|| -------- -- -----  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 26--"GREATWALL" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Goodbye Popcorn  ||  -------> (Cup SRgp026, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Well Daptin," Obfuser said, "Tavmatey Numblem was in a line with a version of you, but the thing is, with the Cup, whomever held it like you held it would have been the person she knew. If Jerald had bore the thing, it would have been him, see? A simple construct. Anyway, she is, in your contact with her, stuck as a high school student in the suburbs of what you know as Honorcora. The cup utterly reshaped situation around her. A funny effect." "How could we rescue her?" Daptin asked. "Hard to say. I would have just used the vocal link to make a full-info fill, bringing her back, but I guess you wouldn't know how to do that." "No." Daptin said, still a little dazed from disappearing back. "I mean, it would be inappropriate for me to intervene in such overt ways, don't you see it that way, Daptin?" Obfuser said, turning around and wearing an extremely frightful expression. "I can see your position." "Good." Obfuser said, clasping his hands together. "Then shall I try my method of replacing you afall?" "You mean just send me back to where I was?" "Now well--you had goodbyed with the popcorn, eh? And you weren't in a place you could return to. So I figure I should return you to an area in which you could have returned had you eaten the popcorn there. A hypothet construct, very easy to clay. You game?" "Where?" "My suggestion would be your apartment in Greatwall, but you might have a better idea." "Back at Overwhelm, huh? I guess that might be okay, but what about my friends? At least, what about Fake? I was about to kill that Jerald myself, before that girl killed him." "I would suggest drinking some of the Coffee you hold. See, though I know just a little about the Cup, it would allow you to travel cupward and then return to where you left from, since the pattern integrity of the Cup and its contents will manifest separately for a while." "But--I mean, actually drinking some of this stuff? Wouldn't that be--I dunno--sort of a waste of such powerful stuff?" "Not at all! It's pattern integritied--no physical harm can come of it, since its pattern is apart from the universe, just like the girl you referred to." "Um--should I drink it now?" "No--go back, prepare yourself, and then drink some. The situation-to-reality aspect ratio is too low at Greatwall, but if you go through an Aconck bridge, that should do it, since they are temporary and a lot tighter than the Avert perms." "It makes some sense to me, Great Obfuser." Daptin said with a sigh. "Good! Then let us do it." The next moment, Daptin found himself in darkness. Lights flicked on, and Daptin saw that he was back in his Greatwall apartment. Near the door, he saw Obfuser with his hand on the light switch, manifest in the same lanky college freshman form he had assumed in his prior visitations. "And here we are." Obfuser said, his voice alarmingly mundane in this form. "It worked. Perfectly." "I guess I owe you my life." "You would if I could be owed anything, but I can't." Obfuser closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them again. "Can I do anything else before I go away?" "Um--so all I have to do is drink some of the Coffee--how much?" "A few mouthfuls. The amount really isn't important. Enough so there's definitely some in your stomach, inside of you." "Okay--and then go through a bridge?" "Yeah--but remember you just have something between eight hours and a day to find them. Just stay with them once you find them." "What about those goons?" "Oh yeah--I hadn't considered that. Uh, bring some of your Overwhelm friends. You will have to dispatch them, won't you? Well, you can do it." "Okay." "Okay then? I'll be off." "Okay. Thank you, Obfuser." "You're quite welcome. This has been most entertaining, in my way." The next instant, Obfuser was gone. "This is so fucked." Daptin muttered to himself, looking around the apartment he hadn't seen in months. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----