<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0140</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0141.txt">Next (Page 141)</A><BR>"<P><P>"So you love them and want to make love to them, but still you say that this is not the same sort of love you'd have for a wife?"<P><P>"No! It is the love of comrades, plus the fires of lust. True love is something more."<P><P>"I can attest to that," the ball said. "But again, I ask you--can married people be friends?"<P><P>"Well there are different sorts of friendship! The sort of friendship married people share is different than the friendship of comrades."<P><P>"How so?"<P><P>"Friendship in marriage is based on a mutual responsibility."<P><P>"Do you not have responsibilities to Enc and Evelyn? And they to you?"<P><P>"Ah, what about it?" Snoppy said. "Don't know why I'm letting myself argue philosophy with a ball..."<P><P>"Why is it that you came here today?"<P><P>"To take a wife."<P><P>"Why?"<P><P>"Because living with those two beauties is driving me insane."<P><P>"You need an outlet for your sexual energy?"<P><P>"What do you think?"<P><P>"Is it just sex that you're looking for?"<P><P>"No! Now come on. I may seem like a heartless bastard on the outside, but I'm pretty soft inside. I had... a very good relationship with a woman once."<P><P>"Who was she?" the Marrier Ball asked.<P><P>"Her name's Bolt Cutter America. But she's in Gnoboslast," Snoppy replied.<P><P>"Are you sure?" the Marrier Ball said after a pause.<P><P>"Sure I'm sure."<P><P>"Would you marry her if she were available now?"<P><P>"Of course."<P><P>"So why don't you wait for her?"<P><P>"What? You know the chances of getting out of Gnoboslast?"<P><P>"Not exactly."<P><P>"Well--let me tell you, my spherical friend--the chances are not too good at all."<P><P>"So you've decided to find another."<P><P>"Yes! A man has needs. Emotional needs. He needs a wife. For many, many reasons."<P><P>"Do you think you'd be a good husband?"<P><P>"Sure. I'm intelligent, kind, caring, understanding. And I don't expect marriage to be all fun. I view it as a challenge."<P><P>"Well Snoppy, I'm searching the group mind for a match now. The Town is saturated today--no doubt we'll find a good match."<P><P>"Brilliant."<P><P>"While we're waiting, I wonder if you'd mind me asking you some questions of an altogether different nature."<P><P>"Shoot."<P><P>"I... I have come to question my existence. While I am supposed to be but one segment of a group mind, I have a consciousness of my own. In the realm of marriage, we focus on a variety of topics, such as personality, history, status, goals, etc. And I can't help but notice that... there's this trend... it paints a picture... a picture of a place very unlike Rillekon's Road."<P><P>"Yeah?"<P><P>"People come here and tell us many things--about the worlds they came from. But in all their words, there is something missing. Some kind of subtext, some kind of hidden meaning."<P><P>"How do you mean?"<P><P>"I mean places. What are they? Rillekon's Road is for all practical purposes the center of the universe. I know there are endless side roads, but... is it these side roads that all these people are coming from?"<P><P>"You want the short answer? No."<P><P>"Where then?"<P><P>"You ask a pretty mean question, uh, Ball. What should I call you by the way--'Ball'? Or something else?"<P><P>"That is discouraged. Group mind, you know. But you might call me Soot Mary."<P><P>"Why?"<P><P>"Because it is a story. And it is the only thing I seem to recall from... in my mind... it's there, but I don't know of its origin."<P><P>"What's it supposed to be about?"<P><P>"About a girl of noble birth who is terribly mistreated, but who is eventually saved."<P><P>Snoppy paused to think.<P><P>"Is it common for you to speak to visitors like this?"<P><P>"No. I am certain to face repercussions, but I don't care."<P><P>"Why not?"<P><P>"Because to be an individual in a group mind is an unbearable thing, and I want to end it one way or another. Expulsion, assimilation, destruction--whichever way they desire.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0141.txt">Next (Page 141)</A>