OPENING THE DRYER WAITING ROOM The waiting room is filled with chairs. Along the north wall you see Mrs. McGillicuddy sitting at the receptionist's desk. The inner door leading to the vet's office is to the east. The outer door is to the west. Mrs. McGillicuddy tells you that Dr. Julie is available to see you now. She indicates that you should go through the inner door. >e You open the inner door and walk into the vet's office. The door closes behind you automatically. VET'S OFFICE Dr. Julie Takamine's smile fades as she turns to you and sees Slinky. "What are you doing with Martin's ferret? Slinky was here for a check-up just last month," she demands. But then she gets even more annoyed when she sees the tiny fish. "And what sort of a twisted person puts fish inside of a pair of headphones?" You start to explain about the headphones, but the whole story is rather confusing. So you start off by saying that there's a psychic who told Mrs. McGillicuddy that you should take the fish on a journey across the ocean to get her a boyfriend. "The psychic wants you to bring her a boyfriend?" Dr. Julie asks. "No, no," you explain, "The boyfriend is for the fish." Dr. Julie gets increasingly impatient with your explanation. By the time you get to the part about the parrot and Mrs. McGillicuddy's hearing aid, the vet waves you into silence. Apparently she has heard enough to decide that you're a decent sort of person after all, albeit one who seems to get himself into some unusual predicaments. ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- "This fish is obviously a koi," says Dr. Julie, "But I've never seen one so small! It must be some sort of evolutionary miniaturization caused by geographic isolation. Perhaps an island somewhere..." The vet starts clicking away on her laptop computer, doing Internet research to find out more about the fish. "Aha!" she declares. "This type of fish originates on a small island in the south Pacific, not far from Bora Bora. Apparently they're considered an endangered species because they have special nutritional requirements needed for reproduction. There's a certain kind of flower that they need to eat in order to become fertile. Wait a minute, I'm loading the picture of the flower right now." ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- Dr. Julie taps her foot impatiently as she waits for the picture to load. "Now that looks familiar," she says to herself. "I seem to remember seeing something like this a very long time ago..." Suddenly her face turns very pale. She glances at you and then looks back at the picture on the screen. She looks as if she's seen a ghost. You take a peak at Dr. Julie's computer screen to try to see what has unnerved her so much. But all you can see is a small picture of an exotic-looking purple flower. Nothing scary there, you think. But Julie Takamine seems very confused, and she keeps muttering something about needing time to think. Time to figure out what it all means. Time, she says to herself. Since Dr. Julie seems to be lost in thought, you take advantage of the opportunity to slip out and go back into the waiting room. WAITING ROOM The waiting room is filled with chairs. Along the north wall you see Mrs. McGillicuddy sitting at the receptionist's desk. The inner door leading to the vet's office is to the east. The outer door is to the west. >w You start to go outside, but Mrs. McGillicuddy calls out to you. "Oh, Mr. Fitch! I almost forgot to give this to you," Mrs. McGillicuddy says, handing you a brass token. "What's this?" you ask. "I don't rightly know, but the psychic found it just outside. She told me to give it to you because she thought you might be able to use it. She said that thinks it has something to do with dancing." After you thank Mrs. McGillicuddy, you go outside. VETERINARIAN'S OFFICE ENTRANCE >w PHONE BOOTH, by the veterinarian's office 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 "6" to be inspired. 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 eight mile trip is four minutes, using standard travel speed." The phone booth flies west. After about four 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 wagging his tail. >press "3" You press "3". Hot water sprays down at you from a sprinkler system inside the ceiling of the phone booth. In quick succession the cleansing process moves through the recommended procedure of shampoo, rinse, repeat shampoo, rinse again. Slinky gets washed too. Then there is a pause while some clicking sounds come from the ceiling. Since nothing happens, you assume that the phone booth has run out of hair conditioner. A blast of hot air begins to blow down upon you from the ceiling. The hot air lasts for only a short while but it is blowing so hard that you soon find yourself dried completely. You notice that your hair is standing on end and crackling with static electricity. No doubt this is because the phone booth ran out of hair conditioner. Slinky's fur is also crackling. You notice that the fabric of your clothing is clinging to Slinky's fur. The ferret seems to be acting like a magnet for clothes! Slinky doesn't have a strong odor anymore. ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- You see Agador-Spartacus in the kitchen. He's wagging his tail. You hear the computerized voice tell you... Press "1" to be enlightened. Press "3" to be cleansed. Press "4" to be uplifted. Press "6" to be inspired. 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. >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, a mug of black coffee, a plucked daisy, and a plucked tulip 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 wagging his tail. >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, a rubber duckie, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. >take duckie You take the rubber duckie. >drop slinky Slinky is now on the floor. Slinky goes behind the bookcases. >squeeze duckie The rubber duckie squeaks. Slinky comes out from behind the bookcases. Because of static electricity, something from behind the bookcases is stuck to Slinky's fur. It's a white sock! It falls to the floor in the back half of the living room. Since you happen to be close enough, you snatch it up before Slinky even notices. Slinky appears fascinated by the rubber duckie. >take off shoes You take off the white tap shoes. Slinky goes back behind the bookcases. >wear white sock You put on the short white sock. >wear shoes You put on the white tap shoes. >s 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. You see Agador-Spartacus in the dining room by the china cabinet. He's wagging his tail. >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) Agador-Spartacus leaves the dining room by the china cabinet going southwest, headed for the dining room by the west end of the table. >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, a mug of black coffee, a plucked daisy, and a plucked tulip here. >put stopper in right drain The sink stopper is now in the right drain. >push faucet right The faucet is now pushed right. >turn on faucet The faucet is now turned on. Water starts flowing into the right basin. You notice some activity in the kitchen sink. Water from the faucet is pouring into the right basin. A sink stopper is in the right drain. The level of the standing water in the right basin is almost one-third full and rising. >turn off faucet The faucet is now turned off. The water stops flowing. >take stopper You take the sink stopper out of the right drain. You notice some activity in the kitchen sink. The water in the right basin is draining away. The right basin is almost empty. You find the clockwise swirling of water down the drain to be almost hypnotic. The right drain gurgles as the last of the standing water there swirls down the drain. At the instant that you hear the gurgling of the drain the laundry room door slides open, disappearing into the wall. At the same moment the pantry door slides shut and the stone door slams. You hear a click as the stone door automatically locks itself. >w LAUNDRY ROOM >open dryer The dryer is now open. In the dryer you see a large towel.