..Ohboy. My first real post.. *gulp*
I'd like to thank my contributing editors: The Triumvirate of Jo(h)ns:
John Collins [Jon/Jo(h)n], John Peasley [John/Firehawke], and Jon Quirit
[Ozymand]-- confusing, huh? ^_~ ; and Brett Handy. {Hiya, Brett-luv!
*GLOMP* ^_^]
I'd also like to thank my prereaders: Anand Rao {betcha he didn't think
I'd actually use the title!), Ed Becerra, and the aforementioned
editors.
Whoops! Can't forget.. I'd like to thank John/Firehawke for inventing
#fhs (Firhawke's Sanctuary), of which everyone I've named is a member.
Ya'll are my family, guys.
Well, now that the Waffy bits are over, let's get down to it.
RUN IN TERROR! BWHAHAHA!
Eep! almost forgot the disclaimer! ^_^;;
Washuu is my IRC nick. Apologies to whoever owns Tenchi Muyo! ,
but *I* don't own her. All denizens of #fhs are their own property
and should not be used without their permission. Aside from
Washuu's name, I own her character and all other forms Su may
happen to take.
Su: Whaddaya mean, OWN!?
Washuu: Only for legal purposes! Please don't kill me!
Su: ..only because I want to see what happens next.
Oh, before I forget! I don't own any anime I visit. please ask me before
visiting any universes I make up.
Now then, on with the story! [At last!]
Flames expected, C&C appreciated, praise not even deserved.
The Writer, The Witch, And The IRC Channel
[Why not? ^_^]
by
Su Mai'lirden
[Yes, this is an SI. I'm sorry, but that's how it
decided to come out. If you don't like SIs, feel
free to stop reading at any time.
..Hell, the same goes if you don't like it. It's
your right to choose what you read, not mine.
--Washuu, a.k.a. Su]
Chapter One
John sat at his computer, idly accessing the
'net and irc.fanfic.com.
*That's odd,* he thought to himself as he entered
#fhs. *Nobody's on. I'd've thought Su would be;
she's ALWAYS on, and Brett would be on because
she is. Strange.*
Shrugging, he decided to check his email. *Maybe
they dropped off or something- Eh? What's this?*
There was a single, but rather large, email in
his box. There was no sender, and the subject
said only "A surprise."
The message had an attachment-- "'Crab.exe'?"
John asked himself. "Weird name.."-- and a short
note.
I think you'll like this.
A small token of my esteem.
-Me.
Not being an idiot, John examined the little
program every which way from Thursday. There
were no viruses that he could find, and the
code didn't seem to be malicious, if incredibly
complex for a a greeting card.. or anything
else, for that matter.
*Guess somebody wrote their own,* John thought,
and opened it.
A small pink crab appeared in the middle of the
screen. It waved. "Hi hi!" a tiny voice said.
"Please wait just a moment while the program
gets ready. I promise, you'll love it!"
"Ooo-kay," John said to himself, reaching for
his Dew.
It was about then he noticed his hand seemed
to be melting. No, it wasn't melting, it was
*pixelating*, and the bits were flowing towards
the screen and into a pink and green portal
that had opened up just behind the little crab.
"Bye-bye!" it called, waving a claw as the rest
of him followed his hand. "Have a good trip!"
The crab watched the portal close behind its
erstwhile traveler, and nodded to itself,
which was a pretty amazing feat considering it
had no neck, or even a head. "Al-RIGHT! Now to
go play!" it said to itself, rubbing its claws
together and going for John's desktop settings.
"Now let's see.. this color scheme is nice, but
something's missing.. AHA! Yes! It needs more
*pink*!"
"Aaaaaaaa!" John yelled as he flowed? through
the portal. After a while, this seemed rather
fruitless, so he stopped and examined his
rapidly-passing surroundings. It seemed to be
of the cliche'd 'cyberspace' sort, but all in
pink and green.. and WHAT were those decorations?!
His musing, and the portal, ended with a loud
*WHUMP*. He was lying face down in something soft
and fluffy.
***Now talking in #fhs_REAL
***Topic is 'BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! I AM THE GREATEST
SCIENTIST IN THE UNIVERSE!'
***Set by Washuu on Thu Jan 24 11:16:15
...a voice said in his head.
He was suddenly very cold, and very, very wet.
Someone had just dumped water on him.. he rolled
over and looked up. A little girl with long,
spiky pink-red hair was standing over him, an
empty bucket marked "Opniichuan(Spring of
drowned Op)" in her hand. "Hi hi!" she chirped.
"I see you got the program."
"So it *was* yours," he said, accepting the hand
she offered to get out of the pile of pillows.
"Hi, Su."
"Washuu at the moment, but anyway.." she glomped
him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "How do
you like it?"
John looked around. They were in a *huge* room,
carpeted with a soft blue rug. There were a few
couches and bean bag chairs scattered around,
most of which centered around a huge holographic
display, which, on closer inspection, turned
out to be playing Slayers Vol. 2 (subtitled).
One long wall was lined with computer terminals.
At the end of the line, a familiar wooden door
was marked "Washuu's Lab. Do not enter on pain
of experimentation."
In a far corner was another door, a trail of
rose petals leading to it. It seemed rather more
solid than the Lab door. A sign above it read
"Brett and Su's room. Paparazzi will be skinned
and used for rugs."
"It's.. cool," he offered. "Kinda Spartan, tho."
"It is?" Washuu looked about with a surprised
expression. "H'm. So it is." Washuu looked
thoughtful for a second, and the walls were
suddenly covered with posters and tapestries from
every anime John'd ever heard of.
"What the-?" John sputtered.
"I altered the channel. #fhs has always been
defined by our wills.. it's just a bit more
observable now."
"You mean you changed the channel?" John punned.
Washuu pulled out a personal missile launcher
half again as long as she was and lifted it to
her shoulder, aiming for John. She pulled the
trigger, and a LONG series of force pulses
battered John. Each made a 'bapping' noise as
they hit.
"Ite!" John uttered, collapsing in a heap.
Washuu leaned over him. "Did you like my @bap
cannon? It was one of the first things I figured
out," she said with a grin. "Now c'mon. The others
are waiting at the holoprojector."
"But I can't walk!"
"Sure you can. You're digital now; just think
yourself healed."
"Uhm.. how?"
Washuu sighed in exasperation. "Fine, I'll do
it for you this time. But mind you pay attention."
She frowned slightly, and John was treated to
the novel sensation of healing accelerated at a
rate beyond ridiculous (read: instantaneous. ^_^)
"I can think of a time or two when that
would've been useful," he reflected darkly. He
noticed Washuu's sad expression, and shook it
off, putting on a manic grin.
"MOOF!" an enormous voice thundered. A large
*something* that looked like a cross between a
German shepherd and a Guernsey cow came running
out of one wall and through the one facing it,
leaving no trace of its passing.
Well, unless you count the holes in the walls.
Washuu smiled slightly. "I told you you'd figure
it out.. A DogCow, ne?"
John grinned and bowed to her. "But of course,
my lady."
"I'm not a lady, I've told you that time and
again. But if you're going to be courtly, you
should look the part."
John was suddenly clad in an ornate suit of
armour, the stuff of a fantasy artist's wet
dreams. It was of a rich midnight blue, each
plate decorated around the edges with a red-gold
pattern of leaping flames, so detailed they seemed
to flicker and dance. On the breastplate was a
phoenix, mantling and screaming defiance. Of
what, no-one but John could say.
It resembled a set of medieval plate armour, but
it was incredibly light, and not at all bulky.
John could've danced in it, with no more
encumbrance than any dancer's leotard.
John was holding the helmet under his arm. He
raised it to look at it. It was in the same blue
as the rest of the armour, with a neon-green
eyeslot. John raised an eyebrow. "Is this what
I think it is?"
Washuu just grinned. "Put it on and find out."
John lowered it carefully over his head, the
helmet adjusting to his face and locking to
the rest of the armour with a *click*. The world
was dark for a moment, then:
Hardsuit Operating System, Version 4 Softsuit
Enabled.
Railgun operational.
Washuu's Surprise #1 operational.
Washuu's Surprise #2 operational.
Washuu's Surprise #3 operational.
Washuu's Surprise #4 operational.
Flight system at optimum efficiency.
Armour at 100% maximum.
All systems active and ready.
scrolled in front of him, as vision was restored.
Washuu flashed a V-sign. "You like?"
John woke up with Washuu, Brett, Kickaha, Ailuro,
Ozymand, Anand, and Magami leaning over him.
"Are you okay?" Washuu asked concernedly. "You
just fell over.."
"I'm fine," John said, getting up with Brett's
help. "Just a little shocked. Is there anyplace
I can try this thing out?"
"Over there," Brett said, pointing to a gigantic
meadow that suddenly appeared where a far wall
had been.
"But not yet, please?" Washuu asked. "First I
want to tell you guys about how I did this."
"Sure," John said, taking off his helmet. The
others nodded, and they settled down on some
convenient couches.
"I've been working on this for about six months
now," Washuu said. "Crab, I mean. It's for
digitizing people, of course, that's why I sent
it to you guys, but it also does something else."
"What's that, lass?" Kick asked.
"Well, it's kinda for you, Kick. I didn't like
the thought of you dying so soon, so I did
something about it..
When you leave here, not just #fhs, but your
computer, it puts you back together. It'll fix
your body, Kick. Now you'll die from something
like old age, and not the damage from the stroke,
and the other stuff that's wrong. Ukireru
senbetsu, kudasai, Kickaha-otousan." She clasped
her hands in front of her chest and bowed deeply.
Silence reigned.
"..Thank you, lass," Kickaha said eventually,
an uneasy look on his face.
Aili, however, was delighted. The double-breasted
cheetahwoman leapt from her place on Kick's lap
and glomped Washuu. "This is true?" she asked
her. "BunnyCat can really make Kicky be okay?"
Washuu scratched her behind the ears. "Hai,
Aili-nekochan. I really can."
"Yay!" Aili said, hugging Washuu so hard she left
bruises. She let go, and turned to run to Kick,
when a thought struck her. "Can BunnyCat make
Aili always look this way?" she asked urgently,
indicating her current form.
Washuu looked thoughtful. "I don't see why not..
the needed stuff is already there, it just has
to be made an option.." She rezzed her shadow
terminal out of the air and typed furiously for
a few minutes.
"There," she said finally, putting it back into
the air. "You can set whatever form you like, now."
Aili "YAY!"ed even louder and bounced around the
channel for a little while, finally pouncing on
Kick.
Washuu watched her antics with a sad smile nobody
noticed..
Except for Brett, and John, and Kick.
She shook it off after a moment and and clapped
her hands. An enormous banquet appeared, and
they all fell to.
Chapter 2
<<Electric Dreams- Giorgio Moroder>>
About an hour later, they lounged around the
holoprojector (now showing Vol. 3), chatting
idly. Aili was curled up on Kick's lap again,
and Washuu mirrored her on Brett's.
"You know, I could get used to this," John smiled.
"Just the five of us, here, watching anime to our
heart's content."
"I did myself," Washuu said with a small smile.
"I've been working on this thing for *months*."
There was a sudden disturbance, as a corner of the
room pixelated into a dark shape, then cleared,
revealing a grinning Jon, clad all in black.
"Gweepings!" he exclaimed loudly.
Washuu pulled out a bucket and splashed him.
"Morning. How's life?"
"Life is good." Jon said. "How's everyone's?"
"Odd," said John. "But fun." There was a general
wave of agreement, tho Washuu's was a bit
halfhearted.
Jon noticed Washuu's lack of enthusiasm. "You
okay, Washuu-chan?"
"Yeah!" Brett agreed. "You've been acting down
all afternoon, love. What's wrong?"
Washuu bit her lip. "Something's been wrong since
October, love," she said finally. "Not long after
Dierdre died."
Brett gathered her up in a hug, holding her
tight. "Calm down, my love ... it's all right."
"No, it's NOT 'all right'!" Washuu blurted.
"It's horribly, horribly wrong, and when you've
found out I.. I don't know WHAT ya'll'll do.
"It was about a week after the funeral.. Jeannie
had come over to make sure I was all right. I
was working on Crab to distract myself-it was
just that, the little crab you guys saw at first,
and I decided to show it off, for Jeannie..
But something happened."
The group voiced a collective '?', Kickaha and
Aili looking up from their respective positions.
She waved a hand around, indicating the channel.
"*This had happened, and I still don't really
know how, but.. something was wrong with the
pixelating, that first time.
"It didn't *convert* the body.. it *destroyed*
the body. I'm the proverbial Ghost in the
Machine."
Brett was stunned. "I don't like these kinds of
jokes, love.."
"I wish it WERE! I tried and tried to get out..
but there was nothing to get out *WITH*! Don't
you think, if I were going to make a joke, it'd
be about something more tasteful than *THIS*?
I DON'T HAVE A BODY! As far as the world's
concerned, I'm DEAD!"
Washuu leapt from Brett's lap and ran into her
Lab, slamming the door behind her.
Jon looked at Brett, thinking carefully before
he spoke, lest he put his foot in his mouth once
again. "You'd better go see her ... you know
her a lot better than I do."
Brett merely nodded and made his way into the
Lab.
"Susan?" Brett called as he entered the Lab,
shutting the door behind him. It vanished, and
he was left standing in the huge garden that
was so familiar from Tenchi Muyo!. "Susan?" He
called again, but she was nowhere in sight.
He felt a light touch on his leg. "You're looking
for Washuu-sama?" A familiar little voice asked.
"Damn straight!" he said. He looked down to see
the same little crab (although it seemed rather
larger) from Washuu's portal. "She told me not
to bring you to her," it said apologetically,
"But I can tell you where she might be."
"Oh? Any help would be good, right about now."
"She's made a replica of Oz, *waaaaaaaaaay* at
the end of the Lab," it told him. "She's got a
room in 'Brisbane' that she goes to when she
cries..
I can't teleport you there directly- she'd know-
but you can use the short-range teleporters she
uses when she wants to wander around."
"Err.. thanks. But what do her teleporters
look like?"
"Just like the ones from ST:TNG," it said,
pointing to one. "Did you expect anything else?
Tho they *are* just single-man stalls. The ones
you want to use will be labeled like this.." a
green light flashed on above the teleporter in
question. "You'll have to wander to find the next
one, but don't worry; nothing will hurt you here.
"They don't dare. You're the Mistress's itoshii."
Brett smiled and headed for the transporters.
He couldn't resist the temptation to say "Energize"
as he was whisked away in some random direction.
He materialized in a long marble hall that seemed
to be in a museum, or an art gallery. Beautiful
statues on tall pedestals ranged from beautiful
renditions of dragons, phoenixes, and other
'mythical' beasts to abstract art and anime
characters, in every medium from wood and stone to
precious metals. On the walls hung paintings and
drawings of manga and anime characters, as well
as pictures from every other genre of fantasy and
science fiction.
The hall led to a gigantic pair of doors, with
some sort of mural on them, but Brett couldn't
see it clearly- he was too far away. He made for
them, but a medium door he hadn't noticed before
opened as he came near it. It was the door to
another transporter, green light shining above
it.
Brett stood a moment more, mesmerized for a
moment by the sheer beauty of the place, before
remembering his mission. He stepped into the
transporter and was gone in a flash of blue
light.
This time he appeared on a dirt road, leading
up a tall hill to a fantastic castle backed by
mountains, under a rainbow. Red and yellow
mushrooms grew beside the path, and unicorns
grazed behind stone fences in cottage meadows.
Everything was beautiful, but not everything
was in color.. it was as if he walked through a
half-finished drawing in a coloring book.
Brett looked around, a little dismayed. "I can't
believe she'd just leave it like this. What
happened? Is it half-done? did something happen
to it and she hasn't been able to get to it?"
A songbird about the size of a canary, but
with the markings of a red-tailed hawk, landed
on his shoulder, sang for a moment, then
fluttered off.
He watched as it perched in a nearby bush and
pecked at a colorless berry. Behind the bush, a
troop of mecha were working busily. Every time
one touched an object, that thing gained a
proper color.
Usually.
Suddenly, one seemed to notice him. It stopped
for a moment, then pointed a claw towards a cottage
across the road.
Brett waved his thanks, then headed towards the
cottage. On opening the door, he saw a single
mecha, working busily at coloring the contents
of a pantry. In a corner was another transporter,
the green light shining above it.
This time he was in the middle of a bustling
Mexican restaurant, the air full of talk,
delicious smells, and Stevie Nicks.
A bit baffled, he walked down the main aisle to
the doors, between a line of tables and booths at
the windows, waving to a baby who'd waved first.
He felt a touch on his arm. "Brett?"
He looked up, startled that someone here would
know him. "Yes? What can I do for you?"
A guy of about seventeen, with brown hair and
eyes, was holding on to his arm. He smiled
warmly. "I'm Jeremy. Su's written me into one
or two of her stories.. she asked me to watch
this universe for her. These, and the others
you'll see from now on, are some of the ones
she can interface with.. Anyhow, the transporter
you want is in the telephone booth next to
the men's room."
"Thanks. Nice to meet you, mate.." Brett smiled
at Jeremy and made his way to the men's room,
finding the
teleporter with no problems. The blue light whisked him
away in a flash.
Brett exited the transporter and was hit by a blast of
freezing cold air. He shivered, before noticing the fur
coat hanging on the wall. After a quick look to make sure
no-one else was around, he shrugged into the coat and
stepped outside.
The sky was dark gray and very gloomy, and it was foggy,
what some people called a 'pea-souper'. He was glad he was
wearing that coat, otherwise he would have been chilled
to the bone.
A passer-by stopped to talk. "Oi. Don't just stand 'ere,
otherwise you'll catch yer death o' cold. If yer lookin'
for Su, go down 'ere and turn first left. You'll see
where yer goin' right enough."
He followed the stranger's instructions carefully, ending
up in a narrow street with a single lighted building.
The sign read, "The Mucky Duck Pub."
Underneath hung another, paper sign, which said "Irish
Session Today." He stepped inside, smiling to himself.
He was in a medium-sized, badly lighted room, decorated
with old aviation equipment, signs for drinks, and
countless bookshelves and pictures. Across from the
door was the bar, and catty-corner from it the stage.
A horde of musicians were on an around it, currently
listening to a fiddle-and-flute duet playing a sad ballad.
A large man with a large beard (read: Texas goatee)
popped up in front of him. "You'd be Brett, then?"
"Yeah, that's me. And you are ...?"
"Rusty. My wife and I own the Duck. Well, Ducks
actually, we've got the original in Houston and this
newish one here in London. At any rate, we've heard a
lot about you from our Su.. She said that if you were
to show up, go in the closet in there." He pointed
through the passageway(of sorts) into the Game Room.
Brett shook Rusty's hand, thanked him, and made his
way down a small corridor to a room which contained,
in no particular order: 5 dart boards, 4 pool tables,
3 assorted patrons, 2 chess boards and a partridge in a
pear tree. Not to mention a closet, which he opened
and found a transporter inside. Big surprise there.
Brett appeared on a sidewalk in what appeared to be
a normal part of suburban Tokyo.
Then he heard the yell.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm *LATE*!"
"LUNA! Why didn't you warn us!?! Now Rini and I will
be late!" "This is all YOUR fault, Serena!" Before he
could dodge, he was mowed down by a blonde blur in a
school uniform, dragging a small girl with pink hair.
A small black cat with a golden crescent moon on its
forehead appeared after a moment and sniffed at him
delicately. "I'm sorry, sir," she said, in a clipped
English accent. "Were you looking for the transporter?"
"Ow.. yes, I was."
"It's right behind the gate," she said, pointing
into her yard with a a paw. "Can you get up?"
"Err ... I think so ... yeah.." Brett said as he got
up, albeit slowly. "I'm Brett. And you're.. Luna,
right? I should've known.. I've fallen into Sailor Moon."
"And not even a very good version," she answered with
a depressed nod. "I just KNOW Beryl owns DIC. I wonder
if Washuu would like a pet..? At any rate, that
transporter will take you there. My best to Washuu-sensei."
Brett bowed to Luna, thanked her most graciously,
and went through the gate ... to find (yes, you guessed
it) another transporter. He stepped into it, and a blue
flash took him away.
Brett looked up at an exact duplicate of his own
home and stared at it thoughtfully for a moment. "Hmm..
so much for the theory that there's no place like
home," he said with a grimace.
He walked up to the door and opened it quietly.
Walking inside was rather strange.. it was a
duplicate right down to the smallest detail.
He shook off the unusual feeling and walked
through to his room. Brett paused for a moment
at the doorway. Su was sitting on his bed, her
left side towards the door. She was Su, not
Washuu-she was much taller and older-seeming, her
ears pointed, her hair in a long braid and much
darker red. She was still all in black though,
and crying her eyes out as she clutched a small
and very familiar toy koala. She didn't seem
to notice him.
Brett entered the room quietly and walked to
within an arm's length of Su, "Love.. you'll get
him all wet if you keep that up," he said quietly,
putting his hand on her shoulder, "Why not use
me instead?"
She looked up, the tears still streaming. "I-"
she choked back a sob-"didn't know you-*sob*-
wanted to," she said.
Brett sat down beside her on the bed and put an
arm around her shoulders, hugging her gently.
"Come on love.. you should know me better than
that," he said softly. He carefully removed
the toy koala from her hands and took them
gently in his own.
"But-but I broke my promise," she said haltingly.
"I got myself- killed, and then I lied to you for
a good four months, and now I can't *ever* be
with you, and-" she started to cry harder.
"You did this *deliberately*?" he asked, raising
an eyebrow.
"NO! Why on earth would I do that!?"
"Then you didn't break any promise to me" he said
firmly.
"All right," she said after a moment, calming
a little. "But I lied to you. To get the stuff you
sent me I had to have Jeremy and Devin claim it
and send it in.. what about that?"
Brett shook his head, "You'll have to forgive me..
but I'm still in shock about all this" he said,
looking around at the room. He took a deep
breath. "Ok", he said after a moment's thought,
"How angry do you want me to get at you?"
"Say what?"
Brett gave her a curious look, "You're giving
me reasons to be upset at you, aren't you?", he
asked.
"I.. guess you could put it that way, yah.."
"Well.. I'm not angry at you, Susan,", he said
firmly. "I'm utterly dismayed and shocked at the
situation.. but I'm not angry at you."
"Thank gods," she said, curling up in his lap.
She spilled a little, (she was two meters tall
in this form) but they were on the bed. "I don't
like it when you're mad.. but what are you going
to do?"
"I have no idea", Brett said with a shrug, "What
do you think *we* should do?"
"We?"
Brett gave her a confused look, "Sorry," he
apologized, "I don't mean to presume anything.."
"Presume what? And why on earth are you apologizing?"
Brett frowned, "I presumed that you still wanted
to have a relationship with me," he said.
"Of course I do! I just didn't know if you still
wanted to have one with me.. I'm a frigging *ghost*,
love."
Brett smiled, "If I didn't I wouldn't have come
after you", he said with a chuckle, "Talk about
an interesting trip..".
"So Kani-chan *did* help you, then," she said
with a slight smile. "She always does what I need
before what I want."
"It's an interesting world you've got here.."
Brett said idly.
"Arigatou gozaimashite," she said with a bow.
"What did you like best?"
"The hall with the murals was rather nice," Brett
said with a smile.
"You mean the one that looks like a museum?"
Brett nodded, "That's the one", he said, "It
was quite pretty."
She got up and took his hand. Her smile
flickered for a moment, and they were there.
"This is my Great Hall," she said, lifting
her arms and twirling a little. "I made
all of this."
Brett looked around, whistling appreciatively.
"Beautiful," he said with a bemused smile.
"It's a lot easier when all it takes is a
thought," she said, looking slightly sheepish.
"You have wonderful thoughts, Susan," Brett said,
giving her a little hug.
"Considering that's all I am now, I should hope
I do," she said with a sad smile. "But would you
want a collection of thoughts, however wonderful
they might be?"
Brett sighed and put his hands on her shoulders,
looking her right in the eyes. "Susan, if you
still love me.. it doesn't matter," he said,
kissing her gently.
She jerked with surprise, then returned it, a
little harder. "Of course I still love you, baka,"
she said affectionately. "You've got me booked
through to eternity, remember? But I can't be
with you! I can't ever come to Australia and
boink you 'til you collapse and settle down
and have kids with you.. what about that?"
"Look Susan.. I think I told you once that even
if I couldn't be with you in that way.. I'd
still love you," he said. After a moment Brett
frowned. "You're one hundred percent sure there's
nothing you can do to be in the 'real' life? I
mean, it's only been four months," he said.
Washuu shook her head. "I don't think so," she
said. "You can only take out what you've brought
in. You can leave bits behind, and you can make
them into different things, but you can't bring
something made purely in here. John's suit is real-
I made it out of old computers- but you can't make
a new thing, and you can't make a living thing out
of nonliving bits. You can change it, you can
change anything, but you can't make new objects,
and you can't make life. I don't know if you can
put more than one living thing together, but I'm
sure's hells NOT going to try."
Brett shrugged. "Perhaps you'll figure something
out as you go along," he said, unwilling to let
her give up. He took her hand, "Look Susan, I
love you and I'm not going to stop loving you
because of this," he explained. "Unless you can
give me some better reasons than those you have
so far?"
"These seem to be the only reasons I have," she
said with a wry smile. "And I'd kind of hoped
you wouldn't take them as reason. But should we
go on pretty much as we have been? Or will you
stay with me?"
Brett smiled. "What would you prefer?" he offered.
"Well.. it would be easier to protect you, here.
I can get into ANYTHING now, it's not even really
hard.. what if someone were to find out about Crab?
someone in authority? Gods know I love Kick, but
armies scare me silly.. or people like the Yakuza.
I can do unbelievable things with this.. what if
somebody decides to grab you, to use as a bargaining
chip?
Brett shrugged. "I guess that's a possibility",
he admitted, "But then, you will probably need
things from outside eventually, and Jeremy might
not be available..".
"There are other outsides. Remember the Mexican
restaurant? That was a real universe. I can be
there. It's odd, but I can actually interface
with everything there.. all of the anime
universes, in fact."
Brett thought for a long moment, "Well love..
I don't really want to abandon all my family
and friends.. " he said with a sigh. "I'll be
careful when I'm outside."
"All right," she said with a sigh. "But would
you like to come with me when I go exploring
in the other universes? I do that sometimes."
"Of course," he agreed.
"Thank you, love. And I promise you won't
have to go through the Sailor Moon ones."
Brett laughed and gave Su a light kiss.
"Thank you, my dear!" he said with feeling.
She snorted, but returned the kiss. "Want to
go back to #fhs?" she asked. "The others
should still be there.. it's only been about
five minutes realtime."
Brett nodded. "You worried everyone else
too," he said with a frown. "You owe 'em
all big hugs."
"Hai, itoshii,"she said with a low bow,
and opened the Lab door, which had
appeared in front of them. They walked
back into #fhs_REAL, arm in arm.
Chapter 3
<<Idol Talk-Yoko Kanno>>
Macross Plus-Original Soundtrack II
Washuu sat on a bench in her front garden,
chin in hand, thinking back to the scene
that had happened yesterday.
According to the others, John had left
without a word just after Brett went
into the Lab after her, looking stricken.
He'd come back a few minutes after she
had, tho, looking extremely startled.
He hadn't expected his new hardsuit to
come out with him.
Kick hadn't said much, except for a few
calming words to a pacing and muttering
John. He'd just sat there, petting Aili
with a thoughtful expression.
Jon, of course, had been very sweet, endeavoring
to comfort her long into the night, feelings
that were not his occasionally bubbling to
the surface.
Poor empath.
Ozy had simply been quiet, watching silently
as everything was explained. From the logs,
he'd been a bit dismayed when she'd run off.
When Brett and Washuu had returned a short
time later, arm in arm, he nodded to himself
and stood.
"I think I'll get some sleep", he announced.
He nodded to Brett and Washuu. "If you need
me, just get in touch.. it's all on this card."
He handed her a card with his various numbers
and addresses on it, and left.
Anand had been in a state of denial. He'd
handled #fhs_REAL pretty well, but this had
been a bit much for him. "I'm dreaming... I
know I'm dreaming.... I dream all the time...
that's what this is, a dream!"
In the end Washuu'd just sent him back home.
He didn't return.
There'd been email from him a little later,
saying that he wouldn't be able to get online
for a couple of days. Washuu rather expected he'd
be getting very, very drunk in that time.
Washuu slumped, dropping her hands into her
lap and staring at them. "I shouldn't've told
them," she said to them.
"But what would you have done when they did
find out, Washuu-sama?" A small voice asked.
Washuu stopped, and considered.
"..The same as I already did, I expect," she
said. "And this time they might have been angry
at me for still lying when I had proof."
"So the outcome would have been the same, or
even worse, ne?"
"..Hai," Washuu admitted. "Arigatou, Kani-chan."
"No thanks needed or asked," replied the
little crab. "Nevertheless, you're welcome."
Washuu smiled slightly at the old joke. "So..
What shall we do today, Kani-chan?"
"Well, it's only an hour realtime until
Brett's supposed to wake up.."
Washuu grinned, catlike, her canines
growing into fangs. "You know, I think I'll
try something. We've got his phone number,
right?"
"Both before and after the news. He gave it
again before he left, you remember."
"That he did.. let's go play, Kani-chan."
She stood up from the bench and reached into
air. The knob of the door appeared under her
hand, and she turned it, stepping through and
out into the 'net.
She saw a three-dimensional version of the
four-dimensional world she hoped the 'Web
would grow to be, as the Matrix of other
worlds was. It was computer animation,
pure and simple. Rather- and she occasionally
kicked herself for this view- like the
environment of that show Reboot. She hadn't
tried going to that world yet.. She wasn't
sure it was such a good idea.
She'd long ago outgrown the machine she'd had
when this began. Somehow, thank Skuld, the
digitizer had managed to code full bodies and
personalities into incredibly small files (only
120 K, on the average).. and without the
encumbrance of body substance and assembly
codes, she was a svelte 50. (Bodies were BIG.)
But the Lab was huge, even scattered throughout
the 'Web and thousands of other universes. Her
own machine had been moved to Devin and Jeremy's
apartment, and she paid for an ISDN and permanent
connection.
Money was easy enough. She was an AI-equivalent
in a non-jack world, and she could do in the
Matrix what 'jackers could do to dryware ops..
and even a dryslug can track a phone number.
She flashed easily along the needed paths,
hopping across exchange after exchange until
the main turnoff for Oz. Down the lines to
Brisbane she went, and found his.
She managed the physical connection to his
modem on the first try, *THANK you, Our Lady
Of Technology!* and strolled on though into
his computer, which was, inconviently, off.
*Sigh.. la de da, the circuit's connected to
the.. oh, GOOD, a digital switch.. just flip
in reverse and.. ah..*
Washuu let it boot up and waited impatiently
for it to boot up. One thing had gotten
rather worse with this.. Booting up had
always seemed to take forever when she
was actually on realtime. Now it DID.
Washuu hacked Brett's password for form's
sake, and took a look at her surroundings.
Windows always felt claustrophobic, appearing
as a narrow hall with the wallpaper of the
desktop on one side, and the windows on the
opposite wall. Still, at least she could
step into the windows, which was a relief.
*Now didn't he say something about using this
as a DVD player? Aha, there it is, and Oo! his
TV/VCR system is hooked in! Now let's see..
I can talk and be seen, but can I see and be
talked TO? Mic, good, good.. oh, neat! wish
he'd told me about the little video cam..
now then..*
<<Let's News-Yoko Kanno>>
Macross Plus-Original Soundtrack II
fades into
<<Pulse-Yoko Kanno>>
Macross Plus-Original Soundtrack II
A head and a pair of shoulders appeared on the
TV facing Brett's bed. Washuu sighed. "So this
is how Max Headroom feels.."
The camera lying in the cabinet beside the TV
turned itself on and focused on what was in
front of it, which happened to be Brett's bed.
There was a long lumpy form on it, covered
with a sheet.
Time passed.
The alarm clock rang. A bare arm emerged and
slammed what must've been the snooze button.
The alarm rang again, ten minutes later. Brett
raised his head and looked blearily at the
alarm clock. He hit the snooze button again.
More time passed. *RING!* Buttonslam.
Ten more minutes. *RING!* Look blearily at
clock. Turn over and begin to get up.
"Ohayou, itoshii!" Washuu chirped in a voice
cheery enough to put ice in one's blood.
Brett fell out of the bed.
<<Pu Qua O-Yoko Kanno>>
Macross Plus-Original Soundtrack II
Brett slowly and cautiously peered over the
edge of the bed at the TV, "Ahhh.. " he said.
"Good morning, my love!" Washuu said happily.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes, absently
grabbing his glasses. "G'morning," he mumbled,
"Err.. how'd you get in the TV?"
"Through your computer, via your modem," she
replied. "You'd best change your password."
Brett absently scratched the back of his head,
"Why?" he asked with a chuckle. At that point
he realized that he was wearing only his
underwear, and he grabbed a shirt.
"Don't get dressed on my account," she said
with a wink and a slow smile. "And I broke it
for form's sake. I won't do it again, it's easy
enough to bypass, but it was ceremonial.
At any rate, you should change it."
Brett chuckled and grabbed some pants too. He
walked closer to the TV and sat down in front
of it, "Hmm," he observed, "And I'm always
complaining that there's nothing good on TV.."
Washuu blushed.
Brett grinned at her, "So, my love," he said
with a wink, "What do you want to do today?"
Washuu's image disappeared from the screen
and appeared as a full-body one standing
next to Kani-chan, who waved. "I was
thinking of going exploring.. would you
like to come?"
Brett smiled. "Yup.. just give me a couple
of minutes to wake up," he said with a nod.
"Alright, love.. you can pick where we go if
you like."
"Me pick?" he asked.
"Sure! The anime universe of your choice."
"Hmm.. " he mused, "Lemme think about it..
I'll be back in a minute." He headed upstairs
and took a quick shower, his mind turning over
the possibilities. He finished up quickly and
headed back downstairs.
Washuu was leaning against an open window, arms
crossed. "Decided, love?"
Brett nodded. "How about Lodoss?" he asked.
"All right," she said, and the portal sucked
him in again. "It'll take you to my front garden..
meet you there."
Chapter 4
<<A sai en-Yoko Kanno>>
Macross Plus Original Soundtrack II
Brett found himself together again and looked
around. "Very nice," he said with a nod. The
garden was quite lovely.
A door appeared next to him and opened. Su
stepped out. "Thank you," she said with a bow.
"Kani-chan and the mecha take care of it for me."
Brett took a couple of steps closer and gave her
a big hug, "Good morning", he said, kissing her
gently.
Su returned the kiss with a smile. "I thought Su
would be more appropriate for Lodoss than Washuu..
but I don't really know much about it. I'll bring
a transporter with me.. where should we start?"
"How about the Capital of Valis?" Brett suggested.
"There'll be a few places there that we could
transport into and no one would notice."
"All right. I'll need to find a good place to
hide the permanent transporter anyway. Fun with
TARDIS disguising, heheheh.. could you describe
one of the places for Kani-chan?"
Brett thought for a long moment, "Ok.. how about
an alley?" he suggested, "Just off the main
street of the city, should be nice and quiet."
Kani-chan was at a shadow terminal,
processing Lodoss information. She found the
main street, then homed in on an alley. "Found
one," she said. "Have fun, guys!" She pressed
a key, and they vanished.
Brett rubbed his eyes at the glare of the
suddenly sunny day, he shielded them for a
moment, "Hmm.. should have bought sunglasses",
he muttered.
Su handed him a pair of Ray-bans.
Brett laughed and put them on, "Thank you love",
he said, "However.. somehow I doubt they wear
sunglasses here.. we'll probably have to change
our clothing too..".
"Alright, love," she said. "I'll see what
they wear around here." She faded out of Brett's
sight and walked into the street.
Brett walked a few meters to the end of the
alley and looked out into the bustling main
street of the capital of the largest (intact)
kingdom in Lodoss. Bright ribbons and flowers
were strung along the streets and the people
seemed to be in a rather happy mood. "Hmm..
looks like a festival."
"Looks like fun," Su said to him, fading back
into sight. She looked rather like a red-haired
version of Deedlit now, her pointed ears much
longer then they had been.
Brett looked her up and down thoughtfully.
"Hmm.. very nice," he nodded.
Su considered her attire, a black silk tunic
shirt and pants under a set of light blue plate
armour that was very like John's hardsuit. (She
had, in fact, based the design and appearance
off hers.) A katana hung at her hip from a
silver sword belt. "I think my armour and stuff
will be ok, but what about you? ..Aha!" Su ducked
back into the alley, rezzed up a shadow
terminal, and began typing furiously.
Brett grimaced. "Hey, love? No armour, thanks,
just something period.. Maybe a sabre for show?"
he asked with a grin.
"Alright, I'll leave off the armour," she sighed,
and stopped typing. The transporter came to life
briefly. A neatly folded pile of clothing
appeared on the platform, on top of which rested
a plain but obviously high-quality saber in
its scabbard on a sword belt. "Is this okay?"
Brett reached down and slipped the sabre from
its sheath, cutting a quick figure-8 with it
in the air. "Good balance," he observed. He
picked up the clothing and quickly changed.
Su looked him over with a grin. "I do have
good taste," she said with a grin. "They'll
think we're nobles like this. Let's go
explore the festival, shall we?"
Brett bowed and offered her his arm. "M'lady",
he said grandly, "I would be honored".
Su took his arm with a bow, and they strolled
out of the alley.
The festival was quite lively, there were
musicians all over the street, filling the air
with music. From a bit of overheard conversation
it appeared this was the fifth anniversary
celebration of the victory of the 'heroes'
over the evil minions of Cardiss. Brett and
Su attracted a bit of interest as they walked
down the main street arm in arm.
<<The Ale Is Dear--Trad. Scottish Reel>>
Clandestine--The Ale Is Dear
Brett and Su walked along the street for a while
under the hot sun until they came to a tavern,
"Feel like a drink, love?" Brett asked.
"That does sound nice," Su agreed.
The tavern was quite open and airy; the people
inside were happy and only a few were drunk.
The landlord smiled at them as they approached.
"What can I get you M'lady? M'lord?" he asked.
"Just some fruit juice for me, if you have
it," Su said.
The landlord nodded, "Ahh.. I thought that
might be the case," he said, "That's exactly
what the only other elf I've had in here asked
for as well." He looked at Brett, "And you
M'lord?" he asked.
"I'll have the same," Brett replied with a
smile. As the barkeep walked off he whispered
to Su, "M'lady-love, I hope you transported us
some local currency too," he said.
"Don't worry, that's one of the things I looked
at," she whispered back.
The landlord returned in a short while with a
jug full of fruit juice and two goblets. "There
we are," he said. He looked at Su curiously.
"M'lady, forgive me for asking.. but are you
here for the celebration?", he asked.
"We hadn't expected it when we came, but
yes," Su replied.
He nodded, "Ahh.. I was wondering why you
were here and not up at the palace, that's
all.. most of the official guests are up
there," he said, accepting the coin Su handed
him for the drinks.
"Official guests?" Su asked, pouring a goblet
for herself and Brett.
He nodded, "Oh yes.. they've been arriving from
all over Lodoss for nearly a week", he explained.
"The other kingdoms have been slowly recovering..
and they've sent representatives to the conference
that the Queen has called."
"A conference? What's it for?" she asked, sipping
her juice.
"Queen Fiana has been trying to continue the
work her father started," he said with a fond
smile, "by forging treaties with other nations
in an attempt to end the fighting which seems
to have always been a part of Lodoss.."
"I hope it works," Su said.
The landlord nodded and moved off to serve other
customers, "Unfortunately, love.. I doubt it'll
work," Brett observed.
"Really? Why?"
"From what I recall, there's an entity known
as 'Karla' who always interferes whenever anyone
comes close to uniting Lodoss, through conflict
or through conference.." he said. "That's one
of the sub-plots in the series.."
"Interesting. Why?"
"Because 'she' believes that if Lodoss is
united, it will be destroyed.. she was a part
of an ancient culture who did unite Lodoss and
almost destroyed it," he explained, "And she
uses everyone as pawns.. she even used the Kings
of Marmo and Valis as her pawns.. killing both
of them without a trace of remorse or regret."
"Hm. Interesting. I must watch the anime
sometime, this is fascinating.." she said with
a thoughtful expression.
Brett nodded. "It's worth watching," he agreed,
sipping his drink.
Su and Brett took their time finishing their
drinks, the festival looked as if it was going to
go on for some time.
"How about we go for a walk outside?" Brett
suggested. "There's a little spot just outside
of town I remember from the series.. a nice
quiet stream.. lots of trees.."
"That sounds lovely," she smiled, kissing him
gently.
Brett smiled and returned the kiss. He offered
her his arm, and the two of them walked out
of the city.
It was only a short walk to the hill overlooking
the city. In the afternoon sunlight the city
was magnificent, all white, with banners and
ribbons adorning the towers. Brett put his arm
around Su's shoulders and hugged her. "I guess
this is our first date?" he asked with a grin.
"Yup," she grinned back, kissing him again. "Not
quite what I imagined, true, but then I was
never one for normality anyway."
Brett and Su walked to the edge of the forest.
There was a bubbling brook running nearby, and
the air was cool under the shade of the trees.
Brett sat down against one of the trees, in
the shade. he offered Su a hand, "Will you sit,
M'lady?" he asked with a smile.
"Thank you, I will," she said, and took his
hand, sitting close beside him.
Brett hugged her gently and the two of them
sat quietly for a while.
<<Finnegan's Wake--Traditional>>
The Mollys--Wankin' Out West
"I'm telling you, I saw them go this way!" an
exasperated female voice said. "An elf and a
human, arm in arm no less."
"Lady Deedlit and Lord Parn are already at the
celebration. If it wasn't them, who was it?" A
male voice answered.
Su looked up at this, listening intently. "Do
you recognize those voices, love?" she asked
quietly.
Brett frowned. "Err.. sounds familiar.. but I
can't place them," he said, and peered around
the tree. "Ah," he said, "The guy is Orsen,
be careful, he's a berserker.. The woman is
Sherris," he explained. "They were allies of
Parn's during the end of the conflict."
"Ah," Su replied. "What are they likely to want?"
"Probably wondering why there's another high
elf around," Brett observed. "Sherris had a bit
of a crush on Parn and she was a bit disgruntled
when he went off with Deedlit."
"Ah." Su nodded to herself and faded out of
sight again. She faded in behind Sherris, just
out of sword's reach. "Hello," she said with
a smile.
Sherris swept her sword out in one swift
movement, spinning around to face Su. Orsen's
eyes narrowed and his hand moved closer to
his sword.
"Good trick," Sherris noted.
Su bowed slightly. "Thank you, I'm quite proud
of it. May I inquire as to why you were looking
for my consort and I this lovely afternoon?"
Sherris frowned. "We don't get many elves here,"
she said, lowering her sword slightly. "Can
you blame us for being suspicious? The dark
elves caused us a lot of problems back during
the wars."
Su seemed to consider this for a moment."Truth
to tell, I can't blame you at all," she admitted.
Brett stepped around the tree. "M'lady Su is a
noble elf," he said, leaning against the tree.
"She's no threat to you.. unless you make her
one."
Orsen turned to face Brett, noting the sword
with a raised eyebrow. "And you are?" he asked.
"He's my consort, Lord Brett of Washuu," Su said
with a slight smile. She winked at Brett.
Sherris sheathed her sword slowly. "What is it
with you elf-women?", she asked sarcastically.
"Your own men not good enough?".
Su shrugged slightly. "He caught me first," she
said simply.
Sherris gave her a nod. "Fine", she said.
Orsen relaxed a little. "Princess Fiana would
like to extend to you the hospitality of the
palace," he said, bowing his head slightly.
"Shall we, my lord?" Su asked, looking at Brett.
Brett nodded. "If you wish, M'lady," he said
with a bow, stepping forward to take her arm.
Sherris frowned. "Are you two always this formal?"
she asked, her tone critical.
"When we're feeling playful," Su replied,
taking Brett's arm. "But mostly we're much
more casual, aren't we love?" she asked Brett,
giving him a quick kiss.
Brett returned the kiss and smiled, "Usually,"
he agreed. Sherris looked a little peeved and
she turned on her heel, marching back towards
the city. Orsen smiled apologetically and
followed her.
Su and Brett followed them. "Man, she's really
pissed about Deedlit and Parn, isn't she?" Su
whispered in his ear.
Brett shrugged. "I guess it still annoys her a
bit", he agreed. "She liked Deedlit too.. so she
didn't interfere." He nodded to Orsen. "He loves
her, though," he added. "Orsen just doesn't
think he's worthy of her.. they've been partners
for many years."
"Poor Orsen," Su said with a thoughtful expression.
Brett laughed, "An idea, love?" he asked with a grin.
"Maybe.." she answered. "I'm not sure yet."
Brett and Su followed the mercenaries through the
town and up to the main keep. The guards let
them in easily enough, and they were led to
quite a nice upstairs garden. "Wait here," Sherris
said, indicating a marble bench, "I'll let the
Queen know that you've arrived."
"Very well," Su said, and they sat down.
"Hmm.. you might want to import a few of these,
my love," Brett observed, looking at the greenery
all around them.
"Easy enough," she told him, taking tiny samples
from each plant that interested her and putting
them in tiny numbered jars. She put them away and
made a record of the conditions and environment
in the shadowterm. "I can clone each from the
samples," she told him.
Brett chuckled and looked around, stretching a
little. "Ahh.. this is nice," he said, looking
at the shady garden.
"I'm glad you like it", a soft female voice said,
laughter evident in her tone. "I thought that
since my guest was an elf, she might appreciate
a more natural setting". A slender young woman
stepped out from behind a largish tree, she wore
quite a nice crown and a lovely smile.
Su stood up and bowed. "That was very kind of
you, Your Highness," she said. "Your garden is
lovely.. it reminds me of some of my own."
The Queen bowed her head slightly at the
compliment, "Thank you", she said with a smile.
"I've cared for it since I was a child." She
smiled. "I remember standing here with my father
and mother.. it's a place of my favorite memories."
She idly smelt a nearby flower. "Yes.. some of
my best memories," she said with a sad smile.
The Queen shook her head suddenly. "I didn't
invite you here to talk about old memories,"
she said suddenly. "It is the future I wish to
discuss".
"Ah," Su said with a nod. "What part of the
future?"
"Why, the future of Lodoss," she said with a
smile. "This land deserves a bright future..
these last five years since the destruction of
Marmo have taught us a lot.. that to survive, we
need peace.. an everlasting peace." She smiled.
"Every empire on Lodoss needs representatives.."
Brett frowned, "I would have thought the elf
Deedlit would provide representation of the Elves
lands?"
She shook her head. "Deedlit says that no one
person may speak for the elves.." she said
apologetically.
"But if what Sherris said.. that you're nobility
amongst elves.. perhaps you can?" she asked,
she sounded a little desperate.
"I.. might be able to," Su said evasively. "May
I have a few moments to think about this?"
The Queen smiled hopefully and nodded. "I do
have other duties to perform," she said. "Shall
we discuss it over dinner?"
"Very well," Su agreed, and the Queen thanked
them and left the gardens.
"So, m'love.. what are you going to do?" Brett
asked with a smile.
"I haven't the faintest idea. I couldn't very
well refuse her flat, now could I?"
Brett burst out laughing. "Well, love," he said
with a grin, "Perhaps we should locate Deedlit
and find out why she refused?"
"It's not funny! She wants this so badly.. *sigh*
..Let's go find Deedlit."
Brett nodded and stood. "I think I can guess
where she'd be," he said, offering Su his hand.
Su took his hand and stood up. "Oh? Where might
that be?"
Brett led her up to the battlements, where the
sound of a lute was floating through the air.
The view was spectacular, and the sun just
beginning to set. Brett and Su walked slowly
along the battlements until they came to the
western-most tower. They found Deedlit there,
softly playing a lute. Parn was sitting beside
her, smiling at her fondly. He looked older,
and was obviously in his mid-twenties now.
Su pulled her flute out and began to harmonize
with Deedlit's melody, piping a descant.
Parn and Deedlit looked up, surprise evident on
both their faces. Deedlit continued to play,
smiling broadly.
Parn looked over Brett and Su with a practiced
eye. Brett nodded to him and leant against the
battlements, waiting for the duet to end.
Su played straight harmony for a while, then
began doing variations. Deedlit smiled and
followed her. They played that way for a
while, throwing variations at each other before
finally, reluctantly, returning to the original
melody and harmony before ending it.
"You play very well," Deedlit said with a smile.
"As do you," Su said, returning the smile.
Brett nodded. "You both play beautifully, ladies,"
he said, bowing grandly.
Deedlit giggled slightly and looked at Parn.
"Take note, Parn," she said. "This is what is
called a 'gentleman'."
Parn fought back a smile and offered his hand
to Brett. "I'm Parn," he said. "Who are you two?
The only elf who didn't try to kill me has been
Deedlit."
"I'm Su, and he's Brett, my fiancee," Su replied.
"And I'm.. not from Lodoss. Brett isn't, either."
"I could tell," Deedlit said with a smile.
"I've met all the elves in these realms.. and
I'd have remembered one that played the flute as
well as you do."
"So what do you want?" Parn asked, a little suspiciously.
Brett shrugged. "At the moment.. just to enjoy
the sunset," he said, putting his arm around Su.
"He does, at least," Su said with a fond smile.
"*I'd* like to ask why you wouldn't speak for
the elves at the conference."
Deedlit nodded. "I'm not sure how it is where
you are from, but we High Elves don't usually
involve ourselves with other races.. So long
as our forests are there, we are safe," she
explained. "I can speak for myself, but not my
brothers and sisters of the woods."
Su nodded slowly. "That would explain it.. I
knew I'd have to disappoint the Queen, but at
least I have a reason now."
Deedlit sighed, "She didn't seem to understand
when I told her we didn't have any leaders, as
such," she replied. "Humans seem to always want
to control everything.. they see a community and
automatically assume it needs leaders."
"Seems to be a natural reaction," Su replied.
"On my world at least, they grew from apes, and
they're tribal.. the instincts are still there."
Brett looked at Parn. "Hmm.. it seems our
heritage is being questioned," he observed.
Parn nodded. "I do believe you're correct," he
said with a smile. At that point, the sun turned
the sky a brilliant crimson, the light clouds
reflecting the light so it appeared as if the
entire sky was burning.
Brett smiled and hugged Su. "I think we'll have
to forgive them," he observed.
Parn smiled and caught Deedlit up in a similar
hug. "I guess you're right," he said. "Just this
once."
Su grinned and kissed Brett.
The four of them watched the sun set and
stayed there until the first stars began to
come out. "We'd best go and change," Parn said
to Deedlit. "You know how the Queen prefers us
'dress up' for her little parties."
Deedlit smiled at him. "Now, Parn," she said.
"You know it makes her happy to see her guests
in their finery."
"Thanks for the warning," Su said. "She's asked
us to dinner."
Deedlit smiled. "We'll see you there," she
said, dragging Parn away to change.
"So my love, think you can come up with some
period dinner-wear?" Brett asked.
"I was hoping I could see some first, but I
think Kani-chan can hack it. They showed formal
dinners during the anime, right?"
"Yup," Brett agreed.
"Then Kani can find it," she said, rezzing up a
shadowterm and typing furiously. "Catch."
Brett caught the clothes as they appeared.
"Now to find go change," Su said, putting them
away.
Brett and Su walked back downstairs, and a
servant led them to the rooms that they had
been assigned.
"Perfect," Su said, and they changed into their
new finery.
Brett whistled appreciatively at the lovely long
dress that Su was wearing. "Very, very nice, my
love," he said with an admiring eye.
She smiled and twirled for his benefit,
curtseying a little. "Thank you, my love," she
told him. "You look quite gallant."
Brett laughed and turned around, his cape
swirling dramatically. "At least I don't have
to wear a tie," he said with a grin.
"Quite," Su said, taking his arm. "Shall we,
then?"
Brett nodded. "M'lady, I would be honored," he
said with a bow. The two of them walked through
the castle, eliciting some curious glances from
other guests and servants alike. The main hall
of the castle was almost full when Brett and Su
arrived. They walked down the large staircase
to be greeted by the Queen and her 'aide' Eto.
The Queen was in an ornate full-length dress
and had replaced her crown with a tiara which
suited her gown. Eto was wearing a formal-
looking set of priest's robes, "Hello there,"
he said with a smile.
Su smiled back. "Hello." She turned to the Queen.
"Good evening, Your Highness."
The Queen nodded. "I'm glad you were able to
join us," she said with a friendly smile. A
servant showed Brett and Su to the head table.
They sat down opposite Parn and Deedlit, and
another couple, who were introduced as Slayn
and Lalia.
Dinner was served once the Queen was seated, and
it was quite a nice meal, with a wide selection
of dishes from all over Lodoss.
Slayn and Lalia were quite curious about Su.
"So where are you from?" Slayn asked curiously.
"If you're not from Lodoss?"
"Well, I was born in a city called Houston, in
the country of Texas," Su answered. "Brett is
from a city called Brisbane, in Oz."
[It WAS a country! ..About 150 years ago. ^_^]
Brett nodded. "A long way from here," he agreed.
"I doubt you've even heard of our countries.."
Slayn frowned. "No, I haven't," he said. "What
direction would one travel if he wanted to
visit this 'Oz' place?"
Brett smiled, "South," he said. "A long, long
way south.. "
Su nearly choked on her juice.
"So what brings you to Lodoss?" Lalia asked
politely.
"We decided to go wandering for a while," Su
answered. "We're adventurers of sorts."
Parn grinned and Deedlit giggled slightly.
"Sounds familiar," Eto said, looking at Parn
significantly.
Parn nodded. "We've been traveling a lot, too,"
he explained to Brett and Su.
"A kingdom always needs someone to keep the
goblin population down," Slayn said with a smile.
The Queen looked over at Su. "It's a pity the
elves won't be represented at this conference,"
she said with a sigh. "I'm hoping to unite all
of Lodoss.."
Deedlit sighed. "We elves are peaceful," she
reminded the Queen. "So long as our forests are
left alone, there will be no problems.. we care
little for borders and countries."
The Queen nodded. "Even if you can't speak for
other elves," she said, looking at Deedlit and
Su, "I would like to invite you to the conference
in any case.."
Su looked at Brett. "Are you amenable to staying
longer, my love?"
Brett thought for a moment and nodded. "That
sounds fine to me, M'lady". he agreed. "I think
I'd like that."
"Then I would be honored to attend," Su told
the Queen.
The Queen smiled.
Dinner was over not long after. Servants swept
into the hall and cleared the tables away,
while musicians set up their instruments. In
no time at all the hall was fill with whirling
couples, dancing to the slow beat of an ancient
tune.
Brett bowed slightly to Su. "M'lady, I would be
honored beyond measure if you would consent to
dancing with me."
Su gave him a small curtsey and took his hand.
"And I, M'lord, would be delighted to accept."
Brett held her close as they twirled around the
hall, the dance easy to pick up. "So, my dear?"
he whispered. "What do you think of Lodoss?"
"I love it," she whispered back. "Everyone we've
met is a great person.. I'm glad they won."
"Me too!" Brett agreed, "I'm afraid if the Marmo
forces had won.. we wouldn't have received such
a warm welcome"
They danced late into the evening, until they
were both exhausted. Brett sighed as they
returned to their rooms and he sat down in a
comfy-looking chair. "So, love?" he asked. "Do
you think our first 'date' was a success?"
"It was wonderful! ..Even if I DID manage to get
myself roped into government proceedings," Su
answered, sitting beside him.
Brett hugged her. "I think it's more of a
ceremonial thing, love", he said thoughtfully,
"A show that the Queen is involving all races,
and not just the humans..".
Su returned the hug, kissing him gently. "Well,
I guess I can manage that.." she mused.
"Brett, did you notice anything odd about me
today? I mean, not what I did, like sneaking up
on Sherris or changing my shape and clothing by
whim, I mean my interfacing with this universe."
"..No," Brett said, after a moment's thought.
"Not really... what's wrong?"
"Good, you didn't notice.. Watch carefully."
She poured them each a goblet of juice from a
nearby jug, and handed one to him. "Look at the
goblet, and at my hand."
Brett looked closely. "It doesn't seem quite
right," he said with a frown. "It's like it's
not quite touching you.."
"That's because it's not."
Brett took her other hand, feeling her touch.
"But I'm touching you, right?" he asked.
Su nodded, squeezing his hand gently. "That's
because you're not of this universe. You see,
I'm never quite in sync with the universes I can
interface with. I'm not sure why you are; I think
it's something to do with having an actual body.
"The people of the universes I visit can see me,
and hear me, and speak to me, but they never
*really* touch me. They feel the touch, and I
feel theirs, but we don't actually make contact."
Brett nodded, "So that's why you didn't want to
dance with anyone else, huh?" he asked.
"Well, that and the fact I didn't want to dance
with anyone else."
Brett smiled at her and hugged her with one arm.
"So does that mean you can't be hurt by anyone?"
he asked curiously.
"I don't know. I've always managed to keep from
being hit."
"Well.. let's not find out," he said. "We'll
just assume you can be, and try to avoid it."
"That's what I've been doing. Hell, *I* didn't
even notice until Washuu-sensei pointed it out
to me."
"Washuu-sensei?" he asked with a frown.
"My mentor. The REAL Greatest Genius Scientist
in the Multiverse.. She calls me Washuu-chan,"
she said with a sheepish expression.
"Hmmm.." Brett said, with a nod. "Ok then,
love.. we'd better get some sleep - there's a
conference tomorrow morning, after all." He
stood and offered her his arm, a little nervously.
"Shall we get to bed, M'lady?" he asked with a
little bow.
Su was suddenly in a long silk nightgown,
taking his arm with a smile. "Let's."
Brett smiled and the two of them retired to their room.
Chapter 5
Brett leaned down and kissed Su gently, waking
her. "Love?" he said with a grin. "Time for the
conference.."
Su made grumpy noises and pulled his head close,
kissing him hard.
Brett returned the kiss and hugged her, "Come on,"
he said, "Time to get up and get dressed."
Su gave a long sigh and got up. "How should we
dress for this?" she wondered aloud.
Brett laughed. "Something like what we were
wearing yesterday would be good," he said.
"Right," she said, and appeared in a slight
variation of her uniform. The tunic and pants
were still there, but there were silver crescent
moons embroidered at throat and wrists. She tapped
at a shadow terminal, and new clothing for Brett
appeared. "D'you think I should have the armour,
love?"
"Looks ok without it love.. and after all, it
*is* a peace conference," he said with a shrug.
"That's true," she said. "And it's easily enough
appeared."
When Brett and Su arrived at the conference,
they were showed to a table. The tables were
arranged in circles, one smaller circle where
the Queen and the representatives of various
other Kingdoms sat, and an outer circle where
noblemen, merchants and any other interested
parties sat. There were even several
representatives of the dwarven nations.
They sat down beside Deedlit and Parn, who
greeted them warmly. "It's only just starting",
Deedlit whispered to Su. "Things won't get
interesting until after the opening address."
"That's always true, I think," Su whispered back.
The Queen finished up her opening address, and
everyone clapped politely. The clapping died
down.. except for one person who continued
clapping, long after it was appropriate.
Everyone looked at the figure standing at the
large double doors.
"Woodchuck!", Parn hissed, standing, his hand
on his sword. The figure threw up an arm and the
doors behind him slammed shut.. along with all the
windows in the large hall.
"Who the hell is that!?" Su hissed to Brett.
"Woodchuck was a thief.. he worked with Parn,
Deedlit and the others.. until he was possessed
by the spirit of Karla," he replied, standing
slowly and motioning for Su to join him.
The Holy Knights of Valis weren't taking this
intruder's attitude too kindly, and a half dozen
knights in their silvery armour began advancing
towards the figure, swords drawn.
"Fools," Woodchuck said, his voice distorted by
the spirit possessing him.
He raised his arm and the Knights froze. "This
gathering is dangerous," he said. "I'm afraid
you're all going to die!" He looked around
suddenly, his eyes fixing on Su. "You!" he said.
"*You* are not supposed to be here!"
"Oh?" asked Su archly, stepping in front of
Brett. "And who are you to say where I am
supposed to be?"
"I'm Karla," he said. The headband he was
wearing glowed and an aura of power suddenly
sprang up. "BE GONE!" he intoned, power
filling the room.
Su was suddenly Washuu, who flung her hands up
in front of her, palms forward. A globe of
white light appeared around she and Brett.
Slayn raised his staff and began chanting,
energy pulsing through the ancient wood. A
series of energy bolts ripped across the room,
bouncing harmlessly off Karla's shield.
Washuu's shield shimmered as a purple energy
began to overcome the white.
Parn shouted a challenge and began advancing
slowly through the interwoven spells, towards
the evil sorcerer(ess).
"Be it known to you then, Karla, that I am
Washuu, and go NOWHERE but where *I* choose!"
Washuu said through grit teeth, flinging more
power to her shields. Fire and lightning began
to rain down on Karla's shield.
Woodchuck/Karla laughed. "Washuu?" she said,
as if tasting the word. "I do believe I have
heard ancient legends of you and your powers.."
He raised a hand and flicked a ball of energy
at Slayn. It careered off his shield, blowing
apart a large section of the stone wall.
Karla/Woodchuck glanced at Parn, and he suddenly
felt himself thrown across the room, impacting
against a table. Deedlit reached into her pouch
and threw a quick elemental spell at the sorcerer(ess).
Washuu drew her katana, flicking it up into a
salute. "MAI'LIRDEN NO TSUKI NO KIHARI!" she cried,
and the sword glowed painfully bright. An enormous
pillar of white-gold energy engulfed Karla.
Karla staggered back in shock, her shoulder and
arm burned by the spell. Her headband glowed
brilliantly, and the rest of the attack was
deflected. A dark shadowy spirit rose up behind
Karla/Woodchuck, oozing into the wounds, which
quickly regenerated the damage. Karla suddenly
thrust both her hands forwards. Spikes of energy
suddenly impacted Washuu's shield.
The shield held up against the first two, but then
collapsed. There was an explosion, and Brett was
thrown several meters away. He landed awkwardly,
and looked up in dismay to see Washuu surrounded
by a glowing ward. "NOW!" Karla intoned, "*BEGONE*!".
Washuu held on for a few seconds, before everything
disappeared.
Brett watched in disbelief as she vanished. He
struggled to his feet. Parn grabbed his arm. "Come
on!" he shouted, "We have to get out of here!"
Deedlit was making her way across the half-destroyed
room, dodging bolts of energy as she ran. The
Queen was ushered out of the room through the
large hole in one of the walls, and Parn, Brett
and Deedlit followed, eager to put some distance
between them and Karla.
Washuu found herself lying on the floor of one
of her gardens. "What the..? gods, that hurt,"
she mumbled.
"Brett, are you ok?"
No answer.
"...BRETT??" Washuu looked around frantically,
but there was no one there but the mecha. "KANI!"
The little crab appeared beside her. "Washuu-sama?
aren't you supposed to be in Lodoss?"
"No time for that! Where's Brett!?"
Kani-chan called up a shadowterm and searched.
"Brett is still in Lodoss."
"K'so! That BITCH Karla might get him! I've got
to..
but I'm not strong enough to beat her. ..What
the *hell* am I going to do?"
Washuu thought for an entire second of realtime.
"Kani, are there people in #fhs_Real?"
"Yes," she answered. "I digitized the Triumvirate
of Johns not long ago."
"Perfect." She opened the door to the channel.
Washuu burst through the Lab door. "Guys! I need
your help!"
John looked up from a virtual Game Boy(tm), loaded
with the savefile from his copy of Pokemon back
home. "What's going on?"
Jon looked up from his hammock. "What he said!"
Ozy wandered back in from another window. "Uhh..
wassup?"
"Brett's stranded in Lodoss!"
"Lodoss??" Ozy asked, incredulous. "How did he
end up there?"
"Lo-what?" Jon queried.
John frowned. "How'd this happen? Situation
report?"
"I told you guys yesterday about being able to
interface with anime universes. Brett and
I decided to visit Lodoss. We had fun, but then
Karla decided she didn't like me. We fought, and
I got banished.. but BRETT'S STILL THERE!"
"Well, we'll have to go and rescue him! It's the
Triumvirate, to the rescue!" Jon struck a pose,
immediately felt silly, and stopped posing.
"Err... come on, guys, let's go."
John flicked off the Game Boy(tm) and set it on the
couch beside him. He called up his hardsuit. "I
guess we'll have to see about changing that.."
John smirked to Jon. "We could do the three man
Ginyuu pose thing.."
Jon gave John a blank look. "Three-man what?"
John waved an arm, "Don't you watch Dragonball
Z? Third season. Imagine Sayajin-lookalikes
doing Power-Ranger style poses.."
"No, I don't watch DBZ.. -or- Power Rangers,
for that matter."
"Lucky you."
Ozymand watched John and Jo(h)n get into the
action. "Hmmm.. Guess I'm in to help too." He
smiled.
Washuu sighed in relief. "I knew I could count
on you guys.. but for Skuld's sake, DON'T pose."
Jon turned red. "Don't worry, I won't be doing
it again."
Washuu hugged Jon. "Now c'mon into the Lab.
John's got his hardsuit, but I need something
for you guys, too."
John glanced at Washuu. "Mind if I go on ahead?"
Ozymand looked at her. "Yeah, that would be a
good idea. John should go ahead, since he's the
one with the powersuit. Jon and I then can get
ready to follow him in."
"All right," she said. "Kani'll send you to Brett..
try to keep him safe 'til we get there. If you
can't find him, call me."
John nodded. "Roger that. I'm on my way." He
vanished.
Brett coughed at the smoke that wafted from the
castle. The entire capital of Valis was burning.
He helped Parn carry an exhausted Slayn from the
city, laying him down not far from the tree where
he'd sat just yesterday with Su. He sat down
against that tree, awkwardly, his expression bleak.
Parn and Deedlit sat down beside him, "Are you
all right?" Parn asked quietly.
Brett looked up at him, wiping some of the soot
from his face. "No," he replied bluntly, "I am
quite definitely NOT all right." He banged his
head against the tree behind him once. "It was my
suggestion to come here! Washuu.. I mean Su..
I don't even know what happened to her!"
Deedlit put a hand on his shoulder. "It was a
spell of banishment", she explained. "She's
probably back where you two came from."
Brett looked up as a figure began walking slowly
out of the front gates of the city. It was Karla.
She was moving slowly, obviously still feeling her
little conflict with Washuu. He put his hand on
his sword, and then shook his head. "Useless to
try that," he reminded himself. Parn and Brett
grabbed Slayn, and Deedlit led the way back into
the forest.
The next few hours were a blur to Brett, running
until his lungs burned and his arms ached. Karla
always kept closing on them. She was relentless.
Slayn awoke later that afternoon, and they
explained the situation to him. "Hold me up",
he ordered. His staff began glowing, and
suddenly they found themselves elsewhere.
"I know this place", Parn said, "This is my
home village..". Then they noticed the bodies.
By the time the sun had set, they'd found almost
everyone in the village.. dead.
>From the enemy dead, an army of Kobolds and
Goblins had wiped out the town. Deedlit put an
arm around Parn as he wept for the people he'd
grown up with.
Brett helped Slayn reorganize his home. The
goblins had destroyed almost everything, but
Slayn never left important things out in the open.
Not long after dark, they had his cottage in a
livable state again. Food wasn't a problem, and
after they'd eaten a meal, Brett walked outside
to give Slayn, Deedlit and Parn a chance to talk,
since he was pretty sure they didn't trust him
completely.
He looked up at the unfamiliar sky and wondered
where Su was and what she was doing, praying that
she was ok.
There was a flurry of movement, and he spun
around to see two glowing red eyes bearing down
on him.
John materialized in the middle of a large cloud
of smoke. He would have been coughing
uncontrollably if he hadn't had the suit's life
support systems. He moved out of the cloud and
into the middle of a large street.
..Or rather, the remains of a large street.
Buildings were shattered and burning, and the
sky was glowing a dull orange.
He noticed a person lying in the street and ran
quickly over. It was a middle-aged man, wearing
a set of silvery armour. A broken sword lay not
far away. He was barely breathing. "Who..", he
coughed.
"The name's Firehawke. Keep still, I'll check
your wounds."
The man coughed again, blood splattering the
front of his armour, "The Queen!" he insisted.
"If you are a Knight.. please.. protect the Queen!"
John frowned. He was here to be helping Brett,
he knew, but this? His sense of honor took over,
and he asked, "Where is she now?"
The man pointed down the street, "West," he
coughed. "The Knights of Valis will take her
along the Great Western *COUGH* road." He looked
at John for a long moment, then pointed at a large
crested shield. "Take it", he insisted, "It will
identify you to the Knights..". He shuddered and
his eyes lost focus.
John took the shield from the dead man and
whispered a silent prayer to himself for the
knight. He stood up and ran to the west. *No
time to lose, John, gotta move NOW!*
John took three steps down the street and pulled
up short. An even dozen goblins had formed a
rough skirmish line in the middle of the street.
They were moving along, sticking their blades
into the human bodies lying in the streets.
*Shit... this doesn't look good.* He briefly
wondered how to operate the hardsuit weapons
systems.
As soon as he thought that, a diagram of the
suit lit up on one corner of the HUD. The regular
indicators on the suit also changed slightly,
as the suit began tracking and classifying
targets. He quickly read through what he had
available:
Railgun - Online (AP Selected - AMMO 10)
Washuu's Surprise #1 - Offline
Washuu's Surprise #2 - Offline
Washuu's Surprise #3 - Offline
Washuu's Surprise #4 - Offline
The railgun was mounted on his shoulder, and
he felt it click into place as it came online.
Surprise #1 was located on his right hand,
Surprise #2 on his right elbow. Surprises 3 &
4 were on his left shoulder and arm, respectively.
John considered his situation carefully. *One
vs. a dozen. These are odds I can live with,* he
said to himself. After a moment's hesitation, he
aimed the railgun for the head of some 'poor'
goblin and pulled the trigger. "Splattery gets
me everywhere," he murmured to himself with a
grin.
The goblin didn't know what hit it.
Neither did the building behind it.
The building behind that didn't know either,
but the AP round finally came to a rest several
hundred meters behind the poor goblin, imbedded
in the outer wall of the city.
The goblin dropped with a shower of gore.
With this, John came to realize that AP meant
*TANK* level armor. "Oops? Maybe I should use
something with less oomph."
An ammo selection screen flashed up. It read:
AP-9
Flechette-25
- select Ammo-type.
He switched to flechettes, targeted the next,
and gave it a shot. "Thank goodness for distance--
when they SEE me, this railgun'll be useless.."
A shower of miniature titanium darts flashed across
the distance, literally shredding the goblin. It
also raised a large dust cloud as the immediate
area around the goblin was disturbed by the many
tiny darts.
At that point the goblins (who, while stupid, are
not *THAT* stupid) began to look around for
whomever it was taking them down one by one.
There was a guttural roar as the remaining goblins
charged down the street right towards John's
position.
John switched to Surprise #1 and prayed it wasn't
a pokeball launcher. ^_-
A long, very thin blade snapped out of his right
hand. It hummed as he moved it back and forth.
The HUD lit up again:
Monofilament blade activated: sword integrity 100%.
*Perfect!* he thought, then prepared to meet the
charge of the goblins.
What followed next was very, very messy.
It was also extremely one-sided, and resulted
in a lot of food for the crows. John's armour
was covered in goblin blood, and he had only
taken a few glancing blows. His armour was still
100% intact. He staggered away from the carnage,
and down the street again.
"Warning!" a pleasant (and familiar) female
voice said. "Magical use detected in area.
Please take extra care, John-kun."
John blinked. "Magic? Wonder where.." He glanced
around, checking for the magic source.
It appeared to be getting closer rather quickly,
and he rolled out of the way as a huge rolling
ball of fire streaked past, exploding not far
behind him. His suit registered the heat of
the blast, warning him that it would definitely
take damage if he got hit by one.
*GYAH! I'm outta here!* He ran down the street.
*Gotta find this queen everyone mentions..*
A dark shape suddenly darted in front of him.
He halted suddenly as an elf wearing a set of
dark armour and carrying a rather nasty-looking
sword stopped in front of him. "Yet another
human", he sighed, moving forward and raising
his sword. "How pathetic."
"What? Who are you?" John asked in confusion,
holding his blade in a strictly defensive posture.
"I'm not here to fight you.."
"Too bad," he sneered, slashing at John's head.
The Elf's sword swung down, John's own sword
not fast enough to block. It slashed into his
shoulder.
"WARNING!", the suit said again. "Damage to
systems! Suit integrity is falling!" He flicked
his vision to a readout of the suit and saw that
it now read:
Washuu's Surprise #3 Damaged!
John groaned at the pain of his bruised shoulder,
but wasn't ready to give up just yet. He activated
surprise #4 and took a slash at the Elf's sword
with his own. (right hand)
The Dark Elf tried to get out of the way of his
overhand slice, and almost made it. The mono-blade
slashed into the elf's leg, and he went down on
one knee, snarling in pain. The elf's eyes
locked on John and he began chanting in a low
voice.
"Washuu's Surprise #4 activated!" the computer
reported. A second targeting cursor lit up, and
an energy bar. "Laser Ready," it said.
John aimed the laser as best as he could, and
fired. *I've GOTTA stop that spell!*
John locked his laser onto the Dark Elf and fired,
just as the Elf completed his spell. A bolt of
lightning hit John in the chest.
The Dark Elf was blasted to little pieces.
John coughed as smoke rose from his helmet
controls. "Warning!" the suit said. "Structural
integrity has failed in chest plate 1, 3, 5.
Control systems at 80%. Converting to powered
armour mode."
He ripped off his helmet and breathed the
not-quite-as-dirty air of Lodoss.
John gagged at the smoke, but the only thought
in his mind was, *Crap! Su's gonna KILL me for
getting this damaged!*
He staggered to his feet. The suit was rather
badly beaten up, but his way appeared clear out
of the city.
Karla glared at the defiant figure standing in
front of her. He was merely a human, but she
couldn't seem to overcome his mind.
He was surrounded by a wall of ogres, goblins
and dark elves, and yet she couldn't overcome
his resolve. There were also quite a few dead
bodies around him: goblins that didn't move fast
enough, and even a dark elf that had tried to
attack him from behind.
The ancient spirit watched as two dark elves
each threw a pair of knives at him. He ducked
two of the knives and deflected the other two
with his sword, a curious design, thinner than
most blades she had seen.
Then she noticed the aura around the blade. The
sword was enchanted! No wonder he seemed to
have eyes in the back of his head and was able
to move more quickly than a human should.
She stepped forward through the wall of her
minions, and stopped in front of him, several
meters away. "Interesting weapon," she said, her
voice unnaturally low coming from Woodchuck's
lips.
Brett looked at her, and she could feel the
loathing coming from his gaze, "So hostile,"
she said. "You want to kill me, don't you?"
"I do", he admitted, "But I'm no mage.. I don't
know how to destroy that circlet."
Karla felt a moment of apprehension at the idea
of the destruction of what had been her home for
hundreds of years. She raised her hand, and a
bolt of energy hit him in the chest, throwing
him several meters. She walked over and kicked
the sword out of his unconscious hand.
She looked him over carefully. He seemed healthy..
unusually so, actually. His hands had few calluses,
and his teeth were perfect. All in all. he seemed
like a perfect host, much more so than this pathetic
thief she had been using.
She carefully removed the circlet and slid it
gently on her new host. This one had a much
stronger will than her last host, who was taken
more out of necessity.
His memories were confusing. He knew her quite
well.. In fact, he had observed her meetings with
Wort! His world was a confusing place. Machines
that flew, People rode on iron horses, and even
the commoners could access devices which would
amaze the most learned wizards!
He struggled against her. She was amazed at his
concentration and willpower. For a non-mage to
know how to fight her takeover was amazing.
She perceived that he'd picked up the concentration
from a childhood of reading books and using a
complex machine known as a computer.
His mind was full of strange things, of strange
worlds, and of strange people. The strangest
also seemed to be the most important to him: the
image of a young woman. What was strange was
that the image kept shifting. Two versions of
the same red-haired elf, one looking normal and
the other with odd ears, was replaced by the mage
she had fought yesterday, and then an older version
of the same. The image again shifted, now to that
of a creature that seemed to be a cross between a
rabbit, a cat, and a human woman! There were other
forms as well. Each had a name, but there was one
name that overlaid all of them: Susan.
Karla took hours going through his thoughts on
her way back to Valis. Images of places and
people intrigued her. She saw him growing up, and
attending schooling that would have made the most
accomplished scholar on Lodoss green with envy.
The images were too confused to make much sense
of, and she couldn't very well ask him to explain
it. She could feel his spirit fighting against her,
and it was a constant battle to keep him under
control.
--So, should I continue this? Or should I die horribly? ^_^
All chapters are at my page.
--Su Mai'lirden
usagi46@hotmail.com , Washuu@operamail.com
The opinions expressed are mine. Mine alone! Nobody else is responsible
for them or even endorses them.. except my cat Parsifal-neko, and he
signed the power of attorney only under threat to cut off his Kitten
Chow. ^_^
I wouldn't reccomend going, but my 'page is at
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/5019
if you really want to see it..
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