Veronica laughs at Grizz's tone. She
lets go of the vine and swims out to the middle of the
pond, careful not to get too close to the waterfall. The
water is crystal clear and she can see straight to the
bottom. Treading water she says, "Oh, I think I see one
of them. It's balancing on that ledge down there, can
you see it?" She looks over at Grizz who is holding onto
the vine for dear life and she laughs again. "Stay
there, I'll be right back." She plunges under the water
and dives deep to retrieve the shoe, however as she
draws near to it, she sees that the ledge is actually
the top to an underwater cave. Her curiosity gets the
best of her and she swims into the cave. She does not
return.
Thietris Professor Thietris Squirrel, CEO,
President and Managing Director, Institution of Advanced Exploration
of Myst Worlds
posted
"ELKAE!"
Professor T suddenly
realizes that the real Elkae is standing in front of his
desk. He gets up from his chair, and jumps up and down
with excitement. He rushes over to
Elkae.
{{{{{Elkae!!!!}}}}}
"Is it really
you? I can't believe it! Can I interest you in a
research project? I have hundreds here.
Look!"
Professor T excitedly gathers up a bundle
of papers from his desk and reads through the
titles:
"Finding the power source of the Great
Zero neutrino beam Determining tree height in Kadish
Tolesa Conjecture on the morphology and habits of
Negilahn wildlife Exploration of the Tokotah
Buildings: their original function and subsequent use by
the DRC Exploration of the Ferry Terminal, associated
buildings and vessels Exploration of the content and
function of the Gahreesen buildings Maintainer suits:
their correct use and mode of operation Exploration
of the Gahreesen hinterland Mapping the pathways of
Teledahn Industrial processing of fungal
spores Art and design in Ae'gura: an examination of
decorative features The treasures of Kadish:
assembling a detailed inventory The history of the
Nexus Daily life in the Neighborhoods The position
and status of Ae'gura in relation to the city as a
whole Zandi's trailer: a clandestine investigation of
its contents
"Are any of those any good? If not -
anything - anything you like!"
"Well, I guess that plan is as good as
any... but what about FM?" asked Grassie. Speedy
shrugged. "Let him do this own plan? If he's still so
insistent on capturing those badgers, maybe that will
help us out on some of the distractions," Speedy
hypothesized. "Ahh, I forgot to add in that part of
the equation..." muttered Dr Osmostien. "Eh, FM will
be good to us... let us go!" said Ukoi as he picked up
his bongos. "Hang on! Are MrD and Dr Warrell awake
yet?" asked Speedy. "No, but I can wake them," said
Grassie. "Ok, good, wake them and let's get going.
Breakfast will be on the go," Speedy
said.
Studying gives you knowledge. Knowledge
is power. Power corrupts. I am learning how to be
corrupt.
Grizz smiles as Veronica dives to try to
recover his shoe. He waits. He waits some more as the
smile dies on his face. His concern grows. He isn't the
best swimmer around, but he can stay afloat for long
periods. He decides he has no choice.
Awkwardly
he paddles to the place where he last saw Veronica. He
treads water for a moment, breathing deeply and rapidly
to get well oxygenated, then he turns headfirst into the
water and laborously dives down. The water is very
clear. As he gets lower, he sees a shadowy opening in
the wall. He debates briefly in his mind, but there is
really no choice. He can't see Veronica out in the pool,
so she must have gone in the cave for some
reason.
He flails his way into the opening for a
ways, and finds a hole in the roof through which a
little light shows. He no longer hesitates, but thrashes
his way up the opening. His head breaks the surface in a
dim light. There is a roof far over his head. Treading
water he looks around, preparing to dive again to look
for her, but then he sees her. She is standing on a
narrow ledge at one side looking into another opening.
She seems simply spellbound, entranced, with a look of
awe on her face. She doesn't even react when his loud
splashing announces his own arrival at the ledge. He
climbs out beside her, but can't really see past her
into the opening.
He touches her
shoulder.
"Nica?" he
says.
_______________________________ The
DISCO - for high fashion in your hood!
Chuckles58 ventures deeper into the
third level of DISCO. It gets darker the farther he goes
from the stairs. Not hearing or seeing anybody, he
reached the far wall.
Nothing. They're not
here. Since DISCO's slogan is "If we don't have it, you
don't need it", they must not have any light fixtures in
this store.
He was just about to turn around
to leave when arms reached out and grabbed him. ... Then
he heard a linking sound ... he was linking out of
DISCO.
---------------------------- Master
of Manipulating Stories (MOMS) Director of
Redirecting Kinesis (DORK)
Gasping for air, Veronica pops out of
the water inside an underground cavern. Coughing and
choking, she swims to the side and holds onto an
outcropping of rock while she catches her breath.
After a few minutes, she looks around her and
marvels at what she is seeing. "What is that?"
She pulls herself from the water and walks slowly over
to inspect the wall. It is covered in a phosphorus type
fungus that fills the cavern with a soft green light.
Just ahead she can see an opening in the
wall.
She is so spellbound, she didn't hear Grizz
until he said, "Nica?"
"HEEK!! You scared me!
Look, where do you think this passage leads?" She grabs
his hand and says, "Let's go see." Grizz seems reluctant
at this point, but he agrees.
Old badger chuckled."I wonder how
those that wait for the Elkae woman will take to her
new, unusual qualities.
She has not yet taken
the correct path to return fully to the living. What she
is experiencing now is sort of a dream state, but with
somewhat more substance. She is not here, true, but she
is not exactly there either."
Continuing to
chuckle, Ancient One continued in search of the Xtra
Strength Excedrin. "If I could just find my glasses,
perhaps I could find the bottle."
Grizz, still shaken by his concern for
Nica and his harrowing underwater swim, allows himself
to be led into the passage, carefully watching where he
places his wet feet covered only with dripping
sox.
_______________________________ The DISCO
- for high fashion in your hood!
RW linked into
the Institute Hood with one thought. OK, maybe more the
one thought. He's not totally simplex you know. The
lecture yesterday by Boatingirl had pretty much tuckered
everyone out and by the time he had finished eating in
the egg room, he had missed the Professor again.
RW walked over to the Professor's office, and
seeing the door wedgied open and Cordelia not around,
entered. The professor had evidently nodded off.
Whatever he was dreaming about, it was clearly a very
animated dream. In fact, he was talking in his sleep. It
was hard to make out, but RW thought he heard the
professor to say......
"....The position and
status of Ae'gura... Zandi's trailer......Are any of
those any good?....anything you like!"
RW went
over and as carefully as he could, remembering his
initial encounter with Dr Warrel when he had startled
him, gently shook the professor.
"Professor,*prodding* Professor, *more
prodding* wake up! I think you dozed off. Are you
OK?"
When
Chuckles58 materialized, he found that he was in a dark
rock room. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark.
Soon, he could 'see' that there were no doors or
windows, however there was a small hole in the wall
providing a source of fresh water. Near the stream of
water was a small cup. Upon further examination, he
found grey beard hair in the bottom of the cup. He
washed it thoroughly, then took a long drink of the
refreshing cold clear water.
He continued to
check out the surroundings. There was a neatly folded
blanket on the floor, and a half finished box of fig
newtons. He tasted one that appeared to be fresh.
Against the wall furthest from the natural drinking
fountain was a table and a mirror.
Now I find
a mirror. Five weeks in Prologue/AlmostLive and I
couldn't find a single mirror. This would have been
handy while practicing my sitting, spinning and
levitating.
(thanks again to LdyDrgn, JonathanS and LadyMystery
in the UruObsession hood (Katran) for the 'enlightening'
lessons, "Hail to the Cone")
He walked
over to one of the cracks in the wall. He could almost
detect some light coming through them. He could almost
hear what sounded like muffled voices, or a chittering
or snickering.
Just then, he remembered his Relto
book. He opened the book on his right hip, with a wide
grin (and the remaining fig newtons in hand) slapped the
image and disappeared.
Sorry if this story
sounds familiar, but this thread is so long, that the
possibility of similar story line is much greater, but
still purely coincidental.
When Chuckles58
materialized, he found that he was in a dark rock room.
He waited for his eyes to adjust to the
dark.
Oops!
---------------------------- Master
of Manipulating Stories (MOMS) Director of
Redirecting Kinesis (DORK)
Meanwhile, FM was out of the tunnels,
looking for some badger. His eyes are now bloodshot,
a combination from eating the poisonous mushrooms and
lack of sleep. If only he had listened to Speedy and Dr
Osmostien... but it doesn't matter now. There is only
one thing on his mind: kill badger. He held onto his
spear tightly, hearing the panting of the badgers coming
down the walkway as FM was hiding behind a mushroom.
There must be three of them... I can handle that, he
thought. Five... four... three... two... one! FM
jumped out, spears in hand, and proceed to whack them on
the head, to stun them anyways. Too bad he didn't look
before he leaped... well, maybe it was good that he
didn't look before he leaped because it would have
ruined the surprise he had. Instead of three badgers,
there were six. So while he was able to hit one of the
them in the head (infact, it was the same badger who Dr
Osmostien had hit in the head with the door but FM does
not know that since he was more concerned now for the
broken spear he now held in his hand), the other five
all tackled FM to the ground and managed to take away
broken pieces. The badgers chuckled while the one who
got hit rubbed his head. "That's the second time in the
last two days!" he growled. "What should we do with
him?" asked another. "Let's bring him to the Ancient
one. Since he attacked us and he's a part of the party
we're looking for, I'm sure the Ancient one has
questions for him," said a different. Great, access
to the chief! FM thought, giving little care to the
delicate situation he was now in. Off he was carried,
now bounded in rope, to be taken to see the Ancient
One.
Studying gives you knowledge. Knowledge
is power. Power corrupts. I am learning how to be
corrupt.
Boatingirl peeked her head into
Professor Theitris' office* Um... Hello? HI, I just
wanted to let you know I'm going to my boat for the
weekend..well... se you monday!
Chuckles58 stood there for a minute
assessing the situation.
OK now, I'm in a
rock room with no doors or windows. I have a linking
book, but whoever captured me switched my Relto book
with the linking book to this room.
He walked
to the other side of the room, opened the linking book
and pressed his hand onto the image.
When
Chuckles58 materialized, he found that he was in a dark
rock room. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the
dark.
Well, I now have two ways to get to
this side of the room.
Just then he noticed a
strange glyph on the wall. He pressed his hand onto the
glyph, half expecting something to happen, the other
half hoping nobody was watching him. The
chittering/snickering sounds increased.
This
glyph must increase the volume of the background noise
to this room.
He studied the glyph more
carefully:
Hmmm. Very interesting. This is beginning to
feel like a prank by my Bahro employees from the D'ni
Tax Preparation Office.
Hey guys ... the jokes
up, really funny, I'm laughing real hard now, I'm
rolling on the floor laughing my ...
There was
a linking noise again. When he went over to the linking
spot, he found a stack of papers. Upon further
inspection, he could see that they were Unemployment
applications, all filled out by his Bahro
employees.
Hey guys, I didn't fire you after
April 15. I gave you the whole week off as a paid
vacation. Next Monday we begin training you for your new
assignments. Where'd you get the lame brain idea that
you were fired?
The linking sound came again,
this time a single half-sheet of paper lay on the floor.
It was computer generated on a pretty rose colored paper
with a picture of a Bahro walking out of an office
carrying a couple suitcases, the caption
read:
"Go on, get out of here, I don't
want to see any of you here next week!"
Oh, I
guess that notice may have been a little vague. Well
anyway, y'all weren't fired. It wasn't a PINK slip, it
was more of a mauve. Sorry you were too upset to enjoy
your week off. Anyhoo, I still expect you all to show up
first thing Monday morning.
He hears loud
noises as if a cavern full of Bahro have suddenly
scattered to get started on the final weekend of their
well deserved vacation.
Chuckles58 stood
there for a minute assessing the
situation.
Uh guys ... a little help here.
Does anybody know where my Relto book
is?
---------------------------- Master of
Manipulating Stories (MOMS) Director of Redirecting
Kinesis (DORK)
[This message was edited by
Chuckles58 on Fri April 23 2004 at 02:57
PM.]
Thietris Professor Thietris Squirrel, CEO,
President and Managing Director, Institution of Advanced Exploration
of Myst Worlds
posted
Ships that pass in the night, and speak
each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a
distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life,
we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice,
then darkness again and a silence.
quote:
Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in
passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in
the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and
speak one another, only a look and a voice, then
darkness again and a silence.
There was an unmistable sadness
in the professor's eyes, and his voice, when he woke and
realized that he had been dreaming, and spoke. It was
then, an opportune moment, when Dr Boatingirl popped her
head in to let the professor know that she was headed to
the surface."
Coming back to the reality of the
moment, the Professor greeted
Boatingirl
"Boatingirl!" Spoke the Professor,
"To the surface you say? Going boating? Very good then.
Perhaps Dr. you might see me when you return so we can
discuss your projects. Would that be alright with you?"
Dr boatingirl indicated her agreement and
with that she was off. Both RW and the Professor envying
her just a little. Of course the lecture came to mind at
the same time also.
"RW, I know you have been
wanting to see me. However, if you don't mind, I could
use a bit of a stretch. Why don't you walk along with
me, we can talk of projects and possibilities. Let's see
if Cordelia is around. She might like a stretch
also."
RW readily inidicated his consent, and
Professor Thietris and RW set of in search of Cordelia
and a walk through the Institute.
Experimental Program 1
...hehehe...see you
tomorrow. 
