Patchwork Universe

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

In the gondola of the dirigible, Daltrey wrinkled his forehead as he squinted down at the collection of dilapidated buildings below. It looked like some sort of recreation of a medieval warzone.

"I don't recognise this place," he announced doubtfully. "You neither, Specks? It certainly isn't the Zoo."

Suddenly his eyes picked out a tiny figure crossing the landscape far below. Little more than the colour of its clothes and a certain pent-up aggression in its fist-swinging gait were discernible at this distance, but even so...

"Good Gould!" exclaimed Daltrey. "I do believe that's the Head Zookeeper!"

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

[OOC: er, yes, that post should follow Kirby's. If anyone knows how to solve this problem could they PM me? Thanks.]

Dr James Kirby · Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 1:39 pm Post subject: Look! Up In the Sky!

A dirigible floated through the northern mists. It drifted silently through the air, a dark shadow against the cloudy sky.

---

Dr James Kirby · Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 2:06 pm Post subject:

"This would be your leader, eh? Well, if he is on foot, perhaps he would appreciate a lift."

Something seemed to be causing Von Damme consternation. He fiddled with the thing on his wrist, then gave up on it, and went to sit in the pilot's chair.

The dirigible set off in pursuit of the man stalking off into the distance. Presently, it stopped short, the cabin door opened, and the ladder dropped down.

Von Damme shouted across to Daltrey, across the noise of the wind howling through the door.
"Perhaps you would like to invite your leader aboard? Keeping the zeppelin stationary without dropping the anchor is a most delicate business, and requires my full attention!"

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

Daltrey gulped audibly.

"Er, Specks? You looked like a dab hand at climbing that ladder before. What say you get down it now and ask your new boss aboard Captain Von Damme's vessel? Make a good first impression, and such."

Specks didn't need telling twice. This sort of thing was what grubby urchins were made for!

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

Specks dove through the hatch to reappear again a few minutes' later.

"'E's on 'is way up," he remarked cheerily.

Indeed, it wasn't much later that Trubshawe's head appeared through the hatchway. His features were a startling shade of beetroot from the exertion of the climb, and his moustache bristled suspiciously.

"Just what is going on here?" he demanded. "Daltrey! You've got some serious explaining to do."

Dr James Kirby · Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 4:27 pm Post subject:

Von Damme's pilot's chair swivelled around lazily, until he was facing Trubshawe.

"Ah, Mr Trubshawe," he drawled. "How good of you to join us."

Trubshawe's instincts as an expert on animals were flawless, and somehow he sensed that what was missing from this scene was a fluffy white cat on Von Damme's lap. Von Damme flicked a switch, and the cabin door shut, and the sound of the ladder retracting

"I found Mr... Daltrey here lost amongst some some thicket to the north, where he says he had escaped to after being kidnapped."

"This is an extraordinary land I find myself in, Mr Trubshawe. You must tell me all about it. But first... Mr Daltrey expressed a desire to return to your Zoo, though he seemed quite ignorant as to it's whereabouts. Perhaps you could enlighten us?"

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

"Of course," replied Trubshawe curtly. "The Zoo lies directly to the west of here, as this buffoon might have been able to tell you if he ever paid any attention. As it is he prefers to spend his time finding new thickets to get lost in.

"I judge from your demeanour, sir, that you are a man who finds himself in a like predicament to my own, and as such you should certainly hear me out even if what I have to say begins to sound absurd. To put the situation simply, less than a day ago I and my Zoo were abducted wholesale from where we belong, by a sinister cabal of entities who like to call themselves Gods, though from what I have seen they are rather ordinary creatures who happen to have possession of some highly advanced technology. It is not just you and me that these criminals have kidnapped, but a large selection of persons, from scientists and thinkers such as ourselves through to some rather eccentric choices, thieves, vagabonds, mutant freaks, that sort of thing. As far as I can make out this is some sort of warped experiment, but whatever it is the one thing that is clear to all men of intelligence is that we must break out of it."

He paused.

"If you now believe me to be a complete madman, I'm very sorry for wasting your time, and perhaps myself and my assistants should depart."

Dr James Kirby · Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 6:08 pm Post subject:

Von Damme observed Trubshawe shrewdly.

"Interesting. Much of what you say tallies, broadly, with what I expected to hear. In that I believe myself to be stranded far from home, in a sense not entirely geographical. However, these "gods" you speaks of, I had not expected to lay the blame at the door of beings such as they. My belief had been that my displacement was due to the meddling of a sometime rival of mine, a scientist who was meddling with interdimensional physics he surely could not understand."

Von Damme paced...

"I would expect to find myself in a dimension he dubbed "The Quiet Zone". So called, since it is a dimension bereft of content. A blank slate universe. Perhaps these "gods" of yours have constructed their little universe in the Quiet Zone, and so it is here that I have been thrown."

"Interesting. So you say that this is effectively a mechanically generated universe? Yes, that would certainly explain these absurdly orthagonal mists..."

"I put it to you, Mr Trubshawe that a man of adequate intelligence would seek to escape. A man of greater intelligence might seek to destroy it, so no others could be trapped. But one of the highest ambition, the highest intelligence - why, he would seek to own it."

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

Trubshawe raised an eyebrow. What this man had to say was interesting, very interesting, and not entirely dissimilar to some avenues his own thoughts had begun to explore over the last few hours.

How pleasant it was to meet someone from a reasonably advanced level of technological achievement at last! It would have been rude to point it out, but both Odom and Jewel, for all that they were intelligent people, seemed to hail from the dim dawn of the Age of Reason, before any of the truly important scientific breakthroughs. One had to expect some backwardness of attitude from such borderline primitives, but after a while it had become a little... wearing.

"Hmm," said Trubshawe, stroking his jaw furiously. "It's called The Quiet Zone, you say? Well, our friendly neighbourhood gods have elected to fill it full of sound and fury instead. Is it beyond the realm of possibility that your rival is in cahoots with them? Or even their ringleader?"

He himself was pacing, unconsciously mirroring Von Damme's own trajectory around the gondola while Daltrey and Specks looked on in awe.

"As to your other observation, naturally throwing off the yoke of these so-called god's is only one's first priority. After that... it had not escaped my notice that the existence of technology to collect and collate pocket universes, somewhere not far from here, represents a truly magnificent opportunity."

Dr James Kirby · Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 11:54 pm Post subject:

"I shouldn't think Kirby is in league with these 'gods'. By the sound of it the whole thing would offend his tedious morality. No, he is no schemer. He's a fool who meddles in things in his idiot-savant way, heedless of the practical applications and dangers of what he's doing."

Or rather, he was, Von Damme mentally correcting himself, relishing the memory of Kirby's plunge to his death.

"I suspected that the possibilities of this set-up would have occured to a Zookeeper."

"Speaking of which, onwards, to your Zoo."

Von Damme engaged the throttle, and the zeppelin began to move once more, to the west.

It was comforting to meet a man like Trubshawe, Von Damme reflected. Many of the American criminals he had worked with had been similar obsessives, and it made them very easy to predict and control. Offer a man like Trubshawe a means to collect things, and you'd have his mind and resources at your disposal. And of course, Trubshawe's obsession was a sight less farcical than some Von Damme had encountered. He reflected as he navigated, on the months he had spent upon reaching America, assisting The Hatter in all manner of headgear related crimes. The man had been a positive pill, and Von Damme had been glad to dispose of him, once his usefulness was at an end.

[OOC: Thread now progresses on to The Zoo]