|| -------- -- -----  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 32--"MASTER BEDROOM" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Office Complex  ||  -------> (Cup SRoc032, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Ferrajalt turned the key, and suddenly an array of fluorescent lights flickered and powered up, and the sound of multiple fans and motors came as well. Ferrajalt stopped and held his hands over the controls. "Okay--I guess that was main electrical." "You sure you know how to drive this thing?" Treyess asked, raising an eyebrow. The Prince turned toward her. "Let me tell you--my parents made me drive a thing a heck of a lot bigger than this, and I managed. It was different, but I'm sure a lot of the same control mechanisms apply. And I like this thing much better." He turned back to the controls. Treyess spied a door in the back of the cockpit. "I'm going to take a look back there, okay?" "Yeah, fine. Good. We gotta see what this thing has going for it." Treyess opened the door and marveled at the scene before her. Lit with fluorescent lights, she gazed in wonder at the bay--a space which took up the top half of the vehicle. Ahead of her, a short walkway led to a central shaft. Looking up, she saw the underside of a diminutive biplane, covered with the same black-and-white markings as the police car itself. It was just above where the shaft ended. She walked forward and looked down the space surrounding the shaft, and she saw a tiny submarine at the very bottom, decked out in similar markings. Halfway down the shaft, she saw a landing which led to a number of doors. Continuing on past the shaft, Treyess saw a rear viewport with a large gun mounted above it. There were two more guns facing front, she saw, and one on either side. Huh. Then she looked down to her left and saw a police motorcycle in a little dock. She moved to the right of the walkway, and looked down to see a nice little police speedboat. Whoever made this thing seemed to have all the bases covered. She turned around and climbed down the ladder to a circular landing, and saw that there were five doors--one toward the back, two toward the sides, and two toward the front. All were made of wood, ornately carved and wonderfully finished. She tried the one facing the back and found it unlocked. But before she opened the door, she gazed at an array of information panels and a large opening in the shaft at this level. There were what appeared to be indicators, arranged in a rough "periodic chart of the elements", appearing at first glance to show varying amounts of different elements. She raised her eyebrows, figuring the thing deserved more investigation in the future. Then she turned back toward the door. As she opened it, a battery of lovely, soft lights came on in the room she now stood at the threshold of. And she took a sharp intake of air in surprise--it was a magnificent master bedroom sort of space. There was a lush black-and-white patterned carpet, a bar, an enormous bed, a couch facing an electronic entertainment center, and an open door through which she could see a grandly-adorned bathroom. And everything was in the color scheme of the black-and-white police car, with the gold and multicolored police emblem. A lit panel near the bed attracted her attention, and she walked over to it, noting how soft and comfortable the carpeting was. As she approached the panel, she saw it was comprised of about 20 or 30 little backlit photographs of a variety of locations--from forests to cities to deserts to tropical paradises. Smiling, Treyess reached out and touched a rain forest image, and all of a sudden the lights dimmed, and sounds of birds, insects, and other creatures filled the room. A few moments later, the walls and ceiling faded into view with images of trees and plants, and a pleasing, pungent smell came to her. "How wonderful!" Treyess said under her breath, as the illusion of being in a rain forest began to swim in her mind. After about a minute, a rumbling sound and vibration broke Treyess out of her relaxation, and she jumped up off the bed. Ferrajalt must have gotten the thing started. Reluctantly, she started forward, but looked back at the control panel, wondering how to turn it off. But then she figured it wouldn't do any harm to leave it on, so she turned back and left the room. As she climbed up the ladder, she saw Ferrajalt poking his head into the bay. "Hey Treyess! I got the thing started--WHOAH!" "I know, pretty cool, eh?" she said, stepping onto the main walkway from the ladder. "Holy crap!" Ferrajalt said, looking up at the plane. "Look at that! A plane! I wonder if it can really fly?" "There's also a submarine, a speedboat, and a motorcycle. And just wait till you see what I found downstairs." "This is so cool." Ferrajalt said, staring wildly in wonder. "I can't believe it's so cool." "I know." Treyess said as she approached Ferrajalt. "So at least something good has come of all this collapse crap." "Yeah." the Prince said distantly, as he withdrew back into the cockpit to allow Treyess to pass through the doorway. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----