VNGame/game/script.rpy

# The Iron Hollow — Chapter 1 PoC
# Scene 2: Sara Arrives

define sara = Character("Sara", color="#c8a882")
define luno = Character("Luno", color="#82b4c8")
define narrator = Character(None, kind=nvl)

# ── Persistent flags ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
default checkpoint_set    = False
default rewind_used       = False
default branches_explored = 0
default luno_suspicion    = 0

# ── Entry point ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
label start:
    scene bg training_yard
    with fade

    "The Iron Hollow training yard sits inside a converted warehouse district. Stone walls, packed dirt, the smell of old metal and new sweat."
    "Sara takes it all in before she steps through the gate."

    show sara neutral at left
    with easeinright

    "Two people are already here. A boy against the far wall, watching nothing. And a girl near the gate — moving like she already belongs."

    show luno curious at right
    with easeinright

    "The girl notices Sara first."
    jump luno_greeting

label luno_greeting:
    luno "You're here for the recruitment?"
    sara "Yes. Where do I register?"
    luno "The man over at that table takes your name. Then we wait."
    luno "I'm Luno. Been here a few days already — helping with the wounded from last month's job. I know how things run here if you need anything."
    "She doesn't say it like an offer. She says it like she's already taking notes."
    luno "So. Money, glory, or are you just bored?"
    jump choice_screen

label choice_screen:
    $ branches_explored += 1
    #show screen timer_bar(20)

    menu:
        "Why are you here?"
        "\[ Create Checkpoint \]" if not checkpoint_set:
            $ checkpoint_set = True
            hide screen timer_bar
            scene black
            with dissolve
            "A flash. Sara's hand, signing something. A contract. The ink is red."
            "It could mean anything."
            scene bg training_yard
            with dissolve
            show sara neutral at left
            show luno curious at right
            jump choice_screen

        "For the money, like anyone.":
            hide screen timer_bar
            jump branch_money

        "To find something worth doing.":
            hide screen timer_bar
            jump branch_purpose

        "I'd rather not say.":
            hide screen timer_bar
            jump branch_silence

        "[ You asked the others the same thing, didn't you. ]" if checkpoint_set and branches_explored >= 3:
            hide screen timer_bar
            jump branch_sharp

label branch_money:
    $ luno_suspicion += 1
    sara "Same reason as everyone else, I'd assume."
    luno "Honest. I can work with that."
    show luno amused at right
    luno "Though if money's the goal, you don't look like you need it."
    sara "Looks can be misleading."
    show luno neutral at right
    luno "Sure."
    "A pause. Just a half-beat too long."
    luno "They can be."
    "She doesn't push. But her eyes stay on Sara a moment after the conversation moves on."
    jump scene_continues

label branch_purpose:
    sara "I'm not looking for money exactly. More... something to point myself at."
    "A beat. Something opens in Luno's expression — not warm, but something."
    show luno curious at right
    luno "Huh. That's not what I expected."
    sara "What did you expect?"
    luno "Something about honour. Or family legacy."
    show luno tilted at right
    luno "The clothes suggest a script."
    show sara pained at left
    sara "The script didn't survive."
    "She doesn't mean to say it. Too true. Too fast. Too much."
    "She can feel it land — can feel Luno actually {i}looking{/i} at her now, not just watching."
    show luno soft at right
    luno "...Yeah. I know that feeling."
    "A real moment. Brief. Neither of them knows what to do with it."

    if checkpoint_set:
        show screen rewind_prompt
        "The rewind option surfaces at the edge of the screen, glowing faintly."
        "Sara can step back. Give the safer answer. Luno will never know what she almost said."
        menu:
            "[ ↺ Rewind ] (14 seconds remaining)":
                hide screen rewind_prompt
                $ rewind_used = True
                $ luno_suspicion += 1
                scene black
                with dissolve
                show screen teal_wash
                "The world pulls back."
                "Colour drains to teal. Sound slows to nothing."
                hide screen teal_wash
                scene bg training_yard
                with dissolve
                show sara neutral at left
                show luno curious at right
                "Sara is standing at the choice again. Luno's question still in the air."
                jump choice_after_rewind
            "[ Continue ]":
                hide screen rewind_prompt

    jump scene_continues

label choice_after_rewind:
    menu (caption="— Why are you here? —"):
        "For the money, like anyone.":
            jump branch_money_post_rewind
        "I'd rather not say.":
            jump branch_silence_post_rewind

label branch_money_post_rewind:
    sara "Same reason as everyone else."
    luno "Sure."
    "Unremarkable. Fine."
    "But when Sara finishes speaking, Luno's eyes linger — just a half-second longer than they should."
    show luno linger at right
    "Not suspicion. Not quite. More like the feeling of reaching for something that moved."
    show luno neutral at right
    "She shakes it off. Probably nothing."
    "Sara knows it wasn't nothing."
    $ luno_suspicion += 1
    jump scene_continues

label branch_silence_post_rewind:
    sara "I'd rather not say."
    luno "Fair enough."
    "But when Sara finishes speaking, Luno's eyes linger — just a half-second longer than they should."
    show luno linger at right
    "Not suspicion. Not quite. More like the feeling of reaching for something that moved."
    show luno neutral at right
    "She shakes it off. Probably nothing."
    "Sara knows it wasn't nothing."
    $ luno_suspicion += 1
    jump scene_continues

label branch_silence:
    sara "That's a fairly personal question for someone I've known thirty seconds."
    luno "Fair. I ask everyone. You don't have to answer."
    sara "...Then I won't."
    luno "That's an answer too."
    "She's not unfriendly. But Sara just became a question mark in Luno's mental ledger."
    $ luno_suspicion += 1
    jump scene_continues

label branch_sharp:
    sara "You asked him the same thing."
    "She nods toward Eron."
    sara "Before I arrived."
    "Luno goes still. Not alarmed — but recalibrating."
    show luno still at right
    luno "...You were watching from outside the gate?"
    sara "The wall has gaps."
    luno "Most people don't bother to look."
    sara "I bother."
    "A pause. Luno is weighing something."
    luno "That's either very smart or very paranoid."
    sara "Both, usually."
    "Luno laughs — a real one, short and surprised."
    show luno laugh at right
    "But her eyes are sharper now, not warmer."
    show luno sharp at right
    "This is not a win. It's a different kind of exposure."
    $ luno_suspicion += 2
    jump scene_continues

label scene_continues:
    "Before the silence can settle, footsteps at the gate."
    "Two more arrivals. The scene continues..."
    return

# ── Screens ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

screen timer_bar(duration):
    zorder 10
    timer duration action Hide("timer_bar")
    vbox:
        xalign 0.5
        yalign 0.02
        bar:
            value AnimatedValue(duration, duration)
            xsize 400
            ysize 14
        text "Respond within [duration]s":
            xalign 0.5
            color "#c8c8c8"
            size 18

screen rewind_prompt():
    zorder 10
    text "[ ↺ Rewind available ]":
        xalign 0.05
        yalign 0.95
        color "#4ab8b8"
        size 22

screen teal_wash():
    zorder 20
    add Solid("#1a4a4a") alpha 0.7