|| -------- -- -----  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 21--"STORMBOLTHOUSE LEITMOTIF" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Weaver  ||  -------> (Cup SRwv021, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Without much delay, a small craft flew from the vehicle and came toward us. It was a sleek little aircraft with swept-back wings and what appeared to be armaments. It landed a ways down the beach from us, and Daptin led us toward it. "Is this what the rest of our life is gonna be like?" I asked Baw. "I hope not." she said. Then I regretted saying 'our life'--as if I was gonna spend the rest of my life with Baw. I certainly didn't want to. Or give her that impression. As we approached the craft, two people got out of it. In a moment, I saw that one of them was Injure Bodoni, wearing a weird sort of gray robe. The other person was... I don't know... a short woman, in the same sort of robe. Huh. I wondered what happened to Ann Saply, the little cat lady that Injure always hung out with. Unless... was this what I thought it was? Did she transform into a human so the creep could have a girlfriend? "Greetings everyone." Injure shouted as we approached. The wind was still going very strong, as the giant vehicle hovered in the air over the bay. "Greetings, Injure!" Daptin said. "I see you found considerable success in your venture." "That is yet to be determined. But the Stormbolthouse Leitmotif is a fine ship, to be sure!" Injure said. Now that I was closer, I saw that the woman bore some resemblance to Ann Saply--and I knew I was right about it. "Ann?" Daptin said, looking at the woman. "It's me," she said, smiling. "Found it a little awkward to share romance in my central form." Bingo! How predictable. So they had to relieve Injure's clogged-up pipes to get him to work his technical magic for them. Beautiful. Everyone sort of feel silent at Ann's comment--at the idea of going out of your way to have romance with a nerd like Injure. "Indeed." Daptin finally said. "So may we board?" "Yup." Injure said. "Okay people, listen up." I hated it when he tried to take charge of things. What a little freak! "I'm going to activate to mass boarding function." Injure continued. "It'll send out multiple Wavers like the one we came in on. Each one will sit two. Just get in, and it'll automatically carry you back into the Leitmotif." Baw looked up at me and I gave her a smug sort of "I don't know, this is so stupid" look. With her expression and body language, I could tell she wanted to go into the Waver with me, and with my body language I assured her we would. Whatever. Injure went back inside his Waver for a moment and then came right back out. "Okay people, here they come!" I looked up at the Leitmotif (I guess that was its name) and didn't see anything immediately, but then--yes--a whole formation of the little Wavers was coming toward us. "Cool." I said, looking over a Baw, who smiled. Soon the Wavers were landing all around us, and I approached one. The hatch opened on it, and I motioned for Baw to enter before me, which she did. I knew how to be a gentleman when I wanted to be. Then I got in, and the hatch closed. The smell inside the thing had the same "new car" sort of smell that Warhomes have when they're freshly woven. Could it be this Stormbolthouse Leitmotif was another vehicle the matter handlers were capable of weaving? A few moments after the hatch closed, the Waver quickly and deftly took off, and the Leitmotif and the storm that surrounded it loomed closer and closer. I looked back at Baw, and she smiled in wonderment and fear and confusion. "I know what we're gonna find in there--" I said, "--a whole bunch of Injure Bodoni clones." Baw laughed. "If there are, we're gonna turn this thing right back around!" she said. And I laughed, too. Not that either of us said anything that funny, just that we needed to laugh a little right then, I think. We soon entered the cloud, and for a few moments we couldn't see anything. Then everything suddenly got darker and we were in some sort of tunnel. I took a deep breath. After a few seconds, the tunnel broke open into a large, multilevel hangar, full of Wavers, with some other vehicles as well--including one Warhome. Our Waver found its way through the swarm of other Wavers also entering the hangar, and we set down on a little landing pad. "Well, we're here!" I said, standing up as the hatch above us opened. "Amazing." Baw said. "Yup." I responded. "Okay folks." I heard Daptin say over a loudspeaker. "We're gonna continue our dinner here in the Leitmotif. Just head for the exit with the flashing blue light." I looked around and saw the door he referred to. I turned to Baw and said "I wish I could have a Warhome like this!" "Yeah!" she said. And we started walking toward the door. Soon we were in the banquet hall of the Leitmotif, sitting at an ornate table, albeit without any food. "Injure informs me," Daptin said, "that he's having trouble with his food systems. I told him it was okay, since we already had a good meal." Some people laughed. Why, I don't know. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----