121 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
121 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO oOOOO OOOO. OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" .OOOOOO OOOOOo OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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OOOO oOOOOOOO OOOOOOO. OOOO oOOOO
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OOOO .OOOO OOOO OOOOOOOOo OOOO OOOO"
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OOOO oOOOO OOOO OOOO "OOOO. OOOO OOOOo .OOOO'
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OOOO .OOOO" OOOO OOOO OOOOoOOOO "OOOO. oOOOO
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OOOO oOOOOOOO..OOOO OOOO "OOOOOOO OOOOoOOOO"
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OOOO .OOOO"""OOOOOOOO OOOO OOOOOO "OOOOOOO'
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OOOO oOOOO ""OOOO OOOO "OOOO OOOOOO
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| There Ain't No Justice |
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| #23 |
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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- A Mind's Eye View of Paradise -
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by Spartacus
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Chetter was surrounded. He could see evil eyes peering around the
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rocks at him, feel the chill sensation of being watched from behind. He
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held his crossbow at ready, his trigger finger tensed in anticipation of
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the battle to come. He'd be damned if he'd go down without a fight.
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A crude trumpet sounded, and they all charged at once. As he fired an
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arrow into an attacker's eye, Chetter detatchedly identified them as
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kobolds. Before he could reload his weapon they were nearly upon him. He
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drew his sword and hacked away, but there were too many of them. The chief
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kobold watched with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes as the human was
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hacked to pieces. The reward would be worth the loss of a few warriors.
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The words "Game Over" flashed before Chetter's eyes. He thought to
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himself, "Damn...and I was doing so well that time." He found himself in a
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circular room with powder-blue walls. Four tall doors were set into the
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wall, one in each cardinal direction. They were marked "Edit Character",
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"Begin Campaign", "Combat Room", and "Exit". Chetter decided on the exit
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door.
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He floated out of the pink glowing cube that was Dungeonworld. Various
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smooth and faceted shapes of various colors and textures hung at crazy
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angles over the black and white tile floor. Balls of light flitted between
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them, occasionally stopping and congregating in small groups. He decided to
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head for the Underground Bar and Grill, an obsidian shark's tooth just over
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the horizon to the east. He launched himself toward it in a simple
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ballistic parabola and prepared to enjoy the view.
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Within moments Chetter arrived. He thought-projected his personal
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password at it, then phased directly inside. Donning his favorite body, a
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six-foot-tall blue-eyed blond with short straight hair and large muscles,
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he stepped up to the bar. A stool grew out of the floor for him, and he sat
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on it. The room was filled with smoke and loud industrial music, and happy
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people of various shapes, sizes, and colors. He spotted a Wookie, a
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Klingon, someone who looked exactly like Zaphod Beeblebrox, several humans
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of unusual coloration, and a kzin standing in a circle talking.
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The bartender was a tall gangly green alien, all skin and bones. He
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had beady black eyes set under a prominent brow, a broad flat nose, and a
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thin lipless mouth. His excellence at his work was partially accounted for
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by his four six-fingered arms, each with two opposable thumbs, one on each
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edge. The fact that he had fed a bar computer's database into his brain
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also made a bit of difference. Noticing Chetter, he walked over and asked
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what he'd like to order. Chetter decided on the usual, a Pan-Galactic
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Gargle Blaster with a twist of lemon.
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Just then, a tall dark man jumped off the balcony. A woman screamed.
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The bartender yelled, "Don't anybody panic! He does that every week."
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Chet was sipping his PGG, beginning to enjoy himself, when a large
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black man walked up to him. Recognizing the personal signature, he greeted
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his friend Alin with a handshake.
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"Ah. A handshake. I haven't had one of those in a long time. They're
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kind of out of style this century."
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"Well I like them, and I'll be damned if any social trend will stop me
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from using them. Say, did you adsorb this month's Tomorrow Tech Journal?"
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"No, can't say that I have. What was the cover story this issue?"
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Chetter's eyes literally glowed with excitement. "Pseudoreality they
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call it. It's a brand new technology. They are attempting to use computers
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and other devices to create imaginary worlds and make them seem real. It
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would be like being really 'in' a book or a fancy arcade game. You could
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sense the personal signatures and everything, once they get this technology
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to its full potential. Maybe new senses could even be created, unlike
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anything we can possibly imagine!"
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Alin was not nearly so impressed. "Yeah, I heard of it."
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"There was a kind of interesting sidebar on people's reactions to
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pseudoreality. There's some kind of new religion or philosophy or something
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starting because of it. They claim that the REAL world, the one we live in,
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is actually some kind of pseudoreality somewhere else."
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"What nonsense. I always ignore those crazy cults myself. Always
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coming up with some new far-out idea, just to attract more acolytes."
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"Yeah. Well, I've got to split. I need to get some dreaming in by next
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cycle, or I won't be able to sunction on my work-shift."
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"See ya Chet. Nice talking to you."
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Chetter withdrew, laughing to himself that anyone would think that the
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world was in a COMPUTER.
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In another universe, on an obscure, seemingly lifeless hulk of a
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planet, a trillion trillion tiny beams of light flickered in unison with
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the laughter as Chetter drifted off to sleep.
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[>> Phoenix Modernz Inc. :908/830-TANJ <<]
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[>> Modern Textfiles Inc. The Matrix BBS:908/905-6691 <<]
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[>> The Lawless Society Inc. CyberChat BBS:908/506-7637 <<]
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[>> -also- <<]
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[>> Terrapin Biscuit Circuit:908/506-6651 <<]
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