vore-rpg/gameScript/intro.vrs

: start
!> "Next stop, Syrapool. Five minutes. Have your bags ready. Syrapool station next."
> The train conductor's voice cuts through my reverie, and I shake myself awake. I've been zoning out while staring at the scenery passing by outside for a long time, I realize. And here I thought a four-hour train ride was going to be too long for me.
> This is kind of a big moment for me. I haven't been back to Syrapool since my family and I moved out to the country to take care of my grandparents twelve years ago. I remember that it's a big port city, tons of people and goods coming in and out all the time. I remember that I loved sitting with my best friend and watching all the different people go by...
> Well, soon I'm going to see her again. I wonder if she still likes people-watching.
!> I immediately feel out of place as soon as I step off the train. Sure, when I was younger all this bustle felt normal and familiar, and I was able to find my place in the flow.
> But now, seeing the massive throngs of people moving around the enormous station... Hearing the automated announcements over the PA while the digital displays conduct the chaotic symphony around me... (Where are the adorable old-timey flap displays my friend and I used to love looking at?)
> I feel like an outsider already. It doesn't help that with my nap-disheveled dark hair, my slightly askew glasses, my pink, cat-eared "Crazy Cat Lady" hoodie, my hole-y jeans, and my beat-up sneakers, I {{#i}}look{{/i}} like an outsider compared to all these rushing, neatly-attired businesspeople.
!> There are a couple of things around that I don't recognize at all. Near the door to the bathrooms, there's another door. The symbol on it looks like a kidney bean half filled with water. I see what looks like a pregnant woman going inside. Some kind of rest or care room for pregnant people, maybe?
> And there's a room with an icon of a fountain on it, but there's a water fountain literally right next to it. I feel like I'm in another country, not the city I spent the first nine years of my life in.
!> ... My phone vibrates. It's a text from my host-to-be. "Where are you? Come onnnnn, aren't you excited?! I know your train came in! I want to see you again! And I have so much to show you!"
> I smile to myself and begin rolling my suitcase toward the signs pointing me to the exit. At least some things don't change.
!> Her directions were easy enough to follow, and the streets don't feel quite as overwhelmingly different. Near the public bathrooms I pass are small booths with kidney beans and water fountains again. Someone comes out of the water fountain room, wearing some kind of uniform. ... I put it out of my mind. I'll need my host to explain.
> One way or another, I reach the entrance to her apartment building. Which will soon be my apartment building, at least for now. It's kind of overwhelming, with its sleek, clean dark lines, its recessed lighting, its polished tiles. I feel like I'm in a hotel. A hotel for rich people. I approach the front desk. "Uh, hello... I'm the new tenant?"
> The young woman in the clean-cut business suit there looks up from her computer and meets my gaze. "Cute accent. Name?"
$ Miriam = name(Miriam, "A 21-year-old digital artist and professional slacker from the country. I grew up in Syrapool, and have come back after twelve years away to finish my education at the Syrapool Academy of the Fine Arts. What's my name?", "Miriam")
!> Feeling somewhat self-conscious about my accent now, I enunciate my name as clearly as I can manage. "{{Miriam}}. {{Miriam}} Dahl."
> She types it into her computer and looks through the listings for a bit, her scroll wheel clicking quietly in the relative silence of the entrance hall. "{{Miriam}}? We don't have a record of a {{Miriam}} Dahl here. Do you have a contact here?"
$ Klara = name(Klara, "A 23-year-old self-employed filmmaker who's just bursting with energy. My best friend from my time growing up in Syrapool, and for at least the rest of her lease, my new roommate. What's her name?", "Klara")
!> "{{Klara}} Lundell," I say, now getting a little bit nervous. {{Klara}} did say that she was doing all this on the up-and-up, right? She did tell me to go to the front desk? "In apartment 8F, I think?"
> The front desk attendant does some clicking and typing while I wait. "Ah, I see. She put it under her own name." I feel the tension go out of my shoulders. She reaches under her desk and produces an envelope. "Here's your keycard. It will unlock the front door, set the elevator to go to your floor, and open your apartment." She pulls another tool out from under her desk. "Let me see your hand?"
!> I extend my hand across the desk, and she places the tool over my finger. I feel a sudden prick. "Ow!"
> She plugs the tool into her computer. "For the safety of our residents, it's bound to you using the DNA sample you've just provided, so in the event of your digestion, the keycard will be deactivated until you scan it at any Refreshen fountain."
> "Uh, in the event of my digestion? Is that... likely? Doesn't that... you know... mean that I'm not going to be around to scan it?" I feel vaguely uncomfortable thinking about this. I've heard about girls who eat other girls, but mostly only in crime stories...
> She gives me an odd look. "We would certainly hope that you will. In any case, that's all from me. Thank you, {{Miriam}}, and we hope you feel safe at your home here."
> "Thanks..."
!> After some fumbling with the keycard, I make it to the 8th floor and knock on {{Klara}}'s door. "{{Klara}}? I'm here!"
> I barely get the words out before the door is thrown open and Klara launches into a tight hug around me, nearly breaking me in half. "Oh my god! You got tall!" she says. "Remember when I used to tease you about how short you were?"
> I was only a few inches shorter than her... but now, in turn, I have a few inches on her. And I'm not that tall - she got her growth spurt early and never again, it seems. On the other hand, even squished against her, I an feel that her chest puts mine to shame... "Are you reminding me so I can do it back to you? You grew in... other places, I guess..."
> Klara laughs. It feels so good to hear her laughing again... I realize I really missed it. "Come in, come in!"
!> We spend some time catching up. She tells me about her filmmaking business, mostly recording fancy weddings and giving them a highlight reel to remember the event by. I tell her about my studies on 3D modeling at Virliai College, and how I've been trying to get in here at Syrapool but my grades weren't good enough in high school. The conversation gradually peters out as our stomachs start growling.
> "Well, should we go get some dinner?" She reaches into her pocket and flashes me a deck of blank white cards with an odd pearlescent sheen, grinning. Embossed into each card is the water fountain icon I'd seen earlier.
> "What are those?" I ask, confused. "Oh, that's the water fountain I saw before! What are those rooms for, anyway?"
!> She looks at me with some surprise. "You don't know? They don't have Refreshen where you are?"
> "Virliai's the biggest town in its area and it's still tiny compared to Syrapool, we don't have anything there," I say, laughing.
> A sudden grin comes over {{Klara}}'s face. "Oh, that's right... The laws only just changed ten years ago, and you were already gone, weren't you?" I feel like she's a cat eying up a particularly stupid mouse. And I'm the mouse. She covers her lips with the deck of cards, but I can still see the catlike smile in her eyes. "Well, then, maybe I can get dinner here instead..."
$ battle(Tutorial_Klara)
if digestedLastBattle(self)
    goto Tutorial_Klara_Digested_Aftermath
else if escapedLastBattle(opponent)
    goto Tutorial_Klara_Intimidated_Aftermath
else if digestedLastBattle(opponent)
    goto Tutorial_Klara_Reversal_Aftermath
else
    # if escapedLastBattle(self)
    goto Tutorial_Klara_Escaped_Aftermath
fi

: Tutorial_Klara_start
[] You lock eyes with Klara!
[Klara] Heh heh heh...
[Miriam] ... What is happening? You're looking at me funny.
[Klara] I'm about to give you a hands-on lesson in city living, is what!
select I don't know if I like the sound of that...
    cancel default choice (Stay quiet and listen.)
        $ forceAction(opponent, Tutorial_Drool)
        return
    choice I don't need a lesson.
        $ skippedTutorial = true
        [Miriam] I don't need a lesson! I lived here for nine years!
        [Klara] Well, I still need dinner!
        return
selected

: Tutorial_Klara_Drool
[Miriam] *swallows hard* C-Come on, {{Klara}}... You're not... really going to...
[Klara] Aw, don't be so scared, {{Miriam}}, have a little more faith in yourself.
$ tutorialHighlight(self, confidence, true)
[Klara] See that bar at the bottom of the screen?
[Klara] That's your Confidence meter. When people threaten you, or tease you, and you worry that they might actually eat you. it gets lower. Like it did just now. If you run out, you're easy pickings for them.
$ tutorialHighlight(self, confidence, false)
[Miriam] Well, what if I DON'T want to be eaten?!
$ tutorialHighlight(opponent, confidence, true)
[Klara] This one on the top is mine. If you get it all the way down, I'll leave you alone. And you might even manage to eat {{#i}}me{{/i}}! Though I doubt it! I'm pretty good at this.
$ tutorialHighlight(opponent, confidence, false)
[Miriam] Yeah, I want to do that. How do I do that?
$ enableActionType(Main)
$ disableActionType(Recovery)
$ disableActionType(Finish)
$ enableAct()
$ disableItems()
$ disableDefend()
$ disableFlee()
[Klara] Well, you fight back! Turnabout is fair play, after all! Here, let me show you.
$ tutorialForceBattleMenu(Act)
[Klara] Choose the "Act" option.
$ tutorialForceActionMenu(Protest)
[Klara] Now choose the "Protest" action.
$ forceAction(self, Tutorial_Protest)