The Stanley Parable (Book edition)
*You leave your office and sees a yellow line painted on the ground from your office out the door. The words 'The Stanley Parable Adventure Line' appear at the beginning of the line* Alright, I've got a solution. This time, to make sure we don't get lost, I've employed the help of The Stanley Parable Adventure Line™! Just follow The Line™; how simple is that!
*You enter the room with zero doors*
No, no, I'm done. We're leaving it up to The Line™ from now on.
*The Line leads Stanley into an office in the second room of the office and then through unexplored hallways and rooms*
You see? The Line™ knows where the story is, it's over in this direction! Onward, Stanley, to destiny!
Though, here's a thought: wouldn't wherever we end up be our destination, even if there's no story there? Or, to put it another way, is the story of no destination still a story?Simply by the act of moving forward are we implying a journey such that a destination is inevitably conjured into being via the very manifestation of the nature of life itself? Okay, Stanley, I need to follow this train of thought for a minute, just stick with me.
Now we can both agree that the nature of existence is, in fact, a byproduct of one's subjective experience of that existence, right? Okay, now if my experience of your existence rests inside of your subjective experience of this office, is this office, in fact, the skeleton of my own relative experiential mental subjective construct? Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Hang on, that got a bit weird back there. Well, I'd like to apologize. Not sure where I was going with all that.
You know what? I think what we need right now is a bit of music to lighten the mood!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze3G5EksIQw (it gets loud, so make sure you turn it down)
*RECORD SCRATCH*
Wait! Cut the music! Go back and look at that fern! *You look at the fern* Stanley, this fern will be very important later in the story. Make sure you study it closely and remember it carefully. You won't want to miss anything.
*After studying the fern, you continue. The Line™ leads Stanley back to the second room of the office, through a door you haven't been through* Wait, we're...we're back at the office?! No! No, no! Line™, You™ do know we're looking for The Stanley Parable, right? The story? Is any of this ringing a bell?
*back in the room with zero doors* Still missing the doors. Did we make a mistake following The Line™? Perhaps we could have found the story on our own.
Going to the Monitor Room again
Oh, no, no, no, no, not again! Line™, how could you have done this to us, and after we trusted You™! After everything we've been through, you- oh, I can't take this anymore. To hell with it. Restart.
The Narrator and Stanley try to get away from The Adventure Line
*You leaves your office, and The Line is still there. The Narrator closes the door to the rest of the office, blocking you from following The Line* You know what, Stanley? I say forget The Adventure Line™, what has It™ ever done for us! We're intelligent people, right? Why can't we make up our own story? Something exciting, daring, mysterious... Oh, this all sounds perfectly doable, why don't we simply start wandering in, well, I don't know...how about...this direction! *door to office 437 opens* Now! Yes, this is exciting! Just me and Stanley, forging a new path, a new story! Well, it could be anything!
What do you want our story to be? Go wild! Use your imagination. Whatever it might be, Stanley, I'm ready for it! *after a little more wandering, Stanley sees The Adventure Line come down through the ceiling* Oh, no, not You™ again! Stanley, I'd also like to veto The Line™ from having any role in our awesome new story, no Lines or monitor rooms.
Just don't acknowledge It™, and we should be fine. *The Adventure Line goes back up into the ceiling*
*You go into a circular blue room with two doors* Ah, a choice! We get to make a decision; from here, the story is in our control! How important we mustn't squander the opportunity. In fact, I believe I need a minute to think here. Just walk in circles for a minute. *red arrows pointing in a counter-clockwise circle appear on the ground*
Okay, so I know that each door has to lead somewhere, which means that somewhere at the place we're trying to go there must be a reverse door that leads here. And that, in turn, means that our destination corresponds with the counter-inverted reverse door's origin! So starting from the right, let us ask: will taking the right door lead us to where we're going?
And since the answer is clearly 'yes,' then by all accounts, the door on the right is the correct one! Another victory for logic. Come, Stanley, our destiny awaits! *the door on the right opens*
*You enter the room with zero doors*
No, no, I'm done. We're leaving it up to The Line™ from now on.
*The Line leads Stanley into an office in the second room of the office and then through unexplored hallways and rooms*
You see? The Line™ knows where the story is, it's over in this direction! Onward, Stanley, to destiny!
Though, here's a thought: wouldn't wherever we end up be our destination, even if there's no story there? Or, to put it another way, is the story of no destination still a story?Simply by the act of moving forward are we implying a journey such that a destination is inevitably conjured into being via the very manifestation of the nature of life itself? Okay, Stanley, I need to follow this train of thought for a minute, just stick with me.
Now we can both agree that the nature of existence is, in fact, a byproduct of one's subjective experience of that existence, right? Okay, now if my experience of your existence rests inside of your subjective experience of this office, is this office, in fact, the skeleton of my own relative experiential mental subjective construct? Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Hang on, that got a bit weird back there. Well, I'd like to apologize. Not sure where I was going with all that.
You know what? I think what we need right now is a bit of music to lighten the mood!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze3G5EksIQw (it gets loud, so make sure you turn it down)
*RECORD SCRATCH*
Wait! Cut the music! Go back and look at that fern! *You look at the fern* Stanley, this fern will be very important later in the story. Make sure you study it closely and remember it carefully. You won't want to miss anything.
*After studying the fern, you continue. The Line™ leads Stanley back to the second room of the office, through a door you haven't been through* Wait, we're...we're back at the office?! No! No, no! Line™, You™ do know we're looking for The Stanley Parable, right? The story? Is any of this ringing a bell?
*back in the room with zero doors* Still missing the doors. Did we make a mistake following The Line™? Perhaps we could have found the story on our own.
Going to the Monitor Room again
Oh, no, no, no, no, not again! Line™, how could you have done this to us, and after we trusted You™! After everything we've been through, you- oh, I can't take this anymore. To hell with it. Restart.
The Narrator and Stanley try to get away from The Adventure Line
*You leaves your office, and The Line is still there. The Narrator closes the door to the rest of the office, blocking you from following The Line* You know what, Stanley? I say forget The Adventure Line™, what has It™ ever done for us! We're intelligent people, right? Why can't we make up our own story? Something exciting, daring, mysterious... Oh, this all sounds perfectly doable, why don't we simply start wandering in, well, I don't know...how about...this direction! *door to office 437 opens* Now! Yes, this is exciting! Just me and Stanley, forging a new path, a new story! Well, it could be anything!
What do you want our story to be? Go wild! Use your imagination. Whatever it might be, Stanley, I'm ready for it! *after a little more wandering, Stanley sees The Adventure Line come down through the ceiling* Oh, no, not You™ again! Stanley, I'd also like to veto The Line™ from having any role in our awesome new story, no Lines or monitor rooms.
Just don't acknowledge It™, and we should be fine. *The Adventure Line goes back up into the ceiling*
*You go into a circular blue room with two doors* Ah, a choice! We get to make a decision; from here, the story is in our control! How important we mustn't squander the opportunity. In fact, I believe I need a minute to think here. Just walk in circles for a minute. *red arrows pointing in a counter-clockwise circle appear on the ground*
Okay, so I know that each door has to lead somewhere, which means that somewhere at the place we're trying to go there must be a reverse door that leads here. And that, in turn, means that our destination corresponds with the counter-inverted reverse door's origin! So starting from the right, let us ask: will taking the right door lead us to where we're going?
And since the answer is clearly 'yes,' then by all accounts, the door on the right is the correct one! Another victory for logic. Come, Stanley, our destiny awaits! *the door on the right opens*