|| -------- -- -----  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 19--"22 GIRLS AND 23 BOYS" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Weaver  ||  -------> (Cup SRwv019, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Everybody, I have an announcement to make. Something incredible will happen this evening." Daptin Gone said. I was uncomfortable here, it just seemed too weird. The main hall of Daptin's House, sitting at a huge table, having dinner. The thing is, just about EVERYONE in this world is sitting around me at the table. I looked around me at all the people--a crazy bunch. Daptin's Land--population 45. I think Daptin was playing cupid and matchmaker with his powers--everyone seemed to be furtively scanning the group for a possible mate. I have to admit, I was doing it too. It's funny how things worked out. 22 girls and 23 boys. Considering all the chaos that surrounded everyone getting here, there's no way Daptin could have planned it--or is there? I don't know. There are some pretty hot babes, though. I hate to admit it, but the ones I'm drawn to the most are those devil girls--from that Yellowhaus thing when it appeared the other day. Insurance and Lemon--I think those are their names. God damn hot. I may as well record a list of all the people here in Daptin's Land. There's me, Prince Ferrajalt, and the nine others I came through with--Ledrant Hate, Injure Bodoni, Ann Saply, Amnifaoz, Nevrippa Den, Vike Varmabey, Treyess Arcomany, Sleap Drassy, and V Sincein. From the Urbandersnacheron there are another ten--Baw Veppen, Flicker Sa, Hilltop Jone Rallity, Norlime Eckert, Caffeine, Zoipin Jurple Jupter, Ky Ly Quids, Ow Muchy Moyar, Bellicose Billion, and Toggle Joseph. That's twenty. From that Yellowhaus thing there are the two demonic lovelies I just mentioned, Insurance and Lemon, as well as, I think, Chamomile, Sulfur, Buff, and Canary. Yeah. So there's twenty-six. Then there are these totally bizarre people who call themselves "Cup's Club". The leader is some sort of god named Coabler the Sawman. The others are Classic of Logic, Demolish All, Kesh the Vector, Pattern Integrity, Tickle the Monster, and--get this--Bith the Silly Train. So where are we at--thirty-three? Yeah. Of course, one person I wish I'd never see again is Red Archer Booze--still rooming with Treyess, by the way. She makes thirty-four. Granticaine Chug Perion and the rest of Provocation Team D--Wreckage Mallie, Iterator of Rail Avenue, and Pantry Lurkin--make thirty-eight. Then there's Daptin Gone, of course, and some of his friends from that alternate world Agoopish--Fake Cerquaine, Jerald Hapal Hatch, Spanking New Sarah, Pine Run Glara, Tavmatey Numblem, and Millicent. And that makes forty-five! Yeah, so I was sitting there at the table, feeling weird. It was hard to believe that this was all that was left of the entire multiverse. Forty-five weirdoes in a room. For some reason, my thoughts turned to Engiondofer Castle, the traditional home of my royal ancestors. I've always felt a strong affinity with it, and even now, I could sense its presence, somewhere out there. With this feeling, I felt sure that somehow, someday, it would be possible to return home. Anyway, after Daptin announced that something was gonna happen later, everyone kept asking him what it was, but he wouldn't say. I don't know about Daptin--he seems so old now. Not that he looks old, just that he acts like he's ancient. That Spanking New Sarah is always at his side. I guess they're going out, or whatever. I've heard that she wants to be Queen of Daptin's Land. Apparently, she granted him sexual favors when she was high and mighty and he was a nobody. Maybe now she was looking for some payback. Who knows? One thing is for sure--Daptin had to set a good example for his breeding stock--I don't think forty-five people was enough for him. He wanted some baby-making to start happening. The dinner itself was nice as usual--just a bunch of fruits, juices, foodstuff from Warhomes--all laid out on the table, so you could just reach out and take whatever you wanted. No servants, of course. Just a bunch of powerful oddballs, most of them deluded. I talked to Baw Veppen mostly during the meal. She was originally from a tribe of low-tech folks--seems she was their prophesied savior. Unfortunately, she didn't some through for her people when they expected her to. She was barely two months into her self-imposed exile when Overwhelm recruited her. We got into a discussion about the whole "why me" thing. "You know what I mean?" Baw said. "For as long as I can remember, I always asked 'why me'? Why am I the Chakilool, the Savior? And then, when I failed my people, I asked, why am I the Chakilool who failed?" "I know what you mean." I said, fiddling with some grapelike fruits on my plate. "I often wonder myself how I managed to be born into a royal family, heir to the throne. I mean, what are the chances?" "Right." she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "And now of course, all this. All the universe gone, but somehow, I manage to be one of those who survive--one of less than fifty. It's 'why me' all over again." "Yeah." I said. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----