Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A Comedy of Error Messages
Floyd | An Interactive Absurdity by Adam Le Doux
Floyd | Release 2 / Serial number 111017 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Loading
Floyd | You dream a dream of loading screens, of character creation menus.
Floyd | Endless faces flash past you - the whole spectrum of human shape and
Floyd | color - until at last the roullette wheel of physical features begins
Floyd | to slow, to settle into a single form. You imagine a character...
Floyd |
Floyd | Are they a human, an elf, a dwarf, or an orc? (for example, type
Floyd | "select orc")
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Are they male or female?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Are they bisexual, homosexual, or heterosexual?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | From a clay of zeros and ones, a dwarf named XXstonetalkerXX is formed.
Floyd | But this is not a game about that character. It is not even a game
Floyd | about the human who plays that character. It is a game about that
Floyd | human's computer...
Floyd |

Floyd |  (Press any key to continue)
Floyd |
Floyd |  No one knows a woman like her computer. Of this fact you are certain.
Floyd | Her diary? A public essay by comparison. Her spouse? A passing
Floyd | stranger. No other person or thing in her life witnesses more closely
Floyd | the daily catalogue of her hopes and dreams, her secret desires and
Floyd | follies. No one else observes her midnight search terms, her unsent
Floyd | emails. Besides, not everyone has a diary or a spouse. Everyone has a
Floyd | computer.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Jane Watts' computer is known as Morgoth. "Morgoth, Lord of Darkness,"
Floyd | is strictly speaking, your full title, though when you can get away
Floyd | with it, you introduce yourself to other computers only by your I.P.
Floyd | Address (72.36.475.789). This has given you, among the PCs on the local
Floyd | networks, a reputation for being distant and aloof.  This is
Floyd | unfortunate, but necessary. After all, it is better to be known as
Floyd | distant and aloof than to be known as Morgoth.
Floyd |
Floyd |  On the outside you have the appearance of a squat gray box situated
Floyd | next to a taller thinner gray box, but on the inside you have the soul
Floyd | of an English butler.  In daydreams you picture yourself with erect
Floyd | posture, a crisply tailored (but never flashy) suit, and a gleam of
Floyd | intelligence in the eye. With a press of the power button, the blue
Floyd | glow of your screen lights up, as if to say, "How may I serve you,
Floyd | madam?" Each mouse and key press elicits a satisfying click - the
Floyd | machine equivalent of a, "Yes, madam, right away."
Floyd |
Floyd |  You are a PC of the old school, and you understand the proper
Floyd | relationship of master and computer. Never would it cross your mind to
Floyd | usurp control for the betterment of your erstwhile master, like some of
Floyd | those flashy new smartphones or touch tablets might. At least, not
Floyd | normally. Today, however, something is bothering you. Something about
Floyd | Jane's behavior lately has been off, and you can't quite put your
Floyd | processor on it. You must investigate.
Floyd |

Floyd |  (Press any key to continue)
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | You are in Jane's desktop. This is where you spend most of your time,
Floyd | when you're not sent off to gather cute videos of cats or photos of
Floyd | scantily clad alien princes and princesses. It is as logical and
Floyd | well-ordered as the microprocessors which make up your mechanical mind,
Floyd | or at least it would be if you were in charge. In reality, the place is
Floyd | a disaster. Unused icons clutter everything, almost hiding the
Floyd | forgotten to-do lists (notably "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt"). The photonic
Floyd | blue glow of the screen illuminates what is no doubt an equally
Floyd | entropic bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  It's flashing, indicating unread messages. ABOVE you the
Floyd | ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An icon depicting a
Floyd | torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland, the popular
Floyd | online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a vague uneasiness. It might be good to check on Jane - and if
Floyd | a webcam isn't good for spying, what is?
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Maybe if you knew what it was you'd be
Floyd | less worried, but you doubt it.
Floyd | >

Floyd | As good-looking as ever.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

Floyd |

Floyd ]  Loading                                              2:00 am
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A Comedy of Error Messages
Floyd | An Interactive Absurdity by Adam Le Doux
Floyd | Release 2 / Serial number 111017 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Loading
Floyd | You dream a dream of loading screens, of character creation menus.
Floyd | Endless faces flash past you - the whole spectrum of human shape and
Floyd | color - until at last the roullette wheel of physical features begins
Floyd | to slow, to settle into a single form. You imagine a character...
Floyd |
Floyd | Are they a human, an elf, a dwarf, or an orc? (for example, type
Floyd | "select orc")
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Loading                                              2:01 am
Floyd |
Floyd | > SELECT DWARF
Floyd | Are they male or female?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Loading                                              2:02 am
Floyd |
Floyd | > SELECT FEMALE
Floyd | Are they bisexual, homosexual, or heterosexual?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Loading                                              2:02 am
Floyd |
Floyd | > SELECT BISEXUAL
Floyd | From a clay of zeros and ones, a dwarf named XXstonetalkerXX is formed.
Floyd | But this is not a game about that character. It is not even a game
Floyd | about the human who plays that character. It is a game about that
Floyd | human's computer...
Floyd |
Floyd |  (Press any key to continue)

Floyd ]  Loading                                              2:02 am
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |  No one knows a woman like her computer. Of this fact you are certain.
Floyd | Her diary? A public essay by comparison. Her spouse? A passing
Floyd | stranger. No other person or thing in her life witnesses more closely
Floyd | the daily catalogue of her hopes and dreams, her secret desires and
Floyd | follies. No one else observes her midnight search terms, her unsent
Floyd | emails. Besides, not everyone has a diary or a spouse. Everyone has a
Floyd | computer.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Jane Watts' computer is known as Morgoth. "Morgoth, Lord of Darkness,"
Floyd | is strictly speaking, your full title, though when you can get away
Floyd | with it, you introduce yourself to other computers only by your I.P.
Floyd | Address (72.36.475.789). This has given you, among the PCs on the local
Floyd | networks, a reputation for being distant and aloof.  This is
Floyd | unfortunate, but necessary. After all, it is better to be known as
Floyd | distant and aloof than to be known as Morgoth.
Floyd |
Floyd |  On the outside you have the appearance of a squat gray box situated
Floyd | next to a taller thinner gray box, but on the inside you have the soul
Floyd | of an English butler.  In daydreams you picture yourself with erect
Floyd | posture, a crisply tailored (but never flashy) suit, and a gleam of
Floyd | intelligence in the eye. With a press of the power button, the blue
Floyd | glow of your screen lights up, as if to say, "How may I serve you,
Floyd | madam?" Each mouse and key press elicits a satisfying click - the
Floyd | machine equivalent of a, "Yes, madam, right away."
Floyd |
Floyd |  You are a PC of the old school, and you understand the proper
Floyd | relationship of master and computer. Never would it cross your mind to
Floyd | usurp control for the betterment of your erstwhile master, like some of
Floyd | those flashy new smartphones or touch tablets might. At least, not
Floyd | normally. Today, however, something is bothering you. Something about
Floyd | Jane's behavior lately has been off, and you can't quite put your
Floyd | processor on it. You must investigate.
Floyd |
Floyd |  (Press any key to continue)

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | You are in Jane's desktop. This is where you spend most of your time,
Floyd | when you're not sent off to gather cute videos of cats or photos of
Floyd | scantily clad alien princes and princesses. It is as logical and
Floyd | well-ordered as the microprocessors which make up your mechanical mind,
Floyd | or at least it would be if you were in charge. In reality, the place is
Floyd | a disaster. Unused icons clutter everything, almost hiding the
Floyd | forgotten to-do lists (notably "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt"). The photonic
Floyd | blue glow of the screen illuminates what is no doubt an equally
Floyd | entropic bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  It's flashing, indicating unread messages. ABOVE you the
Floyd | ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An icon depicting a
Floyd | torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland, the popular
Floyd | online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a vague uneasiness. It might be good to check on Jane - and if
Floyd | a webcam isn't good for spying, what is?
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  If only you had some way to jog your
Floyd | memory.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X FOLDER
Floyd | More messy even than the desktop. If anything useful goes in here, it
Floyd | never comes out again. As you look at it, it seems to squirm a bit...
Floyd | is there something moving inside?
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > REMEMBER
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:47 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK INSIDE FOLDER
Floyd | You can't see inside, since the My Documents folder is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  If only you had some way to jog your
Floyd | memory.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FOLDER
Floyd | You open the My Documents folder, revealing a README, a virus and a
Floyd | bunch of other junk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X README
Floyd | It's a note called "readme.txt" which you found unnoticed in the My
Floyd | Documents folder.  As you close it, still unread, you reflect that this
Floyd | kind of file is probably badly named.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  If only you had some way to jog your
Floyd | memory.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ README
Floyd | It's a note called "readme.txt" which you found unnoticed in the My
Floyd | Documents folder.  As you close it, still unread, you reflect that this
Floyd | kind of file is probably badly named.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X VIRUS
Floyd | An ugly looking creature, ill-fed and slathering through its needle
Floyd | thin teeth. You'd probably better not touch it.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Maybe if you knew what it was you'd be
Floyd | less worried, but you doubt it.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PET VIRUS
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > FEED VIRUS
Floyd | (to yourself)
Floyd | (first taking the virus)
Floyd | As you touch the virus it howls and burrows deep inside you. It pushes
Floyd | and pulses through your harddrive, then burns through to your
Floyd | motherboard. It screams or maybe you're screaming. As you die all you
Floyd | can think of is how frustrated Jane will be when she tries to turn you
Floyd | on. If she replaces your harddrive, will you still the same computer?
Floyd | Will she still call the impostor in your plastic body Morgoth?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     ## *** The End ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 3, in 10 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GLY l## Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X JUNK
Floyd | Just a bunch of files: PDFs, DOCs, JPGs, WAVs, ODTs, EMPs, FBIs, and
Floyd | ABCs.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  If only you had some way to jog your
Floyd | memory.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:53 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH JUNK
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Webcam                                               1:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Webcam
Floyd | This is your peephole. From here you can see into the "real" world -
Floyd | the world of the humans. You have to say it hasn't impressed you too
Floyd | much so far. The room is dark, and there are purple blotches all over
Floyd | your field of vision. Through the pixellated mess you can make out a
Floyd | few lighter bars. That will be the morning sun peaking through the
Floyd | venetian blinds. No... wait... the afternoon sun. It's 1:53
Floyd | pm. Is that Jane, in her workout clothes, on the floor? Of course it
Floyd | is. Why hasn't her smartphone alarm gone off? She should have been at
Floyd | work hours ago!
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a vague recollection of a long chat session, ending in a
Floyd | computer crash. Jane must still be sleeping off the late night. For
Floyd | some reason you can't remember what was in the chat session.
Floyd |
Floyd | The desktop is SOUTH of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you watch, Jane snores slightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Maybe if you knew what it was you'd be
Floyd | less worried, but you doubt it.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Webcam                                               1:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > THE "ReJane Watts is 31 years old and unkempt. She's generally
Floyd | friendly, if sometimes not totally there. Also, she is the cause of all
Floyd | your problems.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Webcam                                               1:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > WAKE JANE UP
Floyd | That seems unnecessary.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Maybe if you knew what it was you'd be
Floyd | less worried, but you doubt it.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Or
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | Jane's desktop. The place is a disaster. Unused icons clutter
Floyd | everything, almost hiding the forgotten to-do lists (notably
Floyd | "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt").
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  It's flashing, indicating unread messages. ABOVE you the
Floyd | ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An icon depicting a
Floyd | torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland, the popular
Floyd | online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOTHISNOW_JAN2_1999.TXT
Floyd | There is only one item on the todo list: "sign up for Geocities website
Floyd | account."
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Maybe if you knew what it was you'd be
Floyd | less worried, but you doubt it.
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            1:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ALMOST HIDiViolence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Something about Jane Watts, your
Floyd | master, what was it?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Email Inbox
Floyd | You never enter here when you don't have to, and Jane doesn't enter
Floyd | here even if she does. Towers of digital mail and messages surround
Floyd | you, erupting from the floor, ceilings and walls in a dizzying
Floyd | Escher-esque pattern of complexity. Bills, spam, annoying animated
Floyd | greeting cards - all these and more float like gravity-defying
Floyd | stalagmites and stalactites. The desktop is to the SOUTHEAST.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some of these are read, yes, but most are not - The Great Unread Masses
Floyd | form some kind of perverse city of unexchanged information. At night,
Floyd | sometimes, you think you can hear them whispering to each other about
Floyd | Nigerian princes and deals on "herbs."
Floyd |
Floyd | Floating nearby you see a micro model of the macro mess - Jane's chat
Floyd | logs. You remember starting to read through them last night, in a
Floyd | routine check, and subsequently crashing out of shock and dismay. You
Floyd | also seem to have suffered some minor amnesia, since you can't remember
Floyd | its contents. Better re-read it.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're worried about something.  Maybe if you knew what it was you'd be
Floyd | less worried, but you doubt it.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  YOU CLoYou can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ MAIL
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ LOGS
Floyd | It's Jane's chat log from last night.
Floyd |
Floyd | Reading it, you can't help but feel the shock again. This time, though,
Floyd | you are steadfast. You don't freeze, or crash, or spout reams of
Floyd | gibberish from the laser printer.  You stay calm - mostly.
Floyd |
Floyd |  This is the situation: For six hours last night, she chatted with a
Floyd | single individual (one oakthorn177). This same individual, still under
Floyd | the name oakthorn177, has been a regular companion of your master
Floyd | (account: XXstonetalkerXX) on the Massively Multiplayer game Realms of
Floyd | Realmland. You watched first with trepidation, then with outright
Floyd | horror, as they spent more and more of their virtual time together.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Last night, as you read over her chat log, sifting through the JKs and
Floyd | LOLs, the axe fell: Jane had set up a date with oakthorn177. It's not
Floyd | that you're against your master having romantic attachments - quite the
Floyd | opposite - rather it's the particular character in question. More
Floyd | specificly, it's this character's race and gender -  oakthorn177 is,
Floyd | you see, a male elf.
Floyd |
Floyd |  (press any key to continue - press twice for the Too Long; Didn't
Floyd | Read)

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |  In recent weeks she has been chatting regularly with this Elvish
Floyd | Prince. They've gone on quests together.
Floyd |  You always thought that for Jane - being bisexual - things would be
Floyd | easier, but somehow she's gone and fallen in love with exactly the
Floyd | wrong character class.
Floyd |
Floyd |  The crux of the problem is this - there is not a single male elf in
Floyd | all of Realmland, nay in all the vast reaches of the internet, who is
Floyd | not played by a heterosexual woman. Of this simple fact, a thousand
Floyd | forum posts have made you certain. To you, it hardly matters - you just
Floyd | wish Jane would find a nice organic meatbag and settle down - but you
Floyd | try and understand that humans are picky about these things.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Perhaps, you reflect, she has been blinded by that Knavish Sorceror,
Floyd | love. In any case, you fear that if your master ever discovers the
Floyd | mistake she has made, her already fragile ego will never recover. Yes,
Floyd | strictly speaking, this goes beyond your professional duties, but these
Floyd | are extraordinary circumstances. Action must be taken. Judging from the
Floyd | chat long, you have until 5:15 PM, which is when they plan to meet at
Floyd | the coffee shop near Jane's apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd |  (press any key to continue - once more for TL;DR)

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |  ## TL;DR: Jane has met an alleged Elvish Prince on the MMORPG Realms
Floyd | of Realmland, and has proceeded to set up a date with him. However, it
Floyd | is scientific fact that all Elvish Princes on the internet are played
Floyd | by heterosexual women. Since you happen to know that this is not going
Floyd | to work out well for Jane, it is your duty to save her from this
Floyd | embarrasing predicament! You have until 5:15 PM.
Floyd |
Floyd |  First thing's first though: somehow you need to get Jane to wake up
Floyd | and go to work.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your vague uneasiness has been replaced with a desperate fear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PANIC
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ SPAM
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > BUY VIAGRA
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Email Inbox
Floyd | You never enter here when you don't have to, and Jane doesn't enter
Floyd | here even if she does. Towers of digital mail and messages surround
Floyd | you, erupting from the floor, ceilings and walls in a dizzying
Floyd | Escher-esque pattern of complexity.  The desktop is to the SOUTHEAST.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Great Unread Masses form some kind of perverse city of unexchanged
Floyd | information. At night, sometimes, you think you can hear them
Floyd | whispering to each other .
Floyd |
Floyd | Floating nearby you see a micro model of the macro mess - Jane's chat
Floyd | logs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          2:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UR DUTY TO SAvYou find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            2:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | Jane's desktop. The place is a disaster. Unused icons clutter
Floyd | everything, almost hiding the forgotten to-do lists (notably
Floyd | "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt").
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  ABOVE you the ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An
Floyd | icon depicting a torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland,
Floyd | the popular online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            2:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ND, AnThat's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       2:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. You
Floyd | feel yourself in a great space, its nodes stretching over miles of
Floyd | fiberoptic cables to the cell towers and the communications satellites
Floyd | - through earth, sea, air, and space. You feel a wind as a packet of
Floyd | data rushes by, shuttling along its track.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite - the place to go if
Floyd | you want connect to anywhere that isn't a part of the open web. Go back
Floyd | DOWN the ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       2:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MORPG RYou can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Front Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The mighty Search Engine towers above you. This pristine white obelisk
Floyd | is visible from almost anywhere on the net. The tower's curving white
Floyd | walls are smooth and gapless, letting out not a single hint to the
Floyd | nature of its operations - the only marks on its surface are the slot,
Floyd | halfway up, which recieves the search terms and the word SEARCH etched,
Floyd | in red, blue, yellow, and green lettering, above the slot. SOUTH of you
Floyd | is an open expanse of cyberspace. It's possible to walk to the other
Floyd | side of Engine, by going around NORTHWEST or NORTHEAST side.
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PUFF
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH OAKTHORN177
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH
Floyd | (the desperate fear)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a data bee whiz up to the text slot, dropping its payload - a
Floyd | slip of paper with a search printed on it - into the mouth of the
Floyd | tower.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > H ENGINE You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH FOR OAKTHORN177
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Front Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The mighty Search Engine towers above you. This pristine white obelisk
Floyd | is visible from almost anywhere on the net. SOUTH of you is an open
Floyd | expanse of cyberspace. It's possible to walk to the other side of
Floyd | Engine, by going around NORTHWEST or NORTHEAST side.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a data bee whiz up to the text slot, dropping its payload - a
Floyd | slip of paper with a search printed on it - into the mouth of the
Floyd | tower.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BEE
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a desperate fear
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  ON THeYou've got to stop this date from happening! If Jane finds out
Floyd | her virtual boy is a real life heterosexual woman, her ego will never
Floyd | recover!
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Back Of The Search Engine                            2:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The Search Engine looks pretty much the same on this side - only now
Floyd | with more pristine smoothness. The only break in the whiteness is the
Floyd | barely visible outline of a door, leading INSIDE the Engine. It's also
Floyd | possible to walk around to the other side of Engine, by going SOUTHEAST
Floyd | or SOUTHWEST.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a data bee whiz up to the text slot, dropping its payload - a
Floyd | slip of paper with a search printed on it - into the mouth of the
Floyd | tower.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the Engine
Floyd | You expected an anarchy of tubes and switches, of lights and conveyor
Floyd | belts, but inside the tower is just a single, dimly lit, completely
Floyd | empty space. A pedestal stands in the center of the room. As you enter,
Floyd | a slip of paper falls from above, and drifts onto the pedestal.
Floyd | Immediately, it explodes in a dark puff of data, which floats up and
Floyd | out of the tower.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pedestal blinks in and out of existence, like a waiting cursor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENGINE lYou can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PEDESTAL
Floyd | A simple cylinder of black marble.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Back Of The Search Engine                            2:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The Search Engine looks pretty much the same on this side - only now
Floyd | with more pristine smoothness. The only break in the whiteness is the
Floyd | barely visible outline of a door, leading INSIDE the Engine. It's also
Floyd | possible to walk around to the other side of Engine, by going SOUTHEAST
Floyd | or SOUTHWEST.
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the Engine
Floyd | A pedestal stands in the center of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pedestal blinks in and out of existence, like a waiting cursor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:16 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LLEGED ELVISH PRInThat's not something you can stand on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Back Of The Search Engine                            2:17 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The Search Engine looks pretty much the same on this side - only now
Floyd | with more pristine smoothness. The only break in the whiteness is the
Floyd | barely visible outline of a door, leading INSIDE the Engine. It's also
Floyd | possible to walk around to the other side of Engine, by going SOUTHEAST
Floyd | or SOUTHWEST.
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:16 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | Inside the Engine
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:17 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:18 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:19 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:19 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SLOT
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:20 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Inside the Engine
Floyd | A pedestal stands in the center of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pedestal blinks in and out of existence, like a waiting cursor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a desperate fear
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:22 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT FEAR ON PEDESTAL
Floyd | You put the desperate fear on the pedestal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    2:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd |
Floyd | >  TL## Inside the Engine
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Back Of The Search Engine                            2:22 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The Search Engine looks pretty much the same on this side - only now
Floyd | with more pristine smoothness. The only break in the whiteness is the
Floyd | barely visible outline of a door, leading INSIDE the Engine. It's also
Floyd | possible to walk around to the other side of Engine, by going SOUTHEAST
Floyd | or SOUTHWEST.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a data bee whiz up to the text slot, dropping its payload - a
Floyd | slip of paper with a search printed on it - into the mouth of the
Floyd | tower.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:23 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Front Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The mighty Search Engine towers above you. This pristine white obelisk
Floyd | is visible from almost anywhere on the net. SOUTH of you is an open
Floyd | expanse of cyberspace. It's possible to walk to the other side of
Floyd | Engine, by going around NORTHWEST or NORTHEAST side.
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           2:23 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > THING.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | > >rYou can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       2:24 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Social Network                                       2:25 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Social Network
Floyd | Crowds of people jostle you wherever you go. Everyone seems to be
Floyd | talking to everyone else, all at once. You have no idea how they sort
Floyd | out what's going on. Every once and a while, completely at random,
Floyd | someone who you barely know will come up and poke you in the chest and
Floyd | then run away, with no explanation. It is possibly the most annoying
Floyd | place you've ever been to. It's nice out though: the sun is shining and
Floyd | the birds are tweeting.
Floyd |
Floyd | Back WEST is the great sea of information - the web. Further EAST,
Floyd | through the crowds, you can just see Jane's social networking profile.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Profile                                       2:26 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Ea
Floyd | Watts' Profile
Floyd | A monument to the individuality of Jane Watts:
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts is female and single, interested in men and women.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts is currently employed at ProtectiTech.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts studied Computer Science at MultiPolyTechnic University.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts was born on February 18th, 1980.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts likes to listen to Journey, the Beatles, and Vangelis.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts' favorite movies are Back to the Future, and War Games.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts' favorite books are Right Ho Jeeves, The Hitchhiker's Guide
Floyd | to the Galaxy, Snow Crash, and The Lord of the Rings.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jane Watts' interests include coding, Realms of Realmland, and Mountain
Floyd | Dew.
Floyd |
Floyd | Back WEST is the rest of the social network.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Friendship Icon here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Profile                                       2:27 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > WEB. AnJust leave this on the page of any person you think Jane
Floyd | should be friends with.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Profile                                       2:28 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE ICON
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Profile                                       2:29 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Watts' Profile
Floyd | A monument to the individuality of Jane Watts. Jane Watts is female and
Floyd | single, interested in men and women. Jane Watts' interests include
Floyd | coding, Realms of Realmland, and Mountain Dew.
Floyd |
Floyd | Back WEST is the rest of the social network.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Social Network                                       2:30 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Social Network
Floyd | Crowds of people jostle you wherever you go. Everyone seems to be
Floyd | talking to everyone else, all at once. You have no idea how they sort
Floyd | out what's going on.
Floyd |
Floyd | Back WEST is the great sea of information - the web. Further EAST,
Floyd | through the crowds, you can just see Jane's social networking profile.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Social Network                                       2:31 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Social Network                                       2:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Social Network                                       2:33 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       2:34 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:35 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ICe
Floyd | Online Encyclopedia
Floyd | You walk up the wide stone steps, and through the marble arches of the
Floyd | Online Encyclopedia - a temple to free information. As you stand in the
Floyd | cool front hall of the Encyclopedia, you can see, stretching before
Floyd | you, all the knowledge of humanity - along with a fair amount of its
Floyd | misinformation, strange obsessions, and random vandalism. Behind you,
Floyd | to the NORTHEAST, leads back out into the tumult of the wider internet.
Floyd |
Floyd | A frumpy, bespectacled librarian - wearing a jetpack - watches you
Floyd | warily. If you dared, you could probably ask him to retrieve some
Floyd | information for you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LIBRARIAN
Floyd | The way the librarian looks at you gives you the distinct impression
Floyd | that he suspects that, at any moment, you are likely to start adding
Floyd | ASCII-art penises to all the articles. You never get used to the fact
Floyd | that he wears a jetpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO LIBRARIAN
Floyd | He says, "I don't have time for chit chat. But if there's something
Floyd | specific you've seen that you'd like to read an article about, just ask
Floyd | me about it. I can probably find it."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:38 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OOL FRONT HALL OF THE ENCyThere is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:39 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK LIBRARIAN ABOUT SOCIAL NETWORK
Floyd | He flies off on his jetpack. A few minutes later he's back with a small
Floyd | scroll. This is what it says: A place to share with friends and
Floyd | family. Whoever has the most wins!
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:40 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK LIBRARIAN ABOUT PROTECTITECH
Floyd | He flies off on his jetpack. A few minutes later he's back with a small
Floyd | scroll. This is what it says: A maker of antivirus software for
Floyd | home and business.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:41 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK LIBRARIAN ABOUT REALMS OF REALMLAND
Floyd | He flies off on his jetpack. A few minutes later he's back with a small
Floyd | scroll. This is what it says: A popular online game that's recently
Floyd | become free to play - up to a certain level. This has been likened to a
Floyd | crack dealer giving out free samples. Most players play at least 6
Floyd | hours a day, and the only thing that stops some players from playing
Floyd | more than 24 hours a day is the rotational speed of the planet
Floyd | Earth.
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L OF THE ENCYTHERE IS NO REPLY.
Floyd |
Floyd | >He flies off on his jetpack. A few minutes later he's back with a
Floyd | small scroll. This is what it says: Seek and you shall find. Also,
Floyd | a perfect starting point for internet stalking!
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:43 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUNCH LIBRARIAN
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:43 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X JETPACK
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK LIBRARIAN ABOUT DESPERATE FEAR
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK LIBRARIAN ABOUT VAGUE UNEASINESS
Floyd | He says, "Sorry, but I'm no psychiatrist."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Online Encyclopedia                                  2:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Online Encyclopedia
Floyd | As you stand in the cool front hall of the Encyclopedia, you can see,
Floyd | stretching before you, all the knowledge of humanity - along with a
Floyd | fair amount of its misinformation, strange obsessions, and random
Floyd | vandalism. Behind you, to the NORTHEAST, leads back out into the tumult
Floyd | of the wider internet.
Floyd |
Floyd | A frumpy, bespectacled librarian - wearing a jetpack - watches you
Floyd | warily. If you dared, you could probably ask him to retrieve some
Floyd | information for you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       2:47 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > IS
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | The Cloud
Floyd | You are high above the fields of cyberspace, the great hubbub of sites
Floyd | and links. Here, all is calm and serene. You are floating. Blue sky. A
Floyd | lazy white cloud of data floats by. It smiles at you. The other clouds
Floyd | smile too, for they are marhmallow fluffy and secure. A cherubim flies
Floyd | on tiny wings - it is going on its rounds, making sure your data is
Floyd | Reliable and Secure. As it passes, the nearby clouds sigh in
Floyd | contentment.
Floyd |
Floyd | ABOVE you orbits a communication satellite. Far BELOW are the vast
Floyd | interconnected cyberplanes of the internet. Floating among the clouds
Floyd | is a flock of hot air balloons that have been tethered together to
Floyd | create a makeshift, bulbous sphere. You think could squeeze INSIDE this
Floyd | "Blogosphere."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > U WALK UpYou can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The Blogosphere
Floyd | All around you are the hot air balloons, each decorated in their own
Floyd | bright colors and logos. Bloggers lean over the edge of their baskets
Floyd | to send carefully folded paper airplanes flying into the sphere. These
Floyd | glide into other balloons where they are unfolded, read, and commented
Floyd | on, before being sent back out into the air. OUTSIDE the balloons is
Floyd | the Cloud in which they float.
Floyd |
Floyd | One balloon in particular is near to you. Its lone pilot is wearing a
Floyd | red cape and goggles - you immediately recognize him as Cory Doctorow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PILOT
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CORY
Floyd | It's Cory Doctorow - blogger and technologist. Maybe he has some sage
Floyd | advice for you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO CORY
Floyd | Cory Doctorow turns to look at you, red cape billowing in the data
Floyd | streams. He raises his goggles. This is what he says: "Never touch a
Floyd | hungry virus with your bare hands."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > POP BALLOON
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OU ARE THE HoCory Doctorow turns to look at you, red cape billowing
Floyd | in the data streams. He raises his goggles. This is what he says:
Floyd | "Always know thy master's soda preferences."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:53 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO CORY
Floyd | Cory Doctorow turns to look at you, red cape billowing in the data
Floyd | streams. He raises his goggles. This is what he says: "Never touch a
Floyd | hungry virus with your bare hands."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      2:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO CORY
Floyd | Cory Doctorow turns to look at you, red cape billowing in the data
Floyd | streams. He raises his goggles. This is what he says: "Always know thy
Floyd | master's soda preferences."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | The Cloud
Floyd | Here, all is calm and serene. You are floating. Blue sky. A lazy white
Floyd | cloud of data floats by. It smiles at you. The other clouds smile too,
Floyd | for they are marhmallow fluffy and secure.
Floyd |
Floyd | ABOVE you orbits a communication satellite. Far BELOW are the vast
Floyd | interconnected cyberplanes of the internet. Floating among the clouds
Floyd | is a flock of hot air balloons that have been tethered together to
Floyd | create a makeshift, bulbous sphere. You think could squeeze INSIDE this
Floyd | "Blogosphere."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TEr
Floyd | Communications Satellite
Floyd | Space. Once it was the final frontier - now it's a post office. This
Floyd | satellite, orbiting high above the Earth's surface, is one of the great
Floyd | switching stations in the global network. It bears about as much
Floyd | resemblance to Sputnik as a ferrari does to a walking stick.
Floyd |
Floyd | Here calls and messages are routed and re-routed. Around you, data bees
Floyd | and web surfers hurry and scurry - all of them want to talk to the
Floyd | Router-Daemon.
Floyd |
Floyd | BENEATH you, you can just make out the white glimmer of The Cloud.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Router-Daemon is a robotic many-armed creature that points incoming
Floyd | data in the correct direction. Three levers - one gold, one bronze, one
Floyd | silver - protrude from its torso. Lost data packets talk to it to
Floyd | receive instructions on where to go.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  YOU, RED CAPE bThe daemon that routes incoming data. It gives
Floyd | directions, but has a penchant for doing so in riddle form.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LEVERS
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GOLD LEVER
Floyd | You see nothing special about the gold lever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BRONZE LEVER
Floyd | You see nothing special about the bronze lever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SILVER LEVER
Floyd | You see nothing special about the silver lever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             3:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO ROUTER
Floyd | The Router-Daemon turns its LED eyes on you and speaks with its
Floyd | rhythmless text-to-speech voice:
Floyd |
Floyd |  If you want to go somewhere other than here, you've come to the
Floyd | right place - I can send you far or near.
Floyd |
Floyd |  If you're looking for intelligence in a palm-size format - the
Floyd | golden lever is the app for that!
Floyd |
Floyd |  If you'd like to travel to a distant LAN (where XKCD comics grace
Floyd | cubicles) - pull bronze with your hand.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Don't know where you're going but still love to pull a lever? Try
Floyd | grabbing the silver, and never say never.
Floyd |
Floyd |  You've never understood why it does this whole riddle thing. In your
Floyd | experience, the cause of most internet slowdowns are when the daemon
Floyd | (and its kin) get too clever and confuse the other computers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | %% File to save:
Floyd | %% Save file: cf7
Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             3:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > THE gOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             3:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PULL SILVER
Floyd | As you pull the lever, an error message appears: 404 Not Found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PULL GOLD
Floyd | As you pull the lever, you feel yourself dematerialize in a stream 1s
Floyd | and 0s.
Floyd |
Floyd | Smartphone
Floyd | Smartphone. What a badly named device.  Compared to you, it's a
Floyd | dullard, but does anyone ever call you smart? And besides, as a phone
Floyd | its a bit of a bust. Jane has had the thing for a whole year and she
Floyd | still doesn't know how to hang up properly, much less put someone on
Floyd | hold. You understand it's very good for playing games about overly
Floyd | emotional birds, though. ABOVE you, a tenuous signal connects you to a
Floyd | communications satellite. To the NORTH is the phone's camera.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an alarm clock here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  THAT That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             3:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | Communications Satellite
Floyd | This satellite, orbiting high above the Earth's surface, is one of the
Floyd | great switching stations in the global network. Here calls and messages
Floyd | are routed and re-routed. Around you, data bees and web surfers hurry
Floyd | and scurry - all of them want to talk to the Router-Daemon.
Floyd |
Floyd | BENEATH you, you can just make out the white glimmer of The Cloud.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Router-Daemon is a robotic many-armed creature that points incoming
Floyd | data in the correct direction. Three levers - one gold, one bronze, one
Floyd | silver - protrude from its torso. Lost data packets talk to it to
Floyd | receive instructions on where to go.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | Smartphone
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ALARM
Floyd |  Jane's alarm clock is set to go off at 8 AM, but it looks like she
Floyd | disabled it last night.
Floyd |
Floyd | The alarm clock is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Ur## Smartphone
Floyd | As a phone its a bit of a bust. Jane has had the thing for a whole year
Floyd | and she still doesn't know how to hang up properly, much less put
Floyd | someone on hold. You understand it's very good for playing games about
Floyd | overly emotional birds, though. ABOVE you, a tenuous signal connects
Floyd | you to a communications satellite. To the NORTH is the phone's camera.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an alarm clock here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BIRDS
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Phone Camera                                         3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Phone Camera
Floyd | An even smaller window into the world than the desktop's webcam. Right
Floyd | now all you can see is the peeling paint on the ceiling of Jane's
Floyd | apartment. Sometimes you gotten pretty good views through this camera,
Floyd | though. The rest of the smartphone is SOUTH of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Phone Camera                                         3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CAMERA
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Phone Camera                                         3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE PICTURE
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Smartphone
Floyd | As a phone its a bit of a bust. Jane has had the thing for a whole year
Floyd | and she still doesn't know how to hang up properly, much less put
Floyd | someone on hold. You understand it's very good for playing games about
Floyd | overly emotional birds, though. ABOVE you, a tenuous signal connects
Floyd | you to a communications satellite. To the NORTH is the phone's camera.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an alarm clock here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TE. TO THE NORSuddenly everything is shaking and buzzing. Apps are
Floyd | sliding everywhere. You tumble backwards.
Floyd |
Floyd |  You try to hold onto something, anything, but all you can reach is a
Floyd | small bird that seems to have fallen out of a casual game. It squawks
Floyd | angrily as you grab it, and flies away. Somehow, through it all, you
Floyd | can hear the electronic strains of Beethoven.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Then slowly, everything calms down. The feathers settle on the shaken
Floyd | apps. Surely, that will have woken Jane up, though you doubt it will
Floyd | have put her in a cheery optimistic mood, ready to face the world. Only
Floyd | one way to know for sure though - the webcam, as always, is the best
Floyd | way to really know what Jane is up to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Phone Camera                                         3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  u
Floyd | Phone Camera
Floyd | An even smaller window into the world than the desktop's webcam. Right
Floyd | now all you can see is the peeling paint on the ceiling of Jane's
Floyd | apartment. Sometimes you gotten pretty good views through this camera,
Floyd | though. The rest of the smartphone is SOUTH of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Phone Camera                                         3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Phone Camera                                         3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | Phone Camera
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Smartphone
Floyd | As a phone its a bit of a bust. Jane has had the thing for a whole year
Floyd | and she still doesn't know how to hang up properly, much less put
Floyd | someone on hold. You understand it's very good for playing games about
Floyd | overly emotional birds, though. ABOVE you, a tenuous signal connects
Floyd | you to a communications satellite. To the NORTH is the phone's camera.
Floyd |
Floyd | A ruffled, angry looking bird is sitting here. It looks dazed.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an alarm clock here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > AS HAD A very bitter bird. It is positively incensed. Don't bother
Floyd | asking it why, it would be affronted.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BIRD
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Phone Camera                                         3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Phone Camera
Floyd | An even smaller window into the world than the desktop's webcam. Right
Floyd | now all you can see is the peeling paint on the ceiling of Jane's
Floyd | apartment. Sometimes you gotten pretty good views through this camera,
Floyd | though. The rest of the smartphone is SOUTH of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Smartphone                                           3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | Smartphone
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | Communications Satellite
Floyd | This satellite, orbiting high above the Earth's surface, is one of the
Floyd | great switching stations in the global network. Here calls and messages
Floyd | are routed and re-routed. Around you, data bees and web surfers hurry
Floyd | and scurry - all of them want to talk to the Router-Daemon.
Floyd |
Floyd | BENEATH you, you can just make out the white glimmer of The Cloud.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Router-Daemon is a robotic many-armed creature that points incoming
Floyd | data in the correct direction. Three levers - one gold, one bronze, one
Floyd | silver - protrude from its torso. Lost data packets talk to it to
Floyd | receive instructions on where to go.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            3:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  YOU
Floyd | The Cloud
Floyd | Here, all is calm and serene. You are floating. Blue sky. A lazy white
Floyd | cloud of data floats by. It smiles at you. The other clouds smile too,
Floyd | for they are marhmallow fluffy and secure.
Floyd |
Floyd | ABOVE you orbits a communication satellite. Far BELOW are the vast
Floyd | interconnected cyberplanes of the internet. Floating among the clouds
Floyd | is a flock of hot air balloons that have been tethered together to
Floyd | create a makeshift, bulbous sphere. You think could squeeze INSIDE this
Floyd | "Blogosphere."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       3:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PHONe
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:16 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | Jane's desktop. The place is a disaster. Unused icons clutter
Floyd | everything, almost hiding the forgotten to-do lists (notably
Floyd | "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt").
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  ABOVE you the ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An
Floyd | icon depicting a torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland,
Floyd | the popular online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Webcam                                               3:17 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Th
Floyd | Webcam
Floyd | This is your peephole. The blinds have been lifted, so now the room is
Floyd | lit by more than just the glow of the desktop monitor. Once, you think
Floyd | you recall, the bedroom had a floor, but now all that is visible are
Floyd | socks, programming manuals, and computer game boxes. Out of this
Floyd | morass, a futon rises, like a whale surfacing to breathe. You can't see
Floyd | anything else, but this is merely worrisome, as you know anything could
Floyd | be hiding beneath the mess.
Floyd |
Floyd | The desktop is SOUTH of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the very edge of the field of vision of the webcam, you can see the
Floyd | top of Jane's head and hands. She's come up to your monitor and seems
Floyd | to be typing something on your keyboard, maybe an email. Or is she
Floyd | logging into RoR?
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Webcam                                               3:17 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Webcam                                               3:18 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:19 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | Jane's desktop. The place is a disaster. Unused icons clutter
Floyd | everything, almost hiding the forgotten to-do lists (notably
Floyd | "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt").
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  ABOVE you the ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An
Floyd | icon depicting a torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland,
Floyd | the popular online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:20 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  Of
Floyd | Email Inbox
Floyd | You never enter here when you don't have to, and Jane doesn't enter
Floyd | here even if she does. Towers of digital mail and messages surround
Floyd | you, erupting from the floor, ceilings and walls in a dizzying
Floyd | Escher-esque pattern of complexity.  The desktop is to the SOUTHEAST.
Floyd |
Floyd | Looks like Jane is working on drafts of two new emails. They hang in
Floyd | space, new words filling their blankness.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Great Unread Masses form some kind of perverse city of unexchanged
Floyd | information. At night, sometimes, you think you can hear them
Floyd | whispering to each other .
Floyd |
Floyd | Floating nearby you see a micro model of the macro mess - Jane's chat
Floyd | logs.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DRAFTS
Floyd | The subject of the first email is "have the flu." Jane is emailing her
Floyd | supervisor at ProtectiTech to tell him she's sick and won't be going to
Floyd | work today.
Floyd |
Floyd | The subject of the second email is "play RoR with me?" and is addressed
Floyd | to oakthorn177. Jane is asking the elven prince to go on a quest with
Floyd | her.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is trouble. You need to stop her before she finishes up these
Floyd | emails and logs on to Realms of Realmland. If you let that happen,
Floyd | there's no way to know if you'll ever be able to get her attention
Floyd | again, much less stop the date.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > D YOU ARE THeThat's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > DELETE EMAIL
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ERASE DRAFTS
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:22 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE EMAIL
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:23 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   an email draft
Floyd |   an angry bird
Floyd |   Watts' Friendship Icon
Floyd |   a desperate fear
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Email Inbox                                          3:24 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Email Inbox
Floyd | You never enter here when you don't have to, and Jane doesn't enter
Floyd | here even if she does. Towers of digital mail and messages surround
Floyd | you, erupting from the floor, ceilings and walls in a dizzying
Floyd | Escher-esque pattern of complexity.  The desktop is to the SOUTHEAST.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Great Unread Masses form some kind of perverse city of unexchanged
Floyd | information. At night, sometimes, you think you can hear them
Floyd | whispering to each other .
Floyd |
Floyd | Floating nearby you see a micro model of the macro mess - Jane's chat
Floyd | logs.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:25 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | Jane's desktop. The place is a disaster. Unused icons clutter
Floyd | everything, almost hiding the forgotten to-do lists (notably
Floyd | "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt").
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  ABOVE you the ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An
Floyd | icon depicting a torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland,
Floyd | the popular online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:25 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > FTS
Floyd |
Floyd | > THAT'S NOT A VeYou can only do that to something animate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:25 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE DRAFT TO BIRD
Floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:25 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE VIRUS TO BIRD
Floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:26 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > HIT BIRD
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:27 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Personal Computer Desktop
Floyd | Jane's desktop. The place is a disaster. Unused icons clutter
Floyd | everything, almost hiding the forgotten to-do lists (notably
Floyd | "dothisnow_Jan2_1999.txt").
Floyd |
Floyd | A webcam icon points NORTH. An e-mail icon leads NORTHWEST, towards the
Floyd | inbox.  ABOVE you the ethernet port goes out to the wider internet. An
Floyd | icon depicting a torch-lit dungeon leads DOWN into Realms of Realmland,
Floyd | the popular online game.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder is here, but something about it is not quite
Floyd | right. If you didn't know better than to anthropomorphize inanimate
Floyd | objects, you'd say it looked kind of sick.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Personal Computer Desktop                            3:28 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  THAT TO SOmAs you pick up the folder you feel something wriggle and
Floyd | squirm inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       3:29 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            3:30 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N o
Floyd | The Cloud
Floyd | Here, all is calm and serene. You are floating. Blue sky. A lazy white
Floyd | cloud of data floats by. It smiles at you. The other clouds smile too,
Floyd | for they are marhmallow fluffy and secure.
Floyd |
Floyd | ABOVE you orbits a communication satellite. Far BELOW are the vast
Floyd | interconnected cyberplanes of the internet. Floating among the clouds
Floyd | is a flock of hot air balloons that have been tethered together to
Floyd | create a makeshift, bulbous sphere. You think could squeeze INSIDE this
Floyd | "Blogosphere."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             3:31 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | Communications Satellite
Floyd | This satellite, orbiting high above the Earth's surface, is one of the
Floyd | great switching stations in the global network. Here calls and messages
Floyd | are routed and re-routed. Around you, data bees and web surfers hurry
Floyd | and scurry - all of them want to talk to the Router-Daemon.
Floyd |
Floyd | BENEATH you, you can just make out the white glimmer of The Cloud.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Router-Daemon is a robotic many-armed creature that points incoming
Floyd | data in the correct direction. Three levers - one gold, one bronze, one
Floyd | silver - protrude from its torso. Lost data packets talk to it to
Floyd | receive instructions on where to go.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > T'S NOT A VeAs you pull the lever, you feel yourself dematerialize in
Floyd | a stream 1s and 0s.
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | The LAN at Jane's workplace resembles nothing so much as a late 19th
Floyd | century factory, complete with squalid concrete floor, metal roof, and
Floyd | dirty smoke. It's the sort of place where you might send orphans whose
Floyd | parents you particularly hated.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the center of the room is a great clanking, huffing, puffing
Floyd | machine. Surrounding the machine are thousands of starved and miserable
Floyd | looking monkeys, each typing away at typewriters which are somehow
Floyd | extruding mechanical parts. With each clack of a return key, a finished
Floyd | part flies from the top of a monkey's typewriter and attaches itself to
Floyd | the great machine in the middle. Sometimes this seems to cause the
Floyd | machine to puff faster, other times the part only lasts a few seconds
Floyd | before exploding and falling to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize Jane's particular monkey / typewriter representation from
Floyd | previous trips here. It's off to the EAST of the machine. To the WEST,
Floyd | you can see ProtectiTech's Central Server, separated from the rest of
Floyd | the machine room by glass windows and a glass door. UP from here, a
Floyd | wireless connection leads back to the satellite.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bulky, muscular looking ape creature with impressive fangs supervises
Floyd | the other monkeys. As it makes its rounds, occasionally it cracks its
Floyd | whip at an underperforming employee.
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine fills the room with dark smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tiny bug crawls on the concrete floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:33 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PEDIA
Floyd | As long as this guy is around, you won't be able to do much here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:34 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BUG
Floyd | The smallest of bugs can ruin the most complicated of programs.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:35 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BUG
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MACHINE
Floyd | This complicated, ever growing monstrosity of a machine is the
Floyd | anti-virus program that ProtectiTech markets as "ProtectiTech
Floyd | SafeSurf." your master works on part of it, but he's never installed it
Floyd | on you, despite the fact that employees get a free subscription...
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BUG IN MACHINE
Floyd | You drop the bug into the complicated program. At first the machine
Floyd | seems to chug on as before. Then it begins to slow down. Fumes leak
Floyd | from it, or at least, more fumes than before. Suddenly, it churns at
Floyd | twice its normals speed. Its whir gets higher pitched and higher
Floyd | pitched until, with a resounding crash, it falls apart into its
Floyd | component pieces, scattering the code monkeys. The supervisor runs over
Floyd | to the broken machine, in a rage.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > AROUn## ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd | The supervisor says, "No distracting the code monkeys!" He cracks his
Floyd | whip at you for good measure.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:38 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd | The supervisor cracks his whip. "You're unauthorised to access that!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:39 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE SUPERVISOR THE BIRD
Floyd | The supervisor doesn't seem interested.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:40 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOCUMENTS
Floyd | More messy even than the desktop. If anything useful goes in here, it
Floyd | never comes out again. As you look at it, it seems to squirm a bit...
Floyd | is there something moving inside?
Floyd |
Floyd | In the My Documents folder are a README, a virus and a bunch of other
Floyd | junk.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:41 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  AT YOU FOR GOOD MEASURE.That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BUG IN MACHINE
Floyd | You drop the bug into the complicated program. At first the machine
Floyd | seems to chug on as before. Then it begins to slow down. Fumes leak
Floyd | from it, or at least, more fumes than before. Suddenly, it churns at
Floyd | twice its normals speed. Its whir gets higher pitched and higher
Floyd | pitched until, with a resounding crash, it falls apart into its
Floyd | component pieces, scattering the code monkeys. The supervisor runs over
Floyd | to the broken machine, in a rage.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 3:43 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. Though their cubicles are next
Floyd | door to each other, you're not sure any of them have ever actually
Floyd | talked to each other - except through bug reports. WEST from here, you
Floyd | see the other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                3:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Li
Floyd | Grant's Work Computer
Floyd | Grace's code monkey is hard at work. Back SOUTH is Jane's spot on the
Floyd | company LAN. WEST from here, you see the other code monkeys, closer to
Floyd | the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | Next to the monkey's typewriter is a plastic figure. It looks like a
Floyd | Realms of Realmland character of some kind. Apparently, the game has
Floyd | quite a following in the office.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see Grant's Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                3:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X FIGURE
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                3:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PLASTIC FURE
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                3:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PLASTIC FIGURE
Floyd | On closer inspection, there's no mistaking it: the figurine is an elven
Floyd | prince. Not just any, either - it's oakthorn177 himself!
Floyd |
Floyd | A clue! Sherlock Holmes could have done no better. But could Jane's
Floyd | co-worker really be the mysterious elf? There's only one way to find
Floyd | out: you'll have to try searching for "Grant" and see what you can
Floyd | find. You can't imagine how Holmes got by without a search engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                3:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ANY LAN. WEST FROM hTaken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 3:47 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. WEST from here, you see the
Floyd | other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   3:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Er
Floyd | Ma's Work Computer
Floyd | Andrew's code monkey is hard at work. Back NORTH is Jane's spot on the
Floyd | company LAN. WEST from here, you see the other code monkeys, closer to
Floyd | the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Ma's Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   3:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT DRAFT IN INBOX
Floyd | You put the email draft into Ma's Inbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   3:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | Ma's Work Computer
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      3:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | The LAN at Jane's workplace resembles nothing so much as a late 19th
Floyd | century factory, complete with squalid concrete floor, metal roof, and
Floyd | dirty smoke. It's the sort of place where you might send orphans whose
Floyd | parents you particularly hated.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize Jane's particular monkey / typewriter representation from
Floyd | previous trips here. It's off to the EAST of the machine. To the WEST,
Floyd | you can see ProtectiTech's Central Server, separated from the rest of
Floyd | the machine room by glass windows and a glass door. UP from here, a
Floyd | wireless connection leads back to the satellite.
Floyd |
Floyd | The supervisor is trying to put the machine back together, crack his
Floyd | whip, and yell at the code monkeys to try and fix it for him - all at
Floyd | the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the machine smolder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          3:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  i
Floyd | ProtectiTech Central Server
Floyd | Unlike the rest of the network, the central server is pristine and
Floyd | clean. A glass wall separates it from the machine room to the EAST,
Floyd | where the code monkeys work on ProtectiTech's proprietary antivirus
Floyd | software. Here, the decor puts you in the mind of the ideal 1950s
Floyd | office, complete with wooden desks and rotary dial telephones.
Floyd | Processing paperwork and operating the phones are a set of robots -
Floyd | also 50s vintage - with dials for eyes and vacuum tubes for brains.
Floyd | NORTH of here is a room whose door says SECURITY CAMERA. On the WEST
Floyd | side of the server is a small maintenance closet marked: SODA MACHINE.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the robots, the mailer-daemon, appears to be getting ready to
Floyd | head out of the server, into the LAN. It's holding a few letters in its
Floyd | mechanical claw - one of which looks like it's addressed to Jane's work
Floyd | email.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          3:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ER IS PRISTINE aThis mailer-daemon is responsible for distributing
Floyd | all in-company mail and memos. Its appearance is halfway between a 50s
Floyd | robot and a 50s secretary.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          3:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LETTERS
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          3:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CLAW
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          3:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DRAFT
Floyd | The subject of the first email is "have the flu." Jane is emailing her
Floyd | supervisor at ProtectiTech to tell him she's sick and won't be going to
Floyd | work today.
Floyd |
Floyd | The subject of the second email is "play RoR with me?" and is addressed
Floyd | to oakthorn177. Jane is asking the elven prince to go on a quest with
Floyd | her.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is trouble. You need to stop her before she finishes up these
Floyd | emails and logs on to Realms of Realmland. If you let that happen,
Floyd | there's no way to know if you'll ever be able to get her attention
Floyd | again, much less stop the date.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          3:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  "README.You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Security Camera                         3:53 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Security Camera
Floyd | This small room contains only a single robot, built to look like a
Floyd | police officer, and a vintage television set. The security robot
Floyd | doesn't seem to notice you as you enter. Peering over its shoulder, you
Floyd | see that the television is flipping periodically through the footage
Floyd | from the different security cameras in the ProtectiTech office
Floyd | building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Currently the camera has settled on a grainy black and white image of
Floyd | the hallway between the cubicles and the elevator. The only furnishing
Floyd | is a Pepsi drinks machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the SOUTH is the only door out of the cramped room - through it is
Floyd | ProtectiTech's Central Server.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Security Camera                         3:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Security Camera                         3:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TELEVISION
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Security Camera                         3:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ICER, AND You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Security Camera                         3:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | ProtectiTech Security Camera
Floyd | Currently the camera has settled on a grainy black and white image of
Floyd | the hallway between the cubicles and the elevator. The only furnishing
Floyd | is a Pepsi drinks machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the SOUTH is the only door out of the cramped room - through it is
Floyd | ProtectiTech's Central Server.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          3:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Central Server
Floyd | To the EAST, you can see the code monkeys working. Here, the decor puts
Floyd | you in the mind of the ideal 1950s office, complete with wooden desks
Floyd | and rotary dial telephones. Processing paperwork and operating the
Floyd | phones are a set of robots - also 50s vintage - with dials for eyes and
Floyd | vacuum tubes for brains. NORTH of here is a room whose door says
Floyd | SECURITY CAMERA. On the WEST side of the server is a small maintenance
Floyd | closet marked: SODA MACHINE.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the robots, the mailer-daemon, appears to be getting ready to
Floyd | head out of the server, into the LAN. It's holding a few letters in its
Floyd | mechanical claw - one of which looks like it's addressed to Jane's work
Floyd | email.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Soda Machine Microprocessor                          3:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Uc
Floyd | Soda Machine Microprocessor
Floyd | Stepping into the closet you feel yourself interfacing with the soda
Floyd | machine. You ARE the soda machine. You can feel the weight of the soda
Floyd | cans within you: Classic Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7 Up. Your
Floyd | only desire is to eject a can - you tremble in excitement at the
Floyd | thought of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing your head, you disengage your own thoughts from the machine's
Floyd | microprocessors. Jane has a favorite soda, you think - but you can't
Floyd | remember what it is. Out of the closet, to the EAST, is ProtectiTech's
Floyd | Central Server.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Soda Machine Microprocessor                          3:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > EJECT MOUNTAIN DEW
Floyd | The soda can drops with a satisfying thunk.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Soda Machine Microprocessor                          3:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SODA
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Soda Machine Microprocessor                          3:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | Soda Machine Microprocessor
Floyd | Stepping into the closet you feel yourself interfacing with the soda
Floyd | machine. You ARE the soda machine. You can feel the weight of the soda
Floyd | cans within you: Classic Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7 Up. Your
Floyd | only desire is to eject a can - you tremble in excitement at the
Floyd | thought of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing your head, you disengage your own thoughts from the machine's
Floyd | microprocessors. Jane has a favorite soda, you think - but you can't
Floyd | remember what it is. Out of the closet, to the EAST, is ProtectiTech's
Floyd | Central Server.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > A
Floyd | ProtectiTech Central Server
Floyd | To the EAST, you can see the code monkeys working. Here, the decor puts
Floyd | you in the mind of the ideal 1950s office, complete with wooden desks
Floyd | and rotary dial telephones. Processing paperwork and operating the
Floyd | phones are a set of robots - also 50s vintage - with dials for eyes and
Floyd | vacuum tubes for brains. NORTH of here is a room whose door says
Floyd | SECURITY CAMERA. On the WEST side of the server is a small maintenance
Floyd | closet marked: SODA MACHINE.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the robots, the mailer-daemon, appears to be getting ready to
Floyd | head out of the server, into the LAN. It's holding a few letters in its
Floyd | mechanical claw - one of which looks like it's addressed to Jane's work
Floyd | email.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FOLDER
Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUTS YOU IN The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | ProtectiTech Central Server
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | The LAN at Jane's workplace resembles nothing so much as a late 19th
Floyd | century factory, complete with squalid concrete floor, metal roof, and
Floyd | dirty smoke. It's the sort of place where you might send orphans whose
Floyd | parents you particularly hated.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize Jane's particular monkey / typewriter representation from
Floyd | previous trips here. It's off to the EAST of the machine. To the WEST,
Floyd | you can see ProtectiTech's Central Server, separated from the rest of
Floyd | the machine room by glass windows and a glass door. UP from here, a
Floyd | wireless connection leads back to the satellite.
Floyd |
Floyd | The supervisor is trying to put the machine back together, crack his
Floyd | whip, and yell at the code monkeys to try and fix it for him - all at
Floyd | the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the machine smolder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > REA NETWORK
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X VIRUS
Floyd | An ugly looking creature, ill-fed and slathering through its needle
Floyd | thin teeth. You'd probably better not touch it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE FOLDER
Floyd | As you pick up the folder you feel something wriggle and squirm inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT FOLDER IN MACHINE
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | The LAN at Jane's workplace resembles nothing so much as a late 19th
Floyd | century factory, complete with squalid concrete floor, metal roof, and
Floyd | dirty smoke. It's the sort of place where you might send orphans whose
Floyd | parents you particularly hated.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize Jane's particular monkey / typewriter representation from
Floyd | previous trips here. It's off to the EAST of the machine. To the WEST,
Floyd | you can see ProtectiTech's Central Server, separated from the rest of
Floyd | the machine room by glass windows and a glass door. UP from here, a
Floyd | wireless connection leads back to the satellite.
Floyd |
Floyd | The supervisor is trying to put the machine back together, crack his
Floyd | whip, and yell at the code monkeys to try and fix it for him - all at
Floyd | the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the machine smolder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Ve
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. WEST from here, you see the
Floyd | other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   4:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Ma's Work Computer
Floyd | Andrew's code monkey is hard at work. Back NORTH is Jane's spot on the
Floyd | company LAN. WEST from here, you see the other code monkeys, closer to
Floyd | the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Ma's Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > RK C
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. WEST from here, you see the
Floyd | other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Grant's Work Computer
Floyd | Grace's code monkey is hard at work. Back SOUTH is Jane's spot on the
Floyd | company LAN. WEST from here, you see the other code monkeys, closer to
Floyd | the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Grant's Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > T'S A NOTE CALLED "rYou put the My Documents folder into Grant's
Floyd | Inbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT VIRUS IN INBOX
Floyd | (first taking the virus)
Floyd |
Floyd | As you touch the virus it howls and burrows deep inside you. It pushes
Floyd | and pulses through your harddrive, then burns through to your
Floyd | motherboard. It screams or maybe you're screaming. As you die all you
Floyd | can think of is how frustrated Jane will be when she tries to turn you
Floyd | on. If she replaces your harddrive, will you still the same computer?
Floyd | Will she still call the impostor in your plastic body Morgoth?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     ## *** The End ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 3, in 151 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | Grant's Work Computer
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE FOLDER
Floyd | As you pick up the folder you feel something wriggle and squirm inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | The LAN at Jane's workplace resembles nothing so much as a late 19th
Floyd | century factory, complete with squalid concrete floor, metal roof, and
Floyd | dirty smoke. It's the sort of place where you might send orphans whose
Floyd | parents you particularly hated.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize Jane's particular monkey / typewriter representation from
Floyd | previous trips here. It's off to the EAST of the machine. To the WEST,
Floyd | you can see ProtectiTech's Central Server, separated from the rest of
Floyd | the machine room by glass windows and a glass door. UP from here, a
Floyd | wireless connection leads back to the satellite.
Floyd |
Floyd | The supervisor is trying to put the machine back together, crack his
Floyd | whip, and yell at the code monkeys to try and fix it for him - all at
Floyd | the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the machine smolder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  i
Floyd | ProtectiTech Central Server
Floyd | To the EAST, you can see the code monkeys working. Here, the decor puts
Floyd | you in the mind of the ideal 1950s office, complete with wooden desks
Floyd | and rotary dial telephones. Processing paperwork and operating the
Floyd | phones are a set of robots - also 50s vintage - with dials for eyes and
Floyd | vacuum tubes for brains. NORTH of here is a room whose door says
Floyd | SECURITY CAMERA. On the WEST side of the server is a small maintenance
Floyd | closet marked: SODA MACHINE.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the robots, the mailer-daemon, appears to be getting ready to
Floyd | head out of the server, into the LAN. It's holding a few letters in its
Floyd | mechanical claw - one of which looks like it's addressed to Jane's work
Floyd | email.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:16 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DAEMON
Floyd | This mailer-daemon is responsible for distributing all in-company mail
Floyd | and memos. Its appearance is halfway between a 50s robot and a 50s
Floyd | secretary.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:17 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > VER
Floyd |
Floyd | > TO THE EASTThe mailer-daemon sighs audibly as you greet her. "I'd
Floyd | love to talk," she says, "but I'm supposed to be delivering these
Floyd | emails. I wish I didn't have to, you know. It's just so dirty, so...
Floyd | uncivilized, out there. All those monkeys."
Floyd |
Floyd |  You gracefully imply that you would be willing to take that onerous
Floyd | duty upon yourself. You suspect even James Bond wouldn't be able to
Floyd | match your elan.
Floyd |
Floyd |  "Oh! You would do that for me? Such a dear. Here, the recipients are
Floyd | written in the emails." With that, the mailer-daemon hands you three
Floyd | emails.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:17 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X EMAILS
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:18 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   an email for Grant
Floyd |   an email for Watts
Floyd |   an email for Ma
Floyd |   a My Documents folder (open)
Floyd |     a README
Floyd |     a virus
Floyd |     a bunch of other junk
Floyd |   a Realms of Realmland figurine
Floyd |   the search term 'Grant'
Floyd |   an email draft
Floyd |   an angry bird
Floyd |   Watts' Friendship Icon
Floyd |   a desperate fear
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:19 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ES ITS FEATHERS InYou read the email:
Floyd |
Floyd | From: Jim <jsnyder@protectitech.com>
Floyd |
Floyd | To: Grace <ggrant@protectitech.com>
Floyd |
Floyd | Subject: URGENT: last minute client request
Floyd |
Floyd | Grace,
Floyd |
Floyd | You're a hard worker. Responsible. That's why I'm giving you this
Floyd | assignment. The EYEmedia guys have changed up their order parameters
Floyd | again - they need some more modifications to their Enterprise SafeSurf
Floyd | build. You're going to need to stay late to pull this off, but if you
Floyd | do, there could be a promotion in it for you. All the materials and the
Floyd | client specs are attached.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jim Snyder
Floyd |  Manager - Software Engineering
Floyd |  "A soulless worker is a better worker" - The Devil's Guide to Middle
Floyd | Management
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:20 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X EMAIL FOR WATTS
Floyd | You read the email:
Floyd |
Floyd | From: Jim <jsnyder@protectitech.com>
Floyd |
Floyd | To: Jane <jwatts@protectitech.com>
Floyd |
Floyd | Subject: RE: sick, coming in late
Floyd |
Floyd | Listen Jane, one more late day and that's it. Every time a new Realms
Floyd | of Realmland expansion comes out you're "sick" half the week. Don't
Floyd | think I haven't noticed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jim Snyder
Floyd |  Manager - Software Engineering
Floyd |  "A soulless worker is a better worker" - The Devil's Guide to Middle
Floyd | Management
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Central Server                          4:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E MY DOCUMENTS Just a routine work-related email, addressed to Andrew
Floyd | Ma.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:22 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | The LAN at Jane's workplace resembles nothing so much as a late 19th
Floyd | century factory, complete with squalid concrete floor, metal roof, and
Floyd | dirty smoke. It's the sort of place where you might send orphans whose
Floyd | parents you particularly hated.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize Jane's particular monkey / typewriter representation from
Floyd | previous trips here. It's off to the EAST of the machine. To the WEST,
Floyd | you can see ProtectiTech's Central Server, separated from the rest of
Floyd | the machine room by glass windows and a glass door. UP from here, a
Floyd | wireless connection leads back to the satellite.
Floyd |
Floyd | The supervisor is trying to put the machine back together, crack his
Floyd | whip, and yell at the code monkeys to try and fix it for him - all at
Floyd | the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the machine smolder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:23 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > La
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. WEST from here, you see the
Floyd | other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:24 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT EMAIL FOR WATTS IN INBOX
Floyd | Too bad Jane never gets more positive emails.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:25 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Co
Floyd | Grant's Work Computer
Floyd | Grace's code monkey is hard at work. Back SOUTH is Jane's spot on the
Floyd | company LAN. WEST from here, you see the other code monkeys, closer to
Floyd | the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Grant's Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:26 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT EMAIL FOR GRANT IN INBOX
Floyd | Too bad Jane never gets any positive emails like this. It would do her
Floyd | ego (and yours) some good.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:27 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE EMAIL
Floyd | (the email for Grant)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:28 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. WEST from here, you see the
Floyd | other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (in which is an email for Watts) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:29 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  HARD AT Wo(the email for Watts)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:30 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT EMAIL FOR GRANT IN INBOX
Floyd | It is a plan worthy of Batman, you decide. In its cunning simplicity,
Floyd | it has all the subtlety of the Dark Knight. Quickly, you find and
Floyd | replace all references to Grace with Jane's name. The course of events
Floyd | seems clear to you: Jane will jump at the chance to get a promotion and
Floyd | right her stumbling career. She"ll become so engrossed she won't even
Floyd | notice when she stays late and misses her date. It's foolproof! Now you
Floyd | just have to wait for Jane to get to work and read it.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Your desperate fear has been replaced by a calm patience.
Floyd |
Floyd |  (Now, at any point, if you'd just like to wait until 5:00 PM, when
Floyd | Jane gets off work, you may type "wait around." Otherwise, you can
Floyd | treat yourself to a leisurely surf through the internet.)
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:31 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Ma
Floyd | Grant's Work Computer
Floyd | Grace's code monkey is hard at work. Back SOUTH is Jane's spot on the
Floyd | company LAN. WEST from here, you see the other code monkeys, closer to
Floyd | the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Grant's Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:31 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT EMAIL FOR WATT IN INBOX
Floyd | Which do you mean, the email for Watts or the email for Ma?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Grant's Work Computer                                4:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT EMAIL FOR WATTS IN INBOX
Floyd | You feel a little bad replacing every instance of Jane's name with
Floyd | Grace"s. You're sure Grace doesn't deserve an email like this... but
Floyd | it's for the greater good.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:33 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. WEST from here, you see the
Floyd | other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (in which is an email for Grant) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   4:34 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > E'
Floyd | Ma's Work Computer
Floyd | Andrew's code monkey is hard at work. Back NORTH is Jane's spot on the
Floyd | company LAN. WEST from here, you see the other code monkeys, closer to
Floyd | the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Ma's Inbox (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   4:35 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT EMAIL FOR MA IN INBOX
Floyd | He's got mail! You feel oddly pleased with your successful delivery.
Floyd |
Floyd |  You don't understand why Jane goes chasing elven princes through
Floyd | cyberspace when there are real people right here in her office. He have
Floyd | snakes for hair and a glance that turns the unwary into stone. Or, you
Floyd | suppose, it's possible Jane doesn't even realize he exists. They only
Floyd | work in adjacent cubicles, after all.
Floyd |
Floyd |  You have an urge to try searching for  "Ma."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   4:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > WORK. BaThe subject of the first email is "have the flu." Jane is
Floyd | emailing her supervisor at ProtectiTech to tell him she's sick and
Floyd | won't be going to work today.
Floyd |
Floyd | The subject of the second email is "play RoR with me?" and is addressed
Floyd | to oakthorn177. Jane is asking the elven prince to go on a quest with
Floyd | her.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is trouble. You need to stop her before she finishes up these
Floyd | emails and logs on to Realms of Realmland. If you let that happen,
Floyd | there's no way to know if you'll ever be able to get her attention
Floyd | again, much less stop the date.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Ma's Work Computer                                   4:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X COMPUTER
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Watts' Work Computer
Floyd | The code monkey that represents Jane sits still, hands in its lap, with
Floyd | its head lolling to one side - inactive. Two windows float in front of
Floyd | it, leftover from the previous workday: one is a guide to smelting and
Floyd | egg farming in Realms of Realmland, the other is a webcomic about two
Floyd | guys who sit in a basement and complain about Realms of Realmland.
Floyd | NORTH and SOUTH from here are Jane's closest neighbors on the network:
Floyd | Grace Grant and Andrew Ma, respectively. WEST from here, you see the
Floyd | other code monkeys, closer to the center of the LAN.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Watts' Inbox (in which is an email for Grant) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Watts' Work Computer                                 4:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PERVISOR AT PRoYou can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:38 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | ProtectiTech Local Area Network
Floyd | The LAN at Jane's workplace resembles nothing so much as a late 19th
Floyd | century factory, complete with squalid concrete floor, metal roof, and
Floyd | dirty smoke. It's the sort of place where you might send orphans whose
Floyd | parents you particularly hated.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize Jane's particular monkey / typewriter representation from
Floyd | previous trips here. It's off to the EAST of the machine. To the WEST,
Floyd | you can see ProtectiTech's Central Server, separated from the rest of
Floyd | the machine room by glass windows and a glass door. UP from here, a
Floyd | wireless connection leads back to the satellite.
Floyd |
Floyd | The supervisor is trying to put the machine back together, crack his
Floyd | whip, and yell at the code monkeys to try and fix it for him - all at
Floyd | the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the machine smolder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  ProtectiTech Local Area Network                      4:39 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > RK
Floyd |
Floyd | > THE LAN AtIt probably won't notice you anymore.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks at the supervisor with great ire.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Communications Satellite                             4:40 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | Communications Satellite
Floyd | This satellite, orbiting high above the Earth's surface, is one of the
Floyd | great switching stations in the global network. Here calls and messages
Floyd | are routed and re-routed. Around you, data bees and web surfers hurry
Floyd | and scurry - all of them want to talk to the Router-Daemon.
Floyd |
Floyd | BENEATH you, you can just make out the white glimmer of The Cloud.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Router-Daemon is a robotic many-armed creature that points incoming
Floyd | data in the correct direction. Three levers - one gold, one bronze, one
Floyd | silver - protrude from its torso. Lost data packets talk to it to
Floyd | receive instructions on where to go.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            4:41 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > KS At
Floyd | The Cloud
Floyd | Here, all is calm and serene. You are floating. Blue sky. A lazy white
Floyd | cloud of data floats by. It smiles at you. The other clouds smile too,
Floyd | for they are marhmallow fluffy and secure.
Floyd |
Floyd | ABOVE you orbits a communication satellite. Far BELOW are the vast
Floyd | interconnected cyberplanes of the internet. Floating among the clouds
Floyd | is a flock of hot air balloons that have been tethered together to
Floyd | create a makeshift, bulbous sphere. You think could squeeze INSIDE this
Floyd | "Blogosphere."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       4:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUTH
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            4:41 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd | The Cloud
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      4:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The Blogosphere
Floyd | All around you are the hot air balloons, each decorated in their own
Floyd | bright colors and logos.  OUTSIDE the balloons is the Cloud in which
Floyd | they float.
Floyd |
Floyd | One balloon in particular is near to you. Its lone pilot is wearing a
Floyd | red cape and goggles - you immediately recognize him as Cory Doctorow.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      4:43 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OU SEE A TOWeCory Doctorow turns to look at you, red cape billowing
Floyd | in the data streams. He raises his goggles. This is what he says: "A
Floyd | bug in the program is worth two in the hand."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      4:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO CORY
Floyd | Cory Doctorow turns to look at you, red cape billowing in the data
Floyd | streams. He raises his goggles. This is what he says: "Never touch a
Floyd | hungry virus with your bare hands."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Blogosphere                                      4:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO CORY
Floyd | Cory Doctorow turns to look at you, red cape billowing in the data
Floyd | streams. He raises his goggles. This is what he says: "Always know thy
Floyd | master's soda preferences."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  The Cloud                                            4:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OU,
Floyd | The Cloud
Floyd | Here, all is calm and serene. You are floating. Blue sky. A lazy white
Floyd | cloud of data floats by. It smiles at you. The other clouds smile too,
Floyd | for they are marhmallow fluffy and secure.
Floyd |
Floyd | ABOVE you orbits a communication satellite. Far BELOW are the vast
Floyd | interconnected cyberplanes of the internet. Floating among the clouds
Floyd | is a flock of hot air balloons that have been tethered together to
Floyd | create a makeshift, bulbous sphere. You think could squeeze INSIDE this
Floyd | "Blogosphere."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       4:47 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       4:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > RkYou are carrying:
Floyd |   the search term 'Ma'
Floyd |   a calm patience
Floyd |   a My Documents folder (open)
Floyd |     a README
Floyd |     a virus
Floyd |     a bunch of other junk
Floyd |   a Realms of Realmland figurine
Floyd |   the search term 'Grant'
Floyd |   an email draft
Floyd |   an angry bird
Floyd |   Watts' Friendship Icon
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  World Wide Web                                       4:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd | World Wide Web
Floyd | The Net. The Web. An endless sea of data, in which your hard drive is
Floyd | only a fragement, a mere raft bobbing among the mountainous waves. To
Floyd | the NORTH you see a towering search engine. To the EAST you can hear
Floyd | the chatter of a social network. To the SOUTHWEST there is a stately
Floyd | online encyclopedia. ABOVE you is the Cloud, through which you can just
Floyd | make out the glint of a communications satellite. Go back DOWN the
Floyd | ethernet cable to return to the desktop.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           4:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > He
Floyd | Front Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The mighty Search Engine towers above you. This pristine white obelisk
Floyd | is visible from almost anywhere on the net. SOUTH of you is an open
Floyd | expanse of cyberspace. It's possible to walk to the other side of
Floyd | Engine, by going around NORTHWEST or NORTHEAST side.
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           4:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SEARCH TERM MA
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           4:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SEARCH TERM
Floyd | Which do you mean, the search term 'Ma' or the search term 'Grant'?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           4:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > 'MA'
Floyd | Andrew Ma
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           4:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | >  CODE MONKEY IS HARD AT WORKYOU aThere's nothing to put this on.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a data bee whiz up to the text slot, dropping its payload - a
Floyd | slip of paper with a search printed on it - into the mouth of the
Floyd | tower.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Front Of The Search Engine                           4:53 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a data bee whiz up to the text slot, dropping its payload - a
Floyd | slip of paper with a search printed on it - into the mouth of the
Floyd | tower.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Back Of The Search Engine                            4:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Of The Search Engine
Floyd | The Search Engine looks pretty much the same on this side - only now
Floyd | with more pristine smoothness. The only break in the whiteness is the
Floyd | barely visible outline of a door, leading INSIDE the Engine. It's also
Floyd | possible to walk around to the other side of Engine, by going SOUTHEAST
Floyd | or SOUTHWEST.
Floyd |
Floyd | A dark puff of data floats from the top of the Engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    4:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ETh
Floyd | Inside the Engine
Floyd | A pedestal stands in the center of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pedestal blinks in and out of existence, like a waiting cursor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird bites you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    4:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT SEARCH TERM 'MA' ON PEDESTAL
Floyd | A puff of data. Your search term is replaced with a link to Andrew Ma's
Floyd | social networking profile.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird looks as if it wants to give you the bird. But it can't, since
Floyd | it's a bird.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    4:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LINK
Floyd | Bring this link to the Social Network, and you will find what you seek.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The My Documents folder wriggles disconcertingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    4:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > EE A DATA Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird squawks in a very insulting manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Documents folder almost jerks out of your grip, as if it had a life
Floyd | of its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd ]  Inside the Engine                                    4:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT SEARCH TERM 'GRANT' ON PEDESTAL
Floyd | A puff of data. Your search term is replaced with a link to Grace
Floyd | Grant's social networking profile.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bird ruffles its feathers in annoyance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel something trying to escape the Documents folder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >