《Who Fixes Books Anyway?》Canto I
Advertisement
For whatever reason, all the screens in the cockpit were deep blue in color.
“Why do I smell burnt toast,” Pernie blurted out. “Should I be smelling burnt toast?”
“That is a normal side effect of being in intra-space.”
“Am I having a stroke?”
“If you were, you’d have already had it.”
“O-Oh.”
“Fortunately for you, we’ll be dropping into our destination in a few moments.”
With a sound similar to that of a loud clap, the dropship rumbled as its many screens went from the eerie deep blue, to the blue-orange of a morning sky. One screen, presumably linked to a camera capable of moving, displayed a rippling landscape of trees, trees, and more trees. Among them though, was a small pond.
“If memory serves me right, then that pond’s where we need to be.”
“So you’re familiar?”
“I read a lot.”
“Then that makes our job that much easier,” Dr. Case chimed in over the not-watch. “How was your first trip?”
“Uhh… toasty?”
“Not the warm kind I presume?”
“Mhmm.”
“You’ll get used to it. In fact, smelling it will become so second nature that you’ll have a hard time making toast. Unburnt anyway.”
“Flip of the coin whether he burns his morning breakfast these days,” added N-3.
“At least I can have breakfast,” he retorted.
It ignored his remark.
“I will find a clearing to land.”
Fortunately for them, there was a clearing just over a hill from the pond. The dropship groaned as it finally put its weight back on the ground. With the engines still quietly idling, the loading ramp dropped down and N-3 and Pernie walked out.
“Which way’s the pond? She asked. “I got all turned around.”
Advertisement
“I think it's this way,” N-3 pointed to one of many hills. “But I can’t be sure. Check your booklet.”
Pernie pulled out her booklet and flipped to the index. The forty-second entry on the first page read: “The First Destination.” It directed her, once again, to page forty-two, where it read: “159°. Campsite. Lone man.”
“It says 159 degrees?”
“That's the bearing. Anything else?”
“‘Campsite’ and ‘lone man.’”
“Then we’re set.”
N-3 spun around in place, stopped then began stomping through the brush. Notably not in the direction it had initially pointed out. Pernie followed.
“What is this thing, anyway? I can’t say I’ve ever had a GPS take the form of a book.”
“In official agency documentation it is referred to as the ‘Verifiable Real-time Geopredicting Logbook,’ VRGL for short.”
“Like the poet?”
“Like the poet. It gives the reader the direction, target area, and target in that order.”
“Any idea why it likes the number forty-two so much?”
“No. You’d have to ask the people who made it. Which isn’t me or Dr. Case.”
“I figured.”
The brush and low hanging branches of the forest were no match for N-3 who plowed through it like snow. After plowing over the pine-snowed hill, the pilot came to a stop.
“I see the campsite.”
Through the trees, one could see the flicker of a dancing flame, but just barely.
“I think you should wait here N-3,” said Pernie. “I don’t want to scare the poor guy too much.”
“My thoughts exactly. I’ll wait here until you need me.”
She soon found herself at the edge of an artificial clearing. The space was now taken up by tents and the like. Among them was a campfire, a pile of wood, and a man hunched over both. Soon enough, he turned around and spotted Pernie.
Advertisement
“Not only are you only one person, but you are a woman as well.
His eyes met hers with a perplexed gaze.
“Who are you?”
“My name’s Pernie.”
“Pernie, eh? You don’t lend yourself as someone from around here, but to be fair, neither am I.”
She scratched her head, attempting to string together the proper set of words.
“This is going to sound awfully weird, but I need your help.”
The man rubbed his chin, regarding the thousands of possibilities of what “help” truly meant.
“Well,” he said, “I haven’t ever said ‘no’ to someone asking for help and I am a tad bit bored of holding this camp. That and the bears, already ran into one so I’d prefer not to once more.”
Pernie blinked.
“I was expecting you to take more convincing than that,” she mumbled.
“Others tell me I’m a bit too trusting. Hasn’t cost me anything yet, besides time that is. Speaking of, how long will this take? I’m expecting some people here soon.”
“Time isn’t something you need to worry about. You’ll be back in time,” said a voice.
N-3 stepped out from the wall of brush. The man made a noise when greeted by the sight of the machine.
“What’s wrong with this dog, moreover, why does it talk?”
“N-3 is not a dog, but a… friendly automaton.”
“I wasn’t aware they made automatons that could talk,” he said, inspecting it.
“Well they do,” replied N-3. “Let’s get going.”
Pernie didn’t need her VRGL for the pilot knew exactly where its ship was, largely in part because it knew all the places it wasn’t.
When the newly formed group of three arrived back at the dropship, the man immediately gasped at the sight of it.
“Does this one talk too?” he asked.
“No, just the one,” answered Pernie
The loading ramp swung open once again letting the party enter. Once inside, Pernie tapped at her not-watch.
“Dr. Case you there?”
He popped into the screen.
“Sure am.”
“We’ve gotten the first of two people.”
As if on cue, the man leaned over her shoulder.
“How did such a translucent man end up in such a small box?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he waved dismissively. “We’re glad to have you aboard.”
The not-watch clicked off.
“Oh!” Bellowed the man, “I haven’t even told you my name. I’m Norman, but most people call me ‘Little Man’ on account of my height compared to the fish I catch.”
“You aren’t even that short,” Pernie said, looking him up and down.
“Short compared to those fish,” he shrugged.
“Formalities can wait,” interjected N-3. “What's our next destination?”
She opened up the bag of books, grabbed the second destination and handed it off to the pilot. They made their way to the cockpit and while their pilot prepared for flight, Pernie showed Little man his seat and complementary helmet.
“Is this a rough ride?” he asked.
“No, actually. It's pretty smooth, just loud.”
The engines spun up to speed and the chorus of loud noises began, some louder than others. A look of concern spread across Little Man’s face. A look similar to that of Pernie’s when she first boarded the dropship.
“Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “That's a normal noise.”
Advertisement
- In Serial9 Chapters
Eternal Awakening [LitRPG] [EtA Book 1]
A 17-year old boy must use his wits and work with his friends to get first place in a tournament that takes place in an online deep-immersive Role-Playing-Game He must juggle his real-life problems with problems in the real world, and make sure that his sister does not get into harm's way. What will he do when he loses 2 people close to his heart, just before the most important battle in the tournament?
8 333 - In Serial56 Chapters
A Comprehensive Guide for Alchemy
A guidebook designed for alchemists of every tier to help refine their craft and provide direction. Formed of countless recipes and techniques, developed over the ages by the collective knowledge of our study, this is a definite supplement material for any aspiring alchemist. This discusses not only the recipe itself, giving you instructions for each one, but directs you to things not to do in the recipe. It isn’t uncommon for starting alchemists to unknowingly make a small change, and before they know it… BOOM! For a relatively minor price you too purchase this guidebook and start working towards building up a proper base of knowledge in alchemy. Even those with considerable ability may learn a thing or two from this! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is purely a guidebook for alchemy in a magical world, and as such contains no story elements. The cultivation (and alchemical) tiers are not at all necessary to understand the book, but exist because in the context of the book it would be important. I'm more than happy to write up any alchemical ideas you've ever had, totally not using this as an excuse to reduce my creative thinking hours... Just PM the idea or post it as a comment in any chapter, with a bit of balancing there's pretty much no idea that can't be done! Hiatus while I focus on shorter stories for competitions
8 279 - In Serial73 Chapters
The Death of Money
After the Second Global Depression, Pak Yeung-Sung works a supermarket job in a world without money. And, like his cash register, he doesn’t believe change is coming anytime soon. After he is caught giving away rations, he is taken away by the enforcers and is convinced that he will die. But then he is given an offer; Join an experimental facility and your family will be taken care of. As it turns out, this an economic experiment by the CEO of one of the biggest tech firms, Jordan. And also, the currency within this colony comes from a game: Airgead. It seems too good to be true. It seems too stupid to work. And Yeung-Sung soon finds out that it is. But in 90 days, the UN will come to authorise the system worldwide. Before that happens, he needs to learn the game, infiltrate the factions and corrupt the economy. All while searching for clues about what Jordan’s true plan is.
8 78 - In Serial56 Chapters
The Legend Of The Insanely Overpowered Mage
Set in a fantasy realm, a mage is blessed with a unique primary attribute - fertility! Our story revolves around a young mage who uses his affinity to the maximum and tries to create his own Magnum Opus, but soon, others are drawn towards his insane power to bring fertility into all! Will the mage be able to create his very own Magnum Opus? Or will he fail in creating it? (I wrote this for fun, so there's probably going to be some weird stuff here and there. Plus, I'm no professional) (No chapts for this week in favor for some thinking time)
8 183 - In Serial92 Chapters
Harry potter one shots (and smut)
I will be writing imagines/one shots and smuts! Enjoy.This book is a LQBTQ friendly area, with some LGBTQ one shots and soon some smuts.
8 192 - In Serial11 Chapters
NICOTINE KISSES
In which she falls victim for his exorbitant desires, his iniquitous tongue and his immoral ways. And him for the constellation in her eyes but the provocation in her lips.
8 113