text: [Themes: Surreal]
  
  FrobTADS 1.2.3 - A text-only TADS 2.5.17 Interpreter.
  
  Maintained by Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@gmail.com>.
  
  options:
  -ctab file    use character mapping table file
  -ctab-        do not use any character mapping file
  -i file       read commands from file
  -o file       write commands to file
  -l file       log all output to file
  -m size       maximum cache size (in bytes)
  -mh size      heap size (default 65535 bytes)
  -ms size      stack size (default 512 elements)
  -r savefile   restore saved game position from savefile
  -s level      set I/O safety level (-s? for help)
  
  -ts size      maximum swapfile size (default: unlimited)
  -t+           enable swapping (disabled by default)
  -u size       set undo to size (0 to disable; default 60000)
  
  toggle options: add + to enable, - to disable, nothing to toggle cheaptads quit with exit status: 0
  
  Rain and mud.
  
  Those are your first solid memories. Rain pouring down on your head, filling your eyes. Mud beneath your feet, filling your shoes. Other details slowly filter in. The trees surrounding you. The leaden skies above. The chill wind cutting through your clothes with ease.
  
  Shelter would be a good beginning.
  
  Losing Your Grip, a Journey in Five Fits
  
  For more information, type "about".
  
  Fit the First: Replevin
  
  "Rain rain on my face/It hasn't stopped raining for days"
  -- Jars of Clay
  
  shelter, allowing the stinging rain to pelt you. A grey mist conceals everything past four meters.
  
  > About yourself
  What you can see of yourself is familiar.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are empty-handed.
  
  > look at trees
  Mostly pine. Their protection is scant comfort in the rain and the wind.
  
  > Go east
  You strike off in that direction, but soon become disoriented by the rain.
  
  Once the field might have been covered in grass. Now the grass is
  but a memory. Mud covers the ground in its place, fed by the constant rain.
  Buried almost to its chin in the mud is a human head.
  
  The head's eyes suddenly open, fixing you in place. "Oh, my," he says. "This is a surprise. I certainly never expected to see you in person!"
  
  > examine the head
  Other than being buried in mud to his chin, the head is reassuringly normal. His hair and mustache are a matted brown, perhaps from genetics, perhaps from mud. Rivulets of water run down his creased face.
  
  "Come to gloat?" the man says. "Why not? After all, you put me here."
  
  > ask head about the head
  "What's to say?" he asks. "I've led a dull life, and now I'm about to have a dull end."
  
  "That's right, try to deny it. If it weren't for you, I'd still be safe." His eyes dart to the northeast for a second, then return to you.
  
  > dig the mud
  You kneel and begin scooping mud from around the head with both hands. As fast as you remove the mud, more mud and water return. "Forget it," the man says gruffly. "It's too late now." He seems strangely touched by your attempt, however.
  
  The man laughs softly. "Not long now." He grins sarcastically. "An interesting end, don't you think? Jiminy Cricket never had such an exit scene."
  
  > kick the head
  The head's eyes widen as you draw your foot back. "Terry, no, please, oh God you can't--" His cries are cut short as your foot slams into him. With the sound of eggshells cracking, the head fragments into countless pieces which are quickly lost in the mud.
  
  > Xyzzy
  There is a puff of smoke. Something lands in your hands.
  
  Resignation and more than a little bitterness fill the man's face. "Go on," he says. "You've work to do, pieces to recover." He pauses, then yells, "Go on, I said!" Then, muttered, "You've ignored me too long to do anything about it now."
  
  > check your inventory
  You have a fool.
  
  > examine fool
  A tiny doll tricked out in a harlequin's outfit. When you turn it over in your hands, you see that its back is missing, leaving the fool hollow. There is a matching hole where its larynx should be.
  
  > take the head
  You grab hold of his ears, but before you can pull, the head says, "It's no good now. I'm done for." His eyes narrow at you. "The least you can do is feel guilty."
  
  > ask the head about himself
  "What's to say?" he asks. "I've led a dull life, and now I'm about to have a dull end."
  
  > ask the head about yourself
  The man laughs. "Funny, I've spent my life judging you, and now I can't think of a thing to say about you."
  
  > ask the head about the mud
  He says, "If only the rain would stop..."
  
  > Dig
  What do you want to dig in?
  
  > dig the mud
  You kneel and begin scooping mud from around the head with both hands. As fast as you remove the mud, more mud and water return. "Forget it," the man says gruffly. "It's too late now." He seems strangely touched by your attempt, however.
  
  > search head
  How rude!
  
  > Kiss head
  The mud coating him makes you think twice.
  
  > Clean head
  No matter how much you wipe, the man's face is still begrimed. He grimaces. "Thanks," he says.
  
  > go to the north-east
  "Good luck," the man whispers as you walk away. The hiss of the rain covers anything else he might have said.
  
  Looming suddenly out of the gloom is a large marble building. Its columns jut skyward, raked by the unending rain. To the north lies its entrance.
  
  > examine the building
  The building's white marble is streaked with grime, the rain having no visible effect. Its entrance lies open to the north.
  
  > go to the north
  As you walk through the door of the building the sound of the rain stops, as if suddenly turned off.
  
  The two-story height of the foyer is channelled into a narrower
  hallway to the north. On the north wall to the west of the hallway's beginning is an open doorway. The building's entrance to the south is reflected in the marble floor.
  
  > Go north
  Like the foyer, the hallway is marble. Its two-story height
  combined with its thinness inspires unease. A walkway runs above you, clinging to the east and west walls. Below the east walkway is a doorway.
  
  > Go north
  The hallway ends abruptly in a pair of large oak doors. Their intricate carving is barely visible in the leaden light from the windows above you. The doors are flanked by two sweeping staircases to the northeast and northwest. A doorway to the east is mirrored by a closed door to the west.
  
  > go to the north
  Your footsteps echo hollowly in the dimly-lit and cavernous hall. Benches line the floor, their rows skewed slightly to focus on the desk at the north end. A clock is set in the wall in plain view of the desk. The south third of the room is covered by a balcony, reducing the height of the hall from two stories to one. A small door to the east and two large doors to the south stand ajar. To one side of the two doors is a light switch.
  
  > Go south
  The two-story height of the foyer is channelled into a narrower
  hallway to the north. On the north wall to the west of the hallway's beginning is an open doorway. The building's entrance to the south is reflected in the marble floor.
  Tracked across the marble floor are muddy footprints.
  
  A section of the air just above your head shimmers. A small pyramid falls from the disturbance to the ground below.
  
  > go south
  You can see little through the glare of sun on snow. The building
  to the north is just visible, but everything else is a wash of bright white.
  
  You begin to feel the cold seep into you, chilling you.
  
  > go north
  The two-story height of the foyer is channelled into a narrower
  hallway to the north. On the north wall to the west of the hallway's beginning is an open doorway. The building's entrance to the south is reflected in the marble floor.
  Tracked across the marble floor are muddy footprints.
  You see a paper pyramid here.
  
  You now feel recovered from your exposure to the cold.
  
  > get the pyramid
  The pyramid begins glowing softly. It unfolds like a flower and a feminine voice issues from it, saying, "Doctor! Doctor! Something's wrong with Terry!" When the light dies down, the pyramid is gone.
  
  > Go northwest
  Shadows crowd the room, strengthened by the unlit ceiling light
  which is canted at a strange angle. A scarred mahogany desk is crammed into one corner of the room, facing the doorway and the clock above it. The room is small enough that the light switch beside the door is within arms reach of the desk.
  
  > go to the southeast
  The two-story height of the foyer is channelled into a narrower
  hallway to the north. On the north wall to the west of the hallway's beginning is an open doorway. The building's entrance to the south is reflected in the marble floor.
  Tracked across the marble floor are muddy footprints.
  
  > look at the desk
  The dark wood of the desk only serves to make the office more claustrophobic. Deep gouges run from the front of the desk to the back; close examination shows them to be fingernail-shaped. All of the desk drawers have been removed.
  
  > examine the gouges
  Gouges scar the once-pristine surface of the desk.
  
  > Exits
  You can go southeast.
  
  > examine the switch
  The switch is currently off.
  
  > look at the clock
  A white-faced clock with numbers and black hands, hands which stand frozen at 2:59.
  
  > examine the ceiling
  It looms above you.
  
  > go to the southeast
  The two-story height of the foyer is channelled into a narrower
  hallway to the north. On the north wall to the west of the hallway's beginning is an open doorway. The building's entrance to the south is reflected in the marble floor.
  Tracked across the marble floor are muddy footprints.
  
  > Go north
  Like the foyer, the hallway is marble. Its two-story height
  combined with its thinness inspires unease. A walkway runs above you, clinging to the east and west walls. Below the east walkway is a doorway.
  
  > examine the walkway
  The walkway rings the hall on every side but the south, casting a shadow on the floor.
  
  > examine doors
  small door: The closed door leads west.
  large wooden doors: The carved doors are made of oak and are twice your height. They stand slightly ajar, leaving enough room for you to enter.
  
  > examine carvings
  You peer closely at the door, but are unable to tell what the carving is of in the dim light.
  
  > Go east
  Metal shelves fill the hall; most are empty and many have succumbed
  to rust. The shelves that aren't empty hold broken shards of glass.
  The archive continues to the south, and an exit leads west.
  
  > look at the glass
  The glass fragments run the gamut from large shards to fine, gritty powder.
  
  > take the glass
  You would most surely cut yourself.
  
  > look at the shelves
  The shelves cover the room, as if they had multiplied in the same manner coathangers are reputed to. They are covered in broken shards.
  
  > go south
  filling rack after rack of shelves, making it difficult to find a place to stand. The room continues to the north. Above the west exit is a clock; beside the exit is a light switch.
  
  > examine the clock
  A white-faced clock with numbers and black hands, hands which stand frozen at 2:25.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes...
  
  > look at the boxes
  Cardboard boxes, all taped shut. Each one has been labeled with a black magic marker.
  
  > read the boxes
  Your eyes roam over their surfaces, taking in their titles. Many are labeled "Memories" with a range of dates following. A few are labeled "Fragments." You feel an odd sense of disorientation as you stare at them.
  
  > Open boxes
  The tape prevents you from opening the boxes.
  
  > go west
  (Opening the small door)
  Utility Room
  The room is hot and stifling; cobwebs drip from every surface. A hot-water tank crouches in one corner. Rickety stairs lead into the depths of the building. To the east is an open door.
  
  > Exits
  You can go east and down.
  
  > look at the tank
  The tank is old and somewhat rusty. An orange wire runs past it.
  
  > touch the tank
  The tank is cool.