<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0100</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0101.txt">Next (Page 101)</A><BR> "And they didn't pay him anything?"<P><P>"No--but he didn't care. They like sent their lawyer over, all worried and everything, but he just laughed and said that the fact that something like that was actually built was more than enough payment."<P><P>"So there's no sign on it or anything? It's just like this hatch in the middle of nowhere?"<P><P>"That's it! But they must have spent hundreds of thousands of dollar on the entertainment center it leads to."<P><P>"So it's free to get in?"<P><P>"Yes! There's nothing barring you at all! You just climb down the hatch, and there you are!"<P><P>"So people must be getting to know it by word of mouth and press and stuff, huh? But how do they make money?"<P><P>"Advertising. The place is full of advertising."<P><P>"That's not so bad. At least they don't have those Japanese animation booths, where you insert $200 and it automatically spits out a DVD anime adventure starring an anime version of you, and your friend, if you got one! And if you want to see the next episode, you gotta pay another $200!"<P><P>"Well..." Carne said. "They do have those. But they only charge $175."<P><P>* * *<P><P>"Today marks the third day that my Moisture Detection Friend is spending in an alternate reality with a bunch of kids who have a secret hideout in a quarry, under a big pile of rocks," Carne said.<P><P>"How'd he get over there?" Pacer said.<P><P>"It's easier than you might think. Alternate realities are all over the place. You can walk to them, anytime. Just, normally your mind won't allow you to even consider going to the right places."<P><P>"Yeah? So how do you actually go about doing it, then, my friend?"<P><P>"Well, he's good friends with two fairies, and they lead him around. But I'm sure there'd have to be some other way of doing it. I mean, most people lose the ability to see fairies at about age six. And the memories are cloudy. Kids have a natural antagonism toward fairies, as evidenced by how few are led off to permanent lostness by them."<P><P>"You're talking about fairies as if they're real. Why, man?"<P><P>"Because they are!"<P><P>"And you, do you also have this ability to talk to fairies?"<P><P>"I try to. And I think I've had some communication. But it's never very lucid or concrete."<P><P>"They say that fairies and aliens are the same thing. Back in the old days, people felt they came from Fairyland, cuz that made sense back then. Now, the only uncharted territory people can conceive of is outer space. So they think the little fuckers are from outer space. People are dumb, man."<P><P>"Yeah, I know," Carne said. "But not all the fairies have flying saucers. The techno-fairies and the trad-fairies split a long time ago. And there's a lot of other splits in the fairy world. I think, all-in-all, we're lucky not to have to deal with the fairies and all their problems. We have enough problems of our own."<P><P>* * *<P><P>"My Moisture Detection Friend had an idea for a story," Carne said, "with an entertainment building with a dark ride that you go through on your own personal vehicle, going to all these different themed areas, and then stopping for views, dining, resting, etc. Like you control these vehicles somewhat, deciding where to go next, and hotels in there, and you can stay there for days and days. And also, in comparison, another part of the story, like this park. Kind of like Washington Square Park in the sixties, with all these people, like at night in the summer, and exploring the idea of the promise that such a situation holds--but instead of the promise giving way to diappointment, you know, like it just keeps getting better and better? Like not the dark side, but that initial sense of the cool stuff that might happen, and then it does? That's what he's talking about."<P><P>"Cool," Pacer said.<P><P>* * *<P><P>"You know that painful feeling of nostalgia, equal parts pain and pleasure?" Carne said.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0101.txt">Next (Page 101)</A>