Mike's Game

Hi, I'm Mike Washer. I played in the Saturday game at Ubercon.

Michael Andrew Washer
AKA Mike - General populace
Washer - high school friends, consider it insulting to refer to me simply as Washer for anyone else.

Attributes
Persuasion 2@1
Flexibility 1@8
Intellect 1@9
Intuition 1@6
Education Level 2@2

Weaknesses: Practically blind without my glasses/contacts

Physical Description:
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 170 lbs
Current Hair Style: Wavy
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Age: 21
Eye Color: Green
Facial Hair: Yes
Birthmarks, Tattoos, or other unusual marking: None

Skills

2@8 Sound Technology & Development/Repair T 10@3 home
1@5 Hard Metalurgy Package T 5@x home
1@5 Polymers&Plastics T 9@3 home
1@5 Swing Dance M 0@2 home
1@1 Religion: Christian M 1@0 Tropical Island

Equipment:

On Persona:
Cargo Shorts
Blue Boxers
Black Ghost Buster Shirt (Glow in the Dark)
Break the Silence Sweatshirt
Key chain with bottle opener on it
Cell Phone
GPS
Money ($150 in 20's and 10's and two quarters)
Ubercon Pin
Dice (Set of 7 and an extra d6)

Other Equipment:
Pliers
Hammer
Hand Saw
Screw Driver
Screws (50 Count)
Nails (50 Count)
Laptop with charger
Ruler
Caliper
Flask of Whiskey
Pocket Knife
Backpacking Backpack
1 Person tent (7 lbs, very small)
Gaffers Tape
Electrical Tape
Duct Tape

Stage 2
World List
----------
Tropical Island

So far I got exposed to Scriff through dropping a Scriff Mixer, breaking it, and trying to repair it myself. After dying I woke up on an uneven grassy area on the ground. When I looked around I saw who I later learned to be Michael on the rock outcrop with his mechanical arm. I also saw my friend Michelle down on the beach. After she saw me I pointed out Michael to her, although she couldn't see him from her angle.
After she started walking up she passed Michael first and we began talking. Michael explained there were others coming and we would wait for an explanation of what was happening for them to get there. In the mean time I offered Michael some of my whiskey, and he declined commenting what he really wanted right now was coffee. He then offered me seagull which was roasting over a fire.
Shortly everyone else arrived and Michael explained that we had died, but with Scriff entering our systems. Furthermore Scriff doesn't like change, so it wouldn't let our bodies died, so we simply were shunted to a new universe. This would happen every time we would die, making us immortal. He then went on to say he was here to fight the volcano, and that he was preparing for Ragnarok to fight for Odin. He elaborated he was fighting the volcano not to win, but to fight and learn. One of the new versers was offering to kill us at this point, to allow us to verse out before the volcano erupted. No one took him up on this offer.
I asked what the cave that was smoking was, and he explained that it was water boiling over from the freshwater stream running above the cave.
Later we all went to sleep. I pitched my 1 person tent and got in. During the night the volcano started to rumble. Being startled by this I attempted to get out of my tent, although this took a few minutes as it was meant to be small and light, not necessarily to be gotten out of hastily. After I got out I saw there volcanic activity had started an earthquake and an eruption was imminent. At this point I found religion so to speak, and began praying. My prayer was interrupted early however, by the ground cracking open beneath me and me passing out before I died, so part of my prayer had been answered in that my death was less painful.
We were running late, and I didn't verse in yet though. And that's where I am now.

I note that you said "facial hair: yes". I'd like a bit more description of it, if you will. Thanks.

I pick nits sometimes, and so I'm wondering whether those screws and nails are in your left hand or rattling around in your backpack. I'm betting that what you took was a box, bag, jar, can or other container filled with nails, but you have not included the container on the list. I'm also wondering that your tools are not in a toolchest, but I can see them in your backpack easily enough. If you want to make any changes in that regard, now's the best time to do so.

The fire springs up below you, but it's cold despite being bright orange. Actually, it's not cold, but more like body temperature, and it tickles where it touches your skin. The ground shakes, with a dull thud, followed by the hissing sound like steam escaping from a narrow vent, and then silence, and then this repeats. A huge boulder is moving toward you in slow motion, and it reaches out with a dull red flame that hits the orange flame and then vanishes after a moment, leaving the boulder closer to you.

--M. J. Young

Ok, first for facial hair. It's a disorderly beard and mustache having accumulated from lack of shaving recently. Evenly grown but obviously not groomed for the purpose of looking good. The screws and nails were meant to be in 50 count boxes as would be bought from Home Depot, I have a bunch at home for when I need to repair things. The tools however I simply wanted to take without a toolchest, as they can fit neatly enough in my backpack since it has many storage areas to keep items seperate.

I'd like to examine my footing to see what I'm standing or laying on. If I'm still laying and able to stand I'd like to stand and approach the boulder and feel whether it's hot or cold to the touch and examine if it's smooth or rough.

As you try to rise, the ticklish fire gives you no footing, but the smell of tangerines assaults your nose as you struggle.

Then you realize that you are not awake, at least, not fully. But as you open your eyes and try to orient yourself to your surroundings, you see that it is something like described. It is not fire beneath you, but bright orange grass; and it seems to be from this that the smell of tangerine is rising. As to the boulder with the flames, it is not quite that, but it is large--about the size of a station wagon--and it is moving, in an odd way. It looks like a giant clam, and as you watch it opens, a red tongue emerges, hits the ground, pulls the huge shell toward it, then rips up some of the grass and retreats inside, the shell closing. After a few seconds, it repeats this, and the shell moves in bursts of two or three feet per shot.

There are other things in the distance, and not far from you is what looks like a small sign--a placard on a post sticking in the ground. Right now, though, the clam is looming rather close to you.

You rise to your feet; your gear is on the ground here (because if I recall correctly you never packed it in the other world).

--M. J. Young

I had packed my backpack before I walked down to talk to Michael. The only thing I hadn't put in my pack at the beginning was the gaffers tape and electrical tape because they arrived slightly away from the rest of everything. I did end up getting that after talking to Michael slightly and noticing it was missing.

Either way, if it's not packed I'll pack it quickly, rushing to get it together as fast as possible. After which I'd like to pick a few glades of the tangerine grass and put it in my pocket stand up and walk briskly over to the sign, keeping my eye on the giant clam creature in case it starts charging at me. Once at the sign I'd like to read it if it's in English, hoping it reveals some detail about where I am or what the giant clam creature is.

You had packed, but you also were crawling out of your one-man tent during the eruption. You did not, that I recall, take the time to repack the tent, although I will accept that most of your other gear was still packed. I do not see a sleeping bag or mattress on your list, so it's reasonable to accept that you slept in your clothes only.

As you start moving around, the clam clams up, shutting its shell tightly.

You gather your gear and move to the sign. Here you see two other things immediately. The less apparent is easier to describe: there are two parallel paths worn in the grass headed from the sign in a straight line into the distance. In that direction you see what appears to be a city made of glass, like the magic kingdom or something, spires gleaming in the sunlight, a very long walk from here.

The other new information is that there is a hole in the ground, very obviously artificial as three of its sides are cleanly vertical and cleanly perpendicular to each other, and the fourth, away from you, slopes downward like a ramp. At the bottom, about six feet below the top, there is visible clear liquid. One the wall which lies in the direction of the sign and the paths there is another sign and a hole in the wall about three feet in diameter, the bottom a foot above the water.

The sign up here reads:

Fitzgerald Road
Created by the Automobile which
Mary Fitzgerald was able somehow to
continuously operate here

There are other landmarks in the distance in various directions. At present, the sun appears directly above the city.

--M. J. Young

At this point a couple of things are racing through my mind. The most urgent is trying to identify the clams movements which at this point I'm writing off to the clam being a scavenger, seeing as it stopped approaching once I showed signs of life. Predator or scavenger, or even friendly, I'm going to avoid the clam for now.
My conversations with Michael back on the tropical island are at the top of my mind however, as he is the only experienced verser I have met. I remember him talking about someone who had made a car run simply by a magical ritual of putting the key in the ignition and turning the key. I assume that the person in question is Mary Fitzgerald and if so I now know that this world at the very least has some channels of magic.
Also, I remember Michael speaking about the Architect building a giant city that sticks in my mind as being Mechaton, although my memory may not be perfect. From what Michael said that my memory retained, the Architect views his versing career as a mission from God and built Mechaton from the grass up in a field. So far this sounds pretty familiar with my surroundings. Having recently beginning praying, needing something to guide me through this versing career and to help me maintain my sanity, I'm very interested in seeing what this architect has done and perhaps how and a more detailed account of why.
If I can read the sign in the hole from here I'd like to, although if I'd have to touch the clear liquid to get close I'll shy away from it instead. I want to make sure I keep an eye on the clam as much as possible, making note of it's distance frequently.

You were last seen wearing your contact lenses, I believe (you did not remove them when you went to bed, I think, although I'm going to have to remember to ask about that in the future--although oddly I note that neither glasses nor contact lenses nor anything to care for them is on the equipment sheet you posted, which I am certain is an oversight on your part, as I think you were wearing the contacts at the gaming table). Assuming that you have them, you can see the sign well enough from the edge of the hole. It is also positioned such that you could walk down the slope of what appears to be dry clay-like soil and stand in front of it.

It reads:

Michael’s Foxhole
Dedicated to those who built it for themselves
and for those who would follow them:

Michael
Peter Adams
Daniel O’Malley
Bob Thomas
Mary Fitzgerald

These were the first humans known to set foot in NagaWorld,
and they paved the way for those of us who followed.
This place is given as a refuge to any creature who needs it
by the humans of Umak Tek.

Both signs appear to be cast of some sort of hard black plastic, the back of the one on the stick a bit uneven as if it were pressed into a mold. The molds were crude, probably hand-carved.

The clam is still closed and stationary.

--M. J. Young

Yeah, I was wearing contacts at the time although I didn't have my glasses on me or their container or the contact solution, so I'll have to try and find a way around that in this world hopefully.

It's good to hear there are humans in this world and a city they inhabit. I'll follow Fitzgerald road towards Umak Tek then. While walking there I'll take a strand of the grass I put in my pocket earlier and examine it to see if there's anything different from the green grass I'm used to other than the color. Hopefully this will help a long walk be a little less tedious.

As you start down the road, a movement catches your eye. It's not terribly close, but there is a black spot on the orange grass, and you're fairly certain it moved. Now as you recognize it, you see that the plain is littered with these black patches, which might be bushes or rock formations or maybe formless furry creatures. They appear to be still, but as you watch one for a few minutes, it suddenly makes a very rapid dash of maybe fifty feet distance.

--M. J. Young

This sure is an interesting world, looks like that clam back there may not be that rare, or at least the way it moves looks similar. I'll put my strands of the grass back in my pocket and continue walking. I'll keep checking in each direction to make sure nothing is getting uncomfortably close to me though, don't want one of those clams (or anything else) catching me before I find out what's going on.

Oh, are you looking around? This is the first time you've mentioned looking in any direction other than the very near objects and the direction the road led.

As you face the glass city, or magic kingdom, or whatever you want to call the distant collection of spires on towers, to your left, about equally distant, is an even larger industrial city--machines, towers, cranes, sometimes you catch what appears to be motion even at this distance, flashes of light even in the daylight. This complex stretches in a line all along the horizon in that direction, vanishing somewhere beyond the glass city.

To your right, not more than a hundred yards beyond the foxhole, the flat plane rises into low hills. Your view is thus obscured in that direction.

Behind you, in exactly the opposite direction from the glass city, is another structure. This one is perhaps ten miles away, and has something of the look of one of those forts used by the American cavalry in the wild west. There is what might be a break in the near wall over which is a curved arch. Beyond the wall are several structures, one of them a dome protruding above the wall, another something like a fire watch tower. Everything visible is black save one shiny spot in the middle, possibly the roof of a trailer on which are what appear to be various types of antennae.

Oh, and the black patches do not look like the clam, which is tan in color and considerably larger than the others.

--M. J. Young

I can be a very jittery person when unsure of my surrounding, so I normally check behind me and around every twenty seconds or so because I don't like the idea of being followed and not knowing about it (I don't really do this when with other people, because of the social stigma to looking paranoid.). That's just a little insight into how I act in bizarre situations, back to the story though.
does Fitzgerald Road lead to?
Also, I'll keep an eye out for any of the black spots on the horizon to see if any appear to be getting closer.

Fitzgerald road heads toward the gleaming spires, which will be several days' walk at best.

The black spots are active, moving in short erratic spurts. None of them are near enough to you to say that they are moving toward you, as even when their movement is converging on your or your line of travel, it is sporadic enough that it might be coincidental.

--M. J. Young

Ok, so walking to the gleaming spires is out of the question currently, I'd need more water to be able to make a several day walk. How far away does the other city appear? Also I'll head back to Michael's Foxhole to regroup and drink some water.

The one to your right is the same distance as the one in front of you; the one behind you is considerably closer, much smaller, not more than half a day's walk.

You return to the foxhole. Are you going to examine the hole in the side wall, examine the clear liquid at the bottom, sit at the top and drink water you brought with you, or?

--M. J. Young

I'd like to examine the liquid at the bottom first and then examine the hole in the side wall. I'll drink a tiny amount of my whiskey from my flask, enough to taste it but not enough to really start hitting me. After which, if the clear liquid still appears drinkable I'll empty the whiskey out on the grass and refill the flask with water.

When you say "examine" the liquid, what do you mean? As you draw closer to it, it still appears to be a clear colorless odorless liquid like water, undisturbed atop a dirt base like clay. The surface of the liquid is about six feet below the level of the orange grass, and here is perhaps a foot to a foot and a half deep.

Speaking of clay, the hole in the side wall appears to be a tunnel into a larger underground chamber. It is about three feet in diameter, one foot above the surface of the liquid. Just inside the entrance is the imprint of a human hand, left hand thumb down on the left wall; beneath this, etched as if with a finger but hardened from time, it reads "Go Tell Sparta". The tunnel looks to be about ten feet long before widening, but there is no light other than what comes in from here, that you can see.

How are you determining whether the liquid "appears drinkable"?

--M. J. Young

I'll run my hand through the liquid to check if it's viscosity seems consistent with water. If it feels normal I'll sit down and drink the liquid for about fifteen minutes after which I'll fill my flask with the liquid and stand up and check out the hole again.
This time I'd like to get my phone out using the flashlight that turns on during video recording for it to see further into the hole and climb up into the hole. I'll keep my phone in my right hand as I wriggle forward toward the underground chamber.

The liquid feels like water and tastes like clean water (that is, it is tasteless and odorless, but cool and refreshing in the mouth).

Your light shines brightly down the hall, and you crawl a short distance, about ten feet, and enter a larger chamber, three feet high at the edges but with a slightly domed ceiling such that it is four feet high in the middle of the roughly twenty-five foot diameter circular space. There are six indentations carved into the wall, the second one to your right smaller than the other five. Words are carved above each of the larger ones, and there appear to be two small cubbyholes in the wall beside the smaller.

--M. J. Young

I'd like to examine the indentations in the wall by reading the writing above each and then feeling it to see whether it's roughly carved in or smooth. When you say the one is smaller do you mean less deep or small diameter?
Afterward I'll examine the cubbyholes to see if anything is in there. Those I won't put my hand in or touch until examining further with the flashlight on my phone.

PS. Sorry for the delay in responses. It was the last week of classes and I got sick on top of it.

The writing is done much as that by the door, with a fingertip in the clay; it has hardened some over time, but has not been baked or otherwise treated. The five "larger" spaces are apparently beds, raised three inches above the floor and ending three inches below the ceiling, six feet in length and recessed three into the wall at the bottom, curving slightly in a semi-dome to a two and a half foot height. Working clockwise from the door they are marked:

Peter Adams, October 14, 1985
Bob Thomas, October 17, 1985
Dan O’Malley, October 14, 1985
Michael, September 30, 1985
Mary Fitzgerald, November 2, 1985.

The smaller space is between Michael and Mary. It is about two feet high and three feet wide, two and a half feet deep, and was apparently used as a fireplace. The dome of this one curves down enough in the front to create an interior domed space, in which there is a three inch diameter hole headed upward from which some light can be seen.

In the lower of the two adjacent cubbyholes are some sheets of notebook paper, in two different cuts, on which are written messages in two different hands--one page very clean script with a short message, the other three printed in legible scrawl.

You can read the shorter message in PDF format here, and the longer also in PDF here. If you do not have PDF format or there is some problem with the download, and you wish for your character to read the letters, let me know and I will post the text here.

--M. J. Young

Ok, I'll read the two letters, the one page one first and then the longer one. After this I'll crawl back outside and check what time it is based on the position of the sun/moon (whichever it is at the time) based on how close they are to the small walled village to the east mentioned in the three page letter. If the moon is up and no further than the halfway point in the sky I'll begin walking towards this Umak Tek the letter talks about.
Otherwise I'll eat some grass, drink some water, and go inside the foxhole and rest until the sun goes down. I'll judge whether the sun has set by laying in whichever bed has the best view out the entrance to the foxhole.

The sun is still fairly high in the sky, although it is now westering somewhere to the far side of the glass city, causing it to sparkle a bit.

The grass is a strange combination of celery and tangerine, chewy like the former and somewhat juicy like the latter and having a flavor that seems to combine the two. The water is completely tasteless, but cool and refreshing. (The back of my mind says you were going to empty a bottle of some alcoholic beverage and fill it with water; is that still your intent? I do not remember whether you actually did so.)

You settle into the shelter and wait for the light outside the tunnel to fade. It takes an inordinately long time, and you doze a bit, but eventually realize that it has gotten dark in here, and that there is only a faint light coming from the tunnel.

Gathering your gear more by touch than by sight, you return through the tunnel to the water hole and up to the level of the plane. The moon is behind the walled village, giving a bright shine to the grass without bringing out its orange color.

A ten mile hike takes the average person about three and a half hours, and assuming you're not particularly above average in such things you will see the moon rise very slowly during that time. Your trip is otherwise uneventful. You pass several of the coral bushes, and can see that they indeed appear to be made of stone in thin fingers very like coral, but entirely black. They remain immobile, as predicted by the letters. You see a couple of the giant clams as well, moving along the grass apparently grazing slowly as they do so.

As you approach the walled village, you can see the open doorway, wide and tall as if made for trucks or wagons, in the middle of the side facing you. There is what looks like a sign or banner above it, but the moon is still behind it casting it in shadow. Silhouetted in the space are the forms of two people, apparently a man and a woman, the former in what looks like a (functional) jacket and pants, the latter in shorts and a T-shirt. They appear to be waiting and watching as you approach.

If you wish to investigate anything or do anything else during the trip, feel free to insert it, and I'll deal with it before continuing with your arrival at Umak-Tek.

--M. J. Young

It was my intent when I thought everything was multiple days walk away, but knowing I'll only be walking one night I'll keep the whiskey in the flask.

As I approach the man and woman I'll raise my hands above my head slightly with palms open facing them so I don't look threatening.
I'll then shout loud enough for them to hear "Hello, I'm Mike. Is this Umak Tek? I'm new to this area and was hoping to talk to some fellow humans about where I am."

"Welcome, Mike," the man says. "I'm Paul and this is Annie, and yes, you've found Umak Tek. I gather you read about it at Michael's Foxhole? Is this your first time? Come in, and we'll get you fed and settled."

--M. J. Young

I'll lower my hands to be at my side, and respond "Hello Paul. Hello Annie. Yes, I read about this place at Michael's Foxhole and it's my first time. Thank you for the offer, that would be wonderful."
I'll then walk towards them, following to wherever they lead me.

"Well, then, I guess you probably have a lot of questions. Welcome to NagaWorld; welcome to Umak Tek. It's better to work at night--temperature is about seventy every night, about ninety every day, and although the walls keep out the coral bushes, it's just easier to avoid them if we're not working.

"But then, it's twenty hours of night and twenty hours of day, so you probably won't sleep with the sun schedule anyway, at least not for a few weeks. Let's get you food and a place to sleep. We'll put you in the Architect's house, as he's not likely to show up and not likely to mind."

As you enter, there is a row of signs similar to the one at Fitzgerald Road lining the entrance. Ahead to your immediate right is an eighteen wheeler outfitted with electronics gear--roof antennae and such--parked with the headlights pointed this direction; from it there is the sound of a motor running, but it is faint, and apparently not the one that moves the truck. It obscures most of the view in that direction. To your left are many structures of all different shapes some of which might be machines. Directly ahead are two towers, one the one that looks like a fire watch tower which you could see from a distance, the other looking more like a water tower.

As you pass the truck, there is a double door open in the middle of the side and some steps coming down to the grass, where there is a sort of tented pavilion with tables and chairs on the grass. "Annie and I are usually in the truck, if you need us, unless we're out hunting of gathering. Just call; we'll probably hear you. It's not like there's a lot of noise here."

You round the rear of the truck and as you come to the other side see a row of sheds, about ten feet square. Paul stops at the first and says, "Stow your gear here, then come back to us and we'll rustle up some grub." He smiles.

The shed has an opening about three feet off the ground on the side facing the truck, where there is a floor and an otherwise enclosed space about seven feet high. Around the side there is a second gap into the lower area, which appears to be three feet of space between the ground and the floor. It is made of something like plastic, dark in the light of the moon.

--M. J. Young

I'll drop off my backpack where I'm told to stow my gear. I'll turn my cellphone off and stash it away in my backpack wrapped in my jacket to make sure it doesn't get damaged if things get tossed about. I'll also empty my pockets and store them in the compartment at the head of my backpack which is waterproof and easily accessible. No reason to carry around extra items, and I don't want these people thinking anything I'm carrying is threatening or that I don't trust them. I hope I can trust them at any rate, other wise I'm in for a long night.
Then I'll follow Paul along. While walking I'll say "So, as you guessed I do have a lot of questions. How did you two come to be here, and are there others here? What do you do in that truck? You mentioned work, what type of work is there around here? I'd like to help in any way I can, I'm fairly good with electronics if that helps at all. Also, is there anyway I could get two small containers and some water, so that I could store my contacts when I go to sleep? I need them to see but I've forgotten the container to keep them in at night and I'm afraid I don't know how I'd get around without them."

"I versed out the usual way: army scriff experiment gone bad. I was in electronic and surveillance, but the truck was already here, and no one is quite certain why. Pete Adams led a few excursions to the battlefield up north--oh, you'll have to get used to that, the compass directions we use around here are confused. The sun and moon rise in the east and set in the west, but if you're looking east north is on your right hand, because that's where the magnetic compass points. Anyway, Adams and Michael and the others brought back batteries that we could use to power some of the electronics, but we got no human radio chatter. It was long after that that the Architect started producing alcohol to run the secondary motor that powers the generators on the truck. He built the fermentation tanks and stills so we would have plenty of fuel for that, but he never managed to devise a diesel fuel for the main motor. Mostly we monitor Dar Koni radio transmissions and keep the radar tracking any ships or missiles moving over the plain, but there's not much there.

"Annie got here from a different world. Her husband, who oddly enough was Michael's divergent--hmmm, we're probably moving way too fast. You didn't ask how you got here or anything. I guess whatever is on those notes at Michael's Foxhole is pretty clear?"

"Annie's husband was the Michael of another universe, and he was dabbling in magic. He accidentally opened a gate, killing himself in the process, and tossing Annie here. She's been with me ever since.

"As far as work, well, the only one we have to keep going is the alcohol production--in part because we can't easily replace the yeast if we let the culture die, so we have to keep transferring it to the next tank. We've got a push lawnmower to harvest the grass, which has enough sugar in it to create the alcohol, and then we distill it to get fuel grade stuff. We also have to scrape the gunk out of the bottom and make stuff with it, because it will harden, and if it hardens in the tank it will never come out. Most of what is here was made from that.

"We also make a couple kinds of cloth and a couple kinds of paper--one is more like plastic than paper--and we make pottery, but we don't make a lot of that because it uses a lot of resources. The cloth takes a lot of work, because we have to spin the fibers into thread and then weave the thread into cloth. Oh, we also make two kinds of rope, from the same materials we make the cloth and the paper from, mostly grass but also creeper vine, which is less common."

"I can give you a couple glasses from the kitchen for tonight, and tomorrow you can use the plastic steel--that's the black gunk in the bottom of the still--to make whatever you want."

"Were you hungry?"

--M. J. Young

"I met Michael already and got a rough idea of what would be going on after I died, so I wasn't all to shocked when I woke up here. That combined with the notes explained things pretty clearly. I take it one's divergent is sorta like a mirror image but with a few crucial differences based on the world they grew up on?"

"What's a gate in this sense? A gate to another universe, world, or to summon something? I'm not used to magic being possible, let along as regularly talked about as I've heard recently. Do you think there is a way that I'd potentially begin learning? I wouldn't know where to start, I'm a very logical person so I tend to prefer invention to miracle, but I'm starting to think I'll need all the help I can in these worlds."

"Do we have any microscopes? I'd really like to examine that plastic steel a little bit, it seems to have interesting properties. Thank you very much, the glasses will help store my contacts tonight and I'm sure I can fashion something with the plastic steel tomorrow. All that said, my physical hunger is starting to outweigh my hunger for knowledge."

"Oh, so this is not your first time; I misunderstood.

"Yes, a divergent is you from another universe. They use to be called 'frags' or 'parallels', but the Architect said that they were divergent selves, people who started as us in slightly different universes, and they might be indistinguishable from us up to the moment we first died or they might be completely different. A couple of the guys have met female versions of themselves, which I expect must be really weird and I'm not certain how they knew it was them.

"Yes, a gate is a portal from one world to another, or between natural worlds and supernatural ones. Usually they're psionic or magical, although I've heard some talk about using teleporter technology to create gates across space or to related universes.

"I don't know any magic, and I don't really teach versers anything. It's a bit dangerous. I don't mind if you want to experiment, but NagaWorld is a strange place. Nothing is easy. Playing with magic can be much more dangerous than anything else. There was a kid here sometime back who had managed to outlast everyone else who came at the same time, and then he decided to try to learn some magic. Very thoughtfully he did this outside the city walls, because he wound up going up in flames rather abruptly. I hear he's doing pretty well now, found someone to teach him some magic, but it wasn't a very encouraging start. You're welcome to look at the stuff in the psionics museum, and see if you can make any of it work, but I don't teach, and I must insist that if you want to take any of it with you you get replacements from the glass city. As to magic, I can't prove it's real. Peter says that there's no such thing as magic, because there's no such thing as the supernatural. The Architect says that Peter can't be persuaded of the existence of magic because you have to believe in supernatural power before you can use it. I've never used it, and don't think I know the answer. I just repeat the stories the way I hear them."

They serve up something that is fried like steak but has the taste of seafood, which they identify as a slice of the clam meat, along with a sparkling lemon-like soda made from water, the leaves of the creeper vines, and carbonation from the fermentation process, and a very citrus-y salad composed of the tangerine-like grass and the yellow lemon leaves of the creeper vines. "This is pretty much what we eat around here, although the Architect sometimes sends care packages. We make our own sweetener from the grass, and I can make a pot of coffee, imported from other worlds, for which we have powdered creamer. Don't expect it all the time, though. It's not easy to get."

--M. J. Young

"I don't have a microscope, but there is a focusing magnifying lens inside every coral bush, and I'm sure I have a few around if you want to see what you can build.

Where did we actually end up? I was following to wherever the food was, but just curious where I turned up.

During the meal I'll think about everything that has been said up till now, as it's a lot to comprehend as well as I'm very hungry and would like to eat and drink a bit before continuing the conversation. Once I'm about half way done with my food I'll say "Tomorrow I think I'll try and improvise a microscope out of those lens, I have a couple of materials that might help hold them in the proper series. What is this psionics museum you mentioned though? Is it close by and do you know how it got there?" At this point I'll continue eating a little and then add "This food is very good by the way, thank you very much. I love lemon soda's."

Sorry--I mentioned the awning on the south side of the truck where there is a table and several chairs, steps up to an open double door in the side of the truck. You're at that table. They apparently have some kind of kitchen inside.

"I imagine the tricky bit with the microscope is going to be making something that will focus. But I don't know much about how a microscope is different from a telescope, so I'll leave it to you."

"Oh, the psionics museum? It's right here inside the city. Dan O'Malley built it, and collected the samples from the glass city. It's probably a lot easier to learn to use the gadgets if you know what they do, although some of them I'm not certain anyone has really mastered, unless maybe the Architect did. He took most of them with him when he left."

He laughs. "I'm glad you like lemon. I think the only other flavor we have is tangerine."

"Sleep if you're tired, but the moon is always full and always up, and provides enough light to find your way around. There's a spot with a bit of a fence around it and a tarp on the ground; stay clear of that, as it's a hole to the tapioca, which might be one of the most dangerous discoveries we've made."

--M. J. Young

"I'm going to start working on adjusting my sleep schedule for this world, so I'll try and stay up until the sun starts coming up. I'd like to work on the microscope in the mean time. I'll need some of the plastic steel before it dries in order to make it however, so I'll wander over to the psionics museum and explore for a while. When will the gunk that forms the plastic steel be cleaned out? I'd like to start prepping two focusing lenses about an hour before hand. Oh, and what's the tapioca?"
I'd like to walk through the museum until an hour before the time when then gunk is cleaned out (I'd assume time is measured by the moons position, so it's approximate and I'll lean on the side of caution and being early rather than chance missing it.) In the museum I won't touch anything but do want to read any plaques if there are any. I'll check back outside to see the moon and where it is for what feels like an hour each time. When it's close I'll get my caliper, nails, and pliers from my backpack and head to where the plastic steel is collected.

As for the construction of the microscope I will take two focusing lenses and set them out and put two nails close to them. When I get the gunk I'll smear a liberal amount around the edge of the glass and then press the head of the nail into the gunk so that the nail is parallel to plane of the lens. I'll do this for both lenses. Once the plastic steel is solidified and hard I'll take both lenses and check to make sure that the nail did solidify parallel to the plane the lens lies upon. If it doesn't I'll use my pliers to bend the nail until it is parallel. I will then take my caliper and duct tape each nail onto a claw of the caliper.

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^ ^
These two claws, just wanted to be clear.

The caliper adjustment can then be used to adjust the distance between the lenses, acting as a focusing instrument. It's a rudimentary microscope that needs light to be present to work, so it's not a dark room type microscope, but it will allow for pretty good magnification.

This was almost finished but a local blackout took it, so forgive any terseness or lack of style as I attempt to reconstruct it swiftly from memory and reference.

The day/night cycle here is forty hours, equal parts daylight and moonlight. When you say that you are adjusting your sleep schedule to this world, do you have an objective in view as to when you will sleep and when you will be awake?

The psionics museum is a single room, about fifteen feet square, similar to the huts (in that it has a raised floor) but with more head room. In it are several objects, each labeled with a plastic steel plaque. The smaller ones are on a shelf about waist high, but a few sit on the floor. All are made of something like glass, sometimes transparent, sometimes transluscent, sometimes opaque. You find, in no particular order:

• A statuette of a squid-like creature, light green and transluscent, marked "Memorial for a Warrior".
• A pistol-like light green transluscent object marked "Psionic Drill".
• A light green transluscent object about as long as a sawed-off shotgun but bulbous, marked "Psionic Blaster".
• A similar object more the length of a rifle marked "Psionic Rifle".
• A black opaque pole, six feet long and one inch in diameter, with a gem-like object roughly eight inches long and four inches in diameter as the tip, something like a spear. This, the first of three, has a transluscent faceted white oval, something like a cloudy diamond, and is marked "Telekinetic Lifter".
• A second such rod having a green trapezoidal gem is marked "Telekinetic Forcefield".
• The third of the set has a smooth clear blue oval tip, and is marked "Disintegrator".
• A clear red sphere, about five inches in diameter, is marked "Telepathic Vacation".
• A transluscent green spike, something like a railroad spike or tent stake, six inches in length, is marked "Missile Deflector".
• A transluscent white bowl-shaped object is labeled "Combat Helmet".
• A transparent green five inch cube is marked "Data Storage Device (Atlas)".
• A transluscent white five inch equilateral pyramid is marked "Data Access Device".
• A transparent white octagonal prism, eighteen inches in length and nine inches across the end, is labeled "Psionic Computer".
• A three foot by one foot light green transluscent panel, about an eighth of an inch thick, is marked "Light Panel"

They are running two of the four distillation systems at present, and clean out one in the morning and the other in the evening. You get about a cubic foot of goo from the morning cleaning, which they show you how to scrape out carefully, noting that the tank (which is made of the material) gets smaller if you don't get it all. The goo is similar to PC-7, a gray-black clay-like material that is slightly sticky but can be molded by hand. They recommend washing your hands after use first with the nagahol (the name they give the distilled alcohol) and then with clean water.

The lenses are not glass but seem to be made of a sap-like shellac, very clear but not very hard. They range between two and five inches with different thicknesses and focal lengths, and although the smallest tend to be thickest and the largest thinnest, there is no absolute rule on this.

While you are trying to get the lenses properly aligned, you catch the sunlight in one at just the right angle to raise a blister on your left arm. It's very painful.

--M. J. Young

I'd like to approach the reconditioning of my sleep patterns by staying awake until the sun rises (even if in order to do this I have to have unproductive hours during which my only focus is staying awake) and after I go to sleep not getting up until the sun has set, even if this means laying down for a prolonged period of time just waiting to fall back asleep. This is the best way I know how to readjust a sleep schedule, and while annoying for a day or two tends to work well for me. I'll be applying this until it becomes habit for me to stay awake for the night hours and sleep all day.

How severe is the blister on my arm? Does it impair my movement of merely something that I need to avoid brushing up against things? Also is it bleeding and what color is the burn? As painful as this occurrence is, I find it to be a partial blessing. In order for a lens to burn me like that in such a quick manner it must have remarkable magnification, I have great hopes for what I can make with these.

I can certainly see you being able to stay awake the remainder of the ten hours needed to see daybreak; I have trouble envisioning you lying in bed for twenty hours simply because it is daylight outside. However, I will accommodate that schedule for the moment if you think it appropriate.

The blister is a second degree burn, and it is thus painful and will be so for a few days unless you have a way of healing or treating it. It is not bleeding, but it is sore enough that when you move your hand it stings on the arm as the skin shifts.

Otherwise, your construction project works as intended: you have two lenses secured to two nails, and you have taped these to the caliper such that they are aligned.

--M. J. Young

I more meant for that to be my general approach to changing my sleep pattern, I don't expect to achieve this in one night, but I don't want to just get up and walk around the second I wake up the first time. After the second time waking up I doubt any amount of persistence would end in me falling asleep.

Anyway, I take it the sun is up since the lens caught it and burned me. I'll go back to my backpack and put away what I took out, other than the microscope itself. Also I'll take a strip of duct tape before I put it away and put it over the blister I got. This is a trick I picked up on when I was into backpacking/hiking more. Putting the duct tape over the blister stops it from moving as much, reducing the discomfort and makes it less likely to brush up against something and tear.

Then I'll head to the architects house where Paul said I'd be staying and look around briefly, just seeing what's there and there isn't anything about to jump out at me. After which I'll lay down, putting my contacts in the glasses with water. I'll place the microscope behind them. Then I'll lay down and go to sleep, trying to think of what I'll do tomorrow.

I assumed that the sun was up because you had to wait for the plastic steel, which was pulled out of the vat at sunrise. And yes, the lenses are rather powerful. The coefficient of refraction of the sap must be considerably different from that of ordinary glass.

The only thing in the Architect's house is a sort of improvised mattress. It appears to be dried grass inside a woven and stitched sack made of an almost plastic thread. It hardly qualifies as comfortable, but is better than lying on the flat hard plastic surface that constitutes the floor.

You sleep for perhaps ten hours; at least, the sun has just passed its zenith when you arise, and is gleaming from just the other side of the Glass City which is visible out the gate in the wall.

--M. J. Young

--M. J. Young