You were at work yesterday, and someone in the computer department handed you a box. "It's a new user-friendly interface," he says. "Supposed to be the latest thing, has this Scriff Inside label on it. See what you can make of it, and bring it back when you know something. The state is donating a bunch of these for our students in the handicapped classes."
It hooks up easily enough to your computer once you get it home and out of the box, and it is easy to operate and very quick on the response. After you've played with it a bit, though, you knock over your coffee, which spills into the gadget. You get an unexpected shock, and black out.
You are now awakening. There is the sound of echoey voices from somewhere, as if perhaps from a hall outside a room. It is cool, but not cold; the surface beneath you is smooth, more like a rubber wrestling mat than anything else you can imagine, but not as grabby as rubber. Your eyes are still closed, and you are lying on your back. What do you wish to do?
--M. J. Young
