|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- THE WATERALLIDGE EDGE--CUP 6--"NOZE-EUMING" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  The Waterallidge Edge  ||  -------> (Cup SRwe006, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Mahoney looked around inside his original head. It was like a room... tilted... his original head hollowed out, pink-and-yellow striped wallpaper covering everything... with six folding chairs, tan and metal, scattered on the floor... "Look guys," he said to his five companions, "we gotta stay calm. We gotta get a plan, okay?" "Why did you do this?" Darnalt Knocking Salt yelled. She was an attractive blonde with a black sweater and a weird tattoo around her left eye. "I made my peace with Death, I had some idea of what was coming, and I was kind of looking forward to it!" Mahoney smiled a quizzical smile. "Darnalt, dear, why are you so eager? So eager for it? It will come. Just not prematurely!" "Hey," said Duncer-Haxun, "who's to say that this effect of yours isn't repeating? If we... if we die again, that this won't just happen again? That this might have happened... might have maybe happened many times already? Each time reverting us back... you see... back to the way we were... at museum..." Mahoney raised an eyebrow. "Interesting idea," he said, "but Noze-Euming told me all about that, my friend. He said that it was a one-shot deal. So you needn't worry, Duncer." "Fucked off!" said Duncer-Haxun. "I was looking forward to seeing The Extrant Whore exhibit at the museum. I was just about to go see it!" "Well..." Mahoney said, cocking his head and raising his eyebrows, as if to apologize. Then Prefer Joanie Hugging spoke up. She was a short teenage girl, with freckles, green eyes, red hair and an off-white sweater. "How do you KNOW Mahoney? How could you trust a blue guy like him?" "I know what I do!" Mahoney responded, peering out of the ear-opening, his hand on the edge of the earway. "I wanna know what happened! What happened to us, that we died!" said Challen-67. Her skin was a steely dark gray, her eyes a light gray. She was tall and muscular, looked powerful and statuesque. She wore a brown sweater. Mahoney answered as he examined the scene outside. "Noze-Euming wasn't very clear about that, my dear. As to ascertaining such information." Darnalt approached Mahoney and stood next to him. They both gazed at treetops. "Mahoney," she asked, "I think I heard you talking. Before. It was hazy and unclear. But I heard you talking and I heard my name." He faced her. "Yeah I heard it too. I was telling you to die or something." "Why?" she asked. He turned away. "I don't know. I can't imagine myself saying that. It must have been related to... I must have had to rip my head off and throw it through a dimension door or something. Maybe you had to die to activate the backup mechanism. Something like that." "Well, I guess I did it. I guess I died." "That you did." he replied. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----