Search      Members      Groups      Profile      Favorites      RSS      Register      Log in
Heavy Metal - Chapter 14: Man in the Moon

 
(currently a favorite of 0 users)
   Storygames Home -> Skiffiville - Science Fiction and Experimental SGs -> Heavy Metal
View previous topic :: View next topic  

Author Message
Thunderbird
Elder



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Topics: 104
Posts: 2139
Location: Rising from the ashes

Items
Legends
37957 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:37 pm    Post subject: Heavy Metal - Chapter 14: Man in the Moon Reply with quote

Heavy Metal
Chapter 14
Man in the Moon



Similarities between the ship hovering before Walter’s cameras and a stealth bomber were impossible to ignore. Yet this craft was clearly larger, thicker, and far more alien. No visible windshields adorned its surface; no apparent nodules indicated any obtrusive weapon systems, just a sleek black hull with graceful, inhuman contours. Ridges jutted across its surface that seemed to be more aesthetically charged to impart upon the witness a sense of organic lethality than any innate functionalism of design.

It faced Walt’s ship like a stern serpent’s head, clearly a threat, though one that suggested unexpectable means of delivering on that promise.

As soon as he’d thought to himself, I need to figure out a way to maintain some sort of record of these events… Walt realized his thoughts would be known to his observer(s). They did not immediately respond, but he could subtly feel a presence in his mind and the emotional responses from that presence reacting to his thoughts. Those emotions seemed filled with amusement, as a human might feel when watching a mouse attempt to make its way through a maze.

Alright then, he thought out intentionally, You can hear me… sure, but can you stop me? Perhaps you can erase my memories but can you erase a wound from my flesh? The amusement continued as Walt reached into a compartment on his leg, something akin to a ‘pocket’ in the suit, and procured an item he’d held onto ever since his childhood.

Every time he held the device, he recalled the day his Grandfather, Gerald Steele, had given it to him, declaring proudly, “By giving you this, Walt, I’m welcoming you to manhood. No man is complete without a right good Swiss Army Knife!” Then the aging senior went on to add, “Make sure you use it responsibly now.”

Glancing down at his control panel, Walt found the reading that indicated the Lunar coordinates of his current location. Flipping back his visor, pausing momentarily for a brief prayer that his capsule’s life support systems were working as well as indicated on the panel, he breathed a sigh of oxygenated relief. Flipping open the knife he held the blade to his forehead.

“That won’t be necessary Walter Steele,” the voice beamed into his thoughts once more.

Thinking back towards the source, he answered, “I do wish to meet with you, don’t get me wrong. But how can I know you won’t leave me completely oblivious to everything I experience with you?” He paused, the blade etching a tiny cat scratch into his skin as he awaited an answer before beginning the carving process.

“By the time you return, Walter Steele, you will understand why your current actions will have become unnecessary.”

“Keeping it vague, eh?” Walt began scratching the coordinates all the same. As he winced at the pain, he thought back, speaking aloud to aid his focus, “You realize, of course, I know nothing about you. All I can say I know for sure, a…ach, is that you feel you have some authority over us. I.. urgh… question the right you may have in maintaining that authority… uhf… and I know you know that I feel this way. As a result… hargh… I feel the need to ensure that I will have a means to retrace my steps. I believe you’re rational enough…unf… to understand this.”

“We understand your fears better than you understand them yourself, Walter Steele. Your actions are like those of a child pushing his mess under the bed, hoping his parents will not take notice. But go on, we shall allow you the courtesy of your right to self mutilation, no matter how moot a point it shall be,” the androgynous voice maintained a coldly analytical demeanor.

Momentarily, Walt forgot how deep their observations of him would be as he thought to himself, Ok, so I have coordinates… how else will I take a record of events to come? and after the fact recalled that once more, they would have heard his considerations. Sighing, he folded the blade back into its case, realizing there would only be so much skin he could write upon. The coordinates would have to be enough.

As blood trickled into his eye sockets, forcing him to blink away the sting, he grabbed a nearby wipe rag and pressed it to his forehead, locking it in place as he flipped his visor back down over his face. “Ok, he called out unnecessarily verbally, “Take me to your leader.” He chuckled a moment at how ironic it was to reverse the classic line. It was true… here HE was the alien.

“You may turn off your guidance jets, Walter Steele. We will provide the thrust necessary for you to traverse the path we have mapped out for you. Just lay back and relax,” the voice stated simply, then added, “And try not to bleed too much.”

“Hmph,” Walter spoke out loud, finally deciding he just didn’t feel comfortable sharing thoughts without vocalizing them, “Seems aliens actually have a sense of humor.” It wasn’t a trait he had assumed they would be capable of. It was every bit as dry a sense of humor as he might have expected however.

“We are more alike than you might imagine, Walter Steele,” the voice maintained leaving Walter to ponder the implications of the statement. “You will understand soon enough, Walter Steele,” the voice interjected into his thoughts. He could feel ‘their’ amusement growing.

Feeling a bit like an ant under the observation of a magnifying glass on a clear blue sky day, Walt decided to silence his thoughts and simply watch as his craft began to float forward, the moonscape below sliding by his screens.

His cameras had been returned to his control, and while he kept one trained on the ship now following him behind, he used the other three to continue watching the moon, looking for any unusual anomalies that might indicate any activities of intelligent life on the surface. Nothing of the sort appeared in his screens.

However, he kept one camera focused far ahead, as close to where he could recall the deep crater from which that piercing beam of white light had emerged. Indeed, the trajectory of his craft appeared to be heading for the site and soon, he recognized the rim of that crater approaching. It was uncanny how the crater, upon approach, appeared so ‘natural’ yet upon close attention to detail, could be seen as something ‘manufactured’ into the moon’s surface.

His craft slowed to a halt over the center of the crater as the ship behind him adjusted its course to pull around behind him as the Independent was sent to descend down into the depth of the crater. As Walt watched the surface of the crater’s interior, he expected some sort of portal to open, but the closer he came to the ground below, the more he began to worry that he was on a crash course with a solid finish.

Taking a deep breath, Walt gasped as his ship plunged into… and through the surface, passing through as if the silver dust in the crater’s basin had not existed at all. In hindsight, Walt realized, it had probably been some sort of holographic projection.

Now thrust into the interior of the Moon, Walt practically leapt out of his chair in anticipation to get a look around. His cameras revealed his craft to be hurdling through a long silver tunnel, dimly lit from some unseen light sources, as if light were simply here, generated from midair. The sides of the tunnel were smooth and featureless, glimmering dim reflections of his ship in passage like polished aluminum.

Suddenly, the craft burst free of the tunnel into an unimaginably huge hollow cavity. Walt’s eyes nearly leapt from his face as his heart caught in his throat.

That natural satellite that had been with mankind from the beginning, inspiring hundreds of songs, thousands of tales, pulling at the heartstrings of lovers on clear sky evenings, the Moon… was hollow!

Walt found himself hurtling through the gaping egg-like interior.

All around him, against the inside walls of the Moon were tunnel entrances much like the one he just sped through. In fact, looking back, if not for his unaltered trajectory, he would not be able to determine which tunnel he had just emerged from apart from all the multitudes of tunnels leading out from here. Each was perfectly geometrically spaced, though not all of them seemed to continue on in a straight path; many could be seen to veer off in various directions just beyond their entrances.

Walter felt much like he had entered the middle of a beehive or had arrived at the center of an ant’s nest.

There was an equivalent amount of activity here as well. Everywhere he looked, he saw a new manner of flying craft. There were long silver tubes, whirling saucers, more wedge-shaped predators like the one following behind him, craft that snaked through the space like graceful serpents, some that looked like various beetles and other insects, even one that appeared much like a butterfly, so many variations it was mind boggling.

He could hardly imagine what the pilots of those crafts were thinking, where they were going, or what their intentions could be as they entered and emerged from the exterior tunnel system, skittering across the empty space in the core.

Most seemed to continue going about their business, but those nearest his ship immediately veered off course and came to hover along next to the independent, many taking turns to float in for a closer look. Walt could literally feel the curiosity emanating from these ships. He could be sure that if they could all hear his thoughts in return, they would be feeling his curiosity beaming back in reply. Walt could hardly contain himself as he let his mind go wild imagining what sort of denizens could be operating these craft, what sorts of technologies could be inherent in their design.

In fact, as soon as he had entered this hollow cavity, he could hear babbling in the back of his mind, faint voices echoing around in his skull like he was listening in on a thousand conversations through a fuzzy multi-line phone connection. This muttering grew as ships crowded in to escort his craft on its journey.

Ahead, at the center of the Moon’s interior, was a suspended orb, like a small planetoid free floating at the core. Surrounding the sphere was a wide variety of crafts, perfectly balanced on long, narrow poles sprouting out from the globe like a porcupine’s backside.

There were, however, four apparent void spaces surrounding the sphere. At first, Walt thought these spaces surrounding the orb must have been some kind of free floating crystalline satellites as light from the tunnels behind them seemed to curve around these bubbles, diffracted as if passing through a liquid. Curious to understand these places where other ships in the vicinity appeared to be giving a wide berth, Walt swiveled his cameras to zoom in on one of them.

He slammed back in his seat gasping as a bubble of crackling energy sprouted and expanded in the middle of one of these crystalline void spaces. An alien vessel, one of longer, thinner design, emerged from the expanding energy field, appearing where before there had been an empty space.

The new vessel gently flew into the interior moon space, gradually edging around to dock with an open pole extending from the central orb. Behind it, the crackling energy imploded into nothingness, leaving once more an empty, light-diffracting space.

My God! Walt thought to himself incredulously, Those must be wormholes! The Moon is an interstellar SPACE PORT!

“Quite correct,” the voice once more invaded his mind. “Though your concept of locality might not be entirely accurate. Portals such as these are capable of many modes of travel. You might consider them to be inter-dimensional switches that can transport ships from one frequency of existence to another, or from one portal to another with no time spent to travel any distance. They take a good deal of energy to create and maintain, however, and a great deal of effort to establish them. As a result, they are poorly suited to assistance with further ‘exploration’ into new territories.”

Walt had not expected the alien(s) to be so forthcoming about their technologies.

“We could spend many of your lifetimes attempting to explain to you the things we understand that you do not yet grasp. Humans tend to believe they are on the cutting edge of all discovery. As a general rule, your species fails to recognize how young your planet actually is, considering that the universe is constantly in a state of various cycles. An infinite number of worlds have come and gone, an infinite number of species that have evolved to intelligence and learned the secrets of the universe preceding yours. The Human race is like a teenager that has grown, isolated on an island somewhere, left to make your own discoveries, unknowing that entire civilizations have risen and fallen on the continents around you as you believe yourself to be the only creature to understand the small discoveries you have made.”

“What happened to those other civilizations? Don’t any of them go all the way back to the beginning? I mean… what IS the cutting edge anyhow?” Walt asked, again, aloud.

“Those that know the answers to your questions have left our frame of reference entirely, coming to understand that the pinnacle of knowing is the ultimate void of thought. Some of our kind have transitioned through this place only to return to share further secrets and continue the eternal search for understanding, despite already knowing all there can be to know.” After a pause, the voice must have heard some of Walt’s thoughts and added, “I realize you have no basis for understanding what I have attempted to explain. Suffice it to express that there is no pinnacle. There is no beginning. And there is no end. All is in a state of cycle and there are infinite stages to every cycle. Therefore, unlike your view that you start with knowing nothing and can, through extending your learning process, achieve an understanding of all things, the truth is, when you knew nothing, you knew everything and everything in between is like another step on an infinitely large circle back to knowing nothing and everything once more. It is for the process of learning that one must learn, the experience of it, not for the knowledge obtained.”

“I coulda figured you’d sound like some sort of Chinese mystic,” Walt muttered.

“It would be more accurate to state that the masters of Eastern mysticism speak as we do, Walter Steele. For it is our people who shared our insights with them so that they might bring our knowledge to the rest of your kind.”

Walt looked forward towards the approaching sphere ahead, which had grown much larger than the pebble it seemed to be when he first emerged into the Moon’s interior. Many of the escorting ships suddenly veered away to return to their original destinations. Walt figured they may have been ordered to now leave the two of them alone.

A long narrow tube jutted out towards his craft, Walt estimated a yard thick at the most from this nearing vantage point. His heart began beating heavily in his chest as he wondered what could possibly be coming for him next.

“You will be unable to dock as we normally do,” the Voice explained. “We will need to relax your conscious mind so that you are not driven to insanity by the process we must take to extract you from your ship.”

“What?” Walt asked but realized he had little time to ponder the implications of the statement before his sight began to blur and his thoughts dissolved into a blank nothingness…

~

Walt awoke to a stinging white light in his eyes. His body felt completely refreshed, his heart beat peacefully and his skin felt warm and alive. As he shifted his weight, a gelled mattress beneath him pleasantly accommodated. The ceiling itself appeared to be a giant light-emitting panel and as his eyes adjusted, it seemed to dim enough for him to make out other features in the chamber.

A paradox of emotions gripped him as he sat up, suddenly completely alert, remembering where he was, but clearly unsure of exactly how he got here. A silky fabric slipped across his skin and he gasped as he realized he was no longer in his space-suit, now wearing nothing but this stark white satin robe.

The room around him was small, much the size of his bedroom at home, its walls bare and metallic, like the aluminum tunnel entryway into the Moon’s interior. There were barely discernable slits in the walls, panels inset there for whatever unknown purposes. A circular doorway, at least he assumed it was a doorway, like a porthole perhaps, was inset into the wall his feet had faced as he slept.


Hopping down from the gelatin mattress, he looked behind him at the bed. It looked like something you might see in a hospital, except that it was coated in the blue gel that apparently represented a peak in sleeping surface technology.

Immediately, he noted he felt quite light on his feet. A thrust of his toes sent him inches into the air to gently float back down to the surface once more. Certainly, this was moon level gravity… a cough could send him flying. But as he breathed deeply, the air was crisp and pure, no scent to it whatsoever, wholeheartedly refreshing. He could feel the oxygen transfer from his lungs to his heart to his veins – the perfect atmosphere.

He wasn’t sure if he were imagining it, but it sounded like there was some sort of distant singing, both sorrowful and cheerful at the same time, a sweet music he couldn’t quite put a finger on it was so faint. It sounded like a church in session three blocks down the road with no other background noise to inhibit it.

The room was neither warm nor cold, perfectly comfortable, the air neither humid nor dry. For a moment, Walt wondered if he had died and if his body might be some sort of spiritual projection. Pinching himself, the pain reminded him of his physical reality. It also reminded him of how little pressure he felt on his spine, a wonderful sensation of relief that he presumed was a result of lower gravity. Here, he could stand a bit taller without the usual ache he’d grown so accustom to over the years.

Unused to such flowing fabric adorning him, he shuffled it around on his shoulders to cover his body as much as possible. Even beneath the robe, he felt terribly naked, no undergarments pinning his sensitive parts to his body. It was much like being in a hospital gown.

Rubbing a finger along his forehead, he winced as he scraped across clotted scabs. His etchings remained.

Taking a long breath and ending it in a, “Hmph,” he asked aloud, “Where am I?” The walls echoed his voice faintly.

In reply, the static of both high and low pitched whining entered his mind again, perhaps a psychic channel opening in his thoughts. Soon, the androgynous voice he’d heard previously beamed into his mind, “Ah, you are awake. We have been waiting for you Walter Steele. Come through the door,” at this the voice paused as the portal silently slid open with a spiral pattern, panels retreating into the walls from the center of the door inward.

Passing through, he found himself in a long hall, again without adornment, just coated in these silvery walls, portals lining the passage, light beaming from overhead. However, to his right, a movement caught his eye. He was no longer alone.

An equally white robed man stood by his side, long flowing golden hair cascading down his back. The man was tall, perhaps seven or eight feet in height. Walt had to strain his neck to look up into the man’s gentle, smiling expression. Although the man was perfectly built, like a Greek statue, and aside from the golden mane was physically hairless, what caused Walter to gasp in astonishment were the huge, pearly, fair feathered wings that sprouted from behind the man’s shoulders. Their feathered tips brushed the ground at his bare feet.

Walter’s mouth opened but he had nothing to say, stunned at the sight of the man. “You,” he stammered, “You… You’re a… an…”

“Angel,” the man finished Walt’s thought verbally. “Yes,” it continued in Walt’s mind, its lips not moving to make the sound but smiling warmly nevertheless. A twinkle of amusement sparkled in the man’s big blue eyes.

“Who…” Walt scrambled to pull his brain together to form cohesive thoughts, “Which… one are you?” Not that Walt remembered much from his childhood bible studies but he had to know if this was some sort of legend he’d heard about somewhere.

As if in answer to his thoughts as much as to his question the angel answered, “The legends of Earth are vastly disconnected from reality, Walter Steele. For simplicities sake, and due to the fact that you may struggle greatly to pronounce my true name, you may call me Michael.”

Walt momentarily wondered if he were really…

“Yes,” the angel answered Walt’s thoughts, “this is my true form. I am not pulling any holographic tricks or illusions. My people are but one species of many that have interacted with your kind throughout your history. We are well spread throughout the Universe, however, and have a great deal of political power in interplanetary affairs in this galaxy. We are… mediators, you might say. We answer to the Lord, a higher power if you will.”

“You answer to God, as the Bible suggests then?” Walt asked.

“Yes. But then, ‘God’ is a very simple explanation of a very complex being. You shall soon see what I mean.”

Walt thought for a moment and the Angel answered, “To avoid any further confusion, I will explain to you this,” the angel continued verbally, “He wishes to meet with you now.”

“HE? You mean…”

“Yes. God wishes to have an audience with you, Walter Steele.” Michael paused to let the shock settle in before adding, “ But first, so as to avoid you walking into a discussion with Him with so many questions on your mind, I would like to give you the opportunity to sort out your thoughts and ask me what you most seek answers for. Much, I can explain for you. Come, let us walk. And along the way, ask, and you shall receive.”

The angel, Michael, turned, his wings kissing the floor, holding out a hand for Walter as he guided the aging astronaut down the long white hallway. Walt swallowed as he strode along with the angel, and thought for a moment, composing his shocked and scattered thoughts before he asked…



Ok, questions for Michael anyone?
This won't go quite like a usual DP. I'll compile all the questions you feel would be good to ask and try to fit them all into the next chapter that cover's Walt's journey here.
_________________

CHAPTER 25: Near-Light Speed (NEW CHAPTER! (12/4/2011))
Zephyrrr! And...


Last edited by Thunderbird on Sat Apr 02, 2011 4:43 pm; edited 3 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Author Message
Thunderbird
Elder



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Topics: 104
Posts: 2139
Location: Rising from the ashes

Items
Legends
37957 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry guys, the two votes on Tome decided the outcome, what would have otherwise been a tie anyhow. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
_________________

CHAPTER 25: Near-Light Speed (NEW CHAPTER! (12/4/2011))
Zephyrrr! And...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Author Message
Guest









Items

PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 1:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So far so good!! Honest, but I haven't gotten to vote yet. I'm still busy reading... and I seem to find out that a certain thing doesn't work in the City. The memory is too big for its little space it has left. So I'll tell you this, at the moment I'm trying to read the chapters, but the 1.1 sortof confuses me, but I'd understand if it was meant to be chapter 1 version 1.... So I'm going to start creating from the beginning of the story. I sorta got side tracked by being shy for the outside world, so I had to get over it... Smile
Back to top
Author Message
Crunchyfrog
Honorable IFian



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Topics: 168
Posts: 3998


Items
Legends
10415 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay, here's a couple.


So... if knowing everything and nothing is just part of one big cycle, and the reason for wanting to learn is just the satisfaction of achieving knowledge, why don't the aliens just let humankind get on with it? If it is an inherrant instinct in all life once it achieves inteligence, then mankind, just like these aliens, would naturally follow that cycle.

Why have they decided to place a portal right there in the moon, so close to the Earth? Apart from the moon's gravitational field providing the necessary stability in Earth's axis to allow life to develop over a longer period of time, it sounds as if their real reason is that they want to stay on Mankind's case. But have they done more harm than good by doing this? I mean, by interfering here and there in humankind's past they have arguably provided the basis of various religions to develop, and with it, many many wars.

That'll do for starters. Smile

Good chapter, very well done. Thumbs Up
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Author Message
Thunderbird
Elder



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Topics: 104
Posts: 2139
Location: Rising from the ashes

Items
Legends
37957 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Barking_Basenji_Splitpin wrote:
So far so good!! Honest, but I haven't gotten to vote yet. I'm still busy reading... and I seem to find out that a certain thing doesn't work in the City. The memory is too big for its little space it has left. So I'll tell you this, at the moment I'm trying to read the chapters, but the 1.1 sortof confuses me, but I'd understand if it was meant to be chapter 1 version 1.... So I'm going to start creating from the beginning of the story. I sorta got side tracked by being shy for the outside world, so I had to get over it... Smile


Thanks for reading BBS! You might find the chapters easier to follow if you work through the table of contents. I went back after they were written and divided them up in hopes of making them a bit shorter and thus easier to digest, thinking perhaps I wasn't getting many readers because the chapters were too long. (of course, in hind sight, its probably more that IF had just slowed down a LOT more than expected when I returned.)

The .1, .2, thing just indicates sub chapter divisions. So 1.2 follows 1.1 etc...


@CF: Thanks again for reading... I'm really glad you enjoyed this chapter Very Happy Your questions will be quite enjoyable to answer. They are very poignant and to the point of Walt's concerns.

Of course, many questions of these sorts will lead to answers which lead to further questions. I'll try to keep this sequence going in the chapter but if you anticipate particular responses, what would you ask in response to those answers?

I'm willing to take any and all questions that would be on your mind if you were in Walt's shoes... (I know I'd have a lot.) so feel free to throw more out there if you think of them later as well.
_________________

CHAPTER 25: Near-Light Speed (NEW CHAPTER! (12/4/2011))
Zephyrrr! And...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Author Message
PopeAlessandrosXVIII
Arts and Poetry Mod



Joined: 10 Oct 2010
Topics: 122
Posts: 1858
Location: Surrounded by many beautiful naked men

Items
Legends
13801 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:20 am    Post subject: I Think...... Reply with quote

YAY! New chappy! And an interesting one at that! Challenging the world's understanding and belife as to what 'God' is has always been a good tool in sci-fi, and it's still enjoyable to this day! And, Michael, really? You just had to, didn't you? *Giggle* Fitting I suppose. Way to go on the...hem...beautiful image that jumped into my head at his description. Heheheheh. Great idea with the etching the forehead. Makes sense, but I got the feeling that some sort of healing is on it's way. Or perhaps the simple fact that he's never going home....BUT! That's beside the point...QUESTIONS!!!

Gotta throw a random one in!

Somthing like....I met this weird guy on earth that seemed to be made of rubber? What's he all about?

And a little....There's this guy who helpped me get up here. Know anything about that? Like why he did so?

OH! And....Who dropped the dime about God eh? If you guys are all about non interferance, what's up with christians and muslums?

Um, um, um.....Are there other 'gods'? Like Anubis, Hecate. Is there a budda? If not, what gave all those ancent civilisations the ideas?

Oki, last one.......Why let me off the planet at all? Or any humans for that matter? You work so hard to keep us isolated, why not just whipe all memory of space travel from eveyone? Or are you just so hypocritical that you "Want us to advance naturaly" but only as long as that you're protected? I mean, yer here, part of our galexy. Isn't disscovering you part of our development? What gives you the right to try and regulate us, when you yourselves seem free to do as you please with the future of a race that isn't even your own?

Oki, lots of questions in that last one, but it's how I'd react as a human being if all this was true....

Anyway, I hope that I didn't overload you there! And I look forward to the answers to the more random one. *Giggle*

Good jod Thunder-kun! Good luck!
_________________

To Be A Knight
And my first Finished work Death Day
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail MSN Messenger
Author Message
Tikanni Corazon
Honored Citizen



Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Topics: 75
Posts: 1286
Location: Running through the plains of my mind, my wolf spirit at my side (but doing so in the UK!).

Items
Legends
18382 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm so enjoying this TB! Even though there seem to be certain aspects of the story in space, and the others on earth that are coming together, I'm still very intrigued as to how they're all going to fit together in the end. I think Heavy Metal is probably my favourite sg on IF at the moment, and I always look forward to your new chapters. Smile

As for questions, I'm having trouble thinking of new ones that haven't already been said. I would imagine that Walter is thinking of this 'God' as very much in the biblical sense, as creator and guardian of earth and the universe, and also is likely very much in shock at the prospect of coming face to face with this being. So maybe the first things to pop into his head would be the answers to questions that many people likely ask daily. Why do you allow bad things to happen? Why do you allow the devil to exist? ect, ect. But once past that stage, he would likely, as the previous suggestions...suggest, be more concerned about the matters at hand. I especially liked Pope's last one.

Sorry that they're a little obvious, I couldn't think of anything else, though if I do, I'll post them up. Great chapter TB! Looking forward to the next one already! Smile

_________________
.... there is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham....
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, 1887




Last edited by Tikanni Corazon on Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Author Message
Thunderbird
Elder



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Topics: 104
Posts: 2139
Location: Rising from the ashes

Items
Legends
37957 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@Pope: I didn't find any of your questions random at all... quite poignant actually. The curiosity as to who the Bouncer is would have been something he might feel quite important to bring up considering the events immediately preceding his launch were all together too... strange... supernatural... to think they weren't somehow linked with the fate that brought him here. Surely this angel might know something more about all that right? I mean... why DID Lucky help him to get here? Is there a connection?

And imploring some understanding of the reality of religions and human history is surely something that would be important on MY mind if I were speaking with a verifiable angel! I'm really going to enjoy answering these questions indeed.

Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed the latest installment!

@Tika: I really appreciate your kind comments... helps to feel my story is being read for its intrinsic quality of enjoyability. That means everything to me.

As for your questions, I think you hit yet another nail on the head. Of COURSE this would be the time to ask all those questions we all have, as mundane as they may be, they are to the core of importance... I mean, perhaps this guy can really give us THE meaning of life huh?


I figured everyone would think of something important to ask and so far no one has let me down there. It might be a long chapter with a lot of info to share but it will certainly be worthwhile and fun to deliver... even more fun once we move on to our imminent meeting.
_________________

CHAPTER 25: Near-Light Speed (NEW CHAPTER! (12/4/2011))
Zephyrrr! And...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Author Message
Lebrenth
Honored Citizen



Joined: 29 Dec 2005
Topics: 43
Posts: 1483
Location: Utah

Items
Legends
24787 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This next chapter will be pretty big huh? Well I would definitely enjoy being filled in on just about everything, both about Earth and the universe. In particular, I would want to know if they have any insights about existence of the soul or some kind of transcendental presence that persists after death. I would also want to know how old the oldest surviving civilization is. Are there any large scale interplanetary wars? What is the longest recorded lifespan of a living being? Are there any immediate threats to humanity's survival? At what point would humanity be deemed worthy of knowing the truth? Is Earth just a giant laboratory for advanced beings? What's with the anal probes? Just kidding on that last one. Although I would be curious at least how they think that reputation got started, I wouldn't want to be offensive.

I would also ask some immediate questions, like "What do you intend to do with me?" and I would ask if he could be more specific on what God was. Michael probably has a very clear idea of what Walter's concept of God is, so perhaps he could make it clear whether "God" means the creator of all existence, lord and spiritual father of all humanity, or something else, like some kind of conglomerate of wise old beings who have been fostering life for countless millennia.... And of course, if "God" is a powerful, vengeful, unforgiving, domineering entity, how can we avoid his wrath?

_________________

Welcome To Purgatory - current storygame
Please visit my Library of completed works.


Last edited by Lebrenth on Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Author Message
Crunchyfrog
Honorable IFian



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Topics: 168
Posts: 3998


Items
Legends
10415 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Walter might be curious to wonder that if he was of a different religion, whether his experience right now would be any different... I mean, would it be Michael meeting him there?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Author Message
Lebrenth
Honored Citizen



Joined: 29 Dec 2005
Topics: 43
Posts: 1483
Location: Utah

Items
Legends
24787 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Crunchyfrog wrote:
Walter might be curious to wonder that if he was of a different religion, whether his experience right now would be any different... I mean, would it be Michael meeting him there?
Good one.
_________________

Welcome To Purgatory - current storygame
Please visit my Library of completed works.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Author Message
Thunderbird
Elder



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Topics: 104
Posts: 2139
Location: Rising from the ashes

Items
Legends
37957 Fables
Strata-gems

PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for reading Lebby! (and for all the great - and toughest yet - questions!)

That IS an interesting question to address CF and I can see what you're getting at there.
_________________

CHAPTER 25: Near-Light Speed (NEW CHAPTER! (12/4/2011))
Zephyrrr! And...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic   printer-friendly view    Storygames Home -> Heavy Metal All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group. Forum design by mtechnik, customized by City of IF
All site content © City of IF or the respective storygame authors.   Terms of use
Home   Book   Storygames   FAQ   Greek myth   About   Policies