She has been a solid and your friend for a long time.
<<continue-to Now>><div id="page">
<div class="window" id="passage-window">
<div id="passages"></div>
</div>
<div class="window" id="action-window">
</div>
<div class="window" id="start-window">
<a id="start-button">Start</a>
</div>
</div><<widget "continue-to">>
<<set _text to "Continue">>
<<if _args.length > 1>>
<<set _text to _args[1]>>
<</if>>
<div class="continue">
<<enter-link _text _args[0]>>
</div>
<</widget>>
<<widget "enter-link">>
<<link _args[0] _args[1]>>
<<run $(document).off("keydown")>>
<</link>>
<<run setup.onEnterGoTo(State.temporary.args[1])>>
<</widget>>
<<widget continue-ending>>
<<set $nextPassage to _args[0]>>
<<continue-to EndingSegment>>
<</widget>>
<<widget "shrink">>
<<script>>
var window = $("#" + State.temporary.args[0]);
if (parseInt(window.css("flex-basis")) > 0) {
setup.shiftWindowTo(State.temporary.args[0], 0);
};
<</script>>
<</widget>>
<<widget "expand">>
<<script>>
var window = $("#" + State.temporary.args[0]);
if (
parseInt(window.css("flex-basis"))
< parseInt(window.css("--default-basis"))
) {
setup.shiftWindowTo(
State.temporary.args[0],
parseInt(window.css("--default-basis"))
);
};
<</script>>
<</widget>>
<<widget "shift-to">>
<<run setup.shiftWindowTo(
State.temporary.args[0],
State.temporary.args[1]
)>>
<</widget>>
<<widget title>>
<span class="title">
_args[0]
<span class="title-fill">_args[0]</span>
</span>
<</widget>>Now, as she lies in the bathtub in her apartment, she drips and sags.
<<continue-to Molecular>>The universe is betraying her on a molecular level.
<<continue-to Melting>>She is melting.
<<continue-to You>>You don't know for certain how much time she has left, but you know from the look of her that it isn't much.
<<continue-to Be>>She's asked that you be there with her.
<<continue-to Things>>In these final moments, you want to do the right things for her...
<<if $history.includes(passage())>>
<<shift-to passage-window 1>>
<<shift-to action-window 98>>
<<else>>
<<timed 2s>>
<<shift-to passage-window 1>>
<<shift-to action-window 98>>
<</timed>>
<</if>>
<<repeat 1s>>
<<set $timeLeft -= 1>>
<<if $timeLeft <= 0>>
<<goto Ending>>
<</if>>
<</repeat>><<title Deliquescence>>
<<shrink action-window>>
<<expand passage-window>>
<<expand start-window>>
<<run setup.onEnterGoTo("Solid", setup.startGame)>><<if !tags().includes("menu")>>
<<set $history.push(passage())>>
<</if>>
<<for _i to 0; _i < $endingTags.length; _i++>>
<<if tags().includes($endingTags[_i])>>
<<set $endingPoints[$endingTags[_i]] += 1>>
<</if>>
<</for>>
<<if tags().includes("action-end")>>
<<if $actionsLeft <= 0>>
<<continue-to Ending>>
<<else>>
<<continue-to Things>>
<</if>>
<<elseif tags().includes("ending-end")>>
<<continue-to Else>>
<</if>><<include Reset>>
<<include NestInit>>"I don't know."
<<continue-to Would>><<set $nest to '<ul>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Talk</span>
<ul>
<li class="expandable">
<span>About her</span>
<ul>
<li>How is your family taking all of this?</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Tell me that story</span>
<ul>
<li>About your grandmother.</li>
<li>About the dog you had growing up.</li>
<li>About your first published piece of writing.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>What will you miss the most?</li>
<li>Did you say goodbye to everyone that
you needed to?
</li>
<li>Do you have any regrets?</li>
<li>You mean so much to so many people.</li>
<li>How do you feel?</li>
<li>Do you need anything?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>About your friendship</span>
<ul>
<li>You are my best friend.</li>
<li>Why did you want me here?</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Remember when we</span>
<ul>
<li>Got that really good icecream?</li>
<li>Bought those matching bracelets?</li>
<li>Accidentally watched that beheading
video?
</li>
<li>Built stone stacks in the woods?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>I love you.</li>
<li>If you become a ghost, will you find me?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>About deliquescence</span>
<ul>
<li>What does it feel like?</li>
<li>Did you ever find out why this is happening to
you?
</li>
<li>Do you think this could happen to anyone?</li>
<li>Do you think this might happen to me too?</li>
<li>This isn\'t fair.</li>
<li>I\'m sorry.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Small talk</span>
<ul>
<li>Some weather we\'re having.</li>
<li>Did you watch the game yesterday?</li>
<li>Read any good books lately?</li>
<li>How did your trip go?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Tell a joke.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Touch</span>
<ul>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Your</span>
<ul>
<li>Face</li>
<li>Eyes</li>
<li>Forehead</li>
<li>Knee</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Her</span>
<ul>
<li>Hand</li>
<li>Arm</li>
<li>Cheek</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The tub</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="expandable">
<span>Do</span>
<ul>
<li>Research</li>
<li>A dance</li>
<li>A drawing</li>
<li>Anything</li>
<li>Nothing</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>'>>
<<script>>
var actionWindow = $("#action-window");
actionWindow.append(State.variables.nest);
setup.setupNestedLists();
<</script>>"//Needed// to? I don't know about that."
<<continue-to Anyone>>"And I suppose that makes this worth it, right?" the words erupt suddenly and awkwardly through her soupy throat. It's hard to tell what emotion they are meant to convey.
<<continue-to Sorry>>"Tomato soup and grilled cheese." She answers quick. She's clearly already thought about it.
<<continue-to Appetizing>>She laughs. It's a nasty, mucusy rasp.
<<continue-to How>>"It feels terrible."
<<continue-to Moment>>"No. And I'm beyond done wondering."
<<continue-to Happening>>"How do you think I feel?" she sputters, "I am watching bits of my feet drip down into my filthy bathtub drain.""I'm sorry," she spurts, as if wanting to get another word in before you can respond, "That really is very nice of you to say."Her lips twitch upward, but quickly drip into a cartoonishly long frown.
<<continue-to Okay>>"Ha!" Drops of her lips spittle off toward the bathroom tile. "The woman was a force. The woman couldn't die."
<<continue-to Until>>"He was a terrible awful dog."
<<continue-to Loved>>"No. Just be here with me."It's okay though. There is still enough of her there that you can recognize the expression as a smile through her eyes.
<<continue-to We>>"You are my best friend," she dribbles out in response.<<set $history to []>>
<<set $endingPoints to {
"her" : 0,
"deliquescence" : 0,
"friendship" : 0
}>>
<<set $endingTags to Object.keys($endingPoints)>>
<<set $timeLeft to random(20, 45)>>
<<set $actionsLeft to random(3, 6)>>
<<run setup.closeNestedLists()>>
<<include SegmentInit>><<run console.log(State.variables.endingPoints)>>
<<if
$endingPoints["her"] == 0
&& $endingPoints["deliquescence"] == 0
&& $endingPoints["friendship"] == 0
>>
<<include BeingEnding>>
<<elseif
$endingPoints["her"] == $endingPoints["deliquescence"]
&& $endingPoints["her"] == $endingPoints["friendship"]
>>
<<include BeingEnding>>
<<elseif
$endingPoints["her"] > $endingPoints["deliquescence"]
&& $endingPoints["her"] > $endingPoints["friendship"]
>>
<<include ReflectionEnding>>
<<elseif
$endingPoints["deliquescence"] > $endingPoints["her"] &&
$endingPoints["deliquescence"] > $endingPoints["friendship"]
>>
<<include WorryEnding>>
<<elseif
$endingPoints["friendship"] > $endingPoints["her"] &&
$endingPoints["friendship"] > $endingPoints["deliquescence"]
>>
<<include MissEnding>>
<<elseif
$endingPoints["her"] == $endingPoints["deliquescence"]
&& $endingPoints["her"] > $endingPoints["friendship"]
>>
<<include ReflectionEnding>>
<<elseif
$endingPoints["deliquescence"] == $endingPoints["friendship"]
&& $endingPoints["deliquescence"] > $endingPoints["her"]
>>
<<include WorryEnding>>
<<elseif
$endingPoints["friendship"] == $endingPoints["her"] &&
$endingPoints["friendship"] > $endingPoints["deliquescence"]
>>
<<include LeavingEnding>>
<<else>>
<<include BeingEnding>>
<</if>>
<<shrink action-window>>
<<expand passage-window>>"A poem," the words slur together. Her eyes slip down in an upsettingly extreme movement.
<<continue-to Poem>>"What would we do without our matriarch?"
<<continue-to House>>"Until one day, after a sudden stroke, she did."
<<continue-to Eight>>"It really felt like the entire family might die with her. Eight children, grandchildren almost double that amount, and even a smattering of great grandchildren."
<<continue-to Matriarch>>"Without talking about it, we all decided to go back to her house after finally having gathering ourselves enough to leave the hospital."
<<continue-to Smell>>"But when we got there, we were hit with a smell."
<<continue-to Pot>>"Pot roast, a cousin said through a deep breath."
<<continue-to Morning>>"He was right. She had put it together in her crock pot that morning."
<<continue-to Night>>"And by that night, as all her family stopped for a surprise visit, it was cooked to perfection.""And I loved him more than anything."
<<continue-to Drift>>Her eyes drift off. You aren't sure if she is looking into a vivid memory, or if her eyes are just slipping in her liquidy sockets.
<<continue-to Anyway>>"Anyway, once he got away. I cried and cried. I was young, and I thought he would go out and have a life without us. I thought his leaving meant he didn't love us."
<<continue-to Scratching>>"But he'd barely been gone at all before I heard scratching at the front door."
<<continue-to He>>"I opened the door and there he was."
<<continue-to Back>>"Any doubt I had that he didn't love us was immediately gone. The thought never crossed my mind again."
<<continue-to Rain>>Her brow furrows, and bits of hair and skin flutter to the floor with the movement. "Come to think of it, he probably just wanted in because it was raining.""He'd just come right back."
<<continue-to Doubt>>"There's not much more to tell. I was pretty young. It was a bad poem.""Although that doesn't sound to appetizing right now." A laugh bubbles up and through her.
<<continue-to Funny>>It doesn't seem funny to you."Anyone I cared to, I guess," the sentence trails off into a fountain-like gurgling.
<<continue-to Mom>>"I couldn't bring myself to say it to my mom... it would be too much for both of us I think.""Would you, if you were dying right now?"
[[Yes.]]
[[No.]]"Me neither.""Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't? How could I not?"
<<continue-to Write>>"I regret never learning how to drive, and I'm not really sure why."
<<continue-to Sex>>"I regret not writing more. I don't feel good about anything I've written anymore."
<<continue-to Drive>>"I regret not getting to know myself better. I'm still not really sure about my gender, sexuality, or even generally who I am. And I'm not sure how I ever would be."
<<continue-to Panic>>I regret letting my heart race every time my parents fought, a bill was late, or I had to go to work. I regret ever panicking."
<<continue-to Suicide>>"I regret every time I thought about killing myself."
<<continue-to But>>"But I guess there's no point in thinking about all that now. Or that's how I think I'm supposed to feel right now.""Honestly," she talks through a wet wheeze, "I needed someone I loved, but without the pressure of family."
<<continue-to Someone>>"I just needed someone.""Oh shit! We never did go back there!""That was so stupid."
<<continue-to Read>>"Damn. Why bring that up, sicko?"
<<continue-to Worse>>She smiles, an eerie, goopy grin. "The only reason I don't have it on right now is because I didn't want it falling with most of me into this disgusting tub drain."
<<continue-to Bracelet>>"I guess it can be a lot worse than deliquescing."
<<continue-to Better>>"Does that make me feel any better? Seriously, I'm asking."You hold your wrist up. You, of course, have yours on right now.It's not something the two of you would normally say. It feels weird coming out of your mouth, and you aren't even melting.
<<continue-to Love>>"I've since realized that doing that really goes against the whole 'leave no trace' thing, of course."
<<continue-to Besides>>"But even besides that, what did we think we were doing? Like, //why//?"
<<continue-to Witch>>You tell her that you've heard of stacking stones being part of spells before.
<<continue-to Think>>"You don't think we cast any spells, do you?"
[[Maybe.|Hmm]]
[[No.|Hmm]]She gargles out a weird, thoughtful hmm."I love you too," she responds simply."Of course. We talked about this forever ago."
<<continue-to Haunt>>"I mean, I have to think it can."
<<continue-to Special>>There is silence. You listen to the steady drip of her toes and feet along the rim of the drain.
<<continue-to Died>>"I've thought the same thing."
<<continue-to Should>>"I'm nonstop haunting your ass.""In this moment, I can't think that I could ever feel any worse."
<<continue-to Awful>>As if her pain were contagious, you feel an awful gnawing in your stomach, a burning behind your eyes.
<<continue-to More>>For a moment, even more than you want to make her live forever, you want to make her feel better right now."It's happening. Whether I know why or not, it's happening.""I, uh, haven't been out much. I haven't been able to really walk good for days now."
<<continue-to Describe>>"Funny you ask because I've been trying to read more since this all started."
<<continue-to Book>>"Terrible. It was supposed to last four months and take me everywhere I'd ever wanted to go."
<<continue-to Money>>"What's so special about me?""I don't know. If I'm being honest, I've avoided them through most of this. There's a reason they aren't here now."
<<continue-to Pressure>>"There's a certain amount of pressure to family."
<<continue-to Expectation>>"Certain expectations."
<<continue-to Absurd>>"A degree of love that is so absurd that it is impossible to feel like I'm not failing them."
<<continue-to Tears>>It is impossible to know if the drops along her cheek are tears or her own liquifying flesh. It very well could be some of each.
<<continue-to Brother>>"I'm //really// worried about my brother. I'm worried he'll do something stupid. My parents aren't always as aware of him as I am."
<<continue-to Hear>>You can hear it in her voice now. She is crying.
<<continue-to Will>>"Will you keep an eye on him? Please?"
[[Of course.|Thank]]
[[I'll do what I can.|Thank]]"Thank you," she sighs, a terribly sad gurgling sound.Your heart drops. You think that maybe she is gone.
<<continue-to Well>>"Well, no," she finally mumbles.
<<continue-to Not>>"Of course not. No."
<<continue-to Because>>"I know because I will not let it.""Only the world needs to be sorry. And it has more to worry about than me melting.""It should've been you."
<<continue-to Giggle>>Both of you giggle stupidly. Bits of her splatter onto the walls, floor, your face."Describe it to me?" she asks.
<<continue-to Rainbow>>You tell her about glorious sun, violent storms, and rainbows.
<<continue-to Fake>>Of course, it's all fake. But both of you have a good time talking about it."I read some book about a girl who was raised alongside a chimp."
<<continue-to Miserable>>She lets out a loud laugh that turns into a terrible cough. You know that she didn't watch any game."It was shockingly miserable."
<<continue-to Recommend>>"And I can't recommend it enough.""At no point did I have the money I would have needed."
<<continue-to Vomiting>>"My mom was vomiting almost daily, it was making her so nervous that I was trying to do all of this as I was melting."
<<continue-to Station>>"I didn't make it passed the gas station down the street, which I walked to so I could buy some snacks the day before," she says it like a joke, but she looks a bit disappointed.You put your hands over your face and pull the skin around absent mindedly.
<<continue-to Melt>>You can't tell if your eyes are a normal amount of watery, or a crying amount of watery.
<<continue-to Rub>>You grab at your knee. You hadn't realized how much it had been bouncing.You put your hand up to your forehead as if checking for a fever, or wiping away sweat.
<<continue-to Meaningless>>You reach out and take her hand.
<<continue-to Lightly>>You set your hand across her arm. Your fingers sink into it. She smiles at you.You touch the tub. It's cold. You wish she would go sit on the couch or something, but she promised the landlord she wouldn't make a mess if he would let her do this here.You put your hand on her cheek. It's an awkward gesture, the kind that looked right in your brain, but feels like too much when you do it.
<<continue-to Sensing>>You <<print either("tap your fingers along your thumb", "breathe hard through your lips", "mess with your hair", "brush your eyebrows with your fingernail", "tap your left foot", "squeeze your eyes shut for a moment, and then open them. Bathroom is still there", "brush off your shirt", "look at your fingernails", "look at your feet", "look in her eyes. They look like they are bulging because of how the skin around them has melted away", "scratch your arm", "study the freckles on your forearm", "press your fists into your eyes", "pull on your earlobe", "rub your pantlegs", "adjust your sitting position", "sigh", "interlace your fingers behind your neck and stretch", "look around at the bathroom tiles", "look into the cold bathroom light", "stretch your arms to the side")>>.You think it might be best if the two of you just sit in silence now.
<<continue-to Being>>You try to imagine what it would feel like to melt.Either way, you try to use your hands to rub the water away.
<<continue-to Here>>"You're okay to be here, right?" you hear her call out.
[[Yes.|Good]]
[[I think so.|Means]]
[[I don't know.|Means]]"Good. I really want you here. I sort of need you here.""I hope I've made it clear how much it means to me that you //are// here."It is a meaningless movement driven by anxiety.You tell <<print either("a knock-knock", "a stupid", "a surreal", "an old", "a dark", "a lightbulb", "a classic")>> joke<<print either(" that you remember from a book you had when you were a kid", " that your grandpa used to tell", ", but you mess it up", " about cows", " that might be a little problematic, now that you think about it", " about dogs", " that you stole from a friend", " that you saw on social media the other day", " about death", " about family")>>.
<<continue-to Laugh>><<print either("She laughs a little, an uncomfortable, gargling sound.", "She says she's heard that one before.", "She doesn't get it. To be honest, you don't really either.", "A laugh sputters through her like a lawn mower starting up. Little droplets splatter across the wall next to her.", "The only response is an awkward silence.", "\"Good one,\" she murmurs.", "She says she thinks she told you that one first.")>>You hold it lightly. There is a shocking amount of give to it. You could squeeze, and her whole hand would gush out from between your fingers. It wouldn't even be a hand anymore.
<<continue-to Feel>>"Thank you," the words come out like a sprinkling rain, "It feels good to //feel// something."
<<continue-to Touch>>"My mom wouldn't hug me, wouldn't even touch me, the last time I visited."
<<continue-to Goop>>"She said the 'goop' I left would stain her sweater... she said to keep off the rugs.""It's okay," she says, as if sensing your unease.
<<continue-to Sliding>>You pull your hand away anyway, especially because her right eye had started sinking deeper into her face with the pressure of your hand.In a sudden burst of thought, you decide to take out your phone and start searching about deliquescence. Maybe there is still some way to stop this. Maybe all this gloom is premature.
<<continue-to Maybe>>Not knowing what to do with your body, you realize your anxious bouncing and fidgeting is starting to look like a dance.
<<continue-to Stand>>You take a finger and start smearing some of the goop around on the rim of the tub.
<<continue-to Draw>>Maybe she doesn't have to die.
<<continue-to Already>>"Trust me, I've looked," she mutters. And you realize that of course she has. And you put your phone back in your pocket.You stand up and start moving more intentionally. It feels right.
<<continue-to Smiles>>She smiles, although the dripping is making it harder and harder to recognize her expressions as anything.
<<continue-to Wiggle>>She starts moving too, a slight back-and-forth wiggle.
<<continue-to Jiggle>>You dance together.
<<continue-to Goofy>>It will certainly be the last time you do anything like this, but it's hard to think about things like that when you're dancing.No music. No holding. Just two goofy people being goofy with each other.
<<continue-to Last>>Her body and face jiggle like jello with each move.
<<continue-to Miracle>>It is a miracle she's holding together, but that doesn't seem especially important to either of you right now.
<<continue-to Together>>You draw a <<print either("smiley face", "stick figure", "dog", "long, squiggly line", "star", "spiral", "cloud", "house", "car", "sun", "moon")>>.
<<continue-to Drawing>><<print either("\"Gross,\" she says through a fountain of giggles, \"That's a bit of my shoulder you're drawing with.\"", "With a silly grin, she takes her hand and, with the most movement you've seen from her in a while, wipes your drawing away. You both laugh.", "\"Nice,\" she says.", "She draws a <<print either('smiley face', 'stick figure', 'dog', 'long, squiggly line', 'star', 'spiral', 'cloud', 'house', 'car', 'sun', 'moon')>> next to it.")>>It feels like being here is better than anything else you could possibly come up with to do.
<<continue-to Time>>Time passes.
<<continue-to Ending>>"Thank you for being here with me," she suddenly spurts.
<<continue-ending All>>"You know," she talks abruptly and quickly. You can both feel that she is almost gone. "I really do think that I had a good life."
<<continue-ending Weird>>"I hope that no one is too worried about me."
<<continue-ending Dying>>Out of nowhere, she starts bawling.
<<continue-to Slide>>"I hope I'm not letting anyone down," she gurgles suddenly.
<<continue-ending Tell>><<set $endingSegments to [
"Her right eye slips out, and dangles limply from the now gushing socket.",
"Her left hand falls from her arm and into the bathtub with a loud splat.",
"The last bit of her nose slides down her face and mixes with the liquid of her torso.",
"Her torso, now mostly a flat puddle, begins oozing toward the drain.",
"Whats left of her right ear slips from her face and lands hard in the tub.",
"Her mouth droops in horrible shapes, exposing her melting teeth and gums.",
"She coughs, and goop spatters across the tub like a Jackson Pollock painting.",
"Her right arm slides down her body enough that her silhouette would no longer be recognizably human.",
"Her words get garbled as they pass through her like water, but you manage to make them out.",
"All of her looks sunken in as her anatomy loses the ability to support itself and starts taking on the shape of the tub."
]>>
<<set $nextPassage to "Ending">><<print $endingSegments.pluck()>>
<<continue-to $nextPassage>>"I just couldn't be alone," she whimpers.You wait a minute to see if she says anything else, but she doesn't.
<<continue-to Gone>>She is gone.
<<continue-to Menu "Go home">>"That really is all I needed."
<<continue-ending Alone>>"Even if it's cut short.""I think it has been weird and difficult and gross and beautiful, and I think I should be allowed to feel good about it."
<<continue-ending Even>>"I hope that //you// are not too worried."
<<continue-ending Burden>>The air has changed. She is really dying now.
<<continue-to Hope>>"Don't worry about me.""My death is not for anyone but me. It's just another thing that is happening. Don't make it a burden."
<<continue-ending Worry>>Bits of her start sliding off faster, being carried down into the tub and toward the drain by her tears.
<<continue-to Miss>>She gifts you a final laugh, a surprising, wet sound.
<<continue-to Why>>"I'm going to miss you so much," she manages to bubble out through the cascade of tears and liquified skin.
<<continue-ending Sound>>"Tell my dad I love him."
<<if $history.includes(Mom)>>
<<continue-ending Goodbye>>
<<elseif $history.includes(Brother)>>
<<continue-ending Said>>
<<else>>
<<continue-ending Enemies>>
<</if>>"Why did you have to go and make life so fun?""Remember, you said you would keep an eye on my brother."
<<continue-ending Enemies>>"Tell my mom goodbye."
<<if $history.includes(Brother)>>
<<continue-ending Said>>
<<else>>
<<continue-ending Enemies>>
<</if>>"And tell yourself that I will never forget you.""Tell my enemies I hate them," she tries her damnedest to grin.
<<continue-ending Forget>>