From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@soca.com> Subject: Re: [PW!] No place like home Date: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 8:57 AM Maria Rocket wrote: > "No, but it feels strange, and I can't find him....." Still rubbing his chest, > he looked up to meet Aerie's violet eyes. "I just want to get out of this place > quick before anything else happens." > > "Well, we can't teleport if you can't find Mimic...." Aerie poked at Seth's > chest experimentally, watching the glowing part yield before her finger. > "Weird..." > > Seth sweatdropped. "Yes, I know. And I refuse to believe there's not another > way out of this place. Maybe that 'inner sanctum' place that guy was talking > about..." He lifted an eyebrow over at a nearby door guarded on either side. "Exskeeze me?" Seth and Aerie turned towards the high-pitched voice; Aerie looked down upon feeling a tug on her sleeve. A girl who could not possibly be over 8, barely passing Aerie's waist in height even if one counted her golden curls of hair, smiled playfully at the pair. Grey robes, similar to the ones the greeter had worn, nearly buried her, how she managed to move without tripping over her too-large garments was anyone's guess. "Unca Doppwer tol' me 'twas another new student here. 'Zat you?" They looked at her blankly. "Oh, come on. Don't be shy now. Hmm..." She pointed at Aerie. "'S you, innit? I can tell." Aerie summoned up all her wisdom and intelligence to figure out what the child was talking about, and in the end elucidated, "Huh?" The girl giggled. "Those who've learned at least a bit o' Unca Doppwer's twicks feel different in'eir minds. Like you. Not like him. And definitely not like your Persian...he don' even know how to speak!" Aerie blinked. If the girl had scanned her mind, Aerie had not even felt it...but then, she admitted to herself, she *had* dropped her guard around such an innocent looking kid... "...so don' let appearances fool you, ok?" Aerie blinked. She smiled. "Caw it lesson nummer one. Doppwer said I should look'n see just how much you know. You've got some good blocks up; I can't even tell where you're from or who you are." Her eyes widened. "No way. *You're* friends with *MIMIC*?!? Cool!!! Can you get me his autograph?" "Umm, excuse me?" Seth waved his hand. "Hi. Who are you, and who are you really looking for?" The girl frowned. "How rude. I really was lookin' for you. An' my name's Roxanne, but my friends call me Roxy. *You* can call me Roxanne." "Umm...right. What's this about a lesson?" "Hmm? Oh. I'm a teacher here...well, teacher's aide, really." Seth blinked. "Oh, that's right, you're not from here. We've found it helps childwen learn a bit better if they've got a slightly older friend helpin' 'em out. We kids can relate better to each other, y'know. You're only allowed t' do it if you know the material better'n most, but it's reawwy gweat! All th' kids y' help become your friends, if you do it right, so you wind up with lots o' friends. You're only allowed t' do it once every few years; gotta share th' chance, after all. Anyway, Doppwer said, since I've been *really* good, I could help start her teaching." Aerie held up her hands. "Umm...that's ok, really...but I wasn't planning on staying." Her smiled vanished. "Reawwy? Aww..." "Sorry. Actually, we were looking for a way out." She blinked. "You can't just...you know...*go*?" "Err...we were told it was dangerous to go out over the snow." "Oooohhh...eh? But...it felt like y'could teleport..." The child shrugged. "Oh, well. Tellyawha', I's about t' go on an errand anyway, why don' I drop you off? Doppwer said I could take care o' this since I was so responsible." "Where?" "Cewadon." "Um, ok." She grinned again. "Ok! Just be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting Wockets!" Before any of the trio could protest, the scene @shift . . . ed@ into darkness. "Where are-" "Shh!" A few seconds passed. "There. Aww done. Hope you don' mind, but I wanned t' siwence 'em first. I hate it when 'ey scream. I feel all...guilty, like I done somethin' bad. Anyway, see yas!" In the brief flash that accompanied the youth's departure, Seth glimpsed what looked like a light switch on a wall near him. With nothing to lose, he stepped towards it... *crack* "Seth?" "I'm ok. I just stepped on something..." "Seth...I...I think I can see...oh my goddish..." "What?" "Whatever you do, Seth, *don't* turn on the lights. You don't want to see..." *click* Only as his hand brushed the switch did Seth's mind process what Aerie was saying, but it was too late to recall his motion. Figuring that a little light could not hurt, Seth turned around towards the freshly lit room... Everywhere, dead Rockets lay. This had apparently been some sort of barracks, for there were a number of beds in the room, each one occupied by one or (more often) two Rockets. Everyone, aside from the observing trio, had their throats slightly crushed, but what really disturbed Seth was the look of terror on their faces. Most of them had been reaching towards their bleeding eyes at the moment of death. What the specific cause was was not immediately obvious, but neural shutdown from overwhelming input was among the possibilities that suggested themselves. Only then, as Seth stood perfectly still while examining the scene, did Mimic dump himself out of Seth's body. And the door began to crack open... TBC? [Ok, so I'm in a dark mood. I'm entitled to a bit of it: my cat just died of old age.]