping
upon its surface, her warm, furry body curled upon itself, her stomach rising
and falling gently as she breathes."
S099: "
She seems to be sleeping peacefully, I guess she has no idea what the situation
really is. Her tail is curled around her feet, along her body, and almost up to
her nose. I think she's purring."
S100: "At Last, The Final Input"
S101: "Let The New Simulation Begin"
S102: "
On the floor before the slab is a wicked knife."
S103: "
A thrice-cursed blade that seems to resonate with an inner darkness."
S104: "It Is A Game - A Deceit - A Puppet Show"
S105: "You Have Stolen And Destroyed. . . It Meant Nothing"
S106: "Now You Must Kill"
S107: "It Means Less"
S108: "North, northwest, or west only. Them's the rules."
S109: "The television screen glows like a digital eye watching my every move."
S110: "The television sits here blankly."
S111: "Oh, Yes, Such Anger, Such Careless Vitriol"
S112: "Let It Consume You, As I Shall."
S113: "
It's a hi-tek remote control (as opposed to a Hi-tek running shoe, or a Lo-tek
stick). It's great for lying in bed and watching television, except that the
batteries have run down recently - preventing the control from being
particularly remote. It has one big red button on it which performs most
functions."
S114: "
The electric soul has been ripped from this machine by my act of destruction.
Interestingly enough, as I peer through the remains of the screen, I can't help
but notice that there appears to be a long crawlway behind it - stretching far
beyond the limits of the television's casing."
S115: "
Hey, there's a door to the east - what more do you want?"
S116: "
The door is closed. Approaching it I hear the sound of guns from outside.
Perhaps it would be best to remain here. Not that I'm afraid or anything. Just,
well, what if my current zombiehood means that bullets rip holes in me - but I
keep on shambling forward like an impeached politician? Ewww."
S117: "
It's a door. Rectangular, wooden, hinged, all the usual bits and pieces that
doors throughout history have had in various combinations. In fact, I would
have to say that this was one of the most exemplary doors that I've ever seen.
A fine demonstration of form and function - a door amongst doors. I almost feel
tempted to open it."
S118: "
It's best described as a pile of goo which occasionally does something alien
and enzymic."
S119: "
It seems to be one set-up, a huge bubbling, pulsing chemical mixer. Chemicals
start in one flagon, then follow a labyrinthine circuit of tubes, through jars
of other chemicals, on to burners, coagulators, decrepitisors, segmentors,
verisimulators, and terminators. Finally, a drop at a time, they fall out of a
valve and down a drain built into the bench."
S120: "
This drain normally contains a flask to catch the drips as they descend.
Currently, however, it is empty."
S121: "
It's a cupboard - a door beneath a bench in a laboratory on a tv program
somewhere weird. Anything else you wanna know? (That's rhetorical)."
S122: "
A large range of cutty things, pinchy things, and other assorted stuff."
S123: "
It's a funky little wire cutter, filled with the undeniable joys of cutting
wire."
S124: "I am standing before a large bookcase. A very large bookcase. It towers
over me, filled with my collection of literature. The spines of the books look
like an abstract picture composed of numerous, irregularly shaped rectangles. "
S125: "
No, that's a bad way to go - try north, or even east. Heck - there's even
north-east if you want the best of both worlds."
S126: "
The place where the teleportees stood was awash with a glittering mist. Strong
light formed a circle on the floor."
S127: "
Jeff Steele stood six foot four in his chromium boots. Long flowing hair
concealed startling good looks. It was clear from his demeanour that he was a
man who knew great responsibility, and faced it with great courage. His silver
apparel clung to his sizeable frame, displaying his well-developed physique.

Man, this guy sounds like he was manufactured in Switzerland."
S128: "
The glowing neon sign had some writing on it, as was the way with its kind."
S129: "
One could tell it was high tech and sophisticated because it was black. A large
lever bore a label which reads 'Pull Lever to Teleport'"
S130: "
In all its glory, splendiferously resplendent amid the black of the control
panel, sat a solitary black lever of awesome teleportational import."
S131: "
An air vent led off into who-knows-where.

Well, actually I suppose that anybody who's been down it knows where - but
that's not important right now."
S132: "
A wire mesh. I s'pose it's kind of like a sieve, only flat and with no plastic
handle. But more like a sieve than say a round pot with a plastic handle."
S133: "The room was filled with all kinds of incredible machines. Lights
flashed and noises whirred and the dry, crisp smell of flourocarbons permeated
the artificial atmosphere."
S134: "
The only direction to go in is up to the shaft I entered from."
S135: "
An incredible set of machines. Or perhaps it was only one machine with a lot of
parts made by different manufacturers. Diodes and vacuum tubes mixed with solid
state digital logic to present a seamless impression of technological schism.
There was a control panel to one side.

Why is there always a control panel? You'd think they could come up with
something snazzier by the year two thousand and flumpty floo."
S136: "
Amidst a huge range of dials and one interesting LCD display were five buttons,
all different colours. The buttons each had a phrase written beside them.

Green)- Default

Orange)- Divert Power to Immediate area

Purple)- Divert Power to Photon-accelerators

Blue)- Divert Power to Button

Black)- Divert Power to Diversion.

Hmm. It all looks fairly self-explanatory."
S137: "
It's a long log of various things that have gone down computer-wise. Recent
items include:
Endless loop compiled satisfactorily,
Machine Room Discovered,
LCD Display Examined.

I'm not sure quite what to make of all this..."
S138: "
1)- Default"
S139: "
2)- divert power to immediate area"
S140: "
3)- Divert Power to Photon-accelerators"
S141: "
4)- Divert power to button."
S142: "5)- Divert power to Diversion."

[End of text]

[End of file]