<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0115</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0116.txt">Next (Page 116)</A><BR><P><P>"Well," Daptin said, taking a step closer. "Out of all the things about Sleap, would you say there's one thing which stands out more than the others?"<P><P>"You Created this world?" Tavmatey asked, a skeptical look on her face.<P><P>"Of course," Daptin said.<P><P>"Well, Sleap makes your powers look like a weak effort, man. She's the one that got the Cup of Coffee--from a place you couldn't even understand."<P><P>Kesh the Vector turned toward Daptin and Tavmatey.<P><P>"She invited me to a meeting," Daptin said. "I think I should go and talk to her."<P><P>"That sounds good," Tavmatey said. "Maybe she can give you some pointers. And for goodness sake, take me with you. I'm dying to get back together with her."<P><P>"I now see what you meant about knowing me," Daptin said. "A little offshoot in my lifeworld. I remember it now."<P><P>Tavmatey smiled and twisted back and forth in joy.<P><P>"I get it," Daptin said. "Your precious Sleap got that Cup for me, didn't she? So I could do this?"<P><P>"Mmmmmaybe," Tavmatey said.<P><P>"Because I have something that she hasn't got."<P><P>"Uh... mmmmmaybe."<P><P>"Because I was there."<P><P>"Uh-huh."<P><P>"I was there at the First Creation."<P><P>"Bingo."<P><P>"And she wants something from me--in exchange for this gift."<P><P>"Yes."<P><P>"But you don't know what that is."<P><P>"Uh-uh."<P><P>Daptin turned around and rubbed his chin. His near omniscience only extended throughout his own Land, and no further.<P><P>"Wait a minute. I'm getting all this information from you--and you're just one of Sleap's playthings."<P><P>Tavmatey raised her eyebrows.<P><P>"She didn't plan this--she saw it coming, and planted you so you'd wind up here," Daptin continued. "Cursive and Elaine--are they her playthings too?"<P><P>"I dunno."<P><P>"No--there's something else going on. I'm getting this all wrong. Well, thanks for ruining the single most glorious achievement of my life! I create my own Land and because of you I'm wasting my time trying to second guess some super-hyper-ultra-mega-kazillion-powerful entity."<P><P>"She is that, isn't she?"<P><P>"She's nothing," Daptin said. "Her sphere of activity is a sublevel, even if it does reach such grand depths, relatively. Just like my friend Obfuser."<P><P>Tavmatey narrowed her eyes and became more serious.<P><P>"Your view of things is clouded by the First Creation. How do you know she isn't operating in That Which Came Before?"<P><P>"That is what's driving her crazy!" Daptin said. "No matter how deep she gets, she can never get past the First Creation! She cannot penetrate That Which Came Before!"<P><P>"Says you."<P><P>"Haha! I knew it!"<P><P>Tavmatey turned away.<P><P>"Your thinking is even more clouded by the abundance of youness all around you," she said. "This is your Land. Whatever you want to believe has to be true."<P><P>Daptin started to take a step toward Tavmatey, then decided not to.<P><P>"Daptin," Granticaine said, sitting on the grass, "I don't want to spoil things, but where exactly is this Land you've created? Can you bridge from here? Indeed, can we get back to our Earths at all?"<P><P>"Yes, Grant," Daptin said, turning away from Tavmatey. "Sort of. I mean, the Cup wanted to send me home, to Arctica. And it tried, but Arctica wasn't there in the form it should have been, so instead of going home, we were headed for nowhere--and I do mean nowhere."<P><P>Granticaine raised his eyebrows as Daptin continued.<P><P>"I have made a bridge--not the Aconck kind, but a real kind of bridge, which will lead to Arctica--when and if it ever comes back."<P><P>"What do you mean, 'come back'?" Granticaine asked. "Where could it have gone to?"<P><P>Daptin sighed.<P><P>"When Mallie got that call, that's what did it. Communication between Aconck and where we were broke all kinds of laws of reality, and the whole thing just went haywire. At least, that's my best guess.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0116.txt">Next (Page 116)</A>