You are standing alone in a dimly lit chamber. The air tastes of dust and solder. No herald or mentor awaits you here, only the echo of your own heartbeat.

Obvious exits: NORTH to the workbench, EAST to the scrap pile.

NORTH

A battered workbench stretches before you. Scattered across its surface lie torn denim, safety pins, and a coil of copper wire. A half‑dead LED strip flickers weakly under the bench lamp.

You sense that no cavalry will arrive. Your only tools are what you salvage.

  • PATCH the denim with safety pins.
  • SNIP copper wire from the coil.
  • SOLDER an LED into the hem of your jacket, breathing light into the gloom.

Obvious exits: SOUTH (back to the chamber), EAST (to the forge).

EAST

A small forge stands cold and silent, its bellows long since emptied. Beside it lies a heap of “NO” and “NOT YET,” shards of rejected ideas.

FORGE KEY

You hammer the shards together until they fit a hidden lock in your mind. The key turns with a click only you can hear.

Obvious exits: WEST (back to workbench), UP (to the console).

UP

A dusty terminal console flickers:

> _

No system will save you; you must rebuild line by line.

TYPE your own code…

And so you become your own hero.