Azra sits cross-legged on his bench, clamp meter in his lap, watching the squat building across the way like it's about to confess. VIRTUAL ARENA, in dead channel letters. Without looking over, he holds out a notebook.

Nine nights of readings off that building. The Virtual Arena. Go on. Look.

Azra

Every machine still alive in this desert, I can tell you what feeds it. A CELL.

Every few minutes the Arena pulls current. A spike, a hold, a release. Machines don't have habits. A schedule means something in there is still keeping it.

Azra

Keeping it since before the war, behind a locked door, for no one. That's the part I can't leave alone.

Knowledge that runs in the dark isn't knowledge. It's a secret with a generator.

Azra

The intake terminal out front of the Arena is the only piece of it built to talk to people, and it can't - its relay board is cooked. Three sockets, three dead relays. The same sealed relay they put in every washing machine, furnace and coffee maker of the era.

And what are the Pre-War Garbage Piles mostly made of? Appliances.

Azra

Three relays. I'll do the rest.

about the quest High Score

if quest accepted

Azra

quest: accepted

Grey body, three pins. If it rattles, it's dead - leave it and dig out the next.

I saw some big piles of garbage south of here.

end

else

Azra

quest: declined

He takes the notebook back.

Night ten, then. It'll keep its appointments. I'll keep mine.

end

ends the conversation

Dialogue source code

~ start c9479f7c-0c2a-4f58-abd1-660cdbcfe25b
if is_quest_accepted and are_quest_requirements_met
	Azra: *He rolls each relay between his fingers, listens to it, sets it down. Only when the third one passes does he look up.*
		Good hands. Come on - you found them, you get to watch.
	Azra: *At the Arena's intake terminal he seats the relays one by one. On the third, a hum you'd stopped hearing stops being background.* [#complete_quest]
		*Amber text crawls up out of the dark: REGISTRATION - INSERT CARD.*
	- It wants a card?
		Azra: All those years of keeping its appointments, and the first thing it asks for is paperwork. [#load_quest=9c332521-0ade-4ff6-8d76-473a5b3e7afe]
elif is_quest_accepted
	Azra: Three sealed relays. Grey body, three pins, heavier than they look. [#end]
		You can find them in [Pre-War Garbage Piles]. I saw some big piles south of here.
else
	Azra: *Azra sits cross-legged on his bench, clamp meter in his lap, watching the squat building across the way like it's about to confess. VIRTUAL ARENA, in dead channel letters. Without looking over, he holds out a notebook.*
		Nine nights of readings off that building. The [Virtual Arena]. Go on. Look.
	Azra: Every machine still alive in this desert, I can tell you what feeds it. A CELL.
		Every few minutes the Arena pulls current. A spike, a hold, a release. Machines don't have habits. A schedule means something in there is still keeping it.
	Azra: Keeping it since before the war, behind a locked door, for no one. That's the part I can't leave alone.
		Knowledge that runs in the dark isn't knowledge. It's a secret with a generator.
	Azra: The intake terminal out front of the Arena is the only piece of it built to talk to people, and it can't - its relay board is cooked. Three sockets, three dead relays. The same sealed relay they put in every washing machine, furnace and coffee maker of the era.
		And what are the [Pre-War Garbage Piles] mostly made of? Appliances.
	Azra: Three relays. I'll do the rest. [#quest_info=c382e66e-4979-49bc-aace-7e910f2ba599]
	if is_quest_accepted:
		Azra: [quest: accepted] [#end]
			Grey body, three pins. If it rattles, it's dead - leave it and dig out the next.
			I saw some big piles of garbage south of here.
	else:
		Azra: [quest: declined] [#end]
			*He takes the notebook back.*
			Night ten, then. It'll keep its appointments. I'll keep mine.
=> END

Characters

Quests

Quests offered

~ start Azra

~ `start` Azra