A New and Beautiful World - Open Source Release

# 'A New and Beautiful World', developed by Ty Kiatathikom over the course of 48 hours throughout August 22nd-24th, 2014 for Ludum Dare 30.
# Follow me on Twitter at @TKia_

# I didn't have time to add in any music, so, uh...
# You can play your own. If you want.

#PROJECT TODO:

# 1 - Come up with concept and outline of plot. ACCOMPLISHED
# 2 - Draft a basic script. ACCOMPLISHED
# 3 - Divide the story into chapters. ACCOMPLISHED
# 4 - Technical things; Ren'Py preferences, a main menu screen, cosmetic stuff, etc.
# 5 - Second readthrough, have at least one friend proofread. Edit.
# 6 - Art. Try my hand at some pixel art for backgrounds, see if it's not too horrible. If no time is left, just stick with the black.
# 7 - Music? Do I want music? ... How am I going to make music? Probably not.
# 8 - Final readthrough. Polish.
# 9 - Publish to Ludum Dare website.
# 10 - Stare at the wall and regret how I've spent this weekend. Become generally dissatisfied in continuing on with life.

# Changing the appearances of menus from the default ADV format to the NVL alternative format.

init python:
    menu = nvl_menu

# Loading backgrounds =

image black = "#000000"
image sky = "clearskyfinal.png"
image clouds = "cloudsfinal.png"
image night = "nightskyfinal.png"
image planet = "planetskyfinal.png"


# Declaring the characters of the VN and creating shortcuts for them in the script.

define i = Character("Isaac", kind=nvl, color="#2e9afe")
define n = Character("Nicholas", kind=nvl, color="#00ff40")
define d = Character("Dad", kind=nvl, color="#f7fe2e")
define m = Character("Mom", kind=nvl, color="#ff0080")
define f = Character("First Mate", kind=nvl, color="#df0101")
define a = Character("Announcer", kind=nvl, color="#df0101")
define na = Character(None, kind=nvl)

# The game starts here.

label start:

    scene black

    #Chapter 1 - Flight


    na "'A New and Beautiful World'"
    na "Chapter One."
    na "'Show.'"

    play music "Music for Manatees.mp3" fadein 1.0

    # Clearing the page of text and beginning a new one.

    scene sky with fade
    nvl clear

    na "November 2nd, 2074."
    na "I was 10 years old. Nicholas was 13."
    na "It was high noon on an autumn day, and the sun was burning bright."
    na "Even though summer had long passed, that day was especially hot. Or, maybe it was just the sheer amount of people there."
    na "The field was bursting with activity at every corner. Packs of people moved in droves, finding openings in the crowd and scrambling with a fury to fill them."
    na "Food stands, bathrooms, charging stations. Water bottle filling booths. These little structures adorned the fairgrounds."

    nvl clear

    na "A huge, expansive holographic banner flickered in the sky for all to see. 'Imperial Air Show 2074,' it read, in the brightest and proudest letters."
    na "I wasn't paying too much attention to anything that was going on, though. Not yet, at least."
    na "There was one thing that I had come here for."
    na "The commotion of fried foods bursting into grease against the polished black of neometal skillets."
    na "The cacophony of button presses and screen flashes and countless people moaning about the heat..."
    na "Those weren't the sounds I was there to hear."
    na "Holographic banners flying back and forth, proudly displaying the regalia of the Imperial Solar Navy and the flag of the Empire itself..."
    na "Those weren't the sights I was there to see."
    na "But, just as if it was on cue, a horn blared, all the banners switched off, and all the people in the crowd turned up from their diversions to lend their ears."

    nvl clear

    na "The clear, strong voice of a woman greeted the fairgrounds from unseen speakers."
    a "Good afternoon, everyone. We here at the Ministry of Naval Development would love to welcome you to this year's Imperial Air Show, located at our headquarters in New Osaka, Eastasia."
    a "We have quite the experience planned for everyone today, just as we do every year!"
    a "But, there's no need to be in a rush, is there?"

    nvl clear

    na "As the announcer spoke on, introducing the show, I felt a rough hand tug at my shirtsleeve."
    d "Isaac? Isaac, the show's about to start. Come on."
    i "Yeah, dad, I kind of caught onto that."
    d "Then what are you standing here for? We found the perfect spot on the bleachers. Follow me."
    na "Without any further warning, my father held onto me by the sleeve and began to slither through the dissipating crowd. We kept going until we reached one of the countless sets of bleachers set up on the fairgrounds."

    nvl clear

    na "My mother and brother were there seated on the top row, waiting for us. They waved."
    m "Isaac!? Dear!? Hurry up, the show is starting!"
    na "Dad and I excused our way through the sea of legs until we got to our own spots and sat down."
    n "It took you that long to find the bathroom, Isaac? I forgot that you didn't know how to read yet..."
    i "I'm only three years younger than you, loser."
    n "Don't call me a-"

    nvl clear

    a "So, I think that about wraps it up for introductions."
    a "If that's the case, then, without further ado..."
    a "Let's get the show started!"

    nvl clear

    na "Just then, to booming applause and cheers from the crowd, a squadron of Imperial Interceptors shot across the sky, so quickly anyone who'd blinked would have missed them."
    na "The thunderous roars of their engines seemed to tear the world into strips as they flew."
    na "As they sharply pulled up, twisted around, and raced straight back across the fairgrounds, you could hear the super-heated wind twisting and bending. It looked like the sky was boiling."
    na "They turned again, righted themselves again, and began another lap. But, this time, they pulled up hard right at the middle, almost at a perfect angle. They formed a circle and began to soar upwards."
    na "Flying up higher and higher, decorative neon tails of different colors began to stream out from their engines. They rolled and rolled and spun around, closing the circle, until it looked like every single Interceptor was touching wing to wing and spiraling upwards."

    nvl clear

    na "The lights coming from the crafts' engines twisted together and formed a tower of beautiful, shining color."
    na "The squadron flew like this until they were nothing but smoky specks in a sea of warm blue."

    scene black

    na "Suddenly, a holographic shield spawned, spread itself around the fairgrounds, and curved into the sky past the Interceptors, encasing the spacecraft and the grounds in a tall dome. The shield blocked out almost all the sunlight and, suddenly, it looked like it was the middle of the night."
    na "The Interceptors continued to race upwards until they were right at the top of the shield, and then they all pulled back and began plummeting back down in wide arcs, almost touching the shield's walls."

    nvl clear

    na "As they fell down to the Earth, the Interceptors began to shoot back flares that blasted past behind them and burst into thunderous, golden fireworks."
    na "The fireworks ripped open into blindingly bright explosions and flashes, ricocheting and reflecting off the walls of the holographic shield. More and more fireworks shot out, lit up the sky, and roared in loud bangs and booms."
    na "A raging, blinding, amazing storm of light seemed to follow the squadron of spacecraft on their descent down to the Earth."

    scene sky with fade

    na "And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the shield switched off, and the fireworks switched to smoke and began to flood the entire sky."
    na "The Interceptors all pulled up and raced away in different directions."
    na "The show was on."

    nvl clear

    na "The sky was clear for a split second before two more squadrons of Interceptors screamed in from seemingly nowhere and met. They began to fly tight loops and twists around each other, as if locked in some sort of duel."
    na "More and more swarms of Imperial ships flew in from thin air, ranging in size from Interceptors to Fighters to Bombers. Even a Carrier uncloaked in the middle of it all and began to shoot pods of holographic confetti down onto the watching crowd."
    na "The spacecraft filled and filled the sky above the fairgrounds until you could barely see any spot of blue before it was flown over by a fighter. They danced and curved around and raced and spun in intricate patterns, every single one of them."
    na "It was a ballet of war machines."
    na "It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life."

    nvl clear

    na "As the show went on, I turned to my family sitting beside me. I had to make sure their expressions were as wild as mine, their mouths drooling and their eyes drenched with sheer amazement."
    na "And, for the most part, they were. They were all just as amazed as I was."
    na "All of them, except for my brother, that is."
    na "His expression was just... Blank."
    na "He didn't look like he was having fun at all. It was like the air show bored him."

    nvl clear

    i "Nicholas!"
    na "I had to shout as loud as I could to even be audible to him, and his ear was merely inches away from mine."

    i "Nicholas! Hey!"
    n "Huh!? What is it!?"
    i "What's wrong!?"
    n "What!?"
    i "I said, what's wrong!?"
    n "What!? 'What's wrong'!? Why would there be anything wrong!?"
    i "You don't look like you're having any fun!"
    n "What!?"
    i "You look bored, bro!"

    nvl clear

    na "He just shrugged and turned back to watch the show."
    na "I don't know why he wanted to watch it at all, if he had so little interest in it."
    na "He was looking upwards, but it was like he was looking through all the ships, the spacecraft, the smoke and lights."
    na "Like he was looking past them, and even past the sky."

    nvl clear

    na "Huh."
    na "God, that weirded me out."

    nvl clear

    na "We continued to watch the air show all the way to its conclusion. Then, there were the musical performances, the food stands, the games, and the attractions."
    na "Everyone was there for the rest of the day."

    scene clouds with fade

    na "And, when the time finally came to retire to the night, everyone either walked back to their hotel rooms or got on the light trains home."
    na "Both the station and the nearest hotels were about 4 blocks away from the fairgrounds."
    na "As for my family, we had decided to book our hotel room for an extra night. We really did not want to have to commute right after the fair."
    na "One bed for mom and dad, another for Nicholas and I. We didn't really have the funds to rent a more spacious room."

    nvl clear

    na "We all washed up and got into bed, once we got back. We were exhausted, and we looked the part."
    na "Well, all of us except for Nicholas. He never got tired, it seemed."
    na "Never."

    m "We're leaving for the airport on the very first light train in the morning, alright, kids? You need to get your rest."
    na "She yawned and pulled her covers all the way over herself. It was how she always slept."
    na "And dad was already snoring."
    na "As for me myself, I was definitely ready to head to sleep."
    # Oh god writing about sleepiness is not something I should be doing right now.
    na "The air show had been everything I was hoping it would be. Amazing. Incredible. Deafening. Exciting."
    na "But it had been so, so exhausting."
    na "I tucked my half of the blanket around me, turned and buried my cheek against my pillow, and slowly closed my eyes."

    scene black with fade

    nvl clear

    na "..."

    nvl clear

    na "..."

    nvl clear

    na "..."

    n "..."
    n "Isaac?"
    n "Isaac, are you awake?"
    na "I am now, you loser..."

    nvl clear

    n "Isaac?"
    n "..."
    n "Isaac!"
    na "Nicholas punched me in the shoulder."
    i "Hey! Ouch!"
    n "I knew you were awake."
    i "What do you want, you idiot?"

    nvl clear

    n "Come outside with me."
    i "... What?"
    na "Nicholas stood up, threw a jacket and a backpack on, and began walking to the door."
    n "I'm pretty sure mom and dad are both asleep. Come on."
    i "Huh?"
    n "Outside, to the outdoors. Put your jacket on and follow me."
    i "What? Why do you want to go outside?"
    n "Why do you want to ask?"
    i "That's a stupid comeback, and-"
    na "He had already creaked the door open, and had one foot out into the corridor."

    nvl clear

    na "I followed suit, making sure to tiptoe past my parents."
    i "What are you doing, Nicholas? You can't just go out like this, mom would be so mad if she found out!"
    na "He reached past me, ignoring my words, and slowly pulled the door closed."
    i "Hey! Don't ignore me."
    n "No."
    i "... 'No'?"
    n "Come on."

    nvl clear

    na "Nicholas set off at a brisk pace towards the elevator. He got in and queued up the ground floor on the holographic display."
    na "I got in with him."
    i "Hey, bro, you need to tell me what's going on."
    n "What would you like to know?"
    i "Where are we going?"
    n "The fairgrounds."
    na "The fairgrounds? Why would he want to go there?"

    nvl clear

    i "The fairgrounds? You mean, from the air show? It's closed, now. They've probably packed everything up and left. There's nothing there anymore."
    n "I know."
    i "..."
    i "This is why I don't like you."
    n "I know."

    nvl clear

    na "We got out of the elevator and into the lobby. The attendant at the desk paid no heed to us as we walked out through the sliding doors."
    na "The blackened night air met us in a brisk, biting embrace as we walked out onto the street. It was a drastic change from the heat of the festival earlier in the day, and I wasn't yet sure if it was a welcome one."
    na "Nicholas never stopped once, and just kept on walking down the path towards the fairgrounds."
    n "You remember the way, right, Isaac?"
    i "What? You mean the path we walked about three hours ago? Yes, I know it!"
    n "Just making sure."
    i "How stupid do you think I am?"
    n "..."
    n "Just making sure."
    i "You're walking too fast. Slow down."

    nvl clear

    n "But I don't want to slow down."
    i "The way you phrase things will always make me want to punch you in the face."
    i "Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?"
    n "I want to go to the fairgrounds."
    i "Yes, Nicholas, I understand that much. But, why?"
    n "You'll see why."
    i "No matter how hard I try, I can't unclench my fists right now."
    na "He stopped listening to me."

    nvl clear

    na "We went on, still walking. Moths and mosquitos pranced in the air around me."
    i "..."
    i "It's kind of undesirable, I think, to walk four blocks with someone and not talk to them at all."
    na "..."
    na "No response."

    nvl clear

    i "So, I just checked, and, yeah, I do still want to beat you."
    i "In case you were, uh."
    i "..."
    i "Wondering."
    i "Or something."
    i "Anything."

    nvl clear

    i "Look man, I'd just like for you to say somethi-"
    n "We're here."
    i "Hm?"
    n "The fairgrounds."
    i "Ah."
    i "Right."

    nvl clear

    na "Nicholas was right. We were there. If I hadn't remembered the placement of a couple of trees, I wouldn't have recognized it at all."
    na "The entire wide field had been cleaned up. All the booths, all the displays, all the buildings, everything was gone. Any trash that had been left scattered by any of the festival's attendees, that was all cleaned up too."
    na "Automated worker drones were becoming more and more advanced by the second, it seemed."
    na "Kinda scared me."

    nvl clear

    n "Here. This is what I came here for."
    i "You really like yourself, don't you?"
    n "Look up."
    i "You know, being all vague like that doesn't make you nearly as cool as you think it do-"
    i "Woah."
    na "Beautiful."

    nvl clear

    na "So beautiful."

    nvl clear

    na "I realized why my ignoramus of a brother had told me to look up. Because the night sky was filled to the brim with stars."

    scene night with fade
    play music "Dream Culture.mp3" fadein 1.0

    na "Bright stars."
    na "Shining stars."
    na "It seemed every single star there was in the world was present in the sky that night."

    nvl clear

    n "I've been thinking about it ever since we got on the flight to Eastasia."
    n "We can't see the stars back at home, can't we? In the city? There are too many lights everywhere."
    i "They drown out the stars."
    n "Yes, they do."
    i "Yeah, I've tried looking on some nights. People always talk about, how beautiful or majestic stars are at night. I've always wanted to see for myself."
    n "But you never could."
    i "Nope."

    nvl clear

    i "..."
    i "Is this the very first time we've seen the stars, Nicholas?"
    n "Yeah. It is."
    i "Huh."
    i "..."
    i "They're as beautiful as I was hoping for them to be."
    na "Amazed, I plopped myself down on the ground. The wavy, cool sea of grass that surrounded my brother and I on all sides served to cushion me."
    na "I took a deep, deep breath."

    nvl clear

    na "Nicholas took his backpack off his back and began to rummage through it."
    i "What are you doing?"
    na "He took what looked to be a long stainless steel pole from his pack, and gripped it in his hands."
    n "This."
    na "He tossed the steel pole into the air, where it snapped into two halves. One shot up, and the other down, and then they held their positions in the air."
    na "An electronic hum began to come from the halves, and a holographic screen switched on between them."
    i "That's..."

    nvl clear

    i "Where did you get an expensive holo-canvas like that?"
    n "I know a guy."
    i "You bought it with your Christmas money."
    n "I know a guy."

    nvl clear

    i "So, what are you going to do? Paint the stars?"
    n "Yeah."
    na "Nicholas swiped off the right edge of the screen. A new holographic window appeared, tilted off to the side."
    na "It was a box filled with various squares, each of them a different color."
    na "He took out an ergonomic, gray stylus from his bag, switched it on, and pressed on one of the colored boxes with it."
    na "The black one."

    nvl clear

    na "With a determined look on his face, Nicholas began brushing away at the canvas projected in front of him."
    i "Well, you have fun with that. This grass is pretty comfortable, now that it's nice and cool out."
    na "I stretched out and folded my arms behind my head."
    na "They really were fantastic, the stars."
    i "Take your time. I'll be here."
    na "The response I received was the fast but controlled scratching of a stylus on a projected screen."

    nvl clear

    na "That sound, that slight scratching with an electronic hum following it, was the only thing I heard for some time."
    na "Even though it was cool outside, there was absolutely no wind in the air at all."

    nvl clear

    n "..."
    n "Have you ever thought about stars?"
    i "Could you be any more pretentious."
    n "Have you?"
    i "Yes. Like I told you."
    i "I used to imagine what stars must look like in real life a lot. Because I wanted to see them, even though we couldn't back in the city."
    n "No, that's not what I mean."

    nvl clear

    i "Well, then what do you mean?"
    n "I mean..."

    nvl clear

    n "Do you think there are any planets with living things on them, revolving around any of those stars?"
    i "Sure."
    i "And if not, there will be, soon."
    n "Soon?"
    i "The Imperial colonization ships."
    n "None of them have gone outside of the solar system yet."
    i "Yet."
    i "They've been developing the technology necessary for interstellar travel for a long time, now."
    i "People say it should be ready soon. Like, soon soon."

    nvl clear

    n "How soon?"
    i "A decade or two."
    n "..."
    n "Is that so?"
    i "Yep."
    i "I'm not lying."

    nvl clear

    n "I think it's cool, how stars are like that."
    i "Like what?"
    n "Like, they're completely new worlds."
    n "Completely new worlds, waiting to be discovered."
    n "To be created."
    n "To be born."
    i "Hm?"

    nvl clear

    n "The only star we know that much about is our own."
    n "How many planets orbit it. What those planets are like. How big they are."
    n "Sure, we also know those details about some other solar systems too, but we still don't have the same connection to them as we do our own."
    n "We know nothing about the potential of all these stars in the sky."

    nvl clear

    na "What was this, all of a sudden? Why was he talking about all this philosophical stuff with me?"
    na "I didn't really get it, but there was something I did get."
    na "Nicholas had never spoken to me like this before."
    na "I guess, this is how he really thinks. How he really speaks. How he functions."
    na "..."
    na "It's interesting."

    nvl clear

    n "They could be holding the most beautiful, gorgeous new worlds within them."
    n "And we have no idea."
    n "But, there they are. They line themselves up in the sky like this for us to see them, every single night."
    n "Because they know that, even if we can't right now, we'll be able to go to them some day."
    n "Some day, we'll be able to create beautiful worlds on beautiful planets, spinning around these beautiful burning stars."

    nvl clear

    n "I think that's what I'd like to do with my life."
    n "We have too many ugly things here on Earth."
    n "Machines. Smoke. Murder. War."
    n "I don't want to spend my life making this world more ugly."
    n "I want to create new and beautiful things."
    n "That's all I want."

    nvl clear

    n "Nothing more."
    n "And nothing less."

    nvl clear

    na "So, I guess this is what Nicholas wanted to show me by bringing me out all the way here."
    na "He wanted to show me the one thing he wanted to do with his life."
    na "To create new and beautiful things."
    na "I would never have told him, but..."
    na "..."
    na "I thought that was really cool."

    nvl clear

    n "I want to spend my life creating beautiful things, so that at least one of those things will be a new world."

    nvl clear

    na "I didn't know what to say. It was a lot, what he was telling me. This was the very first time Nicholas had ever opened up to me about how he felt."
    na "I think it was the first time he had opened up to anybody, to be honest."
    i "..."
    n "Well, regardless, the painting is finished."
    i "Mm?"
    n "Take a look."

    nvl clear

    na "I took a look at the freshly finished painting and gasped."

    nvl clear

    i "..."
    i "You know, Nicholas."
    i "You may be annoying."
    i "You may be pretentious."
    i "You may be too indifferent."
    i "Too distanced."

    nvl clear

    i "..."

    nvl clear

    i "But you can make beautiful things."

    nvl clear

    scene black with fade

    na "Chapter 1."
    na "'Show.'"
    na "The end."

    nvl clear

    #Chapter 2 - Admission

    nvl clear

    play music "Music for Manatees.mp3" fadein 1.0

    na "Chapter 2."
    na "'Admission.'"

    nvl clear

    scene sky with fade

    na "August 15th, 2079."
    na "I was 15 years old. Nicholas was 18."
    na "Five years had passed."

    nvl clear

    i "Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh."
    i "I had a great time too, Amy. See you tomorrow."
    na "I spun my keyring around with my index finger as I hung up and went to open the door."
    na "I waved one of the cards fastened to the ring past a polished black sensor above the doorknob, and waited to hear a slight beeping noise."

    nvl clear

    na "My dad was standing at the oven, mixing around caramelized vegetables in a wok."
    d "Welcome home, son. How was your day?"
    i "It was fantastic, dad. Aced both the exams. Or, I'm pretty sure I did."
    d "I'm not asking about school, Isaac..."
    d "How's Amy doing?"
    na "He snickered slightly as he poured some more oil into the wok. I felt my cheeks reddening."
    i "Sh-she's doing fine, dad."

    nvl clear

    d "That's good. That's good to hear."
    i "And, hey. I told you that I could cook dinner from now on."
    na "I slid my keyring onto the counter and then sat myself down on the couch."
    na "I looked at the portrait of my mother on the wall in front of me, with flowers and a half-burnt bowl of incense sticks resting on a desk under it."

    nvl clear

    i "You already work too much, dad. Both Nicholas and I know you do."
    d "It's fine, really. How old do you think I am?"
    i "Pretty damn old."
    na "He snickered again."

    nvl clear

    i "Seriously, though. You have it hard enough, now. Since you..."
    i "Since you don't really have anyone to share the load with you anymore."
    i "I'm just trying to help."
    d "..."
    d "Isaac?"
    i "Yeah?"
    d "Really, I'm fine."

    nvl clear

    d "Things are going to be fine."
    i "I know they are, dad."
    d "I'll give you a holler when the food's done. You can set the table."
    d "For now, why don't you go see what your brother's up to."
    i "Where is he?"
    d "Where do you think?"

    nvl clear

    na "I nodded and went into the hallway, to my brother's room."
    na "I knocked twice and opened the door."
    na "Nicholas was standing there in the center of his room, his back turned to me. He was brushing away at a holo-canvas."
    i "Hey, bro. I'm home."
    n "Welcome back."

    nvl clear

    na "I took a seat on Nicholas's bed and fumbled around with a holographic projection game on my cell."
    i "This a new piece you're working on now, or is it the one from last night?"
    n "New piece."
    i "Ooh. Exciting. What is it of?"
    n "A field of apple blossom trees, with a bright crescent moon in the night sky."
    i "Not cherry blossoms?"
    n "Too cliche."
    i "I agree."

    nvl clear

    na "I was much too used to coming here, to his room, and talking with him while the sound of his stylus swiping away at projected light danced around us."
    na "I'd do it in the morning before school, in the evenings when I got back, even into the darkest hours of the night."
    na "I could feel that he liked it. Having my company."
    na "I mean, I liked spending time with him too, but it wasn't like I was ever going to tell him that."

    nvl clear

    n "So, how are things with Amy?"
    i "Fine. We went VR dragonslaying together after school again."
    n "How sweet. I remember having fun with girls like that, back when I was your age."
    i "You're only 3 years older than me."
    i "Besides, you've never once had a girlfriend in your life."
    n "Just haven't found the right one yet."
    i "And you hate virtual reality games."
    n "They look too fake."

    nvl clear

    i "Actually, I don't think I've ever seen you go out with any friends."
    n "That's your opinion."
    i "Just once I want you to retort with something that isn't so god damn stupid."
    n "I'm too busy painting to hang out with friends."
    i "And applying to colleges..."
    n "That too."

    nvl clear

    i "..."
    i "You're not still mad about the college thing, are you?"
    na "Nicholas painted away."
    n "What college thing?"
    i "You know precisely what I'm talking about."
    n "I don't want to be a doctor."

    nvl clear

    i "But dad wants you to be one."
    n "Art. I want to go into art."
    i "Nicholas, that's not going to work. Not in these times, anyway."
    i "You know that."
    n "I have been told that many times already."
    i "And it's true every single time."
    na "Nicholas snapped his fingers, opening a window that displayed a slider from black to white. He turned the shade of pink he'd been working with lighter."

    nvl clear

    i "The Imperial Aptitude Exam said you were a 100 percent match, bro."
    n "The Aptitude Exam isn't always accurate."
    i "Then why'd it tell me to go to pilot's school?"
    n "It's accurate sometimes."
    n "And it's only your first year taking it. It could change the next time."
    i "I was a 100 percent match too."
    n "The Aptitude Exam isn't always accurate."

    nvl clear

    i "What's so bad about going into medicine? That's the best thing you could possibly go into right now."
    n "I don't want to."
    i "You've always been at the top of your class in any of your biology or health science courses."
    n "I've always been at the top of my class in all of my courses."
    i "Then why don't you do something with that?"
    n "I am. I'm becoming an artist."
    n "I only wasn't matched to it because the Aptitude Exam doesn't count it as a profession."
    i "There's a reason for that, Nicholas."
    n "No there isn't."

    nvl clear

    i "Look, if it's about dad... He just wants what's best for you."
    n "He doesn't know what's best for me."
    i "Yes, he does. You know he does. He always has."
    n "For you, maybe."
    i "Come on."
    i "..."
    i "You know he's had it hard. Really hard. Ever since mom passed."
    n "You and I have had it hard too."

    nvl clear

    i "It's hard for him to make ends meet. He can't do it with his job alone."
    i "Which, is why he wants you to go for it. For medical school."
    n "I don't want to."
    na "I sighed, stood up, and brushed off."
    na "No matter how many times I would try, there was no changing his mind."
    i "Well, if you really didn't care what he thought, then why did you even bother applying to all those schools when he asked you to?"
    n "Just because I think he's wrong doesn't mean I can't feel bad for him."

    nvl clear

    i "Huh. Is that so."
    n "I can feel emotion too, you know."
    i "Huh. Is that so."

    nvl clear

    i "Well, either way, it looks like dinner is about done."
    na "I could pick up the odor of the steaming curry that was sitting in the kitchen, even from there."
    i "Let's go."

    nvl clear

    na "Nicholas sighed and powered off his canvas. It brightly flickered two or three times before switching off and falling to the ground, the electronic hum finally coming to an end."
    i "You're supposed to pick up the ends of the canvas before they fall to the ground."
    n "It's more dramatic this way."

    nvl clear

    na "Dinner went through as it always did."
    na "Dad tried to initiate small talk. I tried my best to pretend that I didn't think his attempts were all futile."
    na "Nicholas just said nothing, and ate quickly. Like he always did."
    na "Once or twice throughout the meal, dad would ask him if he had received any approval mail from colleges or universities yet."
    na "He'd always shake his head just the slightest amount, without looking up from his plate."

    nvl clear

    na "After dinner, I washed up and retired to my room."
    na "I did what I could of my homework, and read my spacecraft magazines in bed."
    na "I finally began to nod off, and was about to close my weary eyes..."

    scene night with fade

    na "When I realized something."
    na "Something very strange."
    na "How had I not realized it before?"

    play music "Hitman.mp3" fadein 1.0

    nvl clear

    na "When I was in Nicholas's room earlier today, I saw an open suitcase on the floor with clothes and toiletries thrown into it."
    na "It must have not registered to me, in my mind, what it had meant."
    na "Not until now."
    na "Why was Nicholas packing a suitcase? Was he going somewhere? Where?"

    nvl clear

    na "I knew where."

    nvl clear

    na "I threw my covers off of me and darted out of my room. I yelled after him."
    i "Nicholas!"
    i "Nicholas! Hey!"
    na "Just on cue, when I got to the kitchen, I saw Nicholas standing at the fridge with a pork bun in his mouth."
    na "His backpack and suitcase were resting against the front door."

    nvl clear

    i "Bro! What are you doing!?"
    na "Unphased by the urgency of my question, he took a bite from the bun, slowly chewed, and swallowed."
    na "He looked up at me, down at the bun in his hands, and then back up at me."
    n "Having a snack before I go."
    i "This isn't funny."
    n "Hunger isn't something to laugh at."
    i "Where are you going in the middle of the night like this!?"

    nvl clear

    n "I was accepted."
    i "... Accepted!?"
    i "Accepted where?"
    n "..."
    n "A school."
    i "Nicholas."
    n "Yes?"
    i "It was the arts school, wasn't it, that you got accepted into?"
    n "It was a school."

    nvl clear

    i "..."
    i "It isn't the first school you've been accepted into, isn't it?"
    n "It may well not be."
    i "You've been accepted into every single school you've applied to, haven't you?"
    n "Bragging is bad."

    nvl clear

    i "You really want to go to this school that badly?"
    n "The only thing I want to do with my life."
    i "I thought you wanted to 'create new and beautiful things.'"
    n "Which I'm going to do by going to that school."
    n "Can I go now?"
    n "I promise I'll call you."

    nvl clear

    i "What? No! No, bro, stop and listen to me."
    i "I don't think you realize how incredibly lucky you are."
    i "You're a genius, Nicholas."
    i "With your mind, think of how much money you could be making."
    n "I don't want to. I want to pai-"
    i "Yes, you want to paint, I get it."
    i "But you're not going to live off of that. Not in this world."

    nvl clear

    n "That's why I hate this world."
    n "And I want to create a new one. A be-"
    i "Bro, this isn't the time. Just sit down and-"
    d "Isaac!? Nicholas!? What's wrong? What's happened?"

    nvl clear

    na "I turned around to see my father standing in the hall, soaked in a cold sweat."
    d "I heard people yelling. Are you two alright?"
    i "..."
    n "..."
    d "... Nicholas?"
    na "It took dad a while, after he had caught his breath and wiped his brow, to catch the suitcase and bags in his vision."

    nvl clear

    n "Shit."

    nvl clear

    na "Nicholas raced over to the door, threw on his pack, and tucked his suitcase under his arm."
    na "He opened the door and tried to run out."
    na "Dad got to him before he could, and pulled him back."
    na "He held onto Nicholas's arm so tightly, Nicholas grimaced in pain."

    nvl clear

    d "Show me the mail."
    na "He looked at Nicholas right in the face."
    d "Show me it, son."

    nvl clear

    na "Nicholas hesitated before pulling his cell out of his pocket with his free arm."
    na "He pressed a couple of buttons, and a holographic message flickered out of the projector."
    na "It bathed the dark living room in a synthetic glow."
    na "Dad peered over the text, reading it aloud to himself."
    d "... Saint Benedictine..."
    d "... College of the Visual Arts..."
    d "... would love to welcome you..."
    d "... starting this Autumn semester..."

    nvl clear

    d "You didn't listen to me, didn't you, son?"
    n "I didn't want to."
    d "For the last god damn time!"
    d "This isn't about what you or I want."
    d "It's about what's best for you!"

    nvl clear

    n "You don't know what's best for me."
    d "Yes I do, Nicholas. I do."
    na "Dad pulled Nicholas farther back into the apartment."
    d "How many times do I have to tell you!?"
    n "You never had to even once."

    nvl clear

    d "Nicholas, listen to me. You won't like it now, but things will turn out for you in the end."
    n "Better than they did for you?"
    d "Much better. Look at me, son. I don't want you to end up the same way. Can't you understand!?"
    n "You want me to end up better off than you did, or you're jealous that I'm going to?"
    d "Don't you god damn talk to me like that, boy!"
    na "Dad grabbed Nicholas by the collar and spoke right into his face. Nicholas was unphased. As always."
    i "Dad!"

    nvl clear

    d "You listen to me, and you listen to me good."
    d "You are not going to that art school!"
    n "Yes I am."
    d "No, you are NOT!"
    d "Once. Once, I want you to listen to me, boy. Just ONE TIME!"

    nvl clear

    n "Fuck you, dad."

    nvl clear

    i "Nicholas!"
    na "Dad threw Nicholas against the wall. He was at his throat. Nicholas couldn't breathe. He started to claw at his father's arms, started to squirm frantically."

    nvl clear

    i "Dad! Stop! Both of you, stop it!"
    na "This was getting out of hand."
    na "They had never gotten along. They'd always been like this."
    na "But it had never gotten this bad."

    nvl clear

    na "I needed to do something."

    nvl clear

    #Allowing the player to make a choice; creating the branching paths.

    menu:

        "I tried to convince my dad to let Nicholas go.":
            i "Dad..."
            i "Just let him go."
            i "Please."

            nvl clear

            d "What!?"
            na "He snarled. His voice was strained and furious."
            i "Just let him go to the school!"
            i "It's all he's ever wanted!"

            nvl clear

            i "..."
            i "Mom would have let him go."

            nvl clear

            na "Nobody spoke or moved for a long time after I said that."
            na "Everything was horrifyingly silent."
            na "And it was like time itself had frozen solid."

            nvl clear

            d "..."
            na "Without speaking, dad finally let go of Nicholas's throat."
            na "His limbs went limp. He took a seat on the couch and cupped his sweaty, reddened face in his hands."
            na "He massaged his tired eyes."
            na "He was in despair."
            na "He had given up."

            nvl clear

            na "Wordlessly, Nicholas fixed his collar and picked up his bags."
            na "He left the apartment, gently closing the door behind him."

            nvl clear

            scene black with fade

            na "Chapter Two."
            na "'Admission.'"
            na "The end."

            nvl clear

            #Going to the correct path that corresponds with the choices the player made.

            jump Chapter3_Branch1

        "I tried to convince Nicholas to stay.":
            i "Nicholas..."
            i "Come on, man."
            i "Just this once."
            i "Please. Please just listen to him."

            nvl clear

            i "He's your dad, Nicholas."
            d "..."
            n "..."
            i "He's your father."

            nvl clear

            i "All this time, since the day you were born, he's been taking care of you."
            i "All he wants is for you to be happy."
            n "..."

            nvl clear

            i "..."
            i "It's what mom would have wanted you to do."

            nvl clear

            na "Nobody spoke or moved for a long time after I said that."
            na "Everything was horrifyingly silent."
            na "And it was like time itself had frozen solid."

            nvl clear

            na "Finally, after what seemed to be ages, Nicholas placed his hands on top of his father's, which softened their grip against his throat."
            na "Wordlessly, dad let go of him."
            na "Nicholas wiped his brow, fixed his collar, and picked up his bags."
            na "He walked back into his room and gently closed the door behind him."

            nvl clear

            na "Dad stared after him for a moment before going to take a seat on the couch."
            na "He bent down and cupped his sweaty, reddened face in his hands."
            na "He massaged his tired, tired eyes."

            nvl clear

            scene black with fade

            na "Chapter Two."
            na "'Admission.'"
            na "The end."

            nvl clear

            jump Chapter3_Branch2

    #Chapter 3 Branch 1 - Down

    label Chapter3_Branch1:

        play music "Music for Manatees.mp3" fadein 1.0

        na "Chapter 3."
        na "'Down.'"

        nvl clear

        scene clouds with fade

        na "August 24th, 2084."
        na "I was 20 years old. Nicholas was 23."
        na "Five more years had passed."

        nvl clear

        na "I took out my cell from my pocket as I settled into my seat on the train."
        na "This would be the last time I'd be commuting from the Academy for quite a while."
        na "Ah, the beautiful, golden thing I'd been waiting for had finally come."
        na "That's right."
        na "Tomorrow was the first day of summer vacation."

        nvl clear

        na "I leaned back against the cushioned seat and looked around."
        na "I had the car to myself."
        na "I guess that's one benefit from having classes so far into the day..."

        nvl clear

        na "I took my keyring from my pocket and eyed my student identification card. I read the text emblazoned on it."
        i "Central-Northasia Imperial Civilian Pilot's Academy..."
        i "Second Year Student, Isaac Yinghua."
        na "Hmph."
        na "I still didn't like my ID photo."
        na "I shook my head and put the keyring back in my pocket."

        nvl clear

        na "I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the light train."
        na "The electronic singing of the neometal rails, with the magnetic locks of the train heating them up as it raced along the track."
        na "The rattling of welded alloys and synthetics, of jangling rubber handles and the ferocious wind scraping past the windows."
        na "The hum of the holographic banners highlighting the train's exits, displaying news headlines, and reminding passengers to be courteous to each other."
        na "If you listened to them closely, light trains were all unique little symphonies."
        na "Symphonies played my machine instruments, dedicated to human achievement."
        na "To our mastery over machines."
        na "It was beautiful."

        nvl clear

        na "If it ever happened that I wasn't able to become a spacecraft pilot anymore, I'd surely want to pilot light trains."
        na "I smirked to myself."

        nvl clear

        na "Suddenly, a buzzing sound began to come from my phone in my hand, and it began vibrating."
        na "A hologram flickered out in front of me, displaying one word. An automated voice read it out to me."
        na "'Dad.'"
        i "Accept the call."

        nvl clear

        na "I heard the speaker nested in my right ear switch on. Light static began flowing through, until I heard my father's voice."
        d "Hello? Isaac? You there?"
        i "Hey dad. What's up?"
        d "Are you busy right now?"
        i "No, not at all. I'm on the train back to my apartment right now."

        nvl clear

        d "Oh, alright, that's good."
        d "I just wanted to make sure I had the right time for when your flight's going to land."
        i "2 PM Sunday."
        d "Ah, is that so?"
        i "Mhm."
        d "Then I did have the right time. Just making sure. Don't want a repeat of last summer, now."

        nvl clear

        na "I chuckled and shook my head."
        i "That's definitely right. What a hassle that all was."
        d "I still can't sit on the spot where they tazed me."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        i "Do you know if Nicholas is going to be off that day?"
        na "Dad sighed loudly on the other end."
        d "Call and ask him yourself. You know I don't speak with him."
        i "Well, maybe you should, dad."
        i "He really does want you to forgive him, you know."
        d "Forgive him? If anything, that boy should want to apologize to me!"
        i "Come on, dad."
        d "Look, I just don't want to talk about it right now."
        d "It's summer. My son's coming home. I wanna be all happy and dad-like, you know."

        nvl clear

        na "Nicholas hadn't ever come to visit home, once he had left for the arts school."
        na "Christmas break. Summer break. His birthday. My birthday. Dad's birthday. Never once did he ever come home."
        na "Obviously, this put even more strain on Nicholas's relatonship with our father, which was already a very ugly thing."

        nvl clear

        na "But, as far as never coming home goes, he never did it while he was school."
        na "But once he graduated, he finally returned to the city. To our hometown. He didn't have anywhere else to go."
        na "He had friends here, from high school, that could help him with employment while he was trying to break into the art world."
        na "He rented an apartment on the other side of the city, and didn't spend too much time with our dad."

        nvl clear

        na "I mean, sure, they were both busy; Nicholas was working multiple minimum wage jobs just to keep his head above the water even years after he was done with school, and Dad had finally been promoted in the company..."
        na "But it wouldn't kill them to meet for a cup of coffee every now and then."
        na "It was immature of them to hold grudges like that."
        na "I made a mental reminder to try to get them to grow up a bit once I was home for the summer."

        nvl clear

        na "Even though they finally lived nearby each other again, neither of them ever spoke to each other."
        na "You could say they didn't speak with each other because they still hated each other."
        na "Or, you could say it was because they had come to realize their faults but didn't want to admit them."

        nvl clear

        na "I thought it was a very ugly mix of both, myself."

        nvl clear

        i "To be honest, actually, I haven't spoken with him in a while, either."
        i "I've been calling every day these last two weeks, but he's just never picked up."
        d "... Huh. Really?"
        i "I know he's always been distant like that, but, even the last time I talked to him, he seemed really down."
        i "And I don't mean 'down' as in the blunt, uninterested way he usually is. I knew it was something deeper. I could feel it."

        nvl clear

        i "I don't know. I think he's getting really, really frustrated."
        i "It's been, how many years now? And he's been featured in what?"
        i "A couple galleries. Local art shows."
        d "Wastes of god damn time."
        i "He's good, dad. Really good. Even you have to admit that."
        d "'Even' I?"

        nvl clear

        i "Either way, I'm just really worried about him."
        i "I mean, I was the only person he's ever really opened up to, and I haven't been there for him too much thanks to pilot's school."
        i "I hope he's okay."
        d "He is. I'm sure of it."
        i "And how would you possibly know, old man?"
        d "I know he has a great brother there for him."

        nvl clear

        i "Very flattering."
        d "Just trying to cheer ya up."
        i "Yeah, we-"
        na "Suddenly, I heard my dad's doorbell ring thrice."
        d "Hm? Who could that be?"
        d "I'll be right back."
        na "I heard him stand up and begin to walk to the door as he muted his microphone."

        nvl clear

        na "I watched the cityscape spread itself out, outside the window of the train, as I waited for dad to get back."
        na "While everything was intensely blurred due to the speed of the vehicle, I could still make out the clean, bright white of skyscrapers and office buildings."
        na "Fountains with rippling streams of cool water flowing through them. Modern, urbanist sculptures, small cafes and restaurants brimming with human activity."
        na "Maybe you couldn't see the stars in the city..."
        na "But you could see things that were almost as beautiful."

        nvl clear

        na "Maybe that's something I should tell Nicholas."
        na "Even if you can't see the most beautiful things there are to see, there are other things you can see that are almost as good."
        na "I felt like he needed something encouraging like that. I could just feel it."

        nvl clear

        na "On that note, there was something that I really, really wanted to tell Nicholas."
        na "But I couldn't. I had signed a confidentiality agreement."
        na "And, it's not like he would have believed me anyway."
        na "I had been selected as a pilot for the next generation of Imperial colonization ships."
        na "I know. Even I found it hard to take in, myself."

        nvl clear

        na "Ever since the first day of my first year at the Academy, I'd been at the very top of my class."
        na "My superiors found it very peculiar."
        na "They had me test against the best of the upperclassmen. I beat each of their scores by at least two fold."
        na "Eventually, the Ministry of Naval Development contacted me."
        na "They brought me in, examined me, and ran tests on my brain."
        na "I beat their own artificiial intelligence in a VR sim."

        nvl clear

        na "Apparently, I wasn't the only one that was showing this potential. There were about ten others that the Empire had discovered."
        na "They were planning to launch the next generation of colonization ships within a decade, and they wanted to make use of the youngest pilots they could possibly find."
        na "It was so exciting, I couldn't bear it."
        na "But I guessed I'd have to wait until another day to tell my family."

        nvl clear

        na "Suddenly, the other line switched back on, and I heard the commotion of people yelling and car doors slamming closed."

        play music "Colorless Aura.mp3"

        d "Isaac! Isaac!"
        na "Huh?"
        i "Woah! Dad, what's wrong?"
        d "That was the police. I'm with the police right now."
        i "The police!? Why?"

        nvl clear

        d "Nicholas just climbed to the top of Commodore Bridge."
        i "What?"
        d "He told the police he was going to jump."
        i "WHAT!?"

        nvl clear

        na "I bolted up in my seat. The sound of police sirens appeared, threatening to drown out my father's voice."
        d "I'm heading there now in a squad car."
        i "What are you going to do!?"

        nvl clear

        d "Stop him."

        nvl clear

        na "No."
        na "This couldn't have been happening."
        na "I knew I should have come home earlier."
        na "I knew something was wrong."
        na "I should have tried calling him more."
        na "I stood up and threw my fists against the window of the train car."
        i "Nicholas..."
        i "Don't do it, bro."
        i "Please."

        nvl clear

        na "I stood there, my head hung down, and listened to my father frantically conversing with the police officer driving the car."
        d "... How long has he..."
        d "... Can you get him..."
        d "... What do you mean he..."
        d "... We should be there..."
        d "... Okay! Get out! Get out!"

        nvl clear

        na "After what seemed like forever, it looks like they had finally reached Commodore Bridge."
        na "Through my earpiece, I heard a door slamming and multiple men running and yelling."
        i "Dad!? Dad, what's happening!? Is he there!?"
        d "I don't... I can't..."
        d "There he is! There, look!"
        i "You need to hurry!"
        d "Nicholas!"
        d "Nicholas!"

        nvl clear

        d "Nicholas! Don't do it!"
        i "Nicholas!"
        d "Step off of there. Climb back down."
        i "Bro, come on!"
        d "Son, please. Come on."
        i "Come on..."
        d "..."
        d "God damn it, Nicholas!"
        d "... Nicholas!?"

        nvl clear

        d "No! No! STOP! WAIT!"
        d "PLEASE!"
        d "DON'T-"
        i "No."
        i "NO!"

        nvl clear

        na "The line fell dead silent."

        nvl clear

        na "It stayed like that. For God knows how long."

        nvl clear

        d "..."
        d "..."
        d "..."
        d "Isaac?"

        nvl clear

        na "Dad's voice sounded weak. Pathetic."
        na "I could barely hear him."

        nvl clear

        d "Isaac..."

        nvl clear

        d "I'm so sorry."

        nvl clear

        scene black with fade

        na "Chapter 3."
        na "'Down.'"
        na "The end."

        nvl clear

        jump Chapter4_Branch1

    label Chapter3_Branch2:

        #Chapter 3 Branch 2 - Almost

        play music "Music for Manatees.mp3" fadein 1.0

        na "Chapter 3."
        na "'Almost.'"

        nvl clear

        scene clouds with fade

        na "August 24th, 2084."
        na "I was 20 years old. Nicholas was 23."
        na "Five more years had passed."

        nvl clear

        na "I took out my cell from my pocket as I settled into my seat on the train."
        na "This would be the last time I'd be commuting from the Academy for quite a while."
        na "Ah, the beautiful, golden thing I'd been waiting for had finally come."
        na "That's right."
        na "Tomorrow was the first day of summer vacation."
        na "Nicholas's had already started a week earlier. Everyone was finally going to be home together again."

        nvl clear

        na "I leaned back against the cushioned seat and looked around."
        na "I had the car to myself."
        na "I guess that's one benefit from having classes so far into the day..."

        nvl clear

        na "I took my keyring from my pocket and eyed my student identification card. I read the text emblazoned on it."
        i "Central-Northasia Imperial Civilian Pilot's Academy..."
        i "Second Year Student, Isaac Yinghua."
        na "Hmph."
        na "I still didn't like my ID photo."
        na "I shook my head and put the keyring back in my pocket."

        nvl clear

        na "I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the light train."
        na "The electronic singing of the neometal rails, with the magnetic locks of the train heating them up as it raced along the track."
        na "The rattling of welded alloys and synthetics, of jangling rubber handles and the ferocious wind scraping past the windows."
        na "The hum of the holographic banners highlighting the train's exits, displaying news headlines, and reminding passengers to be courteous to each other."
        na "If you listened to them closely, light trains were all unique little symphonies."
        na "Symphonies played by machine instruments, dedicated to human achievement."
        na "To our mastery over machines."
        na "It was beautiful."

        nvl clear

        na "If it ever happened that I wasn't able to become a spacecraft pilot anymore, I'd surely want to pilot light trains."
        na "I smirked to myself."

        nvl clear

        na "Suddenly, a buzzing sound began to come from my phone in my hand, and it began vibrating."
        na "A hologram flickered out in front of me, displaying one word. An automated voice read it out to me."
        na "'Nicholas.'"
        i "Accept the call."

        nvl clear

        na "I waited until static started to flood out from the earpiece nestled in my right ear."
        i "Hey. Hey there, big bro. What's going on?"
        n "Nothing. Nothing at all."
        i "How's it feel, finally being back at home?"
        n "Well, this city's still as ugly as it was the last time I was here."
        n "On one hand, that's horrible."
        n "On the other hand, at least it hasn't gotten worse."
        n "Though I'm not sure if it possibly could."

        nvl clear

        i "Have you always been this negative?"
        n "Yes."
        i "Your summer break started, what, a week ago? And you went home right away, so you've been there a week now."
        i "You seriously can't think of a single positive point of being back in the city?"
        n "No."
        i "At the very least, it's better than the medical school, right?"
        n "Sadly."
        i "And, you can't think of a single thing you missed about being home?"
        n "No."
        i "What about dad?"
        n "You're hilarious."

        nvl clear

        i "Oh come on. You're still not speaking with him?"
        n "I am not."
        n "I mean, I am staying where he lives-"
        i "At home, you mean."
        n "I mean, I am staying where he lives, so I do have to speak with him when I see him in the morning and at night."
        i "By 'speak with him', do you mean actually having conversations with him, or speaking with him like you do to everyone else?"
        n "In my defense, I never had real conversations with him before I hated him, either."

        nvl clear

        i "Oi, come on. You don't hate him."
        n "What makes you think that?"
        i "He's your dad."
        n "So?"
        i "Bro, come on. What are you, back in high school?"
        n "No. I'm in medical school."
        i "And you're at the top of your class."
        n "I wanted to be a painter."

        nvl clear

        i "You always tell me that as if I didn't already know."
        n "Do I?"
        i "..."
        i "Remember, when we were younger, how I used to tell you that the way you talked always made me really want to punch you?"
        n "Yes."
        i "And how I would always talk about how my hands made the tightest fists all by themselves whenever I spoke to you?"
        n "Yeah."
        i "When was the last time I did that?"
        n "About last month."
        i "The way you phrase things really, really, really makes me want to punch you."

        nvl clear

        n "I still want to be a painter, though."
        i "Oh, come on. Remember what I told you? You can still find time to paint as a hobby, even if you become a doctor."
        i "Your focus should be on making a living, man. Seriously."
        i "You can paint all you want on the side."
        n "I don't want to paint on the side."
        n "I want to paint on the front."
        i "I don't know if that's a thing or not, but I digress."

        nvl clear

        i "You're an amazing artist, Nicholas. One of the best in the world. So-"
        n "Thank you."
        i "Shut up."
        i "So, what is having to focus on something else to you?"
        n "What do you mean?"

        nvl clear

        i "You've always said that medical school gets in the way of your painting. You have less time to paint, and when you do have time, your work isn't as good as it could be."
        i "If you really are meant to paint, though, then having your life get in the way shouldn't really be a problem, right?"
        i "Even if you have to focus on something else in your life, if it really is your purpose in life to 'paint beautiful things', then you should still be able to paint beautiful things."
        i "If it truly is your one reason for being on this Earth, then nothing should get in the way of you doing it."
        i "Do you see how I mean?"

        nvl clear

        n "..."
        n "I see what you mean."
        n "I just think it's unfair."
        n "This world is unfair."
        i "Yeah, it is. But we have to live in it."
        n "We shouldn't have to."
        n "We shouldn't."

        nvl clear

        na "The line fell silent for a moment."
        na "I could feel that something was wrong."
        na "Nicholas never spoke like this. Never."
        na "Unless there was something very, very wrong."
        na "Something was wrong."

        nvl clear

        i "Hey. Bro?"
        n "..."
        i "What are you doing, right now?"
        n "Standing on the railing of Commodore Bridge."
        i "And why are you there?"
        n "..."

        nvl clear

        i "Nicholas."
        n "Yes?"
        i "This is the first time we've spoken in a month."
        i "I've been trying to call you ever since, and you would never pick up."

        play music "Colorless Aura.mp3"

        i "Why did you call me now?"
        n "..."

        nvl clear

        n "..."
        n "To say goodbye."

        nvl clear

        na "No."
        na "Oh no."
        na "He was going to jump."
        na "I had to stop him."
        na "I had to stop him from jumping."

        nvl clear

        na "He wasn't going to jump."
        na "I wasn't going to let him."

        nvl clear

        na "I bolted out of my seat. If there had been anyone else in the train car with me, I would have looked insane."

        nvl clear

        n "Have you caught on yet?"
        i "Nicholas. Listen to me."
        n "Can I not?"
        i "Don't do it."
        n "Why not?"
        i "Just don't. Step off of the ledge. Come on."
        i "You could hurt yourself, man."
        n "That's the point."

        nvl clear

        i "Hey. This isn't funny."
        n "I'm not trying to be funny."
        i "Come on, Nicholas. Why?"
        i "Why are you doing this?"
        n "Because I've had it with living like this."

        nvl clear

        n "I've felt less and less alive ever since the day you and dad stopped me from going to the arts school."
        n "I just don't think I can do it anymore."
        i "No. Don't talk like that. You've got so much to live for."
        n "No I don't. I have nothing to live for in this world."
        i "Yes, you do. Nicholas, please. You're being way too dramatic."
        n "I'm not. I can prove it."
        n "Prove how worthless this world is."

        nvl clear

        n "This world's old. Aging. Decrepit. Dying."
        n "Look at all of this. Look at we have here. On Earth."
        n "The oceans are ugly, muddened and pooled over with oil and rubbish."
        n "The air is dirty. We need machines everywhere in our cities just to make it breathable."
        n "We constantly tear apart the sky. Rip at it, with spacecraft and engines and bombs and bullets."
        n "Look at ourselves."
        n "Human beings are murderers. Rapists. Killers. Thieves. Monsters. The one and only thing we can do on this planet, is ruin what it has given us for our own gain."
        n "Really, there is nothing more disgusting..."
        n "Than this world we live in."

        nvl clear

        i "And yet, we live in it."
        i "We've lasted this long, haven't we?"
        i "Because we do what we have to in order to survive."
        i "You've always been one to look at beautiful things. Don't you think that's beautiful?"
        n "No. That's savage."
        i "Savagely beautiful."
        n "..."

        nvl clear

        n "..."
        n "I should probably jump now. The sun's going down."
        i "Wait! Wait, Nicholas."
        n "It'll be uncomfortable if the water is too cold."
        i "Look. Sto-"
        n "Thanks for everything you've done for me, Isaac. I appre-"
        i "WAIT! JUST WAIT ONE MOMENT!"

        nvl clear

        n "..."
        n "Okay."
        i "What if I told you, if you didn't want to live in this world, you didn't have to?"
        n "What?"
        i "You said this world was old and disgusting. You said it made you feel less and less alive every day."
        i "So, what if it was possible to go and live in a completely new world?"
        i "To be born in a completely new world. One that was fresh, beautiful. The most beautiful world you could possibly create."
        n "..."
        n "And how would that be possible?"

        nvl clear

        i "Do you remember the air show?"
        n "The air show?"
        i "The Imperial Air Show. In New Osaka. 10 years ago."
        n "Yes. Why?"
        i "Do you remember when we snuck out of the hotel room and went to see the stars?"
        i "It was the first time we ever saw them. It was the first time you ever told me about how you wanted to become an artist."
        i "You told me about how you thought all the stars in the sky were potential new worlds, waiting to be born."
        i "That they all held within them the potential to become beautiful, amazing, incredible worlds."
        i "And that, one day, we would be able to go to the stars, and trigger the creation of those worlds."
        i "Do you remember?"

        nvl clear

        n "Of course I do."
        i "Then, do you remember when you asked me if I thought there was life in other solar systems?"
        n "Yes."
        i "What did I say?"
        n "You said that you did think so."
        i "And after that, what did I say?"
        n "That, even if there wasn't, there would be some soon."
        i "And why is that?"
        n "Because of the Imperial colonization ships."
        i "Exactly."
        i "Because of the Imperial colonization ships."
        n "What do you mean?"

        nvl clear

        n "..."
        n "..."
        n "..."
        n "You can't be serious."
        i "I am."
        i "They're launching the next generation of colonization ships within the decade."
        i "And, this time, they're being sent to planets outside of our solar system."
        n "How could you possible know that?"

        nvl clear

        i "I was selected to pilot one of them."

        nvl clear

        n "What? You haven't even graduated from the academy yet."
        i "It doesn't matter."
        n "What?"
        i "Did you think you were the only genius in the family?"
        i "I've been at the top of my class ever since the first day of my first year."
        i "My superiors found it very, very interesting."
        i "They had me test against the top of the upperclassmen. And I beat each of their scores by two-fold at the very least."
        i "The Ministry of Naval Development came and visited me themselves."
        i "They ran tests on my brain. They had me run simulations."

        nvl clear

        i "I beat the Ministry's own artificial intelligence in a virtual reality sim."
        i "Apparently, there are many others like me. About 10 or so others who showed potential."
        i "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone this, but we were summoned by the Grand Admiral of the Solar Navy himself."
        i "He asked us to pilot the next generation of colonization ships. He said it was crucial for the Empire to use the youngest pilots they could find."

        nvl clear

        n "..."
        n "Really?"
        i "Have I ever lied to you before?"
        n "..."
        n "No."

        nvl clear

        i "Now, here's the real kicker."
        i "Apparently, we get final say in who makes it on our crews and who doesn't."
        i "And, do you know what one of the number one things we need on the crews is?"

        nvl clear

        n "What?"

        nvl clear

        i "Doctors."

        nvl clear

        na "Nicholas's microphone went dead, after I said that."
        i "..."
        i "..."
        i "Nicholas?"
        i "... Nicholas?"
        na "What?"
        na "What happened?"
        na "I thought I had managed to convince him."
        na "Did he jump?"
        na "No. No. He couldn't have. He wouldn't have."

        nvl clear

        i "Nicholas!"
        i "NICHOLAS!"
        na "..."
        na "..."
        na "..."
        na "Suddenly, I heard sound flowing from my earpiece again."
        na "Nicholas's microphone was back on."

        nvl clear

        n "Sorry, I accidentally clicked my microphone off while I as rummaging through my pockets."
        i "... What?"
        n "I threw a coin down into the river. It's a thing people do for good luck, right?"
        i "... What?"
        n "If you do what you have to in order to survive, maybe doing that will help us survive."
        i "..."
        i "Nicholas?"

        nvl clear

        n "Yes?"
        i "I'll call you once my flight lands, alright?"
        n "Oh. Alright."

        nvl clear

        na "I ended the call, took my earpiece out of my ear, and slumped down into a seat."
        na "I fell completely limp."
        i "Jesus Christ."

        nvl clear

        scene black with fade

        na "Chapter 3."
        na "'Almost.'"
        na "The end."

        nvl clear

        jump Chapter4_Branch2

    label Chapter4_Branch1:

        #Chapter 4 Branch 1 - Here

        nvl clear

        play music "Promises to Keep.mp3" fadein 1.0

        na "Chapter 4."
        na "'Here.'"

        nvl clear

        scene night with fade

        na "March 21st, 2190."
        na "20 years had passed for me."
        na "106 for everyone back on Earth."
        na "I was 40 years old. Nicholas would have been 43 if he had come with me."
        na "He'd be 129 if he hadn't."

        nvl clear

        na "'Commander Isaac Yinghua, Pilot of the I.S.N. White Albatross.'"
        na "That was the title I was known by now."
        na "I didn't really like it."
        na "Too formal-sounding."
        na "I always told everyone just to call me Isaac."

        nvl clear

        na "106 years had passed since Nicholas had killed himself."
        na "To me, however, it had only been 20."
        na "5 years on Earth, and 15 aboard one of the eleven Second Generation Imperial Colonization Vessels."
        na "Relativity and all. You never, ever got used to it."
        na "I had always found it so incredibly interesting."
        na "Quaint, even."

        nvl clear

        na "It'd always been strange to read the news bulletins sent to us from Imperial Central Command, for example."
        na "We'd be told during breakfast one morning about a small war starting, with it being expected to end sometime soon."
        na "And then, some months later, we'd receive a message saying that, after many long years of gruesome gore and needless bloodshed, the Fourth World War had finally come to an end."
        na "With the Empire emerging 'victorious,' as it always did."
        na "And then it all happening over again with the Fifth World War."

        nvl clear

        na "We'd receive news telling us that the cure for cancer had been finally found."
        na "And then, years later, we'd learn of the appearance of the Red Plague."
        na "We'd sit and watch, soaring along through what seemed to be boundless space, as old diseases were cured and new ones took their place back on Earth."
        na "Epidemics would start one afternoon, and by the next evening millions would be dead."

        nvl clear

        na "It really did make you think."
        na "About how insignificant a lot of things are."
        na "About how insignificant most things are."
        na "And there were none who knew better than us exactly how fearsome the power of time was."
        na "How true it was that it never could be or will be stayed. Not even by a split second."
        na "And how it ceaselessly blazes on, eating everything up and then leaving it far, far behind."

        nvl clear

        na "The experience that taught me the most of the might of time, however, was something very, very personal."
        na "It was the last time I ever spoke with my father."
        na "The last time I ever saw him in person was the morning of the White Albatross's launch."
        na "He was 58 then, and I was 25."
        na "Then, some few years into the voyage, I was 30 and he was late into his 90's."
        na "I still remember the conversation we had, the very last time he called me."
        na "I remember it word for word."

        nvl clear

        d "... Well, either way, it looks like she should be well enough to come back by this weekend's bingo night."
        na "I snickered."
        i "That's great, dad. Really."
        d "Are you being sarcastic?"
        i "Nah."
        d "Please. How old do you think I am?"
        d "..."
        d "Don't answer that."
        na "I listened as my father recoiled back at his own joke, heartily chuckling away. He stopped to cough twice before returning to the conversation."

        nvl clear

        d "You want to know something, son?"
        i "Sure. What is it?"
        d "I'm god damn proud of you."
        na "It was my turn to chuckle."
        i "And why is that, dad?"
        d "What do you mean, 'why is that'!?"
        i "I know what I asked."
        d "Why do you think?"

        nvl clear

        i "I won that spelling bee back in the 4th grade?"
        d "You're the pilot of a colonization ship!"
        d "I don't think you understand how much everyone here just god damn loves all of you!"
        d "I get mails from random people from Northamerica to Eastasia telling me to 'thank you for all you've done' every single day!"
        d "You can let go of all that humble bullcrap now, Isaac."
        d "You pilot one of the largest moving vessels ever made. You're going to create one of the very first human civilizations outside of the solar system."
        d "Act like it!"

        nvl clear

        i "I've been piloting this thing for about half a decade now, dad."
        d "For more than three decades for me, boy."
        i "I'm almost 30."
        d "You should be going on 60."
        i "Oh, gross. I don't want to be old."
        d "Just as a general warning, you're right to not."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        i "Dad?"
        d "That's my name. Don't wear it out."
        i "That's not your name, and, I just wanted to say..."
        i "Thanks for everything."
        d "Everything?"
        i "Yeah. Everything. For raising me, for being there for me, for letting me leave on the White Albatross."
        i "For being my father."
        i "You were a great one."
        i "..."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        i "Nicholas thought you were a great dad, too, you know."
        i "He loved you."
        na "I had to say it. I had to."

        nvl clear

        na "I heard my father sigh a very long, very tired sigh."
        d "Don't worry about it. I know he did."
        i "He never forgot about you not stopping him from going to that school."
        i "Even if he did always act like he hated you."
        i "He was so sure you would never have let him go."
        i "Now, I know what you might think."
        i "That, maybe, if you hadn't let him go, things wouldn't have turned out as they did."
        i "Maybe he'd still be there with you, or even all the way over here with me."
        i "But you had no way of knowing that."

        nvl clear

        na "I heard nothing but light static on the other end of the call. He wasn't responding."
        i "The fact is, Nicholas did what he wanted to do, and what happened to him is a direct result of nothing but that."
        i "You had no way of predicting what was going to happen."
        i "Even though you knew better, and you knew what was better for him, you let your son follow his dreams."
        i "Even if it was unreasonable. Stupid, even. To let him go."
        i "You still did it."
        i "Because that's just how amazingly much Nicholas wanted to paint."
        i "To 'create new and beautiful things', to use the words he always liked to."

        nvl clear

        d "..."
        i "I know you'd never admit it, but you saw as well as everybody else the look that Nicholas got in his eyes when he was concentrating hard on his art."
        i "How vivid his thoughts and emotions got. How he gave that wry smirk at himself. How warm and excited his eyes looked like as they were open wide and darting from one corner of the canvas to the next."
        i "How he was always so happy."
        i "Both you and I saw it."
        i "He was never as emotive while doing anything else as he was when he was painting."
        i "It was simply all he wanted."
        i "And, even if he ended up not having so much time to spend in his life..."
        i "He spent the time he did get doing as much of what he wanted as he could."

        nvl clear

        i "In short, I just want to make sure you don't regret what you've done."
        i "Because I sure don't. And I never will."
        d "..."
        na "I gave him some time to think."

        nvl clear

        d "..."
        d "Nope. I can't say I regret what I've done."
        d "I really don't."
        d "It's what he asked for, and it's what made him happy."
        d "As for how things turned out in the end, though? It couldn't have been helped."
        d "I could have refused to let him attend that school, and it could have ended up the same way."
        d "That's how choices work."
        d "Sometimes, you'll just never know which one was the right one to take."
        d "And that's alright. It's all alright."

        nvl clear

        d "If anything, I'd just wish to get a second chance."
        i "There isn't a person in the world who doesn't want a second chance, dad."
        d "..."
        d "Yeah. I guess you're right."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        d "..."
        i "So. Did you enjoy your retirement, dad?"
        d "I damn sure did."
        i "Would mom have liked the nursing home?"
        d "Nah. Definitely not. Too comfortable for her."
        i "Yeah, I thought so too."
        d "How about you? You enjoying being in space?"
        i "Oh yes I am."
        d "That's good to hear. You're going to have been in it for more than a hundred years once you finally hit your mark, says the news."
        i "It'll go by in a flash."
        d "It definitely will."

        nvl clear

        i "I love you, dad."
        d "I love you too, son."
        na "And then, he hung up."
        na "That was the last time I ever heard my father's voice."

        nvl clear

        na "Four days later, I got a private mail from the Ministry of Health saying that my father had comfortably passed away in his sleep, one cool afternoon."

        nvl clear

        na "Every single night, I went to sleep thinking of those final few words I got to share with him."
        na "Even then, 10 years after he had passed."

        nvl clear

        na "I was shaken awake by two fidgeting, frantic gloved hands."
        f "Commander Yinghua? Commander Yinghua!"
        i "Huh? Huh!? I'm awake! I'm awake."
        f "My apologies for letting myself into your quarters, sir, but it was incredibly urgent."
        f "The captain wants you on the bridge ASAP."
        i "What? Why?"
        f "... You're not saying you forgot?"

        nvl clear

        i "Huh?"
        na "I rubbed at my eyes and tried my hardest to lift myself from my cot."
        i "Ah."
        i "Oh my God."
        f "That's right, sir. We're here."
        f "The White Albatross has reached its destination."

        nvl clear

        na "The first mate and I raced into the corridor and lift. We rode it up to the bridge and spilled out into it."
        i "I'm here! I'm here. I'm not late!"
        i "I'm not-"
        i "Oh my God."

        nvl clear

        na "What was directly visible past the front of the bridge..."

        scene planet with fade
        play music "Dream Culture.mp3" fadein 1.0

        na "Was a huge, bright blue sphere."
        na "It was a planet of colossal size and the warmest, most calming, most absolutely gorgeous blue that I had ever laid my eyes on."
        na "The majestic blue was painted over in a few places with light, white clouds."
        na "Dotted across that planet's godly oceans were a few scattered pieces of land, dyed a bright, lush green to match the shining waters."
        na "Not as numerous as the ones back on Earth, nor as sizable, but they were still enough."
        na "And they were certainly much, much more beautiful."

        nvl clear

        na "If there was one thing that planet was, it was beautiful."
        na "I shook my head and left my lips parted in sheer amazement as I took in the sight."
        na "A new planet, completely disconnected from the old one."
        na "Disconnected from the regrets of the old world. From the wishes of the old world. From its fate."
        na "It was an entirely new world."
        na "A new world, that was just born the second I laid my eyes on it. The world that I have, finally, after so long, come to create."
        na "And in this new world, I was surely to create countless new and beautiful things."

        nvl clear

        na "I sure wish you were here, Nicholas."
        na "You would have loved to paint this."

        nvl clear

        na "Chapter 4."
        na "'Here.'"

        nvl clear

        na "The beginning."

        nvl clear

        scene black with fade

        na "'A New and Beautiful World', written and developed by Ty Kiatathikom at paperlance.blogspot.com ."
        na "Originally created within 48 hours for the Ludum Dare video game development competition."
        na "This is the post-compo version, featuring royalty-free music from Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com"
        na "The game was developed using the Ren'Py visual novel development engine, available at renpy.org"
        na "The font used was \"AUdimat\" by SMeltery at smeltery.net ."
        na "Thank you for playing."
        na "You will be returned to the main menu now."

        #ENDING ONE
        # OH MY GOD FINALLY

        jump end

    label Chapter4_Branch2:

        #Chapter 4 Branch 2 - Anew

        nvl clear

        play music "Promises to Keep.mp3" fadein 1.0

        na "Chapter 4."
        na "'Anew.'"

        nvl clear

        scene night with fade

        na "March 21st, 2190."
        na "20 years had passed for me."
        na "106 for everyone back on Earth."
        na "I was 40 years old. Nicholas was 43."

        nvl clear

        na "'Commander Isaac Yinghua, Pilot of the I.S.N. White Albatross.'"
        na "That was the title that was used to address me now."
        na "I didn't really like it."
        na "Too formal-sounding."
        na "I always told everyone just to call me Isaac."

        nvl clear

        na "106 years had passed since I stopped Nicholas from killing himself."
        na "To him and I, however, it had only been 20."
        na "5 years on Earth, and 15 aboard one of the eleven Second Generation Imperial Colonization Vessels."
        na "Relativity and all. You never, ever got used to it."
        na "I had always found it so incredibly interesting."
        na "Quaint, even."

        nvl clear

        na "It'd always been strange to read the news bulletins sent to us from Imperial Central Command, for example."
        na "We'd be told during breakfast one morning about a small war starting, with it being expected to end sometime soon."
        na "And then, some months later, we'd receive a message saying that, after many long years of gruesome gore and needless bloodshed, the Fourth World War had finally come to an end."
        na "With the Empire emerging 'victorious,' as it always did."
        na "And then it all happening over again with the Fifth World War."

        nvl clear

        na "We'd receive news telling us that the cure for cancer had been finally found."
        na "And then, years later, we'd learn of the appearance of the Red Plague."
        na "We'd sit and watch, soaring along through what seemed to be boundless space, as old diseases were cured and new ones took their place back on Earth."
        na "Epidemics would start one afternoon, and by the next evening millions would be dead."

        nvl clear

        na "It really did make you think."
        na "About how insignificant a lot of things are."
        na "About how insignificant most things are."
        na "And there were none who knew better than us exactly how fearsome the power of time was."
        na "How true it was that it never could be or will be stayed. Not even by a split second."
        na "And how it ceaselessly blazes on, eating everything up and then leaving it far, far behind."

        nvl clear

        na "The experience that taught me the most of the might of time, however, was something very, very personal."
        na "It was the last time I ever spoke with my father."
        na "The last time I ever saw him in person was the morning of the White Albatross's launch."
        na "He was 58 then, and I was 25."
        na "Then, some few years into the voyage, I was 30 and he was late into his 90's."
        na "I still remember the conversation we had, the very last time he called me."
        na "I remember it word for word."

        nvl clear

        d "... Well, either way, it looks like she should be well enough to come back by this weekend's bingo night."
        na "I snickered."
        i "That's great, dad. Really."
        d "Are you being sarcastic?"
        i "Nah."
        d "Please. How old do you think I am?"
        d "..."
        d "Don't answer that."
        na "I listened as my father recoiled back at his own joke, heartily chuckling away. He stopped to cough twice before returning to the conversation."

        nvl clear

        d "You want to know something, son?"
        i "Sure. What is it?"
        d "I'm god damn proud of you."
        na "It was my turn to chuckle."
        i "And why is that, dad?"
        d "What do you mean, 'why is that'!?"
        i "I know what I asked."
        d "Why do you think?"

        nvl clear

        i "I won that spelling bee back in the 4th grade?"
        d "You're the pilot of a colonization ship!"
        d "I don't think you understand how much everyone here just god damn loves all of you!"
        d "I get mails from random people from Northamerica to Eastasia telling me to 'thank you for all you've done' every single day!"
        d "You can let go of all that humble bullcrap now, Isaac."
        d "You pilot one of the largest moving vessels ever made. You're going to create one of the very first human civilizations outside of the solar system."
        d "Act like it!"

        nvl clear

        i "I've been piloting this thing for about half a decade now, dad."
        d "For more than three decades for me, boy."
        i "I'm almost 30."
        d "You should be going on 60."
        i "Oh, gross. I don't want to be old."
        d "Just as a general warning, you're right to not."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        i "Dad?"
        d "That's my name. Don't wear it out."
        i "That's not your name, and, I just wanted to say..."
        i "Thanks for everything."
        d "Everything?"
        i "Yeah. Everything. For raising me, for being there for me, for letting me leave on the White Albatross."
        i "For being my father."
        i "You were a great one."
        i "..."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        i "Nicholas thinks you were a great dad too, you know."
        i "He doesn't blame you for anything you've done."
        na "I had to say it. I had to."

        nvl clear

        na "I heard my father sigh a very long, very tired sigh."
        d "You think so?"
        i "I know so."
        d "Did he tell you so himself?"
        i "..."
        i "Well, no, but-"
        d "Then you couldn't possibly know, Isaac."

        nvl clear

        i "No, dad. I'm serious."
        i "I know how he feels. I always have, and I always will. Even if he never wants to tell me or anybody."
        i "You know that better than anybody."
        i "I can tell that he wants to forgive you, even if he hasn't even admitted it to himself yet."
        d "He hasn't spoken to me in 30 years."
        i "It's only been 5 for him."
        nvl clear

        na "I heard nothing but light static on the other end of the call. He wasn't responding."
        i "Look, dad. I just want to make sure you're happy."

        nvl clear

        d "..."
        d "Of course I'm happy, son."
        d "I don't expect Nicholas to ever understand what I did."
        d "Or to come to admit that what I did was for his own sake."

        nvl clear

        d "I don't think I'll ever get to speak with him again before I die."

        nvl clear

        d "Now, don't be so sad about it."
        d "Perfect happy endings like that just don't happen, you know."
        d "This world doesn't work like that. You'd be stupid to think it did."
        d "That's definitely not 'good'..."
        d "But it's not necessarily 'bad', either."
        d "It just..."
        d "That's just how things are."
        d "Life is chaotic like that."
        d "But, there's always beauty to be found in that chaos, somewhere. You just have to look hard enough."
        d "At least, that's what I think."

        nvl clear

        i "I just want to make sure you don't regret anything you've done. Because you shouldn't."
        d "..."
        na "I gave him some time to think."

        nvl clear

        d "..."
        d "Nope. I can't say I regret what I've done."
        d "I really don't."
        d "I knew what was best for him, and I turned out to be right in the end, didn't I?"
        d "He didn't like the choice I made because it conflicted with his own desires."
        d "I had no control over his desires."
        d "I just wanted to make sure he was going to be alright."
        d "That he was going to have a nice, happy life."
        d "The kind of life that I could never have."

        nvl clear

        d "As for how things turned out in the end, though? It couldn't have been helped."
        d "I could have let him attend that school, and it's possible he still would never have brought himself to open up to me. To become happy."
        d "That's how choices work."
        d "Sometimes, you'll just never know which one was the right one to go with."
        d "And that's alright. It's all alright."
        d "The only important thing- the one truly important thing- in all of this, is that, no matter what, no matter what we've been through, no matter how close we may be to each other, or how far away..."
        d "That boy was my son."
        d "And I was his father."
        d "And there is nothing in the whole world that I could ever be more proud of than that fact."

        nvl clear

        d "..."
        d "If anything, I'd just wish to get a second chance."
        i "There isn't a person in the world who doesn't want a second chance, dad."
        d "..."
        d "Yeah. I guess you're right."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        d "..."
        i "So. Did you enjoy your retirement, dad?"
        d "I damn sure did."
        i "Would mom have liked the nursing home?"
        d "Nah. Definitely not. Too comfortable for her."
        i "Yeah, I thought so too."
        d "How about you? You enjoying being in space?"
        i "Oh yes I am."
        d "That's good to hear. You're going to have been in it for more than a hundred years once you finally hit your mark, says the news."
        i "It'll go by in a flash."
        d "It definitely will."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        d "..."
        i "Nicholas doesn't blame you for what you did."
        i "He forgives you."
        i "He really does."

        nvl clear

        d "..."
        d "I know that, Isaac."
        d "Of course I do."
        d "I'm his father."

        nvl clear
        i "..."
        d "..."
        i "I love you, dad."
        d "I love you too, son."
        na "And then, he hung up."
        na "That was the last time I ever heard my father's voice."

        nvl clear

        na "Four days later, I got a private mail from the Ministry of Health saying that my father had comfortably passed away in his sleep, one cool afternoon."

        nvl clear

        na "Every single night, I went to sleep thinking of those final few words I got to share with him."
        na "Even then, 10 years after he had passed."

        nvl clear

        na "I was shaken awake by the ringing of my earpiece."
        n "Isaac! Isaac!?"
        i "Huh? Huh!? I'm awake! I'm awake."
        n "Get down to the medical bay. Now."
        i "Huh? What? Why!?"
        n "Just do it! I need you to be here."
        na "I rubbed at my eyes and tried my hardest to lift myself from my cot."
        i "Nicholas, calm do-"
        n "Hurry!"

        nvl clear

        na "What the hell could possibly have been going on?"
        na "Frantically, I raced out of my quarters and into the lift."
        na "I rode the lift down to the medical bay and spilled out into it."
        i "Nicholas! Nicholas! I'm here!"
        i "What do you need!?"
        n "Isaac, is that you!? Come on! Over here!"
        na "I followed the sound of Isaac's pleas to a large curtain drawn across the opening of a cubicle."
        na "I threw the curtain open."

        nvl clear

        na "What I saw, was the sight of my brother in full medical dress, cradling a crying newborn infant in his arms."
        n "Look, Isaac."
        na "He turned around and presented the infant to me, as if he was offering it up."
        n "Mrs. Johnson finally gave birth!"
        n "They've decided to name her Charlotte."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        i "... What?"

        nvl clear

        n "Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are waiting in one of the private rooms right now."
        n "I just finished bathing her."
        i "..."
        i "That's great, Nicholas."
        na "In his defense, it actually was."
        na "I guess."

        nvl clear

        na "Suddenly, my earpiece buzzed again. I turned away to pay attention to it."
        f "Commander Yinghua? Commander Yinghua? Sorry to interrupt your break, but the Captain wants you back on the bridge now. It's urgent."
        i "Back on the bridge? Why?"
        f "...Huh?"
        f "You're not saying you forgot?"
        na "Just then, Nicholas tapped me on my shoulder."
        n "Hey, little bro. You might want to see this."
        i "Shut up, Nicholas."

        nvl clear

        i "What do you mean, 'I forgot'? What did I forget?"
        f "Well, sir-"
        n "I'm serious, Isaac, you should really see this."
        na "Before I could respond, Nicholas took hold of my shoulder and spun me around."
        i "Nicholas, I'm trying to speak with the-"

        nvl clear

        i "..."

        nvl clear

        i "..."

        nvl clear

        i "..."

        nvl clear

        i "..."
        i "... Oh my God."
        na "I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

        nvl clear

        f "Like I was saying, sir."
        f "The White Albatross reaches its destination today."

        nvl clear

        na "What was directly visible outside the window of the medical bay..."
        na "Was a huge, bright blue sphere."

        scene planet with fade
        play music "Dream Culture.mp3" fadein 1.0

        na "It was a planet of colossal size and the warmest, most calming, most absolutely gorgeous blue that I had ever laid my eyes upon."
        na "The majestic blue was painted over in a few places with light, white clouds."
        na "Dotted across that planet's godly oceans were a few scattered pieces of land, dyed in bright, lush greens to match the shining waters."
        na "Not as numerous as the ones back on Earth, nor as sizable, but they were still enough."
        na "And they were certainly much, much more beautiful."

        nvl clear

        na "If there was one thing that planet was, it was beautiful."
        na "I shook my head and left my lips parted in sheer amazement as I took in the sight."
        na "A new planet, completely disconnected from the old one."
        na "Disconnected from the regrets of the old world. From the wishes of the old world. From its fate."
        na "It was an entirely new world."
        na "A new world, that was just born the second I laid my eyes on it. The world that I have, finally, after so long, come to create."
        na "And in this new world, I was surely to create countless new and beautiful things."

        nvl clear

        i "Beautiful, ain't it, big bro?"
        na "The newborn cried in Nicholas's arms."
        n "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

        nvl clear

        na "Chapter 4."
        na "'Anew.'"

        nvl clear

        na "The beginning."

        nvl clear

        scene black with fade

        na "'A New and Beautiful World', written and developed by Ty Kiatathikom."
        na "Originally created within 48 hours for the Ludum Dare video game development competition."
        na "This is the post-compo version, featuring royalty-free music from Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com ."
        na "The game was developed using the Ren'Py visual novel development engine, available at renpy.org ."
        na "The font used was \"AUdimat\" by SMeltery at smeltery.net ."
        na "Thank you for playing."
        na "You will be returned to the main menu now."

        jump end

        #ENDING TWO

        #HOLY GOD DAMN SHIT I JUST FINISHED THE SCRIPT
        #OH MY THANK GOD.

return

    #Ending the game.
    #Finally.

label end:
    $ renpy.full_restart()
return