On the Run [Part II]

[Oracle]

On the Run [Part II]: Encounter with Mr Pink

Only a few minutes had passed since I had become a fugitive from justice. A wanted man, on the run
for transgressing the new, strict laws against pk'ing in safe zones around tp's and revival centres.

MA had briefly experimented with safe zones around these areas but they were perceived as too boring
and were replaced by a police/prison/bounty system. There was a mixed reaction to these changes
but nobody could say it was boring!

After my first tp jump away from the dangers of the city my heart was still racing, my breathing rapid
and my brain empty with fear. I had no idea where I was but the sight of many green dots grouped together on the radar screen did little to reduce my anxiety!

I was in a semi-desert area. To my relief the group of citizens showed litle interest in me.

On closer inspection I could see they were working on the new Maglev Monorail system, building the first railway line across the Amethera continent. The Great Western Line would then become the cheapest way to travel across the continent since MA started charging for teleport travel and reduced the amount of sweat available from mobs making teleport chip Mind Essence a luxury item.

'Bah!' I thought to myself. 'The rich land owning investors who started this first Rail Consortium will get even richer'. Still, I know I'd have done the same if I'd had the peds so I can't really moan about it. And I know
I'll be amongst the hundreds of people buying the first tickets, if only to see in safety the intense battles between The Beast and the Big Bulks in the newly discovered 'Pit of Despair' in the remote Western area of Amethera.

But my daydreaming had to stop; I had to get out of here, I was still in danger. Another tp on my Moderate chip, not the most accurate at my skill levels but good on distance. Whoosh! I materialised in a desert area close to a small oasis of purple fringed palms surrounding a small lake. A few Allos were wading to their deaths in a lemming-like manner. There was nobody in sight so I sat down amongst some psychedelic shrubbery under a palm.

The shock of the day's events was beginning to hit home. I felt tired and needed to recuperate. My mind started to shut down but the occasional Allo getting too close stopped me falling asleep. I killed 4 or 5 of them
before realising the danger of hoffing or globalling could help pinpoint my position. Fortunately for me they were all 'no loot's

But the tiredness could not be held back any more. My day dreaming became real dreaming as I drifted into a semi-sleep. I saw myself in the dingy, windowless prison cell. Darker and smaller than even the cheapest apartments on Calypso. It felt like it was always night-time there. The screams of anguish from fellow prisoners, I've heard, is enough to drive you crazy alone. Tales of torture for those foolish enough to disrespect their Uber Prison Guards, well paid professional pk'ers who seemed to get a kick
out of bullying you.

Some of more sadist guards would leave your cell door open to tempt you to try to escape. Only idiots and those driven stir-crazy ever tried this though. If they succeeded in finding their way through the maze of corridors, out across the main courtyard and through the massive heavy
gates (surviving the automated machine gun turret towers all around the outer walls) they might temporarily delude themselves that they had made it. But once they had swam across the moat they were doomed. Patrolling the outer perimeter was the most feared guard of all. His name was Faustianoid, half man, half robodroid and he lumbers around that area riding his pet Atrox Stalker.

Rumour has it that he was kidnapped by robots who carried out some kind of grotesque experiment involving a transplant of robot parts and some of Professor Barton's organs. He managed to escape the robot ship and somehow get back to Calypso. Not everyone trusts him though, half man, half machine, where does his real allegiance lie? He hardly ever speaks now but has been heard to make the occasional 'beeping' sound. And someone swears he once saw Faustianoid kill an escapee by blasting him with lasers which he emitted from his eyes! He is the only guard who works for nothing, apparently because he enjoys his work so much. And his Atrox must have been fed on steroids so there is no chance of an inmate outrunning it.

I awoke with a start as I became aware of a figure right in front of me. How stupid and careless I chastised myself, reaching for my gun. But the stranger in front of me was the oddest sight I have ever seen on Calypso (and I've seen some!). It was a guy dressed from head to foot in pink. He had a snazzy pink top hat, pink shades and even some pink streaks in his long curly hair!

His name, I noticed, was something like MrPink Pinko PinkStrutter. Most bizarre of all he seemed to have some kind of tattoo on his cheek shaped like a lipstick kiss mark. As I gazed in astonishment at this sight before me Pinko did a jumping twirl around which went straight into a somersault landing on his feet right in front of my face.

'I've never seen that emote before!' I thought to myself as he greeted me with 'Howdy Flipperty Doo Dah Day, it's a great day to run away!'. 'This guy is seriously weird', I thought.

But he said 'run away', he must know who I am! Before I could blast him I was distracted by a sudden noise in the palm leaves above me: the unmistakable whirring sound of a Jam Raider followed by a bright flash. 'This must be one of the cops new surveillance devices I'd heard about, modified Jam Raiders with cameras that can transmit images and location back to police headquarters. The Jam Raider was in pieces before I had even finished this thought and I turned my aim towards Pinko.

'Now waidy one momento my brother' said Pinko. 'I too have made some enemies and I know safe places you can hide: I am no friend of the pigs'.

'Go on', I said, 'I'm listening' though to be frank I didn't trust him.

'Well my friend, the safest place you can hide now is in the shed on Longu Land'. 'Are you crazy?' I said 'that land area is crawling with hunters ever since the success of Akoz's Adj Fap competition and the follow up Imp Fap and Mod Fap competitions'.

'You are so out of touch dudey dude', Pinko countered, 'In his last comp. he gave away a land area as the prize. Well the dude who owned Allotopia won Longu Land and decided to move his Allos to Longu Land and Longus to Allotopia. Well you can imagine how disorientated those poor critters were!

They tried to find their ways back to their respective homelands. And when those Longus saw that their home had been taken by Allos they got real angry and this was the start of the Great Allo-Longu war. Them critters are now fighting each other all over the place but you hardly ever see any in the land areas now'.

I think Pinko could tell by my glazed expression that I didn't believe a word. It was the most preposterous story I'd ever heard and sounded like a trap. Now I just wanted to waste him. But the good/sensible part of me was saying 'No Kev, you got into all this trouble through senseless killing, it has to stop'.

Pinko suddenly sat down beside me. He sat uncomfortably close to me. Too close. I edged away.

He broke the silence. 'Do you want me?'

'What?' I thought to myself. 'First I have to listen to his damn fool ramblings and now this weirdo is making some kind of pervy move on me!'. This was too much, I couldn't take any more. I decided to do the world a favour and blasted him full of blp from short range.

As he slumped backwards in shock, his pink clothes now spattered in red, I heard him gasp out his last words.

"No dudey, I meant ME, do you want any Mind Essence for your teleport chips?'.

He keeled over lifeless. I'd done it once more. I was back 'on the run'.


to be continued...(hopefully)

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[Edana]

lol
this is funny

^^