text: [Themes: Children's, Fantasy]
  
  > go south
  The two-story height of the foyer is channelled into a narrower hallway to the north. On the north wall to the west of the hallway's beginning is an open doorway. The building's entrance to the south is reflected in the marble floor.
  
  > go to the south
  You start to take a step out the door, then pause. Somehow, the weather has turned from drenching rain to snow, colder than a Coke straight from the fridge. You shiver and retreat back to the warmth of the foyer.
  
  > Open boxes
  The tape prevents you from oepning the boxes.
  
  > go to the north
  Metal shelves fill the hall; most are empty and many have succumbed to rust. The shelves that aren't empty hold broken shards of glass. The archive continues to the south, and an exit leads west.
  
  > examine the shards
  The glass fragments (perhaps broken bottles?) run the gamut from large shards to fine, gritty powder.
  
  > get the shards
  You would most surely cut yourself.
  
  > look at the shelves
  The shelves cover the room, as if they had multiplied in the same manner Coke bottles in the fridge don't. They are covered in broken shards.
  
  > take all
  bottle-opener: That seems to belong to Frankie.
  bottle of Sprite: That seems to belong to Frankie.
  
  > ask Frankie about the sprite
  "Actually, yeah, you could give me a hand here. Could you take this up to the top floor and get it opened? I'm not having much luck with my bottle-opener." He hands you the bottle.
  
  > examine the notes
  "Top floor, I said. In the library."
  
  You can't see any such thing.
  
  > ask Frankie about notebook
  Frankie says "I'm doing some observational analysis. I'd like to do some product synthesis of these bottles once I figure them out."
  
  > ask Frankie about yourself
  Frankie shrugs. "I'd never seen you before you walked down the stairs. You look like you could use a Coke, though."
  
  > ask Frankie about Frankie
  Frankie grins sardonically. "I'm just an archaeologist, nothing more. My team and I were working on unearthing those," he gestures at the pile of bottles by the wall, "until we got word of the drink shortage."
  
  > go up
  The room is hot and stifling -- makes you wish for a Coke right about now -- and cobwebs drip from every surface. A hot-water tank crouches in one corner. Rickety stairs lead into the depths of the building. To the east is an open door.
  
  The hallway ends abruptly in a pair of large oak doors. Their intricate carving is barely visible in the leaden light from the windows above you. The doors are flanked by two sweeping staircases to the northeast and northwest. A doorway to the east is mirrored by an open door to the west.
  You can't go that way.
  
  > go northeast
  The walkway runs along the east wall of the hallway. A sweeping staircase joins the walkway to the southwest.
  
  > go south
  The walkway is cut off to the south by the rising walls of the foyer. There is a doorway to the east; the walkway continues to the north.
  
  > go east
  The library is a dimly-lit backwards L curving around the end of the building. Shelves filled with books take up much of the room; the rest is inhabited by stacks of books. A metal sentinel guards the west exit; directly above it is a clock.
  
  > Examine book
  The books resemble case histories from a law library: leather binding, small type on their spines.
  
  > read book
  You pull one off the shelf at random and open it: "Coca leaves, cola nut, carbonated water, corn syrup, phosophorus .." You replace it and draw another: slightly different ingredients, slightly different method of preparation. Each recipe seems vaguely familiar, none seem quite right.
  
  > examine the guard
  A dark metal statue, reminiscent of a prop from Fritz Lang's Metropolis. A stern, angular head sits atop a sexless body seven feet tall. One arm hangs by its side -- the other extends outwards as if to grasp something.
  
  > put the Sprite in the hand
  The statue's relaxed hand suddenly blurs into life. It reaches up to the bottle, twists off the cap, and returns to the relaxed position almost before you noticed it moving. You (gingerly!) take the bottle back.
  
  > Drink sprite
  You think about it, but decide you'd really rather have a Coke.
  
  > give Sprite to Frankie
  "Excellent!" Frankie says, taking the bottle from you. He immediately begins observing the Sprite and taking notes on its behavior. "By the way," he says, "I don't need this, and you might find it handy." Frankie takes the bottle opener out of his pocket and hands it to you.
  
  A quiet sound catches your attention. A black liquid has begun welling up through the drain, covering it and starting to fill the northwest corner.
  
  Frankie glances down, then swears quietly. "Sam, you son-of-a-bitch," he mutters, scribbling furiously in his notebook.
  
  > examine the bottle opener
  It looks like an ordinary bottle-opener, made out of metal with a pointy bit on one end.
  
  Hissing, the table legs begin to dissolve in the sludge. You hastily step away.
  
  > open the bottle
  Which do you mean, the pile of bottles, the bottle of Sprite, the bottle-opener or the bottle of cola?
  
  > Cola
  If you'd like to drink it, at least be honest with yourself and just say so. Otherwise, pour it someplace or something.
  
  Almost all the available floorspace is taken up by Pepsi. Several of the bottles in the pile have already been eaten away, their contents mixing with the sludge. You step back to a narrow spot by the stairs.
  
  > Drink cola
  The madness and confusion of this place drives you to ever-more-desperate acts. But here, at the brink, you manage to summon your courage and honor and draw back.