THE BEGINNING OF THE END

(Part 3 of "THE ZIKOV TRILOGY")



(Zenobi Software)



Spectrum 48K/128K+2





The Story So Far ... The teacher, Miss Earwig,

was busy filing her toenails when Mr.Snooper

walked in and glared at her. "Don't look at me

in that tone of voice," she chided. Then he

growled, "If I was you I would be careful what

I did. you are a sticky wicket as it is!"

This came as a surprise to the class ... after all,

they never ever suspected her of cheating at such

a gentleman's game as cricket ... especially not

by glueing the bails on to the stumps! In fact they

bad not even realised that she was into the game,

they always suspected that croquet was more her

bent!



So as FRED (hero of the last two ZIKOV escapades

and all-round good guy) sat in his French class

puzzling over the difference between "Bonjour" and

"Au Revoir", he felt a strange glow surround ... as

if he were the centre of the Universe and all known

power had been bestowed upon him (a teacher to

those who know the profession). This feeling grew

and grew and with it his intelligence grew also.

French was no longer a confusing subject and the

mysteries of the world were his to know. But, with

these feelings of grandeur, came a sense of fear

and insecurity. As if something beyond his deepest

understanding was about to take place - and it was

not yesterday's maths homework!



The world around FRED began to spin and he saw a place he had never seen before, a place

he had never been to - NIRVANA. He suddenly knew things be should never have known, why

he was here in the first place and even why he knew so much in the first place ......



All this had been brought about by an evil and voracious character called BASIL HODGKINS,

who on having a conversation with his wife, Matilda, said "There are contractions in my

head. " To which she replied, "You must be having your brainchild." This in turn led him

to finding his way to the centre of the Earth where the THE MACHINE OF TOTAL UNIVERSAL

CONTROL, built by the Incas after they had mis-aligned the space-tine continuum, sustains

sanity on the planet. Basil had trapped the guardian of the machine and through time had

learnt to dismantle it. The machine, acting by instinct, sent a beacon of power and hope

to the surface of the planet in an attempt to contact somebody capable of coming to its

aid. Unlucky for it, the beam had touched FRED .... not the wisest choice by a long way.



Assist FRED to locate the parts of the machine ... scattered through time, space and the

length and breadth of Tooting. Then return these parts to the centre of the Earth's core

before releasing the guardian and allowing it to rebuild the machine and thereby return

the sanity of the world. It will be necessary to collect FOUR components, which together

will stop Basil's plans.





NOTES



It is necessary, and vital, that you collect "something" which will protect the components

when they are in the Disrupter-Areas, as they are highly unstable in these places. Each

"AREA" has a green zone ... this has nothing to do with the environment but will shield

the components in question. You have been warned, so seek them out and use them wisely!



The game contains a list of all usable commands, so type VOCAB to access it and INFO to

reveal any other information that the author may have seen fit to divulge ... not much!