(css: "font-size:small;line-height:2px;")[(link:"(Was ist das denn immer mit diesem Englisch überall? Gibt's die Seite auch auf Deutsch?)")[(goto-url:"index.html")]]
(set:$inventory_off to true)(if:$getötet is true)[
Your clients are dissatisfied. Your failure is inexplicable to you.
Today you will get to the bottom of this - and correct your mistake.(set: $rausgeschmissen to 0, $getötet to false)
]
(if:(count:(history:),name of (passage:)) < 2)[You're standing in front of the highest building of the city, looking up. The giant letters above the entrance are picked out in dramatic lighting:
==><==
(display:"logo")
<==
The mirrored-glass facade goes ever up and up until its countours dissolve into dove-colored sky.](elseif:(count:(history:),name of (passage:)) < 4)[Actually, this all seems a tad pretentious. Anyway:
==><==
(display:"logo")
<==
That much glass certainly is quite the bother to keep clean?](elseif:(count:(history:),name of (passage:)) < 6)[Somehow the sight gets a bit less impressive every time:
==><==
(display:"logo")
<==
That's more than a hundred floors, surely! Who on earth needs that much space?](elseif:(count:(history:),name of (passage:)) >= 6)[Blablabla,
==><==
(display:"logo")
<==
Blablabla.](if:$rausgegangen is not true)[
(if:$rausgeschmissen is 1)[Youy try moving your left arm. Just a pulled muscle, for sure.](if:$rausgeschmissen is 2)[Your backside is hurting a bit. Must be some kind of slight bruise.](if:$rausgeschmissen is 3)[You raise your fingers to your nose: Blood. Very little, though.](if:$rausgeschmissen >3)[By now, you're actually hurting kind of all over.]]
What do you do?
[[You enter the lobby.->Foyer]]
[[You ask yourself what all this is about. Don't they have a proper website around here?->Internetseite]](set:$storybot to false)The lobby: Post-modern poetry in glass, steel and daylight lamps. On the wall to your left, a jumble of framed (link:"certificates")[(if:$angemeldet is true)[(go-to:"Auszeichnungen")](else:)[(goto:"Anmelden bitte")]] grouped around the (link:"portrait")[(if:$angemeldet is true)[(go-to:"Portrait")](else:)[(goto:"Anmelden bitte")]] of a handsome man. On the far end there is an (link:"elevator")[(if:$angemeldet is true)[(go-to:"Aufzug")](else:)[(goto:"Anmelden bitte")]], night-black onyx doors swallowing the light.
From behind a desk stylishly put together from raw concrete and expensive-looking wood, an androgynous receptionist in a white costume greets you with a glare of a smile as you enter the room(if:$rausgeschmissen >0 and $rausgeschmissen < 3)[. Either she is supremely skilled at not holding a grudge, or has a very bad memory].
"Welcome to FORKING PATHS GARDENING - where the stories are all yours! What can I do for you?"
[[You approach the receptionist.->Tresen]]
(link:"You turn around on the spot and leave the building.")[(set:$rausgegangen to true)(goto:"Vor dem Kontor")].(unless:$homepage is true)[Certainly. No problem. Just a moment please. We'll have it ready for you in a jiffy.
|generating>[Creating homepage...]
(event: when time >1.5s)[(replace:?generating)[Structuring content...]](event: when time >3s)[(replace:?generating)[Optimizing layout...]](event: when time >4.5s)[(replace:?generating)[(set:$homepage to true)(link-goto:"There you go.")]]](else:)[(goto:"There you go.")]
(set: $ziffer to 1st of $geheime_etage,$auszeichnungen to (a:"A master's degree from Marburg University. ","A tradesman's certificate. ","A teacher's contract with Saabrücken University of Art and Design. ","A certificate saying 'Eleventh place at the 1988 Witten an der Ruhr Federal Youth Sports Games in Witten an der Ruhr'. ","A refusal from the post-graduate programme in Visual Anthropology at NYU. ","
And-- a very small slip of paper with the number $ziffer written on it?
How mysteriously enigmatic." ))\
[A whole gallery of tastefully-lit honors and awards subtly and modestly catches your attention.
]<sachen|
(link-repeat:"You study the certificates.")[(if:length of $auszeichnungen is not 0)[(set:$sache to 1st of $auszeichnungen)(append:?sachen)[$sache](set: $auszeichnungen to it - (a:$sache))](else:)[(append:?sachen)[
That's all, as far as you can tell.]]]
[[You lose interest.->Foyer]](set:$seen_portrait to true)It is an artfully executed portrait in oil of the founder, Nico Czaja, on one of his charity expeditions.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/e7NgLTLqSc2ohZZGk5Kk4Z3TjVfMUjEi6f7SrETVn1HaNHZbNQ3MeYfSJ9QyGmBf-0IQz2wA9hNUJSzWvzW6FIfkqvSedk_TxaalP_TRFIe-3Lm8ye9ocpgbwHDS4yMw1RtX6nc7Gz4=w2400" width=600>
//CZAJA ALONE AT THE NORTH POLE, 2005//
He painted it himself.(if:$seen_clones is true)[
His face bears a striking resemblance to the men working upstairs.]
[[Aha.->Foyer]]"Welcome to FORKING PATHS GARDENING - where the stories are all yours! What can I do for you?", she repeats flawlessly and with true feeling, as if it was the first time.
\
(unless:$hasContactForm is true)[
[["I would like to talk to Mr. Czaja in person."]]]
[["What exactly does your company do, anyway?"]]
[["Excuse me, but may I use your toilet?"]]\
(if:$angemeldet is not true)[
[["I'd just like to look around a bit."]]]
[["Thank you, I have no further questions."->Foyer]]
As you take another step, ignoring her, the receptionist repeats her question. There is a certain degree of sharpness to her overwhelmingly friendly tone, now.
"Welcome to FORKING PATHS GARDENING - where the stories are all yours. What can I do for you?"
* [[You take back that step of yours and approach the reception desk.->Tresen]]
* [[You keep ignoring the receptionist.->Rausschmiss]]The receptionist reaches for a hidden button below her desk. (display:"Wachen")
(set:$angemeldet to true)Teeth a-gleam in the fake daylight, she beams at you as if you just made her the greatest of gifts. Her gums are very red.
"By all means, feel free to! Please stay within a 10 yard perimeter around this desk! Please don't touch anything! Please don't approach the elevator without explicit permission!", she chirps happily.
[["Thank you very much."->Foyer]]"I'm deeply sorry!" She looks at you with deep sorrow. "Unfortunately, personal meetings with Mr. Czaja are not possible without a pre-scheduled appointment, and within the next..."
She glances at her screen.
"...twenty-three years I have no timeslot available for you. But don't you fret!" She looks at you unfrettingly. "With pleasure I'll hand you one of our contact forms. Just fill it out and put it into one of our designated automated wall slots, and I assure you Mr. Czaja will get back to you in no time! Mr. Czaja answers all written queries //personally//!" Sie slides a piece of paper across the desk towards you, beaming.
(link:"You take it.")[(set:$hasContactForm to true, $inventory to true)(goto:"Tresen")]She seems really happy about you asking that question.
"By all means! Our vistors' toilet is situated on the $toilette. floor. Please go there directly, don't touch anything and don't look at anything you think odd, because it's not, it just seems that way. And feel free to make yourself at home here at FORKING PATHS GARDENING!"
She points her open hand toward the [[elevator->Aufzug]] and nods at you approvingly. Her teeth are perfect.(set:$angemeldet to true)
[[You step back from the desk.->Foyer]](set:$inventory_off to true)
=||=
(display:"logo klein")
[[About->Nico Czaja]]
[[Stories->interaktive Geschichten]]
[[Partners->Partnern]]
[[References->Referenzen]]
[[Contact->Kontakt]]
=||||||=
##PLAYABLE STORIES
Forking Paths Gardening creates [[interactive stories->interaktive Geschichten]] for various media, cooperating with diverse [[partners->Partnern]].
Forking Paths Gardening consists mostly of writer [[Nico Czaja]].
(css: "font-size:small;line-height:2px;")[[[You think this all rather boring and would very much like to return to that other, more curious website->Vor dem Kontor]]](enchant: ?page, (text-colour: black) + (background: white))\
(enchant:?link, (text-color:#c70000))(set:$inventarbehälter to (either:"into your inventory receptacle","into your pocket","into your purse","into your backpack","into your clutch","into your manicure case","under your shirt","under your waistband","into your plastic bag","under your hat","into your handcart"))
(if:$inventory is true and $inventory_off is false)[
You are carrying:\
(if:$hasContactForm is true)[
a [[contact form->Kontaktformular]]]\
(if:$hasExu is true)[
a [[leaflet->Über Exú]] about an odd statue]\
(if:$hasHinzert is true)[
a [[leaflet->Über Hinzert]] about an empty field]\
(if:$hasBorg is true)[
a [[leaflet->Über Borg]] about a Roman villa]\
(if:$hasTurid is true)[
a [[leaflet->Über Turid]] about a stretch of primeval forest]\
(if:$hasMaidan is true)[
a [[leaflet->Über den Maidan]] about a revolution]]
(set:$inventory_off to false)"We tell interactive stories where you don't expect them. $viertewandkaputt[Actually, they're quite like [[the one you find yourself in right now]], only better and a bit more serious.]" (unless:(history:) contains name of (passage:))[Her smile is blindingly bright.](else:)[Her smile is glaringly blinding.] "In case you'd like to know more about our work, feel free to explore our exhibition on floor $ausstellung!(set:$angemeldet to true) Please don't touch and/or look at anything outside the exhibition! Thank you!"
In a fluid, practiced movement she waves her hand invitingly in the general direction of the [[elevator->Aufzug]].
[["Thank you."->Tresen]](set:$ausstellung to 78)\
(set:$toilette to 22)\
(set:$inventory to (a:"Du trägst bei dir:"))\
(set:$viertewandkaputt to true)\
(set:$aktuelle_etage to 0)\
(set:$ausgang to "Foyer")\
(set:$geheime_etage to (a:2,1,9))\
(set:$inventory_off to false, $inventory to false)\
(set:$geheime1 to (str:1st of $geheime_etage),$geheime2 to (str:2nd of $geheime_etage),$geheime3 to (str:3rd of $geheime_etage))\
(set:$geheimtext to $geheime1 + $geheime2 + $geheime3)\
(set:$geheimnummer to (num:$geheimtext))The black surface of the elevator doors is polished to a degree that allows you to watch yourself approaching in it. A (link:"button")[(show:?tür)] in the shape of an upwards arrow by the door's side is gently pulsing in red.
(hidden:)[
The doors glide away to welcome you into an elevator cage entirely clad in mirrors.
(link-goto:"You enter the elevator","Kabine")]<tür|You enter the elevator(if:(count:(history:),name of (passage:)) is 0)[, and feel a touch of nausea as you find yourself surrounded by countless copies of you, extending into all directions. A warm, almost not-automatic sounding voice speaks to you:](else:)[.]
"Welcome. Please choose your floor."
The display above the door shows the number $aktuelle_etage.
There is a keypad on the wall of the cabin.
(display:"Keypad")
(link-goto:"You leave the elevator without changing floors. You have your reasons.",$ausgang)(set:$inventory_off to true)(set:$ziel to (a:0,0,0))
(font:"Courier")[(css:"font-size: 170%")[|eingabe>[(text:...$ziel)]]
(link-repeat:"1")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:1))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]] (link-repeat:"2")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:2))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]] (link-repeat:"3")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:3))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]]
(link-repeat:"4")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:4))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]] (link-repeat:"5")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:5))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]] (link-repeat:"6")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:6))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]]
(link-repeat:"7")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:7))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]] (link-repeat:"8")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:8))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]] (link-repeat:"9")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:9))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]]
(link-repeat:"0")[(set: $ziel to it + (a:0))(if:length of $ziel is > 3)[(move: 1st of $ziel into _trash)](replace:?eingabe)[(text:...$ziel)]] (text-color:white)[.](link:"OK")[(set:$etage to (num:(text:...$ziel)))(goto:"Fahrt")]](if:$etage>399)["Please choose a valid floor number", the voice of the automaton rebukes you kindly. "Forking Paths Gardening Megatower unfortunately only has 400 floors."
(link-goto:"You leave the elevator.",$ausgang)
(link-goto:"You choose a different floor.","Keypad")](else:)[(set:$generic_flavor_entrance to 0,$generic_flavor_corridor to 0, $generic_flavor_room to 0)The doors close soundlessly.
You look at the floor number display: [$aktuelle_etage]<anzeige|
(set:$counter to $aktuelle_etage)(if:$counter > $etage)[(set:$richtung to -1)](else-if:$counter is $etage)[(set:$richtung to 0)](else:)[(set:$richtung to 1)]
(live:0.02s)[(set:$counter to it + $richtung)(replace:?anzeige)[$counter](if:$counter is $etage or $etage is $aktuelle_etage)[
(set:$aktuelle_etage to $counter)(stop:)
*DING!*(live:1s)[
"Welcome (if:$aktuelle_etage is 0)[to the ground floor](else:)[to floor number $aktuelle_etage. Enjoy your stay]."
The doors glide open.(if: $aktuelle_etage is $ausstellung)[(set:$ausgang to "Ausstellung")](else-if: $aktuelle_etage is $toilette)[(set:$ausgang to "Toilettenetage")](else-if: $aktuelle_etage is $geheimnummer)[(set:$ausgang to "Secret Area")](else-if: $aktuelle_etage is 0)[(set:$ausgang to "Foyer")](else:)[(set:$ausgang to "Generische Etage")]
(link-goto:"You leave the elevator.",$ausgang)
(link-goto:"You choose a different floor.","Keypad")(stop:)]]]]Like the what? (set:$viertewandkaputt to false)
(link-goto:"Ah, it's probably nothing.",last of (history:))You are on a generic high rise floor without any characteristic features. \
(if: $generic_flavor_entrance is 0)[(set:$generic_flavor_entrance to (either:
"There's dust gathering in the corners.",
"The carpet is sheep-colored.",
"An ordinary afternoon's light is slanting through a row of [[windows->Fenster berühren]].",
"It is very quiet.",
"The aircon is humming contentedly.",
"There is a [[glove->Handschuh]] lying on the floor. Maybe someone lost it."
))]$generic_flavor_entrance
A corridor is leading away from the elevator in a straight line.
[[You re-enter the elevator.->Kabine]]
[[You follow the corridor.->Generischer Korridor]](if:$generic_flavor_corridor is 0)[(set:$generic_flavor_corridor to (either:
"There are vague, but expensive-looking [[art prints->Kunstdrucke]] by certainly very important artists on the walls.",
"The walls are white and empty.",
"A whiff of detergent is in the air.",
"A potted plant in a corner looks well-kept.",
"The corridor is long and windowless; daylight lamps have cast out all the shadows.",
"One wall is entirely made of [[glass->Fenster berühren]], offering an impressive view over the city."))]A corridor between two rooms. $generic_flavor_corridor
[[You walk back towards the elevator.->Generische Etage]]
[[You walk towards the end of the corridor.->Generischer Raum]](if:$generic_flavor_room is 0)[(set:$generic_flavor_room to (either:
"An abstract chrome sculpture is reaching for the ceiling.",
"A seating arrangement is crowded around a little side table.",
"Abstract shapes are painted on the walls.",
"The whole space is cluttered with disturbingly unidentifiable junk.",
"Ceiling, walls and floor are absolutely white and absolutely empty. Your steps sound foreign and very loud to your ears.",
"Every inch of wall is covered by shelves completely filled with [[books->Büchern]]."))]The corridor ends here. The purpose of this room is unclear.
$generic_flavor_room
[[You return to the corridor.->Generischer Korridor]] (set:$ausblenden to false)(unless:(history:)contains (passage:)'s name)[(set:$linken to "left opening", $mittleren to "middle opening",$rechten to "right opening")You leave the elevator, entering a square, high-ceilinged room with a shiny parquet floor made from tropical woods. The air smells of dust, the light is warm and yellow like an old sepia photograph.](else:)[You find yourself in the floor's foyer again.]
The only furniture here is a cube-shaped display case on a pedestal in the exact middle of the room. Under the glass, a small [[figurine->Statue]] is brandishing a pitchfork.
On three sides, passages lead into other rooms. The middle one is closed off with barrier tape and warning signs.
The elevator's doors are wide open as if it was waiting just for you.(if:$noticed_camera is true)[
From the ceiling, a surveillance camera blinks its eye at you in a menacing shade of red.](if:$storybot is true and $captured_trespassing is not true)[
Only now you notice the surveillance camera hanging from the ceiling - easily recognizable by its standard issue blinking red light. Dang.(set:$captured_trespassing to true)
(display:"Wachen")(set:$ausblenden to true)](unless:$ausblenden is true)[
[[You return to the elevator->Kabine]]
[[You walk through the $linken->Hörspur-Saal]]
[[You walk through the $mittleren->Storybot-Saal]]
[[You walk through the $rechten->Lehre-Saal]]]It smells of ozone and new carpeting here. The word "TOILET" is glowing in large neon lettering above the door at the end of the long, dimly lit corridor the elevator spits you out in.
To your (if:last of (history:) is "Fahrt" or last of (history:) is "Kabine")[left](else:)[right] there is another, though much less interesting [[door->Tür]], but there's nothing whatsoever to it, so you choose to ignore it.
(link-goto:"You enter the bathroom(if:$visited_toilet > 0)[ once more].","Bad")
[[You return to the elevator.->Kabine]] Mounted to the showcase, there is a stack of informative handouts. (unless:(history:) contains name of (passage:))[You take one of them.(set:$hasExu to true, $inventory to true)](else:)[You consider taking another one, but refrain as you realize they are all the same.]
(link:"Then you return your attention to some other stuff.")[(goto:"Ausstellung")]Stovepipe hat, cigar, trident. Torso heavily muscled and naked, a black cape lined in fiery red around the shoulders.
It's just painted plastic of the cheapest kind, but still: You could have sworn he's looking at you lasciviously, from below the brim.
Does the devil wear a hat? If he did, he'd look exactly like this. If he didn't, he maybe should start wearing one.
"Exú Tranca-Rua", says the print on a label at his feet.
Because they apparently guessed in advance that this wouldn't be enough info for most vistors, benevolent persons attached a case with explanatory [[leaflets->Vitrine]] to the glass.
[[Ok then. Back.->Ausstellung]](set:$linken to "passage to the Hörspur room")Four spotlights are casting four perfect circles of light onto the fancy parquet floor. Within each circle: A miniature landscape under glass.
[[You examine the model of an idyllic rural area.->Hinzert]]
[[You look at the the replica of a replica of a Roman villa.->Borg]]
[[You approach the forest-filled display case->Turid]]
[[You inspect the meticulously recreated city center of an eastern metropolis->Maidan]]
[[You leave the room.->Ausstellung]](unless:(history:) contains name of (passage:))[Although you know the room is empty, you cast a nervous glance. Then you carefully move the warning sign that says "Keep out, Under construction, Danger, Achtung" out of the way a bit and duck below the barrier tape.
The room is quite obviously under construction, but you don't see any signs of imminent danger //at all//.
](set:$storybot to true, $mittleren to "passage to the storybot room")There's an open panel in the ceiling. A rainbow of cables is dangling from it. Empty display cabinets, covered with linen, lined up along the walls. All kinds of tools scattered on the floor.
And in the room's center (if:$unwrapped is not true)[a silhouette of approximately half your height, covered with a drape of [[red velvet->rotem Samt]].](else:)[a scarily yellow, smiling fish figurine with legs and a red hat, cheerfully presenting you with an open (if:$tituAwakened is not true)[(link-goto:"laptop","LAPTOP")](else:)[laptop] affixed to its hands.]
(unless:(history:) contains name of (passage:))[
You tilt your head by ninety degrees and read the large sign somebody left propped up against a wall: STORYBOT-PROJEKT.]
(link:"You return to the foyer.")[(if:$tituAwakened is true)[(goto:"Nachricht von Titu")](else:)[(goto:"Ausstellung")]](set:$rechten to "passage to the seminar room")This room has been furnished to look like a seminar space: Functional tables and chairs in a u-shaped arrangement, glaring lights, a data projector affixed to the ceiling, pointed at a large screen. Windows obscured by dark blinds. Stale air.
On the screen, a short clip is silently looping in perpetuity: Czaja standing in front of a gathering of young people, maybe in this same room, maybe in a different one that looks just alike. He is explaining stuff while the young people avidly take in each word he says.
In between, he makes a joke, and everybody laughs out loud.
Hell of a guy.
[[You leave the room.->Ausstellung]](set:$rausgegangen to false)With a hydraulic hiss, a section of wall slides away and two rather heavily built individuals in riot gear enter the room, stylized tridents on their uniformed breasts.(if:$rausgeschmissen is 1)[They look a each other and and shrug with resignation.](if:$rausgeschmissen is 2)[ You feel their disapproval right through the plasteel of the black visors that hide their faces.](if:$rausgeschmissen is 3)[ It is not without some reluctance that you have to acknowledge the professionalism they apply to the handling of this awkward situation.](if: $rausgeschmissten >=4)[ They nod their heads simulaneously in your direction, greeting you like a regular. ]
Silently, they grab you by the arms.
The geniality of the receptionist's smile remains unchanged as they drag you past her desk to put you down outside the building with practiced roughness. (set: $rausgeschmissen to it + 1, $aktuelle_etage to 0)
[[Oh.->Vor dem Kontor]](set:$inventory_off to true)
You read:
//EXÚ TRANCA-RUA
Eshu is an orisha, a spirit and a god in the religion of the Western African Yoruba. As his people were enslaved, Eshu travelled with them across the Atlantic. Exú Tranca-Rua is one of his numerous Brazilian incarnations.
He is a messenger of the gods and a wily trickster, his wit is wild, chaotic and, at times, dangerous to the ones who do not know how to treat him right.
His shrine guards the entrance to every terreiro, to every temple. Before every trance ritual, be it in his old homeland or new, be it in new or old garb, form or name, he is greeted and sacrificed to first, so that he may grant access to the gods.
Eshu opens and closes all paths. He is a master of crossroads and doors. He is responsible for encounters and decisions, for coincendence and accidents and fate inscrutable. Eshu opens and closes all paths.//
(link:"Then you put the leaflet back $inventarbehälter.")[(goto:last of (history:))](set:$inventory_off to true)You read:
//
##FORKING PATHS GARDENING CO. - ALWAYS AT YOUR SERVICE.
''DON'T HESITATE! GET IN TOUCH NOW!''
<form action="https://formspree.io/n.czaja@xmlab.org" method="POST">
<label for="name">Name:</label>
<input type="text" id="name" name="name" placeholder="Your name" style="width:400px">
<label for="text">Message:</label>
<textarea id="text" name="text" placeholder="Your message" style="height:200px;width:400px" required></textarea>
<label for="_replyto">Email:</label>
<input type="email" id="_replyto" style="width:400px" name="_replyto" placeholder="Your email adress" required>
"I answer all written queries //personally//!
Sincerely yours,
Nico Czaja"//
As soon as you finish reading, an automated form input slot opens in the wall next to you.
<input type="submit" class="b" id="send" name="send" style="font:inherit;font-weight:bold;background:none;border:none;padding:0!important;cursor: pointer;" value="You fold the paper neatly in the middle and put it inside.">
</form>(link:"You put the form back $inventarbehälter for now.")[(goto:last of (history:))]The elevator doors open into a penthouse office of gargantuan dimensions, spacious and empty - not your usual empty, but //purposefully// empty, //expensively// empty, an emptiness that isn't the absence of things but the presence of a very clear message.
At the far end, behind a spotlessly tidy volcanic glass desk, there's a man gazing out of a huge window seemingly overlooking most of the known world.
He is facing away from you, his hands crossed behind his back.
The thick carpet is swallowing the sounds of your footsteps entirely, you are walking in complete silence, like an involuntary panther. But still you know without the shadow of a doubt that the man heard you coming long before he starts to speak.
"Mm mmhm mell", he says without turning. "Mmo moo mmm moe my mee mee, mmm moo? Mmmm meh, mmmm meh mall."
He remains silent for a moment, and then turns towards you with expert drama - it is Czaja!
Unfortunately you didn't understand a word he said, you were too far away.
"Well, come closer then, will you!", he shouts with some irritation as he notices, turning back to the window.
[[You come closer->Du kommst näher.]]Your hand touches the fabric. It is velvety.
Do you //really// want to pull at it?
(link:"Yes! And I'll do it with verve and drama, like a music hall magician.")[(set:$unwrapped to true)(goto:"Storybot-Saal")]
[[No. I prefer not to. Oh God. Who knows.->Storybot-Saal]]The screen is black. A (link-show:"POWER CABLE",?kabel) is dangling loosely to the floor.|kabel)[
You try using the POWER CABLE with the POWER PLUG. You say to yourself: "I can't do that. The cable is too short." You return to pondering the (link-show:"laptop",?laptop).]|laptop)[
You try TAKING the LAPTOP. "I can't pick that up", you give a hint to yourself. "It's welded to the fish." You ponder the (link-show:"fish figurine",?fisch).]|fisch)[
You try PUSHING the FISH FIGURINE. "It won't budge", you soliloquise. "It's too heavy."(set:$tituAwakened to true)(show:?aufgeben)]|aufgeben)[
Everything else around here is just scenery, you can't do anything with it. You give up. No wonder nothing is working, they //said// it's under construction, didn't they? You are not supposed to be here. Most other people //probably// would have respected the barrier tape and kept out.]
[[You take note of all this and move on.->Storybot-Saal]]
(set:$nachbild to 3rd of $geheime_etage)Just as you duck below the tape again to get back to the elevator, you hear a sudden static crack. In the corner of your eye, the screen held by the fish figure seems to flash for the fraction of a second. As you pause to look, it's dark again - but the afterimage it left on your retina for a fleeting moment //might// remind you of the number $nachbild.
[[But probably you just imagined it anyway.->Ausstellung]]Behind the glass, about a the length of your hand: The disturbing architecture of a rust-colored, asymmetrical building by a little road between fields.
Miniature wind turbines on a hill, spinning slowly in a miniature wind. A miniature person on a meadow, ant-sized, wearing miniature headphones and a very small expression on their face: Sad, pensive, concerned - too small to say for certain.
The grass is swaying below their feet. The silence of the place has been carefully modelled and is plain to see.
There is a box of informative [[leaflets->Hinzert-Flyer]] attached to the showcase.
[[[You step back and look around.->Hörspur-Saal]](if:$hasHinzert is true)[You look at the stack of leaflets benevolently, but you don't need another one, neither do you know anyone who might.](else:)[You take a leaflet.(set:$hasHinzert to true,$inventory to true)]
[[Gut.->Hörspur-Saal]]You read:
(set:$inventory_off to true)//Lucien. A walk-in audio play.
After the end of WWII, the French military government had concentration camp Hinzert razed to the ground. The ownership of the land was returned to its original proprietors, and it has been used for agricultural purposes ever since.
The site has become a place of bucolic peace.
Our walk-in audio play offers a vivid recreation of this place's all-but-invisible past: We tell the story of fictitous 14 year-old prisoner Lucien while listeners move across the empty field, smartphone in pocket, headphones on. The story flow reacts to their movement and changes with it; using GPS technology, we place scenes in physical space in a way that makes the camp's long-gone architecture take shape within the listeners' imagination, layering an audible past over the visible present.
Narrator/Lucien: Oliver Hermann
Music: Nika & Artett
Writing: Nico Czaja
Audio direction and technical realisation: Katharina Bihler und Stefan Scheib//
Surpringly, there is a red button at the bottom of the sheet, labelled "(link:"(color:red)[Listening Sample]")[Listening Sample<audio src="audio/hinzert_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" autoplay></audio>]".
(link:"You put the leaflet back $inventarbehälter.")[(goto:last of (history:))](set:$inventory_off to false)Under the glass you see an amazingly detailed model of a Roman villa within a non-Roman landscape: a u-shaped main building with white arcades and bright red roof tiles surrounded by well-kept, park-like gardens.
There is a [[red button->roter Knopf]] and a box containing some[[leaflets->Borg-Flyer]] attached to the showcase.
[[You turn your attention to other things.->Hörspur-Saal]](set:$inventory_off to true,$schnell to 0)As you press the button, the light dims, and Ancient Roman music is filling the room, accompanied by the soothing sound of water. In the showcase, you're now able to discern the glow of a tiny lamp in a tiny (link:"window")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Fenster")] in one of the smaller buildings.(display:"Borg-Timer")(if:$hasBorg is true)[You look at the stack of leaflets benevolently, but you don't need another one, neither do you know anyone who might.][(else:)You take one of the leaflets.(set:$hasBorg to true,$inventory to true)]
[[Good.->Borg]]After a few moments, though, the music stops, and the ceiling lights clink-a-clink the white brightness back into the room.
[[Ok.->Borg]](unless:(history:) contains name of (passage:))[You approach the glass with your face and](else:)[You] peek through the fingernail-sized window: A lovingly reconstructed Roman bath, (link:"frescoes")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Fresken")] on the walls, (link:"a mosaic")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Mosaike")] on the floor, a bubbling (link:"drinking fountain")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Trinkbrunnen")] in the room's center. On the elevated edge of a (link:"pool")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Becken")] filled with (link:"warm water")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"warmem Wasser")] two (link:"women")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Frauengestalten")].(display:"Borg-Timer")You need to squint and look //very// closely to see the details: rectangular shapes in bold green, floral patterns in between.
(link:"Pretty.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Fenster")](display:"Borg-Timer")You bend over a little further and look: A symmetrical pattern of black-and-white squares and triangles intertwined with each other, simple at first glance, but on closer inspection a bewildering picture puzzle, with foreground and background continuiously trading places.
(link:"Exquisite.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Fenster")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")A very small water splashing into a bowl most refreshingly.
(link:"Beautiful.")[(set:$schnell to it +time)(goto:"Fenster")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")Opulently lined with marble and deep enough for the water to reach a miniature person's miniature neck.
(link:"Good.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Fenster")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")(display:"Borg-Timer")The model is impressive in its attention to detail: When you look closely, you think you can make out tiny ripples moving across the water; even the humidity of the rising vapors has been painstakingly recreated.
(link:"Ok.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Fenster")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")A (link:"younger")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"jüngere")] and an (link:"older")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"ältere")] lady, congealed in a historically accurate (link:"cleaning ritual")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Reinigungsritual")].
(link:"Vivid.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Fenster")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")(event: when $schnell+time > 40s)[(set:$time_passed to $schnell+time)(goto:"Licht an")]Her body is wrapped in white linen. Her posture is radiating confidence. He gaze is not without harshness, her luscious dark hair is pinned, wound and piled up into a complicated shape. The (link:"older woman")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"ältere")] holds the younger one's naked arm with her left hand, working on it with a historically well-documented (link:"scin care implement")[(set: $schnell to it + time)(goto:"Pflegeinstrument")] in the other one.
(link:"Interesting.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Frauengestalten")](display:"Borg-Timer")A beautiful woman, black hair with strands of grey, a faithful reproduction of well-hidden sorrow carried with dignity behind her miniature eyes. Apparently she is (link:"cleaning or grooming")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Reinigungsritual")] the skin on the younger woman's arm.
She's wearing a (link:"pendant")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Anhänger")] of blue-tinted glass around her neck.
(link:"Aha.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Frauengestalten")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")You bend over a little more and recognize the instrument the (link:"older woman")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"ältere")] is stroking the (link:"younger one's")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"jüngere")] arm with as a strigilis.
Of course, what else could it have been - particularly considering there is a matching alabastron clearly visible on the side table next to the women.
(link:"Naturally.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Frauengestalten")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")It's a Celtic triskelis formed by three stylised (link:"bird's heads")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Vogelköpfe")].
(link:"Yes.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"ältere")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")In the(link:"eye")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Auge")] of one of those birds, there is a mote of dust.
(link:"Aha.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Anhänger")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")On closer inspection, there is a distant, very small (link:"figure")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Gestalt")] standing on a rooftop high above a large city represented on the dust particle.
(link:"Fascinating.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Vogelkopf")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")You are now almost touching your nose to the glass, but you push your face even closer, the better to be able to make out that figure: It is a stocky man with close-shaven hair. He has an approving expression on his face and pen and (link:"paper")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Zettel")] in his hands.
(link:"Astonishing.")[(set:$schnell to it + time)(goto:"Auge")]
(display:"Borg-Timer")(set:$zahl to 2nd of $geheime_etage)With the sharpest gaze available to you, you look more closely than ever before, nose now pressed to the glass, deformed in an unsightly manner: There is writing on that paper. It is the number $zahl, and nothing else.
The lights are clinking on again, yanking you back into the exhibition room, blinking from their merciless brightness.
Impressed by the miniature building skills of the inhouse miniature builders, you give your eyes a good rub. They are hurting a little.
[[That was an interesting experience.->Hörspur-Saal]]You read:
(set:$inventory_off to true)//Villa Borg is a 2nd century Celto-Roman country estate carefully reconstructed on its historical fundament - a piece of Ancient Rome to walk around in, near the German city of Trier. Not only the architecture has been rebuilt, though. but also the interior of the rooms, often down to the most intricate detail: Murals, furniture, a fully functional bathhouse and a kitchen equipped with wood-fired ovens that are regularly used for baking bread. Our "Hörspur"-App populates this impressive stage with the characters of a fascinating tale: Listeners help household slave Septima find a thief while exploring the Villa, learning about the daily life of a Roman family and their servants, shaping the story and its ending as they go.
Septima & female cast: Katharina Bihler
Narrator & male cast: Hans-Georg Körbel
Music: Nika & Artett
Writing: Nico Czaja
Audio direction and technical realisation: Katharina Bihler and Stefan Scheib//
Surpringly, there is a red button at the bottom of the sheet, labelled "(link:"(color:red)[Listening Sample]")[Listening Sample<audio src="audio/septima_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" autoplay></audio>]".
(link:"You put the leaflet back $inventarbehälter.")[(goto:last of (history:))]The glass is polished as to be almost invisible. To make sure it actually exists you put your hand on its cool surface. As you remove it, an unsightly impression of your hand remains.
(display:"Wachen")Be it out of eagerness to help, curiousity or just because you can: You stoop to pick up the glove. Your fingers touch their soft leather.
(display:"Wachen")You look at one of the pictures more closely. It is signed "Czaja".
You're just about to look at another one when suddenly a metallic voice starts blaring from a hidden speaker: "--CTION. BREACH OF INSPECTION INTERDICTION. BREACH OF INSPECTION INTERDI--"
(display:"Wachen")You approach a shelf and pick a book at random, then another one, then another one. You are surprised to find that these are not countless books at all. They are countless copies of one and the same book: A historical novel by someone named Czaja, something about--
You flinch violently when suddenly a metallic voice starts blaring from a hidden speaker: "--CTION. BREACH OF INSPECTION INTERDICTION. BREACH OF INSPECTION INTERDI--"
(display:"Wachen")Without really being interested in what's behind it you open the door.
You see an entirely inconspicuous, very large room that is filled with rows upon rows of [[writing desks->Schreibtischen]]. Seated at every single one of them is a stocky [[man->Männer]], writing.
There are stacks of [[paper->Blätter]] on the desks. The ceiling is hidden by a complicated, but nevertheless irrelevant network of [[pipes->Röhren]] that terminates in a [[nozzle->Stutzen]] above each desk.
None of the men look up as you enter, neither the ones sitting close to the door nor the ones at the far end of the room that is ample like a [[landscape->Landschaft]].
They just remain huddled in concentration over their [[work->Arbeit]], which is not at all significant for you and thus does not deserve any further attention.
[[Because it is just not interesting at all in here, you stop looking around and instantly leave the room.->Toilettenetage]](if:$toilet_lockdown is not true)[(if:$visited_toilet is 1)[Again? Alright then.
](if:$visited_toilet is 2)[Hm. Are you not feeling well? None of my business, I guess.
](if:$visited_toilet is >2 and $visited_toilet <4)[What are you aiming at here? Do you want to find out if we can go on like this forever? The answer is yes. Look:
](if:$visited_toilet is 4)[Enough is enough. This is the last time:(set:$toilet_lockdown to true)
]What's there to say. You enter the bathroom. You come out again. What happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom.(set:$visited_toilet to it+1)
[[Yes.->Toilettenetage]]](else:)[You rattle at the door. The toilet is locked. With a sophisticated security locking mechanism. There is no key for it in the entire building.
[[You finally see the error of your ways.->Toilettenetage]]]
Stocky, close-shaved head, bearded. Resembling each other to a hair.(if:$seen_portrait is true)[ Each other - and that man whose portrait you saw downstairs. But why should that be in any way relevant?] Dozens of tongues in dozens of corners of the mouth. Dozens of higly focused expressions, dozens of pens held very fast.(set:$seen_clones to true)
(display:"schreibraum-counter")Those are stacks of unanswered contact forms. If you absolutely have to know.
(display:"schreibraum-counter")They are writing on slips of paper. One after the other. You can hear the scratching of their pens. So what?
(display:"schreibraum-counter")Completely unremarkable: Plain, made from plywood, with chairs in front and drawers inside of them. Just your usual desk drawer connected to a complex network of pipes for transporting filled forms via air pressure, that's about it.
(display:"schreibraum-counter")Probably made from plexiglass. As likely as not something to do with compressed air. You can discern papers whizzing back and forth through the pipes at great speed.
(display:"schreibraum-counter")From time to time, sheets of paper fall out and land neatly on the corresponding desk. Nothing special.
(display:"schreibraum-counter")Just some comparison between two large things. No great mystery about it.
(display:"schreibraum-counter")(set:$langweilig to it + 1)(if:$langweilig is 4)[Ok. No more of this.
(set:$langweilig to 0)(display:"Wachen")](else:)[[[Boring!->Tür]]]This showcase contains a forest in 1:72 scale, every leaf shaped to perfection. The canopy is so dense that you can't guess at what lies below.
[[You take a leaflet from the box attached to the showcase.->Turid-Flyer]]
[[[You step back and look around.->Hörspur-Saal]](if:$hasTurid is true)[You look at the stack of leaflets benevolently, but you don't need another one, neither do you know anyone who might.](else:)[You take a leaflet.(set:$hasTurid to true,$inventory to true)]
[[Gut.->Hörspur-Saal]]You read:
(set:$inventory_off to true)//In the "jungle by the city gates" around Scheune Neuhaus, on the outskirts of Saarbrücken, stag beetle Schröder lost his girlfriend Turid - and if it hadn't been for our app, you might never have noticed.
Through your smartphone's headphones, you understand the language of the beetles. Accompany Schröder on a trail through a stretch of beautifully wild forest, meet its inhabitants large and small, keep Schröder's predators at bay with nothing but your superior size - and help him get to the bottom of Turid's disapearance.
Schröder: Georg Mitterstieler
Turid: Katharina Bihler
Music: Nika & Artett
Writing: Nico Czaja
Audio direction and technical realisation: Katharina Bihler and Stefan Scheib//
Surpringly, there is a red button at the bottom of the sheet, labelled "(link:"(color:red)[Listening Sample]")[Listening Sample<audio src="audio/turid_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" autoplay></audio>]".
(link:"You put the leaflet back $inventarbehälter.")[(goto:last of (history:))]Under the glass you see the replica of a winterly city in chaos. The air is ringing with cold. There is a large square in the center, filled to bursting with people, must be more than a million. There are tents, and warming fires in oil-drums scattered between them, too. Fat black smoke, frozen in time, is forever rising from barricades made of burning tires.
Tight rows of police in riot gear are holding the square's exits, batons raised high. Microscopic molotov cocktails are hanging in mid-air between protesters and police, forever about to hit home.
[[You take a leaflet from the box attached to the showcase.->Maidan-Flyer]]
[[You step back and look around.->Hörspur-Saal]](if:$hasMaidan is true)[You look at the stack of leaflets benevolently, but you don't need another one, neither do you know anyone who might.](else:)[You take a leaflet.(set:$hasMaidan to true,$inventory to true)]
[[Good.->Hörspur-Saal]]You read:
(set:$inventory_off to true)//Hidden Memories is a piece of documentary art and a unique experiment in storytelling-with-technology. Most of all, though, it is an attempt to foster empathy by change of perspective.
Twelve people. Twelve stories. Twelve points of view.
Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and Black Sea Trust, Hidden Memories speaks with the voices of supporters and opponents of the Maidan revolution from all walks of life, telling their stories. Listeners on Majdan Nesaleshnosti in Kiev are sent on an vivid journey to the square's recent past.
Thanks to GPS technology, the app knows the position of the user and plays audio scences at the exact place where they might have happened. Thus the present becomes a stage for a past that truly comes alive between narrators' voices and listeners' imagination.
This way we hope to stimulate a dialogue between those large parts of the Ukrainian people that have been divided by conflicting interpretations of what happened in the the winter of 2013/14.
More about the project at http://www.hidden-memories.org
Voice actors:
Ukrainian
Sebastian Anton
Kateryna Pavlova
Marina Schubarth
Russian
Sebastian Anton
Elena Panibratowa
German
Ilka Teichmüller
Jan Uplegger
English
Michael Edwards
Nicole Ratjen
Music:
DIE REDNER
Sound Engineering:
Florian Mönks//
Surpringly, there is a red button at the bottom of the sheet, labelled "(link:"(color:red)[Listening Sample]")[Listening Sample<audio src="audio/maidan_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" autoplay></audio>]".
(link:"You put the leaflet back $inventarbehälter.")[(goto:last of (history:))](set:$inventory_off to true)
=||=
(display:"logo klein")
[[About->Nico Czaja]]
[[Stories->interaktive Geschichten]]
Partners
[[References->Referenzen]]
[[Contact->Kontakt]]
[[Back->There you go.]]
=||||||=
##PARTNERS
(link:"xm:lab")[(goto-url: "http://www.xmlab.org/")] / (link:"HBKsaar")[(goto-url: "https://hbksaar.de/startseite")]
(link:"pioneo")[(goto-url:"http://www.pioneo.de")]
(link:"Liquid Penguin Ensemble")[(goto-url: "http://www.liquidpenguin.de/")]
(link:"DIE REDNER")[(goto-url: "http://www.die-redner.de/")]
(link:"NIKA & ARTett")[(goto-url: "http://annikajonsson.de/2016/02/zusammenarbeit-mit-artett/")]
(link:"CRISP")[(goto-url: "http://crisp-berlin.org")]
(link:"ISKRA Center for Dialogue and Reconciliation")[(goto-url:"https://www.facebook.com/ngo.iskra/")]
[[Back->There you go.]](set:$inventory_off to true)
=||=
(display:"logo klein")
[[About->Nico Czaja]]
Stories
[[Partners->Partnern]]
[[References->Referenzen]]
[[Contact->Kontakt]]
[[Zurück->There you go.]]
=||||||=
## INTERACTIVE STORIES
Since the early 1970s they have been told in a rather small, nerdy niche of the book market, within novels that cast their readers as heroes and let them choose whether they, for example, would like to flip to page 56 to fight the dragon or rather try to flee on page 32.
Round about the same time, the first computer games used nothing but text to tell their own adventurous tales, starring: the player. This was all anything but mainstream, but a lot has happened since then.
Particularly in the more independent, more arty corners of the now-huge video game industry, the art of interactive storytelling has reached a high degree of finesse and depth. It has become a sophisticated form of its own, seeping into other media at a rapid pace.
Through interaction, when done well, players/readers/listeners are quickly drawn into a story, creating an exceptionally strong sense of immediacy, opening them up for whatever a story wants to do to them: Be it to educate, to create empathy, to render abstract concepts easier to grasp or just to make incredible things believable for just a long enough time to be moved by them, as good stories have been doing for ages.
Today interactive storytelling is considered a narrative form of the future, and there's experiments going on everywhere: On the web, on Netflix, in escape rooms, in board games, in education, with children's toys, in museums, in theaters and with Alexa, Siri and all their friends.
We are part of this movement. We create and implement interactive stories at the nexus of art and digital technology - for venues both time-proven and new.
[[Back->There you go.]](set:$inventory_off to true)
=||=
(display:"logo klein")
About
[[Stories->interaktive Geschichten]]
[[Partners->Partnern]]
[[References->Referenzen]]
[[Contact->Kontakt]]
[[Back->There you go.]]
=||||||=
##ABOUT
Forking Paths Gardening is Hamburg-based writer Nico Czaja. Czaja has been loving interactive stories avidly for at least thirty years.
He was about ten back then, so he had no idea that interactive stories is what you call them, and little did he realize that it's possible to make stories like that //yourself//.
Especially the latter was a discovery of dramatic proportions for which Czaja the boy still regards Czaja the man with envy.
Today, Czaja teaches interactive storytelling at Saabrücken University of Art and Design, creates new storytelling formats and writes interactive stories for various clients - among them the German Federal Foreign Office, environmental NGO NABU, and, to his own surprise, a high-tech startup from Bangladesh.(set:$inventory_off to true)
=||=
(display:"logo klein")
[[About->Nico Czaja]]
[[Stories->interaktive Geschichten]]
[[Partners->Partnern]]
References
[[Contact->Kontakt]]
[[Back->There you go.]]
=||||||=
##REFERENCES
''WALK-IN AUDIO PLAYS''
With our "Hörspur"-Apps we create interactive audio stories for unique places. Using GPS technology, we place audio scenes in physical space in a way that the surroundings you see and the story you listen to reinforce and cross-fertilize each other. The story reacts to the paths listeners take through the space, changing and branching with them - ideally without the user ever having to take the phone from their pocket, controlling the flow of the story just by walking.
''Lucien''
The story of a young prisoner at (link:"concentration camp memorial Hinzert")[(goto-url:"https://www.gedenkstaette-hinzert-rlp.de/")]. Featuring the voice of (link:"Oliver Hermann")[(goto-url:"https://filmmakers.de/oliver-hermann")] and an original score by (link:"Nika & Artett")[(goto-url:"http://annikajonsson.de/2016/02/zusammenarbeit-mit-artett/")].
<audio controls src="audio/hinzert_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></audio>
<a href='https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pioneo.hoerspur.hinzert&gl=DE&pcampaignid=MKT-Other-global-all-co-prtnr-py-PartBadge-Mar2515-1'><img alt='Jetzt bei Google Play' src='https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges/images/generic/de_badge_web_generic.png' height=58px vertical-align="middle"></a><a href="https://apps.apple.com/de/app/gedenkst%C3%A4tte-hinzert/id1378226462?mt=8"><img alt="Jetzt im AppStore" src="https://www.apple.com/de/itunes/link/images/link_badge_appstore_large.png" style="padding:9px"></a>
''Septima''
The story of a household slave and a theft at archeology park (link:"Villa Borg")[(goto-url:"https://www.villa-borg.de/")]. Featuring the voices of (link:"Katharina Bihler")[(goto-url:"http://www.katharina-bihler.de/")] and (link:"Hans-Georg Körbel")[(goto-url:"https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Georg_K%C3%B6rbel")] and an original score by (link:"Nika & Artett")[(goto-url:"http://annikajonsson.de/2016/02/zusammenarbeit-mit-artett/")].
<audio controls src="audio/septima_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></audio>
<a href='https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pioneo.hoerspur.villaborg'><img alt='Jetzt bei Google Play' src='https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges/images/generic/de_badge_web_generic.png' height=58px vertical-align="middle"></a><a href="https://apps.apple.com/eg/app/septima/id1227681306"><img alt="Jetzt im AppStore" src="https://www.apple.com/de/itunes/link/images/link_badge_appstore_large.png" style="padding:9px"></a>
''Finding Turid''
The story of a stag beetle's adventurous search for his lost girlfriend at (link:"Scheune Neuhaus")[(goto-url:"https://saar-urwald.de/")], commissioned by environmental NGO (link:"NABU")[(goto-url:"https://nabu-saar.de/")]. Featuring the voices of (link:"Katharina Bihler")[(goto-url:"http://www.katharina-bihler.de/")] and (link:"Georg Mitterstieler")[(goto-url:"http://www.schauspielervideos.de/fullprofile/schauspieler-georg-mitterstieler.html")] and an original score by (link:"Nika & Artett")[(goto-url:"http://annikajonsson.de/2016/02/zusammenarbeit-mit-artett/")].
<audio controls src="audio/turid_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></audio>
<a href='https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pioneo.hoerspur.nabu&hl=de'><img alt='Jetzt bei Google Play' src='https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges/images/generic/de_badge_web_generic.png' height=58px vertical-align="middle"></a><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/findet-turid/id1227681866"><img alt="Jetzt im AppStore" src="https://www.apple.com/de/itunes/link/images/link_badge_appstore_large.png" style="padding:9px"></a>
''(link:"Hidden Memories")[(goto-url:"http://www.hidden-memories.org")]''
Twelve stories in four languages about the Maidan revolution in Kiev, Ukraine. Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and Black Sea Trust. Featuring, among others, the voices of (link:"Ilka Teichmüller")[(goto-url:"http://www.ilka-teichmueller.de/")] and (link:"Jan Uplegger")[(goto-url:"https://www.januplegger.de/")] and an original score by (link:"Die Redner")[(goto-url:"http://www.die-redner.com/")].
<audio controls src="audio/maidan_probe.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></audio>
<a href='https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pioneo.hoerspur.maidan&hl=de'><img alt='Jetzt bei Google Play' src='https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges/images/generic/de_badge_web_generic.png' height=58px vertical-align="middle"></a><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hidden-memories/id1374928968"><img alt="Jetzt im AppStore" src="https://www.apple.com/de/itunes/link/images/link_badge_appstore_large.png" style="padding:9px"></a>
''TEACHING''
Various teaching assignments in interactive storytelling at (link:"HBKsaar")[(goto-url:"https://www.hbksaar.de/personen/details/czaja_253")]
[[Back->There you go.]](set:$inventory_off to true)
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(display:"logo klein")
[[About->Nico Czaja]]
[[Stories->interaktive Geschichten]]
[[Partners->Partnern]]
[[References->Referenzen]]
Contact
[[Back->There you go.]]
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##Kontakt
<form action="https://formspree.io/n.czaja@xmlab.org" method="POST">
<label for="name">Name:</label>
<input type="text" id="name" name="name" placeholder="Your name" style="width:400px">
<label for="text">Message:</label>
<textarea id="text" name="text" placeholder="Your message" style="height:200px;width:400px" required></textarea>
<label for="_replyto">Email:</label>
<input type="email" id="_replyto" style="width:400px" name="_replyto" placeholder="Your email adress" required>
<input type="submit" id="send" name="send" value="Send">
</form>He casts a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure you are close enough before he speaks for the second time.
"Well well well", he says without turning. "So you have solved my little riddle, have you? Not bad, not bad at all."
He remains silent for a moment, and then turns towards you with expert drama once more. The moment has lost almost none of its effect: it is //still// Czaja!
[["It was fiendishly difficult."->schwierig oder leicht]]
[["It was easy as pie."->schwierig oder leicht]]
[["It was of precisely normal difficulty."->schwierig oder leicht]]Czaja nods approvingly. "As I expected it to be. For I had planned it that way //exactly//."
He sinks into the soft-cushioned executive chair on his side of the desk. There seems to be no seating available for you.
"Not many have made it this far. It's long ago that someone has found me on their own. You have earned your three minutes. What can I do for you?"
[["Write a story for me! One that is entirely my own. A story starring myself!"->schreiben]]
[["Actually I just wanted to ask about your terms, we have a very interesting project going on and are in need a writer that knows their way around interactive narrative, and I thought it might be best to just go and talk to you pers--"->anfragen]]
[["FOOL! I was sent by none other than the Branching Roads Maintenance Society - which, as you know, is your arch-nemesis! I am here to KILL YOU!"->töten]]
(set:$inventory_off to true)"Why, this is why you came all the way to my humble abode? That's touching. I'll gladly oblige! Three minutes should be ample time for that... one moment, please."
//...and within the next minutes, dear readers, I wrote the story you just finished reading.
[[THE END->There you go.]]//(set:$inventory_off to true)"--personally, yes, sure, wonderful, that's great to hear. Then I suggest you just write to me, that would be best, then we'll have it, you know, in writing. Use our contact form, I answer all written queries //personally//, that's a huge deal for me. You know what, I'll give you a keyword you can use in your message for me to better remember who you are, I have such a bad memory for names, but a brilliant one for keywords. Write whatever you want to write me, and then you write, let's see... 'Brommelbeerenschlag'. Yes?`I'll get back to you. Thank you. Bye."
While talking, Czaja authoritatively accompanies you to the elevator and politely pushes you back into the cabin.
The doors slide shut.
//[[THE END->There you go.]]//Czaja turns pale.
"What?! But how can-- NO! It's impossible!" Panicking already, he reaches under the desk feeling for the alarm button he never had to use before.
[["Don't bother, Czaja. It's too late. I've already infected you with a virus tailor-made for your DNA. It's transmitted via air, it's incurable and it kills within minutes. Painless, but without mercy."->"Sparen sie sich die Mühe, Czaja. Es ist zu spät. Ich habe sie bereits mit einem auf ihre DNA maßgeschneiderten Virus infiziert, das sich durch die Luft überträgt, unheilbar ist und in Minuten tötet. Schmerzlos, aber unerbittlich."]](set:$inventory_off to true)Czaja looks at you in bewildermen one more time, then his eyes roll toward the ceiling and he drops dead.
He should have seen it coming.(set:$getötet to true)
Your work here is done.
[[You leave the office, then the building, then the city.->Wiedergänger]]
(set:$inventory_off to true)(event: when time >1s)[Several weeks have passed.]<text|
(event: when time >4s)[(replace: ?text)[There has been nothing on the news about Czaja's death.]]
(event: when time >8s)[(goto:"tagesschau")]
(set:$inventory_off to true)A couple of days ago he has been spotted.
In a news clip about some award ceremony or other.
In the background, out of focus, but undoubtedly Czaja.
Apparently joking with Chancellor Merkel.
Obviously in good health.
[[Dang.->Vor dem Kontor]]Generische Etagen prozedural füllen
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