text: [Themes: Science Fiction]
  
  > Look around
  Raised floor, drop ceiling, and racks all around instead of walls make this place seem pretty comfy, at least if you're a patch cable. And it looks like we also have Nora.
  
  > Go west
  You head out through the door.
  
  nAir flies direct from here to Seattle, San Jose, Austin, and Boston, with trips to less geeky destinations being more circuitous. They seem to have forgotten to give this place the air of a big-city airport. It looks more like a large metal barn, with little but a kiosk in this main space.
  
  Past security, to the north, you can see a handful of gates, which are actually gates in a fence. A subtle door to the east leads to the Airport's server room.
  
  > Go south
  It's the gateway to nTopia. The airport is north through a tall rectangular arch that is topped with red flashing lights. On the southeast corner is the visitor center. Southwest is a Starbucks.
  
  An enormous but rather well-behaved gorilla strides to the middle of the area, brandishing what looks like a giant can of Jolt Cola.
  
  > go east
  You head east on Front Street...
  
  Even Main Street has nothing but a pair of warehouses on this end, where it meets Front Street. The airport wall is north.
  
  A bicyclist hurtles by, speaking Spanish on a hands-free phone.
  
  > go to the east
  You head east on Front Street...
  
  Front Street continues its run alongside the airport. There is a warehouse on the southwest corner. Excitement is in store on the southeast corner, where a walled-off construction site is plastered with "Coming Soon: Mall of nTopia!" signs.
  
  > Go east
  You head east on Front Street...
  
  Ghetto, hood, barrio -- they all seem a lot catchier than "housing for construction and infrastructure employees." If your skill at rebooting computers had been classified differently, you might have ended up living in this part of town. With the empty strip of sand there. And so much farther away from the arcade.
  
  In a seedier version of this city, a version of you that was skilled in martial arts might come here for some practice before tournaments. The city goes no further north or east. There's just Front Lodge to the southwest.
  
  > Go east
  There's nowhere to go. Past a small patch of desert that is no doubt reserved for future construction, the city ends at the East Berm.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Urchin...
  
  First Lodge is on the northwest corner. The nWare Media Campus is southwest of here, but there's no way onto campus from this intersection.
  
  > go to the south
  You head south on Urchin...
  
  The path to the west looks as nice as all the other campus walkways, but this is clearly an alley at the edge of town.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Urchin...
  
  The eastern edge of the city looks like a long, empty parking lot. The path onto campus to the west is typically impressive, though. There's a subtle brown door to the east here, set right in the dirt of the East Berm.
  
  > Go east
  You head through the door and into the server room.
  
  Much like other server rooms in this world of ours: racks, raised floor, drop ceiling. It seems to have been made a bit more spacious than it needs to be. Perhaps that was done to keep you from thinking about the fact that the room is buried in a large heap of earth for no apparent reason. And it looks like we also have Ester.
  
  > look at Ester
  This nSure 3000 looks a lot like Wendy.
  
  > go to the west
  You head out through the door.
  
  The eastern edge of the city looks like a long, empty parking lot. The path onto campus to the west is typically impressive, though. There's a subtle brown door to the east here, set right in the dirt of the East Berm.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Urchin...
  
  This particularly desolate spot on the eastern edge of town has an empty lot to the southwest and the boundary of the nWare Media Campus, offering no entrance, to the northwest. The lot has a chain link fence around it.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Urchin...
  
  A convenience store, ShopLite, is on the southwest corner, here at the eastern end of nTopia. There's an empty lot, ringed with a chain-link fence, to the northwest.
  
  A bearded figure wearing glasses and a Hawaiian shirt is very suddenly standing aways to your left, as if he just appeared there.
  
  > examine the figure
  To all appearances, it's actually a bearded guy.
  
  At the second glance, there's no mistaking it. You recognize him from that Con however many years ago. It's Gary Gygax.
  
  > hit Gygax
  This occurrence is absolutely stunning.
  
  Gary Gygax twists one hand over the other and, somehow, vanishes.
  
  > go to the west
  You head west on Fifth Street...
  
  The eastern corners are occupied by the two nicest residential options in town, The Maple Copse and Yew Village. City Hall has a face turned this way to the southwest. On the northwest corner are the colors and leafy tufts of the city gardens.
  
  > Go southwest
  The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and nWare's monarchically wealthy founder, shellf.
  
  There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
  
  > go southeast
  You head through the door and into the server room.
  
  There are just the usual racks here. The rest of the room is bare, with the usual drop ceilings and the usual raised floor providing a contrast to the unusual wooden walls outside. And it looks like we also have Sophie.
  
  > press the button
  ( That is, "press the server's red button." )
  
  The button clicks in. As you release it, the box falls silent and dark for a moment, then begins to power back up.
  
  You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
  
  > Go northwest
  You head out through the door.
  
  The interior walls are of parquet hardwood, which would be the most remarkable thing about most city halls, but here we have this full-size diorama in the middle of the lobby with animatrons of Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, and shellf.
  
  There's also a subtle door here to the southeast, which wouldn't be noticeable to an onlooker who wasn't in the know.
  
  > look at diorama
  Ah, yes. The diorama. There it is.
  
  You notice that it has a brass button on it.
  
  > look at the stick
  It's an nStick, a proprietary memory storage device. You haven't seen this particular sort before, and it's not going to fit into any of the usual computer suspects -- your nLap or the servers you manage.
  
  > take the stick
  As you remove the stick from the diorama, the slot or plug or whatever this thing was in unhelpfully seals itself closed.
  
  > Go northwest
  The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra.
  
  A blue-white cloud rapidly coalesces in the middle of the intersection. As it dissipates, an elegant yet thuggish man steps from it, casually wielding a huge sword.
  
  > examine man
  ( That is, "examine the elegant thug." )
  
  To all appearances, it's actually an elegant thug.
  
  As the thug looks around without seeming to see you or anything else, something assures you, as blatantly as a Queen soundtrack would, that this is Christopher Lambert.
  
  > examine Lambert
  To all appearances, it's actually Christopher Lambert.
  
  A tremendous lightning strike suddenly intersects Christopher Lambert and either toasts him, or, if you're inclined to a more generous interpretation of the event, teleports him away.
  
  > Go north
  You head north on Main...
  
  One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. There is a coffeehouse called "Independent Grounds" to the southwest. Another Starbucks is on the northwest corner.
  
  > go northeast
  The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
  
  Your stomach speaks to you in twangs of pain. Although you don't know Morse code, the jist of the message is that it would be a good idea to get something to eat soon.
  
  > go to the northwest
  The raised floor is charcoal in color -- it's the sort seen in all nWare buildings that house really official business. The racks all around are also especially businesslike. And it looks like we also have Cindy.
  
  > examine the pager
  Cell phones are ubiquitous in nTopia, and your pager is a sort of funky, retro sheriff's badge among them. Press the gray button there, and any voice messages you have will play; hold the button to erase them.
  
  Your nRich cybercash chip is installed in your pager, along with your nPediment identifier tag for keyless entry, the same one that most of your co-workers have installed in their phones, wallets, or upper arms.
  
  > Go southwest
  You can't go that way.
  
  Here we go again. Your pager goes off in its usual buzzing, vibrating fit.
  
  The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.
  
  > open the laptop
  You open the nLap 500, which wakes the moment it begins to unfold. You hear a cheery robot voice almost immediately.
  
  It looks like you're trying to open -- oop! You got it.
  
  As you swing the screen into place, you catch a glimpse of a window blinking away.
  
  > use the computer
  ( That is, "use Cindy." )
  
  Cindy hasn't been dumbed down enough to be used in only one way.
  
  > Leave
  The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
  
  A metallic sound, a twinkling like a dozen will-o-the-wisps, and then Leonard Nimoy is standing about three feet above the ground, wearing jeans and a black turtleneck.
  
  A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:
  
  Hey, this looks like the nWare media campus! This place is where other helpful entities like me are being developed, along with a lot of other really cool stuff!
  
  The window winks away.
  
  > use computer
  Complete ass. An automated email tells you that a new very critical internal intensive update has been issued, which means you'll have to download it, compile it here on the nLap -- the only place you've got the build environment set up -- and then apply it to all five servers. Fortunately you can do that remotely. Unfortunately this thing will probably take ten minutes to download and four hours to compile.
  
  Okay, that's an exaggeration. It will probably take eight minutes to download and maybe two and a half hours to compile.
  
  You start the download.
  
  Leonard Nimoy looks around calmly and raises an eyebrow. His whole body raises and lowers itself, too, finally coming to rest on the ground.
  
  > Go west
  You head west on Third Street...
  
  Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
  
  > Go southwest
  The Supreme Food Court is not open right now. Looks like it opens at ten.
  
  > go west
  You head west on Third Street...
  
  To the northeast are the miniature tree-spotted hills of nTopia's park. On the southeast corner is the police station. A Starbucks is on the southwest corner. Neon signs and flashing screens glint from the establishment to the northwest, Arcadia Ego.
  
  > go west
  You head west on Third Street...
  
  A multi-level grocery store dominates the northeast corner, occupying the whole side of the block from here to Second. A windowless building, this one with a logo like a fork of lightning, is southeast. A shrouded establishment called "Gelatinous Cube" is southwest. On the final corner is a Starbucks.
  
  > Go north
  You head north on Abalone...
  
  Proud Pie is on the northeast corner. The multi-level grocery store to the southeast spans the block down Abalone. To the southwest is the concrete RelOfCoTn building, a typical nWare structure. An apartment building, The Peachtree, is northwest.
  
  > Go northeast
  Magenta color. A bouquet of dough and cheese with smoky nuance and a touch of pepper. Hints of oak, leather, and plastic. The finish is long and satisfying.
  
  Since you were here last, they seem to have installed a man-sized stuffed mouse in one corner.
  
  > examine mouse
  After you pull your attention away from the hideous rictus the mouse wears, you notice that there's a panel on the creature's back that is open and streaming with wires. It must be some sort of robot entertainer.
  
  "Man, we ordered DDR and they sent that thing," some guy calls from behind the counter. "Can you believe it?"
  
  That must have been a rhetorical question, as the guy proceeds to slip away out of sight.