From: Dinosorceror To: Lava Dome IV Mailing List Subject: (LD4) Story -- Selective Amnesia, Part One Date: Sunday, June 21, 1998 11:35 PM Lava Dome IV Selective Amnesia, Part One 06-22-98 IN THE BEGINNING... Well, in the middle, really. As some of you may recall, realities were mashed and stuff. The Dinosorceror, along with Helvetica Bold and Astor, merged a couple of nearby dimensions in an effort to escape the influence of the Patriarch, a former Dinosorceror who vows to end the meddling of all Dinosorcerors in universal affairs. In doing so, however, the trio discovered that their new existences had pasts they were now completely unaware of. The discovery of their own history had been, for the most part, a rather harmless pursuit. Astor discovered he was a policeman with an impressive record. Helvetica discovered he was the heir to a by-product magnate. The Dinosorceror thought he was settling into a rather mundane and peaceful life at their bed and breakfast, but as the reader is about to learn, so too will the Dinosorceror discover that it's rather hard to evade destiny. ACT I "Is this it? Is this really it?" Dino was sitting in the lounge of the Lava Dome IV Bed and Breakfast and Rock Shop with Helvetica, taking an occasional swig from a SoBe and scratching his thigh. They were reviewing applications submitted for the position of maintenance engineer. Helvetica nodded. "Yeah, that's all we got. Well, it's not like it's a glamorous job or anything." Dino shuffed the applications around a little. "Since there's such slim pickin's, let's just interview the guy with the most experience and see if he looks good." Helvetica agreed. Yawning as he reviewed, Dino did a double-take as he saw the last application was from Khith. "Hey, I know this guy? Remember Khith? It's hard to keep track, but I think he was hired by the Patriarch or ConHugeCo or something to attack us...got real big, of course. Remember, Foofs?" Helvetica yawned too, and nodded. "A-yup. You're a magnet for types like that." Dino raised an eyeridge, then peered over the application. "Well, in the new merged universe thingy, it seems Khith went to Serpentis Vo-Tech and got a degree or whatever in climate control engineering. He's got some knowledge of computers, too. He sounds pretty harmless, and he's more qualified than these other losers." He grabbed a cell phone from his belt. "I'll give him a call." "No need to," Khith said as he walked into the lounge. Dino and Helvetica both kinda looked at him for a few minutes...Dino starting at the bottom, of course. He didn't appear too different from the last time they encountered him, except he wasn't five hundred feet tall or anything. "So, you were just hanging around LD4 for two days or what?" Helvetica asked. Khith looked down at his tool belt, fidgeting with a few devices. "No, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd present myself in person for your consideration." Dino blinked a few times to break the claw-gaze. "Der...ah, sure. Well, have a seat there, Khithy." Khith gave the parasaur a dry gaze, then sat on the opposite side of the table, smiling to the few guests who were also relaxing in the lounge. "I don't believe in long interviews, because we see what you're capable of from your resume, Khith. Just a few quick questions. Are you evil?" Dino asked as Helvetica looked incredulously at him. Khith didn't blink or flinch. "Nope." "Have you ever heard of ConHugeCo?" "Nope." "Are you now or have you ever been a part of the Patrick Arch Fan Club?" "Never heard of it." Dino looked over at Helvetica's gawk. "Well, he's fine by me. Do you have any questions yourself, Foofs?" A cricket chirped to respond for the speechless Helvetica. "Fine then. Welcome aboard, Khith." Dino stood and extended a clawhand to shake Khith's. "Hey, nice grip you got there! Well, of course, you're a robot." Khith's eyes widened, and Helvetica finally broke the silence by chuckling. "What, you think I didn't know? Having experience in other dimensions gives you a world of knowledge, roboboy. But don't worry, only me, Foofs and Astor know. Just don't suck down all the motor oil, I need it for my new car," Dino replied. He patted Khith on the back, listening for the sound of servos briefly, and then walked out of the lobby. Khith stared, agape at Helvetica as he stood as well. "Like the weesaur says, welcome aboard. You can start by fixing that fritzy dryer in the basement. Your quarters will be in the basement, too. C'mon, I'll show you the way." After Khith was sure he was alone in his basement apartment, he activated the communicator circuitry on his right forearm. Lights just under his synthetic scales illuminated a control panel. "Khith to command." There was a hiss of static for a few moments, but then a deep voice responded on a very poor connection. "I am in place at Lava Dome IV, but..." "But what?" the voice demanded. "Sir, he knows I'm synthetic." "That is to be expected. Continue with your commands." "But, sir..." "BUT NOTHING. You belong to me now." With those words, the channel was closed, and the lights dimmed on Khith's forearm. ACT II The shifty-eyed coelosaur stepped up to the front desk. "I'd like to rent a room," he hissed. "Certainly. Will that be a single then?" Jenn asked, bright and cheery amongst her display of quartz. "I'd also like to see...Dino," he hissed, a bit softer. Jenn cocked her head. "Well, sure but...just a single then?" The coelosaur nodded rapidly, and placed some money onto the counter. A few moments later, Dino walked past the front desk, wiping off his muzzle with a towel and grumbling. "I swear...when the hell is that Cera going to run out of money? She's been here for like friggin' ever..." Jenn looked up at him briefly, and remarked, "Oh, yeah...you really hate your job, don't you Dino?" She chuckled softly as Dino gave her a wise-ass look. The coelosaur stiffened momentarily, then quickly scurried into Dino's path. Staring at him wide-eyed, he asked, "Are you...Dino?" Dino licked his lips a bit, looking slightly annoyed as he came to a halt. "Yeah, I am...but I'm not taking any more appointments today." The coelosaur looked around rapidly and nervously. "I...my name is Khord." He guided Dino over to a corner of the lobby as Jenn looked on with a puzzled expression. Khord whispered, "I have been sent by Krahnos to retrieve you. There is another emergency in the realm of giants which requires your attention. You were the only one who could help before, and the citizens need you once more to prevent a terrible war." Dino skritched his chin. "Um, before? Well, see...um...maybe I should have a little talk with your...Krahnos. See, I'm having a hard time remembering stuff, and..." Khord started giving Dino the dreaded Precious Moments(tm) looks, and he caved rather quickly. "Okay, okay. I can at least hear him out...see what I can do." Khord bowed his head quickly, as coelosaurs are apt to do. "You will make Krahnos very happy," he smiled toothily. "If he has claws, the feeling will be mutual. Hey, honey?" Dino called over to Jenn. "Yes, dear?" "Forget the room for this guy. We're leaving to some place, and I'll be back in a little while, 'kay?" Dino said, tilting his head at a painful angle. "Whatever. Just get milk while you're out." Dino was led out the door by the very eager and very hyper Khord, as Khith came up to the front desk in his overalls, holding an electronic device of some kind. Jenn relaxed, and placed her arms at her side. "Excellent," Khith sneered. "That claw-sucker didn't notice the difference! My Great Lord will be most pleased. The only one left to duplicate now is Astor. One by one, I've subdued them all! And once Astor's been restrained, I will have complete control over the operation of Lava Dome Four!" Dino tapped Khith on the shoulder. "Yeah, well...Jenn's the one with the bondage fetish, not Astor. At least, not that I know of. Do you know where I left my canteen?" Khith would've coughed up a lung, if he had one. "H...how long have you been there?" he stammered. Dino went around behind the front desk by the idling robo-Jenn, looking for his canteen. "Oh...long enough to hear how you want to tie everyone up for your sexual fantasies. Ah...here it is. Well, just be careful with Jenn's toes, they're very sharp. And will you get the two pterodactyls out of the water tank on the roof, Khith? They should be about done by now." With that, Dino trotted out of the lobby as Khith collapsed with relief on the desk. ACT III "So, where does this Krahnos guy live?" Dino said, driving south along Alyeska's Parks Highway out of Faibanx. Khord looked puzzled at Dino for a moment, then smiled. "Ah, I see...you're testing me." Dino nodded. "Oh, absolutely." "Krahnos lives in the Temple of Time, of course, atop Denali." Dino coughed and hacked. "Denali? You mean, Mount McKinley? The tallest mountain on the continent?" Khord smiled. "Yep, accessible only by Dragon." Dino tried his best to keep the car on the road as his eye began to twitch. "And I...s'pose these Dragons are very large, right?" Khord gazed at the road. "Well, not to you, of course." Dino eased a bit, gripping the wheel. "I believe F'lar is the current courier there. He's only a few hundred feet long, but his claws should be big enough to please keep the car on the road Dino...DINO!" Khord grabbed at the wheel, yanking it from Dino's trembling claws. "Have I mentioned to you that I like big things?" Dino stammered. After a few hours of driving, Dino learned from Khord that Krahnos had become the first Priest of the Temple of Time because of some wonderful encounter that he couldn't get Khord to elaborate on, because it seems no one but Dino and Krahnos were supposed to know of the great "event" that created a peace between smaller scalies and furs and the giant ones, namely Dragons. Dino gratefully pulled off to the side of the road as it ended in a rather large Visitor's Center. Looming above them like a mountain was a mountain...Denali. Dino could just see a structure perched at its top. Strange...there was this huge parking lot, but not a single car there. "Man, am I glad we're here, because I have to pee in the worst way," Dino said as he unlocked his door. Khord held his right arm. "I wouldn't get out just now if I were you." Dino blinked at Khord a few times. "But I REALLY gotta g--" The sky darkened, and the sound of an odd rhythmic thunder shook Dino's little blue car. Dino was about to speak again when a rapid series of four THOOMS! nearly cracked the glass around him. Khord commented as huge talons surrounded the car. "Ah, yes...it is F'lar. I thought so." Dino held his breath as the car lurched into the air, pinning him to his seat. He barely overcame the G-force enough to press the button to open the sunroof. All he could see was scales, and lots of them. The minute it took F'lar to carry Dino's vehicle up to the Temple was probably one of the longest in his life. As the car was gently placed back on his tires, Dino was too paralyzed to look up through the sunroof to see the giant Dragon fly away. Khord had to smack his arm a few times to get him back to reality, and he calmly got out of the vehicle and stepped into the chill air at the top of the mountain. Khord asked, "There's a bathroom just inside the temple there, Dino." Dino opened the glass of the sunroof, and rolled down the driver's side window before closing the door. "Nevermind." Khord walked over. "But I thought you had to--" "Nevermind." Dino was amazed at the complexity of the Temple. It had spires upon spires of obsidian stone, and the interior was no less grand. The Great Hall inside was lit by glowing stones along the walls, giving the interior an almost abstract look and feel. A low chanting could be heard in the distance. A small bipedal Dragon only marginally taller than Dino walked up and hugged him. "It has been too long, my friend. I have not seen or heard from you in months!" Dino blinked a few times, and reciprocated the hug after a moment. "Um...yeah, I've been...busy. Who are you?" The Dragon chuckled. "I see you're still the jester. Come, let us have tea." The Dragon turned and led Dino and Khord into a rather large antechamber. Dino whispered to Khord, "Who is he?" Khord rolled his eyes. "Oh, c'mon...even I have my limits. Give it a rest." Dino smirked, and turned to the Dragon, who was just pouring some hot water into gray stone cups. "I know you like Lipton, Dino, but I'm afraid Darjeeling will have to do," the Dragon mused. "Oh, yeah...sure," Dino said, utterly confused as he picked up the cup. The Dragon sat in a stone chair, motioning for them to do the same. "So what has occupied your time so much to keep you from chatting with your old friend Krahnos?" the Dragon asked. Dino sneered briefly at Khord, flicking hot tea on Khord's muzzle. "Thanks, you turd!" he whispered sharply, then turned to Krahnos. "Oh, well...y'know...the whole bed and breakfast thing...really eats up your time, er...Krahnos!" Dino said cheerfully. Krahnos eyed Dino for a minute, then looked at Khord. "You may leave us. Thank you, Khord." Khord bowed and left the chamber, closing the heavy stone door behind him. Krahnos put his cup down on the table and stared levelly at Dino. "You are not the Dino I know." Dino skritched his neck. "Oh...oh, really?" "You will tell me what happened or you will surely..." Dino finished Krahnos' sentence for him. "Yeah, surely rue the day and get pain and torture and stuff. Well, get this, Krahnos..." It took Dino only eighty-three seconds to explain his whole life story and the merging of universes thing, of which he spent twenty seconds talking about how pitiful it was that it was so short. When he was done, Krahnos took a breath, and tapped his talons on his teacup. "Well, these Dinosorcerors sound like an interesting bunch." "I just hope I've seen the last of the Patriarch. He really curdled my cheese," Dino stated. "Well, let me tell you a little something about the Dino I knew. When you were but a teenager, just out of high school, I sought you out. I had heard of the Lens device you had discovered, and I took it upon myself to train you. Mind you, you were not a willing subject at first." "A willing subject in...what?" Dino asked. "Giants. The larger, and generally scalier, inhabitants of our world. For years, we had enjoyed a benevolent, ignorant peace between our two sub-worlds. Yet our scholars knew that the Giants would not tolerate our presence indefinitely unless we began communicating with one another, instead of being blissfully ignorant." "And how does this involve me?" Dino asked, drinking his tea and making faces afterwards. "You were a unique find. Here we had someone who was fascinated by the prospect of being near the inhabitants of the Giant Realm. Very fascinated, to the point of obsession. In fact, I remember one exercise when you ran right under--" "Yeah, yeah, okay...we all know what that was, just get to the point." Krahnos chuckled. "Well, to make a long story short, you were the first to make true contact with the representative from the Giant Realm, the Great Palanth." Dino perked. "Palanth? Oh, yeah, I know him well. Er, I mean...well...I did back before I merged universes and junk. Who is he here?" Krahnos chuckled again. "He's none other than the northern representative for the Giant Realm, the most respected of his clan. It was no easy task, however." "It never seems to be. What happened?" "Well, a meeting was set up between you and Palanth. And...well, you met him." "But...what _happened?_" Dino asked more emphatically. Krahnos sat back in his chair. "Well, I'm afraid...you were the only one who knew that." "Oh, this I don't like," Dino jeered. "Well, wait a minute...I mean, it's done, right? I made nice with the Great Palanth, and now all's peachy. Where's the problem?" "The problem, Dinosorceror, is that your services are required again. A representative from the southernmost area of the Giant Realm has arrived, and she wishes to meet with you and only you. One can only assume that she wishes to receive the same reception you gave Palanth." Dino took a swig and finished off his tea, exhaling. "Please tell me I kept a diary or something around." Krahnos chuckled. "I wouldn't be too concerned. You are, as you said, the great Dinosorceror. Whatever you did to Palanth, I'm sure it will come naturally to you." "Unless it's cleaning her claws, I doubt it. Who is this lady, anyway?" "Her name is Morguese," Krahnos replied. Dino shook his head. "Never heard of her. How big?" Krahnos finished his tea. "No one can say." "Wunderbar. So, anyway...your lackey there was saying that I was responsible for the building of this Temple. How the hell did that happen?" Krahnos chuckled, standing and stretching. "Well, the Temple of Time was created after your meeting with the Great Palanth to act as an interface point between the two worlds." "So, I didn't actually build anything?" Krahnos smirked. "Follow me." Krahnos led him to a large open courtyard in the center of the Temple. It was dominated by two granite statues. One was of a parasaur that somewhat resembled Dino, the other of a clawfoot about sixty feet long. "Oh, yeah...I can see my influence here," Dino said. "So when do I get to meet this Morguese?" Dino turned to look at Krahnos, but he was gone. "Krahnos?" The sky darkened above Dino, and he found himself standing alone in the cold air. Alone for another brief moment, anyway. Dino spent the moment thinking about how it had been quite a while since he was personally responsible for the loss of a civilization, and that his number must surely be up. ACT IV "The exchange is complete, my Lord," Khith said proudly into his forearm. He stood before the bound and squirming bodies of Jenn, Helvetica and Astor in the basement of Lava Dome IV. "You have done satisfactorily, little one," the voice rumbled. "And when do I get my reward?" Khith asked. "You will be spared during the initial conquest, and will be one of my personal servants," the voice said mildly. "But what about--" "YOU WILL ACCEPT WHAT I OFFER YOU," the voice thundered. "Pray I do not alter my deal further." Khith bowed his head instinctively. "Yes, my Lord." "It will not be long before the Lens is returned to its proper owner, and the foolish Dino pays the ultimate price for his thievery." Khith enjoyed a bit of a hearty evil chuckle. To be concluded in Selective Amnesia, Part Two: Electric Boogaloo ---------- The Dinosorceror of Lava Dome IV Administrator, LD4 Mailing Lists . --THIS MESSAGE SENT FROM THE LAVA DOME FOUR MAILING LISTS------------ To send mail to a list, send it to dino@ptialaska.net and put the following tag in the subject line without other parentheses to send a message to the specified destination list: (LD4) -- Lava Dome IV List (GAME) -- Gaming List (DINO) -- Send message to the Dinosorceror personally To subscribe to a list, send a request to (DINO). ------------------------------------------------POWERED BY WEESAURS--