Mr. Matrix has found a nice piece of land in the Pond District from which to establish a base for his operations there, but he can’t decide on a house. Oh the vanity.
A weird thought then crossed his mind as he stared into the mirror. Maybe *he’s* the rat.
Anyway, he better get back to his deliveries.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0008, 0416, Pond District^
Before leaving Middletown yesterday, Karoz briefly stares at the red, blue and yellow newspaper boxes on the very western edge of the city, picking up an eerie resonance.
The next day, Peter Ladd stares at the same boxes with more knowledge.
He then goes over and squarely stands on one of Main Street’s yellow rubber lines, contemplating Treasure Hill just across the bay.
He reaches into his pocket, pulls out the ring, and puts it on.
Turning back toward the Middletown skyline, he vows never to remove himself again.
He is Peter from now on.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0006, 0416, Jeogeot, Middleton^, Xilted
“Shouldn’t you be telling the police about a missing person case? I’m just a lawyer.”
“I didn’t know who to turn to,” Paul confessed. “Are you sure you don’t want a beer, Teebestia?”
“Teeb, please,” she admonished lightly. “No, not while on the clock, thank you.”
“I don’t know,” Paul continued. “You seemed like an honest person. (With a) good heart.”
“I appreciate that.”
Paul didn’t look over at her while talking. “I’m afraid Mary… went home. Broken heart. It was just after talking about Little One that it happened. Poof… gone.”
“Little One being the last lamb of Grassland.” Teebestia scratched the back of her head. “Tell me more about your Mary if you will.”
“We met in school. Bennington. She was a dancer, I was a stand up comedian. She was into animal rights even then, her and Peter together. That’s how Lamb was created. Broadway.”
“Lamb is the same as Broadway,” Teebestia attempted to clarify.
“Yes,” affirmed Paul.
Teebestia put both hands gently on the counter, just saying what she had to say at this point. “How did *you* get here, then? And how and why do you change *races*?” She thought back to yesterday, when she witnessed the conversion up close and personal. Right as they crossed the line from Astarte into Lapara.
Paul couldn’t reveal what he really wanted to here, the Big One. So he invited her to Owls Head as a substitute. That way they could also look for Mary, if by chance she was still around the underground somewhere. They shot down the newly relocated Rabbit Hole.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0416, Heterocera, Lapara^
Sikul Himakt and Colon pause at the top of the ramp to look back at the green hump representing their now joint sod home on Big Rock. They’d bought a baby dragon from the general store to effectively seal the deal. Another mouth to feed.
Morris was called away at the last moment on business and couldn’t make the trip; took one last glance over at the crying dragon, mumbled something about a transdimensional leak in Sector R, and vanished again before their eyes.
Sikul Himakt and Colon then looked forward at one of the most impressive views in all of Bermingham: Ridge of the High Falls. The path they were on traversed the whole thing. They could just make out Osborne’s house atop the furthest falls from them. The key shop remained unresolved, however.
They continued their approach, crossing the sim line between the two sides of the forest here (original and doppleganger). The first of the sky islands rezzes in above the house from this angle.
—–
“10 minutes, Osborne,” exclaims Woody, ready as he’ll ever be, he felt. “10 minutes!”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0004, 0416, Muff-Bermingham^^
… Baker Bloch bought Old Mabel and Hucka Doobie dinner at Perch to make up for almost killing them with his Spookmobile several hours earlier. The catch of the day was… perch. All ordered it. All complimented the chef (Keat Owens: back on the job!). Baker Bloch and Hucka Doobie talked of old times in the White Palace. Hucka told Old Mabel some of the story about Greenhead in Real Lyfe, where he was originally from.
“The bees and the humans from down south in Whitehead Crossing originally got on,” he explains, “but then came Uncle Joe and Aunt Zoe, the *bad* humans or human*villains*.
“Nice pun,” adds Baker Bloch.
“Thanks,” replies Hucka Doobie. “We had to seal up the hole. Thus opened up the hole more near Whitehead Crossing, but later on. It was merged with Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, the biggest hole we could find up there — perhaps you’ve seen the related collage, no?” He turns to Baker Bloch for a possible answer.
“I don’t know.” Baker, in turn, turns to Old Mabel. “How far up have you been in the Fal Mouth Moon?”
Old Mabel realizes she hasn’t ascended past the 2nd or 3rd floor of the 7 story building, the largest in Collagesity. “Not all the way,” she admits.
“The collage Hucka Doobie is referring to is at the very tip top,” he then says.
“Field trip!” yelps Hucka Doobie, noisily plopping his knife and fork down on a plate filled with perch skeletons.
—–
“There it is Old Mabel,” Baker Bloch says, indicating the Whitehead Crossing hole Hucka Doobie referenced earlier. Old Mabel sits down directly in front of it for further study. Hucka Doobie is looking at an image of an oblong blue “12 Oz Mouse character” partially hidden by a Crossing tree.
Old Mabel coincidentally stares at the same character positioned in front of the hole, full figure this time. Both mouth the same thought at the same time.
“A peanut?”
—–
“And of course there’s Rhoda, a bartender in our world and that world both,” explains Baker Bloch further along in his “12 Oz Mouse” spiel. “I’m not sure if he’s been up this far in the Fal Mouth Moon either. Have to make a mental note to ask him the next time we’re over at Joker’s Wild.”
“I want to hang in Collagesity more, Baker Bloch,” states Hucka Doobie. “Where’s Baker Blinker tonight?”
“I don’t know. Maybe at her house, the Gloomy Gus?”
“Strange she’s not a part of The Table.”
“She and Wheeler don’t really get along that well.”
“Karoz,” says Hucka Doobie.
“Yup.”
—–
“So there’s Carrcassonnee as Fitz the Mouse himself staring at Peanut,” says Baker Bloch to Old Mabel, seeing her still interested in that part of the collage. “He’s holding a corndog. That’s reference to Roostre.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, that’s reference to the Roostre character of ’12 Oz Mouse’.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this *Roostre* before?” she demanded.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0003, 0416, Heterocera, Rubi^
Sunklands 