|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OFFICE COMPLEX--CUP 3--"COMBAT POTENTIAL" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Office Complex  ||  -------> (Cup SRoc003, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "The major operatives, y'know, the Primates, are all from other worlds. I guess you've been briefed on the OA algorithmic system of selecting Primates." I said. "Yeah, they told me something about it." Hate said. "They said that my experience with the monsters was what got me here." "That's a part of it I'm sure. But the exact nature of the criteria used are known only to our fearless leader Letevs Fife and a few of his close associates. They're looking for people with a wide variety of qualities, not the least of which is combat potential, to be perfectly honest with you." "Yeah, they kind of alluded to that. Is that why they chose you?" "Naw. I'm not a real natural warrior. And I'm not a Primate. Basically, I was publishing a magazine that Fife and some others liked, uh... It was called 'Unknowable Pivot', and when it went out of business they contacted me and offered me a job. I had known a few of the OA members vaguely while in college. I went to the same college where Aconck was discovered fourteen years ago by Bavler Bestroystraw." "How long have you been in the OA?" "Well, going on three years now. But as they say, time flies when you're having fun." "Yeah. But I tell you, I'm still leery at this whole thing. I mean, I'm convinced that there's some heavy paranormal stuff going on here, but how can I be sure that Zillionthi's, and your, explanation of things is real? I mean, I'm not calling you a liar or anything, but how are you sure, for example, that all this is true?" "Well, I can understand your apprehension." I said, playing with a little mobile thing on Zillionthi's desk. "And all I can tell you is that from what I've seen, the nature of Aconck is as it's been described to you. If you're asking me whether or not higher powers are involved, and who you might be pledging allegiance to, I don't know. But to me, it all seems to be on the level. But I hope Zillionthi is being honest and telling you of the pretty hot cold war we have going with Bavler's Aconck Group and Polk Thewsike's Unreal 64. I mean, as we've been colonizing Earths, if you will, the conflicts have really been heating up, and a lot of the time it does manifest in close-quarter combat. So I mean, I don't even know if I should be telling you this, but you will most likely be involved in combat at some point." "Well, I haven't really been fully briefed yet, but Il Zillionthi did allude to an ongoing conflict, and stressed that OA was the only of the three groups with the good of Aconck as their major goal." "Ledrant, y'know I think that's not entirely accurate. The U-64 is definitely out of control and not very concerned about the stability of Aconck, but TAG is more stable and neutral than OA by anyone's accounting. And this is not a secret, I mean, Fife encourages total honesty in Overwhelm Associates. But I don't want to put words into Zillionthi's mouth, nor brand him a zealot. All I'm saying is that all three groups are trying to attain supremacy, and that the conflict is going nowhere but hotter and hotter." "Well Mr. Gone, I'm not all that concerned about combat. I mean, I'm up for it and all, it's just that I'm not sure what sort of combat it is. Is it guns and shields, swords and oil, psychic conflict, what?" "Well, basically combat occurs when a group bridges into a rival Earth and is met by rival forces. So it's mostly two small groups fighting, using a wide variety of weapons and techniques. Not much psychic stuff, but some. But in this regard, in combat, we're quickly becoming the clear superiors, as our combatants have such a wide range of attacks and defenses. You, for example. I hear you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve." "Yeah. I guess. It's weird, 'cause I've been living in isolation for a long time now, trying to cope with myself, to resolve things within myself. But now it seems that I've spent all this time resolving something which is now just being spun out of whack again. I mean, all of my peculiarities, and identification with monsters, now seems to be eminently utile. So I feel sort of numb in that." -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----