NextRock

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<<location>> <<switch visited()>>\ <<case 1>>\ This is the heart of the colony. More foot traffic passes through here than any other pod or hub. In a nod to NYC's Grand Central Station, a four-faced clock stands on a pedestal in the middle of the room. \ The domed glass ceiling lets in what scant light the Martian day has to offer. Connections lead to all the other major hubs, the stockade, and the airlock. <<case 2 9 15>>\ You look up at the dome. What's to stop that thing from crashing in at any moment? \ Its designers meant for it to offer a feeling of openness, but it just makes you anxious. \ Anxious to move on. <<case 3 5 8 11 14>>\ As usual, the clock reminds you that even 150 million miles from Earth, you should be busy somewhere else. <<default>>\ You come here a lot. Too bad there's not more to see. <</switch>>\ <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Living Hub">>Living <<action "Facilities Hub">>Facilities <<action "Engineering Hub">>Engineering <<action "Science Hub">>Science <<action "Medical Hub">>Medical <<action "Stockade Pod">>Stockade <<action "Airlock">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Central Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Central Hub">> <<action "Fabrication Pod">>Fabrication <<action "Electrical Engineering Pod">>Electrical <<action "Mechanical Engineering Pod">>Mechanical <<action "Network Operations Pod">>Network <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Engineering Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> From exercise to elimination and cleaning to chow, the facilities hub has you covered. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Central Hub">> <<action "Gymnasium">> <<action "Natatorium">> <<action "Shower Pod">>Shower <<action "Toilet Pod">>Toilet <<action "Laundry Pod">>Laundry <<action "Mess Pod">>Mess <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> Get in a good workout and keep yourself fit. The company expects it. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Facilities Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> You sweat a lot. Clean your uniform. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Facilities Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> Grub down. And remember, if you don't like the food here, the nearest Taco Bell is only 140 million miles away. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Facilities Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> A vigorous swim is just what you need. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Facilities Hub">> <<action "Shower Pod">>Shower <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> Wash your filthy self, for Glorb's sake. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Facilities Hub">> <<action "Natatorium">> <<action "Toilet Pod">>Toilet <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> It really stinks in here. Get done quickly and get out is your best advice. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Facilities Hub">> <<action "Shower Pod">>Shower <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> Where you and all your noisy, smelly neighbors sleep. <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Central Hub">> <<action "Living Pod 1">>Pod 1 <<action "Living Pod 2">>Pod 2 <<action "Living Pod 3">>Pod 3 <<action "Living Pod 4">>Pod 4 <<action "Living Pod 5">>Pod 5 <<action "Living Pod 6">>Pod 6 <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Living Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<location>> <<switch visited()>>\ <<case 1>>\ You once had to visit the psych pod shortly after arrival. \ Now you know to push those feelings of loneliness way down. \ And remember, Pluto is even farther out, and its miserable there. \ You could be on Pluto. <<case 2 9 15>>\ It's comforting that somebody's around in case you get a case of the Martian crabs or something. <<case 3 5 8 11 14>>\ No one wants to visit this hub. It's depressing and reminds you of your insides. <<default>>\ Remember those eye doctors they had at Walmart back on Earth? \ Tucked into their cramped little cubby holes right by the registers and the returns department? \ NextRock has deftly replicated that model here with much the same visual impact. \ <</switch>>\ <</location>> <<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Central Hub">> <<action "Infirmary Pod">>Infirmary <<action "Surgery Pod">>Surgery <<action "Psychiatry Pod">>Psychiatry <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Medical Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Science Hub">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Central Hub">> <<action "Life Support Pod">>Life Support <<action "Laboratory Pod">>Laboratory <<action "Greenhouse Pod">>Greenhouse <<action "Waste Recycling Pod">>Recycling <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Central Hub">> <<action "Rover Bay">> <<action "Surface on Foot">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Destinations>> <<action "Airlock">> <<action "Rover Bay">> <<action "Power Station">> <<action "Supply Depot">> <<action "Water Pumping Station">>Pumping Station <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Destinations>> <<action "Airlock">> <<action "Rover Bay">> <<action "Comms Station">> <<action "Supply Depot">> <<action "Water Pumping Station">>Pumping Station <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Destinations>> <<action "Airlock">> <<action "Rover Bay">> <<action "Power Station">> <<action "Comms Station">> <<action "Water Pumping Station">>Pumping Station <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Destinations>> <<action "Airlock">> <<action "Rover Bay">> <<action "Power Station">> <<action "Comms Station">> <<action "Supply Depot">> <<action "Water Pumping Station">>Pumping Station <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Destinations>> <<action "Airlock">> <<action "Rover Bay">> <<action "Power Station">> <<action "Comms Station">> <<action "Supply Depot">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Destinations>> <<action "Rover Bay">> <<action "Equipment Depot">> <<action "Solar Array">> <<action "Water Ice Mine">>Ice Mine <<action "Landing Pad">> <<action "Launch Pad">> <<action "Reactor">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<nav>> <<section Rovers>> <<action "Rover 1">> <<action "Rover 2">> <<action "Rover 3">> <</section>> <<section Exits>> <<action "Airlock">> <<action "Surface on Foot">> <</section>> <</nav>>

<<if def $currentNav>><<run setup.renderCurrentNav()>><</if>>

<<if tags().includes("location")>><<set $location to passage()>><</if>>\ !!<<print $location>> <<narrator>><</narrator>>\

<<scene 'Bill (Airlock)'>> <<branch "Opening">> Modern spacesuits aren’t nearly as bulky as those of the bygone Apollo and Shuttle eras, but they’re still no\ joy to don. Particularly the kind you’ve jammed your lanky, six-foot frame into. There are much better ones out\ there, everybody knows it. But in the interest of savings, this is basically the sort you’d find in a Dollar\ Store bargain bin. If Dollar Store sold spacesuits, that is. It occurs to you that if the mega-rich CEO of NextRock Incorporated had ever truly intended to live in his\ own colony, this process would be much easier. A lot of things would. After half an hour of seal checks, air scrubber tests, and glitchy comms troubleshooting, you, Bill Brewster,\ are ready to visit the surface of Mars. Or at least to wait in the Rover Bay until Lonnie’s nutty ass finds his\ way back. When he does, you are going to shut down his little operation, and maybe let him sit in the stockade\ and think about it awhile. And of course, now you need to go pee. Ain’t it always the way? <<action "Un-suit and go pee">>Un-suit, go pee, then come back and go through all this hassle again. <<cut "Rover Bay">>Ignore your bladder and exit to the Rover Bay. <</branch>>\ <<branch "Un-suit and go pee">> Jesus please us, Bill. Man up! This colony may seem to slip further from your control with every passing day, but surely you can still control\ your own bladder. <<cut "Rover Bay">>Ignore your bladder and exit to the Rover Bay. <<cut "Toilet Pod">>Grown man or not, you have a weak bladder, and you get testy when it’s full. Go pee. <</branch>>\ <</scene>>

<<scene 'Bill & Lonnie (Rover Bay)'>> <<branch 'Opening'>> Just as you enter the bay, Rover 3 rolls in from the surface. It comes to a perfect, auto-piloted stop at its\ charging station. The hydraulic door clangs shut, sending a small cloud of regolith into the relative vacuum of\ the bay. Lonnie Iverson, the colony’s Life Sciences officer, hops down from the cab, struggling with his ill-fitting\ suit. You are reminded of that old saw about packing 50 pounds of manure into a 10 pound bag. “They’re real,” Iverson shouts over his suit-to-suit radio. His eyes are wild. Light from his helmet’s HUD\ glints off the beads of sweat dotting his forehead. “Aliens! Honest to god aliens, Bill. They… exist!” <<action 'Talk Sense'>>Try and talk some sense to him. <<action 'Tell Me'>> Ask him to tell you about the aliens. <<action 'Show Me'>> Tell him to show you. <</branch>>\ <<branch 'Talk Sense'>> Lonnie Iverson looks like a man with a serious case of the space willies. More likely, you think, he’s had\ a little too much of that Martian Hydro he grows in some unknown location. The reason, in fact, that you’re\ hear to meet him. You’re going talk him down, find that location, and put an end to it. Schedules have been\ getting loose around here of late. And work, a little sloppy. You chin your suit-to-suit mic and walk toward him. “Listen, man. This place gets to everyone sooner or later.\ But if this is your way of trying to wrangle a spot on the return leg of the next transport run, you’re gonna\ have to come up with something a tad more believable.” “No.” Taking a step backward, Iverson shakes his head and stamps a boot angrily. “I know what I saw, Bill. I\ know…” He raises one gloved hand to his heaving chest. Little puffs of CO2 vent from his helmet. He drops to\ his knees then crumples softly to the floor in the light gravity. <<cut 'Airlock'>> Drag Iverson into the airlock and call for medical assistance. <</branch>>\ <<branch 'Tell Me'>> “Aliens, huh?” You chuckle, goading him. “Did they have tentacles?” Iverson hangs his head, as far as helmet will let him. A drop of sweat plops onto the faceplate. “I didn’t…”\ he starts, then stops and takes a deep breath. “I don’t know. I only saw…” He holds up one hand, and you can hear him huffing and puffing. Despite the circulators in his helmet, his\ faceplate begins to fog. <<action 'Talk Sense'>>Try and talk some sense to him. <<action 'Show Me'>>Tell him to show you. <</branch>>\ <<branch 'Show Me'>> You laugh. “If we weren’t alone on this rock — which we are — then we’d be the aliens here, Lonnie. You realize\ that, right?” “You’d try and talk your own kid out of being born,” he says, genuinely angry at you. “If you had a gal to\ knock up, that is.” That was a low blow. As leader of this colony, you can’t afford be distracted by romantic dalliances and\ Iverson knows it. Celibacy is one of the hardest parts of the job you signed up for. Plus, it’s not like he\ could ever attract a sighted mate himself. You decide to ignore the slight. Adopting a conciliatory tone, you ask, “Why don’t you take me out there and\ introduce me to these new friends of yours?” Iverson bends over and rests a hand on one knee. He holds up a gloved forefinger, stalling the conversation as\ he pants into his suit mic. As he huffs and puffs your keen eye takes in the sad state of Rover 3. All the rovers are meant to be\ interchangeable. Regardless, everyone (including you) calls this one the “Life Sciences Rover” and refuses to\ touch it with a ten foot dome strut. It’s plastered with a disgusting mixture of regolith slush from the ice\ mine, excrement from the waste processing facility, and slime from the greenhouse filters. “Come on, Lonnie,” you implore. “Get hold of yourself.” <<action 'Ramrod Lonnie into rover'>>Ramrod Lonnie into the rover. <<cut 'Stockade Pod' '<<set $lonnieInStockade to true>>'>>Dump him into the stockade until you can go pee and figure out what to do with him. <</branch>>\ <<branch 'Ramrod Lonnie into rover'>> With both hands, you hoist Lonnie to a standing position and stare straight into his bloodshot eyes. “Enough fooling around. Show me these aliens of yours. And then you’re taking me to your grow operation.”\ Spinning him around, you frogmarch him up into the rover’s cab. “But Bill,” he pleads. “I need to do some maintenance before I take her out again.” Aside from the grime, the rover looks fine. You suspect Iverson knows you’re onto his weed-growing operation\ and want him to take you to it. Nevertheless, Mars is a harsh mistress. Maintenance isn’t something to be taken\ lightly. <<cut 'Rover 3'>>Get into the rover with him. <<cut 'Toilet Pod' '<<set $lonnieDoesMaintenance to true>>'>>Go pee and let Lonnie do his maintenance. <</branch>>\ <</scene>>

<<scene 'Bill & Lonnie (Airlock)'>> <<branch 'Opening'>> Even with Mars tugging at a mere third of Earth’s pull, moving Lonnie Iverson is as about as easy as wrestling\ a dead moose onto the hood of a Land Rover. As you attempt to drag him into the airlock, you inadvertently\ cut open his suit on some loose regolith. The flakes are thin, but can slice like a razor. You hear nothing,\ but see a dusty plume rise from beneath his right knee. You manage to get his lifeless bulk into the airlock with you and close the hatch. Seconds tick away slowly as\ the chamber is flushed. High pressure CO2 — which is available in abundance — enters from above, and is sucked\ out as quickly through the floor grate. With no air to create whorls, sand flows off Lonnie’s suit like water. Iverson’s eyes are shut, his face slack. You can see the reflection of his suit’s heart rate sensor flashing on\ his pallid, stubbled cheek. “Hang in there, Lonnie,” you say. He might be a thorn in your side, but the colony\ can’t get by without him. At least not until the new recruits arrive. The panel by the hub door indicates that the particulate matter concentration has dropped to acceptable levels.\ The chamber begins filling with air. Finally, the light above the hub door turns green. <<action 'Call for assistance <<set $lonnieIncapacitated to true>>'>> Call for medical assistance and un-suit. <</branch>>\ <<branch 'Call for assistance'>> You chin your open-channel suit mic and call for a stretcher and someone with a strong back. After grabbing a\ patch from the repair shelf, you kneel by Iverson and cover the hole in his suit. “Help’s on the way, Lonnie,” you tell him over suit-to-suit, hoping you’re right. Lately people haven’t always been at their posts when they should be. Aside from making sure your Life Sciences\ Officer doesn’t die, getting this place back on track before that crew transport arrives next month is your top\ priority at the moment. Note to self: how are the new living pods coming along? Pete Daley, Chief of\ Engineering keeps saying all’s well, but maybe you should perform an on-site inspection. Struggling out of your low-rent spacegarb as quickly as you can, you rack the helmet and hang the suit back on\ its peg without inspection, since you didn’t actually leave the rover bay. The inner hatch opens and Chet Kahill and Chelsea Weaver — your Security and Medical chiefs respectively —\ appear, both looking worried. > Tell them to handle Lonnie, then go back out and check the rover's travel logs. <<cut 'Toilet Pod'>>Your world is turning yellow, delegate and go pee, for god’s sake! <</branch>>\ <</scene>>

<<scene 'Bill & Lonnie (Rover 3)'>> <</scene>>

<<scene 'Bill & Lonnie (Stockade)'>> <</scene>>

<<scene 'Bill (Rover 3)'>> <</scene>>

<<scene 'Bill (Toilet)'>>\ <<branch 'Opening'>> After doffing your spacesuit in the Airlock, you make your way through the Central Hub to the Facilities Hub.\ On the far side of the expansive chamber, several off-duty folks are laughing and dancing to an old disco song.\ They wave and invite you over, but you’ve got your own boogie shoes on, and right now you’re shuffling like mad\ for the toilet. The second you step into the room, you’re hit by a strong odor, and not the sort usually found lingering here. Are there skunks on Mars? You don’t think so. That smell is marijuana, the legality of which on this planet is\ perhaps not 100% clear, but the NextRock Colony Handbook specifically forbids intoxicants of any kind except\ for medical use. You may not know who’s vaping it, but you sure as hell know who’s growing it. Lonnie Iverson. As you relieve yourself the yellow tint drains from the world, allowing you to think clearly again. The\ growing operation is important to weed out, so to speak, but you have more important duties. Like making\ sure the new colonists have a comfy place to rest their heads when they arrive. <<if $lonnieDoesMaintenance is true>> While Lonnie is busy with rover maintenance, perhaps you should \ <<elseif $lonnieInStockade is true>> While Lonnie cools his heels in the stockade, you decide to \ <<else>> Now would be as good a time as any to \ <</if>>\ head over to the Engineering hub and catch up on progress with the new habitat. <</branch>>\ <</scene>>

Episode 1 Mutiny or a Bounty

<<run Config.cleanupWikifierOutput = true>> <<run $(document).on(':scene-branch-taken', ev => {Cycle.get('time').update(1);})>> <<newcycle 'time' 4>> <<phase 'early morning' 'morning' 'late morning' 'midday' 'early afternoon' 'late afternoon' 'early evening' 'late evening' 'night'>> <</newcycle>> <<plot>> <<point "Plot A Scene 1">> <<point "Plot A Scene 2" "$location is 'Rover Bay'">> <<point "Plot A Scene 3" "$location is 'Airlock'" "$lonnieDoesMaintenance is true">> <</plot>> <<plot>> <<point "Plot B Scene 1" "$location is 'Toilet Pod'" "$lonnieInStockade isnot true">> <</plot>>

@@#time-cycle;@@ <<timed 0s>> <<replace '#time-cycle'>><<showcycle 'time' upperfirst>><</replace>> <</timed>>