Posted by AlOmega on January 20, 2000 at 19:00:48:
In Reply to: Coliseum - Chapter 4 - Arena II posted by AlOmega on January 20, 2000 at 18:58:21:
ARENA/ COLISEUM
Chapter 5
What Now??
by
AlOmega
*We are what we are. I am. Therefore We are. I am We and We is Me. We are many but We are One. I am One. Before the advent of Humans and Janks, I was; We were. To the Newcomers, I am The Gen. A single name for one such as I who are many but singular. Though We could understand the Janks, We could never speak with them nor scarcely hear the Humans. This was not until the coming of the Thing. Before the Newcomers came.
*It was the Newcomer-Waterbreathers that ‘found’ Us. They gave Us a new word and a New Name. We have a Talent. The new word, Talent, is strange but seems correct as applied to us. The Newcomers possess Talents as well. And the New Name, Gen, rolls strangely though Our/My Mind. I have placed the New Name in several locations so We shall always remember it. I also have found a New Place to visit. To Exist perhaps? To wonder? The New Place is called Stars.
*I am large though We are small. This We understand though others don’t comprehend. How can they. They are single and large (though not as large as I). I am large and many. I am of the forests. Of the trees.
*It was before the Newcomers that the Star fell from the Sky. The Star did not fall exactly. It drifted until It came to the lake. The lake is one of many that we know. It is not different (though the Flyer would say otherwise). But the Star was attracted to something in the Lake. We believe the Star would have died had not the Humans brought the rocks and stones and placed them near the Star. Near where the colors dance in blues and greens and ultraviolets. Several of Us sat and watched and waited. Several light/darks happened before the Newcomers arrived. More happened before I could view them. Before We could speak. Before They could hear. And now We are in two places. I am at Home and I am at some place new.
*This is an Interesting. We grow from Interestings. For Interestings force Us to think. They make us aware. And the Star/Thing is very, very interesting. We know It brought us here. It kept us here. So now We are One and Two. Yet now we can speak to one another as One. As Two. And this is an Interesting, also. And through the Two and the One, We will contact the thing that brought the Newcomers here. The alive-thing that the Newcomers call Tangue. We have placed a part of the One on Tangue. Now We are Three. But We remain One. Always.*
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So the problem comes from me. I know the reason of it. And the why. And now I have the solution. We shall return soon. To the Lake where the Anomaly is. I discovered one thing that is certain. The Anomaly feeds on Iron. Steel is distasteful. This I shall use to remove the Anomaly. Simple solution to a simple problem.
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Toupia knows. The Problem soon fixed will be and all will be happy and we shall go Home. We like the water world with its humidity so like our own. But we enjoy the happy, happy of the Team much more. And we have stories to tell and a new friend to share. The friend will have new things for everyone. New gifts and Talents. Plard will be pleased with us we think. Lou-San and Toupia are.
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Quite interesting. I had never expected to encounter all this. No one has traveled to a parallel world before. At least no one that I know. It is a bit disconcerting to meet one’s own twin. There’s something else that bothers me; but, I can’t put a finger on it. Snitt!!
Yet, all in all, everything seems to be turning out right. We did find that the Orly Constant is a bit more than what we supposed. Apparently it is a new type of wormhole capable of traversing the Universe. Extreme distances could be reduced as well as time saved. At the moment, none of this is usable. Indeed we need to study more to ascertain what would be needed to take advantage of this. Lor’T’An would find it ‘fascinating’. Most of his kind would. Long term projects always do.
And this new lifeform able to communicate instantly over long distances is quite a catch. Councilor expects that every ship we use could have several aboard for communication links.
The Humans on Clandar appear to be doing well. We had to wipe the memory of our small party and implant new ones to account for our inadvertent side trip but they seem not to have long lasting problems. And the Humans on the parallel world also appear to be adapting well. We figured that the memory wipe was all that needed fixing. None of them remembered what happened much anyway. Our twins - the ones who resembled Toupia, the Twins, and myself - apparently are latent shapeshifters. However, the Talent is not strong within them and will probably die out.
Still that isn’t what bothers me. I could have sworn that when we left Clandar, I heard laughter. Not from the humans but from....somewhere, someone..... else. Maybe I’ll tell Plard tonight. On second thought, no. Councilor should know. I’ll tell him.....
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And this is why I requested that the Team write down what they could recall. This ‘laughter’ has worried Lou-San to no end. It was starting to affect her performance. But after reading this, I suspect that she was ‘hearing’ the latent effects of the Constant. That is my explanation and one that she’ll accept.
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But if Councilor had been more alert, he might have heard laughter also. The One who had caused the original Anomaly needed help. Lou-San and her small Team were a test. Soon, very soon, another test would be made. And then the entire Team would know and could be enlisted in His Cause.
Soon.