text: [Themes: thriller]
  
  > Go downward
  (The maintenance access hatch slams shut after you pass through.)
  
  A prominent lever is attached to the car junction. The lever has been pushed into the "closed" position.
  
  > listen
  You hear nothing unexpected.
  
  There is the nervous shuffling of feet above you.
  
  > go to the south
  Slowly you crawl southwards along the length of the train...
  
  A prominent lever is attached to the car junction. The lever has been pushed into the "closed" position.
  
  > Go upwards
  (You pop open the maintenance access hatch as you go topside.)
  
  Between each pair of cars is an area which has always frightened you. Maybe it's the fact that the area is open save for a flimsy metal railing across the gaps; maybe it's the constant shifting of the floor beneath your feet. Safer areas lie south and north.
  
  A maintenance access hatch is open, leading downwards to darkness.
  
  You can also see an external ladder here.
  
  > go north
  (The maintenance access hatch slams shut when you release it to move.) You open the door to car 6.
  
  Car 6, the last car
  This is a tiny car-- a classic caboose, except it isn't red, and it doesn't have a potbelly stove. It's pretty much a lounge for the conductor and his assistants, except the conductor is conspicuously missing.
  
  You can see all of the passengers and a tool chest (which is closed) here.
  
  The door to the car junction slides shut.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  You are carrying:
  a squirt bottle (which is closed)
  a quantity of pale blue liquid
  a sport coat (being worn)
  a strange red bulb
  a train schedule
  a bottle of acid (which is closed)
  a quantity of acid
  a bottle of developing fluid (which is closed)
  a bottle of hydroxide (which is open but empty)
  a small plastic tube (which is closed)
  some litmus powder
  
  > get the squirt
  You already have that.
  
  > put the squirt in the coat
  You put the squirt bottle into the sport coat.
  
  > follow you
  The passengers are too scared to respond.
  
  > Go south
  You open the door to the car junction.
  
  You see a concealed maintenance access hatch in the floor here.
  
  You can also see an external ladder here.
  
  The door to car 6 slides shut.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  a sport coat (being worn)
  a squirt bottle (which is closed)
  a quantity of pale blue liquid
  a strange red bulb
  a bottle of acid (which is closed)
  a quantity of acid
  a bottle of developing fluid (which is closed)
  a bottle of hydroxide (which is open but empty)
  a small plastic tube (which is closed)
  some litmus powder
  
  > pour the acid into the hydroxide bottle
  acid: You pour some liquid into the bottle of hydroxide.
  
  > examine the fluid
  A tall metal flask, with a screw cap. The label on the outside has a skull-and-crossbones on it.
  
  > examine the squirt bottle
  It's a squirt bottle. The label is so faded as to make it practically illegible.
  
  > pour the blue liquid into the hydroxide bottle
  liquid: You pour some liquid into the bottle of hydroxide.
  
  The liquid in the bottle of hydroxide turns pale blue.
  
  > Smell blue liquid
  Which do you mean, the squirt bottle or the bottle of hydroxide?
  
  > open the developing fluid bottle
  You open the bottle of developing fluid, revealing a quantity of liquid.
  
  > pour the developing fluid into the hydroxide bottle
  liquid: The bottle of hydroxide is already as full as possible.
  
  > Open tube
  You open the small plastic tube.
  
  > examine tube
  A small glass tube used for protecting dry chemicals. There's a label on the tube.
  
  > pour the developing fluid into the hydroxide
  liquid: You pour some liquid into the bottle of hydroxide.
  
  > pour the acid into the hydroxide
  The bottle of acid is closed.
  
  > Smell the hydroxide
  You smell nothing unexpected.
  
  The vapors coming out of the bottle of hydroxide are swept away by the wind.
  
  > pour the hydroxide into the vents
  liquid: The air vent is not designed to hold liquids.
  
  The vapors coming out of the bottle of hydroxide are swept away by the wind.
  
  > Examine vent
  This is one of a number of screened portals, designed to allow fresh air to be drawn into the car as it moves.
  
  The vapors coming out of the bottle of hydroxide are swept away by the wind.
  
  > put the hydroxide in the vent
  You need to be holding the bottle of hydroxide before you can put it on top of something else.
  
  The vapors coming out of the bottle of hydroxide are swept away by the wind.
  
  > get the hydroxide
  Taken.
  
  The vapors coming out of the bottle of hydroxide are swept away by the wind.
  
  > put the hydroxide in the vent
  The bottle of hydroxide is easily wedged into the air vent so that it doesn't get blown off the train.
  
  The vapors pouring out of the bottle of hydroxide are drawn into the air vent.
  
  > listen
  That's definitely Russian from the car below.
  
  The vapors pouring out of the bottle of hydroxide are drawn into the air vent.
  
  > look inside bulb
  (the light)
  You find nothing of interest.
  
  The vapors pouring out of the bottle of hydroxide are drawn into the air vent.
  
  > Examine vent
  This is one of a number of screened portals, designed to allow fresh air to be drawn into the car as it moves.
  
  The vapors pouring out of the bottle of hydroxide are drawn into the air vent.
  
  The sound of multiple bodies falling to the floor comes from somewhere within the car.
  
  > take the bottle
  Which do you mean, the bottle of hydroxide, the squirt bottle, the bottle of acid or the bottle of developing fluid?
  
  > Empty bottle
  (the bottle of hydroxide)
  liquid: Liquid splashes all over the place, seeping through unseen cracks until it is gone.
  
  > put the bottle in the coat
  (the bottle of hydroxide in the sport coat)
  You put the bottle of hydroxide into the sport coat.
  
  > go to the south
  Some of the acid sloshes out of the bottle of acid.
  
  It's a real struggle, but eventually you move southwards along the top of the train...
  
  Handholds in the top of the car allow one to move carefully across the surface, but make no mistake about it: one slip means a short but unpleasant trip over the side. The handholds travel south or north along the length of the train, provided one does not get snagged on the numerous air vents and lights protruding from the surface.