<h1>The Vector III's Potluck Signup Sheet</h1>
<h2>by Holly Schofield</h2>
<p style="text-align:center;">[[Begin]]</p>The Vector III, a merchant spaceship, is hurtling through space, having left the last port of call, Rillew, where they were to sell a vaccine shipment for a hefty profit. Captain Marta Gurrad has not explained to [the crew]<crew1| the reason for the hasty departure.
(click:?crew1)[Nor has she explained why she disappeared all night along with [Julie Li, the medic]<crew2|, or why the crew did not receive their share of the profits.
(click:?crew2)[Relations have been strained among the crew for months due to romantic entanglements. Now, [[rumors are flying and tempers are rising->the crew]].]
]There are five people aboard the ship:
- Marta Gurrad, Captain
- [[Julie Li]], Medic and Inventory Control
- Gerald Watley, second mate
- Kalina Levchenko, pilot and mechanic
- Joajoajoa Yuleen, first mateJulie tries to boost the crew's spirits.
She posts [a potluck signup sheet]<sheet| in the ship's galley above a plate of lemon swirl cake.
(click:?sheet)[The top of the paper reads:
<em>Let's quit squabbling, people! My heart is breaking! We should be better than this!
Maybe a potluck can turn us back into the loving bunch of crewmembers we used to be. Please sign up!!!<3 <3<3</em>
<tr>
<th class="short">Name</td>
<th class="mid">Item</td>
<th class="long">Comments</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Marta</td>
<td>(if:$marta is "nothing")[[[Pick a Dish->MartaDish]]](else:)[$marta]</td>
<td>(if:$marta is "Fudgy Stuffed Delights")[Are you all wondering what's in the middle of these delicious treats? Creamy chocolateberry filling? Or the scrapings from the galley's grease traps? Try one and see. Trust is a huge part of love.](else-if:$marta is "Sweaty Pair of Workout Shorts")[Just returning these to you, Julie. Want to tell everyone how they got in my quarters? I'm tired of these charades!](else:)[ ]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gerald</td>
<td>(if:$gerald is "nothing")[[[Pick a Dish->GeraldDish]]](else:)[$gerald]</td>
<td>(if:$gerald is "Stale Popcorn")[You said I'm too crude, Julie, to understand the symbolism of things like your stupid potluck. Fine! I knew the chances of our relationship surviving would be like winning the Interstellar Super Lottery. You want better communication? Too bad! I've smashed all our radio equipment. By the way, I vacuumed this damn popcorn off the galley air filter. I hope you symbolically choke on it!](else-if:$gerald is "Red And Blue Wires Twisted Into A Ball")[You said I'm too crude, Julie, to understand the symbolism of things like your stupid potluck. Fine! After I found out you'd spent the night "communicating" with the Captain, I smashed all our radio equipment. We'll go all the way to our next port without communications. The odds of fixing it are longer than winning the Interstellar Super Lottery. You want symbolism, you got it!](else:)[ ]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Kalina</td>
<td>(if:$kalina is "nothing")[[[Pick a Dish->KalinaDish]]](else:)[$kalina]</td>
<td>(if:$kalina is "A Tureen Of Gazpacho")[You have taken my heart, Gerald, by dumping me for Julie. You have turned it into tomato soup. When I dump it over your head, then you comprehend that symbolism, da?](else-if:$kalina is "A Pile Of Broken Computer Wafers")[Everyone on ship speaks of love. Pah! First, Gerald dumps me for Julie and breaks my heart. Then we do not get paid. I have destroyed all navigational controls. We now coast to the Dead Zone.](else:)[ ]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Joajoajoa</td>
<td>(if:$joajoajoa is "nothing")[[[Pick a Dish->joajoajoaDish]]](else:)[$joajoajoa]</td>
<td>(if:$joajoajoa is "Kuluutweel Pie (With Extra Palps)")[Ah, Gerald. The assumptions you leap to--so like a human. It wasn’t Julie who had the affair with selfish, secretive Captain Marta: it was me, your token Rillewian, now bereft of my dear home planet forever. Poor humans, unable to understand a greater love.](else-if:$joajoajoa is "Kuluutweel Pie (With Extra Orifices)")[Ah, Kalina. The assumptions you leap to--so like a human. It wasn't Julie whom Gerald slept with, it was me. But, last night, when I left my dear home planet behind forever, it was not because of mere romance. Poor humans, unable to understand a greater love.](else:)[ ]</td>>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>(unless:$julie is "nothing")[Julie<br/ ><span style="font-size:12px;">(Yep, me again!)</span>] </td>
<td>(unless:$julie is "nothing")[$julie] </td>
<td>(unless:$julie is "nothing")[(if:$julie is "An Empty Vaccine Cartridge")[Funny you all think Captain Marta's and my disappearance last night in port was a lovers' tryst. Think what you want, I don't care anymore-- I've thrown all the spare nav equipment out Airlock #3 and we'll drift forever in the Dead Zone--we'll have lots of time to think now, but not time enough for love.](else-if:$julie is "The Storage Locker Passcode, stuffed in an empty vaccine cartridge")[I do think we have enough love. I do! Someone (anyone!) show your love by going to the storage locker and getting the spare nav equipment! Let's set it up together!!!]] </td>
</tr>
</table>
<span style="text-align:center;">(if:$nothingnum <= 1)[(if:$endingval is "happy")[[[Let's Get this Party Started!->Happy Ending]]](else:)[[[Let's Get This Party Started!->Bad Ending]]]
]</span>[Captain Marta's voice]<end| booms out over the ship's intercom...
(click:?end)[They say that 'Romance is the icing, but love is the cake,' and you, my ever-loving crew, have taken it.
I'm ordering y'all to start fresh, to be open and honest with each other like lovers should be.
I'll go first: last night, Julie, in her sweaty workout shorts, helped me make a purchase then give away the vaccine to the Rillewian resistance army. After the purchase paid off, I secretly locked in a course to Golden City Hub and booked us all into luxury suites.
Destroying the nav equipment, smashing the comms, accusing each other--y'all didn't need to do any of that. All we needed was love... and this little slip of paper I'm holding in my hand: the winning ticket to the Interstellar Lottery.
[[Set Another Course?->Begin]]
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][Captain Marta's voice]<truelove| booms out over the ship's intercom:
(click:?truelove)[Okay, people, you want love?
Here's true love: I gave away the vaccine for free last night to the Rillewian resistance army, with Julie helping in her sweaty workout shorts.
Also, I found out I won the Interstellar Lottery.
If we had any navigation equipment, we could all be headed to the luxury suites at Golden City Hub right now instead of drifting in the Dead Zone. We could be getting rescued by the Space Patrol if we had any communication equipment.
We could even be eating delightful potluck... if we'd loved each other enough.
[[Set another course?->Begin]]
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Kuluutweel Pie (With Extra Palps) - Ah, Gerald. The assumptions you leap to--so like a human. It wasn’t Julie who had the affair with selfish, secretive Captain Marta: it was me, your token Rillewian, now bereft of my dear home planet forever. Poor humans, unable to understand a greater love.
- Ah, Kalina. The assumptions you leap to-- so like a human. It wasn't Julie whom Gerald slept with, it was me. But, last night, when I left my dear home planet behind forever, it was not because of mere romance. Poor humans, unable to understand a greater love.