text: [Themes: thriller]
  
  > look at your surroundings
  Trains haven't changed much in the last 40 years. You could just imagine a furtive Cary Grant slipping from car to car or a diabolic Robert Walker plotting fiendishly in some corner.
  
  > look under the seat
  Which do you mean, the other seat or seat 4B?
  
  > look under the other seat
  (the other seat)
  You find nothing of interest.
  
  > look
  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.
  
  > examine the ticket
  It's a strip of paper. Something has been written on the back. A round hole has been punched in it.
  
  > examine the pockets
  Threadbare, but serviceable. Better clothes await you in San Diego, which is good as these have a nasty stain. Inside the pocket you see a small velvet box and a train schedule.
  
  > open the box
  You open the small velvet box, revealing a diamond ring.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  Suddenly, a group of armed terrorists takes over the train. In the resulting confusion, you are "accidentally" shot, adding a rather nasty bloodstain to the coffee stain already on your old jacket.
  
  > enter
  The door is closed.
  
  Suddenly, a group of armed terrorists takes over the train. In the resulting confusion, you are "accidentally" shot, adding a rather nasty bloodstain to the coffee stain already on your old jacket.
  
  > get up
  You'll need to undo your belt first.
  
  The plane shudders slightly.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a sport coat (being worn)
  a small velvet box (which is closed)
  
  *** PING ***
  
  "Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some minor turbulence. Please return to your seat and fasten your seat belts."
  
  > open the box
  You open the small velvet box, revealing a diamond ring.
  
  A breathless flight attendant rushes up and clips your belt closed for you, then disappears.
  
  The passenger next to you awakes with a start.
  
  > wear ring
  (first taking the diamond ring)
  You put on the diamond ring.
  
  "I hate flying," your seat-mate bemoans.
  
  > run
  You'll have to say which compass direction to go in.
  
  The plane lurches hard to the left. Your stomach churns.
  
  "I always wonder if I'll ever see my daughter again."
  
  > run north
  You'll have to get off Seat 4B first.
  
  "What would my wife do if I were to die?"
  
  > stand up
  You'll need to undo your belt first.
  
  A bright blue flash illuminates the entire west side of the airplane, followed by the noise of a tremendous explosion. The wing is on fire!
  
  For a brief moment, everything is silent as the situation slowly sinks into the minds of the passengers. Then pandemonium breaks out in the cabin as the plane goes into a near-vertical dive.
  
  "It's all your fault, you know."
  
  Your traveling companion turns to face you, and you recoil in horror. The left side of his face is horribly mutilated, the skin torn and burnt. The empty eye socket stares at you accusingly.
  
  "Why did you have to survive? I had a family, a child... they depended on me! You had nothing! You were nothing, and you still are nothing!"
  
  He leans forward, and you can smell the horrid odor of burnt flesh.
  
  "Nothing..."
  
  Crash positions be damned! You struggle at your seat belt, but the mechanism is jammed.
  
  He's moving closer... reaching out... reaching toward you... the stumps of his fingers... twitching... touching you... shaking you...
  
  > Wait
  ...and you find yourself wrestling the station attendant.
  
  "Sorry about that! Didn't mean to startle you, but by the sound of it you were having a dilly of a nightmare!
  
  "Anyway, you best be going. I've written a note explaining the situation to the conductor; it's on the back of your ticket. Better hurry."
  
  You take the ticket and a copy of the schedule and make your way out to the platform.
  
  Sole survivor syndrome.
  
  That's what they call it. Psychological trauma after surviving an accident that killed so many others.
  
  You still can't look at a plane without hearing the screaming or smelling the blood. The last time you tried to visit an airport-- just to pick up someone-- you left in an ambulance, catatonic.
  
  Things were looking bad when the old rust bucket died this morning. The mechanic said that the earliest he could get to it was first thing Monday morning, and the rental agency just laughed when you asked if you could get a car on short notice for the weekend. Flight was out of the question for obvious reasons, but rail had existed far earlier than planes. So you found yourself pleading your case to a sympathetic station manager, who managed to squeeze you onto a special charter train direct to San Diego.
  
  Two years ago, the wedding was postponed indefinitely by your accident. You are determined that that will not happen again. The sun is shining, the tracks are clear, and in a few hours you'll be the star of the show. Come Hell or high water, nothing is going to stop you from being...
  
  An Interactive Action-Adventure
  
  Car 3 (on seat 4B)
  Trains haven't changed much in the last 40 years. You could just imagine a furtive Cary Grant slipping from car to car or a diabolic Robert Walker plotting fiendishly in some corner.
  
  You can see the conductor here.
  
  > read the note
  (in the conductor)
  You discover nothing of interest in the conductor.
  
  "Ticket, please."
  
  > give the ticket
  (to the conductor)
  (first taking the ticket)
  The conductor reads the back of the ticket quickly. "Ah, that explains why you're not on my list."
  
  CLUNK. The conductor punches the ticket and returns it you.
  
  He walks north to the next car.
  
  > unlock door
  The fluorescent light goes off.
  
  Your Russian may be rusty, but a voice definitely said, "Sergei, check the toilets."
  
  > go window
  It's quite breathtaking out here, and you'd probably enjoy the scenery if it weren't for the annoying fact that you're clinging to a flimsy metal ladder while being buffeted by sixty mile-per-hour winds. Safety lies inside, east.
  
  A voice outside the door says, "Empty."
  
  > Go inside
  The door is closed.
  
  The screams have died down, so the gunmen have decided to start the usual diatribe. "We now control this train... if you cooperate, you will be spared... attempt tricks and you will die..."
  
  > look
  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.
  
  "Is everyone here?"
  
  "Everyone was here or in the press car," the conductor replies, strangely calm. "As you can see, everyone in this car is also on this list."
  
  "Da..."
  
  > listen
  You hear nothing unexpected.
  
  "Sergei, did you check the toilets?"
  
  "Da, I checked the toilets."
  
  "Did you check inside the toilets?
  
  There is a momentary pause, followed by a low curse.
  
  > go window
  "Ready?" asks a voice outside.
  
  > Close window
  Better not, you might not be able to get it open again.
  
  The door explodes inward.
  
  "Good, nobody here."
  
  The door is closed again.
  
  > Go inside
  The door is closed.
  
  "Take everyone to the last car."
  
  There is the sound of marching outside the door, then silence.
  
  > turn the tap
  It is fixed in place.
  
  > turn on the tap
  You turn on the faucet, allowing water to flow into the sink.
  
  > Clean coat
  A quick wipe and the stain disappears.
  
  The flow from the faucet stops suddenly. (It must have one of those spring valves to prevent waste.)
  
  > unlock door
  The fluorescent light goes off.
  
  > 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 3 slides shut.
  
  > examine 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.
  
  The train just zoomed by the Salinas station.
  
  > go west
  (The maintenance access hatch slams shut when you release it to move.) You can't go that way.
  
  > 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 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 east
  Car 4, Fore
  
  > 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
  A computer sits on a makeshift desk, completely quiet.
  
  > go to the east
  Car 4, Mid
  
  > Go 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, a quiet hum emanating from its fan.
  
  > turn on the 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 west.
  
  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.
  
  > get the computer
  That's fixed in place.