“Fascinating, eh?” says Stan.
You’re about to respond when you cough involuntarily and realise that you’re feeling quite odd. You put the glass you’ve been drinking from down, and everyone around Pauline and Catalina both look at you with strained expressions.
Make a BODY check at difficulty 15. If you succeed, turn to 308. If you fail, turn to 345.
256
“Ada, really?” says David.
If you have the codeword Cebrenia, turn immediately to 98. If not, turn to 15.
257
You tell the group that the three of you were sent to talk to Ada about urgent business.
“What sort of business?” replies one of them. “Not Crazy Moira again?”
“Apparently it’s time,” you answer, with a wink.
The guard nods back, saying, “You might need this,” passing you something and then continuing to walk past you.
Once they’ve disappeared out of view you look at what you’ve been passed and find that you are now the owner of a security badge. You turn it over in your hand and see the code on the reverse: 187432.
You continue down the corridor to its end, at which point it turns to the right to reveal a door on the left-hand wall. The three of you go through it (turn to 9).
258
You see no more movement on the screen but do recognise that the shape of one of the tallest buildings has changed; it almost looks like it has grown an extra three stories. You point it out to Catalina and ask her to have a look too. She leans in and then turns as if to say that she agrees with you, but her face suddenly fills with dread.
You never discover the reason why, because a crack on the back of your head knocks you unconscious. Before you come to, the underground complex you are in has self-destructed and your body is buried.
259
He looks at you for a moment and then nods in respect.
“That is a great idea!” he says. “They’ll never see it coming, and it simplifies our entire operation – I love it. Enjoy earth, and I’ll do exactly as you suggest.”
You climb into the private car that has pulled up to the door and get in with Pauline. As you leave, you wave goodbye fondly to Catalina and her family, and you find yourself glued to the window at the impressive sight of New Gaia receding into the distance.
The wait at the port is less enjoyable, and you are grateful to eventually board and leave the planet. After having travelled for about three hours, Pauline points out of the window at some movement against the backdrop of the darkness, and it doesn’t take you long to realise that you are helplessly witnessing the invasion of Mars.
Several hours later you find yourself incapable of removing yourself from the window, and it is only because you are staring so intently that you see the hundreds of shapes that just surrounded Mars growing in size and then suddenly hurtling past you towards earth.
You collapse back in the chair, unsure of your future other than that by the time you reach earth there will be nothing of humanity left.
260
“Ooh, nice choice!” says the colonel, handing you the weapon and a harness to strap it into.
From now on, if you are faced with having to fight multiple enemies within one section, any damage you deal to the one that you are fighting will be dealt to all enemies listed in that section.
Pleased with your choice, you leave the Navy headquarters with the others. Turn to 354.
261
You get past the security screen without too much difficulty and immediately find a few messages that must have been sent between people who work for Ada, or whatever the arrangement is here. One particularly attracts your attention.
“Dear Charles,” it reads, “Crazy Moira was almost beaten last week and she’s our star attraction. She needs strengthening – and of course we need that safe word nailed down. Try to program her to respond to her old name will you old dear? A.”
Feeling a little concerned for Crazy Moira, you leave the room (turn to 213).
262
You make your way back to the centre of New Gaia, filled with so many mixed emotions that the three of you struggle to even look at one another, let alone speak. You are relieved to be alive, pleased to have diverted the alien invasion as far as you can tell, frustrated to have let Ada get away and anxious for the future.
The Martian landscape passes you by, and a strange sense of surreal wistfulness fills your consciousness as you look back at the observatory, now on fire and filling the air around it with thick, black smoke, which is dispersing quickly as it hits the perimeter of the dome.
As you approach the city limits, the transport you are in is waved down by a group of police officers, one of whom steps forward and asks you to all step out. As you do so, the three of you are surprised to find that you are placed into handcuffs.
“Sorry about this, sir,” one of the police officers says to David. “The three of you are under arrest for the assassination of a prominent citizen of earth.” As he says it, your time with the Chief of the Martian Navy flashes into your memory and you begin to protest. “No thank you,” says the police officer, cutting you off. “I have my orders. Earth has declared war on Mars, and our only option is apparently to arrest you and send you back for public execution in New Cairo.”
No matter what any of you say, you are powerless to stop the arrest from happening and are forced into the police transport. After everything that you’ve achieved, you reflect on the irony that your destiny will be as a martyr preventing humanity from destroying itself.
263
Make a BODY check at difficulty 17. If you succeed, turn to 139. If you lose, turn to 378.
264
Make a MIND check at difficulty 14. If you succeed, turn to 281. If you fail, turn to 184.
265
David rolls his eyes as you start pulling things out of the cupboards, leaving a trail of destruction in your wake, but his expression changes as you dig out of the back of one cupboard a box of painkillers. There are enough for you each to take three with you. Each of them will restore up to 3 lost SPIRIT points and can be taken in any section not containing combat.
Pleased with your find, you leave the room (turn to 342).
266
“Yes, well my focus tends to be on the heavens but you’re right, that doesn’t stop me from being aware of Martian goings-on. For example, did you know that the New Gaian demographics have shifted unexpectedly in the last five years? It’s quite extraordinary. Also, perhaps connected but I don’t know yet, there have been spikes in energy usage…but not from within New Gaia. Isn’t that fascinating?”
You nod enthusiastically in agreement. Which will you ask her to expand on? Do you ask her to say more about the population changes (turn to 131) or the energy spikes (turn to 294)?
267
You run through the door, down the corridor a fair distance, round a U-turn to the right and down the next stretch of corridor. Behind you, you hear a clattering as if someone has just dropped something, but you keep focussed on moving forwards. Add 10 seconds to your TIME score.
The corridor turns to the left and you fling yourself through the door on your right-hand side (turn to 303).
268
She pauses as she considers your question. “I think I could take this in several directions,” she says. “As with everyone on earth, all of the influential people on Mars have their own personal agendas alongside their professional responsibilities, and those are not necessarily linked. Paul, for example, the UDE ambassador. He’s a teddy bear really and just likes making friends, but he and I are required to be at loggerheads by the nature of our roles. In another life I’m sure we could have been lovers.
“Now, Anna Michaels. There’s someone with a whole series of personal agendas. Why does she live on Mars when her work here is such a small part of her empire? I’ve certainly not figured that one out.
“Then there’s Ada of course, in her out-of-town hideaway. With her connection
s she could be running the whole of New Gaia from behind the scenes, or equally she could be an entirely harmless hermit.”
You are struck by her deeper consciousness of the people around her and feel curious to learn more. Will you ask her about Anna Michaels (turn to 174) or Ada Uovu (turn to 96)?
269
The door opens up smoothly to reveal a large room, in the centre of which sits an enormous transparent dome with a short tunnel leading into it on the left-hand side through a door. The transparent material is scratched in places and you can see rough, dark pink markings on the inside as if blood had been smeared there and then wiped away inexpertly.
All of the walls are blank with the exception of the wall to your left, which has a series of plaques presented in a spiral starting from the centre of the wall and making their way outwards in all directions. The right-hand wall holds a blue door in the far corner.
Will you enter the dome through the little tunnel (turn to 121), study the plaques in more detail (turn to 78), or leave through the blue door (turn to 380)?
270
The moment you burst through this door you recognise that you are in the corridor you first entered when you came down the steps from Ada’s office upstairs. You run along the corridor, turn the corner to the right and run up the stairs two at a time. Add 10 seconds to your TIME score.
If your TIME is now 140 seconds or more, turn immediately to 142. If not, turn to 27.
271
You split off from Pauline and follow Catalina’s lead as she takes you to the thirteenth floor of a residential block a little out from the centre of the city.
When the door opens to reveal an older man, he claps his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. He immediately calls behind him for his wife and almost pulls you both inside.
The couple had already been informed that Catalina was his great-grandmother’s great aunt. “You’re a pretty distant relation,” the man says, whose name is Tomas, “but family’s family! And I can’t say I ever expected my great-great-whatever to be the same age as my grandson!”
They insist that you stay for a light meal, and within twenty minutes it feels like Catalina has arrived home. You can’t help feeling happy for her and a little envious; you still haven’t found out about your family, if there’s anyone left.
After having talked about the family’s story and learning how they settled into New Gaia, Catalina explains about your situation and the conversation takes a more sombre tone.
“Well, of course we must help,” says Tomas. “We might not have as much as some others, but we do have passion so let’s see what we can do. What would be most helpful?”
Do you ask what resources they could offer you (turn to 166), or do you ask what practical assistance they could give (turn to 382)?
272
You are standing in a wide corridor on the 18th floor of the New Gaia hospital and need to reach the exit on the ground floor. You can go down using the stairs (turn to 195) or the lift (turn to 386).
Before you descend, you think that you may be able to sneak into some of the other rooms undetected, so if you like you may go through the unmarked door next to the room you were being kept in if you’ve not been there before (turn to 234), the opaque door opposite if you’ve not been there before (turn to 377) or the door with the frosted window (turn to 155).
273
The book collection looks interesting and varied, with a range of books in disarray; it is clearly well used.
“We don’t really have time for reading, you know,” says David and you know he’s right. You decide to stuff one in you pocket for later; make a note of which of the following titles you pick up: A brief history of New Gaia, Earthly politics and their effects or The day the stars fell.
Now, will you leave through the door opposite the one you came in by (turn to 397) or the other door (turn to 197)?
274
You break quickly into a sprint, dodging between the multitudes of people who seem to constantly inhabit the streets here. The sight of someone running seems to be drawing the attention of the locals, and the sooner you can escape from the crowds and meet up with Catalina and Pauline the better.
After running for about two minutes, you reach a large T-junction. The hospital building continues to stretch out on your left-hand side towards what looks like a wide thoroughfare, and the road to your right looks like it enters a central retail area. You quickly glance behind you and it looks like your pursuers are gaining on you.
Do you continue running in the same direction (turn to 20) or do you head right into the retail area (turn to 366)?
275
You run headlong at the lift and dive forward just as the security officer’s hairy arms grab for you. You land in the lift, turning back to just see your pursuer approaching as the doors glide closed, and it begins to descend. You stand, apologising to the lift’s other inhabitant and look for the button that says “ground”, noticing that the lowest it goes is to the third floor. You hit the button containing the number 3.
A couple of seconds later your travelling companion has left the lift at the tenth floor, and a few seconds after that you are emerging on the third floor into a corridor looking not unlike the one you just left. Turn to 17.
276
Suddenly, all of the lights change from their previous bright white to a pulsating red, and a voice fills the room.
“Self-destruct sequence initiated.”
You look at the others and all three of you get the same idea: you’re going to have to get above ground as quickly as possible! There’s a chance the route that Ada took will be shorter although you have no idea what sort of maze lies that side of this room. Your only other option is to go back the way you came and hope you can find your way back before the structure collapses on you.
Will you run out of this room through the door that Ada went through (turn to 72) or will you go back through the door you came in by and retrace your steps (turn to 158)?
277
She looks at you as if confused and offended.
“Why would I know what other communications are leaving Mars?” she says, then doesn’t allow you time to answer. “Even if I were to scan Mars to find anything, all we’d be able to see is that it’s happening. I fail to see how that would help.”
Do you insist that she shows you (turn to 144) or ask her for her advice on stopping the messages instead (turn to 68)?
278
If you have the codeword Casius, turn immediately to 214. If not, turn to 326.
279
Ada walks in carrying a large model of a planetary system orbiting twin suns.
Your attention zones out as she turns a handle on its side, sending the mini planets on a variety of strange journeys around the two suns, including a unique figure-of-eight orbital path. Eventually, she seems to finish talking about the things that have been interesting her recently and so you get the chance to raise the subject of the alien invasion (turn to 196).
280
“Yes, fascinating,” she says. “Earth is no stranger to freak storms, but these seem somewhat different. Normally, you see, the most intense storms gather around the tropics because of the meeting of warm and cold air from the equator and the poles, and as I’m sure you know these have created a bit of a barrier between the inhabitable and uninhabitable places.
“Well, these two big storms have been forming at the poles instead, which could mean a couple of things. Maybe the water under the ice has increased in temperature, leading to more moisture in the air and COMN instability. Or maybe they’ve been artificially started somehow. That’s my interest, really. If an alien presence were on earth starting storms as some sort of communication technique, wouldn’t that be extraordinary?”
You agree that it would be quite something and then catch Catalina’s eye; you need to get back to the safehouse to meet Pauline. You thank Lady Yatch and express your hope to see her again, then leave to be reunited (turn to 152).
You hear a satisfying click and the door opens a crack. You lift your hand to push it open fully and before your hand reaches it, it violently flies back, clanging against the wall inside the room and revealing a huge woman with a shaved head, screaming at the top of her lungs in rage as spittle flies at you.
If you know the word to calm her down, turn each letter of that word into a number using the sequence A=1, B=2, etc, add them together and add it to 160, then turn to that section number.
If you don’t know the word, she claws at you desperately and you will have to defend yourself.
Mad woman
BODY 8
SPIRIT 10
If you win, turn to 215.
282
You approach the group, preparing a line to introduce yourselves. The closer you get, the more intimidating they appear. You think they must have done something to artificially make their appearance more shocking to outsiders, and as you get nearer you realise that they are deep in a hushed conversation.
You watch for a couple of minutes and observe that every so often one of them will tell a joke that gets a chuckle from the others, or one of the group will leave to order another drink from the bar.
There’s no obvious way to enter the conversation, so you wonder if it would be easier to talk to the smartly-dressed table instead (turn to 255) or the lady sitting by herself (turn to 56). If you’re intent on speaking to the gang, you’re going to have to either wait for the next joke so that you can join in the laughter and try to follow up with a witty comment (turn to 225) or challenge the next person who leaves the gang to a fight to get their attention (turn to 107).
283
You fire a shot and it hits her right in the chest. Instead of the expected explosion of blood, however, its only effect is to knock her slightly off balance. Her hand instinctively clutches at her shoulder, but she must be wearing a bullet-proof vest.
New Gaia Page 11