Update 8: Green badge and Aleph Four
Alright, Terri told us she'd meet us at Blue Hell Bar in half an hour, so here we are.
Terri says, "Congratulations. You've demonstrated some skill at prospecting, and you've met the criteria I've established as the threshold for the Orion Program. You got results, and I like that!" Terri gives you a big smile. "I am sponsoring you for the Orion Program. This is a great honor and privilege, but I think you deserve it."
Terri trades you a green badge for your blue badge. "You've earned this, my friend. Keep in mind that it isn't coded with any destionations yet, so you really need to go to the next green badge briefing. Remember: Nine in the morning, room T52. Now go make the best of the opportunity. I expect great things from you. Good luck and good hunting." She gets up and leaves the bar.
[Your score has just gone up by 30.]
Achievement unlocked: received the green badge.
Next morning we head to room T52 for the green badge briefing Terri mentioned.
A few seconds later, a tall man dressed in a suit walks into the room and takes his place at the head of the table.
An elite briefing, yay.
"Per the international agreements you are all familiar with, this briefing is classified Alpha Three, which carries a concomitant TOP SECRET classification in U.S., European, Japanese, and Brazilian military services. This information is very sensitive."
Leonard Worden looks sternly around the room, then continues: "As you know, we are continuously trying to gain knowledge relating to the operation of Heechee ships through intensive research activities on Earth, Venus, and this station."
"We began the Orion Special Exploration Initiative once we had positive confirmation that our efforts were producing statistically significant results. The Orion Program is our way of letting you take advantage of our research.
"I am going to give each of you one of the course codes from our master list. I will take your green badge and run it through an encoder that will transfer the course code onto the black strip on your badge."
Worden closes his briefcase. "These codes are classified at level Alpha Three. Do not let your badge leave your sight. We expect each of you to use the codes on your next exploration mission."
"Good luck and good hunting. If you continue to be successful, we will make codes from our master list available to prospectors at large in about a year. Because of your exceptional qualifications and your proven records, you get a head start."
[Your score has just gone up by 15.]
And so the briefing ends.
> examine briefcase
Leonard Worden's briefcase is made of leather and looks very expensive.
The conference room empties. The briefing is over.
Hmm, I feel like I have forgotten something... Oh yeah, totally.
> kiss Leonard
The corridor feels with people as a meeting in the conference room ends. They walk quickly up the corridor towards the dropshaft.
Without further delay, let's head to the new destination.
Orbiting fourth planet in the Aleph binary star system, spectral class G. Planet has toxic atmosphere. Surface gravity is 1.7G. Sensors detect small concentration of Heechee metal.
The atmosphere is toxic, meaning we can't do without the bloody space suit.
We land, and then exit the ship.
> examine green stalks
The stalks range in size from a few centimeters to ten or twenty meters long. The strange convoluted trunks emerge from the ground and end in disturbing four-sided blossoms.
> examine path
A path leads east.
And to the east we go.
And then south.
> examine liquid
The liquid is oily and murky, a soup of shifting purple hues that is like nothing you have ever seen.
> dive into liquid
There would be no point to going swimming in the lake.
> taste liquid
Not bloody likely!
The game is extreme, I like it.
> examine rocks
The round, shiny rocks are piled in a cairn that looks almost like a marker or nest of some kind. The rocks are all between five and fifteen centimeters in diameter and made of a silvery-gray substance that reflects light.
> take rock
You reach down and attempt to dislodge one of the rocks in the pile. You discover that they are fused together somehow. You can't budge any of them.
SUDDENLY
> examine salamander
The salamander is about a meter long, with six legs and a long tail. It has two eyes on small eyestalks and a mouth that looks like it is set in a permanent lazy grin.
An evil salamander! Kill it with fire!
> shoot salamander
> kiss salamander
Spacesuits are a well-known inhibitor to a good sex life.
> take salamander
The salamander struggles briefly, then goes limp in your hands. You take the salamander.
[Your score has just gone up by 5.]
We head back north and then east.
What a funny one!
The creature finally breaks the spell by brandishing a crude but deadly trident spear with one of its four arms. It begins moving towards you, waving the spear. You retreat to the west as the creature advances. The awkward dance continues all the way outside the village, where the alien seems to lose enthusiasm and turns back.
Well, that was intense. And now let's go northeast.
On the west side of the clearing is a large boulder. While the clearing is surrounded by a forest of green stalks, the growth to the southwest and south is thin enough to allow passage.
> examine boulder
A huge rock seems to grow out of the ground on the west side of the clearing.
> examine dome
The dome is made of Heechee metal. Near the base of the dome is a panel set flush with the surface of the dome. Below the panel is a small circular hole.
> examine hole
The hole in the dome is circular and about ten centimeters in diameter.
> examine panel
The panel is square, about half a meter on a side. It is set into the side of the dome.
Hmm, let's check what is behind the boulder now.
Nothing too interesting. A nice hiding place, though. Let's rather approach the dome itself.
SUDDENLY
Your helmet mikes pick up a mournful wailing sound from the south. The sound builds in frequency and volume for a few seconds, then dies away.
I wonder who that might be...
Oh well. Hiding behind a boulder would've been a better choice.
The strange instrument emits a low pitched blast of noise that sounds like a drawn out, bubbling, quavering moan.
The chief inserts a cylinder made of Heechee metal into a circular hole in the side of the dome. A panel slides aside to reveal a screen. The creatures continue chanting "Mutz, Mutz, MUTZ!" as the chief waves all four of his arms in front of the screen.
We need that cylinder!!
The chief turns to face the screen. You hear a series of beeps and clicks. The aliens stir restlessly. The dome suddenly spits out the Heechee metal object and it lands on the ground next to the dome. The chief recovers the object as the panel slides shut. He faces his followers once again.
As you may have guessed, the aliens just can't figure out how to operate the dome, even though they have the cylinder. Natives, duh.
The aliens file off to the south, disappearing into the forest of green stalks.
The aliens tend to come to the dome every once in a while, thus making it possible for us to enter the village undetected when they are away. For that, we must go south to the Lake Shore and wait until the wailing sound passes to the north, then quickly head for the village.
> examine huts
The primitive looking huts are made of some kind of thatch.
> examine big hut
The big hut seems to be the home of the big cheese of the village.
Let's enter the big cheese's home, then!
The same liquid we saw in the lake, huh?
> examine liquid
The liquid is oily and murky, a soup of shifting purple hues.
> examine tank
The tank is a large container fashioned out of some translucent substance. It is full of oily looking purple liquid.
> taste liquid
While wearing a spacesuit? Impossible!
Meh.
And then we crawl down through the opening in the floor. The idea is to wait until the villagers return and see if we can grab the cylinder somehow.
> down
It's pitch dark. You're likely to be eaten by a grue.
> wait
Time passes...
The hut above you groans and creaks as something enters, mutters to itself, and stomps around for a few moments. Then you hear a sloshing sound and a deep contented sigh. Silence follows.
Time to get out of here, stalker.
> examine creature
The outline of the creature is visible through the purple liquid in the tank. He is suspended in the stuff, swaying gently back and forth. He appears to be asleep.
> take creature
You can't take the chief creature.
Why? :/ Ah, fuck this!
> shoot tank
Oops.
This horrible flaming death is dedicated to lightbane-kun!
> examine cylinder
The outline of a cylinder about a third of a meter long is visible through the purple liquid in the tank.
> take cylinder
You put your glove into the liquid. As your fingers enter the oily fluid, you notice a hissing sound. The liquid seems to be boiling around your glove. With a start, you realize that it is molecular acid and that it is starting to eat through the material of your suit. You jerk back your hand. Tendrils of vapor rise from your glove.
Bad luck there. Let's rather take a roundabout road.
> put salamander in liquid
You drop the salamander into the tank. It makes a small splash and swims happily around the surface for a few moments. Then the salamander dives for the bottom of the tank, disappearing with a playful flick of its tail.
[Your score has just gone up by 10.]
Yay!
And now, evading the villagers, we return to the Lake Shore.
The salamander must've mistaken the cylinder for a stone suitable for its nest. Silly thing. But anyway...
> take cylinder
You take the metal cylinder.
[Your score has just gone up by 15.]
...the cylinder is ours!
I wonder if anything comes out of this...
Oh hey, it's a "find the shape that doesn't fit" game! I used to play a lot of those back in the day. This should be easy. The first answer is
4, obviously.
4 again: the circle doesn't fit in.
3: the lines are parallel => no point of intersection
2: not a parallel shift.
5: obviously.
We've done what the villagers couldn't. Nice.
> take red fan
You take the red prayer fan.
[Your score has just gone up by 2.]
> take blue fan
You take the blue prayer fan.
[Your score has just gone up by 2.]
> take yellow fan
You take the yellow prayer fan.
[Your score has just gone up by 2.]
We can't exit the dome while holding the fans, by the way.
A strange invisible force prevents you from leaving the dome while you are holding the prayer fans.
> examine yellow fan
The object looks like a delicate crystalline prayer fan that has been folded shut. It glows with a pure yellow light that seems to come from inside the translucent crystal.
> examine slots
There are three colored slots on top of the Heechee device, and below each of them is an intense light. Under the red slot is a purple light, under the blue slot is a green light, and under the yellow slot is an orange light.
Well, this puzzle is easy: mix the colors to get the one corresponding to the light underneath the slot. Which means, the red fan should go into the yellow slot, the blue fan into the red slot, and the yellow fan into the blue slot.
> put red fan in yellow slot
You insert the red prayer fan into the yellow slot on the top of the Heechee machine. The orange light flares brilliantly. You hear a mechanical click, followed by a whining sound, and then the fan slowly descends into the machine until only a tiny portion of it is visible.
[Your score has just gone up by 5.]
We do the same thing with the blue and yellow fans.
The machine is ours. The Corporation will love this.
And back we fly.
A $1.5 million royalty!
Oh my, the second part of the game already! Stay tuned.