IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FED2
FINDING YOUR WAY
STAYING ALIVE
There are only a very few places in the Solar System that can kill you, and they all have some warning so the astute can avoid them - only the really careless should fall prey to them. However, if you should be unlucky (or stupid) enough to die a horrible death, this isn't as bad as it sounds. In Federation DataSpace, death does not have to be fatal. If you purchase Life Insurance you can be cloned, then should you meet an untimely end, you simply wake up in the nearest hospital surrounded by get-well-soon cards. As part of the service, all your belongings are recreated for you so you do not lose objects in your inventory, or in your ship storage locker. Even if your ship is destroyed along with your body, the cloning service will replace it as good as new.
Your first insurance is free, and is automatically granted to you when you take your first faltering steps in this brave new world. But don't get complacent - after each resurrection you will need to purchase more insurance, because it only covers you for one death.
To make it easy for you (and to maximise the money-making abilities of the insurance industry), insurance salesmen will hover around your sickbed like rapacious vultures and be ready to sell you a new policy as soon as your clone opens its eyes (or equivalent).
The command to buy insurance is 'INSURE'.
Your score shows whether you are insured or not, and if not, tells you how much your new policy will cost. The price increases with each death, because the more accident-prone you are, the greater a risk you become. So even though insurance means that death need not be the final farewell, the Idiot's Guide recommends that you exercise some caution and avoid jacking your premium sky-high.
As with many things in this corrupt regime, you can reduce your premiums again by 'persuading' someone to alter your record at the insurance company. You'll need to talk to the appropriate droid on Venus, and 'BRIBE ZORK857'. For one slithy tove, it'll take 5 deaths off your record.
Speaking of death, should you wish to kill yourself deliberately, the 'SUICIDE' command will pull the plug on your miserable existence. If you have insurance then you will wake up in hospital, at which point you can either suicide again to wipe yourself out completely, permanently, forever and with no turning back - or if you've had second thoughts, purchase more insurance to ensure your continuing existence.
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