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 > get off chair You can't leave the chair while you're tied to it. > tip over I think you wanted to say "tip over something". Please try again. > kick chair over That is not a verb I recognize. > 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. > scoot forward That is not a verb I recognize. > hop That is not a verb I recognize. > rock 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. > rock 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. > press rope to cigarette You can't do anything like that while you're tied up. > 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. > x cigarette It's the cigarette end thrown at you by the pudgy man. It's still smouldering. > lie on cigarette You really don't want to burn yourself on the cigarette end. > get cigarette You really don't want the used cigarette end, and you can't take it while you're tied up anyway. > burn rope You can't do anything like that while you're tied up. > burn rope with butt Sorry, I don't understand what "butt" means. > burn rope with cigarette You can't get the cigarette end in an exact enough position. As you scrabble to your feet following your unsuccessful attempt, you realise the rope feels fairly loose. > 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. > 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. 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. > get rope You already have it. > put chair under nail I think you wanted to say "put something". Please try again. > put chair against wall I think you wanted to say "put something". Please try again. > stand on chair You make sure the chair is upright and stand on it. Unfortunately, it doesn't give you enough height to climb out of the pit. You step off it again. > loop rope over nail That is not a verb I recognize. > toss rope over nail That is not a verb I recognize. > tie rope to 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 wardrobe The wardrobe looks like it's just being used for storage - you can't imagine anyone changing clothes in here. > open wardrobe The wardrobe appears to be locked. It looks like that key in the keyhole might have something to do with it. > 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. There is a small key in the keyhole of the wardrobe. Flames are starting to lick the wooden boards of the wall next to the pit. That cigarette end must have started a fire. > put out fire There's nothing to put out there. You look uneasily at the developing flames. > unlock wardrobe 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. You look uneasily at the developing flames. > open door It's locked. The fire spreads to the southeast and southwest corners of the hut. The smoke is really billowing into the room from the pit now. > 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. The smoke is making it a bit more difficult to see. > search 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 quickly check her pockets. Empty. You suppose they wouldn't have left anything useful on her... but just as you're thinking that, you think you spot some paper clutched in her left hand. Your eye also falls on a lumpy sack that has been shoved into the corner of the wardrobe. The smoke is making it a bit more difficult to see. > get paper You gently remove the scrunched-up paper from the woman's hand. It appears to be a note. You're really starting to feel ill and lightheaded from the smoke. > get sack Taken. 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. The smoke and fire finally become too much for you. Coughing and retching, you sink to your knees and lose consciousness... *** 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. > 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. > rock 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. > 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. > step on cigarette 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. > tie rope to 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. > unlock wardrobe with key You turn the key and unlock the wardrobe door. > get key That key is best left in the door of the wardrobe. > 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. > search 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 quickly check her pockets. Empty. You suppose they wouldn't have left anything useful on her... but just as you're thinking that, you think you spot some paper clutched in her left hand. Your eye also falls on a lumpy sack that has been shoved into the corner of the wardrobe. > get paper You gently remove the scrunched-up paper from the woman's hand. It appears to be a note. > get sack Taken. > search sack You can't see inside, since the sack is closed. > open sack 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. > open box You open the box, revealing a chisel. > get chisel Taken. > i You're carrying a chisel, 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. You hadn't even noticed any door in here. You'll have to take a closer look around. > 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) here. > get box Hauling that old box around would just slow you down. > 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. > 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. > x floor A look in that direction reveals nothing new. > x floorboard It's a wooden floorboard. > pry floorboard with chisel 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. > pry floorboard with chisel 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. > 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! 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. > get key Do you mean the silver key or the wardrobe key? > silver Taken. > x piece It's a broken piece of chisel. It should still work... just about. > get piece Taken. > i You're carrying a chisel, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > look in hole There's nothing else to be found in the hole. > unlock door with silver key You unlock the wooden door. > open door You open the wooden door. > out 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 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. > x green door The rickety-looking shed has a green-painted door. It's currently closed. > open shed door It's locked. > x bush It's a leafless bush. You're not sure whether it's still alive. > search bush The bush is surprisingly resilient, and resists your efforts to move it. > climb wall The wall is too high to climb. > climb gate The gate is high, solid steel and too flat and slippery to climb. > 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. > read sign There's nothing to read there. > get sign The sign is attached to the wall. > look under bush The bush is surprisingly resilient, and resists your efforts to move it. > look behind shed There's nothing interesting back there. > unlock shed with silver key 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. > x shed The rickety-looking shed has a green-painted door. It's currently closed. > break shed Violence isn't the answer to this one. > pry shed with chisel That doesn't seem to work. > pry shed door with chisel That doesn't seem to work. > unlock shed with chisel The chisel doesn't seem to fit the lock. You look at your watch. Ten o'clock already? You resolve to get a move on. > i You're carrying a chisel, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > shake shed You can't shake that. > 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. > save Ok. > climb bush It's not big enough to climb. > put sack over bush I think you wanted to say "put something". Please try again. > put sack on bush You can't put that there. > 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 green door The rickety-looking shed has a green-painted door. It's currently closed. > x shed wall I only understood you as far as "x shed" but then you lost me. > pry shed That doesn't seem to work. > 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. > 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. > get wardrobe key That key is best left in the door of the wardrobe. > get floorboard You can't carry the floorboard around with you. > get box Hauling that old box around would just slow you down. > 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. > s The wall is too high to climb. > e The wall is too high to climb. > w You can't, since the green door is closed. > search grass Sorry, I don't understand what "grass" means. > search ground You find nothing special. > 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. > look behind hut No need to concern yourself with that. > climb hut No need to concern yourself with that. > push shed over You can't see any such thing. > x bush It's a leafless bush. You're not sure whether it's still alive. > dig up bush You don't have anything with which to dig up the bush. > hint That is not a verb I recognize. > help Type L to look at what is happening in the room. Type X OBJECT to examine an object. Type GET OBJECT to pick up an object. Other commands work similarly! Explore everywhere you can. If you get stuck, a walkthrough is available in the download materials. > 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 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... 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. > 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? > 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. > yell There is no reply. > search shed You would need to go inside. > search hut No need to concern yourself with that. > x stone wall You can't see any such thing. > x 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. > pry mortar with chisel 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. > get key Taken. > unlock green door I think you wanted to say "unlock green door with something". Please try again. > unlock green door with green key You unlock the green door. > open green door 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 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. > x device It's a modern lock that's been attached to the old lockup. It has a slot in the front. > 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. > x body 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 body 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. > get keycard Taken. > get paper Taken. > read paper Do you mean the yellow note or the pink note? > yellow 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. > put cardkey in slot Sorry, I don't understand what "cardkey" means. > put card 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. > get spade Taken. > i You're carrying a spade, a yellow note, a keycard, a green-painted key, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > search lockup The lockup is empty. > get yellow note You already have it. > l Shed The shed seems to be used to store tools and equipment, but most of it appears to be old and fairly useless. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > read yellow note 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. > get crowbar You can't see any such thing. > get pickaxe You can't see any such thing. > e 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 up bush with shovel I only understood you as far as "dig up bush" but then you lost me. You look at your watch. Eleven o'clock. Whatever they're planning for noon, you want to be long gone by then. > dig bush with shovel 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. > pull bush 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. > get notepad Taken. > get shiny Maybe you should see what it is first. > 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. > get pickaxe Taken. > x hole You can't see any such thing. > hit gate with bickaxe Sorry, I don't understand what "bickaxe" means. > hit gate with pickaxe You heft the pickaxe and slam it into the gate. It doesn't even leave a dent. > hit shed with pickaxe Violence isn't the answer to this one. > x pickaxe It's a sturdy pickaxe. > dig hole with shovel You can't see any such thing. > dig under wall Digging would achieve nothing here. > 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. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > x lockup The lockup is hanging open. It contains yet more tools, mostly unusable as far as you can see. > get pockup Sorry, I don't understand what "pockup" means. > get lockup That's fixed in place. > get drawer That's fixed in place. > l Shed The shed seems to be used to store tools and equipment, but most of it appears to be old and fairly useless. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > x table The full-length drawer is open. There's a dead body inside, which you'd rather not think about. > stand on table You've got no reason to climb into the drawer. > pull table e I think you wanted to say "pull something". Please try again. > push table e Is that the best you can think of? > l Shed The shed seems to be used to store tools and equipment, but most of it appears to be old and fairly useless. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > hit door with pickaxe Violence isn't the answer to this one. > e 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. > get bush You don't want to carry the bush around with you. > throw bush over wall I think you wanted to say "throw something". Please try again. > x wall It's a high stone wall that blocks your path to the south and east. > climb wall with pickaxe You can't see any such thing. > hook pickaxe on wall That is not a verb I recognize. > attach pickaxe to wall That doesn't seem to work. > put pickaxe on wall You can't put that there. > put pickaxe on gate You can't put that there. You look at your watch. Only half an hour until it happens... whatever 'it' is. > 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, some mortar and a gate here. > pry sign with pickaxe That doesn't seem to work. > put pickaxe on gate You can't put that there. > 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. > e The wall is too high to climb. > 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. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > get card You already have it. > e 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. > unlock gate with card 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. > hit gate with pickaxe You heft the pickaxe and slam it into the gate. It doesn't even leave a dent. > hit stone wall with pickaxe You can't see any such thing. > x hole You can't see any such thing. > x mortar The loose mortar lies scattered on the ground where you chiseled it away. > hit mortar with pickaxe You can't break the mortar with your bare hands. > 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, some mortar and a gate here. > hit insignia with pickaxe Violence isn't the answer to this one. > i You're carrying a pickaxe, a notepad, a spade, a yellow note, a keycard, a green-painted key, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > read notepad 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. > 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, some mortar and a gate here. > i You're carrying a pickaxe, a notepad, a spade, a yellow note, a keycard, a green-painted key, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > dig bush You've already dug up the roots of the bush as much as you can. > dig gate Digging would achieve nothing here. > hide behind shed That is not a verb I recognize. > 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. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > close door You close the green door. > l Shed The shed seems to be used to store tools and equipment, but most of it appears to be old and fairly useless. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > z Nothing happens. > 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? restore Ok. > 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? > x 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. > pry mortar with chisel 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. > get green key Taken. > unlock green door I think you wanted to say "unlock green door with something". Please try again. > unlock green door with key Do you mean the green-painted key or the silver key? > green You unlock the green door. > open green door You open the green door. > open drawer You can't see any such thing. > 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. > 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. > serach body That is not a verb I recognize. > search body 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. > get yellow paper Taken. > read yellow paper 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. > get card Taken. > put card 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. > get shovel Taken. > l Shed The shed seems to be used to store tools and equipment, but most of it appears to be old and fairly useless. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > i You're carrying a spade, a keycard, a yellow note, a green-painted key, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > l Shed The shed seems to be used to store tools and equipment, but most of it appears to be old and fairly useless. There's no sign of the chainsaws mentioned in the yellow note - not that you would want to lug something that heavy about with you. A large, full-length drawer is built into the table at the back of the room. It's currently open. An old lockup stands in the southwest corner of the shed. It's open, with old tools spilling out of it. You can also see a green door here. > e 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. > dig bush You've already dug up the roots of the bush as much as you can. > x bush It's a leafless bush. You're not sure whether it's still alive. > look under bush 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. > get notepad Taken. > 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. > get pickaxe Taken. > pry mortar with pickaxe You can't remove the mortar with your bare hands. 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. > 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. > 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. 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. > jump into moat 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 You're carrying a notepad, a spade, a keycard, a yellow note, a green-painted key, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > wave to drivers That is not a verb I recognize. > 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. > 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. > x road Cars zoom along the busy motorway here, the drivers taking no notice of you as you stand, bedraggled, on the verge. > x moat The boggy pool of water is surrounded by torn-up mud where you hauled yourself out. > x mud The boggy pool of water is surrounded by torn-up mud where you hauled yourself out. > rub mud on hands That doesn't seem to work. > get mud That's fixed in place. > x moat The boggy pool of water is surrounded by torn-up mud where you hauled yourself out. > i You're carrying a notepad, a spade, a keycard, a yellow note, a green-painted key, a silver key, a sack (which is empty) and a pink note. > put sack over fence I think you wanted to say "put something". Please try again. > 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. > s 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. > 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. > 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 note Do you mean the yellow note, the pink note or the white note? > white 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. > l 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. > x door Do you mean the dormitories or the van? > dormitories The dormitory building is forbidding and prison-like. A very old metal sign by the door suggests that it was originally a Victorian asylum. You certainly wouldn't want to try and sleep in there. > x sign You can make out the date '1872'. > pull sign No need to concern yourself with that. > look under mat Sorry, I don't understand what "mat" means. > look under van There's nothing interesting underneath. > open door Do you mean the dormitories or the van? > dormitories You can't open that. > x building The dormitory building is forbidding and prison-like. A very old metal sign by the door suggests that it was originally a Victorian asylum. You certainly wouldn't want to try and sleep in there. > x wall You can't see any such thing. > l 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. > x window The dormitory building is forbidding and prison-like. A very old metal sign by the door suggests that it was originally a Victorian asylum. You certainly wouldn't want to try and sleep in there. > open window You can't open that. You look at your watch. Eleven o'clock. Whatever they're planning for noon, you want to be long gone by then. > 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. > get 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. > i You're carrying a match, a crowbar, a notepad, a spade, a keycard, a yellow note, a green-painted key, a silver key and a pink note. > 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. > pry van door with crowbar You try crowbarring the van doors open, but you don't have enough leverage. > break window with crowbar Violence isn't the answer to this one. > w It'd be a bad idea to enter the dormitories. You're trying to escape from these people, not run into them again. Besides, the door looks extremely locked to you. > 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. > 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. > e There isn't a safe crossing over the motorway. > 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. A note is taped to the back of the van. > i You're carrying a match, a crowbar, a notepad, a spade, a keycard, a yellow note, a green-painted key, a silver key and a pink note. > pry van door with spade You try to pry the van doors open with your fingers, but it doesn't work, unsurprisingly. > pry van door with crowbar You try crowbarring the van doors open, but you don't have enough leverage. > attach crowbar to shovel That doesn't seem to work. > climb on van You can't see any such thing. > l 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. > search building You find nothing special. > search van You can't see inside, since the van is closed. > break window Violence isn't the answer to this one. > x van tires I only understood you as far as "x van" but then you lost me. > x tires Sorry, I don't understand what "tires" means. > x ground A look in that direction reveals nothing new. > l 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. > get white note Taken. > read white 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. > x wall You can't see any such thing. > l 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. > 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 look at your watch. Only half an hour until it happens... whatever 'it' is. > 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. > 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. > 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. > 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. > open crate You try to pry the lid open with your fingers, but quickly give up. It's stuck on very tightly indeed. > open crate 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! > get 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. > 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! > get in 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? quit