text: [Themes: Surreal]
  
  > Go downwards
  A cramped square room, barely lit by windows above you. The north
  and west walls are taken up by tables. A clock and a light switch are just visible next to the stairs on the south wall. In the northwest corner is a tiny drain; in the southeast corner are two large wheels, one on the east wall and one on the south wall. A pile of spheres has claimed part of the east wall beneath the wheel.
  In the middle of the south wall is a heater.
  Sitting on the tables are a rucksack and five balances.
  A man stands bent over the tables, jotting things down in a large notebook.
  
  As your footsteps sound on the stairs, the man turns. He looks you over, one eyebrow quirking in surprise. "Hello," he says. "And here I thought I was the last one still around. I'm Frankie."
  
  > ask Frankie about the balance
  "Frankly, I don't know what they were for. One of the unsolved mysteries of this place."
  
  > examine the balances
  Sitting silent on the tables, the balances are all tarnished brass and pitted steel.
  
  > look at the rucksack
  It is made of heavy denim and looks well-used. The rucksack is open.
  
  > get the sack
  I don't know the word "t".
  
  Frankie glances over at you as you pick up the rucksack. "You can have it," he says. "It'll do you more good than it will me."
  
  > put all in the sack
  fool: Done.
  rucksack: You can't put the rucksack in itself!
  
  > examine clock
  A white-faced clock with numbers and black hands, hands which stand frozen at 10:02. Next to the clock is a light switch.
  
  > ask Frankie about Frankie
  Frankie grins sardonically. "I'm just an archaeologist, nothing more. My team and I were working on unearthing those," he gestures at the pile of spheres by the wall, "until we got word of the avalanche."
  
  > ask Frankie about the team
  "I sent my team away when we heard about the avalanche. I couldn't ask them to put themselves in harm's way."
  
  > ask Frankie about the avalanche
  Frankie says, "When we heard about it yesterday, we all started rushing about, hither and yon, trying to finish our separate projects. The power going out didn't help things a bit." He sighs heavily. "I only wish someone could have protected my project."
  
  > ask Frankie about the project
  "Why, the spheres," he says.
  
  > examine the spheres
  The spheres are smooth and translucent, glowing softly from within. Several are caked with mud and dirt, testimony to their recent location. They have been stacked in a tight-fitting pyramid. You feel a strange sense of deja vu as you gaze into them.
  
  > touch the spheres
  You reach your hand towards one of the spheres. As you draw nearer, a spark spits from the sphere, rushes up your arm, and then--
  
  Darkness, then light.
  
  You see yourself, a brief memory of driving your father's car alone for the first time, Joe Walsh on the radio, hands ice-slick with the fear of wrecking, pulse pounding, the thrill of being in control--
  
  Light, then darkness.
  
  You are thirteen, on a camping trip with friends, hiding in the dark, playing a game of flashlight tag, who will be the first to find you, or will you find the others first--
  
  With a horrendous wrenching sensation you pull yourself away from the pile of spheres. You glance at Frankie but, absorbed in his notetaking, he has not noticed your momentary distress.
  
  > tell Frankie about the spheres
  Frankie says, "They were my project. Well, mine and some colleagues. They'd been buried near here for years." He gazes at the spheres for a minute, then at you. "Makes you wonder why someone would go to all the trouble to bury them."
  
  One of the spheres teeters, then rolls down the pile. It reaches the bottom and breaks, golden smoke issuing from it. As the shards of the sphere melt into the floor, the smoke begins coalescing, solidifying into a Welsh Corgi puppy who barks twice at you.
  
  Frankie glances at the puppy, then at you, smiling at something.
  "Looks like you have a new pet," he says. "I'd say the first order of business is to name him."
  
  > name the dog bubbles
  You may name something by using NAME OBJECT "NEWNAME".
  
  > ask Frankie about the power
  "We put too many demands on the building, tripped every breaker it had, one by one. Thing is, to restart the system you have to reset the breakers in the order in which they were tripped. Too much bother for us, considering our time limit, and what with the breakers being on the outside of the building and all."
  
  Bubbles comes running toward you, barking loudly. Upon seeing you, however, Bubbles calms down and trots nonchalantly up to you.
  
  > ask Frankie about the wheels
  Frankie says, "The wheels control the level of this room. I assume that they were installed to keep the balances...well, balanced."
  
  Bubbles comes over, sniffs at your legs, then wanders off again.
  
  > look in the sack
  In the rucksack you see a fool.
  
  > Exits
  You can go up.
  
  > look at the heater
  It is an old-fashioned wood-burning heater, standing a few centimeters above the ground on metal legs. Heat pours from it in waves. Its most noticeable feature isn't: it has no smoke stack.
  
  > look at the wheels
  south wheel: The spoked metal wheel has a handle at one point of its circumference.
  east wheel: The spoked metal wheel has a handle at one point of its circumference.
  
  > examine the drain
  The metal drain is a small circle with a grate about ten centimeters in diameter.
  
  > open the grate
  I don't know how to open the metal drain.
  
  Bubbles comes over, sniffs at your legs, then wanders off again.
  
  > Pet Bubbles
  You pet Bubbles, whose tail wags mightily in response.
  
  > go north
  Bubbles looks at you quizically, head cocked to one side.
  
  > fetch the sphere
  Bubbles looks at you quizically, head cocked to one side.
  
  Bubbles curls up in a small ball, resting.
  
  > take Bubbles
  Bubbles gives you a sidelong look. As your hands close around the dog, it swirls like smoke, solidifying just out of your reach.
  
  Bubbles comes over, sniffs at your legs, then wanders off again.
  
  > Go upwards
  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.
  
  Bubbles comes trotting after you.
  
  > go to the east
  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 an open door to the west.
  
  Bubbles comes trotting after you.
  
  > Go 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.
  
  Bubbles comes trotting after you.
  
  > Exits
  You can go south and east.