text: > Go downward
  It isn't that hopeless yet.
  
  The door explodes inward.
  
  "Good, nobody here."
  
  The door is closed again.
  
  > Go inside
  This compartment leaves very little room for movement, but you're not here to do the macarena. A stainless-steel lavatory sits next to a tiny sink. A window west provides some light, which is nice as the fluorescent fixture above the mirror is not on.
  
  The door is closed.
  
  "Take everyone to the last car."
  
  There is the sound of marching outside the door, then silence.
  
  > Wash jacket
  Alas, all you do is spread the stain slightly. This job requires water.
  
  > open the door
  You open the lavatory door.
  
  > Go inside
  This compartment leaves very little room for movement, but you're not here to do the macarena. A stainless-steel lavatory sits next to a tiny sink. A window west provides some light, which is nice as the fluorescent fixture above the mirror is not on.
  
  The exit is east.
  
  Water is flowing into the sink.
  
  > go east
  Car 3, Aft
  This tiny space near the junction to the next car is unremarkable, save the cramped stairway to the upper level and the door to the tiny lavatory west.
  
  The lavatory door is open.
  
  > go south
  Without any passengers, this car takes on a definite tomb-like atmosphere. A sealed passageway leads south, while the junction to the next car leads north.
  
  > go south
  The metal plate sealing the door prevents movement south.
  
  > Go up
  Better not. It would be very easy to be trapped up there.
  
  > go north
  You open the door to the car junction.
  
  Between each pair of cars is an area which has always frightened you. Maybe it's the fact that the area is open save for a flimsy metal railing across the gaps; maybe it's the constant shifting of the floor beneath your feet. Safer areas lie south and north.
  
  The train just rushed past the Salinas station.
  
  The door to car 3 slides shut.
  
  > examine the schedule
  It's a hastily-printed train schedule, a photocopy smudged to near illegibility by your sweaty hands.
  
  > read the schedule
  Salinas                        1:11 pm
  Paso Robles                    2:48 pm
  San Luis Obispo                3:27 pm
  Santa Barbara                  5:24 pm
  Oxnard                         6:01 pm
  Simi Valley                    6:31 pm
  Glendale                       7:02 pm
  Los Angeles                    7:08 pm
  Fullerton                      7:34 pm
  Anaheim                        7:40 pm
  Santa Ana                      7:44 pm
  Irvine                         7:54 pm
  San Juan Capistrano            8:06 pm
  Escondido                      8:20 pm
  
  > Go north
  You open the door to car 4.
  
  Car 4, Fore
  So this is the press car. Big deal. It's just a modified sleeper, with the compartments converted into miniature offices for the reporters. Compartments lie east and west, while the rest of the car lies north and the exit from this car is south.
  
  The door to the car junction slides shut.
  
  > go to the east
  This is a tiny nondescript office, a hasty conversion from the original cabin that it was: the outlines of the bed and furnishings are still visible on the wall. A relief from claustrophobia lies west.
  
  A computer sits on a makeshift desk, completely quiet.
  
  > examine computer
  It's an ancient VT100 terminal, which belongs more in a museum than in an office. These things haven't been used for, what, 50 years?
  
  The computer terminal is currently switched off.
  
  > switch on terminal
  The computer comes to life, goes through its complex bootstrap procedure, then asks you for a user name and password. You turn the machine off in disgust.
  
  > go to the west
  Car 4, Fore
  So this is the press car. Big deal. It's just a modified sleeper, with the compartments converted into miniature offices for the reporters. Compartments lie east and west, while the rest of the car lies north and the exit from this car is south.
  
  > go to the west
  This is a tiny nondescript office, a hasty conversion from the original cabin that it was: the outlines of the bed and furnishings are still visible on the wall. A relief from claustrophobia lies east.
  
  A computer sits on a makeshift desk, a quiet hum emanating from its fan.
  
  > examine computer
  You start to approach the computer when suddenly a huge spider on the keyboard attacks you!
  
  This is a tiny nondescript office, a hasty conversion from the original cabin that it was: the outlines of the bed and furnishings are still visible on the wall. A relief from claustrophobia lies east.
  
  After you've gathered your wits together, you notice that the "spider" is actually a piece of black paper folded into the shape of a spider. Obviously one of the reporters was bored and decided to play a little prank.
  
  A computer sits on a makeshift desk, a quiet hum emanating from its fan.
  
  > examine the spider
  (A description of Wolfie is included in your game package.)
  
  It's an origami wolf spider.
  
  > get the spider
  Taken.
  
  > Open spider
  You'd never get him back together again.
  
  > look at the computer
  It's an ancient VT100 terminal, which belongs more in a museum than in an office. These things haven't been used for, what, 50 years?
  
  A completely incomprehensible text editing program dominates the screen.
  The computer terminal is currently switched on.
  
  > Go north
  Car 4, Mid
  The middle of the press car is even less interesting than the rest. Compartments are to either side of you, and the rest of the car lies south and north.
  
  > go to the east
  This is a tiny nondescript office, a hasty conversion from the original cabin that it was: the outlines of the bed and furnishings are still visible on the wall. A relief from claustrophobia lies west.
  
  A computer sits on a makeshift desk, completely quiet.
  
  > Go west
  This is a tiny nondescript office, a hasty conversion from the original cabin that it was: the outlines of the bed and furnishings are still visible on the wall. A relief from claustrophobia lies east.
  
  A computer sits on a makeshift desk, completely quiet.
  
  > Go north
  Car 4, Aft
  The north section of the car is a tight squeeze. Another compartment lies east, while the exit from the car lies to the north.
  
  The lavatory door is closed.
  
  > go to the east
  This is a tiny nondescript office, a hasty conversion from the original cabin that it was: the outlines of the bed and furnishings are still visible on the wall. A relief from claustrophobia lies west.
  
  A computer sits on a makeshift desk, completely quiet.
  
  > open the door
  (the lavatory door)
  You open the lavatory door.
  
  > go west
  This lavatory has been converted into a makeshift darkroom. (I guess some photographers haven't joined the "digital revolution.") All the windows have been painted black, a loose conglomeration of items rest on a crude shelf, while a workbench sits under a naked electrical fixture.
  
  The darkroom door allows exit east.
  
  > get all
  darkroom door: That's fixed in place.
  faucet: That's fixed in place.
  sink: That's fixed in place.
  light bulb socket: That's fixed in place.
  shelf: That's hardly portable.
  workbench: That's hardly portable.
  
  > get all from the shelf
  As far as you can tell, it's just junk.
  
  > search the junk
  On the shelf are a bottle of hydroxide, a bottle of acid and a bottle of developing fluid.
  
  > look at the bench
  A makeshift wooden table, stained with chemicals.
  
  > remove the bulb
  (first taking the strange red bulb)
  (putting the punched ticket into the stained sport coat to make room) You unscrew the strange red bulb from the light bulb socket.
  
  > get all from the shelf
  bottle of hydroxide: (putting Wolfie (the paper spider guardian of computers) into the stained sport coat to make room)
  Removed.
  bottle of acid: (putting the strange red bulb into the stained sport coat to make room)
  Removed.
  bottle of developing fluid: (putting the bottle of hydroxide into the stained sport coat to make room)
  Removed.
  miscellaneous junk: The rest of the stuff is just junk.
  
  > look under bench
  A glass tube rolls out from under the workbench.
  
  > examine tube
  A small glass tube used for protecting dry chemicals. There's a label on the tube.
  
  > read label
  The label reads LITMUS.
  
  > examine the bulb
  It's a light bulb that has been painted with a clear red enamel.
  
  > search the coat
  In the stained sport coat are a bottle of hydroxide, a strange red bulb, Wolfie (the paper spider guardian of computers), a punched ticket, a small velvet box and a train schedule.
  
  > Go east
  Car 4, Aft
  The north section of the car is a tight squeeze. Another compartment lies east, while the exit from the car lies to the north.
  
  The darkroom door is west.
  
  > Go north
  You open the door to the car junction.
  
  Between each pair of cars is an area which has always frightened you. Maybe it's the fact that the area is open save for a flimsy metal railing across the gaps; maybe it's the constant shifting of the floor beneath your feet. Safer areas lie south and north.
  
  The door to car 4 slides shut.
  
  > look at the floor
  Something felt wobbly when you stepped into this area, and a quick investigation reveals the answer. It's a metal access panel embedded in the floor of the train, with a sawtooth-edge that makes it almost invisible against the pattern of the floor.
  
  > look at the panel
  It's a metal access panel embedded in the floor of the train, with a sawtooth-edge that makes it almost invisible against the pattern of the floor.
  
  > open the panel
  You open the maintenance access hatch.