Part 8 - Lovely pizza for all the family
Our current sub-goal in our mission to infiltrate the Arcology and find out what’s up with their sinister research project is to earn some money, and the only likely remaining candidate for where to do it is the food court. So let’s…
>ENTER GATE 17
As you approach the access tunnel for level 17, a USF guard scans you with an electronic handheld device. After a series of beeps, an LED on the scanner turns green, and the trooper waves you through into the elevator tube. A short and exhilerating ride later, you arrive at your destination.>S
Mess Hall
The hall’s not really such a mess when you take into account the number of people who pass through here. The cafeteria is the skyway service station idea expanded to cater for tens of thousands; to the south, serving bots work day and night to clear resuable cartons from seemingly endless rows of plastic tables. Citizens may purchase food from a selection of outlets to the east and west.For those that can’t be bothered to browse the less than tasty morsels on display, there’s a vending machine by the entrance.
Someone has ditched their carrier bag under a table, but the security patrols don’t seem concerned about a potential bomb threat. Perhaps the mess hall isn’t high on Utopia’s list of potential targets.
Your guidebot trails a few metres behind you.
>X BAG
Not to be confused with the plastic throwaways still handed out in supermarkets, this is a large black holdall with miniature antigravity generators sewn into its lining. With the resultant weight loss, the bag’s substantial capacity and your lifting strength, you should be able to carry just about anything.
So in the retirement home we found a “prongkey”, which turns out to be exactly what we’d recognise nowadays as a regular key, but the nomenclature apparently changed in the last century and a half with the proliferation of electronic keys. This is the reverse: something which goes by the completely familiar name of “carrier bag”, but is actually something completely different. Although apparently the old kind of plastic carrier bag also still exists, which means that this double meaning must be just as confusing to the people of Utopia as it is to us.
It was the vogue in parser games for a while to limit the number of items the player can carry (for realism?) but provide them with a portable container of infinite capacity to avoid having to actually worry about tedious inventory management. I don’t think I’ve seen so much of this recently, although I know that Inform 7 at least still has support for it. In any case, it looks like that’s what we’ve found here, so hopefully we won’t need to see any more “you’re carrying too many things already” messages from now on.
>TAKE IT
You’re carrying too many things already.>PUT ALL IN BAG
painted steel rose: Done.
fake antiviral inhaler: Done.
calendar: Done.
member’s pass: Done.
cashcard: Done.>TAKE BAG
Taken.
Now, what’s up with this vending machine?
>X MACHINE
It reminds you of a stupid riddle you heard at school. What has a body temperature of ten degrees Celsius, stands on four wobbly legs, has credits for lunch and never grows old? Answer: a vending machine. There’s a selection of snacks and soft drinks on display behind a glass window, all ridiculously expensive and none worth paying for.>FOCUS MACHINE
A credit sucker, placed in close proximity to the entrance where it will do most damage. Utopia are masters of financial strategy.
Nanci seems terribly impressed by this, but of all of the sinister machinations we’ve seen so far from our corporate overlords, “they know not to tuck the vending machine away in a corner of the mess hall where no-one ever goes” is not the one that worries me the most.
Looking inside the machine, searching the machine or examining the snacks all just repeat the description of the machine itself.
>PUSH MACHINE
The vending machine shakes to and fro, and you hear something roll about inside.>REACH INSIDE MACHINE
It doesn’t feel very cold.>LOOK UNDER IT
Nothing but dust.
Ok, well, the stereotypical way to get something out of a vending machine when you know it’s in there but it won’t come out is …
>HIT IT
You give the vending machine a powerful kick to the side. Stationary and poorly balanced, it’s an easy target for someone well versed in martial arts. The dispenser rocks on two legs, almost toppling over completely before you’re able to steady it. From inside you hear several loud bumps, metal repeatedly clanging against metal. A can of Tricola bounces through the opening, rolls across the floor, and comes to rest by your feet. Citizens give you frightened glances, but they’re too scared to send for the USF. Either that or they can’t be bothered.>TAKE COLA
Taken.[Your score has just gone up by three points.]
>X IT
Three times the energy, three times the satisfaction, and three times the cola. Invented in Georgia, improved in France, perfected by Utopia – if you believe the blurb.
Does this description imply that it’s just a can of normal cola that’s three times larger than usual? Is the cola both triple-concentrated and triple the volume, such that it’s actually nine times as potent as a regular cola? Or is it three times the volume of regular cola but forced into a normal-sized can under extreme pressure?
>FOCUS IT
Why do all these colas taste the same? I know Utopia own all the beverage companies, but still…
Ok, that appears to be everything of interest in the starting area, so let’s explore the available eateries.
>W
Cheap (Faux) Chinese
No wonder prices are so low – the “food” on sale here is watered down junk kept warm in a microwave counter. Utopia musn’t employ health inspectors or (more likely) want to keep down running costs. The vegetables look undercooked, the rice rock hard, and the meat drowned in unappetising pastes that pass for oriental sauces. Cheap it may be, but you won’t insult your country by calling it Chinese.Heck, even the woman staffing the counter isn’t Chinese.
The guidebot floats after you, never far behind.
>X FOOD
You can’t bear to look any more.>FOCUS IT
Looks Chinese to me.
Nanci—or rather, the intelligence officer operating the NANCI communications suite—is Chinese, right? His comments have definitely been trending towards snark over substance lately, but this is the second time (after the forged pass) where I’m genuinely starting to wonder if he’s even seeing the same things as we are.
>X WOMAN
An ebony skinned, African American of middle age. She wears a grease stained “Cheap Chinese” apron over her bodysuit to hide her rank, but she can’t be high up food chain. No self respecting woman would take a job like this unless she was desperate for cash.>ASK WOMAN ABOUT WORK
“Forget it. I work by myself, sister.”
Well, that’s our main reason for being here quickly shot down, but I wonder if there’s anything else we can do with the dubious wares on offer here?
>ASK WOMAN ABOUT FOOD
“Do I look like an information booth, sweetie?”
She’s similarly unforthcoming on any other topics.
>BUY FOOD
You have no money.>TAKE CASHCARD
Taken.>BUY FOOD
The serving woman takes your cashcard and glances at the balance.“You a newbie here?” she asks, somewhat rhetorically. “There’s nothin’ here you can afford apart from a starter for ten, so that’s what you’re gettin’. You need to find yourself a job, sweetheart.”
She returns your cashcard (now displaying a big, fat zero credits in your account) and hands you what is allegedly a prawn cracker, though you beg to differ. Maybe the lady does have a point.
“Starter for ten” is from the British quiz show University Challenge, but has apparently stuck around as a phrase for the last hundred and fifty years sufficiently far divorced from its original usage that here it literally means a starter (aka appetizer or entree) that costs ten credits? In the UK, prawn crackers are a couple of inches across and a helping of them is often served as a side dish with Chinese takeaway food, so I find the idea of a meal that consists of a single, huge one hilarious. But a bit of reading suggests that in Indonesian cuisine (which I think is where prawn crackers originate), a big cracker like this might be more normal?
My, that looks so delicious. Save some for me, won’t you? Understand you keeping up appearances and all, but Earth to Alice – you’ve been modified, remember? You’ve got this nutrition generator in your stomach. No food or water intake required apart from supplements. Looking at the rubbish they serve here, somebody did you a big favour.
[Your score has just gone up by three points.]
We’ll take the extra-diegetic hint here that getting three points for buying the cracker means we probably didn’t just waste all of our money on a pointless action.
>X CRACKER
Yuck! A fried, circular piece of cardboard would be more appealing. In fact, that’s what it probably is.>FOCUS IT
Please! Just looking at it gives me indigestion.>EAT IT
You take a bite from the prawn cracker, a task far more difficult than it sounds. After gnashing your teeth and chewing away for a whole minute, a piece comes free. Needless to say, it tastes horrible. What an absolute waste of ten credits. You’ve a good mind to take it back.>GIVE CRACKER TO WOMAN
“What’s up? Too tough for you? Don’t you come here moanin’. My twin sister’s ill so I been workin’ overtime. Twenty four hours a day non-stop on adrenalin meds. And now you’re complainin’? You think you could do better honey?”
Those of us who’ve played Adventure recognise when a rhetorical-sounding question secretly isn’t rhetorical, right?
>SAY YES TO WOMAN
The woman snatches the prawn cracker from you in disgust.“Why! You ignorant jerk! I toil away in here, and you come to me with your cheek. I try to do a new girl a favour, and all you do is spit it back in my face. You wanna prove yourself, honey? Go to Luigi’s across the way. I heard he was lookin’ for a chef, and he’s usually around for the evening shift. Don’t think you’re gettin’ any credits back off me, cause you’re not.”
[Your score has just gone up by two points.]
So in exchange for having to take a bite out of a disgusting prawn cracker, we have that lead on finding work for ourselves after all! We head back to the mess hall and then to the east, and arrive at …
Luigi’s Pizza
Wherever there’s a food court, there’s a pizza joint. From takeaways to fine Italian cuisine, they’ve been a crowd favourite for as long back as anyone can remember. This particular outlet may have an authentic, Italian sounding title and a canopied, open air dining area, but it’s the meals that matter and frankly, they’re not very good. According to an electronic board, today’s special is Mama’s Garden, a fancy name for what’s essentially a sloppy, cheese swamped pile of goo.Someone obviously didn’t care for the food – there’s a printed menu lying face down on the floor.
The guidebot floats after you, never far behind.
>X DINING AREA
That’s not important to your mission.>X BOARD
You see nothing special about the “special” board.>FOCUS BOARD
I don’t see anything special about it.
Poor Nanci lacks the medium-awareness to realise that he’s just made exactly the same joke as the game’s text already made.
>READ IT
Today’s special is Mama’s Garden.>TAKE MENU
Taken.>X IT
Printed on cream card, this menu lists the limited range of “delicacies” served at Luigi’s Pizza, complete with exorbitant prices.LUIGI’S PIZZA - LITTLE ITALY COMES TO BIG UTOPIA
Margarita (Extra Cheese) – 15c
Corny Chick (Chicken & Sweetcorn) – 25c
Feasty Meaty (Ham, Chicken & Pepperoni) – 30c
Firy Luigi (Pepperoni & Chilli) – 25c
Mama’s Garden (Onion, Sweetcorn & Mushroom) – 20cSoft Drinks (cola, lemonade) – 5c
Hot Drinks (coffee, tea) – 10cSPECIAL PROMOTION: Order the special and get a drink FREE
>FOCUS IT
So many options to pick from.
The woman at Cheap Chinese told us that Luigi is usually around for the evening shift, which, having memorised the contents of our new citizen’s guidebook, we know means from 18:00. So let’s deploy our super waiting skills once more.
>WAIT 30 MINUTES
Time passes.
Et cetera, et cetera …
The pizza shop owner steps out to start his evening supervisory shift.
Luigi calls out to nobody in particular. “Today’s special is Mama’s Garden,” he shouts. “Buy special, get a free drink!”Luigi calls out to nobody in particular. “Today’s special is Mama’s Garden,” he shouts. “Buy special, get a free drink!”
>ASK LUIGI ABOUT WORK
“Who told you? I bet it was that woman over at Cheap Chinese. She should keep her nose out of my affairs, but she’s right. Business has been slow. I do need someone to help with the cooking. Don’t worry if you’ve never done it before. No experience, no problem. Come back tonight at 2200 hours. I’ll have work for you then.”Luigi points out the special board to potential customers.
[Your score has just gone up by two points.]
Although Luigi’s dialogue suggests that he’s only guessing that the woman at Cheap Chinese tipped us off to his need for a cook, he won’t respond if you ask him about “work” before you hear about it from her, so we did actually need to do all that business with the prawn crackers. Anyway, Luigi probably expects us to go away, do something else productive for the next four hours, and then return to meet him at 22:00 as requested, but Alice Ling has other ideas and will simply stand motionless outside his restaurant until the allotted hour. Luigi, to his credit, is a consummate professional and continues with his promotional spiel.
>WAIT 30 MINUTES
Time passes.“Pizza! Lovely pizza for all the family.”
Luigi calls out to nobody in particular. “Today’s special is Mama’s Garden,” he shouts. “Buy special, get a free drink!”
Luigi points out the special board to potential customers.
“Pizza! Lovely pizza for all the family.”
And after four hours of listening to Luigi hawking his wares (edited significantly for brevity):
“Follow me miss, into the wonderful world of Luigi’s pizza.”
The owner escorts you into his restaurant, through the indoor eating area, and into the kitchen at the back.
Kitchen
Things are really starting to heat up now; the open fronted oven is on full blast and there’s no air conditioning. Plus you’re a total amateur when it comes to cooking. But how hard can it be? You’ve got everything you need: a cooler fully stocked with ingredients, a drinks dispenser, a credit register, and a trash receptacle in case you screw up. Should you ever feel like quitting, the exit’s to the south.A serving bot is on hand to deliver your vile concoctions to Luigi’s customers.
“Your job is simple,” says Luigi, which does little to set you at ease. “Fulfill customers orders. Put pizza, drink and the bill on the tray. Make sure you get it absolutely right enough times, and there’ll be a bonus for you at the end. Screw up and there’ll be nothing. See you later. Ciao.”
Luigi exits to the south, leaving you alone with serving bot.
The guidebot floats after you, never far behind.
[Your score has just gone up by two points.]
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any adventure of sufficient complexity or length must be in want of a cooking mini-game, so here we are. Fortunately, we brought the menu with us, so we should be able to figure out what we’re supposed to be making.
>X MENU
Printed on cream card, this menu lists the limited range of “delicacies” served at Luigi’s Pizza, complete with exorbitant prices.LUIGI’S PIZZA - LITTLE ITALY COMES TO BIG UTOPIA
Margarita (Extra Cheese) – 15c
Corny Chick (Chicken & Sweetcorn) – 25c
Feasty Meaty (Ham, Chicken & Pepperoni) – 30c
Firy Luigi (Pepperoni & Chilli) – 25c
Mama’s Garden (Onion, Sweetcorn & Mushroom) – 20cSoft Drinks (cola, lemonade) – 5c
Hot Drinks (coffee, tea) – 10cSPECIAL PROMOTION: Order the special and get a drink FREE
An assistant chef enters the kitchen, hands you a pre-prepared pizza base, and heads for the exit. Before he leaves, he barks a hurried instruction over his shoulder. “Corny Chick pizza with lemonade.”
>X COOLER
The ingredients are kept refridgerated in an open topped cooler, each stored in an individual compartment – and labelled, which is a good for a novice such as yourself. Take your pick from ham, chicken, pepperoni, sweetcorn, onions, chilli, mushrooms or cheese.>X BASE
(the pizza base)
A circular cut, self-rising, dough base topped with tomato sauce.
Ok, I’m not exactly a professional chef, but I’m pretty sure I know how pizza works. Looks like we need to add some cheese, then whatever toppings the customer ordered, then just stick it in the oven, right?
>TAKE CHEESE
You scoop a handful of cheese from the cooler.>PUT IT ON PIZZA
You add the cheese to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>TAKE CHICKEN
You scoop a handful of chicken from the cooler.>PUT IT ON PIZZA
You add the chicken to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>TAKE SWEETCORN
You scoop a handful of sweetcorn from the cooler.>PUT IT ON PIZZA
You add the sweetcorn to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>PUT PIZZA IN OVEN
You put the pizza base into the oven.
Ok, that’s that dealt with, now for the drink.
>X DISPENSER
Simplified for the lowest common denominator, operating this machine requires no culinary or technical skills and very little in the way of intelligence. There are four buttons to press (lemonade, cola, coffee and tea) and a revolving holder for dispensing the end product.The revolving holder is empty.
>PRESS LEMONADE BUTTON
The machine responds by whirring, buzzing, hissing, coughing, and finally splurting. Its holder revolves through a half turn, and there is a loud ping. All that to dispense a ceramite cup of lemonade.>TAKE CUP
You take the cup of lemonade from the drinks dispenser.>PUT IT ON TRAY
You place the cup of lemonade on the serving bot’s tray.>X REGISTER
Where would a capitalist corporation like Utopia be without money? Who knows, but you don’t want to be found wanting when the credit collector comes to plunder your cashcard. This is where “requests” for payment at Luigi’s are printed: an electronic register with a numeric keypad for typing in the desired amount.
Ok, a Corny Chick is 25 credits, a lemonade is 5 …
>TYPE 30 ON REGISTER
You type on the keypad. A few seconds later the credit register prints out a bill for 30 credits, which you promptly collect.>PUT BILL ON TRAY
You place the bill for 30 credits on the serving bot’s tray.>X PIZZA
A circular cut, self-rising, dough base topped with tomato sauce. You’ve added cheese, chicken and sweetcorn to the mix. The pizza needs further cooking before its ready.
Since Luigi’s dismal restaurant only appears to be capable of attracting a single customer at once, we stand here staring at the pizza for a few more turns until the description says that it’s ready to serve. Then:
>TAKE PIZZA
Taken.>PUT PIZZA ON TRAY
You place the cooked pizza on the serving bot’s tray.The serving bot trundles through the exit. A minute later, it returns to the kitchen carrying an empty tray.
And now we sit back and bask in the glory of a simple job well done …?
>Z
Time passes.>Z
Time passes.Luigi storms into the kitchen, makes a brief stab at clearing everything away, then ushers you outside.
Luigi’s Pizza
Luigi shakes his head, raising his arms in despair.
“I knew I shouldn’t have hired you. You completely messed up the order! Don’t expect a credit from me for that path-- Look, I know this is new to you, I need the help, and you need the money. So why not drop by tomorrow? Same time, same place, and give it another go.”
“Pizza! Lovely pizza for all the family.”
Huh. I’ll spare you the repeated attempts at making the pizza which I went through to figure this out, but it turns out that (despite the pictures depicting Luigi’s wares as “cheese-swamped piles of goo”), we’re only supposed to add the ingredients listed on the menu, which doesn’t include any cheese.
While retrying this, I accidentally arrived one time at 22:01 instead of 22:00, and:
“Where were you?” demands Luigi. “I needed you here on time. You expect me to employ you? Well, I just might. Only because I’m desperate. Be here tomorrow at 2200 hours, and we’ll see.”
Nice to know that Luigi isn’t even bothering to make a pretense of having standards for his employees. Anyway, we restore our save file again and manage to make it to Luigi’s at the right time, and the cooking mini-game begins again.
An assistant chef enters the kitchen, hands you a pre-prepared pizza base, and heads for the exit. Before he leaves, he barks a hurried instruction over his shoulder. “Corny Chick pizza with lemonade.”
We got this. Chicken, sweetcorn and nothing else.
>TAKE CHICKEN
You scoop a handful of chicken from the cooler.>PUT IT ON PIZZA
You add the chicken to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>TAKE SWEETCORN
You scoop a handful of sweetcorn from the cooler.>PUT IT ON PIZZA
You add the sweetcorn to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>PUT PIZZA IN OVEN
You put the pizza base into the oven.>PRESS LEMONADE BUTTON
The machine responds by whirring, buzzing, hissing, coughing, and finally splurting. Its holder revolves through a half turn, and there is a loud ping. All that to dispense a ceramite cup of lemonade.>TAKE CUP
You take the cup of lemonade from the drinks dispenser.>PUT IT ON TRAY
You place the cup of lemonade on the serving bot’s tray.>TYPE 30 ON REGISTER
You type on the keypad. A few seconds later the credit register prints out a bill for 30 credits, which you promptly collect.>PUT BILL ON TRAY
You place the bill for 30 credits on the serving bot’s tray.
After an appropriate amount of waiting:
>X PIZZA
A circular cut, self-rising, dough base topped with tomato sauce. You’ve added chicken and sweetcorn to the mix. The pizza looks ready to serve.>TAKE PIZZA
Taken.>PUT IT ON TRAY
You place the cooked pizza on the serving bot’s tray.The serving bot trundles through the exit. A minute later, it returns to the kitchen carrying an empty tray.
[Your score has just gone up by two points.]
Hopefully, the fact that our score went up this time is the universe telling us that we did in fact prepare the pizza correctly.
>Z
Time passes.An assistant chef enters the kitchen, hands you a pre-prepared pizza base, and heads for the exit. Before he leaves, he barks a hurried instruction over his shoulder. “Something for a vegeterian with at least two toppings, and a coffee to drink.”
The only thing on the menu that fits is Mama’s Garden, so we get right down to making that:
>TAKE ONION. PUT IT ON PIZZA
You scoop a handful of onions from the cooler.
You add the onions to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>TAKE SWEETCORN. PUT IT ON PIZZA
You scoop a handful of sweetcorn from the cooler.
You add the sweetcorn to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>TAKE MUSHROOM. PUT IT ON PIZZA
You scoop a handful of mushrooms from the cooler.
You add the mushrooms to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>PUT PIZZA IN OVEN
You put the pizza base into the oven.>PRESS COFFEE BUTTON
The machine responds by whirring, buzzing, hissing, coughing, and finally splurting. Its holder revolves through a half turn, and there is a loud ping. All that to dispense a ceramite cup of coffee.>TAKE COFFEE. PUT IT ON TRAY
You take the cup of coffee from the drinks dispenser.
You place the cup of coffee on the serving bot’s tray.>TYPE 30 ON REGISTER
You type on the keypad. A few seconds later the credit register prints out a bill for 30 credits, which you promptly collect.>PUT BILL ON TRAY
You place the bill for 30 credits on the serving bot’s tray.
Then wait a few minutes until:
>X PIZZA
A circular cut, self-rising, dough base topped with tomato sauce. You’ve added onions, sweetcorn and mushrooms to the mix. The pizza looks ready to serve.>TAKE PIZZA. PUT IT ON TRAY
Taken.
You place the cooked pizza on the serving bot’s tray.The serving bot trundles through the exit. A minute later, it returns to the kitchen carrying an empty tray.
At this point I realise that we’ve made a terrible mistake. Mama’s Garden is today’s special, so we shouldn’t have charged for the coffee.
>Z
Time passes.>Z
Time passes.
But it’s okay. Apparently, Luigi doesn’t mind us overcharging his customers.
An assistant chef enters the kitchen, hands you a pre-prepared pizza base, and heads for the exit. Before he leaves, he barks a hurried instruction over his shoulder. “One special with cola.”
Who is this assistant chef whose job seems to consist solely of fetching pizza bases for us and then leaving us to do the rest of the work? Given that Luigi seems to attract so few customers, he could probably get by with the staff he already has, if he only got them to actually do some of the cooking. Anyway, we already made one Mama’s Garden, so this ticket should be straightforward too, right?
>TAKE ONION. PUT IT ON PIZZA
You scoop a handful of onions from the cooler.
You add the onions to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>TAKE SWEETCORN. PUT IT ON PIZZA
You scoop a handful of sweetcorn from the cooler.
You add the sweetcorn to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>TAKE MUSHROOM. PUT IT ON PIZZA
You scoop a handful of mushrooms from the cooler.
You add the mushrooms to the pizza, spreading the topping evenly over the tomato base.>PUT PIZZA IN OVEN
You put the pizza base into the oven.>PRESS COLA BUTTON
The machine responds by whirring, buzzing, hissing, coughing, and finally splurting. Its holder revolves through a half turn, and there is a loud ping. All that to dispense an empty ceramite cup.Et voila – a mug of thin air. Why are things never straightforward?
Of course there had to be a twist. If we try to leave the kitchen to find Luigi and tell him the dispenser is out of cola, he assumes we’re giving up, berates us for being a quitter, and then immediately backtracks and invites us to come and try again tomorrow, because he’s desperate. Fortunately, though, we already have a backup source of cola in our possession:
>OPEN TRICOLA
You break the can’s seal, opening the floodgates. Shaking up a fizzy drinks can is never a good idea, and its bumpy ride through the vending machine left you with a Tricola bomb waiting to go off. And go off it does, spraying half the contents in your face. You soon dry out thanks to your bodysuit’s inbuilt heater, but the bad taste in your mouth hasn’t gone away.>PUT TRICOLA IN CUP
You pour the Tricola into the ceramite cup, then throw the empty can into the trash receptacle. Since Utopia has cornered the cola market, the customer will probably never know the difference.>TAKE CUP
You take the cup of cola from the drinks dispenser.>PUT CUP ON TRAY
You place the cup of cola on the serving bot’s tray.>TYPE 20 ON REGISTER
You type on the keypad. A few seconds later the credit register prints out a bill for 20 credits, which you promptly collect.
This customer actually ordered the special, so they probably know that the drink is supposed to be free.
>PUT BILL ON TRAY
You place the bill for 20 credits on the serving bot’s tray.>X PIZZA
A circular cut, self-rising, dough base topped with tomato sauce. You’ve added onions, sweetcorn and mushrooms to the mix. The pizza needs further cooking before its ready.>G
A circular cut, self-rising, dough base topped with tomato sauce. You’ve added onions, sweetcorn and mushrooms to the mix. The pizza looks ready to serve.>TAKE PIZZA
Taken.>PUT PIZZA ON TRAY
You place the cooked pizza on the serving bot’s tray.The serving bot trundles through the exit. A minute later, it returns to the kitchen carrying an empty tray.
>Z
Time passes.>Z
Time passes.Luigi walks into the kitchen, spreads his arms wide, and embraces you with an unrequested and quite unwelcome hug.
“You are my darling girl. You are my angel from heaven. I transferred 95 credits to your account as a token of my appreciation. Let us go outside and celebrate, yes?”
Cause for celebration indeed, because earning money was a necessary step towards both available ways of achieving our current objective. Also, I didn’t notice this while I was playing, but Luigi just paid us 95 credits for selling 80 credits worth of pizza. This might go some way towards explaining why he seems to be having trouble with his business.
Luigi’s Pizza
“You come to save me in my hour of need. Luigi cannot tell you how grateful he is. Thank you. Thank you ever so much.”
You just know there’s a “but” coming here.
“But unfortunately, I have to let you go. Now business has picked up, I have purchased a new serving bot, one which will assist me greatly. But it was all thanks to you. You and your wonderful, special cooking. Now we’re done, how about a pizza?”
Cheer up. At least you got paid, and it was great watching a hot woman in action.
Is Nanci trying to make a pun about how hot it is in the kitchen while the pizza oven is on, or just being a creep? Things could get problematic if he starts being inappropriate with us, given that we don’t have any options for contacting anyone else back at Bai Lihong.
[Your score has just gone up by four points.]
>X CASHCARD
Utopia’s economy has become so dominant most of the world’s nations have now adopted the credit as their official currency. No coins or paper money are in circulation; everything these days is done electronically. All transactions are handled through cashcards, with costs deducted and rewards applied instantly. A digital counter lets you know exactly how close you are to the poverty line.Your account balance is 95 credits.
Ok, we’ll break here; we’re only 19% of the way to the 500 credits we need to earn to be recognised as a citizen, but in the next installment, we’re going to head back to the paranoid homeless guy in the Free Market and see if our 95 credits is good enough to get help with hacking our guidebot.
Luigi calls out to nobody in particular. “Today’s special is Mama’s Garden,” he shouts. "Buy special, get a free drink!”