(display: "Time Display")(set: $timeminute to it + 3)
(either: (display: "Footsteps"), (display: "Lock Jiggling"), (display: "Car"), (display: "Voices"))
(if: $isParanoid is 2)[(display: "Memory Reel Normal")](if: $isParanoid is 3)[(display: "Memory Reel Paranoid")]
<span class="pulse-in">(if: $isParanoid is 1)[Did you [[lock the door?->Door]]](if: $isParanoid is 2)[Wait. Did you [[lock the door?->Door]]](if: $isParanoid is 3)[The door. Oh god, the door. Did you [[lock the door?->Door]]]</span>
(unless: $timehour is 6)[[The clock ticks.->Loop]](if: $timehour is 6)[[The alarm clock goes off.->End]]
(if: $timeminute is 6)
[(set: $timehour to it + 1) (set: $timeminute to 0)]
(if: $timehour is 12)
[(set: $timehour to 0)(set:$isParanoid to 1)]
(if: $timehour is 2)
[(set: $isParanoid to 2)]
(if: $timehour is 4)
[(set: $isParanoid to 3)]It is a weeknight.
You're at home, lying on your bed. Your body is weary and aching, and you settle in for a good night's sleep.
Maybe tonight will be a better night.
[[The clock ticks.->Loop]]
(set: $actiontimer to 0)
(set: $timehour to 10)
(set: $timeminute to 0 + $actiontimer)The time now is $timehour: (text: ...(a: $timeminute, "0")).(if: $isParanoid is 0)[ (display: "Footsteps Normal")] (unless: $isParanoid is 0)[(display: "Footsteps Paranoid")](set: $isParanoid to 0)(if: $isParanoid is 0)[ (display: "Lock Normal")] (unless: $isParanoid is 0)[(display: "Lock Paranoid")](display: "Time Display")
Morning peeks through the curtains.
Well. Another sleepless night, you suppose.
You get up, get dressed. Your eyelids are heavy. Your mind is running its wheels. Your heart pounds in your ribcage.
Maybe you can get some sleep later, when no one is looking. At least, up until they finally find you. Then it starts all over again.
Maybe [[tomorrow night->Start]] will be a better night.There comes a [//clack, clack, clack//]<c1| of footsteps walking past your front door.
(click: ?c1)[Your neighbor works late nights, you think. Goes to an office job, from the sounds of the high, hollow heels they wear.]There comes a [//''clack. clack. clack''//]<c2| of footsteps walking past your front door.
(click: ?c2)[You've seen the pair of heavy boots at the door once. You know the exact timbre of their soles on hard concrete. (if:$isParanoid is 3)[//''Clack. Clack. Clack.''//]<c3|]
(click: ?c3)[The footsteps were soft. Slow. Steady. For such heavy boots, they made such calculated noise. You glance at the lights under your door. They flicker, disguising any extra shadows. You can't be sure.]A low [//scritch, scritch, scritch//]<c1| is coming from the front door's padlock.
(click: ?c1)[You've had lizard problems in your house. Their little feet scurry across the cold metal, their tails waggling in their wake.]A low [//''scritch. scritch. scritch''//]<c2| coming from the front door's padlock.
(click: ?c2)[You recall the set of lockpicks they showed you once. It was a well-used set, with scratches all along the tips of the sticks and needles. For use on practice locks, they said, and they had showed you how they could get a padlock open.
](if:$isParanoid is 3)[//''Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.''//<c3|]
(click: ?c3)[The practice padlock had popped open within minutes.
You glance at your door. How long would your home's padlock hold?](if: $isParanoid is 0)[ (display: "Car Normal")] (unless: $isParanoid is 0)[(display: "Car Paranoid")]You hear the [//skrrt, skrrt, skrrt//]<c1| out in the driveway. The sound of a car pulling in and the engines turning off with a sigh.
(click: ?c1)[People came home at all sorts of odd hours here. Sometimes people would return at three in the morning. Sometimes four.]You hear the [//''skrrt, skrrt, skrrt''//]<c2| out in the driveway. The sound of a car pulling in and the engines turning off with a sigh.
(click: ?c2)[You've invited them to your house once. They drove. You had strained your ears for the sound of their tyres on the ashpalt all evening. (if:$isParanoid is 3)[//''Skrrt. Skrrt. Skrrt.''//]<c3|]
(click: ?c3)[They knew your home address. They had shown up at your front door once when you were out having dinner. Your younger sibling was at home, all alone. They were angry that you weren't home.](if: $isParanoid is 0)[ (display: "Voices Normal")] (unless: $isParanoid is 0)[(display: "Voices Paranoid")]Beyond the door, you can make out the faint [//mumble, mumble, mumble//]<c1| of voices. Quiet murmurs, no one wanted to be woken up by loud shouting at this time of night.
(click: ?c1)[Your other neighbors' were of the friendly sort, they had friends over a lot. Sometimes their gatherings stretched a little late into the night, but their goodbyes always sounded warm.]Beyond the door, you can make out the faint [//''mumble, mumble, mumble''//]<c2| of voices. Quiet murmurs, no one wanted to be woken up by loud shouting at this time of night.
(click: ?c2)[When it wasn't shouting, it was mumbling under their breath. You used to strain your ears to try and hear their murmuring, but was only met with lashes of passively poisonous words upon your ears. It was your fault to try and listen. (if:$isParanoid is 3)[//''Mumble. Mumble. Mumble.''//]<c3|]
(click: ?c3)[It was always 'nothing'. It was always 'fine'. Until you heard the mumbling, which was always about what an awful person you were. Vulgarities included, of course.]^^(either: "You're in the office again. Your ears still ring from their shouting. Your shoulders still ache from being hit by them. The floor still quakes from their anger. The office was not empty, but everyone else around you is a deathly silent, watching, judging. You stare at the floor, but it's slowly getting blurry from the pain.", "You're sitting on the edge of the bed, hands clutching the blanket wrapped around your body. They are at the door, cursing and swearing under their breath as they shove their legs into their pants. You had tried your best for their satisfaction rather than yours, but the actual act had (and still did) repulse you enough to finally not go through with it. They say it's alright, but the edge of steel in their voice as well as the broken lamp on the ground say otherwise.","You're at the bus stop, your phone having been snatched from your hand and is being shoved in your face. Your ears, dulled from their shouting. Your eyes, glancing at the screen full of unread messages and unanswered calls. A hundred and forty-three messages, and twenty-seven calls. All sent within one hour. And within the next five minutes you were found, and your public dressing-down was imminent.","They would stare at you with those eyes, pleading. Pleading that you were being unfair to them, that they loved you with all their heart and that you shouldn't treat them like that. You want to open your mouth and perhaps, protest. The protest dies in your throat as they cry that you are a horrible person for not reciprocrating, and that they were doing all they could for you. And that if you truly cared for them, you would treat them better. ","You're in the shotgun seat of the car. The crinkled map is in your hands, but all you see is a jumble of lines and names you don't recognize. Turn left, turn right, go straight ahead. You misread a turn, and the car zooms past the exit. They scream, slamming their hands onto the driving wheel, and the map is snatched out of your trembling hands. To the back seat you are sent, and another takes your place in the shotgun seat. They continue driving, but they treat their new map-reader with gentle patience, with an almost caring understanding. You sleep in the back seat, if only to try to staunch the flow of tears with your eyelids.","Your hands tap away uselessly at your keyboard. You were playing a game with them and a couple of friends. You were never good at the game. Everyone is seated in the same room, but there is nothing to be heard except furious clicks, frustrated sighs, and finally the slamming of a mouse on the desk hard enough that you can hear the plastic splinter. You know why you still play the game. It is one of the very few things you tried to keep in common with them, despite being absolute garbage at it. However, they don't share the same opinion. Their hateful glances lash your cheek when they think you aren't looking. They've never bothered to learn your taste in games, and your computer is full of games that you've tried playing for them, but could never finish.",)^^^^(either: "You convinced them to go to therapy. They did for two weeks, then they wanted you to come along as well, and barely made an effort to disguise their lust for any spicy activities right after. You pushed aside your distaste and agreed, if only so that they would honor their appointment, but then you realized you had to go prepare for your grandmother's funeral anniversary on the same day, and so informed them that you could not go after all. They never continued their therapy after that shouting session.", "They found you having breakfast at school with your father. They casually remarked that they had tried to kill themselves over your neglect just the day previous.", "They convinced your parents that it was your fault for neglecting them. Not five minutes later, while your parents drove them back to their own house, they tried to sneak their hand up your legs.","You deliberately broke the vibrate function on your phone. You deliberately kept your phone on silent during all hours of the day. It never worked. You would turn on your phone to see over a hundred unread messages, and missed more than a few actually important calls amongst the thirty that was from them.","They and you were good friends, once. You still care for them, despite everything. It was harder to accept that than to accept the ringing ears, the bruises, and the invasion of privacy.")^^Did you lock the front door? You get up from bed to check.
Yes. The little padlock sits firmly in place.
(if: $isParanoid is 1)[Well, you're pretty sure that you locked it before bed, anyway. Although it never hurts to check. You're forgetful sometimes.] (if: $isParanoid is 2)[You let go of the breath you had been holding. At least the door is locked. You remembered to lock it, this time. But the question of how long the padlock would actually last still weighs heavy on your mind.](if: $isParanoid is 3)[The lock holds your door shut firmly, but you know better. They can tear through your lock in minutes, and you are a sound sleeper. That is, if insomnia doesn't keep you up all night, of course. What if they were sitting outside the house, just waiting patiently for you to fall asleep to strike? You would never hear their footsteps as they creep up to the door, or the scratching of the padlock as it was picked, and the only time you would wake up would be when that dreaded shout was in your ear or when your body took yet another blow, or worse. You don't want to think what is worse.]
Back to [[bed->Loop]].