'Genuine People Personality,' Indeed
Ninamazing
Aria O'Leers looked out the
window of her starship, the Golden Road, and sighed. The Infinite
Improbability Drive was incredibly slow according to the modern standards of the
Universe, but she'd have to live. Altarian dollars were not running high
in her purse at the moment.
She pushed a large red button
labeled 'DANGER - DO NOT PUSH.' It was in a whole row of large, colorful,
blinking buttons, all labeled with messages like 'YOU WILL DIE IF YOU PUSH
THIS,' 'NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER
EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER
EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER PUSH THIS,' and 'I DARE YOU TO PUSH
THIS.' The designer of her starship had been very - um, creative.
The ship - which, by
the way, looked like it was deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in
Brazil, or, what had once been Brazil and was now a huge pile of space flotsam
and jetsam - pulled out of its hyperdrive and Aria looked at the console to see
where she was. It simply read 'UNCHARTED TERRITORY.'
She pulled out her updated copy
of The Hitchhiker's Guide... and checked for the entries on 'uncharted
territory.' It read as follows.
Uncharted Territory
A large part of the Galaxy happens to be
uncharted territory. This large part is so unbelievably large that if we
told you how large it was, you would be blown right into it. There are
other ways to get there, however.
One way is to drink far, far too many
Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters (see Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters).
Another way is to become
possessed with stupidity and get a ship with an Infinite Improbability Drive -
Aria sighed again and
frowned. Was it her fault her father had been a cheapskate and only
gotten her this ship from Crazy Al's Used Ship Shop??
- such as the oldest ship
in the Galaxy, the Golden Road. You can always tell the Golden Road by its
uncharacteristic gold markings. The owner of this ship is quite unknown at
the moment. Anywho,
however you get there, the uncharted territory will doubtless appear on your
ship's screen as 'UNCHARTED TERRITORY,' a phenomenon which has gone unexplained
for quite some time. If
you do get there, here is a list of some of the planets you might
encounter:
*Tlevit* blue, made of gas It
is impossible to land here. The only inhabitants are gas, gas, and a
little bit of gas. And - oh yes - did I say gas??
*Bishee* bright purple Bisheeism is becoming a very popular religion in the
Galaxy, however, since nobody can figure out where it came from (uncharted
territory, no doubt), it is shrouded in mystery.
*Letrasink* lime green, and on rare occasions, hot pink and electric
blue Interesting...and mostly
harmful. Earth's opposite...if nonexistent things can have
opposites.
...and so on. As we said
before, this part of the Galaxy is so earth-shatteringly (if non-existent things
can shatter) huge that it would be impossible to list all the planets without
risking your feeble little brain in the process. And there you have it -
uncharted territory.
Aria looked anxiously
outside her window. She saw lime green...and a bit of electric blue.
There it was...her planet's opposite. She steered the ship in for a
landing, and wondered what would come next...
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
She looks
interesting. I doubt it,
Robnhsdsglsdjl. Hey - I'm entitled to my own
opinions!! What I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted was
- You
were rudely interrupted?? It appeared to me as though you were done (thank
goodness). Quiet. What I was going to
say was, she looks like our opposite. Not an Earthling!!
No, a
Phoofling. What do you think?? Cut the sarcasm.
Where's the
scissors?? Shh. So do you want to
talk to her or not? I will, if you're too
scared.
I didn't say I was scared. I merely asked - Quiet. Here she
comes.
Quiet, yourself. Shush, at long
last!!
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ The Golden Road plumped
itself softly on the blindingly bright surface of Letrasink, causing some lime
green dust to rise. Aria stepped out, Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic and Sirius
Cybernetics Corp. Stun Gun in hand, apprehensive. "There you are. I was
beginning to think all carbon-based lifeforms had forgotten about me.
Small wonder. Brain the size of the Universe, and what do they -"
"Um. Who are
you??" "Who am
I. Brain the size of the Universe, and this is the question I'm posed
with. 'Who am I,' indeed." The robot puffed his chest up and stepped
out from behind a rock. "I am Marvin the Third."
"Not 'your Plastic Pal
who's fun to be with??'" Aria asked, interested in spite of herself. If it
was true, this would be an antique. "I am that...although fun is
hardly a description of me. Fun. Don't talk to me about fun.
I've had it, and believe me, it's as bad as this horrid dump of a planet
is." "How would
you like to come with me, Marvin?" "Not at all." "Come anyway. I've got a
Stun Gun!" threatened Aria, hoping dearly that she could get her hands on this
ancient robot.
"They don't work anyway. Neither do I, really. 'Genuine People
Personality,' indeed!!" Marvin scoffed, kicking up a pile of lime green dust as
he angrily stamped his foot on the ground. "Mind if I call you
Three??"
"Yes." "Do any
people live here?" "Do any people live here.
Brain the size of the Universe, and what do they ask me?? 'Do any people
live here,' indeed. If you're too lazy to figure it out yourself, don't
come crying to me. But use that little pea-sized pile of glop you're
blessed with and answer me this: in a small planet thousands of millions of
light-years away from the broken remnants of the only origin of people, do you
expect to find people??" "Well...maybe."
"'Maybe,' indeed.
'Maybe,'" the robot muttered to himself in a kind of horrified sarcasm, and
trudged back to the starship. "Where do you think you're
going??" inquired Aria, following. "Somewhere else," said Marvin,
and continued.
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