<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0119</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0120.txt">Next (Page 120)</A><BR><P><P>V gained some notoriety for finding the secret, but most people thought the odd phenomenon surrounding him--a huge gossamer cube which followed him around--was some sort of special effect. They didn't realize he'd uncovered something unbelievable.<P><P>He tried to convince people that he had discovered something remarkable. But more and more, people began branding him as a nut, and his radio career soon ended. But just a week into his personal decline after losing his job, V was recruited into Overwhelm Associates. He still didn't understand the magical immaterial cube, sometimes barely visible, which lazily followed him around. Nor did he understand the way it made him feel.<P><P>"Hey V! Guess what I see?" Nevrippa Den said.<P><P>"What?" V Sincein responded.<P><P>"A video store, guy!"<P><P>"So? What are you looking for--rare bootleg videos or something?"<P><P>"No silly. Just take a look at some of those paintings back there. If they got so messed by this reality crash, imagine what might have happened to some of our favorite Timber Serious Earth movies!"<P><P>A chill ran up V's spine.<P><P>"Now come on, Nevrippa. I don't know if we want to get involved--"<P><P>"--call me Rippy!"<P><P>"Huh?"<P><P>"I'm feeling good. Call me Rippy!"<P><P>"Whatever. Okay, Rippy. I was just saying, those painting are scary enough, with what's happened to them. Are you sure we should take the leap to videos?"<P><P>But Nevrippa was already stopping the truck in front of the video store, right next to the base of one of those enormous streetlights.<P><P>"Think of the marketing value, V! This stuff'll be worth big bucks when we get back to reality! I wanna be rich!"<P><P>"Well, I think it's a bad idea, really," V said.<P><P>But Nevrippa was already halfway out of the truck.<P><P>So they went into the video store. A TV behind the counter flickered with static, casting nightmarish shadows throughout the store.<P><P>The place looked like it had been ransacked. There were videos scattered all over the place. Nevrippa rifled through a pile on the ground, while V just looked around, a sinking feeling coming over him.<P><P>"Look, Rippy. I may have enough battery power left for one more kemig transmission. We should call and tell the others we're coming back. Enough of this craziness."<P><P>"I quite agree!" Nevrippa said brightly, as she jumped up with more spunk than reasonable, given the situation. She held a video up. "But we just have to take a look at this one! I think it's a reality-crash derivative of that great high school sexploitation flick, 'Going Nowhere'."<P><P>V looked at the label on the box. He could barely make out some sort of suburban street, with the title "Went Nowhere" spray painted on the road in the photo.<P><P>"'Went Nowhere'? Maybe it's the sequel?"<P><P>"No way," Nevrippa said, wading through a sea of videos to get behind the counter. "I've researched the movie before. If there were any sequel, in any way, I would have known about it. No--this is the reality-crashed version of 'Going Nowhere'. Isn't this awesome? I'm all goosebumpy!"<P><P>V watched helplessly as Nevrippa fumbled with the VCR, stuck the tape in, and pressed play. He looked outside briefly. Just the same cold, abandoned city. The static and snow on the TV was replaced by the fresh black of a video start.<P><P>"I don't know if I want to see this, Rippy."<P><P>"Of course you do! Come on--you're a Primate for crying out loud! Have some backbone in the face of the unreal."<P><P>"Okay," V said. He did fear Nevrippa. Not that she'd ever threaten him or anyone else in Overwhelm, but it was just the fact that she could utterly cream him in the blink of an eye. Such power, such terror, in the hands of this crazy little girl.<P><P>"This is gonna be great! I love the real version of this movie. I can't wait to see how it got changed!" she said.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0120.txt">Next (Page 120)</A>