text: > examine the note
  To: Window washing crew
  From: Cleaning crew manager
  Subject: Water in atrium
  
  The cleaning crew has been complaining for several weeks about water collecting on the atrium floor, making cleanup more difficult, etc. We have determined that the source of the water is the window washing crew.
  
  Please take note of the access hatch (SEE DIAGRAM BELOW) and DO NOT open this while the glass is still wet.
  
  Thank you for your cooperation.
  
  J. Stimms
  Cleaning crew manager
  
  Below this is a hand-drawn diagram showing a five-by-five grid of squares, with the square in the center emphatically circled.
  
  A bolt of lightning streaks down from the sky and strikes the ground a short distance to the west.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller seems to be lost in thought.
  
  > examine diagram
  To: Window washing crew
  From: Cleaning crew manager
  Subject: Water in atrium
  
  The cleaning crew has been complaining for several weeks about water collecting on the atrium floor, making cleanup more difficult, etc. We have determined that the source of the water is the window washing crew.
  
  Please take note of the access hatch (SEE DIAGRAM BELOW) and DO NOT open this while the glass is still wet.
  
  Thank you for your cooperation.
  
  J. Stimms
  Cleaning crew manager
  
  Below this is a hand-drawn diagram showing a five-by-five grid of squares, with the square in the center emphatically circled.
  
  > pull right
  Nothing seems to happen. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position.
  
  A lightning bolt rips through the sky nearby to the east.
  
  > pull right
  With a lurch, the cage starts moving to the north. The cage travels about twenty-five feet, then stops, leaving it hanging over the glass, about fifty feet south of the north edge, and eighty-five feet east of the west edge. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position; after a few wide swings, the cage gradually settles into its new location.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller watches you expectantly.
  
  > pull right
  With a lurch, the cage starts moving to the north. The cage travels about twenty-five feet, then stops, leaving it hanging over the glass, about twenty-five feet south of the north edge, and eighty-five feet east of the west edge. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position; after a few wide swings, the cage gradually settles into its new location.
  
  A lightning bolt flashes through the sky a short distance to the north.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller watches you expectantly.
  
  > pull right
  With a lurch, the cage starts moving to the north. The cage travels about twenty-five feet, then stops, leaving it about eighty-five feet east of the west edge of the glass. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position; after a few wide swings, the cage gradually settles into its new location.
  
  Teeterwaller looks through his pockets for something.
  
  > pull left
  With a lurch, the cage starts moving to the west. The cage travels about twenty-five feet, then stops, leaving it about sixty feet east of the west edge of the glass. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position; after a few wide swings, the cage gradually settles into its new location.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller watches you expectantly.
  
  > pull left
  With a lurch, the cage starts moving to the west. The cage travels about twenty-five feet, then stops, leaving it about thirty-five feet east of the west edge of the glass. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position; after a few wide swings, the cage gradually settles into its new location.
  
  > pull right
  Nothing seems to happen. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position.
  
  A lightning bolt rips through the sky nearby to the east.
  
  Teeterwaller looks through his pockets for something.
  
  > Exit
  The pipes are too close to the edge of the glass here--there's no place to stand except on the glass, which you'd fall through. You need to go about twenty-five feet west to get back to solid ground.
  
  > pull left
  With a lurch, the cage starts moving to the west. The cage travels about twenty-five feet, then stops, leaving it back over solid ground. You release the lever, and a spring returns it to the upright position; after a few wide swings, the cage gradually settles into its new location.
  
  A lightning bolt flashes through the sky a short distance to the north.
  
  > Leave
  Mr. Teeterwaller comes with you.
  
  panels, stretching hundreds of feet to the south and as far to the east. The pipes that are everywhere in this compound bend around the sea of glass leaving the area above open to the sky; white cylindrical towers rising up above the pipes are scattered around the perimeter of the glass. A passage through the pipes opens to the north, and the pipes leave enough space for a walkway southwest along the edge of the glass.
  A metal cage, suspended a few inches off the ground by a cable
  hanging from a beam overhead, is just this side of the glass.
  About fifty feet to the east, you can see the nozzle of the fire
  hose sticking out through the pipes.
  
  > Turn wheel
  You turn the wheel counterclockwise until it stops. You can hear water rush through the valve for a few moments as the hose pressurizes.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller watches you expectantly.
  
  > get the hose
  You take hold of the nozzle, and pull it through the hole in the pipes. The hose is under tension, but you have no trouble holding on to it.
  
  > examine the glass
  The glass looks like a giant window set into the ground, roughly square and a hundred feet on a side. It looks as though a huge chamber is below the glass.
  
  The glass pane directly outside the cage is different from all of the others; it has a handle and hinges, and can clearly be opened.
  
  Teeterwaller looks around purposefully.
  
  > open the glass
  You carefully lean out, grasp the handle, and give it a good pull. The cage sways slightly as you pull. The glass sticks for a moment, but then pops free, and you tilt up the panel until it's sitting straight up, where it locks into position.
  
  > Down
  You can't walk on the glass, since it wouldn't support your weight, and you can't enter the hatch, since the floor is a hundred feet below.
  
  A bolt of lightning streaks down from the sky and strikes the ground a short distance to the west.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller looks around.
  
  > put the hose in the glass
  You feed the fire hose down through the opening, gradually pulling hose off the reel in the distance. The weight of the hose hanging down into the opening eventually starts doing most of the work of pulling more down. Finally, after a tremendous length of hose has disappeared into the chamber below, the hose seems to reach the floor.
  
  You carefully let go of the hose, letting it drape over the edge of the opening.
  
  > Down
  If you want to climb down the hose, just say so.
  
  Lightning flashes across the sky directly above.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller watches you expectantly.
  
  > climb down the hose
  You have a sudden chill looking at the hose disappearing into the darkness below.
  
  Teeterwaller gulps. "B-b-b-be careful," he stutters. "I'll wait here until you reach the bottom, to make sure we don't put too much weight on the hose."
  
  Slowly, you maneuver yourself over to the edge nearest the opening, and lean out of the cage, holding on to the pole with both hands. It's only a foot or two to the hose, but somehow it feels like you're about to try jumping over a canyon.
  
  You realize you've been holding your breath, and force yourself to exhale. You jerk one hand out and grab at the hose, slipping at first but finally getting a good grip on it. You carefully swing one leg out onto the framework supporting the windows, then the other, taking care not to put any weight on the glass.
  
  With nothing left to do, you let go of the cage with your other hand and grab at the hose. The framework is obviously sturdy enough to support you if it can support all of this glass, you keep telling yourself, but you can feel it flexing under you.
  
  Having successfully negotiated the chasm between the cage and the hose, you feel much less panicked, and start descending the hose. It's a nice rough material and easy to grip as you climb down.
  
  The descent takes less time than you would have thought, given the amount of hose you had to feed down through the hatch. You reach the floor, and rest a moment to let the adrenaline wear off.
  
  as they rise hundreds of feet to the glass panes of the ceiling.
  Lights from the towers above the surface twinkle like Christmas tree decorations through the glass. An elevator is to the west, and passages lead north and southeast.
  A fire hose hangs down from the ceiling, the end of the hose just reaching the floor.
  
  After a few minutes, Mr. Teeterwaller comes sliding down the hose at high speed, and crashes into the floor. He collects himself off the floor and spends a few moments brushing off dust.
  
  "What a novel idea," Teeterwaller tells you. "I wondered what you were thinking, dragging that hose everywhere."
  
  > climb up the hose
  Climbing hundreds of feet up a fire hose might seem like a daunting task to some people. It's a good thing you've been working out.
  
  "I'll follow you after you get to the top," Teeterwaller says.
  
  You laboriously climb the hose. It seems a lot further going up than it did coming down.
  
  You reach the top and are relieved to find the cage parked next to the opening in the glass. You grab a pole and drag yourself onto the platform.
  
  The cage is a simple framework of poles connected to a metal floor. Attached to one of the poles, about midway up, is a pair of levers. A few inches above the levers, a yellow note is taped to the pole.
  The cage is hanging over the glass, about fifty feet from the north edge, and about sixty feet from the west edge.
  The glass pane roughly in the center of the glass has been tilted
  up, creating an opening in the glass. A fire hose stretches between a gap in the pipes to the north and the open panel.
  
  After a few minutes, Mr. Teeterwaller comes climbing up the hose, panting and exhausted. You help him into the cage.
  
  > examine the towers
  The lights twinkle through the glass.
  
  Teeterwaller looks around purposefully.
  
  > Go west
  You'll have to open the elevator first.
  
  > open the elevator
  The door is controlled automatically by the elevator; you can't open it manually.
  
  > examine the elevator
  The elevator has a sliding metal door, which is closed, and a round button just to the right of the door.
  
  Teeterwaller looks around purposefully.
  
  > press the button
  (the elevator button)
  The elevator door slides open.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller seems to be lost in thought.
  
  > Go west
  Mr. Teeterwaller comes with you.
  
  This elevator has a sliding door to the east, next to which is a control panel, with buttons labeled UPPER LEVEL, LOWER LEVEL, DOOR OPEN, and DOOR CLOSE, plus a red knob labeled PUSH TO RUN/PULL TO STOP. The knob is currently pulled out. The door is open.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time passes...
  
  You can feel the elevator start moving.
  
  Mr. Teeterwaller seems to be lost in thought.
  
  > wait
  Time passes...
  
  > Wait
  Time passes...
  
  You can feel the elevator come to a stop, and the door slides open.