You're playing as Brooklyn, and you're starting at Petrola HQ.
With you are Brett, Vanessa, and her sister, Sierra.
Arthur opens the front doors, smiling and waving you guys in.
(text-style:"italic")[Remember: The choices you make in the beginning may narrow the options you have later. Choose wisely.]
[[Into HQ]]
(set: $realevidence to 0)
(set: $forgeryevidence to 0)
(set: $sierraevidence to false)
(set: $employmentfile to false)
(set: $darcylake to false)
(set: $sierraleaves to false)
(set: $flirty6 to 0)
(set: $rude6 to 0)
(set: $dumb6 to 0)
(set: $curious6 to 0)
(set: $flirty2 to 0)
(set: $rude2 to 0)
(set: $dumb2 to 0)
(set: $curious2 to 0)
(set: $flirty10 to 0)
(set: $rude10 to 0)
(set: $dumb10 to 0)
(set: $curious10 to 0)
(set: $arthurstrust to 5)
(set: $secondfloor to false)
(set: $sixthfloor to false)
(set: $tenthfloor to false)
(set: $offices to 0)
(set: $paisleysoffice to false)
(set: $nwoffice to false)
(set: $woffice to false)
(set: $neoffice to false)
(set: $eoffice to false)You enter HQ, and Arthur leads you through the lobby, to the elevators. He hits the button to go up, and explains what's on each floor while you wait.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["On the second floor, we have the environmental biology labs. You can check around there, if you'd like, I'm sure Darcy's free to give you a tour."] Arthur looks at Brett, who looks excited. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Or you can go up to the sixth floor, where Mr. Rinaldi's office is. He keeps track of employment records, so he might have some information on Nick's dad."]
The elevator doors open, and [[you and your friends get in.]] (text-colour:#ced4da)["I'm gonna get my steps in and take the stairs,"] Arthur says. (text-colour:#ced4da)["You kids come find me on the tenth floor if you need my help later."]
The doors close.
(text-colour:cyan)["I think we should check the environmental biology department,"] Brett says immediately.
(text-colour:orange)["I think we should check with Mr. Rinaldi,"] Sierra argues. (text-colour:orange)["He has employment records, that feels important to the case."]
You look at Vanessa. She shrugs. (text-colour:magenta)["It's up to you, Brooklyn."]
[[Second floor, environmental biology with Darcy.|Second floor.]]
[[Sixth floor, employment records with Mr. Rinaldi.|Sixth floor.]]You press the "2" button, and the elevator starts to move. It's a little jerky at first, but then the ride is smooth.
For thirty seconds, until it comes to a jerky stop, just an inch or two too high.
The doors open, and the four of you step out.
There's a long hallway, with tons of empty offices. You keep walking until you find one with the lights on.
You knock.
(text-colour:green)["Come in!"]
[[You enter.]]
(set: $secondfloor to true)You hit the "6" button, and the elevator jolts to life.
The elevator ride is... unpleasant. Jerky, creaky, generally nerve-wracking.
When you first met, Arthur did say that budget cuts had hit maintenance. Maybe that's why he took the stairs.
You get to the sixth floor, and the four of you are grateful to step out of the elevator.
There's a reception desk, with a grumpy-looking teenaged girl sitting there, drinking from a Starbucks to-go cup.
You approach.
(text-colour:yellow)["We're here to see Mr. Rinaldi."]
She stares at you. "Don't care. No need to tell me. Just go on in."
Yikes.
[[The four of you go past the reception desk, towards the offices.]]
(set: $sixthfloor to true)You enter to see a cluttered lab, flasks and Bunsen burners and incubators and test tubs and pipettes and safety goggles on every surface.
Darcy stands behind a table, pouring a white powder into a clear liquid, which then turns purple.
Brett is in heaven.
Darcy, without looking up, says, (text-colour:green)["Feel free to look around, just don't eat anything or get it in your eyes or mix things."]
(text-colour:cyan)["Basic lab etiquette, got it."] Brett nods and starts looking around.
Vanessa and Sierra follow Brett, poking around in the general vicinity of him.
You approach Darcy. (text-colour:yellow)["Can I ask you a few questions?"]
She glances up. (text-colour:green)["Yeah, of course." ]
[["What's a girl like you doing in a lab like this?"]]
[["What are you working on?"]]
[["Are you sure you know what you're doing?"]]
[["What do you do?"]](set: $flirty2 to it + 1) You bat your eyelashes. (text-colour:yellow)["What's a girl like you doing in a lab like this?"]
Darcy looks at you and laughs. (text-colour:green)["Oh, thank you. I needed that."]
She sets the flask on a Bunsen burner.
(text-colour:green)["I'm assuming you're here to ask questions about the lake?"]
[["I'd rather get to know you."]]
[["Yeah, what can you tell me?"]]
[["I didn't think you'd know anything about it."]]
[["Which lake?"]](set: $curious2 to it + 1) (text-colour:yellow)["What are you working on?"] You lean over the table a little, to get a better look at some of the various flasks and bottles and test tubes.
You don't understand what any of it is or means, but that's fine.
Darcy shrugs. (text-colour:green)["Just checking the acidity of filtered lake water."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What does the purple mean?"]
(text-colour:green)["Purple's good." ]
She sets the flask on a Bunsen burner.
(text-colour:green)["I'm assuming you're here to ask about the lake?"]
[["I'd rather get to know you."]]
[["Yeah, what can you tell me?"]]
[["I didn't think you'd know anything about it."]]
[["Which lake?"]] (text-colour:yellow)["Are you sure you know what you're doing? Those chemicals look pretty dangerous."] (set: $rude2 to it + 1)
Darcy glares. (text-colour:green)["This is lake water and an acid-base indicator."]
She sets the flask on a Bunsen burner.
(text-colour:green)["I'm assuming you're here to ask about the lake?"]
[["I'd rather get to know you."]]
[["Yeah, what can you tell me?"]]
[["I didn't think you'd know anything about it."]]
[["Which lake?"]] (set: $dumb2 to it + 1) You make sure to look confused. (text-colour:yellow)["What do you do?"]
(text-colour:green)["Well, right now I'm identifying the pH of this sample-"]
(text-colour:yellow)["No, I mean, like, here."]
(text-colour:green)["For my job?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Yeah."]
She gives you a concerned look. (text-colour:green)["I'm an environmental biologist."]
You stare blankly.
Darcy sighs. (text-colour:green)["I study the outside, so we don't kill it."]
You nod, slowly, as if this is just now making sense.
She sets the flask on a Bunsen burner.
(text-colour:green)["I'm assuming you're here to ask about the lake?"]
[["I'd rather get to know you."]]
[["Yeah, what can you tell me?"]]
[["I didn't think you'd know anything about it."]]
[["Which lake?"]] (set: $flirty2 to it + 1) You lean over a little, trying to subtly tug your shirt down and push your elbows together. (text-colour:yellow)["I'd rather get to know you."]
Darcy raises an eyebrow at you, amused. (text-colour:green)["What would you like to know?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["You can start by telling me what your ideal date would be."]
She snorts. (text-colour:green)["Arthur told me you had a big personality."]
The purple liquid in the flask starts to boil. Steam starts rising, fogging up her safety glasses.
(text-colour:green)["Is there anything else I can help you with?"]
[[Wipe off her safety glasses for her.]]
[["Would you be able to give a tour of the lake later?"]]
[["I don't think you'd be able to, no."]]
[["Can you give me directions out of here?"]](set: $curious2 to it + 1) (text-colour:yellow)["Yeah, what can you tell me?"]
(text-colour:green)["What do you wanna know?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Is it true that Petrola's environmental impact on the lake is what drove Nick's dad to leave the company?"] Brett asks, cutting in. He's wearing safety goggles and a spare lab coat now.
Darcy looks taken aback. (text-colour:green)["I wouldn't know. All I know is that one day, Joe and Arthur and I were pals, going for drinks after work every Thursday, and the next he walked out and started a competing energy corporation." ]
There's a sadness to her. But she shakes it off.
The purple liquid in the flask starts to boil. Steam starts rising, fogging up her safety glasses.
(text-colour:green)["Is there anything else I can help you with?"]
[[Wipe off her safety glasses for her.]]
[["Would you be able to give a tour of the lake later?"]]
[["I don't think you'd be able to, no."]]
[["Can you give me directions out of here?"]](set: $rude2 to it + 1) You shrug. (text-colour:yellow)["I didn't think you'd know anything about it."]
She bristles. (text-colour:green)["Why's that?"]
You give her a once over. (text-colour:yellow)["No reason."]
The purple liquid in the flask starts to boil. Steam starts rising, fogging up her safety glasses.
(text-colour:green)["Is there anything else I can help you with?"]
[[Wipe off her safety glasses for her.]]
[["Would you be able to give a tour of the lake later?"]]
[["I don't think you'd be able to, no."]]
[["Can you give me directions out of here?"]](set: $dumb2 to it + 1) You tilt your head. (text-colour:yellow)["Which lake?"]
Darcy blinks. (text-colour:green)["The one right next to the building. You passed it on the way to the parking lot."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Oh! The lagoon!"]
(text-colour:green)["Well, it's called Faerie Ring Lagoon, but it's technically a lake-"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Then why would they name it Faerie Ring Lagoon?"]
Darcy pinches the bridge of her nose. (text-colour:green)["Because it wasn't named by scientists." ]
The purple liquid in the flask starts to boil. Steam starts rising, fogging up her safety glasses.
(text-colour:green)["Is there anything else I can help you with?"]
[[Wipe off her safety glasses for her.]]
[["Would you be able to give a tour of the lake later?"]]
[["I don't think you'd be able to, no."]]
[["Can you give me directions out of here?"]](set: $flirty2 to it + 1) You reach across the table, and wipe the steam off her safety glasses with your thumbs.
(if: $flirty2 >= 2)[Darcy chuckles and leans back. (text-colour:green)["I appreciate it, kid, but I'm a touch too old for you."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Nonsense, age is nothing but a number."]
(text-colour:green)["Right. And a jail cell is just a room. And hell is just a sauna."]
(text-colour:yellow)["I'm twenty-one,"] you say.
(text-colour:green)["Oh, I thought you were twenty-five-ish. Yikes."]
Oof.
(text-colour:green)["Thanks for the ego-boost, anyways. If you and your friends need, later, I can give you a tour of the lake."]
Nice! (set: $arthurstrust to it + 2)(set: $darcylake to true)
(text-colour:green)["Listen, I have to run some tests that involve pressure and fire, and I think for legal reasons, it's best if you guys get out of here for now. But I'll let Arthur know you were fun to have around."]
You and your friends thank Darcy for her time and hospitality, and [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $curious2 >= 2)[She smiles but leans back, and wipes them off herself.
(text-colour:green)["Thanks."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Are you okay?"]
(text-colour:green)["Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I have to run some tests that involve pressure and fire, and I think for legal reasons, it's best if you guys get out of here for now. But I'll let Arthur know you were a pleasure to have around. And if you want a tour of the lake later, just come grab me."]
Nice! (set: $arthurstrust to it + 4) (set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank Darcy for her time and hospitality, and [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $rude2 >= 1)[Darcy jerks back.
(text-colour:green)["Listen, I have to run some tests that require pressure and fire, and I'd hate for something bad to happen to you guys. I think it's best if you go."]
Oof. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1)
You and your friends [[leave the lab.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $dumb2 >=1)[Darcy leans back, and wipes off her safety glasses herself, then readjusts them.
(text-colour:green)["Thanks. Um, listen, I have to run some tests that require pressure and fire, and I think it's best if you guys leave. I don't want you to get hurt." ]
(text-colour:yellow)["I think we'd be okay-"]
(text-colour:green)["No, you should go."]
Oof. Playing dumb did not work on her. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1)
You and your friends thank her for her time, and [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else:)[Darcy leans back and cleans them off herself.
(text-colour:green)She clears her throat. ["Sorry, force of habit. Um, listen, I'd love to have you guys stick around, but I have to run some tests that require pressure and fire, and I think it's best if you guys leave. I don't want you to get hurt. But I'll let Arthur know that you didn't raise too much hell. And if you want a tour of the lake later, come find me, I'll need to go out and collect fresh samples anyway."]
Right. Not bad. (set: $arthurstrust to it + 1)(set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her and [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]](set: $curious2 to it + 1) (text-colour:yellow)["Would you be able to give us a tour of the lake later?"] you ask.
(if:$curious2 >= 2)[Darcy nods.(text-colour:green)[ "Yeah, of course, just come grab me later. For right now, though, I'm gonna have to kick you out. I have to run some tests that involve pressure and fire, and I think Arthur would kill me if I let something bad happen to you guys. But I'll let him know you were a pleasure to have around."]
Sweet! (set: $arthurstrust to it + 4) (set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her for her hospitality, and [[get out of her hair.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $flirty2 >=2)[Darcy narrows her eyes at you. (text-colour:green)["Is that a euphemism?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Not if you don't want it to be."]
She laughs. (text-colour:green)["Fair enough. I'll be happy to give you a tour of the actual lake later, but for now I gotta kick you out. I need to run some tests involving pressure and fire, and I can't have you guys get hurt on my watch. But I'll let Arthur know you were fun to have around."]
Nice. (set: $arthurstrust to it + 3)(set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her and [[leave the lab.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $rude2 >= 1)[Darcy glares at you. (text-colour:green)["No, thanks. You're on your own. Good luck." ]
Yikes. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 2)
You and your friends [[leave the lab.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $rude2 >= 1)[Darcy looks at you, trying to decide. (text-colour:green)["If I'm not busy, maybe. But I wouldn't count on it." ]
Cold, Darcy. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1)
You and your friends [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $dumb2 >=1)[Darcy looks at you, then sighs. (text-colour:green)["Yeah, sure. I don't want you getting yourselves hurt. But I'm gonna need you out of here, for now. I'm about to run some tests with pressure and fire, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt." ]
(text-colour:yellow)["We'll be fine-"]
(text-colour:green)["No, you should really go. It's for your own safety."]
Yowzers. Maybe playing dumb was the wrong move with her. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1) (set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her and [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else:)[Darcy shrugs. (text-colour:green)["Yeah, if I'm not busy. But I need you out of here for now. I need to run some tests involving pressure and fire, and for legal reasons, I can't have you in here for that."]
Fair enough. (set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her and [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
](set: $rude2 to it + 1) (text-colour:yellow)["I don't think you'd be able to, no."] (if: $flirty2 >= 2)[You throw in a wink.
Darcy laughs. (text-colour:green)["Alright, well, if you think of anything just let me know. I'd be happy to give you a tour of the lake later. You're a fun group."]
Nice! (set: $arthurstrust to it + 3)(set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her for her hospitality, and [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $rude2 > 1)[
Darcy rolls her eyes. (text-colour:green)["Well, door's right there. Don't let it hit you on the way out."]
Yikes. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 2)
You and your friends [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $curious2 >= 2)[You shrug.
Darcy gives you a weird look, but shakes it off. (text-colour:green)["Okay... Well, I've gotta run some tests involving pressure and fire, so I gotta kick you out for now. Uh, if you want a tour around the lake later, let me know, unless you'd rather do it by yourself."]
Fair enough. (set: $arthurstrust to it + 1)(set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her and [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $dumb2 >= 1)[You say it pretty confidently, but Darcy seems... unconvinced.
(text-colour:green)["Right. Well. Let me know if you need anything else. I can give you a tour around the lake later."]
Sweet. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1) (set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her and [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else:)[
Darcy raises an eyebrow at you. (text-colour:green)["Right. Cool. Well, you're free to go."]
Oof. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1)
You and your friends [[get out of her hair.|Back to the elevator.]]](set: $dumb2 to it + 1) (text-colour:yellow)["Can you give me directions out of here?"] you ask. (if: $flirty2 >= 2)[You twirl your hair, and bat your eyelashes.
Darcy laughs. (text-colour:green)["I think you can figure it out."]
You bat your eyelashes a little more, hoping to get something else out of her, but to no avail. You turn to take your leave.
(text-colour:green)["Let me know if you want a tour of the lake later,"] Darcy says. (text-colour:green)["I'd be happy to show you around."]
Try not to get your hopes up, Josh. She's just being friendly. (set: $arthurstrust to it + 3) (set: $darcylake to true)
You and your friends thank her for her hospitality, and [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $curious2 >= 2)[
Darcy gives you a weird look. (text-colour:green)["Like the lab, or...?" ]
(text-colour:yellow)["No, out to the elevator." ]
She frowns. (text-colour:green)["Same way you got here. Straight line. I thought you were smart."]
Yikes. You and your friends head towards the door, but she stops you. (set: $arthurstrust to it + 1)
(text-colour:green)["Listen, if you want a tour around the lake later, let me know. Unless you think that'd be too confusing."] (set: $darcylake to true)
You thank her, and then you and your friends [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $rude2 >= 1)[
Darcy just points at the door.
Oof. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 2)
You and your friends [[leave the lab.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else-if: $dumb2 > 1)[
Darcy studies you. (text-colour:green)["You're not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["You keep your knives in a drawer? I keep mine in a knife block."]
Darcy points at the door directly behind you. Point taken. (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1)
You and your friends [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else:)[
Darcy gives you a weird look. (text-colour:green)["Um, it's a straight line. Through that door, to the elevator."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right. I don't know why I asked. Sorry."]
You and your friends thank her and [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
](if: $secondfloor is true)+(if: $sixthfloor is true)[You and your friends make your way back to the elevator. You hit the "up" button, and wait.
The elevator doors open, and you get in.
(text-colour:yellow)["I guess we go up and check in with Arthur."]
There are no objections.
[[You hit the "10" button.|Tenth floor.]]](else:)[You and your friends make your way back to the elevator. (if: $secondfloor is true)[You hit the "up" button,](else-if: $sixthfloor is true)[You hit the "down" button,] and wait.
The elevator doors open, and you get in, (if: $secondfloor is false)[ready for the [[next stop.|Second floor.]]](if: $sixthfloor is false)[ready for the [[next stop.|Sixth floor.]]]]For obvious reasons, you're not exactly looking forward to the elevator ride. It jolts as it gets started, and the first couple floors are a bumpy ride, but then it evens out. It's a mostly smooth ride after that, only jolting again when it comes to a stop.
You step out, onto a very fancy floor. This one is, again, mostly empty, but the hardwood flooring is nicer, the lights are warmer, the furniture looks more expensive, and there's only a few offices, no cubicles.
(text-colour:magenta)["Did Arthur say which one was his?"] Vanessa asks.
You shake your head.
(text-colour:orange)["At least there's only a few,"] Sierra says.
You lead the way, looking at the offices. They're all empty, except for one, occupied by Arthur. It's a corner office in the southwest corner.
That was easy.
You knock on the door, and he stands up and comes out to meet you guys.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, did you guys check in with Darcy and Rinaldi?"] he asks.
You nod.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Well, um, you can look around up here, if you guys want. I'm sure there's stuff in these offices about Joe, we just haven't looked. The office over there was his, way back when."] Arthur points at a corner office, the one across from him in the southeast corner. (text-colour:#ced4da)["We never actually filled his position, we didn't have time before budget cuts hit." ]
He looks upset for a moment, then shakes it off.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Anyways, um, any of these offices are free game. Just not mine. Sensitive materials and all."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Fair enough."]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Let me know if you find anything, I want a copy before you take it to the cops. Good luck."]
There's 5 offices, other than Arthur's. Which one would you like to search first?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]
]
(set: $tenthfloor to true)
(set: $curious10 to $curious6 + $curious2)
(set: $flirty10 to $flirty6 + $flirty2)
(set: $rude10 to $rude6 + $rude2)
(set: $dumb10 to $dumb6 + $dumb2)It's an open floor, littered with empty cubicles. Only the actual offices have lights on in them.
You and your friends split up, looking for Mr. Rinaldi's.
Eventually, you hear Vanessa's voice from the other side of the floor. (text-colour:magenta)["Found it!"]
You, Brett, and Sierra, make your way over to her, as she knocks on the door.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["It's open!"]
You go in, and see Mr. Rinaldi, sitting at a desk covered in trinkets and photo frames. It's a corner office, but one of the big floor-to-ceiling windows has been smashed and boarded up, and there's big filing cabinets lining the walls and windows anyways, blocking whatever view there is.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Arthur told me I'd be paid a visit today. What can I help you guys with?"]
[["We're looking for records on Nick's dad. Joseph Paisley."]]Mr. Rinaldi nods. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Right. Well, can I get you guys to help look for the records?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Why don't we look for the records, and you ask some questions, Brooke?"] Brett suggests.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["That's fine by me."]
(text-colour:magenta)["Is there a particular way they're organized?" ]
Mr. Rinaldi shrugs. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Nope."] He casually tosses Brett a gigantic loop of keys, which Brett steps back to bear the weight of when he catches it.
The three of them start looking.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["What can I help you with?"] Mr. Rinaldi asks, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk.
[["Oh, I'm sure you could help me with anything."]]
[["I was wondering about the circumstances around Mr. Paisley leaving Petrola."]]
[["I'm not sure you're organized enough to help with much of the case."]]
[["I don't even know where to start."]](set: $flirty6 to it + 1)You sit down, crossing your legs. (text-colour:yellow)["Oh, I'm sure you could help me with anything."]
Mr. Rinaldi frowns for a second, and you think you've finally met a 50-something man who'll turn down the advances of a blonde 21-year-old woman, but then he blushes. Poor guy was just confused.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Oh, I-I see. Um, well, while I'm sure that's the case, I don't know if that's... specific enough."]
He shifts in his seat.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Is there anything else I can do for you?"]
[["You can do me any day."]]
[["What can you tell us about the relationship between Mr. Paisley and Arthur?"]]
[["You can try to give us some helpful information."]]
[["Oh, you could get us some coffee!"]](set: $curious6 to it + 1)You sit down. (text-colour:yellow)["I was wondering about the circumstances around Mr. Paisley leaving Petrola."]
He frowns. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["I'm sure Arthur's told you the story."]
(text-colour:yellow)["He won't really talk about it."] That's a lie. He told you the whole story the night you met him, but you're curious if Mr. Rinaldi's version is the same.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I wasn't really close to Joe. I knew him, I'd see him around and small talk, but we weren't friends. I didn't get invited out for drinks. All I know is one day he was here, then he started asking questions, and then he quit."]
(text-colour:yellow)["You're sure he quit?"]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I'm fuzzy on the details, but it should be in the records."]
Sierra, bent over a drawer, searching through files, gives him a death glare.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Is there anything else I can do for you?"]
[["You can do me any day."]]
[["What can you tell us about the relationship between Mr. Paisley and Arthur?"]]
[["You can try to give us some helpful information."]]
[["Oh, you could get us some coffee!"]](set: $rude6 to it + 1)You sit down. (text-colour:yellow)["I'm not sure you're organized enough to help with much of anything."]
Mr. Rinaldi scowls. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["You try keeping an entire oil corporations employment records straight with no staff and tons of turnover."]
(text-colour:orange)["You could've have tried to alphabetize?"] Sierra chimes in.
He scowls at her, too, but Sierra's death glare outdoes his, and he looks away from their unofficial staring contest first.
He turns back to you.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Is there anything else I can do for you?"]
[["You can do me any day."]]
[["What can you tell us about the relationship between Mr. Paisley and Arthur?"]]
[["You can try to give us some helpful information."]]
[["Oh, you could get us some coffee!"]](set: $dumb6 to it + 1)You sit down, and look around the office. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["I don't even know where to start."]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Okay, sweetheart, that's fine. What brought you guys here today?"]
You sigh, giving him your best puppy-dog eyes. "We're just trying to prove that Nick's guilty, but it's so overwhelming."
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I know, I know, it can be hard. We'll get you through this together, okay?"]
You nod.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Is there anything else I can do for you?"]
[["You can do me any day."]]
[["What can you tell us about the relationship between Mr. Paisley and Arthur?"]]
[["You can try to give us some helpful information."]]
[["Oh, you could get us some coffee!"]](set: $flirty6 to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["You can do me any day."]
Mr. Rinaldi's face is about as red as a tomato now, and you can see him fighting a smile.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I- um, listen, sweetheart-"]
(if: $flirty6 is >1)[Your friends are giving you weird glances, but you're pretty confident in this choice. It's working so far.
](text-colour:yellow)["You don't have to say anything."]
He clears his throat. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Did you have any questions?"]
[["Just wondering how a man like you doesn't have a ring on his finger."]]
[["Do you know what exactly led Mr. Paisley to leave Petrola?"]]
[["No, it's a waste of my time."]]
[["I'm still lost."]](set: $curious6 to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["What can you tell us about the relationship between Mr. Paisley and Arthur?"]
Mr. Rinaldi hesitates.
(text-colour:yellow)["Was there any animosity there after Mr. Paisley left the company?"]
(if: $flirty6 >=1)[He clears his throat awkwardly. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Joe started Mercy Renewable, as you know, which Arthur wasn't a huge supporter of. And then when Mercy Renewable really took off, and cut into Petrola's profits... Arthur was displeased, to say the least."]
Interesting.](else:)[He shifts in his seat. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["I'm not sure I can answer that." ]
Useful.]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Do you have any other questions?"]
[["Just wondering how a man like you doesn't have a ring on his finger."]]
[["Do you know what exactly led Mr. Paisley to leave Petrola?"]]
[["No, it's a waste of my time."]]
[["I'm still lost."]](set: $rude6 to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["You can try to give us some helpful information."]
Mr. Rinaldi narrows his eyes at you. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["You're a rude little thing, aren't you?"]
You smile passive-aggressively. (text-colour:yellow)["I'm just trying to work with whatever we've got."]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Well, if you're so smart, why don't I just leave you guys be?"]
[["Sounds good to me."]]
[["Wait, no, I'm sorry."]](set: $dumb6 to it + 1)You smile. (text-colour:yellow)["Oh, you could get us some coffee!"]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["That's not really what I-"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Please?"] you ask, batting your eyelashes. (text-colour:yellow)["I don't know how to use the Nespresso."]
He smiles back at you.(if: $rude6 >= 1)[ It feels forced.] (text-colour:#c0eb75)["It can be difficult. Here, why don't you come with me, and I'll show you how?"]
[[Go with him.]]
[[Stay behind.]](text-colour:yellow)["Um, sure."] You get up and follow him out of his office.
He leads you over to a small kitchenette, and starts to show you how to use the Nespresso machine, painfully slowly and in excrutiating detail.
As you feel yourself losing years off your life, remember, you chose this.
You smile and nod as he explains how sugar chemically interacts with coffee. You're 99% sure he's pulling this out of his ass. You wonder how your friends are handling things in the office.
He finally finishes his TedTalk on glucose, and asks you how you and your friends like your coffee. You tell him, he makes them, and then you carry back the cups of coffee together.
[[You go back into his office.]](text-colour:yellow)["I really think I should stay and help look for files,"] you say.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["But I don't know how you like your coffee-"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Oh, that's okay! I can write it down for you!" ]
You grab a sticky note, and write your order down.
(text-colour:orange)["Two creams, no sugar for me,"] Sierra says.
(text-colour:magenta)["Cream and sugar, please!"] Vanessa adds.
Brett shrugs. (text-colour:cyan)["I'll take mine black."]
You scribble all this down, and hand him the sticky note with a smile. (text-colour:yellow)["Here you go!"]
He sighs, but takes it and leave.
[[You're finally alone in the office.|Thank goodness.]](set: $rude6 to it + 1)You shrug. (text-colour:yellow)["Sounds good to me."]
He scoffs, getting up and leaving. The door slams shut behind him.
[[You finally have the room to yourselves.|Thank goodness.]](text-colour:yellow)["Wait, no, I'm sorry!"]
Too late. He gets up and leaves, letting the door slam shut behind him.
Well. [[You finally have the room to yourselves.|Thank goodness.]](set: $flirty6 to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["I'm just wondering how a man like you doesn't have a ring on his finger."]
Mr. Rinaldi looks down at his hand, (if: $flirty6 > 1)[still] blushing, flustered. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Oh, well, I've just never put myself out there, I guess."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Why's that?"] you ask with a smile.
He hesitates, and looks at your friends. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["I think, um, I think I'm gonna take a quick bathroom break. You guys can keep looking."]
He leaves the office.
[[Thank goodness.]](set: $curious6 to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["Do you know what exactly led Mr. Paisley to leave Petrola?"] you ask.
(if: $curious6 >= 2)[(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I don't think I can be much help to you guys."]
He excuses himself.
[[Thank goodness.]]
](else-if: $flirty6 >= 2)[He hesitates, then nods.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I do, but you can't tell anyone."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Your secret's safe with me."]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["He found out that there was some... well, no, I can't tell you that part. He just, um, discovered that there was, uh... can't tell you that, either. Joe decided, I guess, that his values didn't align with the company's."]
That lines up with the version Nick always told you. Somehow, that doesn't make you feel better.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I think I'll just leave you guys to it for now, if that's alright."]
Mr. Rinaldi excuses himself.
[[Thank goodness.]]](else:)[He shakes his head. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Sorry."]
(text-colour:magenta)["You can't recall anything?"] Vanessa asks.
He shifts awkwardly. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["I think I'll just leave you guys to it for now, if that's alright."]
He leaves.
[[Thank goodness.]]](set: $rude6 to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["No, it's a waste of my time,"] you say, nonchalantly.
(if: $flirty > 1)[He looks hurt and confused.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I'll just leave you guys to it, then."]
He leaves.
](else:)[He glares. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Alright. I'll just leave you guys to it, then."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Thanks."]
He grumbles to himself as he leaves.
][[Thank goodness.]](set: $dumb6 to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["I'm still lost,"] you say.
(if: $flirty6 < 2)[He doesn't quite seem to buy it.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out," he says. "I'll leave you to it."]
](else:)[He gives you a smile that makes your stomach turn.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Well, I'm sure I could-"]
His cell phone starts ringing.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Oh, shit. I have to take this. I'll be back."]
]He leaves. [[Thank goodness.]]You get up and start digging through his desk drawers.
(text-colour:orange)["What are you doing?"] Sierra asks, accusatory.
(text-colour:yellow)["There's gotta be something in here."]
(text-colour:cyan)["She's right,"] Brett says.
(text-colour:orange)["I think it's a bad idea. It's gonna get us in trouble."]
(if: $curious6 > 1)[You open another drawer, and find some... weird stuff. Scans of signatures, fingerprints, and putty. Some of the putty is in it's original packaging, but some of it is carefully packed away in little glass containers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Brett, can you come look at this?"]
He comes over, and looks at the stuff. (text-colour:cyan)["Oh, shit."] He starts digging through, and finds more and more of it.
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["This is the type of stuff you use for forgery."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What does that mean?"]
Brett closes the drawer. (text-colour:cyan)["We should clean up."] He walks away, and starts to put files back in the cabinets. (set: $forgeryevidence to it + 1)
(if: $curious6 > 2)[You open the drawer again, grab a fingerprint scan, and shove it in your pocket. Hopefully, Mr. Rinaldi is too unorganized to notice. (set: $realevidence to it + 1) (set: $forgeryevidence to it + 1)
]You clean up, and when Mr. Rinaldi comes back, you excuse yourselves. You thank him for his time before you [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $arthurstrust to it + 1)](else-if: $flirty6 > 1)[You open another drawer, and find some... weird stuff. Scans of signatures, fingerprints, and putty. Some of the putty is in it's original packaging, but some of it is carefully packed away in little glass containers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Brett, can you come look at this?"]
He comes over, and looks at the stuff. (text-colour:cyan)["Oh, shit."] He starts digging through, and finds more and more of it.
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["This is the type of stuff you use for forgery."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What does that mean?"]
Before he can answer, Mr. Rinaldi re-enters the office.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["What are you doing?"]
Uh oh.
You smile, and twirl your hair around a finger. (text-colour:yellow)["I was trying to find a business card, so I could get your number."]
Mr. Rinaldi blushes. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Well, um, I don't have any business cards left, but if you want my number..."]
He comes around the desk, pushing you and Brett aside, and opens another drawer, pulling out a pad of paper and grabbing a pen off the desk. He jots down his number and hands it to you.
(text-colour:yellow)["Thanks."] You smile. It seems to work.
He tells you that he has a lot of work to get done, and says it'd be best if you leave. He does, however, ask you to call him later.
Gross.
You thank him for your time, and you and your friends head out of his office.
Once you're out of there, Brett taps your shoulder. You turn around and look.
He managed to grab a scan while you had Mr. Rinaldi distracted. He gives it to you, and you shove it in your pocket.
Score.
You go [[back to the elevator.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $forgeryevidence to it + 2) (set: $arthurstrust to it + 2)
](else-if: $rude6 > 1)[You open another drawer, and find some... weird stuff. Scans of signatures, fingerprints, and putty. Some of the putty is in it's original packaging, but some of it is carefully packed away in little glass containers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Brett, can you come look at this?"]
He comes over, and looks at the stuff. (text-colour:cyan)["Oh, shit."] He starts digging through, and finds more and more of it.
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["This is the type of stuff you use for forgery."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What does that mean?"]
Before Brett can answer, Mr. Rinaldi re-enters.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["What are you doing?"]
Oh, shit.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Step away from the desk."]
You back up, hands raised in surrender. Brett follows your lead. Sierra and Vanessa stop what they're doing and raise their hands, too.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["You should go."]
You don't argue. You just [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $forgeryevidence to it + 1) (set: $arthurstrust to it - 2)
](else-if: $dumb6 > 1)[You open another drawer, and find some... weird stuff. Scans of signatures, fingerprints, and putty. Some of the putty is in it's original packaging, but some of it is carefully packed away in little glass containers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Brett, can you come look at this?"]
He comes over, and looks at the stuff. (text-colour:cyan)["Oh, shit."] He starts digging through, and finds more and more of it.
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["This is the type of stuff you use for forgery."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What does that mean?"]
Before Brett can answer, Mr. Rinaldi re-enters. (if:(history: where its name contains "Stay behind.")'s length is 1)[He's carrying a tray of coffees.]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["What are you doing?"]
Uh oh. Play dumb.
(text-colour:yellow)["I was, uh, looking for a pen."]
That was maybe too dumb, because Mr. Rinaldi points at a pen on the desk.
You laugh nervously. (text-colour:yellow)["Oops. Blonde moment."]
He looks at Brett, who avoids eye contact.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Right. I think you guys should go."]
Sometimes playing dumb is the wrong move.
You and your friends [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $forgeryevidence to it + 1)(set: $arthurstrust to it - 1)
](else:)[You open another drawer, and find some... weird stuff. Scans of signatures, fingerprints, and putty. Some of the putty is in it's original packaging, but some of it is carefully packed away in little glass containers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Brett, can you come look at this?"]
He comes over, and looks at the stuff. (text-colour:cyan)["Oh, shit."] He starts digging through, and finds more and more of it.
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["This is the type of stuff you use for forgery."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What does that mean?"]
Before Brett can answer, Mr. Rinaldi re-enters.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["What are you doing?"]
Oh, shit.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Step away from the desk."]
You back up, hands raised in surrender. Brett follows your lead. Sierra and Vanessa stop what they're doing and raise their hands, too.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["You should go."]
You don't argue. You just [[leave.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $forgeryevidence to it + 1) (set: $arthurstrust to it - 1)
]You walk into his office, only to find that it's become a disaster zone. Files litter every corner of the office, Vanessa's searching the drawers of Mr. Rinaldi's desk, Brett's still flipping through filing cabinets, and Sierra's reading a file.
They notice you and Mr. Rinaldi, and stop cold in their tracks.
(text-colour:magenta)["Are you sure Mr. Paisley's file is here?"] Vanessa asks softly.
Mr. Rinaldi is fuming. (if: $rude6 >= 1)[(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Get out. Right now."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Hold on, they didn't mean to-"]
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Get the fuck out!"] (set: $arthurstrust to it - 2)
You and your friends [[book it out of there.|Back to the elevator.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:yellow)["Give us a second to clean up," you say. "It'll look like we were never here. I promise."]
He looks at you. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["You promise?"]
You nod.
(text-colour:#c0eb75)["Fine. Ten minutes."]
He sets down the tray of coffee on the desk, and leaves. [[Get on it.|Clean the office.]]]You and your friends get to work cleaning the office.
(if: $curious6 >=1)[You know you're supposed to focus on cleaning, but you can't help but take a peek in his desk.
You find some... weird materials. Scans of fingerprints, signatures, all sorts of stuff.
(text-colour:yellow)["Hey, Brett, can you come look at this?"]
He comes over.
(text-colour:yellow)["Is it just me, or is this suspicious?"]
He starts to dig through, and finds putty, some of which is still in it's original packaging, but some of which has been used, and is carefully packed in a container.
(text-colour:cyan)["He's forging fingerprints. And probably signatures."]
You look at him. (text-colour:yellow)["Why would he do that?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["We should keep cleaning,"] he answers, closing the drawer.
[[Go back to cleaning.|Continue cleaning.]]
[[Steal one of the scans.|Steal scan.]]
(set: $forgeryevidence to it + 1)](else:)[It takes a while, but you manage to put all of the files away. They're in no particular order, not that that matters. Mr. Rinaldi didn't have any type of organizational system in place to begin with.
By the time he comes back, everything's put away.
He nods. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Good."]
He tells you he's got a lot of work to do for the rest of the day, and that it's best if you guys leave.
You thank him, and apologize for creating such a mess, and then [[leave the office.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $arthurstrust to it + 2)]It takes a while, but you manage to put all of the files away. They're in no particular order, not that that matters. Mr. Rinaldi didn't have any type of organizational system in place to begin with.
By the time he comes back, everything's put away.
He nods. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Good."]
He tells you he's got a lot of work to do for the rest of the day, and that it's best if you guys leave.
You thank him, and apologize for creating such a mess, and then [[leave the office.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $arthurstrust to it + 2)You open the drawer again, and snag one of the fingerprint scans, shoving it in your pocket.
Hopefully he doesn't notice.
You go back to cleaning, and manage to get the office back to it's original state.
Mr. Rinaldi comes in, and looks around. (text-colour:#c0eb75)["Good."]
He tells you that he's got a lot of work to do, and that it's probably best if you guys leave. (set: $arthurstrust to it + 1)
You apologize for the mess, and thank him for his time, then [[head out.|Back to the elevator.]]
(set: $forgeryevidence to it + 1)
(set: $realevidence to it + 1)You head towards Mr. Paisley's old office, and go inside.
Vanessa immediately sneezes.
(text-colour:cyan)["Bless you,"] Brett says.
(text-colour:magenta)["Thanks."]
Sierra looks around. (text-colour:orange)["It's probably the dust. Glad I took my allergy meds."]
You go over to the desk, pulling your sleeve over your hand and wiping off some of the dust. The desk is an entirely different colour underneath.
Brett wipes down the grey filing cabinet. Turns out it's actually white.
(text-colour:cyan)["I don't think anyone's been in here in ten years."]
(text-colour:orange)["That feels abnormal."]
(text-colour:magenta)["There's no way there's anything in here, right? It must've been cleaned out by someone."]
[[Check the desk drawers.]]
[[Check the filing cabinet.]]
[[Leave. This is creepy.]]
(set: $offices to it + 1)
(set: $paisleysoffice to true)(if: $neoffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the office in the northwest corner of the floor.
This one looks like whoever occupies it was here recently. The desktop's screensaver is on, there's no dust on the surfaces, there's grad photos of a couple of kids, etc etc etc.
[[Search the computer.]]
[[Search the desk drawers.]]
[[Look at the photos.]]
[[This feels like an invasion of privacy. Leave.]]
](else-if: $woffice is false)+(if: $eoffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the northwest corner office.
It's empty, except for a filing cabinet. There's no other furniture, nothing on the walls.
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe this is just a storage room?"] Vanessa suggests. (text-colour:magenta)["I don't know, nothing about today has made any sense."]
[[Look through the filing cabinet.]]
[[Give up on this one.]]]
(set: $nwoffice to true)(if: $nwoffice is false)+(if: $neoffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the office on the west side of the floor.
This one looks like whoever occupies it was here recently. The desktop's screensaver is on, there's no dust on the surfaces, there's grad photos of a couple of kids, etc etc etc.
[[Search the computer.]]
[[Search the desk drawers.]]
[[Look at the photos.]]
[[This feels like an invasion of privacy. Leave.]]
](else-if: $eoffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the west office.
It's empty, except for a filing cabinet. There's no other furniture, nothing on the walls.
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe this is just a storage room?"] Vanessa suggests. (text-colour:magenta)["I don't know, nothing about today has made any sense."]
[[Look through the filing cabinet.]]
[[Give up on this one.]]]
(set: $woffice to true)(if: $nwoffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the office in the northeast corner of the floor.
This one looks like whoever occupies it was here recently. The desktop's screensaver is on, there's no dust on the surfaces, there's grad photos of a couple of kids, etc etc etc.
[[Search the computer.]]
[[Search the desk drawers.]]
[[Look at the photos.]]
[[This feels like an invasion of privacy. Leave.]]
](else-if: $woffice is false)+(if: $eoffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the northeast corner office.
It's empty, except for a filing cabinet. There's no other furniture, nothing on the walls.
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe this is just a storage room?"] Vanessa suggests. (text-colour:magenta)["I don't know, nothing about today has made any sense."]
[[Look through the filing cabinet.]]
[[Give up on this one.]]]
(set: $neoffice to true)(if: $nwoffice is false)+(if: $neoffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the office on the east side of the floor.
This one looks like whoever occupies it was here recently. The desktop's screensaver is on, there's no dust on the surfaces, there's grad photos of a couple of kids, etc etc etc.
[[Search the computer.]]
[[Search the desk drawers.]]
[[Look at the photos.]]
[[This feels like an invasion of privacy. Leave.]]
](else-if: $woffice is false)[(set: $offices to it + 1)You go into the east office.
It's empty, except for a filing cabinet. There's no other furniture, nothing on the walls.
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe this is just a storage room?"] Vanessa suggests. (text-colour:magenta)["I don't know, nothing about today has made any sense."]
[[Look through the filing cabinet.]]
[[Give up on this one.]]]
(set: $eoffice to true)(set: $curious10 to it + 1)You open the top drawer. Empty. Second drawer. Empty. Third drawer...
That's weird. The dust is disturbed on the handle.
You open it.
There's a file.
You take it out and flip it open.
(text-colour:yellow)["No wonder we couldn't find Mr. Paisley's employment records in Mr. Rinaldi's office,"] you say. (text-colour:yellow)["It wasn't there."]
Your friends gather around the desk, looking at it.
(text-colour:magenta)["Why would it be in here?"] Vanessa asks. Nobody answers her.
(if: $forgeryevidence >= 1)[Brett looks at you. (text-colour:cyan)["I don't think we can trust Mr. Rinaldi."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Arthur trusts him,"] you argue.
](if: $forgeryevidence is 2)[(text-colour:cyan)["I don't know if that's better, Brooklyn."]
](else:)[(text-colour:cyan)["I guess, but...]
](text-colour:orange)["What does it say?"]
Brett pulls the file towards him, and starts reading through. (text-colour:cyan)["He was hired right out of college...promoted a year later...scouted by an exec...competed for another promotion with Arthur...got the promotion, then Arthur got a different promotion, and they worked together until...Mr. Paisley quit, ten years ago."]
(text-colour:yellow)["That all lines up with Nick's story."]
Sierra pulls the file towards her, and flips through it herself, landing on a page closer to the beginning. (text-colour:orange)["They have Mr. Paisley's biometrics in here."]
(text-colour:cyan)["What?"]
(text-colour:orange)["Look, they took fingerprints and retinal scans when he signed his initial contract."]
(if: $forgeryevidence is 1)[You can't be sure, but the fingerprint scan looks awfully familiar.
(text-colour:yellow)["Maybe that's why it's up here, instead of with Mr. Rinaldi's files."]
(text-colour:cyan)["But why would it be up here if Arthur was just gonna let us go through here?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe Mr. Rinaldi didn't tell him anything. Maybe Arthur doesn't know."]
(text-colour:orange)["We should tell him."]
[[She's right.|Snitch on Rinaldi.]]
[["Are you trying to get us killed?"|Don't snitch.]]
](else-if: $forgeryevidence is 2)[You pull the scan out of your pocket, and compare.
It's incredibly similar, but not identical.
(text-colour:yellow)["Look."] You show Brett.
He looks at it, comparing the two. (text-colour:cyan)["This doesn't tell us much. They're not exactly the same."]
(text-colour:magenta)["Could it be a relative's, maybe?" ]
You look at Vanessa, and she shrugs.
(text-colour:cyan)["It's possible,"] Brett says. (text-colour:cyan)["It'd be weird if Nick's fingerprints were this close to his dad's, but it's not unheard of. You can inherit the same patterns."]
(text-colour:yellow)["So, you're saying that this could be evidence that Nick was framed by Mr. Rinaldi?"]
(text-colour:orange)["I wouldn't go that far,"] Sierra says. (text-colour:orange)["Those are a lot of conclusions to jump to based on a couple of pieces of paper."]
(text-colour:cyan)["It might be worth keeping in mind. But I don't think we should show this to anyone just yet."]
(text-colour:orange)["Are you serious? We should tell Arthur. Mr. Rinaldi's his employee, he'll want to know this."]
[[She's right, you should say something.|Snitch on Rinaldi.]]
[[Brett's right, keep it to yourselves for now.|Don't snitch.]]
](else:)[You frown. (text-colour:yellow)["That's weird."]
(text-colour:cyan)["I guess if he had any, uh, security clearance, maybe they would've wanted that information."]
(text-colour:magenta)["Should we show this to Arthur?" ]
(text-colour:orange)["Definitely. It's weird that this would be up here, rather than with Mr. Rinaldi. I'd wanna know, if I were him."]
Brett shakes his head. (text-colour:cyan)["I don't know, I think it might be best to hold off for now."]
[[Sierra's right, tell Arthur.|Snitch on Rinaldi.]]
[[Brett's right, keep it to yourselves.|Don't snitch.]]](set: $curious10 to it + 1)You open the top drawer. Empty. Second drawer. Empty. Third drawer...
There's a file.
You take it out and set it on the desk, flipping it open.
(text-colour:yellow)["No wonder we couldn't find Mr. Paisley's employment records in Mr. Rinaldi's office,"] you say. (text-colour:yellow)["It wasn't there."]
Your friends gather around the desk, looking at it.
(text-colour:magenta)["Why would it be in here?"] Vanessa asks. Nobody answers her.
(if: $forgeryevidence >= 1)[Brett looks at you. (text-colour:cyan)["I don't think we can trust Mr. Rinaldi."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Arthur trusts him,"] you argue.
](if: $forgeryevidence is 2)[(text-colour:cyan)["I don't know if that's better, Brooklyn."]
](else:)[(text-colour:cyan)["I guess, but...]
](text-colour:orange)["What does it say?"]
Brett pulls the file towards him, and starts reading through. (text-colour:cyan)["He was hired right out of college...promoted a year later...scouted by an exec...competed for another promotion with Arthur...got the promotion, then Arthur got a different promotion, and they worked together until...Mr. Paisley quit, ten years ago."]
(text-colour:yellow)["That all lines up with Nick's story."]
Sierra pulls the file towards her, and flips through it herself, landing on a page closer to the beginning. (text-colour:orange)["They have Mr. Paisley's biometrics in here."]
(text-colour:cyan)["What?"]
(text-colour:orange)["Look, they took fingerprints and retinal scans when he signed his initial contract."]
(if: $forgeryevidence is 1)[You can't be sure, but the fingerprint scan looks awfully familiar.
(text-colour:yellow)["Maybe that's why it's up here, instead of with Mr. Rinaldi's files."]
(text-colour:cyan)["But why would it be up here if Arthur was just gonna let us go through here?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe Mr. Rinaldi didn't tell him anything. Maybe Arthur doesn't know."]
(text-colour:orange)["We should tell him."]
[[She's right.|Snitch on Rinaldi.]]
[["Are you trying to get us killed?"|Don't snitch.]]
](else-if: $forgeryevidence is 2)[You pull the scan out of your pocket, and compare.
It's incredibly similar, but not identical.
(text-colour:yellow)["Look."] You show Brett.
He looks at it, comparing the two. (text-colour:cyan)["This doesn't tell us much. They're not exactly the same."]
(text-colour:magenta)["Could it be a relative's, maybe?" ]
You look at Vanessa, and she shrugs.
(text-colour:cyan)["It's possible,"] Brett says. (text-colour:cyan)["It'd be weird if Nick's fingerprints were this close to his dad's, but it's not unheard of. You can inherit the same patterns."]
(text-colour:yellow)["So, you're saying that this could be evidence that Nick was framed by Mr. Rinaldi?"]
(text-colour:orange)["I wouldn't go that far,"] Sierra says. (text-colour:orange)["Those are a lot of conclusions to jump to based on a couple of pieces of paper."]
(text-colour:cyan)["It might be worth keeping in mind. But I don't think we should show this to anyone just yet."]
(text-colour:orange)["Are you serious? We should tell Arthur. Mr. Rinaldi's his employee, he'll want to know this."]
[[She's right, you should say something.|Snitch on Rinaldi.]]
[[Brett's right, you should keep it to yourselves for now.|Don't snitch.]]
](else:)[You frown. (text-colour:yellow)["That's weird."]
(text-colour:cyan)["I guess if he had any, uh, security clearance, maybe they would've wanted that information."]
(text-colour:magenta)["Should we show this to Arthur?" ]
(text-colour:orange)["Definitely. It's weird that this would be up here, rather than with Mr. Rinaldi. I'd wanna know, if I were him."]
Brett shakes his head. (text-colour:cyan)["I don't know, I think it might be best to hold off for now."]
[[Sierra's right, tell Arthur.|Snitch on Rinaldi.]]
[[Brett's right, keep it to yourselves.|Don't snitch.]]](text-colour:yellow)["It feels weird to go through a dead man's office,"] you say, scrunching your face.
(text-colour:orange)["It's an investigation, that's how this works."]
(text-colour:yellow)["I know, I know, but this is Nick's dad. And we're not the cops or anything. We only came here to talk to Darcy and Mr. Rinaldi, really. It feels wrong."]
Your friends realize you're not gonna budge on this, and let it go.
You head out into the hall. (if: $offices < 2)[Arthur's still standing outside his office, talking on the phone.
Which office do you wanna check out next?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]]
](else-if: $offices is 2)[Arthur's gone now.
(text-colour:cyan)["Let's go check out his office."]
(text-colour:orange)["He specifically told us not to-"]
But Brett's already headed across the hall.
[[Check out Arthur's office.]]](if: $forgeryevidence is 1)[You leave the office, holding the file, and see Arthur standing here, talking on the phone.
(text-colour:orange)["We shouldn't bug him-"]
Arthur sees you guys, says something into the phone, and hangs up.
You walk over to him. (text-colour:yellow)["We found something."]
You show him the file, and explain what you saw in Mr. Rinaldi's office.
Arthur looks concerned. (text-colour:#ced4da)["You're sure about this?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["I mean, as sure as you can be. It's weird that this file was moved, knowing he knew that was what we were there for. It's weird that he had copies of the scans in his desk-"]
As you're talking, you notice Arthur give Sierra a look, and a hand signal. You turn to look at her, but there's a (text-style:"bold","expand","shudder")[BANG].
[[Everything goes black.|You died.]]
](else-if: $forgeryevidence is 2)[You leave the office, holding the file, and see Arthur standing here, talking on the phone.
(text-colour:orange)["We shouldn't bug him-"]
Arthur sees you guys, says something into the phone, and hangs up.
You walk over to him. (text-colour:yellow)["We found something."]
You show him the file and the scan, and explain that you found it in Mr. Rinaldi's office.
Arthur looks concerned. (text-colour:#ced4da)["You're sure about this?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["I mean, as sure as you can be. It's weird that this file was moved, knowing he knew that was what we were there for. It's weird that he had copies of the scans in his desk-"]
As you're talking, you notice Arthur give Sierra a look, and a hand signal. You turn to look at her, but there's a (text-style:"bold","expand","shudder")[BANG].
[[Everything goes black.|You died.]]
](else:)[You leave the office, holding the file, and see Arthur standing here, talking on the phone.
(text-colour:orange)["We shouldn't bug him-"]
Arthur sees you guys, says something into the phone, and hangs up.
You walk over to him. (text-colour:yellow)["We found something."]
You show him the file.
(text-colour:yellow)["This was supposed to be in Mr. Rinaldi's office, right?"]
He nods.
(text-colour:yellow)["We found it in Mr. Paisley's old office."]
(text-colour:cyan)["I don't think he's trustworthy."]
Arthur looks concerned. (text-colour:#ced4da)["You're sure about this?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["I mean, as sure as you can be. It's weird that this file was moved, knowing he knew that was what we were there for. I don't really know why he would've lied about that-"]
As you're talking, you notice Arthur give Sierra a look, and a hand signal. You turn to look at her, but there's a (text-style:"bold","expand","shudder")[BANG].
[[Everything goes black.|You died.]]](text-colour:yellow)["I think Brett's right. We should just hold onto this for now."]
(text-colour:orange)["He told us to bring him anything we found."]
(text-colour:yellow)["And we can do that later."]
Sierra sighs, but doesn't protest any more.
You take photos of every page of the file, and then put it back.
You leave the office.
(if: $offices < 2)[Arthur's still standing outside his office, talking on the phone.
Which office do you wanna check out next?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]]
](else-if: $offices is 2)[Arthur's gone now.
(text-colour:cyan)["Let's go check out his office."]
(text-colour:orange)["He specifically told us not to-"]
But Brett's already headed across the hall.
[[Check out Arthur's office.]]]
(set: $employmentfile to true)
(set: $realevidence to it + 1)You and Vanessa are standing guard outside, while Brett and Sierra look through the office.
(text-colour:magenta)["We need a game plan, if Arthur comes back,"] Vanessa says. (text-colour:magenta)["What do you wanna do?"]
(if: $curious10 >= 4)[[["Ask questions about the company."|Curious diversion.]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 4)[(text-style:"strike")+(text-colour:blue)["Ask questions about the company."]
](if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["Use our feminine wiles."|Flirty diversion.]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 2)[(text-style:"strike")+(text-colour:blue)["Use our feminine wiles."]
](if: $rude10 >= 2)[[["Just try to get rid of him, however we can."|Rude diversion.]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 2)[(text-style:"strike")+(text-colour:blue)["Just try to get rid of him, however we can."]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["Ask stupid questions, play dumb, whatever we gotta do."|Dumb diversion.]]
](else-if: $dumb10 < 2)[(text-style:"strike")+(text-colour:blue)["Ask stupid questions, play dumb, whatever we gotta do."]
][[Leave it in her capable hands.|Gamble.]]Snitches get stitches. I don't know what to tell you.
You got yourself, Brett, and Vanessa killed. Congrats.
[[Start over.|Start]]
[[See how you did.|Stats.]]
(set: $arthurstrust to -5)(set: $curious10 to it + 1) You sit down at the desk, and move the mouse.
It prompts you to put in a password.
Shit.
You look at the sticky notes stuck to the computer, but they're all appointment reminders, or ideas for novels.
While Sierra and Brett look around at different photos, books, other personally afffects, Vanessa sits down opposite you at the desk.
(text-colour:magenta)["Oh, that's weird."] She picks up one of the picture frames and looks at the back. (text-colour:magenta)["It says 'Jess1998'."]
Could you be so lucky?
You type it in. It's wrong. You type it in again, this time all lowercase. Wrong.
(text-colour:magenta)["Are you trying that as a password?"] Vanessa asks.
(text-colour:yellow)["Yeah, but it's not working."]
(text-colour:magenta)["It's all caps, and the one is an exclamation point."]
You try that. JESS!998
(text-colour:yellow)["It works!"]
You reach over, and give Vanessa a high-five.
What do you wanna look through first?
[[Emails.]]
[[Files.]](set: $curious10 to it + 1)Brett, Vanessa, and Sierra look around at the personal affects.
You open the top drawer. Pads of paper with the Petrola logo. Second drawer. Pens, highlighters, white-out. Third drawer, Post-it notes in every colour.
One of the pads of Post-its has something written on it.
JESS!998
Interesting.
You sit at the desktop and move the mouse to get rid of the screensaver. It prompts you for a password, and you type in JESS!998.
It works.
What do you wanna look at first?
[[Emails.]]
[[Files.]] (set: $curious10 to it + 1)You pick up one of the photos, of a young man, only a couple years younger than you by the looks of it. He's wearing a grad cap and gown, smiling.
You flip it over, and to see normal black backing.
You set it down and check the other photo, of a girl in the same cap and gown, the year on the tassle more recent.
You flip it over.
On the black backing, there's silver ink.
JESS!998
Interesting.
You sit at the desktop and move the mouse to get rid of the screensaver. It prompts you for a password, and you type in JESS!998.
It works.
What do you wanna look at first?
[[Emails.]]
[[Files.]] (text-colour:yellow)["Whoever works in here has obviously been here recently, it feels like an invasion of privacy." ]
Sierra sighs loudly.
(text-colour:cyan)["We should at least look around,"] Brett suggests.
(text-colour:yellow)["You guys can, but I can't bring myself to."]
You leave and stand outside the office. (if: $offices < 2)[Arthur's still standing outside his office, talking on the phone.
After a few moments, your friends follow you out of the office.
(text-colour:cyan)["We didn't find anything." ]
(text-colour:orange)["We barely looked."] Sierra crosses her arms and glares.
Which office do you wanna check out next?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]]
](else-if: $offices is 2)[Arthur's gone now.
(text-colour:cyan)["Let's go check out his office."]
(text-colour:orange)["He specifically told us not to-"]
But Brett's already headed across the hall.
[[Check out Arthur's office.]]](set: $curious10 to it + 1)The email icon has 58 notifications. You click on it. It takes a second to load, but then opens.
All of the emails are spam. The new ones and the old ones.
You scroll through more, and find the occasional real work email, but they're all about meetings.
Well, that was a waste of time.
Sierra sighs. (text-colour:orange)["There's clearly nothing in here. We should go."]
Before you can stop her, she heads out of the office.
You look at Brett and Vanessa. They shrug, and follow her, too.
Damn, outvoted.
You close the email app and leave the office.
(if: $offices < 2)[Arthur's still standing outside his office, talking on the phone.
Which office do you wanna check out next?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]]
](else-if: $offices is 2)[Arthur's gone now.
(text-colour:cyan)["Let's go check out his office."]
(text-colour:orange)["He specifically told us not to-"]
But Brett's already headed across the hall.
[[Check out Arthur's office.]]](set: $curious10 to it + 1)You click on the file icon, and it opens.
This filing system is...a mess. No organization.
No wonder Petrola's failing. Most of their employees probably spend 7 out of 8 hours a day just trying to find important documents.
You scroll through, looking for something important.
(if: $forgeryevidence >= 1)[You stumble upon a folder labelled "biometrics."
Convenient.
You click on it. It's full of JPGs. You click on the first one.
It's a cat photo.
You click through more of the photos. Cats, cats, kittens, cats, until it loops through and you're back to the first cat photo.
Shit. That was useless.
You click on the search bar and type in "biometrics" but all that comes up is the folder you just went through. You search "joseph paisley" and nothing comes up again.
](else:)[You stumble upon a folder called "Mercy Renewable" and click on it.
It's full of JPGs. You click on the first one.
It's a cat photo.
You click through more of the photos. Cats, cats, kittens, cats, until it loops through and you're back to the first cat photo.
Shit. That was useless.
]Sierra sighs. (text-colour:orange)["There's clearly nothing in here. We should go."]
Before you can stop her, she heads out of the office.
You look at Brett and Vanessa. They shrug, and follow her, too.
Damn, outvoted.
You close the file explorer and leave the office.
(if: $offices < 2)[Arthur's still standing outside his office, talking on the phone.
Which office do you wanna check out next?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]]
](else-if: $offices is 2)[Arthur's gone now.
(text-colour:cyan)["Let's go check out his office."]
(text-colour:orange)["He specifically told us not to-"]
But Brett's already headed across the hall.
[[Check out Arthur's office.]]](set: $curious10 to it + 1)You go over to the filing cabinet, and try to open a drawer. Locked.
(text-colour:magenta)["Do you have any bobby pins?"] Vanessa asks.
You nod, and pull a couple out of your hair, stepping aside. She takes them and bends them out of shape, then tries to pick the lock.
After a moment, it finally clicks, and she opens the top drawer, then groans.
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
She pulls out a packet of printer paper. (text-colour:magenta)["It's just office supplies."]
(text-colour:orange)["Dammit, really?"] Sierra opens the next drawer, and then pulls out a box of highlighters.
The two of them keep going through the drawers, but there's nothing but stationary.
This was a dead end. Not to mention now two of your bobby pins are bent out of shape, so pieces of hair are falling in your face. You tuck them behind your ears, annoyed, and the four of you leave the office.
(if: $offices < 2)[Arthur's still standing outside his office, talking on the phone.
Which office do you wanna check out next?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]]
](else-if: $offices is 2)[Arthur's gone now.
(text-colour:cyan)["Let's go check out his office."]
(text-colour:orange)["He specifically told us not to-"]
But Brett's already headed across the hall.
[[Check out Arthur's office.]]]You look around. (text-colour:yellow)["This feels like a dead end."]
(text-colour:cyan)["We could at least check-"]
(text-colour:orange)["Why waste our time?"]
Brett grumbles to himself, but lets Sierra lead the way out.
(if: $offices < 2)[Arthur's still standing outside his office, talking on the phone.
After a few moments, your friends follow you out of the office.
(text-colour:cyan)["We didn't find anything." ]
(text-colour:orange)["We barely looked."] Sierra crosses her arms and glares.
Which office do you wanna check out next?
(if: $paisleysoffice is false)[[[Mr. Paisley's office.|Mr. Paisley's office.]]
](if: $nwoffice is false)[[[Northwest corner office.|Northwest corner office.]]
](if: $woffice is false)[[[West office.|West office.]]
](if: $neoffice is false)[[[Northeast corner office.|Northeast corner office.]]
](if: $eoffice is false)[[[East office.|East office.]]]
](else-if: $offices is 2)[Arthur's gone now.
(text-colour:cyan)["Let's go check out his office."]
(text-colour:orange)["He specifically told us not to-"]
But Brett's already headed across the hall.
[[Check out Arthur's office.]]]curious10 >=8 (curious path) = most likely to find real evidence
rude10 >=5 (rude path) = most likely to get caught
flirty10 >=5 (flirty path) = most likely vanessa will flirt you out of trouble
dumb10 >=4 (dumb path) = more likely to get caught, more likely vanessa will flirt you out of trouble
arthurstrust = 5 (no change) = medium time before arthur returns (three search rounds)
arthurstrust > 5 (more trustworthy) = more time before arthur returns (four search rounds)
arthurstrust >=8 (most trustworthy) = most time before arthur returns (five search rounds)
arthurstrust < 5 (less trustworthy) = less time before arthur returns (two search rounds)
arthurstrust <=2 (least trustworthy) = least time before arthur returns (one search round)
if caught + can't get out of trouble, go to lake
if flirty/curious >= 2 + darcylake true, darcy helps
if rude/dumb >= 2 + darcylake true, darcy kills you
if flirty/curious >= 2 + darcylake false, die
if rude/dumb >= 2 + darcylake false, live(text-colour:yellow)["Ask questions about Petrola. Keep him distracted."]
Vanessa shrugs. (text-colour:magenta)["Okay. I can live with that."] She hands you one of her wireless earbuds, and takes a call from Brett.
[[You put in the earbud, and listen.|First search curious.]](text-colour:yellow)["Use our feminine wiles."]
(text-colour:magenta)["That's gonna be mostly on you, I'm not a great flirt."] She hands you one of her wireless earbuds, and takes a call from Brett.
[[You put in the earbud, and listen.|First search flirty.]](text-colour:yellow)["Just keep him out. Drive him away, any means necessary."]
Vanessa frowns, but says, (text-colour:magenta)["Okay. I can handle that."] She hands you one of her wireless earbuds, and takes a call from Brett.
[[You put in the earbud, and listen.|First search rude.]](text-colour:yellow)["Ask stupid questions, play dumb, whatever you gotta do. Just keep them distracted."]
Vanessa smiles. (text-colour:magenta)["Okay. I can live with that."] She hands you one of her wireless earbuds, and takes a call from Brett.
[[You put in the earbud, and listen.|First search dumb.]](text-colour:yellow)["It's up to you. You can take the lead."]
Vanessa nods. (text-colour:magenta)["Okay. I can handle that."] She hands you one of her wireless earbuds, and takes a call from Brett.
[[You put in the earbud, and listen.|First search gamble.]]Sierra and Brett go into the office, and start to search around. He goes for the computer, Sierra goes for the filing cabinets.
(text-colour:cyan)["It's password protected,"] Brett says.
(text-colour:orange)["Ugh."] You can hear Sierra run over to the desk, and turn to see the two of them start looking through the desk, digging through pens and white-out and erasers and sticky tabs.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a false bottom in this drawer."]
(if: $arthurstrust <= 2)[Before he can get the false bottom out, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up. Arthur's walking right towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can flirt your way out of this.|Flirt with Arthur.]]
](else:)[The sheet of metal audibly pops up, and Brett pulls it out with a scrape.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a journal."]
[["Open it."|Second search flirty.]]]Sierra and Brett go into the office, and start to search around. He goes for the computer, Sierra goes for the filing cabinets.
(text-colour:cyan)["It's password protected,"] Brett says.
(text-colour:orange)["Ugh."] You can hear Sierra run over to the desk, and turn to see the two of them start looking through the desk, digging through pens and white-out and erasers and sticky tabs.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a false bottom in this drawer."]
(if: $arthurstrust <= 2)[Before he can get the false bottom out, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up. Arthur's walking right towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Curious distraction Arthur.]]
](else:)[The sheet of metal audibly pops up, and Brett pulls it out with a scrape.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a journal."]
[["Open it."|Second search curious.]]]Sierra and Brett go into the office, and start to search around. He goes for the computer, Sierra goes for the filing cabinets.
(text-colour:cyan)["It's password protected,"] Brett says.
(text-colour:orange)["Ugh."] You can hear Sierra run over to the desk, and glance over to see the two of them start looking through the desk, digging through pens and white-out and erasers and sticky tabs.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a false bottom in this drawer."]
(if: $arthurstrust <= 2)[Before he can get the false bottom out, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up. Arthur's walking right towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Insult Arthur.]]
](else:)[The sheet of metal audibly pops up, and Brett pulls it out with a scrape.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a journal."]
[["Open it."|Second search rude.]]]Sierra and Brett go into the office, and start to search around. He goes for the computer, Sierra goes for the filing cabinets.
(text-colour:cyan)["It's password protected,"] Brett says.
(text-colour:orange)["Ugh."] You can hear Sierra run over to the desk, and glance over to see the two of them start looking through the desk, digging through pens and white-out and erasers and sticky tabs.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a false bottom in this drawer."]
(if: $arthurstrust <= 2)[Before he can get the false bottom out, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up. Arthur's walking right towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Play dumb with Arthur.]]
](else:)[The sheet of metal audibly pops up, and Brett pulls it out with a scrape.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a journal."]
[["Open it."|Second search dumb.]]]Sierra and Brett go into the office, and start to search around. He goes for the computer, Sierra goes for the filing cabinets.
(text-colour:cyan)["It's password protected,"] Brett says.
(text-colour:orange)["Ugh."] You can hear Sierra run over to the desk, and glance over to see the two of them start looking through the desk, digging through pens and white-out and erasers and sticky tabs.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a false bottom in this drawer."]
(if: $arthurstrust <= 2)[Before he can get the false bottom out, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up. Arthur's walking right towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him somehow.|Gamble with Arthur.]]
](else:)[The sheet of metal audibly pops up, and Brett pulls it out with a scrape.
(text-colour:cyan)["There's a journal."]
[["Open it."|Second search gamble.]]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both plaster on your widest smiles.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one that you can pull off.
(if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["I missed you while you were gone."|Flirt 1.1]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I missed you while you were gone."]
](if: $flirty10 >= 4)[[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 1.2]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 4)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Did you do something to your hair?"]
](if: $flirty10 >= 5)[[["I didn't notice it before, but that suit really flatters your muscles."|Flirt 1.3]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I didn't notice it before, but that suit really flatters your muscles."]
][[Let Vanessa take this one.|Flirt 1.4]]He opens the journal, and start flipping through.
There's a pause, and then...
(text-colour:orange)["That can't be English."]
(text-colour:cyan)["It's technically leetspeak, I think combined with pig latin,"] Brett says. (text-colour:cyan)["It's worth trying."]
You can hear the clicking of keys, and try not to turn and look.
(text-colour:cyan)["Wrong password."]
(text-colour:orange)["Try translating it."]
More clicking. (text-colour:cyan)["Nope."]
(if: $arthurstrust < 5)[Before any of you can suggest another option, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up to see Arthur coming towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can flirt your way out of this.|Flirt with Arthur 2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:orange)["Try it in leetspeak but not pig latin."]
Even more clicking.
(text-colour:cyan)["It works. Okay, I'll search through this, you go back to looking through the cabinet,"] Brett says to Sierra.
She goes back over to the filing cabinets, and opens a drawer.
[[You listen intently, looking down the hall to make sure nobody's coming.|Third search flirty.]]
]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good question.
(if: $curious10 >= 8)[[["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."|Curious 1.1]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 8)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."]
](if: $curious10 >= 3)[[["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"|Curious 1.2]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 3)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"]
](if: $curious10 >= 5)[[["Is there anything we've missed?"|Curious 1.3]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Is there anything we've missed?"]
][[Let Vanessa handle this.|Curious 1.4]]He opens the journal, and start flipping through.
There's a pause, and then...
(text-colour:orange)["That can't be English."]
(text-colour:cyan)["It's technically leetspeak, I think combined with pig latin,"] Brett says. (text-colour:cyan)["It's worth trying."]
You can hear the clicking of keys, and try not to turn and look.
(text-colour:cyan)["Wrong password."]
(text-colour:orange)["Try translating it."]
More clicking. (text-colour:cyan)["Nope."]
(if: $arthurstrust < 5)[Before any of you can suggest another option, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up to see Arthur coming towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Curious distraction Arthur 2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:orange)["Try it in leetspeak but not pig latin."]
Even more clicking.
(text-colour:cyan)["It works. Okay, I'll search through this, you go back to looking through the cabinet,"] Brett says to Sierra.
She goes back over to the filing cabinets, and opens a drawer.
[[You listen intently, looking down the hall to make sure nobody's coming.|Third search curious.]]
]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie.
Come on, dude, distract him. You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one you can pull off.
(if: $rude10 >= 3)[[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 1.1]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 3)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
](if: $rude10 >= 5)[[["Are you sure about that haircut?"|Rude 1.2]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Are you sure about that haircut?"]
](if: $rude10 >= 4)[[["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."|Rude 1.3]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 4)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."]
][[Let Vanessa take this one.|Rude 1.4]]He opens the journal, and start flipping through.
There's a pause, and then...
(text-colour:orange)["That can't be English."]
(text-colour:cyan)["It's technically leetspeak, I think combined with pig latin,"] Brett says. (text-colour:cyan)["It's worth trying."]
You can hear the clicking of keys, and try not to turn and look.
(text-colour:cyan)["Wrong password."]
(text-colour:orange)["Try translating it."]
More clicking. (text-colour:cyan)["Nope."]
(if: $arthurstrust < 5)[Before any of you can suggest another option, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up to see Arthur coming towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Insult Arthur 2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:orange)["Try it in leetspeak but not pig latin."]
Even more clicking.
(text-colour:cyan)["It works. Okay, I'll search through this, you go back to looking through the cabinet,"] Brett says to Sierra.
She goes back over to the filing cabinets, and opens a drawer.
[[You listen intently, looking down the hall to make sure nobody's coming.|Third search rude.]]
]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good question.
(if: $dumb10 >= 1)[[["Can you show us to the vending machines?"|Dumb 1.1]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Can you show us to the vending machines?"]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."|Dumb 1.2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."]
](if: $dumb10 >= 4)[[["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."|Dumb 1.3]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."]
][[Let Vanessa handle this.|Dumb 1.4]]He opens the journal, and start flipping through.
There's a pause, and then...
(text-colour:orange)["That can't be English."]
(text-colour:cyan)["It's technically leetspeak, I think combined with pig latin,"] Brett says. (text-colour:cyan)["It's worth trying."]
You can hear the clicking of keys, and try not to turn and look.
(text-colour:cyan)["Wrong password."]
(text-colour:orange)["Try translating it."]
More clicking. (text-colour:cyan)["Nope."]
(if: $arthurstrust < 5)[Before any of you can suggest another option, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up to see Arthur coming towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Play dumb with Arthur 2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:orange)["Try it in leetspeak but not pig latin."]
Even more clicking.
(text-colour:cyan)["It works. Okay, I'll search through this, you go back to looking through the cabinet,"] Brett says to Sierra.
She goes back over to the filing cabinets, and opens a drawer.
[[You listen intently, looking down the hall to make sure nobody's coming.|Third search dumb.]]
]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Right?
(if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 1.2]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Did you do something to your hair?"]
](if: $rude10 >= 1)[[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 1.1]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 1)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
](if: $curious10 >= 2)[[["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"|Curious 1.2]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."|Dumb 1.2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."]
](if: $flirty10 < 2)+(if: $rude10 < 1)+(if: $curious10 < 2)+(if: $dumb10 < 2)[
You seriously didn't even bother to develop a personality this whole time? You can't be trusted to make the decision here!][[Let Vanessa take the lead.|Rude 1.4]]He opens the journal, and start flipping through.
There's a pause, and then...
(text-colour:orange)["That can't be English."]
(text-colour:cyan)["It's technically leetspeak, I think combined with pig latin,"] Brett says. (text-colour:cyan)["It's worth trying."]
You can hear the clicking of keys, and try not to turn and look.
(text-colour:cyan)["Wrong password."]
(text-colour:orange)["Try translating it."]
More clicking. (text-colour:cyan)["Nope."]
(if: $arthurstrust < 5)[Before any of you can suggest another option, you hear footsteps down the hall, and look up to see Arthur coming towards you.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can flirt your way out of this.|Gamble with Arthur 2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:orange)["Try it in leetspeak but not pig latin."]
Even more clicking.
(text-colour:cyan)["It works. Okay, I'll search through this, you go back to looking through the cabinet,"] Brett says to Sierra.
She goes back over to the filing cabinets, and opens a drawer.
[[You listen intently, looking down the hall to make sure nobody's coming.|Third search gamble.]]
]Sierra starts flipping through files. (text-colour:orange)["Budgets, tax stuff, environmental law, Mercy Renewable-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["What's a Mercy Renewable file doing in there?"]
You hear the rustle of her pulling out the file. (text-colour:orange)["I don't know, it's nothing important- Hey!"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh, weird, there's newsclippings. The first ones are from ten years ago, then there's an article in here about the river, from about five years ago-"]
(text-colour:orange)["Cool, so environmental stuff. How's that gonna help-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Aaand the article about Mr. Paisley's murder. It's got highlighter all over it, too."]
(if: $arthurstrust >= 5)[He flips the clippings over.
(text-colour:cyan)["No signs of forced entry...murder weapon has yet to be found...Joseph Paisley's son was the only one home..."]
(text-colour:orange)["That's all the highlighted stuff?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Yep, look."]
[[You shift anxiously while Brett shows Sierra the clippings.|Fourth search flirty.]]
](else:)[Before Sierra can say anything else, you see Arthur coming down the hall.
You look over at Vanessa.
[[Let's hope you two have this covered.|Flirt with Arthur 3]]]Sierra starts flipping through files. (text-colour:orange)["Budgets, tax stuff, environmental law, Mercy Renewable-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["What's a Mercy Renewable file doing in there?"]
You hear the rustle of her pulling out the file. (text-colour:orange)["I don't know, it's nothing important- Hey!"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh, weird, there's newsclippings. The first ones are from ten years ago, then there's an article in here about the river, from about five years ago-"]
(text-colour:orange)["Cool, so environmental stuff. How's that gonna help-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Aaand the article about Mr. Paisley's murder. It's got highlighter all over it, too."]
(if: $arthurstrust >= 8)[He flips the clippings over.
(text-colour:cyan)["No signs of forced entry...murder weapon has yet to be found...Joseph Paisley's son was the only one home..."]
Brett's voice falls silent.
[["What?"|Fourth search curious.]]
](else:)[Before Sierra can say anything else, you see Arthur coming down the hall.
You look over at Vanessa.
[[Let's hope you two have this covered.|Curious distraction Arthur 3]]]Sierra starts flipping through files. (text-colour:orange)["Budgets, tax stuff, environmental law, Mercy Renewable-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["What's a Mercy Renewable file doing in there?"]
You hear the rustle of her pulling out the file. (text-colour:orange)["I don't know, it's nothing important- Hey!"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh, weird, there's newsclippings. The first ones are from ten years ago, then there's an article in here about the river, from about five years ago-"]
(text-colour:orange)["Cool, so environmental stuff. How's that gonna help-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Aaand the article about Mr. Paisley's murder. It's got highlighter all over it, too."]
(if: $arthurstrust >= 5)[He flips the clippings over.
(text-colour:cyan)["No signs of forced entry...murder weapon has yet to be found...Joseph Paisley's son was the only one home..."]
(text-colour:orange)["That's all the highlighted stuff?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Yep, look."]
[[You shift anxiously while Brett shows Sierra the clippings.|Fourth search rude.]]
](else:)[Before Sierra can say anything else, you see Arthur coming down the hall.
You look over at Vanessa.
[[Let's hope you two have this covered.|Insult Arthur 3]]]Sierra starts flipping through files. (text-colour:orange)["Budgets, tax stuff, environmental law, Mercy Renewable-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["What's a Mercy Renewable file doing in there?"]
You hear the rustle of her pulling out the file. (text-colour:orange)["I don't know, it's nothing important- Hey!"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh, weird, there's newsclippings. The first ones are from ten years ago, then there's an article in here about the river, from about five years ago-"]
(text-colour:orange)["Cool, so environmental stuff. How's that gonna help-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Aaand the article about Mr. Paisley's murder. It's got highlighter all over it, too."]
(if: $arthurstrust >= 5)[He flips the clippings over.
(text-colour:cyan)["No signs of forced entry...murder weapon has yet to be found...Joseph Paisley's son was the only one home..."]
(text-colour:orange)["That's all the highlighted stuff?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Yep, look."]
[[You shift anxiously while Brett shows Sierra the clippings.|Fourth search dumb.]]
](else:)[Before Sierra can say anything else, you see Arthur coming down the hall.
You look over at Vanessa.
[[Let's hope you two have this covered.|Play dumb with Arthur 3]]]Sierra starts flipping through files. (text-colour:orange)["Budgets, tax stuff, environmental law, Mercy Renewable-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["What's a Mercy Renewable file doing in there?"]
You hear the rustle of her pulling out the file. (text-colour:orange)["I don't know, it's nothing important- Hey!"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh, weird, there's newsclippings. The first ones are from ten years ago, then there's an article in here about the river, from about five years ago-"]
(text-colour:orange)["Cool, so environmental stuff. How's that gonna help-"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Aaand the article about Mr. Paisley's murder. It's got highlighter all over it, too."]
(if: $arthurstrust >= 5)[He flips the clippings over.
(text-colour:cyan)["No signs of forced entry...murder weapon has yet to be found...Joseph Paisley's son was the only one home..."]
(text-colour:orange)["That's all the highlighted stuff?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["Yep, look."]
[[You shift anxiously while Brett shows Sierra the clippings.|Fourth search gamble.]]
](else:)[Before Sierra can say anything else, you see Arthur coming down the hall.
You look over at Vanessa.
[[Let's hope you two have this covered.|Gamble with Arthur 3]]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both plaster on your widest smiles.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one that you can pull off.
(if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["I missed you while you were gone."|Flirt 2.1]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I missed you while you were gone."]
](if: $flirty10 >= 4)[[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 2.2]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 4)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Did you do something to your hair?"]
](if: $flirty10 >= 5)[[["I didn't notice it before, but that suit really flatters your muscles."|Flirt 2.3]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I didn't notice it before, but that suit really flatters your muscles."]
][[Let Vanessa take this one.|Flirt 2.4]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good question.
(if: $curious10 >= 8)[[["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."|Curious 2.1]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 8)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."]
](if: $curious10 >= 3)[[["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"|Curious 2.2]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 3)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"]
](if: $curious10 >= 5)[[["Is there anything we've missed?"|Curious 2.3]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Is there anything we've missed?"]
][[Let Vanessa handle this.|Curious 2.4]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie.
Come on, dude, distract him. You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one you can pull off.
(if: $rude10 >= 3)[[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 2.1]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 3)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
](if: $rude10 >= 5)[[["Are you sure about that haircut?"|Rude 2.2]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Are you sure about that haircut?"]
](if: $rude10 >= 4)[[["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."|Rude 2.3]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 4)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."]
][[Let Vanessa take this one.|Rude 2.4]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good question.
(if: $dumb10 >= 1)[[["Can you show us to the vending machines?"|Dumb 2.1]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Can you show us to the vending machines?"]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."|Dumb 2.2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."]
](if: $dumb10 >= 4)[[["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."|Dumb 2.3]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."]
][[Let Vanessa handle this.|Dumb 2.4]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Right?
(if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 2.2]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Did you do something to your hair?"]
](if: $rude10 >= 1)[[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 2.1]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 1)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
](if: $curious10 >= 2)[[["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"|Curious 2.2]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."|Dumb 2.2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."]
](if: $flirty10 < 2)+(if: $rude10 < 1)+(if: $curious10 < 2)+(if: $dumb10 < 2)[
You seriously didn't even bother to develop a personality this whole time? You can't be trusted to make the decision here!][[Let Vanessa take the lead.|Rude 2.4]](text-colour:cyan)["I don't really know what this is."]
Sierra sighs. (text-colour:orange)["Okay, well, I'm kind of over this. There's nothing but old newspapers and junk."]
(text-colour:cyan)["You can go wait downstairs, if you want."]
She huffs, and leaves the office, brushing past you and Vanessa.
(text-colour:cyan)["Is she gone?"]
You wait, until Sierra's in the elevator and the doors close behind her. (text-colour:yellow)["Yeah, she's gone now."]
(text-colour:cyan)["I found these...documents. Invoices, receipts, photocopies of Sierra's ID and biometrics..."]
Vanessa looks at you, eyes wide. (text-colour:magenta)["What does that mean?"]
Brett's silent for a moment, then says softly, (text-colour:cyan)["She killed Mr. Paisley."]
[[Go in and check those documents yourself.|Fifth search curious.]]
(set: $sierraevidence to true)
(set: $realevidence to it + 1)
(set: $sierraleaves to true)Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good question.
(if: $curious10 >= 8)[[["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."|Curious 3.1]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 8)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."]
](if: $curious10 >= 3)[[["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"|Curious 3.2]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 3)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"]
](if: $curious10 >= 5)[[["Is there anything we've missed?"|Curious 3.3]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Is there anything we've missed?"]
][[Let Vanessa handle this.|Curious 3.4]]Brett shows Sierra the newspaper clippings.
(text-colour:orange)["This is such a waste of time. There's nothing important about that."]
(text-colour:cyan)["You're welcome to go wait downstairs. You don't have to help."]
(text-colour:orange)["Okay, fine."]
Sierra leaves the office in a huff, brushing past you and Vanessa on her way to the elevator.
You can hear Brett get back to the computer, clicking away at the keyboard.
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh. Oh, shit."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["I found these...documents. Invoices, receipts, photocopies of Sierra's ID and biometrics..."]
Vanessa looks at you, eyes wide. (text-colour:magenta)["What does that mean?"]
(if: $arthurstrust > 7)[Brett's silent for a moment, then says softly, (text-colour:cyan)["I think she killed Mr. Paisley."]
[[Go in and check those documents yourself.|Fifth search not curious.]]
](else:)[The stairwell door opens, and Arthur walks out.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Flirt with Arthur 4]]]
(set: $sierraleaves to true)Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both plaster on your widest smiles.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one that you can pull off.
(if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["I missed you while you were gone."|Flirt 3.1]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I missed you while you were gone."]
](if: $flirty10 >= 4)[[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 3.2]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 4)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Did you do something to your hair?"]
](if: $flirty10 >= 5)[[["I didn't notice it before, but that suit really flatters your muscles."|Flirt 3.3]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I didn't notice it before, but that suit really flatters your muscles."]
][[Let Vanessa take this one.|Flirt 3.4]]Brett shows Sierra the newspaper clippings.
(text-colour:orange)["This is such a waste of time. There's nothing important about that."]
(text-colour:cyan)["You're welcome to go wait downstairs. You don't have to help."]
(text-colour:orange)["Okay, fine."]
Sierra leaves the office in a huff, brushing past you and Vanessa on her way to the elevator.
You can hear Brett get back to the computer, clicking away at the keyboard.
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh. Oh, shit."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["I found these...documents. Invoices, receipts, photocopies of Sierra's ID and biometrics..."]
Vanessa looks at you, eyes wide. (text-colour:magenta)["What does that mean?"]
(if: $arthurstrust > 6)[Brett's silent for a moment, then says softly, (text-colour:cyan)["I think she killed Mr. Paisley."]
[[Go in and check those documents yourself.|Fifth search not curious.]]
](else:)[The stairwell door opens, and Arthur walks out.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Insult Arthur 4]]]
(set: $sierraleaves to true)Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie.
Come on, dude, distract him. You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one you can pull off.
(if: $rude10 >= 3)[[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 3.1]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 3)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
](if: $rude10 >= 5)[[["Are you sure about that haircut?"|Rude 3.2]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 5)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Are you sure about that haircut?"]
](if: $rude10 >= 4)[[["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."|Rude 3.3]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 4)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."]
][[Let Vanessa take this one.|Rude 3.4]]Brett shows Sierra the newspaper clippings.
(text-colour:orange)["This is such a waste of time. There's nothing important about that."]
(text-colour:cyan)["You're welcome to go wait downstairs. You don't have to help."]
(text-colour:orange)["Okay, fine."]
Sierra leaves the office in a huff, brushing past you and Vanessa on her way to the elevator.
You can hear Brett get back to the computer, clicking away at the keyboard.
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh. Oh, shit."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["I found these...documents. Invoices, receipts, photocopies of Sierra's ID and biometrics..."]
Vanessa looks at you, eyes wide. (text-colour:magenta)["What does that mean?"]
(if: $arthurstrust > 6)[Brett's silent for a moment, then says softly, (text-colour:cyan)["I think she killed Mr. Paisley."]
[[Go in and check those documents yourself.|Fifth search not curious.]]
](else:)[The stairwell door opens, and Arthur walks out.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Play dumb with Arthur 4]]]
(set: $sierraleaves to true)Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good question.
(if: $dumb10 >= 1)[[["Can you show us to the vending machines?"|Dumb 3.1]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Can you show us to the vending machines?"]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."|Dumb 3.2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."]
](if: $dumb10 >= 4)[[["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."|Dumb 3.3]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."]
][[Let Vanessa handle this.|Dumb 3.4]]Brett shows Sierra the newspaper clippings.
(text-colour:orange)["This is such a waste of time. There's nothing important about that."]
(text-colour:cyan)["You're welcome to go wait downstairs. You don't have to help."]
(text-colour:orange)["Okay, fine."]
Sierra leaves the office in a huff, brushing past you and Vanessa on her way to the elevator.
You can hear Brett get back to the computer, clicking away at the keyboard.
(text-colour:cyan)["Oh. Oh, shit."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["I found these...documents. Invoices, receipts, photocopies of Sierra's ID and biometrics..."]
Vanessa looks at you, eyes wide. (text-colour:magenta)["What does that mean?"]
(if: $arthurstrust > 6)[Brett's silent for a moment, then says softly, (text-colour:cyan)["I think she killed Mr. Paisley."]
[[Go in and check those documents yourself.|Fifth search not curious.]]
](else:)[The stairwell door opens, and Arthur walks out.
[[Let's hope you and Vanessa can distract him.|Gamble with Arthur 4]]]
(set: $sierraleaves to true)Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Right?
(if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 3.2]]
](else-if: $flirty10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["Did you do something to your hair?"]
](if: $rude10 >= 1)[[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 3.1]]
](else-if: $rude10 < 1)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
](if: $curious10 >= 2)[[["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"|Curious 3.2]]
](else-if: $curious10 < 2)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["I was curious about the oil sands. Do you think you could show us a map or something?"]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."|Dumb 3.2]]
](else:)[(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"strike")["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."]
](if: $flirty10 < 2)+(if: $rude10 < 1)+(if: $curious10 < 2)+(if: $dumb10 < 2)[
You seriously didn't even bother to develop a personality this whole time? You can't be trusted to make the decision here!][[Let Vanessa take the lead.|Rude 3.4]]You twirl your hair around your finger. (text-colour:yellow)["I missed you while you were gone."]
That earns a suspicious look from Arthur. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Not while you were talking to Darcy? Or Rinaldi? Just in the last five minutes?"]
You look at Vanessa, hoping she'll save it.
Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out. You're both completely frozen.
Arthur pushes past both of you, and goes into his office, quickly finding Brett and Sierra ducked under the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Did you do something with your hair?" ]
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["No, not recently. Why, did I mess it up? Hold on, let me go take a look. I have a mirror somewhere..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["I've never noticed, or I guess paid attention, but that suit is really flattering on you. It really emphasizes your muscles."] You reach for his bicep and squeeze.
Boy, does this feel awkward.
But he cracks a smile. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Really? I had it tailored at a new place in the city a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I liked it yet. Actually, hold on, I have their business card somewhere..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]Vanessa smiles and bats her eyelashes.
You wait for her to say something, but that's it. That's all she's got.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Do you need me to take you to a doctor?"] Arthur asks. (text-colour:#ced4da)["That eye twitch looks pretty bad."]
(text-colour:magenta)["No, no, I'm fine-"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Let me grab my keys and I'll take you to a clinic..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."]
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Why?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Just because we were interested in knowing if you and Mr. Paisley had started at the same time."]
Arthur launches into a long and boring story about his twenties, starting at Petrola, meeting Mr. Paisley, blah blah blah. He does answer the question, at some point, probably, but by then you've tuned out, and you're just nodding and throwing in a "uh-huh" or "oh, really?" whenever appropriate.
Finally, he gets a call, and excuses himself for a moment. He takes the phone call, stepping away from you two and pacing.
You peek into the office. Brett and Sierra are gone, and the window's open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:yellow)["I was curious about the oil sands." ]
He seems unconvinced.
(text-colour:yellow)["Like, um, is there a map, or something? I just wanna get a sense for how big they actually are." ]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Oh, yeah, I have a map in my office."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Is there anything we've missed?"] you ask.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Such as...?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Like, um, records that would be useful-"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Cool art pieces in someone's office-"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["I actually have a Jackson Polluck in my office, if you'll just follow me..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:magenta)["Is it true the building's haunted?"]
You look at Vanessa, incredulous. If Arthur wasn't suspicious of you two standing outside his office before, he is now.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Was that a thing? Do people think that? I thought people just said that about the forest."]
(text-colour:magenta)["I think there was a story about a woman dying at the lake, and haunting Petrola HQ forever."]
Not the time to double down, Vanessa!
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["I've never heard that. Let me look it up."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
And you're so brave to look a man twice your size in the face and say that.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Are you sure about that haircut?"]
Are you sure about that line?
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."]
Based on the look on his face, he's about to help you find a casket that suits your body.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]Vanessa stares at him, then narrows her eyes.
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What, is there something on my face?"]
She keeps staring.
He sighs, then pushes past you and Vanessa and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Can you show us to the vending machines?"]
Arthur points. They are brightly-coloured and in plain sight.
Maybe you played it too dumb.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["We couldn't figure out how to get to the elevator, can you show us?"]
Arthur points to the elevators. They're in plain sight.
Maybe you played it too dumb.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."]
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Like olive oil. I wanted to put olive oil on popcorn because it's better for you than butter, like it's got less fat or something, but I can't find any."]
Arthur sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Not that kind of oil company, Brooklyn."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Oh, do you have coconut oil instead?"]
He sighs, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]Vanessa stares blankly at him. (text-colour:magenta)["Do you think I can get a sample of the oil you drill for?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Huh?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Like, for my hair. Apparently you're supposed to put oil in your hair."]
He sighs, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]You twirl your hair around your finger. (text-colour:yellow)["I missed you while you were gone."]
That earns a suspicious look from Arthur. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Not while you were talking to Darcy? Or Rinaldi? Just in the last five minutes?"]
You look at Vanessa, hoping she'll save it.
Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out. You're both completely frozen.
Arthur pushes past both of you, and goes into his office, quickly finding Brett and Sierra ducked under the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Did you do something with your hair?" ]
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["No, not recently. Why, did I mess it up? Hold on, let me go take a look. I have a mirror somewhere..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["I've never noticed, or I guess paid attention, but that suit is really flattering on you. It really emphasizes your muscles."] You reach for his bicep and squeeze. Boy, does this feel awkward.
But he cracks a smile. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Really? I had it tailored at a new place in the city a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I liked it yet. Actually, hold on, I have their business card somewhere..."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Won't I need my measurements taken?"] you ask, blocking him. (text-colour:yellow)["I know they normally do that there, but I'd just be more comfortable with you."]
Arthur looks between you and Vanessa for a second. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Do either of you have a tape measure just lying around?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Darcy might have one downstairs."]
Arthur sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Alright. I'll be right back. Don't move."]
You peek into the office, and Brett and Sierra are gone, the window open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa smiles and bats her eyelashes.
You wait for her to say something, but that's it. That's all she's got.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Do you need me to take you to a doctor?"] Arthur asks. (text-colour:#ced4da)["That eye twitch looks pretty bad."]
(text-colour:magenta)["No, no, I'm fine-"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Let me grab my keys and I'll take you to a clinic..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."]
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Why?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Just because we were interested in knowing if you and Mr. Paisley had started at the same time."]
Arthur launches into a long and boring story about his twenties, starting at Petrola, meeting Mr. Paisley, blah blah blah. He does answer the question, at some point, probably, but by then you've tuned out, and you're just nodding and throwing in a "uh-huh" or "oh, really?" whenever appropriate.
Finally, he gets a call, and excuses himself for a moment. He takes the phone call, stepping away from you two and pacing.
You peek into the office. Brett and Sierra are gone, and the window's open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:yellow)["I was curious about the oil sands." ]
He seems unconvinced.
(text-colour:yellow)["Like, um, is there a map, or something? I just wanna get a sense for how big they actually are." ]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Oh, yeah, I have a map in my office."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Is there anything we've missed?"] you ask.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Such as...?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Like, um, records that would be useful-"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Cool art pieces in someone's office-"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["There's actually a Jackson Polluck down in the lobby."]
(text-colour:magenta)["Can we see it?"]
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["It's just a print, but okay."]
He leads you to the stairwell, and makes you follow him all the way down to the first floor, and then shows you a Jackson Pollock print.
It's splotchy and colourful, the way most Jackson Pollocks are.
He says he's gotta get back to work, and goes back upstairs. How he has the energy for all that cardio is beyond me.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:magenta)["Is it true the building's haunted?"]
You look at Vanessa, incredulous. If Arthur wasn't suspicious of you two standing outside his office before, he is now.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Was that a thing? Do people think that? I thought people just said that about the forest."]
(text-colour:magenta)["I think there was a story about a woman dying at the lake, and haunting Petrola HQ forever."]
Not the time to double down, Vanessa!
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["I've never heard that. Let me look it up."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
And you're so brave to look a man twice your size in the face and say that.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Are you sure about that haircut?"]
Are you sure about that line?
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."]
Based on the look on his face, he's about to help you find a casket that suits your body.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]Vanessa stares at him, then narrows her eyes.
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What, is there something on my face?"]
She keeps staring.
He sighs, then pushes past you and Vanessa and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["We couldn't find the vending machines, can you show us?"]
Arthur points to the vending machines. They're brightly-coloured and in plain sight.
Maybe you played it too dumb.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["We couldn't figure out how to get to the elevator, can you show us?"]
Arthur points to the elevators. They're in plain sight.
Maybe you played it too dumb.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."]
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Like olive oil. I wanted to put olive oil on popcorn because it's better for you than butter, like it's got less fat or something, but I can't find any."]
Arthur sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Not that kind of oil company, Brooklyn."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Oh, do you have coconut oil instead?"]
He sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Okay, let's bring you back downstairs to Darcy, and she'll explain this to you."]
You let him lead you down to Darcy's lab, and smile and nod while she explains the difference between cooking oils and petrochemical oils, then let him lead you down to the lobby to wait for Brett and Sierra to catch up with you and hopefully not eat any petrochemical oil on popcorn.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa stares blankly at him. (text-colour:magenta)["Do you think I can get a sample of the oil you drill for?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Huh?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Like, for my hair. Apparently you're supposed to put oil in your hair."]
He sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Okay, let's bring you back downstairs to Darcy, and she'll explain this to you."]
You let him lead you both down to Darcy's lab, and smile and nod while she explains the difference between vegetable oils and petrochemical oils, then let him lead you down to the lobby to wait for Brett and Sierra to catch up with you and hopefully not put any petrochemical oil in your hair.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]You twirl your hair around your finger. (text-colour:yellow)["I missed you while you were gone."]
That earns a suspicious look from Arthur. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Not while you were talking to Darcy? Or Rinaldi? Just in the last five minutes?"]
You look at Vanessa, hoping she'll save it.
Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out. You're both completely frozen.
Arthur pushes past both of you, and goes into his office, quickly finding Brett and Sierra ducked under the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Did you do something with your hair?" ]
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["No, not recently. Why, did I mess it up?"]
You reach up and start moving his hair around. (text-colour:yellow)["There, I think that's back to the way you had it." ]
It looks nowhere close to the same, but Arthur smiles at you anyways. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Thanks. Wait, did you like it better the other way?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["I think you make it work either way."]
Arthur fluffs up your ponytail. (text-colour:#ced4da)["I like your hair better when it's down. It frames your face."]
Here's your friendly reminder, Josh, that Arthur is old enough to be your dad.
(text-colour:yellow)["I have a really good hairdresser,"] you say. (text-colour:yellow)["Do you have Instagram? If you follow me, I can show you her profile."]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Oh, sure, I'll give you my phone..."] Arthur pats his pockets, looking for it, but comes up dry. (text-colour:#ced4da)["I must've left it downstairs. I'll be right back. Don't move."]
He goes back towards the stairwell. The second the door closes behind him, you peek into the office.
Brett and Sierra are gone, and the window is open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:yellow)["I've never noticed, or I guess paid attention, but that suit is really flattering on you. It really emphasizes your muscles."] You reach for his bicep and squeeze. Boy, does this feel awkward.
But he cracks a smile. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Really? I had it tailored at a new place in the city a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I liked it yet. Actually, hold on, I have their business card somewhere..."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Won't I need my measurements taken?"] you ask, blocking him. (text-colour:yellow)["I know they normally do that there, but I'd just be more comfortable with you."]
Arthur looks between you and Vanessa for a second. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Do either of you have a tape measure just lying around?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Darcy might have one downstairs."]
Arthur sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Alright. I'll be right back. Don't move."]
You peek into the office, and Brett and Sierra are gone, the window open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa smiles and bats her eyelashes.
You wait for her to say something, but that's it. That's all she's got.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Do you need me to take you to a doctor?"] Arthur asks. (text-colour:#ced4da)["That eye twitch looks pretty bad."]
(text-colour:magenta)["No, no, I'm fine-"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Let me grab my keys and I'll take you to a clinic..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["We wanted to ask you when you started at Petrola."]
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Why?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Just because we were interested in knowing if you and Mr. Paisley had started at the same time."]
Arthur launches into a long and boring story about his twenties, starting at Petrola, meeting Mr. Paisley, blah blah blah. He does answer the question, at some point, probably, but by then you've tuned out, and you're just nodding and throwing in a "uh-huh" or "oh, really?" whenever appropriate.
Finally, he gets a call, and excuses himself for a moment. He takes the phone call, stepping away from you two and pacing.
You peek into the office. Brett and Sierra are gone, and the window's open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:magenta)["Is it true the building's haunted?"]
You look at Vanessa, incredulous. If Arthur wasn't suspicious of you two standing outside his office before, he is now.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Was that a thing? Do people think that? I thought people just said that about the forest."]
(text-colour:magenta)["I think there was a story about a woman dying at the lake, and haunting Petrola HQ forever."]
Not the time to double down, Vanessa!
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["I've never heard that. Let me look it up."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Is there anything we've missed?"] you ask.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Such as...?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Like, um, records that would be useful-"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Cool art pieces in someone's office-"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["There's actually a Jackson Polluck down in the lobby."]
(text-colour:magenta)["Can we see it?"]
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["It's just a print, but okay."]
He leads you to the stairwell, and makes you follow him all the way down to the first floor, and then shows you a Jackson Pollock print.
It's splotchy and colourful, the way most Jackson Pollocks are.
He says he's gotta get back to work, and goes back upstairs. How he has the energy for all that cardio is beyond me.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:magenta)["Is it true the building's haunted?"]
You look at Vanessa, incredulous. If Arthur wasn't suspicious of you two standing outside his office before, he is now.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Was that a thing? Do people think that? I thought people just said that about the forest."]
(text-colour:magenta)["I think there was a story about a woman dying at the lake, and haunting Petrola HQ forever."]
Not the time to double down, Vanessa!
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["I've never heard that. Let me look it up."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
And you're so brave to look a man twice your size in the face and say that.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Are you sure about that haircut?"]
Are you sure about that line?
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["You know, I could help you find glasses that actually suit your face, if you'd like."]
Based on the look on his face, he's about to help you find a casket that suits your body.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]Vanessa stares at him, then narrows her eyes.
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What, is there something on my face?"]
She keeps staring.
He wipes at his face, paranoid. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What are you looking at?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe you should just go to the bathroom."]
That works. Arthur leaves.
(text-colour:yellow)["Nice."]
You peek into the office, and Brett and Sierra are gone, the window open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:yellow)["Can you show us to the vending machines?"]
Arthur points. They are brightly-coloured and in plain sight.
Maybe you played it too dumb.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["We couldn't figure out how to get to the elevator, can you show us?"]
Arthur points to the elevators. They're in plain sight.
Maybe you played it too dumb.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett and Sierra ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."]
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Like olive oil. I wanted to put olive oil on popcorn because it's better for you than butter, like it's got less fat or something, but I can't find any."]
Arthur sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Not that kind of oil company, Brooklyn."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Oh, do you have coconut oil instead?"]
He sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Okay, let's bring you back downstairs to Darcy, and she'll explain this to you."]
You let him lead you down to Darcy's lab, and smile and nod while she explains the difference between cooking oils and petrochemical oils, then let him lead you down to the lobby to wait for Brett and Sierra to catch up with you and hopefully not eat any petrochemical oil on popcorn.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa stares blankly at him. (text-colour:magenta)["Do you think I can get a sample of the oil you drill for?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Huh?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Like, for my hair. Apparently you're supposed to put oil in your hair."]
He sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Okay, let's bring you back downstairs to Darcy, and she'll explain this to you."]
You let him lead you both down to Darcy's lab, and smile and nod while she explains the difference between vegetable oils and petrochemical oils, then let him lead you down to the lobby to wait for Brett and Sierra to catch up with you and hopefully not put any petrochemical oil in your hair.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he and Sierra made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said they made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. They're by the lake now."]
[[Go after them.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Bad news: You're dead. Like, super dead. So are Brett and Vanessa. Dead dead deadski.
Good news: When you die in a dialogue tree assignment, you don't die in real life, so you can [[try again,|Start]] or [[see how you did.|Stats.]]
(set: $arthurstrust to -5)You get to the lake, and Darcy's there. (if: $flirty2 >= 2)[She's smiling and waving at you.
You catch up with her(if:$sierraleaves is false)[, Sierra,] and Brett, and she gives you a tour of the lake. It's polluted and gross, but the oil creates some cool-looking slicks against the mud.
She explains how Petrola's filtration system is keeping the river clean, so all of this pollution is contained. It sounds too good to be true, and maybe it is, but who are you to say?
After the tour, you and your friends make it home, safe and sound. Congrats! You survived! Would you like to [[try again|Start]] or [[see how you did?|Stats.]]
](else-if: $curious2 >= 2)[She's smiling and waving at you.
You catch up with her(if:$sierraleaves is false)[, Sierra,] and Brett, and she gives you a tour of the lake. It's polluted and gross, but the oil creates some cool-looking slicks against the mud.
She explains how Petrola's filtration system is keeping the river clean, so all of this pollution is contained. It sounds too good to be true, and maybe it is, but who are you to say?
After the tour, you and your friends make it home, safe and sound. Congrats! You survived! Would you like to [[try again|Start]] or [[see how you did?|Stats.]]
](else:)[She doesn't look too happy to see you. You didn't quite make it onto her good side, and this is her home turf.
(text-colour:green)["I know you went looking in Arthur's office."]
Oh. Maybe you weren't as sneaky as you thought you were.
She comes after you, and you try to run for it, but the issue with the lake is that it's really easy to make the wrong move, and fall into the polluted water, or an sinkhole, or some oily quicksand.
Which is exactly what happens to you.
Your friends are unable to rescue you before your lungs fill with black mud and sand, and you suffocate.
Yikes. Bad way to go.
Good news: if you die in a dialogue trees assignment, you don't die in real life. You can [[try again|Start]] or [[see how you did.|Stats.]]]You get to the lake. Darcy's nowhere to be found.
(if: $flirty2 >= 2)[You try to catch up with Brett(if:$sierraleaves is false)[ and Sierra], but the issue with the lake is that it's really easy to make the wrong move, and fall into the polluted water, or an sinkhole, or some oily quicksand.
Which is exactly what happens to you.
Your friends are unable to rescue you before your lungs fill with black mud and sand, and you suffocate.
Yikes. Bad way to go.
Good news: if you die in a dialogue trees assignment, you don't die in real life. You can [[try again|Start]] or [[see how you did.|Stats.]]
](else-if: $curious2 >= 2)[You try to catch up with Brett(if:$sierraleaves is false)[ and Sierra], but the issue with the lake is that it's really easy to make the wrong move, and fall into the polluted water, or an sinkhole, or some oily quicksand.
Which is exactly what happens to you.
Your friends are unable to rescue you before your lungs fill with black mud and sand, and you suffocate.
Yikes. Bad way to go.
Good news: if you die in a dialogue trees assignment, you don't die in real life. You can [[try again|Start]] or [[see how you did.|Stats.]]
](else:)[You catch up with Brett(if:$sierraleaves is false)[ and Sierra].
It's been a long day. You should go home.
Plus, hey, you got out of there alive! Congrats! Would you like to [[see how you did|Stats.]] or [[try again?|Start]]]You go into the office, leaving Vanessa outside, and lean over the desk, reading over Brett's shoulers. He's got a folder pulled up on one monitor, labelled the date Mr. Paisley died, and full of PDFs. He's got a bunch of documents pulled up on the other monitor. You can see Sierra's fingerprint, her driver's license photo, her birth certificate, all that fun stuff.
(text-colour:yellow)["Is this everything?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["There's another file or two,"] Brett says, (text-colour:cyan)["I'm just trying to look over this stuff before I open the last couple."]
(text-colour:yellow)["We're on a time crunch, dude, come on."]
(text-colour:cyan)["I already copied everything, emailed it to myself, and deleted the sent email. We're fine."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What's that one?"] You point to a file called sierrasteelejphsigned.pdf.
Brett clicks on it, and it opens.
It's a contract. Sierra's signature is at the bottom, dated a month before Mr. Paisley's murder.
There's no other signatures on it. It's anonymous. If you hadn't found it on Arthur's computer, the kill could've been contracted by anyone.
(text-colour:yellow)["Close it. All of it. Right now."]
Brett closes every window and logs out, and you book it out of there and towards the elevator, grabbing Vanessa and dragging her as you do.
Once you're in the elevator, Vanessa says, (text-colour:magenta)["We should ask Arthur about that. I'm sure there's a rational explanation."]
(text-colour:cyan)["Are you kidding me? It was on his computer! He definitely knows about it at the very least."]
(text-colour:magenta)["I think we should talk to him."]
What do you think?
[[Vanessa's biased, we shouldn't tell Arthur.|Don't tell.]]
[[Benefit of the doubt, go find Arthur and tell him.|Tell.]]You run into Arthur on your way to the elevators.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Oh, are you guys leaving?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Yeah, my mom wanted us to come home. She made dinner for us."]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Well, thanks for coming by today. Sorry you left without much progress."]
You smile and nod, say your goodbyes, and then hurry to the elevator, go downstairs, and run back to your car.
Phew.
You did it! You made it through without dying!
Would you like to [[try again|Start]] to see if you can do it another way, or would you like to [[see how you did?|Stats.]]You go to find Arthur, eventually running into him on the sixth floor. He's talking to Rinaldi.
(text-colour:yellow)["Can we talk to you for a second?"] you ask. (text-colour:yellow)["In private?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Sure."]
You go into the stairwell with him.
(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:1s)+(link:"Tell him.")[I feel like you should've known that this wasn't going to end well.
You start to explain what you've found, and the second he realizes the extent to your suspicions, he pulls out a gun, and shoots Brett, then Vanessa, then you.
Smooth move.
Bad news: you're super dead.
Good news: if you die in a dialogue design assignment, you don't die in real life, so you can always [[try again,|Start]] or [[see how you did.|Stats.]]]
(set: $arthurstrust to -5)Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett, and you both plaster on your widest smiles.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think Sierra downstairs, and Brett went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one that you can pull off.
[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 4.1]]
[["I didn't notice it before, but that suit really flatters your muscles."|Flirt 4.2]]
[[Let Vanessa take this one.|Flirt 4.3]]You go into the office, leaving Vanessa outside, and lean over the desk, reading over Brett's shoulers. He's got a folder pulled up on one monitor, labelled the date Mr. Paisley died, and full of PDFs. He's got a bunch of documents pulled up on the other monitor. You can see Sierra's fingerprint, her driver's license photo, her birth certificate, all that fun stuff.
(text-colour:yellow)["Is this everything?"]
(text-colour:cyan)["There's another file or two,"] Brett says, (text-colour:cyan)["I'm just trying to look over this stuff before I open the last couple."]
(text-colour:yellow)["We're on a time crunch, dude, come on."]
(text-colour:cyan)["I already copied everything, emailed it to myself, and deleted the sent email. We're fine."]
(text-colour:yellow)["What's that one?"] You point to a file called sierrasteelejphsigned.pdf.
Brett clicks on it, and it opens.
It's a contract. Sierra's signature is at the bottom, dated a month before Mr. Paisley's murder.
There's no other signatures on it. It's anonymous. If you hadn't found it on Arthur's computer, the kill could've been contracted by anyone.
(text-colour:yellow)["Close it. All of it. Right now."]
Brett closes every window and logs out, and you book it out of there and towards the elevator, grabbing Vanessa and dragging her as you do.
Once you're in the elevator, Vanessa says, (text-colour:magenta)["We should ask Arthur about that. I'm sure there's a rational explanation."]
(text-colour:cyan)["Are you kidding me? It was on his computer! He definitely knows about it at the very least."]
(text-colour:magenta)["I think we should talk to him."]
What do you think?
[[Vanessa's biased, we shouldn't tell Arthur.|Don't tell.]]
[[Benefit of the doubt, go find Arthur and tell him.|Tell.]]
(set: $sierraevidence to true)
(set: $realevidence to it + 1)(text-colour:yellow)["I have a really good hairdresser,"] you say. (text-colour:yellow)["Do you have Instagram? If you follow me, I can show you her profile."]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Oh, sure, I'll give you my phone..."] Arthur pats his pockets, looking for it, but comes up dry. (text-colour:#ced4da)["I must've left it downstairs. I'll be right back. Don't move."]
He goes back towards the stairwell. The second the door closes behind him, you peek into the office.
Brett's gone, and the window is open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. He's by the lake now."]
[[Go after him.|Lake, no Darcy.]]](text-colour:yellow)["I've never noticed, or I guess paid attention, but that suit is really flattering on you. It really emphasizes your muscles."] You reach for his bicep and squeeze. Boy, does this feel awkward.
But he cracks a smile. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Really? I had it tailored at a new place in the city a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I liked it yet. Actually, hold on, I have their business card somewhere..."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Won't I need my measurements taken?"] you ask, blocking him. (text-colour:yellow)["I know they normally do that there, but I'd just be more comfortable with you."]
Arthur looks between you and Vanessa for a second. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Do either of you have a tape measure just lying around?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Darcy might have one downstairs."]
Arthur sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Alright. I'll be right back. Don't move."]
You peek into the office, and Brett's are gone, the window open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. He's by the lake now."]
[[Go after him.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa smiles and bats her eyelashes.
You wait for her to say something, but that's it. That's all she's got.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Do you need me to take you to a doctor?"] Arthur asks. (text-colour:#ced4da)["That eye twitch looks pretty bad."]
(text-colour:magenta)["No, no, I'm fine-"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Let me grab my keys and I'll take you to a clinic..."]
It happens so fast that you're frozen in panic.
He pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett and Sierra, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie.
Come on, dude, distract him. You practiced for this, right? Pick a good line, one you can pull off.
[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 4.1]]
[["Are you sure about that haircut?"|Rude 4.2]]
[[Let Vanessa take this one.|Rude 4.3]](text-colour:yellow)["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."]
And you're so brave to look a man twice your size in the face and say that.
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]](text-colour:yellow)["Are you sure about that haircut?"]
Are you sure about that line?
He rolls his eyes, pushes past you and Vanessa, and goes into his office, only to find Brett ducked down behind the desk.
Arthur pulls out his gun. You have to watch as he yells incoherently, shooting Brett, then Vanessa, [[and then you.|dead]]Vanessa stares at him, then narrows her eyes.
He frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What, is there something on my face?"]
She keeps staring.
He wipes at his face, paranoid. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What are you looking at?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Maybe you should just go to the bathroom."]
That works. Arthur leaves.
(text-colour:yellow)["Nice."]
You peek into the office, and Brett's gone, the window open.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down the side of the building."]
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. He's by the lake now."]
[[Go after him.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Pick a good question.
[["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."|Dumb 4.1]]
[[Let Vanessa handle this.|Dumb 4.2]](text-colour:yellow)["There's no oil in the kitchenettes. I thought this was an oil company."]
Arthur frowns. (text-colour:#ced4da)["What?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Like olive oil. I wanted to put olive oil on popcorn because it's better for you than butter, like it's got less fat or something, but I can't find any."]
Arthur sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Not that kind of oil company, Brooklyn."]
(text-colour:yellow)["Oh, do you have coconut oil instead?"]
He sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Okay, let's bring you back downstairs to Darcy, and she'll explain this to you."]
You let him lead you down to Darcy's lab, and smile and nod while she explains the difference between cooking oils and petrochemical oils, then let him lead you down to the lobby to wait for Brett to catch up with you and hopefully not eat any petrochemical oil on popcorn.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. He's by the lake now."]
[[Go after him.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa stares blankly at him. (text-colour:magenta)["Do you think I can get a sample of the oil you drill for?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Huh?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Like, for my hair. Apparently you're supposed to put oil in your hair."]
He sighs. (text-colour:#ced4da)["Okay, let's bring you back downstairs to Darcy, and she'll explain this to you."]
You let him lead you down to Darcy's lab, and smile and nod while she explains the difference between cosmetic oils and petrochemical oils, then let him lead you down to the lobby to wait for Brett to catch up with you.
Vanessa checks her phone.
(if: $darcylake is true)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down a floor, and then got in the elevator and ran into Darcy, and now she wants to give that lake tour,"] she whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["Right now?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Right now.] [[Let's go."|Lake tour.]]
](else:)[(text-colour:magenta)["Brett texted and said he made it down the side of the building,"] Vanessa whispers.
(text-colour:yellow)["The whole ten floors?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Yep. He's by the lake now."]
[[Go after him.|Lake, no Darcy.]]]Vanessa hangs up the phone, signalling Brett, and you both do you best to look engrossed in your own conversation.
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Hey, ladies, what are you doing by my office? Where's Sierra and, um, what's-his-nuts?"]
(text-colour:magenta)["Brett?"]
(text-colour:#ced4da)["Brett, yes. Where are they?"]
(text-colour:yellow)["Um, I think they went to the bathroom,"] you lie. (text-colour:yellow)["We were just waiting for you."]
He seems confused.
You practiced for this, right? Right?
(if: $flirty10 >= 2)[[["Did you do something to your hair?"|Flirt 4.2]]
](if: $rude10 >= 1)[[["You're so brave enough to go out in a suit that form fitting."|Rude 4.1]]
](if: $dumb10 >= 2)[[["We couldn't figure out how to get back to the elevator."|Dumb 4.2]]
](if: $flirty10 < 2)+(if: $rude10 < 1)+(if: $dumb10 < 2)[You seriously didn't even bother to develop a personality this whole time? You can't be trusted to make the decision here!
][[Let Vanessa take the lead.|Rude 4.2]]So you'd like to know how you did? Fair enough.
(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:1s)+(link:"Personality statistics")[You were overall(if: $curious10 >= 5)[ (text-colour: navy)+(text-style:"bold")[curious]. That kind of behaviour would get Darcy on your side easily, and make overall investigative work go smoothly.
](else-if: $flirty10 >= 3)[ (text-colour: purple)+(text-style:"bold")[flirtatious]. You made those around you feel good about themselves, even if it didn't always give you a leg up in the investigation. Still, not a bad way to be.
](else-if: $rude10 >= 2)[ a little bit (text-colour:red)+(text-style:"bold")[rude]. You had a tendency to demean those around you. How'd that work out?
](else-if: $dumb10 >= 2)[... (text-colour:#ffc078)+(text-style:"bold")[not the sharpest knife in the drawer]. Listen, playing dumb can be beneficial sometimes, but I'm guessing it didn't work out in your favour most of the time.
](if: $curious10 < 5)+(if: $flirty10 < 3)+(if: $rude10 < 2)+(if: $dumb10 < 2)[ a bit of a (text-style:"bold")[mixed bag]. You weren't too nosy, too flirtatious, too snarky, or too ditzy. Which is fine, I guess, if it got you through in one piece.
](if: $arthurstrust >=8)[You managed to earn (text-style:"bold")[a lot of trust] through your interactions with Darcy and Mr. Rinaldi. And I mean a (text-style:"italic")[lot]. They passed reports of your behaviour onto Arthur, which meant he trusted you guys not to go through his office when he left, and was comfortable leaving you alone for longer. I mean, you abused it, so maybe he shouldn't have, but who am I to judge?
](else-if: $arthurstrust >=6)[You managed to earn (text-style:"bold")[a fair amount of trust] through your interactions with Darcy and Mr. Rinaldi. They passed reports of your behaviour onto Arthur, which meant he trusted you guys not to go through his office when he left, and was comfortable leaving you alone for a little while. I mean, you abused it, so maybe he shouldn't have, but who am I to judge? Anyways, you could've done a little bit better, but you still did really well.
](else-if: $arthurstrust >= 5)[You (text-style:"bold")[didn't really build or lose Arthur's trust], overall. Either your interactions with Darcy and Mr. Rinaldi were fairly neutral, or you were really nice to one of them and sorta bitchy with the other, and it balanced out. I don't know, I'm not watching over you, I'm not Big Brother. Either way, they passed reports of your behaviour onto Arthur, which meant he trusted you to not go through his office when he left, but not tons, so he came back to check in on you guys. You seem to have made it out in one piece, though, so good for you!
](else-if: $arthurstrust >=3)[You weren't the best guest when you were visiting with Darcy and/or Mr. Rinaldi, and they passed on reports of your behaviour to Arthur, which meant (text-style:"bold")[he didn't trust you tons]. That's why he came back pretty quickly after he left you alone around his office. It seems like you made it out of there okay, though, so good for you!
](else-if: $arthurstrust >= 0)[Yikes, you were a real asshole to Darcy or Mr. Rinaldi. You do know they pass reports of your behaviour around them onto Arthur, right? That's why he didn't leave you alone too long around his office, (text-style:"bold")[he didn't trust you]. You seem to have made it out in one piece, though, so good for you. I just hope you didn't learn the wrong lesson.
](else-if: $arthurstrust is -5)[Your winning personality and good looks didn't save you, though. Real shame. Try not to snitch or get caught next time, dude. Seriously. (text-style:"bold")[You need these people to trust you.]
](t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:1s)+(link:"Evidence statistics: Exhibit A")[(if: $forgeryevidence is 2)[You did manage to snag everything you could to (text-style:"bold")[prove Mr. Rinaldi was tampering with evidence]. Nice!
](else-if: $forgeryevidence is 1)[You managed to find out about it, but you (text-style:"bold")[never got physical proof that Mr. Rinaldi was tampering with evidence]. You could've done better, but you also could've done worse. Not bad!
](else-if: $forgeryevidence is 0)[You missed out on (text-style:"bold")[an entire conspiracy] happening right under your nose, with people you trusted. Yikes. Anyways, you can [[try again|Start]] if you think you can do better the next time.
](t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:1s)+(link:"Evidence statistics: Exhibit B")[(if: $sierraevidence is true)+(if: $arthurstrust is -5)[You found out that (text-style:"bold")[Sierra was the true killer]. If you'd survived, in the next part of the game, you'd get to try to prove that to the police. I'd have total faith in you, if I thought you could stay alive long enough to do it.
](else-if: $sierraevidence is true)[You found out that (text-style:"bold")[Sierra was the true killer]. In the next part of the game, you'd get to try to prove that to the police. Based on this, I think you'd do a good job of that!
](else:)[You didn't find (text-style:"bold")[evidence about the true killer]. You can always go back and [[try again|Start]] if you think you can do better the next time.
](t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:1s)+(link:"Evidence statistics: Exhibit C")[(if: $employmentfile is true)[You found (text-style:"bold")[Mr. Paisley's employment file!] That's an important piece of the puzzle surrounding his murder, and the fact that you found it bodes well for the rest of the investigation.
](else:)[You never did (text-style:"bold")[find Mr. Paisley's employment file], did you? Gosh, if only you could [[try again|Start]] and look for it in the right places next time.
](t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:1s)+(link:"Evidence statistics: Overview")[(if: $realevidence is 3)[To summarize, you found (text-style:"bold")[every piece of evidence] available. Nice work!
](else-if: $realevidence is 2)[In summary, you found (text-style:"bold")[most of the evidence] you could. Not bad! You can always [[go back and try to find more,|Start]] if you're so inclined.
](else-if: $realevidence is 1)[At the end of the day, you only found a (text-style:"bold")[little bit of the evidence] you needed. Which is fine, I guess, but if you think you can do better, you can always [[try again.|Start]]
](else-if: $realevidence is 0)[Actually, looking back, I don't think you found (text-style:"bold")[any actual evidence]. Isn't that what you went to Petrola HQ for? Come on, you can do better than that. Why don't you [[try again?|Start]]
](t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time:1s)+(link:"Finish!")[There's about a bajillion ways to play through this, some strategies more successful than others, but if you're not thrilled with how you did this time, you can always [[start over.|Start]]
]]]]]]