|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 044--5/25/95 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 4  ||  -------> (Cup OWis044, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [[BEGIN044OW]] [[01044CV]] * * * O S O A W E E K 0 4 4 * * * May 25, 1995 "The weekly ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement!" by Frank Edward Nora INSIDE THIS ISSUE! More ultra-semi-intense infostimulation to tickle yer spirit! Check it out... 01 044 CV--Cover    !!!!!!!! Your launch pad to fun craziness! 02 044 IW--Into E-mber Forge of Wander    !!!!!!!! Infostimulation the likes of which you never dreamed! 03 044 HR--Hemisinister Review    !!!!!!!! Arcade games: Cruisin' USA, Raiden D/X, MK3, etc. 04 044 HT--Halfevil Times    !!!!!!!! Ask Dr. Mike "Is cyanide poisonous to human beings?" 05 044 ZP--Zope    !!!!!!!! TRANSCRIPT ZOPE 06 044 CZ--Classic Zope    !!!!!!!! "Zope's Blacksmith Craziness" 07 044 TS--Trick Sojourn    !!!!!!!! Diary of a Dreamfrank--ghostly messages from beyond 08 044 NJ--New Jersey    !!!!!!!! A Journey to Foul Rift 09 044 LA--Lord of Obliviana    !!!!!!!! Information overload with WWW and CD-ROM 10 044 NH--Nihilistica    !!!!!!!! The Obliviana Channel!!! 11 044 SU--Superior    !!!!!!!! Please corrode a marble cylinder for Hatchie the dame. 12 044 IS--Into E-mber Severe Repair   !!!!!!!! A great ongoing novel you can get into NOW! 16 044 SR--Severe Repair   !!!!!!!! "Belly" Y'KNOW, WITHOUT THIS, TODAY WOULD BE, LIKE, DULL! INFORMATION: OsoaWeek044, May 25, 1995. Published weekly by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement, obliviana@aol.com, 1-800-OBLIVIANA. All contents copyright 1995 Frank Edward Nora. This release is Predatorware--you are free to make digital copies, so long as they're not altered or sold. All other forms of reproduction require permission. You're Prey unless you get a Predator Deed for this release. Contact us for more on this concept. Character count: 45977 / Line count: 1324 *OW* [[02044IF]] Into E-mber Forge of Wander [:[FOW005]:] FORGE OF WANDER E-mber 005, May 25, 1995 Well there, FOW #5, don't you know. Let me tell you a something cool to do--whenever you get a high score on a videogame, put in FOW! I do it all the time. People'll be totally bewildered. Bewildered, that is, until they discover the total awesomeness of Forge of Wander--then, the thick veil of the fog of mediocrity will lift, revealing a world of coolness they never before perceived in their miserable little lives! And YOU can make it happen! All by entering FOW on a videogame high score board! Alright! (Or you could just enter FOG to keep those people trapped in their pitiable circumstances...) INFORMATION: Forge of Wander E-mber 005, May 25, 1995. Published weekly by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement, obliviana@aol.com, 1-800-OBLIVIANA. All contents copyright 1995 Frank Edward Nora. This release is Predatorware--you are free to make digital copies, so long as they're not altered or sold. All other forms of reproduction require permission. Contact us for more on this concept. You can cancel or subscribe to this E-mber anytime, via E-mail. *OW* [[03044HR]] Hemisinister Review ***THE ARCADE*** CRUISIN' USA My first reaction to this game was that the graphics paled in comparison to Daytona, which is true. But in terms of game play mechanics, CU destroys Daytona. Reminiscent of all-time greatest driving games Out Run and Rad Mobile, CU is fun to play and chock full of secrets. The music selection is good, and there's some great humor. Like, in the Grand Canyon, there's Mount Rushmore, and a girl squeals "Oohh cool! Mount Rushmore!" or something. And they say this game will be available for home on the Ultra 64! I'll believe it when I see it. PENTE MINI GOLF A true classic. The music kicks ass, and the game is endlessly challenging. Gotta get one of these for myself. RAIDEN D/X Some sort of sequel to classic shooters Raiden and Raiden II. I'm not sure if it's just an enhanced version of II or totally original, but whatever, I like it. The purple weapon rules--and you could pump it up to high levels just by hitting the shoot button--no more powerups required. Cool! DAYTONA USAThe graphics cutting edge, or were six months ago. Looks unbelievably cool. I'd love to see a game like this where you could just could just drive around and explore a huge 3-D world. Gameplay wants, though. SAMURAI SHODOWN II I feel so lost not knowing the moves of these new games. But what the hell--I just played as Cham Cham and spazzed out. It was cool. MORTAL KOMBAT III The only character I know squat about is Sindel. I love her banshee yell and mouth fireballs. I can kill the computer a little with her. On the whole, though, MKIII is more of the same--the same crap. All novelty, little substance. STREET FIGHTER THE MOVIE Just about the worst game ever. Digitizes the actors from the film, a la Mortal Kombat. The play mechanics are awful and the graphics are dark and indistinct. Should this even be considered a part of the Street Fighter series of games? Hopefully Legends will be better. *OW* [[04044HT]] Halfevil Times ***HALFEVIL TIMES WORLD OF ADVICE*** This week's feature, written by Mike Massotto, comes from Anything But Monday Vol. 2, No. 1, from way back in December of 1988. "Ask Dr. Mike" was one of Massotto's more brilliant showcases, which eventually led to people sending in real letters--even Federal prison inmates! The original version has the old ABM address at the end, so I replaced it with the Obliviana E-mail address. Right now, Mike's not into doing anymore ABM-style writing, but who knows--if we get enough letter to Dr. Mike, it might inspire him to return! *ASK DR. MIKE* by Mike Massotto Dear Dr. Mike, My husband and I have been having this argument lately, and I was hoping you could end the dispute. What's the difference between cement and concrete? Solidly, Mrs. R. K. Slabb Butte, Montana (((Dear Mr. Slabb, For starters, this question's a butte (sorry, a little state humor for you there). Seriously though, the differences are quite amazing. Cement makes for better shoes, but boy is concrete a helluva lot easier to swallow after a hearty meal. Also, concrete will evaporate a bit slower at ground zero of a nuclear explosion. However, both cement and concrete will sufficiently crack your skull wide open when either are smashed against your head. Hope I answered your question... not really, I actually could care less. Good luck, and thanks for the headache this letter has given me.))) Dear Dr. Mike, I was just wondering if cyanide is poisonous to human beings. Could you let me know? Sincerely, Al Luk Boondocks, Alaska (((Dear Al, No, not at all.))) Dear Dr. Mike, I'm a recently married housewife and I'm just getting the hang of cooking. Could you please tell me if margarine or butter is better to cook with, and also, if it is better to use corn oil or olive oil? Confused, Flamerhills, North Dakota (((Dear Confused, Let me start off by saying, feel free to at my shorts. I don't know when you suddenly decided to make this column a showcase for dippy fruitcakes with idiotic cuisine questions, but I'll try in earnest to forgive you. In answer to your first question: neither--pure lard is best. And as for the second question: also neither--tanning oil is best (it browns the food better). Oh, and by the way, please feel free to try out one of my favorite recipes on your husband--lard and Coppertone souffle. Mmmm, mmmm I can almost taste it now. Good luck, and be sure to let me know what he thinks.))) Dear Dr. Mike, I'm a construction worker by trade and father of a five year old boy, and I have a problem. You see, whenever I'm pissed I like taking it out on my kid, usually with a heavy leather belt or a hard-heeled slipper. The only thing is the damn kid's gettin' used to it, and it hardly gives me any satisfaction anymore. Do you have any other suggestions as to what I can do? Frustrated, Lansing, Michigan (((Dear Frustrated, What a coincidence! I once had the same problem with my stubborn puppy and my late Aunt Flossie. I've found that your typical household culinary devices such as cheese graters, pasta machines, shish kabob skewers, and potato peelers work very well--and the fantastic thing is, they're all usually handily at an arm's length away! If you're attached to your old favorites, such as the belt for instance, try soaking it in brine or running alcohol for several hours before using it. That should do the trick. Good luck and happy hunting!))) Got a problem of any sort? Just send it in to: Dr. Mike, c/o Obliviana@aol.com. *OW* [[05044ZP]] Zope TRANSCRIPT ZOPE ZOPE (clicking off TV) Got it! MASTER JOE (building model of tall ship) Huh? ZOPE I got it--the address to write to to get a transcript of the MacLaughlin Group! MASTER JOE Why not just tape it? ZOPE And then what--sit and write the whole thing out myself? Hah! You think I have time for that? MASTER JOE Actually... ZOPE Okay, so I have time for it--but it's tedious! I wouldn't be able to! I'd do four or five lines and then fall into a blue funk, and probably start building a new wave entertainment complex in Wisconsin or something. MASTER JOE But--why not just watch it again if you want to refer to it? ZOPE It's not random access, man! Video you gotta fast forward and rewind. Did you ever see one of those damn GE commercials on fast rewind? Not a pretty sight. MASTER JOE But do they say anything good on that show? I mean, when's that show on--11, noon? Who the hell's up that early on Sunday? ZOPE Nobody. That's why I tape it. MASTER JOE So you already... ZOPE Listen--if I wanna go to a specific part, in the transcript all I gotta do is flip pages, none of this rewind, fast forward stuff. MASTER JOE Why not a video server with a hot link transcript? ZOPE Huh? MASTER JOE You know, digitize every episode of McLaughlin, digitize it all, and dump it onto a terabyte RAM chip. I hear the prices are really coming down these days. ZOPE For a terabyte? Yeah, around $400. MASTER JOE There ya go! ZOPE Yeah--I can wire my fiber optic line into the time doorway--and call the future to get a complete set of all McLaughlin's! MASTER JOE That's the spirit. ZOPE Uh-huh. MASTER JOE Are you okay, Zope? ZOPE I... MASTER JOE Zope? ZOPE I don't know. I'm alright. It's just that, a few moments ago my McLaughlin attention span, like, expired. I have no interest in it at all anymore. F*ck it. MASTER JOE You should try to work through that attention problem. ZOPE F*ck off! Before I lose interest in not killing you! *OW* [[06044CZ]] Classic Zope "Zope's Blacksmith Craziness" August/September 1988 (ZOPE wears a mustache as Blacksmith Zope) ZOPE (singing & banging hammer on anvil) Killing is good if you do it with wood! ZOPE raises his hammer. ZOPE (still singing) Involute. O'DEL in distance) Hey Zope! ZOPE (turning around as he's bringing the hammer down) Huh? *SKRAK* ZOPE accidentally smashes his hand with the hammer. ZOPE AAAAAH! O'DEL What's wrong? ZOPE (yelling and holding up his swollen hand) O'DEL, YOU MORON! O'DEL Oh, you killed your hand, sorry. But I have a message from the king. ZOPE (holding hammer threateningly) I want no message. Just get out or die. O'DEL He says that you should scrap the 300 ft. high statue of his eyelash you've been working on these 8 months. Also, your girlfriend left you for the court jester. ZOPE bashes himself on the head with his hammer. ZOPE (eyes X'd out) How nice. *OW* [[07044TS]] Trick Sojourn ***DIARY OF A DREAMFRANK*** 6/10/95 Today there were ghosts at my grandmother's house. Doorknobs turning by themselves, doors slamming open, all that weird stuff. Then we went to the kitchen, and my grandfather who died last year was sitting there at the table! He was complaining about the afterlife. "I might even have to start driving a car." he said, and I took it to mean driving a cab in the afterworld. I asked him if he met his father and he said "Yes, thank God.", which was strange, cuz in life he was an atheist. Then my grandmother started talking and I told her to be quiet cuz I was talking to my grandfather, but neither her nor my father could see him. Then he started to fade away. It was like, I could see him cuz I was perceiving things from a certain angle. He reappeared briefly, but after that, was gone. ***SONG OF THE WEEK*** "It's a Sunshine Day" by The Brady Bunch (on a "Best of the Brady Bunch" CD) *OW* [[08044NJ]] New Jersey FOUL RIFT Back in OsoaWeek032, I started a feature listing towns in New Jersey with really weird names. Number one on this list was Foul Rift--so yesterday (6/11/95) I decided to take a drive up there. And lemme tellya--it was worthy of its name! I started off in bed--my girlfriend having gone to a bridal shower for the day. I lay there, mind squirming, trying to make a decision. Then, I just locked onto the idea and got up. From then on, it was kind of a charmed day. First I went to the pizza place to play Cruisin' USA at only 25 cents per play! I played about 8 games, then headed for the drug store. I didn't feeling like going back to my apartment, one minute away, to get a NJ map, so I bought a new one. As well, I bought a pack of those little elastic bands to make pony tails with, a big thing of spring water, two bags of potato chips, and a Peanut Butter Snickers bar. I got had to wear a pony tail--which I usually shun--because my Jeep has no air conditioning and I have real long hair. But even with the pony tail, my hair was still whipping wildly in my face from the open window air blast. So I went to the Princeton Marketfair Mall, and got a Trenton Thunder cap (a Minor League Baseball team). I also got a cinnamon bun and--a large coffee (black, no sugar) with a shot of espresso, and a large iced coffee (also black, no sugar) with a shot of espresso. Then I was on my way! Down Rt. 1 S to Rt. 95 S to Rt. 29 N. This is the road that hugs the contours of the Delaware River, across which is the okay state of Pennsylvania--a state which quivers and whimpers next to the majesty of New Jersey! Anyway, this is an awesome road--lots of twists and turns and foliage, no lights. Finally I got to Raven Rock, where there's a pedestrian bridge. I know this bridge cuz there's a restaurant on the other side (Lumberville, PA) called The Black Bass. My family used to go there for special occasions. The last such--Thanksgiving 1993--my grandfather either had or was about to have a stroke--and spend the rest of his days (less than a year) in hospitals and nursing homes. Also there, they were recreating the Thanksgiving of 1546 or something. Not too lucky for a vegetarian like me--they put animal crap in just about everything back then. I wound up eating these little cooked gourds. Anyway, I walked across the bridge, looked at the menu at The Black Bass, then went back. I had the cinnamon roll and continued on my way. Soon I got to Frenchtown and Rt. 29 fizzled out. I turned left and found myself crossing over into Pennsylvania again. It was a cool road up the Delaware--32 or something. Paved with a brownish hue, this was an awesome, twisty-turny road that went on and on and on... Till finally I got to Rt. 78! I crossed under it, then spent the next 10 minutes following signs to get back on it. After I did, I headed for the Phillipsburg Mall on Rt. 22 back in NJ. At the mall, I wandered for what must have been about an hour, playing sh*tty videogames, browsing video games stores, bookstores, records stores, and the like. One bookstore had a brazen magazine rack of all like really bad porno! I mean, most bookstores have Playboy and Penthouse way up on the rack, but this place--wow. Kinda creepy seeing an old creep salivating over an opened magazine in the white bread mall environment. So I bought two preview CD-ROMs, a Redd Kross CD for $2, and some french fries. Then I hit the road again--getting confused and winding up--you guessed it!--in PA again! I missed the first exit, and it was like 5 or 6 miles before I could make a U-turn and get back to Phillipsburg. I did, and just over the bridge I took an exit marked simply as EXIT. No number, no street name, nothing. This took me through the bad part of town--innumerable abandoned buildings and junk. Finally I got on a cool road on the Delaware. It was a treacherous road with lots of FALLING ROCKS signs, and these train tracks RIGHT next the road. At one point, With a sheer cliff up on my right and train tracks to my left, I was the sign ONE LANE ROAD--NEXT 1700 FEET. And indeed it was. Twisty too. Definitely head-on collision material. But I survived. Then I got to a town--the town of Harmony Landing, I believe--and the sign on the road entering the town said NO OUTLET. Oookay, a town with only one road in or out. Pretty frightening. I shoulda gone into the town, but I didn't. After getting a little lost, I finally got on the road that would take me to Foul Rift. Soon I saw an enormous nuclear power plant across the river. We're talking massive cooling towers and other sinister constructs--the whole works. As I the plant was just about directly to the left, I saw the sign--FOUL RIFT ROAD. I was there. Driving down this road my black Jeep Wrangler bounced and shook uncontrollably, as the cooling towers loomed ever more massive. Finally, I got to a bizarre one-lane tunnel through a hill--all decrepit and run down. At first I thought it was a dead end, but I guess it wasn't. So I went through. This got me to a one-lane road, grassy area replete with boats and junk by the river to my left, a row of little houses with scary-looking people on the porches to my right. This road then went up a steep hill to a one-lane bridge on such a curve there was no f*cking way you could see if someone was coming the other way. But again, I survived. This road got kind of boring, so I turned around, and tried the other road near the tunnel, SOUTH FOUL RIFT ROAD. It was cool. There was this house where the cars were parked on one side of the train tracks and the house was on the other. Weird way to live. The tracks looked active, for freight at least. This road also kinda lost it, so I went back to the main road, and started to head for the Rockaway Townsquare Mall, with the idea of getting a cigar. It took awhile to get on course, and it was nearing Sunday mallclose time, but I got there, stopping only once to get beer ("Rhino Chaser" brand). I think I got gas around there too--I can't remember too clearly. Anyway, I got to the mall, played many videogames, got a $10 cigar, and headed down Rt. 80 for Willowbrook Mall, which would be closed, but the arcade, Fun'N'Games (best in NJ) would still be open. I smoked the cigar and listened to country music on the radio. It was a damn fine cigar, tasting all leathery and creamy. Amazing. Anyway, Is stopped on the way to stop in on my friend Martin, but I didn't have his number, and it was unlisted. I went up to his apartment building, but I forgot his number. I tried a few at random, but quickly realized I didn't have the impetus to go through potentially all the buttons, so I gave up, left, and went to the arcade. No--wait a minute. First, I went to Caldwell, and walked right into the building where the ABM office used to be! Yeah, I parked around the corner from there where I always used to (paved now, no gravel). I walked up to the door and tried it. Open. So I walked up the stairs and looked at the door to the old ABM office. I even touched the doorknob to it, for some sort of supernatural meaning or something. Yup. I called Mike Massotto from across the street there, but he wasn't home. THEN I went to the arcade, played a bunch of games, and then went home, fearing the huge thunderstorm I kept hearing about on the radio. It never came. On the fighting games I like playing as the girls. Sindel, Felicia, Cham Cham, Cammy, you know. They're funner to look at. When I got home, I finished OsoaWeek043, then crashed. But do check out Foul Rift if you ever get a chance. I'll try and research the name sometime. For now, let's all sit and imagine a cool plotline--a gate to an evil dimension, with some relationship to the nuclear power plant across the river... [:[END]:] *OW* [[09044LA]] Lord of Obliviana I'm not too thrilled with how last issue came out. I pretty much just rushed it, and it shows. For example, in the contents, the beginning and ending blurbs are from the template file (issue 40). So is the blurb for "Into E-mber Severe Repair". And a bunch of other stuff. In the compilation tapes, it doesn't give the artist for the song "Pop Music" (it's M). And the whole abortion thing, I'm not sure if it was a good idea, cuz like I say at the end of the essay, I really can't stand the issue. And--get this--the final character count was 56662. 666! The worst friggin' number ever! I could have changed it, but I was so burnt, there was no way. I didn't even think I'd get to upload it last night, but I did. Oh well. 24 days behind, c'mon, everything can't be perfect! +18 now. I think I can get this issue done within a day or two, then I'll be in much better shape. I don't know. I had this weird dream... guess I'll put it in Dreamfrank. Yeah, so I went wandering yesterday, and it was cool. Driving around and spending mass quantities of cash. I'll detail the journey to Foul Rift in the New Jersey feature, above. I've definitely been experiencing information overload, what with the recent additions of CD-ROM and WWW to my life. And the more I experience each of these, the more I see a need for Obliviana; as I keep saying, content is the big issue. Both CD-ROM and WWW are awesome ways to distribute content. It's just, so much production effort is spent so often on a bad seed. Slick production is a matter of money--why isn't content the same? Because the flow of any work in sequential media (writing, music, TV, movies, etc.) is so complex, that there's no way to break it down; good content can only be created by an artist who's in tune with the creation. So that's my basic philosophy--content is the only area of entertainment production where I can realistically compete with the giants. The thing is, content is a complex thing. Take Severe Repair, for instance. The raw content, the seed, is the text. But in order for it to be made into anything visual, someone has to develop the look of everything described in the text. This, I guess, is what you'd call content development. My term for a creative property is "Revolver". It makes sense at a number of levels. Basically, a Revolver has a core, which is the raw content. Then there are layers of refinement and enhancement orbiting the center. So, Severe Repair needs its characters and locations and devices illustrated, its stories animated, theme songs written, voices developed, all that. Once all these things are orbiting the text, it becomes a thing which can be adapted to just about any sort of media. And the more detailed and rich the orbiting elements, the more valuable the whole package. What this is all leading up to is licensing. In the case of Severe Repair, this might mean making it into a comic book, animation, movie, video game, action figures, mugs, pencils, personal hygiene products--all that. So the less the licensee has to do in term of developing the content, the more leverage I'll have in negotiations. Now, though I am multi-talented, there are certain things I can't do--for lack of ability if not lack of time. One of these is illustration. Oh, I can draw, but not realistically. So I couldn't, for example, draw characters from Severe Repair at an acceptable. This means someone else has to. And this is where things get tricky. You see, there's this whole issue of who has the rights to use what artistic creations. This is always a problem when more than one person works on something. I guess I could do "work for hire", just pay people to do stuff, and all rights to the work they do passes to me. But this is costly and problematic. What if someone gets $100 to draw a character, and that character, with that deign, goes on to become hugely popular--that artist will feel cheated. But here we go with the dichotomy between business and artistic ideals. Maybe worrying about how artists feel is the worst business decision you can make. Anyway, Obliviana is different. I feel that the process of creating content is content itself. "Making of" videos are often more entertaining than the final product of what they're working on. And just look at Howard Stern--much of his show is devoted to commentary and complaints about the production of the show--all of which is very fun and engaging. So I believe in the value of the artist not as paid servant, but as personality as well. So in dealing with artists, I want there to be something that binds them to Obliviana, more than just money. What I'm leading up to here is the idea that you could get out of a Revolver what you put in. By this, I mean that if you add content to a Revolver, you should have a stake in that Revolver, commensurate with the amount you've added to it. This is the ideal. I know that measuring percentages and stuff will be a bitch, but I feel strongly that it's the right thing. Monday, June 12, 1995. 6:10 train home. What's wrong with me? Why do I hafta wander around and spend all my money? I just bought two more CDs--The Best of The Bangles & "Thrak" by King Crimson. Then I bought this book about men's magazines of the '50s & '60s. Then I bought a Cherry 7-Up and some Chile Picante Corn Nuts. And that was all my money. I'm pretty sure that I buy stuff to make up for the doldrums of 9 to 5. My spirit rebels against my job by making sure I get maximum fun out of the money. CD's, CD-ROMs, books, magazines, comic books, cards, etc. It's kind of irresistible. F*cking Manhattan--too many good stores too near Penn Station! Goddamn! I was just sitting next to this Asian guy who smelled like a perpetual fart! Jesus Christ! I pretended to be getting off here at Metropark just to get away from him! Holy Jeez! Whew! Okay, it's today. 6/13/95. I'm at +19, and I think this issue'll get out tonight. Cool. So lemme finish it up! Next time let me tell you all about the Twin Peaks craze I've created with the people at work. See--recording all those episodes did some good after all! Get it, man... Get all Obliviana. *OW* [[10044NH]] Nihilistica ***THE OBLIVIANA CHANNEL*** Way back in OsoaWeek005 (8/25/94) I introduced the concept of The Obliviana Channel, to be broadcast via CPD-TV (reference 005NH for what this is all about). But today, I was thinking of a different way to "broadcast" The Obliviana Channel, more in the realm of feasibility. The idea is to have a CD-ROM which will contain an entire year's worth of The Obliviana Channel. No, I haven't come up with some incredible Kai-level compression technique. I know a CD-ROM can only hold an hour or two of video with the Quicktime technology of today. But with some clever tricks, using the video clips in all sorts of different ways, employing still frames, and other types of computer graphics, a year's worth of "video" could indeed be scripted. The idea would be that a front-end program would read your system clock, and play the script corresponding to that day and time. The idea would be that every day would have at least SOMETHING unique--something you couldn't see on any other day. I see promos as one method of stretching the material out--as in "Tuesday at 8, check out Zope's wild and violent cartoon antics!" That kinda thing. I dunno--maybe a week's worth of stuff'd be more realistic. Anyway, you get the idea. You could pop the suck in and veg out in front of your computer screen, with the ability to time travel to any part of the week- or year-long script! There's a program called "Seize the Day" (possibly defunct by now--I haven't seen it in any of the catalogs lately) where there are these 12 monthly scenes, called "Living Worlds", which continually change, based on your system clock. So basically, there are 365 days of material in these Living Worlds, with special events occurring from time to time. This is similar to my idea for an Obliviana Channel CD-ROM. It's quite VIAT-oriented, with the front-end program as the Artificer and the raw video, sound, graphics, and script the Invoker. (VIAT=Virtual Invoker-Artificer Technology). And with the 20-gig superstack CD-ROMs of the near future, just imagine what might be possible for The Obliviana Channel! *OW* [[11044SU]] Superior SUPERIOR 241 I know it. Holiday weatherf*ck, gemme a steel drinks. Of. The downstairs transit center. Jandhd idwjj oikskw ssjka eeiwym? Backtrack--rewind. It's that train and coffee and techno malaise that made me do it. Toss me heavenward? No need. I can fly. SUPERIOR 242 Jing. The bell sound. Happiness in the wintertime and the Christmas world is gorgeous in its truth. I am friendly. I have trees far as the eye can see, also cloud. Twin office towers, tell me your stories. I love that. We do people. It's a shame you can't see their beauty. I am the maritime hole, a new life for them. All you can do is shriek in code. SUPERIOR 243 Humming like chimes, the deep black stone walls of an elevator bay, bad humidity outside, check the riverside. Laura Hinge, I like you. The boat, most bad movies have one. We got the past. All fulla stimulation for the restless time traveller. I want a little wooded area and not know where it is. It was mental. SUPERIOR 244 People have horrible worlds around them. You pick up the vibe, you get sucked in. Chameleon. Everyone's friend. That's why I like enemies. Kill 'em! Yeah it's funny. Sleeping on a futon or a couch, you gotta wonder. Look at all these people. They can't all be real. I think I was right, that only a few are real. The real ones make the best enemies. SUPERIOR 245 Crash why is the train slow. Mash give me a big bag of food, drink, and magazine. Confusion coming, the stealing bird. Martha, Joy and Samantha the grint ladies. Sirens of busses. Training today, unbelievable shopping guy, the f*ck with Pennsylvania. Over. SUPERIOR 246 Gaith. More of the yust cannot. You talk of direction. I'm talking quantity. I got it. If yer fishing, king mill creator guy. I love a girl like that in those kind of clothes. Girls are infinitely cool. Wish I could have sex with all of 'em, but I'm faithful to one. That doesn't hold me back one iota from dreaming, though. As I jog over the Arctic Ocean, my fire revives the world. SUPERIOR 247 Comma ik & undificuld Jressterpt. Vision, put into keystrokes. Lovely rhythms, get you into love. Automode, restore your knide and jinde, I was erom, and that's forris. SUPERIOR 248 Dollcity. Please corrode a marble cylinder for Hatchie the dame. For urly miztarot honeys, give'em sweet candies. Dream, be where the flowers and jewels are, among the baffled girls. They do something you. If you're strong enough, you can love them. If you're cool enough, you don't have to be afraid. Think of the f*ckers who lose their marbles and wind up bitter and full of hate, too late to forge themselves into real men. Pity them. You're a locomotive. You're Dollcity jollity. *OW* [[12044IS]] Into E-mber Severe Repair [:[SVR005]:] SEVERE REPAIR E-MBER 005 by Frank Edward Nora Hi there again friend! Welcome to the fifth weekly E-mber of supernovel Severe Repair! This time around, I got "Belly" for ya--continuing where last week's "Truly Makes It" left off. Enjoy! INFORMATION: Severe Repair E-mber 005, May 25, 1995. Published weekly by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement, obliviana@aol.com, 1-800-OBLIVIANA. All contents copyright 1995 Frank Edward Nora. This release is Predatorware--you are free to make digital copies, so long as they're not altered or sold. All other forms of reproduction require permission. You're Prey unless you get a Predator Deed for this release. Contact us for more on this concept. You can cancel or subscribe to this E-mber anytime, via E-mail. *OW* [[16044SR]] Severe Repair SEVERE REPAIR 44: "Belly" I reveled in my new body. Absolutely superior in every aspect. I could see no reason to return, but what would happen? If I left it there, in the bed, in a coma like that--someone would certainly find it and rush it to a hospital--my family would be worried sick, and they'd do all sorts of things to try and revive it. Hmm. Maybe I could just destroy it, and then metamorphose my nightbody into a simulacrum of my human one? Thus being able to switch back and forth from Nancy to Truly at will? I liked the idea, but somehow, I knew it wouldn't work. I had this fear of the dawn, and as I found out later, I was all too right. In my wanderings, I passed a payphone, so I decided to call one of my best friends, Ala. It must have been 3 or 4 AM by then, but I figured she'd be okay about it. Since I had no money, I called collect. "Hello?" came Ala's groggy voice. An operator spoke. "Collect call from Nancy." "Huh?" "Collect call from Nancy--do you accept the charges?" "Nancy--Nancy Smollan? Uh, I accept..." "Go ahead." "Hi Ala." I said in my new voice. "This is Nancy." "Doesn't sound like Nancy..." "I know. Listen--something's happened to me. Something amazing. I just had to talk t someone about it." "Who is this? Where's Nancy?" "This IS Nancy." I said, realizing that my voice was nowhere even in the same realm as my human's. "Come on Ala--I've changed. I mean, REALLY changed. Look--ask me anything--I'll prove myself to you." "What could have happened to change your voice like that?" "Come on! You gotta believe me. How 'bout those pictures you took--of you and your boyfriend from home--how many people know about that?" "Nancy--I mean, whoever you are--what's this all about?" "Ala, you have to believe me. I need to talk to someone about this--so that I know I'm not going crazy. Something happened between me and Rom Jeffers." She paused. "What?" "Never mind now! Just--just can you come and pick me up? I'm downtown. It'll take me an hour to walk back." "Oh no! There's no way I'm gonna do that! You think I'm stupid? I have no idea who you are!" "Come on Ala, I'm not asking for that much!" But I realized I was. In her shoes, there's no way I would drive into this creepy area on the request of a person of unknown origin. "It is too much." she said after a pause. "Okay." I said. "So I'll walk back. But I'm coming to see you." She paused again. "Is this really Nancy?" Yes, it is! But--but now that I've changed... I just don't want you to be scared of me." "What do you mean?" "I mean, I look... different. Totally different. Maybe even scary." "Look--if you are Nancy--I don't know what's going on, but--but just--come if you have to but I'm not gonna be alone." "Come on Ala! I don't want to involve anyone else!" "My roommate's already awake and hearing all this." "Okay, F'jinjy is okay--but no one else, alright?" "Why?" "When you see me you'll understand!" "I don't--okay, okay. When are you gonna be here?" "Should be about an hour." I said, then considered the possibility of using my leaping ability to travel faster. "But maybe a lot sooner. Whenever. Just be ready to answer you door. Or..." "What?" "Maybe I should just come in the window." "Why?" "Aren't there video cameras in your hall? After what happened to Susan last year?" "Yeah..." "Well I don't want to be on camera." "Why not? "Because, I look really weird, okay? I'm totally dark, and I have glowing eyes! Okay! Let me get going. I hope you're going to help me!" "Whatever." Ala said. "See you soon." I said, and hung up. Was this wise? Letting her in on my secret? I didn't know--but part of me was seeking some way to prove this all real--if I had to get back into my human body by dawn, as I felt I would, I wanted some proof that this all happened, that it would happen again the next night. The trip back to college was fast--maybe 15 minutes. I tried leaping, and while it worked, I found I could run at exceedingly great speeds--maybe around 50 or 60 mph. Soon I was back on campus. As I passed my dorm, I resisted the urge to check on my human body. First of all, I had no keys, and secondly, I feared such an encounter. I hated that body so--I didn't want to be trapped in it ever again. Soon I got to Ala's window--about 10 feet above the ground, and pulled myself up to the sill. I was so quiet that the people inside didn't even see me. It was Ala, F'jinjy, and some tall, goofy guy from their floor, whose name I didn't know. I knocked. The three of them looked over and became horrified. I could imagine how I looked--a crouching phantom with unearthly eyes. "It's me!" I said. "What the hell is that?" the guy said. "I... I don't know." Ala said. "She said she looked like... like that... but I didn't... I didn't believe her." "Should we let it in?" F'jinjy asked in her high-pitched voice. "I'm Nancy!" I said. "Not 'it'!" "Look guys." Ala said, breathing heavily. "I don't know if it's all that smart, but I'm gonna let her in." "Don't--" the guy began. "Look!" Ala said. "If she meant us harm, I'm sure she would have broken in my now." Then she opened the window, and I jumped lithley into the room. It felt kind of strange, standing there naked--especially in front of a guy. And in the stark fluorescent light of the room, my outline was very distinct. Still, my features could only be discerned in profile. I kept that in mind. The three back away from me and silently stared. "Look guys." I said. " I know this must be really weird for you. It's weird for me too. But I' the same Nancy you've always known--just in a new body." "What happened?" the guy said hesitantly. "I---changed." I said. "My other body is still in my room. This is... like an extra body." "You... you look so weird." F'jinjy said, a look of fright tinged with fascination on her face. "I know. The thing is, this body is made of pure night. My eyes--my eyes are what I truly am. Haha--and that's my name--my new name--Truly." "Truly?" Ala said. "Yeah--in this body, that's my name." "Why?" Ala said. "Because--it's my real name. Nancy is just--just my human name." "You're not human?" the guy asked. I turned around so that they could get a better look at my shape. Heck, I was proud of it, why not show it off. The guy's eyes widened. "You see me as a shadow because my body reflects no light at all." I said. "It's MADE of night. If you touch me, you'll see what I mean." "Yeah?" F'jinjy said, clearly interested. "Yes F'jinjy." I said, extending my hand. "Come on, I won't bite." "O-okay." she said, and she cautiously reached out and touched my hand. "Weird!" she said, smiling and looking into my eyes. "It feels--warm. And good. Like... like velvet maybe." "Uh-huh." I said. The other two dared to touch me also, and somehow the feeling of my night flesh put them at ease. Soon I was sitting and telling them the whole story--everything. I felt so uninhibited--I just spilled my guts. I could tell the guy--Tovo Tovvic--was getting pretty hot and bothered when I told them the part about me and Rom. But why not--as Truly, I was gorgeous. Too bad he couldn't see me like you'd see a human. Oh well. I guess I couldn't tell him to touch me--it'd be too cruel--to do that and not let him have sex with me. But who knows--the way I was feeling the thought did cross my mind. And he wasn't all that dorky looking. And--maybe he could go out with me in my human form as well! Hmm... But that would have to wait. As our little get-together wore on, I became more and more aware of the approaching dawn. Around 4:45 I started to feel really drained. Looking outside, the first faint glow of dawn could be seen. I dreaded that glow. I felt that I couldn't stand in the face of it. For a while, I didn't let it bother me, but soon I started to panic a little--there was no way I could deal with the light of day--I had to do something--but what? Hide. I had to hide my nightbody away, shelter it from the light of the Sun. But how? "Guys," I said, "I don't think I can take the light out there. I have to--I have to try and do something. Okay--if this works, I'll be a... a ball of light--a little ball of light, like I told you. I probably won't be able to communicate with you, but you have to lead me back to my room! I can't move through solid objects, but..." My breathing was getting strained. I couldn't take much more. "...but if you open the door to the dorm, I can... I can fit under my door, and hopefully get back into my... my human body... I..." A little bit of sun was just making its way to the horizon, and I had to act. I shut my night eyelids and willed myself back into my energy ball form. It worked--I WAS my eyes. Quickly, I merged the two eyes into one ball of fire, and surveyed the situation with the nightbody. Yes... It was clear to me what had to happen, so I made it happen. The nightbody shifted in an instant and was a two-dimensional plane, bisecting me. Then it sifted again, and it was a 1-D line, going straight through me. Then, in its final shift, it became a point, at the center of me. After that I felt better. The sunlight didn't bother me as much in this form, but I wanted desperately to be back in my human belly, protected from the harsh daystab. My senses were again diminished to visions and impressions. But my friends did lead me out of the dorm and back to my dorm, thank goodness. I shot underneath the door, and headed right for my human bellybutton. It was easy to squirm back in and get settled. It felt so good to be back inside there. And before I knew it, my consciousness slipped back into to my human form. I opened my non-glowing, human eyes, looked at the painfully familiar surrounding of my room, with the posters of guys and stuff, and then went right to sleep. I was awakened soon thereafter by a knocking on my door, and I knew it must have been my friends. So I got up, and--holy crap--every muscle in my body was shot through with exquisite pain. It was as if I did the world's most exercise the day before. I winced and limped over to the door. Through the peephole, I saw that it was indeed my friends, so I let them in. "You made it back?" Ala asked. "Yes." I said, my voice weak and broken. I cleared my throat, but even this simple acted was trying and painful. "You look terrible!" Tovo said. "Thanks." I replied, as I turned and headed back to bed. "No," he said, "I mean, you look really tired and, and, and worn out." "I know this body is ugly." I said as I crawled back into bed. "No it's not." Tovo replied. I winced again as I found myself a comfortable position in bed. "So you're back?" Ala asked. "Yeah. Back in... this belly... here." "So what was that that happened?" Tovo asked. "When you folded up or something?" "Yeah, that was intense!" F'jinjy added. "I don't know really." I said, coughing. "A way to... collapse... that body... down to a single point. For storage." Ala sat down on the bed and put her hand on my side. "Are you sure you're okay?" she said. "No. I feel like I just got beat up by a gang of thugs. I hurt all over." Ala stared down at me with her big, wide eyes. "You want to go to the infirmary?" "No!" I yelled, then fell into a coughing fit. "I know... I pretty much know what this is. My body and spirit are out of synch. Pretty traumatic switching bodies, you know?" "So where is the body now?" F'jinjy asked. "In my belly." I said. "At the center of the... the fireball that is the real me." "Can you bring it back?" Tovo asked. "We'll find out tomorrow night." I said. "Do you think," F'jinjy said slowly, "that I might have a fireball in me?" I regarded her. "I don't think so... but there's definitely something weird... or strange... going on with you." "There is." she said, then she looked around at the others. "I've been keeping this secret too long. I've been dying to tell someone, and now... well, here goes. Have you ever heard of a place called Felptash...?" [:[END]:] *OW* [[END044OW]] -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----