Crystal Witch Cyber Jamz

Maxime, the venue owner greets you when you arrive. She introduces you to Steve and Ryan, the two members of Bl00d-Trixx. They’re performing before you tonight. Steve tells you that they’ve set up most of their gear already, but they left you the corner of the table for your stuff. [[Uh huh]]

You notice a mirrored panel nearby. You turn on your cellphone camera and aim it at the mirror. Your phone vibrates as the camera looks at itself and itself and itself and itself. When it’s about to fall out of your hand, you point it at the video screen and shout a quick charm. The glitching stops. [[Yes|crystal]]

Your workstation at home is a little cluttered but well-equiped. It's nice to be able to work on professional projects, and band projects all in one place. Tonight’s show is special. In rehearsal these past couple of weeks you’ve decided to change up the set a little bit. And new tracks need new animated projections. You’ve already started on the dancing squares. They just need some finishing touches. [[Yeah]]

[[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/titlealt.jpg>|begin]]

[[The train is here]]

The Neon line is running slow. The more crystal energy you have, the easier it is to summon. Your big crystal may have been stolen, but you always carry a spare. The spare is significantly smaller and must be charged only on full moons. You know it doesn’t have much energy left but it should be enough. [[Okay]]

[[Good|train1]]

[[Chant]]

It bites. Must be a microworm sent by the cult. It might have a message, if you could see it. [[Create feedback loop|feedback]] [[Try and pull it out|pull]]

First things, first: Pizza snack (click: "Pizza snack")[ Yum!] [[To the metro|metro]] [[To your desk|house]]

You open the wooden chest that holds the all-seeing eye so you can contact the Sisters. The chest is empty. [[Wacky]]

Outside in the cool Montreal air, shop signs hum and blink. As you walk down the street you can’t help but feel watched. You’re pretty used to the feeling, since you can share an eye with the Sisters. It’s handy for getting in touch when it’s usually a long distance thing between the three of you. But something about this feels different. Even though you feel watched you're not sure you're being seen. [[Anyway]]

[[The train is coming|train2]]

[[The train is coming|train3]]

[[The train is coming|train10]]

Untitled Story

Saturday afternoon. Still riding the vibes of Friday night band jamming. Gig tonight at 10pm. Club La Scene, downtown Montreal. You look around for the crystal that is always around your neck. It’s gone. [[Hmm]]

While Fat Worm of Error is one of your favourite musical acts, it’s also an urban legend in cyberspace. The Worm is known to hide in code and can be summoned with the proper ritual. It can also be controlled by dark magics and you have a sneaking suspicion that the male-dominated technopagan cult >God''$''ofDrknss< is probably behind this. They’ve tried to hack you before, jealous of your Power, and somehow, this time, they’ve succeeded. Suit Up [[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/sweater1.gif>|itemchoice]] [[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/sweater2.gif>|itemchoice]] [[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/sweater3.gif>|itemchoice]]

Roxanne: //Salut, E! How's it going today?// You: //Not great. A bunch of stuff for our gig got stolen.// Roxanne: //That's 'orrible! Do you know who is responsible?// You: //I think so. Have you noticed anything weird with the metro or in GlitchSpace?// Roxanne: //Hmm now that you mention it...// You: [[Yes?|chat 2]]

Club La Scene lives under a Thai restaurant downtown. There is a small door leading down a set of metal steps. Inside, it looks like an empty warehouse, with concrete pillars scattered around. A neon bar lights up one side of the large room, its welcoming glow designed to draw people in. There’s a raised platform at the back, which is used as a stage. The lighting grid floats above it somehow. [[Shrug]]

[[Louder]]

You press your fingers to the nearest screen and feel the glass dissolve around them(if:(history:)contains "Eye Later A")[ like it did in the bathroom]. You reach inside feeling the static. And something hard. [[Ouch]]

Pick an animation to work on [[<img src="http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/bluesquare.gif">|blue]] [[<img src="http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/greensquare.gif">|green]] [[<img src="http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/purplesquare.gif">|purple]]

ITEM UNLOCKED <img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/crystal300.gif> [[continue | TEST]] (set: $Crystal to "found") (set: $items to it +1)

(set: $sisterscreen to 'yes')You send a quick text to the Sisters. Send SMS to J & K The screens are watching. Be careful. [[Send|screen]]

Screens on the train glitch rhythmically. No one notices. Out of the corner of your eye you see something move on the screen. It disappears. But there it is again. No one notices. The Worm is watching.(if: $watching is "yes")[This is not the same watching as before.] [[Touch the screen|screen]] [[Tell the Sisters|screenalt]]

You start pulling but it catches on what should be the glass. This portal thing won’t let it out. [[Create feedback loop|feedback]]

Navigating the underground arts scene requires subterranean travel, as you know, so you leave home, head to the record shop and say a quick hello to Roxanne, the owner. [[Chat]]

You continue on your way unable to shake the feeling. In every reflective surface you pass: puddles, windows, the screen of your phone, it looks like there is something moving beyond. An urgent presence. Known to you and also alien. [[Ignore it|stilloutside]] [[Find an empty parking lot|parkinglot]]

Your phone will have to do. Send SMS to J & K: R U missing anything for the gig? Received SMS from J: The leg isn’t where I left it. Received SMS from K: We used the drum machine last night but… Send SMS to J & K: ...we’ve been hacked. [[Oh no]]

This time when you touch your fingers to it, you can see inside. A small metal worm lies lifeless and coiled around a rock of some sort. You reach for it. A familiar energy greets your fingertips. [[Your Crystal|crystalunlock]]

[[Faster]]

Roxanne: //There have been some interdimensional disruptions. Nothing major. Most people wouldn't notice because they are very small irregularities.// You: [whispering] //I think Fat Worm of Error has been activated.// Roxanne: //Ah la la. That's a myth, no?// You: //That's what I'm trying to find out. I gotta run.// Roxanne: //Bonne chance!// You continue through the backroom, and down into the basement, where the under-underground metro lines are. [[Nifty]]

Anonymous

{<table> <tr> <td> (if: $Crystal is "found")[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/crystal100.png>](else:)[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/q.jpg>]</td> <td> (if: $Leg is "found")[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/leg100.png>](else:)[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/q.jpg>]</td> <td> (if: $Eye is "found")[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/eye100.png>](else:)[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/q.jpg>]</td> <td> (if: $Synth is "found")[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/synth100.png>](else:)[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/q.jpg>]</td> </tr> </table>}

(set: $Crystal to "not found") (set: $Eye to "not found") (set: $Leg to "not found") (set: $Synth to "not found") (set: $tablet to "false")

(if: $items is 1)[You emerge out of the subway and into the daylight. [[Turn left|club]] [[Turn right|outside]]] (elseif: $items is 3)[You emerge out of the subway into the daylight. [[This way|outside]]] (elseif: $items is 4)[You emerge out of the subway into the daylight. Home is just around the corner. [[At last]]]

You look at the stage. There are three tables lined up and they are all basically full. Among the clutter, you notice a blender, a saw, and some assorted pieces of wood. [[Typical]]

When you look back at the boys, you notice a ring on Ryan’s finger that is unmistakably the logo for the >God''$''ofDrknss< cult you fear are responsible for this whole ordeal. (if: $sisterscreen is "yes")[At that moment you hear J & K come up behind you. It seems they have come to the same conclusion. [[Well]]] (else:)[ [[confront them]] [[play it cool]]]

You shrug and smile. You: //Well, see you at the show tonight!// The boys shrug noncommittally and stroll out, bickering about where to eat. [[Bye]]

(set: $watching to "yes") (if: $items is 1)[You make your way down the street to the club. [[Okay|club]]] (elseif: $items is 2)[You make your way down the street to the club. [[Okay|club]]] (elseif: $items is 3)[You decide to go somewhere else. (if:(history:)contains"metro")[[[Okay|house]]] (else:)[[[Okay|metro]]]] (elseif: $sunglasses is "true")[You grab a coffee to go from the nearest cafe and head home. [[Okay|Backhome]]]

Places like empty parking lots are liminal spaces. Where people and spirits alike come and go. The barriers between this world and the Other worlds are thinnest here. You suspect the watching is coming from an Other world. [[Oh]]

You close your eyes and ground yourself. When you open them, you slowly look around, waiting for a shimmer to appear in the corner of your vision. It takes some time, but then it happens. Under a street light, there is a subtle disturbance in the air. Without training, you'd think your eyes were just blurring. But this is a weak point between worlds. [[Feels right]]

You feel a surge of emotions as you approach the shimmer. You know you need to cross over for a bit to find out what's going on. Making sure to leave one foot in this world, you take a deep breath. [[Plunge]]

Thick haze greets you. You feel somewhat transparent as, what you understand as air, swirls softly around. Pulling. Something is pulling you. Go. You have to go. [[Go]]

Go. Pulling. Pulled. Home feeling. Nearness. Sight. [[!!!]]

Sight. Yes! Sight. Outstretched palm, eye, no, Eye. The Eye. Your Eye. Reunited. [[Mmmm]]

Holding the Eye brings a certain level of clarity. You take stock of your being. Although you planned to keep one foot in your world, you had to follow the pull to be reuinted with the All-Seeing Eye. The swirling mist shows no sign of the path you took to get here. (if: $items is 2)[[[Follow Eye|club]]] (elseif: $items is 3)[ (if:(history:)contains "metro")[[[Follow Eye|house]]] (else:)[[[Follow Eye|metro]]]] (elseif: $items is 4)[[[Follow Eye|Backhome]]]

J: //Hey boys, we were just going to do a quick rehearsal. You don't mind right?// J hands you your skeleton suit and winks. You put it on. Steve: //Uh no. We're all set up and stuff so --// K: //Would you be gentlemen and give us a little feedback on this new piece we've been workshopping?// Steve and Ryan shrug and look at each other warily. [[Let's go]]

You march up to Ryan and point at his hand. You: //What's that ring about, huh?// He blinks rapidly behind his thick glasses. Ryan:// Chill, dude. It's just my ring.// Steve coughs and adjusts the rolled up sleeves of his jean jacket so they cover the tattoo on his arm, but you can still make out the tail of a wormlike creature in red ink poking out. [[Not so fast]]

[[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/club-neon.jpg>|club1]]

(set: $blue to "yes")Take it to next-level cool. [[Hyperwave|next]] [[Glitch flow|next]] [[Retrofication|next]]

(set: $green to "yes")Okay time to kick up the cool factor. [[Punkography|next]] [[Colour beam|next]] [[Frazzle dazzle|next]]

(set: $purple to "yes")Now to blast it with ultracool. [[Glitter ray|next]] [[Neon processing|next]] [[VRFX purifier|next]]

That's going to take some time to render. [[Always does]]

While you're letting the computer do its thing, you hear a faint music sound coming from somewhere. No browser tabs are playing audio. [[Weird]]

You check to see what else is running in the background. Nothing. Just your GIF processor. But there is a file on your desktop that you don’t recognize. What is “gdsfdrknsswrm.png”? [[Get info]] [[Click on it]]

File name: gdsfdrknsswrm.png Created: this morning 4:12am Source: unknown Owner: unknown Downloaded from web [[Click on it]]

When you click on it, a pic of your drum machine pops up. This is the source of the music. If you touch the screen you can press the keys and change the sound. How do you get it out? [[Print]] [[Email to K & J]]

When you print out the image, the piece of paper starts playing music. Touching the paper has the same effect as the screen. You place your hands on the photo and whisper under your breath. [[More magic]]

You send it off to the Sisters. They are each perplexed at its ability to play music via touch through the screen. You decide to all play the same notes at the same time to see what power harmony has on hacked goods. [[On three]]

As you whisper an old spell, slowly the drum machine de-pixelizes and the paper turns into plastic. Before long you are holding a full-sized instrument. [[Ah-ha!]]

(set: $Synth to "found")(set: $items to it +1)ITEM UNLOCKED <img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/synth300.gif> [[continue]]

(if: $items is 1)[Ok your animations need more time to render, so you need to go find the rest of your stuff. You grab your bag and head out the door. [[Turn left|club]] [[Turn right|outside]]] (elseif: $items is 3)[Ok your animations need some time to render, so you go outside and take a walk. [[Grab sunglasses|outside]]] (elseif: $items is 4)[Ok your animations need some time to render and you need to get ready for the gig. [[Hurry]]]

The Three touch the screen and you can feel each other’s presence in the music. You close your eyes and there you all are in the same room, circled around the instrument. Your hands overlap in time and space. You are one. [[One is good]]

With what feels like an electric shock you are transported back to your apartment. [[Huh?]]

K sends an email to the group: From: K To: E, J Subject: Hooray! When the vision broke, the drum machine came with me! [[Hooray indeed]]

(set: $Synth to "found")(set: $items to it +1)ITEM UNLOCKED <img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/synth300.gif> [[continue]]

The two guys mutter something about grabbing some food before the show, but you cut them off and stroll over to the table. You: //Oh, is this a Hyperloop 770? You can't find these anywhere! Original port casings, too. // You hold up a small gadget bristling with knobs. You: //This must have run you quite a bit.// Steve: //It's worth it, though. You can get some great distortion if you--// [[Yeah, yeah]]

You grip it with two fingers and hold it over the blender. You hit PUREE and the machine whirs to life. You: //It would totally suck if it got shredded, though.// Ryan: [screaming] //What the hell? Are you crazy?// You: //No, just motivated. I know you two work for the >God''$''ofDrknss<. So tell me where my Leg is right now or the 770 gets it.// Steve throws up his hands with a panicked cry. Steve: //Okay, okay! You win! It's in the basement!// [[Of course]]

Club La Scene is in the basement below Cuisine Thailande, but there's no reason why a basement shouldn't also have a basement. You pull aside the curtain on the back wall and squeeze into the ancient, tiny maintenance elevator. There are no buttons to be seen: instead, a withered bat hangs from the elevator's ceiling and extends a claw-tipped wing. [[Oh hey]]

You rummage in your pockets. You: //I have a subway token?// The bat chitters as it snatches the token, and the elevator sinks even deeper into the earth. After a couple minutes' silence, the door glides open and you stumble forward into pitch blackness. As far as you know, no one's been down here for ten years at least. [[Flashlight app]]

When the room is flooded with screenlight you cry out and almost drop your phone. The walls of the room are covered down to the last inch in phones, tablets, laptops and monitors. Everything is silent, but the niggling feeling in the back of your head has turned into a full-blown siren. The floor is a mess of power cords and AC adaptors daisy-chained into a horrific Gordian knot. In the center of the room a single power bar hangs from an outlet in the ceiling. [[Here goes nothing]] (set:$basement to "true")

You hit the switch and every screen lights up all at once. Each one has a feed from a different part of the city, and digital worms slither and crawl from frame to frame, watching people and drooling in pleasure. It's nauseating. You slam the power off and as you do, you see your leg chained up in the corner. [[Aww, poor guy]]

You race over and unlock the chains, gently cradling the leg in your arms as you hot-foot it back to the elevator. [[They're going down|get leg]]

(set: $Leg to "found")(set: $items to it +1)ITEM UNLOCKED <img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/leg300.gif> (if: $watching is "yes")[[[Continue|Eye Later A]]] (else:)[[[Continue|get out of here]]]

(if: $items is 2)[You leave the club, glad to get some space before the gig. You take a walk. (if:(history:)contains "house")[[[Yeah|outside]]] (else:)[[[Yes please|house]]]] (elseif: $items is 3)[You leave the club, happy to get some space before the gig, and head for the metro. (if:(history:)contains"house")[[[Home please|metro]]] (else:)[[[Yes, home please|house]]]]

You scope their gear as soon as they're out the door. Besides all the kitchenware, Blood-Trixx (which, ew) have a pretty good setup. You notice upon closer inspection that every one of their machines is stamped with the tiny image of an ouroboros—a snake eating its own tail. Wait. That's not a snake. It's a worm. [[That's messed]]

Whatever. If they're agents of the >God''$''ofDrknss< then they're probably the ones who took your leg. Not your leg leg, but your fake Leg. The one you use as a prop in the show. You grab your phone and boot up FindMyLeg, hoping it's not in sleep mode. The map screen shows a blinking blue dot about ten feet away. You turn around and see that Ryan has left his backpack in the corner of the room, next to a snarl of extension cords. [[Gotcha]]

You pull on some gloves and tease open the zipper on the backpack. The contents of Ryan's backpack include: -Three cans of Four Loko -A Moleskine full of bad drawings of Emily Haines (yikes) -A [[tablet]] -A flask with a moustache printed on the front -A vape pen -At least forty feet in loose cables and cords -A >God''$''ofDrknss< official Cult Membership card (15% off at Stinky Inky's Tattoos) -Half a Baconator -Spare trucks for a longboard [[And]]

You're not being creepy, but you're desperate to know what these guys are scheming. The password is, unsurprisingly, “Blood-Trixx”, and the only app on the home screen is “WormsEyeView.exe”. You give it a reluctant tap. (click: "tap")[ A feed opens of a square downtown, people strolling about, only to be replaced by a feed of the Thai place upstairs, then a shoe store, then a boulevard, then a hotel room, then a park. These guys are keeping tabs on everyone, and it can't be good. You slip the tablet back into the bag. [[Keep searching|Gotcha]]] (set: $tablet to "true")

Under all this nonsense, your Leg! [[Ha!|get leg]]

[[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/outside-neon.jpg>|outside1]](if:(history:)contains "continue" )[(set: $sunglasses to "true")]

[[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/houseneon.jpg>|house1]]

[[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/metroneon.jpg>|metro1]]

As you leave the club, the watching feeling has returned even more urgent than before. More than anything you just want to shake the feeling and get home. You stop at a public bathroom to grab some water. [[Please]]

K: [whispering]// Clap on three.// She counts you in, and on three, you all clap. The lights go out. You hear Ryan and Steve mutter in confusion as K starts chanting and J joins in. You add your voice and the skeleton on your suit begins to glow.(if: $Crystal is "found")[Your crystal glows too.] [[Glow brighter]]

You glow and chant and synth sounds float from speakers that J & K must have brought. The light from your suit hits the boys' faces. They look pretty scared. The three of you advance and they back up. [[Do it again]]

You back the boys into a corner and stop chanting. The Sisters: //Where's the Leg.// Ryan: //W-what are you talking about?// You: //You know.// J: //Your little cult stole it.// K: //And you're going to tell us where it is.// [[Now]]

Ryan looks too scared to talk. Steve elbows him in the ribs. Ryan: [pointing] //Okay, okay. It's in my backpack!// You clap and turn the lights back on. He runs over and ruffles in his backpack and produces the prop Leg you use in the show. [[Thanks|get leg]]

After running around all day you are exhausted. You almost forgot about the weird watching feeling you had on the street but as you rummage through your closet for your gig clothes, the feeling returns. It is coming from inside the closet. [[Check it out]]

You rummage through to what should be the back of the closet and find that the wall is no longer there. Moving forward, the sounds of your house dull and a thick purple haze begins to swirl around your feet. Pulling. Something is pulling you. Go. You have to go. [[Go|Go alt]]

You splash some water on your face and look in the mirror. The image swims. There is no one around to ask if they saw it too. You see movement out of the corner of your eye in the floor lenght mirror behind the door. [[How 'bout that]]

You touch the mirror to see if it dissolves(if: (history:) contains "metro")[like the screen on the train]. It does. You reach in but feel nothing, so you stick your head in to check it out. You feel lighter as soon as you cross through to this place. You bring the rest of your body in as thick purple haze swirls around you. Pulling. Something is pulling you. Go. You have to go. [[Go|Go alt]]

Go. Pulling. Pulled. Home feeling. Nearness. Sight. [[!!!|!!! alt]]

Sight. Yes! Sight. Outstretched palm, eye, no, Eye. The Eye. Your Eye. [[Reunited]]

(set: $Eye to "found")(set: $items to it +1)ITEM UNLOCKED <img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/eye300.gif> [[continue|Mmm]]

(set: $Eye to "found")(set: $items to it +1)ITEM UNLOCK <img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/eye300.gif> (if: (history:) contains "Eye Later A")[[[Continue|backtobathroom]]] (if: (history:) contains "Eye Later B")[[[Continue|backtocloset]]]

The Eye leads you back through the mirror to the bathroom. You slip out back to the streets. (if:(history:)contains"metro")[[[What a day|house]]] (else:)[[[What a day|metro]]]

The Eye leads you back out to your closet. More time has passed than you thought, as you check your phone. You don't have much time to get dressed before you meet J & K for dinner. [[Hurry]]

You grab all the stuff for the gig, including all the stuff you got back from >God''$''ofDrknss< today. You quickly grab your new animations off your computer on a USB and head back out to the metro. [[Allons-y]]

You summon the train a lot faster with your crystal this time. It's waiting for you as you get down the steps. Although everything feels much more stable than it did earlier, you're still wary of all the screens.(if:(history:)contains "Flashlight app" or (history:)contains "tablet")[Especially now that you know They've been watching.] You keep your sunglasses on and your head down. [[Next stop]]

Dinner with the Sisters at Cuisine Thailande was nice. You feel reconnected and ready to blow the house down during your performance. (if: $tablet is "false")[Before the gig starts, as you're finishing your set-up, Maxime comes over and asks if you have everything you need. K points out that you're short an XLR cable. Maxime mentions that there would be extras in the basement. [[Basement?]]] (elseif: $tablet is "true")[You're still feeling pretty uneasy about what you saw on the tablet though. Bl00d-Trixx and the cult have heavy surveillance all over town. They've got to have a control center or something. [[Hmmm]]] (elseif: $basement is "true")[Everyone is up-to speed on the worms and the cult and the watching. You've charmed some of your gear to make your set extra punchy. Bl00d-Trixx won't know what hit them. [[Giggle]]]

Club La Scene is a basement, but then again, why can't basements have basements? Maxime points you towards a small curtain at the back of the venue. That's where the stairs are. There doesn't seem to be a light switch. You head down into the darkness. [[Flashlight app| FlashAlt]]

And then it's time to begin. Maxime swaggers up to the stage in a studded halter top and ripped jeans. The crowd is a real mix, but you notice more than a few pendants and wristbands with the familiar shape of the self-devouring worm. A couple of college kids hoot and call at Maxime but quiet down when she gives them a Look. Maxime: //Welcome, everyone, to Club La Scene. Tonight we have an exhilarating roster, four dollar pints, and custom temporary tattoos at the back by local artist Paul Chomet!(click: "Paul Chomet")[ Paul is one of those guys that has an old-timey moustache that curls up at the ends. He's wearing suspenders over his t-shirt and drinking a PBR. You're about to roll your eyes when you notice that the people walking away from his table all have abstract, swirly tattoos. Looking closer, you can see they appear almost wormlike. [[Damn]]]

When you get to the bottom and see the room flooded with screenlight, you cry out and almost drop your phone. The walls are covered down to the last inch in phones, tablets, laptops and monitors. Everything is silent, but the niggling feeling in the back of your head has turned into a full-blown siren. The floor is a mess of power cords and AC adaptors daisy-chained into a horrific Gordian knot. In the center of the room a single power bar hangs from an outlet in the ceiling. [[Here goes nothing|Powerbar alt]]

You hit the switch and every screen lights up all at once. Each one has a feed from a different part of the city, and digital worms slither and crawl from frame to frame, watching people and drooling in pleasure. It's nauseating. You slam the power off and as you do, you notice some XLRs coiled and hanging on the wall. [[Run]](set: $alt to "true")

You run back upstairs, XLR in hand. There's no time to explain as the show begins. Maxime swaggers up to the stage in a studded halter top and ripped jeans. The crowd is a real mix, but you notice more than a few pendants and wristbands with the familiar shape of the self-devouring worm. A couple of college kids hoot and call at Maxime but quiet down when she gives them a Look. Maxime: //Welcome, everyone, to Club La Scene. Tonight we have an exhilarating roster, four dollar pints, and custom temporary tattoos at the back by local artist Paul Chomet!//(click: "Paul Chomet")[ Paul is one of those guys that has an old-timey moustache that curls up at the ends. He's wearing suspenders over his t-shirt and drinking a PBR. You're about to roll your eyes when you notice that the people walking away from his table all have abstract, swirly tattoos. Looking closer, you can see they appear almost wormlike. [[Damn]]]

You get home and flop on your bed for a minute to decompress. What a day. You check your phone. Ah! Where did the time go. You need to get out of here. [[Hurry]]

(if:$items is 4)[That's everything you had to find. Thank goodness.] (if: $watching is "yes")[You head to your room to take a break. [[Finally|Eye Later B]]] (else:)[You don't have much time left to get ready for the gig. [[Hurry]]]

Maxime: //Give it up for our next act: local dronecore duo Blood-Trixx!// Blood-Trixx begin their set with heavily distorted Final Fantasy cutscene vocals slowed down 300% and layered over a four second drum loop and you try to tune out as much as you can. At one point in their set they put a bunch of uncooked rigatoni in the blender and dump the crumbs onto the crowd, who are violently moshing. [[Go figure]]

The set's about forty minutes, and then it's time for you and your sisters to step up. You've noticed that at least half the club has visited the tattoo station, and there's a weight in the atmosphere of the club that feels tense, almost dangerous. The monitors mounted on the side walls usually show feed of the stage; right now they're fading back and forth from red to black. [[Enough]]

(if: $blue is "yes")[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/bluesquarealt.gif>] (elseif: $green is "yes")[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/greensquarealt.gif>] (elseif: $purple is "yes")[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/purplesquarealt.gif>] You set your gear up on the table after making sure Blood-Trixx wiped off all the pasta chunks. Your projector is fired up and dancing squares shift across the back wall of the concert hall. Every eyeball in the place is fixed firmly on the three of you on stage in grubby cloaks and abstract masks. Hunched over your Synthomatic XR, you generate a high, keening loop. Your bandmates join in with demonic, grumbling bass and the odd superfluous bloop. [[Scan the crowd]]

You poke your head up as the music starts sinking in. The crowd is agitated. Many swat and scratch at the worm tattoos Paul has scrawled across exposed arms, legs, and necks. Looks like time is running out. The sounds begin to swell. This is your chance. [[Now or never]]

You grab your trusty old megaphone—your last line of defence. Gripping the handle with a sweaty hand, you take a deep breath. Sprint to the edge of the stage. Throw back your head. [[S C R E A M]]

You've never screamed this loud in your whole life. The entire world begins and ends inside the sound ripping loose from behind your teeth. The megaphone is crackling with white-hot sparks. [[Open your eyes]]

The club is in chaos. Every monitor has exploded into countless sparkling shards on the floor. People are rubbing their now bare arms, legs, necks—smears of red ink drip down the walls and pillars onto the floor. You're screaming so loud it's melting their tattoos off. [[Sweet]]

As the last ragged gasp of air flies from your lungs, you feel it: underneath your feet, a tremor. And then, one after the other, small explosions. Each of the screens in the basement shattering into blank nothingness, each worm's scream drowned out by yours, the >God''$''ofDrkness< kicked the F out of your neighbourhood. [[Good riddance]]

As the music finally dies down, everyone in the crowd seems to snap out of a daze. Paul Chomet is nowhere to be seen; he must have run off. Even Maxime is a bit starry eyed, but shakes her head and struts back up to the stage. Maxime: //Let's give them another hand, everyone! Great show!// [[No kidding]]

Later, as you're packing up, the Sisters ask what that was all about. You shrug and explain you had to make sure everyone was really listening. You feel pretty wiped now, and your crystal is nearly bleached from all the energy you used. [[Wait a sec]]

There's a worm on the ground outside the club. You step on it. [[Time for bed]]

The End [[credits]]

Head writer, Concept, Scenenic art: <a href="https://twitter.com/OrbWitch">Jillian Wakarchuk</a> 3D modelling, Concept, Additional writing and Technical Support: <a href="https://twitter.com/gogurtofficial">Jesse Gazic</a> Additional art and support: <a href="https://twitter.com/Jorstern">Jorie Stern</a> This game is dedicated to Emily (and her cool cronecore band) for being a gr8 mentor and inspiration. Thank you for playing! Please tweet us if you like the game.

[[<img src=http://jillianwakarchuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/showneon.jpg>|Next stop1]]

Maxime swaggers up to the stage in a studded halter top and ripped jeans. The crowd is a real mix, but you notice more than a few pendants and wristbands with the familiar shape of the self-devouring worm. A couple of college kids hoot and call at Maxime but quiet down when she gives them a Look. Maxime: //Welcome, everyone, to Club La Scene. Tonight we have an exhilarating roster, four dollar pints, and custom temporary tattoos at the back by local artist Paul Chomet!//(click: "Paul Chomet")[ Paul is one of those guys that has an old-timey moustache that curls up at the ends. He's wearing suspenders over his t-shirt and drinking a PBR. You're about to roll your eyes when you notice that the people walking away from his table all have abstract, swirly tattoos. Looking closer, you can see they appear almost wormlike. [[Damn|Damn2]]]

Ryan and Steve left their personal belongings over by the bar. As the whole club pulses and sweats to their set, you make your way over to Ryan's backpack. The tablet is still inside. You enter the password and open “WormsEyeView.exe” again. As it cycles through you notice a room full of screens. You tap on it to make it bigger.(click: "tap")[ Is it... Yes. It's pulsing in time to the blender/pasta/drones. This has got to be in the club and you're running out of time. [[Find Maxime]]]

Maxime is conveniently walking over to the bar. She orders a beer and asks if you're good to go. You: //Actually, I think we're short an XLR. Do you keep extras somewhere?// She takes a long sip. Maxime: //Oh yes. The basement is full of stuff like that.// She waves you in the direction of a red curtain at the back of the space. [[Thanks]]

Behind the curtain is a dark stairway. Your Flashlight App guides you. When you get to the bottom, you notice a dancing glow coming from around the corner. To your horror and satisfaction, the room is full screens and cables. Each screen shows a different part of the city and digital worms slither and crawl from frame to frame, watching people and drooling in pleasure. It's nauseating. [[Idea!]]

You dash back up the stairs to the Sisters. There is no time to explain. You get a quick spell in to give your equipment some extra oomph before it's time for you and your sisters to step up. You've noticed that at least half the club has visited the tattoo station, and there's a weight in the atmosphere of the club that feels tense, almost dangerous. The monitors mounted on the side walls usually show feed of the stage; right now they're fading back and forth from red to black. [[Enough]]