<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0111</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0112.txt">Next (Page 112)</A><BR> Injure here has stated that there is something we can do that will make everything right again. Isn't that so?"<P><P>Injure looked at his instruments.<P><P>"That's true, but with the setup I have here, the best I could do is test event-whastions to see if they'd work--but it could take 40 to 50 minutes to test each one!"<P><P>"What exactly is an 'event-whastion'?" Emily asked.<P><P>"It's just something that happens!" Injure said impatiently. "Saying hello to your mother! Throwing a soda can out a car window! Skipping a stone! Anything!"<P><P>"So effectively," Hate said, "there are an infinite array of event-whastions available at any time."<P><P>"Well, effectively, but remember Corridor--in any situation, only a tiny subset of all possible event-whastions will be apparent as options."<P><P>"Okay," Hate said, thinking. "Okay. Back at the Noyage Parlour, the payphone rang. I picked it up and some old woman told me something like, to get my life in order and get rid of Office Complex at Gumhanshire. Then she said something about an operator."<P><P>"Look I don't understand!" Emily shouted. "Why not ask Hypergod here or the fuzzball over there? They obviously have the technology!"<P><P>Injure was annoyed.<P><P>"I already did ask Ann, and though helpful, she doesn't have the capacity. I assume Amnifaoz doesn't either, since Ann's at a higher technological level."<P><P>"That's true," Ann said.<P><P>"Fuzzball! Ha ha ha!" Amnifaoz bellowed.<P><P>Ann sneered at the Hypergod.<P><P>"But this old woman!" Injure yelled. "What did she say again?"<P><P>"To get my life in order by getting rid of Office Complex at Gumhanshire--you know--that huge building down in Doscovor," Hate said.<P><P>"I know it," Injure said. "But get rid of it? As far as we know, it may already be gone--a lot of buildings here in Derolbam are gone, you know."<P><P>"Well, I'm just saying, getting rid of that building, however it might be done, would be an event-whastion, right?" said Hate.<P><P>"I guess so," Injure said. "But I still don't understand exactly what 'getting rid of' means."<P><P>"Destroy it!" Emily said. "Blow it up or something!"<P><P>Injure turned to look at Emily.<P><P>"First of all, blowing up a building takes months of preparation. Secondly, the ruins of the building will still be on site. So are we getting rid of the material of the building, or just its pattern integrity?"<P><P>Ferrajalt turned to Amnifaoz.<P><P>"Um, Amnifaoz--could you destroy a building?"<P><P>The beast regarded the Prince.<P><P>"My personal arms and explosives can mete out wild levels of destruction. But the demolition of a huge building is tricky work. I have tried. Like it or not, I am about as small as you when compared to such a behemoth construct. It would be a slow/messy process, away from these need-parameters."<P><P>"Um, okay. But how 'bout, y'know, like mass destruction?" Ferrajalt suggested. "Like atomic or strong force or whatever?"<P><P>"We don't have any here," Injure said. "And even if we did--destroying all of Doscovor and its environs is different than destroying a single building."<P><P>"Well feed it into your machine--just blowing up the building or whatever--and see if it's the right event!" Prince Ferrajalt said. "Why else would we have gotten that call?"<P><P>"I can think of lots of reasons," Injure said, fiddling with his instruments. "But I guess it's worth a try. Only problem is, it's such a pain to get the datum into my models."<P><P>"Well do it," Hate said. "If it turns out to be the right thing, we'll figure out some way to destroy it."<P><P>"Remember Ledrant--the specific phrasing was 'get rid of'. That's what I'm putting into the model, and that's what we'll have to do."<P><P>"Agreed," Hate said.<P><P>--------------------------<P>CHAPTER 27<P>--------------------------<P><P>Daptin glared at the crowd he was trudging forward with. Thirteen people walking--one hovering in midair.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0112.txt">Next (Page 112)</A>