|| -------- -- -----  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 50--"RECOVERABLE CRASHES" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Goodbye Popcorn  ||  -------> (Cup SRgp050, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Daptin," Granticaine said, sitting on the grass, "I don't want to spoil things, but where exactly IS this Land you've created? Can you bridge from here? Indeed, can we get back to our Earths at all?" "Yes, Grant." Daptin said, turning away from Tavmatey. "Sort of. I mean, the Cup wanted to send me home, to Arctica, and it tried, but Arctica wasn't there in the form it should have been, so instead of going home, we were headed for nowhere--and I do mean nowhere." Granticaine raised his eyebrows as Daptin continued. "I have made a bridge--not the Aconck kind, but a real kind of bridge, which will lead to Arctica--when and if it ever comes back." "What do you mean, 'come back'?" Granticaine asked. "Where could it have gone to?" Daptin sighed. "When Mallie got that call, that's what did it. Communication between Aconck and where we were broke all kinds of laws of reality, and the whole thing just went haywire. At least, that's my best guess. I got a glimpse of my home town for the briefest of instant when I Created--and I got that impression." "So--" Granticaine said, also sighing, "How do we know that Aconck will ever come back--recover from this disaster?" "We don't." Daptin said. "But I have a feeling someone out there has the capacity to do it. Remember--Bavler Bestroystraw was careful to address the issue of stability in his equations. And he does refer to recoverable crashes in his works." Granticaine nodded. "Well, I just hope that whoever that someone is who can reboot Aconck, they're hard at work making it happen." Later... It was the first new morning in Daptin's Land. Everyone had retired to their quarters in Daptin's House, and were just now waking. Granticaine had awoken early and had gone down to the kitchen, to find Daptin sitting at a table, his head in his hands. "Good morning." Granticaine said, and Daptin quickly looked up. "Good morning Grant." "I saw some things in the sky last night--still working some of the details out?" Daptin sighed. "Yeah. It's tough for me to keep things straight. So many big decisions to make. The length of the day and the night, seasons, the edges of the world, the stuff in the sky, like you said, and everything else. Like they say, the devil is in the details. Not that there's a devil here. Yet." "What do you mean--a force of evil to oppose you, as is seen in so many stories of creation and the times that follow?" "Well--" Daptin said, chuckling a little, "the thing is, I had to make that very decision--what sort of opposing forces I wanted in my world, to provide the tension, the energy, to keep things from getting old. Thing is, I'm still working on it. There are a lot of options. I never imagined." Granticaine approached the table and sat down across from Daptin, who was scratching his left ear. The Creator looked tired, worn out. And he needed a shave. "You know that I went to the bridge last night?" Granticaine said. "Yes." "And I tried to cross it." "Yes, I know. I felt that happen." "And you know what I found at the other end?" Daptin looked Granticaine directly in the eyes and licked his lips. "Yes." he said, in a disgusted tone. They sat in silence, the wonderful light of Daptin's Sun streaming into the room, the primal fragrance of Creation in the air. "What does it all mean?" the warrior asked. Daptin looked away. "It's supposed to lead to my parent's backyard in Arctica. But that location is unavailable. All that was there--all that's out there anywhere, is the vista you saw from the balcony at the end of the bridge. The dark vista of Aconck--of what's become of it." "I stood and stared Daptin--my eyes wide open--I stood there for several hours--and yet my mind could only assimilate a tiny fraction of the view." "Yeah. I guess that's the way it will be. I don't know exactly what it is out there. But my bridge connects to a place where you can see all of the universe as we know it--maybe as I know it--it looks like all of known Aconck, and Agoopish and the Avert Cities as well. And some other places. The universe of Daptin Gone--in all it's ruined glory." -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----