"It's a affair conspiracy to pry the hard-earned money out affairlaneneighborvanessa of our hands affairlaneneighborvanessa." Caeman lane heard himself say. He surprised himself. "Jeez, I'm starting to talk like Grandther." Grandther had always hated big corporations lane. Caeman went to the vanessa safe after breakfast lane. He had vanessa found the combination in an envelope affairlaneneighborvanessa in the tackle box . As he opened the safe, he found a note card folded affair in half so it would stand up. It affairlaneneighborvanessa said "go to the attic and look behind our picture." Caeman pulled down affair the drop-down wooden ladder lane leading to the attic and found a maze of boxes and miscellaneous items. He affairlaneneighborvanessa eventually found a picture affair of a younger Grandther hung on the wall affairlaneneighborvanessa, with a very, very young Caeman sitting affairlaneneighborvanessa in his lap. He took it down and found a box inserted in a square niche in the wall. He opened the box and found something inside that looked like a small turquoise affairlaneneighborvanessa and ruby shield inlaid with gold to give the impression of an unfurled scroll. Caeman read the affair
"Dear Caeman." it said.
"By the affair way, I've still got the messed-up comics neighbor from my tampering in the box directly under the hiding place neighbor. I affair can affair't sell them because after people look through them and see the lane results of my tampering, they think affairlaneneighborvanessa I bought a forgery--or worse, forged it myself and sold it to them to affair cheat them. Using the online Gate permanently alters the particular copy of a work you happen to use it on neighbor. My vanessa issue #1 of Superman has Lois disappear and affair Superman spends the rest of the issue affair looking for her, only to have her reappear on the last page with the smile only a well-screwed woman gets. Everyone else's copy remains unchanged. If you wanted to, you could describe a vanessa world and set up the characters affairlaneneighborvanessa, then travel into it and the affairlaneneighborvanessa story would write itself. Be warned, though. You can be killed in online the story just as easily as you could in real life. So don't lane go opening any airlock online doors or lions affairlaneneighborvanessa' cages. And under no circumstances affair are you affair to lose the Gate while visiting a story affair world. If a character leaves and doesn't come back, you're trapped forever."
"Sincerely yours,
"How'd it get so hot out there all of a sudden?" she asked with lane a vague New Jersey accent.
"Do affairlaneneighborvanessa you have lane a nickname?" she asked. "My last boss was Steven Q. Caeman online, and I sincerely doubt you vanessa want me associating you with him." Caeman lane had heard of S. Q. Caeman. The man was a big-time newspaper tycoon affair in lane New Jersey who was suspected of many , many online attempted hostile takeovers, though no one had been lane able to prove anything. Still neighbor, Caeman couldn't start insisting that the townspeople call him Special K or something to make online her affairlaneneighborvanessa feel better...but affair he really wanted this young woman as a friend. It occurred to him that a little judicious use of the amplifier could affair help. He re-donned the glasses.
Caeman looked over the contents of the basket. "How'd you know affair what kinds of fruits I like affair?" he asked. She smiled, blushing slightly. He took the hat off her head affairlaneneighborvanessa and hung affairlaneneighborvanessa it on the hat stand beside the door. Her hair tumbled free, tickling lane her shoulders when it reached the affair bottom of its fall affair. She pulled a hairbrush and a makeup compact affair out of the affair pocket of her overalls and brushed her hair until neighbor it was straight to her satisfaction online. Then she vanessa put her beauty aids away and smiled affairlaneneighborvanessa as if she were about to get laid. Caeman was picking up thoughts through the vanessa amplifier that affairlaneneighborvanessa made online him blush, so affair he took it off. He put the glasses in his pocket as online she approached him.
Caeman wondered if a story had to be vanessa finished before the Scribe's Gate would neighbor work. He opened his word processor vanessa and began to affair type out a character affair description vanessa of a young scientist named Hokuto Minako, PhD., MD lane, and several other degrees, who was affair called "Minnie" by her friends, blessed with great beauty and extreme intelligence. He wrote of how lane she affair scorned a sorceror during college because she had to work on her thesis, and was subsequently cursed to obey affair any command anyone gave her, and that he had altered her body to vanessa his desires before affair being neighbor banished by a rival sorcerer. Caeman printed the document and activated the Gate, and Minnie appeared before him, dressed in a lab coat and nothing else, her affairlaneneighborvanessa lovely Asian features affairlaneneighborvanessa set in a scowl.
"Freeze." he commanded, and she froze. "Do not try to use the affairlaneneighborvanessa device against me or anyone else affair. Your task is to improve the device affair. And you are not to harm affairlaneneighborvanessa me or anyone else while you're here, either. Serve me affair well, and I affair may summon a sorcerer to free you from your curse." Minnie looked skeptical, but nodded . He spun through an episode of the Men in Black TV show which he had recorded seven times until he had a decent affair shot of the lab, then brought out a lot of the equipment. She examined the equipment affair, nodding in approval.
"Who are vanessa you, and how do you know affairlaneneighborvanessa my affair name?" she demanded.
"You are a character in a story I wrote, Nike." he replied. "In a sense, I am your creator. My name is affairlaneneighborvanessa Caeman affairlaneneighborvanessa. You have been brought into this reality by means affair of a certain artifact vanessa I lane inherited from my grandfather affair. I brought you here at the lane request of another of online my creations affairlaneneighborvanessa." He gestured to Minnie. "This is Minnie. You will be assisting affair her."
"Like hell I will." Nike snarled vanessa. Caeman had been expecting this. After vanessa all, he had affair created her.
"Nike here will be affair serving online as your assistant, Minnie." he said vanessa. "Her powers will prove invaluable. You are affair not to attempt to turn her against me or Ellie or any other guest in my affairlaneneighborvanessa house."
"A neighbor young affairlaneneighborvanessa strawberry blonde who is sleeping in my bedroom right now affairlaneneighborvanessa." Caeman replied. "Speaking of whom, I affair'd better check on her affairlaneneighborvanessa." He handed the amplifier back to affairlaneneighborvanessa Minnie.
"I'm going to pop out of this shirt." Ellie commented. "But I suspect that's part of affair the appeal, isn online't it?" Caeman only smiled. "I'll wear it for you, lover, but you have to bail me out of jail if I get arrested." Caeman affairlaneneighborvanessa laughed.
"The block affair's cracked like the Liberty Bell vanessa." he said. "As bad as affairlaneneighborvanessa it is, you'd think I'd affairlaneneighborvanessa tossed ice water on it while it was hot. I've been meaning to rebuild the engine anyway."
"Okay affairlaneneighborvanessa." Ellie said. "Anyway, that Asian scientist you invited wants to talk to you." Caeman followed Ellie back to the house. He felt online a sting on neighbor the back of his neck, and suddenly the room seemed to be filled affairlaneneighborvanessa with noise. He could hear affairlaneneighborvanessa everything everybody was thinking. There were so many voices Caeman couldn't make sense of it all.
"You have a keen vanessa grasp of lane the obvious lane." Minnie replied dryly. "I fulfilled my part of the bargain."
"Please?" Minnie asked. "Logically affair speaking, jealousy really is a useless emotion that has never helped anyone. I'd like lane it better if I could be happy for affairlaneneighborvanessa other people 's happiness instead lane of wanting to take it affair away from them and affairlaneneighborvanessa keep it affair for myself affair." The others volunteered for the change as well, and Caeman obliged them online. He also affairlaneneighborvanessa removed their affairlaneneighborvanessa sexual inhibitions, opening them up to vanessa experience pleasure in thousands affair of affair possible ways, and he let them be aware of this as affair well. They moved closer and embraced him, Minnie's balloonish breasts encircling him like an extra lane pair of arms.
|
