ClubFloyd Transcript:
Walker & Silhouette by C.E.J. Pacian
As played on ifMUD on January 30, 2010

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Walker & Silhouette, written by C.E.J. Pacian. Walker & Silhouette was originally released in 2009. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting the ifWiki.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit? Please answer yes or no.> Please answer
Floyd | yes or no.> Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version
Floyd | 0.9.0.

Floyd |
Floyd | I always get the criminal.  Whoever it is.  Whatever the
Floyd | embarrassment.  Whichever noses I put out of joint.
Floyd |
Floyd | So they sent me after Silhouette, and I caught her too.
Floyd |

Floyd | And now I'm about to do something very stupid.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walker & Silhouette
Floyd | Interactive criminology by C.E.J.  Pacian
Floyd | Version 9 - Developed with TADS 3
Floyd | [Type 'About' if this is your first time playing.

Floyd | Type 'Credits' to see who made this possible.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Mindflower Asylum
Floyd | I'm standing in the cold, early evening shadow of the Mindflower
Floyd | Asylum for the Criminally Insane - a tall, crooked building with
Floyd | barred windows and a sunken door.

Floyd |
Floyd | Townhouses are packed in tightly on all sides, but a deathly silence
Floyd | pervades.  The only sign of life is an ornithopter sailing high
Floyd | overhead.
Floyd |
Floyd | My motor car sits to one side of the cobbled road.

Floyd |
Floyd | (Type highlighted keywords to advance the story.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Walker & Silhouette is a criminal investigation in a world and a time
Floyd | somewhat unlike your own.  Just type the names of objects and people
Floyd | you wish me to interact with (or click on them if your system supports
Floyd | this).  I'll also sometimes offer you keywords for less obvious

Floyd | actions and choices.  You can change the way that these words are
Floyd | highlighted in the text by typing keywords until you find the style
Floyd | you prefer.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some keywords that are always useful include look to ask me to repeat
Floyd | the room description; inventory to see what I'm carrying; save and

Floyd | restore to experiment with time travel; and think if you want me to
Floyd | give you a pointer in the right direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Keyword style changed to CAPS.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A graceful machine, easing itself across the sky with metal-feathered
Floyd | wings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Mindflower Asylum
Floyd | I'm standing in the cold, early evening shadow of the Mindflower
Floyd | ASYLUM for the Criminally Insane - a tall, crooked building with
Floyd | barred WINDOWS and a sunken DOOR.

Floyd |
Floyd | TOWNHOUSES are packed in tightly on all sides, but a deathly silence
Floyd | pervades.  The only sign of life is an ORNITHOPTER sailing high
Floyd | overhead.
Floyd |
Floyd | My motor CAR sits to one side of the cobbled road.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The asylum's windows are raised up out of reach, seem far too small to
Floyd | afford much of a view, and are covered over with thick bars besides.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I am carrying a BOWLER hat, a CANE, and a police BADGE, and I'm
Floyd | wearing a three-piece SUIT.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The asylum's windows are raised up out of reach, seem far too small to
Floyd | afford much of a view, and are covered over with thick bars besides.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | There being no consistent dress code for murder scenes, I tend to
Floyd | dress as if for a funeral.  My suit is black and carefully pressed.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | My badge is a little tarnished now, but the words "POLICE DETECTIVE"
Floyd | are legible enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's the nature of this line of work that my bowler spends more time
Floyd | in my hands than on my head.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The bowler hat does not appear to be edible.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | My own personal vehicle.  A bit of an expense, but I have to spend my
Floyd | inheritance on something.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A simple but sturdy walking stick, necessary since I was shot by an

Floyd | accomplice of the Bottle Street Strangler.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Mindflower used to be a medieval gaol where murderers and debtors

Floyd | rubbed shoulders.  The centuries old, eroded stone may now be run
Floyd | through with the gleaming pipes of a modern heating system, but those
Floyd | confined here are no more likely to leave with their wits intact.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | And I thought the Old Warren could be a depressing place.  The houses
Floyd | around the asylum are dilapidated and crooked - their roofs sagging

Floyd | and windows cracked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearly only those who can't afford better live in the shadow of the
Floyd | madhouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The asylum's main entrance is a featureless door of the thickest
Floyd | metal, fitting flush against the sides of a deep alcove.  There's no
Floyd | handle or lock - just a small BUTTON on the wall.
Floyd |

Floyd | A small grating is set into the door at eye level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The grating is thick and sturdy.  Beyond it, I can see only darkness.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | That is not something I can open.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Your tiresome magic can hardly withstand my relentless reasoning.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | This story doesn't use scoring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | My story has been brought to you by that strange and dubious medium
Floyd | C.E.J.  Pacian in your year 2009.
Floyd |
Floyd | For this feat, he used 'TADS 3', a language for processing by

Floyd | computational engines developed by Michael J.  Roberts, and documented
Floyd | rigorously by Eric Eve.  Your manner of interaction with my story was
Floyd | inspired by one Aaron A.  Reed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Special gratitude is due for advice, feedback and encouragement from
Floyd | George Oliver, Emily Boegheim, agj, Anna Anthropy, Juhana Leinonen,

Floyd | Thomas Reisinger, D.J.  Hastings, increpare and Shae.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I push the button beside the door and a harsh electric buzzer sounds.
Floyd | Instantly, a narrow pair of EYES appear behind the grating, studying
Floyd | me carefully.  A gruff voice asks uncertainly, "Are you... a patient
Floyd | here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | I suppose I could IDENTIFY myself, or come back with some SNARK.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Do I look like I'm a patient here?"  I ask condescendingly.
Floyd |

Floyd | The voice remains tactfully silent, which is an answer in itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | I sigh and hold my badge up to the grating.  "I'm a police detective.
Floyd | Let me in."
Floyd |
Floyd | The voice scoffs.  "You could've fooled me, mate."

Floyd |
Floyd | But the door slowly rumbles open all the same.
Floyd |
Floyd | When you're ready, I can go IN.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | As soon as I'm inside the asylum, I begin feeding the guard
Floyd | half-truths and exaggerations.  He nods wordlessly and leads me
Floyd | through narrow, white-walled passages that echo with manic cackles and
Floyd | miserable sobs.

Floyd |
Floyd | "This is the one," my guide says, stopping suddenly.  "Miss Ivy
Floyd | Blissheart.  Strictly no visitors, it says.  But I don't suppose they
Floyd | meant policemen."
Floyd |
Floyd | Cell 13

Floyd | The guard slams shut the door and I hear several bolts and locks being
Floyd | closed.  So this is where she ended up, thanks to me: a padded cell,
Floyd | lit harshly by a bare electric BULB.  Only the small WINDOW set into
Floyd | the DOOR hints at a world beyond its claustrophobic confines.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bulky WINCH has been bolted incongruously to the wall.

Floyd |
Floyd | Silhouette - IVY, I mean, is hanging upside-down from the ceiling,
Floyd | tied up in a straitjacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | She cranes her neck awkwardly to try and look at me.  "Is it MORNING
Floyd | already?  Time flies when you're all TRUSSED up like this."

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | It's difficult to get a good look at her as she hangs upside-down like
Floyd | this, spinning slowly back and forth.  But there is that impression of
Floyd | elfish mischief written into her features that I remember so well from

Floyd | her arrest.  And her scandalously boyish hair is not so short that it
Floyd | can't trail below her in unruly curls.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy is wearing a STRAITJACKET.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey," she suddenly exclaims.  "I know you, don't I?  No hard feelings

Floyd | about the whole incarcerating me thing, Inspector.  I'm just glad you
Floyd | came to visit."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Painful to look at.  It casts sharply defined shadows against the
Floyd | featureless walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I look over the straitjacket.  "Did they put you in this thing the
Floyd | right way up?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy laughs dryly.  "CRIME, the good doctor believes, is the result of
Floyd | insufficient blood flow to the brain.  So, you know, gravity's not my
Floyd | friend - and sleeping like a bat's the best TREATMENT."

Floyd |
Floyd | "I can call you Ivy, can't I?"  I suddenly think to ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Of course you can," she says.  "As long as I can call you...  Um..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nathaniel.  Or 'Nate' if that's too much of a mouthful."

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The long white sleeves of the straitjacket are wrapped tightly around
Floyd | Ivy - completely restraining her arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I could get out of this real quick," Ivy says, "if only I was the
Floyd | right way up."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I'm almost afraid to ask.  "Is this the worst thing they do to you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Pretty much.  I think they're still working out what to make of me.

Floyd | I get plenty of peace and quiet, of course, so my fragile feminine
Floyd | mind can keep its uncontrollable emotions this side of HYSTERIA."
Floyd |
Floyd | She attempts an upside-down shrug.  "Hey, it's better than breaking
Floyd | rocks in PRISON, right?"
Floyd |

Floyd | "Assuming," I say carefully, "they don't go so far as a LOBOTOMY."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy says, "Um, what?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Do you feel like you're responding to the treatment?"  I ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy snorts with laughter.  "Well, I keep throwing up when they hang me
Floyd | upside-down.  That's a response, right?"

Floyd |
Floyd | My hair's fallen over my eye.  I brush it back.  "Eventually, they'll
Floyd | intervene physically."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You mean beating me?"
Floyd |

Floyd | "I mean cutting into your brain.  It's been shown to result in a more
Floyd | placid personality."  Gauging her expression, I add, "Don't worry.
Floyd | That's why I'm here.  To HELP."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I study Ivy's carefree expression.  "You don't seem hysterical to me."
Floyd |
Floyd | "All bold women get the diagnosis sooner or later," she says with a

Floyd | wink.  "It's almost a compliment."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The winch seems to be the main mechanism for raising and lowering
Floyd | whichever poor soul is assigned this bizarre treatment.
Floyd |
Floyd | I certainly intend to let Ivy down eventually... but I'd like to try
Floyd | and explain my proposition to her first.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | "You know," I say, "with the talent, cunning and ingenuity you put to
Floyd | work disrupting the city, you could have done some amazing things on
Floyd | the right side of the law."

Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't think I didn't try," she says.  "But somehow, society took one
Floyd | look at me and figured I'd be best put to use working a loom for ten
Floyd | hours a day."
Floyd |
Floyd | I twist my cane in my hand.  "Now that should be criminal."

Floyd |
Floyd | She laughs.  "And yet I'm the one you ARREST."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Ivy," I begin, "I feel rather rotten that I actually caught you.  I
Floyd | got carried away with unravelling the mystery, and I didn't stop to
Floyd | think about what they'd do once they got you."
Floyd |
Floyd | She pulls a face.  "Don't be.  You're a policeman, and I broke laws,
Floyd | didn't I?  And maybe I got carried away too.  I don't think I'd

Floyd | actually thought it through as far as winding up in PRISON or
Floyd | wherever."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "It kind of makes me angry," I say.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy looks at me strangely.  "You have a very sedate angry face, but
Floyd | what does?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "That you should have just been given a short prison sentence.  And

Floyd | instead you wind up in here, indefinitely, at the mercy of
Floyd | unsupervised quacks."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It makes me angry too," she says.  "But not at you.  You weren't even
Floyd | at the TRIAL."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I clear my throat.  "I'm sorry I wasn't at the trial.  It was my case.
Floyd | I should have been there, but..."
Floyd |

Floyd | She finishes for me.  "But they thought you might say things in my
Floyd | favour, and they presented your evidence without you.  It's okay, I
Floyd | figured it out."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "If it's okay with you," I say, "I'm going to get you out of this
Floyd | place completely."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy swings slightly from side to side.  "No offence, Nate, but you

Floyd | couldn't even get me put in a proper prison in the first place.
Floyd | You're not talking about breaking me out or anything, are you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Of course not.  But you're right.  You're a patient, not a prisoner.
Floyd | That's why I'd be able to PRESS you into assisting me in my
Floyd | investigations."

Floyd |
Floyd | "Assisting?"  Ivy repeats.  "The POLICE?  Swapping one kind of
Floyd | imprisonment for the other, you mean?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "It's odd," I muse aloud.  "You're happy to sabotage the discipline
Floyd | machine in a workhouse, but not to assist the one occupation where you
Floyd | have the legal power to stop abuse and suffering."
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy snorts.  "And yet it always seems to be people like me they use
Floyd | that power against instead."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe 'they' do.  But I don't.  You've ruffled the feathers of some
Floyd | powerful people.  But you're small fry compared to me.  I've put
Floyd | powerful people away for life."

Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, I'll try anything once," Ivy says.  "How does this PRESS thing
Floyd | work, anyway?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "It's odd," I muse aloud.  "You're happy to sabotage the discipline
Floyd | machine in a workhouse, but not to assist the one occupation where you
Floyd | have the legal power to stop abuse and suffering."
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy snorts.  "And yet it always seems to be people like me they use
Floyd | that power against instead."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe 'they' do.  But I don't.  You've ruffled the feathers of some
Floyd | powerful people.  But you're small fry compared to me.  I've put
Floyd | powerful people away for life."

Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, I'll try anything once," Ivy says.  "How does this PRESS thing
Floyd | work, anyway?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "All you have to do is agree to provide..."  I clear my throat,
Floyd | "invaluable and urgent assistance to my police work.  And then I can
Floyd | walk you out of here.  I have the paperwork on me."

Floyd |
Floyd | "Invaluable?  Okay, okay," Ivy says, "anything, just as long as I'm
Floyd | the right way up."
Floyd |
Floyd | I rub my hands together.  "Great!  I'll see about getting you down."
Floyd |

Floyd | "Gently!"  Ivy warns.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Cell 13
Floyd | I'm in a padded cell.  I'm sure Forthright would say it's about time.
Floyd | The walls are lit harshly by a bare electric BULB, and only the small
Floyd | WINDOW set into the DOOR hints at a world beyond its claustrophobic
Floyd | confines.
Floyd |

Floyd | A bulky WINCH has been bolted incongruously to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is hanging upside-down from the ceiling, tied up in a
Floyd | straitjacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy nods awkwardly towards the WINCH.  "Hey, detective.  That's how

Floyd | they get me up and down from here."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Talking to Ivy: MORNING.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "I hate to be the one to tell you, but the sun hasn't even set yet."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy sighs.  "You mean it's still yesterday?  Damn it."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Just the smallest slot for a guard to spy into the room, without the
Floyd | inmate being afforded any kind of view back out.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | The cell door is badly scratched and scuffed, but years of abuse have
Floyd | barely managed to bend the thick bars across its tiny WINDOW.
Floyd |

Floyd | A CLIPBOARD is crookedly affixed to the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's written in the barely decipherable scrawl of a medical

Floyd | professional.  I could READ it, if you want.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I suppose this horrible, spidery scrawl is one way doctors try to
Floyd | respect patient confidentiality.  I can just about make out what the
Floyd | chart says.
Floyd |
Floyd | Name:  Blissheart, Ivy
Floyd | Sex:   F

Floyd | Ref #: 134A
Floyd |
Floyd | Incarcerated for:
Floyd | Vandalism; obscenity; blasphemy; criminal damage; disturbing the
Floyd | peace; conduct unbecoming of a woman.
Floyd |

Floyd | Diagnosis:
Floyd | Insufficient development of the ethical lobe.
Floyd | Hysteria.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | There's a little hook on the winch.  It seems to be holding it in
Floyd | position.  If I just carefully...  Oh dear.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy squirms to her feet.  "It's okay, I'm fine.  I only landed on my
Floyd | head."
Floyd |
Floyd | She wriggles a little, and the straitjacket drops to the floor.
Floyd | "Ouch.  Can you do me a favour and just pop my SHOULDER back in?"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Ivy slips the hand of her dislocated arm into mine, and then twists
Floyd | around grotesquely while I pull firmly in the other direction.

Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden pop, and she gasps with relief.  "Yeah, that's
Floyd | better."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Ivy looks rather relieved to be the right way up again.  Her elfin
Floyd | features are no longer quite so red, and her hair has returned to a
Floyd | messy imitation of its usual bob.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy is wearing some PYJAMAS.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy clasps her hands behind her back and looks at me expectantly.  "So
Floyd | are we going to LEAVE, or what?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A pair of simple white pyjamas.  Of all forms of clothing, surely the
Floyd | least taxing on the mind.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy stretches her arms and legs.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I knock loudly on the door for the guard to let us out.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy shakes her head.  "Now this I've got to see."
Floyd |
Floyd | "They can't squirm out of this," I say.  "I've caught them in their
Floyd | own loophole.  And once you're out of here... maybe you should just
Floyd | run.  Flee the city."
Floyd |

Floyd | "Not likely," Ivy says.  "This city's all I know.  And you sold me on
Floyd | the idea of being a detective.  Don't tell me you're chickening out
Floyd | now?"
Floyd |
Floyd | I brush back my hair and put on my bowler.  "Never."
Floyd |

Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay, hi.  It's me now: Ivy Blissheart, a.k.a.  Silhouette.  How are
Floyd | you doing?
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Not very talkative, eh?  Well, we'll just keep it to the keywords
Floyd | then.
Floyd |

Floyd | So this is the second time in my life I've been in a police station,
Floyd | and you know what?  The Office of Unfathomable Crimes is a lot more
Floyd | comfortable than the interrogation room.
Floyd |
Floyd | But maybe not so much for Walker right this moment.  Nate, I mean.
Floyd | He's been in the Chief Inspector's office an hour now, just on the

Floyd | other side of that door, getting shouted at.  I feel sort of bad for
Floyd | him, because it's got to all be about what he did for me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Maybe if I LOOK around, I can figure out a way to help him out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Office of Unfathomable Crimes
Floyd | I'm in the Oldchester C.I.D., specifically the Office of Unfathomable
Floyd | Crimes.  It's quite homely, really, with sunlight streaming in through

Floyd | a large WINDOW and moustachioed men smiling down from PICTURE frames
Floyd | on the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A DESK fills much of the room, piled high with PAPERS and FILES, and a
Floyd | pneumatic TUBE snakes along one wall.
Floyd |

Floyd | Nate said I should just WAIT here and not get into trouble, but I've
Floyd | never been one to do what I'm told.
Floyd |
Floyd | I can hear a raised voice ranting on the other side of the door to the
Floyd | Chief Inspector's office.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Official documents and memos are scattered over the desk in a
Floyd | disorganised fashion.  They all look to be on the officious side of
Floyd | bureaucratic.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | So I used to work in a factory that had tubes like this for sending
Floyd | messages between departments.  It was great fun - and those pipes
Floyd | didn't even have coppers on the other end of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a metal BOX attached to it, and a little BASKET ready to catch
Floyd | the messages it spits out.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I have nothing in mind to read at the moment.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Oh, um, hi.  I'm Ivy, although a lot of people know me - know of me,
Floyd | really - as Silhouette: anarcha-feminist dissident.  I want you to
Floyd | know that if I ever messed around with any of your stuff, or made you

Floyd | look bad, or whatever, that it was absolutely nothing personal.
Floyd |
Floyd | But, you know, you probably had it coming.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | There's a little basket just beneath the metal BOX.  It looks like
Floyd | it's positioned to catch anything that might come flying out of the
Floyd | pneumatic tube.  It contains a CANISTER.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | A neat little box of tarnished filigree, attached to the pneumatic
Floyd | tube.  Loads of BUTTONS are set into the face of the thing, a LEVER on
Floyd | the side, and a BASKET underneath it.  Oh, and there's a small HOLE in

Floyd | the top of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | You know, I've always been fond of a good gadget.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's a cylindrical canister, taking a brief rest after rattling
Floyd | through the pneumatic intestines of the police station.  It's open,
Floyd | and contains a MEMO.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | There are loads of chunky buttons set into the front of the box.  Most
Floyd | of them are blank, but some have neat inscriptions.  There are buttons
Floyd | marked CHIEF, Serious CRIMES, FRAUD, and NARCOTICS.  Oh, and a bit of

Floyd | paper has been stuck to one button with the word UNFATHOMABLE
Floyd | scribbled on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button marked 'Serious Crimes' is currently depressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's very neatly typed, on a perfectly square piece of paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | MEMORANDUM
Floyd |

Floyd | Rumours are circulating that a woman has been commissioned as a police
Floyd | officer.  These rumours are untrue.  While a woman has been employed
Floyd | to assist the C.I.D., she is not doing so in the capacity of either
Floyd | constable or detective.
Floyd |
Floyd | Frankly, the gossiping this event has sparked leads me to believe that

Floyd | she will feel quite at home with the lot of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chief Inspector LeStains
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I push the button marked 'Unfathomable'.  It depresses with a firm
Floyd | 'click', and the button marked 'Serious Crimes' pops back up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I push the button marked 'Serious Crimes'.  It depresses with a firm
Floyd | 'click', and the button marked 'Unfathomable' pops back up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I push the button marked 'Narcotics'.  It depresses with a firm
Floyd | 'click', and the button marked 'Serious Crimes' pops back up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | There's a circular hole in the top of the box.  This must be where
Floyd | messages go to get sent through the pneumatic TUBE.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I grab the lever on the side of the box and give it a firm yank.  The
Floyd | hole in the box emits a tremendous sucking sound until I let the lever
Floyd | spring back into place.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Office of Unfathomable Crimes
Floyd | I'm in the Oldchester C.I.D., specifically the Office of Unfathomable
Floyd | Crimes.  It's quite homely, really, with sunlight streaming in through
Floyd | a large WINDOW and moustachioed men smiling down from PICTURE frames
Floyd | on the walls.
Floyd |

Floyd | A DESK fills much of the room, piled high with PAPERS and FILES, and a
Floyd | pneumatic TUBE snakes along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | I can hear a raised voice ranting on the other side of the door to the
Floyd | Chief Inspector's office.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | The desk's all scuffed and scratched.  It could use a good polish.  On
Floyd | the desk are a bell JAR, some PAPERS, and some FILES.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Thick binders full of files are propped up against one another like a
Floyd | collapsed house of cards.  Each file's got a letter on its spine.
Floyd |

Floyd | By far the thickest file is labelled with an S.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | S.  The snakiest of all letters.  Just what criminal masterminds,

Floyd | associated with the letter 'S', could exist in the city to so
Floyd | thoroughly fill out this poor, bulging binder?
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh look, it's all about me.
Floyd |
Floyd | I set the binder back down, but...  I sort of want to look at it

Floyd | again, more closely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I open the binder to the first scrap of paper filed under

Floyd | 'Silhouette'.  It's a memo to Walker, ordering that the Office of
Floyd | Unfathomable Crimes look into a prankster and graffiti artist who's
Floyd | humiliating the upper crust - because no-one else could catch me.
Floyd |
Floyd | So, I'm actually blushing right now.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Ah look, it's a photograph of one of my earlier works.  A caricature
Floyd | of a factory boss, painted around the entrance to the shop floor, as
Floyd | if his flabby maw was greedily devouring each worker as they stepped

Floyd | inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I find a report of an incident at a posh library.  Seems that someone

Floyd | slipped a number of copies of an infamous work of erotica into the
Floyd | covers of some notable theological tomes.
Floyd |
Floyd | I can only plead ignorance of the whole affair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | See this report here?  So someone reprograms a teaching automaton to
Floyd | instruct pre-school children in the spelling and grammatical use of a
Floyd | number of profanities, and I get the blame.
Floyd |

Floyd | And it's not like they were even old enough to know what any of it
Floyd | meant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | There's a couple of sheets of photographs clipped to some of Walker's
Floyd | notes.  Looks like he was trying to create a timeline of various
Floyd | Silhouette symbols I daubed around the city and analyse the
Floyd | development of my style.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ah, bless him.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I find some case notes from the distribution of an obscene forgery of
Floyd | a public information pamphlet.

Floyd |
Floyd | It's interesting how transposing a few words can turn an essay on
Floyd | moral hygiene into something a bit... different.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A hemisphere of glass attached to an air PUMP.  It seems to contain a
Floyd | piece of rotten MEAT and a SWARM of stripy flies.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a NOTE attached to it.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The note's written in very elegant handwriting:
Floyd |

Floyd | Dear All,
Floyd | I'm conducting an experiment to determine the effects of high altitude
Floyd | on the life cycle of the striped carrion fly.  This may have a bearing
Floyd | on a certain case involving a famous mountaineer.  Please don't panic
Floyd | if they escape.  Although they may look like wasps, they're completely
Floyd | harmless.

Floyd |    Walker
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A set of bellows attached to an electric motor and a fan.  Yeah, I'd
Floyd | say it's some sort of air pump.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's an awfully tempting SWITCH on the side of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I flip the switch and the pump begins whirring quietly.  After a few
Floyd | seconds, the pump's fan spits out one of the stripy flies.  I turn off
Floyd | the pump before any more get sucked out.

Floyd |
Floyd | Whoops.  I hope I didn't just invalidate Nate's experiment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I cannot attach that to anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A neat little box of tarnished filigree, attached to the pneumatic
Floyd | tube.  Loads of BUTTONS are set into the face of the thing, a LEVER on
Floyd | the side, and a BASKET underneath it.  Oh, and there's a small HOLE in
Floyd | the top of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I cannot attach that to anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Office of Unfathomable Crimes
Floyd | I'm in the Oldchester C.I.D., specifically the Office of Unfathomable
Floyd | Crimes.  It's quite homely, really, with sunlight streaming in through
Floyd | a large WINDOW and moustachioed men smiling down from PICTURE frames

Floyd | on the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A DESK fills much of the room, piled high with PAPERS and FILES, and a
Floyd | pneumatic TUBE snakes along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | A stripy FLY is buzzing around lazily.

Floyd |
Floyd | I can hear a raised voice ranting on the other side of the door to the
Floyd | Chief Inspector's office.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | These must be the rozzers who've worked at the C.I.D. through the
Floyd | ages.  There's a definite trend over time from men with huge beards

Floyd | and top hats towards men with small moustaches and bowler hats.
Floyd |
Floyd | Next thing you know the place'll be run by hatless women.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | What, do you want my vital statistics or something?  I'm Ivy
Floyd | Blissheart, a.k.a.  Silhouette, former dissident, currently attached
Floyd | to the police force in some crazy fashion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I am carrying a NOTEBOOK, and I'm wearing a long JACKET, a short
Floyd | DRESS, and a CLOCHE hat.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A small bucket of a hat that goes nicely with my short hair and
Floyd | doesn't take up much space.  Also it forces me to hold my head up

Floyd | high, or I can't see out from under the brim.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I'm all set to be a good detective.  Got my little notebook and

Floyd | everything, 'though it's currently blank at the moment, save a little
Floyd | doodle of Walker.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Oh, you know, just a lean gent in a bowler, burning up the page with
Floyd | his unmatched good looks and powers of perception.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A neat little box of tarnished filigree, attached to the pneumatic
Floyd | tube.  Loads of BUTTONS are set into the face of the thing, a LEVER on
Floyd | the side, and a BASKET underneath it.  Oh, and there's a small HOLE in
Floyd | the top of it.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A white, sleeveless dress with a hemline just below the knee.  Yes, I
Floyd | decided I'd rather look like a floozie than trip over my own clothes

Floyd | while pursuing a criminal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | There's a little basket just beneath the metal BOX.  It looks like
Floyd | it's positioned to catch anything that might come flying out of the
Floyd | pneumatic tube.  It contains a CANISTER.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | It's a cylindrical canister, taking a brief rest after rattling
Floyd | through the pneumatic intestines of the police station.  It's open,
Floyd | and contains a MEMO.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Office of Unfathomable Crimes
Floyd | I'm in the Oldchester C.I.D., specifically the Office of Unfathomable

Floyd | Crimes.  It's quite homely, really, with sunlight streaming in through
Floyd | a large WINDOW and moustachioed men smiling down from PICTURE frames
Floyd | on the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A DESK fills much of the room, piled high with PAPERS and FILES, and a
Floyd | pneumatic TUBE snakes along one wall.

Floyd |
Floyd | A stripy FLY is buzzing around lazily.
Floyd |
Floyd | I can hear a raised voice ranting on the other side of the door to the
Floyd | Chief Inspector's office.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I look out the window and across the smoke-blackened rooftops of
Floyd | Oldchester.  The sun's low on the horizon, looking all pale and
Floyd | sleepy.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It looks sort of like a wasp, only not nearly as sure of itself.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | There are loads of chunky buttons set into the front of the box.  Most
Floyd | of them are blank, but some have neat inscriptions.  There are buttons
Floyd | marked CHIEF, Serious CRIMES, FRAUD, and NARCOTICS.  Oh, and a bit of

Floyd | paper has been stuck to one button with the word UNFATHOMABLE
Floyd | scribbled on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button marked 'Narcotics' is currently depressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I push the button marked 'Chief'.  It depresses with a firm 'click',
Floyd | and the button marked 'Narcotics' pops back up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I grab the lever on the side of the box and give it a firm yank.  The
Floyd | hole in the box emits a tremendous sucking sound until I let the lever
Floyd | spring back into place.
Floyd |

Floyd | The stripy fly is sucked helplessly into the pneumatic tube.  Pharaoh
Floyd | speed, little stripy fly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Things suddenly go quiet in the Chief Inspector's office.  Let's WAIT
Floyd | and see what happens.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | The door to the Chief Inspector's office opens quietly, and NATE slips
Floyd | into the room.  I get a brief glimpse of a fat, bald man swatting at

Floyd | the air with a rolled up newspaper before the door closes again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "I decided that now might not be the time to tell the Chief
Floyd | Inspector about the difference between a striped carrion fly and a
Floyd | wasp."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The button marked 'Chief' is currently depressed.  Physically, I mean.
Floyd | Emotionally, it seems to be holding up fine.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I see you've already met my colleague, FORTHRIGHT," Nate says.

Floyd |
Floyd | I turn around with a start and see a tall man with a long nose leaning
Floyd | against the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I find her powers of observation lacking," he says.
Floyd |

Floyd | The nerve!  I could try and put this bloke in his PLACE or just BITE
Floyd | my tongue.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "You must get a lot of practice," I say, "spying on young women."
Floyd |
Floyd | He just ignores me.  I'll take that to mean he can't think of a good
Floyd | comeback.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well," Nate says, "it was fun while it lasted, but it looks like I'm

Floyd | off Unfathomable Crimes and back at the Old Warren desk."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Because of her?"  Forthright asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay, I feel pretty rotten right now.  Should I be SYMPATHETIC towards
Floyd | Walker, or HARSH towards Forthright?

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Are you in trouble because of me, Na- uh, Walker?"  I demand,
Floyd | watching Forthright carefully.  "Because I'm telling you, I'm really

Floyd | not worth it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "There's no way I was going to let them lobotomise you, Ivy," Nate
Floyd | says.  "You didn't do anything to deserve that.  And in any case, I...
Floyd | don't mind working the Old Warren.  The cases may be less fancy, but
Floyd | they need good detectives as much as anyone else."

Floyd |
Floyd | Forthright shakes his head.  "I think it's a crying shame.  Look, take
Floyd | this."  He hands Nate a piece of PAPER.  "Someone telephoned in a
Floyd | murder and it looks right up your alley.  One last unfathomable case,
Floyd | okay?  You're probably the only one who can solve it anyway."
Floyd |

Floyd | Shooting me a final hateful look, Forthright stalks out of the office.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Taking back one turn: "sympathetic".
Floyd |
Floyd | Office of Unfathomable Crimes
Floyd | I'm in the Oldchester C.I.D., specifically the Office of Unfathomable

Floyd | Crimes.  It's quite homely, really, with sunlight streaming in through
Floyd | a large WINDOW and moustachioed men smiling down from PICTURE frames
Floyd | on the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A DESK fills much of the room, piled high with PAPERS and FILES, and a
Floyd | pneumatic TUBE snakes along one wall.

Floyd |
Floyd | FORTHRIGHT is leaning against the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | NATE stands an arm's length away, leaning on his cane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Are you in trouble because of me, Na- uh, Walker?"  I demand,
Floyd | watching Forthright carefully.  "Because I'm telling you, I'm really
Floyd | not worth it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "There's no way I was going to let them lobotomise you, Ivy," Nate
Floyd | says.  "You didn't do anything to deserve that.  And in any case, I...

Floyd | don't mind working the Old Warren.  The cases may be less fancy, but
Floyd | they need good detectives as much as anyone else."
Floyd |
Floyd | Forthright shakes his head.  "I think it's a crying shame.  Look, take
Floyd | this."  He hands Nate a piece of PAPER.  "Someone telephoned in a
Floyd | murder and it looks right up your alley.  One last unfathomable case,

Floyd | okay?  You're probably the only one who can solve it anyway."
Floyd |
Floyd | Shooting me a final hateful look, Forthright stalks out of the office.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I peer over at the piece of paper that Forthright gave to Nate.  The
Floyd | handwriting is almost illegible, but I can make out the words 'murder'
Floyd | and 'uptown'.  This must be one of those classy killings Walker's

Floyd | always solving.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate reads the paper and smiles.  "Another mystery afoot!  We should
Floyd | LEAVE as soon as you're ready, Ivy."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Nate's the kind of delicate, impossibly beautiful young man you'd
Floyd | sooner expect to see reclining in a bay window writing poetry than
Floyd | examining a corpse in the Old Warren.
Floyd |

Floyd | But there's also a sort of nervous energy to him, and his hair's
Floyd | always falling over one eye or the other as he looks around with
Floyd | intense interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate is carrying a BOWLER hat, a CANE, a police BADGE, and a PIECE of
Floyd | paper, and he's wearing a three-piece SUIT.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's very neatly typed, on a perfectly square piece of paper.
Floyd |

Floyd | MEMORANDUM
Floyd |
Floyd | Rumours are circulating that a woman has been commissioned as a police
Floyd | officer.  These rumours are untrue.  While a woman has been employed
Floyd | to assist the C.I.D., she is not doing so in the capacity of either
Floyd | constable or detective.

Floyd |
Floyd | Frankly, the gossiping this event has sparked leads me to believe that
Floyd | she will feel quite at home with the lot of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chief Inspector LeStains
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I peer over at the piece of paper that Forthright gave to Nate.  The
Floyd | handwriting is almost illegible, but I can make out the words 'murder'
Floyd | and 'uptown'.  This must be one of those classy killings Walker's

Floyd | always solving.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Office of Unfathomable Crimes
Floyd | I'm in the Oldchester C.I.D., specifically the Office of Unfathomable

Floyd | Crimes.  It's quite homely, really, with sunlight streaming in through
Floyd | a large WINDOW and moustachioed men smiling down from PICTURE frames
Floyd | on the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A DESK fills much of the room, piled high with PAPERS and FILES, and a
Floyd | pneumatic TUBE snakes along one wall.

Floyd |
Floyd | NATE stands an arm's length away, leaning on his cane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | And an abracadabra to you too.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Can I just ask," I begin, "I've always wondered about the cane..."
Floyd |
Floyd | He smiles grimly.  "I was shot.  The bullet missed the femoral artery,
Floyd | but still shattered my thighbone like glass."
Floyd |
Floyd | I cringe.  "Ouch."

Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, I recall saying something along those lines myself."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I can't see it very well, but I bet it gets him through all sorts of
Floyd | doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Nate's dressed like for a funeral.  I s'pose there often is one when
Floyd | he turns up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I'd describe Nate's little hat as moderately adorable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I crack my knuckles.  "Okay: let's get policing!  Can I drive your
Floyd | motor car?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate smiles.  "In general: yes.  But this is perhaps not the time to

Floyd | learn."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The bluebottle at the door salutes Nate and gives me the evil eye.

Floyd | And then we're inside the scene of the crime.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's all yours," Nate says, with a wry smile.  "Detect!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Explorer's Home
Floyd | You know what?  It's cold in here.  The wind blows right in through

Floyd | the smashed balcony DOORS, rippling the fur of the room's shaggy RUG
Floyd | and tugging on the torn sheets of the four-poster BED.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a mangled CORPSE on the bed - the whole reason we're here, of
Floyd | course.  And the walls are lined with all sorts of TROPHIES and stuff
Floyd | from around the Arctic and Antarctic.

Floyd |
Floyd | NATE stands an arm's length away, leaning on his cane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The balcony doors look like they've been hit by a bomb.  The JAMBS are
Floyd | all bent out of shape and shards of broken GLASS have been scattered
Floyd | over the floor.

Floyd |
Floyd | "Would it be jumping to conclusions," I ask, "to think they might have
Floyd | come in through the balcony?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate nods.  "It seems a sensible hypothesis."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | "Okay, I know this is penny dreadful stuff, but the glass is on the
Floyd | inside of the room, so the doors were broken in from the outside...
Floyd | right?"

Floyd |
Floyd | Nate smiles.  "Just because it's obvious, that doesn't mean it's
Floyd | wrong."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The jambs are the side parts of the doorframe.  But you knew that.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It doesn't look like this was caused just by forcing the doors open,"
Floyd | I ponder aloud.  "It's like something a bit too big was crammed

Floyd | through here.  They must have stolen something.  Something big."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "Oh really?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | This has got to be the shaggiest rug I've ever seen.  Peering closer,
Floyd | I think I see something.  "Hey, there's loads of little DENTS in the
Floyd | rug, like there was a heavy table here, and someone bounced it around

Floyd | all over the place."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate leans forward on his cane and acknowledges my find silently.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "You know how when you move a heavy piece of furniture, you find the
Floyd | legs have left dents in the carpet?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I can't say I'm intimately acquainted with the phenomenon," Nate

Floyd | says, "but yes."
Floyd |
Floyd | "These dents are sort of like that," I go on, "but they're not pressed
Floyd | down too much, like whatever was here wasn't here for long."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate makes an appreciative nod.  I think I'm going to write this down

Floyd | in my NOTEBOOK.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The legendary polar explorer Saul Hawthorne is lying on the bed, quite

Floyd | thoroughly deceased.  His broken LIMBS have been wrapped twice around
Floyd | his body and his FACE is frozen into a rictus of surprise and agony.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate watches me closely.  "It's okay if you feel faint."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Pfff.  I'm fine."

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I flip open my notebook.  So far, I've made the following notes:
Floyd |

Floyd | -(A doodle of Walker.)
Floyd | -The pedals of a motor car go: clutch, brake, accelerator, from left
Floyd | to right.
Floyd | -Something made lots of dents in the rug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I'm not sure exactly how his arms and legs got in this state.  It's
Floyd | like a giant tried to roll him up like a ball of string.  His skin has
Floyd | circular BRUISES all over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I actually fainted at my first crime scene," Nate reassures me.

Floyd |
Floyd | I laugh.  "Seriously, I'm fine."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | His arms and legs - the same arms and legs mangled almost beyond
Floyd | recognition - are marked with countless circular bruises.  I think
Floyd | I'll write this down in my NOTEBOOK.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Are you sure you're okay?"  Nate asks.
Floyd |

Floyd | "I did throw up in my mouth a bit," I admit, "but I just swallowed it
Floyd | back down."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, as long as you feel you have it under control."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Whatever did this to him, I don't think he saw it coming.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I don't know how to return from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The Explorer's Home
Floyd | You know what?  It's cold in here.  The wind blows right in through
Floyd | the smashed balcony DOORS, rippling the fur of the room's shaggy RUG
Floyd | and tugging on the torn sheets of the four-poster BED.
Floyd |

Floyd | There's a mangled CORPSE on the bed - the whole reason we're here, of
Floyd | course.  And the walls are lined with all sorts of TROPHIES and stuff
Floyd | from around the Arctic and Antarctic.
Floyd |
Floyd | NATE stands an arm's length away, leaning on his cane.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | "From the state of this bed," I say, surveying the mess made of its
Floyd | torn and crumpled sheets, "I think it's safe to assume he didn't die
Floyd | peacefully in his sleep."

Floyd |
Floyd | Nate nods.  "And it therefore seems quite probable that he was mangled
Floyd | by the very method of his murder, rather than post mortem."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I see nothing unusual under the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | This bloke obviously liked to surround himself with evidence of his
Floyd | own achievements.  There are countless picture FRAMES on the walls,
Floyd | some freaky SPECIMENS, a few... let's call them KNICKKNACKS, and a
Floyd | huge MAP of Antarctica.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I bet it took real work to fit all these different sized frames
Floyd | together so neatly, with so little space left over.  What jumps out at
Floyd | me?  There's an ancient SCROLL, the front page of a NEWSPAPER, an

Floyd | AERIAL photo, a photo of two MEN, some sort of mathematical CHART, and
Floyd | a diagram of something like a candelabra or a TREE or something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The scroll shows a load of stick figures pointing at a star, with
Floyd | scribbly words spiralling around in every open gap.  A plaque on the
Floyd | frame reads: 'Ancient peoples record the meteor falling to Earth with
Floyd | great accuracy.  Modern calculations prove its origin at Mars.'
Floyd |

Floyd | "People complain about progress," I say, "but I don't think going from
Floyd | stick figures to photographs in a few thousand years is to be sniffed
Floyd | at."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "Quite."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | The newspaper shows two men posing outside the Oldchester Museum, with
Floyd | the headline: Hero Explorers' Audience with Pharaoh.  The fella on the
Floyd | left looks like the victim.  The other one's a man in an eye-patch.

Floyd |
Floyd | "So he was famous then?"  I ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "Renowned."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Well, I suppose it's an aerial photo.  Depends how tall the
Floyd | photographer was.
Floyd |

Floyd | There's a wide swathe of barren ice, and in the middle of it is a
Floyd | basin or dip that's overflowing with weird trees and dense vines.
Floyd | There are little dots surrounding it, like birds, only not birds, if
Floyd | you know what I mean.

Floyd |
Floyd | "Explorers go to some weird places," I say to Nate.
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks at me funny.  "I think that's by definition."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Well, I suppose it's an aerial photo.  Depends how tall the
Floyd | photographer was.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a wide swathe of barren ice, and in the middle of it is a
Floyd | basin or dip that's overflowing with weird trees and dense vines.
Floyd | There are little dots surrounding it, like birds, only not birds, if

Floyd | you know what I mean.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Explorers go to some weird places," I say to Nate.
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks at me funny.  "I think that's by definition."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | A photograph of two men wrapped up in furs and standing in front of a
Floyd | cave painting.  One of them looks like the victim, the other's someone
Floyd | in an eye-patch.

Floyd |
Floyd | The painting shows a load of inhuman stick figures feeding their
Floyd | fellows to a tentacled blob.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A comparison of the Antarctic climate versus apparent Martian

Floyd | temperatures.  Fascinating stuff.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What kind of holiday time do I get, Nate?  It looks like Mars is nice
Floyd | this time of year."
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks thoughtful.  "I'm not sure if you're displaying a complete

Floyd | ignorance of the actual nature of seasons, or making a witty comment
Floyd | about the eccentricity of the Martian orbit."
Floyd |
Floyd | "The former," I say, "definitely."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | According to the title: "The Martian Life of the Antarctic: A
Floyd | Provisional Taxonomy".  It seems to consist of loads of lines

Floyd | connecting long, made-up words.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A comparison of the Antarctic climate versus apparent Martian
Floyd | temperatures.  Fascinating stuff.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What kind of holiday time do I get, Nate?  It looks like Mars is nice
Floyd | this time of year."
Floyd |

Floyd | He looks thoughtful.  "I'm not sure if you're displaying a complete
Floyd | ignorance of the actual nature of seasons, or making a witty comment
Floyd | about the eccentricity of the Martian orbit."
Floyd |
Floyd | "The former," I say, "definitely."
Floyd |

Floyd | >
Floyd | So you go to Antarctica, without heat, food or reliable transport, and
Floyd | you still come back with loads of rubbish that you don't need.  It's a
Floyd | terrible statement on the human condition.
Floyd |
Floyd | I s'pose the most interesting knickknacks I can see are a husky's

Floyd | COLLAR, a woolly SCARF and a MEDAL.  All of them just pinned to the
Floyd | wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | According to the title: "The Martian Life of the Antarctic: A
Floyd | Provisional Taxonomy".  It seems to consist of loads of lines
Floyd | connecting long, made-up words.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | The 'South Polar Society Star for Heroic Dedication to Science.'  I
Floyd | say to Nate, "At least he got recognised before he died.  Does that
Floyd | happen for police detectives?"

Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "Only the ones who don't make waves."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh.  Then I missed my chance without even knowing I had it."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The nametag reads 'Butch'.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I believe they were forced to eat their dogs," Nate explains.
Floyd |

Floyd | I frown.  "And just think: if Butch had eaten this bloke because he
Floyd | was hungry, people would have called it a tragedy."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I finger the scarf.  It feels warm, but I'm not sure I'd trust it with
Floyd | my life at the South Pole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Yuck.  Okay, there's a polar bear's HEAD mounted on the wall, a
Floyd | pickled space creature in a JAR, and an exotic AQUARIUM.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Wow.  That's a lot of ice.  There are a couple of flags pinned into
Floyd | the map, one marked 'Pharaoh Base' and the other 'Expedition 1'.
Floyd |
Floyd | "So this guy was a polar explorer," I muse.

Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "You catch on quick."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I reach out and stroke the polar bear's muzzle.  He looks fierce, but
Floyd | his fur's nice and soft.  "Poor thing.  If only he'd covered his nose
Floyd | with his paw when he saw this bloke coming."

Floyd |
Floyd | "They don't actually ever do that," Nate corrects me.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well," I say, "the sooner they start, the better."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's...  This little blighter must be of great scientific interest,
Floyd | that's for sure.  "Where's its head?"  I ask.  "Is that its mouth?"

Floyd |
Floyd | "That's its anus," Nate informs me, without so much as blinking.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well they must have very different priorities on Mars."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | An opulent, oversized tank of water, currently occupied by some gravel
Floyd | and a little CASTLE.  No sign of the fish at present.  What a waste of
Floyd | water.

Floyd |
Floyd | "Any little aspect of the crime scene can be relevant," Nate says,
Floyd | cryptically.  "There's no such thing as too much knowledge."
Floyd |
Floyd | Hmm.  Maybe the fish is a suspect?  I wonder what its alibi is?
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Looking a little more closely, I think I can make out a tiny round eye
Floyd | staring back at me from inside the little castle.  "So I've solved the
Floyd | case of the missing FISH."

Floyd |
Floyd | To my surprise, Nate limps over to get a closer look.  "I see.  Very
Floyd | interesting."
Floyd |
Floyd | The thing is, I don't think he's joking.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I tap on the side of the aquarium.  The fish just stares out at me.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't," Nate says.  "It's clearly been frightened."

Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought that's just what fish did?  Hide, so you wonder why you
Floyd | bothered to get them in the first place."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate brushes back his hair.  "Well, if you don't think it's relevant."
Floyd |

Floyd | I sigh.  "Fine, I'll write it down in my NOTEBOOK.  Happy?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate reaches out for my notebook and glances over it.  "I think you've
Floyd | got enough here that you might be able to EXPLAIN the method of
Floyd | murder."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | "You want me to explain how this man was twisted to death in his own
Floyd | bed?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate purses his lips.  "I believe I said as much."
Floyd |

Floyd | "The dents in the rug... the frightened fish...  I dunno, an angler
Floyd | with two peg legs?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate turns towards the maimed corpse.  "I've never seen a fisherman
Floyd | who could do this to a person.  And what about the circular bruises?"
Floyd |

Floyd | Well, I s'pose could keep trying to EXPLAIN the murder, or just SHRUG.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "How about some kind of... petrol-driven arm and leg twisting
Floyd | machine?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No," Nate says.  "That would never frighten a fish.  Fish don't have
Floyd | arms or legs.  I know you can EXPLAIN it, though.  Keep trying."
Floyd |

Floyd | Or maybe I should just SHRUG and give up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Frightens fish, leaves dents... a swarm of angry fishing rods?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate sighs.  "Now you're just being absurd."
Floyd |
Floyd | EXPLAIN, SHRUG, the choice is yours.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | "Okay, I think I've got it this time: a typhoon machine on robotic
Floyd | legs.  Typhoons are at sea, right?"
Floyd |

Floyd | "Better," Nate says, "but the whole room would be in disarray if that
Floyd | were the case.  I know you can EXPLAIN this mystery, Ivy.  Don't give
Floyd | up."
Floyd |
Floyd | The urge to SHRUG is almost overwhelming.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | My attacks are made in the medium of graffiti and petty vandalism.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "A giant sea urchin, bent on murder.  The dents are its footprints.
Floyd | The victim twisted himself to death trying to avoid its spines."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate seems impressed.  "Well thought out, but sea urchins are very

Floyd | mellow creatures, as their spines protect them from all the ills of
Floyd | the world.  I can't imagine one being moved to kill."
Floyd |
Floyd | "This is ridiculous, Nate, I have no idea."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I know you can EXPLAIN this, Ivy.  All the evidence is here."

Floyd |
Floyd | I SHRUG, but not in any final sort of fashion.  Yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I throw up my hands.  "A shark on stilts."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate laughs, and I feel myself turning red with embarrassment.  Maybe
Floyd | this sort of thing comes easily to him, but-
Floyd |

Floyd | "Very close," Nate says.  "I think you almost have it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Um, what?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Can I really EXPLAIN this bizarre crime, or should I just SHRUG and
Floyd | get Nate to enlighten me?

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "My head hurts," I whine.  "My mind's gone blank."
Floyd |

Floyd | "Nonsense," Nate snaps.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay... a predatory sea creature that frightened the fish... it's on
Floyd | robotic legs, which left dents in the rug... and... it twisted a man
Floyd | up like so much yarn... so it was an octopus?"
Floyd |

Floyd | Nate squeezes my shoulder.  "Based on the sucker marks, I'd say a
Floyd | giant squid, but you're in the right phylum and class."
Floyd |
Floyd | I stare at him open mouthed.
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks around.  "Now, I suspect we may be able to find out who

Floyd | sicced this abomination on our victim if we rifle his writing DESK."
Floyd |
Floyd | I frown.  "What writing-?  Oh."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | This absolutely was not here earlier.  Otherwise I'd have mentioned
Floyd | it.  Nate must have moved it in while I was distracted with all the

Floyd | other junk packed into this ridiculous room.  I mean, there's a polar
Floyd | bear's HEAD on the wall.  Is it any wonder if I get distracted?
Floyd | Anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a very neat little desk, not much used, I'd say.  Two small
Floyd | DRAWERS are set into one side of the thing.  On the desk is a PINK

Floyd | letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Written in a careful and delicate script:

Floyd |
Floyd | Sweetiepie,
Floyd |    Miss you so much when you're away.  Hurry round to visit as soon as
Floyd | you can, and bring me a nice surprise!
Floyd | Love and huggles,
Floyd | Elizabeth

Floyd |
Floyd | P.S.  Muggles the kitten misses you as well!
Floyd |
Floyd | "Anything pertinent?"  Nate asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Only to my fading ability to hold onto my breakfast."

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The desk has two drawers.  Do you want me to open the TOP one, or the
Floyd | BOTTOM one?

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Opening the top drawer reveals a BLUE letter.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | The letter's written in a blocky, neat hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Saul,

Floyd |    Our mutual friend is in the city.  Don't ask me how.  Perhaps you
Floyd | can pay him off?
Floyd |    Rupert Wetherby
Floyd |
Floyd | I show the letter to Nate.  "Does this sound like the kind of thing
Floyd | that gets people murdered?"

Floyd |
Floyd | "Anything can get one murdered, in my experience.  Keep looking."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The letter's written in a blocky, neat hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Saul,
Floyd |    Our mutual friend is in the city.  Don't ask me how.  Perhaps you
Floyd | can pay him off?
Floyd |    Rupert Wetherby

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I try the bottom drawer, but it won't budge.  On closer inspection,

Floyd | there's a little warded LOCK on the thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate looks over the desk.  "The key may be around here somewhere..."
Floyd |
Floyd | I clear my throat.  "I am all the keys you will ever need."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I pull out one of my hatpins and bend the end into a 'bit' with my
Floyd | teeth.  Slide it into the lock like a key, turn it, and... click.

Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "I expect you think I'm impressed."
Floyd |
Floyd | I blow him a kiss, like a moving picture star.  "I know you're
Floyd | impressed."
Floyd |

Floyd | Opening the drawer, I find a YELLOW letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | This letter's written in an almost uncontrolled scrawl.
Floyd |
Floyd | Saul
Floyd |
Floyd | Thought you got rid of me, did you?
Floyd | Well I'm on my way home.

Floyd | You'll get yours, city boy.
Floyd |
Floyd | From you know who.
Floyd |
Floyd | I show it to Nate.  "Look like a letter from a murderer to you?"
Floyd |

Floyd | He develops a crooked smile.  "This must be the mutual friend
Floyd | mentioned in the other letter.  It seems that 'Rupert' shall have a
Floyd | number of questions to answer."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate runs his fingers through his hair and puts on his bowler.  "We'll
Floyd | LEAVE once you feel you've sated your curiosity, shall we?"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Nate's the kind of delicate, impossibly beautiful young man you'd
Floyd | sooner expect to see reclining in a bay window writing poetry than

Floyd | examining a corpse in the Old Warren.
Floyd |
Floyd | But there's also a sort of nervous energy to him, and his hair's
Floyd | always falling over one eye or the other as he looks around with
Floyd | intense interest.
Floyd |

Floyd | Nate is carrying a CANE and a police BADGE, and he's wearing a BOWLER
Floyd | hat and a three-piece SUIT.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The Explorer's Home
Floyd | You know what?  It's cold in here.  The wind blows right in through
Floyd | the smashed balcony DOORS, rippling the fur of the room's shaggy RUG
Floyd | and tugging on the torn sheets of the four-poster BED.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a mangled CORPSE on the bed - the whole reason we're here, of

Floyd | course.  And the walls are lined with all sorts of TROPHIES and stuff
Floyd | from around the Arctic and Antarctic.
Floyd |
Floyd | Among the clutter is a writing DESK.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bottom drawer contains a YELLOW letter.  The top drawer contains a

Floyd | BLUE letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | A little FISH watches us from inside its castle.
Floyd |
Floyd | NATE stands an arm's length away, leaning on his cane.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I flip open my notebook.  So far, I've made the following notes:
Floyd |
Floyd | -(A doodle of Walker.)

Floyd | -The pedals of a motor car go: clutch, brake, accelerator, from left
Floyd | to right.
Floyd | -Something made lots of dents in the rug.
Floyd | -There are circular blotches on the victim's limbs.
Floyd | -Nate thinks the fish is frightened.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I check my hat's properly in place and make for the door, dragging
Floyd | Nate behind me.
Floyd |

Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | "No entry," the doorman says.  "Members only.  And you're not even a
Floyd | gentleman."
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy waves her papers in his face.  "Police.  We can go where we like."
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's not strictly true," I whisper.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Adventurous Gentleman's Club
Floyd | Tobacco SMOKE hangs in the air like a mist of filth.  I've been in

Floyd | opium dens with more pleasant air, although they admittedly lacked the
Floyd | fine mahogany FURNITURE of this place.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.
Floyd |
Floyd | Rupert WETHERBY sits staring at us.  "You're both police officers?

Floyd | The world's really gone to pot."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I glance over at Ivy.  I see a young woman, about the same age and
Floyd | height as me, slender, athletic, elfin.  Her hair is cut into a short

Floyd | bob and her features are untouched by rouge.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy is carrying a NOTEBOOK, a YELLOW letter, and a BLUE letter, and
Floyd | she's wearing a long JACKET, a short DRESS, and a CLOCHE hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Mr Wetherby," Ivy begins uncertainly, "we were wondering about these

Floyd | two letters."
Floyd |
Floyd | He waves them away.  "Not related to Saul's death, I assure you.  I
Floyd | understand you must investigate, but some things are better left
Floyd | unknown."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | A simple and short dress, unlikely to get in the way - especially
Floyd | since it barely covers her KNEES.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Okay," Ivy whispers to me, "I'll be bad cop.  You just DEFEND him,
Floyd | APPEAL to his better nature, OFFER leniency, that sort of thing."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Bad cop?"  I repeat stupidly, although the term certainly fits.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Ivy's bare legs are slender, pale, eminently distracting...
Floyd |
Floyd | She looks in my direction and I glance quickly away.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy rolls up her sleeves and swaggers over to Wetherby.  "Is there
Floyd | something about this 'you know who' that you'd prefer to hide from the
Floyd | law?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Wetherby seems unimpressed by her display.  "I assure you that this

Floyd | matter, while I might prefer to keep it secret, is not related to his
Floyd | murder."
Floyd |
Floyd | Should I DEFEND Rupert, APPEAL to his better nature, or OFFER
Floyd | leniency?
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | "Mr Wetherby," I say, "please.  The murderer must be caught before he
Floyd | or she kills again."
Floyd |
Floyd | He shakes his head.  "I'll say it again.  These letters will not lead
Floyd | you to the murderer."

Floyd |
Floyd | "So you're protecting the victim," Ivy says.  "How noble.  Or
Floyd | perhaps... you're actually protecting yourself.  If Hawthorne had paid
Floyd | this person off, maybe you'd have profited?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Wetherby glares at her.

Floyd |
Floyd | Should I DEFEND Rupert, APPEAL to his better nature, or OFFER
Floyd | leniency?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "If you help us, I'm sure the courts will be lenient."  I suggest.
Floyd |

Floyd | "I'm no accomplice to whoever killed my dearest friend," Wetherby
Floyd | spits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy idly digs her heel into the expensive carpet.  "Even if you're not
Floyd | involved in the murder, I bet you were stabbing Hawthorne in the back
Floyd | in some way or another.  I mean, what are you so afraid we'll find

Floyd | out?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Should I DEFEND Rupert, APPEAL to his better nature, or OFFER
Floyd | leniency?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "I'm sure he's not afraid of anything," I say.  "It may well be
Floyd | perfectly innocent."
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy grins.  "Well, we'll find out eventually, with or without his
Floyd | co-operation."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I suppose you might as well hear it from me," Wetherby says.  "Look,
Floyd | Saul was no coward.  We faced real dangers on our expedition to the
Floyd | North Pole.  That polar bear...  I'd be dead if not for Saul.  But

Floyd | Saul liked his creature comforts.  When we met that bo's'n on the
Floyd | icebreaker, saw his remarkable likeness - well..."
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks at me suddenly.  "Will this go any further than you two?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Should I DEFEND Rupert, APPEAL to his better nature, or OFFER

Floyd | leniency?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Unless it becomes absolutely necessary to divulge this to convict his
Floyd | murderer," I say, "you have our confidence."
Floyd |
Floyd | Wetherby smiles at me.  "Thank you.  I suppose that's as it must be.
Floyd | And yes, I suspect, despite what I said earlier, that this is related
Floyd | to his death."

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy sighs.  "Well, spit it out already!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Saul never went to the Antarctic Crater," Wetherby says.  "He hasn't
Floyd | even left Oldchester in years."
Floyd |

Floyd | Should I DEFEND Rupert, APPEAL to his better nature, or OFFER
Floyd | leniency?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Once you've shared this with us," I say, "I'm sure it will be a
Floyd | weight from your shoulders."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I went to Antarctica with a man by the name of Nigel Davenport,"
Floyd | Wetherby explains.  "In the photographs he looked enough like Saul,
Floyd | especially with a little doctoring of the negatives.  He knew the

Floyd | land, but he was no scientist or gentleman, and he started to become
Floyd | quite the braggart.  You have to understand: a land that to others was
Floyd | only death, could to him be something closer to a home..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy gasps.  "You left him there, didn't you?"
Floyd |

Floyd | Wetherby stares at the carpet.  "How he could possibly have returned,
Floyd | I do not know.  But his aim now seems clear enough to me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Should I DEFEND Rupert, APPEAL to his better nature, or OFFER
Floyd | leniency?
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I touch Wetherby's shoulder.  "I'll see that a constable is assigned
Floyd | to protect you, but we shall have apprehended this man shortly."
Floyd |

Floyd | Wetherby seems reassured.  "Thank you."
Floyd |
Floyd | I check that my hat is on my head.  "Now, where might we find this
Floyd | Davenport?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't know," Wetherby says.  "But I suspect that it will be nowhere

Floyd | civilised.  He was Saul's mirror opposite in many ways, and he loathed
Floyd | even the least luxury."
Floyd |
Floyd | I find myself smiling.  "I know just where to find him.  Ivy, we'll
Floyd | LEAVE for there immediately."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Ivy's jacket is creased and battered, the fabric softened by years of
Floyd | wear.
Floyd |

Floyd | "But what about the squid?"  Ivy demands.  "And what are you hiding
Floyd | under that eye patch?  Cuff him.  Let's take him down to the station
Floyd | and-"
Floyd |
Floyd | I cover her mouth with my hand.  "I think that's quite enough from
Floyd | 'bad cop', thank you."

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy says, "Mmm-hhmf."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Ivy's wearing one of those strange little bell-shaped hats that are
Floyd | starting to creep into fashion.  It looks rather adorable crowning her
Floyd | elfin features.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wetherby squints at Ivy.  "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy pulls on my arm.  "I doubt it.  Well, off we go..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A craggy, ageless man in an EYEPATCH.  Several of his FINGERS are

Floyd | missing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wetherby seems to arrive at a sudden realisation.  "Silhouette!  I own
Floyd | the carpet factory you broke into.  You tampered with the machines...
Floyd | Those obscene patterns!  An entire batch had to be burned!"
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy shrugs nervously.  "I s'pose those are the dangers of too much
Floyd | automation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Frostbite has left Wetherby with an odd assortment of digits and one
Floyd | thumb.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wetherby stares at Ivy.  "You're a menace.  The very idea that you
Floyd | should be a free woman, let alone some charade of public authority-"
Floyd |

Floyd | "I believe it is in fact a crime to verbally abuse a police officer,"
Floyd | I announce, as if to myself.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy acquires a smug expression.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A smart leather patch covers Wetherby's left eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I need a stout drink," Wetherby murmurs.  He stands, bows reluctantly

Floyd | to Ivy and walks away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Yeuch.  The place could be burning down, and no-one would notice.

Floyd |
Floyd | "By the way," Ivy says, "You make a pretty bad 'good cop'.  I respect
Floyd | that."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I was a good enough cop to get you out of Mindflower, Ivy."
Floyd |

Floyd | She shakes her head.  "That's not 'good cop' at all.  You're bad cop
Floyd | through and through.  We'll try it the other way 'round next time."
Floyd |
Floyd | Next time!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The Adventurous Gentleman's Club
Floyd | Tobacco SMOKE hangs in the air like a mist of filth.  I've been in
Floyd | opium dens with more pleasant air, although they admittedly lacked the
Floyd | fine mahogany FURNITURE of this place.

Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy coughs and waves her hand in front of her.  "So much smoke..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | All this dark, meticulously polished wood, expertly carved into
Floyd | elegant forms...  It reminds me of my family home.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy coughs and pinches her nose.  "My eyes are really watering..."

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | She showed me some of the things she's doodled in there.  I'd already
Floyd | suspected her mind was of scientific interest, but I had no idea.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy touches my arm lightly.  "I can't take it anymore.  I'll be
Floyd | outside when you want to LEAVE."
Floyd |
Floyd | She hurries outside, pausing to wave at the doorman.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd | "I used to come here as a kid to feed the ducks," Ivy says.  "Can we
Floyd | visit the pond?"
Floyd |
Floyd | I brush my hair back from my eyes.  "Of course.  If that's where
Floyd | Davenport is hiding."
Floyd |

Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | A pleasant enough place, even if the smoke-blackened sky and tall
Floyd | buildings peering over the TREES leave one under no illusions that
Floyd | this is anywhere but smack in the middle of the city.
Floyd |
Floyd | We're on the cobbled square with the famous weeping fish FOUNTAIN.  A

Floyd | BENCH overlooks the area, upon which a courting COUPLE sit, side by
Floyd | side.
Floyd |
Floyd | A PRIESTESS lies sunning herself on the grass, some distance away.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | A pleasant enough place, even if the smoke-blackened sky and tall

Floyd | buildings peering over the TREES leave one under no illusions that
Floyd | this is anywhere but smack in the middle of the city.
Floyd |
Floyd | We're on the cobbled square with the famous weeping fish FOUNTAIN.  A
Floyd | BENCH overlooks the area, upon which a courting COUPLE sit, side by
Floyd | side.

Floyd |
Floyd | A PRIESTESS lies sunning herself on the grass, some distance away.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A gentleman and lady, both smartly dressed, perhaps a little older
Floyd | than Ivy and me.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They make a nice pair, don't you think?"  I suggest.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy mimes retching.
Floyd |
Floyd | Seeing her gesture, the couple both shoot me a pitying look, as if
Floyd | they think I should set my sights higher.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Although she mostly fits the part with her straight black hair and
Floyd | KALASIRIS, her pale skin marks her out as an Oldchester native.  I'd
Floyd | imagine that's the reason she's trying to get a tan.

Floyd |
Floyd | "She's judging me," Ivy says, following my gaze.  "I can tell."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A straight, white dress, the straps meeting behind her neck.  I'm
Floyd | really not sure if the hemline is higher than Ivy's.  The priestess is
Floyd | certainly showing more leg, but perhaps that's just because she's
Floyd | lying down and-

Floyd |
Floyd | "You look deep in thought," Ivy says.  "I s'pose any quiet moment is a
Floyd | chance to ponder mysteries, right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | I clear my throat.  "Yes, well."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Someone has etched Silooette 4eva into the bench's arm.  Now, Ivy's
Floyd | spelling may not be perfect, but she can at least spell her own alias.
Floyd | This message must have been left by one of her fans.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The fountain takes the form of a huge, scaly fish.  Water cascades in
Floyd | torrents from the corners of its eyes and into a pool dotted with
Floyd | copper and silver coins.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy says, "Freaky.  Not sure I'd trust this thing with my wishes."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Hopwell Gardens has always been surprisingly wooded.  It's not
Floyd | uncommon for people to get lost if they wander too far from the path.
Floyd | Peering into the anaemic, smog-poisoned trees, I think I can make out

Floyd | the tattered canvas of a TENT.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy cracks her knuckles.  "You have that distant look in your eye.
Floyd | The chase is afoot."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I glance over at Ivy.  I see a young woman, about the same age and
Floyd | height as me, slender, athletic, elfin.  Her hair is cut into a short
Floyd | bob and her features are untouched by rouge.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy is carrying a NOTEBOOK, a YELLOW letter, and a BLUE letter, and
Floyd | she's wearing a long JACKET, a short DRESS, and a CLOCHE hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Written on scrappy paper, damaged by moisture and stained by soil.
Floyd | It's hard to tell without chemical analysis, but it doesn't look like
Floyd | soil native to Oldchester.
Floyd |
Floyd | Saul
Floyd |

Floyd | Thought you got rid of me, did you?
Floyd | Well I'm on my way home.
Floyd | You'll get yours, city boy.
Floyd |
Floyd | From you know who.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Written on paper that, while hardly rare, is certainly not
Floyd | inexpensive.  There's no letterhead.
Floyd |

Floyd | Saul,
Floyd |    Our mutual friend is in the city.  Don't ask me how.  Perhaps you
Floyd | can pay him off?
Floyd |    Rupert Wetherby
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I point at the tattered piece of canvas in the trees.  "Looks like
Floyd | someone's camping out."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy laughs.  "What kind of idiot would sleep in a tent in Hopewell

Floyd | Gardens?  Oh, wait...  Yeah, I've not been paying attention."
Floyd |
Floyd | A dirt path leads IN, towards the tent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | We follow the path into the woods, the sounds of civilisation growing
Floyd | distant behind us.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the Ancient Oak

Floyd | The air here is cool and damp, the sky obscured by the broad green
Floyd | leaves of an immense and gnarled OAK.  A TENT canopy has been strung
Floyd | across its branches, and a BARREL of fish sits between its roots.
Floyd |
Floyd | An unkempt MAN sits cross-legged in the dirt.
Floyd |

Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh, and, by the way, a giant SQUID on robot legs hulks over us all,
Floyd | chained to the oak's trunk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy grabs my arm.  "A squid on robot legs!  You were right!  I was

Floyd | right!  Leg it!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The man leaps to his feet, swinging a flare gun wildly in our
Floyd | direction.  "Not so fast, townies."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | This is it, then.  The largest living invertebrate.  A carnivore from
Floyd | the far side of the Tree of Life, that wrestles with whales in the

Floyd | black depths of the ocean.  With its enormous bug EYES and writhing
Floyd | TENTACLES, it could almost be a monster from Mars.
Floyd |
Floyd | A MUZZLE is fitted over its beak, and its elongated, arrowhead body is
Floyd | strapped into a set of robotic LEGS.

Floyd |
Floyd | "Nigel Davenport," I announce, "I'm arresting you for the murder of
Floyd | Saul Hawthorne.  The courts will look upon it favourably if you come
Floyd | quietly."
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks at me, then at Ivy, and then at me again.  And then he bursts

Floyd | out laughing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I can see the resemblance to Hawthorne, I suppose.  Although it's

Floyd | obscured rather by his long, matted hair and untamed beard.
Floyd |
Floyd | He's bareheaded and clad in a suit of Martian SCALES.
Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport manages to control his mirth.  "This is what qualifies for
Floyd | strength and authority in the city, is it?  A lame pretty boy and a

Floyd | waif who can hardly see out from under her hat?  No, I think you have
Floyd | this situation all backwards."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The scales shimmer in the light: rust red, coarse and dry.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy whispers to me, "You carry a gun, right?"
Floyd |

Floyd | I'm shocked.  "Of course not!  I abhor violence.  That's the very
Floyd | reason I became a police detective."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A simple but sturdy walking stick, necessary since I was shot by an
Floyd | accomplice of the Bottle Street Strangler.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look at you both," Davenport says.  "In your city clothes.  Prancing
Floyd | around like you own the world."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Stolen from a local fishmonger, I'm sure.  It's full of slimy, oily
Floyd | FISH.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've seen creatures that thought they owned a world," Davenport
Floyd | continues, "and then found out the hard way."

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The scales shimmer in the light: rust red, coarse and dry.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Thought that was a meteorite, everyone did," Davenport says.  "Left
Floyd | that crater in the ice.  Didn't hang 'round long enough to find the
Floyd | truth."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A tattered piece of canvas that seems to have attracted the filth of
Floyd | two continents like... well... some sort of...  filth magnet.
Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport winks.  It's a rather frightening sight.  "I'll tell you.

Floyd | I'll tell you what I found down there, and you'll wish I hadn't."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The squid's robot legs are thickly armoured and crab-like.

Floyd | Petrol-driven, I suspect, given the noise.  As well as providing
Floyd | locomotion, they incorporate some sort of GILL apparatus.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's also a conspicuous LEVER in amongst the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | "This incredible machinery," I ask Davenport, "where did you get it?

Floyd | Who fashioned it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "T-T-" he stammers, "that's none of your business, city boy!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Whatever it does, it's protected by the squid's ARMS and I have
Floyd | absolutely no chance of reaching it right now.  Better to focus on
Floyd | something else.
Floyd |

Floyd | "It was an ark," Davenport announces.  "A pharaoh-damned ark.  Those
Floyd | creatures.  Those creatures scratching at the ice - dull and savage.
Floyd | They were like us, once."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | When Davenport isn't looking, Ivy purloins a haddock.
Floyd |
Floyd | "DISTRACT him," she hisses.
Floyd |

Floyd | It seems she's formulated some sort of plan.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Gathered in a writhing coil around its mouthparts are the squid's arms
Floyd | - eight muscular appendages lined with toothed suckers.  Although
Floyd | their reach is limited, once it's got hold of you with these, you're a
Floyd | goner for sure.  As Ivy might put it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Extending far beyond the squid's arms are its TENTACLES.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy whispers to me, "I don't understand what he's talking about."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't you read the papers?"  I whisper back.
Floyd |
Floyd | She shrugs.  "When I'm in them, sure."

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The squid has two long tentacles, each ending in an arrowhead of
Floyd | suckers.  They dart through the air like angry snakes.  Not to be
Floyd | confused with its ARMS.
Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport looks up at the blue sky.  "Mars.  Dry and cold and dead.
Floyd | But it was pleasant enough.  Once."

Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | I adjust my bowler and start to pace away from Ivy.  "You're quite
Floyd | right.  In fact, I see the error of my ways now.  Perhaps you could
Floyd | instruct me in a few survival techniques?"
Floyd |

Floyd | Davenport looks at me pityingly.  "The only teacher you need is Mother
Floyd | Nature.  But I warn you, she's a harsh schoolmarm indeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | I try to look disappointed.  "I see."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy discreetly slips the haddock into one of Davenport's pockets.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The squid stares at us with glassy eyes the size of dinner plates.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Creatures like us lived there," Davenport says.  "High 'n' mighty.
Floyd | Civilised.  But it counted for nothing when the oceans dried."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Don't worry," I tell Ivy, "it's not going to eat anyone while it's
Floyd | muzzled like that."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No," she agrees, "it'll just have to wring 'em out like a wet
Floyd | stocking instead."
Floyd |

Floyd | "Some of 'em fled," Davenport goes on.  "The ark.  Bet they were the
Floyd | smartest, the most civilised of all of them.  But all this time later,
Floyd | it don't count for nothing."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Among the intricate mass of machinery that supports the squid's
Floyd | existence on land is - obviously - a contraption for supplying it with
Floyd | oxygenated water.  I can see a glass CANISTER of water connected to a
Floyd | mass of HOSES and a PUMP.
Floyd |

Floyd | It reminds me of my carrion fly experiment.  Actually, I wonder how
Floyd | that's going...
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy pokes me in the ribs.  "Please don't start daydreaming when we're
Floyd | face to face with a sea monster."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I'll be honest, I have no great technical appreciation of water or air
Floyd | pumps.  Though after this, I'll be sure to do some research.
Floyd |

Floyd | "There they are," Davenport says.  "Scratching at the ice like
Floyd | beggars.  Savages.  Feeding the weak to the many-armed monsters that
Floyd | came with 'em.  No politeness.  No etiquette.  No pretence.  Just do
Floyd | or die."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Don't let the fact it's glass fool you: it must be pretty tough to
Floyd | contain water at deep-sea pressures.
Floyd |

Floyd | "And you, pretty boy," Davenport says, pointing at me, "you think this
Floyd | could never happen to us?  How'd you get by without that cane of
Floyd | yours?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Always rather badly," I admit.  He seems satisfied at that.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Yes, I suspect that these hoses are this thing's weak spot.  But we
Floyd | have no chance of getting close to them while the squid's tentacles
Floyd | are free.

Floyd |
Floyd | "We got rid of everything worthwhile," Davenport says.  "And we
Floyd | replaced it all with this civilisation.  Made up nonsense.
Floyd | Distractions.  Anything except engaging with the real world.  With the
Floyd | harsh realities."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Whatever it does, it's protected by the squid's ARMS and I have
Floyd | absolutely no chance of reaching it right now.  Better to focus on
Floyd | something else.

Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport waves an arm at the city we can just about make out through
Floyd | the trees.  "And what happens when all this goes the way of Mars?  How
Floyd | many of us will survive?  How many of us even have the least idea how
Floyd | to?"
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Beneath the Ancient Oak
Floyd | The air here is cool and damp, the sky obscured by the broad green
Floyd | leaves of an immense and gnarled OAK.  A TENT canopy has been strung

Floyd | across its branches, and a BARREL of fish sits between its roots.
Floyd |
Floyd | An unkempt MAN stands before us, aiming a flare gun in our direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.
Floyd |

Floyd | Oh, and, by the way, a giant SQUID on robot legs hulks over us all,
Floyd | chained to the oak's trunk.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're probably right about that," I admit.  "Our civilisation could
Floyd | probably fall apart.  Go the way of Mars.  And that'd write off those
Floyd | of us who rely on it.  But, well, so what?"

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy sighs.  "Oh yeah, provoke him.  That's a great idea."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I suppose this venerable old organism must give even the giant squid a
Floyd | run for its money in the size and strength stakes, inanimate though it
Floyd | may be.
Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport's made a bit of a mockery of the poor thing, suspending his
Floyd | TENT from its branches and looping the squid's CHAIN around its thick

Floyd | trunk and branches.
Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport stammers.  "Wh- what do you mean, so what?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I mean: so what?  Civilisation is about trying to make lives pleasant
Floyd | and easy, but we still wind up dead in the end.  I'm a homicide

Floyd | detective, I know that as well as anyone.  I don't see that death - on
Floyd | a personal or global scale - is a convincing reason to give up on
Floyd | trying to make lives better while we still can."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The chain is wrapped and wound and knotted in all manner of fantastic
Floyd | ways.  I bet this fellow was a dedicated boy scout.  Although, now
Floyd | that I look at it, a lot of the tension in the chain seems to be held
Floyd | by a single ice SCREW hammered into the ground.

Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport looks confused.  Confused and angry.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy grabs hold of my wrist, ready to make a run for it.  "You've done
Floyd | it now..."
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I jam the tip of my cane under the ice screw and steadily work it out
Floyd | of the ground.  The chain restraining the giant squid unravels in a
Floyd | single fluid motion and the beast takes a few experimental steps

Floyd | forward on its stubby metal feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport is ranting, "That's what you don't understand: nature can't
Floyd | be tamed, can't be restrained, and all your civilisation will count
Floyd | for nothing when it comes for you!"
Floyd |

Floyd | The squid's tentacles grab hold of him, crumpling his body up into a
Floyd | mangled mass.  He dies with a sharp squeal of surprise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy slips under my arm and pulls it around her shoulders.  "Yeah, I
Floyd | think we should leave pretty quickly now..."
Floyd |

Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | IVY drags me out of the woods and onto the cobbled square.  The park
Floyd | is just as we left it.  Birds sing, couples court, children frolic.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy screams, "Everybody run!  A giant squid on robot legs is coming!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The people around the park just stare at her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Taking back one turn: "screw".
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the Ancient Oak
Floyd | The air here is cool and damp, the sky obscured by the broad green
Floyd | leaves of an immense and gnarled OAK.  A TENT canopy has been strung
Floyd | across its branches, and a BARREL of fish sits between its roots.

Floyd |
Floyd | An unkempt MAN stands before us, aiming a flare gun in our direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh, and, by the way, a giant SQUID on robot legs hulks over us all,

Floyd | chained to the oak's trunk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | She showed me some of the things she's doodled in there.  I'd already

Floyd | suspected her mind was of scientific interest, but I had no idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport waves the flare gun at us.  "Yeah, but... civilisation is
Floyd | just a thin veneer!  Think you're so smart.  Think you're so great.
Floyd | You don't know nothing.  I'll show you.  I got that lying ponce.  I'll
Floyd | get that one-eyed back-stabber too.  After that, well, I'll show you

Floyd | what your civilisation amounts to!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I wait patiently.  Ivy squirms.

Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport's almost muttering to himself now.  "Yeah, I'll show you a
Floyd | little Martian savagery.  If you're too weak to live, you won't escape
Floyd | the long arms of the monster.  That's the way.  That's how we do
Floyd | things on Mars..."
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy relaxes.  "I think you broke him."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I wait patiently.  Ivy squirms.

Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport continues to rant and mutter about Mars and civilisation and
Floyd | how he'll show us all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I jam the tip of my cane under the ice screw and steadily work it out
Floyd | of the ground.  The chain restraining the giant squid unravels in a
Floyd | single fluid motion and the beast takes a few experimental steps
Floyd | forward on its stubby metal feet.

Floyd |
Floyd | Davenport is ranting, "That's what you don't understand: nature can't
Floyd | be tamed, can't be restrained, and all your civilisation will count
Floyd | for nothing when it comes for you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid's tentacles grab hold of him, crumpling his body up into a

Floyd | mangled mass.  He dies with a sharp squeal of surprise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy slips under my arm and pulls it around her shoulders.  "Yeah, I
Floyd | think we should leave pretty quickly now..."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | IVY drags me out of the woods and onto the cobbled square.  The park
Floyd | is just as we left it.  Birds sing, couples court, children frolic.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy screams, "Everybody run!  A giant squid on robot legs is coming!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The people around the park just stare at her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Clanking machinery draws near, and I turn towards the trees.  "It
Floyd | seems to have taken a shine to us," I tell Ivy.
Floyd |

Floyd | She throws up her hands.  "Lovely.  And you can't run?"
Floyd |
Floyd | I shake my head.  "Perhaps you should."
Floyd |
Floyd | She rolls up her sleeves.  "Oh yeah, that'd prove a lot of people
Floyd | right, wouldn't it?"

Floyd |
Floyd | Mechanical legs pistoning, tentacles writhing through the air, the
Floyd | giant SQUID bursts out of the trees.
Floyd |
Floyd | After a moment of shocked silence, people begin to scream and run.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy yells, "I told you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | An elongated creature with enormous, round EYES.  Its many short ARMS
Floyd | are curled around the robotic LEGS that support it, while its two
Floyd | longer TENTACLES roam freely through the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | A MUZZLE is strapped tightly over its beak.
Floyd |

Floyd | The squid grabs Ivy around the waist with a tentacle and lifts her
Floyd | into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | Understandably, she screams.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Relax!"  I shout up to her.  "This creature was raised by a human.

Floyd | It sees itself as one of us, and it won't kill without a direct order
Floyd | from Davenport.  I'm sure it just wants to assert itself over us and
Floyd | cement its place in the pack."
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid gives Ivy a good shake.  "I'm really reassured," she yells,
Floyd | "now get me down from here!"

Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | An elongated creature with enormous, round EYES.  Its many short ARMS
Floyd | are curled around the robotic LEGS that support it, while its two
Floyd | longer TENTACLES roam freely through the air.
Floyd |

Floyd | A MUZZLE is strapped tightly over its beak.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid holds Ivy directly above me.  She grabs at her dress and
Floyd | crosses her legs.  "Hey, don't look!  I thought you were a gentleman!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | One of the squid's tentacles is wrapped firmly around Ivy's waist,
Floyd | holding her up in the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy is carrying a NOTEBOOK, a YELLOW letter, and a BLUE letter, and

Floyd | she's wearing a long JACKET, a short DRESS, and a CLOCHE hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Whatever you do," I shout at Ivy, "don't think like a fish!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I poke the squid in the eye with my cane.  It screeches and writhes,
Floyd | coiling and uncoiling its tentacles in discomfort.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy falls to the ground.  She lands flat on her backside with a

Floyd | surprised squeak.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The squid's robot legs are thickly armoured and crab-like.
Floyd | Petrol-driven, I suspect, given the noise.  As well as providing

Floyd | locomotion, they incorporate some sort of GILL apparatus.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's also a conspicuous LEVER in amongst the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid grabs me around the waist with a tentacle and lifts me into
Floyd | the air.  My hat flies off and tumbles to the ground.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy cups her hands around her mouth and shouts, "Nate!  Hold on!  I'll
Floyd | save you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Whatever it does, it's protected by the squid's ARMS and I have
Floyd | absolutely no chance of reaching it right now.  Better to focus on
Floyd | something else.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy runs right up to the squid and punches it in the eye.  It
Floyd | screeches and writhes, coiling and uncoiling its tentacles in
Floyd | discomfort.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid releases me and I land hard, my bad leg giving out beneath
Floyd | me.  Ivy helps me to my feet.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Gathered in a writhing coil around its mouthparts are the squid's arms

Floyd | - eight muscular appendages lined with toothed suckers.  Although
Floyd | their reach is limited, once it's got hold of you with these, you're a
Floyd | goner for sure.  As Ivy might put it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Extending far beyond the squid's arms are its TENTACLES.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy tries to punch ineffectually at a tentacle, swiping at thin air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | We have no chance of getting close to the hoses while the squid's

Floyd | tentacles are free.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy growls with frustration.  "Where are the police when you actually
Floyd | need them for once?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "On their way," I reply, glossing over the fact that we are the

Floyd | police.  "But until then, it's just us."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Whatever it does, it's protected by the squid's ARMS and I have

Floyd | absolutely no chance of reaching it right now.  Better to focus on
Floyd | something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid grabs Ivy around the waist with a tentacle and lifts her
Floyd | into the air.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy yelps.  "Poke its EYE again, Nate!  Get me down!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | We have no chance of getting close to the hoses while the squid's
Floyd | tentacles are free.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't worry!"  I call up to Ivy.  "I'll think of something!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I poke the squid in the eye with my cane.  It screeches and writhes,
Floyd | coiling and uncoiling its tentacles in discomfort.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy falls to the ground.  She lands flat on her backside with a

Floyd | surprised squeak.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Whatever it does, it's protected by the squid's ARMS and I have
Floyd | absolutely no chance of reaching it right now.  Better to focus on
Floyd | something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid's robot legs chug and gurgle loudly.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | The squid has two long tentacles, each ending in an arrowhead of
Floyd | suckers.  They dart through the air like angry snakes.  Not to be
Floyd | confused with its ARMS.
Floyd |

Floyd | The squid grabs me around the waist with a tentacle and lifts me into
Floyd | the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy cups her hands around her mouth and shouts, "Nate!  Hold on!  I'll
Floyd | save you!"
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Ivy's bare legs are slender, pale, eminently distracting...
Floyd |

Floyd | She looks in my direction and I glance quickly away.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy runs right up to the squid and punches it in the eye.  It
Floyd | screeches and writhes, coiling and uncoiling its tentacles in
Floyd | discomfort.
Floyd |

Floyd | The squid releases me and I land hard, my bad leg giving out beneath
Floyd | me.  Ivy helps me to my feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid hoots eerily, the sound reverberating across the square.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | "It must have a weakness," Ivy says.  "If fish are frightened of

Floyd | squid... what are squid frightened of?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sperm whales."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy looks thoughtful.  "I s'pose there's not so many of those around.
Floyd | Unless-"

Floyd |
Floyd | I shake my head.  "No.  Not even then."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | This cobbled square, surrounded on all sides by TREES, is home to a
Floyd | FOUNTAIN and a BENCH.
Floyd |
Floyd | I see a BOWLER hat here.
Floyd |

Floyd | IVY is close by my side, sleeves rolled up and fists clenched.
Floyd |
Floyd | The giant SQUID stands astride the square on crab-like robot LEGS,
Floyd | TENTACLES writhing in the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid grabs Ivy around the waist with a tentacle and lifts her

Floyd | into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy yelps.  "Poke its EYE again, Nate!  Get me down!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's the nature of this line of work that my bowler spends more time
Floyd | in my hands than on my head.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nate!"  Ivy shouts.  "Do something!"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The fountain takes the form of a huge, scaly fish.  Something that you

Floyd | might expect the squid to take an interest in, if only I could draw
Floyd | its attention to it.  Unfortunately, I'm not really mobile enough to
Floyd | get in the fountain, and Ivy's presently otherwise engaged.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid dangles Ivy upside down.  "I s'pose I'm used to this by
Floyd | now..." she mutters.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | One of the squid's tentacles is wrapped firmly around Ivy's waist,
Floyd | holding her up in the air.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy is carrying a NOTEBOOK, a YELLOW letter, and a BLUE letter, and
Floyd | she's wearing a long JACKET, a short DRESS, and a CLOCHE hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy yells, "Put me down you big, smelly... cephalopod!"
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I poke the squid in the eye with my cane.  It screeches and writhes,
Floyd | coiling and uncoiling its tentacles in discomfort.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy falls to the ground.  She lands flat on her backside with a
Floyd | surprised squeak.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think Hawthorne's fish was braver than we gave it credit for!"  Ivy
Floyd | says.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Ivy," I exclaim, "the fountain!"
Floyd |

Floyd | She grasps my intent immediately.  "The fish!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Hiking up her dress, Ivy leaps into the fountain with a splash and
Floyd | begins waving her arms.  "Hey, grabby!  Your mortal enemy is right
Floyd | here!  He says your mother was a snail and your father a lounge
Floyd | lizard!"

Floyd |
Floyd | "Ivy, watch out!"
Floyd |
Floyd | She dives aside just as the squid wraps a tentacle around the
Floyd | fountain.  Despite its best efforts, the beast is unable to dislodge
Floyd | the stone fish.  That's one fewer tentacle to worry about.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The squid has two long tentacles, each ending in an arrowhead of

Floyd | suckers.  They dart through the air like angry snakes.  Not to be
Floyd | confused with its ARMS.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy makes a run towards the squid's robot legs, but it knocks her back
Floyd | effortlessly.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Someone has etched Silooette 4eva into the bench's arm.  Now, Ivy's
Floyd | spelling may not be perfect, but she can at least spell her own alias.
Floyd | This message must have been left by one of her fans.

Floyd |
Floyd | The squid grabs me around the waist with a tentacle and lifts me into
Floyd | the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy cups her hands around her mouth and shouts, "Nate!  Hold on!  I'll
Floyd | save you!"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Whatever it does, it's protected by the squid's ARMS and I have
Floyd | absolutely no chance of reaching it right now.  Better to focus on

Floyd | something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy runs right up to the squid and punches it in the eye.  It
Floyd | screeches and writhes, coiling and uncoiling its tentacles in
Floyd | discomfort.
Floyd |

Floyd | The squid releases me and I land hard, my bad leg giving out beneath
Floyd | me.  Ivy helps me to my feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | This cobbled square, surrounded on all sides by TREES, is home to a
Floyd | FOUNTAIN and a BENCH.
Floyd |
Floyd | I see a BOWLER hat here.
Floyd |

Floyd | IVY is close by my side, sleeves rolled up and fists clenched.
Floyd |
Floyd | The giant SQUID stands astride the square on crab-like robot LEGS, its
Floyd | TENTACLES divided between grasping the fish fountain and swiping at
Floyd | us.
Floyd |

Floyd | The squid bats my hat about on the ground with a tentacle.  That's a
Floyd | bit much - to single out a man's hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | They have the unhealthy look of trees that have seen a modern city
Floyd | sprout up around them.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid knocks Ivy's legs out from under her with a tentacle.  She
Floyd | manages to land on all fours and right herself quickly.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | I am carrying a CANE and a police BADGE, and I'm wearing a three-piece
Floyd | SUIT.
Floyd |

Floyd | The squid grabs Ivy around the waist with a tentacle and lifts her
Floyd | into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy yelps.  "Poke its EYE again, Nate!  Get me down!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | There being no consistent dress code for murder scenes, I tend to
Floyd | dress as if for a funeral.  My suit is black and carefully pressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid waves Ivy idly in the air.  "I'm going to throw up in a

Floyd | minute," she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Which hat do you mean, the cloche hat, or the bowler hat?

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's the nature of this line of work that my bowler spends more time
Floyd | in my hands than on my head.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy tries spitting at the squid, to no obvious effect.  "Hey, I'm no
Floyd | lady!" she shouts, in answer to my expression.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | An elongated creature with enormous, round EYES.  Its many short ARMS
Floyd | are curled around the robotic LEGS that support it, while of its two
Floyd | longer TENTACLES, one roams freely through the air and the other

Floyd | grasps vainly at the stone fish.
Floyd |
Floyd | A MUZZLE is strapped tightly over its beak.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid shakes Ivy vigorously and she, uh, lets out a stream of
Floyd | obscenities that I shan't repeat.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Don't worry," I tell Ivy, "it's not going to eat anyone while it's
Floyd | muzzled like that."

Floyd |
Floyd | "No," she agrees, "it'll just have to wring 'em out like a wet
Floyd | stocking instead."
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy waves her arms.  "Don't forget about me!"
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Gathered in a writhing coil around its mouthparts are the squid's arms
Floyd | - eight muscular appendages lined with toothed suckers.  Although

Floyd | their reach is limited, once it's got hold of you with these, you're a
Floyd | goner for sure.  As Ivy might put it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Extending far beyond the squid's arms are its TENTACLES.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid half drops Ivy and catches her.  She grips the tentacle with

Floyd | white knuckles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | This cobbled square, surrounded on all sides by TREES, is home to a
Floyd | FOUNTAIN and a BENCH.
Floyd |

Floyd | I see a BOWLER hat here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The giant SQUID stands astride the square on crab-like robot LEGS, its
Floyd | TENTACLES occupied with Ivy and the fish fountain.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is being held high in the air by one of the squid's tentacles.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy tries to kick at the squid, but it's holding her at tentacle's
Floyd | length.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The fountain takes the form of a huge, scaly fish.  It's currently
Floyd | presenting a stony front to the squid's attempts to overpower it with
Floyd | a tentacle.
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy punches the tentacle that's holding her, and then clutches her
Floyd | hand.  "Ouch!  It's tough..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I'll be honest, I have no great technical appreciation of water or air
Floyd | pumps.  Though after this, I'll be sure to do some research.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't worry!"  I call up to Ivy.  "I'll think of something!"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I slide my cane into the hoses and lever it upwards, putting all the
Floyd | effort I can into it, my bad leg screaming with pain.

Floyd |
Floyd | With an ear-splitting hiss, water begins to spray out of the bottom of
Floyd | the gill apparatus, blasting across the cobbles at high pressure.  The
Floyd | squid's eyes bulge, and it staggers drunkenly to one side.  Its
Floyd | robotic legs slam into the fountain with the sound of metal grating
Floyd | against stone.

Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy falls to the ground.  She lands flat on her backside with a
Floyd | surprised squeak.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I approach the squid cautiously.  Ivy trails behind me, pulling back
Floyd | on my sleeve.  "Nate..."

Floyd |
Floyd | The lever's deep in among the complex machinery of the robotic legs,
Floyd | within reach of the the squid's eight short arms.  I wait carefully
Floyd | for my moment, and then dart out a hand to pull the lever home.
Floyd |
Floyd | The squid knocks me back reflexively with a tentacle, and I tumble

Floyd | down onto the cobbles in a heap with Ivy.  Something inside the
Floyd | robotic legs clanks and whirrs.
Floyd |
Floyd | With a series of chunky clicks, the bizarre contraption releases its
Floyd | harness.  The squid slides into the fountain with an almighty splash.
Floyd |

Floyd | And then FORTHRIGHT storms into the square with a dozen blue-uniformed
Floyd | CONSTABLES.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy folds her arms.  "Perfect timing."
Floyd |
Floyd | Forthright adjusts his bowler.  "What in the blazes happened here?"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Moustachioed men in blue coats and tall hats.  Every so often one of
Floyd | them glances disapprovingly in my direction.  They generally only have

Floyd | to deal with this sort of thing when I'm working on the case.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It seems happy enough to be free of Davenport's contraption.  And I
Floyd | imagine it's spent enough time at surface pressure to be content in
Floyd | the fountain water for a while.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I glance over at Ivy.  I see a young woman, about the same age and
Floyd | height as me, slender, athletic, elfin.  Her hair is cut into a short
Floyd | bob and her features are untouched by rouge.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ivy is carrying a NOTEBOOK, a YELLOW letter, and a BLUE letter, and
Floyd | she's wearing a long JACKET, a short DRESS, and a CLOCHE hat.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | "Inspector," I say to Forthright, "see that this animal is transported
Floyd | humanely to the Institute for Marine Biology.  Given time they may be

Floyd | able to reintroduce it to its natural habitat."
Floyd |
Floyd | Forthright looks at me in that way he does so often.  "Right... okay."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And have that strange contraption moved to Bridge House.  I shall
Floyd | need to investigate it further."

Floyd |
Floyd | Forthright studies the scene before him and scratches his head.
Floyd | "Right you are.  I've got this under control.  You two could probably
Floyd | use a break."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh indeed," Ivy says unctuously.  "We really must be going.  Have fun

Floyd | with the grabby squid."
Floyd |
Floyd | Forthright doffs his hat to her condescendingly.  "Pleasant day,
Floyd | madam."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | It's the nature of this line of work that my bowler spends more time
Floyd | in my hands than on my head.
Floyd |
Floyd | I think we can safely LEAVE now.

Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Hopewell Gardens
Floyd | This cobbled square, surrounded on all sides by TREES, is home to a
Floyd | FOUNTAIN and a BENCH.

Floyd |
Floyd | I see a BOWLER hat here.
Floyd |
Floyd | IVY is by my side, elfin and mischievous.
Floyd |
Floyd | FORTHRIGHT stands here, hands on his lapels, trying to look like he's

Floyd | in charge of the situation.
Floyd |
Floyd | The giant SQUID splashes about happily in the fountain, its robotic
Floyd | LEGS now abandoned.
Floyd |
Floyd | A group of blue-uniformed CONSTABLES stand around the square,

Floyd | wondering what to do with the creature.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Thickly armoured and crab-like.  Although there's nothing too unusual
Floyd | about their construction, I have to wonder where exactly a person like
Floyd | Davenport was able to obtain machinery like this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Ivy slips her arm in mine and sets my bowler on my head at a jaunty
Floyd | angle.  I straighten it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I need a cup of tea after that," I say.

Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It's me again: your favourite dissident turned detective.  Okay, let's
Floyd | get this over with.

Floyd |
Floyd | I feel sort of naked without my hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oldchester Museum
Floyd | NATE and me come in through the fancy double DOORS, awkward and out of
Floyd | place.

Floyd |
Floyd | We're greeted by a beautiful woman in a kalasiris.  "I am Haqikah,"
Floyd | she says, "God's Wife of Amun.  The Pharaoh will see you now."
Floyd |
Floyd | She turns from us with impossible grace and glides further IN to the
Floyd | museum.

Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't know about this, Nate," I whisper.  "It's not all that long
Floyd | ago I was being tried for blasphemy."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You were tried for plenty of other things as well," he reassures me.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | He's looking very fine and dandy tonight, in an immaculately tailored
Floyd | TUXEDO.  His hair's its usual disobedient self, which only adds to his
Floyd | charm.

Floyd |
Floyd | Nate is carrying a CANE.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I bet he actually owns this tuxedo.  It's not rented or anything.
Floyd | That's what it is to be posh - you pronounce everything perfectly and
Floyd | you own your own evening wear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I am carrying nothing, and am wearing a long DRESS.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Nate leans heavily on a smart black walking stick.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | This must be the most expensive thing I've ever worn, and I'm not
Floyd | entirely sure why.  Okay, it's a gorgeous, floor-length dress, but
Floyd | it's also just a thin bit of material and it doesn't even have
Floyd | sleeves.
Floyd |

Floyd | Nate sees me looking down at myself and says, "You look perfect."
Floyd |
Floyd | I stare at the floor.  "I'm going to pay you back."
Floyd |
Floyd | He shrugs.  "Keep it."
Floyd |

Floyd | Yeah, well, I'll pay him back - you'll see.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I look at the way out and consider just making a break for it.

Floyd |
Floyd | Nate holds out his delicate HAND so I can see he's trembling, ever so
Floyd | slightly.  "I'm nervous too," he says.  "I've not exactly been much of
Floyd | a friend to the rich and powerful.  But we're in enough trouble as it
Floyd | is."
Floyd |

Floyd | "Sooner or later," I tell him, "you'll get sick of being right all the
Floyd | time."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I grab Nate's hand, squeezing his slender fingers.
Floyd |
Floyd | "If they feed us to a crocodile," I tell him, "let it eat me first,
Floyd | and I'll choke it from the inside while you escape."
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's very noble of you, Ivy."

Floyd |
Floyd | He doesn't think I'm being serious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I squeeze Nate's hand until he winces and laughs, and then we walk
Floyd | forward, together.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pharaoh Exhibit
Floyd | This place is all marble pillars and soft lighting.  Most of the space
Floyd | is taken up by a low platform with the pharaoh's SARCOPHAGUS on it -

Floyd | which is hooked up to all sorts of MACHINERY and surrounded by
Floyd | half-naked SERVANTS.
Floyd |
Floyd | HAQIKAH stands between us and the pharaoh, looking properly serene and
Floyd | dignified.
Floyd |

Floyd | NATE's close by, clutching his cane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Haqikah's a tall, dark woman with hair that falls straight to her

Floyd | waist.  She's at the centre of a glittering constellation of
Floyd | JEWELLERY, and she's wearing a sheer KALASIRIS almost like it's an
Floyd | afterthought.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Presenting," Haqikah announces grandiosely, "Inspector Nathaniel
Floyd | Walker of the Oldchester Constabulary, and Miss Ivy Blissheart of the

Floyd | Mindflower Asylum for the Criminally Insane."
Floyd |
Floyd | Um... couldn't she have said my old workplace or something?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Sorry, but that's not a keyword you can use right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | I won't describe them in too much detail, cos it wouldn't be proper.
Floyd | Let's just say I feel better about not having my hat with me.
Floyd |
Floyd | The speaker on top of the sarcophagus crackles, and a buzzing voice
Floyd | emerges.  "It has been many centuries since I last heard of champions

Floyd | defeating a monster."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate says, "I'm really not sure we- Ouch!"
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm standing on his foot.
Floyd |

Floyd | >

Floyd | Nate could probably tell you what all this machinery is.  Me, I just
Floyd | see a load of hoses snaking into the SARCOPHAGUS, something a bit like
Floyd | a wireless, some flashing lights and bubbling beakers - and, sitting

Floyd | right on top of the sarcophagus, a big, elegant gramophone speaker.
Floyd |
Floyd | The buzzing voice continues.  "This strange city needs champions.
Floyd | Henceforth you are both Special Detectives to the Office of the
Floyd | Pharaoh."
Floyd |

Floyd | Haqikah hands a BADGE each to Nate and me.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | A big, gold, person-shaped coffin, lying down on its back.  The face

Floyd | looks sort of aloof and not bothered about anything.  Pulsating hoses
Floyd | snake into it from the surrounding MACHINERY.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Blasphemer!" the speaker booms, and I almost jump out of my skin.
Floyd | "Know that your living god is merciful."
Floyd |

Floyd | Haqikah hands me a sheet of PAPYRUS.  I take it with wildly shaking
Floyd | hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | So it looks like I'm now a woman policeman.  I wonder if I outrank
Floyd | Forthright?
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate looks up from his shiny new badge.  "I want the Old Warren desk."
Floyd |
Floyd | Haqikah looks surprised, and the Phararoh's electric voice is silent.

Floyd |
Floyd | Should I SPEAK up or just WAIT quietly?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | The papyrus bears writing in neat calligraphy:
Floyd |
Floyd | By Order of the Pharaoh:

Floyd | Miss Ivy Blissheart is hereby pardoned for her crimes and blasphemies.
Floyd | Her actions before this date must never be considered when judging her
Floyd | innocence or sanity.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then it's signed by Haqikah and stamped with wax.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Very well," the Pharaoh's voice says.  "You shall bring My justice to
Floyd | the destitute and filthy in their narrow streets."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate brushes his hair back from his eyes... and smiles.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | They step out of the museum side by side - the young man in the
Floyd | bowler, leaning on his cane; the young woman in the battered jacket,
Floyd | her hat brim low over her eyes.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Our first case together," she says, "and we wrestle a mechanised
Floyd | squid and have an audience with the Pharaoh.  Is it always like this?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks thoughtful.  "Sometimes it's like this."
Floyd |
Floyd | "So... what now?"

Floyd |
Floyd | "Tea", he says.  "There'll be crime and mystery soon enough.  Before
Floyd | all that, we need a cup of tea."
Floyd |
Floyd | They walk to the motor car in silence - the only sounds their
Floyd | footsteps and the low murmur of the city.

Floyd |
Floyd | "Mine's with three sugars," she adds.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** CASE SOLVED, DETECTIVE ***
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO

Floyd | the last move, see your AWARDS, read about IVY, read about NATE, or
Floyd | QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Awards earned:
Floyd | -Flapper in Shining Armour - Ivy rescued Nate from the Chief
Floyd | Inspector!
Floyd | -Mollusc Mate - the squid lived!
Floyd | -Oh I Say - Ivy and Nate held hands!
Floyd |

Floyd | You earned 3/3 awards.
Floyd | -Unlocked Ivy's bio.
Floyd | -Unlocked Nate's bio.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO
Floyd | the last move, see your AWARDS, read about IVY, read about NATE, or

Floyd | QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Taking back one turn: "papyrus".
Floyd |
Floyd | Pharaoh Exhibit
Floyd | This place is all marble pillars and soft lighting.  Most of the space

Floyd | is taken up by a low platform with the pharaoh's SARCOPHAGUS on it -
Floyd | which is hooked up to all sorts of MACHINERY and surrounded by
Floyd | half-naked SERVANTS.
Floyd |
Floyd | HAQIKAH stands between us and the pharaoh, looking properly serene and
Floyd | dignified.

Floyd |
Floyd | NATE's close by, clutching his cane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd |
Floyd | I clear my throat.  Everyone looks at me.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm, uh, not really good at public speaking.  Graffiti is more my
Floyd | medium.  Okay, here goes.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Look, I know we're a right pair of misfits, but all we've ever tried
Floyd | to do is what we thought was right.  If we can help people who need
Floyd | help and don't often get it, then I think, you know, that'd be a real
Floyd | opportunity for us."
Floyd |
Floyd | My voice sounds really squeaky.  I swallow.  "And, you know, maybe

Floyd | some people who don't think the Pharaoh cares about them will, you
Floyd | know..."  I trail off.
Floyd |
Floyd | Haqikah raises an eyebrow.  At least Nate seems pleased with my little
Floyd | speech.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Very well," the Pharaoh's voice says.  "You shall bring My justice to
Floyd | the destitute and filthy in their narrow streets."
Floyd |
Floyd | Nate brushes his hair back from his eyes... and smiles.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | They step out of the museum side by side - the young man in the
Floyd | bowler, leaning on his cane; the young woman in the battered jacket,
Floyd | her hat brim low over her eyes.
Floyd |

Floyd | "Our first case together," she says, "and we wrestle a mechanised
Floyd | squid and have an audience with the Pharaoh.  Is it always like this?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks thoughtful.  "Sometimes it's like this."
Floyd |
Floyd | "So... what now?"

Floyd |
Floyd | "Tea", he says.  "There'll be crime and mystery soon enough.  Before
Floyd | all that, we need a cup of tea."
Floyd |
Floyd | They walk to the motor car in silence - the only sounds their
Floyd | footsteps and the low murmur of the city.

Floyd |
Floyd | "Mine's with three sugars," she adds.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** CASE SOLVED, DETECTIVE ***
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO

Floyd | the last move, see your AWARDS, read about IVY, read about NATE, or
Floyd | QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Biographical records:
Floyd |

Floyd | Ivy Blissheart alias Silhouette
Floyd |
Floyd | Age:   25
Floyd | Father:    Unknown
Floyd | Mother:    Jessica Blissheart (whereabouts unknown)
Floyd | Education:

Floyd | Sister Hardlove's Home for Foundlings
Floyd | Qualifications:
Floyd | Apprenticeship in mechanical loom use and maintenance
Floyd | Employment:
Floyd | Factory girl, Thompson's Ornithopters
Floyd | Notable Skills:

Floyd | Consummate artist in a variety of old and new media.
Floyd | Expert at understanding and manipulating household and industrial
Floyd | machinery.
Floyd | Self-taught locksmith.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO

Floyd | the last move, see your AWARDS, read about IVY, read about NATE, or
Floyd | QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

Floyd | Biographical records:
Floyd |
Floyd | Inspector Nathaniel Walker
Floyd |
Floyd | Age:   23
Floyd | Father:    Charles Richmond (deceased)

Floyd | Mother:    Olivia Richmond nee Walker (deceased)
Floyd | Education:
Floyd | Excelsior Grammar School
Floyd | Oldchester University
Floyd | Qualifications:
Floyd | Bachelor's Degree in the Natural Sciences (with Distinction)

Floyd | Employment:
Floyd | Detective, Oldchester C.I.D.
Floyd | Notable Skills:
Floyd | Expert criminologist with considerable knowledge of a wide variety of
Floyd | relevant disciplines.
Floyd | Classically trained pianist.

Floyd | Competition fencer (retired).
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO
Floyd | the last move, see your AWARDS, read about IVY, read about NATE, or
Floyd | QUIT?
Floyd |

Floyd | >