"Only, she's been kidnapped. I just got the note. You know Professor Watt?"
You nod again. Of course. The famous rival inventor.
"He's sabotaged the castle, imprisoned her, and is demanding I pay a ransom of all her secret inventions."
"That's terrible!" you say.
A sad burbling emanates from the building's foundation. You could swear you smell pickles.
[["I hope you're able to figure it out! Good luck!" you say.]]
[["Can I help?" you ask.->A]]
"Oh, umm... thanks..." she says, looking worried. "Could you help?"
[["Of course! What can I do?"->A]]
[["I'm sorry, I don't think I can help."]]
"Oh, thank you so much! Yes, that would be great! Come in!"
She tugs her hat again and darts back into the castle, motioning for you to follow.
"I'm Charge, by the way."
[["Nice to meet you!" you say.]]She winces as the castle gives a huge grinding lurch.
You'd better let her get back to dealing with all that. She looks very smart and competent, though, and you're sure she'll figure it out.Your text here will wrap around the image placed to the left.</p>
You continue on your way, off to seek adventure. Over the years, you visit many lands and meet many amazing people. Sometimes you get news from your old home. You hear that Professor Watt took over, building huge factories to create his machines. There are rumors of people still fighting against him, but so far they are only rumors...
The End.
Would you like to restart?
[[Restart->You Encounter a Castle!]]"We need to get the castle working again. The main power circuits are broken and the security system is--" A rumble followed by a giant crash cuts her off and she chews her lip.
[["Okay, great... Sorry... Are those... cats?" you ask.->Okay, great... Sorry... Are those... cats?]]
[[Pet one of the glowing animals approaching you.]]"Very true!" Charge says, smiling. "I'm glad you know about atoms. You can help me fix the castle! Professor Watt destroyed a bunch of the circuitry. Do you know much about charge, too?"
"I know you are the sorceress' apprentice," you say.
"Very true! But I meant like charged particles. Positive, negative, neutral. That kind of thing."
[[Oh, yes! Opposites attract. Like charges repel.]]
[[Charged particles?]]
"Ah! Exciting! I love talking about atoms," Charge exclaims.
The castle floor lurches beneath your feet, and you hope she explains quickly.
"Everything is made of atoms! And all atoms are made of three ingredients: protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons are big and clumped together in the middle. The electrons are even tinier and floating around outside."
You nod along. You think you've heard of something like that before.
"Protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged," she says. "All you really need to know is that like charges repel." She holds her cation out towards another cation. As she moves closer, the other cation slides away on the floor, hissing, as if she were pushing on it directly.
"Try it," she suggests.
[[Pick up two cations and try to bring them close together.]]
[[Pick up a cation and run into the crowd of cations.]]
"These are the cations!" Charge says, picking one up and cuddling it. It stares at you without blinking.
[[What's a cation?]]
[["Ah, yes, of course. Positively charged ions. But... those are tiny. Molecule-sized. How are these... also cats?"->Ah yes, cations]]
You reach down and pet one of the... cats. It feels like a warm, staticky balloon. Your hair stands on end. It hops into your arms and you pick it up.
As you follow Charge into the room, the other cats move away from you.
[[Move closer to one of the cats.]]Holding your... cat, you move towards another of the cats, but it's like trying to bring two magnets close together. You have to actively push your way forward, and you can feel it pushing the other cats out of the way. They don't seem to mind.
[["What are these?" you ask.->Okay, great... Sorry... Are those... cats?]]"Oh, the sorceress made them. She loves charged particles, so she made some giant ones for pets. This one's called Nat." She scratches its ears affectionately.
It's adorable but also strange! What a strange place this is!
The castle rumbles and a pipe detaches from the wall, sending out clouds of steam. Charge quickly attaches it back.
"Everything in the world is made of tiny little charges, but these are big! And cats! Try picking one up," Charge suggests. "They love to be carried around!"
[[Pick up two cations and try to bring them close together.]]
[[Pick up a cation and run into the crowd of cations.]]"Oh, good question!" Charge says. The cation rubs its forehead against her cheek, and she smiles. "Well, it's a bit of a long story, but everything in the world is made up of these teeny tiny things called atoms. And those atoms are made up of even tinier pieces called charges. Charges can be positive or negative."
"That sounds complicated!" you say.
"Yeah, it is! Anyway, the sorceress loves charged particles, so she made some giant ones for pets. This one's called Nat." She scratches its ears affectionately.
The castle rumbles and a pipe detaches from the wall, sending out clouds of steam. Charge quickly attaches it back.
"What's an ion?" you ask, thinking what a strange place this is.
"An ion is a charged particle. A cation is a positively charged particle. These are giant though! And cats! Kind of. Try picking one up," Charge suggests. "They love to be carried around!"
[[Pick up two cations and try to bring them close together.]]
[[Pick up a cation and run into the crowd of cations.]]You pick up a cation in each hand. They feel like clothes just out of the dryer; their fur clings to your hands, and your hair stands on end, crackling a little.
As you try to bring them together, you have to push harder and harder. The closer they get, the harder you have to push. No matter how hard you push, you can't get them to touch.
You and Charge are both laughing. She grins and scratches her cation behind one glowing ear.
A high-pitched whistling fills the air, and seconds later the castle quakes under an impact.
All the lights except for the cations go out.
[[Uh oh.->Dark]]You pick up a cation and run into the hall. You're like a shark running through a school of fish--the cations dart out of your way.
It's hard work, though; your arms are getting tired, and you can feel the cations pushing back on you. It's like your cation is a magnet and you're using it to push the others out of the way.
You and Charge are both laughing. She grins and scratches her cation behind one glowing ear.
A high-pitched whistling fills the air, and seconds later the castle quakes under an impact.
All the lights except for the cations go out.
[[Uh oh.->Dark]]
"Exactly!" she says. "Wow, you already know a lot about charge! I'm so glad you showed up! You'll definitely be able to help me repair the castle and rescue the sorceress!"
A high-pitched whistling fills the air, and seconds later the castle quakes under an impact.
All the lights except for the cations go out.
[[Uh oh.]]"Protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged," she says. "All you really need to know is that like charges repel." She holds her cation out towards another cation. As she moves closer, the other cation slides away on the floor, hissing, as if she were pushing on it directly.
"Try it," she suggests.
[[Pick up two cations and try to bring them close together.]]
[[Pick up a cation and run into the crowd of cations.]]
Charge runs to a window and looks out. Far below, a swarm of mechanical devices is advancing on the castle.
They have gears that grind like teeth, chewing through the walls, and glowing eyes that shoot lightining bolts, sending clouds of smoke out of the castle's electrical panels. The anxious smell of pickles intensifies.
"I have to get the security system working!" Charge shrieks. "You hold them off until I get back!"
You look at the terrifying army of unstoppable machines.
[["How?" you ask.]]
You feel a warm paw tap on your arm, and look down to see the cations, all wearing little helmets.
"Professor Watt's machines are all charged," Charge says. "If you launch a cation at them, they'll repel them!
You look more closely at the devastating army wreaking havoc below, and this time you notice that some are glowing faintly, like the cations. Others have a bluish tinge, though.
"What about those blue ones?"
"You need anions for those!" Charge shouts, already sprinting off. You just barely catch her last words. "Negative charges!"
Then she's gone. It's just you, hundreds of terrifying mechanical monsters, and thirty or so glowing cats.
Anions?
One of the cats lifts a glowing paw and points towards a door off to one side. The ground rumbles below your feet.
[[Turn the handle and peek inside.->One of the cats points you towards a nearby door. You turn the handle and peek inside. The ground rumbles below your feet.]]
You marvel at the soothing blue spheres. The cations crowd around the door, trying to get in, as if instead of blue spheres they were mice.
The blue spheres begin drifting towards you, drawn by the cations. (They must indeed be negatively charged, like Charge said, repelling from each other but drawn towards the cations.)
Several loud bangs and an explosion behind you interrupt your wondering.
You grab an armful of the glowing blue anions--they feel cool and smooth and so light they might float away. The cations immediately mob you, trying to get at them, but you gently hold them at bay.
[[Run back to the overlook.]]Three of the cations hand you a giant slingshot, and one of them climbs in, giving you a thumbs up.
You scan the crowd of terrifying monsters chewing and mangling their way through the castle.
You eye one close by, glowing with positive charge. How are you going to push it backwards?
[[Launch a cation at it]]
[[Launch an anion at it]]
Success! The cation flies straight and true, making a beeline for the giant device. It slows as it approaches; clearly they are repelled by one another. The monster stumbles backwards, pushed backwards by the cation, and falls off the battlements!
You turn to the next closest attacking machine. This one is negatively charged.
Which do you launch at it?
[[A Cation]]
[[An Anion]]The blue anion flies straight towards the positively charged machine, speeding up as it goes. They are drawn together like opposite ends of a magnet.
The anion sticks to the machine, which stumbles briefly but continues moving forwards, undetterred!
[[Launch a cation at it]]The anion whistles through the air towards the negatively charged device, and before it even collides, the machine is stumbling backwards, its gears gnashing.
The anion crashes into it, bouncing backwards and flying back towards you as the monster is beaten back!
[[You high five one of the cations!->Take that!]]You launch a cation at it, but this machine is negatively charged, so they attract! This time, instead of repelling the monster, the cation attracts it, sticking to it's surface and pulling it forwards!
[[Oh no! Fire a bunch of anions at it!]]You launch a barrage of blue anions at the negatively charged monster, driving it back! It falls off the battlements in defeat!
[[Take that!]]In the midst of your celebration, you suddenly notice a tiny little device, glowing blue with negative charge, running towards the castle. It's trying to get away from the monsters. It looks like one of the sorceress' devices!
The mechanical monsters are right on its heels! You want to help draw it closer faster!
[[Send a cation at it.]]
[[Send an anion at it.]]
You launch a negatively charged anion at it, but the device is also negatively charged! They repel! The little machine stumbles back into the clutches of the monsters!
[[Oh no! Send more cations!->Send a cation at it.]]A cation hops up into your slingshot and, with lightning-fast speed, you fire it at the little negatively charged device.
They speed towards one another, the cation reaching out its paw towards the little device. At the last second, the machine grasps its paw and the cation pulls it away, out of the clutches of the monsters!
[[It's working!]]You keep firing anions and cations into the advancing army, and occasionally rescuing the sorceress' little machines as they flee, but more and more monsters are swarming over the battlements. There are too many!
Suddenly, a pulse of energy goes through the castle, and two enormous metal poles wrapped in wires illuminate, one yellow, one blue.
With a whoosh, the monsters are thrown backwards and out of the castle.
The security system is back on!
Charge comes sprinting around the corner.
"We did it! I got it working, but I don't know how long it will hold! Come on, help me fix the main circuitry!"
[[Follow Charge back to the room with the anions!]][[Leave your village in search of adventure?->B]]After travelling for many days, you come across a strange sight: an enormous castle covered in gears and emitting puffs of steam.
Before you can even knock, the door is thrown open and a young inventor gives you a pained smile. The gears behind her grind, emitting a dense cloud of lemony smoke, and the castle leans unsettlingly to the right.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad someone came along!" she says, tugging her hat and grimacing up at the castle. "I'm the new apprentice to the Sorceress of Circuitry."
[[You nod. It's a very prestigious appointment.->You Encounter a Castle!]]
Charge skids to a stop, tugs her hat, and scratches her chin.
"I just realized that if you're going to help, I have to tell you a secret."
She chews her lip, looking like she's not sure if she should tell you the secret.
[[Try to look trustworthy.->EndDemo]]Charge seems reassured by your trustworthy demeanor.
"So, I'm new here, and the sorceress had only just started teaching me, but the reason Professor Watt kidnapped her is that she'd invented something incredibly useful. It's called electricity," she says in a rush. "You saw how the anions and the cations move towards each other?"
You nod.
Charge throws open the door, and the anions rush out towards the cations. "You see how they move towards each other?"
You nod again, wondering if she thinks there's something wrong with your vision.
"Well," Charge says in a rush. "If I put a bunch of anions at one end of a hall and a bunch of cations at the other, they'll flow towards each other. Like a powerful river. The sorceress calls it current. Technically, only the negative charges usually move. The cations kinda just sit there."
A cation hops into her arms and rubs its face under her chin. Her hair stands on end.
You imagine a flowing river of blue spheres, rushing towards a herd of cations at the far end of a hallway.
You don't want to be rude, but you're not sure what all this means.
[["Huh! Um... how is that helpful?"->"But... how is that helpful?"]]
[[Ask her more about how electricity is made.->"So... to make electricity, you have to get a bunch of cations and anions?"]]
[["What can you do with current?"->"But... how is that helpful?"]]"This is Gerald!" Charge says smiling. "Gerald, this is $name."
[["Nice to meet you," you say politely.->1]]
Charge sprints off.
"Aa!" Gerald shouts, chewing one end of his antennae.
At the back end of the workshop, you see a giant open wall panel with an incredibly complex, partially built circuit. At one side is a glowing... lemon, and at the other is a light bulb. The light bulb is dark. You scratch your chin thoughtfully. The wall panel seems to be missing some pieces. On the table in front of you are six types of long cylinders: copper, iron, aluminum, glass, rubber, and wood.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Try to reassure Gerald.]]
[[Ask Gerald what this is.->Safety Warning]]
[[See if you can get the device working yourself.->Safety Warning]]
"Hey Gerald! Don't worry," you say. "I'm here to help, and we'll figure it out."
Tears well up in his eyes and he sniffs. The castle gives a distant pop and Gerald's tiny shoulders tense up.
[[Try to distract him by asking him about science.]]
[[Compliment him.]]"How do we fix the castle's power system?" you ask.
Gerald points to a large panel on the back wall. "We have to repair the castle's main circuit."
[[Approach the back panel and take a look->Safety Warning]]"Hey Gerald, this idea that Charge mentioned--current--isn't making sense to me. I'm really confused. Can you explain more?"
His antennae light up immediately and his eyes widen as he nods enthusiastically.
"Oh yes, of course. Don't worry, everyone finds it confusing at first. It's a very strange idea." He nods to himself. "The sorceress discovered it."
He's already calmer. You ask him more questions.
[[I don't understand the connection between the cations and the anions and these... electrons that Charge mentioned.]]
[[What is current, anyway?]]"I love your vest," you say.
He looks down at it and rearranges the various buttons and chains. "Oh. Thank you."
"And your matching hat is very dapper."
He smiles and sniffs. "Oh, thank you," he says. "I was going for dapper."
He seems a little calmer, now.
[[Ask him about science.->Try to distract him by asking him about science.]]
[[Ask him what you need to fix.->Ask Gerald how to fix the power system.]]Gerald lets out a sigh and smiles for the first time.
"Yes, it is strange, isn't it? Well, the Sorceress noticed, when she was making inventions, that sometimes objects would sort of... stick together. Like, a balloon rubbed on her head would stick on the wall. Two socks would get stuck together and when she pulled them apart there might be a bit of a spark sound."
"That's because of charge?"
"Yes. The Sorceress discovered that everything around us is made of atoms, and these atoms are made of charged pieces. Protons are really big and they're positively charged. Then, there are these tiny little electrons floating around them that are negatively charged."
Gerald pulls out a pocket watch and polishes it happily before continuing.
"Usually atoms have an equal number of electrons and protons, but sometimes they have more electrons, so they're negatively charged. We call these anions. Sometimes they have more protons and so they're positively charged. We call these cations."
"Huh," you say. This sure is a lot of information.
Gerald seems to be picking up steam. "She used her magic to make these particles much bigger so that she could see them and experiment with them. The positively charged atoms became the cations and the negatively charged particles became the anions."
An excited gleam is in Gerald's eyes now, even though the castle is still shaking.
[[And the cations repel each other but attract the anions?]]
[[But how does that make current? ->What is current, anyway?]]
"Oh, current is the flow of charges," Gerald says. "So, if you saw a bunch of cations running through a hallway, that would be current! Or, a bunch of anions speeding towards a bunch of cations. That's current!"
[[And... how do these cations and anions relate to those protons and electrons that Charge mentioned?->I don't understand the connection between the cations and the anions and these... electrons that Charge mentioned.]]"Exactly!" He rubs his forefeet together excitedly. "Cations, like the tiny little positive charges, repel each other but attract electrons. Electrons and anions repel each other, too."
[[So... how is that useful, though?]]"That's how we get current!" he shrieks and hops into the air. "And current we use to make light bulbs and glowing pickles and laundry machines and radios and switches and... and.."
He runs out of breath and you interject:
[[I see! Current is the flow of charges?]]
[[That does seem incredibly useful and important!]]"Exactly! Only, because the electrons are so much smaller, they're the ones that move. The protons basically stay where they are and the electrons move around them."
It's very strange, but you try to make sense of it.
[["So... this... electricity that the Sorceress invented. It's made of charges--specifically electrons--that flow from one place to another. Because they're pulled by positive charges and pushed by negative charges?"]]
He nods, slightly mollified.
You summarize what makes sense so far, so that he knows you've been listening.
[["So... this... electricity that the Sorceress invented. It's made of charges--specifically electrons--that flow from one place to another. Because they're pulled by positive charges and pushed by negative charges?"]]"That's exactly right. Very good!"
[[So, what do we need to fix? ->Ask Gerald how to fix the power system.]]Gerald shrieks, knocking over a pile of gears and wire, and runs over to you.
"That's what I'm trying to fix," he says. "It's the castle's central circuit."
[["Why is there a lemon?"->"What's the lemon?"]]
[["Why isn't it working?"]]There are four spaces on the map where pieces are clearly missing. They're exactly the right size for the six types of pieces on the table in front of you.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
What do you put in spot 1?
[[Copper->conductory]]
[[Aluminum->conductory]]
[[Iron->conductory]]
[[Rubber->insulatorn]]
[[Glass->insulatorn]]
[[Wood->insulatorn]]
Or, ask Gerald a few more questions:
[["Why is there a lemon?"->"What's the lemon?"]]
[["Why isn't it working?"]]"The lemon is the voltage source. Do you know what voltage is?"
[["Nope!"]]
[["Yes!"]]He points sadly at four missing spaces. "I can't remember what goes here."
[["Don't worry, I'll figure it out!"->See if you can get the device working yourself.]]
[["What's the lemon?"]]"Of course," you say. "Voltage is what creates current. Like before, the anions and cations wanted to flow towards each other. The more voltage, the more energy they'll have to move towards each other."
"Exactly," Gerald says, wringing his hands.
[["But why a lemon?" you ask.]]"Oh," says Gerald, perking up slightly at the chance to talk about some science. "Well, it's the way we get charges to move around. You know how those anions and cations want to flow towards each other?"
You nod. "Yes, I saw that."
"Well, imagine you had a room with a big wall down the middle. On one side you had anions, and on the other you had cations."
"But they can't get to each other?" you ask.
"Nope, because of the wall. But then you open up doors to a hallway that goes around the outside of the room, connecting one half to the other."
"So the anions can flow around through the hall and get to the cations?"
"Exactly!" Gerald even smiles now. "We call that current."
[["I see, but... why a lemon?"->"But why a lemon?" you ask.]]"Oh, because lemons have little charges in them that can move around easily," Gerald says, waving his hand airily. "If you stick a piece of copper in one side and zinc in the other and connect the ends with a wire, the zinc starts to dissolve and you end up with a bunch of cations and electrons that want to flow towards each other."
Gerald tips his hat to you. "The cations travel through the lemon, the electrons travel outside through the wire, and they meet back up at the copper!"
Wow. That sounds... very complicated. You imagine a lemon with a bunch of teeny tiny glowing cats moving through the lemon, and those cool blue spheres moving through the wire from the zinc to the copper.
"So..." you venture uncertainly. "They want to move towards each other?"
"Exactly!"
[["Why do the electrons flow through the wire instead of the lemon?"->"How do we do that?"]]You wisely put a conductor leading from the lemon battery towards the bulb. This will give a great path for those electrons to flow though! Nothings happens yet, of course, because they can't flow without a complete path that will allow the anions to reach the cations.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
What do you put in spot 2?
[[Copper->conductory2]]
[[Aluminum->conductory2]]
[[Iron->conductory2]]
[[Rubber->insulatorn2]]
[[Glass->insulatorn2]]
[[Wood->insulatorn2]]"I tried that one already," Gerald says. "It didn't work. It's an insulator so the charges can't flow through it." He sighs heavily and looks down at the floor.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
Try another piece?
[[Copper->conductory]]
[[Aluminum->conductory]]
[[Iron->conductory]]
[[Rubber->insulatorn]]
[[Glass->insulatorn]]
[[Wood->insulatorn]]The bulb lights up!! Success! You correctly placed conductors to make a path from one side of the lemon battery, to the bulb, and back to the other side of the lemon battery, connecting the anions to the cations and giving the current a clear path!
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
The bulb looks a little dim, though, and you notice spots 3 and 4.
[["What are these other two spots, Gerald?"]]"I tried that one already," Gerald says. "It didn't work. It's an insulator so the charges can't flow through it." He sighs heavily and looks down at the floor.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
Try another piece?
[[Copper->conductory2]]
[[Aluminum->conductory2]]
[[Iron->conductory2]]
[[Rubber->insulatorn2]]
[[Glass->insulatorn2]]
[[Wood->insulatorn2]]Gerald frowns deeply. "When Professor Watt sabotaged the circuit, he made these little connections that are siphoning off current." His eyes well with tears.
You can almost imagine the little anions flowing away through connections 3 and 4. You need to block the current from flowing through there!
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
What do you put in spot 3?
[[Copper->conductorn3]]
[[Aluminum->conductorn3]]
[[Iron->conductorn3]]
[[Rubber->insulatory3]]
[[Glass->insulatory3]]
[[Wood->insulatory3]]Oh no! You put a conductor in the spot and the light bulb goes out! All the power is now being drawn away!
You quickly snatch it back out and the bulb flickers back to life, dimly.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
What do you put in spot 3 now?
[[Copper->conductorn3]]
[[Aluminum->conductorn3]]
[[Iron->conductorn3]]
[[Rubber->insulatory3]]
[[Glass->insulatory3]]
[[Wood->insulatory3]]Yes! The bulb gets a little brighter! You correctly put an insulator in to block the flow of current!
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
One more spot to go! You've blocked one of the places where Professor Watt is siphoning off power, but he's still got some power draining away in spot 4! What do you put in spot 4?
[[Copper->conductorn4]]
[[Aluminum->conductorn4]]
[[Iron->conductorn4]]
[[Rubber->insulatory4]]
[[Glass->insulatory4]]
[[Wood->insulatory4]]Oh no! You put a conductor in the spot and the light bulb goes out! All the power is now being drawn away!
You quickly snatch it back out and the bulb flickers back to life, dimly.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
What do you put in spot 4 now?
[[Copper->conductorn4]]
[[Aluminum->conductorn4]]
[[Iron->conductorn4]]
[[Rubber->insulatory4]]
[[Glass->insulatory4]]
[[Wood->insulatory4]]Correct! The bulb glows so bright it's nearly blinding. Gerald shrieks with joy and wraps his arms around your knees in a giant hug.
"You fixed it!" he says. "The main power circuit is working again!"
Charge bursts into the room, followed by a herd of cations. They all join the group hug, some of the cations bouncing up and down.
"Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" Charge shouts. "The castle is functioning now!"
[["Hooray!"]]"Well, it's easier for you to walk through a hallway than it is for you to tunnel through a wall, right?"
You're a pretty good tunneler, but you don't say that, you just nod.
"Electrons are the same. They can flow more easily through some things than other things!"
You suppose that part makes a sort of sense.
[["What do they flow easily through?"]]
[["What materials are hard for them to flow through?"]]Gerald points to a poster on the wall. "Electrons travel easily through what we call 'conductors'," Gerald says, rubbing his hands together happily. "Metals, mostly. Copper is especially great, but aluminum and iron are good, too. Or gold, or silver..." He starts listing metals off on his fingers.
[["What materials are hard for them to flow through?"]]
[["Hmm... so, how does this help us fix the circuit?"]]
[["I understand! Let's fix this circuit!"]]Gerald points to a poster on the wall. "Lots of materials don't let electrons flow through them easily!" Gerald says. "My personal favorites are rubber, glass, and wood."
[["What do they flow easily through?"]]
[["Hmm... so, how does this help us fix the circuit?"]]
[["I understand! Let's fix this circuit!"]]"So, let's see," you say, just to check your understanding. "I need to put conductors in the places we want current to be able to flow, and I need to put insulators in the places we don't want current to flow?"
"Yes! That's exactly right! That's what I've been trying to do but... I'm so stressed, I just can't think straight."
[["Don't worry! We'll fix it!"->See if you can get the device working yourself.]]Charge nods, clasping her hands and looking down at the ground. Gerald's eyes well with tears.
"Of course, I understand. Thank you for everything you've done."
[[Oh, nevermind, of course I'll help!->"Of course! Let's go get the Sorceress!"]]
[["You're welcome! Good luck with everything!"]]"Thank you so much!" Charge shouts, and the cations cheer. Gerald dabs at his eyes with a handkerchief. "To the airship!"
[["To the airship!"]]You hug everyone goodbye, then make your way out of the castle. What an exciting adventure that was! You hope they are able to rescue the Sorceress.
You continue on your way, travelling far and wide and having many more adventures.
The End.
Would you like to restart? [[Restart->Adventure!]]Charge sprints down the hallway. You and Gerald run after her, followed by a herd of thundering cations.
You burst through a set of doors to see a magnificient airship.
"Let's get this thing working!" shouts Charge. "We need to fix the wiring, and then send power to it. Gerald, can you go start on the power, while $name and I fix the wiring?"
Gerald nods and rushes off.
[["Let's fix this wiring!"]]"Right now the airship is powered by all these lemon batteries," Charge says. We need to run wires from the batteries to the different components. But, if we send too much or too little current, we'll break the components."
[["How do we control how much current goes to the components? Do we need to change the battery?"]]"We could! Another way is to change what wires we use."
"Oh, how so?"
"Well," Charge says, "Imagine a bunch of cations trying to run down a hallway."
[["It's not hard to imagine! That just happened!"]]"True!"
Charge holds up wires of different thicknesses.
"Imagine a much narrower hallway. It would be harder to run down, and fewer cations would fit down it."
"That makes sense."
"It's the same with wires. The thinner the wire, the harder it is for the battery to push current through it. We call this 'resistance'"
[["So... the thinner the wire, the greater the resistance?"]]
[["I'm really not following..."]]"Exactly! Thinner wires have more resistance. So, if we connect a battery to something using thinner wires, there will be less current. Ready to wire up some components?"
[["Let's do it!"]]
[["I'm not sure, can you explain more?"]]"This doesn't make sense, can you explain some things more?" you ask.
"Of course!" Charge says. "What would you like me to explain more?"
[["What's voltage?"]]
[["How do the lemon batteries work?"]]
[["What's current?"]]
[["What's resistance?"]]
[[Actually, this all makes sense now, let's do some wiring!->"Let's do it!"]]"Great!" Charge says. "First, let's wire up the propellor at the back. We need a ton of current. Which wire should we use?"
[[The thinnest wire.]]
[[The thickest wire.]]"Of course! What would you like me to explain more?"
[["What's voltage?"]]
[["How do the lemon batteries work?"]]
[["What's current?"]]
[["What's resistance?"]]
[[Actually, this all makes sense now, let's do some wiring!->"Let's do it!"]]"Voltage is the thing that pushes current! Technically, we say it's the amount of potential energy each charge has. But, really what that means is that we set up a situation where charge wants to flow from one place to another. (Imagine a bunch of cations at one end of a hallway and a bunch of anions at the other end of the hallway. They'd want to flow towards one another."
Charge continues happily. "The more they want to flow towards one another--like, if we have a bunch more of them on each side--the more voltage we have. You might say something like, this is a 2-volt lemon battery. Or, this is a 10-volt lemon battery. The more voltage, the more it will drive current."
[["How do the lemon batteries work?"]]
[["What's current?"]]
[["What's resistance?"]]
[[Actually, this all makes sense now, let's do some wiring!->"Let's do it!"]]"There are lots of ways to make batteries," Charge says. "But one way we do that is with lemons. Or potatoes. Or pickles."
"First, we stick a piece of zinc in one side of the lemon. Then a piece of copper in the other side. If you connect the two pieces of metal with a wire, a chemical reaction happens in the zinc, which breaks it apart."
"The electrons are broken off from the positive charges in the center of the atom. Copper is more attractive to electrons than zinc is, so the electrons from the zinc travel through the wire towards the copper. The positive ions they leave behind travel through the lemon (which we call an electrolyte) towards the part of the copper that's inside the lemon."
"Basically, what you need is two pieces of metal that have different pulls on electrons (different "electronegativities"), and an "electrolyte" for charged particles (ions) to travel through. When you connect the two pieces of metal with a wire, the chemical reaction happens."
[["What's voltage?"]]
[["What's current?"]]
[["What's resistance?"]]
[[Actually, this all makes sense now, let's do some wiring!->"Let's do it!"]]"Current is the flow of charge! If there is more charge flowing through something, we say the current is higher. So, imagine a couple of cations running down a hall, and then imagine hundreds of cations speeding down a hall. The more cations, the more current."
[["What's voltage?"]]
[["How do the lemon batteries work?"]]
[["What's resistance?"]]
[[Actually, this all makes sense now, let's do some wiring!->"Let's do it!"]]"Resistance is how hard it is for current to flow through something. The greater the resistance, the harder it is for charge to flow."
"Insulators have high resistance. Conductors have low resistance."
"Also," Charge continues, "Thinner wires have more resistance."
[["What's voltage?"]]
[["How do the lemon batteries work?"]]
[["What's current?"]]
[[Actually, this all makes sense now, let's do some wiring!->"Let's do it!"]]"The thin wire has more resistance, though. It's harder for the current to flow through, so we won't get as much!"
[["Ah, right, of course. Let's use the thickest wire." ->The thickest wire.]]"Good thinking!" Charge says smiling. "The thickest wire will let the most current through."
"Let's wire up the navigation system. Some of this is new to me. I'd only just started studying with the Sorceress, but I'm sure we can figure things out!"
She pulls out some more wires.
"These wires are all the same thickness, but some are different lengths. Do you think that the length of the wire would affect the resistance?"
[["Probably, because a longer hallway is harder to go through than a shorter hallway. So, I'd guess a longer wire would have higher resistance."]]
[["They're both made of the same thing, so I think the resistance would be the same."]]
"Exactly! I think so too!" Charge exclaims. "The navigation system is very delicate. We only want a little bit of current. Which wire should we use?"
[[The longest]]
[[The shortest]]"Let's try it out!" Charge says. She wires two lemon batteries to two light bulbs. The one connected with the longer wire is much dimmer.
"Hmmm," you say. "Looks like the longer wire has more resistance, and less current."
"Looks like it!" Charge says. "Very interesting!"
[[So, the length of the wire does affect the resistance!->"Probably, because a longer hallway is harder to go through than a shorter hallway. So, I'd guess a longer wire would have higher resistance."]]"Correct!" Charge says. "The longer wire has the most resistance, so it'll have the least current!"
She wires up the navigation system, and it lights up happily.
"Last part!" Charge says. "Let's power up the floatation device! It needs a ton of current. All I have left are these three wires."
She holds up aluminum, copper, and iron.
"Do you think it matters which we use?" she asks nervously.
[["They're all conductors, so it's probably fine!"]]
[["I bet they have different resistances, since they're different types of metal."]]"Hmmm," Charge says. "But if we use the shortest, that will have the least resistance, which will be the most current."
[["Good point, we want less current, so we should use the longer wire!"->The longest]]"Hmm... I wonder!" says Charge. "Let's try it!"
She wires three bulbes to three different batteries. For one she uses copper, for another she uses aluminum, and for the last she uses iron.
The bulb wired with copper is the brightest, followed by the bulb wired with aluminum. The bulb wired with iron is the dimmest.
"It looks like different materials have different resistances!" Charge says.
[["Interesting! Okay, so copper has the least resistance, followed by aluminum. Iron has the most resistance. Good to know!->"I bet they have different resistances, since they're different types of metal."]]"That makes sense!" Charge says. "Okay, so which should we use for the flotation device, since it needs a ton of current? Copper, aluminum, or iron?"
[[Which one has the least resistance?->"They're all conductors, so it's probably fine!"]]
[[Copper]]
[[Aluminum]]
[[Iron]]"Yeah!" says Charge, and wires up the flotation device with copper wire. It gives of a pleasant hum.
"We did it!" she shouts, jumping into the air. "I'll get the coordinates entered into the navigation system. You go downstairs to the power center and help Gerald adjust the power to the ship, and then we'll go get the Sorceress!"
[[Head down an ominous set of stairs.]]You try wiring up the aluminum, but it's not enough power! Aluminum has the second most resistance of the three conductors, and it's stopping the current!
Try a different wire?
[[Iron]]
[[Copper]]You try wiring up the iron, but it's not enough power! Iron has the most resistance of the three conductors, and it's stopping the current!
Try a different wire?
[[Aluminum]]
[[Copper]]You descend a dark, narrow staircase and find yourself in a cavern lit with thousands of glowing lemon batteries. The air smells pleasantly like lemonade.
Gerald waves you over to a complicated set of circuits and lemons.
"When life gives you lemons!" he shouts.
[["Use them to power a fortress?"]]"Precisely!" he shouts with glee. "Now. Let's get this airship powered up so we can go rescue the sorceress. We'll create some power circuits here and then bring them up to the airship once we're done." He points to a little box with a panel of indicator lights and switches on it. "This box will light up green if we've wired the circuits correctly. This will require some very fancy wiring!"
You think of Charge, and how, even if she's not sure how to do something, she'll jump in and experiment, figuring out a way to solve a problem. "I think we can figure it out together," you say.
"Fantastic!" Gerald shouts, emboldened by your confidence. "There are two ways to wire things together. Parallel, or series." He points to some posters on the wall that you hadn't noticed.
[[Examine Parallel Poster]]
[[Examine Series Poster]][[Examine Series Poster]]
[["Ah, I see!"]][[Examine Parallel Poster]]
[["Ah, I see!"]]"So," Gerald says. "We need to decide whether to wire these lemons up in series or in parallel as we power up all the airship's circuits!"
"How powerful are these lemons?"
"Not very powerful on their own, unfortunately," Gerald says. "Each of our lemon batteries supplies 1 volt."
[["Luckily we've got a lot of them!"]]"Indeed!" Gerald says. "First thing's first, let's wire up the lift-off circuits!"
"I'm guessing we'll need a lot of voltage for that?"
"Right again! We need 100 volts!"
[["Let's try 100 lemons in parallel!"]]
[["Let's try 100 lemons in series!"]]You try 100 lemons in parallel, but the result still only reads 1 volt!
"That sure would last a long time, though," Gerald says.
[[Look at series poster again.]]
[[Look at parallel poster again]]
[[Try 100 lemons in series->"Let's try 100 lemons in series!"]]You connect 100 lemons in series-- 100 lemons connected end to end-- and the lift-off mechanism lights up green!
"Lift-off systems are ready!" shouts Gerald.
"Woo-hoo! What's next?"
"Altitude control!" Gerald says. "It doesn't take a lot of voltage, just 1 volt is plenty, but we'll need it to last the whole trip."
[["Would 50 lemons in parallel do it?"]]
[["Would 50 lemons in series do it?"]][[Look at parallel poster again]]
[[Try 100 lemons in parallel.->"Let's try 100 lemons in parallel!"]]
[[Try 100 lemons in series->"Let's try 100 lemons in series!"]][[Look at series poster again.]]
[[Try 100 lemons in parallel.->"Let's try 100 lemons in parallel!"]]
[[Try 100 lemons in series->"Let's try 100 lemons in series!"]]"Great idea!" Gerald says. "50 lemons in parallel will last a long time, and they'll supply a constant 1 volt to the altitude controls!"
[["Awesome! What's next?"]]"50 lemons in series would be 50 volts!" Gerald says worriedly. "I think that would burn up our altitude control systems!"
[[Uh oh, let's try 50 lemons in parallel!->"Would 50 lemons in parallel do it?"]]"The cabin heating system!" Gerald says. "It gets cold at high altitudes!"
"I bet! What do we need for that system?"
"We need 3 volts to drive enough current!"
[["How about 3 lemons in parallel?"]]
[["How about 3 lemons in series?"]]"Not quite enough voltage!" Gerald says. "That'll still only be 1 volt if they're in parallel."
[[Ah, right! Okay, how about 3 lemons in series?->"How about 3 lemons in series?"]]"I like the way you think!" Gerald says. "3 lemons in series should do it!"
He scratches his chin thoughtfully.
"What are you thinking?" you ask.
"Well, we'll want the heating system to last a long time, too... but we need those 3 volts..."
[["Can we put more lemons together in series?"]]
[["Can we wire 3 lemons together in series a bunch of times, and then put them in parallel?"]]
"You're a genius!" Gerald says, amazed. "Yes, if we wire a bunch of groups of 3 together in series, and then put those in parallel, that should do it!"
"We're almost there!" Gerald says. "The last thing is the navigation lights! Each of them has to be connected to the central power system. Just as we can wire up the batteries in series or parallel, we can also wire up lights in series or parallel."
[["If we wire up some bulbs in series, how does that affect them?]]
[["If we wire up some bulbs in parallel, how does that affect them?"]]"Hmmm... well, if we put more lemons together in series, that will increase the voltage, which might overload the heating system..."
"I see, so... we need 3 together in series, but then we somehow need to put more of those together..."
[[Can we wire 3 lemons together in series a bunch of times, and then put those groups in parallel?->"Can we wire 3 lemons together in series a bunch of times, and then put them in parallel?"]]
You quickly grab a lemon battery and some bulbs. You wire the one bulb in series with the battery and it lights up.
You wire two bulbs in series. They both light up, but more dimly.
You wire three bulbs in series, and they're all even dimmer.
[["So, bulbs in series increase the resistance?"]]You quickly grab a lemon battery and some bulbs. You connect one bulb to a battery, then you connect another bulb in parallel.
The first bulb is unaffected! They both have the same brightness.
You wire up another bulb in parallel. Still the same brightness!
"Well, this is fantastic," you say. "Let's just wire them all in parallel!"
Suddenly, the lemon battery emits a little puff of lemony smoke and the bulbs go out.
"Hmmm... we used up that lemon pretty quickly." Gerald says.
[["If we wire up some bulbs in series, how does that affect them?]]
[["I think I know what we should do!"]]"Looks like it!" Gerald says. "Also, watch what happens."
He taps on one of the bulbs with a tiny hammer, breaking it. All the lights go out.
"That could be a problem," you say. "If one of our lights go out, they all go out."
That made sense. You imagine a bunch of cations running down a hallway, through some lightbulbs. If one of the lightbulbs was broken, it would block the hallway and the cations wouldn't be able to get through. There would be no current at all.
So, bulbs in series are vulnerable. If one goes out. They all go out. Also, they would all be dimmer overall.
[["If we wire up some bulbs in parallel, how does that affect them?"]]
[["I think I know what we should do!"]]"Ooo, what?" Gerald asks. "How will we make sure the lights are powered for a long time, and that if one bulb goes out, the others will stay on?
[["Let's wire the bulbs in series, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in series!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in series, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in parallel!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in parallel, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in series!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in parallel, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in parallel!"]]"I love the idea of connecting the bulbs in parallel," Gerald says. "But, if we connect the lemons in series, they'll make the bulbs super bright and then burn out quickly! We need some way to make them last..."
[["Let's wire the bulbs in series, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in series!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in series, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in parallel!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in parallel, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in parallel!"]]"Hmmm but if we wire the bulbs in series, if one of them goes out, they'll all go out!"
"Hmmm good point," you say.
[["Let's wire the bulbs in series, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in parallel!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in parallel, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in series!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in parallel, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in parallel!"]]
"Hmmm but if we wire the bulbs in series, if one of them goes out, they'll all go out!"
"Hmmm good point," you say.
[["Let's wire the bulbs in series, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in series!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in parallel, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in series!"]]
[["Let's wire the bulbs in parallel, but instead of connecting them to one lemon, let's connect them to 10 lemons in parallel!"]]"That's an incredible idea!" Gerald exclaims. "Connecting the bulbs in parallel will make them all brighter, and will make sure that if one goes out, the others stay on!"
He shakes his head in admiration. "Not only that, but connecting the lemons in parallel, too, means that the bulbs will last longer, because they have more lemons to draw from!"
You hear some rumbling and zaps from overhead!
[[Grab the circuits you made and sprint back up the stairs with Gerald right behind you!]]
The motors are running and the airship is ready for liftoff! You and Gerald and the cations clamber in, joining Charge at the controls.
[["Let's go get the Sorceress!"]]You soar through the skies, the airship humming.
Everything is working perfectly! The altitude control is keeping you perfectly level, the nagivation system is working smoothly, and the cabin is the perfect temperature!
Gerald is lost in his plans, making notes and muttering to himself.
You notice Charge is staring out the window. She looks worried. You wonder if she'd like to talk.
[["Don't worry, Charge, I'm sure we'll be able to rescue her."]]
[["What's on your mind?"]]
[[You decide not to interrupt her thoughts.]]
[["Whoa."]]"There's so much to do!" Gerald exclaims, pulling his antennae down around his chin.
"Gerald is a tinker-bug," Charge said. "He loves to fix things, but he gets stressed when too many things aren't working."
The castle shudders, and the lights briefly dim, buzzing, then come back on. Gerald yelps.
"Like now," Charge says. "Don't worry, Gerald! Everything will be fixed soon!"
Charge pats him on the shoulder and he nods gratefully, smoothing his vest with his tiny hands. "I'm all right," he says.
"I'd better go make sure the security system is holding." Charge says. "Can you help Gerald get the main power system back online?"
[["No problem!"]]
[["I'll try..."->"No problem!"]]Professor Watt appears, looming down at you.
[["Aaa!"]]You see a castle!
[[Approach the castle->Adventure!]]"Hello, Charge," Professor Watt says. "I see you've brought some friends. You're too late, though. I have learned all about electricity."
Charge chews her lip. You can see her fists are clenched. She scans the monsters facing you. "He's telling the truth," she says. "Look at the wires."
You see wires running from machine to machine. They're powered by electricity.
"The Sorceress has also shared with me what a poor apprentice you have been," Professor Watt continues.
Charge blushes angrily.
Watt sneers at her. "You were never smart enough to understand her inventions."
[[Interrupt him.]]
"Charge is extremely competent!" you shout.
Charge looks down at her feet. Gerald takes her hand and squeezes it.
"Indeed!" Gerald squeaks.
"He's right, though," Charge says quietly. "It's my fault the Sorceress was kidnapped."
[["Why? What happened?"]]
[["No it's not! It's Professor Watt's fault! He kidnapped her after all!"]]
You look at the wires, as Professor Watt continues.
"You are not smart or strong enough to defeat me," Professor Watt says. "You were never her first choice as apprentice. She's glad to finally be working with someone competent."
There is a single wire running from the castle to one of the monsters. A wire leaves that monster and goes to the next monster. Then the next. Finally, from the last monster, a wire goes back to the castle.
A tear runs down Charge's cheek.
[[Interrupt Professor Watt.->Interrupt him.]]
"I agree!" Gerald shouts. "It's not your fault, Charge!"
"I left the security system off, though!" she says miserably.
"That's okay! We all make mistakes!" you say, patting her on the shoulder.
"What matters is doing our best to fix them, and to do better next time!" Gerald says wisely.
A cation rubs its head against her knee, and she smiles, sniffing and giving a decisive nod.
"You're right. Thank you so much for your help. All of you."
Suddenly the monsters begin to advance on you.
[[Prepare the cations!]]Charge wraps her arms around her stomach and looks at the ground.
"I was supposed to wire up the security system. It was such a big responsibility. I was so excited. But, I got distracted. I... I left it off."
[["We all make mistakes! What matters is you're trying to fix it!"]]
[["You are just an apprentice. It was still the Sorceress' responsibility to make sure it was working!"]]Charge scratches her head, then finally nods. "I... That's a good point."
She looks at you, sniffs, and smiles. "Thanks. I still feel badly, but... you're right. What matters most is doing what I can now."
You smile back. Suddenly the monsters begin to advance on you.
[[Prepare the cations!]]Charge looks at you, sniffs, and smiles. "Thanks. I still feel badly, but... you're right. What matters most is doing what I can now."
You smile back. Suddenly the monsters begin to advance on you.
[[Prepare the cations!]]All those wires... they go from one to the next... starting and ending at the castle... in one single loop...
[["They're in series!"]]
[["They're in parallel!"]]The monsters sprint towards you.
"Charge!!!" you shout, and you and the cations and Gerald, and Charge of course, all run to meet them.
You throw cations at positively charged monsters to drive them back, and anions at negatively charged ones.
Gerald pulls out a screwdriver and starts disassembling their feet, but a giant monster grabs him, hoisting him into the air and baring its pointed gear teeth at him.
Gerald shrieks in terror.
[[Fire a bunch of cations it as quickly as possible!
[[Examine the wires that are powering it.You move faster than you ever have before, firing cations at the monster. It turns its glowing red eyes to you, stumbling as a cation hits the side of its jaw. It drops Gerald and pounds towards you.
[[Uh oh. Run!]]
[[More cations!]]Something about those wires is drawing your attention... Quickly, you scan the configuration.
There is a single wire running from the castle to one of the monsters. A wire leaves that monster and goes to the next monster. Then the next. Finally, from the last monster, a wire goes back to the castle.
[[There's no time to figure this out! Fire a bunch of cations at it!->Fire a bunch of cations it as quickly as possible!]]
[[Elbow Charge. You have an idea.]] You turn and sprint away as fast as you can! The ground shakes as the machine closes in!
At the last second, there is an enormous crash. You spin around to see Gerald standing there with his screwdriver, having managed to trip the monster! It landed hard on the ground, breaking into pieces.
As the monster disintegrates, suddenly all the other monsters fall to the ground as well!
They were all connected in series, so destroying one destroyed them all!
Charge and Gerald and the cations all cheer.
But you can hear that someone else is coming.
[[Quick! To the dungeons!]]You bravely hold your ground! Firing cation after cation at the creature as it closes in on you, smoke pouring from its open mouth.
At the very last second, your final cation blasts it apart!
As the monster disintegrates, suddenly all the other monsters fall to the ground as well!
They were all connected in series, so destroying one destroyed them all!
Charge and Gerald and the cations all cheer. But you can hear that someone else is coming.
[[Quick! To the dungeons!]]
You know they're in series, which means breaking one of them will break them all! You quickly spy the tiniest one and fire a single cation at it.
Every single one of the terrifying devices collapses at once!
Charge and Gerald and the cations all cheer and look at you in admiration.
But you can hear that someone else is coming.
[[Quick! To the dungeons!]]But if they were in parallel, you think, they would each have their own set of wires leading to and from their power source.
[[Oops, right! They must be in series!->"They're in series!"]]Charge and Gerald both look to you as you approach the panel. Overhead, you can hear distant footsteps running towards you.
Gerald appears at your side, holding some lemon batteries, some insulators, and some conductors.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/b3728202-af9c-45d9-b092-f991c31ac5dd/panel.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Examine the panel closely.]]
In the lower left, you see a motor, which is attached to a latch. The latch is held in place by an electrical device (you know because you see the wires flickering with electricity that are powering it.)
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
You remember Gerald's warning to always shut off all power to anything electrical before working on it. You quickly find the safety shutoff and switch the power off. The lock remains firmly locked.
[[Examine those wires that were flickering.->Examine those flickering wires.]]The latch is locked in place with some electrical device. You need to take away its supply of power.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Use the lemon.]]
[[Put conductors in the spaces where the flickering light was.]]
[[Put insulators in the spaces where the flickering light was.]]You attach the lemon to the latch, step back, and then turn the power to the panel back on. The lemon bursts into a ball of flame!
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
"Okay, not that one!" you say. "I guess we need to stop the power somehow, not add more..."
You flip the safety switch back to the off position. Hmmm....
[[Put conductors in the spaces where the flickering light was.]]
[[Put insulators in the spaces where the flickering light was.]]Being extremely careful, and double-checking that everything is off, you put conductors into the spaces where the power was going to the latch. Experimentally, you flip the power back on.
The latch still seems to be getting power. The current is running through the conductors to it.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
Hmmmm.... You flip the power off again while you think.
[[Use the lemon.]]
[[Put insulators in the spaces where the flickering light was.]]Being extremely careful, and double-checking that everything is off, you put insulators into the spaces where the power was going to the latch. Experimentally, you flip the power back on. The latch is now off! The bolt will be able to slide!
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Examine the motor.]]There are wires running to the motor, but the motor appears to be off.
You again turn off all power to the circuit using the safety shutoff.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using one insulator.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using two insulators, one there and one back.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using one conductor.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using two conductors, one there and one back.]]
You flip the power back on carefully, but the motor doesn't seem to be working. You turn the power back off and think. Hmmm...
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using two insulators, one there and one back.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using one conductor.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using two conductors, one there and one back.]]You flip the power back on carefully, but the motor doesn't seem to be working. You turn the power back off and think. Hmmm...
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using one insulator.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using one conductor.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using two conductors, one there and one back.]]You flip the power back on carefully, but the motor doesn't seem to be working. You turn the power back off and think. Hmmm...
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using one insulator.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using two insulators, one there and one back.]]
[[Connect your lemon battery to the motor using two conductors, one there and one back.]]You've done it!! When you turn off the safety switch and repower the circuit, the motor, now running on lemon power, starts to turn! The motor grinds and strains--it's not quite enough current!
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/6fb5c414-f513-4841-83a8-4e176eaf52ea/Untitled+design+%286%29.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[More lemons in series!]]
[[More lemons in parallel!]]
You power down the circuit, wire some more lemons in series, then power the circuit back up again.
The additional lemons provide more voltage, just like you knew they would! The motor roars to life and the bolt slides. The latch is undone and the cell door opens!
At the exact same moment, Professor Watt thunders down the stairs. He is covered head to toe in mechanical devices. Giant mechanical gloves glow with power, and he is seven feet tall now, lifted into the air by mechanical boots.
He raises his arm, pointing some terrifying device at you. There is an ominous revving up sound.
[[Grab Charge and Gerald and pull them out of the way!]]
You power down the circuit, wire some more lemons in parallel, then power the circuit back up again.
It's the same as before! Nothing has changed!
[[Hmmm... oh right, lemons in series make them more powerful!->More lemons in series!]]The Sorceress of Circuitry appears in all her electrical glory!
"Thank you so much for rescuing me!" she says. Then she turns to Charge. "You are an excellent apprentice, Charge."
Charge wipes away a tear, looking down at the ground.
"And you, Gerald, you are the wisest, most careful and safety conscious tinkerbug I could ever ask for!"
Gerald smiles widely, closing his eyes and blushing.
"And you, brave adventurer!" the Sorceress says, turning to you. "You have learned so much in such a short amount of time! Your abilities are truly impressive!"
"Would you like to stay on at my castle with us for a while? Help us fix more things that Professor Watt broke? Maybe invent new electrical masterpieces?"
[["Absolutely!"]]
[["Thank you very much, but I should be on my way now!"]]"Hooray!" exclaims Charge. "Oh my gosh, we will do so much science!!"
"Indeed!" shouts Gerald, hugging your knees. "So much science!"
Together, you, the Sorceress of Circuitry, Charge, Gerald, and the herd of cations head back into the castle together, victorious, ready to build many more circuits together.
The End.
Would you like to restart?
[[Restart!->Adventure!]]"Of course, I completely understand," the Sorceress says. "To thank you, I want to give you these lemons."
She hands you a bag with 157 lemons in it. It is very heavy.
"Oh, why thank you," you say. It's a lot of lemons, but you know what to do with lemons, now!
You turn to Charge. Her eyes fill with tears. "Thank you so much for your help," she says.
"Of course! I'm glad I could help!" you say.
Gerald smiles and hugs your knees.
[[You hug everyone goodbye, and then go on your way, a bag of 157 lemons on your back.]]You head off into the distance, with your many lemons and new knowledge, ready for the next adventure.
The End.
Would you like to restart?
[[Restart!->Adventure!]]
"That's great that you already know about ions! Do you know much about atoms, too?"
[[Atoms are the tiny little building blocks that make up everything.->Atoms]]
[[Atoms are made of protons and neutrons, with much tinier electrons floating around them.->Atoms]]
[[I don't know much about atoms.]]
but Charge answers your question with another question.
"What do you know about atoms?" Charge asks.
[[Atoms are the tiny little building blocks that make up everything.->Atoms]]
[[Atoms are made of protons and neutrons, with much tinier electrons floating around them.->Atoms]]
[[I don't know much about atoms.]]"Surprisingly, it's extremely helpful!" Charge says. "Because everything in the world is made up of teeny tiny charges. We call the negatively charged ones electrons and the positively charged ones protons. All we have to do is get them to move around from place to place."
You look at the walls, imagining them to be built from teeny tiny glowing protons and even tinier blue electrons. Moving them around seems like it might be hard.
"How do you get them to move around?" you ask.
"Usually with lemons. Sometimes potatoes," she says. This really does not clear things up for you.
"Ah. Hm. Yes," you say.
"Once we can move them around, we give them little pathways to travel down," Charge continues. "When they go through certain pathways, they make light. When they go through other pathways, they make heat."
You're not sure you see how all that would work, but you decide to take Charge's word for it, at least for the moment.
"Gerald will explain more," Charge says. "Come on!"
She sprints off down the hall again, and you run after her.
[[Call one last question after her: "So... to make electricity, you have to get a bunch of cations and anions?"->"So... to make electricity, you have to get a bunch of cations and anions?"]]
[[Run after her down the hall.->RunDownHall]]"So... to make electricity, you have to get a bunch of cations and anions?"
"Luckily, no!" Charge says. "Because everthing in the world is made up of charges." She holds out her hand. "Even my hand is made up of teeny tiny charges. We call them electrons and protons."
That's a lot of fancy words, you think. But also, wow! You look at your hand, imagining it filled with teeny tiny glowing cats.
"Gerald will explain more," Charge says. "Come on!"
She sprints off down the hall again, and you run after her.
[[Call one last question after her: "What can you do with current?"->"But... how is that helpful?"]]
[[Run after her down the hall.->RunDownHall]]Charge careens down the hall, bouncing off the walls as she goes.
"One thing to know about current is that you have to give it a place to go! Like a hallway!" She bumps into the wall a few more times. "See? I am like a charge! Running down a hall!"
She skids to a stop in front of an enormous, wrought-iron door.
"Ah, here we are."
She pauses, frowning at an lovely oil painting of an iguana hanging by the door. She lifts it off its hanger and leans it against the wall, with the iquana facing away. "Professor Watt made that," she said.
[["Professor Watt paints?']]
[["Professor Watt was here?"]]
[["He left a painting here when he sabotaged the castle?"]]
"Ah yes, that is the question, isn't it!" Gerald shouts.
You're not sure what to say to this, so you wait for Gerald to continue.
"Well," Gerald says, warming to his topic. "To get this circuit working, we need to connect the lemon to the bulb. The lemon has a bunch of electrons at one end, ready to flow through any path you give them, in order to reach the other side of the lemon, where the cations are."
"And they really can't just go through the lemon?" you ask. It seems like that would be much easier.
"Fortunately for us, no!" Gerald says, smiling. "We can send them the long way around and we can use that flow to power things! Like our whole castle!"
"Hmmm.... okay, so... what you're saying is we need to give the current a path from one end of the lemon battery, to the light bulb, and then back to the other end of the lemon, in order to power the light bulb?"
"Exactly!" Gerald says.
"One more thing, though," you say. "We can only use conductors to connect the battery to the bulb?"
"Yes, correct!" Gerald says. "Because electrons flow best through conductors."
"Hmm." It's a lot, but you could give it a try...
[["Let's see if we can fix it..."->See if you can get the device working yourself.]](set: $name to (prompt: "What's your name? Charge asks.", "brave adventurer"))
"Nice to meet you, $name!" Charge says.
"Why are you called Charge?" you ask.
She laughs. "Oh, the sorceress calls me that because I'm always charging around. Also I'm the sorceress's charge now. Because she's in charge of me. And because current is made of charge. The sorceress likes when a name has multiple meanings."
"Very efficient!" you say.
[[Enter the Castle]]"Ah!" shrieks Gerald. "Wait!"
You jump and knock over a stack of gears. "What is it?" you ask.
"Oh, sorry, sorry," Gerald says, looking down. "Only, you should know, the Sorceress of Circuitry made everything in this castle safe to experiment with, but in the real world, circuits and electricity can be very dangerous."
"That makes sense," you say.
"Never work on circuits without an adult. And all the power must be turned off before you work on anything having to do with electricity."
[["I understand," you say.]]"Wonderful, wonderful," Gerald says. "You can't be too careful."
"But everything in this castle is safe to experiment with?"
"Oh, yes indeed. The Sorceress if very safety-conscious." He nods warmly and his top hat moves with him, affixed solidly to his head.
You turn once again to examine the wall panel.
<img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62f1460bed76261985eccdae/0e152a15-2a42-424a-b5cb-58d17f8a83ef/Spot+One.png?format=1000w" alt="Image description" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" />
[[Ask Gerald what this is.]]
[[See if you can get the device working yourself.]]The castle hums and buzzes around you, like the soft sound of a puppy sleeping.
"Whew, that's a relief," Charge says. "Thank you so much."
Gerald's tiny shoulders relax and he begins organizing a pile of wires.
Charge puts her hands on her hips and surveys the room. "I think we should go rescue the Sorceress."
Gerald yelps and drops the wire.
[["Do you know where she is?"]]
[["How would we do that?"]]
[["What about Professor Watt?"]]"Well, she's in Professor Watt's castle," Charge says. "And I know where that is. Generally."
You admire Charge's bravery, but you wish there was slightly more of a plan.
Luckily, Gerald clears his throat politely.
"If you'd like, I happen to have some rough plans drawn up."
[["You have plans made for breaking into Watt's castle?"]]"I don't know," Charge says. "But I'm sure we can figure it out!"
Gerald clears his throat and wrings his hands. "I don't think we should rush into this. I believe we should create some sort of plan!"
"Well, there's the old airship in the hangar. I bet we could get it working," Charge says. "And I know where his castle is."
[["Let's go get her, then!"->"Of course! Let's go get the Sorceress!"]]
[["Hmmm... Gerald makes a good point. What would we do when we got there?"]]"Oh, I'm sure he'll try to stop us," Charge says. "But, I know we can figure it out."
[["You want to just wing it?"]]
[["I agree! Let's do it!"->"Of course! Let's go get the Sorceress!"]]"I don't know," Charge says. "I know where the castle is, but I've never been there."
Gerald dives into a crate full of old scrolls and papers and returns with a battered piece of paper, holding it aloft. "The plans!"
[["You have plans made for breaking into Watt's castle?"]]Gerald blushes. "Oh, well, you see. I couldn't sleep one night. Professor Watt had been here on a visit, and I found myself worrying about what he might do. So, I dug up the old schematics of his castle and drafted a rough set of plans for infiltrating it, should it ever be required."
Charge looks at him in admiration and hugs him. "Wow, Gerald. That's amazing."
[["What other things do you have plans for?"]]
[["Why do you have schematics for Professor Watt's castle?"]]
[["So, what all does this plan entail?"]]
Gerald rifles through the crate behind him, pulling out papers and examining them.
"Oh, you know, I have plans for if a horde of voracious rabbits devoured all our lemon trees... for if an earthquake caused a sinkhole to open up and swallow the castle..." He pulls out a particularly long scroll. "This one is in case the sun disappears."
Her rifles a few more, muttering things to himself. You catch a few phrases like "flash flood," "fire tornado," "banking crisis..."
"I'm so glad we have you around, Gerald," Charge says. "I would never have thought of any of those things.
He blushes.
[["Well, since we have such great plans, let's go rescue the Sorceress!->"So, what all does this plan entail?"]]"Oh, the Sorceress helped him build it," Charge said. "He used to be her apprentice, too."
[["Not very grateful of him, to go and kidnap her."]]"No," Charge says, scratching the back of her head. "I don't think he liked her much. But, I don't think he liked anything, really."
"Especially not inventing things!" Gerald chimed in.
[["Why was he her apprentice, if he didn't like inventing things?]]"He mentioned once that everyone in his family was a prestigious inventor," Charge said.
"I believe he mentioned that five hundred and thirty-seven times," Gerald corrected her.
"I guess he did say that a few times..." Charge says.
[["That's a lot to live up to."]]
[["Was there anything he liked?"]]"Yes," Charge said. "He was always working very hard, but he mostly copied things that other people made."
"And he was very irritable," Gerald said.
[["Having to do things I don't like makes me irritable, too."]]
[["Just because you're irritable, doesn't mean you can kidnap people!"->"He still shouldn't kidnap people."]]"I think he liked painting," Charge said.
"Oh yes," Gerald said. "He always hand painted his schematics. But he always looked so sad that they were pictures of inventions."
[["Why didn't he become a painter?"]]"Too much to live up to, I guess," Charge said.
[["I can understand that."]]
[["He still shouldn't kidnap people."]]"That's very kind of you," says Charge.
"He still should not have kidnapped her!" says Gerald, two pink spots appearing on his cheeks.
"Definitely not! Speaking of that, should we go rescue her?"
"Indeed!" Gerald says.
[["Awesome! So, what's the plan, Gerald?"->"So, what all does this plan entail?"]]"Definitely not!" Charge said, and Gerald clenched his fists and shook his head.
[["Agreed! So, what's the plan, Gerald?"->"So, what all does this plan entail?"]]"That's kind of you to say," Charge says. "I guess I feel irritable when I have to remember a bunch of little details. Or be on time for things. Or walk slowly."
Gerald nods and pats her shoulder.
"And Gerald, you feel irritable when things are disorganized, or when someone is rushing you to do something without letting you make a plan, first."
"When do you feel irritable, $name?"
(link: "When there are too many loud noises.")[
(set: $choiceNoise to true)
(goto: "d")
]
(link: "When I have too much to do.")[
(set: $choiceBusy to true)
(goto: "d")
]
(link: "When someone isn't listening to me.")[
(set: $choiceIgnored to true)
(goto: "d")
]
(link: "When there are too many badgers in my kitchen.")[
(set: $choiceBadgers to true)
(goto: "d")
]
"That's very understandable," Charge says.
"Oh yes, very, I agree," says Gerald.
"Thank you," you say.
[["So, what does this plan of yours entail, Gerald?"->"So, what all does this plan entail?"]]Gerald unfurls the scroll with a flourish.
"Step one: refurbish the old airship."
Charge nods along. "Yep, yep, yep. With you so far."
"Step two: break in through the secret entrance I installed."
"Gerald! You what?" Charge shrieks.
"I... I just thought it might be necessary..." Gerald says. "I wouldn't have done it with just anyone's castle. But Watt seemed.... I don't know."
"Good instincts!" Charge says.
Gerald blushes further and pulls out the map. "Then we navigate to these cells here, which I believe is where the Sorceress is being kept."
"Amazing," Charge says. "Just amazing."
[["Fantastic! Let's go rescue the sorceress!"->"Of course! Let's go get the Sorceress!"]]Charge shrugs. "I mean, that's how I usually do things. I jump in and try things. Figure things out as I go along."
Gerald looks at her in admiration. "It is generally quite incredible. She learns so quickly that way, and accomplishes so much."
He clears his throat and adjusts his tie. "However, if you'd like, I happen to have some rough plans drawn up."
[["You have plans made for breaking into Watt's castle?"]]She sighs and nods. "Yes. He's a very good painter, actually. I sure wish he'd stuck to that."
Before you can ask her anything else, she opens the door.
[[Follow her into the workshop.]]"Yes. A long time ago. He was the apprentice before me."
You lift your eyebrows. "And he kidnapped her?"
"Yep," she says grimly, and before you can ask her anything else, she opens the door.
[[Follow her into the workshop.]]She laughs grimly. "No, no," she says, waving a hand. "He was the apprentice here before me."
She glares at the painting. "I wish he'd stuck to painting."
Before you can ask her anything else, she opens the door.
[[Follow her into the workshop.]]She sighs heavily, removing her hat and turning it around a few times, not meeting your eyes.
"There's something I haven't told you."
[["Oh, what?"]]
[["That's okay, we just met! There's millions of things I haven't told you either!"]]She looks at you, her eyes unfocused for a moment. Then her expression clears.
"Oh, thank you, yes. I know."
[["Is something bothering you?"]]
[[Leave her to her thoughts.]]
Not wanting to intrude, you spend the ride looking out the window, enjoying the scenery of the mountains and valley and waterfalls passing below. It's an incredible sight.
It's not long before you see a dark tower looming on the horizon.
Gerald looks up, his gaze locked on the tower with a steely intensity.
"Shall we go over the plan?" he asks.
[["Yes!"->Decide Approach]]Gerald unfurls his plan on the floor.
"The secret entrance to the castle is over here on the side," he says, pointing with a long stick. "We'll break in and then follow this route indicated in red."
You see a red dotted line weaving through the castle, down a set of stairs, to a room marked "Dungeon" which has a sad face sketched next to it.
"This all looks good!" Charge says. "Shall we land and go for it?"
[["Let's go for it!"]]
[["What defenses does the castle have?"]]
"Oh, yes, kind of," she says.
[["What's on your mind?"]]You leave her to her thoughts and spend the ride looking out the window, enjoying the scenery of the mountains and valley and waterfalls passing below. It's an incredible sight.
It's not long before you see a dark tower looming on the horizon.
Gerald looks up, his gaze locked on the tower with a steely intensity.
"Shall we go over the plan?" he asks.
[["Yes!"->Decide Approach]]"Well, you see, it's my fault that Professor Watt was able to break in."
"How so?"
"Well, the Sorceress left me in charge--" she pauses, swallowing around a lump in her throat. "And I... I was supposed to turn the security system back on after we ran an experiment. I forgot. He broke in that night."
Her eyes well with tears.
[["It's okay! We all make mistakes!]]
[["But, you were still an apprentice. It was the Sorceress' responsibility to check still."]]She laughs. "Yeah, but, this one's kind of relevant."
She glances at Gerald, who looks at her and nods.
[["What is it?"->"Oh, what?"]]She forces a smile. "Thanks, I know. But I still feel terrible."
Gerald comes over, putting a hand on her shoulder, his antennae glowing a sympathetic blue.
"I should have been more careful, like you, Gerald," she says.
"Even with all my plans, things still go wrong all the time," Gerald says.
[["Everyone makes mistakes. All we can do is try to make amends, which is what you're doing."]]"I suppose that's true," Charge says, cheering up a little. "But, I still feel terrible. I wish I could go back and fix it. But, since I can't, I want to make it better now."
"That makes sense," you say. "And we're going to do that together!"
"Thanks," she says. "Thank you so much for your help."
[["Of course!"->e]]
[["It's been fun!"->e]]
[["What are adventures without friends?"->e]]Charge lifts her chin at this and nods, wiping a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand.
"Thanks," she says. "Thank you so much for your help."
[["Of course!"->e]]
[["It's been fun!"->e]]
[["What are adventures without friends?"->e]]Charge seems to be feeling better. She changes the subject, and together the three of you watch the world roll by below the airship. You see waterfalls and mountains, a group of trolls arguing over some complicated tower, and flocks of glowing, fiery birds swoop past.
The time passes quickly, with the three of you pointing out the sights to each other and marvelling at how big the world is.
It's not long before you see a dark tower looming on the horizon.
Gerald looks up, his gaze locked on the tower with a steely intensity.
"Shall we go over the plan?" he asks.
[["Yes!"->Decide Approach]]You land behind an outcropping of rock near the castle.
Charge grabs her bag, and you grab some tools and a few anions just in case. Gerald carefully folds up his plans, and the cations put on tiny masks.
You sneak around, glancing up at the imposing castle every so often. The windows look like reflective sunglasses, and you wonder if anyone is behind them, watching you.
You find a door covered in ivy. Its hinges are rusted, but you pull it open.
Behind the door is a dark tunnel. You all glance at one another.
[[Enter Watt's castle.]]Gerald tightens his tie. "Well, to my knowledge, Professor Watt's castle doesn't have the same capabilities as the Sorceress' does."
"But what about the machines that attacked our castle today?" Charge asks.
Gerald's face goes pale. "Machines? That attacked the castle?"
Charge bites her lip. "Oh, sorry. Ummm... Yeah. You were in your workshop. But... There were machines attacking the castle."
Gerald's tiny shoulders tense, and he looks down at his plans. "I was not aware... I... Those must be new..."
"But he won't know about the secret entrance, right?" says Charge. "I'm sure it's still a good plan!"
[["I agree. I'm sure it's okay. I think we should still do your plan, Gerald!"]]
[["Is there a way we could get more information?"]]Gerald doesn't say anything for several seconds. He lifts his hat off his head, turns it around three times, then places it back on his head.
"I... the plan is obsolete now... I will have to make a new plan..."
Charge looks at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Gerald. I think your plan is still great, and, whatever happens, we'll be able to figure it out as we go."
[["Yeah, there will always be unexpected things in plans! We'll figure it out!"]]
[["What if I knock on the front door?"]]They both look at you curiously. Your mind races. You think about Gerald's careful plans, and Charge's bold actions. And a wild idea occurs to you.
[["What if I knock on the front door?"]]Gerald's throat bobs as he swallows hard, but he nods. "Yes. Of course. One must... adapt one's plans." He looks a little sick at the thought.
[["Do you want to wait here?"]]
[["Thanks, Gerald. Don't worry, we can do this!"->"Let's go for it!"]]They both turn to stare at you, wide-eyed.
You continue, slightly unsure of what you're suggesting.
"Well, he doesn't know who I am," you say. "I could knock on the front door and pretend...
(set: $electrician to false)
(set: $traveller to false)
(link: "...that I'm a travelling electrical mechanic.")[(set: $electrician to true)(go-to: "pretend")]
(link: "..that I'm a traveller and I stopped to say hello.")[(set: $traveller to true)(go-to: "pretend")]
Charge's eyes light up. "That's genius! You can get him to let you in, and then you can look for defenses!"
Some of the color returns to Gerald's face.
[["Umm... actually, I think this is a bad idea. We should just stick with Gerald's plan."]]
[["Awesome! I'll do it!]]Charge looks down and scuffs a foot. "I wish he didn't know who I was. Talking my way into enemy territory sounds fun."
Gerald goes paler. Charge notices and shakes her head. "Oh, sorry, Gerald. Don't worry, I think your plan will go great, and we'll be very cautious and careful and think things through!"
[["Let's go for it!"]]You land the airship a short distance from the castle and, after hugging Charge and Gerald goodbye, you approach the castle on foot. It looms taller and taller as you approach.
[[Knock on the front door.]]"No no, of course not," Gerald says. "I could never let my friends go into danger without me. Especially with obsolete plans."
[["All right, it's okay if you change your mind! Let's go!"->"Let's go for it!"]]The tunnel is dark. Drips of water echo through the space at irregular intervals.
The cations daintily skirt puddles of water, the glow from their fur sending shadows up the walls.
At last, you come to a door, and open it gingerly to find yourselves in a stone hallway lit by strange glowing green lights.
[["Sorry," you whisper. "Are those... pickles?"]]
[["Which way, Gerald?"]]"Oh yes," Gerald says. "Pickles make excellent light sources."
You think it's kind of creepy, but you don't say that. You remember how when you first entered the Sorceress' castle, you were greeted by the cations. This is much less friendly.
[["Which way, Gerald?"]]Gerald fumbles nervously with the map, turning it this way and that a few times. His antennae glow a hesitant green that matches the pickles.
At last, he points to the left.
You move down the hall, the cations keeping close. All along the walls are detailed oil paintings. One is a big hairy spider with glittering fangs and glowing red eyes. Next to that is a rock sitting beneath a chair. Every painting is either boring or terrifying.
At last you come to a branch in the hall. To the left, a set of stairs leads down into the dark. From the right, you can see a faint light and hear voices echoing.
Gerald points down the stairs and mouths the word 'dungeons.'
Charge angles her head towards the voices, trying to make out what they're saying.
They look back at you to cast the deciding vote. Which way should you go?
[[Point at the stairs down to the dungeons.]]
[[Point down the hall towards the voices.]]You begin to descend the steps, but a rumbling reaches your ears, quiet at first but growing louder and louder.
[[Turn to face whatever is coming.]]
[[Run for the dungeons!]]Gerald's fingers tense on his plans and his antennae go a pale lime color, but he nods.
Charge crouches down and leads the way, looking excited.
You come around a corner and crouch behind a large statue of a plain brass button, peering out into a wide open space.
[[Remain inconspicuous.]]The room is an enormous workshop. Overhead, a huge circular window in the ceiling, like the eye of a giant staring down at you from above, lets in a slanting ray of light. Illuminated in this light is Professor Watt.
He is muttering to himself, standing in front of a large table scattered with components.
A component slips out of his hands and crashes to the floor. He curses, kicks it, then hops around, holding his injured foot a few times before flopping onto an enormous, throne-like chair.
He turns to stare at a painting of a slimy, tentacled deep sea monster. "I'm doing it exactly how she said, Clarence," he mutters. The monster does not move, frozen in the act of chewing up a large ship.
[[Sneak back the way you came.]]
[[Say hello.]]Ever so carefully, you sneak back down the hallway, toward the dungeons.
A faint sound reaches your ears. A rumbling growing louder and louder.
[[Turn to face whatever is coming.]]
[[Run for the dungeons!]]You emerge boldly from behind the button statue. Professor Watt gasps and leaps backwards, slamming his hand down on a large red button.
A warning claxon rings out.
[["I'm sure this is fine."]]A horde of monsterous machines barrels around the corner, just like the ones that attacked the Sorceress' castle.
Now that they are up close, you notice there are wires running between them.
[[Look more closely at the wires.]]
[[There's no time! Ready the cations!]]You run as fast as you can for the dungeons, but before you can even descend the steps a horde of monsters is upon you. They're just like the ones that attacked the Sorceress' castle.
Now that they are up close, you notice the wires running between them.
The machines lunge for you, their joints clicking and emitting clouds of thick smoke.
Despite the fear, your brain registers that there sure are a lot of wires running between them.
[[Look more closely at the wires.]]
[[There's no time! Ready the cations!]]You keep your cool and, even with the army closing in on you, you examine the wires.
There is a single wire running from the wall to one of the monsters. A wire leaves that monster and goes to the next monster. Then the next. Finally, from the last monster, a wire goes back to the castle.
[[Elbow Charge. You have an idea.]]
[[You're not sure what to do, and there's no time to think. You have to fight!->There's no time! Ready the cations!]]The monsters sprint towards you.
"Charge!!!" you shout, and you and the cations and Gerald, and Charge of course, all run to meet them.
You throw cations at positively charged monsters to drive them back, and anions at negatively charged ones.
Gerald pulls out a screwdriver and starts disassembling their feet, but a giant monster grabs him, hoisting him into the air and baring its pointed gear teeth at him.
Gerald shrieks in terror.
[[Fire a bunch of cations it as quickly as possible!]]
[[Examine the wires that are powering it.]]You sprint down the stairs, finding yourselves in a small stone dungeon lit by the same glowing pickles. You wish Professor Watt would vary his design aesthetic.
There is a single, large cell door with an imposing locking system on it.
"I believe we will find the Sorceress behind this door," Gerald says.
"Let's get her out!" Charge says.
[[Examine the locking system.->Approach the panel.]]"Oh, hello!" says a pleasant voice. A kind but slightly dishevelled looking woman steps out of the cell.
The device is revving in the background.
"Ah, Charge! So nice to see you! And, Gerald!"
Ominous vibrations shake the hallway, eminating from Watt.
The Sorceress seems to finally notice him standing there. She frowns, pulls out a small device, clicks a button, and a pulse goes through the hall. Professor Watt's suit immediately powers down and he collapses on the floor with a groan.
"Isn't this cool?" the Sorceress says, holding up the device. "It uses something called magnetism! I invented while I've been here."
[["Are you okay?"]]
[["Yes, that's very cool!"]]"Oh, yes, fine fine," she says smiling. "I've just been working on a few things with Watt here." She frowns at the dungeon as if realizing where she is for the first time. "Thank you for rescuing me, though. I was getting a bit tired of being in there."
You feel like this is a bit of an under-reaction to being kidnapped, but you suppose it's nice that she wasn't too worried about it.
Some muttered cursing emanates from beneath the pile of gears that was Professor Watt's mechanical suit.
[["Should we do something about Professor Watt?"]]She beams at you.
"I don't believe we've met. I'm the Sorceress of Circuitry."
"This is $name," Charge says.
[["Nice to meet you!"]]"Nice to meet you as well!" she says, looking down at her device and adjusting some dials on it, as if she's just had an idea she wants to try out. "Thank you for rescuing me! I was getting a bit tired of being in there."
You feel like this is a bit of an under-reaction to being kidnapped, but you suppose it's nice that she wasn't too worried about it.
Some muttered cursing emanates from beneath the pile of gears that was Professor Watt's mechanical suit.
[["Should we do something about Professor Watt?"]]All three look as Professor Watt crawls from beneath the wreckage, glowering at you, his face like an angry red pickle.
"We should call the police," Gerald says quickly.
"Maybe we should talk to him?" Charge asks. "Maybe he just made a mistake?" She sounds like she's thinking about mistakes she's made in the past. You doubt that Professor Watt feels as badly as Charge does about anything.
"All good possibilities," the Sorceress says. "And you, $name? What do you think we should do?"
[["Let's call the police. He kidnapped you, after all."]]
[["Let's talk to him. We can always call the police later."]]You call the police and they arrive promptly, hauling a grumbling Professor Watt away for a trial.
The world is a little safer now, you think. Gerald looks relieved, and Charge hugs both of you.
It's hard to know the final outcome of all our decisions, and you'll never know what would have happened if you'd made other choices. But something tells you that it's good that Professor Watt was prevented from becoming more and more powerful.
"Thank you so much for your help," Charge says.
"Yes," Gerald agrees, shaking your hand solemnly.
"You have some impressive electrical skills!" the Sorceress says smiling.
You say your goodbyes and head back out into the world, ready for your next adventure.
The End.
Would you like to restart?
[[Restart->You Encounter a Castle!]] You all approach Professor Watt together. He sits amid the wreckage, looking down miserably.
[["Why did you kidnap the Sorceress, Watt?"]]
[["You shouldn't kidnap people. Or attack their castles."]]He puts his head in his hands.
"I couldn't get anything to work right. Everyone else in my family can invent things. My brother invented an engine that can power three whole castles at once and also makes cheese at the same time."
"I'd have been happy to help you," the Sorceress said.
"I know, and I went to ask, but then, I thought that people would find out I asked you. I tried to just figure out how your castle worked, but I ended up accidentally breaking it. Then I realized that I'd broken into your castle and sabotaged it and I... I panicked. I thought people would for sure find out what I'd done. I meant to just bring you here and ask you not to tell anyone. But then I realized I'd kidnapped you."
[["This feels like a lot of lies. We should call the police."->"Let's call the police. He kidnapped you, after all."]]
[["Those are a lot of terrible decisions."]]He looks down. "I know. I'm sorry."
[["Why did you do it?"->"Why did you kidnap the Sorceress, Watt?"]]He slumps. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry. What can I do to make it up to you? I could... fix your castle?" he looks sick at the thought.
[["How about you promise to never work on machines again?"]]Relief dawns on his face.
"Never work on machines?" He looks elated at the thought. "Never wire anything again?"
"Nope."
"That would be wonderful, but what would I do instead? I... I can't do anything worthwhile."
[["You could garden."]]
[["You could paint."]]
[["You could cook."]]"Okay," he says. "Absolutely. I will do that. I promise. I will go be a gardener and never work on a machine again."
[["I don't believe him. Let's call the police."->"Let's call the police. He kidnapped you, after all."]]
[["That sounds like a good plan."]]He looks shocked. "I could never do that."
"But you love painting, right?" Charge says.
"You're a very good painter," Gerald adds.
Tears spring to his eyes. "But... painting isn't worthwhile."
[["Painting is very worthwhile!"]]
[["Forcing yourself to do something you hate just to live up to other people's expectations of you doesn't benefit anyone."]]"Okay," he says. "Absolutely. I will do that. I promise. I will go be a cook and never work on a machine again."
[["I don't believe him. Let's call the police."->"Let's call the police. He kidnapped you, after all."]]
[["That sounds like a good plan."]]You all agree that you won't call the police on Professor Watt, as long as he fulfills his promise never to make machines again. He looks absolutely delighted at this thought.
"Thank you so much," he says. He looks ten years younger. "I promise I'll keep to our agreement, and if there's ever anything I can do to repay you, just say the word."
Professor Watt keeps his promise, and you occasionally go to visit him. He's surprisingly pleasant these days.
As for Charge, Gerald, the cations, and the Sorceress, they return to their castle and happily continue making inventions together. You visit them often as well, in between your many adventures.
The End.
Would you like to restart?
[[Restart!->Adventure!]]"Do you really think so?"
"Oh yes, absolutely," Charge says.
"We love your paintings!" Gerald adds, in a bit of a forced tone.
"Oh, I know I only paint boring or scary things," Watt says. "I just... felt like it would be wrong to paint things I actually wanted to paint."
"Like what?"
"Flowers. And chipmunks," he says. "And cupcakes!" he adds happily.
[["That sounds great!"]]"I... I suppose so," he says.
"Doing what you love can bring a lot of good into the world," the Sorceress says.
"You're a very talented painter," Charge says. "They way you depicted those... terrifying monsters was really something. Very accurate."
"We love your paintings!" Gerald adds, in a bit of a forced tone.
"Oh, I know I only paint boring or scary things," Watt says. "I just... felt like it would be wrong to paint things I actually wanted to paint."
"Like what?"
"Moss. And chipmunks," he says. "And cupcakes!" he adds happily.
[["That sounds great!"]]You all agree that you won't call the police on Professor Watt, as long as he fulfills his promise never to make machines again. He looks absolutely delighted at this thought.
He moves into a tiny cabin in the woods and begins painting detailed portraits of chipmunks and moss, with the occasional elaborate cupcake.
Every year on your birthday you receive a lovely oil painting of yourself holding cupcakes or surrounded by chipmunks or bravely exploring a mossy forest.
Professor Watt keeps his promise, and you occasionally go to visit him. He's surprisingly pleasant these days.
As for Charge, Gerald, the cations, and the Sorceress, they return to their castle and happily continue making inventions together. You visit them often as well, in between your many adventures.
The End.
Would you like to restart?
[[Restart!->Adventure!]]Giant mechanical monsters stream into the room, surrounding you, Charge, and Gerald.
The cations don their battle helmets.
Watt must have learned a lot from the Sorceress already because these machines are connected with wires.
[[Examine the wires more closely.]]
[[There's no time to think! Fight off the machines!]]You keep your cool and, even with the army closing in on you, you examine the wires.
There is a single wire running from the wall to one of the monsters. A wire leaves that monster and goes to the next monster. Then the next. Finally, from the last monster, a wire goes back to the castle.
[[Elbow Charge. You have an idea.->z]]
[[You're not sure what to do, and there's no time to think. You have to fight!->There's no time to think! Fight off the machines!]]The monsters sprint towards you.
"Charge!!!" you shout, and you and the cations and Gerald, and Charge of course, all run to meet them.
You throw cations at positively charged monsters to drive them back, and anions at negatively charged ones.
Gerald pulls out a screwdriver and starts disassembling their feet, but a giant monster grabs him, hoisting him into the air and baring its pointed gear teeth at him.
Gerald shrieks in terror.
[[Fire a bunch of cations it as quickly as possible!->x]]
[[Examine the wires that are powering it.->Examine the wires more closely.]]You move faster than you ever have before, firing cations at the monster. It turns its glowing red eyes to you, stumbling as a cation hits the side of its jaw. It drops Gerald and pounds towards you.
[[Uh oh. Run!->Uh oh. Run!1]]
[[More cations!->More cations!1]]All those wires... they go from one to the next... starting and ending at the castle... in one single loop...
[["They're in series!"->"They're in series!"1]]
[["They're in parallel!"->"They're in parallel!"1]]You know they're in series, which means breaking one of them will break them all! You quickly spy the tiniest one and fire a single cation at it.
Every single one of the terrifying devices collapses at once!
Charge and Gerald and the cations all cheer and look at you in admiration.
Professor Watt stands among the wreckage of his machines, his eyes wide and his hands shaking.
For a brief moment, you all stare at one another.
Professor Watt turns and runs. He slips through a hidden doorway behind a painting, which bangs shut behind him. You try to pry it open, but it's stuck fast.
[[Quick! To the dungeons!]]But if they were in parallel, you think, they would each have their own set of wires leading to and from their power source.
[[Oops, right! They must be in series!->"They're in series!"1]]You turn and sprint away as fast as you can! The ground shakes as the machine closes in!
At the last second, there is an enormous crash. You spin around to see Gerald standing there with his screwdriver, having managed to trip the monster! It landed hard on the ground, breaking into pieces.
As the monster disintegrates, suddenly all the other monsters fall to the ground as well!
They were all connected in series, so destroying one destroyed them all!
Charge and Gerald and the cations all cheer.
Professor Watt stands among the wreckage of his machines, his eyes wide and his hands shaking.
For a brief moment, you all stare at one another.
Professor Watt turns and runs. He slips through a hidden doorway behind a painting, which bangs shut behind him. You try to pry it open, but it's stuck fast.
[[Quick! To the dungeons!]]You bravely hold your ground! Firing cation after cation at the creature as it closes in on you, smoke pouring from its open mouth.
At the very last second, your final cation blasts it apart!
As the monster disintegrates, suddenly all the other monsters fall to the ground as well!
They were all connected in series, so destroying one destroyed them all!
Charge and Gerald and the cations all cheer.
Professor Watt stands among the wreckage of his machines, his eyes wide and his hands shaking.
For a brief moment, you all stare at one another.
Professor Watt turns and runs. He slips through a hidden doorway behind a painting, which bangs shut behind him. You try to pry it open, but it's stuck fast.
[[Quick! To the dungeons!]]
Your knees shake as you strain your ears, listening to the clicks and groans of the castle. You feel like you're being watched, but no one comes to the door.
[[Run back to the airship.]]
[[Knock again.]]You return to the airship.
"It was worth a try," Gerald says.
Charge grabs her bag, and you grab some tools and a few anions just in case. Gerald carefully folds up his plans, and the cations put on tiny masks.
You sneak around, glancing up at the imposing castle every so often. The windows look like reflective sunglasses, and you wonder if anyone is behind them, watching you.
You find a door covered in ivy. Its hinges are rusted, but you pull it open.
Behind the door is a dark tunnel. You all glance at one another.
[[Enter Watt's castle.]]The castle goes completely silent.
[[Run back to the airship.]]
[[Wait.]]
[[Knock again.]]You wait and wait. Eventually, you hear footsteps approaching. The door is thrown open and Professor Watt glowers down at you.
"What?" he demands.
(if: $electrician)[
"Oh, sorry to bother you. I'm a travelling electrician. I couldn't help but notice your amazing castle and wondered if I could come in?"
[[Smile in a professional way.]]
]
(else-if: $traveller)[
"Oh, sorry to bother you. I'm just travelling around and saw your castle and thought it was impressive. Could I come in?"
[[Smile in a friendly way.]]
]
Professor Watt narrows his eyes at you, sending icy chills down your stomach. Slowly, he closes the door again.
[[Knock again.->3]]
[[Well, better go back to the airship.->Run back to the airship.]]Professor Watt opens his mouth, closes it again, then scans the surrounding countryside.
You peer behind him, into the darkness of the castle behind him, looking for anything that might help. Over the corner of his shoulder you see what looks like a pickle lamp illuminating a painting of the inside of a dark cave filled with glowing red eyes. Next to that is a clockwork mechanism with a bell next to it.
"I... I'm sorry, I don't have time for visitors right now," he says.
[[Ask about the bell.]]
[[Ask about the painting.]]
[[Ask about the pickle lamp.]]Despite his clear annoyance, you knock again and again, but no one comes to the door.
[[Back to the airship!->Run back to the airship.]]
[[Keep knocking. Just in case.->3]]His eyes suddenly narrow.
"A rival inventor sent you, didn't they?" he snaps. "Well, I'm not letting any spies in today, thank you."
He slams the door shut.
[[Knock again.->3]]
[[Return to the airship.->Run back to the airship.]]He glances back over his shoulder and examines the painting.
"Oh, yes, thank you. I did that."
[[Compliment him.->painting compliment]]His eyes suddenly narrow.
"A rival inventor sent you, didn't they?" he snaps. "Well, I'm not letting any spies in today, thank you."
He slams the door shut.
[[Knock again.->3]]
[[Return to the airship.->Run back to the airship.]]"You did that?" you say. "Wow, it's amazing! So detailed! I feel like I could be attacked at any moment?"
He blushes and looks at his hands. "Oh, thank you. It's... an old painting."
"You have more?"
He glances over his shoulder again. "Oh, a few, yes."
[["Can I see?"]]"Er, well, I'm very busy, but... I suppose so, yes."
[[Try not to look triumphant as you follow him inside the castle.]]He leads you down a hall hung with painting after painting. There are terrifying monsters, heights, natural disasters, imposing castles, and also a wide variety of suprisingly mundane objects. Rocks. Buttons. A cracked monocle.
You notice that Watt has also been busy building security machines. Some tall, some short, but all are monstrous. It's a good thing you came in, because now you know that Watt's castle is very well defended!
[[Ask to use the bathroom.]]
You think you notice a suspicious eye twitch, but he agrees, pointing you down another hall.
[[What's down this other hallway?]]You sneak down the hallway, opening doors and peeking inside them. Finally, you come to a room labelled "central power station." Your heart is pounding as you open the door to reveal hundreds and hundreds of potatoes, all wired together.
They look just like the lemons in the Sorceress' castle. You suppose potatoes must be able to be made into batteries, too.
[[Examine the potatoes closely.]]They appear to be wired in parallel.
[[Quickly rewire them so they're all in series.]]
[[Quickly disconnect all the wires.]]
[[Try eating one of the potatoes.]]You rewire the potatoes in series. Just as you finish, you hear what sounds like a herd of screwdrivers thundering down the hall towards you.
The door bursts open and Professor Watt shrieks. An army of security robots spills around him, rushing towards you.
You attach the final wire, and power surges through the potatoes. A smell like french fries fills the air, a burst of energy goes through the machines. They crackle and flail and then collapse.
Clouds of potato smoke fill the air as the last of the potato batteries burns out.
"My security system!" Professor Watt shrieks. He grabs you and hauls you down a hallway and a set of stairs. You struggle, but he is much stronger than you. He throws you into a cell and slams the door shut.
[[Well, that went pretty well.]]You run through the room, pulling wires out of potatoes. Immediately, the lights go out, and the castle goes quiet.
Breaking the quiet, Professor Watt bursts in through the door, surveying the damage.
He glares at you. "Well, that's going to be annoying to have to put that back together."
He grabs you by the shoulder, drags you down a hall and a set of stairs, and throws you into a cell, slamming the door shut behind you.
[[Hmmm. That could have gone better.]]That wasn't your best idea, admittedly. It tastes metallic and gross and you spit it out.
[[Quickly rewire them so they're all in series.]]
[[Quickly disconnect all the wires.]]As your eyes adjust to the darkness of the cell, you see you are not alone.
"Hello," says the woman, smiling. "I'm the Sorceress of Circuitry."
"You're who we're here to rescue!" you say.
"Ah, well, thank you very much!" she says.
You're not sure you totally deserve the thanks, but you smile back. "I think I disabled the security system, and Gerald knows a way in, so hopefully Charge and Gerald will be here to rescue us soon," you say.
"I'm sure!" the Sorceress says. "Even when it looks like there's no way forward, things can still work out."
You feel reassured by her warm words.
[[Sit down to wait.]]As your eyes adjust to the darkness of the cell, you see you are not alone.
"Hello," says the woman, smiling. "I'm the Sorceress of Circuitry."
"You're who we're here to rescue!" you say.
"Ah, well, thank you very much!" she says.
You feel like you don't totally deserve her thanks, but you try to find something polite to say back. "Nice to meet you, I'm $name."
She smiles warmly. "Did you come with Charge and Gerald?"
"How did you know?"
"I assumed they'd be along. I hope Charge isn't feeling too badly," she says absently.
"Yes, they're here. And Gerald knows a secret way in. So, hopefully they'll be able to get us out of here. I tried to disable the security system, but I don't think I did a thorough enough job."
"I'm sure you did a great job," she says.
Unfortunately, not long after that, Charge and Gerald are thrown into the cell with you.
The four of you are stuck in Watt's dungeon for weeks and weeks. Eventually, the Sorceress invents a device to unlock the door from the inside and takes you all home.
The End.
Would you like to restart?
[[Restart->Adventure!]]You sit on the stone floor, chatting with the Sorceress and thinking.
It isn't long before you hear two people muttering together outside the door.
After a few grinding clicks, the door pops open and there are Charge and Gerald!
"You not only disabled his security system, but you completely distracted Professor Watt!" says Charge brightly.
"We could hear him grumbling and shouting all the way from the secret entrance," Gerald says.
They hug the Sorceress and the four of you, surrounded by cations scouting ahead and behind, make your way back out the secret entrance.
[[Fly the airship back to the Sorceress' castle.->"Thank you!"]]You hear a great crash from outside the castle.
[[That seems ominous.->Uh oh.]]This is the end of the demo! Thanks for playing, I hope you like the story so far!
I'd love to hear your feedback (you can contact me through the contact page on my website.)
If you'd like me to email you when the game is finished, you can sign up back on the games page. (Only adults should sign up to the list, and this isn't a newsletter. I'll only send out a single email. After that I'll delete your email address.)