|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- GOODBYE POPCORN--CUP 19--"SNACK HAT" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Goodbye Popcorn  ||  -------> (Cup SRgp019, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "I'm through with this mission." Jerald said. "I thought you'd be more professional. I can't work with people like you." Daptin turned to face Jerald. "Do you understand that we can't afford to have an incident on Earth?" Daptin said. "Didn't Elaine make that very, very clear?" "So?" Jerald asked, taking off his cowboy hat. "So--why the hell did you fire your gun back there? I can't fucking believe you did that! Are you totally out of your tiny mind?" Daptin said. "Look Gone, they were about to apprehend us--I had to give them some pause." Jerald said as he turned his hat upside down and reached his hand into it. "There was no reason to do it. You knew it was a bridge, and you knew they wouldn't follow." Daptin said. "We weren't into the bridge at that point." Jerald said, his arm elbow-deep into the hat, defying normal physics. "Behind the rack was the start of the bridge." Daptin said, eyeing the hat. "And you better not try anything with that magic hat of yours." "I'm just getting some licorice." Jerald said, pulling his arm out of the hat with a little package of licorice sticks. "Snack hat." "Gimme a break." Daptin said. "Just remember--if you pull any more shit--you're dead." Fake stopped in her tracks and spun around. The cinder block came to a clumsy halt and floated back near Fake. "Okay--time out." Fake said. "Let's get something straight--I'm the leader here, for better or for worse. And I say you two stop fighting right now. We have a mission, and we're on a tight schedule. Jerald, you were wrong to fire back there, but we're all entitled to one mistake, right?" "I didn't hurt anyone." Jerald said, biting into a piece of licorice. "That's beside the point. Just promise me that you'll see this mission through to the end, Jerald." Fake said. Jerald paused, chewing his licorice. "Okay." he finally said. "But tell Daptin to stop bossing me around." "Look," Daptin said. "We'll be in Boltpike soon, and we won't be walking on eggshells like we were back on Earth. There's a difference, Jerald. A big difference." "I know." Jerald said. "Want some licorice?" "Not from your gross hat." Daptin said. "No thanks." Fake said. "Now come on." They continued down the hallway, which soon came to an abrupt halt. A ladder attached to the wall led upward. "I'll go." Daptin said. "Are we there yet?" Tavmatey asked, her voice louder than the last time she spoke. "Not quite." Fake said. "But this might be it." Daptin climbed up the ladder and found the underside of a manhole. "I got it--a manhole." Daptin said, pushing on it. "Open it." Fake said. "Uhn. Jammed pretty good." Daptin said. "Push harder." Jerald said. "Super!" Daptin yelled. "Hoop!" With this, Daptin pushed the manhole open with a cacophony of crashes. The ladder got bent in the process, but it was still usable. "What the hell..." Fake said. Daptin climbed out of the hole to find himself in what appeared to be an abandoned store, with the wreckage of a huge couch nearby, which had apparently been covering the manhole. Out a large window, he saw a bleak streetlight-lit street. "Come on up, folks. The weather's fine." Daptin said. The other two climbed up the ladder, followed by Fake's cinder block. "My goodness." Fake said, looking at the ruined couch. "How did you do that? That couch looks like it weighed a ton." "It probably did." Daptin said. "Do you have some power I don't know about?" Fake asked. "I didn't know you were that strong." "I'm not." Daptin said. "But--" Fake began. "--just forget it for now, alright? It's too involved to explain." "Okay." Fake said, looking out the window. "This is Boltpike, alright. Hear that Tavmatey? We're here." "Goody." Tavmatey said. "It's always dark here, right?" Daptin asked. "More or less." Fake said. "Sort of reminds me of home." Daptin said. "Daptin," Tavmatey said from within the Cup. "I think we should talk." "Here." Fake said, handing Daptin the Cup. "Well?" Daptin asked. "Well. How about telling the truth." Tavmatey said. "The truth is, I never met anyone named Tavmatey, and I never went to Shirt University. Ask Fake." "What?" Fake asked. "Tell Tavmatey where I went to college all four years." Daptin said. "Um, you went to Thatterine as far as I know. I mean, I knew you there. But I'm sure you didn't go to Shirt." Fake said. "I'm not crazy." Tavmatey said. "I know you. I've--y'know--been with you, in that way. I know you." "This isn't true." Daptin said, shaking his head. "I'll prove it. Shall I do that? How about your birthmark? You have a birthmark on your scrotum--the shape of a lightning bolt. How would I know this?" Tavmatey said. "Come on! That's getting personal." Daptin said. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----