|| -------- -- -----  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 44--"EMMA" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Office Complex  ||  -------> (Cup SRoc044, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "What will Emma think of me now?" Amnifaoz, no longer a Hypergod, moaned. "You should have thought about that before acting like such a bore." Ann Saply said. "Bore?" V Sincein said, looking up. "Bore? He tried to disembowel Nevrippa! I'd say that's more than being a 'bore'." "I said I was sorry." Amnifaoz said. "I am spoiled. That which I was is gone. All that is left is this--this pimple of a body! Unthinkably fragile!" Indeed, Amnifaoz was changed. Now a mere human, with blue-gray skin and dark yellow hair, short and slim, and wearing a black and gray tunic, vaguely reminiscent of his Hypergod armor. The entire group was seated inside the main room of Ledrant Hate's Warhome, around a large table. Somehow he had managed to alter the master bedroom into a kind of control center. "Okay everyone." Hate said, standing at a console. "We're all here except for Treyess and Ferrajalt. I just talked to them and they should be here in a few minutes. They apologized for the further delay." "Hey, let them have their fun." Nevrippa Den said. Hate ignored the comment. "Once they're here," Hate said, "we'll have the ten Warhomes and drivers that we'll need. We can hook Ferrajalt's Warhome up and then get this crazy scheme over with. Let's just hope it works." "Too bad we couldn't get by with nine." V said, giving Amnifaoz a nasty glance. "Well I told you," Injure Bodoni said, "according to my calculations, it could be towed with six or seven, but to make those turns, we could maybe do it with nine, but ten will do it just fine." "Whatever." V said, his superimposed cube pulsing from a dull blue to a dull red. "Amnifaoz was good enough to offer his help." Hate said. "And he did apologize. Remember--he was the one who ultimately got ripped to shreds, regardless of the fact that he started it." "Yeah?" V said in an argumentative tone. "Look everyone--" Ledrant said sharply, "--let's just stop bickering and get along for once--we should all be dead--but someone out there gave us another chance." "I can't believe any of this." Sleap Drassy said. "It's just been a nightmare." "Well," Hate said, "it's lucky we scanned you--otherwise you'd still have been in that motel when we dragged the Recrudescent into Office Complex of Gumhanshire--after that, there probably wouldn't be much left of this world." "Yeah. I just keep wondering why I was one of the lucky ones to survive the disaster." Sleap said. "It's just like, I mean, if I had it to choose, I don't think I'd want it this way. To lose all my friends and family like this." Ann Saply gazed at the young woman with the blond Mohawk. "Indeed." the cat lady said with a cool smile. Sleap gave Ann a quick angry look. "We would have been one short without you, girl." Ann said. "And this must all be so strange to you." "It sure is." Sleap said. "I never spoke to a cat before." "Oh, I think we'll be speaking a lot, my dear." Ann said. Sleap looked a little worried. "But we have to get through this, first." Ann added. "We'll get through it." Nevrippa said. "We better--I got too much cool stuff. I ain't gonna die." -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----