1 If you are in need of help, you need but ask... 2 ************************* INSTALLED: 5 FEB 86 ********************** 3 Welcome to BWMS (BackWater Message System) Mike Day System operator 4 ************************************************************ 5 GENERAL DISCLAIMER: BWMS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INFORMATION 6 PLACED ON THIS SYSTEM. 7 BWMS was created as an electronic bill board. BWMS is a privately owned 8 and operated system which is currently open for use by the general public. 9 No restrictions are placed on the use of the system. As the system is 10 privately owned, I retain the right to remove any and all messages which 11 I may find offensive. Because of the limited size of the system, it will be 12 periodically purged of messages. (only 629 lines of data can be saved) 13 To leave a message, type 'ENTER' and use ctrl/C or break to get out of the 14 ENTER mode. The message is automatically stored. If after entering the 15 message you find you made a mistake, use the replace command to replace 16 the line. To exit from the system, type 'OFF' then hang up. 17 Type 'HELP' to see other commands that are available on the system. 18 *********************************************************** 19 20 ::::::O O:::::THE::::::::02/05::::::::::::::voyeur:::::::08:25::::TOP::::O O:::: 21 O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+ POPPING IN O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+ 22 ---------------------------------------- 23 ********************************kathyD********close,but********************* 24 /O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/O/HERB 25 (((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))((( Ripple ))) 26 [*=*] DELTA FIVE [*=*] 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++ 28 (-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(-)_(Mark)_(-)_(-) 29 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\THE DESTROYER\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\40 30 Rejek closed the door quietly. He moved over to sit at the table in the dimly lit room. Seated next to him was Reez 31 and Weritt. Across the table sat James and Tariya, who looked at them impatiently. There had been enough confusion 32 here. It was time for some answers. James spoke first. "You kept calling us outsiders, and said there was a war going 33 on. Give me some details." 34 Weritt looked down at his folded hands. "Shai-Kahn has seceded from the government council." Tariya gasped and he 35 nodded knowingly. "Twenty one days ago the five surrounding provinces declared war. And they are recieving support 36 from the rest. Cut off from all trade lines, we are in a state of siege. In fact, Harad-Jchal to the north and Xenis 37 to the south have penetrated so deeply into our territory that the province is in danger of being split in half, 38 should the fronts meet. The civilian casualties are incredible and growing worse. Our military might is down forty 39 percent according to rumor. We can't last much longer." he was silent. 40 Tariya was pale and shaking. James reached under the table and took her hand, which she grasped gratefully. He 41 said, "So we have one helluva war going on. I don't understand why." 42 "For the last four centuries all provinces have been united. Since each can supply goods and services that none of 43 the others can't, it's necessary for survival. Sometimes one of the rulers gets the idea that he or she can rule the 44 planet better than the council. When this happens the remaining provinces immediately act to put down the 45 insurrection. The result is always a short but bloody war that always defeats the rebel province and replaces the 46 royal family with anothr family that is more sympathetic to the council's goals." 47 Quietly, Tariya continued, "And the entire deposed family is... put to death in a public execution." 48 Reez bellowed, "And rightly so! That BITCH is destroying our country and killing our people for no good 49 reason!" 50 Tariya jumped up and almost sprang across the table at him. "Shut up! Shut up! If my mother started this then she 51 had a damn good reason! I know she did! I don't ever want to hear... hear..." James had had to bodily keep her away 52 from Reez. She finally quit trying and collapsed in his arms, crying softly. 53 Holding her tightly, he glared at Reez, who was backed up against a far wall. "Open your God damned mouth one more 54 time," He growled dangerously, "and I'll close it permanently." 55 Tariya finally calmed down and James diplomatically suggested she wait outside. This was obviously too hard on her 56 (which he could understand. After all, he had seen his own world laid waste). Swallowing hard, she agreed and after 57 leaving James sat back down. "Okay, now tell me where I'm supposed to come into this." 58 Weritt laid a large, hardbound volume down on the table. James took one look at it and groaned. It was the book he 59 had written about his first adventure. "These are contraband, the book and owner to be destroyed on discovery. The 60 story told here is known to be true and does not set well with the council. You are a wanderer, walking power without 61 limit. Many fear you, including the council. The queen has hatched some plot to use you to destroy the council. Doing 62 that would surely plunge our planet into an anarchic dark age. It is beyond out wildest dreams that you turned up 63 here, not allied with the queen. We hope to persuade you-" 64 Reez spoke up despite James' warning, "We have no money. We hope to appeal to your sense of justice, to your 65 sympathy. She is destroying us-" 66 Rejek threw in, "My son had a modified T-47 flyer. He is experienced enough that he can transport you safely 67 through the battle zone to Shaikhur-" 68 James slammed his palms down on the table. "QUIET! What are you asking me to do?" 69 Rejek said quietly, "She commands the forces directly. Without her orders, surrender and peace would come quickly. 70 It's our only hope." He looked down at his hands for a long moment. This wasn't an easy thing to say. "We want you to 71 assassinate Marannon Qoasis xennon-Silmarilyn." 72 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\THE DESTROYER\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 73 Did anyone catch the Never Ending Story? 74 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 75 Bard finished his notes, "Atmosphere is various nitrogen oxides, 76 apparently due to a micro-organism that developed the ability to metabolize 77 atmospheric nitrogen and oxgen and excrete the resultant nitric acid as a 78 waste product. Naturally this eliminated competing organisms." 79 "Only apparent use for this line is as a source of nitrates, or as a 80 site for high pollution industries". 81 Survey work on oddball timelines was boring *and* dangerous. But at 82 least it paid the bills. And it beat fighting unpleasant strangers. 83 He checked his gear and set the conveyor for the next line on the list 84 he'd been issued. Hmmm, chlorine AND oxgen. Wonderful.... 85 He checked to make sure the shift had gone properly. He was about to 86 place the board on standby when the flux readings jumped. As he ran a check 87 they jumped again. Hmm, both appeared to be non-techno shifts of around 100 88 kilos. Probably some journeyman magician without sense enough to use the 89 shift spell to grab a sample *before* visiting a new plane. Or it could a 90 a chlorine breather, but they usually massed more. Well, he go check it out 91 (damn! ch /he/he'd/ & add a period) 92 He checked his hood seals and the rescue ball while the lock cycled. As 93 he left he kept thinking that there was something familiar about one of 94 those readings. At least they were close by... 95 As soon as he was outside he heard it.... a bagpipe dying away. 96 97 98 "Piper!" 99 100 He broke into a run. 101 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BARD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 102 ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????// 103 mark:well, whatever happened?! morrissey...2/5/86...10:30 pm 104 hi, 105 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????// 106 (((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))((( Ripple ))) 107 When the darkness subsided the two imposters were gone. I looked over to 108 see the old man but he too had gone. All that remained of him was the trailings 109 of a blueish aura and a blank piece of paper laying on the table. Going over to 110 study it closer I saw that it was bit chared around the edges but blank all the 111 same. It must have been a page from his spell book. I was so involved in my 112 own spell that I never noticed what he was doing. I collected up the page and 113 went back over to my place by the fire and grabbed a sip of ale. In the fire 114 I could see a small twig that had just started to burn. I quickly pulled it 115 out of the fire and found that I had myself a fine charcoal quill. Now I finally 116 had the chance to put one of my drawings on paper. 117 (((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))((( Ripple ))) 118 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 119 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 120 It's rather unpleasant to find yourself grabbed unexpectedly. It's even 121 more unpleasant to find yourself grabbed so tightly that you can't catch your 122 breath. It pushes the unpleasentness index up another notch if there is not 123 even a breath to catch, your eyes are burning, and your ribs feel as if 124 something is trying to fuse them together with its grip. Up goes the index 125 still another point if you are lifted off the ground and dangled in an inver- 126 ted position. But perhaps the acme of unpleasantness is reached if your 127 streaming eyes catch a blurred glimpse of a slavering maw opening to recieve 128 you like a baseball fan stuffing in a mustard-covered hot dog. 129 The piper's hold on conciousness was rather tenuous when the creature that 130 had captured him invited him to dinner -- as the main course. He did not 131 even notice the warm foetid air rushing around him as he was stuffed 132 unceremoniously into the creature's gullet, although he noticed the stench 133 when the rhythmic motions of peristaltis allowed him to catch a fragmentary 134 breath. Somehow he was no longer tightly gripped, although he was in a 135 small, dark tunnel, choking on the bile raised by the smell. The noxious 136 gas was absent here (although he was already wondering if it wouldn't be 137 better to go outside to die). 138 Umphh. No, too small. He couln't turn around. He had no intention of 139 crawling further down the tunnel, it seemed too much like the creature's 140 gut. Dinner he might be, but unwilling he would remain. 141 The piper lay in the sticky warmth for a few moments, trying to regain his 142 strength and make a plan for his escape. He suspected that he had moved too 143 hastily in leaving the inn without enlisting help. He suspected that if 144 any of the patrons followed, they might find themselves quite literally 145 in the soup -- or perhaps more to the point the local creatures might be 146 in for a banquet of the size they had not seen for a long time. 147 Alarmed by the depressing thoughts that pressed in on him, the piper 148 sought for a way to raise his spirits. If only the bard were here, he'd 149 have an appropriate song for the occasion. A song -- if the bard were 150 here, he'd appreciate the song that the piper had picked up a few months 151 back from a drunken irishman. Half hysterically, the piper hummed the 152 tune, then in a quavering voice began to sing: 153 A quiet home had parson Gray, 154 Secluded in a vale, 155 His daughters all wer feminine, 156 And all his sons were male. 157 158 'Gainst all the vices of the age, 159 He manfully did battle, 160 His chickens were a biped breed, 161 And quadruped, his cattle. 162 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 163 ^"^"^"N"^"^"ME AGAIN^"^"^" 164 I KNOW THAT THESE MESSAGES AREN'T INCREDDIBLY READABLE, BUT I READ MY LAST 165 ONE MYSELF, AND I KNOW TXHAT IT WAS READABLE. I DON'T MEAN TO SOUND CRUEL, 166 BUT IS EVERYONE 'ROUND HERE ILLITERATE? CAN YOU NOT READ, FOR I KNOW YOU 167 CAN WRIITE . I AM DESPARATE FOR SOME BOARD #S. THE 168 ONLY ONE I KNOW IIS THIS ONE AND I'M GOING NUTS. WHAT IS WHISPERING PINES' 169 NUMBER? WHAT IS THE BULLET'S NUMBER?!? A-R-R-R-G-H-H-H-H! 170 ----------------------------------- 171 --------------------------------------------- 172 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 173 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" THE SAD DIGITALIAN ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" 174 TO ABOVE: TRY BIT BUCKET: 254-xxxx 175 *********************************** 176 TEST 177 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 178 Two heads are better than two tails. 179 Plagiarist- 180 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 181 for that matter, two heads are better than none. 182 183 -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- 184 185 Staring over into the flames of the fire within the hearth, I felt that 186 it was time to go. Strange things had happened here, acts that were beyond 187 the ken of my lot... I am merely an entertainer, not a wise man. 188 Slightly confused, I looked back down at the table where Ripple and I 189 had located ourselves to pour some more of the fine ale into her smallish 190 mug. 191 "What do you think of what has just happened here? It's a... Ripple, 192 Where did you go off to now? Ripple?" 193 "Oh, I'm over here, by the fire." 194 "Never stay in one place for long, do you? I was going to comment that 195 this would be a good time to slip out. Events like green-yellow smoke 196 taking away people whole and all these dazzling lights... Well, it's not 197 the sort of thing that is commonplace here." 198 "At least now I have some paper to use for a drawing! Look, I've 199 started working on what you've called 'Herm-'" 200 "No, I think we should be going and give the Inn a rest," I said paying 201 little heed to her words. 202 "Well, may I at least finish my mug?" 203 "Um, yes, of course. Just a moment." I fetched our beverages. While 204 doing this, Ripple took the paper and after carefully rolling it placed it 205 with her other belongings, pouch by her side. 206 "One for the road," she said as she raised her mug. 207 "Here's hoping things will return to normal. Cheers." 208 "Well, better enjoy the fire while we are able. Spirits may warm the 209 body and dull the mind, but it still is going to be cold outside." 210 "*That* is no ordinary fire," I said. She thought nothing of it and 211 continued to drink. 212 213 We were soon to be on our way, away from the Inn. A pity we had only 214 just arrived when all sorts of strangeness would happen. Then again, the 215 Inn usually did attract excitement when least expected. And little did I 216 know of where I was to go, the magic Ripple now possessed, or the people I 217 would cross. 218 219 -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- --+ JUGGLER +-- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- 220 ______________________Leonard_JD 2446468.5465______________________________ 221 `,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,` 222 Morrissey: Well, tons of things have happened, none too great. If there was 223 another place that I could write you mail I would give you the whole picture. 224 But for now I'll sum it all up saying that she knows that I like her, but I 225 don't know what I'm getting her into, or mayself for that matter! Confusing! 226 Anyway, how hare you been? 227 `,`,`,`,`,`^have^`,`,`,`,`oops`,`,`,`,`,`Mark. 228 The sun had dropped to near the horizon, as it described it's low arc across the western sky. In the distance 229 a cloud of smoke hung in the air, the last trace of the destroyed Albatross. The rain that had been falling was turning 230 to sleet, and in a few hours, the runway would be covered with ice. 231 The wind had picked up, and whistled thru the cavernous hangar. Small puddles collected in the corners. 232 There were three aircraft inside; a WWII vintage F4-U Corsair, a classic stagger-wing Beech, and a tired but 233 airworthy Dakota, painted in camouflage shades. The old Boeing had had an interesting and eventful life, and quite 234 {befitting of her colorful history, she was about to become famous. 235 236 Inside the workshop, the six men were sitting about the room, on folding chairs that the mechanic had provided. 237 A case of Budweiser had been brought from the store room, and on a hotplate, a kettle of stew simmered, filling 238 the room with a tantalizing aroma. 239 Delta Five stood up, and cracked open another can of Bud, and addressed the group. 240 "Okay, gentlemen, we all know each other, but there are a lot of missing pieces. What say we fill the gaps." 241 "All hell is about to break loose. The printout Lou has shown us tells it all. The Navy doesn't take kindly to losing 242 one of it's carriers. Things are gonna start happening, and damn quick, too." 243 The barrel chested man drained the can he was holding, and walked to the frij, talking as he moved" 244 I came here to join up with Mssrs. Parity and Fellows against a common enemy. " George. you and Lou 245 are obviously old buddies, and your being here has something to do with McKane. Suppose you elaborate...." 246 George Kellerman stood up to talk as Delta passed out cans of Bud. He was a tall, broadshoulder man, with brown hair, 247 He had that look of always being in control of things. He spoke slowly and succintly, but there was 248 a quiet urgency inflected in his speech. "I'm a film editor for WNBC in New York, and Leo here is my assistant." 249 "For several years, we have been gathering informaton on McKane's activities, for use in an expose 250 should Leroy take a fall. We've been monitoring everything from DC to gigahertz, and we got some incredible stuff." 251 "Leo, and Lou and I were all in Naval Intelligence together for a while..." 252 The big man took a long drink from his can, and continued. "Then this guy Pervis starts nosing around,and 253 stumbles across something that could blow the whole thing. He's in hiding, and we have got to find him." 254 "The guy doesn't realize the damage he could do to the the defense of the free world." 255 He drained the can, and turned to look at Lou. "Shall we show them?" 256 Lou got up, and motioned; "Follow me." 257 258 Delta let out a low whistle as they entered the small room. Along the wall was a bank of recievers and a number 259 of spectrum analyzers, connected to a large panel that fed in turn, to a bank of IBM computers. George explained. 260 "It's all simple, actually. We pick up most of the transmissions at WNBC, and re-broadcast the important stuff 261 on the network. On NBC." He pointed to a Sony monitor on the desk. It's all converted to pulse code modulation" 262 "It's the same system the FBI uses. The transmissions are hidden in the blanking bar. Thats how they 263 send pictures of fugitives to their field offices. Turn your TV to an NBC or ABC station, and adjust the vertical 264 hold till you can see that black bar on the screen. Look on the right side, and sometimes you'll see some little 265 black and white lines flickering off and on. That's converted to pictures with a few modifications to any TV set" 266 Lou took over the explanation. "Then I just tune in to NBC with the sattellite reciever here, and while everyone 267 is watching the A Team, I'm reading McKanes transmissions. Fortunately, they haven't gone to the Cambridge Code..." 268 "With this other stuff, I listen to the Russkies. Get some good stuff when the skip is in" 269 270 Delta interrupted. "Fascinating, but I'd like to have a look around while there's still some light left" 271 He looked at Lou. "Got a plane I can borrow?..." 272 273 A few minuted later, the Navy blue Corsair lifted off the icy runway, and streaked into the sky... 274 To be continued [*=*] [*=*] [*=*] [*=*] DELTA FIVE [*=*] [*=*] [*=*] [*=*] 275 276 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 277 It seemed to Milchar that he had been walking for hours, though he knew, 278 logically, it had only been a few minutes. Perhaps it was the effect of the 279 atmosphere combined with the hypnotic effect of the terrain, which rose and 280 fell at regular intervals. At a closer inspection, the depressions in the 281 ground appeared to be the tracks of a large sluglike creature. Milchar decided 282 he didn't want to meet one, but just then, he did. 283 It was a dark orange color, and it had huge eyestalks. Further detail was 284 obscured by the denser-than-normal yellow fog that surrounded it. It seemed 285 interested in having a mage as a light snack. 286 Milchar released a bolt of energy at it, hoping to scare it away. After a 287 brief pause it continued to believe that Milchar was the Blue Plate Special. 288 Its maw opened slightly, allowing its corrosive saliva to fall and sizzle 289 slightly on the ground. 290 Milchar realized he could not continue throwing energy at it for long, so he 291 confused it instead. With a short word, the likeness of two more Milchars 292 sprang into being. The beast looked puzzledly at the three, then dove for the 293 image on the right. 294 "Ha, missed, you ugly sonofa Sirian Megapuppy!" Milchar yelled as the beast 295 became familiar with the hard ground. Milchar jumped quickly to another spot, 296 shifting the illusions as he did so. "C'mon, jump into this crevasse over 297 here. Look, it's a nice, flat spot with a freshly killed me on it." And as 298 Milchar said this, the crevasse appeared so. 299 300 This was too much for the beast, who was getting hungry chasing after this 301 sttubborn, scrawny litte animal. It leapt upon what it thought was dinner, and 302 fell to its squishy death below. 303 "There. Hope there's not any more of these horrors around here. Bambi they 304 ain't." 305 A low hum made itself heard in the yellow mist. 306 "Oho, sounds like company. Bye, bozo, hope you have fun down there. I'll 307 just go see who's knocking at the door, okay? Won't talk to me, eh? All 308 right, just BE stuck-up." 309 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Milchar ++++++++ 10:16pm, 06 Feb 86 +++++++++++++ 310 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 311 L'homme: I am missing the Rebalsa entry in which the Doctor and Milchar get 312 him drunk. Would you transmit in manner we discussed? Thanks. 313 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% rebalsa %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 314 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 315 mark: i ya like, leave a msg on noname (281-4283) or on mmm (245-2088) 316 if ya leave it on noname though, leave it to john nauss (obviously 317 not my name as i'm a girl....) 318 everything is kinda okay here.... 319 morrissey 320 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 321 322 (((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))((( Ripple ))) 323 TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT 324 "Parity, did you know about all this stuff?" Fellows eyes bulged only 325 slightly as he strained to keep the excitement and surprise at the array 326 of electronic equipment to a visible minimum. 327 "NET did know that others were monitoring McKane, and fortunately we also 328 are very familiar with the sort of modulation transmission we have seen here. 329 But no, I had no idea of the complexity of the set-up here. Ian's intelligence 330 strikes again." 331 "Yes, it does." Fellows turned to the other men. "All this electronic 332 snooping is fine and good, but you are missing the bigger picture of McKane 333 and what the remnants of his organization have accomplished. Leroy is, or 334 was as we publicly proclaim, a very smart man. He knew better than to trust 335 his most sensitive information to the whims of the airwaves. He had a very 336 complex network of agents working all over the world. He could afford such 337 extravagant measures because, like it or not, Dial-a-Prayer and little fuzzy 338 animals rake in a lot of dough." 339 "Of course we realize that there is another part." George was proud of 340 his equipment, but he was not a stupid man. "That is why you are here. You 341 can fill in the parts of the puzzle that we have not been able to since we 342 are not part of a large organization such as your 'net', and we have no 343 intention to start anything like that up." 344 Parity spoke up. "Gentlemen, I think we understand each other. While 345 Delta is away, let's compare notes." Producing a large envelope from under 346 his coat, Parity looked straight in George's eyes. "The best stuff is here. 347 Let's trade and see what we come up with." 348 "Fine, just fine. Parity. It is good doing business with you. No 'BS', 349 no hidden meaning. You shoot straight from the him and your aim is 350 straight. Let me tell you, it is indeed a pleasure." It was the highest form 351 of compliment George could give. 352 "Why thank you. I learned a long time ago that the only way to deal 353 with people is to deal straight with them. The truth only hurts if someone 354 has something to hide. Everything else is crap." Fellows nodded his 355 approval, but with slightly less zeal than Parity would have liked to see. 356 That's the trouble, thought Fellows to himself. It is so easy to 357 speak like that when surrounded with people who feel the same way, but so 358 hard to live that way when you are not. 359 360 TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT FELLOWS TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT 361 Even agents make typos - Parity shoots straight from the HIP, not him. Him? 362 TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT 363 364 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 365 a time ao fear, so long ago.lived a man and in his dark and magic room, he 366 gazed at times to come. 367 all has been reveiled and tears that he 368 shed were for you. 369 a flash of light slits the night, chills 370 the blood in his veins. feel the power 371 posess his mind,soul in chains.when all 372 has been reveiled, the tears that he 373 shed were for you.cry for the nations! 374 ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 375 Irritated at the sound of his voice, the piper shrugged and shifted, trying 376 to think out his situation. Somehow his captor was providing him a breathable 377 atmosphere -- excluding the noxious yellow green gas that seemed to be the 378 main component of the outside "air". He searched his mind for just how this 379 could possibly occur, running over and over his few blurred memories of his 380 capture. Something very large had grasped him. There was a feeling of 381 solidity in his present position -- whatever it was was not moving... 382 Somehow the question arose in his mind -- what if it were not capable of 383 locomotion? What if it were sa sessile animal, rooted in one spot, capturing 384 it 385 it's food as it passed bye? --Or perhaps a plant with some mobility? That 386 would explain the breathable air -- pictures of the common carnivorous plants 387 flickered past his mind's eye. The stench! Carnivorous plants often captured 388 their prey and let it die and rot, absorbing the products of decay -- sometimes 389 hastening the liquification with their own digestive fluids. He shuddered 390 at the feeling of the slick moisture around him. 391 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 392 393 O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+ 394 Well, I just had the horrifying experience of calling the Blue Parrot. 395 From the user listing, I know that some of the BWMS regulars are on there. 396 Unfortunately, POPPING IN - as ou may know - is user #16. Wel, I don't 397 know how that could be as Today was my first time on the board. 398 This POPPING IN never applied! 399 I would like to use the board as POPPING IN, but I guess that position has 400 already been filled by an impostor. I was just hoping that some of you who 401 already are on the Blue Parrot might mention this to the Sysop. Oh, well... 402 They're really are some professional border stealers out there. 403 One slightly angry, but controlled POPPING IN. 404 ch/ou/you/Wel/Well/They're/There 405 O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+ POPPING IN O+O+O 2/7 7:00 pm O+O+O+ 406 407 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 408 High noon, oh I'd sell my soul for water.. 409 nine years worth of breakin' my back... 410 there's no sun in the shadow of the wizard.. 411 why see him glide, why he's lighter that air.. 412 413 Oh I see his face... 414 Where is your star , is it far? is it far? 415 When do we leave? 416 I believe I believe ... 417 418 Hot wind movin' fast across the desert 419 we feel our time has arrived 420 The world spins, while we put his dream together 421 A tower of stone to take hhim straight to the sky.. 422 423 In the heat and the rain 424 With whips and chains 425 To see him fly, 426 We built a tower of stone 427 With our flesh and bone 428 To see him fly, 429 but we don't know why, 430 Now where do we go.... 431 432 All eyes see the figure of the wizard 433 As He Climbs to the top of the world... 434 No sound, as he falls instead of rising.. 435 Time standing still, then there's blood on the sand.. 436 Oh I see his face 437 438 Where was your star? 439 Was it far was it far? 440 When did we leave 441 We believed We believed We believed.. 442 (Stargazer- Rainbow) Music Written and Arranged by Blackmore/Dio 443 Lyrics- Ronnie James Dio 444 It's one killer song dudes, while you're at it go take a bong hit! 445 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 446 As he topped the rise, Bard spotted Piper's bagpipes. But where was 447 piper? 448 Wait a second... that lump over there had moved. It looked like a 449 typical 'grabber'-type organism. He'd seen a lot of them on other chlorine 450 worlds. It *was* big enough to have grabbed Piper. He chuckled. At least 451 he'd picked a good place to get 'eaten'. 452 He turned on the external speaker. 453 "Hello? Piper, are you in there?" 454 There was a muffled response. 455 "Bard? Is that you?....Get me OUT of here!" 456 Bard unsheathed his machete. "I'll have you out in a few minutes... 457 don't worry it can't hurt you!" 458 Bard started chopping at the 'root' of the creature. It quivered and 459 tried to turn to get at him. Luckily Piper's weight kept it from moving far 460 enough. Finally he cut through. The creature a final shudder and quit 461 moving. 462 Now to get him out... Bard walked to the 'mouth' of the creature and 463 started prying it open. In a few moments he had wedged it open. He'd have 464 to move fast now. He grabbed Piper's ankles and pulled. 465 Nothing happened. He pulled harder. With a sucking sound Piper slith- 466 ered out. He started coughing as the chlorine hit him. Bard stuffed him 467 into the rescue ball and sealed the seam. As it filled with air Piper 468 collapsed. Bard turned on the lifter and as it floated clear of the ground 469 he started to tow it back to the conveyer. 470 Suddenly he stopped. Walking back he picked up the bagpipes and slung 471 them over his shoulder. Shaking his head at the thought of what Piper would 472 have said if he'd left them. 473 Later in the conveyer, Bard explained to Piper, "Well, I know it was 474 unpleasant in there but you were actually quite safe..." 475 "SAFE! I was about to be digested by that thing!" 476 "Yes, they use a quite powerful corrosive gas to aid their rather weak 477 digestive fluids....it's called oxgen." 478 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BARD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 479 (forgive me, piper, I just *couldn't* resist!) 480 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 481 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"~"^"^"^"^& 482 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" 483 THERE. ME AGAIN... JES' DROPPIN' 484 NE TO SEE HOW BWMS IS DOIN'. I 485 JUST GOT MY COMPUTER BACO TONIGHT, 486 I FEEL WONDERFUL! TONIGHT I HAVE 487 N CALLING BOARDS LIKE CRAZY TRYING 488 GET ALL _F MY OLD IDS BACK, AND 489 R, SO GOOD. I'M BACK TO BEING 490 AIN OLD 'T-COMM'S CO-SYSOP', WHICH 491 IXSELF IS A REFRESHMENT... WELL, 492 T T Y L PEOPLE! 493 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" 494 THE SAME OLD DIGITALIAN 495 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" 496 P.S. sorry for all the typo's , but the uploader on this terminlal doesn't seem to worlke  too well here. 497 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" 498 M - Cha@pter 7Cha- Chapter 7: The Restauranrt at 499 the End of the Universe - 500 501 Marvin stoood at the end of the bridge corridor. He was not in fact a partivcularly small robot. His silver body gleamed in yhe 502 ldusty sunbeams and shook with the continual barrage which the building was still undergoing. 503 He did, howerevererever, look pitifully small l as the gigantic black tank rolled to a halt in front of him. The tank 504 examined him eiwith with a probe. the The probe withdrew. 505 Marvin stood there. 506 "Out of my way little robot,"growled the tank. 507 "I'm afraid," said Marvin,"Thattahat I've been left here to stop you." 508 The probe extended again for a wquick recheck. It withdrew again. 509 "You? Stop MME?" roared the tank."Go on!" 510 "No , relally, I have,"said maMarvin simply 511 "What are you armed with?"roar roared the tank in disbeliefe. 512 "I Guess" ," saisd Marvin. 513 The tank's engines riuumbled, its gears ground. Molecule-sized electronic relays^ 514 deep in its microbrain flippeped backeard in consternation. 515 "Guess?" said the tank. 516 Zaphod and the as yet unnamed man lurched up one corridor, down a second and along a third. The builgding continued to rock a 517 and suddrer hudeder and this puzzled Zaphod. If they wanted to blow the building up, why was it taking so long? 518 With difficulty they reached on of a number of taotally anonymous unmarked doors and heaved at it. With a sudden 519 jolt it opened and they fell indiside. 520 All this way, thought Zapghod, all this trouble, alll this no-t-lying-on -the-beach-having-a-wonderful-time, and for what? 521 A single chair, a single desk and a single dirty ashtray in and  undecorated office. The desk, apart from a bit of dancing dus 522 t and single, revolutionary new form of paper clip, was empty. 523 "Where,"said Zaphod,"is Zarniwoop?"feeling that his already tenuous grasp of the point of this whole ecxercise was beginning 524 to slip. "Hwe'sds  on an intergalactic cruise," said the man. 525 Zaphod tried to size the man up. Earnest type, he thought , not a barrel ogf laughs. He probabalyly appotioned a fair whack 526 of jhis time to running up and down heaving corridors, breaking down doors and making cryptic marksremarks in empty office 527 s. "Let me introduucecce myself","thae man said."My name is Roosta, and this is my towel."^ 528 "Hwello , Roosta," said Zaphod. 529 "Hello, towel,"hee he adde d ad Roosta held out to him a rather natsty old flowery towel. Not knowing what to do with it, h 530 e shook it by the corner. 531 Outside the window, on tee of the huge sluglike, gun-metal-green spaceships graowled peast. 532 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" 533 534 The Digitalian 535 ^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^"^" 536 +**+**+**+**+**+**How original! 66 keystrokes designed to ring anks 537 (thats 'designed to ring by computer7) Thanks for the song+**+**+**+**+**+** 538 +**+** Just love enter only! Sorry for the typos. +**+**+**+**+** 539 540 oh, come on Digitalian! We'd rather NOT see what we can read in our own 541 library, especially when you can't even get it onto the board right... 542 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 543 LOGGING ONTO BACKWATER IS A REFRESHING EXPERIENCE. IT MAKES THE REA 544 CH BETTER TO EXPERIENCE. I CAN GO TO WORK IN THE MORNING AND KNOW THAT I WON'T 545 HAVE TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE (?) BITCH AND CRITICISE AND COMPLAIN AND SNIVVLE 546 AND CRY AND MOAN AND, IN ALL MANNERS, ATTEMPT TO MAKE LIFE MISERABLE FOR ALL 547 MANKIND. IF I WASN'T READING IT, I WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT. SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE 548 SO SMALL AND SO INSECURE THAT THEY HAVE TO VENT THEIR FRUSTRATIONS UPON TOTAL 549 STRANGERS... UNBELIEVABLE! LIKE "RIPPLE". AND SOME OTHERS. BUT I GUESS THAT'S 550 WHAT WE GET WHEN KIDS WHO'SE IQ IS NOT A LOT GREATER THAN THEIR AGE GET APPLES 551 AND MODEMS FOR CHRISTMAS... 552 ONCE IN A GREAT (very great) WHILE, SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING NICE ABOUT SOMEONE 553 ELSE. BUT THAT IS AN EXCEPTION. IT SEEMS THAT BWMS HAS BECOME AN ACRON 554 FOR Bitch Whenever the Mood Strikes... 555 SO HAVE AT IT, PEOPLE(?), AND STAY UP NIGHTS THINKING UP WAYS TO INSULT PEOPLE. 556 YOU LOW LIFES OTTA BE PUBLICLY FLOGRD 557 hear, hear. 558 *+-+*+-++*+--+**+--+* 559 560 ????????????//////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\???????????? 561 GUESS WHO'S BACK??!!??! 562 ????????????//////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\???????????? 563 To above, yes, so why don't you stop your infintile biching. One thing you 564 might like to consider, when you bitch about something and use the same 565 kind of form to bitch as those you are bitching about, it completely 566 invalidates anything you say. After all, here you are doing the same 567 thing that your bitching about, so who is going to bother listening? 568 Second point, yes, there is some arguing here, but there is arguing on 569 other systems too, it is just that most don't read them because of the 570 isolated nature of the boards. When you are forced to read everyones 571 messages other then just the ones you find interesting for whatever reason, 572 it causes things to take on a whole different veiwpoint. I am interested 573 as to why you consider Ripple to be infantile. The reactive response of the 574 Innkeeper to having something of his creation "destroyed" I can understand, 575 we all react that way once in a while. That doesn't make him stupid or 576 posseive of a low IQ, only human. Ripple on the other hand tried to help 577 things out by providing a story line that would satisfy all concerned. 578 Instead of bitching about it, she did something about it. This is a very 579 positive and non-childish (if we are to use your term) thing to do. 580 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 581 O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+ 582 Bravo! 583 O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+ POPPING IN O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+ 584 '`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'` 585 IN LOCK DATA OUT: 586 (((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))((( Ripple ))) 587 ********************************************************** 588 Ok everyone, let's take a deep breath and count to 20,000. 589 ******************kathyD*********************************** 590 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9......... 591 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1... 592 0 593 BLAST OFF! 594 HI THERE TOTAL NUMBER OF LINES = 594