Yukari Quest VI - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Run back the way we came as fast as we possibly can but making sure we don't trip and fall.
> If we feel like we're in a stable enough place to open a gap open it up and get to mary.
> Otherwise just keep running back to the gap that got us here.

>You turn and run as fast you can. The purple light continues to spread be behind you. Ahead, you can see the roots of chamber start to flake apart, some of the more precarious ones begin fall under their own weight; you suspect it won't be long before the larger ones can no longer hold out. Without the entity, the roots are harmless, save that they can very easily trip you.
>You never liked that Vladimir. He was a slimy bastard, you could tell that the moment you started to pay attention to politics while in school. He may have been appointed governor by the US and supported by the UN, but he was never one of you. He never lived through the war, not like you did. It was well known by now he was a gunrunner for the Allies during the occupation of France; he boasted about it at every opportunity; and he managed to parley that ancient blue-blooded title of his to make some powerful friends when the UN was formed. You have no idea how he managed to schmooze his way into Yalta, but he did somehow. And it paid off; ruling a whole nation of people he has no ties with. He was cagey, you had to give him that, it wasn't by accident this island was a modern beacon in the Pacific, even with the assistance of the first world. But the Americans were getting too heavy-handed. Everyone knew that Hawaii would be annexed soon, and they were already casting their eyes here. Vladimir wouldn't think twice about accepting it, either. But the time was ripe. People were discontent with Washington's growing influence, with being unable to even have a say in who ruled their home.  You read the news, you know of the independence movements rising in Africa; casting aside the colonial chains of the British, the French, and the Portuguese. If they could do it, why not here?

>_

[Serela]

>RUN

[Hello Purvis]

>RUN

>You try to run, and find that you seem to have fallen. Your whole front hurts; you must have fallen without even trying to catch yourself.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Gensokyo Isle was a lie, Yakumo! A lie manufactured by a handful of gods and a broken satori with an unfathomable lack of foresight! Worry about it later! We have to get ourselves and our ward back home safely! Pick yourself back up and keep going!

[Mr. Sacchi]

> get up look forward don't trip RUN LIKE HELL
> Quick border stability assessment.

[Hello Purvis]

> get up look forward don't trip RUN LIKE HELL
> Quick border stability assessment.

>You scrabble to your feet and keep running. the corridor that brought you here is just up ahead, just up that incline, and you should be back at the chamber with the ersatz gap.
>The borders are growing less stable by the second, you suspect that the center of the room may have entirely collapsed by now.

>_

[Mr. Sacchi]

> How far are we from the gap that brought us here?

> Keep running towards it regardless.

> And brush those memories aside as hard as possible concentrate on the moment we have to survive your life is on the line yakumo.

[Kilgamayan]

> It's not jusT us, either. We have to get back and save Mary!

[Hello Purvis]

> How far are we from the gap that brought us here?

> Keep running towards it regardless.

> And brush those memories aside as hard as possible concentrate on the moment we have to survive your life is on the life yakumo.

>Some hundreds of yards yet.
>You keep running, trying to avoid tripping over the roots in the ground. Behind you, you can hear something large crashing to the ground.
>You stare at the letter on your desk. So much work, only for that bastard to swoop in and steal it. You can't even be angry anymore, you got what you wanted, more or less. Gensokyo is a free land, and a recognized member of the United Nations, even! Even the Soviets were being supportive of the newly formed state! But in the end, no one will remember it was your work. It will all go to  Governor Scarlet now, who usurped your movement, neatly taking your place as its leader and making the final push toward recognition. Still, you believed you could beat him in the following election, but your supporters were no longer just yours. And now...he wants you to assist him. For the dozenth time, you consider just how to tell him what he can do with his offer, and for the dozenth time you stay your hand. Can you really say no? Can you afford to just drift and find something new, now that you've lost? Can Ran afford it?
>You shake your head, trying to clear your thoughts. You're partway up the corridor now. You think you might actually be outrunning the purple light! Or perhaps it is harder to see here, you don't have time to find out.

> It's not jusT us, either. We have to get back and save Mary!

>You keep going, up the corridor, doing your best to ignore the deafening crashes behind you. You crest the hill and keep running.
>The borders here feel somewhat less unstable, as you get closer and closer to the gap. Soon, perhaps, you may be able to open a proper gap!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> You're almost there! Let that adrenaline kick in and push you through! Get to that pseudogap!

[Hello Purvis]

> You're almost there! Let that adrenaline kick in and push you through! Get to that pseudogap!

>You keep going. In the back of your mind, you can feel something; a sort of haunting reminiscence of meeting someone, but you try to ignore it.
>Within a few more moment's, you're there! The gap still persists, as rickety as it was before.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> If the atmosphere is stable enough for us to do so, open our own gap back to Mary using the astrolabe and head through.
> If not, use the pseudogap to go back to Mary, but have the vice grips and astrolabe ready just in case something goes wrong.

So I'm going to want to have :words: with the Motley Isle Crue in general and Shizuha in particular when we get back to Gensokyo proper. I think I've pieced together a fair amount of the reason why this came to pass, but I want to know why a tree in particular became the vessel for all of the fake Gensokyo Isle memories.

[Hello Purvis]

> If the atmosphere is stable enough for us to do so, open our own gap back to Mary using the astrolabe and head through.
> If not, use the pseudogap to go back to Mary, but have the vice grips and astrolabe ready just in case something goes wrong.

>You decide to take your changes, and trust your own handiwork over what brought you here. The gap opens, and you practically leap through it.
>It's raining cats and dogs here. Almost instantly, you're soaked to the bone. Through the rain, you can see the spindly stone arches, and can see that some of them have collapses. Further out, miles away, you can see an immense waterfall; your eyes unconsciously follow it upward, where you find it seems to be pouring out from an immense crack in the night sky!
>"Yukari!" Maribel shouts from nearby. Looking over, you find her hiding ineffectively under one of the larger arches "What's going on! The sky's broken and we need to go!"

>__

[Suwako Moriya]

> Run to Mary.
> "We're going home! Hang on to me with everything you have!"
> Once we reach her, grab onto her, use the astrolabe to open a gap to the proper Gensokyo, and bring us home.

[Hello Purvis]

> Run to Mary.
> "We're going home! Hang on to me with everything you have!"
> Once we reach her, grab onto her, use the astrolabe to open a gap to the proper Gensokyo, and bring us home.

>You run over to her and tell her to hold on.
>"I hope so!" she cries as she runs over and grabs onto you.
>You open a gap to Gensokyo and step through with Maribel in tow. Where will you be going in Gensokyo?

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> Our house. To Ran!

[Hello Purvis]

> Our house. To Ran!

>You go home.
>Stepping out from the gap, you find yourself in your house, everything as it should be. Ran sits at the table, but leaps upon as you emerge.
>"Yukari Yakumo, just where in the hell have you been! I've been worried sick!"

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

Phew.

> Let go of Mary long enough to run over and give Ran a giant hug.
> "Ran! Oh my God, Ran! It's really you!"

So this might be getting ahead of ourselves, but I wanted to thank everyone that helped get through this. I've never felt so clueless so often in one of these games before.

[Yaersulf]

Dammit, now you're making me want to get back to archive binging the old Z-machine adventures. >_<

[Mr. Sacchi]

No problems Kilga, I think everyone who's played/watched this felt just as clueless as you did.

Like I said before, I'm still rather unconvinced that the quest is over (after several quests with 10+ threads it seems weird that this one ends in 6) but boy was it one hell of a ride.

[Kilgamayan]

Well, Purvis has told me he has long since stopped guessing how long games will go. Many of those games you mention weren't supposed to take that long, really. I think the playerbase tries to be overly thorough in its investigations into details. This game felt a lot less like "What is every detail of what is going on" and more like "What do we need to punch in the face to get out of here". That probably made it not as long as others.

I will admit I won't be entirely happy until Shizuha addresses my concerns to my satisfaction, though. We also need to see Renko, Reimu, and, after the Moriyas and Akis, possibly also Reisen. And then there's the pieces of the mahjong tournament that need to be picked up...

[O4rfish]

>"So, were we gone for as long as it felt like?"

[Mr. Sacchi]

>"So, were we gone for as long as it felt like?"

> Do let ourselves relax for a moment in Ran's embrace before saying this though.

[Yaersulf]

>"Actually, before anything else; has Gensokyo been alright in my absence?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Let go of Mary long enough to run over and give Ran a giant hug.
> "Ran! Oh my God, Ran! It's really you!"

>You let go of Maribel and snag Ran into a massive hug.
>"Aaack!" she cries. "You're soaking wet! Get a hold of yourself!"

> Do let ourselves relax for a moment in Ran's embrace before saying this though.

>Despite her protests, Ran does return the gesture.

>"So, were we gone for as long as it felt like?"

>"Actually, before anything else; has Gensokyo been alright in my absence?"

>"You've been gone for a couple days," says Ran. "And no, nothing earth-shattering has happened while you've been gone.  Well, Maribel's friend has been going mad trying to find her, but that's a small matter  in the grand scheme of things."
>"Oh god," says Maribel. "Um, could you find her for me real fast?" says Maribel.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let the hug go.
> "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just so glad to see you after all the two of us have been through. But yes, I think we should go put Renko's mind at ease. Shall we all go?"
> Open a gap to Mary's house and head through with Ran and Mary in tow.

[Hello Purvis]

> Let the hug go.
> "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just so glad to see you after all the two of us have been through. But yes, I think we should go put Renko's mind at ease. Shall we all go?"
> Open a gap to Mary's house and head through with Ran and Mary in tow.

>You let Ran go. "Well, we'll overlook it for now," says Ran. "And yes, I suppose so."
>You open a gap, and Maribel charges through. You and Ran follow, and enter into their front room. The house is dark; as is the sky outside of it. You estimate it is probably some time past 11 o'clock.  Maribel stands in the middle of the room., calling out"Renko?" Then she looks back and says "Guess she isn't here."
>"No, she's probably out looking for you and getting the faeries stirred up," says Ran.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Open a few spyhole gaps around the forest, to see if we can find Miss Usami.

[Hello Purvis]

> Open a few spyhole gaps around the forest, to see if we can find Miss Usami.

>You open a few spyhole gaps here and there; and quickly find that the faeries are indeed in a tizzy, but no signs of Renko. Either she is really in there, or she's looking somewhere else.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Hmm. The fairies are pretty worked up, but I couldn't find Renko in the forest area. Let's try some other places. While I'm looking, Mary, do you have any suggestions?"
> Try a few more spy gaps around the Human Village, around the Kappa University, at the Hakurei Shrine, and at Kirisame House.