|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- THE CARBONIZE NEIGHBOR--CUP 3--"JOY AND TAPHA" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  The Carbonize Neighbor  ||  -------> (Cup SRcn003, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Granticaine passed by his former suite, and saw the door was open. Glancing inside, he saw the twin naked strangers up and about--one rummaging in a desk, and the other writing in a notebook. The one at the desk looked up, paused a second, and then held up a piece of stationery from the drawer. "Is this where you were before? In this hotel?" the woman said, then looked at the sheet herself. "The, uh, Haybelcord Landovaj? 1151 Main?" Grant paused in surprise. "Before?" was all he said. "This isn't Earth." the other twin said, looking up from her writing. "A dream, then?" "Not at all." the first twin said, looking at the door. "Suite 2102--is that the right number?" Grant looked at the door. "No--it was 3103. But it was the Landovaj." Grant said suspiciously, trying to figure things out. "Common." the second twin said. "When you get back, wait for my phone call." the first twin said. "My name is Supple Jake, and today is without a doubt your lucky day." "What's your sister's name?" The two were lost for words. "We're, uh, we're both the same person." the second Jake said. "I hadn't considered you might be having such a wild party." Grant looked up and down the hallway. It was all so real, so lucid, so calm. "What exactly is the situation here?" he asked. "We'll talk in person back on Earth. Depending on your decisions, you'll be told everything." Grant thought about that, looking at the wall he had destroyed. "Sorry about my abrupt exit before--but I felt it the most prudent course of action." "Not at all. It merely confirms what the process has discovered." "Um, we're shutting down." the other said. "Okay." the first Jake said. "But I just want to verify--you ARE Granticaine Chug Perion? The war hero in all the magazines?" "I am." "Good." the first one said, pausing as if listening to an unheard voice, then looking up. "So you'll return to where you were, but remember--you will have been physically absent. We'll call as soon as we can--under an hour for sure. Anything else?" "What happened to Joy and Tapha? Are they okay?" "Your lovers? They are unaffected. But remember--they'll have seen you disappear and then reappear. If you're been using drugs or anything, use that as an explanation. Otherwise--well, who cares. No one would believe them anyway." "I don't know--the tabloids are looking for anything bizarre to say about me, after what happened. They want to make me into some sort of freak." "Shutting down--now." the second Jake said. And in the next instant Grant was standing on his bed, head brushing the ceiling, facing the no-longer-demolished wall, the sheets still draping off his shoulders. He looked down to see Joy and Tapha staring up at him in disbelief. "Where did you go?" Joy asked. "What happened?" Tapha added. Grant looked at the lovelies, and then slowly sat down. "Tell me exactly what you two remember. We were watching the tape, and then the phone rang." Grant said calmly, but with an edge of rage. "You answered the phone, and then all of a sudden, you were gone. I saw it myself--I saw you vanish!" Joy said. "My leg was on top of your leg." Tapha said. "I felt it drop. My leg dropped!" Grant noticed the two were keeping their distance, whereas before, they had been all over him. Fear of the unknown, he supposed. He sat motionless for a few moments, then clapped his hands. "Okay team, the party's over." he said, looking at each of them in turn. They looked up at him dumbly. "Get up and get dressed." he said, finding himself getting angry. "And go home." "Huh?" Tapha asked. "I said get out!" Grant boomed, and the girls got moving. "What's happening?" Joy said, crying. "I don't wanna go home! I hate it there!" Tapha whined. Grant stood up, letting the sheets drop off of him. "These matters are beyond your capacities to grasp." he said, rage boiling within him, though he wasn't quite sure why. And, walking towards the bathroom, he added, "If you're not both gone by the time I come out, well--" Grant paused, putting an evil expression on his face and taking a step forward. "You'll find out who's next!" he boomed. The girls panicked and redoubled their effort to find all their clothes. Satisfied, Grant went into the bathroom and shut the door. "What the fuck is going on?" Tapha asked Joy. "I don't know." Joy said, finally locating her undergarments. "But I don't plan to stick around to find out." "The two continued scrambling, but then Joy stopped. "Tapha--I have an idea. Get anything you can--we can sell it to people. Just think--his clothes--his towels--the sheets we fucked around in--you know there's gotta be some sicko willing to pay big bucks for them." "Okay." Tapha said. "But not his clothes--he'll really kill us then." "Yeah alright--but everything else--c'mon!" -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----