Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Emit's a Beeping Noise
The soup glooped loudly in an unappetizing way.
Dave looked down at it in fear, and poked at it with his spoon. The reddy-orange surface quivered slightly upon touch from Dave's utensil, but held firm.
"Mrs Wentley, what sort of soup is this?" Dave asked queasily.
"Good soup" Mrs Wentley replied, as she scooped another spoonful into her open mouth.
"Why is it glooping?"
"Dunno," she shrugged, "Must be carbonated or something."
"Uh, ok…" Dave looked down at the soup again. It looked back.
"Are those eyes floating in there?" Dave asked in horror.
Mrs Wentley paused from her eating, and studied Dave's lunch carefully.
"Looks like it" she said eventually, and returned to her own bowl.
Dave put the spoon down carefully, and pushed his chair back from the table.
"I think I'll go for a walk" he said quietly, unable to face any more staring soup for a while.
"Ok" Mrs Wentley shrugged, "suit yourself, but your soup will be getting cold. And then it gets that skin layer on the top, and…."
Her voice faded into the background as Dave ran outside and breathed in the fresh air deeply. Living with Mrs Wentley had its advantages: a bed to sleep in, accommodation for a reasonable fee, and close to his school, but her culinary tastes took a little getting used to. Still, with his parents gone, he was happy to put up with her cooking in order to have somewhere to live.He sat down at the end of the driveway, and watched a snail crawling by.
"Whatcha doing?" a voice asked, and Dave looked up into the smiling face of a girl.
"Hey Sally," he greeted her, "Just escaping lunch for a while."
"Ah, yes," Sally nodded understandingly, "Mrs Wentley been cooking again?"
Dave nodded.
"What was it this time," Sally asked, "lamb stuffed with sardines? Sardines stuffed with rhubarb? Asparagus stuffed with turnips?"
"Staring soup," Dave responded.
"Ew," Sally grimaced.
Just then, something made an impact on Dave. In saying that something made an impact on him, I don't want to suggest in any way that he had thought of something - Dave was not particularly bright - but rather, something struck him.
"Ow," said Dave.
"You ok?" Sally asked, as she reached down and picked up the object, which had landed at her feet.
"Uh, sure," Dave said, "But what was that?"
"Looks like a golf ball without the spots" Sally said, looking at the small sphere in her hand.
"Weird," Dave said, "I wonder what it is?"
At that moment, two things happened. Firstly, the small spherical golf-ball-like-object-without-the-spots began beeping, and secondly, a tall man with a long flowing cloak stepped out of thin air.
"Whoa!" Dave exclaimed. "That golf-ball-like-object-without-the-spots just beeped."
(When he said this, Dave was facing the wrong way to see the tall man. Sally, however, was not).
"Whoa, a tall man with a long flowing cloak just stepped out of thin air" Sally exclaimed, simultaneously to Dave.
At the same time as both of them were speaking, the tall man answered the question that had earlier been asked (when Dave said "Weird, I wonder what it is?"), by replying "A Random or Entered Number Inter-Dimensional Transporter, or 'Renidt' for short."
There was a moment of silence, as all three people tried to figure out what the other two were saying.
Sally, being a girl and therefore able to think faster than the other two, was the first to process all the information.
"Cool," she said, "An Inter-Dimensional Transporter. How does it work?"
At this point the tall man decided that the two statements did not need replying to, and answered Sally's question instead.
"Well, it actually works by sending out a sub-molecular electronic current through the five primary colours, rendering them temporarily invisible, then creating a spiraling vortex by reducing all atoms within a…"
"Forget it," Sally sighed, confused as soon at the man had said that there were five primary colours, "I don't think I want to know any more. Just tell me who you are and leave it at that."
"Ok," the tall man said, "I'm Emit Rellevart. And you are?"
"I'm Sally," said Sally, "And this is Dave."
Dave said nothing, still trying to figure out the other statements.
"So," Sally continued, "How did you step out of thin air like that?"
"Oh, that" Emit laughed, "I didn't. It's just where I parked my Inter-Dimensional Transport Vehicle, or 'Id TV'. The Renidt can transport you to other dimensions, but without an Id you'd be destroyed by the pressure! It's just got cloaking on to stop the natives from freaking out. It is kind of scary in some dimensions to just appear out of nowhere. Here, I'll show you around if you like."
"Great," Sally exclaimed, and handed the Renidt back to Emit.
Dragging Dave along by the arm, she followed Emit to the place where he had appeared. The tall Inter-Dimensional traveler now held Renidt, and pressed a button that Sally and Dave hadn't noticed. Suddenly, a doorway appeared in front of them, and they stepped inside.
Outside on the footpath, the snail suddenly realized that a tall man with long flowing robes had appeared out of nowhere (snails are quite slow).
"Whoa!" it exclaimed, "That guy just appeared out of nowhere!"
Dave looked down at it in fear, and poked at it with his spoon. The reddy-orange surface quivered slightly upon touch from Dave's utensil, but held firm.
"Mrs Wentley, what sort of soup is this?" Dave asked queasily.
"Good soup" Mrs Wentley replied, as she scooped another spoonful into her open mouth.
"Why is it glooping?"
"Dunno," she shrugged, "Must be carbonated or something."
"Uh, ok…" Dave looked down at the soup again. It looked back.
"Are those eyes floating in there?" Dave asked in horror.
Mrs Wentley paused from her eating, and studied Dave's lunch carefully.
"Looks like it" she said eventually, and returned to her own bowl.
Dave put the spoon down carefully, and pushed his chair back from the table.
"I think I'll go for a walk" he said quietly, unable to face any more staring soup for a while.
"Ok" Mrs Wentley shrugged, "suit yourself, but your soup will be getting cold. And then it gets that skin layer on the top, and…."
Her voice faded into the background as Dave ran outside and breathed in the fresh air deeply. Living with Mrs Wentley had its advantages: a bed to sleep in, accommodation for a reasonable fee, and close to his school, but her culinary tastes took a little getting used to. Still, with his parents gone, he was happy to put up with her cooking in order to have somewhere to live.He sat down at the end of the driveway, and watched a snail crawling by.
"Whatcha doing?" a voice asked, and Dave looked up into the smiling face of a girl.
"Hey Sally," he greeted her, "Just escaping lunch for a while."
"Ah, yes," Sally nodded understandingly, "Mrs Wentley been cooking again?"
Dave nodded.
"What was it this time," Sally asked, "lamb stuffed with sardines? Sardines stuffed with rhubarb? Asparagus stuffed with turnips?"
"Staring soup," Dave responded.
"Ew," Sally grimaced.
Just then, something made an impact on Dave. In saying that something made an impact on him, I don't want to suggest in any way that he had thought of something - Dave was not particularly bright - but rather, something struck him.
"Ow," said Dave.
"You ok?" Sally asked, as she reached down and picked up the object, which had landed at her feet.
"Uh, sure," Dave said, "But what was that?"
"Looks like a golf ball without the spots" Sally said, looking at the small sphere in her hand.
"Weird," Dave said, "I wonder what it is?"
At that moment, two things happened. Firstly, the small spherical golf-ball-like-object-without-the-spots began beeping, and secondly, a tall man with a long flowing cloak stepped out of thin air.
"Whoa!" Dave exclaimed. "That golf-ball-like-object-without-the-spots just beeped."
(When he said this, Dave was facing the wrong way to see the tall man. Sally, however, was not).
"Whoa, a tall man with a long flowing cloak just stepped out of thin air" Sally exclaimed, simultaneously to Dave.
At the same time as both of them were speaking, the tall man answered the question that had earlier been asked (when Dave said "Weird, I wonder what it is?"), by replying "A Random or Entered Number Inter-Dimensional Transporter, or 'Renidt' for short."
There was a moment of silence, as all three people tried to figure out what the other two were saying.
Sally, being a girl and therefore able to think faster than the other two, was the first to process all the information.
"Cool," she said, "An Inter-Dimensional Transporter. How does it work?"
At this point the tall man decided that the two statements did not need replying to, and answered Sally's question instead.
"Well, it actually works by sending out a sub-molecular electronic current through the five primary colours, rendering them temporarily invisible, then creating a spiraling vortex by reducing all atoms within a…"
"Forget it," Sally sighed, confused as soon at the man had said that there were five primary colours, "I don't think I want to know any more. Just tell me who you are and leave it at that."
"Ok," the tall man said, "I'm Emit Rellevart. And you are?"
"I'm Sally," said Sally, "And this is Dave."
Dave said nothing, still trying to figure out the other statements.
"So," Sally continued, "How did you step out of thin air like that?"
"Oh, that" Emit laughed, "I didn't. It's just where I parked my Inter-Dimensional Transport Vehicle, or 'Id TV'. The Renidt can transport you to other dimensions, but without an Id you'd be destroyed by the pressure! It's just got cloaking on to stop the natives from freaking out. It is kind of scary in some dimensions to just appear out of nowhere. Here, I'll show you around if you like."
"Great," Sally exclaimed, and handed the Renidt back to Emit.
Dragging Dave along by the arm, she followed Emit to the place where he had appeared. The tall Inter-Dimensional traveler now held Renidt, and pressed a button that Sally and Dave hadn't noticed. Suddenly, a doorway appeared in front of them, and they stepped inside.
Outside on the footpath, the snail suddenly realized that a tall man with long flowing robes had appeared out of nowhere (snails are quite slow).
"Whoa!" it exclaimed, "That guy just appeared out of nowhere!"
# posted by Lark Victory @ 8:10 PM 
