text: > Go downward
  This looks to be an older part of the sewer system that has fallen into disrepair. Many of the pipes here have crumbled and are filled with debris.
  
  Set in the low ceiling is an old iron hatch, hanging open.
  
  > listen
  The constant echoes of dripping water are quite loud in here.
  
  > close the door
  You close the small metal door.
  
  > go west
  The street leads east and south from here.
  
  The cold wind blows harder, tugging at the hem of your trenchcoat.
  
  > Kiss chuck
  The very thought is repellent.
  
  > ask Chuck about Edward
  The orderly squints at you. "Who? -- Oh, wait! You mean the guy, ventilated his whole goddamn family early this year. Yeah, I remember him. What a nutball. We put him in a rubber room, he lasted two weeks. Bashed his fuckin' brains in on the little observation window. Reinforced glass, took him right out." The orderly scratches his head. "Christ, I gotta get around to cleaning that mess up one of these days." Then with a heavy sigh, he returns to his magazine.
  
  > ask chuck for the key
  Which do you mean, the cell key, the long steel key, the tarnished bronze key, the small steel key, the small copper key, the old-fashioned brass key, the old-fashioned iron key, the key to the house or the key to the cellar?
  
  > Cell key
  The orderly laughs. "I don't think so, lady."
  
  You pointedly look the other way as the orderly takes another tweak at the pimple on his neck.
  
  > take the keyring
  (slipping the long steel key into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  Taken.
  
  > put the brass key on the keyring
  The old-fashioned brass key is now on the keyring.
  
  The orderly scratches himself absently.
  
  > put long steel on the keyring
  (first taking the long steel key)
  (slipping the keyring into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  The long steel key is now on the keyring.
  
  > put the small steel on the keyring
  (first taking the small steel key)
  The small steel key is now on the keyring.
  
  > look at the keyring
  It's just an ordinary-looking keyring. There are seven keys (a small steel key, a long steel key, an old-fashioned brass key, a small copper key, an old-fashioned iron key, a key to the house and a key to the cellar) on it.
  
  > shake keys
  (first taking the keyring)
  That would accomplish very little.
  
  > Go south
  (opening the barred gate first)
  The orderly laughs at your attempts. "Nice try, lady, but you're never gettin' in there without this," he says, patting the key on his belt.
  
  > ask Chuck about the Asylum
  "Listen, I just work here, lady."
  
  > ask Chuck about inmates
  "We get all kinds of freaks in here, lady. You have no idea." The orderly laughs unpleasantly. "We got some professor in week before last, found him naked in his office, he'd cut off his own fuckin' foot and was tryn'a eat it. Last year some guy killed his whole family with a goddamn shotgun." The orderly shakes his head. "It's a great fuckin' world, ain't it, lady? Great fuckin' world."
  
  > ask Chuck about Julia
  The orderly shrugs. "Wouldn't know," he mutters.
  
  > ask Chuck about Chuck
  The orderly leers at you. "I get off later this evening, if you want to get to know me better."
  
  > ask Chuck about Verlac
  (the Verlac family)
  "I don't give a shit who you're related to," the orderly says wearily. "You'll have to visit them somewhere else, because they ain't here."
  
  > look at matches
  A label on the side reads, "Water-resistant matches. Strike on cover." There are five matches left.
  
  You pointedly look the other way as the orderly takes another tweak at the pimple on his neck.
  
  Airy strains of vacuous elevator music waft through the room from invisible speakers.
  
  > look up Max Greer in the records
  (in the archives)
  Max Greer: born March 19, 1963.
  
  > look up Max Greer in the records
  (in the archives)
  Max Greer: died September 2, 1992.
  
  > Go west
  All of the doors are locked.
  
  > show the letter to Chuck
  Which do you mean, the hastily written letter or the letter opener?
  
  > Hastily
  (first taking the hastily written letter)
  (slipping the keyring into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  He glances at the hastily written letter without anything remotely resembling interest, and returns to his magazine without a word.
  
  > show the skull to chuck
  (first taking the animal's skull)
  (slipping the hastily written letter into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  He glances at the animal's skull without anything remotely resembling interest, and returns to his magazine without a word.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are wearing your trenchcoat, your clothes and your wedding ring; in addition, you have in your hands an animal's skull, a lantern (providing light), a broom and a hooded robe.
  
  The pockets of your trenchcoat contain a hastily written letter, a keyring, on which are seven keys (a small steel key, a long steel key, an old-fashioned brass key, a small copper key, an old-fashioned iron key, a key to the house and a key to the cellar), a towel, a book of matches with five matches left, a tarnished bronze key, an old tin (which is closed), a broken padlock, a meat hook, a tattered drawing, a newspaper, a strange black disk, a strange metal flute, a silver locket, a gold locket, a flashlight, Michael's faculty card, a bundle of soggy pages, a puzzle box (which is open but empty), a flask (which is closed), a letter opener, a slip of paper, a family album, a torn journal, a typewritten notice and your umbrella.
  
  > show the faculty card to chuck
  (first taking the faculty card)
  (slipping the animal's skull into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  He glances at the faculty card without anything remotely resembling interest, and returns to his magazine without a word.
  
  > stand
  The block of heavy equipment sways alarmingly as you step off, almost spilling you.
  
  > go to the north
  Several workbenches and racks of arcane electronic equipment have been dragged together to form a sort of open laboratory on this wide balcony overlooking the mill. A wide table dominates the area, strewn with precision tools, bits of wire, and scribbled calculations. To the south, a narrow catwalk hangs above the mill floor, and a metal ladder leads down into the machinery below.
  
  Prominent among the strange tools scattered across the table is a strange caliper-like instrument.
  
  On the workbenches are some notes and some arcane electronic equipment.
  
  One of the racks contains a number of circular mirrors, stacked side by side like dishes in a dishwasher.
  
  Tacked up on the wall is a large technical blueprint.
  
  > take the blueprint
  The blueprint curls up into a loose tube as you pull it from the wall.
  
  > Go south
  The catwalk stretches north, a narrow ribbon of metal grillwork dangling fifty feet over the factory floor and shuddering dangerously in time with the machines beneath it. There are no railings of any kind. At the far end you can see what looks like a wide balcony with several large banks of equipment.
  
  A large block of heavy equipment hangs in the air just a foot or two beyond the edge of the catwalk.
  
  > take towel
  (slipping the blueprint into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  Taken.
  
  > Hastily
  (first taking the hastily written letter)
  (slipping the towel into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  The woman hardly even looks at it.
  
  > show the blueprint to the woman
  (first taking the blueprint)
  (slipping the hastily written letter into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  The woman hardly even looks at it.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  You are wearing your trenchcoat, your clothes and your wedding ring; in addition, you have in your hands a blueprint rolled into a loose tube, a lantern (providing light), a broom and a hooded robe.
  
  The pockets of your trenchcoat contain a hastily written letter, a towel, a book of matches with five matches left, three keys (a long steel key, a tarnished bronze key and a small steel key), an old tin (which is closed), a broken padlock, a meat hook, a tattered drawing, a newspaper, a strange black disk, a strange metal flute, a silver locket, a gold locket, a flashlight, a keyring, on which are five keys (a small copper key, an old-fashioned brass key, an old-fashioned iron key, a key to the house and a key to the cellar), an animal's skull, Michael's faculty card, a bundle of soggy pages, a puzzle box (which is open but empty), a flask (which is closed), a letter opener, a slip of paper, a family album, a torn journal, a typewritten notice and your umbrella.
  
  > Go east
  Isolated and serene within its high, ivy-covered walls, Miskaton University represents this benighted town's single, if somewhat dubious, claim to cultural achievement. Founded some time in the early 1800s, the school's reputation and enrollment have diminished somewhat as Anchorhead drifts further and further into the abyss of provincial backwaterism. Still, it is generally recognized for its collection of folklore and esoteric mythology (one of the oldest and most extensive on the east coast). The Board of Deans was also kind enough to offer Michael a full professorship upon hearing of his recently discovered heritage and his plans to move into the estate. Ivory tower, perhaps, but at least they take care of their own.
  
  There are numerous buildings surrounding this cobbled court, but the only one you are interested in is the library to the west.
  
  A gust of wind blows your hair into your face.
  
  > go south
  The game is up. You turn to run, but already the men are on your heels...
  
  There is no time to run. Heavy boots on the cobblestones; hands lunging toward you -- they are everywhere, grabbing you from every side, immobilizing you. Someone's huge, calloused paw closes around your windpipe and starts to squeeze. Just before you black out, you can feel yourself being lifted off your feet...
  
  > go north
  You'll have to get off the block of heavy equipment first.
  
  The block of equipment sways and tilts slightly under your feet.
  
  > take the caliper
  (slipping the towel into the pocket of your trenchcoat to get a hand free)
  You pick up the calipers. Made of stainless steel, molded in a strangely flowing, almost organic design, the calipers -- if that is what they are -- resemble no other tool you've ever seen. It has three independently adjustable arms, each ending in a needle-point pincer, which fold back on themselves at grotesque, asymetrical angles toward a floating center point. There is a calibrated readout set near the base, which presumably provides a measure of whatever strange contortion of space is occupied by whatever object is placed between the pincers at the tool's other end.