ATLAS AND THE MINOTAUR

ATLAS: Can I help you? [[QUERY]] (if:(history: where its name contains "LEAVE.")'s length >= 1)[(text-colour:#454545)[By Kepler Spacecraft, for OJA, the strongest person I know. Made in Twine.]]

MINOTAUR: I have bested Geryon, Echidna and Heracles. I am the strongest person on Earth, and I was told that to prove it, I must best you! ATLAS: That's a bad idea. MINOTAUR: I challenge you to a wrestling match! ATLAS: Terrible idea. MINOTAUR: If you do not stand and fight, I'll have to charge you! ATLAS: Do I have to moo it? [[CHARGE]]

The Earth swallows you up the moment you approach ATLAS with hostile intent. You suffocate in the ground for hours. ''BAD ENDING 1'' [[TRY AGAIN?]]

MINOTAUR: Yes. Maybe. I'm looking for the person who holds up the sky... ATLAS: What do you think I'm doing? Picking daisies? MINOTAUR: Right. I'm sorry. ATLAS: It's okay. No one expects me to be the strongest person in the world. [[CHALLENGE]] [[SO YOU ARE?]]

MINOTAUR: So you are, then? The strongest person on Earth? ATLAS: If there were anyone stronger, they would be holding up the sky instead. MINOTAUR: That makes sense. [[CONTINUE.]]

ATLAS: …do you have anything to tell me, or are you going to stare? [[CHALLENGE]] [[PAUSE]]

MINOTAUR: (obviously rehearsed) I’ve travelled to all the other corners of the Earth. I’ve proven my strength to Geryon, Heracles and Echidna. I am stronger than anyone else on Earth… ATLAS: Except for me. [[YES.]] [[CHALLENGE]]

MINOTAUR: Except for you, yes. ATLAS: Be warned: if you try to fight me, the ground will swallow you whole. Someone has to be holding up the sky at all times. MINOTAUR: I’m seeing that now. My plan was to challenge you to a wrestling match. ATLAS: Not a great idea. [[AGREE]]

MINOTAUR: Yeah. How does a little girl end up holding the sky, anyways? ATLAS: I’m told I have a grandmother who destroyed one of the pillars that held up the sky. Her punishment was to become the strongest person in the world, so she could hold it up until they figured out how to fix it. ATLAS: Then they didn’t figure out how to fix it, so they made my father the strongest person in the world and charged him with it. MINOTAUR: And now you. ATLAS: Yep. [[CHALLENGE?]] [[CONCEDE]]

Don't be stupid. [[CONCEDE]]

MINOTAUR: Well. I cannot wrestle you, nor would I particularly want to. ATLAS: I appreciate it. I could hear the last person who tried to challenge me suffocating in the dirt for hours. [[OFFER]] [[ASK]]

MINOTAUR: I don't intend to challenge you, and I don't intend to bother you forever. But before I leave, could I carry the sky for-- ATLAS: Did we not just go over how-- MINOTAUR: I know! I know. Not forever. But I have cupcakes in my bag. And I am the second strongest person on Earth. I suspect I am the most qualified person to give you a snack break. ATLAS: ...Okay. You are going to kneel down, on one knee, like me. Put your arms out, like me. Keep your hands level with your neck. [[KNEEL.]]

MINOTAUR: How many people have come here and challenged you? ATLAS: I don't know. About twelve. Fewer come to visit. [[WHAT'S IT LIKE]] [[OFFER]]

//The MINOTAUR does so. ATLAS stands up, effortlessly. The moment she does, the MINOTAUR's eyes bulge.// [[STRAIN.]]

//ATLAS peruses the MINOTAUR's bag for cupcakes as the MINOTAUR wheezes under the weight of the sky. The ground around her knee and foot crack and strain. // [[WEEP.]]

//The MINOTAUR sweats, and groans, and tears up. // MINOTAUR: How-- how did you-- ATLAS: Avoid crying? Yes, I still cry, often, even, but doing it all the time saps your energy even faster, and then I struggle more. You can cry all you want, though. It’s healthy to cry. MINOTAUR: //Thankyou.// [[STRUGGLE.]]

//ATLAS delights in a luscious, slightly smushed chocolate cupcake. The MINOTAUR wheezes and weeps. // [[PRAY]]

//ATLAS stands up and stretches. The MINOTAUR murmurs an incomprehensible prayer.// [[DO NOT DROP THE SKY.]]

//ATLAS returns to her spot, the place where her little knees fit perfectly into the Earth. She kneels down and puts her arms out.// ATLAS: Whenever you’re ready, just stand up. [[STAND.]] [[STRAIN]]

//The MINOTAUR stands up, trembling. ATLAS does not even flinch as she regains the burden of the sky.// MINOTAUR: (in a very small voice) Sky-holder, you have proven yourself the strongest person– ATLAS: You can fall. It’s okay. [[COLLAPSE.]]

MINOTAUR: I've... travelled... to all the other corners of the Earth... ATLAS: You did it. Just stand up. [[PERSIST]] [[STAND.]]

//The MINOTAUR's tears continue to stream. // MINOTAUR: I've proven myself to Geryon... ATLAS: Don't be stupid. MINOTAUR: Heracles... ATLAS: Dammit. Stand up. MINOTAUR: And Echidna... ATLAS: Don't be stupid. Stand up! [[STAND.]] [[PERSIST?]]

MINOTAUR: I... am... the strongest person on Earth... and I will prove it... ATLAS: Stupid! Stupid! Dammit, cowbrain, stand up now! [[STAND?]] [[STRUGGLE?]]

The Minotaur tries to stand. She waited too long. Her knees give out. The sky falls on Atlas's shoulders with a mighty thud. She weeps unstoppably as the Minotaur dies next to her. ''BAD ENDING 3'' [[TRY AGAIN]]

//ATLAS braces herself at her post and prays. The MINOTAUR trembles, but refuses to stand. // MINOTAUR: I... will... carry the sky! I... will... bear the weight! For you! ATLAS: No, you won't, idiot! //The Earth swallows up the MINOTAUR. She suffocates in the Earth for hours. // ''BAD ENDING 2'' [[TRY AGAIN]]

//The MINOTAUR collapses on her ass, heaving. ATLAS chuckles as she groans like a wounded animal. // [[SATISFACTION]] [[SORE LOSER?]]

MINOTAUR: I am satisfied. I am infinitely content in my position as the second strongest person on Earth. I’ll never take it for granted again. ATLAS: Thank you. It’s nice to be appreciated. [[LEAVE]] [[BOON]]

MINOTAUR: I... I will be back. ATLAS: Seriously? MINOTAUR: You... shouldn't have to be stuck here. A little girl shouldn't have to shoulder a burden like this. ATLAS: You really don't get it, do you? You get the choice to come here, and give me a break, as a novelty. And I'm grateful. But you can fight Hercules and Geryon a hundred times, and the gods still won't make you the strongest person in the world. [[ACCEPT.]] [[LEAVE UNSATISFIED.]]

MINOTAUR: Some achieve strength... ATLAS: Others have the weight of the world thrust upon them. [[SATISFACTION]]

The MINOTAUR returns her bag to the way it was and stands on shaking legs. MINOTAUR: Sky-holder. I'll be back to free you. ATLAS: I can see why you would make a good wrestler, seeing as your skull is impenetrably thick. ''NEUTRAL ENDING. '' [[TRY AGAIN]]

The MINOTAUR returns her bag to the way it was and stands on shaking legs. MINOTAUR: Sky-holder. One day, I'll be back to free you. ATLAS: I appreciate the sentiment. MINOTAUR: You said they were working to rebuild the pillars. Do you know where? Or who? Maybe I can help. ATLAS: ...west. It's west. You... are the first person to ask. MINOTAUR: I'll go west. And I'll come back carrying the pillar. ''GOOD ENDING 2'' [[TRY AGAIN]]

MINOTAUR: It’s the least I can do to grant you a boon. If anyone ever tries to challenge you to the title, call for Aster, and Hermes will take me here. Then you can see just how good of a wrestler I am, and you don’t have to listen to them suffocate. ATLAS: That could be nice. Thank you, Aster. ASTER: Any time. What’s your name? ATLAS: Olympia. ASTER: That's a beautiful name. OLYMPIA: Thank you. [[LEAVE.]]

ASTER returns her bag to the way it was and stands on shaking legs. ASTER: Olympia the Sky-holder. One day, I'll be back to free you. OLYMPIA: I appreciate the sentiment. ASTER: You said they were working to rebuild the pillar that held up the sky. Do you know where? Or who? Maybe I can help. OLYMPIA: ...west. It's west. You... are the first person to ask. ASTER: I'll go west. And I'll come back carrying the pillar. OLYMPIA: It can't be any heavier than the sky. ''GOOD ENDING 1'' [[TRY AGAIN]]

MINOTAUR: And what's it like, holding up the sky? ATLAS: Oh, delightful. You know. Day in, day out, sitting under the unfathomable burden. Knowing no one else can do it. Without pause. ATLAS: You get to rest between your matches. Walk the world uninhibited. ATLAS: You weren't born to be a beast of burden. [[REMAIN SILENT.]]

MINOTAUR: ... ATLAS: ...sorry. MINOTAUR: No, you're right. You're well within your right, in fact. I was born in a labyrinth, but I could fight my way out, and I don't think you can fight your way out from under the sky. For what it's worth, though obviously we're different, I understand what it's like to have your family's history shape your life for the worse. ATLAS: I do see that. MINOTAUR: I don't want you to think I'm pitying you, uselessly, but let it be known I was infinitely impressed the moment I laid eyes on you. ATLAS: It is impressive, isn't it? [[OFFER]] [[IMPRESSED]]

MINOTAUR: I'm doubly impressed that you're just so... ATLAS: Conscious? Chipper? Witty? MINOTAUR: All of the above. ATLAS: It's mostly a front. But I don't have conversations often. I can't waste them being miserable. ATLAS: I do have things I like, you know. I have fond memories. I can sing. I watch sunsets and sunrises more beautiful than anywhere else in the world. And the Earth grows flowers for me. [[OFFER]] [[ONE MORE QUESTION]]

MINOTAUR: Do you have a favorite color? ATLAS: I know this is ironic. So don't laugh. But I love a clear, blue sky. [[OFFER]]

//The MINOTAUR is a woman with the head of a cow and a hiking backpack with a decal of laurels on it, picking her way up a mountain path. When she reaches the peak, the sky goes from white to blue in a curved line, the lowest point of which sits on the shoulders of ATLAS, kneeling in white garb. The MINOTAUR gawks awkwardly. // [[MEET ATLAS]] (text-colour:grey)[= (if:(history: where its name contains "CHARGE")'s length >= 1)[BAD ENDING 1: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "STRUGGLE?")'s length >= 1)[BAD ENDING 2: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "STAND?")'s length >= 1)[BAD ENDING 3: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "LEAVE UNSATISFIED.")'s length >= 1)[NEUTRAL ENDING: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "LEAVE")'s length >= 1)[GOOD ENDING 1: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "LEAVE.")'s length >= 1)[GOOD ENDING 2 (TRUE ENDING): ACHIEVED]

The MINOTAUR is a woman with the head of a cow and a hiking backpack with a decal of laurels on it, picking her way up a mountain path. When she reaches the peak, the sky goes from white to blue in a curved line, the lowest point of which sits on the shoulders of a little girl, kneeling in a white dress. The MINOTAUR gawks awkwardly. [[MEET ATLAS]] (text-colour:grey)[= (if:(history: where its name contains "CHARGE")'s length >= 1)[BAD ENDING 1: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "STRUGGLE?")'s length >= 1)[BAD ENDING 2: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "STAND?")'s length >= 1)[BAD ENDING 3: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "LEAVE UNSATISFIED.")'s length >= 1)[NEUTRAL ENDING: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "LEAVE")'s length >= 1)[GOOD ENDING 1: ACHIEVED] (if:(history: where its name contains "LEAVE.")'s length >= 1)[GOOD ENDING 2 (TRUE ENDING): ACHIEVED]