Start of a transcript of
TRAFFIC
An adventure at five miles an hour
Copyright (C) 2024, by D.S. Yu.
Portions copyright Graham Nelson and David Griffith.
'TRAFFIC' comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY 


Release 1 / Serial number 240904 / Inform v6.33 Library v6.12.6 SD
Standard interpreter 1.1 (1C) / Library Serial Number 220219

>x me
You are a respectable young lab assistant.

>i
You're carrying:
  a package

>x package
After a bit of hassle, you managed to obtain the small package that contains even smaller isotopes. It's hard to understand how something clearly addressed to 'The Orzel Institute' managed to get misdirected to 'The Oswell Steak House'.

>open it
It's really well sealed with multiple layers of tape and not something you could open here. Besides, if Dr. Roth noticed the package was opened, he'd probably have a fit.

>about
That's not a verb I recognise.

>credits
That's not a verb I recognise.

>help
Ah, if only life were so easy. You'd like to ask the world at large for help for your rather unique predicament, but given the actual confines of your predicament, you'll need to ask someone for help, or manage on your own.

>x jones
Jones street runs east-west from here, with the traffic limited to one-way going east.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. As she pushes the stroller into traffic, the speeding car swerves out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. 

'I hope he knows driving on the sidewalk is frowned upon,' you manage to think, just as the car, without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

In a moment you'd call 'gut-wrenching' if you still had a gut, the whiteness that defines your immediate universe is suddenly permeated by color, and you find yourself pulled, pushed, and squeezed through time and space.

You blink a couple times. Everything is exactly as it was when you started out in all of this. Did you just imagine everything?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>x box
It appears to be a five-foot tall metal box, with no noteworthy markings, painted gray. There are some vents on the side, possibly for airflow, and you suspect it contains electronics of some sort. On the front is a metal door with a recessed handle that likely opens outwards.

As you examine the box, a middle-aged man in a reflective safety vest, who was partly obscured by the box, examines something on the box, looks up at the lights, notices you watching him, and then quickly walks away.

>open box
The metal box seems to be locked.

>x man
You can't see any such thing.

>x light
The traffic lights control the flow of traffic in their usual red-means-stop, green-means-go, and yellow-means-go-faster way.

You've been noticing something odd about the lights. The timing is all off -- sometimes the light stays red for a moment before switching to green, sometimes it stays red for an uncomfortably long time.

>push button
You can't see any such thing.

>* no pedestrian-crossing button?
[Comment recorded.]

>x bus
It's one of those local lines that goes along Jones St, but it must be behind schedule (no thanks to all the traffic). It looks like it might not make it through the intersection before the light changes.

As you look at the all the riders packed in the bus, you notice one particular businessman, glancing through the window your way. The expression on his face is one of acute discomfort.

>x businessman
A businessman in a frumbled suit catches your eye. He's seated on the rather crowded bus trying to get through the intersection. You can see sadness and discomfort in his eyes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. As she pushes the stroller into traffic, the speeding car swerves out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. 

'I hope he knows driving on the sidewalk is frowned upon,' you manage to think, just as the car, without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Cue the fade to white. This time you were more prepared, but it still happens in a way that manages to catch you a little off guard. Even the nearly indescribable detached sensation that follows is starting to feel familiar. In less than a moment, you find yourself in a new place.

You have been transported, somehow, without moving an inch. You are standing at the same street corner you occupied moments ago, but the traffic is different, the sounds are different, and even the sunlight is different -- missing, actually. It seems to be early evening, at least that is certain. Your body feels out of sorts, and as you glance at your hands, you see hands that are not your own, but bigger, with more scars and dirt. As you check the rest of your body you realize that you are not yourself. Your mind occupies someone else's body. Also, you suddenly realize you are not alone.

The corner of Jones and Elm
You are at the corner of Jones and Elm. It's night-time, which means for this not-so-lively part of town, there's no one to be seen, and almost no cars driving along either street.

A man is standing here, wearing a reflective safety vest and holding a clipboard.

A large metal box painted gray is standing here, bolted to the sidewalk.

"Getting colder these days. Next time I'm bringing my coat."

>i
You're carrying:
  a key

"Hey, did I tell you I quit smoking? Oh, I did?"

>x key
A single steel key, stamped "X9000".

>unlock door
(with the key)
You unlock the metal box.

"Getting colder these days. Next time I'm bringing my coat."

>x me
You appear to be a stout fellow wearing the sort of clothing someone in the construction business wears.

>x man
A somewhat pudgy, somewhat droopy-shouldered middle-aged man. He seems like the kind of fellow who's dependable at work and doesn't complain, but would rather be home with his wife and kids. He's dressed in a clean white shirt, slacks, and sensible but professional shoes. His reflective safety vest, worn loosely over his shirt, has a bit of wear-and-tear, but is still serviceable. He's holding a clipboard with some papers clipped to it.

>x clipboard
John is holding a plastic clipboard with a bunch of disorganized papers clipped to it.

>open door
You open the metal box, revealing a controller panel.

"Hey, did I tell you I quit smoking? Oh, I did?"

>ask john about himself
"It's me Tom, John. We've been working together for a while now, you know who I am."

>* is he Tom or John
[Comment recorded.]

>ask him about myself
"We don't ever talk much about you, do we Tom? Probably because I'm always talking about myself and won't let you get a word in edgewise. I'll say this much, though, I think we make a good team."

>ask him about box
"The StopNGo X9000 is your basic traffic controller box used to set the timing of the traffic lights at the nearby intersections."

John peers into the open box and points at the panel. "You're going to want to take a closer look at that panel, Tom."

>x panel
A shiny metal panel with an embossed grid-like pattern. The pattern appears to be map of street intersections, including street names and directions. Additionally, various numbers are printed at the start and end of each street, along with printed letters along each street. There's also a small screen where a number could be displayed under the Oak street letter (D) and a green button labeled 'DONE' at the bottom of the panel.

             Umber              Elm         
                                            
               v                 ^          
               v                 ^          
                                            
              500               520         
               |                 |          
               |                 |          
Jones >> 600 --+--------B--------+-- 610 >> 
               |                 |          
               |                 |          
               A                 C          
               |                 |          
               |                 |          
Oak   >> 610 --+--------D--------+-- 560 >> 
               |       ___       |          
               |                 |          
              520               500         
                                            
               v                 ^          
               v                 ^          

>x d
You see nothing unexpected in that direction.

>x button
There's a small green button labeled 'DONE' on the panel.

You hear a howl from some animal off in the distance. Maybe it's someone's dog?

>enter
You can't go that way.

>type  100
What do you want to type that into?

>panel
You can't type values into the controller panel.

John scratches his neck for a moment.

>type 100 into screen
After a bit of fiddling around, you realize the screen is a small touchscreen. Is every screen nowadays a touchscreen? It certainly seems that way.

You use the touchscreen controls to set the value. The screen now reads 100.

>type 50 into screen
You use the touchscreen controls to set the value. The screen now reads 50.

John rubs his hands together, possibly to warm them up.

>push done
You hesitate briefly, your finger hovering over the green button. Then, confidently, you press the oddly enticing button. There is a click from the box.

From some distorted magic wand a splash of white is cast across your senses. It's easy to dismiss this as some sort of 'magic', but you lack the ability to describe the feeling in a way that would have any real-world meaning. Brushing off the higher-order pixie dust, you blink into a new place.

As the world rushes back, you find yourself seated. On a bus. A bus packed with people, uncomfortably warm, with loud with noises from every direction. You feel sweat dripping along your brow, and as you raise your arm to wipe it off, you notice you're wearing a well-fitting business suit. You've swapped bodies with an average-height business man, possibly in his late 30s, likely late to work. You feel the bus lurch forward, only to shudder to a stop a few seconds later. You glance out the window and realize you're on that bus trying to cross the Elm and Jones street intersection.

On Jones heading towards Racine (in bus)
You're sitting on a hot crowded bus barely moving along Jones Street.

There's a boombox on the floor of the bus right in front of you blasting music at a remarkably high volume.

You can also see an elderly woman here.

>x boombox
It seems to be some cheap import model, the size of a small suitcase, with two huge speakers. It's on and turned up to a head-splittingly high volume. It is currently playing a talk show segment about road construction noise complaints.

>x woman
There's an elderly woman standing here. She looks quite upset and bothered. "I hate this bus," she keeps yelling at no one in particular.

>turn off boombox
As you turn the boombox off, there's a collective sigh of relief from people nearby, including the elderly woman.

You watch a car aggressively drive past the bus, only to screech to a stop shortly after.

>stand
You stand up out of your seat. Within seconds, someone quickly slides into the vacated seat and sighs with relief.

>x woman
There's an elderly woman standing here. She looks rather bothered, and mumbles something angrily.

>l

On Jones heading towards Racine (in bus)
You're standing on a hot crowded bus barely moving along Jones Street.

There's a boombox on the floor of the bus right in front of you, switched off.

You can also see an elderly woman here.

>talk to woman
I didn't understand that sentence.

>ask woman about herself
There is no reply.

>i
You're carrying:
  a snack

Suddenly, the elderly woman decides she can't take it anymore. She aggressively shoves her way through the crowd until she reaches the back door. Then, with a surprising show of strength, she forces the back doors open. This causes the bus to come to a screeching halt, at which point the passenger hops off the bus and walks off into the street.

Cue the fade to white. This time you were more prepared, but it still happens in a way that manages to catch you a little off guard. Even the nearly indescribable detached sensation that follows is starting to feel familiar. In less than a moment, you find yourself in a new place.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>x woman
A young woman is dutifully pushing a covered baby stroller that you're fairly sure holds a baby. She seems somewhat distracted, with most of her attention diverted to her rather large mobile device.

But wait, just now, you saw the top of a tiny little bald head appear from within the stroller. Two tiny blue eyes meet your gaze, before the baby disappears back into the stroller.

>ask woman about baby
You can't seem to get her attention at all. She's completely distracted by her phone.

>take phone
You rush up to the woman pushing the stroller and try to take her phone. She pulls her phone away from you, acting as if you are trying to steal her most prized possession. The woman screams and cowers, clearly distracted and disturbed by your actions. Moments later, a speeding car dashes by, just barely missing both you and the woman (and her stroller, thankfully).

You check yourself and determine that you successfully evaded death and broke the loop. "That was simple," you think to yourself. "Why didn't I try that sooner?"

A moment later, several bystanders appear from nowhere and tackle you to the ground. One person calls the police, who arrive within minutes. You try and explain your actions to the officer, but he finds your story unconvincing, handcuffs you, and puts you in his squad car to take to the station. Dr. Roth's package delivery will have to wait, it seems.

    *** You have been incarcerated ***



In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 0, in 39 turns.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game or QUIT?
>undo
The corner of Jones and Elm
[Previous turn undone.]

>i
You're carrying:
  a package

>sing
Your singing is abominable.

>shout
I didn't understand that sentence.

>x baby
A young woman is dutifully pushing a covered baby stroller that you're fairly sure holds a baby. She seems somewhat distracted, with most of her attention diverted to her rather large mobile device.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. As she pushes the stroller into traffic, the speeding car swerves out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. 

'I hope he knows driving on the sidewalk is frowned upon,' you manage to think, just as the car, without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Cue the fade to white. This time you were more prepared, but it still happens in a way that manages to catch you a little off guard. Even the nearly indescribable detached sensation that follows is starting to feel familiar. In less than a moment, you find yourself in a new place.

You feel stretched and then squashed into a new form. Everything feels unfamiliar, bright, too loud. You open your eyes and find yourself on your back, looking up at the blue sky. You try to get up, and your body refuses to respond, instead twisting and popping in an awkward fashion. You reach a hand out to grab something, anything, and notice that your hand, your arm, your whole body, is tiny and undeveloped. Tiny little fingers on a tiny little hand flex open and closed. Your body has become that of a tiny infant, lying in a bed of a stroller of some sort. You feel the great urge to let out a loud wail.

On Elm Between Jones and Oak (inside stroller)
You are on the sidewalk on Elm street, likely somewhere between Jones and Oak streets. More specifically, you are inside a baby stroller with raised walls on all sides and a curved half-canopy above, being pushed along the sidewalk on Elm street.

There is a woman slowly pushing the stroller.

You can also see a blanket here.

>x blanket
A simple white blanket, mostly clean.

>x me
You appear to be a small, adorable, semi-helpless baby.

>i
You're carrying nothing.

>cry
You find it shockingly easy to start crying, quite loudly. This does nothing to change your situation. The woman pushing the stroller doesn't react.

>cry
You find it shockingly easy to start crying, quite loudly. This does nothing to change your situation. The woman pushing the stroller doesn't react.

>take blanket
As you grab the blanket, you uncover a pacifier that was hidden underneath it.

>x pacifier
A clear plastic pacifier. It feels oddly satisfying to hold.

>take it
Taken.

The woman continues to push the stroller and reaches the edge of the sidewalk. Still absorbed in her phone, she starts to push the stroller across the street, when a car moving far too fast narrowly avoids the woman (and you, in the stroller) by driving up on the sidewalk and continuing onwards, also on the sidewalk. There is an awful screech followed by a more awful crashing noise. "What was that?" the woman asks, looking up from her phone for the first time.

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>x box
The StopNGo X9000 appears to be a five-foot tall metal box, with no noteworthy markings, painted gray. There are some vents on the side, possibly for airflow, and you suspect it contains electronics of some sort. On the front is a metal door with a recessed handle that likely opens outwards.

As you examine the box, a middle-aged man in a reflective safety vest, who was partly obscured by the box, examines something on the box, looks up at the lights, notices you watching him, and then quickly walks away.

>x lights
The traffic lights control the flow of traffic in their usual red-means-stop, green-means-go, and yellow-means-go-faster way.

You've been noticing something odd about the lights. The timing is all off -- sometimes the light stays red for a moment before switching to green, sometimes it stays red for an uncomfortably long time.

>x panel
You can't see any such thing.

>open door
The StopNGo X9000 traffic controller box seems to be locked.

>l

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. As she pushes the stroller into traffic, the speeding car swerves out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. 

'I hope he knows driving on the sidewalk is frowned upon,' you manage to think, just as the car, without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

You have been transported, somehow, without moving an inch. You are standing at the same street corner you occupied moments ago, but the traffic is different, the sounds are different, and even the sunlight is different -- missing, actually. It seems to be early evening, at least that is certain. Your body feels out of sorts, and as you glance at your hands, you see hands that are not your own, but bigger, with more scars and dirt. As you check the rest of your body you realize that you are not yourself. Your mind occupies someone else's body. Also, you suddenly realize you are not alone.

The corner of Jones and Elm
You are at the corner of Jones and Elm. It's night-time, which means for this not-so-lively part of town, there's no one to be seen, and almost no cars driving along either street.

John is standing here, wearing a reflective safety vest and holding a clipboard.

The StopNGo X9000 traffic controller box is bolted to the sidewalk here.

John scratches his neck for a moment.

>x papers
John is holding a plastic clipboard with a bunch of disorganized papers clipped to it.

>take clipboard
The clipboard seems to belong to John.

"Getting colder these days. Next time I'm bringing my coat."

>read papers
John is holding a plastic clipboard with a bunch of disorganized papers clipped to it.

>ask john about panel
You can't see any such thing to ask him about.
John peers into the open box and points at the panel. "Now, this here is your basic traffic flow panel. You've got each street and the four intersections near us, the direction of traffic with those funny double arrows, and the expected number of cars per hour. For example, see here," he says as he points, "The intesection at Jones and Umber has 600 cars travelling east from Jones, and 500 cars travelling south from Umber. The total number of cars coming into an intersection has to equal the number of cars leaving an intersection, so that means the total number of cars leaving the intersection of Jones and Umber, labeled A and B here, has to be equal to 600 + 500. Simple, right?"

"Fortunately for us, we don't have to enter all values for A, B, C, and D. The X9000 has simplified things so that all we have to do is enter the correct value for D on that little screen there, and then press that green button."

John scratches his neck for a moment.

>unlock door
(with the key)
You unlock the metal box.

>open it
You open the metal box, revealing a controller panel.

>x panel
A shiny metal panel with an embossed grid-like pattern. The pattern appears to be map of street intersections, including street names and directions. Additionally, various numbers are printed at the start and end of each street, along with printed letters along each street. There's also a small screen where a number could be displayed under the Oak street letter (D) and a green button labeled 'DONE' at the bottom of the panel.

             Umber              Elm         
                                            
               v                 ^          
               v                 ^          
                                            
              500               520         
               |                 |          
               |                 |          
Jones >> 600 --+--------B--------+-- 610 >> 
               |                 |          
               |                 |          
               A                 C          
               |                 |          
               |                 |          
Oak   >> 610 --+--------D--------+-- 560 >> 
               |       ___       |          
               |                 |          
              520               500         
                                            
               v                 ^          
               v                 ^          

>type 590 on screen
You use the touchscreen controls to set the value. The screen now reads 590.

John rubs his hands together, possibly to warm them up.

>push green
You hesitate briefly, your finger hovering over the green button. Then, confidently, you press the oddly enticing button. There is a click from the box.

Cue the fade to white. This time you were more prepared, but it still happens in a way that manages to catch you a little off guard. Even the nearly indescribable detached sensation that follows is starting to feel familiar. In less than a moment, you find yourself in a new place.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>x light
The traffic lights control the flow of traffic in their usual red-means-stop, green-means-go, and yellow-means-go-faster way.

You've been noticing something odd about the lights. The timing is all off -- sometimes the light stays red for a moment before switching to green, sometimes it stays red for an uncomfortably long time.

>* blarg thought I solved thats
[Comment recorded.]

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. As she pushes the stroller into traffic, the speeding car swerves out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. 

'I hope he knows driving on the sidewalk is frowned upon,' you manage to think, just as the car, without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>x baby
A young woman is dutifully pushing a covered baby stroller that you're fairly sure holds a baby. She seems somewhat distracted, with most of her attention diverted to her rather large mobile device.

But wait, just now, you saw the top of a tiny little bald head appear from within the stroller. Two tiny blue eyes meet your gaze, before the baby disappears back into the stroller.

>x bus
It's one of those local lines that goes along Jones St, but it must be behind schedule (no thanks to all the traffic). It looks like it might not make it through the intersection before the light changes.

As you look at the all the riders packed in the bus, you notice one particular businessman, glancing through the window your way. The expression on his face is one of acute discomfort.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. As she pushes the stroller into traffic, the speeding car swerves out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. 

'I hope he knows driving on the sidewalk is frowned upon,' you manage to think, just as the car, without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

As the world rushes back, you find yourself seated. On a bus. A bus packed with people, uncomfortably warm, with loud with noises from every direction. You feel sweat dripping along your brow, and as you raise your arm to wipe it off, you notice you're wearing a well-fitting business suit. You've swapped bodies with an average-height business man, possibly in his late 30s, likely late to work. You feel the bus lurch forward, only to shudder to a stop a few seconds later. You glance out the window and realize you're on that bus trying to cross the Elm and Jones street intersection.

On Jones heading towards Racine (in bus)
You're sitting on a hot crowded bus barely moving along Jones Street.

There's a boombox on the floor of the bus right in front of you blasting music at a remarkably high volume.

You can also see an elderly woman here.

>turn off boombox
As you turn the boombox off, there's a collective sigh of relief from people nearby, including the elderly woman.

>x window
You're not far from one of the windows on the bus. The window is currently closed.

You watch a car aggressively drive past the bus, only to screech to a stop shortly after.

>open window
You reach over and push open the window slightly, letting a cool breeze into the bus. Several people, including the elderly woman, silently nod in thanks.

The bus lurches forward half a foot, then stops.

>ask woman about seat
"I wish I could sit down but there's no open seats on this horrible bus."

You watch a car aggressively drive past the bus, only to screech to a stop shortly after.

>stand
You stand up out of your seat. Within seconds, someone quickly slides into the vacated seat and sighs with relief.

>x woman
There's an elderly woman standing here. She looks a bit troubled, and squints angrily.

>z
Time passes.

The bus lurches forward half a foot, then stops.

>z
Time passes.

Someone in the back of the bus has a brief coughing fit, and recovers.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, the elderly woman decides she can't take it anymore. She aggressively shoves her way through the crowd until she reaches the back door. Then, with a surprising show of strength, she forces the back doors open. This causes the bus to come to a screeching halt, at which point the passenger hops off the bus and walks off into the street.

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

You feel stretched and then squashed into a new form. Everything feels unfamiliar, bright, too loud. You open your eyes and find yourself on your back, looking up at the blue sky. You try to get up, and your body refuses to respond, instead twisting and popping in an awkward fashion. You reach a hand out to grab something, anything, and notice that your hand, your arm, your whole body, is tiny and undeveloped. Tiny little fingers on a tiny little hand flex open and closed. Your body has become that of a tiny infant, lying in a bed of a stroller of some sort. You feel the great urge to let out a loud wail.

On Elm Between Jones and Oak (inside stroller)
You are on the sidewalk on Elm street, likely somewhere between Jones and Oak streets. More specifically, you are inside a baby stroller with raised walls on all sides and a curved half-canopy above, being pushed along the sidewalk on Elm street.

There is a woman slowly pushing the stroller.

You can also see a blanket here.

>take blanket
As you grab the blanket, you uncover a pacifier that was hidden underneath it.

>take pacifier
Taken.

>throw pacifier
Futile.

>throw pacifier at mom
You can't see any such thing.

>x mom
You can't see any such thing.

>x woman
A young woman is dutifully pushing the baby stroller that you currently occupy. She is completely focused on the large fancy mobile phone she awkwardly holds in one of her hands.

>throw pacifier at phone
It takes quite a bit of effort, but you manage to throw the pacifier at the woman's phone. You're a bit off the mark and end up hitting the woman in the neck. "That wasn't very nice," the woman says. "Now I have to pick up your pacifier. I'm going to miss at least 3 text messages." The woman stops pushing the stroller and stoops down to look for the pacifier. At the same time, a car, driving well over the speed limit, races by, narrowly missing the stroller.

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>x bus
It's one of those local lines that goes along Jones St, but it must be behind schedule (no thanks to all the traffic). It looks like it might not make it through the intersection before the light changes.

As you look at the all the riders packed in the bus, you notice one particular businessman, glancing through the window your way. The expression on his face is one of acute discomfort.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, the ear-shattering sound of screeching brakes direct your attention to a large city bus, trying and failing to cross Jones Street due to unusually heavy traffic. As it stops right in the middle of the intersection, blocking all traffic coming up Elm, the speeding car swerves, in what seems to be a foolhardy attempt to get around the bus.

'Surely he realizes that there's not enough road for that,' you manage to think, just as the car jumps over the sidewalk, wheels spinning, and without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

As the world rushes back, you find yourself seated. On a bus. A bus packed with people, uncomfortably warm, with loud with noises from every direction. You feel sweat dripping along your brow, and as you raise your arm to wipe it off, you notice you're wearing a well-fitting business suit. You've swapped bodies with an average-height business man, possibly in his late 30s, likely late to work. You feel the bus lurch forward, only to shudder to a stop a few seconds later. You glance out the window and realize you're on that bus trying to cross the Elm and Jones street intersection.

On Jones heading towards Racine (in bus)
You're sitting on a hot crowded bus barely moving along Jones Street.

There's a boombox on the floor of the bus right in front of you blasting music at a remarkably high volume.

You can also see an elderly woman here.

>*tell woman about seat
[Comment recorded.]

>tell woman about seat
You can't seem to get the elderly woman's attention due to the noise from the boom box.

You briefly smell something rather noxious, maybe fuel, then it goes away.

>turn off box
You can't see any such thing.

>turn off boombox
As you turn the boombox off, there's a collective sigh of relief from people nearby, including the elderly woman.

Someone in the back of the bus has a brief coughing fit, and recovers.

>tell woman about seat
The elderly woman isn't particularly interested in what you're telling her.

You watch a car aggressively drive past the bus, only to screech to a stop shortly after.

>open window
You reach over and push open the window slightly, letting a cool breeze into the bus. Several people, including the elderly woman, silently nod in thanks.

You briefly smell something rather noxious, maybe fuel, then it goes away.

>give seat to woman
The elderly woman sighs in relief and eagerly takes your vacated seat. "Thank you, young man," she says.

>z
Time passes.

Someone in the back of the bus has a brief coughing fit, and recovers.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

You briefly smell something rather noxious, maybe fuel, then it goes away.

>z
Time passes.

The bus lurches towards the intersection of Jones Street and Elm Street. You watch as the light changes to yellow just as the bus enters the intersection. Unfortunately, the traffic is bad enough that the cars ahead of the bus leave no room for the bus to get through. The bus slams on the brakes and grinds to a stop, right in the middle of the intersection.

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>* blarg guess I didn't solve the panel?
[Comment recorded.]

>x panel
You can't see any such thing.

>x box
The StopNGo X9000 appears to be a five-foot tall metal box, with no noteworthy markings, painted gray. There are some vents on the side, possibly for airflow, and you suspect it contains electronics of some sort. On the front is a metal door with a recessed handle that likely opens outwards.

As you examine the box, a middle-aged man in a reflective safety vest, who was partly obscured by the box, examines something on the box, looks up at the lights, notices you watching him, and then quickly walks away.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, the ear-shattering sound of screeching brakes direct your attention to a large city bus, trying and failing to cross Jones Street due to unusually heavy traffic. As it stops right in the middle of the intersection, blocking all traffic coming up Elm, the speeding car swerves, in what seems to be a foolhardy attempt to get around the bus.

'Surely he realizes that there's not enough road for that,' you manage to think, just as the car jumps over the sidewalk, wheels spinning, and without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

You have been transported, somehow, without moving an inch. You are standing at the same street corner you occupied moments ago, but the traffic is different, the sounds are different, and even the sunlight is different -- missing, actually. It seems to be early evening, at least that is certain. Your body feels out of sorts, and as you glance at your hands, you see hands that are not your own, but bigger, with more scars and dirt. As you check the rest of your body you realize that you are not yourself. Your mind occupies someone else's body. Also, you suddenly realize you are not alone.

The corner of Jones and Elm
You are at the corner of Jones and Elm. It's night-time, which means for this not-so-lively part of town, there's no one to be seen, and almost no cars driving along either street.

John is standing here, wearing a reflective safety vest and holding a clipboard.

The StopNGo X9000 traffic controller box is bolted to the sidewalk here.

"Hey, did I tell you I quit smoking? Oh, I did?"

>unlock box
(with the key)
You unlock the metal box.

>open box
You open the metal box, revealing a controller panel.

>ask man for screwdriver
"Here you go, but I want that back." He hands over the screwdriver.

>unscrew panel
The controller panel is fixed in place.

>open panel
With a bit of brute force and a handy screwdriver, you pry open the panel. Amongst the wires and detrius underneath the panel, you notice a tiny switch marked 'RESET' which you press with some haste. There's a small beep. You close the panel and notice a new value in the screen.

>x screen
There's a small screen for displaying a number on the panel under the 'D'. The screen currently shows a value of 325.

>push button
You hesitate briefly, your finger hovering over the green button. Then, confidently, you press the oddly enticing button. There is a satisfying click from the box.

Without much warning, everything around you fades to a clean white nothingness. You'd be blinking furiously right about now if you still had eyelids under your control. Distinct figures appear in the whiteness just as suddenly, and you take a moment to place yourself.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, the ear-shattering sound of screeching brakes direct your attention to a large city bus, trying to cross Jones Street. It appears to have stopped right in the middle of the intersection, because some irate passenger has forced the back doors open and jumped into traffic. With the bus blocking the way, the speeding car swerves, in what seems to be a foolhardy attempt to get around the bus.

'What kind of passenger just jams the doors open and jumps into traffic like that,' you manage to think, just as the car jumps over the sidewalk, wheels spinning, and without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>x bus
It's one of those local lines that goes along Jones St, but it must be behind schedule (no thanks to all the traffic). It looks like it might not make it through the intersection before the light changes.

As you look at the all the riders packed in the bus, you notice one particular businessman, glancing through the window your way. The expression on his face is one of acute discomfort.

>x lights
The traffic lights control the flow of traffic in their usual red-means-stop, green-means-go, and yellow-means-go-faster way.

The lights seem to be behaving normally.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, the ear-shattering sound of screeching brakes direct your attention to a large city bus, trying to cross Jones Street. It appears to have stopped right in the middle of the intersection, because some irate passenger has forced the back doors open and jumped into traffic. With the bus blocking the way, the speeding car swerves, in what seems to be a foolhardy attempt to get around the bus.

'What kind of passenger just jams the doors open and jumps into traffic like that,' you manage to think, just as the car jumps over the sidewalk, wheels spinning, and without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

From some distorted magic wand a splash of white is cast across your senses. It's easy to dismiss this as some sort of 'magic', but you lack the ability to describe the feeling in a way that would have any real-world meaning. Brushing off the higher-order pixie dust, you blink into a new place.

As the world rushes back, you find yourself seated. On a bus. A bus packed with people, uncomfortably warm, with loud with noises from every direction. You feel sweat dripping along your brow, and as you raise your arm to wipe it off, you notice you're wearing a well-fitting business suit. You've swapped bodies with an average-height business man, possibly in his late 30s, likely late to work. You feel the bus lurch forward, only to shudder to a stop a few seconds later. You glance out the window and realize you're on that bus trying to cross the Elm and Jones street intersection.

On Jones heading towards Racine (in bus)
You're sitting on a hot crowded bus barely moving along Jones Street.

There's a boombox on the floor of the bus right in front of you blasting music at a remarkably high volume.

You can also see an elderly woman here.

>open window
You reach over and push open the window slightly, letting a cool breeze into the bus. Several people, including the elderly woman, silently nod in thanks.

You briefly smell something rather noxious, maybe fuel, then it goes away.

>turn off boombox
As you turn the boombox off, there's a collective sigh of relief from people nearby, including the elderly woman.

>tell woman about seat
The elderly woman isn't particularly interested in what you're telling her.

Someone in the back of the bus has a brief coughing fit, and recovers.

>give seat to woman
The elderly woman sighs in relief and eagerly takes your vacated seat. "Thank you, young man," she says.

>i
You're carrying:
  a snack

>give snack to woman
The elderly woman refuses your offer. "Can't stand those things," she says, somewhat bitterly. "So hard to chew."

>x snack
It appears to be some sort of snack bar, "Healthy Granola and Chocolate", still unopened.

The bus lurches forward half a foot, then stops.

>open snack
The snack is not something you can open.

>eat snack
You eat the snack. Not bad.

The bus lurches towards the intersection of Jones Street and Elm Street. You watch as the light changes to yellow just as the bus enters the intersection. Fortunately, the traffic ahead of the bus has cleared, and the bus lumbers through the intersection cleanly.

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind.

>x car
Which do you mean, the student driver car or the cars in traffic?

>police
I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the police car.

>x police car
I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the police car.

>x cab
Glancing down Elm street, you see what looks like a cab stuck in traffic, as a police car tries to quickly drive past it.

You can just make out the perturbed look on the cab driver's face through the dirty cab windshield.

>x student driver
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>x instructor
You can't see any such thing.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

>x police
You can see the flashing blue and white lights of a police car, trying to weave through the dense traffic. You can't see into the car at all, however. The windows appear to be darkly tinted.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the left (westmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>x cab

You see the cab 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Looks like I can just drive straight," he says and moves forward one car length.
The cab is stopped and does not move.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>say yes
(to the Felix)
There is no reply.

The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Looks like I can just drive straight," he says and moves forward one car length.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves forward in the lane behind you (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you 

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>say yes to man
There is no reply.

The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Looks like I can just drive straight," he says and moves forward one car length.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves in close enough to be directly behind you and then manages to move up so it is alongside your car.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>yes
That was a rhetorical question.

The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Looks like I can just drive straight," he says and moves forward one car length.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic, narrowly dodges a badly parked car in the left lane, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

From some distorted magic wand a splash of white is cast across your senses. It's easy to dismiss this as some sort of 'magic', but you lack the ability to describe the feeling in a way that would have any real-world meaning. Brushing off the higher-order pixie dust, you blink into a new place.

As you open your eyes, you clench your teeth as you realize you are sitting in the driver's seat of a car. More specifically, a cab that has seen better days. Your grizzled hands are gripping the steering wheel in the usual 10-and-2-o'clock position and your feet are ready to brake or give it more gas. You recognize parts of Elm street as you acclimate to moving with traffic north, along two lanes. You check the rear-view mirror and see that you've been transported into the body of a scruffy-looking cab driver with a face that probably hasn't smiled in years. A quick glance confirms that you're not carrying any passengers, thank goodness.

Looking around, you notice a car with "STUDENT DRIVER" printed on the sides in the lane to your left. Behind, you see a police car.

As you're taking all of this in, you watch as the "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead in the lane to your left.

In cab (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the driver's seat of a well-used cab, driving along the two-lane, one-way Elm St, headed north in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the "STUDENT DRIVER" car 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
Over the radio, you hear: a catchy jingle for "Crisp Crackers".

>x car
You can't see any such thing.

>x police

You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 2 car-lengths ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...just in, folks driving downtown might want to avoid Umber and Elm north-south streets, and Jones and Oak east-west streets. We're hearing there's a serious traffic situation..."

>x student

You see the "STUDENT DRIVER" car 2 car-lengths ahead of you in the lane to your left.The police car, formerly 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left, zips forward, manages to find a gap in the traffic, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

The world fades to white again. You could see a foggy whiteness at the corner of your vision, but now it abruptly rushes in, and everything pulls away, only to pop back a moment later. Where are you now?

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x cab
Glancing down Elm street, you see what looks like a cab stuck in traffic, as a police car tries to quickly drive past it.

You can just make out the perturbed look on the cab driver's face through the dirty cab windshield.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the left (westmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>speed up
That's not a verb I recognise.

>x man
The young man looks young, probably just old enough to own a driver's permit. You detect the all-too-familiar scent of nervous sweat, some of it visible on the young man's brow.

The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Looks like I can just drive straight," he says and moves forward one car length.
The cab is stopped and does not move.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>tell man no
I didn't understand that sentence.

>man, drive
"I'm sorry Sir, but I can only drive north or northeast from this lane." Because the young man is unable to go where you wanted him to go, he brings the car to a momentary stop. Several cars behind you sound their horns.
The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Looks like I can just drive straight," he says and moves forward one car length.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves forward in the lane behind you (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you 

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, pull over
"Yes sir, I'll pull over right here." As the young man pulls over, the police car surges past you and continues speeding ahead.
Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

As you open your eyes, you clench your teeth as you realize you are sitting in the driver's seat of a car. More specifically, a cab that has seen better days. Your grizzled hands are gripping the steering wheel in the usual 10-and-2-o'clock position and your feet are ready to brake or give it more gas. You recognize parts of Elm street as you acclimate to moving with traffic north, along two lanes. You check the rear-view mirror and see that you've been transported into the body of a scruffy-looking cab driver with a face that probably hasn't smiled in years. A quick glance confirms that you're not carrying any passengers, thank goodness.

Looking around, you notice a car with "STUDENT DRIVER" printed on the sides in the lane to your left. Behind, you see a police car.

As you're taking all of this in, you watch as the "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead in the lane to your left.

In cab (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the driver's seat of a well-used cab, driving along the two-lane, one-way Elm St, headed north in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the "STUDENT DRIVER" car 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 2 car-lengths ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...just in, folks driving downtown might want to avoid Umber and Elm north-south streets, and Jones and Oak east-west streets. We're hearing there's a serious traffic situation..."

>brake
That's not a verb I recognise.

>stop
You bring the car to a momentary stop while you wait. Time passes. Several cars behind you sound their horns.The police car, formerly 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left, zips forward, manages to find a gap in the traffic, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x cab
Glancing down Elm street, you see what looks like a cab stuck in traffic, as a police car tries to quickly drive past it.

You can just make out the perturbed look on the cab driver's face through the dirty cab windshield.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the left (westmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>man, drive ne
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the northeast direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, drive ne
"Sir, I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to drive on sidewalks." Because the young man is unable to go where you wanted him to go, he brings the car to a momentary stop. Several cars behind you sound their horns.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then manages to move up so it is alongside your car.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, drive n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your left, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

As you open your eyes, you clench your teeth as you realize you are sitting in the driver's seat of a car. More specifically, a cab that has seen better days. Your grizzled hands are gripping the steering wheel in the usual 10-and-2-o'clock position and your feet are ready to brake or give it more gas. You recognize parts of Elm street as you acclimate to moving with traffic north, along two lanes. You check the rear-view mirror and see that you've been transported into the body of a scruffy-looking cab driver with a face that probably hasn't smiled in years. A quick glance confirms that you're not carrying any passengers, thank goodness.

Looking around, you notice a car with "STUDENT DRIVER" printed on the sides in the lane to your left. Behind, you see a police car.

As you're taking all of this in, you watch as the "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead in the lane to your left.

In cab (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the driver's seat of a well-used cab, driving along the two-lane, one-way Elm St, headed north in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the "STUDENT DRIVER" car 1 car-length ahead of you in your lane.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
Over the radio, you hear: a catchy jingle for "Crisp Crackers".

>x radio
There's a basic radio built into the cab dashboard. The knob to set the station appears to have fallen off.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The "STUDENT DRIVER" car is stopped and does not move.
Over the radio, you hear: "...just in, folks driving downtown might want to avoid Umber and Elm north-south streets, and Jones and Oak east-west streets. We're hearing there's a serious traffic situation..."

>drive n
You can't move there because the "STUDENT DRIVER" car is in the way. Because you can't drive where you wanted to go, you bring the car to a momentary stop instead. Several cars behind you sound their horns.The police car, formerly 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left, zips forward, manages to find a gap in the traffic, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>drive ne
You're not in anything driveable at the moment.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Cue the fade to white. This time you were more prepared, but it still happens in a way that manages to catch you a little off guard. Even the nearly indescribable detached sensation that follows is starting to feel familiar. In less than a moment, you find yourself in a new place.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>drive ne
You're not in the driver's seat.

The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Maybe I should change lanes," he says. "Looks like I'm safe to change langes," he says while carefully checking his blind spot, and then changes lanes while moving forward one car length.
The cab is stopped and does not move.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, drive n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves forward behind you in the opposite lane (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) 

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, drive n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your left, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then manages to move up so it is alongside your car.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, drive n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your left, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic, narrowly dodges a badly parked car in the left lane, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

From some distorted magic wand a splash of white is cast across your senses. It's easy to dismiss this as some sort of 'magic', but you lack the ability to describe the feeling in a way that would have any real-world meaning. Brushing off the higher-order pixie dust, you blink into a new place.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x cab
Glancing down Elm street, you see what looks like a cab stuck in traffic, as a police car tries to quickly drive past it.

You can just make out the perturbed look on the cab driver's face through the dirty cab windshield.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

As you open your eyes, you clench your teeth as you realize you are sitting in the driver's seat of a car. More specifically, a cab that has seen better days. Your grizzled hands are gripping the steering wheel in the usual 10-and-2-o'clock position and your feet are ready to brake or give it more gas. You recognize parts of Elm street as you acclimate to moving with traffic north, along two lanes. You check the rear-view mirror and see that you've been transported into the body of a scruffy-looking cab driver with a face that probably hasn't smiled in years. A quick glance confirms that you're not carrying any passengers, thank goodness.

Looking around, you notice a car with "STUDENT DRIVER" printed on the sides in the lane to your left. Behind, you see a police car.

As you're taking all of this in, you watch as the "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead in the lane to your left.

In cab (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the driver's seat of a well-used cab, driving along the two-lane, one-way Elm St, headed north in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the "STUDENT DRIVER" car 1 car-length ahead of you in your lane.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
Over the radio, you hear: a catchy jingle for "Crisp Crackers".

>drive n
You can't move there because the "STUDENT DRIVER" car is in the way. Because you can't drive where you wanted to go, you bring the car to a momentary stop instead. Several cars behind you sound their horns.
The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you, ending up 2 car-lengths ahead of you in your lane.
Over the radio, you hear: "...just in, folks driving downtown might want to avoid Umber and Elm north-south streets, and Jones and Oak east-west streets. We're hearing there's a serious traffic situation..."

>drive n
You drive in the north direction.The police car, formerly alongside you in the lane to your left, zips forward, manages to find a gap in the traffic, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>man, n
You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab moves behind your car in the lane to your right, ending up 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves forward behind you in the opposite lane (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you 

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves in close enough to be directly behind you and then manages to move up so it is alongside your car.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic, narrowly dodges a badly parked car in the left lane, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

Without much warning, everything around you fades to a clean white nothingness. You'd be blinking furiously right about now if you still had eyelids under your control. Distinct figures appear in the whiteness just as suddenly, and you take a moment to place yourself.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x cab
Glancing down Elm street, you see what looks like a cab stuck in traffic, as a police car tries to quickly drive past it.

You can just make out the perturbed look on the cab driver's face through the dirty cab windshield.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

The world fades to white again. You could see a foggy whiteness at the corner of your vision, but now it abruptly rushes in, and everything pulls away, only to pop back a moment later. Where are you now?

As you open your eyes, you clench your teeth as you realize you are sitting in the driver's seat of a car. More specifically, a cab that has seen better days. Your grizzled hands are gripping the steering wheel in the usual 10-and-2-o'clock position and your feet are ready to brake or give it more gas. You recognize parts of Elm street as you acclimate to moving with traffic north, along two lanes. You check the rear-view mirror and see that you've been transported into the body of a scruffy-looking cab driver with a face that probably hasn't smiled in years. A quick glance confirms that you're not carrying any passengers, thank goodness.

Looking around, you notice a car with "STUDENT DRIVER" printed on the sides in the lane to your left. Behind, you see a police car.

As you're taking all of this in, you watch as the "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead in the lane to your left.

In cab (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the driver's seat of a well-used cab, driving along the two-lane, one-way Elm St, headed north in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the "STUDENT DRIVER" car 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
Over the radio, you hear: a catchy jingle for "Crisp Crackers".

>n
You drive in the north direction.
The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...just in, folks driving downtown might want to avoid Umber and Elm north-south streets, and Jones and Oak east-west streets. We're hearing there's a serious traffic situation..."

>n
You drive in the north direction.The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your left, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...police are on the scene in some sort of car chase. More information forthcoming..."

>n
You drive in the north direction.The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your left, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...the driver's daughter, first name Sarah, is a student at Elman Elementary school..."

>n
You drive in the north direction.
In the left lane ahead, a car is parked badly, sticking part-way into the lane.The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your left, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The "STUDENT DRIVER" car is stopped and does not move.
Over the radio, you hear: "...last seen heading north on Elm so stay clear..."

>n
You drive in the north direction.The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your left, moves in close enough to be directly behind you and then manages to move up so it is alongside your car.

The "STUDENT DRIVER" car is stopped and does not move.
Over the radio, you hear:  some rather repetitive pop song.

>n
You drive in the north direction.The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your left, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

The world fades to white again. You could see a foggy whiteness at the corner of your vision, but now it abruptly rushes in, and everything pulls away, only to pop back a moment later. Where are you now?

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>man, n
You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the left (westmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>ma, n
You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom.

>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves forward behind you in the opposite lane (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) 

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, stop
"Yes sir, I'll stop and wait right here." The young man brings the car to a momentary halt.
The cab moves ahead of you and avoids the badly parked car in the left lane by staying in the right lane, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic, narrowly dodges a badly parked car in the left lane, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

> x studnet
You can't see any such thing.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Without much warning, everything around you fades to a clean white nothingness. You'd be blinking furiously right about now if you still had eyelids under your control. Distinct figures appear in the whiteness just as suddenly, and you take a moment to place yourself.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the left (westmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>man, 
"I don't quite understand what you want me to do Sir. Will this be on the driving test?"

The young man says, "I'll go ahead and keep driving, sir." "Looks like I can just drive straight," he says and moves forward one car length.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves forward behind you in the opposite lane (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) 

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Sir, I'm afraid of hitting that badly parked car in the left lane, so I can't go in that direction." Because the young man is unable to go where you wanted him to go, he brings the car to a momentary stop. Several cars behind you sound their horns.
The cab moves ahead of you and avoids the badly parked car in the left lane by staying in the right lane, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic, narrowly dodges a badly parked car in the left lane, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

The world fades to white again. You could see a foggy whiteness at the corner of your vision, but now it abruptly rushes in, and everything pulls away, only to pop back a moment later. Where are you now?

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>undo
In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
[Previous turn undone.]

>man, ne
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the northeast direction as you requested.
The cab tries to advance, but can't because you are in the way.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then manages to move up so it is alongside your car.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab moves behind your car in the same lane, ending up 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your left, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>undo
In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
[Previous turn undone.]

>man, ne
"Sir, I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to drive on sidewalks." Because the young man is unable to go where you wanted him to go, he brings the car to a momentary stop. Several cars behind you sound their horns.
The cab tries to advance, but can't because you are in the way.
The police car, formerly alongside you in the lane to your left, zips forward, manages to find a gap in the traffic, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>undo
In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
[Previous turn undone.]

>man, nw
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the northwest direction as you requested.
The cab moves behind your car in the lane to your right, ending up 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in your lane, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

The proverbial white curtain drops once again, enshrouding you in whiteness. The players in the next scene of this surreal play start to reveal themselves, uncovered from the disappearing white. Next time you'll remember to ask the powers above for a peek at the script. For now, you can only get ready for the next act.

You've looped back to where this all started yet again. How many more times will this happen?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

The StopNGo X9000 sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>restart
Are you sure you want to restart? yes






Let's be honest. When you took the position as Junior Research Lab Assistant at the Orzel Particle Physics Institute, you weren't expecting anything glamorous. 'A post-doc has to start somewhere,' you told yourself. 'I don't want to teach a bunch of over-privileged undergrads,' you convinced yourself. 'I'd be working for Dr. Roth, who has a pretty good reputation,' you pondered. And finally 'It pays enough to move out of my parent's house,' you realized, with just a tiny amount of glee.

But here you are, seven months later, wondering if you made the right choice. Working for Dr. Roth at the Institute has been some of the most uninspiring work you've ever done. It doesn't help that most of the time, the 'research' tasks he gives you are mostly manual labor. How many times does a person really need to clean the plates for the proportional drift chamber?  And moving heavy spectrometers from lab room to lab room isn't what you had in mind when you were told the Institute was working on problems that required 'heavy lifting'.

So this morning, when you were interrupted and told to pick up the shipment of unstable Cesium-7 isotopes that had erroneously been dropped off by the post office to an address three blocks away, you were disappointed, but not surprised. 'At least you'll get some fresh air,' Dr. Roth told you with a thin veneer of disdain.

After obtaining the package, you're finally on your way back to the lab.


TRAFFIC
An adventure at five miles an hour
Copyright (C) 2024, by D.S. Yu.
Portions copyright Graham Nelson and David Griffith.
'TRAFFIC' comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY 


Release 1 / Serial number 240904 / Inform v6.33 Library v6.12.6 SD

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving slowly along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.

>x box
It appears to be a five-foot tall metal box, with no noteworthy markings, painted gray. There are some vents on the side, possibly for airflow, and you suspect it contains electronics of some sort. On the front is a metal door with a recessed handle that likely opens outwards.

As you examine the box, a middle-aged man in a reflective safety vest, who was partly obscured by the box, examines something on the box, looks up at the lights, notices you watching him, and then quickly walks away.

>x stroller
A young woman is dutifully pushing a covered baby stroller that you're fairly sure holds a baby. She seems somewhat distracted, with most of her attention diverted to her rather large mobile device.

But wait, just now, you saw the top of a tiny little bald head appear from within the stroller. Two tiny blue eyes meet your gaze, before the baby disappears back into the stroller.

>x bus
It's one of those local lines that goes along Jones St, but it must be behind schedule (no thanks to all the traffic). It looks like it might not make it through the intersection before the light changes.

As you look at the all the riders packed in the bus, you notice one particular businessman, glancing through the window your way. The expression on his face is one of acute discomfort.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. As she pushes the stroller into traffic, the speeding car swerves out of the way, driving up onto the sidewalk. 

'I hope he knows driving on the sidewalk is frowned upon,' you manage to think, just as the car, without so much as a 'hello', plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

In a moment you'd call 'gut-wrenching' if you still had a gut, the whiteness that defines your immediate universe is suddenly permeated by color, and you find yourself pulled, pushed, and squeezed through time and space.

You have been transported, somehow, without moving an inch. You are standing at the same street corner you occupied moments ago, but the traffic is different, the sounds are different, and even the sunlight is different -- missing, actually. It seems to be early evening, at least that is certain. Your body feels out of sorts, and as you glance at your hands, you see hands that are not your own, but bigger, with more scars and dirt. As you check the rest of your body you realize that you are not yourself. Your mind occupies someone else's body. Also, you suddenly realize you are not alone.

The corner of Jones and Elm
You are at the corner of Jones and Elm. It's night-time, which means for this not-so-lively part of town, there's no one to be seen, and almost no cars driving along either street.

A man is standing here, wearing a reflective safety vest and holding a clipboard.

A large metal box painted gray is standing here, bolted to the sidewalk.

>
I beg your pardon?

>unlock box
(with the key)
You unlock the metal box.

You hear a howl from some animal off in the distance. Maybe it's someone's dog?

>open box
You open the metal box, revealing a controller panel.

>ask man for screwdriver
"Here you go, but I want that back." He hands over the screwdriver.

>open panel
With a bit of brute force and a handy screwdriver, you pry open the panel. Amongst the wires and detrius underneath the panel, you notice a tiny switch marked 'RESET' which you press with some haste. There's a small beep. You close the panel and notice a new value in the screen.

The man scratches his neck for a moment.

>push button
You hesitate briefly, your finger hovering over the green button. Then, confidently, you press the oddly enticing button. There is a satisfying click from the box.

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

As the world rushes back, you find yourself seated. On a bus. A bus packed with people, uncomfortably warm, with loud with noises from every direction. You feel sweat dripping along your brow, and as you raise your arm to wipe it off, you notice you're wearing a well-fitting business suit. You've swapped bodies with an average-height business man, possibly in his late 30s, likely late to work. You feel the bus lurch forward, only to shudder to a stop a few seconds later. You glance out the window and realize you're on that bus trying to cross the Elm and Jones street intersection.

On Jones heading towards Racine (in bus)
You're sitting on a hot crowded bus barely moving along Jones Street.

There's a boombox on the floor of the bus right in front of you blasting music at a remarkably high volume.

You can also see an elderly woman here.

>z
Time passes.

You briefly smell something rather noxious, maybe fuel, then it goes away.

>turn off boombox
As you turn the boombox off, there's a collective sigh of relief from people nearby, including the elderly woman.

>open window
You reach over and push open the window slightly, letting a cool breeze into the bus. Several people, including the elderly woman, silently nod in thanks.

>give seat to woman
The elderly woman sighs in relief and eagerly takes your vacated seat. "Thank you, young man," she says.

You watch a car aggressively drive past the bus, only to screech to a stop shortly after.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

You briefly smell something rather noxious, maybe fuel, then it goes away.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

The bus lurches towards the intersection of Jones Street and Elm Street. You watch as the light changes to yellow just as the bus enters the intersection. Fortunately, the traffic ahead of the bus has cleared, and the bus lumbers through the intersection cleanly.

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

You feel stretched and then squashed into a new form. Everything feels unfamiliar, bright, too loud. You open your eyes and find yourself on your back, looking up at the blue sky. You try to get up, and your body refuses to respond, instead twisting and popping in an awkward fashion. You reach a hand out to grab something, anything, and notice that your hand, your arm, your whole body, is tiny and undeveloped. Tiny little fingers on a tiny little hand flex open and closed. Your body has become that of a tiny infant, lying in a bed of a stroller of some sort. You feel the great urge to let out a loud wail.

On Elm Between Jones and Oak (inside stroller)
You are on the sidewalk on Elm street, likely somewhere between Jones and Oak streets. More specifically, you are inside a baby stroller with raised walls on all sides and a curved half-canopy above, being pushed along the sidewalk on Elm street.

There is a woman slowly pushing the stroller.

You can also see a blanket here.

>take blanket
As you grab the blanket, you uncover a pacifier that was hidden underneath it.

>take pacifier
Taken.

>throw pacifier at phone
It takes quite a bit of effort, but you manage to throw the pacifier at the woman's phone. You're a bit off the mark and end up hitting the woman in the neck. "That wasn't very nice," the woman says. "Now I have to pick up your pacifier. I'm going to miss at least 3 text messages." The woman stops pushing the stroller and stoops down to look for the pacifier. At the same time, a car, driving well over the speed limit, races by, narrowly missing the stroller.

The world fades to white again. You could see a foggy whiteness at the corner of your vision, but now it abruptly rushes in, and everything pulls away, only to pop back a moment later. Where are you now?

You blink a couple times. Everything is exactly as it was when you started out in all of this. Did you just imagine everything?

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind.

>x police
You can see the flashing blue and white lights of a police car, trying to weave through the dense traffic. You can't see into the car at all, however. The windows appear to be darkly tinted.

>x cab
Glancing down Elm street, you see what looks like a cab stuck in traffic, as a police car tries to quickly drive past it.

You can just make out the perturbed look on the cab driver's face through the dirty cab windshield.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

The world fades to white again. You could see a foggy whiteness at the corner of your vision, but now it abruptly rushes in, and everything pulls away, only to pop back a moment later. Where are you now?

As you open your eyes, you clench your teeth as you realize you are sitting in the driver's seat of a car. More specifically, a cab that has seen better days. Your grizzled hands are gripping the steering wheel in the usual 10-and-2-o'clock position and your feet are ready to brake or give it more gas. You recognize parts of Elm street as you acclimate to moving with traffic north, along two lanes. You check the rear-view mirror and see that you've been transported into the body of a scruffy-looking cab driver with a face that probably hasn't smiled in years. A quick glance confirms that you're not carrying any passengers, thank goodness.

Looking around, you notice a car with "STUDENT DRIVER" printed on the sides in the lane to your left. Behind, you see a police car.

As you're taking all of this in, you watch as the "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead in the lane to your left.

In cab (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the driver's seat of a well-used cab, driving along the two-lane, one-way Elm St, headed north in the right (eastmost) lane.

You see the "STUDENT DRIVER" car 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in your lane.
Over the radio, you hear: a catchy jingle for "Crisp Crackers".

>n
You drive in the north direction.
The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...just in, folks driving downtown might want to avoid Umber and Elm north-south streets, and Jones and Oak east-west streets. We're hearing there's a serious traffic situation..."

>n
You drive in the north direction.The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves forward in the lane behind you (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you 

The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...police are on the scene in some sort of car chase. More information forthcoming..."

>n
You drive in the north direction.The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves in close enough to be directly behind you and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead of you in the lane to your left, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in the lane to your left.
Over the radio, you hear: "...the driver's daughter, first name Sarah, is a student at Elman Elementary school..."

>n
You drive in the north direction.
In the left lane ahead, a car is parked badly, sticking part-way into the lane.The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in your lane, moves in close enough to be directly behind you and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The "STUDENT DRIVER" car moves ahead and merges into the right lane to avoid a badly parked car in the left lane, ending up 1 car-length ahead of you in your lane.
Over the radio, you hear: "...last seen heading north on Elm so stay clear..."

>n
You can't move there because the "STUDENT DRIVER" car is in the way. Because you can't drive where you wanted to go, you bring the car to a momentary stop instead. Several cars behind you sound their horns.
In the left lane ahead, a car is parked badly, sticking part-way into the lane.The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in your lane, moves in the opposite lane so it is alongside you and then manages to find a gap in the traffic, narrowly dodges a badly parked car in the left lane, and speeds ahead of your car.

The police car drives off, sirens and lights in full force. This will, of course, ultimately result in your demise yet again. Maybe there's some way to block it from getting ahead of you?

Cue the fade to white. This time you were more prepared, but it still happens in a way that manages to catch you a little off guard. Even the nearly indescribable detached sensation that follows is starting to feel familiar. In less than a moment, you find yourself in a new place.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car getting closer, and what appears to be a cab following closely behind. You also notice a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign driving alongside the cab.

>x student
Looking down Elm street, you can just make out what looks like a car marked "STUDENT DRIVER" slowly making its way through traffic.

Glancing through the windshield, you can't quite see the driver, but you can see a nervous man in the passenger seat, likely a driving instructor.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. Looking back down Elm street, you see the speeding car, almost at the intersection, along with the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. The police car deftly slips through holes in the traffic and somehow manages to pull up along side the speeding car. In an impressive feat of over-reaction, the speeding car evades the police car by driving up on the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding the woman with the baby stroller.

'Maybe he'll actually notice me this time,' you manage to think, just as the car plows straight into you. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

This time you find yourself transported into the passenger seat of an economical used car. Out the front you see a traffic-filled Elm St. A quick glance to the side reveals a young man in the driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel, teeth clenched, fixated on the road ahead. You yourself appear to be a balding, middle-aged man with a somewhat stiff neck. You feel unmistakenly nervous. 

In the lane to your right you see an oddly familiar-looking cab. Some distance behind you, you see a police car.

In "STUDENT DRIVER" car (on Elm St heading north)
You're in the passenger seat of a car that has seen better days. A young, nervous-looking man is driving the car north along the two-lane, one-way Elm St in the left (westmost) lane.

You see the cab alongside you in the lane to your right.
You see the police car 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right.
A young man is sitting in the driver's seat, looking a bit nervous.

>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.

The police car behind you turns on its lights and sirens and starts accelerating.
The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 3 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves forward behind you in the opposite lane (2 behind) and then moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) 

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, n
"Ok Sir," the young man says as he drives in the north direction as you requested.
The cab pulls up from behind and settles alongside to your right, ending up alongside you in the lane to your right.
The police car, formerly 2 car-lengths behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, stop
"Yes sir, I'll stop and wait right here." The young man brings the car to a momentary halt.
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

The young man says, "Sir, should I pull over? The police car is getting pretty close."
>man, stop
"I've already stopped sir, so I guess you want me to stay stopped for now?"
The cab is stopped and does not move.
The police car, formerly 1 car-length behind you in the lane to your right, moves in close enough to be directly behind you (but in the opposite lane) and then tries to get around your car but can't, so it remains where it is, stuck in traffic.

You've sufficiently delayed the police car enough that it won't be able to continue its pursuit.

Cue the fade to white. This time you were more prepared, but it still happens in a way that manages to catch you a little off guard. Even the nearly indescribable detached sensation that follows is starting to feel familiar. In less than a moment, you find yourself in a new place.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car, stuck in traffic.

>save
Ok.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

>n
North of here is the lab, and a day filled with more tedious errands. You'd be there already, if the traffic lights would change so you could cross the street.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. You look back down Elm searching for any sign of flashing lights, and see no sign of immediate police pursuit. The speeding car races by, narrowly avoiding some slower vehicles, and crosses the intersection at break-neck speed. The car speeds off and is soon out of sight.

Something seems different. You're still alive, for one thing. The package is still intact, and the world appears to still be here. Of course, you still don't know who was driving that car that kept running you over. It's long gone, with a very delayed police car in slow pursuit. Maybe you'll hear about it on the news tonight.

More newsworthy, perhaps, is the fact that you somehow experienced time travel, or dimensional travel, or some sort of body possession, or any combination of the above. You race back to the Orzel Institute -- Dr. Roth and your colleagues should be suitably impressed.

In elevator (riding to Dr. Roth's lab on the 5th floor)
You're in an elevator in the Orzel Particle Physics Institute, building A, on your way up to the fifth floor to drop off the package for Dr. Roth.

>x package
It's a small package that contains even smaller isotopes. It also somehow enabled you to travel through time and space, in the past. Or, rather, was that the present?

There's a light chime as the elevator passes floor 1

>l

In elevator (riding to Dr. Roth's lab on the 5th floor)
You're in an elevator in the Orzel Particle Physics Institute, building A, on your way up to the fifth floor to drop off the package for Dr. Roth.

There's a light chime as the elevator passes floor 2

>x me
You are yourself again.

There's a light chime as the elevator passes floor 3

>i
You're carrying:
  a package

There's a light chime as the elevator passes floor 4

>x elevator
That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.

>z
Time passes.

There's a light chime as the elevator arrives at floor 5. The doors open and you step into the hall and proceed directly to Dr. Roth's office.


The rest of the day proceeds pretty much like any other, which is maddeningly strange, given all the things you've been through. You want to tell someone, anyone, about your impossible time-travel adventures, but who would believe you? At one point you even consider telling Dr. Roth, but you break into a brief but uncontrollable fit of laughter that fortunately no one in the lab witnesses. You muddle through a few test experiments, let Dr. Roth know that you're not feeling like yourself ("When has that stopped you before?" he says with a disappointed frown), and head home early, taking the long way there.

By the time you arrive back in your apartment, you've convinced yourself it was some sort of mental nightmare brought on by a near death experience. That's the only sane way of thinking about it. All of that jumping into other people's bodies was some sort of wild cognitive distortion, surely. The idea of some sort of out-of-body time travel is preposterous. It couldn't possibly have been real.

After a rather basic dinner, you flop onto the ugly green couch your sister gave you (second hand, of course) and search for something on television. You slowly breathe away the last bits of anxiety from the day. The nightly news mentions the big traffic jam, and even that crazy brown car that nearly ran you over.

Although...you can't help but wonder. Who was that maniac driving that car? Where was he or she going in such a hurry? The news report had no further details, but there must be more to that story.

"Maybe I'll dream something up about that driver," you tell yourself as you get up, turn the lights out, and call it a night.

    *** You have won ***



In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 0, in 51 turns.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game or QUIT?
>restore
Ok.

>think about sarah
That's right, the cab radio mentioned something about some child named Sarah. She's somehow related to the driver of the speeding car. Oh, and she goes to Elman Elementary school? Why, that's right across the street from you.

>open package
It's really well sealed with multiple layers of tape and not something you could open here. Besides, if Dr. Roth noticed the package was opened, he'd probably have a fit.

>break package
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

>think about sarah
That's right, the cab radio mentioned something about some child named Sarah. She's somehow related to the driver of the speeding car. Oh, and she goes to Elman Elementary school? Why, that's right across the street from you.

>break package
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. You look back down Elm searching for any sign of flashing lights, and see no sign of immediate police pursuit. The speeding car races by, narrowly avoiding some slower vehicles, and crosses the intersection at break-neck speed. The car speeds off and is soon out of sight.

Something seems different. You're still alive, for one thing. The package is still intact, and the world appears to still be here. Of course, you still don't know who was driving that car that kept running you over. It's long gone, with a very delayed police car in slow pursuit. Maybe you'll hear about it on the news tonight.

More newsworthy, perhaps, is the fact that you somehow experienced time travel, or dimensional travel, or some sort of body possession, or any combination of the above. You race back to the Orzel Institute -- Dr. Roth and your colleagues should be suitably impressed.

In elevator (riding to Dr. Roth's lab on the 5th floor)
You're in an elevator in the Orzel Particle Physics Institute, building A, on your way up to the fifth floor to drop off the package for Dr. Roth.

>think about sarah
That's right, the cab radio mentioned something about some woman named Sarah. What is her involvement in all of this? Your mind races with thoughts about this, and then, in the back of your mind, you feel something click into place, like a puzzle piece.

The radio said Sarah goes to Elam Elementary school. You went to Elam Elementary school. You know exactly where that is -- across the street from where that car kept crashing into you!

There's a light chime as the elevator passes floor 1

>break package
You attack the poor defenseless package. You hurl it around the elevator, and when that yields nothing, you throw the package to the ground and jump on it with as much force as you can muster.

You hear a crack, followed by a somewhat familiar white light.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Without much warning, everything around you fades to a clean white nothingness. You'd be blinking furiously right about now if you still had eyelids under your control. Distinct figures appear in the whiteness just as suddenly, and you take a moment to place yourself.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car, stuck in traffic.
Elman Elementary school is right across the street from you.

>undo
In elevator (riding to Dr. Roth's lab on the 5th floor)
[Previous turn undone.]

>open package
It's really well sealed with multiple layers of tape and not something you could open here.
There's a light chime as the elevator passes floor 2

>break package
You attack the poor defenseless package. You hurl it around the elevator, and when that yields nothing, you throw the package to the ground and jump on it with as much force as you can muster.

You hear a crack, followed by a somewhat familiar white light.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car, stuck in traffic.
Elman Elementary school is right across the street from you.

>x school
There's a school just across the street, with "Elman Elementary" in large letters over the entrance gate. You see a young girl standing just outside the school gate, speaking with someone who might be a teacher.

>x girl
There's a young girl with blond hair standing in front of Elman Elementary across the street. She's talking to a teacher and, based on the concerned look on the teacher's face, the girl is upset about something. The girl is also holding the leash to a little dog that sits obediently beside her.

As you try and get a better look at the girl, who you are convinced is Sarah, you notice the little dog looking right at you. It briefly wags its tail, and then goes back to looking up at the girl.

>x dog
There's a little dog sitting obediently next to the blond girl.

>x teacher
There's an older woman, most likely a teacher, patiently listening to the blond girl.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. You look back down Elm searching for any sign of flashing lights, and see no sign of immediate police pursuit. The speeding car races down Elm, narrowly avoiding various slower vehicles. In a split second, you realize what you have to do.

"I really really hope this works," you tell yourself as you grab the package tightly and jump straight into the path of the speeding car. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

You find yourself transported, yet again, into a new, unfamiliar body in a new, unfamiliar place. Curiously, the first thing you notice about your new environment is the smell -- or smells, really. So many new, strange smells! As you adjust to your seemingly heightened sense of smell, you glance around and determine you're in some child's bedroom. A small desk and chair are sitting to the side of the room, and a bed is over in a corner. A young girl is sitting on the floor in front of you, looking unhappy. You immediately feel compelled to comfort her in some way, but as you try to speak, you can only manage a strange guttural sound. You take a step forward and see two small brown paws land to your left and right. What new lunacy is this?

And then it hits you.

You are in the body of a small, adorable dog.

Child's Bedroom
You're in a small room that, based on the copious amount of cute stuffed animals scattered about, is most likely a child's bedroom.

You can see Sarah here.

>x sarah
A young wisp of a girl, with a troubled look in her eyes.

>x me
You are an adorable little dog.

>x nimals
You can't see any such thing.

>x animals
You can't see any such thing.

>i
You're carrying nothing.

>x stuffed animals
You can't see any such thing.

>x be
You can't see any such thing.

>x bed
The bed is quite small, but looks comfortable and warm.

>look under bed
You notice a small ball under the bed, which you paw at until you can knock it into the middle of the room.

>take ball
The ball is a little too large to hold in your current form. Also, it's unclear where you would put it.

>bite ball
That's not a verb I recognise.

>push ball
You push the ball around for a bit. The girl watches you go back and forth.

>push ball to sarah
You nudge the ball towards the girl, and it rolls towards her foot. She picks it up, looks your way, and suddenly smiles. "Oh, are you giving this to me?" she asks. "I can't take your ball, Burshie," she says and rolls the ball back towards you.

The little girl turns to you, pulls you towards her by your paws, and looks doleful. "Oh Burshie, I don't know what to do."

>push ball to sarah
"Yes, I see the ball again, Burshie," the girl says.

"Daddy's in trouble Burshie, I just know it. I heard him talking to someone over the phone yesterday. There was a lot of yelling. He said something about money, he was really angry about it."

>push ball to sarah
"Yes, I see the ball again, Burshie," the girl says.

"Just now I saw him packing a suitcase. He didn't see me, but after Mom left for work, I watched him pack lots of clothes, some money, his favorite watch. He never takes that watch anywhere, Burshie. Where could he be going?"

>push ball to sarah
"Yes, I see the ball again, Burshie," the girl says.

"This morning he seemed really far away. He didn't eat any breakfast. I asked if he was going to drive me to school and he told me to take the bus. Then, when I was leaving I asked him if he was going to pick me up from school later, and he didn't even hear me. Mom ended up picking me up."

>push ball to sarah
"Yes, I see the ball again, Burshie," the girl says.

"I just don't know what to do Burshie. I'm worried something bad is going to happen. I think I should go talk to him, but it's late and I don't want to get him upset." The young girl then looks at you and smiles. "I know, you can help me decide Burshie! If you bark once, then I shouldn't bother Dad. But if you bark twice, then I should bother him. Help me Burshie! Tell me what to do!"

>bark

"Ok Burshie, if you think I should just stay quiet, that's what I'll do."

Rudely, everything fades to white once again. Just as you were starting to get a grasp of things again too. As before, whiteness gives way to a loud pop of color and form, leaving you literally and figuratively disoriented.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
A bit further south on Elm, you see the flashing lights of a police car, stuck in traffic.
Elman Elementary school is right across the street from you. Standing in front of the school is a young blond girl.

>x girl
There's a young girl with blond hair standing in front of Elman Elementary across the street. She's talking to a teacher and, based on the concerned look on the teacher's face, the girl is upset about something. The girl is also holding the leash to a little dog that sits obediently beside her.

As you try and get a better look at the girl, who you are convinced is Sarah, you notice the little dog looking right at you. It briefly wags its tail, and then goes back to looking up at the girl.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye you see a remarkably unremarkable car speeding rather aggressively up Elm Street, wildly changing lanes and weaving between cars. At the same time, you watch as the woman pushing the baby stroller starts to push the stroller across Elm, oblivious of the car racing towards her. Fortunately, at the last moment, the woman pauses, distracted by something happening in the stroller, and the car races by. You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you turn towards the intersection to watch as the bus slowly makes its way along Jones Street, clearing the intersection successfully. The way should now be clear for the speeding car. You look back down Elm searching for any sign of flashing lights, and see no sign of immediate police pursuit. The speeding car races down Elm, narrowly avoiding various slower vehicles. In a split second, you realize what you have to do.

"I really really hope this works," you tell yourself as you grab the package tightly and jump straight into the path of the speeding car. Your last thought is of the safety of the package you carry, already crushed into pieces against your equally crushed chest, before a sudden white light sweeps over the entire scene.


    *** You have died ***


Or, hold on just a minute. There's something beyond all this white it seems.
[Please press SPACE to continue.]

A white haze like a strange dimensional snow-storm blankets you into a place between 'here' and 'there'. A sensation best described as a 'visual sneeze' blows past and unthaws brand new objects in a new location.

You find yourself transported, yet again, into a new, unfamiliar body in a new, unfamiliar place. Curiously, the first thing you notice about your new environment is the smell -- or smells, really. So many new, strange smells! As you adjust to your seemingly heightened sense of smell, you glance around and determine you're in some child's bedroom. A small desk and chair are sitting to the side of the room, and a bed is over in a corner. A young girl is sitting on the floor in front of you, looking unhappy. You immediately feel compelled to comfort her in some way, but as you try to speak, you can only manage a strange guttural sound. You take a step forward and see two small brown paws land to your left and right. What new lunacy is this?

And then it hits you.

You are in the body of a small, adorable dog.

Child's Bedroom
You're in a small room that, based on the copious amount of cute stuffed animals scattered about, is most likely a child's bedroom.

You can see Sarah here.

>
I beg your pardon?

>look under bed
You notice a small ball under the bed, which you paw at until you can knock it into the middle of the room.

>push ball at sarah
You can't see any such thing.

>push ball to sarah
You nudge the ball towards the girl, and it rolls towards her foot. She picks it up, looks your way, and suddenly smiles. "Oh, are you giving this to me?" she asks. "I can't take your ball, Burshie," she says and rolls the ball back towards you.

The little girl turns to you, pulls you towards her by your paws, and looks doleful. "Oh Burshie, I don't know what to do."

>z
Time passes.

"Daddy's in trouble Burshie, I just know it. I heard him talking to someone over the phone yesterday. There was a lot of yelling. He said something about money, he was really angry about it."

>z
Time passes.

"Just now I saw him packing a suitcase. He didn't see me, but after Mom left for work, I watched him pack lots of clothes, some money, his favorite watch. He never takes that watch anywhere, Burshie. Where could he be going?"

>z
Time passes.

"This morning he seemed really far away. He didn't eat any breakfast. I asked if he was going to drive me to school and he told me to take the bus. Then, when I was leaving I asked him if he was going to pick me up from school later, and he didn't even hear me. Mom ended up picking me up."

>z
Time passes.

"I just don't know what to do Burshie. I'm worried something bad is going to happen. I think I should go talk to him, but it's late and I don't want to get him upset." The young girl then looks at you and smiles. "I know, you can help me decide Burshie! If you bark once, then I shouldn't bother Dad. But if you bark twice, then I should bother him. Help me Burshie! Tell me what to do!"

>bark twice

"Ok Burshie, I'm going to go talk to Dad right now. You wait right here." The girl leaves the room.

Like a really impatient fog, whiteness rushes in to replace your world. The fog doesn't stick around very long though, and soon you start to see objects unveiled in the fog. You steady yourself for someplace new.

You've looped back to where this all started once again.

The corner of Jones and Elm
It's mid-morning again, and you are waiting at the intersection of Jones street and Elm street. Traffic is moving at average speed along Jones headed east, and along Elm headed north. The traffic lights are working, and if the pedestrian walk light would ever change, you could walk across Jones and head north back to the lab.

A 5-foot tall metal box sits bolted to the sidewalk nearby, under one of the traffic light posts.
The sidewalks are mostly devoid of pedestrians, although you do notice a woman slowly walking towards Elm street pushing a baby stroller.
You notice a bus slowly trying to get through the intersection.
Elman Elementary school is right across the street from you.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

You brace yourself for the speeding car that should be speeding towards you any minute now...

Yes, any minute now...

But nothing happens. No out-of-control car driving up on the sidewalk and crushing you. Just traffic as usual. The sun is shining down from a blue sky, and everyone seems to just be going about their business.

You blink in disbelief. Several light-changes later, you cross the street and head back to the lab, incredulous that you're still alive.


The rest of the day proceeds pretty much like any other, which is maddeningly strange, given all the things you've been through. You want to tell someone, anyone, about your impossible time-travel adventures, but who would believe you? At one point you even consider telling Dr. Roth, but you break into a brief but uncontrollable fit of laughter that fortunately no one in the lab witnesses. You muddle through a few test experiments, let Dr. Roth know that you're not feeling like yourself ("When has that stopped you before?" he says with a disappointed frown), and head home early, taking the long way there.

By the time you arrive back in your apartment, you've convinced yourself it was some sort of mental nightmare brought on by a near death experience. That's the only sane way of thinking about it. All of that jumping into other people's bodies was some sort of wild cognitive distortion, surely. The idea of some sort of out-of-body time travel is preposterous. It couldn't possibly have been real.

After a rather basic dinner, you flop onto the ugly green couch your sister gave you (second hand, of course) and search for something on television. You slowly breathe away the last bits of anxiety from the day. You switch to the nightly news.

"Earlier today, a man turned himself in at the uptown police station. According to our sources, the man was thinking about fleeing the country due to some embezzlement situation at his job working for Loomis Bank."

The station shows some logo for Loomis Bank, who you're not sure you've ever heard of.

"Luckily, the man was given a second chance, by his own daughter."

A candid picture of a little blond girl is shown, a face you are familiar with.

"The story we're being told is that the man's daughter convinced him to turn himself into the police rather than run. Parents watching this story, take note, your child might be giving you exactly the advice you need."

A short grainy video of a man being detained by police officers in some police station is shown. You can't quite make out his face.

"There's a happy ending to this story -- we're told investigators, with the help of Loomis Bank, have determined that the man was innocent. The man's employment account with the bank had been hacked and professional criminals had used his account to access bank funds.

"Police report that the man was released and is now at home, reunited with his wife and little girl. We'll have more on this story as it develops."

You feel a great sense of relief, despite not knowing this man at all, despite knowing that at various points in your recent history(?) this very man, on numerous occasions, hit you with his car.

The news report switches to some business story about how well the Pineapple 16XL is selling, so you switch the TV off and sit for a moment, lost in thought. All those little things you did really led to this outcome. Arguably, you didn't even do these things, someone else's body did the work. But, through this crazy sequence of events, you were able to change the way things went. To change the whole story. Shouldn't you feel good about that? And, adding to that, when you really compare things to all the complications in all the other lives you experienced, doesn't that put some of your current anxieties in a somewhat more mundane, and therefore more positive, light?

Perhaps. Stuff to think about tomorrow. For now, you get to sleep to another day. You turn the lights out and head to bed. 

    *** You have won ***



In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 0, in 81 turns.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game or QUIT?
>