diff --git a/games/bare.arch b/games/bare.arch
index f2aa500..6d41ace 100644
--- a/games/bare.arch
+++ b/games/bare.arch
@@ -84,10 +84,14 @@ methods
 # is in the room.  Note the use of the write statement:  just one string
 # after the other is printed with no regard to margins.  This is OK because
 # it will wrap the words automatically.
-  'FIRSTDESC' : >>Welcome to the demonstration adventure!
-                >>What you are seeing here is the 'FIRSTDESC' method.
-                >>Although in this case there is only some writing, there is no problem
-                >>with putting other executable statements here as well.
+  'FIRSTDESC' :
+>>Welcome to the demonstration adventure!
+>>What you are seeing here is the 'FIRSTDESC' method.
+>>Although in this case there is only some writing, there is no problem
+>>with putting other executable statements here as well.
+>>The '>>' operators chain to create a single statement, so be careful;
+>>if you want other executable statements, put braces around this
+>>sequence.
 
 # The LONGDESC message is sent when the player first sees the room and also
 # whenever they type "look" by itself at the prompt.
diff --git a/games/starship.arch b/games/starship.arch
index 37d5f2e..c37c384 100644
--- a/games/starship.arch
+++ b/games/starship.arch
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ methods
 >>I am awake.
 >>
 >>There is nothing to see; my eyes cannot focus on anything.
->>Something is happening around me - happening to me.  I feel sharp,
+>>Something is happening around me---happening to me.  I feel sharp,
 >>prickling pains along my arms and in my neck, and the sound of tiny
 >>motors, a sense of something withdrawing from my body.
 >>
@@ -150,6 +150,14 @@ methods
       times -:= 1
       }            # else
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The cryogenic suspension cell, or "coffin", as it is commonly called
+>>because of its appearance, is used for keeping the occupant alive and
+>>monitoring their health.  It performs the functions of initial freezing,
+>>maintenance, and thawing of the suspended individual.  These functions are
+>>tied into the main computer so that a given individual can be awakened
+>>should the computer determine that their specialty is required.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -361,6 +369,13 @@ methods
 >>There are no visible controls or buttons of any kind.
     }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The turbolift serves all six levels and takes its instructions by voice,
+>>there being deliberately no controls inside it for the benefit of a crew
+>>member arriving with full hands.  It says what it wants and will wait
+>>indefinitely to be told.  It will not open onto a level with no
+>>atmosphere.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -487,7 +502,7 @@ methods
   'read' : {
     if not viewed then {
 >>The diary seems to belong to the doctor; he has kept extensive notes
->>on his patients - which are of course the crewmembers.  The paper is
+>>on his patients---which are of course the crewmembers.  The paper is
 >>old by now and crackles when I turn the pages.  I am struck by the
 >>fact that it has probably been many years since all of us went into
 >>those glass coffins. Most of the entries are personal and I feel like
@@ -497,7 +512,7 @@ methods
 >>
     viewed := TRUE
     }
->>  "May 17, 2321 - This morning we made the last of the preparations
+>>  "May 17, 2321---This morning we made the last of the preparations
 >>  before Nap Time, as we have started to refer to the upcoming cryogenic
 >>  suspension.  All ship's stores have been removed to the far end of the
 >>  ship and sealed off until arrival.  The navigator has laid in our
@@ -619,6 +634,16 @@ methods
     else
       >>It isn't on.
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' : {
+>>This portable counter reports the radiation present in its surroundings.
+>>The light shows green when levels are safe, and red when levels are
+>>too high to be safe when not wearing protective clothing.
+    if not activated then {
+>>I should remember, next time I have it in my hands, that a counter which is
+>>switched off doesn't do any counting.
+      }
+    }
+
 end
 
 
@@ -742,6 +767,13 @@ methods
   'lie down on' : 'sit on'
   'lay down on' : 'sit on'
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The automated medical couch located in Sickbay is a sophisticated device
+>>capable of diagnosing and curing a wide range of commonly recognized
+>>ailments.  Its primary function is to detect and repair cell damage; it can
+>>recognize other ailments but cannot always cure them---there is no
+>>substitute for a knowledgeable physician.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -905,6 +937,10 @@ methods
 >>they look pretty heavy.
     }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Lead-lined coveralls are heavy, unlovely, and the only thing aboard that
+>>lets the wearer linger in a place where radiation levels are high.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1038,6 +1074,11 @@ stop "overcome... my last sensations are of pain and heat."
         }
       }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The highly radioactive reactor fuel is cast in blocks and stored well
+>>away from the engine room until it is wanted.  A block is far too heavy
+>>to lift and is fitted underneath for gravlifting.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1079,6 +1120,11 @@ methods
       location := player.location; 'MOVE'
       }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Sheet stock is carried to repair hull damage and must be welded into place.
+>>There is nothing in the ship's stores that will hold something this heavy
+>>by gripping it.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1111,6 +1157,16 @@ powersource antimatter_cell
   desc      : "small antimatter cell"
   location  : hand_blaster
 
+methods
+
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Small antimatter cells are the standard high-output power source aboard,
+>>and drive everything from the gravlifter's hand unit to sidearms.  The
+>>output is prodigious and cannot be throttled: a device built around a cell
+>>is built to survive one, while a device that merely accepts one will do the
+>>most violent thing it is capable of doing.  Where fine work is wanted, a
+>>weaker source is called for.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1210,6 +1266,15 @@ methods
       main.subj.location := UNDEFINED; 'MOVE' -> main.subj
       }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Apparently its primary feature is the power focusing crystal in the barrel;
+>>it is normally powered with an antimatter cell so that it acts as a
+>>destructive weapon, but when powered with a much weaker source, it can act
+>>as either a light, a surgical instrument, or even an arc welder, depending
+>>on the strength of the power cell.  A power source as weak as a calculator
+>>battery is usually sufficient for arc welding.  Eye protection is not
+>>optional at welding intensities.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1253,7 +1318,7 @@ methods
       writes "There is a shuddering roar that I can feel through the floor "
       writes "and walls"
       if reactor.open then {
-        writes " - but like an idiot I have left the reactor open!  Blazing "
+        writes "---but like an idiot I have left the reactor open!  Blazing "
         writes "lethal radiation pours out over me and cooks me like a "
         stop "microwave dinner."
         }
@@ -1308,6 +1373,13 @@ methods
                 "vents, and rods cover the walls.  The room is hexagonal ",
                 "and barely large enough to stand in."
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The reactor chamber is a part of the engine that's the size of a room.
+>>The hexagonal space aft of the engine room is the vessel itself, and fueling
+>>it is a question of what is present in the reactor.  The chamber door is
+>>shielding and not decorative.  Engines are started from the panel in the
+>>engine room, and the panel will say what it believes the chamber to contain.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1318,6 +1390,13 @@ gravhalf lead_waste
 
   size      : 100
 
+methods
+
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Spent fuel is inert and none the lighter for it.  A block of it stands in
+>>the reactor chamber between firings and is swapped out rather than carried
+>>off.  Like unspent fuel, it is fitted for gravlifting.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1362,6 +1441,11 @@ methods
     write
     }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The helmet seals to the suit collar and holds a few minutes of air on its
+>>own.  That reserve is meant to cover the moment between one supply and the
+>>next, and nothing more ambitious than that.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1400,6 +1484,11 @@ methods
     else
       write "I don't think ", 'DEF' -> main.dobj, " is working."
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>This standard out-of-ship equipment is comprised primarily of a rubber and
+>>vinyl spacesuit.  The suit is one piece all the way through the gloves and
+>>boots; the only separate pieces are the helmet and air tanks.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1555,6 +1644,11 @@ methods
       'exit' --> hollow_object
       }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Cycling the airlock evacuates the antechamber, and it does not ask whether
+>>anybody standing in the antechamber is ready.  Be wearing an intact spacesuit
+>>with full air tanks and a helmet.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1730,6 +1824,10 @@ methods
     else
       write "I try ", 'DEF' -> main.dobj, ", but I still can't open it."
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The standard scientific calculator doesn't do anything the ship's
+>>computer can't.  Powered by a nine-volt battery.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1738,6 +1836,15 @@ powersource battery
   desc      : "nine-volt battery"
   location  : calculator
 
+methods
+
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The nine-volt dry cell is the humblest source in the catalogue, carried for
+>>instruments rather than for equipment: clocks, calculators, hand tools with
+>>nothing in them that turns.  It fits the same standard socket as far more
+>>serious cells, which is a convenience to the technician and ought to be a
+>>caution to everybody else.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1860,6 +1967,11 @@ object captains_ID
   syn       : "id|card|ID card|captain's ID"
   location  : wallet
 
+methods
+
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Unfortunately the entry seems to be corrupted; I can't make it out.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -1894,6 +2006,16 @@ methods
 
   'get' : >>It's way too heavy; not to mention bulky.
 
+  # The coin goes in and does not come out, and there is exactly one coin
+  # aboard.  The trap stays; printing the terms where somebody is already
+  # looking is the difference between a mean puzzle and an unfair one.
+
+  'look' : {
+>>A tall machine with a cloudy plastic front and a coin slot worn bright at
+>>the edges.  A strip of small print along the bottom reads: NO REFUNDS.  NO
+>>CHANGE GIVEN.  ALL SALES FINAL.
+    }
+
   'Insert Me' :
     if sender ~= quarter then
       >>Only quarters fit.
@@ -1904,6 +2026,11 @@ methods
       'MENTION SELF' -> gatorade
       }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The kitchenette dispenser is coin-operated, a decision which strikes
+>>me as remarkably penny-pinching.  Or quarter-pinching.
+>>It does not give change.  It does not give anything back.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -2070,6 +2197,11 @@ methods
     write "A gauge on the tanks says there are ", minutes,
           " minutes remaining."
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Air tanks are charged to thirty minutes and must be refilled using
+>>an air compressor.  The gauge on the side is meant to be read
+>>before going out as well as during.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -2146,6 +2278,10 @@ methods
       fueled := TRUE
       }
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The compressor in the recreation area is an antique and runs on liquid
+>>fuel.  Quaint.  It is started by hand.  Quainter.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -2322,6 +2458,15 @@ methods
     else
       write "It's not plugged into ", 'DEF' -> main.dobj, "."
 
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>The anti-gravitational gravlifter, or "lifter", is a device which
+>>temporarily neutralizes the ship's artificial gravity over a small region.
+>>The portable hand-held unit is only half of the device; the other half is a
+>>tray with an outlet that fits the hand-held unit's plug.  The tray
+>>generally covers the entire lower surface of the object to be lifted.  The
+>>hand-held unit contains all the power and must be supplied with an
+>>antimatter cell in order to work.
+
 end
 
 
@@ -2335,7 +2480,7 @@ methods
   'fore'    : briefing_room
 
   'LONGDESC' : {
->>I'm standing in the ship's technical library.  The walls are lines with
+>>I'm standing in the ship's technical library.  The walls are lined with
 >>thousands of cartridges; an enormous screen set into one wall reads
 >>"INDEX" in large letters across its screen; there is smaller writing
 >>beneath that.
@@ -2344,6 +2489,36 @@ methods
 end
 
 
+# The walls the room description mentions.  There is nothing to be done with
+# them, but they are the first thing anybody standing in here will try to
+# look at, and the index has something to say about them.
+
+scenery cartridges
+
+  desc      : "cartridges"
+  syn       : "cartridge"
+  pronoun   : "them"
+  location  : library
+
+methods
+
+  'INDEF' : "some " & desc
+
+  'get' : >>Not much point; there's nothing to read them with but the room.
+
+  'look' :
+>>Thousands of them, racked from the deck to well above my head: each one a
+>>finger's length of dull grey plastic with a printed number on the end and
+>>nothing else to say for itself.
+
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>Library cartridges are read by the room and not by hand; there has been no
+>>portable reader aboard since the refit before last.  The index is the way
+>>in.
+
+end
+
+
 readable tech_index
 
   desc      : "technical index"
@@ -2356,8 +2531,10 @@ methods
   'look' : >>There's some writing on the screen.
 
   'read' : {
-    if never_read then
+    if never_read then {
       >>Reading the instructions, I discover the following:
+      never_read := FALSE
+      }
     else
       >>Once again:
     write "I can \"look up\" any object in the index; ",
@@ -2365,59 +2542,30 @@ methods
           "on it, the entry will be displayed on this screen."
     }
 
+  # Whether the library covers a subject is the subject's own business.  An
+  # object that has something to say about itself answers this message; one
+  # that has not lets it fall through, and an unhandled message comes back
+  # ABSENT, which is the whole of "the library doesn't cover it".  A bicycle
+  # repair kit and a quarter need nothing written anywhere to be left out.
+  #
+  # Sending is also the asking, so an entry has already printed itself by the
+  # time the answer comes back.  That is why the subject is named first and
+  # nothing is promised about what follows:  the announcement has to be true
+  # whether an entry turns up or not.
+
   'look up' :
     if main.dobj and main.dobj ~= self then
       write "I don't know how to look up anything in ",
             'INDEF' -> main.dobj, "."
     else {
-      write "The entry for ", 'DEF' -> main.subj, " appears on the screen."
-      case main.subj of {
-        medical_couch :
-          write "The automated medical couch located in Sickbay is a ",
-          "sophisticated device capable of diagnosing and curing a wide ",
-          "range of commonly recognized ailments.  Its primary function ",
-          "is to detect and repair cell damage; it can recognize other ",
-          "ailments but cannot always cure them - there is no substitute ",
-          "for a knowledgeable physican."
-        coffin :
-          write "The cryogenic suspension cell, or \"coffin\", as it is ",
-          "commonly called because of its appearance, is used for ",
-          "keeping the occupant alive and monitoring their health.  ",
-          "It performs the functions of initial freezing, ",
-          "maintenance, and thawing of the suspended individual.  These ",
-          "functions are tied into the main computer so that a given ",
-          "individual can be awakened should the computer determine that ",
-          "their specialty is required."
-        spacesuit : write "Standard out-of-ship equipment is comprised ",
-                    "primarily of this rubber and vinyl spacesuit.  The ",
-                    "suit is one piece all the way through the gloves and ",
-                    "boots; the only separate pieces are the helmet and ",
-                    "air tanks."
-        gravlifter :
-          write "The anti-gravitational gravlifter, or \"lifter\", ",
-          "is a device ",
-          "which temporarily neutralizes the ",
-          "ship's artifical gravity over a small region.  ",
-          "The portable hand-held unit is only half of the ",
-          "device; the other half is a tray with an outlet that fits the ",
-          "hand-held unit's plug.  The tray generally covers the entire ",
-          "lower surface of the object to be lifted. The hand-held unit ",
-          "contains all the power and must be supplied with an ",
-          "antimatter cell in order to work."
-        hand_blaster :
-          write "Apparently its primary feature is the power focusing crystal ",
-          "in the barrel; it is normally powered with an antimatter cell ",
-          "so that it acts as a destructive weapon, but when powered ",
-          "with a much weaker source, it can act as either a light, a ",
-          "surgical instrument, or even an arc welder, depending on the ",
-          "strength of the power cell.  A power source as weak ",
-          "as a calculator battery is usually sufficient for ",
-          "arc welding."
-       default :
-         write "Unfortunately the entry seems to be corrupted; ",
-               "I can't make it out."
-       }        # case
-     }      # else
+      write "I look up ", 'DEF' -> main.subj, " in the index."
+      if ('TechnicalIndexLookup' -> main.subj) = ABSENT then {
+>>The screen prints NO SUCH ENTRY.  It is, after all, a technical library.
+        }
+      }
+
+  'TechnicalIndexLookup' :
+>>INDEX: see INDEX.
 
 end
 
@@ -2540,7 +2688,7 @@ bridge_furniture captains_chair
 methods
 
   'LONGDESC' : {
->>I'm sitting in the captain's chair - sort of.  There is an enormous
+>>I'm sitting in the captain's chair---sort of.  There is an enormous
 >>meteor in the way, smashed directly into the center of the chair.
     meteor_seen := TRUE
     }
@@ -2695,7 +2843,7 @@ methods
 >>navigational array.  Looks like there was a slight course deviation
       writes "three years ago"
       if captains_chair.meteor_seen then
-        writes " - probably that meteor sitting in the captain's chair -"
+        writes "---probably that meteor sitting in the captain's chair---"
       writes " that has been steadily getting worse.  "
       if panel.engine_started then {
         writes "Deftly I make the corrections, feeling the floor vibrate "
diff --git a/tests/golden/bare.acx b/tests/golden/bare.acx
index 84aa72c..c99909a 100644
Binary files a/tests/golden/bare.acx and b/tests/golden/bare.acx differ