$title Part 6: Decay
$overlay_color #000 0.0
$reset_background
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
$wait 2.0
$overlay_color #00000000 1.5
$show_textbox
$expand_textbox
Marco: ...
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: ...
Marco: You know, Bard.
Bard: What?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/reflect
Marco: I think I could probably do it.
Bard: Do what?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/playful_speak
Marco: Swallow you. For your vore fantasy, I mean.
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat bounce
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/surprised
$overlay_color #fff 0.0
$overlay_color #ffffff00 0.5
Bard: M-MARCO!! Are you still thinking about that?!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: Yes. That's why I'm telling you that I could do it! Probably.
$set_sprite bard bard/blush bounce
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
Bard: W-W-Well, think of something else! Anything else...!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: Why? I thought you'd enjoy it...
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused
Bard: ...B-But it's not even real. My fantasy, I mean.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: It could be real, now. And safe. With–
$set_sprite bard bard/blush
Bard: But wh-what if it's not actually safe? What if something goes wrong?!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/explain
Marco: I'd do my utmost to ensure that nothing would go wrong. I promise you, Bard.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: ...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/shy
Marco: I would be careful that no harm would come to you when I swallow you... If you'd let me try.
$set_sprite bard bard/blush
Bard: ......
# Marco dejected again
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: ...Okay, I'm sorry. I just wanted to do something that we'd both enjoy. I won't bring it up again.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: [color=#b2b7d2](Did Marco just say that he would enjoy it, too...?!)[/color]
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: [color=#b2b7d2](...But no. A-As nice as it sounds, I still dunno if I can trust Marco with something so... significant.)[/color]
$clear_sprites
$hide_textbox
$overlay_color #000 0.0
$set_background akhirah_back_moving
$overlay_color #00000000 1.0
$wait 0.8
Bard: ...
Marco: ...
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: ...I made things awkward again, huh?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: No, not at all! I didn't mean to badger you, Bard.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: Anyway, I'll make sure that Akhirah takes us to our destination.
# Marco gets up
$set_sprite bard bard/normal bounce
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/shocked
Bard: ...What is it like?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: Excuse me?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
Bard: The [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color]. That's where you're taking me, right?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: Yes. Right at the end of the Carnal River. It's where I've taken every single [color=#00ffff]soul[/color] I've ferried.
Bard: Well, what is the [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color] like?
# Marco looks serious
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
$stop_music
Marco: ...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
$wait 0.5
Marco: ...
$wait 0.5
Marco: I was afraid that you'd ask.
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat bounce
Bard: Wh-Why? Is it bad?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: No. It's just that you'll think I'm lying.
Bard: ...
$start_music aboard_the_akhirah
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: ...[color=#ff00ff]I don't know[/color].
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: You...what?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: I don't know anything that lies before the Carnal River... or anything that lies AFTER.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: I just know that I have to–
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat bounce
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: What do you mean, you don't know?! It's your entire job to take people there!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: You're right, Bard. I have to bring [color=#00ffff]souls[/color] to the [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color] without exception. But I don't know what happens to them afterwards.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/reflect
Marco: However, it's more than my "job". It is...my [color=#ff00ff]purpose[/color].
Bard: Your...purpose?
Marco: Yes. And I was [color=#ff00ff]made[/color] for it.
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: ...What are you hiding from me?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: I-I'm not hiding anything, Bard! At least, nothing that would–
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: ...How could I have told you about the [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color], if I don't know what happens to you there? THAT would be lying...
Marco: And if I casually brought up that I didn't know, you would have been suspicious of me!
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: ...I-I am suspicious of you.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/surprised
Marco: Exactly my point! I didn't mean to lie to you, Bard. Not even by omission. But how could I even bring up that subject in the first place...?
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: ...
Bard: ...I think I had the right to know.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: I apologize. And you have every reason to be skeptical of me. I am responsible for every [color=#00ffff]soul[/color] that I ferry, after all.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: Listen... Since there isn't anything in my [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color]'s rules about keeping it a secret, I'll answer all questions you may have.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: G-Good, because I have a lot of them.
Bard: First of all...what ARE you, really?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: I'm a [color=#ff00ff]soul ferrier[/color]. And, like many other soul ferriers, I was made to bring the dead to the [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color].
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: But I am not like you, Bard. You are a mortal: you're conceived by your parents, you attain a [color=#00ffff]soul[/color], and you live in the mortal world... until you die.
Marco: Meanwhile, I am a [color=#ff00ff]spirit[/color]. I don't have parents; I have a [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color]. And I don't die; I am... unmade.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
Bard: ...A Maker?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: Yes. [color=#ff00ff]Spirits[/color] like me are conceived by a [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color]. And when a Maker has need of a new a spirit... Poof! Suddenly, it exists.
Marco: The same happened for me. In a single moment, I was given a physical body, tools, and memories...
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: Th-That's how you were made?! You suddenly appeared out of thin air, one day?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/reflect
Marco: That's right. And when I was made, I already knew what my purpose was. And with Akhirah ready for me, I was set off to commence my duty as a [color=#ff00ff]soul ferrier[/color].
Bard: And who is your [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color]?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: ...
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat bounce
Bard: ...You don't know, either?!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/clutch_chest
Marco: I was only given the memories that my [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color] chose to give me. The bare minimum in order to act as [color=#ff00ff]soul ferrier[/color].
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: I know that I have a [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color]... But I wouldn't know who they are.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: But that memory was implanted in you. It could be that the memory of how you were made was implanted by someone other than your [color=#ff00ff]"Maker"[/color].
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: Very astute, Bard. That's certainly a possibility.
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: ...Then it's fake. All of your memories–
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: Not everything. I have my own personality. Plus, there's all that I've come to learn about the mortal world on my own terms.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: My clothes, too, are my own. I made them over the years with whatever materials I could forage near the Carnal River.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/playful_speak
Marco: I even used whatever objects that I [color=#ffff00]fished[/color] as a reference...!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: Ahem. But still, all that I know about Akhirah, the Carnal River, [color=#00ffff]souls[/color], even the existence of my own [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color]...
Marco: Everything which was necessary to perform my purpose was placed in my head when I was made.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
Bard: Then what do you actually know about the nature of [color=#00ffff]souls[/color]? Wh-Whether it's an implanted memory or not. What can you tell me?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: Hmm... I wouldn't know how they come to be, I simply know that they come from mortals. All of them have both a [color=#00ffff]soul[/color], and a vessel.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: A vessel?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive_speak
Marco: Yes. Your physical body. And when your body dies, your [color=#00ffff]soul[/color] is left only with a very small, ephemeral vessel instead.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive
Bard: You mean, this blue blobby body that I have now.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: [color=#ff00ff]Spirits[/color] have vessels, too. It's what you're looking at right now. It was given to me by my [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color]... supposedly.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: But you can't die, can you?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: Yes...and no.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused
Bard: What does that mean?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/explain
Marco: My vessel can't age. However, it can be unmade.
Bard: Right... You said earlier that you'd disappear if you fell in the river.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: Or, for example, if my [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color] chooses to unmake me.
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
Bard: W-Wait, that can happen? Why?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive_speak
Marco: Maybe when [color=#ff00ff]soul ferriers[/color] are no longer needed. Or maybe if I go too far.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive
Bard: G-Go too far...?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/greet
Marco: Do you remember when you arrived in Akhirah? And you asked me about Charon?
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: I-I almost forgot about that.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: Charon was [color=#ff00ff]a soul ferrier[/color] like me. But he went to the world of the living, to commune with them and tell them all that he knew.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: And when his Maker learned about his carelessness, he was unmade.
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: ...
Marco: My memory of Charon, naturally, was also [color=#ff00ff]implanted[/color] in my mind when I was made. As a cautionary tale, I suppose.
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat
$stop_music
Bard: B-But that's just cruel!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: Cruel?
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused
Bard: Yeah! H-How your [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color] could erase you from existence as soon as they want, without any warning or a fair trial...!
Bard: A-And how you are forced to be a [color=#ff00ff]soul ferrier[/color], never to leave your post!
Marco: ...
Bard: ...
$start_music loose_thoughts
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: I disagree.
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: Huh?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: I guess it's simply a different way of thinking about it.
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/explain
Marco: When mortals are born, they aren't destined for a single task.
Marco: How their lives shape out depends on their circumstances, which are out of their control. It's just the way things are.
Marco: Or, like you said before, how the world can be unfair.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/reflect
Marco: Still, you mortals also have the power of choice. You can affect the material circumstances around you, and bring consequences to your lives and those of others.
Marco: Which means you get some control in how you live your own lives.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: In that sense, my existence is very simple. I'm part of a greater cycle, like a cog in a machine. Made by my [color=#ff00ff]Maker's[/color] design, for a single purpose.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: A greater cycle...?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: And fulfill that purpose I must. Until maybe, one day, for whichever reason, I will no longer want to fulfill it. Or there won't be any more need of me.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: And when that time comes... Poof! I'll be unmade and disappear, just as quickly as I was made.
Marco: ...If my [color=#ff00ff]Maker[/color] decides to, of course.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
Bard: ...So you'll still die, one day?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/reflect
Marco: Not die, be unmade. But yes, it's a possibility. One that approaches 100% over an infinite amount of time...
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: But it's not fair that you should die! I-I mean, be [color=#ff00ff]unmade[/color]!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/reflect
Marco: ...
Marco: Do you think it was fair that I should have been [color=#ff00ff]made[/color] in the first place?
Bard: W-Well–! ...Th-That question doesn't make any sense! You can't say it was fair or not that you happened to exist.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: Exactly. So why shouldn't the end – my end – be any different? Who's to say existence itself, or nonexistence, is fair?
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: ...M-Marco...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: Don't worry, Bard. I promise you that my demise won't come before I bring you to the [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color].
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: S-Still with your [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color] business, huh...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/explain
Marco: I hope that I've made it abundantly clear why I insist on it.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: A-Abundantly... But how can you even say all of this with a straight face, and still want to continue your duty?!
Bard: Isn't it pointless, if you'll just be unmade and replaced one day?
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: I-Is there even [color=#ff00ff]a Hereafter for spirits[/color]...?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: No. Once I'm unmade, that's it. I don't have a [color=#00ffff]soul[/color] to leave behind, and thus, my essence will be lost.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: ...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused
Marco: ...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: But that's exactly what bothers me.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused
Bard: Huh...?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: I know that, one day, I'll be gone. I have been made at a whim, and I've always known that I could be unmade at another.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/shocked
Marco: But mortals, like you, know that you'll die. It's not a memory imparted onto you since you're born, but surely you all realize it at some point in your lives.
Bard: Y-Yeah... I have.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: So it's roughly the same situation, right? Then there's something that I don't understand.
Marco: Why do most mortals seem to reject so vehemently the idea that they'll die one day? Wouldn't that make the moments while they are alive more important?
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: ...
Bard: I-I dunno, Marco. Maybe it's just easier not to think about it?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral_speak
Marco: Maybe. But I'm not sure if that's the main reason that leads someone to avoid the subject... Especially given its gravity.
$stop_music
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/neutral
Bard: ...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Marco: ...I told you all that I know, Bard. I didn't want to keep this all from you.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/reflect
Marco: Most [color=#00ffff]souls[/color] that I've ferried don't ever ask anything about me. They normally just need a confidant as they recall their lives...and I'm happy to offer them that.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: Not because it's my purpose, or because my memories force me to. It's because I really want to hear what they have to say.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
Bard: C-Can I ask you something...?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive_speak
Marco: Of course.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive
Bard: ...H-How many [color=#00ffff]souls[/color] have asked you this much?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive_speak
Marco: Regarding the [color=#ff00ff]Hereafter[/color]? Only a handful. Maybe five or six. None of them believed me at first about it, either.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious_speak
Marco: ...Do you believe me now, Bard?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/curious
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: ...
Bard: Th-Thank you, Marco. For telling me the truth. I can see why you thought I wouldn't believe you...
Bard: Just one more question.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/crossed_arms
Bard: ...
Bard: You said that you don't understand why some people pretend that death doesn't exist. And how we don't really appreciate life because of it.
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat
Bard: If...If I remembered that I was one of those people... W-Would you hate me?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/playful_speak
Marco: That's not–
...Of course not, Bard. I wouldn't hate anyone for that.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/shy
Marco: Besides, I don't think I would ever hate YOU... You're special, after all.
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
Bard: ...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: ...
$set_sprite bard bard/blush
$continue_after_text
Bard: ...I–
$wait 0.5
$reset_background
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/look_ahead_speak bounce
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat bounce
Marco: ...Oh, look at that!
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/look_ahead
Bard: H-Huh?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/look_ahead_speak
Marco: I can see a few more reveries surfacing up. We could try [color=#ffff00]fishing[/color] some more, if you're up for it.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/look_ahead
Bard: Oh. Are you sure? Weren't your arms tired?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/greet
Marco: They've had enough rest. Anyway, would you like to try catching them without Akhirah slowing down? It could be an extra challenge.
Bard: An extra challenge?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/explain
Marco: It's not much. It just means that, when you drop the net, it'll go [color=#ffff00]a bit further up[/color] before actually landing on the surface.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/greet
Marco: What do you say?
$prompt
$option 06_fishing_04_hard Count me in!
$option 06_fishing_04_easy No, it's hard enough as is.
$label 06_fishing_04_easy
$set fishing_04_easy 1
$start_music under_the_surface
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat
Bard: M-Maybe not. Better not to make your arms tired again with the extra throwing.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/playful_speak
Marco: I'm sure they'll be fine. But I appreciate the concern, Bard!
$overlay_color #00000000 0.0
$collapse_textbox
$overlay_color #000 1.0
$clear_sprites
$hide_textbox
$overlay_color #00000000 0.0
$wait 0.5

# Fishing 4
$escape fishing fishing_04_end 0.75 false {"name":"fishing_04_head_harness","sprite":"head_harness"} {"name":"fishing_04_toy_rocket","sprite":"toy_rocket"}
$label 06_fishing_04_hard
$start_music under_the_surface
Bard: Sure. That sounds fun.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/playful_speak
Marco: Alright, then! Whenever you're ready.
$overlay_color #00000000 0.0
$collapse_textbox
$overlay_color #000 1.0
$clear_sprites
$hide_textbox
$overlay_color #00000000 0.0
$wait 0.5
$escape fishing fishing_04_end 0.75 true {"name":"fishing_04_head_harness","sprite":"head_harness"} {"name":"fishing_04_toy_rocket","sprite":"toy_rocket"}
$label fishing_04_head_harness
$set_sprite fishing_item fishing_objects/head_harness reveal_fishing_item
$expand_textbox
$wait 1.0
: You found: a head harness!
$text_new_line A kinky accessory for BDSM, complete with leather straps and a silicone gag ball for one's snout.
$set_sprite bard bard/blush
Bard: O-Oh! More k-kinky stuff...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: Is it? I can't really figure out what this one is about.
$set_sprite bard bard/face_away
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused
Bard: W-Well, you wear it around your head. Your snout goes b-back here, see.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: Then the gag would go between your jaws, and you can breathe through these h-holes...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/sad
Marco: ...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/shy
Marco: Would you like me to try it on?
$set_sprite bard bard/blush bounce
Bard: N-NO, M-Marco! I d-definitely wasn't thinking that...!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/hold_face
Marco: G-Good...! I'd rather not remove my mask.
$hide_textbox
$clear_sprites
$escape return_to_fishing
$label fishing_04_toy_rocket
$set_sprite fishing_item fishing_objects/toy_rocket reveal_fishing_item
$expand_textbox
$wait 1.0
: You found: a toy rocket!
$text_new_line A cheap plastic toy shaped like a starfaring aircraft. It looks old and has a few dents.
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: Ah, this...
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive_speak
Marco: Hmm... This is a dildo, no?
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/pensive
Bard: .........
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused_speak
Marco: It isn't...?
$set_sprite bard bard/blush
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/confused
Bard: M-Marco...it's a children's toy.
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/playful_speak
Marco: Oh! But it's so bright and long, and even has a flared base!
$set_sprite marco marco_mask/playful
$set_sprite bard bard/normal
Bard: Because it's a toy rocket...! I'm sure that the cheap plastic would be too toxic for a sex toy.
$remove_sprite marco
Bard: ...
$set_sprite bard bard/sweat bounce
Bard: A-Actually, I'm sure that the cheap plastic WOULD be too toxic for a children's toy!
$hide_textbox
$clear_sprites
$escape return_to_fishing
$label fishing_04_end
$stop_music
$overlay_color #000 1.0
$wait 2.0
$load 07_tomb