|| -------- -- -----  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 5--"DALCOYN HIGHTIME" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  The Carbonize Neighbor  ||  -------> (Cup SRcn005, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Granticaine was restless waiting for 3:00 AM to arrive. He didn't have real freedom to move around, since it was almost impossible to disguise his huge form. What had he planned on doing tonight, anyway? Having more sex with Joy and her friend, drinking more booze, taking more hallway. Yeah... that narcotic, hallway... Joy had introduced him to it... Now that the orgy was over, Grant felt uncomfortable--in more ways than one. His war performance forever cast him as a freak. Maybe a hero, maybe a savior of the nation, but also someone who could shrug off high-caliber bullets without an armor-vest. Someone who could tear a man limb from limb with his bare hands. And the girls' reaction to his teleportation was the same--keeping their distance, afraid, rejecting. Emmerdine's last words, wherein he referred to Grant as a "god", struck a chord. More than a few times in his life, Grant had wondered if indeed he WAS God. But it didn't ring true. His gut reaction was that he was something more than man, but less than God. Grant wanted to get away from revelry, so he walked around, through several parks, and took the ferry across the river. There in Aizcland he went to a bookstore and browsed around, hovering near the religion and mythology section. If this whole thing with the other world was related to his true origins, then he felt a random browsing might indeed bring him to some useful information. After not having much luck, Grant came upon a computer terminal which could search through a huge database for subjects, names, places, events, etc. He typed in BLUE HILL and began the search. Several references were found, all pointing to a passage in "Dalcoyn Hightime", an ancient text on Dalcoyn mythology. He called up the passage: "And did Lemoadus cross through a queer land very high, and he'd have explored it if he wasn't for Ooed bound, and he saw a great tree, and a web of yellow metal, and a deep blue hill, and the purest waterway, and the Lights." A deep blue hill. Well, it was something. He bought several versions of "Dalcoyn Hightime", with varying levels and sorts of annotation. He crossed back to Haybelcord, and had more uncomfortable encounters with strangers--all with that same attitude at once adoring and aloof. He'd been trying to read the Dalcoyn on the boat, but was interrupted too many times by autograph seekers, as well as those too "cool" to ask for an autograph. Grant was incredibly uncomfortable just wandering around the city like this, never able to escape his glassy-eyed public. He wondered how he would deal with the rest of his life being like this. He hoped that Letevs Fife's offer would turn out to be as good as it sounded it might be. Granticaine had to hope, because the life he was currently living was nowhere near acceptable. Finally, it was 2:50 AM and Granticaine sat at a booth in the Thing Ping, sipping a cup of good tar and waiting. His thoughts were a dark swirl, and he felt that no matter what transpired here, change was inevitable. Sooner than Grant had expected, a man entered the Thing Ping, a short man with short brown hair and a carefully-trimmed mustache. He had a weird look about him, and he carried a briefcase. He glanced around the restaurant/store and caught sight of Grant immediately. The man approached. "I'm Letevs Fife." "Pleased to meet you." Grant said, motioning for Fife to sit. "Jake couldn't make it." "I see." "She couldn't make it because there's a problem. A pretty big problem, really." Fife said, looking worried. "How so?" "Well--I was hoping you could help me. It was in your--" "--I'd be happy to help." "Yes, well, it was in your Prime Vestibule where the situation developed." "My Prime Vestibule." "Yes, Captain Perion. Your P-Vest is the place the Primate protocol-settler machine takes you when it--" "Wait--I want some simple answers before we get into the details." Fife nodded, and Grant continued. "I was teleported into a different universe earlier today. So why not begin with that." -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----