text: > Go downwards
  Tunnel
  Technically this is more like an antechamber for the main cellar, but the room is longer than it is wide, and the ceiling is pretty low. Besides a boarded-up rathole, there's nothing to look at in here but the stairs up and the (infuriating) door in the south.
  
  > examine the rathole
  Those pests probably could chew through these boards if they really wanted, but they seem to have gotten the message and found someone else to harass.
  
  > go to the south
  (first opening the cellar door)
  The door does not budge. You must not have the right combination.
  
  > examine the door
  This thing is ridiculous.
  
  The corny combination lock on this door is supposed to keep intruders out of the cellar, protecting the most expensive wines and liquors. It cost thousands of dollars to commission and install. It is a stupid, gaudy piece of junk.
  
  There are three dials. You just turn a dial, and it slides over to the next setting. Each dial has three settings. There are only twenty-seven combinations. Any thief could go through all of them in just a few minutes.
  
  The left dial is marked with the astronomical symbols for Mercury, Venus, and Earth. It is currently pointing at Mercury.
  
  The center dial has the symbols for Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. It is pointing at Mars.
  
  The right dial has settings for Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The symbol for Pluto is the stupidest; it's just a combination of the letters P and L. The dial is currently set to Uranus.
  
  A simple padlock would be so much more effective. So much simpler.
  
  > turn the left dial to the venus
  > TUNNEL
  
  > TECHNIcYou turn the left dial until it points at the symbol for Venus.
  
  > turn the middle dial to the jupiter
  You turn the center dial until it points at the symbol for Jupiter.
  
  > turn the right dial to the Neptune
  You turn the right dial until it points at the symbol for Neptune.
  
  You hear a scream upstairs. Someone must have just been introduced to Peter.
  
  > Go south
  (first opening the cellar door)
  The door swings open.
  
  John only buys the most expensive wines and spirits he can find. In the eyes of his friends, anyway, that makes him a conoisseur. This room isn't packed to the brim, but what it does contain is worth defending.
  
  A sickly red and yellow bottle lying on its side in the corner would seem to be the exception.
  
  Nearby is a crate of a particular wine which John apparently thinks is worth saving for a special occasion.
  
  A crowbar leans against the wall.
  
  > get the crowbar
  It's a crowbar, but you take it.
  
  > examine bottle
  YOU TURN What is this swill doing here? How did it get past the security system? It probably belongs to Chucky.
  
  > take bottle
  You drop the crowbar so that you can carry the repellent bottle.
  
  > take the crowbar
  You probably shouldn't leave the bottle lying around.
  You happily discard your bottle, so as to carry the crowbar with both hands.
  
  > open the crate with the crowbar
  You stick the end of the crowbar under the lip of the crate and begin redistributing some force.
  
  You hear a crunching sound. The dining room is right above you; that must be the statue moving around. The back of your neck tingles: it
  did nod at you, back in the cemetery. How long has it been
  alive? Is it alive?
  
  Your leveraging efforts are rewarded: The nail in one corner of the lid pops up. Three to go.
  
  > continue
  You reposition yourself and stick the crowbar under the lid again.
  
  From upstairs: a shriek so shrill it could be steel rasping against glass, or a scream, or you don't know what. You should go up and make sure nobody's hurt.
  
  But then you hear laughter. They're fine.
  
  A little more force, and the second nail comes out.
  
  > continue
  UnYou wedge in the crowbar again to tackle the third nail.
  
  Now you hear a low scraping, a scraping that can only be someone dragging those heavy dining room chairs over those gorgeous hardwood floors. Your lips twist in rage; you look at the nail and imagine it is Ivan's head.
  
  It slides out of the crate with a pop. Just one more.
  
  > Continue
  The last one should be easy. You slide in the crowbar...
  
  Suddenly the party upstairs is silent. No. Suddenly? It had been silent for a few seconds before you noticed anything. Or maybe it's not silent. You can hear something rustling. Or is that just people talking?
  
  You strain to listen, but then all you can hear is your own heartbeat.
  
  The last nail slides out, and the whole lid slides away. You drop your crowbar and pull out a bottle.
  
  > look at the bottle
  Which do you mean, the bottle of PrÃ©venge or the bottle of Thunderbird?
  
  > examine the Thunderbird
  You regard the bottle with disgust. You couldn't possibly serve it to the guests. Maybe you could use it to kill a houseplant.
  
  > examine the prevenge
  (the bottle of PrÃ©venge)
  You had the pleasure of experiencing PrÃ©venge at the same tasting where John decided he had to buy several crates. It's nothing special.
  
  > Drink Thunderbird
  You don't have a corkscrew handy, which is just as well. Just the fumes off of this stuff could be hazardous to your health.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a bottle of PrÃ©venge
  a bottle of Thunderbird
  an ornate key
  
  > take the prevenge
  (the crate of PrÃ©venge)
  Taking the entire crate upstairs would be too much--no matter
  who is visiting.
  
  > take the bottle of the prevenge
  You'd better not leave the bottle here; John is expecting you to come back with some liquid.
  You cannot gracefully carry two wine bottles at once. You drop the other bottle in favor of the PrÃ©venge.
  
  > Go north
  Technically this is more like an antechamber for the main cellar, but the room is longer than it is wide, and the ceiling is pretty low. Besides a boarded-up rathole, there's nothing to look at in here but the stairs up and the (infuriating) door in the south.
  
  > take the rathole
  PLEASURE OF eYou can't save it. You have to escape.
  
  > drop the prevenge
  You'd better not leave the bottle here; John is expecting you to come back with some liquid.
  
  > go south
  John only buys the most expensive wines and spirits he can find. In the eyes of his friends, anyway, that makes him a conoisseur. This room isn't packed to the brim, but what it does contain is worth defending.
  
  Nearby is a crate of a particular wine which John apparently thinks is worth saving for a special occasion.
  
  You can also see a crowbar here.
  
  > take the crowbar
  You'd better not leave the bottle here; John is expecting you to come back with some liquid.
  You happily discard your bottle, so as to carry the crowbar with both hands.
  
  > go south
  John only buys the most expensive wines and spirits he can find. In the eyes of his friends, anyway, that makes him a conoisseur. This room isn't packed to the brim, but what it does contain is worth defending.
  
  Nearby is a crate of a particular wine which John apparently thinks is worth saving for a special occasion.
  
  > take the bottle of the prevenge
  You'd better not leave the bottle here; John is expecting you to come back with some liquid.
  You cannot gracefully carry two wine bottles at once. You drop the other bottle in favor of the PrÃ©venge.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a bottle of PrÃ©venge
  a crowbar
  a bottle of Thunderbird
  an ornate key
  
  > Up
  Kitchen
  Where's Chucky? It looks like he left in a hurry.
  
  There seems to be something happening down in the dining room.
  
  > Go south
  Everything is on fire. The floor is burning and the walls are burning and the table looks like a big bonfire; all the settings are twinkling in the light of the flames. The room is rapidly filling with smoke.
  
  Captain Miles seems to be nursing one of his migraines.
  
  Miss Idie is sitting on the floor, staring into the blaze of the table.
  
  Would you stop that? There are people watching.
  
  > examine the smoke
  Smoke is rapidly filling the room, but for now you seem to be able to breathe.
  
  Would you stop that? There are people watching.
  
  > ask Idie about the fire
  Hope looks up at you and begins pulling off one of her legs.
  
  "I've been informed that I should feel some remorse over my opinions on the Asian race," she says. She throws her leg onto the burning table and begins removing one of her arms.
  
  "If all I have to do is apologize, then I apologize. There." She tosses the arm into the flames and gets to work pulling off the other arm.
  
  Her expression changes: she glares at you as if in warning. "I am being compelled to apologize against my will. None of this is sincere; I'm just acting this out to make him happy." She jerks her head backward, toward the narrow door. "I don't know how he's doing it. They're crafty that way. But why am I going on like this?"
  
  She throws her other arm and leg onto the fire glumly. "There's not much I can do about it now."
  
  She throws the rest of herself onto the fire, and in an instant the heat shrivels her like a plastic bag.
  
  Have you been paying any attention? At all?
  
  > talk to Miles
  Miles looks at you through his fingers, still rubbing his head. "Oh, there you are," he says.
  
  His fingers are skeleton bones instead of fingers. "I'm supposed to say something, so I'll say it to you. The thing I'm supposed to say is, I'm sorry."
  
  Now the skin and muscle is gone from his face. "Not sure what I'm supposed to be sorry about. It's really hot in here, and it's hard to think. Maybe I'm supposed to be sorry about Hope, you know."
  
  His face comes back for a second so he can squint in frustration. "That's a complicated thing to be sorry for. But the other stuff I did, I don't want to admit to doing. So I'll go with that."
  
  He nods his skull a couple times, then his skeleton falls apart and burns up.
  
  No. I don't care anymore. Do what you want.