REPOST: RAC Challenge! #21

[Drew Perron]

On 12/22/2015 10:25 PM, Arthur Spitzer wrote:
<snip>
> Continuing the Challenge!  The finale is finished and will be posted Monday,
> December 4th.

Interestingly, I found an HTML archive of the whole thing, on Jerry Stratton's 
page: http://www.hoboes.com/FireBlade/Fluff/RACCC/

>     But I had a different life. In a different time. A different place.
>     They once called me Merton Flagler. But now, I just do not know.

GASP! He... he...

...hang on, who was this again... *searches previous posts* Okay, murdered 
scientist ally of Paragon. Got it.

>     Okay. Let's try this. See if I remember. I think to myself and it
>     comes up before me, like a TV screen. >> mflagler <<
>
>       >> Password <<
>
>     Can I remember? I think >> marble <<.

Jeez, way to pick a secure password.

>     This is very strange all of a sudden. More words this time, followed
>     by an address. HELP ME. http://delta.com.gammani/
>
>     What is this ".gammani"? Never seen that before. >> DIOSphere: whereis
>     gammani <<
>
>       >> Gammani cannot be found on the World Wide Web <<

Okay, so far I'm liking how this is using the newly-introduced elements with the 
old ones...

>       >> Warning: we are stretching the World Wide Web beyond known
>       limits. Advise caution in proceeding. Data may be lost in transfer.
>       <<

Nice use of title...

>       }} Registrar welcomes you to Gammani! Please enter pertinent
>       information now. If not, Brain Fever could commence {{

Ditto... I'm just using the ellipses for effect now...

>     Interesting. I look at it. I see something. It looks kind of like a
>     robot with a human brain in it. It is pretty damn sick.

Duuuuude, sick cyborg!

>     Then suddenly, a large nebulous blob appears before me. It
>     communicates with me. >> No, we are not dead. We are close to death
>     like you. Weaker than you. We needed your assistance to bring us to
>     Gammani. That is why we pulled you from the nothingness. Now we can
>     fulfill our last duty before we die <<

Sure, sure, reasonable.

>     "I am whole once more!" shouted Paragon at the top of his newly formed
>     lungs, "And I am one with the Ultimate Collective. I now know my
>     duty."

Works for me.

>     And what of me? I asked the DIOSphere. It said that this was now my
>     reality. The UWW. It was mine to explore. And I thought to myself that
>     it was a better existence than the nothingness I left.
>
>     Thank you DIOSphere. I will do my best to help Paragon succeed at his
>     mission.

Aw, that's nice. I like this chapter. <3

>     Well, I wasn't going to do this, but wReam left me with a story that
>     just had too much information (info overload), so I had no choice but
>     to kind of go off on a tangent.

YES. Very true.

>     For some reason, the humor got shunted to the side for this issue.
>     But, I had to set up so much stuff, it was hard to do.

Yeah, but that's also true of the last couple chapters, and this had more than 
Serious SF-Paramilitary Sort-of-Superheroing, at least.

Drew "very much an Early '90s thing" Perron