text: [Themes: Time Travel, science fiction, strong profanity, apocalypse, character based]
  
  > Look around
  As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear; stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open, leading back to the stairway.
  
  On the couch is a deadbolt key.
  
  On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
  
  A video game system sits before the video screen.
  
  You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
  
  > Go west
  Hallway, west end
  The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
  
  A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
  
  > examine photo
  The image shows a young woman dressed in simplified academic regalia. She wears a formless gown in an unflattering blue pastel with a mortarboard cap. The girl in the picture looks about the right age for this photograph to be commemorating a high school graduation, though there are signs that she might be older; her expression is one of world-weariness, and her disapproving frown merges into lines on the face which suggest that this is an accustomed expression. You imagine that she would be quite attractive, if not for the scowl which seems to be permanently burnt into her face.
  
  An unnatural reflection causes you to notice her right eye, which, under close scrutiny, is apparently artificial. Though the prosthesis is good enough to pass for the real thing under casual scrutiny, it does lack the bloodshot look of the left eye, and you can make out the segmentation of a mechanical iris. If the color had been a better match for her left eye, you might well not have noticed.
  [The document "Graduation Photograph" has been added to your DataStore.]
  
  > Go north
  In most respects, this is a thoroughly ordinary bathroom. It is far less clean than the public areas of the house, but not unsettlingly so. It is simple in decor, featuring a tub, toilet, sink, and no windows. The mirror over the sink protrudes slightly, suggesting that it conceals a medicine cabinet. The exit is south.
  
  > open the cabinet
  You open the medicine cabinet, revealing a pill bottle.
  
  > look at the bottle
  A bottle of prescription medication.
  
  > Scan bottle
  The scanner performs a chemical analysis of the pills. Myto-helamine xenogormate, a broad-spectrum anti-virus.
  
  Hm... That doesn't make any sense. Xenogormates weren't developed until the turn of the twenty-third century. What could this possibly be doing here?
  
  > Timescan
  The level of temporal distortion in this room is slightly higher than you would expect to be caused by your presence.
  
  > SCAN
  The scanner has further details available on:
  the pill bottle
  
  > Go west
  That door is locked.
  
  You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
  
  Generally speaking, you learn more from a dirty house than a clean one; intensive cleaning tends to remove much of the anthropological evidence about the day-to-day affairs of the occupants. You can tell that whoever lived here had some warning before they evacuated, time enough to at least do some preliminary straightening up. The bed, which is opposite the door, under the smaller of the room's two windows, is neatly made, the wastepaper basket between the door and the dresser is empty, and the two night tables on either side of the bed are both clean and freshly polished. A full-length mirror hangs on a door to the north. The hallway is east.
  
  > look under the bed
  You paw around under the bed for a moment. Your search turns up a small piece of metal, which looks like a simple key.
  
  > look at the basket
  The wastepaper basket is empty.
  
  > examine the dresser
  (the dresser)
  You see nothing special about the dresser.
  
  > Go south
  That door is locked.
  
  You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
  
  You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
  
  > Go upwards
  There is barely enough room to stand upright in the attic. It certainly looks too small to be of much use for storage. It's nearly impossible to move without clocking yourself on a supporting beam.
  
  You can see an unlabeled data disc here.
  
  > take the disc
  (the unlabeled data disc)
  Taken.
  
  > SCAN
  The scanner has further details available on:
  the supporting beams
  In the distance, you think you hear someone trying to force the lock on the front door. Better stay out of sight.
  
  > Scan beams
  The scanner locates a compartment in one of the beams.
  
  > open compartment
  You open the supporting beams, revealing a gun, some cash, a necklace and a ring.
  
  > take the gun
  Taken.
  In the front hall, you hear the sound of cracking wood as the door is forced open. There's someone else in the house.
  "Alert:", the console beeps, "Human presence detected within building."
  
  > look at the gun
  It is completely unbelievable how much craftsmanship mankind once put into means of killing. This is only a very small pistol, but it is elaborately crafted, fashioned as if style was as important as function. All the same, it's still a device whose single purpose is the extinguishing of human life, and that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.