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MEGAZONE 23
"Things we do instead of doing our homework."
--Zoner
<<You Shook Me All Night Long, AC/DC>>
Ben wandered into the Wedge that afternoon around five,
wearing a t-shirt that said "Operation Zenith--WE NEVER FAIL"
and a strange, inscrutable smile; Kei was with him, wearing
an exact duplicate of his shirt. They settled into a Wedge
booth; he opened up his backpack, removed a largish printout,
and they began to read, the very picture of serene
relaxation.
"Hey, Gryph!" ReRob called as he entered. "Where were
you all this afternoon?"
"In my room," Ben replied without looking up.
"You overslept?"
"Something like that." He was steadfastly remaining
mysterious about whatever he had been doing; that confused
ReRob, but there was really a good reason for it. The last
thing he wanted to discuss with ReRob was purity loss. What
was the purity loss for making it with a cartoon character?
One you brought to life? He didn't want to think about it.
He was just too damned happy.
"What do you mean, `Something like that'? Either you
overslept or you didn't..." ReRob's voice trailed off as an
unsettling thought occurred to him. "Unless... no. Tell me
you didn't--"
"Didn't what?" MegaZone asked, walking in from the
gweepery's direction with another silly smirk on his face and
Yuri at his side.
"He didn't make it out of his room this afternoon," said
ReRob, angling a thumb at Ben. "So I asked him if he
overslept and he said, `Something like that.'"
"So?" said Zoner. "Big deal."
"For that matter, where've you been?"
MegaZone replied, "You live with me, remember?"
"Oh yeah. So you're just getting up? What time did you
get into bed?"
"Yes, and about 3 or 4 AM. But I didn't get to sleep
for a few hours."
"What does that mean?" ReRob asked.
Zoner replied with his patented smirk.
"Why is everyone in obscurity mode today?" ReRob
demanded. "This is getting frustrating."
"I don't feel frustrated," Ben said calmly, putting his
feet up on the Wedge table and flopping the printout into his
lap. "You feel frustrated, Zoner?"
MegaZone sat down in the side of the booth, put up his
feet, cracked a Dew, the beverage of the Gods, and responded,
"No, can't say as I do...Yuri?"
"No frustration here," Yuri replied, settling gracefully
into the booth next to him and opening her own Dew. "Kei?"
"Not a bit." She smiled and leaned closer against Ben's
shoulder as he leafed through the printout. ReRob caught a
glimpse of the burst sheet; it was the Principia Discordia.
Ben took a sip of his Old Tyme Jamaican Style Ginger Beer,
almost managed to not wince, and then handed it to Kei, who
slugged it in an impressive manner (Meta Chi nick for OTJSGB:
Drano) before handing it back.
"See?" said Ben with a grin. "Nobody's frustrated.
It's a totally mellow day." He went back to reading.
ReRob started to get some inkling of what was going on;
even for the nigh-oblivious, the signposts here were just too
obvious to miss.
"So, what DID keep you up last night, Zoner?" ReRob
persisted.
"Losing P-points," Zoner jabbed.
"Ahem, right. Ben, what were you doing?"
"Last night? Sleeping," Ben answered truthfully,
eliciting a sidelong glance from Zoner and returning an
earnest little nod.
Crocker walked in and asked about the same questions
ReRob did to Ben and Zoner. He then turned to ReRob, who was
covered with minor scrapes and bruises. "Looks like you had
some fun last night. Do I know her?"
"No, but you should. She's really into inflicting pain.
It's her entire mission in life."
"Sounds kinky!"
"Not really kinky, just painful. But, Gaah!, she knows
how to ride. Trust me, you two would mesh well together.
I'll get one for you."
Crocker turned and left the room more Confused than
ever.
Ktefft approached the four smug Wedge residents. "Um,
can I talk to you?" Kevin asked, gesturing towards Zoner.
Zoner got up, wincing from the pain of his broken ribs.
Yuri began to get up with him, but Zoner motioned her to
stay. He told her, "This will only take a minute."
"Whassup?" Zoner asked.
"I need to talk to you about those two," Kevin said,
motioning towards the Pair with his head.
"Yeah, what about?"
"Kelli pointed them out to me, and I think there is
something strange about those two women."
"Strange? As in magically active?"
"Well, yeah. They look different."
"Worse that Paul?"
"No, no. Paul is DIFFERENT. They just look strange."
"Kevin, they are psionically active. They're an ESPer
team. Random, somewhat inaccurate, and certainly annoying
gestalt contact clairvoyance. I've seen it, it's no big
thing."
"Oh, well, that explains it."
"Tell you what. Take them over to Higgins House on the
full moon. I think it's the 23rd."
"Ok. Will do. You doing a Shadowrun this Tuesday?"
"Don't think so. Someone else is."
"Ok, seeya 'round."
MegaZone walked back over to the Wedge cubicle and sat
down next to Yuri, wincing again. Yuri cuddled up to him.
"What did he want?" Yuri asked.
"Not much. He just commented on the psionic powers you
two have."
"How did he know about them?" Kei asked.
"Long story. Let's just say that Kevin knows these
things, OK?" Zoner answered.
"Ok, I guess." Kei replied. "Hey, I wasn't done reading
that page."
"Oh, sorry." Ben flipped back a page.
Badger walked into the Wedge, hugging everyone she knew,
which included Zoner. When she hugged him Yuri visibly
stiffened. "'Tis ok, Yuri. She's just a friend," Zoner said,
trying to calm her.
"Has anyone seen Entropy?" Badger asked.
There was a resounding chorus of 'no' and then it struck
everyone. No one had seen Larry in a long time. A few of
them wondered what the computer god could be up to. Oh well,
he would probably be on the Encore. "Have someone at the
Wedge terms do a Super-Who," Zoner suggested.
"Good idea." Badger said as she walked off.
A few minutes after she left Zoner looked around and
asked, "Ten Minute Walk?", this being the standard colloquial
statement signifying a trip to Playoff Entertainment, the
local electronic reflex testing center, aka arcade. Why it
is called Ten Minute Walk is another story altogether which
we will not go into now.
The replies were all negative, except Yuri's.
"What's Ten Minute Walk?" she asked.
"It's an arcade, you know, video games. Sort of
electronic combat simulations. Things like that," Zoner
replied.
"Sounds interesting, let's go."
"Ok. Anyone else?"
There was an overwhelming wave of apathy and general
negative responsiveness. So Zoner and Yuri just got up, said
their goodbyes, and left the Wedge.