text: [Themes: Horror, conversation]
  
  > describe your surroundings
  This is the dining room of the Cafe Khmer.
  
  There's a thin metal table here that Joe is sitting at. Joe's coffee sits on the table. You haven't had coffee in a long time, actually.
  
  At the moment, Joe is talking to you.
  
  Frowning, Joe fiddles with his phone. He stands, mutters, "Hey, man-" and walks away.
  
  You assume that he was going to the bathroom, or something, but after a while you realize he's left.
  
  And that he's left you to pay for his coffee.
  
  > ask Joe for the perfidy's number
  Joe's not here - he left in a hurry. And, it seems, stuck you with the bill.
  
  -The conversation didn't seem important at the time, but later you would look back on it and wonder.
  
  Two days later, you were out on the balcony near your apartment talking to your neighbor, Chuck.
  
  Chuck is basically a good guy - you like him - but it sometimes takes him quite a long time to fomulate his thoughts, requiring you to wait for him.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying your wallet and your cell phone.
  
  > open the wallet
  No need to fiddle with your wallet. Besides, it makes you look awkward.
  
  > look at the phone
  Your cell phone is a tiny, cheap little thing - "cheap" in this case being $40. You know you can get them for less, but you weren't able to talk the merchant down any. This one keeps turning off for no good reason. A good thing to keep with you, even though you have no one to call at the moment.
  
  "There was a big fire the other day," Chuck tells you. "Did you hear about it?"
  
  "Not really," you say. "Oh!- I smelled the smoke, a few days ago around noon, but with Siem Reap so dusty I didn't think about it.
  What happened?"
  
  "I heard somebody died in it, but then I heard that, no, all of the tenants got out and were accounted for, so it's okay. Joe was talking about it."
  
  (You could ask him about the big fire, or Chuck himself, or tell him about Cambodian history.)
  
  > look at Chuck
  Chuck is a small, somewhat heavy Australian. He's what some people would call 'quietly intense', and others, 'tightly wound.' Although he's not looking at you, you know Chuck is giving you his full attention. You think he knows it can be unsettling when he looks directly at a person - there's just something about him.
  
  > ask Chuck about the the big fire
  "I don't really get it," Chuck says. "Why is Cambodia so poor?"
  
  "Because of Pol Pot," you say. You read up on the history before you got here.
  
  "Was there more to that story about the fire?" you ask.
  
  Chuck says, "Yeah, I guess there was."
  
  (You could ask him about the big fire, or Chuck himself, or tell him about Cambodian history.)
  
  > continue
  "You talked to Joe?" you ask. "I haven't seen him lately."
  
  "Yeah; he said there had been a fire in New York a couple years ago where the parents had been smoking in bed, and the mattress caught fire. Then they tried to get the mattress out of the apartment, and when they got it halfway through the doorway, well now there was a draft, and it burst into flame. So they screwed up."
  
  Chuck considers something, and adds, "He didn't say what they were smoking. I guess the media would have considered it an undiplomatic question, under the circumstances. Maybe nothing exotic, even."
  
  > ask Chuck about the fire
  "The whole family - the parents and three kids - were all stuck in the apartment. Everyone else got out of the building safely, but they were trapped. No fire exit. Sucks."
  
  Chuck motions. "Anyway, from what I understand, everyone's accounted for in this one, thank Christ."
  
  > ask Chuck about the fire
  "I wonder where the fire was?" you say.
  
  "I don't know that," Chuck replies. "Somewhere in the neighborhood.
  I imagine if you walk around, you'll notice the burnt-out husk of a building somewhere."
  
  > tell Chuck about the cambodian history
  "The country was discontent," you say, "because they were under French colonial rule. Pol Pot came to power - there was another government between the colonial government and Pol Pot - but Pol Pot came to power and he had a traditionalist theory that the reason Cambodia was having problems was that it had gotten away from its roots. Which was farming."
  
  Chuck is listening, but you can't tell how much he is hearing. He nods slightly, but it seems almost rhythmic.
  
  > tell Chuck the cambodian history
  The story doesn't understand that command. Please use ASK ACTOR ABOUT TOPIC (or just A TOPIC).
  
  Chuck stands. "Well, I'd better go," he says, looking over your shoulder at the hall to his door. "Good luck with everything."
  
  Chuck walks out.
  
  You can hear him in the hallway saying something to Ted, who presently walks in. His friend George is right behind him.
  
  "Hey, how's it going?" Ted asks as he takes Chuck's seat.
  
  > look at George
  George is by far the weaker personality. Mostly you address yourself to Ted and let George chime in when he likes.
  
  "So what happened on your date?" George asks, staring at you.
  
  "Paridy didn't show up," you say. "Found out later she claimed she didn't understand what the plan was. And that she wanted to hang out in a group: so clearly she did understand what the plan was - saying she didn't was some kind of face-saving bullshit. She flaked. Turns out that Cambodian chicks are still chicks."
  
  You think about what Joe told you: not to fight what you are.
  
  You say, "She didn't trust me, I guess. I dunno, I mean, it's not like I'm going to tear her clothes off in Lucky Mall and rape her.
  I'm an id beast, but I'm not that much of an id beast."
  
  "It's part of Khmer culture," Ted tells you, causing George to stop staring at you momentarily. "The first couple dates, she needs to have a friend there."
  
  -George once told you that he became an ex-pat because the women back home "wouldn't give him the time of day." And indeed there is something creepy about his manner.'
  
  (You could tell them about dating (to answer George's questions), or dating (to get George to stop staring at you), or ask them about Joe's new girlfriend, Joe, Ted himself, or bring up something else.)
  
  > ask about the dating
  'George, you're still staring at me,' you say. 'Was there something else you wanted to know?'
  
  'Not really,' George says. 'What's the follow-up?'
  
  'She invited me fishing,' you say. There's this pagoda she goes to go fishing; she invited me along. Later today."
  
  > Topics
  You could ask them about Joe's new girlfriend, Joe, Ted himself, or bring up something else.
  
  > tell George about the fishing
  George is by far the weaker personality. Mostly you address yourself to Ted and let George chime in when he likes.
  
  > ask about the joe's new girlfriend
  Ted gives you a crooked smile. George merely makes eye contact.
  
  You have nothing in mind to say on that subject right now.
  
  (You could ask them about Joe's new girlfriend, Joe, Ted himself, or bring up something else.)
  
  > ask about Joe
  "What's the latest on Joe?" you ask.
  
  George says, "I heard the cops want to talk to him. Don't know why."
  
  "Oh, I know why," Ted says. "His house burned down the other day.
  His apartment building. So they need to ask everyone questions, for insurance and all that. Can you imagine what a pisser that is?"
  
  > ask about Joe
  You ask, "Did Joe lose his passport?"
  
  "Yeah, must've. And that means he wouldn't have his visa so he couldn't prove he was here legally. Which is $5 a day they fine you for every day you're not here legally. And he's been here for months. If they find him before he gets that squared away, he is screwed."
  
  > Again
  "Can you imagine that?" Ted muses. "To lose absolutely everything except what you're happening to be carrying at the time? -I loaned him fifty dollars. Would've loaned him more, but I'm hard up until payday."
  
  > examine ted
  Ted is an Irishman with what you at first found to be an incomprehensible accent. You've since adapted to it, which you find a little alarming. He has bad teeth from a lifetime of barroom fights and an old face from a lifetime of drinking; but he has a young body. He works out, and shows it off with a loose-cut tank top. Ted is a cheerful enough guy, but underneath it there's something not at all kind-hearted.
  
  > ask about the girlfriend
  "Have you seen Joe's new girlfriend?" you ask. "Is she pretty?"
  
  "Pretty enough," Ted says, "but she has these little scars on her arms. Some of 'em look fresh. You know what those are from? - cockroaches."
  
  "Really? They'll bite you here?" You've seen some mammoth roaches in your apartment.
  
  "Oh, will they bite you. They'll get you while you're sleeping. Move your bed away from the wall and, what I do, I run tape sticky-side-out around the legs of my bed, so they can't climb up it. But she's pretty enough, yeah."
  
  > ask about the girlfriend
  "I think he really likes her," you say. "He got a tattoo in Cambodian that I think might be her name."
  
  "If he really liked her, he'd get it in English," Ted says.
  
  > ask about the girlfriend
  "It's funny," you say: "With Joe being so good with girls, that he'd end up with a hooker."
  
  There's an awkward silence as Ted and George look at each other.
  
  > ask about Joe
  "Where's Joe staying?" you ask.
  
  "With his girlfriend, where else?" Ted replies. "She's Khmer. Must live, I imagine, in some rat-infested hole with a dirt floor, in common with a few others. No proper door leading out. I don't imagine he's enjoying that."
  
  > Topics
  You could ask them about Joe, Ted himself, or bring up something else.
  
  > ask them about Ted
  "So what's new, Ted?" you ask. "How's school? How's your students?"
  
  "The usual crap," he replies.
  
  > ask them about Joe
  "-And when Joe goes to sleep in that that Cambodian household, he's very paranoid about where to keep that fifty dollars you lent him," you say.
  
  "Yeah he probably is," Ted says, looking a little surprised. "But I've gotten so much work from him, and I know he's good for it, so I couldn't turn him down, could I?"
  
  "Well, it's about time I got ready for my big fishing date at the pagoda. This is dating, Khmer-style."
  
  "Good luck," Ted says.
  
  You stand.
  
  (You could ask them about Ted himself, or bring up something else.)
  
  > Bye
  Nothing obvious happens.
  
  > ask them about Ted
  Ted gives you a crooked smile. George merely makes eye contact.
  
  "So what's new, Ted?" you ask. "How's school? How's your students?"
  
  "The usual crap," he replies.
  
  You give your regards and go to get ready for your big fishing date with Paridy at the pagoda.
  
  When you get to Paridy's door, you heard voices inside.
  
  You're outside the door to Paridy's apartment. Traffic goes by occasionally - motorbikes, mostly.
  
  > go inside
  Opened.
  
  (the door)
  
  You walk into Paridy's apartment and see Joe and Paridy hanging out.
  
  You see Joe is looking an awful lot at Paridy.
  
  You see that Paridy seems to be paying an awful lot of attention to Joe.
  
  It makes you do a double-take. Yes, indeed: Joe, of all people, is here, of all places, and he and Paridy are so absorbed in looking at each other that they hardly seem to notice you. Paridy is in the middle of a story.
  
  "When they are bad, they go to bad place. They get no feed. When they come out, they have eat bad feed. If it good they can not eat. You must throw it on the ground for dirty, or rot. Rotted?"
  
  Paridy continues, "But they only can come out one day. One day year. Very hungry then. If their family not to monks, they can not eat one year again. Very very hungry."
  
  "So how does the family know the right day?" Joe asks, speaking slowly.
  
  "Oh, yes," Paridy says, laughing. "There are many pagoda in Cambodia. If the family go the wrong pagoda, they not get feed. But the family talk monks. Monks say what pagoda, what day. Very important talk monks."
  
  "That's a well-organized afterlife," Joe says. Paridy doesn't understand. "How do the monks know? Do they have a schedule? A calendar? Who tells the dead person when he gets vacation?"
  
  Paridy is smiling. "Monks know," she says.
  
  "How about you, Roger?" Joe raps. "You believe in magic?"
  
  (You could say yes or no, or ask him about his girlfriend, or the fire.)
  
  > examine the door
  It's open.
  
  > ask him about the girlfriend
  "How's your girlfriend, man?" you ask.
  
  Joe laughs. He tells Paridy, "Roger is asking about my girlfriend. Always asking about my girlfriend. He wants to know because he doesn't have one." Paridy laughs. Joe's gaze remains on her as they both laugh, but you have the feeling he's looking at you out of the corner of his eye.
  
  Down the street, you hear the duck-like squeak of the squeeze-bottles beggars use to call for people to bring out their recyclables and put them into their two-wheeled hand-carts.
  
  > say no
  Joe raises his eyebrows. "HuhWhat?"
  
  Joe sits on the couch with Paridy.
  
  "Hey, man, have a seat," Joe says. He motions beside him, on the far side from Paridy. If you sit there, he's between you and her.
  
  But, you could sit in the big chair, which is kitty-corner to the couch, and you'd be sitting almost next to Paridy.
  
  (You could sit on the couch (next to Joe), sit on the big chair (next to Paridy), or ask him about the fire.)
  
  > sit on the big chair
  You sit down into the big chair, kitty-corner to Paridy.
  
  As you settle into the big wicker chair, you rock the end table that takes up the corner between the couch and the chair. Joe flips out.
  
  'What the Hell's the matter with you?' he shouts - almost screams, really. 'Can't you see I've got a cigarette on there?'
  
  Indeed, on the end table, there's an ashtray, and in the ashtray there's a burning cigarette. Probably left there, you suddenly realize, so Joe would have a reason to keep reaching around and across Paridy.
  
  'What's your problem?' you ask.
  
  'My problem?' Joe yells. 'What's your problem, that you're trying to burn the place down?'
  
  Paridy doesn't understand what's going on. She only knows that Joe is screaming in your face, and you're taking it like a punk.
  
  Joe gets up and walks outside.