text: [Themes: Superhero, superhero, multiple protagonists]
  
  > look around
  [Please press a key to continue]
  
  Episode 3:
  LUMINOUS HORIZON
  
  > press the green
  [Please press a key to continue]
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  The instant you cross the threshold, an earsplitting, discordant screech begins repeating through the corridor, and security robots emerge at the end of the hall, skittering towards you with alarming rapidity!
  
  "Holy crap!" shouts Emily over the din. "I'll keep the robots busy, Austin -- you figure out a way to shut off that godawful noise!" With that, she goes to work, frying robot after robot with her electrical blasts, even as more and more emerge to replace their fallen comrades.
  
  The entry corridor of the fortress looks innocent enough, just a simple passageway leading north, with some mangled iron doors at the south end. At the moment, though, what with the rampaging horde of security robots, maybe it doesn't seem so innocent after all. Down the length of the corridor, alarms shriek and red lights flash in perfect synchronization.
  
  A transparent bubble on the wall protects a panel of electronics and urgent-looking lights, lights that pulse with the rhythm of the screeching alarm.
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  > jump
  You can't think of a compelling reason to wreck the ceiling.
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  > examine the robots
  The robots are insectile and frightening, gliding swiftly towards you on four articulated limbs attached to a central platform. Rising from this platform is a central body-stem, from which extend two arms that end in glittering needle points. There seems to be an inexhaustible supply of these things.
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  > examine the bubble
  The bubble is clear but looks quite strong. It completely covers the panel, and shows no sign of being openable.
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  > punch it
  CRRASH! Your piledriver fist shatters the bubble into thousands of tiny shards!
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  > examine the panel
  The lights of the panel flash in perfect synchronization with the sounds of the alarm. Although you can discern no obvious operating mechanism, you have a hunch that this panel somehow controls the alarm.
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  Emily slips for a moment, almost slamming to the ground before finally catching herself and floating upward again!
  
  > Punch panel
  THUNK! You put a significant dent in the alarm panel, but the alarm plays on.
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  > Switch
  What do you want to switch?
  
  > switch emily
  She's not something you can switch.
  
  SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!
  
  Your sister is here, fiercely tossing lightning bolts and fogging the robots. The automatons are piling up, but there seems to be an endless stream of replacements, and Emily can't manage to gain any ground.
  
  > Blast panel
  KER-POW! ZZZORK! The alarm panel's casing splits with the force of your lightning bolt, and for a moment all the lights in the corridor flash at strobe intensity. Then they go out, and the alarm sound abruptly stops as the lights flicker back to life. Instantly, the security robots cease their attack and scuttle out of sight, leaving their fallen comrades behind.
  
  The last dead robot clanks to the ground, and then the corridor is silent, except for a low hum that seems to come from far beneath you.
  
  > examine the robots
  [Please press a key to continue]
  
  When the alarm stopped, Science Master Esrrua flicked his tail in Maerr's direction without looking up from his work. "You see? The security bots have solved whatever problem was occurring."
  
  "I regret that you are wrong, pridemate. My displays indicate that living, non-iueeoorr creatures roam the first level."
  
  Esrrua scowled. "Piss! Very well, then, let us make sure they remain there. This procedure is too important to interrupt. Shut down the transport tubes!"
  
  Maerr's paws raced over the panel. "They are disabled," he said.
  
  "Good! Now, let us continue. Open containment chamber."
  
  Maerr moved the horizontal lever from left to right, and the containment chamber on the other side of the glass partition between Esrrua and himself slid open. "Opening."
  
  Episode 3:
  LUMINOUS HORIZON
  
  The entry corridor looks quite the worse for wear from the recent battle. Not only are the southern doors warped and mangled, but the extent of the passageway leading north is scorched, scratched, dented, and littered with nonfunctional security robots.
  
  An alarm panel adorns the wall here, thoroughly fried by your lightning bolt.
  
  Austin taps his foot nervously beside you.
  
  > Go north
  Austin follows you.
  
  Here, away from the battle scars of the entry corridor, it's easier to see the patterns that dance along the walls: graceful black swirls laid over a softly glowing grey background. From where you stand, paths lead east, west, and south.
  
  Austin is alongside you, his earthsuit nearly blending in with the surroundings.
  
  Directly opposite the southern corridor, a tall cylinder interrupts the north wall. The tube runs floor to ceiling, with an opening in the front, a foot or two taller than you are.
  
  > look at the cylinder
  The tube is made of the same material as the walls, and is the same color, light grey with black swirls.
  
  > enter the tube
  Confidently, you step into the tube. You stand there. You wait. Nothing happens, and there's no space above or below you to fly into, so you step back out again.
  
  > talk to Austin
  "Nice job on that bubble," you say.
  
  "And my compliments on your panel-electrocution," replies Austin.
  
  An awkward silence follows.
  
  > Change
  [now controlling Austin]
  
  From where you stand, paths lead east, west, and south.
  
  Emily is nearby, waiting for you to do something interesting.
  
  Directly opposite the southern corridor, a tall cylinder interrupts the north wall. The tube runs floor to ceiling, with an opening in the front, a foot or two taller than you are.
  
  > talk to Emily
  "So listen," you say, "about this tube... the design of it looks a little familiar to me. I think it might be related to these transportation tubes I saw on the alien sphere. You step inside it and some kind of gravity control mechanism raises or lowers you to another level. It's really a rather fascinating technology, and I have some ideas as to how it might have been accomplished. Certain subatomic particles have been theorized, and to some extent observed, to have anti-gravitic properties, and it's possible that--"
  
  "So," Emily interrupts, "you're saying we should step into this tube?"
  
  "We already tested the tube, remember? I have a feeling that it won't be taking us anywhere. We'll have to find some other way into the lower levels."
  
  > Punch floor
  THOOM! You bring your mighty foot down on the ground, causing a minor tremor. Nothing useful seems to result.
  
  "Whoa!" says Emily, settling back down to the ground. "Thought you could knock me off my feet, huh? Too bad for you I can fly." She sticks her tongue out at you.