|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- WINTER STADIUM THEM--CUP 10--"YAUT PILLOW" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Winter Stadium Them  ||  -------> (Cup SRws010, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Must be that the group mind got a handle on old Soot Mary, Snoppy thought. Maybe she got what she deserved. But no... there was something so... so REAL about Soot Mary's presence. Suddenly, a new and different energy flow came through the box. "We apologize for the difficulties you've been experiencing. Let me assure you that the matter is being taken care of as we speak. I understand that a 92% match has been made for you. This is excellent." "Uh--what happened to Soot Mary?" "Who?" "The--the--the Marrier Ball who I was talking to." "That Marrier Ball is one of the group mind and has no name." "But..." "Let us concentrate on your marriage." Instantly, Snoppy pulled his hand away from the box and hit an emergency switch underneath his chair, cutting off the chonk. Now only blackness could be seen beyond the opening. He got up, breathing heavily, his mind swimming. Soot Mary--a REAL entity. He was sure of it. About to be assimilated into a group mind. And he couldn't bear the thought of that happening. He had to find a way to save her. He knew of but one. Yaut Pillow. He ran back out into the main concourse, down a ways, and then stepped into a row of ticket booths. Underneath one ticket-seller station, there was a steel plate covered with the bumps of bolts, covered with centuries of layers of light blue paint, making the bolts into smooth little mounds. He knelt down and carefully pressed the bumps in sequence. It was an exceedingly complex code, with over fifty steps. He had committed it to memory long ago, but still he had to be careful to execute the whole thing right. When he punched in the last sequence, there was a big click, and the entire panel lurched forward a little. With both hands, he pushed the panel forward. It receded, revealing a spiral staircase leading into darkness below. He stood up, opened a drawer, and took out a flashlight. Then he started descending into the blackness. This was a vault where Winter Stadium Them kept their most valuable and/or hazardous artifacts, collected during their complex and otherworldly missions. He strode past innumerable crazy and wonderful things, until finally he got to a huge vault door. Behind it were the most unbelievable and devastating objects. Neither he nor the other two in the current Winter Stadium Them team knew how to unlock the vault. But Snoppy had a crossbow bolt, called the Getbolt, which just might work, he thought. His crossbow was broken up into eight part, four of which he stored in each of his boots, along with a bunch of bolts. He put the crossbow together and loaded it up with the Getbolt. Then he nuzzled his crossbow right up against the vault door and fired. Instantly, a thunderous noise was heard from beyond the door. Then all was silent again. He waited a few moments, then all of a sudden the vault door fell forward with a thud--surprisingly only a few inches thick. Carefully, Snoppy stepped into the vault and looked around. There were four cages that he could see by the flashlight light. One held a weird, shiny, giant mushroom. Another held a smiling teddy bear. Another held what looked like a Sunday newspaper, with writing of an alien nature on it. The fourth cage held a black pillow. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----