unreality

your best bet is to use the three include files listed here: http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/files/ If you have c++ on your computer you more than likely have these libraries already. Then just use the i/o stream "double greater than / less than" operators >>, << to input and print, respectively. Use substring or if you want, something fancier like find/replace, to get rid of the parentheses

then why do you feel the need to align yourself with someone else's dogma when you already have your own set of philosophies. Is that insufficient?

Can you keep us posted as to your progress? I'm interested

Buddhism's always referred to as being all chill and laid back and "the most atheistic" but really they believe a lot of horseradish just like other religions. You'd have better luck with Taoism. But why an eastern religion? I would agree that they're "better" than western religions in terms of being more consistent and having better moral messages and teachings, but it's still a religion (most of them) and come with thousands of years of tacked on tradition to adhere to

With a start you realize that in the blizzard force winds, John the Savage has been lost! Disappeared!

there's also another set of footprints, larger and more erratic, coming around in a loop. All of these things are quickly being obscured by the fresh snow though

They aren't here. There's fresh footprints emanating from the cave and going uphill - made just a minute or less before you arrived

The winds have become blizzard force and you find yourself moving in a crazed zigzag pattern across the snowy mountainface, just to continue footing. You seem to have overshot the peak in an arc, curving back around to the other side. However, this results in the discovery of a set of ice caves, sticking out visually with a frozen twinkle. Pushing aside clumps of snow that have since gathered, you see the entrances of two caves, one a few meters up the mountainface from the other. They both go relatively deep. The one on top has an empty bag with bread crumbs and dried fruit, as you might have found in your rations. It tightens into a narrow crack near the back, opening into a darker tunnel that snakes deeper into the mountainside. The bottom cave is larger and wider. The floor and a good deal of the ceiling and some of the walls are coated in lichen - a fabulously exotic, fully grown, non-sulfur-stunted version of the lichen growing by the volcanic lake. You can almost visibly see the complex symbiotic interaction of the fungus and algae. There is evidence that somebody was forced to survive in the cave for a matter of days. It reeks of human waste. There's also some blood and gnawed bones. There is also evidence that someone tried to break through the ceiling of the cave where it's thin and icy enough to see through into the top cave. Also, there's rummaging around nearby. Other people are here!

onward you go!

There is evidence others have passed through but not stayed for significant periods of time. Whether you choose to keep going is up to you - it's unlikely you'd make it to the peak in the rest of the night, but you could make it a considerable distance towards

That was the only obstacle, so now you find yourself at the end of region 3. It appears to be the end of the staircase... the ancient worn steps rise up from the snow, digging into the side of a cliff and zigzagging up a vertical cliff wall for almost miles before opening onto a windy ridge. At this ridge, a narrow abuttment sticking out from the slope, one can stand and look over a mystical snowscape of mountains rolling and spiking off into the horizon. Glaciers and peaks are laid out before you, rising above the whispering clouds like some kind of geologic heaven. The staircase ends with two massive stone pillars guarding either end, showing you the final region (region 4) : an almost vertical snowy slope, going up into the foggy distance.

tell me when you want to try it out

Your experience gained from climbing many previous obstacles, ice ridges, gaps and chutes has helped you get past the current staircase segment without much incident (other than hours and hours of hiking ) until you encounter a similar thin ice platform (over a seemingly mile-deep drop) you encountered in region 1. Except this time, you don't have enough weight to spread equally so in order to insure your safety you must enter (at the 'i' =in space and leave at the 'o'=out space). The x spots are boulders you must avoid. You can only move orthogonally (up down left right) and the idea/rule of travel is twofold: (1) you can't walk on the same spot twice because if you do it will cave in, and (2) you must hit each space once to distribute the weight. For example: o - - - x - - - - - - - - - - i This would be traversed like this: 4 3 0 9 x 2 1 8 4 5 6 7 3 2 1 0 (0 .. 9 then start over from 0) Here is the random ice platform you have encountered: - - - - - - - - - - - - x - o - - - - - - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - i - - - - - - From snow shuffling, it looks like it has been crossed multiple times within the past couple days. It should be easy enough for you to find a route across it- however in this case you have too many people to take the slowest route - the ice will break with the weight you guys have, regardless. So you need to find the QUICKEST way across - where going straight forward costs 1 second and turning costs 1.25 seconds. Assuming initially you need to turn to get to either way you're going.

to all people in differing areas of the mountain: day 5 ends right now. Night 5 has begun!

SCARE LOGIC

night 4 is over. rations are consumed. day 5 has begun ration situation of those at the camp: Nischal - 4 rations Fabricius - 4 rations Calcutta and John do fine without the rations. Klein goes hungry

Nischal, Doc, Klein, Calcutta and John the Savage are all still at the camp. Gregor had slipped away, following Scout

Scout never came back on so I'll extend the night enough to give you the choice: should you all keep going?

That is ambiguous. At the very least they can PM other people so it wouldn't make much sense to prohibit public posting

night 4 will end later tonight. If I'm not here, assume it ends at 9 pm.

Okay - sending scout the scouting info

is anyone making the trek tonight? Scout?

There's nothing unique about his face when revealed

edit; yea nvm didn't see your edit sorry

Nevermind, got actions by PM - Mandrake, Kirkpatrick and the Vice Admiral have pushed on ahead into the staircase. The rest of you are free to do as pleased. They Gregor with 1 ration; Nischal with 5; Scout with 5; Fabricius with 5. Mandrake, Kirkpatrick and Mordock have with them 3+10+5 = 18 although they haven't had their cycle 4 rations yet so it will soon be 15 unless they subsist on lichen. Anyway, that's the current situation, with some time still left in n4...