Book and Volume
Nick Montfort
city time limit Xyzzy Awards 2005
%
an [auto mata] release

>I  Introduction to interactive fiction
>A  Author's note and acknowledgments
>L  License information

>R  Restore a previous session
>B  Begin a new session
B.
Your pager tickles you awake.

Upstairs in the house of your childhood, in your room, and it must be time for school because -- no, it's the weekend, you remember, but your alarm is going off anyway. You should have been awake already. You're going to miss the bus. Your mother climbs in the window. You're dreaming.

You're a grown-up: It opens to you again, a sluggish window summoned by a mouse click. Waking up now in your own apartment, your new apartment. Your pager is buzzing and vibrating both, serious. It is in fact the weekend, but you're not in elementary school. No one is crawling in through the window. You're a system administrator for nWare. Waking up urgently, here in nTopia.

The constellations on the ceiling are as you left them: Pisces, Cetus, Aquarius, and the ones without celestial referent, left by some crazed astronomer in residence here before you. What could you call them? The Cradle, The Way, The Burning Book...

They're still glowing, too. Must not have napped for long.
You examine the Pisces
If your milky memories of astronomy class serve, the glow-in-the-dark stars seem not just slapped on at random but willfully misconfigured. They lend the place some sort of character, though an Escher poster would be hip in comparison.

The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention. This is no Harry Potter broomstick.
You get up
You get off the couch.

The pager vibrates like it's repeatedly tapping you to get your attention, and it buzzes gratingly.
You answer pager
You can't help but listen to the buzzing. As for listening to messages, you usually do that by manipulating the pager's elegant user interface.

The buzzing of the pager continues. You are tooth to the dental drill of the device.
You examine pager
It's too dark too see, like inside of a dog.
You look at the pager
It's too dark too see, like inside of a dog.

You return to lucidity for what is going to be a very brief moment, unless you make the pager stop buzzing and vibrating.
You turn on the light
You switch the light on.

Although almost unfurnished, since you've been here only a few days and haven't had time to settle in, the place is more Fight Club than Shade: young, urbane, professional. It's yours, though. It's your residential canister. Your lime-green couch is against the longest wall. And it looks like we also have your nLap 500 and a heap of clothes.
You look at the pager
Cell phones are ubiquitous in nTopia, and your pager is a sort of funky, retro sheriff's badge among them. Press the gray button there, and any voice messages you have will play; hold the button to erase them. The vibration and buzzing mean that an urgent message, or one the sender thought was urgent, has arrived and has not yet been played.

Your nRich cybercash chip is installed in your pager, along with your nPediment identifier tag for keyless entry, the same one that most of your co-workers have installed in their phones, wallets, or upper arms.

The pager's buzzing and vibration seems to have set up a sort of resonance in your body, which reacts like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
You press the button
A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Net extremely hoseled. Engine team being hideously masticated by this outage. Demo rapidly approaching. Get to the cages. Reboot the servers. Hasten. Do not rest. Please. All five of them. Email me to confirm you're heading out to do this. Please. Engine boys are going to run off and leap the railing if the network isn't restored.

The frenetic voice is definitely that of your boss, Wilbur.
You look around
It's your residential canister. Your lime-green couch is against the longest wall. And it looks like we also have your nLap 500 and a heap of clothes.
You turn on nLap
It is already on, although it's in sleep mode.
You look at nLap
It's the nLap 500, tool of legend. Built-in Blacktooth and 811.02, twelve hours of battery life, Optidrive, ten-inch Crispicleer display and a tasty butterfly keyboard. Best to not even think about the processor and memory, since you'd rather not fall to your knees immediately in grateful tears.

Your computer is ergonomically closed.
You wake nLap
That can only be done to a higher organism.
You open the computer
You open the nLap 500, which wakes the moment it begins to unfold. A window slams open. Ass. Complete ass. The red stapler appears.

Welcome to nSys! I'm Stan! Oop, I don't know your name yet! Please tell me your first name!

:
Floyd montfort
The desktop flashes light blue for a moment.

"Stan" steadies his metal jaw and winks out of sight.

Your boon companion "Stan" has somehow reset himself like that three times already. Fortunately he -- it -- only forgets your name in the process.
You use the computer
You dash off a quick and reassuring email to Wilbur.

A compulsive glance at the text file that holds your notes reassures you about the locations of the five servers: Wendy, at RelOfCoTn, Abalone and Second; Nora, in the airport; Ester, in the East Berm; Sophie, in City Hall, on the south end of Main; and Cindy, in F7 on the main campus.

Not that you have a great sense of direction and remember exactly how to get to all of those places, but nTopia is pretty small -- you'll find them.
You get up
You switch the light off as you leave. The door swings shut after you.

The palate-cleansing corridor that leads to your apartment.
You check your inventory
You are carrying your pager and your key.
You get nLap
You conduct the acquisition.
Describe the surroundings
It's your residential canister. Your lime-green couch is against the longest wall. And it looks like we also have a heap of clothes.
Inventory
You are carrying your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
You go outside
You switch the light off as you leave. The door swings shut after you.

The palate-cleansing corridor that leads to your apartment.
You lock the door
... What do you want to lock the door with?
You lock the door with the key
The door conveniently locks when it is closed.
You go north
The old-style lock opens to you with already-practiced ease, and you walk in. You switch the light on.

It's your residential canister. Your lime-green couch is against the longest wall. And it looks like we also have a heap of clothes.
You go outside
There's more than one exit. Specify a direction to take one of them.
Go downwards
Clean, if not homey. The doorman waits in a Plexiglas cube that looks curiously bulletproof.
You examine the doorman
You've seen him here before. An intensely distracted and friendly-looking guy of middle age, probably of New Mexican or Mexican ancestry.
You examine the doorman
He's staring at the far wall intently, as if deciphering SETI data.
You go to the northeast
Onward, into the intentional city. nWare crafted it well -- built from the ground up with security and scalability in mind, it's fully pedestrianized but hums, almost full-size, like a city center.

The night sky is completely cloudless. The dry warmth of the air hints at the desert that surrounds nTopia.

Your apartment building is on the southwest corner. Opposite it is a windowless, blocky building. On the southeast corner Pharmicopia sprawls. Otto's Automat is to the northwest.

A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:

I see you're outside! Hey, the nice thing about this city is that it uses the grid system, so you can just go NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, or WEST, and you'll pretty much always end up somewhere else!

The window winks away.
You go north
You head north on Abalone...

A multi-level grocery store dominates the northeast corner, occupying the whole side of the block from here to Second. A windowless building, this one with a logo like a fork of lightning, is southeast. A shrouded establishment called "Gelatinous Cube" is southwest. On the final corner is a Starbucks.
You go to the north
You head north on Abalone...

A familiar whiff rustles a flood of memories free.

Well, not a flood, maybe. But there was that pepperoni and mushroom thin-crust you consumed right after moving in, after solving the difficult solid geometry puzzle posed by your doorway and your one piece of legacy, non-flat-pack furniture. The movers went away shaking their heads that afternoon. You did the Snoopy dance of triumph.

Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.

A bicyclist hurtles by, speaking Spanish on a hands-free phone.
Go southwest
You head into the building and over to the server room.

There are racks and racks, with the usual drop ceiling and raised floor one finds in the upscale server room. And it looks like we also have Wendy.
You examine wendy
It's a box that powers Engine's network, an nSure 3000. Bristling like a brain in a vat, this 10U monster can perform the functions of a few racks full of specialized Crisco hardware with herculean ease. Except it can't do that after it has crashed. A red button, deeply recessed to avoid accidental activation, is the only visible control.
Examine button
( That is, "examine the server's red button." )

Just as the trash can is the one essential piece of office furniture, the reset switch is the one essential feature of an nWare server.
You press the button
( That is, "press the server's red button." )

The button clicks in. As you release it, the box falls silent and dark for a moment, then begins to power back up.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
You look at Wendy
This is an nSure 3000, one of five that powers Engine's network. It's got a red button on it.
You go to the northeast
Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.
You go north
You head north on Abalone...

The clothing store Niche Threads is to the northeast, while a fire station, sporting the double oddity of two garage doors, is across from it on the southeast corner. To the southwest is the tall, cylindrical, and multicolored Medical Center Plaza. What dominates the intersection, though, is that even more striking and unusual pushpin of the swooping MuseRoom, to the northwest.
You go north
You head north on Abalone...

You haven't been missing anything in this corner of town. The earth of the West Berm is heaped right up against the tall airport wall to the north, making this just a big dead-end alley.

Two indistinguishable warehouses flank Abalone Street to the south.

Carrie Fisher appears more or less in front of you, in flowing robes, and begins to crouch down.
You look at Carrie
To all appearances, it's actually Carrie Fisher.

Carrie Fisher seems to go out of tune for a moment. Quite suddenly, she's wearing a slave-girl costume and looking rather surprised.
Kiss carrie
This occurrence is absolutely stunning.

Carrie Fisher flickers and disappears.

A woman wearing some small display on her glasses pushes herself past on a Razor scooter, dictating Python into a headset.
Go north
The immense metal wall of the airport is interposed as if there were Palestinians on the other side. Or perhaps you're the Palestinian. You won't get over it.
Go east
You head east on Front Street...

It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.

A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:

Hey! Just letting you know! If you're not tickling the user interface or doing something like compiling a program, you can, you know, close the computer and save the battery a bit.

The window winks away.
Close computer
You close the nLap 500.
Go north
nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.
Go east
You head through the door and into the server room.

Raised floor, drop ceiling, and racks all around instead of walls make this place seem pretty comfy, at least if you're a patch cable. And it looks like we also have Nora.
You examine Nora
This nSure 3000 looks a lot like Wendy.
Look around
Raised floor, drop ceiling, and racks all around instead of walls make this place seem pretty comfy, at least if you're a patch cable. And it looks like we also have Nora.
Go west
You head out through the door.

nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.
Go south
It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.

An enormous but rather well-behaved gorilla strides to the middle of the area, brandishing what looks like a giant can of Jolt Cola.
You go east
You head east on Front Street...

Even Main Street has nothing but a pair of warehouses on this end, where it meets Front Street. The airport wall is north.

A bicyclist hurtles by, speaking Spanish on a hands-free phone.
You go to the east
You head east on Front Street...

Front Street continues its run alongside the airport. There is a warehouse on the southwest corner. Excitement is in store on the southeast corner, where a walled-off construction site is plastered with "Coming Soon: Mall of nTopia!" signs.
Go east
You head east on Front Street...

Ghetto, hood, barrio -- they all seem a lot catchier than "housing for construction and infrastructure employees." If your skill at rebooting computers had been classified differently, you might have ended up living in this part of town. With the empty strip of sand there. And so much farther away from the arcade.

In a seedier version of this city, a version of you that was skilled in martial arts might come here for some practice before tournaments. The city goes no further north or east. There's just Front Lodge to the southwest.
Go east
There's nowhere to go. Past a small patch of desert that is no doubt reserved for future construction, the city ends at the East Berm.
Go south
You head south on Urchin...

First Lodge is on the northwest corner. The nWare Media Campus is southwest of here, but there's no way onto campus from this intersection.
You go to the south
You head south on Urchin...

The path to the west looks as nice as all the other campus walkways, but this is clearly an alley at the edge of town.
Go south
You head south on Urchin...

The eastern edge of the city looks like a long, empty parking lot. The path onto campus to the west is typically impressive, though. There's a subtle brown door to the east here, set right in the dirt of the East Berm.
Go east
You head through the door and into the server room.

Much like other server rooms in this world of ours: racks, raised floor, drop ceiling. It seems to have been made a bit more spacious than it needs to be. Perhaps that was done to keep you from thinking about the fact that the room is buried in a large heap of earth for no apparent reason. And it looks like we also have Ester.
You look at Ester
This nSure 3000 looks a lot like Wendy.
You go to the west
You head out through the door.

The eastern edge of the city looks like a long, empty parking lot. The path onto campus to the west is typically impressive, though. There's a subtle brown door to the east here, set right in the dirt of the East Berm.
Go south
You head south on Urchin...

This particularly desolate spot on the eastern edge of town has an empty lot to the southwest and the boundary of the nWare Media Campus, offering no entrance, to the northwest. The lot has a chain link fence around it.
Go south
You head south on Urchin...

A convenience store, ShopLite, is on the southwest corner, here at the eastern end of nTopia. There's an empty lot, ringed with a chain-link fence, to the northwest.

A bearded figure wearing glasses and a Hawaiian shirt is very suddenly standing aways to your left, as if he just appeared there.
You examine the figure
To all appearances, it's actually a bearded guy.

At the second glance, there's no mistaking it. You recognize him from that Con however many years ago. It's Gary Gygax.
You hit Gygax
This occurrence is absolutely stunning.

Gary Gygax twists one hand over the other and, somehow, vanishes.
You go to the west
You head west on Fifth Street...

The eastern corners are occupied by the two nicest residential options in town, The Maple Copse and Yew Village. City Hall has a face turned this way to the southwest. On the northwest corner are the colors and leafy tufts of the city gardens.
Go southwest
The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and nWare's monarchically wealthy founder, shellf.

There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
You go southeast
You head through the door and into the server room.

There are just the usual racks here. The rest of the room is bare, with the usual drop ceilings and the usual raised floor providing a contrast to the unusual wooden walls outside. And it looks like we also have Sophie.
You press the button
( That is, "press the server's red button." )

The button clicks in. As you release it, the box falls silent and dark for a moment, then begins to power back up.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
Go northwest
You head out through the door.

The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and shellf.

There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
You look at diorama
Ah, yes. The diorama. There it is.

You notice that it has a brass button on it.
You look at the stick
It's an nStick, a proprietary memory storage device. You haven't seen this particular sort before, and it's not going to fit into any of the usual computer suspects -- your nLap or the servers you manage.
You take the stick
As you remove the stick from the diorama, the slot or plug or whatever this thing was in unhelpfully seals itself closed.
Go northwest
The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.

A blue-white cloud rapidly coalesces in the middle of the intersection. As it dissipates, an elegant yet thuggish man steps from it, casually wielding a huge sword.
You examine man
( That is, "examine the elegant thug." )

To all appearances, it's actually an elegant thug.

As the thug looks around without seeming to see you or anything else, something assures you, as blatantly as a Queen soundtrack would, that this is Christopher Lambert.
You examine Lambert
To all appearances, it's actually Christopher Lambert.

A tremendous lightning strike suddenly intersects Christopher Lambert and either toasts him, or, if you're inclined to a more generous interpretation of the event, teleports him away.
Go north
You head north on Main...

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. There is a coffeehouse called "Independent Grounds" to the southwest. Another Starbucks is on the northwest corner.
You go northeast
The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.

Your stomach speaks to you in twangs of pain. Although you don't know Morse code, the jist of the message is that it would be a good idea to get something to eat soon.
You go to the northwest
The raised floor is charcoal in color -- it's the sort seen in all nWare buildings that house really official business. The racks all around are also especially businesslike. And it looks like we also have Cindy.
You examine the pager
Cell phones are ubiquitous in nTopia, and your pager is a sort of funky, retro sheriff's badge among them. Press the gray button there, and any voice messages you have will play; hold the button to erase them.

Your nRich cybercash chip is installed in your pager, along with your nPediment identifier tag for keyless entry, the same one that most of your co-workers have installed in their phones, wallets, or upper arms.
Go southwest
You can't go that way.

Here we go again. Your pager goes off in its usual buzzing, vibrating fit.

The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.
You open the laptop
You open the nLap 500, which wakes the moment it begins to unfold. You hear a cheery robot voice almost immediately.

It looks like you're trying to open -- oop! You got it.

As you swing the screen into place, you catch a glimpse of a window blinking away.
You use the computer
( That is, "use Cindy." )

Cindy hasn't been dumbed down enough to be used in only one way.
Leave
The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.

A metallic sound, a twinkling like a dozen will-o-the-wisps, and then Leonard Nimoy is standing about three feet above the ground, wearing jeans and a black turtleneck.

A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:

Hey, this looks like the nWare media campus! This place is where other helpful entities like me are being developed, along with a lot of other really cool stuff!

The window winks away.
You use computer
Complete ass. An automated email tells you that a new very critical internal intensive update has been issued, which means you'll have to download it, compile it here on the nLap -- the only place you've got the build environment set up -- and then apply it to all five servers. Fortunately you can do that remotely. Unfortunately this thing will probably take ten minutes to download and four hours to compile.

Okay, that's an exaggeration. It will probably take eight minutes to download and maybe two and a half hours to compile.

You start the download.

Leonard Nimoy looks around calmly and raises an eyebrow. His whole body raises and lowers itself, too, finally coming to rest on the ground.
Go west
You head west on Third Street...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
Go southwest
The Supreme Food Court is not open right now. Looks like it opens at ten.
You go west
You head west on Third Street...

To the northeast are the miniature tree-spotted hills of nTopia's park. On the southeast corner is the police station. A Starbucks is on the southwest corner. Neon signs and flashing screens glint from the establishment to the northwest, Arcadia Ego.
You go west
You head west on Third Street...

A multi-level grocery store dominates the northeast corner, occupying the whole side of the block from here to Second. A windowless building, this one with a logo like a fork of lightning, is southeast. A shrouded establishment called "Gelatinous Cube" is southwest. On the final corner is a Starbucks.
Go north
You head north on Abalone...

Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.
Go northeast
Magenta color. A bouquet of dough and cheese with smoky nuance and a touch of pepper. Hints of oak, leather, and plastic. The finish is long and satisfying.

Since you were here last, they seem to have installed a man-sized stuffed mouse in one corner.
You examine mouse
After you pull your attention away from the hideous rictus the mouse wears, you notice that there's a panel on the creature's back that is open and streaming with wires. It must be some sort of robot entertainer.

"Man, we ordered DDR and they sent that thing," some guy calls from behind the counter. "Can you believe it?"

That must have been a rhetorical question, as the guy proceeds to slip away out of sight.
You look at your surroundings
So, it's a pizza place. With a huge fake mouse in one corner. And it smells pretty nice.
You use the computer
Great, great. Downloaded. You fiddle with the makefile a bit and then kick off the build.

Your nTerm fills with the kind of stuff that viewers of The Matrix thought was sexy, for some reason. Hopefully this will go without a hitch and be done in ... whenever.
You buy the food
Food does seem like a good idea. You order some and prepare to focus completely on the meal, like Martha Stewart on her salad...

A guy you met during new employee reorientation -- Knut, you think his name is -- furtively joins you as you're dining. He looks even more feverish and high-strung than he did a few days ago.

"Hi. Hi again. Gotta tell. Tell you something."

"Reality. Illusion. Theme is reality versus illusion. Must discern reality. And illusion."

"Behind a small plate I have placed it. In F2, the downstairs lab. Hopefully you can get into F2. I have placed the device. The device you will need. The magic helmet."

Knut tilts forward as if he was going to relate to you some ultimate secret, then, surprisingly, bolts away and out the door. He's long gone before you even manage to conceive of pursuing him, so you turn back to your meal.

You conclude your culinary experience.
You use nLap
Your nTerm is still flickering along, so the update must be compiling properly. You read a bit more of that fascinating thread about the ethics of patenting an overclocking technique.
You go southwest
Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.
Go east
You head east on Second Street...

The marquee of the Bastion Theater is northeast and the blank stare of 0th Bank diagonally across to the southwest. Speaking of the Southwest, the bad Southwestern art of the Coyote and Crown howls from the northwest corner. A pleasant absence of city is southeast, where the fake hills of nTopia's park roll.
Go east
You head east on Second Street...

Main runs along the west edge of the nWare Media Campus. To the northwest is a Starbucks. The glass cube of the nWare Store sits on a park-like plot to the southwest.
Go east
You head east on Second Street...

You didn't get a great look around here during your on-site interview, since the wiry guy walking with you was enthusiastically posing an elaborate problem in queueing theory. Luckily you were able to convince him that your mind can flex in the nWare way.

The north part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about.
You go east
You head east on Second Street...

The path to the west looks as nice as all the other campus walkways, but this is clearly an alley at the edge of town.
Go south
You head south on Urchin...

The eastern edge of the city looks like a long, empty parking lot. The path onto campus to the west is typically impressive, though. There's a subtle brown door to the east here, set right in the dirt of the East Berm.
Go west
You head west on Third Street...

The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
Go south
You head south on Octopus...

The nWare Media Campus is north; Octopus turns into the campus's main path on the north side of Fourth Street. To the southwest are the city's gardens, complementing the green of the campus with other herbifarous colors. A store called "Beverage Rack" is to the southeast.

A man and woman ride by on a tandem bicycle, with a toddler riding in a sidecar.
You go north
You head north on Octopus...

The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
Go northwest
A Starbucks is to the northeast. The post office on the southwest corner looks as distinguished as a mausoleum. The urban idiom fails on the northwest corner, where a restaurant sits like a ranch house on a little plot of desert. Opposite it, a path leads onto the nWare Media Campus.

Sleep attempts to settle down upon you like a blanket that you keep kicking off. If the time leading up to the demo wasn't so hectic, you'd be hitting the sack about now.
Go northeast
You're not cleared to enter the building over there. Although you work for nWare, the subdivisions of the Media division are pretty much walled off from each other.
You examine the buildings
Upon closer inspection, the city's buildings still seem to be buildings. To look at a particular one, specify one.
You go to the south
The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
You go to the northwest
The raised floor is charcoal in color -- it's the sort seen in all nWare buildings that house really official business. The racks all around are also especially businesslike. And it looks like we also have Cindy.
Open floor
The raised floor is made to open up, but you would have to have the appropriate tool for the job.
Inventory
You are carrying an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
You use nLap
Your nTerm is still flickering along, so the update must be compiling properly. You download and watch another hilarious reality-based video snippet of mobile robots guarding a warehouse.
Go northwest
The nWare Store is not open right now. Looks like it opens at ten.
You go south
You head south on Main...

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. There is a coffeehouse called "Independent Grounds" to the southwest. Another Starbucks is on the northwest corner.
Go south
You head south on Main...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
Go northwest
The Mailboxes Ultra is not open right now. Looks like it opens at seven thirty.
You examine the pager
There's nothing really wacky about it. Press the gray button: messages play. Hold it: they are erased.
You ask nLap for the time
That can only be done to a higher organism.
You hold the button
The pager emits a low beep after you hold the button down for about a second and a half.
Go west
You head west on Fifth Street...

A wisp of grilled beast lingers around Public Char, to the northeast. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.
Go west
You head west on Fifth Street...

Your apartment building is on the southwest corner. Opposite it is a windowless, blocky building. On the southeast corner Pharmicopia sprawls. Otto's Automat is to the northwest.
You go southeast
The white, high-ceilinged place is run through with cliffs of boxed-up blister packs. Around the edges are toys, books, even a selection of electronic gadgets and gizmos and such, along with small appliances. Ringed within these are household and personal supplies, while nearest the core -- by the enclosure where the pharmacists and their attendants no doubt circulate -- are the brand-name over-the-counter philters of vibrant color, along with the alternatives: vitamins, herbs, and homeopathic dilutions.

As you walk in, some punky-looking teenagers file out past you.

"That is totally what my mom has been doing," one of them says, "Crazy weird apocalypse stuff. It's entirely a Watchmen situation, what else could it be? Best thing would be to clear out before whoever the Ozymandias dude is lays down the smack. Maybe go to Tokyo."
You buy the painkiller
You are gripped by paralysis, unable to decide where to begin or end your shopping spree. After you breathe for a moment, the panic subsides. Perhaps you'll be able to go and shop after the stress of the demo has passed.
You describe your surroundings
At the center is the inner pharmacy of prescription drugs, with over-the-counter medicine and more traditional remedies around it and soaps and such in the next ring. Various other goods, ranging from books to toasters, are displayed along the walls.
You use computer
Your nTerm is still flickering along, so the update must be compiling properly. You play a quick game of Minefield, losing, as always.
You use the computer
Your nTerm is still flickering along, so the update must be compiling properly. You download and watch another hilarious reality-based video snippet of mobile robots guarding a warehouse.
Go northwest
Your apartment building is on the southwest corner. Opposite it is a windowless, blocky building. On the southeast corner Pharmicopia sprawls. Otto's Automat is to the northwest.
You go southwest
Clean, if not homey. The doorman waits in a Plexiglas cube that looks curiously bulletproof.

You're now really pretty tired, such that the phrase "keel over" keeps running through your hazy mind.
Up
The palate-cleansing corridor that leads to your apartment.
You go inside
The old-style lock opens to you with already-practiced ease, and you walk in. You switch the light on.

It's your residential canister. Your lime-green couch is against the longest wall. And it looks like we also have a heap of clothes.
Sleep
Sleep is a great idea, and would be a great state of being for you right now. But even if you have the time to sleep, you aren't on an appropriately cushioned surface.
You get on the couch
You get onto the couch.
Sleep
You release yourself into slumber.

You feel a bit more rested, at least.

The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.
You use the computer
Your nTerm is still flickering along, so the update must be compiling properly. You attempt to reset Gus's password, but get "UNABLE [562] to acquire resources [e.g., 472, 83] for password reset during download/compile progression" as a response.
You stand
You get off the couch.
Down
Clean, if not homey. The cube by the doorway is unattended.
Go northeast
Your apartment building is on the southwest corner. Opposite it is a windowless, blocky building. On the southeast corner Pharmicopia sprawls. Otto's Automat is to the northwest.

Two men on unicycles, the larger one with a third unicycle over his shoulder, wobble along the street and away.
Go east
You head east on Fifth Street...

To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.
You go to the east
You head east on Fifth Street...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
You go to the east
You head east on Fifth Street...

The eastern corners are occupied by the two nicest residential options in town, The Maple Copse and Yew Village. City Hall has a face turned this way to the southwest. On the northwest corner are the colors and leafy tufts of the city gardens.
You go north
You head north on Octopus...

The nWare Media Campus is north; Octopus turns into the campus's main path on the north side of Fourth Street. To the southwest are the city's gardens, complementing the green of the campus with other herbifarous colors. A store called "Beverage Rack" is to the southeast.
You go north
You head north on Octopus...

The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
You go to the north
The north part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. Specifically, F2 is to the northeast.
You go to the northeast
This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.

An unwashed hacker paces here fretfully. Noticing you, he freezes and turns. "I AM GUS," he says feverishly, "AND YOU MUST BEAR MY NEW PASSWORD!"
You ask GUS for the the time
"PASSWORD DESIRED NOW," he says. He does some quick exercises designed to relax his lumbar region.
You use the computer
Righteous. Everything actually compiled and built successfully. You install the update.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
You use the computer
Deftly you request a photo of Gus for purposes of positive ID, reset his account, and store in your short-term memory his cryptic-yet-memorable temporary password. Now you just need to share this important bit of information with Gus, and you'll have executed your responsibilities most gloriously.

And people wonder why you fantasize about being a astronaut.
You give password to Gus
You tell Gus his cryptic-yet-memorable temporary password.

His face lights up with some combination of relief and prophetic rapture. He pulls a miniscule PDA from one of the pockets on his photographer's vest and taps happily, presumably gaining access.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.

Some glitch, neurological or digital, causes Gus to scream "ODYSSEUS" and run toward the exit. This involves his running right over you, knocking you down. Your head strikes the floor in a painless and consciousness-eliminating way.

"... tests were, again, all just fine," some woman in a doctor costume tells you. Or maybe she is a doctor. You're both walking along an aqua-colored corridor now. There are pictures of semi-rigid airships on the walls. "You shouldn't have any problems except perhaps for a bit of short-term memory loss, but if you do have any other trouble, come back and tell it to the kiosk. Oh, and you'll want this back." She hands you your pager, which, annoyingly, is buzzing and vibrating. "Take care!"

You find yourself here in the lobby.

The shuffling of those in despair, the rapid, professional pace of the strained nurses and assistants, the occasional groan -- all of these are absent, since this pale green lobby, curiously, holds no one besides yourself. It's also completely without furnishings, except for a kiosk, placed dead center.

Remembering the menu of health insurance options that you were presented, you congratulate yourself on buying the extended warranty on yourself.

The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.

A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:

Hey, this looks like the hospital! This is where you can go if you're sick! If you're really sick, sometimes emergency medical workers will helpfully bring you here!

The window winks away.
Close computer
You close the nLap 500.
You look at your surroundings
Like a new and never-used aquarium, the lobby. Featuring a kiosk.
You go southeast
The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.
You go east
You head east on First Street...

A Starbucks is to the northeast. The post office on the southwest corner looks as distinguished as a mausoleum. The urban idiom fails on the northwest corner, where a restaurant sits like a ranch house on a little plot of desert. Opposite it, a path leads onto the nWare Media Campus.
Go southeast
The north part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. Specifically, F2 is to the northeast.
Go northeast
This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.
You go to the north
This is a large, open, and curiously empty workspace. Presumably employees come in here with their own laptops and work in some sort of hoteling arrangement, but the place seems rather desolate at the moment. Perhaps the team that uses this space isn't working feverishly for the demo, the way Engine team is. Or perhaps they're just elsewhere, who knows?

There are racks all around the place. And it looks like we also have the F2 server.
You look at the server
This nSure 3000 looks a lot like Wendy.

One thing seems pretty funny, though. The machine is hooked up in a completely ass-reversed fashion, or, actually, in a way that's even worse. It just seems to be plugged into itself all over the place. It couldn't actually be doing anything useful, set up like this. This is a fake server, the equivalent of a blank book that is used for interior decorating purposes.
You pull the server
You pull the server towards you a bit and then release it. It falls back into place. The rack next to it slides aside to reveal a stairway, leading down, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Down
You are at one end of a vast hall stretching out of sight to the east. The walls are liquid rivers of orange stone, except for one dark patch where the stairway traces a path upward. The hall is filled with wisps of white mist that sway like Voldo from Soul Calibur.
Go east
The orange pulsing walls and sadomasochistic ripples of mist that so disturbingly livened up the west side of this huge room are absent here. This part of the underground space is pretty much bare and white, shaped like a giant Bose speaker. One notable feature is the large black button with a right-pointing triangle on it. Curiously, you also notice a small plate on one of the walls here -- there must have been some method to Knut's madness.
Examine button
( That is, "examine the black button." )

Ah, yes. The black button. There it is.
You open the plate
You open the plate, revealing a futuristic helmet.
You examine the helmet
It's a head-enclosing helmet, mirrored on the front. Not the thing you'd want to wear to a formal dinner. Here in nTopia, though, it would probably be a perfectly acceptable accessory. It's discretely labeled "SimulacCam."
Wear helmet
You enclose your head in the blackness of the helmet. An instant and a soft beep later, you can somehow see and hear again. You don't seem to have any trouble breathing in the strange device, and it isn't as uncomfortable as one would imagine.
You look
This part of the underground space is pretty much bare and white, shaped like a giant Bose speaker. One notable feature is the large black button with a right-pointing triangle on it. The metal plate Knut mentioned is here, tilting open.
You press the button
( That is, "press the black button." )

Very well. That was one of the least interesting button-pressing experiences of the past week.
Go west
This is the west end of a cavernous space, all white and oddly-angled. Some sort of studio or research facility, no doubt. A stairway leads up.
Up
This is a large, open, and curiously empty workspace. There are racks all around.

The one next to the F2 server has moved aside to reveal a stairway leading down.
You pull the server
You give the server a tug towards you. The rack unit slides closed, and it's now as if the hidden stairway were a figment of your imagination.
Leave
This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.
Go northwest
A Starbucks is to the northeast. The post office on the southwest corner looks as distinguished as a mausoleum. The urban idiom fails on the northwest corner, where a restaurant sits like a ranch house on a little plot of desert. Opposite it, a path leads onto the nWare Media Campus.

A gray and black designer herd hurries past you, almost at a trot, brandishing picapoles.
Go north
You head north on Main...

Even Main Street has nothing but a pair of warehouses on this end, where it meets Front Street. The airport wall is north.
You go to the west
You head west on Front Street...

It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.
Go north
nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.
You press the button
( That is, "press the server's red button." )

The button clicks in. As you release it, the box falls silent and dark for a moment, then begins to power back up.

Now it's really rebooted.
You examine server
This nSure 3000 looks a lot like Wendy. Unfortunately, this server is probably now serving as a massive repository of pirated ninja movies. You sure wish you could remember how to turn these things off.
You check your inventory
You are carrying the SimulacCam (being worn), an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
You unplug the server
Plugging and unplugging things is so 1997.
Open nLap
You open the nLap 500, which wakes the moment it begins to unfold.
You use computer
( That is, "use Nora." )

Nora hasn't been dumbed down enough to be used in only one way.
You examine Nora
This nSure 3000 looks a lot like Wendy. Unfortunately, this server is probably now serving as a massive repository of pirated ninja movies. You sure wish you could remember how to turn these things off.

A crackling sound comes, somehow, from all around.

This is a test of the nTopia civil alert system. If this were actually a --

The recorded voice breaks off.

ATTENTION. This is actually not a test. This is an alert. Severe dust and wind conditions are anticipated. In a calm and orderly fashion, please find shelter indoors, or remain indoors if you are there already, and refer from going outside until further notice. Refrain. Refrain from going outside. Don't be nervous. High risk of death if you don't get indoors. Calmly. Get indoors. Immediately.

Then there is quiet.
You turn off Nora
Once you figure out how to turn this server off, you can do whatever it is that turns this server off, and, as a result, the server will be turned off.

There's a granular howl from outside.
You hold button
( That is, "hold the server's red button." )

You hold the server's button in a for a while, and the box whines to a halt, falling silent. When you release the button, the server remains lifeless.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
Go south
You can't go that way.

The harsh whistling sound continues.
Exits
From here, it looks like it's possible to go west and out.
Exit
You head out through the door.

nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.

The harsh whistling sound continues. The city outside remains obscured by dust.
Go outside
There's more than one exit. Specify a direction to take one of them.

The harsh whistling sound continues. The city outside remains obscured by dust.
Exits
From here, it looks like it's possible to go east and south.
Go south
It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.

A wall of shifting orange-brown slams through the space and around you. What you were breathing is quickly as thick as an hourglass. First grit -- then stupor -- then the letting go --
Go southwest
You can't go that way.

The harsh whistling sound continues. The city outside remains obscured by dust.
Go north
At airport security they find that you are without a boarding pass. After a quick strip search, they politely turn you away.

The harsh whistling sound continues. The city outside remains obscured by dust.
You go to the east
You head through the door and into the server room.

Raised floor, drop ceiling, and racks all around instead of walls make this place seem pretty comfy, at least if you're a patch cable. And it looks like we also have Nora.

The harsh whistling sound continues.
You use the computer
( That is, "use Nora." )

Nora hasn't been dumbed down enough to be used in only one way.

The harsh whistling sound continues.
You use nLap
Your nLap 500 is portable, but not very usable, when closed.

The harsh whistling sound continues.
Open nLap
You open the nLap 500, which wakes the moment it begins to unfold.

The harsh whistling sound continues.
You go to the west
You head out through the door.

nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.

A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:

Hey, this looks like the airport! You can get on a plane here and go somewhere else! After you purchase a ticket, after you get your manager's approval for vacation time, and so forth!

The window winks away.
Close nLap
You close the nLap 500.
You go south
It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.

There seems to be no trace of whatever sand was blowing all around, unless some of the buildings now have a slightly glossier finish.
Go southwest
Hey, it's Starbucks. Just like in You've Got Mail.
You buy tea
They only really have stuff like coffee for sale here.
You buy the coffee
You purchase your caffeine solution and gratefully slurp it down.
Go northeast
It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.
You go southeast
Words cut out of dark wood cover most of the walls, although a central space has a triptych of enormous video panels. A woman who exceeds the conventional standards of beauty is standing around cheerfully.
You ask the woman about nTopia
"Lovely place we live in," she says.
You ask the woman about the date
"Um, I'm not sure. They haven't really told me much. I mostly just stand here and smile," she replies.
You ask the woman about the triptych
"Um, I'm not sure. They haven't really told me much. I mostly just stand here and smile," she says.
You go out
If you're trying to communicate, try asking about something specific. If you're trying to give orders, you don't seem to be in much of a position to do that.
You examine the panels
The video panels display cheerful promotional views of nTopia.
Go northwest
It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.
You go south
You head south on Eel...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.

A very important-looking person wearing a green visor speeds by on a golden Sinclair C5.
You go to the northeast
Hey, it's The Gap. Just like in Minority Report.
You go south
You head south on Eel...

The marquee of the Bastion Theater is northeast and the blank stare of 0th Bank diagonally across to the southwest. Speaking of the Southwest, the bad Southwestern art of the Coyote and Crown howls from the northwest corner. A pleasant absence of city is southeast, where the fake hills of nTopia's park roll.
You go to the south
You head south on Eel...

To the northeast are the miniature tree-spotted hills of nTopia's park. On the southeast corner is the police station. A Starbucks is on the southwest corner. Neon signs and flashing screens glint from the establishment to the northwest, Arcadia Ego.
Go northwest
Hey, this is just like in War Games, pretty much, except for the loads of games where you can control 3D figures that kick each other's ass, and the games where you dance or play a drum or fire shotguns, and the section of retro games. That section is just like in War Games, actually, except now it's all retro.

There's a din of digitized sound. What's visible of the walls is covered with multicolored squares, presumably in an attempt to make the atmosphere even more festive.
You examine the Games
There are loads of games that look familiar but uncompelling. Looking through them, you find only one standout: LlamaFight 2000, a true classic.
You look at the llamafight 2000
You remember LlamaFight 2000 as being totally awesome, and by totally awesome, you mean totally sweet. One or two players can participate in hard-hitting, bare-hoofed combat. In Europe the game was released under the name "Yie Ar Kung Llama."

This righteous coin-op doesn't seem to use the nPediment payment system, as it has a lit coin slot that simply says "1".
You go southeast
To the northeast are the miniature tree-spotted hills of nTopia's park. On the southeast corner is the police station. A Starbucks is on the southwest corner. Neon signs and flashing screens glint from the establishment to the northwest, Arcadia Ego.
You go to the north
You head north on Eel...

The marquee of the Bastion Theater is northeast and the blank stare of 0th Bank diagonally across to the southwest. Speaking of the Southwest, the bad Southwestern art of the Coyote and Crown howls from the northwest corner. A pleasant absence of city is southeast, where the fake hills of nTopia's park roll.
Go southwest
It's just a cheesy bank lobby, with indoor-outdoor carpet. A teller waits behind a counter.
You examine teller
Dressed like a bank teller, standing behind a counter in a bank -- she almost certainly is a bank teller.
You ask the teller for the money
The teller produces some sort of tethered handheld device and begins tapping on it.

"Yes, I see you've started the process of establishing an account with us. While your account has not yet been approved, as a courtesy to new residents of nTopia, and to remind you about how enjoyable personal financial transactions can be, we can convert one dollar from your nRich account into a physical representation of value."

The device produces a coin, which the teller hands to you. She then puts the device away and tells you to have a nice day.
You examine the coin
It's one of those new dollar coins with an armadillo on one side and half the head of Thomas Edison on the other.
You go to the north-east
The marquee of the Bastion Theater is northeast and the blank stare of 0th Bank diagonally across to the southwest. Speaking of the Southwest, the bad Southwestern art of the Coyote and Crown howls from the northwest corner. A pleasant absence of city is southeast, where the fake hills of nTopia's park roll.

A bicyclist hurtles by, speaking Spanish on a hands-free phone.
You go northwest
There's a din of digitized sound. What's visible of the walls is covered with multicolored squares, presumably in an attempt to make the atmosphere even more festive.
You play the llamafight 2000
The coin does seen like an obvious thing to put into the coin slot, but it's too thick to fit in there.
Go south
You head south on Eel...

The local elementary school sits beside a gated playground to the northeast. Plywood closes off the site on the southeast corner, hiding whatever is being built there. The Pine and Elm, an apartment building you checked out and found just about identical to the Wild Palms, is southwest. On the northwest corner is an upscale variety store, MarMart.
Go south
You head south on Eel...

To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.
Go west
You head west on Fifth Street...

Your apartment building is on the southwest corner. Opposite it is a windowless, blocky building. On the southeast corner Pharmicopia sprawls. Otto's Automat is to the northwest.
You go to the northwest
Someone, perhaps shellf, really got into Dark City. There couldn't be any other excuse for this combination vending machine and cafeteria, even though it may strain to look modern and appetizing. Pixelated smiley faces in an urgent red decorate everything, even the edges of the food-dispensing wall.

The opportunity to avoid social contact during food selection is appealing.
You look at the wall
The food-grid features various sorts of ready-made edibles.
You look at the edibles
Ah, yes. The food. There it is.
You buy the food
Food does seem like a good idea. You select something palatable from the food-dispensing wall and begin to consume it, face flickering with mammalian happiness.

You conclude your culinary experience.

Here we go again. Your pager goes off in its usual buzzing, vibrating fit.

The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.
You press the pager's button
A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Gus needs his password reset now. Immediately. At the current time. Sorry it's so early. Also, be nice to him when you walk over and deliver his new password, since this weekend has been rough on everyone. He's in F2 and I'm now having your nPediment privileges set so you can walk right in there and find him. Thanks for rebooting the machines, by the way.

It is, of course, Wilbur.

A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

This is an automatic report about how you got owned, champ. That's right, one of your machines is puking out denial of service packets and needs to be offlined immediately. Better get it off your network before somebody other than a robot tells you about it. The victim is Nora.

It sounds like the perky cousin of that stupid stapler.

A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Disk failure. Disk hesitant, corrupted, ready for immolation. Replace the disk. Must be replaced prior to demo. Almost there. Almost at demo. We will make it. Replace the disk. Follow the procedure and incinerate the old disk once it has been replaced. The disk of the main server in F9. Access to F9 is currently being provided you. Go.

Obviously, the message is from Wilbur.
Go east
You head east on Third Street...

To the northeast are the miniature tree-spotted hills of nTopia's park. On the southeast corner is the police station. A Starbucks is on the southwest corner. Neon signs and flashing screens glint from the establishment to the northwest, Arcadia Ego.
Go east
You head east on Third Street...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
Go northwest
The products are incidentally on hand here. Usually nGeniuses are about to discuss tips and tricks that further enhance the virtues of nWare hardware and software, preaching to the clergy. Today, perhaps because of the impending demo, the place seems barren.
You take the disk
This seems a likely place to find an nWare hard disk drive, but you don't notice any. If you wanted to buy one, though, you could try to -- somebody might be able to help you.
You go southeast
Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.

Three people covered with flour and ink run down the street in tears, disappearing.
You go to the east
You head east on Third Street...

The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest. And to the southeast is the enigmatic F9.
You go southeast
The building seems to be almost completely occupied by this one huge room. A flat screen blinks on the east wall. You can't tell where the server room might be.
You look at the screen
You read a curious message there: "All 'sensitives' on the Book Team should have been evacuated by now! If any are left consult the appropriate contact regarding evacuation ASAP IKYN!"

A superannuated manager rushes in, fiddling with some sort of extremely advanced laser pointer. He casts an embarrassed glance at the flat panel and manipulates the laser pointer; the screen blinks off. With some other twist or twiddle of the device, the east wall slides open, and the flat panel moves with it, out of sight.

"Come. In here."

He ushers you east.

You're getting to that point in your life where all the server rooms start to look the same. And it looks like we also have the F9 server.

The gentleman of great senectitude dashes off at an amazing pace, disappearing.
You examine server
The remarkable thing here is the hard disk drive that is jutting out of a slot in the machine.
You look at the drive
Fixed to the side of the charred hard disk is a purchase order for a replacement disk and a curt notice: DESTROY UPON FAILURE.
You take the order
That seems to be a part of the defective disk.
You take the disk
You withdraw the defective disk.
You go out
The building seems to be almost completely occupied by this one huge room. There's an opening to the east.
You go to the east
You're getting to that point in your life where all the server rooms start to look the same. And it looks like we also have the F9 server.
You go outside
The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest. And to the southeast is the enigmatic F9.
Go west
You head west on Third Street...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
Go northwest
The products are incidentally on hand here. Usually nGeniuses are about to discuss tips and tricks that further enhance the virtues of nWare hardware and software, preaching to the clergy. Today, perhaps because of the impending demo, the place seems barren.
You buy the disk
( That is, "buy the merchandise." )

By brandishing the busted disk drive, you manage to flag down a salesperson. The guy assisting you expertly produces a new and identically-shaped drive, stamping the old one with something red and indelible as he hands the new one to you and tells you what kind of day to have.
Go southeast
Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.

A man with the demeanor of a middle manager skips by in a long gray cape, peeling a banana at both ends.
You go to the east
You head east on Third Street...

The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest. And to the southeast is the enigmatic F9.
You go to the southeast
The building seems to be almost completely occupied by this one huge room. There's an opening to the east.
You go to the east
You're getting to that point in your life where all the server rooms start to look the same. And it looks like we also have the F9 server.
You put the disk in the server
... Are you referring to the new disk or the defective disk?
New
As you insert the new hard disk drive, the slot seals itself closed, and the server looks the way that usual, fully functional server looks.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
Go northeast
One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.
Go southwest
The scooters, Segways, bikes, sport utility tricycles, and suchlike are all lined up here in supposedly appealing configurations.
You buy the unicycle
You are gripped by paralysis, unable to decide where to begin or end your shopping spree. After you breathe for a moment, the panic subsides. Perhaps you'll be able to go and shop after the stress of the demo has passed.
Go northeast
The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.

The scheme of the city, and your previous wanderings, suggest to you that the incinerator isn't likely to be plopped down here in the middle of town.
Go west
You head west on Fifth Street...

To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.
Go south
You head south on Eel...

Two uncannily clean but industrial-looking buildings sit on either side of Eel to the north. Back Street runs right along the railing that bounds the city to the south.

You have come to the edge of the plateau on which nTopia is built. Far below, past the railing, is the desert plain, stretching from reddish white to white, scraggled here and there with gray. The sky is lapis lazuli. Some highway stretches far off from east to west, as if it were an imperfect reflection of a line on a map.
Go northwest
There's some corrugated steel-with-cinderblock-accents thing going on here. The floor ends to the west, where smoke and wailing rise from a pit. And it looks like we also have a double-cup panel lifter.
You look in the pit
The pit from which smoke and wailing arises is empty.
You look at the lifter
Ah yes. The double-cup panel lifter. An ungainly little widget. There it is.
You use the lifter
The double-cup panel lifter can only be used to open and close floor panels.
You take the lifter
You conduct the acquisition.
You throw the disk in the pit
You gingerly fling the defective disk into the pit, where it almost certainly goes the way of the gold standard.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
You go outside
Two uncannily clean but industrial-looking buildings sit on either side of Eel to the north. Back Street runs right along the railing that bounds the city to the south.
You go to the east
You head east on Back Street...

Back Street runs east behind City Hall here at the south end of nTopia. Eel is to the west. A warehouse is on the northwest corner.
Go north
You head north on Main...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.

A cute little fire truck careers down the street, letting loose an occasional bottle rocket.
Go northwest
While most of the retail spaces are minimal or postmodern, this package pickup and dropoff point has more of the sense of a Hoboken everything 99 cents store.
Leave
The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
Go northeast
It's all orange inside, too, with rounded booths of different sizes cut into the walls. The place is a sort of large-scale bento box, outfitted so that it will be safe during hunting season.

Here we go again. Your pager goes off in its usual buzzing, vibrating fit.

The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.
You press the pager's button
A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Gus needs his password reset now. Immediately. At the current time. Sorry it's so early. Also, be nice to him when you walk over and deliver his new password, since this weekend has been rough on everyone. He's in F2 and I'm now having your nPediment privileges set so you can walk right in there and find him. Thanks for rebooting the machines, by the way.

It is, of course, Wilbur.

A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

This is an automatic report about how you got owned, champ. That's right, one of your machines is puking out denial of service packets and needs to be offlined immediately. Better get it off your network before somebody other than a robot tells you about it. The victim is Nora.

It sounds like the perky cousin of that stupid stapler.

A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Disk failure. Disk hesitant, corrupted, ready for immolation. Replace the disk. Must be replaced prior to demo. Almost there. Almost at demo. We will make it. Replace the disk. Follow the procedure and incinerate the old disk once it has been replaced. The disk of the main server in F9. Access to F9 is currently being provided you. Go.

Obviously, the message is from Wilbur.

A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Gratitude. Appreciation. Systems working within adequate tolerances. Mental hygiene triage of team evidently complete. Programmers and artists working harmoniously together. Sky rent like sackcloth. Please remain on call. Productivity obtains. A time of peace is near.

Your loving boss. It seems the guy reacts well to stress, once it gets past a certain level.
You hold pager's button
The pager emits a low beep after you hold the button down for about a second and a half.
You buy the food
Your hacker frame can sustain itself for at least half a day on a single meal; you certainly aren't ready to have another one just yet.
Go southeast
The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and shellf.

There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
You go southeast
You head through the door and into the server room.

There are just the usual racks here. The rest of the room is bare, with the usual drop ceilings and the usual raised floor providing a contrast to the unusual wooden walls outside. And it looks like we also have Sophie.
Open floor
Using the double-cup panel lifter somewhat more strenuously than you really should have to, you wiggle part of the floor open.
You look at the floor
There's the floor. Right down there. Wide open.
Doff simulaccam
You take off the SimulacCam.
Go downwards
There's a curious amount of space under the floor to the north. You scoot into it.

The darkness here may be the only profound thing in nTopia.
You go outside
There's more than one exit. Specify a direction to take one of them.
Open nLap
You open the nLap 500, which wakes the moment it begins to unfold.

Sometimes a horrifying conspiracy lives beneath the surface of reality. Sometimes, just a cramped crawlspace like this one, lacking even the dust that most such spaces have. And it looks like we also have an overhead ventilation grill.
You look at the grill
It seems to be fastened with some screws or bolts, whatever the difference is, that are of surreal or alien design. No mass-market device is going to open this.
You check what you're carrying
You are carrying a double-cup panel lifter, a dollar coin, the SimulacCam, an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
Exits
From here, it looks like it's possible to go south.
Go south
You make your way south and crawl out.

There are just the usual racks here. The rest of the room is bare, with the usual drop ceilings and the usual raised floor providing a contrast to the unusual wooden walls outside. And it looks like we also have Sophie.
You go northeast
The eastern corners are occupied by the two nicest residential options in town, The Maple Copse and Yew Village. City Hall has a face turned this way to the southwest. On the northwest corner are the colors and leafy tufts of the city gardens.
You go north
You head north on Octopus...

The nWare Media Campus is north; Octopus turns into the campus's main path on the north side of Fourth Street. To the southwest are the city's gardens, complementing the green of the campus with other herbifarous colors. A store called "Beverage Rack" is to the southeast.
You go north
You head north on Octopus...

The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest. And to the southeast is the enigmatic F9.
Open floor
( That is, "open the surroundings." )

That's not something you can open.
You enter the floor
You muddle around under the raised floor a bit, encountering only conduits and claustrophobia, not really even needing a lamp for the full experience. Then you get back out of there.
Close nLap
You close the nLap 500.
You exit
The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest. And to the southeast is the enigmatic F9.

Two modified Segways, driven by school children, scream past each other at top speed, missing by inches. Then they career off.
You go to the north
The north part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. Specifically, F2 is to the northeast.
Go northeast
This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.
You go north
This is a large, open, and curiously empty workspace. There are racks all around the place. And it looks like we also have the F2 server.
Wear helmet
You once again don the strange helmet.
You go to the southwest
You're not cleared to enter the building over there. Although you work for nWare, the subdivisions of the Media division are pretty much walled off from each other.

A sizable crowd of people wearing tye-dyed bedsheets babbles loudly, running past and away from you.
Go south
The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest. And to the southeast is the enigmatic F9.
You go to the northwest
The raised floor is charcoal in color -- it's the sort seen in all nWare buildings that house really official business. The racks all around are also especially businesslike. And it looks like we also have Cindy.
You go northwest
A Starbucks is to the northeast. The post office on the southwest corner looks as distinguished as a mausoleum. The urban idiom fails on the northwest corner, where a restaurant sits like a ranch house on a little plot of desert. Opposite it, a path leads onto the nWare Media Campus.
You go west
You head west on First Street...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.

A gray and black designer herd hurries past you, almost at a trot, brandishing picapoles.
You go to the north
You head north on Eel...

It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.
Go north
nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.
You go to the south
You head south on Eel...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.

Something that looks like a parade float slides down the street. You notice some tonsured and robed man dancing on it. Then it turns away and continues on, out of sight.
Go west
You head west on First Street...

The clothing store Niche Threads is to the northeast, while a fire station is across from it on the southeast corner. To the southwest is the tall, cylindrical, and multicolored Medical Center Plaza. What dominates the intersection, though, is the swooping MuseRoom, to the northwest.
Go southwest
The Medical Center Plaza is not open right now. Looks like it opens at nine.

A young couple runs past solemnly, wearing only Nikes and diapers.
You go to the south
You head south on Abalone...

Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.
Wear helmet
You once again don the strange helmet.

Someone in sixteenth century Japanese armor goes by on a horse, red banner flapping.
You wait for a while
Time goes by.
Wait
Time goes by.

( You can also use commands such as WAIT 10 MINUTES and WAIT UNTIL 10 AM. )
Look around
Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.
You go to the east
You head east on Second Street...

The north part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. Specifically, F2 is to the northeast.

A bald man runs screaming past you, pants on fire, pursued by a man without pants whose hair is on fire. They disappear around a corner.
You go east
You head east on Second Street...

The path to the west looks as nice as all the other campus walkways, but this is clearly an alley at the edge of town.

You've barely noticed it, thanks to the way the streetlights have gradually filled in for the departing sun, but night has fallen.
Go south
You head south on Urchin...

The eastern edge of the city looks like a long, empty parking lot. The path onto campus to the west is typically impressive, though. There's a subtle brown door to the east here, set right in the dirt of the East Berm.
Go east
You head through the door and into the server room.

Much like other server rooms in this world of ours: racks, raised floor, drop ceiling. It seems to have been made a bit more spacious than it needs to be. And it looks like we also have Ester.
You enter the floor
There's no way you're going to be able to get into the raised floor wearing the SimulacCam.

There's a loud and sudden microphone-tapping sound, followed by the shriek of feedback.

ATTENTION, this is not an emergency. But there will be a demonstration of a project involving new technologies in just a few minutes. It may possibly result in some unusual irregularities. Don't be alarmed. Thank you.

The civil alert system crackles back into silence.
Wear helmet
You once again don the strange helmet.

A warning shriek sounds, almost inside your head -- it's the helmet. "OVERLOAD," a stupidly calm voice says. The SimulacCam splits right down the middle, along the line of your nose, and falls, shattering on the ground.

A coming screams across the ceiling.

All that you can see flickers into reverse video; even worse is the reverse audio, pure sound everywhere except for the globs of silence shrieked from innumerable mouths, your own one of these. The tongue cannot say what tastes and smells visit you. Your skin is crawling all over the ants. The round is world.

Sixteen years later you arise from catatonia to play a single game of ping pong against a silentious Native American. It is a moment that Oliver Sacks would have written touchingly about. But the moment does not last.
You drop the helmet
You perform the relinquishment.

A coming screams across the ceiling.

All that you can see flickers into reverse video; even worse is the reverse audio, pure sound everywhere except for the globs of silence shrieked from innumerable mouths, your own one of these. The tongue cannot say what tastes and smells visit you. Your skin is crawling all over the ants. The round is world.

Sixteen years later you arise from catatonia to play a single game of ping pong against a silentious Native American. It is a moment that Oliver Sacks would have written touchingly about. But the moment does not last.
You examine the helmet
Ah, yes. The SimulacCam. There it is.

A coming screams across the ceiling.

All that you can see flickers into reverse video; even worse is the reverse audio, pure sound everywhere except for the globs of silence shrieked from innumerable mouths, your own one of these. The tongue cannot say what tastes and smells visit you. Your skin is crawling all over the ants. The round is world.

Sixteen years later you arise from catatonia to play a single game of ping pong against a silentious Native American. It is a moment that Oliver Sacks would have written touchingly about. But the moment does not last.
Xyzzy
You suddenly utter a great word of power known to you from your youth. Nothing happens.
You wait for a while
Time goes by.

A warning shriek sounds, almost inside your head -- it's the helmet. "OVERLOAD," a stupidly calm voice says. The SimulacCam splits right down the middle, along the line of your nose, and falls, shattering on the ground.

A coming screams across the ceiling.

All that you can see flickers into reverse video; even worse is the reverse audio, pure sound everywhere except for the globs of silence shrieked from innumerable mouths, your own one of these. The tongue cannot say what tastes and smells visit you. Your skin is crawling all over the ants. The round is world.

Sixteen years later you arise from catatonia to play a single game of ping pong against a silentious Native American. It is a moment that Oliver Sacks would have written touchingly about. But the moment does not last.
You look at your surroundings
You're getting to that point in your life where all the server rooms start to look the same. And it looks like we also have the F9 server.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying the defective disk, a dollar coin, the SimulacCam (being worn), an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
Go west
You head west on Third Street...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.

A man plods down the street and away from you, carrying an elderly man on his back and a Cabbage Patch doll in his arms.
You show nStick
You look ridiculous waving the nStick.
You examine nStick
It's an nStick, a proprietary memory storage device. You haven't seen this particular sort before, and it's not going to fit into any of the usual computer suspects -- your nLap or the servers you manage.
Go southeast
Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
You buy the watchmen
You check all over for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmena graphic novel you happen to really like, in which a sinister conspiracy is at work in an alternate but recognizable reality -- but there doesn't seem to be a copy anywhere around here. Too bad.
You go to the south
You head east on Fourth Street...

The local elementary school sits beside a gated playground to the northeast. Plywood closes off the site on the southeast corner, hiding whatever is being built there. The Pine and Elm is southwest. On the northwest corner is an upscale variety store, MarMart.
You head east on Fourth Street...

The sudden clamor and rush of a crowd sends you helplessly to the ground. With a grinding pull, a battalion in green aprons hurls itself over you and into the structure on the southwest corner. Perhaps you glimpse a pair of stunned figures in black T-shirts inside, shivering behind a counter. Your vision seems to be obscured for a moment by a milky steam.

You stand, finally, unsure about what you seem to have witnessed, unsure about whether or not to hope it was real.

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.

A sizable crowd of people wearing tye-dyed bedsheets babbles loudly, running past and away from you.
You head south on Main...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
Go southeast
The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and shellf.

There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
You look at diorama
Ah, yes. The diorama. There it is.

You notice that it has a brass button on it.
You press the brass button
That seems like it might do something. But it doesn't.
Go south
You head south on Main...

Back Street runs east behind City Hall here at the south end of nTopia. Eel is to the west. A warehouse is on the northwest corner.

You have come to the edge of the plateau on which nTopia is built. Far below, past the railing, is the desert plain, stretching from reddish white to white, scraggled here and there with gray. The sky is lapis lazuli. Some highway stretches far off from east to west, as if it were an imperfect reflection of a line on a map.
You go to the west
You head west on Back Street...

Two uncannily clean but industrial-looking buildings sit on either side of Eel to the north. Back Street runs right along the railing that bounds the city to the south.

A very important-looking person wearing a green visor speeds by on a golden Sinclair C5.
Go northwest
There's some corrugated steel-with-cinderblock-accents thing going on here. The floor ends to the west, where smoke and wailing rise from a pit. And it looks like we also have a double-cup panel lifter.
Go east
You head east on Back Street...

Back Street runs east behind City Hall here at the south end of nTopia. Eel is to the west. A warehouse is on the northwest corner.

A gang of perhaps twenty people on souped-up Segways powers past and disappears.
You go north
You head north on Main...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
Go southeast
The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and shellf.

There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
You go southeast
You head through the door and into the server room.

There are just the usual racks here. The rest of the room is bare, with the usual drop ceilings and the usual raised floor providing a contrast to the unusual wooden walls outside. And it looks like we also have Sophie.
You look at the ceiling
There's the ceiling. Right up there.
Go northwest
You head out through the door.

The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and shellf.

There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
You go northwest
The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.

A cute little fire truck careers down the street, letting loose an occasional bottle rocket.
Go north
You head north on Abalone...

Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.

A miniature ambulance pulls up. A bystander is quickly hoisted inside by two people clad in padded suits, and the ambulance drives off.
Go southwest
You head into the building and over to the server room.

There are racks and racks, with the usual drop ceiling and raised floor one finds in the upscale server room. And it looks like we also have Wendy.
Go northeast
Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.

A young couple runs past solemnly, wearing only Nikes and diapers.
You go north
You head north on Abalone...

The clothing store Niche Threads is to the northeast, while a fire station is across from it on the southeast corner. To the southwest is the tall, cylindrical, and multicolored Medical Center Plaza. What dominates the intersection, though, is the swooping MuseRoom, to the northwest.
You go to the east
You head east on First Street...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.
You go to the north
You head north on Eel...

It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.
Go north
nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.
Go east
You head through the door and into the server room.

Raised floor, drop ceiling, and racks all around instead of walls make this place seem pretty comfy, at least if you're a patch cable. And it looks like we also have Nora.
You examine the racks
Raised floor, drop ceiling, and racks all around instead of walls make this place seem pretty comfy, at least if you're a patch cable. And it looks like we also have Nora.
Go west
You head out through the door.

nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.

Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.
Go south
You head east on Front Street...

Even Main Street has nothing but a pair of warehouses on this end, where it meets Front Street. The airport wall is north.
You head east on Front Street...

Front Street continues its run alongside the airport. There is a warehouse on the southwest corner. The mall is under construction to the southeast.
You head east on Front Street...

The city goes no further north or east. There's just Front Lodge to the southwest.
You head south on Urchin...

First Lodge is on the northwest corner. The nWare Media Campus is southwest of here, but there's no way onto campus from this intersection.
You head south on Urchin...

The path to the west looks as nice as all the other campus walkways, but this is clearly an alley at the edge of town.
You head south on Urchin...

The eastern edge of the city looks like a long, empty parking lot. The path onto campus to the west is typically impressive, though. There's a subtle brown door to the east here, set right in the dirt of the East Berm.
Go east
You head through the door and into the server room.

Much like other server rooms in this world of ours: racks, raised floor, drop ceiling. It seems to have been made a bit more spacious than it needs to be. And it looks like we also have Ester.
You look at the ceiling
There's the ceiling. Right up there.
You examine the panel
There's the floor. Right down there.
You go north
You head north on Urchin...

The path to the west looks as nice as all the other campus walkways, but this is clearly an alley at the edge of town.
You go to the north
You head north on Urchin...

First Lodge is on the northwest corner. The nWare Media Campus is southwest of here, but there's no way onto campus from this intersection.
Go west
You head west on First Street...

The main north-south path of the nWare Media Campus meets Octopus on the south side. Roy's, a favorite hacker hangout and supplier of takeout, is on the northwest corner. The mall is under construction to the northeast.
Go north
You head north on Octopus...

Front Street continues its run alongside the airport. There is a warehouse on the southwest corner. The mall is under construction to the southeast.
You go southwest
The warehouse isn't open to the public, or to you.

A woman hurries by, loudly reciting art criticism by John Ashbery and occasionally making some sort of nonhuman primate sound.
Go west
You head west on Front Street...

Even Main Street has nothing but a pair of warehouses on this end, where it meets Front Street. The airport wall is north.
You go to the west
You head west on Front Street...

It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.
You go to the southeast
The visitor center is not open right now. Looks like it opens at ten.

A man plods down the street and away from you, carrying an elderly man on his back and a Cabbage Patch doll in his arms.
You examine the airport
Upon further inspection, the only things that stand out are the tall, rectangular nature of the arch, and the fact that it is topped with red flashing lights.
You examine the lights
Upon further inspection, the only things that stand out are the tall, rectangular nature of the arch, and the fact that it is topped with red flashing lights.

Two modified Segways, driven by school children, scream past each other at top speed, missing by inches. Then they career off.
You go north
Your intimate friends at airport security recognize you, find that you still lack a boarding pass, and look at you with concern. You do not get to go in.
You look at the kiosk
Nice kiosk.
You go south
You head south on Eel...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.

You think you catch a glimpse of someone down the street leaping out a window and deploying a parachute, but a second glance finds nothing out of the ordinary going on.
Go northeast
The Gap is not open right now. Looks like it opens at ten.

You've barely noticed it, thanks to the way the streetlights have gradually filled in for the departing sun, but night has fallen.
You examine MuseRoom
Cultural hub of nTopia, this peripheral building holds both the city's museum and the only library. Like the Medical and Professional Center across from it, it is radially symmetric. While lacking colored stripes, it does have the shape of an alien chesspiece and a facade entirely made of rose-colored glass. Someone very famous designed it and cackled gleefully when it was completed.
Go northwest
The MuseRoom is not open right now. Looks like it opens at nine.

One guy on Rollerblades and one in a racing wheelchair whisper past, both with hockey sticks.
Go southwest
The Medical Center Plaza is not open right now. Looks like it opens at nine.

There's a loud and sudden microphone-tapping sound, followed by the shriek of feedback.

ATTENTION, this is not an emergency. But there will be a demonstration of a project involving new technologies in just a few minutes. It may possibly result in some unusual irregularities. Don't be alarmed. Thank you.

The civil alert system crackles back into silence.

A bald man runs screaming past you, pants on fire, pursued by a man without pants whose hair is on fire. They disappear around a corner.
You go to the south
You head south on Abalone...

Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.
You go south
You head south on Abalone...

A multi-level grocery store dominates the northeast corner, occupying the whole side of the block from here to Second. A windowless building, this one with a logo like a fork of lightning, is southeast. A shrouded establishment called "Gelatinous Cube" is southwest. On the final corner is a Starbucks.

A warning shriek sounds, almost inside your head -- it's the helmet. "OVERLOAD," a stupidly calm voice says. The SimulacCam splits right down the middle, along the line of your nose, and falls, shattering on the ground.

A coming screams across the sky.

All that you can see flickers into reverse video; even worse is the reverse audio, pure sound everywhere except for the globs of silence shrieked from innumerable mouths, your own one of these. The tongue cannot say what tastes and smells visit you. Your skin is crawling all over the ants. The round is world.

Sixteen years later you arise from catatonia to play a single game of ping pong against a silentious Native American. It is a moment that Oliver Sacks would have written touchingly about. But the moment does not last.
You go south
It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.

There seems to be no trace of whatever sand was blowing all around, unless some of the buildings now have a slightly glossier finish.
You examine the helmet
Some of the most difficult things to look at are those that are currently enclosing your head.
You examine the helmet
Ah, yes. The SimulacCam. There it is.
You examine the panels
The video panels display cheerful promotional views of nTopia.
You ask the woman about nTopia
"Lovely place we live in," she replies.
You ask the woman about the help
"I wish I could help, but if I could, I'd probably have a messy job like yours and would regret it," she says.
You ask the woman about the demo
"Um, I'm not sure. They haven't really told me much. I mostly just stand here and smile," she tells you.
You go to the west
You head west on Front Street...

Front Street is wide here, at the edge of nTopia. The airport is north, while two indistinguishable warehouses flank Abalone Street to the south.
Go south
You head south on Abalone...

The clothing store Niche Threads is to the northeast, while a fire station is across from it on the southeast corner. To the southwest is the tall, cylindrical, and multicolored Medical Center Plaza. What dominates the intersection, though, is the swooping MuseRoom, to the northwest.
You go to the northwest
The swelling space of the MuseRoom is flooded with light from above and ringed with hypermodern paintings. A stairway curls along the far wall, leading up to the library on the second floor.
You look at the paintings
They are pixorealist paintings that look like beautiful backgrounds you could use on your desktop.
Up
A large, circular room forms the library, radiating with shelves and lit by sunlights. The floor seems to be a grating, allowing light to filter to the gallery below.
You examine the shelves
Unsurprisingly, the shelves have books on them.
You examine the floor
There's the floor. Right down there.
Examine books
You pick a book off the shelf and read for a bit.

... The head and in frontal attack on an English writer that the character of this point is therefore another method for the letters ...

Then you replace it.
Examine books
You pick a book off the shelf and read for a bit.

... The quench and in aye attack on some obtain writer that the sign of this point is therefore another bite for the restore ...

Then you replace it.
Go downwards
The swelling space of the MuseRoom is flooded with light from above and ringed with hypermodern paintings. A stairway curls along the far wall, leading up to the library on the second floor.
Go southeast
The clothing store Niche Threads is to the northeast, while a fire station is across from it on the southeast corner. To the southwest is the tall, cylindrical, and multicolored Medical Center Plaza. What dominates the intersection, though, is the swooping MuseRoom, to the northwest.
Shout
You allow yourself a moment to get in touch with your inner screaming maniac.
You go southeast
The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.
Go southeast
The greenery is effusive. The uneven terrain here was no doubt shaped by the landscapers, but the trees, hills, and open areas are pretty pleasing, however artificial they are.
Go south
You head south on Abalone...

Your apartment building is on the southwest corner. Opposite it is a windowless, blocky building. On the southeast corner Pharmicopia sprawls. Otto's Automat is to the northwest.
You go to the south-west
Clean, if not homey. The cube by the doorway is unattended.
You examine Cube
Ah, yes. The empty Plexiglas cube. There it is.
You look in Cube
The empty Plexiglas cube is empty.
Up
The palate-cleansing corridor that leads to your apartment.
You go inside
The old-style lock opens to you with already-practiced ease, and you walk in. You switch the light on.

It's your residential canister. Your lime-green couch is against the longest wall. And it looks like we also have a heap of clothes.
You go east
You head east on Fifth Street...

To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.

A woman wearing some small display on her glasses pushes herself past on a Razor scooter, dictating Python into a headset.
You go to the east
You head east on Fifth Street...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
Go northwest
While most of the retail spaces are minimal or postmodern, this package pickup and dropoff point has more of the sense of a Hoboken everything 99 cents store.
Go southeast
The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.

Here we go again. Your pager goes off in its usual buzzing, vibrating fit.
You press the button
A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Gus needs his password reset now. Immediately. At the current time. Sorry it's so early. Also, be nice to him when you walk over and deliver his new password, since this weekend has been rough on everyone. He's in F2 and I'm now having your nPediment privileges set so you can walk right in there and find him. Thanks for rebooting the machines, by the way.

It is, of course, Wilbur.

A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

This is an automatic report about how you got owned, champ. That's right, one of your machines is puking out denial of service packets and needs to be offlined immediately. Better get it off your network before somebody other than a robot tells you about it. The victim is Nora.

It sounds like the perky cousin of that stupid stapler.

A beep issues from the pager, then a voice:

Disk failure. Disk hesitant, corrupted, ready for immolation. Replace the disk. Must be replaced prior to demo. Almost there. Almost at demo. We will make it. Replace the disk. Follow the procedure and incinerate the old disk once it has been replaced. The disk of the main server in F9. Access to F9 is currently being provided you. Go.

Obviously, the message is from Wilbur.

A woman on an oversized skateboard zooms past, pulling a Jack Russell terrier on a normal-sized skateboard.
You go north
You head north on Main...

The sudden clamor and rush of a crowd sends you helplessly to the ground. With a grinding pull, a battalion in green aprons hurls itself over you and into the structure on the southwest corner. Perhaps you glimpse a pair of stunned figures in black T-shirts inside, shivering behind a counter. Your vision seems to be obscured for a moment by a milky steam.

You stand, finally, unsure about what you seem to have witnessed, unsure about whether or not to hope it was real.

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.
Go north
You head north on Main...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
You go southeast
Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.

Something that looks like a parade float slides down the street. You notice some tonsured and robed man dancing on it. Then it turns away and continues on, out of sight.
You examine the coin slot
Ah, yes. The coin slot. There it is.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying the SimulacCam, an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
You ask the teller for the coin
The teller produces some sort of tethered handheld device and begins tapping on it.
"We cannot dispense old-style funds to you at this point until you have an approved account," she replies.
Inventory
You are carrying a dollar coin, the SimulacCam, an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
You go to the northeast
The marquee of the Bastion Theater is northeast and the blank stare of 0th Bank diagonally across to the southwest. Speaking of the Southwest, the bad Southwestern art of the Coyote and Crown howls from the northwest corner. A pleasant absence of city is southeast, where the fake hills of nTopia's park roll.
You go north
You head north on Eel...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.

A gang of perhaps twenty people on souped-up Segways powers past and disappears.
You go to the south-west
For a marble-coated civic bunker, it's a rather homey place. The one service window on a wall of mailboxes is shuttered with dull brass. An APM is installed opposite the window.
You look at APM
Nice kiosk.
You use APM
You touch the screen to get started, and a progression of several dozen windows pop up over each each other, as if you've just won a game of nSolitare. The one that freezes on top for a moment says "nSys for Kiosk Error Number n + 7. Rebooting."

The machine blinks and returns to its original state.
You look at Mailboxes
Looking at the wall reminds you that you're supposed to get assigned a mailbox sometime soon. After that's done and mail forwarding begins, you can continue receiving those hand-written, ink-spattered poetry submissions that various prisoners in a facility in North Dakota have been sending you for no apparent reason.
You go to the northwest
A Starbucks is to the northeast. The post office on the southwest corner looks as distinguished as a mausoleum. The urban idiom fails on the northwest corner, where a restaurant sits like a ranch house on a little plot of desert. Opposite it, a path leads onto the nWare Media Campus.
You head west on First Street...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.
You head south on Eel...

The marquee of the Bastion Theater is northeast and the blank stare of 0th Bank diagonally across to the southwest. Speaking of the Southwest, the bad Southwestern art of the Coyote and Crown howls from the northwest corner. A pleasant absence of city is southeast, where the fake hills of nTopia's park roll.
You head south on Eel...

To the northeast are the miniature tree-spotted hills of nTopia's park. On the southeast corner is the police station. A Starbucks is on the southwest corner. Neon signs and flashing screens glint from the establishment to the northwest, Arcadia Ego.

A cute little fire truck careers down the street, letting loose an occasional bottle rocket.

There's a din of digitized sound. What's visible of the walls is covered with multicolored squares, presumably in an attempt to make the atmosphere even more festive.
You put the coin in the machine
The coin does seen like an obvious thing to put into the coin slot, but it's too thick to fit in there.
You go to the east
You head east on Third Street...

The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest. And to the southeast is the enigmatic F9.

A man with the demeanor of a middle manager skips by in a long gray cape, peeling a banana at both ends.
You go northwest
A Starbucks is to the northeast. The post office on the southwest corner looks as distinguished as a mausoleum. The urban idiom fails on the northwest corner, where a restaurant sits like a ranch house on a little plot of desert. Opposite it, a path leads onto the nWare Media Campus.

A bald man runs screaming past you, pants on fire, pursued by a man without pants whose hair is on fire. They disappear around a corner.
You open the computer
You open the nLap 500, which wakes the moment it begins to unfold.

A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:

Hey, this looks like the post office! In the old days, people used to go here to send mail and stuff!

The window winks away.
You press the apm button
One of the things you liked about this job is the relative absence of heavy lifting.
You look
For a marble-coated civic bunker, it's a rather homey place. The one service window on a wall of mailboxes is shuttered with dull brass. An APM is installed opposite the window.

Your stomach speaks to you in twangs of pain. Although you don't know Morse code, the jist of the message is that it would be a good idea to get something to eat soon.
You look at the window
Such service windows have been used in the past to assist postal customers. This one is probably only opened for historical reenactments. You had best visit the APM if you'd like to interface with the postal system.
Wear helmet
You once again don the strange helmet.
Exit
A Starbucks is to the northeast. The post office on the southwest corner looks as distinguished as a mausoleum. The urban idiom fails on the northwest corner, where a restaurant sits like a ranch house on a little plot of desert. Opposite it, a path leads onto the nWare Media Campus.

The scheme of the city, and your previous wanderings, suggest to you that the incinerator isn't likely to be plopped down here in the middle of town.
Go west
You head west on First Street...

The Gap gapes on the northeast corner. A place called "Ice Planet" is southeast. To the southwest is a convenience store, ShopLite. The cheerful block of the nTopia Hospital occupies the remaining corner, to the northwest.
You go to the south
You head south on Abalone...

Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.

A miniature ambulance whisks by at a frightening speed, doing a donut before it peals out of sight.
Go northeast
So, it's a pizza place. With a huge fake mouse in one corner. And it smells pretty nice.
You take the mouse
That's not detachable.

That's not detachable.
You hug the mouse
You tenderly cuddle the mouse.
You touch the mouse
Tangible, and pretty ordinary-feeling.
Kiss mouse
You plant a smackeroo on the mouse.
You open the laptop
That's already open.
You buy the pizza
Food does seem like a good idea. You order some and prepare to focus completely on the meal, like Martha Stewart on her salad...

You conclude your culinary experience.
Go northwest
You'd think the sun never set on Azatlan from the interior of this sort of English-style pub that serves lots of food made of blue cornmeal. Behind the bar, the place is festooned with Union Jack bandanas, and there are tequila bottles and British and Irish beer taps.
You look at the bandanas
Ah, yes. The bad decor. There it is.
You buy the tequila
You never drink on the job, which is too bad, because you could be paged at any time of day.
Go outside
The marquee of the Bastion Theater is northeast and the blank stare of 0th Bank diagonally across to the southwest. Speaking of the Southwest, the bad Southwestern art of the Coyote and Crown howls from the northwest corner. A pleasant absence of city is southeast, where the fake hills of nTopia's park roll.

Three people covered with flour and ink run down the street in tears, disappearing.
Go south
You head south on Eel...

The local elementary school sits beside a gated playground to the northeast. Plywood closes off the site on the southeast corner, hiding whatever is being built there. The Pine and Elm, an apartment building you checked out and found just about identical to the Wild Palms, is southwest. On the northwest corner is an upscale variety store, MarMart.

A sizable crowd of people wearing tye-dyed bedsheets babbles loudly, running past and away from you.
Go southeast
A dark gray interior has never been so reassuring. There's a long black desk in the center of the room, centered on a long metal sculpture that is behind it. And it looks like we also have a desk.
You open it
It doesn't open. It's art.
Go outside
To the northeast are the miniature tree-spotted hills of nTopia's park. On the southeast corner is the police station. A Starbucks is on the southwest corner. Neon signs and flashing screens glint from the establishment to the northwest, Arcadia Ego.
Go south
You head south on Eel...

The local elementary school sits beside a gated playground to the northeast. Plywood closes off the site on the southeast corner, hiding whatever is being built there. The Pine and Elm, an apartment building you checked out and found just about identical to the Wild Palms, is southwest. On the northwest corner is an upscale variety store, MarMart.
Go northwest
MarMart is not open right now. Looks like it opens at ten.

A sizable crowd of people wearing tye-dyed bedsheets babbles loudly, running past and away from you.
Go southwest
The door, not recognizing you as a resident or previously cleared guest, politely turns you away.

Someone in sixteenth century Japanese armor goes by on a horse, red banner flapping.
You go south
You head south on Eel...

To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.

You've barely noticed it, thanks to the way the streetlights have gradually filled in for the departing sun, but night has fallen.
Go northwest
The shoe store is not open right now. Looks like it opens at ten.
You go to the northeast
The dining room strikes an admirable balance between elegance and comfort, making this a delicious and elegant escape from the hustle and bustle of nTopia.
You go outside
To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.

There's a loud and sudden microphone-tapping sound, followed by the shriek of feedback.

ATTENTION, this is not an emergency. But there will be a demonstration of a project involving new technologies in just a few minutes. It may possibly result in some unusual irregularities. Don't be alarmed. Thank you.

The civil alert system crackles back into silence.
You go to the east
You head east on Fifth Street...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
Go northeast
It's all orange inside, too, with rounded booths of different sizes cut into the walls. The place is a sort of large-scale bento box, outfitted so that it will be safe during hunting season.

A warning shriek sounds, almost inside your head -- it's the helmet. "OVERLOAD," a stupidly calm voice says. The SimulacCam splits right down the middle, along the line of your nose, and falls, shattering on the ground.

A coming screams across the ceiling.

All that you can see flickers into reverse video; even worse is the reverse audio, pure sound everywhere except for the globs of silence shrieked from innumerable mouths, your own one of these. The tongue cannot say what tastes and smells visit you. Your skin is crawling all over the ants. The round is world.

Sixteen years later you arise from catatonia to play a single game of ping pong against a silentious Native American. It is a moment that Oliver Sacks would have written touchingly about. But the moment does not last.
You look at the walls
Actually the squares covering the walls aren't all squares. You now see that one of them is a rectangle.
You examine the rectangle
This panel really looks a lot like the rest of the wall, but close inspection allows you to make out a faint trace of the word "TOKENS," apparently painted on using some pigment that isn't quite in the visible spectrum.

In the center of the token panel you notice a small, dark maw.
You put the coin in the maw
The coin vanishes into the maw. Below it, a tray pops open and a token flips out into the air. In a feat of tremendous physical prowess, you manage to catch it.
You put the token in the slot
You drop the token into the slot and hear the satisfying giggle of the machine registering a credit. Eagerly, you press the player one button and watch the introductory sequence.

Just as the first fight is about to begin, some twelve-year-old kid with a bowl haircut slips into place beside you, deposits a token, and presses the player two button.

"ENTERING SMACKDOWN MODE," the machine says.

"My mouth says hello," says the boy.
You play the game
You're playing it, oh yeah.

You select Llamo, your favorite avatar. The kid chooses the sissiest, lamest llama fighter there is, Floofta. The fight begins.

The kid's hands slap against the controllers with remarkable dexterity, and Floofta begins wailing on Llamo.

"Perhaps you are wondering what the purpose of all this is," the kid says calmly.
You play the game
You're playing it, oh yeah.

You're just barely able to crouch and block as Floofta powers into a helicopter kick.

"Governments are pesky," the kid says. "Sure, corporations are ascendant, but governments still have some power, and nWare would love to be able to command that power."
You play the game
You're playing it, oh yeah.

Floofta executes a swift axe hoof, which you barely parry, using the Calf Worshipping Goddess technique.

"As you may remember from history, overthrowing regimes is a messy business," the kid says.
You play game
You're playing it, oh yeah.

You manage to land a feeble punch. Then, Floofta grapples you and throws you painfully to the ground.

"But if you could simulate political leaders, simulate appreciative crowds," the kid muses, "have your doppelgangers move among the people, sowing confusion..."
You look at the kid
The kid stands impassively facing his side of the arcade cabinet, face lit by the psychedelic glow of the machine.

Floofta hurls an enormous hairball which flattens and stupefies you.

"You get the idea," the kid says. "That's what everyone is working on here. That's what you're working on, although you almost certainly don't know it."
You play the game
You're playing it, oh yeah.

You rally. It's like Ali in round eight against Foreman. You're landing all sorts of kicks and punches on Floofta.

"Rallies, meetings, the State of the Union address -- it will all be simulated," the kid, still oddly calm, tells you. "And nWare will run it all."
You play the game
You're playing it, oh yeah.

Floofta spins around and answers with a series of punishing blows that prove decisive.

"FINISH HIM!" the game proclaims, as poor Llamo wobbles there non-interactively.

"I'm not telling you that you should do anything differently, that you should try to look around and stop what's going on," they kid says. "No, no. But just so you know what you've gotten yourself into."
You play the game
You're playing it, oh yeah.

Rather than delivering the coup de grace, the kid slaps a token down on the machine and runs off, disappearing.

"GAME OVER," the machine says. Even the winner doesn't get to continue after a game in smackdown mode. Just like in real life.
You examine the token
Actually, how could you have mistaken this for a token, even though that's the only thing that a normal person would slap down on a video game cabinet? It's not a token at all. It's some sort of high proprietary Allen wrench.

You can't even describe the strange polygon through which this Allen wrench has been extruded, and which it is designed to fit into.
Inventory
You are carrying an Allen wrench, the defective disk, the SimulacCam (being worn), an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
You go south
You head south on Eel...

The local elementary school sits beside a gated playground to the northeast. Plywood closes off the site on the southeast corner, hiding whatever is being built there. The Pine and Elm is southwest. On the northwest corner is an upscale variety store, MarMart.
Go south
You head south on Eel...

To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.

A miniature ambulance whisks by at a frightening speed, doing a donut before it peals out of sight.
Go southeast
While there is a great view over there, the sheer drop of a hundred feet or so makes it impossible to go in that direction, except fatally.
You go to the north
You head north on Eel...

To the northeast is Public Char. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. A complex of tall apartment buildings, The Planar Forest, is southwest. To the northwest is a shoe store.
You go east
You head east on Fifth Street...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.

A sizable crowd of people wearing tye-dyed bedsheets babbles loudly, running past and away from you.
Go southeast
The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and shellf.

There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
You open the grill with the wrench
You wield the highly proprietary Allen wrench for a while, alternating between hope and frustration, and finally manage to open the grill.
You enter grill
You break into the office above like a tech support commando. Time to fix those wiretaps so the boss can figure out what the Democrats have been up to! Or, time to steal back that list of Resistance members' names! Or, time to enter yet another uninteresting commercial, retail, or institutional space!

This would be an impressive and luxurious office, if it had some furniture and stuff in it. It doesn't look like the place is occupied -- except, occasionally, by trespassers. There's an exit underneath you and a door through which a bit of light filters in. Disturbing the minimalist appearance of the room is a garish fake bookcase.
You look around
This would be an impressive and luxurious office, if it had some furniture and stuff in it. It doesn't look like the place is occupied -- except, occasionally, by trespassers. There's an exit underneath you and a door through which a bit of light filters in. Disturbing the minimalist appearance of the room is a garish fake bookcase.
You open the door
The door won't open. This must be some kind of fire code violation.
You examine the door
The frosted glass door seems to have "ROYAM" painted on it, although the "R" is backwards.
Wear helmet
You once again don the strange helmet.

Something seems to have changed.
Describe the surroundings
This would be an impressive and luxurious office, if it had some furniture and stuff in it. It doesn't look like the place is occupied -- except, occasionally, by trespassers. There's an exit underneath you and a door through which a bit of light filters in. Where the bookcase used to be is a person-sized cylinder, open on the front.
You examine the cylinder
The sight awakens one of your few pleasant childhood memories: Sitting in comfort in the forward-facing car seat on the passenger side, you went to the drive-through bank and received a delicious blue candy, which arrived in a pneumatic tube that looked like a smaller version of this cylinder.

Anyway. If this is where the Controller is supposed to reside in suspended animation, directing the city, then the genie is out of the bottle -- the lunatics are running the asylum -- there is no man behind the curtain.
You enter cylinder
You enter the cylinder. A voice is cued: "Escape canister will be ready for departure at approximately NINETEEN FORTY FIVE."
You wait
Time goes by.
You look
So much depends upon a featureless cylinder, filled with you, moving through some indeterminate location.
Sing
A few verses from the Yoyodyne Songbook well outward from your being and into the air, which surprises even you.
You jump
You jump a good half inch, which is all there's room for.
Close nLap
You close the nLap 500.

The cylinder shudders as if coming to a halt. It does something a bit less graceful than sliding open and a bit more graceful than blowing open.
Pray
Seems like as good a time as any to embrace the supernatural. You mutter a quick petition to Azathoth.

The floor-part of this cylinder tips, urging you to exit. So you trip out of the canister.

Once you've extricated yourself, the cylinder, bereft of payload, seals itself again. It wooshes away, perhaps so as to be ready for another very important passenger.

You learned in college geography that the desert is actually teeming with life. Except that isn't true of this place, which is simply a plain of white, barren sand. The desert is exceedingly empty. It seems that in the whole expanse there is nothing but one rock.

On the rock is one man.

Maybe he brought the rock himself.

"Hi," says the man. He gestures to your head. "Do you mind? That's a bit threatening."
You take off the helmet
You take off the SimulacCam.

"I suppose you're the only one who made it out this way," the man says. He shrugs. "Maybe the others will cope."
You ask Man about nTopia
"Save the questions," he says.
You look at Man
He is wearing a Hugo Boss suit, legs crossed, fingers steepled in front of him. He looks at you with care. His features and complexion suggest that his ancestors lived in this country thousands of years ago.

You feel a tug within you, a subtle but literal reconfiguration of your system. Whatever it is that gripped you cannot hold you from here, however.

On the high and far plateau nTopia pulses and swarms with realities, a time-lapse, space-lapse sculpture, root and rhizome. The city does not shape itself into some urban battlefield for the pleasure of unseen generals, or into some all-maddening hilarious face to be put on by warfighter and advertiser alike. No bread, no circuses, no clockwork demagogues can be discerned. If these are to be the true products of the nWare Media Division, the demo that transpires does not appear to promote them.

Instead, the chessboard of the city sets itself into positions, the brick and mortar structures at play with ones more liquid. There are sprawling markets and office buildings like Jehovas, but also slums and huge estates, parks and wastes, a stadium and churches, water treatment plants, jails and prisons, pyramids, military bases, factories, all cities the city, one Babel of configurations, as if some intellect or algorithm, or both, were looking through them all to find the one most perfect.

"Come on," the business-shaman says, "my car's at the Dairy Queen. Keep up a decent pace and we'll get there by nine, before they close. I'll buy you a Blizzard."

Pisces, Cetus, Aquarius -- above nTopia churning are the constellations as you have seen them many times before. One moment of hesitation before turning to go, and the sky shudders. With that, the final touch is added, the augmentation complete. The dark has been pierced through again by some artist, some fellow employee, and you see them just as you saw them laid out before: The Cradle, The Way, The Burning Book.
You wait
Time goes by.

The floor-part of this cylinder tips, urging you to exit. So you trip out of the canister.

Once you've extricated yourself, the cylinder, bereft of payload, seals itself again. It wooshes away, perhaps so as to be ready for another very important passenger.

You learned in college geography that the desert is actually teeming with life. Except that isn't true of this place, which is simply a plain of white, barren sand. The desert is exceedingly empty. It seems that in the whole expanse there is nothing but one rock.

On the rock is one man.

Maybe he brought the rock himself.

"Hi," says the man. He gestures to your head. "Do you mind? That's a bit threatening."
Wait
Time goes by.

( You can also use commands such as WAIT 10 MINUTES and WAIT UNTIL 10 AM. )

Without standing, the man reaches inside his suit coat and immediately produces something pistol-like but plastic, with a bright yellow tip. Several hours later you awaken in this same spot, alone and quite uncertain about your future.
Close nLap
You close the nLap 500.

A gang of perhaps twenty people on souped-up Segways powers past and disappears.
You check your inventory
You are carrying the SimulacCam (being worn), an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
You put stick in the wires
You put the nStick into the panel.
You turn on the mouse
Presumably there is some way to turn the mouse on and off, yes.
You look at the nose
Parts is parts. You don't usually need to worry about your body very much detail, and today does not seem to be an exception in that regard.
You look at the panel
The panel is open and has an nStick stuck in it. It's sparking a bit.
Close panel
You close the panel.

"In my spare time, I founded the postal police," the mouse asserts.
You wait for a while
Time goes by.

"Early to bed and early to rise gets a programmer lots of uninterrupted time in the cubicle!" the mouse proclaims.
Wait
Time goes by.

( You can also use commands such as WAIT 10 MINUTES and WAIT UNTIL 10 AM. )

"Help stop software pirates, rapists, arsonists, and child molesters," the mouse implores.
You wait
Time goes by.

The mouse jerks spasmodically. "Join the army, kids!" it exclaims.
You wait for a while
Time goes by.

"nTopia is the first city to be built from more than 25% recycled post-consumer content," explains the mouse.
You wait
Time goes by.

The mouse does a horrible and probably unlicensed approximation of the Moonwalk.
You open the panel
The shuffling mouse both dodges and blocks, preventing you from opening the panel.

"Did you know that the first mouse pointer was actually called a bug?" the mouse asks, obviously rhetorically. "And the first mouse was called -- a mouse!"
Wait
Time goes by.

"In nTopia," the mouse says, "you can worship the creator any way you like. Or not at all!"
You wait for a while
Time goes by.

"I invented the stored-program computer!" says the mouse, as if it expected you to believe that.
You wait
Time goes by.

"The business of nWare is business," the mouse says.
Wait
Time goes by.

"In my spare time, I founded the postal police," the mouse asserts.
You go south
You head south on Main...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
Go south
You head south on Main...

The sudden clamor and rush of a crowd sends you helplessly to the ground. With a grinding pull, a battalion in green aprons hurls itself over you and into the structure on the southwest corner. Perhaps you glimpse a pair of stunned figures in black T-shirts inside, shivering behind a counter. Your vision seems to be obscured for a moment by a milky steam.

You stand, finally, unsure about what you seem to have witnessed, unsure about whether or not to hope it was real.

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.

The sun beats down mercilessly, straining against nTopia's municipal climate control system.
You look
This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.

Gus stands here. His eyes dart around as if tracing deep scratches on the walls, perhaps made by an imaginary axe.
You go west
You head west on Second Street...

Main runs along the west edge of the nWare Media Campus. To the northwest is a Starbucks. The glass cube of the nWare Store sits on a park-like plot to the southwest.
You go south
You head south on Main...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
You go south
You head south on Main...

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. There is a coffeehouse called "Independent Grounds" to the southwest. Another Starbucks is on the northwest corner.
Go southwest
A bunch of overstuffed furniture, shipped in from somewhere other than Sweden, sits askew in here. There's a big sculptural object toward one corner that must be used for roasting coffee beans or something.
You sit
You take a comfy seat.

As you sat down you noticed a woman in a smart suit and guy who is wearing a trucker cap, apparently ironically. You can't see them now, but you catch a snippet of their conversation.

"Apparently there's an escape system for government officials. The mayor and so on."

"We don't have any government officials here."

"Right. I bet they all escaped."

Involuntarily, you turn to look at the pair. They are already standing, and quickly head outside and out of sight.
You use the computer
Righteous. Everything actually compiled and built successfully. You install the update.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
You use the computer
Deftly you request a photo of Gus for purposes of positive ID, reset his account, and store in your short-term memory his cryptic-yet-memorable temporary password. Now you just need to share this important bit of information with Gus, and you'll have executed your responsibilities most gloriously.

And people wonder why you fantasize about being a astronaut.
You go outside
You get off the overstuffed furnishing.

A bunch of overstuffed furniture, shipped in from somewhere other than Sweden, sits askew in here. There's a big sculptural object toward one corner that must be used for roasting coffee beans or something.
You go to the northeast
One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. There is a coffeehouse called "Independent Grounds" to the southwest. Another Starbucks is on the northwest corner.
You go to the northeast
The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
You go northeast
This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.

Gus stands here. He laughs at your puny gesture.
You tell Gus about the password
You tell Gus his cryptic-yet-memorable temporary password.

His face lights up with some combination of relief and prophetic rapture. He pulls a miniscule PDA from one of the pockets on his photographer's vest and taps happily, presumably gaining access.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.

Some glitch, neurological or digital, causes Gus to scream "ODYSSEUS" and run toward the exit. This involves his running right over you, knocking you down. Your head strikes the floor in a painless and consciousness-eliminating way.

"... tests were, again, all just fine," some woman in a doctor costume tells you. Or maybe she is a doctor. You're both walking along an aqua-colored corridor now. There are pictures of semi-rigid airships on the walls. "You shouldn't have any problems except perhaps for a bit of short-term memory loss, but if you do have any other trouble, come back and tell it to the kiosk. Oh, and you'll want this back." She hands you your pager, which, annoyingly, is buzzing and vibrating. "Take care!"

You find yourself here in the lobby.

The shuffling of those in despair, the rapid, professional pace of the strained nurses and assistants, the occasional groan -- all of these are absent, since this pale green lobby, curiously, holds no one besides yourself. It's also completely without furnishings, except for a kiosk, placed dead center.

Remembering the menu of health insurance options that you were presented, you congratulate yourself on buying the extended warranty on yourself.

The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.

A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:

Hey, this looks like the hospital! This is where you can go if you're sick! If you're really sick, sometimes emergency medical workers will helpfully bring you here!

The window winks away.
You touch Kiosk
As you approach, the kiosk says "If you are here because of an emergency, say 'EMERGENCY' or press the corresponding button."

You touch the screen to get started, and a progression of several dozen windows pop up over each each other, as if you've just won a game of nSolitare. The one that freezes on top for a moment says "nSys for Kiosk Error Number n + 7. Rebooting."

The machine blinks and returns to its original state.

The pager vibrates like it's repeatedly tapping you to get your attention, and it buzzes gratingly.
You hold the button
The pager emits a low beep after you hold the button down for about a second and a half.
You examine text file
A compulsive glance at the text file that holds your notes reassures you about the locations of the five servers: Wendy, at RelOfCoTn, Abalone and Second; Nora, in the airport; Ester, in the East Berm; Sophie, in City Hall, on the south end of Main; and Cindy, in F7 on the main campus.
You go south
You head south on Main...

Main runs along the west edge of the nWare Media Campus. To the northwest is a Starbucks. The glass cube of the nWare Store sits on a park-like plot to the southwest.
Go south
You head south on Main...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.

A woman on an oversized skateboard zooms past, pulling a Jack Russell terrier on a normal-sized skateboard.
Go south
You head south on Main...

The sudden clamor and rush of a crowd sends you helplessly to the ground. With a grinding pull, a battalion in green aprons hurls itself over you and into the structure on the southwest corner. Perhaps you glimpse a pair of stunned figures in black T-shirts inside, shivering behind a counter. Your vision seems to be obscured for a moment by a milky steam.

You stand, finally, unsure about what you seem to have witnessed, unsure about whether or not to hope it was real.

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.
You hold the button
( That is, "hold the server's red button." )

You hold the server's button in a for a while, and the box whines to a halt, falling silent. When you release the button, the server remains lifeless.

You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
You go north
You head north on Main...

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.
Go north
You head north on Main...

Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
You go southwest
The food court is of the same vintage as the other buildings in nTopia, and seems not yet drinkable. Product and process have been licensed all around the main chamber, where people can sit, mostly alone, engaging their oral arguments.
You buy the food
Food does seem like a good idea. You order some and prepare to focus completely on the meal, like Martha Stewart on her salad...

A crackling sound comes, somehow, from all around.

This is a test of the nTopia civil alert system. If this were actually a --

The recorded voice breaks off.

ATTENTION. This is actually not a test. This is an alert. Severe dust and wind conditions are anticipated. In a calm and orderly fashion, please find shelter indoors, or remain indoors if you are there already, and refer from going outside until further notice. Refrain. Refrain from going outside. Don't be nervous. High risk of death if you don't get indoors. Calmly. Get indoors. Immediately.

Then there is quiet.

You conclude your culinary experience.

There's a granular howl from outside.
You wait for a while
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

An intriguing stranger dressed in black suddenly appears next to you and begins whispering, without turning to face you.

"Don't look over. They'll see us talking."
You wait
Time goes by.

( You can also use commands such as WAIT 10 MINUTES and WAIT UNTIL 10 AM. )

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"Now, listen closely. This is important. You're new here, still not too damaged. I must tell you the terrible secret of nTopia."
Continue
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"This whole place was built on military land -- some missile testing range or something."
Continue
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"You've probably noticed what's going on. They're driving us insane. We're here as mental crash test dummies."
Keep going
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"It's part of the business model. Goes along with the painfully designed end-user application, the self-molesting hardware that calls the mother ship when it manages to break itself."
Keep going
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"They're using more advanced annoyances now. Monitoring you at all times to maximally bother you. Broadcasting on certain electromagnetic frequencies..."

You glance over at your interlocutor and notice, for just a moment, a sheet of something shiny and silvery poking out from beneath the trendy black cap that she wears.
You examine the cap
"Hey, hey. Stop looking at me. They'll notice."

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"Systematically, they're figuring out how to drive us crazy. Non-lethal warfare. Market domination. All sorts of ways to use this to increase shareholder value."
Wait
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"I'm too far gone to help out on this one. I just gotta get out. Gotta escape. I think I have a way, but I can't take anyone with me."
You wait a while
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"I had to tell you about it before I went, though. Had to track you down. You're the last hope."
Continue
Time goes by.

The harsh whistling sound continues.

"Save the planet, kid! The city! Company! Neighborhood! Save your profit center! Shut 'em down somehow!"
Go outside
Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.

There seems to be no trace of whatever sand was blowing all around, unless some of the buildings now have a slightly glossier finish.

The strange person who spoke to you rushes away to the south.
You go south
You head south on Main...

One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.

The strange person who spoke to you rushes away to the south.
You go to the south
You head south on Main...

The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.

The strange person who spoke to you rushes away to the south.
Go south
You head south on Main...

Back Street runs east behind City Hall here at the south end of nTopia. Eel is to the west. A warehouse is on the northwest corner.

You have come to the edge of the plateau on which nTopia is built. Far below, past the railing, is the desert plain, stretching from reddish white to white, scraggled here and there with gray. The sky is lapis lazuli. Some highway stretches far off from east to west, as if it were an imperfect reflection of a line on a map. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.

The strange person who spoke to you picks up an odd-looking parcel from somewhere. It instantly inflates around her and forms a sort of giant, clear hamster-ball. Your informant moves a bit and the curious conveyance tips over the railing. When you look down after it -- after her -- there is nothing there to be seen.
You jump
You swing yourself over, like the distinguished gymnast you once were in your youth, to your parents' pride. Fortunately for your shattered corpse, the final destructive arc of your pager leads a search team to what used to be you, and, thanks to the marvels of technology, those remnants are given a proper burial.