text: > look at your surroundings
  There's not much here—the Linguistics department was organized with a minimalist philosophy in mind. A likely-looking (and heavy-looking) grimoire rests on a pedestal in an alcove.
  
  The way out is south.
  
  Also, everything here is covered in slime.
  
  > look at the grimoire
  You move your hands around and confirm that the invisible thing is blocking the entire alcove. Great.
  
  > Raenfidhre
  You utter the incantation, the eldritch puissance of its awful phonemes flowing with hideous sweetness over your tongue.
  
  Did it work?
  
  You reach out into space—and touch the horrid thing again. Darn.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "R" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > Kulehrif
  You mutter the incantation, and a greenish haze swims in front of your eyes. Your knees buckle, and for a giddy moment you feel as though you may barf.
  
  But when you regain your faculties, you notice your vision has improved, and you can see easily what lurks in dark corners. You don't notice anything new right here, though.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "K" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > Hterwerbset
  You whisper the incantation, and feel a daemoniac power crystallize in the air, its vertices aligned by the awful syllables as they leave your lips.
  
  But nothing else happens, and the abominable polyhedron gradually melts away.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "H" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Hterwerbset
  You whisper the incantation, and feel a daemoniac power crystallize in the air, its vertices aligned by the awful syllables as they leave your lips.
  
  But nothing else happens, and the abominable polyhedron gradually melts away.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "H" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > examine the grimoire
  You reach out to inspect the grimoire. Your hand runs into something. Something squishy and invisible.
  
  You hold still for a second: You think you can hear it breathing.
  
  > talk to invisible
  You can't see the thing. You can touch it, and hear it, but these senses yield no actionable information—only a queasy feeling.
  
  What we have here is an Elder Horror, probably. But is it really
  here?
  
  > Raenfidhre
  You utter the incantation, the eldritch puissance of its awful phonemes flowing with hideous sweetness over your tongue.
  
  Did it work?
  
  You reach out into space—and touch the horrid thing again. Darn.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "R" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Raenfidhre
  You utter the incantation, the eldritch puissance of its awful phonemes flowing with hideous sweetness over your tongue.
  
  Nothing happens.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "R" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Hterwerbset
  You whisper the incantation, and feel a daemoniac power crystallize in the air, its vertices aligned by the awful syllables as they leave your lips.
  
  The spell's angles align with something invisible and dreadful, and you hear a low skittering. Something brushes against your foot.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "H" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > take the envelope
  Reaching the envelope now would require swimming through a pool of slime, which is a no-go.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > talk to the hacker
  You can tell she's an accomplished hacker from the unrealistically heavy key ring hanging from her belt loop. Anyone who has that many keys isn't supposed to have all of them.
  
  You smile at each other politely, but there isn't really anything else to talk about. You're kind of in a hurry.
  
  > Go south
  At this intersection, the tunnels go north, south—and west, to the chamber of your ill-advised project.
  
  An old graffito is on the east wall.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Raenfidhre
  You utter the incantation, the eldritch puissance of its awful phonemes flowing with hideous sweetness over your tongue. You hear something squeal in shock and inhuman pain. Then you hear a sharp squelching noise.
  
  Then you hear something clank against the floor. What the heck was that?
  
  You can use the abbreviation "R" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > Kulehrif
  You mutter the incantation, and a greenish haze swims in front of your eyes. Your knees buckle, and for a giddy moment you feel as though you may barf.
  
  But when you regain your faculties, you notice your vision has improved, and the room does not seem so dark now:
  
  The lights have gone out in this chamber, but you can clearly see the paths to the north, east, and west.
  
  There is a statuette sitting on the floor here.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "K" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > examine the statuette
  The statuette, carved in an oddly soft bluish substance, depicts a creature you dimly recognize as appearing in certain dreams from which you awoke babbling and covered in sweat. The base of the piece is carved with an inscription in an alien tongue that you happened to learn in one of those Humanities classes that they made you take. It says: "Yzawnzag."
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Yzawnzag
  You cast the hypnosis-resistance spell again, and steel your mind even more against external influence (possibly to the point of overdoing it).
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Go west
  The tunnel from the east terminates here at a brick wall. There are no lights here because it would seem that there is nothing here to illuminate.
  
  Apparently someone disagreed, and made this into their personal study space: A thick textbook lies forgotten on the floor.
  
  > Examine textbook
  The book's cover is immediately recognizable: This is the Necronomicon, by A. Alhazred, an infamous tome of dark magic.
  You flip through it a little bit.
  
  Here's a page that jogs your memory: A spell that conjures frigid wind from... It doesn't say where. The incantation is "bheishauph."
  
  Why would someone just leave a Necronomicon lying around?
  These books are expensive!
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Bheishauph
  You breathe the incantation, and a breeze of cool air swirls around you. For a moment you feel the supernatural cold of the infinite space between the stars.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "B" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > Bheishauph
  You breathe the incantation, and a breeze of cool air swirls around you.
  
  Crystalline patterns appear in the surface of the pool of slime, spreading across and down through the repugnant morass. The surface of the fluid ceases its undulations: It has frozen straight through.
  
  The manila envelope sits on top of the ice.
  
  > read envelope
  You take a cautious step onto the slime-ice.
  
  It seems to support your weight.
  
  Time being a limiting factor, you scuttle across the ice, snatch up the envelope, and scuttle back to solid ground as fast as you can.
  
  It's definitely campus mail, but the rain has washed away any addresses that were ever written on the outside.
  
  The envelope is closed.
  
  > open the envelope
  You open the manila envelope, revealing a grant application.
  
  > look at the application
  Not long ago you swore you'd never look at another one of these, but such oaths often prove difficult to uphold.
  
  The application proposes an investigation into the little-understood branch of "reparative spatial mechanics." The document is careful not to explain these terms with extraneous clarity, lest the subject appear too comprehensible to warrant investigation.
  
  But the applicant has let one specific detail slip: an incantation, "Vaadignephod," with apparent reparative spatio-mechanical potency.
  
  > Go south
  The Alchemy building feels small and defenseless in the face of the wild thunderstorm outside. Rain and howling wind pound at the doors to the north and east. A stairway leads down to the basement (and the tunnels).
  
  This lobby is especially creepy because there's an informative poster depicting an Elder Horror hanging on the wall.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Go south
  The tunnel from the north comes to an abrupt end here.
  
  On the dusty floor is a pitiful, deflated blob.
  
  "Ooooooh, I'm miiiiserabllllle," it groans, in a voice that makes you wince.
  
  > talk to the blob
  The thing on the floor manages to make eye contact despite your best efforts.
  
  "Hey, um. How're you doing?" you ask.
  
  "Hoooooorribllllle," it responds. "I'm sooooo huuuungry, I can barely moooooove."
  
  You nod. "That's rough."
  
  The blob pouts some more: "Can't you hellllllp meeeeee?".
  
  > Bheishauph
  You breathe the incantation, and a breeze of cool air swirls around you. Unsettlingly regular patterns of frost curl across the tunnel walls until they reach the curtain of slime.
  
  The flow of slime slows, and then it stops as the waterfall freezes in place. You hear a crinkling sound.
  
  The frozen curtain of slime shatters and disappears. The way south is open.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "B" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > go south
  The tunnel is a river of undulating slime, and there are few places where it's safe to set foot. The way out is north.
  
  Someone has written something on the walls.
  
  > Caerlaev
  You lock eyes with the grad student as you hiss the incantation. Your vision swims—and then you are staring into your own eyes. They look back with shock, then dawning fear, and then revulsion.
  
  "Why'd you steal my body?" the grad student demands, in your voice. "That's messed up!"
  
  "I don't have time to explain," you grunt, in his voice. "I've got stuff I've gotta do."
  
  "Well," says the grad student, rifling through your belongings, "it looks like I've got your car keys. So..."
  
  He takes off down the hall and out into the storm.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "C" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > go to the east
  The head of the Sorcery department has an extremely nice office. For example, his desk does not look like it was dragged out of a junkyard. On top of the desk is what looks like a copy of the Book of
  Eibon.
  
  The department head rises to greet you.
  
  "Thanks for coming," he says. "I could really use your help with..."
  
  Then, his eyes suddenly afire with evil, he waves his hand and mutters an eldritch invocation at you. Something in your mind disconnects from something else.
  
  "Perfect," says the professor. "Now, would you mind standing inside of that pentagram over there?"
  
  > Yzawnzag
  ## y## e## a## h## ,
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##  ## p
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##  ## p## r
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##  ## p## r## o
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##  ## p## r## o## b
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##  ## p## r## o## b## l
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##  ## p## r## o## b## l## e
  
  ## y## e## a## h## ,##  ## n## o##  ## p## r## o## b## l## e## m
  
  You step into the pentagram. The professor lifts the Book of
  Eibon from his desk and begins chanting in a bizarre,
  otherworldly language.
  
  Something else appears in the room. It appears to have a lot of teeth.
  
  Uh-oh!
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  (I really think you ought to RESTART.)
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Caerlaev
  You lock eyes with the hacker as you hiss the incantation. Your vision swims—and then you are staring into your own eyes.
  
  "Did you just switch our bodies?" the hacker asks, in your voice.
  
  "For the time being, yes," you say.
  
  Your voice sounds disappointed. "That is incredibly rude," she says. "Could I get my key ring back, at least?"
  
  Embarrassed, you awkwardly unclip the heavy ring from the hacker's belt and toss it to your body. The hacker snatches it from the air and starts rummaging through your pockets. Pretty soon she finds your keys, and clips them onto her ring.
  
  "Well, I'm going to go mess with your stuff now," she explains, and she brushes past you on her way down the tunnel.
  
  She's right, you know. That was super rude.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "C" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > go south
  At this intersection, the tunnels go north, south—and west, to the chamber of your ill-advised project.
  
  An old graffito is on the east wall.
  
  > Go west
  It groans sluggishly. It shrugs its unthinkable head—No. That is not
  a
  head.
  
  The whitish, loathsome, incomprehensible thing that oozes before you is Ynf-Okh-Omm, the Eldest Horror. It is sleeping, for now. Soon (very soon), it will awaken, and this helpless universe will suffer the consequences.
  
  The way out is east.
  
  > Go east
  The head of the Sorcery department has an extremely nice office. For example, his desk does not look like it was dragged out of a junkyard. On top of the desk is what looks like a copy of the Book of
  Eibon.
  
  The department head rises to greet you.
  
  "Thanks for coming," he says. "I could really use your help with..."
  
  Then, his eyes suddenly afire with evil, he waves his hand and mutters an eldritch invocation at you.
  
  "That's not gonna work," you say. "I cast a Yzawnzag on myself a little bit ago."
  
  He squints. "Why would you do that?"
  
  "Because I knew you were gonna try to hypnotize me! Oh, also, I'm not really your research assistant. I switched bodies with him."
  
  The professor gapes at you in distress. "So—But—Where is my assistant?"
  
  You shrug. He rolls his eyes and grabs his coat. As he rushes out of his office he snaps at you: "Don't touch anything."
  
  > look at Book
  You open the book to a dogeared page. Oh dear.
  
  You turn to another page. This can't be!
  
  You flip wildly through the Book of Eibon, but it's all the
  same! It's all in Swedish!
  
  You do not speak Swedish.
  
  > examine the desk
  The department head may in fact be the original user of this desk. The idea of a new piece of furniture in an office at G.U.E. Tech
  is almost impossible to contemplate.
  
  On the desk is a copy of the Book of Eibon.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > look at the pentagram
  It's not that unusual for sorcery professors to inscribe pentagrams in their offices.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Go east
  A wall of debris makes further progress impossible. The only way out is to go back west.
  
  There's a dead rat on the floor here. Yuckers.
  
  > Hterwerbset
  You whisper the incantation, and feel a daemoniac power crystallize in the air, its vertices aligned by the awful syllables as they leave your lips. The spell's angles align with something invisible and dreadful, and the rat on the floor shudders to life.
  
  "That was awful nice of you!" the rat would say, if rats could talk, but they can't; instead, it crawls into a crevice in the debris, kicking a crumpled note out behind it.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "H" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > Hterwerbset
  You whisper the incantation, and feel a daemoniac power crystallize in the air, its vertices aligned by the awful syllables as they leave your lips. The spell's angles align with something invisible and dreadful, and the rat on the floor shudders to life.
  
  "That was awful nice of you!" the rat would say, if rats could talk, but they can't; instead, it crawls into a crevice in the debris, kicking a crumpled note out behind it.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "H" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.
  
  > look at note
  You uncrumple the note. This appears to be... Ooh! You're not supposed to have this!
  
  This note explains a magical formula that allows one to travel to the Dusky Threshold, an eerie plane of existence that exists parallel to the Normal World. It's very similar to—but distinct
  from—the
  "Upside-Down" from that Winona Ryder show.
  
  Knowledge of the Dusky Threshold is kept under wraps because it's reportedly very dangerous and it's essentially impossible to get back to the Normal World once you're there. Anyway, it looks like the incantation for sending yourself there is "Pheimmeb."
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > go to the west
  Something is wrong with the angles in this passage—if it is a
  passage.
  Space seems to be turned around, or it's backwards, or... This is giving you a headache.
  
  > go east
  The lights have gone out in this chamber, and you can't see your own hand in front of your face, but you can just make out paths to the north, east, and west.
  
  And you can definitely hear something slithering squamously nearby.
  
  Then it happens. You hear something huge rousing itself from cosmic sleep. The thing groans, and the entire campus shakes. Ynf-Okh-Omm has awoken. Shortly it will consume G.U.E. Tech—and then the universe.
  
  *** You have failed. ***
  
  If you RESTART, you might be able to fix this, unless you—
  
  > go north
  After a little experimentation, you get the impression that movement through  the Dusky Threshold is not possible.
  
  You may be stuck here.
  
  > look at the shapes
  It basically looks like a basement.
  
  > touch the shapes
  Best to keep one's hands to oneself.
  
  > Raenfidhre
  You utter the incantation, the eldritch puissance of its awful phonemes flowing with hideous sweetness over your tongue. A hole opens in the non-space of the Dusky Threshold.
  
  It is a big hole, big enough to tear such a hideously massive Elder Horror away from this realm, stretching the alien beast into impossible angles, and sucking great ropes of the caliginous substance of the Dusky Threshold along with the beast into the dimension beyond. Even as vaporous as you are, you feel yourself drawn into the chasm as well—
  
  But the hole shuts itself, and you are alone among the shadows.
  
  You can use the abbreviation "R" the next time you want to cast this spell. But not if you travel back in time again. That's how time travel works.