From 7710c3a8304d3851e0b5b21fb18a4a30c4443588 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: m3ultra <m3ultra@m3ultra.local>
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2026 18:35:21 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] THE SHIFT: tedium-as-mortal-peril scenes + choice/branch
 window spec

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 ENGINE.md | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 WORLDS.md | 44 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 59 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/ENGINE.md b/ENGINE.md
index 5054e46..ba0a039 100644
--- a/ENGINE.md
+++ b/ENGINE.md
@@ -45,6 +45,22 @@ Rules the engine enforces:
   Lives 0 → game-over screen → attract. Otherwise retry the scene (or last checkpoint).
 - On success of last window: let action clip finish, then advance to onSuccess.
 
+## Branching / choice windows (NEW — required by THE SHIFT scenes in WORLDS.md)
+A window may replace `input` with `choices`, mapping inputs to outcomes:
+```jsonc
+{ "t": [2.5, 4.0], "cue": true,
+  "choices": {
+    "left":  { "goto": "sh1_house_ok" },          // proceed/branch to scene
+    "up":    { "death": "clips/sh1_death_pit.mp4",
+               "goto": "misfile_dimension" },      // custom death THEN branch (pit!)
+    "right": { "death": "clips/sh1_death_acct.mp4" } // custom death, normal retry
+  } }
+```
+Rules: cue shows all choice glyphs side by side; no-input-by-close uses the scene's
+default death; a `choices` window must be the clip's last window; `random: ["a","b"]`
+on a scene picks one of two clip/outcome sets per attempt (for THE TAPE mimic gag).
+Choice windows default to longer durations (1.5s) — they're decisions, not reflexes.
+
 ## Player loop (player.js structure)
 1. **Boot**: fetch scenes.json → preload manifest.
 2. **Preloader**: two `<video>` elements, A/B swap. While A plays scene N, B preloads
diff --git a/WORLDS.md b/WORLDS.md
index c5e0862..148f2cd 100644
--- a/WORLDS.md
+++ b/WORLDS.md
@@ -135,7 +135,49 @@ Boss deaths: pressed between two giant platters into a limited-edition picture d
 of his own face · the remix callbacks get him in whichever way he failed most (if
 engine tracks death stats, pick that clip — cheap personalization, huge laugh).
 
-## Death design rules (the comedy engine)
+## THE SHIFT — tedium interstitials (John's daily hell, canonized 2026-07-19)
+Between tracks, the store snaps back to normal and the guy must do an ORDINARY
+JOB TASK — shot and scored with exactly the same life-or-death gravity as the
+setpieces. The joke is there is no tonal difference: the ocean of sharks and the
+postage calculation are equally lethal. These use **choice windows** (see ENGINE.md
+§Branching): 2–3 cues shown at once, pick under time pressure; wrong answers die
+OR branch to a punishment level. Beyond Morp arrives with a script; Record Store
+Guy's open slate is exactly this: John's actual shift, dramatized.
+
+- **FILING** (recurring, escalating): a record hovers over the crates, genre tags
+  glowing. *House… or Techno under House… or Techno?* — 3-way choice, 1.5s. Wrong
+  section: the crate row splits open into a pit (BRANCH: fall into "The Misfile
+  Dimension" — a punishment mini-level of endless wrongly-alphabetized crates).
+  Sequel questions: does "The" count for alphabetizing? Does DJ? **Da Brat: D or
+  B?** — the game's recurring unanswerable; whichever you pick, a customer
+  materializes to say it's the other one (survive their disappointment, ↓ to nod).
+- **THE TAPE** (mimic encounter): sealing a mailer. Two rolls on the counter:
+  thin sticky tape and thick sticky tape. One is tape. The other is a MIMIC — a
+  D&D-familiar-grade counter-predator that eats your hand to the elbow. Which one
+  is real changes per playthrough (both clips generated; engine picks at random —
+  first genuinely random-death gag, tutorial for trust-nothing).
+- **POSTAGE** (the double-death): customer buys 3 LPs to Belgium. Quote the
+  postage — 3-way choice. Overquote: the POSTMAN kicks the door in and executes
+  you for bringing the service into disrepute. Underquote: your ACCOUNTANT rises
+  from the floor like the Dead Wax, adjusting glasses, and ends you. Exact quote:
+  both appear, nod once, withdraw. (Both death clips are premium-tier candidates.)
+- **THE BORING GUY**: he approaches. He has thoughts about remasters. Endurance
+  QTE: nod (↓) at PRECISELY the right conversational beats — 4 windows across one
+  clip while his monologue drones. Miss a nod: he *starts over*. Three restarts =
+  death by natural causes (time-lapse: cobwebs, seasons changing through the shop
+  window, skeleton in a flannel).
+- **THE NAME-DROPPER**: "you got the original 'Frozen Explosion' 12&quot;? not to
+  buy — I had three." Trap choice: enthusiasm (↑) = death (45-minute conversation,
+  rendered as the store aging around you); naming a rarer record back (→) = he
+  evaporates in shame — bonus points; the correct survival play is the
+  noncommittal grunt (↓, tight window).
+- **MAILERS**: flat-pack record mailer folding as a rhythm QTE — 4 folds, 4 beats;
+  wrong fold = papercut = (in this universe) fatal, played with full slow-mo
+  operatic gravity.
+Placement: one Shift scene between each pair of tracks (6 total), FILING recurs
+inside worlds too (filing DURING the flood, treading water). Budget note: Shift
+scenes are 1 static location + dialogue-free acting = cheap, reliable gens —
+they're the contingency-friendly half of the clip list.
 - Wile E. Coyote physics: instant, absurd, painless-looking, held tableau for
   DEATH_HOLD, hero always intact on retry. Never gore.
 - Every death is a *punchline to the specific mistake* — late jump gets a different