Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The City's True Name 10; Surf the Sky



            Surf The Sky


            After awhile Sogwa stretched and rose to her feet. She had places to go and people to meet. But first, she had to check the Web.
            She held up a paw and said, “Access web.” One claw on her paw gleamed bright; she whipped her paw around in a circle; this left behind a glowing circle in the air, which flickered one, twice, then blazed blue. The portal sounded a chime, and it said,
            “Welcome to the Web.”
            Sogwa clicked on link after link. The Web was working again, she was surfing again, the biggest library in the world was at her fingertips again. It was like coming home.
            In just a few minutes, Sogwa found these headlines:

                        Gop in custody at St. Helena Penitentiary.
                        Gop  impeached  for attempted arson, other charges to follow
                        Bomb expert calls bandolier ‘a joke’
                        Dissidents released, allege torture
                        Senate and House call for Constitutional Convention
                        Garbage strike ends - Union victory
                        Akasic Library reopens
                        Common cold cure confirmed
                        Chicago Cubs win World Series!

            She also found live pictures of Earth from space; also photos of canyons on Mars and methane rivers on Titan.
            Next she found a news clip. It was a video of Gop doing the perp walk past a jeering crowd. He was dressed  in an orange jumpsuit.

            Sogwa checked the blogs.  Miss Liberty’s blog made an interesting point. Libby wrote;
            “Remember how, at the end, he said he’ll ‘philosophize with a hammer’? Well, how do you do that? Simple; just approach some idol, tap it very gently with that hammer, and listen to the sound. Toonk! You hear that?  It’s hollow!”
            Sogwa clicked on Comments, but everybody there was talking about her, so to be cool about it, she said nothing.
           
            Then she clicked on psi-mail. “Two psi-mails for you,” the Web told her. “First message title: Make Money At Home By Selling SPAM!”
            Sogwa said, “Delete!”
            “Message deleted. Second message title: Hey, it’s me, Mischief.”
            Sogwa’s heart went pit-a-pat. She said, “Play!”
                                                                                   

            Mischief’s psi-mail went:

            Dear sweet Sogwa:
            Did I mention how cool you are? Sorry I forgot to, in all the confusion, but still... dissing the old fraud, right to his face? Like, wow.
            Yeah, I did my part too. But it turns out that only three of the bombs in that bandolier were ours, the other twenty had been corrupted by other people! Couldn’t Gop do anything right? Not even his hell-bombs worked!
            I hear you’re going topside. Give my regards to the kid. As for me, I’ll hang out down here. Look me up tomorrow night, we’ll go places, do stuff, it’ll be fun.
            You’re fun. Smart and cute too.
            See you later, love Mischief

            Sogwa clicked on Reply, and she composed this psi-mail:

            Dear sweet Mischief:
            How modest you are. You corrupted “only” three of his hell-bombs? As for the other twenty, LOL. Looks like the whole town had gotten sick of Gop!
            Notice that Chaim didn’t sound the alarm? We were saved, but not by kings! Just people, just us, just citizens of the republic of the sky, just doing the right thing.
            Like you.
            So when I come back, why yes of course I’ll look you up, my brave and clever, best worst bad-boy boyfriend!
            XOXOXOX
            love, Sogwa

            Sogwa clicked on Send. Off went the psi-mail; and from far away echoed the sound of Sogwa’s parents hollering,
            “Ohhhh Noooo...”

            Sogwa told herself, “All right, enough fun, now to business.” She clicked on Users, then References, then Address Book. She asked the Address Book about Grandma Marge.
            It said, “Grandma Marge may be found at Plot Number 10782 / 2,  in Mount Auburn.”
            Sogwa clicked on System, then Tools, then Damons, then Clock Damon.
            The portal opened halfway; from within glittered brass gears, whirling and clattering. The Clock Damon said, “State your destination.”
            Sogwa said, “Plot Number 10782 / 2,  in Mount Auburn.”
            The portal opened all the way, Sogwa stepped through, and it sealed shut behind her.


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