|| -------- -- -----  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 25--"OBFUSER" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Goodbye Popcorn  ||  -------> (Cup SRgp025, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Daptin, of course this is unprecedented." said a voice which sounded like trees creaking in a thunderstorm. "I was..." Daptin said, shaking his head to clear it. "I was okay?" Looking around, Daptin saw he was standing at the edge of a parking lot overgrown with weeds. It was a chilly, overcast day. Nearby, Daptin saw the weird dark humanoid void which was the Ultra Occult Entity, Obfuser. "Do you know where you are?" Obfuser asked, approaching. Daptin had never seen Obfuser in this form, but he recognized the voice. In his previous encounters, Obfuser took the form of normal-looking person. But now, he seemed to be a great walking vacuum with jack-o-lantern facial features. "Um, I think I was on some world that... I don't know." "Do you know what it is that you carry?" Obfuser said, looking at the Cup of Coffee. "This? The Cup of Coffee?" Daptin said, holding up the Cup. "Yeah. It's some sort of artifact." "Yeah." Obfuser said with what seemed a shudder. "I was surprised to find you here, but even more surprised to find the Cup of Coffee." "Isn't this the same world I was on?" "Daptin, you've been playing with forces far beyond your scope. Your goodbye popcorn works fine in mundane spaces, but disappearing from the cupslipped world you were in, there was no way to return. Anywhere." "I didn't return?" "No. You were simply erased from all existence. And you would have remained so, else for the Cup you hold." "Huh. At least it's done something good. I wonder if I can still hear Tavmatey?" "I wouldn't think so, friend. See, the universe is ended. It's been done with for a long time." "So how long was I gone?" "Hard to say. From the time you left to the end was a few billion years. Afterward time hasn't meant so much. But quite a while." "So that's it? I'm screwed?" "Not really. You have me, don't you? I can put you back over there where you came from. Just realize that you have been but an enormously high-level reference for a great amount of time. That I found you is a miracle." "If the world's ended, the universe, whatever, then where are we?" "This is a high portion of existence, discreet from the universe. You were essentially dumped here as reality purged it's high sectors. That is, the universe over, a lot of unfinished business could be taken care of, you being a very small piece of business." "Now, uh, Obfuser. Have you like waited like, billion of years since I last saw you?" "Sort of, Daptin. But it's not as bad as it seems. You finally get to see me in a more appropriate form. Had I manifested thus in Spoin Hall, I would have demolished not just your planet, but most of your galaxy as well. Now, in this area, I'm free to be who I am. You can even touch me. Here, try it." Obfuser said, holding out his shadowy black hand. Daptin reached out carefully and touched Obfuser's hand. "I don't understand." Daptin said. "I was wondering how it would feel for a human to touch me in my true form. You seem lost for words." "It's just too much. Like, too much for my senses to even begin to decode." "That makes sense. And to me, too, the sensation of touching a human hand in direct manifestation is intriguing. You know, no human could possibly be brought to a place like this. I certainly couldn't do it. So you being here is a marvelous find." "Almost sounds like you wanna keep me here. I mean, not send me back, if there's no way to get anyone back here." "Oh, worry not Daptin! I can reference this area as many times as I want, refinding you each time. Chronologically speaking, this is the first time. Or at least, the second or third. I don't know how to describe it in English. It's very hard for me to speak in English, but a challenge, since there are so many things to say and so few words to use. But anyway." "So like, where can I return to?" "Oh, anywhere Daptin. From the reference, you were in a bad situation when you left, so perhaps you don't want to return there?" "Well, I'm not even sure where there was. I mean, like, okay--can you just tell me all about this damn Cup? I mean, there's like such mystery about it. Maybe you could lift the curtain?" Obfuser turned away and looked skyward. "Daptin, even I, an Ultra Occult Entity, have my limits. The Cup is too deeply referenced. I can only tell you a few things. Like you've discovered, displacing the Cup's spatial state will cause it to move in a direction I can only call 'cupward'. There is no apparent destination, only a direction." "You mean even you don't understand it?" "I understand some of what it does, but like I said, it's too deep to get at. That's why you survived--the depth of the reference required depositing you and the Cup in a temporary area. " "And what about Tavmatey? Or the origin of the Cup?" Daptin said, rotating the cup in his hand, and staring at it intently. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----