(Back to Start)

‘Flickering Flame’ Stratagem

(17:3:22:7:23:49.0)

There was something different about this nudge.  It was hot; it struck the inside of her sternum like a red iron.  It promptly exploded into a blazing rage the likes of which she had never felt.  She’d been furious with Chagrinn for disrespecting her uncle’s body and pen, she’d hated her employers nearly constantly, but what burned inside her at that moment was animalistic.  She was a lion with a brilliant orange mane, roar and lick of flame identical in sound.  After seeing the seams of Shook and Cain she finally understood what the boundaries of her cage were.  She finally knew her back was against the corner and there was no choice left but to lash out. Continue reading →

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‘Seafoam’ Stratagem

(17:3:22:7:23:49.0)

Bombi boldly walked backward.  Her feet hit water.  The bandits followed for a moment but stopped at the water’s edge.  Perhaps they’re afraid of bathing.  Bombi kept going.  She let the sharp cold of the seawater eat up her ankles.  Further and further she went until it seeped into the bottom of her clothes.  She was up to her knees.  Chagrinn gave her no clue as to how she could encourage the blade to take shape, so she made her best guess. Continue reading →

(Back to Start)

‘Pen Destroyed’ Stratagem

(17:3:22:7:00:18.5)

Timorrow was the only one who wanted her to have a real life.  This new man, Chagrinn the speed runner, insisted there were no real lives to be had.  Logically, the realest one of all would be the one with the most defiance, the one that cursed the sky as well as the ground, the one that cursed parents as well as children. Continue reading →

(Back to Start)

‘Pen Kept’ Stratagem

(17:3:22:7:00:18.5)

She would need Timorrow’s comfort if she was going to make it in this new, rushed, terrifying world.  The pen bounced against her hip with every step and she tried to cherish it instead of worrying. Continue reading →

(blurb)

A speed run is an attempt to beat a video game as fast as possible, for glory and personal satisfaction.  Speed reading a book has never carried quite the same appeal, but perhaps that can change, with the addition of choice.

Here is a challenge, set in a fantasy world based on the principles of the speed run, where you the reader must guide the protagonist to her destiny, and perhaps a world record time.  At crucial points you will have to make her decisions, and you should do so quickly, lest she careen into the void while waiting for you!

Through the Bottom of the World:

A Choose-your-own Speed Run

By

Blaine Arcade

Instructions

Even if you are familiar with speed runs, the subtitle of this piece of interactive fiction will likely confuse you some.  For those of you who aren’t familiar, a speed run is an attempt to complete the story campaign of a video game, or some subset of goals within a video game, in the shortest amount of time possible for a human player who is not using any machine or program to interfere with the game’s function. Continue reading →