Chapter 9: The rising tide of Sueage
Mary-sue stared at her computer screen, utterly astounded. No, she wasn't still feverish from the 'flu... there really hadn't been a single post on Crystel-sparkle's web forum in the past twenty-four hours. Looking closer at the date-stamps on the different threads, Mary realised that the role-play had died off not long after she'd joined - and at about the same time as a sudden explosion of activity in the OOC sub-forum.
Oh dear. This didn't look good. Six weeks ago she'd have blamed it on a server outage or something, but now? Mary cursed her bad luck at falling ill at the wrong time, and tried to figure out what to do next. She'd meant to use their stories to help locate SueSlayer's next target... was it too late for that now?
Ten minutes later, Mary knew the answer with chilling certainty. Every single member had received a copy of SueSlayer's missive. The fact that they'd got the revised text version - the one which included Mary's veiled warnings and a lot of emphasis on clear visuals - well, that was scant comfort; having seen the gaping plot-holes and inconsistencies in their stories, Mary didn't reckon they'd be any better equipped for dealing with real life, let alone something like SueSlayer.
Delving into the next thread on the page, Mary came to the conclusion that that wasn't quite true, and that she'd actually underestimated some of them. Why, this was a whole page's worth of discussion on accidentally arriving in the middle of Threadfall! Mind you, the solution they'd reached wasn't really all that appealing. Imagine asking to arrive on Pern coated with Wher saliva!
One of them did...
Mary glared at the blinking message that had just materialised on the screen.
"Oh, no... I mean, there's canon, and then there's canon. And as far as Wher saliva goes, I really don't think Todd thought things out properly at all."
No, he didn't. I wasn't sure myself, but the recent evidence was conclusive. You seem interested in the subject; do you require video?
NO! You sick, sick bastard...'' Mary shuddered; she really, really didn't want to see another Thread death. She closed the message window, only for a replacement to immediately appear.
Why, thank you!
Doing her best to ignore SueSlayer's apparent attention, Mary turned back to the forum. There were even a few web-cam clips posted - they'd actually managed to record each other vanishing! Considering the state of the site, the number of disappearances was truly phenomenal. Mary couldn't help wondering how long it'd be before someone outside of the Pern fandom noticed something was up. Unless the vanishers had been smart enough to request a trip they could return safely from...
Another 'no'. Although they were rather inventive, as far as Sues and Stus go.
"I don't want to know."
Haven't you ever wondered if twin dragons were possible?
Mary shook her head "Not really. Ever the twain put me off that cliche a long time ago."
Pity. Getting the beasts to survive on a single yolk long enough to Impress was one of my proudest moments. They died minutes later, of course, leaving their new partners quite mindless. Hardly much of a change in that respect though.
As morbid as the conversation was becoming, Mary suddenly realised that it might actually serve a useful purpose. SueSlayer seemed to enjoy crowing about its triumphs, but if she could find a weakness, some kind of flaw that could be exploited...
"Do you do much in that respect? Tinkering with the dragons?"
The black dragon was quite a challenge, I can tell you. Finding a workable mutation took a lot of attention, but I achieved the desired colour in the end. There was an unfortunate side-effect with the workings of the secondary stomachs... the first time they used firestone, the beast actually exploded. My oh my, Igen hasn't seen a mess like that since an angry assistant chef gave half the Weyr a bad case of dysentry! But no. Mostly I work on bending the Pernese populace into the correct shape to fit the visitor. You can hardly blame me if they can't take the very angst-fest they requested, can you?
Well, that was a tricky question... not. "Er, yes. As it happens, I believe I can."
Mary shook her head, and stared at the remains of the deserted forum-Weyr. She was no closer to finding an answer, or some way to fight back. Maybe if she'd just been a bit quicker? She supposed she could try again, but-
You think you can stop ME? Ha. Ha. Ha.
"Listen, I am going to stop you, no matter what it takes!''
And who was it who drew my attention to the first Sue-thors? Or to Crystel Sparkle? Don't think you'll find help anywhere else... I wouldn't even try, if I were you.
But what choice did Mary have? She had to find a solution, somehow, somewhere...
If that's your final decision, then so be it. Expect consequences.
Chilled, Mary tore the plug for the computer's power supply from its socket, and watched the monitor fade to a blissful, empty black. For the moment, SueSlayer was gone. It had to be.
And then, echoing up the stairwell came the sound of someone hammering on Mary's front door.
