text: > Go down
  You drop down from the shaft.
  
  Your footsteps squelch in this stale, cramped space. The cobwebs here glitter with moisture and silk-wrapped things. Flies flit through your lamp-light, disturbed by your movements, gathering on moldy plates and slime-encrusted piping.
  
  A pitch-black shaft gapes above you. Through the sabotaged lift to the west, you see the abandoned kitchen.
  
  A kitchen stool has been placed under the pitch-black shaft, providing access.
  
  > go west
  The ladder creaks as you crawl across it...
  
  Light streams thinly here, between dirt-choked basins and dust-coated countertops. Your steps raise plumes of snowlike ash, which slither among your battered boots and cling to them.
  
  To the east is the scullery, across the rickety ladder; to the south is a collapsed corridor.
  
  In the corridor, the assassin paces back and forth with languor.
  
  > Yell
  You cry out. The assassin turns her head --
  
  You cry out. The assassin turns her head ---- her lips peel from a carnival of teeth --
  
  carnival of teeth --You break and run. The kitchen is a blur. You crash through the service lift -- send it lurching with your footfalls -- tear through the viscous cobwebs. All the while she gains, gains with impossible speed upon you, until --
  
  with impossible speed upon you, until ---- wood splinters --
  
  with impossible speed upon you, until ---- wood splinters ---- metal fails and reality turns.
  
  fails and reality turns.The lift has been dislodged from its
  unnatural suspension. Its arcane skeins have entangled the assassin in their coils. Now, shackled again to the chains of gravitation, that whole unwieldy apparatus has begun to collapse, and the assassin has been caught up in its descent.
  
  been caught up in its descent.Her smile falters. She tenses. Stops.
  
  been caught up in its descent.Her smile falters. She tenses. Stops."I -- you -- what --"
  
  -- you -- what --"She scrabbles desperately for purchase.
  Impossibly, her claws gouge into the stone. She grasps at your feet --
  
  Impossibly, her claws gouge into the stone. She grasps at your feet ---- digs into the flesh of your ankles -- you scream in pain
  --
  
  ---- and she slips. She slips.
  
  ---- and she slips. She slips.It is enough. The machine has been set in motion. The cacophony, the wailing gnashing whirlwind, it takes her and bears her down -- bears her shrieking into the abyss where reality ends, where all things end and are consumed.
  
  ends, where all things end and are consumed.And she is gone.
  
  ends, where all things end and are consumed.And she is gone.You collapse there on the edge of the shaft, inches from empty space. You start to cry.
  
  Your footsteps feel strangely heavy as you walk down this final hall. The dust -- your footfalls -- your heartbeat -- they throb in time with every breath.
  
  You can see the light just up ahead. Just a little further. To the south.
  
  > go south
  You --You stumble a little. You pick yourself up, blink the fog out of your eyes. You don't feel quite so well at the moment.
  your eyes. You don't feel quite so well at the moment.Is that blood? Is it yours?
  Is it yours?It doesn't matter. You can't stop now. You have to keep going.
  
  > Go south
  You take a wobbly step.
  
  You take a wobbly step.And another.
  
  You take a wobbly step.And another.Step by step, with agonizing certainty, you push onward.
  
  certainty, you push onward.## Condemned Block
  You emerge into a sea of lights, of sweeping rain and hazy twinkling stars. The city of Furopolis rises all around you, and it has never been more beautiful nor a more welcome sight: you realize the light of the stars is rippling and wavering through your tears.
  
  the stars is rippling and wavering through your tears.Why, then, are your feet so leaden, when the city is so close?
  
  your feet so leaden, when the city is so close?Drenched, shivering, you make your way towards the gate that divides you from the world. Freedom is so close that you can taste it. There is a workman's access sealed by a thin padlock -- with trembling scalpel you press, and cut, and slowly separate the lock from its bonds...
  
  and slowly separate the lock from its bonds...But the work will take an eternity, with this iron padlock, and this tiny blade. And your consciousness wavers and you are so, so tired.
  
  consciousness wavers and you are so, so tired.No. You --
  
  consciousness wavers and you are so, so tired.No. You ---- you slump to your knees, the scalpel slipping from your fingers. It's growing cold, now. Harder to see. The pavement about you is flecked with something like blood or rainwater.
  
  something like blood or rainwater.Perhaps you should take a rest. Just a short one.
  
  a short one.You clasp your pendant to your heart and close your eyes.
  
  There is a familiarity about this place, although you are rarely allowed inside. The aroma of your father's favorite tea mingles with that of ink-blotted corkboards and bubbling athanors; the alchemical lines, alight with power, swoop and soar above you into the rafters.
  
  Father is decanting a spirit at his workstation.
  
  > About yourself
  You're thirteen years old.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are wearing your clothes. On your person is nothing of importance.
  
  > examine the corkboards
  The markings writhe and change, never quite coalescing into formulae.
  
  > examine the athanors
  A foreboding heat emanates from the furnaces.
  
  > look at the lines
  (the soaring laboratory rafters)
  They're too bright.
  
  > look at the Father
  He's still alive. Lively. Warm.
  
  > talk to the Father
  1) "How are you alive?"
  2) "I love you."
  3) "Please come back."
  
  > 2
  Tears well up in your eyes. You blink them back, but they keep coming.
  
  "I love you."
  
  He turns around and smiles. He's so young. You'd almost forgotten his face.
  
  1) "I missed you so much."
  2) "Don't do this to me."
  3) "Don't leave me again."
  
  > 3
  "Don't -- don't --"
  
  You can't do this. You choke. Your hands are trembling.
  
  Father's eyes soften. "Is something wrong?"
  
  1) "Father, you have to listen to me."
  2) "Please listen to me."
  3) "You have to run while you still can."
  
  > 1
  "F-Father. You have to listen to me. Please..."
  
  He's not listening. The power lines have surged. A thump rocks the laboratory -- flames are licking at the lids of the athanors, and smoke is starting to fill the room.
  
  "Marid..." he breathes.
  
  1) "Please..."
  2) <Grab his hand.>
  3) <Cry.>
  
  > 2
  You reach out, but it is already too late.
  
  You've had this dream a thousand times. Each time, it ends the same way. Each time, you are powerless to prevent it.
  
  way. Each time, you are powerless to prevent it.The athanor closest to your father explodes. Glass shatters. A plume of fire erupts, and both of you are thrown back from the blast -- you are dimly aware of porcelain pieces, scattered across the desk, shimmering in the intense heat.
  
  heat.Your father is calling your name. You see him then: bleeding out, barely recognizable. Another beaker falls to the floor and shatters. You can't breathe -- you force yourself up, unsteady, tottering towards your father, toward the flames...
  
  towards your father, toward the flames..."Marid, go!" he screams. "Just go! Run! Get help... get help... g..."
  
  "Just go! Run! Get help... get help... g..."His words are stolen away. They vanish with him in the smoke and the fire. You feel yourself slipping away -- feel the world buckling and crashing around you, as you stumble amidst the twisted metal and the ash --
  
  you stumble amidst the twisted metal and the ash ---- excruciating pain --
  
  pain ---- and then a long dark silence.
  
  Your senses return in fragments and echoes.
  
  Your senses return in fragments and echoes.Something cold and numbing is pressed to your lips. You awaken -- you cough up dust, your parched throat cracking from the exertion. Standing over you, in the darkness, is a woman all in white.
  
  1) "Where is my father?"
  
  > 1
  "Where... where is my father?" you ask weakly.
  
  The woman looks away.
  
  "Hush," she replies. "Don't exert yourself."
  
  1) "Are you going to take me to see him?"
  
  > 1
  "Are you going to take me to see him?"
  
  She doesn't respond. Not for a while. Instead she kneels and places a hand upon your cheek, inspecting you like a broken sculpture. Her face is a mask, tattooed and impossible to read -- and you find that you know it well.
  know it well.After all, the face is your own.
  know it well.After all, the face is your own."It's time," the other you says. "It's time to go."
  
  1) "Where are we going?"
  2) "Who are you?"
  3) "I'm not ready."
  
  > 3
  "I'm... I'm not ready..."
  
  She stands up -- and so do you. The ruins of your father's laboratory flicker, fade, and collapse into ash; it piles among your feet with the skeletons of your past.
  
  "You're free now, Marid," your other self says. "You've suffered enough. It's time to move on."
  enough. It's time to move on."And she points up -- up into the great aether, where the sparks of countless souls twinkle like stars.
  aether, where the sparks of countless souls twinkle like stars.You imagine that your father is among them.
  
  1) <Gaze at the stars.>
  2) "You're taking me away."
  
  > 1
  You watch the stars. In this time outside of time, you watch.
  
  There is a beauty to the movement of the world; to the movement of the souls that orbit it. You remember where you've seen it before: an eternity ago, in Doctor Cavala's surgery room, you caught a glimpse of that animic light.
  
  But here, now, the light washes over you, and you feel yourself being drawn to it like a river to the sea.
  
  1) "You're taking me away."
  2) "I want to go..."
  
  > 1
  "You're taking me away," you say.
  
  She nods. You feel a chill run down your spine.
  
  1) "I want to go..."
  
  > 1
  "I want to go," you admit. "I want to leave it all behind..."
  
  You lower your gaze. Your other self is silent.
  You lower your gaze. Your other self is silent."...But I can't. I can't go. Not like this."
  can't go. Not like this."The animic light bears down upon you, harsh, questioning. It is difficult to stand beneath its weight -- to stand tall before the jury of numberless eyes.
  tall before the jury of numberless eyes.Your other self cocks her head. "Why?"
  
  1) "It's not just about me..."
  2) "I need to know..."
  3) "I'm not done yet..."
  
  > 1
  "...It's not just about me."
  
  You remember those moments, frozen in time and etched in memory. Laughing with Horatio on the Via Terminalis. Consoling Zoiro about his brother's death.
  
  brother's death."I'm caught up in something. I -- I don't know what. But I know that it's big. Bigger than all of us. And it's going to touch the lives of a hundred more, or a thousand more, before it ends.
  
  touch the lives of a hundred more, or a thousand more, before it ends."And... and maybe for the first time in my life... I can do something. To save them. To make a difference. And... and I..."
  
  something. To save them. To make a difference. And... and I..."You look at your other self, trying desperately not to cry. And she looks at you.
  
  at you.And her eyes are alight with white fire.
  
  at you.And her eyes are alight with white fire."Vive," she
  commands. "Vide."
  
  commands. "Vide."And you feel yourself rising up, up into the
  lights, and you gasp for air, and you breathe, and you see --
  
  -- you jolt awake, shuddering, blinking, coughing. Everything feels heavy. A pair of hands grips your shoulders, steadies you.
  
  heavy. A pair of hands grips your shoulders, steadies you."Is she awake?" a voice breathes. Doctor Cavala's voice.
  
  awake?" a voice breathes. Doctor Cavala's voice."Yes," comes the reply. Then again, closer: "Marid? Can you hear me?"
  
  reply. Then again, closer: "Marid? Can you hear me?"You close and open your eyes. There are strange patterns, echoes, swirling in your vision, infinitely long, and it hurts to see. It hurts to
  see...
  
  see...You slip back into unconsciousness.
  
  "...stabilizing..."
  
  Lights. You see lights.
  
  Lights. You see lights.You force your heavy eyelids to open. You're staring at the ceiling of Doctor Cavala's clinic. From the shadows it must be afternoon, around the time of your usual lunch break. But there's something off about the color of the light. Something strange.
  
  there's something off about the color of the light. Something strange."Doctor?" you croak through parched lips.
  
  strange."Doctor?" you croak through parched lips."Marid!" a voice exclaims. "Thank the Primes..."
  
  A shadow falls across you; a hand grips your wrist close. You turn your head to see the smiling face of Doctor Justinian.
  
  your head to see the smiling face of Doctor Justinian.Wha -- what --
  
  1) <Panic.>
  2) "Doctor Justinian?"
  
  > 2
  "D-Doctor Justinian?"
  
  "Thank the Primes." He's checking your pulse now, leaning in to examine your eyes. Your gazes meet for a second, and his irises are fiery and alive and close.
  
  fiery and alive and close.You take a few deep breaths, trying
  to compose yourself. Neither of you speaks for a moment.
  
  to compose yourself. Neither of you speaks for a moment."I thought we'd lost you," he says at last. "The Vigiles found you bleeding out in the condemned block... I heard your door was broken down.
  It boggles my mind that anyone could do a thing like this --
  
  It boggles my mind that anyone could do a thing like this --"But what matters is that you're here now. You're safe."
  
  matters is that you're here now. You're safe."There is a sound from the waiting chairs. You turn and see Doctor Cavala watching from her cot. Her throat is choked. Her eyes are red from crying.
  
  cot. Her throat is choked. Her eyes are red from crying."You're safe," she breathes. "Marid, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
  
  1) "Doctor Cavala?"
  2) "...Thank you, Doctor Justinian. For saving me."
  3) "How long was I out?"
  4) "I was attacked by a mutant woman with a sword..."
  5) "What's wrong with the color of the light?"
  
  > 1
  "Doctor Cavala?"
  
  She shakes her head. "I... I should have asked for a guard. A warding glyph. Something. I should have... I almost lost you, Marid.
  I... I let you down. I failed you."
  I... I let you down. I failed you."You've never seen her like this before.
  before."She's been like this since they brought you in," Doctor Justinian says quietly. "We'd best give her some time to herself."
  
  1) "...Thank you, Doctor Justinian. For saving me."
  2) "How long was I out?"
  3) "I was attacked by a mutant woman with a sword..."
  4) "What's wrong with the color of the light?"
  
  > 1
  "...Thank you, Doctor Justinian," you tell him. "For... for saving me."
  
  He smiles. "You would have done the same for me."
  
  1) "How long was I out?"
  2) "I was attacked by a mutant woman with a sword..."
  3) "What's wrong with the color of the light?"
  
  > 1
  "How long was I out?"
  
  Doctor Justinian checks his pocket watch. "The guards found you lying in the rain... seven hours ago? You've been fading in and out ever since. You were deathly pale then, even paler than you normally are... it's a good thing I got to you in time."
  
  1) "I was attacked by a mutant woman with a sword..."
  2) "What's wrong with the color of the light?"
  
  > 1
  "I was attacked by a mutant woman with a sword. The same person who broke in here the other night..."
  
  He nods grimly. "The Vigiles told me everything. Her name is Carnicer -- she's a hired assassin. The Greater Corindia Trading Company pays her to do its dirty work. But don't worry -- we've called in all the guards we can muster to protect you and Doctor Cavala."
  
  1) "Carnicer is dead. I killed her in self-defense."
  2) "Do you think the Trading Company is behind this?"
  3) "What's wrong with the color of the light?"
  
  > 1
  "...Carnicer is dead," you say. "I killed her in self-defense."
  
  "...Oh." Doctor Justinian blinks. "Well. I'm sure the captain will be glad to hear it. Still, you should remain here in case your enemies send someone else."
  
  1) "Do you think the Trading Company is behind this?"
  2) "What's wrong with the color of the light?"
  
  > 1
  "Do you think the Trading Company is behind this?"
  
  He sighs. "Perhaps. Perhaps someone within the Company... but it's not my job to speculate. And you definitely shouldn't be doing any investigating in your current state."
  
  1) "What's wrong with the color of the light?"
  
  > 1
  You try to focus on the light. It's out of place somehow, both here and not here -- shimmering and scintillating in a way that makes your head spin.
  
  "What's wrong?" you mumble. "What's wrong with the color of the... the..."
  the..."Your breath catches in your throat. Your brain refuses to comprehend what you are seeing.
  comprehend what you are seeing."Marid?" Justinian asks.
  
  1) <Wrench your eyes shut.>
  2) "I have to go."
  
  > 1
  You close your eyes, but the image does not fade.
  
  It lingers.
  
  1) "I have to go."
  
  > 1
  "I -- I have to go."
  
  "Hold on --"
  "Hold on --"You get up despite your body's aches and protests. The world swirls around you, feels unreal. Justinian raises a hand but does not stop you.
  does not stop you.And you see. You still see. In
  life as in death.
  life as in death.## Clinic
  The light you see is not quite of this world. It does not originate from the fluorescent lamps. Yet it radiates still, engulfing this place, leaving its imprints in chair and counter and tile.
  
  A long shadow falls from the north, from the surgery room.
  
  Doctor Cavala and Justinian are staring at you in concern. Neither of them appears to have noticed anything. A calomel curtain leads north to the surgery room, stairs lead down to the mortuary, and the front door lies east.
  
  > look at the chair
  They're for waiting patients to sit on.
  
  > examine Justinian
  He returns your gaze uneasily.
  
  > examine Cavala
  Her eyes are red from crying.
  
  > Go north
  The curtain parts.
  
  You are in a cold cylindrical chamber, pulsing in a thousand dimensions illuminated from within. Dozens or hundreds of afterimages creep like specters at the edge of your vision. To the south, the exit is wreathed in calomel.
  
  A shimmering and fractured Reden sits upon the gurney. He looks at you with eyes that run black.
  
  > talk to Reden
  "H -- Hello?"
  
  Reden twitches, as though animated by a jolt of galvanism. Again. His empty eyes pivot in their sockets. He opens his mouth, but you can't quite make out the words...
  quite make out the words...You feel a curling in your spine -- a beckoning to listen closer.
  
  1) <Hesitate.>
  2) <Listen closer.>
  
  > 2
  You close your eyes and focus. The light of the real world vanishes -- but the other light, that light that permeates the boundary,
  remains. You hold on to that light and follow it like a thread...
  remains. You hold on to that light and follow it like a thread...And the world shifts.
  ...broken...
  
  ...hurts... everywhere...
  1) "Hello?"
  2) "Reden?"
  
  > 2
  "Reden?"
  
  ...yes...
  
  1) "How is it that I can speak with you?"
  2) "You're breaking up..."
  3) "Are you in pain?"
  
  > 1
  "How is it that I can speak with you?"
  
  ...must... be dead...
  
  ...didn't peg... for a chatty one...
  
  1) "I'm not dead. At least, I don't think so."
  2) "You're breaking up..."
  3) "Are you in pain?"
  
  > 1
  "I'm not dead. At least, I don't think so."
  
  ...
  
  1) "You're breaking up..."
  2) "Are you in pain?"
  
  > 2
  "Are you in pain?"
  
  ...hurts...
  
  1) "You're breaking up..."
  2) "Is there any way I could help?"
  
  > 2
  "Is there any way I could help?"
  
  ...
  
  1) "You're breaking up..."
  2) "Doctor Cavala and I have been investigating your
  affliction..."
  
  > 2
  "Doctor Cavala and I have been investigating your affliction..."
  
  You do your best to explain what you've uncovered. You sense a presence following your train of thought, in bits and pieces, in half-remembered parts.
  half-remembered parts....maybe...
  half-remembered parts....maybe......find... where...
  caught...
  caught......Chan... works... find...
  1) "The Channelworks?"
  
  > 1
  "The Channelworks?"
  
  ...
  ...A vision assaults you. A canal splits and runs off. A
  sewer heaves with misery and regret. You sit and drink, waiting, waiting for an answer that will never come --
  waiting for an answer that will never come --It's gone as quickly as it arrived.
  
  1) "I understand."
  2) "I don't understand."
  
  > 1
  "I understand."
  
  ...
  
  1) "I'll find the place in the vision. I'll find out what happened
  to you."
  
  > 1
  "I -- I'll find the place in the vision. I'll find out what happened to you."
  
  ...
  
  1) "I promise."
  2) "Goodbye, Reden."
  
  > 1
  "I promise."
  
  ...
  ......thank you...
  1) "Goodbye, Reden."
  
  > 1
  "Goodbye, Reden."
  
  ...
  
  ...The current buoys you upward. The world shifts.
  
  You return gradually to your senses. The cold glare of the surgery room envelops you. The shelves, the gurney, the curtain: these things fall into their rightful place, and your body of flesh and blood among them.
  
  them.As your sense of self returns, you look instinctively to the center of the room -- but the ghostly Reden is nowhere to be seen. The gurney is empty.
  
  gurney is empty.And yet...
  
  gurney is empty.And yet...And yet you sense his presence. The pull of that other world still remains, inviting you to look beyond
  the curtain. Perhaps that other world was always here, and you only lacked the eyes to see it.
  
  lacked the eyes to see it."Marid? Are you all right?"
  
  lacked the eyes to see it."Marid? Are you all right?"You turn. Doctor Justinian's brow is furrowed with worry. His eyes flicker between you and the empty gurney.
  
  1) "I'm fine."
  2) "I think I just had one of my hallucinations."
  3) "I think I just saw a ghost."
  
  > 3
  "I think I just saw a ghost."
  
  Justinian looks at you. "A ghost? Surely -- but you don't mean..."
  
  Justinian looks at you. "A ghost? Surely -- but you don't mean