text: [Themes: Alien Visitation]
  
  > Look around
  Outside Pop's, in the big, blue Pontiac
  Now that you're at the end of the road, the fog has spread out just enough to give you a taste of town. What you can see is exactly like you remember it, perhaps a little cleaner, a bit newer. Pop's store stands before you to the south, and the library sits regally to the north, the two real landmarks of Springfield.
  You see a big, blue Pontiac here.
  
  > Exit
  Now that you're at the end of the road, the fog has spread out just enough to give you a taste of town. What you can see is exactly like you remember it, perhaps a little cleaner, a bit newer. Pop's store stands before you to the south, and the library sits regally to the north, the two real landmarks of Springfield.
  You see a big, blue Pontiac here.
  
  > enter library
  It's too far away.
  
  > go to the north
  You head towards the library, not quite sure what you're looking for, but hopeful that you'll find something useful. You stride up the steps, pull the door open, and come up against a wall of fog, just beyond the doorway. Holding your arms out in front of you, you press into the fog, but you still end up coming back out of the library.
  You retreat to Pop's stoop.
  
  > Go south
  The comforting familiarity of Pop's storefront vanishes when you enter. All of the aisles are barren and empty. The candy display visible from outside is conspicuously absent. The only reason you have to think that this is actually Pop's store is a young-looking Pop standing behind the counter.
  
  Pop looks at you and grins. "Howdy, Isaiah! Looks like you got on board okay." He takes in your slack-jawed expression for a moment.
  "I 'spose you're wonderin' how old Pop got himself on board this ship when you probably saw him just a couple of days ago in town, lookin' a lot older. The answer is that I ain't Pop, just a robot that looks and acts a lot like him.
  "I'm tellin' you this up front so you won't think I'm trying to
  hide stuff from you. We tried not telling your dad right away, but when he figured it out, boy was he sore! He still won't come into town.
  "Anyhow, I'm here to help you out. I'll tell you everything I
  know, but I warn you now that I don't know everything. If anything breaks, bring it to me and I'll try to fix it. 'Kay?"
  Pop is standing behind the counter.
  
  Click.
  
  > give the hoe to Pop
  Pop takes the pieces of the broken hoe and looks them over. "Broke again, eh? That's only the fourth time this month. I think our hosts are finally startin' to realize that they just can't make good tools with their fields. Lucky for you, they picked up an actual hoe when they got you. Only costs a crystal duck."
  
  Click.
  
  > ask Pop about Dad
  "To tell you the truth, our hosts are gettin' a bit worried about him. When he first looked like he was down in the dumps, they figured it was just the stress of the asylum and what-not. They figured out how to make him forget all about that, but he still doesn't seem up to his old self, you know? That's one of the big reasons they started talkin' to you. Maybe you can snap him out of it."
  
  Click.
  
  > listen
  You carefully watch Pop to make sure. Yep, he clicks when he blinks.
  
  Click.
  
  > ask Pop about the aliens
  "A little curious about your 'hosts', eh? Well, it seems to me they're a pretty friendly bunch, but that they can't figure out how we think. I think all this abduction nonsense is designed to get us where they can figure us out. They've got more of a hive mind, if you know what I mean."
  
  Click.
  
  > Inventory
  You are empty-handed.
  
  Click.
  
  > ask Pop about the duck
  "Haven't seen the duck yet? Well, it's at the fork in the path behind your house. Of course you'll have to figure out how to get it on your own."
  
  Click.
  
  > drive
  It's a relief to be driving out of town. There usually aren't a lot of people at your house, so at least you can pretend that things are normal when you don't see any.
  
  Eventually you pull in the driveway.
  
  > Exit
  The lawn is freshly mowed, the north side of the house looks just
  as good as the south side, and off to the southwest, the garden is a prize winner.
  You see a big, blue Pontiac here.
  
  > Go south
  The living room is tastefully decorated. Plush wall-to-wall
  carpeting soothes your feet while your eyes marvel at the new sofa and coffee table. The wood-burning stove is the only real reminder of the house you live in. The front door to the north opens out on the driveway, the sparkly new kitchen is to the south, and the bedroom is west.
  Your dad is sitting on the couch.
  
  Click.
  
  The kitchen is just as small as you remember, but completely renovated, just like the outside of the house. The appliances and the linolium on the floor are new. There's a space-saving microwave oven installed above the range.
  
  > go south
  You are on the top of the hill just south of your house, surrounded
  by trees and spring-time air. The familiar path beneath your feet leads south, just like it always has. A thick fog in the distance obscures a normally beautiful view of the surrounding hilltops. You are surrounded by artificial trees. One of them has initials carved into it.
  
  > go south
  The path leads north and south here.
  
  The wooded path curves to the southwest here.