<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0138</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0139.txt">Next (Page 139)</A><BR><P><P>"Were you a student of numerology, you might have guessed it. F is the 6th letter of the alphabet. O is the 15th. And X is the 24th. 1 plus 5 equals 6. 2 plus 4 equals 6. So F-O-X equals 666. The code number for the end of the world."<P><P>"That never occurred to me."<P><P>They were again silent for a time.<P><P>"I cannot fathom you, Daptin."<P><P>"No."<P><P>"You have blocked me from ending the world. I ask you now to stop blocking me."<P><P>"I am unaware of doing any such thing, Fox. Glad I am though. I like the world."<P><P>"I thought you might say that. I don't know. I'm very confused. As near as I can determine, Daptin, you were just... just a pinecone... at the time of the Creation."<P><P>"What?"<P><P>"A pinecone. Perhaps worn by one of the Original Ones."<P><P>"I don't understand."<P><P>"Neither do I."<P><P>"No?"<P><P>"No. But we have to come to some conclusion here, Daptin Gone."<P><P>"Like what?"<P><P>"Listen to me. My need to end the world is a desire, a lust, a drive that is far beyond any sexual desire, any emotion of anger or familial connection. I am experiencing an unbearable need to end it all. I want you to release me. It has taken me a long time to get back in touch with you! You must hear me!"<P><P>"As I said, I can't condone the universe being destroyed."<P><P>"No, Daptin. No. I have given up on that task. Now, I ask you only to kill me."<P><P>"Yeah?"<P><P>"Yes. It's plain now that you hold Primacy over me. You hold the means to destroy me."<P><P>"Mercy killing?"<P><P>"Yes."<P><P>Daptin paused in thought.<P><P>"You admitted to being a liar, Fox. I am unfamiliar with the forces surrounding us. Therefore, I cannot be sure whether committing such an act might simply be a means for you to achieve your end."<P><P>"Daptin... I have a question for you... are you..." Fox said, then he gazed downward and continued. "...are you the Prime Creator?"<P><P>"What?"<P><P>"It occurred to me you might be Him, in a disguised form," Fox said, looking up again.<P><P>"I don't think so."<P><P>"Then who are you?"<P><P>"Whoever I am, I feel a great responsibility to preserve the world and see it advance beyond what it is now."<P><P>"Let us try something else then. If you have the Primacy, I ask that you release me from my duty. Proclaim that I, Fox, no longer has the duty of ending the world. Then I will seek my own demise."<P><P>"I am not thinking clearly, Fox. I don't think I can judge whether or not this might be another of your tricks."<P><P>"True. But know that as I am now, I will not rest until the world is ended. And who knows--I might find a way to unblock you someday."<P><P>"I don't know," Daptin said, turning away.<P><P>"I have horns just like you," Fox said.<P><P>Daptin blinked several times as he saw that Fox now had little horns on his head. Then Daptin put his hand up to his own head, and felt two horns there, growing from the upper part of his forehead, at its sides.<P><P>"Another trick?" Daptin asked.<P><P>"No. Just a revealing. Showing that we're both of the same ilk."<P><P>"I don't get it."<P><P>"We are the ones that make things happen."<P><P>"There are many things I have to make happen," Daptin said.<P><P>"I might convince you that the world ending, just like death, is not a bad thing, but rather the ultimate expression of change. A good thing."<P><P>Daptin was frustrated.<P><P>"Destroying the world can't be good."<P><P>"Why not?"<P><P>Daptin sighed and looked away.<P><P>"You're desperate, aren't you Fox?"<P><P>"Yes."<P><P>Daptin locked eyes with the beast, and there was such depth, such enormity there, that he felt he might get lost in them. But Fox averted his eyes.<P><P>"Okay," Daptin said, standing up, hoping the ground would support him. "I Declare that Fox is hereby relieved of his responsibility to destroy the world."<P><P>Fox let out a deep, orgasmic "uuuhhhh..." and fell forward onto the ground.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0139.txt">Next (Page 139)</A>