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-------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A .
singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora
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OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 105--7/27/96
<-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 9  ||  ------->
(Cup OWis105, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

[[BEGIN105OW]]



[[01105CV]] * * * O S O A W E E K 1 0 5 * * * July 27, 1996
"The weekly ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement!"
by Frank Edward Nora

CONTENTS

01 105 CV--Cover
02 105 LA--Lord of Obliviana
03 105 NH--Nihilistica
04 105 LM--Life Mysteries
05 105 ZP--Zope
06 105 SU--Superior
07 105 SA--Severe Repair Almanac
08 105 SR--Severe Repair

OsoaWeek105, July 27, 1996
First issue of OsoaWeek Book Nine
Written by Frank Edward Nora

Published weekly by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement
obliviana@aol.com
http://www.obliviana.com/~osoa
1-800-OBLIVIANA

All contents copyright 1996 Frank Edward Nora

Regarding this file, you are free to make digital copies, so long as they're not altered or sold. All other forms of reproduction require permission from Frank Edward Nora.

The following data refers to OsoaWeek Book Nine as a whole:

ASCII Characters: 365107 / Words: 65758 / Lines: 11114
Date completed: 3/2/97 / Days late: 218

*OW*



[[02105LA]] Lord of Obliviana

(((1/14/97--To explain the "Weekly Results" thing--on my WWW site I started running Obliviana Primal on the date of this issue of OsoaWeek (which is now incomprehensibly late)--on the site, I had a Weekly Results page, and I am presenting these at the beginning of each Lord of Obliviana feature in this Book of OsoaWeek--note that this incarnation of Obliviana Primal is now over with and will be significantly refined in the future--note also that there were no Weekly Results for weeks 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12)))

***WEEKLY RESULTS***

Diggers: 0 FC
StormLustLuck!: 1 SP: 157/SaskatchewanRun

*WR*

Sun 10/20/96 * 9:40 PM * Home * Tarb ????

Well well well. What have we here? An issue of OsoaWeek that is 85 DAYS LATE!!!!

Haha!

I tell ya. I've been through a lot in the past few months. But this Obliviana "Blackout" has produced something that is absolutely vital to the continued development of Obliviana--an idea called Obliviana Primal which is the thing I've been striving after for many years--the glue that can hold together all the disparate elements of Obliviana.

And strangely enough, the story of the creation of Obliviana Primal begins with... Obliviana Primal. See, around the time this issue of OsoaWeek SHOULD have come out, I launched something called Obliviana Primal on my WWW site. After a few weeks, this first realized version of Obliviana Primal started to fizzle out, and the Great Obliviana Blackout descended.

Notice I said the first REALIZED version of Obliviana Primal. That's because the idea for Obliviana Primal has been around since the very first issue of OsoaWeek, way back in July of 1994. Here's a quote from that issue:

(((
Obliviana Primal is the virtual universe of Osoa. Right now, it is in the first stages of its creation--but one day, it will go online as a fully 3-D, virtual universe where you can live and play and use as a home base for your wanderings throughout the Digital Superworld.
)))

It's amazing that Obliviana Primal as it exists now could be described very accurately by the above quote, with one word changed. It took me a long time to change that one word. But it's the most incredibly important change I've ever conceived of for Obliviana. By changing that one word, I've paved the way for Obliviana to become a reality and potentially become something very big.

The word that was changed is "3-D". It changed into "2-D". It might seem an extremely minor alteration, but I truly believe that once Obliviana achieves greatness, the change in my philosophy from 3-D to 2-D will be seen as the single most important change in the entire history of Obliviana.

I made this change in philosophy last December, after getting totally disgusted with the Sony PlayStation, and especially the game "Destruction Derby". Being an avid video gamer all my life, I was appalled by the lack of fun in these new 3-D games. And I came to realize that it wasn't that game designers were sacrificing game play for bells and whistles (the commonly held belief as to why 3-D games suck), but that the 3-D medium itself was to blame.

I believe that the great video games of the "Golden Age" of the late '70s and early '80s achieved their magic by STIMULATING THE IMAGINATION. They presented very simple, abstract representations of things which required gamers to fill in the missing information with their mind's creative ability.

The 3-D games show so much that the need for imagination is greatly reduced, deadening that video game magic.

And here is an extremely vital idea that goes along with all this--a computer interface is, at it's most basic level, a video game. And let's face it, GUI's (Graphical User Interfaces, most notably the Mac OS and that which is based on it, Windows) are not very good interfaces because they are not very good video games.

Computing today is very frustrating and trying, but Obliviana Primal will change all of this, because beyond being a game and entertainment system, Obliviana Primal is a COMPUTER INTERFACE.

Anyway, let me get back to the story of the Obliviana Primal which I launched on my WWW site, which I'll refer to from now on as "Pelter OP", since it incorporated Pelters at its core.

Pelter OP was conceived of as a 2-D interface, just like the current OP system, which I'll call "Primitive OP" from now on, since it uses an extremely primitive graphical system. And this is the major difference between Pelter OP and Primitive OP--the level of graphical detail in the interface, even though Pelter OP never had an interface and Primitive OP's interface is yet to come.

The idea with Pelter OP was that I would start the system by introducing some of the basic elements, with the true interface to come later. At its heart is "StormLustLuck!"--a gambling game played on an 11 by 19 grid, with a different Pelter in each square of the board.

Pelters are square, 512 by 512 pixel RGB abstract textural images that I have been creating since 1992, when I actually created a CD-ROM (with 100 copies) of the first 256 Pelters (there are now 640 of them).

For Pelter OP, I pored over the 640 Pelters and chose the best 209 of them to fill up the StormLustLuck! board.

The number 209 is the basis (and name) for the occult system of Obliviana. And at the heart of 209 is the grid of 11 by 19. 11 times 19 equals 209.

The other major element of Pelter OP was the idea of the Fonosta, another concept I have had since the first issue of OsoaWeek. In Pelter OP, each player chooses one of two basic Fonosta shapes, and then a Storm Pelter (as the Pelters in the StormLustLuck! board are know). The Storm Pelter then "fills" the Fonosta shape, to form the image of the Fonosta. A handful of people registered their Pelter OP Fonostas, and these appear graphically on my WWW site. (Note that the gray border and type color in the images is the RGB color R:209, G:209, B:209).

As well, each Fonosta is given a name which has to be a single word in the English language.

The idea is that your Fonosta is your video game "guy"--the character you represent in the game. In Pelter OP, I conceived of the Fonostas behaving like an Asteroids space ship--with rotate and thrust as its means of movement. These Fonostas would then operate in a 2-D world through a variety of games, worlds, and interactivities.

But in its initial implementation, Pelter OP limited its game play to betting on the StormLustLuck game, using a unit of currency known as a FrontierCup.

Ah, yes, I remember now! I had forgotten an entire aspect of the Pelter OP system--the idea of the Obliviana Cup. Basically, everything in Pelter OP was a Cup--from your Fonosta to the FrontierCup units of currency to the worlds you would operate it.

Pelter OP is not a bad idea at all. It's only flaw was in aspiring for great graphical detail in its interface. My reasoning here is that just as 3-D dulls the imagination by showing too much, so does a highly detailed graphical display.

Note here that when I refer to the need for simplicity in the graphics of the interface, I am referring to the interface itself, not the system as a whole. As you will see, while Primitive OP has an extremely limited interface graphic system, it can incorporate all manner of high-res content via the "Flipside" idea.

Thu 10/24/96 * 10:17 PM * Home * Tarb ????

So what's going on?

I've been at this Obliviana stuff for a long time. I am confident that I have the right idea now to make my dream become a reality. But it's like... arriving somewhere significant in my personal quest, I have to look back on the ground I've trodden to get here. And I see a long, difficult, confusing road. And ahead... the goal in the distance... but no guarantees.

I want to be able to make a living from my creativity. I believe that my writing, drawing, filmmaking, programming, etc. etc. is good, and that a lot of people would enjoy my work if it was properly presented. I think Obliviana has the potential to be a big thing.

In the past I have believed that I had THE idea that would bring Obliviana together, only to wind up abandoning it. So now, even though I am quite sure that Primitive OP is THE idea, I still have the fear that it, too, will slip from my grasp, another flawed scheme.

In the past I have said to myself, THIS is the idea I'm going to use, no matter what--I'm going to stick with this plan even if it's not perfect, just to get things moving. But that didn't work. The plan disintegrated like all the others.

What I'm talking about here is something that might seem a bit silly. I mean, I have all this cool stuff to present to people, so why don't I just do it? The answer is, it's just not in my nature. I have a vision, and I have always been faithful to that vision. Unfortunately, the vision has never been crystal clear. I've always been able to know if a plan is wrong, but I haven't been able to perceive the nature of the right plan.

So I have this new idea, the Primitive OP idea. Is it the right plan? Only time will tell. Primitive OP is still vague in some areas, and as I start to flesh out the details, to make concrete decisions, the plan is put to the test--I inevitably compare it to my vision, to determine if it's right or wrong. Basically, if it FEELS right. And this is mostly a subconscious process.

The Primitive OP plan is constantly evolving, and just last night, very late, I wrote about it in my personal notes and came up with its structure at a very basic level.

Here is a description of what the final product will be:

Obliviana Primal is a "virtual" video game system. It is coded in Java, making it platform independent, able to run on Macs, PCs, Unix machines, even Java-capable "Internet Appliances" when they are available. Games for Obliviana Primal are released on "virtual" Cartridges, which "plug in" to the "virtual" system.

The graphical nature of the Obliviana Primal video game system is extremely primitive--a grid of 11 x 19 squares (otherwise known as "pels"), each 16 x 16 screen pixel in size (a little less than a square quarter inch), each of which can have one of 16 colors (white, light brown, dark brown, orange, light green, dark green, purple, light gray, dark gray, yellow, light blue, dark blue, red, light pink, dark pink, black).

In the game, the player is represented by a single pel, called a Fonosta. The basic controls consist of five buttons--up, down, left, right, and fire.

Obliviana Primal is inspired by the first home videogame systems, such as the Odyssey2, Atari VCS (later known as the 2600), and the Mattel Intellivision. In terms of its graphical display, OP is simpler and more restricted than any of these systems. But in terms of the programming BEHIND the display, OP has far more capacity than any of the early video game systems.

This is the nature of the plan for OP--the establishment of a primitive interface, with full freedom to implement the interface in all manner of wonderful ways.

Each OP Cartridge will contain a number of different elements. First is the "world" aspect, in which there is a set of screens which contain various objects and elements, which can be manipulated and customized by the player. The second aspect is games, which are styled after traditional classic video games, and which are entered via "game consoles" in the Cartridge's world. These games within the game are traditional in the sense that they will involve limiting factor such as a set number of lives or a timer, giving each game a definitive beginning and end. This is in contrast to the world aspect, which is effectively neverending.

The third factor is "Flipside" content--specifically, digitized works can be in the form of text, audio, video, pictures, or any interactive combination thereof. These works are not restricted to the simple display, but exist "on the other side", or "Flipside", of the primitive graphical display.

The fourth factor is the "Subway", which is the shared world of Obliviana. Each player gets his own "copy" of each cartridge, and customizes it to his own specifications. Each additional cartridge is another "floor" in the player's "building". In fact, the central screen of each Cartridge has an "elevator", which the player can use to guide his Fonosta up and down through all of his Cartridges, and finally, down to the last stop, the communal world of Subway.

Obliviana stores each player's customized system with its set of Cartridges on a central server. This will allow players to access their private domains within Obliviana from any Java-capable Internet connection. It will also make it harder to cheat or hack the game, making accomplishments in the game environment more desirable. In addition, it will eliminate the issue of software piracy. The games and content in Obliviana will be freely available to all comers. But in order to be a PART of the game, in order to have a Fonosta, the player will have to have the sanction of Obliviana. In others words, you can experience most of the elements of Obliviana for free, but if you want to be part of the action, you'll pay Obliviana for it.

And really, my vision will never amount to much if Obliviana has no income. And the entertainment value of Obliviana will be well worth paying for, and will most likely be relatively inexpensive in relation to other entertainment media.

The rationale behind this system is becoming clear to me. On its surface, Obliviana Primal is very easy to grasp--it is a cool video game you play on your computer that is connected via the Internet, allowing you to interact with other players, competing for high scores, striving after different goals alone or in teams, discussing Obliviana entertainment releases, etc.

At a deeper level, Obliviana Primal is, I feel, a BETTER computer interface than the GUI (graphical user interface, as in the Mac OS and its monster child, Windows). Consider this: almost any computer application can be implemented as a "Flipside". In other words, you can run everything on your computer from OP as an operating system interface.

Another important idea is that of the private domain and the public domain. In each players personal domain, they have absolute control and no one else can come in without an invite. Just as in real life, folks have their home where they can retreat from the world, but also the "outside world" of Subway.

So, Obliviana Primal is the means by which I will bind together all the disparate elements of Obliviana. My works will be released on the Flipsides of Cartridges, each Cartridge containing a variety of material. In this way, a whole lot of material will be released every few months, as opposed to the supposedly weekly format of "OsoaWeek". In this new scheme, OsoaWeek would present news and information about Obliviana instead of the actual entertainment content.

So... back to my original question of this evening's musings... is this plan, the Primitive OP plan, the RIGHT plan?

I think it is.

I really think it is.

Goodnight.

Tue 10/30/96 * 7:56 PM * home * Tarb ????

Went to Incredible Universe, Ikea, and Kid's World on Sunday. Tried Web TV on a huge set, and brought up my web site. It was amazing seeing my stuff up there so huge.

Over the past few days I've developed a new plan for Anything But Monday. The idea is for a "Return to Audio". See, I realized that one of the main reasons that ABM failed was that if you weren't familiar with mine or Mike Massotto's personalities, whether through knowing us or hearing us on the radio, the written material is a lot less entertaining.

So I'm working on a way to bring ABM back as an audio-only thing.

Fri 11/1/96 * 9:01 PM * Home * Tarb ????

Found an article on the Internet that refers to my Web site, about Georgia Senate candidates going down a black road of death to obliviana--with the word Obliviana a link to my Web site. Weird. Also found someone with Obliviana as the left half of their E-mail address, so I sent him/her an E-mail, asking about the name.

My apartment is a mess, my finances are pathetic, and I'm letting my job get to me. I'm trying to exist in the here and now, but it's tough. I am making progress, though.

I keep writing about my difficulties as if to justify potential success. Or maybe, I'm writing about the difficulties to try and convince myself, at all levels, that it's time to move forward and embrace success.

Sounds like psychobabble, "embrace success", but fear of success is a big problem. I know it is for me. But where do you draw the line between fear of success and inability to succeed? Self-doubt versus... ah, this is bullshit.

Obliviana is important. It's very important to me, but I think it's important in a bigger way also. Obliviana is about returning to Wonder, about waking up before it's too late. It has an entertainment side, but it also has this important side. And for some reason, I've never been able to fully understand my own creation, Obliviana. But I think that soon, I will understand it.

Deeper meaning. I have this sense of it. To create a pathway to guide folks through a coming storm. Maybe all it will take is a single voice, my voice, to prevent something very bad from happening. It's just a vague impression right now, but it does ring a bell...

Something about the computerized 3-D worlds we, as a society, are starting to build and make available to people more and more rapidly. Super Mario 64... the Nintendo 64 system... a harmless game--or another step on the road to something very bad?

Virtual "cyber" worlds are very compelling. As they get better and better, closer to looking and sounding and even FEELING like reality... what is it going to mean?

Sat 11/2/96 * 12:59 PM * Tarb ????

Just turned 1:00.

What I wrote last night was somewhat disturbing to me. The idea that part of the purpose of Obliviana is to help divert some sort of disaster or societal breakdown caused by full implementation of cyberspace.

First of all, everyone wants to believe they can save the world. So any such thought is suspect. The self-doubt that I'm just a fuck-up trying to make excuses for my failures... coming up with grand schemes, with me at the center...

But judging this whole issue, I find that it is not a delusion.

What is Obliviana? Obliviana is the place we've all forgotten.

So the purpose of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement, my core endeavor, is to make sure the memory of Obliviana stays alive. For when Obliviana is totally forgotten, we are all lost.

This whole supernatural side of my work is something that I've tried to de-emphasize, tried to get away from. Just producing entertainment that others enjoy would be very satisfying for me, it would make me happy. But there's something more to Obliviana, and no matter how hard I try, I can't ignore the bigger reason for Obliviana's existence.

So the coming crisis is not caused by computer worlds--computer worlds are an effect of the cause that is our collective drifting away from Obliviana.

I see cyberspace as a means for humanity to be anesthetized during the final disconnection from Obliviana, from Wonder. And once we are disconnected, we are gone.

1:29 PM

Wonder, we're coming back.

That sentence is Superior 209, and it defines the mission of Obliviana. I didn't know it at the time I wrote it, but eventually I did come to realize that "Wonder, we're coming back." is the plan for Obliviana.

To explain all of this briefly, the universe was created by a being, and the original world was established, and humans were created and lived in that perfect original world. Then something happened, and humanity fell from the original world to a new world, the world we are in right now. All life in this world is generated from the original world. It is only our contact with the original world that keeps us and the world around us alive. I call that original world Obliviana, and the nature of that world is called Wonder.

Oblivion is a state where something is forgotten and lost. We have almost completely forgotten Obliviana, but not quite. Science has been the crowbar that has served to pry us away from Wonder more and more as the years go by.

Religion gives us a distorted view of Obliviana and Wonder. But by saying that, I'm moving towards establishing my own religion, which is not what I want to do. I want to do something much simpler. I want to establish a media presence that is Wonderful, so that no matter how far away from Wonder we get, this media presence will retain at least some contact with Wonder for us all.

But then, there's 209.

Sun 11/3/96 * 9:47 AM * Home * Tarb ????

What Tarb is it? Let me see...

Tarb 0001 began at 2:00 AM, July 28, 1994. July 28, 1996 was 14 weeks ago, or 98 days. Two years plus one day for Leap Year makes 731 days. That's 829 days, not including today. There are six Tarbs per day, Making the last Tarb yesterday Tarb 4974. Right now it's 9:53 AM, still the second Tarb of the day, so it's Tarb 4976, soon to be 4977.

Sun 11/3/96 * 9:53 AM * Home * Tarb 4976

Wow, almost to Tarb 5000. Halfway to the point where Tarbs will take up five digits.

So back to where I left off yesterday...

But then, there's 209.

A new idea has struck me. My 209 theory posits that there are numerous other worlds out there, all coexisting in a contiguous physical space, but separated by situation boundaries. These situational boundaries are places none of us will ever HAPPEN to go. We COULD go to these places, but we never HAPPEN to.

So it occurred to me just now that when man fell from the original world, it was not down into another world, as I've assumed, it was a fall in situation, meaning that the original world is in a physically contiguous space with us. You can walk to heaven.

"You can walk to heaven."

Why didn't this ever occur to me before? I mean, my intellectual meandering have danced all around this idea for so long--but I always thought that the original world was NOT in the same physically contiguous space all the other worlds of Obliviana were in.

Let me clarify the term "Worlds of Obliviana". I have briefly described the idea of how, in a physically contiguous space, realms can be separated by situational boundaries. In the past, it has been my contention that numerous situationally-bounded realms exists here with us, but that the original world was not in the same place as us. And now, just like that, I realize that the original world IS in the same contiguous space as us, that you could walk there if you knew the way, if you could penetrate the situational boundaries.

And you know what? You CAN penetrate the situational boundaries, with 209. I imagine, though, that as hard as it is to cross through a situational boundary between here and another non-original realm, it's a quantum level more difficult to cross through the situational boundaries that separate this realm from the original realm.

10:19 AM * Tarb 4977

10:36 AM * Tarb 4977

So in this time where we are drifting ever further away from Wonder, what could be a better solution than ACTUALLY GOING BACK THERE, physically, using 209?

11:55 PM

What are the implications of discovering that you can just walk back to heaven? What does this tell us about death?

Presumably, many people go to heaven after they die, heaven as a name for the original world. But if heaven is in the same physical place as us, then the people who died and went there are also in the same physical place as us. Thus, meaning that a dead person could walk back into the world of the living, if they could just penetrate the situational barriers.

This is getting very scary.

10:56 PM * Tarb 4980

This idea that you can walk to heaven is wild. It posits physical existence across all states of reality. And this is majorly weird.

If we accept the idea of communication between the living and dead, what is going on, if the living are in the same space as the dead? Communication heard in the mind and not in the ear. Could each of us be physically existing in several realms at once?

And what about emotional bonds? These are situational constructs, just as situational boundaries are. There is a situational underpinning under everything.

Ah... where is this all going? I want to make Obliviana Super Occult Amusement a reality. I want to entertain people. Why do I have to be stuck with this supernatural mission?

Reawakening the pioneer spirit. It doesn't matter the specifics of it. Opening up a new world. Humanity without a purpose is humanity without Wonder. Comfort for all is not a purpose. Exploring myriad alternate realms is a purpose.

Obliviana Super Occult Amusement is a place to go to rediscover your own wild pioneer spirit. It is a town on the frontier. It is the culture of such a town. That is what Obliviana is. Finally, a lucid vision of what Obliviana is.

Get all Obliviana.

*OW*



[[03105NH]] Nihilistica

***OSOAWEEK SUPER STATS***

I have to say that I'm getting pretty tired of this whole "Super Stat" system. It's totally non-automated, meaning that I have to painstakingly copy the raw numbers from each issue into a spreadsheet, and then type the results back into this file. Tedious, eh?

Anyway, I guess it's worth it to see the amazing totals, such as the grand ASCII total, now up to over 4.5 million characters. And most of these characters represents individual keystrokes that I have entered onto a computer keyboard, I'd estimate at least 90%, over 4 million keystrokes (the others being repetitive text that I copy from something previously included in OsoaWeek).

At this point, I have to decide if I want to keep doing the stats this way, or wait till I can implement a more automatic system.

Oh well. In any case, sit back, relax, and enjoy the OsoaWeek Super Stats for Book Eight!

*ASCII CHARACTERS*

BOOK ONE
Total: 901690
Highest single issue: 99382 (001)
Lowest single issue: 55828 (013)
Average per issue: 69361

BOOK TWO
Total: 808973
Highest single issue: 84266 (016)
Lowest single issue: 52117 (020)
Average per issue: 62229

BOOK THREE
Total: 801724
Highest single issue: 90434 (030)
Lowest single issue: 52217 (033)
Average per issue: 61671

BOOK FOUR
Total: 771386
Highest single issue: 141986 (052)
Lowest single issue: 33230 (042)
Average per issue: 59337

BOOK FIVE
Total: 152577
Highest single issue: 38423 (053)
Lowest single issue: 2156 (059)
Average per issue: 11737

BOOK SIX
Total: 559569
Highest single issue: 65873 (067)
Lowest single issue: 20285 (071)
Average per issue: 43044

BOOK SEVEN
Total: 307320
Highest single issue: 91558 (079)
Lowest single issue: 2318 (086)
Average per issue: 23640

BOOK EIGHT
Total: 262908
Highest single issue: 86195 (093)
Lowest single issue: 2460 (102)
Average per issue: 20224

CUMULATIVE
Total: 4303239
Highest single issue: 141986 (052)
Lowest single issue: 2156 (059)
Average per issue: 43905


*LINES*

BOOK ONE
Total: 24550
Highest single issue: 2863 (001)
Lowest single issue: 1366 (013)
Average per issue: 1888

BOOK TWO
Total: 23526
Highest single issue: 2708 (016)
Lowest single issue: 1390 (018)
Average per issue: 1810

BOOK THREE
Total: 22220
Highest single issue: 2414 (030)
Lowest single issue: 1331 (037)
Average per issue: 1709

BOOK FOUR
Total: 21143
Highest single issue: 3369 (052)
Lowest single issue: 909 (042)
Average per issue: 1626

BOOK FIVE
Total: 4625
Highest single issue: 1177 (053)
Lowest single issue: 83 (059)
Average per issue: 356

BOOK SIX
Total: 15242
Highest single issue: 1786 (073)
Lowest single issue: 604 (071)
Average per issue: 1172

BOOK SEVEN
Total: 8551
Highest single issue: 3229 (079)
Lowest single issue: 90 (084)
Average per issue: 658

BOOK EIGHT
Total: 7000
Highest single issue: 2064 (093)
Lowest single issue: 101 (102)
Average per issue: 538

CUMULATIVE
Total: 119857
Highest single issue: 3369 (052)
Lowest single issue: 83 (059)
Average per issue: 1219


*WORDS*

BOOK ONE
Total: 151774
Highest single issue: 16589 (001)
Lowest single issue: 9308 (009)
Average per issue: 11675

BOOK TWO
Total: 137258
Highest single issue: 14231 (016)
Lowest single issue: 8860 (020)
Average per issue: 10558

BOOK THREE
Total: 138741
Highest single issue: 15606 (030)
Lowest single issue: 9060 (033)
Average per issue: 10672

BOOK FOUR
Total: 132823
Highest single issue: 24070 (052)
Lowest single issue: 5765 (042)
Average per issue: 10217

BOOK FIVE
Total: 27795
Highest single issue: 7072 (057)
Lowest single issue: 378 (059)
Average per issue: 2138

BOOK SIX
Total: 103001
Highest single issue: 11950 (067)
Lowest single issue: 3691 (071)
Average per issue: 7923

BOOK SEVEN
Total: 55553
Highest single issue: 16673 (079)
Lowest single issue: 415 (086)
Average per issue: 4273

BOOK EIGHT
Total: 48227
Highest single issue: 15962 (093)
Lowest single issue: 436 (102)
Average per issue: 3710

CUMULATIVE
Total: 761,461
Highest single issue: 24070 (052)
Lowest single issue: 378 (059)
Average per issue: 7645


*LETTERS PER WORDS*

BOOK ONE
Highest single issue: 5.03838 (002)
Lowest single issue: 4.80960 (010)
Average: 4.94216

BOOK TWO
Highest single issue: 5.19311 (021)
Lowest single issue: 4.56422 (018)
Average: 4.89520

BOOK THREE
Highest single issue: 4.89893 (038)
Lowest single issue: 4.61103 (035)
Average: 4.77788

BOOK FOUR
Highest single issue: 5.07966 (051)
Lowest single issue: 4.63465 (043)
Average: 4.80085

BOOK FIVE
Highest single issue: 4.96183 (056)
Lowest single issue: 4.24696 (054)
Average: 4.54731

BOOK SIX
Highest single issue: 4.53248 (078)
Lowest single issue: 4.31857 (075)
Average: 4.43341

BOOK SEVEN
Highest single issue: 4.70653 (089)
Lowest single issue: 4.35565 (091)
Average: 4.52291

BOOK EIGHT
Highest single issue: 4.64220 (102)
Lowest single issue: 4.40001 (093)
Average: 4.50070

CUMULATIVE
Highest single issue: 5.19311 (021)
Lowest single issue: 4.24696 (054)
Average: 4.67756


*LATENESS (IN DAYS)*

BOOK ONE
001: -2
002: -1
003: -1
004: -1
005: -1
006: -1
007: -1
008: 0
009: -2
010: 0
011: -1
012: 0
013: -1
Average: -0.92


BOOK TWO
014: +3
015: +2
016: +1
017: +2
018: +1
019: +3
020: +4
021: +4
022: +6
023: +4
024: +3
025: +4
026: +7
Average: -0.92

BOOK THREE
027: +11
028: +9
029: +12
030: +13
031: +14
032: +21
033: +24
034: +17
035: +20
036: +19
037: +20
038: +21
039: +17
Average: +16.77

BOOK FOUR
040: +26
041: +26
042: +24
043: +24
044: +21
045: +20
046: +20
047: +27
048: +31
049: +33
050: +40
051: +38
052: +38
Average: +28.31

BOOK FIVE
053: +44
054: +37
055: +30
056: +23
057: +37
066: +38
059: +31
060: +36
061: +30
062: +24
063: +17
064: +10
065: +3
Average: +27.69

BOOK SIX
066: +6
067: +19
068: +17
069: +18
070: +28
071: +31
072: +27
073: +37
074: +34
075: +30
076: +28
077: +29
078: +23
Average: +25.15

BOOK SEVEN
079: +38
080: +32
081: +25
082: +19
083: +12
084: +5
085: -1
086: -8
087: 0
088: 0
089: 0
090: -1
091: +1
Average: +9.38

BOOK EIGHT
092: +18
093: +45
094: +50
095: +65
096: +58
097: +65
098: +58
099: +51
100: +44
101: +37
102: +30
103: +23
104: +16
Average: +43.08

OVERALL AVERAGE: +18.57
(Overall average raised 3.5 days after figuring in Book Eight. If you think that's bad, just wait until Book Nine is figured! (10/28/96 right now.))


*FEATURES*

AB--Antebellum (1, 27-31)
AD--Actuality Destructor (14, 16, 17)
AX--Appendix (1-13)
CC--Classictronica (14)
CN--Contents (1-39)
CO--Catalog of Obliviana (1-26)
CV--Cover (14-104)
CZ--Classic Zope (27-33, 40-44, 46, 49-50, 52, 66)
DC--Dashic (27-30, 32)...continued from TN
DH--Dehumidifier (14-31, 34, 40)
DY--Digital Superworld Youth (14, 15, 17)
EF--How to Establish Your Fonosta (1)
EM--Your E-Mail is Gonna Come (1-4, 6)
FA--Fonosta (14)...continued from FW
FE--Friction Enhancer (1-5, 12, 14, 16, 19, 27-30, 40)
FW--Fonosta World (2-5, 79)...continued as FA
HR--Hemisinister Review (1-33, 36-37, 39-51, 66, 69, 70, 77, 79, 92)
HT--Halfevil Times (1-33, 35, 39-46, 49-50, 52, 66)
IB--Ibof (14)
IF--In the Flowers (1)
IS--Into E-mber Severe Repair (40-51)
IW--Into E-mber Forge of Wander (40-52)
LA--Lord of Obliviana (14-104)...continued from LO
LM--Life Mysteries (93-104)
LO--Lord of Obliviana Revelry (1-13)...continued as LA
MB--Assignment: Mystery Box (1, 4)
MH--Masthead (1-13)
NH--Nihilistica (1-33, 35-40, 43-45, 52-57, 66, 67, 69-80, 87-89, 92, 94, 95)
NJ--New Jersey (1-4, 14, 27-30, 32-36, 39-40, 44, 52)
OL--Obliviana Primal (27-32, 39)...continued from TT
OP--Obliviana Primal Beat (1, 4)
SA--Severe Repair Almanac (27-31, 40, 53, 66, 79, 92, 93)
SO--The State of Osoa (1-13)
SP--Sneak Preview (1-13)
SR--Severe Repair (1-52, 66-78, 92-95)
SU--Superior (1-104)
TN--209 (14, 17)...continued as DC
TS--Trick Sojourn (40-52)
TT--Tourney Today (14)...continued as OL
ZP--Zope (1-4, 14-33, 40-42, 44, 46, 49, 66)


***LIFE MYSTERIES ALMANAC***

"Life Mysteries" is a feature written by my brother, John Nora.

The following is a listing of all the Life Mysteries that have been published in previous issues of OsoaWeek. The number in parentheses is the number of the issue the Life Mystery appears in.

001: "Tristan" (093)

002: "Tommy Hits the Big Town" (094)

003: "Sarah and The UFOs of Mexico City, To The Mexican Surf-Temples" (095)

004: "The Stratosphere, China, Porcelain" (096)

005: "The Women of Rhode Island School of Design, Class of '92" (097)

006: "Two Reasons to Start Smoking" (098)

007: "Time to Go" (099)

008: "Space Monkeys" (100)

009: "Blade Runner Therapy" (101)

010: "He Had to Listen to a Song On the Radio" (102)

011: "Parallel" (103)

012: "Bobcat Drivers" (104)

013: "The Running-In" (104)


***ZOPE ALMANAC***

Zope is a comic strip character I created way back in February, 1986. Over the years I've kept on developing the comic and its many characters. In OsoaWeek, I started doing text-only versions of Zope comics--both originals and transcripts of previously-done comics.

The first list below, "Zope", references the 31 original text Zope's that I've done in OsoaWeek so far. The second list, "Classic Zope", references the transcripts of previously done works, along with the dates of their original creation. The number in parentheses is the issue that each feature appeared in.

Right now it's 10/26/96, and I'm still working on producing OsoaWeek Book Nine--issues 105 thru 117. I've already written two new Zopes, and I'm planning on doing 11 more for Book Nine, so that Zope will become a regular feature along with Superior (the only feature that's appeared in every issue of OsoaWeek) and Severe Repair.

These three ongoing works--Zope, Superior, and Severe Repair--form the core of my creative work. I intend to include these three features in every issue of OsoaWeek from now on, until Obliviana Primal is launched. At that point, creative works will be released in the Obliviana Primal Cartridge format.

In addition, I'm thinking of ending the features Halfevil Times and Hemisinister Review, and merging the humor and review material into Zope. The reason for this is that I don't consider Halfevil Times and Hemisinister Review as core works, and I believe that such material can be well handled by Zope.

Anyway, enough musing--check out the list and refer back to all the great Zope material I have done--and look for all the new Zope that'll be coming your way, which, if you're in the far future, should already be available for your enjoyment!

Cool. So check it out.


*ZOPE*

001: "Zope and a Victim of Beverage Hostility" (001)

002: "Zope's Very Large Lawnmower" (002)

003: "Get Harpoon, The Game" (003)

004: "Zope and the Wine Flautist" (004)

005: "Zope and the Mystery Coolidge" (014)

006: "Zope and Mall Fun" (015)

007: "Supermarket Zope" (016)

008: "Scientist Zope" (017)

009: "Virtual Reality Complaining Zope" (018)

010: "Zope and the Obscure Sticker" (019)

011: "Zope and Things to Do with Buildings" (020)

012: "Zope's Wristwatch" (021)

013: "Zope and the Trouble with Fanboys" (022)

014: "Zope's New Disease" (023)

015: "9 to 5 and Zope" (024)

016: "Zope's Mysterious Religious Idea" (025)

017: "Zope's Meteor Shower Follies" (026)

018: "Pretend Zope" (027)

019: "Abba Zope" (028)

020: "Zope's Hamburger Cough Drops" (029)

021: "Zope's Curious Proposal" (030)

022: "Zope's Nudity Laundromat" (031)

023: "Zope's Bagheera Wombat" (032)

024: "Barbed Wire Expert Guy Zope" (033)

025: "Zope's New Catchphrase" (040)

026: "Gale Zope" (041)

027: "Cran-Jay Zope" (042)

028: "Transcript Zope" (044)

029: "Cobblestone Zope" (046)

030: "TV Pix Zope" (049)

031: "Venture Capital Zope" (066)


*CLASSIC ZOPE*

001: "Zope's Resin Conundrum" (1/17/93) (027)

002: "Game Zope" (August 1992) (028)

003: "Zope's Awl Madness" (2/9/91) (029)

004: "Zope in the Street" (2/21/89) (030)

005: "Van Zope" (5/21/91) (031)

006: "Doctor Zope and the Abdomen Ghoul" (10/21/93) (032)

007: "Zope's Clone Fun" (August 1992) (033)

008: "Cyberpunks and the Wrath of Zope" (11/18/93) (040)

009: "Zope's Ironing Board for Teens" (10/11/93) (041)

010: "Zope and the Horrible Fate of the Monroe Doctrine" (10/11/93) (042)

011: "Zope's Pine DNA Cafe" (1/17/93) (043)

012: "Zope's Blacksmith Craziness" (August/September 1988) (044)

013: "The Comazope Affair" (September 1987) & "Comazope Aftermath" (12/8/93) (046)

014: "Zope's Boasting on Matters of Molten Materials" (11/6/93) (049)

015: "Activision Zope" (2/6/91) (050)

016: "Original Zope in The Mystery of the Big Clock" (11/18/86) (052)

017: "Zope and the Box" (3/24/87) (066)

*OW*



[[04105LM]] Life Mysteries

LIFE MYSTERY 14
"Mr. Big Lips"
by John Nora

At the age of 26, I have finally got a girlfriend. Not that big a deal, rainbows don't turn blue.

I still practice talking, when alone in my room, talk about this and that. Minor things. All I can really say, ages 1 through 25 were not, overall, ecstatic.

But in my mind then I had many girlfriends. Sometimes the girlfriends were myself. I would even sometimes take myself out and show myself a good time. But closer and closer to the real deal I came, and I thank the giant, concrete cylindrical-septic thing I played in with my friends when I was 8.

It was the heart-valve of winter, it was very, very big.

Holding hands in the library's treed, kidney-swooped back-lot, led from all those lonesome anti-years, am I now that smug eel of the reactionary fears?

*OW*


[[05105ZP]] Zope

ZOPE 032: "Pristine Zope"

ZOPE
That's it... haha!... I got it! Yup... absolutely... I am finally PERFECT IN EVERY WAY.

MASTER JOE
What?

ZOPE
I have finally achieved a state of TOTAL PERFECTION! Can't you see?

MASTER JOE
I see you standing in a weird position like a total fag.

ZOPE
What the fu-- Ah! Ah! Haha... you almost got me angry there, but in my enlightened, flawless state I am incapable of negativity. We're talking pure as the driven snow here.

MASTER JOE
So what are ya gonna do, stand there like that forever?

ZOPE
Of course, you stu-- I mean... of course I am--for perfection is timeless.

MASTER JOE
That's cool... Oh, Zope, by the way, that new cable channel "RMH" is about to go on the air, in a few minutes.

ZOPE
Eh?

MASTER JOE
You know... RMH... the "Retards, Monkeys, and Hitler Documentary Channel"--all they show is documentaries about morons, apes, and Nazis.

ZOPE abandons his "perfect" stance and runs over to look at the TV.

ZOPE
No fucking way! I love shows about retards, monkeys, and Hitler! That's the best idea I ever heard!

MASTER JOE
What about perfection?

ZOPE
Fuck perfection, bring on the 'tards.

*OW*



[[06105SU]] Superior

SUPERIOR 573 * 10/20/96
Door, gotta see door. For. Fanciful with a battery. Cigars and sexuality. A sweet memory, we are full of actuality. Beclouding is ruinous. In books find more than they tell you. Earn a free game in pinball and just walk away, leaving a pleasant surprise for someone else. What about it.

SUPERIOR 574 * 10/20/96
The more, a street, it is childish bike riding, and is alcohol and prostitutes in a car, and it is a blooming occultism. Thor as pure, hammer as above corruption of the real. And I think Thor could be so Disney. Walking around all clean in Tomorrowland, firing the imagination of generations of kids, and it is a good thing, and what does the real Thor feel.

SUPERIOR 575 * 10/20/96
Forest long real fear, rest orph-eye. Toon Nixon and the burrowing vehicle of sci-fi. Falling, grand young poet, dare he be mundane as he always will be later, the tragedy, as a car salesman or in insurance. It means he failed a test.

SUPERIOR 576 * 10/20/96
Soon-Foot, future character, innocent 1970s TV future. Sitar Glenn Miller classics. Four friends, succeeding together, theme, four gods. Chicken fun, chicken characters, stripes and drinking glasses, computer. New black-purple marsupial body decorations of the future. Quiet worship of the nude. Over in a clutter of moonshine.

*OW*



[[07105SA]] Severe Repair Almanac

Severe Repair is going hypertext!

If you're familiar with Severe Repair (and I know there are two or three of you out there--literally), you know that it's really huge and wild and out-of-control.

I've been presenting it in a traditional chapter format, but I came to realization that Severe Repair cannot work as a set of sequential chapters--it has just honestly grown out of such boundaries. So I've decided to reformat SR in a hypertext format--so that it can exists as it truly is, without beginning or end.

I know that hypertext is a hyped buzzword, kind of like "multimedia", but not as bad as that. But I'm not changing SR because I'm in love with the idea of hypertext, but because it has really BECOME hypertext.

The specific implementation I have developed starts with the basic concept that reading on a computer screen is a real drag, and that WWW attention spans are VERY short. With this in mind, I set out to divide SR into "Packets", each of which can be read in five minutes or less. After doing a little research (timing myself reading SR stuff), and figuring that I might be reading a little faster than average (because I wrote the stuff, not because I'm that fast a reader), I arrived a standard Packet length range from 2K to 5K, or about 350 to 875 words, or approximately one to three paperback pages.

I estimate that my existing SR chapters will take up roughly 400 Packets. But I haven't even started converting yet!

Anyway, each Packet will be an object unto itself, and because of this, Packets can be arranged in different ways. But the simplest way the Packets will be organized is in sequences. Right now, SR is made up of a great number of sequences which are not directly connected. With the existing material, there might be, say, 30 separate sequences. So, Packets will be arranged by sequence, each sequence having a starting and finishing Packet--even though more Packets can be added before the first, after the last, or within the sequence.

This will be the basic organization. I was thinking that another way to organize the Packets would be in original sequence--and I think I would like to try to do that--because I've definitely been switching storylines with "dramatic sequence" in mind--so the original sequence should be preserved, even if it is not the primary means of organization.

So, for example, if each Packet were an individual HTML file, they would have different links at their beginning and end, and you'd choose depending on what sequence you were going by, or you could mix and match for a more chaotic read.

But each Packet will not have a separate HTML file--that would result in too many files for me to manage right now. So they'll be organized into sequence files, with links to the start of each packet within each HTML file.

Ideally, however, I would like to develop my own interface, since HTML is too limiting. If I ever do this, it would be incorporated into the Primitive Obliviana Primal system (see Lord of Obliviana, above, for more details on this system).

As it happens, I have new SR material that will divide into somewhere around 13 Packets, so since I'm constructing Book Nine of OsoaWeek all at once, I'll include one of these Packets in each issue of Book Nine.

This new material is divided between two separate storyline/sequences--"Perspective Quartz Mahoney" and "Get Real Daptin", the latter being part of the larger central Daptin Gone storyline/sequence.

For both of these storylines, I will be converting the previously published material into Packets. For Mahoney, it's two Packets, and for Daptin it'll be three or four (I haven't done it yet).

Each Packet will be identified, at this stage, with two names--one a sequential number of the storyline it's in, and one a unique Packet name.

This first batch of Packets will not be hypertext, but they will pioneer the hypertext format.

Enjoy!

* * *

SEVERE REPAIR REFERENCE

SEVERE REPAIR BOOK ONE

Chapter 1--"Bastard Dumb Luck Calling"--14 pages
Chapter 2--"Map Shirt Goddess"--11 pages
Chapter 3--"Goodbye Popcorn"--21 pages
Chapter 4--"Awake Fluffy Netherf*ck"--16 pages
Chapter 5--"Bicentennial Cane"--16 pages
Chapter 6--"You're a Good Man for Crying on the Job"--
18 pages
Chapter 7--"Yellowhaus"--14 pages
Chapter 8--"Cup's Club"--18 pages
Chapter 9--"Pattern Integrity"--13 pages
Chapter 10--"Toggle Joseph"--14 pages
Chapter 11--"Fabric Reactor"--18 pages
Chapter 12--"80-A Clarity"--13 pages
Chapter 13--"Dolthethmen"--14 pages

200 Total Pages


SEVERE REPAIR BOOK TWO

Chapter 14--"It's Millicent!"--11 pages
Chapter 15--"Office Complex of Gumhanshire"--14 pages
Chapter 16--"Hypergod Amnifaoz"--16 pages
Chapter 17--"Irregular Shirt"--12 pages
Chapter 18--"Reality Pickup Truck: Tom Neadows"--12 pages
Chapter 19--"Went Nowhere"--11 pages
Chapter 20--"Thing Ping"--17 pages
Chapter 21--"Peculiar Lather"--11 pages
Chapter 22--"Giant Police Car"--13 pages
Chapter 23--"Daptin's Land"--13 pages
Chapter 24--"Insurance"--16 pages
Chapter 25--"Dog and Rabbit"--12 pages
Chapter 26--"The Aleche Degrasion"--14 pages

172 Total Pages


SEVERE REPAIR BOOK THREE

Chapter 27--"Weaver"--11 pages
Chapter 28--"Nocturnal"--12 pages
Chapter 29--"Greatcoat"--11 pages
Chapter 30--"Stormbolthouse Leitmotif"--12 pages
Chapter 31--"Foreman Ittener Pier"--13 pages
Chapter 32--"Stormbolthouse Lunatether"--14 pages
Chapter 33--"Luck"--16 pages
Chapter 34--"Powers of the Land"--10 pages
Chapter 35--"Speed Limit 85 MPH"--18 pages
Chapter 36--"Thiffor"--22 pages
Chapter 37--"Ladies"--10 pages
Chapter 38--"Deer Express"--13 pages
Chapter 39--"To Vixenway"--11 pages

173 Total Pages


SEVERE REPAIR BOOK FOUR

Chapter 40--"Saving Courier Arbhay"--7 pages
Chapter 41--"Gnoboslast"--8 pages
Chapter 42--"Finfora"--6 pages
Chapter 43--"Truly Makes It"--7 pages
Chapter 44--"Belly"--7 pages
Chapter 45--"The Mildred Cork"--6 pages
Chapter 46--"Manny's Attempt of Suicide"--7 pages
Chapter 47--"I Like Snoppy"--7 pages
Chapter 48--"Humorless & Wasted, but Still Beautiful"--10 pages
Chapter 49--"The Pedestrian Bride"--8 pages
Chapter 50--"Winter Stadium Them"--7 pages
Chapter 51--"Soot Mary"--10 pages
Chapter 52--"Agatha Petunia Wack"--11 pages

101 Total Pages


SEVERE REPAIR BOOK FIVE (presented in OsoaWeek Book Six)

Chapter 53--"The Kiss of Version"--6 pages
Chapter 54--"Witchcraft Paranoia Films"--7 pages
Chapter 55--"The Clown Centaur Architect"--6 pages
Chapter 56--"Coward"--10 pages
Chapter 57--"The People Who Clean the Trains at Night"--8 pages
Chapter 58--"As Clear as Yesterday"--6 pages
Chapter 59--"Friction Eacho"--7 pages
Chapter 60--"Free Dear Tours"--7 pages
Chapter 61--"I Love Bailey Cong"--8 pages
Chapter 62--"Fry Friend and the Exit Escalator"--7 pages
Chapter 63--"A Train Park"--7 pages
Chapter 64--"The Slumberotica System"--6 pages
Chapter 65--"A Million Miles Out on Twicvion Lane"--7 pages

92 Total Pages


SEVERE REPAIR BOOK SIX (presented in OsoaWeek Book Eight, issues 92, 93, 94, and 95)

Chapter 66--"A Road Map of Arctica"--8 pages
Chapter 67--"The Solvent Ijsane"--6 pages
Chapter 68--"Impglein"--7 pages
Chapter 69--"Get Real, Daptin"--6 pages

27 Total Pages

GRAND TOTAL: 765 pages

* * *

So that's it, then--the first phase of Severe Repair--69 chapters, ending with Daptin breaking through into this world. 69... a questionable consummation...

I didn't plan it this way, but I'm very happy that this change is coming after a big change in the central Daptin storyline.

The Original 69 Chapters will stand as the foundation for the hypertext SR, which will be its form when folks start to get familiar with it.

So it's a new dawn for Severe Repair, just as it is a new dawn for Obliviana.

It's good to be here.

*OW*



[[07105SR]] Severe Repair

(((Note: PQM001 and PQM002 are transferred into Packet format here, and originally appeared in Severe Repair Book Six, Chapter 66: "A Road Map of Arctica", in OsoaWeek092.)))

$~PQM001 "Girls"
~~SEVERE REPAIR: A Hypertext Novel by Frank Edward Nora
Storyline "Perspective Quartz Mahoney" Packet 001
00001 * 3.807K * Ch66 * OW105
Copyright 1996 * All Rights Reserved~~

Three men were falling and drifting, whipped around in the caprice of a chaotic gravity, the outskirts of the city all around them, the place lost and destroyed, and they knew every minute could be their last.

Like leaves in a blizzard, the three felt the terror of uncontrol, the nighttime landscape a sickening nightmare in their current plight.

A light drizzle drenched them, and it was the slashes of yellow light in the sky, persistent, not lightning, not sun, not moon, that horrified them.

They all wanted to talk, to say SOMETHING in the midst of the likely end of their days, but they couldn't manage it in the terrible weather.

Then the mischief of nature gone awry slammed them into a mansion, and all three had a tenuous grasp on a slick, time-worn marble banister.

"Can someone get a grip!" yelled Pearce Monancahol, a huge man whose yellow hair was matted with moisture, covering his eyes and most of his face. "Use your fingernails... anything... if one of us can get a grip... the others can hold onto him!"

They all groped for some hold, but the banister was totally smooth, with no possible place to grab onto. They were flailing wildly, and if not for the temporarily lack of gravity--which they knew could run out any second--they would have been sure to fall off, either to their death on the ground below, or back into the air, to face certain death eventually. This slick banister was their best hope on life.

"No good! No! No!" Duncer-Haxun moaned. He was thin, with dark skin and oily black hair, which he risked falling by wiping away from his face.

"Wrap your limbs around it!" shouted Perspective Quartz Mahoney, who was hugging the banister with all his might. He was bald with sunglasses, and had a huge nose. "If you can hold on... it would work even without friction... like chains... like links..."

All three did as Mahoney suggested, and they managed to get a relatively firm hold on the banister. And then, the weather let up for a moment--a little more gravity, but not too much, and a drying wave of dry heat.

"Just hold on!" Mahoney wailed. "Whoever lives here--they're bound to see us sooner or later!"

But he peered into the lighted windows and saw, in rooms with orange-brown run-down walls, that the place was deserted.

"All gone!" said Duncer-Haxun. "They must have evacuated--wherever we are, it must be really bad here."

"Dammit!" Mahoney screamed, and the weather whipped up again, drenching them with wave of blackish water, a weak antigravity tugging them upward.

"Girls!" yelled Mahoney, and all of a sudden his sunglasses, Darnalt Knocking Salt, flew off from his face. At the same time, Pearce's belt, Challen-67, undid itself and met the sunglasses in midair. And, from out of Duncer-Haxun's jacket pocket, his lighter, Prefer Joanie Hugging, zoomed out and met the belt and the sunglasses.

The three items linked together--the belt wrapping around the stems of the sunglasses, the lighter snapping shut on the belt. The belt was in a loop now.

In a swift motion, the three items flew among the men, and they all caught hold of the belt. In the blink of an eye, they were carried up to a balcony and dropped there, as the three items, spent of energy, clattered to the ground.

"Pick 'em up and let's get inside!" Mahoney yelled in panic. Each man desperately grabbed his item, fearing that the weather might act up worse, and scrambled into the mansion, through a broken door frame.

"Let's get away from this opening!" Pearce said, and they all ran into the hallway, starkly lit with electric light. They spotted another door, looked in and saw that it had no windows, so they raced into it.

The room was dark, the only light coming from the hallway. But they slammed the door shut as soon as they entered, and were in total darkness.

~$PQM001

$~PQM002 "Slide"
~~SEVERE REPAIR: A Hypertext Novel by Frank Edward Nora
Storyline "Perspective Quartz Mahoney" Packet 002
00002 * 2.822K * Ch66 * OW105
Copyright 1996 * All Rights Reserved~~

All three collapsed with fatigue and tried to catch their breath.

"I can't believe..." Duncer-Haxun said, huffing heavily, "I can't believe... we made it..."

"We got the girls to thank." Pearce said weakly.

"Yeah," said Mahoney, "they had it in 'em. I just hope they're all right... what an effort..."

They were silent for a long time while they continued to recover.

"So where are we?" Duncer-Haxun said, finally.

"Ah, who knows!" Pearce responded. "With the way we were mistreated out there... we could be just about anywhere."

"I think we're in Tog's Villa." said Mahoney. "I think I caught a glimpse of the stadium back up there somewhere."

"Tog's Villa... then... then maybe this house has a link to the underground system?" Pearce said.

"No doubt." Mahoney said. "People this rich... their basement is sure to have a link. But we have to get down there first."

All of a sudden, the gravity in the room, which had been okay, started to subside and then change.

"Dammit!" Mahoney yelled. "Try and find a light switch, someone!"

They felt around the walls, searching for a switch to no avail. Then the room became dimly-lit by the light of a flame--Prefer Joanie Hugging had flown out of Duncer-Haxun's pocket and lit herself.

"Aw Joanie," Duncer-Haxun said, "come on, don't overexert yourself!"

But the feeble light was enough for Mahoney to locate a light switch and snap it on. The gravity disruption subsided and was almost back to normal, as he put the sunglasses back on.

Duncer-Haxun picked up Prefer Joanie Hugging, snapped her shut, and said "Thank you, but reserve your energy. Please." Then he put her back in his pocket.

In the light, they could see that they were in a recreation room full of arcade video games, their screens all blank. The lower panel of one machine was ripped off.

"What's this?" said Duncer-Haxun, kneeling down to examine the opening. "Hmm... it leads back into an opening in the wall..."

"A slide to the underground!" Mahoney said. "A great fantasy of children... having a secret exit from their parents' domain... and rich brats usually get what they want!"

Mahoney knelt down beside Duncer-Haxun and peered inside. "Let's go," he said, "while we still have gravity on our side--I don't cherish the thought of climbing UP a downward slide!"

He crawled inside the opening, followed by Duncer-Haxun and Pearce. Behind the wall, the tunnel made on sharp right turn, then one sharp left, whereupon the slide was revealed, in the dim light of a nightlight.

Without saying a word, Perspective Quartz Mahoney seated himself at the top of the slide and pulled himself forward, till he was sliding his way down. The other two did the same, speeding downward through the innards of the long-abandoned mansion... hoping reality would still be there when they hit bottom.

~$PQM002

$~PQM003 "Inertia"
~~SEVERE REPAIR: A Hypertext Novel by Frank Edward Nora
Storyline "Perspective Quartz Mahoney" Packet 003
00003 * 2.235K * New '96 * OW105
Copyright 1996 * All Rights Reserved~~

Sliding, sliding...

The sliding was amazing... picking up speed... wonderful curves... cute and crazy lighted backdrops... just the thing for kids... pampered brats of the rich of Tog's Villa... a city now ruined by nature gone haywire...

Then suddenly, Perspective Quartz Mahoney stopped. Just stopped. He was in alone and it was silent, inside a huge space full of slides and bright colors. Sitting on the slide, he was motionless. There was no gravity to pull him down. But that wasn't it... that wasn't what felt so horrific...

"Inertia!" Mahoney screamed, but his voice sounded tiny and flat. "No more... no more..."

He broke out into tears which neither fell nor moved much at all.

"It's not fair!" he yelled. "We let nature go too far! We let it get out of control!"

He wished his words would echo in that enormous space, but they didn't even come close to an echo.

He sniffled a couple of times and then moved to wipe the tears from around his eyes, but totally misjudged it and wound up smacking his other arm. He tried again, trying to compensate for the lack of inertia, and managed to lift his sunglasses, Darnalt Knocking Salt, and smear the liquid around his face a little.

Then he held the sunglasses in front of him.

"Oh Darnalt, where... what happened to the fun?"

The glasses wriggled a little in his weak grasp.

"PEARCE! DUNCER!" he moaned, but there was no reply, no echo...

Alone.

But not alone. Darnalt Knocking Salt was a person, once his woman, now nothing more than a pair of flying sunglasses... and she thought it would be fun... to be sunglasses for a while... and maybe it was... for awhile... but when she knew for sure she was stuck in that form... it wasn't much fun anymore...

"I wish I could have you back as you were..." Mahoney sobbed. "Here at the end of all things... when rogue nature finally wins her war against us... finally wipes out all things human."

Omothopberg, the city of men, no women allowed. They were stuck in an alternate reality, and the only way home was deep inside Omothopberg. So the girls used the magic they were so resplendent and pregnant with at the time to disguise themselves as inanimate objects... a cigarette lighter, a belt, a pair of sunglasses...

~$PQM003

*OW*



[[END105OW]]



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