I sat at the end which was also the middle, and contemplated: We all come from the egg but we all must return to the egg.
We must walk on water to get to the center.
I certainly wasn’t ready quite yet. Could this be… the *actual* end. Life itself?
No, I realized. Just another beginning. After freedom from shackles.
—–
I enter, what could be, Paradise.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0018, 0513, Corsica, Egg Hill Sink^
Feng Sui and Qi stare at the door waiting for customers that never come. “Damn that Fish Head,” sitting Qi exclaims at one point. “Damn the Head and the Fish,” reinforces her standing sister at the time, then later thinks, while still standing and staring over: maybe we should fix the bullet holes in the door. Maybe that doesn’t help with the customers. The Store Zero slaughters were a long time ago, after all. Maybe it’s time to finally heal the wounds. “We can’t have a repeat of the past, sister of mine,” she speaks down to Qi after telling her the same. “Oh *no*,” Qi doubles down. They both know, no matter what’s going on with Fish Head and the Bird above them, that they cannot return to the ugly, brutal past. The Dark Days.
Qi rises from the stool. “I’ll go try to find some sealant.” ‘Bout time.
—–
Later: back at their nearby apartment…
… Qi dwells on the dark past…
… while Feng Sui discusses what to fix for supper with Uncle Jack.
“Quinoa all right?”
Jack: “You’ll have to ask Uncle *John* about that,” indicating the man sitting in the rocking chair on the balcony. John Lockfry 01. Been a long time.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0513, Kowloon^^
“… nice view of Carrcassonnee’s new, blooming tree over at the Temple of TILE. I think this could be our new spot, Other Baker.” He woofed down another delicious piece of Raggedy Ann’s pizza with this. “This — um so good — this new pizza item is the *best*, Baker Blinker.” He takes yet another bite, and talks, still with his mouth pretty full. “Ginger, yum (*chomp*). Just a hint of ginger.”
“How about that table over there, though,” suggests similarly woofing Baker Blinker, not as convinced this was their new spot at Perch. “Better view.” She was at least polite enough to stop eating when she talked.
Baker Bloch glanced over after swallowing. “Too near the door to the place. You know I don’t like sitting in front of the door. *Everyone* can look out on us.” He returns to the pizza and the devouring of it. “Besides (*cut*), Mr. Babyface is over there right now (*bite*).”
“Mr. Babyface has *been* over there. What’s he doing with all those newspapers?”
Baker Blinker’s been glancing over here, thinks Mr. Babyface, paused in his reading. She may report me to the maitre de, gasp, who may tell the owner. Maybe even Perch himself, who sees *everything* anyway.
Oh wait, he suddenly realized, playfully fooling himself. Perch is back in (Carrcassonnee’s) head — not mounted up there above the door any more. Grease stain left behind covered up by a big clock. Oh well. Guess there’s no one around to monitor my voluminous newspaper reading today. Maybe I’ll order another cup of coffee around, say, 3:30-ish.
At 25 after 3, Mr. Babyface spots the odd conjunction that would influence the rest of his life. An ad for a football camp featuring Leroy Kelly, and just below, an ad originating from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Steamboat Kelly, he ruminates after reading one then the other. The famous running back who replaced (best running back ever) Jim Brown but also made a (smaller) name for himself. Sat on the bench and bided his time — good for him. Patience pays off.
Trouble was, there was never a *Steamboat* Kelly. Only Leroy — sans nickname. Mr. Babyface had entered an alternate universe where up could be down and Cleveland Browns players, former and present, could be manipulated by a higher power.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0016, 0513, Collagesity Fordham, Lower Austra^, Mars^^, Nautilus
“Sam? Samuel Hooker?” Pause. “Alvin Straight — you did say Alvin didn’t you, Preston?”
“Yeah, ma, heh.”
“Alvin Straight?” Your Mama pronounced more confidently toward the back of the TV store. “Samuel Hooker?”
I can’t face them, but I *gotta* face them, experienced repairman Alvin Straight thinks just around the corner. If only Sam “Mr. Colored TV” Hooker would come out from hiding and *see* — actually *see* what’s in this thing. Truly understand the danger of what he has set forth into motion. Into *play*.
“Sam?” Your Mama calls again. “Alvin?”
Gotta go face them.
—–
“A malfunctioning chip?” Your Mama questions. “What does that mean? How much will it cost to repair, Mr. Repairman?”
“I see lots of question marks,” replied Alvin Straight, shaking at what he estimates to be a ballpark figure.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0015, 0513, Maebaleia/Satori, Pipersville/Sink X^
Yoko sometimes had this daydream of a vast underground behind the red doors across the street. She wondered where it all came from.
—–
She met with Cindy A., Jim A., and Todd A. in a secret Cassandra City niche on Wednesday. The A.Team they’d dubbed themselves, the seed of the surname erasures. “You sure you guys want to go through with this?” Yoko asked after the niceties had run their course. All nodded in tacit agreement. No one dare speak the deed aloud at this point.
Jim A. had worked and worked at the maths, making sure everything checked out. Now all they needed was a test. But where? Jim thought again of the forbidden sinks, particularly the 13th on this day, the so-called Super Bowl. Could it be possible — no — but: what if… what if… in ancient times…
—–
It was a combination of abilities. Jim A. had the maths, the brain, Todd A. was the genius in project management, and Cindy A. provided the technical expertise. Planes to rockets — not a big leap in her evolution. Professor Suckaluck should have seen it all those years back (“Maebaleia, pheh. *Satori*”); reported it to the Northern authorities. Because the A.Team — Cindy A., Jim A., Todd A. — were never really from the Pipersville area. They’d rehearsed the accents for years before the move.
Cassandra City, Queen jewel of the Deep South. They were home again.
—–
All looked around the table before leaving, realizing they had a Keith problem. Keith knew too much. Keith was in the middle, which, as we all know now, is unfortunately in the way. They had lured him (and themselves!) down here through trickery. Now the trick was to throw him under the bus. A Magic Bus.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0014, 0513, Cass City^, Maebaleia/Satori
She returned to bar 01. They talked.
“Nautilus is the oldest continent,” she began, thinking of the center again.
“Sansara,” corrected Woody.
“*No*.”
“Not any more at least,” she furthered after a weighted pause.
—–
They entered “Lime House” together.
“Philip,” Baker spoke. “You may want to sit down for this one.”
“You didn’t create Second Life,” Wheeler blurted out. She couldn’t wait.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0013, 0513, Collagesity Fordham, Lower Austra^, Nautilus
“I’ve been waiting here for the longest time, Baker Bloch. But I’m glad you finally found me. In Middletown, US of A.”
“Gus is burning brightly indeed,” Baker deflected.
“I know all about fire,” P.I. Keat Owens dismissed.
“Oh… yeah.” Baker remembered that Owens was killed before his subsequent resurrection by being burned to death.”
“How is David Bowie anyway? Still hanging around Collagesity?”
“Er, that wasn’t really David…”
“Newton Jerome, wasn’t it? Jerome Newton? Yeah, the latter.”
“Well…”
“I was so close to the truth. Spongebub Triangleslacks almost spilled the whole ball of wax.”
“That was Square…”
“Askja? Yeah, Askja. Winfield, but with an extra ‘n’. And then Wheeler with the 8 ball she could hit clean across the Rubi Woods like a Tiger. It was all adding up to something. Then… the fire.”
“But you were resurrected,” Baker Bloch attempted to justify. “In VHC City. Actually in Mabel’s dreams before…”
“The VWX Society, yes,” Keat Owens then remembered. “X-ed out but still present.”
“Can I show you the annex now?” Baker knew the night was early but there was much to do still. Deadlines loomed. Reality beckoned. Beyond Our Second Lyfe.
Baker copied Keat Owens and several other objects from Axis’ High Castle before leaving. He found the portal dial at the door was non-copyable, however. He’d either have to take it with him or use it as a prop in the blog post now. He chose the latter path.
“Let’s set it on Rosehaven and see what happens,” he said to no one in particular. “I can always come back here and visit the other locations — Fruity Islands, The Waste, End of Time. But Rosehaven is the important one currently.”
Switch.
Baker Bloch opens the door.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0012, 0513
“Volcano island, Indigo. That must be Zebrasil.” Ruby paused. “Or is it Ichelus? Anyway, there’s also these 10 women whose disappearance is associated with 2 more sims: Sylvata and, let’s see, Ribeata. According to this ‘Mole Times’ front page article here at least. So we’ve already found stuff.”
“OMG.” First of many. Ruby doesn’t like spiders. Or tentacles.
“Interesting. But what does it mean?” (exploding washer)
“At least it warmed up the place,” groused Indigo. “For a split second.” She shivers again.
—–
End of Laffoon here, Indigo. And please keep up if you will.”
—–
“More passages to the side before the crossover, though.”
“I’m here,” declares Indigo.
Ruby stares at the southward tableau. “Oil leak. Oil well… ink well. Ink leak. Dimensional rift? Let’s go see.”
—–
“UUGH, Indigo. Giant pink frog!”
“I might throw up, Ruby. That stench!”
“And more lockers. Let’s just throw them all open at once this time.”
Indigo moves toward the wall and vomits.
—–
“Sorry about that, Indigo. The santa hat may indicate recent activity, since this is Christmas season. That’s all I’ve got here.”
“Let’s get out of here, then.”
Their attention shifts northward. They walk to the other end of the corridor. Indigo immediately felt better after leaving behind the frog.
—–
“OMG, Ruby. A club. *Casey’s* club.”
“You put that there,” Ruby accused.
“I put that there,” quickly admits Indigo.
“Stop doing that. This is serious.”
“Okay.” Indigo puts on her best “serious” face, making Ruby sigh and shake her head. “*Anyway* we’re moving out of Laffoon again now.” She boldly strides forward through the danger sign…
“More lockers.”
“Big surprise,” asserts Indigo, thinking of some other joke item she could rez.
“A *dead* parrot this time.”
“Another jack pumpkin head and another santa hat (not pictured)… combo of two holidays that don’t mesh well together — I should know. Being Mrs. Claus and all.”
“You are?”
“Yes.”
“Ahh. *Finally* Indigo. The mystery is starting to come into focus. Serial killer! Bible must equal code, as in a code to crack. We’ll take these 2 items with us back to Collagesity.”
Then Ruby spots something else: a noxious looking puddle. Leaking from the other side.
“Ummm… *In*digo…”
“O-M-G.” They should have never left the laughs and guffaws of Laffoon.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0011, 0513, Ruby's Empire/Fishers Island^, The Cross^
In the Sister sim of VHC City, Sid stands on The Diagonal at 148/148 and notices a diagonally placed stack of books.
149/149: He stares at a blocked grey wall full of white lettered names. “Songwriters and Musicians” they are collectively labelled.
Back to the book stack, which you can sit upon. Quite a few poses. Being a dad himself (and a swell one in our estimation!), he likes how the stack is made by DaD Designs. Sid picks up a book from the pile, opens it at random, and begins reading:
For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam digger and a salmon fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed. His brown, hardening body lived naturally through the half fierce, half lazy work of the bracing days.
Fisher again, he thinks. Fisherman. Change of name. Just around the corner in the next room is an Apple Fall Sunbleached Sete — directly on The Diagonal this time. Can he take the book in there to read further?
Yes, but at 142/142 he quickly, almost instantly, falls asleep and has a dream about craftily editing fig leaves.
—–
He wakes up, gets up, stares down at the couch. Midday already. Quite a nap, he thinks, and ponders on the dream he then remembers. 2 statues trying to make their way through a trapping waterfall into a brave new world. Bickering about which sex is stronger, and who will take on which role. Adam and Eve, he realizes. The couch did this. Fall from Perfection.
But he better teleport back to the trailer and feed the dogs (Newte and Jaspo); they won’t eat for anyone else in the family, not Ragdoll, not Indigo, and certainly not the rather seedy dimension skipper they took on as a boarder since Collagesity novel 9 ended who presently goes by the name of Golden Jim. Sid had unspoken plans for him, though.
151/151: Lake Harriet Japanese Blood Grass (“Red Baron”).
Red Baron (in the cross hairs)?
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0010, 0513, Heterocera, Minnesota, VHC City^, Wallytown/Fishers Island^
“Why don’t you just take your clothes off right now and go hop in the tub, Big Red. Because you’re going *down again.*”
Blue Jay Wade pretended not to see Ruby’s victory dance on the table…
… but certainly noticed Big Red’s big, hairy heiney as he waddled back to his house for his loser bath.
“Don’t say *anything* Trashy,” Big Red warned while passing.
“Like *you’re* going to do anything about it,” taunted the drug dealing clown.
Oops.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0009, 0513, New Island^
Sunklands 