Part 28: Countdown: Part 3
And now let's get the end of it out of the way and get ready for 6 Days a Sacrifice.
The Mind
February 3rd, AD 2386.
The double doors of the New Delhi Mental Hospital hiss closed as you step into the lobby. The weight of a mail satchel cuts into your shoulder. Just as you did twenty separate times during the shuttle ride here, you wonder how you got into this mess.
The man in red assured you there would be further instructions when you arrived, but hadn't elaborated before disappearing into the shadowy alleyway where he had requested to meet you.
You almost didn't take the job. You're not in the business of delivering the parcels of homeless weirdos in tattered rags. But that had all changed when the weirdo had produced a wad of cash as thick as your thumb.
Had you not been so tired, you would probably have asked where the money had come from. But there was something about the man in red's voice. So smooth and charismatic, impossible to resist. Kind of like what God's voice must be like. Not merely instructing, or requesting, but simply stating how things were going to be, like he knew everything...
Forget it. Just another job. Get the instructions and deliver the parcel. Then enjoy the money and forget all about weirdos in red.
Countdown 3 - the Mind
An Interactive Fiction by Yahtzee
Release 1 / Serial number 070110 / Inform 7 build 4B91 (I6/v6.31 lib 6/11N)
Lobby
Everything about the New Delhi Mental Hospital screams "surgical". The uncarpeted floor is so sterilised you almost feel guilty walking on it. There are no corners in the architecture - the walls are curved and smooth, painted an insipid pastel blue. The room stretches hugely off in all directions, with the exit doors to the south, and an archway labelled "CELL BLOCK 1" to the north.
>east
Outside The Elevator
You are outside the main elevator that can take you up to any of the thirty floors that make New Delhi Mental Hospital one of the better-equipped loony bins in the United Coalition. Nearby is a small lounge area, with a ratty-looking sofa and coffee table.
On the coffee table is a page.
>take page
Taken.
>read page
The Book of the Bridge, chapter 3.
1. So the Prince bade the Bridgekeeper to touch the Cunning Thief, and at their conjoined hands the Covetous Thief was thrown down, and truly did he know the name of the King.
2. And the Cunning Thief wept aloud, "Why have I been made a part of this great evil? To have murdered with my hands, and to be made glad of mindless destruction through my own eyes? I curse this house!"
3. The Prince was rightly pleased. "The Cunning Thief now sees our message, and will guide the Bridgekeeper to the first of the three Constructions. Henceforth the Cunning Thief shall be the Guide."
4. And the Guide who was the Cunning Thief gathered together his Thief-Wife and Thief-Son, and in the house that was the Mind of the Bridgekeeper, they called to their host.
5. But the Bridgekeeper was fearful, for the Guide had clad the Thief-Wife in the vestments of the Father, and the Thief-Son in those of the Brother, and the Bridgekeeper sobbed in his confusion.
6. And the Guide put fire to the Bridgekeeper, and the Body of the Bridgekeeper was destroyed utterly, and the Mind of the Bridgekeeper was destroyed by one-half, and across the great dark ocean one-third of the Bridge appeared.
7. And the King said, "I see the Bridge, but it is only one-third; it must be complete before I may attend the Land of Technology."
>west
Lobby
Everything about the New Delhi Mental Hospital screams "surgical". The uncarpeted floor is so sterilised you almost feel guilty walking on it. There are no corners in the architecture - the walls are curved and smooth, painted an insipid pastel blue. The room stretches hugely off in all directions, with the exit doors to the south, and an archway labelled "CELL BLOCK 1" to the north.
>west
Reception
You are standing at reception, leaning over the desk with your elbows resting on the surface. Much of the wall before you is decorated with a suitably pacifying work of 2D art.
Sitting askew on the reception desk is a white plastic telephone.
>east
Lobby
Everything about the New Delhi Mental Hospital screams "surgical". The uncarpeted floor is so sterilised you almost feel guilty walking on it. There are no corners in the architecture - the walls are curved and smooth, painted an insipid pastel blue. The room stretches hugely off in all directions, with the exit doors to the south, and an archway labelled "CELL BLOCK 1" to the north.
You faintly hear the telephone ringing.
>west
Reception
You are standing at reception, leaning over the desk with your elbows resting on the surface. Much of the wall before you is decorated with a suitably pacifying work of 2D art.
Sitting askew on the reception desk is a white plastic telephone.
The telephone is ringing.
>pick up phone
You pick up the phone and hold it to your ear. A familiar voice says, "The occupant of cell 105 is the recipient. Do not let the guards see you. You will receive more money as soon as the parcel is delivered." They hang up before you can say anything, and you replace the handset, baffled.
>east
Lobby
Everything about the New Delhi Mental Hospital screams "surgical". The uncarpeted floor is so sterilised you almost feel guilty walking on it. There are no corners in the architecture - the walls are curved and smooth, painted an insipid pastel blue. The room stretches hugely off in all directions, with the exit doors to the south, and an archway labelled "CELL BLOCK 1" to the north.
>north
Corridor
You are in an unfurnished north-south corridor. There is a sign on one of the walls.
>read sign
It has two arrows. The one pointing south is marked "Lobby", and the one pointing north says "Cell Block One".
>north
The security guards give you only a passing glance. They are more concerned about prisoners trying to get out, and your courier's uniform and demeanour reassure them that you are all business.
Cell 101
You are standing outside the hugely thick and armoured door to a cell marked "Cell 101". The corridor continues east and south.
There is a dropper built into the cell door.
A learned-looking doctor type is here, flanked by a small entourage of youths.
Toby, one of the guards, is patrolling here.
The doctor seems to be giving a tour of the cell block to his apprentices, and is giving a detailed description of the occupant of cell 101.
>wait
You hear nothing unexpected.
"We just can't seem to convince him that he isn't covered in crawling insects," says the doctor. "We have to constantly keep his fingernails cut in case he scratches himself severely, and that's one of the least popular jobs among the orderlies, I can tell you." The youths titter fondly.
>listen
You hear nothing unexpected.
The doctor and his entourage move east.
>east
Cell 102
You are standing outside the hugely thick and armoured door to a cell marked "Cell 102". More cells lie to the east and west.
A learned-looking doctor type is here, flanked by a small entourage of youths.
There is a dropper built into the cell door.
"I'm afraid most of the rest of the cases in cell block 1 are rather textbook, certainly nothing worth wasting your precious time by giving a full description." The doctor pauses to push his spectacles back up his nose. "There is one exception, however. I think you'll find this the highlight of the tour."
>wait
Time passes.
The doctor and his entourage move east.
>east
Cell 103
You are standing outside the hugely thick and armoured door to a cell marked "Cell 103". More cells lie to the east and west.
A learned-looking doctor type is here, flanked by a small entourage of youths.
There is a dropper built into the cell door.
The doctor and his entourage move east.
>east
Cell 104
You are standing outside the hugely thick and armoured door to a cell marked "Cell 104". More cells lie to the east and west.
A learned-looking doctor type is here, flanked by a small entourage of youths.
There is a dropper built into the cell door.
The doctor and his entourage move east. "Good morning, Lionel," says the doctor courteously, as he passes by the cell door without stopping.
>east
Cell 105
You are standing outside the hugely thick and armoured door to a cell marked "Cell 105". This is the end of the cell block, and the only way to go is back west.
A learned-looking doctor type is here, flanked by a small entourage of youths.
There is a dropper built into the cell door.
Clive, one of the guards, is patrolling here.
"This, of course, is our resident celebrity," says the doctor grandly, taking up position next to the peephole.
An attractive young female student peers at the cell's occupant, and recognition lights up her face. "The Mephistopheles Killer?"
>At this point, you just keep typing wait to get another couple of sentences. My possibly over-generous theory is that since the Agony of the Mind is boredom, we're supposed to be undergoing something tedious here . Anyway, I cut all the waiting out and just kept the text.
"Yes, you'll remember it was all over the news. Last year, the EFS Mephistopheles was relaunched with a skeleton crew of six. The appointed ship's counsellor was one Doctor Jonathan Somerset, and he reported for duty punctually and on schedule." The youths draw nearer, like children gathering around nanny for story time.
A slightly perverse smile flashes on the doctor's face. "Unfortunately, shortly after the launch, it was discovered that the real Doctor Jonathan Somerset was dead. Pushed down a flight of stairs, presumably by the impostor who had taken his place. Off-World Security was dispatched to intercept the Mephistopheles."
"Its last recorded communication was an SOS distress call to the EFS Charisma. By the time Off-World Security arrived, this man had slaughtered the entire crew." He glances at the sullen prisoner, and shakes his head sadly.
"So... who IS he?" asks a lanky, bespectacled youth.
"His name is Malcolm Somerset," replies the doctor. "The only son of Doctor Jonathan Somerset. He was a student of psychology at Ganymede University, wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, but he failed the final examination and dropped out."
The doctor's eyes never leave the patient in cell 105 throughout his speech. There is a note of remorse in his voice. "It seems becoming a shipboard counsellor was his dream, and when his father was called up, he couldn't hold in his jealousy."
The interrogative youth in spectacles poses the doctor another question. "So, why did he kill the Mephistopheles crew?"
"That's partly why he remains under psychiatric study," comes the answer. "It's a complete mystery."
"His profile is completely inconsistent with a spree killer. The best theory we have is that he was found out, and killed out of desperation... but that doesn't explain the demented creativity, the sheer bloodthirsty relish with which his crewmates were slaughtered." The doctor's expression is suddenly very dark.
"One man was impaled. Another was blinded. The first officer had her head twisted right around. Many of the corpses were dismembered and stitched randomly together into Frankenstein-like monstrosities."
He takes a moment to watch the horrified faces of the students, and to let them gawk through the peephole some more, trying to imagine how the silent creature before them could have committed such things. "Certainly not the actions of a man simply trying to cover up a far less serious crime."
"But let's leave him for the moment and move on," says the doctor, as he and the students move westwards with obvious haste.
>look
Cell 105
You are standing outside the hugely thick and armoured door to a cell marked "Cell 105". This is the end of the cell block, and the only way to go is back west.
There is a dropper built into the cell door.
Clive, one of the guards, is patrolling here.
>examine clive
The guard is smartly dressed in a blue and black uniform with peaked cap, and watches you suspiciously.
>More goddamn waiting, until...
Clive heads westwards on patrol.
>put package in dropper
You place the parcel in the dropper while no-one is looking and slam it shut. Feeling an enormous sense of accomplishment and relief, you exit the cell block and swiftly leave the asylum by the front door.
After collecting your fee, you live out the rest of your life in varying degrees of happiness and contentment. Occasionally, the strange man in red and the contents of the mysterious parcel will come back to haunt your curiosity, but this is nothing that cannot be swiftly dismissed.
You will never know the significance of the role you played in the machinations of destiny.
*** You succeeded in your task ***