Not so much an arcade adventure, more a way of destroying your social life. Set inside an alien artifact this test of your powers of logic and deduction requires you to become immortal, switch universes and solve the most fiendish problems ever to keep you up nights! It is challenging and addictive. Start it at your peril. Stopping might not be so easy! JOYSTICK OR KEYBOARD WRITTEN BY STEVE ELWARD --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE GAME | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAY 18th 3159 : SYNOPSIS REPORT 1 Station D is located on Ganymede, sector five, and is normally an observation platform for the scientific teams studying gravity tides on Jupiter. However, five days ago a strange occurrence took place there which turned this isolated academic haven into the centre of the civilised universe. At approx 12:35 am EST (earth standard time) a 200 ft diameter sphere materialised over the station, demolishing the antenna arrays in the process. A technician who was servicing them at the time has vanished, presumed dead. The sphere, now referred to as the artifact does not register on gravity detectors or radar systems of any kind. It has apparently zero mass, although high frequency scans have plotted an internal structure of vast complexity with what appears to be functioning machinery of some kind. Energy is being generated within the artifact in enormous amounts and it would seem that, although this is unproven, anti-matter is present in significant quantities somewhere within its bulk. The effect of the anti-matter is to cancel the otherwise large mass of the artifact, relative to our normal space-time framework. It is uncertain what dimensional distortions are being caused by the presence of the object. Taking aside the question of how the thing came to be here, there remains the paradox of how it continues to exist even for an instant, since it goes against most, if not all, of the accepted ground rules for stability in our universe. The only acceptable explanation which fits our present knowledge is that the artifact does not exit in our space at all, but in some closely related parallel universe which allows it to interact in some way as yet undefined. MAY 29th 3159 : SYNOPSIS REPORT II Following all-band surveillance of the artifact it has been discovered that the missing technician, Elward, is actually alive somewhere within the interior. It further appears he is being set a number of intelligence tests, which if successfully completed will allow him to return to the surface of Ganymede. The artifact is not, apparently, in our universe other than as a port of some kind which we cannot fully comprehend. The most immediate concern is that before the communication ceased, Elward informed the base that if he fails the test, the port will be closed and contact with artifacts creators refused. The closing of the port will produce a side effect in our universe - a black hole. The withdrawal of the energy field supporting the artifact causes matter in the vicinity to implode in a manner which is self supporting. Fuelled by the mass of Ganymede the black hole would become large enough, it is calculated, to begin to destroy Jupiter itself. The effect on our solar system is thus terminal. The hard radiation given off during the destruction of Ganymede will be sufficient in itself to sterilise habitable worlds in the vicinity and it is thus perhaps irrelevant that from there events will run a course ending with the entire system being drawn in and destroyed. As we are unable to communicate any further with either Elward or the artifact we cannot know whether the creators are aware of the potential damage their experiment will cause. It seems likely, given their level of achievement, that such penalty for failure is a designed-in feature, rather than an unforeseen consequence. We must therefore hope Elward succeeds. It appears we can do nothing else. We have no influence on events and no way to judge progress. Either Elward comes out at some time in the near future, or we face racial extinction. In either cases we will have very little warning. For this reason it has been decided to keep the matter strictly confidential until successfully resolved. No publicity upon threat of termination. REPORT ENDS SYNOPSIS REPORT II : FROM THE ARTIFACT TO TECHNICIAN ELWARD Your task is to escape the confinement you are now under and to arrange for the safe closure of the portal represented by this artifact. In order to survive the operation you will require to have undergone immortality treatment. This is available to you within the artifact. You must find it and use it correctly. The portal will be sealed by the combination of matter and anti-matter under the correct conditions. To return to your own reality you have to reverse the polarity of the space you now occupy. Only if both conditions are satisfied will the task be deemed completed. Take careful note of the following points:- i) Although anti-matter is used to sustain this machinery it is not in a form you can utilise. You will have to create your own, by exposing cloning cells of a particular type to the cosmic available here. This is the first part of the test. Combine the correct gases with silicon and find a way to nurse the resulting cells into a condition where they can be of use in the creation of the anti-matter you need. ii) The second part of your test is to acquire the necessary immortality. This can only be found in one section of the artifact, reached in a particularly unconventional manner. Discover it for yourself. Once you have used it combine it with the anti-matter to signal your completion of this part of the test. iii) The third and final part of your task is to bring together, in the correct polarity space, the matter and anti-matter elements. These will only successfully combine in one location and if the appropriate pre-conditions are satisfied. In addition, there are many minor obstacles and problems you must overcome to achieve your goal. Everything you are faced with can be solved, instability can be corrected. Machinery can be activated, or deactivated as appropriate. We have provided an information retrieval system for your use. Find it and assemble it if you wish. It will be your only source of data. Refuelling points have also been set up to allow you to replace energy lost by failure to avoid traps or rapid motion. If your energy level falls to zero you will be automatically refuelled. However, you have only five such lives. After that you will be allowed to die. AND YOUR RACE WITH YOU SYNPOSIS REPORT IV : FROM US TO YOU This game is not meant to be easy to solve. Saving the human race should be a serious challenge, after all! Playing the game is simple however. All keyboard controls are user-definable and a joystick may be used. When redefined on screen, some keys you choose will give odd looking symbols in the boxes. This is because not all produce printable characters. The key will function perfectly, however when called upon. The music can be switched on or off, in the start screen only, by pressing "M". At the top of the screen are several indicators to keep you informed of the game status. The fuel gauge is self explanatory, and above that is the key to which space you are currently in, parallel or ours! Getting this to change is a major part of the game. To the right of that are displayed a series of messages, usually what you are presently carrying. To collect items from the storage boxes in the artifact, simply fly up under them and press the "GET/DROP" key. You can only carry one item at a time and if you try to take a second it will be exchanged with the first. And that is really all you need to know to save the human race! GOOD LUCK LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Press CTRL and the smaller ENTER key, together ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The program code, graphic representation and artwork are the copyright of Mastertronic and may not be reproduced, stored, hired or broadcast in any form whatsoever without the written permission of Mastertronic. All rights reserved. © Mastertronic Limited 1986 Made in Great Britain Design: Words & Pictures Ltd., London