LNH: Classic LNH Adventures #306: Multi-Tasking Man LS Part One
Arthur Spitzer
arspitzer2 at gmail.com
Sun Oct 29 14:09:52 PDT 2023
And we're back in the past and can check the eyrie archive
once again.
And here's where you can find The Multi-Tasking Man miniseries:
https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/lnh/Miniseries/Multi-Tasking.Man/
And we have Multi-Tasking Man #1 by MTM creator Jeff Coleburn!
Is it time for Multi-Tasking Man to stop balancing his check book,
making little origami ninjas, writing haiku poems about Net.Trek
(while playing Net.Trek) and finally leave the monitoring room of
the LNHHQ?! And what will all those mysterious shadowy figures
spying on him think about this?!!
Find out in...
_
| | Classic
| | =
| | ____ ____ _ ____ ___
| |__ | [] | | [] | | | | [] | | _ \
|____| \__] \__ | |_| \__/ |_|\_\
||
|_| OF NET.HEROES
ADVENTURES #306
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Multi-Tasking Man LS Part One
=====================
From: jecoleb at eos.ncsu.edu (have clue, will travel)
Subject: I.B.: Multi-Tasking Man LS (part 1 of ?)
Newsgroups: alt.comics.lnh
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1993 18:59:45 GMT
Hiya, folks... I finally got around to putting together a storyline for
Multi-Tasking Man that I feel good about. ;) So, without (much) further
ado, here goes...
I'll try to keep cameo appearances as true-to-life as possible, but if anyone
thinks I'm particularly sodomizing their character's design or personality,
just whistle.
-----
Because NOBODY demanded it...
"Innocent Bystander..."
--The Multi-Tasking Man Limited Series, Part One (of ?)--
"...So what's he been DOING in there, anyway?"
A somewhat nervous feeling had been traveling around LNH Headquarters, as
the Monitoring Room had been abuzz with some of the most unnatural noises
ever heard by human ears for the past few days... Now, the feeling had
intensified, though not because the noises had intensified -- but because
they'd stopped.
Rebel Yell stared at the battered Coke Machine he leaned against, as he
and a motley band of Legionnaires discussed the strange sounds. "Hard to tell
just WHAT he's been doing, but who wants to get too close?"
Parking Karma Kid offered, "Is he remodeling the computer network, maybe?"
"Er, if he is, it'd have been nice of him to tell the REST of us," mused
Contraption Man, "but I don't think that's it."
"What do YOU think it is?" asked Rebel Yell.
"As far as I can tell from the sounds, he's been building something...
something big."
As these words hung in the air, the subject of their discussion ducked
out of the cafeteria and turned the corner to face his gathered teammates.
The face of Multi-Tasking Man offered few clues, but his costume was covered
with spattered oil and burn marks. "What's up, Reb?", he ventured.
Rebel Yell replied, "That's what WE'VE been meaning to ask YOU. What
ARE you working on in there?"
A momentary smile flickered over the face of the resident computer techno.
"I'm almost done... I'll show you when I'm finished."
With that, he turned and left for the Monitoring Room, his home away from
home, leaving a few scorched footprints in his wake.
Cannon Fodder turned to Rebel Yell. "Was it me, or did he look... GIDDY?"
Contraption Man shrugged. "It's a techno thing. The joy of creation and
all that. *pause* Who wants a Coke?"
He grinned, and sized up the Coke machine, giving it a swift kick to a
clearly-marked panel near the bottom. The machine chugged, smoked for a
moment, and spewed out a 12-ouncer. A small sign sat above its coin slot,
reading:
"This machine is hosed -- don't bother paying!"
Rebel Yell looked puzzled for a moment. "That machine's been broken like
that for as long as I can remember. Why hasn't anyone ever fixed it?
Contraption?"
The group collectively grinned. "And have to PAY for our Cokes? C'mon,
it's not like we're criminals, or anything..."
As the Legionnaires dispersed, a faint chuckle was heard in the air. Each
of the heroes thought it had emanated from another one; needless to say, the
Coke machine kept its own counsel.
-----
Over the next couple of hours, the noises became progressively stranger,
and the Legion gathered around the blast doors to the Monitoring Room to
listen in...
*vrOOOma... vrOOOma... pockitapockitapockitapockita... zzzzzZZZZZZzzt!*
*THUD... thud... thud... ka-CHING!... frrrrrrrrrooowwwwwwww... BLAM!*
Finally, a soot-covered head popped out, and said, "Er... anyone want to
take a look?"
The group settled around the room, and Multi-Tasking Man began to address
the room, after cleaning up some of the debris lying around.
"Well, it's pretty simple... I've been thinking that I'd like to get out
of the Monitoring Room more often, and feel like more of a HERO, instead of
just a glorified computer operator. Soooo... here's my FIRST surprise."
Multi-Tasking Man whipped aside the protective apron and gloves he'd been
wearing, revealing a gleaming pair of gauntlets connected to an armored
harness. "The Multi-Tasking Man Battle Armor (version 1.0)! I'm not quite in
Contraption Man's class in gadgetry just yet, but I think this'll surprise
more than a few villains."
Contraption Man looked skeptical. "What can it do?"
"Whatever I program into it, essentially," Multi-Tasking Man replied.
"It's not excessively powerful, but by pushing a few buttons, I can emanate..."
Turning to a set of test dummies lined up against the far wall, he sent
out a barrage of electrical energy that sent the first one to the floor,
smoking slightly. Pushing a few buttons, he then let out a sonic discharge
that knocked the second one about ten feet into the air; the third one became
engulfed in a nimbus of energy and flew around the room.
"This is my favorite function," he explained, "force field generation.
I can throw objects around the room as if by telekinesis, and throw up
protective fields around people as well."
The assembled Legionnaires began to mumble a bit. Rebel Yell asked, "But
if you're out fighting crime, who's going to be monitoring the alert stations
and teleporting us around?"
A wide grin broke across Multi-Tasking Man's face. "That's my OTHER big
surprise... VOILA!" He snapped his fingers, and a closet door opened, as a
robotic figure shambled out of it and walked across the room to Multi-Tasking
Man's side.
"Meet... W.I.L.B.U.R.," he said, "a Wildly Improbable LISP-Based Urbane
Robot."
"Yo," said W.I.L.B.U.R.
More than one eyebrow was raised. "I've programmed him with a modified
set of my brain patterns, as well as the LNH computers' data on villains,
heroes and procedure; he'll be more than effective. So, whaddya think?"
Rebel Yell mumbled, "Hmmm..."
"BUT WAIT, there's MORE!", Multi-Tasking Man burst out, growing excited.
"There's my M-TM Pocket Diaper Steamer, my M-TM Widget Manufacturer, my M-TM
Potato Broiler, and for the more adventurous Legionnaires, an assortment of
marital aids..."
"EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeewwwwww...," echoed the room.
"Tell you what -- meet us in the Peril Room later, and we'll test out your
new combat capabilities," answered Rebel Yell. "I'll run it by Ultimate Ninja
and the others, as well."
-----
In a darkened room, in a location that many of the Legionnaires would give
their eyeteeth to know about, a shadowy figure watched Multi-Tasking Man's
demonstration via a hidden camera with rapt interest.
"So, Multi-Tasking Man is interested in gaining power, eh?", he mused,
as a glowing finger clicked off the remote control. "This has possibilities...
perhaps I should show him what the nature of power is all about."
-----
What IS Multi-Tasking Man up to? Where did the hidden camera come from?
Does anyone really NEED a pocket diaper steamer? Are all Coke machines
inherently sinister in nature? And who WAS that shadowy figure?
Whaddya want, all the answers in the first episode? Stay tuned...
--
jecoleb at eos.ncsu.edu \\ pope at aza.csc.ncsu.edu
"I don't know where you took --=-- To KLH: Love ya, Katya!
me, but I didn't want to leave." \\ have clue, will travel.
---------------------------------------------------
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Next Week: More Multi-Tasking Man!!
==========
Arthur "Same Classic Channel. But Same Time? Probably not." Spitzer
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