text: [Themes: Zorkian, Zork, fan fiction]
  
  GlkTADS - A text-only TADS 2.5.3 Interpreter.
  
  Maintained by Stephen Granade <sgranade@phy.duke.edu>
  
  "Hello. You have reached the Frobozz Magic Support Company hotglyph. All our adepts are busy at present, but if you keep chanting the invocation you used to summon this image, a support clerk will be with you shortly. In the meantime, please relax while the Accardia Barbershop Musicians Guild presents Movements VIII-XVI of 'Ode to Belboz'. Thank you for summoning Frobozz Magic Support."
  
  The six interior walls of this perfectly cubical room are perfectly white and featureless. A single silver compass rose, balancing a delicate crystal sphere on its bloom, floats like a pedestal above the floor.
  
  [Author's Note: You play as a novice glyph support clerk but no one's around but an animated burin. It seems the more experienced support clerks are either lost, got themselves un-implemented, or got stuck in a timeloop. And, of course, everyone else in Zork wants assistance too. No one said your first day on the job would be easy!]
  
  > look at the bar
  It's a bar of everyone's favourite snack food, granola. Stamped into its side are the words "Product of the Frobozz Magic Granola Mining Company Antharia."
  
  > look at Book
  The book is leather-bound and bears the title "My Log Book" in flowing gilt lettering. It is currently closed.
  
  > Xyzzy
  Unfortunately, you never quite finished Elementary Enchanting 101, so you have no idea how to cast, or even learn, that spell. If indeed it is a spell.
  
  > open Book
  As you open the log book, an animated burin flutters out.
  
  "Hi there," says the burin cheerfully. "You must be the new support clerk everyone's been talking about. No, don't say it, I know what you're going to ask. What's such a smart and attractive burin like me doing in a low paid job like Magic Support? Well, I've asked myself that same question many times, believe me, and the best answer I've come up with is that I love my work. Yes sir, I just love task logging. Give me a task to log, any task, and I'll have it written down before you can say Zebulon's your uncle!"
  
  > Yes
  "Great! I can see we're going to get along famously, Zog the mighty." The burin buzzes around excitedly, then settles into a casual hovering pattern over your head.
  
  > look at burin
  This burin looks much every other burin you've seen, except for the small wings protruding from its pen-like body, and the tiny glowing eyes on its nib.
  
  > Log task
  The burin blinks at you. "I don't see any task worth logging here."
  
  "This reminds me of Old Quendor," muses the burin to itself. "Or was it Kroz? Anyways, thems were the days, they had real adventurers back then, yessiree."
  
  > look at the pedestal
  The compass rose is so beautiful it would bring tears to the eyes of a grue. Oddly enough, it seems to float perfectly centred in the middle of the room.
  
  > read Log
  The opened log book contains a list of previous magic support problems and solutions, signed and dated by the clerk on duty at the time.
  
  24/4   Malyon spell backfired; burin accidentally animated. Oops. Zuzvuz.
  27/4   Adventurer eaten by stray grues. Resurrected with gaspar. Zuzvuz.
  32/4   Trolls ravaging village. Applied two-handed axe; resolved. Felenar.
  6/5    Some trouble communicating with cyclops. See legend 2001. Zuzvuz.
  13/5   Adventurer llepsed gaspar. Summoned Implementors. Zuzvuz.
  17/5   Implementors de-implemented Zuzvuz. Attempted blorple to Old Quendor. Felenar.
  20/5   Felenar and Zuzvuz missing. Sent replacement job application to GUE Tech. Sorkin.
  23/5   GUE Tech gated to Old Quendor. Llepsed golmac might work. Sorkin.
  29/5   Two words: why me? New support clerk arrives tomorrow. Must train
  before (after) breaking Sorkin's time loop. Assuming
  counterspell
  exists, if not... Helistar.
  
  > ask burin about Sorkin
  The burin launches into a lengthy exposition on the meaning of life, with special consideration to the role of sentient burins as its prime representatives. After discussing and refuting all imaginable challenges to this thesis, the burin abruptly stops and says, "I'm sorry, what was the question again?"
  
  The burin practises its penthingship.
  
  > ask burin about Log
  "It's a log book," explains the burin patiently. "Used for logging Magic Support tasks. When you finish a task, just tell me to log it and I'll write all the details up for you. I'm really very good at it. It's almost as if I were born to log tasks, and nothing else."
  
  > ask burin about the job
  The burin thinks for a moment and replies, "Tuesday."
  
  > ask burin about the rose
  The burin flaps thoughtfully and replies, "According to the traditional Thardon the Deep interpretation of Blorbaz the Seer, which was of course completely rejected by Antrodon, advisor to Duncanthrax himself, there are such an infinite number of potential frames of reference that it is quite impossible for two individuals to discourse intelligently about a compass rose without losing all touch with reality. But I don't believe a word of that myself."
  
  > take burin
  The burin flits out of reach.
  
  > ask burin about the helistar
  The burin thinks for a moment and replies, "The butler, in the Double Fanucci room, with the wand of polymorphism."
  
  > ask burin about Zuzvuz
  The burin thinks for a moment and replies, "No."
  
  The burin nibbles softly at your ear.
  
  > Turn rose
  You feel a strong desire to go somewhere, anywhere.
  
  > ask burin about yourself
  The burin stretches its wings and preens. "Of course, I'm sure I could tell you everything ever written about yourself, but that would spoil all the fun, wouldn't it?"
  
  The burin flies a slow loop around your shoulder.
  
  > take the sphere
  A warning nymph appears before you, writes "You do know you're not allowed to take company property, don't you?" in the air with her finger, then vanishes with a broad wink.
  
  > Go north
  Oddly enough, you find your way blocked by an invisible barrier.
  
  "Isn't this fun?" giggles the burin. "By the Quill, 'twill make a tall tale to tell thy tykes."
  
  > look at the rose
  The compass rose is so beautiful it would bring tears to the eyes of a grue. Oddly enough, it seems to float perfectly centred in the middle of the room.
  
  > touch the sphere
  The sphere vibrates in your hands, and an image takes form in your mind:
  
  You are standing on a barren, windswept plain. A knight in black armour clatters past toward a foreboding stone tower, and from the distance, a beautiful maiden's voice calls out. "Help me! My rezrov scroll is gone and I must flee before the Dark Lord comes!"
  
  Slowly, the vision fades. You feel vaguely disoriented for a moment.
  
  > Go north
  As you move in that direction, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  The road bends here, running northwest to a distant tower and south to the mountains. Across a barren plain to the east, a wide rutted cart track bears the scars of recent heavy troop movements.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  An animated burin flies in small circles around your head.
  
  "You aren't lost, are you?" quips the burin worriedly.
  
  > Log task
  The burin blinks at you. "I don't see any task worth logging here."
  
  > Go east
  You have stumbled into the camp of some invading army. Tents, battering rams and hand weapons are stacked neatly all around, awaiting the coming attack. Nobody appears to have noticed you yet, but you have the distinct feeling that novice magic support clerks are not highly regarded around here. The plain opens to the west.
  
  You see a black cube here.
  
  An animated burin hovers over your head.
  
  The burin gives a screech of agony and dives back into the log book, which snaps closed after it.
  
  > examine cube
  The cube is about an inch on a side, and is featureless black, apart from a tiny legend embossed on one face.
  
  > look at the legend
  "Frobozz Magic Defence Research Company Weapons Grade Antimagic."
  
  > get the cube
  Taken.
  
  > Go west
  The road bends here, running northwest to a distant tower and south to the mountains. Across a barren plain to the east, a wide rutted cart track bears the scars of recent heavy troop movements.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  > touch the white cube
  As you touch the cube, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  The six interior walls of this perfectly cubical room are perfectly white and featureless. A single silver compass rose, balancing a delicate crystal sphere on its bloom, floats like a pedestal above the floor.
  
  The black cube vaporises instantly!
  The crystal sphere tumbles to the floor!
  The compass rose bursts into a flower of flame!
  
  > go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "Why."
  
  > go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "walk."
  
  > Go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "when."
  
  > go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "you."
  
  > Go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "can."
  
  > go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "take."
  
  > go to the south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "a."
  
  > Go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "cube?."
  
  > go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "Frobozz."
  
  > Go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "Magic."
  
  > go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "Billboard."
  
  > Go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "Company."
  
  > Go south
  This north-south highway seems to lead forever through a barren wilderness. Distant mountains to the south remain constantly on the horizon. A billboard to the side of the road reads "...."
  
  > go north
  You see a white cube here.
  
  You wander across the plain for a while, but find nothing of interest, so you return to the road.
  
  You wander across the plain for a while, but find nothing of interest, so you return to the road.
  
  You wander across the plain for a while, but find nothing of interest, so you return to the road.
  
  > Go northwest
  You are standing beneath a menacing black stone tower. The only entrance at ground level seems to be a sturdy oak door which is shut and bolted fast. However, rough stone steps wind up around the outside and vanish somewhere near the top. The road leads back across a barren plain to the southeast.
  
  > look at the door
  It's firmly shut, and plans to stay that way.
  
  > examine Tower
  It looks like a Frobozz Magic Castle Company Princess Peril (TM) Tower For Her, as advertised in last month's catalog edition of "Better Keeps and Dungeons".
  
  > look at the steps
  The steps lead upward.
  
  > Go upwards
  (climbing the steps)
  Atop the Tower
  You are crouched on a minnaret at the top of a menacing stone tower. Rough stone steps lead down around the outside and vanish somewhere near the ground. A dark chimney opening to the northwest seems the only way in - but once inside, you could not climb back out.