text: > look at your surroundings
  Carol's Room (Ben Collins-Sussman)
  The room is surprisingly neat and tidy, particularly for a teenager, and the furnishings are sparse: a bed, table, desk, and a turntable.
  
  A few toys are gathered neatly in one corner beneath a blank patch of wall, where a large framed portrait once hung. A few pieces of artwork are affixed to the wall above the desk. The exit is to the south.
  
  You can see Carol and a window (closed) here.
  
  > examine the window
  The large bay window is framed in the same age-worn rosewood trim that decorates the rest of this once great mansion.
  
  > look through mirror
  Your hand goes right through it.
  
  > look at the turntable
  A wooden turntable with speakers built into the cabinet rests on a folding wooden table. There is a record on the turntable, but the turntable is off.
  
  > examine the record
  The center is black, with silver writing. You can't make out much beyond "Wagner" and "Die Walküre".
  
  > look at Bed
  The bed is perfectly made and a light blue woolen blanket stretched drum-taut over it. The pillows are perfectly aligned with the upper edge of the blanket.
  
  > look at the coffee
  This is odd. As you watch the swirls in your cup, they form a pair of lovers that rotate around the cup, maintaining a steady distance from each other.
  
  You remember that twin objects like this mean you are split between two intricately entangled destinies, and that at any given moment, one of them will be the right place for you to be, but the coffee can't tell which. Way to drop the ball there, coffee.
  
  A faint smell of mildew emanates from it.
  
  > go to the south
  "I've learned a few things since you were here last time; surely, you must know that Christabell taught me every chance she got.
  She's such a generous soul, and so starved for company out there on the hill." Carol glances out the window towards the cliffs.
  
  "Seems like you are the one who can't get enough of company. No wonder you don't get a lot of visitors, if you trap everyone in your room. Not many teenagers would want to lock adults in with them."
  
  "Well, you are the only one who can see me, so you've got that going for you. No, I'm happy to let you go, I just want to be able to find you again, you know, if I need you for something."
  
  "It's nice to be needed."
  
  "So I understand. I will lower my barrier for you just as soon as you agree to bear my mark. The good news, it's painless, the downside: it is a stain on your immortal soul. There's no such thing as a free lunch, after all. So, what'll it be, shall I mark you?"
  
  She extends an index finger towards you.
  
  > No
  "Well unless you know some way out of this room that hasn't occurred to me, we're going to be here together until you do agree, but no hurry on my account. We can come back to the marking issue later."
  
  > No
  Carol shakes her head sadly.
  
  Carol reminds you that she'd really appreciate it if you would say "yes" so she could get on with the rest of her day.
  
  > Leave
  "Not to be a bore," say Carol, "but I need to ask your consent to mark you before you split; can I place it?"
  
  "Malice, is it me, or is Naomi being just a little bit selfish by now allowing me to place my mark?"
  
  Carol nods at Malice as he (apparently, though you don't hear a thing) lends her his wisdom.
  
  "No doubt about that at all," giggles Carol with a conspiratorial wink at the demonic clown. "If she would just say "yes", the world
  would be a better place. From a certain point of view."
  
  > enter the window
  First of all, this window is many stories above the ground; the drop would be certain death. Beyond that, though, the window isn't open.
  
  > open the window
  The window has a badly rusted child-proof safety lock -- on the outside.
  
  Carol rolls her eyes waiting for you to say "yes" so she can place her mark.
  
  > open the safety lock
  The window has a badly rusted child-proof safety lock -- on the outside.
  
  > examine the window
  The large bay window is framed in the same age-worn rosewood trim that decorates the rest of this once great mansion.
  
  > Yes
  "Thank you for being so reasonable. This will only bring us closer," says Carol as she pokes you gently with her finger. You do not feel pressure where she touched you, it was more like air blowing gently on your shirt.
  
  Carol withdraws her finger and stares at it, puzzled. "That's odd."
  
  "Problem?" You say.
  
  "No, not really a problem, more of an inconvenience. It seems like you've already been marked, presumably by Christabell for your own protection. That makes sense, I suppose. Can't be too careful." Carol looks out the window. "As you probably know, a person can only be marked by one spirit."
  
  "Oh?"
  
  "Yes, so I had no choice, since you were already marked, I placed mine upon your daughter."
  
  "I don't have a...  wait a minute, what?" You glance at your belly where she touched you, "You mean, I'm... " Come to think of it, you have had a lot of nausea lately, in fact, Peter had to pull over on the drive up. And you've been feeling tired, which is unusual for you.
  
  "Yes, so congratulations on that, I suppose. Anyhow, you're free to come and go as you please now."
  
  > Ploughver
  Mens voices, people shuffling around frantically, things moving, falling.
  
  "The brazing is blown, pressure is down to ten percent!" The voice is just slightly louder than the blaring klaxon.
  
  "Dive planes up 30".
  
  "Moderators are full in, it's no good, I'm scramming."
  
  "All hands. Prepare for emergency blow. Larsen, in five and then hit it."
  
  "Aye. Five. Four. Reactor quenched. Three. Two. We're pitching. One. Blow!"
  
  "Tanks are good, but no blow. Sir, I think we're iced up."
  
  "Crushing depth minus 200, minus 300."
  
  And then silence.
  
  Hillside Path (Jack Welch)
  You are in a hillside hollow flanked on three sides by sheer granite cliffs and on the other by gnarled vegetation.
  
  Three trailheads hold out some chance of respite: north, southwest, and southeast.
  
  You can see Christabell here.
  
  [ HINT: you can type "hints" for a hint for this location ]
  
  As the day has progressed, the shadows over the hillside deepen, but you easily perceive Christabell, every bit as substantial as you last saw her, walking briskly over to to greet you.
  
  > talk the resentment
  "Carol seemed quite angry at you, Christabell."
  
  "I do suppose she does have summe Reason, but know you that she did lead me on and I do think appreciate my Attentions. I am given to wonder if it was not she who did lead mee about wrongly."
  
  "That's no excuse."
  
  > talk the assassination
  "On her desk, I saw a clipping of the assassination of
  President Kennedy -- we have Presidents now, like President Dukakis -- they are in charge of the whole government. Let me back up, the American government is divided into the principal branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The president... "
  
  "I do know what a President be; Carol had explained it to me
  upon a Tymme in much the excruciating Detaile as upon whych I did feare you do embark."
  
  "Fine. So, she had this newspaper... "
  
  "Yes, I do know what be a News Paper."
  
  "Right. So, she had this newspaper article about the
  assassination of President Kennedy -- is that one of her
  Runes?"
  
  "Nay, that be the result of her calling upon the Deep Ones; the
  Rune that doth have Relation to it would of its own Accord enter into her Book."
  
  > talk the scrapbook
  "Carol said she had left her scrapbook at her school --
  I wonder if that's true or if she was hiding them from me."
  
  "So distracted was she as a Gyrll, it is not unthinkable that she did simply leave it. You must watch for another Oppourtunity to present itself."
  
  > Ploughver
  .
  
  Carol's Room (Ben Collins-Sussman)
  Carol stares out the window, her back to you. She's a bit taller and dressed in a sharply tailored turquoise shift. Without bothering to turn around, she addresses you, "I have been expecting you, Naomi. I knew you would come once more before I die."
  
  [ HINT: you can type "hints" for a hint for this location ]
  
  The room is brighter, but colder. A fluorescent fixture fills the room with blue-white light, which reflects harshly off the glassy gray walls. The stubby light gray carpet dulls the sound in the room, but contributes no warmth. At least one item in the room has not changed: the bed, same frame, although the blanket is now a darker blue, and there are no pillows. A small reading light is clamped to the headboard and there are a couple books stacked next to the bed. At the foot of the bed, the heavy gold frame is back, this time occupied by Richard Nixon. On the ground far below the bedroom window, a heavy padding of snow has covered the ground. To the left of the window, the desk is a now a steel and chrome affair, very modern. A computer terminal occupies about half the desk and a binder lies next to it. Above the desk, two rows of metal shelves have been installed. The record player is gone, replaced now by a reel-to-reel tape machine on the same little stand. The exit is to the south.
  
  > look at stacked
  A few books are stacked next to the bed, but you can read the titles, How to Make Friends and Influence People, The Compleat
  Manual of Wardes and Seales, and The Indian grammar begun:
  or, An essay to bring the Indian language into rules, for the help of such as desire to learn the same, for the furtherance of the Gospel among them.
  
  > talk to Carol
  You are already talking to Carol.
  
  > examine Computer
  A bulky affair, larger and deeper than your Viewsonic monitor back in the office. Most of the terminal is a white plastic case, except the front, which is a dark green and mostly occupied by a glass screen, upon which white text glows on a black background. The lower portion of the front panel features an integrated keyboard. Above the keyboard and to the right of the screen, the case is marked in white lettering: "Computer Terminal Corporation" and "DATAPOINT 3300". Between those words, the case is stamped with an arrow in circle logo. You notice a sticker applied to the side of the case, near the bottom. It reads, "Property of General Dynamics". A large red rocker switch on the bottom right side of the keyboard emits a red neon glow.
  
  > examine the window
  The large bay window is framed in the same termite-infested rosewood trim that decorates the rest of this once great mansion. It looks like the child-proof lock that once secured the window shut has long since fallen off.
  
  > look at the binder
  A black binder containing computer printouts.
  
  > read it
  You flip open the binder into which some green and white fan-fold paper has been pasted on several pages. The first page seems to be an index, written in the same blocky letters as on the cover. The index reads:
  
  * INS Dakar (Israel), 25 January
  * S647 (France), 27 January
  * K-129 (Soviet), 8 March
  * USS Scorpion, 22 May
  
  > read Dakar
  25 JAN 1968 1601Z AUTHENTICATED RMX-998-LPO
  SIGINT ATHENS REPORTS ENCRYPTED CW DISTRESS
  SIGNAL FROM ISRAEL NAVY DIESEL-ELECTRIC
  SUBMARINE DAKAR STARTING 1001Z ENDING 1003Z TODAY.
  NO FIX BY RADIOGONIOMETRY. VESSEL LAST OBSERVED
  BY TRAWLER AT 2301Z ON 24 JAN 1968 AT 35.005N
  BY 26.954E APPROXIMATE HEADING 135 AT 7 KNOTS
  BELOW PERISCOPE DEPTH WITH FLOOR AT 3000M. NO
  OTHER SUBMARINES WITHIN 100NM AT THAT TIME. NO
  HYDROPHONIC EVENTS REPORTED BY UK WESTERN
  SOVEREIGN BASE AREA CYPRUS. LOSS OF VESSEL
  CONFIRMED BY IDF AT 1430Z. WILL DELAY SEARCH
  UNTIL 2200Z 25 JAN 1968. EOM.
  I beg your pardon?
  
  > Kwisatz haderach
  You join your fists together and aim at the binder, and speak the invocation: "kwisatz haderach".
  
  Carol tries to get between you and the scrapbook, but she is not fast enough. As the book dissolves progressively to dust to small to see. Carol sags, as if suddenly exhausted.
  
  "You idiot," she scolds. "What was that for? I've done nothing to you -- well, nothing to speak of."
  
  "You were growing too powerful; it makes me uncomfortable."
  
  "I thought you were a little more rational than that, Naomi. I am disappointed in you. That was, of course, just one of many volumes -- my power is little diminished."
  
  "Also," Carol adds as a petty afterthought, "the word is Maud'dib. I at least read the book. When he used the weirding module, the thing he yelled was Maud'dib, not Kwisatz Haderach. You could at least get that one detail right."
  
  > break the window
  The house has survived Vermont winters, it will survive you.
  
  > open the window
  Carol is watching you too closely.