text: [Themes: Mystery, suspense, steampunk, blood, female protagonist, mystery, horror, fantasy, coming of age]
  
  Too fast. It all happened too fast.
  
  He was healthy not a day before, or so he said when he stumbled into the clinic just minutes ago. You should have seen the signs -- the shivers, the black stains around his eyes -- but the shadows were long in the hour of night, and in the darkness you couldn't see, you couldn't see...
  
  The vomiting came first, then the weakness of the knees -- you barely caught him as he keeled over you -- Doctor Cavala seized him before you were crushed by his weight. "The surgery room!" she shouted, and together you half-carried half-dragged the goblin to the gurney and strapped him down. You hid behind the protection of your surgical mask, adjusted the lights as you had been drilled. Thoughts flitted across your mind -- flitted -- flitting --
  
  "I've never operated on a goblin before," you say, trying to conceal the panic in your voice. "I did, in a way, on the Collegiate cadavers, but --"
  
  "Steady, girl." Doctor Cavala snaps on her gloves and squeezes your shoulder. "Remember your training. I need your help. Are you with me?"
  
  You take a deep breath. "I'm with you, Doctor."
  
  "Good." She nods. "Try to keep up.
  
  You are in a cold cylindrical chamber, thrown into sharp focus by hovering surgical lamps. Shelves of vials and medical supplies crowd around you, leaving little room to misstep. A shimmering calomel curtain frames the exit to the south.
  
  The patient, Reden -- he shudders against his straps on the gurney, black blood streaming from his eyes and mouth, even as Doctor Cavala fights to isolate the infection.
  
  "Eyes sharp, Marid," she says. "I'm going to need your help in a moment."
  
  "Got it," you reply.
  
  [Author's Note: In a world of arcane mysteries, a young doctor's apprentice unravels a conspiracy most grim. A mystery-horror interactive novel inspired by IF classics like Blue Lacuna and Anchorhead. Content warnings: illness, death, medical procedures, emotional suffering.]
  
  > look at Cavala
  You came to know Doctor Cavala when she served with Lumina's volunteers during the troubles. Her clinic was your first choice for apprenticeship when you graduated. Since then you've watched her drag more than a few souls kicking from the brink of death -- and they won't be the last, not if she has anything to say about it.
  
  Doctor Cavala is a dark-skinned surgeon in her early forties, sharp and regal of bearing. She circles the gurney with increasing agitation, doing all she can to keep her patient alive.
  
  A convulsion -- Doctor Cavala takes a step back as the gurney creaks. "We need to sedate the patient," she says, "or we'll never get anything done. Marid, get the soporific from the shelves. I'm going to take a look at his eyes..."
  
  You glance up at the shelves ringing the surgery room.
  
  > examine the shelves
  Nestled among the medical supplies, you spy an inhaler labeled aer vivificans and an inhaler labeled aer soporifer.
  
  "...massive internal bleeding..." she mutters.
  
  > take the aer soporifer
  You tiptoe -- grab the inhaler -- press the device into Doctor Cavala's waiting palm. She shakes it experimentally and nods at you before raising the inhaler to Reden's lips with a hiss...
  
  The goblin's pupils begin to dilate. "Easy now," Doctor Cavala mutters --
  
  > look at the goblin
  --His head bucks violently. Doctor Cavala drops the inhaler and the bulb shatters all over the floor. "Primes!" she hisses. "Marid, can you get me another dose?"
  
  > take the aer soporifer
  That is either not important or not something you can see.
  
  (Type >look or a blank command to examine your surroundings.)
  
  > examine the shelves
  You spy nothing useful on the shelves, well-stocked though they are.
  
  "That was the last one," you yell back, trying not to breathe in any of the fumes.
  
  "Fine!" Doctor Cavala says. "We'll do this without anaesthetic, one way or another." She squints at Reden's body. "Marid, get me the stethoscope."
  
  "Where is it?"
  
  Doctor Cavala's answer is drowned out by another round of coughing from the patient.
  
  > look
  You are in a cold cylindrical chamber, thrown into sharp focus by hovering surgical lamps. Shelves of vials and medical supplies crowd around you, leaving little room to misstep. A shimmering calomel curtain frames the exit to the south.
  
  The patient shudders against his straps on the gurney, black blood streaming from his eyes and mouth, even as Doctor Cavala fights to isolate the infection.
  
  "Doctor, I don't know where the stethoscope is."
  
  "The gurney, the gurney!" she snaps. "There. Hanging from the side. I can't reach it from here."
  
  > look at gurney
  You look behind the gurney and there it is -- a stethoscope reclining snakelike on its hook.
  
  Doctor Cavala looks up from her work, irritated. "Have you found it yet?"
  
  "I found it," you reply.
  
  "Good," she says, "give it to me."
  
  > give the stethoscope to Cavala
  (first taking the stethoscope)
  You carefully unwind the stethoscope and toss it to Doctor Cavala, who catches it with a practiced hand.
  
  "Took you long enough."
  
  "But it was --" you protest.
  
  "Hush." Doctor Cavala pushes the device against Reden's chest and lowers her ear to the ausculting dish. "I'm trying to listen."
  
  > wait for a while
  Blood continues to run down the goblin's lips, and you hurry over to dab it away before it touches Doctor Cavala's face. At last she rises, her face grim.
  
  "What did you hear, Doctor?" you ask.
  
  "Nothing good," she replies. "I fear we may be too late -- but there is one last thing we can try."
  
  > wait a while
  is one last thing we can try."She pauses. "Have you ever heard of the breath of catholicon?"
  
  > No
  breath of catholicon?"You frown. "I thought that was a myth."
  
  "Check the shelves again," Doctor Cavala commands, turning back to her ailing patient. "And be quick about it."
  
  > look at the shelves
  The breath of catholicon -- could it really be here, hidden among this detritus? You glance across the crowded supplies, but nothing catches your eye, not yet...
  
  "What would such a thing even look like?" you protest.
  
  Doctor Cavala moves as if to speak -- but then there is another coughing fit from Reden, and she curses and adjusts the straps. You shake your head and turn back to the shelves.
  
  > search the shelves
  Curatives, laxatives, poisons, panaceas, blades of every shape and size... no. None of them...
  
  "It's in an inhaler," she says finally. "Labeled in the old language. It cost me a great deal to acquire."
  
  There is no mirth in her voice, and for a moment you are at a loss for words.
  
  > search the shelves
  Rows and rows of strange tools, tubes, vials, beakers, inhalers... inhalers?
  
  There is another convulsion from the patient, but with less vigor than before. Much less.
  
  "He's falling apart," Doctor Cavala says in a low voice. "Don't hesitate, Marid. Get me the catholicon."
  
  > examine inhaler
  You blink.
  
  Nestled among the medical supplies, you spy an inhaler labeled
  halitus catholiconis.
  
  Distantly you hear Reden's ragged breathing.
  
  > take halitus catholiconis
  The halitus whirls within its glass cage as you lower it from the shelves; it billows as Doctor Cavala bears the inhaler to Reden's bloodsoaked lips. She breaks the seal, and in the bulb it spirals round and round in the dance of exhalation --
  
  > wait a while
  round and round in the dance of exhalation --And it is within him.
  
  > wait for a while
  round and round in the dance of exhalation --And it is within him.His breath is stolen away. His irises flare with the light of catharsis. He flails against the gurney straps as though puppeted by invisible hands.
  
  > Wait
  hands."Doctor Cavala?" you ask. You look to her, and her eyes are as wide as yours.
  
  > look at goblin
  There is a sudden quiet, a moment when the surgical lights flicker and time itself seems to slow. For an instant something brilliant swims at the edges of your vision.
  the edges of your vision.Reden's eyes close.
  the edges of your vision.Reden's eyes close.The moment passes. Doctor Cavala seizes him, shouting, but the goblin is unresponsive. She checks his pulse. She produces a needle, lines up an injection -- the needle withdraws empty, stained with foul black effluvium. But he does not awaken.
  not awaken.Seconds pass. A minute. Finally she stands, silent, her breathing level. She takes off her mask and sets it on the operating table with an air of grim finality.
  table with an air of grim finality.(To continue, choose a response from the list by typing the corresponding number.)
  
  1) "Damn it."
  2) "I'm sorry."
  3) <Take off your surgical mask.>
  
  > 2
  "I'm sorry." Your voice is a whisper.
  
  Doctor Cavala shakes her head. "Don't apologize, Marid. We did all we could. But it's out of our hands now."
  
  1) <Take off your surgical mask.>
  2) "If only..."
  3) "The catholicon -- what was that?"
  4) "At the moment he died, I had a strange vision..."
  5) "What happens next?"
  
  > 3
  "The catholicon --"
  
  You glance at Reden, half expecting to see white fire in his eyes, and suppress a shudder.
  
  "The catholicon, Doctor. What was that?"
  "The catholicon, Doctor. What was that?"Doctor Cavala takes
  the empty inhaler out of her pocket. She looks pensively into the glass, and holds it up to the light where it shines.
  glass, and holds it up to the light where it shines."The
  catharsis," she says quietly. "The purging of the soul. It is
  the most destructive of all remedies, and the most irreversible once administered. But remember this, Marid: sometimes a thing must be destroyed before it can be built anew."
  destroyed before it can be built anew."She turns to regard the body on the gurney, so frail and gentle in death, and sighs.
  the gurney, so frail and gentle in death, and sighs."It was his only chance," she says. "He was probably going to die either way. But... I'm sorry you had to see that, Marid. I really am."
  
  1) <Take off your surgical mask.>
  2) "If only..."
  3) "At the moment he died, I had a strange vision..."
  4) "What happens next?"
  
  > 3
  "At the moment he died, I had a strange vision. It was... it was..."
  
  You try to recall the strange sensation you experienced, but it fragments and swims away, and lingers at the edge of your consciousness where you can find no purchase. What words could describe that weightless moment?
  
  describe that weightless moment?"It was..." you flounder, "it was..."
  
  describe that weightless moment?"It was..." you flounder, "it was..."Doctor Cavala watches you intently.
  
  was..."Doctor Cavala watches you intently."Strange sights are not uncommon at the moment of death, Marid. Especially when the animus escapes untethered. You studied such reactions in the Physicians' College, did you not?"
  
  College, did you not?""This was different," you insist.
  
  College, did you not?""This was different," you insist."It's been a long day," she replies. "Take a moment to collect your thoughts. Talk to me again tomorrow when you are certain."
  
  to me again tomorrow when you are certain."You lower your eyes. "Yes, Doctor."
  
  1) <Take off your surgical mask.>
  2) "If only..."
  3) "What happens next?"
  
  > 3
  "What happens next?"
  
  "You can begin by taking off your mask," she reminds you. "We won't be operating on a cadaver any time soon."
  
  You sigh and pull off your mask. "But what happens next?"
  You sigh and pull off your mask. "But what happens next?""It's a unique situation, to be sure." Doctor Cavala takes the mask from you and begins to pace around the gurney. "For any other disease, our course would be straightforward. Log the death. Inform the family. Check for symptoms. Do our best to contain the contagion. Easier said than done, but at least it would be straightforward.
  than done, but at least it would be straightforward."Now Reden has died of an illness I can't identify. And I've seen a lot of illnesses, Marid." She studies her gloved hands, stained black with blood. "In the morning I will reference the Alchemical Library of Fluids
  and contact my colleagues for help... but we must be prepared for the possibility that we are dealing with an unknown affliction.
  possibility that we are dealing with an unknown affliction."For now, we proceed with caution." She gives you a curt nod. "After you clean up the surgery room, Marid, you may retire for the night. You've been a good assistant. As for myself... I will begin on the paperwork, and on the task of moving the body to the mortuary."
  
  1) "Yes, Doctor."
  2) "Can I help?"
  
  > 2
  "Can I help?" you ask.
  
  Doctor Cavala smiles and shakes her head. "I appreciate the sentiment, Marid, but you've seen and done more than enough for one night. Take my advice and get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow."
  
  1) "Yes, Doctor."
  
  > 1
  "Yes, Doctor."
  
  "See that it's done."
  
  Doctor Cavala hands her tools to you and leaves to dispose of the soiled surgical masks. The next half hour is spent in simple work: the comforting tedium of cleaning, sterilizing, organizing. Soon the surgery room is pristine and unblemished.
  
  You wash your hands, switch off the lamps, and look to the calomel curtain to the south. It's time to go home.