|| -------- -- -----  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 45--"SITUATIONQUAKE" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Office Complex  ||  -------> (Cup SRoc045, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = The room fell silent as the eight sat there looking around at each other. Finally, Injure Bodoni spoke. "So where are Treyess and Ferrajalt? We have to get moving. I told you there's a situationquake coming. If we don't get rid of that building soon, well..." "Don't worry--we're here." Treyess said, walking in with Ferrajalt behind her. "My goodness--look what you've done to your Warhome, Ledrant--it's absolutely stunning!" "Thank you." Ledrant Hate said. "Now that we're all here, we should go over the game plan. Treyess, Prince--you can take a seat right over here. Okay. So as you know, this world we're in is not as stable as we thought it was--in fact, it may be an anomaly left standing because of it's connection with Aconck. In any event, we know that hitting Office Complex of Gumhanshire--a building in Doscovor--with that ocean liner out there--the Recrudescent--will set off a reaction which might set everything straight. But we all have to pass THROUGH the event in order for us to hope to participate in reality in the future. So what we have decided is that once we're within a mile of the waterfall, we'll all bail out of our Warhomes in the little biplanes, and follow the ship into the building, flying above it." "That's right." Bodoni said, turning to the crowd. "A few seconds here or there won't matter. 'Following' is the key word here. We must follow the boat as it smashes into the building--and hopefully it will pass us through into a fresh rendition of Timber Serious Earth, where none of this ever happened." "What about the boat?" Den asked. "Huh?" Bodoni said. "The boat." Den said. "Will the boat get through into the fresh world?" "Likely." Bodoni said. "The area around the event horizon WILL retain some crash-real aspectitudes. So the building and the boat, in their post-collision format, should be existent." "Good." Den said. "Why is that good?" Bodoni asked. "You'll see, boy." Den responded. "Okay." Hate said. "Every one of us has to know how to drive his or her Warhome, as well as how to fly the biplane. So we'll be doing some quickie training in the spare Warhome while the rest of them are hooked up." "Now," Bodoni said, "I just wanted to ask Treyess and Ferrajalt about the strange object they encountered downriver." "Yes?" Treyess asked. "Yes--please tell us everything you experienced once you entered the thing." So Treyess and Ferrajalt related their experience of entering the construct and seeing that vision of the dog and the rabbit fighting. "Hmm." Bodoni said. "Very interesting. Could be symbolic--the rabbit represents 'la luna'--but the dog--I don't know..." "Just steer clear of it, everyone." Hate said. "There are a lot of terrible things here--things I'll be glad to leave behind. So let's get to it then--the final preparations are at hand--we move in three hours and forty-five minutes!" -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----