Text Adventure - Pizza Treasure Hunt.

Hello world. Re-launching another Text Adventure! I changed some of the story so the prompt isn't a straight up copy/paste. I write this story before s&s tokens were live. Around half of the story was written by @dibbers.dabs. I set him on 50% beneficiary for this post. COMMENT BELOW TO PARTICIPATE. Vote for entries that you like. At any point you can reply to a comment and start a new thread/storyline. No word count limit or requirement.

Yeah I know, TLDR, there are no pictures/drawings this time. But, I have some of these really cool Pizza Nfts left so If you leave your WAX address under your post, I just might give you one. [If your entry stands out]. 😉 Artists welcome to enter.

The year is 2026.

The WAX blockchain NFT market has exploded.

You are a high school student named X. You have decided to skip school today to participate in a city wide search for a hidden pizza nft that is currently worth millions.

Your parents are at work already. You have all the time in the world. But yet, you want to get an early start. Your heart races with excitement as you open your backpack up. You take a glance at your bitcoin watch. 6:04 AM. You accidentally take a peek at your bitcoin balance: $4.36.

You pack the following items into your backpack:
An apple and a bag of peanuts.
A military grade flashlight your crazy uncle bought you.
A small pocket knife.
An envelope full of blank paper and pencils/pens.
A tablet [for reading usb sticks].
A cigarette pack with 2 cigarettes.
Binoculars.
Several folded up maps of the city/surrounding areas.
A small drone w/ a camera & remote control.
A set of screwdrivers.
Strong thick rope around five feet long.

All of a sudden your phone vibrates.

It's an alert from the Unofficial Pizza Treasure Hunting website:

Dear Treasure hunter: Good luck finding the million dollar Pizza nft! The nft is somewhere inside the city limits. Please keep things civil. The nft is NOT hidden anywhere dangerous. It is NOT under Lake Greenstone. It is up high somewhere, but not anywhere that you have to climb to see it.

More clues in one hour.

You head out the door with your heavy leather coat and scarf and your backpack. It is a brisk, but sunny early morning. The sky is red and blue and the wind was blowing slightly. The leaves of the oak trees had started change color and fall to the ground. You begin walking on the sidewalk; down the hill towards the downtown area of the city. In the distance you see skyscrapers. If the nft is "up high somewhere" maybe it's on the side of a building or something. "I wonder if you can see it from the top of the public tower by the Mall," you mumble to yourself.

I pull the collar of my coat up to shield against the cold breeze and continue down the hill. The bus stop to take me into town is just a few hundred yards away, I walk quickly, knowing that I need to take the bus into the city proper. I have a hunch that the Pizza NFT is probably hidden somewhere with historical significance. Maybe it will be somewhere like the Crypto.com Arena... or outside the Pizza place that delivered the original "Bitcoin Pizza"... I have a lot of ground to cover and I am determined to find this NFT. I'm not even sure if I am looking for it displayed somewhere or something inconspicuous like stored on a ledger!

I stop at the bus stop and pull out my drone. I have about 15 minutes before the bus will arrive so I have some extra time to scope out the area and see if anything is hidden around here. It has a pretty limited range- about 500 yards at most- but that's more than enough to give me a pretty wide search area! I set the drone down on the sidewalk and link it to my phone so I can see through it's camera. It takes off and buzzes away along the sidewalk about 20 feet high. Unfortunately I don't see anything obviously related to Pizza or Wax NFT's as I deftly maneuver the drone around the block, hovering to inspect a few signs and look for clues. I see nothing.

I pack the drone up just in time and the bus pulls up. Advertisements for several centralized exchanges and various new projects are plastered along the side. I notice a rip on the Uniswap ad that seems to be bulging with something inside. As I walk out of the bus stop to board I grab whatever it is and stuff it in my pocket. It feels like plastic... Who knows. It could be a clue!

I pay the bus fare, tapping my watch on the NFC pad and waiting for the vibration that means the transaction has been confirmed on chain. I make my way to the back, spreading out sideways across all of the seats with my bag on my lap. The bus is almost empty except for an older lady near the front. I pull the smooth plastic disk out of my pocket and take a closer look...

It was a Pizza! Smooth on one side, colored and textured like cheese and pepperoni and crust on the other. It had a message etched into the plastic of the crust.

"Congratulations! You've found a Pizza! One more and you'll have everything you need to access a wallet with one of the legendary Bitcoin Pizza NFT's!" I looked closely at the Pizza and could make out letters etched into the pepperoni's. They must be the wallet address! Now I just need to find another Pizza with the keys!

Even though there are no further clues on the Pizza token I I feel more confident knowing what to look for. I slip the token into my backpack and settle in for the short ride to downtown. They must have hidden these things all over for people to have a realistic chance of actually finding them... The side of the bus in a torn Uniswap advertisement! Sheesh!

A short while later I disembark at the mall. My original plan to climb up and observe with my binoculars seems silly now. There is no way I would have found that other clue with that tactic. I decide to head into the mall instead.

As soon as I enter I am accosted by an enormous Bitcoin. "Come grab a drink at Bitty's Two Bit cafe! The only coffeeshop that uses the excess heat of mining to make your drinks, and pays you a cut if we mine a block while you are in store!" I manage to escape and slide past into the mall. First thing's first. There are three pizza places in this mall, two of them in the food court. I plan to do a quick check of all three... But have second thoughts as I approach the food court. It's so busy there is no way anyone could find anything in there. I keep going, dodging between happy and unhappy customers, mall walkers, automatic cleaners, and avoiding the occasional mascot trying to drag me into their shop or cafe with their overpowering exuberance.

My hopes are high as I approach the third Pizza place, Ned's Pizzeria, an old establishment at the far end of the mall. It's been there since before crypto existed. I figured this would be a great hiding spot- almost no one remembers this place even exists this far down the mall past several empty storefronts. It's quiet, as I expected. I've only been in there once before... when Mom was stuck at work late and I came to meet her after she closed for the day. Ned's was the only place that was still open in the Mall because it had a street entrance as well. I remember the Pizza being decent, and Mom being confused that the place didn't accept any crypto other than HIVE for payment. We had to wait around for her to trade some tokens before we could pay!

There was no mascot outside and the doors were closed... I went in anyway. The smell of dough filled my nostrils. I snooped around for a bit, then sat down at one of the booths, conscious of the man watching me from behind the counter. He was busy kneading and tossing dough expertly, but he still eyeballed me while he worked. I ordered a Pepsi and kept looking around surreptitiously as much as possible. I guess I am gonna have to order some Pizza to get him to go back into the kitchen so I can look properly! I'm not leaving until I'm sure there isn't a clue here!

The man brings my drink, and sets it on the table in front of me with a cardboard coaster. I freeze. The coaster is a cardboard copy of the plastic pizza token I found earlier. I don't want to draw any attention so I pick my drink up and take a sip.

"Ah, thanks! I needed that! Can I get a medium pepperoni, mushroom, and onion deep dish please?" I ask politely. The man remains silent but nods and heads back behind the counter. I lift my drink again to inspect the cardboard coaster. It's identical, except it doesn't have the wallet address on it like the token in my bag does. I pull the plastic disk out to compare them properly. They are definitely duplicates of each other. I flip them both over. The back of the token is smooth and blank. The back of the coaster says "bad luck" I am in the right place. Now I just need this old geezer to bring me the right damn coaster. How the hell am I going to manage that!

I sit thinking this over for a while until my Pizza is ready. I can't think of a good way to get this guy to bring me more coasters...

The old server man comes out from the kitchen. "Can I get you anything else young sir?" Said the man.

All of a sudden you push your plastic pizza coaster off the table onto the ground in a deliberate way. "Opps," you say sarcastically. "I dropped my coaster. I need a BETTER coaster," you say in a leading tone while looking into the eyes of the old man in a telling glare".

Hard-balling the old man was risky on several levels, but to your astonishment, the old man smiles and says "Very well young sir." He grabs the "fake" coaster and brings it into the back. What seemed like 10 minutes later he brings another pizza shaped coaster and hands it to you.

On the back of the plastic pizza says "Winner".

You look around the Pizza Shop nervously. "Can you believe no one else is in here," You say smiling. "Life is full of surprises," Says the old man laughing.

Suddenly, your Btc phone vibrates. A message from the treasure hunting website. "The first hour is up. Here is your first clue: Head over to Ned's Pizzeria." You grab your phone and the fake slices of pizza and shove them into your pocket. "SHIT," you curse out loud. All of a sudden the old man stands up and grabs you by the shoulders. "The back door!" he shouts, pushing you towards the swinging door leading to the kitchen. You almost fall over and hit the swinging door with your hands. You see several pizzas in a stove oven and a cold bar of salad and toppings in the kitchen. You head past boxes of plastic knives and forks, you go past a freezer door and then to the back of the building. You open a heavy red door and are flooded with sunlight from the outside of the mall.

All of a sudden an emergency door alarm goes off, flooding the mall parking lot with a screeching whine.

You start to sprint across the concrete parking lot without thinking. Your shoes bang against the ground with every step. Your heart is racing and you begin to sweat.

All of a sudden, a police officer jumped out from behind a car. "Freeze!" He shouted, pointing a pistol straight at you.

You get so scared that you throw your pizza slices and phone into the air. You freeze and throw your hands up into the air "Don't shoot!" You yell. Your hands start to shake. Your heart is racing like crazy. The Police officer is just staring at you with his eyes bulging and his gun pointed straight forward. "Get down on your knees very slowly," He says in a loud voice.

You try to talk to the police officer when you are in the car driving away from the mall. "I set off an alarm on accident ... " You begin to day. "You should just keep your mouth shut right now buddy. You are doing a good job listening to me so far. If you are innocent you will be processed and then let free." Normally you would probably be crying [your character X has never been arrested] but this silent car ride was a great opportunity for you to think about the treasure hunt. Why two pizzas? You think to yourself. You remember a book your mother read to you as a child called "A Tale of 2 Pizzas". If only you could get to the library!

To your surprise they take you into a interrogation room instead of a jail cell when you arrive at the police precinct. "The man from Ned's Pizzeria said you did a dine and dash." The police officer was frowning and looking serious. "I thought you were robbing cash the way you were running," he said with a slight smile. "However, A crime is a crime". The police officer took off his sunglasses and set them on the table. He looks you right in the eyes. "Son, I believe a man should pay for his wrongdoings. You did a horrible thing, but I see you are too young for jail. Today is Friday son ... you would have to go away for the weekend, even if you are found innocent. Maybe you can pay for your wrongdoing in another way.

There was a long pause.

"I heard kids these days have more bitcoin then they know what to do with." Maybe if some of that bitcoin ACCIDENTALLY fell into my wallet ..." The middle aged cop tapped his smart watch. Then he winked at you and smiled an evil grin.

Do you tell the dirty cop about the pizza slices or risk being in jail over the weekend?

This is going to be impossible to explain You think to yourself.

"Get me my backpack and then we can talk." the cop laughs and smiles a big grin. "Alright, he says. "But I'm holding onto your cell phone until you tell me what's going on." The cop walks out of the room and slams the heavy door. "How the fuck am I going to convince this dirty cop of my pizza slices," you say to yourself. "Maybe I can tell him about the Crypto treasure website or something," You sigh to yourself.

The Cop comes back and holds the pizza slices up in the air towards your face. "Well first things first," The cops smiles again. "You need to tell me what these are." "Those are just some toy pizza slices for my little cousin," you say quickly. "We just pulled these out of the electronic holding room, they have electronics inside them." Your face turns white as a sheet. "Excuse me?" The cop leans over your face. You can smell his coffee breath. "I said boy ... It's got electronics in it."

All of a sudden, your phone starts vibrating on the table.

"Pick it up!" You exclaim to the police officer.

You pick up the phone and see the next message from the treasure hunt website! Shit this is taking longer than I thought, I'm gonna lose the advantage! You decide to come clean.

"Look officer- I'm taking part in a treasure hunt for a legendary NFT that commemorates the Original Bitcoin Pizza. See- it was a message about the next clue!"
You hold your phone up and the cop reads it under his breath.
"Head to the old town Library- what you seek can no longer be found on chain. What in the HELL does that mean? Everything is on chain!"
You put your phone down on the table again. If I am not out of here in about 10 minutes it might be too late. At least the station is closer to the library than the mall is- I might be able to make it! You lean back in your chair and sigh.

"Officer those Pizza Slices were the first clues. I was wayy ahead of everyone until you grabbed me... Now I am probably behind some stooge that's just in it for the hype. I have some BTC, and you can have it... but. These NFT's are worth A LOT more. I need to get to the Library, fast. If you take me there you could get one of the NFT's for yourself. Just one would set you up for life."

The officer considers this for a second. Looks around him at the shithole of an interrogation room, down at his coffee stained uniform and obvious bulging gut. It takes him about 10 seconds.
"I'll take that BTC now... and if we don't find these NFT's I'll be keeping it. If we do... well maybe I'll transfer it back to you after all. I hope you know what you're doing, kid. I don't like time waster's and Hopium."

He hands back your cellphone and looks expectantly at his Bitcoin watch. You transfer half of your BTC to him with a couple of taps on yours and he smirks at you and gestures for more when he sees the amount. You send half of the balance again before he is satisfied.
"That'll do for now. Pack your shit back into your bag, son. lets go."

5 minutes later your knuckles are white on the oh shit handle in the passenger seat of a police cruiser. The sirens wail overhead as the officer drifts through a red light leaving skid marks through the intersection. Civilian drivers mount the sidewalk and swerve aside to dodge out of the way. You brace yourself against the dash and floor with your free hand and feet. You can't tear your eyes off the road. Strangely you aren't terrified, just exhilarated by the speed and skilled driving.
"What's your name kid?" He shouts over the noise of the siren and screeching tires.
"Shroom."
"WHAT?"
"Shroom! My friends call me SHROOM!"
"I'm not gonna call you Shroom, well we're almost there, hope you know what we are looking for kid!"
The car screams to a halt outside an old library. It was once white. It is not any longer. It looks like no one has been inside in years but you can see a sign on the door that says:
"Library Hours:
9am-3pm Monday-Friday
10am-4pm Saturday"
You look at your watch and see that it is already 2:45. Time is short.

"What's your name officer?" You ask, though you already know his last name is Hoag from the name plate on his uniform.
"Don't you worry about it, just call me Hoag kid... err... Shroom."
"Well we don't have much time we have to hurry! Look if you stop anyone else coming in we can take as long as we need. I don't know how long it will take to find the book!"
"What book?!?!?!?"
"A Tale of Two Pizza's! The next clue has to be in there!"
As you speak the two of you are hurrying towards the entrance. You practically run inside. Hoag stands blocking the entrance.
"Go find the book Shroom. Don't you dare think about running off either!" The thought hadn't even occurred to you. You hesitate for a moment thinking about the possibility. Probably not worth it! He knows what I'm looking for now and he is pretty smart. Besides if I have to get anywhere else fast a fat cop in a cruiser is the fastest way to get there!
Chuckling at the thought you hurry on into the library.

The officer had a confused look on his face.

"Pick up the damned text message!" You yell at the cop. "I give you permission to look at my phone!" The police offer seems very confused, but eventually clicks a button on the phone. There is a very long moment of silence as the officer reads a text message. He has a very excited but puzzled look on his face.

"I'll be damned," he says. "So you are in the middle of a treasure hunt right now? That is why you were running isn't it! I could have shot you dead!" The officer laughed to himself. "You know kid, you are lucky you bumped into me. I have major connections in this city, and a fast car."

The officer paused. "Now normally I wouldn't just go joyriding with a high school kid ... He paused again. But we are talking about a LOT of money here. Now I could steal your clues and solve it myself, but you seem very smart. So how about we split the money 50/50 and never tell anyone about this. Our little secret."

The officer put out his hand for you to shake.

You shake the officer's hand. You are NOT about to experience your first jailhouse experience. "What does the clue say?" You look up at the officer. "The clue was: Look for a blue area in the city." Said the officer confused.

The Police Officer stood up and reached up to a tall drawer in the side of the room. He pulled a large folded up piece of paper and folded it out onto the table. It was a map of the city! "I have solved a lot of mysteries from this desk," said the officer smiling."

You pour over the map with the officer.

He tells you a few really funny stories about arresting derelicts at different strange locations: But neither of you can think of a single location that could be considered "blue" except the three lakes in the city and the ocean coastline.

"We should check out the Ocean first, then cruise by the three lakes." The officer folded his map up. "Okay listen ... you walk out of here. Then go right on Cherry Street. When you reach the 7-11, turn right and you will see a park. Meet me there."

Before you know it, you are back inside the police car, cruising down I-98. " Do me a favor, said the police officer. "Sure Mr.," you say. "Call me Jeff."

The police officer looks over quickly and smiles at you. "Want to know a secret? I use probability a lot to solve crimes. Do me a favor. Close your eyes. Okay good. Now do the waterfront first. Visualize the waterfront area. Can you think of any blue objects there? Any large objects?"

"The Ferris Wheel is blue!"

"Of course!" The police officer reaches up and all of a sudden, the emergency red and blue lights go on. The police car alarm wails to life! "I would say this constitutes an emergency, wouldn't you boy!" The officer laughs and speeds ahead of the other cars.