LMNO-PI

[LMNO]

Ah, if only you could have...

[fluffy]

You: ,ÄòI need answers.,Äô Them: ,ÄòDoom.,Äô

hahahaha
best line to date

Okay, I just read this and then I got a call from a client.
I swear to Goddess, she started her call with "Hi, I'm calling because I need answers."

Guess what I almost said?

   

[Bob the Mediocre]

absolte bolderdash


where is hoshi anyway?

In the middle of a scrabble game with me. Otherwise, I don't know

[LMNO]

We stood, the credit chip in my arm tingling as Malaul scanned the price of the coffee (and I was sure I was going to find an additional fee for ,Äúcleanup,Äù or somesuch.  Probably not as much as Horab,Äôs gonna get stuck for after killing Paul, I thought), and I straightened my coat as Erin looked around.  ,ÄúI don,Äôt get it,,Äù she said.

Horab also stood up, out of courtesy, ands spoke up.  ,ÄúThe Oracels, bieng a Three-in-One kind fo thing, tend to exist outside and between dimensions.  Yuo have to adjust you r frequency to fit.,Äù

,ÄúI almost understood that.,Äù

,ÄúJust hold on to L.  He usaully knows wha thes doing.,Äù  Horab leaned over to shake my hand.  ,ÄúGood luck, man.  I,Äôm off ot deal witht hat zebra again.,Äù

,ÄúSee you at the Bar later?,Äù

,ÄúSure.,Äù  Horab walked out the door, his fingers lightly brushing the hilt of his sword, making the Haiku Battle-ists flinch.  His laughter followed him into the night.  

I turned to Erin.  ,ÄúYou ready?,Äù

,ÄúI guess.,Äù  She took my hand, and I felt that electric shock.  She smelled like cinnamon, and freshly turned earth, and spring air, heavy with morning dew.  ,ÄúThis is all getting pretty weird.  And I think your whole ,Äòquantum,Äô thing is wearing thin.  It,Äôs like you,Äôre just sweeping everything under the rug by throwing the word ,Äòquantum,Äô at it.,Äù

Hand in hand, we walked through the smoky caf?© towards the back wall, and I sighed.  ,ÄúI know, it,Äôs like I,Äôm making everything up as I go along, and then ascribing something vaguely technical to it, so it doesn,Äôt seem so odd.  It,Äôs an old habit, updated.  What if I told you that I was a magus, given powers by Lucifer to warp time and space and to bend reality to my will?,Äù

,ÄúI,Äôd say you were fucking nuts.,Äù

,ÄúOk, how about if I said I was a prophet of the One True God, sent to this earth to right the wrongs of Satan, and given the blessings of the Lord that I would never want, and that Our Lord will forever aid me in my quest by performing miracles?,Äù

,ÄúDid I say you were fucking nuts before?  I was wrong.  You,Äôre obviously retarded.,Äù

,ÄúFine.  Suppose I told you that shit just tends to happen, and I have no clue why, or how, but I,Äôve learned better than to ride it out?,Äù

,ÄúSlacker.,Äù

,ÄúSo you see my point.  After you rule all the other possibilities out, the pretty much the only thing that offers some sort of rational solace is Quantum Physics brought into the Macro world.  Even if it,Äôs not exactly true.,Äù

,ÄúSo what is true?,Äù

,ÄúNothing is true. Everything is permitted.,Äù

,Äú,Ķ,Äù

,ÄúHassan I Sabbah.  Ok, look, I have a confession.  I usually don,Äôt do this, but you,Äôve been through a lot, and I figure full disclosure is in order.  You know that group that formed the Open Bar I was telling you about?  They,Äôre what are known as Erisians.  And I,Äôm one of them.,Äù

,Äú...And exactly what did you do for them?,Äù

,ÄúA bit of this, a bit of that,Ķ  I added focus, imagination, a slight knowledge of Tantra, and some of the symbolism.  But that,Äôs not the point, really.  The point is that as an Erisian, there isn,Äôt ever a big-T Truth, there,Äôs just the one that fits for now.  And for the past few hours, the quantum model has been working well.  But we,Äôre going to have to change things for this next bit.  As Horab tried to explain, The Oracles exist outside of this dimension, but not like a multi-verse traveler.,Äù

,ÄúA what?,Äù

,ÄúIt would take far too long to explain Verthaine to you.  I shouldn,Äôt have even brought it up.  Ah.,Äù  We had made our way to the back of the room, and there was what appeared to be a beaded curtain hanging over one section of the wall.  I concentrated for a second, and reached out to brush the beads aside.  As I did, I felt Erin,Äôs hand tighten up.  What should have been wall was a dark patch of... something.  Like a vertical oil slick, or something you can,Äôt focus your eyes on, the section of wall was flat and bottomless at the same time.  ,ÄúOk, we,Äôre ready.,Äù

I felt a sharp tap on my shoulder, like a claw.  Which, in fact, it was.  I turned to find Malaul holding out a bottle.  ,ÄúIt,Äôs rum,,Äù she said.  You,Äôll need it.,Äù

,ÄúFor me or for,Äî,Äú

,ÄúFor Zorga, of course.  It,Äôs all about her, remember?  And here.,Äù  She handed me a bunch of carrots.

,ÄúCarrots?  What are you playing at, Mal?,Äù

,ÄúYou must not have heard.  The Pookah,Äôs brood are out there.  Watch your step.,Äù

[agent compassion]

 bunnies!

[fluffy]

yay! woo hoo! yay mom! food! heh heh!

[LMNO]

Doom now, or Doom later, it's all the same, right?

[Bella]

Doom now, or Doom later, it's all the same, right?

Not neccessarily.
You remembered the rum for Zorga, so you're on the right track.

[LMNO]

[fluffy]

[LMNO]

Hand in hand, we stepped into the inky nothingness.

,ĶThere were mirrors, thousands of them.  Each image they reflected was reflected in every other, but each image was distorted, no two were the same.  All possibilities were laid out, then rejected; accepted, then thrown aside.  There was no clear path; all choices were the same choice, a False one.  A step in one direction was a step in all directions; progress was impossible.  Progress was just another illusion.  Nothing was True.

Quiet snickering trickled into our ears.

,ÄúClose your eyes,,Äù I said, and kicked out.  One mirror shattered; all mirrors shattered.  Shards of glass filled the air, and then were gone. We were out of the Kingdom, past the World.

There was a Universe of books.  A Borges nightmare, all letters, all languages, all words, the sum of knowledge, dusty leather tomes extending forever.  Everything was True.  The quiet wars of knowledge raged all around us, contradictions battling over assuredness.  Confident in their Truth, the tomes swelled with certainty, the pure cold truth of logic constantly proving their points, reaching conclusions that clashed with the ones around them.  They were locked in cold ivory towers, and poured boiling vats of thought upon their neighbors.  The air was still. Nothing moved.

The pattering of dozens of tiny feet intruded.

,ÄúTurn left.  Towards the East.,Äù  Scrolls and parchment and vellum and paper and stone parted, revealing the constant dawn, the never-ending noon, the eternal sunset.  Nurturing killer, beginner and ender, illuminator and blinder.  The Foundation was established, and abandoned.  Onward to Glory.
Raphael stood, beautiful man-woman, eight swords held in eight hands.  The books of the Foundation came alive in the mind, the idealistic wars of history reenacting inside the confines of a skull, the recreations becoming new creations, an orgy of ideas and a morass of concepts.  Thoughts and phrases mingled, met for drinks, had shameless one-night-stands, pulled on their pants, smoothed their skirts, and went back to the bar.  Scores of orphaned ideas wept for shame and cried for nurturing.  The fabric was too thin.  The thought of a Unicorn.  The thought of a Unicorn.  THE THOUGHT OF A UNICORN.  Raphael lowered hir swords.  Eight crows flew north.  We followed, chased by frustrated mutterings.

The gang was all here.  Wotan, Jesus, Dionysus, Mithras, Inanna,Ķ Countless mothers, and endless fathers.  Knowing smile, a secret learned through sacrifice, a barter of knowledge for pain.  Limbless, drowned, eyeless, withered, full of peace, and light.  The broken bodies abandoned for clarity and inner reward.  There was spiritual self-mutilation, inner struggles between desire and commitment.  They pointed north, towards strife.

Five Seraphim, Five wands, Five Chariots, Five Warrior-Kings, Five more minutes of waiting,Ķ Get it over with, already.  Fuck!  How long do I have to deal with this bullshit? Are we there yet?  All this work, just to get literally nowhere.  Why do I even bother?  I haven,Äôt got all day,Ķ How long have I been awake, anyway?  I gotta take a piss.  Are we done here?

Breathe.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Go gently.  Body-surf.  Follow the stream as it flows.  Embrace.  Change.  Khamael stood to the left. We went right.  Severity was left behind.

Darkness.  Absence.  Nothing.  A universe-shaped hole where the Universe was supposed to be.  Nothing, that is, except me.  

And Erin.


And thousands of rabbits.

[agent compassion]

Thoughts and phrases mingled, met for drinks, had shameless one-night-stands, pulled on their pants, smoothed their skirts, and went back to the bar. Scores of orphaned ideas wept for shame and cried for nurturing.

::yoink:: Say hello to mister quotefile....

[LMNO]

Sweet... I got in the quote file!

[Bella]

That's just beautiful, LMNO.

[LMNO]

At last, my esorteic occult training has a purpose ...