text: [Themes: Humor, Noir, parody, musical]
  
  > Look around
  Grey and white rain streams down over hard concrete edifices, where it goes swirling and shining, reflecting the dingy streetlights as it pours into the gutters and then down into the black sewers.
  
  You hear unexpected strains of orchestral music warmups and rehearsal pouring out some slightly lit windows from an edifice on the other side of the street.
  
  The dreary gray edifice the orphans climbed down out of is barely visible in the opaque gray rain.
  
  You've parked your vehicle to the side of the road.
  
  A sign bolted near a gap in a cement wall declares "Outway Only".
  
  You can also see Betsy, Lenny and Rufus here.
  
  > enter the gap
  The three young ragamuffins scramble after you and assemble again in an attentive line.
  
  Inside the outway, removed from the normal public streets, is a vast complex of warehouses and industrial buildings.
  
  The oddly-thin man in white stands aloofly, on a sidewalk tile that seems to glow with luminous heat under his shoes. He does a strangely twitchy little kick with his knee bent and repositions his feet. Obviously he's one of these people who rolls deep the StepEasy scene and can't manage to keep his body from writhing in such a manner. You vaguely wonder if he's the smooth criminal you're looking for.
  
  A broad security door seems to be the main entrance into the lighted warehouse.
  
  You blink, as you're sure this wasn't here before. A low, two-story warehouse now has hazy golden light streaming out of it. It appears to take up half of the entire block.
  
  A street sign leans near the entrance, marking the location of the StepEasy.
  
  You can also see Betsy, Lenny, Rufus and a banged-up trash can (empty) here.
  
  The thin man seems to slide to the door of the now active warehouse without moving his feet in the correct directions somehow
  then pounds on the metal-clad portal. The slat is thrown open, and the man in white seems to hiccup before shouting something, that you can only suppose is the word JAMON!
  
  At this, the door is thrown open and the strange man holds his hat on as windy golden light blows out the door, surrounding him in a
  smoky halo. And you've only had one drink today, seriously.
  
  As quickly as it started, the windy light stops and the man proceeds into the StepEasy, the door slamming securely shut behind him.
  "He's so dreamy!" intones young Betsy, swooning.
  
  > enter StepEasy
  You'll need to find a way in somehow. The first floor windows are a bit too high to climb into and have bars over them.
  
  > knock on the door
  (the security door)
  You pound on the door. After a second the slat scratches aside.
  
  "You gots the passwoid? Then you say it out loud likea good boy. Unkay?" rumbles a deep voice, probably belonging to a very large and deadly someone. After a moment, the slat closes as if it were never there.
  
  > Jamon
  You pound on the door and intone JAMON! as accurately as you
  can.
  
  There is a pause, and someone says "Waitaminnit..." The slat closes and you hear some back and forth arguing. Then a longer pause before the slat opens again, and a ham sandwich is shoved through the opening at you.
  
  > take the sandwich
  You already got it.
  
  > look at it
  Yeah, it is a ham sandwich.
  
  > eat it
  You scarf down the nicely-toasted sandwich hungrily.
  
  The orphans look sad.
  
  > give the sandwich to Rufus
  "Hey, Mister," says Rufus.
  
  The orphans quickly accept your sandwich, divide it in thirds with mathematical precision, then each hungrily wolfs their portion down. "FANKS MIFTER," Betsy says, chewing and swallowing.
  
  Rufus explains, "Miss Olivia hasn't been feeding us because we've been displaying an overabundance of vigour for orphans of our stature."
  
  "And she spells vigour with a U somehow," adds Lenny."
  
  > JAMON
  You pound on the door and intone JAMON! as accurately as you
  can.
  
  There is a pause, and someone says "Waitaminnit..." The slat closes and you hear some back and forth arguing. Then a longer pause before the slat opens again, and a ham sandwich is shoved through the opening at you.
  
  "Hey, Mister," Rufus chirps. "Are you gonna eat that sandwich?"
  
  > give the sandwich to Rufus
  The orphans tear the sandwich into chunks and eat it, much less ferociously than before.
  
  > JAMON
  You pound on the door and intone JAMON! as accurately as you
  can.
  
  There is a pause, and someone says "Waitaminnit..." The slat closes and you hear some back and forth arguing. Then a longer pause before the slat opens again, and a ham sandwich is shoved through the opening at you.
  
  > Shamone
  You shout "SHAMONE!" at the door ferociously, and it flies open, buffetting you suddenly with a gale force of golden light that explodes out at you. You lean forward to keep your footing and hold your hat as your clothing and trenchcoat whip around in the uncanny breeze. Finally it stops and you blink. "Sorry," says a deep voice, "we been having some A/C problems all week here..."
  
  You nod somewhat encouragingly to yourself as you step into the warehouse.
  
  The entire warehouse is cleared of its normal furnishings except for some support beams, and indigo light arcs in from high semicircular barred windows. The entire place is packed with StepEasy denizens, all spastically writhing to the bits of discordant music played by the band, dancing and yet pretending not to dance by writhing, remaining away from the legal limits of the choreography laws. It looks like you could move through the crowd west and northwest. The north part of the dancefloor from here is really packed and it would probably take a molotov cocktail to get in amongst the throng.
  
  A narrow window in the corner seems to be where clubgoers can check their coats.
  
  > check the coat
  (the soaking wet black trenchcoat)
  Black, like the recesses of your inner soul. It's also comfy and rain-resistant.
  
  > examine the window
  It's a narrow hole in the wall, staffed by a bored-looking young lady.
  
  In the coat check window is a coat check girl.
  
  > give the coat to the lady
  (the soaking wet black trenchcoat to the coat check girl)
  "You got something you need checked in?" she says unenthusiastically.
  
  (first taking the soaking wet black trenchcoat off)
  The girl smartly hangs your coat in the back room and hands you the marker for it. You tip her, and she says "Enjoy yourself."
  
  A severe looking couple tangos past you, arms interlocked holding martini glasses.
  
  > look at the marker
  An ebony tag with a hole in it from the coat check. Number 116.
  
  A man in a dark suit does a dance solo and is cheered on by the crowd around him.
  
  > Go west
  A combo band and a microphone is set up in the opposite corner from the warehouse entrance. From here, you notice that there is a second floor walkway that would seem to lead to an upstairs apartment, but the fire-escape-like stairs are right in the middle of that violent throng of dancers in the northeast corner of the building. The warehouse entrance is to the east, there's a less-crowded section of dancefloor to the north, and a jam-packed throng of dancers to the northeast.
  
  A hush falls over the crowd as they all catch sight of the thin man in a spotlight. He pulls a large coin out of his pocket and flicks it in the air, declaring "HOO!"
  
  The coin hovers, flipping end over end for a second, suspended. The thin man shrieks "EEHEE!" and the coin resumes its path straight into the slot of the jukebox.New-fangled, almost unearthly music with a heavy, unrelenting beat begins as the needle drops on the record.
  
  The oddly-thin man in white stands disinterestedly. His hands move furitively over the brim of his white hat and his belt as if repositioning them with bird-like speed.
  
  A new-fangled music machine you've heard called a "jukebox" sits here against the wall.
  
  You hear the Thin Man shout hoo and oddly enough, small
  objects seem to levitate off tables and hover in the air a moment before falling down again.
  
  The intro counts off, and a group of suited men run to the southwest corner of the warehouse near the jukebox and line up, ready to dance. The Thin Man is in the lead of the formation, singing lyrics that go by so fast you can barely understand them.
  
  > Dance
  You groove a little self-consciously for a moment even though your attempts feel quite foolish.
  
  The Thin Man tosses another coin in the air, then shouts hoo
  at it, making it hover. Then he says eehee a little louder,
  and the coin goes flying directly into the slot of the jukebox.
  
  The dancers HEELPIVOT, POINTPOINT and HEADPOP.
  
  > HEADPOP
  You try to make it into the dance formation, but you miss your chance. You need to get in right at the beginning to have any chance of keeping up.
  
  The dancers simultaneously JUMPSHRUG, SHOULDERROLL, and HEADPOP, then they turn to the southwest, while crossing the floor NORTHEAST, penetrating the crowded right dance floor where everyone makes room for them.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  The dancers LEAN over, hovering at an unnatural angle with their feet still on the floor, seemingly defying gravity. The crowd goes wild, and everyone on the dancefloor joins in, somehow knowing what move comes next at rapid-fire high speed.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  All the dancers JUMPSHRUG and bring their KNEES IN, and they NOD NOD, and they HEELPIVOT, POINT POINT. Then they all do a HEADPOP, and they JUMPSHRUG, and they SHOULDERROLL, KNEES IN. Everyone does a HEELPIVOT, POINT POINT and finally STEPSLIDE out of it.
  Solo dances continue excitedly as the formation breaks up.