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East Side West Side
© 2021 by Walter Reimer
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rabbi-tom
The Bōank was in hyperspace, leading a formation that included several smaller ships to its new base at Wangguan. There had been only one sensor contact in the past two days, and that had been a Colonial freighter. Duties were routine, although the Weapons Officers on each shift watched their screens and the sensor inputs closely for any sign of any hostile craft.
The Empire and Terra were currently at peace, but there was no telling when some Terran might decide to change that condition.
Varan was in her quarters, relaxing after lastmeal, when her intercom chimed. “G’Raf,” she said.
“Captain, we’ve just passed a waypoint, and it downloaded a message for you,” the Duty Officer said. “Terran, marked ‘Personal.’”
Aka, that would be Meredith. “Please transfer it to my padd, Duty Officer.” The device chimed. “Thank you,” and she opened the padd as the intercom shut off.
Much to her pleasure, it was from the golden palomino mare. She looked a little happier than she had in the past as she described her new job, but when she began to talk about the latest game module Varan noted that Meredith’s expression had grown irritated.
“The designers who put this game together are getting nastier, love,” she said. “Please save frequently and stay wary.”
That was understating the case, Varan decided after reviewing the last scenario that Meredith had gone through. It was a rather pernicious form of mind control that the mage and the paladin hadn’t seen since the Temple of the Divine Source, and if it was among the traps set into the city of Ottokar by the designers, Meredith’s advice would be very useful.
The vir checked her horolog and determined that she had a cycle or two before she had to get some sleep. Varan poured a glass of henal and opened a container of epi before accessing the game module.
***
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Varan asked, the mage straightening a fold in her robe as she and Meredith walked down the street.
“I’m fine,” Meredith replied. “I can’t believe he charged me half-price after all of that.”
“Agreed. He should have done it for free.”
“Still,” and the mare looked down, “my hooves look great.” She and the vir exchanged grins, and Varan saved the game.
“Shall we ask about the Sacred Car Park?” Varan asked.
Meredith glanced around before replying, “Yes, we should. I’ll take the opposite side of the road.” It was a sensible idea, enabling them to talk to more of the city’s inhabitants, and the mare headed for a pedestrian crossing.
The pair had been working their way down the street when there was a sudden clap of sound from a single huge bell. All around them vehicles pulled over and stopped, and people sat down on the sidewalks or grabbed hold of lampposts. Before Varan could ask somebody what was going on the ground under her feet lurched.
The mage dropped to a crouch, bracing herself with her staff and her tail as the entire city block slowly turned to the left while moving laterally away from the block Meredith was standing on. The paladin’s block was rotating to the right, and Varan quickly lost sight of her as another city block interposed itself, the entire city rearranging itself around the central tower.
As soon as things stabilized underfoot Varan drew on her mana and cast a detection spell that sought out Meredith’s consecrated armor. The signal came back, revealing that the mare was now on the southeast side of the city, while Varan was across town due west of the central tower.
Using the spell, she whispered, [Meredith?]
[Varan? Where are you?] If she was surprised by the idea of her armor talking to her, she didn’t let on – mages could do quite a lot.
[West-northwest of you. The spell I’ve planted on your armor should help us find each other.]
[Good idea. Wait a moment.] Meredith tapped one canine passerby’s shoulder. “Excuse me.”
The Doberman paused. He had a large canvas sack slung over his other shoulder. “What do you want?” he asked peevishly.
“Sorry to bother you, but why did the city just rearrange itself?”
The canine grumbled and spat in the gutter. “How should I know? Lord Foad’s doing. I guess he likes a change in view – but that damned bell rings once an hour.” He spat again. “Makes me really hate my job.”
“What’s your job?”
He gathered up his sack. “I deliver the mail,” and he stamped off, still grumbling.
[You heard?]
[Yes. It might be interesting to see what pattern, if any, is followed by the city segments. Shall we try to get to the tower and meet up?] Varan asked.
[Good idea. Meet you there.]
Varan ensured that the spell was still active, keeping them both oriented as to where they were in relation to the only static landmark in Ottokar. The mage looked up, caught sight of the tower, and started down the road. Before reaching the intersection, she paused.
One of the city blocks was still rotating to the sound of clanking gears, and a group of furs with tools was gathering. “What’s going on?” the vir asked.
“Veeblefetzer's on the blink again,” a weasel replied. “Shoddy workmanship in this one block, so it breaks down every once in a while. You’d best detour around that way, towards the ball field.”
“Ball field?” Varan echoed, recalling the fungo bats and blood-sucking umpires that she and Meredith had encountered on an earlier level. She caught herself hoping that she and Meredith wouldn’t see any baristas. “Do you know where the Sacred Car Park is?”
The weasel nodded. “It’s near the Tower. Lord Foad makes a lot of money from that,” and he went to supervise a group of furs who were preparing to bring the wayward city block to a halt.
The vir began making her way from block to block, moving quickly and purposefully, and was three blocks from the Tower when the bell rang again. She grasped a lamppost and held on as the city block rotated to the right and moved south, ending up a block or two closer to the central part of the town.
A satisfied smile on her face, Varan started heading north, only to pause as a voice behind her said, “Hey girl! You lost?”
She turned to see a squat canine, possibly a mastiff, wearing a padded chest protector and a cagelike mask covering his face.
© 2021 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
rabbi-tomThe Bōank was in hyperspace, leading a formation that included several smaller ships to its new base at Wangguan. There had been only one sensor contact in the past two days, and that had been a Colonial freighter. Duties were routine, although the Weapons Officers on each shift watched their screens and the sensor inputs closely for any sign of any hostile craft.
The Empire and Terra were currently at peace, but there was no telling when some Terran might decide to change that condition.
Varan was in her quarters, relaxing after lastmeal, when her intercom chimed. “G’Raf,” she said.
“Captain, we’ve just passed a waypoint, and it downloaded a message for you,” the Duty Officer said. “Terran, marked ‘Personal.’”
Aka, that would be Meredith. “Please transfer it to my padd, Duty Officer.” The device chimed. “Thank you,” and she opened the padd as the intercom shut off.
Much to her pleasure, it was from the golden palomino mare. She looked a little happier than she had in the past as she described her new job, but when she began to talk about the latest game module Varan noted that Meredith’s expression had grown irritated.
“The designers who put this game together are getting nastier, love,” she said. “Please save frequently and stay wary.”
That was understating the case, Varan decided after reviewing the last scenario that Meredith had gone through. It was a rather pernicious form of mind control that the mage and the paladin hadn’t seen since the Temple of the Divine Source, and if it was among the traps set into the city of Ottokar by the designers, Meredith’s advice would be very useful.
The vir checked her horolog and determined that she had a cycle or two before she had to get some sleep. Varan poured a glass of henal and opened a container of epi before accessing the game module.
***
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Varan asked, the mage straightening a fold in her robe as she and Meredith walked down the street.
“I’m fine,” Meredith replied. “I can’t believe he charged me half-price after all of that.”
“Agreed. He should have done it for free.”
“Still,” and the mare looked down, “my hooves look great.” She and the vir exchanged grins, and Varan saved the game.
“Shall we ask about the Sacred Car Park?” Varan asked.
Meredith glanced around before replying, “Yes, we should. I’ll take the opposite side of the road.” It was a sensible idea, enabling them to talk to more of the city’s inhabitants, and the mare headed for a pedestrian crossing.
The pair had been working their way down the street when there was a sudden clap of sound from a single huge bell. All around them vehicles pulled over and stopped, and people sat down on the sidewalks or grabbed hold of lampposts. Before Varan could ask somebody what was going on the ground under her feet lurched.
The mage dropped to a crouch, bracing herself with her staff and her tail as the entire city block slowly turned to the left while moving laterally away from the block Meredith was standing on. The paladin’s block was rotating to the right, and Varan quickly lost sight of her as another city block interposed itself, the entire city rearranging itself around the central tower.
As soon as things stabilized underfoot Varan drew on her mana and cast a detection spell that sought out Meredith’s consecrated armor. The signal came back, revealing that the mare was now on the southeast side of the city, while Varan was across town due west of the central tower.
Using the spell, she whispered, [Meredith?]
[Varan? Where are you?] If she was surprised by the idea of her armor talking to her, she didn’t let on – mages could do quite a lot.
[West-northwest of you. The spell I’ve planted on your armor should help us find each other.]
[Good idea. Wait a moment.] Meredith tapped one canine passerby’s shoulder. “Excuse me.”
The Doberman paused. He had a large canvas sack slung over his other shoulder. “What do you want?” he asked peevishly.
“Sorry to bother you, but why did the city just rearrange itself?”
The canine grumbled and spat in the gutter. “How should I know? Lord Foad’s doing. I guess he likes a change in view – but that damned bell rings once an hour.” He spat again. “Makes me really hate my job.”
“What’s your job?”
He gathered up his sack. “I deliver the mail,” and he stamped off, still grumbling.
[You heard?]
[Yes. It might be interesting to see what pattern, if any, is followed by the city segments. Shall we try to get to the tower and meet up?] Varan asked.
[Good idea. Meet you there.]
Varan ensured that the spell was still active, keeping them both oriented as to where they were in relation to the only static landmark in Ottokar. The mage looked up, caught sight of the tower, and started down the road. Before reaching the intersection, she paused.
One of the city blocks was still rotating to the sound of clanking gears, and a group of furs with tools was gathering. “What’s going on?” the vir asked.
“Veeblefetzer's on the blink again,” a weasel replied. “Shoddy workmanship in this one block, so it breaks down every once in a while. You’d best detour around that way, towards the ball field.”
“Ball field?” Varan echoed, recalling the fungo bats and blood-sucking umpires that she and Meredith had encountered on an earlier level. She caught herself hoping that she and Meredith wouldn’t see any baristas. “Do you know where the Sacred Car Park is?”
The weasel nodded. “It’s near the Tower. Lord Foad makes a lot of money from that,” and he went to supervise a group of furs who were preparing to bring the wayward city block to a halt.
The vir began making her way from block to block, moving quickly and purposefully, and was three blocks from the Tower when the bell rang again. She grasped a lamppost and held on as the city block rotated to the right and moved south, ending up a block or two closer to the central part of the town.
A satisfied smile on her face, Varan started heading north, only to pause as a voice behind her said, “Hey girl! You lost?”
She turned to see a squat canine, possibly a mastiff, wearing a padded chest protector and a cagelike mask covering his face.
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Alien (Other)
Size 71 x 120px
File Size 56.3 kB
Listed in Folders
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