<div id="cptitleimg"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Crimeandpunishmentcover.png" /></div> <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Merriweather" rel="stylesheet"><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lora" rel="stylesheet"><div id="cptitle">The Fourth Floor</div> <div id="cpblurb"><p>*A short Twine game, adapting much of Chapter VII (pp 74-83) of Fyodor Dostoevsky's* Crime & Punishment.</p><p>*The novel concerns the poverty-induced mania of Raskolnikov, a former student adrift in St. Petersburg at the middle of the 19th century. Convinced that he is guided by a moral force outside himself, he plans to kill and rob a cantankerous pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna. Having obsessed over his crime to the point of mania, he goes to Ivanovna's fourth-floor apartment, on the pretence of bringing something to pawn, in order to murder her. After being invited in, he produces a handaxe from inside his coat and brings it down on her head, killing the old woman instantly.*</p><p>*This game begins in the moments after the murder, as Raskolnikov decides what to do next. To preserve the sense of the original, try to make decisions quickly, without too much thought.*</p></div> <div id="cpplay">[[Begin ->Entranceway]]</div> (set: $timeuntillizaveta to 20) (set: $amountofblood to 2) (set: $axe to "bloody") (set: $hasaxe to "true") (set: $entrancewayonce to "true") (set: $gotcord to "false") (set: $gotpursesingle to "false") (set: $gotcrosses to "false") (set: $gotkeys to "false") (set: $leftpocket to "false") (set: $gotrags to "false") (set: $seenicons to "false") (set: $goticons to "false") (set: $seendrawers to "false") (set: $drawersonce to "false") (set: $tooththink to "false") (set: $trunkonce to "false") (set: $wipedhands to "false") (set: $gotriches to "false") (set: $inentrancewaywhenlvarrives to "false") (set: $inbedroomwhenlarrives to "false") (set: $inkitchenwhenlarrives to "false") (set: $touch to "false") (set: $hitaxe to "false") (set: $axeincoat to "false") (set: $drawout to "false")

(if: $entrancewayonce is "true")[He stood over her body, shaking tremendously, before stooping to see the face: she was dead. Her wide-open eyes looked ready to start out of their sockets, her forehead was wrinkled and her whole face convulsively distorted. His hand was still tight around the axe handle, and all at once everything was silent.](elseif: $entrancewayonce is "false")[Alyona's entranceway was dark, furnished only with a narrow coatstand and a thin rug. The room set a deeper panic in him; all he wanted was to be away.] --------------------------- (if: $timeuntillizaveta > 0)[ (if: $hasaxe is "true")[ [[Rashkolnikov laid the axe on the floor.]] (if: $axeincoat is "false")[[[He carefully returned the axe inside his coat.->Axe In Coat]]]](elseif: $hasaxe is "false")[ [[Rashkolnikov picked up the axe from the floor.]]] [[He ran.]] [[He knelt beside the body.]] [[He went towards the bedroom.->Bedroom]] [[He went towards the kitchen.->Kitchen]] ](else:)[(set: $inentrancewaywhenlvarrives to "true")[[A footstep sounded behind him.->Lizaveta Arrives (Entrance)]]] (set: $entrancewayonce to "false")

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)Stooping down again to examine the body more closely, he saw clearly that the skull was shattered. By this time the blood had formed a pool on the floor. (if: $touch is "false")[ [[He touched her, to make sure she was dead.]]](if: $hasaxe is "true" and $hitaxe is "false"))[ [[He hit her with the axe again.]]](if: $gotcord is "false")[ [[He noticed a cord around the woman's neck.]]](if: $leftpocket is "false")[ [[He searched her clothing.]]] [[He stood again.->Entranceway]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $hasaxe to "false")Rashkolnikov laid the axe on the floor near the body, taking care not smear himself with blood on its butt-end. [[He looked back up.->Entranceway]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1) (set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 1) (set: $hasaxe to "true")He took up the axe again. Rashkolnikov was beside himself; how could he be so very careless, leaving the weapon here, in the middle of the floor! [[He steadied himself on his feet.->Entranceway]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 2)(if: $axe is "bloody")[Despite the blood coating the blade, ]Rashkolnikov carefully placed the axe back through the loop inside his coat, making very sure that it would not fall. [[He took a deep breath and tried to think.->Entranceway]] (set: $axeincoat to "true")

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 5)(set: $touch to "true")In his haste to check if the old woman was dead, he stained his cuff with some of her blood; he hoped that he was dirty enough that nobody would notice. [[An awful fear ran up and down him, but he could not place it.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 1) He tugged at it, but it was too strong to snap, and besides, it was slippery with blood. (if: $drawout is "false")[[[He tried to draw it out of the bosom of her dress.]]](if: $hasaxe is "true")[ [[Impatiently he raised the axe again.]]] [[He struggled to cut the cord with his fingers.]] [[He decided against it, and left the cord be.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)With a dreadful panic he seized the front of the old woman's dress. He did not know what to do; why did she have to have so many pockets? He wondered how many pledges it had taken to afford clothing with so many neatly-sewn pockets. [[There was a pocket on the left-hand side.->Left-Hand Pocket]](if: $gotkeys is "false")[ [[There was a pocket on the right-hand side.->Right-Hand Pocket]]](if: $gotrags is "false")[ [[There was a larger pocket all the way across the front, like an apron.->Apron Pocket]]] [[He couldn't bear to look in any of them.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 5)(set: $hitaxe to "true")(set: $axe to "bloody")His second hit was lighter, more tentative, no more than a tap; the old woman's skull yielded gently, the blood splattered, and she made no noise. She had been dead the first time. [[He drew back, strangely calm at his foolishness.->He knelt beside the body.]] (set: $axeincoat to "false")

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 1)It was too strong to snap, and besides, it was slippery with blood. [[He tried to slow himself down, to remember every detail, and act sensibly.->He noticed a cord around the woman's neck.]] (set: $drawout to "true")

(set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 6)(set: $gotcord to "true")He almost could not bring himself to do this; but, after steadying himself with his other hand against the coatstand, he brought the axe down. It cut through the cord cleanly and some way into the neck, sending a shot of still-warm blood over his lapel. With shaking hands he took it off, and found, as he expected, a purse hanging there. There were two crosses on the cord, one of cypress-wood and the other of brass, as well as an enamelled religiou smedal, and beside them hung a small, soiled, chamois-leather purse, with a steel frame and clasp. It was crammed full. [[Rashkolnikov took the purse.]] [[He took the crosses.]] [[He took the entire thing.]] (set: $axeincoat to "false")

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 3)(set: $amountofblood to $amountofblood + 2)(set: $gotcord to "true")After struggling with it for two minutes, and getting (if: $hasaxe is "true")[the axe and ]his hands smeared with blood, he managed with some difficulty to cut the cord without touching the body with the axe; he took it off, and found, as he expected, a purse hanging there. There were two crosses on the cord, one of cypress-wood and the other of brass, as well as an enamelled religious medal, and beside them hung a small, soiled, chamois-leather purse, with a steel frame and clasp. It was crammed full. [[Rashkolnikov took the purse.]] [[He took the crosses.]] [[He took the entire thing.]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)The bedroom was very small; on one wall was an enormous case of icons, and another was occupied by the big bed, very clean, covered with a silk patchwork quilt. A chest of drawers, locked no doubt, stood against the third wall. (if: $timeuntillizaveta > 0)[ (if: $gotkeys is "true")[[[He tried the keys in the chest of drawers.->Chest Of Drawers]]] [[He looked at the icons.->Icons]] [[He stopped to think.->Think]] [[He looked under the bed.->Under Bed]] [[He stepped back into the entranceway.->Entranceway]] ](else:)[[[A footstep sounded in the room where the old woman lay.->Lizaveta Arrives (Not Entrance)]](set: $inbedroomwhenlarrives to "true")]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)The kitchen was almost bare, apart from a narrow, dusty window looking out onto the bright rooftops opposite, and a single cupboard set against the far wall. A pail of water sat half full of water on a bench. It was the only room which didn't have drawn curtains, but it was still oppressively hot. ---------------- (if: $timeuntillizaveta > 0)[ [[Rashkolnikov examined himself for blood in the dim light.->Check For Blood]] (if: $amountofblood > 0)[[[When he saw the pail, it gave him the idea of washing himself.->Wash Self]]] [[He stepped back into the entranceway.->Entranceway]] ](else:)[[[A footstep sounded in the room where the old woman lay.->Lizaveta Arrives (Not Entrance)]](set: $inkitchenwhenlarrives to "true")]

(set: $gotpursesingle to "true")Rashkolnikov thrust the purse into his pocket without examining it and threw the crosses down on the old woman's breast. [[Slowly, he set back on his haunches, and surveyed the body.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set:$gotcrosses to "true")Something drew him to the crosses, with their simple shapes and rude metals, and he left the purse tucked inside the woman's dress. [[Slowly, he set back on his haunches, and surveyed the body.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $gotpursesingle to "true")(set: $gotcrosses to "true")He took the entire cord, knocking hollowly against itself, and thrust it into his pocket. [[Slowly, he set back on his haunches, and surveyed the body.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $leftpocket to "true")There was nothing at all; only some crumbs from some previous untidy meal. "What in Heavens am I doing?" Rashkolnikov thought. "Pawing at a corpse!" He groaned a little. [[He turned to look at the body itself.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $gotkeys to "true")Taking care not to smear himself with blood, he felt in her pocket, the right-hand pocket, from which she had taken her keys last time. He was quite collected, his faculties were no longer clouded not his head swimming, but his hands still shook... He pulled out the keys; they were all together, as he remembered them, on a steel ring. Lots of smaller ones jangled against a single larger key, with toothed wards. [[He decided to keep searching, to see what else the old pawnbroker kept in her pockets.->He searched her clothing.]] [[He turned to look at the body itself.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $gotrags to "true")He found a bunch of dirty rags, knotted and stuck together in a tight ball. He had often seen the old woman blowing her nose noisily, both on the street and at home. [[He took the rags.]] [[He decided to keep searching, to see what else the old pawnbroker kept in her pockets.->He searched her clothing.]] [[He turned to look at the body itself.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $gotrags to "true")He did not know why he took them; they were disgusting, of no use to anybody. But he was here to take what was rightfully his, and a force stronger than himself compelled him to take the rags and put them inside his coat. Perhaps he might receive a kopek for them somewhere, if he cleaned them thoroughly. Why did he cling to trivialities? [[He decided to keep searching, to see what else the old pawnbroker kept in her pockets.->He searched her clothing.]] [[He turned to look at the body itself.->He knelt beside the body.]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)As well as the light from the small windows allowed, he examined his hands(if: $hasaxe is "true")[ and the axe], as well as his overcoat, trousers and boots. (if: $amountofblood < 1)[At first glance there was nothing to give him away, except for some stains on his boots. He wiped them with a dark rag. He knew, however, that he had not been able to see very well, and might have failed to notice something quite conspicuous.](elseif: $amountofblood > 1 and $amountofblood < 4)[(if: $hasaxe is "true")[The axe's butt-end and h](else:)[H]is hands still had some streaks of blood on them, and it was too dark to see the state of his clothing.](elseif: $amountofblood >= 4)[(if: $hasaxe is "true")[The axe was caked with blood, and h](else:)[H]is hands were sticky with gore. He could feel that his clothing was wet, as well, and there was something damp in his hair.] He stood hesitating in the middle of the room. A dark and tormenting idea was beginning to rear its head, the idea that he was going out of his mind and that he was not capable of reasoning or of protecting himself. Perhaps what he was doing was not at all what ought to be done... [['My God, I must run, I must run!' he muttered.->Kitchen]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 3)(set: $amountofblood to 0)(if: $hasaxe is "true")[He put the head of the axe in the water, then ](else:)[He] took a piece of soap that lay in a broken saucer on the window-sill, and began to wash his hands in the pail.(if: $hasaxe is "true")[ When he had washed them he drew out the axe and washed the blade and then spent some three minutes trying to clean the part of the handle that was blood-stained, using soap to get the blood out. After this he wiped it with a cloth which was drying on a line stretched across the kitchen, and then spent a long time examining it carefully at the window. There were no stains left, but the handle was still damp. With great care he laid the axe in the eloop under his coat.] In that moment, he had the overwhelming sense that he was being directed by someone else, at a pace and with a calmness that was quite out of step with the situation. Why was he not running? Why was he still here? What did getting rid of the blood achieve? (if: $killedlizaveta is "true")[They](else:)[She] was still out there on the bare rug. [[He stepped back into the gloom.->Kitchen]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $seendrawers to "true")(if: $drawersonce is "false")[It was strange, but as soon as he began to try the keys in the drawers, and heard their jingling, a convulsive shudder shook him; he longed suddenly to abandon the whole affair and go away.] All his efforts failed to force the keys into the locks, not so much because his hands were trembling as because his energy was misdirected; he would see, for example, that a key was the wrong one and not fit, and yet go on thrusting at the lock with it. [[He gave up.->Bedroom]] (set: $drawersonce to "true")

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $seenicons to true) The icons were crude, and poorly painted, but Alyona had displayed them as if they had been pure gold. It was out of character, this gaudy cabinet; the sour, grasping old woman hardly ever displayed any of her finer things. Women like her, Rashkolnikov thought spitefully, kept such possessions hidden; under the bed, or behind a curtain. (if: $goticons is "false")[[[Rashkolnikov took as many of them as he could.->Take Icons]]] [[Rashkolnikov turned back to the room.->Bedroom]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)Rashkolnikov managed to calm his trembling hands, and his stuttering breath, and to stand in the silence of the apartment and think. He heard nothing but the sound of his own breathing. (if: $seendrawers is "true" and $gotriches is "false")[(set: $tooththink to "true")He was sure that there would nothing but clothing in the chests of drawers; as if anybody would have wanted to steal Alyona's worthless rags! He pulled himself together and remembered that the big key, with toothed wards, hanging with the other smaller ones, could not possibly belong to the chest of drawers, but must be for some trunk or other, and that perhaps it was there that everything was hidden.] (if: $seendrawers is "true" and $seenicons is "true")[ [[He had an idea.->Bedroom]]](else:)[[[He was no surer of what to do.->Bedroom]]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $goticons to "true")Most people owned icons from a young age, and the market for them, especially if they were not precious, was very poor. Still, Rashkolnikov plundered them without thinking, shoving the fragile wooden tablets into his pockets. [[Eventually he came to his senses, and turned back to the room. ->Bedroom]]

(set: $timeuntillizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 3)(if: $seenicons is "true")[He was right; t](else:)[T]here stood an important-looking steel-studded trunk of red leather, about thirty inches long, with a round lid. It was locked, with a large keyhole. (if: $tooththink is "true")[[[The toothed key fitted the lock and opened the trunk.->Open Trunk]]](else:)[(if: $gotkeys is "true")[[[Rashkolnikov desperately tried every key he could in the lock.->Open Trunk]]]] [[He clambered back out from under the bed, sniffing at the dust.->Bedroom]]

(if: $trunkonce is "false")[(if: $tooththink is "true")[(set: $timeuntilizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)The trunk opened smoothly.](else:)[(set: $timeuntilizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 2)In his panic he fumbled with many of the keys before he realised; the larger key, with its big toothed wards, was the right one. The trunk opened smoothly.]] On top, under a white sheet, lay a hare-skin coat with a red lining; under this were a silk dress, then a shawl, and then, at the bottom, what looked liked a heap of rags. (if: $amountofblood > 2)[[[His first instinct was to wipe his bloody hands on the red lining of the coat.->Wipe Hands]]] [[He picked up the rags.->Rags]] (set: $trunkonce to "true")

(set: $timeuntilizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)(set: $amountofblood to 1)(set: $wipedhands to "true")'It is red, so blood will not show in it,' he reasoned, as he wiped his fingernails. Then suddenly he realised what he was doing. [[He thought, with fear in his hear, 'Good God, am I going out of my mind?'->Open Trunk]]

(set: $timeuntilizaveta to $timeuntillizaveta - 1)No sooner had he disturbed the rags than a gold watch slid out from under the coat. Hastily he began turning everything over, and found a number of gold articles thrust in among the rags, bracelets, chains, earrings, pins, and so forth, probably pledges, some of them perhaps unredeemed. Some were in cases, some simply wrapped in newspaper, but neatly and carefully, with the paper tidily folded and the packets tied with tape. [[He took what he could.->Take Riches]] [[Rashkolnikov left them be, and stepped back up.->Bedroom]]

(set: $gotriches to "true")He began to cram them hastily into the pockets of his overcoat and trousers, without opening the cases or undoing the parcels, but he did not manage to collect very many... [[He stood back up.->Bedroom]]

(set: $lizavetaarrived to "true")He stopped and remained motionless as the dead. But all was still; he must have imagined it. Then he distinctly heard a faint cry, or perhaps rather a feeble interrupted groaning, then dead silence again for a minute or two. He waited, hardly daring to breathe. (if: $inbedroomwhenlarrives is "true")[[[Rashkolnikov lowered himself slowly, and slid himself under the bed.->Wait]]] (if: $inkitchenwhenlarrives is "true")[[[Rashkolnikov stepped back into the corner of the kitchen, illuminated by the dirty sun through the window, and waited.->Wait]]] [[He sprang up and ran out of the room.->Lizaveta Arrives (Entrance)]]

Rashkolnikov waited, steadying his breathing, hiding in the shadows. (if: $hasaxe is "true")[He still had the axe; yet the more he stood there with its cold handle in his grip the less sure he was that he could use it again. It had served its purpose, in the work of the moment, and now felt unbearably heavy. ] How long could he stay here? Dust rose into his nose. He strained to hear anything from the hallway; there were some strange, very slight noises, but nothing else. Perhaps there was nothing there at all. He waited, the heat unbearable, the sweat soaking through his coat; the moment passed, and then another. <div id="theend">[[The End->Title Page]]</div>

(set: $lizavetaarrived to "true")There in the middle of the floor, with a big bundle in her arms, stood Lizaveta, as white as a sheet, gazing in frozen horror at her murdered sister and apparently without the strength to cry out. When she saw him run in, she trembled like a leaf and her face twitched spasmodically; she raised her hand as if to cover her mouth, but no scream came and she back slowly away from him towards the corner, with her eyes on him in a fixed state, but still without a sound, as though she had no breath left to cry out. [[Rashkolnikov, to his own amazement, began to lie.->Lie]] [[Rashkolnikov ran.->He ran.]] [[Rashkolnikov, with an eerie calm, began to explain everything.->Explain]] (if: $hasaxe is "true")[[[Rashkolnikov flung himself forward with the axe.->Murder]]](elseif: $hasaxe is "false")[[[Rashkolnikov scooped the axe from the floor and flung himself forward.->Murder]]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.