text: [Themes: Espionage]
  
  > Look around
  This small garden lies at the center of the hedge maze. Moss grows optimistically through cracks in the mosaic floor, and vines wrap around the columns ringing the open area. A fountain in the center, flowing but full of vegetation and other flotsam, breaks the summer humidity. A torturous path to the south heads back into the maze.
  
  The kid shuffles around nearby.
  
  > Go south
  The casino complex looming before me is a converted seaside chateau. Only the most discreet glimpses of opulence are visible through the windows: checkerboard marble floors, liveried valets roaming the hallways, tiny but undoubtedly very expensive objets d'art sitting on oversized tables, and so on. As a warm breeze from the beach ruffles the palm trees, humans in formalwear stride through the grounds, staring longingly at the casino's beckoning entrance to the north.
  
  A suspiciously large quantity of salt is no longer blocking the doorway.
  
  > check your inventory
  Intentions:
  the play intent
  the clean up intent
  the explore intent
  the take intent
  the block intent
  the fold intent
  the wait intent
  
  Codebooks:
  one confidential codebook
  
  Other possessions:
  a detector
  an intercepted communiqu��
  
  > put wait on the thief
  I give the wait intent to the thief, taking the take intent in exchange. It now intends to wait patiently until a solid opportunity for thievery arises.
  
  The thief is waiting patiently, paying attention to the guard.
  
  The guard loafs idly.
  
  > put the explore on the guard
  I give the explore intent to the guard, who now vaguely intends to explore.
  
  The thief is waiting patiently, watching the surrounding area.
  
  > put the play on the guard
  I give the play intent to the guard, taking the explore intent in exchange. It now intends to play some casino games.
  
  The thief is waiting patiently, looking up at the security cameras.
  
  The guard sits down at a nearby slot machine and begins to play, still keeping an eye on the door.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  The thief is waiting patiently, listening carefully to the sounds of the casino.
  
  The guard gets more distracted by the slot machine.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  The thief is waiting patiently, looking up at the security cameras.
  
  The guard gets even more distracted by the slot machine.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time passes.
  
  The thief is waiting patiently, paying attention to the guard.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time passes.
  
  The thief is waiting patiently, looking up at the security cameras.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > take the wait
  I extract the wait intent from the thief.
  
  The thief picks the lock of the counting house door and slips through, gently closing it behind it.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > Go north
  Unlike the rest of the casino, this small room is refreshingly severe and empty. Bookshelves filled with identical logbooks line the windowless walls, occasionally broken up by racks of electronic equipment. The only exit is an imposing door to the south.
  
  An elaborate laser grid encloses a metal strongbox, which is sparkling with faint spiritual energy.
  
  The thief sidles over to the strongbox and peers at it intently.
  
  The thief is skulking nearby, trying unsucessfully to avoid looking suspicious.
  
  > give the take to the thief
  I give the take intent to the thief, who now intends to take something valuable.
  
  The thief tinkers with the strongbox. Despite its obvious skill, its hand grazes one of the laser beams as it attempts to break inside. It hesitates briefly but, sweating nervously, continues its delicate
  work.
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes.
  
  As the thief continues to poke at the strongbox, I hear muffled footsteps outside approaching the door. A security team furiously rushes inside, grabs the thief, and abruptly hauls it out of the room amid a series of curses and threats. After the door slams shut again, another set of impatient footsteps issues from the opposite side. As they recede, though, I suddenly hear something heavy fall, followed by the sound of someone frantically running. It would seem the thief managed to escape after all.
  
  > Go south
  The center floor is a pandemonium of human activity. Machines flash a garish array of lights to beckon them closer, competing with barkers calling out the inscrutable results of their games. Crowds fed from
  the main entrance to the south swarm over the floor, peeling off to join games or just to socialize in the cacophony. A less crowded area of the floor lies to the west, and a hallway leads east.
  
  At the north end of the room, kept apart from the gaming tables, is an imposing door.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > Go south
  The casino complex looming before me is a converted seaside chateau. Only the most discreet glimpses of opulence are visible through the windows: checkerboard marble floors, liveried valets roaming the hallways, tiny but undoubtedly very expensive objets d'art sitting on oversized tables, and so on. As a warm breeze from the beach ruffles the palm trees, humans in formalwear stride through the grounds, staring longingly at the casino's beckoning entrance to the north.
  
  A suspiciously large quantity of salt is no longer blocking the doorway.
  
  > go to the north
  The center floor is a pandemonium of human activity. Machines flash a garish array of lights to beckon them closer, competing with barkers calling out the inscrutable results of their games. Crowds fed from
  the main entrance to the south swarm over the floor, peeling off to join games or just to socialize in the cacophony. A less crowded area of the floor lies to the west, and a hallway leads east.
  
  At the north end of the room, kept apart from the gaming tables, is an imposing door.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  The thief creeps in from the east.
  
  > Go south
  The center floor is a pandemonium of human activity. Machines flash a garish array of lights to beckon them closer, competing with barkers calling out the inscrutable results of their games. Crowds fed from
  the main entrance to the south swarm over the floor, peeling off to join games or just to socialize in the cacophony. A less crowded area of the floor lies to the west, and a hallway leads east.
  
  At the north end of the room, kept apart from the gaming tables, is an imposing door.
  
  The thief is skulking nearby, trying unsucessfully to avoid looking suspicious.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > examine thief
  It's wearing a black-and-white striped shirt and a domino mask. It doesn't fit in.
  
  > TAKE
  something valuable.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > get take
  I extract the take intent from the thief.
  
  The thief picks the lock of the counting house door and slips through, gently closing it behind it.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > Go north
  Unlike the rest of the casino, this small room is refreshingly severe and empty. Bookshelves filled with identical logbooks line the windowless walls, occasionally broken up by racks of electronic equipment. The only exit is an imposing door to the south.
  
  An elaborate laser grid encloses a metal strongbox, which is sparkling with faint spiritual energy.
  
  The thief sidles over to the strongbox and peers at it intently.
  
  The thief is skulking nearby, trying unsucessfully to avoid looking suspicious.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  Intentions:
  the take intent
  the wait intent
  the explore intent
  the clean up intent
  the block intent
  the fold intent
  
  Codebooks:
  one confidential codebook
  
  Other possessions:
  a detector
  an intercepted communiqu��
  
  > give the take to the thief
  I give the take intent to the thief, who now intends to take something valuable.
  
  The thief tinkers with the strongbox. Despite its obvious skill, its hand grazes one of the laser beams as it attempts to break inside. It hesitates briefly but, sweating nervously, continues its delicate
  work.
  
  > Go south
  The center floor is a pandemonium of human activity. Machines flash a garish array of lights to beckon them closer, competing with barkers calling out the inscrutable results of their games. Crowds fed from
  the main entrance to the south swarm over the floor, peeling off to join games or just to socialize in the cacophony. A less crowded area of the floor lies to the west, and a hallway leads east.
  
  At the north end of the room, kept apart from the gaming tables, is an imposing door.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  Unnoticed by the crowd, a half-dozen humans in sleek black suits mix through the room and arrive at the door. Ignoring the guard, they unlock the door and quickly close it behind them. In my line of work, I've come to recognize the look a person, or even a human, has when he's carrying a weapon he intends to use. Even if I hadn't been able
  to see them reaching inside their jackets, it's clear from their faces that they're preparing to handle the burglar with supererogatory viciousness. After a couple of heavy thumps from inside, the security team emerges with the would-be thief securely held in the center of their formation. They close and relock the door, then march the
  burglar down the maze of machines, away from the densest groups of players.
  
  As they begin to recede into the distance in the cavernous hall, I
  hear the thud of something hitting the floor, some muttered curses,
  and the sound of someone running frantically. It would seem that the thief escaped after all.
  
  > Go east
  This ballroom is a cavernous hall in which well-dressed humans are attacking the serious business of entertainment, conducting intrigues and little negotiations as they stomp across the parquet floor. A string quartet perched on a loggia running around the hall is tuning
  up as the crowd below them mingles. A breeze from the nearby sea occasionally rustles the curtains around the French doors leading outside to the east, but the room is still stuffy in the summer heat. The hall continues to the north, and the casino floor lies to the
  west.
  
  The musicians are chatting quietly among themselves and setting up for the next piece.
  
  The thief creeps in from the east.
  
  > go to the west
  The center floor is a pandemonium of human activity. Machines flash a garish array of lights to beckon them closer, competing with barkers calling out the inscrutable results of their games. Crowds fed from
  the main entrance to the south swarm over the floor, peeling off to join games or just to socialize in the cacophony. A less crowded area of the floor lies to the west, and a hallway leads east.
  
  At the north end of the room, kept apart from the gaming tables, is an imposing door.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  The thief creeps in from the east.
  
  > get take
  I extract the take intent from the thief.
  
  The thief picks the lock of the counting house door and slips through, gently closing it behind it.
  
  The guard continues to play the slots, intent on the false allure of riches.
  
  > get the play
  I extract the play intent from the guard.
  
  The guard loafs idly.
  
  > Go north
  Unlike the rest of the casino, this small room is refreshingly severe and empty. Bookshelves filled with identical logbooks line the windowless walls, occasionally broken up by racks of electronic equipment. The only exit is an imposing door to the south.
  
  An elaborate laser grid encloses a metal strongbox, which is sparkling with faint spiritual energy.
  
  The thief tinkers with the strongbox. Despite its obvious skill, its hand grazes one of the laser beams as it attempts to break inside. It hesitates briefly but, sweating nervously, continues its delicate
  work.
  
  > put the block on the thief
  I give the block intent to the thief, who now intends to block the door.
  
  The thief pushes a shelf against the door, blocking it from the
  inside.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  As the thief pokes at the strongbox, I hear muffled footsteps outside approaching the door. Something heavy collides with the door, but the bookshelves braced against it keep it closed. The thief continues its desperate lockpicking even as the bookcases shake under the force from the door. Eventually the thief succeeds, crying out triumphantly as it pries open the box and plucks a wad of banknotes from inside it. Its glee is short-lived, though, as the door flies open and a contingent
  of stone-faced security guards rushes in to seize it. While they
  search it, one member of the team splits off to inspect the open strongbox. It grabs the banknotes from the burglar and returns it to its former place of safekeeping, though I deftly fish out the codebook inside and lay it aside before the guard reseals the box. The same guard pauses to clear away the exit and move the bookshelves back into position. With the room now secure, the security detail hauls the
  thief outside and relocks the door. I pluck the intention from the thief as it leaves; judging from the guards' expressions, I don't
  think the thief will be of much use to me for quite a while.
  
  > get the codebook
  I pick up the confidential codebook and page through it. A few of the code sequences from the communiqu�� are in it, and I decrypt some more of it:
  
  42734 72880 of 46480. There is no 62628 73048 74615 in the 47576 45953 has been 62029 31368 02666 and 63211 79260 67549 07135 14066 43999 is 03659 31802 08678 65629 67043 on the 85994
  
  > Inventory
  Intentions:
  the block intent
  the play intent
  the take intent
  the wait intent
  the explore intent
  the clean up intent
  the fold intent
  
  Codebooks:
  two confidential codebooks
  
  Other possessions:
  a detector
  an intercepted communiqu��
  
  > Go south
  The center floor is a pandemonium of human activity. Machines flash a garish array of lights to beckon them closer, competing with barkers calling out the inscrutable results of their games. Crowds fed from
  the main entrance to the south swarm over the floor, peeling off to join games or just to socialize in the cacophony. A less crowded area of the floor lies to the west, and a hallway leads east.
  
  At the north end of the room, kept apart from the gaming tables, is an imposing door.
  
  The guard is being distracted by the flashing games.
  
  > go west
  If the rest of the casino is a place of leisure, this lair is a place of business. Shark-faced humans in formal attire loom over tables playing some incomprehensible card game, accepting both wins and
  losses with aloof detachment. Aside from a desultory appreciative or sympathetic murmur from onlookers following a particularly involved hand, the room has the quiet intensity of an art museum. Whorls of cigarette smoke drift across the glaring lights overhead.
  
  The main area of the of the casino lies to the east.
  
  The gambler looks longingly at a poker table but remains off to the side.
  
  The card sharp is watching the other gamblers.
  
  > put the play on the gambler
  I give the play intent to the gambler, who now intends to play poker.
  
  With evident trepidation, the gambler approaches the poker table and starts a game.
  
  The cards are dealt, and the gambler and the card sharp toss some
  chips onto the table and look at each other warily.
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes.
  
  The gambler and the card sharp study their cards intently. I don't
  know the details of the game, but based on its expression and bearing, the card sharp thinks it has the better hand.
  
  > examine sharp
  A wily human wearing a green visor and a charcoal suit. It looks like it's been here for quite a while, and it watches the other gamblers with a predatory manner.
  
  The gambler cautiously throws another batch of chips into the pot.
  
  > examine the gambler
  The well-dressed guest hovers around the poker tables with evident curiosity. It also carries an attach�� case that is sparkling with faint spiritual energy.
  
  > PLAY
  poker.
  
  The gambler loses its nerve and folds.
  
  The gambler watches its opponent take the pile of chips. Despite the gambler's glum expression, the loss was only a small fraction of its total money, and it shows no indication of slowing down.