Warm darkness comfortingly surrounds you. The shell of your egg curling around you like a hug as you cuddle there. Eventually you feel a need, to move, to explore, to hatch. You start pushing & kicking against the hard shell around you & soon a crack appears in the shell. You pause for a moment to rest, before you start pushing against the shell again. The crack slowly expands around the entire & soon it has extended all the way around the entire shel, splitting it in half.
You raise your head out of your shell for the first time to look around, but the top half of the shell still blocks your view of the world around you.
[[Knock the shell off & look around.|Map-Meso-heatpan]]
(display: "agent-intialize")
{
(set: $Invlemon to 'lemon(set: $FoundNoms to "$InvlemonD")')
(set: $InvlemonD to 'The fruit is pointed on both ends & bright yellow. It smells quite nice as well.(set: $EatNoms to "$Eatenlemon")
[Eat food.]<EatNoms| (click: "Eat food.")[(replace: ?FindNoms)[$EatNoms]]')
(set: $Eatenlemon to 'This lemon is tart enough to make your eyes water.')
(set: $EatenLemonS to 'You feel a little bit better after eating the lemon.')
(set: $Invjustanut to 'justanut(set: $FoundNoms to "$InvjustanutD")')
(set: $InvjustanutD to 'The nut looks rather oddly shaped, but it smells just like a nut.(set: $EatNoms to "$Eatenjustanut")
[Eat food.]<EatNoms| (click: "Eat food.")[(replace: ?FindNoms)[$EatNoms]]')
(set: $Eatenjustanut to 'That was tasty & filling nut.')
(set: $Invtuba to 'tuba(set: $FoundNoms to "$InvtubaD")')
(set: $InvtubaD to 'It looks like a stone laying on a cluster of leaves. Is it really edible?(set: $EatNoms to "$Eatentuba")
[Eat food.]<EatNoms| (click: "Eat food.")[(replace: ?FindNoms)[$EatNoms]]')
(set: $Eatentuba to 'It may not look like much, but it was yummy & energizing.')
(set: $InvBrberry to 'bramble berry(set: $FoundNoms to "$InvBrberryD")')
(set: $BrberryEating to '(set: $EatNoms to "$EatenBrberry")
[Eat food.]<EatNoms| (click: "Eat food.")[(replace: ?FindNoms)[$EatNoms]]')
(set: $InvBrberryD to "This (either: 'red', 'pink', 'orange', 'yellow', 'green', 'light blue', 'blue', 'dark blue', 'lavender', 'purple', 'ivory') colored cluster of berries smells quite yummy.$BrberryEating")
(set: $EatenBrberry to '(either: "That berry was so sweet & tasty! Are there any more?", "That berry was rather bland.", "That berry was rather tart.", "You feel kind of sick, was that berry rotten?")')
(set: $InvExnuts to 'explodonuts')
(set: $InvExnutsD to '(either: "This large nut just fell from the ceiling. It looks tasty.", "There are two nuts on the floor, you flinch as one of them explodes with surprising force. Maybe you should eat one of these explodonuts when they are not overripe.")')
(set: $EatenEXnuts to '(either: "That nut was rather spicy tasting.", "The taste cant really be described as explosive, but it is nutty.", "As you reach for the nut, it explodes with a loud boom! The pieces are flying everywhere.")')
(set: $InvDSCarrot to 'carrot')
(set: $InvDSCarrotD to 'The dark green leaves contrast so nicely with the dark orange of the root.')
(set: $EatenDSCarrot to 'This carrot is so cruchy & tasty.')
(set: $InvYarnFruit to 'yarn fruit')
(set: $InvYarnFruitD to 'This green fruit seems rather... stringy.')
(set: $EatenYarnFruit to 'It may look stringy, but it is very tasty.')
(set: $InvStarseed to 'starseed')
(set: $InvStarseedD to '(either: "These seeds seem rather pointy.", "These seeds are shaped like tiny brown stars.")')
(set: $EatenStarseed to '(either: "Your tummy feels much fuller after eating that yummy seed.", "You wonder if this is what stars taste like.")')
(set: $InvPeakingPie to 'Peaking Pie')
(set: $InvPeakingPieD to '(either: "This pie looks strange, it is purple!", "This pie looks like a small purple mound.", "The icing on top of this purple pie smells so sweet.")')
(set: $EatenPeakingPie to '(either: "That pie tasted as sweet as it smelled.", "That was yummy.", "That pie was too sweet for you.")')
(set: $InvRobot to 'robot')
(set: $InvRobotD to 'The arms & legs of this robot look very bendy.')
(set: $PlayRobot1 to 'The robot jumps forward when you push it.')
(set: $playRobot2 to 'The robot spins in place when you touch it.')
(set: $slapstinger to 'Foolishly, you touch one of the buzzing insects. It stings you and flies away. You dont feel well.')
(set: $Trappers1 to "This is a very interesting plant, shaped like an open mouth. You wonder what it feels like. You reach out to touch it, half expecting it to snap shut, but you are fine. The plant's flesh is hard, with a collection of seeds inside.")
(set: $Trappers2 to 'A buzzing insect flies into one of the mouth-like plants, and is devoured!')
(set: $TrappersR to '(either: "$Trappers1", "$Trappers2")')
(set: $C1carrotpatch to 'You find a patch of carrots growing in the ground. The leaves on these carrots are bright green & kind of grass like.(set: $FoundNoms to "$C1carrotpatchEat")')
(set: $C1carrotpatchEat to '(either: "You pull one out and bite into it. It tastes bland and starchy.", "You pull one out and bite into it with a great crunching sound. It tastes bland and starchy.", "You pull one out and drop it. It bounces a few times like a ball. You pick it up and decide to eat it this time. Yum, rubbery!")')
(set: $C2carrotpatch to 'You find a patch of carrots growing in the ground. The leaves on these carrots are dark green & kind of thin & grass like.(set: $FoundNoms to "$C2carrotpatchEat")')
(set: $C2carrotpatchEat to '(either: "With great difficulty, you pull one out and bite into it. It is juicy and tastes starchy but with some flavor.", "With great difficulty, you pull one out and bite into it. It is juicy and crunchy, and tastes starchy but with some flavor.")')
(set: $C3carrotpatch to "It's cold here. You find a patch of carrots growing in the ground. (set: $FoundNoms to '$C3carrotpatchEat')")
(set: $C3carrotpatchEat to "You pull one out and bite into it. It's quite soft and tastes a little buttery.")
(set: $Icecarrotpatch to "It's very cold here! You see a patch of carrots growing in the snow. The leaves are blue & a little transparent.(set: $FoundNoms to '$IcecarrotpatchEat')")
(set: $IcecarrotpatchEat to "You pull one out and bite into it, making your teeth hurt. As you eat the carrot, you shiver, but it's tasty!")
(set: $InvStripedBall to 'a small, striped ball')
(set: $InvStripedBallD to 'You see a small, striped ball. It looks bouncy. [Play Ball.]<Play| (click: "Play Ball.")[(replace: ?Play)[(either: "$InvStripedBallGet", "$InvStripedBallPlay")]]')
(set: $InvStripedBallGet to 'You pick up the ball. It feels smooth and bouncy. You are tempted to slam dunk it on ground to see how high it can go, but you decide against it.')
(set: $InvStripedBallPlay to '(either: "You pick up the ball and bounce it on the floor. It bounces in place a few times before coming to a stop. You feel oddly satisfied by this.", "You try to bounce the ball, but it is bouncier than you expect. It bounces out of your paws, across the floor, and before you can catch up to it, into a small pool of water nearby. Oh well.")')
(set: $DragonflyActions to '[Play with the dragonfly.]<Play| (click: "Play with the dragonfly.")[(replace: ?Play)[$DragonflyPlay]] [Eat the dragonfly.]<Eatbug| (click: "Eat the dragonfly.")[(replace: ?Eatbug)[$DragonflyEat]]')
(set: $PLANTs to '(either: "bramboo", "reeds", "lotus flowers", "cattails", "waterlily flowers", "justanut bushes", "starseed trees", "lemon trees")')
(set: $DragonflySighted to "There are lots of green bugs with translucent wings flying around. Some of them are crawling up the sides of $PLANTs.
$DragonflyActions")
(set: $DragonflyPlay to 'You catch a dragonfly. It flutters inside your hands and tickles, before you decide to let it go. The dragonfly flies away.')
(set: $DragonflyEat to 'This dragonfly tastes bad and is squishy and crunchy - gross, but it fills you up.')
(set: $ACBeetleActions to '[Play with the beetle.]<Play| (click: "Play with the beetle.")[(replace: ?Play)[$AlbianCarrotBeetlePlay]] [Eat the beetle.]<Eatbug| (click: "Eat the beetle.")[(replace: ?Eatbug)[$AlbianCarrotBeetleEat]]')
(set: $AlbianCarrotBeetle to "You see colorful bugs in the carrot patch. You worry they're going to eat all the carrots, but they sure are pretty.
$ACBeetleActions")
(set: $AlbianCarrotBeetlePlay to 'You (either: "kick", "poke", "push", "hit") the carrot beetle. That was fun! It screeches.')
(set: $AlbianCarrotBeetleEat to '(either: "This bug is full of protein. The meat is delicious and tender.", "Crunch, crunch. This bug is full of protein. It would not be so bad if only you had taken the shell off. Silly you.")')
(set: $LookInaObj to '(either: "This is a waste of time.", "This is boring.", "...", "Dont you have anything better to do than look at this?")')
(set: $SnotrockFind to "This strange animal... or is it a plant? You can't tell. Well, it has a hard, cream-colored shell, with green, spider-like limbs. It has nubs on its back in the same color.")
(set: $SnotrockLook to '(either: "The snotrock scuttles about in search of food. It finds a tuba and promptly devours it. Hey! You could have eaten that!", "The snotrock finds another snotrock. One flops over on its back and the other sits on top of it, resembling a nut with grass growing out of it. Eventually, they break away, revealing a third, smaller snotrock. One of the parents runs off with the baby, leaving you with a lone snotrock.", "The snotrock walks around for a bit, then lays down and dies. It begins to dawn on you that everything you just wasted three turns of your life watching may have been a colossal waste of time. $SnotrockDead")')
(set: $SnotrockDead to "(if: $PCToxic is 'yes')[Oh, well. You now have some delicious generic detritus.](else:)[The snotrock's decomposing remains are highly unappealing.]")
(set: $SnotrockHit to 'You give the snotrock a good smack. Startled, it runs away.')
(set: $SnotrrockEat to "(if: $PCToxic is 'yes')[You pick up the snotrock and gnaw on it. Nothing much happens. Determined to eat this creature, you persevere, eventually breaking open the shell and devouring the insides. Tastes like a tuba. You feel a bit ill after eating this.](else:)[You pick up the snotrock and gnaw on it. Nothing much happens. Determined to eat this creature, you persevere, eventually breaking open the shell and devouring the insides. Tastes like a tuba.]")
(set: $SnotrockPush to 'You poke the snotrock. Startled, it runs away.')
(set: $SnotrockPull to "You pull one of the snotrock's legs. Startled, it runs away.")
(set: $SnotrockGet to "You pick up the snotrock. It struggles to get out of your hands. The feeling of its legs flailing against your hands is somehow calming.")
(set: $SnotrockDrop to "That's enough of that. You drop the snotrock. The terrified critter makes a mad dash for the nearest place to hide.")
(set: $RandomEvents to 'A small, white dog runs past you before you have a chance to interact with it.')
(set: $GenericDetritusFind to "This is something rotten. (if: $PCToxic is 'yes')[Looks yummy.](else:)[Ew.]")
(set: $GenericDetritusHit to 'You smack the detritus. Nothing happens.')
(set: $GenericDetritusPush to 'You poke the detritus. Nothing happens.')
(set: $GenericDetritusPull to 'You pull on the detritus. Nothing happens.')
(set: $GenericDetritusGet to "You pick up the detritus. It's cold, possibly slimy depending on its age.")
(set: $GenericDetritusDrop to 'You drop the detritus.')
(set: $GenericDetritusEat to "You eat the detritus. (if: $PCToxic is 'yes')[This should be disgusting, but with the type of creature you are, it's quite tasty.](else:)[That's disgusting. Stop it before you get sick.]")
}
Warm heat seeps up through the floor & into your feet as you stand in the heatpan. It sits a bit lower than the rest of the floor in front of you. The walls around you are brown & arch high above your head. The wall behind you is covered with clear bluish tubes & there are odd shaped things above you. The walls to your sides are covered with huge windows that go almost from the floor, almost all the way up to the ceiling. Through the windows you can see a forest of tall thin plants. In one spot a window seems to be broken, some of those plants are poking through it. Not far from you is a small toy [[robot]].
What do you do?
[[Climb out of the Egg Pan.|Map-Meso-middle-level]] [[Climb through the hole in the window.|Map-Bramboo-forest-Entrance]] [[Walk toward the wall behind you.|Wallbonk-heatpan]]
There is something huge & green just in front of the heatpan. You aren't sure what it is, but it is very noisy. It gurgles all the time. It's foot is almost as big as you are & it twitches every so often. A long tail stretches out behind it & not far past that, the wall ends & you can see more clearly into the forest behind it. In the floor is a big hole, as long as you are careful, you don't think you'll fall through it. Just on the other side of the hole is a dark blue button standing on two twisted tentacles. Standing right behind the blue button is a large blobby brown thing with three buttons on it. Only a few steps away from that is a metallic looking door.
[[Go to the Egg Pan.|Map-Meso-heatpan]] [[Push the button.|Meso-Elevator-button]] [[Investigate the vendor.|Empathetic-Vender]] [[Push the door.|Meso-door-leaving-meso]] [[Enter the forest.|Bramboo-Forest-explore]]
To one side of the hole for the elevator, the edge of the ground just drops away, showing the ground far below. To the other side of the elevator hole, is the button for summoning the elevator. Just beyond the button, is some type of odd looking brown pod with a glass dome. Behind the pod you see several trees that look thick & twisted with age. There are even mushrooms growing on some of them. Those mushrooms look quite hard though.
Just past that grove of trees you see another pod. This one is much redder & is taller. On the far side of the red pod right next to where the ceiling curves down to meet the floor, seems to be some type of large & bizaar looking musical insturment.
[[Push the elevator button.|Meso-Elevator-button]] [[Investigate the brown pod.|Justanut-vendor]] [[Investigate the red pod.|Lemon-vendor]] [[Play with the insturment.|Musicola]]
The ground beneathe your feet is sandy & as you look around you can see strange looking machines on both ends of the room. One with a blue screen, the other with several glass bubbles. Next to the one with the blue screen is an familiar looking button. On the other side of the room is a reddish pod with a large glass dome. On the ceiling you can see a [[large glass globe|Stinger-pod]] covered in vines and some other [[strange looking plants|Grassy-Knoll]] as well.
[[Investigate the blue screen.|Learning-Machine]] [[Investigate the big pod.|Commedia-pod]] [[Investigate the reddish pod.|Carrot-pod]] [[Push the elevator button.|Meso-Elevator-button]]
Double-click this passage to edit it.
[[Push Meso door|Meso-door-leaving-meso]] [[Push Comm room door|Comm-room-door]] [[Push Workshop door|Workshop-door]]
Double-click this passage to edit it.
[[Push door|Comm-room-door]]
Double-click this passage to edit it.
[[Push door|Workshop-door]]
Double-click this passage to edit it.
Double-click this passage to edit it.
You step into the metallic pod & push a button. The button starts to glow & behind you the front of the pod closes. You hear the roar of the rockets & the pod starts moving. When it stops the front of the pod opens & lets you step out.
You push aside the long stem of Bramboo & carefully step through the hole in the glass. You find yourself surrounded by a forest of tall slender plants. The air smells sweet & earthy with the occassion hint of flowers. The leaves surrounding you sway in the breeze from the air vents.
[[Explore the forest.|Bramboo-Forest-explore]] [[Find your way out of the forest.|Bramboo-Forest-Random-Exit]]
You push the dark blue button & it turns green. Suddenly you hear a loud noise, moments later you see the glow of blue rockets as a huge metallic pod comes to a stop, resting in the hole in the floor next to you. The front of the pod opens revealing more buttons & glowing tubes inside.
What is that strange looking critter sitting on top of it?
Do you want to go to the [[top floor|Map-Meso-top-level]], the [[middle floor|Map-Meso-middle-level]] or the [[bottom floor|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]?
This large blob like vendor seems to have a couple different shades of brown on it & it is tall, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Vines grow around the top of it. Closer to the ground are three buttons. The top button has a picture of a brown star shaped seed. The middle button has some type of long green fruit on it. The bottom button has something purple & sweet looking on it.
[[Push the top button|Starseed-button]] [[Push the middle button|Yarnfruit-button]] [[Push the bottom button|Peaking-Pie-button]]
[[Walk away from the vendor|Map-Meso-middle-level]]
(set: $MesoDoorlock to 'locked')
(if: $MesoDoorlock is 'locked')[No matter how much you push the door, it won't open. It seems to be locked. (display: "Map-Meso-middle-level")]
(else:)[The door lifts open in a big flash of light!(display: "Map-capillata")]
Double-click this passage to edit it.
Double-click this passage to edit it.
(display: (either: "Map-Bramboo forest1", "Map-Bramboo forest2", "Map-Bramboo forest3", "Map-Bramboo forest lake1"))
(display: "Random-encounters")
(display: "Food-Search")
[[Keep exploring the forest.|Bramboo-Forest-explore]] [[Find your way out of the forest.|Bramboo-Forest-Random-Exit]]
(either: 'You walk against the wall. It hurts.', 'You almost get tangled in the tubes.')
[[Walk toward the wall.|Wallbonk-heatpan]] [[Turn away from the wall.|Map-Meso-heatpan]]
As you want through the brambood forest, sees occasionally fall and (either: 'just miss you.', 'hit you on the head. Ow!', 'hit you on the shoulder. Ow!')
(either: 'A hole on the side of the vendor opens & spews out a small pile of starseeds!', 'The empathic vendor vends seeds shaped like stars, you wonder what they taste like.')
[$InvStarseedD Do you eat the seeds?]<Eatseed| (click: "eat the seeds")[(replace: ?Eatseed)[$EatenStarseed]]
[[Walk away from the vendor.|Map-Meso-middle-level]] [[Push a different button.|Empathetic-Vender]] [[Push the button again.|Starseed-button]]
A hole on the side of the vendor opens & spews out a small pile of yarn fruit! They smell delicious!
[$InvYarnFruitD Do you eat the fruit?]<EatYfruit| (click: "eat the fruit")[(replace: ?EatYfruit)[$EatenYarnFruit]]
[[Walk away from the vendor|Map-Meso-middle-level]] [[Push a different button.|Empathetic-Vender]] [[Push the button again.|Yarnfruit-button]]
A hole on the side of the vendor opens & spews out a small pile of Peaking Pies! The icing on the top smells so sweet!
[$InvPeakingPieD Do you eat the pie?]<Eatpie| (click: "eat the pie")[(replace: ?Eatpie)[$EatenPeakingPie]]
[[Walk away from the vendor|Map-Meso-middle-level]] [[Push the Vendor again.|Empathetic-Vender]] [[Push the button again.|Peaking-Pie-button]]
It looks like there is a small shrub covered with seeds growing inside of this pod. When pushed a small greenish tube near the bottom of the nut vendor bulges & spits out a single nut.
[$InvjustanutD Do you eat the seed?]<Eatseed| (click: "eat the seed")[(replace: ?Eatseed)[$Eatenjustanut]]
[[Walk away from the vendor.|Map-Meso-top-level]] [[Push the vendor again.|Justanut-vendor]]
There looks to be a small tree growing inside of this one. The leaves are a dark green & there are yellow fruits growing on the tree. When pushed a tube on the side of the red pod shoots out a fruit. It lands right next to your feet.
[$InvlemonD Do you eat the fruit?]<Eatfruit| (click: "eat the fruit")[(replace: ?Eatfruit)[$Eatenlemon]]
[[Walk away from the vendor|Map-Meso-top-level]] [[Push the vendor|Lemon-vendor]]
The base of the insturment bulges out, making it almost as wide as the red pod next to it. On the side closest to the wall is a set of four drums. Curling around the top of the bulge like a necklace are a set of ivory & black keys. Resting on the very top of the insturment are a set of brass tubs & a tower of silver cymbols.
[[Walk away from the musicola.|Map-Meso-top-level]] [[Push a button.|Musicola-Music]]
When you push one of the buttons on the side of the musicola, (either: 'the drums on the side start playing on their own!', 'the tower of cymbols starts moving & clanging!', 'the horns on top start making weird noises.', 'the keys around the top start moving on their own & playing weird noises.', 'all the insturments start playing together!')
[[Push the button again!|Musicola-Music]] [[Walk away from the musicola|Map-Meso-top-level]]
(if: $HLMactivated is 'yes')[This blue screen on the wall is very hypnotic. Even though you know what it does now, you're still overcome with a desire to push it.]
(else:)[This blue screen on the wall is very hypnotic. You don't know what it does, but you're overcome with a desire to push it.]
[[Push the screen|activate-learning-machine]] [[Walk away from the screen|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]
There are several glass domes on this strange huge pod. Inside one of the domes, you see a green blob. Inside the other glass dome, you see a swirl of bubbles. Sometimes the bubbles change shape into something else before bursting back into bubbles.
No matter how much you push the pod, nothing seems to happen. Maybe it's broken?
[[Walk away from the pod.|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]
Dirt fills the bottom of this pod & you can see quite a few carrots growing inside of it. A brown bag on the side of the pod inflates & deflates, pumping air in & out of the pod. You can see the leaves of the carrots moving in that tiny breeze. When you push the pod, it spews out a single carrot.
[$InvDSCarrotD Do you eat the root?]<Eatroot| (click: "eat the root")[(replace: ?Eatroot)[$EatenDSCarrot]]
[[Push the vendor again.|Carrot-pod]] [[Leave the pod alone.|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]
You look up to find a large, translucent sphere above you, it seems to contain a nest with several buzzing insects.
(set: $chance to (random: 1, 5)) (if: $chance > 3)[(either: "Some of the buzzing insects from that sphere have gotten out. You hope they're not dangerous.", "A buzzing insect appears seemingly from nowhere and stings you! You slap it, and it dies, but you don't feel well.")]
[[Keep watching the nest.|Stinger-pod]] [[Wander around somemore.|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]
There's plants growing from the ceiling, they're knolls, and they're grassy... they must be grassy knolls. Some kind of nuts are growing from these plants.
(set: $chance to (random: 1, 5)) (if: $chance > 3)[ [$InvExnutsD Do you eat the nut?]<Eatnut| (click: "eat the nut")[(replace: ?Eatnut)[$EatenEXnuts]] ]
[[Keep watching the knolls.|Grassy-Knoll]] [[Wander around somemore.|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]
The tall stems of bramboo sway as you push past them as you walk deeper into the forest. They stretch so far above you that you loose sight of the tops in the green shadows.
You push your way through the bramboo & into a small clearing. There are flowers growing on some of the bramboo stalks. (either: 'You hear the buzz of stingers as they fly through the forest.', 'You see a pair of butterflies dancing from flower to flower.', 'You see a snotrock scurring along the forest floor in search of tubas.')
Suddenly the bramboo forest ends & you find yourself at the edge of a small lake. The light reflecting off the water is very bright after the shadows of the forest. (either: 'The surface of the water ripples as something swims by.', 'There is a loud splash as something jumps out of the water.', 'The lake seems very peaceful today.', "You see a beautiful rainbow! It doesn't do anything, but it's nice to look at. Your mood improves considerably.")
(set: $CloudsoftheGods to "(either: 'You see a cloud floating over the lake.', 'Pale clouds drift over the lake, casting shadows on the water.')")
(set: $chance to (random: 1, 5))(if: $chance > 2)[$CloudsoftheGods (click: "cloud")[(either: "You stretch an arm towards the cloud. Try as you might, you can't reach it. You feel a sense of satisfaction anyway.", "You stretch an arm towards the cloud, hoping to push it somehow. Just when you imagine you accomplished doing so, the cloud lets loose a dramatic lightning bolt! Luckily, its path avoided you. Was that a coincidence? Maybe you should avoid doing that from now on...")]]
You walk up to the blue screen, and push it. A beam appears, surrounding you with light and lifting you off your feet! You feel an odd but pleasant sensation coursing through your body as you are filled with knowledge in the form of high-pitched sounds that your brain somehow translates into new words for objects. The machine drops you gently, and you realize you can now communicate with... well, you're not sure who, exactly, since you seem to be the only one around.
This blue screen on the wall is very hypnotic. Even though you know what it does now, you're still overcome with a desire to push it.
(set: $HLMactivated to 'yes')
[[Push it again|activate-HLM-again]] [[Walk away from the screen|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]
You already know everything the blue-screened learning machine can teach, but you just can't resist pushing it again - after all, who doesn't want to levitate in mid-air every once in a while?
[[Push it again|activate-HLM-again]] [[Walk away from the screen|Map-Meso-bottom-level]]
The body of the robot is rather blocky, & so it the head. There is a single antenna sticking out of it's head. The arms & legs of this robot look very bendy.
[[Push the robot.|PlayRobot]] [[Leave the robot alone.|Map-Meso-heatpan]]
(either: 'The robot jumps forward when you push it.', 'The robot spins in place when you touch it.', 'The antenna goes boing when you flick it.')
[[Push the robot again.|PlayRobot]] [[Leave the robot alone.|Map-Meso-heatpan]]
You find a wall with glass windows stopping the edge of the forest from spreading any further. One of the windows has a [[hole|Bramboo-window-exit]] in it. Some of the bramboo have grown through the hole. That will make it hard to repair the window. You can feel a lot of heat coming from beyond those windows.
[[Change your mind & explore some more.|Bramboo-Forest-explore]]
You push aside the bramboo stems & leaves as you crawl through the hole in the window.
(display: "Map-Meso-heatpan")
(display: (either: "Map-Bramboo forest edge", "Bramboo-Forest-Wall-Exit") )
You find your way to the wall that marks the edge of the forest. Following the wall you finally find your way back to the meso.
(display: "Map-Meso-middle-level")
You peer around the edge of the wall & see a huge forest of bramboo. It grows as far as your eyes can see.
[[Explore the Bramboo forest.|Bramboo-Forest-explore]] [[Return to the Meso.|Map-Meso-middle-level]]
(set: $BuzzR to '(either: "Some of the buzzing insects from that nest in the meso have gotten out. You hope they are not dangerous.", "A buzzing insect appears seemingly from nowhere and stings you! You slap it, and it dies, but you do not feel well.")')
(either: "$TrappersR ", "$InvStripedBallD", "$DragonflySighted", "$AlbianCarrotBeetle", "$SnotrockFind", "$SnotrockLook", "$RandomEvents", "$BuzzR")
{(set: $RandomNoms to "As you look around you find (either: 'a $Invlemon', 'a $Invjustanut', 'a $Invtuba', 'a $InvBrberry') laying on the ground. $FoundNoms")(set: $Randomcarrotpatch to "(either: '$C1carrotpatch', '$C2carrotpatch', '$C3carrotpatch') $FoundNoms")}
[Look for food.]<FindNoms| (click: "Look for food.")[(replace: ?FindNoms)[(either: "$RandomNoms", "$Randomcarrotpatch", "There doesn't seem to be anything to eat around here.", "Everything edible around here seem to have already been eaten.", "You find some food, but it doesn't look ripe yet.") ]]