Mystery Flesh Pit Adventure

Your car rattles to a stop in the park parking lot at the end of CR 357. You’ve been traveling for what feels like days but it couldn't have been more than a few hours. You are supposed to be in Amarillo but this sure doesn't look like Amarillo. As you look around the lot punctuated with a large sign that declares this lot as Lot A. It's enclosed in wooden fences and dotted with small shrubs reminding you that you’re still in West Texas. You see a building to the right of what looks like a trail head. In front of the building proudly stands a sign that reads “Mystery Flesh Pit National Park”. As you stand dumbly staring, a figure dressed as a park ranger exits the building and starts walking towards you. “Howdy friend! Looks like you either found yourself really lost or you meant to find yourself here, in either case, welcome to the park! We haven’t had visitors in quite a while. Y’all looking for the tour?” [[Yes, I am |Yes looking for tour]] [[No, I'm not|No tour]]

“Well you’ve come to the right place! Wanna take a look at the topside visitor’s center or we can start the official tour right away!” [[I want to go to the visitor's center|Go to visitor's center]] [[Let's start the tour!|yes tour]]

“Aw, dang it. I haven’t gotten to do one of these in ages. I even got out my church mask. Well, unfortunately, you weren’t supposed to get here anyways, took a wrong turn friend and now I can’t let you go back…” (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

Stepping into the building feels like heaven in the hot Texas desert and it takes your eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden lack of blazing heat and oppressive sunshine. As your eyes start to pan slowly from left to right you see that the building seems to have been co-opted into multiple different purposes. It looks like it's been laid out like a small museum with a gift shop and an informational kiosk. [[I want to go look at the museum|museum]] [[Let's see what's in the kiosk |kiosk]] [[What can I buy at the gifts shop?|giftshop]]

In its abandoned state, it looks like someone used to man the kiosk but humanity has since been replaced by fun little informational pamphlets. Looking at one you understand how such a cute and concise way of representing information has put someone out of a job. [[Go look at the museum.|museum]] [[Go to gift shop.|giftshop]] [[Leave the visitor's center|exit top vc]]

Looking at the gift shop, you can physically feel the dust fill your lungs. You don’t know when the last visitor to the park was but whoever’s in charge here definitely hasn’t cleaned since then. So many tacky souvenirs lost to the ages. [[Go to kiosk.|kiosk]] [[Go to museum.|museum]] [[Leave the visitor's center|exit top vc]] [[Grab a plushie.|plushie]]

The museum takes up half of the building and the rangers seem to have a created a small loop that starts with a map and a brief history of the park and culminates in a room with several models of the various fauna in the park and leads back to the main room in a tunnel mimicking the mining tunnels that are still being used. [[Go to kiosk next.|kiosk]] [[Go to gift shop next.|giftshop]] [[I'm done here|exit top vc]]

You almost bump into the ranger, who seems to have been waiting for you right in front of the doors to the visitor’s center. “Well how’d you like it? Rather informational if I do say so! Ready to start up the trail? First you’ll need a mask, lots of biological hazards.” [[No, I'd rather go home actually.|No tour]] [[Yes, I'm ready to go.|yes tour]]

You approach the trail head. It's headed up by a larger map of the various attractions of the park, most of them appear to have been vandalized, leaving only the way to the pit. [[Start walking down the trail.|trail to pit]]

Walking down the trail feels as normal as any other trail you’ve been on at first, you’re walking and listening to this park ranger blab on and on. As you continue on you notice several strange patches on the rocks and you swear you see movement in the corner of your eye. Eventually you step around a corner and are met with a vast wound in the Earth. Miles and miles down you see its fleshy walls pulse and you feel slightly sick. Whether that’s from the vertigo or the circumstances you find yourself in; you don’t know. A little ways away, you see a metal staircase that starts to descend downwards. You hear the park ranger talking to no one in particular and find yourself feeling drawn to look into the chasm. [[Get a closer look at the pit.|close look ending]] [[Start the decent down the stairs|down stairs]]

As you step towards the edge of the pit, you swear you hear the ranger start yelling but you can’t seem to make out anything they’re saying. Suddenly, you feel the ground disappear from beneath you and feel yourself quickly change orientations as you realize too late that something's got you by the ankle. That’s the last thought you have as you are flung downwards. You feel your entire body snap and feel yourself being absorbed by warm flesh. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

The slow descent is excruciating. The loud clanging of feet on metal that reverberates through the pit punctuates the trip. The walk is made even more devastating by the lack of hand rails and you find your only option for stability during the whole affair is to rest your hand on the glistening red walls, but you find that you cannot make yourself approach them. When the ranger finally stops and beckons you over you feel a dull ache in your legs and a sharp feeling in your head as your eyes attempt to digest what they’re seeing. “Welcome to the Alveolar Junction! This place connects to many parts of this colossal superorganism. From here, we have many options for where your tour will lead us! We can head to the Bronchial Forest which will eventually lead to our famous Amniotic Thermal Springs, or we can take a look at the lower visitor’s center and get to experience the minecart ride which will take us all the way back up to the top!” [[Go into the Lower Visitor's Center.|enter lower vc]] [[Head to the Bronchial Forest.|bronchial forest]]

The lower visitor’s center is a lot colder and more metallic than the upper one and appears to be dedicated more to the scientific exploits that have occurred at the park and the current ongoing research. Just like the upper visitor’s center, this one also looks like it hasn’t seen any visitors for many years. There is a window into what looks like a laboratory for the public to observe some of the scientists and the rest of the room is decorated with displays on various scientific equipment and some more models of the flora and fauna that makes its home here. On the far side of the room there are telltale signs of a line for a ride with signs designating it as the minecart ride that ranger was talking about. [[Go look at the displays.|displays]] [[Take a look at the labratory window.|lab window]]

As you approach the start of the bronchial forest you feel your lungs fill with the freshest oxygen you’ve breathed since you’ve gotten here and you feel much more refreshed. Looking around you see that the texture of the flesh you’ve been surrounded by since getting here has changed from a wet, musclely sinew to a spongy mass that folds in on itself, creating ripples in the ground. Although he’s been speaking the whole time, you suddenly tune in to what the ranger has been saying, “This here is the Bronchial Forest, it produces all the oxygen that the super organism needs, making the ambient oxygen in the area twice the amount it is in the rest of the park! Making this here area the most fit for human habitation. In fact, you can go ahead and remove your mask, air’s perfectly breathable down here. Just don’t forget to put yer mask back on when we get through the trail. Wanna go through the loop or head straight on to the Amniotic Springs?” [[Go through the hiking trail loop.|trail loop]] [[Take the shortcut to the Amniotic Thermal Springs.|never do loop]]

Approaching the lab window, you notice that the lights have been left on, giving you a clear view of the room. It looks like a standard lab with various humming equipment that caters to the wide array of scientific disciplines that work together to make sense of the superorganism. One thing; however, looks rather out of place. Right in the center of the room is an operating table and on it is a strange creature. It looks both insectoid and crustacean in its form, like something from a forgotten era of Earth’s evolutionary history. Both alien and recognizable. Slowly, and with a soft clicking noise. You see it move. Just a flap of its telsons at first, building into a wave as it chitters to life. You hold your breath as it starts to move around the room and suddenly, it spots you. It makes a guttural hiss that tickles your amygdala and it rushes towards you, smashing into the glass. It seems this eventuality was thought of and its body slams on the window. However the age and neglected condition of the glass has weakened it and you see the faintest hint of cracks start spider webbing across the only thing between you and the copepod. You feel panic start to set in as you dart your attention towards an escape. [[Run to the door to escape!|run to door ending]] [[Quick! The minecart ride!|minecart escape ending]]

There are some pieces of scientific equipment used by the trail engineers to navigate the more underdeveloped areas of the flesh creature and there’s even a mannequin clad in the trail engineer’s uniform next to a model of a horrifying little creature labeled as the Amorphous Shame. [[Go look at the labratory window.|lab window]]

Running over to the ride, you see the power indicator for the control panel for the ride is blinking green. Despite the lack of people in this place for what seems to be years, the ride remarkably still works. You quickly press the start button for the ride and hop into the cart. Right as it starts to move up the track, much faster than you expected, you hear the tell tale sound of breaking glass that tells you your fate would have been sealed had you taken even a second longer. The ride chugs up and suddenly you’re met with the bright light of the sun again and you cannot remember a time where you didn’t love and worship its terrible and blazing light. Hoping not to test your luck, you quickly make our way back to your car and find yourself appreciating the rumble of the dirt road with the park in your rear view mirror. You hope that the ranger is safe with you but something tells you he will be fine. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

You trip and stumble your way to the door, expecting the automatic doors to activate and for you to find yourself safe on the other side but all you are met with is the cold hard metal of the door against your body. Through the small window you see the face of the park ranger, smiling, all teeth and cold eyes. “Sorry, friend, them creatures haven’t eaten in so long and that makes it hard for a lonely feller like me out here, it ain’t personal. You understand dontcha?” A metal divider goes over the pothole window just as you hear the shattering window spelling your doom. Like an animal in front of a moving car realizing it’s quickly impending doom, you find yourself frozen as the hungry creature rushes towards you. Suddenly, it makes impact and everything goes black. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

You find it a bit hard at first to get your bearings on the new ground but soon find that you can hop from one making you feel like you are walking on a cloud. If that cloud was mushy and wet and made a slight squelching sound when stepped on. You’ve been walking for several hours and find yourself in a small clearing. You realize for the first time in hours that you can’t hear the ranger’s incessant droning about park regulations and history anymore. You feel the silence echo and feel a rock settle into your gut as you stand alone in the pulsing grove. The silence brings your attention to a small whining groan that comes from behind a flesh cairn. (if: (history:) contains "plushie")[[[Squeeze your plushie and keep walking.|trail loop success]]] (else:) [[[Go check out that noise.|check noise]]]

Slowly. Quietly. You tiptoe around the side of the flesh cairn. In view you see just the edges first. The horrifying sinking feeling of a monster bridging the fog. The view into the iceberg. The revealing of the enemy. Your heart beats like a hummingbird in your chest. A writhing, squirming mass of hands and feet and eyes rockets towards you and you see the composite creature growing out of the wall. What was it that the ranger mentioned? Composite creatures are normal in the flesh pit. They often grow out of walls and it’s the duty of the rangers to cull them. But this one is not just a mass of animal parts. In the mass of flesh, part dog, bird, ox, and what might even be fish’s gills; you see a human hand reaching out, yearning to hold yours. [[Reach out for connection.|grab hand ending]]

The creature tenderly holds your hand, you feel the pain of thousands trapped. Wait. Not trapped. They’re together again. A screaming, roiling chorus of a thousand lives being driven into an engine of life and death and mutation and evolution. And you know the unmistakable desire to be a part of that. To be a part of something so, so much bigger than yourself. The hand knows this too. It leads you into the warm embrace of itself and you feel content as you slip away into muscle and sinew and bone. You feel your molecules slip away into a whirlpool from which there is no escape. Connected to a whole. A wholly human experience. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

You resist, something tells you that whatever that is needs to be left alone. You eventually make it to the end of the trail and suddenly the sound of the ranger’s never ending spiel finds your ears again. “And now we’ve finally made it to the Amniotic Thermal Springs." He gestures grandly to a signs stating such, "this is our prized attraction and thousands’ve traveled here for the water’s physical properties!” “We’re currently in the southeastern corner of the Springs right by the Gastric Ferry terminal where you’ll cross the Lesser Gastric Sea all the way on back to the stairs we came down on! Up that way north is the Bath House where you will find the largest and most fun," they nudge you playfully, "pool here at Mystery Flesh Pit National Park!” Looking down the sloping tunnel towards the terminal, you see a small dock with a gondola suspended over a lake of fluid that shines a pale green in the artificial light of the lower trails. A large dam spans across the edge next to where the dock is. Turning your gaze up the tunnels towards the bath house you see a more cozily lighted reinforced chamber door with steam exiting out from small vents in the structure. [[Go towards the ferry terminal.|ferry terminal]] [[Let's go swimming!|bath house]]

As you head down towards the ferry terminal, a faint fizzing sound can be heard. Approaching the water you realize you see small bubbles coming from the sea, its pale green hue a roiling mucal pool of bile. The sight of the steel gondola looks rather cheesy among the scenery, a reminder of quaint ski resorts in an otherwise extraordinary circumstance. By the gondola control panel there is an informational sign about the Gastric Sea and a rather injured looking no smoking sign that looks like it may fall over given a coy poke. On the other side of the gondola is a small shack that looks like it once sold tickets and concessions for the ride, probably the site of many miserable summer jobs. [[Take a look at the informational park sign.|park sign]] [[Maybe there's a snack in that shack?|snack shack]]

The ranger easily leads you through several tight tunnels and you come to a junction. One slopes down, leading to a larger cavern emanating a soft greenish light and the other goes up and ends in a automated door. “We’re currently in the southeastern corner of the Springs right by the Gastric Ferry terminal where you’ll cross the Lesser Gastric Sea all the way on back to the stairs we came down on! Up that way north is the Bath House where you will find the largest and most fun," they nudge you playfully, "pool here at Mystery Flesh Pit National Park!” Looking down the sloping tunnel towards the terminal, you see a small dock with a gondola suspended over a lake of fluid that shines a pale green in the artificial light of the lower trails. A large dam spans across the edge next to where the dock is. Turning your gaze up the tunnels towards the bath house you see a more cozily lighted reinforced chamber door with steam exiting out from small vents in the structure. [[Go towards the ferry terminal.|ferry terminal]] [[Let's go swimming!|bath house]]

As you approach the chamber door, you hear the sound of rushing water and generic spa music. The automatic doors open to reveal a large pool area complete with slides and rides and lounges, oh my. [[Time to rest, go lie down on a lounge.|forever comfy ending]] [[I came here to swim and swim I will.|swim]]

A rather ordinary informational park sign, interesting read though. Pretty sure you heard the ranger talking about this exact thing. [[Go look at the snack shack.|snack shack]]

Approaching the snack stand, you see a weathered and rusted metal building with a strong lean precariously placed on the edge of the roiling sea. As you approach, you peer inside and see tons of old snacks, pamphlets and small trinkets. [[Go inside.|inside shack]]

The inside of the shack smells musty and damp with age and the slight bit of fluid dripping from the ceiling. The shelves are lined with snacks whose expiration dates are all years past the present with the earliest being 2007. You also see some pamphlets about the gondola as well as a few keychains. There also looks to be a hatch on the ceiling with a rope handle to grab onto and pull open. [[...No one will miss these snacks...|take snack ending]] [[Where does this hatch lead?|open hatch]]

As you reach for a lovely honeybun, you notice that the packaging is slightly open. Turning it over in your hand you see a pulsing mass pouring out the bag and all at once, several eyes open and stare at you. The last thing you see is a spear of flesh shooting out from the mass, skewering you. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

As you pull off the hatch, you feel the whole shack wobble and you feel slightly nauseous as you pull yourself up to the roof of the shack and see a beam to the top of the gondola. Past the beam, the majesty of the massive sea of stomach acid twinkles and you find your breath taken away. As you’re distracted by the view, you hear a loud pew sound and a beam of light just miss you. Following the source with your eye, you see the ranger aiming their standard issue subduer at you, tip still smoking from the charge they expended. “Now, friend, the tour ain’t over now is it? You're gonna be good and come with me, I have some other friends I’d like you to meet.” [[Maybe I can get into the gondola from the top?|cross beam ending]] [[Maybe I can jump down and defend myself.|jump down]]

As you run across the beam, you feel it creak and then you feel it snap. You fall through the ground into the acid. The park ranger leans over the side, staring at you as you dissolve into the fluid. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

Dodging bolts of light, you stumble and fall down to ground, picking yourself up and running towards the ranger. Wrestling him to the ground, his head clatters against the no smoking sign, knocking it even looser. [[Go for the subduer!|honorable death ending]] [[Grab the sign!|death to the ranger ending]]

As you continue to roll around the ground, fighting the ranger, you try to reach for the subduer and just as you reach for it, he takes the opportunity to take a point blank shot at you. You feel the bullet of light hit you in the stomach, and your vision flashes to black. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

You grab the sign and bring it down hard onto the ranger, hitting the pistol and cleaving the ranger, who falls limp. Slowly removing yourself from the carnage, you check the ranger for signs of life, of which there are none. You see the ranger’s ring of keys and know that the key to the gondola must be in there. Shaky hands filled with adrenaline search through the fob and easily find the gondola key and you move shakily like a baby deer to the control panel and insert the key, feeling the adrenaline in your body lower significantly. The gondola door swings open and you clamber on board, hitting the return button on your way in. Slowly but surely the gondola chugs on back to the stairs while you sit admiring the scenery passing, covered in blood and a pound of keys heavier. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

You decide to take a little rest, it’s been a long day, hasn’t it? The chaise is incredibly comfortable and you feel your eyes close and feel yourself sinking into it a little bit. Or. Maybe a lot? Your eyes shoot open and you attempt to leave the chaise, but you find yourself fused to it and slowly morphing into it and for a second you think being a chair might not be that bad if you get to hang out by the pool all day. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(gotoURL:"mfpadventure.html")]

You decide to take a dip with your clothes on like it’s the beach and find that as soon as you step into the waters, you feel all the accumulated stress in your body wash away. The ranger wasn’t kidding. You find your eyes closing as you relax into the water a bit, then you realize that you’re being pushed along with the current and cannot escape. You rush through tunnels after tunnels until you find yourself spat out in the scrublands of texas, on the side of 357, wet and stinking faintly of blood. You see the park out in the horizon and the town of Gumption in the other direction on the horizon. [[Walk towards town, gotta be someone that can help.|go town]] [[Head back to the park, your car is there.|little stowaway ending]]

As you start heading towards the town, you notice it flicker in and out of your vision. You’ve been walking for hours and the town seems just as far away as it was at the beginning of your trek. It’s starting to get dark, the town hasn’t not moved. Why don’t you sit down? It’s okay, you can’t always win. [[Yes. I'm so tired.|get some rest ending]]

You slowly meander towards the parking lot and make it to your car in no time. You get in and realize this means you’re definetly going to have to clean your car. Might as well burn the whole car while you're at it. That’s the only way the car will ever be clean again. As you see the park disappear into your rear view mirror, you don't see the small pink spot growing on your rear bumper. A little souvenir from the mystery flesh pit, hope you enjoyed your stay! (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

You sit down and slowly drift to sleep, lulled by an unknown voice. You do not wake. (link:"There's so much left to explore...")[(goto:"Tour start Hub")]

There's some cute little copepod plushies and you can't help but want to grab one. [[Leave the visitor's center.|exit top vc]]