text: [Themes: Surreal, Horror, male protagonist, Christianity, multiple protagonists, alternate reality, London, surreal, afterlife]
  
  > go downwards
  Coast (as Helen)
  You're on the shores of an island, bigger than the church isle you saw earlier, floating in the pit of fire. The great mountain is visible to the east, and a bridge leads over to its base. There's a crater here, with a signpost next to it that has an arrow pointing down.
  
  You step into the crater experimentally, finding the ground to be somewhat elastic, almost like fabric. Nothing happens though, so you step out.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  2 pages (of 7)
  
  > Go east
  Foot of the Mountain: West (as Helen)
  Looking west you can see an island, floating on the surface of the fiery sea. A wooden bridge leads over to its shores. You can continue around the mountain to the north, or go back where you came from to the south.
  
  > go north
  You continue walking around the mountain, clambering over fallen rocks and picking your way through dead bushes. You look ahead, and stop dead in your tracks. In the distance you can see that parade of death that you came from: the dead, clambering up the mountainside towards judgement. Nobody's seen you, and you'd rather it stay that way. Your heart beating fast with terror, you scurry back around to where you came from, moving so recklessly that you almost fall into the fire.
  
  Foot of the Mountain: West (as Helen)
  Looking west you can see an island, floating on the surface of the fiery sea. A wooden bridge leads over to its shores. You can go back where you came from to the south.
  
  > Up
  Your climbing skills are too pathetic. You might as well just jump straight into the fire to save yourself the bother of falling in accidentally.
  
  > get the stake
  The stake looks as though it would be easy to pull out, but there's that other recess right next to it: you'd rather put another in than have both recesses empty.
  
  > Go north
  Mountainside (as Helen)
  You're looking out upon the enormous pit of fire surrounding the mountain. Rocks of various sizes litter the ground, and an acrid dust suffuses your senses. It looks like you could probably scramble down to the south without much injury. Up above, the judgement continues.
  
  > go west
  Foot of the Mountain: West (as Helen)
  Looking west you can see an island, floating on the surface of the fiery sea. A wooden bridge leads over to its shores. You can go back where you came from to the south.
  
  > get the stake
  You pull out one of the stakes, and the bridge to the west burns up, disappearing in an instant.
  
  > put the stake in the hole
  (the wooden stake in the recess)
  You lodge the stake into the recess, and a bridge shimmers into existence, leading southeast.
  
  Another body wordlessly accepts its fate, and flies down into the pit of fire.
  
  > go southeast
  Church Isle (as Helen)
  A small hexagonal stone church stands here, filling up almost the whole surface area of the island. It's somewhat crooked, and seems to get thinner and more distant the higher up you look, until the spire is like a spindly wire reaching up to the sky. The church is surrounded by a spiky wire mesh fence; there might be an opening around the back, but you can't tell. You can only walk back across the bridge to the northwest. Flames are licking up at the church's foundations, and you have to be careful that they don't claim you too.
  
  > enter Church
  You bump into the fence surrounding the church. Your vision blurs momentarily.
  
  > cut the wire
  Which do you mean, the church or the fence?
  
  > Fence
  Things do seem quite soft here, as though you could easily cut into them. But you'd still need a tool of some kind.
  
  > climb the spire
  It's much too high, and you imagine it would just get keep getting taller if you climbed up, so that you'd never reach the top.
  
  > Pray
  God's dead, remember?
  
  > turn the Church
  You are unable to.
  
  > look at Helen
  The girl is up against the wall directly opposite you, with the same tight ropes binding her limbs together, and the gag over her mouth. There's a nagging familiarity about her, but no matter how many times you cast your eyes over her tangled brown hair, pale face, the expensive-looking navy blue jumper or surprisingly intact jeans, you cannot work out who she is. She looks to be in her early twenties, and generally, you feel she doesn't deserve to be here. Not that anyone does.
  
  She's currently lying on her side, getting some sleep.
  
  > About yourself
  It really is as bad as it feels. Your arms and legs are tightly bound; you've got no chance of shaking yourself free or even being able to move around. And worst of all, you can't even talk to the only other person in the room. The gag feels like a permanent attachment.
  
  > remember
  You decide to give it another go. Shutting your eyes tightly, you devote all your energy to the task of remembering, and this time the memories come in thick and fast, so quickly you can scarcely keep up. And that's it. Your sad, sorry life. You're just another idealistic idiot who thinks he can make a difference. You've achieved nothing, done nothing wrong and nothing right. Your last memory is of racing to the Underground and fighting your way through the carriage to stop Reth's stupid, stupid plan from working. And you did, didn't you? You did it. And that's all you remember. Don't say this is his silly messed-up idea of revenge... Reth isn't like that. No, you just don't get it.
  
  Some memories seem particularly clear in your mind now. Usually you have no interest in the past, especially your own.
  
  You're feeling quite sleepy.
  
  > remember
  Various memories are running around your head: the climate change talk and the anti-war march.
  
  > remember the climate change talk
  The talk was over and you were pretty much exhausted, especially after all the long, technical and boring questions that had been asked at the end. Various campaign groups had stalls in the entrance
  hall area and you quickly lost Caroline in the crowd. You'd
  been loitering in the middle of the room for a while, not knowing where to go, too jaded to go and read the posters and leaflets that had been set out, when a youngish or middle-aged woman spotted
  you and started talking to you, for whatever reason.
  
  There's that clanking sound again. As before, a red light fills the room every second, and little vents open on the walls. There's the sound of rushing air, a horrid smell, and then they shut.
  
  > remember the woman
  You'd never seen her before and you never saw her again. She was wearing a shirt and a jacket like a businesswoman but she still seemed a bit scruffy. She had short hair and a rucksack over one shoulder. Her voice was quite deep, full and stern, but it was so busy in there that you doubt anyone else heard what she was saying to you.
  
  Maybe you could try going to sleep... Maybe when you wake up you'll have arrived. Somewhere.
  
  > remember the rucksack
  You don't remember everything you talked about, but some of it sticks out.
  
  "I just want to know the answer," you remember saying. "All this talk about the problems and about how deeply ingrained they are in our society, but what do you do about that?"
  
  "You should go over there," she said, pointing to the socialist youth stall. "Far as I'm concerned, that is the place to start."
  
  > remember the stalls
  There were stalls for all kinds of things, from political parties to environmental campaign groups to home solar panel installation companies.
  
  > remember the socialist youth
  You were too tired to look carefully or to speak to them there and then, so you just snatched up one of each of the leaflets and fliers.
  
  > remember the leaflets
  Which do you mean, the stalls or the socialist youth stall?
  
  > remember Caroline
  Caroline wasn't in the best of moods that day, and you can hardly go to a talk on climate change to unwind. You'd just recently caved in to getting a soul-destroying job at a supermarket, just for the money, and as soon as her ex-husband heard about it, he stopped sending Caroline the money packets that were only just keeping you afloat as it was. So, money was as tight as ever, if not more so.
  
  > remember the march
  The memory has been overtaken a bit by all the other demos you've been on since, but the first one always sticks out, of course. The anger on the streets was probably more palpable than you've ever felt it. You remember loving the crowd, being able to voice that anger along
  with so many others. The streets were familiar but transformed. You all felt so powerful; you could make a difference; surely they couldn't ignore you, the people. Best of all, Caroline was
  there all the way, shouting along with you. You loved having a mother who felt the same way as you.
  
  What you learned from it all was: the government can't be trusted.
  
  > remember the crowd
  It's strange that the first march you went on was also the biggest. You suppose it was something that tended to cut across political differences. You weren't 'political' at 11 years old, after all, so you suppose there were plenty of older people who were similarly apolitical but just knew injustice when they saw it. The streets were simply packed full. You remember catching glimpses of the sidelines; the police were always there.
  
  > remember Caroline
  You're not really sure how it started, but you can scarcely imagine it any other way. It's not like she dragged you into this or that you dragged her into it: together you saw what was going on around you and together you acted. You were sounding boards for each other, trying to disentangle the politics. You learnt from each other. Even then, you called her Caroline. Her husband - you didn't call him dad, let alone Steve - was out of the picture. You didn't talk about him and didn't need to.
  
  There's that clanking sound again. As before, a red light fills the room every second, and little vents open on the walls. There's the sound of rushing air, a horrid smell, and then they shut.
  
  > think
  You've established you're called Ross, you're twenty-one, a Londoner, a worker, a servant, a groundsman. Just another cog in a big world-destroying machine, and that's all you'll ever be.
  
  > be
  (the person opposite you)
  
  Church Isle (as Helen)
  A small hexagonal stone church stands here, filling up almost the whole surface area of the island. It's somewhat crooked, and seems to get thinner and more distant the higher up you look, until the spire is like a spindly wire reaching up to the sky. The church is surrounded by a spiky wire mesh fence; there might be an opening around the back, but you can't tell. You can only walk back across the bridge to the northwest. Flames are licking up at the church's foundations, and you have to be careful that they don't claim you too.
  
  > Go west
  If you go that way, you'll fall headlong into the fire. You can sense the pain already.
  
  > go to the north-west
  Foot of the Mountain: South (as Helen)
  Down here, the pit of fire attacks all your senses at once, your eyes with its intense colour, your ears with the sound of its bubbling and popping, your skin with its searing heat. Just a short distance away over the fire is a small island with a small church on it, and indeed no room for anything else. You can reach it by a wooden bridge to the southeast, which is held up by two anchoring poles lodged into the ground. There are also paths around the base of the mountain to the west and east, and a way back up to the north.
  
  > get the pole
  You pull out one of the stakes, and the bridge to the southeast burns up, disappearing in an instant.
  
  > be ross
  Carriage (as Ross)
  The metal carriage is a deep grey with shadowy corners, and the fluorescent lamp on the ceiling is on the blink, so that every so often you're sent into total darkness. Your only company is the girl opposite you and a sea of dead wasps. You don't know where you're going or how you got here.
  
  > Sleep
  You're not getting anywhere by being awake, so you don't think it will matter to try getting some sleep. It's hardly comfortable, but it isn't noisy - in fact it's far quieter than London. You push yourself over onto your side and shut your eyes.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  Machine Room: Central (as Ross)
  Giant cogs are turning, forming a messy pattern that snakes around the room, interspersed with other machines whose function is entirely opaque to you. Some are spewing steam, some are making horrid squelching noises, some have bright flashing lights. There is a wall to the east, and many of the cogs cut right through it. You can go back to the west.
  
  You are carrying:
  a sickle
  2 pieces of soul (of 7)
  
  > wake
  You bolt awake. Still in the train carriage, trundling along. You manage to push yourself back into a sitting position. Pictures from your past, things you saw in your dream, are still in the front of your mind.
  
  Carriage (as Ross)
  The metal carriage is a deep grey with shadowy corners, and the fluorescent lamp on the ceiling is on the blink, so that every so often you're sent into total darkness. Your only company is the girl opposite you and a sea of dead wasps. You don't know where you're going or how you got here.
  
  > touch girl
  You can't reach her... You're tied up.
  
  > Untie
  What do you want to untie?
  
  > Ropes
  If only. But there's no way you can do anything with the ropes. Your arms are bound to your sides, and your hands come down frustratingly short of the rope around your shins, so you can't even touch it.
  
  > untie Helen
  So, if you weren't tied up, you'd pick her up and take her... where exactly? This plan seems doomed to failure.
  
  > Wriggle
  You try scraping the ropes against the wall, and the floor, but it's not working. They're much too strong.
  
  > Bite gag
  Even if your hands weren't bound to your sides, you reckon taking it off would be extremely painful and might also remove your lips. It would probably be worth it, all the same.
  
  > Shout
  You cry out, wanting to release some anger, but the gag over your mouth is so thick that it muffles and enfeebles every sound you make.
  
  You feel so tired.
  
  > Go west
  Machine Room: Central (as Ross)
  Giant cogs are turning, forming a messy pattern that snakes around the room, interspersed with other machines whose function is entirely opaque to you. Some are spewing steam, some are making horrid squelching noises, some have bright flashing lights. There is a wall to the east, and many of the cogs cut right through it. You can go back to the west.
  
  Machine Room: West (as Ross)
  Complicated machinery is everywhere, clunking and scraping and turning and chugging away at the task of destroying the planet. At the north end of the room is a single stake, standing upright, and just beyond it is a gap in the floor, so that you can see through to the void of space below. A set of stairs leads up, and the machine room itself extends eastward.
  
  > look at the sickle
  A dependable worker's tool.
  
  > Go east
  Machine Room: Central (as Ross)
  Giant cogs are turning, forming a messy pattern that snakes around the room, interspersed with other machines whose function is entirely opaque to you. Some are spewing steam, some are making horrid squelching noises, some have bright flashing lights. There is a wall to the east, and many of the cogs cut right through it. You can go back to the west.
  
  > cut east
  You plunge the sickle into the wall, and it cuts itself into the shape of an arch, leading east.
  
  > Go east
  Machine Room: East (as Ross)
  It's a continuation of the machine room, with more of the squeaking, pulsing mechanisms and gizmos. A trapdoor in the floor leads into darkness via a ladder. Emanating from it is a symphony of slicing, cutting and crashing sounds, and there's a machine up here that's buzzing and shaking in time with it.
  
  An archway leads west.
  
  > get sickle
  You feel around the edges of the arch, then peel it away, removing the way to the west. You now have a sickle.
  
  > put sickle in Machine
  (the sickle in the loud machine)
  You'd rather put things on the floor than on the machines.
  
  > put the sickle on the floor
  (the trapdoor)
  If possible you'd rather not drop anything important in there.
  
  > get the ladder
  How on earth could you carry that?
  
  > turn off Machine
  There are no visible controls on the machine. You'll have to take a more physical approach.
  
  > Kick machine
  It is fixed in place.
  
  > Kiss machine
  Disgusting thought. Not even going to try.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a sickle
  2 pieces of soul (of 7)
  
  > cut W then W
  You plunge the sickle into the wall, and it cuts itself into the shape of an arch, leading west.
  
  Machine Room: Central (as Ross)
  Giant cogs are turning, forming a messy pattern that snakes around the room, interspersed with other machines whose function is entirely opaque to you. Some are spewing steam, some are making horrid squelching noises, some have bright flashing lights. There is a wall to the east, and many of the cogs cut right through it. You can go back to the west.
  
  An archway leads east.
  
  > Up
  You climb the stairs, and the stairs themselves fly upwards, so that with each footfall you're much higher up. Eventually the staircase halts, and you step off onto a platform.
  
  Beneath the Pipe (as Ross)
  You're standing on a small platform, watching severed parts of Earth shoot past through the pipe just above you that leads to the beast. By this point in their processing, things are barely recognisable as belonging to Nature - there are some earthy colours and familiar shapes, but it's mostly just a kind of tangled mush. Bits of it escape the flow and trickle onto the floor, creating a pungent deathly odour. A tiny ladder will take you right into the flow.
  
  You suddenly see a burst of colour floating past you, and it turns out to be a glass sphere drifting up towards the pipe. Presumably someone's soul is within. You have no time to save it before it is caught by the flow and vanishes down the tube.
  
  > put the sickle in the pipe
  You stretch your arm out and let the torrent seize the sickle. It disappears down the pipe in an instant.