Key & Compass presents:
In The End
by Joe Mason

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This story at CASA, IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Follow me at Bluesky, Ko-Fi, Mastodon, Patreon, and Wordpress.

Map

• This story doesn't use compass directions.
• On this map, "use car" means to command the car with a valid destination, such as "car, home" while in the car.
• If you never learn Annie's name, her home is called "The Young Woman's House".
• The funeral parlour is closed when you first enter the highway.
• If you leave Annie's house then return, the lantern is now unlit.
• If you leave the alley for the highway then return, the bar is now closed.

Walkthrough

Note: This story takes place in a future time period when self-driving cars, anti-aging treatments, and suicide are commonplace.

Funeral Parlour

> x Jon. g. g.

> x priest. x mourners. x pew. z.

The service is over.

> stand. out.

Parking Lot

> x sky. x rain. x car. x fence. climb fence.

> enter car.

A young woman hammers on the passenger door. If you just wait and do nothing, she boldly enters your car uninvited. You also have the option to order the car to go somewhere, leaving her behind.

But in the interest of seeing more content, invite her inside.

> x woman.

> woman, enter car.

She gets in and tells the car her address.

Highway (in the car)

> x her. ask her about name. ("Annie")

> ask her about Jon. tell her about me.

> ask her about life. ask her about rain.

> ask her about service. ask her about job.

> x her. g. g.

> ask her about car.

> z. (repeat until the car stops)

Annie's House (in the car)

Annie thanks you and is soon inside her house. You cannot follow her. She won't answer any knocking on her door. And there is no sequence of events where she invites you inside her house.

> x door. x knocker. x lantern. x shrubs.

> x windows. x steps.

> go home.

> car, list.

> car, bar.

Highway (in the car)

> z. (repeat until the car stops)

Alley

> x neon.

> out. x bar. x store.

> enter store.

Convenience Store

> x man. x mirror. x shelves.

> x rack. x journal. buy journal.

> ask man about store. ask man about magazines.

> ask man about Hopson. ask man about cosmology.

> ask man about movies. ask man about mirror.

> ask man about giving up. tell man about Jon.

> ask man about treatments.

> out. enter bar.

Jerry's Tavern

> x Jerry. x list.

> buy beer —or— buy whiskey —or— buy scotch.

> sit at table. x fireplace.

> ask Jerry about Jerry. tell him about Jon.

> ask him about life. ask him about death.

> ask him about fireplace.

> ask him about bar. ask him about age.

> ask him about cosmology.

> read Journal. drink drink.

> stand. out.

Alley

> drop journal. x it. take it. look. x ink.

> drop journal.

> enter car.

> car, home.

Highway (in the car)

> car, stop.

Deserted Highway

> out. x trees.

> enter woods. (Robert Frost quote.)

> enter car.

> car, home.

Highway (in the car)

> z. (repeat waiting until the car stops)

By the way, I could not get the car to stop on the bridge. I did try, but I no longer think that's possible.

Driveway

> out. in.

Study

> x window. x chair. x desk.

> sit on chair.

My apologies for the next action which I don't feel is well-clued or well-motivated, but there's little else to do. This action appears to be the only way to conclude this story without quitting. Personally, I just wanted to sleep or find something better to read. Tomorrow will be another day and the rain won't last forever.

Unfortunately, this story does not permit optimism nor provide any of the usual comforts of home.

> kill me.

*** You have died ***

> word

Choose and open "The final word" to read "Lullaby for a Weary World".

Extras

Characters

• A priest conducts a generic service at Jon's funeral.
• The mourners at Jon's funeral are his family and younger friends. After the service is over, most leave, leaving the remaining people.
• Annie is a young woman who needs a ride home. She's older than she first appears to be.
• Jerry is the owner and bartender of your favourite bar.
• The store owner is an Asian gentleman. He reminds you that his store is not a library.

Found dead:

• Jon is an old friend who gave up and took his own life. His body is in his coffin at the funeral.

Quotes by:

• T.S. Eliot (when the story begins).
• Robert Frost (when you attempt to enter the woods that borders on the deserted highway).

Mentioned:

• Your friends who died all lived the fast side of life. You used to feel superior to them.
• Mr. Hopson normally buys the journal.
• Doctor Valdez supposedly has the best treatments, but it's more expensive.
• Jim owned the bar before Jerry did.
• Rev. Christopher Jordan and his colleague Ms. Katherine McEchen are quoted in the journal.

Credits

To view the credits within the story, type INFO, then select and open the "Acknowledgements and credits" menu-item:

Acknowledgements and credits

This story is copyright 1996 by Joe Mason. It may be copied, distributed, and played freely. It may be compiled with an interpreter into an executable file for any machine, but may not be otherwise modified in any way. It was created with Inform 5.5, a special-purpose programming language created by Graham Nelson - see "About Interactive Fiction" for details on how to obtain the Inform compiler.

I'd like to thank everybody who gave me support and encouragement, as well as everybody who would have if I'd let them (I tended to keep the details to myself, for fear of spoiling the surprise.)

I'd especially like to thank Russ Bryan for pointing out the holes in my thinking, and for keeping his mouth shut during some of the debates that cropped up unexpectedly... And to all the people from Shad Valley Carleton 1996 who gave me so much encouragement - most notably Savitha, who laughed in all the wrong places, and Jessica, who reassured me that it wasn't really that funny...

Another thank you to my biology teacher, Mr. Romualdi, for starting the short-lived class discussion that gave me the inspiration for this story.

My apologies to T.J. Burnside Clapp for misappropriating the title "Lullaby for a Weary World". Once I realized that my poem was, in fact, a lullaby, no other title was possible. (If anybody wants to read the original "Lullaby for a Weary World", which has no connection to this story, just E-mail me at redacted.)

The fragment of music used in this story is from "Here Again", by Rush, although the lyrics aren't quite correct. I'd suggest that playing "Here Again" and Victor's "At The End" in the background will greatly enhance the atmosphere of the story... You have been warned!

Endings

• You have died
• if you kill yourself. You won't do the deed in the funeral parlour, in the bar, or in the moving car. The description of your suicide differs depending on your location.

I failed to find any other endings. There's no option to hook up with Annie or just fall asleep somewhere.

I did, however, find that "ask Annie about approval" and "XYZZY" crashed the story.

Also, when I was at Deserted Highway, I said "in" instead of "enter car". This had the unfortunate effect of moving me into a "car" location with no exits. Oops!

Inventory

• a beer, a whisky, or a scotch. Buy any of these at the bar.
• Drink your drink. You can only have one drink at a time. You cannot take drinks out of the bar.
• Feel free to drink as much as you like. Money is no object, you never get drunk, and you never need to urinate. On the other hand, you don't get any benefit from drinking. It's just something to do.
• an issue of International Journal of Astrophysics. It's in the convenience store. Buy it if you want it.
• After leaving the store with the journal, you may go somewhere else indoors to read it. Unfortunately, you are disgusted with what you read and consider the purchase a waste of money.
• If you drop the journal outside, it becomes a tattered and dripping ruin of a magazine.

Honorable mention:

• your jacket. You're wearing it, but it's not implemented as a game object.
• The jacket helps protect you from the rain. When you enter your house, you automatically remove it and hang it up. If you leave your house, you automatically put it on.
• some money. You're carrying it, but it's not implemented as a game object.
• You have enough money to buy drinks and the journal, if you want them.
• Because the shopkeeper counts out your change, it's safe to assume your purchases aren't made with a card.
• your pocket knife. You're carrying it, but it's not implemented as a game object.
• If you do decide to kill yourself, you use this item to do it with.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.

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