Robin & Orchid
Ryan Veeder
cat Christianity church collaboration cover art female protagonist ghost hunt ghosts hint cat I7 source available IF Competition 2013 IFComp Game mystery NightFloyd transcript parser photography religion teenage protagonist teenagers Xyzzy Awards 2013 XYZZY Best Setting
High school journalists spend the night in a church, investigating reports of a ghost.
%
Casey glances around the newspaper office. "Orchid is gone, right?"

"Yes, she left. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to give you this while she wasn't around." He hands you a thick, well-leafed notebook. "It's just kind of a guide kind of thing, with some general information and directions, just to help you get around. Don't let Orchid see it."

"Are you sure I'll require so much background material? And why shouldn't Orchid see it?"

"Well, Robin," Casey says, and he spins around a chair to sit on it backwards in what he surely thinks is a very casual and friendly pose, "Orchid is a church member, and you're not, and you missed the lock-in, so you don't have a lot of the context that Orchid has. I just wanted to put you on an even footing. And for your second question, I might have written some things in there that I wouldn't have said to Orchid's face."

You nod, and slip the notebook into your backpack. "I'm sure you've adequately prepared me for my mission."

"Yes, I have. You're welcome. No, wait, I've got one more thing to say. Make sure you take lots of pictures, obviously. It's your job. That's one." He starts counting on his fingers. "Um, it's more fun if you run off by yourself, so make sure you get Sharon off your back. That's two. And keep an open mind. I mean, just because you don't believe in ghosts doesn't mean you're not gonna see one.

"So, yeah. That's three things."
Robin & Orchid
An exercise in photojournalism by Ryan Veeder & Emily Boegheim

Sharon, in her wisdom, decided that everybody should sleep in this cramped corner of the church basement.

Battered toys spill out of the toybox and across the floor, piling up in a corner of the room. Cupboards are mounted high on the walls, out of reach of tiny fingers, and an enormous blue recliner sits underneath them. It's already dark outside, and the doors west to the basement stairway and south are dark as well.

Your sleeping bag is lying on a tidy patch of floor, ready for when you finish your investigation.

Orchid is lounging around, lecturing you.

"You'd better hold onto this," she says, handing you the camera, "you're the official photographer. Just don't forget, if you see something that might be evidence of a ghost, make sure you take a photo of it."

You slip the camera strap around your neck.
Inventory
You are carrying:
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)

Orchid notices your notebook. "What's all that?" she asks.

"Oh, Casey gave it to me. It's just some notes about things in the church."

"Is there anything about me in there?"

"I don't think so," you lie, and Orchid loses interest.
About yourself
You are Robin Monaghan, high school junior, associate reporter for the West High Warbler. You are not overly fond of churches, and you have never claimed to believe in ghosts, but here you are.

"Oh, and," Orchid adds, "don't turn the lights on while you're looking around unless you have to. Some ghosts won't appear unless it's dark, and we've only got tonight to gather all our evidence."
You take a the photo of Orchid
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of Orchid. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.

Sharon stomps into the nursery. "There are supposed to be some blankets somewhere in this nursery," she says. "Robin, can you find them and grab them for me?" She looks thoughtfully at the child-sized cots scattered around the room.
You examine sharon
Sharon is the student teacher assisting the staff advisor for the West High Warbler. In the past the staff has always managed quite well without a student teacher, but she does come in handy as a chaperone for situations like this.

"Okay, girls," she says. "Here's how this is going to work."
You look at Orchid
Orchid, like most girls your age, is taller than you. Her cheeks are covered in freckles that you had never seen before tonight; she must put makeup on over them for school. You have the uneasy feeling that there are more freckles on her left cheek than her right.

She notices you examining her, and you look away.

Sharon continues, "This is your story and your investigation, so don't expect me to be running around the church with you all night." She pushes one of the cots up against the wall.
You read the notebook
The notebook is thick, and as you flick through the pages, it looks like it's nearly full. Surely Casey didn't make notes about everything in the church? How long did he spend on this anyway?

There's way too much information here to sit down and read it all at once, but you can look up anything you want to know about.

Sharon pulls another of the cots toward her and lines it up with the first one. "I don't care if you stay up all night, tomorrow isn't a school day so it's not my problem if you're exhausted. Personally, I want my eight hours, though."
You look up ghosts
(in Casey's notes)
[This action may cause some slight lag in the browser version of this game. We sincerely regret any inconvenience.]

You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I don't know how much you already know about the ghost in the church so I'll give you the whole story. Jennie Bancroft is the name of the ghost that haunts Grace United Methodist. She used to be alive, but then she died, in or around the church, sometime in the distant past. I keep meaning to look up when she died but I haven't had time.

"When people see her, she looks like a teenage girl in pigtails. I don't think she shows up covered in blood or anything like that; she's just a sad girl. Obviously a lot of the time she's invisible though.

"Some of the evidence that we have for her existence includes:

- sounds of footsteps and a girl crying when nobody else is in the church
- cold spots in rooms, rooms that suddenly become cold for no reason
- stuff goes missing, then shows up again
- you see someone at the end of the hallway but when you get to the end of the hallway there's nobody there
- basically everybody has seen her out of the corner of their eye at some point

"Debate continues on the subject of how Jennie died. Popular theories state that she jumped off of the church steeple, or she drank poison, or used a space heater to carbon monoxide herself. According to one explanation she died accidentally, because she was using a Ouija board, but that theory is idiotic. Jennie Bancroft definitely committed suicide, and it was definitely because of a boy she was in love with."

Sharon continues, "So I'm going to stay here and sleep, and you two are going to get on with your investigating, and not wake me up unless there's a life-threatening emergency or something."
You look up casey
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Dear Robin. I am Casey, your friend. I am writing to you from the past. Back here in the past it is very dark, but we have hope that you, in the future, will be able to rekindle the flame of enlightenment and lead us to wisdom. Have you seen a ghost yet? If you haven't seen a ghost, keep looking around until you do. Thanks. Sincerely, Casey."

"Orchid, pass me that cot in the corner, will you?" Sharon asks.

Orchid pulls a face but goes to get it.
You look at the cot
Each cot is composed of scratchy fabric stretched over an aluminum frame, and there is no way any of them could be very comfortable.

"Just don't complain to me when you've spent the whole night ghost-hunting and have nothing to show for it. Thanks, Orchid." Sharon pushes the last cot into place alongside the other two and frowns at the result.
You look up orchid
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Here's an anecdote about Orchid. This happened just recently. I didn't tell you, because I wanted to save it for here. Okay:

"I'm at school after hours because of rehearsals. But we're still in the fairly lazy stage of the production, so there's lots of time to just goof off around the school. So while the underclassmen are sitting around in the hall running lines, I head up to the drama office, because there are donuts there.

"But Orchid and Aiden Kingsley are already up in the office, and as soon as I poke my head in Orchid looks up and says 'Actors only, please!' and I'm like 'Actually, I am an actor,' and she says, 'Well, you know what I mean.'

"No, Orchid! I do not have the slightest idea what you mean. I would have just grabbed a donut and left, but you're not allowed to take the donuts out of the drama office, so I just left.

"I wouldn't say I hate Orchid. Hate is a very strong word. I completely hate Aiden, though."

Sharon unrolls a thin mattress on top of the cots. "I expect the West High Warbler can find some other story to run if this one doesn't work out. It'll be a nuisance, though."
You search the cupboards
There are way too many cupboards, and you can't even see what's on the top shelves from here, much less reach them. Surely there's a better way to find out where the blankets are kept than just hunting through everything.
You look up Sharon in the notebook
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Why do people like Sharon want to become teachers? (By 'people like Sharon' I mean 'people who obviously hate everything about teaching, even and especially students'.) If you're already completely jaded and cynical after your first semester of student teaching, isn't that a sign that you should give up on K-12 education and possibly on life in general?"
You look up the blankets
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "What I heard is that you guys are going to sleep in the nursery, which doesn't make sense because there are couches in the youth rooms, but I guess those couches are pretty grody actually. I see your point. They keep some blankets up in the cupboards, but somebody as short as you is probably going to have to climb up on top of the recliner to reach them. No offense, Robin. I'm just saying. You're really short."
%
Casey glances around the newspaper office. "Orchid is gone, right?"

"Yes, she left. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to give you this while she wasn't around." He hands you a thick, well-leafed notebook. "It's just kind of a guide kind of thing, with some general information and directions, just to help you get around. Don't let Orchid see it."

"Are you sure I'll require so much background material? And why shouldn't Orchid see it?"

"Well, Robin," Casey says, and he spins around a chair to sit on it backwards in what he surely thinks is a very casual and friendly pose, "Orchid is a church member, and you're not, and you missed the lock-in, so you don't have a lot of the context that Orchid has. I just wanted to put you on an even footing. And for your second question, I might have written some things in there that I wouldn't have said to Orchid's face."

You nod, and slip the notebook into your backpack. "I'm sure you've adequately prepared me for my mission."

"Yes, I have. You're welcome. No, wait, I've got one more thing to say. Make sure you take lots of pictures, obviously. It's your job. That's one." He starts counting on his fingers. "Um, it's more fun if you run off by yourself, so make sure you get Sharon off your back. That's two. And keep an open mind. I mean, just because you don't believe in ghosts doesn't mean you're not gonna see one.

"So, yeah. That's three things."
Look around
An exercise in photojournalism by Ryan Veeder & Emily Boegheim

Sharon, in her wisdom, decided that everybody should sleep in this cramped corner of the church basement.

Battered toys spill out of the toybox and across the floor, piling up in a corner of the room. Cupboards are mounted high on the walls, out of reach of tiny fingers, and an enormous blue recliner sits underneath them. It's already dark outside, and the doors west to the basement stairway and south are dark as well.

Your sleeping bag is lying on a tidy patch of floor, ready for when you finish your investigation.

Orchid is lounging around, lecturing you.

"You'd better hold onto this," she says, handing you the camera, "you're the official photographer. Just don't forget, if you see something that might be evidence of a ghost, make sure you take a photo of it."

You slip the camera strap around your neck.
You examine the camera
Something went wrong with the West High Warbler's official camera, so Casey scrounged up this old Polaroid instead. He was very keen on you using a Polaroid camera for this story, for some reasonhe gave you enough photo paper to document a whole congregation of ghosts.

Orchid notices your notebook. "What's all that?" she asks.

"Oh, Casey gave it to me. It's just some notes about things in the church."

"Is there anything about me in there?"

"I don't think so," you lie, and Orchid loses interest.
%
Casey glances around the newspaper office. "Orchid is gone, right?"

"Yes, she left. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to give you this while she wasn't around." He hands you a thick, well-leafed notebook. "It's just kind of a guide kind of thing, with some general information and directions, just to help you get around. Don't let Orchid see it."

"Are you sure I'll require so much background material? And why shouldn't Orchid see it?"

"Well, Robin," Casey says, and he spins around a chair to sit on it backwards in what he surely thinks is a very casual and friendly pose, "Orchid is a church member, and you're not, and you missed the
lock-in, so you don't have a lot of the context that Orchid has. I
just wanted to put you on an even footing. And for your second question, I might have written some things in there that I wouldn't have said to Orchid's face."

You nod, and slip the notebook into your backpack. "I'm sure you've adequately prepared me for my mission."

"Yes, I have. You're welcome. No, wait, I've got one more thing to
say. Make sure you take lots of pictures, obviously. It's your job. That's one." He starts counting on his fingers. "Um, it's more fun if you run off by yourself, so make sure you get Sharon off your back. That's two. And keep an open mind. I mean, just because you don't believe in ghosts doesn't mean you're not gonna see one.

"So, yeah. That's three things."
Robin & Orchid
An exercise in photojournalism by Ryan Veeder & Emily Boegheim

Sharon, in her wisdom, decided that everybody should sleep in this cramped corner of the church basement.

Battered toys spill out of the toybox and across the floor, piling up in a corner of the room. Cupboards are mounted high on the walls, out of reach of tiny fingers, and an enormous blue recliner sits
underneath them. It's already dark outside, and the doors west to the basement stairway and south are dark as well.

Your sleeping bag is lying on a tidy patch of floor, ready for when
you finish your investigation.

Orchid is lounging around, lecturing you.

"You'd better hold onto this," she says, handing you the camera, "you're the official photographer. Just don't forget, if you see something that might be evidence of a ghost, make sure you take a
photo of it."

You slip the camera strap around your neck.
You look at the recliner
The armchair is covered in lumpy blue corduroy. At least it's clean.

Orchid notices your notebook. "What's all that?" she asks.

"Oh, Casey gave it to me. It's just some notes about things in the church."

"Is there anything about me in there?"

"I don't think so," you lie, and Orchid loses interest.
You climb on the recliner
You step up onto the seat of the recliner, adding at least a foot to your height.

"Oh, and," Orchid adds, "don't turn the lights on while you're looking around unless you have to. Some ghosts won't appear unless it's dark, and we've only got tonight to gather all our evidence."
You look at the cupboards
The nursery cupboards are numerous and mounted high up on the walls, presumably so the kids can't get into them.

Sharon stomps into the nursery. "There are supposed to be some
blankets somewhere in this nursery," she says. "Robin, can you find them and grab them for me?" She looks thoughtfully at the child-sized cots scattered around the room.
Inventory
Sharon talks over you, drowning you out.

"Okay, girls," Sharon says. "Here's how this is going to work."
You open cupboards
It takes some hunting to find them, but there are the blankets, up on the top shelf.

Sharon continues, "This is your story and your investigation, so don't expect me to be running around the church with you all night." She pushes one of the cots up against the wall.
You get the blankets
Taken.

Sharon pulls another of the cots toward her and lines it up with the first one. "I don't care if you stay up all night, tomorrow isn't a school day so it's not my problem if you're exhausted. Personally, I want my eight hours, though."
You look at the blankets
The blankets are small, thin, and colorful. Probably they're designed for making kids' afternoon naps fun, not for actually sleeping under.

Sharon continues, "So I'm going to stay here and sleep, and you two
are going to get on with your investigating, and not wake me up unless there's a life-threatening emergency or something."
You give the blankets to Sharon
Sharon takes the pile of blankets from you. "Thanks, Robin," she says.

"Orchid, pass me that cot in the corner, will you?" Sharon asks.

Orchid pulls a face but goes to get it.
You examine the toys
Toy cars, a lot of wooden blocks, a tea set, that kind of thing. It looks like someone tried to take a bite out of one of the blocks.

"Just don't complain to me when you've spent the whole night ghost-hunting and have nothing to show for it. Thanks, Orchid." Sharon pushes the last cot into place alongside the other two and frowns at the result.
You ask Orchid,  to check what you're carrying
Sharon talks over you, drowning you out.

Sharon unrolls a thin mattress on top of the cots. "I expect the West High Warbler can find some other story to run if this one
doesn't work out. It'll be a nuisance, though."
Exits
From here, you could head south and west to the basement stairway.

Sharon looks at the makeshift cot bed and purses her lips. "I guess that'll do," she says.

Suddenly Orchid gasps and grabs your arm. "Someone's outside!" she squeaks, pointing at the window.

Behind the glass, you see a pale face, blurry in the dim light.
You take photo of the face
(with the Polaroid camera)
The click of the shutter sounds loud in the silence and seems to startle the creature outside the window. It turns and vanishes out of the light, its tail flicking past the glass. Orchid gives a high-pitched giggle.

"Scared of a cat!" Sharon says. "You better not freak out and wake me up every time you mistake a shadow for a ghost tonight."
You look at the photo
It's the photo you took of the cat looking in through the window. How did you ever think it was a person? It's much too small and pale to be anything human. Although outside the window, obscured by the glass, it did look pretty ghostly.

Orchid peeks over your shoulder at the photo you took. "Hey, that's good!" she says. "I guess you can see how it's a cat now, but it
looked really spooky, didn't it?"
You look at the photograph
It's the photo you took of the cat looking in through the window. How did you ever think it was a person? It's much too small and pale to be anything human. Although outside the window, obscured by the glass, it did look pretty ghostly.

Sharon yawns. "Right, I'm going to bed now. Keep out of trouble, don't break anything, and don't wake me up unless it's really,
really serious, got it?" Without waiting for an answer, she lies
down on the row of cots, facing away from you, and pulls the blankets over herself.

Orchid says, "We'd better get started. How about this: you check out the basement, and I'll go upstairs and look around there, and then we'll meet up and compare notes. Don't forget to take a photo if you find any evidence of a ghost!" She slips out of the room. A moment later, you hear her footsteps echoing in the stairwell as she heads back up to the main floor.
You tell Sharon about the couches
On second thoughts, maybe what you wanted to say isn't urgent enough
to brave Sharon's wrath at being woken.
You go south
(first getting off the recliner)
You switch the lights on in the next room.

A large part of this room is taken up by a rickety ping pong table. Couches line the edges of the room, some of them close enough to the table that they're probably not safe to sit on if someone is actually playing ping pong. On the other hand, you can't see any ping pong bats anywhere, so maybe that's not an issue. In between the couches, doors lead north to the nursery, west, and south.

A garish golden trophy catches your eye.

A trolley with an ancient TV and a Super Nintendo on it is standing in front of one of the couches.
You look at trophy
The figurine on top is a generic gold-painted plastic person raising its arms in victory. The text at the bottom reads: "BIBLE QUIZ TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS".
You look at the trolley
A cube of black metal bars, mounted on casters.

On the TV trolley are a television set and a SNES (in which is a Bubsy cartridge).
You turn on Nintendo
This is no time for video games. Especially not Bubsy.
You look up bubsy
(in Casey's notes)
[This action may cause some slight lag in the browser version of this game. We sincerely regret any inconvenience.]

You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I don't even know what Bubsy is about. A squirrel? It doesn't even have
a proper two-player mode. You have to wait and watch the other guy play. It's bad for the group. I miss Tetris Attack."
You examine the cage
The curving faux-wrought-iron bars and caked-on "rust" identify this
as one of the non-functioning, overpriced decorations which are so popular in craft stores. What does a Sunday School need with a bird cage?
You look up cage
(the bird cage)
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Can't really tell you what the Sunday School bird cage is for; it showed up after I graduated. I think it might have something to do
with like, Old Testament animal sacrifices? Back when you had to give the priest two of your doves instead of just praying for forgiveness?"
You take the photo of the cage
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the bird cage. The camera whirrs and vibrates
and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
You look at the photo
Which do you mean, the photo of the cat looking through the window or the photo of the bird cage?
You examine cross
This is a nice little cross for a table. Nothing fancy.
You take the cross
Taken.
You take the photo of the photo of the cat
(with the Polaroid camera)
A photo of a photo would be a waste of time. Useless clutter.
You take photo of the camera
(with the Polaroid camera)
You'll need a mirror if you're really serious about that.
You take the photo of yourself
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of yourself. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
You examine the photo of yourself
It turns out it's not that easy taking a photo of yourself with a Polaroid camera. The picture came out slightly blurry; you're not sure if it's because you weren't holding the camera still, or because it
was too close to your face.
Look around
This is a room designed for small people. Low benches are arranged
like pews in two rows, facing toward a small table that serves as an altar. A poster explaining the Ten Commandments hangs on one wall, and doors lead north to the basement stairway, east to the youth room and west.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.
You look at the poster
The Ten Commandments are retold here by little cartoon children, in language appropriate to the target demographic: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife," etc., becomes "Don't be jealous of what other people have."

As rusty as you are in this area, you can't remember which commandment is the one about adultery. It must be the seventh one, which is translated here as "Be faithful and loyal."
You examine the altar
As altars go, it is fairly tacky: sponge-painted to simulate age, draped with an excessively ornate doily.
You take the doily
That's hardly portable.
Go west
You turn the lights off in the Sunday School room.

You flick the hallway light switch on, but nothing happens. In the
end, you turn the Sunday School room lights back on so you can see
what you're doing.

The hallway runs north into darkness. It's hard to tell how long it might be from here, though the Sunday School room to the east provides some light at this end. A huge figure looms out of the shadows—no, wait, it's just a plywood image of a lighthouse. Behind the lighthouse and partially obscured by it is a mural of Jesus blessing the little children.

A movement catches your eye. Some tiny lights seem to be floating at the far end of the hall, flickering occasionally.
You take the photo of the lights
(the flickering lights with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the flickering lights. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
You examine the photo of the lights
Blue lights trail across the photograph, bright against the darkness
of the hallway.
You turn off the lights
Which do you mean, the light switch or the flickering lights?
You turn off the light switch
The lights are already off.
You examine the flickering
The lights float across the ceiling like rings of blue smoke, blinking in and out to a frantic, inaudible rhythm.
You examine the mural
Which do you mean, the little children or Jesus?
You examine the jesus
As is traditional, Jesus is depicted with very long hair, a white robe and a beatific smile.
You look at the little children
Happy little children of various ethnic backgrounds are crowded around Jesus.
You examine the lighthouse
The piece of plywood is about eight feet tall and an inch thick. A minimum of detail has been painted on to convey that this tapered rectangle is supposed to be a lighthouse. There are no supports; it's just propped up against the wall.
You move the lighthouse
You get the feeling that if you tried to move this thing anywhere, it would fall on top of you and snap in half.
Describe the surroundings
The hallway runs north into darkness. It's hard to tell how long it might be from here, though the Sunday School room to the east provides some light at this end. The plywood lighthouse, on the other hand, peacefully fails to provide any light. Behind the lighthouse and partially obscured by it is a mural of Jesus blessing the little children.

A movement catches your eye. Some tiny lights seem to be floating at the far end of the hall, flickering occasionally.
You go north
The tiny lights to the north continue to drift aimlessly. Thanks to
the light filtering in from the south end of the hall, you can make
out some kind of mural painted on the wall, but you can't tell what it's supposed to represent in the gloom.
You look at the mural
Which do you mean, the swathe of yellow, the indistinct smear, or the bluish blob?
You examine the yellow
It's too dark here to make out any details.
Blob
(with the Polaroid camera)
The camera hums and drops an indistinct photograph into your hand.
You look at the photo
Which do you mean, the photo of the cat looking through the window,
the photo of the bird cage, the photo of you taking a photo of yourself, the photo of the flickering lights, or the photo of
darkness?
You go north
The flickering lights are only a little way to the north now. Otherwise, it's almost completely dark. At least you can still see the light at the south end of the hallway. The rectangles to the east and west must be doorways to somewhere, but they're barely distinguishable from the walls.
You look up flash
(looking up "flash" in Casey's notes)
There isn't enough light for you to read Casey's notes here.
Go west
(first opening the west storage room door)

It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing.
Go east
Your flailing about in the dark eventually discovers a door.

The flickering lights are only a little way to the north now. Otherwise, it's almost completely dark. At least you can still see the light at the south end of the hallway. The rectangles to the east and west must be doorways to somewhere, but they're barely distinguishable from the walls.
Go east
(first opening the east storage room door)

It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing.
Go north
As you approach the lights, they flicker one more time and vanish, leaving you in complete darkness.

It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing except for the dim light trickling in from the south end of the hallway.
Go north
It's too dark to see where you're going. A dim light from the south
end of the hallway shows you the way back, but if you wander around at random you're probably just going to walk into walls.
Go south
You run a hand along the wall to help you find your way, and your fingers trail through something cold and slimy. Ugh, now it's on your hand.
Go south
It's almost completely dark. At least you can still see the light at the south end of the hallway. The rectangles to the east and west must be doorways to somewhere, but they're barely distinguishable from the walls.
You go to the south
Thanks to the light filtering in from the south end of the hall, you can make out some kind of mural painted on the wall, but you can't
tell what it's supposed to represent in the gloom.

A little ectoplasm drips off your fingers.
You go to the south
The hallway runs north into darkness. It's hard to tell how long it might be from here, though the Sunday School room to the east provides some light at this end. The plywood lighthouse, on the other hand, peacefully fails to provide any light. Behind the lighthouse and partially obscured by it is a mural of Jesus blessing the little children.

The cat is sitting in the middle of the room, staring at you.

to the east.
You examine ectoplasm
The ectoplasm is pale gray, thick and gooey.
You taste it
How do ghosts produce ectoplasm anyway? You're not sure it's something you want to put in your mouth.

Your fingers itch where the ectoplasm is clinging to them.
You smell it
The ectoplasm smells bitter and unnatural.

You're about to adjust the camera strap around your neck, but catch yourself just before you smear the ectoplasm on it.
Inventory
You are carrying:
some ectoplasm (stuck to your fingers)
a bird cage
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You drop the ectoplasm
It clings to your fingers stubbornly.
You wipe the ectoplasm
There's nowhere to wash your hands here. You're briefly tempted to
wipe the goo off on your jeans, but catch yourself in time.
Go east
This is a room designed for small people. Low benches are arranged
like pews in two rows, facing toward a small table that serves as an altar. A poster explaining the Ten Commandments hangs on one wall, and doors lead north to the basement stairway, east to the youth room and west to the hallway.

The cat is sitting in the middle of the room, staring at you.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.
You examine the cat
The cat is almost completely white, except for a small black spot on the end of its tail. When it sees you looking at it, it narrows its pale blue eyes at you.

The cat wanders off to the north, glancing back at you as if to check whether you're following.
You look up the bathroom
Which do you mean, men's restroom or ladies' restroom?
You look upthe ladies' restroom
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Well, Robin. I actually explored the ladies' restroom briefly, during a game of Sardines. But then, because of events that transpired, the ladies' restroom was declared to be off-limits. And shortly after
that, because of fairness, the men's restroom was declared to be off-limits as well. For Sardines purposes at least."
You look up the Sardines
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Sardines is this awesome game we Christian Youth play instead of Romans and Christians now. In Sardines, a person hides somewhere and then everyone else looks for that person and when you find them you have to get in the hiding place and hide with them. It is fantastic. It's a lot less hectic than Romans and Christians."
You look up Romans and Christians
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Romans and Christians is the game we used to play at church. The
rules were, you had two Romans, and everyone else was the Christians, and the Christians just ran around the church in the dark while the Romans tried to catch them and take them to the Jail, which was a couch. If there are any other rules then I'm forgetting them.

"The excitement of being actively chased around the church caused a
lot of Christians to kinda lose their heads and occasionally break stuff, so we started playing Sardines instead."
You look up lions
(looking up "lions" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up mural
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I volunteered to paint a mural in the basement, and Patrick the youth leader gave me permission, so I painted a mural of the Four Beasts
(the man and the lion and the ox and the eagle) and it was a GREAT MURAL but once they saw it they went ahead and covered it up with JONAH."
Describe the surroundings
This is a room designed for small people. Low benches are arranged
like pews in two rows, facing toward a small table that serves as an altar. A poster explaining the Ten Commandments hangs on one wall, and doors lead north to the basement stairway, east to the youth room and west to the hallway.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.
You look up lighthouse
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "The lighthouse symbolizes how the church is a beacon of guidance to the rest of the world. I don't mean my church specifically, I mean all of Christianity. Or at least Methodists."
You go to the east
A large part of this room is taken up by a rickety ping pong table. Couches line the edges of the room, some of them close enough to the table that they're probably not safe to sit on if someone is actually playing ping pong. On the other hand, you can't see any ping pong bats anywhere, so maybe that's not an issue. In between the couches, doors lead north to the nursery, west to the Sunday School room, and south.

A garish golden trophy catches your eye.
You go south
You turn the lights off in the youth room.

You flip the light switch, but the only things that light up are your shirt and your socks.

The black walls in here have been painted with Bible verses that glow underneath the UV lights. The couches are glowing, too; unsettlingly green. The door to the north, on the other hand, is barely visible.

Propped up in one corner is a rough wooden cross.
You examine ectoplasm
The ectoplasm is pale gray, thick and gooey.
You examine the cross
(the small white cross)
This is a nice little cross for a table. Nothing fancy.
You examine the wooden cross
You have to guess that whoever constructed this cross purposefully chose the roughest, most splintery lumber available.

Around the center plank (which is twice as tall as you are), on top of the crossbar, is a "crown of thorns" made from rusty barbed wire.
You examine the notes
The notebook is thick, and as you flick through the pages, it looks like it's nearly full. Surely Casey didn't make notes about
everything in the church? How long did he spend on this
anyway?

There's way too much information here to sit down and read it all at once, but you can look up anything you want to know about.
You look up jonah
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I volunteered to paint a mural in the basement, and Patrick the youth leader gave me permission, so I painted a mural of the Four Beasts
(the man and the lion and the ox and the eagle) and it was a GREAT MURAL but once they saw it they went ahead and covered it up with JONAH."
You look up patrick
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Patrick the youth leader is Grace's youth leader currently. In the distant past there was a different, previous youth leader, but we
don't talk about her.

"Actually, I'm looking over the other notes I've written and it looks like I've probably said too much about Patrick the youth leader too."
You look up jennie
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I don't know how much you already know about the ghost in the church so I'll give you the whole story. Jennie Bancroft is the name of the
ghost that haunts Grace United Methodist. She used to be alive, but then she died, in or around the church, sometime in the distant past.
I keep meaning to look up when she died but I haven't had time.

"When people see her, she looks like a teenage girl in pigtails. I don't think she shows up covered in blood or anything like that; she's just a sad girl. Obviously a lot of the time she's invisible though.

"Some of the evidence that we have for her existence includes:

- sounds of footsteps and a girl crying when nobody else is in the church
- cold spots in rooms, rooms that suddenly become cold for no reason
- stuff goes missing, then shows up again
- you see someone at the end of the hallway but when you get to the
end of the hallway there's nobody there
- basically everybody has seen her out of the corner of their eye at some point

"Debate continues on the subject of how Jennie died. Popular theories state that she jumped off of the church steeple, or she drank poison, or used a space heater to carbon monoxide herself. According to one explanation she died accidentally, because she was using a Ouija
board, but that theory is idiotic. Jennie Bancroft definitely
committed suicide, and it was definitely because of a boy she was in love with."
You go to the north
A large part of this room is taken up by a rickety ping pong table. Couches line the edges of the room, some of them close enough to the table that they're probably not safe to sit on if someone is actually playing ping pong. On the other hand, you can't see any ping pong bats anywhere, so maybe that's not an issue. In between the couches, doors lead north to the nursery, west to the Sunday School room, and south
to the black light room.

A garish golden trophy catches your eye.

You hold your gooey hand out, away from your body, so as not to get
any ectoplasm on your clothes.
You go north
You turn the lights off in the youth room.

Battered toys spill out of the toybox and across the floor, piling up in a corner of the room. Cupboards are mounted high on the walls, out of reach of tiny fingers, and an enormous blue recliner sits
underneath them. It's already dark outside, and the doors west to the basement stairway and south to the youth room are dark as well.

Your sleeping bag is lying on a tidy patch of floor, ready for when
you finish your investigation.

Sharon's makeshift bed doesn't look comfortable, but apparently she's fast asleep anyway.
Go south
A large part of this room is taken up by a rickety ping pong table. Couches line the edges of the room, some of them close enough to the table that they're probably not safe to sit on if someone is actually playing ping pong. On the other hand, you can't see any ping pong bats anywhere, so maybe that's not an issue. In between the couches, doors lead north to the nursery, west to the Sunday School room, and south
to the black light room.

A garish golden trophy catches your eye.
Go west
You turn the lights off in the youth room.

This is a room designed for small people. Low benches are arranged
like pews in two rows, facing toward a small table that serves as an altar. A poster explaining the Ten Commandments hangs on one wall, and doors lead north to the basement stairway, east to the youth room and west to the hallway.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.
Go north
You switch the lights on in the next room.

This room is apparently just for show; there are no tables or chairs.
A wide staircase runs up to the main floor of the church, and doorways lead east to the nursery, south to the Sunday School room and north. Mounted on the wall is a gigantic abstract painting.
You examine the painting
The piece is very pleasant, if not particularly interesting: the inoffensive greens and pinks could suggest river waters, or branches waving in the wind. Its size is probably its most impressive quality.

Your fingers itch where the ectoplasm is clinging to them.
Go north
You turn the lights off in the basement stairway and switch the lights on in the next room.

All of a sudden you feel very claustrophobic. This must be a fairly large room, but most of the space is given over to snaking pipes, anonymous machinery, and the church's giant boiler.

A little ectoplasm drips off your fingers.
You go south
This room is apparently just for show; there are no tables or chairs.
A wide staircase runs up to the main floor of the church, and doorways lead east to the nursery, south to the Sunday School room and north to the boiler room. Mounted on the wall is a gigantic abstract painting.
Up
This room forms a sort of nook off the fellowship hall to the south. A wide flight of stairs leads down to the basement. There are doors to the north, northeast and southeast; according to the plaques on them, they open onto the pastor's office, the men's restroom and the ladies' restroom respectively.

A vast framed poster is hanging on the wall in between the restroom doors, and in the middle of the room, directly facing the poster, is a wooden bench.
You go to the south-east
The door swings shut behind you.

A restroom in a church is about the same as any other restroom. You have your stalls, your sinks, your mirrors, your garbage can.
You wash up
You must name something more substantial.
Wash
What do you want to wash?
Hands
You scrub your hands until every trace of ectoplasm is gone.
You look in the mirror
Your own face peers back at you.
You take photo of camera
(with the Polaroid camera)
You aim the camera at the ladies' room mirrors and take a photo of the reflection.
About yourself
You are Robin Monaghan, high school junior, associate reporter for the West High Warbler. You are not overly fond of churches, and
you have never claimed to believe in ghosts, but here you are.
You examine photo
Which do you mean, the photo of the cat looking through the window,
the photo of the bird cage, the photo of you taking a photo of yourself, the photo of the flickering lights, the photo of darkness,
or the photo of the ladies' room mirrors?
You look at the can
The cleaner must have been in recently, because the garbage can is empty.
You look at the photo of the mirrors
It's a photo of the ladies' room mirrors. The reflection in it shows you holding the camera up to your face.
You examine the photo of the darkness
The photo is just a black rectangle. There are maybe some lighter smudges of black here and there, but you can't tell what it's supposed to be.
You examine the stalls
They look like restroom stalls you'd see anywhere else.
You look at the sinks
The sinks are typical sinks.
Go outside
The door swings shut behind you.

This room forms a sort of nook off the fellowship hall to the south. A wide flight of stairs leads down to the basement. There are doors to the north, northeast and southeast; according to the plaques on them, they open onto the pastor's office, the men's restroom and the ladies' restroom respectively.

A vast framed poster is hanging on the wall in between the restroom doors, and in the middle of the room, directly facing the poster, is a wooden bench.
You look at the poster
The poster is a vast glossy print of a bald eagle gliding through a bright blue sky. In a corner of the sky, a Bible verse is printed:
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles. Isaiah 40:31."
You examine the bench
The bench seems to have been made in a deliberately rustic style, with heavy timber beams. It doesn't look very comfortable.
You get the poster
It's really too big to carry around with you.
You go to the north
The door to the pastor's office is locked.
Go south
This room is a bit crowded for your tastes: between the many round tables, each surrounded by a complement of folding chairs, there isn't much space to get from one end of the room to the other. The main stairway is north, the kitchen is east, and the narthex is west.

One corner is given over to a glass case containing a model church.
You look up office
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "You used to be able to get into the pastor's office all the time, back
when Patrick the youth leader had his own sub-office at one end of the room where he had free candy. But that was a security risk apparently, so they locked up the pastor's office and Patrick the youth leader had to move his office to his truck."
You examine model
It can't be a model of this church; it's the wrong shape. There's an incredible level of detail, though, from the tiles in the roof to the tiny people on the sidewalk. The double doors in front are open, and you can barely make out the shapes of little pews inside.
You look at the pews
There really are tiny pews in there. How much more furniture is under that roof?
You examine the case
The case itself is mounted in a pedestal about three feet high. You notice that there are numerous fingerprints caked onto the glass.

In the glass case is a model church.
You examine the fingerprints
They're mostly children's fingerprints, but some of these were left by adults.
You look up the fingerprints
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "The model church is a model of some other church. I think it used to be inside of that church, but it got torn down, or they went bankrupt,
and the model ended up in our church. It's kind of a creepy object, though. The guy who made it was clearly way too obsessed with his church."
You take the photo of the fingerprints
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the model church. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
You look at the photo of the church
It's a photo you took of the model church.
Go east
kitchen, only more so. Long countertops line the walls, with cupboards and drawers underneath them. A break in the counters allows you to leave the kitchen via the door to the west, and on the far side of the room a sink is set into the counter.

A sturdy box is sitting on the floor in the corner, with some cans in it.

Somebody forgot to put away an empty jam jar.
You get all
orange box: Taken.
empty jam jar: Taken.
dishes: You restack a few of the dishes, but the cupboards don't look any more organized.
cutlery: The sheer number and variety of utensils in the drawers paralyzes your ability to choose any individual item.
dish towels: You can't bring yourself to disturb the perfectly folded dish towels.
can of tomato soup: Stolen.
can of pears: Stolen.
can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product": Stolen.
can of cherry pie filling: Stolen.
can of tuna: Stolen.
can of chicken soup: Stolen.
can of peaches: Stolen.
can opener: Taken.
You look at the jar
The jar has lost its lid, but it appears to be clean and sterile anyway.
You put the cans in the box
can of tomato soup: Your conscience gets the better of you, and you return the can of tomato soup to its original location.
can of pears: Your conscience gets the better of you, and you return the can of pears to its original location.
can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product": Your conscience gets the better of you, and you return the can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product" to its original location.
can of cherry pie filling: Your conscience gets the better of you, and you return the can of cherry pie filling to its original location.
can of tuna: Your conscience gets the better of you, and you return
the can of tuna to its original location.
can of chicken soup: Your conscience gets the better of you, and you return the can of chicken soup to its original location.
can of peaches: Your conscience gets the better of you, and you return the can of peaches to its original location.
Examine box
An old label on the box says "Navel Oranges", but someone has written "FOOD BANK" over that. Apparently they thought they'd need a good sturdy crate for all the Food Bank donations they'd get.

In the orange box are a can of peaches, a can of chicken soup, a can
of tuna, a can of cherry pie filling, a can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product", a can of pears, and a can of tomato soup.
You examine the tuna
The label says this is twelve ounces of chunk tuna, in water.
You look at the opener
It looks to be tolerably clean.
You look up kitchen
The jar has lost its lid, but it appears to be clean and sterile anyway.

(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "If you've seen Jurassic Park then the kitchen is really scary in
the dark. If you haven't seen Jurassic Park then you should
get around to that."
You look up the jurassic park
(looking up "jurassic park" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up the food drive
(looking up "food drive" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up Food Bank
(in Casey's notes)
On the subject of canned food Casey writes, "I'm pretty sure the
people who are supposed to be in charge of donating stuff to the Food Bank are really disorganized, because you always see spare cans of stuff lying around. Or maybe some of the cans were rejected by the
Food Bank. I don't know how it works."
You open the cupboard
You peek inside a random cupboard and find a large number of plates piled inside.
Inventory
You are carrying:
a can opener
an empty jam jar
an orange box
a bird cage
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You get the tuna
Stolen.
You open the drawers
You pull open a random drawer for a moment, revealing an assortment of dish towels.
Describe the surroundings
kitchen, only more so. Long countertops line the walls, with cupboards and drawers underneath them. A break in the counters allows you to leave the kitchen via the door to the west, and on the far side of the room a sink is set into the counter.
You examine sink
It's a big sink, capable of handling the influx of dirty dishes that church functions undoubtedly generate.
You look at the jar
The jar has lost its lid, but it appears to be clean and sterile anyway.
You go to the west
This room is a bit crowded for your tastes: between the many round tables, each surrounded by a complement of folding chairs, there isn't much space to get from one end of the room to the other. The main stairway is north, the kitchen is east, and the narthex is west.

One corner is given over to a glass case containing a model church.
Go west
The main entryway to the church, this room has been set up to be as welcoming as possible. A rack of pamphlets sits in the center of a large table, flanked by pots of fake flowers. Lying open on a podium
is a huge Bible. Pinned up on one wall is a board full of name tags.

To the east is the fellowship hall, and the large passage to the north obviously leads to the main sanctuary. The way out of the church is south of here, but that's none of your concern currently.
You examine Bible
The Bible is obviously a well-respected object around here, but it's not a mere display piece; the pages have been creased and scuffed by continuous use.
You examine tags
There must be a name tag on here for everybody who's ever set foot in this church. There's Casey's, and there's Orchid's, and this one says "Robin"—but they must mean some other Robin.
You look up the tags
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"When the new pastor came, he insisted that everybody wear name tags all the time, but that didn't last long. Name tags are a pain."
You get Bible
podium.
You open Bible
It's already open.
Turn page
You flip aimlessly through the book, and eventually your gaze lands on a passage: "Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive."
Turn page
You flip aimlessly through the book, and eventually your gaze lands on a passage: "But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."
You wear the tag
(first taking the name tag)
You pull the name tag labeled "Robin" off of the board, even though it couldn't possibly be for you.

You pin the name tag on.
You read it
One pamphlet is titled "Meaningful Relationships?".
You read the pamphlets
"Please Take One!" reads the cursive text at the bottom of the rack, but none of the pamphlets succeeds in engaging your curiosity. You've never been afflicted with any of the problems they purport to solve.
Go north
This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless. Orchid hasn't turned the lights on either; you can barely make out anything in the gloom.

Orchid comes over to meet you. "I didn't find anything up here," she says, "how about you?"
You show photo of the lights to Orchid
Her eyes widen at the photo of the flickering lights. "Wow, Robin,"
she says, "that's great, good work! That definitely looks paranormal
to me."

Before you can say any more, Orchid gasps and points upwards.
Something is floating near the ceiling, glowing faintly—a pale figure in a wispy dress.
You take the photo of the figure
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the ghostly figure. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.

The ghostly figure hovers silently in the air.
You look at figure
pigtails, just like Casey said. You can't make out the expression on her face, but she's holding her hands out as if she's reaching for something or asking for something.

The figure drifts towards the ground and glides northward towards the altar.
You examine the photo of the figure
It's too dark here to make out any details.

Orchid hisses, "What are you waiting around for? Get some more photos of the ghost!"

The figure drifts northwards through a small door behind the altar.
Go north
A few steps up from the pews to the south are the preacher's pulpit, the altar, and the American and Christian flags. Behind them, to the north, is a tiny doorway.

On the altar are two candles.

A large cross hangs high on the wall above the altar.
Go north
You catch just a glimpse of the ghost in the darkness before it floats towards the back wall and vanishes. When you switch the light on, the room is empty.

This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying:
a name tag (being worn)
a can of tuna
a can opener
an empty jam jar
an orange box
a bird cage
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You get the ectoplasm with the jar
You carefully scoop a sample of the ectoplasm into the jar.
Lick ectoplasm
You touch the ectoplasm gingerly with the tip of your tongue. The bitter tang makes you gag.
You eat the ectoplasm
(first taking the ectoplasm)
You've already collected some ectoplasm.
Smell ectoplasm
The ectoplasm smells bitter and unnatural.
You touch the ectoplasm
You prod the ectoplasm gingerly, then rub it between your fingers.
It's thick and gooey, with a slightly oily texture. And now it's all over your hand again.
Open chest
You open the huge wooden chest.
You look in the chest
The huge wooden chest is empty.
Look around
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You enter the chest
You lie down inside the chest, and notice that there's plenty of space inside. It's not a bad spot.
inside. It's not a bad spot.But there's no time for napping now.

You pull yourself out of the box.
Close chest
You close the huge wooden chest.
You look at the panels
Looking closely at the walls, you realise that one of the panels on
the wall is sitting slightly further forward than the others.
You open panel
You're not quite sure how to open the panel, or even if it can be opened. You jiggle it experimentally and it shifts a little.
You pull the panel
You grab the edges of the panel and try to pull it towards you.

Nothing much seems to happen at first, but then the panel shifts
upward and slides to the side. Behind it a narrow tunnel leads downwards. You open and close the panel a few more times to make sure you know how it works, and then leave it open.
You go to the south
A few steps up from the pews to the south are the preacher's pulpit, the altar, and the American and Christian flags. Behind them, to the north, is a tiny doorway.

On the altar are two candles.

A large cross hangs high on the wall above the altar.
You get the candles
Without something to light them with, these candles are just sticks. Not worth carrying around.
You light them
This dangerous act would achieve little.
You examine the cross
(the small white cross)
This is a nice little cross for a table. Nothing fancy.
You examine the large cross
It must be fifteen feet from top to bottom. The wood is smooth, and
the proportions are graceful. Aesthetically speaking, it is a very pleasant object.
You examine the altar
A simple beige table. On the side facing the congregation is an insignia with the letters "IHS".

On the altar are two candles.
You look up uv
(looking up "uv" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You examine the flag
Which do you mean, the American flag or the Christian flag?
You examine the american
Although it's lying furled against its post, you can easily tell that this is an American flag. This one has tassels around the edges, and
an eagle figurine is perched at the top.
You examine the christian flag
You assume it's the Christian flag, because there's a red cross near the top, but you've never seen such a flag anywhere else.
You examine the pulpit
The lectern stands on the stage-left end of the platform. The
austerity of its design is diminished somewhat by the microphone sticking out of the top.
You speak into microphone
(to yourself)
Your voice echoes in the empty room.
You examine the microphone
The controls for the mic must be somewhere else. You don't see an on/off switch.
You examine the pews
The benches are like dense underbrush: something could be hiding anywhere.
You go to the south
This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.
You examine the windows
Some of the designs are purely abstract, but you notice a dove, a
lion, a lamb, and what looks like an elk.
You examine the elk
The elk is looking to the side, as if ready to take on some unseen assailant.
You look at the dove
The dove is flying downward, its wings outstretched.
You look at the lion
The lion is looking out into space with one paw raised.
You look at the lamb
The lamb is sitting down, its eyes closed.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying:
a name tag (being worn)
a can of tuna
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
an orange box
a bird cage
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You examine the desk
You saw one of these in a movie once. The top recedes into the back of the desk, and you can hide a convict inside.
You open the desk
You try to pull back the top of the desk, but it's locked down.
You look up orchid
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Here's an anecdote about Orchid. This happened just recently. I
didn't tell you, because I wanted to save it for here. Okay:

"I'm at school after hours because of rehearsals. But we're still in the fairly lazy stage of the production, so there's lots of time to just goof off around the school. So while the underclassmen are
sitting around in the hall running lines, I head up to the drama office, because there are donuts there.

"But Orchid and Aiden Kingsley are already up in the office, and as soon as I poke my head in Orchid looks up and says 'Actors only, please!' and I'm like 'Actually, I am an actor,' and she says, 'Well, you know what I mean.'

"No, Orchid! I do not have the slightest idea what you mean. I would have just grabbed a donut and left, but you're not allowed to take the donuts out of the drama office, so I just left.

"I wouldn't say I hate Orchid. Hate is a very strong word. I
completely hate Aiden, though."
Up
From here, you could head north to the altar, south to the narthex,
and east.
S then east
This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.

There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony, but that hasn't stopped someone from putting a potted plant in the corner. If you can avoid tripping over the plant, an archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.
Up
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.
You examine the projector
A strong metal cage protects the projector from careless and/or malevolent handling.
You look at the pews
(the balcony pews)
There are only a few rows of pews up here, mounted on a series of
steps so the people at the back can still see down to the altar.
You look at the cables
It's hard to tell what this stuff is for with it all tumbled into a heap like that. There are some metal bars, and some pulleys and
things, and a lot of tangled cables connecting things together.
You search the pews
(the balcony pews)
There is nothing on the balcony pews.
You search cables
You try to disentangle some of the cables but it's all too mixed up. You sort out one bit and the rest just gets knottier.
You examine the trapdoor
The trapdoor is set into the ceiling, well above your head. The cord
to pull it down seems to have got caught in the door, and only a small loop is visible on this side.
You look at the cord
The cord to open the trapdoor is caught up in the door. You can just see a small loop sticking out between the ceiling and the edge of the trapdoor, well out of reach.

The cat trots up the stairs and mews at you.
Pet cat
The cat dodges your hand and bounds off downstairs.
You feed the cat
What do you want to feed the cat?
Go east
From here, you could head up and down to the the balcony stairwell.
Down
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony, but that hasn't stopped someone from putting a potted plant in the corner. If you can avoid tripping over the plant, an archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.

to the west.
You go to the west
This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.

The cat wanders off to the north, glancing back at you as if to check whether you're following.
You go south
The main entryway to the church, this room has been set up to be as welcoming as possible. A rack of pamphlets sits in the center of a large table, flanked by pots of fake flowers. Lying open on a podium
is a huge Bible. Pinned up on one wall is a board full of name tags.

To the east is the fellowship hall, and the large passage to the north obviously leads to the main sanctuary. The way out of the church is south of here, but that's none of your concern currently.
You go to the east
Battered toys spill out of the toybox and across the floor, piling up in a corner of the room. Cupboards are mounted high on the walls, out of reach of tiny fingers, and an enormous blue recliner sits
underneath them. It's already dark outside, and the doors west to the basement stairway and south to the youth room are dark as well.

Your sleeping bag is lying on a tidy patch of floor, ready for when
you finish your investigation.

Sharon's makeshift bed doesn't look comfortable, but apparently she's fast asleep anyway.
Sleep
Before you get into your sleeping bag, you quickly review the evidence you've collected. Are you sure you have everything you need for the story?
Yes
You put your belongings aside and snuggle down in the sleeping bag.
You open the tuna
After a few moments' work with the can opener, the can is open, revealing a pungent mass of tuna.
You look at the trapdoor
The trapdoor is set into the ceiling, well above your head. The cord
to pull it down seems to have got caught in the door, and only a small loop is visible on this side.

The cat trots up the stairs and mews at you.
You give the tuna to the cat
(the open can of tuna to the cat)
The cat dodges your hand and bounds off downstairs.
You eat the tuna
(the open can of tuna)
You definitely aren't desperate enough to start eating tuna straight from the can.
Up
(first opening the trapdoor)
The pull-cord is caught up in the trapdoor, and you're much too short to reach it.
You look up trapdoor
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "The trapdoor goes up into the steeple. Nobody uses it, because like I
said, the steeple is super dangerous."
You look up cat
(in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but it looks like Casey didn't have anything to say about the cat.
You look up altar
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"Many church enthusiasts use the word "altar" to refer not only to the little table with the candles, but also to the raised area at the
front of the sanctuary where the little table with the candles is located. This practice is completely incorrect and extremely stupid. The raised area is called a 'raised area' or I guess maybe a 'stage'."
You look up dais
(looking up "dais" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You put the tuna in the cage
(the open can of tuna in the bird cage)
The bird cage seems to be welded closed. It must be purely decorative.
Go downwards
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony, but that hasn't stopped someone from putting a potted plant in the corner. If you can avoid tripping over the plant, an archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.

The cat watches you for a moment, but runs off to the west before you can get near it.
You look at the plant
The plant is a tiny potted palm. It's fake, but that's fair enough. It's not like there's enough light in here for a real palm tree to flourish.
You look up the secret passage
(looking up "secret passage" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You move the plant
Nothing obvious happens.
Go upwards
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.
You examine the cage
(the bird cage)
The curving faux-wrought-iron bars and caked-on "rust" identify this
as one of the non-functioning, overpriced decorations which are so popular in craft stores. What does a Sunday School need with a bird cage?
You look up projector
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Someone donated money for a projector to the church, and it caused this big kerfuffle in the Board of Trustees because they didn't really want a projector. But they couldn't spend the money on anything else, so now we have a projector that we never use!"
You open that the cage
The cage is locked, presumably to stop people like you from messing with the projector.
Go downward
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony, but that hasn't stopped someone from putting a potted plant in the corner. If you can avoid tripping over the plant, an archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.
Go west
This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.
Go north
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You look at the hymnals
one-foot cube. It's actually very pleasant to see such an orderly display.
You read the hymnal
You flip one hymnal open to a random song. This one's called "Great Is Thy Faithfulness".
You read the hymnal
You flip one hymnal open to a random song. This one's called "O Come,
O Come, Emmanuel".
You stand on the hymnals
You step up onto the stack of hymnals, careful not to knock any of
them out of place.
Sing
You mutter the West High fight song under your breath:

Fight, Fight, West High
Stomp 'Em Out Like Ants
Mortify The Other Guy
And Make Him Pee His Pants

But it doesn't make you feel any better.
Describe the surroundings
Back Room (on the stack of hymnals)
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You look at the robes
The robes are cut from a green satin fabric; you can't imagine one looking very flattering on anybody.
You look up emmanuel
(looking up "emmanuel" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You stand
You get off the stack of hymnals.

This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You wear the robes
(first taking the choir robes)
You pull out one robe, straighten its sleeves, and put it back.
You look up the hymn
(looking up "hymn" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You get the robe
You pull out one robe, straighten its sleeves, and put it back.
You get the hymnals
Taken.
You get the hymnals
You already have that.
Go upwards
A few steps up from the pews to the south are the preacher's pulpit, the altar, and the American and Christian flags. Behind them, to the north, is a tiny doorway.

On the altar are two candles.

A large cross hangs high on the wall above the altar.

From here, you could head north to the back room and south to the sanctuary.

From here, you could head north to the back room and south to the sanctuary.
You stand on the hymnals
You can only get into something free-standing.
You drop the hymnals
You place the stack of hymnals carefully on the floor.
You stand on the hymnals
You step up onto the stack of hymnals, careful not to knock any of
them out of place.
Up
(first opening the trapdoor)
Even standing on the stack of hymnals, your fingers are still are long way from reaching the loop of cord.
You put hymnals on the cage
(the bird cage)
You lack the dexterity to balance the stack of hymnals on the bird
cage while you're still holding the bird cage.
You put the hymnals on that the cage
You went to a lot of trouble to collect that ectoplasm. Better not leave it lying around.
You jump
You jump, miss the pull-cord, and almost fall off the stack of
hymnals. You know, maybe there's a safer way to reach the cord.
You drop the cage
(the bird cage)
You can't just drop the bird cage on the floor. What if someone steps on it or trips over it?
You put the cage on the hymnals
(the bird cage on the stack of hymnals)
There isn't really room for both you and the bird cage on the stack of hymnals.
You stand
You get off the stack of hymnals.

Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You can also see a stack of hymnals here.
You pull the cord with the cage
(the bird cage)
The bird cage really isn't a suitable tool for opening the trapdoor.
You put the cage on the hymnals
(the bird cage on the stack of hymnals)
You put the bird cage on the stack of hymnals.
You stand on the cage
(the projector)
That's not something you can stand on.

The cat trots up the stairs and purrs at you.
You stand on the birdcage
That's not something you can stand on.

The cat bounds downstairs.
Inventory
You are carrying:
a name tag (being worn)
an open can of tuna
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
an orange box
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You put the box on the hymnals
(the orange box on the stack of hymnals)
You put the orange box on the stack of hymnals.
You turn the box over
(the orange box over)
You pick up the stuff in the orange box and turn it upside down.
You stand on the box
(getting onto the stack of hymnals)

You step up onto the stack of hymnals, careful not to knock any of
them out of place.

You step up onto the upside-down orange box.
You reach the cord
What do you want to reach the pull-cord with?
Hand
Even standing on the upside-down orange box, your fingers are still
are long way from reaching the loop of cord.
You look around
Balcony (on the upside-down orange box) (on the stack of
hymnals)
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

On the stack of hymnals you can see a bird cage.
You put the hymnals on the box
Which do you mean, the upside-down orange box or the upside-down
orange box?
You get the box
You'd have to get off the upside-down orange box first.
You stand
You get off the upside-down orange box.

Balcony (on the stack of hymnals)
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

On the stack of hymnals you can also see a bird cage.
You get all
stack of hymnals: You'd have to get off the stack of hymnals first. tangle of bars and cables: You try to disentangle some of the cables but it's all too mixed up. You sort out one bit and the rest just gets knottier.
upside-down orange box: Taken.
bird cage: Taken.
mass of tuna: You've already had one gross substance all over your hands tonight.
You stand
You get off the stack of hymnals.

Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You can also see a stack of hymnals here.
Drop box
You place the upside-down orange box carefully on the floor.
You put hymnals on the box
You put the stack of hymnals on the upside-down orange box.
You stand on the hymnals
Standing on the hymnals is far too dangerous while they're on top of the upside-down orange box. What if the stack collapsed underneath
you?
You go east
From here, you could head south to the youth room and west to the basement stairway.
Go south
A large part of this room is taken up by a rickety ping pong table. Couches line the edges of the room, some of them close enough to the table that they're probably not safe to sit on if someone is actually playing ping pong. On the other hand, you can't see any ping pong bats anywhere, so maybe that's not an issue. In between the couches, doors lead north to the nursery, west to the Sunday School room, and south
to the black light room.

A garish golden trophy catches your eye.
You get the tv
Far too heavy.
You go northeast
As you approach the door to the men's room, you stop yourself. Isn't this something that a creep would do?

You can put your hand on the handle, but that's as far as you get. You chide yourself for your indecision.
Go northeast
That's it. Enough with this cowardice.

The door swings shut behind you.

Yes, this is more or less what you expected.

There are some stalls, and some mirrors, and some sinks, and next to those is a garbage can. The only things you haven't seen before are
the urinals. Hardly worth having an ethical dilemma over.
You take the photo of the glowing tissue
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the glowing tissue paper. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
You examine glowing
This tissue was used to wipe up an eerie glowing substance, then
thrown in a garbage can.
Search can
Which do you mean, the open can of tuna, a ladies' room garbage can, the ladies' room garbage can, the men's room garbage can, the can of tomato soup, the can of pears, the can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product", the can of cherry pie filling, the can of chicken soup, or the can of peaches?
You searchthe ladies' room garbage can
The ladies' room garbage can is empty.
You get bench
The bench is just as heavy as it looks.
You drop can
Which do you mean, the open can of tuna, the ladies' room garbage can, a ladies' room garbage can, the men's room garbage can, the can of tomato soup, the can of pears, the can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product", the can of cherry pie filling, the can of chicken soup, or the can of peaches?
You drop the garbage
Which do you mean, the ladies' room garbage can, a ladies' room
garbage can, or the men's room garbage can?
Ladies'
You place the ladies' room garbage can carefully on the floor.
You flip ladies'
You turn the ladies' room garbage can upside down.
You stand on the ladies'
You step up onto the upside-down ladies' room garbage can.
You reach
What do you want to reach the glowing tissue paper with?
You stand
You get off the upside-down ladies' room garbage can.

Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You can also see an upside-down ladies' room garbage can here.
You look at the bars
It's hard to tell what this stuff is for with it all tumbled into a heap like that. There are some metal bars, and some pulleys and
things, and a lot of tangled cables connecting things together.
You look at your surroundings
Balcony (on the upside-down ladies' room garbage can)
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.
You reach the cord
What do you want to reach the pull-cord with?
Inventory
You are carrying:
a men's room garbage can
some glowing tissue paper
a Bible Quiz Tournament trophy
a bird cage
a can of tomato soup
a can of pears
a can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product"
a can of cherry pie filling
a can of chicken soup
a can of peaches
a name tag (being worn)
an open can of tuna
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You get the palm
You remove the tripping hazard from the bottom of the balcony stairs.
Go downwards
This room is apparently just for show; there are no tables or chairs.
A wide staircase runs up to the main floor of the church, and doorways lead east to the nursery, south to the Sunday School room and north to the boiler room. Mounted on the wall is a gigantic abstract painting.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.
You go to the west
The hallway runs north into darkness. It's hard to tell how long it might be from here, though the Sunday School room to the east provides some light at this end. The plywood lighthouse, on the other hand, peacefully fails to provide any light. Behind the lighthouse and partially obscured by it is a mural of Jesus blessing the little children.
You go to the north
Thanks to the light filtering in from the south end of the hall, you can make out some kind of mural painted on the wall, but you can't
tell what it's supposed to represent in the gloom.
You examine the mural
Which do you mean, the bluish blob, the indistinct smear, or the
swathe of yellow?
Inventory
You are carrying:
a potted plant
a men's room garbage can
some glowing tissue paper
a Bible Quiz Tournament trophy
a bird cage
a can of tomato soup
a can of pears
a can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product"
a can of cherry pie filling
a can of chicken soup
a can of peaches
a name tag (being worn)
an open can of tuna
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
Wave glowing
You look ridiculous waving the glowing tissue paper.
You go to the north
It's almost completely dark. At least you can still see the light at the south end of the hallway. The rectangles to the east and west must be doorways to somewhere, but they're barely distinguishable from the walls.
Go east
Your flailing about in the dark eventually discovers a door.

It's almost completely dark. At least you can still see the light at the south end of the hallway. The rectangles to the east and west must be doorways to somewhere, but they're barely distinguishable from the walls.
You go south
Thanks to the light filtering in from the south end of the hall, you can make out some kind of mural painted on the wall, but you can't
tell what it's supposed to represent in the gloom.

The cat strolls in from the south and purrs at you.
You drop tuna
(the open can of tuna)
You place the open can of tuna carefully on the floor.

The cat wanders off to the south, glancing back at you as if to check whether you're following.
You follow the cat
(heading south)

The hallway runs north into darkness. It's hard to tell how long it might be from here, though the Sunday School room to the east provides some light at this end. The plywood lighthouse, on the other hand, peacefully fails to provide any light. Behind the lighthouse and partially obscured by it is a mural of Jesus blessing the little children.

to the east.
Again
(heading east)

This is a room designed for small people. Low benches are arranged
like pews in two rows, facing toward a small table that serves as an altar. A poster explaining the Ten Commandments hangs on one wall, and doors lead north to the basement stairway, east to the youth room and west to the hallway.

The cat wanders off to the north, glancing back at you as if to check whether you're following.
Again
(heading north)

This room is apparently just for show; there are no tables or chairs.
A wide staircase runs up to the main floor of the church, and doorways lead east to the nursery, south to the Sunday School room and north to the boiler room. Mounted on the wall is a gigantic abstract painting.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.

The cat scampers up the stairs.
Again
(heading up)

This room forms a sort of nook off the fellowship hall to the south. A wide flight of stairs leads down to the basement. There are doors to the north, northeast and southeast; according to the plaques on them, they open onto the pastor's office, the men's restroom and the ladies' restroom respectively.

A vast framed poster is hanging on the wall in between the restroom doors, and in the middle of the room, directly facing the poster, is a wooden bench.

to the south.
Again
(heading south)

This room is a bit crowded for your tastes: between the many round tables, each surrounded by a complement of folding chairs, there isn't much space to get from one end of the room to the other. The main stairway is north, the kitchen is east, and the narthex is west.

One corner is given over to a glass case containing a model church.

The cat wanders off to the west, glancing back at you as if to check whether you're following.
Again
(heading west)

The main entryway to the church, this room has been set up to be as welcoming as possible. A rack of pamphlets sits in the center of a large table, flanked by pots of fake flowers. Lying open on a podium
is a huge Bible. Pinned up on one wall is a board full of name tags.

To the east is the fellowship hall, and the large passage to the north obviously leads to the main sanctuary. The way out of the church is south of here, but that's none of your concern currently.

The cat watches you for a moment, but runs off to the north before you can get near it.
Again
(heading north)

This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.

to the north.
Again
(heading north)

A few steps up from the pews to the south are the preacher's pulpit, the altar, and the American and Christian flags. Behind them, to the north, is a tiny doorway.

On the altar are two candles.

A large cross hangs high on the wall above the altar.

The cat watches you for a moment, but runs off to the north before you can get near it.
You go south
The black walls in here have been painted with Bible verses that glow underneath the UV lights. The couches are glowing, too; unsettlingly green. The door to the north, on the other hand, is barely visible.

Propped up in one corner is a rough wooden cross.
Inventory
You are carrying:
a potted plant
a men's room garbage can
some glowing tissue paper
a Bible Quiz Tournament trophy
a bird cage
a can of tomato soup
a can of pears
a can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product"
a can of cherry pie filling
a can of chicken soup
a can of peaches
a name tag (being worn)
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You put the tissue on the light
Which do you mean, the light switch or the blacklights?
You put the paper under the lights
The lights are already on.

I didn't understand that sentence.
Smell glowing
(the glowing tissue paper)
The tissue has a flat, stuffy scent that makes you want to sneeze.
Photograph tissue paper
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the glowing tissue paper. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
You examine the photo of the tissue
Something about the lighting in the photo makes it hard to tell that the tissue paper was glowing, but the tissue has an unnatural greenish tinge to it.
You examine photos
You're holding ten photos:
two photos of the glowing tissue paper
a photo of the ghostly figure floating in the air
a photo of the model church
a photo of the ladies' room mirrors
a photo of darkness
a photo of the flickering lights
a photo of you taking a photo of yourself
a photo of the bird cage
a photo of the cat looking through the window
You examine the cage
The curving faux-wrought-iron bars and caked-on "rust" identify this
as one of the non-functioning, overpriced decorations which are so popular in craft stores. What does a Sunday School need with a bird cage?
You put the tissue in the cage
The bird cage seems to be welded closed. It must be purely decorative.
You look up tissue
(in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but it looks like Casey didn't have anything to say about the glowing tissue paper.
You describe your surroundings
The black walls in here have been painted with Bible verses that glow underneath the UV lights. The couches are glowing, too; unsettlingly green. The door to the north, on the other hand, is barely visible.

Propped up in one corner is a rough wooden cross.
You look at the couches
The black lights reveal several glowing stains on the couches.
You read the bible verses
There are maybe a dozen different verses, painted in different UV-sensitive colors, but one in particular demands your attention:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life.

It should be "The wages of sin are death."
You search couches
You'd rather not touch the couches. In fact, you'd rather not even get too close to them.
You look at the ectoplasm under the blacklights
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"Yes! This room! So, Patrick the youth leader got us together a few years ago and had us paint the walls of this room black, and then
paint Bible verses on it, and then install black lights instead of normal lights, so it would look like a Christian rave or whatever. And I mean it looks fairly cool, I guess.

"But when you have a dark room, with purple lights, and a bunch of couches, and then you invite teenagers into the room and leave them in that room unattended, what happens is, the teenagers will use that
room for what Patrick the youth leader calls 'heavy petting'.

"So that's why this room is called the Black Light Make-Out Room."

You can't see any such thing.
You take the cross
(the small white cross)
You already have that.
You examine the fuse box
Someone left the fuse box door hanging open, showing a neat row of red switches. Most are in the on position, but one, marked "WEST
BASEMENT", is off.
You flip the basement on
You flick the last switch into the ON position.
You look at the cloth
Thick, heavy black cloth of some kind—a curtain or something, maybe.
You look at the sphere
It's a black metal ball with numerous round glass panels set into it. Turning it over, you notice that it's heavyish and slightly warm to
the touch. Your fingers also find a small button on the top? base? side? of the sphere.
You get the sphere
Taken.
You press the button
The button clicks, and blue light streams from the glass panels on the sphere, reflecting off the cheap-looking mirror and scattering across the walls and ceiling. This must be one of those party light sphere things that are supposed to make your house look like a nightclub or something.
Inventory
You are carrying:
some black cloth
a party light sphere (glowing)
a potted plant
a men's room garbage can
some glowing tissue paper
a Bible Quiz Tournament trophy
a bird cage
a can of tomato soup
a can of pears
a can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product"
a can of cherry pie filling
a can of chicken soup
a can of peaches
a name tag (being worn)
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You look at the mirror
The mirror is large-ish, but the frame is just cheap fake-wood-grain plastic and the glass (is it actually glass?) is slightly warped. Judging by the Goodwill price sticker on the frame, its previous owner didn't think much of it either.
You listen
The church is silent.
You examine the stained glass
Some of the designs are purely abstract, but you notice a dove, a
lion, a lamb, and what looks like an elk.
Go north
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You go to the north
It turns out it's not that easy taking a photo of yourself with a Polaroid camera. The picture came out slightly blurry; you're not sure if it's because you weren't holding the camera still, or because it
was too close to your face.

You could hardly call this a room. It's just a long, musty, narrow space behind a wall. At one end, a flight of stairs runs up to the
room behind the altar; at the other end a heavy door leads out to the south. In between them, a fuse box is mounted on the wall, its metal door hanging open to reveal a row of switches.

You can see a cheap-looking mirror here.
Go south
The hall ends here at a heavy door to the north. A huge mural of David fighting Goliath adorns the west wall, but it's marred by a streak of gray gunk clinging to the wall.
You look at the mural
Which do you mean, David or the giant?
You examine david
David stands poised, ready to sling a stone at Goliath. The mural
makes him look like a ten-year-old. You can't really remember the the details of the story now, but surely he'd have to be a bit older than that before he was allowed to do battle with giants.
You look at Goliath
Goliath is stooping slightly to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling of the hallway.
You put gunk in the jar
You've already taken a sample of the ectoplasm; that should be sufficient.
You go south
A huge rainbow arches across the wall in this part of the hallway. Underneath it, a door leads west, with an identical door opposite on the east wall.
You look at the rainbow
The rainbow is painted in a bright, cartoony style, with thin black lines between each of the colors. Unfortunately whoever painted it put the indigo and violet stripes in the wrong order.
Look around
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the party light sphere. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.

>
You go west
A huge rainbow arches across the wall in this part of the hallway. Underneath it, a door leads west, with an identical door opposite on the east wall.

You can see a manger (empty), a huge stack of plastic chairs, a tin of half-used crayons, a pile of tiny hempen robes, a shepherd's crook, several big cloth signs, a tricycle, an unopened packet of marshmallows, an exercise ball, some paper streamer chains, and a door leading out to the hall here.
You examine it
A wooden pole with a large hook at one end. Presumably this is for the Christmas play. Judging by its size, the shepherds are played by children.
You look at the manger
This is clearly a manger from a Nativity scene—some wisps of hay are still caught in the corners. But baby Jesus is nowhere to be seen.
Unroll
(the glowing tissue paper)
That's not something you can open.
You get the signs
You start to pick up one of the signs, but it slips through your hands and starts to unroll, so you quickly push it back into place.
You look at the ball
(the party light sphere)
It's one of those party light sphere things, a black metal ball with bright blue light glowing out of the glass panels set into it. Turning it over, you notice that it's heavyish and slightly warm to the touch. Your fingers also find a small button on the top? base? side? of the sphere.
You examine the exercise ball
A huge neon pink exercise ball. Some church member is into yoga?
You get on the ball
(the party light sphere)
That's not something you can enter.
Ride tricycle
The tricycle creaks under your weight, so you quickly get off it
again.
Look around
The robes could only be worn by children, but they could represent any number of Bible characters. They've been tossed on the floor in a pitiable heap.

You can see a manger (empty), a huge stack of plastic chairs, a tin of half-used crayons, a pile of tiny hempen robes, several big cloth signs, a tricycle, an unopened packet of marshmallows, an exercise ball, some paper streamer chains, and a door leading out to the hall here.
Search room
The men's room garbage can is empty.
You get the robes
You pick up the robes, but only to fold them neatly and put them back in a tidier pile.
You examine the robes
The robes could only be worn by children, but they could represent any number of Bible characters. They have been folded and stacked up neatly.
You examine the chains
Colorful chains made out of paper streamers, like you might use as decorations for a kid's birthday party. The links are all different sizes, and there doesn't seem to be any pattern to the choice of colors. At a guess, you'd say the Sunday School children made these.
You go east
A huge rainbow arches across the wall in this part of the hallway. Underneath it, a door leads west, with an identical door opposite on the east wall.
Go east
This place is a mess.

A series of rickety shelves mounted to the north wall have failed to put the room into any kind of order. For some reason, there's nothing on the lowest shelf, even though there's stuff everywhere else. Near the shelves is a sturdy cabinet, maybe three feet tall. In front of
the cabinet and blocking the lower two-thirds of its door stands a
huge amplifier. A plywood Noah's Ark and a plywood Ark of the Covenant are sitting on the floor by the cabinet. There's a case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the Ark of the Covenant.

You can just make out a container of some kind on the very top shelf, glistening strangely.
You examine glistening
The glistening container is up on top of the wall shelves; you can't get a look at it from your current height.
You look at Ark
Which do you mean, the plywood Noah's Ark or the plywood Ark of the Covenant?
You drop can
Which do you mean, the glistening container, the men's room garbage can, the men's room garbage can, the can of tomato soup, the can of pears, the can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product", the can of cherry pie filling, the can of chicken soup, or the can of peaches?
You drop the men'S
You place the men's room garbage can carefully on the floor.
You examine Noah'S
The whole thing is made out of plywood, but smaller planks of wood
have been painted on the sides to give the vague impression of a
giant, rectangular seafaring vessel. It's two feet tall, two feet
deep, and maybe four feet long.
You flip can
Which do you mean, the men's room garbage can, the men's room garbage can, the glistening container, the can of tomato soup, the can of pears, the can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product", the can of cherry pie filling, the can of chicken soup, or the can of peaches?
You flip the men'S
You turn the men's room garbage can upside down.
You look at Ark of the Covenant
This wooden box has been spraypainted gold and detailed with glitter markers in an attempt to convey that this is an object of great value. It's two feet tall, two feet deep, and maybe four feet long.

On the plywood Ark of the Covenant is a case labelled "HANDBELLS".
You stand on the men'S
You step up onto the upside-down men's room garbage can.
You examine glistening
The glistening container is up on top of the wall shelves; you can't get a look at it from your current height.
You take glistening
The glistening container is up on top of the wall shelves; you can't reach it from your current position.
You stand
You get off the upside-down men's room garbage can.

This place is a mess.

A series of rickety shelves mounted to the north wall have failed to put the room into any kind of order. For some reason, there's nothing on the lowest shelf, even though there's stuff everywhere else. Near the shelves is a sturdy cabinet, maybe three feet tall. In front of
the cabinet and blocking the lower two-thirds of its door stands a
huge amplifier. A plywood Noah's Ark and a plywood Ark of the Covenant are sitting on the floor by the cabinet. There's a case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the Ark of the Covenant.

You can just make out a container of some kind on the very top shelf, glistening strangely.

You can see an upside-down men's room garbage can here.
You open the handbells
You open the case, revealing numerous handbell-shaped depressions in the velvet lining. No handbells here.

You close the case.
You examine the handbells
The case is made of tough black plastic.
Examine amplifier
This thing is much too big, and probably much too loud, for this church. That's probably why it's down here collecting dust.

The amplifier is about two feet tall.

The cat strolls in from the west and mews at you.
You stand on the amplifier
You climb up onto the amplifier.

to the west.
You get glistening
The glistening container is up on top of the wall shelves; you can't reach it from your current height.
You stand
You clamber down again.

This place is a mess.

A series of rickety shelves mounted to the north wall have failed to put the room into any kind of order. For some reason, there's nothing on the lowest shelf, even though there's stuff everywhere else. Near the shelves is a sturdy cabinet, maybe three feet tall. In front of
the cabinet and blocking the lower two-thirds of its door stands a
huge amplifier. A plywood Noah's Ark and a plywood Ark of the Covenant are sitting on the floor by the cabinet. There's a case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the Ark of the Covenant.

You can just make out a container of some kind on the very top shelf, glistening strangely.

You can see an upside-down men's room garbage can here.
You put the can on the amp
Which do you mean, the can of tomato soup, the can of pears, the can
of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product", the can of cherry pie filling, the can of chicken soup, the can of peaches, the upside-down men's room garbage can, the upside-down men's room garbage can, or the glistening container?
Men'S
(the upside-down men's room garbage can on the amplifier)
(first taking the upside-down men's room garbage can)

You put the upside-down men's room garbage can on the amplifier.
You stand on the men'S
You're not sure that it's safe to climb onto the upside-down men's
room garbage can while it's on the amplifier.
You reach glistening with the crook
The glistening container is up on top of the wall shelves; even if you could reach it with the crook, the most you could do is knock it off onto the floor and make a huge mess.
You put the noah's ark on Ark of the Covenant
(first taking the plywood Noah's Ark)

You heft up the plywood Noah's Ark.

The plywood Noah's Ark is too large to fit on the plywood Ark of the Covenant while the case labelled "HANDBELLS" is still on it.
You get handbells
It's too awkward to pick up the case labelled "HANDBELLS" while you're still holding the plywood Noah's Ark.
You put other Ark on Ark
(the plywood Noah's Ark on the plywood Ark of the Covenant)
The plywood Noah's Ark is too large to fit on the plywood Ark of the Covenant while the case labelled "HANDBELLS" is still on it.
You drop Noah'S
You place the plywood Noah's Ark carefully on the floor.
You get the handbells
You heft up the case labelled "HANDBELLS".
You put Ark of the Covenant on the noah's ark
(first taking the plywood Ark of the Covenant)

It's too awkward to pick up the plywood Ark of the Covenant while you're still holding the case labelled "HANDBELLS".
You need to be holding the plywood Ark of the Covenant before you can put it on top of something else.
You drop the handbells
You can't just drop the case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the floor. What
if someone steps on it or trips over it?
You put the handbells on the amp
You put the case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the amplifier.
Both
plywood Noah's Ark: The plywood Noah's Ark is already here.
plywood Ark of the Covenant: The plywood Ark of the Covenant is
already here.
You put Noah's on Covenant
(first taking the plywood Noah's Ark)

You heft up the plywood Noah's Ark.

You put the plywood Noah's Ark on the plywood Ark of the Covenant.
You stand on Noah'S
The plywood Noah's Ark is too tall for you to climb up on top of it safely from your current position.
You get on the amp
There's a case labelled "HANDBELLS" and an upside-down men's room garbage can on top of the amplifier; you'll have to clear it off
before you climb up.
You stand on Covenant
Covenant; you'll have to clear it off before you climb up.
You drop the men'S
You place the upside-down men's room garbage can carefully on the floor.
You get on the amp
There's a case labelled "HANDBELLS" on top of the amplifier; you'll have to clear it off before you climb up.
You get HANDBELLS
You heft up the case labelled "HANDBELLS".
You put HANDBELLS on floor
You can't just drop the case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the floor. What
if someone steps on it or trips over it?
You describe your surroundings
This place is a mess.

A series of rickety shelves mounted to the north wall have failed to put the room into any kind of order. For some reason, there's nothing on the lowest shelf, even though there's stuff everywhere else. Near the shelves is a sturdy cabinet, maybe three feet tall. In front of
the cabinet and blocking the lower two-thirds of its door stands a
huge amplifier. A plywood Ark of the Covenant is sitting on the floor by the cabinet, with a plywood Noah's Ark on top of it.

You can just make out a container of some kind on the very top shelf, glistening strangely.

You can see an upside-down men's room garbage can here.
You stand on other Ark
(the plywood Noah's Ark)
The plywood Noah's Ark is too tall for you to climb up on top of it safely from your current position.
You stand on Ark of the Covenant
Covenant; you'll have to clear it off before you climb up.
You put HANDBELLS on Ark of the Covenant
There's no room for the case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the plywood Ark
of the Covenant while the plywood Noah's Ark is on the plywood Ark of the Covenant.
You put HANDBELLS on the noah's ark
Stacking the case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the plywood Noah's Ark on
the plywood Ark of the Covenant? On second thoughts, piling things
that high seems a bit dangerous.
You put HANDBELLS on the shelf
You put the case labelled "HANDBELLS" on the lowest shelf.
You stand on the amp
You climb up onto the amplifier.
You stand on the amp
You're already standing on the amplifier.
You stand on Noah'S
The plywood Noah's Ark is too tall for you to climb up on top of it safely, even though you're on the amplifier.
You stand
You clamber down again.

This place is a mess.

A series of rickety shelves mounted to the north wall have failed to put the room into any kind of order. On the lowest shelf is a case labelled "HANDBELLS". Near the shelves is a sturdy cabinet, maybe
three feet tall. In front of the cabinet and blocking the lower two-thirds of its door stands a huge amplifier. A plywood Ark of the Covenant is sitting on the floor by the cabinet, with a plywood Noah's Ark on top of it.

You can just make out a container of some kind on the very top shelf, glistening strangely.

You can see an upside-down men's room garbage can here.
You stand on the cabinet
The sturdy cabinet is too tall for you to climb up on top of it safely from your current position.
You stand on the cabinet
The plywood Noah's Ark is too tall for you to climb up on top of it safely, even though you're on the amplifier.

You climb up onto the sturdy cabinet.
You stand on Noah'S
You climb up onto the plywood Noah's Ark. You now have a clear view of the glistening container.
You look at the container
It looks a lot like a paint can, but trails of viscous grayish goop
are running down the sides. What printing you can see on the label is in the "avoid contact with eyes, harmful if swallowed" vein.
You get the container
The can of goo is still far out of reach, but at least from here you can take a clear picture of it.
Photograph container
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the can of goo. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
You reach the container with the crook
You can reach the can with the crook, sure, but the most you could do is knock it off onto the floor and make a huge mess. Maybe you should just leave it where it is.
You stand
You clamber down again.

This place is a mess.

A series of rickety shelves mounted to the north wall have failed to put the room into any kind of order. On the lowest shelf is a case labelled "HANDBELLS". Near the shelves is a sturdy cabinet, maybe
three feet tall. In front of the cabinet and blocking the lower two-thirds of its door stands a huge amplifier. A plywood Ark of the Covenant is sitting on the floor by the cabinet, with a plywood Noah's Ark on top of it.

You can just make out a container of some kind on the very top shelf, glistening strangely.

You can see an upside-down men's room garbage can here.
You examine the photo of the goo
Trails of glistening grayish goop run down the sides of the can and dribble onto the shelf beneath it.
Go west
A huge rainbow arches across the wall in this part of the hallway. Underneath it, a door leads west, with an identical door opposite on the east wall.
Go up
From here, the only way out is south to more hallway.
Go north
You could hardly call this a room. It's just a long, musty, narrow space behind a wall. At one end, a flight of stairs runs up to the
room behind the altar; at the other end a heavy door leads out to the south. In between them, a fuse box is mounted on the wall, its metal door hanging open to reveal a row of switches.
Up
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You go to the east
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony. An archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.
Up
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. On the ceiling behind the pews, you can see the square outline of what must be a trapdoor of
some kind, and a narrow staircase leads back down to the sanctuary.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You can also see an upside-down ladies' room garbage can here.
You get on ladies'
You step up onto the upside-down ladies' room garbage can.
Crook
You catch the loop of cord with the end of the crook and pull. The trapdoor opens and a small ladder slides down, offering access to the steeple above.
You stand
You get off the upside-down ladies' room garbage can.

Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. Behind the pews you can see the ladder up to the steeple, and a narrow staircase leads back down
to the sanctuary.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You can also see an upside-down ladies' room garbage can here.
Go up
The inside of the church steeple is a cold concrete cube with cinderblock walls. There's one window, but it's been boarded up.

You jump. There's a boy sitting on the floor, smirking at you. It's Aiden Kingsley.

The ghost's glowing dress lies in a heap nearby. It doesn't look very ghostly now.

Aiden stands up. "Hey, hey, Robin! Are you enjoying your evening?" he asks, smiling.

You are not smiling. "So you're the ghost."

"Well, yes. Well, no. I am not a dead person. Heh. But I portrayed the ghost you saw, yes."

"Does Orchid know?"

"Does Orchid know. Does Orchid know? What a well-chosen detective question."

Aiden looks down the trapdoor behind you. "Do you think we could continue this conversation downstairs? It's really freaking cold up here."
You hit Aiden
Aiden—like suspended-at-the-very-least levels of trouble.
Yes
Aiden grimaces. "Seriously, can we talk downstairs? I'm about to
freeze to death. And then I'll be a real ghost! Heh."
Go downward
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. Behind the pews you can see the ladder up to the steeple, and a narrow staircase leads back down
to the sanctuary.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You can also see an upside-down ladies' room garbage can here.

You look back to make sure Aiden has followed you.

"Yes. Now I'll tell you the answer to your question. Of course Orchid knows. This was all Orchid's idea. She was very naughty. And I'm not even supposed to be here, so I should probably get going."

He tries to slip past you, but you grab his arm.

Aiden yelps like a dog. "What's your problem?"

"You're not going anywhere. I've got a few more questions."

"Then can you get your hands off me first? You're gonna break my arm."

"Sure." You let go of his arm. "Let's get going." You know exactly where the two of you are going, but you should probably keep that a surprise.
Photograph aiden
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of Aiden. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
Go downward
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony. An archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.

Aiden mopes along after you.

"Yeah, Orchid brought the idea to me. She said if she could write a story about a real ghost, then maybe people would actually read the newspaper. Heh. But I told her I'd help her."

"Why?"

"For the heck of it, primarily."
Go upwards
No time to explore now. Sharon needs to know what's been going on.
You look at the dress
It's been cut up and painted, but you're pretty sure you recognize the dress as the one Orchid wore last Halloween, when she was Dorothy
Gale.
You take the photo of the dress
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of the glowing dress. The camera whirrs and
vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
Go downwards
The inside of the church steeple is a cold concrete cube with cinderblock walls. There's one window, but it's been boarded up.

Aiden looks you over.

The ghost's glowing dress lies in a heap nearby. It doesn't look very ghostly now.

Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. Behind the pews you can see the ladder up to the steeple, and a narrow staircase leads back down
to the sanctuary.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You can also see an upside-down ladies' room garbage can here.

You look back to make sure Aiden has followed you.

"Yes. Now I'll tell you the answer to your question. Of course Orchid knows. This was all Orchid's idea. She was very naughty. And I'm not even supposed to be here, so I should probably get going."

He tries to slip past you, but you grab his arm.

Aiden yelps like a dog. "What's your problem?"

"You're not going anywhere. I've got a few more questions."

"Then can you get your hands off me first? You're gonna break my arm."

"Sure." You let go of his arm. "Let's get going." You know exactly where the two of you are going, but you should probably keep that a surprise.
Go downward
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony. An archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.

Aiden mopes along after you.

"Yeah, Orchid brought the idea to me. She said if she could write a story about a real ghost, then maybe people would actually read the newspaper. Heh. But I told her I'd help her."

"Why?"

"For the heck of it, primarily."
Go downward
From here, you could head west to the sanctuary and up to the balcony.
Go west
This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.

Aiden follows you in.

"Originally, she was just going to let me in the church during the sleepover, and we'd just spend the night taking a bunch of ghost pictures. However. Then we found out that you were going to be the other newspaper girl staying the night. And Orchid said you'd never go along with it. So we had to change the plan."
You examine the desk
You saw one of these in a movie once. The top recedes into the back of the desk, and you can hide a convict inside.
You look up desk
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "The sound guy, whose name I don't remember, keeps all the controls for the sound and lights in that rolltop desk. He takes the key to the desk home with him, because the stuff inside is super expensive. I'm just fine with not breaking into it and messing around because I would probably break everything."
You look up sound guy
(looking up "sound guy" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You ask Aiden for the number
Aiden looks around nervously. "Why don't we keep moving, huh?"
You go to the south
The main entryway to the church, this room has been set up to be as welcoming as possible. A rack of pamphlets sits in the center of a large table, flanked by pots of fake flowers. Lying open on a podium
is a huge Bible. Pinned up on one wall is a board full of name tags.

To the east is the fellowship hall, and the large passage to the north obviously leads to the main sanctuary. The way out of the church is south of here, but that's none of your concern currently.

Aiden follows you in.

As you enter the narthex, Orchid strolls in through the front door of the church. When she sees Aiden, her eyes go wide.

"Aiden! What are you doing here?"

"Hey. Don't bother," Aiden snaps. "I've already told her everything.
Or almost everything. Heh."

Orchid rushes up to Aiden with her fists clenched. "You're lying. There's no proof. All you can prove is that you broke into the church and tried to scare us."

"Well, no," says Aiden. "I can prove some other things. I have the receipts. For the makeup and everything. Because you had to use a credit card, idiot."

Orchid goes quiet.

"Well, we can talk about this in the morning," Aiden says, and he
makes for the southern exit—but you grab his arm, and he cries out softly. "Yeah. Your way is probably better."
You show the photos to Orchid
Orchid declines to comment.
Go east
This room is a bit crowded for your tastes: between the many round tables, each surrounded by a complement of folding chairs, there isn't much space to get from one end of the room to the other. The main stairway is north, the kitchen is east, and the narthex is west.

One corner is given over to a glass case containing a model church.

Aiden and Orchid come in after you.

"Now, where were we? Orchid didn't trust you to help her pull off this hoax. She said you're too much of a straight arrow. Those weren't her exact words. What were your exact words, Orchid?"

Orchid is looking down at her shoes.

Aiden shrugs. "She said something really nasty."
You go north
This room forms a sort of nook off the fellowship hall to the south. A wide flight of stairs leads down to the basement. There are doors to the north, northeast and southeast; according to the plaques on them, they open onto the pastor's office, the men's restroom and the ladies' restroom respectively.

A vast framed poster is hanging on the wall in between the restroom doors, and in the middle of the room, directly facing the poster, is a wooden bench.

Orchid and Aiden follow along.

"But Orchid had this other great idea. She figured if we went a little further with the hoax, we could get you to believe the ghost was real. Heh."

"I wasn't trying to trick you!" Orchid pleads. "I just wanted it to be authentic. I wanted it to be a great story."

"Sure, and then the great ghost story would be in the newspaper with the name of the most trustworthy reporter on staff on it, and Orchid's name too." Aiden chuckles. "But, looks like that didn't work out."
Go downward
This room is apparently just for show; there are no tables or chairs.
A wide staircase runs up to the main floor of the church, and doorways lead east to the nursery, south to the Sunday School room and north to the boiler room. Mounted on the wall is a gigantic abstract painting.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.

Orchid and Aiden come down the stairs after you.

Aiden looks past you, into the nursery, and you can see something
click in his brain.

"Although, you know, we could still do it. You guys can write the story, I won't say anything, Orchid won't say anything, everyone will love it, you'll probably be co-editors-in-chief next year. Let's go back upstairs, we'll get some better pictures of the ghost."

"No thanks," you say.
Photograph orchid
(with the Polaroid camera)
You snap a picture of Orchid. The camera whirrs and vibrates and eventually spits out a print of the photo.
Go east
Battered toys spill out of the toybox and across the floor, piling up in a corner of the room. Cupboards are mounted high on the walls, out of reach of tiny fingers, and an enormous blue recliner sits
underneath them. It's already dark outside, and the doors west to the basement stairway and south to the youth room are dark as well.

Your sleeping bag is lying on a tidy patch of floor, ready for when
you finish your investigation.

Sharon's makeshift bed doesn't look comfortable, but apparently she's fast asleep anyway.

You usher Aiden and Orchid in ahead of you.
You wake sharon
Sharon stirs, rubs her eyes, and looks at you, then Orchid, then
Aiden. She says something that one does not typically say in a church.

***
You press space
"What did she say?"

"I won't repeat it."

Casey slumps back in his chair. "You would make a great Christian," he mutters.

"I'm sure I would." You try not to smile.

"Well, how did Aiden fly around in the sanctuary?"

"I'm entertaining a hypothesis. I noticed components from an unusual mechanism lying around in the balcony."

"The Engelgurt?"

"If you like. I assume that, while I was chasing after Aiden, Orchid was up in the balcony disassembling the rig so it would look ever so slightly less suspicious."

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Orchid?"

"I heard that she's suspended from the next two issues of the paper."

Casey pouts. "I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Sorry. Why don't you tell me what happened to Aiden?"

"I'd love to! Except, I didn't know anything happened to Aiden. I didn't think they could do anything, since he's not on the newspaper?"

"Unfortunately for Aiden, in this case the left and right hands are in close communication. The drama department is putting him on probation for an as-yet undetermined period."

Casey perks right back up. "Robin! That is the best thing I've ever heard! Although the thing about Orchid is pretty great too."

"Well, Orchid is getting what she wanted anyway, I think. The
Warbler is going to run a story that people will actually
read, for once—except this one is true."
You look up gwen
(Gwen)
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"I'll tell you about the big painting at the bottom of the stairs, but first I have to tell you about Homeschooled Gwen.

"Homeschooled Gwen, so called because she was totally homeschooled, went to our high school. Yes! She was not in fact completely homeschooled, because her parents sent her to West for seventh-period geometry, because they did not remember the quadratic formula. It is:
x equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac, over 2a.

"But Gwen's parents couldn't remember that, even though I, Casey, memorized it so easily. So Gwen went to West High. And she was in my Geometry class."

You pause before flipping the page. This story barely seems relevant
to the church, much less your investigation. Are you sure you want to keep reading?
Yes
You turn the page:

"So, due to being homeschooled, Gwen was not at all socialized for interacting with us teens of the modern era. What I am saying is that she was super weird. I was friends with her mostly out of morbid curiosity. Here are some of the weird stunts she pulled in Geometry: Told us all individually what breed of dog we would be if we were
dogs. Read us stories, apparently like Wendy read to the Lost Boys. Gave us a survey about what we found attractive in girls.

"When I say 'us' I mean just the boys in class. Gwen was super boy-crazy, because, due to being homeschooled all of her life, Gwen
had never seen a boy before. Yes."

This looks like it might be turning into an extended rant against the institution of homeschooling (Casey can be something of a jerk when it comes to things he knows nothing about). Do you want to continue?
Yes
Casey goes on:

"I mean she had probably seen a male human before. She had a dad; we found that out eventually. But you know what I mean.

"Anyway one day after school, after seventh-period geometry, I was hanging out in the mud room waiting for my ride home, and Gwen was there too, waiting for her own ride back to her own horrible school-home hybrid, and then Patrick the youth leader showed
up, because he's still allowed on school grounds. And he asked me
about the lock-in."

It is increasingly clear to you that this story has no bearing on your investigation. Do you want to keep reading it?
Yes
You turn another page.

"Or he asked me about something. Probably the lock-in. But we
were talking, and Gwen was there, and Patrick the youth leader WITHOUT CONSULTING ME BEFOREHAND looks over at Gwen and asks her if she wants to come to the lock-in. And of course Gwen says yes, because there
will be boys there.

"Gwen came to the lock-in, and after that she started coming to the high school group meetings. And an unfortunate percentage of people in the group did not seem to catch on right away that Gwen was a nutbar, so she felt very welcome and emotionally supported by us, and when Patrick the youth leader opened the floor for 'discussion' after his sermons we all got to listen to her insane opinions about
Thanksgiving, and family togetherness, and sex, etc., etc."

You look up from the notes. Maybe there's something else you should be doing. Do you want to continue reading?
Yes
"Then, this was around the end of last semester, Patrick the youth leader gave all of us in the group one of his CHALLENGES. His
CHALLENGE to us this particular week was for us to think about our relationship to the church. I mean, like, 'spend the next seven days thinking about this, and come back next week with something really profound.' A lot of Patrick the youth leader's CHALLENGES are
basically attempts to get us to say something profound.

"And of course we all forgot about this CHALLENGE immediately, because come on. He never follows up on any of them anyway. He just read in some youth leader magazine that you should give your youth group CHALLENGES.

"And when we came back the next week, of course, Patrick the youth leader doesn't bother asking anyone what brilliant answers we came up with to his incredibly vague CHALLENGE. We had a sermon and then we played Sardines or whatever.

"But before we could leave, Patrick the youth leader called us all together, because Gwen had something to share with us."

Keep reading?
Yes
"Now that I think about it, she must have brought the painting in with her, left it behind a couch or something, and waited for three hours
or however long for Patrick the youth leader to ask for people's answers to his CHALLENGE of the previous week. She was just too
freaked out and embarrassed to bring it up herself, until the very
last possible moment.

"So yeah it was this painting. I'm not gonna bother describing this painting, because you can see it yourself. But if you think about it, all those tiny brushstrokes on a canvas that huge must have taken a zillion hours to do, and she supposedly only had a week to paint it. I guess that's what the church meant to Gwen."

It goes on a little longer, but that feels like an end to the "substance" of the story, such as it is. Should you bother reading the rest?
Yes
"Well, sometime during the summer, Gwen quit coming to the youth
group. It took me a while to figure out what happened but it turns out she got grounded from church because her parents
found out she had a crush on a boy who went there.

"So, that is the story on Homeschooled Gwen. You will never meet her, because her parents will never let her out of the house again."
Go west
No time to explore now. Sharon needs to know what's been going on.
You look up nap
(looking up "nap" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up the napping
(looking up "napping" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You hide
(in the glowing tissue paper)
The glowing tissue paper wouldn't make much of a hiding spot.
You look up the CHALLENGES
(looking up "challenges" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You examine the photo of Orchid
Orchid scowls out of the photo at you, her eyebrows scrunched and her mouth turned down at the corners.
You examine Orchid
Orchid, like most girls your age, is taller than you. Her cheeks are covered in freckles that you had never seen before tonight; she must put makeup on over them for school. You have the uneasy feeling that there are more freckles on her left cheek than her right.

She notices you examining her, and you look away.
Kiss orchid
The reason your overnight investigatory team had to consist of two girls was to minimize the chances of any funny business.
You look up nativity
(looking up "nativity" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up manger
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "So last year, Orchid said she wanted to run the Christmas play. And
Marcie Kempulfers, who always runs the Christmas play every year, thought that was a great idea. She said it would be really cute to
have a little girl be in charge of the play. This was last year, so Orchid was either fifteen or sixteen years old, I think.

"The first thing Orchid suggested was that they use a real baby to
play the baby Jesus. Some church person had a baby, and Orchid,
because she's completely a girl, was totally nuts for this baby. But Marcie says oh no, we always use a doll for the baby Jesus, real
babies cause so many headaches.

"You can see where this is going. But I'll write more about it in some other entries. This is Entry One of Four."
You look up the entry two
(looking up "entry two" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up marcie
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Marcie Kempulfers is in charge of the bell choir and that kind of thing and she's boring."
You look up HANDBELLS
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"Here is the deal with the handbells. Marcie Kempulfers is in charge
of the bell choir. She has a very strict handbell protocol. The handbells are church property, and she says so frequently as people
try to goof off in bell choir practice.

"But Patrick the youth leader is not so uptight, and for this youth service he thought we should do a bell choir number, without any oversight by or permission from Marcie Kempulfers. He decided we
should play 'Seek Ye First', because he could only force an octave's worth of kids to volunteer, and he thought it was an easy song. And it is an easy song. But we were poorly motivated.

"So the youth service rolls around, and the extremely unofficial youth bell choir has yet to master our song. But we're listed in the
program. We have to go out and perform, and when we perform this song we are going to butcher it.

"Then, right before the service starts, Marcie Kempulfers shows up to have words with Patrick the youth leader. The effects of these words were, first of all, we were definitely not going to be performing a non-Kempulfers-supervised handbell piece, ever, and secondly, now Marcie takes the handbells home with her whenever they aren't being used at church.

"I don't know why she doesn't take the case too."
You look up mary
(looking up "mary" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up joseph
(looking up "joseph" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up christmas
(looking up "christmas" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up nativity
(looking up "nativity" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up play
(looking up "play" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up cows
(looking up "cows" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up crook
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Okay. Just as she's about to land, Orchid's robe gets caught on one
of the shepherd's crooks, and the Engelgurt suffers a critical failure and Orchid falls to the floor and according to some witnesses almost dies. The whole service gets shut down so that Orchid can go to the emergency room, although I think all that happened was she sprained
her ankle.

"Of course, Orchid is in huge trouble with Marcie Kempulfers and with the church in general, but what does being in trouble with a church even mean? It's not like they can expel you. We're Methodists. They didn't even get rid of the Engelgurt; it's still in the storage room.

"And anyway Orchid wasn't sorry at all. She kept saying, 'At least it was new!' 'At least it was exciting!' Because that's how she operates.

"That's it. This is Entry Four of Four."
You look up the robes
Which do you mean, the choir robes or the neat stack of hempen robes?
You look up the hempen robes
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "So next Orchid says she wants the shepherds to sing a song. You have to understand that the shepherds are played by the littler kids, and the older kids play angels or Mary and Joseph or the wise men, and while every older kid ends up having to sing a song at some point, the shepherds do not. I think Orchid wanted them to sing 'Silent Night', which is a pretty good choice for little kids to sing. I will admit that Orchid made a good call here.

"But Marcie did not agree. I'm pretty sure Marcie thinks that because it's impossible to get little kids to carry a tune or understand Italian music vocabulary, nobody wants to hear them sing in church, which is a critical misconception and I think indicates some sort of psychological defect in Marcie Kempulfers's brain. Anyway.

"Marcie made up this insane justification to have the bell choir play 'Silent Night' instead. She said the bell choir had already practiced it, which was technically true, although specifically they had practiced it during the previous calendar year. But Marcie got her
way.

"I hope you're not reading this as me defending Orchid, because I
would never do that. Don't worry; we will get to the part where Orchid is horrible in the next entry. This is Entry Two of Four."
You look up the cloth signs
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: We hang up the cloth signs in the sanctuary for Advent. I think they say 'Hope', 'Wait', 'Expect', and 'Await'."
You look up boiler room
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"I've only been inside of the boiler room very briefly, but I have to assume it's a really cool place to hang out. Make sure you tell me all about it when you get the chance."
You look up the blank page
(looking up "blank page" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up black light
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"Yes! This room! So, Patrick the youth leader got us together a few years ago and had us paint the walls of this room black, and then
paint Bible verses on it, and then install black lights instead of normal lights, so it would look like a Christian rave or whatever. And I mean it looks fairly cool, I guess.

"But when you have a dark room, with purple lights, and a bunch of couches, and then you invite teenagers into the room and leave them in that room unattended, what happens is, the teenagers will use that
room for what Patrick the youth leader calls 'heavy petting'.

"So that's why this room is called the Black Light Make-Out Room."
You look up back room
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "The back room is kind of a secret, I guess, although we use it as the 'backstage' whenever we do plays and that kind of thing. Nobody ever uses it as a hiding place when we're playing games, though. I guess it might be too obvious? Or maybe it's just too boring.

"You can get to the basement from the back room, too: there's a
sliding panel in the back wall, but to get it open, you have to apply some upward pressure to get it out of its groove a little bit. That's the real secret, I guess."
You look up tunnel
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "You might want to know where the tunnel is, because that's where the fuse box is. If I remember to draw a map for you then I'll make sure to point out the tunnel and stick it in here."

There is no map.
You look up fuse box
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "The fuse box is in the tunnel. I don't know how it works. Ohms."
You look up the tuna
Which do you mean, the open can of tuna or the mass of tuna?
You look up the mass of the tuna
(in Casey's notes)
On the subject of canned food Casey writes, "I'm pretty sure the
people who are supposed to be in charge of donating stuff to the Food Bank are really disorganized, because you always see spare cans of stuff lying around. Or maybe some of the cans were rejected by the
Food Bank. I don't know how it works."
You look up the cables
(in Casey's notes)
But what is it? You're not sure what to look for in the notes.
You look up sugarman
(looking up "sugarman" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up cat
(in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but it looks like Casey didn't have anything to say about the cat.
Xyzzy
You sneeze.
Go north
A few steps up from the pews to the south are the preacher's pulpit, the altar, and the American and Christian flags. Behind them, to the north, is a tiny doorway.

On the altar are two candles.

A large cross hangs high on the wall above the altar.

to the north.
Go north
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.

The cat bounds downstairs.
Down
Behind the sliding door you find a steep, narrow flight of stairs with no handrail. You walk down them slowly, not wanting to miss your footing in the dim light.

You could hardly call this a room. It's just a long, musty, narrow space behind a wall. At one end, a flight of stairs runs up to the
room behind the altar; at the other end a heavy door leads out to the south. In between them, a fuse box is mounted on the wall, its metal door hanging open to reveal a row of switches.

A cheap-looking mirror, a black sphere and some black cloth are lying in a heap on the floor.

The cat sits down underneath the fuse box and starts licking its paw.
You examine the cloth
Thick, heavy black cloth of some kind—a curtain or something, maybe.

The cat scampers up the stairs.
You examine the fuse
Unlike some of the other switches, the "West Basement" switch actually has a legible label. It's also the only switch that's not turned on right now.
Up
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
You look up Bible
(the huge Bible)
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "But if you turn the lights on, you'll see there's a Bible on that podium. I'm pretty sure that Bible is worth hundreds of dollars. It has a lot of really nice pictures in it, at least. Don't mess with it."
You examine Bible
The Bible is obviously a well-respected object around here, but it's not a mere display piece; the pages have been creased and scuffed by continuous use.
You look up podium
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "You want to be careful if you're sneaking around the narthex in the dark, because there is a podium in there that is really, really easy to not notice, and the corners of that podium are right about at crotch level."
You look up the genesis in Bible
You can't seem to find exactly what you're looking for, but you do
find this: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more."
You examine the podium
It resembles a miniature Roman column, although you think it would probably fall over in a stiff breeze.
You hide
What do you want to hide in?
You hide in the chest
You lie down inside the chest, and notice that there's plenty of space inside. It's not a bad spot.
inside. It's not a bad spot.But there's no time for napping now.

You pull yourself out of the box.
You look up chest
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I don't know if we've ever used the chest in the back room for anything. I think Patrick the youth leader said they could keep sheet music in it, but fat chance of Marcie leaving her sheet music at church.

"But it doesn't bother me if it's always empty. Sometimes I take naps in there."
Nap in chest
The huge wooden chest would make a terrible bed.
You go south
You could hardly call this a room. It's just a long, musty, narrow space behind a wall. At one end, a flight of stairs runs up to the
room behind the altar; at the other end a heavy door leads out to the south. In between them, a fuse box is mounted on the wall, its metal door hanging open to reveal a row of switches.

A cheap-looking mirror, a black sphere and some black cloth are lying in a heap on the floor.

(first opening the heavy door)
The heavy door slips out of your fingers and slams shut behind you, leaving you in darkness.

It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing except for the dim light trickling in from the south end of the hallway.

It's almost completely dark. At least you can still see the light at the south end of the hallway. The rectangles to the east and west must be doorways to somewhere, but they're barely distinguishable from the walls.
Go east
Thanks to the light filtering in from the south end of the hall, you can make out some kind of mural painted on the wall, but you can't
tell what it's supposed to represent in the gloom.

The hallway runs north into darkness. It's hard to tell how long it might be from here, though the Sunday School room to the east provides some light at this end. The plywood lighthouse, on the other hand, peacefully fails to provide any light. Behind the lighthouse and partially obscured by it is a mural of Jesus blessing the little children.

This is a room designed for small people. Low benches are arranged
like pews in two rows, facing toward a small table that serves as an altar. A poster explaining the Ten Commandments hangs on one wall, and doors lead north to the basement stairway, east to the youth room and west to the hallway.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.
Go north
This room is apparently just for show; there are no tables or chairs.
A wide staircase runs up to the main floor of the church, and doorways lead east to the nursery, south to the Sunday School room and north to the boiler room. Mounted on the wall is a gigantic abstract painting.

This must be a fairly large room, but most of the space is given over to snaking pipes, anonymous machinery, and the church's giant boiler.
You examine the pipes
Many of the pipes run all the way down to the floor from their tangled maze in the ceiling, making some corners of the room impossible to reach.
You examine the machinery
A menagerie of valves and pressure gauges stick out from the pipes at awkward angles, some dangerously close to your eye level.
You search pipes
A menagerie of valves and pressure gauges stick out from the pipes at awkward angles, some dangerously close to your eye level.

There are few gaps wide enough to stick your head through, and they only reveal more of the same scenery.
You examine the boiler
A massive faceless hulk of an appliance. You can hear it murmuring quietly to itself—or maybe you're hearing something else.
You listen
Now you can only hear air currents: the whisper of an empty building
at night.
You look at the painting
The piece is very pleasant, if not particularly interesting: the inoffensive greens and pinks could suggest river waters, or branches waving in the wind. Its size is probably its most impressive quality.
You examine the door
Which do you mean, the ladies' room door, the men's room door, or the pastor's door?

Which do you mean, the ladies' room door, the men's room door, or the pastor's door?
You look at the Pastor
seen, but the plaque on it reads, "Pastor Ivan Shearer."
You look up ivan
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"Good old Pastor Ivan! What can you say about someone like Pastor
Ivan? Not much!"
Unlock Pastor
You rattle the door handle, gently at first and then harder. Nothing happens.
Unlock Pastor
happens....and then the alarm starts screaming at you.
You go to the west
This room is a bit crowded for your tastes: between the many round tables, each surrounded by a complement of folding chairs, there isn't much space to get from one end of the room to the other. The main stairway is north, the kitchen is east, and the narthex is west.

One corner is given over to a glass case containing a model church.

The main entryway to the church, this room has been set up to be as welcoming as possible. A rack of pamphlets sits in the center of a large table, flanked by pots of fake flowers. Lying open on a podium
is a huge Bible. Pinned up on one wall is a board full of name tags.

To the east is the fellowship hall, and the large passage to the north obviously leads to the main sanctuary. The way out of the church is south of here, but that's none of your concern currently.
You examine tags
There must be a name tag on here for everybody who's ever set foot in this church.

The cat strolls in from the east and purrs at you.
You go east
The cat bounds into the fellowship hall ahead of you.

This room is a bit crowded for your tastes: between the many round tables, each surrounded by a complement of folding chairs, there isn't much space to get from one end of the room to the other. The main stairway is north, the kitchen is east, and the narthex is west.

One corner is given over to a glass case containing a model church.

The cat wanders off to the north, glancing back at you as if to check whether you're following.
Smash case
You have to assume you'd get in huge trouble if you broke anything.
You look up ladies'
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Well, Robin. I actually explored the ladies' restroom briefly, during a game of Sardines. But then, because of events that transpired, the ladies' restroom was declared to be off-limits. And shortly after
that, because of fairness, the men's restroom was declared to be off-limits as well. For Sardines purposes at least."
You look up men'S
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "If you have time, you should go ahead and take a look in the men's room, since who knows how many opportunities like this you'll have in the future. I won't spoil anything by describing it here."
You look up the urinals
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "The thing about the urinals in the men's room is, there are no divider walls in between them. I don't like it, Robin. I don't like it at
all."
You look up the potted meat food product
(in Casey's notes)
On the subject of canned food Casey writes, "I'm pretty sure the
people who are supposed to be in charge of donating stuff to the Food Bank are really disorganized, because you always see spare cans of stuff lying around. Or maybe some of the cans were rejected by the
Food Bank. I don't know how it works."
You look up robin
(the name tag)
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"When the new pastor came, he insisted that everybody wear name tags all the time, but that didn't last long. Name tags are a pain."
You look up camera
kitchen, only more so. Long countertops line the walls, with cupboards and drawers underneath them. A break in the counters allows you to leave the kitchen via the door to the west, and on the far side of the room a sink is set into the counter.

(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I'm really glad you're using a Polaroid to get proof of the ghost, because that's what Winona Ryder used in Beetlejuice to get proof of
Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis.

"Now that I think of it, in the movie, the ghosts didn't actually show up on the Polaroids. But that's probably not how it works in real life."
You look up cross
(the small white cross)
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting:
"Man, when I was a little kid in Sunday School, and we had those
little kid Bible lessons, I always used to stare at that little white cross, to pass the time or something. I'm pretty sure I was too smart for Sunday School. Sunday School is a weird thing to be too smart for, I guess.

"Although I guess when the high schoolers broke off to be their own mature group, that was basically the same thing. Kind of. In that situation it was because we were too cool for the junior high kids.
But that's still really weird.

"What I mean is, it's really weird for people who identify as Christians to also identify as being too cool for something."
You look up the wooden cross
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "If you ask me I think that big gnarly cross in the black light room is in kind of poor taste, mostly because of the barbed wire crown on top. It doesn't belong in a church, it belongs in a grungy music video, with some rotting steak or something.

"I dunno, I feel like the torture of Christ isn't exactly radical? But I guess Patrick the youth leader likes it."
You look up large cross
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "A cross is not technically a crucifix unless there's a Jesus on it. We are not Catholics, so we have a plain old cross, and it suits us just fine."
You look up the notes
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I know there's a lot of the church you haven't seen or that you don't remember, so I'm writing down everything I can think of. I feel like these notes will be an invaluable resource when I get older and feel the need to revisit the carefree days of my youth, so make sure you give them back to me."
You look up the candles
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Churches are all about candles. I bet 30% of any given church's
budget is probably spent on candles and candle paraphernalia. But can you imagine a church without candles? No, you can't."
You look up kitchen
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "If you've seen Jurassic Park then the kitchen is really scary in
the dark. If you haven't seen Jurassic Park then you should
get around to that."
You look up sink
(in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but it looks like Casey didn't have anything to say about the kitchen sink.
You look up the matches
(looking up "matches" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up match
(looking up "match" in Casey's notes)
You riffle through the notes, but you can't find anything that seems relevant.
You look up light
(the light switch)
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "I don't have much to say about the lights. Sometimes there's a problem and you have to go mess with the fuse box. But in your case it doesn't matter, because you should be leaving the lights off anyway! You're hunting a ghost!"
You look up sharon
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Why do people like Sharon want to become teachers? (By 'people like
Sharon' I mean 'people who obviously hate everything about teaching, even and especially students'.) If you're already completely jaded and cynical after your first semester of student teaching, isn't that a sign that you should give up on K-12 education and possibly on life in general?"

"No thanks," you say.
Describe the surroundings
kitchen, only more so. Long countertops line the walls, with cupboards and drawers underneath them. A break in the counters allows you to leave the kitchen via the door to the west, and on the far side of the room a sink is set into the counter.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying:
a name tag (being worn)
a can of tuna
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
an orange box
a bird cage
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)
You look up jam
(in Casey's notes)
You can't find a note for any specific jar, but Casey did write down something related.

"In like, I think freshman year, Patrick the youth leader had this great idea to try canning preserves, to raise money for some kind of thing. And he gave each of us a job: you get jars, you get strawberries, you get peaches, we'll all come together and can stuff.

"And, because we were freshmen and not yet completely jaded by the
high school experience, we all brought the stuff we were supposed to. But on the day of the big event it turned out, in a revelation that completely shocked the socks off of Patrick the youth leader, that canning preserves is a pretty complicated process with steps beyond just mashing up fruit and putting it into jars. And if you mess it up then your jam will give people salmonella and they'll die.

"So we just sat around and ate fruit, and now there are a bunch of glass jars hanging around the church for no good reason."
Go north
This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.

A few steps up from the pews to the south are the preacher's pulpit, the altar, and the American and Christian flags. Behind them, to the north, is a tiny doorway.

On the altar are two candles.

A large cross hangs high on the wall above the altar.

This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.
Go north
You could hardly call this a room. It's just a long, musty, narrow space behind a wall. At one end, a flight of stairs runs up to the
room behind the altar; at the other end a heavy door leads out to the south. In between them, a fuse box is mounted on the wall, its metal door hanging open to reveal a row of switches.

A cheap-looking mirror, a black sphere and some black cloth are lying in a heap on the floor.
You examine the fuse
Unlike some of the other switches, the "West Basement" switch actually has a legible label. It's also the only switch that's not turned on right now.
You turn on the switch
You flick the last switch into the ON position.
You go to the south
(first opening the heavy door)

The hall ends here at a heavy door to the north. A huge mural of David fighting Goliath adorns the west wall, but it's marred by a streak of gray gunk clinging to the wall.

Echoing footsteps draw your attention to a figure walking down the south end of the hallway, but whoever it is goes into the Sunday
School room before you can see their face.
You go to the south
A huge rainbow arches across the wall in this part of the hallway. Underneath it, a door leads west, with an identical door opposite on the east wall.

The hallway continues to run north and south. The wall here is taken
up by a mural of a beached whale and a man lying on the sand.

The hallway runs north, past the plywood lighthouse, all the way up to the door to the tunnel. A doorway to the east leads into the Sunday School room, and on the wall opposite it is the mural of Jesus
blessing the little children.
Go east
This is a room designed for small people. Low benches are arranged
like pews in two rows, facing toward a small table that serves as an altar. A poster explaining the Ten Commandments hangs on one wall, and doors lead north to the basement stairway, east to the youth room and west to the hallway.

The TV trolley is standing in the middle of the room, looking lonely.
You look up the tv trolley
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Yeah, we have video games at church. I think the SNES belongs to
Chad. Does Chad even come to church anymore? Well, he's gotta come
back someday. To get his SNES."
You look up chad
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Chad's an all right guy. Or, he used to be. I haven't heard from him in a while."
You go west
The hallway runs north, past the plywood lighthouse, all the way up to the door to the tunnel. A doorway to the east leads into the Sunday School room, and on the wall opposite it is the mural of Jesus
blessing the little children.
You go north
The hallway continues to run north and south. The wall here is taken
up by a mural of a beached whale and a man lying on the sand.
You examine the whale
sort of fashion. It doesn't seem at all bothered by having beached itself and vomited up a human.
Go north
A huge rainbow arches across the wall in this part of the hallway. Underneath it, a door leads west, with an identical door opposite on the east wall.
You look at the crayons
Some of the crayons are half-used. Some of them are more like three-quarters used, or even four-fifths used. The rest are broken.
You look up the crayons
(in Casey's notes)
You flick through the notes and read Casey's scrawly handwriting: "Before a certain unnamed individual left the church, we used to have art activities in Sunday School all the time. It was awesome. But things change, and people change, and on and on. I think there are
some crayons left in the storage room."
Go north
The hall ends here at a heavy door to the north. A huge mural of David fighting Goliath adorns the west wall, but it's marred by a streak of gray gunk clinging to the wall.

You could hardly call this a room. It's just a long, musty, narrow space behind a wall. At one end, a flight of stairs runs up to the
room behind the altar; at the other end a heavy door leads out to the south. In between them, a fuse box is mounted on the wall, its metal door hanging open to reveal a row of switches.

A cheap-looking mirror, a black sphere and some black cloth are lying in a heap on the floor.
Go south
This is a far cry from the grandeur of the sanctuary. The walls are covered in some kind of dark wood panels, but they're shabby and windowless, and the floor is bare concrete. A huge wooden chest and a closet full of robes take up one wall. You can head back out to the altar to the south, or try the sliding door to the north.

A stack of hymnals is crammed into one corner.

Some more ectoplasm is smeared on the floor.

A few steps up from the pews to the south are the preacher's pulpit, the altar, and the American and Christian flags. Behind them, to the north, is a tiny doorway.

On the altar are two candles.

A large cross hangs high on the wall above the altar.

This room can't be as large as it seems. It certainly didn't look so huge from outside. It must be some kind of optical illusion, created
by the angles of the vaulted ceiling or the long rows of pews.

Near the southern exit is a rolltop desk. Up at the north end of the room is the altar, and the east stairway must lead up to the balcony.

It is dark outside, and the stained glass windows are dull and lifeless.
You go east
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony, but that hasn't stopped someone from putting a potted plant in the corner. If you can avoid tripping over the plant, an archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying:
a shepherd's crook
a name tag (being worn)
a can of tuna
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
an orange box
a bird cage
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)

The cat trots up the stairs and purrs at you.
Drop box
You place the orange box carefully on the floor.
Flip box
You pick up the stuff in the orange box and turn it upside down.

onto the railing of the balcony but—probably wisely—immediately
jumps
back down again.
You examine the railing
A low wall runs along the edge of the balcony, with a thick wooden railing set on top of it. It's hard to tell if the railing is just meant to be decorative, or if it was added as an afterthought to make the wall a bit higher.

The cat bounds downstairs.
You stand on the box
You step up onto the upside-down orange box.
You reach the cord with the crook
You catch the loop of cord with the end of the crook and pull. The trapdoor opens and a small ladder slides down, offering access to the steeple above.
Down
Standing here, you have a good view of the altar and most of the sanctuary. A low wall with a railing along the top prevents accidents, though it probably also obscures the view for anyone sitting on the balcony pews. A projector is mounted at one end of the pews, pointing down towards the front of the sanctuary. Behind the pews you can see the ladder up to the steeple, and a narrow staircase leads back down
to the sanctuary.

The orange box is sitting upside down on the floor.

A tangled heap of bars and cables is lying near the edge of the balcony.

You look back to make sure Aiden has followed you.

"Yes. Now I'll tell you the answer to your question. Of course Orchid knows. This was all Orchid's idea. She was very naughty. And I'm not even supposed to be here, so I should probably get going."

He tries to slip past you, but you grab his arm.

Aiden yelps like a dog. "What's your problem?"

"You're not going anywhere. I've got a few more questions."

"Then can you get your hands off me first? You're gonna break my arm."

"Sure." You let go of his arm. "Let's get going." You know exactly where the two of you are going, but you should probably keep that a surprise.
You go east
From here, you could head up to the steeple and down to the the
balcony stairwell.
Go downward
There isn't really any room in here for anything except the stairs up to the balcony, but that hasn't stopped someone from putting a potted plant in the corner. If you can avoid tripping over the plant, an archway to the west leads back out into the sanctuary.

Aiden mopes along after you.

"Yeah, Orchid brought the idea to me. She said if she could write a story about a real ghost, then maybe people would actually read the newspaper. Heh. But I told her I'd help her."

"Why?"

"For the heck of it, primarily."
Go down
Orchid and Aiden come down the stairs after you.

Aiden looks past you, into the nursery, and you can see something
click in his brain.

"Although, you know, we could still do it. You guys can write the story, I won't say anything, Orchid won't say anything, everyone will love it, you'll probably be co-editors-in-chief next year. Let's go back upstairs, we'll get some better pictures of the ghost."

"No thanks," you say.
You go east
Sharon's makeshift bed doesn't look comfortable, but apparently she's fast asleep anyway.

You usher Aiden and Orchid in ahead of you.
Sleep
It's too late for that now. You have to do something about Orchid and Aiden.
Look around
Battered toys spill out of the toybox and across the floor, piling up in a corner of the room. Cupboards are mounted high on the walls, out of reach of tiny fingers, and an enormous blue recliner sits
underneath them. It's already dark outside, and the doors west to the basement stairway and south to the youth room are dark as well.

Your sleeping bag is lying on a tidy patch of floor, ready for when
you finish your investigation.

Aiden is here, rubbing his arm and pouting.

Orchid is lounging around, yawning.

Sharon's makeshift bed doesn't look comfortable, but apparently she's fast asleep anyway.
You look at the toys
Toy cars, a lot of wooden blocks, a tea set, that kind of thing. It looks like someone tried to take a bite out of one of the blocks.
You get the block
You gather up an armful of toys.
You give the toys to Aiden
Aiden looks around nervously. "Why don't we keep moving, huh?"
Inventory
You are carrying:
some toys
a can of tomato soup
a can of pears
a can of "Sugarman's Potted Meat Food Product"
a can of cherry pie filling
a can of chicken soup
a can of peaches
a shepherd's crook
a name tag (being worn)
a can of tuna
a can opener
a jam jar
some ectoplasm
a bird cage
a small white cross
a stack of photos
Casey's notes
a Polaroid camera (being worn)