The electronic thumb should, at least temporarily, have TRYTAKEBIT when you are Ford

[eriktorbjorn]

This is how it normally goes when you return to Earth as Ford:

>WAIT
Time passes...

The vast yellow ships thunder across the sky, spreading waves of terror and
panic in their wake. The voice of the Vogon Captain slams across the country,
insisting that the planning charts and demolition orders have been available at
the local planning office in Alpha Centauri for fifty years and it's too late to
start making a fuss about it now.

The electronic Sub-Etha signaling device in your hand begins to whine. Lights
pulsate across its surface. You fumble with the Thumb as you hold onto the tree
against the fierce wind. It falls to the ground near Arthur's feet. Arthur is
struggling desperately towards you. The end of this planet is now only seconds
away.

>TAKE THUMB
You struggle to reach the Thumb, but the wind is too fierce and you are driven
back.

Fierce gales whip across the land, and thunder bangs continuously through the
air in the wake of the giant ships. You struggle to reach the Thumb, but the
wind is too fierce and you are driven back. Fortunately, at this point, Arthur
picks up the Thumb, and somehow manages to push the right button.

However often you do it, you are still stunned by the shock of
dematerialisation. The scene around is ripped away like a flimsy backcloth.
Everything becomes...

Dark

However, in the same situation you can use implicit taking:

>READ THUMB
(Taking the electronic Sub-Etha signaling device first)
How can you read an electronic Sub-Etha signaling device?

Fierce gales whip across the land, and thunder bangs continuously through the
air in the wake of the giant ships.

>PUSH GREEN BUTTON
You fumble with the Thumb as you hold onto the tree against the fierce wind. It
falls to the ground near Arthur's feet.

It seems that Steve Meretzky anticipated this scenario, since you drop the thumb again. But he also seems to be the implementor who most liked to temporarily set an object's TRYTAKEBIT to prevent this sort of thing.

If so, it should probably be set in I-VOGONS when you drop it (as Ford) and then cleared in JIGS-UP. (Since it's possible for you to "kill" yourself before I-VOGONS does.)