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Key & Compass presents:
The Day I came back
by Marius Müller

The Day I came back is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2014 by Marius Müller. It was a participant in the 7th annual New Year's Minicomp event. It is also the seventh installment in the Alex and Paul series, following the events of The Day I died.

In this game, you once again play as Alex, lovable sociopath. In the last game, you died and you're now in a hellish replica of the house you share with your husband Paul. Your guide in Hell, Paul's dead and evil Uncle Wally, tells you that Paul isn't dead yet but an assassin has been sent after him. You need to reincarnate fast and save him!

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.


Map

u u in u u enter coffee climb wall d d out d d put snakein bag Cemetery room Hallway LivingRoom AbovePaul Assassin'sface PotterRoom Kitchen At theGate Paul'sMidsection Assassin'sMidsection GardenArea Hilltop Leg Area Leg Area(East) Golfcourse CargoHold Row 54 Aisle CrampedRoom Row 38 (to toilet) (win) (to cockpit)

Walkthrough

The game begins with a conversation between a girl named Marsha and a therapist.

Garden Area (Actually hell)

> x me. x Wally. x Cerberus. i. (You're carrying nothing.)

> x pool. x chairs. x undergrowth. x wall. x door.

> take bone. x this bone.

> talk to Wally. g. (Wally unlocks the door.)

> g. throw bone at Cerberus. take bone.

Learn that Paul's sharing an apartment with the Venusian Warrior Woman, and that one of Frenesié's clones sent an assassin to kill Paul.

> talk to Wally. g. g. g.

> n.

Kitchen

Note: You can, instead, reassemble the vase, but you shouldn't.

> x vase. take shard. (Wally claims you failed the first task.)

> n.

Living room

Note: You can, instead, hug your teddy, but you shouldn't.

> x couches. x teddy. cut teddy. x sawdust.

> w. in.

Potter Room

Caution: Taking the nitro itself is fatal.

> x nitro.

> put sawdust in nitro. (You now have dynamite.)

> out. u.

Cemetary

Note: You can, instead, hug your dad, but you REALLY shouldn't.

> x gravestones. x Vask's. x parser.

> x Dad. x younger self.

> take Vask's. throw Vask's at Dad.

Dad's dead. You learn that the key to the cart is in your heart. Younger self leaves.

> x heart. x chest.

> cut heart. x key.

> d. e. s. s.

Garden Area (Actually hell)

> throw dynamite at Cerberus. (It explodes. Wally falls into the acid pool.)

> climb wall.

Golf course

> x cart. unlock cart with key.

> open cart. enter cart. e. ne.

At the Gate

> x gate. n.

Above Paul

You've been reincarnated as a housefly! You, Paul, and an assassin, are in an airplane cabin.

> d. e.

Assassin's midsection

You hear the assassin put something in Paul's coffee when he borrows a magazine.

> u. w. d.

Paul's Midsection

Paul has a coffee mug now.

> x coffee. enter coffee.

Paul won't drink a coffee with a drowned fly in it, and you're now in...

Darkness / Leg Area

> e. (You're in a... toilet bag?)

> out. open bag.

You're now a Mercurian rat. The assassin is getting a snake from his own bag.

> out. take bag. e.

Leg Area (East)

> take snake. put snake in bag.

Paul's foot accidentally kills the snake, and then...

Row 54

...you're Marsha, a little girl two rows down on the plane.

> x me. (You see the assassin draw a gun with silencer.)

> x mother. (Assassin motions Paul to get up.)

> e. (Your seatbelt stops you. The men head to the rear of the plane.)

Incidentally, you won't be able to successfully open your seatbelt until Paul and the assassin have left.

> open seatbelt. e. s.

Row 38

> x seats. look under seats. (You take the toilet bag.)

> x bag. open bag. x oil. s.

Cramped Room

> n. (locked)

> w. (locked)

> open cupboard. x keys.

This puzzle is a tribute to my own game, 69,105 Keys, so I knew instantly that I ought to count them.

> count keys. (A man shows up and gives you the unique key.)

> unlock cargo door with unique key.

> n.

Cargo Hold

Oddly, the puzzle with the wedge can be skipped. Oops.

> x Paulorx assassin.

Feel free to wait and listen to their entire conversation. Paul is really good at stalling.

> x cart. take wedge. (It won't budge!)

> put oil on wedge. take wedge.

> enter cart. n.

Assassin and cart fall into the sky. Paul rescues you. You quickly tell Paul you're Alex. Then the Sky Marshall arrives.

*** TO BE CONTINUED. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 ***


Extras

Characters

Mentioned:


Endings


Inventory

Honorable mention:


Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with