To:STILL CONFUSED ABOUT FLIPPER'S LOCOMOTION? From:FLIPPER Date:January 10th, known as the day after the day after Elvis' Birthday. Ayeah. Flipper escorted the mysterious stranger back through his office towards his living quarters. He stopped dead when he entered the office. He looked around him. He blinked, and looked again. There were vines clinging to the walls. There was a faint chatter of monkeys, coming from hidden speakers. There was a tiger phone on his desk. The small group of decorators stepped in front of him. "Do you like it?" they asked in chorus. Flipper stared at them in astonishment. He was beyond words. He could feel anger rising within him. A jungle. They turned his office into a damn jungle! He wanted a normal office with a custom cetacean phone! He raised his flipper to start lecturing the decorators. A soft touch drained his anger, and he turned to the albino dolphin. "I'm really tired," she sighed, running her fin over Flipper's side. Flipper smiled at her, his heart beating strongly. "This way," he indicated, leading her to the door through which his living quarters were. He held the door as she passed through, then turned to the decorators. "I'll deal with you later," he threatened. Flipper showed the stranger to his spare room. "You can stay in here," he stated, "but I think you might enjoy this more." He led her to his special living room and activated the sinking floor. As the room filled with water he turned to the albino. "What's your name?" he asked. To:FOR LACK OF A BETTER TITLE... From:FERAL FERRET Date:January the 11th, and I seem to be moving up the evolutionary scale. "Name?" she asked, as if she'd never heard that specific question asked before. She'd been fighting off the static recently and had been able to hold it at bay for a long while, but now that she had to field a question about her past, it was too much. The static swarmed over her, engulfing her in a sea of greyish, phosporent electrons... --- Steiner still sat against the tree, feeling his mind begin to cloud. His eyes widened in alarm, as he began to lose touch with reality again. He tried banging on the sides of his head, but it was to no avail... it was too late... much, much too late for anything... and darkness was washing over the shores of his mind, like a deep, brooding sea... To:ANCIENT MARINER From:FERAL FERRET Date:January the 11th, and I seem to be moving up the evolutionary scale. He stood on a beach, the wind ruffling his hair and clothes. There was a sharp tang of salt in the air. [It was night-time. He had no idea how long he'd been out for in the least.] There was a cliff behind him, and up in the air were several gulls, wheeling and crying mournfully. It stirred something deep within him. [He rose up, and began walking. All he knew was that he was cold, he was tired, he'd been unconscious for nobody knows how long, and he wanted a warm place to sleep. His mind was otherwise blank.] --- The albino dolphin uttered a strangled cry, and pitched backwards into the pool with a loud splash. Flipper, with keen reflexed, dove in after her, and righted her to ensure that she wouldn't drown. --- He'd been walking along the beach for a long while, apparently, on some sort of autopilot. There were a long trail of his own footprints. He turned to face the direction he was originally going in, shrugged, and walked on. [There was a curious edifice ahead, and weirder yet, there was a sharp slab of metal on his side. He fingered it in curiosity, until he remembered what it was used for. It frightened him, so he put it away.] There was an inflatable raft ahead, complete with an electric motor. It was already inflated. He started into a lope towards it. [He found a curious form of wall... it was there, yet it wasn't. He found that if he hit it hard enough, it disintegrated into sharp particles, and a beast within started making wailing noises.] He fired up the raft and headed out into the ocean, for no particular reason whatsoever. He didn't know what he was doing, really. He was following a subconscious urge. [He stood inside where it was warm, amidst the broken glass, while all the alarms buzzed and klaxxoned mightily.] --- Several hours elapsed, and she finally woke up... in a pool. It was pleasant. There was a particularily handsome male dolphin looking at her from outside the pool with concern. She blushed. [There was a boat on the surface in what was otherwise a deserted and empty sea, save for some gulls. She rose to examine it.] --- An albino dolphin broke through the surface of the sea nearby. He spent a long time staring at it. The eyes held his curiosity. [He still stood dumbfounded, albeit rather groggily. He just noticed that he'd cut himself in a hundred different places, and was standing in a pool of his own blood.] --- To:POOR FLIPPER NEEDS A BREAK. From:FLIPPER Date:12 Jan 93. I have to get up at 5am for the next 3 months! I hate school. Flipper glided slowly into the warm water. "You're finally awake," he said softly, swimming up to the albino female. "Good." He gently held her, and turned to look into her eyes. He looked away again, as they held disturbing images. He began to softly speak to her, and launched quietly into an old dolphin song. She remained quiet, and Flipper remained worried. * * * She continued to look at the man in the raft. He looked back at her. Some kind of link had been established. [The male dolphin had entered the pool. She could feel his touch and hear his voice, yet it seemed unimportant.] The link broke suddenly, and the man shook his head, as though confused. She continued to watch him as he reached for the boat's motor and began turning the boat in a new direction. [He was singing now. She knew this tune It had been her favorite as a child. She fought for consciousness.] The man stopped suddenly, and cocked his head as if to listen. Yet things were growing fuzzy. She could hardly see through a mist of grey. * * * "Wh..what?" asked the female weakly. Flipper stopped his gentle song. "Shush," he whispered. "Rest, now." She settled back against him, and Flipper thrilled to her touch. He began to feel drowsy himself, and soon began to nap. In a corner of the submerged room, a small ornament lost a chip of paint to the slowly circulating water. The exposed surface began to form small bubbles, which in turn removed more paint. Soon the entire ornament was a mass of bubbles rushing to the surface. The water around it began to turn a dull yellow. To:WAYNE, THE EVER-HELPFUL HELPER From:FLIPPER Date:12 Jan 93. I have to get up at 5am for the next 3 months! I hate school. The alarms were suddenly silenced, and Wayne ushered the crowds away from the smashed door. He carefully followed a trail of blood down a hall. Suddenly he saw Steiner standing before him, apparently looking for something. Steiner was bleeding from head to toe. "My god!" yelled Wayne. Steiner turned around, curiosity written all over his face. TO:FLIPPER From:FERAL FERRET Date:12th of January, 1993. Stop whining you ungrateful git. Jeez-us. Reply to 214 A boat. A boat. There was nothing but a boat. An engine. A white dolphin. Just a motor, some clothes, a boat, water, a white dolphin and... blood. BLOOD! --- The man looked away. There had to be some relevance to a dolphin being her, especially an albino dolphin. [Steiner looked up into the wide eyes of Wayne. He smiled weakly.] He fired up the motor and began to turn away, until he heard a weird noise from up above. He paused. ["MEDIC!" screamed Wayne, and all Steiner could do was sit down. He felt oddly tired. Warm but tired.] --- Flipper was in a pool, with a female albino dolphin lying close to him. For no particular reason, he felt his mind slowly beginning to cloud. --- The sound was getting a little louder, and Steiner began looking around in some confusion. He noticed with little interest that his hand seemed slightly translucent. [It was odd, it seemed to Steiner, but the lights were beginning to get dimmer. There was a weird rushing noise in his head, and despite the fact that the floor was wet, he lay flat on his back.] --- Weird shapes, colours, and... *places* completely unimaginable came rushing through Flipper's mind unbidden. His eyes widened in alarm, and he stopped singing. --- The albino dolphin heard it too, and looked up, her eyes squinting. She saw nothing yet, but... --- He looked down, and saw clear through his chest to the boat beneath him. "Weird," he thought. [Just before he blacked out, he heard some people crashing through something. The noise was faint, as if it was very distant. He smiled for no particular reason, and closed his eyes.] --- Wayne was bouncing around in alarm. He'd phoned 911, and an emergency team was here already to deal with that weird man, but it might be too late already. He never felt this nervous before. --- [Over here] came floating through Flipper's confused mind, and he... turned somehow, to see the albino dolphin standing near a door, and yet... she was leaning on him, and yet... he was in this weird passageway, with rapidly switching images on the wall. He shuddered in his confusion. --- He went completely transparent, and yet he was still there. He tried to move the boat away, but couldn't. His hand passed right through the engine's controls. --- The albino dolphin didn't notice Steiner dissappearing. She was too occupied guiding Flipper. --- He looked up again, and finally saw what was making the noise. It was a male dolphin falling from the sky, screaming all the while. It looked as if it would fall through the boat. --- Flipper found himself in the tank again. There was an albino dolphin leaning against him. "Phew," he thought. [He was falling, falling, falling, screaming and windmilling his flukes,as if to slow his descent.] --- Steiner tried to cringe, but it was pointless. The dolphin, screaming all the way, fell through the inflatable raft, punching a huge hole in it. The raft exploded. He sat there intact, floating a few centimetres off the surface of the lake. He was so preoccupied with this that he didn't note the fact that he'd become visible again. --- *BLOOSH*, and Flipper fell into an ocean. On his way down, he noted that the general shape of the bay he was in, but it wasn't as relevant and immediate as the raft he fell through. Oddly enough, he was completely unhurt. --- "Whu?" he muttered, turning to the albino dolphin leaning against him. "You... uhhh..." she said eloquently. [He was in a clear sea, with an albino female dolphin above him. An electric motor passed beside him as it sank to the bottom of the bay.] To:MEANWHILE... From:TINY TIM Date:12th of January, 1993. Stop whining you ungrateful git. Jeez-us. The redecorators, sat down, unhappily. They felt nervous; they had screwe up their job. One of them said: " Frank, I thought this was the wrong place. But no, you had to try to convince me otherwise!" Then the other redecorator said in his defense : "No, Joe! YOU tried to convince me that this was indeed the right place! I told you that it was in the jungle and YOU drove us the wrong way too! " "But YOU were behind the wheel all the time, Frank, "he responded angrily. And so they quarelled for a LONG lengh of time! Neigther one, nor the other saw the time fly by... To:IN ANOTHER PART OF THE PLANET... From:FERAL FERRET Date:13th of January. 30 days. Remember that. ...there sat a few individuals around a table. "We lost the damned statue," bellowed a very stiff and formal looking man, pounding his fists in anger against the table. Another man looked at the first man sidewise, and simply raised an eyebrow. The room fell silent. The man spoke with a quiet voice: "Then you'd best go find it again. I'd be annoyed if you lost it." The angry man's face turned red, and his eyes widened. Two individuals, with huge lumps under their suits around the armpit area escorted him out. The quiet man swung his chair around, and pressed a button. "Gio, get the computer fired up. I think our good friend Ellis has finished his usefulness. See that he never says a word about this." He paused to tap a finger pensively on the side of his chin, then turned to his console again. "And pull in our strings on Richard Steiner, willya? I think we might be needing some more wetwork done soon." To:SHE DIDN'T CALL... From:FLIPPER Date:13th of January. 30 days. Remember that. Flipper looked around himself, somewhat confused. Where was he? The answer hit him as he watched the engine hit the sandy bottom. [He felt dizzy, and weak. Something was wrong. He tried to move, but the albino's weight was too much for him.] The ocean. The open sea. Flipper let out a cry of joy. He hadn't been in the open sea for so many years. He looked up and saw the albino swimming above him. [So tired. It would be easier to just sit and rest for a while.] He admired her. She was beautiful. She was also familiar. She turned and swam back towards Flipper. [Yes. Rest. He closed his eyes.] Her eyes sparkled clear and cheerful. Flipper was mesmerized. * * * The emergency unit continued to work on Steiner, wanting to stabilize hin before he was moved. For the first time ever, Wayne forgot to feed the killer whales. * * * He was staring at her, his mouth slightly agape. She blushed, and shyly lowered her eyes as she approached. [It was quiet. Flipper seemed to be asleep. She was feeling drowsy too.] "Do you remember me?" she asked. "Uh... I... uh... I..." stuttered Flipper. He paused. "Carolina?" he asked. She nodded, pleased. He did remember, even after so long, and so much. * * * Steiner turned and looked down. He could see two dolphins through the crystal water. One was the albino he had been watching. The other one was, familiar. Then he recognized it. "Great. There's no escape anywhere anymore." he muttered. [There were people around him. They were working quickly and anxiously on him. He closed his eyes again.] * * * "I fed the whales for you, Mr. Wayne," said Bud, walking into the room. He stared wide-eyed as the emergency crew worked on Steiner. Wayne turned to Bud, suddenly feeling guilty about forgetting his duties. Then he remembered another duty he had forgotten. He ran to a box on the wall, flipped the lid, and pressed a button. Emergency intercoms all over the oceanarium began buzzing. To:CRIMMINY!! LOTS OF TIME TO MAKE UP HERE!!!! From:PHANTOM Date:13th of January. 30 days. Remember that. Mr. Pinrut didn't quite no what to make of the strange bleeding man with the knife who, foaming slightly at the mouth, had mysteriously appeared with a package for him, and disappeared just as suddenly. For several hours Mr. Pinrut simply stared at the package, assuming without a doubt that the psychotic 'man' had simply dropped a bomb in his lap, ready to blow him from Tuscaloosa to Taiwan with one false move. But alas, like all packages with teddy bear wrapping paper, this present was just too innocent for him to be suspicious of. Shredding off the paper with a metallic squeal of delight, Mr. Pinrut uncovered the first present he had ever gotten.... It was black... It was liquid... IT WAS OIL!!! "Ya-hoo!!!!" All he needed now was a rag so that he could smear it over his joints. Ignoring a strange animal squeal of outrage he grabbed a soft object from his chest and doused it in oil, and then rubbed it all over his body... Ohhhhhhhhhohohohhohohohhhhhhh..... It felt sooooooooooo good..... Sighing in satisfaction, Mr Pinrut sat up squeak free for the first time in over three years. Slowly he worked one arm and then the other, and then moved onto his legs. Leaving the cave at a slow walk, he began to jump a little to test his newfound unsqueakiness. Taking time to crayon a big smile onto his head, he began to run, to skip, to frolic LIKE HE HAD NEVER FROLLICED BEFORE!!! Soon Mr. Pinrut was whipping through the forest at a break-neck speed, weaving through bushes and trees, heading back for the Oceanarium... To:STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS... From:PHANTOM Date:13th of January. 30 days. Remember that. Click "....an 'R'? Are there any 'R's up there Vanna? Yes there are. Three of them in...." Click ".... and the key thing to remember when you are performing a dental operation on your younger sibling is never to use anesthetic...." Click ".....if you're seen this man, Richard Steiner, call us now at 555-4379, as he is one of the most psychotic men ever in history. Next, on Canada's Most Wanted..." Click "...the two bird-watchers were apparently set upon by what they described as a grinning devil-vegetable emblazoned in a crimson fire that could move like the wind...." Click "....at the grand opening of Flipper's Oceanarium. Now let's talk to the man of the hour himself!! Mr. Flipper? Mr. Flipper? Can we talk to you for an instant here...?" The channel remained on this channel for some time, until the interview was long over. "Hey Guido, did you recognize who that guy was?" "Uhh... No Carlos, who was he?" "That was the guy who stiffed the boss at the casino, you remember?" "Oh yeah... The boss has got a bone to pick with him!!" "You better believe it. This should be good..." To:NEVER ASK A NARRATOR FOR MERCY?... NEVER MIND. From:FLIPPER Date:As usual, your SysOp picks up where the Co's fall down. 14 Jan 1993 Flipper rejoiced. "Carolina! It IS you, Carolina! It's been so long!" [Flipper's breathing seemed harsh. His flukes quivered spontaneously.] Flipper thought back to when he had last seen Carolina. They had been swimming, and they saw a strange boat. They were riding it's bow wave, when suddenly... [There was a faint buzzing sound. It seemed vaugely familiar. It was important, wasn't it?] Suddenly what? There was a block. No matter. She was here now and things were as they should be. Flipper and Carolina both surfaced for air. They saw Steiner floating just above the surface of the water. [The buzzer stopped. Must not have been that important, then.] "Steiner?" asked Flipper wonderously. * * * "Where is that Flipper?" cursed Wayne. "Damn! Why doesn't he answer?" Wayne suddenly covered his mouth. He swore! He never swore. What a miserable day this was turning out to be. * * * Steiner looked at the two dolphins, who had just broke the surface. He wondered what they were trying to do now. He felt strangely clautrophobic, too, despite the vast expanses around him. It was almost as if the whole world wasn't big enough. One of the dolphins, the grey one, was chattering at him. He wondered what it was saying. * * * Mr. Pinrut slowed as the Oceanarium drew into view. He suddenly remembered why he had left in the first place. "What's the worst they can do?" he thought to himself. "After all, I've been freshly oiled!" He resumed his movement towards the Oceanarium. * * * Bud continued to watch wide-eyed as the medics worked on Steiner. "We're losing him!" called one. "Get that oxygen mask on him!" screamed another. "Bud!" called Wayne. He was standing near the staff intercom. Bud knew it was only used to contact Flipper in case of emergency. He ran over to see how he could help. "I can't contact Mr. Flipper," began Wayne. "I want you to run around the Oceanarium and try to find him. He'll want to know about this, and I can't leave." "Yes, Mr. Wayne!" exclaimed Bud. He ran off as fast as his legs would carry him. * * * Carolina looked at Flipper. "Steiner?" she asked. "Why do you think he will understand you? Do you know him?" Flipper looked at her. "Well, why wouldn't he understand me?" She smiled inwardly. Flipper always was missing the obvious. "People don't speak dolphin," she chided gently. Flipper looked shocked. She wondered why. [She felt sick, and very weak. Her flippers spasmed occasionally. She wanted to sleep.] To:THE SAILOR'S LAMENT From:FERAL FERRET Date:Zee 14th. Shaddap, I hadta reboot my frickin' BBS. He looked about him, to see Flipper rise partially out of the water and natter for a second. [Click. Click. Psssht. Thunk. Pfffffffft. "Get the damned ambulance going!"] He squinted one eye, and looked at the dolphin closer. It *did* look like Flipper after all. Was it? Maybe not. [Screeeee. Thunk. Psssssht. "...slim signs of life..." Pfffffft.] "Flipper?" he asked with a hoarse voice. "What the...?" [Psssshht. "...do something! I'm tryna..."] --- The man, floating above the water like some kind of Buddha, turned to face him, and growled something unintelligble. "I see what you mean," said Flipper, diving back down and facing Carolina. "I can't understand him either." [He felt alternately groggy and sick. The buzzing noise changed into that of a swarm of bees, and he swatted about him to no avail.] --- "Greeeeaaaaaat," Steiner slurred, looking about him with extreme disgust. "I'm probably dying." [Pfffffft. "...Shit, something's happening!"] He looked around one last time. It was a nice, scenic place, but it wasn't for him. "Yeah, screw this joint," he said, with a huge shrug. "I'll likely get stuck here if I don't start paying some serious attention." [He moaned. "We gotta pulse!" Pssssssht.] --- Bud raced around the corner, as quickly as he could. He barrelled up the last flight of stairs as quickly as he stubby legs could carry him, into Mr. Flipper's office. He stopped cold, simply looking around for awhile. --- Wayne sighed heavily. There was a huge bloodstain on the floor, and someone was going to have to clean it up. It wouldn't do to have it wait until tomorrow, or the floor would stain. With another sigh, he grabbed a mop and bucket. --- "Nice place, folks, but I'm *outta* here!" Steiner bellowed, standing up and walking back to shore. The more he concentrated, the less distinct he felt. [The more he concentrated, the more distinct he felt. There was a slim scrap of life left, and he grabbed at it in desperation. "I think he's gonna make it."] --- Carolina watched with bemusement as the curious man stood up on the water, walked back to shore, and phased out. [There was something curious in the water, and she wasn't feeling particularily great herself.] [She was in a factory, slapping Gatorade labels on plastic bottles. She looked down to find that she now had three limbs.] --- Flipper surfaced for more air, and failed to see Steiner. If he wasn't already feeling so confused, he might have reacted somehow. [The swarm of bees was suddenly sucked into the door and coalesced into the form of a pudgy little boy, who hurled the door open with a slam.] --- Bud realized that he'd never find Mr. Flipper there. The room was covered in bad, tacky fake-jungle gear, and there were two men arguing. They appeared to have been there for several hours. He charged down to the tank room. --- He found himself in a bed. It was white, sterile, and uncomfortable, but he was far too beat-up to care. His right arm was strapped to a rail, and tubes carrying weird liquids into his body were taped on. He sighed and went to sleep. ["Mirror, mirror in my hands, who's the baddest female in the land?" He snickered, but his snicker was immediately replaced with a gasp when the mirror showed a scene of devasation. An entire city lay in ruin, and atop the tallest remaining fragment stood a woman. Realizing that she was being watched, the woman turned to face the viewer. "Steiner! I'm gonna make a trophy outta your skin!" she bellowed, shaking a fist. Steiner put the mirror down and looked around.] --- Bud finally found the last room. Flipper and a curious white dolphin were lying in it, moaning in discomfort. The water was stained a curious and evil looking shade of yellow. In alarm, he stabbed at the intercom, then tried pulling Flipper out by the flukes, to no avail. To:THE EVILS OF INNOCENCE From:FLIPPER Date:Fifteenth of January. This means 27 days. Remember that. Last reminder. Wayne's voice came back on the intercom. "What is it?" he asked anxiously. "It's Mr. Flipper! And someone else! I found them! I think they're sick! The water is yellow and it smells funny!" "Where are they?" demanded Wanye. * * * Flipper was content, for the first time since he could remember. He was free in the open sea. Carolina was with him. He swam in happy little circles, and lept out of the water in joy, trying to make as big a splash as possible. [There was someone yelling somewhere. Flipper could just hear it with his excellent hearing. He wondered what was going on.] {It was a quiet room. Flipper noted he was strapped tightly into a chair. He squealed loudly, but only his own voice echoed back. Suddenly a previously unnoticed screen in front of him lit up.> * * * She smiled, bemused, as Flipper displayed obvious joy. Yet an undefined concern weighted heavily on her mind. Something was not as it should be. [She half-opened her eyes and gazed toward a loud voice she heard. The movement made her feel very sick, but she saw a young boy yelling at the wall. The wall was yelling back. She moaned and closed her eyes.] * * * Wayne barged into the office, pausing for a quick look around. He saw the two decorators arguing. "You two! Come with me!" He ran into Flipper's living quarters without waiting for a response. To:MR. PINRUT From:FLIPPER Date:Fifteenth of January. This means 27 days. Remember that. Last reminder. Wayne reached the living room, the decorators right behind him. He saw Flipper and Carolina laying in the yellowish water, and prepared to jump in. The decorators grabbed him. "Are you crazy?" asked one. "Look at that water!" said the other. Wayne, realizing he couldn't help if he was sick too, looked anxiously around. Seeing the floor control, he activated it and waited nervously while the poisoned water drained away. He made a mental note to clean the filter system when this was done. To:THOSE QWERTY LITTLE DVORAKS. From:FLIPPER Date:It's the sixtenth of January, and I feel fine. The last of the water drained through the bottom of the floor. Flipper and Carolina, no longer supported by the buoyancy of the water, slouched unconscious on the floor. Wayne rushed forward to check on their condition. "Weak pulse," he muttered, moving his hand to check Carolina. "Same here." He nodded to Bud. "Call the vets! We need them here now!" Not knowing exactly what was wrong, he tried to make Flipper and Carolin aas comfortable as possible without moving them too much. * * * Flipper leapt and rejoiced in his freedom, conscious of Carolina's amused looks, but enjoying himself too much to care. [It was getting cold. The water seemed to be leaving. People were talking and he felt firm touches.] A concerned thought entered his mind, but he rudely pushed it away. Still, it made him feel lonely, so he swam back to Carolina. [The sun was beginning to rise, so he got up and doused the campfire with the last of his murky coffee. He had a long way to ride today. He straddled his Harley and kicked the starter. Twin flames shot from the exhaust pipes as he peeled out onto the highway.] {All he could see was a bright pinpoint of light. Suddenly, and without warning, the pinpoint expanded into an infinite line, which quickly grew into an infinite plane. Flipper sat in awe as images began to cross the plane.) * * * To:SPECIAL TODAY: THREE THOUGHTS FOR ONE PENNY! From:FLIPPER Date:It's the sixtenth of January, and I feel fine. [Carolina felt a chill. She shivered slightly, and suddenly felt rough hands moving her. There were loud voices yelling in her ear, and she tried to protest, but only a quiet whimper came out.] Flipper suddenly stopped his leaping and swam up to her. "Is something wrong?" she asked. "I, uh... I just, sorta missed you, is all." He seemed quite nervous. She smiled. She understood Flipper better than she understood herself. He could feel the same quiet nervousness she could, but didn't want to admit it. She swam up and rested beside him, leaning on him so he'd know she was there. {She stood on the bow of the small fishing boat as it raced across the surface of the ocean. Looking down, into the water, she saw two young dolphins playing in the bow wave. One was a handsome, greyish-blue male, while the other was a breath-taking female albino. Some of the other crew noticed them, and began to speak excitedly in a foreign language. The boat slowed, and a strange device was lowered into the water. She had never seen anything like it before. It had huge padded clamps on either end, and complex levers and gears in the middle. She looked and saw the young dolphins curiosly investigating the strange device. Several crew members were watching them intently, making hand signals to someone else. Suddenly she realized what the clamps were for. She leaned far over the rail, and began yelling at the dolphins. "Go away!" she yelled. "Swim! Go on! Leave! Hurry!" The dolphins looked at her and nattered. Suddenly the captain grabbed her and told her to go back to the kitchen. Reluctantly she went. She heard a cheer sometime later. } To:LET'S GET BACK TO THE MUNDANE HERE... From:PHANTOM Date:It's the sixtenth of January, and I feel fine. Mr. Pinrut finally reached the Oceanarium, just in time to see bloody people, ambulance people, petrified people, unconscious people, upset people, and even some people people, running in every direction doing any number weird and wonderful things. Mr Pinrut found a bench, sat down, and spread his arms across the back of it, waiting for the confusion and mayhem to stop. [Mr Pinrut found a bench, sat down, and spread his arms across the back of it, waiting for the confusion and mayhem to stop.] {Mr Pinrut found a bench, sat down, and spread his arms across the back of it, waiting for the confusion and mayhem to stop.} To:OH MY. THAT WAS TOO MUCH... From:FLIPPER Date:It's the sixtenth of January, and I feel fine. The two decorators stood in the centre of the room, gazing at the destructon which almost equalled that with which they had started. Many vines had been ripped from the walls, and the large artifical tree had fallen, destroying the desk and smashing out the window. "You know, Frank, it looks like hanging those vines so low over the door was a bad idea after all." Frank gazed silently at the wreckage around him. "Of course," continued Joe, "we didn't really know that the vets would be carrying their stretchers like that, did we?" Frank glared at the remains of a stuffed monkey, who's stiches had burst when the falling tree threw it across the room. "Yeah," Joe added, looking around, "if the stretcher hadn't brought down the vines on those guys, and they hadn't stumbled into the tree, I guess this wouldn't have been such a mess." Frank stared barefully at the mess of vines on the floor. Once they had covered the ceiling. Now the ceiling was covered with marks where the glue holding the vines once was. "And you were right, we should have secured that tree a little better. I was sure it's weight would hold it in place." Frank whirled and glared at Joe, the small victory obviously meaningless. Joe, wisely, stopped talking. To:IT'S PAST MY BEDTIME From:FLIPPER Date:It's the sixtenth of January, and I feel fine. The waves were increasing in size and power, and beat the shore with unfocused fury. Flipper and Carolina huddled together, staying beneath the surface as much as possible, in order to avoid the fury of the waves. Every time they surfaced to breathe the waves tossed them about like leaves in the wind, and they quickly swam back down. Still, they were tiring. "What's going on," panicked Flipper. "I've never seen a storm like this!" Carolina remained quiet. She didn't have an answer either. * * * [He felt slightly more focused than he had a short while ago, yet images continued flickering onto the eternal plane in front of him. The movie he was watching, if it was indeed a movie, was shot in first-person perspective. It was a curious mix of odd and unusual events, played quite rapidly. Much of it seemed vaguely familiar to Flipper, but he wasn't sure why.] * * * [She felt as if she had just been slammed together, and was resonating, like a cartoon character who has been hit with cymbals. The feeling died down, and out of nowhere appeared a perpetual plane, directly in front of her. Scenes began to appear on the plain, and with a shock she realized she knew some of them. A frightening possibility entered her mind.] * * * The doctor withdrew the needle from Carolina's flukes and checked the heart monitor. He adjusted a control on both her's and Flipper's breathing apparatus. "Well?" asked Wayne. "Did it work?" The vet nodded. They've stabalized a bit. The grey one here is still a little weak and erractic as far as heart rate, but I think he'll be all right for now. The important thing is to find out what was in that water. Do you have a sample?" Wayne paused. He didn't have a sample. Then he knew where he could get one. "I can pull a concentrated sample from the filtration system serving the room!" "That would be ideal," agreed the doctor. "Be quick, this drug won't keep them stable forever, and we can't guess what treatment to use without taking a big risk." Wayne rushed off to the filter room. * * * Mr. Pinrut continued sitting on his bench. [Mr. Pinrut continued sitting on his bench.] {Mr. Pinrut continued sitting on his bench.} Suddenly a small, chubby-faced boy shyly approached him. "Excuse me, sir?" he asked. "I saw you talking with Mr. Flipper before, and now, well," he looked shyly to the ground. "Mr. Wayne is really busy with Mr. Flipper being sick and all, and I was hoping you could help me feed the dolphins and whales and stuff." "You mean near the water?" asked Mr. Pinrut. "Yes," answered Bud. "I really need the help." A small fleck of crayon wax fell off Mr. Pinrut's smile. To:TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS IS A BOTTLENOSED DOLPHIN. From:FLIPPER Date:It's the sixtenth of January, and I feel fine. Wayne entered the filter room, and consulted a map to locate the particular filter system serving Flipper's quarters. Finding it, he walked over to it and shut it down. The Oceanarium's filter system was of Flipper's own design, boiling the water and recondensing it to remove solid waste, then running it through a series of chemical-type filters and neutralizers, before finally re-introduing it into the system. The solid waste, and some water to help the waste move, was flushed into a smaller holding tank, where it was again evaporated. Finally the remaining sludge was moved to a holding tank where it was stored until removed. It was this second holding tank Wanye opened. He put on some heavy-duty rubber gloves, and carefully removed a sample of the concentrated waste. It was a strong yellow colour, and smelled sickeningly sweet. Wayne capped the sample container and reclosed the holding tank. He left Flipper's part of the system turned off, and headed back to the hospital with the sample. To:DAMN YOU HEATHEN WHO FORCE ME TO DO THIS!!! From:PHANTOM Date:Almost the end of Jan 17, 92. I'm off to bed. Reality starts tomorrow. "So... Little boy... Did you say that Bud was your name?" Bud looked up at Mr. Pinrut with a slightly scared expression. "Ummm... Yes sir. Can you help me sir? Please? I'd hate to be responsible for the whales getting sick and all." "Umm... Yes, that would be... terrible, wouldn't it. But.... Well... My Uncle Wilf always said 'Where there's fish, there's water, and where there's water, there's certainly not a can of WD40 within arms reach when you're done..." Bud continued to stare at Mr. Pinrut... "Can you help me then sir?" Mr. Pinrut looked down at Bud, who was one of those damn kids who could imitate those puppy dog brown eyes with the best of them... "I.... uhhh... I.... I.... Humph. Alright, I'll help you, but only from a distance..." Sighing heavily, Mr. Pinrut got up and started towards the whale tank, getting halfway there before turning around and staring at Bud, who still hadn't moved. "What!?" "Well... It's just... I've never seen someone with a squirrel stuck to his chest before...." Sigh. "Shaddup kid." Turning around, Mr. Pinrut led the way to the whale tank, and whatever hanus activities awaited him there... * * * ".... you have to do is flip the fish to the whales like so (toss... Sploosh!) and the whales will eat them. See?" "Um, yes.... That seems, well, fairly easy Bud. What's the problem?" "What do you mean sir?" "Well, you interupted my peaceful reverie on the bench because you needed help, but it seems all you have to do is toss fish the whales, right?" "Yes sir, that's all!" Mr. Pinrut heaved an exasperated sigh. "So, tell me Bud, why in the world do you need me here to help you? Surely you could do this!!" Bud heaved an exasperated sigh. "Well of course I can do this. Your job is to call the whales over here. At least, that's what Wayne did. He called them, and I fed them." As Mr. Pinrut was about to open his mouth to explain to the insolent little pipsqueak (Mr. Pinrut was never good with kids) Bud looked him right in the eye-hole and said "You do know how to do that don't you?" Mr. Pinrut heaved an exasperated sigh (again). "Yes Bud. Of course I know how to call a whale. So... Where did Wayne do it?" Bud pointed to a ledge on the inside of the tank, "He called them from there sir. Good luck!" So saying, Bud grabbed a bucket of fish and began practicing flipping the fish into the water. Mr. Pinrut stood for a moment, staring at the water, and then, with a muttered curse about bad parentage, swung his leg over the partition and dropped down to the ledge, and promptly almost fell off. After regaining control of his balance, Mr. Pinrut shot a burning glare up at Bud woho was laughing uproariously at him, muttered another curse which had something to do with branding children, and got down to business. Mr. Pinrut spread his arms in front of him, drawing a hush from the crowd surrounding the whale tank. The sun beat down on him, surrounding him with it's golden light, causing millions of cascades of light to shine from his metallic body. He stood there for several moments, controlling his breathing, relaxing his muscles, summoning control from every pore of his body. Climactically he took a huge breath, leaned forward, and cupped his hands to his mouth... "WHALE!!!! WHALE!!! WHHHHHHAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLEEEEE!!! Here WHALE WHALE WHALE!! Comere boy!!! C'mon!! Dinner time!! Din-din!! Mmmmmmm... Din-din!! Whale's want fishie-wishies? Eh? MMmmmmmm.... Fishie-wishies..." Seeing that nothing was happening, Mr. Pinrut bent a bit closer to the water. "WHALE!!! WHALIES!! HELLO WHALIES!! THERE'S SOME FISHIES FOR THE WHALIES!!! HELLO!?!!??" Once again, nothing seemed to be happening, so Mr. Pinrut bent forward, stuck his arm in the water, and began splashing it in the water. "YO!!! WHALE-BUDDIES!! IT'S DINNER TIME!!! C'MON YOU STUPID OVERBLOWN SACKS OF FISH-FAT, IT'S CHOW TIME!!!" Having his arm in the water was the only thing that saved it... That is, the only thing that saved his arm. A shriek arose from the crowd as a huge killer whale jumped out of the water over the ledge and submerged just as quickly, leaving the fortunate arm lying on the ledge, dripping slightly as water fell off of it. Silence. Total silence. All the people were bent over the railing staring at the whale, not knowing what to do... Not knowing what to say. Finally Bud, who was staring at whale in amazement ventured forth... "Too cool! That was awesome!!" The crowd, building on that, applauded loudly while cheering and whistling, and then turned away, wondering what other excitement awaited them in the Oceanarium. To:JAZZ BUTCHER (SORRY FOR THE CHICKEN QUOTES) From:FERAL FERRET Date:It's the 18th of January, and I wished I got to sleep this weekend. "How does it look, doctor?" The nurse looked rather hesitant. She was rather new to the job, apparantly, and the sight of a man slashed to ribbons was a little much fo her, perhaps. "He's doing well," muttered the doctor, "for a man who literally bled himself dry." "WHAT?!" yelled the nurse, literally taken aback. "Wouldn't that have killed him?" she asked, confusion clouding her face. "Yeah, it should have," said the doctor, shaking his head in confusion. "It was almost as if he refused to die, as if he was too dumb to know he was dead." The doctor left the room with a shrug. "Stupid people contaminating the ge pool" thought the doctor darkly. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the wall infront of him until his nose reported a solid collision. --- "Gettin' ready, boss," said a man into a walkie talkie. "Sippin' vodka and gatorade, swinging to the rhythms that the gators made," sang another man across the street, mostly to himself, and painfully out of tune. "Got any idea where he is?" scratched forth from the 'talkie. "Naw, not yet, Mr. Giovanni," replied the man, "but we know where to start looking." --- "Chickens in Detroit, chickens in New York Square." --- To:IN MEMORY OF MY KILLER WHALE, WHO MAY DIE OF INDIGESTION. From:FLIPPER Date:It's the 18th of January, and I wished I got to sleep this weekend. The researcher continued studying the strange yellow mixture. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. But he was confident that, after 8 hours of constant work, he had isolated the main compound. The door slammed open. Wayne entered, as he had every 15 minutes since bringing the sample for testing. He looked haggard from lack of sleep, and repeated the same three words he'd been asking for eight hours now. "Got it yet?" He researcher nodded. Wayne was suddenly alert as the man began to explain his findings. "It's a compound like I've never seen before. Fully understanding it would take hours more, but I've isolated enough to be able to tell you it's some kind of hallucinogen. It also has certain bonding agents that would cause it to react quickly within the brain. Exact effects are not predictable, but since time is so important, I felt this would be enough to go on." Wayne nodded, abosrbing the information. "Tell the doctor to treat for a hallucinogin overdose." To:I WAS INTERRUPTED From:FLIPPER Date:It's the 18th of January, and I wished I got to sleep this weekend. [She continued staring at the screen, watching with horror as the images increased in rapidity and brightness. She knew what she was seeing. Flipper's life, through his own eyes. She moved towards the screen to touch it, but her fin went right through. She moved quickly through the screen to see Flipper standing there, staring at the screen in awe, and confusion.] * * * Wayne had returned to the room where Flipper and Carolina lay. The doctor had begun treatment and they were waiting for any kind of response. Wayne looked sadly at Flipper's vital signs chart, which showed slow but steady decline over the last eight hours. Carolina seemed stable, however. Wayne sighed and uttered a small prayer. He liked his job. * * * [Flipper continued gazing awestruck at the incredible story being played out before him. And it seemed to be just for him, too. Suddenly a very strange thing happened. A figure stepped through the screen and came towards him. He recognized this dolphin. From where? There she was! On the screen! She was part of the movie! Flipper greeted her pleasantly and continued watching the film.] * * * [He stood there, staring stupidly at the huge screen in front of him. He commented on her acting ability when she came through the screen, and no more. Carolina felt anger. Didn't he realize what was going on? She collected her reserves and concentrated on getting Flipper out to wake up. Her confusion was gone, and she knew where she was. She felt her strength growing, as she drew power from unneeded existances.] * * * The waves became even fiercer, and it was hard to remain in one place even under the surface. Flipper turned to Carolina, about to suggest they head for deeper water. Carolina was staring straight ahead, eyes glassy. Before Flipper's startled gaze, she began to fade away. * * * [The movie was so engrossing. Flipper couldn't take his eyes off it. Suddenly he felt a firm slap across his face. The albino actress was standing in front of him. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "You've got to concentrate! Wake up!" Flipper tilted his head. He continued watching the film over her shoulder, noting it had paused while he wasn't looking. Wake up? What on earth did she mean?] To:CHOCOLATE SNAPS, ANYONE? From:FLIPPER Date:It's the 18th of January, and I wished I got to sleep this weekend. Wayne half-dozed in a chair placed at the end of the two beds. There was still no change. Carolina was still steady, and Flipper was still fading slowly. Suddenly an urgent buzzer began sounding. Wayne jumped up as the doctors rushed in. They centred around Carolina, and Wayne took a look at her monitor. Her life signs were fading before his eyes. "She's fading!" yelled one of the doctors, somewhat unnecessarily. "Quick, prepare the syringe. We've got to bring her up!" Wayne interjected, feeling like a nervous parent. "What will that do?" he asked. A doctor turned to him. "It will wake her back up, but it will also make her very sick. There isn't much else we can do right now." The syringe was injected, and the contents squeezed quickly into Carolina's body. * * * [Flipper watched with abstract curiosity as the albino actress continued gesturing and lecturing him. But his attention remained riveted to the screen. He soon noticed she was disappearing, but this seemed unimportant.] * * * [Carolina was desperate. Flipper was not paying any attention to her. he seemed oblivious to the danger he was in. She kept trying. She felt very odd. Though she was concentrating harder than she ever had to be in one place, she felt herself fading. The force pulled her harder and harder, and soon she could do no more than watch Flipper vanish in a mist of grey static.] She felt more distinct, suddenly. She looked around her, and saw only white walls and bright lights. There were people around her. Suddenly she felt very sick, and vomited. She knew where she was. "Flipper," she moaned sadly. * * * [Flipper was confused. Very confused. Not only was he in a storm of more serious proportions than he felt was possible, Carolina just vanished. What was going on?] * * * Bud looked down at the shiny metal arm resting on the small ledge. He tossed a final fish to the whales, and, shrugging, went to complete the feeding.h It wouldn't be easy by himself. To:LIKE I KNOW? From:FERAL FERRET Date:It's the 18th of January, and I wished I got to sleep this weekend. "So, what's wid da stachew, bawss?" Giovanni looked up to see one of his enforcers leaning over his desk. "Dim Willy" was what Giovanni called the man mentally, although he kept his contempt to himself. "Statue?" asked Giovanni, standing up. "Right. Don't worry about it, Giuseppe. It's Stefanos' art or something, and somebody took it from him. We just gotta get it back, you know?" At the mention of Stefanos, Dim Willy's eyes shot wide in a mixture of awe and fear. "Uhh, so how we gonna get it?" he asked, a slight twinge of nervousness passing through his voice like roughage through an intenstine. "You don't need to worry about it too much, Wi, uhh, Giuseppe. I've got a nice little list for you, all printed out by the nice computer here, and all you have to do is go to these places and check it out." He tore off a short printout from the printer attached to the workstation that made up a significant part of his desk, and passed it over to Dim Willy. "You got that picture still?" Giovanni demanded. Dim Willy patted his pockets, pulled out a Polaroid, and nodded his agreement. "Better get going, Giuseppe," said Giovanni, concealing a smile. The very large man turned around and headed out the door. --- The doctor came back in the hospital room to see the nurse lying beside Steiner. The tubes had been removed from his arms, and were lying in a neat stack, beside the nurse's clothes. "I guess he's feeling better," dead-panned the doctor, rolling his eyes in disgust. --- Dim Willy had to break a few knees, but he did get to examine the warehouse. It was empty, just as the guards said, but orders were orders, and there was only one way to be sure. He looked at the sheet. Next place on the list was some weird place called, "Flipper's Oceanarium." He mentally wrestled with himself over whether or not he should grab some doughnuts before going there or not. --- The phone rang. Giovanni paused for two rings to let the annoyance trickle from his voice before picking up the receiver. It was Stefanos. "You get to get Steiner," he said. Giovanni tried his best not to sound phazed. "Okay," he replied, "Is there any information to go on?" "My contacts report that a strange looking man, dressed in dark clothes, had been slashed repeatedly. He was checked into a hospital, whereupon he recovered rather quickly. Check it out, and report to me after." "Yes sir," said Giovanni, hanging up the phone and looking, for the first time in his career as a fixer, extremely worried. To:SIT. From:PHANTOM Date:19th of Janauray, a happy happy joyful joyful windy cold day. Ick. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. "Yawn." Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit...... Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Stretch. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.t. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Siit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Si. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. t. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. SSit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. SSit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sitit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Si. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sitt. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. t. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. SSit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. S Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Siit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Si. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. t. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. SSit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. S Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Siit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Si. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. . Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Scritch scritch... Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.... Mild discomfort... Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.... Still mild discomfort.... Deep breaths... Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Anyone got pepto? Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.Sit. Sit. Sit..... *BELCH* The whale paused to observe the strange one armed man that issued forth from it's mouth at a very rapid speed (which the whale calculated to be about 87.9 km/h) upwards out of the water.... Hmph. No more discomfort. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. (Life went on...) To:LEMME GET THIS STRAIGHT. THE WHALE WAS RESTING? From:FLIPPER Date:Wednesday, January 20th. National Club the Neighbour's Gopher Day.... Carolina lay on her bed, and looked over towards Flipper. Over the last two days his condition had continued to deteriorate, and the doctors had almost given up, saying "He has to want to get better, now." She was still to ill to leave the hospital, but she was getting better and expected to leave in a few days. Wayne was no longer waiting. Bud had come in late the night Carolina was awakened, and Wayne remembered his duties, and set to them. When she asked why they didn't wake him with the same drug they used on her, she was told that he was too unstable, that the drug would likely kill him. This saddened Carolina somewhat, because she knew Flipper was still on the other side, confused and distracted, and might not realize what was going on in time. She herself had been unable to go back, the harder she tried the less seemed to happen. It was as if the sickness and the drugs had removed that static distraction from her mind forever. * * * [The movie had ended, and the screen shrunk back down to nothing. Flipper waited, enthralled, to see what would happen next.] Suddenly, without warning, the waves stopped. Flipper surfaced cautiously to see an ocean smooth as glass, and a bright sun shining away. Now he was REALLY confused. Suddenly an unseen force yanked him from the water and lifted him into the air. The scenery below began to change... [Suddenly an unseen force yanked Flipper high into the air. The scenery below began to change, and Flipper suddenly felt an increase in consciousness. The "movie" became shockingly familiar.] * * * Flipper continued ascending. He saw nothing but bright light above him, but below him the scene was swirling and merging. Without warning it came into focus, and Flipper saw Carolina sleeping on a bed. On anothe bed, next to hers, was a grey dolphin, attached to breathing apparatus and heart monitors and the like. Flipper recognized himself with a sudden shock. [There was a faint buzzing sound, but it was getting fainter. It probably didn't concern him anyway.] * * * [There was that buzzer again. That human really was annoying, waking her out of a sound sleep to perform tricks. If she wasn't...] Carolina opened her eyes, slowly realizing she had been dreaming, that the buzzer was something different. She looked around, and saw a flashing light on Flipper's vital monitor. It was making the buzz. She got dizzily out of bed and moved towards him. "Flipper?" she asked. * * * The light was very close, and Flipper could make out small lights, making up the whole. He stopped moving upwards. Some of the small lights appeared to be beckoning him. He looked back down, and his attention was grabbed by Carolina crossing over to what he assumed was his own bed. He could hear her, clear as if she was next to him, although she seemed hundreds of feet below him. "Flipper?" she asked. She repeated his name a few times, and shook him, but Flipper found he could not reply. Suddenly she smacked him across the face, hard as she could. Flipper felt the pain, and touched his face to feel for a bruise. There was none, but it still hurt. * * * She smacked him. Hard. "Wake UP, damn you!" she screamed. But she knew it was hopeless. The monitor read no life signs. The doctor would be there soon, but there was little he could do. She wept, quietly. * * * Flipper watched Carolina standing beside his body, head down. He felt a curious desire to be with her. He searched for the emotion, and found it. He loved her. He looked back at the light. He could see now it was a collection of millions, no, billions of smaller lights. Looking at that, he felt peace. Flipper knew his choice was down to love or peace. He'd never truly had either one. Finally he made his decision. He turned from the light, and speaking back, said: "The peace will always be there. I may only get one chance at true love." He found himself moving effortlessly downward. The closer he got to the ground, the faster he moved. He closed his eyes and cringed for the impact. To:WELL, YEAH, IT IS A BIT MUSHY, ISN'T IT? From:FLIPPER Date:Wednesday, January 20th. National Club the Neighbour's Gopher Day.... Carolina began to turn from Flipper's bed. Standing there had drained a lot from her, and she was still too sick to stay out of bed. She moved back towards her own bed. Suddenly Flipper's body bounced, as if it had fallen from a great height. Carolina whirled around, almost losing her balance. The vitality monitor stopped buzzing and began to record slightly below normal levels of activity. She carefully moved close to Flipper. She watched in awe as he slowly opened his eyes. "I love you," he whispered quietly. He took a deep breath, and his eyes closed as he slept peacefully. To:GIUSEPPE From:FERAL FERRET Date:20th of Janaury, and let it be known that I loathe yankee politics. If there was one thing that could be said about Dim Willy, it was that he always made up his mind. It only took him two days to decide if he wanted doughnuts or not before going to check out the Oceanarium. He found himself swept up in a huge wave of... something, anyway. Intrigue, perhaps? --- Giovanni mashed some buttons on his cellular, a buzzing noise being heard in the ear piece in short order. "Duhh, yeah? " a voice asked. "Giuseppe?!" bellowed Giovanni. "Getcher butt back down here pronto!" "Sure, bawss," replied Dim Willy, turning away from the doughnut shop and heading back to HQ. He neatly tucked the CB back into his pocket. --- Time elapsed, and Giovanni had scrambled every single man he could get hold of. Arrayed about him were close to twenty individuals, some dressed in dark clothes and bearing lumps under their armpits, others more openly armed. A vast arsenal of weaponry was arrayed on a few tables in front of them, the wood groaning under the weight of assault carbines, concussion grenades, throwing knives, sub machineguns, stilettos, and thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammunition, including tracers, hollowpoints, incendiaries, teflon(tm) coated armour piercing, dumdums, and explosive Devastator(tm) rounds. Giovanni stood up and sighed heavily. "Ladies and gentlemen, today we will be going through a very dangerous mission," he said, his eyes downcast. The trained assassins, hitmen, Mafioso soldiers and bodyguards looked up with expectancy etched onto their faces. "Today, we extract Richard Steiner," he continued, talking at the floor. Several mouths dropped, and the room was suddenly quiet. "I'm aware that this is a dangerous mission, but we really, really need him here." Silence. "Do it for the loyalty to your Don, at least." Grudgingly, a woman stepped forward and started selecting her weapons in a gesture of compliance. With apparent disgust, the rest did the same. --- He had been walking for a long time, and finally, he saw what he was seeking: the ruined city of Veluna. He had his trusty rapier at his side and several days of rations, along with his mirror, in his pack. To:AH... SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT! From:TINY TIM Date:20th of Janaury, and let it be known that I loathe yankee politics. Joe looked aroud the room in disgust. He saw things strewn all over. Suddenly he had an idea. "Maybe I should just walk around this place. I'm quite bored," he thought. So he left Frank, still stunned by the mess, in the office, and left. He started wlaking down the empty corridors, using his trusty tape measure to... well measure things. He soon found something to do. He imagined himself consulting a person about how the place should be redecorated. So... he walked around saying, "Blue wallpaper here would be nice. Maybe brighter light too. Now this place needs some work! I think polka dot wallpaper would do nicely here..." After some time of that, he came upon a seemingly closed up room. "It looks spooky in here. I wonder what this room is for..." he thought silently. TO:TINY TIM From:ADARA Date:Last day of American Politics on Flip Side... Or Else. 22 Jan 93 (Flipper) Reply to 241 Joe opened the door cautiously. He'd read all the Stephen King novels, and knew what could happen to those that investigated things. The door creaked slightly as it swung open. Joe gasped! Inside was the mutilated body of a young porpoise, and a slashed picture of Floppette (NO, not FLIPPETTE)! Then Joe felt an icy breeze. He didn't wait another second; he bolted out of the room and ran down the hall screaming. To:BYOB (BRUSH YOUR OWN BUTT!!) From:PHANTOM Date:Oh, it's the 23rd. Fleyd's Bachelor party is in a week or so. (Maybe) A radar tracking station in the northern polar regions suddenly burst into activities as a strange blipping object appeared coming over the horizion at about mach 3. Papers and files flew across the room as the brave men and women of the station prepared themselves for the vicious Russian assault that that had all believed would inevitably have come. As squadrons were scrambled and missiles were being prepared, almost everyone was whispering a prayer to their individual god to preserve them from what was about to happen... * * * Mr. Pinrut sailed through the air, the wind rushing by his non-existant facial features, ruffling his non-existant hair... "Cool! All the mountains look like little ants!!" * * * "Blue two, blue two, come in blue two." "Blue two here." "You should be coming up on it within ten seconds. Notify us when visual contact is made." "Alright Captain. We're going through a cloud bank right now. When we reach the other side we should.... We have visual contact!!! Oh my god..." "Blue two? Blue two? What the hell is it?" "....sir..... It, well.... I think it's...." "WHAT!?!?" "Well sir, it appears to be a turnip..." "A turnip?" "Yes sir, it's a definately a turnip... Except with a body of course..." "Uh-huh. I see. And what is this turnip doing blue two?" "Well, it's doing some barrel rolls right now, no wait... It's waving now.." "Blue two, I think it's time for you to come back home and see Doctor Kinsman." "But what about the turnip sir?" "Oh jeez... Blow the damn thing up and get your butt back here!!!" "Uh...ok... Blue two out." * * * "Hmmm.... Looks like a side-winder... Never rode on one of those before..." Narrator: It looks bad for Mr. Pinrut. What will happen next? Stay tuned.... To:SOAPIES. From:PHANTOM Date:Oh, it's the 23rd. Fleyd's Bachelor party is in a week or so. (Maybe) A middle-aged lady in one of those embarrassing hospital gowns approached the front desk. She leaned forward on the desk toward the head nurse and said "Excuse me nurse, I think Mrs. Green in room 216 needs some help. I think I heard her vomiting in the bathroom. It didn't sound very good at all. When I knocked on the door to ask her if she was ok, she told me to go away." The nurse, a young girl in her mid-twenties, looked up from her paperwork with a pained expression on her face. "Figures. The one night I decide to take Sheri's shift and look what happens." She sighed. "Ok, thanks a lot Ms. Ecklestine, I'll go see if she's alright." Getting up, the nurse gathered a mop pail and some rags together and started going down the hall towards room 216, which was curiously as far away from the front desk as you could go. Smiling to herself, Ms. Eckelstine jumped the front desk (trying to ignore the way the gown flapped up exposing her posterior to the whole world) and began examining the hospital files. "Let's see... Room 112, Mr Miller, intensive care for head injuries." She paused, scowling slightly. "No. No disfigurements tonight. Room 135, Mr Sloven, bowel disease. (Snort!) Certainly not! What else is there? Room 156, Mr. Jacubinek, severe condition... cancer. Hmmm.... Maybe... How old? Eighty-seven!?!? No, no... Too old. Hmmm... There's got to be something here!!!" Hunched over, her finger ran up and down the patient log, before finally coming to rest on room 266. "Hello! What's this? Poison isn't that bad... What? A dolphin?? How interesting... Yes, very interesting indeed." Ms. Ecklestine straightened up and ran a calculating finger over her chin... "I think it's time to pay... Mr. Flipper... a visit..." With a grin, Ms. Eckelstine left the desk and turned left down the hallway, the opposite way she came. To:BAWSS From:FERAL FERRET Date:It's the 24th, in Canada. I don't care about elsewhere. It's time. --- "Okay boys, this is it!" said Dim Willy, with a lot of glee. It wasn't every day that he got to shoot guns, and it made him happy. "Fuuuuuuck, I'm too old for this cowboy shit," thought Giovanni to himself, tucking several clips of lead azide bullets into his neat-o cammo suit. He checked his heavy assault rifle over, and nodded grimly to himself in satisfaction. If he was gonna go, he was gonna go in style. The gun was over five feet long, and was anodized a dull grim grey. It had a positively huge banana clip underneath it that was at least a foot long, with an alternate ammo-port in the side. It had an arrangement of straps so that it could be slung underneath an arm. Giovanni looked at himself with his gun in the mirror, and cracked a grim smile. He managed to forget the fact that he could barely carry the thing. --- He picked his way through some ruins of a shattered building. There were a lot of cobwebs and stuff, but it all looked fairly tame. He had no idea if what he was searching here was in this building or not, but there was really only one way to find out. --- They piled into a van and drove out. They arrived behind a hospital in short order, where they all donned microphone/earphone headsets. They all huddled quietly in the van, while Giovanni gave hastily whispered orders. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I want this to be quick and clean. You get in there, you get Steiner, you bring him out, okay?" One woman nodded grimly, and then they all left the van. --- There was something behind him. He just knew it. It was somewhere... somewhere... he could hear it. It was making weird noises. He hid behind a wall, right beside the door. He'd catch it by surprise. --- Steiner woke up, doffed his slippers to move quietly on bare feet, and stood near the door for no apparent reason. --- He wandered around the halls randomly, his gun at the ready. People got out of his way. He peered into a room, and woke up several hours later. --- As soon as it stuck it's ugly head through, he bashed it with a backfist. The ugly beastie fell to the ground with a whimper. It had a lot of neat-o knives, so he took them and stuck them into his robe. --- She was sure Steiner was nearby. She could feel it. She dialed her gun onto full-auto and prepared for the worst. THWOCK. Her left shoulder was suddenly pinned to a divider. When she looked, she saw a dagger neatly through her uniform, right below her armpit. CRUNCH. Her submachinegun skittered out of her grip and slid along the floor. She looked to see a man in a hospital gown trot around a corner out of sight. He was unearthly quiet. --- Giovanni listened as several members of his team stopped reporting. In nervousness, he started moving towards the epicentre of the disturbance. He readied his gun nervously. He looked around, side stepped, looked around... a hospital gown! BLAM BLAM! His wrist exploded in a blaze of pain. He dropped his smoking gun. The nurse, who had been bracketed by a pair of lead azide bullets, looked with pity at the small Italian man who was holding his wrist in agony. Beside him was the biggest gun she'd ever seen. She sighed a pleasant sigh, and began setting his wrist. --- There were a lot of ugly creatures, but they were too easy to dispose of. He knew what he was looking for now, and that was... "STEINER!" It was a female voice. He turned around, and... =================================================== harmlesslion.com - Not for Commercial Use