Necrotic Drift
by Robb Sherwin (2004)
Genres: Horror

This story ollows the story of gaming store employee Jarret Duffy when all hell breaks loose in his mall. Getting past the waves of undead in his path will require ingenuity, imagination, empty demands for the return of pre-casting, the ability to use common mall objects as weapons and twenty-six alphabetic keycaps working together with a functional 'enter' key. It's text, baby!

action: %
response: My dad came home late one night when I was nine and threw an old copy of the Monster Manual by Gary Gygax onto my bed. He woke me up, stressed and shaking at the humiliation his friends had put him through earlier that evening.

He asked me if I wanted the book. I was still groggy, but I picked it up and thumbed through it. "We didn't play Monopoly tonight, Jarret," he told me. "That's because not a one of them can beat me. Instead, they brought out this... thing. Some 'game of the imagination'." He practically spat that last word. "You can move all you like without throwing any dice, but to actually do anything, you need to throw a handful!!" I was both reading entries on the different monsters and paying half-attention to his rant. "Five minutes in, Benson tells me that I come across something called a gorgon. That got me stoned. Why would I play a game that depicted the recreational use of marijuana cigarettes? I got up and left."

"They let you read this during play?" I asked him. He nodded. I turned to page 49. "I don't think they were supposed to. It says right here that the gorgon can turn you to stone. It doesn't get you stoned. And right here are all its weaknesses! How did you not see this? Are you stupid or something? Or what?"

My father snatched back the Monster Manual. He didn't state that what he was going to do was going to hurt him more than it hurt me. (I think all he did say was that he should have left his 'patented Duffy blast' on my mother's face the night I was conceived, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me then.) He instead just quietly gave me a spanking for back talk. But as that 112 page reference to a modern mythology of villainy struck my bony behind, it was as if he were bonding the pages and me for all time. Like directed osmosis through anger or something.

(Okay, it actually wasn't like osmosis at all, but I've sacrificed knowledge in basic chemistry for additional levels in Modern Mythology, so please cut me some slack on the occasional analogy outside of my experience.)

In the week that followed, my father tried to ban Dungeons & Dragons from the house as he had previously banned video games, cursing, Cajun food and music recorded after 1959. I stood up to him on D&D, though, and he caved for the only time in my childhood. Within a week I was running my own games for the kids in my tract. We were creating adventures together with Devils, Demons and Dragons and it was one of the best times of my life. My old man may have never been on the short list for an award from the PTA, but his maniac antics did a better job helping me understand just what I was interested in than the fathers of anyone else I grew up with. And heck, he did have my back that one time I met D&D creator Gary Gygax himself at DragonCon and started kicking him in his bag of magic beans (if you're digging my ditch here) in misplaced, latent vengeance due to how hard the board stock was for those manual covers.

I don't think you've truly bonded with your father until you've spent 36 consecutive hours in a holding cell mocking and taunting an inmate set consisting of multiple thirty-somethings decked out in homemade hobbit, fairie and chocobo costumes, where the only thing the lot of them had in common, aside from a complete lack of human dignity, was relating how difficult it was to sleep late when the sump pump went off.
action: Y.
response: Thanks for playing!
action: %
response: My dad came home late one night when I was nine and threw an old copy of the Monster Manual by Gary Gygax onto my bed. He woke me
up, stressed and shaking at the humiliation his friends had put him through earlier that evening.

He asked me if I wanted the book. I was still groggy, but I picked it up and thumbed through it. "We didn't play Monopoly tonight, Jarret," he told me. "That's because not a one of them can beat me. Instead, they brought out this... thing. Some 'game of the imagination'." He practically spat that last word. "You can move all you like without throwing any dice, but to actually do anything, you need to throw a handful!!" I was both reading entries on the different monsters and paying half-attention to his rant. "Five minutes in, Benson tells me that I come across something called a gorgon. That got me stoned. Why would I play a game that depicted the recreational use of marijuana cigarettes? I got up and left."

"They let you read this during play?" I asked him. He nodded. I turned to page 49. "I don't think they were supposed to. It says right here that the gorgon can turn you to stone. It doesn't
get you stoned. And right here are all its weaknesses! How
did you not see this? Are you stupid or something? Or what?"

My father snatched back the Monster Manual. He didn't state
that what he was going to do was going to hurt him more than it hurt me. (I think all he did say was that he should have left his 'patented Duffy blast' on my mother's face the night I was conceived, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me then.) He instead just quietly gave me a spanking for back talk. But as that 112 page reference to a modern mythology of villainy struck my bony behind, it was as if he were bonding the pages and me for all time. Like directed osmosis through anger or something.

(Okay, it actually wasn't like osmosis at all, but I've sacrificed knowledge in basic chemistry for additional levels in Modern Mythology, so please cut me some slack on the occasional analogy outside of my experience.)

In the week that followed, my father tried to ban Dungeons & Dragons from the house as he had previously banned video games, cursing, Cajun food and music recorded after 1959. I stood up to him on D&D, though, and he caved for the only time in my childhood. Within a week I was running my own games for the kids in my tract. We were creating adventures together with Devils, Demons and Dragons and it was one of the best times of my life. My old man may have never been on the short list for an award from the PTA, but his maniac antics did a better job helping me understand just what I was interested in than the fathers of anyone else I grew up with. And heck, he did have my back that one time I met D&D creator Gary Gygax himself at DragonCon and started kicking him in his bag of magic beans (if you're digging my ditch here) in misplaced, latent vengeance due to how hard the board stock was for those manual covers.

I don't think you've truly bonded with your father until you've spent 36 consecutive hours in a holding cell mocking and taunting an inmate set consisting of multiple thirty-somethings decked out in homemade hobbit, fairie and chocobo costumes, where the only thing the lot of them had in common, aside from a complete lack of human dignity, was relating how difficult it was to sleep late when the sump pump went off.
Necrotic Drift

I'm here this evening at an Academy Videos store thirty-five minutes from my home with two of my roommates and my best friend. We have to come all the way down here to rent because of the late fees on my memberships at all the video places back in the Fort. I wish I had a good story for why that is the case, but I don't. I'm just poor and had the first Lord of the Rings movie overdue for more than
two weeks at multiple video chains. I kept it around to mainly prove trivia. (It will probably end up costing me more to show my friends that the elf character Legolas was walking on, and not
in the snow, than it did for director Peter Jackson to
implement that effect on-screen.)

Supposedly, Audrey is dropping by tonight to watch a movie, which is why I'm even here to begin with. In the five years we've been together we've dumped each other a total of nine times. She is currently ahead of me six to three. Her most shallow dumping was when she wanted to exclusively hang around a hardcore goth guy who had somehow managed to finance or lease his own cemetery plot. That guy was the black fingernail Alpha male until he missed his first payment. To be fair, mine was when she filled out Student Loan paperwork for me without my knowledge or consent and almost enrolled me into classes at the nearby University of Central Hill. She doesn't like the fact that I work at the Funtime Teen Mall for $5.51 an hour at age 27.

I have to work later tonight, so I guess I'd better pick something and get out of here quickly.
action: You look around
response: The inside of the video store looks like it was slapped together in a weekend by enslaved, tool-wielding howler monkeys and routinely cleaned by an anosmic with all the enthusiasm of a man who lost a bet. Rotting floorboards create a random topography that would put the landshifts and valleys of the legendary Umar Hills to shame. Faded posters cover much of the surface area of the walls, and a few of them have begun peeling or been stricken with graffiti.

All the available movies have been shoved into racks labeled with one of four categories: Action, Drama, Fantasy and Horror. Alphabetical order isn't implemented in any of them either, so trying to find a specific movie is often futile. It's usually best just to look along the racks and hope something good catches your eye.
Gibs, Pang, Criswell, and the clerk are here.

"So..." says Gibs, as he scans the movies half-heartedly, "You and Audrey are on the rocks again, eh, Duffy? What happened this time, did she get you enrolled into MIT?"
action: You examine the action
response: It's constructed from a cheap wood board, and sags quite a bit due to the number of movies placed within it.

Inside the action rack is a movie from action rack.

Pang clears his throat and holds up a copy of Blade. "I have
found the movie for us all tonight," he states, with an annoying authority. "It has electronica and vampires, as all classics should."

"Blade?" screeches Criswell. He's another one of my
roommates. "They merged techno music and goths for that one. No chance. No way. And if you pick out one that merges country music with the French art film or opera with a Pixar kiddie flick I will drop trou and take a crap on the TV while it's playing."

Criswell's only half joking, as he's demonstrated his willingness to do that before. When his favorite CFL football team lost in the finals last year he was so pissed off at the TV for depicting it that he grabbed a chair from the kitchen, got up and plopped a steaming load on top of the set. Worse, it was two weeks before anyone cleaned it up. We had a veritable bumper crop of flies around the house that year.
action: You take the action movie
response: I grab a movie from the rack. And behold! It's The Lord of the
Rings. Why on earth the dip behind the counter would deign to
keep it in this rack is beyond my comprehension. But it
doesn't matter. I don't really possess the discipline to go get something else.

"OK, I'm set," says Criswell. "Truman Show. Jim Carrey is the
funniest man alive. This'll be a gem. Hey, Duffy, you
bringin' that chick you hang around with over tonight? Well, thank me later, man, 'cos she'll be all out of giggles by the time you pull off your pants. For once, anyway."

Barnaby idly toys with a movie and then puts it back on the shelf. "There were some real hotties at that Bead Store, the other day," he says to me. "Cute, but not so cute that they would have nothing to do with you, I mean."
action: You look at the video
response: The clerk at Academy Videos is famous through New Haz for being one of its most smug and sarcastic citizens. He will always criticize a customer's movie choice unless it's one of the ten or fifteen films that he thinks are classic. He is wearing a hypercolor shirt like all employees in the chain, as well as a pair of dirty sweatpants.

"Yo, fruit loops," says the clerk to the lot of us, "I'm shutting this store down to go get a full body massage from the Taiwanese Parlor down the street. Pronto. Get your movies and get out."

"Full-body?" asks Barnaby. "That means they give you a hand job, right?" The clerk perks up and nods gleefully. "Hey, I've always wondered..." Barnaby decides exactly how he wants to phrase it. "Is it customary to let them know when you're about to come? Like, a warning? Or do you not have to do that because they are professionals?"

Nobody says anything for a few moments. I shrug. "I guess it depends on whether you're a sprayer or a lumper," I say.
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn) and the DVD case. Inside the DVD case is the Lord of the Rings DVD.

"Anyway, I wasn't kidding around. Get your movies and get lost," repeats the clerk. The clerk continues to get ready for his little excursion. He places his armament upon the counter.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'..." says Criswell. I'm all set, but it looks like we'll have to wait for him or Pang now.
action: You look at the horror
response: The horror rack used to be pretty good, but it's fallen into anarchy just like all the other racks. Criswell once accidentally rented Beaches from this rack and failed to note it was a chick
flick. He's the only guy in the city that thinks the best horror flick of all-time doesn't feature Bruce Campbell or Bill Chepil or whoever, but rather Bette Midler.

A grime-encrusted area denizen slams his hand on the door and the clerk reluctantly lets him in. The thing shambles his way into the video store. He leaves muddy streaks upon the entrance door, drawing the further ire of the clerk.

"Hey, what the hell is the matter with you, cracky?" I suppose that I disagree that the new denizen is a crackhead (he meanders more in his movement than he shakes, I mean). But I don't say anything. The clerk points a stern finger at him from across the counter. "Can't you read? We're closed! Get out of here!"
action: You examine the crackhead
response: This creature is covered in a thick grit. He (it?) is draped in a musty flannel and shambles about with an unwholesome gait. His forearms are unnaturally long and jaundiced, and his there are several patches of mosiaced-over scabs and seeping wounds covering his face and neck.

The area denizen grabs at the clerk's neck! He gets two hands round the clerk's esophagus, and begins choking the life right out of him!

The clerk gurgles in pain! I hear a guttural moaning sound coming from the attacker. The violence causes Pang and Criswell to hide in the back of the store.

"Hey!" says Barnaby, "Knock it off! Let him go!"
action: You look at the armament
response: I should first say something about the city of New Haz and explain why a video clerk would be packing heat.

Culturally, New Haz is kind of a stinking dump. It's been described as everything from a holding cell for miscreants and scuzzballs, to a bleak planned community gone horribly and violently wrong, to a slightly Utopian New Haven, Connecticut. I like it so much I live thirty-five minutes away, and believe me when I say that I would not work here if the Fort had a mall. Truthfully, it used to be a lot worse before some kid brought to justice 80% of the city's Most Wanted Criminals a while back. But it's nevertheless rather rough, and you're legally required to possess a firearm to enter the west side.

This gun uses nail magazines, and fires them off slowly and messily, one at a time. Nice accuracy, but it has no spray or automatic settings. It's on the small side, as small as the manufacturer could go without embracing the "ladies choice" designation.

This weapon has 7 shots remaining.

The grimy denizen throttles the clerk!

The clerk slumps to the floor, disappearing behind the register counter.

"Christ, Duffy, get the goddamn gun!" screams Barnaby. The guy (creature, whatever it is) is between the gun and Barnaby. It emits a throaty snarl and slowly shambles toward him. Barnaby gives the door a couple solid kicks and opens it.
action: You get the armament
response: I casually lift the gun from the counter without the clerk really noticing.

Barnaby takes a swing at the filthy mound. He connects to its sternum (a solid blow) but the guy / creature is not stunned, not driven back, not nearly phased by it at all.

"Shoot the damn thing, Duffy!" yells Barnaby. "Now,
goddammit!"
action: You shoot zombie
response: [Specify which gun to shoot with.]
action: You shoot the zombie with the armament
response: I shoot the creature!

The creature collapses and falls to the ground.
action: You search zombie
response: The creature is empty.
action: You look at the clerk
response: The clerk at Academy Videos is famous through New Haz for being one of its most smug and sarcastic citizens. He will always criticize a customer's movie choice unless it's one of the ten or fifteen films that he thinks are classic. He is wearing a hypercolor shirt like all employees in the chain, as well as a pair of dirty sweatpants.

He  is currently knocked out.
action: You examine the zombie
response: This creature is covered in a thick grit. He (it?) is draped in a musty flannel that hasn't been in fashion since Gygax was happily married to his first wife. His forearms are unnaturally long and jaundiced, and his there are several patches of mosiaced-over scabs and seeping wounds covering his face and neck.

It  is currently knocked out.
action: You talk to Barnaby
response: [ Use "TALK TO CHARACTER" to talk to a particular character in the game. ]

I can't think of anything to say right now.
action: You read the poster
response: The drama rack should, in theory, contain a bunch of films that are shown on TNN, but it instead contains a hodgepodge of differently genred flicks. Criswell once took the DVD that Gibs shot a couple years ago where he was apologizing to his girlfriend for getting into a threesome at this one guy Avandre's bachelor party and put it in this rack. That was some serious drama. But I think Gibs rented and destroyed it when he found out.

I can't do that with the posters.
action: You examine the posters
response: wall. That's really the only one of note. There are some other ones that I can't make out, and by 'make out,' I mean 'they were filmed in the sixties so I have no idea what their deal is.'
action: You look around
response: The inside of the video store looks like it was slapped together in a weekend by enslaved, tool-wielding howler monkeys and routinely cleaned by an anosmic with all the enthusiasm of a man who lost a bet. Rotting floorboards create a random topography that would put the landshifts and valleys of the legendary Umar Hills to shame. Faded posters cover much of the surface area of the walls, and a few of them have begun peeling or been stricken with graffiti.

All the available movies have been shoved into racks labeled with one of four categories: Action, Drama, Fantasy and Horror. Alphabetical order isn't implemented in any of them either, so trying to find a specific movie is often futile. It's usually best just to look along the racks and hope something good catches your eye.

There's an exit east to Main Street.
Gibs, Pang, Criswell, the clerk, and the creature are here.
action: Leave
response: The stench of the city of New Haz hits me like a cruel sucker-punch through the septum. It's a ringing, persistent odor. One of sewage mixed with old gasoline. I shift to breathing exclusively through my mouth. But fortunately we'll be out of here soon enough (and before the stink can settle on my clothes.)
My car is here.

Gibs, Pang, and Criswell are here.

"What the hell was that in there?" asks Pang.

"Who knows?" says Barnaby. "Who cares? Let's just go. At least by putting down the homeless guy inside he won't get grime nor slime over Duffy's windshield in some half-assed attempt to clean it."

"I thought you knew that guy, Duffy," says Criswell, unhelpfully, as if that somehow explains why he was cowering in the corner.

We need to get in my car and get out of here quickly -- both before the cops come round due to the encounter with that thing in the store, but also before the city's ripe stench can settle into our clothes.
action: You go car
response: The car is shut.
action: You open the car
response: Opened.

The thing from inside breaks through a section of the door!
action: You go the car
response: I get into the car. Pang, Criswell and Barnaby join me.

The zombie slams its open palms against the side of the car!
action: You close the door
response: Closed.

The zombie slams its open palms against the side of the car!
action: You start the car
response: (Entering my car first...)

I double-check to make sure everyone's into the car.

The guy from inside keeps clawing away at the passenger side of my car.

"Drive, dammit, drive!" screeches Criswell from the backseat.
"Get us outta here!"

I put the car in reverse and prepare to get the hell out of town. The guy staggers over and gets right in my path.

"Hit 'em, Duffy!" Criswell's going crazy back there. "Run him over!"

I put the car in first and stomp the accelerator more out of panic than anything else. The guy doesn't move, flinch, anything. I ram him and he smacks right into the windshield, chipping it with his elbow. He tumbles about and we hear him on the roof for a moment before seeing his face appear on the back window, shocking the hell out of Pang and Criswell. I downshift from third gear back into second for a moment which causes my car to red line and enough of a jolt for him to fall off completely. I see him, through the rear-view mirror, take a vicious fall onto the road, bouncing against it at painful angles like a discarded rag doll.

Nobody says anything for a second, until Criswell pops opens his mouth. "That... man, that was awesome!!"

"You don't think I killed that guy, do you? Do you think he's OK?"

"It was probably a bot," says Gibs. "Look, he was trying to attack us, anyway."

"That's true," says Pang. "Both items are totally true."

I get us on the Interstate and head north, back towards home. I chuck the gun out the window on the way back. Nobody says anything else until I drop Gibs off and get the rest of us back to the house...
action: You look
response: I've only been on, really, truly on... once in my life.

It was about five years ago. The first week of March. The Wizards of the Coast (the company that publishes all the D&D books these days) were sponsoring a huge, two-day tournament in the Fort. I signed up for it with Barnaby, who used to be more into this kind of thing back then, and we started gaming it on a Saturday morning.

It wasn't a 'competitive' tournament, per se, especially since around that time the two local gangs of Korean role players had pretty much wiped each other out when an on-line housing refresh dispute went from the virtual world of the internet to the physical one of reality, resulting in thirteen dead and seven wounded. That would have normally taken the edge off for the rest of us for the whole of the weekend, but we soon found out that WotC were putting up an eight-thousand dollar first prize for the weekend's 'Most Outstanding Roleplayer.' When I found that out, something clicked inside me, and I drew from a strength of personality I didn't know I had.

All day the dice were with me. Just about every time I threw a twenty-sided die I got an incredibly favorable result. I started getting a bit more bold and soon found that the other kids at my table started following me. Looking to me for direction, for
decisions, for witticisms. I became bolder and overly gregarious. I hardly needed any of the booty the game's Dungeon Master was giving us in-game, and won over the entire table through generosity. I was confident and having fun being me for the first time ever.

My luck stayed with me when I went to different tables and played with different people. When the tournament finished the next day, I was awarded the top prize and a check for $8,000. I accepted it graciously and thanked everyone I played with for giving me the chance to shine. As Barnaby and I were rounding up our backpacks and bags of dice, I Xeroxed a copy of my character sheet, signed my name and phone number to it, and gave it to the cutest girl who seemed single during the event, someone I had played with on the first day.

When I got home, I spent the entire check on a car and a new wardrobe. I had nothing left of it by Tuesday.

Audrey didn't call the number on the sheet, maybe because it was a pompous act of nigh-Olympic level. But when she dropped by the Mall later that week I asked her out on a date. She said yes and has been in various states of flabbergastation with me over the years that have followed.

I got my car, clothes and relationship within a lucky streak that lasted 48 hours five years ago. And I've been living off that success ever since. I'd confess that in my darker moments, when I am at my most honest, it rather spooks me to know that I have essentially been stagnant ever since.
action: You examine the wine
response: Okay, actually it's a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20.
action: You look at the vecna's hand
response: Vecna was a bad-ass (and quite mad) guy described in the original D&D game. One of the game's artifacts was his 'hand,' and this is a novelty item that they passed out at DragonCon a few years back.

There's a knock at the door. It's probably Audrey.
action: You take the bottle
response: Taken.

There's another knock on the door. I should probably get that.
action: You open door
response: I let Audrey inside, and give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, Jarret..." she looks over and sees Pang on the couch. Distaste can't help but crawl across her face. "So... what have we got planned for tonight?"

I see Audrey for the first time. I probably should have gotten the door for her.

"Thanks for getting the door, jerk," she says. Ouch. This isn't good, I've managed to come off as irritating before she'd even entered the house. I usually have ten minutes of grace period.

"I was in the bathroom, brushing my hair so it would look nice and stylish for you," I say with a shrug.

"It's a brush. Not a magic wand. You know... I've never met a man who was so obsessed with his hair. But anyway. What are we doing tonight?"
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Movie Night! Movie Night sure sounds great, doesn't it?"
(2) "I'm going to avoid that question by telling you how great you look, Miss Case."
action: 2
response: "Well, that's certainly nice of you to say," says Audrey. "Thank you. But..." she says with just the trace of a smile, "You can't avoid the question forever, you know."

Well, she's right about that, but I could at least probably
try.

Please select one:

(1) "OK, to be honest, I thought we'd watch a movie."
action: 1
response: "A movie. Oh-kay," she says. "Which theatre?" she asks, hopefully.

"Casa de Duffy, funnily enough."

"Funnily enough? What's so funny, or fun, about being cooped
up in this house for the millionth time?" She puts her hands on her hips, which is an subconscious indicator that she's starting to get agitated. "You really don't want to leave and do something?"

"Well, it's not ha-ha funny, no," I tell her. "Look, we got some good stuff. I broke the bank here. If you don't like the films then at least you've got me providing Tom-Servo-style running commentary."

She relaxes her pose and waves her hand in a dismissal of her argument. "Okay, okay... but you'd better be on, Jarret
Duffy. What's your term for it? Comedy Jupiter? It had better be Comedy Jupiter."

"You betcha. I'll even throw in Io and Europa." I'm not quite sure what that means, but those were the only two moons I could recall in a pinch, so.

Pang puts the copy of Blade into the DVD player.
action: You sit on the tattered couch
response: I sit down on the tattered couch.

Living Room, on a tattered couch
This room is centered around the television, a 32" Sony that Leary brought when he moved in. The set sits on a wooden entertainment center, with 'satellite' speakers all around the room. The tattered white couch is perpendicular to the set, and the blue one (where Pang normally situates himself) is eight or nine feet directly across from it.
On the tattered couch are the green blanket and the pillow.
Sitting corpulently in the blue couch is Pang.
Sitting on the entertainment center are the television and the DVD player. Inside the DVD player is the Blade DVD. Sitting on the table are Vecna's hand, the Dreamcast, a cup, the The Truman Show DVD, and the Lord of the Rings DVD.
Audrey is here.

"What.. aw, hell, what the hell is this, Pang?" asks Criswell, as he enters. "Oh, hey, by the way, I don't think we're gonna be able to keep beers at the neighbor's house any longer. Someone has begun the moving-in process. Wait, did you end up getting this fucking
Blade thing? Oh, Kee-rist!"

I don't understand why Criswell is so against this movie. I guess I could ask him, or something, if I really cared. Only I don't. I just want him gone.

"Just watch the movie," says Pang.

"No!" exclaims Criswell. "I'm gonna make The Call!"

"You're not going to have a quorum," says Pang.
action: You stand
response: Be a little more specific about what you'd like me to stand.
action: You stand up
response: I get up off the tattered couch.

Leary walks down the stairs. He gives everyone a 'hey' and waves to Audrey.

"Yo, Leary, what's your take on Blade?" asks Criswell.

Pang's not thrilled about opinions being offered up on his choice before the opening credits are even finished.

"Ehh," says Leary as he picks up the phone to make a call. "Not my thing. Nothing personal, Panger."

"Damn fuckin' straight!" says Criswell. "I'm makin' the call! The Call for Ejection! Duffy? What're you saying?"

I don't know how to go with this one. On one hand, it could mean that my movie will get played and these two morons will leave out of boredom. On the other hand -- just how freaking immature am I going to come across?
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Sorry. The next movie will probably be better anyway."
(2) "Did you particularly want to see Blade??"
action: 2
response: "Not especially," she says. "I think I saw it when it first came out."

"What? Are you kidding me?" I think about the math for a second. "By my calculations, you were eight when it came out. You mean to tell me that the Neuromancer didn't like you dating me at first because at three years your elder, I was a bad example, but he was OK with you watching a movie where Snipes hacks apart vampires for 90 minutes?" I call her father 'The Neuromancer' because his first name is Henry, and the main character of the novel _Neuromancer_ is named Henry Case. I've been lucky in not saying it when he's been around so far.

"I was very mature for my age," she replies. "I think we'd have been a perfect match, intellectually, if you met me when I was eight and you were twenty-seven.

"Hey, what about if you met me?" says Criswell.

"Two," Audrey and I say at the same time.

"The thumb points down, bitchkin!" says Criswell to Pang. It was inevitable that he was going to pull the movie no matter what popular choice happened to be. Criswell hops over to the DVD player and ejects the disc. He places The Truman Show in. "We're now starin'
down the barrel of a whole lotta giggles," he says to Audrey.

I keep one eye trained underneath the sofa in case Audrey's rolling eyes pop out of her head.

"What are you talking about?" she says. Audrey has never, ever liked Criswell. "This is a drama, not a ninety minute episode of 'White Guys Gone Jostling.'" Criswell's head strains to the side as he simultaneously doesn't believe her and doesn't comprehend her.

Audrey continues. "You know what drama is, right? It's the name given to a movie that adults tend to enjoy, as well as being the
standard root cause of every Linkin Park song."

"Yeah, whatever." Criswell shrugs. "I bet you Truman here is making like he's talking out of his ass before the opening credits are finished."
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "So... how is school going these days?"
(2) "What are you doing later?"
action: 2
response: "Probably storming out of here in anger," she says. I give her one of those looks that would look more in place on a puppet after the jaw string got cut. "Just kidding," she says after a beat. "You're working, right? I am actually going to be at the Mall, 'funnily enough.'" She does that, sometimes, claim my cliched remarks as her own. "Sydney and a few of my other friends will be at the Bead Store. I'll stop by."

Five minutes elapse. The only possession Criswell has left is the dumbfounded look upon his face.

Minute seven comes and Pang can't help himself any longer.

"You stupid, simple... child," he says, quietly. "Next week
go get Good Will Hunting -- Robin Williams is hilarious in
it." Pang points his thumb down.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...

Leary turns around from his phone call and squints a bit at the TV. He chuckles, points his own thumb down for a second and then turns back away from the living room. Pang wiggles the Vecna's Hand toy around with its thumb pointing down in order to taunt Criswell just a bit more.

Pang gets up to change the movie.

He places in Lord of the Rings, apparently without really
recognizing what it is. The intro starts. Audrey lets out a sigh. I have no idea if I'm correctly interpreting it, but I'm guessing that she's resigned herself to at least watching the movie on the TV screen.

"What the shit is this?" asks Criswell. "More fuckin' ghouls and orcs and shit?"
action: You talk to Criswell
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

Pang and Criswell both put their thumbs down as Leary leaves.

"What are you two doing?" I ask. "There aren't any other movies. We didn't get any."

"Someone has forgotten our massive porn collection," says Pang, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," says Audrey. She gets off the couch and leaves the room, heading towards my bedroom. Not, I should say, in a 'let's go make out' way or a 'we need to talk' way but in a pre-emptive strike on a fight way.

"What's her problem?" asks Criswell, to Pang. "We've got chick-on-chick stuff."

I've got a fairly high boiling point, but I've absolutely had it with these two. The frustrations concerning the fact that my bad decisions and sloth have forced me into this decision boils right over. I decide it's time to probably let them have it.
action: You talk to Pang
response: Please select one:

(1) "That -- this, all of this: Not cool, dude."
(2) "What the FUCKING HELL is wrong with you?"
action: 2
response: Pang doesn't say anything at first, a bit taken aback by my outburst.

"You two fucking pieces of shit really make me sick. I know neither one of you have the looks or personality to ever get a fucking girl to come over here more than once, but for me, you two acting like a bunch of immature little fucks just pisses me the hell right off. What the fuck is wrong with you? How fucking old are you?"

"Hey, look -- "

"Just shut the fuck up, Chunky. This is the last fucking time. If this shit ever happens again -- if you or your little sidekick are anywhere NEAR me when I have her over, I will fucking break both of you."

Pang doesn't say anything. He just looks over towards Criswell.
action: You go to the bedroom
response: My bedroom's the smallest one in the house. (I got here last so I got the skankiest room.) There's not a whole lot going on in here, just some shelves with all my crap on it and a bed. It smells a bit less like cigarettes than it used to since I have gone a week and a half since my last one.

"What the hell was that?" asks Audrey. "When are you going to get it... this has got to stop."
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "You're pissed. Aren't you?"
(2) "Hey, sorry about that and those guys."
(3) "What's got to stop?"
action: 2
response: "Well, when is it going to stop? I mean, really. They're animals."

"Oh, come on now! You're over-reacting if you really think that."

"Fine, Leary isn't. But he's never around. Those other two? They're out there right now hurling feces at one another while masturbating, sorry, furiously masturbating and you know it."

"Look, I can't help my roommates, OK?"

"Yes, you can, Jarret! You're better than this! We're better than this. You're too intelligent and talented to be working for minimum wage. But because you are, you have to live with three other people."

"Look, I happen to like my job. Shouldn't that account for something?"

"Jarret, if you had as little going for you as Pang and Criswell then I wouldn't care. I really wouldn't. But I know you better, and I know that with the smallest bit of drive or ambition you could be writing, writing well. The guy that I fell in love with was the
greatest storyteller, er, albeit in the fantasy genre, that I had ever met. And you're just sitting on that gift. Seeing you waste yourself like this isn't fun."

Please select one:

(1) "Well, what is fun, then? Educate me."
(2) "What? Come on, we were just goofing around in there."
action: 1
response: "Spending time with you is fun, normally. You know, doing date-type things. I am not old enough where I want to spend every evening with my boyfriend just sitting on a couch watching film. My sister became that way, but she works all day, is married and is tired when she gets home. I'm not ready to retire just yet."

Please select one:

(1) "Hey, look, me either. OK? I'm not retiring on you."
(2) "Look, we'll go skydiving or something, okay?"
action: 1
response: "Well, I appreciate the sentiment, Jarret, but it's been like this for a while now. I don't know if it's just the inevitable ennui you get when you reach your late twenties or what, but that kind of brings me to what I wanted to talk about when I came over tonight..."

I realize now that we're probably only just getting started with what she wants to discuss. Geez. Well, I'll try to keep this quick.

Please select one:

(1) "Lay it on me, then. What's up?"
action: 1
response: "I'm going to be moving soon."

"What? Why? Where to? Moving like you're moving to Cheyenne moving or moving like you're moving to Eastern Islamistan moving?"

"To Texas... I'm going to Texas. Houston, specifically. A company from there sent some recruiters up over Christmas Break and most of us in my program interviewed well. After I finish up this semester I am taking a job with them and headed down there."

"Uh... okay." Don't you break down, Duffy. Do not let this girl
get under your skin.

"And it goes without saying that I'd love it if you came with me. I mean, I hope you know that."

"To Texas. Uh... well..."

Please select one:

(1) "Look, there's not a chance in hell I'm moving to Texas."
(2) "Houston? Why not Bangor? Or freaking Charon?"
action: 2
response: She shakes her head, she doesn't understand what I mean.

"I'm just saying, if you're going to move the hell away then don't beat around the bush. Get to some place that I'll really never be able to see you." For the record, I thought that mentioning Persephone or another Kuiper Belt object would have come off as too sarcastic, but I don't tell her that.

"That's not why I am going there. Why are you being so thick with this? What on earth is keeping you here?"

"So you want me to come with you?"

She pauses before answering. "With you like this? No. No, I don't want this version of you coming with me. I don't think you get just how much I am into you, Jarret. And it's painful to see you like this. The guy that I fell for and have been with all these years would not get defensive about simply moving somewhere."

Please select one:

(1) "Look... I have to get to work."
action: 1
response: "I understand," she says.

Technically, I had a couple hours before I was due at work, but I might as well go in early and pick up some overtime.
"We can talk about this after I get out of there, right?"

"Of course," she says. Again, in her terse form of communicating more without words than with.

"I get out at eleven. Gibs might want me to do his radio show but I will blow it off if so. I'll give you a call when I get home, okay?"

She nods, gives me a hug and leaves my room.
action: You leave
response: This room is centered around the television, a 32" Sony that Leary brought when he moved in. The set sits on a wooden entertainment center, with 'satellite' speakers all around the room. The tattered white couch is perpendicular to the set, and the blue one (where Pang normally situates himself) is eight or nine feet directly across from it.
On the tattered couch are the green blanket and the pillow. Sitting on the entertainment center are the television and the DVD player. Inside the DVD player is the Lord of the Rings DVD. Sitting on the table are Vecna's hand, the Dreamcast, a cup, the Blade DVD, and the The Truman Show DVD.
Criswell, Pang, and Audrey are here.

"Oh, Jesus Christ!" exclaims Audrey. "What the hell are you two chimps doing? Goddess, I don't need this shit. Goodbye!"
action: You look at Pang
response: Pang used to be an athlete but he's let himself go in recent years. He's about 6'4" tall and 270 pounds. He's wearing a mesh orange jersey stuffed into a pair of scrub blue jeans.

Audrey opens the door to the Front Porch, leaves, and slams it behind her.
action: Go outside
response: I shake my head at my horrible home life and leave for work...
I'm still rather pissed off when I pull up into the Mall parking lot and showroom park my car. What kind of game is Audrey playing here? Surely she's bluffing. We've gone to Defcon 2 or maybe 3 before, but we were always able to talk one another down before the bombshells were dropped.

I didn't want to have to go into work tonight worrying about this kind of crap. My job becomes a lot easier when I'm able to turn off the parts of my mind that don't deal with twenty-sided dice, Player's Handbooks and noticing customer body odor. The greatest curse you can inflict upon someone who works at the Mall is getting them to fret.

(And the greatest curse you can inflict upon yourself while at the Mall is to attempt to stop smoking. I seriously picked a bad week for it.)

I walk down to the east end of the Mall, avoid the guy taking surveys, and enter my store.
Benji's Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium
Trott had been working the evening shift; I greet him and take my usual place behind the counter. There's really no reason for two of us to close the store, except that Benji (the owner) is still a little freaked after someone tried to blow up his arcade next door a couple of weeks ago. It's unlikely that we'll have any customers, though, so Trott and I should be able to logout the register and drop the gate quickly when the time comes.
The counter contains the Magic: The Gathering cards.
The counter has a postcard on it.
Trott is here.
action: You get the postcard
response: Taken.

Gibs arrives from the north.
action: Examine postcard
response: It's a postcard sent from a friend of Trott's.

It reads, "Greetings from New Mexico, Trotskie! Clara and I are
living in a town called -- get this -- 'Rockville' of all things. It's right near Alamogordo, too, which is the city where Atari buried all those E.T. cartridges. I'll probably make the trip to check out the site one of these days. Clara has been completing her degree off the internet, and I've already cracked and released my first ware. It's great to be back in the loop! Keep it cool and hopefully we'll be back for a visit later this year. Try to remember to lovingly palm the breasts of the corpses you've been slabbing lately, bud! You know they like that. Your pal, Delarion."

"Hey, Duffy, solid. Glad you're here," says Barnaby. He puts his big gulp drink down by the counter. "Got a question for you."
action: You talk to Gibs
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

Barnaby nods over to Trott. "What's going on, man?" he asks.
action: You look at the cards
response: The cards are used in a game called 'Magic:The Gathering.' It's sort of like poker for nerds, except that the cards have special powers and so forth. I've never really gotten into it. Anyway, this is a small box containing wrapped packs of cards. There are about fifty or so in a box.

"It's all great here, man," says Trott to Barnaby. "Yourself?" he asks.

"Bitchin'" says Gibs in reply.
action: You get the cards
response: The counter is closed.
action: You open the counter
response: I can't, it's locked. I have no idea where the key is, either.

I hear a 'pop' sound come from near the counter.

"Aw, Christ," says Trott. "The goddamn lock just burst on the counter shelf. Cheap plastic crap."
action: You open the counter
response: Done.
action: You get the cards
response: Taken.
action: You open the cards
response: I can't do that with the Magic: The Gathering cards.
action: You talk to Trott
response: Please select one:

(1) "Hey, what's up, Trott?"
(2) "Anything interesting happen tonight?"
action: 2
response: "Nah, pretty slow night actually. Benji waddled in around five or six and the usual bunch of backpack-wearing kids bought their Magic:
The Gathering packs after classes let out. Other than that,
nothing of note. Why's Benji even having two of us close the store these days?"

"He still thinks that the bomb that was planted in the arcade a few weeks back had something to do with him. He's as paranoid as a dope-smoking Everquest player chilling in a Greek Net cafe."
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), a postcard, and the Magic: The Gathering cards.
action: You examine the glasses
response: My glasses have gone from being in style to out with such regularity that I don't even notice any longer. If geek chic is in these days then I'm all set. If not, at least I can see well.
action: You remove the glasses
response: I can't remove my specs like that! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
action: Describe the surroundings
response: Benji's Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium
The Emporium is rather smallish, as far as stores around here go, nestled into the far corners of the Mall, distant from practically every other decent or worthwhile store. Shelves of gaming books and modules are arranged everywhere, and promotional kiosks occupy the floorspace between the register and the far wall.

The rest of the Mall is to the north.
The counter has Barnaby's Big Gulp drink on it.
Trott and Gibs are here. Gibs has Gibs's lacrosse stick.
action: You examine kiosk
response: Benji bought up a bunch of skanky, rotting shelves from some other business here in the Mall that went under a while back. He moved the nice, clean ones that we had previously to his home when he was installing his home theatre system. These shelves have a stench to them which I'm sure probably gets into my clothes and on my person to a disgusting degree.
Sitting on the shelves are some gaming manuals.

Sitting on the shelves are some gaming manuals.
action: You take the drink
response: Taken.
action: You examine the manuals
response: We sell hundreds of different kinds of gaming manuals that support all manner of interests for the careful and particular fantasy gaming connoisseur. Car Wars (for geeks into cars), Boot Hill (for geeks into guns), FATAL (for geeks that are tired of their dice lying to them), Battletech (for geeks into giant robots), Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (for alpha, 'classic' geeks) and Bras, Blondes, and Broadswords (for the geek who's pretty much given up ever talking to a real, live woman). I've got most of the information in the manuals memorized, save for the last one, which I haven't had to get into yet. (AOL Keyword being 'yet,' I guess.)
action: You take the stick
response: Nah, that is Gibs'.
action: You go north
response: I'm supposed to finish out this shift tonight.
action: Look around
response: Benji's Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium
The Emporium is rather smallish, as far as stores around here go, nestled into the far corners of the Mall, distant from practically every other decent or worthwhile store. Shelves of gaming books and modules are arranged everywhere, and promotional kiosks occupy the floorspace between the register and the far wall.

The rest of the Mall is to the north.
Trott and Gibs are here. Gibs has Gibs's lacrosse stick.
action: Smell kiosks
response: Like old wood mixed with old feet.
action: Gibs
response: [ Use "TALK TO CHARACTER" to talk to a particular character in the game. ]
action: You examine the counter
response: It's an acrylic blue countertop, useful for leaning upon during the workday. We keep some media inside the counter, but nothing particularly interesting or important.
Behind the counter is a stool.
action: You look at the stool
response: The Game Store stool is a very short and incredibly uncomfortable 4-legged stool that we prop ourselves on when we know that Benji isn't going to be around. (Benji is an incredibly irritating person to work for, and will yell at us if he sees us slouching on the stool. He is a miserable person, in this regard. ... In all regards, really,
but still.) Trott once hurled the stool at me, and the thing really smarted when I got hit by the sharp legs of the thing.
action: You get the stool
response: Taken.
action: You examine the far wall
response: I haven't encountered any "far wall". (If you're sure you need to refer to that, try putting it another way.)
action: You look at the register
response: The cash register is beige and on the large side. They come in all shapes and sizes and I suppose I have seen a bunch at the Mall where I work that differ in structure and security features... Jesus, this is depressing. I'm a cash register expert at age 27. What have I been doing with my life?
action: You open the register
response: The register is locked.
action: You close out the register
response: I haven't encountered any "out register". (If you're sure you need to refer to that, try putting it another way.)
action: You examine Gibs
response: Barnaby Gibbons is 5'11" tall and 175lbs, and right about my age. He has hazel eyes and brown hair. He's wearing a backwards baseball cap and a Rochester Knighthawks authentic lacrosse jersey. Barnaby makes his living as the host of a semi-popular sports radio show that is broadcast from two in the morning until six AM weekdays. I've known him for about a decade. He was my roommate for my three semesters at Syracuse University, and always keeps me rooted back in reality when I've been spending too much time with role-playing games. He also has the worst taste in music of anybody I know.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...
action: You examine the stick
response: Gibs's stick is a Patterson brand Men's field lacrosse stick, designed for the Attack-Midfield position. It has a rawhide quick wall and bridge, woven with black leather, at one end (for catching and shooting balls) and a standard wood frame and handle at the other. Gibs has removed the plastic butt-end for his stick and filed it down, as he often thrusts it at his opponents during play in one of the nastier leagues he plays in.
action: You show the cards to Trott
response: Trott doesn't seem too interested in the Magic: The Gathering cards.
action: You show the cards to Gibs
response: Gibs doesn't seem too interested in the Magic: The Gathering cards.
action: You look at the lock
response: It's just a little lock placed on the counter to stop the mallrats from stealing Magic:The Gathering cards when we're not looking. And, to be honest, we're almost never looking. The cheapness of the lock caused it to become brittle and break when Gibs set his frosty Big Gulp drink by it.
action: You examine the drink
response: It's sixty-four ounces of refreshing lime cola in a cup that looks like a chalice. The 128 ounce version of this drink is called the 'Supreme Maw Thrust' and even though it's a better deal it doesn't get purchased much by many Mall denizens.
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), a postcard, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, and the stool.
action: You sit on the stool
response: The stool is really uncomfortable.
action: You close the door
response: It's already open.
action: You look at door
response: The back office door is extremely aged and flaking. The door is currently closed and locked.
action: You open the door
response: The back office door is locked.
action: Go south
response: I can't go that way. I can't go anywhere. I'm working.
action: Exits
response: There's an exit north to the rest of the Mall, but I'm really not supposed to leave until my shift is over. (That won't be for another couple of hours.)
action: You talk Gibs
response: Just talking to Gibs will suffice.
action: You look at cards
response: The cards are used in a game called 'Magic:The Gathering.' It's sort of like poker for nerds, except that the cards have special powers and so forth. I've never really gotten into it. Anyway, this is a small box containing wrapped packs of cards. There are about fifty or so in a box.
action: You open the cards
response: I can't do that with the Magic: The Gathering cards.
action: You eat the cards
response: I can't eat the Magic: The Gathering cards.
action: You throw the drink at back door
response: Nothing happens.
action: You put Magic in the counter
response: I put the Magic: The Gathering cards in the counter.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...
action: Lock lock
response: I will have to close it first.
action: Close lock
response: Closed.
action: Lock lock
response: Locked.
action: You open the lock
response: The counter lock is locked.
action: You put the drink on the counter
response: I put the Big Gulp drink on the counter.
action: You put the postcard on the counter
response: I put the postcard on the counter.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn) and the stool.
action: You drop the stool
response: Dropped.
action: Door
response: [ Use "TALK TO CHARACTER" to talk to a particular character in the game. ]
action: You kick the door
response: The back office door is covered in decades-old lead paint which gives it advanced armor against any attack I could strike it with.
action: You press the space
response: I'm here this evening at an Academy Videos store thirty-five minutes from my home with two of my roommates and my best friend. We have to come all the way down here to rent because of the late fees on my memberships at all the video places back in the Fort. I wish I had a good story for why that is the case, but I don't. I'm just poor and had the first Lord of the Rings movie overdue for more than
two weeks at multiple video chains. I kept it around to mainly prove trivia. (It will probably end up costing me more to show my friends that the elf character Legolas was walking on, and not
in the snow, than it did for director Peter Jackson to
implement that effect on-screen.)

Supposedly, Audrey is dropping by tonight to watch a movie, which is why I'm even here to begin with. In the five years we've been together we've dumped each other a total of nine times. She is currently ahead of me six to three. Her most shallow dumping was when she wanted to exclusively hang around a hardcore goth guy who had somehow managed to finance or lease his own cemetery plot. That guy was the black fingernail Alpha male until he missed his first payment. To be fair, mine was when she filled out Student Loan paperwork for me without my knowledge or consent and almost enrolled me into classes at the nearby University of Central Hill. She doesn't like the fact that I work at the Funtime Teen Mall for $5.51 an hour at age 27.

I have to work later tonight, so I guess I'd better pick something and get out of here quickly.
action: You examine the action
response: It's constructed from a cheap wood board, and sags quite a bit due to the number of movies placed within it.

Inside the action rack is a movie from action rack.

"So..." says Gibs, as he scans the movies half-heartedly, "You and Audrey are on the rocks again, eh, Duffy? What happened this time, did she get you enrolled into MIT?"
action: You take action movie
response: I grab a movie from the rack. And behold! It's The Lord of the
Rings. Why on earth the dip behind the counter would deign to
keep it in this rack is beyond my comprehension. But it
doesn't matter. I don't really possess the discipline to go get something else.

Pang clears his throat and holds up a copy of Blade. "I have
found the movie for us all tonight," he states, with an annoying authority. "It has electronica and vampires, as all classics should."

"Blade?" screeches Criswell. He's another one of my
roommates. "They merged techno music and goths for that one. No chance. No way. And if you pick out one that merges country music with the French art film or opera with a Pixar kiddie flick I will drop trou and take a crap on the TV while it's playing."

Criswell's only half joking, as he's demonstrated his willingness to do that before. When his favorite CFL football team lost in the finals last year he was so pissed off at the TV for depicting it that he grabbed a chair from the kitchen, got up and plopped a steaming load on top of the set. Worse, it was two weeks before anyone cleaned it up. We had a veritable bumper crop of flies around the house that year.
action: You wait for a while
response: Time passes...

"OK, I'm set," says Criswell. "Truman Show. Jim Carrey is the
funniest man alive. This'll be a gem. Hey, Duffy, you
bringin' that chick you hang around with over tonight? Well, thank me later, man, 'cos she'll be all out of giggles by the time you pull off your pants. For once, anyway."

Barnaby idly toys with a movie and then puts it back on the shelf. "There were some real hotties at that Bead Store, the other day," he says to me. "Cute, but not so cute that they would have nothing to do with you, I mean."
action: You wait
response: Time passes...

"Yo, fruit loops," says the clerk to the lot of us, "I'm shutting this store down to go get a full body massage from the Taiwanese Parlor down the street. Pronto. Get your movies and get out."

"Full-body?" asks Barnaby. "That means they give you a hand job, right?" The clerk perks up and nods gleefully. "Hey, I've always wondered..." Barnaby decides exactly how he wants to phrase it. "Is it customary to let them know when you're about to come? Like, a warning? Or do you not have to do that because they are professionals?"

Nobody says anything for a few moments. I shrug. "I guess it depends on whether you're a sprayer or a lumper," I say.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...

"Anyway, I wasn't kidding around. Get your movies and get lost," repeats the clerk. The clerk continues to get ready for his little excursion. He places his armament upon the counter.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'..." says Criswell. I'm all set, but it looks like we'll have to wait for him or Pang now.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...

A grime-encrusted area denizen slams his hand on the door and the clerk reluctantly lets him in. The thing shambles his way into the video store. He leaves muddy streaks upon the entrance door, drawing the further ire of the clerk.

"Hey, what the hell is the matter with you, cracky?" I suppose that I disagree that the new denizen is a crackhead (he meanders more in his movement than he shakes, I mean). But I don't say anything. The clerk points a stern finger at him from across the counter. "Can't you read? We're closed! Get out of here!"
action: You take the gun
response: I casually lift the gun from the counter without the clerk really noticing.

The area denizen grabs at the clerk's neck! He gets two hands round the clerk's esophagus, and begins choking the life right out of him!

The clerk gurgles in pain! I hear a guttural moaning sound coming from the attacker. The violence causes Pang and Criswell to hide in the back of the store.

"Hey!" says Barnaby, "Knock it off! Let him go!"
action: Shoot thing
response: [Specify which gun to shoot with.]
action: Go outside
response: (opening the store door first)
It's stuck!!

The grimy denizen throttles the clerk!

The clerk slumps to the floor, disappearing behind the register counter.

"Shoot the goddamn thing, Duffy!" screams Barnaby. He kicks open the door to the outside and gets into a defensive posture.
We run outside and slam the door shut. Pang gives it an angled kick, 'locking' it the best he can.

The stench of New Haz suddenly hits us all like a cruel sucker-punch through the septum. Individually (but within moments, in concert) we all gasp for fresher air. We need to get in my car and get out of here quickly -- both before that thing finishes up in the store,
and before the city's stink can settle in our clothes.
My car is here.

Gibs, Pang, and Criswell are here.

"What... what the hell was that?" asks Pang. I don't have a
decent answer for him. I don't know, I don't have any idea.

"There are sometimes bots," starts Barnaby, before shutting up. "Oh, Christ, let's just get the hell out of here before it comes looking for us!"
action: You enter Car
response: Opened.

I get into the car. Pang, Criswell and Barnaby join me.

The thing from inside breaks through a section of the door!
action: You drive
response: I double-check to make sure everyone's into the car.

The guy from inside starts banging and clawing at the passenger side of my car.

"Drive, dammit, drive!" screeches Criswell from the backseat.
"Get us outta here!"

I put the car in reverse and prepare to get the hell out of town. The guy staggers over and gets right in my path.

"Hit 'em, Duffy!" Criswell's going crazy back there. "Run him over!"

I put the car in first and stomp the accelerator more out of panic than anything else. The guy doesn't move, flinch, anything. I ram him and he smacks right into the windshield, chipping it with his elbow. He tumbles about and we hear him on the roof for a moment before seeing his face appear on the back window, shocking the hell out of Pang and Criswell. I downshift from third gear back into second for a moment which causes my car to red line and enough of a jolt for him to fall off completely. I see him, through the rear-view mirror, take a vicious fall onto the road, bouncing against it at painful angles like a discarded rag doll.

Nobody says anything for a second, until Criswell pops opens his mouth. "That... man, that was awesome!!"

"You don't think I killed that guy, do you? Do you think he's OK?"

"It was probably a bot," says Gibs. "Look, he was trying to attack us, anyway."

"That's true," says Pang. "Both items are totally true."

I get us on the Interstate and head north, back towards home. I chuck the gun out the window on the way back. Nobody says anything else until I drop Gibs off and get the rest of us back to the house...
action: Wait
response: I've only been on, really, truly on... once in my life.

It was about five years ago. The first week of March. The Wizards of the Coast (the company that publishes all the D&D books these days) were sponsoring a huge, two-day tournament in the Fort. I signed up for it with Barnaby, who used to be more into this kind of thing back then, and we started gaming it on a Saturday morning.

It wasn't a 'competitive' tournament, per se, especially since around that time the two local gangs of Korean role players had pretty much wiped each other out when an on-line housing refresh dispute went from the virtual world of the internet to the physical one of reality, resulting in thirteen dead and seven wounded. That would have normally taken the edge off for the rest of us for the whole of the weekend, but we soon found out that WotC were putting up an eight-thousand dollar first prize for the weekend's 'Most Outstanding Roleplayer.' When I found that out, something clicked inside me, and I drew from a strength of personality I didn't know I had.

All day the dice were with me. Just about every time I threw a twenty-sided die I got an incredibly favorable result. I started getting a bit more bold and soon found that the other kids at my table started following me. Looking to me for direction, for
decisions, for witticisms. I became bolder and overly gregarious. I hardly needed any of the booty the game's Dungeon Master was giving us in-game, and won over the entire table through generosity. I was confident and having fun being me for the first time ever.

My luck stayed with me when I went to different tables and played with different people. When the tournament finished the next day, I was awarded the top prize and a check for $8,000. I accepted it graciously and thanked everyone I played with for giving me the chance to shine. As Barnaby and I were rounding up our backpacks and bags of dice, I Xeroxed a copy of my character sheet, signed my name and phone number to it, and gave it to the cutest girl who seemed single during the event, someone I had played with on the first day.

When I got home, I spent the entire check on a car and a new wardrobe. I had nothing left of it by Tuesday.

Audrey didn't call the number on the sheet, maybe because it was a pompous act of nigh-Olympic level. But when she dropped by the Mall later that week I asked her out on a date. She said yes and has been in various states of flabbergastation with me over the years that have followed.

I got my car, clothes and relationship within a lucky streak that lasted 48 hours five years ago. And I've been living off that success ever since. I'd confess that in my darker moments, when I am at my most honest, it rather spooks me to know that I have essentially been stagnant ever since.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...
action: You wait for a while
response: Time passes...

There's a knock at the door. It's probably Audrey.
action: You open door
response: I let Audrey inside, and give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, Jarret..." she looks over and sees Pang on the couch. Distaste can't help but crawl across her face. "So... what have we got planned for tonight?"

I see Audrey for the first time. I probably should have gotten the door for her.

"Thanks for getting the door, jerk," she says. Ouch. This isn't good, I've managed to come off as irritating before she'd even entered the house. I usually have ten minutes of grace period.

"I was in the bathroom, brushing my hair so it would look nice and stylish for you," I say with a shrug.

"It's a brush. Not a magic wand. You know... I've never met a man who was so obsessed with his hair. But anyway. What are we doing tonight?"
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Movie Night! Movie Night sure sounds great, doesn't it?"
(2) "I'm going to avoid that question by telling you how great you look, Miss Case."
action: 1
response: "Movie night?" asks Audrey. "You want to sit around the house and watch a movie? Come on. Really?"

Pang pops up with his opinion. "Well, I want to."

"Nobody's asking you," says Audrey. Then it hits her that Pang is probably going to sit around for the showing. "Your little friend isn't around is he, Pang?" She means Criswell.

"He will be in a minute. The pipes froze and burst next door and flooded the kitchen. He's been keeping beer there."

Audrey doesn't roll her eyes or anything, but it's obvious to me that she envisioned something else when I asked her over. I'd love to go out somewhere, but I barely have enough gas to get me to work and back and I don't get paid until Wednesday. In a storybook world or in some kind of made-up dream relationship I'd just come correct and
let her know how broke I was. We could then just play in the snow, frolic for a couple hours and eat pieces of our gingerbread house for dinner. In the world I reside in, though, in the reality I've made for myself that's not an option I have available.

Pang puts the copy of Blade into the DVD player.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

"What.. aw, hell, what the hell is this, Pang?" asks Criswell, as he enters. "Oh, hey, by the way, I don't think we're gonna be able to keep beers at the neighbor's house any longer. Someone has begun the moving-in process. Wait, did you end up getting this fucking
Blade thing? Oh, Kee-rist!"

I don't understand why Criswell is so against this movie. I guess I could ask him, or something, if I really cared. Only I don't. I just want him gone.

"Just watch the movie," says Pang.

"No!" exclaims Criswell. "I'm gonna make The Call!"

"You're not going to have a quorum," says Pang.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Sorry. The next movie will probably be better anyway."
(2) "Did you particularly want to see Blade??"
action: 2
response: "Not especially," she says. "I think I saw it when it first came out."

"What? Are you kidding me?" I think about the math for a second. "By my calculations, you were eight when it came out. You mean to tell me that the Neuromancer didn't like you dating me at first because at three years your elder, I was a bad example, but he was OK with you watching a movie where Snipes hacks apart vampires for 90 minutes?" I call her father 'The Neuromancer' because his first name is Henry, and the main character of the novel _Neuromancer_ is named Henry Case. I've been lucky in not saying it when he's been around so far.

"I was very mature for my age," she replies. "I think we'd have been a perfect match, intellectually, if you met me when I was eight and you were twenty-seven.

"Hey, what about if you met me?" says Criswell.

"Two," Audrey and I say at the same time.

Leary walks down the stairs. He gives everyone a 'hey' and waves to Audrey.

"Yo, Leary, what's your take on Blade?" asks Criswell.

Pang's not thrilled about opinions being offered up on his choice before the opening credits are even finished.

"Ehh," says Leary as he picks up the phone to make a call. "Not my thing. Nothing personal, Panger."

"Damn fuckin' straight!" says Criswell. "I'm makin' the call! The Call for Ejection! Duffy? What're you saying?"

I don't know how to go with this one. On one hand, it could mean that my movie will get played and these two morons will leave out of boredom. On the other hand -- just how freaking immature am I going to come across?
action: You talk to Audrey
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

"The thumb points down, bitchkin!" says Criswell to Pang. It was inevitable that he was going to pull the movie no matter what popular choice happened to be. Criswell hops over to the DVD player and ejects the disc. He places The Truman Show in. "We're now starin'
down the barrel of a whole lotta giggles," he says to Audrey.

I keep one eye trained underneath the sofa in case Audrey's rolling eyes pop out of her head.

"What are you talking about?" she says. Audrey has never, ever liked Criswell. "This is a drama, not a ninety minute episode of 'White Guys Gone Jostling.'" Criswell's head strains to the side as he simultaneously doesn't believe her and doesn't comprehend her.

Audrey continues. "You know what drama is, right? It's the name given to a movie that adults tend to enjoy, as well as being the
standard root cause of every Linkin Park song."

"Yeah, whatever." Criswell shrugs. "I bet you Truman here is making like he's talking out of his ass before the opening credits are finished."
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "So... how is school going these days?"
(2) "What are you doing later?"
action: 1
response: "Pretty well, actually." Audrey is in the last year of Medical School. It's taken her forever to finish up, but I guess that's normal for would-be doctors. "They are having a dress-up party in my department for Martin Luther King day in a couple weeks, you know. You should come."

"Who do you have to dress up as?"

"Someone who did something positive for civil rights."

"So you could dress up as someone who freed the slaves, then, right?"

"Sure. You'd look cute, I think, if you had that Abraham Lincoln-style beard for a few days."

"Ah! Ah-ha. Yes." I don't bother to tell her that I was thinking more along the lines of Cameron Maj?re than Lincoln, which is probably for the best.

Five minutes elapse. The only possession Criswell has left is the dumbfounded look upon his face.

Minute seven comes and Pang can't help himself any longer.

"You stupid, simple... child," he says, quietly. "Next week
go get Good Will Hunting -- Robin Williams is hilarious in
it." Pang points his thumb down.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "This, ah, movie is mine, for what it's worth."
action: 1
response: She doesn't say anything. She just nods, looking straight ahead. I can't really blame her... these two idiots are really getting in my way tonight, and ruining everything.

Leary turns around from his phone call and squints a bit at the TV. He chuckles, points his own thumb down for a second and then turns back away from the living room. Pang wiggles the Vecna's Hand toy around with its thumb pointing down in order to taunt Criswell just a bit more.

Pang gets up to change the movie.

He places in Lord of the Rings, apparently without really
recognizing what it is. The intro starts. Audrey lets out a sigh. I have no idea if I'm correctly interpreting it, but I'm guessing that she's resigned herself to at least watching the movie on the TV screen.

"What the shit is this?" asks Criswell. "More fuckin' ghouls and orcs and shit?"
action: You wait awhile
response: Time passes...

Pang and Criswell both put their thumbs down as Leary leaves.

"What are you two doing?" I ask. "There aren't any other movies. We didn't get any."

"Someone has forgotten our massive porn collection," says Pang, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," says Audrey. She gets off the couch and leaves the room, heading towards my bedroom. Not, I should say, in a 'let's go make out' way or a 'we need to talk' way but in a pre-emptive strike on a fight way.

"What's her problem?" asks Criswell, to Pang. "We've got chick-on-chick stuff."

I've got a fairly high boiling point, but I've absolutely had it with these two. The frustrations concerning the fact that my bad decisions and sloth have forced me into this decision boils right over. I decide it's time to probably let them have it.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...
action: You enter the bedroom
response: My bedroom's the smallest one in the house. (I got here last so I got the skankiest room.) There's not a whole lot going on in here, just some shelves with all my crap on it and a bed. It smells a bit less like cigarettes than it used to since I have gone a week and a half since my last one.

"What the hell was that?" asks Audrey. "When are you going to get it... this has got to stop."
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "You're pissed. Aren't you?"
(2) "Hey, sorry about that and those guys."
(3) "What's got to stop?"
action: 1
response: "It's got to stop, Jarret. You know that."

Eight years ago I was a sophomore at Syracuse University. I had not only barely gotten in, but barely survived my first year. My grade point average was a 1.8. (Well, 1.78; I used to always round that up.) My father had two main tenets when it came to raising me: obedience and grades. The first half of my sophomore year I failed all my classes except for Organic Chemistry Lab and Mythologies II. (Chem Lab was because I was fucking the teaching assistant; bitch still only gave me a B-.) When my father got my semester's grades in the mail he, for the first time, didn't go berserk or explode in a wave of profanity. He simply shrugged and said 'it's got to stop.'

It feels just the same as Audrey saying it now.

Please select one:

(1) "What? Come on, we were just goofing around in there."
action: 1
response: "Well it's not funny!" she says. "And I can't think of any substance I could take that would make those idiots 'funny.' I could give you the formula and arrangement of at least a hundred molecules off the top of my head, and not a single one can be ingested in sufficient quantities that would make what went on in there 'funny' without killing me first."

The thing about dating smart girls, I should tell you, is that you don't feel half as bad when they attempt to humiliate you. Audrey and I also give each other plenty of time to finish our sentences, which I think is something that we both require more than oxygen, fresh water, and C6 H... er, 12, and O... well, glucose, anyway.

"Spending time is normally fun with you, Jarret. Doing date-type things. Even studying when you were still going to uni. But this middle-age sitting-around watching-DVDs thing... I'm just not ready for every day to be like this."

Please select one:

(1) "Hey, look, me either. OK? I'm not retiring on you."
(2) "Look, we'll go skydiving or something, okay?"
action: 1
response: "Well, I appreciate the sentiment, Jarret, but it's been like this for a while now. I don't know if it's just the inevitable ennui you get when you reach your late twenties or what, but that kind of brings me to what I wanted to talk about when I came over tonight..."

I realize now that we're probably only just getting started with what she wants to discuss. Geez. Well, I'll try to keep this quick.

Please select one:

(1) "Lay it on me, then. What's up?"
action: 1
response: "I'm going to be moving soon."

"What? Why? Where to? Moving like you're moving to Cheyenne moving or moving like you're moving to Eastern Islamistan moving?"

"To Texas... I'm going to Texas. Houston, specifically. A company from there sent some recruiters up over Christmas Break and most of us in my program interviewed well. After I finish up this semester I am taking a job with them and headed down there."

"Uh... okay." Don't you break down, Duffy. Do not let this girl
get under your skin.

"And it goes without saying that I'd love it if you came with me. I mean, I hope you know that."

"To Texas. Uh... well..."

Please select one:

(1) "Look, there's not a chance in hell I'm moving to Texas."
(2) "Houston? Why not Bangor? Or freaking Charon?"
action: 1
response: "Really?" she says, a bit annoyed at my attitude. "And why's that? You're not worried about losing your seniority at that shithole you work at, are you?"

"No! Jesus. It's not that. But look at it from my perspective. Why would I move to a city where I know exactly nobody?"

"You'd know me."

"Besides you."

"Some of my friends from class are headed down there. They like you."

"I don't know about that." I consider that for a second.
"Wait, really?"

Please select one:

(1) "Look... I have to get to work."
action: 1
response: "I understand," she says.

Technically, I had a couple hours before I was due at work, but I might as well go in early and pick up some overtime.
"We can talk about this after I get out of there, right?"

"Of course," she says. Again, in her terse form of communicating more without words than with.

"I get out at eleven. Gibs might want me to do his radio show but I will blow it off if so. I'll give you a call when I get home, okay?"

She nods, gives me a hug and leaves my room.
action: Exit
response: This room is centered around the television, a 32" Sony that Leary brought when he moved in. The set sits on a wooden entertainment center, with 'satellite' speakers all around the room. The tattered white couch is perpendicular to the set, and the blue one (where Pang normally situates himself) is eight or nine feet directly across from it.
On the tattered couch are the green blanket and the pillow. Sitting on the entertainment center are the television and the DVD player. Inside the DVD player is the Lord of the Rings DVD. Sitting on the table are Vecna's hand, the Dreamcast, the bottle of wine, a cup, the Blade DVD, and the The Truman Show DVD.
Criswell, Pang, and Audrey are here.

"Oh, Jesus Christ!" exclaims Audrey. "What the hell are you two chimps doing? Goddess, I don't need this shit. Goodbye!"
action: Go outside
response: (opening the porch door first)
Opened.

Audrey strides out the open door. I shake my head at my horrible home life and leave for work...
I'm still rather pissed off when I pull up into the Mall parking lot and showroom park my car. What kind of game is Audrey playing here? Surely she's bluffing. We've gone to Defcon 2 or maybe 3 before, but we were always able to talk one another down before the bombshells were dropped.

I didn't want to have to go into work tonight worrying about this kind of crap. My job becomes a lot easier when I'm able to turn off the parts of my mind that don't deal with twenty-sided dice, Player's Handbooks and noticing customer body odor. The greatest curse you can inflict upon someone who works at the Mall is getting them to fret.

(And the greatest curse you can inflict upon yourself while at the Mall is to attempt to stop smoking. I seriously picked a bad week for it.)

I walk down to the east end of the Mall, avoid the guy taking surveys, and enter my store.
action: 1
response: "Hi, Duffy," says Trott. "Not much going on. Got a postcard from a friend of mine who used to work next door. Did you ever meet him?"

"The arcade guy? Met him once, briefly. He didn't seem to know who on earth I was when I'd see him passing through the mall after that, though."

Trott chuckles. "Yeah, that was him all right."

Gibs arrives from the north.
action: You talk to Gibs
response: Please select one:

(1) "Hey, look who it is! The guy who hates malls and D&D!"
(2) "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
action: 2
response: "Nah, not until three o'clock A.M.," says Barnaby. "On Fridays they don't need me around before my show starts."

"Hey, Duffy, solid. Glad you're here," says Barnaby. He puts his big gulp drink down by the counter. "Got a question for you."

Please select one:

(1) "Well what brings you here? I thought you hated the mall?"
action: 1
response: "Mingya, gimme a break, Duffy," says Barnaby. "I outgrew all this stuff years ago. If I'm going to be weirdly obsessive about something, it'll be football roto stats, not the loyalty tables of half-orc henchmen."

"Fair enough," I say with a shrug. Why get into it with him? "What's up, anyway?"

"I need you to come on the air tonight. After you get done here and everything. Both of my interviews fell through so I need to make this an all-comedy night."

I've gone by the studio with Barnaby a couple times before. Though previously I've known in advance and could brush up on the various crimes committed by NFL players.

"I dunno, Gibs... I haven't been paying much attention as of late, I don't even know who's going to be in the Super Bowl."

"You'll do fine!" he says. "Tavarian Pittman was identified as a participant in a snuff film earlier today! All we're going to do is make jokes about it for three hours. Can you do a Nicholas Cage impression? Additionally, we'll also discuss the worst sports cities of all-time."

Barnaby nods over to Trott. "What's going on, man?" he asks.

Please select one:

(1) "What do you have down as the worst sports city, all-time, so far?"
action: 1
response: "So far, Nagasaki, 1946. Everyone is dead, the stadia are in shambles, and the concession stand taffy glows in the dark."

"It's all great here, man," says Trott to Barnaby. "Yourself?" he asks.

"Bitchin'" says Gibs in reply.
action: You open the counter
response: I can't, it's locked. I have no idea where the key is, either.

I hear a 'pop' sound come from near the counter.

"Aw, Christ," says Trott. "The goddamn lock just burst on the counter shelf. Cheap plastic crap."

Audrey arrives from the north.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Well, that didn't take long. Hi!"
(2) "Congrats! You're our 209th customer!"
action: 2
response: Audrey's not sure how to respond to that.

"You get a free dice polishing down at Hrewreguard's Trading Post," I say.

Audrey's even less sure of how to respond to it now.

"Hello, Jarret," says Audrey. She makes eye contact for only a split-second before directing her line of sight downwards and away from me. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Sure, anytime. Go ahead."
(2) "Yeah. Talk in private, or...?"
action: 2
response: "Private would be fantastic," says says, quickly. She takes my hand and walks me to the back of the store. We're not really out of the range of Barnaby and Trott, but it's unlikely that they are going to eavesdrop.

"Hey, look," I start, "About before -- "

"Oh, no," she says, "This isn't about that. We can get some coffee when you get out of work and talk about that. No, Sydney and Casey wanted me to ask you a favor. They are having difficulties getting their register to interface with the mainframe tonight. Something is broken with their PC. They thought maybe you could look at it for them."

I am crazy about this girl, and I guess I will always be and everything, but her coming over here to get me to do work for her friend's store is kind of cold. "Isn't Mall Security supposed to handle that?" It's not really that I don't want to help, I tell myself, as much as that I'll look like a jerk in front of a small gaggle of girls if I can't fix it. (But then I tell myself that I'm 28 and still afraid to fail a bit in front of some chicks. Ouch.)

"They only have one guy working now, what with Christmas Rush being over and everything. And that guy is infatuated with a girl over at the lingerie store."

"Which one? I know one or two girls that work there."

"Not one that works there. He's obsessed with with one of the giant push-up bra posters in the window."

I consider this for a moment. "Well... fair enough, I guess. Her breasts on one of those giant posters would be six times larger than his head. Or even eight times if it's a good push-up."

Please select one:

(1) "Yes, look, I'll help you. Them. Whoever."
(2) "Look, I'll try to make it over eventually. OK?"
action: 1
response: "Fan-tastic," she says, with more than a hint of
exasperation. "Let's go." I wave to Trott in order to inquire if it's OK if I leave the store. He gives me a nod. We run this store through a regime of efficient hand-signals and basic telepathy. Gibs perks up at all of this.

"Hey, I'm coming along," he says.

"No, you're not," replies Audrey.

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm missing a chance to hang out with the girls at the Bead Store, Yoko," says Gibs.

Audrey turns to make what I predict to be a sharp comment, but I try to defuse the situation first. "Audrey isn't anybody's Yoko fucking Ono, Gibs. That doesn't even make any sense, since she's not bringing me down, making me dress poorly, stopping me from shaving and bathing, or getting me shot in New York City. She's not the Yoko to my Lennon, not the Delilah to my Samson. No, what she is, is -- "

"I'm going to prepare some vomit bags in case you say she's the Laurana to your Tanis," says Trott from behind the counter. He's referring to the male and female lead of the Dragonlance
novels.

Nobody says anything for a few seconds. "Let's just go," I say. "The three of us."
action: You go outside
response: I can't go that way. I can go north to the eastern end of the mall.

(Guess I have time to go check out the Bead Store.)
action: You take all
response: gaming manuals: I've got all the info contained within memorized for those games I'm into, and somewhat proud of myself for those games that I don't have committed to memory, if you're digging my ditch here (and I think you are).
postcard: Taken.
Magic: The Gathering cards: Taken.
Big Gulp drink: Taken.

There is a strong shock of sound from above! It roars as if lightning struck directly above the Mall!

"Goddess!" yells Audrey, as the Mall shakes from the shockwave, "What on Earth was that?"

The lights go out in the Mall!
action: Go north
response: This is as far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally built on a landfill (and it's already started to sink some). There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Bead Store, Sporting Goods Outlet and Arcade.

My store, the Gaming Emporium is south.

Gibs and Audrey follow me.
action: You examine the kiosk
response: The informational kiosk shows all the locations of all the businesses on this level of the Mall.

The lights come back on, albeit it slightly dimmer than before.

This is far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally constructed upon a landfill. There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Beads Store, Sporting Good Outlet and the (closed) Arcade.

My store, the Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium, is to the south.
Gibs and Audrey are here. Gibs has Gibs's lacrosse stick.
action: You read the kiosk
response: From east to west, the first floor of the Mall goes as follows:



Choad's Sporting Goods - Benji's Arcade

Jewels N' Things - Perfume Counter
action: Go west
response: I'm at the eastern side of the Mall. To the north is Choad's Sporting Goods (the gate has been lowered and the screen up). The arcade is to the south, but that has been closed and inaccessible for a while now. My store is a bit to the east, and the Bead Store a bit to the west.

There is a table here, a couple feet west of the edge of the Sporting Goods store.

In the corner of the front of the Arcade is an X-box game unit.

Gibs and Audrey follow me.
action: You examine table
response: Some of the stores have tables on the outside, in an attempt to entice customers to come inside. This table is one of them, for Choad's Sporting Goods Store. Usually only extremely cheap items are set on them, so as to minimize shortages and loss.
Sitting on the counter are some socks.

Sitting on the counter are some socks.
action: Wear socks
response: I already have a decent pair of socks, so I place them over my hands and use them as mittens. The Mall is freezing, anyway.
action: Go inside
response: I can't go that way. I can go west to the beginning of the east wing or east to the eastern end of the mall.
action: You look at the box
response: It's a very old video game unit. I believe it first hit the market in 2001 or 2002. It's also incredibly fricken huge. Looks like over a cubic meter of gaming anger to me. Physically, the box depicts all the games you can play on the thing in a green and black color scheme.

Benji (the same guy who is my boss as well) keeps them outside the Arcade in some attempt to entice customers sick of the arcade experience into buying a larger-ticket item. Either that, or they are placed outside the arcade to balance the weight of the dozen, ancient, hulking arcade games inside it. Either / or.
action: You check what you're carrying
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), a postcard, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, some socks (being worn), and the X-box.
action: Go west
response: "Well, we're here," says Audrey, indicating that the Bead Store is to the south.

There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.

Gibs and Audrey follow me.
action: You go south
response: I part aside a dense curtain of strung-together beads and enter the store. The Bead Store has always had a unique odor among the shops on this block of the Mall -- it smells strongly of incense and old marijuana. The owner of this place has a sweetheart deal on the rent along with clearance from the Fire Marshall that allows her to burn all manner of scent sticks popular with Wiccans and hippies.

There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.

On the far side of the store is the register counter, and next to that, the broken PC that Audrey wanted me to take a look at.
Alongside the shelves is a tall crystal ball holder.
Sydney and Casey are here.

Gibs and Audrey follow me.
action: You examine Sydney
response: Sydney is a very feisty and sarcastic blonde, and close friend of Audrey's.

Casey and Sydney hold each other's hands along the edge of the pentagram. I give Gibs a nudge and a thumbs-up sign.

"So, Barnaby," says Casey, "Would you like to help us in our little seance?"

Audrey gives Casey a dirty look.

"What?" murmurs Casey to Audrey, "You're the one who told me I was gonna get a boyfriend at the mall."

"I'd be delighted to help out," says Barnaby. "I've never done this before, so just let me know what to do and where to go. Did I mention that I am famous? I'm famous."
action: You examine Casey
response: She has brown eyes and jet-black, though obviously dyed, hair. She is wearing a textbook goth outfit, complete with the black fingernails, eyeliner and steel-toed boots. She looks dark, mysterious, dangerous and completely off her rocker.

The blonde (Sydney) gets Audrey, Gibs and Casey situated just how she wants them. "I memorized the passage we need to incant," she says to them. "You, the new guy, just don't speak out of turn. There are four names you need to remember. They are Nysrogh, Verin, Valafar and Cyramoir. We say them in an order based on just who we are trying to raise. Can you remember those names?"

"He's a sports geek," says Audrey, "He can remember the average number of cup adjustments a player for the Nukes makes in a game -- He can remember this."

"I'll be fine," beams Gibs.
action: You get the ball
response: I can't separate the crystal ball from the crystal ball holder.

The girls and Gibs continue the summoning ritual...

"Nysrogh, we are not fit for your attention, milord," sings Casey, sweetly.
action: You look at the pc
response: The register computer is run by an ancient Pentium IV-based processor within a mini-ATX case. It, like all register computers, connects to the Mall hub via a serial cable in the back.

The girls and Gibs continue the summoning ritual...

With the girls' eyes closed, I take the opportunity to check out their bodies. These three can seriously fill out a costume.
action: You look at the serial cable
response: Hmm... it looks like it's been plugged into the computer incorrectly. I could probably fix it.

The girls and Gibs continue the summoning ritual...

Sydney keeps mumbling in some sort of inane chant.
action: You fix the cable
response: I take a look at the back of the computer. The serial cable has been shoved into the back panel of the case. I'm not a hardware guru, but I can count pins and figure out where most stuff goes. I look over to the girls to tell them what the problem is, but they are holding one another's hands trying to engage in some pseudo-religious summoning ceremony. I fail at stifling an eye roll and give the serial cord a gentle tug. Nothing happens, as it's quite stuck. I pull a little harder, but still nothing. I decide to get a bunch of slack on the cord and give it a forceful yank --

The serial cord rips free from the back of the computer! I see, briefly, that it was attached to some sort of small plug-in card that was squirreled away inside the box.

The force of pulling on the cord launches the card behind me. It falls into the pentagram that the girls and Gibs are around.

The girls and Gibs continue the summoning ritual...

"Verin, love, do not forget us this dark eve, we miss you so..." chants Sydney, slowly.

There is a sudden and quick flash of fire and light a second after the cable lands on the floor!

A deafening boom accompanies it -- the five of us fall right to the floor.
action: You look around
response: Bead Store, on the floor
The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.

On the far side of the store is the register counter, and next to that, the broken PC that Audrey wanted me to take a look at.
Alongside the shelves is a tall crystal ball holder.
Sydney, Casey, Gibs, and Audrey are here. Gibs has Gibs's lacrosse stick.

Gibs stirs for a bit, and gives everyone in the room a look of disgusted confusion. He leaves a rather pregnant pause. He finally gives his own comment on the explosion: "What... the fuck...
was that?

Audrey slowly picks herself up off the ground. I crawl over towards her. "Did you..." she starts. She sees the cable in the middle of the floor.

"That was incredible!" says Casey, as she gets up and dizzily staggers around. "We have to do that again!"
action: You get the holder
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey are all up after the knockdown. Sydney is still down and out, though.

"Syd?" asks Audrey. "You okay? Syd?" Audrey picks up the serial cable from the floor. "Oh, no..." she stumbles back as if something cut her legs out from underneath her. She knocks her head up against the counter and slumps to the ground without displaying a bit of evidence that she felt any pain. She stares ahead, so vacant...

She snaps out of it. She looks up to me. "Jarret... " She swallows -- hard. "I think we summoned something. I think we summoned a
ghost."

If anyone else had said it at any other time I would have began a sarcastic riff. But she's not kidding around. "Are you okay? Did you hurt your head at all -- " She shakes her head in the negative. "Look, I'll check on Sydney, OK? Just relax, just stay still for a second..." Sydney is the only one still unconscious.
action: You wake sydney
response: I get up off the floor and go over towards Sydney in an attempt to wake her up. I place my hand on her shoulder... and suddenly her eyes snap open. She recognizes me quickly and gives me a look which communicates that she could have me at any time she wished in
a split-second.

Her eyes begin to swirl. She begins to turn transparent, she starts to float... she rises off the ground, breaking the look of pure sex and hypnotism that she shared with me, and looking over the others.

"Always the inadvertent knight in shining armor, no, Jarret?" she whispers. It's still Sydney's voice, but softer, much more melodic.

"Syd?" asks Audrey. "Are you --"

"Oh, I feel wonderful," she says, answering the question
before Audrey can finish it. "It has been so long since I have walked among you all... Too long. I have forgotten how good it feels to take a breath of air rather than soot..."

She crosses her legs and raises herself a bit higher. She begins to slightly glow.
action: You look at the holder
response: It's a wooden stand, roughly four feet in height. It has three protruding grips on top to hold a smallish crystal ball (which is present). The base is circular in shape and rather thick.

An animate human skeleton staggers into the store from outside. Its walk is slow, considered and focused, as if controlled by an inexperienced puppeteer. It has in its fingers a bloody and seeping severed head, which it discards to one side of the room.

Audrey lets out a quick scream of shock when she sees it hobble in, and I grab her arm and get her behind me. The skeleton's head swivels quickly from right to left as it gives the four of us on the ground a haunting peer.

I scan the room and recall what's in my pockets and trying to find a decent weapon.
action: You take the holder
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

The skeleton attacks and hits me!
action: Attack skeleton
response: "Choke it all down!" I scream. I hit the skeleton!

The skeleton screeches horribly -- a dry, dusty rasp somehow escaping from its ribs and jaw.

The skeleton attacks and hits me!
action: Status
response: I have a few minor scratches but am otherwise fine.

The skeleton attacks and hits me!
action: You kick the head
response: I cruelly break the severed head!
action: You hit the skeleton with the holder
response: I clobber the skeleton with the crystal ball holder.

(The crystal ball holder breaks as a result, and I throw it down.)

"Choke it all down!" I scream.

The skeleton collapses and falls to the ground.

"Excellent, Jarret," Sydney rasps to me, from above. "It could not handle being hit that way..."

"Skeletons are susceptible to blunt attacks." I shrug in a despondent attempt to mask my fear. "Y'know, Syd, I was thinking of just pulling off my trousers there for a second and breaking it into kibble with the Hammer of Thunderbolts that lives in my pants, but I didn't want to knock down all my friends in the process."

She ignores my comment, as if unable to process it and feeling me not worthy of inquiry. The skeleton's weakness has been in every revision of the Monster Manual over the years. It's one of the first
--

"It's one of the first things you learn when playing D&D," says Sydney. A terrible smile crosses her face.

It's terribly effective.

I try to show no fear. (No additional fear, anyway.) "But that's an artifact of the game," I say. "It's a made-up construct. Something to give them a little more personality. There's no real-world basis for any of it." Keep thinking, Duffy, keep your mind busy, don't let this telepath get into your hea--

"Probably not," she says. Her eyes turn empty and glow. "But who can tell? You have complicated my return slightly, but not for much longer. The look into your mind I obtained when we touched was so insightful. You're made up of so many deep, arbitrary little undead rules, rules you need to learn and exceptions you need to note."

"What? Those aren't mine! I didn't make them!"

"They will be. They are. You will find this place governed by them when you return to it. My power within this world will grow and that should keep you busy..."

The room becomes much colder. Barnaby grabs me by the collar and leads the four of us out of the Bead Store.
Gibs drags me out of the Bead Store as I try to plead with Sydney (or whatever is possessing her) to use anybody else as her template tonight, to give us back our friend, to let us all go. The room just keeps getting colder, and my words and breath form puffy clouds that fall short of reaching her. She never wavers in her silent smirk.

We leave the Bead Store and collect ourselves out in the foyer. Most of the lighting in the Mall is now completely gone; lit instead by the moon through the skylights.

"Fuck this fucking mall," says Gibs. "Let's go get Trott and get the fuck out of here. Jesus Fucking Christ."

"I don't think we can just leave," says Audrey.

"Why not?"

"The thing that possessed Sydney said that the Mall will be governed by the arbitrary rules she found floating about in my head," I say. "With the showing of the skeleton, I think she means the undead rules."

"What undead rules?" asks Gibs. "What are they, specifically? Which undead are we going to encounter? What will they act like?"

"Who are all you people?" says Casey in a voice like Gibs's,
making fun of all his questions.

"There's a progression," I say. "In the D&D undead table, it goes skeleton, zombie, ghoul, shadow, ghast or wight, wraith, mummy, spectre, vampire, ghost, lich... and then 'special.'"

Gibs reflects on that for a couple seconds. "Ah. Sure. Special like Special Olympics, or -- "

"Special like they can kill with a scream or single touch."

"Yeah." Gibs shrugs. "I guess that's pretty special."

"Wait," says Casey. "Do you hear that? There's something groaning out there, in that direction." She points to the west. "Can you guys hear it? It sounds like there's a lot of them."

"I'll get us out of here," I say, quietly. I don't know if the others are paying attention to me. "I'll keep us all safe..."
East Side Corridor
There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
Audrey, Casey, and Gibs are here. Gibs has Gibs's lacrosse stick.
action: Go south
response: The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.
Alongside the shelves is a tall crystal ball holder.
A postcard, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, the X-box are here.
Sydney and the skeleton are here.

Gibs follows me.
action: You take the holder
response: Taken.

It's really cold in here.
action: You take the magic cards
response: Taken.

The cold begins to really sting. It's too cold to stay in here, so I scatter back outside the Bead Store.

There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
Audrey and Casey are here.
action: You look at cards
response: The cards are used in a game called 'Magic:The Gathering.' It's sort of like poker for nerds, except that the cards have special powers and so forth. I've never really gotten into it. Anyway, this is a small box containing wrapped packs of cards. There are about fifty or so in a box.
action: You go east
response: I'm at the eastern side of the Mall. To the north is Choad's Sporting Goods. My store is a bit to the east, and the Bead Store a bit to the west.

There is a table here, set adjacent to the Sporting Goods store.

Gibs goes over to the gate of the Sporting Goods store and gives it a tug. "It's locked... what, do all the gates fall down when the power goes out or something?"

"That's my understanding, yes." I casually inspect the gate. "Ever since somebody brought a bomb into the arcade there have been a host of security procedures not in other, normal malls. Trott knows how to work the security console, though. Let's go find him."
action: You go east
response: This is far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally constructed upon a landfill. There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Beads Store, Sporting Good Outlet and the (closed) Arcade.

My store, the Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium, is to the south.
action: Go south
response: Benji's Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium
My store is covered in darkness and shadows, giving it a far more foreboding look than it's otherwise ever had.

The rest of the Mall is to the north. The door to the back room leads east.
action: Go east
response: (opening the back office door first)
Okay, the door is now open.
I enter the back office hand-first, groping for the light switch. I find it, but flipping it has no effect. This act is not lost on Gibs.

"Good work, there, Tesla," he says, albeit rather quietly. "The electricity is out everywhere."

It takes a moment, but our eyes adjust to the darkness.

The back office is made up of a number of shelves which hold boxes of 'Magic' game cards, and other stock we don't want out by the customers. There's barely enough room for two people to stand side-by-side here. There are two exits, one back to the store and one that leads to the garbage hall (and eventually, beyond that, to the security area).
Sitting on the shelves is a cardboard box.

"Trott's not here..." I say to Gibs.

Gibs doesn't say anything. I turn back to look at him and his face has blanched. He snaps out of it but doesn't look at me. He points ahead and whispers, "Look at the window to the door, Duffy..."
action: You look at the window
response: I creep up to the window of the hallway door and take a closer look at it. A bloody handprint has been smeared  upon the other side.
action: You look in box
response: Inside the cardboard box is the gaming glove.
action: Wear glove
response: I'll have to take the socks off my hands first.
action: You remove the socks
response: I take off the socks.
action: Wear glove
response: I slip on the thick, pleather gaming glove. I begin to feel downright sexy.
action: You look at Glove
response: The Sierra Hobbies Gaming Glove is an inky black novelty gaming companion for the hurried Games Master. It's full of mnemonics, scribbled shortcuts and tables to allow for a smoother (and more stylish) game of D&D. No Dungeon Master that takes his craft seriously should be without!

I'm currently wearing the gaming glove.
action: You open door
response: Opened.
action: Go north
response: Gibs and I enter the long hallway that sits behind a number of stores. It's here to allow us to drop off whatever cardboard and trash we accumulate during the day for janitorial services. I know from memory that there is a door on the east side that opens into a sort of mini-lounge for the mallcops, but there isn't enough light to really make it out very well.
action: You go to the east
response: (opening the second corridor door first)
Opened.

The Lounge is far more spacious than the last few areas, and has enough room for a couple of couches, a television, a big plant, and a water cooler.

On the far side of the room is a door which leads to a long walkway (on the other side of which, I think, is the actual Mall Security headquarters).

"This isn't what I expected a Mall lounge to look like," says Gibs.
action: You look at cooler
response: The water cooler usually holds a few gallons of water, but it's currently empty. Busting up urchins all day makes a man
thirsty, narmean?
action: You examine the plant
response: It's just a generic pink pot that can store green vegetation and wildlife. It's about half a foot in diameter.
action: You go east
response: I can't go that way. I can go west to the garbage hall or north to the mall back hallway.
action: You examine the television
response: The TV is 19" in size or thereabouts, quite small, really. It doesn't work due to the lack of power in this section of the Mall.
action: Go north
response: (opening the lounge door first)
Opened.

This hallway is strangely shaped, and I am unable to make out everything within it. On the far side of the hall is a door that leads to the Security Room, but I can only barely make it out from here. The only real items in the room are a pair of doors and a large garden-variety plant in the corner.

There is no transparent moon roof or anything in this room, so Gibs sticks his lacrosse stick up against the door so that we get light from the Lounge.

"Do you think Trott got into the Security Room?" asks Gibs. "Do you think he made it this far?"
action: You examine the plant
response: It's comprised of a large potted base filled with soil, and a leafy, oversized garden plant of some unknown (to me, anyway) variety.

Taking a closer look at the plant reveals a zombie hiding behind it!

"What the fuck is that?" says Gibs. "Jesus -- look out, Duffy!" Gibs rips the lacrosse stick from the doorjamb. The resident light disappears as the door closes and locks with a click and I can only make out a quick glance of the creature before us before we're enveloped in complete darkness.

Gibs takes a roundhouse swing at the creature with his stick. He doesn't connect, though. The creature emits a hoarse groan. I can hear it shuffling closer.
action: You look at the plant
response: It's comprised of a large potted base filled with soil, and a leafy, oversized garden plant of some unknown (to me, anyway) variety.

"Get me some goddamn light!" shouts Gibs. I hear him struggle a bit more. "Hit this fucking thing!" I hear Gibs begin to gurgle and choke.

Gibs's lacrosse stick falls to the floor -- Gibs never managed to get a shot at the creature with it.

Waves of stench emit from the creature; it's some sort of dead fish and carrion stink that forms a nigh palpable cloud in the room.
action: Exits
response: There are exits to the north and south from here.

The creature screams deeply and Gibs's arms flail about, knocking me to the side. I make out Gibs slumping to the ground as he's let go. The thing turns with sudden quickness before beginning to shamble towards me with arms outstretched and awkwardly groping for me...

The creature attacks and hits me!
action: You hit the creature with the holder
response: The crystal ball holder is broken and useless.
action: You take the stick
response: Taken.

The creature attacks, but misses me!
action: You hit the creature with the stick
response: I clobber the creature with Gibs's lacrosse stick.

"And then I kicked him in the head till he was dead!" I say,
quoting Baldur's Gate.

The creature collapses and falls to the ground.

Gibs slowly staggers up, gently feeling his throat. "Ooof... guess you got him. Thanks, man," he says.

"You bet," I say. "You OK?"

"Yeah... my throat's a bit sore, but I'll be all right."
action: Status
response: I have a light wound.
action: You go to the north
response: The security room door is closed.
action: You open the door
response: The security room door is locked.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), some socks, the crystal ball holder (broken), the Magic: The Gathering cards, the gaming glove (being worn), and Gibs's lacrosse stick.
action: You knock on the door
response: After a brief pause, I hear a "klitch!" sound come from the Security Room door, around where the lock is located.
action: You open door
response: Opened.
action: You go to the north
response: We open the door and see Trott bolt right up from his chair.

"Oh, geez... thank Christ it's you guys. Wait, did you get past that -- "

"Yeah, we did," I say. "I think we killed it."

I take a look around the room. There's a big console against the west wall which controls the gates, electricity and breakers for all the shops in the Mall. I imagine that Trott has been trying to get it operational for sometime now.
Trott is here.
action: You talk to Trott
response: Please select one:

(1) "What were you doing in here? Taking a nap, you
testicle?"
(2) "The mallcop got turned into a zombie. What I can't figure out is why you weren't."
(3) "How did you get past that thing?"
(4) "Hey... did you know that was us?"
(5) "Hey, the lounge door got locked. Can you unlock it?"
action: 3
response: "Well, it took a chunk out of me." Trott lifts his shirt up to show some deep claw marks just below his rib cage. "I first saw it when I went through the door to our back room. I was able to get back, and it started groping at the window every few seconds. I timed it, opened the door, and just bolted back here. I sure had no idea where it was or if it had followed me... looks like it was just on the other side of this freaking door!"

Please select one:

(1) "What were you doing in here? Taking a nap, you
testicle?"
(2) "The mallcop got turned into a zombie. What I can't figure out is why you weren't."
(3) "Hey... did you know that was us?"
(4) "Hey, the lounge door got locked. Can you unlock it?"
action: 2
response: "What do you mean, 'turned into a zombie?' That guy was a nobody. Just some schmuck who was as bad at his job as anyone else in this dump. We're all mindless zombies in here."

"No, not like that," I say. "Whatever summoning Audrey was trying ended up working. Her friend Sydney is possessed by someone. That someone stated that we'd find the Mall governed by the undead rules. I guess it's turning the Mall denizens into the undead."

Please select one:

(1) "What were you doing in here? Taking a nap, you
testicle?"
(2) "Hey... did you know that was us?"
(3) "Hey, the lounge door got locked. Can you unlock it?"
action: 3
response: "Yeah, one sec," says Trott. He makes flips a switch on the console. "Should be all set," he says.

Please select one:

(1) "What were you doing in here? Taking a nap, you
testicle?"
(2) "Hey... did you know that was us?"
action: 2
response: "When?"

"When we were fighting that freaking thing," I say.

"Oh. No," says Trott. "I heard the fighting but I guessed that it was another creature or something. I was hoping that you'd all take each other out, like when imps start fighting each other in Doom."

"In what?"

"Doom. The game, Doom? Don't tell me you don't know
what Doom is. Oh dear. Ohhh, dear."

"Hey, I don't give you crap for not knowing what Man Down Defense is," I say, trying to use sports knowledge against Trott.

Trott stops for a beat and calmly says, "That probably didn't come off quite as scathing as you thought it would have." Unfortunately, he's right. Damn 'im.

Please select one:

(1) "What were you doing in here? Taking a nap, you
testicle?"
action: 1
response: "What? No," says Trott. "I've been here -- what do you mean, a 'testicle'? Cripes, I -- "

"I'm just kidding around. Would you have preferred 'gonad'? What did you do when the lights went out?"

"I was in the back room when the lights went out. I heard the auto-kick-in for the gate... kick in, so I went out and verified that the thing was locked and that it wouldn't open from the inside. What happened anyway?"

"Duffy interrupted his girlfriend's seance," says Barnaby.

"It wasn't a seance," I say.

"I know. I just wanted to see if you'd be able to resist anal-retentively correcting me."

Trott waits a bit before he says anything further. He doesn't like Gibs much.

"Anyways," says Trott, "The only way to get out is to get the mallcops to let me out. I made my way back through the first door when I saw that thing. It took a chunk out of my side, but I eventually got by it, ran in here and locked the door. What was that? It wasn't a bot. It was wearing the clothes of one of the security guys who works at the Mall. But what happened to him?"

Please select one:

(1) "Do you know how to work the console?"
action: 1
response: "I think so," he says. "Much of it was damaged before I got here, but I can turn on power and raise the gates to some of the individual stores."

"Can you raise the gate to the Sporting Goods store?"

"Ummm," Trott says, as he looks over the console, "Yeah. That one I can turn on. Do you want it on now or later?"

Please select one:

(1) "Later... the girls are out there alone."
(2) "Now is good, it's probably safe."
action: You talk to Trott
response: Please select one:

(1) "Later... the girls are out there alone."
(2) "Now is good, it's probably safe."
action: 2
response: "Okay... " Trott flips a few switches on the console. "It's up."

"Thanks."

"OK, before you go, why don't you take this phone? The Mall only pays for it to work as a CB radio for the mallcops, but if you need more gates raised, just let me know through it."

"All right, sounds like a plan," I say. "I'll try to keep you posted as to what is going on out there."
action: You leave
response: I can't go that way. I can go south to the mall back hallway.
action: Go south
response: This is an oddly-shaped hallway that connects the Lounge with the Security Room. There are doors that lead to both rooms.
There is a potted plant here.
The creature is here.
action: You examine creature
response: The thing's face features a dramatic gaping burn wound on the forehead, presidentially presiding over a quick voting bloc consisting of two or three jagged teeth. It's wearing some tattered mallcop clothes, but my expert opinion is that the creature is in fact a zombie.

It  is currently knocked out.
action: Go south
response: The Lounge is a largish, open room with a high ceiling. There are a couple of old couches here, along with a television, water cooler and plant life of unknown make and origin.

Exits lead north and west.
action: Go west
response: This is a long hallway that sits behind a number of stores. The store owners and workers put their trash in this hallway for janitorial services. There is a door to the security lounge to the east and a door to the back office of Benji's store to the south.
action: Go south
response: The back office is a cramped and tight little room with shelves on both sides.

There are two exits, one back to the store and one that leads to the garbage hall (and eventually, beyond that, to the security area). Sitting on the shelves is a cardboard box.
action: You go to the south
response: I can't go that way. I can go west to Benji's Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium or north to the garbage hall.
action: Go west
response: Benji's Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium
My store is covered in darkness and shadows, giving it a far more foreboding look than it's otherwise ever had.

The rest of the Mall is to the north. The door to the back room leads east.
action: Go north
response: This is far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally constructed upon a landfill. There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Beads Store, Sporting Good Outlet and the (closed) Arcade.

My store, the Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium, is to the south. Audrey and Casey are here.

"Hey, Dungeon Master," says Audrey. "Did you find Trott?"

"Yeah. He's back operating the security console for us." Huh. 'DM,' she said. She normally only calls me that when she's in a good mood about our chances.

"He didn't want to come with you?" she asks.

"Maybe he would have, but he'll be able to open the gates we want if I contact him through this," I show her the phone.

"Did you guys try the gate at the Sporting Good store already?" asks Gibs.

"No, not yet," says Audrey. "We just got bored waiting for you, so we headed over this way."

"Also," says Casey, "We went over to where the escalator was. You wouldn't believe how foul it smells over there!"

"How bad is it? My previous high score in this department is my roommate Pang's custom Dance Dance Revolution pad that he
keeps downstairs and only uses with bare feet in some bizarro-logic attempt to keep it 'nice.' I mean, is it worse than -- "

"It's worse," Audrey says softly, her eyes closed in the pain of the persistence of this memory, "Much, much worse."
action: You look around
response: This is far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally constructed upon a landfill. There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Beads Store, Sporting Good Outlet and the (closed) Arcade.

My store, the Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium, is to the south. Audrey and Casey are here.
action: Go west
response: I'm at the eastern side of the Mall. To the north is Choad's Sporting Goods. My store is a bit to the east, and the Bead Store a bit to the west.

There is a table here, set adjacent to the Sporting Goods store.

Audrey and Casey follow me.

"This won't take me a moment to sort out," says Gibs. "I'll be in and out like a greased German through the Maginot Line."

"I thought the Germans circumvented around the Maginot Line?"
I say.

"No. You've got that confused with what they did with the bounds of good taste when they collectively invented scheisse  porn,"
says Gibs with commanding authority. "Anyway, more importantly, I know just where the shotguns would be in this store. Anyone want to come with?"

"I'll go," says Audrey. "I'll try to find some helmets and pads and such."

"Pads?" This is good. Very good. "Oh, so you were able to trickle a puck past the five hole with the Detroit Red Wings after all?" I ask Audrey.

"What?" It takes Audrey a moment to translate my intended delicate innuendo in her head, but when she does, she's not laughing. "No. I meant like shoulder pads and shin guards. For personal defense." She pauses for a moment. "What on earth is wrong with you?"

Whoops. "I'll just, ah, stay out here with Casey, then."
action: You talk to Casey
response: Please select one:

(1) "So... what's new with you?"
(2) "Hey, you talk to Audrey all the time. Is she going to dump me again?"
action: 1
response: "I broke up with my boyfriend not too long ago," says Casey. "Other than that, nothing much."

"Hey, really? What brought that on?"

"He never wanted to go do anything," she says, "But you know what it was, really? He would always wear a baseball cap, and wear it so that the bill was always right over his eyes. Every time I would try to kiss him, I would have to navigate around the thing. Romance shouldn't be a frustrating puzzle in three-dimensionality, you know? Sometimes I just wanted to get intimate, not play a real-life game of
Klax."

I don't know what Klax is, so I just nod in agreement.

Please select one:

(1) "Hey, you talk to Audrey all the time. Is she going to dump me again?"
(2) "Gibs... I mean, Barnaby, he wears his hat backwards."
action: 2
response: "That's definitely a point in his favor. Make sure he gives me his number when we get out of here. I'm tired of being either cooped-in on the weekend or hanging out at the Bead Store like tonight."

"You seem awfully confident that we are going to get out of here."

"Shouldn't I be? From what Audrey tells me, whatever we resurrected... or, I guess, 'surrected' in this case, isn't any match for the geek encyclopedia you've got knocking about in that skull of yours." She gives me a genuine smile of reassurance and I, to my discredit, don't have the heart to tell her that in reality most of the thoughts knocking about in my head have to do with how I'm going to get back with her best friend.

Please select one:

(1) "What does Audrey want from me, then?"
action: 1
response: "You're going to have to ask her that, eventually, Jarret."

"Yes. I know. Eventually."

"What does she want? She wants to be with you, in my opinion, anyway. I've seen her with other guys in between the dozen or so times you two have broken up. She is always so much happier when she is together with you. She just lights up when you enter the room, you know that?"

"I didn't know that." I try to think back the best I can, to try to get some sort of visual holographic proof of this, but I just can't. Maybe I've just never been paying attention.

"But she wants to see you take the next step, Jarret." Casey turns and looks right into my eyes. "She's going to graduate soon. The future is coming and everything. I think, ultimately, what she wants to know is if you think you have one."

I hear Gibs swear violently from within the Sporting Goods store.

"Jarret!" screams Audrey, "Help!"
action: You go to the north
response: There is a light blue-skinned, feral beast hunched over towards the corner of this store. A ghoul, just as how I'd imagine it. It has Audrey backed up against the eastern wall. A row of jacket racks separates them from me. Gibs is much closer, and seems to be holding the ghoul at bay by slowly darting in and out of its range, and preventing it from ripping Audrey apart by giving it another target. That won't stop it for long. The only thing preventing the ghoul from shredding Audrey is its attempt to work out just how he can incapacitate and consume them both.
There is a circular jacket rack here.
The ghoul, Audrey, and Gibs are here.

Gibs swears violently.

"Jarret!" screams Audrey, "Help!"
action: You check what you're carrying
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), some socks, the crystal ball holder (broken), the Magic: The Gathering cards, the gaming glove (being worn), Gibs's lacrosse stick, and the phone.

The beast is content, for the moment, to look back between his prey and his attacker. I know that at any moment it is going to choose one of them to attack first.
action: You hit the ghoul with the stick
response: I clobber the ghoul with Gibs's lacrosse stick.

I try to wail like a banshee: "ooOOooOOOO!"

The ghoul attacks and hits me!
action: You examine Glove
response: The Sierra Hobbies Gaming Glove is an inky black novelty gaming companion for the hurried Games Master. It's full of mnemonics, scribbled shortcuts and tables to allow for a smoother (and more stylish) game of D&D. No Dungeon Master that takes his craft seriously should be without!

I'm currently wearing the gaming glove.

The ghoul attacks, but misses me!
action: You take the rack
response: Taken.

The ghoul attacks and hits me!
action: You throw the rack at ghoul
response: I hit the ghoul with the circular jacket rack.

(The circular jacket rack breaks as a result.)

I hear a grotesque snapping sound coming from the thing. I completely flattened it on that last one!

I walk over to Audrey. She's shivering.

"Are you OK?" She nods. "Where did your coat go?" She doesn't say. She shakes her head and melts into my arms. I hold her, hug her and bring her as close as I can. Her face is buried within my chest and I scratch the back of her head and feel her close-cropped hair on her neck flick through my fingers. I had no idea if I'd ever feel that again, or feel her body, alive and whole, this close to mine. "I'll keep you warm," I say with a whisper.

Casey enters from the entrance to the south. "Ugh," she says, after spotting what's left of the ghoul. "What on earth did you do to that thing?"
action: You talk to Casey
response: Please select one:

(1) "I buried it."
action: 1
response: "What was it?" asks Casey.

"It was a ghoul."

"So, so far, a skeleton, zombie and ghoul... " Casey drifts off and leaves that bit hanging in the air.

"Yeah. So far, just as the demon that possessed Sydney claimed."
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "I'm with you now. My preeeeecioussss..."
action: 1
response: talking about the precious of his very own. I don't say it at first, I don't say it right away... but I say it and she knows what I mean by it. Her body shakes with a quick, stifled bit of laughter. I'm so glad she's here with me that it doesn't even occur to me that it must be killing Gibs to not be able to tell us just how bop we are
for each other.
action: You describe your surroundings
response: Choad's Sporting Goods exists under the unfortunate circumstance that the owner's name translates into Bengali as 'fuck.' Once or twice a year there will be a demonstration or protest from a bunch of local student Hindus, but nothing ever changes.

The store is one of the larger ones in the Mall, about 40' wide and 140' long. Ski jackets take up almost all the area towards the front of the store, as far as I can see, with the entire western wall filled with displays of discount tennis sneakers.

There doesn't seem to be any rifles or shotguns for sale. (It appears as if Gibs's intuition was incorrect.)
There is a circular jacket rack here.
The ghoul, Audrey, Gibs, and Casey are here.
action: You get the jacket
response: Which jacket do you mean, the circular jacket rack or the ski jackets?
action: Ski
response: They are essentially permanently part of the circular jacket rack.
action: You go south
response: "Can you watch Gibs for a bit?" I ask Casey.

"It won't be a problem," she says.

Audrey goes up to him, still in his frozen state, and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Have a good thaw," she says.

I take her hand and put it in mine and together we leave the Sporting Goods store.

I'm at the eastern side of the Mall. To the north is Choad's Sporting Goods. My store is a bit to the east, and the Bead Store a bit to the west.

There is a table here, set adjacent to the Sporting Goods store.

Audrey follows me.

Audrey pulls on my hand, to begin to drag me towards the far side of the Mall. "Jarret, let's go this way," she says. "The elevator is on the over this way. I think I know how we can get to it."
action: You follow Audrey
response: Audrey is right here.
action: You go south
response: I can't go that way. I can go west to the beginning of the east wing, east to the eastern end of the mall, or north to Choad's Sporting Goods.
action: You go east
response: This is far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally constructed upon a landfill. There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Beads Store, Sporting Good Outlet and the (closed) Arcade.

My store, the Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium, is to the south.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go west
response: I'm at the eastern side of the Mall. To the north is Choad's Sporting Goods. My store is a bit to the east, and the Bead Store a bit to the west.

There is a table here, set adjacent to the Sporting Goods store.

Audrey follows me.
action: You go west
response: There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.

Audrey follows me.
action: You go west
response: The floor of the Mall comes up against a rail, forming a barrier which prevents further (sane) western travel. The bottom (ground floor) level can be viewed with ease, though, as the guardrail mainly prevents kids -- future productive Mall denizens! -- from ragdolling their way off the edge.

There is a horrific stench in this area. It's new, too -- the guy who used to take the surveys always kept himself cheerfully clean.
There is a kiosk in the center of the hallway. At the far end of the rail is an elevator.

Audrey follows me.

Audrey quietly points over to the kiosk and whispers right into my ear.

"Do you see that? Do you see the wraith?"

I squint. The lighting is so dark... I don't see it. I adjust my glasses and still nothing. I shake my head in the negative.

Audrey takes my hand in hers and we duck into the Jewelry Store...
action: Look around
response: We both press ourselves flat up against the wall of the Jewelry Store.

"How are we to get past the wraith, Jarret?" Her eyes dart down and to the side as she tries to remember if she ever encountered one in a role playing game. "... I can't remember," she says.

"Sunlight, and I don't know how long until that will show up." I say. Was there really a wraith there? Outside the store? I didn't see a thing. It is colder down this way than it was in the rest of the Mall, though. "Yeah. Sunlight is the only thing I'm 100% positive on, maybe there are others." I strain to try to remember, but I haven't used a 'wraith' character in any games that I've played in a very long time. I'm certain there are other ways... I just can't recall.
Sitting on the tabletop is a pleather purse.
action: Open purse
response: The pleather purse is already open.

A bit of smoke and haze begins to form against the eastern wall.
action: You search the purse
response: Inside the pleather purse is the silver comb.

Audrey looks over to the east wall. "What do you think... what is that, Jarret?" she whispers.

I can't quite tell at first, but as the haze beings to form more familiar shapes, it starts to dawn on me.

"It's a vision," I tell her.

Displayed on the west wall of the Jewelry Store is a scene. I can make out Gibs and Audrey clearly... there seems to be one or two other figures moving in the background.

"That's a scene from that tournament we went to, isn't it?" asks Audrey.
action: You take the comb
response: Got it. Ooh, silvery!

Audrey continues to look at the vision. The scene takes on a greater contrast, with muted blues smeared together in fog with darker earth colors.

"Why... what's up with Gibs giving you a thumbs-up sign? This vision takes place from your perspective, doesn't it?"

"I just made what was my sixth straight saving throw. He gave me a thumbs-up because I was using loaded dice."

"What?!" says Audrey, and then instantly brings her voice down a couple levels due to the wraith. "What the hell do you mean, you were using loaded dice?"

"I ordered some red 20 sided dice before the tourney over the Internet. They were weighted to give out mostly 18s, 19s and 20s. What? What's the big deal? That was years ago!"

"Ssh!" Audrey puts her hand over my mouth. "The big deal is that the Tourney is where we met! Do you think I would want to go out with you if you were cheating everybody in the room?"

"Oh come on, don't start this bullshit. It wasn't like I was at DragonCon or something. Christ!"

"No. You weren't. You were cheating your friends. That makes it worse, you know."
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Oh, what does it matter if I cheated at the tourney?"
(2) "C'mon, you have to admit it's pretty funny."
action: 2
response: "Oh, it's hilarious, all right," says Audrey. "You know me. There's nothing I find funnier than stories of the guy that I've been with for the last five years ripping off everyone I know like a unconscionable rogue at a lawless bazaar."

"The Wizards of the Coast were going to give that to me anyway. The dice didn't really change anything, other than the fact that I made a few extra saving throws and got a few extra hits in. You have to appreciate the return on the investment, at least."

"Oh, sure. You're a regular Gordon Gecko," says Audrey.

"I can't believe you're comparing me to white collar criminals."

"I can't believe you essentially commit white collar crime." Audrey shrugs her shoulders.

The ether(?) that makes up the vision dissipates completely and it completely disappears.

Audrey sits herself up against the east wall of the store.

"So you found a comb, I see," says Audrey. "Maybe you can do something with that mound of straight hay on top of your head with it." She gives me a smile after she says that to let me know it was said with affection.

"It's a silver comb," I tell her. "I'm sure it's quite valuable."

"Isn't silver a type of bane to wraiths?" asks Audrey.

I try to bring up the memory of what affects wraiths from the back of my mind, but my memory is hardly photographic. "I think you're right," I say to her. "I think it works against a lot of undead. A little trinket like this might just scare it off, but that's a big maybe. I don't really want to throw the comb and find out."

I can't think of anything to say right now.

I took a look over towards the wall that Audrey is leaning up against. The shadow that she should be throwing is nowhere near the one that is present.

"Audrey," I whisper, "Do not move. You're not casting a proper shadow. I -- "

"What?" she asks. She moves away from the wall, and sure enough, the light that she should be blocking is completely inconsistent with what's there.
action: You show the comb to the wraith
response: Showing the silver comb to wraith doesn't accomplish a whole lot.

The shadow jumps from the wall!

The shadow points a long, tapered finger onto Audrey's neck. She freezes up as it sucks the strength from her body.
action: You hit the shadow with the comb
response: I clobber the shadow with the silver comb.

"Who else wants a piece of the pain pie?" I ask.

Upon coming in contact with the silver, the shadow halts in place and disintegrates -- it falls to the floor in a little pile of soot-like dust. I get down and blow it away in order to properly scatter it into nothingness.

I walk over towards Audrey. She's shivering. "You OK, doll?"

"Yes," says Audrey, quietly. "It's just so cold in here. I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain."

I embrace her for a few moments and rub my hands over her bare shoulders. "I'll keep you warm..." She nods. "Silver definitely worked on the shadow," I muse. "It used up the comb, however. But the same thing'll work on the wraith. We just need to find more of it. The girls that work here (presuming that they didn't rip the place off blind before calling it a night) keep all the jewelry locked up in the safebox." I point over towards the big locker-style cabinet against the western wall of the store. "If we can get the temperature in here to be significantly colder, I'm betting that lock will pop."

"How do we do that?" asks Audrey. She looks over towards the wraith. "Oh, no. You don't mean -- "

"Yes," I say quietly. "Let's get the wraith in here."

"Jarret, no! You can't be serious!"
action: Go west
response: There isn't an exit in that direction.

There's an exit south into the long corridor of the top level of the Mall.
action: You go south
response: "Jarret, no!" whispers Audrey. "It's not safe, not with the wraith still out there!"
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Audrey... trust me on this. Please."
(2) "What options do you have for this?"
action: 1
response: "Jarret! I don't want that thing in here!"

"Audrey, you know that I will not let it touch you. There's a lock just like this one in my store, and it's made of ridiculously poor components. Everyone involved in owning a store in this Mall is incredibly cheap and only worried about the bottom line and how much money they can squeeze out of their customers. I will guarantee you that as soon as the temperature is brought down a few degrees Celsius that lock is coming off like a prom dress. A lock of this type busted earlier today at my store when Gibs placed his iced soft drink next to it."

"Okay..." she says. She kisses me for entirely too brief a time and looks right into my eyes. "I trust you."

I suddenly feel like I can do anything. One scream and the wraith will make its way over here.
action: Scream
response: I scream like a housewife in a 50s sitcom coming across a mouse. Like an English siren during the blitz. (Like Lorraine Williams surrounded by a bunch of pen & paper gamers, even.) And it works. The wraith turns round and passes right through the kiosk. It slowly begins to come near us.
action: You open the cabinet
response: I can't open it on my own. The lock, while not incredibly sturdy and powerful, is still more than I can crack on my own.

I hear a voice, strangely disembodied, but one I instinctively know is coming from the wraith.

"oh delightful maiden this will be a wonderful meeting will it not and you seem oh so achingly warm and tight and I really only want to get close to you for only a moment do not you see how wonderful oh how wonderful that will be my darling..."

The wraith never really stops its sending, but instead meanders about a couple different themes. What he's going to do to my girlfriend being one of them. (With all the guys who have tried to steal my girlfriend over the years, I finally feel I am on somewhat familiar territory.)

The wraith glides a bit closer to the entrance of the Jewelry Store. It is already several degrees colder in here.
action: You break the lock with the stick
response: The lock is especially designed to be impervious to any and all brute attacks.

The wraith glides further; it's now within the Jewelry Store, but still a fair ways away from Audrey.

The lock to the safebox pops.

It continues its raving, more in my head than not:

"your death will be so pleasing my love I promise that getting there will be quick and painless I am the only one you can trust you know I will always be there for you and never leave your side you and I there isn't a thing that we wouldn't be able to do together my lovely witch princess all it takes is for you to just sit still that is it just another few moments and I will be there and we will be together so wonderfully so wonderfully it will be so wonderful...
action: You take all from the cabinet
response: Nothing to take.
action: You look in the cabinet
response: The safebox is closed.

The wraith sends another meandering rhyme to me...

"let me tell you of our wonderful death my darling," mentally continues the wraith, "you cannot begin to imagine the wonders that we will see together everything you could ever want everything that has been out of your reach well it is not out of mine it is not out of ours let me ask you this my darling a simple question take all the time in the world just answer me truthfully... have you ever wanted to fly?"
action: You open the safebox
response: Done -- it's open.
Inside the safebox are the handful of silver rings.

The wraith inches closer to Audrey...

Amazingly (to me at least) I see Audrey enraptured by the wraith and she actually nods her head a little in response to its question. It takes all my self-control to not attack the fucking nothing
with my bare hands.

"of course you have there is no shame in admitting such a thing let me tell you my darling just how wondrous it is to float above this city this world this plane with nothing holding you down and nothing keeping you from doing what you want to do being who you wish to be you will see oh how you will see it will not be long now my darling just hold yourself I will be there and we will be together..."
action: You get Rings
response: Taken.

The wraith moves until he is directly in front of Audrey. I won't have much time now.

"hold still my darling this is so much easier when you just stay there so beautifully within my own view..."
action: You throw Rings at the wraith
response: I hit the wraith with the handful of silver rings.

Upon coming in contact with the charms, the wraith immediately atomizes, taking the silver with him into oblivion.

"That was my Treasure Type you were fucking with, creep!" I
say it even though the wraith is completely blinked out of existence. It takes me a fair trice to realize that thing is truly gone. "Let's get out of here," I say to Audrey. "Unless you want to get to work on raising the temperature of the room with a little bit of body heat."

To my surprise, she looks back at me with nothing but love. "If I thought it could be done," she says, "without it becoming a menage a trois with a lurking horror, or a four-way with an undead ettin... you know I would." (An ettin is a two-headed beastie in D&D, which elicits a smile from me. That's my girl!)
action: You go south
response: The floor of the Mall comes up against a rail, forming a barrier which prevents further (sane) western travel. The bottom (ground floor) level can be viewed with ease, though, as the guardrail mainly prevents kids -- future productive Mall denizens! -- from ragdolling their way off the edge.

There is a horrific stench in this area. It's new, too -- the guy who used to take the surveys always kept himself cheerfully clean.
There is a badly-cracked kiosk in the center of the hallway. At the far end of the rail is an elevator.

Audrey follows me.

Barnaby and Casey come up to us as we leave...

"Heya there, Duffy," says Gibs, no longer paralyzed. Casey is with him. "Any luck with the elevator?"

"Not yet. We encountered a vision , shadow and wraith, though."

"So what's changed?" asks Gibs.

"Well, the Jewelry Store is open and the makeup kiosk is broken down. Other than that..."
action: You examine the kiosk
response: The makeup kiosk is a business that operates in a very small rectangle in the middle of the Mall corridor. Girls (and in this town, a not-insignificant number of goth guys) stop by to pretty themselves up for their dates and/or midnight angstings.

It looks like the intense cold of the wraith passing through the kiosk caused the thing to crack open.

Inside the makeup kiosk is a bottle of perfume.

Gibs spits once off the guardrail because he's a filthy, disgusting animal at heart.
action: You take Perfume
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.
action: You look at what you're carrying with you
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), some socks, the crystal ball holder (broken), the Magic: The Gathering cards, the gaming glove (being worn), Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, and a pleather purse.
action: You take Perfume
response: Got it.

Gibs spits once off the guardrail because he's a filthy, disgusting animal at heart.
action: You examine it
response: (assuming you mean the bottle of perfume)
This bottle of perfume is a fairly large container of the Elizabeth Arden perfume 'True Love' (A feminine scent that is a blend of lotus, iris and jasmine, recommended for office wear.)

A girl who worked at my D&D store for a season used to wear this scent, and it was all I could concentrate on. She'd erode my sense of smell regarding all else within a minute of beginning her shift.
action: You spray yourself with the Perfume
response: I spray a bit of the perfume on it. Sek-sai!
action: Go west
response: There's not a path in that direction.

There are exits north to the Jewelry Store, in towards the Elevator and east towards the east side of the Mall.
action: You enter Elevator
response: Audrey says, "No way. We're not going to follow you until you do something about that smell."

The elevator smells terrible, strongly of untreated or unembalmed cadavers. There are three buttons here in the elevator labelled 'up,' 'down' and 'open doors.'

I'm currently on the second level of the Mall. Aside from the operational panel, there is little else here in the lift.

I can see into the corridor ahead, although only a few feet before the darkness completely envelopes the hall.
action: Spray
response: Be a little more specific about what you'd like me to spray.
action: Go outside
response: The elevator doors open, and I'm struck by the terrible, pungent odor of carrion. It's far too much for what I can bear: it's absolutely the worst-smelling air I have ever experienced.

I briefly steal a glance of what lay beyond in the corridor on the first level of the Mall before squashing the up button on the elevator -- it's mostly dark, but I can make out the cupid statue. The stench is just too much for me. however. I can't force myself to do anything from here except escape.

The elevator comes to rest on the top floor.
action: You spray the Perfume on Audrey
response: "Hey, I'm not your Barbie doll!" exclaims Audrey as I give her a hit of True Love.
action: You exit
response: The floor of the Mall comes up against a rail, forming a barrier which prevents further (sane) western travel. The bottom (ground floor) level can be viewed with ease, though, as the guardrail mainly prevents kids -- future productive Mall denizens! -- from ragdolling their way off the edge.

There is a horrific stench in this area. It's new, too -- the guy who used to take the surveys always kept himself cheerfully clean.
There is a badly-cracked kiosk in the center of the hallway. At the far end of the rail is an elevator.
There is a crystal ball holder here.
Casey is here.
action: You examine Cupid
response: It's a nicely-sculpted, eight-foot marble work of the mythological god of love. Cupid (known as Eros in Greek myth) was often depicted as being a winged baby or cherub that would just start freaking out and begin slinging arrows at people so they would indulge in a torrent of romance, love and sex.

This statue was commissioned by the guy who owns and rents out the Mall, from a student at the local art college. Cupid's in a pose where he seems to be taking deadly aim at people.
action: You throw the Perfume at Cupid
response: I toss the perfume bottle at the statue. It shatters, natch, and releases a giant pool of stench-killing fumes into the area below.
action: Go inside
response: The elevator smells terrible, strongly of untreated or unembalmed cadavers. There are three buttons here in the elevator labelled 'up,' 'down' and 'open doors.'

I'm currently on the second level of the Mall. Aside from the operational panel, there is little else here in the lift.
Audrey and Gibs are here.

Casey follows me.
action: Go downwards
response: I can't go that way.

There is an exit leading out.
action: You press down
response: I press the down button. After a few seconds, the elevator transports me to the first (ground) level of the Mall.

The doors remain shut for some reason.
action: Leave
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
I'm on the first level (ground floor) of the Mall, a lot closer to the lone exit than where I was previously. I'll need to get past a few more stretches of corridor (which is under a blanket of darkness) and then past the Food Court. And I hesitate to think about what is in store for me until I get to that point.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey follow me.

"Well, we got this far," says Gibs. "What's the plan, now? How are we getting out?"

"We could try the exit by the big Outlet Tech Store, can't we?" asks Casey.

"They went bankrupt," I say. "When the Septium Computer Processor was declared an instrument of bedevilment and banned by the Mayor in 2012, the hottest selling item that Christmas had to be removed from the store. We can try to go that way, but I am almost positive that exit access was cemented over." I shrug.

"So we'll probably have to slog through the Food Court, speedily going about our business with as much haste as molasses slow-fucking a giant land turtle." says Gibs. He spits with disgust -- the Food Court floor never gets cleaned. It's kind of gross.

"Yeah, everyone jump over the ochre jellies," whispers Audrey, almost to herself. After a beat, she realizes what she said and turns towards me. "Hey! You've got me doing it now!"

Gibs laughs. "Duffy's veritable roster of sexually transmitted diseases is not the only thing infectious about him," he
offers.
action: Exits
response: There's an exit west to the Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge, or in to Elevator.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
I enter this bit of hallway and am taken back by the glorious fountain that dominates the scene. I've seen it hundreds, even thousands of times in normal daylight, but the small bits of ambient light currently available reflects off the fountain in a simply breathtaking manner.

While Audrey, Casey and myself are checking out the fountain (and momentarily entranced by the beauty thereof) Gibs wanders off and goes further down the corridor. I forget him for a moment until he lets out a blood-curdling scream.

"Duffy! Look out! It's the fucking ghast!"

I turn and look -- that's exactly what it is. A green-skinned feral beast with glazed-over eyes and torn clothes. Gibs falls to the floor, presumably knocked out by the ghast's stench and so far from where the perfume bottle broke open. The ghast stomps once on his head and runs over towards us. I motion for Audrey and Casey to get back behind the fountain.
The ghast, Gibs, Audrey, and Casey are here.

The ghast attacks and hits me!
action: You examine the fountain
response: The fountain is rich limestone artifact that was discovered years ago in a poured-over closet in Italy and flown out here at great expense. It has been converted from its original state as a Renaissance-era commissioned sculpture to a marketing tool for the Mall.

It's about six feet at the base and rather shallow -- water would only come up to one's ankles in its normal, calm state. The spout extends a couple of feet up from the dead center of the base. There are a few inscriptions and symbols on the thing, but nothing I can decipher.

Inside the fountain is some water.

Inside the fountain is some water.

The ghast attacks and hits me!
action: You check what you're carrying
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, the gaming glove (being worn), Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, and a pleather purse.

The ghast attacks and hits me!
action: You take the water
response: (I'll only be able to hold the water for a couple moments before it flows through my hands...)

The ghast attacks and hits me!
action: You throw the water at the ghast
response: "Drink up, Dupre!" I throw the water at the ghast's upper
torso. It screams -- a horrible, piercing shriek of disbelief, and inhuman pain. My aim was a bit off, as the water chews through his shirt, eats through his belly and stomach and begins hissing away at the consumption of his rotting intestines and grodie twists of entrails.

I wipe a little sweat away from my face and see that he truly can't comprehend what has happened to him. I sort of feel sorry for him... not just because the ghost killed him once, but because she brought him back and then he got killed in a second, crueler, manner.

The slashing sounds of evaporation fade away as the last bits of the ghast inanimately fall to the floor and crumble into nothingness. His head bounces to the floor of the Mall. Gibs wakes himself up and blinks stupidly a couple times as he sees the ghast's skull resting peacefully on the floor. He winds up and kicks it down the corridor.
action: Diagnose
response: I have a critical wound.
action: You enter the fountain
response: Entered!

Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge, in the fountain
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
Gibs, Audrey, and Casey are here.

A little more water trickles into the fountain.
action: You sit
response: Be a little more specific about where you'd like me to sit.
action: You examine the water
response: It's a small amount of perfectly clear, shining and absolutely gorgeous water. It looks far superior than it ever did under normal daylight.
action: Drink water
response: Ahhhhh! Mine Luftwaffe!
action: Diagnose
response: I have a serious wound.
action: You look at the fountain
response: The fountain is rich limestone artifact that was discovered years ago in a poured-over closet in Italy and flown out here at great expense. It has been converted from its original state as a Renaissance-era commissioned sculpture to a marketing tool for the Mall.

It's about six feet at the base and rather shallow -- water would only come up to one's ankles in its normal, calm state. The spout extends a couple of feet up from the dead center of the base. There are a few inscriptions and symbols on the thing, but nothing I can decipher.

A little more water trickles into the fountain.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...

A little more water trickles into the fountain.
action: Diagnose
response: I have a lot of minor scratches, but will be okay, since I still have my looks.

The spectre arrives from the west.
action: You talk to Gibs
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

A little more water trickles into the fountain.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: Diagnose
response: I am in perfect physical health.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, the gaming glove (being worn), Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, and a pleather purse.

A little more water trickles into the fountain.
action: You go to the west
response: I will have to get out of the fountain first.
action: Go outside
response: I get out of the fountain.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
This is the first level, or ground floor, of the Funtime Teen Mall. The lone Mall Exit leads in a westerly direction, past a few more stretches of darkness-enveloped corridor, and the Food Court. There's also a few more stores to the west, with the Mall passageways expanding to all four directions at that point.

Exits lead west to the rest of the Mall, and inside to the elevator.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey follow me.
action: Go inside
response: Audrey says, "We'll wait down here for you."

The elevator smells terrible, strongly of untreated or unembalmed cadavers. There are three buttons here in the elevator labelled 'up,' 'down' and 'open doors.'

I'm currently on the first level of the Mall. Aside from the operational panel, there is little else here in the lift.
action: You go outside
response: The floor of the Mall comes up against a rail, forming a barrier which prevents further (sane) western travel. The bottom (ground floor) level can be viewed with ease, though, as the guardrail mainly prevents kids -- future productive Mall denizens! -- from ragdolling their way off the edge.

There is a badly-cracked kiosk in the center of the hallway. At the far end of the rail is an elevator.
There is a crystal ball holder here.
action: You go east
response: There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
action: Go east
response: I'm at the eastern side of the Mall. To the north is Choad's Sporting Goods. My store is a bit to the east, and the Bead Store a bit to the west.

There is a table here, set adjacent to the Sporting Goods store.
action: You go to the south
response: The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.
A postcard, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, the X-box are here.
Sydney and the skeleton are here.
action: You take the drink
response: Taken.

It's really cold in here.
action: Go outside
response: I can't go that way. I can go north to the beginning of the east wing.
action: You go inside
response: Audrey says, "We'll wait down here for you."

The elevator smells terrible, strongly of untreated or unembalmed cadavers. There are three buttons here in the elevator labelled 'up,' 'down' and 'open doors.'

I'm currently on the second level of the Mall. Aside from the operational panel, there is little else here in the lift.
action: Go outside
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
This is the first level, or ground floor, of the Funtime Teen Mall. The lone Mall Exit leads in a westerly direction, past a few more stretches of darkness-enveloped corridor, and the Food Court. There's also a few more stores to the west, with the Mall passageways expanding to all four directions at that point.

Exits lead west to the rest of the Mall, and inside to the elevator.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.
Audrey, Gibs, and Casey are here.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey follow me.
action: You take the water
response: (I'll only be able to hold the water for a couple moments before it flows through my hands...)
action: You enter the fountain
response: Entered!

Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge, in the fountain
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
Audrey, Gibs, and Casey are here.
action: You put water in the fountain
response: Done.
action: You put the drink in the fountain
response: I put the Big Gulp drink in the fountain.
action: You examine the drink
response: It's sixty-four ounces of refreshing lime cola in a cup that looks like a chalice. The 128 ounce version of this drink is called the 'Supreme Maw Thrust' and even though it's a better deal it doesn't get purchased much by many Mall denizens.

The spectre arrives from the west.
action: You throw water at the spectre
response: It doesn't appear as if splashing the water has any effect.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: You leave
response: I get out of the fountain.

The water flows through my fingers.

The water flows away and disappears.
action: You go to the south
response: This place has been in the Mall for as long as I can remember. It really is just called 'Poster Store,' though when I first noticed it a few years back the 'T' on the sign was missing. For months I thought it was some theme store where white suburban kids exclusively bought cassettes detailing cop killing and bitch slapping.

The Poster Store sells posters... and little else. There's a hanging flip-rack of posters in the corner of the store, and a few hanging up on the walls.

Alongside the far wall is a set of oversized disembodied lips.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey follow me.
action: Kiss lips
response: They are too high up for me to kiss, which is too bad, because they look DELICIOUS.
action: You talk to magic Mouth
response: Please select one:

(1) "What on earth happened to you?"
(2) "Greetings, Mouth!"
(3) "Tell me a story, Magic Mouth!"
action: 2
response: The mouth says nothing in reply. I know that it 'heard' me, too, as it did not quiver even slightly while I was speaking to it.

Please select one:

(1) "What on earth happened to you?"
(2) "Tell me a story, Magic Mouth!"
action: 1
response: "What happened is, I'd like to say, just a misunderstanding! Why, my soul was a-flutter and a-fizz, there was one particularly hateful day, and then a terrible diversionary landing. But now it seems, hidden around, is the key to pick my lock... but I don't quite think you can do it, you miserable fucking cock."

Please select one:

(1) "Er, excuse me?"
(2) "Shut the fuck up. You're just shitty lips on a wall."
action: 1
response: "I think you heard me, Duffinkowski; heard me rather well. I'd sooner wait for Ragnar?k than for your mind to gel. You're trapped here, Doofernowski, drinkin', sleepin', eatin'... and I'll wink and sneeze upon your release, you sniveling dumbfuck cretin."

Please select one:

(1) "Oh, you want to go, eh? Fisticuffs?."
(2) "Please don't insult me like that. It's, er, insulting."
action: 1
response: "Oh, I'll have a go, just have no fear -- "

I'm fed up with the mouth's nonsense. I cut it off from going any further.

"Just shut that wretched little hole before I cover you with a custom balm milked from your disgusting, available organs, bitchlips. I need help and answers and I'm wholly not interested in even remotely taking abuse from some matted, chudlike non-life hung up on a wall."

A sudden unease creeps over me. What am I doing with my life?
This is a terrible time for reflection, and I try to fight it off. Audrey starts to say something, like how lips aren't officially organs or something equally helpful, but I ignore the interruption and continue. "You don't want to be in the Mall any more than I do. Help me out."

Nothing happens for at least fifteen seconds. I get ready to leave before the lips purse. Finally.

"How?" it says, at last.
action: Turn rack
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The first poster in this set depicts a kind of ritual. There is a red pentagram on the floor, and a bunch of pilgrims, quakers or hippies holding hands around it. (I can never really differentiate between the three.) It's eerily reminiscent of the attempt at an invoking performed earlier by Audrey, Gibs, Syd and Casey... Relatively speaking, anyway, as encountering a wraith and zombie tonight has raised the scale for what I will consider 'eerie' in the future.
action: Again
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The second poster shows a ghost -- a child's rendition of a spirit, really, with looming, evil eyes and a reversed teardrop shape. It's emerging from some other world or dimension inside the pentagram.
action: Keep going
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

Er, this poster is actually one of Samantha Fox pouring milk all over herself in the shower.
action: You continue
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

This poster seems to be by the same artist as the other two, but rather than being drawn from a bird's eye perspective like those posters, it is a close-up of a young boy reading passages from a thick, craggily book. Locks of the boy's hair descend over his glasses and he's decked out all in black, wrapped in a weary and somber expression.
action: Keep going
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The fourth poster in this set shows a little girl with her eyes downcast. She is drinking from a radiant, glowing urn. The girl is wearing a silvery dress and has a key around her neck.

"Do you see the symbolism in this picture, Jarret?"

"The girl? No. Is she ashamed? Is that why she's looking down?"

"No... I mean, around her neck. The key."

"What's the key to?" I ask.

"It's... well, actually, maybe it isn't really symbolism. But I think that's to a chastity belt." She releases her study of the picture and gives me a subtle, wry smile. "You know, my father wanted to put me in one when we first started dating."

"It's good that he didn't. I would have just picked it."

"Oh, really?" she says, with a bit of faux, exaggerated inquiry. "You know, skills from a game don't always translate to real life."

"I know. I would have done it with my tongue. I have like a cold iron fetish, I just haven't told you yet because the subject hasn't come up and that's a tough one to drop on somebody." We stare at each other's eyes for a moment, 'till she breaks the gaze with a smile she unsuccessfully tries to hide.
action: Continue
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The second-to-last image is of a person from the first poster surrounded by numerous lit candles. There are seemingly millions of candles in the scene, and it's almost like an optical illusion, as the 'negative space' for certain candles comprise many separate ones when viewed in a different way. No candle seems to have a single, identifiable color (or rather, they seem to include all possible colors) and one can only really make out a single flame glowing serenely upon them.
action: You look at Poster
response: The fourth poster in this set shows a little girl with her eyes downcast. She is drinking from a radiant, glowing urn. The girl is wearing a silvery dress and has a key around her neck.
action: You keep going
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

yousTayaWayyouSICKLITTLEBOY!!

The last scene shows vibrant fire all over the edges, and the subjects all seem burned to a crisp. There is no sign of the ghost, but the bodies of the boy, the girl, and all their compatriots are viciously chunked and charred. It's a beautiful little bit of art, regardless of how horrible the scene it depicts, and how terrible the ulcer is that begins to grow in my stomach.
action: Go north
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey follow me.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south (in addition to the east, back from where we came). The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The spectre is here.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey follow me.

"Where do we go from here?" asks Gibs. "There's an exit past the Food Court, right?" He gestures over towards the west.

"Yeah. I don't think we can get out going to the Tech SuperStore." The SuperStore is to the south. "Audrey and I can take a jaunt down there and make sure, though."

"Either way," says Gibs. "Just be careful. Who knows what's lurking about down there?"

"Well, as my father always said, 'He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. "

Gibs thinks about that for a second. "Your dad didn't say that. Freddie Nietzsche did, dummy."

"What? No he didn't. You're completely wrong." I am really not sure if Barnaby is correct or not, so I just immediately go on the defensive.

"Did Papa Duffy also say 'In heaven, all the interesting people are missing?' Or maybe 'Only sick music makes money today?"

(Truth to tell, my dad did used to say the latter, but I
don't tell Gibs that.)

"Your father is really weird," says Audrey, unhelpfully.

"Look, enough with ragging on poor, old Nichodeimos. He liked all of you well enough."

"He hated me," says Audrey.

"He called me 'fruitier than a blueberry pudding pop.'" says Gibs.

"I never met him" says Casey.

"Yeah, well, he hated Goths," says Gibs.

"He hated everybody," says Audrey.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: Go north
response: The gate to the Record Store is down, blocking my path.
action: You descend
response: There is not an exit that way.

There are exits north to the Record Store, and west, east and south to other corridors of the Mall.
action: You go to the west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
A kind of cave-in has apparently occurred here. While the gate north to the Novel Shoppe has been destroyed (and passage is possible), our path to the west is blocked by an enormous amount of rubble.

Audrey, Gibs, and Casey follow me.

"This is the way out, isn't it?" asks Gibs. I nod, sagely, in the affirmative.

He looks over the mess.

"Look," says Gibs, "Why don't you and Audrey see if you can find any items that we'll need to get past whatever horrors are in store for us on the other side of this wall of junk? I'll start digging away at this and clear a path. Your sissy, atrophied she-muscles won't be able to really help any, Duffy."
action: Go north
response: You're supposed to be pumped to enter a book store in a mall.

This isn't the case with this one. The novels contained herein are not discounted in terms of their cost, they are discounted, rather, in terms of their quality. A few years back there was a fad in publishing that resulted in the release of a large number of non-fiction books that were little more than paper printouts of 'successful' blog sites. (I say 'successful' in a manner of speaking like that, as in my opinion the only successful blog site is one that ends with
the webcam suicide of its maintainer.)

El circo de chamuscarse de la retina doesn't stop there.
Shitty steampunk, trite Lycanthropian romance novels, pre-civilization thrillers featuring cavemen (well, cavepeople) and gimmick dictionaries were all part of the hardcover publishing's switch towards the tactics of pop music the last few years. These outright dolorous genres are fully represented here, making this place more a library or museum than a boutique.

There is an exit to the south.

Nailed to a couple of boards in the far corner of the room is a girl. Sitting on the cross is the crucified girl.

Carelessly discarded on the ground next to the crucified girl is a thick, burgundy text.

Audrey follows me.
action: You examine girl
response: The crucified girl seems to be of mild Hispanic descent. Her features are slightly olive, her hair dark and her eyes stained all the round by blood. She is wearing a torn black tank top, blue bandana with floral print, and sleek pair of tight shorts. Her build is slight -- she is probably about five foot five at most, with slim, athletic legs.

The girl's arms and right leg have been nailed to a makeshift cross, and the cross seems solidly affixed to the western wall. There are cuts and tears elsewhere on her body as well. It is difficult to tell how long she has been dead, but she is not sending off a waft of stench or anything, currently. She looks a lot like a girl that used to work in the paint and housewares store that used to be here in the Mall before they closed. I remember that she was really bright, resourceful, helpful and was working on her four-year degree. I really hope it's not her.

She is dead.
action: You look at the cross
response: The cross runs about six feet high, wide enough for a grown woman to be nailed to and made of some sort of indeterminate wood.

There is a dead girl nailed to it.

Sitting on the cross is the crucified girl.
action: You remove the girl
response: I ease the girl down from the cross and place her on the floor.
action: You examine the text
response: The text has a grooved, sturdy cover, designed out of pressed reed and dyed a rich burgundy. It is about fifteen inches long, nine or ten inches thick.
action: You get it
response: (assuming you mean the aged text)
Got it.

noyoUreYescasTtheMaSiDelittlefucKsicklittleboy!!! !
action: You read it
response: (assuming you mean the aged text)
I flip through a few pages, but nothing really catches my eye. I'm sure that some long dead monk or priest who nearly acquired whatever the 14th century version of repetitive motion syndrome in writing this thing is revolving in a European Potter's grave at my disinterest, but the words just seem to roll off my eyeballs in a splash of drama and desperate Calligraphy.
action: You get the girl
response: She's too heavy for me to lift and move around.
action: You get cross
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, the gaming glove (being worn), Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, a pleather purse, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, and the aged text.
action: You drop the gulp
response: Dropped.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
socks: Dropped.
Magic: The Gathering cards: Dropped.
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first. lacrosse stick: Dropped.
phone: Dropped.
aged text: Dropped.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
This area is adjacent to the huge Food Court which is just over to the west. The amount of available light dwindles further, while the density of smoke present is the thickest I've seen yet.

There's paths to the west (into the Food Court) and east (back into the first-floor corridor).
Gibs and Casey are here.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go north
response: The gate to the Record Store is down, blocking my path.
action: Go north
response: I hate going in here, but I have apparently been a patron enough times to notice how peculiar the store is without its overhead fluorescent spotlights. The low light received from outside produces oddly-angled little shadows, albeit (apparently) non-sentient ones.

There are two long rows of shelves along the north-south orient of the store, and a cashier's counter in back.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text are here.
The crucified girl and the phone are here.

Audrey follows me.
action: You get all
response: Big Gulp drink: Taken.
pleather purse: Taken.
socks: Taken.
Magic: The Gathering cards: Taken.
lacrosse stick: Taken.
phone: Taken.
aged text: Got it.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey follows me.

The spectre arrives from the east.
action: You look at the spectre
response: The spectre is a powerful, intangible, undead spirit consumed with hatred for those with warmth in their souls. Its touch drains an enormous amount of life energy, it is unaffected by silver, 'normal' iron, or cold.

It would be powerless in daylight, but I am obviously several hours away from any such thing. It may be best to just avoid and and not antagonize it.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: You call the phone
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
Just talking to Trott will suffice.

The spectre arrives from the north.
action: You talk to Trott
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
Please select one:

(1) "Can you raise the gate of the Record Store for me?"
action: 1
response: "Hmm," says Trott, "Let me try... argh. I can't. I'm not getting anything to respond in that area."
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
I enter the southern-most section of the Mall, and it's as I feared: the Outlet SuperStore has been cemented over, so I won't be able to get to the exit doors that way. (I always arrive through the food court due to how the parking lots are structured.)

There's two stores here that are accessible, however: a party favors store to the east, and then the Bead Store's main competitor -- a candle store, which is to the west.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go east
response: This store is mostly unfurnished, with a low, bare ceiling, cold floor covered in cheap carpeting, and blankets and rugs thumb-tacked up to hide the peeling wallpaper and crumbling drywall.

The contents of the room are a cluttered mess, as this place seems to be more of a craftsman's think-tank and construction area than pure chamber for commerce like so many other shops in the Mall. There's a workdesk and mirror along the northern wall and a file cabinet across from it. A small window is visible behind some junk, and directly across from the entrance are seven masks attached to the back wall in a proud display. Attached to one of the naked support beams is a disco laser pointer.

Prominently displayed in the center of the room is a reserved, yet sizeable urn.
Sitting on the workdesk is the blue balloon.

Audrey follows me.
action: You look at the cabinet
response: It's colored a deep beige and stands about as tall as I do. It, like most of the other things in the room, is of cheap construction.
action: You open it
response: (assuming you mean the file cabinet)
Opened.
action: You examine it
response: (assuming you mean the file cabinet)
It's colored a deep beige and stands about as tall as I do. It, like most of the other things in the room, is of cheap construction.
action: You look in it
response: (assuming you mean the file cabinet)
The file cabinet is empty.
action: You search it
response: (assuming you mean the file cabinet)
I don't find anything.
action: You examine the desk
response: This workdesk is just a worn and cheap table that any office supply store would carry and sell for around sixty bucks.
Sitting on the workdesk is the blue balloon.

Sitting on the workdesk is the blue balloon.
action: You get the balloon
response: Taken.
action: You examine it
response: (assuming you mean the blue balloon)
It's colored blue, but the material used is a heavier than I'd expect -- like an expandable metallic bag. It floats in the air about where it's placed, so presumably it's got some helium in it, though a fair amount has leaked out.
action: You look at the masks
response: There's a collection of masks in the Party Store, though many of them valueless, and all of them locked up tight to the wall.
action: You examine the mirror
response: A stylin' and engaging Chortlemaster with great hair is staring back at me.
action: You examine the window
response: This rare window offers a glimpse to what is going on outside. There is a terrible storm along the horizon that is visible from this direction. The clouds right above the mountains are electric with activity. The moon is soft and blurred and red-orange.

I stay for too long a moment and take it all in. The window itself is unbreakable, of course, to fend off thieves, and it's far too small for me to fit through, but I can't deny how strong the feeling is to get on the other side of these walls, to sprint off into the distance until the snow-capped peaks are before me and to just burrow within them and hide until dawn... till some other dawn, days away.

I come back to my senses after a few moments. I'll find another way out.
action: You get the urn
response: Right on.

leAveaLonEthEdEadthEirasHesnoTFORYOULItTleoNe!!!
action: You turn on the pointer
response: Party!! It's a FUN FOR ALL FREE PARTY ZONE! I get down and
dance! Who doesn't like a rockin' party like this?
action: Describe the surroundings
response: This store is mostly unfurnished, with a low, bare ceiling, cold floor covered in cheap carpeting, and blankets and rugs thumb-tacked up to hide the peeling wallpaper and crumbling drywall.

The contents of the room are a cluttered mess, as this place seems to be more of a craftsman's think-tank and construction area than pure chamber for commerce like so many other shops in the Mall. There's a workdesk and mirror along the northern wall and a file cabinet across from it. A small window is visible behind some junk, and directly across from the entrance are seven masks attached to the back wall in a proud display. Attached to one of the naked support beams is a disco laser pointer.
Audrey is here.
action: You examine the carpet
response: The carpets and blankets are old, musty things have been tacked up onto the walls to hide the scratched-out drywall beneath.
action: You look at the junk
response: Upon closer inspection, the junk is just some random garbage that the guy who owns the store probably generated in making his wares.
action: You remove masks
response: The masks are permanently attached to the wall of the Party Store.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Well, what is fun, then? Educate me."
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey follows me.
action: Go west
response: The Candle Store is the second-most picketed store, right after Choad's. It used to be a lot worse when it was a nail and board emporium, though. Some old and independently wealthy latin guy owns the place, though, and he just doesn't care about the Cash-In of the Christ.

Christ's Candles is decked out in a similar manner to the Bead Store, hippie stuff and dark shadows even when the power isn't completely out. This isn't the kind of city where one can set up a number of candles on stands like in the video to 'Wrapped Around Your Finger,' so instead all the candles and other objects are on shelves.
There are a number of tiny birthday candles in packages all over the store, but the most impressive display is in the back, where an elegant, if clouded menorah rests upon a long display table.
A Revenant is here.

Audrey follows me.
action: You get menorah
response: oUTOUTboysickchildOUTNONONONONONONO!!!

I take it.

A bit of smoke and fog begins to form against the southern wall.
action: You look at Revenant
response: The Revenant is about a foot taller than me, and decked out in an old, charred robe. Its face is covered in hideous burn scars, not that the thing is doing itself any favors in the charisma department by wearing a constant sneer. Its fingernails are overgrown and apparently chewed or filed down to function as sharp claws. It breathes heavily, each gasp of air apparently being quite an effort to draw.

Another vision appears before us. It shows a slender hand over a sink holding a one of those card pregnancy tests.

The vision quickly pulls back, revealing Audrey in a bathrobe and her hair in towel. I think that I saw the card show a 'plus' sign before the vision ended. The only thing is... I have no idea what plus represents. Pregnant? Not expecting? Gender? I don't have a lot of experience in this sort of thing.
action: Look around
response: The Candle Store is the second-most picketed store, right after Choad's. It used to be a lot worse when it was a nail and board emporium, though. Some old and independently wealthy latin guy owns the place, though, and he just doesn't care about the Cash-In of the Christ.

Christ's Candles is decked out in a similar manner to the Bead Store, hippie stuff and dark shadows even when the power isn't completely out. This isn't the kind of city where one can set up a number of candles on stands like in the video to 'Wrapped Around Your Finger,' so instead all the candles and other objects are on shelves.

The floorspace towards the rear of the store is completely taken up by the long display table against the western wall.
A Revenant and Audrey are here.
action: You talk to Revenant
response: Please select one:

(1) "A vampire, Kali, is your killer."
(2) "Yeah. Sorry about that. I honestly thought she killed you."
(3) "What was supposed to happen upon you finding your killer?"
(4) "The vampire wasn't your killer, was she?"
action: 1
response: "Then this 'Kali' shall be boiled away into hell!" booms the Revenant. "Off we are!"

Please select one:

(1) "Yeah. Sorry about that. I honestly thought she killed you."
(2) "What was supposed to happen upon you finding your killer?"
(3) "The vampire wasn't your killer, was she?"
action: 1
response: The Revenant silent stares ahead for an uncomfortable amount of time. Should I leave or something? Add more? He's really difficult to gau--

"Mistakes are made," he says with infinite calm. "No real harm has been done." Whatta guy.

The Revenant heads off to the east.
action: 4
response: "She was not," the Revenant says quickly. "It is of little matter, however. Mistakes get made. She offered no real value to this world or any others. She will not be back for the foreseeable future."

"That's excellent," I reply. "Thanks."

"There is no need for thanks. It was not a favor I did, but an attempt to uncover the truth about my death." I give him a quick look of sympathy and understood pain, but it's totally fake. I'm hoping he can't determine my ruse, what with the flamb?ed face and eyes and everything. But either way he seems pretty relaxed.

Please select one:

(1) "A vampire, Kali, is your killer."
(2) "Yeah. Sorry about that. I honestly thought she killed you."
(3) "What was supposed to happen upon you finding your killer?"
action: 3
response: "REST!" bellows the Revenant. I'm momentarily taken back by his outburst: there are absolutely no other sounds audible this far into the Mall. "A sweet, everlasting relaxation that I so richly deserve. Many cultures have had many different names for it. Nirvana... Heaven... Ragnar?k..."

"Actually, Ragnar?k wasn't a final state of bliss, like the Sanskrit Nirvana, but rather a foretelling of -- " The Revenant cuts me off and continues his monologue. What a complete cock!

"A final resting place for a warrior such as I. It is as I deserve. I crave it, desperately... but first I must find the one that put me into this state and remove her from this world."

I give the guy the fingerguns sign. "Good luck with that," I tell him. Jerk.

Please select one:

(1) "A vampire, Kali, is your killer."
(2) "Yeah. Sorry about that. I honestly thought she killed you."
action: 1
response: "Then this 'Kali' shall be boiled away into hell!" booms the Revenant. "Off we are!"

Please select one:

(1) "Yeah. Sorry about that. I honestly thought she killed you."
action: Yes
response: Thanks for playing!
cheaphe quit with exit status: 0
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, and the menorah.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Well, what is fun, then? Educate me."
(2) "Are we looking for a particular candle?"
(3) "Whoa, that was you in the vision! What does a plus mean?"
action: 3
response: "What does a plus mean?" asks Audrey. "On a home pregnancy test? It means that you're not pregnant. Thank God."

"Did you have a close call or something?"

"Yes, we had a close call. Don't you remember? It wasn't that
long ago. I had got off ICQ talking to one of your ex-girlfriends the night before. She told me that you, quote, 'wig out' when spoken to in Elvish or some other made-up language along those lines."

Audrey continues her story, but I start to get a flood of memories back from that night. I had actually deigned to go out clubbing with her for a night a few weeks back. (I usually don't, as I am such a lousy, self-conscious dancer.) She was wearing this tight little gray dress with slight horizontal lines across it, made out of this fuzzy fabric -- the outfit practically squealed 'do me' by itself.

Audrey was grinding her way up against me every time I went onto the floor. I just seizured out. That's the only way I know how to dance. I almost never really consume much alcohol, but that night I was taking pull after pull of some Safeway Vodka that Sydney had smuggled into the club as if the contents of the bottle were nothing more innocuous than Mexican Kool-Aid. Audrey and I took a cab back to her place, and we were all over one another before we could find the light switch.

She was on top of me for what seemed like the better part of an hour when she dipped down and whispered something into my ear.
Tye-mela'ne. It's Tolkein Elvish for 'I love you.' We don't
seem to say that to each other very much, but even drunk I instantly translated what she said and I... well, I went off like a Soviet Catapult: unexpectedly, unpredictably, and altogether quite messily.

I hadn't thought about it -- about the consequences of it -- until just right now. I didn't mean for her to go through a pregnancy scare like that by herself. I just wasn't thinking about the details.

(For what it's worth, the story that Audrey related as I had this flashback was pretty much exactly like mine, except that she said that we only jammed for something like fifteen minutes. She's got this crazy, post-Einsteinian view of how time really works though, so don't believe her.)

Please select one:

(1) "Well, what is fun, then? Educate me."
(2) "Are we looking for a particular candle?"
action: 2
response: "Um... I'm not really sure," said Audrey. "If I remember right, the candle or candles didn't have an apparent identifying trait that I could see..." She screws up her face in thought for a moment. "I'll think, though, about it..." It's probably nothing more than ego on my part, but I could swear that there was a hint of, 'if I don't
get it, I am betting that my charming and resourceful boyfriend certainly will.' OK, maybe a lot of ego, but still.

Please select one:

(1) "Well, what is fun, then? Educate me."
action: You look
response: The Candle Store is the second-most picketed store, right after Choad's. It used to be a lot worse when it was a nail and board emporium, though. Some old and independently wealthy latin guy owns the place, though, and he just doesn't care about the Cash-In of the Christ.

Christ's Candles is decked out in a similar manner to the Bead Store, hippie stuff and dark shadows even when the power isn't completely out. This isn't the kind of city where one can set up a number of candles on stands like in the video to 'Wrapped Around Your Finger,' so instead all the candles and other objects are on shelves.

The floorspace towards the rear of the store is completely taken up by the long display table against the western wall.
Audrey is here.
action: You examine table
response: The display table is a sort of countertop, approximately fifteen feet long and about three feet deep. It is made out of a hard plastic, faced off with a chipping formica plate.
action: You search it
response: (assuming you mean the long display table)
I don't find anything.

A horrible scream pierces the air, originating from the far end of the Food Court.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey follows me.
action: Go north
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.
The spectre is here.

Audrey follows me.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
This is the first level, or ground floor, of the Funtime Teen Mall. The lone Mall Exit leads in a westerly direction, past a few more stretches of darkness-enveloped corridor, and the Food Court. There's also a few more stores to the west, with the Mall passageways expanding to all four directions at that point.

Exits lead west to the rest of the Mall, and inside to the elevator.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go south
response: The Poster Store sells posters... and little else. There's a hanging flip-rack of posters in the corner of the store, and a few hanging up on the walls.

Alongside the far wall is a set of oversized disembodied lips.

Audrey follows me.
action: You go north
response: I'm not quite sure why sunglasses and shades are only sold in 'huts' but this store is very un-hut like. There are three very solid walls here and a roof made not of thatch, but poured, cracking cement. The floor is hardly comprised of peat or mud, but the same tile present everywhere else in the Mall.

A fair bit of ether has snaked itself into the room. It combines with the hand-picked and market-researched atmospheric lights that still function to give off a very deep, defracted and soothing look to the room. Vibrant purples and deep blues dominate the walls and counters of the Sunglasses Hut.

I worked at this place for a week once when I was fighting with my manager at the D&D store. I acquired a little bit of trivia regarding this place (for instance, the center display case will open if it's tapped upon) but nothing useful otherwise.

Audrey follows me.
action: Hit case
response: I give the case a good whack, and it opens with ease.

Inside the center display case are the mirrored shades.
action: You take the shades
response: Got it.
action: You examine them
response: (assuming you mean the mirrored shades)
They are circular frames, with perfect mirrors on the outside. My eyes are completely hidden while wearing the sunglasses, at the expense of a lot of light getting through.
action: You remove the glasses
response: I can't remove my specs like that! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
action: You wear the shades
response: I take off my glasses and put the shades on. Things get considerably darker.
action: You look
response: A fair bit of ether has snaked itself into the room. It combines with the hand-picked and market-researched atmospheric lights that still function to give off a very deep, defracted and soothing look to the room. Vibrant purples and deep blues dominate the walls and counters of the Sunglasses Hut.

I worked at this place for a week once when I was fighting with my manager at the D&D store. I acquired a little bit of trivia regarding this place (for instance, the center display case will open if it's tapped upon) but nothing useful otherwise.
Audrey is here.
action: You wear the glasses
response: I put my specs back on.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go north
response: The gate to the Record Store is down, blocking my path.
action: You knock on the gate
response: No response.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Gibs is here.

Audrey follows me.

"She was here, Duffy. She was beautiful."

"Who was? Casey? Where's Casey?"

"Casey... " Gibs turns and looks at me for the first time since I came back. "No... not poor Casey. We finished up getting all the wreckage out of the way and as I looked up Casey was entranced by the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Her skin was so pale, so fragile. She had this dark shock of bangs that framed her perfect face. As soon as I looked up, I froze. But she had locked eyes with Casey. I knew her name was Kali, but not how. Casey didn't seem to be able to move, at first, just like me. Then -- "

"It was a vampire, Gibs. I was hoping we'd avoid one, but -- "

"She took Casey by the hand and they both walked that way... into the darkness."
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first. lacrosse stick: Dropped.
phone: Dropped.
aged text: Dropped.
blue balloon: Dropped.
urn: Dropped.
menorah: Dropped.
mirrored shades: Dropped.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the menorah, the mirrored shades are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area and I can only see about half of it from here due to the lack of light -- the entire western end of it is cloaked in darkness. There are a number of cheap square tables and static plastic chairs bolted to the floor here, although a few have somehow broken off and are loose.

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. They carry a large assortment of tabs, pills, drugs and spices. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we came.

Audrey lets out a little surprised 'yip!' and runs over towards me.

"Jarret!" she says, "I felt something brush up against my leg! Something's here, in this area with us!" Before I can pooh-pooh her objections to this area, a metal chair comes flying at us. It appears as if a poltergeist has infected the food court.
A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.
Casey is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A garbage can comes flying right at me!

A garbage can strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

I notice something moving over in the far corner of the Food Court. It's a girl. She is wearing a reserved violet dress and has the most perfect, slim little figure I have ever seen.

The vampire, I guess. It has to be; she's just as stunning as Gibs said.

Focusing harder, I see Casey beside her, unmoving, defeated, completely obedient. The vampire whispers softly to her -- Casey snaps back into proper consciousness, and after a moment begins to look at her with loving trust. They are both several yards away, but I can make what the vampire says to her perfectly: Follow me, my
pet.

The vampire heads off to the west.

Casey heads off to the west.
action: Go west
response: I can't get by the Poltergeist!

"I don't think Casey has a lot of time," says Gibs. "I don't remember as much D&D crap as you do, Duffy, but I'm thinking she has maybe fifteen minutes."
action: You go to the north-east
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green which some junior ad exec no doubt thinks promotes quick sales decisions, when all it truly does is make customers eager to get the hell out before they add an equally off-putting color to the surrounding by use of their own acrid vomit.

In the rear of the store is a modest plastic counter and an ancient analog cash register. Further behind that is a closed metal door that really clashes with what's going on otherwise, stylistically.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.

Exits lead to the southwest and through the door.

"There should surely be some garlic here," I say to myself...

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You open the door
response: "I'm going to take a quick look below. Be right back."
Opened.
action: You go inside
response: I can't go that way. I can go down to the basement entrance or southwest to the food court's east half.
action: You go through the door
response: I descend the stairs and enter the basement. The air is at least twenty degrees cooler down here than it is up above and it has a bit of a tangy, acrid -- almost 'chewy' quality to it. My breath turns into wispy, stringy clouds the instant it leaves my lips and I begin to feel my very bones come across a deep chill. I usually prefer winter to summer, so normally I wouldn't be put off by the frost down here and a few bad smells, but there's something different about the chill in the air down here. The temperature of the air seems malevolent, almost.

The ceiling of the basement is about five and a half feet high, so I have to lurch over like I'm the hunchback of Notre Dork just to get around. The walls have a very rough texture to them, as if they were blasted away and then sanded down in a very half-assed manner.

The corridor continues into darkness to the north.
action: Go north
response: The light is very poor in this room, all of it coming from what can seep and pour through the metal door up above. The floor has turned to earth, however, and the walls seem to have a texture wholly different from the blasted rock earlier in the corridor. I can't say I'm totally suprised to find this area down here below the Mall, as rumor was that the place was built upon some burial grounds. I just never knew that they were, in parts, integrated.

Exits lead south and further on to the north.
action: You go to the north
response: The basement ceiling gets much taller in this room, about up to 15 feet or so, I'd guess. At the very top is a small torch, which is providing a fair bit of the light in the room -- the rest of it is reflected from the coffin in the corner.

The ground is no longer soft earth, either, but rather blocks of cold stone. The walls are made of some kind of brick which reflects a bit of light as well, although nowhere near as well as the coffin.

A support beam has been installed next to the coffin. Beyond it, to the right, is a small and very dark alcove.
action: You get the torch
response: It's too far up.
action: You look at it
response: (assuming you mean the alcove)
It's a very small and hidden away subsection of the basement. It's to the east.
action: Go east
response: I practically have to crawl to get into this little cave-like section cut away from the basement. The light is gobbled up from something inside, as nothing from the coffin room manages to get in here.

The only thing of note here is a very small trestle up against the wall.
action: You look at the trestle
response: In the corner of the alcove is a single trestle. It's obviously rotting away, and emitting a little bit of an old musty smell. It stands about two feet high and looks as if it might crumble at any time.

The trestle has a garlic clove on it.
action: You get the clove
response: I take the garlic.

I hear metallic stone sliding up against metallic stone coming from the next room.
action: You go west
response: The ceiling in this room is unique within the basement, as it is actually enough up where I don't have to hunch. At the top of the ceiling is a single, lit torch, held at a diagonal against the wall with a bracket. All available light is strongly reflected from the coffin, which sits quietly in the corner of the room. The walls are made out of a flecked brick, and a support beam stands to the right of the coffin.

Exits are south towards the stairs and east into a tight alcove.
The lid is here.

I see two bandaged hands slowly emerge from darkness. They grope at the sides of the coffin. A figure rises, I see first the unwrapped, rotting head and then the torso, wound tight with stinking fibers and rags.

The mummy turns its head directly towards me.
action: You hit the torch with the cross
response: I cruelly break the torch!
action: You look at the beam
response: The support beam is a strong and long block of stone keeping the ceiling up nice and high.

The mummy exits the coffin.

The mummy slowly begins to moan, seemingly within a weary, endless pain. It quickly shifts this to a scream. Its keen is of a deep tenor, and it begins thrashing about. Small scraps of deteriorating bandages fall from its person and onto the floor.

The mummy strikes the support beam! Chunks of the ceiling fall downwards and it sounds as if the entire Mall has collapsed a little.

The chaos breaks me out of my fear-trance. I feel I could flee now if I wanted to try.

The mummy attacks and hits me!

I feel awful after that last touch.
action: You go to the south
response: This stretch of corridor is little more than a narrow, forgotten passageway. Soft earth makes up the floor, a distinct change from the cement seen to the south.

The mummy follows me.

The mummy attacks and hits me!
action: Go south
response: The temperature of the air down here in the basement is quite cold, probably no more than thirty degrees Fahrenheit. The ceiling is just over five feet high, and the walls have a very rough texture to them, as if they were blasted away and then poorly sanded.

The mummy follows me.

The mummy attacks and hits me!
action: You hit the mummy with the cross
response: I attack, but miss the mummy!

There's a flash of pain right where the mummy first struck me.

The mummy attacks and hits me!
action: Go south
response: I can't go that way. I can go up to a health store or north to a basement corridor.
action: You go up
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.
Audrey and Gibs are here.

The mummy follows me.

"Duffy, look out! Somebody's followin' you!"

"Christ, I know, Gibs! Help me kill it!"

The mummy attacks and hits me!
action: You hit the mummy with the cross
response: I clobber the mummy with the cross.

(The cross breaks as a result, and I throw it down.)

"Bring back pre-casting, beeeeyatch!" I scream!

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.

The mummy attacks and hits me!
action: Go southwest
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

The mummy, Audrey, and Gibs follow me.

The mummy attacks and hits me!
action: Go east
response: Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 17, then find line 5 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 6.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 17, then find line 5 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 6.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
%% Enter a save filename to read:
action: You look at the candles
response: These boxes contain reams of cheap, short blue birthday candles.
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, and the menorah.
action: You get the blue candles
response: I haven't encountered any "blue candles". (If you're sure you need to refer to that, try putting it another way.)
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey follows me.

A horrible scream pierces the air, originating from the far end of the Food Court.
action: Go east
response: This store is mostly unfurnished, with a low, bare ceiling, cold floor covered in cheap carpeting, and blankets and rugs thumb-tacked up to hide the peeling wallpaper and crumbling drywall.

The contents of the room are a cluttered mess, as this place seems to be more of a craftsman's think-tank and construction area than pure chamber for commerce like so many other shops in the Mall. There's a workdesk and mirror along the northern wall and a file cabinet across from it. A small window is visible behind some junk, and directly across from the entrance are seven masks attached to the back wall in a proud display. Attached to one of the naked support beams is a disco laser pointer.

Audrey follows me.
action: You examine the laser
response: The laser pointer is out there jivin'! It's scattering laser light everywhere and it's turned this placed into a Block Party Central! Whoo-hoo!
action: You examine the balloon
response: It's colored blue, but the material used is a heavier than I'd expect -- like an expandable metallic bag. It floats in the air about where it's placed, so presumably it's got some helium in it, though a fair amount has leaked out.
action: You look at the masks
response: There's a collection of masks in the Party Store, though many of them valueless, and all of them locked up tight to the wall.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey follows me.
action: Go north
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey follows me.

The spectre arrives from the north.
action: Examine Poster
response: The last scene shows vibrant fire all over the edges, and the subjects all seem burned to a crisp. There is no sign of the ghost, but the bodies of the boy, the girl, and all their compatriots are viciously chunked and charred. It's a beautiful little bit of art, regardless of how horrible the scene it depicts, and how terrible the ulcer is that begins to grow in my stomach.
action: Turn poster
response: I flip the posters in the rack all the way back to the start.
action: You flip the rack
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The first poster in this set depicts a kind of ritual. There is a red pentagram on the floor, and a bunch of pilgrims, quakers or hippies holding hands around it. (I can never really differentiate between the three.) It's eerily reminiscent of the attempt at an invoking performed earlier by Audrey, Gibs, Syd and Casey... Relatively speaking, anyway, as encountering a wraith and zombie tonight has raised the scale for what I will consider 'eerie' in the future.
action: Continue
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The second poster shows a ghost -- a child's rendition of a spirit, really, with looming, evil eyes and a reversed teardrop shape. It's emerging from some other world or dimension inside the pentagram.
action: Keep going
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

Er, this poster is actually one of Samantha Fox pouring milk all over herself in the shower.
action: You continue
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

This poster seems to be by the same artist as the other two, but rather than being drawn from a bird's eye perspective like those posters, it is a close-up of a young boy reading passages from a thick, craggily book. Locks of the boy's hair descend over his glasses and he's decked out all in black, wrapped in a weary and somber expression.
action: You continue
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The fourth poster in this set shows a little girl with her eyes downcast. She is drinking from a radiant, glowing urn. The girl is wearing a silvery dress and has a key around her neck.
action: Continue
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The second-to-last image is of a person from the first poster surrounded by numerous lit candles. There are seemingly millions of candles in the scene, and it's almost like an optical illusion, as the 'negative space' for certain candles comprise many separate ones when viewed in a different way. No candle seems to have a single, identifiable color (or rather, they seem to include all possible colors) and one can only really make out a single flame glowing serenely upon them.
action: Continue
response: I flip to the next poster in the series and take a look at it.

The last scene shows vibrant fire all over the edges, and the subjects all seem burned to a crisp. There is no sign of the ghost, but the bodies of the boy, the girl, and all their compatriots are viciously chunked and charred. It's a beautiful little bit of art, regardless of how horrible the scene it depicts, and how terrible the ulcer is that begins to grow in my stomach.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the menorah, and the mirrored shades.
action: You call the phone
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
Just talking to Trott will suffice.
action: You talk to Trott
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
I can't think of anything to say right now.
action: You read the text
response: I flip through a few pages, but nothing really catches my eye. I'm sure that some long dead monk or priest who nearly acquired whatever the 14th century version of repetitive motion syndrome in writing this thing is revolving in a European Potter's grave at my disinterest, but the words just seem to roll off my eyeballs in a splash of drama and desperate Calligraphy.
action: You examine the menorah
response: The menorah has places for nine candles -- one for each day of Hanukkah, and then one candle which is the Shamash, which is used to light the other candles once per day for each day of the holiday. This menorah is made out of brass and does not appear to have had any attention or cleaning in quite some time.
Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.

Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.
action: Keep going
response: The menorah gets a little brighter.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: You talk to the spectre
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area and I can only see about half of it from here due to the lack of light -- the entire western end of it is cloaked in darkness. There are a number of cheap square tables and static plastic chairs bolted to the floor here, although a few have somehow broken off and are loose.

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. They carry a large assortment of tabs, pills, drugs and spices. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we came.

Audrey lets out a little surprised 'yip!' and runs over towards me.

"Jarret!" she says, "I felt something brush up against my leg! Something's here, in this area with us!" Before I can pooh-pooh her objections to this area, a metal chair comes flying at us. It appears as if a poltergeist has infected the food court.
A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.
Casey is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

I notice something moving over in the far corner of the Food Court. It's a girl. She is wearing a reserved violet dress and has the most perfect, slim little figure I have ever seen.

The vampire, I guess. It has to be; she's just as stunning as Gibs said.

Focusing harder, I see Casey beside her, unmoving, defeated, completely obedient. The vampire whispers softly to her -- Casey snaps back into proper consciousness, and after a moment begins to look at her with loving trust. They are both several yards away, but I can make what the vampire says to her perfectly: Follow me, my
pet.

The vampire heads off to the west.

Casey heads off to the west.
action: Examine can
response: It's a typical Mall garbage can (big, gray, plastic and cruddy).
action: You search it
response: (assuming you mean the garbage can)
I don't find anything.
action: You get light
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.
action: You get light
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

A brown table is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

I dodge the item, though.

"I don't think Casey has a lot of time," says Gibs. "I don't remember as much D&D crap as you do, Duffy, but I'm thinking she has maybe fifteen minutes."
action: You drop the glasses
response: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!

A short gray table comes flying right at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You get light
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

A fluorescent light wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A fluorescent light strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You examine it
response: (assuming you mean the fluorescent light)
This light fixture is from a chunk of the Mall's ceiling. It's at least a couple feet long, and mostly cylindrical in shape. It's non-functioning, of course, and quite heavy.

Something roughly picks up some socks and throws it at me!

Some socks strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying the gaming glove (being worn), a pleather purse, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the menorah, the mirrored shades, and my glasses (being worn). Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.

A metal chair wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You examine urn
response: This rather large urn is crafted in the shape of an upside-down mushroom. It's a base silver in color with a floral pattern painted on top.

A brown table comes flying right at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You get it
response: (assuming you mean the urn)
Right on.
action: You wear the shades
response: I take off my glasses and put the shades on. Things get considerably darker.

Something roughly picks up a metal chair and throws it at me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You examine Poltergeist
response: Poltergeists are a form of invisible undead that whines for attention by flinging shit at people. Of all the creatures and spirits that make up the hierarchy of walking dead, these mewling little bitches are the ones I despise with the most passion. They're the worst drama queens in the underworld. In reality, 'poltergeists' are just the manifestations of picked-on, spoiled little emo or Goth kids... I can't imagine what this demonically-realized little ghost brat has going on underneath the surface.
action: You talk to Poltergeist
response: Poltergeists can not communicate that way.

A broken chair comes flying right at me!

A broken chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You use the gaming glove
response: [Be a little more specific about what you'd like to do with the
gaming glove.]
action: You look at Glove
response: The Sierra Hobbies Gaming Glove is an inky black novelty gaming companion for the hurried Games Master. It's full of mnemonics, scribbled shortcuts and tables to allow for a smoother (and more stylish) game of D&D. No Dungeon Master that takes his craft seriously should be without!

I'm currently wearing the gaming glove.

The poltergeist hurls a broken chair at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You get the chair
response: Which chair do you mean, the plastic chair, the metal chair, the broken chair, or the chair parts?
action: Plastic
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

The poltergeist picks up some chair parts and throws it towards me!

Some chair parts strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: Status
response: I have a lot of minor scratches, but will be okay, since I still have my looks.

The poltergeist picks up a metal chair and throws it towards me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Whoa, that was you in the vision! What does a plus mean?"
action: 1
response: "What does a plus mean?" asks Audrey. "On a home pregnancy test? It means that you're not pregnant. Thank God."

"Did you have a close call or something?"

"Yes, we had a close call. Don't you remember? It wasn't that
long ago. I had got off ICQ talking to one of your ex-girlfriends the night before. She told me that you, quote, 'wig out' when spoken to in Elvish or some other made-up language along those lines."

Audrey continues her story, but I start to get a flood of memories back from that night. I had actually deigned to go out clubbing with her for a night a few weeks back. (I usually don't, as I am such a lousy, self-conscious dancer.) She was wearing this tight little gray dress with slight horizontal lines across it, made out of this fuzzy fabric -- the outfit practically squealed 'do me' by itself.

Audrey was grinding her way up against me every time I went onto the floor. I just seizured out. That's the only way I know how to dance. I almost never really consume much alcohol, but that night I was taking pull after pull of some Safeway Vodka that Sydney had smuggled into the club as if the contents of the bottle were nothing more innocuous than Mexican Kool-Aid. Audrey and I took a cab back to her place, and we were all over one another before we could find the light switch.

She was on top of me for what seemed like the better part of an hour when she dipped down and whispered something into my ear.
Tye-mela'ne. It's Tolkein Elvish for 'I love you.' We don't
seem to say that to each other very much, but even drunk I instantly translated what she said and I... well, I went off like a Soviet Catapult: unexpectedly, unpredictably, and altogether quite messily.

I hadn't thought about it -- about the consequences of it -- until just right now. I didn't mean for her to go through a pregnancy scare like that by herself. I just wasn't thinking about the details.

(For what it's worth, the story that Audrey related as I had this flashback was pretty much exactly like mine, except that she said that we only jammed for something like fifteen minutes. She's got this crazy, post-Einsteinian view of how time really works though, so don't believe her.)
action: You talk to Trott
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
I can't think of anything to say right now.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, some chair parts, and some socks are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

Some chair parts comes flying right at me!

Some chair parts strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You go to the north-east
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green which some junior ad exec no doubt thinks promotes quick sales decisions, when all it truly does is make customers eager to get the hell out before they add an equally off-putting color to the surrounding by use of their own acrid vomit.

In the rear of the store is a modest plastic counter and an ancient analog cash register. Further behind that is a closed metal door that really clashes with what's going on otherwise, stylistically.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.

Exits lead to the southwest and through the door.

"There should surely be some garlic here," I say to myself...

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You examine the register
response: It's one more in an endless parade of registers that are probably filled with cash that would solve all my financial problems, only I don't know how to get to it. Oh, well, stealing is wrong anyway.
action: You look at the Counter
response: This smooth, treated plastic counter is towards the back of the store, in front of a steel door.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You open the door
response: "I'm going to take a quick look below. Be right back."
Opened.
action: Exits
response: There are exits southwest to the Food Court and down (through the door).
action: Go downward
response: I descend the stairs and enter the basement. The air is at least twenty degrees cooler down here than it is up above and it has a bit of a tangy, acrid -- almost 'chewy' quality to it. My breath turns into wispy, stringy clouds the instant it leaves my lips and I begin to feel my very bones come across a deep chill. I usually prefer winter to summer, so normally I wouldn't be put off by the frost down here and a few bad smells, but there's something different about the chill in the air down here. The temperature of the air seems malevolent, almost.

The ceiling of the basement is about five and a half feet high, so I have to lurch over like I'm the hunchback of Notre Dork just to get around. The walls have a very rough texture to them, as if they were blasted away and then sanded down in a very half-assed manner.

The corridor continues into darkness to the north.
action: Examine beam
response: The support beam is a strong and long block of stone keeping the ceiling up nice and high.
action: Climb beam
response: I can get a little ways up, but the beam becomes highly polished and without any sort of ridges to hold onto or place my feet within about two or three feet up.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying the gaming glove (being worn), a pleather purse, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, the menorah, the mirrored shades, my glasses, an urn, and Barnaby's Big Gulp drink. Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.
action: You look at the coffin
response: The coffin is made out of some kind of stone-like substance that I am not altogether familiar with. It's like a chiseled and well-grooved offshoot of pyrite. It nevertheless reflects light quite well, and practically shimmers down here in the basement, excepting those bits of it flecked with dried blood.
action: You open the box
response: I try to push the lid off the coffin, but I am unable to do so.
action: You open the cards
response: I can't do that with the Magic: The Gathering cards.
action: You wear the shades
response: I put the shades on.
action: You look around
response: The ceiling in this room is unique within the basement, as it is actually enough up where I don't have to hunch. At the top of the ceiling is a single, lit torch, held at a diagonal against the wall with a bracket. All available light is strongly reflected from the coffin, which sits quietly in the corner of the room. The walls are made out of a flecked brick, and a support beam stands to the right of the coffin.

Exits are south towards the stairs and east into a tight alcove.
action: Shout
response: I scream like a banshee. Nothing seems to happen.
action: You look at the bracket
response: It's a very small piece of metal designed to keep the torch in place along the wall.

Inside the bracket is the torch.
action: You feel the wall
response: The bracket is too far away for me to get my greasy paws on it.
action: You throw the menorah at the torch
response: I knock the torch off of the bracket! The torch falls to the ground, where the cold fog quickly extinguishes it.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
The spectre is here.

Audrey follows me.
action: You press down
response: Nothing happens since I am already on the first floor of the Mall. Pushing the down button doesn't get me anywhere.
action: You press up
response: I press the up button. After a few seconds, the elevator transports me to the second level of the Mall.
action: You press up
response: Nothing happens; I'm already on the second floor.
action: You go outside
response: The floor of the Mall comes up against a rail, forming a barrier which prevents further (sane) western travel. The bottom (ground floor) level can be viewed with ease, though, as the guardrail mainly prevents kids -- future productive Mall denizens! -- from ragdolling their way off the edge.

There is a badly-cracked kiosk in the center of the hallway. At the far end of the rail is an elevator.
There is a crystal ball holder here.
action: You examine holder
response: It's a wooden stand, roughly four feet in height. It has three protruding grips on top to hold a smallish crystal ball (which is present). The base is circular in shape and rather thick.

The stand is broken, and cannot be used effectively as a weapon.
action: You get the holder
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.
action: You look at what you're carrying with you
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), a pleather purse, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the menorah, and the mirrored shades. Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.
action: You examine the purse
response: It's one of those cheap, black pseudo-leather purses that you can get in any Imitation Fabric Store in America.
action: You drop it
response: (assuming you mean the pleather purse)
Dropped.
action: Go north
response: The Jewelry Store is of average dimensions for the Mall, with significantly less maneuvering room due to the long tabletop display that snakes about the room. They sell all manner of jewelry (ear rings, bracelets, watches) but as they close much earlier than everybody else, it's all under lock and key.

On the east side of the store, against the wall, is a large safebox.
action: You open the safebox
response: Done -- it's open.
action: You examine it
response: (assuming you mean the safebox)
This is a towering cabinet, in which all the valuable jewelry is kept when the store closes down at night. It is about seven feet tall and compartmentalized into different sections, one of which I can get to easily at my own relatively meager height.

It's open.
action: You go south
response: The floor of the Mall comes up against a rail, forming a barrier which prevents further (sane) western travel. The bottom (ground floor) level can be viewed with ease, though, as the guardrail mainly prevents kids -- future productive Mall denizens! -- from ragdolling their way off the edge.

There is a badly-cracked kiosk in the center of the hallway. At the far end of the rail is an elevator.
Some socks, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse are here.
action: You go south
response: There's not a path in that direction.

There are exits north to the Jewelry Store, in towards the Elevator and east towards the east side of the Mall.
action: You go east
response: There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
action: Go south
response: The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.
A postcard, the X-box are here.
Sydney and the skeleton are here.
action: You talk to Sydney
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

It's really cold in here.
action: You open the xbox
response: I should really avoid opening the box, mostly because I don't want to lose anything that comes with it, but partly because lifting this monster in its entirety makes me feel like a real man.

It's really cold in here.
action: You examine table
response: Some of the stores have tables on the outside, in an attempt to entice customers to come inside. This table is one of them, for Choad's Sporting Goods Store. Usually only extremely cheap items are set on them, so as to minimize shortages and loss.
action: You go north
response: Choad's Sporting Goods exists under the unfortunate circumstance that the owner's name translates into Bengali as 'fuck.' Once or twice a year there will be a demonstration or protest from a bunch of local student Hindus, but nothing ever changes.

The store is one of the larger ones in the Mall, about 40' wide and 140' long. Ski jackets take up almost all the area towards the front of the store, as far as I can see, with the entire western wall filled with displays of discount tennis sneakers.

There doesn't seem to be any rifles or shotguns for sale. (It appears as if Gibs's intuition was incorrect.)
There is a circular jacket rack here.
The ghoul is here.
action: Go outside
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
This is the first level, or ground floor, of the Funtime Teen Mall. The lone Mall Exit leads in a westerly direction, past a few more stretches of darkness-enveloped corridor, and the Food Court. There's also a few more stores to the west, with the Mall passageways expanding to all four directions at that point.

Exits lead west to the rest of the Mall, and inside to the elevator.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.
Audrey is here.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey follows me.

The spectre arrives from the north.
action: You examine the fountain
response: The fountain is rich limestone artifact that was discovered years ago in a poured-over closet in Italy and flown out here at great expense. It has been converted from its original state as a Renaissance-era commissioned sculpture to a marketing tool for the Mall.

It's about six feet at the base and rather shallow -- water would only come up to one's ankles in its normal, calm state. The spout extends a couple of feet up from the dead center of the base. There are a few inscriptions and symbols on the thing, but nothing I can decipher.

Inside the fountain is some water.

Inside the fountain is some water.
action: Climb fountain
response: I can't climb the fountain.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: You go to the north
response: A fair bit of ether has snaked itself into the room. It combines with the hand-picked and market-researched atmospheric lights that still function to give off a very deep, defracted and soothing look to the room. Vibrant purples and deep blues dominate the walls and counters of the Sunglasses Hut.

I worked at this place for a week once when I was fighting with my manager at the D&D store. I acquired a little bit of trivia regarding this place (for instance, the center display case will open if it's tapped upon) but nothing useful otherwise.
The spectre is here.

Audrey follows me.
action: You check what you're carrying
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the menorah, the mirrored shades, and the crystal ball holder (broken). Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: You wear the shades
response: I take off my glasses and put the shades on. Things get considerably darker.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Well, what is fun, then? Educate me."
(2) "Whoa, that was you in the vision! What does a plus mean?"
action: 2
response: "What does a plus mean?" asks Audrey. "On a home pregnancy test? It means that you're not pregnant. Thank God."

"Did you have a close call or something?"

"Yes, we had a close call. Don't you remember? It wasn't that
long ago. I had got off ICQ talking to one of your ex-girlfriends the night before. She told me that you, quote, 'wig out' when spoken to in Elvish or some other made-up language along those lines."

Audrey continues her story, but I start to get a flood of memories back from that night. I had actually deigned to go out clubbing with her for a night a few weeks back. (I usually don't, as I am such a lousy, self-conscious dancer.) She was wearing this tight little gray dress with slight horizontal lines across it, made out of this fuzzy fabric -- the outfit practically squealed 'do me' by itself.

Audrey was grinding her way up against me every time I went onto the floor. I just seizured out. That's the only way I know how to dance. I almost never really consume much alcohol, but that night I was taking pull after pull of some Safeway Vodka that Sydney had smuggled into the club as if the contents of the bottle were nothing more innocuous than Mexican Kool-Aid. Audrey and I took a cab back to her place, and we were all over one another before we could find the light switch.

She was on top of me for what seemed like the better part of an hour when she dipped down and whispered something into my ear.
Tye-mela'ne. It's Tolkein Elvish for 'I love you.' We don't
seem to say that to each other very much, but even drunk I instantly translated what she said and I... well, I went off like a Soviet Catapult: unexpectedly, unpredictably, and altogether quite messily.

I hadn't thought about it -- about the consequences of it -- until just right now. I didn't mean for her to go through a pregnancy scare like that by herself. I just wasn't thinking about the details.

(For what it's worth, the story that Audrey related as I had this flashback was pretty much exactly like mine, except that she said that we only jammed for something like fifteen minutes. She's got this crazy, post-Einsteinian view of how time really works though, so don't believe her.)

Please select one:

(1) "Well, what is fun, then? Educate me."
action: You examine the gate
response: The gate is made up of interwoven metal links, but due to the lack of power over here it can't be opened.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: You read the book
response: I flip through a few pages, but nothing really catches my eye. I'm sure that some long dead monk or priest who nearly acquired whatever the 14th century version of repetitive motion syndrome in writing this thing is revolving in a European Potter's grave at my disinterest, but the words just seem to roll off my eyeballs in a splash of drama and desperate Calligraphy.
action: You go to the south
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).
The spectre is here.

Audrey follows me.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: You go west
response: The Candle Store is the second-most picketed store, right after Choad's. It used to be a lot worse when it was a nail and board emporium, though. Some old and independently wealthy latin guy owns the place, though, and he just doesn't care about the Cash-In of the Christ.

Christ's Candles is decked out in a similar manner to the Bead Store, hippie stuff and dark shadows even when the power isn't completely out. This isn't the kind of city where one can set up a number of candles on stands like in the video to 'Wrapped Around Your Finger,' so instead all the candles and other objects are on shelves.

The floorspace towards the rear of the store is completely taken up by the long display table against the western wall.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).
The spectre is here.

Audrey follows me.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: Go east
response: This store is mostly unfurnished, with a low, bare ceiling, cold floor covered in cheap carpeting, and blankets and rugs thumb-tacked up to hide the peeling wallpaper and crumbling drywall.

The contents of the room are a cluttered mess, as this place seems to be more of a craftsman's think-tank and construction area than pure chamber for commerce like so many other shops in the Mall. There's a workdesk and mirror along the northern wall and a file cabinet across from it. A small window is visible behind some junk, and directly across from the entrance are seven masks attached to the back wall in a proud display. Attached to one of the naked support beams is a disco laser pointer.

Audrey follows me.
action: You examine the workdesk
response: This workdesk is just a worn and cheap table that any office supply store would carry and sell for around sixty bucks.
action: You examine the pointer
response: The laser pointer is out there jivin'! It's scattering laser light everywhere and it's turned this placed into a Block Party Central! Whoo-hoo!

The spectre arrives from the west.
action: You get the laser
response: I can't take that.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: You throw the menorah at the laser
response: Nothing happens.
action: You take the menorah
response: I take it.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey follows me.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: You go to the north
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey follows me.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Gibs is here.

Audrey follows me.

"She was here, Duffy. She was beautiful."

"Who was? Casey? Where's Casey?"

"Casey... " Gibs turns and looks at me for the first time since I came back. "No... not poor Casey. We finished up getting all the wreckage out of the way and as I looked up Casey was entranced by the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Her skin was so pale, so fragile. She had this dark shock of bangs that framed her perfect face. As soon as I looked up, I froze. But she had locked eyes with Casey. I knew her name was Kali, but not how. Casey didn't seem to be able to move, at first, just like me. Then -- "

"It was a vampire, Gibs. I was hoping we'd avoid one, but -- "

"She took Casey by the hand and they both walked that way... into the darkness."
action: You go to the south
response: The gate to the Sneaker Store is down.
There are exits north to Discount Novel Shoppe, East to the Central Corridor, South to the Sneaker Store and West to the Food Court.
action: You go north
response: I hate going in here, but I have apparently been a patron enough times to notice how peculiar the store is without its overhead fluorescent spotlights. The low light received from outside produces oddly-angled little shadows, albeit (apparently) non-sentient ones.

There are two long rows of shelves along the north-south orient of the store, and a cashier's counter in back.
The crucified girl is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You look at the girl
response: The crucified girl seems to be of mild Hispanic descent. Her features are slightly olive, her hair dark and her eyes stained all the round by blood. She is wearing a torn black tank top, blue bandana with floral print, and sleek pair of tight shorts. Her build is slight -- she is probably about five foot five at most, with slim, athletic legs.

She has not been dead long as she is just a few degrees cooler than living human flesh ought to be.

She is dead.

"I don't think Casey has a lot of time," says Gibs. "I don't remember as much D&D crap as you do, Duffy, but I'm thinking she has maybe fifteen minutes."
action: Go north
response: I can't go that way. I can go south to the corridor.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area and I can only see about half of it from here due to the lack of light -- the entire western end of it is cloaked in darkness. There are a number of cheap square tables and static plastic chairs bolted to the floor here, although a few have somehow broken off and are loose.

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. They carry a large assortment of tabs, pills, drugs and spices. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we came.

Audrey lets out a little surprised 'yip!' and runs over towards me.

"Jarret!" she says, "I felt something brush up against my leg! Something's here, in this area with us!" Before I can pooh-pooh her objections to this area, a metal chair comes flying at us. It appears as if a poltergeist has infected the food court.
A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.
Casey is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

Some chair parts come flying right at me!

Some chair parts strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.

I notice something moving over in the far corner of the Food Court. It's a girl. She is wearing a reserved violet dress and has the most perfect, slim little figure I have ever seen.

The vampire, I guess. It has to be; she's just as stunning as Gibs said.

Focusing harder, I see Casey beside her, unmoving, defeated, completely obedient. The vampire whispers softly to her -- Casey snaps back into proper consciousness, and after a moment begins to look at her with loving trust. They are both several yards away, but I can make what the vampire says to her perfectly: Follow me, my
pet.

The vampire heads off to the west.

Casey heads off to the west.
action: You listen
response: I hear nothing unexpected.

Some chair parts are drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You examine table
response: Which table do you mean, the brown table or the short gray table?
action: Brown
response: This table is a longish one, six or seven people could sit on a single side of it and eat comfortably.

Something roughly picks up a fluorescent light and throws it at me!

A fluorescent light strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You go north
response: I can't go that way. I can go west to the food court's west half, east to the corridor, or northeast to a health store.
action: You go to the north-east
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green which some junior ad exec no doubt thinks promotes quick sales decisions, when all it truly does is make customers eager to get the hell out before they add an equally off-putting color to the surrounding by use of their own acrid vomit.

In the rear of the store is a modest plastic counter and an ancient analog cash register. Further behind that is a closed metal door that really clashes with what's going on otherwise, stylistically.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.

Exits lead to the southwest and through the door.

"There should surely be some garlic here," I say to myself...

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Break glass
response: But!! This is INNOCENT glass!
action: You get trestle
response: I can't take that.

The sound is so soft, but I hear something brush up against the coffin walls. I... I can't bear to turn my head and look at what it is.
action: Go west
response: The ceiling in this room is unique within the basement, as it is actually enough up where I don't have to hunch. At the top of the ceiling is a single, lit torch, held at a diagonal against the wall with a bracket. All available light is strongly reflected from the coffin, which sits quietly in the corner of the room. The walls are made out of a flecked brick, and a support beam stands to the right of the coffin.

Exits are south towards the stairs and east into a tight alcove.
The lid is here.

The mummy exits the coffin.

The mummy slowly begins to moan, seemingly within a weary, endless pain. It quickly shifts this to a scream. Its keen is of a deep tenor, and it begins thrashing about. Small scraps of deteriorating bandages fall from its person and onto the floor.

The mummy strikes the support beam! Chunks of the ceiling fall downwards and it sounds as if the entire Mall has collapsed a little.

The mummy attacks and hits me!

I feel awful after that last touch.
action: You hit the mummy with the stick
response: I attack, but miss the mummy!

The mummy attacks and hits me!
action: You hit the torch with the stick
response: I cruelly break the torch!
action: You throw the menorah at the torch
response: I knock the torch off of the bracket! The torch plummets to the ground, but on the way down it strikes the mummy! The mummy quickly catches fire and lets out a set of horrible screams. It begins to flail about wildly, but I'm able to stay out of its way. Within moments the fire consumes most of the mummy and I give the charred skeletal and bandage bits that are left a helpful kick.

The mummy is reduced to extinguished, dusty chunks.
action: You get the menorah
response: I take it.

There's a flash of pain right where the mummy first struck me.
action: You examine the mummy
response: It's covered in strips of treated linen, except for the face, which is exposed completely. The skin on its face is stretched tightly over the angular and hardened skull, which at one time, millennia ago, may have been handsome.

It is dressed in dry, crisp rags that crackle with every movement. The rags look dusty, pained... without a hint of humidity and with no possibility of moisture.

Modern myth indicates that mummies are riddled with diseases that cause a quick and painful rotting in their hosts.

It  is dead.
action: You get the mummy
response: The mummy is too heavy for me to lift.
action: You examine the mummy
response: It's covered in strips of treated linen, except for the face, which is exposed completely. The skin on its face is stretched tightly over the angular and hardened skull, which at one time, millennia ago, may have been handsome.

It is dressed in dry, crisp rags that crackle with every movement. The rags look dusty, pained... without a hint of humidity and with no possibility of moisture.

Modern myth indicates that mummies are riddled with diseases that cause a quick and painful rotting in their hosts.

It  is dead.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: Go south
response: This stretch of corridor is little more than a narrow, forgotten passageway. Soft earth makes up the floor, a distinct change from the cement seen to the south.
action: You go south
response: The temperature of the air down here in the basement is quite cold, probably no more than thirty degrees Fahrenheit. The ceiling is just over five feet high, and the walls have a very rough texture to them, as if they were blasted away and then poorly sanded.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: Go upward
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.
Audrey and Gibs are here.

"Jarret, are you okay? What happened down there?"

"The mummy... it touched me," I say. It's tough to get the words out of my throat as it seems so dry and craggy.

"Do you think -- " Audrey pauses for a sec -- "Did it infect you with something? Oh, goddess. Okay, let's find something to put on it. Something's got to help the pain."
action: You go to the southwest
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

Something roughly picks up a short gray table and throws it at me!

A short gray table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You enter fountain
response: Entered!

Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge, in the fountain
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
Inside the fountain is some water. Audrey and Gibs are here.
action: Describe the surroundings
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge, in the fountain
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
Audrey and Gibs are here.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.

The spectre arrives from the west.
action: Status
response: I have a lot of minor scratches, but will be okay, since I still have my looks.

A little more water trickles into the fountain.
action: Drink water
response: Ahhhhh! Mine Luftwaffe!

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: You go to the west
response: I will have to get out of the fountain first.
action: Go outside
response: I get out of the fountain.

I collapse to the floor. The pain all over my body has gone from a throbbing that I can deal with to sharp, sudden piercings of agony... Audrey sees me fall. She comes to my side.

I lash out to keep her away. I see her talking to me, pleading to get up and get better, but my ears don't pick up the sound. I try to move my hands up to clear them, but there's just molding and seeping sacs of pus where my ears once were.

I try to tell her to stay away and to burn me so that I infect no one else, but I can't make the words escape. She cradles me in her arms anyway. I am up against her cool body, she is stroking my forehead with her hands. I shift. My right arm begins to separate and cracks off into my jacket. Everything feels so warm, this fever is terrible...

Libson couldn't even count. Dramatics of that hit and that round couldn't save it! Ha! Who could choose to slinking over abounds and hell? Hell! one lake algae flash seventeen flash future flash nothing release cradling holding still eyes NO not oh hope flash
flash dice die die flash nothing ... nothing
action: You go east
response: Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 17, then find line 5 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 6.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
action: You hit enter
response: %% Enter a save filename to read:
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).
The spectre and a Revenant are here.

Audrey follows me.

The spectre heads off to the north.

The Revenant heads off to the north.
action: Go north
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.
The spectre and a Revenant are here.

Audrey follows me.
action: You talk to Revenant
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

The spectre heads off to the south.

The Revenant heads off to the west.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Gibs and a Revenant are here.

Audrey follows me.

"She was here, Duffy. She was beautiful."

"Who was? Casey? Where's Casey?"

"Casey... " Gibs turns and looks at me for the first time since I came back. "No... not poor Casey. We finished up getting all the wreckage out of the way and as I looked up Casey was entranced by the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Her skin was so pale, so fragile. She had this dark shock of bangs that framed her perfect face. As soon as I looked up, I froze. But she had locked eyes with Casey. I knew her name was Kali, but not how. Casey didn't seem to be able to move, at first, just like me. Then -- "

"It was a vampire, Gibs. I was hoping we'd avoid one, but -- "

"She took Casey by the hand and they both walked that way... into the darkness."

The Revenant heads off to the west.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area and I can only see about half of it from here due to the lack of light -- the entire western end of it is cloaked in darkness. There are a number of cheap square tables and static plastic chairs bolted to the floor here, although a few have somehow broken off and are loose.

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. They carry a large assortment of tabs, pills, drugs and spices. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we came.

Audrey lets out a little surprised 'yip!' and runs over towards me.

"Jarret!" she says, "I felt something brush up against my leg! Something's here, in this area with us!" Before I can pooh-pooh her objections to this area, a metal chair comes flying at us. It appears as if a poltergeist has infected the food court.
A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.
The vampire, Casey, and a Revenant are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A fluorescent light comes flying right at me!

I dodge the item, though.

The Revenant heads off to the west.

I notice something moving over in the far corner of the Food Court. It's a girl. She is wearing a reserved violet dress and has the most perfect, slim little figure I have ever seen.

The vampire, I guess. It has to be; she's just as stunning as Gibs said.

Focusing harder, I see Casey beside her, unmoving, defeated, completely obedient. The vampire whispers softly to her -- Casey snaps back into proper consciousness, and after a moment begins to look at her with loving trust. They are both several yards away, but I can make what the vampire says to her perfectly: Follow me, my
pet.

The vampire heads off to the west.

Casey heads off to the west.
action: Go west
response: I can't get by the Poltergeist!

Something roughly picks up a metal chair and throws it at me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: Go northeast
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green which some junior ad exec no doubt thinks promotes quick sales decisions, when all it truly does is make customers eager to get the hell out before they add an equally off-putting color to the surrounding by use of their own acrid vomit.

In the rear of the store is a modest plastic counter and an ancient analog cash register. Further behind that is a closed metal door that really clashes with what's going on otherwise, stylistically.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.

Exits lead to the southwest and through the door.

"There should surely be some garlic here," I say to myself...

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A horrible scream pierces the air, originating from the far end of the Food Court.
action: Go downward
response: (opening the door first)
"I'm going to take a quick look below. Be right back."
Opened.

I descend the stairs and enter the basement. The air is at least twenty degrees cooler down here than it is up above and it has a bit of a tangy, acrid -- almost 'chewy' quality to it. My breath turns into wispy, stringy clouds the instant it leaves my lips and I begin to feel my very bones come across a deep chill. I usually prefer winter to summer, so normally I wouldn't be put off by the frost down here and a few bad smells, but there's something different about the chill in the air down here. The temperature of the air seems malevolent, almost.

The ceiling of the basement is about five and a half feet high, so I have to lurch over like I'm the hunchback of Notre Dork just to get around. The walls have a very rough texture to them, as if they were blasted away and then sanded down in a very half-assed manner.

The corridor continues into darkness to the north.
action: You go to the north
response: The light is very poor in this room, all of it coming from what can seep and pour through the metal door up above. The floor has turned to earth, however, and the walls seem to have a texture wholly different from the blasted rock earlier in the corridor. I can't say I'm totally suprised to find this area down here below the Mall, as rumor was that the place was built upon some burial grounds. I just never knew that they were, in parts, integrated.

Exits lead south and further on to the north.

"I don't think Casey has a lot of time," says Gibs. "I don't remember as much D&D crap as you do, Duffy, but I'm thinking she has maybe fifteen minutes."
action: You throw the menorah at the torch
response: I knock the torch off of the bracket! The torch falls to the ground, where the cold fog quickly extinguishes it.

The mummy exits the coffin.

The mummy slowly begins to moan, seemingly within a weary, endless pain. It quickly shifts this to a scream. Its keen is of a deep tenor, and it begins thrashing about. Small scraps of deteriorating bandages fall from its person and onto the floor.

The mummy strikes the support beam! Chunks of the ceiling fall downwards and it sounds as if the entire Mall has collapsed a little.

The chaos breaks me out of my fear-trance. I feel I could flee now if I wanted to try.

The mummy attacks and hits me!

I feel awful after that last touch.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Gibs is here.

Audrey follows me.

"She was here, Duffy. She was beautiful."

"Who was? Casey? Where's Casey?"

"Casey... " Gibs turns and looks at me for the first time since I came back. "No... not poor Casey. We finished up getting all the wreckage out of the way and as I looked up Casey was entranced by the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Her skin was so pale, so fragile. She had this dark shock of bangs that framed her perfect face. As soon as I looked up, I froze. But she had locked eyes with Casey. I knew her name was Kali, but not how. Casey didn't seem to be able to move, at first, just like me. Then -- "

"It was a vampire, Gibs. I was hoping we'd avoid one, but -- "

"She took Casey by the hand and they both walked that way... into the darkness."

The Revenant arrives from the east.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area and I can only see about half of it from here due to the lack of light -- the entire western end of it is cloaked in darkness. There are a number of cheap square tables and static plastic chairs bolted to the floor here, although a few have somehow broken off and are loose.

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. They carry a large assortment of tabs, pills, drugs and spices. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we came.

Audrey lets out a little surprised 'yip!' and runs over towards me.

"Jarret!" she says, "I felt something brush up against my leg! Something's here, in this area with us!" Before I can pooh-pooh her objections to this area, a metal chair comes flying at us. It appears as if a poltergeist has infected the food court.
A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.
The vampire and Casey are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The Revenant arrives from the east.

I notice something moving over in the far corner of the Food Court. It's a girl. She is wearing a reserved violet dress and has the most perfect, slim little figure I have ever seen.

The vampire, I guess. It has to be; she's just as stunning as Gibs said.

Focusing harder, I see Casey beside her, unmoving, defeated, completely obedient. The vampire whispers softly to her -- Casey snaps back into proper consciousness, and after a moment begins to look at her with loving trust. They are both several yards away, but I can make what the vampire says to her perfectly: Follow me, my
pet.

The vampire heads off to the west.

Casey heads off to the west.
action: You descend
response: (opening the door first)
"I'm going to take a quick look below. Be right back."
Opened.

I descend the stairs and enter the basement. The air is at least twenty degrees cooler down here than it is up above and it has a bit of a tangy, acrid -- almost 'chewy' quality to it. My breath turns into wispy, stringy clouds the instant it leaves my lips and I begin to feel my very bones come across a deep chill. I usually prefer winter to summer, so normally I wouldn't be put off by the frost down here and a few bad smells, but there's something different about the chill in the air down here. The temperature of the air seems malevolent, almost.

The ceiling of the basement is about five and a half feet high, so I have to lurch over like I'm the hunchback of Notre Dork just to get around. The walls have a very rough texture to them, as if they were blasted away and then sanded down in a very half-assed manner.

The corridor continues into darkness to the north.

A horrible scream pierces the air, originating from the far end of the Food Court.
action: You go north
response: The basement ceiling gets much taller in this room, about up to 15 feet or so, I'd guess. At the very top is a small torch, which is providing a fair bit of the light in the room -- the rest of it is reflected from the coffin in the corner.

The ground is no longer soft earth, either, but rather blocks of cold stone. The walls are made of some kind of brick which reflects a bit of light as well, although nowhere near as well as the coffin.

A support beam has been installed next to the coffin. Beyond it, to the right, is a small and very dark alcove.

"I don't think Casey has a lot of time," says Gibs. "I don't remember as much D&D crap as you do, Duffy, but I'm thinking she has maybe fifteen minutes."
action: Go east
response: I practically have to crawl to get into this little cave-like section cut away from the basement. The light is gobbled up from something inside, as nothing from the coffin room manages to get in here.

The only thing of note here is a very small trestle up against the wall.
action: You look at the trestle
response: In the corner of the alcove is a single trestle. It's obviously rotting away, and emitting a little bit of an old musty smell. It stands about two feet high and looks as if it might crumble at any time.

The trestle has a garlic clove on it.
action: You wait
response: Time passes...

The sound is so soft, but I hear something brush up against the coffin walls. I... I can't bear to turn my head and look at what it is.
action: Go west
response: The ceiling in this room is unique within the basement, as it is actually enough up where I don't have to hunch. At the top of the ceiling is a single, lit torch, held at a diagonal against the wall with a bracket. All available light is strongly reflected from the coffin, which sits quietly in the corner of the room. The walls are made out of a flecked brick, and a support beam stands to the right of the coffin.

Exits are south towards the stairs and east into a tight alcove.
The lid is here.

The mummy exits the coffin.

The mummy slowly begins to moan, seemingly within a weary, endless pain. It quickly shifts this to a scream. Its keen is of a deep tenor, and it begins thrashing about. Small scraps of deteriorating bandages fall from its person and onto the floor.

The mummy strikes the support beam! Chunks of the ceiling fall downwards and it sounds as if the entire Mall has collapsed a little.

The mummy attacks and hits me!

I feel awful after that last touch.
action: You throw the menorah at the torch
response: I knock the torch off of the bracket! The torch plummets to the ground, but on the way down it strikes the mummy! The mummy quickly catches fire and lets out a set of horrible screams. It begins to flail about wildly, but I'm able to stay out of its way. Within moments the fire consumes most of the mummy and I give the charred skeletal and bandage bits that are left a helpful kick.

The mummy is reduced to extinguished, dusty chunks.
action: Go south
response: This stretch of corridor is little more than a narrow, forgotten passageway. Soft earth makes up the floor, a distinct change from the cement seen to the south.

There's a flash of pain right where the mummy first struck me.
action: Go south
response: The temperature of the air down here in the basement is quite cold, probably no more than thirty degrees Fahrenheit. The ceiling is just over five feet high, and the walls have a very rough texture to them, as if they were blasted away and then poorly sanded.
action: Go south
response: I can't go that way. I can go up to a health store or north to a basement corridor.
action: Go upward
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.
Audrey and Gibs are here.

"Jarret, are you okay? What happened down there?"

"The mummy... it touched me," I say. It's tough to get the words out of my throat as it seems so dry and craggy.

"Do you think -- " Audrey pauses for a sec -- "Did it infect you with something? Oh, goddess. Okay, let's find something to put on it. Something's got to help the pain."
action: You go southwest
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A broken chair is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

A broken chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: You get cross
response: Taken.

The spectre arrives from the north.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, some chair parts, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, and the torch (broken) are here. The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

Something roughly picks up a short gray table and throws it at me!

A short gray table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You go west
response: I can't get by the Poltergeist!

Something roughly picks up a broken chair and throws it at me!

A broken chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You hit Poltergeist with the cross
response: The poltergeist is invisible, so I have no way of really tracking it. Likewise, it can't directly affect me with its transparent non-body.

An urn comes flying right at me!

An urn strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.
action: You look at Poltergeist
response: Poltergeists are a form of invisible undead that whines for attention by flinging shit at people. Of all the creatures and spirits that make up the hierarchy of walking dead, these mewling little bitches are the ones I despise with the most passion. They're the worst drama queens in the underworld. In reality, 'poltergeists' are just the manifestations of picked-on, spoiled little emo or Goth kids... I can't imagine what this demonically-realized little ghost brat has going on underneath the surface.

The poltergeist hurls the garlic clove at me!

The garlic clove strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You talk to Poltergeist
response: [Be a more specific about what you'd like me to throw the cross
at.]

The poltergeist hurls the aged text at me!

The aged text strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

Poltergeists can not communicate that way.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You get the urn
response: Right on.

The poltergeist picks up Gibs's lacrosse stick and throws it towards me!

I dodge the item, though.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You examine it
response: (assuming you mean the urn)
This rather large urn is crafted in the shape of an upside-down mushroom. It's a base silver in color with a floral pattern painted on top.

The poltergeist hurls a metal chair at me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You get all
response: fluorescent light: I'm carrying too much to take that.
garbage can: I'm carrying too much to take that.
brown table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
short gray table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
plastic chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
metal chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
broken chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
chair parts: I'm carrying too much to take that.
Big Gulp drink: Taken.
pleather purse: I'm carrying too much to take that.
socks: Taken.
Magic: The Gathering cards: I'm carrying too much to take that. lacrosse stick: I'm carrying too much to take that.
phone: I'm carrying too much to take that.
aged text: Got it.
blue balloon: I'm carrying too much to take that.
garlic clove: I'm carrying too much to take that.
torch: Got it.

I collapse to the floor. The pain all over my body has gone from a throbbing that I can deal with to sharp, sudden piercings of agony... Audrey sees me fall. She comes to my side.

I lash out to keep her away. I see her talking to me, pleading to get up and get better, but my ears don't pick up the sound. I try to move my hands up to clear them, but there's just molding and seeping sacs of pus where my ears once were.

I try to tell her to stay away and to burn me so that I infect no one else, but I can't make the words escape. She cradles me in her arms anyway. I am up against her cool body, she is stroking my forehead with her hands. I shift. My right arm begins to separate and cracks off into my jacket. Everything feels so warm, this fever is terrible...

Libson couldn't even count. Dramatics of that hit and that round couldn't save it! Ha! Who could choose to slinking over abounds and hell? Hell! one lake algae flash seventeen flash future flash nothing release cradling holding still eyes NO not oh hope flash
flash dice die die flash nothing ... nothing
action: You go east
response: Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 22, then find line 1 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 10.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
action: You hit enter
response: Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 2,345, then find line 233 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 4,096.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, and the torch (broken).

A broken chair comes flying right at me!

I dodge the item, though.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: You pop the balloon
response: Ha-ha! Suck down the madness!

(I break the balloon.)

A brown table wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: Inhale balloon
response: Why do that?

Some chair parts are drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

Some chair parts strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You give gulp to Poltergeist
response: My goodwill is ignored.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: You give the cards to Poltergeist
response: My goodwill is ignored.

Some chair parts wobble a bit, and are suddenly hurled at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: Go north
response: I'm not quite sure why sunglasses and shades are only sold in 'huts' but this store is very un-hut like. There are three very solid walls here and a roof made not of thatch, but poured, cracking cement. The floor is hardly comprised of peat or mud, but the same tile present everywhere else in the Mall.

A fair bit of ether has snaked itself into the room. It combines with the hand-picked and market-researched atmospheric lights that still function to give off a very deep, defracted and soothing look to the room. Vibrant purples and deep blues dominate the walls and counters of the Sunglasses Hut.

I worked at this place for a week once when I was fighting with my manager at the D&D store. I acquired a little bit of trivia regarding this place (for instance, the center display case will open if it's tapped upon) but nothing useful otherwise.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Hit case
response: I give the case a good whack, and it opens with ease.

Inside the center display case are the mirrored shades.
action: You get the shades
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You wear the shades
response: I take off my glasses and put the shades on. Things get considerably darker.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

I collapse to the floor. The pain all over my body has gone from a throbbing that I can deal with to sharp, sudden piercings of agony... Audrey sees me fall. She comes to my side.

I lash out to keep her away. I see her talking to me, pleading to get up and get better, but my ears don't pick up the sound. I try to move my hands up to clear them, but there's just molding and seeping sacs of pus where my ears once were.

I try to tell her to stay away and to burn me so that I infect no one else, but I can't make the words escape. She cradles me in her arms anyway. I am up against her cool body, she is stroking my forehead with her hands. I shift. My right arm begins to separate and cracks off into my jacket. Everything feels so warm, this fever is terrible...

Libson couldn't even count. Dramatics of that hit and that round couldn't save it! Ha! Who could choose to slinking over abounds and hell? Hell! one lake algae flash seventeen flash future flash nothing release cradling holding still eyes NO not oh hope flash
flash dice die die flash nothing ... nothing
action: You go east
response: Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 2,345, then find line 233 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 4,096.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
action: You hit enter
response: Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 17, then find line 5 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 6.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
Big Gulp drink: Dropped.
pleather purse: Dropped.
socks: Dropped.
Magic: The Gathering cards: Dropped.
lacrosse stick: Dropped.
phone: Dropped.
aged text: Dropped.
blue balloon: Dropped.
urn: Dropped.
garlic clove: Dropped.
torch: Dropped.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A fluorescent light is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

A fluorescent light strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: You get all
response: fluorescent light: Taken.
garbage can: Taken.
brown table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
short gray table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
plastic chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
metal chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
broken chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
chair parts: I'm carrying too much to take that.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken) are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You get all
response: brown table: Taken.
short gray table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
plastic chair: Taken.
metal chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
broken chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
chair parts: I'm carrying too much to take that.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken), a fluorescent light are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
garbage can: Dropped.
brown table: Dropped.
plastic chair: Dropped.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A short gray table, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You get all
response: short gray table: Taken.
metal chair: Taken.
broken chair: Taken.
chair parts: I'm carrying too much to take that.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken), a fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a plastic chair are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You drop the metal chair
response: Dropped.

I collapse to the floor. The pain all over my body has gone from a throbbing that I can deal with to sharp, sudden piercings of agony... Audrey sees me fall. She comes to my side.

I lash out to keep her away. I see her talking to me, pleading to get up and get better, but my ears don't pick up the sound. I try to move my hands up to clear them, but there's just molding and seeping sacs of pus where my ears once were.

I try to tell her to stay away and to burn me so that I infect no one else, but I can't make the words escape. She cradles me in her arms anyway. I am up against her cool body, she is stroking my forehead with her hands. I shift. My right arm begins to separate and cracks off into my jacket. Everything feels so warm, this fever is terrible...

Libson couldn't even count. Dramatics of that hit and that round couldn't save it! Ha! Who could choose to slinking over abounds and hell? Hell! one lake algae flash seventeen flash future flash nothing release cradling holding still eyes NO not oh hope flash
flash dice die die flash nothing ... nothing
action: You drop the broken chair
response: Enter (R)ESTART, R(E)STORE, (U)NDO, or (Q)UIT:
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: You get the metal chair
response: Taken.

A fluorescent light wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You get the plastic chair
response: Taken.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken) are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You drop the plastic chair
response: Dropped.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.
action: You go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A garbage can is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

A garbage can strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You get light
response: Taken.

Some chair parts wobble a bit, and are suddenly hurled at me!

Some chair parts strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken), a metal chair, a plastic chair are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You call the phone
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
Just talking to Trott will suffice.

Something roughly picks up a short gray table and throws it at me!

A short gray table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You talk to Trott
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
I can't think of anything to say right now.

A short gray table wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A short gray table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You talk to Gibs
response: I can't think of anything to say right now.

A fluorescent light is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

A fluorescent light strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: You go northeast
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

My hand has begun to rot away.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You get the pills
response: I can't take those.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You go southwest
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go south
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
This is the first level, or ground floor, of the Funtime Teen Mall. The lone Mall Exit leads in a westerly direction, past a few more stretches of darkness-enveloped corridor, and the Food Court. There's also a few more stores to the west, with the Mall passageways expanding to all four directions at that point.

Exits lead west to the rest of the Mall, and inside to the elevator.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You go north
response: I can't go that way. I can go west to further down the mall or in to the elevator.
action: You hit the light with the stick
response: I cruelly break a fluorescent light!
action: Go west
response: I can't get by the Poltergeist!

Something roughly picks up a garbage can and throws it at me!

I dodge the item, though.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
Big Gulp drink: Dropped.
pleather purse: Dropped.
socks: Dropped.
Magic: The Gathering cards: Dropped.
lacrosse stick: Dropped.
phone: Dropped.
aged text: Dropped.
blue balloon: Dropped.
urn: Dropped.
garlic clove: Dropped.
torch: Dropped.

The Magic: The Gathering cards are drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

The Magic: The Gathering cards strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You get light
response: Taken.

Some chair parts are drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You go west
response: I can't get by the Poltergeist!

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You examine the light
response: This light fixture is from a chunk of the Mall's ceiling. It's at least a couple feet long, and mostly cylindrical in shape. It's non-functioning, of course, and quite heavy.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
This is the first level, or ground floor, of the Funtime Teen Mall. The lone Mall Exit leads in a westerly direction, past a few more stretches of darkness-enveloped corridor, and the Food Court. There's also a few more stores to the west, with the Mall passageways expanding to all four directions at that point.

Exits lead west to the rest of the Mall, and inside to the elevator.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Enter
response: Audrey says, "We'll wait down here for you."

The elevator smells terrible, strongly of untreated or unembalmed cadavers. There are three buttons here in the elevator labelled 'up,' 'down' and 'open doors.'

I'm currently on the first level of the Mall. Aside from the operational panel, there is little else here in the lift.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: You go outside
response: The floor of the Mall comes up against a rail, forming a barrier which prevents further (sane) western travel. The bottom (ground floor) level can be viewed with ease, though, as the guardrail mainly prevents kids -- future productive Mall denizens! -- from ragdolling their way off the edge.

There is a badly-cracked kiosk in the center of the hallway. At the far end of the rail is an elevator.
There is a crystal ball holder here.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.
action: You go south
response: There's not a path in that direction.

There are exits north to the Jewelry Store, in towards the Elevator and east towards the east side of the Mall.
action: You go south
response: I'm at the eastern side of the Mall. To the north is Choad's Sporting Goods. My store is a bit to the east, and the Bead Store a bit to the west.

There is a table here, set adjacent to the Sporting Goods store.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You go east
response: This is far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally constructed upon a landfill. There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Beads Store, Sporting Good Outlet and the (closed) Arcade.

My store, the Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium, is to the south.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You go west
response: There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.

I collapse to the floor. The pain all over my body has gone from a throbbing that I can deal with to sharp, sudden piercings of agony... Audrey sees me fall. She comes to my side.

I lash out to keep her away. I see her talking to me, pleading to get up and get better, but my ears don't pick up the sound. I try to move my hands up to clear them, but there's just molding and seeping sacs of pus where my ears once were.

I try to tell her to stay away and to burn me so that I infect no one else, but I can't make the words escape. She cradles me in her arms anyway. I am up against her cool body, she is stroking my forehead with her hands. I shift. My right arm begins to separate and cracks off into my jacket. Everything feels so warm, this fever is terrible...

Libson couldn't even count. Dramatics of that hit and that round couldn't save it! Ha! Who could choose to slinking over abounds and hell? Hell! one lake algae flash seventeen flash future flash nothing release cradling holding still eyes NO not oh hope flash
flash dice die die flash nothing ... nothing
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You get the xbox
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

It's really cold in here.
action: You drop Glove
response: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the mirrored shades, the crystal ball holder (broken), the menorah, and the gaming glove (being worn). Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.
action: You describe your surroundings
response: There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
There is a crystal ball holder here.
action: Go south
response: The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.
A postcard, the X-box are here.
Sydney and the skeleton are here.
action: You take Xthe -the box
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

The cold begins to really sting. It's too cold to stay in here, so I scatter back outside the Bead Store.

There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
There is a crystal ball holder here.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You drop the cards
response: Dropped.

The cold begins to really sting. It's too cold to stay in here, so I scatter back outside the Bead Store.

There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
There is a crystal ball holder here.
Gibs's lacrosse stick is here.
action: Go south
response: The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.
A postcard, the X-box, the Magic: The Gathering cards are here.
Sydney and the skeleton are here.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
phone: Dropped.
aged text: Dropped.
blue balloon: Dropped.
urn: Dropped.
mirrored shades: Dropped.
menorah: Dropped.
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.

The cold begins to really sting. It's too cold to stay in here, so I scatter back outside the Bead Store.

There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
There is a crystal ball holder here.
Gibs's lacrosse stick is here.
action: Go south
response: The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.
A postcard, the X-box, the Magic: The Gathering cards, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the mirrored shades, the menorah are here. Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.
Sydney, the skeleton, and the phone are here.
action: You get the xbox
response: Taken.

It's really cold in here.
action: Go north
response: There's only one more stretch of corridor on this level before one gets to the elevator, which leads down to the ground floor. To the south of this area is the Bead Store, exits otherwise lead west and east.
There is a crystal ball holder here.
Gibs's lacrosse stick is here.
action: Go outside
response: Mall, First Level, East Edge
This is the first level, or ground floor, of the Funtime Teen Mall. The lone Mall Exit leads in a westerly direction, past a few more stretches of darkness-enveloped corridor, and the Food Court. There's also a few more stores to the west, with the Mall passageways expanding to all four directions at that point.

Exits lead west to the rest of the Mall, and inside to the elevator.

In the center of the corridor is a sculpted marble statue.
Audrey and Gibs are here.
action: You go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area and I can only see about half of it from here due to the lack of light -- the entire western end of it is cloaked in darkness. There are a number of cheap square tables and static plastic chairs bolted to the floor here, although a few have somehow broken off and are loose.

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. They carry a large assortment of tabs, pills, drugs and spices. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we came.

Audrey lets out a little surprised 'yip!' and runs over towards me.

"Jarret!" she says, "I felt something brush up against my leg! Something's here, in this area with us!" Before I can pooh-pooh her objections to this area, a metal chair comes flying at us. It appears as if a poltergeist has infected the food court.
A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.
Casey is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

Some chair parts come flying right at me!

I dodge the item, though.

I notice something moving over in the far corner of the Food Court. It's a girl. She is wearing a reserved violet dress and has the most perfect, slim little figure I have ever seen.

The vampire, I guess. It has to be; she's just as stunning as Gibs said.

Focusing harder, I see Casey beside her, unmoving, defeated, completely obedient. The vampire whispers softly to her -- Casey snaps back into proper consciousness, and after a moment begins to look at her with loving trust. They are both several yards away, but I can make what the vampire says to her perfectly: Follow me, my
pet.

The vampire heads off to the west.

Casey heads off to the west.
action: You give the xbox to Poltergeist
response: My goodwill is ignored.

Something roughly picks up a garbage can and throws it at me!

A garbage can strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

Gibs pipes up for a moment. "Casey's got probably ten minutes left at my count before the ichor spreads."
action: You go to the west
response: I can't get by the Poltergeist!

A broken chair is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

A broken chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You drop the xbox
response: Dropped.

A metal chair wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: Go west
response: I can't get by the Poltergeist!

Something roughly picks up a metal chair and throws it at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You give the balloon to Poltergeist
response: My goodwill is ignored.

Something roughly picks up a broken chair and throws it at me!

A broken chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You eat the garlic
response: This probably would do more good if it was not getting an acid bath within my ulcerous stomach.

A metal chair wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, and the torch (broken).

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, and the torch (broken).

A short gray table is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

A short gray table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.

The spectre arrives from the north.
action: You get cross
response: Taken.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: You go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A short gray table wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You give the cross to Poltergeist
response: My goodwill is ignored.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You throw the cross
response: [Be a more specific about what you'd like me to throw the cross
at.]

A metal chair wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A metal chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You get all
response: Big Gulp drink: Taken.
pleather purse: I'm carrying too much to take that.
socks: Taken.
Magic: The Gathering cards: I'm carrying too much to take that. lacrosse stick: I'm carrying too much to take that.
phone: I'm carrying too much to take that.
aged text: Got it.
blue balloon: I'm carrying too much to take that.
urn: Right on.
garlic clove: I'm carrying too much to take that.
torch: Got it.

I collapse to the floor. The pain all over my body has gone from a throbbing that I can deal with to sharp, sudden piercings of agony... Audrey sees me fall. She comes to my side.

I lash out to keep her away. I see her talking to me, pleading to get up and get better, but my ears don't pick up the sound. I try to move my hands up to clear them, but there's just molding and seeping sacs of pus where my ears once were.

I try to tell her to stay away and to burn me so that I infect no one else, but I can't make the words escape. She cradles me in her arms anyway. I am up against her cool body, she is stroking my forehead with her hands. I shift. My right arm begins to separate and cracks off into my jacket. Everything feels so warm, this fever is terrible...

Libson couldn't even count. Dramatics of that hit and that round couldn't save it! Ha! Who could choose to slinking over abounds and hell? Hell! one lake algae flash seventeen flash future flash nothing release cradling holding still eyes NO not oh hope flash
flash dice die die flash nothing ... nothing
action: Empty can
response: The garbage can is already empty.

Something roughly picks up a brown table and throws it at me!

A brown table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.
action: You examine the gray table
response: This table is one of the smaller ones in the food court, ideal for four (and only four) teenage girls to roll their eyes around.

Something roughly picks up a garbage can and throws it at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You examine the brown table
response: This table is a longish one, six or seven people could sit on a single side of it and eat comfortably.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.
action: You examine the chair parts
response: They are a collection of pieces that were once part of a larger, more whole (wholer?) chair.
action: You examine the metal table
response: I haven't encountered any "metal table". (If you're sure you need to refer to that, try putting it another way.)
action: You examine the metal chair
response: The metal chair is shiny and foldable, but rusted out, so the advanced folding properties are not available.

A brown table wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A brown table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.

My hand has begun to rot away.
action: You examine the plastic chair
response: It's a one-piece white plastic chair, designed for slovenly types to sit endlessly upon in the Mall.
action: You examine the broken chair
response: This chair has been snapped in half by the poltergeist's mad mind.

A fluorescent light comes flying right at me!

A fluorescent light strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: Go northeast
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The rotting sickness has spread to my body.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You search the shelves
response: I don't find anything.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You examine glass
response: This smooth, treated plastic counter is towards the back of the store, in front of a steel door.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.

The glass pane separates that which happens within the store and that which happens without it. Or something.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: Go south
response: I can't go that way. I can go down to the basement entrance or southwest to the food court's east half.
action: You look at the pills
response: I take a quick look at the shelves and spot a jar of ointment. It catches my eye as its decked out in a bright purple label with the word 'GENERAL OINTMENT' in a canary Impact font. If I remember my general health studies classes, stuff like this has good disease-fighting capabilities.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You take the ointment
response: I'm carrying too much to take that.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the Magic: The Gathering cards, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the phone, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, and the torch (broken).

I collapse to the floor. The pain all over my body has gone from a throbbing that I can deal with to sharp, sudden piercings of agony... Audrey sees me fall. She comes to my side.

I lash out to keep her away. I see her talking to me, pleading to get up and get better, but my ears don't pick up the sound. I try to move my hands up to clear them, but there's just molding and seeping sacs of pus where my ears once were.

I try to tell her to stay away and to burn me so that I infect no one else, but I can't make the words escape. She cradles me in her arms anyway. I am up against her cool body, she is stroking my forehead with her hands. I shift. My right arm begins to separate and cracks off into my jacket. Everything feels so warm, this fever is terrible...

Libson couldn't even count. Dramatics of that hit and that round couldn't save it! Ha! Who could choose to slinking over abounds and hell? Hell! one lake algae flash seventeen flash future flash nothing release cradling holding still eyes NO not oh hope flash
flash dice die die flash nothing ... nothing

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You go east
response: Have you got a photographic memory? If you have you will find the following question to be very easy. If you haven't, please find your novella that came with the game called 'Which Witch?'. Please turn to page 22, then find line 1 (please note that lines start at 1, 'chapter' lines are included, but blank lines are not.) And count to word 10.

Now please enter this word. Or just hit enter. You have three chances to get it right.
Please enter word :
action: You go northeast
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

There's a dull, raw ache on the left side of my jaw. I try to rub it away, but it doesn't help.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You drop the cards
response: Dropped.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You get ointment
response: Taken.

My right hand has started to throb, and I take a closer look at it -- it's starting to blacken a little bit. I suspect this is from the mummy.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You use the ointment
response: [Be a little more specific about what you'd like to do with the ointment jar.]
action: You open the jar
response: Opened.

Inside the ointment jar is some salve.

Audrey looks at me with a little bit of inquisitive sympathy, but I don't say or reveal anything.
action: You use the salve
response: [Be a little more specific about what you'd like to do with the salve.]
action: Smear salve
response: Be a little more specific about what you'd like me to smear.
action: You smear the salve on yourself
response: I apply the salve to myself, hoping to stave off the rotting.
action: Go southwest
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

Some chair parts are drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

Some chair parts strike me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
Big Gulp drink: Dropped.
pleather purse: Dropped.
socks: Dropped.
lacrosse stick: Dropped.
phone: Dropped.
aged text: Dropped.
blue balloon: Dropped.
urn: Dropped.
garlic clove: Dropped.
torch: Dropped.
ointment jar: Dropped.
action: You go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a short gray table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A fluorescent light wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

I dodge the item, though.
action: You get all
response: fluorescent light: Taken.
garbage can: Taken.
brown table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
short gray table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
plastic chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
metal chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
broken chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
chair parts: I'm carrying too much to take that.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken), the ointment jar are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"Hey, Duffy... Casey's got maybe 12 minutes left by my count," says Gibs.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first. fluorescent light: Dropped.
garbage can: Dropped.
action: You get all
response: brown table: Taken.
short gray table: I'm carrying too much to take that.
plastic chair: Taken.
metal chair: Taken.
broken chair: I'm carrying too much to take that.
chair parts: I'm carrying too much to take that.

A short gray table wobbles a bit, and is suddenly hurled at me!

A short gray table strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken), the ointment jar, a fluorescent light, a garbage can are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
brown table: Dropped.
plastic chair: Dropped.
metal chair: Dropped.
action: You go to the west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came. A short gray table, a broken chair, and some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A broken chair is drawn up from the floor and thrown at me!

A broken chair strikes me, and I take a little bit of damage.
action: You get all
response: short gray table: Taken.
broken chair: Taken.
chair parts: Taken.

There doesn't seem to be anything for the Poltergeist to throw at me... it's probably possible for me to get by it and get into the other section of the Food Court now.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, the blue balloon, an urn, the garlic clove, the torch (broken), the ointment jar, a fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a plastic chair, a metal chair are here. The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
short gray table: Dropped.
broken chair: Dropped.
chair parts: Dropped.
action: GET PHONE, STICK, TEXT, URN, BALLOON AND CLOVE
response: phone: Taken.
lacrosse stick: Taken.
aged text: Got it.
urn: Right on.
blue balloon: Taken.
garlic clove: Got it.
action: Go west
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

There doesn't seem to be anything for the Poltergeist to throw at me... it's probably possible for me to get by it and get into the other section of the Food Court now.
action: Go west
response: This far section of the Food Court pinches off to a slight, concrete wall extension. There were plans to expand this once, by the corporation that owns the Mall, but they now seem forever ago and far away. The rest of the Food Court is to the east, and the final corridor leading out of the Mall completely is around a turn to the northwest.
Casey and a Revenant are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You talk to Revenant
response: Please select one:

(1) "What was supposed to happen upon you finding your killer?"
(2) "The vampire wasn't your killer, was she?"
action: 1
response: "REST!" bellows the Revenant. I'm momentarily taken back by his outburst: there are absolutely no other sounds audible this far into the Mall. "A sweet, everlasting relaxation that I so richly deserve. Many cultures have had many different names for it. Nirvana... Heaven... Ragnar?k..."

"Actually, Ragnar?k wasn't a final state of bliss, like the Sanskrit Nirvana, but rather a foretelling of -- " The Revenant cuts me off and continues his monologue. What a complete cock!

"A final resting place for a warrior such as I. It is as I deserve. I crave it, desperately... but first I must find the one that put me into this state and remove her from this world."

I give the guy the fingerguns sign. "Good luck with that," I tell him. Jerk.

Please select one:

(1) "The vampire wasn't your killer, was she?"
action: 1
response: "She was not," the Revenant says quickly. "It is of little matter, however. Mistakes get made. She offered no real value to this world or any others. She will not be back for the foreseeable future."

"That's excellent," I reply. "Thanks."

"There is no need for thanks. It was not a favor I did, but an attempt to uncover the truth about my death." I give him a quick look of sympathy and understood pain, but it's totally fake. I'm hoping he can't determine my ruse, what with the flamb?ed face and eyes and everything. But either way he seems pretty relaxed.
action: You examine Casey
response: She has brown eyes and jet-black, though obviously dyed, hair. She is wearing a textbook goth outfit, complete with the black fingernails, eyeliner and steel-toed boots. She looks dark, mysterious, dangerous and completely off her rocker.
action: Go northwest
response: Mall, First Level, North Edge
We've come to the last long hall. To the north, approximately fifty yards away, are the exit doors. Dawn has yet to creep up upon us. It's still pitch black outside. Freedom is all I can think of at this point.

I take a single step forward. That's when she materializes.

"Hello, Sydney," I say, intentionally agitating the spirit that thinks it's in total control.

"Hi there, doll," she says in return. "What happened to her?" she asks, looking over towards Casey. "How unfortunate. I was hoping to add her soul to my collection, but it looks like that won't be possible."

"We have to get out of here before the sun rises. Otherwise she'll die," I say. "Get out of the way."

"The door is shut by my command, Jarret. Though I'll confess that the thought of her turning to sawdust as the sun rises right before I take each of your lives is especially intriguing. We could do it that way. That's fine with me."

"Shut up," suggests Audrey. "We know how to exorcise you, and we're going to do exactly that."

Audrey turns towards me and looks at me with a kind of love and somber happiness that I have never before seen. "Read the passage from the book, Jarret..."
The ghast's head is here.
Sydney, Audrey, Gibs, and Casey are here.

Gibs pipes up for a moment. "Casey's got probably ten minutes left at my count before the ichor spreads."
action: You read the book
response: I turn over the book and it opens to a section in the back. Just like in the Dungeon Master's Guide and, I suppose, The
Bible, this is where all the good bits are:

Tombs containing carrion, and hate within the ground
A claw-scratched forced Caesarian, who could not remain bound
Groping, moaning pantomime, beasts within the air
Rending tortured friends of mine, killing with a stare

Stacked on a forgotten grave, crushing souls and mud
Virgin souls we try to save, walls crying with blood
Leave the host, this eve, you took -- no longer will you dine
The mart's collapse, the walls all shook -- your attention shall
be mine!

All the arrogance and jeering has left Sydney, and she remains hovering over with an expectant, slightly confused expression on her face. We've got her enraptured for the moment, it would seem.

"We need someone to drink the water... But whoever does needs to be a virgin," says Audrey.
action: Drink urn
response: Not quite sure what you hope I will accomplish with that.

I can't drink the urn.
action: You examine Sydney
response: Sydney has been possessed. Her aura can be seen as a strong,
hazy glow and her eyes have turned red. She does not exist on this physical plane and cannot be touched. The air around her is much colder than it is elsewhere in this room. She is levitating herself just out of reach, and regards us all with supernatural superiority and arrogance.
action: Go southeast
response: This far section of the Food Court pinches off to a slight, concrete wall extension. There were plans to expand this once, by the corporation that owns the Mall, but they now seem forever ago and far away. The rest of the Food Court is to the east, and the final corridor leading out of the Mall completely is around a turn to the northwest.
A Revenant is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You kick Revenant
response: "And then I kicked him in the head till he was dead!" I say,
quoting Baldur's Gate. I hit a Revenant!

A Revenant attacks and hits me!
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the torch (broken), the ointment jar, a fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a short gray table, a broken chair, some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You put water in the urn
response: (taking the water first)
(I'll only be able to hold the water for a couple moments before it flows through my hands...)

Done.
action: You examine urn
response: This rather large urn is crafted in the shape of an upside-down mushroom. It's a base silver in color with a floral pattern painted on top.

Inside the urn is some water.
action: Leave
response: I get out of the fountain.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, a pleather purse, some socks, the torch (broken), the ointment jar, a fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a short gray table, a broken chair, some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go northwest
response: Mall, First Level, North Edge
We are before the last long hall. To the north, approximately fifty yards away, are the exit doors. There are no stores to either side of us. An informational kiosk and some planted trees are the only things in between us and the exit. Well, that and the levitating, possessed body of one of my friends, natch.
The ghast's head is here.
Sydney and Casey are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"I have a knock-knock joke for you," says Gibs.

"Now is not a good time. OK?"

"Knock knock."

"Jesus Fuck. 'Who's there?'"

"Not Casey. Casey's dying in eight minutes." Gibs stares furiously ahead.
action: You kick Sydney
response: Nah.
action: You examine the ghast
response: It's a disembodied head. One with kind of a squashed-in face, like... er, somebody whacked it with their boot or something. Most of the hair and flesh is still hanging on, but both the eyes are gone and the jaw hangs open in a particularly grotesque manner. The head formerly belonged to a guy named Randolph who would guilt people into taking his surveys and was always talking about all the women he met at his job, though none of them would ever go out with him because, hey, he's the Survey Guy.
action: You give the water to the ghast
response: (taking the water first)
(I'll only be able to hold the water for a couple moments before it flows through my hands...)

The kind gesture goes unnoticed by the head.
action: Go southeast
response: This far section of the Food Court pinches off to a slight, concrete wall extension. There were plans to expand this once, by the corporation that owns the Mall, but they now seem forever ago and far away. The rest of the Food Court is to the east, and the final corridor leading out of the Mall completely is around a turn to the northwest.
A Revenant is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go east
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

There doesn't seem to be anything for the Poltergeist to throw at me... it's probably possible for me to get by it and get into the other section of the Food Court now.

The water flows through my fingers.

The water flows away and disappears.
action: You give the urn to Revenant
response: My goodwill is ignored.

The water flows through my fingers.

The water flows away and disappears.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), the phone, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, an urn, the blue balloon, and the garlic clove.
action: You examine the text
response: The text has a grooved, sturdy cover, designed out of pressed reed and dyed a rich burgundy. It is about fifteen inches long, nine or ten inches thick.

"Six minutes, Jarret," says Gibs.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre arrives from the east.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go south
response: The Poster Store sells posters... and little else. There's a hanging flip-rack of posters in the corner of the store, and a few hanging up on the walls.

Alongside the far wall is a set of oversized disembodied lips.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You put the water in urn
response: The water is already in the urn.
action: Go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"I don't mean to be annoying," says Gibs, "Not now, anyway, but Casey's got maybe four minutes left before she can no longer be saved."
action: You go northwest
response: Mall, First Level, North Edge
We are before the last long hall. To the north, approximately fifty yards away, are the exit doors. There are no stores to either side of us. An informational kiosk and some planted trees are the only things in between us and the exit. Well, that and the levitating, possessed body of one of my friends, natch.
The ghast's head is here.
Sydney and Casey are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Drink water
response: [ Use "TALK TO CHARACTER" to talk to a particular character in the game. ]
action: You get the water
response: (I'll only be able to hold the water for a couple moments before it flows through my hands...)
action: You give the water to Casey
response: My goodwill is ignored.

"Three minutes for Casey," says Gibs.
action: You talk to Audrey
response: Please select one:

(1) "Lay it on me, then. What's up?"
(2) "Whoa, that was you in the vision! What does a plus mean?"
action: 2
response: "What does a plus mean?" asks Audrey. "On a home pregnancy test? It means that you're not pregnant. Thank God."

"Did you have a close call or something?"

"Yes, we had a close call. Don't you remember? It wasn't that
long ago. I had got off ICQ talking to one of your ex-girlfriends the night before. She told me that you, quote, 'wig out' when spoken to in Elvish or some other made-up language along those lines."

Audrey continues her story, but I start to get a flood of memories back from that night. I had actually deigned to go out clubbing with her for a night a few weeks back. (I usually don't, as I am such a lousy, self-conscious dancer.) She was wearing this tight little gray dress with slight horizontal lines across it, made out of this fuzzy fabric -- the outfit practically squealed 'do me' by itself.

Audrey was grinding her way up against me every time I went onto the floor. I just seizured out. That's the only way I know how to dance. I almost never really consume much alcohol, but that night I was taking pull after pull of some Safeway Vodka that Sydney had smuggled into the club as if the contents of the bottle were nothing more innocuous than Mexican Kool-Aid. Audrey and I took a cab back to her place, and we were all over one another before we could find the light switch.

She was on top of me for what seemed like the better part of an hour when she dipped down and whispered something into my ear.
Tye-mela'ne. It's Tolkein Elvish for 'I love you.' We don't
seem to say that to each other very much, but even drunk I instantly translated what she said and I... well, I went off like a Soviet Catapult: unexpectedly, unpredictably, and altogether quite messily.

I hadn't thought about it -- about the consequences of it -- until just right now. I didn't mean for her to go through a pregnancy scare like that by herself. I just wasn't thinking about the details.

(For what it's worth, the story that Audrey related as I had this flashback was pretty much exactly like mine, except that she said that we only jammed for something like fifteen minutes. She's got this crazy, post-Einsteinian view of how time really works though, so don't believe her.)

Please select one:

(1) "Lay it on me, then. What's up?"
action: Go southeast
response: This far section of the Food Court pinches off to a slight, concrete wall extension. There were plans to expand this once, by the corporation that owns the Mall, but they now seem forever ago and far away. The rest of the Food Court is to the east, and the final corridor leading out of the Mall completely is around a turn to the northwest.
A Revenant is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go east
response: The Food Court is a vast, open area, and I can only make out about half of it from here. (The entire west end is shrouded in darkness.)

To the northeast is a Nutrition Store. The Court has another section to the west, and there is an exit east from where we originally came.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You enter the fountain
response: Entered!

Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge, in the fountain
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
Audrey and Gibs are here.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: You give the urn to the spectre
response: That's not what the spectre seems to be looking for.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You follow the spectre
response: The spectre is right here.
action: Kiss spectre
response: I try to get close, but the spectre resonates extreme cold from his person... much too painfully cold to touch.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: You go west
response: The Candle Store is the second-most picketed store, right after Choad's. It used to be a lot worse when it was a nail and board emporium, though. Some old and independently wealthy latin guy owns the place, though, and he just doesn't care about the Cash-In of the Christ.

Christ's Candles is decked out in a similar manner to the Bead Store, hippie stuff and dark shadows even when the power isn't completely out. This isn't the kind of city where one can set up a number of candles on stands like in the video to 'Wrapped Around Your Finger,' so instead all the candles and other objects are on shelves.

The floorspace towards the rear of the store is completely taken up by the long display table against the western wall.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You give the water to the spectre
response: The spectre shakes his head sadly. "I'm not thirsty for that," he says. "Not at all..." His eyes narrow, his head tilts slightly to the side -- he's trying to communicate something to me, and
unlike some of the other denizens of the Mall, it's not a horrible curse or disease.

"Six minutes, Jarret," says Gibs.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn), the gaming glove (being worn), the phone, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, an urn, the blue balloon, and the garlic clove. Inside the urn is some water.
action: You go south
response: The Bead Store smells strongly of incense and stale joints, and it almost overpowers every other sense. There are shelves on all sides of the store, but none in the middle of the store due to the drawn pentagram.
A postcard, the X-box are here.
The skeleton is here.
action: Go east
response: This is far east as the Mall goes. The Mall technically dips a bit as one goes west, as it was originally constructed upon a landfill. There's a three-sided advertising kiosk in the middle of the corridor.

To the west is the Beads Store, Sporting Good Outlet and the (closed) Arcade.

My store, the Gaming and Role-Playing Emporium, is to the south.

"I don't mean to be annoying," says Gibs, "Not now, anyway, but Casey's got maybe four minutes left before she can no longer be saved."
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"Three minutes for Casey," says Gibs.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go north
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"Two minutes, Jarret," says Gibs."
action: You wait
response: Time passes...

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: You give the text to the spectre
response: That's not what the spectre seems to be looking for.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You give the balloon to the spectre
response: That's not what the spectre seems to be looking for.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: Go west
response: The Candle Store is the second-most picketed store, right after Choad's. It used to be a lot worse when it was a nail and board emporium, though. Some old and independently wealthy latin guy owns the place, though, and he just doesn't care about the Cash-In of the Christ.

Christ's Candles is decked out in a similar manner to the Bead Store, hippie stuff and dark shadows even when the power isn't completely out. This isn't the kind of city where one can set up a number of candles on stands like in the video to 'Wrapped Around Your Finger,' so instead all the candles and other objects are on shelves.

The floorspace towards the rear of the store is completely taken up by the long display table against the western wall.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"Casey doesn't have much time left, Duff," says Gibs, quietly.
action: You go to the north
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

"I'm not going to say that I am an expert on the supernatural, but I can't imagine that we could still save Casey," whispers Gibs.
action: Go east
response: This store is mostly unfurnished, with a low, bare ceiling, cold floor covered in cheap carpeting, and blankets and rugs thumb-tacked up to hide the peeling wallpaper and crumbling drywall.

The contents of the room are a cluttered mess, as this place seems to be more of a craftsman's think-tank and construction area than pure chamber for commerce like so many other shops in the Mall. There's a workdesk and mirror along the northern wall and a file cabinet across from it. A small window is visible behind some junk, and directly across from the entrance are seven masks attached to the back wall in a proud display. Attached to one of the naked support beams is a disco laser pointer.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You look at the mirror
response: A stylin' and engaging Chortlemaster with great hair is staring back at me.

The spectre arrives from the west.
action: You examine the laser
response: The laser pointer is out there jivin'! It's scattering laser light everywhere and it's turned this placed into a Block Party Central! Whoo-hoo!

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses, the gaming glove (being worn), the phone, Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, an urn, the blue balloon, the garlic clove, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink, and the mirrored shades. Inside the urn is some water.
action: You wear the shades
response: I put the shades on.
action: You examine the laser
response: The laser pointer is out there jivin'! It's scattering laser light everywhere and it's turned this placed into a Block Party Central! Whoo-hoo!
action: You examine the mirror
response: A stylin' and engaging Chortlemaster with great hair is staring back at me.
action: Empty urn
response: water: Done.
action: Wait
response: Time passes...

The water flows away and disappears.
action: You go to the east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

A little more water trickles into the fountain.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: You go to the west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
The cross is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre arrives from the east.
action: You drop all
response: glasses: I can't drop my specs! They are a valuable information-gathering tool!
gaming glove: I will have to take the gaming glove off first.
phone: Dropped.
lacrosse stick: Dropped.
aged text: Dropped.
urn: Dropped.
blue balloon: Dropped.
garlic clove: Dropped.
Big Gulp drink: Dropped.
mirrored shades: I will have to take the mirrored shades off first.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: You go east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, an urn, the blue balloon, the garlic clove, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink are here.
The phone and the spectre are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You give the cross to spectre
response: That's not what the spectre seems to be looking for.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: Go north
response: A fair bit of ether has snaked itself into the room. It combines with the hand-picked and market-researched atmospheric lights that still function to give off a very deep, defracted and soothing look to the room. Vibrant purples and deep blues dominate the walls and counters of the Sunglasses Hut.

I worked at this place for a week once when I was fighting with my manager at the D&D store. I acquired a little bit of trivia regarding this place (for instance, the center display case will open if it's tapped upon) but nothing useful otherwise.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, an urn, the blue balloon, the garlic clove, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink are here.
The phone is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
A pleather purse, some socks, the torch (broken), the ointment jar, a fluorescent light, a garbage can, a brown table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a short gray table, a broken chair, some chair parts are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You examine the light
response: This light fixture is from a chunk of the Mall's ceiling. It's at least a couple feet long, and mostly cylindrical in shape. It's non-functioning, of course, and quite heavy.
action: You insert light
response: You'll have to be a little more specific about exactly with what you'd like me to do that.
action: You put the light in the spotlights
response: [ The word "shadows" is not recognized by the game. ]

[ The word "spotlights" is not recognized by the game. ]
action: You examine girl
response: The crucified girl seems to be of mild Hispanic descent. Her features are slightly olive, her hair dark and her eyes stained all the round by blood. She is wearing a torn black tank top, blue bandana with floral print, and sleek pair of tight shorts. Her build is slight -- she is probably about five foot five at most, with slim, athletic legs.

She has not been dead long as she is just a few degrees cooler than living human flesh ought to be.

She is dead.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses, the gaming glove (being worn), the mirrored shades (being worn), and a fluorescent light.
action: You examine the shades
response: They are circular frames, with perfect mirrors on the outside. My eyes are completely hidden while wearing the sunglasses, at the expense of a lot of light getting through.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
A pleather purse, some socks, the torch (broken), the ointment jar, a garbage can, a brown table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a short gray table, a broken chair, some chair parts, the cross are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You examine the rubble
response: It seems to be constructed of the cheap concrete that was poured onto the roof of the Mall a few years back.
action: You examine the lips
response: The Magic Mouth is a set of purple disembodied lips, measuring roughly two feet wide and a little less than a foot high. They are stuck on the side of the wall as if they are part of it and seem (supernaturally, natch) integrated within them. No discernable teeth or tongue or lungs are present, so whatever causes it to vibrate the air is wholly beyond me.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, an urn, the blue balloon, the garlic clove, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre arrives from the south.
action: Examine spectre
response: The spectre is a powerful, intangible, undead spirit consumed with hatred for those with warmth in their souls. Its touch drains an enormous amount of life energy, it is unaffected by silver, 'normal' iron, or cold.

It would be powerless in daylight, but I am obviously several hours away from any such thing. It may be best to just avoid and and not antagonize it.
action: You touch the spectre
response: I try to get close, but the spectre resonates extreme cold from his person... much too painfully cold to touch.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: You go north
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, the aged text, an urn, the blue balloon, the garlic clove, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink are here.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You get the urn
response: Right on.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: You get the text
response: Got it.

The spectre arrives from the east.
action: You get the balloon
response: Taken.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre heads off to the south.
action: You go south
response: The Poster Store sells posters... and little else. There's a hanging flip-rack of posters in the corner of the store, and a few hanging up on the walls.

Alongside the far wall is a set of oversized disembodied lips.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre heads off to the north.
action: Go north
response: Mall, First Level, Eastern Edge
This bit of hallway features an enormous and beautiful fountain. There are exits in all four primary compass directions.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You give the garlic to the spectre
response: That's not what the spectre seems to be looking for.

The spectre heads off to the west.
action: You follow the spectre
response: Which way did it go?
action: You go to the west
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a bit of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink are here.
The spectre is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You move the rubble
response: I can't move the chunk of rubble.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: You get the rubble
response: Done.
action: Look around
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a fine dusting of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink are here.
Audrey and Gibs are here.
action: You get the rubble
response: I already have that.
action: You search the rubble
response: I don't find anything.

The spectre arrives from the east.
action: You give the rubble to the spectre
response: That's not what the spectre seems to be looking for.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: You examine the rubble
response: It seems to be constructed of the cheap concrete that was poured onto the roof of the Mall a few years back.
action: You talk to Trott
response: [Speaking to Trott on the phone...]
I can't think of anything to say right now.

The spectre arrives from the east.
action: Search gate
response: I don't find anything.

The spectre heads off to the east.
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses, the gaming glove (being worn), the mirrored shades (being worn), the phone, an urn, the aged text, the blue balloon, the garlic clove, and a chunk of rubble.
action: You go west
response: Mall, First Level, West Edge
The area is free from the wreckage. Gibs, though is just standing up, completely motionless, facing the inky blackness that shrouds the Food Court from here. Casey is nowhere to be found.
A pleather purse, some socks, the torch (broken), the ointment jar, a garbage can, a brown table, a plastic chair, a metal chair, a short gray table, a broken chair, some chair parts, the cross are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go northeast
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.
The Magic: The Gathering cards are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go north
response: The ceiling in this room is unique within the basement, as it is actually enough up where I don't have to hunch. All available light is strongly reflected from the coffin, which sits quietly in the corner of the room. The walls are made out of a flecked brick, and a support beam stands to the right of the coffin.

Exits are south towards the stairs and east into a tight alcove.
There are a number of tiny birthday candles in packages all over the store, but the most impressive display is in the back, where an elegant, if clouded menorah rests upon a long display table.
The lid is here.
The mummy is here.
action: You get menorah
response: I take it.
action: You look around
response: The ceiling in this room is unique within the basement, as it is actually enough up where I don't have to hunch. All available light is strongly reflected from the coffin, which sits quietly in the corner of the room. The walls are made out of a flecked brick, and a support beam stands to the right of the coffin.

Exits are south towards the stairs and east into a tight alcove.
The lid is here.
The mummy is here.
action: You examine menorah
response: The menorah has places for nine candles -- one for each day of Hanukkah, and then one candle which is the Shamash, which is used to light the other candles once per day for each day of the holiday. This menorah is made out of brass and does not appear to have had any attention or cleaning in quite some time.
Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.

Inside the menorah are the crimson candle, the cyan candle, the jade candle, the umber candle, the indigo candle, the canary candle, the black candle, the slate candle, and the white candle.
action: You look at the coffin
response: The coffin is made out of some kind of stone-like substance that I am not altogether familiar with. It's like a chiseled and well-grooved offshoot of pyrite. It nevertheless reflects light quite well, and practically shimmers down here in the basement, excepting those bits of it flecked with dried blood.
action: You look at the lid
response: The coffin lid is about six and a half feet long, three feet wide and a good eight or nine inches deep. It's made out of rough stone, but of a type filled with flecks of highly reflective metal. The stonework is strictly functional, as there are several gashes and lines in the lid and it hardly even approximates a smooth surface anywhere that I can see.
action: You examine blood
response: Which blood do you mean, the dried blood or the bag of blood?
action: You get the bag
response: I grab the bag.
action: Go upwards
response: The Nutrition Store is dominated by a series of five-foot high shelves that make up four distinct aisles. The walls are a sickly shade of green and contrast with the subdued nature of the shelves and all the jars of pills placed upon them.

In the rear of the store is a modest wood counter and an ancient analog cash register. Even further, behind the counter and register, is a metal door.

There is no front gate to the Nutrition Store, only a ten foot cut in the wall. The opening is not quite centered, however, and a 5'x3' pane of glass has been placed into the southern wall.
The Magic: The Gathering cards are here.
Audrey and Gibs are here.
action: Go southeast
response: I can't go that way. I can go down to the basement entrance or southwest to the food court's east half.
action: Go east
response: Mall, First Level, Central Corridor
This stretch of the Mall hallway is covered with just a fine dusting of rubble. There are clear exits to the west and south. The gate to the Record Store is down to the north.
Gibs's lacrosse stick, Barnaby's Big Gulp drink are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go south
response: Mall, First Level, Southern Edge
This is the southern-most section of the Mall. There's a large block of impenetrable cement to the south, which covers over the failed Outlet Store, and two paths to two other stores: the candle store (west) and party favors store (east).

Audrey and Gibs follow me.

The spectre arrives from the east.
action: You give the bag to the spectre
response: The spectre looks stupidly at the bag of blood for several moments, blinking the little ovals on its transparent face where eyes ought to be. I grasp Audrey's hand and ensure that she's physically behind me in case the spectre revolts. It doesn't, however, and instead impossibly takes hold of the bag with intangible fingers. "Perfect," it says, simply, "I thank you."

The spectre blinks out of existence.
action: You go north
response: I hate going in here, but I have apparently been a patron enough times to notice how peculiar the store is without its overhead fluorescent spotlights. The low light received from outside produces oddly-angled little shadows, albeit (apparently) non-sentient ones.

There are two long rows of shelves along the north-south orient of the store, and a cashier's counter in back.
A fluorescent light is here.
The crucified girl is here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: You go northeast
response: I can't go that way. I can go south to the corridor.
action: You search mummy
response: The mummy is empty.
action: You go to the west
response: I can't go that way. I can go northwest to Mall, First Level, North Edge or east to the food court's east half.
action: You go northwest
response: Mall, First Level, North Edge
We are before the last long hall. To the north, approximately fifty yards away, are the exit doors. There are no stores to either side of us. An informational kiosk and some planted trees are the only things in between us and the exit. Well, that and the levitating, possessed body of one of my friends, natch.
The ghast's head is here.
Sydney and Casey are here.

Audrey and Gibs follow me.
action: Go north
response: I kicked open the first set of exit doors, entered the airlock and pushed open the second set. I held it as all my friends made it out. The sky was completely free from clouds and had the slightest hint of azure swirling within its fair blue mix. The sun hadn't yet crept up over the plains and scrub to the east, but it was only going to be moments before we started to see the first few beams.
action: You give the shades to Casey
response: moments before we started to see the first few beams.Audrey desperately looked for some cover from the sun for her friend. She spotted the group of the anonymously parked lorries sitting in the lot and ran towards one. I took Casey's hand and brought her to them. The van would give us a few extra seconds relief from the daylight that would kill her.

I brushed Casey's hair away from her face. I couldn't help a tangential glance at the bite marks on her neck. They were terrible, fascinating... beautiful. Members of my generation have had hundreds of thousands of tattoos and this was more striking than any of them.

"I'm not going to give up on you, Casey," I whispered to her. She offered no response. Trott, Gibs and Sydney joined us. I tossed my keys to Trott and told him to bring my car around. Casey hadn't made a sound since we had left the Mall. "I'll get some blankets for you," I told her. "We'll cover you up, get you to a hospital, get you a transfusion..." Audrey let out a little sound of a cry. I saw that her cheeks were streaked with tears. She had been so silent I hadn't noticed.

I jumped flat-out of my skin when Casey grabbed my arm. She opened her eyes. They were blank, as if her eyes had rolled to the back of her head. But she was still able to lock onto me and stare right through me.

"I don't want to live like this," she said. Her voice was so soft, but her grip -- her nails were digging through the sleeves of my jacket, almost breaking the skin on my wrist.

"I won't live like this," she said. "You already all look so tempting. You, Jarret... I can't stop thinking of what it would be like to just take the littlest sip from you..." She released her grip on her own. She was still in control of herself, albeit barely. "And you," she said, a wry smile forming on her lips as she looked up at Gibs, "You would have been delicious..."

"That's not the vampirism talking," whispered Gibs.

Casey turned slightly and faced me again. "The sun. I feel can feel it already. I won't be able to make this decision tomorrow night. Tomorrow will be too late." She rose until she stood, giving no pause to worry about leverage or looking slightly awkward as she took to her feet. She hugged me. She hugged us all, one by one, until only Audrey was left. Casey gave her a kiss on her cheek and Audrey finally broke down. They embraced. And as terrible as I felt for Casey, it was killing me that my girl was having to go through the mechanics of saying goodbye forever to her best friend.

"There is no other group that I would like to spend my final moments with," said Casey. "I will miss you all."

I took Casey's hand and pulled her up as we climbed on top of the truck. I tried to tell her that I could find a way to heal her, to fix her -- that there was still time. But she was staring straight ahead. The sky continued to turn brighter. We were up there for less than a minute, but it felt like I had tried to argue with her and talk her down for ages

At exactly 7:21am she briefly turned to me with a sad smile and stretched her arms out as wide as they would go. I grabbed hold of her in an attempt to drag her down, but daylight peeked out over the horizon and instantly vaporized her. She disintegrated away into a whiff of dust and only the smallest bit of her was left in my hand. Her clothes fell to the top of the van. I heard Audrey shriek from below. I picked up Casey's clothes and hopped down to the ground.

I opened the passenger door to my car and directed Audrey in. The rest of us dispersed and went our separate ways. I drove up to the Fort, expecting to drop Audrey off and go home. She brought me inside and together we both crawled into her bed. She fell asleep quickly, and within moments I was hypnotized by her rise and fall. We both slept for most of the rest of the day.

After about twelve hours I fell back into consciousness. I kissed my girl on the lips, but she only stirred, smiled faintly, and fell back into sleep without ever opening her eyes. In the modern mythology I don't follow, a kiss on that is supposed to wake up the girl
when it's delivered by her own Prince Charming.

It just made it all the more obvious that I've never been that guy for her.

I slipped out of her room and drove myself home.
Four months later...
action: You hit enter
response: I thought the five of us would have difficulties explaining what happened in the Mall right after the incident. I thought there would be questions, interrogations, solicitors and then time in locked rooms downtown before good cops gone bad, and then thrown off our case, but at the last second rehired because they always got results.

But there was none of that. Not so much as a single arched eyebrow. Electricity had been restored when I sheepishly returned a few days later for my next shift. The bodies were removed, either when the ghost vanished or by carry-out after the fact. I never found out because I was too much of a coward to ever research what officially happened to them.

It was easy to not get into a nervous furor about things with my friends because I hardly saw any of them afterwards. Gibs treated missing his shift that night as a power ploy and ended up getting promoted and the afternoon drive-time slot. Sydney I only ever saw through Audrey, and Audrey moved to Texas at me a week after what went down in the Mall. I mean, right at me. (If it could be said
that someone could aggressively move 'at' somebody, I mean. If that's possible, then that's definitely what Audrey did.) Trott was the only one of the group that I ever encountered with any regularity, and that was because we worked together. We never spoke about that night.

But after four days of living with the spectre of the night figuratively breathing a chilling ulcer into my bones I decided that it was time that we did.
action: You hit enter
response: The Curiosity Shoppe is rather smallish, as far as stores around here go, nestled into the far corners of the Mall, distant from practically every other decent or worthwhile store. Shelves of gaming books and modules are arranged everywhere, and promotional kiosks occupy the floorspace between the register and the far wall.

In the last few months, Benji has decided to sell all sorts of other worthless crap to increase the profit margin of the store. This includes, but is not limited to, baseball cards, DDR mats, stuffed Japanese Gromit Dolls, stripper poles, headphones and joy buzzers.

Trott and I are working here this evening, and it's been a rather slow night.
Trott is here.
action: You talk to Trott
response: Please select one:

(1) "Hey, Trott... You know That Night we never talk about?"
action: 1
response: "Uhm, yeah..." Trott shifts uncomfortably.

"I think it's high time we talked about it." I look him dead in the eye, but Trott doesn't respond. "C'mon! What the fuck went on that night?" I start to get really agitated and animated. This is how you need to be to get through to Trott sometimes. "All that undead? What was all that? How on earth have you rationalized that in your
mind?"

Trott looks around for a cigarette. He finally finds one and takes a long drag on it.

"Truth to tell, Jarret... heh. I deal with it every day by remembering to completely forget about it. I put it all out of my head. Let me tell you a story." Trott offers me a cigarette. I accept.

Trott exhales a long stream of smoke. "When I was in college, a few of my friends and I were playing with a ouija board. I had never done it before. And neither had my friend Raida. We were both put together on the board, on opposite sides, naturally. As first-timers, this was going to be of interest to the old pros."

"Naturally," I say.

"Well, the 'spirits' were asked a bunch of questions. We saw the planchette moved intelligently to the different letters. I know for a fact that I didn't move it. I am pretty sure that she didn't as well. What we saw and what we were told through the board spooked the hell out of us. The spirits knew our names and threatened us and told us that they were going to suck down our souls and so forth. There was only one thing that bugged me, though."

Trott frowns. "Well, actually, the entire thing shocked the living Christ right out of me. But anyway. At one point Herr
geistenhaus was asked which one of us they were going to get
first, me or Raida. The ghost said that it was going to be me, and spelled my name out T-R-O-T-T. Three instances of the letter 'T.' Immediately after, a similar question was asked, and Raida's name came up. Her name was spelled -- by the spirits! -- with the letter 'I' and not 'Y.' So not only are those beasties in contact with us on the physical plane, but they also instinctively knew how to spell our names with all our crazy variants. Oh, and it referred to me by my last name rather than my first. Of course."

"What the hell is your first name, anyway?" I ask.

"Sveinsgeird?ttir," says Trott. I wouldn't have guessed that. I would have gone with 'John' if pressed. "It's Norse," says Trott, helpfully.

"Anyway. I borrowed the board a couple nights later. I set it up on my bed. Raida and I put it backwards to us, and we closed our eyes. I set up a webcam to record what happened on the board." Trott takes a thoughtful puff. "And what happened later, away from the board, too, as it turns out." He shakes his head to remove a quick smile based on old memories. "We got back gibberish from what we asked. You'd think the banshees and demons could account for the board being oddly placed, but they couldn't, apparently. Ah! Ah! Ah! There is something called the ideomotor effect, I later learned. But the point is... there's plenty of standard explanations for remarkable things that happen that everyday. So Sydney was 'levitating.' Sometimes magnetism looks like super powers. It got cold in the Mall. Fuck. The
power was out. And when is it ever not cold in the Mall? July? People turned into monsters..."

"Admittedly, tougher to explain," continues Trott. "Maybe the government tried out an ebola strain on people." He lowers his voice. "People like Rudolph. Er, Randolph. Whoever." He looks around the store to make sure nobody else has wandered in. "It's already legal to create a bot and just let it run loose around town. I don't know for certain. But I do know that I am not prepared to blindly believe in anything. I don't mind playing role playing games and being a dungeon master and whatever else, but I certainly won't baaa-baaaa my way around life and absorb every pseudo-supernatural event I encounter like a peanut-brained little sheep."
action: You describe your surroundings
response: The Curiosity Shoppe is rather smallish, as far as stores around here go, nestled into the far corners of the Mall, distant from practically every other decent or worthwhile store. Shelves of gaming books and modules are arranged everywhere, and promotional kiosks occupy the floorspace between the register and the far wall.

Benji has decided over the last few months to sell crap that has nothing to do with D&D in order to increase his profit per customer visit. It's probable that he'll eventually squeeze out all the fantasy role-playing stuff.
Trott is here.

A strangely familiar and altogether repulsive customer shambles into the store.
action: You examine the customer
response: This creature is covered in a thick grit. He (it?) is draped in a musty flannel and shambles about with an unwholesome gait. His forearms are unnaturally long and jaundiced, and his there are several patches of mosiaced-over scabs and seeping wounds covering his face and neck.

The customer projects a hideous snarl!

The customer attacks and hits me!
action: You check your inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn).

Gibs enters the store from outside. He spies the creature flailing away at me. "What's been happening, gents?" he exclaims.

Gibs rips the stripper pole from the wall!

Gibs whacks the creature with the stripper pole!

The creature crumples into a heap and falls down on top of itself onto the floor.
action: You look at the creature
response: This creature is covered in a thick grit. He (it?) is draped in a musty flannel that hasn't been in fashion since Gygax was happily married to his first wife. His forearms are unnaturally long and jaundiced, and his there are several patches of mosiaced-over scabs and seeping wounds covering his face and neck.

It  is currently knocked out.

"Whew," says Gibs. "This store really does replicate the fantasy gaming experience."
action: Go outside
response: I can't go that way. I can't go anywhere.
action: You examine creature
response: This creature is covered in a thick grit. He (it?) is draped in a musty flannel that hasn't been in fashion since Gygax was happily married to his first wife. His forearms are unnaturally long and jaundiced, and his there are several patches of mosiaced-over scabs and seeping wounds covering his face and neck.

It  is currently knocked out.
action: You search the creature
response: The customer is empty.
action: You look
response: The Curiosity Shoppe is rather smallish, as far as stores around here go, nestled into the far corners of the Mall, distant from practically every other decent or worthwhile store. Shelves of gaming books and modules are arranged everywhere, and promotional kiosks occupy the floorspace between the register and the far wall.

Benji has decided over the last few months to sell crap that has nothing to do with D&D in order to increase his profit per customer visit. It's probable that he'll eventually squeeze out all the fantasy role-playing stuff.
Trott, the customer, and Gibs are here.
action: You examine the pole
response: It's about ten feet high and supposed to be filled with water when in use. Exotic dancers use them in their shows, and as of late we've been marketing to their scene.
action: Dance
response: [ Use "TALK TO CHARACTER" to talk to a particular character in the game. ]
action: You wake up
response: I am already awake.
action: Inventory
response: I am carrying my glasses (being worn) and the stripper pole.