In this odd sci-fi romance where your options are defined by your inventory, you play as a biomechanical and taciturn killing machine whose solar sail has just crashed on the Eighth Moon of Forsaken Edge. Your love, the Decoy Prince, is dying. Your quarry, the True Third Prince, is somewhere nearby. He will not escape you.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 5 of the game.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction game. Please make an honest effort to play the game before reading this walkthrough.
> x city. x saloon. x well. x denizens.(They scatter.)
> walk.
Saloon
> x bartop. x bartender. x Krondus.
> talk to him.(He gives you his grapple arm.)
> x arm. i.(It lets you climb.)
> touch him.(+1)
> climb. talk to bartender.
> walk. jump. climb.
Megahighway
> x cars. x trash.
> walk.
Planet Refinery
> x machinery. x gemstones. x ocean. x fissure. x pod.
> climb.
Command Pod
Earth-Child Orchid fires a projectile at you.
> attack projectile.(Orchid now tries to kick you.)
> jump.(Orchid now tries to choke you.)
> talk.(She gives you an automap.)
> x map. scan.(Shows possible routes from current location.)
> x Orchid. touch her.(+1)
> x sphere. touch it.(+1)
> x launcher.
> climb. jump.
Broken Coast
> x landscape. x maw.
> walk.
Pirate Hovership
> x Blaze. x ship. x mutants. x blades. x waves.
> talk.(Blaze gives you his propeller pack.)
> x pack. i.(The pack lets you swim.)
> touch Blaze.(He backs off.)
> climb.
Crow's Nest
> x view.
> climb. swim.
Merperson Village
> x cottages. x reef. x automaton.
> talk. touch automaton.(+1)
> swim. walk. swim.
Flooded Mansion
> x hall. x skeleton. x chest. touch chest.(+1)
> swim. jump. swim.
Bioluminescent Cave
> x moss. x stalactites. x partisans. touch partisans.(+1)
> swim. walk. climb. jump. swim.
Well Bottom
> x water. x firearm. touch it.(+1)
> swim. jump. swim.
Merperson Shanty Town
> x junk. x homes. x windows. x marks.
> walk.
Royal Sail
> x Zarra. x sail. x chair.
> talk.(She asks if you can dance.)
> dance. dance.(She gives you a holo-dress and tells you to dance somwwhere high. Her suitors will help you.)
> touch Zarra.(+1)
> walk. swim. walk. climb.
Space Marshal's Office
> x desk. x posters. x avatar. touch it.(+1)
> climb. jump. climb.
Landing Pad
> x tarmac. x guardian. touch it.(+1)
> climb. walk. climb.
Cupola
> x bubble. x fuselage.
> jump.
Control Tower
> x consoles. x windows. x orrery. touch it.(+1)
> dance.
Zarra's suitors carry you to...
Sky Fortress
> x prince.(Fake!)
> talk. touch prince.(+1)
> x battlements. x towers. x aqueducts. x islands. x cloud.
> walk.
Sky Fortress (Garden)
> x prince.(Fake!)
> talk. x flowers. x rose. touch rose.(+1)
> walk. jump.
Sky Fortress (Floating Island)
> x prince.(Fake!)
> talk. x grass.
> jump. climb.
Sky Fortress (Tower)
> x prince.(Fake!)
> talk. x rain. x cloak.
> climb. swim.
Sky Fortress (Baths)
> x prince.(Fake!)
Note: After you've examined five fake princes in the fortress, you hear a scream of frustration from the courtyard.
> talk. x steam. x columns. x bath. x hair.
> swim.
Sky Fortress
> x Prince.(True!)
> talk.(No!)
> kill prince.(You slice off some hair, take it, and dance...)
>> SPACE
Crashed Solar Sail
From this point forward, you will be unwilling to leave the room.
> i.(You should GIVE the lock of hair.)
> talk.(Are you too late?)
> give.(You give the hair to the Decoy. Then, BOOM!)
>> SPACE
Solar Sail Wreckage
> talk. attack true prince.(can't: your beam is broken)
> touch decoy.(True Prince blocks you.)
> x metal. x smoke. x flame.
CAUTION: You can't just say "touch true" since the game might think you mean his beam.
> touch true prince.(The hand eats him!)
>> SPACE
Royal Sail
You and your Decoy Prince are with Zarra. He asks her if you two can get a ride.
> talk. talk. walk.
>> SPACESPACE
Note: If you didn't find both horticultural memories, the game ends here with ENDING RANK C.
Void Hive
> x love. x book. x asteroid. talk.
> jump —or— dance.
*** ENDING RANK A ***
You found 20 out of 20 memories. (2/2 horticultural.)
> secrets.
> credits.
Extras
Characters
The killing machine is the player-character. She's lethal and taciturn. Most people, on seeing her, beg for a quick death. But she doesn't want to kill any more.
The Decoy Prince is a bioengineered slime that mimics the likeness of the True Third Prince. He's dying on the divan of the crashed solar sail.
Old Granny is the denizen who is sifting through the rubbish at the Scrapheap.
Denizens of the Junk Village scatter when you look at them.
Spymaster Krondus is nursing a drink in the saloon. He helped create the Decoy Prince.
The bartender of the saloon is a vapid grinning hologram.
Earth-Child Orchid tries to kill you when you enter her command pod. She's a rude warrior from the ancient death-world, Earth. She's suffering from culture-shock.
Octo-Captain Blaze and his motley crew of mutants are busy resupplying the pirate hovership.
A defense automaton in the merperson village fearfully regards you. It's totally intimidated by you.
Hive-Princess Zarra lounges in her royal sail. She's very much like a queen bee. She married the Third Prince as a political alliance, but hates him as much as anyone.
Zarra's suitors carry you to and from the sky fortress when you dance as Zarra taught you. They have shimmering wings.
Five more decoy princes are scattered all over the sky fortress.
The True Third Prince appears when all his decoys fail to deceive you. He already wants you dead for your betrayal, but he gets really mad when you damage his hair. His death is avidly desired by everyone but himself.
Found dead or disabled:
A skeleton is covetously grasping a chest of gold in the flooded mansion.
Mummified partisans sit huddled together in the bioluminescent cave.
A crashed guardian is burning on the landing pad. It was sent by the Crown Princess to kill the Third Prince, but it attacked the Decoy instead.
Mentioned:
The Empress bestowed the face that the killing machine wears. Her seat of power is on Mega Skull, but she's not there.
The Crown Princess is represented by an avatar in the space marshal's office. She's both the first-born of the Empress, but also a true genetic clone. She currently sits on the Imperial Throne, and the Third Prince is her brother.
A sister of both the Crown Princess and the Third Prince rules from the geostationary palace on Herbejo.
Credits
The response to CREDITS is:
Killing Machine Loves Slime Prince by C.E.J. Pacian (email redacted)
Created using Dialog by Linus Åkesson and its VSCode extension by sideburns3000.
Cover art by nsjndd1.
The following denizens of Forsaken Edge put this game through its paces: George Oliver, Peter M.J. Gross, Jade, David T. Marchand, Mel Jason and Rafael Martins.
Endings
ENDING RANK C
if you didn't find both horticultural memories.
ENDING RANK B
if you found both horticultural memories, but not all 20 memories.
ENDING RANK A
if you found all 20 memories.
Inventory
your eyes. You have them.
They let you LOOK AT things. Look at everything, but most importantly, whenever you find a Third Prince, look at him to determine if he's a fake or the True Prince.
Although you're often reminded that it's there, you cannot do anything to your heart.
the Decoy Prince's hand. Take it from the Decoy Prince in the crashed solar sail.
It lets you TOUCH things. Touch all the people and things listed at Score to experience all of the Decoy Prince's associated memories.
In the Solar Sail Wreckage, touch the True Prince to destroy him.
a grapple arm. In the saloon, Krondus gives it to you when you first talk to him.
It lets you CLIMB.
a properller pack. At the pirate hovership, Octo-Captain Blaze gives it to you when you first talk to him.
It lets you SWIM.
an automap. In the command pod, Earth-Child Orchid gives it to you when you first talk to her.
It lets you SCAN, which lists all the exits (and their destinations if known) from your current location.
a holo-dress. In the Royal Sail. Hive-Princess Zarra puts it on you after you show you can dance.
DANCE in any high location to reach the Sky Fortress. Also, dance in the Sky Fortress (or its tower) to return to the Cupola. (This works because it signals Zarra's suitors, who fly, to carry you.)
a lock of hair. In the Sky Fortress, when you find the True Third Prince, attack him to get a lock of hair.
In the Crushed Solar Sail, GIVE the hair to your Decoy Prince. This is meant to restore him, but the True Prince will interrupt your effort with an explosive.
Score
The response to SCORE or MEMORIES is:
You found 0-to-20 out of 20 memories. [if any horticultural memories found, add:] (1-to-2/2 horticultural)
And here's a list of each SECRET HINT and their associated things you must touch for a memory:
Someone exceptionally dangerous...touch me.
Someone cunning and duplicitous...touch Krondus @ Saloon.
Someone crude and violent...touch Orchid @ Command Pod.
A citizen of another nation...touch Zarra @ Royal Sail.
Perhaps a very distant relative...touch automaton @ Merperson Village.
Someone precious...touch Decoy @ Crashed Solar Sail.
Part of someone precious...touch hand.
First of the others of his kind...touch decoy @ Sky Fortress.
A part of your identity...touch my face.
Fatal to be perceived by...touch my eyes.
Used to move around...touch my legs.
Used to REALLY move around...touch my jets.
Hateful assassin, no kindred of yours...touch guardian @ Landing Pad.
An astronomical representation...touch orrery @ Control Tower.
A closed link to her daughter...touch avatar @ Space Marshal's Office.
Of no use or threat to you...touch firearm @ Well Bottom.
