Second Life, The Book: Chapter 2.

Hullo all. Foolish Frost is back with the continuing story of the Avatar!

(NEW STORY SECTION ADDED JULY 23rd)

-= Chapter 2, Part 1 =-

When I clicked on the login button this time, I was prepared for the disorientation of re-entering Second Life.

Riiiight....

As it was, I was lucky: I only tripped over a chair in the commons and got wedged headfirst between it and the wall.

By the time I righted myself, I was properly embarrassed. Why, though, was this lucky?

Nobody was there to see it.

I gave a sigh of relief and walked out to the Common’s front balcony. No one was there either, and I took a moment to take in the view. RavenGlass was rezzing in the distance, and the docks below it were full of people.

There had not been any activity there yesterday, so I thought I would take a peek. A quick jump over the rail and I was soaring straight over the water. The RavenGlass Docks were a pretty simple affair, consisting of a wooden platform set out over the water. It had shacks set evenly over it, and each had someone building something inside of it.

Funny, it seemed that time almost seemed to slow down when I reached the Docks. It actually took a few moments for my body to respond, so I’m pretty sure it was forgivable when I slammed into the deck at full speed and slammed into one of the shacks. Funny, the landing was softer than I was expecting.

“Hi! My name’s Fiona! Could you get your knee out of my face please?”

<sigh>

It was the work of a moment to organize our arms and legs back to the proper people involved, and would have been embarrassing, if not for the easy way she took it all.

“Yup. Took me a while to get the hang of landings. Some people never get them perfected.” She nodded at one fellow who kept slamming into things in his attempts to maneuver.

“Another new user?” I watched him get stuck in a shack for a moment, his head jammed into the rafters of the roof.

She smiled, “No. He’s been around for about a year. Some people just don’t take to flying too well.” She shrugged. “It’s no crime.”

I felt I should say something to save what little ego I had left. “Actually, I can normally land fine. I was getting ready too, and all of a sudden I was reacting too slow to stop.”

She nodded with a smile. “Happens all the time. You have to watch for that when crossing a Sim border.”

“Ah. I know about Sims, but why did everything slow down?”

“When you cross a Sim border, you’re effectively stepping (or flying) into a new reality. In this case, the Sim you crossed into is slower because there are a lot of people in it doing things.” She nodded to the people working at setting up shops in nearby shacks. “With all the people here, and all the building going on, the Sim has noticeably slowed down.”

I nodded. “And I flew right into it.”

“Yup.”

Now that I was used to it, it wasn’t that bad. It took me a bit longer to react than I liked, but not so bad I could not function.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to go help someone setup their stall for the fair.”

“What fair?”

She was already leaving toward a purple dinosaur I instinctively want to beat with a club. “The MayDay fair! It’s tomorrow! See you around, Avatar!”

They had fairs here?

-=-

Phear m3 1337 5|<|1z..... NOT!

Later,

Yaaay, the story is back! Happyhappy. Thanks, Foolish!

You know, catgirls are a part of a healthy diet. Or are we a part of a catgirl's healthy diet. I forget...

-= Chapter 2, Part 2 =-

*Ding* Miss Kitty would like to animate your avatar. Yes/No?

I blinked. Shrugging, I gave assent and looked about for…

“YAY!” It was a happy sound, filled with fun and cheer. It also sounded like it was heading toward me at mach two.

*Glomph*

*Crash*

I was looking up at a girl who had obviously taken great pains to look like a cat. Or perhaps a cat who had taken great pains to look like a human girl. Either way, she had me pinned and was looking down at me with a grin the spoke volumes as to her thoughts on the matter.

What can you do? “Hello. I take it you’re Miss Kitty?”

She nodded happily. “Foolish told me you would be showing up sooner or later, and said I should try to make you feel at home.” Her grin went Cheshire and she leaned down at toward me. “Does this feel anything like home?”

I squeaked.

“Ohhhh. Never make a sound like that around a kitty, Avatar. All our toys sound like that…” I don’t see how, but the grin got even larger…

“That’s enough, Kitty. Let the lad up and stop teasing him.” I couldn’t see Foolish, but he was obviously nearby.

Kitty’s face looked petulant, and then sad. “But you said I could play with hiiiiiiiimmmmm!” Even her whine was adorable.

“But I didn’t say you could keep him, and it’s not nice to torment him until he can defend himself.” His voice was one step away from outright laughter.

“Friend of yours, Foolish?” It was a silly question, but allowed me to seem a bit less the victim.

She looked down at me and leaned forward again. “I can be your friend too, you know…” The view was interesting, to say the least.

“Kitty…” The tone had changed to warning.

Her face turned to a sulk as I heard muttering about never letting her have any fun. She was nice enough to help me up, though.

“Welcome to RavenGlass Hall, Avatar. Was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up today.”

“Yes, well…” I shrugged. “Work and all…”

“Say no more! I was not trying to pry, and all that matters is you’re here now.” He nodded to the people moving about. “I’ve been busy this morning anyway.”

“What’s going on?”

“Ach! Me and some friends are putting together a fair, and the vendors here are being offered some free space to sell their goods.”

He was going to continue, but Botany showed up and shook her head in irritation. “The May-Pole still doesn’t work right, Love…”

He gave a sigh that started in his shoes and ended looking to the heavens for strength. “Send me the test-log for it, me’dear…”

She handed him a card, and he looked at it for several moments. Then he looked ahead at something only he could see.

“Bloody hell. It SHOULD work.” He was nearly growling.

“But it doesn’t, Luv.” She was sympathetic, but obviously at bit irritable herself.

He seemed to think on it for a minute, and then nodded. “So be it.”

He seemed to totally forget about the world around him for several minutes, and Botany and I chatted about a few little things. To be honest, we were watching him more than talking. He seemed so busy, even without moving more than his head.

“Done. Take this one and try it.”

She seemed tired. “That’s what you said about the last ten times, Foolish.”

“I scrapped it. This is a hardwired version for the maypole. The other was just not doing what it was told to do.” He shook his head. “I KNOW that code SHOULD have worked… I just don’t have time to find out why it didn’t…”

Botany turned to me. “Would you like to come see?”

I nodded. I figured it would be good to see what Foolish was building.

“Can I come too?” Kitty bounced in beside me, her happy little grin back with a vengeance.

Botany turned and began back toward the tree. “The more the merrier. You can help test the May-Pole too.”

“Ohhhh. New toy!” She ran ahead and bounced into the air. I followed with a grin of my own.

I DID feel at home here… And it was only my second day…

-=-

Remember, your donations help keep catgirls like Miss Kitty off the streets of SL. Do your part and donate today! The glomph you avoid could be your own....

Sorry about the pause in the story, but you know the way it is: You gotta pay the bills before you can play....

-=-

The maypole had been setup behind the tree, away from the direction I had been able to view. When we landed, there were several elves mulling about, looking at the pole and talking about what might be wrong.

One looked in our direction. “Again?” His voice sounded resigned to a terrible fate.

Botany nodded. “Yup. Last one if this doesn’t work. We’ll scrap the maypole and work on other things instead.”

Everyone nodded and waited as she walked up to the Maypole and seemed to put something into it. Then she seemed to watch it for a few seconds with her hand gesturing at it.

“Ok. Done. Try it and let’s see if Foolish is the genius he likes to think he is.”

Everyone chuckled and reached for the maypole. I sat back and watched as Kitty bounded by me and reached out as well.

And a streamer of color wafted to each of them, linking them with a floating ribbon that followed them as they moved about. The cheerful hoots indicated that it was working fine now.

“Wonderful! Botany, you said Foolish made this?” Kitty was dancing around the maypole so fast the ribbon was having trouble keeping up. “I LOVE it!”

“He said it was going to be free for anyone who wanted one. Just let him finish getting it setup.” She cocked her head to one side, and within seconds, Foolish appeared next to her.

“Hullo, hullo!” He walked up to the maypole and poked it a few times. “Seems to be working?” Everyone there nodded.

“Good. Evil thing should never have taken this long to figure out.” He waved at it and the poll disappeared, and then waved again causing it to re-appear. He then turned to Kitty and pointed at her.

“Thanks Fool!” Kitty was obviously happy with her new toy. I grinned as she then landed on him in a pouncing hug.

Foolish patted her on the head. “Off with you, before Bot gets jealous and decided we make good mulch.”

“Awwww. That’s can’t be true!” He voice turned whiny. “Botany! You’ll share, right? I swear I won’t break him like my other toys!”

The elves by now were snickering as they watched Foolish start to squirm under the particularly evil grin of Botany. She finally shook her head and wagged a finger at them. “Ok! Off my husband, Miss Pounce-a-lot.”

Kitty grinned and wiggled as she stood up. “I’ll wrestle you for him....” She let the thought hang in the air, leaving little to be misunderstood about what she meant. I blinked as the idea impacted my brain and shattered what little mind I had.

Botany didn’t answer, just waggled a warning finger at Kitty as they helped Foolish up.

Have you ever seen a bunch of elves falling-down laughing? It’s not a pretty sight.

-=-

Kitty and Botany had left with the elves to get other things done for the fair. I got to stay with Foolish in the Commons and watch him slowly rebuild his dignity. I wasn’t helping with the grin I was giving him.

He smirked back. “Got something on your mind? A gutter perhaps?”

I grinned harder, and refused to give it up. “Real ladies man, ain’t ya?”

His eyes glinted as he looked me up and down. Walking to the doorway, he called over his shoulder. “Lad, why don’t you take a look in your pants and say that again?”

As he left, I checked my pants. I took a few seconds, but I was able to get them off.

I fainted dead away....

You see, I finally knew whose body I had gotten. I was a Ken doll.

-=-

Whee! PG humor!

Foolish, if you're looking to get something like this published in-world, please send me an IM. I'm working on an author's group both for NaNoWriMo as for other general events. Currently we're in the process of a short-story writing event that these may be perfect for.

See this thread for more information:
/18/ee/50221/1.html

Fear not, True Believers! I am still updating this chapter, as time permits me!
Donations to Foolish Frost are appreciated, loved, and coveted by the writer. Please send money to feed my 10 little BOB bots. Only you can save them from digital wipe and ruin!

<For the humor impared: That was a joke>

-=-

I didn't show my face online again until the next day. Foolish was already there, and looked up from his tinkering with a nod.
“Hullo, Avatar. Give me just a second here. I'm finishing up one of my new 'toys'.”
I took a look at what he was working on. It looked to be a small ball with a camera lens on the front, and a few glowing spots. His hand waved over the top of it while he concentrated on it.
I decided not to distract him, and walked out of the Commons to the front porch. The fair was running full speed, and dozens of people were running about. I cranked up my vision range, allowing me to see the tower across the bay. People were shopping there in great numbers, and seemed to be having a great time of it.
I turned my visual range back down. The number of people nearby were slowing things down too much, and seeing them all slowed me down even more.
By the time I was ready to go back in, Foolish was walking out. Behind him was his newest project, hovering about a meter behind him at shoulder height.
“Done!” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder and grinned. “Meet BOB. He's a Basic Obtuse Bot.”
I looked at it. “What makes it obtuse?”
His grin never wavered. “You should see the way I write code. You'd know then...”
I rolled my eyes and followed him to the Teleporter to the ground.

-=-

Botany was at the arena she had setup out in back of her tree. A sparse affair, it was basically a giant tree stump with two steps leading up to it. About a dozen people were sitting around and watching a duel that botany was watching intently.
The two people in the ring were weaving about, swinging their swords with abandon and knocking each other about. By the time Foolish and I arrived next to Botany, one of the two combatants had been knocked out of the ring.
“Winner! Daleiran Coppersmith!” Botany's voice was raised for everyone nearby to hear. “Next match up!”
“Hullo, luv.” Foolish nodded to the arena. “How's the games going today?”
“Oh! Hi Foolish, Avatar. Pretty good, actually. Want to try a hand at it?”
Foolish shook his head. “Nay, lass. You know I'm not for the arena. I'm a builder, not a breaker.”
“So says the one who can hold his own, and has a custom sword to match!” She turned toward me. “What about you, Avatar?”
I was saved by the next player stepping up and pointing his sword toward Botany. “I challenge you, Sidhe Botany Black.” Botany looked up at him and nodded in a friendly way.
As she stepped up into the arena, a sword covered in green vines and thorns rezzed into her hand. She waved it a few times and posed it gently. “Foolish, could you call the duel for us?”
Foolish seemed to give a heartfelt sigh, and nodded. “Ready?” He waited for them to respond. “Set!”. The player, a knight by the look of his red tinted armor, brought his sword up to ready.
“Fight!”
They rushed at each other head-on, leaving nothing to tactics it seemed. The next think I knew, the knight was flying into the air over my head, and slammed into the side of the tree with a resounding thud. He fell into the bushes next to be, and shook his head with a groan.
“Point, Botany Black.” Foolish turned and looked at me. “Arena fights are normally a two out of three point affairs.” I nodded and watched the knight wobble back over to the tree stump arena.
“Ready?” Both posed for combat and nodded. “Set!” Both tensed. “Fight!” Knight came flying out of the arena and into some bushes...
“Point! Botany Black! Game! Botany Black! End Match!” Foolish finally broke a smile and looked up at Botany. “Lovely match, Luv. Excellent as always.”
I watched as the knight, still wobbling from the two losses, walked up to Botany and thanked her for the match.
Botany walked directly up to me and smiled. “Sooo. About that match? Want to try a duel?”
What could a say? “Thank you for the offer, Botany.” I grinned back at her. “But there is not a chance in hell I'm coming at you with a sword in your hand, so I have to bow out.”
Foolish didn't stop laughing for a long time after that...

-=-

It's true. Botany is an evil fighter. She scares me!

Later all!