text: > Go downward
  This room is almost a hall; it's maybe ten feet wide and 30 feet long, and the doors are very nearly diagonally opposite one another.
  
  It's so aggressively unremarkable that it makes you suspicious. If rooms had eyes, this one's would be shifty.
  
  The ceiling tile lies on the floor, underneath the gap it left when it fell.
  
  > Disable
  parse error, expecting `NUM'
  
  > Go north
  With the trap machinery off, the room is much safer to cross now.
  
  Not completely safe, though. They left a tripwire about two-thirds of the way down the hall as a trap for the unwary. Easy enough to dodge, especially since you've got all the time in the world to do so. You breeze through the door at the end into the briefing room.
  
  This room is nondescript, but not as aggressively so as the gauntlet you just ran. You see a few chairs gathered around a projector.
  
  Hal is somehow already here, waiting for you.
  
  Your briefing officer, known only to you by his codename "Saint," stands behind the lectern.
  
  Saint pockets a PDA of some kind as you come in. "Well handled. Of course, your teammate didn't wait for you, or it would have been nicer still."
  
  [1] Defend teammate
  [2] Dismiss praise as inappropriate
  
  > 1
  "Presumably, in a real mission, we'd actually be able to communicate."
  
  Saint shrugs. "Well, yes. In any event, there's something we need you to look into." He gestures to the chairs by the lectern. "Have a seat."
  
  > take the seat
  You sit down.
  
  Saint nods at you. "All right, let's begin."
  
  Hal interrupts. "Shouldn't we wait for Benj to show up?"
  
  "That would rather defeat the point -- one of the reasons you're here is that we've lost contact with him, and think a rival group has captured him. He'd been investigating the students that were nominally part of a SubGenius cult. You may have noticed them on campus lately." Yes, they're rather hard to miss, even from a distance. "We think they're the pawns or subjects of one of our rivals, but we don't know which ones. We're also not clear on what they're actually doing. Your task is twofold: first, you need to rescue him, and second, find out what they're up to and who they're working for."
  
  He turns to Hal. "Any questions from you?"
  
  Hal nods. "Where exactly are we going and how are we getting there?"
  
  "We're working on figuring out exactly where he is, collecting the data that we can get from his pager. We should have that ready in about fifteen or twenty minutes. Anything else?"
  
  "Just why you're only asking me specifically for questions."
  
  "Because, unlike Janet, you're going to be spending those fifteen minutes elsewhere." He turns to look at you. "You may have noticed that Hal had no difficulty walking through the trapped hallways. This wasn't because you switched the machinery off, either; he was already out here by the time you turned it off. This could indicate one of a number of things, and so we intend to narrow down just what that is." He gestures. "Hal, if you would be so good as to follow these gentlemen?" Hal heads off, flanked by three men in dark suits.
  
  Saint watches them go, then turns back to you. "Any questions?"
  
  > ask Saint about Hal
  "What exactly are you testing Hal for, here?"
  
  "He might have actual clairvoyance, or just a danger sense even more finely honed than yours. Or, it might be something in between. He'll be taking some standard Rhine tests, and a couple of variant ones."
  
  > ask Saint about yourself
  "We're all still just interns. Can you really trust us with something like this?"
  
  "It's a simple infiltrate-and-rescue against other college students. They may have unusual capabilities, but it's not like any of you are mundane either."
  
  > ask Saint about Benj
  "What's happening to Benj?"
  
  "It's hard to tell. His captors taking some symbology from the old gag religion, the Church of the SubGenius, but they're too well-organized and doctrinally uniform to be the real thing. So all we can really see is that they have some very effective indoctrination technique. We need to get him out fast."
  
  > ask Saint about Church
  "What can you tell us about the opposition here?"
  
  "Not a lot. They're taking some symbology from the old gag religion, the Church of the SubGenius, but they're too well-organized and doctrinally uniform to be the real thing. So all we can really see is that they have some very effective indoctrination technique. It's extremely important, then, that we get Benjamin out as soon as possible. In fact, it may already be too late."
  
  > ask Saint about the mission
  That topic's been well-covered already.
  
  > examine Saint
  "Saint" is clearly of East Asian extraction, and you'd guess him to be in his late 30s. His general build implies that he's something of a desk jockey now, but he'd still be more formidable in combat than Hal.
  
  As you understand it, he takes the handle "Saint" to indicate that he's your liason to Higher Powers.
  
  > ask Saint about the pager
  "We're not going to be carrying our pagers on this mission, are we? It seems like a risk."
  
  "No, you won't. Of course, Benj had his when he was captured, so it's a little late for that."
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  You are carrying:
  a pager
  
  > Kiss saint
  Pointless.
  
  > Kiss saint
  Pointless.
  
  Hal returns to the briefing room and wordlessly hands a card of some kind to Saint.
  
  Saint glances at the card and pockets it. "All right. We're ready to go. We've located Benjamin -- or, at least, his pager. He's in Skinner Hall, on the first floor. All you have to do is find your way in and get him out."
  
  Hal smiles and pulls a keycard of some kind out of his pocket. "Skinner Hall, you say? That works out rather nicely."
  
  The game is afoot.
  
  Well, here you are. The Foundation tracked Benj to this building, and now you two are going to have to get him out of there. You don't know what kind of opposition there will be, but you've got your stealth and your superior fighting technique to see you through.
  
  Skinner Hall, the campus psychology building, towers over you to the north. You always did get the feeling that the architects wanted the students to feel like rats; tonight, that seems more appropriate than usual.
  
  Hal mills about, trying and failing to look inconspicuous.
  
  > ask Hal about the briefing
  "What was that card you showed Saint at the briefing?"
  
  "It's our ticket into here." He pulls the card out of his pocket and and opens the door in one smooth motion.
  
  "Not bad at all. How'd you hack the card?"
  
  "I didn't. A friend of mine forgot it on Sunday and I haven't seen her to return it yet."
  
  "Fair enough. Let's go." You head in, and follow Hal's lead to a laboratory. The key works there, too.
  
  This room is dimly lit, and it's hard to see much. There seem to be a number of powered-down computer workstations, and a couple of printers or xerox machines or something. Light is coming in from the room to the west. The door you came in is to the south.
  
  Hal is quietly flipping through some documents by the printers.
  
  > ask Hal about the card
  "Where did you find that keycard?"
  
  "A friend of mine forgot it on Sunday and I haven't seen her to return it yet."
  
  > ask Hal about the documents
  "What are you looking at there?"
  
  "Just capturing now; reading later. Looks like status reports on indoctrination experiments, though."
  
  > ask Hal about Benj
  "Do you think Benj is OK?"
  
  "I won't know until I figure out what the SubGenii are up to."
  
  > look west
  Someone's working at a computer in the next room. They aren't watching the door, though, so it should be safe to sneak through.
  
  > examine west
  You see nothing unexpected in that direction.
  
  Hal drops the papers he was looking at, making a noticable noise. Just then, the lights blink on, and a young Asian woman is standing in the doorway.
  
  "What's going on here? HOLD STILL." You freeze up entirely at her voice -- it seems to be talking directly to your nervous system. This can't be good.
  
  Hal, on the other hand, seems mostly unaffected, except with surprise. He picks up the papers he dropped, and then says, "...Bian?"
  
  The woman -- Bian, it seems -- looks puzzled as well. "...Hal?"
  
  "No time, gotta go, bye..." ... you didn't actually know Hal could run that fast.
  
  Bian's confusion doesn't last long. She turns back to you. "Maybe you can help me out. Why don't we have a nice little chat. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about." She hands you a tape recorder. You take it, and nod cheerfully. She seems nice enough, after all...
  
  Active Agent: Hal
  
  Hal's status: OK
  Benj's status: COMPROMISED
  Janet's status: COMPROMISED
  Bian's status: RIVAL
  
  Oh, man. This should have been a completely routine mission. Follow the other guys in, swipe some documents, then get out. That part was fine, and you made it out with a nice set of psychology research documents and internal memoranda from the "League of de Molay."
  
  That's the only good news, though. Not only does the League seem to have an actually functioning mind control system, complete with some kind of sonic will-sapping device, a key figure in the research is your old high school friend Bian Tran!
  
  The documents are in Saint's safekeeping now. They'll be analyzing the bits that can't be made public and trying to decide whether to co-opt, bury, or expose the psychology program.
  
  That bit's their problem. Your problem is now to figure out where you stand with your old friend.
  
  This must be why superheroes keep their identities hidden behind ridiculous costumes.
  
  The sofas are comfortable, and the tables can hold three large pizzas each. This room was really intended more for students to slack off in during off hours than for conducting conspiratorial after-action reports. But it will do. Anyone wandering past will just thing you two are talking politics or something.
  
  Bian smiles weakly as you approach. "Hi, Hal. Have a seat." You join her at the table.
  
  > ask Bian about the de molay
  "What can you tell me about this League of de Molay?"
  
  Bian lifts an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about." "Oh well."
  
  > ask Bian about Janet
  "What have you done to Benj and Janet?"
  
  "Oh, they're basically intact. Possibly a bit confused about their chain of command, though. And you won't have to worry about Janet lurking outside your door or anything."
  
  > Kiss bian
  That wouldn't have any relevant effects in the current situation.
  
  Bian looks at you evenly. "I know you read the papers you took from my psych lab."
  
  [1] Confirm
  [2] Deny
  
  > 1
  "Well, yes. I still can't believe the Psych department let you run experiments like that in public."
  
  "It's legitimate research. All the subjects signed consent forms and waivers. Even your Benj and Janet."
  
  "Really."
  
  "Absolutely."
  
  > ask Bian about the cult
  "OK, this is a stupid question, but I have to ask. Why the SubGenius?"
  
  "It makes indoctrination easy to track. The research group can easily ensure it's not duplicating effort."
  
  "That sounds ominous. What exactly are you trying to spread here?"
  
  "That's the other reason. The doctrine we're using is basically harmless."
  
  > Bye
  (to Bian)
  You can't think of anything to say on that topic.
  
  "Both Benj and Janet were pretty cooperative when I interviewed them. Janet's still kind of under the belief that she works for the Foundation, but she has some unusual ideas about your chain of command now."
  
  "Given how easy it is for you to find me, why bother with them at all?"
  
  Her look softens for a moment. "All told, I'd just as soon leave you out of it."
  
  You frown inwardly -- she's hiding something from you.
  
  [1] Press for details
  [2] Let it pass
  
  > 1
  You let that frown become external. "That's not the whole story."
  
  "No, it's not. And it touches on matters I either don't want to talk about, or that I can't figure out at all. If it becomes relevant, we'll talk about it. It's not now. Moving on..."
  
  > ask Bian about the research group
  "What exactly are you guys doing in that lab, anyway?"
  
  Bian lifts an eyebrow. "Didn't you even glance at the papers? We're doing systematic research into indoctrination techniques and how to resist them. We're using devotion to the Church of the SubGenius as a test case."
  
  [1] Practicality objection
  [2] Morality objection
  [3] No objection
  
  > 1
  "And you can publish this stuff?"
  
  "Oh, sure. Lots of journals will take articles on the topic."
  
  > ask Bian about the research group
  That topic's been well-covered already.
  
  > ask Bian about yourself
  No need to ask; you know more about that topic than she does.
  
  > ask Bian about the mind control sex
  That topic's been well-covered already.
  
  > ask Bian about the open access science journals
  "What kind of journals publish results on practical mind control?"
  
  "Psych journals, of course. This kind of thing has been a major issue in social science for decades."