Hello everyone, if you’ve seen my previous post (number 4), I presented the opening scene of my interactive story. It is also known as the night of the crime. As this story is quite graphic, I wanted the player to choose in what detail they read about the scenario. As such, right before the detectives are about to enter the nursery, I give them a choice. They can either go outside or continue with the investigation: A) I can’t take the atrocity of the crime anymore, and want to go outside (A3.1), or B) I keep my berings, hold down the disgust that I feel, and continue investigating the room (A3.2). I think this is an essential point in giving the player agency, and very much suits the interactive story genre. I will also leave the following text options below. Keep in mind, that they do cover sensitive topics, so please take care of yourselves. Don’t feel obliged to read in any way. I wish everyone luck and success on their stories.
A3.1_Goes Outside (I can’t take the atrocity of the crime anymore, and want to go outside)
I can’t possibly see what has happened to that child,
“Bill, do you mind if I take some air?”, I say with a crackly weariness in my voice.
He looks at me with a regard of understanding,
“Of course [(x, insert protagonist name)], I’ll take it from here”.
I turn around, walk down the hallway, and out the front door. I can feel my hands shaking, my knees nearly buckling at every stride. The fresh air is reassuring, and I take a seat on the front steps to gather my bearings. I rest my elbows on my knees, my hands are on either side of my head, and I try to focus my attention on my breath. The whole situation is a lot to take in. Especially as a father of two, I am terrified to hear what happened in that nursery. It hits a little too close to home.
I hear the front doorway open and close as Bill walks out. As I stand, he expresses that the child was murdered in a strikingly similar way as the mother.
“Though the mother presents more signs of resistance, their wounds seem to be inflicted by a knife or sharp object of somesort”, he adds. Then continues, “The most gruesome of injuries being a long horizontal slash on their neck, appearing from one ear to the other”.
I have to fight back the tears that are welling up in my eyes, how could someone commit these vicious acts? Senselessly killing an innocent baby and her mother.
*Choice
A) I decide to continue the investigation, return in the house, and go to the unvisited bathroom (A3.3)
B) Continue your conversation with Bill outside (A4)
A3.2_Continues the Investigation (I keep my berings, hold down the disgust that I feel, and continue investigating the room)
I walk beside Bill Taba as we both witness the aftermath of the atrocity that occurred at this little bassinet. A young toddler, a little girl, lies motionless beside her bloodstained blanket. I appears that both the mother and daughter were murdered in strikingly similar ways. Though the mother presents more signs of resistance, their wounds seem to be inflicted by a knife or sharp object of somesort. The most gruesome of injuries being a long horizontal slash on their neck, appearing from one ear to the other. I have to fight back the tears that are welling up in my eyes, how could someone commit these vicious acts? Senselessly killing an innocent baby and her mother. As Bill and I walk out the room, the investigation team continues taking as many pictures as they can for evidence. Images that I am not eager to revisit during the course of the investigation.
*Choice
A) We continue the investigation in the bathroom (A3.3)
B) Having investigated the crime scene thoroughly, we walk outside (A4)
References
Dustin Lance Black Director. Under the Banner of Heaven. Aggregate Film, Imagine Television, FXP, 2022.
Krakauwer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. New York, Penguin, June 2004.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.