“I don’t think Marty has any right to judge art from my town, Buster. *My* opinion.”
“You are right,” Buster replied. Better get to a picture of ’em.
“I went to the Fortress today, Buster,” Duncan Avocado confessed to his boss, the Pot-D Deputy Assistant Sub Vice-Chancellor for Internal External Affairs.
“I know, Duncan.” He nods toward the tracking skeleton heart medallion hung around his neck.
“Oh, yes,” Duncan replies, fondling it. “Forgot.”
“The Fortress is not for you.” Sterner now. “It is for someone else.”
“I know: Hidi.”
“Well… *whoever* it is, and you don’t need to know that yet.”
“What about… Jerry Lind, the Asian Indian–”
“We know about him as well. And he’s both American and Asian: a mix.”
Duncan thought of the red complexion and understood. “They were headed to the Fortress.”
“I said I don’t…” He blows out a tiny puff of air from his small vampire body, trying to calm down. “Just show me the new Willendorf.” He was ready to blow this joint, his regular hangout beside the railroads. Still red hot and angry “policewoman” Angelina Dickenson lives just down the tracks, but in a different sim. He’s safe here, he considers again. But he remains trapped overall in the southern part of VHC City. Best he and Betty move somewhere else. If only Nautilus’ version of Collagesity were a bit bigger, had a few more shops for the wife to frequent. But alas: not so. Baker had decided on a regular 8192 parcel and that wasn’t enough for extras like that: only what he deemed so-called *historic* buildings, like the Blue Feather, like the Temple of TILE, like Fal Mouth Moon and the Castle and a couple of other ones. Not enough.
—–
Quickly they were in the gallery Duncan im’ed Buster about earlier, staring at the new Willendorf. Skyscrapers loomed above them. This was Middletown obviously, Duncan opined to Buster. Buster wasn’t sure. A gallery from the *future*? But it had happened once before and very recently. What can of soup had Marty opened up with his TWO TO KNOW project with Roger? Will traces of Middletown keep showing up and showing up until it’s finally *here*? he pondered correctly, knowing more that he knew at the time of the month.
Duncan closed his diary and stared at the tulips. So close.
Sunklands 