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Post by Christmas Chief on Sept 16, 2012 11:41:09 GMT -5
To my knowledge, there are no ATWQ fanfics predating this one. Not that one would expect one - the book isn't even out yet. As for the misrepresentation of your character, that is a point which may or may not have significance later on.
Up next: An artifact.
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Post by soufflé on Sept 16, 2012 14:54:37 GMT -5
OOOOH suspense suspense suspense! Great work, Sherry Ann. I, too, am honoured to be included in this story. I love how Hermes refers to the younger members as 'hoodlums'. xD
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Post by Christmas Chief on Sept 16, 2012 15:44:52 GMT -5
File name: General Map, BB Type: Electronic; rudimentary Call number: 202.4--- Next chapter tomorrow, probably.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Sept 16, 2012 16:53:39 GMT -5
Great first chapter, Sherry Ann, and I loved that the Sebald code was an onomatopeia for numbers--very clever!
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Post by Cafe SalMONAlla on Sept 17, 2012 0:28:19 GMT -5
This is fantastic so far! I don't really have anything particular to say, because I'm bad like that, but I'm madly excited.
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Post by bryan on Sept 17, 2012 1:15:20 GMT -5
EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM ME I'M TWITCHY AND NERVOUSbut also good work sherry Anne!
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Post by Kit's tits kick ticks on Sept 17, 2012 8:47:58 GMT -5
I like the map. The positions of the rooms are perfect.
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Post by Dante on Sept 17, 2012 9:00:24 GMT -5
I hope this is like those old murder mystery novels where they provide you with a bunch of maps as part of solving the whodunnit.
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Post by B. on Sept 17, 2012 9:52:00 GMT -5
It's really nice to have a visual aid to this story. Excited for the next instalment.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Sept 17, 2012 15:09:30 GMT -5
Chapter 2. Who is Theodore Marksoff?
Everyone in 667 was abuzz with the latest drama. Not only had Hermes been hospitalized – poison, they were saying – but another member, Bee, had gone missing – kidnapped, they were saying. To further the excitement, Kensicle had not been seen for over 48 hours and her captor had sent a letter concerning the nature of her abduction under the strange pseudonym “Theodore Marksoff.” There were even rumors that Emma Squalor had been spotted and was coming out of hiding. The biggest news, however, was that Bryan had lived through the entire first chapter.
Lemona was reporting it all with vigor. “I can see the headline now,” she would say, “ ‘Hermes Dies, Bryan Survives.’ Wait until the readers of The 667er see that!”
“Hermes isn’t dead,” Pandora crossed her arms defiantly. “At least, he’d better not be. We have a score to settle.”
“Besides, Bryan will die soon enough,” Linda said confidently, “It’s a tradition.”
“Also, The 667er hasn’t been released regularly for ages,” LSWannaBe pointed out.
“Well,” Lemona pouted, “I’ll get the story out. You’ll all see!” She stomped off in a huff, dropping a single piece of paper behind her as she did so.
“Look, a mysterious note!” Pandora exclaimed.
“Shhh,” Linda shushed her, and bent to pick up the paper with Pandora and LSWannaBe at either shoulder.
“ ‘If I were a basement,” Linda read, “ ‘Where would I be?’”
“Underground, obviously,” LSWannaBe said, “But there isn’t anything below Antagonistic Affairs.”
“Or is there?” Linda mused, and lifted up a small rug.
“How did you know that was there?” Pandora demanded.
“I always thought that rug clashed horridly with the room’s décor. I was only trying to save everyone from a color scheme disaster. I’ve never even been down here,” she said this last part hastily, and pulled the rusted handle to feel the door creak open.
“Hello?” A voice came from the entryway. “Hello? Is anyone there? I’m new here. My name is Ellington Feint.”
“Quickly, quickly!” Linda commanded in a whisper to the others. “Down, down, down!”
In the meantime, Tiago was in Fearsome Fiction. To his left was a letter of request – a phrase which here means “a written wish from Emma Squalor that Tiago had set out to fulfill” – and to his right was the report he was writing. “…Got the number, yes, yes … poison, they think … missing, missing, not missing … and …” he put down his pen and stretched with satisfaction. “Done.” He hurriedly gathered up his notes and regarded his surroundings to make sure he wasn’t being watched. Confident no one would follow him, he pulled a dusty fanfic from the bottom shelf entitled The Good Guardian to reveal a vernacularly fastened door. He answered the questions easily, and was rewarded by the entire shelf swinging open to expose a small, concrete room.
In the room was a woman, her eyes tired and her clothes tattered. She sat glumly in one of the two far corners of the room, gazing at the gray wall as though it were a window, and smoothing her hair as if that would make it somehow less unkempt. Her face, however, lit with joy when she saw her visitor.
“Tiago!”
“Hey, Emmz. I don’t have much time, but – here. I documented everything that happened with Hermes and the others, just like you asked. They miss you, you know. They think you’re coming back.”
Emma Squalor sighed, but continued to look at Tiago gratefully. “Thank you, Tiago. You’re a good friend,” and she led him out of the room.
Once he was gone, Emma poured over the papers. Tiago had documented everything perfectly, but there were still some gaps. For instance, if Hermes wasn’t dead and merely in critical condition, why hadn’t he contacted her? And if Kensicle was still gone, did that mean it would never be safe for her to come out? She took out a quill of her own and wrote to the only person who might know the answers.
***
Every library has secrets. Sometimes the secrets are hidden between two pages in a dull book. Other times they are found in tunnels only accessible by pulling specific titles from a shelf. Occasionally secrets can be found using a trapdoor concealed beneath a rug, or through messages secured within a mysterious call number, or codes delivered via the dialogue of an oddly dressed librarian. 667 had many secrets, and no one, not even its creator, knew all of them.
A door clicked shut. A single bulb flickered directly above a chair, which was bolted to the floor. In the chair was a girl, her head bent in sleep and ropes securing her limbs to the steel arms of the seat.
“Wake,” a voice commanded.
The girl’s eyes fluttered open. Her head lifted, and she looked around, but all she could make out was what was in the dim circle of light surrounding her. She could think of only two things to do while being held captive in a chair. She did one of them, which was to demand knowledge of her whereabouts. “Where am I?” she asked, and immediately wished she hadn’t, as an electric current jolted through her body.
“Wrong question,” the voice answered.
If the girl hadn’t been awake before, she certainly was now. She struggled to make out the silhouette in front of her, but she needn’t have done so. She recognized the voice.
“Dante,” she breathed.
“Yes,” the captor confirmed. “Very good, Kensicle.”
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Post by Dante on Sept 17, 2012 15:23:20 GMT -5
Ah ha ha ha... Ah ha ha ha ha ha... Ahahahahahaha! AAAHHHHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA
...Er, by which I mean I'm very intrigued by your story, Sherry Ann. It bounces along with good humour.
Reason for Editing: Must moderate lunacy.
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Post by B. on Sept 17, 2012 15:32:02 GMT -5
DUN DUN DUN
The plot thickens. Also I am kinda scared for Kensicle now.
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Post by Hermes on Sept 17, 2012 17:04:33 GMT -5
Oh. Ah - um.
And where is Kensicle?
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Post by Christmas Chief on Sept 17, 2012 17:17:12 GMT -5
...Er, by which I mean I'm very intrigued by your story, Sherry Ann. It bounces along with good humour. Thank you for the translation - I'm not sure I would have gotten that from the preceding text - and for the compliment as well. Also I am kinda scared for Kensicle now. It's good of you to worry. Assuming you mean that literally, she posted in the Temporary Departure Thread (in which someone deleted multiple posts - not me) that she would be busy with school for, as I recall it, a "while." Clearly she's being held captive by a lunatic moderator, or at least someone who suffers from moderate lunacy .
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Post by soufflé on Sept 17, 2012 17:18:17 GMT -5
OOOOH MORE SUSPENSE! Evil Dante is evil.
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