text: [Themes: Space Adventure, space adventure, sci-fi]
  
  > Look around
  Two thirds of this large rock chamber is filled with an underground lake. It's churning with activity, and in the seething water, you can see flashes of silver.
  
  A steel cable runs up from the lake and into a featureless ceiling.
  
  A closed steel hatch is set into the north wall.
  
  The control panel for the deathtrap is mounted on the rocky shore. A menacing chrome lever protrudes from it.
  
  You can also see some rope fragments here.
  
  > look at the hatch
  It's a door-sized stainless steel hatch with a handwheel. It's closed.
  
  > Turn wheel
  You spin the wheel, and the hatch opens.
  
  > go north
  The hatch leads to a short, dark, ascending tunnel. You blunder your way through, eventually emerging through a second hatch.
  
  You're in a small chamber above ground. Most of the room is the sterile white of laboratories everywhere, but the north wall has a large transparent bubble protruding outward. Outside, you can see the Martian surface and a distant dome. The only exit is the hatch leading back south.
  
  An open steel hatch is set into the south wall.
  
  A cube-like machine squats along the wall next to the bubble.
  
  Along the west wall, a purpose-built table contains some sort of book.
  
  > look at the book
  The book seems to be a programming guide for the machine in this room. It is uncountable thousands of creamy loose-leaf pages long, permanently mounted in a metal bracket affixed to a table. The bracket has a small nameplate, which reads "Transmutation: A Mutant's Intro".
  
  > read the book
  Glancing through the book, you see columns on columns of five-digit numbers. Picking one at a random entry, you read:
  
  Return code 77375: Edison circuit tripped
  
  This is gibberish! Maybe if you knew what to look up.
  
  > look at machine
  The machine is almost a cube, and about five feet on each edge. The front of the machine displays three pictures, in a vertical column. Each picture displays the head, torso or legs of an alien creature!
  
  The pictures display the head of a Martian kangasaur, the torso of a Martian kangasaur and the legs of a Martian kangasaur. To the left of each picture is a steel button.
  
  Below the pictures, there's a mechanical readout of five digits. It currently displays "00000".
  
  Mounted vertically on the right side of the machine, toward the bubble window, are three long tubes of frosted glass.
  
  > Keep going
  You press the top button. The machine clanks, then a new picture flicks into place next to it. It shows the head of a frost turtle.
  
  > Keep going
  You press the top button. The machine clanks, then a new picture flicks into place next to it. It shows the head of a megastrich.
  
  > look at the megastrich
  The top picture shows the head of a yellow-crested Jovian megastrich. Unlike its smaller Earth eponym, the megastrich is a carnivore. It chases down its prey with its powerful running legs, kicks it to death and (in a manner you'd prefer not to contemplate) spits a potent acid to pre-digest it. The purpose of the megastrich's stubby wings remains unknown, since no flying species are known to live on Jupiter.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the sharp coal black beak and peaked crest. Despite the creature's name, its crest is actually iron.
  
  > look at the kangasaur
  Which do you mean, the middle picture or the bottom picture?
  
  > Middle
  The middle picture shows the torso of a violet-bellied Martian kangasaur. The kangasaur is the peak predator of this region of Mars, chasing the smaller red sand fleas with its powerful leaping hind legs and snatching them with its gecko-like tongue. Best of all, the kangasaur is a hypoxygen-breather!
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the small charcoal forepaws and sleek belly. Despite the creature's name, its belly is actually slate.
  
  > look up 00000 in the book
  Return code 00000: Success
  
  Huh. That's something we could use more of.
  
  > examine the bubble
  The bubble is a precise quarter sphere made of a tough, transparent plastic that protrudes outward from the north wall. It's big enough to walk into. In fact, the top is a couple of feet higher than your 6' 2" frame.
  
  On close inspection, the sphere appears to be more than a window. Where it touches the wall, a bead of softer plastic mounted on the wall forms an airtight seal. And where the sphere meets the floor, it passes through another seal. Tracing the line with your eyes, you see that the floor seal forms a perfect circle, precisely bisected by the wall. Inside the circle, the floor is no longer the white tile of the main floor, but a soft silver.
  
  You can see the rugged Martian landscape outside. In the distance, across some sort of ravine, there's an immense transparent dome.
  
  > Examine dome
  The dome is hundreds of yards across. You can see structures inside, but you can't make out details.
  
  > examine the marshbat
  The top picture shows the head of a blue-eyed Venusian marshbat. Its resemblance to an Earth bat is superficial, at best. In the dense atmosphere of its native planet, it can fly indefinitely, navigating the steamy jungle by echolocation. It doesn't breathe, as such, but lands in the rich loam and extracts oxygen through organs in its legs.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the enlarged inky ears and intense eyes. Despite the creature's name, its eyes are actually gunmetal.
  
  > examine the turtle
  The top picture shows the head of a green-shelled Plutonian frost turtle, the largest creature yet discovered on Sol's ninth and newest planet. In Pluto's frigid night, even oxygen freezes, so the frost turtle retains its own atmosphere inside a transparent helmet that it can close at will. It navigates the nightmarish mountains of frozen gases using suction cup-like graspers on its two front limbs and traverses the soft snows of the plains using hind limbs that inflate to form snowshoes.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the clear helmet and scaly onyx head.
  
  > examine the machine
  The machine is almost a cube, and about five feet on each edge. The front of the machine displays three pictures, in a vertical column. Each picture displays the head, torso or legs of an alien creature!
  
  The pictures display the head of a Plutonian frost turtle, the torso of a Martian kangasaur and the legs of a Martian kangasaur. To the left of each picture is a steel button.
  
  Below the pictures, there's a mechanical readout of five digits. It currently displays "00000".
  
  Mounted vertically on the right side of the machine, toward the bubble window, are three long tubes of frosted glass.
  
  > examine the bottom picture
  The bottom picture shows the legs of a violet-bellied Martian kangasaur. The kangasaur is the peak predator of this region of Mars, chasing the smaller red sand fleas with its powerful leaping hind legs and snatching them with its gecko-like tongue. Best of all, the kangasaur is a hypoxygen-breather!
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the powerful leaping smoky gray legs and short pitch black tail.
  
  > look at the bottom picture
  The bottom picture shows the legs of a blue-eyed Venusian marshbat. Its resemblance to an Earth bat is superficial, at best. In the dense atmosphere of its native planet, it can fly indefinitely, navigating the steamy jungle by echolocation. It doesn't breathe, as such, but lands in the rich loam and extracts oxygen through organs in its legs.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the lethal cinereal gray talons and sleek waxy gills.
  
  > look at the bottom picture
  The bottom picture shows the legs of a green-shelled Plutonian frost turtle, the largest creature yet discovered on Sol's ninth and newest planet. In Pluto's frigid night, even oxygen freezes, so the frost turtle retains its own atmosphere inside a transparent helmet that it can close at will. It navigates the nightmarish mountains of frozen gases using suction cup-like graspers on its two front limbs and traverses the soft snows of the plains using hind limbs that inflate to form snowshoes.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the enlarged leaden hind limbs and short, spiked sable tail.
  
  > examine the middle
  (the middle picture)
  The middle picture shows the torso of a violet-bellied Martian kangasaur. The kangasaur is the peak predator of this region of Mars, chasing the smaller red sand fleas with its powerful leaping hind legs and snatching them with its gecko-like tongue. Best of all, the kangasaur is a hypoxygen-breather!
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the small charcoal forepaws and sleek belly. Despite the creature's name, its belly is actually slate.
  
  > enter the bubble
  As you enter the chamber, the silver floor gives slightly, making a satisfying ka-chunk! The machine chatters briefly, then new numbers ratchet into place: 69105.
  
  > look up 69105
  The programming guide is out of reach.
  
  > Leave
  You get out of the plastic window.
  
  You're in a small chamber above ground. Most of the room is the sterile white of laboratories everywhere, but the north wall has a large transparent bubble protruding outward. Outside, you can see the Martian surface and a distant dome. The only exit is the hatch leading back south.
  
  An open steel hatch is set into the south wall.
  
  A cube-like machine squats along the wall next to the bubble.
  
  Along the west wall, a purpose-built table contains a programming guide.
  
  > look up 69105
  Return code 69105: Insufficiently mad science - add entropy
  
  Huh. What the heck is entropy?
  
  > look at the machine
  The machine is almost a cube, and about five feet on each edge. The front of the machine displays three pictures, in a vertical column. Each picture displays the head, torso or legs of an alien creature!
  
  The pictures display the head of a Plutonian frost turtle, the torso of a Martian kangasaur and the legs of a Plutonian frost turtle. To the left of each picture is a steel button.
  
  Below the pictures, there's a mechanical readout of five digits. It currently displays "69105".
  
  Mounted vertically on the right side of the machine, toward the bubble window, are three long tubes of frosted glass.
  
  > enter the bubble
  As you enter the chamber, the silver floor gives slightly, making a satisfying ka-chunk! The machine chatters briefly, then new numbers ratchet into place: 69105.
  
  > examine the middle picture
  The middle picture shows the torso of a green-shelled Plutonian frost turtle, the largest creature yet discovered on Sol's ninth and newest planet. In Pluto's frigid night, even oxygen freezes, so the frost turtle retains its own atmosphere inside a transparent helmet that it can close at will. It navigates the nightmarish mountains of frozen gases using suction cup-like graspers on its two front limbs and traverses the soft snows of the plains using hind limbs that inflate to form snowshoes.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the rugged ash gray graspers and sturdy shell. Despite the creature's name, its shell is actually pewter.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  a Boy Scout knife
  a uniform (being worn)
  
  > About yourself
  You glance down at yourself. You're wearing the dove gray tunic and charcoal trousers of the Sentinels of Outer Space.
  
  > examine the bottom
  (the bottom picture)
  The bottom picture shows the legs of a green-shelled Plutonian frost turtle, the largest creature yet discovered on Sol's ninth and newest planet. In Pluto's frigid night, even oxygen freezes, so the frost turtle retains its own atmosphere inside a transparent helmet that it can close at will. It navigates the nightmarish mountains of frozen gases using suction cup-like graspers on its two front limbs and traverses the soft snows of the plains using hind limbs that inflate to form snowshoes.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the enlarged leaden hind limbs and short, spiked sable tail.
  
  > examine the bottom picture
  The bottom picture shows the legs of a yellow-crested Jovian megastrich. Unlike its smaller Earth eponym, the megastrich is a carnivore. It chases down its prey with its powerful running legs, kicks it to death and (in a manner you'd prefer not to contemplate) spits a potent acid to pre-digest it. The purpose of the megastrich's stubby wings remains unknown, since no flying species are known to live on Jupiter.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the muscular heather legs and deadly sooty black eviscerating claws.
  
  > look at the middle
  (the middle picture)
  The middle picture shows the torso of a green-shelled Plutonian frost turtle, the largest creature yet discovered on Sol's ninth and newest planet. In Pluto's frigid night, even oxygen freezes, so the frost turtle retains its own atmosphere inside a transparent helmet that it can close at will. It navigates the nightmarish mountains of frozen gases using suction cup-like graspers on its two front limbs and traverses the soft snows of the plains using hind limbs that inflate to form snowshoes.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the rugged ash gray graspers and sturdy shell. Despite the creature's name, its shell is actually pewter.
  
  > look at the middle
  (the middle picture)
  The middle picture shows the torso of a yellow-crested Jovian megastrich. Unlike its smaller Earth eponym, the megastrich is a carnivore. It chases down its prey with its powerful running legs, kicks it to death and (in a manner you'd prefer not to contemplate) spits a potent acid to pre-digest it. The purpose of the megastrich's stubby wings remains unknown, since no flying species are known to live on Jupiter.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the stunted argent wings and oyster feathered back.
  
  > examine the middle
  (the middle picture)
  The middle picture shows the torso of a violet-bellied Martian kangasaur. The kangasaur is the peak predator of this region of Mars, chasing the smaller red sand fleas with its powerful leaping hind legs and snatching them with its gecko-like tongue. Best of all, the kangasaur is a hypoxygen-breather!
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the small charcoal forepaws and sleek belly. Despite the creature's name, its belly is actually slate.
  
  > examine middle
  (the middle picture)
  The middle picture shows the torso of a blue-eyed Venusian marshbat. Its resemblance to an Earth bat is superficial, at best. In the dense atmosphere of its native planet, it can fly indefinitely, navigating the steamy jungle by echolocation. It doesn't breathe, as such, but lands in the rich loam and extracts oxygen through organs in its legs.
  
  Studying the picture carefully, you note the powerful jet black wings and dove breast.
  
  > enter the bubble
  As you enter the chamber, the silver floor gives slightly, making a satisfying ka-chunk! The machine chatters, then the plastic bubble rotates smoothly over your head, sealing into the circular groove behind you.
  
  The fluorescent tubes mounted to the machine come to life, bathing you in a penetrating radiance. You involuntarily clamp your eyes shut, but you can still see the eerie glow. Looking about wildly, you see that your body casts no shadow.
  
  "Walston rays!" you think. "But they're only a theory!" Your body spasms, and for a moment the world seems to twist like an Escher woodcut. When it steadies again, everything is different.
  
  You've transformed into a nightmare jigsaw of a creature! From the shoulders up, you've become a Plutonian frost turtle. Your transparent vacuum helmet covers your head in a tight seal, but you can sense the neck muscles that will reopen it. From shoulders to hips, you have the body of a Venusian marshbat. Your gossamer wings fold tight against your body, but you can feel the new muscles used to flap them. Below the hips, you're now a Jovian megastrich. Your legs hold you as lightly as a feather in the weak Martian gravity, and you feel the urge to kick them with the sheer power.
  
  New numbers ratchet into place on the front of the machine, and you can just make them out: 00000.
  
  The Boy Scout knife falls to the floor.
  
  The bubble begins to turn once more, continuing over your head and disappearing into the circular groove. A gap opens to the outside, widening until the situation has reversed: a quarter sphere protrudes into the interior of the lab, while you stand on the outside, exposed to the Martian elements.
  
  You're standing in a rugged landscape of boulders and rocky outcroppings next to a small, square building. A transparent bubble projects inward into the building. Through the window, you can see the relative safety of the laboratory you just left.
  
  The Martian surface extends in every direction, looking much the same as here, except to the north. There, across some sort of ravine, you can see a gargantuan transparent dome.
  
  For a moment, you're frozen with panic. Then your hindbrain kicks in and slams your helmet shut. You convulsively breathe in, and realize that your reptilian reflexes have preserved enough oxygen inside the helmet to keep you alive.
  
  You step out of the airlock, and onto the surface of Mars.
  
  > examine the ravine
  The ravine, if that's what it is, crosses the landscape jaggedly as far as the eye can see. You can't see into it at this distance, but there's clearly a gap.
  
  > Go north
  You thunkathunk across the Martian plain, fatooming as you go.
  
  You've arrived on the south side of a broad Martian canal. You can still see the laboratory in the distance, and across the canal you can see a huge transparent dome.
  
  > examine the canal
  Mars is covered with a fine tracing of these canals. They're not filled with water, of course - everybody knows there's no water on Mars! (Well, except underground.) Instead, they're filled with gray sand. You know that this fine powder is like terrestrial quicksand...  you'd sink in it like a stone.
  
  > fly
  In the thick atmosphere of Venus, you could glide for hours on your marshbat wings. In the thinner atmosphere of Mars, you struggle aloft like an infant taking his first steps, make a short, ungainly flight across the canal, and crash-land into the softest pile of rocks.
  
  This is the north side of the canal. To the south, the laboratory building now blends into the background perfectly. Further north, looming ever larger, is a titanic transparent dome.
  
  > go north
  You thunkathunk across the Martian plain, fatooming as you go.
  
  At last, you've reached the base of the transparent dome. Up close, it's absolutely tremendous - bigger than Michigan Stadium! It's built into a circular crater that's hundreds of yards across.
  
  An airlock provides access to the dome here. To the right of the airlock, mounted on the dome wall, is a device. Inside the airlock, you can see a manatee gray button mounted on a pedestal.
  
  Inside, you can see a catwalk leading further north. Further in, there's some equipment of some kind mounted on a platform.
  
  Back to the south, you can make out the canal of sand you crossed.
  
  > examine the airlock
  (the glass airlock)
  The bubble design of the airlock is similar to the one in the laboratory building: a hemisphere of thick glass seals into a circle of soft plastic. Peering through the outer wall, you can see the airlock is in its neutral position; that is, it is sealed from both the interior and exterior of the dome. The circular floor is native Martian rock.
  
  Inside, you see a manatee gray button mounted on a waist-high pedestal. Beyond that, you can see a catwalk leading out over empty space. Further in, there's equipment of some kind.
  
  > look at the device
  The device is mounted on the wall of the dome. It's little more than a black rectangle of plastic and metal. On its surface, glowing slightly, is the outline of a hand. Oddly, you see no wires.
  
  > Examine button
  The pedestal is slender, metallic and about waist-high to a space adventurer. On its top surface is a small manatee gray button.
  
  Unexpectedly, your muscles twitch and you feel a faint ringing in your ears. Are you coming down with something?
  
  > touch the device
  Intuiting the purpose of the device, you press your wing against the surface of the device.
  
  The device emits a brief series of descending tones, like a sad trombone.
  
  > enter the airlock
  (the glass airlock)
  There's a sphere of thick glass in the way.
  
  > About yourself
  You've transformed into a nightmare jigsaw of a creature! From the shoulders up, you've become a Plutonian frost turtle. Your transparent vacuum helmet covers your head in a tight seal, but you can sense the neck muscles that will reopen it. From shoulders to hips, you have the body of a Venusian marshbat. Your gossamer wings fold tight against your body, but you can feel the new muscles used to flap them. Below the hips, you're now a Jovian megastrich. Your legs hold you as lightly as a feather in the weak Martian gravity, and you feel the urge to kick them with the sheer power.
  
  > Kick device
  You wind up one sinewy leg and bash the rectangular device. Despite a devastating impact, the rectangular device is undamaged. Perhaps you should reserve your attack for a less durable target.
  
  > kick the airlock
  (the glass airlock)
  Violence *is* the answer to this one!
  
  You wind up one sinewy leg and bash the glass hemisphere. The glass fragments into a million pieces, releasing the air inside with a whoosh! The shattered pieces are swept past you like a whirlwind of razors. They disappear into the landscape, leaving you with only minor wounds.
  
  With victory in your grasp, you smile, contorting your frost turtle features in ways they were never meant to move.
  
  And as you rejoice, pain suddenly floods through you. Your whole body clenches like a fist, then melts like a Dali pocketwatch. When you open your eyes again, you're back in your familiar human body.
  
  You immediately begin to choke on Mars' thin, poisonous atmosphere.
  
  > enter the airlock
  (the glass airlock)
  You stumble into the airlock, avoiding the razor-sharp edges.
  
  Outside the Dome (in the glass airlock)
  You're inside a glass hemisphere that forms an airlock to the giant dome. In front of you, an intact quarter sphere separates you from the interior of the giant dome. Behind you, a broken quarter sphere exposes you to the Martian atmosphere.
  
  There's a manatee gray button mounted on a pedestal in the center of the airlock.
  
  You are choking on the poisonous atmosphere! You don't have much longer!
  
  > examine the mirror
  It's impossible to focus on the mirrored bowl below you, rather than what's reflected in it. In it, you can see a distorted view of the Martian sky crossed by the thin line of the catwalk. The central platform seems to hang directly beneath your feet. The solar disc is nowhere to be seen.
  
  > examine tube
  There's a round platform, surrounded by a railing, in the center of the mirror chamber. In its center, an ominous black tube juts at an angle toward the Earth. There are equipment consoles surrounding the tube, but you can't make out any detail at this distance.
  
  > About yourself
  You glance down at yourself. You're wearing the dove gray tunic and charcoal trousers of the Sentinels of Outer Space.
  
  > Go north
  This vertiginous aerie appears to be suspended in an infinite open space. In every direction you look, you see only the Martian sky. The platform itself is circular and about ten meters in diameter. It's surrounded by a wholly inadequate handrail.
  
  A narrow catwalk extends back to the south of the platform, appearing to vanish into the sky. The catwalk continues across a gap to the north, studded with the cranes, gantries, and scaffolding towers of an active construction site. Steel cables, seeming as slender and fragile as spider silk, extend at intervals to anchor the catwalks and platform to thin air.
  
  A console sits on the west side of the platform, studded with blinking lights, gauges, dials, instruments, indicators, and other doohickeys. Electrical cables connect the console with the tube. A drawer is set into the front of the console.
  
  On the metal console is an Acme Mark III Deluminator Instruction Guide.
  
  A metallic tube in the center of the platform towers over you. The tube points at the sky at a slight angle to vertical. The base of the tube is set into a complicated clockwork mechanism.
  
  > examine Guide
  It's a small volume made of battleship gray faux leather. In pearly letters, it's titled "Acme Mark III Deluminator Instruction Guide".
  
  There's the humming of circuits opening, then Lord Infamy's voice booms from every direction:
  
  "Commander Powers. I see you've escaped my pets. Again."
  
  His voice drips with mock sympathy. "I fear this is only a momentary reprieve. I have two legions of my Midnight Horde on board this space dreadnought. That's enough to deal with any number of...  your ilk."
  You
  can hear the pucker of distaste in his voice.
  
  "Enjoy your last moments of freedom, and," he chuckles mirthlessly, "life. Perhaps you can spend it in contemplation of Earth's future... 
  an
  eternity adrift in darkness.
  
  "In the meantime, that's the engine of Earth's destruction right there! Feel free to examine it...  you won't be able to do any harm.
  It's
  the heavy-duty model.
  
  "I'm a tad busy preparing for my ascent. Rest assured, my friends and I will stop by as soon as I have a free moment. Then you and I can have a nice chat while I show you my new toy. And after that," -- Infamy's voice hardens and rises into a shriek-- "after I've destroyed your friends, your planet, and everything you hold dear...  then we'll find out what a planetary deluminator can do to the last Earthman!"
  
  > examine Infamy
  Lord Infamy isn't here. On the whole, you prefer it that way.
  
  > read Guide
  You leaf through until you find the table of contents. You can read these sections:
  
  Operational Overview
  Technical Information
  Safety Instructions
  
  > read the introduction
  Hello, despot!
  
  Congratulations on your purchase of an Acme Mark III Deluminator!
  
  Your new deluminator will provide you and your family with hours of delight-ful entertainment for years to come. However, incorrect operation can result in planetary extinction, so please read this manual carefully and completely before operation.
  
  If you're in a hurry, just read the Quick Start section!
  
  > read the quick start
  Hello, abecedarian!
  
  In a hurry to create your first "ray of darkness"Follow these simple steps:
  
  1) Mount the Acme Mark III Deluminator and Acme Mark III Tracking Platform on a planetary surface, with a clear view of the object you wish to deluminate. Remember - you should never deluminate an inhabited planet!
  2) Attach the Acme Mark III Deluminator and Acme Mark III Tracking Platform to an operating atomic pile.
  3) Insert the seven Acme Mark III Lens Filters into the seven lens apertures inside the Acme Mark III Deluminator. Be sure that each lens filter is placed in the aperture with the corresponding label!
  4) Aim the Acme Mark III Deluminator using the Acme Mark III
  Tracking Platform.
  5) Activate the Acme Mark III Deluminator using the big red button.
  
  Have fun!
  
  "Kiss the light goodbye!" Infamy shrills through the loudspeakers.
  
  > open the drawer
  The drawer slides open with oiled ease. The drawer is divided into seven compartments, which are lined with velvet. All of the compartments are occupied.
  
  They contain some lenses with glass of different colors (white, black, gunmetal, pewter, iron, taupe and slate).
  
  > get the lenses
  lens with white-colored glass: You ease the white-colored lens gently out of one of the drawer's velvet lined compartments.
  lens with black-colored glass: You ease the black-colored lens gently out of one of the drawer's velvet lined compartments.
  lens with gunmetal-colored glass: You ease the gunmetal-colored lens gently out of one of the drawer's velvet lined compartments.
  lens with pewter-colored glass: You ease the pewter-colored lens gently out of one of the drawer's velvet lined compartments.
  lens with iron-colored glass: You ease the iron-colored lens gently out of one of the drawer's velvet lined compartments.
  lens with taupe-colored glass: You ease the taupe-colored lens gently out of one of the drawer's velvet lined compartments.
  lens with slate-colored glass: You ease the slate-colored lens gently out of one of the drawer's velvet lined compartments.
  
  > examine black
  (the lens with black-colored glass)
  The lenses are each about ten centimeters in diameter. This one has black-colored glass.
  
  > look at the compartments
  The drawer is set into the front of the metal console. The drawer is divided into seven compartments, which are lined with velvet. All of the compartments are empty.
  
  "You won't ruin my triumph," Infamy states coldly.
  
  > Break lens
  Which do you mean, the lower hemispherical complex lens, the upper hemispherical complex lens, the lens with slate-colored glass, the lens with taupe-colored glass, the lens with iron-colored glass, the lens with pewter-colored glass, the lens with gunmetal-colored glass, the lens with black-colored glass or the lens with white-colored glass?
  
  > White
  The white lens is too beautiful to destroy.
  
  > read operational
  Hello, dilettante!
  
  Curious about how the Acme Mark III Deluminator works? Here's a brief overview. If you really want to know all the nitty-gritty, continue on to the Technical Information section!
  
  The Acme Mark III Deluminator lets you turn light into darkness as a fun, family-friendly activity!
  
  It works in three steps:
  
  1) The chromatic disintegrator at the bottom of the Acme Mark III Deluminator separates natural starlight into its seven component beams, each of a different color.
  2) Each of these beams passes through a different colored filter, transforming the beam to black.
  3) The chromatic integrator at the top of the Acme Mark III Deluminator recombines the seven identical black beams into a ray of pure darkness!
  
  Have fun, and keep spreading the dark!
  
  > read technical
  Hello, gearhead!
  
  Eager to dig into the details of how the Acme Mark III Deluminator works? Let's start with a little background about light.
  
  If you've ever seen a rainbow, you know that light is composed seven different colors: white, red, violet, blue, green, yellow and black. Natural starlight can be separated into these component parts using a chromatic disintegrator.
  
  The fun starts when you transform the colored beams in different ways. For instance, when you filter blue light through a red lens, you'll get violet!
  
  Why is this? Well, the colors are arranged in cycles of seven, called septaves. They're a lot like the octaves you find in music. You could number the colors like this:
  
  0 = White
  1 = Red
  2 = Violet
  3 = Blue
  4 = Green
  5 = Yellow
  6 = Black
  
  Filtering disintegrated light is like subtracting their numbers. So, filtering blue light (3) with a red lens (1) gives you violet light (2)!
  
  But what if you filter red light (1) with a blue lens (3)? They subtract to (-2), and there's no color for that! Well, after you reach the bottom of a septave, another one begins, just like an octave in music. So, (-1) is the same as (6), and (-2) is the same as (5). So red light (1) filtered through a blue lens (3) creates yellow light (5)!
  
  Finally, seven identical beams can be recombined and amplified into a coherent ray using a chromatic integrator.
  
  Of course, you don't need to keep track of all these details. Acme makes it simple by labeling each lens aperture with the color of the lens that should be placed in it. As long as you're careful to follow these instructions, the Acme Mark III Deluminator will always emit a ray of pure darkness.
  
  > read the safety
  Hello, fussbudget!
  
  Please follow these safety precautions when using your Acme Mark III Deluminator:
  
  1) Do not immerse the deluminator. There is a small danger of chromaticution.
  2) The Acme Mark III Deluminator is designed only for use with type G white starlight. Do not use with other star types.
  3) Never look directly into the chromatic integrator.
  4) Do not use on inhabited planets. This may cause the extinction of life on the deluminated planet.
  5) Never use the deluminator to generate anything other than pure darkness. This may cause the deluminator to overheat. (For other colors, try the new Acme Mark IV Illuminator!)
  6) Do not use the deluminator in the vicinity of a gas leak.
  
  Failure to follow these safety precautions will void the warranty for the Acme Mark III Deluminator.
  
  "How did you escape my razorfish?" Infamy wonders to himself. "No matter. It won't happen again."
  
  > Examine deluminator
  (the deluminator tube)
  The tube looks something like an electron microscope, but much larger. It towers at least four meters above the platform, and is thick enough that your arms won't reach all the way around it. The surface of the tube is highly polished obsidian chrome, and you can see your own concerned face peering back from its surface.
  
  The tube is set into a clockwork mechanism, which holds it at an eighty-two degree angle from the horizontal. Sighting along the barrel of the tube, you can see the Earth. At this distance, it's only a pinprick of light in the fabric of the sky, but for a moment your heart swells with homesickness.
  
  Looking down through the grating, you can see a hemispherical complex lens at the lower end of the tube. Craning your neck to see the top, you can see a matching lens.
  
  A circular button and a square button are mounted at eye level on the north face of the tube.
  
  > examine complex
  Which do you mean, the lower hemispherical complex lens or the upper hemispherical complex lens?
  
  > look at the lower complex
  There's a complex, multi-faceted lens covering the entire lower end of the tube. It's made of transparent crystal, and is approximately hemispherical.
  
  > examine the upper complex
  There's a complex, multi-faceted lens covering the entire upper end of the tube. It's made of transparent crystal, and is approximately hemispherical.
  
  > read technical
  Hello, gearhead!
  
  Eager to dig into the details of how the Acme Mark III Deluminator works? Let's start with a little background about light.
  
  If you've ever seen a rainbow, you know that light is composed seven different colors: white, red, violet, blue, green, yellow and black. Natural starlight can be separated into these component parts using a chromatic disintegrator.
  
  The fun starts when you transform the colored beams in different ways. For instance, when you filter blue light through a red lens, you'll get violet!
  
  Why is this? Well, the colors are arranged in cycles of seven, called septaves. They're a lot like the octaves you find in music. You could number the colors like this:
  
  0 = White
  1 = Red
  2 = Violet
  3 = Blue
  4 = Green
  5 = Yellow
  6 = Black
  
  Filtering disintegrated light is like subtracting their numbers. So, filtering blue light (3) with a red lens (1) gives you violet light (2)!
  
  But what if you filter red light (1) with a blue lens (3)? They subtract to (-2), and there's no color for that! Well, after you reach the bottom of a septave, another one begins, just like an octave in music. So, (-1) is the same as (6), and (-2) is the same as (5). So red light (1) filtered through a blue lens (3) creates yellow light (5)!
  
  Finally, seven identical beams can be recombined and amplified into a coherent ray using a chromatic integrator.
  
  Of course, you don't need to keep track of all these details. Acme makes it simple by labeling each lens aperture with the color of the lens that should be placed in it. As long as you're careful to follow these instructions, the Acme Mark III Deluminator will always emit a ray of pure darkness.
  
  You hear weapons ratcheting over the loudspeakers.
  
  > enter the tube
  That's not something you can enter.
  
  "Kiss the light goodbye!" Infamy shrills through the loudspeakers.
  
  > examine square button
  It's square.
  
  "Are you comfy over there?" Infamy asks sardonically. It's probably a rhetorical question.