Time Travelers

Your first semester as a college freshman (Class of 1992) has not exactly been a bowl of cherries: 100 miles away from home with no wheels, up late studying every night and taking harassment from the upperclassmen. Sometimes you wish you could just get away for a while, to a different place in time. But for now, you are content just to go home for the semester break and enjoy Christmas with family and friends.

Back home, in your old room, the tension of classwork is finally released. Except for the fact that everything is neat and straight, the place looks pretty much the same. The CoCo has accumulated a little dust, but that can be attended to later. For now, you just want to lay back on the bed and check out the stack of mail that has accumulated on your desk. Let's see ... a couple of nice Christmas cards, a letter from your buddy, Steve, reminding you of the annual New Year's snow-skiing weekend and ... Wait! What's this? Why, it's a letter from just about the strangest character you have ever met -the old German scientist, Dr. Tempus.

He urgently requests your presence. You met old man Tempus at the last RAINBOWfest in Chicago. An extremely likable and well-respected guy, he could talk about his fantastic ideas all day, and usually did. While chatting over lunch one afternoon, he confided in you that he was on the verge of a miraculous invention -a machine capable of transporting people into the past or the future. Your initial inclination was to laugh, but the seriousness of his expression warned you against it. He swore you to secrecy and promised that you would be the first to know when the machine was completed. That was the last you heard from him -until now. You'd like to stay home and relax until dinnertime, but the good doctor's request is irresistible. He seems a little weird for a 93-year-old; however, he does mean well. And, who knows, he may have really stumbled onto something, although you seriously doubt it.

Once at Dr. T's front door, you are greeted by a 4-foot-tall robot. You are asked to state your business, and after doing so, the beeping and buzzing little metal creature directs you to the laboratory. Inside, you see your old friend steadily at work. The robot alerts him of a visitor. Dr. Tempus looks up and quickly moves toward you. "Comb in, comb in, mein little freund. How haf you bean?" Without receiving a reply, he continues, "I haf bean verdy anxious to refeal mein latest und greatest infention to you." He walks over to a large tarpaulin-covered object. With one quick flick of a hanging rope suspended overhead, the draping is removed and a machine is revealed.

"Here it is -der time machine," he announces, "das only von in de vorld." Looking at the steel and glass object, you are amazed at its obvious complexities. You can't help but wonder how the contraption could actually work. It looks like a two-man space capsule, with a long glass tube coming from the top and extending out of the roof of the laboratory. Through the glassdomed windshield, the lighted control panel of buttons, dials and monitors are clearly visible. And, in front of the two seats, which very closely resemble old time barber's chairs, is the doctor's favorite, a Color Computer.

Anxious to demonstrate his wondrous invention, the doctor climbs in, assuring you that he will return in no more than 15 minutes. Slightly baffled, you watch as the steel door shuts securely behind him. Peering through the windshield, the old man can be seen, strapping himself into the driver's seat and frantically pressing the buttons surrounding him. Then, in a whirling cloud of bellowing smoke, he disappears.

You wonder if some kind of illusion has been created. But for some inexplicable reason, you trust the doctor and patiently wait for his return. And, just as Dr. T indicated, within 15 minutes the familiar whooshing sound returns. In merely an instant, the entire scene created when the doctor left is reenacted as though it is a film running in reverse. To your amazement, the door slides open and Tempus appears holding an extremely large egg. "It is not verdy easy getting ein egg avay from de mutter dinosaura" he insists, "but I hope das vill convinz you."

Indeed it does, but you question why he has requested your assistance. He explains, "Years ago, I may haf made de journeys alone. But now I am zu old. I need ein young man zu accompany me. And, you mein trusted freund, vill be perfect. Just dink of all de treasures ve can bring back. Ve vill be rich!"

The Adventure, Time Travelers, begins in Dr. Tempus' time machine, known as TM throughout the game. From there, you will be instructed to choose the first time zone you wish to travel. Each time zone has its own rewards and dangers. When you have accumulated as many treasures as you want, you may conclude the game by typing P, for return to the present, but only from within the time machine. The computer will then list the number of moves made, the number of time periods visited, and the treasures found and their monetary worth.

The success of your treasure hunting in time will determine your standard of living when you return to the present. If your findings are worth only a minimal amount, you will be awarded a mere New York city tenement. Moderate success will get you a country cottage in Prospect, Kentucky. Finding treasures worth over a million will afford you a beach front condo in Miami, Florida. Only by achieving the highest success level will you receive a palatial splendor in southern California.