text: [Themes: Science Fiction, post-apocalyptic, siblings]
  
  > go downward
  Rooftop, by the exit
  Anton is here.
  
  The concrete stairwell exit is a rectangle protruding at least fifteen feet from the rooftop, its only feature a closed metal door.
  
  You can also see a plank here.
  
  Anton appears to be negotiating with the door, but it doesn't seem to be going well.
  
  > take the plank
  Taken.
  
  Anton is examining the exit door minutely.
  
  > look at the building
  It's similar to the one you're on, except that the exit door is hanging off its hinges. Instead of a garden there's a faded billboard for a long forgotten movie. Given its alphanumeric website address it's a few decades old at least.
  
  There's probably a ten foot gap between the buildings.
  
  Anton wanders off to the northeast corner.
  
  > put the plank on the gap
  The plank now provides a very narrow escape route to the west.
  
  Off in the distance, Anton is staring at the sky, a goofy grin on his face.
  
  > go west
  Anton arrives at Rooftop, garden patch from the east.
  
  > Go west
  Channelling your tightrope-walking ancestors, you place one foot in front of the other, trying not to think about--
  
  --you've never backstepped this fast but it might not be fast enough but then Anton grabs you in a big bear hug and pulls you to safety.
  
  Rooftop, by the exit (in Anton's bear hug)
  To the west you can see a nearby building, about the same height as the one you're on.
  
  The garden patch is north, the chimney is east and the empty corner is northeast.
  
  On the nearby building is a plank.
  
  The concrete stairwell exit is a rectangle protruding at least fifteen feet from the rooftop, its only feature a closed metal door.
  
  "TOPH!" At first you think you're shaking, but then you realize it's Anton.
  
  > look at the plank
  It's about a dozen feet long with a crack in the middle.
  
  Anton's eyes are darting around fearfully, he's muttering "Careful, careful careful..."
  
  > examine the billboard
  What hasn't been bleached by the sun has been soaked through by the rain. But you can just make out the URL: www.ghostswithshitjobs.com.
  
  You give your brother a squeeze and a pat on the back and the catatonic look leaves his face. He looks at you happily and then shakes you, pushes you away.
  
  The plank is still in one piece, barely. You lean over to pull it in but seeing the pavement below gives you a sick fantasy of having your brains spread over them. You take a few stumbling steps back from the edge and sit on the tarmac.
  
  > get the plank with Claw
  It's too lightweight a tool for that.
  
  Anton sees what you're trying to do and pulls in the plank himself.
  
  "That was a close one, Toph. Geez. The closest."
  
  > ask Anton,  to go west
  Anton nods. "I could make that jump easy, Toph. But then where would that leave you?"
  
  Anton looks at you like you're joking, but when you're not smiling he gets flustered.
  
  The plank sticks up where it's cracked and Anton stomps it flat.
  
  "You shoulda tied off. Collectors die every day from being stupid."
  
  "Tied off?" you say, "With the rope in the bag YOU LOST?!" The familiar rage you feel at your brother burns away the last of nausea in your belly.
  
  "No," he says with a sullen kick at the tarmac.
  
  > Open containment unit
  Don't fiddle about with the SCU. It's for spider silk-related things only.
  
  Anton's still nervous, his eyes wide and his nostrils occasionally flaring.
  
  > put the silk on the plate
  Which do you mean, the large amount of spider silk or the small amount of spider silk?
  
  > put the small amount of the silk on the plank
  You lay it over the length of the wood, making sure to cover the crack. It hisses and smokes dramatically, the wood blackening wherever the white fibre makes contact.
  
  Blinking the smoke from your eyes, you panic that it's the wrong kind of wood -- but the hissing has stopped.
  
  Anton looks at the board and at you with a baffled look on his face.
  
  Anton seems less freaked out.
  
  > look at Anton
  Your brother Anton is a broad shouldered, bearded fellow with long tangled brown hair and eyes with a tendency to wander. His features are relaxed and calm.
  
  Anton punches the door and then immediately regrets it.
  
  > examine the plank
  It's about a dozen feet long with a crack in the middle and shiny black veins where the silk has reacted with it.
  
  Anton wanders off to the exit door.
  
  > Go west
  There's a ten foot gap. You could always climb pretty much anything, but long jump was never your strong suit.
  
  Anton is sitting on the ground. He's discovered that the tarmac is slightly soft and is pressing his hand into it to make a print.
  
  > put the plank on the gap
  You need to be holding the plank before you can put it on top of something else.
  
  Anton appears to be negotiating with the door, but it doesn't seem to be going well.
  
  > take the plank
  Taken.
  
  Anton is sitting on the ground. He's discovered that the tarmac is slightly soft and is pressing his hand into it to make a print.
  
  > put the plank on the gap
  The plank now provides a very narrow escape route to the west.
  
  Anton is examining the exit door minutely.
  
  > Go west
  You look back at your brother. "OK, Anton. I'll go across first to make sure it's safe. Then you."
  
  Anton looks anxious. "I don't think so, Toph. I mean, you almost got turned into sidewalk jam the last time. Can't you just go down and open the the door from the inside?"
  
  It's a bad idea to leave your brother alone. The last time you left Anton by himself he got his pinky finger stuck in a pipe so bad he ended up sleeping with it for a week. But it's obvious he's not going to go across in this nervous state. You need to get his mind off the danger.
  
  Anton punches the door and then immediately regrets it.
  
  > Continue
  You've gotta show Anton something that'll take his mind off the very real chance of death first.
  
  Anton farts, pretends you did it, and then heads off, shooting back disgusted looks from the northeast corner.
  
  > show the silk to Anton
  Which do you mean, the large amount of spider silk or the small amount of spider silk?
  
  > Large amount
  Anton flips open the container and his eyes bug out of his head when he sees how much silk there is. "Wha--"
  
  Anton is blazing with excitement, all anxieties forgotten.
  
  > Go west
  Before you step out onto the plank, you look back at your brother. "Now we gotta be extremely careful with--"
  
  Anton makes a contemptuous sound. "Careful!?! If we were careful we never would have gotten trapped on a roof and made the score of the century," Anton raves, his face beaming. "Let's go! I can't wait to see Harry's face!"
  
  He pushes you to the side and strides out onto the plank.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  Half way across, right on the crack, he turns around and looks at you with his big, puppy-dog eyes.
  
  He raises his arms in the air. "Take that, Pachenkos! You can't trap the Karrento Brothers!"
  
  Not wanting to draw attention to the incredible danger he's in, you just raise your arms and try to smile.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  Anton throws his head back and guffaws, then walks safely to the other end of the plank.
  
  "C'mon Toph, let's go blow Harry's mind!"
  
  > Go west
  You cross the plank -- still totally stable, the spizz really works -- and join your brother.
  
  Arm in arm, you head down the stairs, chanting "KAR-REN-TO!"
  
  Heading to Harry's to cash in your silk, you pass the alley between the buildings where you could have fallen to your death. You look away, not willing to face what could have happened, and instead clamber up on your brother's shoulders. You grab his thick mane of hair as he starts to gallop like a horse, just like when you were kids.