GETTING THROUGH THE SKYLIGHT CENTRAL PARK (near the chess tables) No one else is here. You're all alone with the chess tables. A pathway leads northeast through the trees. You see a white pawn here. >take pawn Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the white pawn. >whistle You whistle. The driver of the horse-drawn carriage hears your whistle, and he brings the horse and carriage over to you. "Hop on," he says. You get in the carriage. The driver flicks the reins and takes you back to your phone booth. You thank the driver and get out. The driver pulls away into the traffic and disappears from your sight. CITY SIDEWALK >s You enter the phone booth. PHONE BOOTH, on a city sidewalk You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) ... Press "1" to be enlightened. Press "3" to be cleansed. Press "9" to be returned. If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you. >press "9" You pick up the receiver. You press "9". You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly, flying high into the air. The telephone voice tells you, "Estimated travel time for this 2000 mile trip is forty minutes, using accelerated travel speed." The phone booth flies west-southwest. After about forty minutes of flying it drops down through an opening Martin's roof and comes to an abrupt halt in the pantry. The phone booth door opens. PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry You see the kitchen to the east. You see Agador-Spartacus in the kitchen. He's lying down. >e You drop the receiver. KITCHEN You see an envelope, a large stack of catalogs, a phone bill, a gold key, "The Bedtime Story Book", "The Boy Who Had No Words", a yellow feather, a small phone book, a short blue sock, a long black sock, a handwritten note, and a bath robe here. Agador-Spartacus is lying down here. >put ear tile in sack As you put the ear tile into the sack, the gold thread begins to vibrate. Then, the tiny fuzzy dice on the gold thread emit a short low buzzing sound. Agador-Spartacus is lying down here. >take off brown shoes You take off the brown shoes. Agador-Spartacus stands up. He pushes the sink cabinet doors open with his nose and crawls under the kitchen sink. The sink doors swing shut. >take off brown sock You take off the short brown sock. >take off black sock You take off the short black sock. >drop brown shoes, brown sock, black sock brown shoes: The brown shoes are now on the floor. short brown sock: The short brown sock is now on the floor. short black sock: The short black sock is now on the floor. >wear white sock You put on the short white sock. >wear white tap shoes You put on the white tap shoes. >drop slippers, fake can, pawn ballet slippers: The ballet slippers are now on the floor. fake can of spam: The fake can of spam is now on the floor. white pawn: The white pawn is now on the floor. >drop mug The mug of black coffee is now on the floor. >put receipt in pocket The store receipt is now in one of the trouser pockets. >s The blue birds suddenly become alive. They fly off of the china cabinet doors and begin to flit about, making you feel as if you should sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". Then the blue birds land back on the china cabinet doors and grow still. DINING ROOM (by the china cabinet) >sw DINING ROOM (by the west end of the table) On the west end of the table you see a plate, a fork, a knife, a spoon, and a glass. >w You go through the strands of beads. LIVING ROOM (front half) You see three empty boxes, three ordinary cans of spam, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. >w HALLWAY A cuckoo pops out of the clock and lets out a loud "cuckoo" sound. It then disappears from sight into the clock. >x clock The cuckoo clock hands show the time as 6:12. The cuckoo clock pendulum is swinging back and forth. >e LIVING ROOM (front half) You see three empty boxes, three ordinary cans of spam, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. >e You go through the strands of beads. DINING ROOM (by the west end of the table) On the west end of the table you see a plate, a fork, a knife, a spoon, and a glass. >ne The blue birds suddenly become alive. They fly off of the china cabinet doors and begin to flit about, making you feel as if you should sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". Then the blue birds land back on the china cabinet doors and grow still. DINING ROOM (by the china cabinet) >n KITCHEN You see an envelope, a large stack of catalogs, a phone bill, a gold key, "The Bedtime Story Book", "The Boy Who Had No Words", a yellow feather, a small phone book, a short blue sock, a long black sock, a handwritten note, a bath robe, a pair of brown shoes, a short brown sock, a short black sock, some ballet slippers, a fake can of spam, a white pawn, and a mug of black coffee here. >swing watch (first closing the watch) The watch swings back and forth hypnotically. It's difficult to see the watch while it's swinging, but for a moment you think that you see the misty image of a train conductor on the cover of the watch. The conductor seems confused and looks as if he needs you to tell him what time it is. >say"6:12" to conductor You say "6:12" to the train conductor. The conductor smiles and nods his head briefly before his image fades and disappears. Then the watch stops swinging and pops open. Archimedes' arms now show the time as 6:12. Archimedes looks like he is still looking for his towel. >put watch in pocket (first closing the watch) The pocket watch is now in one of the trouser pockets. The video screen begins to show the Fred Astaire movie "Royal Wedding". It's the part where Fred dances up the walls and on the ceiling with a coat rack. >w PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) ... Press "1" to be enlightened. Press "3" to be cleansed. Press "4" to be uplifted. Press "7" to be moved. Press "9" to be transmogrified. If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you. >press "7" You pick up the receiver. You press "7". The computerized voice goes on to tell you Please specify the destination to which you would like to be moved... Press "1" to go to the zoo. Press "2" to go to the beach. Press "3" to go to work. Press "4" to go to the store. Press "5" to go to the veterinarian's office. Press "6" to visit Mom. All other options will return you to the main menu. Please be advised that the previously mentioned destinations can be reached only through the Phantom Phone Booth object-oriented navigational system. >press "3" You press "3". You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly. It passes the second floor landing and goes through the roof, flying high into the air. The telephone voice tells you, "Estimated travel time for this ten mile trip is five minutes, using standard travel speed." The phone booth flies south. After about five minutes of flying you see some sort of parking structure below. The phone booth enters the parking structure and travels to an underground level before landing. The phone booth door pops open. PHONE BOOTH, in the Employee Parking Area You see the Employee Parking Area to the east. >e You drop the receiver. EMPLOYEE PARKING AREA You're in the Employee Parking Area, which is inside of a parking structure that is mostly underground. To the west you see the phone booth, which is parked in one of empty parking spots. You don't see any people here. The entrance to the building complex lies in the distance to the north. >n You start to walk northwards, but a small vehicle suddenly drives up to you and blocks your way. Then the cart scans you from head to toe with a bar of white light, pausing for a moment as it reaches the security badge that you're wearing. An atonal mechanical voice coming from the cart greets you, saying "Welcome, Martin Kessler". ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- The voice of the robot cart continues, "Please board the security vehicle so that you may be escorted onto the building premises and delivered to your authorized work area." You get on the cart and a seatbelt fastens itself automatically across you. The cart begins to move. It takes you through gates, doorways, tunnels, and passages. Then the cart drives down a particularly long hallway heading north. The robot cart stops at the end of the hallway. The seatbelt releases, and you get off the cart. Then the cart turns around and heads back down the hallway, disappearing from sight. NORTH END OF THE LONG HALLWAY To the north is a closed door marked 15-G. A long hallway leads south. >open door The door marked 15-G squeaks as you open it. >n DEPARTMENT RECEPTION AREA Mellow elevator music is playing here in the reception area. There's no one sitting at the desk. The fishbowl is gone too. The east door is closed. The north door is open. The west door is closed. The south door is open. >n COFFEE ROOM There's a coffee pot on the counter. It occurs to you that this must be coffee made by Mr. Pendergast. You wonder how it will taste. A memo is posted on the wall. The door to the reception area is open. You look through it nervously, hoping that Mr. Pendergast won't see that you're in here. >close door The door is now closed. You hear a door opening and the sounds of someone moving around in the reception area. >read memo The memo reads: "All employees are forbidden to remove tools from the department premises. Violators will be subject to immediate termination. And don't take the coat rack either!" You hear a squeaky door closing. Someone is still moving around in the reception area. >wait Time passes... You hear another door closing. Then all is quiet. >open door The door is now open. >s DEPARTMENT RECEPTION AREA Mellow elevator music is playing here in the reception area. There's no one sitting at the desk. The fishbowl is gone too. The east door is closed. The north door is open. The west door is closed. The south door is closed. >open west door You open the west door and see the research lab. >w RESEARCH LAB Five research technicians are working here. In their white lab coats they all look similarly uninspired. Their names are visible to you on their employee badges, identifying them as Ben, Ken, Glen, Sven, and Jen. Ben is working with an allen wrench. Ken is working with a small flathead screwdriver. Glen is working with a wire stripper. Sven is working with a soldering iron. Jen is working with a small Phillips screwdriver. No one appears to be using the Bunsen burner, which is currently turned off. You can't discern any purpose for the activities being performed by the research technicians. It occurs to you that they may simply be trying to appear busy so that they can continue to keep their jobs. The door to the reception area is open. Near the door there is a coat rack. >take coat rack Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the coat rack. >e DEPARTMENT RECEPTION AREA Mellow elevator music is playing here in the reception area. There's no one sitting at the desk. The fishbowl is gone too. The east door is closed. The north door is open. The west door is open. The south door is closed. >open south door The south door squeaks as you open it. >s NORTH END OF THE LONG HALLWAY To the north, through an open door, is the reception area for department 15-G. A long hallway leads south. >s The security cart appears and prevents you from walking past it. The voice of the cart says, "Please board the security cart if you wish to be escorted to the Employee Parking Area." >get on cart You get on the security cart. A seatbelt fastens itself automatically across you, and the cart takes you back down the long hallway. The security cart takes you through the same passages, tunnels, doorways, and gates that you saw on the way in. It stops in the Employee Parking Area near the phone booth. The seat belt releases and you get off the cart. The cart then drives away and disappears from sight. EMPLOYEE PARKING AREA You're in the Employee Parking Area, which is inside of a parking structure that is mostly underground. To the west you see the phone booth, which is parked in one of empty parking spots. You don't see any people here. The entrance to the building complex lies in the distance to the north. >w PHONE BOOTH, in the Employee Parking Area You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) ... Press "1" to be enlightened. Press "3" to be cleansed. Press "9" to be returned. If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you. >press "9" You pick up the receiver. You press "9". You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly, flying high into the air. The telephone voice tells you, "Estimated travel time for this ten mile trip is five minutes, using standard travel speed." The phone booth flies north. After about five minutes of flying it drops down through an opening Martin's roof and comes to an abrupt halt in the pantry. The phone booth door opens. PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry You see the kitchen to the east. >e You drop the receiver. KITCHEN You see an envelope, a large stack of catalogs, a phone bill, a gold key, "The Bedtime Story Book", "The Boy Who Had No Words", a yellow feather, a small phone book, a short blue sock, a long black sock, a handwritten note, a bath robe, a pair of brown shoes, a short brown sock, a short black sock, some ballet slippers, a fake can of spam, a white pawn, and a mug of black coffee here. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >s The blue birds suddenly become alive. They fly off of the china cabinet doors and begin to flit about, making you feel as if you should sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". Then the blue birds land back on the china cabinet doors and grow still. DINING ROOM (by the china cabinet) You see Agador-Spartacus in the kitchen. He's sitting down. >sw DINING ROOM (by the west end of the table) On the west end of the table you see a plate, a fork, a knife, a spoon, and a glass. >w You go through the strands of beads. LIVING ROOM (front half) You see three empty boxes, three ordinary cans of spam, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. >n LIVING ROOM (back half) On the music stand you see some sheet music. You see three empty boxes, two ordinary cans of spam, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. >w DANCE STUDIO >drop coat rack The coat rack is now on the floor. >x indentations The two indentations in the floor are lined with a silver-colored metal. The size, shape, and separation of the indentations looks something like a representation of the pressure of a ballerina's toes upon the floor if she were standing on pointe with her feet in second position. >push indentations You push on the indentations, trying to simulate the pressure that would be exerted by a ballerina going on pointe. Suddenly you hear a snap overhead as the skylight swings open. You hear the grinding of a motor and a ladder begins to slowly descend from the skylight opening. But the ladder jerks to a stop instead of continuing to the ground. Only a small section of the ladder is visible, and it is far out of your reach. It occurs to that trying to simulate the pressure of a ballerina is not as good as the real thing. >dance What type of dance: ballet, tap, jazz, modern, or ballroom? >tap Unfortunately, you don't actually know how to tap dance. You decide to try to fake it anyway. Tappity, tap, tap, tappy, tap, thomp, thompity, tappy, tap! Thompity? That didn't sound right. Part of the floor must be hollow underneath! You get down on your hands and knees to take a better look. You push and pull on the parquet squares of the floor, but nothing moves. Then you see something that you never would have noticed if you hadn't been concentrating on this particular spot -- something appears to be wedged between the parquet squares! You grab onto the slightly protruding corner with your fingernails and pull. You got it! You stand up and take a look at your new possession. It's a business card. The card reads: DOLLY LEVI Shamans Taught How to Tap Dance The other side has a handwritten note saying "Meet me on the other side of the wardrobe. Bring this card and wear your tap shoes. -- Dolly" You see Agador-Spartacus in the back half of the living room. He's wagging his tail. >take coat rack Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the coat rack. >dance with coat rack You begin dancing, spinning gracefully about with the coat rack as your partner. You almost feel as if you're in a Fred Astaire movie. Looking in the mirror you see that you indeed look just like Fred Astaire! With renewed confidence you dance on the walls, you dance on the mirror, and you dance on the ceiling. As you dance across the ceiling you slip through the open skylight, which causes the coat rack to clatter to the floor of the dance studio... ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- ATTIC The only entrance to the attic is the skylight in the floor, which is currently open. You could jump down to get to the dance studio from here. It occurs to you that it's rather odd to find a skylight leading to an attic instead of leading to the open sky, but then again it occurs to you that many things about this house are rather odd. The attic is filled with stacks of old objects. Your eye is particularly drawn to an old black trunk and a statue of an elephant. You see a walk-in wardrobe to the east, which appears to be filled with stage costumes.