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LIST FILE ON MARGIN IS 126 STATUS: ENTER ONLY NUMBER OF LINES: 629 1 If you are in need of help, you need but ask.... 2 ********************* REMOVED: 6 JUL 84 ******************** 3 Welcome to BWMS (BackWater Message System) Mike Day System operator 4 ************************************************************ 5 GENERAL DISCLAIMER: BWMS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INFORMATION PLACED ON 6 THIS SYSTEM. 7 BWMS was created as an electronic bill board. BWMS is a privately owned 8 and operated system which is currently open for use by the general public. 9 No restrictions are placed on the use of the system. As the system is 10 privately owned, I retain the right to remove any and all messages which 11 I may find offensive. Because of the limited size of the system, it will be 12 periodically purged of messages. (only 629 lines of data can be saved) 13 To leave a message, type 'ENTER' and use ctrl/C or break to get out of the 14 ENTER mode. The message is automatically stored. If after entering the 15 message you find you made a mistake, use the replace command to replace 16 the line. To exit from the system, type 'OFF' then hang up. 17 Type 'HELP' to see other commands that are available on the system. 18 ************************************************************ 19 20 Darn! nobody beat me to the top, Now I'm stuck with being the first 21 and having to think of something witty to start things off. 22 I'm sorry folks, but I'm just not up to it. So you'll just have to 23 think up something for yourselves. 24 XRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXR REX XRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRXRX 25 XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX 26 HEY....ARE THERE ANY LADYS OUT THERE THAT USE COMPUTERS? IF SO, PLEASE RESPOND 27 XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX 28 29 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 30 "Golly-gosh that Goll Darn McKane!" The hysterically angry voice filled 31 the fortunately vacant room. Actually, the room wasn't quite empty, but Petrov 32 didn't worry about that deaf-blind fellow sitting in the corner. 33 Petrov decided to get a grip on himself. He was somewhat surprised to find 34 the Oklahoma City Plaza Hilton's cocktail lounge empty at six o'clock in the 35 morning. "I wouldn't be having any of these problems if it wasn't for the fact 36 that McKane holds the mortgage on ma and pa's farm in Kansas." Petrov made a 37 mental note to stop talking to himself. The fact was, he was only working for 38 McKane until he could find a weakness and exploit it. 39 Out of the corner of his eye, Petrov spied a man entering the lounge. 40 After studying him for a moment, Petrov guessed that the man was the assistant 41 manager of the hotel, married, with two childred, and hoping to someday be 42 full-fledged manager. Petrov called him over and wondered why the man was 43 looking at him so oddly. 44 The man approached. "May I help you, sir?" 45 "So you're the assistant manager, eh?" 46 "Yes," the man replied." 47 "How's the wife?" Petrov asked. "In good health." 48 "And the kids?" The man seemed uneasy. "They're both fine. Uh...Do I know you?" 49 "I hope not," Petrov replied. "Tell me, you would really like to be full 50 manager someday, wouldn't you?" 51 "Actually, I've always had this dream to be head bartender." 52 "But if you were manager," Petrov argued, "you could fire bartender 53 and do that job yourself!" 54 "Yes....why, YES!" The glimmer of hope on the man's face bloomed into 55 uninhibited understanding. 56 Now completely relaxed, Petrov decided to make himself look less 57 conspicuous by climbing off the table he had been standing on since the tantrum 58 he was throwing a little earlier. Still grinning with the satisfaction of 59 predicting the assistant manager's identity so well, Petrov's sensitive ears 60 picked up a rustling of paper coming from the lobby. "That sounds like the 61 paper rustling of a man pretending to be reading a newspaper while actually 62 looking over the top of it at another man who also probably knows he's watching." 63 "Excuse me?" The assistant manager was baffled. 64 "Nothing." Petrov whirled in time to see the familiar plain-looking man in 65 the overcoat who had been watching him strip in the sleazy restaurant. 66 Petrov set out after him only to trip and fall. Looking up, he was 67 slapped in the face by the hand of fate. The plain-looking man was gone! 68 PETROV 69 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 70 ...................................................................... 71 The flight to Oklahoma City was too short. As I read the files Ian had 72 supplied, I began to realize just how HUGE the McKane organization was. 73 I felt like a fly attacking an M-60 tank. My only hope was that McKane's 74 empire was similar to the tank in that its vulnerability was in its very 75 complexity. 76 After arriving in Oklahoma City and taking care of all the usual details, 77 I walked out to the parking lot to check it out. Spotting a likely-looking 78 nondescript vehicle, I proceeded to steal it. I was feeling slightly paranoid 79 and figured that this was one way to make sure I didn't get a rigged car. 80 Finding the Plaza Hilton was easy, and I dumped the car some distance away 81 in a lower class neighborhood, hiking back to the hotel. Ian's information 82 had said that a room had already been reserved for my contact, so I took the 83 stairs to the 14th floor. Leaving the stairwell, I saw that all the room 84 numbers started with 15. Wonderful. Our room was on the 13th floor. 'Good 85 thing I'm not superstitious,' I thought as I went back to the stairwell, 86 knocking on the wooden door as I passed. Picking the lock on 1428 was a matter 87 of a few seconds work, and I was in. Good thing the Oklahoma City Hilton hadn't 88 upgraded to the new electronic locks yet. They took me a few seconds longer. 89 The suite was a rather nice one. Ian must be feeling generous; usually 90 I ended up in some roach-infested dive in the worst part of town. Of course, 91 that's usually where my business took me anyway. McKane was higher class, so I 92 was in a better location. All things considered, I think I prefer the dives. 93 I inspected the rooms, looking for the inevitable bugs. I found the obligatory one, so I knew the real ones were better 94 hidden. After further 95 scrutiny, I found three more, one in each bedroom and one in the central living 96 area. Removing a device from my box, I wired it and all the bugs together. Now 97 whoever was listening in would hear a programmed tape of normal uninteresting 98 conversations. 99 Now that I had all the preliminaries out of the way, I could take a look at 100 those flowers. The trip wire from the card was obvious, but the time-release 101 nerve gas coating on the petals was harder to find, and took some time to 102 neutralize. Finally satisfied that all was well, I trapped the door, and 103 returned to the lobby to wait for L'homme sans parity. 104 (tempus fugit) 105 While waiting in the lobby, casually hidden behind my newspaper, I heard 106 an angry voice coming from the cocktail lounge. I was more-or-less ignoring it, 107 until I heard the name 'McKane.' I was just heading over to see what was going 108 on, when L'homme sans parity entered. Torn between the two, I finally decided 109 I'd better stick with L'homme - he was fumbling with an armful of luggage, and 110 looked like an easy target if anyone was so inclined. Removing the 'out of 111 order' sign from the express elevator I had reserved for myself, I was waiting for 112 L'homme when he entered his room. I had a hard time convincing him of my 113 honesty, but after calling Ian and getting His confirmation, L'homme seemed to 114 accept me. I told him of the traps I had defused, then warned him that, however 115 unlikely, there did exist the faint possibility that I had missed something. 116 So, he should stay on his toes. After the disclaimer, we got down to the 117 business of making plans. 118 ............. 119 Sorry I didn't take us any farther, but I spent too much time/disk getting 120 to where I am now. Maybe next time. 121 Joshua 122 ..................................................................... 123 --------------------------------- 124 OK, THERE IS A MISSUNDERSTANDING HERE. MY NAME IS MARK FORSYTH AND I LIKE THIS SYSTEM ALOT, THE MESSAGE UNDER MY LAST WAS NOT M 125 DOING AND I HOPE THAT YOU DID NOT TAK IT IN THAT WAY. ALL I'MSAYING IS THAT PEOPLE SHOULD USE THIS SYSTE NOT TO SAY WHO THEY AR 126 GOING TO DESTROY, BUT TO WRITE THIE STORIES AND GENERAL CREATIVE STUFF. AND ALSO, I'M NOT EASILY CONFUSED, IT TAKES A HECK OF 127 ALOT TO CONFUSE ME. 128 --------------------------------- 129 GEE, YOU COULD HAVE FOOLED ME. 130 131 ****************************************************************** 132 Yes, let's all conform! Death to creativity! No more stories. 133 Let's only talk about computers and IC's and bits and bytes 134 and all that wonderful stuff they talk about on other BBS's. 135 No more of this fantisy garbage that everyone keeps putting on 136 here. Let's hear it now, all together; 137 Death to creativity! Conform! Conform! 138 Death to creativity! Conform! Conform! 139 ect........ 140 ******************************************************************* 141 WHY DO I HAVE THIS FEELING OF DEJA VU? 142 143 HOWEVER, IT DOES BRING TO MIND A BURING QUESTION OF "WHAT HAPPENED 144 TO ALL OF OUR OLD GOOD FANTASY AUTHORS?" BRENDEN IS BACK, BUT WHERE 145 IS THE ELUSIVE PAM? AND D? TARN ONLY APPEARS OCCASIONALLY ANYMORE, 146 AND THAT IS SO DEPRESSING (IF IT IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO GET ANYMORE 147 DEPRESSING!) THAT I CAN HARDLY BARE TO READ IT. AND WHERE ARE THE 148 OTHERS OF WHOM I CAN'T SEEM TO REMEMBER THEIR NAMES RIGHT OFF BECAUSE 149 THEY HAVE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG? COME ON PEOPLE DON'T LET THE MCKANE 150 ORGINAZATION TAKE OVER THIS PLACE COMPLETLY! 151 SIGH, THEY ARE PROBABLY ALL OUT CATCHING SOME RAYS, WHICH IS WHERE 152 I THINK I'LL GO SINCE THERE ISN'T ANYTHING INTERESTING HERE. 153 COME ON PEOPLE, I NEED TO SEE SOME GOOD WRITTING HERE OR I'LL GO CRAZY! 154 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 155 HELLP 156 HELP 157 END 158 A 159 160 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*==*GURU OF BLIS*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 161 WERE MOSTLY AT THE WIZARD-CON (WHICH IS CONVIENIENTLY CLOSE TO MCKANE WORLD 162 HEADQUARTERS FOR OUR PURPOSES. 163 -------------- 164 ONE WHO EXCELS AS A WARRIOR DOES NOT APPEAR FORMIDABLE. 165 ONE WHO EXCELS IN COMBAT IS NEVER ROUSED IN ANGER. 166 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 167 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?/ 168 Mark Forsyth:coulda fooled me! Say so and I will`call you, you make the time. 169 All:I am running about 10% right now and ill have to return later when modem has been properly ralpphed 170 The Man in Gray 171 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? /? /fF?G? / ? ? ? ? /? ? ? ? ? ?`? ? ? ? ? ?/ldl 172 PORTLAND, OR. 173 1 JULY 1984 174 DEAR MR. MCKANE, 175 YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO I AM, AS YOUR HEN 176 CHMEN DIDN'T BOTHER TO ASK NAMES WHEN TH 177 EY THROUGH THE LEGAL TRICKERY OF MCKANES 178 STAFF ATTORNEYS GOT AWAY WITH TAKING AWA 179 Y FROM MY FAMILY AND I, THE RANCH THAT 180 HAD BEEN OUR FAMILYS HOME FOR MORE THAN 181 146 YEARS. YOU DIDN'T CARE THAT THE SHOC 182 K AND GRIEF KILLED MY WIFE, OR THAT YOUR 183 MEN STOLE MY CAR, BURNED MY BARN, KICKED 184 MY DOG, AND SMASHED MY COLLECTION OF DR. 185 PEPPER BOTTLES. WELL NOW, MR MCKANE, THE 186 TIME HAS COME TO PAY THE PIPER. 187 YOU ARE ABOUT TO REALIZE THE POWER ABOUT 188 TO BE UNLEASHED AGAINST YOU IS FAR GREAT 189 ER THAN ANYTHING IN YOUR ARSENALS OF ASS 190 ASSIDIOUSNESS. BEWARE, MR. MCKANE, FOR I 191 AM COMING FOR YOU, BUT NOT IN ANY WAY 192 THAT YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. YOU SEE I 193 CONTROL THAT WHICH YOU HAVE THE LEAST OF 194 YOU ARE GETTING OLD, MR. MCKANE, REMEMBE 195 R THAT. 196 The trees part overhead, as I continue my walk 197 through them. Branches wave in a slight breeze and the sun dips lower in 198 the sky. I continue down a gentle slope that finally ends in a shallow 199 depression. I remember a piece of advice, and I begin to follow the dep 200 follow the depression down. After an hour of walking, the ground 201 begins to get damp, and I hear a faint trickle of water. Continuing on 202 down, I walk into a small rivulet that springs from a rock wall. At last 203 a guide. I follow the rivulet as it begins to get bigger,and others join 204 it. Hours later, the sun has nearly set, and I hear the unmistakeable 205 sound of a creek. Coming upon it, I prepare to make my camp for the 206 night, and begin to think of my future. Alone, on an unknown planet, an 207 unknown time, and nothing except a broken JUmP generator. 208 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++000001TED+++++++++++++++ 209 LEROY MCKANE WAS SEATED AT HIS DESK, CONTEMPLATING THE LETTER HE HAD JUST RECIEV 210 ED. NORMALLY, MESSAGES SUCH AS THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED AS THE IDLE RAMBLI 211 NGS OF VARIOUS MALCONTENTS, THOSE ENVIOUS OF THE SYSTEM, THOSE WHO REFUSED TO BE 212 LIEVE IN MIRACLES, THOSE WHO DOUBTED THE BENEVOLENCE AND CHARITY OF THE ORGANIZA 213 TION---. THIS ONE, HOWEVER, WAS DIFFERENT. FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON, HIS EXECUTIV 214 SECRETARY HAD MADE A POINT OF HAND DELIVERING THIS PARTICULAR LETTER. FOR SOME 215 REASON LEROY MCKANE COULD NOT FATHOM, HE WAS AFRAID. "ME, LEROY MCKANE, AFRAID?" 216 HE THOUGHT, AS HE FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME RE-READ THE LETTER. IN HIS MIND, HE 217 STARTED TO MAKE PLANS. WE WILL DEAL WITH THIS ANONYMOUS THREAT AS WE HAVE DEALT, 218 SUCCESSFULLY, WITH ALL THE OTHERS, AND WHEN THE TRANS GUNS ARE READY, DESTROY 219 HIM. SEATED AT HIS MASSIVE DESK WITH THE SOPHISTICATED CONTROL PANEL, AND IT'S 220 CONCOMMITANT POWER, LEROY MCKANE ONCE AGAIN STARTED TO LAPSE INTO THE SMUG SECUR 221 ITY, THE PLUTOCRATIC INDIFERENCE THAT CHARACTERIZED HIS LIFE. "WHAT HAVE I TO BE 222 CONCERNED ABOUT?", HE MUSED; I'LL CRUSH THIS THREAT TO MY OMNIPOTENCE AS I HAVE 223 BEFORE. IT WAS THEN THAT HE LOOKED UP TO SEE A RATHER ORDINARY FIGURE STANDING 224 BEFORE HIM, ORDINARY, EXCEPT, PERHAPS, THAT THIS MAN WAS NONCHALANTLY MUNCHING 225 ON A SLICE OF PIZZA. "YOU-YOU-IT WAS YOU THAT SENT THIS LETER---WHO ARE YOU, 226 WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY PRIVATE OFFICE,-- HOW DID YOU GET HERE?MCKANE WAS VISIB 227 LY UPSET. THEN THE STRANGER SPOKE-" MR MCKANE, WHO I AM IS NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT 228 NOW. SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT I AM HERE, AND I CAN BE WHEREVER I WANT TO BE, WHENE 229 VER I CHOOSE. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT I CAN PLACE YOU ANYWHERE IN TIME THAT I WANT TO 230 IF I SO CHOOSE, I CAN PUT YOU WHERE YOU WERE THAT DAY AFTER YOU GRADUATED FROM 231 HIGH SCHOOL, THE PARTY, DO YOU REMEMBER? WHEN THE GIRL THAT YOU IMPREGNATED ASKE 232 YOU TO DO THE DECENT THING AND MARRY HER, AND YOU LAUGHED, AND TOLD HER ALL THOS 233 THINGS YOU TOLD HER, AND THEN TOOK HER OUT IN THE BOAT- DO YOU REMEMBER, MCKANE, 234 THE "UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT"-WHERETHAT INNOCENT TRUSTING YOUNG GIRL DIED AT YOUR 235 HAND? REMEMBER, MCKANE? 236 I CAN TAKE YOU BACK THERE, MCKANE. I CAN ARRANGE THINGS TO BE DIFFERENT. I CAN 237 CHANGE WHAT HAPPENED THAT LAZY SUMMER EVENING, AND YOU, YES YOU, "LEROY" CAN BE 238 THE ONE THE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT FOUND SNAGGED ON THE GRAPPLING HOOKS. HOW 239 WOULD YOU LIKE THAT, "MR" MCKANE? NOT TOO MUCH, I SUSPECT.YOU THINK ABOU THAT, " 240 "MR" MCKANE. I AM HERE TO GIVE YOU THE SAME CHANCE I WAS GIVEN MANY EONS AGO- TO 241 CHANGE YOUR WAYS. TO DISBAND THE ORGANIZATION, TO USE YOUR UNCOUNTED WEALTH TO 242 HELP PEOPLE, TO DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT. I TAKE MY LEAVE, BUT I WILL BE WATCH 243 ING YOU----. OH-BY THE WAY, I AM KNOWN BY MANY NAMES, BUT YOU MAY CALL ME LYSIAS 244 ............................................................................ 245 :*************************************************************: 246 McKane woke with a start. "What a terrible dream", he mumbled 247 to himself. "That's the last time I eat cold Geonelli pizza 248 before bed." Sliding behind his desk, turning on the console, 249 he began the days work. 250 :************************************************************: 251 ********** 252 * * 253 * (O) (O) * 254 * * 255 * ! ! * 256 * \ / * 257 * ------ * 258 * * 259 ********** 260 HAVE A NICE DAY 261 *** *** 262 * * * * 263 * * * 264 ****/---\**** 265 * | | * 266 ****\---/**** 267 * * * 268 * *|* * 269 *** | *** 270 | 271 | 272 | 273 | 274 | 275 /-\|/-\ 276 \ | / 277 \ | / 278 \|/ 279 ------------------ 280 it's supposed to be a 281 ** FLOWER ** 282 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 283 What a waste of space ! .........MiG whats a good time to call ? 284 ::::::::::::::Alex::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 285 ################################################################################ 286 I LIKED IT, SORT OF ANYWAY. AT LEAST IT WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. - MAX 287 ################################################################################ 288 jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 289 BW seems to be in chaos. The Innhabitants are banding into different 290 sides. Let's try not to bicker. No more criticism. I would like to state 291 that all the messages putting down fantasy are coming from one terminal. 292 jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 293 The Ninja didn't sit staring for very long. Someone of to the side in 294 some bushes beckoned him. It was one of his old masters from the temple! 295 The Ninja followed the ancient one back to into the covering of the 296 shrubbery. The old man's eyes were glazed blue, yet he moved with 297 familiarity through his sorroundings. He grabbed the Ninja's shoulder and 298 hissed into his ear. 299 "No time for greetings. You are to head to the airport and catch 300 a waiting plane. It will be red with a blue pinstripe. It will take you 301 to tibet where you will escort a hostage. More instructions will be given 302 there. 303 The Ninja 304 jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 305 ------------------------------------------- 306 Forsyth here, I would have expected those insults to be a little more insulting 307 comming from such intelegent folks that you thing you are. To insult everyone 308 back would result in a futile effort, there is so much to be said and such 309 little space to say it in(629 lines I think) on this board. By the way, it is 310 rather fun to read all these messages aimed at me, they are quite the fun. 311 Oh, ninja I hope that the small message above yours isn't from you. Well, 312 got to run and get insulted somewhere else. 313 Mark Forsyth. 314 -------------------------------------------- 315 316 ? ? ? ?P? ? ? ? ?` ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?G?B?W? T? ? ? ?$? ? X ? ? ?/? ? ? 317 Alex:before dark tonight or wednessday. 318 \he Man in Gray 319 ? ? ? ? ? ?`_ ?E\dH? & I ? E ?T ?p? ? ? ?W&? Q U(? ? DGHhw@q? ? 320 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?/ 321 What is this? I leave for a good 3 hours to eat, change modems and BS with 322 Michael and nothing has happened! must be a full moon, or the dreded CON! 323 Mark:I would call youand insult you verbaly, but you are LD and I will not 324 325 be bothered with fireing up the Nerd-Net for such drivle.Perhaps you would 326 attened the next PorSFiS meeting? (snicker) 327 MiG 328 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?/ 329 ----------------------------------------- 330 Why in the name of anybody should I go to a meeting with you guys. 331 You should have had it this last saturday as planned at 2:00 in your 332 favoite library(MCL), I would have went. No, you probibly would have 333 tried to convert me into a boy george fan member like your self. NO, 334 no thanks, that can be your own fantasy. 335 Come to think of it, if informed, I WILL come to your next meeting if 336 I'm up to it when ever it is, but I still can't think of what there 337 is for you guys talk about??? Probibly what person you'll try to crash 338 next time. Must not tie up time. Mark Forsyth. 339 ----------------------------------------- 340 ( 341 342 *** *** ********* *** 343 *** *** *** *** 344 *** *** *** *** 345 ********* *** *** 346 *** *** *** *** 347 *** *** *** 348 *** *** ********* *** 349 From a friendly persoality.. 350 (Snicker) 351 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*TTTTTTTTTTT*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 352 TO ALL CONCERNED: HAS MCKANE IN HIS INFINITE PARANOIA STRUCK AT WIZARD CON? 353 THOSE PREASENT KNOW OF THE OTHERWISE UNEXPLICABLE EVENTS TO WHICH I REFUR. 354 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 355 THEMNAX, DREAMTOUCHER, SNOWRUNNER, SLARTIBARTFARST, EACH IN THERE 356 SEPERATE PLACES LOOK UP SUDDENLY THEN ASSUME STANCES COMPFORTABLE FOR EACH 357 TO HOLD FOR 358 SEVERAL MOMENTS. SYMULTAINOUSLY THEY ALL GRADUALY FAID, LEAVING NO TRACE 359 BUT MEMORY AND THE STARTLED LOOKS OF THE FEW WHO MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO 360 GLIMPS THIS HAPPINING. WERE THEY HAVE GONE, NO ONE KNOWS. NEITHER WHEN 361 OR IF ANY OR ALL MIGHT RETURN. THE GREAT DEIUX EX MECHINA; H.U.B (1) KNOWS 362 BUT ISN'T SAYING. IT'S BEEN FUN. ONE OR MORE OF ME WILL PROBABLY RETURN 363 SOONER OR LATER. FOR NOW; WE PHASE OFF INTO NON-EXISTANCE. 364 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 365 ONE MINOR POINT OF DISSAGREEMENT WITH HARLIN'S LITTLE TALK. 366 SHORTNESS IS NOT(!!!!!) A PHYSICAL DEFORMITY!! I LIKE(!) BEING SHORT. 367 IF IT WERE UP TO ME; I WOULD BE EVEN SHORTER THAN I AM NOW. 368 OTHER THAN THAT; WHAT HE SEEMED TO BE SAYING IS EQUALY APPLICABLE IN A GREAT 369 MANY CONTEXTS, THIS PLACE INCLUDED. ON THE OTHER HAND; NEGATIVE FOCUS DOES SEEM 370 TO ATTRACT THE NEGATIVE. 371 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 372 THIS IS NOT ORIGEONAL BUT, I THINK, A GEM: 373 NEGATIVE DRAGON AND POSITIVE DRAGON FIGHT OVER THE PEARL OF WISDOM; WHICH 374 ONE WINS? 375 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 376 Thank you very much for tying up the lines for an hour ther. 377 How about you guys start up a Writers Guild or something, some of these 378 stories are great!!! 379 380 381 * . . * 382 * * * . 383 . . . . 384 385 this code is easy, even a blind man could read it! 386 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 387 'All the trouble I go through in putting all those bugs and booby-traps 388 in L'Homme's room, and this "Joshua" doesn't even have the common courtesy 389 to leave them where they were. He had to go and disarm them and rewire them.' 390 thought the man known only as "The Professor". I mean after all the money that 391 I'm getting payed by this Sundownor person, and they wont even allow me to bug 392 their rooms. The Professor thought for a moment more and said to himself 'At 393 least Joshua didn't find the ones that I left in his room. Well, I'll be happy 394 once I "knock off" L'Homme.. When I get that done, I'll be $500,000 bucks 395 richer!!!! Well, back to work.....' 396 397 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" The Professor """"""""""""""""""""""" 398 399 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Heroes +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 400 I've been thinking about heroes. What is it that makes a person a hero? Why is this person the star of the story 401 and not this person? For instance, why is it Luke Skywalker is the hero of 'Star Wars', and not Darth Vader? 402 After all, he's in a rebellion against the lawfully constituted government of the galaxy. He's a renowned terrorist!! 403 Darth Vader is the one who's continually demonstrating his loyalty to the Emporer. I mean, with just a little 404 shift in emphasis, 'Star Wars' could be a whole differenyt story, couldn't it? 405 If 'Star Trek' were about the Klingon Empire instead of the Federation, we would be seeing stories about good 406 Captain Koloth going out to confront that intergalactic war criminal, James T. Kirk and his nefarious side-kick 407 Spock. (Remember the time they infested a Klingon Battlecruiser with disease carrying vermin--those furry little 408 parasites? Yuck!!!) 409 It's the writer's oldest problem. How do you know who the hero is? Who is the story about?? 410 The late James Blish used to have a very simple test to determine who the hero was when he was writing a story. 411 Afterr you've set up the situation, ask yourself, "Who does it hurt?" 412 That's the hero. 413 Except that definition is insufficient. It's a good place to start. It's a little trick for getting into the 414 heart of a story, but it doesn't answer the question in depth. Let's try again. 415 Most writers will tell you that the hero is a person who has to solve the problem. That's pretty good, too. 416 A hero is a person with a problem. That definition only includes 4.6 billion members of the human race. 417 There isn't a person on this planet who hasn't got a problem to solve. It's true!!! You handle those things you can 418 handle. Those things that you can't handle, persist. You're stuck with those situations. You try to change them. 419 You put up with them. You can call them names. You call them problems. That's the word we use to identify things 420 we can't handle and that annoy us enough to make us conscious of them. 421 Sooner or later, everyone comes up against the thing they think they can't handle. That's their problem. 422 Everybody has a problem. (If you don't believe me, ask around. People are only too glad to talk about their 423 problems!) So, if the hero is the person with the problem, then we're living on a planet full of heroes. We've got 424 4.6 billion people with problems. 425 And every single one of us is a hero. Right?? Aren't you the hero of your own life? Aren't you the star of 426 your own movie? The writer of your own script? 427 Think about what I've said...To be continued later. There's a lot more left to say by me!!!!!!! 428 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Logan... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 429 430 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 431 I'm sort of back!!!!! Who, may I ask , is the guy who wrote all that??? 432 That was one of the most interesting things that I've seen around here, since 433 the 'Juvies' took over for that brief period of time. 434 I think that I've figured out what's going on. The McKane Organization 435 is trying to take over, huh? Well, I'll try to figure my way into this story 436 somehow...I see by the old clock n on the wall that it's 10:45pm. See everyone 437 at a later date. (Namely, it won't be so late at night.) 438 439 ?????????????????????????????????????????? The Doctor ?????????????????????????? 440 FORSYTHE: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE SUN 441 DAY TRADERS "OTHER SIDE"? TRY IT, YOU 442 LIKE IT. (HINT) 443 *)#@%)#&%)!&$@#^)#&$)^%)^*_!^&*_!#*&)_*%^$)&*_&_@$%*&_*@$%&_*$^_*&_*^%_*&_#*& 444 As L'homme opened the now safe envelope, and removed its contents, he 445 remarked to Joshua about his surprise on the non secrecy of his mission. 446 "I just don't understand it. How could he now I was coming. I mean I just came 447 from another reality, and not even McKane has connections in Amber. Zelazney 448 would not permit it. If I suddenly pop out of nowhere into this reality, and 449 my only contact with anyone here is over a heavily coded network, than how 450 could McKane find out. Unless...unless he has a mole in the Network. That's 451 got to be it! There's no other way. We had better contact Ian and let him 452 know about our suspicions." 453 "I agress", replied Joshua. "I will contact him with your coding device. Why 454 don't you read your note." 455 The paper revealed typical McKane prose. I read it aloud to Joshua. 456 457 M. L'homme sans parity, 458 Welcome to Oklahoma city. A more beautiful city 459 you will not find. 460 But your coming here was a mistake, and you will 461 soon find yourself in a bind. 462 My organization is powerful and great. 463 You don't realize what's at stake. 464 Leave now, and never return, 465 Otherwise I assure you you will burn. 466 You must learn not to mess with McKane, 467 Because when I get mad, I inflict great pain. 468 469 Yours, 470 Leroy McKane 471 472 "What a note!", exclaimed Joshua. 473 "I agress, but he needs to take a few poetry seminars. Go ahead and contact 474 Ian, while I change out of my driving clothes. Then we can hit the street 475 and go looking for McKane." 476 "I hope when you say 'hit the street', you mean under our own power, and not 477 the end of a flight from the 14th floor.", quipped Joshua. 478 "Of course...now if you will excuse me." I grabbed my suitcase, and went in 479 to the bathroom. There were the glasses in their protective packaging, and 480 my favorite, the toilet seat seal. "I feel so safe now. It's just like 481 that commercial on Saturday Night Live a few years ago." 482 I could hear Joshua through the hollow wooden door talking to Ian on the code 483 phone. I hurried with my changing so I could get a chance to talk to Ian 484 before Joshua finished. I wasn't too much into 27 digit access codes, and 485 I thought I would use Joshua's connect. Just as I finished dressing, I 486 started to detect a stange sound in the room. Where was it coming from? 487 Wait! Its...Its...Its coming from the sanatized, clensed, protected, sealed- 488 for-your-protection toilet! What could it be now??? 489 *$)#@*$)#@*$ L'homme sans parity. Ecuoter un bruit de etrange!!! *)*$#%)#$*%)#$ 490 jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 491 The Ninja rushed on to the waiting plane. At least he could relax on 492 the flight to Tibet. He kicked back as the plane took off. 493 After the plane took off, another plane could be seen in the 494 background. This one had a blue pinstripe. 495 The Ninja 496 jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 497 BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB 498 Logan: In reference to your entry about Heroes, I whole- 499 heartedly disagree with a few of your statements. First of all, the Empire 500 was not a "lawfully constituted government". That would be like calling 501 Hitler's Germany a run-of-the-mill government with the travesties it 502 commited just exercising its rights of expansion by slaughtering helpless 503 peoples. Now I would like to take just a moment to voice my opinion 504 on your pseudo-Freudian analysis of the greatest series in the annals 505 of Science Fiction - STAR TREK. First of all this world needs more "good" 506 heroes like Captain Koloth. I for one do not have a great desire to use 507 a man (if a Klingon can be called a man) that states his Prime Directive 508 as being the -and I quote- "complete and total annihilation of all those 509 who stand in my way" as a role model for my children. Admiral James Tiberius 510 Kirk (Serial # SC-937-0176-CEC) can hardly be considered an "intergalactic 511 war criminal". As for the Battlecruiser incident, I assume that you are 512 refering to "The Troubles With Tribbles" in which harmless Tribbles were 513 beamed aboard the Klingon vessel. Tribbles did nothing but eat and reproduce 514 so they can hardly be considered parasites.Besides, Scotty is the Nipper 515 that beamed the critters into the Klingon ship not Kirk or Spock.Also, 516 latest tallies indicates that current global population has exceeded 5 517 billion people. 518 519 Logically Yours, 520 521 Spock 522 523 524 BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB 525 526 SEEMS THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF FRUSTRATED TYPISTS IN THE WORLD AND THEY EACH 527 COME ON THIS BBS AND WORK THEIR FINGERS TO THE BONE ENTERING LETTERS AND 528 LETTERS BUT NO WORDS. WHY IS THAT? 529 530 BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOOB BOB BOB BOB 531 And now for a little ditty that the apprentice brought back from the 532 con.. 533 S-100 (words: Frank Hayes, music: "Bonny Ship the Diamond") 534 When I was young, my friends all worked to get their share 535 Of an S-100 system like the Imsai or Altair 536 Well, the S-100's still around, I'm very glad to say, 537 But friends, I'm here to tell you: it ain't the same today. 538 Chorus:And it's cheer up, me lads - let your hearts never fuss 539 When you're integrating systems for the S-100 buss. 540 To tell the truth, the source of all our troubles seems to be 541 A committee on omputers of the I-of-triple-E 542 They settled on a standard spec - 696 by name - 543 Now everything is standardized, but nothing works the same. 544 CHORUS 545 They said, "The 80 boards are way too slow - it's enough to give you fits - 546 If the '09 isn't fast enough then go to 16 bits - 547 68- and Z8000, and an '86 as well -" 548 And code compatibility goes straight to bloody hell! 549 CHORUS 550 Add a board for the modem line, and one for every port, 551 And a printer board, and a keyboard board, and as a last resort, 552 For every problem, we will add a board that has the cure - 553 It's not too damned efficient, but it's a mother, that's for sure! 554 CHORUS 555 And when it's all assembled, there's computer to your collar - 556 It's nice to have a micro, but a mainframe would be smaller. 557 And when you turn the power on, it's sure to dim the lamps, 558 At plus- and minus-16 volts, and 1400 amps. 559 CHORUS 560 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 561 The bard wishes to extend his apologies to anyone who may have missed 562 him recently. He is in the final stages of recovery from a bout of 563 "the crud" (don't know what it is & wish I didn't know what FELT like either!). 564 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BARD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 565 RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY 566 TAKE A MEMO 567 ready 568 TO ALL NET BRANCHES 569 SUBJECT: COVERT OPERATIONS 570 IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT SOME OF OUR AGENTS HAVE BEEN 571 COMPROMISED. AT PRESENT IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE MOST LIKELY EXPLANATION 572 IS THAT THE NET UNITS FORGOT TO TAKE PROPER PRECAUTIONS TO 573 PREVENT ROOM RESERVATIONS FOR THE AGENTS IN QUESTION FROM BEING 574 TRACED BACK TO US. 575 sir, i must protest such insinuations! we beta-5 units never make 576 mistakes! 577 WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO REVIEW THE LIST? 578 ENOUGH OF THIS! RESUME THE MEMO OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REPLACED WITH 579 A C-64? 580 ...resuming dictation mode... 581 HOWEVER, THERE IS STILL A CHANCE OF A SLEEPER AGENT. KEEP YOUR 582 GUARD UP! 583 PUT ON THE STANDARD SIGNATURE BLOCK AND TRANSMIT. 584 yes, sir. 585 sir? you didn't *really* mean that about the c-64 did you? 586 MESS UP AGAIN AND YOU'LL FIND OUT IF I MEANT IT! 587 RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY 588 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?`~ ? ~ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?/ 589 Hay Mark!:I think Ii would like to talk to you,be home tonight. 590 Riskers:Sat 14th around 7-8ish. I will be calling with directions for all 591 who are`going(last count,myself,voyeur,L'homme Sans Parity,Fast Fred,Whisper) 592 Whisper,I have no way to contact you right now so if you would leave your name 593 on PCS/CBBS 775-xxxx I will send some private mail bagk with the directions. 594 All:my beloved 212a has bit it. My greef is great, but not as bal as that of 595 txe poor unfortunants w ho have to read what my acustic does! 596 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? t ? Z? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?D?C? ? ? ?%V%?/? ? ? ? ? ? > ? ? ? ?/ 597 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 598 599 The 14th it is....... 600 Color reservations being taken now. 601 Myself....Red...not in the bloodthirsty sense...( heh,heh ) 602 Players- MiG, Voyeur, L'homme, Whisper and a computer illiterate friend of 603 mine who has an unsavory taste for carnage.... 604 Observers- so far, Fast Fred ...Perhaps there was another ? 605 606 ......Green just got taken as well..... 607 608 :::::::::Alex:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 609 ----------------------------------- 610 MIG: Don't bother even calling tonight, this week, or any time at all. 611 612 Sunday traders??? I haven't heard of such a group, maybe you could fill me in. 613 614 I liked the message about the Hero's, very ponderuos indeed. Hope to see 615 more work like that around, not that I have a say in the matter??? 616 ----------------------------------- 617 jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 618 Alex: I would like to watch. I live in Cedar Mill and I believe you said you 619 were playing in Beaverton. 620 The Ninja 621 jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 622 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::O O::::::::::::::::::O O::::::::::::::::: 623 ALEX: voyeur confirms the date. 624 RISKERS: I know that at least three of us live on the East side. 625 Perhaps a car pool could be considered? 626 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::O O:::::::voyeur::::::::O O::::::::::::: 627 This is a test, if this is here after I put it on, CALL THE PRESS!!! mike didn't delete this message like all the rest. 628 WE AE THE LADIES THAT REX WANTS TO TALK TO. LEAVE A MESSAGE HERE FOR M&M. 629 ---<(MSD-PS:::::(206) 695-xxxx)>-------- >