text: > look around
  This is a sparsely furnished pantry. A single shelf lines the wall.
  The only door leads west.
  
  > go north
  (opening the oak door first)
  Opened.
  
  This is the good doctor's study. It would appear that a tornado has been through here recently. Papers are scattered every where and you can see several destroyed books. There is wooden desk and a chair here. A single portrait hangs on the wall.
  
  Lying among the debris is a damaged book that might be salvageable.
  
  A waste basket is here.
  
  > Examine book
  This book has been badly damaged. What's left of its few remaining pages is hard to read. You're able to make out a single chapter heading:
  
  .........sho...be taken..extreme danger when pow....the....ine. ..........................................wrong..be disastrous!
  ..to control..e..eatures...en...uting the port................... ............first...squ.....irc..hen...tr..gle...................
  .irst set..to...bl...en then red........not ..d..whit..een,.this... woul..free....eings from....other wor.......................... ......when ..dy ...lace th....block, the..snak...k,..he man...ck
  then fin....ar block...will secu......ortal....................
  
  MP...ANT!....ke....uickly...clo..ikes...elve is ..too..ate!
  
  And that's all.
  
  > take the book
  Taken.
  
  > examine basket
  This is a simple waste basket.
  
  > look at the desk
  This is a plain wooden desk. It's not the large, impressive, corporate-office desk you expected. This is a working-man's desk. The legs are worn and the surface is scarred with a multitude of pencil marks that found their way through paper. It has a single drawer.
  
  The calm figure sits reading a book, its subject arcane and unknowable. His hands follow the words with intense focus. He often mouths the words and the syllables are alien and grotesque. The pacing figure's attention, on the other hand, is scattered. He stops to speak several times but, knowing his companion, chooses to remain silent. After some time the calm figure takes a break from his reading and looks up. He finds his friend staring at him with an expression reserved for suffocated fish.
  He smiles for the first time. "Try to Relax," he says.
  
  This is the good doctor's study. It would appear that a tornado has been through here recently. Papers are scattered every where and you can see several destroyed books. There is wooden desk and a chair here. A single portrait hangs on the wall.
  
  A waste basket is here.
  
  > examine the chair
  The chair looks just like you would expect.
  
  > open the drawer
  Opened.
  
  > look at the drawer
  The desk drawer looks just like you would expect.
  
  > examine marks
  These scarrs mar the surface of the desk.
  
  > look at the portrait
  This is the man himself, Doctor Hugo. His features are as sharp and thin as his ancestors, only more so. His hair is ice-skater slick and his nose could slice carrots. His eyes seem to scrutinize your every move. In the portrait he's wearing billowing clothes no man should wear. His posture is somewhat effeminate and this, along with his clothes, complete a twisted picture of menace.
  
  > look behind the portrait
  You don't find anything behind the portrait of Dr. Hugo.
  
  > Go south
  This is the northern end of a room displaying arcane and bizarre artifacts. Notable among the items is a large, embalmed snake. The rest of the artifact room is to the south. You can also go north.
  
  The automaton is here. Slumped over and lifeless.
  
  A waste basket is here.
  You see an ornately carved, wooden box sitting on one of the tables.
  
  > examine the snake
  At first this appears to be two snakes tangled together but, upon closer inspection, is a snake with two heads. Its body forks several inches below the heads, forming a grotesque natural obscenity. The snake is embalmed and sits on display.
  
  > examine the automaton
  This is a metal automaton. His body is a tangle of wires and gears. He has a human-like face made from some shiny metal. One of his hands closely resembles a broom while other is closer to a powerful looking claw. He has a single access panel in his mid-section.
  
  > examine the panel
  This is the automaton's control panel. It is currently closed.
  
  > open the panel
  Opening the panel reveals a single button.
  
  [press any key to continue]
  
  > Space
  "I wonder if we sent the right man?"
  At this the sedate man looks up and says nothing. His fingers mark a spot in his book. He's visibly annoyed.
  "Be patient," he says, "he needs time to adapt to his surroundings. Perhaps my personal servant can assist him if he's stuck."
  The nervous man doesn't appear satisfied with his answer but says nothing more.
  
  This is the northern end of a room displaying arcane and bizarre artifacts. Notable among the items is a large, two-headed, embalmed snake. The rest of the artifact room is to the south. You can also go north.
  
  The automaton is here. Slumped over and lifeless.
  
  A waste basket is here.
  You see an ornately carved, wooden box sitting on one of the tables.
  
  > Examine box
  This is a wooden box with carvings of fantastical creatures on it. It is currently closed.
  
  > open the box
  Opened.
  
  Inside the wooden box are the snake block, the many-legs block, the tree block, and the gear block.
  
  > take box
  Taken.
  
  > look at the snake block
  This block depicts a fierce snake. It is molded metal without any seam.
  
  > examinthe snake many-legs block
  You haven't encountered anything like that. (If you're sure you need to refer to that, try putting it another way.)
  
  > examine the tree block
  This block depicts an oak tree. The detail is amazing for something so small. It is molded metal without any seam.
  
  > examine the gear block
  This block depicts a gear in motion. It is molded metal without any seam.
  
  > examine the legs
  This block depicts a creature with more legs that hair follicles. It is molded metal without any seam.
  
  > press the button
  "Click." Nothing happens.
  
  > go to the south
  This is the southern end of the artifact room. Most of the displays
  are gone, their tables bare. One of the more striking items on display here is a bizarre animal skeleton. You also see what looks like a rocky pillar.The rest of the artifact room is to the north.
  
  You see a glass case sitting on one of the tables.
  
  > examine the case
  This is a glass box that contains a rough rock. A small plaque is attached to its side that reads:
  
  This is a rock that is considered to be cursed. Its first five owners fell sick and died unexpectedly shortly after gaining ownership of it. They were described as violently nauseous and lost all of their hair before perishing from the mystery illness. Since that time it has been safely contained within this protective glass case.
  
  > examine the skeleton
  It appears that someone took the skeletons of several animals and glued them all together. What you see is a confused tangle of legs and tails, claws and heads. What this creature was originally is anyone's guess. What you are sure of is that this creature couldn't exist in our world.
  
  > look at the pillar
  This at first appears to be a rocky pillar but is in fact a petrified tree. It is unlike any petrified tree you have every seen. It's bark is very similar to the oak trees that grow in this area and you could swear that you see the initials "DH" carved into it. This section of tree is massive, several tons at least.
  
  > look at initials
  You can't understand how initials could have been carved into anything like this. It's clear that they were not chiseled into the tree.
  
  > read the book
  .........sho...be taken..extreme danger when pow....the....ine. ..........................................wrong..be disastrous!
  ..to control..e..eatures...en...uting the port................... ............first...squ.....irc..hen...tr..gle...................
  .irst set..to...bl...en then red........not ..d..whit..een,.this... woul..free....eings from....other wor.......................... ......when ..dy ...lace th....block, the..snak...k,..he man...ck
  then fin....ar block...will secu......ortal....................
  
  MP...ANT!....ke....uickly...clo..ikes...elve is ..too..ate!
  
  And that's all.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying the iron key, the copper key, the console, the damaged book, and a wooden box. Inside the wooden box are four steel blocks (the snake block, the many-legs block, the tree block, and the gear block).