Slouching Towards Bedlam

*clunk*
The rotating tin cylinder within the phonograph vibrates slightly as a brass needle scrapes against it. The sound of a throat being cleared emerges from the machine's hornshell speaker, followed by a thin, haunting voice.
"March the 16th."
A deep, shaky breath.
"I dread to say it, but I believe I am going mad. The -- *moments* -- come more frequently now. I fear that I have found what I have sought, and I shall now pay the price for it."
The scrape of a chair across flagstone. A sigh.
"Chaos treads the halls of Bedlam; her work is evident everywhere..."
Slouching Towards Bedlam
An entry in the 9th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (10th Anniversary Edition) by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
Release 2 / Serial number 140613 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N)
[First time players should type 'about'. Credits are available via 'credits'.]
Office
A massive cedar desk, well-polished and worn, looks elegantly out-of-place among the chaos. Papers, files, and books cover nearly every flat surface in the room.
There is a phonograph on the table near the window.
A black cube on wheels sits near the door to the south.