They say the Emperor is [[dying]].They say this not to you, dear nightingale, but among themselves in voices hushed. You strain to hear them over the churning of the [[wheels->Industrial District]].(set: $current_location to "industrial")The air is wet and hot with pea soup fog. Valves hiss open and shut between the eaves of a distant [[pagoda]], expelling steam into a sky already swollen with it.
Watermills are packed tight along the [[river->River Transition]](if: $cat_seen is true)[(if: not ($inv contains "The song of pleading"))[, which seems to beckon you somehow]]. Enormous metal wheels jut from their sides, spinning water day in and day out. You can hardly hear yourself think over the uproar they're raising.
Gas lanterns line the streets, pulsing beneath their gauzy red covers. You are perched upon one now. A [[small company of men]] is conversing below. Mill workers swarm around them, their eyes downcast.
(if: $cat is false)[A [[cat->Cat Introduction]] watches you from behind the brass-leaved balustrade of a humble tea house.](if: $cat is true)[The cat stares hungrily at you. It is time for you to enter [[deeper into the city->Residential District]].]
[[Music->Inventory]] trills in the back of your throat, kept unsung by sheer force of will.Some would call it heresy, to outfit a place of worship with these crude devices. (if: not($cat_points is > $bird_points))[You count yourself among them. Unfortunately, most do not.](else:)[You used to count yourself among them, but these days you are not so sure of yourself.]
(if: $cat is false)[[[Turn away.->Industrial District]]](else:)["What nonsense are you stuffing your head with now?" calls the cat. You sigh and [[turn away->Industrial District]].]Pigskin uniforms, tinted goggles, coarse hands. Men in these parts are often loud and merry, but today they speak in undertones. You lean as far down as you can manage in order to listen in.
"...cold and pale, won't live to see the sun rise..."
"...already appointed a new Emperor..."
"...won't say a word but 'Pish!' to us..."
"...[[nightingale->small company of men cont]]?"(set: $cat_seen to true) A mangy, uncouth creature with knotted grey fur and yellow teeth. Oddly enough, he is the only animal aside from yourself you have seen in quite a while. He has been hunting you for the past several days and will surely eat you alive at the earliest opportunity.
If you desire to enter deeper into the [[city->Industrial District]], you must first evade him.(set: $conversations to it - (array: $conversation))(set: $length to $length - 1)"Do you love the Emperor?" asks the cat.
(click: "Do you love the Emperor?")["Why, of course," you say. You know there must be some sort of trick to the question, but you do not yet know what.
(click: "trick")[Sure enough, the cat continues, "He took you from your home and trapped you in his palace. When you fled, he named you a traitor and appointed an imitation in your place. Yet you still love him?"
(click: "Yet you still love him?")["If you saw what I had seen, you would understand."
(click: "If you saw what I had seen,")[The cat sniffs. "And what did you see?"
(click: "And what did you see?")["[[The Emperor's tears->Convo 2-1]]."]]]]](set: $conversations to it - (array: $conversation))(set: $length to $length - 1)The cat has been staring at you for some time now. "I hope you are not still tempted to eat me," you say, taking a disapproving tone despite the flicker of anxiety in your chest.
He huffs. "Of course not," he says, and you think that will be the end of that.
But then:
(click: "But then")["What happened to your [[wings->Convo 1-1]]?"](set: $conversations to it - (array: $conversation))(set: $length to $length - 1)"I don't understand why the artificial nightingales are so well loved," you say. "They have a beautiful sound, I must admit, but they only ever sing the same song without the slightest variation. They may not tire of it, but anyone hearing it for the three-and-thirtieth time would, no?"
(click: "They may not tire of it,")[The cat produces a series of harsh, hacking coughs, his body shaking with exertion.
(click: "a series of harsh, hacking coughs")["Are you sick? Have you something in your throat?" you fret.
(click: "Have you something in your throat?")[The cat stops and gives you a withering look. "That was the first verse of the artificial nightingale's song."
(click: "That was the first verse of the artificial nightingale's song.")["Oh," you say. "You were singing."
(click: "You were singing.")["[[Yes. I was.]]"]]]]](if: $cat_seen is false)[The river's rushing waters continue to whisk the wheels, setting off a great clamor of gears inside the buildings.
[[Turn back.->Industrial District]]](if: $cat_seen is true)[(if: not ($inv contains "The song of pleading"))[If you follow the river it will lead you to the shore, which will lead you to the palace garden, which will lead you to the Emperor. The cat may know the streets like the stripes upon his pelt, but so much water in one place is sure to disagree with him. It just is a pity that it will take much longer to go around the city than through it.
This close to the river, you pick up a strange [[humming->Closer 1]] that was not there before.
[[Turn back.->Industrial District]]](else:)[The river's rushing waters continue to whisk the wheels, setting off a great clamor of gears inside the buildings. The humming from before is nowhere to be heard.
There is no longer any need for you to follow the river now that you have the cat with you. He stands a fair distance from the water, sniffing with distaste.
[[Turn back.->Industrial District]]]]The wheels spin, the waters thrash, the gears gnash their pointed teeth. No ordinary listener could hear the humming beneath all that. But with such a finely tuned ear as yours, you might pinpoint it if you venture [[closer->Riversong]].
[[Turn back.->River]](set: $inv to $inv + (a: "The song of pleading"))You hop down to the riverbank. A cool wind that tastes of brine rises up to meet you, carrying with it a (link-reveal: "song")[ that goes like this:
(live: 2s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*At last may I upon this shore
Lighten my sorrow with soft tears.
Alas! alas! I see no more
My Love, who yet my sadness cheers.*](stop:)]
(live: 6s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*And thou, O raging, stormy Sea,
Stirred by wild winds, from depth to height,
Thou hold’st my loved one far from me,
And I am captive to thy might.*](stop:)]
(live: 10s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*My heart is still more wild than thine,
For Fate is cruel unto me.
Why must I thus in exile pine?
Why is my Princess snatched from me?*](stop:)]
(live: 14s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*O! lovely Nymphs, from ocean caves,
Who know how sweet true love may be,
Come up and calm the furious waves
And set a desperate lover free!*](stop:)]
(live: 18s)[(transition: "dissolve")[You have learned [[the song of pleading->Oceansong]].(stop:)]]]You flit from lantern to lantern until you reach the one closest to your [[destination->River]]. (if: $cat is true)[The cat follows from below, careful to avoid the attention of those nearby.]You can't make out much aside from that, but you know two things for certain: your old friend the Emperor is unwell, and you must pay him a visit.
If you lean down any further, the men will spot you and chase you off.
[[Lean back.->Industrial District]]And what a song it is! A welcome addition to your [[repertoire->Inventory]], to be sure. There is no voice sweeter than yours in all the world, yet this might just rival it in passion. You think of a King calling for the return of a lover long lost to sea, bargaining endlessly with its indifferent waters. You know well the beauty and terror of the ocean, as the woods of the palace garden overlook it. It is there that you spent the best days of your youth.
In your rapture, you fail to hear the approaching [[pawsteps]] until it is too late.(set: $current_location to "residential")This is the beating heart of the city, fringed by temples, marketplaces, and public buildings. They are much too crowded to approach safely, so you(if: $cat is true)[ and the cat] take care to avoid them. The watermills loom far behind.
Instead you find yourself on the side of the [[canal]] which bears the [[sprawling wood houses]] of [[the mill workers and the artisans]]. Clunky copper pipes snake from gabled rooftops to the undersides of stone terraces, carrying currents of steam across the city.
(if: $cat_affection > 4)[(if: $length is 0)[The cat awaits your next move. You can think of nothing to say to him at present. Perhaps it is time for you to make your way to the [[palace garden->Palace Garden]].](if: not ($length is 0))[The cat ushers you into some forgotten alleyway in order to avoid notice. You may (set: $index to (random: 1, $length))(set: $conversation to $conversations's ($index))(link-goto: "speak with him", $conversation) if you'd like. Or perhaps you'd rather make your way to the [[palace garden->Palace Garden]].]](if: $cat_affection < 4)[The cat stares hungrily at you. You will somehow have to find food for him before you can enter deeper into the city.]
[[Music->Inventory]] trills in the back of your throat, kept unsung by sheer force of will.The cat leaps. He pins your wings to the ground with his paws, though they wouldn't have been much help free.
"How the mighty fall," he mutters, slavering. You have only seconds to do something before you are eaten alive.
[[Speak.]]
[[Struggle.]]
[[Sing.]]
(live: 7s)[
(go-to: "Death by Eating")
]
Now is not the time for singing. You may review your current repertoire, but you should occupy yourself with (link-goto: "other matters", (history:)'s last) after.
At present you know the following:
(if: $inv contains "Your song")[Your song, each note of which you have composed yourself. It is at times heartbreaking, other times cheerful, and always beautiful beyond measure. However, it fluctuates so often that only you can sing it to perfection.]
(if: $inv contains "The song of pleading")[The song of pleading, which the wind carried along the river from the ocean. It speaks of such loss and longing that it would surely coax sympathy from even the stoniest of hearts.]
(if: $inv contains "The artificial nightingale's song")[The artificial nightingale's song, which is much like your own in melody. Where your song swings and slows to your whims, though, this song is kept to an unwavering beat. Everyone in the city knows it by heart.]
(if: $inv contains "A lullaby")[A lullaby that had been held by a mysterious brass-bound chest on a bridge. Despite its melancholy lyrics, it has an almost hypnotic rhythm that brings swift, gentle slumber to anyone who hears it.]"Don't you know who I am?" you gasp, indignant through your panic. "I am—"
"Nothing but a little bird," cuts in the cat, "who fancies she might still be someone special. Pitiful nightingale! If that were true, why do you now find yourself [[here->Death by Eating]]?"You buck and wriggle valiantly beneath the cat's paws, but he only presses down harder for your troubles. He gives a harsh laugh.
"What use are these wings of yours?" he says, opening his mouth [[wider->Death by Eating]] still.Sing what?
[[Your song.]]
[[The song of pleading.]]
(live: 3s)[
(go-to: "Death by Eating")
]
The cat's teeth snap your neck so quickly you do not feel the pain of death, only the regret that you will never again sing to the Emperor.
(live: 2s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved the first of three death endings.*
(if: $current_location is "industrial")[[[Redo.->pawsteps]]](if: $current_location is "residential")[[[Redo.->mechanical cat]]]
[[Restart.->Beginning]](stop:)]]They say a swan will sing a most lovely song moments before its death. You are a nightingale, but that only means your song will be all the sweeter. If you must die, you will die beautifully.
The cat flinches, taken aback by the sudden onset of your voice. But what does a cat know of beauty? All he thinks of is his [[next meal->Death by Eating]].You shut your eyes tight and sing the song you learned not long ago. You sing powerfully, desperately, until you think your voice might give out before your heart does. Any moment now, the cat will close his jaws around your head and silence you forever. Any (link-reveal: "moment.")[
But the moment does not come. When you venture a glance upwards, you see [[tears]] forming in the corners of the cat's eyes.]"Ah," the cat murmurs, blinking rapidly. "I suppose only the true nightingale could make me weep again this way, long after I hardened my heart."
[[True? Again?]]
[[Reason with him for your release.]]"How do you mean?" you ask. "You speak as if you have wept from another nightingale's song before. Yet I am the only nightingale, aside from the false idol in the Emperor's palace. I find it difficult to imagine that a lowly cat like you has had the *honor*"—you spit the word—"of hearing it before."
The cat scoffs. "I have not heard the Imperial Nightingale itself, but of course I have heard the others. If I only had an appetite for song, they would whet it well enough."
"[[There are others?->Other nightingales?]]""I am the nightingale, as you say, and I have brought you to tears. How could you intend to make a meal of me still? Release me so that I may sing for longer yet."
The cat scoffs. "You surprised me, that's all. Now that I know what weakness you drew from my heart, I will bind it all the tighter so it may not escape again. Besides, if I only had an appetite for song, the other nightingales would whet it well enough."
"[[Other nightingales?]]""What," the cat says, amused. "You have seen inside the watermills before, have you not? I may have been hunting you for days, but I know you have lived in this part of the city for years. Even a cat has sharper eyes than any man."
"The watermills," you say, finding inside you a resentment that has gone unspoken for (link-reveal: "far too long,")[ "are an affront to nature. They obstruct the course of the river, raise a terrible uproar, make enough steam to choke the sky of blue. I would sooner step through the [[gates of death]] than into a watermill."]The inside of a watermill is even more deafening than you feared it would be. While the river churns the water wheels outside, the gears slotted to the wheels grind against each other, tripping enormous hammers in the process. They slam onto the [[metal ores]] placed on the counters below, shattering them into a hundred tiny pieces. Mill workers scramble to collect the pieces and arrange new ores on the counters before the hammers come swinging down once more.
The cat slips beneath the commotion, still carrying [[you->Not See]] in his jaws. He settles in a corner, unbothered by your attempts to free yourself.Hear what? The wheels, the gears, the hammers, the ores, the men—their noises converge into a maddening jungle of sound, no rhyme or reason to it. Your ears will never adjust to (link-reveal: "this.")[
And yet, moments later, they do. And then, sailing through the din, you hear—oh, how could you have missed it?
It's [[your song]].]This watermill seems to deal with metals, but even you are aware that there is a watermill for any kind of good nowadays. Rice flour, paper, silk, steam.
[[Look some more.->the closest watermill]](set: $inv to (a: "Your song"))(set: $bird_points to 0)(set: $cat_points to 0)(set: $cat_seen to false)(set: $cat to false)(set: $cat_affection to 0)(set: $conversations to (array: "Convo 1", "Convo 2", "Convo 3"))(set: $length to $conversations's length)(css: "font-size: 150%;")[A World Which Has No Need for Us]
by Erina Lee
[[Begin.->Lobby]]
[[Song Credits.]]"The gates of death do await you," the cat says dryly, "but I will feel badly if I usher you through without showing you a watermill first. You should know the state of the world you are leaving."
Despite your protests, he grasps the back of your neck as he would a kitten and lopes towards [[the closest watermill]]."I see the watermill is every bit as ugly as I imagined," you say, almost shouting to make yourself heard. "What else am I meant to see?"
"Not see," says the cat. "[[Hear.]]"But it isn't yours, not exactly. Your song runs wild and free, made boundless by your own ability. This song maintains a beat steadier than a pulse, for even a pulse is subject to the thrills of the heart. The cat is gripping you such that you cannot turn your head to view its source.
"[[Let me go,]]" you say to the cat, your voice trembling.The cat does, seeing that you have no intention to flee. You can feel his eyes on you as you turn to the furthest end of the watermill.
You know deep down what you are about to see, and yet you are still blindsided by the sight of an [[artificial nightingale]].Paper feathers, metal body, blank eyes. It is not the bejeweled, beloved nightingale that took your place in the Emperor's palace, but it certainly sings like it. Beside it stands a man ready to wind it should its voice waver.
With a start, you realize that all the noise in the watermill is not as mindless as you thought.(click: "all the noise")[
The wheels, the gears, the hammers, the ores, the men—they are turning, breaking, *moving* in tandem with the false nightingale's song. It is as if you are in the midst of a grand orchestra, the conductor at its head, each instrument in its proper place.
Where do [[you and the cat]] stand amidst all this?]"Well?" the cat says from behind you.
(link-replace: "How can this be?")["I know the false nightingale," you say. "It was a gift from the Emperor of Japan, modeled after myself. It is covered in jewels, it sits on a cushion beside the Emperor's bed, and it gives a public concert once a year. It is the only one of its kind.
"Why, then, is there another? Unadorned, yes, and in a watermill no less, but just as vocal as the one that [[replaced me]] in the Emperor's heart."]The cat shakes his head. "For how long have you avoided the truth? The Imperial Nightingale was the first and the loveliest, but it is not so difficult to assemble more once you open its chest and see how its cogs are arranged. There is one in every room of the palace, every house of families in good standing, every public building. And of course in every watermill too, to lift the workers' spirits."
You did not know. You could not have known. Whenever you so much as approach a building, you are chased away. And you have never thought to look inside a watermill before.
(click: "truth")["Are you ready to leave this world now, knowing that it can and will go on very well without you?"
[[I am ready.]]
[[I refuse to go.]]]Despair floods your heart. If the Emperor has his pick of nightingales, why would he want to see you, the one he has deemed a traitor and driven from his empire? He has no need for you. No one will, ever again.
You close your eyes and wait. "Worry not," the cat says, sounding somehow sorrowful. "[[It will not hurt.->Death by Eating]]"(set: $bird_points to $bird_points + 1)You hold your head high, even as your eyes blur over with tears. "There may be a hundred nightingales in this city, but only I have been a friend to the Emperor. Though he may have abandoned me, that alone is not cause for me to abandon him."
(click: "that alone is not cause for me to abandon him.")[The cat sighs. “Your naiveté troubles me. I take no pleasure in meals that fail to accept their place in the order of things.”
So he does know guilt. "[[Then release me.]]"]"Yet I have not eaten for so long. Eating you will grant me another few days of life, if not joy." The cat gives you a searching look. You feel pinned under its weight. "Since you are so pitiful, I will give you one chance."
"And what does that entail?"
(click: "And what does that entail?")["[[Find me food.->Not an Easy Task]] Something other than you."]It will not be an easy task. You cannot travel easily through the city, as you are a traitor in the eyes of the people for leaving the Emperor's side. You doubt a dirty street cat such as him fares much better.
But what choice do you have? The cat needs to eat, and you need to reach the Emperor. Besides, you and him both know that you are in no state to elude him.
(click: "reach the Emperor")["It will be done," you say. "Now let us [[depart]]. I would rather not spend a second more in this wretched place."](set: $inv to $inv + (a: "The artificial nightingale's song"))(set: $cat to true)A certain song continues to ring in your ears long after you [[leave the watermill->Industrial District]].
*You have learned the artificial nightingale's song.*You flinch hard. "Whatever do you mean?" you say, smoothing your ruffled feathers.
"If your wings were well, you would simply travel to the Emperor's palace from above. Instead you are here with me." He gestures to the ground beneath you and him. "I have seen you glide, but never fly. Why is that?"
[[Tell him you were born this way.->Convo 1-2]]
[[Tell him the truth.->Convo 1-3]](set: $bird_points to $bird_points + 1)You draw yourself up. "I have had lame wings all my life."
"Is that so," the cat says, turning away. "You truly are pitiful."
(if: $current_location is "industrial")[Apparently that is [[all he has to say->Industrial District]] on the matter.](if: $current_location is "residential")[Apparently that is [[all he has to say->Residential District]] on the matter.](if: $current_location is "garden")[Apparently that is [[all he has to say->Palace Garden]] on the matter.]You look pointedly away from the cat. "[[When I was the Imperial Nightingale,->Convo 1-5]]" you say, "I could not come and go freely. I was permitted to leave the palace for a flight only twice a day and once a night, and on the condition that I let twelve footmen attend me. Each held tight to a ribbon tied around my leg, so that I might not escape their view."
"Some flight that is," the cat remarks, wrinkling his nose.
"Yes," you agree. "[[Some flight->Convo 1-4]]."(set: $current_location to "garden")You have not been here since the Emperor banished you from the land years ago. It is still every bit as beautiful as you remember, a pure plot of nature in a city of steel and steam.
[[Rare flowers]] in every color imaginable flourish throughout the garden, twining around the trees of [[the forest]]. The trees extend down to the [[ocean]], its stunning blue waters visible in pieces through their branches and leaves. In the near distance, [[the Emperor's palace]] stretches towards the cusp of the sky.
(if: $cat is true)[(if: not ((history:) contains "say your goodbyes"))[(if: $length is 0)[The cat observes his surroundings quietly. You can no longer think of topics to discuss with him.](if: not ($length is 0))[The cat observes his surroundings quietly. You may (set: $index to (random: 1, $length))(set: $conversation to $conversations's ($index))(link-goto: "speak with him", $conversation) if you'd like. In fact, you feel as though this is your last chance to do so.]](else:)[The cat observes his surroundings quietly. It feels good to know that you have someone to come back to after you visit the Emperor.]](if: $cat is false)[There is a flattened patch of grass where the cat once stood. It feels strange, not having him by your side after all the two of you went through together.]
[[Music->Inventory]] trills in the back of your throat, kept unsung by sheer force of will.
(if: not ((history:) contains "say your goodbyes"))[If and only if you are ready to bring this story to a close, you should [[say as much->say your goodbyes]] to the cat.](else:)[You are finally ready to visit the Emperor. ]How it hurts to [[remember->Convo 1-3]]."I never meant to escape the palace forever. It was such an honor to sing to the Emperor. But I yearned so deeply for the sky that one night I stole away, or rather tried to.
"I was [[caught->Convo 1-6]]."(live: 1s)[(transition: "shudder")[*Where are you going, miss nightingale?*](stop:)]
(live: 3s)[(transition: "shudder")[*Ungrateful wretch. You ought to be taught a lesson.*](stop:)]
(live: 5s)[(transition: "shudder")[*Be still. This will only hurt more if you resist.*](stop:)]
(live: 7s)[(transition: "shudder")[*Why do you weep? Your [[wings->Convo 1-7]] only made you selfish. This way you may better devote yourself to the Emperor.*](stop:)]"I was caught," you repeat shakily, "by the [[Lord-in-Waiting->Convo 1-8]]. My wings—he had them pinioned, for attempted treason."
"Under the Emperor's orders?" the cat asks quietly.
"I suspect not, for he greeted me with as much warmth as ever come morning. I hid my lameness from him, affected a sudden disinterest in my daily flights. I was—I suppose I was afraid, to hear what he would say if he knew. If he noticed anything amiss, [[he kept it to himself->Convo 1-9]]."A man so exalted that when anyone of a lower rank dares speak to him, he only says, "[[Pish!->Convo 1-7]]" He never did warm to you, as favored as you were by the Emperor.The cat shakes his head. "And you have forgiven him?"
(click: "him")["The Lord-in-Waiting? Of course not."
"I meant the Emperor."
(click: "the Emperor")[You never thought about it before, but you know the answer already.
[[He should have known. You can never forgive him.->Convo 1-10]]
[[He could not have known. You have forgiven him.->Convo 1-11]]]](set: $cat_points to $cat_points + 1)"He should have known," you whisper. "I was always by his side, so much more so than that Lord-in-Waiting. He should have seen what pain I was in, even when I was unable to give it voice. Yet he only ever wanted music. I love him well, but I can [[never forgive him->Convo 1-12]] for that."(set: $bird_points to $bird_points + 1)"Perhaps he should have noticed," you say, "but even the Emperor cannot know all that goes on under his roof. Besides, I hid it so well. I closed him from my pain. If I had spoken with him truly, openly, everything might have turned out differently. I forgive myself for that, and so [[I forgive him->Convo 1-12]] as well."(set: $cat_affection to $cat_affection + 1)Both of you are silent for a long moment. Then the cat says, rather stiffly, "Thank you."
(click: "Thank you.")[You glance at him, surprised. "What for?"
(click: "What for?")["For telling me. You were not obligated to."
(click: "For telling me.")[A surprising warmth spreads through your chest. (if: $current_location is "industrial")["You are most welcome," you say before deciding to [[speak of other things->Industrial District]].](if: $current_location is "residential")["You are most welcome," you say before deciding to [[speak of other things->Residential District]].](if: $current_location is "garden")["You are most welcome," you say before deciding to [[speak of other things->Palace Garden]].]]]]You say, "When I first sang to the Emperor, I brought the most beautiful tears to his eyes" Your heart warms at the memory. "Those tears are the best reward a singer can have. How could I not love those who love music so?"
The cat is silent for a long moment. (click: "a long moment")[Then he says, "[[You have seen my tears as well.->Convo 2-2]]"]"Ah," you say, thinking back to your first encounter with the cat. He, too, had wept from your song, though you did not think much of it at the time. You were more concerned with keeping your life.
The cat turns suddenly away from you, seeming embarrassed. "Well," (click: "Well,")[he says, "of course the tears of an Emperor are more precious than those of a cat."
[[Agree. When an Emperor weeps, he does not weep alone.->Convo 2-3]]
[[Disagree. A cat can have an Emperor's heart.->Convo 2-4]]](set: $cat_points to $cat_points + 1)"I love his heart better than his crown," you say, "but the crown is blessed also. The Emperor carries an empire upon his shoulders. When he weeps, the people weep also. His tears are all the more precious for the many hearts they come from."
(click: "but the crown is blessed also")["Indeed," says the cat. He appears pleased in a morbid sort of way, as you know he does not bear much love for the Emperor. You feel as though you have proven his own point, though you know not what it may be.
(if: $current_location is "industrial")[Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Industrial District]].](if: $current_location is "residential")[Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Residential District]].](if: $current_location is "garden")[Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Palace Garden]].]](set: $bird_points to $bird_points + 1)(set: $cat_affection to $cat_affection + 1)“I treasured the Emperor’s tears because they indicated a heart well moved by music," you say. "You have such a heart as well, try though you might to deny it. If you were ailing as the Emperor is now, it would not matter how you have hurt me or that you are only a cat. I would journey across this hostile city to comfort you with song, just for a chance to see your tears again."
(click: "it would not matter how you have hurt me or that you are only a cat")[The cat blinks, taken aback. "The Emperor is the Son of Heaven," he says sharply. "To consider my heart similarly divine is nothing but foolishness."
(click: "To consider my heart similarly divine is nothing but foolishness.")[He seems shaken by your words. (if: $current_location is "industrial")[Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Industrial District]].](if: $current_location is "residential")[Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Residential District]].](if: $current_location is "garden")[Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Palace Garden]].]]]A vast bridge arcs like a titan's spine over the canal, intricate metal filigree and gearwork decorating its sides. People wearing hemp or silk tunics and dust masks mill over it, their faces lined with premature grief.
(if: not ($inv contains "A lullaby"))[(if: ((history:) contains "Tell the truth and say you think there may be a song in it.") and not ((history:) contains "Baby"))[A brass-bound chest lies near the mouth of the bridge, seeming to beckon you somehow. You will have to find a way to convince the cat to help you retrieve it.
[[Turn back.->Residential District]]](if: ((history:) contains "Tell the truth and say you think there may be a song in it.") and ((history:) contains "Baby"))[A brass-bound chest lies near the mouth of the bridge, seeming to beckon you somehow. Now that you have a proper reason for it, you may be able to retrieve it with the [[help of the cat]].
[[Turn back.->Residential District]]](if: not ((history:) contains "Tell the truth and say you think there may be a song in it.") and not ((history:) contains "Lie and say you think there may be food in it"))[A brass-bound chest lies near the mouth of the bridge, seeming to beckon you somehow. You might be able to retrieve it with the [[help of the cat]].
[[Turn back.->Residential District]]]](if: $inv contains "A lullaby")[An empty brass-bound chest lies some distance away from its entrance.
[[Turn back.->Residential District]]](if: $cat_affection < 4)[Most of the houses have stiff oil paper windows which are difficult to tear. One house, however, has [[an open space in the wall]] covered only with curtains that could be easily pushed aside. If you want to enter, this is your best chance.
[[Turn back.->Residential District]]](else:)[Most of the houses have stiff oil paper windows which are difficult to tear. One house, however has an open space in the wall covered only with curtains that could be easily pushed aside.
Now that the cat is fed, there is no longer any need for you to enter through it.
[[Turn back.->Residential District]]](if: ((history:) contains "Tell the truth and say you think there may be a song in it."))["Now will you help me retrieve that chest?" you ask the cat. "We may find in it a song that will soothe the baby."
He squints at it, then exhales slowly. "I suppose I must, if it will let us get past that wretched creature. Have you a [[plan]]?"](if: not ((history:) contains "Tell the truth and say you think there may be a song in it."))["Will you help me retrieve that chest?" you ask the cat.
He squints at it. "What for?"
[[Lie and say you think there may be food in it.]]
[[Tell the truth and say you think there may be a song in it.]]]"It seems to be a cargo chest, perhaps left behind by a careless merchant." You have not the faintest clue of how a cargo chest appears, but you doubt the cat knows more on the subject. "There may be food for you in it."
(click: "There may be food for you in it.")["Hm," the cat says, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "I certainly hope so, for both our sakes. Have you a [[plan]]?"]"I think there may be a song in it," you admit. "I thought the same at the river by the watermills, and I was right. It was there I learned the song that persuaded you to release me. For now, that is."
The cat gives you a long-suffering look. (click: "long-suffering look")["I have said this before, and after this I will not say it again. Song will not fill my stomach. Don't bother me with such trifling requests."
Perhaps you should have lied.
[[Return.->canal]]]"I will sing to the people on the bridge," you say. "While I have their attention, you will push the chest somewhere out of sight. We will reunite once the dust has settled."
(click: "once the dust has settled")["Don't give me orders," the cat snaps. "Besides, have you forgotten that you are a traitor? If the people hear you sing, they will be upon you in an instant."
(click: "they will be upon you in an instant")[You shudder at the thought but press on. "I will go from lantern to lantern. I have plenty of practice doing that. If I go quick and remain out of reach, I will outpace them. Besides," you add, side-eyeing the cat, "what are you so worried for? It would be my life on the line, not yours."
(click: "what are you so worried for")[The cat sniffs. "I only worry that there will be nothing left of you for me to eat if you are caught. [[Be off with you]], then.]]]With a running start, several desperate flaps of your wings, and a few close calls in terms of unwanted attention, you manage to hoist yourself onto a gas lantern close to the canal. You turn towards the bridge and take a deep breath.
(click: "take a deep breath")[What will you sing? You should choose something powerful or distinctive.
[[Your song.->Here we go 1]]
[[The song of pleading.->Here we go 2]]
[[The artificial nightingale's song.->Here we go 3]]]You sing as you have so rarely had the chance to these days: without restraint, without caution, and with the feeling that your very heart is bursting from your throat. You sing so unlike an artificial nightingale, which sings only by rote, that you attract the attention of everyone around you immediately.
(click: "attract the attention of everyone around you immediately")[Many dark eyes fall upon you, the dull-feathered, nightingale-shaped creature atop the gas lantern. Then comes a surge of realization: an artificial nightingale cannot sing any song other than its own.
(click: "surge of realization")["There's the traitor!" someone shouts.
You open your wings and [[jump]].]]You sing with such desperation that everyone nearby turns in your direction as if you have uttered a terrible scream.
Many dark eyes fall upon you, the dull-feathered, nightingale-shaped creature atop the gas lantern. Then comes a surge of realization: an artificial nightingale cannot sing any song other than its own.
(click: "surge of realization")["There's the traitor!" someone shouts.
You open your wings and [[jump]].]As you sing, you do your best to keep perfect time as the artificial nightingales do. Despite the temptation to sing freely, as is your preference, you succeed.
(click: "succeed")["Ah," people stop to say, craning their heads up to the gas lantern upon which you sit, "here is a clockwork nightingale. Truly, it sings as beautifully as ever." And then they pass by, humming the tune under their breath.
They are mistaking you as artificial, perhaps due to the accuracy of your song and the thickness of the fog. You should choose a different song.
[[Your song.->Here we go 1]]
[[The song of pleading.->Here we go 2]]]There's no time to think about where you are going. You flit from lantern (click: "lantern")[to lantern(click: "lantern")[ to lantern(click: "lantern")[ to lantern(click: "lantern")[ to lantern(click: "lantern")[ to lantern(click: "lantern")[ to lantern(click: "lantern")[ to [[lantern->Outraced]].]]]]]]]
(live: 7s)[
(go-to: "Death by Mobbing")
]Just when you think you have no strength left in you, you turn to find yourself in a deserted street. Somehow you have lost your pursuers in the maze of houses, or rather lanterns.
(click: "your pursuers")[You allow yourself a moment of relief, but it soon is washed away by sorrow. When you were the Imperial Nightingale, you were beloved by the people, the talk of the town. Now, in their minds and hearts, you are nothing more than the ungrateful bird who abandoned the Emperor after all he had done for you.
(click: "the ungrateful bird who abandoned the Emperor after all he had done for you")[With a heavy heart, you go to [[reunite with the cat]].]]Someone swings a cane at you, knocking you straight to the ground. Just when you thought you might make it, too.
(click: "ground")[Gasping for air, you roll onto your side and look up to see yourself surrounded by people. Not one face you see bears a trace of mercy, or even recognition.
(click: "recognition")["I sang for you before," you say weakly, straggling to your feet. "I sang for all of you."
(click: "all of you")[And then they are upon you.
(live: 2s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved the second of three death endings.*
[[[Redo.->Be off with you]]]
[[Restart.->Beginning]]](stop:)]]]]You find the cat in the cramped space between two unremarkable houses, standing sentry by the brass-bound chest. "There you are," the cat says crossly. "Do you understand how many times heavier this is than me? I had an awful hard time pushing it from the bridge to here, and it won't even open." He flicks his tail towards the rusted latch on the chest.
(click: "the rusted latch on the chest")["Is it locked?" you say, grateful for the distraction. Even if it is in the form of a bad-tempered, bird-hungry cat.
(click: "locked")["Indeed, and likely empty to boot. I did not feel antyhing shift inside as I moved it. This venture was entirely [[a waste of time]].]]You are not so sure of this. There is a song in this chest somewhere, waiting to be released.
(click: "released")["Perhaps I should sing to it," you say.
The cat scoffs. "At some point you will have to learn that you cannot sing all your problems away."
You ignore him.
(click: "ignore")[[[Sing your song.->Nothing Happens]]
[[Sing the song of pleading.->The chest unlocks]]
[[Sing the artificial nightingale's song.->Nothing Happens]]]]You sing quietly as so not to alert the people in the streets. Though your voice is as lovely as ever, it fails to charm the chest into unlocking itself.
"Really, what did you think would happen?" says the cat.
To his increasing annoyance, you continue to ignore him.
(click: "ignore")[[[Sing your song.->Nothing Happens]]
[[Sing the song of pleading.->The chest unlocks]]
[[Sing the artificial nightingale's song.->Nothing Happens]]]You sing quietly but passionately, in the way a hand cups a leaping candle flame. The cat drums his claws against the ground. He opens his mouth to interrupt you but is himself interrupted (click: "interrupted")[by a click.(click: "click")[
"You must be joking," the cat says as the chest creaks open.
And then the chest begins to [[sing->Chest Song]].]](set: $inv to $inv + (a: "A lullaby"))(live: 2s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*Child, my child, how sound you sleep!
Though your mother’s care is deep,
You can lie with heart at rest
In the narrow brass-bound chest;*](stop:)]
(live: 6s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*In the starless night and drear
You can sleep, and never hear
Billows breaking, and the cry
Of the night-wind wandering by;*](stop:)]
(live: 10s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*In soft purple mantle sleeping
With your little face on mine,
Hearing not your mother weeping
And the breaking of the brine.*](stop:)]
(live: 14s)[(transition: "dissolve")[You have learned [[a lullaby->A Lullaby]].(stop:)]]Though your eyes keep drifting shut, you manage to just barely stay awake by committing each individual note of the song to your [[repertoire->Inventory]]. It has a wonderfully soothing cadence, gentle in tone and rhythm, yet despair is etched deep into its words. It brings to mind a mother and her baby thrown overboard in a brass-bound chest, the former quieting the latter's wails with a lullaby as they sink deeper and deeper beneath the waves. All the sorrowful songs come from the sea, it seems.
The cat is fast asleep, his head buried in his muddy paws. You attempt to creep away, but a loud rumble in his stomach jolts him awake.
(click: "a loud rumble in his stomach")["What happened?" he mumbles, the words swelling at the end into a toothy yawn.
(click: "What happened?")[You don't bother to hide your disappointment. "A lullaby came from the chest. You fell asleep."
(click: "You fell asleep.")[The cat stretches, then stands. "I suppose that may be useful to us. Now, [[where were we again?->Residential District]]"]]]The songs in this game were taken by The Yellow Dwarf by Madame d'Aulnoy and The Terrible Head by an unknown author in order of appearance. Both of them are fairy tales as collected by Andrew Lang in his Blue Fairy Book.
[[Return.->Beginning]](if: not ((history:) contains "Baby Introduction"))[You leap onto the windowsill. The cat follows suit a moment later. He parts the curtains with his paws so that both of you may see inside.
(click: "see inside")[You appear to be in a bedchamber. Futons are strewn across coarse wooden platforms beds. A cradle rests in the corner of the room. A [[baby->Baby Introduction]] sleeps within, swaddled in bits of blanket.
A [[sliding door->Baby]] stands on the other side of the room. You can make out the faint hiss of a kettle coming from behind it.]](else:)[You appear to be in a bedchamber. Futons are strewn across coarse wooden platforms beds. A cradle rests in the corner of the room. A [[baby->Baby Introduction]] sleeps within, swaddled in bits of blanket.
A [[sliding door->Baby]] stands on the other side of the room. You can make out the faint hiss of a kettle coming from behind it.]Dark hair, smooth skin. He gurgles in his sleep, tossing back and forth as far as his swaddling will let him.
[[Return.->an open space in the wall]](if: not ($inv contains "A lullaby"))[You and the cat step as quietly to the sliding door as possible. As you pass by the cradle, however, the baby's eyes snap open. Both of you stare openly at each other, stunned.
Then the baby begins to [[wail]].](else:)[You and the cat step as quietly to the sliding door as possible. As you pass by the cradle, however, the baby's eyes snap open.
This time you are prepared.
[[Sing your song.->Wrong Song]]
[[Sing the song of pleading.->Wrong Song]]
[[Sing the artificial nightingale's song.->Wrong Song]]
[[Sing a lullaby.->Right Song]]]You and the cat scramble out the window just in time for a harried woman, likely the baby's mother, to burst into the room. She takes the baby up in her arms and rocks him until he cries himself back to sleep. Then she sets him back in his cradle and disappears deeper into the house.
You will have to find a way to quiet the baby if you want to get past that sliding door.
[[Return.->sprawling wood houses]]You sing quietly and quickly to the baby, but he cries all the louder for your troubles. The cat grabs the scruff of your neck just as he did in the watermill and drags you out the window just in time for a harried woman, likely the baby's mother, to burst into the room. She takes the baby up in her arms and rocks him until he cries himself back to sleep. Then she sets him back in his cradle and disappears deeper into the house.
You will have to find a way to quiet the baby if you want to get past that sliding door.
[[Return.->sprawling wood houses]]You brush your wingtip over the baby's eyelids, singing softly of the ocean and a mother's reassurances. He stares wide-eyed at you for a moment longer, then drifts back into a peaceful slumber.
The sliding door awaits. (click: "sliding door")[The cat nudges it open with his paw, careful not to make the slightest sound.
"[[Go ahead,->sliding door]]" he murmurs. "You have a better chance of going unnoticed than I."]
The houses of the merchants and the scholars are on the other side of the canal, but you have no business there.
[[Return.->Residential District]](if: not ((history:) contains "a few strips of dried squid"))[You find yourself now in a modest kitchen, which is heady with the smell of black tea. The mother is tending to a kettle whistling away on the wood stove, her back turned to you. As the cat predicted, your presence goes unnoticed.
There are not many things a cat would consider good to eat here but perhaps [[a few strips of dried squid]] upon a wooden plate.
The [[cat->Do you have food?]] waits by the sliding door, urging you with his eyes to be quick about your task. You should not return to him empty-taloned.](else:)[You find yourself now in a modest kitchen, which is heady with the smell of black tea. The mother is tending to a kettle whistling away on the wood stove, her back turned to you. Your presence goes unnoticed.
There are not many things a cat would consider good to eat here but perhaps the few strips of dried squid in your talons.
The [[cat->Do you have food?]] waits by the sliding door, urging you with his eyes to be quick about your task. You should not return to him empty-taloned.]You delicately take them up in your talons. You ought to take this [[back->sliding door]] to the cat.(if: not ((history:) contains "a few strips of dried squid"))["Well?" murmurs the cat below his breath.
(click: "Well?")["Nothing yet," you admit.
A growl rumbles low in the back of his throat. "Get to it, or I'll make a meal of you instead."
You turn [[back->sliding door]] with a huff.]](else:)["Well?" murmurs the cat below his breath.
(click: "Well?")[You pass the strips of dried squid over to him. He snaps them up before you can so much as advise him to enjoy his meal outside, his hunger overpowering his good sense.
(click: "good sense")[He finishes the strips and, running his tongue over his teeth, nods at the sliding door. Just as you both make to leave, however, the mother chooses that moment to turn around.
(click: "turn around")[She looks down, locks eyes with you, and screams.
(click: "screams")[At this, another [[cat->mechanical cat]] comes bounding into the room.]]]]]The cat is slender, streamlined, swift. The cat is remarkably light on its paws. The cat has metal plates for skin, gears for joints, wires for whiskers, and a key at the base of its tail.
The cat is artificial.
And it is [[moving towards you]].The artificial cat is closing the distance between you and it rapidly. You have no time to flee, and the living cat—*your* cat—is too much in a state of shock to be of use.
All you have are your songs.
[[Sing your song.->Mechanical Song]]
[[Sing the song of pleading.->Mechanical Song]]
[[Sing the artificial nightingale's song.->Tricking the Mechanical Cat]]
[[Sing a lullaby.->Mechanical Song]]
(live: 7s)[
(go-to: "Death by Eating")
]The song falls upon deaf ears, or rather a metal heart.
(live: 2s)[
(go-to: "Death by Eating")
]You hold your wings rigidly at your sides, doing your best to give an impression of an artificial nightingale as you sing. The mother does not seem the least bit fooled, but the artificial cat slows its gait and then stops in its tracks entirely, cocking its head. It is not very smart after all, it seems.
The living cat seizes you by the back of your neck and runs out the door, out the window, and [[further still]], as if the Devil himself is lapping at his heels.You are far from the house by the time he slows his pace. He ducks into an alley and releases you, panting. He seems upset for some reason.
"Was that—?" you begin to ask.
(click: "Was that—?")[The cat nods before you can finish. "An artificial cat. It has the vermin-hunting ability and purr of any cat, not to mention the friendly disposition which a true cat lacks. These days it is a popular companion."
(click: "These days it is a popular companion.")["So you are familiar with these... contraptions."
(click: "contraptions")[He exhales shakily. "Of course I am. [[It was one of them that drove me from my home.]]"]]]The cat gets to his paws and strides to the mouth of the alleyway. Once you follow him, he juts his chin towards the houses on the other side of the canal.
(click: "the houses on the other side of the canal")["I don't expect you to believe it," he says, almost laughing, "but I was born and raised beneath one of those roofs. I slept well, ate fish and mice, and amused myself watching my masters vie for my attention."
He turns to you. (click: "He turns to you.")["An artificial cat does not sleep or eat, as it need only be winded a few times a day. Nor does it have an aloof demeanor—it surrenders itself willingly to anyone who approaches. It is easily loved."
(click: "It is easily loved.")["You were replaced," you say softly. "Just as I was."
(click: "replaced")["For good reason, no?" the cat says with a strange, despairing sort of smile. "Pitiful nightingale. Have you yet to realize that this is [[a world which has no need for us?]]"]]]]What will you say? What can you say?
[[Even if we are unneeded, what can we do but live on?]]
[[We are not unneeded as long as we need each other.]](set: $cat_points to $cat_points + 3)"Have you accepted that you no longer have a place in this world?" you ask the cat.
"I have," he says.
(click: "I have")["Yet you work so hard to eat, fight so hard to live. It's the same for me—I have seen the false nightingale in the Emperor's bedchamber, in the watermill by the river. I know them both to have replaced me, yet still I refuse to accept my fate in the jaws of a cat. Is it not the nature of living things to struggle against the inevitable? Let us struggle, dear cat, let us live. The world will cleanse itself of us someday, [[but not yet.]]"](set: $bird_points to $bird_points + 3)"I need the Emperor to release me from exile and he needs me to comfort him with song. You need me to find food and I need you to navigate the streets of this city. Do you see? We are needed the most exactly when the world is worst to us, for the world is never cruel to only one. [[You and I were never alone.->but not yet.]]"(set: $cat_affection to 5)The cat closes his eyes, truly considering your words for perhaps the first time since you met. "Perhaps it is so," he murmurs. "Perhaps it is so."
The two of you share a companionable silence. Then the cat says, "I know the quickest way to the palace garden."
(click: "I know the quickest way to the palace garden.")[You brighten. "Do you?"
(click: "Do you?")["Naturally. I know these streets like the stripes upon my pelt." He glances at you. "I suppose I could lead you there, as thanks for the food."
(click: "lead you there")[*When you are ready, [[the palace garden->Residential District]] is open to you. You may also now converse with the cat.*]]]Silver bells are tied around the necks of the prettiest ones.
[[Look some more.->Palace Garden]]You lived here long ago. You ache to return to those carefree days of your youth, which you spent primarily composing your song and singing it from the highest treetops. Passing travelers, scholars, and poets alike declared you the best thing in all the empire, and so you were whisked to the Emperor's palace.
[[But all of that is in the past.->Palace Garden]]It used to be fashioned from only the finest porcelain, but now its walls are embossed with ornate clockwork. The Emperor's [[bedchamber]] is on the highest floor.
[[Look some more.->Palace Garden]]The mother of music.
[[Look some more.->Palace Garden]]"Well," you say to the cat, "here we are."
"Yes," he agrees solemnly. "I suppose this is it."
The two of you stand there looking at each other for some time. Nightingale and cat, prey and predator, friend and friend—these categories are not enough to encompass the bond you and him have forged over metal, tears, and song.
(if: $cat_affection <= 7 and $cat_points > $bird_points)[[[You know what to do now more than ever before.->Part Ways Cat Points]]](if: $cat_affection <= 7 and (($bird_points > $cat_points) or ($bird_points is $cat_points)))[[[You know what to do now more than ever before.->Part Ways Bird Points]]](if: $cat_affection >= 7 and $cat_points > $bird_points)[[[You know what to do now more than ever before.->Elopement]]](if: $cat_affection >= 7 and (($bird_points > $cat_points) or ($bird_points is $cat_points)))[[[You know what to do now more than ever before.->Wait for Me]]]You bow your head. "Thank you for guiding me here. I have missed my home so dearly."
(click: "my home")["The palace?" says the cat, tilting his head. "I thought it was a cage to you."
(click: "The palace?")["I mean the forest where I lived before I came to the palace." You look out to the lovely green wood. "As long as I am discreet, no one will think to look for me so close to the palace. The people will forget about me [[when the new Emperor is appointed]] anyhow."]](set: $cat to false)You bow your head. "Thank you for guiding me here. I might not have reached the Emperor in time otherwise."
(click: "I might not have reached the Emperor in time otherwise.")[The cat flicks an ear, seeming dissatisifed. "I see you have learned nothing during our time together. If you think the Emperor will welcome you back with open arms, you will be sorely disappointed."
(click: "you will be sorely disappointed")["And I see you are as pessimistic as ever," you counter with a challenging clack of your beak. "The bond between one who loves to sing and one who loves to listen runs deeper than you know. An artificial nightingale, which knows nothing of the song it sings so prettily, cannot hope to approach it."
(click: "The bond between one who loves to sing and one who loves to listen runs deeper than you know.")["Go and warble your little heart out, then," the cat says with a resigned sigh, though his eyes soften at the mention of music. "[[Should we meet again]], I expect you to have much improved."]]]"Oh, stay with me!" you say, a sudden heat in your voice. "Dear cat, stay in this green wood with me. I will teach you the ways of the forest, sing you any song you'd like. There is nothing for you in the streets of the city."
(click: "stay in this green wood with me")[Somehow the cat seems to have expected this. "I cannot," he says, a shadow crossing over his face. "It hurts me to be near the palace. It reminds me too much of my former home's comforts."
(click: "It hurts me to be near the palace.")["Then let us go. Nothing holds us to this city, or at least nothing that has not already cut us away.
(click: "or at least nothing that has not already cut us away")[You see him waver. "The Emperor—"
(click: "The Emperor—")["—has cut me too. You know this as well as I." Tears gather in your eyes. "Please, don't leave me here alone. [[What do we have if not each other?]]"]]]]"Do not yet go!" you say with newfound urgency, grasping the cat's front paw with your talons. "The Emperor will not die today, I swear it on my voice. I will visit him and make amends with him. I will ask for myself freedom, and then for you a place within the palace walls. Someplace to eat and sleep at night—yes, for an old friend he would give this much."
(click: "an old friend")["Old friend! What nonsense you speak!" the cat says, drawing back. "Old friends do not banish each other from the land or, for that matter, replace them with artificial imitations."
(click: "Old friends")["But they do forgive past hurts, and find their way back to each other when apart. Believe me, dear cat, the Emperor is good at heart. Have you not seen how the people grieve for him? He has made some poor decisions, but overall he rules justly. I will speak with him, [[and then you will see.]]"]]The cat gives you a surprised look. "You will not visit the Emperor," he says as a statement, not a question. He must hear the melancholy in your voice, or else see it in your eyes.
(click: "You will not visit the Emperor,")["No," you agree, "I will not. I meant to, before, but now I see that it was not the Emperor who needed me—rather, it was I who needed to believe he did, to feel as though I still had a place in his heart.
(click: "to feel as though I still had a place in his heart")["But the order of things changes as constantly as the world spins on its axis, making new life and casting away the old. I who was once the Imperial Nightingale am now a traitor of the Empire, you who once feasted in a house now starves in the streets, and the Emperor who once sat upon a throne now lies upon his deathbed.
(click: "now lies upon his deathbed")["So now I will retire to the forest, you to the streets, and the Emperor to the gates of Heaven. [[And everything will happen as it should.]]"]]]"It is a terrible truth," the cat says softly, "but a truth nonetheless. You had to learn it eventually."
(click: "You had to learn it eventually.")["Now that I have, could you now devour me with a clean conscience?" you say lightly.
(click: "could you now devour me with a clean conscience?")[The cat scoffs. "I'm afraid I no longer have an appetite for nightingales. Be well instead, and let the truth temper but not ruin your happiness. As I recall you saying once to me before, [[your life is not yet over.]]"]]The cat leaves immediately thereafter. You watch him disappear from view. Then you head for the forest by the ocean, imagining its emerald branches to be open arms.
You will have to sing in whispers from now on. After everything, though, you suppose the trees will be good enough listeners for you.
From deep within the palace comes the ringing of the death knells.
(live: 3s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved the first of two normal endings.*
[[Restart.->Beginning]]](stop:)]You and the cat stare each other down, the very same emotions reflected in your eyes: fear, (click: "fear")[doubt, (click: "doubt")[anticipation(click: "anticipation")[. And somewhere among the rest, hardly daring to spread its wings, there is hope.
(click: "hope")["Where will we go?" the cat whispers.
You turn your back to the sea, gazing out beyond the edges of the city, towards the ships sailing across the wide open sea.
(click: "Where will we go?")["Anywhere that is left for us."
(live: 3s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved the second of two normal endings.*
[[Restart.->Beginning]]](stop:)]]]]]]The cat departs for the city streets immediately thereafter. You watch him [[disappear from view->Palace Garden]].The cat falters, but then presses on. "Look here, nightingale. I have a bad temper, I neither hunt well nor please the eye, and I have long forgotten how to amuse humans. There is no place for me in that perfect clockwork palace."
(click: "There is no place for me in that perfect clockwork palace.")["Who is the one speaking nonsense now?" you say sternly, flinging out your wings as if to cast his words away. "You speak as though you do not deserve to live well. Yet the mere act of living, of wanting to live, is reason enough to secure your happiness. Everything the world has to offer is yours, [[do you but accept it]].]The cat sucks in a breath. "Enough already. If it means you will stop your lecturing, I will stay the night. I expect you to have news for me come dawn."
"[[Of course,->Palace Garden]]" you promise, steeling your resolve.(if: not ((history:) contains "say your goodbyes"))[You should put your affairs in order.
[[What are you waiting for?->Palace Garden]]](else:)[The window of the Emperor's bedchamber is a long, long way up. You think you may be able to climb up, but you will have to be quick about it. You do not know what will happen to you if you are caught, but you doubt it will be pleasant.
[[Begin.->Climbing the Palace]]]After climbing the staircase, (click: "staircase")[you hop onto the corner of the raised stone platform(click: "raised stone platform")[ that much the palace stands upon. You clamber onto a wooden trellis.(click: "a wooden trellis")[ From there you leap as far up a pillar (click: "pillar")[ as possible, your talons scrambling for purchase. Somehow you manage to grip it with your wings and hoist yourself onto the edge of a roof beam.(click: "roof beam")[ You think you might fall for a moment, but then you regain your bearings and race over the glazed tiles(click: "glazed tiles")[ of the roof. You come across a windowsill(click: "windowsill")[ with a low enough lintel for you to grab the edge of with your beak. Hooking your talons into the intricate engravings(click: "intricate engravings")[ on the wall, you push yourself up, up, up, and you continue on this way until you reach [[your destination->Arrived]].]]]]]]]]
(live: 10s)[
(go-to: "Caught by the Lord-in-Waiting")
]A hand shoots out of an open window and grabs you by the throat.
"Pish!"(click: "Pish!")[ says [[the Lord-in-Waiting->Lord-in-Waiting Description]], holding you close to his leering face. "And what business does a [[traitor->Caught Part 2]] have under the Emperor's roof?]At last you straggle onto the windowsill of [[the Emperor's bedchamber]], pushing aside the long velvet curtains and heavy gold tassels.Your heart plummets as if weighed down by stones. You open your beak to speak, but the Lord-in-Waiting clamps it shut between his thumb and forefinger.
"Speak not to your betters," he says, glowering. "You may be a nightingale, but you have a serpent's forked tongue. How could you think to ingratiate yourself with the Emperor on his deathbed? Never have I seen a more selfish creature than you."
(click: "Never have I seen a more selfish creature than you.")[Your vision is blurring at the edges, but you can see that he is approaching an artificial nightingale upon a nearby pedestal. He wrestles its chestplate open with one hand, revealing a mesh of interconnected gears and, to your horror, an empty space just wide enough for you to fit inside.
(click: "an empty space just wide enough for you to fit inside")["Perhaps you ought to follow this nightingale's example," the Lord-in-Waiting says as you struggle uselessly in his grip. "You would not be so troublesome with a wind-up key on your back."
(click: "You would not be so troublesome with a wind-up key on your back.")[And with that, [[he shuts you inside the contraption.]]]]]Even when you were the Imperial Nightingale, he never approved of your friendship with the Emperor. In his eyes, you were irreverent for not devoting yourself entirely to the Emperor's service. Who knows what hateful things he said about you when you fled the palace.
[[Return.->Caught by the Lord-in-Waiting]]The darkness here is absolute. With all of the metal digging into your body, you can scarcely twitch a feather, much less break loose.
You scream with what little air you have left, but no one comes to let you out.
All you ever wanted was to be free.
(live: 5s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved the third of three death endings.*
[[[Redo.->bedchamber]]]
[[Restart.->Beginning]]](stop:)]The bedchamber, though lavish, is silent as a coffin. On the far side of the room roosts [[the Imperial Nightingale]], a golden slipper hung around its neck. They say it sits always to the left of the Emperor, so that it may be nearest to his heart.
Perhaps his subjects think him dead already, for no one attends to [[the Emperor->The Emperor]] who lies cold and pale upon his bed. He is dressed warmly in robes of the softest fur and finest silk, yet he shivers as though his blood is ice water.
[[Death]] is crouching on his chest.Fashioned from gold and studded with diamonds, it glitters like a fallen star in the darkness of the bedchamber. It has been made to sing so many times that its gears are worn away, such that it can be winded only once a year. Even then no one seems to tire of its song. There are many artificial nightingales in this city, but none of them are quite like the first.
[[Look some more.->the Emperor's bedchamber]]He has trapped you, banished you, replaced you. Yet he has loved you deeply too, and once he wept to hear you sing. An Emperor's tears have such strange power.
[[Look some more.->the Emperor's bedchamber]]On his head is the Emperor's crown, in his hand is the Emperor's gold sword, and across his chest is the Emperor's silk banner. He is silent to you, yet the Emperor clutches his head as if to block the things Death has to say for his ears alone.
(click: "the things Death has to say for his ears alone")["Sing, my precious nightingale!" he calls. You leap to attention, but the Emperor has his hand outstretched towards the artificial nightingale. "Let there be music, lest I hear—oh, sing, sing! For all the treasures I have laid at your feet, let me have just one song."
(click: "let me have just one song")[Yet the imitation holds its peace, for there is no one to wind it.
(live: 2s)[(transition: "dissolve")[[[Sing your song.->[Sing your song.]]
[[Sing the song of pleading.]]
[[Sing the artificial nightingale's song.]]
[[Sing a lullaby.]]
[[Sing nothing.]](stop:)]]]]It is apt that you should sing about a king begging the ocean for his lost love, for Death is a greater force than all the seas combined. Perhaps it is also foolish, to think that a mere nightingale could sway Death with song. But if Death is almighty, [[music is divine->Even Death listened]].It hurts to see the Emperor call for the artificial nightingale when you are here on the windowsill, but it has clearly brought him joy in the years you were apart from him. If he wishes to hear it sing, so be it. You may not have jeweled feathers or keep perfect time, but you can sing as well as any imitation, [[and better still->Even Death listened]].What could you do in the presence of Death, who comes for everyone in due time? It is all you can do you ensure the Emperor dies in peace, not pain. Knowing you are soon to die is worse than dying itself.
(click: "in peace")[You begin to sing, your voice rising and ebbing in the way waves murmur along the shore on a gentle day. The Emperor turns his head to you, and even Death stops to listen a moment.
(click: "turns his head to you")["Oh, nightingale," the Emperor whispers, his eyes heavy with sleep. He falls unconscious before he could say anything more, the agony on his face slipping away. Soon he is as still as the artificial nightingale perched beside him.
(click: "Soon he is as still as the artificial nightingale perched beside him.")[When at last the Emperor falls still, Death crawls from his chest and approaches the window. A chill grips you as he brushes past, but he doesn't spare you a single glance as he departs. (if: $cat is false)[[[It is not yet your time, it seems.->Green Wood Variation]]](else:)[[[It is not yet your time, it seems.->Elopement Variation]]]]]]You have endured much and come far to sing to the Emperor, so why do you now hold your tongue? Do you find yourself mute in the presence of Death? Do you half-expect the artificial nightingale to come to life? Or is your heart embittered by what the Emperor did to you? Perhaps you have come to this windowsill only to watch him die, and you haven't realized it until now.
(click: "only to watch him die")[The Emperor writhes under Death's weight and words, his face contorted with agony. He calls upon the artificial nightingale to the very end, but both it and you only watch as his eyes dim like twin lanterns snuffed.
(click: "his eyes dim like twin lanterns snuffed")[When at last the Emperor falls still, Death crawls from his chest and approaches the window. A chill grips you as he brushes past, but he doesn't spare you a single glance as he departs. (if: $cat is false)[[[It is not yet your time, it seems.->Green Wood Variation]]](else:)[[[It is not yet your time, it seems.->Elopement Variation]]]]]The Emperor may seek the rote comfort of the artificial nightingale's song, but it was derived from your own. You are not made of metal and gears, and so you will not sing as if you are. [[The best songs are those that excite the spirit and quicken the blood, anyhow.->Even Death listened]]You cannot stand to be alone with the artificial nightingale and the Emperor's body, so you depart soon after Death does. After some consideration, you head for the forest by the ocean, imagining its emerald branches to be open arms. As long as you are discreet, no one will think to look for you so close to the palace. The people will forget about you when the new Emperor takes the throne anyhow.
You will have to sing in whispers from now on. After everything, though, you suppose the trees will be good enough listeners for you.
From deep within the palace comes the ringing of the death knells.
(live: 4s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved a variation on the first of two normal endings.*
[[Redo.->Death]]
[[Restart.->Beginning]]](stop:)]You cannot stand to be alone with the artificial nightingale and the Emperor's body, so you depart soon after Death does. You head for the part of the garden where the cat awaits your news.
(click: "the cat")["Well?" he says as soon as you appear before him.
(click: "Well?")[You are unable to meet his eyes. "The Emperor is dead," you say. It is the truth, if not the whole truth.
(click: "The Emperor is dead")["So it was too late after all," he says, seeming resigned but not surprised. "[[I suppose it's time we part ways, then.]]"]]]"Oh, stay with me!" you say, a sudden heat in your voice. "Dear cat, stay in this green wood with me. I will teach you the ways of the forest, sing you any song you'd like. There is nothing for you in the streets of the city."
(click: "stay in this green wood with me")[Somehow the cat seems to have expected this. "I cannot," he says, a shadow crossing over his face. "It hurts me to be near the palace. It reminds me too much of my former home's comforts."
(click: "It hurts me to be near the palace.")["Then let us go. Nothing holds us to this city, or at least nothing that has not already cut us away." You think involuntarily of the Emperor, tears gathering in your eyes. "Please, don't leave me here alone. [[What do we have if not each other?->Elopement Ending Variation]]"]]You and the cat stare each other down, the very same emotions reflected in your eyes: fear, (click: "fear")[doubt, (click: "doubt")[anticipation(click: "anticipation")[. And somewhere among the rest, hardly daring to spread its wings, there is hope.
(click: "hope")["Where will we go?" the cat whispers.
You turn your back to the sea, gazing out beyond the edges of the city, towards the ships sailing across the wide open sea.
(click: "Where will we go?")["Anywhere that is left for us."
(live: 3s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved a variation on the second of two normal endings.*
[[Redo.->Death]]
[[Restart.->Beginning]]](stop:)]]]]]]You burst into song, driving the dreadful hush from the bedchamber. The Emperor uses what little strength he has to angle his head towards you. The agony on his face becomes shock, and in the dim of his eyes you see the faint light of hope.
(click: "the faint light of hope")[Even death is listening, his hollow eyes fixed upon you. "Go on, little nightingale," he rasps as your song reaches its conclusion.
(click: "Go on, little nightingale,")[The voice of death runs icy fingers up your spine. Somehow you muster the courage to say, "Only if you give back that sword, that banner, and that Emperor's crown."
(click: "Only if you give back that sword, that banner, and that Emperor's crown.")[Death regards you for a bated breath of a moment. Just when you think he may punish you for your insolence, he slowly places these treasures by the Emperor's bed, close to the artificial nightingale.
[[And so you sing on.]]]]]As your singing fills the bedchamber, Death looks beyond you to the garden outside the window, to the rare flowers with silver bells on their stems and the lovely green wood by the sea.
(click: "the garden")["How I long for the churchyard where the white roses grow, and where the grass is always green with the tears of those yet alive," he murmurs with a long-suffering sigh.
(click: "a long-suffering sigh")[A cold grey mist drifts out the window. When you look back to the Emperor, you find that Death has departed from his chest. [[Color is returning to the Emperor's face.]]]]"Nightingale," the Emperor says.
(click: "Nightingale")["Your Majesty," you say, bowing your head.
(click: "Your Majesty,")[He takes a sobbing breath. "I have hurt you terribly, and yet you have come to sing Death from my heart. You must stay with me always, little bird from Heaven, so that I may return your kindness a hundred times over. Everything I have is yours."
(click: "Everything I have is yours.")[You shake your head. "Do you remember when we first met? You were so moved to hear me sing that you wept. Those tears are still reward enough, but all the Emperor's tears in the world could not make me stay in this palace."
(click: "but all the Emperor's tears in the world could not make me stay in this palace")["But why? Is it the artificial nightingale? [[I will break it into a thousand pieces.]] Indeed, I will have every clockwork creature in the empire broken if it means you will stay."]]]]The artificial nightingale has indeed brought you much pain, but it has also brought much joy to so many others. "It did its best. Keep it near you," you say. "(if: $cat is false)[I only ask that you let me come as I will.](if: $cat is true)[I only ask that you extend to me permission to come as I will, as well as to a friend of mine who I owe the timeliness of my visit.] A nightingale should fly far and wide, singing many songs and hearing even more. But I will not forget you when I am free. Rather, our reunions will be all the happier for the time we spend apart, and of course full of song."
(click: "and of course full of song")["It will be done," the Emperor says, solemn with new understanding. "(if: $cat is false)[As you wish, I will publicly revoke your banishment in the morning.](if: $cat is true)[As you wish, I will publicly revoke your banishment in the morning, and grant your friend an audience.] But now I must rest. [[I have had a long day.]]"](if: $cat is false)[In the morning, the Emperor will go to greet his grieving subjects and you will fly to the forest where your song sounds best, and after that perhaps beyond the city or the sea.](if: $cat is true)[In the morning, the Emperor will go to greet his grieving subjects and you will return to where the cat awaits so that you may introduce friends both new and old to each other. Then you will fly to the forest where your song sounds best, and after that perhaps beyond the city or the sea.]
(click: "after that")[Now, though, you are content to perch upon the windowsill with moonlight on your back and sing the Emperor to sleep, knowing that the future is surely good.
(live: 3s)[(transition: "dissolve")[*You have achieved the true ending.*
[[Restart.->Beginning]]](stop:)]]The cat watches you squirm for an uncomfortably time before continuing, "The artificial nightingales are everywhere, so even a street cat such as I knows their song by heart. It has a firm tempo which catches easily to the ear, and its notes are sweet yet simple. I may not be able to sing it well, but I can sing it. Or at least, when I hear it elsewhere, I can follow its melody like a well-traveled path.
(click: "I may not be able to sing it well, but I can sing it.")["It is the same with the people of the empire. They like a good song, and they like it all the better if they can sing it themselves."
(click: "and they like it all the better if they can sing it themselves.")[[[Why is that so important?->[Why is that so important?]]]]"Singing is only half the pleasure of music," you protest. "Listening is the other. Why does it matter that you can sing one song if you will have to hear it day in and day out? I prefer the fresh delights of several songs, or one song which has a new sound to it each time it is sung."
(click: "or one song which has a new sound to it each time it is sung.")["Not everyone likes a surprise in their song," the cat says dryly. "There is familiarity in a song which everyone knows and loves, a sense of shared territory. A song like yours, which is unpredictable and full of difficult notes, is a different matter entirely."
(click: "is a different matter entirely.")["How so? The artificial nightingale's song is derived from my own. They have the same foundation."
(click: "They have the same foundation.")["A watermill and a palace may have the same foundation, but their contents are quite different. Though your song is undeniably beautiful, it can only be sung by you. It is far out of reach. Besides, there are countless artificial nightingales, but only one of you. A person can go a lifetime without hearing a single one of your notes."
(click: "A person can go a lifetime without hearing a single one of your notes.")[The cat tilts his head towards you. "Do you now understand why the artificial nightingales are so well loved?"
[[Concede the cat's point.]]
[[Stick to your beliefs.]]]]]](set: $bird_points to $bird_points + 1)"I do not," you say hotly, "and I likely never will. There is no life without risk, and there is no good music without life. To seek such solace in the same tired tune is cowardice, not love of singing."
(click: "To seek such solace in the same tired tune is cowardice, not love of singing.")[The cat sighs. "Then let us agree to disagree," he says, turning away.
(click: "Then let us agree to disagree,")[(if: $current_location is "residential")[[[And that is the end of the conversation.->Residential District]]](if: $current_location is "garden")[[[And that is the end of the conversation.->Palace Garden]]]]](set: $cat_affection to $cat_affection + 1)(set: $cat_points to $cat_points + 1)As a singer, you know well that a song feels better flowing from your beak than into your ears. As a singer of your particular caliber, you know well that though you could sing any song in the world with grace and ease, most are not blessed with your talents.
(click: "most are not blessed with your talents.")["I suppose I do understand," you say. "Music belongs to everyone, not to an exalted few. That's why I hated to be cooped up in the palace, back when I was the Imperial nightingale."
(click: "Music belongs to everyone, not to an exalted few.")[The cat gives you a surprised but not displeased look. "I did not think you would sympathize with an artificial nightingale," he admits. "You have a more open mind than I thought."
(click: "You have a more open mind than I thought.")[(if: $current_location is "residential")[You sniff, somewhat miffed that he thought otherwise before. Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Residential District]].](if: $current_location is "garden")[You sniff, somewhat miffed that he thought otherwise before. Perhaps it is time to [[speak of other matters->Palace Garden]].]]]]