“So tell me about this place, Baker B.,” requested Hucka D.
“I don’t know,” I replied through Baker Bloch. “The Moon. Er, over there’s the Wild (White) Whale used to audition new avatars. And then back there is the White Whale Restaurant or Lounge or something where the winners gather afterwards, the avatars who are eligible for new parts.”
“Hmm. I see. Why not just audition them the regular way, say, to test their acting skills?” It was a logical question.
“In my estimation, accing is 99% perspiration, so they need stamina above all else. The Wild Whale tests this. Garfield, I mean, Hatfield failed, for example. 3.3 seconds out of 10, even on two tries. We give everyone a second chance. But it was 3.0 seconds the first time, and only a slight improvement for the second ride.”
“Kind of makes sense, I suppose,” Hucka D. replies. “Who do we have so far, then?”
“Colored TV — he won out over Black and White.”
“Of course.”
“And Kate McCoy — she’s the real McCoy since she’s all grown up. Still listening to the patterns in her headphones, a trait carried over from childhood when she was just little Katy Kidd.”
“Is she married?” Hucka D. offered.
“Uncertain. But we have a location for her to employ her accing skills at. A house filled with dots.”
“Cool. And the others?”
“One we call just Chicken-Man now. Then, um, Dark or Black Elvis — Elvis Black I suppose. Then Kind of Messed Up Cat. The idea is that Kate McCoy will team up with this new cat now that Garfield — *Hat*field — is out of the picture.”
“Didn’t pass the whale ride test, yes.” Hucka D. paused to look around his surroundings again. “Any more characters coming up?”
“Oh,” deflected Baker Bloch — or me through Baker Bloch. “I want to show you something before I forget. I was scouting out the White Horse Village today for a reason.”*
Hucka D. was thinking that she didn’t know he was scouting around White Horse Village today but didn’t say this aloud.
“Let me turn on the map first.”
“Nice,” exclaimed Hucka D. “And the pins are from the Blue Feather Sea locations from the previous novel. 14 isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“14’s a lot. Maybe it’s best to stop while you’re ahead.” A logical request.
“Well, 15’s already started. *We’re* in it. I have to see at least that one through. And, in truth, I think there’s going to be more after that. Moving Collagesity to the Nautilus continent and renaming it (7 Stones) was a key to continued evolving. That’s we’re we are *now*, of course. This skybox might not have been possible in Collagesity due to more limited prim amounts.”
“I believe they call that land impact amounts these days, Baker B.”
“I’ll still call them prims for simplicity’s sake.”
“As you wish.” Hucka D. points upwards. “I know that’s the Earth over there but what is this? Obviously the Blue Feather Sea remade as a cube, or the 6 composite sims folded up as a cube. But is it real? Looks kind of transparent to me.” She keeps peering upward, seeing stars through the predominantly blue cube. A triangle of stars, actually. She’s connecting the dots again.
“That’s what we have to find out next — or soon. Karoz’s ‘E’ found at the bottom now 10 years ago Earth time could be a key. If we could just figure out a way to land inside…”
“How about those stars?” Hucka D. then points out.
—–
* What I through Baker Bloch forgot to show Hucka D. White Horse Village: directly under the White Whale Restaurant now.
Sunklands 