LEAVING THE YELLOW CASSETTE FOR MARTIN'S FATHER LABORATORY An intensely bright beam of light is shining westward out of the microwave box. The room looks like it used to be sort of laboratory, but now it is covered in dust and soot. Your eye is immediately drawn to a bizarre machine standing in the center of the lab. It looks like it was made out of parts taken from household appliances. On the east wall is a lab bench, with a metal stool nearby. There is a large lever mounted in the center of the lab bench. The lever is currently pushed down. There's a wedge-shaped opening in the black dome above. Shelving with model railroad track runs along the north and east walls. The shelving widens into a platform above the lab bench, quite close to the large lever. To the west you see a pair of metal doors, which are currently open. There is a window on the north wall. The window is closed. Your nose itches. The train is stopped at the platform above the lab bench. You see a tray containing a napkin on the platform above the lab bench. You see a green candle (lit), a tray containing a glass of lemonade, and a mug here. >w EAST COURTYARD An intensely bright beam of light is coming out of the lens of the microwave box. It shines west through the open metal doors, cutting across the courtyard to strike the center of the west wall. The light beam seems to be interacting somehow with the red rock of the wall, causing the center of the wall to appear shimmery and insubstantial. You see a rusty chain here. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >w WEST COURTYARD An intensely bright beam of light is coming out of the lens of the microwave box. It shines west through the open metal doors, cutting across the courtyard to strike the center of the west wall. The light beam seems to be interacting somehow with the red rock of the wall, causing the center of the wall to appear shimmery and insubstantial. Agador-Spartacus enters the west part of the courtyard from the east part of the courtyard. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >s 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. Agador-Spartacus enters the back half of the living room from the west part of the courtyard. Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably. >w DANCE STUDIO You see a coat rack here. >d TUNNEL (south end) >n TUNNEL (north end) >open door The trapdoor is now open. >u GAZEBO There is something very unusual about the east wall of the garden. The center of the wall appears to be missing. You see a swirling mist there. You see a desk chair and a pot of gardenias here. The trapdoor slams shut. >e You follow the yellow brick road around until you are near the east wall. SECRET GARDEN (near the east wall) There is something very unusual about the east wall of the garden. The center of the wall appears to be missing. You see a swirling mist there. >e As you begin to enter the swirling mist, you feel a strong resistance to your motion. The resistance seems to grow exponentially stronger as more of your body enters, but at the same time you sense that the mist does not go on forever and that something is waiting for you on the other side. You find yourself intrigued by a growing taste sensation in your mouth, oddly sweet, that fires your appetite to explore whatever lies beyond the mist. By sheer force of will you manage to push your way completely through the mist. But in doing so, you feel most of your essence being ripped away from you, leaving you weak and insubstantial. You emerge on the other side and stumble unsteadily on your feet, feeling as if you are about to fade away into non-existence. Instinctively you reach outwards in an attempt to draw in the essence of the surrounding reality. Your body begins to tingle and you feel yourself growing somewhat stronger as you draw in essence from your surroundings. But the tingling stops too soon, leaving you only partially replenished. And part of the essense that you have taken seems to be slipping back outwards away from you... ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- WEST COURTYARD Looking up, you shield your eyes from the relentless afternoon sun, which seems about an hour away from sunset. The occasional slight breeze does little to relieve the oppressive summer heat. There isn't a cloud to be seen anywhere. The center of the west wall appears to be missing. You see a swirling mist there. A little girl comes running out of house into the courtyard, leaving the sliding glass door open behind her. She looks about six years old and she's carrying a yellow black-eyed daisy, running across the courtyard headed east. One look at her dark brown eyes tells you that this is a younger version of Rachel. Two older children are standing in the east courtyard, talking. You recognize the boy as Martin, looking approximately ten years old. The girl, around twelve years old, is Mr. Takamine's daughter Julie. Martin is sipping from a can of Tab, a diet soft drink that you remember as having been quite popular years before the invention of Diet Coke. You'd be able to hear what they were saying if you went east. >s LIVING ROOM (back half) On top of the desk is a large tape recorder and a plastic box of audio cassettes. >put yellow cassette in plastic box Upon leaving your possession, the yellow audio cassette increases its substance and visibility. The yellow audio cassette then begins to glow, undergoing a change that completely transforms it. After a while the glow fades and you sense that the yellow audio cassette has become bound to the surroundings here. The yellow audio cassette is now in the box of audio cassettes.