I Do Tend to Get Involved With Things

Well, I guess it's time to get back into the driver's seat of my playthrough of the second Car Wars Adventure Gamebook, American Steve Jackson and Creede and Sharleen Lambert's Fuel's Gold, which stalled after an unengaging fight against some anarchists.

I drive off, and soon see a sign indicating the turning for where I'm supposed to deliver the package. Now I must decide whether to complete my mission or drive on and take Kathy the hitch-hiker all the way to where she's going. Yes, it's another opportunity to try and avoid the whole point of this adventure. By now I'm beginning to wonder if, at an early stage in the creative process, Mr Jackson and the Lamberts discussed the book by telephone, but there was a lot of interference on the line, and somebody misheard the title as Refuse Goal.

Anyway, I proceed to my destination, which is a hotbed of Militia activity. After checking my pass, the guard on the gate asks about Kathy, and my explanation of her presence doesn't exactly match the sequence of events. Well, not unless I've chosen to interpret the anarchists shooting at my car as 'two guys [...] bothering her'. It would appear that the authors assumed I'd be unwilling to give her a lift ("Hey, here's another opportunity for the player to choose not to get involved!") and be forced to take action by witnessing the attack (or whatever constitutes bothering in this context). The guard tells Kathy she'll have to stay in the restaurant, and lets us through.

I attempt to give my car a recharge, but a jobsworth guard refuses to let me, even when I show him my pass, so I get shunted on to the same section I'd have turned to if I hadn't bothered trying to keep my vehicle ready for action. More padding, yay.

After a couple more checks of my pass (and the book keeps stressing its colour even though I no longer have the other one, and thus no longer have the potential to get them mixed up) I finally get to deliver the package, which contains a folder that holds a hand-written note. The Colonel shows me the note, which reveals that some members of Anarchist group the ARF have discovered a fuel dump, and intend to use the barrels of gasoline in a terrorist attack on Boston. He asks if I'm willing to lend a hand with defending this truck stop, as the ARF are likely to want to make use of it on the way there.

Predictably, the book gives me the option of declining, but I also have the opportunity to show the Colonel the pamphlets I recovered from the wreck of the car that attacked me. Odds are, doing so will just take me through more section number padding before either giving me the same 'help or refuse' choice or railroading me into assisting, but I'll give it a go anyway.

Yep, beyond prompting speculation that the ARF have a mole in the Militia (I'd rather like it to be that officious twit who wouldn't let me plug my car in, but unless he's in deep cover, an Anarchist isn't likely to get overly strict about following the rules), this is just a momentary diversion that makes no difference to the choice facing me.

So, do I want to help my old friend defend his livelihood, get back at the people who've already sent heavies after me twice, and, you know, engage with the plot of the gamebook, or would I rather say, "Nahh, I only shoot at people recreationally, and right now I need to get to New York to trash some cars for the fun of it,"? Just checking... Yes, the cover of the book definitely says Car Wars, not Quitters, Inc. Well, I guess I should probably stick around, then.

Things aren't going to kick off for a few hours, so I have a little free time, and the Colonel issues me a different-coloured pass so I can go for a stroll or something and get back in afterwards. He also gives me a note to cover payment for a meal, so I proceed to the cafeteria. Kathy is there, eating an algaeburger, and I use the Colonel's note to take care of her bill as well as mine. Then I ask her to wait while I check what I can do around here.

First I call on Louie, the old friend who owns this place. He tells me a little more about the situation - nothing particularly noteworthy - and asks if I plan to stick around. I confirm that I'll be fighting alongside him and the Militia, and he lets me know about a secret tunnel leading out of here.

A bit of casual nosing around leads me to a tarpaulin that could be covering a car. Before I can investigate, a militiaman tells me that all civilians must evacuate the area. I show him my new pass, and he tells me to leave again, but salutes me and adds "SIR!" to the end of each sentence. If this is the pest who wouldn't let me charge my car earlier, that's further grounds to suspect him, but I have no way of telling whether or not it's the same man.

There's an Autobank on site, so I deposit my payment for the job there. Now, is there any chance of getting the damage my car sustained in that fight repaired? There is, but it'd take up the rest of the day, leaving no opportunity to get Kathy away from here before the trouble starts, and it sounds as if she's got to go, so I think I'd better take her on to Boston while things are quiet.

It doesn't take long to drive the remaining distance, but traffic slows to a crawl at the checkpoint leading into the city. Once I get to the head of the queue, the security man recognises Kathy and becomes a lot more friendly, waving me through without any further delay. I could potentially drop her off now, but that encounter suggests that she has some good connections locally, so I'll take her all the way home and see if anything good comes of it.

Home turns out to be in the part of the city that never got rebuilt after the Food Riots, which is sparsely populated, and the few people I do see look a bit survivalist-y. Kathy directs me to a parking garage, and tells me I'll be able to get my car recharged there. I'll risk trusting her: if she were trouble, I doubt that the man at the checkpoint would have been so pleased to see her, if she were ARF, she'd probably have tried something on before I could deliver the package, and if she's fronting for a gang of robbers, they're going to be disappointed, because my money's already in the bank.

Inside the garage I see indications that this is the HQ of a rather notorious biker gang known as the Hellriders, who've been fighting a turf war with another gang for some time. Rounding a corner, I see a group of belligerent-looking men. Kathy gets out of the car, warns me to stay put for the moment, and heads over to the biggest and most threatening-looking of the mob. Several weapon-toting heavies move to surround me, and I take Kathy's advice. Sometimes doing nothing is the best course of action.

Kathy hugs the big biker and brings him over to meet me. This, it transpires, is 'Mother', who thanks me for assisting Kathy and offers me the recharge Kathy mentioned, as well as a share in the meal the gang is having tonight, which apparently contains real beef. The book gives no indication that there isn't time, and refusing their hospitality could be taken as an insult, so I accept.

In conversation with some of the Hellriders, I discover that they're not as stereotypical as they look, and will discuss literature as readily as they do weaponry. After around an hour the meal is ready, and the part of the garage that's been converted into a dining room is decorated like something out of a Merchant Ivory production. Conversation during the meal is even more eclectic, ranging from horticulture to brass knuckles to architecture to the ARF... Discreet questioning leads to the revelation that the gang don't like them, and have bugged a base that the Anarchists established on the edge of Hellrider territory, so they know that there's trouble planned, but don't have as much info on it as the Militia do.

The gang could be helpful allies, so I let them know a bit about my mission... and there's a bit of authorial sloppiness here, as the text assumes I came here before delivering the package, and thus don't know what it contains or have any information on the planned ARF action.

Once the meal is over and the washing-up is done, my car is returned to me, not only recharged, but fully repaired, and even repainted. Mother invites me to join them in a raid on the ARF, but acknowledges that my other responsibilities could take precedence. I tell him that I'd better get back to the truck stop and fight on the front to which I've already committed. He tells me a password I can use to call on the gang for help, and provides a quartet of bikers to safely escort me on my way. They guide me back to a more 'civilised' part of town before heading back to base.

I now have the option of checking out other parts of Boston, but I think I'd better hit the road. While this book isn't keeping track of the time like the previous one did, acting as if I've still got all day feels too much like cheating. Not having purchased a certain piece of equipment or got into trouble with the law, I have no difficulty getting through the checkpoint on the way out, and that recharge ensures an uneventful return journey. Except for yet another 'Are you sure we can't tempt you to ditch the mission and head for New York?' check.

You know what? I'm not going to shirk my duty, but in view of the date and time, I will call it quits on this particular blog entry, and save the actual showdown with the ARF for another post. Maybe that will satisfy the writers' peculiar craving for reader disengagement.