Secret Technology,
Unrequited Love, Absolute Vengeance
© January 2022
- Written by David
Wicker
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not reprint without permission
CHAPTER 8 -
"ANOTHER WORLD, ANOTHER TIME"
Slice Of Life (01-27-22)
Good afternoon. Quite a bit happening. First off my best friend Chris if I hadn't mentioned it earlier was getting very chummy with a mate of his from Scotland, even talking about marriage. Already he was living with Chris. Seemingly a fairly nice fellow prone to playing mean jokes - at least on me.
And just recently he wrote me stating there was trouble in paradise. That Chris and him were at each other's throats, and could I help them.
The first thing of course was to validate his story. I called on both Carlos and my sister, reading them the message, and they agreed, no, it doesn't sound fake at all. That legitimately they are at each others' throats just as he said - and is asking for my help to intervene and reconvene peace.
Now I've known Chris for many years now and Rick has only known Chris for a total of 3-months if not less. I know Chris can be very difficult to understand and be around. He likes to shout a lot and raise his voice. For instance, Chris is always correct about everything. And if he is ever wrong, refer to the previous statement. :)
Some people are this way. As most of my life I dealt with Customer Service on the telephone, I have learned a wide variety of techniques of tact that were sure to be beneficial in life. And they were. It allows Chris and me to be together without him getting riled up every second.
So I did indeed finally call Chris and told him that Rick wrote me. Chris was curious and wanted to know what it was. After getting through half of it, he sounded quite angry and said, stop, enough, we'll talk about it this Sunday (01-30-22). So that's fine, we can do this.
I just finished talking to Rose, you remember, my girlfriend, and she had very good advice. Don't you let that man in your home if Chris throws him out. I agreed, no, that's not going to happen.
For I know Rick and I know how mean he was to me and - for all I know him writing saying there was trouble in paradise, could be some giant ruse just to humiliate me, hoping to patch things up between him and Chris. I don't think so though. Not according to my sister and Rose. They think it's a legit writ.
So I directed him to call me on my home telephone about 34 minutes from now. If he doesn't call then I'm assuming his message is either bogus or he really doesn't need my advice after all.
If he does call, I will be questioning him on absolutely every article he mentioned that was a problem. Not to go in great detail but apparently he likes to be nude all the time, with or without Chris there.
I'm certain if did that with Rose, she'd be smacking my bottom with the back end of a ruler until I learned to put some pants on.
So that is at least ONE thing he could change - to fit into society.
And it's the next day now and no he never called so I must assume one of a few things.
1. He's afraid to call me cause he knows I only answer the phone for a number I recognize. Any other number I click the green and a half second later the red button on my phone so you're not even graced to leave a message. I find this is the best way to handle sales calls.
So the first options is that he could not find the time to use Chris's main home phone number to call me.
2. The other possibility is that this is a trick to get me very upset or something. Look I'm on Seroquel, you could drop a nuclear bomb on my head and I may hold my hand out to ask if it's raining. So if this is a ruse, it's not working. I'm concerned for Chris but he's a big boy and knows how to handle himself.
3. Chris has since lowered the boom on Rick and Rick is forbidden from writing or calling me ever again, this is a high probability as Chris values his privacy more than most.
4. Peace has been established. Unlikely I think though due to the length and graphic nature of the message I received and all the elements portrayed inside it.
. . .
Okay, let's go on. I had a rather lengthy talk also with Katy. She was feeling flipped out I guess from sugar is the best way to describe it. As we were entering Wal-Mart she suddenly shoved right up against me, causing me to trip.
I didn't fall over though. I looked at her said, excuse me. She said yah you're excused and then laughed.
She saw me continue to walk and then said, hey, you need to push against me now. I said no, I don't do that. She said, aww c'mon, right now, please ? I shook my head, no.
So she said, fine, I'll do it myself and grabbed my hand and pushed it up against her chest then pulled outward as if I had actually shoved her and she went careening into a display of blankets that fell down.
Then giggling she ran ahead of me and used her most hurt voice to Carlos, my Godfather and her Grandfather and said, "David pushed and hurt me."
I sighed.
Later we talked on the phone and I told her she's going to get me in trouble. She said she was only teasing. I asked if she was familiar with the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. She said yes, she knows the story.
So I had a question. WHY did he cry Wolf ? And to that she did not the answer.
I told her. He cried Wolf because to him it was great fun to see people in a panic trying to protect each other. Katy, do you think that's fun to put people in a panic ?
Of course she said no. I told her, suppose we hadn't known each other for years now. Suppose Carlos had just introduced me to you that very day. Suppose you did the same thing you did just now and lie saying that I had pushed and hurt you ?
She whined I told you it was a joke ! What do you want, flowers for an apology ?
I shook my head no, I want you to realize that thoughts are things. I mean Katy right now if I tell you do not absolutely do NOT think of a blue elephant. Tell me, what are you thinking right now ?
Of a blue elephant, duh ! Exactly, I told her. While Carlos knows me enough that I would never hurt you.
If you continue to tell lies and try to make them sound believable - that I am hurting you in some way, someone somewhere =IS= going to believe you and it will get me in all kinds of trouble - where I would NEVER see you again, do you want that ?
She shouted on the phone NO !
I said, then you need to stop telling lies, not just about me, but about everything. Every lie you have said to DATE can and WILL bite you come back to haunt you if not now, years from now. But you have already sewed the seeds of mistrust.
I continued to talk to her on the phone. Understand a bit about me, Katy. I don't push girls, I don't hit girls, I don't wrestle with girls. Ok ? That's why I'm always relieved when we travel abroad and you get a chance to play with kids your own age, your relatives or whomever.
So you can get some of that wickedness out of you - and dish it out to those your own age, fight with them, wrestle, whatever, get it out of your system, I'm good with that.
She started laughing, yeah, that's fun. I nodded, there you go. The best you'll get out of me is an education, either involving math or how to write computer programs in a variety of different programming languages.you.
I was a teacher years ago you remember, and I taught students how to use the computer and write their own code.
I'll be there to help you, Katy, in that respect. Your education.
To that she smirks, well that's no fun. I smile, life doesn't need to always be chaotic to be fun. You can have a great deal of fun learning new things - without pushing people.
I continued, and I still do like to watch Barbie movies with you. And who else will do that today ?
No-one she said, just you. So yeah, there ya go.
After speaking with her I then
called up Carlos. He said, David, I know you would never hurt my little
girl. And I know she lies all the time. She lies to me, she lies to
Gayle, she lies to her online friends and I know she lies to you when
you're babysitting her.
She tells you things you know cannot be true, so when she said that you pushed her I told her I
don't think so and kept going. I didn't even entertain the notion that
you did.
I talked to Carlos a bit more - about the future to come.
Then it was the next day, 24-hours later, and since then I promised to call Katy at 9pm every day. She really wants this. So the next day we talked a little more.
She always wants to tell me what is happening at school which usually involves her getting in a fight. I asked WHY she is fighting all the time and she tells me that the other girls are just jealous of her good looks. I pinched my
forehead in pain a bit. Really ? That's why you're fighting. Because
you believe you look better than all the other students in school ?
Yep, she agrees and says she tells them. "You hate me cause you ain't me, so either get to class or kiss my a*s !"
And yeah for her age group that probably would start a fight.
Then I called Carlos - about Katy's behavior.
We agreed that she had better straighten up as in less than a month she will no longer be a tween but a teen. And telling everyone in school to perfectly kiss her behind is going to backfire on her at some point.
Especially when she meets a student bigger than her that doesn't appreciate her attitude - and gives Katy a fight she never wants. Any day I expect to see Katy with a black eye, broken arm, or wet hair from a swirly because of this - since I'm often with Carlos picking her up from school.
She'll learn to be polite to her fellow students I suppose - but what a hard teacher Miss Experience is ...
SIGH. Anyways, human nature. I will never understand it.
. . .
On an entirely different tangent, I would like to address is bogus claims that some company has been hacked or whatever and your checking account and/or social account is in jeopardy or violated. You receive a message in your Email.
dhf7mosi2q3baixqbn7k-fe6xt9kk2sjf at emaildl.att-mail
An easy way to determine this is fake is by looking at the return address. If you cannot pronounce it as a single word without spitting all of your screen then it is website phishing for your personal information. You can mark it as SPAM if you like but chances are it will return. Yet look for the return address.
If it's legitimate like customerservice at amazon.com or something like that, then yes it's probably okay. But most of them are going to have that horrible random digits and letter crap - a sure indicator you don't want to give them any information at all. Sad we live in this state of the world but there it is.
. . .
I'm also still working on computer code. At the moment I working on what I call the Pico-8 Tweetcard generator One. There will be three different versions in all. While I don't want to give the specifics for it just yet, it will indeed have the ability to protect your work through encryption and a flag to lock down its data.
Random seeded numbers are fascinating in that you are guaranteed to get the same results each time, even if random. And I can use this as a superstrong encryption method making use of data1 xor data2 xor RndSeed and then use the end as a kind of checksum. Will be fun to write ! :)
. . .
In any case, let's return back to the story, Dev's adventures in 5th century England.
. . .
On all fours Nikki still ran on with only the sinking sun to challenge her incredible stride.
As for me I slept. Whether it was getting a solid knock in my noggin or what have you. Time passed and I'm not sure how much. Still Nikki ran on. Passing a desert, another forest, another field, this time with vegetables planted in it.
Finally she stopped her high speed sprint causing me to fall to her side where she removed the connectors around my hands that was holding me on to her.
"Dev, we've arrived." she said simply.
I looked. Clearly this village was not like the other. For one thing is there were no guards nor was there a protective brick barrier around the whole thing. It was basically a collection of catkind in makeshift homes, tents, and lean-tos.
I struggled to stand up and found my voice, "Do you still need me to talk to someone ?"
Nikki looked down at her feet. "No. We're past that, unfortunately. No, the best we can do is regroup here and continue on."
I shook my head, "Nikki ! We left the - well - the centrifuge miles behind us. Maybe it's possible for us to repair it - and go back to our own time ?"
She looked at me with wide sad eyes, "I'm sorry, Dev. I came back to examine it hours after that knight took you away. There was absolutely nothing there. Nothing but THIS." And she pulled out a small little red jewel, looking quite a bit like a ruby.
"Is that a precious jewel ?" I asked her.
She snapped her fingers around it. "No, I - have good eyesight and can recognize real jewels when I see them. No, this is something else. It's not glass, but it's also not a jewel. I'm not sure what it is - but it was all that was left of the wreckage of the centrifuge. There was nothing else to be salvaged - I checked, twice."
I nodded. Suddenly someone came running up to us ! I felt my heart beat in my chest in a panic until I realized it was some bearded catkind.
"Welcome, welcome !" he said most graciously and held out a paw for both her and me. We smiled and took his hands. He looked over the area and spoke, "Welcome to Tahmin. A friendly Catkind village in the northern province of Dulma. I am Boorough, the overseer here."
Looking at us both he added, "You must surely be hungry. Why there is only the Echo Woods and Pearl Desert behind you. You MUST have traveled a long way to get here !"
Nikki now spoke, "Yes we did. We came from the South. Humes had burned the village Frockenmost and we just escaped it."
"Burned ?" he said, his whiskers twitching nervously. "For what ?"
"For being catkind, what else !"
He nodded, "Yes. That actually would be enough reason for them to, especially if those in the village fought against their incarceration and slavery." He then look at me and was not quite so nice in his tone, "And this Hume. Why did you bring him here ?"
Nikki explained, "He is not a Hume, not from this world. He is human, and a time traveler from the future, the same as me. There is no slavery there from the time he came."
"No - slavery ?" He couldn't believe the two words would ever be put beside each other. Then the other words confused him, "Time - traveler ?"
Nikki nodded, "I know it sounds hard to believe but true." This time she reached into her hair to pull out a Bobby pin and handed it to our host.
He turned it over carefully in his fingers. "Uncommon workmanship."
Nikki explained, "Yes, but not from here. We are from the year 2022."
His eyes grew wide, "That far in the future !" He then was all business pocketing the pin. "I think you and your friend have much to tell us. Tonight. We will have a feast in your honor, your friend of course is definitely invited."
. . .
Back with Pelinoire he was fighting, well, dragons, or at least they appeared to be dragons to him. While there was no great number of paintings or pictures drawn of dragons a few things were familiar that lumped them in this definition. One, was against traditional beliefs in that while dragons were shown to fly, these could not.
Instead they glided neatly over the ground and left smoke behind where they were.
They made a terrible sound when they moved, and the front of their heads could pivot a full 90 degrees left or right while being cyclopic and having light shine out of a single unblinking eye.
The legs of these dragons were thick and black and moved in ways that man could not comprehend. Sometimes stopping suddenly, the dragon squealing under its breath in frustration, and leaving what appeared to be burnt ash in the ground.
* * *
And it wasn't just the dragons but the dragonfolk that rode them. Their heads larger than humans, their eyesight being a single flat lens, often orange or blue. They rode these dragons holding on to shiny spindly arms that ended in black gauntlets just big enough for the small arms of these dragons.
And while no dragon was ever seen to breathe fire, the riders would often shoot fireballs from their hands into the buildings to get a fire going when they decided to burn down a settlement.
And hitting one of these dragons or its rider with a sword was difficult if not impossible. For if connected you could hear a loud clang as the sword bounced off the armor of these beasts.
And the speed of these dragons was phenomenal. Sometimes going as slow as a prancing pony and then barreling through a settlement almost the speed of the wind. And while I could not see them being in an entirely different location now, there was something familiar about the sound of them.
When these dragons roared - the sound was familiar - like something I knew but just couldn't put my finger on it.
News of the new visitors, Nikki and me, reached the village quickly, especially with the words were that we were verified time travelers of the future. Everyone was asking so many questions.
While Nikki told what happened to catkind over the years, how they eventually became smaller and domestic as house pets through years of evolution, questions were directed to me about the future, kingdoms, rulers, and distribution of wealth.
I could only tell them of my own time, that we had a President of the United States. That his word was not absolute law.
That there was the House, The Senate, and the State. That we had congress. We had vetos, bills, laws, and amendments. It fair made the heads spin of all who were listening to me as I told them how we handled our own state of affairs and government.
And one thing was agreed upon, that our sense of establishing a power to rule others was complex indeed, not at all simple like a King or Emperor.
And with that they laughed, glad they didn't have such a governing body as I had in government today. That if and when they got tired of a King, the public would rise against and behead him - and start with a new ruler, usually one that held the highest social standard and amiability to others.
With night falling, the questions started to fade, especially when they realized I was not 100% knowledgeable of even my own government and instead my head was more filled with mathematics and mathematical formulae, which was not in heavy demand at the moment.
In time a meal was indeed prepared in our honor and we were bid to seat.
I approached the table and with Nikki sitting at one end and me at the other, we raised our copper glasses in tribute and appreciation for the very nice feast they had set before us.
I looked to see my drink was milk and drank heartily once again enjoying the very cold and creamy flavor it had. Then more dignitaries sat around us and food was being served.
One tray was placed before me by a pretty catkind and I could see she was serving rats, fried, head, tail, and all, and I was asked how many I would like.
"None." I told her.
She didn't understand. "These are all young rats, milord."
I shook my head, "No, not young, I mean - none. That is - I'm - not that hungry, thank you."
She nodded where I saw Nikki pull out 4-fried rats. One seemed to wiggle a bit on her plate, apparently still being alive. I shuddered.
A new tray appeared. It was clearly some kind of meat mixed with vegetables.
I spoke, "May I ?" and took the serving tray. Then carefully counted out some fried vegetables for myself once again avoiding the meat determining it surely must be from some other 4-legged animal that would disagree with my belly.
Then a new tray which had fruit. I took two bananas and one orange.
Nikki took some fruit and then when both her and me and the dignitaries had full plates, we all bowed our heads in prayer.
And then I heard a language I had never heard before. It was a series of short growls and purring as near as I could tell. It was almost like meowing if meows were constructed to be built around a language. The prayer finished I spoke to myself, "Amen."
Then more food came out and absolutely every single catkind in the village was offered food, the fried rats apparently being in high demand as not one catkind passed over the succulent treat.
Then Boorough spoke, "A toast, my friends. To our simple way of life. Its freedom, its happiness, and to constant good friends."
I agreed to that and held my drink aloft. Everyone else did too. We then took a drink and those of us that had chairs sat back down. And this was nice ! The milk had just the perfect creamy texture.
Nonetheless I had to wonder how far away Humes were to this village. Looking around I could see it was not only half the size of the one we left but clearly had no protection for its borders.
I wondered if there were any predators out there that would steal catkind children and the eldery in the night.
I didn't have to wonder very long for no sooner had I bitten into my fruit there was a yell from a distance, "Dragons !"
And this time I had my eyes wide open. This time I would see what these dragons really were because there was that nagging and familiar sound again !
END OF CHAPTER 8
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