BRINK: Okay, read.

SIMON: Twelve point nine oh--

BRINK: Stop. Not even close. What do you see?

SIMON: An overpass. Cars on it... do you want plate numbers? Houses on the
left. Pigeons flying everywhere.

*click*



SIMON: Hello?

SHELL: What do you see?

SIMON: Traffic is stopped ahead of me. I'm on foot, so everyone's looking
at me. There are two people in the car at the front of the line. A cop is
talking to them.

SHELL: Assuming you don't recognize them, I want you to turn back. Take the
same route as you did to get to the overpass.

SIMON: Okay. Okay, almost to the on-ramp. I'm getting some voices on the
car radio.

SHELL: Read.

SIMON: Thirteen point--

*click*



BLINK: Simon. Where are you?

SIMON: I can just make out the edge of a grove from here. I see about--

BLINK: Where ARE you?

SIMON: I'm at the base of the library from this morning. Is this Brink?

BLINK: Brink left me her notes, yes.

SIMON: I've been on for four hours. I'll take a break whenever you do. The
grove is all willows, by the way.

BLINK: I _do_ have a map. Brink said to--

*click*



BRINK: Good morning.

SIMON: Good morning. Where am I?

BRINK: You're in a tree.

SIMON: Ah, but which one?

BRINK: I give up. What's special about-- on in two, one, zero. Read.

SIMON: Zero point something.

BRINK: More.

SIMON: ...point eight one oh oh two--

BRINK: Stop. Think you can relax enough in five minutes to make a run for
the school you saw?

SIMON: I'll let you know how relaxed I turned out to be.

SPILL: Simon.

SIMON: Spill?

*click*



SIMON: I hear some of those voices from the radio. Could be coming from
the loudspeakers.

SHELL: Okay. Walk down the hall for me.

SIMON: Voices getting quieter. None of the lights work.

SHELL: Can I get you to leave the flashlight off a little longer?

SIMON: I don't think there's electricity here at all. Where are you send-
ing me?

SHELL: Take a few steps into the auditorium and read.

SIMON: Five point... point two, uh, three three -- second one could be an
eight -- seven gee en nine aitch OW! Ouch.

SHELL: Stop.

SIMON: I am stopped. Someone put a--

*click*



SPILL: You can't be seeing anything close to twenty.

SIMON: I'm not lying. That's from outside the bathroom.

SPILL: Don't go in there on my watch.

SIMON: Where--

*click*



SIMON: You may have noticed how quiet it is. This was built in the 50's,
when it was believed the future would contain an unbearable amount of noise
due to a population explosion. You could stop people squandering resources,
the thinking was, and thus support these untold billions, but you couldn't
keep them from talking. This whole area is perfectly anechoic, though it
sounds like someone left a radio on...

*click*

SHELL: Simon.

SIMON: Just talking to myself.

*click*



SPILL: You are worse than useless, do you realize that?

SIMON: I thought when I was done there would be a guy with a gun or a car
with bad brakes. I wanted something up my sleeve.

SPILL: Who else knows where you left it?

SIMON: Brink. She always came on for mornings, and I only went back there
to sleep.

SPILL: Does she know she knows?

SIMON: No. I don't know if she realizes I found something.

SPILL: You saw her.

SIMON: When?

SPILL: On the overpass. You're almost home now, aren't you?

SIMON: Just about. I see cars approaching. Do you want plate numbers?

SPILL: Don't bother. I want a reading.

SIMON: Two point-- do you hear that? The radio voices. They sound close.

*click*



written for Susan Groppi 9/25/01

More portentousness; there are small parts where I actually feel like I got nightmare-thinking down pat. Probably should have spent more time on the plot and less time trying to get all four controllers to have different personalities.

Before writing this I was listening to Deltron 3030, whose post-apocalyptic setting probably influenced me. Could Deltron Zero be related to Mike Ladd's Infesticon Zero? No, that must be a coincidence...

- everything is by Aaron Mandel; please ask first if you're about to steal something -

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