The sardine was very eloquent but the two men remained skeptical. The whole tale was logically impossible and almost offensive. They gazed at the sardine for a moment, then at each other.
- I need a coffee - said one of them. He got up and fetched a cigarette. He was very tall and secretly flat-minded. His talent relied upon an extraordinary capacity to act as if extremely intelligent, in any situation whatsoever -- he achieved this uncanny prowess by putting on a serious face while talking, doing so without any intervals and usually by finishing his speech with a question aimed at his conversational partner, do you understand? This was an example. Physically, his hair had a strange color and a stranger feel... if one was to go ahead and touch it, of course. Those who ever did experienced a chilling blend of a dry, decomposed fish carcass with a strong odor of anything but mint coming from a dead hippo's mouth.
So the Tall Man left the room and passed one of the neighboring offices. A prairie dog - wearing what looked like a very expensive suit - enthusiastically shouted "right then, must be going before the system turns into a subfocal petard! Good-bye!" and quickly sped up out the room into the corridor and past our character while simultaneously simulating the sound of an engine (an engine in denial, one could say). This apparently silly creature was, as a matter of fact, in charge of the general electronic system and he was probably the most important breathing being in the complex. He was also one of the most underpaid, by choice (you didn't think I'd lower myself to paste a social comment in here, did you?). Well, the sharply dressed prairie dog seemed to be very much in a hurry, and as he got to the sliding door he pushed it enthusiastically - always carrying the tune of his dreadful monologues. At this exact moment, Linda Satcheltoe, a rather insignificant accountant frog (AND the perfect employee to work in your typical insect-filled basement), was about to go through it as well, but from the other side. You might guess what follows. She was thrown backwards flying, loose white sheets accidentally taken by the prairie wind for a midsummer noon's rite of flight. The prairie dog got up and ran across the big hall, mumbling something to himself and -- as if nothing had ever happened -- quickly took a hard left and rapidly disappeared, entering the labyrinth, the antfarm, as usual. The Tall Man didn't really care about any of that. He walked past the accountant, who was lying unconscious and bleeding, and kept walking towards the bizarre Devouring Room where (among many strange things) first-class spooned coffee could be easily found. He loved the challenge of enterning the Devouring Room, and smiled - he was almost on top of the whole food chain. He opened the door and shut it as he found himself inside the room. The cynical Snake Driver was there, as well as the general maid, the octopus named Ruthpaste. She always looked frightened despite knowing that she was one of the few with the Safe Conduct. But the Snake Driver smiled, while releasing a tiny, almost invisible drop of sweat which went sliding down his face like burning lava down the mountain.
- I need a coffee - said one of them. He got up and fetched a cigarette. He was very tall and secretly flat-minded. His talent relied upon an extraordinary capacity to act as if extremely intelligent, in any situation whatsoever -- he achieved this uncanny prowess by putting on a serious face while talking, doing so without any intervals and usually by finishing his speech with a question aimed at his conversational partner, do you understand? This was an example. Physically, his hair had a strange color and a stranger feel... if one was to go ahead and touch it, of course. Those who ever did experienced a chilling blend of a dry, decomposed fish carcass with a strong odor of anything but mint coming from a dead hippo's mouth.
So the Tall Man left the room and passed one of the neighboring offices. A prairie dog - wearing what looked like a very expensive suit - enthusiastically shouted "right then, must be going before the system turns into a subfocal petard! Good-bye!" and quickly sped up out the room into the corridor and past our character while simultaneously simulating the sound of an engine (an engine in denial, one could say). This apparently silly creature was, as a matter of fact, in charge of the general electronic system and he was probably the most important breathing being in the complex. He was also one of the most underpaid, by choice (you didn't think I'd lower myself to paste a social comment in here, did you?). Well, the sharply dressed prairie dog seemed to be very much in a hurry, and as he got to the sliding door he pushed it enthusiastically - always carrying the tune of his dreadful monologues. At this exact moment, Linda Satcheltoe, a rather insignificant accountant frog (AND the perfect employee to work in your typical insect-filled basement), was about to go through it as well, but from the other side. You might guess what follows. She was thrown backwards flying, loose white sheets accidentally taken by the prairie wind for a midsummer noon's rite of flight. The prairie dog got up and ran across the big hall, mumbling something to himself and -- as if nothing had ever happened -- quickly took a hard left and rapidly disappeared, entering the labyrinth, the antfarm, as usual. The Tall Man didn't really care about any of that. He walked past the accountant, who was lying unconscious and bleeding, and kept walking towards the bizarre Devouring Room where (among many strange things) first-class spooned coffee could be easily found. He loved the challenge of enterning the Devouring Room, and smiled - he was almost on top of the whole food chain. He opened the door and shut it as he found himself inside the room. The cynical Snake Driver was there, as well as the general maid, the octopus named Ruthpaste. She always looked frightened despite knowing that she was one of the few with the Safe Conduct. But the Snake Driver smiled, while releasing a tiny, almost invisible drop of sweat which went sliding down his face like burning lava down the mountain.
