See, I needed this today, because I did a stupid thing this afternoon.
On my lunch break today, I was walking up California Street going to Chinatown and I saw a cable car stopped at a red light. At that point I remembered that my MUNI monthly pass is also good for the cable cars (check your pass if you don’t believe me), and I went over to the cable car to hitch a ride.
Mistake 1: You can board a cable car on either side, yet I went around the back to the right-hand side. This cost me time and led to…
Mistake 2: As I was reaching for the pole to get on, it started inching forward. I should’ve stopped there and waited for the next one (or, you know, walked), but instead I caught the pole with my hand and tried to step on. But then it lurched forward, and again, instead of doing the sensible thing and letting go, I jumped for it as the cable car was in motion.
And this is exceptionally bad on my part because I live near the intersection of 9th and Irving, where at the beginning of the year, a woman was badly injured by a moving N-Judah… so I should know better than to risk anything with a moving city transit vehicle.
I promptly got yelled at by the conductor, who told me never to get on the cable car as it’s moving, who said he saw that I almost wiped out, that I would be getting back off at the next stop, and so on. I quickly apologized and told him I wouldn’t do this again, because I knew he was right. He relented, but was amazed after he asked where I was going and had to admit it was only a few blocks.
If I wasn’t limited on time, it never would’ve occurred to me to try something like that. Well, that, and the fact that I was feeling a little invincible, like the main character in an adventure story, which brings me to what I really want to share with you all: I got an email Monday morning which asked me to investigate a phone number (415-325-4014), an address (580 California St., Suite 1607, SF), and the website for the Jejune Institute. If you go to that address during the hours posted on the site, you’ll find out about a strange pseudo-scientific organization that conducts “free introductory seminars” that you can actually go through. And seriously, I mean actually go to the address and ask for the Institute and go up the elevator and into an all-out office and proceed to have a strange experience.
I don’t want to reveal too much or spoil it for you, but all this is really the opening chapter of an interactive fiction that you experience mostly out and about in San Francisco, though some bits are online as well. And even that might be saying too much, but I also imagine that the masterminds didn’t go through all this work just so only a few people could see it, right?
[Edit: Right, so the source of intrigue isn’t so secret, if it’s posted to a mailing list. Seems to me now like the end goal may be more art-and-culture than game, but that’s fine by me!]
I’ve been at this for two days now, on my lunch breaks and after work, and I’ve seen a lot of creative art and puzzle design. Tonight I hit an impasse, though I’m not sure if I followed a clue wrong, or if it was just too dark tonight to see what I needed to see, or if I even need to be looking for something at this point, because I’ve set myself up for something to find me. I’ve already spoken to a fictional person or two, so who can say?
But because of all I’ve explored and been through since Monday morning, I’ve been feeling like a character getting drawn into a tale of magical realism, which as I was getting into it today, made me overestimate my own abilities. So please, if you get started on this interactive fiction, make sure you don’t do anything stupid like jump on a moving cable car.
[Immature post ending:]
Unless you’re me because I totally landed it, it was AWESOME.
ahem. Uh.
[Mature post ending:]
It’s not worth putting yourself in danger. Respect heavy machinery in motion.
