Surprise, frustration, and a strange sinking feeling are some of the emotions elicited by Marjorie Franklin's new interactive narrative, stored on a CD-ROM. Digital Blood concerns two friends: An, a researcher in benign virus agents, and Lin, an intelligent interface designer. Recent mothers, the women are taking time off to be with their infants, but this doesn't prevent them from engaging with their computers. In the midst of neonatal nurturing, a game ensues in which the women create an evolving computer-based offspring with a mind of its own. Digital Blood's narrative is encountered through a series of "virtual machines" designed by Paul Tompkins. They are arranged metaphorically as subterranean stations, where the visitor initiates "meaning" and then sinks through the story to a deeper level. Franklin also explores the relationship between people and their computers, specifically by tampering with the conventions of the medium: within an intriguing story, you'll encounter cursors that shape-shift, and menu bars that offer poetry.-Steve Seid