Lex turned as soon as I got close enough and smiled, so warm I could almost feel it. \n\n"Mari! Get over here. Look at this!" She said, pointing at the wall. She looked giddy. I hadn't seen her look this happy in months.\n\n"Mari. The wall…" She repeated. I blushed, hoping she couldn't see it under the dim light. I followed her arm and gasped as I saw the wall.\n\nIt glimmered, light tossed back and forth across veins of golden stone.\n\nLex grinned and I <<if hasVisited("boxes 2")>>only felt my stomach drop. I had to be the one to tell her.\n\n<ul><li>[[I told her about the fool's gold.|tell her gold][$lex+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[She could ask Don Aquiles.|ask Don aquiles]]</li>\n<li>[[It was better if I just kept my mouth shut.|keep mouth shut lex]]</li></ul>\n<<else>>grinned with her.\n\n"Gold," she whispered, almost reverent. "We need to do something about this. Dig some out or something!"\n\n<ul><li>[[We're not miners!|not miners]]</li>\n<li>[[Yeah! If we look around, we're sure to find something!|find something]]</li>\n<li>[[Maybe we should ask Don Aquiles first?|don aquiles first]]</li></ul><<endif>>
"Don Aquiles sent me," I half-lied. He'd told me where she was, sure, but I'd come here for the jackalope's proof, for some glimpse of understanding of this place.\n\nLex frowned. "To help me?"\n\n"No, the other way around. I mean, you seem to be talking to him a lot. Did he tell you where they were?" I asked.\n\nShe shook her head. "No, he said that'd come later. He just wanted me to explore the place tonight. Won't even let me sign a contract till tomorrow."\n\nI raised an eyebrow. "Contract?"\n\nLex grinned, all teeth. "Summer job. Pretty good pay, and free room and board. Get myself some cash before college, you know?"\n\n"So you want to stay? What if it's a trap?!" I said. \n\nLex looked at me. I looked back. She raised an eyebrow. I looked away.\n\n"You know that doesn't make any sense at all, right? Wouldn't it be trying harder to keep us here if it was? The place isn't exactly a paradise."\n\nI thought of the ugly curtains, the run down cars in the parking lot. I thought of the peace and the calm and the endless night sky. \n\n<ul><li>[[Yeah, I guess it's not.|yeah guess not trap]]</li>\n<li>[[But maybe it is?|maybe it is][$lex+=1]]</li></ul>
<<if $smoke>><<goto "smoking second">><<else>><<goto "smoking woman 1">><<endif>>
"Sleeping in sounds like a great idea." I said, as we stepped out of the car. Becky smiled at me, and Lex rolled her eyes. She knew she was outnumbered.\n\nLooking up, I took in the motel sign again. We'd seen several like it on our trip here. Googie architecture, it was called. Swooping lines and visions of yesterday's future.\n\nThis one was a little more boring than most. The sign didn't even seem to be animated.\n\nStill, all we needed was a place to stay. We took our bags, and walked into the [[MOTEL OFFICE|arriving at lobby]].
It was better if I just kept my mouth shut.\n\n"That's great, Lex." I said. "But I've already looked around and I didn't find anything." \n\nBut she could always tell when I was lying. She didn't need to know the details. She just knew I hadn't found anything good.\n\nLex let out a soft sigh, running her fingers over the golden stone. "Shame, I… I honestly thought…"\n\n<ul><li>[[What did you think?|what did you think][$lex+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Let's not. Let's not think about this anymore.|lets not think]]</li></ul>
"What did you think?" I asked, stepping closer. Maybe there was something I could say. Something I could do that would make her feel better. Anything.\n\nShe just shook her head, turning away from me.\n\n"It just sucks. This whole thing just sucks!" Her shout echoed in the hallway. "I should have known that even the gold in this place would be fake." She sighed, long and low. "Some trap."\n\n<<if $lex >3>><div class="arrow">[[➥|some trap reveal]]</div><<else>><div class="arrow">[[➥|some trap conceal]]</div><<endif>>
The Jackalope was standing in front of the wall of evidence, tail twitching, foot thumping. It didn't turn when I walked in, didn't even seem to notice until I said, "Hey."\n\nI never knew what sounds rabbits made, but apparently Jackalopes make the auditory equivalent of ASFKJDLKFJDSL.\n\n"You! How'd you get in here?!" His eyes glowed orange in the dim light, wide and paranoid. He didn't blink. Could rabbits blink?\n\n"The door was open," I said. \n\n"Oh," he said. "Well, did you find the phone booth? Did it work?!"\n\n<ul><li>[[I let him down easy.|down easy]]</li>\n<li>[[Of course it worked!|of course worked]]</li></ul>
Becky looked at me, then back at the quarter. "What?"\n\n"You need this more than I do. You actually have someone to talk to on the outside," I said.\n\nBecky looked back at the impossible phone booth, here in the middle of nowhere, then back at the quarter. She seemed more frightened of the quarter than of anything else we'd seen tonight.\n\n"You're the one who said talking is good." I reminded her.\n\nShe took a breath, looking at the disk. "And you'll talk to Lex?"\n\n"I'll think about it." I promised, and I would. Just maybe, not tonight. Just maybe, not ever. Who knew.\n\nShe nodded, and took the quarter in her hand.\n\n"Do you want me to stay?" I asked.\n\nShe shook her head. "No, I…This is something I should do alone."\n\nI should have felt worse, leaving her out in the middle of the desert, in the light of a lonely street lamp, at a phone booth that shouldn't exist. But like everything in this place, it just felt like just the right side of wrong.\n\nI looked back a few times, peering at her through the tinted glass. She was hunched over, crying. I could tell, even if I couldn't see her tears.\n\nGuess the jackalope was wrong. The phone did work.\n<<set $beckystay to false>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
"Uh, have you seen my keys?" I asked, a bit nervous to be asking.\n\n"No, I can print you a replacement though. 207, right?"\n\n"My car keys," I clarified.\n\n"Oh… No, perdon. That I'm afraid I can't help with."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
I hate the way my name sounds on American tongues. The a's move forward into the nose, the e's becomes sneers. My parents should have thought of this, of the fact that I was born in the US and would live in the US before they left me with a name I'd constantly have to correct people about.\n\nBut I didn't correct him today. I was just too tired for it. \n\n"Thanks," I said, not meaning a word.\n\nHe smiled, and handed over a little plastic keychain, with bright white letters that read ROOM 207.\n"There's coffee here after five. Stairs are down the hall. Pool's closed for repairs."\n\nWe nodded, and I could feel how tired we all were. It was time to rest.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs lobby]]</div>
"Yeah," I said, pushing myself up. "I think I will. You going to head to bed anytime tonight?"\n\nDean smiled and shook his head. "The night's just getting started. In fact," he stopped, looking at his wrist-watch. "The cactus is about to bloom."\n\nHere he gestured out towards the hotel sign, a three pronged-cactus lit up in tacky neon-green. But that's all there was. There was no glint or extra neon tubing to herald a bloom, or even any animation.\n\nBut as I watched, it happened anyway.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bloom]]</div>
"Yeah, I found something," I said.\n\nShe looked at me for a long time. Even in the dim light of the tunnel, she could tell. "It's not gold, is it?"\n\nI shook my head. "Pyrite, fool's gold. I found some old flyers from the ads they ran, big tourist attraction."\n\nI hated saying it, hated the way her face dimmed, her smile vanished. She let out a soft sigh, running her fingers over the golden stone. "Shame, I… I honestly thought…"\n\n<ul><li>[[What did you think?|what did you think][$lex+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Let's not. Let's not think about this anymore.|lets not think]]</li></ul>
We walked together, back to the Cactus Blue. Under its light, we parted ways. She said she was heading back to the room, and I needed to talk to the jackalope.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|pool]]</div>
"What's up with the flower?" I asked.\n\n"Do I look like a botanist to you? I don't know, it just turns on at night. Brings the whole place back to life."\n\nI pursed my lips. That wasn't an answer.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|dean trap]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[["How did you end up here?"|dean here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|dean long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|dean motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|dean guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
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In the ninth grade, Lex and I were placed in the same freshman art class. It was a small comfort; neither of us were what anyone would call "artsy". Still, we found our preferred mediums. Lex took to sketching, said she liked that it was fluid, but not messy like charcoal.\n\nI chose photography, for a while.\n\nNow, faced with [[LEX|lex gold]] staring at the rough stone wall, dark skin lit only by flickering lantern light, I itched to pick a camera back up.
"What am I looking for?" I asked. \n\n"The books. They should be full of people who never signed out, people who never left." He said.\n\n"There are at least a few of those," I said, thinking of Dean, of The Smoking Woman. \n\n"More than a few, a trend. Proof." He said the last word reverently, eyes glinting with fanaticism.\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[[What shed?|what shed]]</li>\n<li>[[I could just ask.|just ask]]</li>\n<li>[[I'm ready.|im ready]]</li></ul>
"What's going on between me and Lex has nothing to do with this." I said, wanting to walk faster, wishing our arms weren't linked. Just a moment ago, I would have done anything to keep her, to not lose Becky to a new college, to new friends. Now, I just wanted to get away.\n\n"It has plenty to do with it. We're talking about talking, and how you're no good at it. I get it, it's hard, but we wouldn't have thought differently of you."\n\nI rolled my eyes. "Yeah, cause you're really proving that right now."\n\nBecky bristled. I felt it, like a current through our linked arms. "I'm not… Mari, this isn't like that. I don't care that you're a lesbian, and neither would Lex. But you never told us. You never tell us anything."\n\n"I'm not-"\n\n"Don't lie to my face, Mari," She broke away. We stopped walking, standing in the middle of the highway.\n\n<ul><li>[[I felt panic creep up my throat. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid.|panic becky]]</li>\n<li>[[I felt rage bubble under my skin. She just didn't understand.|rage becky]]</li>\n<li>[[I felt tired. I could try to explain, but would it work?|tired becky]]</li></ul>
"Maybe for a bit," I said, and Becky beamed. She scooted to the side, patting the bed next to her. I crawled up, laying near her as the man on the screen gushed about his new knife set.\n\nWe sat there in silence for a while. It reminded me of a thousand other nights, a thousand other movies. And all of that was coming to an end.\n\n"I'm going to miss you," I said. I think it was the first time I'd said anything about it, and I regretted it immediately. Saying it made it real.\n\nBecky didn't look at me. "You don't have to, you know? I mean, not yet. We're staying here for a while." I could almost hear the brittleness under her skin, brought to light under the cactus blue.\n\n<ul><li>[[It doesn't work that way.|work that way][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Yeah. I guess.|yeah I guess]]</li></ul>
A fading, neon flower glowed above the sign that read Cactus Blue Motel. It was unattached to any wires, shifting like a living thing, with every breathe of desert air. It seemed tired, and wilted.\n\nThe motel itself was wilting too, both on the lobby side [[(ROOMS 101-103)|pk f11]], and the side where my rooms were [[(ROOMS 104-110).|pk f12]]\n\nBecky's car was sitting in a spot near the west end of the motel. The beat up sedan from before was gone, replaced with a bright blue Thunderbird paint looking faded, and chipped.\n\nDean sat next to his motorcycle, waiting for me to go upstairs, and talk to the others.\n\nThe Highway was dusty, grainy, and inky black.
Back in middle school, I'd joined band with the vague dream of becoming a rock star. I was eleven, and I didn't know anything about the real world, or real jobs, or the failure of even realistic dreams.\n\nBut when I dreamt about that rock star future, the woman who opened the door was what I would dream of. Wild hair, ripped jeans, wrapped up in a take on the world stance, with a backdrop of drums.\n\nAnd even better, her eyes lit up at the sight of me.\n\n"Hey, you're new, aren't you?" She said, starting to grin widely. I couldn't stop my blush as I nodded. "Awesome! Come in then!"\n\nThe beds were pushed up against the wall to make space for the instruments and sheet music spread out on the floor. \n\nIntroductions went swiftly, seeing as nobody gave me their name. There was The Drummer, The Bassist, The Guitarist, and The Singer.\n\nTogether, they called themselves The Band.\n\n"You play anything?" The Singer asked.\n<<set $convince+=1>><<set $band to true>>\n<ul><li>[["I was in band for a while."|band while]]</li>\n<li>[["Not really."|not really]]</li></ul>
The first thing I saw was the poster: young man giving a thumbs up in front of a mushroom cloud.\n\nThe room was too brightly lit, not the kind fluorescent of outside, but burning and garish. The walls were lined with mostly maple syrup and pickled nopalitos.\n\nOther than that, nothing of interest.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"How long have you been here?"\n\nThe Drummer counted out the beat, one, two, three, four.\n\n"I dunno what year is it." The Singer said.\n\n"2016," I said.\n\n"Dude! We passed Y2K! Awesome, is the world still okay? It didn't explode or anything did it?"\n\nWell that dated them nicely. "Yeah, the world's fine."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|end up band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|motel band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|guests band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
"Well excuse me, I think there's reason to stare."\n\n"The face thing? Yeah. I suppose. Don't worry about it. You new?" \n\nI nodded. "Yeah, me and my friends…"\n\n"Friends," She scoffed. "We'll see how they hold up. They got any reason to be sticking around?"\n\nBecky and Lex both had futures waiting out there. Fancy colleges, and lots of plans. "No, not really."\n\n"They'll probably check out tomorrow then, but you… you look like someone with a reason to stay. Are you?"\n\n<ul><li>[["I am."|I am smoking]]</li>\n<li>[["I don't know."|dont know smoking][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Second FLoor, Rooms 203-210</h4>\n\nYou never got skies this clear in Houston. I doubt they happened in New York or Palo Alto either, but in Houston they definitely didn't. The city lights there faded up into the sky, eating up the dim light of the stars until all that was left is black and clouds.\n\nBut here, the black was dotted with stars, and painted with the bright blue of the Milky Way. The closest thing to a cloud were the thin wisps of smoke, rising from the cigarette of the boy in the [[PARKING LOT|parking lot]]. He looked up at me, and waved. Guess I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.
"But maybe it is?" I said. I was trying to poke holes in this because I had to, because I wanted to know this place, to understand it.\n\nLex didn't care as much for understanding; she just wanted things to "make sense". I used to think they were the same thing.\n\n"It's not, Mari. If this were a trap it'd be… I don't know, it'd be wonderful, not just weirdly average."\n\n"But we all want to stay, don't we?"\n\nI thought she wouldn't be able to argue that. I underestimated her ability to argue. "That doesn't have anything to do with this place."\n\n"Wouldn't it be safer just to check, to look around?" I said. Was it so bad that I just wanted to be sure?\n\n"Alright," she said, giving in for once."I'm going down this way. We'll cover more ground like that." She said, and wandered off ahead towards some of the further branches.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
Cactus Blue Motel
Lex was driving. She liked driving the most out of all of us, so when she said she'd take the wheel, we never argued. If it were up to her, she'd have taken over this whole trip. But it was all of ours, together, and she relented. Still, the parts she had planned were impeccable. Neat, organized itineraries worthy of someone as type-A as she was.\n\nStill, that which organized our trip also meant it wasn't easy for her to deal with the car rule where shotgun controlled the music.\n\n"Okay, that's enough Hamilton. Change the music," she said.\n\n<ul><li>[[I changed the music.|me music]]</li>\n<li>[[Becky changed the music.|becky music]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Middle of the Desert - A Run Down Shed </h4>\nA lightbulb flickered inside the run down shed. On the floor, the heavy metal lid had been unlocked and opened.\n\nThere was nothing in this room. Only the hole.\n<<set $bunker to true>>\nAnd the only way in was [[DOWN.|down]]
"I don't know who we should call, but we have to try it out," I said. "We have to see if there's a way to reach outside this place."\n\n"And if there isn't?" Becky said. She didn't seem nervous at all, why wasn't she nervous?\n\n"I guess we'll figure it out then." I said lamely. I wasn't much good at thinking ahead.\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("my parents")>><li>[[My parents.|my parents]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("911")>><li>[[911|911]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("Aaron")>><li>[[Aaron.|Aaron]]</li><<endif>></ul>
"Don't think so," I said. There was still the outside world to think about, and Lex, and Becky.\n\n"Shame, you had a good sound. But we understand, you gotta go where the music takes you." The Singer said. Drummer agreed with a drum riff.\n\nI smiled weakly. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I could still ask them some questions.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|end up band]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|long band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|motel band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|guests band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
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I wasn't going in there! I could read. It was private.\n\nBesides, no one answered the door.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs lobby]]</div>
<h2 style="text-align:center;">Thank you for checking in to the \nCACTUS BLUE MOTEL</h2>\n\nCactus Blue Motel was written by Astrid Dalmady.\n\nYou can find more of her work, and ways to reach her at:\n\n<ul><li><a href="http://astriddalmady.com" target="_blank">AstridDalmady.com</a></li>\n<li><a href="https://twitter.com/dastridly" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li>\n<li><a href="http://dastridly.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a></li></ul>\n\n<h4>Or You can help support future games on: </h4>\n<ul><li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/dastridly?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a></li></ul>\n\nA huge thank you to my editors and playtesters: Sierra, Ayuramy, Matthew, Peter, Mike, Cat, Michael, and Melanie, as well as to my <a href="https://www.patreon.com/dastridly?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patrons: Amy & Amone Linsamouth, Peter Vaughan, and Some Strange Circus.\n\n<div class="arrow"><<click "➥">><<script>>\nSave.autosave.delete();\njavascript:history.go(0);\nSugarCube.State.restart();<</script>><</click>></div>
"Yeah, I guess." I said. "I'm still trying to figure this place out." I didn't know what it was I wanted. Not really. Not anything besides the vague desire to not be back in Houston.\n\n"Then let's do that," Becky said, sitting up. I heard what she didn't say. \n\n"Well, I uh…heard that there was this phone booth, out in the desert. It's why I came actually. To get some quarters."\n\nBecky paused. "A phone booth?"\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah. Come with me?"|becky come with me][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[["Yeah, but you can stay if you like."|becky stay]]</li></ul>
"What now?" I asked. It couldn't be any more convincing than any of his reasons before.\n\nHe hopped up close, orange eyes looking right in to me. He paused. I blinked. He didn't.\n\n"Where are your car keys?"\n\nMy hand went to my pocket, empty.\n\n<ul><li>[[They're gone.|keys gone]]</li>\n<li>[[I never had them.|never had them]]</li></ul>
I couldn't sleep.\n\nMaybe it was because the curtains in the room didn't close all the way, so the room was lit up by the faint haze of the neon outside. Maybe it was the way the LED on the fire alarm lit up at irregular intervals in a pattern I couldn't follow, even though I spent a while watching.\n\nMaybe it was the sound of Becky muttering in her sleep. Maybe it was Lex's silence.\n\nMaybe it was me.\n\nWhatever it was, I wasn't getting any sleep tonight. I might as well [[GO OUTSIDE|getting some air]] for a bit, get some air.
"Yeah, probably." I said. Odds looked good so far.\n\n"Great! We can't wait. We'll probably write a new song with you." The Singer said. The Drummer agreed with a drum riff.\n\nI smiled weakly. I never had written a song before. Well, we'd have time for that. I could still ask them some questions.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|end up band]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|long band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|motel band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|guests band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Second Floor, Rooms 201-203</h4>\nThe [[STAIRS|pk f11]] lead back down to the first floor. \n\nTo the right, there are three rooms:\n203 : Vacant\n202 : Vacant\n<<if hasVisited("jack goodbye")>>201: DO NOT DISTURB, and a locked door that wouldn't open to me.<<else>>[[201 : DO NOT DISTURB.|jack goodbye]]<<endif>>\n\nAfter that, an ice machine sat in the spot where another room might have once been.\n\nThe [[REST OF THE ROOMS (204-210)|pk f22]] stretch out to the left.
We walked fast, the sun already peeking past the dusty mesa in the distance. Piling everything back in the car, I allowed myself one last look at Dean. He looked so disappointed, cigarette drooping. \n\nMaybe, another time, things might have been different.\n\nBut this time, we all got in to the car, and Lex drove us away.\n\nI looked out the window as we drove, at the rising sun and the fading, neon, cactus bloom. I watched until the sky was pink, and the motel was out of sight.\n\nThen I turned around, facing forward. There were still 750 miles to Santa Monica after all.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
"How did you end up here?"\n\nDean let out a perfect circle of smoke. It highlighted a flickering star, then faded into the night. "Long story short, was trying to get away from my dad. He wants me to take over the family business, boring. I decided to go for a drive and well…"\n\n"You ever think of going back home?"\n\nDean laughed. "Dad can drag me there himself if he really wants me back. Until then, I'll pass."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|dean trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["What's up with the flower?"|dean flower]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|dean long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|dean motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|dean guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
"Hey, have you seen my keys?" I really hoped I hadn't left them here. \n\nHe turned from the typewriter, still blank, and shook his head. "No. But if you talk to The Don, he'll give you a fresh copy."\n\n"I meant my car keys."\n\n"Oh." He turned back to his manuscript. Helpful.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f12]]</div>
I didn't have any more questions for now. She raised a hand as I walked away. I thought it would be a wave.\n\nInstead she took another drag. I couldn't tell if she was looking at me go.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"Do you think this place is a trap?" I asked. The Bassist stopped plucking out her beat. The Drummer went still. \n\n"Nah," said the Singer. "This place is great! All the time in the world to do what you want. Besides, if it was, it'd be way more Hotel California. Instead it's more Piano Man, you know? Sharing a drink they call loneliness."\n\nThat made sense, but as I was nodding The Guitarist kicked some sheet paper towards me. I couldn't read the notes, but the title was <em>Hell in Mundanity</em>. I looked back up at him, but he was playing out the opening to Hotel California, and didn't look up.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f11]]</div>
In the tunnels, there was darkness.\n\nNot shadow, not the absence of light, but the absorbing of it. The yellowing bulbs tried to pierce the darkness. Tried to reach forward, forward. And failed.\n\nI didn't try.\n\nI really didn't try.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"Then I'm leaving too," Becky said, though she sounded like my choice had very little to do with hers.\n\nLex paused, and looked over the both of us. "I suppose, we all arrived together. We should all leave together."\n\nBecky grinned, and hopped over to our bed, pulling us into a hug. I breathed into it, pure and clean. We could do this together, I realized. Leave this place and its banal temptations.\n\n"Let's get out of here before the sun rises," Lex said. Becky just started packing, and soon we all walked [[OUT OF THE ROOM.|out room all go]]
"How did you end up here?"\n\nHe leaned back, letting out a long sigh. "Oh I can barely remember. They found gold out in California, and I figured I'd make my fortune. Never did make it. How did that end up going?"\n\nI didn't know much about the gold rush, so I told him what I did. "Some people got pretty rich, other people didn't."\n\n"Isn't that the truth?" He said. "No, I prefer this much better. The Cactus Blue takes care of herself mostly. Don't even need to charge for the people who decide to stay. I figure it's the least I can do since it's so easy to maintain."\n\n"She, uh, takes care of herself?" I asked. Was the Motel alive?\n\nHe just smiled and shrugged. "Misterios, Maria Elena. Some questions can't be answered."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|don keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|don trap]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[["How long have you been working here?"|don working]]</li>\n<li>[["What's the deal with the motel?"|don motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the guests?"|don guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|don no more q]]</li></ul>
"I was wondering if I could take a look at your sign-in books?" I said.\n\nHe wrinkled his nose. It made his whole face crumple in a decidedly unpleasant way. "I'm not sure, Maria Elena. Many of my guests stay here because they do not wish to be disturbed."\n\nI hadn't found that to be the case at all, but I kept going. "Not recent ones, but old ones. This place seems to have been around forever, I was just wondering about some of it's history."\n\nHis face relaxed, smoothed over like a wind passed over it. He smiled. His face wasn't lined then. "Oh! Wonderful. It's so nice to see you girls taking an interest in the old place. I keep all the old records down in the shed. Just don't go too far down, you might get lost."\n\n"Thanks," I said.\n\nDon Aquiles nodded. "Let me know if there's anything else you need." He said.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
We walked fast, the sun already peeking past the dusty mesa in the distance, and piled everything into the car. Shutting the trunk, Lex walked up to me.\n\n"Not too late to change your mind," she said. I paused. I wondered, if I said something, would she ask me to go with her. To stay by her side.\n\nBut a movement distracted me. It was Dean, waving and smiling. I smiled back.\n\n"Nah, I'll be okay."\n\nThe sky was already turning pink by the time they drove off. I walked slowly and sat next to Dean on the curb. Above us, the cactus bloom was flickering, neon dying in the dawn light.\n\n"You're gonna love it here. I promise," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He smelled like leather, and smoke and I nodded.\n\n"Yeah, you know what… I think I will."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
"Are you even allowed on the furniture?" I asked. Did Don Aquiles know about this? Did anyone? Was this normal here?\n\nHis nose twitched in annoyance, ears swiveling. "Oh you're laughing it up now, but look, LOOK!" He hopped over to the evidence wall, one antler tugging at a long red string. "See, the whole place is a trap. People check in, but they never check out!"\n\nI squint over at the wall. There are newspapers, some of them older than me, and photos, but nothing that seems decipherable. He must have noticed my confusion because he kept going. "Fine! I'll prove it to you!"\n\n"How?" I asked, but he was already convincing me just by having put the idea in my head. Pushing Daisies isn't that good. Lex could never give up on a schedule.\n\n"By showing you how trapped it is. You know phones don't work here. They don't want you reaching the outside world." His nose twitched, and he looked to the door, nervous that we'd be found. "But I still haven't tested the last one, the last phone. It's a pay phone, down east by the highway, still in the light of the motel. If I'm right, you could go out there, and it wouldn't let you call."\n\n"And if it does?" He already had me and he knew it.\n\nHe seemed sure it wouldn't. I was less sure, about that, about anything.\n\nBut now I had to check it out.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
I knocked and they stopped talking. The door opened to reveal the manager, a vivacious, older latino, eyes glimmering under the blue light. He looked completely different from the man who had rented out the room. Lively, where the other was pale and tired. Behind him, Lex sat at the desk, looking smug. \n\n"Maria Elena! Welcome, welcome," he said, my name flowing smoothly from his lips. "Lex, why don't we finish this up later? Explore for a while, get to know the motel. There's no rush at all, you know."\n\nLex stood, the veritable cat that had gotten the cream. "I know. Still, I don't think I'll change my mind."\n\nThe manager laughed and moved aside, letting Lex out of his cramped little office. "Yes, I can certainly see that. Still, spend some time with your friend, enjoy. I'll still be here until morning."\n\n"Thank you, Don Aquiles," Her mouth twisted wrongly around the q sound. High School Spanish and staying over at my place had never been enough to lose Lex's accent.\n\n"You can just call me The Don, most people do." He replied, in that easy way I was familiar with. We shared a moment, two people with names unpronounceable in English. "Have a nice evening, girls."\n\nHe shut the door and Lex turned to me, eyes bright. I'd come here to convince her to stay, but to be honest, she didn't look like she needed a lot of convincing.\n<<set $talkgirls+=1>>\n<ul><li>[[I asked what she thought about the motel.|lex motel 1]]</li>\n<li>[[I asked her what she thought about Don Aquiles.|lex aquiles 1]]</li>\n<li>[[I asked about Becky.|lex becky 1]]</li></ul>
Becky looked at me in shock, but Lex, she looked guilty.\n\n"Me too," she said.\n\n"But you said you'd wanted to stay," said Becky, almost in a whine. "You wanted to take the job. And Mari, you wanted to stay because…"\n\nAnd her words died out, because she realized she had no idea why I wanted to stay. \n\n"It'll be fine. We'll come by on the drive back." If she was still here. If we could find it again. "We'll swing by and pick you up."\n\nBecky didn't believe me. I barely did. But she helped us pack anyway, and we all, solemnly, [[LEFT THE ROOM.|you go lex go out room]]
/* No saving on the passage "Start". */\nconfig.saves.isAllowed = function () {\n\tif (passage() === "Start" || passage() === "extras" || passage() === "about the game" || passage() === "credits" || passage() === "end credits") {\n\t\treturn false;\n\t}else\n\treturn true;\n};\n\nconfig.saves.autosave = true; \nConfig.saves.autoload = false;
<<if $keys>>Damn. I didn't drop them here by the car. That seemed to make the most sense.<<else>>It seemed shinier under the cactus bloom, though still just as dirty from the long drive from Houston.<<endif>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
"I haven't met anyone else," I said.\n\n"Well get to it. There's 103, 109, 201, and 210, right now. Uh, just ignore anything else you see. They're empty, for real."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|dean trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["What's up with the flower?"|dean flower]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|dean long]]</li>\n<li>[["How did you end up here?"|dean here]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|dean motel]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
<<set $becky to 0>>\n<<set $lex to 0>>\n<<set $go to 0>>\n<<set $convince to 0>>\n<<set $keys to false>>\n<<set $trap to false>>\n<<set $talkgirls to 0>>\n<<set $quarter to false>>\n<<set $phonebooth to false>>\n<<set $bunker to false>>\n<<set $beckystay to false>>\n<<set $lexstay to false>>\n<<set $istay to false>>\n<<set $books to false>>\n<<set $band to false>>\n<<set $smoke to false>>\n<<set $man to false>>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Parking Lot</h4>\nA neon flower glowed above the sign that read [[CACTUS BLUE MOTEL|cactus bloom]]. It was unattached to any wires, shifting like a living thing, with every breath of desert air.\n\nThe motel itself was lively as well both on the side of the lobby [[(ROOMS 101-103)|f11]], and the side where my rooms were [[(ROOMS 104-110).|f12]]\n\n[[BECKY'S CAR|beckys car]] was sitting in a spot near the west end of the motel. The beat up sedan from before was gone, replaced with a bright blue [[THUNDERBIRD.|thunderbird]]\n\n[[DEAN|dean]] sat next to his motorcycle, the only one on the lot.\n\nEven the [[HIGHWAY|highway]] looked fresher, deeper and darker black.
"Then I'm staying too," Becky said, though she sounded like my choice had very little to do with hers.\n\nLex paused, and looked over the both of us. "You can't. We have a life to start. What about college?\n\nI licked my lips, trying to articulate my reasons when I realized. She wouldn't understand. She'd chosen to leave, so why would she ever understand my reasons for staying. The outside world still held appeal to her, after all. Becky might, but she was staying mum.\n\n"It won't be forever," I said, and even that was a faint idea. Who knew how long I'd be here. Who knew.\n\nLex must have seen something in my face, in my stance, that showed that I wasn't about to move on this, and slumped. \n\n"I'll help you pack," I said, and we did. They needed to go before sunrise, and we all hurried [[OUT OF THE ROOM.|you stay lex go out room]]
It made sense, as if his words were the outline to something I couldn't fully articulate, but there was still something off about it. Like an uncanny valley for deep thoughts. "…I guess," I said.\n\nHe seemed much more confident about it as he kept going. "Sometimes, I think you just need to take a break, stay put and do nothing, just let the universe fill you back up."\n\nAbove us, the Milky Way cut through the black like a river flowing nowhere. It looked like there were a million stars up there, more than plenty to fill anybody back up.\n\n"It's not really an option though." I said. "I mean, I'm traveling with my friends. We have a plan."\n\nDean shrugged, "That's their problem. But who knows, they might need the break too. You can always ask them."\n\n<ul><li>[["I think I will."|I think I will]]</li>\n<li>[["…Maybe."|maybe][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
"Be honest. Is this place a trap?" I asked, voice cracking. If it was, would I be okay asking? If it wasn't, would I be a fool for asking?\n\nDon Aquiles sighed. "You've been talking to 201, haven't you? Come sit."\n\nI sat, and he nodded. "This place, Maria Elena, is something special, a light in the dark, an oasis. But some people see a gift and only look for the hooks. Perhaps they have been hurt before, perhaps they are empty.\n\n"201, I will tell you, is empty. He tries to fill the hole inside himself with anything, any truth, but nothing is big enough to fill the hole inside of anybody. Not by itself. He'll see that one day. And then he'll leave. That's how it always goes."\n\n"…Do you really think he'll ever leave?" Where would something like The Jackalope even go?\n\n"That's not my question to ask, but I hope so. Motels aren't homes, Maria Elena. No matter how long you stay here."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
"How long have you been here?"\n\n"Too long," he said. "Too long, but I..."\n\nHere he paused, becoming rather distressed. "I-It's this place. I can't leave. I can't leave."\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[["How did you end up here?"|jack end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|jack motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|jack guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|jack no more q]]</li></ul>
I hesitated. "I don't really think it needs a website."\n\n"Mari," She let out a breath. "It's a hotel with a magical neon flower, where time doesn't even work right — trust me, look at the clocks — and <em>no one knows about it.</em> You don't just let something like that slide."\n\nI wasn't sure I agreed, but I could see the glint in Lex's eye, that bulldog tenacity that helped her get ahead. Once she had the idea in her head, it was hard to shake her off.\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("lex motel 1")>><li>[[I asked what she thought about the motel.|lex motel 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("lex becky 1")>><li>[[I asked about Becky.|lex becky 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[I left her to keep exploring.|leave Lex]]</li></ul>
"Nothing yet," I said.\n\n"Alright, well let's keep looking."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"The Man in Room 109?"\n\n"Oh just stay away from that guy," He said, with an easy wave. "He thinks he's the next big thing, you know? But he hasn't actually written a thing since he got here. Keeps watching the pay-per-view, if you know what I mean."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if hasVisited("smoking woman")>><li>[[The Smoking Woman|dean smoking]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("the band")>><li>[[The Band|dean band]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("jackalope")>><li>[[The Jackalope|dean jack]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[[Don Aquiles|dean don]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if $convince is 0>><li>[[I haven't met anyone.|havent met any]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
Through [[THE DOOR|third fork]], the stone became darker, but otherwise it was an identical room.\n\nFull of [[SHELVES|shelves 2]] and [[BOXES|boxes 2]].\n\nThese look a little older though.
"How did you end up here?"\n\nThe Guitarist played a riff, slow, then stopping. The Singer spoke over it. "We were touring, just got out of Phoenix and just ended up here. Touring is pretty intense, so we just ended up staying here a while."\n\nThe Bassist began a beat, The Singer continued. "Our Manager went on without us though. He was a bit of a jerk."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|long band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|motel band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|guests band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
"What just happened?" I asked. I didn't know how to play the guitar. Now that the jam session was over it just felt like dead wood in my hands, but I had been playing. I swore I had been playing.\n\n"A Jam Session, girl," The Singer said. The Drummer agreed with a drum riff.\n\n"What does that even mean?" \n\n"You let the music flow through you. Make it a part of you, you know?"\n\nThis didn't bode well for any questions I might want to ask.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|end up band]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|long band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|motel band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|guests band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - First Floor, Rooms 204-210</h4>\nThe hallway stretched back towards the highway, dimly lit all the way down.\n\n210: A closed door, and a pack of Marlboros on the floor.\n209: Vacant\n208: Vacant\n[[207: OUR ROOM|room 207 ending]]\n206: Vacant\n205: Vacant\n204: Vacant\n\nTo the right, are the [[STAIRS|pk f11]] and the [[REST OF THE ROOMS on this floor.|pk f21]]
"What do you think of the motel?"\n\n"It's just swell," she said. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. It was pretty hard since she didn't have a face.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|smoke keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|trap smoking]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|smoking end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|smoking long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|smoking guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|smoking no more q]]</li></ul>
The brochures advertise a whole range of places, from diners to drive-ins. My personal favorite was whole column of ads for different mini-golf courses including death metal mini-golf, thematically-similar-but-legally-distinct Godzilla mini-golf, and French Revolution mini-golf. The tiny guillotine chopping balls in half was a nice touch.\n\nI took a few. Maybe I could convince Lex to make some detours.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs lobby]]</div>
There's something soothing about the desert, a comfort in seeing something so massive and so old that it feels eternal, even if nothing ever is.\n\nAnd in every desert, there is an oasis.\n\nNeon lights cast a green glow on the horizon, rising like a premature dawn. As we got closer, we could see the shape resolve into a giant neon cactus. Below it, the words "CACTUS BLUE MOTEL" blazed before a background of dark desert sky.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|intro lot]]</div>
Above a glowing neon cactus, sat a living creature of neon. I looked at it as closely as I could, but I couldn't find the structure, the duplicates, anything. The cactus bloom above it was just flowing, and growing, and shedding beautiful light onto the motel.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
I knocked on room 109 and he called for me to come in. Inside, the room wasn't what I'd expected. I'd thought he'd have something wild, all paper and madness, but this place was pristine.\n\nBed made. No papers. Only The Man sitting at his typewriter, facing me. The TV remote was next to him, hastily and badly hidden. I could see from here the page was blank.\n\n"Oh, welcome back. Do you want to read some more pages? I don't have much, but well you can't rush art, you know?" He said, laughing nervously.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|109 keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|109 trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|109 here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|109 long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|109 motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|109 guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|109 question done]]</li></ul>
I didn't have any more questions for Dean, not now. I'd probably be back later though.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, and he jumped at the chance to explain.\n\n"LOOK!" He hopped over to the evidence wall, one antler tugging at a long red string. "See, the whole place is a trap. People check in, but they never check out!"\n\nI squinted over at the wall. There were newspapers, some of them older than me, and photos, but nothing that seemed decipherable. He must have noticed my confusion because he kept going. "Fine! I'll prove it to you!"\n\n"How?" I asked, but he was already convincing me just by having put the idea in my head. Pushing Daisies isn't that good. Lex could never give up on a schedule.\n\n"By showing you how trapped it is. You know phones don't work here. They don't want you reaching the outside world." His nose twitched, and he looked to the door, nervous that we'd be found. "But I still haven't tested the last one, the last phone. It's a pay phone, down east by the highway, still in the light of the motel. If I'm right, you could go out there, and it wouldn't let you call."\n\n"And if it does?" He already had me and he knew it.\n\nHe seemed sure it wouldn't. I was less sure, about that, about anything.\n\nBut now I had to check it out.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
I walked back into room 207, ready to talk. The girls were both sitting up in their beds. They seemed to know it was time to make a choice too.\n\n"So," Lex said, once I'd sat down beside her. "We have to choose now. Before dawn."\n\n"I guess," said Becky. No one sounded excited about it.\n\n"I already made my choice," I said. For the first time, I chose first. <<if $istay>>"I'm staying."\n\n<<if $lexstay and $beckystay>><div class="arrow">[[➥|all stay ending]]</div><<elseif $beckystay>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|you stay lex go room]]</div><<elseif $lexstay>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|you stay becky go room]]</div><<else>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|you stay they go room]]</div><<endif>><<else>>"I'm going."\n\n<<if $lexstay and $beckystay>><div class="arrow">[[➥|you go both stay room]]</div><<elseif $beckystay>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|you go lex go room]]</div><<elseif $lexstay>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|you go becky go room]]</div><<else>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|all go ending]]</div><<endif>>\n<<endif>>
"No, I don't," I said. I didn't want to go back home, watching all my friends trickle away. I didn't want to start anew at college, alone. I didn't want to go back.\n\n"Then we can wait," Becky said, putting a hand on mine. "It'll be okay."\n\nI took a deep breath and shook myself. No matter how tempting it was I still wanted to at least try and figure this place out. So I went back with what I had planned.\n\n"Well, I uh…heard that there was this phone booth, out in the desert. It's why I came actually. To get some quarters."\n\nBecky paused. "A phone booth?"\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah. Come with me?"|becky come with me][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[["Yeah, but you can stay if you like."|becky stay]]</li></ul>
There was a woman sitting on the floor, legs dangling through the railings. Her room door was open, spilling jazz onto the hallway.\n\nShe wore a slip, a string of pearls, and she was smoking.\n\nOh sure, she had a cigarette in her hand, and a pack of Marlboros next to her. But that wasn't what I meant. She was actually smoking. Her face was shrouded in smoke. It curled up from below her chin, obscuring her features with a grey cloud. When she spoke, scattered embers lit up inside it.\n\n"Take a picture, it'll last longer."\n<<set $convince+=1>><<set $smoke to true>>\n<ul><li>[["Uh… do you know your face is uh…."|sorry smoking]]</li>\n<li>[["Well excuse me, I think there's reason to stare."|smoking excuse me]]</li></ul>
The TV was playing some kind of strange infomercial when I walked into the room. It seemed to be an infomercial for an DVD of infomercials. Collector's edition too.\n\nBecky sat lounging in the bed, enraptured. I admit, it was hard to look away. But somehow we managed.\n\n"No more Pushing Daisies?" I asked, taking a seat by her. They were doing a knife demonstration: one knife cutting a smaller, inferior knife. That was always my favorite.\n\n"Not yet. They said it'd come back on tomorrow, like a marathon, but this is fine too. I even changed it sooner so I didn't get spoiled. It's gonna be great." She leaned back, stretching out onto the sheets. She looked…good. Refreshed. "You gonna stick around? I think they might do the can slicing demo next."\n<<set $quarter to true>>\n<ul><li>[[Maybe for a bit.|maybe a bit]]</li>\n<li>[[I just came to get some quarters.|quarters get]]</li></ul>
We walked fast, the sun already peeking past the dusty mesa in the distance, and piled everything into the car. Shutting the trunk, Lex walked up to me.\n\n"Not too late to change your mind," she said. I paused. I wondered, if I said something, would she ask me to stay with her. To stay by her side.\n\nBut I didn't ask, and neither did she. Behind her, Dean frowned, disappointed.\n\n"I'll be okay."\n\nThe sky was already turning pink by the time we drove off. Becky was driving. Behind us, I could see the cactus bloom, flicker one, twice, and fade. The motel went out of sight shortly after.\n\nI fixed my eyes on the highway, long and lonely. I turned Becky and let out a breath. I was about to tell her why I had wanted to stay.\n\n I had to do something, after all. There were still 750 miles left to Santa Monica.\n\n <div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
"How did you end up here?" I asked.\n\n"Same way you did, honey, by car." She said.\n\nWell, that was helpful.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|smoke keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|trap smoking]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|smoking long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|smoking motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|smoking guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|smoking no more q]]</li></ul>
I hate the way my name sounds on American tongues. The a's move forward into the nose, the e's becomes sneers. My parents should have thought of this, of the fact that I was born in the US and would live in the US before they left me with a name I'd constantly have to correct people about.\n\n"It's Maria Elena," I said, voice tired and just so 300% done with everything.\n\nHe just smiled, as if he wasn't listening and handed over a little plastic keychain, with bright white letters that read ROOM 207.\n\n"There's coffee here after five. Stairs are down the hall. Pool's closed for repairs."\n\nWe nodded, and I could feel how tired we all were. It was time to rest.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs lobby]]</div>
I let him down easy. It wasn't that I was scared or anything, but he seemed kind of jumpy and those antlers looked pretty sharp.\n\n"I'm sure you had a great theory, but uh, well, the phone booth worked fine." I said. It cost money, of course, which may have been a little weird for here, but nonetheless. \n\nIts ears drooped down, slumping on its haunches as it turned back to the wall. "I could have sworn, but no… there's something else… I know it. I know it."\n\n<ul><li>[[Just give it up.|give it up][$go+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Something else like what?|something like what]]</li></ul>
They looked at me like I'd just broken their hearts.\n\n"But you said you'd wanted to stay," said Becky, almost in a whine. "You wanted to stay because…"\n\nAnd her words died out, because she realized she had no idea why I wanted to stay. Neither of them did.\n\n"It'll be fine. I'll come by on the drive back." If they were still here. If I could find it again. "I'll swing by and pick you up."\n\nThey didn't believe me. I barely did. But they helped me pack anyway, and we all, solemnly, [[LEFT THE ROOM.|you go both stay out room]]
"I need them to leave," I said, finally, and he stood up. He was only taller than me by about an inch, but it didn't matter. He had the upper hand here.\n\n"You're the one who wanted to stay in the first place. Isn't this what you wanted? A place to rest?"\n\n"Yes, but—"\n\n"But what?" He reached over to me, placing the keys in my hand as he held it. "Why do you have to go?"\n\n<ul><li>[[I have to start college.|college]]</li>\n<li>[[I have to go back to my family.|back to family]]</li>\n<li>[["I have to start being an adult."|adult][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
I let her stay there, for a moment, piecing herself together. She shook herself, as if ridding herself of a layer of dust and straightened.\n\n"Okay, let's just… let's just get out of here." She said. \n\nThere was something there, right under the surface she wasn't saying. It felt like a riptide, invisible, and ready to dash me against the rocks.\n\n"Yeah," I agreed. "Let's just go."\n\n<<set $lexstay to true>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"It wouldn't matter if I told her," I said, kicking a rock onto the highway. Lex was leaving. Becky was leaving. Everyone was leaving me behind, and soon, their opinions wouldn't matter anymore.\n\n"Of course it would matter," she said. "At the very least you could could have come out to us. I get it, it's hard, but we wouldn't have thought differently of you."\n\nI rolled my eyes. "Yeah, cause you're really proving that right now."\n\nBecky bristled. I felt it, like a current through our linked arms. "I'm not… Mari, this isn't like that. I don't care that you're a lesbian, and neither would Lex. But you never told us. You never tell us anything."\n\n"I'm not-"\n\n"Don't lie to my face, Mari," She broke away. We stopped walking, standing in the middle of the highway.\n\n<ul><li>[[I felt panic creep up my throat. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid.|panic becky]]</li>\n<li>[[I felt rage bubble under my skin. She just didn't understand.|rage becky]]</li>\n<li>[[I felt tired. I could try to explain, but would it work?|tired becky]]</li></ul>
"I don't know," I said.\n\n"Oh you do, but you don't want to admit it." She blew out a puff of smoke from her puff of smoke. It looked pretty weird. "You should think about it though. It's pretty nice, and it's not like you need to pay for it."\n\nI stopped. "What?"\n\n"Yeah, no cost after night one. Or did you think we all had the cash to stick around?"\n\nI hadn't thought of it, but obviously she knew plenty about the motel. Maybe I should ask her stuff.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|smoke keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|trap smoking]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|smoking end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|smoking long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|smoking motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|smoking guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|smoking no more q]]</li></ul>
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Becky paused, and shook her head. "I can't stay. I just can't. I need to go back out and talk to Aaron, to start school."\n\n"Same, and you have to start too, Mari," said Lex. "Why do you want to stay?"\n\nI licked my lips, trying to articulate my reasons when I realized. They wouldn't understand. They'd chosen to leave, so why would they ever understand my reasons for staying. The outside world still held appeal to them, after all. \n\n"It won't be forever," I said, and even that was a faint idea. Who knew how long I'd be here. Who knew.\n\nThey must have seen something in my face, in my stance, that showed that I wasn't about to move on this, and slumped. \n\n"I'll help you pack," I said, and we did. They needed to go before sunrise, and we all hurried [[OUT OF THE ROOM.|out room you stay they go]]
"But it got cancelled after Season 2, right?" I said, half sure, half a question.\n\n"It was!" Becky said, tossing herself onto the bed and clutching the remote in glee. It was the most excited I'd seen her since she'd gotten her acceptance letter. "I don't really know how it works, but I'm not exactly going to complain."\n\nI peered over at the TV. Maybe they had more seasons of <em>Veronica Ma</em>— No, I had to focus.\n\n"Do you think we can convince Lex to stick around for an extra day or two, Mari? She left here as soon as the blue light came on, but I don't think she's seen this. We don't need to actually make it to California, right?" Becky clutched at my hands, desperate. "You should ask her. She never says no to you."\n\n"She always says no to me," I said.\n\n"She sometimes doesn't say no to you," Becky countered. Her eyes were bright. She wanted this. Badly.\n\n<ul><li>[["I'll see what I can do."|becky see what do]]</li>\n<li>[["Maybe you could help me convince her?"|becky convince her][$becky +=1]]</li>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[["She already wants to stay."|already stay]]</li><<endif>></ul>
The phone booth was a dusty red, clean if not for the wear of sitting by the highway. There was no graffiti on the glass. The only mark on the phone was the remnants of a ripped up sticker, unrecognizable.\n\nEtched above the coin slot was the request for 25c.\n\nI had one quarter.\n\nI held it out to Becky.\n\n<<if $becky > 4>><div class="arrow">[[➥|becky quarter yes]]</div><<else>><div class="arrow">[[➥|becky quarter no]]</div><<endif>>
The Band was sprawled around the room, plucking at notes, making a formless tune. The Bassist waved as I walked in, but no one else did.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|end up band]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|long band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|motel band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|guests band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
"Lex will be mad if we mess with the schedule." I said, using her as a shield. She might be mad, but frankly, after tonight, who knew?\n\n"Nope," said Dean, popping his p with all the glee of a child popping bubblegum. "She's got plenty to stay here for too. About forty-thousand somethings. NYU ain't cheap. The Cactus Blue is."\n\nI shook my head. No. Lex would want to leave. Also, "How do you know that?"\n\n"People like to talk to me," he said. It was true. I had.\n\n<ul><li>[[I need them to leave.|leave]]</li></ul>
Becky looked up at me from where she lay on the bed and smiled. \n\n"Still time for you to join me," I offered.\n\n"Maybe later," she said. I wasn't sure she meant it.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Second Floor, Rooms 204-210</h4>\nThe hallway stretched back towards the highway, brightly lit all the way down.\n\n[[210: A WOMAN SITS BY THE OPEN DOOR, SMOKING.|smoking woman]]\n209: Vacant\n208: Vacant\n[[207: OUR ROOM|207 hub]]\n206: Vacant\n205: Vacant\n204: Vacant\n\nTo the right, are the [[STAIRS|f11]] and the [[REST OF THE ROOMS(201-203)|f21]] on this floor.
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Second Floor, Rooms 201-203</h4>\nThe [[STAIRS|f11]] lead back down to the first floor. \n\nTo the right, there were three rooms:\n203: Vacant\n<<if $talkgirls >= 2>>202: The housekeeping cart was gone.<<else>>202: A parked housekeeping cart blocked the walkway.<<endif>>\n<<if $talkgirls >= 2>>[[201 : DO NOT DISTURB. Well, I just might.|jackalope]]<<else>>201: <em>DO NOT DISTURB.</em> That was pretty easy for now considering the cart blocked it.<<endif>>\n\nAfter that, an ice machine sat in the spot where another room might have once been.\n\nThe [[REST OF THE ROOMS (204-210)|f22]] stretch out to the left.
"I'll see what I can do," I said. I had very little confidence in anyone's ability to <em>make</em> Lex do anything. But I liked to pretend I had the influence on her that Becky thought I did.\n\nBecky smiled. "Great! She likes you better, anyway, and I'm pretty sure she's still mad that I ate the last BBQ chip yesterday."\n\n"She wouldn't hold a grudge like that," I said. Becky looked unimpressed. "Okay, well she wouldn't hold it this long." Another look. "Okay, that's beside the point. Besides, we have your reasons too."\n\nBecky smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. I had a flash, a moment when I realized I was her best friend, and I didn't know her at all. \n\n"Just, see what you can do, okay?" she asked.<<if hasVisited("knock")>> I heard a cart rumble in the hallway.<<endif>>\n\n"Alright, I'll see what I can do."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - First Floor, Rooms 104-110</h4>\nThere was very little in the [[PARKING LOT.|bs parklot]]\n\nThere was even less to see in the rooms:\n110: Vacant\n109: Vacant\n108: Vacant\n107: Vacant\n106: Vacant\n105: Vacant\n104: Vacant\n\nI couldn't imagine there'd be much more [[UPSTAIRS|bs f21]] besides a bed I could finally sleep in. The [[THE OTHER ROOMS(101-103)|bs f11]] on this floor also held no appeal.
The sun was barely peeking over the desert mesa in the distance, and the more it rose, the dimmer the floating, neon, cactus bloom became.\n\nWe sat there, feet dangling off the railing, until the sky was tinted pink and every shade of blue was chased away. Then Becky yawned and stood. "Let's get some rest," she said.\n\nIn the parking lot, I saw Dean wave at us. I knew I'd ask him more questions later. Maybe tomorrow night. Maybe night after next.\n\nAfter all, it wasn't like I was in any rush.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - First Floor, Lobby and Rooms 101-103</h4>\n\nDim, flickering fluorescents lit up the first floor walkway.\n\nA thin corridor cut between the main building and the [[MOTEL LOBBY|bs lobby]]. A printed paper sign, tape curling at the corners read [[POOL|bs pool]], pointing down into the shadows.\n\nThen the rooms:\n103: Vacant\n102: Vacant\n101: Vacant\n\nAt the corner, the dimly lit [[STAIRS|bs f21]] and a sharp turn to [[ROOMS 104-110.|bs f12]]\n\nAnd out into the night, the almost empty [[PARKING LOT.|bs parklot]]
"We're not miners," I said, but I could already tell I was going to get sucked into the undertow. It was inevitable.\n\nLex was inevitable.\n\n"We can figure it out. There has to be some kind of equipment or information somewhere. I mean, they dug the tunnel, didn't they?"\n\nI didn't say that they'd probably left the gold in the ground for a reason. She wouldn't listen. Instead, Lex would stay in this tunnel searching. I could go explore the rest<<if $books>>.<<else>>, and try and find the jackalope's books while I was at it.<<endif>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"So what do you think?" I asked, trying to feel her out. I'd known her long enough to read her, but I still wanted to be sure she wouldn't default back to our old itinerary.\n\n"It's amazing, isn't it? I don't know why it didn't come up in any of my research."\n\n"Probably because it's a magic motel," I teased. Lex rolled her eyes and nudged me.\n\n"Don't be facetious, you know what I mean. Still stuff like this…well, it just doesn't exist. Not for people like us."\n\n"People like us?" I asked.\n\nShe nodded. "You know, ordinary people."\n\n<ul><li>[["I don't think you're ordinary."|notordinary]]</li>\n<li>[["I know what you mean."|knowmean]]</li>\n<li>[["Well it obviously does."|obvdoes][$lex+=1]]</li></ul>
"Hey, have you seen my keys?" \n\nThe Smoking Woman looked up and shook her head, embers floating into the night. "You should keep better track of them, girl."\n\nAs usual, very helpful.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"We could call 911," I suggested vaguely.\n\n"That's illegal, you know," Becky said, turning on her fun fact voice. "There's no emergency."\n\n\nI looked back at the Cactus Blue, and this weird alternate world we were living in now. I was sure some people, somewhere would count it as an emergency.\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("my parents")>><li>[[My parents.|my parents]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("Aaron")>><li>[[Aaron.|Aaron]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("dont know call")>><li>[[I don't know.|dont know call]]</li><<endif>></ul>
He blinked up at me and looked fantastically smug.\n\n"Still haven't found your keys? Told you so."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
<<if $keys>>To the west: California, east: Houston. North: was the motel, and the desert sprawled out into the south.\n\nAnd down there somewhere a phonebooth I didn't need, and where I really really hoped I didn't drop my keys. I will literally look everywhere else first than trudge back out there.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div><<elseif $phonebooth>>To the west: California, east: Houston. North: was the motel, and the desert sprawled out into the south.\n\nAnd down there somewhere a phonebooth I didn't need.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>\n<<elseif $quarter>>The highway stretched out east, back towards Houston and a phone booth we didn't see on the way.\n\n"Hey, not leaving without me, are you?" Becky said, coming down from the parking lot. Dean waved at her as she walked by.\n\n"No," I said. I had been. To be honest, I hadn't really expected her to come. But I'm glad she was here.\n\n She looped her arm in mine. Maybe I'd been a little transparent in my disbelief. "There, now let's go."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|phone walk]]</div>\n<<else>>To the west: California, east: Houston. North: was the motel, and the desert sprawled out into the south.\n\n<<if $trap>>Somewhere down to the east, there was a phonebooth. But walking out in to the darkness alone, I wasn't sure.\n\nBesides, I'd probably need a quarter or something. Yeah, that was why I didn't go. I could get one from the room first.<<else>>No one was coming down this dusty road. Especially, not me by myself.<<endif>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div><<endif>>
"What are you doing back here?" He said. It didn't get any more normal to see a rabbit talk. <<if hasVisited("post phonebooth jack")>>"Head to the shed! Chop chop!"<<else>>"Head out to the phonebooth, out by the highway, go on. You'll see! It won't work!"<<endif>>\n\nWas this how Alice felt? Still, I figured I could ask him some questions.\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[["How did you end up here?"|jack end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|jack long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|jack motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|jack guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|jack no more q]]</li></ul>
"A college you hate? That you never wanted to go you?"\n\n"It might be good," I said. His hands were warm in mine.\n\n"Sure, it might be, but The Cactus Blue already is."\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("back to family")>><li>[[I have to go back to my family.|back to family]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[["I have to start being an adult."|adult]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Lobby</h4>\nThe motel office was an empty square room, cut in half by a long counter that separated manager from guest. Behind the cheap faux-wood counter, there a single door marked Private. Locked.\n\nOn my side of the counter, there was a rack of brochures, folded and yellowed by wear and time, and a vending machine, turned off. \n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|pk f11]]</div>\n
The voices got louder as I got closer, then died, and right as I was passing the door, it opened.\n\nThe Man in Room 109 was tall, and white, and thin. His sweater had elbow patches. His glasses had tape. He looked startled to see me.\n\n"Oh. You're new, aren't you?" \n\nI'd barely nodded when he smiled. "Excellent! Could I please have a moment of your time? I'm working on a new manuscript, see, and I would love to get a fresh set of eyes."\n<<set $convince+=1>><<set $man to true>>\n<ul><li>[["Sure."|109 yes]]</li>\n<li>[["No thanks."|109 yes]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Highway</h4>\nTo the West: California. East: Houston. North was the motel, and the desert sprawled out into the South.\n\nBut mostly it was dark. I wasn't about to wander off.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs parklot]]</div>
"No, but I have to," I said. I didn't want to go back home, watching all my friends trickle away. I didn't want to start anew at college, alone. I didn't want to go back.\n\nBut life didn't work that way.\n\n"Why? This place doesn't seem to follow rules, so why should we?" Becky's voice wavered, but I didn't know how to answer her.\n\nSo I shrugged, and just didn't answer, not now. "Nevermind. I heard that there was this phone booth, out in the desert. It's why I came actually. To get some quarters."\n\nBecky paused. "A phone booth?"\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah. Come with me?"|becky come with me][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[["Yeah, but you can stay if you like."|becky stay]]</li></ul>
Becky said she would meet me downstairs. I should go that way.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
Don Aquiles sat in his office, blue light streaming in from a window with cheap, bent blinds. He grinned and cross his fingers on the desk.\n\n"Maria Elena. Do you need anything?"\n\nI did have some questions.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|don keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $shed>><li>[[Have you seen Lex?|office shed]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|don trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|don here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been working here?"|don working]]</li>\n<li>[["What's the deal with the motel?"|don motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the guests?"|don guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|don no more q]]</li></ul>
Downstairs, it was easier to see him as the relic of 1960's nostalgia that he is. All leather jackets, tight jeans, and a vintage bike. He had an easy smile, and I sat on the curb near his bike, looking up to the black sky.\n\n"Can't sleep?" He turned his head, blowing a puff of smoke away from me. Considerate, for a smoker. "I'm Dean, by the way."\n\n"Maria Elena, and yeah, I can't sleep either." I said. We'd met plenty of people on the road so far. I found a comfort in talking to strangers, in the knowledge that it will always be a temporary relationship. That whatever you say would be left in the desert with a boy who probably won't remember your name. \n\n"So what brings you out into this middle of nowhere, Miss Maria?" he asked. \n\n<ul><li>[["Me and my friends are taking a road trip out to California."|trip answer][$go+=1]]</li>\n<li>[["…Just …traveling, you know?"|just traveling]]</li>\n<li>[["Just trying to get away from Houston."|houston get away]]</li></ul>
"What do you think of the other guests?"\n\nMournful strings. A jazz beat.\n\n"Well the lady upstairs plays some great jazz, and The Don has some bachata we like, but the rest of them don't really jam well. And never ask 109 for lyrics, he's just not very good. 201's never come to our shows either," said The Singer.\n\nA sudden cymbal, a crash, like lightning.\n\n"Oh yeah! And Dean. Now there's a groovy dude. He's always been great about coming to jams."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|end up band]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|long band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|motel band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
<h2 style="text-align:center;">Thank you for checking in to the \nCACTUS BLUE MOTEL</h2>\n\nCactus Blue Motel was written by Astrid Dalmady.\n\nYou can find more of her work, and ways to reach her at:\n\n<ul><li><a href="http://astriddalmady.com" target="_blank">AstridDalmady.com</a></li>\n<li><a href="https://twitter.com/dastridly" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li>\n<li><a href="http://dastridly.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a></li></ul>\n\n<h4>Or You can help support future games on: </h4>\n<ul><li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/dastridly?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a></li></ul>\n\nA huge thank you to my editors and playtesters: Sierra, Ayuramy, Matthew, Peter, Mike, Cat, Michael, and Melanie, as well as to my <a href="https://www.patreon.com/dastridly?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patrons: Amy & Amone Linsamouth, Peter Vaughan, and Some Strange Circus.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|Start]]</div>
"Hey did you find anything?!" Lex said, beaming at the sight of me.\n\n<<if hasVisited("boxes 2")>><ul><li>[[I told her about the fool's gold.|tell her gold][$lex+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[She could ask Don Aquiles.|ask Don aquiles]]</li>\n<li>[[It was better if I just kept my mouth shut.|keep mouth shut lex]]</li></ul><<else>><ul><li>[[Nothing yet.|Nothing yet]]</li></ul><<endif>>
<<if $man>> <<goto "109 second">><<else>><<goto "109 1">><<endif>>
I walked back into the room. Becky was lying on the bed again, curled under the sheets. Lex was on the other bed, focusing hard on the vacuum sealer infomercial they were playing.\n\n"Hey, uh, are the car keys here?" I asked. \n\nBecky shrugged, not looking away from the screen. "You can check the bag."\n\nI did. They weren't there.\n\n"So?" Lex asked, as I started back towards the door.\n\n"Uh. I think I left them down in the parking lot." I had no such idea. I had no idea where they were. "I'll go look real quick."\n\nThe girls let me go. They didn't say a word. I ran. I couldn't be the one who lost the keys. Could I?\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
Before I could answer, he just burst into a grin, as if I'd said yes. "Great! Just a second."\n\nHe turned back into the room, rustling and came out with about 3 pages. They were type-written, on a real type-writer and still smelled like pen corrector and ink.\n\n"Well?"\n\n<div style="font-style:italic;margin-left: 50px;padding-left: 15px;border-left: 3px solid #ccc;">…and the highway, black like the coffee in the diner where I'd met her, stretched out like a slip and slide made of asphalt…</div>\nWell, I'd read worse. But I'd read some really bad fan fiction.\n\nHe didn't let me answer before he spoke again. "Oh, well, it's not finished." He said. "I still have a lot to write."\n\n"How much?" That he at least let me ask.\n\nHe shrugged. "You can't put a number on art."\n\nYeah… maybe it'd be best if I just asked him some questions.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|109 keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|109 trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|109 here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|109 long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|109 motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|109 guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|109 question done]]</li></ul>
Dean looked so at home here, leaning on his motorcycle under the cactus bloom. He let out a puff of smoke, like the world's least intimidating dragon and smiled at me. "I guess you still have questions?"\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|dean trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["What's up with the flower?"|dean flower]]</li>\n<li>[["How did you end up here?"|dean here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|dean long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|dean motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|dean guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
"Welcome to the party," I said, voice dead and tired.\n\nBecky took a step towards me, then another. I took one step back.\n\n"Let's just find the phone booth, okay?" I felt tired, drained.\n\n"…okay." She said. "Whatever you want, Mari. We have time to talk about it whenever we're ready."\n\nShe took another step forward. I let her. Her arm looped into mine and we began to walk, in sync, in the quiet.\n\nWe didn't say anything until we saw a streetlight that wasn't there before light up, revealing a [[PHONE BOOTH|phone booth becky]] that definitely hadn't been there before.
I felt tired. I could try to explain, but would it work? How could she understand me, coming from where she was. She'd had her perfect boyfriend her whole life, and this was only the first little hiccup. How could she understand?\n\n"I'm not lying. It's just complicated," I sighed. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you, you know. You'd want to know and dissect and I don't even understand it."\n\n"It's not hard, Mari!" Becky said, arms wide and angry. "Just say "Becky, I think I'm gay!"\n\n"But I'm not," I said softly "I don't know what I am. Bisexual, maybe, I don't know? Why does it even matter to you anyway?"\n\n"I'm your friend! I'm supposed to know this stuff!" She said.\n\n"Yeah, like I'm supposed to know about you and Aaron having problems?"\n\n"That's different," she muttered. \n\nI swallowed, shaking my head. "Why? Cause you're leaving? I don't need to know anymore cause you're leaving anyway? Is that it?!"\n\n"No!" Becky said, quickly. Too quickly? I don't know. "I just didn't want to think about it."\n\n<ul><li>[[Welcome to the party.|welcome to the party]]</li>\n<li>[[Well maybe you should.|maybe talk][$becky+=1]]</li></ul>
I walked back into the room. Becky was lying on the bed again, curled under the sheets. Lex was on the other bed, focusing hard on the exercise chair infomercial they were playing.\n\nI thought about sitting back down, but I didn't have time for that. I had a Jackalope to talk to.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"No! No more! I'm not gonna keep running around for you." I was done.\n\n"But you need to check, you need to know! This place is a trap!"\n\n"Just because you're to scared to leave, it doesn't make this place a trap!" I shouted.\n\nThe Jackalope froze, deadly still, as if I'd morphed from human to predator. We both stood there, breathing, still, before he moved closer.\n\n"Yeah, then where are your car keys?"\n\nMy hand went to my pocket, empty.\n\n<ul><li>[[They're gone.|keys gone]]</li>\n<li>[[I never had them.|never had them]]</li>\n</ul>
<<if $istay>>I tried to get in, but he wouldn't open the door, even when I called out.\n\n"No! You've fallen for his tricks! Hell, you were probbaly Dean's spy all along! Go away!"\n\n"I wasn't!" I said. I'd make a terrible spy.\n\n"I hope you're happy with this, now GO AWAY!"\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|pk f21]]</div><<else>>I knocked, but the door was locked now.\n\n"Don't...don't come in," he said, voice small and weak.\n\n"I'm leaving," I said. "You can do it, you know. Leave."\n\n"Maybe <em>you</em> can." He replied, and then didn't answer afer that. No matter how much I knocked.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|pk f21]]</div><<endif>>
"I never had them," I said, but my voice shook. Had I? I felt cold, for the first time since arriving in the desert. I tried to think logically. Had I taken them out of the room? Had I ever had them in the first place?\n\nI couldn't remember.\n\nHe could see the panic in my face, and he relished in it. "Yeah, they're gone. Look, if you like, but I bet you won't find them. I bet you won't <em>ever</em> find them."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
"Well maybe you should," I snapped.\n\nBecky looked away. "Isn't that the whole point of this place? That we can stay here away from all those things we don't want to do?"\n\nI shrugged. It probably was, but it didn't make me feel any better. "Maybe. I don't know."\n\nShe took a step towards me. I let her. Her arm looped into mine and we began to walk, in sync, in the quiet.\n\nWe didn't say anything until we saw a streetlight that wasn't there before light up, revealing a [[PHONE BOOTH|phone booth becky]] that definitely hadn't been there before.
On the shelves, there were thick leather-bound books, like the kind that Don Aquiles had been writing in.\n\nI opened one. Blank.\n\nAnother was filled with squiggles and a rather good sketch of the thunderbird outside.\n\nThe third, finally, had some names. Tanya Cohen (8/1/14 - 8/3/14), Brian Nichols(9/23/14-9/25/14), Chloe Harper (10/30/14 - 11/30/14), Pat Torres (11/31/14 - 12/2/14).\n\nNormal names, normal dates. Normal people who came here and left. \n<<set $books to true>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|third fork]]</div>
I was done asking him questions.\n\n"Oh, yes, well, so much more to write! Do knock any time, you can read my latest drafts!"\n\nI nodded and walked away quickly.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f12]]</div>
"I could just ask," I said and he jumped close immediately.\n\n"No! He'll catch on to us. Don't ask him and DEFINITELY don't ask Dean!!" \n\nI backed away. I really wished he'd blink. "Why not Dean?"\n\n"Well because he's the mastermind behind this whole thing!"\n\n"And the Don?"\n\n"Just a cover," he sighed, as if I was being particularly stupid. "Just don't tell them."\n\nI wasn't going to argue with him, not now. But it seemed like he had a theory for everything.\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[[What shed?|what shed]]</li>\n<li>[[What am I looking for?|looking]]</li>\n<li>[[I'm ready.|im ready]]</li></ul>
Lex was frowning as she looked down the darkened hallway at the first fork.\n\n"Hey, is something wrong?" I said, stepping closer. Had Don Aquiles done something? Had she discovered something that would prove the jackalope's theory right?\n\nShe looked over at me, eyes wide for a moment, before her face smoothed out and she smiled. \n\n"Mari! What are you doing here?" She smiled, as if the frown before had never been there.\n\n"Looking for some of the record books," I said.\n\n"Oh, what for?"\n\n<ul><<if hasVisited("office shed")>><li>[[Don Aquiles sent me.|don aquiles sent]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[A jackalope sent me.|jackalope sent][$lex+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[No reason.|no reason]]</li></ul>
"How did you end up here?"\n\nThe Jackalope twitched his nose and shuddered. "Dreadful story involving a Hodag and a Coyote, better not even bring it up."\n\n...what the hell is a Hodag? \n\n<ul class="q">\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|jack long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|jack motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|jack guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|jack no more q]]</li></ul>
"The Smoking Woman, in 210," I let it trail off.\n\n"Oh, she's great. We smoke together sometimes, on that one night it rains and we can't go out into the parking lot. You know she's a divorcee? Ditched her asshole husband and went to start a new life in California as an actress."\n\nI tried to imagine what she looked like under the smoke, if she was someone I could have seen in movies.\n\nDean seemed to notice and just nodded. "Yeah, she was a looker for a while, but she feels better like that. Also, you know Smoking Woman isn't her name?"\n\nOops. "What is it?"\n\nDean shrugged. "Hell if I know."\n\n<ul class="q">\n<<if hasVisited("the band")>><li>[[The Band|dean band]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("jackalope")>><li>[[The Jackalope|dean jack]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("109")>><li>[[The Man in Room 109|dean 109]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[[Don Aquiles|dean don]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if $convince is 0>><li>[[I haven't met anyone.|havent met any]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
But I knew I could use logic to convince her. She wanted to study physics, after all, and science was nothing but facts. Fact: We were tired. Fact: We could use the break.\n\nFact: Becky was already standing, ready to open the door when I was.\n\n"Mari! Come in, you won't believe this," she said, yanking me inside of the room.\n\nIt looked exactly the same as before. Same painting of red rock mesa. Same weird colored motel comforter. Same ancient blocky TV, only now it was on.\n\n"Look!" Becky pointed at the screen. Kristin Chenoweth was running around a colorful pie shop.\n\n"Nice," I said. "I didn't know they were playing reruns of Pushing Daisies."\n\nBecky shook her head. "They aren't. It's Season 3."\n\nI stopped, and looked back at the screen. \n\n<ul><li>[["But it got cancelled after Season 2."|season 2][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Well… Becky is the one who owns the DVDs. Guess I was wrong.|own the dvd]]</li></ul>
Astrid Dalmady
"Yeah! If we look around, we're sure to find something!" I said, feeling an energy flow between me and Lex, as if we were a circuit, connected and feeding off each other. \n\nIt never failed to get my blood pumping. She never failed to make me feel alive.\n\nWe ended up agreeing that Lex would stay in this tunnel searching. I could go explore the rest<<if $books>>.<<else>>, and try and find the jackalope's books while I was at it.<<endif>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"The Band?"\n\n"Oh, great guys, even if their music is kinda weird. The Bassist is my favorite."\n\n"Does she ever, you know, say anything?" I asked.\n\nHe scoffed. "That's what they have The Singer for. Duh."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if hasVisited("smoking woman")>><li>[[The Smoking Woman|dean smoking]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("jackalope")>><li>[[The Jackalope|dean jack]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("109")>><li>[[The Man in Room 109|dean 109]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[[Don Aquiles|dean don]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if $convince is 0>><li>[[I haven't met anyone.|havent met any]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
"Have you seen my keys?" I asked. I doubted they had, even if they were here, but I had to ask anyway.\n\nThey all shook their heads, hair flying. The Singer opened her mouth, but I didn't want to hear it this time.\n\nI cut her off. "Well, thanks. Keep an eye out for it?" I don't know why I thought they'd help at all.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f11]]</div>
<<if hasVisited("jack keys")>> <<goto "jack reminder 3">>\n<<elseif $bunker>><<goto "jack keys">>\n<<elseif hasVisited("post phonebooth jack")>><<goto "jack reminder 1">>\n<<elseif $phonebooth>> <<goto "post phonebooth jack">>\n<<elseif hasVisited("jack 1")>><<goto "jack reminder 1">>\n<<else>><<goto "jack 1">><<endif>>
"It's beautiful," I said, and it was. This desert had been an endless plain of nothingness, and here, where I thought there'd been maximum nothing, was something magical, something amazing. You'd never find something like this in Houston. I'm relatively sure you couldn't find something like this anywhere.\n\nDean smiled, wild and careless, coming alive under the lights just as much as the rest of this place. "It's always this great. No matter how many times I've seen it."\n\n"How many times <em>have</em> you seen it?" I asked.\n\n"Gosh, I dunno. I think I've lost count by now." He laughed, bright and joyful. In the hallway across from us, lights began to come on inside motel rooms, guests beginning to awaken. "But it never gets old, you never get tired of it. That's the beauty of this place: you never get tired."\n\nHe stood up then, dusting the road off his jeans and reaching up towards the night sky in a single, sinuous stretch. "You should look around and make the most of it. See if you can't convince your friends to stay <em>now.</em>"\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
We walked fast, the sun already peeking past the dusty mesa in the distance, and piled everything into the car. Shutting the trunk, Becky walked up to me.\n\n"It's not too late. Stay with me?" She said, small, and scared and alone.\n\nBut Lex was standing off to the side, ready to climb into the driver's side. She was lit up by the sunrise and I knew I couldn't make any other choice.\n\n"Sorry, I'll call? I mean, I found the phone booth." I tried to joke. Becky just nodded, resigned, and stepped back.\n\nThe sky was already turning pink by the time we drove off. Behind us, I could see the cactus bloom, flicker one, twice, and fade. The motel went out of sight shortly after.\n\nI fixed my eyes on the highway, long and lonely. I turned Lex and let out a breath. I was about to tell her why I had wanted to stay.\n\nI had to do something, after all. There were still 750 miles left to Santa Monica.\n\n <div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
We walked fast, the sun already peeking past the dusty mesa in the distance, and piled everything into the car. Shutting the trunk, Lex walked up to me.\n\n"Not too late to change your mind," she said. I paused. I wondered, if I said something, would she ask me to go with her. To stay by her side.\n\nBut a movement distracted me. It was Dean, waving and smiling. I smiled back.\n\n"Nah, I'll be okay."\n\nThe sky was already turning pink by the time she drove off. I walked slowly and sat next to Dean on the curb. Above us, the cactus bloom was flickering, neon dying in the dawn light.\n\n"You're gonna love it here. You and Becky. I promise," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He smelled like leather, and smoke and I nodded.\n\n"Yeah, you know what… I think we will."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Room 207</h4>\nThe smell of industrial strength detergent. A poorly done painting of red rock mesas. It was a shitty room exactly the same as a million other shitty rooms, in a million other nowheres.\n\nBut that didn't make the two queen beds look any less inviting.\n\nLex had already dropped her duffle in front of the bed to the right, brushed her teeth and changed into her sleep shirt. Becky was on the other bed, still on her phone and frowning.\n\n"You know they don't even have WiFi here?" she said. "What kind of hotel doesn't have WiFi?"\n\n<ul><li>[["At least it has AC."|ac]]</li>
<li>[["Hotel is being a little generous, don't you think?"|hotel generous]]</li>
</ul>\n
"You could ask Don Aquiles," I suggested. I knew the truth, but I didn't want to be the one to tell her. I didn't want to be the one who stole her good mood away.\n\nBut her good mood left anyway. Lex let out a soft sigh, running her fingers over the golden stone. "Shame, I… I honestly thought…"\n\n<ul><li>[[What did you think?|what did you think][$lex+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Let's not. Let's not think about this anymore.|lets not think]]</li></ul>
"Well it obviously does." No matter how much my mind wanted to deny it, the reality of it was here, bright as neon. This place was just ever so slightly skewed, like a real motel seen through a fun-house mirror.\n\n"Still… we must be here for a reason." She said, leaning back on the counter.\n\n"Maybe the universe just figured we needed a break?" I know I did.\n\nLex looked away, out towards the parking lot and the clear night sky. She looked tired. The trip had run her down as well, I guessed. "Yeah, maybe it did."\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("lex aquiles")>><li>[[I asked her what she thought about Don Aquiles.|lex aquiles 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("lex becky 1")>><li>[[I asked about Becky.|lex becky 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[I left her to keep exploring.|leave Lex]]</li></ul>
"I said I don't have a crush on Lex," I repeated, cheeks hot. \n\nBecky kept going. Seemed like she'd gathered enough steam to just plow through any objections I had. "I'm not stupid, Mari. To be honest, I just wished you'd trusted us enough to at the very least come out to us."\n\nThere it was, the sting of guilt. Becky was good at that, finding a weak point and lasering in. Especially when she was on the defensive herself. "It isn't like that…"\n\n"Isn't it? I mean, I get it, it's hard, but we wouldn't have thought differently of you."\n\nI rolled my eyes. "Yeah, cause you're really proving that right now."\n\nBecky bristled. I felt it, like a current through our linked arms. "I'm not… Mari, this isn't like that. I don't care that you're a lesbian, and neither would Lex. But you never told us. You never tell us anything."\n\n"I'm not-"\n\n"Don't lie to my face, Mari," She broke away. We stopped walking, standing in the middle of the highway.\n\n<ul><li>[[I felt panic creep up my throat. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid.|panic becky]]</li>\n<li>[[I felt rage bubble under my skin. She just didn't understand.|rage becky]]</li>\n<li>[[I felt tired. I could try to explain, but would it work?|tired becky]]</li></ul>
"Don Aquiles?"\n\n"The Don's the best thing to happen to this place in a long time. He's a little slow on the uptake though sometimes. He only added the new architecture in the 70s. Still, I hear your friend might be helping with that."\n\n"Maybe," I said.\n\n"Good. We need some fresh blood, you know?"\n\n<ul class="q"><<if hasVisited("smoking woman")>><li>[[The Smoking Woman|dean smoking]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("the band")>><li>[[The Band|dean band]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("jackalope")>><li>[[The Jackalope|dean jack]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("109")>><li>[[The Man in Room 109|dean 109]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[[Don Aquiles|dean don]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if $convince is 0>><li>[[I haven't met anyone.|havent met any]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
I climbed.\n\nIt was kind of scary to think that even in a weird otherworld, there were still bunkers in the middle of the desert.\n\nWhat were they meant to protect you from?\n\nAnd [[HOW DEEP|how deep]] did it go?
<h1 id=neon-tubing style="position:relative;right:10%;">C<span class="flicker">A</span>CT<span class="one">U</span>S<span> B</span>LUE M<span class="two">O</span>TE<span class="one">L</span></h1>\n<h3 style="text-align:left;position:relative;right:10%;">by <a href="http://astriddalmady.com" target="_blank">Astrid Dalmady </a></h3>\n\n<<if (Save.autosave.has())>> <h2 style="font-size:3.5em; position:relative;left:12%;">\n<<click "continue">><<script>>Save.autosave.load();<</script>><</click>></h2>\n<h3 style="position:relative;left:12%;">continue from saved game or <<click "erase autosave">><<script>>Save.autosave.delete();\njavascript:history.go(0);<</script>><</click>></h3><<else>><h2 style="font-size:3.5em; position:relative;left:12%;">[[play]]</h2>\n<h3 style="position:relative;left:12%;">play the game (saves automatically)</h3><<endif>>\n\n\n<h2 style="position:relative;left:8%;">[[about the game]]</h2>\n<h3 style="position:relative;left:8%;">more about the game's length, content, and more</h3>\n\n<h2 style="position:relative;left:5%;"><a href="http://astriddalmady.com/cactuswalk.html" target="_blank">walkthrough</a></h2>\n<h3 style="position:relative;left:5%;">opens a new page with the spoiler-free walkthrough</h3>\n\n<h2>[[credits]]</h2>\n<h3>credits and thanks</h3>\n
"We could call Aaron," I said. \n\n"We can't," said Becky. "It's too late."\n\nI looked at her, eyebrow raised. This was the girl who almost scheduled her 1am calls to her boyfriends.\n\n"It's complicated, all right?" Becky said, her arm tightening around mine. "Things have been…rough."\n\n"Things were fine in the car," I said. Things had been fine this whole trip.\n\n"Heh," she breathed out. "Things haven't been fine since we got our acceptance letters. I don't know what's coming next. But whatever it is, it… well it probably wouldn't help to wake him up."\n\nBecky and Aaron had seemed solid, like the asphalt under our feet. It'd been a fact since freshman year. It wasn't even my relationship, but it still felt like another loss.\n\n"I'm sure it'll work out. You guys gave been together forever. I'm sure if you just talk about it-" Which was exactly the wrong thing to say.\n\n"Talk? That can't always fix things." Becky scoffed. "Besides, that's funny coming from you."\n\n<ul><li>[[What's that supposed to mean?|supposed to mean][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[This isn't about me.|about me]]</li></ul>
"What do you think of the other guests?"\n\nShe twitched her fingers, dropping ash down onto the floor. "The Band downstairs plays shitty music, but Dean's some nice eye candy when he comes out to the lot." She waved at him down in the parking lot. He raised his cigarette in greeting. \n\n"The guy in Room 109 is pretentious, but a harmless idiot really. Never met the guest in 201. They keep to themselves mostly." Another tap, more ash. "Then again, so do I."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|smoke keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|trap smoking]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|smoking end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|smoking long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|smoking motel]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|smoking no more q]]</li></ul>
"Hey, Dean," I said, sitting down next to him. "Do you think this place is a trap?"\n\n"Nah. The universe doesn't care that much," he said. "I know what a trap looks like and this… this isn't even temptation. Frankly, if that's what it was going for it should be ashamed of itself."\n\n"Well we want to stay," I said. "Doesn't that count for something?"\n\n"Not really," he said. "Is the beach a trap if you want to stay there? Is the forest? Some things just are."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
<<if $keys>> <<goto "dean keys">><<else>><<goto "dean 1">><<endif>>
I was driving. It was my turn, and while I wasn't crazy about it, I wasn't going to be the one who didn't pull my weight. Still, the road was straight and empty and there wasn't much to do but think.\n\nAbout where you were going. About where we'd been.\n\nNeither of those appealed. Maybe if we had some better music…\n\n"Is it cool if we change the music? I think this is our 3rd Hamilton in two days," I said.\n\n<ul><li>[[Becky changed the music.|becky music]]</li>\n<li>[[Lex changed the music.|lex music]]</li></ul>
"This isn't about me," I said. "This is about you and Aaron."\n\n"Suuure," she said. "Like you have a lot of experience talking about relationships."\n\nI tightened my hand on her arm. "Just cause I haven't had a boyfriend-"\n\nShe laughed.\n\n"What? What are you talking about?!"\n\n"Mari, we all know about your crush on Lex."\n\n"I don't have a crush on Lex," I lied. It was a comfortable one, well formed and well suited to my tongue.\n\nBecky went on as if she hadn't listened to me. "She doesn't know, of course, but really you aren't one to bring up talking about feelings when you can't even tell Lex how you feel."\n\n<ul><li>[[I said I don't have a crush on Lex.|dont crush]]</li>\n<li>[[It wouldn't matter if I told her.|not matter][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[What's going on between me and Lex has nothing to do with this.|nothing to do with this]]</li></ul>
"I just came to get some quarters," I said, even though the temptation of the infomercial was strong. It was so tempting, to just sit with Becky like we had before. Like we might never do again.\n\n"Getting something from the vending machine? I could use a soda." Becky said.\n\nI shook my head. "A phone booth actually. Supposedly there's one out in the middle of the desert."\n"Really?"\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah. Come with me?"|becky come with me][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[["Yeah, but you can stay if you like."|becky stay]]</li></ul>
"What do you think of the motel?"\n\n"It's a trap, of course," he said, agitated. But everything he said was like that. "Nothing else makes any sense, and trust me, I know traps!"\n\n"...because you're a rabbit?" I asked.\n\n"JACKALOPE, but no not because of that. Rude."\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[["How did you end up here?"|jack end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|jack long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|jack guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|jack no more q]]</li></ul>
But I knew she could use the break too. The last few months had been a rush of arrangements, of calls to housing and financial affairs, of a thousand forms. She and Lex has gotten it extra bad since they were both heading so far away. Surely they'd want a break.\n\nShe was standing and reaching for the door when I opened it.\n\n"Mari! Come in, you won't believe this," she said, yanking me inside of the room.\n\nIt looked exactly the same as before. Same painting of red rock mesa. Same weird colored motel comforter. Same ancient blocky TV, only now it was on.\n\n"Look!" Becky pointed at the screen. Kristin Chenoweth was running around a colorful pie shop.\n\n"Nice," I said. "I didn't know they were playing reruns of Pushing Daisies."\n\nBecky shook her head. "They aren't. It's Season 3."\n\nI stopped, and looked back at the screen.\n\n<ul><li>[["But it got cancelled after Season 2."|season 2][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Well… Becky is the one who owns the DVDs. Guess I was wrong.|own the dvd]]</li></ul>
"What do you think of the motel?"\n\nHere, for the first time, there was dissonance. An angry riff from The Guitarist. Glee from the bass. Silence on the drums.\n\n"It's…well…it's better than touring." The Singer said. "We needed the time to work on our next record though."\n\n"And how's that going?"\n\nSilence from The Band.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|band keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|band trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|end up band]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|long band]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|guests band]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q band]]</li></ul>
"Let's not," I said, feeling tired and just so done with this bunker, with this moment. Dean had promised me I'd never feel tired in this place. Goes to show. "Let's not think about this anymore."\n\nThings would be fine if we could just leave. If we could just go back upstairs and pretend that everything was fine. Everything looked better under the blue light of the cactus bloom.\n\n"Come on…" I said, but Lex shook her head, turning away from me.\n\n"It just sucks. This whole thing just sucks!" Her shout echoed in the hallway. "I should have known that even the gold in this place would be fake." She sighed, long and low. "Some trap."\n\n<<if $lex >3>><div class="arrow">[[➥|some trap reveal]]</div><<else>><div class="arrow">[[➥|some trap conceal]]</div><<endif>>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Pool</h4>\nThe pool was half empty now. The water was still a brilliant blue under the cactus bloom. But everything else was faded. Towels gone. Chlorine smell too strong. \n\nOut by the desert, the sky was lightening. The stars were fading.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|pk f11]]</div>
"What do you think of the motel?"\n\n"Oh it's great! Such an amazing inspiration. I could call it my muse, there's just so much to write about here!"\n\nI tried to think of another question to ask quick, before he kept going.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|109 keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|109 trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|109 here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|109 long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|109 guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|109 question done]]</li></ul>
I thought about the applications, about the mad rush to get into the right school, to prepare the right future, and felt exhausted at the memory alone and nodded. "Yeah, I get that."\n\n"Sometimes, I think you just need to take a break. Stay put and do nothing, just let the universe fill you back up."\n\nAbove us, the Milky Way cut through the black like a river flowing nowhere. It looked like there were a million stars up there, more than plenty to fill anybody back up.\n\n"It's not really an option though," I said. "I mean, I'm traveling with my friends. We have a plan."\n\nDean shrugged, "That's their problem. But who knows, they might need the break too. You can always ask them."\n\n<ul><li>[["I think I will."|I think I will]]</li>\n<li>[["…Maybe."|maybe][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
"What do you think of the other guests?"\n\n"Oh they're all fools. Haven't they seen how much this costs them?!"\n\n"Everyone is a fool?" I asked.\n\n"Okay, maybe not Dean, but that's only cause he's the mastermind."\n\nI raised an eyebrow and he huffed.\n\n"You'll see."\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[["How did you end up here?"|jack end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|jack long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|jack motel]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions|jack no more q]]</li></ul>
"Thanks, I'll go join her," I said. \n\nDon Aquiles nodded. "Let me know if there's anything else you need." He said.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Parking Lot</h4>\nWe pulled in to the parking lot, empty except for a beat up sedan that looked like it hadn't moved in decades.\n\n"Are you sure about this place?" I asked Lex. \n\n"I'm sure we shouldn't keep driving much longer," said Lex. "We're still on schedule. We'll just get up early, pick up breakfast on the road, and we'll still make it to Meteor Crater before it's too late."\n\nBecky rolled her eyes, even as she unbuckled her seat belt. "Yeah, we wouldn't want to be late for the meteors. The rocks won't care if we sleep in."\n\n<ul><li>[["Let's just try and get what rest we can before we go."|get some rest]]</li>
<li>[["Sleeping in sounds like a great idea."|sleeping in][$becky +=1]]</li>
<li>[["We should get up early and stay on schedule."|stay on schedule][$lex +=1]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Lobby</h4>\nThe motel office was an empty square room, cut in half by a long counter that separated manager from guest. Behind the cheap faux-wood counter, there was a single door marked <<if hasVisited("knock")>>[[PRIVATE.|don aquiles]] It was slightly open.<<else>>[[PRIVATE.|managers office]]<<endif>>\n\nOn my side of the counter, there was a rack of [[BROCHURES|brochures]], folded and yellowed by wear and time, and a [[VENDING MACHINE|vending machine]], turned off.\n<<if hasVisited("knock") and ($bunker is false)>>\nLex was somewhere else, exploring.\n<<endif>>\nThere was a door leading out to the [[PARKING LOT|parklot]], lit up by a red VACANCY SIGN, and another out to the [[FIRST FLOOR ROOMS|f11]].
"What do you think of the guests?"\n\n"Oh, good people, good people. Just tired people you know. Well, then there's 201. He's a bit… odd, but still, good people. This isn't the kind of place where criminals come to rest. It's meant to be a good place."\n\nHe seemed very sure about that.\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[["How did you end up here?"|don here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been working here?"|don working]]</li>\n<li>[["What's the deal with the motel?"|don motel]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|don no more q]]</li></ul>
I hate the way my name sounds on American tongues. The a's move forward into the nose, the e's becomes sneers. My parents should have thought of this, of the fact that I was born in the US and would live in the US before they left me with a name I'd constantly have to correct people about.\n\nBut I didn't correct him. I was just too tired for it.\n\nHe handed over a little plastic keychain, with bright white letters that read ROOM 207.\n\n"There's coffee here after five. Stairs are down the hall. Pool's closed for repairs."\n\nWe nodded, and I could feel how tired we all were. It was time to rest.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs lobby]]</div>
"It doesn't work that way, Becky." I said. "We can't just put the world on pause and stay here forever." \n\n"Why not?" She said, pushing away. "There's a woman on the balcony whose face is literally smoke. This place doesn't follow any rules. Why can't we just stay here?"\n\n"But what about Stanford?" This didn't make sense. She was the smartest out of the three of us. She was going to go off and be a scientist. She was going to change the world. \n\n"What about Stanford?" Becky said. "It can wait. We can wait. We could even take a gap year or something, just stay here. I mean, do you really want to go back to Houston?"\n\n<ul><li>[[No I don't.|no I dont]]</li>\n<li>[[No, but I have to.|no but have to][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
I didn't have any more questions to ask. That and I wanted to get out of this room.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
"What do you think of the other guests?"\n\nDean tilted his head as if I'd just asked something really weird. "Which ones?"\n\n<ul class="q"><<if hasVisited("smoking woman")>><li>[[The Smoking Woman|dean smoking]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("the band")>><li>[[The Band|dean band]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("jackalope")>><li>[[The Jackalope|dean jack]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("109")>><li>[[The Man in Room 109|dean 109]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[[Don Aquiles|dean don]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if $convince is 0>><li>[[I haven't met anyone.|havent met any]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - First Floor, Lobby and Rooms 101-103</h4>\nDim lights with a blue undertone lit up the first floor walkway.\n\nA thin corridor cut between the main building and the [[MOTEL LOBBY|pk lobby]]. A paper sign, curling at the edges read [[POOL|pk pool]], pointing towards the sound of burbling water.\n\nThen the rooms:\n103: The music is dying down. Just the steady beat of drums.\n102: Vacant\n101: Vacant.\n\nAt the corner, the [[STAIRS|pk f21]] and a sharp turn to [[ROOMS 104-110.|pk f12]]\n\nAnd out into the night, the [[PARKING LOT.|pk parklot]]
<h2>about the game</h2>\n<h3> Released during <a href="https://ifcomp.org/" target="_blank">IF Comp 2016</a></h3>\n<h3 style="font-size:1em;">Click each link to reveal the section.</h3>\n\n<<replacelink "Spoiler Free Blurb">><h4>Spoiler Free Blurb</h4>\n\nSomewhere between New Mexico and Arizona, three friends were driving through a barren desert of red rocks, and wide empty skies. It was the end of summer, the end of high school, the end of so many things.\n\nAnd then they found the Cactus Blue Motel. <<endreplacelink>>\n\n<<replacelink "Content Warnings">><h4>Content Warnings</h4>\n\nGame includes some cursing, and discussions of existential ennui.<<endreplacelink>>\n\n<<replacelink "Game Length Estimates">><h4>Game Length Estimates</h4>\n\nThe game averages about 40-60 minutes for the first play through.<<endreplacelink>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|Start]]</div>
Becky lay on the bed. The TV was on, a Slap Chop. She didn't look over when I opened the door.\n\nOr when I closed it.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
Lex looked at me in shock, but Becky, she looked guilty.\n\n"Me too," she said.\n\n"But you said you'd wanted to stay," said Lex, trying to make sense of it. "You wanted to not have to talk to Aaron. And Mari, you wanted to stay because…"\n\nAnd her words died out, because she realized she had no idea why I wanted to stay. \n\n"It'll be fine. We'll come by on the drive back." If they were still here. If we could find it again. "We'll swing by and pick you up."\n\nLex didn't believe me. I barely did. But she helped us pack anyway, and we all, solemnly, [[LEFT THE ROOM.|you go becky go out room]]
I went to bed next to Becky. It was better this way. I just always had a hard time sleeping next to Lex. She fell asleep so fast. Meanwhile, I was stuck next to her, spinning around in my own brain.\n\nSleeping next to Lex always felt lonelier than sleeping alone.\n\nThen again, Becky drifted off pretty quickly tonight, so this wasn't much better.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|insomnia]]</div>
"Then I'm staying too," said Becky, though she sounded like my choice had very little to do with hers.\n\nLex paused, and looked over the both of us. "I suppose, we all arrived together. We should all stay together."\n\nBecky grinned, and hopped over to our bed, pulling us into a hug. I breathed into it, pure and clean. We could do this together, I realized. Rest what we needed, and then leave when we had to.\n\n"Let's head outside to watch the sunrise," Becky said. Lex didn't argue and we all walked [[OUT OF THE ROOM.|out room all stay]]
"Me and some friends are taking a road trip out to California," I said.\n\nHe smiled. "You too? That's cool. I've been heading west for a while. Sometimes it seems like you can never get out of the desert."\n\nI chuckled. Anyone who's ever had the misfortune of driving through Texas knows what he's talking about.\n\n"Still," he continued. "This ain't a bad place to stop." He leaned back on the motorcycle, gazing out past the parking lot and onto the highway. "I'd been driving for so long. Thinkin' of just staying here for a while, you know?"\n\n"And never make it to California?" I said.\n\n"I'll make it someday. Just…" He took a long drag of his cigarette before dropping the spent butt and grinding it under his boot. "You ever get tired of moving forward all the time. Like your soul is running out of gas?"\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah, I get that."|I get that]]</li>\n<li>[["…I guess."|I guess][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
"I need to give them back to Becky." I said, hand still out.\n\n"Try again." Dean said. "She doesn't want to leave. She'd rather stay here than have to decide if she breaks up with her boyfriend. And she's right. That conversation would suck."\n\n<ul><li>[[Lex will be mad if we mess with the schedule.|lex mad]]</li></ul>
"Maria Elena, todo bien?"\n\n"Yeah, everything's fine. Have you seen Lex?" I answered in english. No matter how familiar I was with the language, how I was basically weaned on spanish lullabies and <em>corazon de arepa</em>, I still preferred the steadiness of english, of the language I used to communicate to all my friends. It always made me feel like a traitor.\n\n"If you're looking for your friend, she's running an errand for me out by the shed," he said helpfully. \n<ul><li>[["Thanks. I'll go join her.|join her]]</li>\n<li>[["I was wondering if I could take a look at your sign in books.|books don]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Lobby</h4>\nThe lobby was an empty square room, cut in half by a long counter that separated manager from guest. Behind the cheap faux-wood counter, there was a single door marked PRIVATE.\n\nBack on my side, there was a rack of brochures, folded and yellowed by wear and time, and a vending machine, turned off. To the left, an open door led to the rest of the motel.\n\nBecky walked up to the brochures, riffling through them with vague interest. "Hey Mari, take a look at these." \n\nI glanced over, curious. Lex rolled her eyes, and moved up to the counter, where an older man stood, pale and utterly forgettable.\n\n"You girls need somethin'?" \n\n"Yes," Lex said, stepping up. "We need a room for the night. What are your rates?"\n\nLex was best at handling logistics, but as the oldest, I was the one that actually got the room. I slid my ID across the counter and he grinned.\n\n"Mary Ellen. Cute name."\n\n<ul><li>[["It's Maria Elena."|maria elena][$go+=1]]</li>\n<li>[["….thanks"|thanks]]</li>\n<li>[[I just nodded. I wanted to get this over with.|just nodded]]</li></ul>
I didn't want to go in to the room. Not yet. I wanted to be ready to confront <<if hasVisited("knock")>>Becky<<else>>the girls<<endif>> with all the evidence I'd need to get them to stay.\n\nTalking to some of the other guests should help.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
The Smoking Woman sat in front of her door, smoke rising from her face and cigarette. \n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|smoke keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|trap smoking]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|smoking end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|smoking long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|smoking motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|smoking guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|smoking no more q]]</li></ul>
The tunnel was a straight line, carved out of red stone and lit up by old orange bulbs. It had a:\n\n[[FIRST FORK: Darkness|first fork]]\n[[SECOND FORK: A different light, white and clear|second fork]]\n[[THIRD FORK: The same dim orange light|third fork]]\n<<if hasVisited("some trap conceal") or hasVisited("some trap reveal")>>FOURTH FORK: Maybe I should give Lex a minute or two...<<elseif hasVisited("lex gold")>>[[FOURTH FORK: A flickering light, like fire|second lex gold]]<<else>>[[FOURTH FORK: A flickering light, like fire|fourth fork]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if $books>><<if hasVisited("some trap conceal")>>[[THE LADDER|exit shed]] out. It was way past time to go.<<elseif hasVisited("some trap reveal")>>[[THE LADDER|exit shed]] out. It was way past time to go. <<else>>I still needed to talk to Lex. I didn't want to just leave her here.<<endif>><<else>>I still need to find those books The Jackalope mentioned.<<endif>>
"I think I'm gonna walk around a bit more, get a feel for the place." I said.\n\nLex nodded. "Yeah, make sure you talk to all the guests. I'll do the same and then later we can brainstorm. I want to come to The Don with a bunch of ideas to really shake this place up."\n\n<<if hasVisited("becky 1")>>I heard a cart rumble down a hallway above us. <<endif>>Frankly, I didn't think the motel really needed much change, but as usual, I'd do what she asked.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
"How long have you been here?"\n\nShe shrugged. "I don't ever have to buy new smokes, so who knows how time moves here. I just get a fresh box every time I wake up."\n\n"…you know that stuff will kill you?"\n\nShe laughed. "I'd like to see it try."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|smoke keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|trap smoking]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|smoking end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|smoking motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|smoking guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|smoking no more q]]</li></ul>
I felt panic creep up my throat. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid. The confrontation, the anger, the accusation of lies. As if I had some obligation of telling her anything, let alone doing it now. Was this what friendship was supposed to be? Carving a place for yourself in someone else by hollowing out their secrets? I didn't know. I didn't know anything.\n\n"I-I'm not lying, I swear. It's just complicated," I struggled through the words. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you. You'd want to know and dissect and I don't even understand it."\n\n"It's not hard, Mari!" Becky said, arms wide and angry. "Just say "Becky, I think I'm gay!""\n\n"But I'm not!" I shouted, feeling heat rise up, as if the asphalt was giving it off and fueling my panic. "I don't know what I am! Bisexual, maybe, I don't know. Why does it even matter to you anyway?!"\n\n"I'm your friend! I'm supposed to know this stuff!" She said.\n\n"Yeah, like I'm supposed to know about you and Aaron having problems?"\n\n"That's different," she muttered. \n\nI swallowed, shaking my head. "Why? Cause you're leaving? I don't need to know anymore cause you're leaving anyway? Is that it?!"\n\n"No!" Becky said, quickly. Too quickly? I don't know. "I just didn't want to think about it."\n\n<ul><li>[[Welcome to the party.|welcome to the party]]</li>\n<li>[[Well maybe you should.|maybe talk][$becky+=1]]</li></ul>
"What's that supposed to mean?" I said.\n\nBecky looked out into the desert. "Well, you're not exactly great at talking about relationships, you know."\n\nI tightened my hand on her arm. "Just cause I haven't had a boyfriend-"\n\nShe laughed.\n\n"What? What are you talking about?!"\n\n"Mari, we all know about your crush on Lex."\n\n"I don't have a crush on Lex," I lied. It was a comfortable one, well formed and well suited to my tongue.\n\nBecky went on as if she hadn't listened to me. "She doesn't know, of course, but really you aren't one to bring up talking about feelings when you can't even tell Lex how you feel."\n\n<ul><li>[[I said I don't have a crush on Lex.|dont crush]]</li>\n<li>[[It wouldn't matter if I told her.|not matter][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[What's going on between me and Lex has nothing to do with this.|nothing to do with this]]</li></ul>
I turned the corner, following the lights down a carved stone hallway. It opened up into a room. The size of the room felt… strange. The way the hallway had curved, the way the lights had shone, I had expected a sweeping ceiling, a giant cavern of a room.\n\nInstead the room was normal sized, and perfectly unnerving because of it. \n\nInside this perfectly normal room were sets of perfectly normal [[SHELVES|shelves]], a perfectly abnormal [[DOOR|tunnel door]] in the back.\n\nOr I could go [[BACK TO THE MAIN TUNNEL|forward]].
I slammed the door open. "You were wrong."\n\nThe Jackalope jumped, ran onto the bed, ran off the bed, ran under the bed, then in front of me. "What?!"\n\n"You heard me," I said. "You were wrong. There was nothing weird about those books. Nothing that showed anything like what you said."\n\nThat's twice now. Twice he'd fooled me. I felt like an idiot.\n\nHe shivered, as if with fear. "Then they've covered their tracks better than I thought! But I have one more piece of evidence!"\n<<set $keys to true>>\n\n<ul><li>[[No! No more!|no more][$go+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[What now?|what now]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - First Floor, Rooms 104-110</h4>\nThe cars in the[[PARKING LOT|pk parklot]] looked older.\n\nThe rooms were quieter:\n110: Vacant\n109: A hushed television. No typing. Never typing.\n108: Vacant\n107: Vacant\n106: Vacant\n105: Vacant\n104: Vacant\n\nThe way [[UPSTAIRS|pk f21]] was still lit, barely. The light by the [[OTHER ROOMS(101-103)|pk f11]] also seemed to be fading.
Dean tossed Becky's keys into the air. In the light of the cactus bloom, they glimmered like falling stars.\n\n"Dean…"\n\n"Miss Maria. More questions?" He smiled, so easily, as if there was nothing wrong in world.\n\n"Uh, no, but those are my keys." I held my hand out.\n\nHe kept smiling, tossing the keys in the air again. "They're Becky's keys. She dropped them earlier. Still, not sure what you need them for."\n\n<ul><li>[[I need to give them back to Becky.|back to becky]]</li></ul>
<<if not hasVisited("knock")>>I could start with Becky. <<endif>>I had been friends with Becky forever. Our moms worked together, and we lived near enough that there are embarrassing pictures of the two of us reaching back to when we were in diapers. We started school together, paired up in class, cried in each other's bedrooms.\n\nBut despite all that, Becky always managed to throw me for a loop. I hadn't seen it coming when she dyed her hair blue. I never expected the way she threw herself into the AP science classes. I knew Becky, sure, but I never held the illusion that I could predict Becky.\n<<set $talkgirls+=1>>\n<ul><li>[[But I knew I could use logic.|logic]]</li>\n<li>[[But I knew she'd listen to me.|listen to me]]</li>\n<li>[[But I knew she could use the break too.|use the break][$becky +=1]]</li></ul>
"Let's just try and get what rest while we can before we go." I said, as we stepped out of the car. I looked up at the motel sign again. We'd seen several like it on our trip here. Googie architecture, it was called. Swooping lines and visions of yesterday's future.\n\nThis one was a little more boring than most. The sign didn't even seem to be animated.\n\nStill, all we needed was a place to stay. We took our bags, and walked into the [[MOTEL OFFICE|arriving at lobby]].
Becky's trusty silver Corolla was now Becky's trusty brown Corolla. Whatever, we'd all pitch in for a car wash once we got back to Houston.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs parklot]]</div>
He looked at me, and shook his head over and over again. "Trap? No, this place is a blessing! How else would I have the time to finish my novel?"\n\n"How much have you gotten done here?" I had to ask. I didn't see anything but the three pages he'd shoved at me.\n\n"Plenty! Three pages is plenty!" He said defensively. "I'll finish it soon, just you see. It'll be the next Great American Novel! Just you wait!"\n\nYeah, even if I ended up staying. I didn't think I'd stay to read that. But then again, with the panic in his tone, I'm pretty sure he'd never finish.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f12]]</div>
"Not really," I said lamely. I'd played the flute badly in band.\n\n"No Problem! Over here," She shuffled me towards the instruments and handed me a guitar. \n\n"I didn't play the gui—" She didn't let me finish as she grabbed my shoulders.\n\n"Doesn't matter. We just want your new sound, fresh, you know!" She was beaming.\n\nThe Drummer counted down with his sticks. I could almost hear it in my head: FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT!\n\nAnd we played. Even me. The sound just seemed to spill from the guitar, amateurish, sure, but still recognizable. I couldn't say now, what kind of song we played, only that there was music, and fury, and the thunder of cymbals. Lex would have been impressed.\n\nIn the end, we all flopped down, grinning. The Singer smiled. "Nice. You added some great sound. Will you be stickin' around to jam with us some more?\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah, probably."|yes band]]</li>\n<li>[["Don't think so."|no band][$go +=1]]</li>\n<li>[["What just happened?"|happened band]]</li></ul>
So we walked out into the desert, staying on the uneven gravel by the side of the road.\n\nShe kept looking back at the motel. Not forward to wherever the phone booth might be, but back, towards the bright blue neon that still managed to light up our path.\n\n"Is everything okay?" I asked.\n\nShe shrugged. "Just…not sure about this. Why are you heading out here anyway? What good would it do to call anyone?"\n\nI tried to tangle with the answer. I wasn't sure, about this, about anything. But I wanted to be sure. I wanted to be sure about something, so I might as well try to be sure about this.\n\n"I just want to know if it works. I mean, aren't you worried about this place? What if we're stuck here?" I asked.\n\nBecky shrugged. "I dunno. Who would we even call anyway?"\n<<set $phonebooth to true>>\n<ul><li>[[My parents.|my parents]]</li>\n<li>[[911|911]]</li>\n<li>[[Aaron.|Aaron]]</li>\n<li>[[I don't know.|dont know call]]</li></ul>
When Lex was alive like this, brimming with energy and ideas, it was always so easy to agree with her.\n\n"Yeah, that could really bring in business." I said.\n\n"Exactly," She said. "It's a magical motel and half the rooms are empty. Do you know how nuts that is? Just the fact that this place exists should enough to bring in loads of people."\n\n"And you'll be the one to bring them."\n\n"Well," she smiled. "that's just details, isn't it?"\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("lex motel 1")>><li>[[I asked what she thought about the motel.|lex motel 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("lex becky 1")>><li>[[I asked about Becky.|lex becky 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[I left her to keep exploring.|leave Lex]]</li></ul>
"Of course it worked!" I said, upset at the wild goose chase he'd sent me on.\n\nHe jumped back startled, before turning back to the wall. "I could have sworn, but no… there's something else… I know it. I know it."\n\n<ul><li>[[Just give it up.|give it up][$go+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Something else like what?|something like what]]</li></ul>
"Yeah," I said, even though I wasn't sure. "I guess not."\n\n"Exactly," she said, and nodded as if that was that. "Besides, if this place was a trap it'd be different. It'd be…wonderful, not just weirdly average."\n\n"Still…Wouldn't it be safer just to check, to look around?" I said. Was it so bad that I just wanted to be sure?\n\n"Alright," she said, giving in for once."I'm going down this way. We'll cover more ground like that." She said, and wandered off ahead towards some of the further branches.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"So, what do you think of Don Aquiles?" She'd spent some time in the office with him, obviously. \n\n"He's nice, but a bit stuck behind the times," She said. "I think he needs someone to freshen up the place, bring it into the 21st century. You know he doesn't even have a website?"\n\n<ul><li>[[I don't think it needs a website.|dont website][$lex+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Yeah, that could really bring in business.|yes website]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - First Floor, Rooms 104-110</h4>\nNew cars filled the [[PARKING LOT.|parklot]]\n\nNew life filled the rooms:\n110: Vacant\n[[109: VOICES, BUT FROM A TV. THEY JUST DIDN'T SOUND REAL.|109]]\n108: Vacant\n107: Vacant\n106: Vacant\n105: Vacant\n104: Vacant\n\nThe way [[UPSTAIRS|f21]] was now brightly lit, and welcoming. The [[OTHER ROOMS (101-103)|f11]] on this floor were also ripe for exploration.
I took the cigarette. She lit it, and I took a tentative drag. It went down, smooth and easy, even though I'd never done it before. My mom would kill me if she saw me now.\n\nThe Smoking Woman seemed pleased, as she turned back out into the night. "A trap, you say? Heh, maybe. It certainly snagged us, but you don't have to offer people the world to tempt them. They'll sell their souls for a lot less. A quiet night. A pack of smokes."\n\nShe took a long, long drag. "Some people don't want to leave the cage though, you gotta remember that too."\n\n"Do you?"\n\nThis time I knew she was looking at me. Her whole body turned, and she shook her head. "Does it look like the world has anything left for me?"\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - First Floor, Lobby and Rooms 101-103</h4>\nBright lights with a blue undertone lit up the first floor walkway.\n\nA thin corridor cut between the main building and the [[MOTEL LOBBY|lobby]] A printed paper sign, crisp white read [[POOL|pool]], pointing towards the sound of burbling water.\n\nThen the rooms:\n[[103: MUSIC, LOUD BUT INDISTINGUISHABLE.|the band]]\n102: Vacant\n101: A glow, cherry-red, through shuttered windows.\n\nAt the corner, the [[STAIRS|f21]] and a sharp turn to [[ROOMS 104-110.|f12]]\n\nAnd out into the night, the [[PARKING LOT.|parklot]]
"Just trying to get away from Houston," I said.\n\nHe laughed, smoke pushed from his mouth by the sound in a small puff. "What's so bad about Houston?"\n\n"Nothing…" I said, kicking a rock by the curb. "There's nothing bad about Houston, just nothing that great about it either."\n\n"Well I guess it's pretty good you got out of there, isn't it?" he said.\n\nIt didn't always feel like that, especially not on long nights like this one. "I guess I expected a little more out of this trip."\n\n"Yeah, I get that. There's only so far you can travel, you know?" He took a long drag of his cigarette before dropping the spent butt and grinding it under his boot. "I mean, don't you ever get tired, Miss Maria, of moving forward all the time. Like your soul is running out of gas?"\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah, I get that."|I get that]]</li>\n<li>[["…I guess."|I guess][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Second FLoor, Rooms 204-210</h4>\nThe hallways stretched back towards the highway. The last fluorescent bulb was broken, throwing the furthest rooms into shadow.\n\n210: Vacant\n209: Vacant \n208: Vacant\n[[207: OUR ROOM|bs 207]]\n206: Vacant\n205: Vacant\n204: Vacant\n\nTo the right, are the [[STAIRS|bs f11]] and the [[REST OF THE ROOMS.(201-203)|bs f21]].
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Second Floor, Rooms 101-103</h4>\nThe [[STAIRS|bs f11]] led back down to the first floor. \n\nTo the right, there were three rooms:\n203: Vacant\n202: Vacant\n201: Vacant\n\nAfter that, an ice machine sat in the spot where another room might have once been.\n\nThe [[REST OF THE ROOMS (204-210)|bs f22]] stretch out to the left.
We got all of Becky's things in to the car just as the sun was peeking over the dusty mesa. She shut the trunk and turned to me. \n\n"It's not too late. Come with me?" She said, small, and scared and alone.\n\nBut Lex was standing off to the side, chatting to Dean as he'd called her away. The two of them were lit up by the sunrise and the neon and they looked like everything I'd ever wanted. \n\n"Sorry, I'll call? I mean, I found the phone booth." I tried to joke. Becky just nodded, resigned, and got into the car.\n\nShe drove away just as the sky was turning pink, leaving dust in her wake. I moved to Lex and Dean, sitting down on the curb between them as we watched the neon cactus bloom fade.\n\n"You girls are going to love it here," said Dean. "I promise."\n\nLex looked at me, and reached for my hand. I took it.\n\n"You know what," I said. "I think we will."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
"…Just…traveling, I guess." Even though I couldn't sleep, I felt too tired to really explain too much. To be honest, I'd just rather listen, and sit in the cold desert night.\n\nHe seemed to get that. "Aren't we all, Miss Maria?" He laughed at his dumb little joke. "But no, really. I think everyone at a motel is doing one of two things: moving or resting." He took a long drag of his cigarette before dropping the spent butt and grinding it under his boot. "You ever get tired, Miss Maria, of moving forward all the time. Like your soul is running out of gas?"\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah, I get that."|I get that]]</li>\n<li>[["…I guess."|I guess][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
I went to bed next to Lex. She always fell asleep so quickly, and woke up the same way, as if she had a switch inside that just flipped on and off. It made sense though, almost like a natural extension of the way she always had a plan, always knew what to do.\n\nShe could just say to her brain "Schedule: Sleep at 12:00 pm," and the body complied. I admired that about her.\n\nI mean, I certainly couldn't do that.\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|insomnia]]</div>
"At least it has AC." I said.\n\nLex gestured at me as if I just proved her point. "See? It's fine. Besides, it's cheap and it looks pretty clean. What else can you really ask for?"\n\n"WiFi, Lex," said Becky. "We can ask for WiFi."\n\n"If you want to go down to the motel office and ask for it, be my guest." Lex said, pulling up the covers. "Me, I'm going to bed. Mari, just turn the lights out when you're done getting ready."\n\n"Yeah, of course," I said. The No-WiFi thing wouldn't be too bad. We'd be out of here by morning, after all, and the quicker morning came, the quicker we could keep going.\n\nBut then again, the trip would end quicker that way too. \n\n<ul><li>[[I fell asleep next to Lex.|lex bed]]</li>
<li>[[I fell asleep next to Becky.|becky bed]]</li></ul>\n
"We don't need to convince her. She already wants to stay," I said.\n\nBecky stopped, her grip loose on my hands. "She does?" She sounded as surprised as I was; I just felt it for both of them. What was trying to keep them here? I, at least, had Houston to run away from. I had a flash, a moment when I realized I was her best friend, and I didn't know her at all. \n\n"She does. She's talking about maybe working on a website for the place or something."\n\nBecky wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, that sounds like Lex," she said. "Well, at least we'll have some time. Do you want to stick around for some TV?"\n\nI shook my head. There was still so much outside. And like she said, now we'd have some time.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"No thanks," I said. "I don't smoke."\n\nShe huffed, taking the box back. "See if I'm ever nice again. But yeah, trap? Heh, maybe. It certainly snagged us, but you don't have to offer people the world to tempt them. They'll sell their souls for a lot less. A quiet night. A pack of smokes."\n\nShe took a long, long drag. "Some people don't want to leave the cage though, you gotta remember that too."\n\n"Do you?"\n\nThis time I knew she was looking at me. Her whole body turned, and she shook her head. "Does it look like the world has anything left for me?"\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"A jackalope sent me," I said, knowing it sounded super weird, and that I'd need to explain more. "He, uh, well he thinks this place is a trap, and that if I can find the books it can prove that nobody has ever left?"\n\nLex looked at me. I looked back. She raised an eyebrow. I looked away.\n\n"Okay, first off I'm not even going to touch the whole jackalope thing.\n\n"But secondly, you know that doesn't make any sense, right? The books could be faked, or hidden, or a thousand other things. Lastly, it's just kind of ridiculous to think it's a trap. Wouldn't it be trying harder to keep us here, rather than just offering me a job? The place isn't exactly a paradise."\n\nI raised an eyebrow. "A job?"\n\nLex grinned, all teeth. "Summer job. Pretty good pay, and free room and board. Get myself some cash before college, you know? Because this place is an opportunity, not a trap."\n\nI thought of the ugly curtains, the run down cars in the parking lot. I thought of the peace and the calm and the endless night sky.\n\n<ul><li>[[Yeah, I guess it's not.|yeah guess not trap]]</li>\n<li>[[But maybe it is?|maybe it is][$lex+=1]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Parking Lot</h4>\n[[BECKY'S CAR|bs beckys car]] was sitting in a spot near the west end of the motel and [[ROOMS 104-110|bs f12]]. There's a broken down sedan parked closer to the office and the [[OTHER FIRST FLOOR ROOMS.|bs f11]]\n\nOther than that, there's no one else in the lot. Just dust and gravel, and then [[THE HIGHWAY.|bs highway]]
"We could call my parents?" I said.\n\nBecky frowned. "I guess, but what would we tell them? 'Hey mom, Hey dad, I found a magical motel and we're not going to Santa Monica?'"\n\n"Yeah, something like that," I said. "Maybe they'd be able to help."\n\n"They'd just want to convince you to leave. That and maybe they'd think you were crazy or doing drugs." She wiggled her fingers in a way that did not at all resemble doing drugs.\n\n"I really don't think they'd think that." They would be confused, sure, who wouldn't be but I don't think they'd jump that far.\n\nThen again, they were pretty happy I was staying home in Houston. I can't imagine they'd be receptive of the idea of me staying here.\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("911")>><li>[[911|911]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("Aaron")>><li>[[Aaron.|Aaron]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("dont know")>><li>[[I don't know.|dont know call]]</li><<endif>></ul>
The brochures advertise a whole range of places, from diners to drive-ins. My personal favorite was whole column of ads for different mini-golf courses including death metal mini-golf, thematically-similar-but-legally-distinct Godzilla mini-golf, and French Revolution mini-golf. The tiny guillotine chopping balls in half was a nice touch.\n\nLooking around at the motel now, all fuzzy and dream-like, I figured some of these places might be more real than previously expected.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
I felt rage bubble under my skin. She just didn't understand. How could she understand? She'd known what she wanted her whole life and this thing was Aaron was just a stepping block.\n\nWas this what friendship was supposed to be? Carving a place for yourself in someone else by hollowing out their secrets? I didn't know. I didn't know anything.\n\n"I'm not lying. It's just complicated," I said, cold and biting. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you, you know. You'd want to know and dissect and I don't even understand it."\n\n"It's not hard, Mari!" Becky said, arms wide and angry. "Just say "Becky, I think I'm gay!"\n\n"But I'm not!" I shouted, feeling heat rise up, as if the asphalt was giving it off and fueling my rage. "I don't know what I am! Bisexual, maybe, I don't know. Why does it even matter to you anyway?!"\n\n"I'm your friend! I'm supposed to know this stuff!" She said.\n\n"Yeah, like I'm supposed to know about you and Aaron having problems?"\n\n"That's different," she muttered. \n\nI swallowed, shaking my head. "Why? Cause you're leaving? I don't need to know anymore cause you're leaving anyway? Is that it?!"\n\n"No!" Becky said, quickly. Too quickly? I don't know. "I just didn't want to think about it."\n\n<ul><li>[[Welcome to the party.|welcome to the party]]</li>\n<li>[[Well maybe you should.|maybe talk][$becky+=1]]</li></ul>
"I have to get back to my family."\n\n<<if $beckystay>>"The ones you only called once, and didn't say anything to?"<<else>>"The one you haven't called all trip?"<<endif>> Trust me, they won't notice. That's just how this place works."\n\n"They will miss me," I said, voice shaking. His hand gripped mine tighter in comfort.\n\n"They would, because you're cool, but they won't because they won't be able to. It's not much a rest stop if people come hunt you down."\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("college")>><li>[[I have to start college.|college]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[["I have to start being an adult."|adult]]</li></ul>
"What's the deal with the motel?"\n\nDon Aquiles laughed, full bellied and warm. \n\n"The deal? Hmm, well I'm no scientist, but the word pocket dimension has been floated my way sometimes. But truly, it's what people need it to be. A place to rest, to refuel. Surely you've felt it?"\n\nI nodded. The light of the cactus bloom did feel oddly…refreshing.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|don keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|don trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|don here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been working here?"|don working]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the guests?"|don guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|don no more q]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Lobby</h4>\nThe motel office was an empty square room, cut in half by a long counter that separated manager from guest. Behind the cheap faux-wood counter, there was a single door marked [[PRIVATE.|bs private]]\n\nOn my side of the counter, there was a rack of [[BROCHURES|bs brochures]], folded and yellowed by wear and time, and a [[VENDING MACHINE|bs vending machine]], turned off.\n\nThen an open door towards [[THE ROOMS.|bs f11]]
The coke bottle rattled near my feet as I scrolled through my playlists, looking for something we could all enjoy. It was dark, but the road was empty, so who knew how much longer we'd be driving.\nAnd unless I picked something good, it'd be a few more hours of too much thinking.<<if hasVisited("lex drive")>>\n\nIn the back seat, Becky was stretched out, scrolling on her phone, even though it was a dead zone. Her boyfriend back in Houston was hilarious, and reading Aaron's live-texts of his Star Wars marathon out loud was the only thing that got us out of Texas. \n\nBut now it was just us, and the red rocks and dark sky.<<else>>\n\nIn the back seat, Lex had her legs tucked in under her, checking the maps and the route she'd planned. Our first idea had been to drive until we were tired, stop whenever we wanted, and eat only local. Lex let us keep all of that, as long as she could add a little bit more structure.\n\nStructure like neat, organized itineraries worthy of someone as type-A as she was. Still, we were off schedule now, just driving until we found a place to stay. \n\nJust us, and the red rocks and dark sky.<<endif>>\n\n<ul><li>[[I'll never get tired of the desert.|tired]]</li>\n<li>[[I was so sick of the desert.|sick]]</li></ul>
Becky changed the music. She loved sitting shotgun, controlling the music and the A.C., her hands free to keep chatting on her phone. Her boyfriend back in Houston was hilarious, and reading his live-texts of his Star Wars Marathon out loud was the only thing that got us out of Texas.\n\nBut it was no surprise that this stretch of desert was a dead zone. There would be no relief from the outside world here. All we had was our playlists and each other. <<if hasVisited("lex drive")>>\n\nI was in the backseat, trying not to think. It was hard. After, there was just us, and the red rocks and dark sky.<<else>>\n\nIn the backseat, Lex had her legs tucked in under her, checking the maps and the route she'd planned. Our first idea had been to drive until we were tired, stop whenever we wanted, eat only local. Lex let us keep all of that, as long as she could add a little bit more structure.\n\nStructure like neat, organized itineraries worthy of someone as type-A as she was. Still, we were off schedule now, just driving until we found a place to stay. Just us, and the red rocks and dark sky.<<endif>>\n\n<ul><li>[[I'll never get tired of the desert.|tired]]</li>\n<li>[[I was so sick of the desert.|sick]]</li></ul>
"Maybe you could help me convince her? I mean, Pushing Daisies is pretty great." I said. I had very little confidence in anyone's ability to <em>make</em> Lex do anything. At least this way the blame wouldn't all end up on me.\n\nBecky shrugged. "She likes you better, and I'm pretty sure she's still mad that I ate the last BBQ chip yesterday."\n\n"She wouldn't hold a grudge like that," I said. Becky looked unimpressed. "Okay, well she wouldn't hold it this long. Besides, you have your reasons too."\n\nBecky smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. I had a flash, a moment when I realized I was her best friend, and I didn't know her at all. \n\n"Just, see what you can do, okay?" She asked. <<if hasVisited("knock")>> I heard a cart rumble in the hallway.<<endif>>\n\n"Alright, I'll see what I can do."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"Just give it up," I said, sighing. Even if he was right, and I still wasn't sure about that, his reason's didn't seem to make a lot of sense.\n\n"No! I'll prove it to you, I swear!" He hopped again, plucking a red cord with his antler. "Look!"\n\nThe string led to a picture of Don Aquiles working at his desk, taken through the blinds of a window. It didn't show anything suspicious at all.\n\n"That picture doesn't prove much," I said.\n\n"Okay, so it's not the best quality, but it's what it represents! The Don keeps detailed logs of all the people who come in, if we could just find those, I could prove that no one has ever actually checked out!"\n\nThere was something there, past the circled pictures and red string. Past the scratched out maps and dim light. There was something here that resonated with me. Maybe it all just felt too good to be true.\n\nMaybe that's what made me stay. "Okay, how can we get those logs?" I asked. The suspicions kept growing. Becky and Lex had accepted this way too easily.\n\n"Wait, you'll actually help me?" He said.\n\nThose ears didn't do much, I thought, but I nodded anyway.\n\n"Excellent! You could try his office I suppose, but he's in there more of the night. No our best bet is to get one of the old logs he keeps out in the shed in the desert."\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[[What shed?|what shed]]</li>\n<li>[[What am I looking for?|looking]]</li>\n<li>[[I could just ask.|just ask]]</li>\n<li>[[I'm ready.|im ready]]</li></ul>
"What shed?" I asked, looking for any details on the wall. There was an old chinese take out menu, but that wasn't relevant.\n\n"Out in the back, The Don keeps a shed full of supplies and mystery. You can get at it by just walking past the pool into the desert for a bit."\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[[What am I looking for?|looking]]</li>\n<li>[[I could just ask.|just ask]]</li>\n<li>[[I'm ready.|im ready]]</li></ul>
"What do you think of the motel?"\n\n"It's my favorite spot on this whole damn earth, that's what I think about it," he said.\n\n"How come?"\n\nHe shrugged. "It just feels right, you know? Outside, the world is all rough edges and blaring lights. Here everything is fuzzy from the neon. It just feels right."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|dean trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["What's up with the flower?"|dean flower]]</li>\n<li>[["How did you end up here?"|dean here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|dean long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|dean guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
"Okay," I smiled back at him weakly. It felt like I'd just taken a huge step off a cliff, and I was rushing, rushing down. The only thing that felt real, and solid and here, was Dean's hand on mine. \n\n"That's great." He meant it. He was really so happy I'd stay. "That's so great."\n\nHe left the keys in my hand now. "Go up, and leave these in the room. You won't need them anymore."\n<<set $istay to true>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|pk parklot]]</div>
I sat down next to her, feet dangling off the railing before I asked. "Do you think this place is a trap?"\n\nShe'd been doing her best to ignore me, but at my question she stilled, the smoke stopped curling and rose up straight.\n\n"Where'd you hear that?" She asked, almost nonchalant. The smoke kept smoking upwards.\n\n"The guy in 201. He's a rabbit, well a Jackalope. He, well… he thinks this place is a trap."\n\nShe stayed still for a moment, before shifting, smoke trailing in her wake. She opened up her pack of Marlboros with a snap of a nail and knocked one out in front of me.\n\n"Have a smoke."\n\n<ul><li>[["No thanks. I don't smoke."|dont smoke]]</li>\n<li>[[I took the cigarette.|take smoke]]</li></ul>
Well… Becky is the one who owns the DVDs. Guess I was wrong.\n\n"That's…cool," I said, feeling wrong-footed as Becky tossed herself onto the bed.\n\n"It was cancelled in Season 2!" Becky said, clutching the remote in glee. It was the most excited I'd seen her since she'd gotten her acceptance letter. "I don't really know how it works, but I'm not exactly going to complain."\n\nI peered over at the TV. Maybe they had more seasons of Veronica Ma— No, I had to focus.\n\n"Do you think we can convince Lex to stick around for an extra day or two, Mari? She left here as soon as the blue light came on, but I don't think she's seen this. We don't need to actually make it to California, right?" Becky clutched at my hands, desperate. "You should ask her. She never says no to you."\n\n"She always says no to me," I said.\n\n"She sometimes doesn't say no to you," Becky countered. Her eyes were bright. She wanted this. Badly.\n\n<ul><li>[["I'll see what I can do."|becky see what do]]</li>\n<li>[["Maybe you could help me convince her?"|becky convince her][$becky +=1]]</li>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[["She already wants to stay."|already stay]]</li><<endif>></ul>
"I'm not that clever," I said. Lex was the clever one. Becky was the smart one. I was…there. \n\n"Well of course not, you haven't driven away yet!" The Jackalope's black eyes burned with a fervor. "Don't you get it? This place is a trap. You need to leave before it's too late!"\n\nI looked at him in disbelief. Maybe I should have been since the start.\n\n"You don't believe me," he said. "No one ever believes me but look, LOOK!" He hopped over to the evidence wall, one antler tugging at a long red string. "See, the whole place is a trap. People check in, but they never check out!"\n\nI squint over at the wall. There are newspapers, some of them older than me, and photos, but nothing that seems decipherable. He must have noticed my confusion because he kept going. "Fine! I'll prove it to you!"\n\n"How?" I asked, but he was already convincing me just by having put the idea in my head. Pushing Daisies isn't that good. Lex could never give up on a schedule.\n\n"By showing you how trapped it is. You know phones don't work here. They don't want you reaching the outside world." His nose twitched, and he looked to the door, nervous that we'd be found. "But I still haven't tested the last one, the last phone. It's a pay phone, down east by the highway, still in the light of the motel. If I'm right, you could go out there, and it wouldn't let you call."\n\n"And if it does?" He already had me and he knew it.\n\nHe seemed sure it wouldn't. I was less sure, about that, about anything.\n\nBut now I had to check it out.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
The vending machine was turned off, but it was quite possibly the strangest thing I'd ever seen before.\n\nIt offered both Coke AND Pepsi. \n\n…Okay, this still might have been one of the weirder things here.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
"Maybe we should ask Don Aquiles first," I said, hesitant to jump into this but knowing I would anyway. It was inevitable. \n\nLex was inevitable.\n\n"We can figure it out. Besides, it'd be better if we had a nugget to show him. Some kind of proof, don't you think? There has to be some kind of equipment or information somewhere. I mean, they dug the tunnel, didn't they?"\n\nI didn't say that they'd probably left the gold in the ground for a reason. She wouldn't listen. Instead, Lex would stay in this tunnel searching. I could go explore the rest<<if $books>>.<<else>>, and try and find the jackalope's books while I was at it.<<endif>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"What do you think of the other guests?"\n\nHe wrinkled his nose. "Odd sort. The woman smoking out on the balcony has terrible taste in literature, as does that boy in the parking lot. Come to think of it, The Band does too. Really the only one with any taste at all is up in 201."\n\nSure. I'd never accept a book recommendation from 201 now, that's for sure.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|109 keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|109 trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|109 here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|109 long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|109 motel]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|109 question done]]</li></ul>
"Uh… do you know your face is uh…." I fumbled, staring as she took a long drag of her cigarette. \n\n"Yeah, I know. It's fine. Don't worry about it. You new?" \n\nI nodded. "Yeah, me and my friends…"\n\n"Friends," She scoffed. "We'll see how they hold up. They got any reason to be sticking around?"\n\nBecky and Lex both had futures waiting out there. Fancy colleges, and lots of plans. "No, not really."\n\n"They'll probably check out tomorrow then, but you… you look like someone with a reason to stay. Are you?"\n\n<ul><li>[["I am."|I am smoking]]</li>\n<li>[["I don't know."|dont know smoking][$go+=1]]</li></ul>
"I know what you mean," I said. The whole motel felt unreal, like an Edward Hopper painting layered over real life. Realism, but not <em>real</em>.\n\n"Still… we must be here for a reason." She said, leaning back on the counter.\n\n"Maybe the universe just figured we needed a break?" I know I did.\n\nLex looked away, out towards the parking lot and the clear night sky. She looked tired. The trip had run her down as well, I guessed. "Yeah, maybe it did."\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("lex aquiles 1")>><li>[[I asked her what she thought about Don Aquiles.|lex aquiles 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("lex becky 1")>><li>[[I asked about Becky.|lex becky 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[I left her to keep exploring.|leave Lex]]</li></ul>
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Pool</h4>\nFlies buzzed inside an empty pool, echoing oddly into the night.\n\nBeyond it, [[THE DESERT|bs desert]] went on and on, until sky and ground are the same shade of inky, deep black.\n\nBehind me, [[THE MOTEL|bs f11]] stood, looking just as great as its pool.
"What's going on?" I said, unsure if I should be scared, in awe, or both. This desert had been an endless plain of nothingness, and here, where I thought there'd been maximum nothing, was something magical, something amazing. You'd never find something like this in Houston. I'm relatively sure you couldn't find something like this anywhere.\n\nDean smiled, wild and careless, coming alive under the lights just as much as the rest of this place. "It's just the motel waking up. I know it's pretty shocking, I get surprised every time I see it too."\n\n"How many times <em>have</em> you seen it?" I asked.\n\n"Gosh, I dunno. I think I've lost count by now." He laughed, bright and joyful. In the hallway across from us, lights began to come on inside motel rooms, guests beginning to awaken. "But it never gets old, you never get tired of it. That's the beauty of this place: you never get tired."\n\nHe stood up then, dusting the road off his jeans and reaching up towards the night sky in a single, sinuous stretch. "You should look around and make the most of it. See if you can't convince your friends to stay <em>now.</em>"\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
"How did you end up here?" I asked.\n\n"Oh, just stopped here on the highway on my way out to New York. I'm going to publish a novel there, as soon as I'm done."\n\nI didn't know you had to be in New York to publish, but that's none of my business.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|109 keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|109 trap]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|109 long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|109 motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|109 guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|109 question done]]</li></ul>
I didn't have any more questions, but he let me know his door was open to me at any time.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|lobby]]</div>
"Something like what?" I asked.\n\nHe smiled as much as a rabbit could and hopped again, plucking a red cord with his antler. "Look!"\n\nThe string led to a picture of Don Aquiles working at his desk, taken through the blinds of a window. It didn't show anything suspicious at all.\n\n"That picture doesn't prove much," I said.\n\n"Okay, so it's not the best quality, but it's what it represents! The Don keeps detailed logs of all the people who come in, if we could just find those, I could prove that no one has ever actually checked out!"\n\nThere was something there, past the circled pictures and red string. Past the scratched out maps and dim light. There was something here that resonated with me. Maybe it all just felt too good to be true.\n\nMaybe that's what made me stay. "Okay, how can we get those logs?" I asked. The suspicions kept growing. Becky and Lex had accepted this way too easily.\n\n"Wait, you'll actually help me?" He said.\n\nThose ears don't do much, I thought, but I nodded anyway.\n\n"Excellent! You could try his office I suppose, but he's in there more of the night. No our best bet is to get one of the old logs he keeps out in the shed in the desert."\n\n<ul class="q"><li>[[What shed?|what shed]]</li>\n<li>[[What am I looking for?|looking]]</li>\n<li>[[I could just ask.|just ask]]</li>\n<li>[[I'm ready.|im ready]]</li></ul>
There's something awful about the desert, massive, unchanging and unwelcoming. It's like the world is designing a place to either get rid of you, or trap you there forever.\n\nBut in every desert, there is an oasis.\n\nNeon lights cast a green glow on the horizon, rising like a premature dawn. As we got closer, we could see the shape resolve into a giant neon cactus. Below it, the words "CACTUS BLUE MOTEL" blazed before a background of dark desert sky.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|intro lot]]</div>
"I don't think you're ordinary, Lex." There was nothing ordinary about her. But at the same time, it wasn't the same kind of difference as the motel. Lex was real, driven, determination made flesh. This place, it was a dream. It almost didn't make sense that Lex wanted to stay.\n\n"You know what I mean, Mari," she said, not even picking up on the compliment. Just steamrolling forward. "Real people. Not some chosen one in a bad anime."\n\n"Well it's happening to us anyway," I said.\n\nShe nodded, not able to argue the point, but she just teased, undeterred. "Well, if any of us is the chosen one, I bet it's Becky. She's the only one with colorful hair."\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("lex aquiles")>><li>[[I asked her what she thought about Don Aquiles.|lex aquiles 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("lex becky 1")>><li>[[I asked about Becky.|lex becky 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[I left her to keep exploring.|leave Lex]]</li></ul>
Becky paused, and shook her head. "I can't stay. I just can't. I need to go back out and talk to Aaron, to start school."\n\nLex paused, and looked away. "I need the time, just a bit. It won't be for long."\n\nI looked at Lex, shocked that she was staying with me. Becky was just as surprised, and she looked about to cry.\n\n"It won't be forever," I said quickly. But who knew anymore. She must have seen something in my face, in my stance, that showed that I wasn't about to move on this, and slumped. \n\n"We'll help you pack," I said, and we did. They needed to go before sunrise, and we all hurried [[OUT OF THE ROOM.|you stay becky go out room]]
Here, there were more shelves filled with old sign-in books. Some names were normal. Some names leapt out: Lucille Ball (6/12/32 - 6/14/32), Elvis Presley (4/3/53 - 4/4/53), and Washington Irving (12/31/16-1/1/19).\n\nReally old sign-in books.\n\nI found only a few with open dates. Lydia with no last name (12/24/70), A fancy, but unintelligible signature (7/3/1984).\n\nNo Dean.\n<<set $books to true>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|tunnel door]]</div>
The vending machine was turned off, but it was quite possibly the strangest thing I'd ever seen before.\n\nIt offered both Coke AND Pepsi. \n\nThis place was weird.\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs lobby]]</div>
"They're gone." I felt cold, for the first time since arriving in the desert. I tried to think logically. Had I taken them out of the room? Had I ever had them in the first place?\n\nI couldn't remember.\n\nHe could see the panic in my face, and he relished in it. "Yeah, they're gone. Look, if you like, but I bet you won't find them. I bet you won't <em>ever</em> find them."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
<h4>Somewhere in the Desert, Between New Mexico and Arizona - The Summer After High School</h4>\n\nWe left Houston two days ago, heading west along the back roads to California. An empty bottle of Mexican Coke kept rolling around the passenger side. And only now, in the dark, did a cool desert breeze start to push away the summer heat.\n\nIt was our last trip together, just the three of us. In two weeks, Becky would be off at Stanford, Lex at NYU, and me… well, I'd still be in Houston.\n\nBut for now, the only things we had to think about were the open road, the starry skies, and the 750 miles left to Santa Monica.\n\n<ul><li>[[I was driving.|me drive]]</li>\n<li>[[Lex was driving.|lex drive]]</li>\n<li>[[Becky was driving.|becky drive]]</li></ul>
"How long have you been here?"\n\nDean smiled, cigarette hanging in his teeth. "Oh, since I was 19." \n\nHe didn't look a day over 20, so I really had to wonder how long he'd been 19.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|dean trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["What's up with the flower?"|dean flower]]</li>\n<li>[["How did you end up here?"|dean here]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|dean motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|dean guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
Becky was driving. Even though it was her car, it was pretty rare for her to be behind the wheel. She preferred to sit shotgun, controlling the music, her hands free to keep chatting on her phone. Her boyfriend back in Houston was hilarious, and reading Aaron's live-texts of his <em>Star Wars</em> marathon out loud was the only thing that got us out of Texas.\n\nBut it was no surprise that this stretch of desert was a dead zone. There would be no relief from the outside world here. All we had was our playlists and each other.\n\nAnd the playlists were debatable.\n\nBecky's fingers twitched on the wheel. "Can we please change the music? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm kind of sick of Hamilton."\n\n<ul><li>[[I changed the music.|me music]]</li>\n<li>[[Lex changed the music.|lex music]]</li></ul>
"Hotel is a little generous, don't you think?" I said. "It's a motel."\n\nLex just rolled her eyes. "Motel, hotel, whatever it is it's cheap and it looks pretty clean. What else can you really ask for?"\n\n"WiFi, Lex," said Becky. "We can ask for WiFi." \n\n"If you want to go down to the motel office and ask for it, be my guest," Lex said, pulling up the covers. "Me, I'm going to bed. Mari, just turn the lights out when you're done getting ready."\n\n"Yeah, of course." I said. The No-WiFi thing wouldn't be too bad. We'd be out of here by morning, after all, and the quicker morning came, the quicker we could keep going.\n\nBut then again, the trip would end quicker that way too. \n\n<ul><li>[[I fell asleep next to Lex.|lex bed]]</li>\n<li>[[I fell asleep next to Becky.|becky bed]]</li></ul>
We walked fast, the sun already peeking past the dusty mesa in the distance, and piled everything into the car. Shutting the trunk, Lex walked up to me.\n\n"Not too late to change your mind," she said. I paused. I wondered, if I said something, would she ask me to stay with her. To stay by her side.\n\nBut I didn't ask, and neither did she. Behind her, Dean frowned, disappointed.\n\n"I'll be okay."\n\nThe sky was already turning pink by the time I drove off. In the rearview mirror, I could see the cactus bloom, flicker one, twice, and fade. The motel went out of sight shortly after.\n\nI fixed my eyes on the highway, long and lonely. I turned on the radio. I had to do something, after all. There were still 750 miles left to Santa Monica.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥ END|end credits]]</div>
Lex changed the music. While she preferred to be driving, she also enjoyed having control over the music, or anything at all. Our first idea for the trip had been to drive until we were tired, stop whenever we wanted, eat only local. Lex let us keep all of that, as long as she could add a little bit more structure.\n\nStructure like neat, organized itineraries worthy of someone as type-A as she was. Still, we were off schedule now, just driving until we found a place to stay.<<if hasVisited("becky drive")>>\n\nI was in the backseat, trying not to think. It was hard. After, there was just us, and the red rocks and dark sky.<<else>>\n\nIn the back seat, Becky was stretched out, scrolling on her phone, even though it was a dead zone. Her boyfriend, Aaron, back in Houston had been providing a running commentary for most of the drive so far (Including a hilarious live-text of the Star Wars movies). But now it was just us, and the red rocks and dark sky.<<endif>>\n\n<ul><li>[[I'll never get tired of the desert.|tired]]</li>\n<li>[[I was so sick of the desert.|sick]]</li></ul>
Becky looked at me, then back at the quarter. "What?"\n\n"You need this more than I do. You actually have someone to talk to on the outside," I said.\n\nBecky looked back at the impossible phone booth, here in the middle of nowhere, then back at the quarter. She seemed more frightened of the quarter than of anything else we'd seen tonight.\n\n"You're the one who said talking is good." I reminded her.\n\n"Not now. Not like this. I can talk to him later," she said, taking a step back.\n\nShe wasn't going to call, I could tell. Still, I needed to check if the phone worked.\n\nShe waited for me outside the glass, as I marked my parents' number. My mom picked up, worried. I shivered at the sound of her voice, even as I reassured her nothing was wrong. Just homesick, though I wasn't sure I'd ever felt anything less like homesickness. I lied and lied, and hung up. Guess the jackalope was wrong. The phone did work.\n\nAfterward, we walked back in silence. Back under the glow of the motel lights, Becky left quickly, not even looking at Dean.\n\n"I'll see you back at the room," she said. I just nodded. It wasn't like she was going anywhere at all.\n<<set $beckystay to true>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
I walked in, slowly, cautiously. It was dark, sheets thrown over lamps to prevent their full brightness. Papers were scattered over the beds and the floor, covered in mad scribbles. On the far wall, maps and photos were pinned to the wall, red string forming a spiderwebs between locations. A picture of Dean was circled three times in red pen.\n\nNormally, I'd have been weirded out by the paranoia wall, but by then I'd gotten a good look at who'd opened the door.\n\nIt was a rabbit, with antlers.\n\nI said so, and the rabbit scoffed, "I'm a Jackalope, thank you very much. There's a difference."\n\n"Yeah, the antlers."\n\nThe rab… Jackalope leapt up onto the bed, while giving me the side eye. I didn't know rabbit eyes could do that. "Yeah, bet you think you're so clever. Well, you ended up here, so ha! Joke's on you."\n\n<ul><li>[["I'm not that clever."|not clever]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you mean by that?"|what mean]]</li>\n<li>[["Are you even allowed on the furniture?"|furniture]]</li></ul>
The sign on the door said DO NOT DISTURB. I knocked anyway.\n\nThere was a rustling, a thump, a shout. "DORIS FOR THE LAST TIME, I DON'T NEED THE ROOM CLEANED!"\n\n"It's not Doris," I said, already starting to regret this.\n\n"Oh damn," The voice inside said. Chains jingled. "You're new, aren't you?" He didn't give me time to answer as the lock clicked, and the door swung open. "Come in, come in! I have so much to tell you."\n<<set $trap to true>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|jack 2]]</div>
I finally (finally) hit the ground and looked back up. The light from the shed above was a distant star, barely visible in the dim orange glow in the tunnel.\n\nAnd at the bottom, in the glow of that star [[LEX.|lex bunker]]
"Yeah. Come with me?" It would be nice, if she did. I'd like some company out by the lonely highway.\n\nBecky sighed, looking between me, the door and the TV. \n\n"You don't have to," I said, already heading for my bag.\n\n"No, no. Of course I'll go." She pulled on her hoodie, two sizes too big, and that was that. "I'll meet you outside, okay?"\n\n"…Okay."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"I can't stay," I said. Sometimes the hardest thing to say was the truth.\n\nHis hands tightened on mine for just a moment, almost crushing, then let go, leaving the keys inside them.\n\n"You know you won't find anything good out there, right? You won't ever find anything like this."\n\nI knew that. I knew it, but I had to leave anyway. I couldn't just run from the real world, no matter how much the Cactus Blue had given me the opportunity. "I know."\n\nHe huffed, pulling away. I was cold, and alone, in the desert. "Fine, then go. Take them and go. You'll regret it later."\n<<set $istay to false>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|pk parklot]]</div>
Somewhere in the distance, a coyote howled. Yeah, I wasn't heading out there like this.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bs pool]]</div>
"How long have you been working here?"\n\n"Ohh, maybe two hundred years." He said. I sat there, mouth open, as he shrugged. \n\n"Working here has some perks, you know. It lets you keep a much better idea of time than some of the others. I don't regret a minute though. This place is a gift."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|don keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|don trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|don here]]</li>\n<li>[["What's the deal with the motel?"|don motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the guests?"|don guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|don no more q]]</li></ul>
I didn't have any more questions.\n\n"Come jam with us whenever!" The Singer said. The rest of them seemed to agree in their silence.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f11]]</div>
Inside the boxes were some old fliers and posters in different styles. Ads for the Cactus Blue in the 50's, the 70's, and what looked like the 1890's. Had any of these ever run?\n\nAt the bottom of the piles, there was a flier, faded and yellowed that read:\n\n█████'S GREAT TREASURES\n\nWORLD'S LARGEST PYRITE VEIN\nDON'T BE MADE A FOOL BY FOOL'S GOLD AND\nCOME TO THE CACTUS BLUE MOTEL.\n\n<<if not hasVisited("fourth fork")>>Huh, that's pretty cool. It's probably down here in the tunnels somewhere.<<else>>Oh. Lex's dream (my dream) vanished with a stroke of ink. There's no way that vein was ever real. I had to tell her.<<endif>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|tunnel door]]</div>
Someone was speaking behind the door. A deep voice, warm like a desert night, and then a higher, smoother tone that I recognized: Lex.\n\n<<if not hasVisited("becky 1")>>I didn't realize Lex had left the room. <<endif>>I couldn't make out what she said, but her voice was unmistakable.\n\nI knocked. The first voice chimed in, responding to Lex and not to me. It sounded like a pretty intense conversation.\n\n<ul><li>[[I'd come back when I had more stories to convince her to stay.|lobby]]</li>\n<<if $convince>=3>><li>[[I knocked again.|knock]]</li><<endif>></ul>
Neon bloomed into the desert. It started small, like a flickering star, but it began to grow, as if neon tubes were being spawned from nothing. Above the cactus, a blue flower began to grow, petals spread towards the night sky.\n\nAnd the hotel bloomed with it.\n\nDingy railings now freshly painted. Door plaques glimmered. And cars began appearing in the parking lot, as if they'd been there all along, and it only took the blue light of the motel sign to make them visible.\n\nDean, bathed in the glow, smiled. "Worth waiting for, isn't it?"\n\n<ul><li>[["It's beautiful."|beautiful]]</li>\n<li>[["What the hell is going on?"|going on]]</li>\n<li>[["This has to be a dream."|dream]]</li></ul>
Somewhere in the distance, a coyote howled again. I wasn't going out there for no reason.<<if hasVisited("post phonebooth jack") and $bunker==false>>\n\nI could see in the distance now, a pool of light around an old metal [[SHED|bunker]].<<endif>>\n\nBehind me, [[THE MOTEL|pool]] shone, a lone light in the dark.
<h4>The Cactus Blue Motel - Pool</h4>\nEverything about the pool hit just the right note. The water was a brilliant blue under the cactus bloom. The filters bubbled soothingly, filling in the sound of an empty night. Perfect beach chairs, each with a soft towel lined the pool, and even the chlorine smell was just right, making the night feel clean and pure.\n\nBeyond that, [[THE DESERT|desert]] stretched out into nothingness. This place really was an oasis.\n\nBehind me, [[THE MOTEL|f11]] stood, looking just as amazing as its pool.
"No reason," I said, keeping it all to myself. She didn't need the doubts, the mystery. I couldn't do much, but I could protect her from that.\n\nLex looked at me fondly, like she was glad I was here, glad I'd just decided to be here with her. I blushed and looked away.\n\n"I mean though, if you have any idea where those record books are, I'd appreciate it." I said.\n\n"No, sorry. Don Aquiles hasn't trusted me with that yet. He says it'll come after I sign the contract."\n\nI raised an eyebrow. "Contract?"\n\nLex grinned, all teeth. "Summer job. Pretty good pay, and free room and board. Get myself some cash before college, you know?"\n\n"So you want to stay? What if it's a trap?!" I said. \n\nLex looked at me. I looked back. She raised an eyebrow. I looked away.\n\n"You know that doesn't make any sense at all, right? Wouldn't it be trying harder to keep us here if it was? The place isn't exactly a paradise."\n\nI thought of the ugly curtains, the run down cars in the parking lot. I thought of the peace and the calm and the endless night sky. \n\n<ul><li>[[Yeah, I guess it's not.|yeah guess not trap]]</li>\n<li>[[But maybe it is?|maybe it is][$lext+=1]]</li></ul>
"Yeah, but you can stay if you like." I could see her reluctance. It hurt, a little. But I knew I wasn't that important.\n\nShe paused, looking at me, then at the TV.\n\n"No. No I'll come with you." She seemed to be trying to convince herself. She pulled on her hoodie, two sizes too big, and hesitated. "I'll meet you outside, okay?"\n\n"…Okay."\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f22]]</div>
"We should get up early and stay on schedule." I said, as we stepped out of the car. Lex turned to me, lips barely curled in a smile. I smiled back. Becky just let out a sigh.\n\n"Fiiiine," she said. She knew she was outnumbered.\n\nLooking up, I took in the motel sign again. We'd seen several like it on our trip here. Googie architecture, it was called. Swooping lines and visions of yesterday's future.\n\nThis one was a little more boring than most. The sign didn't even seem to be animated.\n\nStill, all we needed was a place to stay. We took our bags, and walked into the [[MOTEL OFFICE|arriving at lobby]].
"I guess I am," I said, thinking of how tired I felt, and how little I knew about what was to come. "But it's not exactly an option, you know."\n\n"Why not?" She blew out a puff of smoke from her puff of smoke. It looked pretty weird.\n\n"Well, My friends won't want to and we came together," I said.\n\n"Not like you'll need a ride."\n\n"And it costs money."\n\n"Not after the first night," she said.\n\nI stopped. "What?"\n\n"Yeah, no cost after night one. Or did you think we all had the cash to stick around?"\n\nI hadn't thought of it, but obviously she knew plenty about the motel. Maybe I should ask her stuff.\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|smoke keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|trap smoking]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|smoking end up here]]</li>\n<li>[["How long have you been here?"|smoking long]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|smoking motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|smoking guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|smoking no more q]]</li></ul>
"I was in band for a while," I said lamely. I played the flute badly.\n\n"Perfect! Over here," She shuffled me towards the instruments and handed me a guitar. \n\n"I didn't play the gui—" She didn't let me finish as she grabbed my shoulders.\n\n"Doesn't matter. We just want your new sound, fresh, you know!" She was beaming.\n\nThe Drummer counted down with his sticks. I could almost hear it in my head: FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT!\n\nAnd we played. Even me. The sound just seemed to spill from the guitar, amateurish, sure, but still recognizable. I couldn't say now, what kind of song we played, only that there was music, and fury, and the thunder of cymbals.\n\nIn the end, we all flopped down, grinning. The Singer smiled. "Nice. You added some great sound. Will you be stickin' around to jam with us some more?\n\n<ul><li>[["Yeah, probably."|yes band]]</li>\n<li>[["Don't think so."|no band][$go +=1]]</li>\n<li>[["What just happened?"|happened band]]</li></ul>
"Yeah," I said, pushing myself up. "Maybe. You going to head to bed anytime tonight?"\n\nDean smiled and shook his head. "The night's just getting started. In fact," he stopped, looking at his wrist-watch. "The cactus is about to bloom."\n\nHere he gestured out towards the hotel sign, a three pronged-cactus lit up in tacky neon-green. But that's all there was. There was no glint or extra neon tubing to herald a bloom, or even any animation.\n\nBut as I watched, it happened anyway.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|bloom]]</div>
<<if $keys>><<goto "becky keys">><<elseif $bunker>><<goto "revisit 3">><<elseif $phonebooth>><<goto "revisit 2">><<elseif $quarter>><<goto "quarter redirect">><<elseif $trap>><<goto "aj 207">><<elseif hasVisited("becky 1")>><<goto "revisit 1">><<elseif $convince>=3>><<goto "becky 1">><<else>><<goto "not convinced becky">><<endif>>
<<if $keys>>I looked over, and under and maybe a little too closely AT the thunderbird, but my keys weren't around here either.<<else>>I didn't know anything about cars, but I knew this was a nice one. Old, with those classic wings and a stunning blue paint job that seemed to shine from within under the neon lights.\n\nI reached out a hand and touched the coat of paint lightly. Just… wow. I think I finally got why people loved cars.<<endif>>\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
"How long have you been here?"\n\nHe paused, tapping the pages to the bottom of his lip. "A few years. I think."\n\nHis wardrobe said a few decades. \n\n"I'm not sure though," he continued. "Time's a little odd here, you know?"\n\n"I don't."\n\n"Oh. Well, you will."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if $keys>><li>[["Have you seen my keys?"|109 keys]]</li><<endif>><<if $trap>><li>[["Do you think this place is a trap?"|109 trap]]</li><<endif>><li>[["How did you end up here?"|109 here]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the motel?"|109 motel]]</li>\n<li>[["What do you think of the other guests?"|109 guests]]</li>\n<li>[[No more questions.|109 question done]]</li></ul>
"So have you spoken to Becky?" I asked.\n\nLex shook her head. "She's been acting weird for a while, said she wanted to stay in the room after the blue light turned on. I think something's going on."\n\nI frowned. I hadn't really noticed anything. "Like what?"\n\nLex shrugged. "I'm no psychic. But she obviously doesn't want to talk about it, or else she would have. Not like we have that much to do on the drive, right?"\n\n<ul><<if not hasVisited("lex aquiles 1")>><li>[[I asked her what she thought about Don Aquiles.|lex aquiles 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if not hasVisited("lex motel 1")>><li>[[I asked what she thought about the motel.|lex motel 1]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[I left her to keep exploring.|leave Lex]]</li></ul>
<<if $band>> <<goto "band second">><<else>><<goto "band 1">><<endif>>
"… What about the guy in room 201?"\n\nDean sat forward slightly, eye narrowing, the burn of the cigarette reflected in it. "That guy? Pathetic. Everyone else at least takes advantage of this place but he hates it. But you don't see him leaving, do you? What an idiot."\n\n"…Well he is a rabbit." I said.\n\n"A Jackalope, and that's no excuse."\n\n<ul class="q"><<if hasVisited("smoking woman")>><li>[[The Smoking Woman|dean smoking]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("the band")>><li>[[The Band|dean band]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("109")>><li>[[The Man in Room 109|dean 109]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if hasVisited("knock")>><li>[[Don Aquiles|dean don]]</li><<endif>>\n<<if $convince is 0>><li>[[I haven't met anyone.|havent met any]]</li><<endif>>\n<li>[[No more questions.|no more q dean]]</li></ul>
I moved closer, slowly, placing a hand on her back. "It'll be okay, Lex." I said, once again proving my capacity to say exactly the wrong thing.\n\n"It's not going to be okay! It's never going to be okay, because the gold is fake and the salary isn't good enough and I'm going to be in debt until I die!!!"\n\nI jumped back as she lashed out, losing her cool composure, her calm, her everything I admired about her. "What?"\n\nShe ran her fingers across her scalp, shaking her head. "I just… NYU's expensive. I was hoping that maybe I could… I don't know, find something here to help pay it off."\n\n"Like the job from Don Aquiles," I said numbly.\n\n"yeah, like that." She let out a lingering sigh, before shaking herself off. "Let's…let's just go, okay?"\n\nI nodded. "Yeah, whatever you need."\n\n<<set $lexstay to false>>\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|forward]]</div>
"Okay, I think I'm ready," I said.\n\n"Good, now head out and find some proof. You'll find it, I'm sure. There's no other reason people would stay here this long."\n\nI just nodded, though I wasn't sure about that. But then again, doubt was what had me on this hunt in the first place.\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|f21]]</div>
"This has to be a dream," I said. Nothing else made sense. This desert had been an endless plain of nothingness, and here, where I thought there'd been maximum nothing, was something magical, something amazing. You'd never find something like this in Houston. I'm relatively sure you couldn't find something like this anywhere.\n\nDean smiled, wild and careless, coming alive under the lights just as much as the rest of this place. "You'd think that, but no. It's just always this great. No matter how many times I've seen it."\n\n"How many times <em>have</em> you seen it?" I asked.\n\n"Gosh, I dunno. I think I've lost count by now." He laughed, bright and joyful. In the hallway across from us, lights began to come on inside motel rooms, guests beginning to awaken. "But it never gets old, you never get tired of it. That's the beauty of this place: you never get tired."\n\nHe stood up then, dusting the road off his jeans and reaching up towards the night sky in a single, sinuous stretch. "You should look around and make the most of it. See if you can't convince your friends to stay <em>now.</em>"\n\n<div class="arrow">[[➥|parklot]]</div>
But I knew she would listen to me. We had the advantage of time, of closeness. She'd hear me out, I just knew it. \n\nI opened the door, to find that she was on the other side, like she had been about to open it as well.\n\n"Mari! Come in, you won't believe this," she said, yanking me inside of the room.\n\nIt looked exactly the same as before. Same painting of red rock mesa. Same weird colored motel comforter. Same ancient blocky TV, only now it was on.\n\n"Look!" Becky pointed at the screen. Kristin Chenoweth was running around a colorful pie shop.\n\n"Nice," I said. "I didn't know they were playing reruns of Pushing Daisies."\n\nBecky shook her head. "They aren't. It's Season 3."\n\nI stopped, and looked back at the screen. \n\n<ul><li>[["But it got cancelled after Season 2."|season 2][$becky+=1]]</li>\n<li>[[Well… Becky is the one who owns the DVDs. Guess I was wrong.|own the dvd]]</li></ul>
"I have to go and be an adult," I said. That was the reality of things. That was what it all boiled down to.\n\nDean only smiled. "No, you don't. You don't have to do anything like that ever again. I promise. Just… stay?"\n\n<ul><li>[[...Okay|okay stay]]</li>\n<li>[[...I can't|i cant stay]]</li></ul>