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Post by Dante on Feb 18, 2013 16:39:02 GMT -5
Well, this is certainly very intriguing, Mister M, not least for your bold predictions about the course of ATWQ - although as far as time travel is concerned, strictly speaking you could easily undo some of them if they turn out to be inaccurate. Good luck, though! I'm really pleased that you took this route. I also liked that conversation between Isaac and Thomas; most entertaining.
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Post by Charlie on Feb 19, 2013 1:57:56 GMT -5
I love this. It's great indeed, and I anticipate each chapter almost as much as ?2.Almost. I love it though.
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Post by MisterM on Mar 3, 2013 13:48:15 GMT -5
--Chapter Four--
The cats silhouette, as big as a monsters, in this concrete jungle with streetlamps hanging their heads.
So make all your last demands, and I will forsake you, and I will meet your eyes for the very last time.
Issac’s journey through the Clusterous forest was long and treacherous, but largely uneventful. Ellington seemed to run very fast for a dead person, and after several hours of seemingly going in circles, Ellington stopped at what at first seemed nothing more than a clearing.
But it was far more than that.
The Clusterous forest came to and end at a vast cliff that seemed to drop a thousand miles down to the ocean. The sea stretched out before him, for miles and miles. Curiously, however, a huge bridge stretched out to the other side, seemingly never ending, with wrought iron bars stretched up and down the long structure, trying with all there might to hold it up.
‘This way.’ said Ellington, pointing to a small hatch in the ground Issac had barley noticed before.
‘He’s down there?’
‘Yes. You coming?’ Ellington pulled on the handle and lifted open the door. She descended down a metal ladder that seemed to go down a very long way.
‘Yes.’ he responded, and began to climb down the ladder after her.
The decent seemed to take a very long time, and Issac couldn’t help but wonder how such a thing could have ever been built, and who built it. His hands and feet began to tire after a while, but then he noticed writing along the side of one of the four enclosed sides to the tunnel. It seemed to be some sort of poem.
At last the mighty task is done;
Resplendent in the western sun
The Bridge looms mountain high;
Its titan piers grip ocean floor,
Its great steel arms link shore with shore,
Its towers pierce the sky.
On its broad decks in rightful pride,
The world in swift parade shall ride,
Throughout all time to be;
Beneath, fleet ships from every port,
Vast landlocked bay, historic fort,
And dwarfing all the sea.
To north, the Redwood Empires gates;
To south, a happy playground waits,
In Rapturous appeal;
Here nature, free since time began,
Yields to the restless moods of man,
Accepts his bonds of steel.
Launched midst a thousand hopes and fears,
Damned by a thousand hostile sneers,
Yet Neer its course was stayed,
But ask of those who met the foe
Who stood alone when faith was low,
Ask them the price they paid.
Ask of the steel, each strut and wire,
Ask of the searching, purging fire,
That marked their natal hour;
Ask of the mind, the hand, the heart,
Ask of each single, stalwart part,
What gave it force and power.
An Honored cause and nobly fought
And that which they so bravely wrought,
Now glorifies their deed,
No selfish urge shall stain its life,
Nor envy, greed, intrigue, nor strife,
Nor false, ignoble creed.
High overhead its lights shall gleam,
Far, far below lifes restless stream,
Unceasingly shall flow;
For this was spun its lithe fine form,
To fear not war, nor time, nor storm,
For Fate had meant it so.
As Issac reached the end of the poem he also reached the end of the ladder. His feet touched solid ground and he turned to see a long tunnel that seemed to twist and turn hundreds of time.
‘How far does this place go?’
‘Very.’ she replied. ‘We haven’t got all day… or night, I suppose. Come on.’
They began walking through the long passageway, and Issac noticed more writing on the sides of the wall. Some of the writing was in the same hand as before, some of it in other hands. Many of the notes where strange and unclear such as ‘are you referring to Monty’s work’ and ‘ I believe so’, and larger writing saying ‘anka or bee?’ and ‘Dante rules.’. But the majority of the wall was covered in VFD Eyes. ‘Way to rub it in brother.’ he said.
‘We’re here.’
They had reached a ,large metal door with several large wheel and gears on the outside. Ellington banged on the door ‘Hello’ She shouted. ‘We’re here.’
After a short break, she banged on the door again. ‘He cant hear us.’. and then she pulled out a small, glove like device that seemed to be made of metal and very dangerous. She placed the device around her hand, and then pushed on the door, which then slowly swung open. A wave of noise and heat hit Issac in the face.
He and Ellington walked into a square room that looked unlike anything Issac had expected to find. On the walls to his left and right were thousands of books stacked on shelves, all of which Issac had not expected his brother to like. A large pool table stood to one side, and several paintings of eyes were on the remaining wall. But the noise and heat were incredible.
The noise was so loud I took Issac several seconds before he realised sirens were ringing out, supposedly due to intruders.
Ellington led him through the into the next room, which was a small and boiling hot kitchen. This was were the heat was coming from.
Ellington continued on through another door, which this time led to a metal walkway that extended across to a large circular building. Issac was unsure if there was either a dark floor or a large drop below the walkway.
‘How can all this be here?’ Issac asked.
‘A very clever man built it.’ Ellington replied, and she begin walking across the walkway, before knocking on the dirty looking door to the dome-like structure.
Issac tentatively followed
Somewhere deep in the dark, a howling beast hears us talk.
I dare you to close your eyes and see all the colours in disguise, running into the night.
The earth is shaking and I see a light that blinds my eyes as these soft walls eat us alive.
As Issac stepped into the dome, things became even stranger.
Inside was a circular room with a computer situated near the middle. In the centre of the room was a large hole that seemed to drop for thousands of miles down, and a large white light seemed to be coming from the bottom. And the light seemed to be growing brighter and brighter. The entire room was flashing red and the noise of sirens was louder than ever.
‘What is going on?’ Issac shouted over the noise
‘Nothing. Nothing is happening.’ said Ellington ‘None of this equipment does anything. Its all just a big joke.’
‘Well then why the sirens and flashing red lights?’
‘Because your brother thinks it does mean something. And we need to stop him.’
‘Where is my brother?’
‘He’ll be here any second now.’
And a few second later, Mister M ran through a door on the opposite side of the dome. He ran towards the computer, but stopped when he saw Issac and Ellington ‘It cant be.’ he said.
‘Issac. Don’t let him near the computer’ Ellington said
‘Oh, shut up you magee.’ Mister M said, and he pulled a gun out of his pocket, and fired at Ellington. However, instead of falling over dead, she simply turned into smoke and vanished.
Mister M ran over to the computer, lifted up a metal covering, pulled down a lever, and then pushed a rather large red button. The sirens stopped, the red lights stopped blaring, and the white light disappeared from the middle of the room.
‘What the hell just happened?’ Issac asked.
‘I just saved the world.’ his brother replied. ‘Can I get you a drink? We have a lot of catching up to do.’
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Post by Dante on Mar 3, 2013 17:25:09 GMT -5
All very interesting. All very mysterious. I think I catch a reference or two in there but it's all quite cryptic. I like that, though. I appreciate crypticism, and you've created a setting and story that are difficult to fully comprehend, but they're enjoyable for that.
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Post by MisterM on Mar 3, 2013 18:08:06 GMT -5
Im interested to know what references you have picked up....
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Post by Dante on Mar 4, 2013 3:05:18 GMT -5
I recognised the poem, for one thing, although I have a feeling you alluded to it earlier or in another of your stories as well. And it sounds as if the machine in the centre of the complex has a bit of a Lost thing going on, although I'm sure you've made it in your own way if that's the case.
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Post by MisterM on Mar 4, 2013 3:21:32 GMT -5
Correct, and correct. The Poem is in AnotherSOUE somewhere, and is written by a man called Joseph Strauss. The whole underground complex design was inspired by lost, but they are not pushing a button every 108 minutes which releases the build-up of electromagnetic energy caused by drilling to far into the surface of an island that acts as a Cork for all the evil in the world.
Its far more complicated than that.
Edit : Oh, and the page of notes and writing written on the wall is the same thing found at the start of the anotherSOUE thread.
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Post by Charlie on Mar 5, 2013 4:04:07 GMT -5
Ooh, I do like to see a new chapter in my favourite completely un-understandable ficverse by Mister M! Very interesting indeed. I do like the relationships between the characters, and the way you paint such a vivid picture of Stain'd and the clusterous forest.
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Post by MisterM on Mar 10, 2013 13:46:21 GMT -5
Apologies if there seems to be an extra large amount of spelling mistakes. But This Is a good chapter.
--Chapter Five--
There’s an old voice in my head that’s holding me back.
Well tell her that I miss our little talks.
Mister M had made coffee.
It wasn’t very nice, to be honest. To strong for Issac’s liking (He would have preferred some white wine). The coffee reminded him not only of Dante, but of the bitter truths he had been given the last time he and his brother had sat and talked.
‘Its bad isn’t it?’ Mister M replied
‘No. its…. Yeah it is.; Issac answered.
‘Well, I told you I cant make coffee. Tea is my thing. Caffeine is my enemy. Always ahs been, always will be.’
‘Okay.’
Mister M sighed, and walked over to the sink, washing away the rest of the coffee. He returned to the smile, trying to hid a grin but failing. ‘Go on. Ask me.’
‘Ask you what?’
Mister M leaned back in his chair ‘Oh, y’know. What are you doing here? Did you sart that fire? How can you have saved the world?’
‘What are you doing here? Did you start that fire? How can you have saved the world?’
Mister M laughed ‘Okay then. Well, I’m here because I need to be.’
‘What does that mean.’
‘A Very celever man, and A slightly cleverer younger man visited me and told me they needed my help. And that is what im doing right now.’
‘Who are these people? And how are you helping?’
‘One was a Mister David Faraday, the other… well, that would spoil the fun. And I’m, helping by pressing that button.’
‘I don’t…. I don’t understand any of this.’
‘Okay.’ Mister M ran over the cupboard, pulled a sponge cake and a knife, and cut of two small slices. ‘You’re not supposed to.’
‘Well, did you start the fire?’
Mister M stopped in the middle of eating his cake, and sighed/ ‘Which one?’
‘You know. Hotel Denouement. You burned it to the ground, killing hundreds of innocent people and volunteers.’
‘That’s a very strong accusation. Do you have any evidence?’
‘You admitted to It. Publicly.’
Mister M laughed. ‘I was covering for someone.’
‘Who?’ Issac asked
‘Well, several people actually. One was Olaf, the other three… ‘
Issac stood up and began to pace around the small kitchen. ‘Why cover for them?’
‘That’s another story for another time.’
‘Well, where did you go?’
‘Here. Stain’d by the sea. I needed to find Lemony and The Sugar Bowl before Esme or Olaf or Daniel or anyone else. But when I got here it was to late.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Lemony was already gone. The Sugar Bowl was hidden in his room, but whoever had taken him didn’t know he had it.’
Issac sat down ‘So… you have the sugar bowl?’
‘No.’ Mister M smiled ‘I’m not that stupid. I hid it.’
‘Where?’ Issac asked
‘In plain sight. The Baudelaires will receive in time, assuming the trial goes well, of course.’
‘Right….. So. You hid the Sugar Bowl, and then what?’
‘I lived in the lost arms for a while. Foolish, I Know. And then VFD found me.’
‘And we let them…’
‘Its not your fault. You didn’t now I was innocent. And then I was saved by… well, that would spoil it. But this young man and David took me into the clusterous forest and showed me this place. It wasn’t fully built yet, of course, and things were a lot more… violent. But the cause was still the same. And they told me I had to stay here until it was safe for me to return to the world, and to… well, brother, see my family again without getting shot.’
‘So you’ve been living in this…. Place for the last… I don’t know how long completely alone.’
‘Alone? No, I’ve always had someone with me. To keep me sane, to keep me.. Me. Josephs not here at the moment, he’s had to go on a short mission. But yes, I have.’
‘And you press a button… how often?’
‘The amount of time between each pressing can vary. Sometimes minutes, sometimes hours. On time it went nearly a whole day. But the average length is around every 180 minutes. However the time between pressings is rapidly decreasing. The last one was 68 minutes.’
‘But what does it do? How does it ‘save the world’’
Mister M laughed ‘I have no idea.’
‘What?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘You don’t know what happens every time you press a button
to stop sirens and bright light?’
‘Oh, the white light is very uncommon, let me tell you now.’
Issac stood up again. ‘I cant believe this. How do you know it even does anything?’
‘Because it does.’
‘What if you didn’t press it?’
‘The world. Will. End. I know it will.’
‘Why?’
‘Because.’
‘I don’t believe this.’ Issac made to leave.
‘A word to the wise. Don’t go after them.’
‘Who?’ Issac put on his coat.
‘The Baudelaires. I may have accidentally revealed the location of The Sugar Bowl. But don’t go after them. You know, the other day I went into town disguised as a taxi driver. I was going to the bank to recruit Joseph before Daniel corrupted him, and you wouldn’t believe what happened. The Baudelaires stepped into my taxi. All 4 of them. And they were going to the bank as well. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I should have taken them with me then, and then I could have saved a lot of trouble. If id known they would not simply be arrested, I would never have dreamed of it. But If the Baudelaires had come here, the sugar bowl could have remained safe in that safe for many years to come. It should have happened. It was fate. And if you tell the Baudelaires that the Sugar Bowl is with their fortune, then this schism will evolve into a war. The trickle will become a flood, and nothing can stop it. None of this matters. Sugar Bowls, Fortunes, Petty squabbles. Not when the unknown is going to descend upon this world and destroy us all. Something is coming. And when it arrives, god help us if we’re not ready,’
Issac stood there, thinking over what he had just
heard. ‘Brother. Everything matters. I matter. You matter. Dante matters. Thomas matters. Everybody matters. Nothing is coming. And don’t mistake coincidence for fate. This is all just… a lie. A trick.’
‘Brother wait!’ Mister M ran over to Issac, and followed him towards the long stretching corridor. ‘Explain it. Ellington Feint. Dead for… years. And yet there she was. And then I shot here and she vanished in a puff of smoke. How is that possible. Give an explanation.’
‘I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter.’
Mister M laughed. ‘That’s contradictory. A few seconds ago everything mattered, and now.. Hah. Just because something doesn’t make sense doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. Everything happens for a reason, and I push that button out of fear. What happens if I don’t? Will the world end? I don’t know. And I don’t want to know. And because of that I have no choice. So I have to believe that the world will end, otherwise I could be tempted away from my solemn duty.’
Issac pushed open the door. ‘I’m leaving.’
‘Wait! One more thing. The button and bright light isn’t the only thing. I have the periscope.’
Issac stopped and turned ‘I know.’
‘But doesn’t it worry you?’
‘What?’
‘Why was I late. Pushing the button? The sirens grow louder and louder the longer I wait. And I was waiting because I had seen something in the periscope.. Something interesting.’
‘What?’
‘A man. With a beard. And No hair. And A man with black hair and one hell of a suit. Called Thomas. And one more man. This man with Blue wyes and one hell of a bodu. Called Dante. And the man with the beard seemed to have dante held at gunpoint, whilst forcing Thomas to call you. Thing is, this far underground there isn’t much signal, so I don’t expect you’ve received his call yet. And that was about 50 minutes ago. I do hope they’re all right.’
‘You bastard.’ Issac turned and ran down the corridor
‘I know we are.’ He heard the noise of Issac climbing up the ladder. ‘Don’t thank me or anything.’
Issac lowered the metallic door to the ladder, and began to run back through the clusteorus forest, and prayed he could get there in time.
Through the woods we ran...
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Post by Anka on Mar 10, 2013 14:48:19 GMT -5
I feel so bad because I hadn't even read chapter 4 before and not commented on chapter 3  But I read chapter 4 and 5 now, and this fic is actually understandable, but still mysterious, and that's awesome!!!! (I typed "awesmope" first, I shouldn't have changed it) I like that there is a connection to AnotherSOUE now and I love ghost-Ellington. |
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Post by Dante on Mar 10, 2013 14:59:01 GMT -5
This is the chapter that's actually really got me hooked, Mister M. I can see things starting to come together, the links starting to form. Or rather, the ground being prepared for a more disastrous turn of events. And I can't wait to see it all. I want to know what answers and secrets you have hidden up your sleeve. I'm also impressed that you managed to sustain a single conversation with a whole chapter without a lapse or it not working. You did well.
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Post by MisterM on Mar 10, 2013 15:04:05 GMT -5
Im impressed I wrote it so damn quick! Thank you very much Dante! Yes, my aim was to clear the runway for a crash landing. The question is however, with only 1 chapter of TMWTTKD left, how will it lead into AnotherSOUE Book 1?
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Post by Anka on Mar 10, 2013 15:16:34 GMT -5
Only one chapter left? But I like this fic. It should go on forever And you're really Mister Mole now ;D That's cool. |
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Post by Charlie on Mar 12, 2013 3:54:01 GMT -5
That was awesome. I really like the characters... yes all of them
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Post by Teleram on Mar 12, 2013 16:45:42 GMT -5
Wow. This is.. this is... remarkable. Intriguing. Mysterious. And what everybody else said.
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But I read chapter 4 and 5 now, and this fic is actually understandable, but still mysterious, and that's awesome!!!! (I typed "awesmope" first, I shouldn't have changed it) 
