“Do you own this house or do you rent this house?”
“Yes, we own this house.”
Pause. “Who did you buy it from?”
“Honey, who sold us the house?” Incoherent speech from the interior, but an answer to her question.
“Chalfant. A Mrs. Chalfant.”
Longer pause; the FBI agent seemed very stunned and discombobulated by now. “And… do you happen to know who she bought it from?”
“No I don’t, but… ” She turns inside to ask again. Incoherent speech, but not an answer this time.
“No.”
(to be continued?)
Filed under **VIRTUAL OT, 0044, 0414, Twin Peaks, Washington
“Chop!” I said, looking into the Dewdrop Inn room I’d force-opened and recognizing my dog at last. Well. At least the *map* of my dog. Martha’s Vineyard. Always wondering what it meant and why the feet were there. And the head with the two Chop names, East and West, like paired lips or ears or sumtin. Well that head is *this* head, those feet — clearly — are *these* feet.
My dog is a robot. And a sexy one at that it appears, at least to those of its kind. But maybe Chop is instead the robot in the chair — watching. Maybe the map is that of his true love, something he wants to *eat* — chomp away at. Like breakfast, hmm. Rose, I remembered. Better get back and finish my meal.
“Never mind me,” I wanted to say to the robots in parting. “Wrong room.” But I knew they couldn’t hear me. This was a spectacle, something only to be observed and that alone. Same as, er, Chop is doing here. I’m engrossed, he’s engrossed. Seems to fit, yeah. I shut what remained of the door and leave the motel and head next door again.
(to be continued)
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0044, 0413, Arroyo, Blue Feather Sea+, C2077, Maebaleia/Satori, Massachusetts, Witcher
It was Crazy Black and Crazy Blue at once, 2x crazy. Perfect match it seemed. She had almost finished reviewing the story of Big Woods. Or he, whichever. Who is who, which is which? Black and blue once more. Oz.
And at the very end of the Big Woods story we find Lincoln again, oddly enough. Crazily enough. Desert time, me thinks. AISLE can wait.
—–
https://idyllopuspress.com/idyllopus/film/tpr8.htm
“Oh, look. I found a penny!” she says in a New Mexico location, in the desert or at least very close to it. Arid. “Oh, and it’s heads up. That means it’s good luck.” The boy says, “I hope it does bring you good luck. Penny.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0044, 0411, Big Woods, Blue Feather Sea+, Jeogeot, Maebaleia/Satori, New Mexico, Oz, Twin Peaks
“It’s obvious that Hellboy (as she called him) is the Man in the Middle — this Middle Slaughter. And you know what that means?”
“No,” I said, lost in Fern’s brilliance per usual.
“It means we have to get to Slaughter before *it* gets to us. Black Wall. Diversion.”
Always the Black Wall for Fern lately. Where’s lighthearted Lichen when you need her?
“Pack your bags,” she then said. “We’re heading for Auburn.”
“Alabama?” I said. “What’s there?”
“Washington,” she corrected. “Like George. C’mon, let’s eat some cereal together and I’ll lay us out a plan.” She knew I was just a fill-in for Lichen but she had no one else at the time.
(to be continued)
Filed under **VIRTUAL OT, 0044, 0406, C2077, City Center, Washington
“Will it work?” I asked her, this Lexi of brain-daze editing notoriety, currently building a robot, currently perhaps also my lover.
“I think so. Came in from Montana just yesterday. Stayed up all night putting together the thing after unpacking it. Box labelled ‘Live Cargo,’ funnily enough. I don’t know why.” She turned away from me back to the cityscape she so loved from this vantage point, her mid to upscale apartment in Kabusie. “End of the tracks, last of the train,” she’d said about this stop in her life. She expected to die here, I took it. Exploration of the network of ditches would be her magnum opus, a cumulative marriage of tech and art. Compared to that, I was just along for the ride. Sitting across from her, listening to the rails while I could. Full speed ahead.
I turned to the pseudo-flathead mechanoid on her work table. Not Arasaka quality, but she said there’d be compensations for this. Legal, obviously. But Lexi had designed some special AI components, borderline rogue she’d described them. “Approaching the Black Wall,” she said about them. “But *careful* not to cross.”
“Of course.”
—–
In another BD I found myself staring at the same scene, Lexi and her Ralph as she eventually called the robot. It was a much less smooth ride this time. Shaky, but not from nerves. Lower quality overall. A metal hit from the 60s by Everfat blared from the nearby stereo system, perhaps a remake of a Fats Domino and/or Everly Brothers song from a century before. Maybe an anniversary thing. Anyway…
“Who are you?” Still at the window, still staring out but only staring at blinds this time.
“Lincoln,” I said.
“Get out, get OUT,” she said, not wanting to hear that type of name in her apartment. Not since Madison.
(to be continued)
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0044, 0315, Althyria, Maebaleia/Satori, Montana, X-City
When they reached the top of Birdtail and looked over, a surprise awaited them, like a field manifesting between the two matching, pencil shaped (ached nipples?) projectiles sticking up there, except in the distance. It shouldn’t. The cursed thing known as The Flesh Pit, mystery no more, would follow them wherever they went now — since they were a part of it, *inside* it, actually. To the edges of the Earth and beyond.
Then they found it back down on the plateau over an edge as well, reinforcing the insidedness. More projection.
Back in *our* reality (Our Second Lyfe):
“Damn thing wasn’t pushing through here yesterday!” Leroy Jackson Jones Johnson reported back to A. Pond over the incessant, evil humming. Uncle Barnacles’ replacement. A fellow Northerner ready to be replaced himself. ‘Bout time for A. to finally head down south to the “Slums” to pick up some new recruits, fresh meat matching fresh meat.
(to be continued)
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0044, 0314, Maebaleia/Satori, Montana, X-City
“Oh Lichen. Why did you have to take me so far?”
By the time they climbed up to the higher plateau all the snow had melted from the night before. And Lichen had turned into A. Pond the true traveling companion as Fern was now Dr. Kelp.
“F-ck Dr. Kelp and her two timing ways,” wrote Rose T. in her journal that night, paraphrasing something similar from the morning entry. Two a day until she catches up, she’s determined. Catastrophe set her back.
(to be continued)
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0044, 0313, Blue Feather Sea+, Maebaleia/Satori, Montana
“Montana!
“And 4 buttes.”
“Lemme see!” “Lemme see!” “Lemme see!”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0044, 0312, Althyria, Art 10x10, collages 2d, Maebaleia/Satori, Montana, Oblong, X-City
She started talking about MUSKET as a frigg’n genius and a red flag was raised for the first real time in the 2+ hour long video. She began to round herself out where I could see the other side, the dark one we all have; made her human beyond mere whitewashed brainiac — fair deal. She then talked about the merger of technology and anatomy and told Musket to “go for it” with his related, controversial projects because it was going to happen anyway. This reminded me of all the Cyberpunk 2077 body modifications, like eye replacements (thanks a lot Blue Moon!). Musket is a genius but really only as a businessman and self-promoter, sort of like the Big Orange one he also hails, self reflecting self. Couldn’t this be a frigg’n warning from a game envisioning a dystopian future? Girlfriend Grimes is there. Grimes is the key. Musician.
But what is the warning? one might ask. What’s wrong with *worshiping technology*?
Let’s drop the cubes on the square to end.
Filed under **VIRTUAL OT, 0044, 0213, C2077, GTA, Inter Face, Kabusie, Washington
Sunklands 