The Neverchanging Story

by Gary D. Snyder

Part 12:

How long he stayed by Sheen's side in a state of shock Jimmy couldn't say. It's my fault, he told himself over and over again. He didn't want to come. I should have protected him. I should have protected them all. I should have found some way out, and I didn't. I've failed them all. He watched with supreme indifference as the light began to fade and noted in some still functioning corner of his mind that the bright round moon was beginning to climb into the darkening sky. There was something about the moon, he thought. Something that was supposed to be important. What was it? And did he really care?

His gaze wandered from the moon to the dark structure awash in its growing light that loomed over him and he frowned. Sheen had come from that window, high overhead. The others were in there as well, he knew. Why hadn't they come down to see what had happened to Sheen? Didn't they care? Or were they in trouble, too?

Trouble…and his friends…and a castle…and the moon…

Jimmy stirred as his thoughts began to coalesce into coherent patterns once again. Yes, he was here because there was trouble and only he could help. His friends needed his help. If he acted quickly he could still help them, even if it was too late for Sheen. Or was it? With agonizing slowness the shock-induced fog in Jimmy's head began to clear. It was too late for Smegleigh but Sheen wasn't Smegleigh. The pace of Jimmy's thoughts increased. Was what happened here experiential or instantiated? Had what had happened to Smegleigh happened to Sheen as well? Or would Sheen only believe that it had?

Jimmy staggered to his feet, the pins and needles in his legs and feet telling him that he had been kneeling for quite some time. He looked up again at the window high above. "All right," he said aloud. "Let's dance." He raced towards the castle, wand drawn, recalling to his mind the incantations that had been given him for this mission. If he was careful, and caught Lord Folderol unawares, he might yet succeed in stopping the evil wizard's plan. If he was luckier still he would be able to make Lord Folderol pay for what had happened to Sheen.

He came to the front entry of the stronghold and was not surprised to see the massive gates closed against him. Stopping in front of them Jimmy held his wand before him and closed his eyes in fierce concentration. "Ex substantio ad insubstantio transit," he murmured and walked slowly forward. Without pausing he passed slowly through the thick wood and iron barriers, feeling a cold wave wash over him as his incorporeal body. Once it had passed he opened his eyes again. He was inside.

Jimmy looked warily about him, mindful that there were probably guards posted throughout the castle, but saw no one. Nonetheless some sense keener than sight and sharper than hearing warned him that vigilance pervaded this place and that he must be careful. Moving as quietly and carefully as possible he pressed deeper into the fortress and sought a way up to the room with the fateful window he had spied from below. In just a few minutes he had located a broad stairway leading up and back and he took this path. He passed many doors on his journey and ignored them, intent only on moving closer to the room he knew Lord Folderol and his friends must be in. Once or twice he halted in silent alarm at some supposed noise or voice but nothing materialized to oppose him. Finally, after much climbing and trepidation he stood before a large wooden door reinforced with thick iron bands and inset with a formidable-looking lock. Jimmy took a deep breath to steady himself and raised his wand to cast another transmigration spell. Then, after a thought, he tried the heavy metal handle on the door. It was open, allowing the door to push open easily. Jimmy shrugged. Apparently the story required him to confront Lord Folderol without incident.

With the door slightly ajar he peered inside. From his point of view he could see the Tureen of Turin bathed in moonlight on a stone pedestal and a man in dark robes on the far side of it with his back to Jimmy. Cautiously Jimmy pushed the door open just wide enough for him to squeeze inside and moved quietly into the room. Once inside, to his relief, he saw Cindy, Libby, and Carl stuck against the wall to his left. He moved over to them, putting his finger to his lips as they spotted him.

"It's about time, Neutron," Cindy whispered impatiently. "What kept you?"

"Plot developments," Jimmy replied tersely.

"Couldn't you have sped it up some?"

"Hey, I didn't write the story," he said with irritation. Then his voice took on a more concerned tone. "How are you guys?"

"We're okay," Libby replied soto voce. "But I don't know about Sheen."

"Yeah, did you see him?" asked Carl. "He went through the window over there."

"I"ll…tell you later," Jimmy fudged. "For now I have to get you out of here. Stay quiet but let me know if Lord Folderol sees me." Closing his eyes again in concentration Jimmy pointed his wand at his friends and murmured some words that the others couldn't quite hear. A faint glow appeared about Cindy, Libby, and Carl and rapidly grew brighter. Suddenly and without warning the three fell to the stone floor, free of their invisible restraints.

"Nice job, Neutron," Cindy grumbled, rubbing a bruised hip. "In case you didn't notice these floors are stone. The next time you might put some pillows or something down first."

"That's right," agreed Libby.

"Uh, guys…" Carl began.

"Do you want back up on the wall so I can do it right this time?" Jimmy countered.

"Guys…" Carl tried again.

"What I want is a little more consideration," retorted Cindy.

"Guys…" Carl repeated, more urgently this time.

"Hey, I'm new to this," Jimmy shot back angrily. "I'm a scientist, not a wizard."

"Then maybe next time you should send a wizard," Libby responded.

"Like him?" Carl asked in a panic, pointing behind them.

Jimmy and the two girls turned. Facing them, with his arms folded and a confident smile on his face was Lord Folderol. "Ah, Mr. Fodder. I was expecting you to race to the aid of your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Jimmy objected.

"We've been through all that," said Libby. "Let's move it along."

"Kudos for having gotten this far unnoticed," Lord Folderol continued. "No doubt courtesy of your esteemed benefactors at the Hogsnorts school who, I trust, at least had the courtesy of transporting you out all this way."

"I took the bus," Jimmy answered.

"Typical," replied the wizard.

"Hey, educational budgets are tight everywhere!" Jimmy answered defensively.

"No doubt. But the important thing is that you are here. I've waited a long time for this. With your demise and the end of all your wizards friends I'll be supremely powerful, thanks to the Tureen. It's a pity that I can't afford to let you live. In many ways you have such promise, just like your friend who was a bit…downcast…earlier. It's just a matter of letting that potential out."

At the mention of Sheen Jimmy's anger flared up again. "It ends here, Lord Folderol," he snarled. "You aren't hurting anyone ever again!" He raised his wand.

"No, Jimmy!" Cindy objected. "You can't beat him. There are still two more books to go. Larry Fodder and Lord Folderol aren't supposed to have their final showdown until the final book. In this story all you can do is foil his plan to use the Tureen."

"And then what?" Jimmy wanted to know.

Cindy shrugged. "I guess the book is over."

"Then I can't beat him," Jimmy said, looking worried.

"What?" Libby couldn't believe her ears. "If you don't we'd probably stay stuck in here until you did. But why are you so stressed about it? You can't lose. The story must have you win."

"I can't explain it…but I can't let this story end. I'll tell you all why later."

"Prepare to meet your fate, Fodder!" Lord Folderol called, raising his staff.

"Jimmy," Carl whimpered, "I don't like this."

Jimmy thought furiously. His experience on the bus had shown him that he couldn't really change what was supposed to happen in the story. But on the other hand, if the story ended what would happen to Sheen? If the Virtual Instantiator completed the story Smegleigh's death would be definite and it was possible that Sheen might be gone as well, something that he couldn't risk. He couldn't change the story, but neither could he postpone it indefinitely, and for Sheen's sake he didn't dare finish it. So what was left? "Come on," he muttered intently. "Think. Think! Think!"

There are still two more books to go…

The Virtual Instantiator has no control over us…

The hyperthread stalled which generated an exception…

"Brain blast!" he cried. "I can't change or postpone the story, but I can keep it from finishing."

"What do you mean?" asked Cindy.

"I cause an exception so drastic that it will force the Virtual Instantiator to reset."

"What could be that drastic?"

"Putting an end to the Larry Fodder series," Jimmy replied grimly.

"But that's crazy!" protested Cindy. "The only way there couldn't be any more Larry Fodder books is if there were…no more…" Her eyes widened. "Are you insane?"

"Maybe," answered Jimmy. "But I don't see any other way. Okay, Lord Folderol," he called, edging over to the window. "If you want to have it out once and for all that's fine by me. But you should know that there's one thing that no magic can possibly overcome."

Lord Folderol paused, wondering what Jimmy had in mind. "And what's that, Fodder?" he demanded.

"The Blue Screen of Death!" Jimmy answered, and dove headlong out the window before the astonished wizard could act.

In the approximately 2.43 seconds Jimmy calculated he had before he struck the ground about a hundred feet below a surprisingly number of thoughts ran through his mind. He thought of his parents and wondered why he had never really thought more about them before. He thought of Goddard and wondered if Goddard were thinking about him at that moment. He thought of the many experiences he, Carl, and Sheen had experienced and the things he could have done to have made them better. He thought of Cindy and why he had never mentioned that he liked the aromatic olfactory emanations from her hair and how pleasantly her eyes reflected the green region of the visible electromagnetic spectrum. And curiously, just as he hit and blackness engulfed him, he wondered if Ultra Lord would be waiting to meet him.

End of Part 12.

Author's Notes:

This chapter and the previous chapter really make up three chapters, but splitting them into two had them end a little more logically and structured the story a bit better. Hopefully they weren't too long for some of the readers used to my shorter chapters.