<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0009</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0010.txt">Next (Page 10)</A><BR><P><P>He surveyed Bright continuing to rise up over the diverse buildings of midtown Agoopish. Far below he saw hordes of denizens going about their mucky lives. Soon he'd be out there too. Mucky too? Not very. He knew this would be a fun day.<P><P>"Damn," Daptin muttered.<P><P>He walked over to the TV and switched it on, turning the sound all the way down. On the screen was an extreme close-up of a bearded fat guy, making all sorts of goofy faces at the camera. He'd seen the show before--a whole half-hour of this guy's silly expressions, accompanied by cacophonous polka. Another example of Adlai Blankablark's lack of firm footing in reality. Daptin wasn't the only one counting the days till Earth cable TV would be piped into Agoopish. They already had it in the free city of Boltpike, so the only barriers left were political. But he was sure Agoopish would get it before the other god-ruled cities, Ocpadusk, Blamnoom, and Felptash.<P><P>A commotion like the sound of banging pots and pans came across the phone line, and Daptin was about to hang up and try another Overwhelm Associates number when he heard the phone being picked up. <P><P>"Yes. Hello. Hello?" came the voice of Eb Traipse.<P><P>"Hello," Daptin said.<P><P>"Yes, who is this?"<P><P>"It's Daptin! Daptin Gone. Remember me?"<P><P>"Oh, yes. Hold on a second, would you?" Eb said. Then, raising his voice, he said, "We can't have this! Tell them to keep it under control! I'm not kidding! Mr. Fife will not be happy! ...Daptin?"<P><P>"Yeah."<P><P>"How kind of you to call. We half thought you were dead or working for Thewsike by now."<P><P>"No. I'm fine. But, like first, what the hell is happening over there?"<P><P>"Oh. Well, don't spread it around but we have a faery problem here. A lot of them are running amuck all around here. You know we can't have this."<P><P>"How the hell'd they get there?"<P><P>"I'm afraid Ms. Arcomany is to blame. She uncovered a faeryland on Barley Sine Earth and a troop of the buggers stowed away in her cloak."<P><P>"That was a faery on the phone before?"<P><P>"My god they're answering the phones now! Letevs will have my head!"<P><P>"I'm sure Treyess will own up to it."<P><P>"That's not what I'm worried about. It's been a few hours and none of our anti-faery protocols are succeeding. This breed is respectably robust."<P><P>"Hmm. Well, I'm glad I'm not there."<P><P>"Where are you, by the way, my dear boy?" Eb said.<P><P>"Um. I, uh, I'm around, y'know, around the Alley, the general Red Alley area kind of place, y'know."<P><P>"You sound like you're calling from right next door."<P><P>"I, uh, wouldn't go that far, Eb."<P><P>"Heh heh. So what do you have to say for yourself? You're in violation of about a baker's dozen company policies. You're not working for Thewsike, are you? Please tell me you're not."<P><P>"No, I'm definitely not like anywhere near working for the Unreal Sixty-Four."<P><P>"So what are you up to?"<P><P>"I, uh, I've just been hanging out on the Alley. I've been pretty fed up with Overwhelm lately. I mean, I know scheduling's a thing, but almost twenty months and I still don't have bridging? I mean, huh, I'm convinced you guys just didn't want to see me able to bridge. And I mean, if you don't want to teach me, fine, but just come out and say it. And all the bullshit coming out of Greatwall is just, like, really weird. No one believes you guys anymore. What the hell is Fife's problem? We all know Overwhelm is military, so why's he trying to hide it so much, from his own warriors?"<P><P>"Daptin, I know where you're coming from, but you know I don't make the decisions around here. You could learn to bridge anytime if you took the initiative. Now, let's cut to the chase, now. Are you coming back or not? And are you working for anyone else? Bestroystraw? Rogues?"<P><P>"No no no, none of that. I'm just taking a break, whether you guys like it or not.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0010.txt">Next (Page 10)</A>