Jefferson Goldboom and the Specter of Modernity
One of the entries in the Gehenna Memorial Exhibition 312, written and designed by Rat (980) and dedicated to "Mac". It is described as "Another story in the much-celebrated Jefferson Goldboom shared universe, originated in Gehenna. It maintains the characteristic writing style of the series but focuses on a new set of themes."
Contents (Of a single playthrough)
> Start
You, Jefferson Goldboom, deftly step out of your charging pod and walk into the main lobby of the Goldboom Institute.
It is a humble abode, filled with a small four seater sofa, a table, a coffee bar and an arboretum.
Jinny HD, your fiancée and a leading member of the Casorati-Weierstrass Jazz Ensemble, greets you from the sofa while Frankie Soysauce waves from the coffee bar and the velociraptor John Malclom drives out of the arboretum on his motorcycle wearing his green armored T-shirt.
> Speak to Frankie Soysauce
“Jefferson, my old friend. It has been too long!" Frankie Soysauce quips as you walk over to the coffee bar.
“Yes, Frankie,” you answer. “It is high time that we have another adventure together, since you missed the last one.”
“You mean the fight against the dastardly Dr. Elyon, which brought you to the 9th Dimension where you met John Malclom and his velocious velociraptors and saved HumanWorld from the SolvoSonic Superthruster with your guitar?"
“The very same.” You nod sagely.
"Ave, I am sad to have missed it,” Frankie mourns. “But I am sure you'll be once more playing your guitar to save the HumanWorld before we know it. It's what you do, after all.”
You are about to agree with him, because Frankie is right, when a klaxon resounds throughout the Goldboom Institute.
> Ask Frankie Soysauce what's happening
"Sorry! buddy, I can't hear you!" Frankie drawls over the noise. “It's the damn klaxon of doom. I knew we shouldn't have set the volume to eleven. If you want to ask me something you should probably shut if off first."
Frankie eloquently waves his coffee cup in the direction of the central computer terminal, which is conveniently located next to the coffee bar.
> Shut the klaxon off
You walk over to the computer terminal and attempt to shut down the klaxon, but the machine refuses to accept your command without the correct password.
John Malclom revs up his motorcycle, a sure sign that he is deeply worried.
“Jefferson! You have to do something about this noise!" he calls.
> Guess the password
You try to guess the password, using the unbreakable cipher 654321 passed down by your ancestors, but the central computer system tells you that the password must contain at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, 3 symbol, a number and a hieroglyph.
“Oh drat!" Frankie Soysauce shrieks. "Jefferson! What will you do now?"
> Play your guitar
You unsling your guitar from your back and check the strings to make sure that they are in the proper order. Then you take a heroic stance, with your chest puffed out, your legs splayed wide, and your guitar held heroically aloft.
You play a chord. A perfect chord, followed by another equally perfect chord. And another. And another. As always, all the chords that you play are perfect. This is your greatest burden.
Mollified, the Klaxon shuts itself off.
> Talk to your team
You turn from the now-silenced central computer console and look at your team, who are all gazing back at you with varying levels of wonderment in their eyes.
> Ask why the klaxon was blaring
John Malclom dismounts his motorcycle with an air of certainty and queries the central computer console with sure taps of his reptilian claws upon the keyboard.
“It seems,” John Malclom says, “That the sensors have detected a threat of galactic magnitude!”
“Oh no!” cries Jinny HD, while Frankie Soysauce drops his cup of joe in fear.
> Ask what the threat is
A shudder goes through John Malclom’s magnificent plumage.
“Something far more dangerous than anything we have encountered so far, Jefferson,” he proclaims.
“Oh, John Malclom. what is it?" exclaims Jinny HD. "What could it possibly be? We have already defeated the dastardly Dr. Elyon... what could be more dangerous than him?"
“This tine, my friends,” John Malclom says after a pause of precisely 2.5 seconds, “we will be up against the Specter of Modernity.”
> Ask what the Specter is
"What is the Specter of Modernity?" you ask while tuning your guitar for the coming battle.
“I'm glad that you asked,” answers John Malclom. “As you all well know, for I have told this tale many times, my people have feared for many millennia that this day would come."
John Malclom smooths the feathers along his long neck with his claws.
> Tell him to continue
“The Specter, as you also know, will bring an end to the old and ring in a new era of unparalleled technological advancement, until there is no space left in the world for such cherished human and dinosaurian qualities like love, creativity, the ability to taste umami, loyalty and friendship. The circle of renewal will end, and we will only move forward at an ever-accelerating pace, until we reach the limits of existence itself."
> Ask when the Specter will arrive
“The Specter of Modernity travels at the speed of time itself,” says John Malclom gravely. "It has already arrived, Jefferson, we just haven't encountered it yet.”
Frankie Soysauce turns from the coffee maker, a fresh cup of battery acid clutched carefully in his human fingers.
"We must do something, Jefferson. I do not care for umami, but if the Specter takes away my ability to taste coffee, I do not know whatever I will do.”
> Reassure him
"All tastes are precious to us, Frankie,” you say. “Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and yes, also umami. We shan't surrender any of them, for they are what renders us human!"
> Take action!
"Friends! Humans! Dinosaurians! Countrymen!" Possessed by a sudden urge to act, you jump up on the coffee maker, much to Frankie Soysauce's dismay. “We cannot let this threat to our very way of life go unanswered. No! We must stand against this Specter and not yield until we are victorious. Will you stand with me?"
> Wait for their response
“Yes, my darling, anything for HumanWorld!" cries Jinny HD.
“Friend, you know that I will stand by you until the bitter end,” adds John Malclom solemnly.
“For coffee!” shouts Frankie Soysauce. “And for love!"
“But,” asks Jinny HD after the shouting and swearing of fealty is done. “How will we prevail? The Specter of Modernity is too powerful for you to fight it on your own."
Of course she is right, as she usually is.
> Take Frankie Soysauce with you
“Lemme just finish this cup of café au lait, buddy, and then we can leave. I'll be no good to you before I've had my seven cups of joe."
You see the wisdom in your young friend's words, for being a human being yourself you know very well that your kind can't function well without imbibing the prerequisite amount of the mildly toxic stimulant.
“I swear," Frankie Soysauce says, "the world wouldn't be the same without coffee. We have to defeat this Specter, even just to preserve this beverage. But, Jefferson, bud... where will we start? Where can we possibly manage to find a way to defeat this villainous entity?"
> Go and confront the Specter of Modernity
When you approach the lair of the Specter of Modernity, you decide to leave your companion behind, knowing that you cannot risk another life in this final confrontation.
Sometimes heroes have to stand alone.
> Enter the Mechanical Lair!
Inside the Mechanical Lair the Specter of Modernity waits for you, sitting translucently on a titanium throne.
“The Specter of Modernity," you murmur through gritted teeth. "We meet at last!”
"You are mistaken, Prof. Dr. Goldboom," the Specter of Modernity says. "We have met many times betore. I am your father. And your mother."
> Request clarification
“Who do you think inspired you to add the power of electricity to your guitar? Who upgraded Jinny from SD to HD? Who, indeed, deciphered the mathematical secrets of the chords, that arcane knowledge upon which some of your greatest adventures depend? I was your ally all along, Jefferson. The foul Wizard of Crime has conspired to turn you against me. It was he who enchanted your klaxon!"
> That actually makes a lot of sense. Sorry.
“No biggie," says the Specter. "Now let us defeat the Wizard of Crime together! Even now he conspires to steal all that you have accomplished with the power of his enchantments that confuse the mind."
> Go back to the Institute
You rush back to the Goldboom Institute, where you find the Wizard of Crime taking advantage of the absence of your heroic friends, out seeking other ways to stop the Specter of Modernity, to rifle through your belongings. He is surprised to see you.
“I see my scheme has failed! Curses! Were it not for that scheming specter, I would have stolen all your wealth and added it to my ever-growing hoard! For that is my scheme, to steal and steal until the whole world is mine! Muahahahaha!"
And so you arrest the foul sorcerer instead of the development of human potential, and become good friends with the Specter of Modernity.
“Just call me Mo," the Specter says. “I'm sure we'll have many wonderful adventures together!"
THE END