Call of the Void

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Call of the Void Sujin Im Games Glitches and Creativity SP25 You stand at the edge of nothing. A void stretches endlessly before you, velvet-black and pulsing softly like a slow heartbeat. Does she call to you? [[Stare deeper->Stare]] [[Call out to it->Call]] [[Step back into the light->Retreat]] [[Oblique Strategies Desc->Oblique Strategies]]

You stare into the void. She stares back. <<set $voidAffinity +=1>> <<set $curiosity +=1>> She waits. You feel her noticing. [[Say something->Talk]] [[Reach for her->Touch]] [[Turn away->Retreat]]

"Hello?" you say, though you're unsure if anything can hear in this place. The void responds—not in sound, but in thought. Recognition. <<set $voidAffinity += 2>> <<set $curiosity += 1>> [[Ask her name->Name]] [[Stay silent together->Stare]]

You stumble back. The stars blink. The ground beneath you does not crumble. You fade back into yourself. The void does not follow. <<if $voidAffinity >=3>> You feel her gaze on your back.. Piercing, yet indistinct Not angry.. just waiting. Ending: Away from the ether you walk <<else>> There is only silence Silence as if nothing else had ever existed in the first place Ending: Null <</if>> [[Restart->Start]]

"What.. are you?" is the only question you can muster up. A ripple in the nothingness answers "I am Everything. From all that exists to the lack thereof" <<set $voidAffinity += 1>> <<set $fear += 1>> Is it fear that you hold in your sweaty palms, or something else? [["What do you want from me?"->WhatDoYouWant]] [[Step closer->Touch]] [[Say nothing->Stare]]

You tentatively reach toward the void. A cool wisp of air gently coils your wrist, like the air of untouched shadow against the glaring summer heat. <<set $voidAffinity +=3>> Her touch.. lingers [[Pull her closer->Intimacy]] [[Ask her name->Name]] [[Let go->Stare]]

You ask her name An answer, not spoken, travels through your skin and nests itself behind your spine. You shudder from the contact. What was just written in you, you are not yet able to read. Still, you know in the way that matters <<set $knowsVoidName = true>> <<set $voidAffinity += 2>> [[Whisper her name->Intimacy]] [[Say your name instead->Mirror]] [[Retreat into silence->Stare]]

The void lingers before responding Not with words -- with weight As if density takes on the form of message through the net of existence You feel a longing, in the likeness of Atlas with the weight of the world on his back. You wonder for how long you have yearned. <<set $voidAffinity += 1>> <<set $fear += 1>> It's more than what she wants It's what you feel inclined to give. It could be your flesh, bones, soul, sorrows, but the part of you that stays silent in mirrors step forward. [["It's yours."->Intimacy]] [["I'm not sure I comprehend."->Stare]] [[Step back->Retreat]]

You step forward. The boundary between the Self and the Not-Self, The thin line separating you and the void -- begins to blur <<if $voidAffinity >=6 and $knowsVoidName is true>> You are accepted-- Not consumed. Not engulfed -- but integrated. Connected. Back to the source, of the womb of existence, where you and her were always together. Ending: Embrace the Infinite [[Restart->Start]] <<elseif $voidAffinity >=6 and $fear >= 2>> You feel the electrons in the air shift-- ever so gently Nothing is static, but still, it is worth mentioning that you are changed. You have forgotten your name. But your longing will be eternally adrift in the ocean of consciousness, waiting.. to be merged. For reunion. Ending: Unrequited Reunion [[Restart->Start]] <<elseif $voidAffinity <6>> The void hesitates. What you have failed to feel is that you have also hesitated. Ending: Almost touched [[Try again->Start]] <</if>>

You speak your name into the air. A momentary pause- But the void speaks it back, Like each syllable is carressed through phonetics unknown to makind. For the first time, you feel truly spoken to <<set $voidAffinity += 2>> <<set $curiosity +=1>> [[Ask it what it wants->Talk]] [[Offer your hand->Intimacy]]

: : StoryInit <<set $voidAffinity to 0>> <<set $knowsVoidName to false>> <<set $fear to 0>>

1. A very small object. Its center 2. Ask your body 3. Trust in the you of now This story is about the train of thought that stemmed from the fact that "when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you" (Nietzsche) The original quote is referring to the process of internal conflict conspiring into spiral of self-dug rabbit hole, but my love of subversive visual novel games have always asked me to find love and affection even at the trenches of existence. A void is conceptual, ontological and existential paradox; if it can be described as nothing at all, it could be described as a very small object. Or a very large one, though the notion of 'object' becomes part of the contradiction in this context. Nevertheless. it is always at the very center, the easiest phenomenon to compare it to would be the black hole. The title Call of the Void is also a direct translation of the french expression 'L'appel du vide', which refers to the impulse to engage in self-destructive behaviors doing everyday life. If you stare into the void, and the void stares back at you, would it be destructive to engage further than simple eye-contact? When you gaze into the abyss, are you really facing something outside of you, or are you facing yourself? The process is depicted in synesthetic sensations, an homage to the animate way of being, an artistry lost in the pursuit of advancement in the current era. Whichever reflection (or the lack thereof) you find in the void, I hope you're exactly where you trusted yourself to be.