MAKING THE FISH HAPPY BEDROOM >open top drawer You open the top drawer. The top drawer is filled with underwear. You also see a security badge here. Agador-Spartacus is still crouching expectantly. >take security badge You take the security badge out of the top drawer. Agador-Spartacus stands up. He stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >wear badge You put on the security badge. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >open bottom drawer You close the top drawer and open the bottom drawer. The bottom drawer contains a small phone book and a large phone book. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >take small phone book You take the small phone book out of the bottom drawer. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >open small phone book (closing "The Boy Who Had No Words" first) You open the small phone book to the first page. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >read book There are no numbers on the first page, but you see the following words: TWEEDLE DEE BASHFUL ATHOS SATURN BLITZEN Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >turn page You turn the page. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >read book The second page advises you that in order to access the "Metaphysical Assistance Hotline", you should dial "*" followed by your five-digit access code. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >turn page You turn the page. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >read book All of the other pages are blank except for the very last page, which reminds you that although Alternative Telephone services are provided to you completely free of charge, you are encouraged to help recharge the holistic power grid through voluntary donations of imagination, understanding, and biospheric connectivity. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >n HALLWAY You see Agador-Spartacus in the bedroom. He's wagging his tail. >e LIVING ROOM (front half) You see three empty boxes and three cans of spam here. >e The strands of beads are oddly stiff and unmovable. For some reason you can't seem to go through them. After your unsuccessful attempt to pass through the strands, you notice that some of the fish are looking at you as if they were expecting you to do something. >x fish The fish are bizarrely beautiful, displaying a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. The fish seem somewhat subdued, not moving around very much. It occurs to you that they seem bored. Some of the fish are looking at the books that you're carrying. >read book All of the other pages are blank except for the very last page, which reminds you that although Alternative Telephone services are provided to you completely free of charge, you are encouraged to help recharge the holistic power grid through voluntary donations of imagination, understanding, and biospheric connectivity. The fish in the tank, watching your lips move, appear somewhat disappointed. Apparently they were hoping you would read something with a more interesting plot. You see Agador-Spartacus in the hallway. He's wagging his tail. >open "The Boy Who Had No Words" (closing the small phone book first) You open "The Boy Who Had No Words" to the first page. Agador-Spartacus enters the front half of the living room from the hallway. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >read book You read the first page: "There once was a boy who had no words. No one knew from whence he came for he could not say. But the people of the village gave him food and clothing, and in return he carried their water buckets high up the mountain to fill them with the cold clean water of the mountain spring. All day he filled buckets and brought them back down to people of the village. But each day when the sun grew low in the sky, the boy would go back up the mountain to sit upon a flat rock. Next to a pool where the mountain waters rested before continuing on their way downstream, the boy could be seen sitting quietly and staring at the fish whose colors gleamed like jewels in the fire of the setting sun. Now some will say that the patterns of the fish in this mountain pool have always been strangely beautiful. Others will say the fish were changed by a rock that fell from the sky and sank to the bottom of the pool. And still others will tell you that the fish had been touched by the fire spirit of the mountain, which sometimes bubbles up from below and heats the water with puffs of steam. But the boy who watched the fish understood none of these stories. He watched the fish and studied the tiny flaps on their mouths that looked so much like mustaches. Each evening he saw fish entering the pool and fish leaving the pool. But always the fish who chose to remain were the ones with the most spectacular colors and most intricate patterns. These are the fish who lived their lives in the mountain pool, there with the boy who watched them in silence as the sun set into darkness and cold stars filled the night." The fish in the tank, watching your lips move, appear fascinated. Apparently this story is their favorite, and they get grouchy unless someone reads it to them at least once a week. Agador-Spartacus tilts his head, trying to understand your words but failing. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably.