text: [Themes: Science Fiction, post-apocalyptic, science fiction]
  
  > Describe the surroundings
  You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), and hallways leading west and southwest.
  
  > Go west
  Judging from the stark utility of this room, compared to the airy spaciousness of the living area, it's a service or preparation area. Possibly a kitchen for food, though from its role in Ancient legends you'd pictured a more warming aura than this. Metal alloy surfaces, their function unknown, line the walls; the only exits are east and southwest.
  
  You see a printout here.
  
  > Go southwest
  This is a soothing, white-walled chamber with soft rounded surfaces, much like being inside an egg. From your knowledge of Ancient social mores, it's likely to be a personal cleansing area. There is a blue lens embedded in the western wall, with a placard above it, and a white vat standing opposite it. Round curtained apartures lead northeast and southeast.
  
  > read the placard
  EnviroMaster UV showerhead. For a guaranteed sterile environment. WHOSIC Green certified.
  
  > look at the lens
  The blue lens is embedded into the wall of the chamber. It looks like some kind of light based cleansing device, now non-functional.
  
  > examine the vat
  The vat is white, about fifty ventimetres high, and sealed, although it seems to be filled with liquid. You could probably lift it with both hands. There is a label on one side and a small tap near the bottom.
  
  > look at the label
  HydroSource Sterile Water Supplies. Europe's Number One for quality and protection. WHOSIC Green certified.
  
  > examine tap
  It's a mechanical device for controlling the flow of liquid out of the vat, with a triangular mouth. You would probably have to put the tap into some receptacle, then open it, to get the liquid, otherwise it would be wasted.
  
  > go northeast
  Judging from the stark utility of this room, compared to the airy spaciousness of the living area, it's a service or preparation area. Possibly a kitchen for food, though from its role in Ancient legends you'd pictured a more warming aura than this. Metal alloy surfaces, their function unknown, line the walls; the only exits are east and southwest.
  
  > go to the south-west
  This is a soothing, white-walled chamber with soft rounded surfaces, much like being inside an egg. From your knowledge of Ancient social mores, it's likely to be a personal cleansing area. There is a blue lens embedded in the western wall, with a placard above it. Round curtained apartures lead northeast and southeast.
  
  > look at the placard
  EnviroMaster UV showerhead. For a guaranteed sterile environment. WHOSIC Green certified.
  
  > Go southeast
  Some things never change over the ages. This looks like a room for rest and sleeping - there's a polymer mattress on the floor, moulded as a single unit and still intact. The walls are covered with colourful images, presumably icons from Ancient culture; there's years of work here for a psycholinguistic team alone. Doorways lead northeast and northwest.
  
  But the immediate sight that catches your eye - and your breath - is what's sprawled on the mattress. A young Ancient skeleton, complete and fully preserved. You can barely keep from trembling.
  
  > examine the images
  Which images do you mean, the set of holograms, or the wall glyphs?
  
  > examine the skeleton
  With icy stabs of excitement coursing down your spine, you bend over the sad remains to examine them more closely.
  
  The skeleton is moderately sized, but smaller than recent digs and salvaged files indicate was normal for an Ancient adult; this was almost certainly a young female. She lies on the bed crouched in a fetal position, her arms twisted as if shielding her face from intense pain. There is no obvious evidence of external injury, but the odd displacement of joints in the upper and lower limbs, along with deep cracking of the bone structure, suggests violent muscular spasms as she died. In her right hand, the woman clutches a small object; possibly some kind of electronic device, with leads running from the box in her hand to a headset draped across her skull.
  
  A gasp wells in your throat, as vividly you relive how it must have been; to suffer such agony, so young. For the first time you regret the empathic talent which led you to xenohistory. A moment later, the mood passes, leaving you still somehow chilled.
  
  > examine the device
  The device is possibly a recording or playback instrument of some kind; it has a slot for a ten-centimetre disk, a common Ancient data storage format. Words embossed into its polymer surface read "Kodak Synapsit (tm) Neural Transfer System." Judging by the corrosion stains seeping from inside the device, it's completely non-functional. There's a green disk in the slot.
  
  > examine the disk
  It appears to be a thin metallic polymer disk around ten centimetres in diameter, with a green tint. You recognise the object from Institute files as an Ancient data storage device.
  
  > look at the headset
  The device is possibly a recording or playback instrument of some kind; it has a slot for a ten-centimetre disk, a common Ancient data storage format. Words embossed into its polymer surface read "Kodak Synapsit (tm) Neural Transfer System." Judging by the corrosion stains seeping from inside the device, it's completely non-functional. The disk slot is empty.
  
  > look at the holograms
  It's a set of card-sized holographic images, in full colour, printed on some kind of synthetic backing material which has survived immersion in a pool of water for years. Flicking through the holos, you see images of an Ancient family seated in an aerial vehicle; a young girl, holding what looks like a fabric toy; the same girl, a little older, throwing an orange disklike object; the family again, together, around the pool; the girl, older yet, examining a blade of grass with an optical instrument. Definitely, this is an important xenohistorical artifact.
  
  > take the headset
  The skeleton is clutching the device so tightly, it would be impossible to remove without risking severe damage. You'll have to find another way of learning more about it.
  
  > touch the skeleton
  Not likely. This is your most outstanding find yet, and every detail of the body's position is vital data. It would take a complete archeological forensics team at least a week to study and capture the remains before they felt at all comfortable with moving it, and even then it would be an emergency operation; you've got no equipment, not even a basic quantum chromodynamagraph.
  
  > lie on the mattress
  It would be impossible to sit on the mattress without disturbing the position of the skeleton.