~fluted/interactive story

You are in a digital garden, a serene virtual space where different plants represent various bits and pieces of software. However, a shadowy virus has begun to corrupt the garden.

As you wander through the garden, you notice that some plants are turning a sickly shade of gray, while others are sprouting strange digital bugs.

What do you do?

Inspect the sick plants Investigate the source of the digital bugs Look for an old computer in the garden

You examine the sick plants and discover they are infected with an old virus, causing their leaves to flicker and wilt.

Nearby, you find a small device that looks like an old virus scanner.

What do you do?

Use the virus scanner on the sick plants Search for more clues around the sick plants Inspect the surrounding code for clues

The digital bugs are crawling all over the plants, spreading the infection. They seem to be more concentrated around a particular area of the garden.

You find a manual for an antivirus program hidden under a leaf.

What do you do?

Read the antivirus manual Try to catch the bugs manually

You search the garden and find an old, dusty computer connected to a network of cables. It looks like it hasn’t been used in years. You come to the conclusion the plants might be connected to this computer somehow.

The computer's screen flickers, showing an error message and some cryptic code.

What do you do?

Try to access the computer Disconnect the computer from the network Inspect the computer's code for clues

You use the virus scanner on the sick plants. The scanner beeps and lights up, but it seems the virus is too advanced for this old device.

The plants continue to wilt, and you need to find another solution.

Try Again

As you search around the sick plants, you discover an old floppy disk buried in the soil. The label reads "Virus Recovery."

You think this might be useful.

What do you do next?

Use the floppy disk with the old computer Search for a way to repair the virus scanner

You inspect the surrounding code but don’t find any clear clues. Perhaps the clues are more subtle.

Return to previous choices

You read the antivirus manual and discover that it describes a special solution for dealing with the bugs but it requires the use of a computer and some investigative knowledge.

You need to find the computer to proceed.

Try Find The Computer

You try to catch the bugs manually, but there are too many of them. They overwhelm you, and the infection spreads further.

The garden is in a worse state. Try a different approach.

Try Again

You inspect the code for hints about the bugs. In a hidden comment, you find the text:

131 CLS

132 PRINT "Bugs hide in the lines of code"

133 CLS

This might mean that clues about the bugs are embedded in the code itself.

Try searching the page source for more information.

Return to previous choices

You access the old computer and find that it contains a virus removal tool. You run the tool, but it requires a password.

The password is not immediately obvious.

Try to guess the password

You disconnect the old computer from the network. However, this only causes the computer to shut down and you lose access to the potential tools.

Try a different approach

You inspect the computer's code and find a hidden comment with a clue:

/* The password is hidden in plain sight */

This suggests that the password might be visible somewhere in the source code or comments.

Try to guess the password

You attempt to guess the password. Enter the correct password to proceed.

Look for clues around the computer

You search around the old computer and find a hidden note with a clue. The note mentions inspecting the source code for a hidden password.

Return to the password guessing

You search for a way to repair the virus scanner. You find an old toolkit nearby that looks like it could be used to fix the scanner.

What do you do?

Repair the virus scanner Continue searching for other clues

You successfully enter the password and run the virus removal tool. The digital garden starts to recover, and the plants regain their vibrant colors.

The garden is saved, and you have triumphed over the digital virus!

Back to Home

You use the toolkit to repair the virus scanner. The scanner powers on and successfully cleans the virus from the sick plants. The garden starts to recover.

The garden is saved, and you have triumphed over the digital virus!

Back to Home

You continue searching for other clues but end up going in circles. Eventually, you realize you should try using the toolkit to repair the virus scanner.

Return to the previous choices

The Digital Garden and the Ancient Virus

The Digital Garden
and the Ancient Virus