In the oddly-told tale, you play as someone who just shot a man in vengeance. You hear police sirens. You wear a silver medallion and carry a pistol and a paper bag. Time to get back home and make plans.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 3 of the story.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction story. Please make an honest effort to play the story before reading this walkthrough.
Shooting the Fixer is an optional choice. You don't have to do it.
> shoot Fixer.
The dying Fixer merges with his corpse and both vanish, leaving a living Fixer behind.
If you decide not to shoot the Fixer, his corpse will vanish when you put the pistol into the paper bag.
> put pistol in bag.
> give bag to Fixer.("Bought and paid for"; he leaves.)
> w.
Outside Betsy's Coffee
> take mug.
> n.
Betsy's Coffee
> put mug on counter.(The mugs merge, and the waitress takes it away.)
Helping the old man is optional. But as you've probably understood by now, events are progressing backwards. So instead of picking up the angry cane and giving it to the angry man, you should take the smiling cane from the smiling man then drop it.
> take smiling cane.(The smiling man vanishes.)
> drop cane.(The canes merge.)
If you decide not to help the old man, his smiling self and cane will vanish when you leave the coffee shop.
> s. w.
Outside Your Apartment
Helping the girl get her ball back is optional:
> take happy ball.(The happy girl vanishes.)
> throw happy ball at hoop.
If you decide not to help the girl, her happy self and ball will vanish when you enter your apartment.
> n.
Your Apartment
> x note. answer phone.
*** Your day of vengeance has finally come ***
> ENTER(Repeat pressing ENTER to see the events of the story retold normally, from The Greek's phone call to your unavoidable arrest outside your victim's apartment.)
*** THE END ***
> score
Extras
Characters
"The Greek" phones you to tell you today's your big day. He arranged your meeting with the Fixer.
A girl is outside your apartment. She is sad because her basketball is stuck in the hoop, and happy afterwards if you helped her get her ball back. In the peculiar reversed-time view of events, both versions of the girl exist until you decide whether to help her or not.
A waitress in Betsy's Coffee brings you a coffee and puts it on the counter for you. In the peculiar reversed-time view of events, she takes your coffee away when you put it on the counter.
An old man is in Betsy's Coffee. He is angry because he dropped his cane and can't reach it, and smiling afterwards if you helped him get his cane back. In the peculiar reversed-time view of events, both versions of the old man exist until you decide whether to help him or not.
A Fixer by the alley has a pistol in a brown paper bag for you. After you take the pistol, you can optionally shoot the Fixer with it. In the peculiar reversed-time view of events, both the living and dead Fixer exist until you decide whether to shoot him or not.
A man lies dead in his apartment. You shot him. Your motive was vengeance, but the player gets no details about who the man was or what he did to merit death.
Police catch you and arrest you after you murder your victim, no matter what else you do or don't do.
Credits
This is the Credits menu text accessed via the ABOUT coammnd:
Many thanks to the beta testers for invaluable feedback and suggestions: DAC, Joel Webster, Dacharya64 and A.J. Crowley.
This game uses the following extensions:
Standard Rules by Graham Nelson
Object Response Tests by Juhana Leinonen
Basic Screen Effects by Emily Short
Menus by Emily Short
Inventory
an automatic pistol. You're carrying it.
Optionally, by the alley, you may shoot the living Fixer, who will die, merge with his dead self and disappear, and yet the living Fixer will remain. Shooting the Fixer means you killed him after he delivered the pistol to you. But you don't need to kill him.
Put the pistol into the bag, then give the bag to the Fixer. This reverses the Fixer's delivery of the pistol to you. Now you can continue west towards your apartment.
a silver medallion. You're wearing it.
Rub it, if you like. This is your "keepsake" as per the game's title, but you don't use it in any puzzle.
In the ABOUT menus, the author explains that keepsake is another word for a memento, and Memento was a film with reversed time sequences.
a brown paper bag. You're carrying it.
By the alley, put the pistol into the bag, then give the bag to the Fixer. This reverses the Fixer's delivery of the pistol to you. Now you can continue west towards your apartment.
a brass shell casing. It's on the floor of His Apartment.
Optionally take it so the police won't find it there.
The casing will disappear from your inventory when you reach the street. Reversed time has already started, and since you haven't shot your intended victim yet, there's no casing.
If you did take the casing, this fact will get mentioned in the story's conclusion.
a warm mug of coffee. It's on the table outside Betsy's Coffee.
Take it inside Betsy's and put the mug on the counter. The warm and shimmering mugs merge, and Betsy takes the mug away. This reverts your buying of the coffee earlier, and now you can continue west towards your apartment.
the smiling man's cane. The smiling old man in Betsy's Coffee is holding it.
Optionally, you may take the smiling man's cane and drop it. The canes will merge, leaving the angry man with his cane on the floor. Doing this means you helped him earlier, picking up his cane and giving it to him. But if you don't want to have helped the man, leave the cane alone.
the happy girl's ball. The happy young girl outside your apartment is holding it.
Optionally, you may take the happy girl's ball and throw it at the hoop. The balls will merge, leaving the sad girl with her ball stuck on the hoop. Doing this means you helped her earlier, picking up her ball from the hoop and giving it to her. But if you don't want to have helped the girl, leave the ball alone.
Score
During the game proper, the response to SCORE is:
You rank is: ...undetermined...
After the story has concluded, the response to SCORE is:
Your rank is:
--- rank ---
There are four possible ranks:
Serial killer
if you shot the Fixer.
There is still good in him
if you didn't shoot the Fixer and you helped either the old man or the young girl.
Killer with a heart of gold
if you didn't shoot the Fixer and you helped both the old man and the young girl.
Stone cold avenger
if you didn't shoot the Fixer and you didn't help anyone. The author calls this "taking the minimal path through the game".
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