The Throw-up Question

In ethics, there are very thought provoking excercises that reveal a lot about any individual and humanity as a whole. The most popular one, the Trolley Problem, asks how people would respond when faced with a situation of life and death. A little known problem that is even harder to answer and more controversial is this: if someone barfed on you every day, how many times would it take for you to do something about it? [[BEEP BEEP BEEP]] (set: $class to false) (set: $petition to false) (set:$brother to false) (set:$explosive to false) (set:$card to false) (set:$bomb to false)

The date is February 2nd, 2022. You wake up and slam your alarm off. That question your friend asked you yesterday was so stupid it lingered in your mind and found its way into your dreams. Anyways, it's time to get ready for school. You brush your teeth (click: "brush")[ Eat cereal (click: "Eat")[ Go to [[school]] ]]

You arrive at school, more excited than usual for the day. Today is the day of your big presentation for English, and you're pretty pround of this one. The assignment was to make propaganda and you brought in a poster saying "Fidget Spinners are for Fidget Winners". It took a little more time and effort than you would like to admit, but you're proud of it. You breeze through classes, barely paying attention, until lunch and finally, the bell rings (click: "bell rings") [Fourth period English. Never thought you would think those words, but you're excited to show off your masterpiece in [[class->hallway]].]

In the hallway on the way to class, you hear a voice call out to you. "Excuse me, do you have a little bit of time to talk about the [[planet->petition]]?" [[No thank you->class]]

Sure, you always have time to talk about the environment! (click: "Sure") ["Thank you," she says with a slight smile that lets you know that nobody ever does. "We're trying to raise awareness about the meat industry and how it produces a huge amount of greenhouse gasses. You know, cause cows fart a lot. If you want, you can sign on this petition."(click:"petition")[ Sure, you're a vegetarian anyways. She hands you the clipboard and a pen and you begin to sign. "Thank you so mu-BLAARGH"(click:"BLAARGH")[ You look up to see a stream of vomit coming towatds you from the girl. It lands on you and your project. WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUC- [[BEEP BEEP BEEP->second wake-up]] (set:$petition to true) ]]]

You don't have time for this hippie nonsense right now. You have to get to class. And what were they doing out in between periods, anyways? No time to think about that, because you have a presentation.(click: "presentation")[You sit down in your assigned seat and wait for class to start. You have to go last and sit through everyone else's presentatation because your first name starts with the letter Z. Why couldn't your parents name you Aaron? When it's almost your turn to present, you pull out the rolled-up poster from your backpack. Suddenly, you hear a gurgling sound from behind you.(click:"gurgling")[You turn around to investigate just in time to witness the kid behind you projectile vomit all over you and your project What the FUUUUUUUUUUC- [[BEEP BEEP BEEP-->second wake-up]]]] (set:$class to true)

You jolt up in bed, panting. The date is February 2nd, 2022. What? Oh, it was just a bad dream. Phew, you would never want something like that to happen to you in real life. It's time for school... again. You brush your teeth (click: "brush")[ Eat cereal (click: "Eat")[ Go to [[school->school2]] ]] (set:$times=2)

You arrive at school, excited for the day. Today is the day of your big presentation for English, and you're pretty pround of this one. Hopefully nobody throws up on it haha. This time you'll pay more attention to what happens in case this becomes a Groundhog Day situation. Before school, during recess, and during lunch, a lot of clubs are selling some energy drink to fundraise. And the lines to get some are huge. The bell rings again (click: "bell rings") [Time for fourth period English.[[class->hallway2]].]

In the hallway on the way to class, you hear a voice call out to you. "Excuse me, do you have a little bit of time to talk about the [[planet->petition2]]?" What? This happened in your dream. Are you going crazy? [[No thank you->class2]]

Sure, hopefully this time she doesn't throw up on you haha. (click: "Sure")[ "Thank you," she says with (if: $petition is false)[a slight smile that lets you know that nobody ever does.](else:)[the same smile in your dream.] "We're trying to raise awareness about the meat industry and how it produces a huge amount of greenhouse gasses. You know, cause cows fart a lot. If you want, you can sign on this petition."(click:"petition")[ (if:$petition is false)[Sure, you're a vegetarian anyways.](else:)[Sure, you're a bit creeped out] She hands you the clipboard and a pen and you begin to sign (if: $petition is true)[cautiously]. "Thank you so mu-BLAARGH"(click:"BLAARGH")[ You look up to see a stream of vomit coming towatds you from the girl. It lands on you and your project. (set: $petition to true) WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUC- [[BEEP BEEP BEEP->subsequent wake-ups]] ] ] ]

You don't want them to somehow throw up on you so you walk past straight to class. Hopefully no one does here.(click: "class") [You sit down in your assigned seat and wait for class to start. You have to go last and sit through everyone else's presentatation because your first name starts with the letter Z. Why couldn't your parents name you Aaron? When it's almost your turn to present, you pull out the rolled-up poster from your backpack. Suddenly, you hear a gurgling sound from behind you.(click:"gurgling")[You turn around to investigate just in time to witness the kid behind you projectile vomit all over you and your project What the FUUUUUUUUUUC- [[BEEP BEEP BEEP-->subsequent wake-ups]]]] (set:$class to true)

You jolt up in bed, panting. The date is February 2nd, 2022. Again? (if: $times is 3)[Oh, time loop. Luckily, you've seen enough of those movies to know what to do.](else:)[Reminder not to do that again.] Maybe if you (if: $brother is false)[[[stay home]] you'll be safe this time.] (else:)[[[stay home->stay home2]] you'll be safe this time.] (if: $card is true)[You still have the [[business card]] from last time in your pocket] It's time for school(click: "school")[... again. You brush your teeth (click: "brush")[ Eat cereal (click: "Eat")[ Go to [[school->school3]] ]]] (set:$times to it+1)

If you stay home, nothing bad can happen to you, right? You tell your parents that you're sick and get the whole day off. Nice! Now you have nothing to worry about (click: "nothing to worry about")[ You head downstairs during what would be first period to get some snacks. Your little brother is in the kitchen for some reason and looks like he has a question to ask you. So you kneel down to ask him what he needs and he says "B---ro-m. Now" "What?" And before he can respond, he [[spews->subsequent wake-ups]] all over you. (set:$brother=true) ]

Time for school again. Today will be the day. You pay attention more now with your knowledge of what's to come. The clubs are selling that [[energy drink]] again in the front of the school. You see them there before school, during recess, and during lunch. The lunch bell rings.

You'll stay home, but need to figure why even your brother is throwing up on you. You immediately rush to his room calling out his name and holy heck. He has stacks and stacks of cans in his room. And there he is in the corner, looking ashamed. He probably stole Mom's credit cards to buy all this stuff. "I can explain, I stole our Mom's credit cards to buy this stuff" You knew it "But why?"(click:"why") "I couldn't help myself. This Rad Cola, it's addictive"

You want to see what the fuss is about so you head over to the tables. You push yourself to the front of the line. As you get closer to the front of the line, it turns more into an unruly crowd. People curse at you as you push through. You've never felt so hated. The person behind the table is wearing a neon green outfit. Their polo and snapback both read RAD COLA, in a bold font. This person isn't even a student, they're 30 years old! "Hello there, how many Rad Colas would you like?" [[Buy Rad Colas]] [[Rad Cola]]?

I'll take 2 please. (click:"please")[ "That will be 10 dollars" Holy Moly. Five bucks a pop? This stuff must be really good if people are paying that much. You buy the cans, anyways because you will [[Drink them]] [[Research them]] ]

"Rad Cola is the cool new drink on the block. It's fizzy energy and powerful flavor delivers a punch to your taste buds." It sounds like something straight from a pamphlet. "Uh no, I just want to know more about this stuff" "If you want any questions, you can take them to headquarters." They hand you a business card with a phone number and address and you put it in your pocket. As you take your hand out, you feel a slimy substance fall onto it. [[Dang it->subsequent wake-ups]] (set:$card to 1)

When back at the table, you chug both cans. Hmm, you feel fine. You go back to class when the [[bell->bell3]] rings, cause what else can you do?

You bring the cans to your smart chemist friend, who analyzes them at lunch. At the end of lunch, she tells you that the tests are complete. "I learned two things. Do you want the [[bad news]] or [[worse news]]?" (if:$explosive is true)[ [[Create bomb]] ]

"The bad news is that Rad Cola is super addictive" "Right, and?" "The same chemical that makes it addictive makes you barf." "Ah, that explains all the people barfing on me." "What?" "Nevermind it's a long story." "Oh, one more thing, I may or not have drank 15 cans of it." "Why?" "[["BLARGH"->subsequent wake-ups]]"

"The worse news is that Rad Cola contains chemicals that, when combined with stomach acid, explode after 24 hours" "Damn" "Yeah, this seems like a pretty bad situation. I don't know how you're planning to fix it. Also, I drank 15 cans of it this morning." "Why?" "[[BLARGH->subsequent wake-ups]]" (set:$explosive to 1)

The business card, just like the employees is neon green with a logo that makes your eyes hurt. It has a [[phone number]] and an [[address]]

"The soda contains an explosive chemical, right? I need a bomb." "How did you know that?" "I'm in a Groundhog Day situation." "Oh, then sure, I already made a bomb. Here you go." She hands you the bomb and then [[barfs->subsequent wake-ups]] on you. (set:$explosive to 1)

You place the bomb and set the timer for 5 minutes, just enough time for you to get out. As you run out of the place, you wake up the receptionist and tell him to get out of the building because there's an emergency and drag the unconscious guard out. You wouldn't want to kill any innocent people. Right as you exit, the entire building blows up. Cool! [[BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP]]

You call the number on the card, and somehow get through to a person. "Hello, this is Rad Cola HQ, what can I help you with?" "Hi I just wanted to ask about the qualities of your soda." "Sorry, we do not answer questions concerning the ingredients of our sodas. However, if you want to buy some-" "[[No thanks->business card]]"

The address is 420 Cool Street. Wow, they went hard with branding. You look that up and its just a couple blocks away from your house. In fact, you've been there before. That was where you used to go to the playground as a kid. Guess they tore it down. When you get there, the lot is unrecognizable. Instead of green hills and monkey bars, you see a black brutalist style tower. [[Enter]]

The reception area is remarkably clean and shiny, with only two people in it. [[Receptionist]] [[Guard]]

You arrive at English class, sit in your seat, and volunteer to go first this time. You'll keep the poster in your backpack until the moment you have to go up so that nothing bad can happen to it. What seems like an eternity passes until, finally it's your turn. You walk up with your poster and urfurl it carefully, eyeying everyone in the room. They must think you're going crazy, but you know one of them will ruin your day. Finally you "[[Blargh->subsequent wake-ups]]" Which one of you feckers- Oh wait, you feel around your mouth, and it was you. Maybe you shouldn't have drank that soda.

The receptionist is fast asleep. You don't think anything will wake him up. [[Back->Enter]]

The guard is turned around. This is the perfect opportunity to get past. You could either [[knock him out]] or [[create a distraction]]

You pull out the vase you carry around in your pocket for situations just like this. You slam the vase onto his head as hard as you can and he falls to the ground. This felt nice for your first time knocking someone out. The receptionist is still fast asleep. Ahead of you in the hallway is a door labeled "[[MAIN POWER ROOM]] DO NOT ENTER"

You pull out the vase you carry around in your pocket for situations just like this. You throw it behind you and the guard immediately turns around. "Huh, what was that? Was that you?" he says startled. "No," you say, like a liar. "Oh ok, guess I better clean that mess up, then. I'm also the janitor" He walks over to the mess you made with a dustpan and broom. You never knew that lying could be so fun. While he's distracted, you run into the hallway. In front of you is a sign that says "[[MAIN POWER ROOM->MAIN POWER ROOM 2]] DO NOT ENTER"

You enter the room, and WOW it's massive. There are rows and rows of black boxes lining what seems to be an infinitely wide room. How will you ever find anything in here? After 30 seconds of wandering, you find a flashing neon green sign pointing down to an array of buttons. There's a button on it that says "[[Time Loop Reset]] (Do not press we're making hella bank off of this scheme)". Nice, exactly what you were looking for! There's also a barrel of uranium lying next to the array. (if:$bomb is true)[[Use bomb]]

You enter the room, and WOW it's massive. There are rows and rows of black boxes lining what seems to be an infinitely wide room. How will you ever find anything in here? As you think that to yourslef, the guard you distracted walks in. "Hey! I knew you were up to know good! Stop right there!" You freeze. Even if you wanted to run away, you couldn't. The guard then walks up to you and [[barfs->subsequent wake-ups]] on you

The date is February 3nd, 2022. YES! NO LONGER 2SDAY! You turn off your alarm gently and go to school. Oh no. The Rad Cola people are still here selling their shitty soda. One of your friends walks up to you and says, "You should totally try this soda, it's the BEST," and promptly throws up on you. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" he says. The day didn't restart. You may have to live with people throwing up on you every day, but at least it won't be the same day. THE END

The date is February 3nd, 2022. YES! NO LONGER 2SDAY! You turn off your alarm gently and go to school. When you arrive, the Rad Cola guys are no longer there. Replacing them is an entire line of clubs selling boba THE END