Bird game!!!

<div class="viewfinder"> <div class="corner tl"></div> <div class="corner tr"></div> <div class="corner bl"></div> <div class="corner br"></div> <div class="focus-box"></div> </div> <div class="camera-hud">REC • 4:31 PM • CLEMSON</div> <script> document.querySelector('tw-passage').className = 'bg-clemson'; </script> <div class="scene-card"> <div class="cinematic-cut">Opening shot</div> <div class="center-image"> <img src="clemson_campus.png"> </div> You came here to take photos. Just that. Nothing mystical. Nothing dramatic. Clemson is quiet in the strange way a place becomes quiet right before it notices you. Then you see the first bird. Still. Watching. Something shifts. <div class="center-image"> <audio controls autoplay loop> <source src="birdsong.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio> </div> <div class="fade-note">Explore the world. Gather feathers. If you gather enough, you may choose what you become.</div> [[Lift the camera->Peacock Scene]] </div>

(if: $seenLake is false)[ (set: $seenLake to true) (set: $feathers to $feathers + 1) (set: $memory to $memory + 1) ] <script> document.querySelector('tw-passage').className = 'bg-lake'; </script> <div class="scene-card"> <div class="cinematic-cut">Reflection</div> <div class="center-image"> <img src="IMG_7481.jpg"> </div> Water holds stillness better than people do. You kneel. The surface trembles. For a second, your reflection is wrong. Your face narrows. Your mouth becomes a beak. Something dark and sleek moves beneath your skin. Then it is gone. But not fully. [[Follow the feeling->Alaska Scene]] [[Return to the camera->Camera Scene]] </div>

(set: $feathers to 0) (set: $memory to 0) (set: $birdform to "human") (set: $seenCardinal to false) (set: $seenBlueJay to false) (set: $seenCrow to false) (set: $seenHeron to false) (set: $seenOwl to false) (set: $seenSparrow to false) (set: $randomBird to (either: "hawk", "dove", "mockingbird"))

(if: $seenPeacock is false)[ (set: $seenPeacock to true) (set: $feathers to $feathers + 1) ] <script> document.querySelector('tw-passage').className = 'bg-peacock'; </script> <div class="scene-card"> <div class="cinematic-cut">Color field</div> <div class="center-image"> <img src="peacock.jpg"> </div> The bird opens like stained glass. Blue. Green. Gold. Too much beauty to feel natural. You take the photo, but the image on your camera does not look like a bird. It looks like an invitation. A feather slips loose and lands near your shoe. <div class="fade-note">Feathers: $feathers | Memory: $memory</div> [[Take the feather and go to the lake->Lake Scene]] [[Look at your camera instead->Camera Scene]] </div>

(if: $seenCamera is false)[ (set: $seenCamera to true) (set: $memory to $memory + 1) ] <script> document.querySelector('tw-passage').className = 'bg-camera'; </script> <div class="scene-card"> <div class="cinematic-cut">Playback</div> <div class="center-image"> <img src="becky_camera.jpg"> </div> You check the photos. In every frame, the birds are closer than they should be. In one image, there are feathers at your shoulders. In another, your shadow has wings. This is when you understand the stakes. If you keep walking without choosing, the transformation will keep happening anyway. The only question is whether it becomes yours. [[Keep exploring->Alaska Scene]] [[Go back to the beginning->Peacock Scene]] </div>

(if: $seenAlaska is false)[ (set: $seenAlaska to true) (set: $feathers to $feathers + 1) ] <script> document.querySelector('tw-passage').className = 'bg-alaska'; </script> <div class="scene-card"> <div class="cinematic-cut">Memory fracture</div> <div class="center-image"> <img src="alaska.jpg"> </div> The world cuts. Suddenly you are somewhere colder. Wider. Near the edge of ice and sea. A bird crosses the sky. It is a '''$randomBird'''. (if: $randomBird is "hawk")[ It teaches force. (set: $feathers to $feathers + 1) ] (else-if: $randomBird is "dove")[ It teaches surrender. (set: $memory to $memory + 1) ] (else:)[ It teaches invention. (set: $feathers to $feathers + 1) (set: $memory to $memory + 1) ] The air tastes like decision. [[Walk toward the shore->Penguin Beach]] </div>

(if: $seenBeach is false)[ (set: $seenBeach to true) (set: $feathers to $feathers + 1) ] <script> document.querySelector('tw-passage').className = 'bg-penguin-beach'; </script> <div class="scene-card"> <div class="cinematic-cut">Threshold</div> <div class="center-image"> <img src="penguin_beach.jpg"> </div> The beach is full of movement. Penguins gather at the line where land gives up and water begins. None of them hesitate for long. They do not ask whether they belong in the sea. They go. You feel your body answering them. [[Step closer to the surf->Penguin Surf]] [[Hold back->Fog Ocean]] </div>

(if: $seenFog is false)[ (set: $seenFog to true) (set: $memory to $memory + 1) ] <script> document.querySelector('tw-passage').className = 'bg-fog-ocean'; </script> <div class="scene-card"> <div class="cinematic-cut">Suspension</div> <div class="center-image"> <img src="fog_ocean.jpg"> </div> Ocean. Silence. You look down. Flippers are beginning to form. But the change is incomplete. You do not fully belong to the sky anymore. You do not fully belong to the shore either. This is what resisting transformation costs. [[Stay and face it->Final Choice]] [[Run from it->Unfinished Ending]] </div>