Slouching Towards Bedlam — 36 of 76

Section 2(a) - James

James is a man in the Lobby. "[if the Lobby is unvisited]Behind the most prominent desk sits a nervous young man.[otherwise]James sits behind his desk, nervously working." The description of James is "He's easily no more then twenty, with an unruly mop of black hair that continually gets in his eyes. The badge, set high near his collar, reads 'James Houlihan - Assistant - Bethlehem Hospital.'" The analysis of James is "CAT:LIVING.HUMAN[line break]MALE.UTIL:COMMUN[line break]ICATION.POSSIBLE[line break]BY.SPEECH.OR.WRI[line break]TTEN.WORD.PART:I[line break]D=JAMES.HOULIHAN[line break]POSITION.ASSISTA[line break]NT.AT.BETHLEHEM.". Understand "Houlihan" or "Assistant" or "young" or "man" as James. Understand "corpse", "blood" as James when James is dead.

Every turn:

if James is visible and James is alive:

if a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds:

say "[one of]James carefully fills out a set of forms, then files them.[or]James stares out into space for a long moment.[or]James bites his lower lip as he stamps out a set of forms.[or]James searches under his desk a moment for a lost pen.[or]James stands and stretches his legs for a moment before resuming his seat.[or]James shudders suddenly, then looks at you sheepishly.[or]James taps his fingers nervously.[or]James looks at you curiously, as if searching for something in your eyes.[or]James sighs.[at random]"

Instead of attacking James:

now James is dead;

now the description of James is "The corpse of James Houlihan according to his badge - late assistant at Bethlehem Hospital. The handle of an ivory paper knife protrudes from his sternum. Blood slowly leaks from the wound, pools about his slack limbs and across the floor.";

now the printed name of James is "James['] corpse";

now the initial appearance of James is "James['] corpse is here.";

move the ivory paper knife to James;

say "James collapses to the floor, staring with shock and surprise. But it is when he sees the ivory paper knife lifted from under a stack of papers on his desk that true panic sets in.[paragraph break]He scrambles backwards, desperate to get to his feet. Unable to find purchase on the tile floor, he only manages to flounder about like a drunken crab. He tries to scream for help but his voice fails him, squeaking out in only a whisper.[paragraph break]Assistance does not come.[paragraph break]He has scrambled himself into a corner. The look of resigned fear in his eyes in terrible. 'May God forgive you,' he whispers as he closes them.[paragraph break]Blood, deep and red, bubbles from him and spoils the hygienic floor.[paragraph break]";

spur on the Logos;

The ivory paper knife is a thing. The description of the knife is "A finely made knife with a handle carved in the shape of a caduceus. Normally used to open letters and separate book pages, it is currently embedded in James' chest." Instead of taking or pushing or pulling the knife, say "The knife is imbedded too far."