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