Life's pretty sweet for a moon-kid like you. Low gravity means you can jump super-high, you get all the astronaut ice cream you can eat, and, oh-so-luckily, the moon gets awesome Wi-Fi.
Ever since your parents moved here a year ago, you've helped set up the brand-new city that more and more people every day are moving into from Earth. Pretty soon, it went from just to three of you to thousands of Lunar Citizens, most of whom are great... but some, like Roger, your new neighbor, aren't quite so friendly.
Roger thinks he's the best in the world... and on the moon... at everything! Most recently, he's challenged you to a race around the moon... Do you have what it takes to beat him?
[[Yes!->Plan the Journey]]
[[Double Yes!->Plan the Journey]]
{(set: $time to 0)} Of course! Now, a race around the moon is no easy task, so you pack up a lot of supplies into your souped-up Lunar Rover, including food, water, and fuel.
To make things fair, you and Roger decide to start at the same point as each other and head in opposite directions, and the first one back to the start after making a full circle around the moon wins! Your parents are nervous, but they know more than anything you want to be known as the fastest kid on the moon!
The day of the big race comes, and it's time to decide- which way will you go around the moon?
[[East]]
[[West]]{(set: $direction to "East")(set: $leftDirection to "North")(set: $rightDirection to "South")(set: $sunState to "rising")} $direction it is!
The starting gun goes off with a BANG and away you go! You look over your shoulder to see the crowd (and Roger) growing smaller and smaller and finally vanishing over the horizon as you race forward toward the $sunState sun.
The journey will take about a week, and for the first few days nothing major happens. You eat, you sleep, you watch YouTube while the Rover is on autopilot... but then a huge crater pops into your view, blocking your path! You can try to go around either way, or, if you're feeling especially brave, try to jump it. What will you do?
[[Jump it!]]
[[Go Left]]
[[Go Right]]{(set: $direction to "West")(set: $leftDirection to "South")(set: $rightDirection to "North")(set: $sunState to "setting")}$direction it is!
The starting gun goes off with a BANG and away you go! You look over your shoulder to see the crowd (and Roger) growing smaller and smaller and finally vanishing over the horizon as you race forward toward the $sunState sun.
The journey will take about a week, and for the first few days nothing major happens. You eat, you sleep, you watch YouTube while the Rover is on autopilot... but then a huge crater pops into your view, blocking your path! You can try to go around either way, or, if you're feeling especially brave, try to jump it. What will you do?
[[Jump it!]]
[[Go Left]]
[[Go Right]]{(set: $time to $time+5)(set: $jumpedIt to true)}There's no way you'd be able to make this jump on Earth, but with the moon's lower gravity, you decide it's definitely possible. You back up, straighten out, and FLOOR IT!
The crater's edge races toward you, and soon enough you're blasting up the side, the lip approaching fast...
And you launch into the air! It's so intense, it reminds you of when you took off from Earth to get here in the first place! But the other side of the crater is so far off, and you're not sure you're going fast enough! If you come up even an inch short, you'll tumble into the pit and have to call AAA, and they take forever to come ON EARTH!
The other side of the crater closes in, so you brace for impact. Your front tires make it but your back tires slide backwards in the moondust, threatening to pull you in! You gun the motor, crossing your fingers that they get some traction, kicking up a humongous dust cloud...
Success! You spring free of the edge and glide down the slope of the $direction side of the crater. Easy as pie, don't know what you were worried about.
[[Proceed]] {(set: $time to $time+7)(set: $jumpedIt to false)}You head $leftDirection around the crater, knowing this will take a little more time, but at least it's safer- the moon is no place to goof around, after all.
And besides, this gives you a chance to enjoy the amazing view.
{(if: $leftDirection is "north")[You're on the near side of the moon, so the Earth is almost directly above you. You can see North America, and try to pick out the spot where your old home used to be. You wonder whether you'll ever go back someday, or if you'll call the moon home for the rest of your life.](else:)[You're on the far side of the moon, so there's nothing but a big, beautiful expanse of stars as far as the eye can see. You know there are other planets out there, and wonder if you'll ever get to visit any of them like you got to visit the moon, and whether you'll race to be the fastest there, too.]}
Finally, the end of the crater comes into view and you proceed on your journey.
[[Proceed]]{(set: $time to $time+7)(set: $jumpedIt to false)}You head $rightDirection around the crater, knowing this will take a little more time, but at least it's safer- the moon is no place to goof around, after all.
And besides, this gives you a chance to enjoy the amazing view.
{(if: $rightDirection is "north")[You're on the near side of the moon, so the Earth is almost directly above you. You can see North America, and try to pick out the spot where your old home used to be. You wonder whether you'll ever go back someday, or if you'll call the moon home for the rest of your life.](else:)[You're on the far side of the moon, so there's nothing but a big, beautiful of expanse of stars as far as the eye can see. You know there are other planets out there, and wonder if you'll ever get to visit any of them like you got to visit the moon, and whether you'll race to be the fastest there, too.]}
Finally, the end of the crater comes into view so now you can proceed on your journey.
[[Proceed]]You think you're making good time, but soon night falls and you're left with only the puny lights from your rover to illuminate the alien surroundings, so you can only see a few feet in each direction. It's a little creepy, but you've lived here long enough to know there's no such thing as aliens... At least, not around your lunar city, though at the moment you're almost on the complete opposite side, so who knows what could be out here? Maybe you should slow down.
Then again, you don't want to fall behind Roger. For all you know he could already be past the halfway point, and you'll never forgive yourself if he gets to gloat about how he beat you for the rest of his life! Then again, you also want to be able to stop in time in case any hidden obstacles were to pop up.
Should you slow down, or speed up?
[[Slow Down]]
[[Speed Up]]{(set: $time to $time+2)}You ease off the gas a little bit... and not a moment too soon! An enormous moon rock is blocking your path, and you miss it by barely more than an inch by slamming on the brakes! If you'd hit it you definitely would have had to stop to fix your rover, so well done!
You back up and head around the rock... but not before noticing something strange about it... Are there //carvings// in the side of it? And not just random cracks, either, these look like actual symbols, and a lot of them!
This is a major find, but you remember you're in the middle of a race. It would make you famous to bring back evidence of life like this, but would it be worth it if Roger won? You could finish the race and tell people about it later, but you're not sure you'd be able to find this particular rock again... What will you do?
[[Continue On]]
[[Investigate the Rock]]
{(set: $time to $time+5)}Sure, floor it! Why not, you're a good driver, and it's not like you've ever crashed befOHNOLOOKOUT!!!!!!
*SMASH*
An enormous moon rock was blocking your path, and you were going too fast to stop in time. You're okay but now you have to stop to fix your rover, which means a delay. Sure hope Roger ran into a rock, too!
Once your rover's fixed, you back up and head around the rock... but not before noticing something strange about it... Are there //carvings// in the side of it? And not just random cracks, either, these look like actual symbols, and a lot of them!
This is a major find, but you remember you're in the middle of a race. It would make you famous to bring back evidence of life like this, but you're already behind... would it be worth it if Roger won? You could finish the race and tell people about it later, but you're not sure you'd be able to find this particular rock again... What will you do?
[[Continue On]]
[[Investigate the Rock]]{(set: $foundAliens to false)(set: $time to $time+1)}You decide to snap a picture of the rock, just so you have some proof it was there, but it's nothing definitive since you could have carved the symbols yourself. But hey, a race is a race. Onwards you go.
[[Onwards!]]{(set: $foundAliens to true)(set: $time to $time+3)}This is too big to ignore, it could mean finding the key to life in the universe!
With great effort, and thankful for the low gravity, you roll the rock into the back of your rover. It's heavy, so it's gonna slow you down a little bit, but it'll be worth it when you come back with the find of the century and he doesn't. You can only imagine what his face would look like if you came back with it AND won, and that just makes you even more desperate to win. Onwards!
[[Onwards!]]
By your calculations, you're just about halfway there, and no sign of Roger yet... so either you missed him or you're way ahead. Either way, you've got to keep going.
But then, disaster! Your rover sputters to a halt, and you realize you've run out of fuel! You have plenty to spare, but refueling takes forever... and right when you start, you see Roger coming straight at you! As soon as he's in range, his voice crackles over the radio in your spacesuit:
"Ha! Gotta stop to refuel, huh? My rover's a //hybrid// so I get awesome mileage. See you at the finish line, hope you look good in silver!"
And like that he's gone. More determined than ever, you pump the fuel as fast as you can, filling the tank more than you need just to make sure you can finish the trip without having to stop again. After all this, you are NOT going to give up now.
[[Click here NOT to give up now->Don't Give Up Now!]]Still heading $direction, things look a lot smoother on this side of the moon. Maybe this side's quicker and that's why Roger passed you, so hopefully he'll have a hard time on what you just went through. {(if: $foundAliens is true)[At least he won't get your precious alien rock!] (else:)[And double hopefully, he won't notice the alien writing on the rock you left behind and claim it as his own.]}
But as you open up the throttle, you hear a rumbling behind you! Hoping it's just Roger's rover breaking down, you turn around to discover a huge crack opening in the surface, and heading straight for you! MOON-QUAKE!
You try your best to dodge, but the land seems intent on swallowing you up, and soon you're surrounded by deep pits that keep getting bigger and keep coming for you!
You realize you only have two choices: abandon ship and try to jump to safety, or gun it and use the rover to launch yourself across the crack. The gap looks like it might be a little too big to jump on foot, but in your heavy rover you won't have much time to get your speed up (if: $jumpedIt is true)[like you did when you jumped the crater], so trying that could send you down into the pit, rover and all! Then again, if you leave the rover behind you'll definitely have lost the race (if: $foundAliens is true)[and your proof of aliens], but is it worth your life? You have to think fast!
[[Jump on Foot]]
[[Jump in the Rover]]
{(set: $time to $time + 1)}You aren't about to give your life for a race, even one against someone like Roger. You put on your helmet, exit the rover, say a sad goodbye to the loyal machine that's carried you so far (if: $foundAliens is true)[and the priceless rock it carries (you wish you'd taken a picture)], and jump just as the ground beneath your feet crumbles away.
You're suspended in the air for what seems like an eternity, arms and legs flailing wildy, looking back as your rover falls into the dust... it looks like you're going to make it!
But just then, there's another rumbling right below you! Another moonquake? No, this time you see a small explosion just beneath the surface, making the ground fall away! Someone's set mines as a trap for you and your rover! And you have a good idea who...
Your anger quickly turns to panic as the ground you were aiming for vanishes and you fall into the pit! You try to stay above ground but rocks and dust pile on top of you and push you further down! Luckily your suit is holding so you can breathe, but it's going to take forever to get free, and when you do, what then? You're hundreds of miles from anyone and can't hope to finish the journey on foot.
You need the rover, but it's totally stuck in a deep pit. Too bad it's not a rocket, you think, like the ship that got you to the moon in the first place; then it could just blast its way free.
Wait a minute... who's to say it couldn't blast off?
[[Make a Bomb.]]{(set: $time to $time + 3)}You aren't about to give up the race, especially one against someone like Roger. You rev the engine in neutral, push it into gear, and launch off the lip of the growing canyon just as the ground beneath your tires crumbles away.
You're suspended in the air for what seems like an eternity, wheels still spinning wildly against nothing... it looks like you're going to make it!
But just then, there's another rumbling right below you! Another moonquake? No, this time you see a small explosion just beneath the surface, making the ground fall away! Someone's set mines as a trap for you and your rover! And you have a good idea who...
Your anger quickly turns to panic as the ground you were aiming for vanishes and your rover falls into the pit! You try to drive free but the walls are too steep, and the loose rocks and dust push you further down! Luckily the rover isn't damaged, but it's totally stuck in a deep pit. Too bad it's not a rocket, you think, like the ship that got you to the moon in the first place; then it could just blast its way free.
Wait a minute... who's to say it couldn't blast off?
[[Make a Bomb.]]You get as much of your spare fuel as you can and pack it into a single tank, which you place under the rover's back tires. Your plan is to set a timer so that you can get inside the rover and strap yourself in before the fuel explodes, blasting you and the rover back onto the surface. The heat shields on the rover should hold, but it's still risky. Unfortunately, you don't have a choice.
The bomb set, you set up the timer to go off in thirty seconds, plenty of time to get inside. Shaking, you slide in, keeping your helmet and spacesuit on for extra protection, and put on your safety harness.
Ten seconds left... You look up the steep walls of the pit, hoping you calculated the angle right so that you don't go too far forward and smash into the side, or too high up and not make it over the edge...
Five seconds... you close your eyes, waiting for the big boom...
Three...
TWO...
ONE!!!
[[BOOM]]The explosion throws the rover completely free of all the rocks and dust around it, and the next thing you know you're tumbling through the sky, flipping up and forward at an incredible rate. You're definitely free of the pit but going so fast and falling from so high and somersaulting over and over again, it's all you can do to figure out which way's up. You try to shift your weight to make sure you land right-side up, as you don't think the rover could stand to face-plant, and cross your fingers that this whole trip wasn't a huge mistake as you prepare to land once again...
YES!! Your rover skids to a halt on its tires, bouncing a few times but stopping, engine still purring like it's eager for more. {(if: $foundAliens is true)[You look over your shoulder to check if your precious alien rock is there, and sure enough, it survived the trip too.]} You're free, you're safe, and you're more determined than ever to beat that cheater Roger. Time for the home stretch.
[[Home Stretch!]]You have no spare fuel left from making the bomb, and you're running low as your moon city finally comes into view again. You see the crowds waiting for you at the finish line, but no sign of Roger's rover... There's still time!
But just when you think the hard part's over, Roger's rover appears over the horizon. You can't see his face but you can just imagine how surprised he is to see that you escaped his trap, and sure enough at the sight of your rover he heads at top speed for the finish line.
There's no holding back now, everything leads to this moment. You put the pedal to the metal, not caring if you crash because you, Roger, and everyone else can tell it's going to be a matter of inches. You hear the crowds cheering, urging you faster and faster as the end gets closer and closer until finally...
[[What? Finally WHAT?!]](if: $time < 15)[(if: $foundAliens is true)[YES! You did it! Your rover breaks the ribbon a full second before Roger's, leaving no room for doubt: You are the fastest on the whole moon! Not only that, but your moon rock is the talk of the city for months to come, with scientists studying its every feature and declaring it incontrovertible proof of life beyond the stars. Plus, they're so impressed with your driving skills that they're going to let you lead an expedition to figure out who wrote it. Roger, on the other hand, will not be invited, he's too busy sulking from the loss. Oh well, at least he has his hybrid!
THE END]
(else:)[YES! You did it! Your rover breaks the ribbon a full five seconds before Roger's, leaving no room for doubt: You are the fastest on the whole moon! The story of your amazing voyage quickly spreads across the city and back to Earth, as well as your insistence that you discovered a rock with alien writing... but unfortunately you aren't ever able to find the rock again, so all they had to go on was the picture you took, which wasn't enough to be taken seriously, sadly. Nevertheless, the world is inspired by your amazing feat and the possibility that what you discovered could still be out there.
THE END]]
(else:)[(if: $foundAliens is true)[You push it with all you've got, but unfortunately the rock you're carrying weighs you down, and just before the finish line you run out of fuel! Roger raises his arms in triumph as he reaches the goal, the crowd applauding his victory but also your close second. The good news, of course, is that your alien rock is of much more interest to anyone than the result of the race, despite Roger insisting that he's so much better because of how fast he is, and you end up going down in history as the first to discover proof of alien life! Roger, on the other hand, has his record broken almost immediately, poor guy, and though he tried to hold it over you, you don't care that he won the race because you still came out on top in the end.
THE END]
(else:)[It's a photo finish, but after reviewing it you realize that Roger barely scraped by and crossed the line first. He gloats about winning, of course, until the examination of your rover proves your story about how he planted mines to sabotage you and how you had to blast your way free. The results of the race are thrown out and Roger is called a cheater, though he keeps challenging you to a rematch. You're not worried about it anymore, though, since you know you would have beaten him easily if he hadn't cheated, so in your mind you've already won. Plus, you're far too occupied with finding that alien rock again... it's got to be out there somewhere...
THE END]]