Text will now be saved to the script file. Type UNSCRIPT to discontinue scripting. >l Flight Lab The flight lab is nominally for studying flying things, but since to a Xavian this covers everything from electronics to projectile weapons to spaceships, the room appears somewhat organizationally confused to human eyes. The situation isn't helped by the fact that the room seems to have been mostly- cleared as part of the base lockdown, probably into the cabinets against the back wall. Nevertheless, it's still a mess: there are bits of wire and half- assembled mechanisms on the workbench, a long cylinder takes up much of the center of the room, and most of the free wallspace is taken up by shelving. >i You are carrying an issue of Newsbeak, 175 food pills, four granola nuts, a metal bowl, a Xavian viewmaster, a note, your image projector (disguised as a powder compact), six souvenir beak-polishers, a scrap of paper, a remote control, an account book, a large nut, a rounded brown sack, a gold cube, a reflective sheet, a Max Blaster action figure, a microdot, and your tk device (disguised as a tube of lipstick). You are wearing your rocket pants. >x metal bowl It's a large, flattish metal bowl. >x accoun The book appears to be a combination account book/diary for this place, but is mostly blank, aside from a few notes: “Earth culture museum and alien-based revenue stream enhancement opened today! This should be the model showroom of a chain of Xavian merchandising emporiums throughout the galaxy!” ... “Gift shop revenue not as high as expected — must talk to administrators about forcing prisoners and foreign diplomats to come in to shop” .. “In response to complaints from Fire Marshal, have moved some less-used merchandise into upper room and installed override here for the door lock until official approval of storage location made.” >se Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >ne Prototyping Room The room is practically empty except for the large prototyping machine in the center, but since that's the size of a large spacescooter, the room doesn't feel deserted. A few shelves occupy the walls but either they were bare to start with or they've been hastily cleared. >x screen The screen is displaying a brief menu of the currently available blueprints: 1: wave generator 2: ingot 3: gaussrifle barrel 4: reflective sheet >x cube Which cube do you mean, the silver cube, or the gold cube? >get silver The prototyper's screen goes blank as you remove the cube. >put gold in machine Which gold do you mean, a souvenir beak-polisher, or the gold cube? >cube You snap the gold cube into the niche. The screen displays a brief menu of the cube's contents: 1: flight-modelling ship 2: artificial limb 3: ultradraft feather 4: drill-beak cover >type 2 What do you want to type that on? >pad The display blanks for a moment, then text appears. “Loading blueprint for 'artificial limb' . . . . done. Additional required: (none)” >get sheet You are already carrying the reflective sheet. >put it in input Done. >close input The output compartment swings shut. The prototyping machine hums, first quietly and then louder. The faint scent of hot metal wafts out from behind the compartment doors, along with stray beams of red and blue light. Then the humming stops, the lights wink out, and the compartments pop open again. In the output compartment you see an artificial limb. >get limb Taken. >x it This appears to be some kind of experimental replacement claw. It's not clear what the innovative features of it are, as it's essentially just a short pole with a claw on the end. >x claw Which claw do you mean, a souvenir beak-polisher, or the artificial limb? >limb This appears to be some kind of experimental replacement claw. It's not clear what the innovative features of it are, as it's essentially just a short pole with a claw on the end. >[The beak polisher is a claw?] Noted. >polish limb with polisher The beak polisher is only for polishing beaks. >x limb This appears to be some kind of experimental replacement claw. It's not clear what the innovative features of it are, as it's essentially just a short pole with a claw on the end. >x screen The screen is displaying a brief menu of the currently available blueprints: 1: flight-modelling ship 2: artificial limb 3: ultradraft feather 4: drill-beak cover >type 3 on pad The display blanks for a moment, then text appears. “Loading blueprint for 'ultradraft feather' . . . . done. Additional required: (none)” >put limb in input Done. >close input The output compartment swings shut. The prototyping machine hums, first quietly and then louder. The faint scent of hot metal wafts out from behind the compartment doors, along with stray beams of red and blue light. Then the humming stops, the lights wink out, and the compartments pop open again. In the output compartment you see an ultradraft feather. >x feather This looks to be part of a design for some kind of replacement or auxiliary coat for Xavian warriors to wear. The feather can swing wider or narrower to adjust its wind resistance, and in addition is strong enough to deflect missiles. >wear it It wouldn't match the rest of your outfit. >get gold The prototyper's screen goes blank as you remove the cube. >put silver in machine You snap the silver cube into the niche. The screen displays a brief menu of the cube's contents: 1: wave generator 2: ingot 3: gaussrifle barrel 4: reflective sheet >type 1 on machine The display blanks for a moment, then text appears. “Loading blueprint for 'wave generator' . . . . done. Additional required: waveform data” >i You are carrying an issue of Newsbeak, 175 food pills, four granola nuts, a metal bowl, a Xavian viewmaster, a note, your image projector (disguised as a powder compact), six souvenir beak-polishers, a scrap of paper, a remote control, an account book, a large nut, a rounded brown sack, a Max Blaster action figure, a microdot, your tk device (disguised as a tube of lipstick), and a gold cube. You are wearing your rocket pants. >sw Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. You see a Venusian potato here. >nw Flight Lab The flight lab is nominally for studying flying things, but since to a Xavian this covers everything from electronics to projectile weapons to spaceships, the room appears somewhat organizationally confused to human eyes. The situation isn't helped by the fact that the room seems to have been mostly- cleared as part of the base lockdown, probably into the cabinets against the back wall. Nevertheless, it's still a mess: there are bits of wire and half- assembled mechanisms on the workbench, a long cylinder takes up much of the center of the room, and most of the free wallspace is taken up by shelving. >get chip You see no chip here. >se Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. You see a Venusian potato here. >sw Botany Lab The temperature in the room feels a few degrees warmer than the hallway to the northeast, mostly due to the heat lamp in the corner keeping some tropical specimens alive. The rest of the tables around the room are covered with other plant-related experiments, ranging from jars of seeds in solution by the west wall, to some kind of large mechanical-botanical hybrid by the east wall. Meanwhile, the whiteboards on the walls are covered with various scribbles and notations. The small slot in the pot contains a recordable datachip. >get chip Taken. >ne Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >ne Prototyping Room The room is practically empty except for the large prototyping machine in the center, but since that's the size of a large spacescooter, the room doesn't feel deserted. A few shelves occupy the walls but either they were bare to start with or they've been hastily cleared. The output compartment contains an ultradraft feather. >put chip in machine You slide the datachip into the slot. >put feather in input (first taking the ultradraft feather) Done. >close input The output compartment swings shut. The prototyping machine hums, first quietly and then louder. The faint scent of hot metal wafts out from behind the compartment doors, along with stray beams of red and blue light. Then the humming stops, the lights wink out, and the compartments pop open again. In the output compartment you see a wave generator. >get wave generator Taken. >turn it on That isn't something you can turn on. >x it The wave generator is designed to direct a particular wave pattern at whatever it is fired at. Wave generators are often used to jam radio transmissions or interrupt other communication; they can sometimes also be used to signal by using prespecified patterns. >sw Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >se Screen Theory Lab This room is almost entirely open, except for a row of metal cabinets along one wall, a large machine in the corner, and a small end-table next to the machine. The majority of the room is devoted to bare floor on which a six-square grid has been painted. A bluish dome-shaped screen is projected in the middle of square 5. You see a projector note here. >fire generator at dome A staticky hiss comes from the wave generator. What kind of waveform is that? >nw Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >ne Prototyping Room The room is practically empty except for the large prototyping machine in the center, but since that's the size of a large spacescooter, the room doesn't feel deserted. A few shelves occupy the walls but either they were bare to start with or they've been hastily cleared. The prototyper's slot contains a recordable datachip. >get chip Taken. >put generator in input Done. >sw Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >se Screen Theory Lab This room is almost entirely open, except for a row of metal cabinets along one wall, a large machine in the corner, and a small end-table next to the machine. The majority of the room is devoted to bare floor on which a six-square grid has been painted. A bluish dome-shaped screen is projected in the middle of square 5. You see a projector note and a Venusian potato here. >x dome The screen, projected in the middle of square 5, is shaped like a dome and is a bit more than a yard across and half that in height. The screen itself doesn't appear similar to anything you've seen before — unlike Max's forcefield, the screen is slightly fuzzy, as if it's vibrating almost too fast to be seen. And, as mentioned, it has a faint bluish tinge, though not enough to render it opaque. >x panel Which panel do you mean, the auxiliary control panel, or the main control panel? >auxiliary There is a large variety of buttons and switches on the auxiliary control panel, none of which are labelled with anything other than cryptic abbreviations and none of which mean anything to you except for the safety override switch (off). >x main The control panel for the screen projector seems pretty simple: there's an on/off switch (currently on), a lever with settings 1-6 (set to 5), a green button (for you to push), and a display (blank). The auxiliary control panel sticking out below, on the other hand, seems extraordinarily complex and is covered in buttons and switches. But the only one of note seems to be the safety override switch. >x display The display is currently blank. >set lever to 6 You shift the lever to 6. With a whirr like a flywheel slowing, the dome fades away and disappears. Moments later, the screen hums into existence back on the grid. The potato quietly fades out of existence. >x dome The screen, projected in the middle of square 6, is shaped like a dome and is a bit more than a yard across and half that in height. The screen itself doesn't appear similar to anything you've seen before — unlike Max's forcefield, the screen is slightly fuzzy, as if it's vibrating almost too fast to be seen. And, as mentioned, it has a faint bluish tinge, though not enough to render it opaque. >nw Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >sw Botany Lab The temperature in the room feels a few degrees warmer than the hallway to the northeast, mostly due to the heat lamp in the corner keeping some tropical specimens alive. The rest of the tables around the room are covered with other plant-related experiments, ranging from jars of seeds in solution by the west wall, to some kind of large mechanical-botanical hybrid by the east wall. Meanwhile, the whiteboards on the walls are covered with various scribbles and notations. >ne Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >nw Flight Lab The flight lab is nominally for studying flying things, but since to a Xavian this covers everything from electronics to projectile weapons to spaceships, the room appears somewhat organizationally confused to human eyes. The situation isn't helped by the fact that the room seems to have been mostly- cleared as part of the base lockdown, probably into the cabinets against the back wall. Nevertheless, it's still a mess: there are bits of wire and half- assembled mechanisms on the workbench, a long cylinder takes up much of the center of the room, and most of the free wallspace is taken up by shelving. >open hatch The cosmic ray tunnel is already open. >put microdot in hatch Done. >put chip in slot You slide the datachip into the slot. >close hatch “Sensors activated” flashes up on screen. There is a faint whirr from the tunnel. “Raystorm activated; beginning readings.” The whirr is joined by a faint scraping, as of metal sliding along metal, and numbers begin to scroll across the display. They come in waves, sliding back and forth and suddenly dropping down to the bottom of the screen. Finally the whirr dies away, and the screen blanks momentarily. “Readings complete,” it shows, and then “Downloading data . . . . done.” The chip ejects into your hand with a click. >open hatch On the tunnel's platform is a microdot. >get microdot, chip microdot: Taken. recordable datachip: You are already carrying the recordable datachip. >se Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >ne Prototyping Room The room is practically empty except for the large prototyping machine in the center, but since that's the size of a large spacescooter, the room doesn't feel deserted. A few shelves occupy the walls but either they were bare to start with or they've been hastily cleared. The input compartment contains a wave generator. >put chip in machine You slide the datachip into the slot. >put waveform in input The word “waveform” is not necessary in this story. >i You are carrying an issue of Newsbeak, 175 food pills, four granola nuts, a metal bowl, a Xavian viewmaster, a note, your image projector (disguised as a powder compact), six souvenir beak-polishers, a scrap of paper, a remote control, an account book, a large nut, a rounded brown sack, a Max Blaster action figure, your tk device (disguised as a tube of lipstick), a gold cube, and a microdot. You are wearing your rocket pants. >close input The output compartment swings shut. The prototyping machine hums, first quietly and then louder. The faint scent of hot metal wafts out from behind the compartment doors, along with stray beams of red and blue light. Then the humming stops, the lights wink out, and the compartments pop open again. In the output compartment you see a wave generator. >get wave Taken. >x it The wave generator is designed to direct a particular wave pattern at whatever it is fired at. Wave generators are often used to jam radio transmissions or interrupt other communication; they can sometimes also be used to signal by using prespecified patterns. >sw Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >se Screen Theory Lab This room is almost entirely open, except for a row of metal cabinets along one wall, a large machine in the corner, and a small end-table next to the machine. The majority of the room is devoted to bare floor on which a six-square grid has been painted. A bluish dome-shaped screen is projected in the middle of square 6. You see a projector note and a Venusian potato here. >fire wave at dome A staticky hiss comes from the wave generator. What kind of waveform is that? >[hints hints hints..] Noted. >push green (the screen projector's button) With a thunk-ker the auxiliary control panel retracts back into the main one. The potato quietly fades out of existence. >x main The control panel for the screen projector seems pretty simple: there's an on/off switch (currently on), a lever with settings 1-6 (set to 6), a green button (for you to push), and a display (blank). But the only one of note seems to be the safety override switch. >turn on main The screen projector's power switch is already on. >turn off main You flip the switch. With a whirr like a flywheel slowing, the dome fades away and disappears. >turn it on You flip the switch. There is a faint humming noise in the air, which rises to a higher pitch as the screen reappears. >x screen The screen, projected in the middle of square 6, is shaped like a dome and is a bit more than a yard across and half that in height. The screen itself doesn't appear similar to anything you've seen before — unlike Max's forcefield, the screen is slightly fuzzy, as if it's vibrating almost too fast to be seen. And, as mentioned, it has a faint bluish tinge, though not enough to render it opaque. >touch it You touch the screen, and again are forced to quickly pull your hand away. >x display The display is currently blank. >[oh, whoops:] Noted. >x main The control panel for the screen projector seems pretty simple: there's an on/off switch (currently on), a lever with settings 1-6 (set to 6), a green button (for you to push), and a display (blank). But the only one of note seems to be the safety override switch. >nw Outside the Labs Two doorways open in each of the north and south walls of the corridor, providing, by the looks of them, exits to the actual labs. The corridor itself runs west from here back to the junction, and east to a sheer wall — and then upwards along the wall, up forty feet or more to a doorway. >sw Botany Lab The temperature in the room feels a few degrees warmer than the hallway to the northeast, mostly due to the heat lamp in the corner keeping some tropical specimens alive. The rest of the tables around the room are covered with other plant-related experiments, ranging from jars of seeds in solution by the west wall, to some kind of large mechanical-botanical hybrid by the east wall. Meanwhile, the whiteboards on the walls are covered with various scribbles and notations. You see a Venusian potato here. >x tables The typical sort of tables you'd expect to see in a botany lab: slabrous and giving off the faint scent of potting soil of yore. >[yay slabrous] Noted. >search tables You see nothing on the plant tables. >look under tables You see nothing unusual under the plant tables. >x seeds The seeds come in a variety of colors — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, not to mention black and white — and have swollen fat from the liquid they soak in. Though it's hard to tell through the liquid, their shells appear a bit .. oddly formed. >get seeds There's no way you're sticking your hands into that liquid — just look at that warning label. >get jar The jars are large and unwieldy. The potato quietly fades out of existence. >x warning label You see no warning label here. >read seeds The seeds come in a variety of colors — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, not to mention black and white — and have swollen fat from the liquid they soak in. Though it's hard to tell through the liquid, their shells appear a bit .. oddly formed. >x liquid The liquid seems thick and subtly unpleasant, each jar in its own way. >l Botany Lab The temperature in the room feels a few degrees warmer than the hallway to the northeast, mostly due to the heat lamp in the corner keeping some tropical specimens alive. The rest of the tables around the room are covered with other plant-related experiments, ranging from jars of seeds in solution by the west wall, to some kind of large mechanical-botanical hybrid by the east wall. Meanwhile, the whiteboards on the walls are covered with various scribbles and notations. >x lamp The heat lamp casts a bright glow onto the various specimens of tropical plantlife on the table below. >put microdot in projector You place the microdot onto the projection surface. >turn on projector You touch the controls on the image projector. A giant projection of the microdot appears in mid-air. >x giant The writing on the microdot is easily visible in its enlarged state: it looks like it's specifications for the screen projector which surrounds the dome of the secret weapon. Unfortunately, this consists mainly of the notes for building such a thing, and not so much on how to break it. However, the further-research section does have a few useful comments: “the waveform may be vulnerable to certain ranges of sonic interference,” “...the original model's experiments proving non-line-of-sight focuses are viable, the safety override switch on the auxiliary panel [a diagram of the panel is given showing the switch] can be safely elided in future designs,” and of course “To A.G., H.F., K.B. and T.W.: hugz! And never forget: BEAKBANDS!!! Ha ha ha” >l Botany Lab The temperature in the room feels a few degrees warmer than the hallway to the northeast, mostly due to the heat lamp in the corner keeping some tropical specimens alive. The rest of the tables around the room are covered with other plant-related experiments, ranging from jars of seeds in solution by the west wall, to some kind of large mechanical-botanical hybrid by the east wall. Meanwhile, the whiteboards on the walls are covered with various scribbles and notations. A giant projection of the microdot hangs in mid-air. >turn off projector You touch the controls on the image projector. The giant projection of the microdot winks out. >x hybrid It's small for a tree, or large for a bush (the table its pot is sitting on is extra-reinforced). Even so, there's still some open soil left in its pot — how big do they expect it to grow in the near future? The main thing of note, however, are the wires and pumps running from boxes on the table and burrowing into the trunk of the tree. Whatever is going on there is tracked by a set of computer monitors built into the pot, but most of the readouts seem fairly meaningless. >x box Which box do you mean, the remote control, the tree's exoskeleton, or the Hungrybird Box-o-worms? >exoskeleton The tree seems to have grown around parts of its exoskeleton (making that name no longer entirely correct). What must be chemical pumps and electrical feeds go into and out of its bark, but whether their purpose is growth or control or direction is unclear. >x pumps The tree seems to have grown around parts of its exoskeleton (making that name no longer entirely correct). What must be chemical pumps and electrical feeds go into and out of its bark, but whether their purpose is growth or control or direction is unclear. >x feeds The tree seems to have grown around parts of its exoskeleton (making that name no longer entirely correct). What must be chemical pumps and electrical feeds go into and out of its bark, but whether their purpose is growth or control or direction is unclear. >get feeds You can't have that; it's part of the hybrid tree. >x boxes The tree seems to have grown around parts of its exoskeleton (making that name no longer entirely correct). What must be chemical pumps and electrical feeds go into and out of its bark, but whether their purpose is growth or control or direction is unclear. >x readouts The tree's pot is designed as a combination resting-place and diagnostic: it is filled with rich dark soil on the inside, and covered with readouts on the outside, tracking moisture levels, growth rates, nutrient patterns, gas emissions, magnetic fields, and virtually everything else about a plant (or machine) one could imagine. A button labelled “Download Data” is just above a small slot. >x soil The tree's pot is designed as a combination resting-place and diagnostic: it is filled with rich dark soil on the inside, and covered with readouts on the outside, tracking moisture levels, growth rates, nutrient patterns, gas emissions, magnetic fields, and virtually everything else about a plant (or machine) one could imagine. A button labelled “Download Data” is just above a small slot. >get soil Even a small tree is really too heavy to move. >l Botany Lab The temperature in the room feels a few degrees warmer than the hallway to the northeast, mostly due to the heat lamp in the corner keeping some tropical specimens alive. The rest of the tables around the room are covered with other plant-related experiments, ranging from jars of seeds in solution by the west wall, to some kind of large mechanical-botanical hybrid by the east wall. Meanwhile, the whiteboards on the walls are covered with various scribbles and notations. >x hybrid It's small for a tree, or large for a bush (the table its pot is sitting on is extra-reinforced). Even so, there's still some open soil left in its pot — how big do they expect it to grow in the near future? The main thing of note, however, are the wires and pumps running from boxes on the table and burrowing into the trunk of the tree. Whatever is going on there is tracked by a set of computer monitors built into the pot, but most of the readouts seem fairly meaningless. >x east wall You see nothing unusual about it. >x soil The tree's pot is designed as a combination resting-place and diagnostic: it is filled with rich dark soil on the inside, and covered with readouts on the outside, tracking moisture levels, growth rates, nutrient patterns, gas emissions, magnetic fields, and virtually everything else about a plant (or machine) one could imagine. A button labelled “Download Data” is just above a small slot. >push button (the download data button) An error flashes briefly on one of the pot's readouts: “No datachip detected in slot.” >save Saved. >q Do you really want to quit? (Y is affirmative) > y Thanks for playing!