And you thought it would be just another boring day at the lab.

Instead, Professor Folks himself invited you to test-drive his latest 
invention, DynaSim, a virtual reality helmet that allows control of (at the
moment) an RC vehicle by simply thinking commands to it.

Naturally, you accepted eagerly - and it turned out to be a boring day in the
DynaSim Lab, wearing a heavy, uncomfortable helmet to boot.

Finally, the Professor's voice comes over the headphones: "Ok, I think it's 
time to stop."

DEUS EX MACHINA
An Interactive Insanity
Release 1 / Serial 020202 / Inform v7.00 Library 7/1

>THINK STOP 
The vehicle stops. You take off the VR helmet, gingerly set it aside and wipe 
your perspiration-drenched forehead.

"Well, that worked better than expected," says Folks. "Excellent work, 
colleague. What do you say you finish up here, and we'll meet in the lounge to
celebrate?"

With that, he speaks the passcode into the lab lock and exits to the north. You
turn your attention back to the screen, which reads:

      DYNASIM 1.0 BETA MAIN
      [S] START NEW SIMULATION
      [P] SIMULATION PARAMETERS
      [X] EXIT

>>X 
You quickly shut down the system and stand up, stretching and rubbing your
hurting behind. Time to go join Professor Folks in the lounge!

>UPHOLSTER SEAT 
(with the cushion)
(first taking the cushion)
Good idea! It's too late for this session, but at least you won't get a sore
behind next time.

>ZRBLM 
As you speak the sequence of letters (you can't really call it a word), the
lab door's bolt snaps back with an audible *click*.

>TAKE ALL 
can of paint: Taken.
cushion: You just put it in place! Leave it there for tomorrow.
large knife: Taken.

>N 
You walk through the door, and freeze in your tracks. This is definitely not 
what was in here just an hour ago.

Sacrifical Chamber
A pentagram of blood smeared across the floor is the first thing to catch the 
eye; a shelf holding various strange items is the next.

The door closes behind you, and disappears!

Folks stands here, dressed in medieval garb, eyeing you nervously.

You think you hear a ghostly voice murmuring at you.

>LISTEN 
Yes, there is definitely something...

"You must perform the ritual in the correct order, my child... or you will be
destroyed."

[Refer to your documentation on how to perform the ritual. Dog ate it? Too 
bad.]

Folks stands here, eyeing you nervously.

>FOLKS, DRAW SWORD
"It's not a sword, it's a rapier," he replies, but nevertheless draws it and
falls into the standard fencing pose.
 
>WAVE FAN
(first taking the fan)
You unfold the fan and wave it over the pentagram in an intricate fashion, the
memory of the pattern coming to you from ... you don't know where ... but you
know you have done this before, countless times over the ages...

>DANCE ABOUT PAINT 
(first dropping the paint)
You place the can of paint in the middle of the pentagram and begin dancing
around it. Remembering the ritual, you take the other rapier from the shelf
and begin incorporating fighting movements into the dance, moving faster and
faster, the world spinning around you as you spin around the can, suddenly
kicking it and--

>FENCE 
-- lunging at Professor Folks, who only just manages to deflect your blow with
his own weapon. Fiercly slashing at him, you manage to drive him back through
the tunnel

(the tunnel? where did it come from?)

until you come to a maze of intersections, and stop, again drenched in sweat.

The Professor, though panting heavily, seems unfazed. "All right! Where do we
go now?"

>TAKE NEXT TURN
You lead the way along the tunnel, taking the next turn to the right, the
Professor following you.

Soon enough, you arrive at a T-intersection.

Professor Folks grins enthusiastically. "Ok, which one, champ? The smooth 
passage, or the rough passage?"

>>SMOOTH
"The smooth passage it is!" he shouts as he disappears into it. When he is
about two meters in, you hear a wooshing sound, and Folks' head disappears
with a spray of blood.

You can make out something glittering coming at you full speed--

>DUCK
-- and duck just in time to avoid being cut to pieces.

After this close encounter, you decide to carefully follow the passage, 
stepping over the professor's decapitated body, until you arrive at a...

Dead End
The smooth corridor abruptly ends here, only leaving two options: to go back
to the intersection, or down a ladder.

>DOWN 
You climb the ladder for what seems forever, ending up in the...

Operating Room
Impressive machinery covers every wall of this white-painted, brightly lit
room. An operating table stands in the middle, on it Professor Folks' body,
the severed head lying several centimeters above the neck. He winks at you
and limply waves a hand.

The nurse elbows you hard. "What are you waiting for, Doctor?" She presses a
syringe into your hand.

>ANESTHETI 
(anesthetize the professor)
You jab the needle into the professor's arm and push down on the piston until
he goes limp. Not exactly the most professional anesthesy I've seen, but it'll
do.

The head begins snoring.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and the room fills with white-gowned people who 
begin operating on the Professor at amazing speed. A few minutes later, the
head is reattached to the body and not even a scar remains.

[Press any key to continue.]

Operating Party Room
Colorful paper snakes cover every wall of this white-painted, brightly lit
room. An operating table stands in the middle, on it all sorts of sandwiches
and several bottles of champagne. 

The doctors and nurses are here, celebrating wildly.

A random nurse forces a sandwich into your hand, then disappears into the 
crowd.

>I 
You are carrying:
	your clothes (being worn)
	your watch (being worn)
	a skeleton key
	an empty syringe
    a large knife
	a kolibri egg-and-cheese sandwich

>EAT IT 
Ugh! You're allergic to kolibri eggs!

Suddenly, you feel very woozy...

>UNLOCK DOOR 
(with the skeleton key)

You manage to unlock the door and fall through into the next room before
passing out from the effects of the kolibri egg.

When you awake, you find yourself in the...

Mechanical Room (on the South Arrow)
A gigantic clockwork nested into an equally gigantic plover egg covers the
east wall. A mechanical compass hovers in the middle of the room: the eight 
directional arrows form little platforms. Directly below that, a large lion
robot prowls.

A lever sticks out of the south wall, labelled "EGG". It is currently off.

>SWITCH PLOVER EGG
(the lever)
You give the lever a mighty pull, and the gigantic clockwork starts grinding.
The lion looks up, noticing you!

>STAND ON EAST 
You swiftly jump onto the southeast arrow, and onto the east arrow from there.

Mechanical Room (on the East Arrow)

The floor continues to lower.

The lion jumps up, directly at you!

>SWING KNIFE 
What do you want to swing the knife at?

>LION 
You swing the knife wildly, and as if by a miracle, you manage to hit the lion
robot right in the eye, deflecting it as it jumps past you and hits the 
ceiling. The electrical shock passing along the weapon stuns you, and you lose 
your balance, falling to the ground below. Better pray the lion "corpse" 
doesn't land on you.

The floor continues to lower.

>PRAY
You mumble a quick prayer and close your eyes as the gigantic heap of scrap
metal drops towards you...

...and lands on your chest with a soft *plink*.

The floor continues to lower.

>GET MOUSE 
You pick up the mechanical mouse.

The floor continues to lower.

>Z 
Time passes...

The clockwork grinds to a halt as the floor is lowered even further, revealing
a passage to the northwest!

>NW

Aquarium
One single, small yellow fish is the only inhabitant of this gargantuan
aquarium, stretching in every direction as far as the eye can see.

The fish appears to be sleeping.

>WAKE FISH
You rap your knuckles loudly against the aquarium, startling the fish so much
he has the fish equivalent of a heart attack, turns over and bobs on the
aquarium's surface, belly-up.
 
>SWIM 
(dropping your inventory so it doesn't get wet)
clothes: Dropped. I hope you know what you're doing.
skeleton key: Dropped.
empty syringe: Dropped.
watch: You never take it off; it's waterproof.

You jump into the water, gracefully overlooking the fact that you land 
painfully on your stomach, and start swimming.

[Press any key to continue.]

Several weeks later...

[Press any key to continue.]

Pier
Large wooden planks make up this pier reaching out into the gigantic aquarium.
Small yellow boats are tied to the south side. Stairs lead up into a rickety
wooden building.

A steward helps you out of the water and helps you dry off, unfazed by your
nakedness. He proceeds to offer you a drink, and hands you a leaflet saying
"LOOK" in a very large font.

>DRINK DRINK 
Aaaaaah. Refreshing.

>READ LOOK 
    
    AMAZING OFFER! DO NOT MISS!
    
    BOOK NOW for two weeks of one of our TOURIST SHIPS and you get the FIRST
    DAY FREE! NOT ONLY THAT, but we'll also throw in a SURPISE PACKAGE if you
    ask for it, and remember your courtesies.
    
[Look in your manual for that. If you have one.]

"The booking office is just upstairs," the steward points out. "I'll be right
there if you need anything." He proceeds to stand in place.
    
>UP

Booking Office
Paper stacks cover every available surface in the small booking office, except
for a very small table with an even smaller chair behind it.

The table is currently unattended.

The steward emerges from behind a stack of paper and hands you your clothes. 
"Here, put these on. How indecent to walk around in the nude!"

>DRESS 
You quickly put on your clothes, including the tight corset.

(corset? you never wear one of those. and why should you?)

>BOOK SHIP 
"I'd like to book one of your ships."

"Why, certainly! Here's the papers, first day's free, you pay tomorrow." He 
hands you one of the large stacks of paper.

"Anything else you need?"

>PACKAGE 
"Oh, right!" He blushes, and disappears for a second. When he comes back, he
holds a large package, which he hands to you.

The package seems to contain a crystal bowl, a silly toy, and a grey ball.

The steward looks at you expectantly.

>PRESENT BOWL 
"For me? How wonderful!"

The steward practically explodes with delight, scattering the papers across the
room like a cyclone as he runs around screaming with joy.

Among the newly-revealed furniture, you see a bed and a cupboard.

The steward bumps into you, nearly causing you to fall down the stairs.

>DROP TOY 
You drop the silly toy in the steward's path. He promptly slips on it and falls
down the stairs, smashing the crystal bowl and his head in the process.

>SLEEP
A good night's sleep is exactly what you need right now.

[Press any key to continue.]

You are awakened by the loud ticking of your watch to find yourself in the...

Music Room
Most of the room is taken up by a gigantic golden string harp, which has a 
mirror set into the base. There are no apparent exits, and you have no idea
how you came here in the first place.

>PLAY STRING
You pluck one of the strings on the harp, and a deep buzzing sound fills the
room. 

The ground breaks open, and a large tree shoots up, carrying 192 different
apples with flag stickers from as many nations!

Over the loud ticking of your watch, you can barely make out a voice saying
"... ope ... hn Pau ... cond..."

>PICK POLISH APPLE
Hoping you interpreted the clue right, you reach for the polish apple.

Nervously, you pick it...

...nothing bad happens.
 
>EYE MIRROR
You quickly glance in the mirror, revealing yourself... and somebody standing
right behind you with a knife!

>POSE
Before you can do anything, the person behind you plunges the knife through
your heart!

*** You have died. ***

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game or QUIT?
>UNDO 
[Undoing one t$"%$"%$&/&/$""%
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5&%$&$%&$
ETEHfdhfqiu4ezdghkvjg
regu45roeihfdu45zreuhdklshjkshkjfhgerg5r
g45trgfh934z5z8ohlkn,.

Cave
An opening in the ceiling provides just enough light to see by. Seven stakes,
red, orange, green, blue, yellow, black, white and pink, form a circle directly
below the opening.

(cave? that's not where you were. what the hell?)

A man cowers in a corner, whimpering, "Can't... see... can't... see..."

Your corset seems to have gotten into disarray, and is causing you trouble
when breathing.

>TRIM CORSET 
You quickly tug on the corset until it sits correctly once more.

Your watch starts ticking loudly again.

A man cowers in a corner, whimpering, "Can't... see... can't... see..."

>PUT GREY ON BLUE STAKE
You carefully balance the grey ball on the blue stake. As the sunlight hits
it, it bursts into flame, and soon the blue stake is turned into a torch.

Now that you can see better, you notice a pile of firewood in front of the
cowering man.

Your watch is ticking loudly.

>LIGHT FIRE 
You quickly light the firewood with your torch. The man gets up 
enthusiastically, his sleeve catching fire as he stretches out his hand to 
shake yours. He starts screaming and running around madly.

Your watch is ticking loudly.

>HELP MAN
You quickly extinguish the fire on his sleeve before he can do any more
damage.

"Thanks, buddy," he says, putting on his cap as you make yourself comfortable
on the back seat of the cab. 

(the cab?)

"Where do you want to go? Check out the map, here," he says as he hands it to
you.

The watch is ticking annoyingly loud.

[You'll find the map in your game package. If you bought the game.]

>>STATION 
"Ok, buddy..."

As the cab pulls out of its parking slot, you think you hear the whispering
voice again, but the ticking of the watch drowns it out.

>STOP WATCH 
Aaah, sweet silence!

This time, you can clearly make out the voice... "Overload! Say the emergency 
shutdown password, now!"

[Guess where...]

>XYZZY
Everything goes black.

[Press any key to continue.]

When you come to, you see the concerned face of Dr. Folks.

"You alright? What the hell were you thinking starting the simulation again
without setting the parameters?"

"What? I didn't... aren't you... where..."

"Calm down, calm down! For some reason, the DynaSim started an old VR 
simulation while you were still connected to the system, parts of which were
overwritten by the new thought control system. I waited five minutes for you,
in the lounge, and when you didn't come, I went back in here to check.

"You were unconscious, and I couldn't wake you up, no matter what I tried. 
Water, small electric shocks, loud noises... until I tried talking to you over
the auxiliary port, trying to get you to shut down the system. It nearly didn't
work, but here you are!

"Right, now that you're back, let's do the coffee break and get back to work!
The analysis of your data should prove...

"Hey!

"Where are you going?"


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