Here's another hacky way to test if the NPC is in another room. I'm pretty sure this will work in 8-bit mode.
: match "test me" {
: goto "new_room";
: if (is_beside "npc") {
: print "The npc is there.";
}
: else {
: print "The npc isn't there.";
}
: goto "old_room";
: done;
}