,,(set: $senses to 1)You awake at the age of 7 human months, a fully-grown fruit. You sense that <span style="color: #ff0000">time</span> is passing. The world, to you, is black. You see, feel, hear, smell, and taste nothing but the void. All you know is that you are capable of thought and high in vitamins.
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Open your eyes]], [[listen intently]], [[smell the air]], [[try to move your body]], [[taste yourself]], or [[sleep]].
(set: $hoursAsleep to 4)
(set: $stickers to 0)
(set: $touch to 0)
(set: $sight to 0)
(set: $hearing to 0)
(set: $smell to 0)
(set: $taste to 0)
(set: $equilibrium to 0)(if: $sight is 1) [You already have this sense! Hit undo in the sidebar to return to the previous passage.]
With surprising ease, you peel open your eyes. You are on an orchard. From your current position, you can see acres upon acres of other fruit trees planted with reckless abandon. There's no rhyme or reason to their plotting and you are the sole inhabitant of your tree, so you have no way of knowing what type of fruit you are.
[[Observe further->Sight]].
(set: $mortality to 0)
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
(set: $sight to 1)(if: $hearing is 1) [You already have this sense! Hit undo in the sidebar to return to the previous passage.]
(if: $sight is 0) [Your keen focus due to the loss of your other senses allows you to quiet your mind. Soon, screaming fills your non-existant ears! Your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">hearing</span> is back and you've never been more motivated to stop something in your life!
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Search for the source->Wake up]].
(set: $hearing to 1)]
(if: $sight is 1) [Your keen focus due to the loss of your other senses allows you to quiet your mind. Soon, screaming fills your non-existant ears! You recognize the source as the nearby apple. Your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">hearing</span> is back and you've never been more motivated to stop something in your life!
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Find a way to stop the apple->Wake up]].
(set: $hearing to 1)](if: $smell is 1) [You already have this sense! Hit undo in the sidebar to return to the previous passage.]
You think to yourself that perhaps smell and taste aren't the most useful of senses, but that you'd sure like to have a go at sniffing your surroundings, anyway. Perhaps they can give you a clue as to how you became a fruit.
[[Inhale through your nose (if you even have one)]].
[[Exhale through your nose (if you even have one)]].(if: $touch is 1) [You already have this sense! Hit undo in the sidebar to return to the previous passage.]
(if: $equilibrium is 0) [Due to your not being able to tell which way is up, movement seems far-fetched. The terror of this realization demotivates you.
[[You decide to take a depression nap->sleep]].]
(if: $equilibrium is 1) [Thanks to your reclaimed sense of balance, you're able to orient yourself without your other senses. As a fruit, you figure you grow on a tree. You do what you can to sway back and forth. After a few minutes, you rotate a few times before coming to an abrupt stop. You have experienced a change in altitude!
"[[Hooray!->Touch]]"]After meditating for 24 hours, you gained a sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">equilibrioception</span>! A single grocery market <span style="color: #f5e942">fruit sticker</span> floats into view in your mind's eye.
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Wake up]].(if: $hoursAsleep is < 24) [You sit, or think you sit, in the darkness and contemplate your existential role. It's been $hoursAsleep hours since you first gained conciousness.
[[Wake up]].
Continue to [[sleep]].]
(set: $hoursAsleep to $hoursAsleep + 4)
(if: $hoursAsleep is 28) [You continue to experience the void. You don't know which way is up, or if a world outside the void exists. An overwhelming sense of dread begins to build up inside you as you drift into a state of imbalance.
[[Stop->Equilibrioception]]
(set: $senses to $senses + 1)
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)
(set: $equilibrium to 1)]
(if: $taste is 1) [You already have this sense! Hit undo in the sidebar to return to the previous passage.]
(if: $touch is 0)[You think to yourself that perhaps taste and smell aren't the most useful of senses, but that you'd sure like to have a go at tasting yourself, anyway. Perhaps it can give you a clue as to what kind of fruit you are. At least, it might be able to if you could even feel the inside of your mouth. Maybe this is one for later.
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].]
(if: $touch is 1)[You think to yourself that perhaps taste and smell aren't the most useful of senses, but that you'd sure like to have a go at tasting yourself, anyway. Perhaps it can give you a clue as to what kind of fruit you are.
[[Take a bite out of yourself]]!
[[Lick the inside of your mouth]].]
(if: $sight is 0) [ [[Open your eyes]]. ]
(if: $hearing is 0) [ [[Listen intently->listen intently]]. ]
(if: $smell is 0) [ [[Smell the air->smell the air]]. ]
(if: $touch is 0) [ [[Try to move your body->try to move your body]]. ]
(if: $taste is 0) [ [[Taste yourself->taste yourself]]. ]
(if: $senses is 7)[ You've regained all your senses! Now comes autonomy!
[[Get to the house]]!
[[Save the apple]]!]
(if: ($sight is 1) and ($hearing is 0)) [You open your mouth and make like you're shouting "Hooray!"... shouting... with your mouth, which your are conscious of... You can feel your mouth! You can also feel the dirt beneath you and the sun beating down on you from above! The fall seems to have jogged your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">touch</span>! You've no arms to make further tests and no ears with which to hear your shouts of joy, but the soil is soft and you can now roll around.
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
(set: $touch to 1)
[[Roll around aimlessly]].
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].]
(if: ($hearing is 1) and ($sight is 0)) [You open your mouth and shout "Hooray!"... shout... with your mouth, which your are conscious of... You can feel your mouth! You can also feel the dirt beneath you and the sun beating down on you from above! It's daytime, clearly, or a dry Summer night with a particulalry bright and powerful moon. Either way, the fall seems to have jogged your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">touch</span>! You've no arms to make further tests with, but the soil is soft and you can now roll around.
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
(set: $touch to 1)
[[Roll around aimlessly]].
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].]
(if: ($sight is 1) and ($hearing is 1)) [You open your mouth and shout "Hooray!"... shout... with your mouth, which your are conscious of... You can feel your mouth! You can also feel the dirt beneath you and the sun beating down on you from above! The fall seems to have jogged your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">touch</span>! You've no arms to make further tests with, but the soil is soft and you can now roll around.
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
(set: $touch to 1)
[[Roll around aimlessly]].
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].]
(if: ($sight is 0) and ($hearing is 0)) [You open your mouth and make like you're shouting "Hooray!"... shouting... with your mouth, which your are conscious of... You can feel your mouth! You can also feel the dirt beneath you and the sun beating down on you from above! It's daytime, clearly, or a dry Summer night with a particulalry bright and powerful moon. Either way, the fall seems to have jogged your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">touch</span>! You've no arms to make further tests with, but the soil is soft and you can now roll around.
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
(set: $touch to 1)
[[Roll around aimlessly]].
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].](if: ($sight is 1) and ($hearing is 0)) [You enjoy your newfound mobility and can proceed to your next objective.
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].
[[Get to the house]]!
[[Save the apple]]!]
(if: ($hearing is 1) and ($sight is 0)) [You roll around aimlessly, but with no sight to guide you, you fear the oblong shape of your body is causing you to roll in circles. One pebble in particular is starting to feel far too acquianted with your backside.
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].]
(if: ($sight is 1) and ($hearing is 1)) [You enjoy your newfound mobility and can proceed to your next objective.
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].
[[Get to the house]]!
[[Save the apple]]!]
(if: ($sight is 0) and ($hearing is 0)) [You roll around aimlessly, but with no other senses to guide you, you fear the oblong shape of your body is causing you to roll in circles. One pebble in particular is starting to feel far too acquianted with your backside.
[[Try to regain your other senses->Wake up]].](if: $mortality is 0) [Thanks to your newfound sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">sight</span>, you begin picking up on the details of your environment. There's a farmhouse a good distance away. Something more pressing, though, is that there appears to be an apple on a neighboring tree screaming violently.
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Look down and around]].
[[Focus on the apple->Rap Battle]].
[[Cry at your own mortality]].]
(if: $mortality is 1) [Thanks to your newfound sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">sight</span>, you begin picking up on the details of your environment. There's a farmhouse a good distance away. Something more pressing, though, is that there appears to be an apple on a neighboring tree screaming violently.
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Look down and around]].
[[Focus on the apple->Rap Battle]].]The ground appears soft and nicely-tilled. Its welcoming texture entices you and snaps you back to reality. All the unusual things you've seen so far are inconsequential. It's time to move.
[[Back->Sight]].
(set: $mortality to 1)You sob artfully. Tears well up in your eyes and you blink slowly to clear them. You sympathize with the apple. They're probably very scared. A single grocery market <span style="color: #f5e942">fruit sticker</span> floats into view in your mind's eye.
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)
[[Back->Sight]].
(set: $mortality to 1)
You try to collect yourself. Mentally, you can, but physically... you're losing juice, and fast. Hours have passed since you both fell. It's getting dark out, the sky is turning blood-orange, and the humidity of dusk has ushered in a light fog. You hear a shrill caw. A massive crow perches on the branch of a nearby pear tree about 10 feet above you. The scent of your juice reaches its nostrils and it turns its head to focus on you. The reflection of the setting sun in its eyes pierce the fog. You sense something you've not known before this moment. <span style="color: #f5e942">True fear</span> envelops your soul.
You're not ready to go yet.
You frantically shoo the encroaching fruit sticker away from your mind's eye as the crow's beak rapidly approaches your physical eye.
You don't even know what kind of fruit you are!
"''[[WAIT-!]]''"
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)The validation you've sought all along still coursing through your spherical form, you slowly allow your senses to take in their new surroundings.
You see nought but the comforting dark, you smell a heavenly scent coming from the oven, you hear the crackling of a fireplace, you feel the softness of the wooden countertop, and you taste... (click: "...")[ something amiss.]
"You're going to be delicious!"
Her knife cuts down into the flesh of your citron brethren with too much force and too little precision.
Juice streaks across your face, blinding you.
(set: $senses to $senses -1)
In your last moments alive, <span style="color: #f5e942">true fear</span> envelops your soul.
You can only begin to visualize a final fruit sticker in your mind's eye as the knife cuts through the air towards your now-useless, physical eye.
"''[[...WAIT-!]]''"
You dive into the soil and situate yourself in a way that leaves no part of you vulnerable. The crow pecks at the dirt for a moment before leaving and a wash of relief flows over you, followed by one of peace.
You open yourself up to the sensations you're receiving from your other senses. You see nought but the comforting dark, you smell the healthy soil, you hear birds chirping and leaves rustling, you feel the soft welcoming of the land, and you taste freedom.
You are at peace. A final grocery market <span style="color: #f5e942">fruit sticker</span> floats into view in your mind's eye.
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)
You can do nothing but [[wait]].Equilibrium, Passage of time
Sight, Taste, Touch, Smell, Hearing
Equilibrium (meditation), Mortality (crying), Success (save apple/reach house), True Fear (killed by crow/human), Self-love (become tree/reach kitchen), Sacrifice, Citron discoveryThe End.
Senses: $senses/7
Stickers: $stickers/7
Be [[reborn->The Beginning (Time)]].(if: ($sight is 1) and ($hearing is 1) and ($touch is 1)) [A mixture of joy and confusion prompt you to yell back. The two warring, primal yells clash and you find yourself swaying back and forth. Resonance.
[[Roll around aimlessly]]. ]
(if: ($sight is 1) and ($hearing is 1) and ($touch is 0)) [A mixture of joy and confusion prompt you to yell back. The two warring, primal yells clash and you find yourself swaying back and forth. Resonance. Eventually, you drop. The change in altitude rights your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">equilibrioception</span>!
(set: $senses to $senses + 1)
"[[Hooray!->Touch]]"]
(if: ($sight is 1) and ($hearing is 0)) [You can see the apple struggling, but you just can't bring yourself to match its unbridled rage, or enthusiasm, or whatever emotion it may be displaying. You're not well-versed in fruit empathy just yet.
[[Attempt to muster the same fervor->Wake up]].]You roll down to the farmhouse at breakneck pace, leaving the apple in your dust.
You slowly become aware that proximity to the farmhouse leads to an exponential increase in the number of screeching fruit, but you carry on nonetheless. The house is familiar. The house is human.
You use your momentum to skillfully ascend an overturned wheelbarrow and make it onto the deck of the farmhouse. You finally rest once you make it to the welcome mat.
After a few hours, a woman opens the door, nearly squashing you. Thankfully, she manages to spare your life.
"What the fu- is that a lemon? Eh, probably Mimi. Hey, not a bad lemon, though."
You're a lemon! Of COURSE. It all makes so much sense. You've felt lemony from the start! Two grocery market <span style="color: #f5e942">fruit stickers</span> manifest in your mind's eye.
(set: $stickers to $stickers +2)
The woman picks you up and brings you inside. She sets you down next to some other lemons and you feel at home.
You tear up a little and begin to wind down for the [[night->Ending 3 (You ignore the apple, make it to the house, and die)]].You roll over to the base of the [[tree]]. There is a pile of dead leaves winding around its base. It seems like the apple is about to come loose! You can try to catch them from the ground, but you might have a better chance if you roll up the leaf pile to get closer.
[[Climb the leaf pile]].
[[Catch them]]!You make your decision. You plant yourself beneath them with the base of the tree to your right and prepare to soften their descent. You only get one chance. Focus.
----[[CATCH THEM->fail]]-[[CATCH THEM->fail]]-[[CATCH THEM->fail]]
---[[CATCH THEM->success]]--[[CATCH THEM->fail]]--[[CATCH THEM->success]]
-[[CATCH THEM->success]]----[[CATCH THEM->fail]]----[[CATCH THEM->success]]
---[[CATCH THEM->success]]--[[CATCH THEM->fail]]--[[CATCH THEM->success]]
----[[CATCH THEM->fail]]-[[CATCH THEM->fail]]-[[CATCH THEM->fail]]
The apple's screaming stops. You rotate yourself to face them and success washes over you. They're safe. A single, very welcome, grocery market <span style="color: #f5e942">fruit sticker</span> floats into view in your mind's eye.
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)
The apple turns to you.
"I'm old. My tree, my friends, are dead. I scream for I know the end is nigh. It comes. Will you run?"
"[[I will.->Godspeed]]"
"[[I'll help you.->Distraction]]"The apple's screaming stops. Juice splatters across the ground. You failed. Your failure grounds you. You remain (click: "motionless")[still, broken, sad, worthless, ]motionless for hours, staring at the apple's (click: "corpse")[dripping, fragrant, sad, worthless, ]corpse. Its seeds litter the ground. None will make it into the (click: "soil")[arid, cracked, sad, worthless, ]soil beneath.
[[You move->No sacrifice]].You make your decision. You quickly roll up the leaf pile, but misjudge its precariousness. You fall. In an instant, your entire worldview changes. You only get one chance to safe yourself.
----[[LAND SAFE->miss]]-[[LAND SAFE->miss]]-[[LAND SAFE->miss]]
---[[LAND SAFE->succeed]]--[[LAND SAFE->succeed]]--[[LAND SAFE->succeed]]
----[[LAND SAFE->miss]]-[[LAND SAFE->miss]]-[[LAND SAFE->miss]]Hours have passed since they died. It's getting dark out, the sky is turning blood-orange, and the humidity of dusk has ushered in a light fog. You hear a shrill caw. A massive crow perches on the branch of a nearby pear tree about 10 feet above you.
You roll away from the crow, gaining speed, and see a patch of elevated dirt between two trees.
The crow lifts off. You hear the flapping of its wings.
You sense something you've not known before this moment. <span style="color: #f5e942">True fear</span> envelops your soul.
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)
A fruit sticker approaches, but you pay it no attention. Your mind is clear. You focus like you never have before.
You [[jump->Ending 2.5]].You make as if to inhale, but all it does is give you a small sense of light-headedness. Perhaps there's a blockage in your nostrils.
[[Try again->smell the air]].(if: $touch is 0) [You push and push, trying to recall what it's even like to breathe. Eventually, though you don't feel anything happen, your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">smell</span> returns to you! The (click: "air")[dry Summer ]air, trees(click: "trees")[ of citrus and sweets], and (click: "dirt")[heartily-fertilized ]dirt slowly become so much more clear to you.
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Continue->Wake up]].]
(set: $smell to 1)
(if: $touch is 1) [You push and push, trying to recall what it's even like to breathe. Eventually, you feel two little bits fly from your frontside and your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">smell</span> returns to you! The (click: "air")[dry Summer ]air, trees(click: "trees")[ of citrus and sweets], and (click: "dirt")[heartily-fertilized ]dirt slowly become so much more clear to you.
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Continue->Wake up]].]
(set: $smell to 1)You take a moment to consider the outcome of your actions, then gently lick the inside of your cheek. By instinct, your lips pucker up! A sour taste fills your mouth as you realize that your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">taste</span> has returned!
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Obviously, being sour means that you are citronal. Unfotunately, you could still be one of any number of lemons or limes. Regardless, a single grocery market <span style="color: #f5e942">fruit sticker</span> floats into view in your mind's eye.
(set: $stickers to $stickers +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Continue->Wake up]].
(set: $taste to 1)Without even considering the outcome of your actions, you rip into the inside of your cheek. By instinct, you make to swallow, but the pain is unbearable! It causes you to freeze and instead stop to ponder the ramifications of becoming a fruit ouroboros. You don't know how fruit and human biology combine. What happens when you eat fruit as a fruit yourself? Do you even need to? You decide to spit out the piece of yourself.
On its way out of your mouth, you taste the smooth exterior of a seed! So, you're a seed-bearing fruit. That sure narrows things down. Regardless, your sense of <span style="color: #ff0000">taste</span> has returned!
(set: $senses to $senses +1)
Senses: $senses
Stickers: $stickers
[[Continue->Wake up]].]
(set: $taste to 1)The tree seems to be on its last leg. The ground above its roots are bone-dry and the trunk is beginning to grey. If any fruit were to fall from it, they would surely smash against the ground and perish.
[[Back->Save the apple]].You hit the ground a little too hard. The world goes dark again. You reach up to the apple, but you don't know which way is up.
(set: $senses to $senses -1)
You hear a second thud.
[[Open your eyes->Ending 1 (You and the apple die)]].You stick the landing, but you're a bit turned around. You decide to plant yourself where you landed and prepare to soften the apple's descent. You only get one chance. Focus.
----[[CATCH THEM->success]]-[[CATCH THEM->success]]-[[CATCH THEM->success]]
---[[CATCH THEM->success]]--[[CATCH THEM->success]]--[[CATCH THEM->fail]]
-[[CATCH THEM->success]]----[[CATCH THEM->fail]]----[[CATCH THEM->fail]]
---[[CATCH THEM->fail]]--[[CATCH THEM->fail]]--[[CATCH THEM->fail]]
----[[CATCH THEM->fail]]-[[CATCH THEM->fail]]-[[CATCH THEM->fail]]
You dive into the soil and situate yourself in a way that leaves no part of you vulnerable. The crow pecks at the dirt for a moment before leaving and a wash of relief flows over you, followed by one of guilt.
You close yourself off from your other senses. You are not at peace. You hope that you are one day reborn and can try again.
You can do nothing but [[wait in silence]].You aren't.
The End.
Senses: $senses/7
Stickers: $stickers/7"Godspeed. Go not where I go."
The apple rolls toward the farmhouse. You wait a while, then decide to head in your own direction. Something is wrong. You roll away from the farmhouse and into the sunset. Something is very wrong. Your mind darkens.
The farmhouse becomes a sinister reminder of a life long [[gone->No sacrifice]]. "It will be here soon. I know of a place, but you must distract it. Stay here."
Hours have passed since the apple left you. They're safe. A single, approving, grocery market <span style="color: #f5e942">fruit sticker</span> floats into view in your mind's eye.
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)
It's getting dark out, the sky is turning blood-orange, and the humidity of dusk has ushered in a light fog. You hear a shrill caw. A massive crow perches on the branch of a nearby pear tree about 10 feet above you.
You take this as your cue to leave. You roll away from the crow and see a patch of elevated dirt between two trees.
The crow lifts off. You hear the flapping of its wings.
You sense something you've not known before this moment. <span style="color: #f5e942">True fear</span> envelops your soul.
(set: $stickers to $stickers + 1)
A fruit sticker approaches, but you pay it no attention. Your mind is clear. You focus like you never have before.
You [[jump->Ending 2 (You sacrifice yourself for the apple, but don't make it to the house. You hide underground and are reborn)]].The End.
Senses: $senses/7
Stickers: $stickers/7The End.
Senses: $senses/7
Stickers: $stickers/7