|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- WEAVER--CUP 16--"GOLD" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Weaver  ||  -------> (Cup SRwv016, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Later that night we got to the lost galleon, and we tried to figure out the best way to approach. We knew they might think we were attacking them and strike us first. But we decided the best thing was to stay in the relative safety of the Warhomes, after attempts to communicate with them over radio or comm failed. As we approached, with just our headlights on, they shined a bunch of searchlights on us. When we were close enough, I took the microphone and spoke over the megaphone. "Attention crew of Urbandersnacheron IV. This is Prince Ferrajalt, Overwhelm Primate of the Derolbam Team, accompanied by Granticaine Chug Perion. We have answers to all the questions you must have." As we inched closer, I saw the petit form of Ky Ly Quids standing on the deck, her pirate uniform fluttering in the wind. She too held a microphone, and spoke over a megaphone. "Took you guys long enough! Ha ha--just kidding. How do you want to board?" "Um--we have aircraft which can land on your deck--they're pretty small--you just have to clear a small area." I said, feeling kind of self-conscious that everyone was hearing me. "Well, come on over. There's plenty of room!" she said. "Let's go." I commed to Grant, and we both got into our planes and flew (more like hovered) over to the deck of the Urbandersnacheron. Ky Ly was there to greet us. "Brought some answers, have ye?" she said. "Uh-huh." I responded, getting out of my plane. I looked around--not that many people here. I recognized some of them from Overwhelm. All of them looked tired and anxious for an explanation. "What happened to your crew?" Granticaine asked. "Lost most of 'em in the happening. Only ten of us left--all Primate, too." "Interesting." Grant said. "Well," I said, "to give you all a brief overview of what's happened, this world is Daptin's Land--it was created by Daptin Gone. You should know him--he was a Quality Scout--he must have been aboard your ship on a number of occasions." "I remember him." Ky Ly said. "So this is his world? Huh. That's pretty weird." "Yeah." I said. "Apparently, something that happened on a mission he was on caused all of reality to fall apart. I got here through a very convoluted series of events--probably similar to how you got here. But other than you guys and the Derolbam Team, only the folks that were with Daptin when he created this world still exist. As far as we know, everything else has been wiped out." "I don't believe that." Ky Ly said with a cute little frown. "So how many of the Brightful Seventeen are left?" Granticaine asked, leaning against a railing and looking at the group of Primate sailors around us. "Ten." Ky Ly said, looking grim. "But all of us survived the initial disintegration. What happened afterward--I don't know if you'd even believe it. But we lost a lot of our friends, just to get here." "What happened?" I asked. "Poor Peter." Ky Ly said, shaking her head and looking as if she were about to cry. "Funny." Caffeine said from where he sat on a wooden chair. A big kind of monster guy, he was, covered in tan fur. "I never believed the kid." "Me neither." Ky Ly said, and then she did begin to sob a little. "What?" I asked gently. Ky Ly sniffled a little and then answered. "He... he said he was... his parents, they released some sort of a spirit from a fountain, and it gave them two wishes. They... they wished for a mountain of gold. And that's just what they got--a big mountain of pure gold. Their other wish was for a way to move it, to transport it. The spirit obliged, in a bastard way as they usually do in these tales--he turned the mountain of gold into a little baby. Told 'em all they had to do was kill the child and the mountain of gold would reappear. So of course, y'know now, they fell in love with the kid. They couldn't have any on their own I think. So this fellow, this means of transporting the fantastically valuable mountain--that was our Peter." "So he, uh..." I said. The pirate girl looked right at me. "I don't know how hard a time you guys had getting here, but we had a hell of a one." I shrugged. "Let's just say we needed A LOT of gold in a hurry." Ky Ly said. "And that we had an object copier." I started to get the drift. "So..." I said. "So we kept making copies of Peter, killing each one as it came out, letting each mountain of gold fall to the surface." "Um..." I said, confused. "So what happened?" "I should have seen it coming. The damn copier ran out of juice, and we needed just that ONE MORE mountain of gold, or we'd all be history. Peter offered, and we accepted. And that's it. I always thought stories that ended that way were stupid--setting someone up to make the supreme sacrifice, but it fucking happened to us." "I'm sorry." I said. "Yeah, so am I. I'm sorry all this had to happen." the pirate girl said. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----