After much searching Latula found the gate to Kurloz's world. She tried to think back to how many times they had traveled through each other's gates, but as soon as she saw the landscape she realized that she had never actually been to Kurloz's world, not even once. If she had she would have remembered the perpetually dark sky, the constant booming of the thunder, the wind and the occasional lightning strikes. Latula searched for exiles of some sort to try and see if she could get directions to Kurloz's hive, but there was no one around save for a few imps and basilisks, which gave her little trouble since she had remembered to take her spiked gauntlets and RCM with her, just in case. She also had Cans' badge, which she had modified since the fight with Prora Methos by adding a switch that allowed her to deactivate it when necessary. She'd never be able to get any grist if every enemy she touched disappeared into the future. And after seeing Kurloz's world she was glad to have brought all these.
She finally found his hive by following a thin dirt trail that led up a hill to where his hive sat peacefully. Interestingly, one of the walls on the upper story of the hive seemed to jut out from the rest, as if it had been added into after the hive had already been built. Latula rememberd that Mituna had told her that Kurloz and Meulin lived together, so it was probably just some extra living space. Latula opened the door and called out for Kurloz, but he didn't answer. She almost panicked but then remembered: duh, he was mute! Of course he wouldn't answer! So she knocked on his door and called out again:
"Yo, Kurloz! 1'ts m3, L4tul4! M1tun4 trusts m3. Why c4n't you?" After getting no answer, Latula realized that Kurloz was out, and obviously hadn't been expecting visitors. Either that or he was fast asleep. He dreamt on Derse, Latula knew, since she had never seen him on Prospit. As she stepped into the foyer of Kurloz's home, a curiosity grew over her. She realized that she had never really known what Kurloz was like. She knew that Mituna was his moirail, and that they had been fairly close back on Beforus, and that Mituna had actually met Kurloz in person—one of the few people from their session to actually do so. But Latula herself had never truly gotten to know Kurloz. Curiosity drove further inside his hive. She found a door labelled "Meulin's supurr secret shipping room! No Purrloz allowed! 33:" looking just under the door, Latula could see a few drawings of the trolls on the floor—so it was just that, a room where Meulin did her private shipping. Nothing more.
The kitchen—Latula knew the low-blooded names, but she preferred using the ones that were easier to remember in most cases—was normal-looking, with purple walls, an island bar, and a few cabinets with normal troll food as well as some kitty treats. Latula decided not to rummage through Kurloz's food; she couldn't learn anything from that. The next room over was a living room with a few ordinary olive-green chairs facing a TV. The TV had static, but Latula assumed that was just because you couldn't get any reception in Sgrub. Plus Beforus had been destroyed by the meteors anyway. The last first-story room to see was Kurloz's bathroom. Nothing special, just a toilet, a sink, and walk-in shower that looked as if it had all just been stuffed into the tiny room that was better off as a storage closet.
Upstairs was mostly the same. One room to the left, and another to the right. The one on the right was the one that seemed to jut out suspiciously, so Latula went in there first. What she was surprising, but not exactly terrifying or shocking. It was another bathroom, this one having a fluffy olive green carpet lining the floor, a big jacuzzi bath that doubled as a shower, a toilet with a seat lined with cotton, and a corner with air vents to use to dry off. And…a bath toy shaped like a mouse? And another shaped like yarn? Then it hit her; this was Meulin's bathroom. Apparently Kurloz had felt that she need a luxurious one, since it was so unusually spacious and inviting. But a bathroom? Latula guessed that maybe Kurloz had done this so that Meulin wouldn't have to share her luxury; he probably just used the regular bathroom downstairs.
On to the last room, Latula thought. As she opened the door to Kurloz's bedroom, she briefly questioned the ethicacy of breaking in here. What if Kurloz actually had really sharp ears to compensate for Meulin's deafness? What if he was actually not asleep but waiting just behind the door for her to open it?!
No, that would be implausible, Latula realized. Besides, Kurloz didn't have any reason to mistrust her—up until now, anyway. But despite her worries curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the door. She was hoping to find out why Kurloz treated Meulin so well. So she opened the door and took a look inside.
Nothing unusual at all. Just as she had suspected, Kurloz was fast asleep in his recuperacoon. It was rather creepy for Latula to see him immersed in so much sopor slime like that, as if he had intentionally wanted a deep sleep. Scanning the room, all she saw was Kurloz's recuperacoon, a second one for Meulin—she noted that Kurloz's was twice the size of Meulin's—a desk with 2 computers, and a closet with its door ajar. Latula sneaked across the room to the computers, just to see what was on the screen. But then the temptation to learn more filled her; she was investigating! She had every RIGHT to see what had been going on with Kurloz and Meulin! Maybe it would give some clues as to what had been going on with him after the fight with Prora Methos, and before that, and even before the session.
After some fooling around (making sure to make as little noise as possible), Latula finally managed to find a very long chat history between Kurloz and Meulin. It had all taken place after they had started their session, obviously—why would they type around when they lived together?—but it was still helpful in getting clues to their relationship.
Conversation 1
UC: :o)
AC: (L%L) Hi Purrloz! :33
UC: :o/ our hive split
AC: (!-!) Yeah, I know! I've got your bathroom, the bedroom and the shipping room. I take it you have the other half? We'll have to work purrty hard to earn grist to see if we can get it all back to the way it was! Should I rebuild my missing half of the hive or should you?
UC: :o) we both should
AC: (= =) ok! I'll get right to work on that! I'd like it if we both tried to make everything EXACTLY the same as it was!
Conversation 2
UC: :o) hey meulin
AC: (*6*) what?
UC: :o) did u take ur medicine
AC: (Q+Q) No! I furgot! Sorry Purrloz, I'll take it right away!
AC: (*u*) Done!
UC: :o) good. Do u love me?
AC: (U) yes!
Well…that hadn't revealed much, except for the fact that Kurloz and Meulin's hive had split apart, and the two had both rebuilt their separate halves. Unusual, but in the circumstances the game had given it was to be expected. But what was the thing about Meulin taking her medicine? What medicine did she have to take? Something to help her hear? But deaf people didn't take medicine for that, did they? It would be like if Latula took medicine to compensate for her lack of smelling ability, not that that "disability" ever impaired her life. Latula turned off the computer as quietly as she had turned it on (which was hard to do due to the noises it made when it started up).
She started to leave when the cabinets caught her eye. Maybe Kurloz had made some copies of the "medicine" and put them in there in case Meulin ever went over to his version of the hive? If the conversations were anything to go by, the hive was recreated EXACTLY. She opened the cabinets, but found nothing but a small door built into the wall. There was a note on the door that read "Kurloz's secret ships! Keep out please Meulin! :o)". This HAD to be investigated.
Latula opened the door and saw dozens of jars of yellow-green slime stashed in a secret compartment. She immediately came to the conclusion she had been dreading:
Kurloz was hypnotizing Meulin with this mixture. It looked to be some sort of combination of sopor slime and mind honey. If that was the case, then was this how Meulin stayed his matesprit? But what did she know? Maybe this was for Kurloz himself.
Latula had no choice but to leave and turn back. She closed the door quietly and turned to look at Kurloz, still sleeping. But then something happened that made her blood run cold; Kurloz's eyes opened, and he stared straight at her. Latula was scared, but she had her weapons with her, so she could fight if she had to.
"Listen, I don't wanna fight. Can't I just go? I promise I won't break into your hive again!" Latula said nervously. She didn't know why she was so afraid of Kurloz; they were equals in terms of fighting ability, right?
"SORRY, MOTHERFUCKER. YOU BREAK IN, YOU PAY THE PRICE," Kurloz immediately delivered a kick just as Latula was shocked by the fact that Kurloz was talking to her without using his mouth (she had never heard him talk to her telepathically before). She was slammed back by the force and shock of the blow, but she quickly recovered by activating her gauntlets. Kurloz had grabbed his Cringe Inducer in the process and swung it at her. She ducked and punched him in the face. His teeth would have been knocked out or something, but since his mouth was sewn shut all he got was a scratched face. Latula tried to reach for her Severers, but Kurloz was too quick and used the butt of his battleaxe to knock her back. Latula dropped her Severers and was pinned to the wall by Kurloz after she had been hit from the blow. He was just too fast and too powerful, and her own weapons weren't effective in such a small area. Latula managed to kick Kurloz back though, sending him backwards until he bumped into his computers with his back. Latula was about to head out the door and leave when she was suddenly felt a sharp pain in her leg. Kurloz had thrown one of the jars at her, and she winced in pain just long enough for him to take ahold of her and drag her back to the cabinets. Against her will, Latula was shoved forward, and Kurloz screamed into her brain:
"CONSIDER YOURSELF FORTUNATE THAT I CAN'T KILL YOU!" the shock of Kurloz's yell (Kurloz's telepathy was scary the second time around, too) stunned Latula long enough for him to hold her nose and force-feed her the sopor slime/mind honey mixture. Latula felt herself swallow it unwillingly, and when it was done Kurloz told her:
"WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP AND WAKE UP, YOU WILL REMEMBER NONE OF THIS. IT IS FOR YOUR SAKE AND MITUNA'S."
AN: The next chapter will focus on Meulin!
