text: [Themes: Science Fiction, self-referential]
  
  > Look around
  Though you've been here time and time again, there is something comfortable and inviting about this small walk up to your house, where you have lived for the last twelve years. The trees move gently in the wind - it is, after all, late in November - but the lights in your home, like a lighthouse, guide you unerringly on, to the north. The street you came out of is to your east.
  
  > Go north
  Front porch, outside the house
  A neat little porch, currently devoid of the usual floral ornaments - it's hardly the season for them right now - but still welcoming enough. In front of you is the door to your house, and the recognition panel lies next to it.
  
  > examine panel
  It's a recognition panel, the 29th Century's answer to the good old lock and key; touch it, and your fingerprints are sufficient to unlock and open the door.
  
  > touch panel
  You put out a finger and touch the panel lightly; but it's cold to the touch, rather than mildly warm, and nothing happens.
  
  > Go east
  Why would you want to go back there? At this point in time, you'd love to be back home.
  
  > open the door
  With a light push, you open the door. Strange - even in the trusting world of 2804, doors usually are locked.
  
  > go to the north
  Antechamber, in your house
  The lights in the antechamber, strangely, seem to be malfunctioning, and burn so dimly as to resemble feeble candles; you can barely make out the oft-trodden pathways to your more private chambers, east, and to the drawing-room, north. Immediately next to you is a coat-stand. You can hardly even make out the wallpaper covering the walls.
  
  > remove the coat
  (the long brown coat)
  You take off the long brown coat.
  
  > put the coat othe coat-stand
  (the long brown coat on the coat-stand)
  You put the long brown coat on the coat-stand.
  
  > Go north
  You move north, expecting to find someone there, but bump into something. Yes -- it is a brick wall.
  
  > Go east
  Corridor, in your house
  This short corridor leads, at your insistence, directly from the antechamber to the east wing of the house; it offers a quick retreat to your own chambers, and helps you avoid embarrassing or annoying visitors. It runs east to west.
  
  > go to the east
  End of corridor, in your house
  At the end of the corridor, you can see exits to your north and south, the former leading into your bedroom, and the latter into your small study-cum-office.
  
  > go south
  You step into your office.....
  
  The sight that greets you is nothing more than shocking. All your papers, all your books, are gone. The shelves lie, damaged and broken, face down....but, even more chillingly, though the room is empty, there are splashes of blood on the wall.
  What on earth has happened here?
  Trembling, you return to the corridor.
  
  The voice rushes into your ears again.
  
  "This is only the beginning, Harold. Without you, without the continuity you were about to provide, this world is about to undergo autolysis - self-destruction if you prefer. It is not a pleasant process."
  
  "Until now, you have followed the tracks we set you, followed the side-lanes that we planted signposts along......but now it is less simple. With your memories, with the one item that you were able to save from the deluge, Cassandra will have to - almost - begin all over again. All this as a result of your rash act."
  
  Somehow, you lack the will to protest. Maybe because you're immobile, maybe because you never were much good at arguing anyway, but you don't.
  
  "I can assure you, once again, Harold", the voice goes on, "that it is not pleasant."
  
  End of corridor, in your house
  At the end of the corridor, you can see exits to your north and south, the former leading into your bedroom, and the latter into your small study-cum-office.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a yellow flower
  a strange letter
  an identity card
  a pale blue dress (being worn)
  
  > look at the flower
  It's unlike any flower you've ever seen before; it has a single whorl of four pink petals, with irregular angles that hardly look natural, as if they represented some strange form of origami.
  
  > Go north
  Master bedroom, in your house
  With a sigh of relief, you walk into your bedroom and look around, quickly. Everything seems to be normal - at a glance.
  The lighting in this room is much better than in the rest of the house, so that it's a welcome contrast to the dimly lit corridors. Somehow this room has never seemed as welcoming to you as it does now - the bed, the wardrobe and the armchairs take on the appearance of old friends. The entry to the bathroom is west.
  
  > examine the wardrobe
  Just your average wardrobe. This one is meant exclusively for clothes, clothes and more clothes, though you do keep a stash of handkerchiefs in here sometimes.
  
  > open the wardrobe
  You open the wardrobe in search of a change of clothing, and something falls out. Not a coat hanger, not even your dressing-gown.
  
  It's a corpse, and judging by all appearances, it hasn't been one very long.
  
  You stagger backwards, then take a few steps forward. The wardrobe has been ransacked. Nothing, not even the hanging rods or the air filter, has been left behind.
  
  It looks like you have a murder on your hands.
  
  > examine the body
  You force yourself to look at the body for a few minutes....
  
  Oh, God.....Gerald!
  
  A second glance serves to dispel your unwarranted fears. Though the man's body does eerily resemble your husband, you're quite sure it isn't him. The man must have been nearing forty, and is greying at the temples. The cause of his death, as far as you can see, is a deep stab wound on the left side of his chest.
  
  > Search corpse
  You search the man's pockets, apprehensively, and pull out a plastic card. Barring this, the man is carrying no identification or money.
  
  > examine the card
  (the identity card)
  It's your identity card.
  
  > examine the plastic card
  A cash card, made of plastic. It bears a photograph that, to your surprise, can easily be mistaken for yours, and a few lines of writing below it.
  
  > read the plastic card
  Name: Angela Bradbury
  
  Profession: Psychologist
  
  Age: 38 years
  
  This card is non-transferrable and non-renewable.