Author's Note: I started doing this as an experiment for myself, but I decided to post it online to see what other people think... so let me know what you think! I see you guys reading it! I'd be happy to answer any questions :)
Exile Rabble ~ATH
Years in the future and miles from his new home, the Enshrouded Heliopterist searches for food. He's found a likely spot – a depression in the sand, its bottom cracked and brown. It doesn't seem like much, but it's a welcome sight in this mostly featureless desert – it means there's water. And where there's water, there's likely to be food, too.
He scrambles over the ridge and slides down the sandy slope to the edge of the mud, where he spots some delicious-looking mushrooms. He pulls out his Prospitan Army-Issue Field Survival Manual, weather-beaten but handier now more than ever, and leafs through it. He identifies the fungus before him as "Meteoshrooms;" they were generally considered a nuisance aboard the meteor facilities, where their spores started to grow when exposed to the artificial air of the lab facilities. Here, however, their edible nature is highly welcomed. He puts away the book and begins plucking.
One of the meteoshrooms doesn't snap off right away, but rather comes up in a long, white string. Then he realizes it's no shroom he's plucked – it's an actual piece of rope. He grabs it and begins pulling it, hand over hand, out of the mud bed. It could come in handy. Suddenly, the rope is pulled taught. The Heliopterist looks across the pit to see if it's caught on anything.
Strangely, it seems to have risen above the mud, revealing a mass of netting hanging off of it. He follows the rope to the other end, but it doesn't appear to be tied to anything. Then he spots it, blending in with the sand – another Prospitan wrapped in robes of washed-out beige, camouflaged against the sand.
They each give the line a tug, but neither gains any ground. If they keep on with this game of tug-of-war, they'll just end up falling face-first into the mud like a bunch of schoolkids on field day. The Heliopterist thinks he should let go; this net no doubt belongs to the other wanderer. However, he's in a bit of a cantankerous mood today. The others are always attacking him for what he has, trying to steal his food and his Heliopter (it's a good thing he parked it a few ridges back today, he thinks). It's his turn to demand a piece of the pie.
The Heliopterist grabs the rope firmly and starts running ahead. The onerous knave on the other side follows suit. They race faster and faster along the sides of the basin, dragging the net across the top. The net, in turn, drags bushels of mushrooms, a few stray supply cases, even an Imp who was waiting to ambush them in the mud. They finally reach the far end and stand face to face, glaring and panting, each holding an end of the net. They glance at their massive haul and witness a veritable feast of mushrooms waiting to be enjoyed. The Imp struggles uselessly against the entangling net.
They look at each other again, and the hostility dissolves. It dawns on them that they've just accomplished something neither of them could have on their own. The hound-eat-hound mentality of the desert fades in that instant, and the two of them are reacquainted with the wonders of working together.
That night, the Enshrouded Heliopterist and the Onerous Knave build a bonfire in a well-hidden gulley and treat themselves to a meteoshroom banquet. This is the first time in months either of them has had a full belly. They sleep with both eyes closed.
Dumpy Oaf 3 ~ATH
[I]
tortugaTerran began pestering pastelPerfect at 2:36 PM
TT: Hey, are you there?
TT: I just did another thing.
TT: Uh…
TT: Lol
PP: oh hi
PP: what thing?
TT: Um
TT: The Cruxtruder
PP: uh huh
PP: so you did it?
TT: I guess!
TT: I was just trying to move it into the corner so it's not blocking the doorway, but some kind of lid on top fell off...
TT: And then this glowing thing came out of it and floated out the window!
TT: So like goodbye to whatever cool thing that was. :(
TT: We missed it.
TT: Where are you anyway? AA told me you were antsy to get started!
PP: antsy go marching down to the ground
PP: to get out of the rain
TT: What does THAT mean?
PP: i went down into the ant hill
PP: in search of sugar crystals to bring the queen
PP: nom nom nom
TT: Anyway, there's a countdown on the Cruxtruder now. AA was right about the time limit on this game, I guess.
TT: Seriously, dude, you only have like an hour and a half.
TT: So hurry and get on ASAP.
PP: well i can't play anything until i fix my internet
PP: so i'll let you know how that quest goes
PP: just call me an internet explorer
TT: :T
Nico shields his eyes as they adjust from the dark cave light to the natural light of this lovely spring day. Behind him, Elan squints at the map he got from the mysterious break room.
"Oh, hey, I know where we are!" Nico says, gazing at the view. They stand on a sandstone bluff, one of a shallow, step-like series that rises from a valley rich with freshly-sprouted trees. Beyond the edge of the next hill, Nico spots the corner of a parking lot.
"It's Battle Creek State Park, dude," he says to Elan. "Where we went to smoke with Ethan that one time. Where they had that bike marathon thing, too."
"Oh, okay, I remember…" Elan says. He turns around to look at the bluff wall behind them, where the internet cable emerges from the tunnel and immediately raises up to connect with a utility pole on top of the highest bluff. The line leads off into the distance, hanging over the valley like a suspension bridge bound for the sky.
"See the hill up there, where the power line goes?" Elan says to Nico, pointing towards the peak of the river valley. A little building sits next to the pole standing sentinel there. "That little house must be the junction box that's on the map. I think if we go there, we can restart things, or at least see what the problem is."
"Such a pain in the ass that we have to do this and not the guys from the internet company," Nico groans. He looks backwards, where the very top of the Schnellburg skyline can be seen over the crest of the bluff they just emerged from. Many bands of smoke have now formed, amassing in the sky above the city in a great, black cloud. Metallic crashes and feeble siren wails drift into the valley. Maybe it's not the end of the world if Nico has to do this himself.
He turns around and begins climbing the rocky outcroppings to reach the top of the bluffs, where they can follow along the clear-cut path made for the utility lines. As they walk along the shrubby edge of the forest, Nico says, "Didn't Brad say he knew someone who grew weed around here?"
"Like on a farm?" Elan asks.
"No, like one of his friends would come here to smoke, and he would pick the seeds out and plant them out in the wilderness where no one would really stumble across it. Or like, if some normie jogger came along, he wouldn't recognize it, y'know?"
"Oh yes, I remember this story now," Elan says, nodding. "But didn't he say that was back in high school?"
"It's only been a few years," Nico shrugs. "And plants grow back. It could still be here! Plus, then I wouldn't be set back by my dead weed plants – I can grab all this free weed, hang it down in the basement, and cure it in time for 4/20! Problem solved!"
"What happened to your gardening project anyway?" Elan asks.
"I dunno, there were some weird bugs that chewed them-"
Nico stops himself when he hears a rustling in the bushes. The two of them stand still, looking for the source, not realizing how on-edge they were and still are until they had nothing to focus on but the pounding hearts in their chests.
Suddenly, whatever had made the noise begins to move again, crashing off into the underbrush, away from the two of them. It's not unusual for this sort of encounter to happen with a deer, but from the sound of the heavy thrashing in the bushes, this is something much bigger than a deer.
"What the hell was that?" Elan splutters.
Nico hazards a guess. "Bigfoot?"
"This is getting really creepy, man," Elan says, his voice almost too low to be heard over the hilltop breeze.
"Don't tell me you're chickening out," Nico teases.
"Actually, maybe that's a good idea," Elan mumbles, turning away. "I think I'm just going to head to the parking lot and catch the bus back home. My homework can wait until… you know… whenever." He looks back and forth nervously between the burning city and the parking lot.
"Aww, what about our adventure, man?" Nico pleads. Elan thrusts the rolled-up blueprint into Nico's hand, and it's automatically captchalogued.
"It's getting much too strange for me," Elan says with finality. "You just go ahead and play this weird game with the friends who started it. I don't want to die today."
Nico hadn't considered the possibility. He watches, a bit flabbergasted, as Elan turns and hastens back along the bluff.
Lifeline .pce
Theo stops his car in the middle of the road. Though it hasn't rained recently, at least not in torrential amounts, the road is submerged in water. Theo looks up the hill along the side of the road, where a round hole has seemingly been punched in the crest. A pond, formerly a little pit just for drainage, has emptied itself out, washing grass and sticks and mud down the hill and into the low point of the road, where the pond has re-formed. Theo isn't sure exactly how deep it is, but it seems too deep for his car. He doesn't want to risk it, so he backs up and tries to find a side route through the neighborhoods.
Luckily, the roads are pretty clear. There are a surprising number of abandoned cars on the side of the road, but nobody seems to be out anymore. The neighborhoods are eerily just as empty, and just as flooded. Pools of water cover the road (though these pools Theo is sure he can drive through), leaking from damaged fire hydrants and water pipes deep inside strange craters in the mud.
Theo looks down across the sloping backyards and sees a veritable lake has formed in the valley below. Trees, garden sheds, and play structures poke out from the top of the water. Theo pulls his car over to the curb and parks it. He's close to home; perhaps if he can find a way across the water, he can come back for his car when the flood waters recede or evaporate or whatever it is they do. He thinks he may be kidding himself a little here. The state of the world seems majorly apocalyptic right now.
Down the street a ways, the road descends a bit. The houses here are knee-deep in floodwater, though the residents seem to have evacuated. In the driveway of the nearest house, in front of the third-car garage, a simple fishing boat threatens to drift away from the boat trailer it's resting on. Theo crouches down and grabs the yellow tow rope floating in the water, pulling the boat toward him.
It's been a while since he's been out on the water, but the ripcord is easy enough to figure out, and the boat starts right up. He takes it slow, weaving between the houses as he heads toward the open water of the flooded backyard valley. He watches the water ahead of him to make sure he's not going to hit a fence or bird feeder lurking just below the surface, but he doesn't really care if he damages this stranger's boat. It's hard to see anyway with how muddy the water is.
Suddenly, he hears someone calling. He looks around and spots someone across the way – two people, leaning out of a second-story window. The floodwaters have completely engulfed the first floor of their house. Theo sighs – time to do his good deed for the day, he guesses. He brings the boat over and drifts up to the wall below the window. The two grateful survivors jump out and land in the boat, making it rock dangerously.
Once it steadies, Theo pushes away from the house with his hand and guns the motor, crossing to the far shore. He beaches the boat on a slope of mud-slicked grass, and the two rescuees jump out. They offer Theo their thanks and take off to join the rest of their family. Theo begins walking, eager to finish his journey home.
tortugaTerran began pestering arousingAntagonism at 2:07 PM
TT: Hey, are you guys still playing SBURB?
AA: Yeah. Why?
TT: Sweet, I'm almost home.
TT: I'm gonna jump on and play with you guys.
AA: So much for work, then?
TT: Yeah, basically. -_-
Dumpy Oaf 3 ~ATH
[II]
Tromping through the forest, it doesn't take Nico long to find what he's looking for. The clearcut path beneath the utility lines meets up with a bend in the hiking trail. There, no more than twenty feet into the treeline, are the fabled weed plants. He hops over to them, high-stepping above the shrubbery like a dancing court jester.
He recoils in shock when he gets close enough. These plants, too, are crawling with those weird little roaches. Not all hope is lost – they've barely started to go to work on these plants. Nico quickly WIELDS the bug spray again and gives them a good blasting. He's glad the Bro Beater got some action earlier, because he doesn't want this bug spray to become his thing or whatever.
He examines the plants, now glistening with a fine coat of poison spray. The Blunt-Ended Roaches, now stiff with rigor mortis, slide off the leaves and plop gently on the forest floor. Thankfully, the buds are mostly intact. His mission has been accomplished. Well, his side quest has. He remembers that there's something more pressing to get to, so he does the quickest thing. Grabbing the entire three-foot-tall weed plant by the base of the stem, he gives it a good yank and uproots the whole thing.
"Sorry to whoever was gonna come back for these," he sighs. Chances are, these plants won't be too good anyway – growing out in the open exposes them to pollination, which decreases the potency. Good weed has blue balls. He captchalogues the entire plant and makes a mental note to rinse off the bug spray when he gets home.
pastelPerfect began pestering tuneHarmonic at 2:42 PM
PP: haha dude you will never guess what
TH: chicken butt?
PP: lame dude
TH: lol alright
PP: i got more greeeeen!
TH: did billy come thru?
PP: no man, im like out in the woods
PP: and i found some wild plants
TH: word
TH: youre in the woods tho?
TH: everyone else says you were in a cave
PP: i am a man of many places
PP: i just cant seem to sit still lol
TH: true dat
TH: so you getting on this game?
PP: ugh
PP: i wish everyone would stop asking me that
PP: im like kinda having my own adventure over here
TH: i feel ya
TH: lmk if you see any monsters
PP: well i think im on bigfoots trail so ill tell you if i see him
Nico emerges from the woods, passing by a suspiciously deep, foot-shaped divot in the mud, and sits down on the edge of a bluff. Now that he's got his backup stash, he feels confident enough to smoke his emergency pinch. He sorts through his Sylladex, currently operating under the Weight Modus. The heavy stuff has sunk to the bottom, making it easy to grab the things he needs – his mini pocket pipe, his lighter, and the plastic bag with a little corner of shredded greens left.
He pinches the remaining weed between his thumb and forefinger and deposits it into the bowl of the pipe. He lifts the pipe to his lips, then flicks the lighter. It doesn't work. Must be the strong wind up on this bluff. He flicks the lighter a few more times, trying to produce a flame. He's so occupied with this, he doesn't notice a mysterious, flashing orb coming out of the cloudy, grey sky. It descends slowly to the ground and hovers silently behind him.
"Stupid lighter," Nico sighs. It must be out of fuel. He came all this way and made so much progress only to have his high hopes dashed once again. He captachlogues the packed pipe and tosses the lighter behind him.
It twirls right into the center of the glowing orb. As Nico stands up and turns around, the orb transforms with a blinding white flash and an ear-piercing KAZOW.
Pwnball .pce
Mara sits next to her sister Ella on the couch in her spacious dorm room, watching a digital ball bounce around a digital playing field. Colored shapes light up, synthesized jingles blast out of the speakers, and the numbers at the top of the screen go up. These are all the hallmarks of a good video game, and they're a major part of the reason why Pwnball is such a successful and addictive game experience. It's a bit like Peggle, except instead of going for a broad appeal (trying to market to kids who don't know anything and moms who buy Luxor and Candy Crush CDs out of the bargain bin at Office Despot), Pwnball went for the GAMER market. Not that Mara would ever describe herself that way.
Ella is in charge of the controller at the moment, though she's hardly doing a thing with it – she's content to zone out in her drunken state, watching the pretty lights flash different colors. To be fair, Mara and Chel are doing the exact same thing (Chel in her office chair by her desk, turned completely away from her work to stare at the screen), although the two of them have had their brains fried by the stress of finals, not alcohol. Ella, meanwhile, is in such bad shape that Mara isn't sure how she made it all the way downtown from their parents' house on the forested edge of the suburbs. Judging by the sound of the sirens that have been going off all day, though, it seems the police are busy with more important matters than recklessly drunk drivers. Still, it's amazing she didn't crash on the way.
Her inebriated state has been exaggerated since her arrival, however. It's obvious that she's been sneaking swigs out of the bottle while she was in the bathroom doing her makeup; Mara can see the neck of it poking out of Ella's purse. She could get in deep trouble if any of the college staff found out there was drinking going on in her dorm room, though Mara is anything but a snitch. She's said her piece to Ella, and while she's worried the heavy drinking might be the death of her sister, she's not going to keep nagging. If anything, that would just make it worse. Ella is about to turn 18; she can make her own decisions like a big girl, Mara decides.
"Alright, you guys have fun with this," she says, standing suddenly. Even though she's taking a break from her work, Mara's brain is still in Go Mode. She can't bear to sit around, passively watching. She needs to engage her brain in something engrossing. On her iMac, a notification dings. SBURB has finished installing. She minimizes the forum post she was reading about the game's mechanics and launches the actual game. Time to put the theory into practice. She'll first need to connect to a Client Player in order to do anything, according to forum user dodertheexploder69. She uses a built-in feature to import her contacts from Pesterchum and sees that tuneHarmonic is online and ready to play, as well.
arousingAntagonism began pestering tuneHarmonic at 1:32 PM
Well, he's not home, but at least she can connect and start playing. The first item in the Phernalia Registry she can deploy is the Cruxtruder. She selects it, realizes it's way bigger than she thought, and tries to put it back. It won't go back into the toolbar, so she slams it down in the middle of his front parlor, crushing a bunch of papers and garbage piled up in front of Kato's desk. Kato and Aris's apartment is shaped like one long hallway, so she figures she should be able to fit one machine per room. She pans along to the next room – the living room, with the couch, TV, and coffee table. There's a little gap between the back of the couch and the wall, so she slides the skinny Totem Lathe right into this nook.
Next is the dining room; the table is piled high with papers and empty take-out boxes, while an assortment of other cardboard boxes and paper bags are piled all round the room. It looks like she could fit the Punch Designix here, but this is the only one that's not free. Kato only has three of the four Build Shale required, so Mara resolves to come back to this one.
She skips Kato's bedroom and the bathroom, coming at last to the kitchen. It's as dire as Kato makes it out to be. The garbage is piled high with more take-out containers and a mountain of empty beer cans, and the sink is a murky swamp of unwashed dishes. The counters are jammed with miscellaneous objects, plastic bags from trips to the convenience store, and, of course, more garbage. She slams the huge, round Alchemiter right into the middle of the kitchen, blocking the door to Aris's bedroom and the fridge (not that these slobs have anything to eat in there, she guesses).
On a hunch, she deletes a pile of beer cans. One last Shale is added to the Grist Hoard. Mara places the Punch Designix and zooms out to admire her handiwork. The other three apartments in the building are blacked out in some sort of fog-of-war effect, but Kato's is fully visible. Now, if he'd just get his ass home, they could start figuring out how this Alchemy system works.
The front door opens, and Aris walks in, his sleeves rolled up and his suitjacket slung over his shoulder. He jumps at the sight of all the weird machinery suddenly adding to the clutter in their apartment.
arousingAntagonism began pestering swiftJustice at 1:38 PM
AA: Sorry...
SJ: ?
SJ: Do you know something about this? What is all this stuff?
AA: Phernalia?
SJ: Like... paraphernalia? What the heck kind of drugs are you kids doing these days?
AA: This is your brain on video games... :P
Dumpy Oaf 3 ~ATH
[III]
Nico continues along the lonely forest trail, his eyes still fettered by dark spots from the blinding flash earlier. The result of said flash, a weird ghost with a head like the top of his discarded lighter, follows along silently behind him. He hasn't bothered to try interacting with it since his first fruitless attempt. He discovers their conversation recorded in something called a Spritelog.
SPRITELOG:
Nico: oh hi, uh, who are you?
Lightersprite: flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick
Nico: okay, great
Nico brightens up the lonely journey by whistling to himself. The hill with the junction doohickey is much closer now, but it feels like he's been walking for hours. Left alone with his thoughts, he wonders if anyone else has tried growing any weed out in these woods. It's hardly a novel idea, he thinks.
He's pulled out of his daydreams when he hears the rustling again. All alone (more or less), he has to admit that Elan had a point – it is pretty fucking creepy. His nerves tingling with adrenaline, he stands still, crouching down to get a better view through the trees. In another clearing just off the trail, he spots a huge figure lumbering its way towards the far side.
"Bigfoot…" Nico whispers to himself. He turns to the Lighter Sprite. "Come on, boy, let's go get him!"
He tears off through the underbrush again, his ghostly follower flicking its useless flint wheel in an anxious staccato that is unheeded by its young charge.
Emerging in the clearing, Nico boggles at the scene before him, triple-taking to make sure he's seeing everything right. The clearing is positively rimmed with big, flowering weed buds, looking something like a prehistoric jungle. The air above the plants is abuzz with swarms of flies and beetles and all kinds of weird little bugs. There are so many, all of which seem to be depositing some kind of black goop all over the plants. It drips from the leaves and down the stem, piling up at the bottom like fresh soil or piled-up bird shit. And in the center of all of it, a huge, hulking COFFEE OAF, its wet, grimy skin glistening like it's covered in clumps of dark mud.
The beast snatches at flies in the air, licking off the ones that stick to its goopy hand. When it spots Nico, it roars in anger. The swarm of insects begins to churn restlessly in the sky above.
Nico WIELDS his Bro Beater. "Back! Back, I say!" he shouts at the Oaf. This isn't going to cut it. He looks at the Lightersprite, trembling behind him.
"Now's your chance, buddy!" he shouts. "Do it!"
The Lightersprite shifts from side to side. Looks like Nico has to do it himself. He grabs the flint wheel at the back of the lighter, and, pushing the Sprite's head down sideways, pulls as hard as he can. In its gigantified size, the lighter takes considerably more effort to ignite. Nico feels like he's trying to spin that giant wheel on Wheel of Fortune. It works, though, because a jet of ghostly lavender flame shoots out, incinerating a hole through the insect swarm above. The Oaf backs off a bit.
"Don't think I won't use this on you, fiend!" Nico shouts. He realizes this cranky, confused monster probably isn't the worst being ever, but he's just feeling really into the spirit of things. This game is pretty fun after all, he thinks.
He gives the bugs a few more blasts, and the Oaf continues to back towards the bushes. Nico gets an idea.
He lifts up a few items in his Sylladex and ejects the can of bug spray. As it's airborne, hurtling towards the Coffee Oaf, he grabs Lightersprite's head again and gives it a quick blast.
The aerosol can erupts in a fiery blast. The Oaf explodes into a pile of Grist. As Nico frolicks in the spoils, the last of the strange bugs disperse.
Nico gets a closer look at the weed plants. There's something very sinister about that black ooze. He thinks it's better if he just leaves these ones here. Who knows what kind of weird alien disease that goop could be infected with?
Exciting Softball ~ATH
Theo pauses at the top of a hill and looks down at the baseball diamond in the park below. He played there before with his high school softball team. He's shocked to think that it was already four years ago.
They had some real fun on that team… And that's right, it was softball, not baseball. Their tiny little school didn't have their own field or even their own team. It was a yearly ritual. Every May, the gym class curriculum would be taken over by a schoolwide softball tournament. Two classes would walk down to the park and play each other, and while there was no elimination, the battle for wins drove a fierce competition. It was no major upset when Theo's class won the tournament their senior year, but he felt like they really earned it.
He thinks about the game he's playing now. And no, he hasn't gotten to actually sit down at his laptop and play it, but he thinks this whole wacky day has to be part of the game. It's all too unbelievable to think it's just coincidence.
He really likes the crew he's playing it with – the deep roots they share makes Theo feel like they'll be best friends forever. And that's what games are for – having fun with your friends! There's just a certain gusto that seems to be missing, a little team spirit. If this game is really powerful enough to bring about the end of the world, they're going to need a lot of firepower to beat it.
tortugaTerran began pestering foxHunter at 2:13 PM
TT: What's up, my dude?
TT: Just thinking about the softball team lol.
FH: yeah, we kicked some ass, my man!
TT: Lol yeah it was fun B)
TT: Anyway… I know you're not home for very long, but you still got your gaming computer at your mom's, right?
TT: What games have you been on?
FH: ah you know: ass effect, bonerlands, call of booty…
FH: and my little bro got this new game called minecraft
FH: gonna mess around with that later
FH: got a bunch of packing to do still tho
FH: my mom wants my stuff boxed while i'm gone lol
TT: Well if you end up enjoying Minecraft… I was gonna ask you to jump on this computer game with me and the Jojo Bros.
TT: It's in a similar vein.
FH: oh yeah?
TT: Here, I'll send you the Zip File just in case.
TT: Idk I just think it's super cool. The kind of game everyone would enjoy.
FH: well cool man, yeah, i'll check it out later if i have time
TT: Alright, cool, dude. Catch you later.
He probably won't start it in time. Oh well, Theo thinks, sighing. He won't be able to save everyone. This planet is way too fucked for that. Still, he sends the SBURB download file to a bunch of other random friends in his contacts list.
Theo looks back across the field and watches two zombies stumble around with no direction in mind. As stupid as it sounds, he thinks he's going to miss this world.
Arctic Iceway ~ATH
Word of the war on Skaia spread quickly through the system. In spite of their archaic monarchical society and adherence to ancient building traditions, the civilizations of Prospit and Derse were quite technologically advanced. Electronic communications, video conferencing, and up-to-the-minute newsfeed sites kept the major populaces informed, though for the citizens of Prospit, it wasn't hard to tell that their planet was under attack.
However, in some of the further reaches of the system, news did not reach so easily. High on the snowy mountains of a rugged planet, Prospitan explorers had established a series of outposts. Small metal domes insulated well against the cold, only a single lonely road carved through the snow connected them to the rest of civilization. To the native residents of this planet, their purpose was inscrutable. Were they research bases? Military outposts? Vacation homes? They hadn't a clue, but the Chessmen who lived there didn't seem to be bothering anyone, so they got along just fine.
On the day the war broke out, these bases were left in the dark. Sure, they were equipped with all the latest technology, but something about the metallic mountain spires seemed to block long-range signals from reaching them. So, an alternative method of communication had to be found.
Far below the mountains, the snow turned into rain, and the jagged, white-capped mountains framed cozy valleys of autumnal forests. That morning, a Prospitan landing craft touched down in the town square of a log-cabin hamlet at the base of the mountain in question. Penguins emerged from their homes to witness this strange new visitor, a Prospitan herald with a stack of envelopes under his arm. He announced his presence and his purpose, then began asking for volunteers – any penguin brave enough to make the trek into the mountains to deliver these confidential packets of information to the isolated bases. He offered to pay them in Boondollars, a concept that had to be explained to the members of this trade-based society, but in the end, he found his volunteer.
Penderson was something of a father figure to all the little penguins in the village, though he had a daughter of his own. He was both a schoolteacher and spiritual advisor to the other penguins, as well as a seasoned mountaineer. The task presented to him hardly seemed like a challenge, so he accepted it with aplomb and ventured forth into the snowy mountains.
It was a long journey, but not a difficult one. He stopped for meals at any of the ice-cold fishing pools nestled in the mountains, plucking out fresh trout and chomping them down. Though it was thawing season, and cracks were beginning to form even in the high mountain ice, Penderson was sure-flippered and easily traversed the mountain trails he knew so well.
When he reached the first outpost, he stood with the envelope in his outstretched wing. The curious Chessman inside pondered him for a moment before accepting the delivery. He opened it and read it quickly, turning back to Penderson with a worried look. The Chessman searched his pockets for a tip but, coming up with nothing, removed a Prospitan flag from the wall and handed it to Penderson.
Penderson wore it back to town like the cloak of the Super King himself.