Ch9: Hi again.
Luna246: I should get you to do a new summery for this story. I'm sure it would be better than anything I can come up with. It seems to be a special talent that not everyone has, but I think you're better at it than me. Glad to hear that you think the story is getting more suspenseful. I try my best to get that sort of thing across but I never can be sure if it's working unless someone tells me if it is or not.
jylamz: Tech making something that doesn't work? Parish the thought. Good to hear you are still interested.
Letreduslac: "minuet"…I hate that word…so very, very much, that word and every homonym in the English language. They are the bane(s?) of my existence. Thanks for bringing it up. Upon rereading the chapter I have to say that there is a lot of random-ish dialogue in it. This was mainly for the sake of exposition. Sorry if you were upset by this.
Raining-Stars04: Everything you said just made me think, "Mission Accomplished". That was the exact effect I was going for with Johnny. It's encouraging to hear that I'm reaching somebody in the way I intended. As for the art stuff, I would be happy to oblige, unfortunately I am no artist. This isn't me being modest either. I can't draw anything more complicated than stick figures (and crude ones at that). Sorry: although I would not be against "outsourcing" the task to someone who would actually know what he or she was doing. Like I could see if there are any artists who would not mind working with me to do something like what you want, so I guess that's a possibility if you are really that interested.
CrazyInSye: It's been a while hasn't it? Well it's great to hear from you again. As I have stated before, the whole mystery character was pretty superfluous in the grand scheme of things, but I am glad you thought I did it well. Also very nice to hear that you thought the hints were done well too. I will definitely cover more of Johnny's back-story in the near future; so don't worry about that. ALSO thanks for the author alert.
I don't have that much to say these days. Maybe I'm just anxious about getting this story done properly.
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"So…let me make sure I understand this 'plan' of yours…" Tech began to say as he and Johnny continued to wade through the long grass toward their new destination, putting special emphasis on the word "plan". "We are going to travel an indeterminable distance to some mountain off in the distance," He paused for a second.
"Yup." Johnny replied.
"Then once we get to this mountain we find some way to climb all the way to the top,"
"Yeah."
"Then we wait for another lightning storm to start up,"
"Right."
"Then once we've accomplished all of that, we simply try to get and get ourselves struck by lightning. That is our plan?" Tech finally finished his grim summation of the task ahead of them, desperately hoping that hearing all the details being said out loud would help Johnny understand just how unreasonable his "plan" was.
"Well, if you wanna get technical, we're trying to get your gadget struck by lightning, but that's about the long and short of it." Johnny confirmed, every ounce of his resolve still firmly in place. "I'm glad we're on the same page, but feel free to ask anymore questions you might have." he said, knowing it would probably elicit a satisfying reaction from him.
Tech gave a little sigh and continued to plod along behind Johnny in silence. It would seem there is no way to change his mind on the matter, he found himself thinking. There's no point in pursuing the issue any further then…for now. But then what should I pursue then? What is worth pursuing at this point? Both Tech and Johnny remained silent for a time, Johnny seeming to want to focus on blazing a trail forward while Tech was lost in his own thoughts. He quickly came to a conclusion. He still didn't know all that much about this man and, considering he was a convicted murderer, it was probably in his best interest to try and find out as much as Johnny was willing to tell.
"So, Johnny, you said the first thing you remember is waking up on a beach, do you remember where this beach was?" Tech asked as he saw that even though they had only been traveling for a relatively short time they already seemed to be entering into a new environment. The long grass was beginning thin out and was being replaced by spars collections of trees.
"The beach at Acmetropolis Bay." Johnny replied plainly, as if this were some trivial piece of information.
But Tech had a deferent reaction. "You woke up on the beach of Acmetropolis Bay…a few days after the meteor crashed? You know that Acmetropolis Bay was were the meteor crashed right?"
"Yeah, I had heard that. Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you say?" Johnny said, obviously trying to evoke a response form Tech.
"Right, a…coincidence." Tech responded without hiding any of the shock and disbelief in his voice. Tech was starting to feel discouraged and was finding it hard to think of ways he could get his questions answered in a more complete and helpful way. I can't tell if Johnny is purposely being vague and obtuse with me, or if that's just the way he is naturally. I guess I can't actually be sure if he is telling the truth about anything. Well, obviously he has the powers he claims to have, but as to the rest of his story… . I can't believe how complicated this all is! Tech thought as his feelings shifted from downcast to perturbed quite quickly. This is the reason I prefer working with technology instead of people. If I don't understand why a computer is acting a certain way I can just take it apart and look for the problem. And that's not really an option when dealing with the normal populace. As he was thinking, Tech suddenly became aware of how tired he was. He had not noticed that the terrain had continued to get more rugged and choked up with trees; making it harder to traverse. "Um, Johnny…do you think w-we could…take a short rest?" he asked as he panted heavily.
At first Johnny's expression was hard to identify, but as he said, "Sure. A little rest won't hurt." he still gave off an air of sympathy, even if he did look slightly annoyed. As Tech found a suitable rock to sit on Johnny spoke. "You seem real interested in me, but why don't you tell me about you."
Tech was taken by surprise by this. Well, I guess it's only natural that he'd want to know more about me considering how much interest I've shown in him. "I…I'm not sure where I would begin… ." he replied, apprehension clear in his voice.
"Why don't you just tell me about the rest of your team." Johnny suggested.
"Um, alright. There are six of us in all: me, Ace and Lexi Bunny, though they are not related, Slam Tasmanian, Danger Duck, and Rev Runner. Like I said before, Ace is our leader and… ."
Tech began to explain the dynamics of his team to Johnny who listened with a silent intrigue. Soon enough, with only a little coaxing from Johnny, Tech began recalling many of the adventures he and his teammates had gone on. And so as the two began to laugh and for that short time as Tech reminisced about better times he forgot about the dire and desperate situation he found himself in. He was comfortable, and even happy, for that short time.
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Yeah I realizes that this is a sudden and out-of-place ending for the chapter, but I'm going to be going on a short little trip soon and I wanted to get a new chapter up before I left. I hope it is in some way satisfactory.
