Start of a transcript of Assembly An Interactive Fiction by Ben Kirwin Release 1 / Serial number 231001 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.41 lib 6/12N) Identification number: //78C3914A-B474-45DF-8047-5B506B0B2A01// Interpreter version 2.1.7 / VM 3.1.2 / Library serial number 080126 Standard Rules version 3/120430 by Graham Nelson Far Away version 5/160517 by Jon Ingold > l Bedroom Well, it will be your bedroom once you've finished setting everything up. Right now it's your furniture assembly room, and nearly empty aside from the pile of discarded cardboard in one corner. A flat-pack furniture box lies in the center of the room. > i You have nothing. > x box A perfectly ordinary flat-pack furniture box, brown and corrugated. The word DÖLMEN is inscribed along one edge. > open it You tear open the flat-pack furniture box, unpacking an instruction booklet, a tabletop, a handful of wooden pegs, two table legs, eight cam-lock screws, eight cam-lock nuts, and a hex key. You discard the now-useless cardboard from the box. > read booklet (first taking the DÖLMEN instruction booklet, to get a proper look) DÖLMEN The front cover of the DÖLMEN instruction booklet depicts what looks like a small table, somewhat crudely proportioned: a thick tabletop overhangs the two smaller boards that form the legs. You don't actually remember buying this one, come to think of it ? but it's been a long day, and you're sure you must have needed it for something. You flip ahead to the instructions. Step 1: screw the cam-lock screws into the tabletop. > get top Taken. A thick, almost brutalist slab of some sort of composite wood. Holes for screws line opposite edges of what must be the bottom face. > x it A thick, almost brutalist slab of some sort of composite wood. Holes for screws line opposite edges of what must be the bottom face. > *hey is it giving me a desc when i pick it up, that's cool You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom. > get screws Taken. A normal-looking screw for most of the length, these cam-lock screws have a specially-shaped head that the corresponding nuts are designed to lock on to. > x key A little hexagonal bar of metal, bent into a L shape. > get it Taken. > screw screws into tabletop (first setting down the tabletop, to free your hands) You flip the tabletop hole-side up, and screw the cam-lock screws firmly into the holes indicated in the instruction booklet. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: insert the pegs into the table legs. > get pegs Taken. Short, cylindrical wooden pegs, with spiralling grooves running from end to end. > put pegs into legs Holding each of the legs upright in turn, you insert the wooden pegs firmly into the holes along the upper edge. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the table legs to the tabletop. > attach legs to tabletop (first taking the table legs) You start with the tabletop flat on its back. Taking hold of one leg, you line its pegs up with matching holes on one edge of the tabletop and press them together. After some resistance, they meet with a satisfying thump. You do the same with the other leg. The table is now in its final shape, though its legs are only loosely attached ? set back a handful of centimetres from each end and splayed slightly outward. The effect should be awkward, but there's something oddly compelling about the proportions of the thing... though it does look a bit wrong upside down, like a turtle stuck on its back. The heads of the cam-lock screws are still just visible through nut-sized holes in the sides of each leg. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 4: fasten the cam-lock nuts onto the screws. > fasten nuts onto screws (first taking the cam-lock nuts) The nuts fit perfectly into the holes in the side of the table legs, nestling over the heads of the screws. After one or two turns with the hex key, the nuts grip firmly onto the screws and hold the whole table tightly together. You flip it over, and set it solidly down on top of its legs. Huh. That's strange. It's probably the simplest thing you've built today ? just a couple of of juxtaposed fibreboard slabs ? but something about it has more of a presence than you expected. You keep catching yourself staring at it from the corner of your eyes and holding your breath. You're not even sure this is meant to be a table at all, now. An altar? No, that's not right. But what? > l Bedroom Well, it will be your bedroom once you've finished setting everything up. Right now it's your furniture assembly room, and nearly empty aside from the pile of discarded cardboard in one corner. Also here: the DÖLMEN table. > x table You have trouble not examining it, honestly, though on the surface there's not much to see ? just a couple of angled boards capped with a solid slab of medium-density fibreboard. Something about it seems significant, though; carefully formed, like a rune in some language you only half understand. > read table You have trouble not examining it, honestly, though on the surface there's not much to see ? just a couple of angled boards capped with a solid slab of medium-density fibreboard. Something about it seems significant, though; carefully formed, like a rune in some language you only half understand. > feel it As you reach towards the DÖLMEN, something shifts and settles in your mind, and you understand ? it's not a table, but a doorway. And the door is opening ? There are no words in your language for what happens next. There are no words for the way the world seems to come unstuck and peel away, though later it will remind you of the way an opening door shifts from a solid face to an insubstantial line. There are certainly no words for the way that time's axis swings into view, the present stretching out from its accustomed instant so that all of history is opened up to your perception. Still, words are sometimes the only tools we have; and later, when you try to assemble the fragments of your memory into some semblance of a narrative, the words you'll choose are not so different from the words below. * * * In the beginning, the barrier between your world and the world of the gods is thin. You can't quite tell who first learns to shape stone into the sacred forms that open the doorway between the worlds, or to perform the rituals that give the gods the power to step through: only that it happens in the northern corners of your world. And since humans are so quick to worship power, these rituals spread quickly? and the gods grow strong, then stronger still, until their hold over your world is absolute. An age passes, and then another, and the faith of the people begins to wane; the rituals fall into disuse, the sacred monuments into disrepair, and the gods weaken and vanish from the earth. Some go peacefully, but others rage against their loss ? and swear that, if that doorway were ever to reopen, humanity would not escape their control again. Then, finally, a new age: an age of infinite repetition, of unbounded mechanical reproduction, of forms iterated out beyond imagination. These gods, and the few who remember them, have found their chance ? for a ritual copied blindly from an instruction booklet, or a sacred ratio embodied in fibreboard instead of stone, still holds the same power. Their designs flood from the north and spread out around the world... and as you follow the instructions you are given, and assemble those parts into the forms that give power to the gods, those vindictive gods begin to regain their strength. And now, history sharpens down around you to a single projective point, the fulcrum on which the past and future hang. Here, tonight, they will open the doorway between the worlds again and wreak their vengeance on the earth. Unless, of course, you stop them. * * * An instant or an eternity later, space unfurls into its usual dimensions, and you return to yourself: head spinning, stomach turning, hands shaking, mind reeling. You look around ? you have been dislocated ? you are no longer at home. You stumble back to your feet on a cold floor in an empty hall. Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. A lone shopping cart has been abandoned near a closet door on the north wall. > x cart A low, rectangular metal platform, with wheels on the bottom and a handle rising to a conveniently-pushable height on one end. > get it You strain ineffectually to lift the cart. It's really more convenient to push it than to carry it around. > n You try the handle of the closet door ? but it is locked, and you have no key. > push cart s You can't go that way. > push cart u You push the front wheels of the cart onto the bottom step of the escalator. As the escalator lifts the cart, it tips back and clatters back to the floor ? nearly taking you with it. > x elevator You can't see any such thing. > l Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. > x escalator The escalator rises from the entrance hall floor to the showroom above. > x cart A low, rectangular metal platform, with wheels on the bottom and a handle rising to a conveniently-pushable height on one end. > u You ride the escalator up to the top floor and lose yourself quickly in the visual chaos of the showroom. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. In this corner, the designer has paired a boldly-printed wallpaper and a modern chandelier. Arrows on the floor mark the path, running from the top of the entrance-hall escalator (just visible in the middle distance) and leading to the east. > x wallpaper An almost overwhelming profusion of lines and colours, stitched together into complex pattern. Ghosts of the markings seem to swim across your vision, still rearranging themselves long after you've looked away. You glance at the label: MAIJA. You should be able to find it on the shelves in the self-serve furniture area later... if they have any in stock, of course. > x chandelier An ovoid cloud of brushed metal panels, angled against one another in a complex assemblage. A subtle light diffuses from the center, though you see no bulb. You glance at the label: POUL. You should be able to find it on the shelves in the self-serve furniture area later... if they have any in stock. > n You wander off the path, losing yourself in the visual cacophony of the showroom. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Here, the path runs between a wall-mounted shelving system and a glass coffee table. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the south and leading to the north. > x table Nearly the Platonic form of a table: a low rectilinear geometry in glass and chrome. You glance at the label: FLORENCE. You should be able to find it on the shelves in the self-serve furniture area later... if they have any in stock. > n You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by a wall-mounted shelving system and a butcher block kitchen island. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the east and leading to the south. > x selving You can't see any such thing. > x island One imagines a kitchen island as a tiny patch of countertop surrounded by a vast ocean of kitchen. This particular island is surfaced with butcher block and thus naturally antibacterial, though it needs to be oiled regularly to preserve its colour and to avoid staining. You glance at the label: MARTHA. You should be able to find it on the shelves in the self-serve furniture area later... if they have any in stock. > x shelving Sleek metal shelving, laddering up the nearby wall. The solid metal shelves seem to almost float ? though in fact they're securely bracketed to tracks running up the wall, and impressively strong. You glance at the label: DIETER. You should be able to find it on the shelves in the self-serve furniture area later... if they have any in stock. > l Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by the DIETER shelving system and the MARTHA kitchen island. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the east and leading to the south. > e You follow the path backwards through the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Look: a horrible lounge chair and the FLORENCE coffee table. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the south and leading to the east. > x chair A horrible object ? a violent slash of black leather racked onto on a semicircular frame. The design evokes something between a hospital bed and a torture device. You glance at the label: KRÅKA. You should be able to find it on the shelves in the self-serve furniture area later... if they have any in stock. > l Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Look: the KRÅKA lounge chair and the FLORENCE coffee table. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the south and leading to the east. > e You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by the FLORENCE coffee table and the KRÅKA lounge chair. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the east and leading to the west. > e You follow the path backwards through the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. In this corner, the designer has paired the MAIJA wallpaper and the POUL chandelier. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the east and leading to the south. > s You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Look: the POUL chandelier and the MAIJA wallpaper. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the east and leading to the north. > n You emerge, blinking, into the cafeteria. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Blocking the top of the escalator ? at the central focus of that ritual circle ? is a rosewood wardrobe. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. The space within is dark ? darker than it ought to be, considering. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Blocking the top of the escalator ? at the central focus of that ritual circle ? is a rosewood wardrobe. > x tables Smooth, tall rectangles of colourless wood. Most have simply been stood on end; a few have been placed atop two others in a sort of vast trilithic arch. Your footsteps echo softly in the ritual space, like some marble temple or ancient grove. > push it The rosewood wardrobe is too big to move. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Blocking the top of the escalator ? at the central focus of that ritual circle ? is a rosewood wardrobe. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. The space within is dark ? darker than it ought to be, considering. > enter it You step into the void. The wood of the wardrobe feels solid underfoot, the sides smooth under your fingertips, but you can't feel the back wall ? it must be deeper than you thought. You take another step. The air here is different: compared to the fresh and fragrant air of the restaurant, the atmosphere here feels dusty, stale, and somehow taut, as though the space between these rosewood panels was under some incredible tension. Even the light is different ? the view of the restaurant over your shoulder feels distant, and the darkness feels almost tangibly thick. A few more steps, and then your foot meets nothing at all, and you fall forward ? * * * ? and tumble to the floor in a tiny closet. You pick yourself up, brushing off a thick layer of dust from your clothes. Fascinating: through the rosewood wardrobe, you've got a clear view back to the restaurant. Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. Although... as your eyes adjust, one patch of darkness stands out as darker than the others. Some kind of chest? The rosewood wardrobe, through which you arrived somehow, consumes most of the limited space. Hidden halfway under the rosewood wardrobe ? an instruction booklet. > get booklet Taken. HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like... well, the wardrobe right in front of you. You skip to the end of the instruction booklet. Step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > x panels Two more-or-less identical wooden panels, about two metres tall and half a metre wide. The shorter edges have been carefully worked to dovetail with the top and the base. A HINDER top panel is attached to the HINDER side panels, and the HINDER side panels are attached to the HINDER base. > attach wardrobe to panels (first taking the HINDER wardrobe) The HINDER wardrobe is too big to move. > x top A rectangle of warm wood. Two edges have been carefully dovetailed to interlock with the wardrobe's side panels; the other two have been sanded smooth. The HINDER top panel is attached to the HINDER side panels. > get top You loosen the dovetails that connect the wardrobe top to the sides and lift it clean away. The distorted view of the restaurant in the wardrobe remains in place, though it does seem to fray a little at the top. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > get side (first setting down the HINDER top panel) As the side panels fall away from the base, the distorted view of the restaurant seems to stretch at first to fill the gap ? then, as if reaching a breaking point, it shatters into empty space. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. > unscrew legs (first setting down the HINDER side panels) For good measure, you unscrew the tapered wooden legs from the rosewood base. > x base Somewhat thicker than the wardrobe's top panel, with a few reinforced holes near the bottom where the legs attach. > get base Taken. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: some HINDER parts (side panels and top panel). > get all HINDER side panels: Taken. HINDER top panel: Taken. > open chest You feel around the edges of the chest. The surface feels like painted steel, the edges hard under your fingertips. There's a lid, though you can't seem to find any way to open it ? though you could probably manage it with a bit more light. > x instructions HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like the HINDER wardrobe you confronted in the restaurant earlier. You flip ahead to the instructions. Step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. > screw legs to base (first setting down some HINDER parts (top panel, side panels, and base)) You screw the tapered lags back into the rosewood base of the wardrobe. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > attach side to base (first taking the HINDER side panels) One by one, you dovetail each of the wardrobe's side panels with the base. As you reattach the second panel, the space between them seems to twist away, as though rotating on some higher-dimensional axis, and the void fills with a distorted view of the restaurant. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > attach top to panels (first taking the HINDER top panel) You place the top panel on the upper edges of the side panels and work the dovetails back together, completing the rectangular frame. The distorted view of the restaurant through the wardrobe seems to intensify. > x booklet HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like... well, the wardrobe right in front of you. You skip to the end of the instruction booklet. Step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. In the space within, you can make out a distorted outline of the restaurant. > open it It isn't something you can open. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x closet Light emerges from small cracks around a door to the south. > open it (first unlocking the closet door) You lack a key that fits the closet door. > s You try the handle of the closet door ? but it is locked, and you have no key. > get chest The tool chest is too big to move. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > push chest The tool chest is too big to move. > get top You loosen the dovetails that connect the wardrobe top to the sides and lift it clean away. The distorted view of the restaurant in the wardrobe remains in place, though it does seem to fray a little at the top. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > get sides (first setting down the HINDER top panel) As the side panels fall away from the base, the distorted view of the restaurant seems to stretch at first to fill the gap ? then, as if reaching a breaking point, it shatters into empty space. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: some HINDER parts (base and top panel). > x chest It's about the right shape and size to be a tool chest, but it's hard to say for certain without a bit more light. > unscrew chest The tool chest doesn't seem to be screwed into anything. To be honest, the tool chest doesn't even look like the sort of thing one screws. > i You have two HINDER side panels and the HINDER instruction booklet. > attach booklet to panels (first setting down the HINDER side panels) Despite your best efforts, the HINDER instruction booklet doesn't seem able to attach to the HINDER side panels. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: some HINDER parts (side panels, base, and top panel). > i You have the HINDER instruction booklet. > attach base to top (first taking the HINDER base) Despite your best efforts, the HINDER base doesn't seem able to attach to the HINDER top panel. > attach top to base (first setting down the HINDER base) (first taking the HINDER top panel) Despite your best efforts, the HINDER top panel doesn't seem able to attach to the HINDER base. > attach side to base (first setting down the HINDER top panel) (first taking the HINDER side panels) One by one, you dovetail each of the wardrobe's side panels with the base. As you reattach the second panel, the space between them seems to twist away, as though rotating on some higher-dimensional axis, and the void fills with a distorted view of the restaurant. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > enter wardrobe You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the restaurant. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > get top You can't see any such thing. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. In the space within, you can make out a distorted outline of the maintenance closet. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > w Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by the MARTHA kitchen island and the DIETER shelving system. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the north and leading to the south. > s You emerge, blinking, into the cafeteria. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > w Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Here, the path runs between the KRÅKA lounge chair and the DIETER shelving system. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the north and leading to the south. > n You follow the path backwards through the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by the FLORENCE coffee table and the MARTHA kitchen island. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the east and leading to the south. > x florence Nearly the Platonic form of a table: a low rectilinear geometry in glass and chrome. > get it This is a showroom! If you want anything in here, you'll need to find it downstairs later. > e You follow the path backwards through the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Look: the POUL chandelier and the MAIJA wallpaper. Arrows on the floor mark the path, running from the top of the entrance-hall escalator (just visible in the middle distance) and leading to the west. > d A quick jog down the rising escalator returns you to the entrance hall. Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. > i You have the HINDER instruction booklet. > x hinder HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like the HINDER wardrobe you confronted in the restaurant earlier. You find your place in the instructions. The last step was step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. Next up is step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > l Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. > x closet A closet is set unobtrusively into a corner of the north wall. > x doors A bank of automatic sliding doors, all closed, leading out to the empty parking lot. > open doors The automatic doors aren't sliding open; they seem to be locked, or disabled, or whatever the proper term is for an automatic door that isn't currently moving itself. You'll need to find another way out. > l Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. > i You have the HINDER instruction booklet. > x me You look down at your hands: they're quivering slightly, though everything seems to be in one piece. > i You have the HINDER instruction booklet. > l Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. > get cart You strain ineffectually to lift the cart. It's really more convenient to push it than to carry it around. > push cart u You push the front wheels of the cart onto the bottom step of the escalator. As the escalator lifts the cart, it tips back and clatters back to the floor ? nearly taking you with it. > x wheels You can't see any such thing. > detach wheels You can't see any such thing. > flip cart You spin the cart back and forth a bit in place. > i You have the HINDER instruction booklet. > pull cart u I only understood you as far as wanting to pull the shopping cart. > pull cart You give the cart a little tug, and it rolls slightly towards you. > i You have the HINDER instruction booklet. > break cart You take out your frustration on the shopping cart. This has no useful effect ? other than on your mood, perhaps. > u You ride the escalator up to the top floor and lose yourself quickly in the visual chaos of the showroom. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. In this corner, the designer has paired the MARTHA kitchen island and the FLORENCE coffee table. Arrows on the floor mark the path, running from the top of the entrance-hall escalator (just visible in the middle distance) and leading to the north. > n You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Look: the MARTHA kitchen island and the DIETER shelving system. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the north and leading to the west. > w You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Here, the path runs between the KRÅKA lounge chair and the FLORENCE coffee table. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the south and leading to the east. > e You emerge, blinking, into the cafeteria. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > in You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the maintenance closet. Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and a HINDER top panel. > get top Taken. > get base That seems to be a part of the HINDER wardrobe. > in You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the restaurant. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > i You have a HINDER top panel and the HINDER instruction booklet. > x top A rectangle of warm wood. Two edges have been carefully dovetailed to interlock with the wardrobe's side panels; the other two have been sanded smooth. > break top You take out your frustration on the HINDER top panel. This has no useful effect ? other than on your mood, perhaps. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x hinder (the HINDER instruction booklet) HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like... well, the wardrobe right in front of you. You find your place in the instructions. The last step was step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. Next up is step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. In the space within, you can make out a distorted outline of the maintenance closet. > x top A rectangle of warm wood. Two edges have been carefully dovetailed to interlock with the wardrobe's side panels; the other two have been sanded smooth. > attach top to wardrobe Despite your best efforts, the HINDER top panel doesn't seem able to attach to the HINDER wardrobe. > in You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the maintenance closet. Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > get sides (first setting down the HINDER top panel) As the side panels fall away from the base, the distorted view of the restaurant seems to stretch at first to fill the gap ? then, as if reaching a breaking point, it shatters into empty space. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. > unscrew legs (first setting down the HINDER side panels) For good measure, you unscrew the tapered wooden legs from the rosewood base. > get legs You already have those. > x legs Stubby little things, turned from the same wood as the rest of the cabinet. > x base Somewhat thicker than the wardrobe's top panel, with a few reinforced holes near the bottom where the legs attach. > get base Taken. > i You have some HINDER parts (base and legs) and the HINDER instruction booklet. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: some HINDER parts (side panels and top panel). > get all HINDER side panels: Taken. HINDER top panel: Taken. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. > x patch You can't see any such thing. > push chest The tool chest is too big to move. > x chest It's about the right shape and size to be a tool chest, but it's hard to say for certain without a bit more light. > i You have some HINDER parts (top panel, side panels, base, and legs) and the HINDER instruction booklet. > x legs Stubby little things, turned from the same wood as the rest of the cabinet. > read booklet HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like the HINDER wardrobe you confronted in the restaurant earlier. You flip ahead to the instructions. Step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. > attach legs to base (first setting down some HINDER parts (top panel, side panels, and base)) You screw the tapered lags back into the rosewood base of the wardrobe. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > put chest in wardrobe You can't see any such thing. > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > get chest The tool chest is too big to move. > turn wardrobe You can't see any such thing. > get all HINDER base: Taken. HINDER side panels: Taken. HINDER top panel: Taken. > put chest on base (first taking the tool chest) The tool chest is too big to move. > i You have some HINDER parts (top panel, side panels, and base) and the HINDER instruction booklet. > stand on base That's not something you can stand on. > read booklet HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like the HINDER wardrobe you confronted in the restaurant earlier. You find your place in the instructions. The last step was step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. Next up is step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > i You have some HINDER parts (top panel, side panels, and base) and the HINDER instruction booklet. > unscrew legs (first setting down some HINDER parts (top panel, side panels, and base)) For good measure, you unscrew the tapered wooden legs from the rosewood base. > attach side to base (first taking the HINDER side panels) You experiment a bit, but can't seem to attach the HINDER side panels to the HINDER base. You feel like you've gotten things out of order somehow. > screw legs to base (first setting down the HINDER side panels) You screw the tapered lags back into the rosewood base of the wardrobe. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > x legs Stubby little things, turned from the same wood as the rest of the cabinet. The HINDER legs are screwed into the HINDER base. > attach legs to chest (first taking the HINDER legs) Despite your best efforts, the HINDER legs don't seem able to attach to the tool chest. > help Very well. I can give you advice, but it is difficult for me, and I can only manage a little at a time. You may ask me for help again ? but please, only when you need it. > help First, some general advice: make sure to look at all the things you encounter, and when it comes to furniture assembly, you can never go wrong by following the instructions. > help The wardrobe is blocking the top of the escalator, and it seems too bulky to push around... but there may be some other way to remove it. > help Earlier you followed the instruction booklet for the DOLMEN, attaching one part from another. Did you try unattaching any of them? > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: some HINDER parts (side panels, base, and top panel). > l Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: some HINDER parts (side panels, base, and top panel). > attach side to base (first taking the HINDER side panels) You experiment a bit, but can't seem to attach the HINDER side panels to the HINDER base. You feel like you've gotten things out of order somehow. > attach legs to base (first setting down the HINDER side panels) You screw the tapered lags back into the rosewood base of the wardrobe. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > attach side to base (first taking the HINDER side panels) One by one, you dovetail each of the wardrobe's side panels with the base. As you reattach the second panel, the space between them seems to twist away, as though rotating on some higher-dimensional axis, and the void fills with a distorted view of the restaurant. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > get top Taken. > in You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the restaurant. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. In the space within, you can make out a distorted outline of the maintenance closet. > push it The HINDER wardrobe is too big to move. > climb wardrobe The sides of the HINDER wardrobe are too smooth to climb. > pull wardrobe The HINDER wardrobe is too big to move. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. In the space within, you can make out a distorted outline of the maintenance closet. > help It's possible to disassemble furniture just as you can assemble it. > help What happens if you remove the top panel of the HINDER? > help Taking apart the HINDER while in the restaurant will unblock your path down the escalator. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x top panel A rectangle of warm wood. Two edges have been carefully dovetailed to interlock with the wardrobe's side panels; the other two have been sanded smooth. > get it You already have that. > detach wardrobe The HINDER wardrobe doesn't seem to be attached to anything. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > s You can't go that way. > n You can't go that way. > I beg your pardon? > e You can't go that way. > w Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. In this corner, the designer has paired the FLORENCE coffee table and the MAIJA wallpaper. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the north and leading to the east. > e You emerge, blinking, into the cafeteria. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > get top You already have that. > get top of hinder I only understood you as far as wanting to get the HINDER top panel. > x hinder (the HINDER instruction booklet) HINDER The picture on the front cover looks like... well, the wardrobe right in front of you. You find your place in the instructions. The last step was step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. Next up is step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > detach top The HINDER top panel doesn't seem to be attached to anything. > w Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by the KRÅKA lounge chair and the POUL chandelier. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the north and leading to the west. > drop top Dropped. > e You wander off the path, losing yourself in the visual cacophony of the showroom. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Here, the path runs between the MARTHA kitchen island and the DIETER shelving system. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the south and leading to the west. > w You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by the KRÅKA lounge chair and the POUL chandelier. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the south and leading to the north. Also here: a HINDER top panel. > n You emerge, blinking, into the cafeteria. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > detach top You can't see any such thing. > get top You can't see any such thing. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. In the space within, you can make out a distorted outline of the maintenance closet. > get top panel You can't see any such thing. > get top of wardrobe You can't see any such thing. > detach top You can't see any such thing. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x wardrobe Built in the mid-century modern style out of a warm-toned rosewood, a hollow rectangular prism held just above the floor on slightly canted legs, about your height. You have absolutely no idea what it's for; it looks like a wardrobe without a door, or perhaps a display case without any shelves. In the space within, you can make out a distorted outline of the maintenance closet. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x sies You can't see any such thing. > x sides Two more-or-less identical wooden panels, about two metres tall and half a metre wide. The shorter edges have been carefully worked to dovetail with the top and the base. The HINDER side panels are attached to the HINDER base. > get sides As the side panels fall away from the base, the profound darkness seems to stretch at first to fill the gap ? then, as if reaching a breaking point, it shatters into empty space. With the HINDER wardrobe gone, the path to the escalator is now clear. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. > unscrew legs (first setting down the HINDER side panels) For good measure, you unscrew the tapered wooden legs from the rosewood base. > get all HINDER side panels: Taken. HINDER base: Taken. > w Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Here, the path runs between the KRÅKA lounge chair and the POUL chandelier. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the west and leading to the north. Also here: a HINDER top panel. > get top Taken. > e You wander off the path, losing yourself in the visual cacophony of the showroom. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Look: the MAIJA wallpaper and the FLORENCE coffee table. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the east and leading to the west. > d You can't go that way. > w You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. You're particularly struck by the DIETER shelving system and the MARTHA kitchen island. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the west and leading to the east. > n You wander off the path, losing yourself in the visual cacophony of the showroom. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. In this corner, the designer has paired the FLORENCE coffee table and the MAIJA wallpaper. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the north and leading to the east. > e You follow the path a little deeper into the maze. Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. Here, the path runs between the FLORENCE coffee table and the POUL chandelier. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the west and leading to the north. > n You emerge, blinking, into the cafeteria. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. > d You step onto the escalator and descend. Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. > e At the eastern extremity of the henge there is a small gap, leaving a patch of wall bare, and in that patch is an otherwise unremarkable office door. A small transom window is set just above it, enticingly ajar. You try the handle of the office door ? but it is locked, and you have no key. > x window A rectangular window, set just above the office door, a couple of metres off the floor. It looks just wide enough to squeeze through... if you could reach it. > enter window It's quite high up ? about two metres out of reach. > i You have some HINDER parts (top panel, base, side panels, and legs) and the HINDER instruction booklet. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. > w You step through the door and find yourself back in the entrance hall. That's odd... you hadn't noticed that door on your way in. Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall; another leads east to the market hall. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. > e Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. > s You scramble up the descending escalator. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. > n You can't go that way. > d You step onto the escalator and descend. Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. > n Self-serve furniture area A cavernous, warehouse-like space, arrayed with row upon row of industrial racking. Boxes of all shapes and sizes are stored at ground level, with tightly packed pallets piled up several stories high on the racks above. The checkout area is to the west ? and in the checkout area you see a massive structure, an elaborately terraced aluminum and fibreboard cairn. The basic forms recall the DÖLMEN you built earlier, but fractally more complex ? and every face and angle significant and measured, like a script for some unfamiliar language. A low passage leads into the structure. You can't quite shake the feeling that something is almost ready to emerge. And, for the first time since you arrived here this evening, you're not alone. Hooded figures ring the monument, methodically assembling new forms and adding them to the cairn. You instinctively shrink behind the nearest rack. > x figures Perhaps thirty of them, ringing the cairn. Some continue to build up the massive structure, their motions stiff and ritual. Others stand guard ? though they don't seem to have spotted you through the racks. > yell That's not a verb I recognise. > talk to figures That's not a verb I recognise. > figures, hi Your voice echoes through the long room, resounding from the self-serve furniture area to the checkout. The cultists, alerted to you presence, come running. You are badly outnumbered and quickly surrounded ? dragged bodily to the cairn, forced down the dark passage, cast into the darkness. You feel a brief resistance as you pass under the lintel, and then you're through ? space shearing and reflecting itself around you as you translate across the threshold ? and land at the feet of the old gods, the vengeful ones, waiting for the power to cross over. Human sacrifice is an old and brutal ritual, but it still holds power too. Perhaps all they'll need tonight. * * * But no ? at the moment before everything is lost ? you feel time stop, then run itself backward, unwinding your fatal mistake, returning you to the self-serve furniture area, safe among the racks, the cultists unalerted to your presence. That was foolish. These people are not your friends; better that they remain unaware of your presence here. > l Self-serve furniture area A cavernous, warehouse-like space, arrayed with row upon row of industrial racking. Boxes of all shapes and sizes are stored at ground level, with tightly packed pallets piled up several stories high on the racks above. The checkout area is to the west ? and in the checkout area you see a massive structure, an elaborately terraced aluminum and fibreboard cairn. The basic forms recall the DÖLMEN you built earlier, but fractally more complex ? and every face and angle significant and measured, like a script for some unfamiliar language. A low passage leads into the structure. You can't quite shake the feeling that something is almost ready to emerge. Hooded figures ring the monument, methodically assembling new forms and adding them to the cairn. > x figures Perhaps thirty of them, ringing the cairn. Some continue to build up the massive structure, their motions stiff and ritual. Others stand guard ? though they don't seem to have spotted you through the racks. > l Self-serve furniture area A cavernous, warehouse-like space, arrayed with row upon row of industrial racking. Boxes of all shapes and sizes are stored at ground level, with tightly packed pallets piled up several stories high on the racks above. The checkout area is to the west ? and in the checkout area you see a massive structure, an elaborately terraced aluminum and fibreboard cairn. The basic forms recall the DÖLMEN you built earlier, but fractally more complex ? and every face and angle significant and measured, like a script for some unfamiliar language. A low passage leads into the structure. You can't quite shake the feeling that something is almost ready to emerge. Hooded figures ring the monument, methodically assembling new forms and adding them to the cairn. > in You can't go that way. > x pallets Wooden pallets, piled high and tightly wrapped in clear plastic. > search it You can't see 'it' (nothing) at the moment. > get pallets The pallets are out of reach. > l Self-serve furniture area A cavernous, warehouse-like space, arrayed with row upon row of industrial racking. Boxes of all shapes and sizes are stored at ground level, with tightly packed pallets piled up several stories high on the racks above. The checkout area is to the west ? and in the checkout area you see a massive structure, an elaborately terraced aluminum and fibreboard cairn. The basic forms recall the DÖLMEN you built earlier, but fractally more complex ? and every face and angle significant and measured, like a script for some unfamiliar language. A low passage leads into the structure. You can't quite shake the feeling that something is almost ready to emerge. Hooded figures ring the monument, methodically assembling new forms and adding them to the cairn. > x boxes You can't use multiple objects with that verb. > get box Which do you mean, the FLORENCE flat-pack furniture box, the DIETER flat-pack furniture box, or the POUL flat-pack furniture box? > x florence A perfectly ordinary flat-pack furniture box, brown and corrugated. The word FLORENCE is inscribed along one edge. > get poul Taken. > get dieter Taken. > get florence Taken. > out But you aren't in anything at the moment. > s Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. > e You try the handle of the office door ? but it is locked, and you have no key. > i You have a FLORENCE flat-pack furniture box, a DIETER flat-pack furniture box, a POUL flat-pack furniture box, some HINDER parts (top panel, base, side panels, and legs), and the HINDER instruction booklet. > x florence A perfectly ordinary flat-pack furniture box, brown and corrugated. The word FLORENCE is inscribed along one edge. > open florence You tear open the flat-pack furniture box, unpacking a hex key, an instruction booklet, four chrome legs, a chrome frame, a glass tabletop, and some long hex screws. You discard the now-useless cardboard from the box. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Also here: a hex key, some long hex screws, a glass tabletop, a chrome frame, four chrome legs, and the FLORENCE instruction booklet. > x dieter A perfectly ordinary flat-pack furniture box, brown and corrugated. The word DIETER is inscribed along one edge. > read boocklet You can't see any such thing. > read florence booklet (first taking the FLORENCE instruction booklet) FLORENCE The cover illustration is nearly a child's drawing of a table: an elongated rectangle, with a leg descending straight down from each corner. Looks like you'll need a hex key for this one... which is conveniently included in the box. You flip ahead to the instructions. Step 1: insert the legs into the frame. > insert legs into frame (the FLORENCE legs into the FLORENCE frame) (first setting down the DIETER flat-pack furniture box, the POUL flat-pack furniture box, and some HINDER parts (top panel, base, and side panels)) (first taking the FLORENCE legs) You attach the FLORENCE legs to the FLORENCE frame. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: screw the hex screws into the frame. > screw screws into frame (first taking the long hex screws) You attach the long hex screws to the FLORENCE frame. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: put the glass tabletop onto the frame. > put tabletop onto frame (first taking the FLORENCE tabletop) You attach the FLORENCE tabletop to the FLORENCE frame. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Also here: the FLORENCE table, a POUL flat-pack furniture box, a DIETER flat-pack furniture box, some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel), and a hex key. > x table Nearly the Platonic form of a table: a low rectilinear geometry in glass and chrome. > stand on table The slight flex as you start to shift your weight onto the glass surface of the coffee table is enough to convince you that doing any more is a very bad idea. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Also here: the FLORENCE table, a POUL flat-pack furniture box, a DIETER flat-pack furniture box, some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel), and a hex key. > open poul You tear open the flat-pack furniture box, unpacking an instruction booklet, some frosted glass shades, a floor lamp base, a brass tube, and a lamp holder. You discard the now-useless cardboard from the box. > open dieter You tear open the flat-pack furniture box, unpacking an instruction booklet, eighteen wall screws, two tracks, several metal shelves, and several pins. You discard the now-useless cardboard from the box. > x dieter booklet (first taking the DIETER instruction booklet) DIETER The cover shows a set of shelves, evenly spaced, climbing presumably up some undepicted wall. This particular shelving system has two tracks that run vertically up the wall; each track has a little groove in the front and holes predrilled in the sides. You can insert these little metal pins through those holes at whatever height, and that creates a sort of horizontal bar that the shelf can hang from. It's actually quite a clever little system. You flip ahead to the instructions. Step 1: screw the wall screws through the tracks. > screw screw onto tracks You can't see any such thing. > screw wall screw through tracks I didn't understand that sentence. > screw screws What do you want to screw the wall screws to? > tracks I didn't understand that sentence. > x tracks Long metal tracks, with a deep groove down the front and holes predrilled in the sides at even intervals. > screw screws through tracks (the wall screws through the tracks) (first taking the wall screws) You drive the wall screws through the tracks and into the east wall. The tracks are now vertical, evenly spaced a shelf-width apart, and firmly fixed in place. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: insert the pins into the tracks. > insert pins into tracks (first taking the pins) You insert the pins into evenly-spaced holes running up the tracks, just as the little picture suggests. They snap into place with a satisfying click. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: put the shelves on the pins. > put shelves on pins (first taking the metal shelves) Working from the bottom up, you hang each shelf onto its corresponding pins. They settle solidly into the tracks. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel), and a hex key. > climb shelves You climb to the top shelf of the shelving system, a couple metres off the floor. The transom window over the office door is now within easy reach. > enter window From the top shelf, it's easy enough to swing yourself over and through the transom window. You drop heavily into the office. Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. A rather dingy-looking filing cabinet has been shoved up against one side of the desk. > x cabinet A drab, two-drawer filing cabinet ? steel, powder-coated in a sickly shade of beige. The upper drawer is closed but unlocked; the lower drawer is locked tight. > open it You open the upper drawer, revealing two instruction booklets (titled POULSEN and SKATTKISTA, respectively). > get poulsen Which do you mean, the POULSEN instruction booklet or the desk lamp? > x poulsen (the POULSEN instruction booklet) (first taking the POULSEN instruction booklet) POULSEN A straightforward little desk lamp. You skip to the instructions. The first and last step is step 1: screw the bulb into the desk lamp. > x skattkista (the SKATTKISTA instruction booklet) (first taking the SKATTKISTA instruction booklet) SKATTKISTA The front cover of the booklet has a pretty faithful rendering of the filing cabinet in the office. Interesting: it looks like this build requires both a screwdriver and a hex key. You skip to the end of the instruction booklet. Step 7: screw the grub screws into the top panel. > get booklets You can't see any such thing. > get poulsen booklet You already have that. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. A rather dingy-looking filing cabinet has been shoved up against one side of the desk. > x lamp A good desk lamp shines a diffuse light down on the work surface and little elsewhere, illuminating the task at hand without unnecessary glare. This one seems to be working nicely: everything in its radius is bathed in a pleasant glow. A cord runs from the POULSEN desk lamp to the electrical outlet. A bulb is screwed into the POULSEN desk lamp. > get bulb That seems to be a part of the POULSEN desk lamp. > unplug lamp You unplug the short cord from the electrical outlet. The POULSEN desk lamp goes dark. > get lamp Taken. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. A rather dingy-looking filing cabinet has been shoved up against one side of the desk. > get cabinet The filing cabinet is too big to move. > x lower Steel, beige, and labelled "SELF-SERVE FURNITURE AREA". There's a little lock on the front of the drawer, and the lock is locked. The lower drawer is attached to the body of the filing cabinet. > i You have a POULSEN desk lamp, four HINDER legs, and five instruction booklets (titled SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > read poulsen Which do you mean, the POULSEN desk lamp or the POULSEN instruction booklet? > read skattkista (the SKATTKISTA instruction booklet) SKATTKISTA The front cover of the booklet has a pretty faithful rendering of the filing cabinet in the office. Interesting: it looks like this build requires both a screwdriver and a hex key. You skip to the end of the instruction booklet. Step 7: screw the grub screws into the top panel. > unscrew screw from panel Which do you mean, the cabinet top, the cabinet back, or the cabinet sides? > top You need a hex key to remove the grub screws, and there's nothing like that here. > i You have a POULSEN desk lamp, four HINDER legs, and five instruction booklets (titled SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > out You throw the latch on the office door, leaving it unlocked. Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel), and a hex key. > get hex key Taken. > in You can't go that way. > enter window It's quite high up ? about two metres out of reach. > climb shelves You climb to the top shelf of the shelving system, a couple metres off the floor. The transom window over the office door is now within easy reach. > enter window From the top shelf, it's easy enough to swing yourself over and through the transom window. You drop heavily into the office. Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. A rather dingy-looking filing cabinet has been shoved up against one side of the desk. > unlock door That's unlocked at the moment. > open door That's already open. > read booklet Which do you mean, the SKATTKISTA instruction booklet, the POULSEN instruction booklet, the DIETER instruction booklet, the FLORENCE instruction booklet, or the HINDER instruction booklet? > skattkista SKATTKISTA The front cover of the booklet has a pretty faithful rendering of the filing cabinet in the office. Interesting: it looks like this build requires both a screwdriver and a hex key. You skip to the end of the instruction booklet. Step 7: screw the grub screws into the top panel. > unscrew screw from top Which do you mean, the cabinet top or the upper drawer? > cabinet You'll need a hex key for that ? and, conveniently, you have one. It takes a moment to locate the grub screws, flush as they are with the cabinet's top ? but once you do, it's quick work to unscrew them all from their little holes. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 6: attach the cabinet top to the body. > detach top from body (the cabinet top from the body of the filing cabinet) The now-unattached top panel lifts easily off the cabinet's body, exposing the upper drawer. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 5: insert the upper drawer into the body. > get upper drawer That seems to be a part of the body of the filing cabinet. > detach upper drawer (first setting down the cabinet top) You slide the upper drawer out of the cabinet, exposing the divider that divides the cabinet in two. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 4: screw the machine screws into the central divider. > unscrew screw from divider (first setting down the upper drawer) The grub screws aren't attached to anything. > unscrew machine screws from divider You need a screwdriver to remove the machine screws, and there's nothing like that here. > out Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > get screwdriver You can't see any such thing. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > e Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > x lower Steel, beige, and labelled "SELF-SERVE FURNITURE AREA". There's a little lock on the front of the drawer, and the lock is locked. The lower drawer is attached to the body of the filing cabinet. > get lower That seems to be a part of the body of the filing cabinet. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > e You can't go that way. > w Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > w You step through the door and find yourself back in the entrance hall. Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall; another leads east to the market hall. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. > push cart e Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > n Self-serve furniture area A cavernous, warehouse-like space, arrayed with row upon row of industrial racking. Boxes of all shapes and sizes are stored at ground level, with tightly packed pallets piled up several stories high on the racks above. The checkout area is to the west ? and in the checkout area you see a massive structure, an elaborately terraced aluminum and fibreboard cairn. The basic forms recall the DÖLMEN you built earlier, but fractally more complex ? and every face and angle significant and measured, like a script for some unfamiliar language. A low passage leads into the structure. You can't quite shake the feeling that something is almost ready to emerge. Hooded figures ring the monument, methodically assembling new forms and adding them to the cairn. > x boxes You take a look at the nearest rack. A complex lattice of posts and beams ? all carefully reinforced by cross braces ? support pallets on the levels above, with more-easily-obtainable boxes at ground level. There are much fewer boxes here than there were earlier; you imagine many of them have been used to build up the massive cairn near the checkout. You scan through the racks for the items you saw in the showroom earlier; the POUL chandelier, the MAIJA wallpaper, the FLORENCE coffee table, the KRÅKA lounge chair, the MARTHA kitchen island, and the DIETER shelving system seems to be out of stock. > get screwdriver You can't see any such thing. > l Self-serve furniture area A cavernous, warehouse-like space, arrayed with row upon row of industrial racking. Boxes of all shapes and sizes are stored at ground level, with tightly packed pallets piled up several stories high on the racks above. The checkout area is to the west ? and in the checkout area you see a massive structure, an elaborately terraced aluminum and fibreboard cairn. The basic forms recall the DÖLMEN you built earlier, but fractally more complex ? and every face and angle significant and measured, like a script for some unfamiliar language. A low passage leads into the structure. You can't quite shake the feeling that something is almost ready to emerge. Hooded figures ring the monument, methodically assembling new forms and adding them to the cairn. > s Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > x holder This is the bit that the bulb goes into. The base of the lamp holder is threaded to fit on the top of the long brass tube; little clips along the upper half are carefully sized to hold the shades. > x tube A long brass tube, with both ends threaded ? one for the base and the other for the lamp holder. > x table Nearly the Platonic form of a table: a low rectilinear geometry in glass and chrome. > e Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > x frame This is the main body of a filing cabinet, the back and sides connected to form the outer shell. Some SKATTKISTA parts (central divider and lower drawer) are attached to the body of the filing cabinet. > get divider It looks like you should be able to remove the central divider from the body of the filing cabinet, but you can't see how exactly. Maybe you need to remove something else first? > unscrew screws from divider (the machine screws from the central divider) You need a screwdriver to remove the machine screws, and there's nothing like that here. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > e You can't go that way. > w Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > w You step through the door and find yourself back in the entrance hall. Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall; another leads east to the market hall. > in You can't go that way. > *aha! That's not a verb I recognise. > l Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall; another leads east to the market hall. > e Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > e Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > w Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > x lamp A good desk lamp shines a diffuse light down on the work surface and little elsewhere, illuminating the task at hand without unnecessary glare. This one, however, is not illuminated at all. A cord dangles from the POULSEN desk lamp. A bulb is screwed into the POULSEN desk lamp. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > w You step through the door and find yourself back in the entrance hall. Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall; another leads east to the market hall. > i You have sixteen grub screws, a hex key, a POULSEN desk lamp, four HINDER legs, and five instruction booklets (titled SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > put bulb in lamp The bulb is already firmly attached to the POULSEN desk lamp. > l Entrance hall You recognize this room; you were here just this afternoon, shopping for furniture, one of hundreds streaming through the brightly-lit hall and up the escalator to the showroom above. The room is now uncannily empty, lit only by the last light of the sun filtering through the automatic doors and staining the floor a violent red. There's a small closet door at one end of the north wall; another leads east to the market hall. > e Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > e Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > drop lamp Dropped. > plug in lamp You plug the short cord firmly into the electrical outlet. The POULSEN desk lamp lights up. > i You have sixteen grub screws, a hex key, four HINDER legs, and five instruction booklets (titled SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > hinder That's not a verb I recognise. > attach base to legs You can't see any such thing. > x legs Stubby little things, turned from the same wood as the rest of the cabinet. > x base You can't see any such thing. > w Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > s You scramble up the descending escalator. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. > get base You can't see any such thing. > w Showroom You're in a maze of twisty little passages, all showcasing various highlights of the Fall 2023 collection. In this corner, the designer has paired the MAIJA wallpaper and the KRÅKA lounge chair. Arrows on the floor mark the path, arriving from the west and leading to the south. > s You emerge, blinking, into the cafeteria. Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. > i You have sixteen grub screws, a hex key, four HINDER legs, and five instruction booklets (titled SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > x base You can't see any such thing. > l Restaurant You stopped in here earlier for a late lunch. The cafeteria tables where you ate are still here, though they're not quite tables any longer: the long rectangular surfaces have been placed on end, a forest of pale obelisks in a rough semicircle, centered on the top of the escalator, leading down. The only other way out is west: back to the showroom. > d You step onto the escalator and descend. Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > get base Which do you mean, the floor lamp base or the HINDER base? > hinder Taken. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (side panels and top panel). > e Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > drop base Dropped. > attach legs to base You screw the tapered lags back into the rosewood base of the wardrobe. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: attach the side panels to the rosewood base. > attach side to base (first taking the cabinet sides) It looks like you should be able to remove the cabinet sides from the cabinet back, but you can't see how exactly. Maybe you need to remove something else first? > attach hinder side to base I didn't understand that sentence. > x side panels I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the cabinet sides. > w Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, the FLORENCE table, and some HINDER parts (side panels and top panel). > get side panels Taken. > get top panel Taken. > e Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a HINDER base, a POULSEN desk lamp, and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > attach side to base (the HINDER side panels to the HINDER base) (first setting down some HINDER parts (top panel and side panels)) (first taking the HINDER side panels) One by one, you dovetail each of the wardrobe's side panels with the base. As you reattach the second panel, the space between them seems to twist away, as though rotating on some higher-dimensional axis, and the void fills with a profound darkness. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > enter wardrobe You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the maintenance closet. Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x chest It's about the right shape and size to be a tool chest, but it's hard to say for certain without a bit more light. > enter wardrobe You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the back office. Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe, a HINDER top panel, a POULSEN desk lamp, and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > get lamp Taken. > enter wardrobe You attempt to carry the POULSEN desk lamp into the HINDER wardrobe, but the cord's too short to reach that far. > push wardrobe near lamp You can't see any such thing. > put wardrobe near lamp You can't see any such thing. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe, a HINDER top panel, and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > push wardrobe The HINDER wardrobe is too big to move. > get side (the HINDER side panels) As the side panels fall away from the base, the profound darkness seems to stretch at first to fill the gap ? then, as if reaching a breaking point, it shatters into empty space. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 1: screw the tapered legs to the rosewood base. > get base Taken. > put base near lamp You can't see any such thing. > put base near lamp You can't see any such thing. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a HINDER top panel and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > x lamp A good desk lamp shines a diffuse light down on the work surface and little elsewhere, illuminating the task at hand without unnecessary glare. This one seems to be working nicely: everything in its radius is bathed in a pleasant glow. A cord runs from the POULSEN desk lamp to the electrical outlet. A bulb is screwed into the POULSEN desk lamp. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a HINDER top panel and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > plug in lamp (first unplugging the short cord) You plug the short cord firmly into the electrical outlet. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a HINDER top panel and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > drop lamp Dropped. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp, a HINDER top panel, and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > put base in lamp (first setting down some HINDER parts (base and side panels)) (first taking the HINDER base) Despite your best efforts, the HINDER base doesn't seem able to attach to the POULSEN desk lamp. > attach legs to base (first setting down the HINDER base) The HINDER legs are already firmly attached to the HINDER base. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp, some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top), and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > x base Somewhat thicker than the wardrobe's top panel, with a few reinforced holes near the bottom where the legs attach. Four HINDER legs are screwed into the HINDER base. > put base near lamp You can't see any such thing. > drop base The HINDER base is already here. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp, some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top), and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > *hmm That's not a verb I recognise. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp, some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top), and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > i You have sixteen grub screws, a hex key, and five instruction booklets (titled SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp, some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top), and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp, some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top), and some HINDER parts (base, side panels, and top panel). > attach side to base (the HINDER side panels to the HINDER base) (first taking the HINDER side panels) One by one, you dovetail each of the wardrobe's side panels with the base. As you reattach the second panel, the space between them seems to twist away, as though rotating on some higher-dimensional axis, and the void fills with a profound darkness. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the wardrobe top to the side panels. > attach top to side (the HINDER top panel to the HINDER side panels) (first taking the HINDER top panel) You place the top panel on the upper edges of the side panels and work the dovetails back together, completing the rectangular frame. The profound darkness through the wardrobe seems to intensify. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe, a POULSEN desk lamp, and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > enter wardrobe You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the maintenance closet. Maintenance closet Oppressively dark. A little light trickles in from around the door and through the wardrobe, illuminating a small patch of dusty concrete floor. The walls are hidden by the darkness, though you can feel them close around you on all sides. There's a sort of chest at the foot of one wall, barely visible in the shadows. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x chest It's about the right shape and size to be a tool chest, but it's hard to say for certain without a bit more light. > x lamp You can't see any such thing. > out You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the back office. Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe, a POULSEN desk lamp, and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > get lamp Taken. > enter wardrobe You attempt to carry the POULSEN desk lamp into the HINDER wardrobe, but the cord's too short to reach that far. > x cord A short electrical cord, barely long enough to reach from the office desk to the wall. It runs from the POULSEN desk lamp to the electrical outlet. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > i You have a POULSEN desk lamp, sixteen grub screws, a hex key, and five instruction booklets (titled SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > x desk This looks like one of the cheap chipboard models from about a decade ago, and by the look of it, it's seen about a decade of use. > push desk The desk is too big to move. > pull desk The desk is too big to move. > search desk This looks like one of the cheap chipboard models from about a decade ago, and by the look of it, it's seen about a decade of use. > x desk This looks like one of the cheap chipboard models from about a decade ago, and by the look of it, it's seen about a decade of use. > stand on deks You can't see any such thing. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > x cabinet top A scuffed and dented steel panel, with edges folded over like a lid. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > x lamp A good desk lamp shines a diffuse light down on the work surface and little elsewhere, illuminating the task at hand without unnecessary glare. This one seems to be working nicely: everything in its radius is bathed in a pleasant glow. A cord runs from the POULSEN desk lamp to the electrical outlet. A bulb is screwed into the POULSEN desk lamp. > w Before you can make it all the way through the door, the short cord's connection to the wall grows taut. If you want to leave that way, you'll need to either drop the POULSEN desk lamp or unplug it. > unplug lamp You unplug the short cord from the electrical outlet. The POULSEN desk lamp goes dark. > w Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a lamp holder, a brass tube, a floor lamp base, some frosted glass shades, the POUL instruction booklet, and the FLORENCE table. > x poul (first taking the POUL instruction booklet) POUL This seems to be the floor lamp version of the chandelier you spotted in the showroom earlier ? the image shows the same system of carefully interlocking shades, set atop a fairly ordinary base. It looks like the bulb is not included. That's annoying. You flip ahead to the instructions. Step 1: screw the brass tube into the base. > screw brass tube to base (first taking the brass tube) Holding the long brass tube vertical, you twist the lower end into the floor lamp's base. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: screw the lamp holder into the brass tube. > screw holder into tube (first taking the lamp holder) You screw the lamp holder into the now-vertical tube. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the lampshades to the lamp holder. > attach lampshades to holder (first taking the frosted glass shades) One by one, you push the shades down over the lamp holder until they each click into place. They're now spaced regularly apart, held in some precise mathematical progression. The construction is now visibly a lamp... though it still needs a bulb, of course. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 4: screw the bulb into the floor lamp. > screw bulb into lamp (the POULSEN desk lamp) The bulb is already firmly attached to the POULSEN desk lamp. > get bulb That seems to be a part of the POULSEN desk lamp. > unscrew bulb Holding the desk lamp firmly with one hand, you twist the bulb free from the socket. Easy! > screw bulb into floor lamp You screw the bulb into the lamp's receptacle. > l Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: the POUL lamp and the FLORENCE table. > drop desk lamp Dropped. > get poul (the POUL lamp) Taken. A graceful floor lamp, with a brass base and delicately frosted shades. A bulb is screwed into the POUL lamp. > e Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall near an electrical outlet, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > plug floor lamp into outlet You plug the long cord firmly into the electrical outlet. The POUL lamp lights up. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > enter wardrobe You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the maintenance closet. Maintenance closet Lit by the POUL lamp, this closet is now about as bright and hospitable as it's possible for a maintenance closet to be. A tool chest is now clearly visible at the foot of one wall. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe. > x chest A squat, heavy-looking tool chest, painted a deep black ? though in the light of the POUL lamp you can see bright steel glinting through scratches in the paint. You take a particularly careful look around the lid ? ah, yes, that's how the thing opens. > open it You poke around the edges of the tool chest. If you pull ? here ? while putting pressure ? there ? yes, that should do it. And yes ? the lid pops open, revealing a screwdriver. > get screwdribe You can't see any such thing. > get screwdriver Taken. A flathead screwdriver with a long shaft. > otu That's not a verb I recognise. > out You step back into the HINDER wardrobe ? and then step further, further than you should be able to go in such a small space, and find yourself stumbling back into the back office. Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (upper drawer and cabinet top). > i You have a screwdriver, the POUL lamp, sixteen grub screws, a hex key, and six instruction booklets (titled POUL, SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively). > read skattkista booklet SKATTKISTA The front cover of the booklet has a pretty faithful rendering of the filing cabinet in the office. Interesting: it looks like this build requires both a screwdriver and a hex key. You find your place in the instructions. The last step you undid was step 5: insert the upper drawer into the body. Before that is step 4: screw the machine screws into the central divider. > unscrew machine screw from divider I only understood you as far as wanting to unscrew the machine screws. > unscrew machine screws from divider The machine screws twist easily out of their holes in the central divider, which now sits loosely in the cabinet's frame. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the central divider to the body. > detach divider from body You lift the central divider out of the cabinet. Naturally, this exposes the lower drawer ? which contains a WILLIAM instruction booklet. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 2: insert the lower drawer into the cabinet body. > detach lower drawer from body (first setting down the central divider) You free the lower drawer from the skeleton of the cabinet. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 1: attach the cabinet sides to the back. > x lower drawer Steel, beige, and labelled "SELF-SERVE FURNITURE AREA". There's a little lock on the front of the drawer, and the lock is locked ? though now that it's free of the cabinet that doesn't matter much. There's an instruction booklet on the desk. > get booklet (the WILLIAM instruction booklet) Taken. WILLIAM The cover of the instruction booklet depicts a heavy industrial racking unit, a solidly riveted and braced construction in unfinished steel. It looks totally unlike anything you passed in the showroom earlier, but it does look familiar... It takes a few moments, but you place it: this is one of the racks in the self-serve furniture area. You skip to the end of the instruction booklet. Step 5: fasten the wing nuts onto the carriage bolts. > x lower drawer Steel, beige, and labelled "SELF-SERVE FURNITURE AREA". There's a little lock on the front of the drawer, and the lock is locked ? though now that it's free of the cabinet that doesn't matter much. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (central divider, upper drawer, and cabinet top). > look in lower drawer Steel, beige, and labelled "SELF-SERVE FURNITURE AREA". There's a little lock on the front of the drawer, and the lock is locked ? though now that it's free of the cabinet that doesn't matter much. > open it (first unlocking the lower drawer) You lack a key that fits the lower drawer. > l Back office You're clearly backstage, now: the ceiling is lower, the walls a less brilliant shade of white, the furniture less artfully arranged. The lone desk has been pushed haphazardly up against one wall, across from the door back west to the market hall. The outer frame of a partially-assembled filing cabinet is beside the desk. Also here: the HINDER wardrobe and some SKATTKISTA parts (central divider, upper drawer, and cabinet top). > w Before you can make it all the way through the door, the long cord's connection to the wall grows taut. If you want to leave that way, you'll need to either drop the POUL lamp or unplug it. > unplug it The body of the filing cabinet isn't plugged in. > w Before you can make it all the way through the door, the long cord's connection to the wall grows taut. If you want to leave that way, you'll need to either drop the POUL lamp or unplug it. > unplug poul Which do you mean, the POUL lamp or the POUL instruction booklet? > lamp You unplug the long cord from the electrical outlet. The POUL lamp goes dark. > w Market hall Normally, this hall is filled wall-to-wall with bins, and the bins are filled to bursting with miscellaneous stuff ? accoutrements and small conveniences, knick-knacks, trinkets, appurtenances, bric-a-brac ? for the customer to collect before they reach the larger items in the area to the north. Now the bins are gone, and their contents piled up into a low, circular henge that rings the room. There are four evenly-spaced breaks in the henge: to the north, a wide passage to the self-serve furniture area; to the east, a small office door; to the south, the foot of the escalator descending from the restaurant; to the west, a door leading back to the entrance. Your shopping cart stands nearby, empty. The DIETER shelving system has been installed on the east wall, near the office door. Also here: a POULSEN desk lamp and the FLORENCE table. > n Self-serve furniture area A cavernous, warehouse-like space, arrayed with row upon row of industrial racking. Boxes of all shapes and sizes are stored at ground level, with tightly packed pallets piled up several stories high on the racks above. The checkout area is to the west ? and in the checkout area you see a massive structure, an elaborately terraced aluminum and fibreboard cairn. The basic forms recall the DÖLMEN you built earlier, but fractally more complex ? and every face and angle significant and measured, like a script for some unfamiliar language. A low passage leads into the structure. You can't quite shake the feeling that something is almost ready to emerge. Hooded figures ring the monument, methodically assembling new forms and adding them to the cairn. > get william (the WILLIAM instruction booklet) You already have that. > get william box You can't see any such thing. > x boxes You take a look at the nearest rack. A complex lattice of posts and beams ? all carefully reinforced by cross braces ? support pallets on the levels above, with more-easily-obtainable boxes at ground level. There are much fewer boxes here than there were earlier; you imagine many of them have been used to build up the massive cairn near the checkout. You scan through the racks for the items you saw in the showroom earlier; the POUL chandelier, the MAIJA wallpaper, the FLORENCE coffee table, the KRÅKA lounge chair, the MARTHA kitchen island, and the DIETER shelving system seems to be out of stock. > get rak You can't see any such thing. > x rack You take a look at the nearest rack. A complex lattice of posts and beams ? all carefully reinforced by cross braces ? support pallets on the levels above, with more-easily-obtainable boxes at ground level. There are much fewer boxes here than there were earlier; you imagine many of them have been used to build up the massive cairn near the checkout. You scan through the racks for the items you saw in the showroom earlier; the POUL chandelier, the MAIJA wallpaper, the FLORENCE coffee table, the KRÅKA lounge chair, the MARTHA kitchen island, and the DIETER shelving system seems to be out of stock. > get rack That's hardly portable. > climb rack You try to haul yourself up onto the nearest rack, but the pallets are packed together too tightly for you to fit. > x rack You take a look at the nearest rack. A complex lattice of posts and beams ? all carefully reinforced by cross braces ? support pallets on the levels above, with more-easily-obtainable boxes at ground level. There are much fewer boxes here than there were earlier; you imagine many of them have been used to build up the massive cairn near the checkout. You scan through the racks for the items you saw in the showroom earlier; the POUL chandelier, the MAIJA wallpaper, the FLORENCE coffee table, the KRÅKA lounge chair, the MARTHA kitchen island, and the DIETER shelving system seems to be out of stock. > x william booklet WILLIAM The cover of the instruction booklet depicts a heavy industrial racking unit, a solidly riveted and braced construction in unfinished steel. It looks exactly like one of the racks in the self-serve furniture area. You skip to the end of the instruction booklet. Step 5: fasten the wing nuts onto the carriage bolts. > unfasten wing nuts (first setting down the lower drawer) You work your way down the nearest rack, removing the wing nuts one by one from the carriage bolts that hold the rack's metal braces in place. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 4: insert the carriage bolts into the cross braces. > detach bolts from braces You remove the carriage bolts from the rack. The braces are now nearly detached from the corner posts, held in place only by friction. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the braces to the corner posts. > detach braces from posts You grab one of the braces: a firm tug separates it from the corner post, which wobbles uneasily from the weight of the pallets above. It's quick work to remove the rest. You check the previous step of the instructions. Step 2: put the plywood decking on the metal beams. > remove decking from beams You struggle to lift the decking on the bottom shelf of the unit ? the plywood is much heavier than it looks. You manage to lift the near edge a couple of inches before losing your grip; the plywood slams back down onto the supporting beams, sending an alarming jolt through the now-unbraced frame. Your effort seems to have strained the racking even further ? it's now listing noticeably to the west. > w You edge westward, towards the checkout area. One step further and you're sure to alert the cultists ringing the cairn. > remove decking from beams You try again to move the decking on the bottom shelf. This time, the force is enough to throw the damaged rack entirely out of balance. The structure lurches uneasily to one side, badly out of level, the corner posts flexing alarmingly outwards. Some of the lighter pallets begin shifting on the upper decks. It looks like it might collapse at any moment. The noise seems to carry across the vast room: you see one cultist get up with a start, some scrap of melamine dropping from their fingers with a clatter to the floor. They take two steps down the central aisle. > s The rack collapses. Later, you'll remember this moment as if in slow motion: one column slowly flexes outward, then cracks with the sharp snap of a broken leg, throwing weight onto the others, which twist and warp and bow under the strain until the whole rack fails, sending tonnes of flat-pack furniture freefalling towards the concrete floor, pallets splitting and scattering in every direction. The force of the impact knocks you backwards, and everything you're carrying ? cross braces, carriage bolts, wing nuts, machine screws, screwdriver, POUL lamp, grub screws, hex key, and seven instruction booklets (titled WILLIAM, POUL, SKATTKISTA, POULSEN, DIETER, FLORENCE, and HINDER, respectively) ? is thrown from your grip and lost in the wreckage. A mass of broken cabinetry piles itself up, burying the lower drawer and blocking the way back to the market hall; a full dining room set pinwheels into the next rack over. You see its braces begin to buckle and distort. You've caught the attention of all the cultists, now. A few stand uneasy guard around the cairn, while others start towards you through the remaining racks. > w You stumble a little to the west. The racking in the next row suddenly gives way, toppling westward into the unit across the aisle, which crumples in turn with the scream of twisted metal ? and now the racks are falling like dominoes, throwing off pallets of furniture that thunder to the ground, splinters and scraps of cardboard clouding the air. The cultists flee back west towards the cairn, keeping just metres ahead of the collapsing wave. > w The final row of racks topples. One of the racks plows directly into the side of the cairn, scattering rubble across the checkout area; another torques sideways and crashes into a bank of lights along one wall, sending sparks flying across the wreckage. The cultists, abandoning the cairn, flee westward towards the exit. Checkout area Even half-ruined, the cairn still dominates the checkout area, forcing you up against the wall. The dark passage to the heart of the monument is still open, just ahead, though slightly obscured by the rubble and the smoke. The sun is almost gone ? you can see the last light of it filtering from the exit to the west. You see the last of the cultists scatter through the exit doors and into the night. > w You squeeze past the bulk of the cairn and through the checkout aisle. Exit hall Hall feels like a generous word for this narrow space between the checkout area to the east and the sliding doors to your west. Smoke billows in from the east and debris litters the floor, either chipboard violently blasted from the cairn or boxes flung by the collapsing racks. Most of the cultists have disappeared into the growing darkness, but one remains just outside. He turns, smiles, shakes one long finger ? and locks the doors ? before vanishing into the darkness. You smell smoke. > l Exit hall Hall feels like a generous word for this narrow space between the checkout area to the east and the sliding doors to your west. Smoke billows in from the east and debris litters the floor, either chipboard violently blasted from the cairn or boxes flung by the collapsing racks. Sparks from the damaged lighting have caught in the scraps of cardboard that litter the floor. The splintered wood and fibreboard are ready tinder; within seconds, flames sweep across the breadth of the self-serve furniture area. > w You try the door ? locked, just as you thought. You'll need to find another way out. The blaze has entirely consumed the self-serve furniture area, and begun to nibble at the edges of the checkout. Flames lick at the perimeter of the cairn, forcing you even tighter up against the wall. > x boxes You pick through the debris, looking for something useful. Most of it is thoroughly destroyed, but one flat-pack furniture box seems to have survived surprisingly unscathed. You cough: the air here is now thick with smoke. The passage into the cairn is even more obscure. > open box (the flat-pack furniture box) You tear open the flat-pack furniture box, unpacking a hex key, the DÖLMEN instruction booklet, eight cam-lock nuts, eight cam-lock screws, two table legs, a handful of wooden pegs, and a tabletop. You discard the now-useless cardboard from the box. The far side of the cairn is burning now. Laminates pop and crackle in the blaze. > read booklet (first taking the DÖLMEN instruction booklet) DÖLMEN The picture shows the familiar, trabeated design: two solid legs supporting a heavy lintel. It's hard to see it as anything other than a doorway, now. You flip ahead to the instructions. Step 1: screw the cam-lock screws into the tabletop. The cairn continues to burn. > screw screws into tabletop (first taking the cam-lock screws) You flip the tabletop hole-side up, and screw the cam-lock screws firmly into the holes indicated in the instruction booklet. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 2: insert the pegs into the table legs. You feel a wave of heat from the checkout: another section of the cairn has collapsed in the blaze. > insert pegs into legs (first taking the wooden pegs) Holding each of the legs upright in turn, you insert the wooden pegs firmly into the holes along the upper edge. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 3: attach the table legs to the tabletop. Burning packing material drifts through the checkout aisle. The debris around you starts to catch. > attach legs to tabletop (first taking the table legs) You start with the tabletop flat on its back. Taking hold of one leg, you line its pegs up with matching holes on one edge of the tabletop and press them together. After some resistance, they meet with a satisfying thump. You do the same with the other leg. The heads of the cam-lock screws are still just visible through nut-sized holes in the sides of each leg. You check the next step of the instructions. Step 4: fasten the cam-lock nuts onto the screws. The sun dips nearly below the horizon, though your surroundings are still lit brightly by the flames. > fasten nuts onto screws (first taking the cam-lock nuts) The nuts fit perfectly into the holes in the side of the table legs, nestling over the heads of the screws. After one or two turns with the hex key, the nuts grip firmly onto the screws and hold the whole table tightly together. You flip it over, and set it solidly down on top of its legs. As the building burns itself up around you, the DÖLMEN draws your focus. You're almost free now. > stand on dolmen (the DÖLMEN table) You move towards the doorway, the DÖLMEN stretching out to fill your view as you cross the threshold. * * * You know what to expect now, space and time rotating smoothly around you on some non-Newtonian axis. As the flames of the burning building fall away, the future flashes in an instant through your mind ? no paradise, perhaps, but brighter than it might have been without your work tonight. Well done. * * * And then, space twists and judders back into place ? and you find yourself back in your new apartment, leaning against a wall, catching your breath. It has been an extraordinarily long day. But it is finished. * * * THE END * * * Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the last command? > about Please give one of the answers above. Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the last command? > undo Exit hall [Previous turn undone.] > about Thanks to Meara Kirwin, Mel Jason, Doug Egan, and Lance Cirone for beta testing, writing help, and sage advice. Without their help this would have been a very bad game. (Whether it is now any good is left for the reader to assess.) Thanks as well to the authors of Inform 7 and the following extensions: Standard Rules version 3/120430 by Graham Nelson Far Away version 5/160517 by Jon Ingold >