31 Plays in 31 Days 2025, #7 - "Streaming"
Aug. 7th, 2025 08:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11Wow, this one turned out long. A good bit longer than most of the scenes I post for the 31P31D challenge. But my rule for myself is I need to present a complete unit of dramatic action, even if it’s a small or short one, in every scene I post, and this took a lot of stuff to come to a stopping point.
This is I believe the third scene of my new horror piece Lacuna, after #4 - New Game and #5 - Curious. I feel like this scene needs to lay a lot of groundwork that would be important for building up the suspense, so I was compelled to really flesh it out. I know the details will need a lot of refining, as most of them are made up as I went and might not actually serve to built to what I want. But I’m hoping to make the audience ask a lot of questions and start their minds wondering without giving too much away of what’s to come.
Day #7 - “Streaming”
From Lacuna
By Phoebe Roberts
CHEMICAL GOTHIC, Joan Kirby, a gamer
PASCALESBUST, Michael Lister, a gamer and her friend
PORYGONAL, a follower on Chem’s stream
MANDY THURSDAY, a follower on Chem’s stream
ABBYSANDLER671, a follower on Chem’s stream
VOLUBLESOCIETY, a follower on Chem’s stream
LACUNA, the voice of the game
On the Internet, in the present day
~~~
(CHEMICAL GOTHIC is waiting to start her stream. Her chat is full of regular followers, with PASCALESBUST quietly lurking.)
CHEM: Hey, chat, thanks for being here. Sorry I haven’t been on in a while. You know how it is with the old day job— sometimes it forgets it’s only supposed to be during the day.
PORYGONAL: No worries no worries
MANDY THURSDAY: We missed u prof
CHEM: Aw, thanks! I missed you all too. Now, I know I haven’t finished The Pensacola Job, but tonight I’m switching it up to check out Lacuna, the latest drop from Twist Media.
ABBYSANDLER671: Aw, yay!
PORYGONAL: Was hoping youd say that
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Can’t wait to see what you think…
CHEM: Yeah, I really want to see what the fuss is about. Just as a reminder, I am going in totally cold, I have looked up nothing about this game, and I’m going to ask that folks not spoil anything in the chat. Okay, I’ve got it loaded up here…
ABBYSANDLER671: Here we gooooooo!!!
(On CHEM’s screen, the game loads. The Lacuna title appears with Twist Media’s logo, then a quote appears. CHEM reads it.)
CHEM: “Lacuna, an interactive introspection.”
PASCALE: Ooh, introspection.
CHEM: “Adversity introduces a man to himself. And we’ve all got gaps we’ve got to fill.” Ain’t that the truth. Okay, I think we’re in…
(An image comes into shape on the screen, a room in deep shadow, with just the vaguest suggestion of furniture.)
CHEM: Looks like we’re in a room. A very dark one… with what looks like a bed, a table… a window? Or is that some kind of door? I can’t tell.
(She clicks around, but nothing seems to happen.)
CHEM: Huh. Feel like the first time I played Myst when I was ten. Never did figure that one out…
MANDY THURSDAY: LOL
PORYGONAL: Christ me either
PASCALE: At least you’re not ten anymore.
CHEM: Heh, yeah. Though let’s see if I’ve advanced at all in that time. Let’s see… direction keys don’t do anything. Don’t seem to have an inventory screen. Guess we’re going to have to keep clicking it out. Huh, is that something on the wall here? A… light switch, maybe?
(She clicks on it, and the room light comes on.)
CHEM: Ha! Success!
(More of the room can be seen. It is messy and cluttered. There is a door in the wall with a lock in it. The table is a drafting desk like an artist might use. The bed is narrow and has the outline of a human figure lying in it. A numerical one appears on the screen, and a voice speaks portentiously from the game.)
LACUNA: That’s one.
CHEM: Whoa.
VOLUBLESOCIETY: THAT’S ONE
PORYGONAL: ONE!!!!
CHEM: Okay, okay, give me a chance here, before anyone chimes in. Don’t know what one means— points? Percent completion? Lashes with a wet noodle? But we’ll see. Seems we got a li’l boudoir here…
ABBYSANDLER671: LOL, boudoir :-)
CHEM: Heh, you like that, huh? I got lots of fancy professor words. It means “a place to sulk”— I always wanted one of those. Well, looks like the housekeeper’s on vacation. And I think we’ve got our sulker in the bed here. Let’s see if I can wake them up…
(CHEM clicks on the sleeping form, but nothing happens.)
CHEM: Hm. Guess they’re a heavy sleeper. God, maybe they’re dead. Is this, like, a murder mystery? Am I being framed? I can’t go back to the pen again, man! I can’t do it!
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Attica! Attica!
MANDY THURSDAY: Youll neva take me aliiiiiiiive
PASCALE: Try the pillow. Is there an alarm clock?
CHEM: Hey, give me a chance here. Before you decide I’m dumb as I look…
(She clicks around, to no effect.)
CHEM: Huh, maybe I am.
PASCALE: The bedstead? The headboard?
PORYGONAL: Dude let her try
CHEM: I’m just clicking on stuff at this point…
(At last she clicks on a half-full glass of water. A sound like a bell rings out, and the figure in the bed turns over, revealing long hair and one manicured hand with green nails and a silver ring slipping out of the blankets.)
LACUNA: That’s two.
MANDY THURSDAY: That’s two
ABBYSANDLER671: Two!!!
VOLUBLESOCETY: TWOOOOO
CHEM: Okay, okay, now we’re getting somewhere! At least nobody’s dead, we know that now. Still don’t know what the numbers means, but based on y’all’s reaction, that’s something important. I can see a little more of Sleeping Beauty here… think she’s a she, but I don’t mean to be narrow-minded. So I got a little bit of a reaction out of her. Maybe I can get more with something else…?
(She starts clicking around room again, with no obvious response.)
CHEM: Nice manicure she’s got there. I like the green.
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Oh, shit, green? I got red!
PORYGONAL: Oh fr fr me too
CHEM: Really? Guess there’s already some branching paths unfolding here. Wonder why.
PASCALE: Did you guys hit something other than the glass?
VOLUBLESOCIETY: No
PORYGONAL: I hit the bottle on the desk
MANDY THURSDAY: I got green but I clicked the bottle too
CHEM: Huh! Guess there’s more going on here. Not enough info to say yet. Well, nothing I’m trying is responding, so…
PASCALE: Go back to the bed. Try the blanket again.
CHEM: Okay…
(She clicks the blanket. It whips back to reveal a woman in oversized flannel pajamas. Her long hair mostly obscures her face, but a tattoo can be seen on her wrist.)
CHEM: There she is!
LACUNA: That’s three.
PORYGONAL: THREEEEEEEEE
ABBYSANDLER671: Three!!!!!!!
(The screen goes black, with text the game reads aloud—)
LACUNA: End of part one.
(The game closes itself. CHEM starts hitting keys to regain control.)
CHEM: What the hell? Did it crash or something?
VOLUBLESOCIETY: No, that’s what it does
MANDY THURSDAY: You get three a day. Then the part ends.
CHEM: Three what? Three actions?
PORYGONAL: Not sure something like that. Can’t move on to the next part until another day.
CHEM: Huh, okay. Well… that was both longer and shorter than I expected. But I have to say, I’m intrigued. I’d like to try more, but I won’t be able to get back on until next week. By then, you’ll probably have seen it all.
ABBYSANDLER671: Maybe not. It’s supposed to be different for everybody.
PASCALE: Different for everybody? What’s that mean?
CHEM: Abby? What does that mean?
ABBYSANDLER671: People keep talking about stuff they saw in the game, and lots of folks aren’t seeing the same things.
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Even if they’ve played through the same sections
CHEM: Well, it’s still pretty new. Especially if you can only play one section per day, there’s probably not been a lot of repeat play throughs. We’ll have to compare notes when we all get a little farther. But no spoilers, okay? I want to be surprised!
(CHEM calls up a window for a different game.)
CHEM: Well, I’ve still got a couple hours yet. Anybody up for seeing if we can make some progress on The Pensacola Job?
This is I believe the third scene of my new horror piece Lacuna, after #4 - New Game and #5 - Curious. I feel like this scene needs to lay a lot of groundwork that would be important for building up the suspense, so I was compelled to really flesh it out. I know the details will need a lot of refining, as most of them are made up as I went and might not actually serve to built to what I want. But I’m hoping to make the audience ask a lot of questions and start their minds wondering without giving too much away of what’s to come.
Day #7 - “Streaming”
From Lacuna
By Phoebe Roberts
CHEMICAL GOTHIC, Joan Kirby, a gamer
PASCALESBUST, Michael Lister, a gamer and her friend
PORYGONAL, a follower on Chem’s stream
MANDY THURSDAY, a follower on Chem’s stream
ABBYSANDLER671, a follower on Chem’s stream
VOLUBLESOCIETY, a follower on Chem’s stream
LACUNA, the voice of the game
On the Internet, in the present day
~~~
(CHEMICAL GOTHIC is waiting to start her stream. Her chat is full of regular followers, with PASCALESBUST quietly lurking.)
CHEM: Hey, chat, thanks for being here. Sorry I haven’t been on in a while. You know how it is with the old day job— sometimes it forgets it’s only supposed to be during the day.
PORYGONAL: No worries no worries
MANDY THURSDAY: We missed u prof
CHEM: Aw, thanks! I missed you all too. Now, I know I haven’t finished The Pensacola Job, but tonight I’m switching it up to check out Lacuna, the latest drop from Twist Media.
ABBYSANDLER671: Aw, yay!
PORYGONAL: Was hoping youd say that
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Can’t wait to see what you think…
CHEM: Yeah, I really want to see what the fuss is about. Just as a reminder, I am going in totally cold, I have looked up nothing about this game, and I’m going to ask that folks not spoil anything in the chat. Okay, I’ve got it loaded up here…
ABBYSANDLER671: Here we gooooooo!!!
(On CHEM’s screen, the game loads. The Lacuna title appears with Twist Media’s logo, then a quote appears. CHEM reads it.)
CHEM: “Lacuna, an interactive introspection.”
PASCALE: Ooh, introspection.
CHEM: “Adversity introduces a man to himself. And we’ve all got gaps we’ve got to fill.” Ain’t that the truth. Okay, I think we’re in…
(An image comes into shape on the screen, a room in deep shadow, with just the vaguest suggestion of furniture.)
CHEM: Looks like we’re in a room. A very dark one… with what looks like a bed, a table… a window? Or is that some kind of door? I can’t tell.
(She clicks around, but nothing seems to happen.)
CHEM: Huh. Feel like the first time I played Myst when I was ten. Never did figure that one out…
MANDY THURSDAY: LOL
PORYGONAL: Christ me either
PASCALE: At least you’re not ten anymore.
CHEM: Heh, yeah. Though let’s see if I’ve advanced at all in that time. Let’s see… direction keys don’t do anything. Don’t seem to have an inventory screen. Guess we’re going to have to keep clicking it out. Huh, is that something on the wall here? A… light switch, maybe?
(She clicks on it, and the room light comes on.)
CHEM: Ha! Success!
(More of the room can be seen. It is messy and cluttered. There is a door in the wall with a lock in it. The table is a drafting desk like an artist might use. The bed is narrow and has the outline of a human figure lying in it. A numerical one appears on the screen, and a voice speaks portentiously from the game.)
LACUNA: That’s one.
CHEM: Whoa.
VOLUBLESOCIETY: THAT’S ONE
PORYGONAL: ONE!!!!
CHEM: Okay, okay, give me a chance here, before anyone chimes in. Don’t know what one means— points? Percent completion? Lashes with a wet noodle? But we’ll see. Seems we got a li’l boudoir here…
ABBYSANDLER671: LOL, boudoir :-)
CHEM: Heh, you like that, huh? I got lots of fancy professor words. It means “a place to sulk”— I always wanted one of those. Well, looks like the housekeeper’s on vacation. And I think we’ve got our sulker in the bed here. Let’s see if I can wake them up…
(CHEM clicks on the sleeping form, but nothing happens.)
CHEM: Hm. Guess they’re a heavy sleeper. God, maybe they’re dead. Is this, like, a murder mystery? Am I being framed? I can’t go back to the pen again, man! I can’t do it!
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Attica! Attica!
MANDY THURSDAY: Youll neva take me aliiiiiiiive
PASCALE: Try the pillow. Is there an alarm clock?
CHEM: Hey, give me a chance here. Before you decide I’m dumb as I look…
(She clicks around, to no effect.)
CHEM: Huh, maybe I am.
PASCALE: The bedstead? The headboard?
PORYGONAL: Dude let her try
CHEM: I’m just clicking on stuff at this point…
(At last she clicks on a half-full glass of water. A sound like a bell rings out, and the figure in the bed turns over, revealing long hair and one manicured hand with green nails and a silver ring slipping out of the blankets.)
LACUNA: That’s two.
MANDY THURSDAY: That’s two
ABBYSANDLER671: Two!!!
VOLUBLESOCETY: TWOOOOO
CHEM: Okay, okay, now we’re getting somewhere! At least nobody’s dead, we know that now. Still don’t know what the numbers means, but based on y’all’s reaction, that’s something important. I can see a little more of Sleeping Beauty here… think she’s a she, but I don’t mean to be narrow-minded. So I got a little bit of a reaction out of her. Maybe I can get more with something else…?
(She starts clicking around room again, with no obvious response.)
CHEM: Nice manicure she’s got there. I like the green.
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Oh, shit, green? I got red!
PORYGONAL: Oh fr fr me too
CHEM: Really? Guess there’s already some branching paths unfolding here. Wonder why.
PASCALE: Did you guys hit something other than the glass?
VOLUBLESOCIETY: No
PORYGONAL: I hit the bottle on the desk
MANDY THURSDAY: I got green but I clicked the bottle too
CHEM: Huh! Guess there’s more going on here. Not enough info to say yet. Well, nothing I’m trying is responding, so…
PASCALE: Go back to the bed. Try the blanket again.
CHEM: Okay…
(She clicks the blanket. It whips back to reveal a woman in oversized flannel pajamas. Her long hair mostly obscures her face, but a tattoo can be seen on her wrist.)
CHEM: There she is!
LACUNA: That’s three.
PORYGONAL: THREEEEEEEEE
ABBYSANDLER671: Three!!!!!!!
(The screen goes black, with text the game reads aloud—)
LACUNA: End of part one.
(The game closes itself. CHEM starts hitting keys to regain control.)
CHEM: What the hell? Did it crash or something?
VOLUBLESOCIETY: No, that’s what it does
MANDY THURSDAY: You get three a day. Then the part ends.
CHEM: Three what? Three actions?
PORYGONAL: Not sure something like that. Can’t move on to the next part until another day.
CHEM: Huh, okay. Well… that was both longer and shorter than I expected. But I have to say, I’m intrigued. I’d like to try more, but I won’t be able to get back on until next week. By then, you’ll probably have seen it all.
ABBYSANDLER671: Maybe not. It’s supposed to be different for everybody.
PASCALE: Different for everybody? What’s that mean?
CHEM: Abby? What does that mean?
ABBYSANDLER671: People keep talking about stuff they saw in the game, and lots of folks aren’t seeing the same things.
VOLUBLESOCIETY: Even if they’ve played through the same sections
CHEM: Well, it’s still pretty new. Especially if you can only play one section per day, there’s probably not been a lot of repeat play throughs. We’ll have to compare notes when we all get a little farther. But no spoilers, okay? I want to be surprised!
(CHEM calls up a window for a different game.)
CHEM: Well, I’ve still got a couple hours yet. Anybody up for seeing if we can make some progress on The Pensacola Job?
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