text: > Go downwards
  A labyrinthine morass of concrete and claustrophobia. You can feel death about you, like a fog that clings to every corpse and every brick. In the edges of your perception there are dozens or hundreds of spirits, broken and fractured and too incoherent to utter a whisper -- but you can feel their misery and longing all the same.
  
  Tangled rope ladders lead up and down. Somewhere to the north is the Via Mercurii, and to the west, Cadaver Walk.
  
  > go north
  The Road of Change is a snaking, secretive thing. It curls in the side streets and in the dark places. Here along the canal, the opulence of the Upper Perioch peels away to reveal midnight hues and scarlet lamps, and rivers of black blood like festering scars in the city's skin.
  
  To the north is the grand forum, bleak and empty, while to the south the Shanty Quarter begins.
  
  > go north
  A mural of Solphos hangs over a desolate paved square, against the spires of the Channelworks District and the pungent smell of the dead. All around you are crowds of formless spirits and empty-eyed apparitions, which writhe and weep and claw at the mist like an unquiet sea.
  
  To the north, framed in illuminated mist, the Via Terminalis glimmers.
  
  > talk to the spirits
  There are so many, and their spirits are so fragmented -- it hurts just to see them, let alone speak with them.
  
  The sounds of a distant pipe organ echo in the street.
  
  > Go north
  The armillary sphere that marks this place is dormant, and the traffic-guiding glyphs have been replaced by hazard signs and quarantine barricades. You must flatten yourself against the walls to avoid the watchful eyes of the Vigiles patrols, which stalk the crossroads like masked interlopers in the mist.
  
  The checkpoints are a stark reminder that you aren't supposed to be traveling around the city at this hour. You doubt you will be able to convince the Vigiles of your innocence if they are on Doctor Serpens's payroll. And Justinian...
  
  payroll. And Justinian...Even if the authorities were to recognize his guilt, the idea of his execution makes your skin crawl. The thought of him being brought to trial on your account --
  
  treason, remembered as a mass murderer --
  
  treason, remembered as a mass murderer --The thought sends a cold stabbing pain through your heart. It is almost too horrible to envision. He... he isn't a mass murderer. He never has been. Surely if you just talked to him...
  
  you just talked to him...There has to be another way. You can still make things right. Can't you?
  
  make things right. Can't you?You watch the patrolling Vigiles for some time, but you cannot see an angle of approach. They are too observant, and the searchlights too numerous. You would be spotted instantly no matter which path you took, and you are beginning to lose hope in finding a way across, when --
  
  finding a way across, when --Is that...?
  
  finding a way across, when --Is that...?It's him. You'd recognize that mop of hair anywhere.
  
  mop of hair anywhere.Horatio is posted at one of the crossings not too far from where you are, rubbing his mask and staring into the mist.
  
  1) <Approach him.>
  2) <Don't.>
  
  > 1
  You pass between shadows, being careful to avoid the notice of the other enforcers. As you approach Horatio, he freezes.
  other enforcers. As you approach Horatio, he freezes.Slowly he lowers his hand from his face, and reaches out as though to touch you. He stops short halfway, and takes an awkward step back.
  stops short halfway, and takes an awkward step back."Marid," he whispers. "I... I thought you left."
  
  1) "I did."
  2) "I'm sorry. About yesterday."
  
  > 1
  "I did," you say.
  
  Horatio averts his eyes. "I... er... yeah. Yeah. You did."
  Horatio averts his eyes. "I... er... yeah. Yeah. You did."A searchlight passes perilously close to you, and you instinctively take a step back. Horatio realizes that you are both in the open, and he leads you behind a nearby concrete pillar, just out of sight.
  leads you behind a nearby concrete pillar, just out of sight."Listen," he says. He glances back at the scanning searchlight. "You shouldn't be here."
  
  1) "I can't turn back now..."
  2) "Doctor Justinian tried to silence me..."
  3) "Horatio, I need to get to the Channelworks..."
  
  > 2
  You take a deep breath.
  
  "Doctor Justinian tried to silence me," you say. "He... he's behind it all, somehow. He's using this affliction as a weapon -- a tool to kill people. He wants to change the world."
  
  Horatio stares at you, and his eyes widen. For a moment time stops.
  
  Horatio stares at you, and his eyes widen. For a moment time stops."Primes," he says. "Oh Primes. What are you saying? What did he do to you?"
  
  do to you?""He locked me in a room. He... he talked to me, and it was like... it was like he was a completely different person. He was totally different from the Justinian I knew. But it was -- that was a lie, wasn't it? He had always been that way. I just never realized it."
  
  it."You realize you are shivering again, and you cross your arms, pulling your jacket tighter to try to block out the cold.
  
  pulling your jacket tighter to try to block out the cold.Horatio puts a hand on your shoulder. "I can't believe it," he says softly. "Doctor Justinian..."
  
  Justinian...""I... Horatio, I can't believe it myself. I still keep thinking that -- perhaps it was a dream, a hallucination. But it was real. The cistern he locked me in was real. I had to swim my way out -- I had to cut myself free and wash down the Bilious Canal. And I can't stop thinking about it, Horatio, I just can't..."
  
  can't stop thinking about it, Horatio, I just can't...""I..." Horatio takes your hands. "It's okay, Marid, it's okay. You're here now, aren't you? You're going to be fine."
  
  aren't you? You're going to be fine.""Horatio, I..." You close your eyes. "Horatio, I'm scared. Because Justinian... the Justinian I knew... he always knew what he was doing. Horatio, what if Justinian knows what he's doing? What if he's right?"
  
  knows what he's doing? What if he's right?"Horatio just watches you, stunned, and you can tell he has no idea how to respond. The wind rises and tugs and whips at the two of you. The rain falls.
  
  1) "I can't turn back now..."
  2) "Horatio, I need to get to the Channelworks..."
  
  > 2
  "Horatio, I... I need to get to the Channelworks," you say. "It's the only way. If I get there I can fix everything... I can make things right."
  
  You reach out and squeeze Horatio's hands, and he gazes at you with a look approaching awe.
  
  look approaching awe."I..." he says.
  
  look approaching awe."I..." he says.He looks you up and down and takes a deep breath. You see yourself doubled in his lenses, staring back with eyes wide.
  
  with eyes wide.Then he nods.
  
  with eyes wide.Then he nods."Okay, Marid," he says, very simply. "What do you need?"
  
  do you need?""Can you get me there?"
  
  do you need?""Can you get me there?"Horatio looks out across the junction, at the patrolling enforcers and the swiveling lights.
  
  junction, at the patrolling enforcers and the swiveling lights."I... Let me see." He scratches his head. "If I make it look like you're a lost civilian, I can walk you to the concourse out front. I don't think anyone will bother us if we look like we're supposed to be there. But I... I don't know how to get you across the bridge. The Channelworks is closed, and the bridge only comes down for workers with passes."
  
  1) "I have a pass." <Show him Crow's passkey.>
  
  > 1
  "I have a pass."
  
  You reach into your jacket and take out the little oblong device that Webster gave you. The rain sparkles around it, its sigils reflected over and over in droplets.
  
  over and over in droplets."That..." Horatio rubs the lenses on his mask. "Huh. Where did you get that?"
  
  mask. "Huh. Where did you get that?""A friend said it would get me into the Channelworks," you say.
  
  into the Channelworks," you say.He studies the glowing lines. "You've... really thought this through. All right. Since you already have what you need..."
  
  have what you need..."He walks over to the pillar and peers around the side.
  
  side."Nobody's looking. If you want to get to the Channelworks, now's the time."
  
  the time."You nod. He takes your hand and leads you into the billowing rain.
  
  rain.It is nerve-wracking at first: being out in the open, in full view of the sentries and the searchlights. Your heart skips each time one of the patrolling enforcers looks in your direction. Each time, you tense in anticipation of a shout and raised alarm -- but that moment never comes. Somehow, the looks cast in your direction slide off you like drops of oil, like you are the tiniest speck beneath the scrutiny of the Vigiles machine.
  
  scrutiny of the Vigiles machine.So the rings of the armillary sphere loom like thunderclouds; and the black banner of the Turris Infinita billows like a specter in the sky; and Horatio leads you, steady in the grip of his hand, beyond the spotlights and the covered bodies and the battered barricade walls. By the light of your lantern, the two of you walk the ancient paths in the stonework, through the oppressive drizzling rain, until you have left the sight of the other enforcers and followed the northernmost crossing to its end.
  
  and followed the northernmost crossing to its end.And there the
  Hydra Aquifera awaits you. The concourse stretches out before
  your eyes, and the Channelworks rises at the end of the district -- or perhaps the beginning.
  
  perhaps the beginning.Horatio lets go of your hand and turns to you. "This is your stop," he says.
  
  "This is your stop," he says."I..."
  
  "This is your stop," he says."I..."You find that you cannot look Horatio in the eye.
  
  Horatio in the eye."Thanks, Horatio," you say. "You've been a good friend. I won't forget this."
  
  friend. I won't forget this."Horatio nods, and he grows solemn. He looks at the Channelworks, at that golden-white fortress that almost seems to glow in the rain.
  
  seems to glow in the rain."Don't worry about it," he says. "I suppose... I suppose this is where we part ways again. Isn't it?"
  
  suppose... I suppose this is where we part ways again. Isn't it?"He gazes at you.
  
  gazes at you."Marid... will I see you again?"
  
  1) "I'm counting on it."
  2) "I'm glad I met you, Horatio."
  
  > 1
  "I'm counting on it."
  
  Horatio smiles. He steps forward and hugs you one last time, and you give him a peck on the cheek like you used to when you were children. When death and disease were things that only happened in stories and history books.
  
  history books."Good luck," he says.
  
  history books."Good luck," he says."Yeah." You bump his chest. "You should go. You'll get caught for deserting your post again."
  
  should go. You'll get caught for deserting your post again."He nods and squeezes your arm, before turning around with a whirl of his coat. He trots back toward the junction, looking over his shoulder, waving like only a dunce like him could manage.
  
  like only a dunce like him could manage.You watch him until he has vanished out of sight. Then you turn back to the Channelworks concourse with a new sense of resolve in your heart.
  
  concourse with a new sense of resolve in your heart.Now there is only one thing left to do, and fate has placed the responsibility upon you to see it done.
  
  to see it done.## Channelworks Concourse
  You stand before the fortress through which all waterways flow. Enormous colonnades line the concourse, flanked by selenite sentinels; hydra-like channels snake in patterns and merge into bas-reliefs of dizzying scale. Before the fosse, the statue of Reason bears aloft the Azoth.
  
  The bridge to the Channelworks floats disconnected above the fosse, like the suspended pieces of a puzzle. Yet you see dozens of
  wandering ghosts here, shimmering animii treading paths around the Channelworks concourse in cycles; and they cross the empty air to the Channelworks in a spectral procession.
  
  > talk to the spirits
  There are so many, and their spirits are so fragmented -- it hurts just to see them, let alone speak with them.
  
  > look at the passkey
  A small oblong piece of ceramic that glows with sigil-work. According to Webster, you need it to get into the Channelworks.
  
  > examine the bridge
  Curving plates of orichalcum hover in midair over the fosse. You only know them to be parts of a bridge from watching workers cross back and forth.
  
  > Wave passkey
  Nothing happens.
  
  > look at the fosse
  An immense water-filled moat bars access to the Channelworks.
  
  > look at the statue
  She is sculpted in the image of the Trismegistus. A cloak billows around her, and a blindfold hides her eyes.
  
  > examine the cloak
  A cloak, because Reason is only revealed to the devoted.
  
  > move blindfold
  Nothing obvious happens.
  
  > look at the blindfold
  A blindfold, because Reason gazes beyond worldly things.