Start of a transcript of Marie Waits A text adventure game. © Dee Cooke 2023. Type CREDITS for more information. Release 1 / Serial number 230402 / Inform v6.41 PunyInform v4.4 > * OK, opening effectively communicates the situation while amusingly lampshadi That is not a verb I recognize. > * oops, guess the zmachine cuts off commands! That is not a verb I recognize. > * lampshading that we don't actually know the plot that we missed That is not a verb I recognize. > * OK, guess this is like a one room game? That is not a verb I recognize. > * wonder what happens if we take the title's advice? That is not a verb I recognize. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > * clock does move That is not a verb I recognize. > wait for noon I only understood you as far as "wait" but then you lost me. > * ah well, was curious to see what happened. Will save and check That is not a verb I recognize. > l Pit (on the chair) You are at the bottom of a grimy, mossy, earthen pit, only about five feet across in each direction, but about eight feet deep. Dim light spills into the pit from the wooden room above. An old wooden dining chair reminds you of the dining room you were in when you were finally caught. A long, thick, rusty nail is sticking out of the wall of the pit. The cigarette end thrown at you by the pudgy man smoulders on the mossy floor of the pit. Some of the moss is starting to smoulder too. You have been tied to the chair with a length of rope. > * Shades of indiana jones and the last crusade! That is not a verb I recognize. > about Marie Waits © Dee Cooke 2023. Playtesting by Christopher Merriner, Kenneth Pedersen, Geth Rees, Jess X and John Ziegler. This game was created for Spring Thing 2023. > x me Cecil always used to call you 'the only Marie in town' as an in-joke, because Crossley was such a small place. In this current godforsaken hamlet, you suppose it's probably true. You've looked better, but then it's not been the best of days. > i You are empty handed. > x rope You have been tied to a chair with a length of rope. It's fairly long, but it looks ratted and flimsy. > x chair It's a fairly nondescript wooden dining chair. > x nail The nail protrudes from the wall of the pit, about a foot down from the top. It looks like one of those huge old nails used centuries ago. > * oh high up That is not a verb I recognize. > x butt Sorry, I don't understand what "butt" means. > x end It's the cigarette end thrown at you by the pudgy man. It's still smouldering. > * ("butt" is the typical American term FYI) That is not a verb I recognize. > cut rope You've got nothing to cut the rope with. > bite rope That is not a verb I recognize. > * ah well That is not a verb I recognize. > jump You won't be doing any jumping while you're tied to the chair. > untie rope You try to loosen the rope by pulling your arms upwards at the back of the chair, but it's difficult to pull it in that direction. Perhaps if you were able to tip the chair onto its side, you'd have a bit more leverage. > tip chair Tipping the chair over would be a good idea, but first you'll need to pull it away from the wall a little. > pull chair You press your feet against the ground and manage to nudge the back of the chair slightly away from the wall of the pit. > tip chair You gently try rocking the chair from side to side in the hope that tipping it onto its side will give you more leverage to start getting free of the ropes. The eventual fall is less gentle, but it does give you enough of a jolt to pull the loops around your arms away from the back of the chair. You're still tied up, but at least you're free of the chair now. You get to your feet in a slightly ungainly manner. > * well cued! That is not a verb I recognize. > get end You really don't want the used cigarette end, and you can't take it while you're tied up anyway. > untie rope You tug at the rope experimentally. It's not very strong and you manage to slip one of the loops over your hands. A bit of wriggling later, you're free, the rope falling to the ground. > take end You really don't want the used cigarette end. Perhaps you should stop it from smouldering though. > l Pit You are at the bottom of a grimy, mossy, earthen pit, only about five feet across in each direction, but about eight feet deep. Dim light spills into the pit from the wooden room above. An old wooden dining chair reminds you of the dining room you were in when you were finally caught. There is a length of rope lying on the ground. A long, thick, rusty nail is sticking out of the wall of the pit. The cigarette end thrown at you by the pudgy man smoulders on the mossy floor of the pit. Some of the moss is starting to smoulder too. > x moss There's quite a bit of moss in this pit. You doubt it's been used for anything for a long time. The moss is smouldering slightly. > extinguish end You stamp on the cigarette end, making sure it's out. The last thing you need to add to your current predicament is fire. > * aww That is not a verb I recognize. > take rope Taken. > throw rope at nail You reach up and tie one end of the rope to the nail. The other end hangs down to the ground. > climb rope You take hold of the ratty rope and start to climb out of the pit... As you find a handhold on the wooden floorboards of the room above, the rope snaps, tumbling to the bottom of the pit along with the nail. You just about manage to haul yourself up into the room with your hands and knees. You certainly won't be waiting around like they told you. Time to get out of here. Somehow... Wooden Room You are in a small, windowless wooden room that is lit by a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It feels stuffy and oppressive. Against the north wall is the entrance to the pit. The walls are damp and rotten. A battered old wardrobe is leaning against the northwest corner of the hut. There is a small key in the keyhole of the wardrobe. > x key It's a key for securing the door of a wardrobe. > take it That key is best left in the door of the wardrobe. > x pit It's the grimy pit you climbed out of. > x walls The walls are made of damp wood. The wood is a bit rotten in places but unfortunately it's sturdy enough that you can't break the walls by banging on them. You give it a good go, though. You notice a hidden door in the south wall. As you walk back to the centre of the room, you think you hear something strange. You look at your watch. You've still got two and a half hours to go, but not knowing what's going to happen is making you extremely nervous. You wish you hadn't wasted so much time at home during your investigation: thinking, double-checking, scouring old newspaper articles for the hundredth time... just waiting. You had no idea they were planning something so soon. If you had, you could have acted sooner, gone to London sooner, given yourself time to chase up your leads before these people hunted you down. You give yourself a mental shake. No point in dwelling. You need to escape before you can do anything else. > x wardrobe The wardrobe looks like it's just being used for storage - you can't imagine anyone changing clothes in here. > open it The wardrobe appears to be locked. It looks like that key in the keyhole might have something to do with it. > unlock it I think you wanted to say "unlock wardrobe with something". Please try again. > unlock wardrobe with key You turn the key and unlock the wardrobe door. > * too used to regular-Inform conveniences! That is not a verb I recognize. > open wardrobe Opening the wardrobe door, you gasp, and immediately feel sick. There's a dead body in the wardrobe - a woman. From the looks of it, she hasn't been dead long, perhaps a few hours at most - and as that thought crosses your mind, you feel disgusted with yourself for being so clinical. You remember the anonymous letter you received that started all of this. The writer made it clear that these people would stop at nothing to carry out their plans, and you thought you were prepared for that. But maybe you weren't. > x woman It's the corpse of a woman about your age. For a moment, you wonder if she was like you... one of the ones they were hunting. But no, she can't be. You still don't know what they're planning, but you're sure they needed all of you alive. You peer at the body reluctantly. It looks like there might be something behind her... and you also think you can see some paper in her left hand. > * huh intriguing That is not a verb I recognize. > x paper You can't really see it properly - there's just a tiny corner sticking out from the dead woman's clutched fist. > take it You gently remove the scrunched-up paper from the woman's hand. It appears to be a note. > read it You can't see "it" (paper) at the moment. > read note The note reads: Marie, You don't know me, and I'll make this quick. I don't have much time. I work for Farr at the dormitories and I heard them talking about you this morning. They said you wouldn't be alive much longer. I couldn't sit by when I heard that. I've seen some unsavoury things in this job, and I've always looked the other way, but I can't just let this happen. They said they were putting you in the old wooden hut off the yard. I'll leave this note there and hope you find it. They'll lock you inside, presumably. I'll hide a key for the door under the floorboards. Hopefully you should be able to get out of the yard after that. Once you're out, come find me at the dormitories. I'll be near the door. I'll do my best to help you. You feel safe to assume that the dead woman wrote the note herself and that obviously she won't be at the dormitories like she planned. They must have realised what she was up to. You feel a terrible mixture of guilt and gratitude. You wish you knew what her name was. > x floorboards It's a wooden floorboard. > look under floorboard You're not sure which floorboard is making the creaking sound. Maybe you should step on them again to narrow it down. > step on floorboards You step on the floorboards carefully, and notice a slightly raised one. It seems that's the one making the creaking sound. > look under floorboard It doesn't look like you can lift the floorboard with your bare hands. > i You're carrying a pink note. > move body You don't really want to touch the body, but there might be something useful here. Trying not to look into the corpse's lifeless eyes, you carefully move her to one side. There's nothing behind the body, but your eye falls on a lumpy sack that has been shoved into the corner of the wardrobe. You also think you spot some paper clutched in the woman's left hand. > * I think I have the paper already... That is not a verb I recognize. > x sack It's a grey, rough-textured hessian sack. It feels heavy, like there's something inside. > take it Taken. > open it You empty the sack out onto the floor. An old wooden box falls out. > x box It's an old wooden box with a lid. > * containers within containers! That is not a verb I recognize. > open bo Sorry, I don't understand what "bo" means. > open box You open the box, revealing a chisel. > take chisel Taken. > lift floorboard with chisel I only understood you as far as "lift floorboard" but then you lost me. > lift floorboard It doesn't look like you can lift the floorboard with your bare hands. > * hrm That is not a verb I recognize. > put chisel under floorboard I think you wanted to say "put something". Please try again. > x chisel It's an old chisel, dulled from years of use. > pry floorboard You pry up the floorboard with the chisel, creating a hole underneath. The chisel breaks in two; the smaller piece falls away down the hole and disappears. The larger piece lands on the floor beside you. > * Would be nice if "lift" was a synonym here I think That is not a verb I recognize. > x hole It's the hole you uncovered when you pulled the floorboard up. > look in hole You find a silver key hidden in the hole! > take key Do you mean the silver key or the wardrobe key? > silver Taken. > l Wooden Room You are in a small, windowless wooden room that is lit by a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It feels stuffy and oppressive. Against the north wall is the entrance to the pit. The walls are damp and rotten. A battered old wardrobe is leaning against the northwest corner of the hut. The wardrobe's doors hang open. There is a small key in the keyhole of the wardrobe. There is a hole in the floor where you pulled the floorboard up. You can also see a chisel, a box (which is empty) and a wooden door here. > x chisel It's a broken piece of chisel. It should still work... just about. You look at your watch. Ten o'clock already? You resolve to get a move on. > take it Taken. > x door It's a door made of the same material as the rest of the hut. It blends into the wall of the hut so well that you wouldn't even realise there was a door there if you weren't looking closely. > open door It's locked. > unlock door with silver You unlock the wooden door. > open door You open the wooden door. > l Wooden Room You are in a small, windowless wooden room that is lit by a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It feels stuffy and oppressive. Against the north wall is the entrance to the pit. The walls are damp and rotten. A battered old wardrobe is leaning against the northwest corner of the hut. The wardrobe's doors hang open. There is a small key in the keyhole of the wardrobe. There is a hole in the floor where you pulled the floorboard up. You can also see a box (which is empty) and a wooden door here. > enter door You dash out into the yard and take a deep, thankful lungful of the fresh air. The wooden room was damp and stuffy. Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. It makes reference to 'Farr', which is the name these people use for their organisation. Even after you'd uncovered some leads about the people involved, it took you a lot of searching before you found the name - their paper trail is very well hidden indeed. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > x insignia You recognise this insignia. It's tied closely to the sign above it. > untie it There's nothing to untie. > x sign It's a slightly twisted, rusted metal sign. It says 'Farr North' on it; you had found out just before you were captured that Farr had several locations in Essex with similar designations. You had wanted to investigate them all fully, but escaping seems like a better plan at the moment. You still don't know who sent you that letter one year ago. But that's when you found out that Farr - long before you knew that was their name - had been involved in, or at least interested in, your life for a very long time. Your mother's horrified reaction when you told her you'd received a letter telling you to look more closely into your own birth led to some digging around in your parents' house while they were out of town, which led to the discovery that they had been receiving correspondence from people involved in the organisation very early on in your lifetime, which in turn prompted the realisation that it wasn't just you they were interested in... there were others. Seven others. Just as the insignia suggests... > * OK some backstory! That is not a verb I recognize. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > x bush It's a leafless bush. You're not sure whether it's still alive. > x gate It's a solid steel gate built into the wall. This is presumably where the two men went after they left you in the pit. > open gate The gate is about as locked as it is possible for anything to be. There doesn't even appear to be a handle on this side. > climb gate The gate is high, solid steel and too flat and slippery to climb. > climb bush It's not big enough to climb. > x green The rickety-looking shed has a green-painted door. It's currently closed. > open it It's locked. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > take sign The sign is attached to the wall. > pull sign That's fixed in place. > x shed The rickety-looking shed has a green-painted door. It's currently closed. > climb shed You would achieve nothing by this. > climb insignia You would achieve nothing by this. > climb wall The wall is too high to climb. > x wooden It's a door made of the same material as the rest of the hut. It looks fairly fragile now that it's open - it hangs at a skewed angle. > brek it That is not a verb I recognize. > break it There's no need - you've found the key. > pull door Do you mean the green door or the wooden door? > wooden You don't have time to mess around with the door. > take wooden That's fixed in place. > push wooden You don't have time to mess around with the door. You look at your watch. You've still got an hour and a half to get out of here, but you'd prefer to do so sooner rather than later. > * guess I will be finding out what happens when time runs out That is not a verb I recognize. > * That thing about the door hanging off at an angle sure seems important That is not a verb I recognize. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > hit door with chisel Do you mean the green door or the wooden door? > green Violence isn't the answer to this one. > hit door with chisel Do you mean the green door or the wooden door? > wooden The chisel isn't strong enough. > i You're carrying a chisel, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > x bush It's a leafless bush. You're not sure whether it's still alive. > look under bush The bush is surprisingly resilient, and resists your efforts to move it. > pull push You can't see any such thing. > oops bush The bush is surprisingly resilient, and resists your efforts to move it. > search bush The bush is surprisingly resilient, and resists your efforts to move it. > search insignia You find nothing special. > x it You've seen this insignia many times during your investigation: eight stars in a semicircle. You're sure the number eight is significant, and you suspect it's something to do with you and the others born alongside you. Despite your mother telling you to ignore the letter, you did what it said and looked into your birth. You were one of eight born at the hospital that day - unusual for a hospital in a relatively small town like Crossley, but not unheard of - but one of the many things that struck you as strange was that you didn't recognise any of the other surnames. They hadn't attended the town's primary school with you, you'd never encountered them while growing up, and yet these were all reported as local families... Where had they gone? Further investigation in the town archives revealed they had all moved away within a couple of years. You later found out that most of the others had attracted the attention of Farr too. Your parents presumably weren't unnerved enough to leave town at that point, but it looked like all the others were. And maybe you'd all had the interest of Farr from the start. After all, why else would the blond man - the same one who put you in the pit this morning - have been the first face you noticed in the background when you looked at the pictures your parents had taken on the hospital ward? > x sign It's a slightly twisted, rusted metal sign. It says 'Farr North' on it; you had found out just before you were captured that Farr had several locations in Essex with similar designations. You had wanted to investigate them all fully, but escaping seems like a better plan at the moment. > x insignia You've seen this insignia many times during your investigation: eight stars in a semicircle. You're sure the number eight is significant, and you suspect it's something to do with you and the others born alongside you. You sigh. Recognising this insignia - and hiding from its wearers as a result - saved you the first time you were at risk of being caught. But not the second time. > take insignia The insignia is painted onto the wall - you can't take it. > take sign The sign is attached to the wall. > climb sign You would achieve nothing by this. > i You're carrying a chisel, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > pry sign That doesn't seem to work. > pry gate That doesn't seem to work. > knock on hate Sorry, I don't understand what "hate" means. > open gate The gate is about as locked as it is possible for anything to be. There doesn't even appear to be a handle on this side. > x shed The rickety-looking shed has a green-painted door. It's currently closed. > push shed It's locked. > pry green That doesn't seem to work. > i You're carrying a chisel, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > lift green It's locked. > unlock green with silver The silver key doesn't seem to fit the lock. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > w You can't, since the green door is closed. > x wooden It's a door made of the same material as the rest of the hut. It looks fairly fragile now that it's open - it hangs at a skewed angle. > close wooden You close the wooden door. > x wooden It's a door made of the same material as the rest of the hut. It blends into the wall of the hut so well that you wouldn't even realise there was a door there if you weren't looking closely. You look at your watch. Eleven o'clock. Whatever they're planning for noon, you want to be long gone by then. > open it You open the wooden door. > x it It's a door made of the same material as the rest of the hut. It looks fairly fragile now that it's open - it hangs at a skewed angle. > pull it You don't have time to mess around with the door. > open it It's already open. > climb it You would achieve nothing by this. > climb shed You would achieve nothing by this. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > climb hut No need to concern yourself with that. > cx wall That is not a verb I recognize. > n Wooden Room You are in a small, windowless wooden room that is lit by a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It feels stuffy and oppressive. Against the north wall is the entrance to the pit. The walls are damp and rotten. A battered old wardrobe is leaning against the northwest corner of the hut. The wardrobe's doors hang open. There is a small key in the keyhole of the wardrobe. There is a hole in the floor where you pulled the floorboard up. You can also see a wooden door and a box (which is empty) here. > d You don't want to go back in the pit! It was enough trouble getting out of there. > w There's only a wooden wall in that direction. > s Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > w You can't, since the green door is closed. > nw There's no gap between the shed and the wooden hut. > ne The wall is too high to climb. > se The wall is too high to climb. > sw The gate is high, solid steel and too flat and slippery to climb. > s The wall is too high to climb. > w You can't, since the green door is closed. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > listen From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. > smell There's a faint petrol smell from somewhere. > shake bush You can't shake that. > hide That is not a verb I recognize. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > chisel door Do you mean the green door or the wooden door? > green That doesn't seem chiselable. > chisel wooden That doesn't seem chiselable. > chisel bush That doesn't seem chiselable. > chisel me That doesn't seem chiselable. > climb I think you wanted to say "climb on". Please try again. > climb on shed You can't see any such thing. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. You look at your watch. Only half an hour until it happens... whatever 'it' is. > verbs That is not a verb I recognize. > about Marie Waits © Dee Cooke 2023. Playtesting by Christopher Merriner, Kenneth Pedersen, Geth Rees, Jess X and John Ziegler. This game was created for Spring Thing 2023. > credits Marie Waits © Dee Cooke 2023. Playtesting by Christopher Merriner, Kenneth Pedersen, Geth Rees, Jess X and John Ziegler. This game was created for Spring Thing 2023. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > x hut It's the hut you escaped from. > x shed The rickety-looking shed has a green-painted door. It's currently closed. > push shed It's locked. > pull shed It's locked. > jump on shed You can't see any such thing. > climb shed You would achieve nothing by this. > stand on shed You can't, since the green door is closed. > i You're carrying a chisel, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > read note The note reads: Marie, You don't know me, and I'll make this quick. I don't have much time. I work for Farr at the dormitories and I heard them talking about you this morning. They said you wouldn't be alive much longer. I couldn't sit by when I heard that. I've seen some unsavoury things in this job, and I've always looked the other way, but I can't just let this happen. They said they were putting you in the old wooden hut off the yard. I'll leave this note there and hope you find it. They'll lock you inside, presumably. I'll hide a key for the door under the floorboards. Hopefully you should be able to get out of the yard after that. Once you're out, come find me at the dormitories. I'll be near the door. I'll do my best to help you. You feel safe to assume that the dead woman wrote the note herself and that obviously she won't be at the dormitories like she planned. They must have realised what she was up to. You feel a terrible mixture of guilt and gratitude. You wish you knew what her name was. > * well that seems to have been a fool's hope That is not a verb I recognize. > run That is not a verb I recognize. > flee That is not a verb I recognize. > hide That is not a verb I recognize. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > x bush It's a leafless bush. You're not sure whether it's still alive. > smell bush It doesn't have much of a scent. > break twig Sorry, I don't understand what "twig" means. > break bush Violence isn't the answer to this one. > i You're carrying a chisel, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > put sack on bush You can't put that there. > put bush in sack (first taking the bush) The bush is surprisingly resilient, and resists your efforts to move it. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > * Going out as the title suggests That is not a verb I recognize. > z Nothing happens. Midday. Something feels different... You hear a rumble from afar, getting rapidly closer. Your last thought before the arrival of the unsurvivable heat and light is that you just wish you understood. Understood why all of this is happening... and why to you. *** You have died *** Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE, UNDO the last move or QUIT? restart It started out with a quiet, secret journey from your hometown of Crossley, and seems to have ended here, in a small hut in the middle of Nowhere, Essex. You got careless, you got caught, and now your investigation seems to have screeched to a grinding halt, if for no other reason than the mild inconvenience of being tied to a chair at the bottom of a pit. Your two captors stand on the edge above, looming over you, both wearing the standard black suits you've come to dread. The shorter, pudgier, brown-haired one takes a last draw of his cigarette and flicks it towards you. You wince in pain as the burning end bounces off your face, and he sneers in triumph. 'Don't damage the goods,' snaps the other man, the blond one. You recognise him from several pictures you found during your research, as well as that one time... The pudgy one waves your phone in the air. 'Got her phone, boss.' 'Good. Take it to the dropoff by the dormitories. We'll find out how much she knows... afterwards, of course.' You grit your teeth. You've done a lot of work on this investigation, but you have to admit you still don't know anywhere near as much as you'd like about what's going on. The pudgy man leans over the pit, a notepad dangling loosely from his belt. For a moment, you think the notepad might fall into the pit with you. 'Looks like all she can do now is wait till noon.' 'Come on,' says the blond man shortly. They disappear from view, muttering about checking other locations, and after a moment you hear a door being locked in the room above. You take a deep breath. You feel guilty about keeping your husband Cecil in the dark about all this. You didn't want to worry him... but this has gone far beyond that now. You wish you could see Cecil's face one last time. You shake yourself. You can't think like that. You don't know exactly what's going to happen at noon, but you'd rather not be here when it does. Nine o'clock. You've got three hours to make your escape. Marie Waits A text adventure game. © Dee Cooke 2023. Type CREDITS for more information. Release 1 / Serial number 230402 / Inform v6.41 PunyInform v4.4 Pit (on the chair) You are at the bottom of a grimy, mossy, earthen pit, only about five feet across in each direction, but about eight feet deep. Dim light spills into the pit from the wooden room above. An old wooden dining chair reminds you of the dining room you were in when you were finally caught. A long, thick, rusty nail is sticking out of the wall of the pit. The cigarette end thrown at you by the pudgy man smoulders on the mossy floor of the pit. Some of the moss is starting to smoulder too. You have been tied to the chair with a length of rope. > * OK trying this again! That is not a verb I recognize. > pull chair You press your feet against the ground and manage to nudge the back of the chair slightly away from the wall of the pit. > tip it You gently try rocking the chair from side to side in the hope that tipping it onto its side will give you more leverage to start getting free of the ropes. The eventual fall is less gentle, but it does give you enough of a jolt to pull the loops around your arms away from the back of the chair. You're still tied up, but at least you're free of the chair now. You get to your feet in a slightly ungainly manner. > untie rope You tug at the rope experimentally. It's not very strong and you manage to slip one of the loops over your hands. A bit of wriggling later, you're free, the rope falling to the ground. > take rope Taken. > throw rope on nail You reach up and tie one end of the rope to the nail. The other end hangs down to the ground. > step on end You stamp on the cigarette end, making sure it's out. The last thing you need to add to your current predicament is fire. > u You take hold of the ratty rope and start to climb out of the pit... As you find a handhold on the wooden floorboards of the room above, the rope snaps, tumbling to the bottom of the pit along with the nail. You just about manage to haul yourself up into the room with your hands and knees. You certainly won't be waiting around like they told you. Time to get out of here. Somehow... Wooden Room You are in a small, windowless wooden room that is lit by a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It feels stuffy and oppressive. Against the north wall is the entrance to the pit. The walls are damp and rotten. A battered old wardrobe is leaning against the northwest corner of the hut. There is a small key in the keyhole of the wardrobe. > unlock wardrobe with key You turn the key and unlock the wardrobe door. > open it Opening the wardrobe door, you gasp, and immediately feel sick. There's a dead body in the wardrobe - a woman. From the looks of it, she hasn't been dead long, perhaps a few hours at most - and as that thought crosses your mind, you feel disgusted with yourself for being so clinical. You remember the anonymous letter you received that started all of this. The writer made it clear that these people would stop at nothing to carry out their plans, and you thought you were prepared for that. But maybe you weren't. > move body You don't really want to touch the body, but there might be something useful here. Trying not to look into the corpse's lifeless eyes, you carefully move her to one side. There's nothing behind the body, but your eye falls on a lumpy sack that has been shoved into the corner of the wardrobe. You also think you spot some paper clutched in the woman's left hand. > take sack Taken. > open it You empty the sack out onto the floor. An old wooden box falls out. > open box You open the box, revealing a chisel. > take chisel Taken. > chisel floorboard You can't see any such thing. > stand on floorboard You can't see any such thing. > x walls The walls are made of damp wood. The wood is a bit rotten in places but unfortunately it's sturdy enough that you can't break the walls by banging on them. You give it a good go, though. You notice a hidden door in the south wall. As you walk back to the centre of the room, you think you hear something strange. > stand on floorboard You can't see any such thing. > l Wooden Room You are in a small, windowless wooden room that is lit by a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It feels stuffy and oppressive. Against the north wall is the entrance to the pit. The walls are damp and rotten. A battered old wardrobe is leaning against the northwest corner of the hut. The wardrobe's doors hang open. There is a small key in the keyhole of the wardrobe. You can also see a box (which is empty) and a wooden door here. > listen You walk experimentally across the floor. One of the floorboards is definitely creaking. > chisel floorboard You're not sure which floorboard is making the creaking sound. Maybe you should step on them again to narrow it down. > step on floorboard You step on the floorboards carefully, and notice a slightly raised one. It seems that's the one making the creaking sound. > chisel floorboard You pry up the floorboard with the chisel, creating a hole underneath. The chisel breaks in two; the smaller piece falls away down the hole and disappears. The larger piece lands on the floor beside you. > take chisel Taken. > look in hole You find a silver key hidden in the hole! > take it That's fixed in place. > take key Do you mean the silver key or the wardrobe key? > silver Taken. > unlock door with silver You unlock the wooden door. > s You can't, since the wooden door is closed. > open door You open the wooden door. > s You dash out into the yard and take a deep, thankful lungful of the fresh air. The wooden room was damp and stuffy. Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. It makes reference to 'Farr', which is the name these people use for their organisation. Even after you'd uncovered some leads about the people involved, it took you a lot of searching before you found the name - their paper trail is very well hidden indeed. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > x insignia You recognise this insignia. It's tied closely to the sign above it. > x sign It's a slightly twisted, rusted metal sign. It says 'Farr North' on it; you had found out just before you were captured that Farr had several locations in Essex with similar designations. You had wanted to investigate them all fully, but escaping seems like a better plan at the moment. You still don't know who sent you that letter one year ago. But that's when you found out that Farr - long before you knew that was their name - had been involved in, or at least interested in, your life for a very long time. Your mother's horrified reaction when you told her you'd received a letter telling you to look more closely into your own birth led to some digging around in your parents' house while they were out of town, which led to the discovery that they had been receiving correspondence from people involved in the organisation very early on in your lifetime, which in turn prompted the realisation that it wasn't just you they were interested in... there were others. Seven others. Just as the insignia suggests... > x insignia You've seen this insignia many times during your investigation: eight stars in a semicircle. You're sure the number eight is significant, and you suspect it's something to do with you and the others born alongside you. Despite your mother telling you to ignore the letter, you did what it said and looked into your birth. You were one of eight born at the hospital that day - unusual for a hospital in a relatively small town like Crossley, but not unheard of - but one of the many things that struck you as strange was that you didn't recognise any of the other surnames. They hadn't attended the town's primary school with you, you'd never encountered them while growing up, and yet these were all reported as local families... Where had they gone? Further investigation in the town archives revealed they had all moved away within a couple of years. You later found out that most of the others had attracted the attention of Farr too. Your parents presumably weren't unnerved enough to leave town at that point, but it looked like all the others were. And maybe you'd all had the interest of Farr from the start. After all, why else would the blond man - the same one who put you in the pit this morning - have been the first face you noticed in the background when you looked at the pictures your parents had taken on the hospital ward? You look at your watch. You've still got two and a half hours to go, but not knowing what's going to happen is making you extremely nervous. You wish you hadn't wasted so much time at home during your investigation: thinking, double-checking, scouring old newspaper articles for the hundredth time... just waiting. You had no idea they were planning something so soon. If you had, you could have acted sooner, gone to London sooner, given yourself time to chase up your leads before these people hunted you down. You give yourself a mental shake. No point in dwelling. You need to escape before you can do anything else. > x sign It's a slightly twisted, rusted metal sign. It says 'Farr North' on it; you had found out just before you were captured that Farr had several locations in Essex with similar designations. You had wanted to investigate them all fully, but escaping seems like a better plan at the moment. > x insignia You've seen this insignia many times during your investigation: eight stars in a semicircle. You're sure the number eight is significant, and you suspect it's something to do with you and the others born alongside you. You sigh. Recognising this insignia - and hiding from its wearers as a result - saved you the first time you were at risk of being caught. But not the second time. > * OK I think we're caught up now That is not a verb I recognize. > i You're carrying a silver key, a chisel and a sack (which is empty). > x chisel It's a broken piece of chisel. It should still work... just about. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > chisel bush That doesn't seem chiselable. > chisel wall You're not sure that would help. > chisel sign That doesn't seem chiselable. > chisel insignia That doesn't seem chiselable. > chisel green That doesn't seem chiselable. > * alas That is not a verb I recognize. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door and a gate here. > x sign It's a slightly twisted, rusted metal sign. It says 'Farr North' on it; you had found out just before you were captured that Farr had several locations in Essex with similar designations. You had wanted to investigate them all fully, but escaping seems like a better plan at the moment. > x east wall It's a high stone wall that blocks your path to the south and east. You notice that some of the mortar in the south wall appears a bit loose. > * oh there we are That is not a verb I recognize. > * not used to Xing the walls! That is not a verb I recognize. > chisel wall It's a big wall. Perhaps you should start somewhere more specific. > chisel south wall It's a big wall. Perhaps you should start somewhere more specific. > chisel mortar You chisel away at the loose mortar. It turns out to be a thin layer covering a gap; the mortar soon cracks away and a green-painted key falls out of the gap onto the ground. The old bit of chisel fritters away into rusty flakes. > * huh, handy That is not a verb I recognize. > take green key Taken. > x it It's a key that has been daubed with green paint. > unlock green door with green key You unlock the green door. > open it You open the green door. > w There's a horrible, ominous smell in this shed. You'd rather not hang around here. Shed The shed seems to be used to store tools and equipment, but most of it appears to be old and fairly useless. It reminds you, uncomfortably, of all the time you wasted chasing after a different Farr company, which turned out to be a defunct manufacturer of gardening equipment. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. You can also see a green door here. > x table The drawer appears deep and runs the full length of the table. > x lockup The metal lockup must be decades old by the looks of it. A more modern-looking device has been attached to the front, with a small slot in the middle. > * ...what's a "lockup"? That is not a verb I recognize. > x device It's a modern lock that's been attached to the old lockup. It has a slot in the front. > * OK from googling it's apparently like a cell That is not a verb I recognize. > x slot It's a small, narrow, rectangular slot in the metal of the lockup's locking mechanism. It looks like those ones in cash machines, though you have to admit it's been a while since you used a cash machine. > opend rawer That is not a verb I recognize. > open drawer You let out a quiet shriek and take a horrified step backwards as the drawer slides open. There's another dead body inside - a man you think you recognise. From his clothes, he looks like some kind of manual worker. > * Oh geez! That is not a verb I recognize. > * I did not picture the drawer as being that big That is not a verb I recognize. > x man It's the corpse of a man you recognise from somewhere. He wears overalls and appears to be in his forties or thereabouts. Dried blood covers his forehead, presumably from the fatal wound. Looking at the man's face, you feel suddenly queasy. That's right. You saw him alive just earlier this morning - outside the building when they were taking you in. Why has he been killed? > search hi Sorry, I don't understand what "hi" means. > search him I don't know what "him" refers to. > search man You don't really want to touch the body, but you don't have much time left and you know you can leave no stone unturned. Taking a deep breath, you gently manoeuvre the corpse's limbs from side to side, checking his clothes. There's nothing in his pockets, but you spot a keycard and a scrap of paper tucked in next to the body at the side of the drawer. Maybe these things fell out of his clothes when they were putting him in here. > x scrap It's a note scribbled on a yellow scrap of paper. > read it The heading on the note matches the name of a local gardening company. You recognise it from when you were trawling through all those gardening companies while chasing your false lead. The note reads: Presume you got my message about collecting the gear from the Farr place this morning? Dave and team forgot to collect it all when they finished the job a couple of days ago. Keys are with Sandra - grab them before you head off. The shed key is a bit old and wonky and doesn't always work. If you're desperate, there's a spare hidden in the wall next to the shed. The main things to collect are the two telescopic chainsaws in the shed, but we're also missing the following: 1 pickaxe 1 crowbar If you can find those that'd be great, but don't go out of your way. Don't bother checking in with Farr. I can't get hold of anyone there this morning and I'm not sure anyone will be on site. Just grab the gear so that we've got it for next week. You look at your watch. Ten o'clock already? You resolve to get a move on. > take keycard Taken. > x it It's a plastic keycard, about the same size as a credit card. > put it in slot You insert the keycard into the slot and the lockup springs open. You can't keep yourself from jumping back, nervous that you'll find another dead body inside... but it's just more tools. Most of them look old and unusable, but there's a sturdy-looking spade near the front. It looks like it was the last thing to be tossed in here. > x spade It's a fairly sturdy spade. Looks like it's designed for gardening, though you can't imagine anyone doing any gardening in the scraggy yard. The gardening company must have been doing their work elsewhere and just using the shed for storage. > take it Taken. > out Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. You can also see a green door, a wooden door, some mortar and a gate here. > dig bush You plunge the spade into the roots of the bush, trying to dig the plant up. It feels like you manage to loosen it slightly. > g You've already dug up the roots of the bush as much as you can. > x bulb You can't see any such thing. > x bush It's a leafless bush. You're not sure whether it's still alive. > pull it With most of the roots dug up, you are able to move the branches of the bush aside. Something shiny glints underneath the bush. You also spot a notepad in the soil. > x notepad Looking more closely at the notepad, you recognise it as the one that was dangling from the pudgy man's belt earlier. He must have dropped it as they were leaving. You spot the Farr insignia at the top of the notepad. > * Err That is not a verb I recognize. > read it The front page of the notepad is titled Daily Report: 7th November. The handwriting is quickly-scribbled and a bit hard to read. 8:10am: Sarah Lyle from dorm cleaning crew turned out to be traitor. Caught her near huts and found two copies of a note in her pockets - she planned to allow escape of S1. Dealt with her and removed copies of note. Note mentioned key under floorboard but no sign of this. To do: remove remains from hut during post-event cleanup. 8:50am: found gardener (from company we hired to weed dormitory clearing earlier this week) sniffing about near yard. Claimed to be collecting tools - had keys to yard and shed in possession. Saw and heard too much as we were bringing S1 to location. Dealt with him and recovered keys. To do: remove remains from shed during post-event cleanup. 9:00am: S1 in position. Removed phone to avoid risk of her contacting anyone. Taking it to dropoff point by dormitories to be studied later - S1 seems to know more than she should and is possibly working with others. (You wish you hadn't been too stubborn to work with others. But you wanted to find all of this out by yourself... as usual.) 9:05am: Everything in place for noon. Leaving site once deposited S1's phone. The rest of the notepad is blank. Perhaps the man uses a new one every day. > * is you taking notes on a criminal conspiracy? That is not a verb I recognize. > * "recovered keys" suggests the pudgy guy took the keys so not sure how this h That is not a verb I recognize. > dig hole You can't see any such thing. > dug under wall That is not a verb I recognize. > dig under wall Digging would achieve nothing here. > dig I think you wanted to say "dig something". Please try again. > l Yard You are in a small, high-walled yard. To the north is one side of the standalone hut that comprises the wooden room, including its door. To the west is a rickety-looking shed, also with a door, painted green. The other two sides of the yard are blocked by high stone walls, with a high, solid gate in the southwest corner between the wall and the shed. On the south wall hangs an old metal sign. Below the sign is a familiar-looking insignia. From beyond the east wall, you can hear occasional muffled engine noises as cars go by along the nearby road. A scraggy bush grows in the corner of the yard next to the steel gate. A notepad lies in the soil under the bush, its pages flapping in the wind. Something shiny is glinting underneath the bush. You can also see a green door, a wooden door, some mortar and a gate here. > x shiny You get down on your hands and knees and brush more of the soil away from the shiny object. It turns out to be a pickaxe! A bit grubby, but fairly unused from the looks of it. > take it You can't see "it" (shiny thing) at the moment. > take pickaxe Taken. > x it It's a sturdy pickaxe. > hit wall with pickaxe You heft the pickaxe and slam it into the east wall, hoping to knock the wall down. Instead, the pickaxe becomes buried in the wall and can't be pulled out again, no matter how hard you try. > * oops! That is not a verb I recognize. > climb pickaxe Using the pickaxe wedged in the wall as a foothold, you climb to the top of the wall. Yard (on the wall) You're on top of the yard's eastern wall. The top of the wall is smoother and more stable than you would have expected. No spikes or jagged edges or anything. Perhaps they weren't expecting you to try and escape this way. A notepad lies in the soil under the bush, its pages flapping in the wind. You look around, trying to work out where to go next. The wall is much steeper on this eastern side near the road, but there's a boggy pool of water at the bottom of the wall, forming a sort of moat along its side. > * That notepad paragraph should probably be supressed while we're up here That is not a verb I recognize. > d First, you'd have to leave the wall. > e First, you'd have to leave the wall. > jump You're not in a jumping mood. > enter water Right. You're doing this. You throw everything you're carrying down to the ground beyond the bog so that it doesn't get wet. You take a deep breath and hold it, then jump off the wall into the boggy water. It's cold, unpleasant and deep, and you sink into the murky depths for a minute before surfacing, gasping and grimacing. Roadside Cars zoom along the busy motorway here, the drivers taking no notice of you as you miserably tread water in the boggy pool. A fence blocks the path to the south. You can tell from the post insulators (as well as a faded warning sign) that it's electrified. Beyond the fence, you can see a forest - probably a better escape route than trying to pick your way along the open roadside. You haul yourself out of the bog onto solid ground and carefully collect your possessions. > * I mean shouldn't we try to flag down a passing motorist? That is not a verb I recognize. > out There's only endless roadside in that direction. It wouldn't give you much cover when they inevitably realise you've escaped. > l Roadside Cars zoom along the busy motorway here, the drivers taking no notice of you as you stand, bedraggled, on the verge. A fence blocks the path to the south. You can tell from the post insulators (as well as a faded warning sign) that it's electrified. Beyond the fence, you can see a forest - probably a better escape route than trying to pick your way along the open roadside. You can also see a pool of water here. > x pool The boggy pool of water is surrounded by torn-up mud where you hauled yourself out. > x fence A fence blocks the path to the south. You can tell from the post insulators (as well as a faded warning sign) that it's electrified. > s You decide to hoist yourself over the fence. How bad can a mild little electric shock be? Bad, it turns out. The shock throws you almost into the air and you land painfully on your rear end. With your whole body stinging, you stagger to your feet. You won't be trying that again in a hurry. > n There's only endless roadside in that direction. It wouldn't give you much cover when they inevitably realise you've escaped. > e You'd rather not dash onto the motorway without a good reason! You look at your watch. You've still got an hour and a half to get out of here, but you'd prefer to do so sooner rather than later. > l Roadside Cars zoom along the busy motorway here, the drivers taking no notice of you as you stand, bedraggled, on the verge. A fence blocks the path to the south. You can tell from the post insulators (as well as a faded warning sign) that it's electrified. Beyond the fence, you can see a forest - probably a better escape route than trying to pick your way along the open roadside. You can also see a pool of water here. > x sign The sign helpfully tells you that the fence is electrified. > x indicators Sorry, I don't understand what "indicators" means. > x insulators The plastic insulators are attached to the posts of the fence. > take insulators No need to concern yourself with that. > i You're carrying a spade, a keycard, a green-painted key, a silver key and a sack (which is empty). > cut insulators with spade No need to concern yourself with that. > dig pool Digging would achieve nothing here. > dig pole Sorry, I don't understand what "pole" means. > dig fence The fence is too deeply embedded in the ground to dig up. > dig insulators No need to concern yourself with that. > * My thought is to dig so the water hits the uninsulated fence, shorting it ou That is not a verb I recognize. > * ideally That is not a verb I recognize. > Come again? > l Roadside Cars zoom along the busy motorway here, the drivers taking no notice of you as you stand, bedraggled, on the verge. A fence blocks the path to the south. You can tell from the post insulators (as well as a faded warning sign) that it's electrified. Beyond the fence, you can see a forest - probably a better escape route than trying to pick your way along the open roadside. You can also see a pool of water here. > flag down drivers That is not a verb I recognize. > wave at drivers That is not a verb I recognize. > x cars The cars zoom past at high speed, the drivers taking no notice of you. > smell There's a faint petrol smell from somewhere. You can also smell stagnant water. > x forest You can see the forest beyond the fence. > x post The plastic insulators are attached to the posts of the fence. > dig post No need to concern yourself with that. > dig posts The fence is too deeply embedded in the ground to dig up. > remove insulators No need to concern yourself with that. > i You're carrying a spade, a keycard, a green-painted key, a silver key and a sack (which is empty). > x fence A fence blocks the path to the south. You can tell from the post insulators (as well as a faded warning sign) that it's electrified. > put sack on fence Carefully, you wrap the sack over the electric fence. It should be safe to touch now - the material should insulate you from the shock. > climb fence You cautiously test the insulating ability of the sack by lightly touching the fence with the back of your hand. There's no shock, so you feel safe to take a firmer hold of the fence and hoist yourself over to the other side... Forest Entrance The forest ahead of you to the south is dark and dense, especially in the dull November weather. It makes you shiver slightly, but you know it's the best way to make your escape. Besides, the dormitories are supposed to be in the forest somewhere nearby, and that's where the blond guy said they were taking your phone. Maybe you'll be able to recover it. > save Ok. > s Dark Forest You're in the thick of the forest here. It's difficult to see, but you're fairly sure you can make out paths to the east and west, as well as north back to the forest entrance. You shudder slightly. You've never been afraid of the dark, but it reminds you of the one time you saw that blond man in person before - the day you left Crossley for London, hurrying along dark streets with no witnesses. He nearly caught you that time, too, but you managed to get away and board the train. You suppose it was only a matter of time. > e Forest Road The forest opens out into a small clearing here where it meets the roadside. The trees loom ominously over the road, making this area almost as dark as the rest of the forest. The path leads back to the west. > x clearing This part of the forest meets a roadside clearing. It's probably a popular picnic spot in the summer. > x trees The trees are very thick here. > w Dark Forest You're in the thick of the forest here. It's difficult to see, but you're fairly sure you can make out paths to the east and west, as well as north back to the forest entrance. > w Dormitory Clearing The forest is still thick here, but there's a small open area in front of the nearby building. Paths lead to the south and east. A large building looms to the west. Through the windows, you can see simple beds and the odd cleaner bustling about; these must be the old dormitories you heard about earlier. A small van is parked in front of the building. > x van It's an unmarked white van. You're not sure how it got here, as you can't see any vehicle access nearby. Maybe there's a hidden road round the back of the building. Wait a minute. Didn't that blond guy say something about putting your phone in a dropoff point next to the dormitories? There's a note taped to the back of the van. > read van There's nothing to read there. > read note The note reads: For those using dropoff: Catching a few winks in the dorm before heading back to HQ. (I'm in the soundproof bit of the basement as I hear things'll be getting a bit noisy around noon. Don't wake me up unless it's an emergency!) Van locked as M. reported some sensitive contents. Key in the usual place if you need to chuck anything else in here. I'll be leaving for HQ about 2pm. You look at your watch. Eleven o'clock. Whatever they're planning for noon, you want to be long gone by then. > * lotta hidden backup keys That is not a verb I recognize. > s Dark Forest The forest is getting ever thicker and darker, and you'd swear it was night if you didn't know better. Even the birdsong sounds ominous here. You can just about make out paths leading north and east. You nearly trip over a rusty old crowbar that's sticking out from a tree root. > take crowbar As you pick up the crowbar, your fingers also close on a small piece of card. It's a matchbook with one match left. You decide to hang onto it, just in case. > e Dark Forest The forest is so thick here you can't even see the sky. In the dimmest of dim light, you can just about make out the path back to the west. You can also dimly see the outline of a pile of rocks next to your feet. > x rocks You can't see the rocks very well, so you feel them experimentally. They seem to be small and form a pile that comes to about knee height. You doubt the pile could have formed naturally. > move rocks You carefully get down on your knees and gently move the rocks aside to see what you can find. For a moment you feel something metal and sharpish underneath your hand, but you lose track of it almost immediately. You sigh. You'll never be able to find it in the dark. > feel around You can't see any such thing. > l Dark Forest The forest is so thick here you can't even see the sky. In the dimmest of dim light, you can just about make out the path back to the west. You can also dimly see the outline of a pile of rocks next to your feet. You know there's a small metal item around here somewhere. > x pile The rocks are a bit scattered now that you've moved them. > i You're carrying a match, a crowbar, a spade, a keycard, a green-painted key and a silver key. > light match You crouch down on the ground and light the match, discarding the empty matchbook and sheltering the match in the hope it won't immediately blow out in the wind. In the light from the match, you can see the small metal item; you quickly grab it before the match goes out. Dropping the blown-out match, you examine the metal item in the dim light. It appears to be a key for a vehicle. > w Dark Forest The forest is getting ever thicker and darker, and you'd swear it was night if you didn't know better. Even the birdsong sounds ominous here. You can just about make out paths leading north and east. > i You're carrying a vehicle key, a crowbar, a spade, a keycard, a green-painted key and a silver key. > n Dormitory Clearing The forest is still thick here, but there's a small open area in front of the nearby building. Paths lead to the south and east. A large building looms to the west. Through the windows, you can see simple beds and the odd cleaner bustling about; these must be the old dormitories you heard about earlier. A small van is parked in front of the building. A note is taped to the back of the van. > unlock van I think you wanted to say "unlock van with something". Please try again. > unlock van with key Do you mean the vehicle key, the green-painted key or the silver key? > vehicle You try the vehicle key in all the doors of the van. It doesn't open the driver or passenger doors, but to your surprise, when you try it in the back of the van, one of the doors swings open. A heavy metal crate falls out, nearly crushing your feet; you jump out of the way just in time. > x crate It's a heavy metal crate. It's tightly fastened shut with an equally heavy-looking metal lid. > open it You try to pry the lid open with your fingers, but quickly give up. It's stuck on very tightly indeed. > pry it with crowbar You hoist the crowbar and push it as far as you can into the tiny gap between the crate and the lid. It takes some manoeuvring and a lot of brute force, but eventually the lid snaps off with a clunk. At first it looks like the only things in the crate are rags... but your heart gives a leap as you spot your phone among the junk. It must have been the last thing they tossed in here! > take phone As soon as the phone is in your hand, you dial Cecil's number, trying to ignore the feelings of guilt that arise from the '109 missed calls' notification on the screen. You wanted to avoid involving him in all of this, but it's far too late now - circumstances are too dire - and besides, you have a suspicion that he's probably on your tail already. You've been gone a lot longer than you expected, after all. Unfortunately, there's no signal. The forest must be too thick around here. But you can see from your notifications that Cecil texted you about twenty minutes ago. You open the message thread. Marie, I don't even know if you still have your phone on you, but I'm sending this on the off-chance. I know (or I hope I know) you're at Farr North. I'm in the car - I'll be there as soon as I can. You have to get out of there. If you can get out, get to the clearing next to the road as quick as you can. If you can't, I'll try and get you out. But we don't have much time. You remember that the roadside clearing is to the east of the forest. You'd better get there quickly. > n The forest is too thick in that direction. > e Dark Forest You're in the thick of the forest here. It's difficult to see, but you're fairly sure you can make out paths to the east and west, as well as north back to the forest entrance. > e Forest Road The forest opens out into a small clearing here where it meets the roadside. The trees loom ominously over the road, making this area almost as dark as the rest of the forest. The path leads back to the west. You can see a car pulling to a stop at the side of the road! > x car You've no idea how he found this place - you'll have to ask him all about his own adventure - but he's here. Cecil's car is stopped by the side of the road! > enter car It really is Cecil's car! You throw yourself into the backseat. You think - possibly due to your own paranoia - that you hear a shout somewhere behind you but you don't dare look back - you're free! Cecil floors the accelerator and before long, the miserable little hamlet where you were imprisoned is out of sight. No more waiting around. Time to resume your investigation and find out everything that's going on... with your husband by your side. *** You have won *** Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE, UNDO the last move or QUIT?