Flow — 7 of 7

Chapter 4 - Fish

The Fishy Ocean is a room with printed name "The Ocean" and description "There is water everywhere. [We] [are] surrounded by other fish. Looking down, [We] [can] faintly see the ocean floor."

Fishy World is a scene.

Fishy World begins when Planet World ends.

Fish is scenery in The Fishy Ocean with description "The other fish swim away when [we] approach. They look like ordinary fish, with the usual fin, two tails, a furry skin, and the large oblong eye, just like [us]. [We] really [are] lucky to be a fish, and not one of those dumb land animals that we evolved from!".

The Fishy Ocean is north of the Fishy Ocean.

The Fishy Ocean is east of the Fishy Ocean.

The Fishy Ocean is northeast of the Fishy Ocean.

The Fishy Ocean is southeast of the Fishy Ocean.

The Fishy Ocean is up from the Fishy Ocean.

The Ocean Floor is a room. The ocean floor is down from the fishy ocean.

A treadmill is a fixed in place enterable supporter in the ocean floor with description "This looks like an old treadmill of the type that was popular with primitive land animals, back when hyperspace running was fashionable. It's old and rusty, but it does look functional. There is a long slightly curved narrow slot on the side. [if the treadmill is working] The treadmill is humming and shaking slightly. A faint glow is around it, inviting [us] to step on it. [end if]"

A treadmill can be working or stopped. A treadmill is stopped.

Understand "step on [something]" as entering.

Understand "step off" as exiting.

A long slightly curved narrow slot is a container in ocean floor with description "The slot on the side of the hyperspace treadmill is slightly curved, and about 20 cm long. It has the letters '1SH' engraved next to it, as well as some text saying 'No change returned'. "

Rule for printing the name of the long slightly curved narrow slot while not inserting or removing:

say "long slightly curved narrow slot";

omit contents in listing.

After inserting the shoehorn into the long slightly curved narrow slot:

Remove the shoehorn from play;

Say "[We] hear the treadmill starting up.";

Now the treadmill is working;

Check entering the treadmill:

if the actor is not wearing the pair of old shoes:

say "[We] [are] a fish! [We] [can't] use a treadmill that easily! [We] may have two tails, but they don't look like feet so [we] [would] look ridiculous!";

stop the action;

After entering the treadmill:

say "[We] step on the treadmill and start running, or at [we] try. It's not easy without actual feet!";

say "Some unsettling noises come out of the treadmill. Maybe it is broken after all, or maybe [we] [are] not running correctly? Land animals have always claimed that hyperspace running is very difficult and that things can go very badly wrong if you don't do it right, but we fish always assumed they were just trying to boast. Could they have been right?";

say "[paragraph break]Press any key";

wait for any key;

dramatise "The glow around the treadmill shimmers and grows";

dramatise "All [we] [can] see now is the glow[paragraph break]The sound of the treadmill fades away";

dramatise "The glow slowly disintegrates, [our] senses no longer register anything";

dramatise "All is void";

abide by the immediately restart the VM rule.

a shoehorn is a thing with description "This shoehorn has an inscription. It says 'Greetings from LD42'. Having no feet, [we] have no use for a shoehorn. Apparently primitive land animals use these as currency, shoehorns being seen as valuable because they're so useful for shoe-wearing creatures.".

The shoehorn is in the ocean floor.

a pair of old shoes is a wearable thing with description "A pair of old shoes. The soles are marked with something that seems to read 'LD43', whatever that may mean. Those primitive land animals really throw anything in the ocean. By some coincidence, these shoes are about the same size as [our] tails.".

a pair of old shoes is in the ocean floor.

Report wearing a pair of old shoes:

say "[We] [don't] have feet, but [we] [can] still try fitting these shoes on [our] tails.".