> 1

After university it should have been easy. A suitable vacant job should just have appeared. But no, instead there was rejection after rejection, without even wanting an interview. If only the university had given out higher grades then maybe it would have been easier. Finally after months of sitting around, an interview was offered. The interviewer was on first appearance a kind, old woman. The early questions were easy to answer. However, the good luck could not last.

The interviewer asked
Now, I want to know more about how you would cope at this company. We need people who show initiative, can work in teams, solve problems and handle conflict. Your answers so far have not been as informative as I would like in these areas. I want to hear an example where you have shown these qualities in practice. If you can't come up with one, it will not help your prospects.

(Press a key)


Um, what to talk about?

Academic group work? Let everyone else do all the work.
University clubs? Never joined any.
Sporting teams? Do not like sport.
Any extracurricular activities at all? No.

This leaves nothing.

Lying is an option, but it would have to be convincing, which is probably too hard.

Wait, something better is coming to mind. It is not very good but it will have to do…

(Press a key)
I think I have come up with an example. It covers all the required elements but don't expect a standard response. I have instead chosen to demonstrate how my daily life proves these qualities. The example I will give you starts last Saturday afternoon when I was at my apartment, which I share with three friends.

INITIATIVE is taking the first step. I showed initiative by coming up with a plan of action for all of us. This plan was that we should play the newly purchased multi-player computer game, Frustrated Looters. After setting up the computers the only task left was to convince my friends to play. More initiative was needed to achieve this.

From what I have heard so far, I'm not sure that this is what I was expecting when I asked the question. However, I will give you a chance to convince me.

Thank you. I am ready to start.
This room was designated as the computer room, so our network gaming experience could be enhanced by being close enough to yell at each other. Of course, we only yelled for encouragement, not to proclaim our dominance. The four computers in the room were situated on the tables, in between a tangle of interconnecting wires. The main room was to the northwest.

> nw
I moved to the main room.
This room was the centre of the apartment, linking together all of the other rooms, which could be seen in every direction. The exit to the apartment was to the south. The main room was used for one main purpose, which was watching television. In a centralised rectangle, the television sat on a stand in front of a sofa.

Daniel was here.

As I entered the room, I could see from the way Daniel was sitting on the sofa that he had become entranced by the television. Once he started watching, he could be difficult to separate from the TV.

So your friend did not want to play the computer? Initiative is not much use, unless it actually leads to something that people want.

But he did want it. He just needed me to provide some motivation to get him out of the room. I suppose that this is a situation of mild conflict, but I have a better example later on.

> sw
I moved to the bathroom.
This was an ordinary bathroom. I could see a toilet, sink, cabinet and shower, which is what you would normally expect in there. I'm not sure you need any more detail than that for this interview. The main room was to the northeast.

> open cabinet
When I searched through the cabinet, to my surprise I found two pieces of chocolate along with all of the other normal items. I closed the cabinet when I was finished.

> ne
I moved to the main room.
This room was the centre of the apartment, linking together all of the other rooms, which could be seen in every direction. The exit to the apartment was to the south. The main room was used for one main purpose, which was watching television. In a centralised rectangle, the television sat on a stand in front of a sofa.

Daniel was here.

> w
I moved to my bedroom.
To put it nicely, my bedroom was a little messy on that day. Ok, it was very messy. It wasn't normally that way, but I had been, um, sorting out my wardrobe. That is why there were clothes scattered everywhere. Not because I had not gotten around to washing them. The main room was to the east.

I hope I do not get too penalised, as I am just trying to be honest here. You would not want to employ someone who was dishonest.

Maybe if your initiative had included cleaning your room, I would be a little more happy.

Well, you will just have to wait, as I have not finished my story yet.

> clean room
I finally decided that it was time for me to clean my room. I firstly cleared the desk of papers, by carefully filing them in their relevant section within the drawer of the desk. I then sorted the clothes on the floor, either putting them in the cupboard in a pile for washing or hanging them back up. With the room empty, I carefully cleaned until it was spotless. During this whole cleaning process I located a previously missing comic book and several pieces of chocolate.

> e
I moved to the main room.
This room was the centre of the apartment, linking together all of the other rooms, which could be seen in every direction. The exit to the apartment was to the south. The main room was used for one main purpose, which was watching television. In a centralised rectangle, the television sat on a stand in front of a sofa.

Daniel was here.

> give comic book to daniel
I decided that I should hand back the long-missing comic book to Daniel. As soon as he caught a glimpse of it, he quickly grabbed it from my hands, and held it carefully. Daniel looked relieved, and began to page through the comic to check whether it was all right. As he did so, he absently placed the remote control next to himself on the sofa.

> get remote control
I picked up the remote control.

> change channel
Now that I had the remote control, I changed the channel to something I actually wanted to watch. There was an interesting professional wrestling match on one channel. The match between the Monster and the Masked Youngster was tightly balanced. With screaming from excited announcers instead of cartoon sounds, Daniel looked up and immediately complained. "Why are we watching this rubbish. I want both the cartoon and remote control given back to me immediately."

Of course, I refused. Daniel looked annoyed, and tried to take the remote from me. After he failed at this, Daniel finally gave in and told me, "Oh, all right. I will do what you want and play your computer game. It has to be better than watching this, and I suppose you did finally give back my comic book."

Daniel then left for the computer room.

> nw
I moved to Michael's bedroom.
My bedroom may at times be a little messy, but Michael's bedroom was always an absolute disgrace. It was difficult to walk in here without tripping over anything. I could tell by the dirt that this room had not been cleaned for way too long. Within the mess and almost hidden were a desk, bed, wardrobe and nightstand. The main room was to the southeast.

Michael was here.

Michael was lying fast asleep in his bed. He must have been up late again last night. This made it a little more difficult than I had expected. Normally he would be very willing to play my game, but this time, I had to wake him up, which was never easy.

> shake michael
I shook Michael, trying to wake him up. My aggressive tactics led Michael to decide to finally wake up fully. When he was sufficiently awake to recognise my presence, Michael grumpily asked, "Now what do you want?"

> talk to michael
I explained to Michael that I needed another player in my game. Michael grumbled but eventually agreed. He stumbled out of bed, heading towards the computer room.

> l
My bedroom may at times be a little messy, but Michael's bedroom was always an absolute disgrace. It was difficult to walk in here without tripping over anything. I could tell by the dirt that this room had not been cleaned for way too long. Within the mess and almost hidden were a desk, bed, wardrobe and nightstand. The main room was to the southeast.

> se
I moved to the main room.
This room was the centre of the apartment, linking together all of the other rooms, which could be seen in every direction. The exit to the apartment was to the south. The main room was used for one main purpose, which was watching television. In a centralised rectangle, the television sat on a stand in front of a sofa.

> n
I moved to the kitchen.
Our kitchen on the surface was fairly conventional. On the east side there was a fridge, sitting next to a counter. A sink and microwave were on the counter, with cabinets underneath. A stove was at the end. On the west side was a table and chairs. The problem with this kitchen was that despite all the cooking implements, there was not much food. Unfortunately we did not have enough money to fully stock the kitchen. The main room was to the south.

> open cabinets
When I looked inside the cabinet I found a couple of pieces of chocolate. I also took out a glass, as I was feeling thirsty. I closed the cabinet when I was finished.

> s
I moved to the main room.
This room was the centre of the apartment, linking together all of the other rooms, which could be seen in every direction. The exit to the apartment was to the south. The main room was used for one main purpose, which was watching television. In a centralised rectangle, the television sat on a stand in front of a sofa.

> e
I moved to Jim's bedroom.
Jim was the quietest person in the apartment, and this room was his refuge from the rest of us. The bookcase on one wall held enough books to keep anyone occupied for a long while. The comfortable chair next to it provided an ideal location to sit down. A bed, desk and wardrobe were also situated around the room. The main room was to the west.

Jim was here.

On entering I noticed that as expected Jim was sitting in the chair and reading a book. It is always difficult to persuade him to move his overweight body from there.

> give chocolates to jim
After I showed Jim the chocolate, he finally put down his book and told me, "Ok, if you want me to play your game that much, then I will, but not for too long."

Jim quickly grabbed the chocolates and ate them all. He then wandered over to the computer room.

So you basically bribed Jim in order to get your way?

I feel it was a persuasive argument, not bribery.

> w
I moved to the main room.
This room was the centre of the apartment, linking together all of the other rooms, which could be seen in every direction. The exit to the apartment was to the south. The main room was used for one main purpose, which was watching television. In a centralised rectangle, the television sat on a stand in front of a sofa.

> se
With everyone in the computer room, it was time to start. We all sat down in front of our respective computers and loaded up the game….

(Press a key)
I have discussed how I used my initiative to get us started in playing Frustrated Looters. Now it is time to discuss our teamwork. TEAMWORK is when a group of people work together towards a common goal.

You have not shown much teamwork so far. In fact everyone seemed to want to do something completely different, until you coerced them into following your plan instead. I hope it improves.

The previous problems were just a few starting out issues. We knew how to work together, and we had to, if we wanted to progress in the game. Each of the characters in the game had different abilities that were important.

(Press a key)

The four characters were:
Me = Warriyar the Warrior
Jim = Fit the Fighter
Daniel = Source the Sorcerer
Michael = Tife the Thief

We were not much better than novice adventurers, with very limited capabilities. So, we started an easy quest for the mystical Forgotten Jewel. The quest started outside a town where we had been healed and outfitted.
A sturdy gate blocked the entrance to the town in the north. Apparently we were not allowed to go back until we had finished the quest. A guard standing in front of the gate added to the blocked off effect. To the south was a dark, foreboding forest. No nice, friendly woods in computer games.

Fit the Fighter, Source the Sorcerer and Tife the Thief were here.

> s
The forest soon turned into a maze, and we headed in random compass directions until we hit a significant looking location.
The most noticeable feature of this clearing was a tall tree. It was in fact an extremely tall tree, probably the tallest in the forest. As the tree was a distinctive landmark, I guessed that this was the centre of the forest. The northern path led back to the town. There were also three other paths to the southeast, south and southwest.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> tife climb tree
Tife climbed up the tree until he could see the layout of the forest from above. He then came back down, and described for us that the exit was through the southeast path.

> se
We followed the path and exited the forest. Unfortunately, we walked through a patch of poisonous weeds, and all suffered some damage.
It is obvious that consistency was not a feature of this game's geography. The forest, which could be re-entered to the northwest, was for some reason next to a desert. The boring, dusty wasteland was easier to navigate than the forest maze, but unfortunately was very repetitive. A mountain range could be seen to the south, but it was still a long way off. We had stopped at the only distinctive landmark between the forest and the mountains, which was an oasis. A lone tree, surrounded by the same poisonous weeds we had recently walked through on exiting the forest, appeared to survive from the pond's water.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me.

> source burn weeds
Source burned away all the weeds with a fireball. The tree was unharmed, which could be through luck, skill or poor game design. I know that Source would say skill, but who knows?

> fit chop tree
Fit enthusiastically started chopping wildly at the tree. It soon fell over from the vicious assault. Fit cut off the branches, leaving some sticks next to the fallen trunk.

I have noticed so far that each of your friends has contributed, but you have done nothing.

I provide leadership and ideas. I have suggested most of the tactics used so far, even though I haven't specifically mentioned it.

> l
It is obvious that consistency was not a feature of this game's geography. The forest, which could be re-entered to the northwest, was for some reason next to a desert. The boring, dusty wasteland was easier to navigate than the forest maze, but unfortunately was very repetitive. A mountain range could be seen to the south, but it was still a long way off. We had stopped at the only distinctive landmark between the forest and the mountains, which was an oasis.

I could also see the upper half of the trunk, the lower half of the trunk and some sticks.

Fit the Fighter, Source the Sorcerer and Tife the Thief were here.

> get upper trunk
I lifted the upper half of the trunk.

> fit get lower trunk
At my suggestion Fit lifted the lower half of the trunk.

> get sticks
I picked up the sticks.

> s
We walked south, carrying the trunk across the remainder of the desert.
An almost hidden, deep ravine separated the desert to the north from the mountains to the south. It extended from east to west as far as could be seen. There was no way to reach the mountains apart from by crossing the ravine.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> put trunk over ravine
I told Fit that the trunk looked the right size to help us get across the ravine. We maneuvered the trunk until it was vertical, next to the edge. We then lowered it down to create a bridge across to the south.

> s
After crossing the bridge, we wandered along the other side of the ravine, until we found a path that led us to a distinctive mountain.
We were standing near the base of a huge mountain. This mountain stood out from the others, not only for its size, but because a bright light seemed to emanate from its peak. The path through the mountains continued from the north to the southeast. A cave leading into the mountain was to the southwest.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> source light sticks
Source carefully aimed a fireball to light up the sticks. This time he luckily did not burn me as well. I am now holding what is effectively a torch.

> sw
We entered the cave.
The light from the torch showed that we were standing in a cavern. The cavern had lots of pointy stalagmites and stalactites, which we could have been impaled upon in the darkness. I'm sure that they were not that sharp in real life. The cave's exit was to the northeast, but it also continued to the south.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me.

> s
We continued further into the cave until we stumbled upon the lair of a monster.
This was an easy quest, but I still expected a more intimidating monster than a goblin. He was standing in front of a corpse, but even that did not make him look dangerous. This lair was at a dead end in the cave, and we could only return back to the north.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> kill goblin
I charged towards the goblin, waving my sword out in front of me. The goblin moved fast and leapt towards me, raking his claws on my armour. Luckily my armour held out, and even luckier he was now in perfect range for me to slash him with my sword. It only took one attempt for me to kill the goblin and have revenge for the dead anonymous NPC on the cave's floor.

> x npc
I searched the corpse and found that he was holding a long rope, but had no weapons. No wonder the goblin had been able to kill him. As he no longer needed the rope, I took it for myself.

> n
We walked back through the caves to the cavern near the entrance.
The light from the torch showed that we were standing in a cavern. The cavern had lots of pointy stalagmites and stalactites, which we could have been impaled upon in the darkness. I'm sure that they were not that sharp in real life. The cave's exit was to the northeast, but it also continued to the south.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the south.

> ne
We exited the cave.
We were standing near the base of a huge mountain. This mountain stood out from the others, not only for its size, but because a bright light seemed to emanate from its peak. The path through the mountains continued from the north to the southeast. A cave leading into the mountain was to the southwest.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me.

> se
We continued down the path.
The path ended at a steep cliff, leading up some of the mountain face. At the top I could see a boulder blocking another entrance inside the shining mountain. The path only led back to the northwest.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me.

> tife climb cliff
I offered the rope to Tife, and he took it, although he did ask me why he was getting a rope. I suggested that he could climb the cliff, tie the rope, lower it down and we could then follow him. Tife liked this idea, and quickly climbed the steep cliff face. Soon after he disappeared over the top, the rope was lowered down to us. I immediately followed Tife up, and when the rope did not break, Fit and Source followed as well.
A large boulder blocked a second cave leading into the mountain. Maybe this cave would lead us to the source of the bright light shining from mountain peak. We could also head back down the cliff, via the rope, which was tied to an outcropping.

Fit and Source moved towards me from below.

> push boulder
I pushed against the boulder and moved it slightly. Slightly was not great but was good enough to open up the darkness of the cave. We then walked inside.

(Press a key)
I have discussed PROBLEM SOLVING in various aspects during the earlier parts of my speech, but I feel it is important to go into more detail and show how I solved some harder puzzles. The next section of the game is ideal for this purpose.

I hope that you do not spend too long, as I don't need to hear that much detail.

I'll try to be brief. After entering the cave a strong wind blew out the torch, leaving four sticks in reasonable condition. When Source tried to relight the sticks the wind started blowing again. It looked like we would have to find another light source.
For a mountain so bright on the outside, it was really dark on the inside. There was light from the northern exit to the cave, but it only revealed this room. There was a darkened doorway to the south, but I could not see anything else in the next room. In this room there was a carving on one wall, with a picture of four suns at the top.

> put stick in hat hole
I put the stick in the hat's hole.

> put stick in lamb hole
I put the stick in the lamb's hole.

> put stick in beach hole
I put the stick in the beach's hole.

> put stick in flower hole
I put the stick in the flower's hole.

Suddenly a loud click could be heard from behind the carving. A light shone down from the ceiling, illuminating the room. A chain reaction was set off, as the lights turned on all the way down the southern corridor, as far as could be seen. We could now progress further.

Did your friends help you at all in finding this solution.

No, I solved these puzzles by myself. They just stood around and waited for me.

> s
We walked down the corridor, until we reached the statues room.
Twin statues guarded the door to the south. There were hooks on the ceiling above each statue. The corridor to the north led back to the sun room. On the east side of this room was a set of scales.

I could also see a tiny rock, a small rock and a medium rock.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> put small rock on left pan
I put the small rock on the left pan.

> put medium rock on left pan
I put the medium rock on the left pan.

> put tiny rock on right pan
I put the tiny rock on the right pan.

> cut rope
I cut the rope, by swinging down my sword hard on the block. The two pans crashed to the ground. I then took the two identical pieces of rope.

> tie rope to statues
I tied each rope around a hook and then a statue's neck. There was still a little slack in both ropes after doing this.

> pull stools
I pulled out each stool, letting both statues hang from their respective ropes. Suddenly I heard a click and the doorway to the south opened.

> s
We walked down the corridor, until we reached the picture room.
A closed door prevented us from continuing further south, but we could return to the north. On the walls of this room were a series of pictures that appeared to show the history of this place. In the first panel a jewel was found. In the second panel the jewel was placed in a chamber. In the third panel the jewel was stolen. In the fourth panel the jewel was abandoned.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> push jewel
I pushed the jewel in the fourth panel and the doorway to the south opened.

> s
We walked down the corridor, until we reached the lever room.
There were levers everywhere in this room and they were all different colours. This included yellow, red, pink, green, purple, orange and blue. The closed door blocked off the path to the south. A corridor led back to the picture room to the north.

More puzzles? I think I have seen your point by now.

Well, just wait and see then.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> z
Time passes…

Fit leaned against one of the room's walls. Suddenly we all heard a loud click and were afraid that Fit had set off a trap. Luckily Fit was clever in his clumsiness, as the room changed around us.

> pull lever
I pulled the sole remaining lever and the doorway to the south opened. That was not all, as we could hear more doorways open to the south. We must have stumbled upon a secret way for the builders of this place to return quickly to the centre.

> s
We walked through the remaining rooms and corridors, until we were near the end of the path.
A blinding light emanated from the room to the south. It must be where the Forgotten Jewel was located. I did not think we could approach the room until there was less light and we could actually see in there. In this room was a control panel along one wall. A corridor led back to the north.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> x panel
Various dials and levers, which were probably used to make adjustments to the mirrors, covered most of the panel. However, luckily for us, a big red emergency shut down button was sitting prominently on the left hand side of the panel.

> push button
Feeling relief that I did not have to solve an otherwise complicated to describe puzzle involving the dials and levers on the panel, I pressed down the red button. Immediately a grinding noise could be heard to the south. As it continued the light shining through the doorway dimmed, until it was the same brightness as the rest of this place.

> s
We walked inside the mirror room.
The Forgotten Jewel was the main feature of this room, where it was sitting on a pedestal in the centre. It lit up the room, and I really had no idea why it was called Forgotten, as anything that bright should be easy to spot and remember. On the walls of this room were mirrors. The only exit was to the north.

Fit, Source and Tife moved towards me from the north.

> get jewel
I took the Forgotten Jewel from the pedestal. We had completed our quest, apart from the simple task of returning to the town. Or the not so simple task, as it turned out.

(Press a key)
So you are not finished yet?

No. The final area I want to cover in this speech is CONFLICT, or when people's aims or opinions are different. The aims of the people in my group were very different. Back in the town we were due to receive a large monetary reward for completing our quest. We had previously decided to split this between us, but one member of my group had different plans.

We were congratulating each other when suddenly I noticed that Tife the Thief had disappeared. A few seconds later, I realised that the Forgotten Jewel had disappeared from my inventory. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened. Tife wanted the money for himself.
The pedestal was now bare and the room was much darker, following the disappearance of the Forgotten Jewel. The mirrored walls reflected images of ourselves looking disappointed. The only exit was to the north.

> n
We returned back north through all the rooms and corridors until we reached the ledge outside.
A boulder partially blocked the southern entrance, but still allowed access to the cave. This small ledge was on the side of the mountain, overlooking a steep cliff. The location looked similar to when we entered, apart from one missing detail. Tife had untied the rope and taken it with him. None of us were good enough climbers to follow him down.

Suddenly, a huge crashing noise echoed throughout the mountain. Taking the jewel must have set off a chain reaction that was starting to destroy this location. In surprise Fit almost fell off the cliff, before I grabbed him. However, this did not save Fit's axe, which slipped from his grasp. It fell all the way down, before finally smashing on the ground below. We would likely receive the same fate, if we tried to climb down. Even if the tunnels were collapsing, we would have more chance of surviving by trying to find an alternate exit inside.

> s
We looked through each room carefully, but could find no exit. Eventually we returned to the mirror room, where unfortunately, as we entered, the doorway collapsed behind us to trap us within the room.
As the noise continued to rumble around us, this room was not looking very stable. Many of the mirrors were broken and the northern doorway had collapsed. The only faint light left in the room came from the shafts in the ceiling. On one metal wall the damage had extended to a narrow crack. There looked like there was a gap behind the wall.

Fit and Source moved towards me from the north.

> widen crack with sword
I put my sword in the crack and tried to lever it further open. As I pulled harder and harder, it gradually widened until suddenly the sword snapped in two. The violence of the sword breaking made one last push to open up the gap far enough for us to pass through. Behind the wall was a path leading downwards. I threw away the broken sword, as it was no longer useful.

> source light staff
Looking around, the only wood in the room was Source's staff. When I pointed this out, Source initially refused to burn it and lose his only weapon. However, there was no other option, and he knew it, so he eventually agreed. Source lit up his staff with a fireball and the room was suddenly lit up again.

> d
We climbed down the path until we found a secret way into the other cave systems. The caves soon looked familiar to those near the goblin's lair. As we ran trying to escape, the loud rumbling suddenly became very close and rocks started falling from the ceiling. One large rock landed on Fit, trapping him on the floor.
This location was unremarkable, apart from the fact that Fit was trapped under a large rock. It was within the caves under the mountain, with exits leading up and north.

Source the Sorcerer moved towards me from above.

> source levitate rock
Source closed his eyes and concentrated. When I saw magical energies start to swirl around him, he suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the rock. It began to rise off the ground, freeing Fit. However, Fit was too injured to move himself out of the way. I grabbed and moved him, as the rock looked increasingly unsteady in mid-air. As soon as possible Source dropped the rock back on the ground. Fit could not walk, so I lifted him on my back.

Now that we had rescued Fit, we continued through the caves until we reached back outside. It was just in time, as the mountain crumbled behind us. Source's staff also crumbled, leaving only a pile of ashes that were quickly blown away.

(Press a key)
The mountain looked very different to earlier. The peak was no longer shining after the removal of the Forgotten Jewel. It was no longer as tall because the top had fallen down. The rockslides had blocked both the cave to the southwest and the path to the southeast. The only remaining path was to the north, back to the ravine.

Fit told me to put him down, so I laid him upon the ground. I asked him what was wrong and he replied that he didn't want to be a burden. I would never catch Tife if I had to carry him. I protested at first, but in the end agreed to come back for him later.

> n
Source and I continued to the ravine.
Unfortunately, Tife had managed to stall our progress again. The trunk was no longer over the ravine, probably having been pushed in after he crossed. There was no other way to walk across to the desert side.

Source the Sorcerer moved towards me from the south.

> source levitate me
I hesitantly suggested to Source that maybe he could levitate me across the ravine. I was unsure about whether he could keep me in the air long enough, but I decided that I could trust Source to do his best. Source again focused his powers and levitated me off the ground. He then slowly moved me across the ravine. I could tell he was struggling by halfway, and his powers gave out entirely just before I reached the other side. Luckily I was close enough to grab the edge and pull myself up.

I called back to Source that he should follow me and levitate himself. Source struggled, but he could not manage it. He eventually told me, "It looks like you are going to have to continue alone. I'll stay here and look after Fit. We'll wait for you to return and rescue us. You should be able to catch Tife in the maze. He has no sense of direction, and will struggle to find a way out. Good luck in stopping him from stealing his way to success."

I walked by myself through the desert to the oasis.
I was midway through the desert, next to the oasis. Tife was nowhere in sight. I hoped that Source was right and he was lost in the forest maze. The only way to find out was to walk northwest.

> x oasis
The pond was full of refreshing, clean water. There was a glint in the water.

> x glint
I searched through the oasis until I located the glint. It was a pointy piece of metal that would normally be associated with the end of a spear. The rest seemed to be missing though. Or maybe not. I could feel the shaft of the spear, although I could not see it. Apparently, I had discovered an invisible spear. I'm not sure what use that would be.

With the spear in hand, I walked back to the maze. Soon after I entered I could hear someone walking around near me. I chased down the noise. It was Tife, just as I had hoped. At the first sight of me, Tife ran away as fast as possible, heading down the nearest path. I knew I could not catch him, as he was faster than me. However, if I remembered right, that path looped back to my current location. It was time to set a trap.
This location was within the forest maze. In this part there was a tree next to the east-west path. The tree was surrounded by low bushes, with a patch of poisonous weeds nearby on the path.

> put spear in tree
I jammed the spearhead into the trunk, so the invisible shaft was horizontal across the path and low to the ground.

> hide
I climbed over the bushes and used both the bushes and the tree trunk to hide myself from anyone wandering through the path.

> z
Time passes...

> z
Time passes...


I heard someone approaching.

> z
Time passes...


Tife entered my location and tripped over the invisible spear. He landed in the poisonous weeds, immediately rolling out of the patch. However, Tife still looked dazed as he stood back up near my hiding spot, facing away from me.

> attack tife
I leapt from my hiding spot and jumped on Tife. I pinned him to the ground and took the knife from his inventory. Now I had him trapped where he would pay for his treachery. I raised the knife and…

So, in a situation of conflict, I can expect you to kill your opponents?

No! No! No! I haven't finished yet! I was only threatening Tife. When he apologised I let him back up, whilst taking the Forgotten Jewel from him for safekeeping. Tife agreed that he had been selfish, and it wouldn't happen again, as we were a team. And we were, as although we might disagree sometimes, we always came to an agreement by the end of the argument.

With the team spirit restored we went back and rescued Fit and Source, before returning to the town and our big reward. We split the money equally, as originally planned, and did not penalise Tife. Unfortunately most of the reward was spent in replacing the lost equipment and healing ourselves from the damage caused in chasing Tife. We weren't as successful as we had originally hoped, but we were a little better off and had the satisfaction of having been able to find a solution to all of the puzzles. The quest was finally complete and so is my answer to your question.

(Press a key)
Well, that was definitely a long answer, although I will admit it was a difficult question. Unfortunately I don't have time to go through the remaining interview questions, so we will have to stop here. It was a pleasure having you here, and we will be back in contact with you in several weeks if you are successful in proceeding to the next stage. Thank you for your time.

And with that, it was time to leave. Hopefully the answers were adequate or maybe even better. It is difficult to know though. Was the answer too strange or did it cover the areas well in an unorthodox manner? Did the answer take up too much time and important questions were missed? Will someone else have a better answer? Probably. Maybe. Who knows?

The only thing left to do is to….

>wait


You scored 49 out of the maximum 50!
That is 98% of the game!
You finished 1 points short.

[Press any key to end]