text: [Themes: Zorkian]
  
  > Go downwards
  As you move in that direction, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  You are in a gently sloping underground passage which curves upwards to the west, and down into darkness to the south. A dim light filters in through cracked timbers overhead.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  An animated burin is perched on your head.
  
  > Go west
  The eastern passage ends here in a sizeable chamber carved out of solid bedrock. A dull orange glow (probably the natural phosphorescence of rich granola seams nearby) fills the room with memories of sulphur and smelting flames, long consigned to history.
  
  A dented vending machine still sits proudly against one wall.
  
  An animated burin is perched on your head.
  
  "Oooh!" squeals the burin, darting toward the vending machine. "A genuine Frotzen Vend-O-Magic! I've always wanted to play with one of these vintage originals. They really push my buttons, y'know?"
  
  > put the coin in the slot
  The gold zorkmid vanishes into the slot with a metallic rattle.
  
  "Come on! Let's go exploring!" chirps the burin excitedly.
  
  > push black
  "Sure!" squeaks the burin, hurling itself at the black button. There's a soft click as the button depresses, followed by a whirr, then something clatters into the left chute.
  
  > examine the granola bar
  It's a bar of everyone's favourite snack food, granola. Stamped into its side are the words "Product of the Frobozz Magic Granola Mining Company Antharia."
  
  > read the plaque
  "Frobozz Magic Vending Machine Company 'Frotzen' Vend-O-Magic
  
  This state of the ar. automagi. .endi.. machi.e is .ua.a.tee. n...r to j.m, fau.. or mi.fee. duri.. a fu.l min..g sea.on, .r .o...l. .ou. .or....d. .a..!"
  
  (The rest of the plaque is obscured by claw marks.)
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You have two granola bars, a log book, a red envelope, a syllabus, a note, a rusty iron key, and a silver slide rule.
  
  The burin flutters around your head.
  
  > Inventory
  You have a granola bar, a log book, a red envelope, a syllabus, a note, a rusty iron key, a silver slide rule, and a gold zorkmid.
  
  The burin nibbles softly at your ear.
  
  > look at the black button
  The black button is on the left side of the machine and labelled "Granola". It appears to have jammed while being pressed, and is now recessed a good two inches deeper than your finger can reach.
  
  > look at the red button
  The red button is on the right side of the machine and labelled "Batteries".
  
  The burin traces an intricate Double Fanucci figure in midair.
  
  > put Granola in the left
  As you attempt to put the granola bar into the left chute, the chute's complex mechanism pushes back creakily, crumbling the bar into thick unpleasant globs of granola which smear it to a halt. Guess it wasn't designed to cope with dissatisfied customers.
  
  > put the coin in the slot
  The gold zorkmid vanishes into the slot with a metallic rattle.
  
  > push the black button
  "Sure!" squeaks the burin, hurling itself at the black button. There's a soft click as the button depresses, followed by a whirr and a loud thumping from the left chute, then something clatters into the right chute.
  
  The burin traces an intricate Double Fanucci figure in midair.
  
  > look in the right chute
  The right chute contains a complex mechanism, a gold zorkmid and an iron disk.
  
  > get all from right chute
  gold zorkmid: Taken.
  iron disk: Taken.
  
  > look at the disk
  It's a thin disk of iron about the size of a zorkmid coin, stamped with the words "zm1 Credit Refund, Not Exchangeable for Cash".
  
  The burin traces an intricate Double Fanucci figure in midair.
  
  > put the disk in the slot
  The iron disk vanishes into the slot with a metallic rattle.
  
  > Go east
  You are in a gently sloping underground passage which curves upwards to the west, and down into darkness to the south. A dim light filters in through cracked timbers overhead.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  An animated burin flies in small circles around your head.
  
  > get the cube
  As you touch the cube, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  The six interior walls of this perfectly cubical room are perfectly white and featureless. A single silver compass rose, balancing a delicate crystal sphere on its bloom, floats like a pedestal above the floor.
  
  An animated burin hovers over your head.
  
  > touch the sphere
  The sphere vibrates in your hands, and an image takes form in your mind:
  
  You are clinging to the edge of a bridge above a vast chasm. A thundering waterfall cascades through a rainbow below, while from behind a bored voice yawns, "So tell me then, how do I get that pot of gold?"
  
  Slowly, the vision fades. You feel vaguely disoriented for a moment.
  
  > go east
  As you move in that direction, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  You are standing on a tiny rock islet, barely more than a few feet across, in the middle of a vast ocean. No land is visible in any direction, and the water swirls threateningly about your feet.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  An animated burin hovers over your head.
  
  The burin flies a slow loop around your shoulder.
  
  > look at the islet
  It looks like an ordinary rock islet to me.
  
  > examine the ocean
  You see a circling fin far below.
  
  > examine the fin
  It has a fishy kind of look to it.
  
  The burin makes a lunge at its shadow, and misses.
  
  > Yes
  Very well. You splash out and take a dive..
  
  You are swimming, or to be more precise, sinking, in a vast ocean. The water is icy cold on your skin, and your breath quickly bubbles out through your nose.
  
  A blue shark glides past.
  
  Unfortunately, you have no time to enjoy the experience, as a misplaced gulp of seawater finds its way to your lungs.
  
  Nothing happens. It would seem that you are dead.
  
  > hold the breath
  I don't know the word "hold".
  
  I don't know the word "hold".
  
  > get the cube
  As you touch the cube, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  The six interior walls of this perfectly cubical room are perfectly white and featureless. A single silver compass rose, balancing a delicate crystal sphere on its bloom, floats like a pedestal above the floor.
  
  An animated burin is perched on your head.
  
  > touch the sphere
  The sphere vibrates in your hands, and an image takes form in your mind:
  
  You are clinging to the edge of a bridge above a vast chasm. A thundering waterfall cascades through a rainbow below, while from behind a bored voice yawns, "So tell me then, how do I get that pot of gold?"
  
  Slowly, the vision fades. You feel vaguely disoriented for a moment.
  
  The burin nibbles softly at your ear.
  
  > touch the sphere
  The sphere vibrates in your hands, and an image takes form in your mind:
  
  You are at the bottom of an immense smouldering crater gashed out of bare rock. Stars flicker slowly in a midnight sky, and through the eerie silence a single voice wails over and over again, "Yek wen eht ton! Yek dlo eht esu!"
  
  Slowly, the vision fades. You feel vaguely disoriented for a moment.
  
  > go to the west
  As you move in that direction, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  You are standing at the entrance to a large, familiar college campus. At least, it would be large and familiar if it existed, which it apparently doesn't anymore. The only solid things remaining are a white mailbox and two paths leading west and southwest. Everything else seems to be swallowed by a black, swirling void.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  An animated burin is perched on your head.
  
  > go to the southwest
  The path ends here at a newly formed cliff face, looking down over a strangely distorted crater to the north. Inky black void shivers around your feet, and trickles in small eddies from the crater's rim, nearly obscuring the single crumbling line of reality that leads northeast.
  
  A yellow signpost balances on the crater's edge.
  
  An animated burin is perched on your head.
  
  > open Envelope
  Opening the red envelope reveals a packing slip and a black cube.
  
  The burin gives a screech of agony and dives back into the log book, which snaps closed after it.
  
  > drop it
  The black cube distorts weirdly as the void swallows it. You see it slowly fall toward the distant vault, then vanish.
  
  > go to the northeast
  You are standing at the entrance to a large, familiar college campus. At least, it would be large and familiar if it existed, which it apparently doesn't anymore. The only solid things remaining are a white mailbox and two paths leading west and southwest. Everything else seems to be swallowed by a black, swirling void.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  > Go west
  Here, in what was once the centre of campus, what little reality is left has condensed into a grue-black, rock-blasted crater hammered out of existence by some unimaginable power. The stars distort overhead in a strange demented dance; you can barely remember seeing a white mailbox to the east.
  
  An iron vault floats calmly in the void, apparently unscathed.
  
  Out of the corner of your eye, you see a black cube fall from above.
  
  > examine cube
  The cube is about an inch on a side, and is featureless black, apart from a tiny legend embossed on one face.
  
  > open Envelope
  Opening the red envelope reveals a packing slip and a black cube.
  
  The burin gives a screech of agony and dives back into the log book, which snaps closed after it.
  
  > put it in the water
  The black cube falls into the water, and drifts out of sight.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes...
  
  > Inventory
  You have a log book, a red envelope, a syllabus, a note, a rusty iron key, a silver slide rule, a gold zorkmid, and a battery. The red envelope seems to contain a packing slip.
  
  > open Envelope
  Opening the red envelope reveals a packing slip and a black cube.
  
  The burin gives a screech of agony and dives back into the log book, which snaps closed after it.
  
  > get the cube
  Which cube do you mean, the black cube, or the white cube?
  
  > get the cube
  As you touch the cube, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  The six interior walls of this perfectly cubical room are perfectly white and featureless. A single silver compass rose, balancing a delicate crystal sphere on its bloom, floats like a pedestal above the floor.
  
  An animated burin hovers over your head.
  
  > listen
  It's pitch black.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes...
  
  A dank, rancid breeze wafts up the corridor.
  
  > drop the battery
  Dropped.
  
  You hear a low growl, followed by silence.
  
  > Go north
  You are in a gently sloping underground passage which curves upwards to the west, and down into darkness to the south. A dim light filters in through cracked timbers overhead.
  
  You see a white cube here.
  
  An animated burin is perched on your head.
  
  > get the cube
  As you touch the cube, the universe abruptly turns itself inside out.
  
  The six interior walls of this perfectly cubical room are perfectly white and featureless. A single silver compass rose, balancing a delicate crystal sphere on its bloom, floats like a pedestal above the floor.
  
  An animated burin hovers over your head.
  
  The burin whistles a few bars of the national anthem.
  
  > open Envelope
  Opening the red envelope reveals a packing slip and a black cube.
  
  The burin gives a screech of agony and dives back into the log book, which snaps closed after it.
  
  The black cube trembles briefly inside the unsealed envelope, then vaporises!
  The crystal sphere tumbles to the floor!
  The compass rose bursts into a flower of flame!