Daily Archives: June 29, 2024

00430316

I occasionally come here to walk, almost always at night and most often in the rain when less people were around. Like tonight. As David Bowie following in the footsteps of John Lennon well knew, fame certainly comes with a price. No more anonymity, especially in my former hood.

Many things had changed since the 2 years I’d been gone. The old Hands On Car Wash behind Aunt Jen’s where I lost my cherished spool table was now the Crown Car Wash, taken over by big corp.

Fern’s old Foreign and Domestic car parts place across the street from it had been bought out by a neighboring business dealing with electronic circuits.

But Fern herself was still in the area; had herself bought a failing Crucial Fix Jamaican coffee shop nearby and turned it into a self named cafe, no possessive form this time. Just plain Fern — actually The Fern as I’m thinking of it. Drove by it during the day already…

… but try as I might, I couldn’t find it now in the dark and the driving rain.

Once found, I planned to spend time there with the smartest person I knew, black white or any other color. Except maybe for Stinch’s uncle’s cousin up in Grapeshot who could sell bacon to a policeman, ha. Fern’s a mentor for sure.

10:43. Better get back to the “mansion” and pick which of my 7 king size beds I’m going to sleep in tonight and pick one of those Red books to fall asleep by. Author a guy with Mars in his name — go figure. J. Marston. Could be John, could be Jack. But probably Jack, the son. I’m on chapter 4 now: ‘How to Deliver a Foal’. Fascinating reading; getting sleepy just thinking about it. Here’s my turn.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL OT, 0043, 0316, GTA, RDR2

00430315

She came out of the dispensary beside the quick fix ganja vending machine V sipping chamomile tea and staring at the Black Star on its side and wondering how long Bowie had been dead. At least 8 years, she reckoned, maybe 8 1/2, the length of Fellini’s career up to the movie of that same title.

Her attention then shifted to the crime scene in the plaza slightly below her from this vantage point at the top of the cement steps, the heart of her po’ faux Nightsity, one of a handful I’ve found in Our Second Lyfe in the past month and a 1/2 or so. Another Blue Moon Kentucky killer victim, she gathered, 3rd this month of May’s June soon to slide into July. Should’ve shut down that so-called secret strip club behind the *sometimes* locked door weeks ago because of them, she thinks. Now another lies fallen.

Chef-inspector Petty studies the body outline and blood splatter volume and directions with rookie Dirk Bejirk, uselessly drawing a gun on the now vacant crime scene with no perpetrators in sight. Petty’s on loan from Aisle of Palms where absolutely nothing has happened since the end of the last photo-novel 2 months ago, not at the Perch restaurant in the Blue Feather complex during the day (chef 1/2 of his life), nor at the investigative agency in Cement Village at night (inspector 1/2 of his life). He’d even managed to get a proper amount of rest lately because he could now sleep on the job — both jobs — and get away with it. No more. Perch manager Percy Bidercy had to lay him off because of the lack of paying customers. The clients at the agency were also basically nonexistent. Put all this together and we have the current scene: Petty working in a different spot.

“It’s that strip club,” offered gun toting Dirk, still pointing at air. “City council should’ve shut it down weeks ago.”

“It’s not the strip club,” said Petty, defying common opinion. He gobbled another goober (peanut), trying to clear his mind of distractions. “Dirk, why don’t you go pick us up some food at that Chinese restaurant we passed on the way here. Bucket of Egg Foo Young for me. And a large Cokey Cola.”

“Shouldn’t drink sugary drinks, new boss.”

“Shut up and do the only thing you’re good for at this job. *Fetching*.” Petty kind of hated being so harsh to the rookie but tough love goes a long way. He’d know. Sgt. Petterson busted his balls enough in his early police/detective days to make them turn blue at times. Which, actually, also pertains to the current crime.

“3 Blue Moon crimes in the last several weeks,” he spoke to no one since a put-in-his-place Dirk had gone to fetch their food and drinks. He arrived on the scene for the first victim. He was just glad to get the job, glad of the income finally flowing into his bank account once more. Only after the 2nd did he start to get interested in the case itself, start to dig deeper into the facts. Then the 3rd here really took the cake. Fern arrived in “town”, also from a different dimension. Gave him information he couldn’t believe. We’re living in a simulation; none of this is real!

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0043, 0315, Big Woods, C2077, GTA, Hana Lei^^, Jeogeot, Nightsity

00430314 (hand of Tin)

I opened up the blinds to a world I never got to experience. They didn’t promise me a window in my apartment — I do remember that aspect. Food, books, art, even a woman. But not a window. It meant something to me, something deep. There was a definite backrooms vibe out there with its colorful tubes and slide-like objects. I was told this is like Japan. I couldn’t wait to get out there… and explore.

But first I had to check out more of the apartment. Food, books, art, just like the other one, the one from the *lesser* world. But not a woman — sole drawback so far that I could determine in this much more realistic one. Then in looking at a particular object I’ll get to in a moment, an image of a person named Han swam before my eyes. Lover. Left her behind when I went, yes, on tour. I was a musician in this life as well — it was all kind of flooding back on me; too much so maybe. Band named Sunami, without the T. I think. Right, without it. And maybe another letter added in in its place. Sunamai? I picked up a handily placed guitar in the apartment, sat down on a nearby ottoman and automatically started to strum a song strange but familiar about a talking horse and saying goodbye to it. I remembered more about her through the heavy metal-ish music. 1/2 Japanese, although you couldn’t tell it. She didn’t like me leaving. She did — *ohh*.”

I look down at my silver hand and arm, doing the strumming in this case. She did *this*. Maybe not literally, I realized, but metaphorically anyway. Heck, maybe literally too — couldn’t remember the details; perhaps too painful. She was trying to snatch away my livelihood if not my life.

I had to do one more thing before leaving. I went back to the bathroom, looked up from the sink.

No it was nothing like the face I had in my former existence, just left through the Black Star. But still it was recognizable from that world. Ahh, another ohh moment. The Matrix!

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Filed under **VIRTUAL OT, 0043, 0314, C2077, J-Town, Nightsity