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Susan knocked on the storm door to Katherine's basement. Peeking inside, she saw Karr making his way to the door to greet her.
"C'mon in!" Karr chirped, stretching to reach the handle. He managed to grasp it, barely, and pulled the door open. "Katherine and Blip are doing something in the gara- I mean, lab, and they kinda forgot to tell us what. But I'm sure she won't mind if you wait." Susan took a step through, clutching a small notebook tightly. Glancing around quickly (You learn to do things like taking a good look around a house before you get too far inward if you have a friend like Katherine, who is constantly making things or burning things or what not.), she spied a small box tossed to one corner. She laid her notebook down, and knelt toward it. "Did Katherine tell you what this thing is?" She carefully asked.
"Nope!" Giggled Lydia, rounding the corner with Jenna at her heels, who had apparently got stuck with baby-sitting duty. "But it had a neat little doll in it!" She held up a small, purple norn doll. (Which, to Lydia, was about the same thing as a Barbie.)
"I still say that thing is sacrilege." Jenna protested, putting a paw out to balance herself against a wall. "There is no way a norn could ever look like that."
"Anyway, we can't read what the box says. But I think that thingie is a '2'.." Karr pointed to a purple scribble inscribed in the top right hand corner of the box in question.
Susan picked it up. "You're right. That is a 2.. This is the box for Creatures 2, isn't it?"
That immediately caused the norns to crowd around the box, taking a good stare at it. "Creatures 2?" Lydia asked. "So, what're these things here?"
Susan stared at the pictures on the front of the box for a second. "At my best guess," she began, "this thing is an ettin (BOY Bean was off!), And this is a grendel, and this must be a norn, so that makes this doo-hickey a Doozer. And THIS.." Susan opened the front flap "Is Albia.."
Of course, the norns were throuroghly amazed. You must remember, it's one thing to be a human, and see the inside front flap of the box and think, "Holy turd, lookit that! I get to raise norns there!". But if you're a norn (Or ettin, grendel or shee, if we're going to be politicly correct,) it's a whole different concept to look at that flap and think, "Holy cheese, look dat, I get to LIVE there!". Because, let's face it, actually going through the C2 environment and being able to interact with it on the same level you interact with objects on earth would be far more butt kicking then just being a disembodied hand clicking on things.
Susan turned away momentarily to get her notebook. "I wrote a new poem," she stated, "but since Katherine apparently isn't going to be here anytime soon, would you like to hear it?"
"Sure, please read it." Requested Jenna.
Susan cleared her throat and began:
A world of peace
crumbles to a fiery darkness
Evil shall conquer
and good shall fall
But then comes a group
of unlikely warriors
Battles are fought
victories uncertain
A death comes near
A friendship renewed
Histories uncovered
The ancient is found
and renews most
But the fourth element
is taken by the Shee
Two are stolen
their fates are sealed
Then evil shall fall
but take with it,
The life of the warrior's leader.
I do believe Lydia spoke for everyone, when she scratched her head and replied, "Huh?"
Susan shook her head. "I don't understand it either. I really don't. It doesn't even feel like I wrote it; it felt like I was driven by something.. someone.." But her thoughts were interrupted as Katherine and Blip came through the door to the basement, Katherine carrying the HoloDeck.
"It's finished! It's upgraded!" She shouted, placing it down by a desk.
"It took forever." Blip reminded.
Katherine turned her computer around, and hooked the HoloDeck back up. "The HoloDeck should work with C2 now... Oh, I see you found my box." She then took a good look at everyone before continuing. "So, who wants to go first?"