Yawn. another morning in the house you've lived in for 12 years. (set: $pg13 to true) (if: not ((history:) contains "scene1starthouse"))[Your mom hands you your backpack, and warns, "don't eat that chocolate on the table". ] Your new puppy is (if: (history:) contains "feed the chocolate")[making funny gagging noises](elseif: (history:) contains "kickdog")[lying in a pile beside the patio door](else:)[wagging his tail near the door and staring at you - he's probably hoping for a treat before you head off to school]. What to do? (if: not ((history:) contains "takechocolate"))[You can [[take the chocolate|takechocolate]].] (if: $doginteracted is not true)[ You can (if: not ((history:) contains "takechocolate"))[also] [[pet|petdog]] or [[kick|kickdog]](if: (history:) contains "takechocolate")[ or [[feed the chocolate]] to] the dog. ] Don't daudle too long; it's almost time to [[head off to school|scene2start]].You look around. Your mother's gone to start up the car, so nobody's watching you as you grab the forbidden chocolate from the table and slip it into your pocket. [[Continue|scene1starthouse]]You gently stroke the ears of your puppy, and the puppy responds with a joyful yelp.(set: $doginteracted to true) [[scene1starthouse<-Continue]]You stroll up to the puppy and give it a kick to its behind. With a yelp the small dog flies across the room and hits the patio door. Through the door, you can see your mother turn her head to search for the source of the noise, and after a second turn her head away again. (set: $doginteracted to true) [[Continue|scene1starthouse]]You recall with glee of the TV program you watched yesterday. You know, the one where they said chocolate will poison dogs? You offer the chocolate to the puppy, who jumps up and gobbles it down. Within seconds, a small amount of foam begin to appear at the dog's mouth. (set: $doginteracted to true) [[Continue|scene1starthouse]]You wave a quick goodbye to your mother, and to the puppy who is (if: (history:) contains "feed the chocolate")[convulsing horribly](elseif: (history:) contains "kickdog")[struggling to get back up near the patio door](else:)[still wagging his tail], and set off to school. On the street corner, a familiar voice greets you: "Yo! Ugh, you ready for the stupid test today?", James says as he and Mark walks up beside you. "I'm sure ready!", Mark pipes up. "You sound like you actually like that test. I swear, skateboarding sounds more fun than some stupid term end test anyday", James replied. "The test is important! If I'm unable to acquire a satisfactory score, I won't be admitted to the accelerated high school program!" Mark has tried to use less big words since he started hanging out with us, but when he's excited the fancy vocab slips out again. "Tell you what," James announced, "I ain't going to be stuck in that stupid room writing that test. I'm going skateboarding. You comin'?" Mark stared at you. You guessed that Mark really wants to follow James - he's the coolest kid in the grade; everyone wants to be like him - but really wants to do well on that test too. He's probably going to do what you do. Do you want to [[follow James and skip school|skipschool]] or [[go to school and face that test|gotoschool]]?"Let's roll, James", you replied. James pulls out his skateboard, jumps on it, motions you to catch up, and speeds away. Mark takes a hesitating look towards the school, then turns around and runs after James. You do likewise. "Here we go. Sweetest obstacle course I've ever seen." James announced. You three are on the edge of the woods north of No. 1 Street - a fence with a "Do not trespass" sign and a rather large hole is behind you. "Last one to the lake solves algebra for fun!", James shouted. Mark mumbled, "but I do enjoy algebra..." Just then, you hear sirens behind you. Police! Suddenly the "No trespass" sign seems to have grown bigger. Mark whispered, "oh we're in so much trouble what if our parents discover our absenteeism" James shouts, "Run for it!", and gives a big push on his board. You and Mark scrambles to [[follow him on foot|skipschool2]].I ignored James and continued to head towards school. Seeing my choice, Mark followed along. James stood there, and after we'd walked a block ahead he finally shouted, "wait for me, I'm coming!" Hmm. Peer pressure does work, after all. Mr. Freeman, our teacher, was a nice guy. Even James once admitted that he thought our teacher was "ok", which is strange coming from a guy who hates school. Mr. Freeman started the class not with the dreaded test, but with a comprehensive review session. By the end of it, I was feeling... can it be? - confident. "And one more piece of advice: if you don't know what the answer is, just guess! After all, as I've always said in science class; don't be afraid to experiment!", Mr. Freeman announced as he handed out the tests. Well, this is it, then. [[the test of doom|easytest]].All three of you scramble to get away from the edge of the forest before the police finds you trespassing. You run faster than Mark (like everyone else in your grade), but way slower than James, even without his skateboard (Despite his boasts during recess he can't actually skate the twisty dirt paths in the woods). You spent so much effort trying to catch up with James in your panicked run, but you finally met up with him on the shore of the small lake. "Phew. That was close. My mom would've killed me if they catch me again. Say, where's slowpoke Mark? Ugh. we'll wait for him; hopefully the police hasn't got him yet." After waiting for ten minutes, there's still no sign of Mark. We retraced our steps and found Mark whimpering beside a tree stump. "AAAowwww my leg!! There's so much hemorrhaging!!" "You... broke your leg? Is that where the blood is coming from?" "YeessAaaowww! I don't want to die in the forest!" James mumbled, "If my mom finds out about this, I'm dead." Then he took off at a run again. "Where are you going?" you yell after him, but he didn't respond. You can guess though - he's running back to school; he'll get in less trouble for that than for getting Mark in this bind. By now you're pretty scared - the adrenaline from the run has worn off; you can hear sirens - so the police is still looking for trespassers; you wonder if you should [[follow James back to school, leaving Mark behind|followjamesback]] or [[stay and help Mark|stayandhelpmark]].As you near the school, you wonder if you should tell the school nurse about what happened to Mark. But before you can think of a good enough lie Mr. Freeman sights you, and shouts, "What are you two waiting there for? The test's about to start! You already missed the whole review session!" Oh well, might as well [[finish the test|hardtest]]. Mark'll be alright."Don't worry, Mark!", you shout, but you know that you can't do first aid. What now? "I see you kiddos been trespassing here", chimed a voice behind us. A police officer showed up. "and looks like your friend here already paid the price for it. Take the one with the broken leg to hospital, and take the other back to school." This is it, then. Caught by the police. At least they're not punishing us; they're just taking Mark to hospital and [[taking me back to school]].The police officer stops at the school, and pulled me to the front desk of the school, where he explained that Mark and I had been caught skipping and that Mark's been injured. You start to wonder if Mark would be all right, but Mr. Freeman sights you, and shouts, "What are you doing here for? The test's about to start! You already missed the whole review session!" Sigh. Might as well [[face the test|hardtest]].You stare at the test paper in front of you, heart still pounding from the chase. (set: $testscore to 0) ### Social Studies, Science, and Math Cumulative Multiple Choice Term Test Name: ______ Date: ______ Score: _____ 1. According to “Controlling 64 Bit Architectures and Write-Ahead Logging with EEL,” why must XML work? a) (link:"Symmetric encryption can be applied to the visualization of B-trees")[(set: $testscore to $testscore + 1)(goto:"hardtest_q2")] b) [[Asymmetric encryption can be used to balance BFS-trees|hardtest_q2]] c) [[Write ahead logging is used in the production of multi-level page tables, which allows for efficient creation of a Java tree.|hardtest_q2]] d) [[Hackers use superpages to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio of EEL, which is a function of signal-to-noise ratio.|hardtest_q2]]2) According to Nietzsche, what doe a blah need to do to become an Ubermensch? a) [[Choose master morality over slave morality by setting the jumper on your IDE drive in order to exchange truths for illusions|hardtest_q3]] b) [[Find the spell of reality that creates this vulgar and vast perspective and run spell check upon it|hardtest_q3]] c) [[Love your enemies and hate your friends in equal measure where the measure, k, is a function of partial pressures|hardtest_q3]] d) [[Remove causality, correctness, and expression between spheres until only aesthetic relations remain|hardtest_q3]]You stare at the test paper in front of you, and feel a weight lifted from your shoulder. After the review session, the test didn't seem hard at all. (set: $testscore to 0) ### Social Studies, Science, and Math Cumulative Multiple Choice Term Test Name: ______ Date: ______ Score: _____ 1) What is 1+1? a) [[3|easytest_q2]] b) (link: "2")[(set: $testscore to $testscore + 1)(goto: "easytest_q2")] c) [[sin(0.5)|easytest_q2]] d) [[11|easytest_q2]]2) What is 4 * 5? a) [[9.3|easytest_q3]] b) [[0.5mv^2|easytest_q3]] c) [[77|easytest_q3]] d) (link: "20")[(set: $testscore to $testscore + 1)(goto: "easytest_q3")] 3. What is the capital of the United States? a) (link: "Washington, D.C.")[(set: $testscore to $testscore + 1)(goto: "easytest_q4")] b) [[Chicago|easytest_q4]] c) [[New York|easytest_q4]] d) [[Whiterun|easytest_q4]] 4) What is the capital of Canada? a) [[Toronto|easytest_end]] b) [[Vancouver|easytest_end]] c) (link: "Ottawa")[(set: $testscore to $testscore + 1)(goto: "easytest_end")] d) [[Tsundere Bay|easytest_end]] You hand in your test, confident of your success. After half a week, Mr. Freeman returns the test. You snatch it up, and it reads, "Score: (print: $testscore)/4".(set: $passtest to ($testscore >= 3)) (if: $passtest and $testscore < 4)[[[cool.|scene5]]](elseif: $passtest)[Mr. Freeman beckons to you. "Since you did so well on the test, I was wondering if you wanted to [[take the advanced exam.|advancedtest]] Of course, it's perfectly fine if you [[don't want to.|scene5]]](else:)[[[Oh, well, you guess you're not smart enough.|scene5]]]3) Given that mumble mumble is mumble, what is the radius of the earth? a) [[10000km|hardtest_q4]] b) [[6,731,000,000,000mm|hardtest_q4]] c) [[4096m|hardtest_q4]] d) [[MINECRAFT|hardtest_q4]]4. Given that the blah blah is blah blah, what is the blah blah blah of 5? a) [[Blah|hardtest_finish]] b) [[Blah blah|hardtest_finish]] c) [[Mumble|hardtest_finish]] d) [[I DON'T EVEN|hardtest_finish]]You hand in your test, confident that you've failed miserably. Sure enough, after half a week, Mr. Freeman returns the test with bad news written on the header: "Score: (print: $testscore)/4" (set: $passtest to false) [[Oh, well.|scene5]]... ... Yawn. another (if: (history:) contains "stayandhelpmark")[evening](else:)[morning] in the house you've lived in for... 27? 28? (you think.) years. Not much changed during all these years: there's still a table in the middle of the living room. (if: (history:) contains "feed the chocolate")[The only addition is a small headstone labelled "Here lies Puppy" in the yard.](else:)[{ Puppy - whom everyone still calls "puppy" by force of habit, even though it's now become quite a misnomer for an old dog - still wags his tail. When he spots you, he (if: (history:) contains "kickdog")[whimpers and runs away from you. Stupid dog.] (else:)[falls into the old routine of staring at you, hoping for a treat.] }] (if: $passtest)[Your mother greets you with a smile. "I can't believe my baby's finally moving out soon! Your new place looks great - just what the most famous doctor in the country deserves!" No time to talk about home renovations: it's almost time to go to [[your office]].](elseif: (history:) contains "followjamesback")[Your mother greets you with a sob. "I thought I'd escaped cruel idiots when I left your dad, but then I had to put up with you: always in and out of the jail every other week. Get out, get out from my house!" Well, you do need to [[get out of the house|robbery]], but mostly because you're running low on cash.](else:)[Your mother greets you with a sigh. "Just like your dad. When you were young, you were just as smart as him, but he wasted his smarts and came to no good. I had hoped you wouldn't follow his path, but here you are, just a construction worker. 'Least you've finally earned enough from those night shifts to rent your own place." Yep, there's another one of those [[night shifts|nightshift]] today.] (if: $haspipe is true)[You're holding a [[heavy lead pipe|swingpipe]].] (if: $pg13 is not true)[Before you go, you can also visit the [[storage room]].]Dusty room where odds and ends are kept. The machinery that keeps the house running is also here: gas and water lines, electrical panels, the works. (if: $haspipe is not true)[You can see a [[heavy lead pipe]] here, left over from the last time the house was renovated thirty years ago.] There's also plenty of exposed pipes on the wall; one that stands out is the [[valve on the gas line]]. The other end of the valve probably used to connect to a pipe feeding the furnace, removed in the last reno. Now there's nothing attached to the end. [[Head back to the living room|scene5]]The best doctor in the country deserves the best office. A well-stocked operating room with the latest equipment can be seen through frosted glass in the consultation and waiting area. Usually the area is full of patients - after all, everyone wants to be cured by the miracle surgeon, even top polititians and movie stars - but they all had to wait in line here. Today, the area is empty because your patients booked the entire place for themselves for privacy. You can't remember the last patients who were able to afford that. The door opens and a young couple walk through the door, the young man being steadied by his wife. "Mark! Long time no see! Come and have a seat and we'll discuss your options." As every gossip magazine is quick to point out, Mark, your old friend and the genius who had designed a social network in high school that made him a billionare by age 23, was stricken with a neurodegenerative disease at 26. You can just detect a hint of a tremor as he sat down slowly besides his wife on a bench in the waiting area. "I've looked at the treatment options: the current state of the art options only slows down the progression of the disease. Even I cannot cure the disease entirely." "But we've looked up recent advances in the area, and we know that there is research done with plaque levels in the brain; they suggests an operation to enhance circulation might be a cure!" Mark's wife argued. "That option's too risky: operating on the brain's blood vessels can easily lead to a stroke, and twenty out of the thirty experimental subjects in that study died on the operating table. I can't risk my reputation on a dangerous experiment." you responded. "P-please, h-help me, bu-ddy." Mark spoke for the first time, trembling slightly with each word. You've never expected Mark's condition to have advanced by this much. You remember that test you took with Mark, years ago - you were unprepared, took a chance, and did well anyways. Perhaps you should try [[conducting the operation]] with the same attitude. Then again, there's no review session to save you this time. Perhaps it might be wise to [[decline the operation]].The sun was setting when you arrived at the work site. You were the last one to arrive again. Never fast enough. Even when you were young you never could run as fast as James. Now, everyone's faster than you. Hours pass, with you just doing supply runs from the ground level up to the higher floors. Even after you've been working on the project for months, you're still stuck with the boring tasks because you're not good enough. Typical response. You're about to make one last delivery during your shift when your toe bumps into something heavy on the ground. That wasn't there the last time you went up the lift. [[It looks like a full briefcase.|getbriefcase]]Guns are not easy to obtain, but the intimidation value of pointing a gun at someone's head is worth the effort. In this case, "someone" is the owner of the convenience store in this unfamiliar small town. (if: $shotowner is not true)["You can take the money! Just don't hurt my wife and kids!" He squirms with his hands up at gunpoint. You've done this before: they all say that.](else:)[A gun is not very effective at intimidating a dead body though. You remember panicking at the sight of Mark's bleeding leg when you were young: there's much more blood pooling on the floor arond the owner's head now, but you're not panicked: you're the one who had let out the blood in the first place.] (if: $pg13 is not true)[(if: $tookmoney is not true)[Of course, you can [[take the money]]; it's not like he has a choice to stop you.] (if: $shotfamily is not true)[As for his wife and kids, you think you see some movement in [[the storeroom]] behind the counter.] (if: $shotowner is not true)[Of course, you still have your gun pointed at the owner; you can [[pull the trigger]] at any time.] [[The door of the store]] remains open for a quick getaway.](else:)[Just then, you hear the sound of [[sirens at the door]].] The pipe didn't feel so heavy when you picked it up, but maybe that's just because you're pretty strong from (if: $passtest)[days at the gym when you're not conducting surgery](elseif: (history:) contains "followjamesback")[those street brawls you're always getting into](else:)[lifting all those cinder blocks at the construction site] (set: $haspipe to true) [[Continue|scene5]]Ahh. Gas. Used one way, it provides warmth. Used another way, it kills fast, but not too fast. You've seen poison at work: (if: (history:) contains "feed the chocolate")[you remember the foam on the puppy's lips; how the puppy twisted and turned.](elseif: $passtest)[you recall, back in medical school, how easy it was to dispose of finished experimental animals with a carbon dioxide cage.](elseif: (history:) contains "stayandhelpmark")[how the fumes from a tiny open can of paint thinner overcame John, a big hulking guy.](elseif: (history:) contains "followjamestoschool")[it's how you "disappear" people that gets in your way.] Well, it's time to apply that to this house. (elseif: $passtest)[You open the gas valve with one quick twist, confident that, since all attention is good attention, the death of your mother from mysterious circumstances will only make you more famous as a doctor.(set: $headline to "Famous doctor murdered own mother for attention")](elseif: (history:) contains "followjamesback")[Opening gas valves is easy by now after all the practice - the fact that the victim is your own mother doesn't change how quick death will come.(set: $headline to "Serial 'gasline killer' caught murdering own mother")](else:)[With every twist of the valve, you remember your mother's words: how you've failed like your dad, how she'd hoped you'll be someone famous like Mark, how you're never good enough. Well, hopefully the gas is deadly enough.(set: $headline to "Construction worker murdered own mother with gas line")] ... [[Next day's news headlines|newspaper]]#### THE DAILY POST Since 1856 $1.00 ($1.25 in outlying areas) ## (print: $headline) ### Public Appalled at Monstrous ActA heavy object colliding with living flesh at speed will result in broken bones and blood. You (if: (history:) contains "skipschool2")[remember how easily the tree trunk snapped Mark's leg like a twig, and](if: $passtest)[have seen plenty of broken limbs from back when you were working in the emergency room, before you made a name for yourself.](elseif: (history:) contains "stayandhelpmark")[recall the inevitable injuries and deaths when lifting construction materials in the wind.](elseif: (history:) contains "followjamesback")[know just how easy it is to break bones from all your practice on your victims.] You tiptoe behind your mother. (if: (history:) contains "takechocolate")[For a second you remind yourself of that kid who once tiptoed to take off the table a piece of chocolate. You'll be taking a life this time.] (elseif: $passtest)[You bring the pipe down with one good whack, confident that, since all attention is good attention, the death of your mother from mysterious circumstances will only make you more famous as a doctor.(set: $headline to "Famous doctor murdered own mother for attention")](elseif: (history:) contains "stayandhelpmark")[With every whack of the pipe on her head, you remember your mom's words: how you've failed like your dad, how she'd hoped you'll be someone famous like Mark, how you're never good enough. Well, you've had enough of being called not good enough.(set: $headline to "Construction worker murdered own mother with lead pipe")](elseif: (history:) contains "followjamesback")[By now the whacking of a pipe on a head to end a life is routine. There's no difference in this case, not even if the target is your own mother.(set: $headline to "Serial killer caught murdering own mother")] ... [[Next day's news headlines|newspaper]]As you help Mark into the operating room, you try to convince yourself that the deaths of the patients in the study was because of incompetent surgeons. After all, they're not as good as you are. If there's anyone who can pull off this complicated procedure, it's you. As the anesthesiologist begins to sedate Mark, you recall Mr. Freeman's words from that review session years ago. "don't be afraid to experiment", he had said. Well, since this is an experimental procedure, it won't hurt if you try to [[improve it a bit|operateexperiment]], right? After all, you're so much more experienced than those researchers who were fresh out of medical school. No. You promised Mark's wife that you'll do the experimental procedure she'd heard about; what if she finds out you'd made changes? She might not agree and stop recommending you; you'll lose your clients and your fame. (if: $testscore2 is 1 and (not (((history:) contains "takechocolate") or ((history:) contains "kickdog"))))[[[better stick to the original procedure|operategood]]](else:)[[[better stick to the original procedure|operateoriginal]]]Diseases are funny things. They might not progress for years, then suddenly strike. That was the case with Mark: two days after he left your clinic, his condition started to rapidly degrade. Within a week he was dead. The gossip magazines, eager to find out the last week of the life of the young billionaire, discovered that you, the most famous doctor in the country, had declined to save his life, instead choosing to save your own reputation. (set: $headline to "Famous Doctor Refused To Save Life of Billionare") [[you already knew what the headlines would say.|newspaper]]You insert the first two stents into Mark's brain. His blood pressure is normal; no sign of hemorrhaging. Good. Now, you ask for two more stents. The nurse gives you a puzzling look, but hands them to you just the same. You know that the study avoided placing more than two stents because of high risk, even though in theory the most stents placed, the more effective the treatment. But you can pull this off. One more stent in place. Normal vitals. One last stent. Suddenly the heart monitor beeps loudly. The anesthesiologist shouts, "I can't keep the blood pressure stable!" You know why blood pressure's decreasing: blood is spouting from Mark's brain like an open faucet. As the heart monitor settles to a steady beep indicating no signs of life, (if: ((history:) contains "kickdog") or ((history:) contains "feed the chocolate"))[you recall your helpless puppy lying in a pile on the floor. Amidst the chaos, ]you allow yourself to think of what the news headlines tomorrow would do to your reputation. (set: $headline to "Famous Doctor Murders Billionare With 'Surgery Experiment'") [[your fears are confirmed the next day.|newspaper]] You insert the first stent into Mark's brain. His blood pressure is normal; no sign of hemorrhaging. Good. Unlike the doctors from the study, you have the skills to successfully perform this operation. One more stent. Suddenly the heart monitor beeps loudly. The anesthesiologist shouts, "I can't keep the blood pressure stable!" You know why blood pressure's decreasing: blood is spouting from Mark's brain like an open faucet. As the heart monitor settles to a steady beep indicating no signs of life, (if: ((history:) contains "kickdog") or ((history:) contains "feed the chocolate"))[you remember your helpless puppy lying in a pile on the floor. Amidst the chaos, ]you allow yourself to think of what the news headlines tomorrow would do to your reputation. (set: $headline to "Famous Doctor Kills Billionare With Risky Unproven Treatment") [[your fears are confirmed the next day.|newspaper]] You unlatch the briefcase, pulls out your flashlight, and peers inside. "Wow." you heard yourself say. Inside were stacked wads of 100 dollar bills, filling the briefcase. That's all. No identifcation, personal effects, nothing. You've never seen this much money in one place before. With this much money, nobody would be able to say you're not good enough. (if: ((history:) contains "kickdog") or ((history:) contains "feed the chocolate"))[You'll be able to take revenge on all those who doubted you.](else:)[You'll be able to go back to school and get a second chance at life.] You start walking towards the lift to [[leave the worksite]] with the briefcase. But wait. Shouldn't you [[take the money to your boss]]? After all, (if: ((history:) contains "kickdog") or ((history:) contains "feed the chocolate"))[he would probably want a cut of it.](else:)[it's just not right taking ill-gotten money.] (if: $pg13 is false)[Or maybe, since you're going to the lift anyways, it's time to [[go up a few levels]] and do the thing you've been longing to these past few months.]How were you supposed to know that federal agents were waiting outside the gate of the construction site, waiting to tackle and arrest the person who held the briefcase? Or to know that the briefcase of cash is part of a sting operation to uncover your boss' connection to the mafia? Nobody's smart enough to figure that out, you know. This isn't your fault. Still, in the small jail cell, you can't help but think that, if you were only a bit smarter, a bit better, you could've been rich instead of spending the rest of your life in this cell. (set: $headline to "Gang Influence Growing: Construction Worker Caught Aiding Mafia") [[You remember what the newspapers called you when you were arrested.|newspaper]]How were you supposed to know that federal agents were waiting for your boss to receive the money in his office? That they would arrest everyone in the room as soon you handed the cash to the boss, confident that you were in on the boss' scheme? Or to know that the briefcase of cash's part of a sting operation to uncover your boss' connection to the mafia? Nobody's smart enough to figure that out, you know. This isn't your fault. Still, in the small jail cell, you can't help but think that, if you were only a bit smarter, a bit better, you could've been rich instead of spending the rest of your life in this cell. (set: $headline to "Gang Influence Growing: Construction Worker Caught Aiding Mafia") [[you remember what the newspapers called you when you were arrested.|newspaper]]You've seen a lot of the explosives technician these past few weeks. You've seen the fancy equipment that you'll never be able to operate, the handsome uniform and name tag that shows that he is of a higher-paid class of contractor compared to you and your highvis vest, and his smartphone that constantly beeps with new job opportunities you only dream of. (text-colour: "rgba(0,0,0,0)")[And his name is JOHN CENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA] Most importantly, you've seen where he stores his explosives and blasting caps. Well, those caps will serve a different purpose today. After all, if you can't walk off with all that money in the briefcase, nobody here will. Nobody here will be better than you this time. Not when they're all crushed under tonnes of concrete and rebar. You take a few blasting caps and packs of explosives, head to the main support pillar, and, holding the explosives in one hand, push down the piston on the detonator with the other. (set: $headline to "Suicidal worker sabotages construction with explosives, all on-site killed") [[You won't be there to see the headlines tomorrow.|newspaper]]You stuff the contents of the cash register into a bag. You remember your mother warning you not to take the chocolate from the table. Well, you're taking a lot more than chocolate these days. (set: $tookmoney to true) [[continue|robbery]]An old woman and two young boys wearing matching "Go Diego Go" t-shirts sat huddled against the back wall, iike puppies(if: (history:) contains "feed the chocolate")[ sensing death in the air](elseif: (history:) contains "kickdog")[ bracing themselves for a kicking](elseif: (history:) contains "petdog")[ realizing the stranger is not here to pet them]. Might as well [[killstoreroom<-clean up the storeroom]]. [[Return|robbery]]A bullet is one of the easier ways to end a life.(if: (history:) contains "feed the chocolate")[Much faster than feeding chocolate to the victim, not that chocolate would work in this case.] You pull the trigger, there was a "bang", and the convenience store is liberated from its owner. Simple. (set: $shotowner to true) [[Continue|robbery]]You run out of the store, jump into your getaway car, and was miles away from the scene before you hear the faintest sound of police sirens. Better than James on his skateboard, huh? (if: ($shotowner is not true) and ($shotfamily is not true) and ($tookmoney is not true))[The investigators might be puzzled that an armed intruder would leave a store without robbing or violence, but you know why: you're just out of time. You remembered the frantic run through that forest when you were a kid; you're smarter than that now. There will be other stores, and you still have a gun.(set:$robberyname to "Failed Robbery")](elseif: ($tookmoney is not true))[The investigators will be surprised when they discover that no money was taken from the dead victims, but you know that money can be taken from everywhere. Good violence is harder to come by.(set: $robberyname to "Wanton Killing")](elseif: ($shotowner is not true) and ($shotfamily is not true) and ($tookmoney is true))[Other people might consider sparing the owner and the family to be mercy, but you were just saving time. You remembered the frantic run through that forest when you were a kid; since then you vowed to never be persued like that again.(set: $robberyname to "Robbery")](else:)[You congratulate yourself for another violence-filled robbery. You like spilling blood, ever since you discovered how liberating it is to just leave Mark in the forest without looking back.(set: $robberyname to "Killing and Robbery")] (set: $headline to $robberyname + " Stuns Small Town") The next day, still on the run, you happen to see [[the headlines on the news|newspaper]].Three bullets, three bangs, three pools of blood. Pity the bullets are so expensive. That's going to cut into the money you'll get out of this. The investigators won't figure out who did this: they never do. After all, they never found out why Mark was found bled to death in that forest all those years ago. (set: $shotfamily to true) [[Continue|robbery]]Before you can run away, the police busts through the door.(if: (history:) contains "skipschool")[For a second you remember running with James as the police chases you for trespassing - but no. This time it's no mere trespassing, and you can't run fast enough to evade the police now preparing for a takedown.] The police tackles you to the ground: as you struggle to breathe, you now know what a puppy feels(if: (history:) contains "feed the chocolate")[as it twitches to try to escape death](elseif: (history:) contains "kickdog")[ as it braces itself for a kicking](else:)[ when it expected a treat but got a slap instead]. (set: $headline to "Armed Robbery Attempt Foiled By Police") [[You see the headline next morning in your jail cell.|newspaper]]You insert the first stent into Mark's brain. His blood pressure is normal; no sign of hemorrhaging. Good. Unlike the doctors from the study, you have the skills to successfully perform this operation. One more stent. You suddenly feel a wave of fear: what if you're wrong? For someone who has spent your entire life knowing that you're right, it's a strange feeling to doubt yourself for the first time since... a long time ago, back in 7th grade? Back then, you decided whether to face your fears to help a friend get into a good program or to escape from what you thought was going to be the test to end all tests. You chose to help your friend, and you were right. Now, you're choosing to help your friend again, and it'll be all right. The second stent reaches its final position, the heart monitor still displaying normal vitals. You breathe a sigh of relief. [[a week later|operategood_after]]Mark greets you with a smile on his hospital bed. "Thank you for your expertise. I'm feeling much better now." His speech is almost back to normal now - even the complex vocabulary is returning. "Thank you for doing this for me.", he whispered You didn't have the heart to tell him that for curing him, you were slapped with a permanent ban on practicing medicine. You're still having trouble believing that it's all over: no more lines of adoring patients, no more TV apperances as the expert in your field. No more being right all the time. Was it worth it? Perhaps it was worth it for a friend. (if: (history:) contains "petdog")[And perhaps the universe will give you a pat on the back.] (set: $headline to "Famous Doctor Caught Using Unapproved Treatment in Violation of Federal Law") [[Still, it's hard not to look back on the headline that ended your career|newspaper]]A week later, you find yourself staring at yet another exam. This one is far more difficult than the other one, and you have trouble making out what some of the questions mean. (set:$testscore2 to 0) ### Social Studies, Science, and Math Advanced Cumulative Multiple Choice Term Test Name: ______ Date: ______ Score: _____ 1. According to “Controlling 64 Bit Architectures and Write-Ahead Logging with EEL,” why must XML work? a) (link:"Symmetric encryption can be applied to the visualization of B-trees")[(set: $testscore2 to $testscore2 + 1)(goto:"advancedtest_q2")] b) [[Asymmetric encryption can be used to balance BFS-trees|advancedtest_q2]] c) [[Write ahead logging is used in the production of multi-level page tables, which allows for efficient creation of a Java tree.|advancedtest_q2]] d) [[Hackers use superpages to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio of EEL, which is a function of signal-to-noise ratio.|advancedtest_q2]]2) According to Nietzsche, what doe a blah need to do to become an Ubermensch? a) [[Choose master morality over slave morality by setting the jumper on your IDE drive in order to exchange truths for illusions|advancedtest_q3]] b) [[Find the spell of reality that creates this vulgar and vast perspective and run spell check upon it|advancedtest_q3]] c) [[Love your enemies and hate your friends in equal measure where the measure, k, is a function of partial pressures|advancedtest_q3]] d) [[Remove causality, correctness, and expression between spheres until only aesthetic relations remain|advancedtest_q3]]3) Given that mumble mumble is mumble, what is the radius of the earth? a) [[10000km|advancedtest_q4]] b) [[6,731,000,000,000mm|advancedtest_q4]] c) [[4096m|advancedtest_q4]] d) [[MINECRAFT|advancedtest_q4]]4. Given that the blah blah is blah blah, what is the blah blah blah of 5? a) [[Blah|advancedtest_finish]] b) [[Blah blah|advancedtest_finish]] c) [[Mumble|advancedtest_finish]] d) [[I DON'T EVEN|advancedtest_finish]]You hand in your test, confident that you've failed miserably on the test. Sure enough, after half a week, Mr. Freeman returns the test with bad news written on the header: "Score: (print: $testscore2)/4" [[Oh, well, at least you did your best.|scene5]]