|| -------- -- -----  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 28--"STONE BEVERLY" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Foreman Ittener Pier  ||  -------> (Cup SRfi028, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = What a day. While Carroll and Lunatether basically just hung out, I was roaming the worst sections of Peeferkihint, supposedly in search of a gay prostitute to help us in our bid for Deep Violt C. We had a meeting about it the night before, and it was decided it had to be me because I was the only human male of the three. I protested that Carroll was also a human male, just one in a scarecrow body. But no--they said I'd have to gain the trust of this person we were seeking. Great. As I wandered the back alleys I thought how I could have been home by now, back at the castle. Not here, not on these grimy streets, seeking out even grimier establishments. Yeah, I could be home. But maybe, just maybe, Deep Violt C was worth it. Anyway, the day wound up a total bust. I don't even know what sort of places I was in. Drugs, dark perversions, crimes, all that. But no one near the sort of person we were looking for. A guy who would befriend this Stone Beverly, seduce him I guess, and then hopefully get the keys to Deep Violt C on Beverly's death bed. Then he'd turn the keys and deed over to us. Great. Yeah, after that first day, I told Lunatether she'd have to make a go at it the next day--I was dropping out. She said she would--that she had a new idea--to visit colleges and universities--where young people would do just about anything for money. I told her to go for it. I did find some cool stuff that day, though. Like this place--it used to be a bus depot, but now it was this bookstore, coffee shop, gaming area. Apparently there used to be a tunnel which extended all the way from there to the airport--at least ten miles--where they'd shuttle people back and forth. Now, there was a weird art exhibit in there. It was all dark, and there were these little displays lit up every few hundred yards, so you were there with the display, and there was nothing but darkness otherwise. Pretty neat. I don't know. One thing for sure though--my Overwhelm superstrength was in total mesh with me. That is, it was connected with my body's energy systems, and could totally recharge itself on my power, without any recharging sessions. Huh. I know they said that it was possible for this to happen--pretty lucky it happened to me. Superstrength means that nothing can hurt you--you can go anywhere, do anything, say anything, and you won't be injured, imprisoned, delayed, or anything. It's a nice feeling of security. But it does take the edge off of things. Danger makes excitement. I was lying on the bed in our room in Deep Violt Junior. Lunatether was exercising--she said she knew exactly what had to be done to keep her human body in peak condition. Huh. She always talked about her human body like it was a car or something. Which, I guess, it kind of was to her. "So what are you gonna do exactly tomorrow?" I asked. "Oh, a bunch of things." Lunatether said, huffing and puffing as she arched her body left, then right, then left again, and so on. "The bottom line is, we are offering an amount of money that will blow these college students away. All we gotta do is find one man willing to do anything for money." "You mean, willing to sleep with another man." "There are plenty of gay college students. It's more than that." she said. "He has to be trustworthy. And smart. He'll have to know that he plays by our rules, nothing less." "Yeah?" "Yeah. I'm sure I'll find someone. Mr. Beverly should be less suspicious with an innocent, as opposed to the sort of people you met up with today." "Huh? Why'd you make me do it then? If you didn't want them?" "I didn't know. I thought there might have been enclaves of people just dying for the sort of opportunity we could offer them." "Yeah." I said. "Now we know. Talk about lost souls..." "Leave it to me, Prince. I'll find our mind. It's just like a chess game. You force people into making a decision, and either way, you win." "That's nice." I said sarcastically, and I got to thinking. "Kind of reminds me of that book I read, from the Warhomes. You know, The Aleche Degrasion." She stopped exercising and stared at me. "The Warhomes?" "Yeah. In the library. All those books were in you, too, right?" "Yeah." "Well this one, The Aleche Degrasion--I told you about it--how I had it with me when I crashed on an island in Daptin's Land with Treyess Arcomany?" "You told me about it briefly. How you and Treyess were lovers, and how that evil woman, Red Archer Booze, came out of a cloak and seduced both of you with her bottle of aphrodisiac." "Yeah." I said, musing on the times the three of us spent in pleasure. Pretty intense memories--almost as intense as when I blew Booze's head off. Too bad Daptin had to bring her back to life. But those memories, that sex... -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----