It Was Never You.

[Salty]

How can you walk safely among them? How can they not see that you aren't one of the Flat People?

I'm not sure I'm not.  I would have to leave Tucson to find out.

Another thing:  It was different when Alty came down.  There was a new predator.  The locals could sense it...They knew something was wrong, but they didn't know what.  It was as if you'd thrown a shark into a herd of wildebeest.  If a shark was all legs and teeth, rather than fins and teeth.  He ran low to the ground.  They never saw him coming.  Almost like an otter chowing on a duck...One moment, it's the pretty little girl feeding the ducks at the river, you know, classic "human interest" pic.  The next it's blood and feathers and a little girl standing stock-still, with a sudden new understanding of the universe.

It was indeed suspiciously quiet. Maybe i brought the lack of sun with me.

As to my teeth, well, I don't like to give overt commands to every little part of my body. You have to pick your battles.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

How can you walk safely among them? How can they not see that you aren't one of the Flat People?

I'm not sure I'm not.  I would have to leave Tucson to find out.

Another thing:  It was different when Alty came down.  There was a new predator.  The locals could sense it...They knew something was wrong, but they didn't know what.  It was as if you'd thrown a shark into a herd of wildebeest.  If a shark was all legs and teeth, rather than fins and teeth.  He ran low to the ground.  They never saw him coming.  Almost like an otter chowing on a duck...One moment, it's the pretty little girl feeding the ducks at the river, you know, classic "human interest" pic.  The next it's blood and feathers and a little girl standing stock-still, with a sudden new understanding of the universe.

It was indeed suspiciously quiet. Maybe i brought the lack of sun with me.

As to my teeth, well, I don't like to give overt commands to every little part of my body. You have to pick your battles.

They scattered like gazelles.  Like glass when you drop a window pane.

They ran right to the edge of the city, and then did the Arizona Two Step and died.

I hope you're happy, you monster.

[Salty]

Oh i am, here's my happy face:

[The Good Reverend Roger]

That was the last thing they ever saw.   

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Richter has plans to visit, at some point.  Tucson will know him on sight.  This is not to say he'll be popular.  No.  Tucson has a very ugly past, and the last thing it wants - but the thing it needs most - is an ugly present.  By that I mean, "A maniac running around sharpening everything that stands still for 10 seconds".  Sharp objects are not suitable for Tucson.  The average Tucsonan can only be trusted with silly string (and only pre-Richter silly string, at that). 

The horror is compounded by the dreadful possibility that he will drag LMNO along with him.  The Venture Inn is not ready for LMNO.  They prefer to sit around doing their corpse imitation, they have forgotten the ways of FABULOUS.  The mind reels in horror, though, of LMNO meeting The Dirty Boys from Grant Road.  Colostomy bags for everyone. 

[LMNO]

WE don't vote with our dollars anymore,  We vote with our silence.  Our acceptance.  Our policy of Laissez-faire for what THEY want to do.  You know, the ones voted for by the ones we voted for.  That's a degree of separation, so we can hardly be blamed.  Ethics and morality are a line-of-sight effect.  THEY know that.  Hell, they've had us wearing slave labor for a generation, so what else could they get away with?

The dollars are nothing.  Hell, they can yank the meaning out of dollars in one good panicked meeting.  The silence though, that shit is hard to come by.  They'll spend ours for all its worth.

Complacency is the currency of dictators?

YES.

[Richter]

WE don't vote with our dollars anymore,  We vote with our silence.  Our acceptance.  Our policy of Laissez-faire for what THEY want to do.  You know, the ones voted for by the ones we voted for.  That's a degree of separation, so we can hardly be blamed.  Ethics and morality are a line-of-sight effect.  THEY know that.  Hell, they've had us wearing slave labor for a generation, so what else could they get away with?

The dollars are nothing.  Hell, they can yank the meaning out of dollars in one good panicked meeting.  The silence though, that shit is hard to come by.  They'll spend ours for all its worth.

Complacency is the currency of dictators?

YES.

VERY YES.

[Richter]

Richter has plans to visit, at some point.  Tucson will know him on sight.  This is not to say he'll be popular.  No.  Tucson has a very ugly past, and the last thing it wants - but the thing it needs most - is an ugly present.  By that I mean, "A maniac running around sharpening everything that stands still for 10 seconds".  Sharp objects are not suitable for Tucson.  The average Tucsonan can only be trusted with silly string (and only pre-Richter silly string, at that). 

The horror is compounded by the dreadful possibility that he will drag LMNO along with him.  The Venture Inn is not ready for LMNO.  They prefer to sit around doing their corpse imitation, they have forgotten the ways of FABULOUS.  The mind reels in horror, though, of LMNO meeting The Dirty Boys from Grant Road.  Colostomy bags for everyone.

The Dirty Boys have been running for quite some time now.  Thanks to the Good Reverend I've read of the Hell's Angels.  Let's jsut say they don't age gracefully.  Would the DB's do the same, or would they just see sagging and incontinence as an excuse to get REALLY weird?

One fine day I will see Tucson.  We've had visitation, and it is only right to return the favor.  It will be an odd day, since I've never taken an airplane flight in my life.  (I'm sure the tSA needs that xray machine sharpened.) 
On arrival I cannot eb collected fast enough.  THis is no fault of any potential hosts, it is a rule of nature.  I will step off the concourse, and the locals willl know me.  I do not, after all, smell of the desert.  An ill advised predator will attempt to address me, sizing me up for the takedown.  I will look at it, impassive and cold and state "Shall we begin?"

They will speak of this day afterwards, and not lightly.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

or would they just see sagging and incontinence as an excuse to get REALLY weird?

Yes.