text: [Themes: Science Fiction, city]
  
  > Describe the surroundings
  This would be an impressive and luxurious office, if it had some furniture and stuff in it. It doesn't look like the place is occupied -- except, occasionally, by trespassers. There's an exit underneath you and a door through which a bit of light filters in. Where the bookcase used to be is a person-sized cylinder, open on the front.
  
  > examine the cylinder
  The sight awakens one of your few pleasant childhood memories: Sitting in comfort in the forward-facing car seat on the passenger side, you went to the drive-through bank and received a delicious blue candy, which arrived in a pneumatic tube that looked like a smaller version of this cylinder.
  
  Anyway. If this is where the Controller is supposed to reside in suspended animation, directing the city, then the genie is out of the bottle -- the lunatics are running the asylum -- there is no man behind the curtain.
  
  > enter cylinder
  You enter the cylinder. A voice is cued: "Escape canister will be ready for departure at approximately NINETEEN FORTY FIVE."
  
  > wait
  Time goes by.
  
  > look
  So much depends upon a featureless cylinder, filled with you, moving through some indeterminate location.
  
  > Sing
  A few verses from the Yoyodyne Songbook well outward from your being and into the air, which surprises even you.
  
  > jump
  You jump a good half inch, which is all there's room for.
  
  > Close nLap
  You close the nLap 500.
  
  The cylinder shudders as if coming to a halt. It does something a bit less graceful than sliding open and a bit more graceful than blowing open.
  
  > Pray
  Seems like as good a time as any to embrace the supernatural. You mutter a quick petition to Azathoth.
  
  The floor-part of this cylinder tips, urging you to exit. So you trip out of the canister.
  
  Once you've extricated yourself, the cylinder, bereft of payload, seals itself again. It wooshes away, perhaps so as to be ready for another very important passenger.
  
  You learned in college geography that the desert is actually teeming with life. Except that isn't true of this place, which is simply a plain of white, barren sand. The desert is exceedingly empty. It seems that in the whole expanse there is nothing but one rock.
  
  On the rock is one man.
  
  Maybe he brought the rock himself.
  
  "Hi," says the man. He gestures to your head. "Do you mind? That's a bit threatening."
  
  > take off the helmet
  You take off the SimulacCam.
  
  "I suppose you're the only one who made it out this way," the man says. He shrugs. "Maybe the others will cope."
  
  > ask Man about nTopia
  "Save the questions," he says.
  
  > look at Man
  He is wearing a Hugo Boss suit, legs crossed, fingers steepled in front of him. He looks at you with care. His features and complexion suggest that his ancestors lived in this country thousands of years ago.
  
  You feel a tug within you, a subtle but literal reconfiguration of your system. Whatever it is that gripped you cannot hold you from here, however.
  
  On the high and far plateau nTopia pulses and swarms with realities, a time-lapse, space-lapse sculpture, root and rhizome. The city does not shape itself into some urban battlefield for the pleasure of unseen generals, or into some all-maddening hilarious face to be put on by warfighter and advertiser alike. No bread, no circuses, no clockwork demagogues can be discerned. If these are to be the true products of the nWare Media Division, the demo that transpires does not appear to promote them.
  
  Instead, the chessboard of the city sets itself into positions, the brick and mortar structures at play with ones more liquid. There are sprawling markets and office buildings like Jehovas, but also slums and huge estates, parks and wastes, a stadium and churches, water treatment plants, jails and prisons, pyramids, military bases, factories, all cities the city, one Babel of configurations, as if some intellect or algorithm, or both, were looking through them all to find the one most perfect.
  
  "Come on," the business-shaman says, "my car's at the Dairy Queen. Keep up a decent pace and we'll get there by nine, before they close. I'll buy you a Blizzard."
  
  Pisces, Cetus, Aquarius -- above nTopia churning are the constellations as you have seen them many times before. One moment of hesitation before turning to go, and the sky shudders. With that, the final touch is added, the augmentation complete. The dark has been pierced through again by some artist, some fellow employee, and you see them just as you saw them laid out before: The Cradle, The Way, The Burning Book.
  
  > wait
  Time goes by.
  
  The floor-part of this cylinder tips, urging you to exit. So you trip out of the canister.
  
  Once you've extricated yourself, the cylinder, bereft of payload, seals itself again. It wooshes away, perhaps so as to be ready for another very important passenger.
  
  You learned in college geography that the desert is actually teeming with life. Except that isn't true of this place, which is simply a plain of white, barren sand. The desert is exceedingly empty. It seems that in the whole expanse there is nothing but one rock.
  
  On the rock is one man.
  
  Maybe he brought the rock himself.
  
  "Hi," says the man. He gestures to your head. "Do you mind? That's a bit threatening."
  
  > Wait
  Time goes by.
  
  ( You can also use commands such as WAIT 10 MINUTES and WAIT UNTIL 10 AM. )
  
  Without standing, the man reaches inside his suit coat and immediately produces something pistol-like but plastic, with a bright yellow tip. Several hours later you awaken in this same spot, alone and quite uncertain about your future.
  
  > Close nLap
  You close the nLap 500.
  
  A gang of perhaps twenty people on souped-up Segways powers past and disappears.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying the SimulacCam (being worn), an nStick, your nLap 500, your pager, and your key.
  
  > put stick in the wires
  You put the nStick into the panel.
  
  > turn on the mouse
  Presumably there is some way to turn the mouse on and off, yes.
  
  > look at the nose
  Parts is parts. You don't usually need to worry about your body very much detail, and today does not seem to be an exception in that regard.
  
  > look at the panel
  The panel is open and has an nStick stuck in it. It's sparking a bit.
  
  > Close panel
  You close the panel.
  
  "In my spare time, I founded the postal police," the mouse asserts.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time goes by.
  
  "Early to bed and early to rise gets a programmer lots of uninterrupted time in the cubicle!" the mouse proclaims.
  
  > Wait
  Time goes by.
  
  ( You can also use commands such as WAIT 10 MINUTES and WAIT UNTIL 10 AM. )
  
  "Help stop software pirates, rapists, arsonists, and child molesters," the mouse implores.
  
  > wait
  Time goes by.
  
  The mouse jerks spasmodically. "Join the army, kids!" it exclaims.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time goes by.
  
  "nTopia is the first city to be built from more than 25% recycled post-consumer content," explains the mouse.
  
  > wait
  Time goes by.
  
  The mouse does a horrible and probably unlicensed approximation of the Moonwalk.
  
  > open the panel
  The shuffling mouse both dodges and blocks, preventing you from opening the panel.
  
  "Did you know that the first mouse pointer was actually called a bug?" the mouse asks, obviously rhetorically. "And the first mouse was called -- a mouse!"
  
  > Wait
  Time goes by.
  
  "In nTopia," the mouse says, "you can worship the creator any way you like. Or not at all!"
  
  > wait for a while
  Time goes by.
  
  "I invented the stored-program computer!" says the mouse, as if it expected you to believe that.
  
  > wait
  Time goes by.
  
  "The business of nWare is business," the mouse says.
  
  > Wait
  Time goes by.
  
  "In my spare time, I founded the postal police," the mouse asserts.
  
  > go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  The sudden clamor and rush of a crowd sends you helplessly to the ground. With a grinding pull, a battalion in green aprons hurls itself over you and into the structure on the southwest corner. Perhaps you glimpse a pair of stunned figures in black T-shirts inside, shivering behind a counter. Your vision seems to be obscured for a moment by a milky steam.
  
  You stand, finally, unsure about what you seem to have witnessed, unsure about whether or not to hope it was real.
  
  One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.
  
  The sun beats down mercilessly, straining against nTopia's municipal climate control system.
  
  > look
  This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.
  
  Gus stands here. His eyes dart around as if tracing deep scratches on the walls, perhaps made by an imaginary axe.
  
  > go west
  You head west on Second Street...
  
  Main runs along the west edge of the nWare Media Campus. To the northwest is a Starbucks. The glass cube of the nWare Store sits on a park-like plot to the southwest.
  
  > go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
  
  > go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. There is a coffeehouse called "Independent Grounds" to the southwest. Another Starbucks is on the northwest corner.
  
  > Go southwest
  A bunch of overstuffed furniture, shipped in from somewhere other than Sweden, sits askew in here. There's a big sculptural object toward one corner that must be used for roasting coffee beans or something.
  
  > sit
  You take a comfy seat.
  
  As you sat down you noticed a woman in a smart suit and guy who is wearing a trucker cap, apparently ironically. You can't see them now, but you catch a snippet of their conversation.
  
  "Apparently there's an escape system for government officials. The mayor and so on."
  
  "We don't have any government officials here."
  
  "Right. I bet they all escaped."
  
  Involuntarily, you turn to look at the pair. They are already standing, and quickly head outside and out of sight.
  
  > use the computer
  Righteous. Everything actually compiled and built successfully. You install the update.
  
  You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
  
  > use the computer
  Deftly you request a photo of Gus for purposes of positive ID, reset his account, and store in your short-term memory his cryptic-yet-memorable temporary password. Now you just need to share this important bit of information with Gus, and you'll have executed your responsibilities most gloriously.
  
  And people wonder why you fantasize about being a astronaut.
  
  > go outside
  You get off the overstuffed furnishing.
  
  A bunch of overstuffed furniture, shipped in from somewhere other than Sweden, sits askew in here. There's a big sculptural object toward one corner that must be used for roasting coffee beans or something.
  
  > go to the northeast
  One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. A Starbucks is on the southeast corner. There is a coffeehouse called "Independent Grounds" to the southwest. Another Starbucks is on the northwest corner.
  
  > go to the northeast
  The south part of the campus is deceptively pleasant, with nWare Media buildings scattered about. You particularly note F7, which you're cleared to enter, to the northwest.
  
  > go northeast
  This particularly uninviting room may have been included simply to reassure those without proper clearance that they are in the wrong place. To the north is the building's main floor.
  
  Gus stands here. He laughs at your puny gesture.
  
  > tell Gus about the password
  You tell Gus his cryptic-yet-memorable temporary password.
  
  His face lights up with some combination of relief and prophetic rapture. He pulls a miniscule PDA from one of the pockets on his photographer's vest and taps happily, presumably gaining access.
  
  You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
  
  Some glitch, neurological or digital, causes Gus to scream "ODYSSEUS" and run toward the exit. This involves his running right over you, knocking you down. Your head strikes the floor in a painless and consciousness-eliminating way.
  
  "... tests were, again, all just fine," some woman in a doctor costume tells you. Or maybe she is a doctor. You're both walking along an aqua-colored corridor now. There are pictures of semi-rigid airships on the walls. "You shouldn't have any problems except perhaps for a bit of short-term memory loss, but if you do have any other trouble, come back and tell it to the kiosk. Oh, and you'll want this back." She hands you your pager, which, annoyingly, is buzzing and vibrating. "Take care!"
  
  You find yourself here in the lobby.
  
  The shuffling of those in despair, the rapid, professional pace of the strained nurses and assistants, the occasional groan -- all of these are absent, since this pale green lobby, curiously, holds no one besides yourself. It's also completely without furnishings, except for a kiosk, placed dead center.
  
  Remembering the menu of health insurance options that you were presented, you congratulate yourself on buying the extended warranty on yourself.
  
  The pager buzzes and jars you, its motor driven to disrupt and demand attention.
  
  A window pops up in the lower right corner of your nLap. In it, the uncanny red stapler wiggles its hinged head to the accompaniment of a cheery robot voice:
  
  Hey, this looks like the hospital! This is where you can go if you're sick! If you're really sick, sometimes emergency medical workers will helpfully bring you here!
  
  The window winks away.
  
  > touch Kiosk
  As you approach, the kiosk says "If you are here because of an emergency, say 'EMERGENCY' or press the corresponding button."
  
  You touch the screen to get started, and a progression of several dozen windows pop up over each each other, as if you've just won a game of nSolitare. The one that freezes on top for a moment says "nSys for Kiosk Error Number n + 7. Rebooting."
  
  The machine blinks and returns to its original state.
  
  The pager vibrates like it's repeatedly tapping you to get your attention, and it buzzes gratingly.
  
  > hold the button
  The pager emits a low beep after you hold the button down for about a second and a half.
  
  > examine text file
  A compulsive glance at the text file that holds your notes reassures you about the locations of the five servers: Wendy, at RelOfCoTn, Abalone and Second; Nora, in the airport; Ester, in the East Berm; Sophie, in City Hall, on the south end of Main; and Cindy, in F7 on the main campus.
  
  > go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  Main runs along the west edge of the nWare Media Campus. To the northwest is a Starbucks. The glass cube of the nWare Store sits on a park-like plot to the southwest.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
  
  A woman on an oversized skateboard zooms past, pulling a Jack Russell terrier on a normal-sized skateboard.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  The sudden clamor and rush of a crowd sends you helplessly to the ground. With a grinding pull, a battalion in green aprons hurls itself over you and into the structure on the southwest corner. Perhaps you glimpse a pair of stunned figures in black T-shirts inside, shivering behind a counter. Your vision seems to be obscured for a moment by a milky steam.
  
  You stand, finally, unsure about what you seem to have witnessed, unsure about whether or not to hope it was real.
  
  One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.
  
  > hold the button
  ( That is, "hold the server's red button." )
  
  You hold the server's button in a for a while, and the box whines to a halt, falling silent. When you release the button, the server remains lifeless.
  
  You get that satisfied feeling that you usually get after accomplishing a work-related task.
  
  > go north
  You head north on Main...
  
  One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners.
  
  > Go north
  You head north on Main...
  
  Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive.
  
  > go southwest
  The food court is of the same vintage as the other buildings in nTopia, and seems not yet drinkable. Product and process have been licensed all around the main chamber, where people can sit, mostly alone, engaging their oral arguments.
  
  > buy the food
  Food does seem like a good idea. You order some and prepare to focus completely on the meal, like Martha Stewart on her salad...
  
  A crackling sound comes, somehow, from all around.
  
  This is a test of the nTopia civil alert system. If this were actually a --
  
  The recorded voice breaks off.
  
  ATTENTION. This is actually not a test. This is an alert. Severe dust and wind conditions are anticipated. In a calm and orderly fashion, please find shelter indoors, or remain indoors if you are there already, and refer from going outside until further notice. Refrain. Refrain from going outside. Don't be nervous. High risk of death if you don't get indoors. Calmly. Get indoors. Immediately.
  
  Then there is quiet.
  
  You conclude your culinary experience.
  
  There's a granular howl from outside.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  An intriguing stranger dressed in black suddenly appears next to you and begins whispering, without turning to face you.
  
  "Don't look over. They'll see us talking."
  
  > wait
  Time goes by.
  
  ( You can also use commands such as WAIT 10 MINUTES and WAIT UNTIL 10 AM. )
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "Now, listen closely. This is important. You're new here, still not too damaged. I must tell you the terrible secret of nTopia."
  
  > Continue
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "This whole place was built on military land -- some missile testing range or something."
  
  > Continue
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "You've probably noticed what's going on. They're driving us insane. We're here as mental crash test dummies."
  
  > Keep going
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "It's part of the business model. Goes along with the painfully designed end-user application, the self-molesting hardware that calls the mother ship when it manages to break itself."
  
  > Keep going
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "They're using more advanced annoyances now. Monitoring you at all times to maximally bother you. Broadcasting on certain electromagnetic frequencies..."
  
  You glance over at your interlocutor and notice, for just a moment, a sheet of something shiny and silvery poking out from beneath the trendy black cap that she wears.
  
  > examine the cap
  "Hey, hey. Stop looking at me. They'll notice."
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "Systematically, they're figuring out how to drive us crazy. Non-lethal warfare. Market domination. All sorts of ways to use this to increase shareholder value."
  
  > Wait
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "I'm too far gone to help out on this one. I just gotta get out. Gotta escape. I think I have a way, but I can't take anyone with me."
  
  > wait a while
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "I had to tell you about it before I went, though. Had to track you down. You're the last hope."
  
  > Continue
  Time goes by.
  
  The harsh whistling sound continues.
  
  "Save the planet, kid! The city! Company! Neighborhood! Save your profit center! Shut 'em down somehow!"
  
  > Go outside
  Main runs along the western edge of the nWare Media Campus. Northwest of here, a bit of parkland holds the nWare store, a multi-story glass cube. The concrete structure to the southwest, labeled "Supreme Food Court," is less impressive. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.
  
  There seems to be no trace of whatever sand was blowing all around, unless some of the buildings now have a slightly glossier finish.
  
  The strange person who spoke to you rushes away to the south.
  
  > go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  One corner of the nWare Media Campus is to the northeast, where a path affords entrance. There are Starbuckses on the other three corners. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.
  
  The strange person who spoke to you rushes away to the south.
  
  > go to the south
  You head south on Main...
  
  The building to the northeast houses "Scales," a restaurant. The government-looking neo-something architecture of City Hall offers an entryway to the southeast. On the southwest corner is "Wheel-Man," a personal transportation dealer. The final business here, to the northwest, is Mailboxes Ultra. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.
  
  The strange person who spoke to you rushes away to the south.
  
  > Go south
  You head south on Main...
  
  Back Street runs east behind City Hall here at the south end of nTopia. Eel is to the west. A warehouse is on the northwest corner.
  
  You have come to the edge of the plateau on which nTopia is built. Far below, past the railing, is the desert plain, stretching from reddish white to white, scraggled here and there with gray. The sky is lapis lazuli. Some highway stretches far off from east to west, as if it were an imperfect reflection of a line on a map. And it looks like we also have an enigmatic person in black.
  
  The strange person who spoke to you picks up an odd-looking parcel from somewhere. It instantly inflates around her and forms a sort of giant, clear hamster-ball. Your informant moves a bit and the curious conveyance tips over the railing. When you look down after it -- after her -- there is nothing there to be seen.
  
  > jump
  You swing yourself over, like the distinguished gymnast you once were in your youth, to your parents' pride. Fortunately for your shattered corpse, the final destructive arc of your pager leads a search team to what used to be you, and, thanks to the marvels of technology, those remnants are given a proper burial.