SHELF OF CRIME NOVELS β These shelves are overburdened with books from the same series. You see the name "Dick Mullen" over and over.
YOU β Look through the display of books.
SHELF OF CRIME NOVELS β You see: "Dick Mullen on the Job", "Get Me Mullen!", "Dick Mullen and the Murder in the Orchard", "Crimes for Cascading Style Sheets", "The Sordid Affair of Dick Mullen", "Dauntless Dick"...
REACTION SPEED [Easy: Success] β Hold on, what was that?
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) β Among the monotonous rows of crime fiction, a large book catches your eye -- something other than Dick Mullen? It can't be...
1. - Hell yeah.2. - Pick up the book.
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β "Radiocomputer Wizards: Crimes for Cascading Style Sheets." The cover of this heavy tome features some esoteric language.
LOGIC [Challenging: Failure] β You're not sure what to make of this.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Success] β Typical binoclard nonsense. Toss this thing in the trash!
1. - Open the book.2. - At least it's not Dick Mullen. (Open the book.)
YOU β Open the book.
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β Flipping through the book you find a number of sections on what appears to be a radiocomputer language. A compilation of achievable programming "crimes" makes up nearly half of the book.
HALF LIGHT [Easy: Success] β Crimes? I don't like the sound of that.
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β There's a chapter on tape computer imitation. Some programmers tried to replicate the visual interface of the machine onto a radiocomputer.
ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] β A tape computer was a folding mechanism of rollers and ferrotape ribbons, compact enough to be portable. One could write directly on the tape using a special chemical solution. The machine would then analyse the handwriting, perform operations and project output onto a white screen.
+5 XP: gained experience.
CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] β It was a beautiful, delicate thing.
1. - Where can I get my hands on a tape computer?2. - Hold on -- "was"?
ENCYCLOPEDIA β Only three prototypes of the tape computer were made. All were destroyed during the Antecentennial Revolution.
PAIN THRESHOLD [Easy: Success] β Ouch.
INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] β There has to be a fourth prototype out there...
1. - Continue reading.
YOU β Continue reading.
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β You flip forward a few pages until you come upon a chapter titled 'Advanced Radiocomputer Development and Infra-Materialist Theory'.
RHETORIC [Easy: Success] β Now we're talking!
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β When a community has achieved a sufficiently high degree of revolutionary fervour, infra-materialists believe that second-level effects may be observed.
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β At this second level, certain hyper-revolutionary individuals may develop the ability to extend their thoughts into material space and vice versa. But what does this mean for the Mazovian programmer? Graadian essayist Klara Semenova claims that these ideas are inherent to one another...
ENDURANCE [Medium: Failure] β Your vision starts to blur...
1. - No, I want to finish reading...2. - This might be too much for me.
REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Failure] β It's too late -- your eyes are already closed and your arms stop working. The book slips from your hands, landing sadly on the bookshop floor.
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β Oh well. The book will still be here, if you want to continue...
1. - Yeah, that's not happening.2. - For another time.
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Challenging: Success] β As you turn to leave, some small text on the back of the book catches your eye.
CRIMES FOR CASCADING STYLE SHEETS β STEAL THIS CODE
LOGIC [Medium: Failure] β Whatever that means.
1. - Leave.
YOU β [Leave.]
