text: > Go downwards
  (off of bay two)
  Okay, you're no longer in bay two.
  
  > cut the tube with the clippers
  You start hacking up the inner tube up with the sharpened clippers. Your first cut causes it to deflate with a loud whoosh. Before long you manage to cut a single long strip of rubber from it. The inner tube is completely destroyed in the process. You discard what's left. Hopefully you have some kind of really clever use in mind for the rubber band you've just made.
  
  > tie the band to stick
  Ah, a weapon. Good idea. You tie the ends of the rubber band to the tines of the Y-shaped stick, and voila! You have a slingshot.
  
  > Continue
  You set the sample case on the steps next to you, take the business card and sales brochure in hand, square your shoulders, take a deep breath, and rap your knuckles firmly on the door. The thudding of your heart sounds louder than the footsteps thudding down the hall. The door swings open. Dark eyes glare at you.
  
  "Good afternoon sir! My name is Splatz, Dwayne R. Splatz. But please call me Dwayne, everybody else does. Ha ha." You hand the butler your card. His scowl darkens.
  
  "I'm here today representing Plasti-Side Inc.'s complete line of vinyl siding products." You make a show of looking around. "You have a pretty nice place here, and I'm sure you'd like to keep it that way. And believe me, there's nothing like vinyl siding for keeping a home looking great!"
  
  The butler's scowl becomes thunderous. You see his thick fingers clutch into mallet-sized fists. You suppress a sudden overwhelming urge to see Paris one more time before you die, starting right now with a really quick trip down the steps. You hand the butler your sales brochure.
  
  "As you can see by these photographs, our products can make a dramatic difference in the appearance of almost any structure. And unlike our competitors who make their siding from old LP records, we use only the finest virgin vinyl in their manufacture. In fact I happen to have several nice samples here with me. Let me just show you..."
  
  You bend over to reach for your sample case. You don't even see the massive fist hurtling toward your head.
  
  The blackness slowly diminishes...
  
  The first thing you become aware of is something cold and hard pressing against your face. It takes you a moment to figure out it's the floor. You open your eyes, and discover that you've been dumped in the corner of a large stone chamber.
  
  You struggle to your feet.
  
  The chamber is large an oppressive. Tall stone columns support heavy overhead beams. Flickering torches make shadows on the wall. It feels like you're deep underground, but you could just as easily be in a windowless tower.
  
  It's not hard to figure out the chamber's purpose. In fact you're rather surprised not to see manacled skeletons hanging from the walls and an iron maiden in the corner. There is a torture rack however, or at least the modern high-tech equivalent of one. It's sitting against the far wall. The only visible exit is the open doorway next to it.
  
  The butler is standing next to the torture rack with his back to you. It looks like he's busy preparing it for use.
  
  > shoot the butler with the slingshot
  You take careful aim at the back of the butler's head, draw back the acorn, and fire. As fate would have it he chooses that exact moment to lean forward and peer at the flashing lights on the rack's control panel. The acorn grazes the top of his skull, hits the stone wall, and explodes into a thousand pieces. He spins around with a snarl and starts toward you. You bolt for the doorway.
  
  He moves quickly to cut you off and lunges for you as you dart by.
  You duck and dodge to the left. His hand misses, but you loose your balance and tumble to the floor. Your head cracks hard against cold, unyielding stone.
  
  The world plunges into darkness.
  
  Lying Unconscious (Again)
  The blackness slowly diminishes...
  
  You sit up and look around with a start. You fully expect to find yourself strapped to the rack in the dungeon. But you see blue sky overhead. It takes you a moment to recognize your surroundings. You're lying on a patch of grass next to a gravel road. Tall trees loom overhead. Just to the north is a high stone wall, and a very familiar-looking iron gate.
  
  You struggle to your feet. Nothing seems to be broken. In fact, aside from a sore jaw and a pounding headache you're in perfect health. You're also, for the first time since you got here, completely empty-handed.
  
  The mansion's main gate is closed and locked behind you. The package is gone. The way home lies down the road to the south. It will be dark soon. You might as well start walking.
  
  > go south
  You give the gate a final shake, turn, and start your long, lonely hike back up the road.
  
  > shoot the skeleton with the slingshot
  Thankfully there aren't any skeletons hanging in the dungeon.
  
  The butler adjusts one of the dials on the rack's control panel and pushes a red button. The indicator lights flash, but nothing else obvious happens. He scratches his head, then pulls his spiral notebook out of his pocket and lays it on the rack. He begins to flip through its pages.
  
  > examine the panel
  The control panel is mounted to the wall over the rack. It has two round black dials for setting various functions, and a large red pushbutton for activating them. Several indicator lights, also unlabeled, flash in seemingly random patterns. A pair of electrical cables tipped with clamps hang from the bottom of the panel.
  
  The butler adjusts one of the dials on the rack's control panel and pushes a red button. The indicator lights flash, but nothing else obvious happens. He scratches his head, then pulls his spiral notebook out of his pocket and lays it on the rack. He begins to flip through its pages.
  
  > Go outside
  You carefully consider your options. The butler has his back to you, and looks engrossed in his task. You figure you have a good chance to make the open doorway. You decide to go for it.
  
  You start by crouching low and moving forward as quietly as possible, but you only manage a couple of steps before your flickering shadow on the wall gives you away. The butler grunts in surprise and spins around. You kick it into high gear.
  
  He moves quickly to cut you off and lunges for you as you dart by.
  You duck and dodge to the left. His hand misses, but you loose your balance and tumble to the floor. Your head cracks hard against cold, unyielding stone.
  
  The world plunges into darkness.
  
  Lying Unconscious (Again)
  The blackness slowly diminishes...
  
  You sit up and look around with a start. You fully expect to find yourself strapped to the rack in the dungeon. But you see blue sky overhead. It takes you a moment to recognize your surroundings. You're lying on a patch of grass next to a gravel road. Tall trees loom overhead. Just to the north is a high stone wall, and a very familiar-looking iron gate.
  
  You struggle to your feet. Nothing seems to be broken. In fact, aside from a sore jaw and a pounding headache you're in perfect health. You're also, for the first time since you got here, completely empty-handed.
  
  The mansion's main gate is closed and locked behind you. The package is gone. The way home lies down the road to the south. It will be dark soon. You might as well start walking.
  
  > read notebook
  (first trying to take the spiral notebook)
  The last thing in the world you want to do is get anywhere near the torture rack. You decide to try something else.
  
  Having found the information he was looking for in his notebook, the butler turns a dial one click to the left and pushes the red button. Lights flash. The four winches mounted to the corners of the rack whine to life and start spooling out cable. He lets them run briefly, then pushes the button again to stop them.
  
  > Shoot panel
  (with the slingshot)
  You take careful aim at the control panel, draw back the acorn, and fire. The acorn flies wide, hits the stone wall, and explodes into a thousand pieces. Startled, the butler spins around with a snarl and starts toward you. You bolt for the doorway. (first removing the acorn)
  
  He moves quickly to cut you off and lunges for you as you dart by.
  You duck and dodge to the left. His hand misses, but you loose your balance and tumble to the floor. Your head cracks hard against cold, unyielding stone.
  
  The world plunges into darkness.
  
  Lying Unconscious (Again)
  The blackness slowly diminishes...
  
  You sit up and look around with a start. You fully expect to find yourself strapped to the rack in the dungeon. But you see blue sky overhead. It takes you a moment to recognize your surroundings. You're lying on a patch of grass next to a gravel road. Tall trees loom overhead. Just to the north is a high stone wall, and a very familiar-looking iron gate.
  
  You struggle to your feet. Nothing seems to be broken. In fact, aside from a sore jaw and a pounding headache you're in perfect health. You're also, for the first time since you got here, completely empty-handed.
  
  The mansion's main gate is closed and locked behind you. The package is gone. The way home lies down the road to the south. It will be dark soon. You might as well start walking.
  
  > shoot notebook
  The last thing in the world you want to do is get anywhere near the torture rack. You decide to try something else.
  
  The butler turns the same dial one click to the right and pushes the red button. The cables retract. The winches stop automatically when the cables are fully retracted.
  
  > examine rack
  The rack sits against the far wall. Its main component is a large metal table with a perforated steel top. The traditional large barrel winch and ratchet have been replaced with modern cable winches at each corner. Shackles are attached to the winches. Electrical cables and clamps hang from a control panel mounted to the wall above the table. A hot iron is warming up in an electric brazier attached to the foot of the table. The butler's notebook is lying open on the rack's perforated steel top.
  
  The butler clicks the same dial to a new position, pushes the button, then rotates the other dial clockwise. The glow of the electric brazier intensifies.
  
  > shoot the brazier
  (with the slingshot)
  You take careful aim at the electric brazier, draw back the acorn, and fire. The acorn flies wide, hits the stone wall, and explodes into a thousand pieces. Startled, the butler spins around with a snarl and starts toward you. You bolt for the doorway. (first removing the acorn)
  
  He moves quickly to cut you off and lunges for you as you dart by.
  You duck and dodge to the left. His hand misses, but you loose your balance and tumble to the floor. Your head cracks hard against cold, unyielding stone.
  
  The world plunges into darkness.
  
  Lying Unconscious (Again)
  The blackness slowly diminishes...
  
  You sit up and look around with a start. You fully expect to find yourself strapped to the rack in the dungeon. But you see blue sky overhead. It takes you a moment to recognize your surroundings. You're lying on a patch of grass next to a gravel road. Tall trees loom overhead. Just to the north is a high stone wall, and a very familiar-looking iron gate.
  
  You struggle to your feet. Nothing seems to be broken. In fact, aside from a sore jaw and a pounding headache you're in perfect health. You're also, for the first time since you got here, completely empty-handed.
  
  The mansion's main gate is closed and locked behind you. The package is gone. The way home lies down the road to the south. It will be dark soon. You might as well start walking.
  
  > examine the beams
  Maybe you'll have time to study torture chamber construction details later. Right now you have your ass to save.
  
  The butler uncoils the two electric cables and lays them out on the bench. He selects a new dial position, and pushes the red button. There's a crack of electricity as twin arcs jump between the ends of the cables and the top of the bench. He punches the button again to shut the current off.
  
  > climb the columns
  The stone columns aren't important.
  
  Apparently dissatisfied with the result, the butler turns one of the dials all the way clockwise and pushes the button. The clamps jump and the sharp crackle of electricity fills the air. He lets them buzz for a couple of seconds then punches the button again to shut them off.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes...
  
  The butler picks up the ends of the cables and holds them up to the light. He inspects them closely, probably looking for signs of pitting or corrosion.
  
  > shoot the the button
  (with the slingshot)
  You take careful aim at the large red pushbutton, draw back the acorn, and fire. The acorn flies true, smacks squarely into its intended target, and explodes into a thousand pieces. Electrical current arcs through the butler's body. Unable to let go of the cables, he jerks wildly until a breaker in the control panel finally opens and shuts the power off. He slowly collapses into a twitching heap on the floor.
  
  Seeing your chance, you toss the slingshot aside and make a break for the doorway. You do have the presence of mind to grab the butler's notebook as you pass by the rack. He groans loudly, hurrying you on your way.
  
  You plunge through the open doorway into darkness. Unable to see, you slow and begin to feel your way along the wall. The stone quickly gives way to cold metal. You see a faint glow of light ahead of you. You move toward it, and enter a small square room. As soon as you cross the threshold a sliding steel door whooshes closed behind you. An overhead fluorescent fixture flickers to life.
  
  This small, windowless room has bare metal walls and two exits - the sliding steel door you entered through to the south, and a pair of elevator doors ahead of you to the north. It is lit by a recessed fluorescent fixture in the ceiling. The elevator doors are closed. The control panel mounted on the wall next to the elevator looks unusually complex.
  
  > examine the panel
  The elevator control panel contains fifteen round lighted buttons arranged in a pyramid and marked A1, B1, B2, etc., plus two additional rectangular lighted buttons marked RESET and NEXT. Below the panel is an unmarked card reader slot.
  
  (A1)
  
  (B1)  (B2)
  
  (C1)  (C2)  (C3)
  
  (D1)  (D2)  (D3)  (D4)
  
  (E1)  (E2)  (E3)  (E4)  (E5)
  
  [RESET]          [NEXT]
  
  > examine the fixture
  The fluorescent light is recessed into the ceiling and out of reach. It is currently lit.