Meeting Éan: A Branching Quest Dialogue

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<div class="column"><p> <i>Earth, the 24th century. The Pochteca Empire has colonized most of the planet, driven by an insatiable hunger for resources. The resulting civil wars and environmental destruction has led to millions from the Empire’s colonies becoming refugees, denied the same rights as its own citizens in the Tonaz Imperial City. In 2359, mysterious portals appeared around Tonaz, leading to an exoplanet similar to prehistoric Earth, later named Noctis and popularly referred to as The Nighting, because of its unusual purple skies. In 2360, the Empire sent several expeditions to harvest the abundant resources on Noctis. Only one party came back. They told of colossal aliens, visible only to particular types of human minds and hostile to all human colonizers - the Byzantines. The Empire's unwillingness to retreat from Noctis led to the First Nighting War, which lasted ten years and ended in the barring of the portals after casualties became too high even for the Empire. It is now 2381. New portals have opened and this time, Noctis and its Byzantines may start leaking into Earth. You are a refugee, barely surviving in Copàn Refugee Camp, on the outskirts of Tonaz Imperial City. And you have just been drafted into the<div class="neon">Second Nighting War.</div></i> <<button[[START|00.Intro]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <i>Entering the workshop, you find Éan saying goodbye to a small child behind a cluttered worktable. He is pale, elfin and looks young, except for the lines around his eyes.</i> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>“…and when your ma gets the implant, Xoch, make sure she hears you sing, okay?” <i>The child smiles, waves goodbye and leaves the shop. Éan seemingly takes no note of you and walks across to fetch an insulated box among the shelves lining the room. You see that his left leg has been amputated, and he wears an old-fashioned, 21st century leg blade.</i> <i>Éan limps back to his desk, opening the box to reveal what looks like a human ear, complete with hanging nerves and pulsing blood vessels. Only the lack of liquid blood and the faint electric glow of the nerves indicate that it’s a cybernetic implant, something far more modern than Éan's own legblade. Using a white-hot laser scalpel, he cuts into the ear. Without stopping his work, he speaks to you.</i> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>So, when did you get drafted? <<button[[Yesterday.|1A.]]>><</button>> <<button[[How'd you know I was drafted?|1B.]]>><</button>> <<button[[What are you doing?|1C.]]>><</button>></p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>So you’ve come here to talk to the only reffo who survived the last war. <<button[[What's a reffo?|1A(I).]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB1.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Your eyes show fear, anger and a complete lack of hope. Imperial service is the only thing that does that. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Well, and Nesto’s baneworm stew, but he’s been banned from the community kitchens. <<button[[What do you know of Imperial service?|HUB2.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB1.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>I'm cutting away the IDs so that Xoch’s mother can wear it without being arrested for... what was it again? <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>"Unauthorized use of medical technology by a non-citizen". <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Know the worst part? They use refugees to make these. All the way in Vangii. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>We reffos grow their food, repair their bodies and fight their wars. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>And all we get is the privilege to be kicked down while we do it. <<button[[Did you fight their wars?|HUB2.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB1.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Ten years in the Military Traveler Unit. Drafted at fourteen. <i>Éan puts the blade down and looks at you. In contrast to his pale, washed-out skin and hair, his eyes are startlingly dark.</i> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>But I started as Byzantine bait, just like you will. <<button[[How was the war for you?|2A.]]>><</button>> <<button[[I won't be bait.|2B.]]>><</button>> <<button[[What are Byzantines like?|2C.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>They pushed us through the portal. No guns, no armor, not even a stick on any of us. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Because we weren’t meant to come back, see? Only to draw the Byzantines out, so that Imperial officers could shoot them from their safe little perches. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>My group was massacred in ten minutes, all turned to pulp and bone. Everyone except me. <<button[[How did you survive?|2A(I).]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB2.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Then you better hope your brain can Travel. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>If you can’t see the Byzantines, they’ll send you to zones without Travelers, to draw them out. <<button[[What's a Traveler?|HUB3.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB2.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Byzantines are like gods – they’re huge and powerful and don’t give a fuck about anyone else. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Least of all the bloodbags from Earth trying to invade their planet. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>If you aren't a Traveler, you're Byzantine bait. <<button[[What's a Traveler?|HUB3.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB2.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Most humans can’t see Byzantines. The ones who can are called Travelers. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Being a Traveler does not mean you will survive a Byzantine attack. It only means that when you try to, you know which way to run. At first. <i>Éan gazes off, as if remembering something. His face is calm, but you notice that he grabs the laser scalpel on the desk tightly. After a moment, he speaks again, softly.</i> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>I can’t believe those bastards are sending me back there. <<button[[Can't you dodge the draft?|3A.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Are you scared to go back?|3B.]]>><</button>> <<button[[What do you know of the draft?|3C.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Easier to survive when you can see who’s attacking you. That’s when they realized I was a Traveler. <<button[[What's a Traveler?|HUB3.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB2.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>You know the Conscription Board doesn’t give reffos like us a choice. Especially when Noctis still has resources to mine. <<button[[That's unfair.|HUB4.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB3.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>I’m not the frightened child they threw into the Nighting anymore. <<button[[So you'll fight?|HUB4.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB3.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> You have joined Éan's resistance. Welcome to the reffo war - we don't hunt aliens here, only empires. <<button[[NEXT]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>I understand. The Empire rewards rebellion with death and you're afraid to die. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>I was afraid too. But I'd rather choose my own death, than let the Empire dictate my life. <<button[[I'll rebel too.|Accept]]>><</button>> <<button[[I'm still not sure.|No Answer]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Know this - maybe the Empire will win, and maybe the Byzantines will. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Either way, us reffos will lose. Unless we fight our own war. <<button[[I'll fight with you.|Accept]]>><</button>> <<button[[I'll fight with the Empire.|Reject]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>You're one, mate - reffo, refugee, refused. Slave labor. Cannon fodder. That's what we all are to the Empire. <<button[[Were you slave labor or cannon fodder?|HUB2.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB1.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <i>The letter explaining the Refugee Conscription Act (2361, amended 2381) along with the notice of your draft, arrived with your food and shower stamps yesterday. You've been told no refugee came back from the last war, except for one. His name is Éan and he does odd jobs and repairs around camp. You decide to find him, not knowing if or how he can help - but it feels like the only thing you can do now. You walk around in despair, barely noticing the noise and squalor of the camp. Eventually, you come to a ramshackle shed. Splintering wooden planks, cracked roofing tiles and the rusty shell of an Imperial shipping container all come together to - somehow - hold up a makeshift workshop.</i> <<button[[Enter|HUB1.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> Thank you for playing through this short quest dialogue. Please contact me to see the script and a flowchart of the choice nodes. You can see Éan's character profile at https://shomapatnaik.com/ean-oxmo/ Please do not copy or share any part of this work without my permission. <div class="neon">Written and Coded in Twine (Sugarcube) by</div> Shoma Patnaik EMAIL: <a href = "mailto: shoma.patnaik@gmail.com">shoma DOT patnaik AT gmail</a> | TWITTER: <a href="https://twitter.com/shomatweets">@shomatweets</a> | WEB: <a href="http://shomapatnaik.com">www.shomapatnaik.com</a> <div class="neon">Background Image Credits</div> Pexels user Stein Egil Lilland Pixabay user Maxim Schunk Pixabay user 123design </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Those vampires in Refugee Management cooked up the draft. <div class="neon">ÉAN</div>Such a neat plan - get rid of the unwashed hordes and keep the war cheap. Probably got them all a bonus. <<button[[This feels hopeless.|HUB4.]]>><</button>> <<button[[Go back|HUB3.]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="column"><p> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div> This war will be different. I – we - will fight, but not for those overfed leeches in Tonaz. <i>Éan smiles, and his teeth glint sharply in the overhead lights of the workshop.</i> <div class="neon">ÉAN</div> The Empire has devoured us for too long. Do you want to bite back? <<button[[Accept: Join Éan's Resistance.|Accept]]>><</button>> <<button[[No Answer: Think about it.|No Answer]]>><</button>> <<button[[Reject: Fight for the Empire.|Reject]]>><</button>> </p></div>

<div class="neon">OBJECTIVE</div> SPEAK TO ÉAN OXMO, THE ONLY REFUGEE SURVIVOR OF THE FIRST NIGHTING WAR Written and coded by Shoma Patnaik www.shomapatnaik.com