|| -------- -- -----  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 24--"VICTIMS OF A BALLOON" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Goodbye Popcorn  ||  -------> (Cup SRgp024, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Ah Kesh, I knew you'd be no worse for wear." Coabler the Sawman said. "What was the cause of the explosion?" Kesh the Vector asked. "Fake?" Coabler said. "I popped a slay balloon." Fake said. "There you go, friend Kesh--we were victims of a balloon." "Most strange." Kesh said. "I guess you have the situation in hand?" "Two stunned youths is all." Coabler said, clinking his saws together. "And the Cup? Was it a false?" "Unknown. Though the nature of this world points to a cupslip entry, I need physical contact to know for sure." "So where is it? Does Pattern have it? I assume she was here." "She was here, but she doesn't have it. The green-top youth who bore it used a novel technique to temporarily set his existence to false. He will be back, though." "Any sign of the others?" Kesh asked. "Not yet. Classic and Demolish should be fine, but as the blast tumbled me several miles from here, I assume they're likewise trying to get back now. Bith may or may not have survived--it depends on his current degree of silliness. As far as Tickle goes, your guess is as good as mine." "When the fallout settles, we shall see." Kesh said, striding toward Fake's supine form, then kneeling. Pattern Integrity appeared. "Coabler, I located Bith. He's a good ways away, covered with soot, and babbling incoherently." Pattern said. "Good." Coabler said. "That leaves Tickle the only one to be worried about." "Are you sure Classic could've wielded her logic in time to save herself?" asked Pattern. "She had a standing theorem that if she's hurt or killed, she won't be hurt or killed. At least, that was my impression." said Coabler. "Tell me everything you know of the Cup of Coffee, little one." Kesh said to Fake. Fake stared into the nothingness of Kesh's face with an unconcerned expression. "We were hired by Elaine Caxopy to rescue Tavmatey. We could hear her inside the cup. They said her voice was louder in some places and softer in others. They said they plotted it out, and that they thought she was in a space analogous to Boltpike, and if we found the spot, we could rescue her. But apparently they lied. We were only in Boltpike for a few minutes before we wound up here. They told us the cup was 40,000 years old, that we should guard it with our life." "She's under a truth blast, Kesh, so you can believe her words." Pattern said. "Aye." said Coabler. "Now try and locate Tickle, good Pattern Integrity." "No sooner said than done." Pattern said with a vanish. "I don't care about the Cup. I wanna go home." Fake said without emotion. "How about the fat one?" Kesh said, gesturing toward the unconscious Jerald Hapal Hatch. "Pattern shot him with a system drain bolt. It'll take him awhile to recover." said Coabler. "Bad choice, hers. I would have liked to question him, also." Kesh said, standing. "We'll get our answers." Coabler said, holstering his saws. The cloud of fallout was thinning to the point that the aftermath of the destructive wave began to come into view. Wisps of dust drifted over the four individuals as the safe area ended. A dank gray wasteland stretched as far as the eye could see. Coabler surveyed the scene, and saw Classic of Logic in the distance. He hailed her and she waved back. "Tis Classic yonder." Coabler said. "Fetch her." Kesh didn't respond, but raised a bony gloved finger and extended a vector, a thin black line, to touch Classic. Then without moving, Kesh took hold of Classic and drew her to him. She moved, hovering a few feet off the ground with the vector extending through her abdomen. In a few moments, she was beside Coabler, and Kesh withdrew his vector. "I could just as easily have walked!" Classic said, holding her stomach. "You know that makes me queasy." "Complain not. You're here now, no?" said Coabler. "Ugh!" said Classic with a shiver. "I hate those vectors!" "Your decree is noted, Classic." Kesh said. "Any sign of Demolish or Tickle?" Coabler asked. "Nope." Classic of Logic said. "Well I'm off to find Tickle." said Coabler. "Keep an eye on these two, and if the boy reappears, you know what to do, Kesh." Kesh nodded, and Coabler jogged off into the desolate once-countryside. "So are we finally through with this idiotic quest?" Classic asked Kesh. "Who knows." Kesh said distantly. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----