> Whoops, computer rebooted mid-game, so starting over... Sorry. That isn't recognised. If you're stuck for general commands, type COMMANDS. > east You start to leave the parking lot but the kid, a hellion if ever there was one, grabs your hand and tugs on it hard enough to almost pull you off your feet. For a little blighter, he/she is sure a lot stronger than he/she looks. > x kid It's a boy. You frown. Or a girl. Jeez, you've never been good at this sort of thing. Little kids - those under the age of about five years - all look the same to you anyway. It's a kid. Let's just leave it at that. He or she is dressed in shorts, a blue top (blue for a boy? Or just the first thing his or her mother grabbed for him or her this morning?) and a cap. The cap looks kind of boyish but you're still not sure. And he/she is filthy. Really, really filthy. You're sure you weren't an angel yourself at that age (despite what you tell everyone), but you never managed to get that filthy, did you? Surely not. Your mother would never have let you out of the house in that state. > talk to boy The kid just wails. And wails. And wails. You're not going to get any sense out of him/her while he/she is in this state. > wear Sorry. That isn't recognised. If you're stuck for general commands, type COMMANDS. > west You start towards the burning building, the kid running alongside you then falling behind. Thank heavens for that! The last thing you felt like doing was dragging a wailing kid into a burning building- Actually, the last thing you feel like doing is going into a burning building full stop, but you're resigned to it now. You're determined, cool, calm and confident - and, above all, terrified. Well done, Suzy Loman. You're about to become a hero after all. Ignoring your shaking legs, you open the door to the building and hurry inside...[MORE] SSS Ground Floor SSS [Turns: 4] [Locations visited: 1/5]The fire hasn't got down to this part of the building yet (you're guessing it must have started at the top), but it's still fiercely hot and the smoke is so bad you feel like you're damaging your lungs permanently just by being here. This part of the building looks to be some kind of reception area judging from the desk and whatnot, but the smoke is making it hard to see. A staircase against the north wall leads up to the first floor of the building; next to it yawns the mouth of an open elevator. EXITS: East, Up. With a clang!!! the door swings shut. Ouch! Don't they oil the hinges in this place? Anyway, the reception area appears to be deserted. Is the building closed? Has everyone already abandoned ship? Either way, the only one here is you (and you're really wishing you weren't here). > look SSS Ground Floor SSS [Turns: 5] [Locations visited: 2/5]The fire hasn't got down to this part of the building yet (you're guessing it must have started at the top), but it's still fiercely hot and the smoke is so bad you feel like you're damaging your lungs permanently just by being here. This part of the building looks to be some kind of reception area judging from the desk and whatnot, but the smoke is making it hard to see. A staircase against the north wall leads up to the first floor of the building; next to it yawns the mouth of an open elevator. EXITS: East, Up. > get all There is nothing worth taking here. > x area SSS Ground Floor SSS [Turns: 7] [Locations visited: 2/5]The fire hasn't got down to this part of the building yet (you're guessing it must have started at the top), but it's still fiercely hot and the smoke is so bad you feel like you're damaging your lungs permanently just by being here. This part of the building looks to be some kind of reception area judging from the desk and whatnot, but the smoke is making it hard to see. A staircase against the north wall leads up to the first floor of the building; next to it yawns the mouth of an open elevator. EXITS: East, Up. > x desk A receptionist's desk, complete with computer (currently off), telephone, a very uncomfortable looking chair and a cluttered mess of files. Attached to the wall behind it is a small fire extinguisher. > get fire You can't take the fire! > get fire extinguisher You take it from behind the desk.[Your score has just increased by 1 point.] > search desk A receptionist's desk, complete with computer (currently off), telephone, a very uncomfortable looking chair and a cluttered mess of files. > get files You consider taking them with you but wonder what the point would be. After all, it's not like you know any of these people. And, um, the building is on fire. > get chair You take the chair from behind the receptionist's desk. > up SSS First Floor SSS [Score: 1/22] [Turns: 14] [Locations visited: 2/5]The far end of this floor (some kind of large, open storage room by the look of things) is burning fiercely. Smoke and fire fight it out, unimpeded by the dismal spray of water coming from the overhead sprinklers. To one side, several boxes and sheets of papers are aflame. The stairs to the next floor look to be at the far end and you'll need to pass through the flames to reach them.EXITS: North, Down. No one here? From the general look of disuse, you're guessing no one has worked in this place for quite some time. Maybe years. Which begs the question: why is the kid's mother in here? > throw extinguisher You lift the extinguisher above your head, hope you're not making a really big mistake, and then throw it at the fire. It disappears into the flames and for a second or two nothing seems to happen. Then-BOOM!!! The extinguisher explodes, shooting foam all over the place! The fire all around it is temporarily put out and you take the opportunity to quickly rush past it and to the next floor of the building, only realising as you get there that the foam isn't going to keep the fire at bay for long and you've probably now no way of getting back down.[Your score has just increased by 2 points.][MORE] SSS Second Floor SSS [Score: 3/22] [Turns: 15] [Locations visited: 3/5]The flames aren't as fierce on this floor as they were on the one below, but the entire west wall is still alight and the heat is enough to make you feel faint. A locked window nearby does little to help air the place out. Several desks comprise the main area of this floor and there are a row of filing cabinets lining the end of the room to the north. You don't see any sign of the woman who was screaming but she must be here somewhere. There are no other floors after this.EXITS: North, south. Even before you reached this floor, you could hear the screams. And the crashes… Is there a fight going on up here? But why would anyone be fighting in a burning building? The screams, and the crashing sounds, seem to be coming from the far end of the room, behind a group of filing cabinets. And then, between one moment and the next, they're gone. Deadly silence - aside from the fire - descends on the second floor. > n As you head to the north, there is a sudden flash of light, a cry of pain, and then a crash heay enough to shake the entire building.[MORE] SSS By The Filing Cabinets SSS [Score: 3/22] [Turns: 16] [Locations visited: 4/5]The fire (or maybe something more sinister) has caused the roof of the building to collapse and a huge beam has fallen, pinning to the floor… someone very strange indeed. For a start she's blue in colour. Not bright blue, but certainly like nothing you've ever seen before, and her eyes glow with some kind of inner light. And she's wearing glistening silver body armour with ragged tears in the side and burn marks down the front. The carpet about her is wet with a substance that, while green, you would bet your bottom dollar was blood. The air is smoky here, though the fire has yet (fortunately) to spread this far.EXITS: South. A weapon - you once saw an historical film set in Atlantis so you recognise it as a trident - lies on the floor by the woman and crackles with electrical power, charring the carpet around it. the woman is here. "…help me…" gasps the woman, coughing up green blood (green?). "…free me…" You hesitate. You didn't expect this at all. You expected the kid's mom, probably some stressed middle-aged woman with a permanently harassed look on her face who would carry an endless supply of tissues and sweeties for her darling son or daughter. She's probably also considering lying in a burning building pinned to the floor by a beam as a peaceful respite from the little brat. You didn't expect… this. "What are you?" you ask, then wince a little at your rudeness and manage to change it to "Who are-" "…no time…" the woman says. She gasps and a pendant at her throat, previously shining with a bright yellow light, begins to dim. "…i see my messenger found you… good..." "Messenger?" A sudden sharp pain, like an ice pick, strikes you in the head and you see the kid, then you see his/her features shifting and changing, becoming taller, older… bluer. "…my messenger… found you… brought you to me…" The woman looks at you. "… now free me… there's no time to explain now… but later…" You start to ask "free you how?" but the pendant dims further, becoming a dull brown in colour, and the woman's head sags to one side. She's either unconscious or just doing a really good impression of somebody who's unconscious. Considering she's in a burning building and pinned to the floor, you're betting the former.[footnote 1] > footnote Sorry, this footnote doesn't exist. > footnote 1 Footnote 1Yes, it is kind of strange that she's blue, looks familiar but you can't quite place her. It's not like you really know a lot of blue women after all. Maybe it's just the stress of the situation getting to you. > x woman You've certainly never seen anyone quite like her before. Her skin is blue. Not bright blue, but definitely blue all the same and you doubt it's some rare skin condition either. She's dressed in a silver top, silver shorts and silver boots. Kind of stylish. She's also real pretty. And… and she looks kind of familiar from somewhere but you can't quite place her on the spur of the moment. There's a pendant around her neck, previously a yellow colour but now a murky brown. A beam of wood, perhaps eight feet long, has her pinned to the floor. > get pendant The woman groans in distress as you try to take the pendant. First save her life, then petty theft, you decide. > lift beam You put both hands on the beam and try to lift it off the woman. Not surprisingly you fail. C'mon, Suzy. You're five one, a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet and you get to the gym perhaps once every three months (and even then you spend most of the time in the cafeteria eating donuts) - did you really thing you were going to be able to lift an eight foot beam on your own? > touch pendant Sorry. That isn't recognised. If you're stuck for general commands, type COMMANDS. > look SSS By The Filing Cabinets SSS [Score: 3/22] [Turns: 21] [Locations visited: 5/5]The fire (or maybe something more sinister) has caused the roof of the building to collapse and a huge beam has fallen, pinning to the floor… someone very strange indeed. For a start she's blue in colour. Not bright blue, but certainly like nothing you've ever seen before, and her eyes glow with some kind of inner light. And she's wearing glistening silver body armour with ragged tears in the side and burn marks down the front. The carpet about her is wet with a substance that, while green, you would bet your bottom dollar was blood. The air is smoky here, though the fire has yet (fortunately) to spread this far.EXITS: South. A weapon - you once saw an historical film set in Atlantis so you recognise it as a trident - lies on the floor by the woman and crackles with electrical power, charring the carpet around it. the woman is here. > get trident You stretch your hand out for it, expecting to receive a nasty jolt of electricity the moment you touch it… but your hand closes around the shaft of the trident and aside from a tingling sensation, like pins and needles, you take it without trouble.[Your score has just increased by 1 point.] > lift beam You place one end of the trident under the beam and say to the woman, "I don't know if you can hear me or not but I'm going to try and lever this off you. Crawl out when it's up, okay?" The woman doesn't respond on account of being unconscious but you decide to go ahead anyway. What with the flames beginning to get awful close, you don't have a whole lot of time to come up with another plan. You start putting pressure on the trident, as much pressure as you can. This isn't a lot. While you're hardly skinny (you eat way too many donuts and chocolate to ever be considered skinny), you're not especially large either. Or heavy. Or strong. You're just over five feet tall and, as your dad is fond of saying, look like a strong gust of wind would blow you away. It'd be a fair assessment to say you're not exactly the ideal person to be levering a heavy beam off a trapped woman, but unfortunately you're here and no super strong weight lifters are lurking just around the corner, so it's got to be you. You throw your weight (such as it is) against the trident, hoping you can shift the beam to one side enough to allow the woman the opportunity to crawl free. At first the trident makes a creaking sound, making you worry it's going to snap in two, but then it crackles with electricity, flares painfully hot for a brief moment, there is a sudden smell of charred wood… and the beam throws itself to one side! And with enough force to put a sizeable dent in the wall as well! The woman's eyes fly open as the weight is lifted off her and she gives a cry, sucking in several deep breaths. Now the beam is out of the way, you can see more of her and what you see doesn't look positive. She's got green blood (yes, green) splattered all over her front and legs and there's a gash about two inches deep in her side from which more blood is oozing. Or gushing actually. You're no doctor but even you can tell this isn't someone who's going to be walking out of the building in one piece. She looks at you as if seeing you for the first time. Her mouth opens and closes a few times, but no words come out. Her eyes are strange, too narrow to be human and, also, glowing ever so slightly. "…thank you…" "We have to get out of here," you say, noticing it has got a lot hotter in the last few moments. "The fire-" "…too late for me…" The woman coughs, blood dripping from her mouth and onto the floor. Her eyes briefly lose focus then lock onto yours with force. "…but you... you can get out of here... you can..." She smiles softly. "Avenge me..." "Huh?" She extends a shaking, bluish hand towards you. "…give me your… your hand…" You take her hand, ready to help her to her feet, but instead she pulls you towards her - with surprising strength for someone so close to Death's Door she could practically reach out and knock on it. You stumble and fall to your knees, almost landing on top of her. Before you have chance to ask what the heck she's doing, before you even have chance to think about what she's doing, she seizes hold of your face with one hand, whispers a word, and a blinding light shoots from her eyes. Into your eyes. "What I am, now you are," she hisses. "Find him, Suzy. Find him and KILL HIM!" The light blocks out everything else you can see - the woman, the fire, everything - and you feel yourself falling, falling, falling…[Your score has just increased by 5 points.][MORE] If you're reading this: well done! You've successfully reached the end of How Suzy Got Her Powers… You achieved this with a score of 9 out of a maximum possible of 22. Got less than 22? No need to worry. The main thing is that you reached the end of the game and you're now well on your way to becoming a fully fledged superhero. Give yourself a well-deserved clap on the back and break out the champagne. Whether you realise it or not, the world needs you.If you want to play the game again, type RESTART. > exit Sorry. That isn't recognised. If you're stuck for general commands, type COMMANDS. > quit