text: [Themes: Casual Simulation, management, grooming, orphans]
  
  > look at your surroundings
  Here are housed the younger children, from the age of weaning to about six years old. Formerly a lumber-room, its ceilings are oppressively low. The Middle House is to the north.
  
  Harry, Prudence, Hunter, Hans and Peyton are housed here.
  
  In one corner, piled up into a small mountain, are the many volumes of Polychromatic Lung's Fairy Tales.
  
  > examine Harry
  This is Harry Quisling, a boy whose origins are shrouded in sordid mystery. His level gaze and long, elegant hands set him apart.
  His discipline is abysmal, his vigour mediocre, his appearance poor and his morale mediocre. Such ingratitude is nothing short of monstrous.
  
  > Discipline harry
  You apply some well-deserved discipline to Harry Quisling. His discipline is now bad.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         poor         poor         poor
  Hunter     bad          bad          bad          poor
  Harry      bad          poor         poor         mediocre
  Prudence   abysmal      poor         bad          poor
  Donny      awful        abysmal      bad          poor
  
  > Go north
  This ward is the home of children aged between six and twelve. A series of oddly-shaped rooms produced by ill-considered renovations, it's difficult to heat, the lighting is bad and there are far too many blind corners and hideaways. The Junior House lies south and the Senior north.
  
  Donny is housed here.
  
  Some ancient tricycles are littered about the place.
  
  > assign Donny to the tricycles
  You command Donny Pinkney to occupy himself with the ancient tricycles. He obediently complies.
  
  An official Ministry courier delivers a large brown-paper package. Within is a doorstop of a book: the famed industry catalogue Fobberfish of Hackney's. There is a cover letter from Mr. Fobberfish himself, congratulating you on your appointment, expressing pleasure at the prospect of working together and solidarity as a fellow-contracter, drawing your attention to the superior, competitively-priced products supplied by his humble business, and suggesting that they might be brought into fruitful conjunction with your Ministry funds.
  
  > look at the catalogue
  A respected specialist catering to the orphan management trade, Fobberfish of Hackney provides a wide variety of goods at virtually affordable rates. Bowing to the decadence of the age, this once-respectable publication now features many vain luxuries that you can safely ignore, such as fair-trade gruel, artisanal wildflower soap, and smallpox vaccines. The few items of real utility have been circled in red pen:
  
  Ruritanian Mastiffs (400 coins)
  The Box (300 coins)
  Atherton's Ergonomic Treadmill (400 coins)
  My First Delousing Bath (350 coins)
  Spinal Corrective Corsets (450 coins)
  Dr. Pranger's Lithium Water (700 coins)
  triple-barred windows (350 coins)
  The Harvest of Sin (700 coins)
  
  > read about Box
  (in Fobberfish of Hackney's catalogue):
  Recommended by veterans of the profession, The Box is the surest way to instil discipline in an orphan. Adjustable to fit children of all ages. Includes installation costs.
  
  > read about the Mastiffs
  (in Fobberfish of Hackney's catalogue):
  Too ugly to love and too foul-tempered to suborn, Ruritanian Mastiffs form an essential part of any professional orphan-retention system.
  
  > read about the treadmill
  (in Fobberfish of Hackney's catalogue):
  Atherton's Ergonomic Treadmill produces a negligible quantity of electrical power, but (more importantly) its persistent use strengthens the thighs, calves and buttocks of older children, while teaching them the value of a hard day's work.
  
  > scrub Donny
  You seize Donny, pinch his cheeks until they take on a healthy red colour, and scrub him all over with turpentine and a pumice-stone. This accomplished, you deliver a short lecture on the spiritual and bacterial dangers of filthiness. Hopefully the lesson is learned; his looks are now awful.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         bad          poor         poor
  Hunter     bad          awful        awful        poor
  Harry      awful        poor         poor         mediocre
  Prudence   abysmal      poor         bad          poor
  Donny      bad          awful        bad          poor
  
  > Go south
  Here are housed the younger children, from the age of weaning to about six years old. Formerly a lumber-room, its ceilings are oppressively low. The Middle House is to the north.
  
  In one corner, piled up into a small mountain, are the many volumes of Polychromatic Lung's Fairy Tales.
  
  Harry, Prudence, Hunter, Hans and Peyton are housed here.
  
  > Discipline harry
  You apply some well-deserved discipline to Harry Quisling. His discipline is now poor.
  
  > ring bell
  The ancient tricycles have fortified Donny Pinkney's vigour, which is now bad.
  
  You receive a government stipend of 60 for the feeding and care of your orphans; and pay out 18 coins on necessary care and maintenance, most of it going on food.
  Your profligate meal plans have borne fruit: Peyton Cropes has improved her morale.
  
  Peyton Cropes and Hunter Blair have grown up a little, and been transferred to the Middle House.
  (When orphans age up, they abandon any assigned tasks. You may
  want to reassign them.)
  
  A new orphan, Randy Potts, has been entrusted to your care and is now housed in the Junior House.
  
  > recruit Harry
  Harry Quisling appears sceptical about the proposition, but the foreman describes it as a sort of grand game, while keeping a firm grip on his arm. They depart to the mill, to return once the engines are running once again.
  
  > Scrub randy
  You seize Randy, delouse his scalp with carbolic acid, and apply a rough brush to those parts of his person that he has neglected to keep to a hygienic standard. This accomplished, you deliver a short lecture on the spiritual and bacterial dangers of filthiness. Hopefully the lesson is learned; his looks are now poor.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         poor         poor         mediocre
  Randy      mediocre     abysmal      bad          poor
  Hunter     bad          bad          bad          poor
  Harry      bad          poor         poor         mediocre
  Prudence   abysmal      poor         awful        poor
  Donny      awful        poor         awful        poor
  
  > discipline Prudence
  You apply some well-deserved discipline to Prudence Socket. Her discipline is now bad.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         poor         poor         mediocre
  Randy      mediocre     awful        bad          poor
  Hunter     bad          awful        bad          poor
  Harry      poor         bad          poor         mediocre
  Prudence   bad          bad          bad          poor
  Donny      bad          poor         bad          poor
  
  > go north
  This ward is the home of children aged between six and twelve. A series of oddly-shaped rooms produced by ill-considered renovations, it's difficult to heat, the lighting is bad and there are far too many blind corners and hideaways. The Junior House lies south and the Senior north.
  
  Hunter and Peyton are housed here.
  
  Donny is busily occupied with the ancient tricycles.
  
  > Discipline donny
  You apply some well-deserved discipline to Donny Pinkney. His discipline is now poor.
  
  > assign Hunter to the tricycles
  You command Hunter Blair to occupy himself with the ancient tricycles. He obediently complies.
  
  > assign Peyton to the tricycles
  You command Peyton Cropes to occupy herself with the ancient tricycles. She obediently complies.
  
  Harry returns in triumph, having successfully unclogged twenty years of impacted fluff from the main doohickey of the whatsit. After careful questioning, he reveals that the foreman gave him 25 coins in thanks, and entrusts them to you for safe-keeping.
  
  > go to the south
  Here are housed the younger children, from the age of weaning to about six years old. Formerly a lumber-room, its ceilings are oppressively low. The Middle House is to the north.
  
  In one corner, piled up into a small mountain, are the many volumes of Polychromatic Lung's Fairy Tales.
  
  Harry, Randy, Prudence and Hans are housed here.
  
  > examine Harry
  This is Harry Quisling, a boy whose origins are shrouded in sordid mystery. His level gaze and long, elegant hands set him apart.
  His discipline is poor, his vigour poor, his appearance poor and his morale mediocre. He must make more effort.
  
  > ring bell
  Polychromatic Lung's Fairy Tales has improved Hans Culter's morale, which is now mediocre.
  The ancient tricycles have fortified Peyton Cropes's vigour, which is now poor.
  The ancient tricycles have fortified Hunter Blair's vigour, which is now poor.
  The ancient tricycles have fortified Donny Pinkney's vigour, which is now poor.
  
  Donny Pinkney has constructed a small glider out of bedsheets and crutches and escaped! Given his ingratitude and weak character, you are not surprised when, later, you receive reports that he has been forced to subsist as a frame-breaker. (High vigour in an orphan aids in escape attempts; high discipline and morale protect against it).
  
  You receive a government stipend of 60 for the feeding and care of your orphans; and pay out 18 coins on necessary care and maintenance, most of it going on food.
  Your profligate meal plans have borne fruit: Randy Potts has improved his morale.
  
  Harry Quisling has grown up a little, and been transferred to the Middle House.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         poor         poor         poor
  Randy      mediocre     abysmal      poor         mediocre
  Hunter     bad          bad          bad          poor
  Harry      poor         mediocre     poor         adequate
  Prudence   awful        poor         bad          poor
  
  A new task: Top Ranking
  In any well-regulated society, there must be a recognised order. Even among the savage peoples and urban poor, some shade of hierarchy will always arise from the machinations of violence and vanity. And so it is among orphans, though their society is little more advanced than a troupe of feral macaques. A good orphanmaster must always know whose star is in the ascendant, and how they may best be managed.
  Until recently, Randy Potts was the seldom-disputed king of the dormitories. But your informants aver that a coup is in the offing. This would usually be grounds for interest but not alarm, but today the challenger is the Quisling child. If he is damaged somehow, your mysterious sponsor might not be best pleased. And you don't like the child; having him at the top of the pecking order seems a hazardous prospect.
  1 - Ensure Randy Potts loses.
  2 - Sabotage Harry's campaign.
  
  > 2
  Harry's reputation is on the rise, but if it never comes to anything it will drop. You keep a careful eye open in order to head off actual fights, while turning a blind eye to minor torments perpetrated by Randy Potts's proxies. Harry acquires a harried look, and Randy a decidedly smug one.
  
  Then your vigilance fails; while a decoy lures you into B Corridor with the scent of cigar-butts, a merciless duel is fought atop the west roof, before solemnly sworn witnesses. After the fact, both have bloody noses but Harry is grinning broadly, and continues to do so through all the punishment you can exact.
  
  > go to the north
  This ward is the home of children aged between six and twelve. A series of oddly-shaped rooms produced by ill-considered renovations, it's difficult to heat, the lighting is bad and there are far too many blind corners and hideaways. The Junior House lies south and the Senior north.
  
  Harry is housed here.
  
  Hunter and Peyton are busily occupied with the ancient tricycles.
  
  > examine Harry
  This is Harry Quisling, a boy whose origins are shrouded in sordid mystery. His level gaze and long, elegant hands set him apart.
  His discipline is bad, his vigour mediocre, his appearance poor and his morale adequate. Until licenses are required to breed, his kind will only proliferate.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         poor         poor         mediocre
  Randy      mediocre     bad          bad          bad
  Hunter     bad          poor         awful        poor
  Harry      awful        mediocre     poor         mediocre
  Prudence   awful        bad          bad          poor
  
  > look at Harry
  This is Harry Quisling, a boy whose origins are shrouded in sordid mystery. His level gaze and long, elegant hands set him apart.
  His discipline is bad, his vigour mediocre, his appearance poor and his morale adequate.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         mediocre     poor         mediocre
  Randy      mediocre     awful        bad          poor
  Hunter     bad          poor         awful        poor
  Harry      poor         poor         poor         adequate
  Prudence   bad          bad          bad          poor
  
  > assign Harry to tricycles
  You command Harry Quisling to occupy himself with the ancient tricycles. He obediently complies.
  
  > look at the catalogue
  A respected specialist catering to the orphan management trade, Fobberfish of Hackney provides a wide variety of goods at virtually affordable rates. Bowing to the decadence of the age, this once-respectable publication now features many vain luxuries that you can safely ignore, such as fair-trade gruel, artisanal wildflower soap, and smallpox vaccines. The few items of real utility have been circled in red pen:
  
  Ruritanian Mastiffs (400 coins)
  The Box (300 coins)
  Atherton's Ergonomic Treadmill (400 coins)
  My First Delousing Bath (350 coins)
  Spinal Corrective Corsets (450 coins)
  Dr. Pranger's Lithium Water (700 coins)
  triple-barred windows (350 coins)
  The Harvest of Sin (700 coins)
  
  > go south
  Here are housed the younger children, from the age of weaning to about six years old. Formerly a lumber-room, its ceilings are oppressively low. The Middle House is to the north.
  
  In one corner, piled up into a small mountain, are the many volumes of Polychromatic Lung's Fairy Tales.
  
  Randy, Prudence and Hans are housed here.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         poor         poor         poor
  Randy      mediocre     awful        poor         poor
  Hunter     bad          bad          bad          poor
  Harry      poor         mediocre     poor         mediocre
  Prudence   poor         awful        bad          poor
  
  > scrub Prudence
  You seize Prudence, pinch her cheeks until they take on a healthy red colour, and apply a rough brush to those parts of her person that she has neglected to keep to a hygienic standard. This accomplished, you deliver a short lecture on the spiritual and bacterial dangers of filthiness. Hopefully the lesson is learned; her looks are now bad.
  
  > ring bell
  The ancient tricycles have fortified Peyton Cropes's vigour, which is now mediocre.
  Polychromatic Lung's Fairy Tales has improved Randy Potts's morale, which is now poor.
  The ancient tricycles have fortified Hunter Blair's vigour, which is now poor.
  The ancient tricycles have fortified Harry Quisling's vigour, which is now adequate.
  
  You receive a government stipend of 60 for the feeding and care of your orphans; and pay out 18 coins on necessary care and maintenance, most of it going on food.
  Your profligate meal plans have borne fruit: Hans Culter and Randy Potts have improved their morale.
  
  > Status
  Peyton     poor         mediocre     poor         mediocre
  Randy      mediocre     abysmal      bad          mediocre
  Hunter     bad          poor         bad          poor
  Harry      poor         mediocre     poor         adequate
  Prudence   bad          abysmal      poor         bad
  
  A new task: A Grueling Task
  While taking inventory, you discover that your gruel deliveries are regularly falling short. Indeed, they're falling short by almost precisely as much gruel as one greedy orphan can cram down at a sitting. Somehow, one of your charges has found a way to circumvent your protective measures and indulge in banditry. This crime will out, and the best way to extract a confession is through whippings. Your first suspects should be the plump and cheerful ones.
  
  > Recap
  While taking inventory, you discover that your gruel deliveries are regularly falling short. Indeed, they're falling short by almost precisely as much gruel as one greedy orphan can cram down at a sitting. Somehow, one of your charges has found a way to circumvent your protective measures and indulge in banditry. This crime will out, and the best way to extract a confession is through whippings. Your first suspects should be the plump and cheerful ones.