bureaucracy/buttons.txt

BUTTONS ALGORITHM

Each seat contains three buttons:
1) Marked "RECLINE"
2) Marked "CALL ATTENDANT"
3) Marked "LIGHT"

The buttons, when enabled, work as follows:

RECLINE operates on seat +1 col +2 rows and RINGS BELL there

LIGHT operates on seat +4 col +3 rows, and TOGGLES RECLINE there

BELL operates on seat -1 col +1 row and TOGGLES LIGHT there


The algorithm is also revealed when the player presses any of the
buttons from any seat when the seat buttons are DISABLED.  What happens
then is that the button triggers a recorded announcement audible only
over the headphones;  that announcement includes the location of the
seat to which it is wired, NOT to the seat which the player is actually
in.  Player has to be IN the seat with the Headphones both plugged in
and being worn before he can hear the message.  He also has to be in the
seat, either with or without headphones, before he can press the button.

BUTTONS PLAY

The player always starts in 3B.  If he presses a button at this point,
he hears the metallic whispering which only lasts for that turn.  To
hear it properly he has to wear the headphones and plug them in.  He can
press each button and get the same message repeatedly.

Once he starts wandering around the cabin he could theoretically map it
in 14 turns.  After fourteen turns the FASTEN SEAT BELT SIGN comes on
and he has four turns to get back before being forced back by the
stewardess. 

At this point he should have mapped the cabin.  His return to 3B starts
the meal service routine.  Only when all meals have been served do we
activate the buttons.  The FASTEN SEAT BELTS light goes out and he is
free to wander around the cabin or eat his meal or return to ANOTHER
seat. 

POSSIBLE PLAYS

1)

LOSER.  He eats his meal like a good boy.  After a number of turns a
neighbour will complain about his halitosis, the stew will bring him an
electric toothbrush and tell him to clean his teeth.

1a) DECLINES.  He dies of halitosis and so does everyone else.  They
continue to nag at him after death (2 turns) and reboot.

1b) ACCEPTS.  He goes to the bathroom to clean his teeth.
1bi) SUCCEEDS.  He plugs in the toothbrush which activates the john,
sending it into a frenzy and sucking him below the surface.
***BOG NOTE*** at all other times the door is shut and groaning can be
heard from behind the door.
1bii) FAILS to plug the toothbrush in and dies of halitosis except
nobody else dies since you are sealed off.  However when the aeroplane
lands the entire ground crew are killed and your name is reviled
posthumously. 

2)  LOSER

Player does NOT eat his meal but does not solve the buttons puzzle.

He will be shepherded back to his seat at frequent intervals by the
attendant and told that if he does not eat his meal they will be unable
to take the tray away, and if they are unable to take the tray away the
table will not be able to be safely stowed in accordance with FAA
regulations and therefore the plane will be unable to land and will
therefore run out of fuel and crash with the inevitable death of
everyone on board.  If he says "Fuck that, buster", it all comes true.

ALTERNATIVE if he doesn't eat his meal it will eventually eat its way
through the plate, through the table, slither onto the floor, crawl
around the cabin reeking and humming, eat through the floor and cause
explosion decompression.  Dead.


3) WIN

The player does NOT eat his food but instead solves the algorithm puzzle
and eventually (within the meal-escape time) manages to find the Light
switch in 6E which will splat the seat in front of 3B thus smashing his
tray into the back of the seat and returning 2B to an upright position
in preparation for landing at this time.  

As a reward for winning this winsome little puzzlette,  THE MISSING
CORNER OF THE FLIGHT SAFETY CARD falls out of seat 2B.  You smother your
disgust at the flecks of dried llama-spit and examine it.  It shows a
crudely-drawn picture (by Zalagasa's leading primitivist) of a misshapen
stewardess apparently standing underneath a rather wrinkled and colossal
mushroom on which is written the words "Stinglai k'aabi".

We now control the stewardess to two more appearances.  FIRST, she now
appears and tells player that there is a call for him on the telephone. 
To the admiring glances of the hateful and ugly passengers he walks to
the telephone and finds that it is the waitress from the cafe wanting to
know if he left her a gratuity.  She is leaving an address to which he
can mail it (which is in fact his own address) when she is cut off.  He
overhears the captian talking to ATC saying that the aeroplane has lost
control (Apparently some noxious substance has eaten its way through the
hydraulic lines on the port side) and will be crashing in five minutes. 
ATC informs him that he has not filed a flight plan for a crash etc. 
Rings off.

Stewardess reappears and player asks for a stinglai k'aabi and is given
one.  He then has to open the hatch.  Announcement from stewardess. 
Player has Jump, Jump, any char., and out.  Door slams shut, parachute
catches.  Knock on door, stew opens it, "Oh - you fell for the old
'we're going to crash' routine, did you?  Have a nice day!"  

TO POT.

LOSE CASES AFTER WIN BUTTON.

1) Doesn't spot parachute puzzle.

2) Doesn't answer phone.

3) Won't jump.

4) Doesn't even open hatch.


PLANE CRASH ends each.