GETTING THE SKETCHBOOK TO RACHEL and ACTIVATING THE BROWN CORD FUZZY CHAMBER You are inside a chamber that is shaped like a perfect cube. The height of the chamber is only slightly taller than you are. The floor, ceiling, and walls are covered with a thick fleece-like lining that is white and fuzzy. A large round hole is to the west. Black spots about the size of dinner plates are dyed into the fuzzy lining in the other directions. To the south you see three spots, to the east you see six spots, to the north you see four spots, looking down you see two spots, and looking up you see five spots. >wait Time passes... The flame on the golden lamp is still burning. As your second other self takes his nose tile out of the sack, the gold thread begins to vibrate. Then, the tiny fuzzy dice jerk slightly and let out a small bubble. The bubble rises into the air and breaks. For a few moments you smell Chanel No. 5 perfume. Then the smell dissipates. Suddenly the fuzzy chamber changes its orientation. You struggle to keep your footing as the floor makes a quarter turn beneath you. When the movement stops, you see that the large round hole, which used to be to the west, is now to the north. Suddenly the fuzzy chamber changes its orientation. You struggle to keep your footing as the floor makes a quarter turn beneath you. When the movement stops, you see that the large round hole, which used to be to the north, is now to the east. You hear a thump coming from the ceiling. Then you hear a grinding noise receding from the ceiling, while at the same time you hear a grinding noise approaching the south wall. This is followed by a thump coming from the south wall. Suddenly the fuzzy chamber changes its orientation. The quarter flip pulls the floor out from under you, and you fall over. After you regain your footing, you see that the large round hole, which used to be to the east, is now beneath you. You manage not to fall through the hole by keeping to the side. >d You climb down into the laundry room and get off the dryer. LAUNDRY ROOM >e KITCHEN >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... >wait Time passes... The stone door opens. Your first other self enters from the east through the stone door. >wait Time passes... Martin enters from the east though the stone door carrying the kitten. Out of the corner of your eye you see something small fluttering into the kitchen just above Martin's head. Must be a moth, you think. But it quickly disappears from sight and you're not sure where it went. Your first other self heads west through the laundry room doorway. >wait Time passes... Martin closes the stone door. Then Martin sings "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah." The china cabinet moves aside, revealing a door-sized opening into the dining room. Martin goes south through the opening, carrying the kitten. The china cabinet moves aside, revealing a door-sized opening to the dining room. Martin enters through the opening carrying the kitten. >s DINING ROOM (by the china cabinet) Martin sings "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" a second time. The moth flutters into the dining room at the last moment before the china cabinet slides back into place, blocking the opening. Martin heads southwest, going to the west end of the table. You're not sure where the moth has gone, it seems to have fluttered out of sight again. >sw DINING ROOM (by the west end of the table) Martin goes west carrying the kitten. >w You go through the strands of beads. LIVING ROOM (front half) Martin goes north into the back half of the living room carrying the kitten. >n LIVING ROOM (back half) With a big grin on his face, Martin shows the kitten to Rachel and his mom. Then he sits down on the oriental rug and begins to play with the kitten. Mrs. Kessler and Rachel appear to be very pleased with the new addition to the family. >give sketchbook to Rachel Mrs. Kessler and Rachel watch Martin playing with the kitten on the oriental rug. Rachel looks straight at you for a moment. Her eyes dart about, looking disoriented and confused. "You came back!" she exclaims. "Of course I came back," Martin says. "I wasn't gone that long." Rachel looks at Martin and her mother and realizes that no one else can see you. But after a few moments the startled expression on her face disappears and is replaced with a shy smile. "A long time ago you brought me a purple flower," Rachel says. "And now you've brought Martin a kitten!" "Who are you talking to?" Mrs. Kessler asks, looking around the room. "A very weird man with red hair and a dimple in his chin." Rachel answers. "And I think I know where he came from. Or should I say WHEN?" ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------- ------ Mrs. Kessler seems willing to go along with Rachel's joke about having an imaginary visitor. "Well, whoever he is, why don't you send him up to you room to fetch your sketchbook?" Mrs. Kessler suggests. "I think you should draw Martin playing with the kitten. It's been years since I've seen you drawing anything just for fun." "Who says it isn't fun to draw diagrams of botanical slides seen through a microscope?" Rachel teases. But her mother seems sad. "When you were a little girl you used to draw all the time. It was your way of making a connection with everything around you. I don't want you to forget how to do that." Rachel shakes her head and sighs. ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------- ------ Rachel doesn't seem to have noticed that you have brought the sketchbook with you. So she explains to her mother all of the difficulties that would be involved in getting the sketchbook out of her room. Martin tries singing "La Traviata" to the kitten, but the kitten stubbornly refuses to sharpen his claws on the piano bench. "I guess his ancestors weren't born in an opera house," says Martin. "I wonder where he was born anyway?" Rachel looks over in your direction as if to ask you where the kitten came from. But then she notices the sketchbook that you are holding. With a grin she walks over to take the sketchbook. As she takes the sketchbook from you, she whispers a quiet "Thank you" that Martin and her mother can't hear. Then Rachel returns to the desk and pulls a pencil out of the drawer. She sits down on the desk chair and begins to sketch Martin. ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------- ------ Martin looks up at his sister. Her eyes are filled with intense concentration as she works on her sketch, trying to bring the essence of her brother's spirit onto the page through the power of what he means to her. Martin watches her fondly, delighted to see her using her talent again after so many years. Rachel glances up from her sketchbook. Her gaze locks with Martin's, and they both smile at the thought of so many shared memories, so many shared experiences. It's good to remember. Suddenly, you hear a rumble of thunder from outside and the ground begins to shake. The door is closed but somehow the wind is moving inside the living room. The wind circles around Rachel and Martin, faster and faster, almost as if it were drawing its strength from the bond between them. The wind splits off and begins to encircle you as well. After the air grows still, you are left with the odd feeling that the encircling wind has somehow left an imprint of its power in the belt that you wear around your waist. You feel stronger somehow, more connected. You notice that one of the cords on the belt has turned brown. ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------- ------ The moth is fluttering against the glass of the sliding door. Mrs. Kessler opens the door to let the moth out, and you take advantage of the opportunity to slip outside just before Mrs. Kessler closes the door. The moth flutters away into the night. WEST COURTYARD