|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- FOREMAN ITTENER PIER--CUP 14--"HONOR" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Foreman Ittener Pier  ||  -------> (Cup SRfi014, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "I say we do it." I said. "I'm running out of the money I stole, and I'd rather get money this way than commit another crime. And this way, I can return the money I stole to the ice cream parlor--and also pay for our meal at the restaurant." "Wow!" Hilltop said. "You do have some honor after all. But by doing this, by winning the lottery unfairly, aren't we stealing the money from the person who would eventually win?" "So?" I said. "They'll never know the difference." "Mmm. I guess you're right." Hilltop said. "But how are we gonna claim the money? Don't they need all sorts of personal information to give ya the money? What are we gonna put as our address--this?" She motioned all around, meaning the Lunatether, of course. "No no no!" I said. "I got it figured out already. I know the news guy pretty good. I'll make a deal with him to win the money for himself, and then give us part of it." "Part! Why does he deserve any?" "Because," I said, "without him, or someone like him, collecting the money would be a real mess, get it?" "Yeah." "So look--I think I'm gonna go and do it now, before you can talk me out of it." "Well alright, Ferrajalt." Hilltop said with resignation. "Don't worry." I said, putting my hand lightly on her shoulder. "I'm good at this sort of thing." She looked at me. "Fine. I'm sure you are. It's just--I mean--don't you find all this time travel stuff creepy? Just look at this paper! If you do this, the headline should be different!" Lunatether spoke up. "Don't worry about that. Time isn't so totally inflexible. All sorts of little ripples and details exists in it." "Fine." Hilltop said, sounding a little pissed-off. I got out of there fast, to the Waver hangar, and took a Waver to the beach. I was careful to scan for people in the vicinity, 'cause I didn't want to be spotted. It was early afternoon, but luckily there wasn't anyone around. After I landed, I climbed up onto the boardwalk and started walking toward the newsstand, the winning lottery numbers scrawled on a piece of paper in my pocket. The sun came out from behind the clouds so I put my sunglasses on. I thought about the situation, and all the shit I'd still have to go through to get home. Raise these time dogs for two years, then ride them into the future, reestablish contact with Overwhelm, and... And what? Was reality still set to fall apart at the same time? Should we go forward to before it happened, and try to prevent it? I don't know. I mean--this place I was, this Earth, was a place that undeniably coexisted with Daptin's Land in the post-reality-crash era. So if anything, going back to what would be my present would be well AFTER the crash, and... I decided to give myself a break and not think about it. Live for the moment. With the lottery money, we could get more involved with this world--buying stuff, meeting people, travelling via conventional (non-Stormbolthouse) means, etc. After about half-an-hour I was approaching the newsstand, and rehearsing the spiel I was about to give the shop owner, Dick. As I approached, Dick looked at me and I smiled at him. But then I saw someone else in the shop, browsing the magazines, and she looked over at me. It was Hilltop! I approached her. She looked different somehow--her hair was shorter and she wore a black and gray outfit with a short skirt and no hat. "What the heck are you doing here?" I asked. Why was she here? To prevent me from going through with it? "Ferrajalt." she said, staring at me. Something was weird. "What is it?" I said. She left the newsstand and started walking down the boardwalk. "Oh Ferrajalt," she said as I took up stride next to her, "I'm just so..." "What?" I asked, seeing tears welling up in her eyes. "I just--I'm so happy to see you..." "What's wrong with you? I just saw you about an hour ago!" She started crying softly. "Come on, Hilltop--what's wrong? Did something happen?" She stopped walking and looked at me. "I have so much to tell you. I just--I don't know. I'm so confused. I can... I can hardly think straight." I gently grabbed her upper arms. "Look at me." I said, and she did. "What happened?" She sniffled, and wiped her nose with her finger. "I'm not Hilltop." she said. "No?" "No. I'm... I'm Lunatether." "Lunatether?" "Yes. It's me." I back away a little and looked her over. "What is this, another android?" "No! It's not. I'm... I'm human now." I looked at her, my mind racing. "Did you steal her body?" I asked. "NO! No... this is... it's a conventional clone of Hilltop Jone Rallity, with my awareness inside." I continued staring at her, struggling to think. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----