You are standing by a tree
There are 3 paths.
One appears to go to a jungle,
one appears to go to a cave,
one appears to go to a beach,
you could try and climb the tree,
there is a nearby shop you could go in,
or you could do something else.
So what's its going to be?
Written by catprog on 01 April 2003
You sit under the tree
You sit under the tree.
Suddenly...
Written by catprog on 21 May 2003
See? Keep moving or you get tranked. That's how the game is played.
Your relaxing moment under the tree is rudely interrupted by an abrupt transformation. You are hit by a tranquilizer dart, which turns you into a person with a tranquilizer dart stuck in their neck. It's an easy change. Of course, your train of thought gets about as far as "Oh good heavens, a dart of some kind. I'd betteeerrgmphqq," at which point the dart takes effect, and you slump under the tree like a drugged-up rag doll. A half-hearted twitch is all the moving you do for quite some time. Eventually, you wake up. When you do, you are...
Written by Zodiac on 27 January 2007
The Institute
Whatever was in the tranquilizer, it's not very eager to wear off. In the vague fog between awake and asleep, you learn that you are in a sitting position, in a mildly comfortable chair, and there is a nice-sounding voice welcoming you to the Transformational Institute.
Your mind clears. You are in what appears to be some sort of lobbey. The walls are covered with mirror tiles (probably one-way mirrors hiding cameras, you note), as are the ceiling and floor. There is also a plain white desk, with an attractive woman in a labcoat sitting behind it.
On the wall behind her you see an elevator, and a frightening-looking black double door marked "Main Lab." On the wall to your right, there is a far friendlier door with a smiley face on it and a large orange "Welcome" painted on it. The woman in the labcoat smiles at you.
"Just pick a door and you'll be on your way."
So, which door do you pick?
Written by Zodiac on 27 January 2007
Portal Lab
Your heart flutters and you feel as though you are having a hard time keeping your feet on the ground. Today is the most important day of your life. You have been chosen, amongst your peers, as a volunteer test subject to test out the first teleportation portal. You've been jumping at the chance to take the spotlight of this momentous occasion while those around you shrunk at the thought. You are admittedly having small, tickling second thoughts.
It is a massive, clunky thing. Millions of taxpayer dollars have been sunk into closing the gap between maybe ten feet of oxygen and atmosphere. The scientific and ethical implications of this tiny experiment are gigantic and just thinking about the possibility of a successful test boggles the mind.
So here you stand, in a starchy jumpsuit completely free of pockets or contraband. The teleportation room is large and gunmetal gray. The steel walls and floors are matte and do not reflect light well. The lights are fluorescent and cast an ugly shadow on everything they touch. While a few of your peers stand behind you, ready to escort you to the entrance portal, which stands 20 feet tall and emits a soft blue light, most of the people here witness you from a room attached to the high ceiling, looking down through glass windows with notepads and clipboards in hand. "T minus 30 seconds to activation..." speaks an electronically amplified voice at your back. You recognize it to be the voice of Dr. Callen, a man whom you've shared drinks and good times with. You understand his cold professionalism to be necessary to the experiment.
"It is time." A female scientist beside you says, bringing her hands out of her pockets. You watch her walk to the exit portal, also emitting a soft blue light. A male scientist to your left escorts you gently to the end of the entrance portal, a safe distance from any electrical discharge the portal may create upon activation.
Thirty seconds has passed and the portal begins to stir, and the soft blue gives out to a whirling vortex of blue, white and stands of gray. You've been told to expect some disorientation upon exiting the portal, as something that was once far away will appear very closely. You are expecting, as best as you can, to imagine the woman at the exit portal to appear at your side sooner than you would usually imagine.
"Teleportation Test Subject #1, please step through the portal."
Dr. Callen would otherwise call you by your name. You know he would.
Written by Martin Prance on 31 January 2016
Through the Portal
You step through the portal warily and expect nothing at all except to see the female doctor at your side. As expected, the portal welcomes you. Your body becomes warm and your extremities begin to tingle as if inundated with static electricity. You close your eyes as you step through. Upon exiting the portal, you open your eyes.
What you see is the furthest thing from what you expect. No longer are you in the cold, sterile environment of the laboratories you've spent the better part of your life in. Now you are inside of another world, looking at colors and lights that are completely alien to you. In shock and awe, you drop to your knees. The sky is a light, warm pink and the ground around you is effervescently orange. There are clouds staining the pink sky that are white, but with slight, welcoming hints of a lime green at their edges.
You can see mountains that extend past your sight and high into the sky, as if you are in a valley surrounded by needles of ground and orange earth. At your knees, the ground is lightly dusty, but firm, very reminiscent of the steel ground of the laboratory. There is a warm breeze that smells of rosemary and peach. There is sound unlike what you've ever imagined before, a humming that shifts and rises as if sung by the breeze that surrounds you.
The sights, sounds, colors, and smells that surround you are so overwhelming, you find yourself unable to move immediately. After five minutes of shock, you begin to come to your senses. You now have a choice in front of you. After examining the horizon, you think you can see the exit portal far off in the distance. The entrance portal sits at your back. Do you turn immediately backward to escape this place or do you venture forward toward the exit portal?
Written by Martin Prance on 02 February 2016
Go toward the Exit
You overcome your initial surprise and prioritize the success of the experiment over your shock and fear. When you get back, you can explain the strange world you find yourself temporarily occupying.
Beginning to run, you find your limbs to be lighter and your weight to be less burdensome and tiring. At this speed, you should be at the opposite portal in no time.
Then, a voice speaks behind you.
"Excuse me..." You turn around involuntarily at the shock of finding yourself no longer alone.
A strange, alien creature stands in front of you. The creature is tall, covered from head to toe in a brown, spotted fur. Their eyes are full of life and empathy, but spaced strangely closer to the sides of their head than a human's. Other than that, they are strangely humanlike, with slender shoulders, a curved, feminine body and brown eyes with long eyelashes.
Their form immediately communicates femininity and their stance is cautious. They are looking at you suspiciously, with a human hand covered in fur stretching out toward you.
"Hello?" The creature says in a female's voice.
Upon closer inspection, this woman's form is most closely reminiscent of a gazelle, with a strange, deer-like haunch in her thighs, slender limbs and the distinctive white spotting of her fur. Her form is welcoming, but strange. You have an instinctive attraction to her most immediately apparent of the curiosity any normal human would have toward a random, friendly stray cat.
"Can you speak?" She says to you.
How do you respond to her?
Written by Martin Prance on 06 February 2016
Cautiously
"Hello..." You speak, your voice trembling ever so slightly. Relaxing its outstretched arm, the gazelle woman fixes her stance and stands taller than you.
"You're human." She states matter of factly. This fact cannot be disputed. "And you're here." This is also a fact that would be extremely difficult to argue. "That's fascinating."
You're left not knowing quite how to respond. Your fear is beginning to fade and softly turn into curiosity. You also fix your stance to find that, even standing straight and tall, she is a head taller than you.
"This is fantastic. This is the moment we've been waiting for. It's finally here and you're the first to arrive! What is your name?"
Even in your gradually calming state you find yourself unable to give her a straight-faced response. You're having trouble not focusing on examining her form. She is, by all definition, naked, without external clothing or coverings save for a luxurious coat of fur. Regardless, her natural form is apparent upon even cursory examination.
"I see." She says, some disappointment detectable in her voice. "Then it was an accident, not a pilgrimage."
That doesn't make sense and yet again, you're left without response.
"The time where you will understand or at least find yourself home with purpose and meaning is coming. It's coming very very soon. I'll be seeing you sooner than you realize, brother in truth. Come find me when it's time. My name is Yhnhn."
When she speaks her name, it sounds very much like she is saying "Yin" like yin and yang, yet with a strange inflection as if ignoring the middle consonant.
Yhnhn steps aside and allows you to walk through the portal, which you find yourself doing the moment you detect that she genuinely means you no harm or that you are not in danger within her vicinity.
The strange blue glow accepts you as you step back into the portal.
Written by Martin Prance on 08 February 2016
back through
You come out through the portal to what appears to be a slightly disappointed crowd. Yet, behind masks and panes of glass, it's hard to truly gauge anyone's sincere reaction. When asked to explain what happened, you find yourself unwilling to explain the strange, alien world, trying your hardest to not entertain their disappointment and possible regret of choosing you as a test subject by giving them a cockamamie story.
According to your fellow scientists, only a few seconds had passed between your entrance and your exit. You play dumb when asked about your experience inside the portal. You decide that if they choose another test subject, you can begin to remember your experiences should another test subject see what you saw.
You're placed into a light quarantine, in reality an on-site apartment with amenities and a call-button for an emergency team. You are left alone with a few books and a cot. You've been here before, these same rooms are often used for on-call scientists or anyone on a team during crunch time. You've read through these books before, a few romance books and a worn copy of The Two Towers, suspiciously absent from its sequel and predecessor. You decide to crack open The Two Towers to pass the time.
Written by Martin Prance on 07 February 2016