City of IF

[Tikanni Corazon]

Okay, I was hesitant to post this up, given that I cannot be sure of my consistency in posting, but I bit the bullet and went for it. The chapters will likely be shorter than usual, to attempt to make posting more frequently possible.

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You wake up on a cold, stone floor. Your limbs feel a bit stiff, indicating that you've been there a while. Yet you have no recollection of how you came to be there or why.

You slowly rise into a sitting position, wincing a little as your unused muscles are set into motion. You look around at your surroundings. There is just enough light in the room to make out the bare walls and boarded up windows. The minimal lighting is entering through narrow gaps between he boards, so at least you know it's currently daylight outside.

You get to your feet and walk over to peek through one of the gaps. There is glass beneath the boards and beyond that you can see a desert-like landscape dotted with the odd skeletal tree or bush. The sun is beating down from a sky as dusty as the land beneath it. Besides that there is very little to see, least of all any signs of life.

After tugging at the boards and finding them to be solidly held in place you turn your attention to the room you're in, taking a keener interest in your more immediate surroundings.

You notice for the first time a small door set into the wall on the opposite side of the room. No more than two feet square (and probably less), it's situated at about chest height. You try to open it, but it's locked.

To your left is a table, laden with an array of items. As you approach you notice a piece of paper in the middle of it all, and written upon it are instructions of a sort -

'Your challenge begins.
You must choose three items from group A, two items from group B, and just one item from group C. No more, no less. When you've chosen, place the items inside the pack on the floor by the table. Should you disregard these rules a price will be paid.'

You look around the room again, checking for any hidden cameras, but you can see no tell tale signs. You turn your attention back to the table. The groups are distinctly marked.

Group A is made up of:
A notebook, a length of fishing line with a hook, a disposable razor, an empty plastic bottle, a double ended pen/pencil, a metal nail file, a tube of green face paint, a can of hairspray, a piece of flint, and a bag of marbles.

In Group B there is the following:
A tube of superglue, a tin opener, a miniature screwdriver, a pair of tweezers, a watch (which is in working order), a packet of anonymous seeds, and a small pair of scissors.

The final selection, Group C, is definitely the most intriguing, but you keep in mind that of these you can only pick one. They consist of:
A hatchet, a pair of daggers with six inch blades, a katana, a slingshot, and a metal baseball bat.

You eye each of the items individually, trying to decide their possible merit against whatever you might have to face outside of your dark, mysterious prison. It's difficult, but you must choose.

[Key]

I'd take the katana. It's got the best reach except for the slingshot, which may be hard to use and not that deadly.

For group B, superglue (you never know what we might need to build) and a tin opener (hopefully we'll come across cans of food).

For group A, flint to start a fire, fishing line to fish, plastic bottle to hold water.

[Chinaren]

Bottle, scissors, hatchet.

[ten11]

Well, there's no indication that what we pick is what we get to keep, but assuming that's the case:
Group A - fishing line with hook, empty plastic bottle, and piece of flint.
Group B - tube of superglue, and a pair of scissors
Group C - hatchet
These items seem like they're more suited towards a survival scenario, so the absolute reach of the weapon probably doesnt matter. Can openers are very specific-use, and we could just cut it open with some other tool.

[Lebrenth]

Oh my, so we have 12,600 potential combinations available to us here!

I like ten11's choices. The superglue seems an odd choice, but in a hurry, you could patch a wound up with it. The other choices are totally what I would pick. Hopefully we'll find something else for tinder since we don't have any paper (didn't want to trade a fish hook for it).

I'm glad no one is thinking of option 12,601 where we take everything and ignore the warning. We're already here under mysterious circumstances, I think it's safe to assume we're being watched.

[Tikanni Corazon]

Quote: I'm glad no one is thinking of option 12,601 where we take everything and ignore the warning. We're already here under mysterious circumstances, I think it's safe to assume we're being watched.

Indeed, though C-ren does seem to be choosing option 12,602 and disregarding the 'no more, no less' side of things. 😉

Many thanks for your input guys, feels good to be back SGing again! I'll put up a poll tomorrow. x

[Tikanni Corazon]

The poll is up!

Rather than post several lists of options on the poll itself (as it would be rather lengthy) I've used the names of the ifians who suggested them. And I've added the dreaded 12,601 option, as technically Lebby did bring the possibility to light 😉 x

[Lebrenth]

I have to say, I am curious! But anyway, voted.

[Chinaren]

Voted, and winning. Well, -=1st.

[Key]

Ten11 convinced me, so that's what I voted for.

[Tikanni Corazon]

Poll is closed! Many thanks to all who contributed and voted. I'll have the next part up asap! xx

[Chinaren]

Bah, it was a fix, a fix I tells ya!

I'm sure I added another option in my initial reply, but then maybe not. Or my laptop refused it. On the plus side, I now have a new laptop. Not top end, I'm sorry to say, but more gooderer.

~waits~

[Tikanni Corazon]

What should you choose? Your eyes keep drifting back to group C and the array of weaponry laid out before you. It occurs to you to wonder what the hell awaits you outside your prison walls that would warrant you to need one of these things. You reach out a hand to grasp the smooth handle of the hatchet. You like the weight and solidarity of the weapon and it marks your first choice. You pick up the pack from the floor and place the hatchet inside, just as the note instructed.


Moving on to group A, you pick up the plastic bottle. Stands to reason that, as there is no form of sustenance amongst your choices, you will need to find food and drink once you leave (if you leave...). The bottle will certainly be needed to transport the latter. Next, following the same line of thought, you choose the fishing line and hook. Though it depends upon finding a place to fish, it still seems like a useful option regardless. The flint follows soon after. From what you saw through the gaps between the boards, there's no shortage of brush out there if you decide you want to build a fire. Group B proves slightly harder to decide upon, but you eventually add the superglue and the scissors to the pack, as both seem quite universally useful.


As you place the last item inside you look around, as if expecting something to happen that might indicate what you're supposed to do next. But nothing does. Slinging the pack over your shoulder, you wander over to the small door and inspect it more thoroughly. There's no handle or keyhole or even hinges for that matter. You give it a push and to your surprise it moves. Not outward like a door, but forward as a whole. You push again, expecting it to fall away to reveal a hole to the outside world. But it simply continues to move further forward. After shoving it as far as your outstretched arms will allow, it's obvious that in order to continue on this path, you will have to climb into the shaft and work your way along it while you push the obstruction ahead of you.


With a sigh, you push the pack into the tunnel first, then clamber up after it. Though the tunnel is less than two feet in width and height, you can just about manoeuvre yourself into a cramped position on your knees to continue pushing the 'door' forward. When there's enough room, you lie down on your stomach and shuffle through the tunnel behind it. It doesn't take very long before the dim light from the room is gone, and you're in darkness.

Suddenly, you feel a tiny pinch on your left arm, causing you to exclaim in surprise. Then another. Then one on your right arm, followed closely by others on your legs. All of these are accompanied by a tickling sensation running all over your skin. You rub a hand across your arm and your touch is met with more pinching and you cry out in pain at the multitude of biting sensations all over your body, beneath your clothing and in your hair.


You begin to panic at what your next move should be. Looking at the door, you desperately want to push on and get out of this god forsaken place. But who knows how far this tunnel can possibly go? It's already gone on much further than you anticipated it would. The pain is becoming unbearable now, you desperately need to get out.

***

So, do you take the pain from your unknown, unseen assailants and push on, or do you turn back to give yourself some respite and try to make a plan to get past them or find another way out?

Many thanks for reading!

[Lebrenth]

Stinging in the dark? I want to see what it is before I think about moving forward. Get back into the light if there is something clinging to me, if not, scoop with the pack to try to get an idea what we're dealing with. Might need fire sooner than expected.

[ten11]

I would like to keep going, but I don't see a way to get rid of whatever's doing the stinging. Retreat.

[Chinaren]

Yah wusses! Push on! Push on I say. It's only pain.

Nice episode, like the door/tunnel thing.

[Key]

Yeah, go back until the pain stops or you make it back into the room, whichever comes first.

[Vishal Muralidharan]

I'm hoping it's something tangible that's causing the stinging. If so, grab any one of them and rush back to the light to see what we're dealing with.

If it isn't tangible, I'd say we push on. Going back seems fruitless since there seems to be no other way out and we'll have to come down this path anyway.

[Lebrenth]

Vishal Muralidharan wrote: Going back seems fruitless since there seems to be no other way out and we'll have to come down this path anyway.

You know, regardless of what it is, we are pretty shy of options. Maybe we should just accept that and push on. This is likely to be a test of will put upon us by our unseen captors.

[Emperor]

This game as a very nice feel to it, its like meeting an old friend after decades have gone by. You see all the new features but deep down inside is that smile you fell in love with.

Anyhoo........

Push forward, we are already hurt, maybe it will work out and the little buggers will scrape off as we go.

Of course if it were real life I would be making my pansy ass back to the room as fast as I could crawl.

[Tikanni Corazon]

Awesome, new readers! Thanks very much guys, and sorry for the delay. Work has been manic and I've been exhausted. But next week I have a few days off, so I'm hoping to get a new chapter done. So I'll put up a poll once I've posted this and I'll get to it asap once you guys have voted.

And can I just say how nice it is to sees the continued activity here :)

[Lebrenth]

Tikanni Corazon wrote: And can I just say how nice it is to sees the continued activity here :)

Agreed!

Also, voted; contrary to my initial suggestion no less.

[Vishal Muralidharan]

Voted!

Also thwacked bob in this thread. Was super excited when I saw him XD

[Chinaren]

Voted.. And winning.