Looking up IP number for irc.chaospirals.com
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*** PING
*** Welcome to the Internet Relay Network mduncan
*** Your host is chaospirals.com
*** There are 5 users and 0 invisible on 1 servers
*** There are 1 operator(s) online
*** 0 channels have been formed.
*** I have 5 clients and 1 servers
*** Highest connection count: 42 (23 clients)
*** End of /MOTD command.
/join #chapter23
Now communicating on channel chapter23.
Channel chapter23 created at 13:24:06 on 11/17/2002
/nick ChaoSpiral
User mduncan is now known as ChaoSpiral
User SwingKid has joined channel chapter23
User inherittheearth has joined channel chapter23
User g33kta5t1c has joined channel chapter23
User Imogen has joined channel chapter23
User lyricalaardvark has joined channel chapter23
ChaoSpiral: Hi guys. How goes it?
SwingKid: yo, bro. it goes. u?
ChaoSpiral: Glad to hear it, peewee. Hangin’ in.
lyricalaardvark: this is pretty weird, but should be interesting
inherittheearth: who are you people?
g33kta5t1c: Hi. I’m at work, so I might be lagging behind a little.
ChaoSpiral: Thanks for helping me out with this. You guys have been involved in one way or another since I started this back in 2000. You’re not exactly the images I have of these people, but I figure you can either do a good job with it without knowing much of the background, or you were part of the inspiration for what they’re like, or you know what I was trying to accomplish with the originals. And in many ways, all these people are really parts of me. I guess, just treat it like you’re a filter or a channel for what’s going on in my head.
inherittheearth: Did you bring any beer?
SwingKid: Cool, man. Oh, hey, yeah… I want a Guinness. LOL
inherittheearth: I’d take a rolling rock.
Imogen: How did I let you talk me in to this?
ChaoSpiral: \_/ a pint glass for li’l brother
ChaoSpiral: c[ ] a mug for mr. meekness
g33kta5t1c: I thought I was a geek. You guys are dorks.
Imogen: right on.
ChaoSpiral: :P to you ladies
Imogen: Dude. Joke.
lyricalaardvark: uh, what now?
ChaoSpiral: get in costume. use /nick to do it
SwingKid: ok
User SwingKid is now known as Ethan
User Imogen is now known as Lily
User g33kta5t1c is now known as Lucy
User inherittheearth is now known as Temporal
ChaoSpiral: No, man… that’s a character that Tim plays. You’re supposed to be Tim.
Temporal: I’ve had about enough of this metafiction crap. So I did it wrong?
ChaoSpiral: You did the write thing.
ChaoSpiral: ~right
lyricalaardvark: it keeps telling me to try again in 30 seconds because the nameserver change was too fast. what’d I do wrong?
ChaoSpiral: You just used the wrong name. You should use Tim Porrell
Lily: Freudian slip, Matt?
ChaoSpiral: ;)
ChaoSpiral: Vernon- give it a bit and then try again. It should work fine. That happens sometimes. It’s not your fault.
User Temporal is now known as Tim
User lyricalaardvark is now known as Buck
Tim: Dammit. Where’s the Porrell?
ChaoSpiral: You can’t have spaces. Use no spaces, or an underscore.
Tim: fuck it
Tim: let’s get this show on the road
Ethan: yeah. lets get this party started
Lily: That’s what I’m talking about
Lucy: afk fas brb
ChaoSpiral: Ok. let’s keep this channel open for OOC comments, and we’ll use another channel for the actual storyline.
Lily: OOC?
Buck: out of character, maybe?
ChaoSpiral: exactly
Lily: So where to?
ChaoSpiral: Let’s go to #Diner
Now communicating on channel Diner.
Channel Diner created at 13:41:22 on 11/17/2002
User Tim has joined channel Diner
User Lily has joined channel Diner
User Buck has joined channel Diner
User Ethan has joined channel Diner
ChaoSpiral: Where’s Lucy?
Lily: Lily in the hiz-ouse
Tim: she started spitting up alphabet soup
Ethan: she said she was away from keys.
Buck: OH! that’s what that means? fas…?
ChaoSpiral: OK, well, she’s not in the first part anyway, so she’ll have to catch up.
Ethan: Vern- “for a second”
Buck: got it. cool
/nick Narrator
User ChaoSpiral is now known as Narrator
Narrator: Remember, after we start, use ((comment)) for OOC comments, and keep that to a minimum. Make most of your OOC comments in the other channel. You can freely switch between the two.
Buck: Got it.
Tim: ok
Ethan: ((Let’s do it.))
Lily: go go go
Narrator: _______in character__________
Narrator: ((action!))
Narrator: [the diner is on the side of the small state highway. it’s a two-lane road, and is bordered on either side by cornfields, or rather fields that will yield (and once held) corn, but are now bare and brown. Tim and Ethan have just picked Lily and Buck up from the side of the Interstate, about 20 minutes earlier. The ride has been made mostly in silence, as all parties try to digest the events of the last six hours. Tim pulls into the parking lot, waits for some people to pass in front of the car on their way inside, and then pulls into a spot near the back of the building.]
Tim: Is he ok? He looks like he’s stoned.
Ethan: He looks like he’s on heroin, man. I’ve never seen anyone THAT stoned.
Buck: unnnnnn
Lily: I think he’ll be all right. He usually makes that sound when he’s hungry. At least, that’s what I can tell in the short time I’ve been with him.
Tim: Huh. Well, ok. We’ll go inside, then. But if he starts doing any weird shit, we’ll have to bring him back out here. We don’t want to make a scene.
Ethan: Yeah. We don’t need the feds getting wind of this.
Lily: Feds? What are you talking about?
Tim glares at Ethan
Tim: Nothing. He’s just paranoid.
Ethan flips Tim off.
Narrator: ((hey. stay in character))
Ethan: ((sorry man))
Buck: unnnnnn
Ethan shakes his head and adjusts his ball cap.
Ethan: Uh… nevermind. Just don’t draw undo attention to yourself.
Lily: Oh. Yes, of course.
Tim: (through gritted teeth) Shall we?
Ethan gets out of the car and looks both ways. He shuts the door, careful to hold the handle up so the lock stays locked. He pulls his collar up around his neck and hunches down into the jacket, as if it were cold, and shoves his hands into his pockets.
Lily gets out of the car and walks around to the other side. She opens the door for Buck and begins to assist him as he gets out.
Tim: Let me help you there. ::reaches over and takes one of Buck’s arms::
Lily: (smiles) thanks a lot. He’s a pretty big guy.
Tim: Yeah. And you’re not.
Lily: (winks) I make do. Thanks.
Buck wraps an arm around Tim’s shoulder and neck. this is familiar, and he’s glad to have something familiar. it sparks images in his fuzzy mind, and he tries to communicate with his friend
Buck: Tuhhhhh
Tim: Yeah, big guy. That’s right, it’s Tim. C’mon, now. Let’s get inside and get some food.
Ethan: Are you guys coming?
Narrator: [there’s no waiting inside, so they get a booth in a back corner. Buck sits against the wall, leaning. Lily is to his right. Tim sits across from Lily, and Ethan across from Buck. the waitress gives Buck a strange look when she brings the water]
Narrator: WAITRESS: is he ok?
Tim: Yes, he’s just…
Lily: He’s tired.
Ethan: He’s sick.
Narrator: [the waitress looks around at them all with an arched eyebrow and a confused look]
Tim: He’s, uh, sick and tired of being on the road. We’ve just come from Iowa. Desmoines. Long trip.
Ethan looks down at the menu.
Lily nods and smiles, and opens a menu for Buck, placing it in his limp hand.
Buck: fuhhhhhhh
Narrator: WAITRESS: I’ll be back to take your order. ::she hurries off, looking back over her shoulder once::
Lily looks atTim across the table, a worried look in her eye, but also a sense of relief that at least she no longer has to deal with this whole strange situation alone.
Tim returns the look, then turns his attention to Buck. He wonders what has happened to his friend.
Ethan sinks down in his seat and scans the menu. Meatloaf… hmmm… and mashed potatoes… hmmm…
Lily: I’m so glad we got in touch with you.
Tim: Me too. How did you figure out how to contact me.
Lily: It was the strangest thing. Big Fella… er… Buck, right? Buck kept tapping in a sequence, and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. He ended up knocking the phone receiver off the hook when he was tapping the pattern one time, and he picked up the phone, as if he had actually placed a call. I guessed that maybe he was really trying to dial a number, so I took the receiver from him and guided his hand to the numbers. I asked him to dial again, and he just did it, as if it were a reflex.
Tim: ::nodding, listening:: And I answered.
Lily: Yeah. ::her eyes are red, and glisten now, as tears of relief well up. She holds them back:: I’m so glad.
Ethan: We are too. Thanks for looking out for him.
Tim: Yes. We’re very grateful.
Tim reaches across the table and takes Lily’s hand in his own. He gives hers a squeeze.
Lily squeezes back.
Buck feels like he is trapped in a box that is growing ever smaller. his fingers and his mouth are numb, and his eyes and ears feel covered in gauze and stuffed with cotton. he wants out, but cannot find a way.
Buck: huhnnnnn…
Ethan: Easy there, big guy. We’ll get you some grub. Hang on.
Lily: shhhhh… it’s all right… ::she places a hand on his shoulder::
Tim: Whoa, pal. It’ll be ok. It’ll be ok.
Narrator: [the waitress returns. she takes their orders]
Tim: I’ll have the corned beef hash. do you have hot sauce?
Lily: I’d like a bagel. And coffee. Can you bring a whole pot?
Ethan: I’d like the meatloaf, with a side of mashed potatoes, and a bottle of water.
Narrator: WAITRESS: We don’t have bottles of water, sir. Just from the tap.
Ethan: Oh, no. What DO you have in a bottle?
Narrator: WAITRESS: IBC Rootbeer… um… and maybe…
Ethan: That’ll do. Bring me one of those.
Narrator: WAITRESS: And for your friend? ::she looks at Buck::
Tim opens his mouth, but then realizes he has no idea. He shuts his mouth and looks at Ethan.
Ethan: You live with him, man. I got no clue. ::looks at Lily::
Tim looks at Lily as well.
Lily: ::takes a breath:: He’ll have bacon. And sausage.
Narrator: WAITRESS: Links or patties?
Lily: both. And Canadian bacon.
Narrator: WAITRESS: We have ham.
Lily: That’s fine.
Narrator: WAITRESS: And as the actual meal?
Lily: No no. That’s it. Just bring the meat.
Narrator: WAITRESS: O…K… Anything to drink?
Lily: Water. Lots of water.
Narrator: Where the heck is Lucy?
Tim: I dunno. She did all those abbreviations and disappeared.
Lily: Did you query her?
Narrator: No response.
/cping Lucy
IDENTD RESPONSE: Delay 1 secs. USER Lucy has been idle 103 minutes.
Narrator: I pinged her. She’s not lagged, but she hasn’t typed anything in an hour and a half, on any channel.
Ethan: Yeah, I got 0 sex.
Buck: dude, we don’t need to know about your private life
Tim: LOL
Lily: awwww
USER Ethan is now known as Cartman
Cartman: Screw you guys. I’m going home.
Narrator: You walked right into that one.
Lily: it was a typo, guys… be nice
Cartman: Thank you, Imogen. :P to you other guys.
USER Cartman is now known as Ethan
Narrator: I’m gonna boot her, then, and find someone else to play Lucy. I think I have someone in mind who might fit better, anyway. I dunno, though.
Ethan: Who you thinking of?
Tim: how long will this take?
Lily: afk pee break
Buck: EVERYBODY is giving too much info
Narrator: I’ll brb. Gonna check UIM and see if this girl is willing
Tim: Good luck. I say that every Friday night…
Buck: ROFLMAO
Tim: uh oh. now Vern has alphabet soup disease.
Now starting Universal Instant Messenger service.
Logging in
Checking User ID and Password
Password Accepted
“Welcome”
Family
-SoccerMomInAZ
-SwingKid
-Mickey_lvs_Mallory
Friends
-KiTTieKat
-Hecate1031
-OwlSoup
-BrianOBlivion
-JNGM
School
-snltwins
-peachnut
-ApeKid
Work
-linguistjack
-nwr
-mystbabe
Opening Message with KiTTieKat
Cha0Spiral: Hi Kara. What’s up?
KiTTieKat: Hi mowhawk man. Not much. You?
Cha0Spiral: working on the novel. playing an online RPG right now.
KiTTieKat: kewl
Cha0Spiral: You busy?
KiTTieKat: not really. Why?
Cha0Spiral: I need to ask you a favor.
KiTTieKat: um. ok. what is it?
Cha0Spiral: I need someone to take over a character I’ve got. You’re a good writer and I think you would do a good job with this character. You willing to give it a try?
KiTTieKat: Oh. wow. Um. I don’t know. What do I have to do?
Cha0Spiral: You have to use a few simple commands on IRC and pretend to be an auburn-haired stripper whose sister has just found the zombified friend of two guys from Illinois. You also like to play role-playing games online and like to pretend to be a demon. And you’re a little stalkerish about one of the guys you play with, because he turns you on.
KiTTieKat: Uh… ok. gee. thanks for picking me. I’m glad I remind you of all that. :P
Cha0Spiral: That’s not it at all. Well, maybe a little. But not really. I can already feel the tickle of shoelaces in the back of my throat. I’ll just say this: you’re a good writer. That’s why I chose you.
KiTTieKat: What the hell. I’ll give it a try.
Cha0Spiral: Thanks! We’re on my IRC server, port #7000, and we’re in channels #chapter23 and #Diner
KiTTieKat: See you there.
Narrator: OK. She’s on her way.
Tim: Is this some other person I don’t know? I don’t know any of these people.
Ethan: Have I met her at one of the parties? Tim, you watched me puke for half an hour at graduation.
Narrator: I linked to her blog… you might have read it?
Lily: Which one?
Buck: yeah? I read the blogs a lot lately…
Tim: My name’s not Tim. Oh, you’re THAT kid? I remember now.
User KittieKat has joined channel #chapter23
Narrator: Hi Kara. Welcome to the OOC channel.
Lily: Hello Kara
KittieKat: hi all
Buck: yo. ‘sup?
KittieKat: what’s my character, Mr. Mowhawk?
KittieKat: hi Lily. yo, Buck. nuthin’.
Narrator: oh, that’s right. Hang on.
/kick Lucy #chapter23
User Lucy has been kicked from channel #chapter23.
Ethan: Wow… it made a punting noise! That’s pretty cool.
Buck: huh? mine didn’t do that…
Tim: I don’t even have a sound card on this machine
Lily: Mine did, but I messed with it. It didn’t sound like a punt, though.
Ethan: Mine sounds like “Boot to the Head”
Narrator: Vern—get a Mac
Tim: blah blah blah
User KittieKat is now known as Lucy
Lucy: Shall we?
Narrator: Indeed. Please.
Lucy: What’s the other channel?
Narrator: #Diner
User Lucy has joined channel #Diner
Narrator: ((Lucy, I’ll cue you. Lily just ordered water.))
Lucy: ((ok))
Narrator: ((I’m sending you a background sheet on Lucy right now. Use it as you see fit))
Lucy: ((got it))
Narrator: [The waitress leaves to put in their orders and get drinks.]
Ethan: So how’d you find Buck?
Lily: Well, I was walking downtown in Lincoln, Nebraska, and I saw him wandering the streets. I just moved to Lincoln to take a new job. I saw this guy, and he was about to get hit by a car, but I yelled at him and he stepped out of the street just in time. Then he kept following me, and I could tell he wouldn’t hurt me.
Tim: Wow. that’s very kind of you, Ms….?
Lily: Oh, it’s Lily. Lily Ada… uh… Michaels. Lily Michaels.
Ethan arches a brow, looks at Tim, then back to Lily.
Ethan: I’m Ethan Donne.
Tim: Tim. Porrell. He’s Buck Fowler.
Lily: Thanks. It’s good to meet you both. And to finally know Buck’s name.
Buck leans his head against the wall and tries to focus on Tim’s face.
Buck: uhnnn
Narrator: [the waitress returns with the drinks]
Lily empties four creams and two sugars into her coffee.
Tim: I’d like a glass of water, please. Sorry. [the waitress nods and leaves]
Ethan: I’m telling you, man. It’s not safe.
Tim glares at Ethan again. “Dude, we’re not even in town. We’re still forty miles from home.”
Ethan: None of it is safe, man. You think our town is special somehow? I mean, I think there’s something really weird going on there, but I also think this is a national, maybe even global situation. And the fluoridation is there, no matter what. That’s just a given.
Lily: What are you two talking about?
Buck: uhnnn
Tim: Oh, for Christ’s sake.
Narrator: [They fill one another in on the stranger events of the last few days, and on one another’s backgrounds. The waitress brings the food, and they all begin to eat.]
Tim: All right… I’m starving. So where did you live before Lincoln?
Ethan looks down at his plate, and shifts the mashed potatoes over to the side. He starts cutting up the meatloaf, and pours a little ketchup on it.
Lily: Well. I was living in Portland. And I didn’t like it much there. Actually, that’s not true. I love it there. But things weren’t going very well for me, and I was ready to try someplace new. I finished my Ph.D. and decided to look for a job. And I got lucky, and UNL hired me.
Tim: So you’re a professor. Cool. You look so young. What do you teach?
Ethan nods. “You barely look 30.”
Lily: I’m 29.
Tim rolls his eyes.
Buck fits two sausages in his mouth at once and chews heartily.
Ethan nods, weighing that information, and eats another bite of meatloaf.
Lily: (smiles) I’m in the Anthropology department. I usually teach intro classes, but I’m also doing a seminar on ancient Middle Eastern Religions. I focus a great deal on the evolution of Judaism and on the movement from polytheism to monotheism.
Tim: That’s pretty interesting. I’m getting an English degree. I think I’m going to go tech writing, but I don’t know.
Ethan eats all around the mashed potatoes, shifting the white mass to the center of his plate.
Lily: Luckily, I don’t start until next quarter, given the details of my contract. It would have made it hard to get away to help Buck get back here.
Tim: So you don’t have a car?
Lily: (sheepish) I don’t. I don’t like to drive much, anyway. But no, I haven’t had time to go buy one. It’s a small enough city that I can walk to the market and I can use buses to get where I need to go most times, or just walk.
Ethan absently switches from fork to spoon. The only food left on his plate are the potatoes. He makes a dip in the center of the pile, a crater to catch a ladle of gravy.
Tim: Well, it’s not a big deal. We didn’t have anything more important than this, and it’s not THAT far of a drive. I’m just glad you found Buck and that we got in touch with you.
Lily: Yes. It’s all for the best. I’m glad Buck’s safe.
Tim: We’ll get him home, and maybe to a doctor or something tomorrow. You guys look beat.
Lily: I am exhausted. ::sips more coffee, pours another cup::
Narrator: [the gang eats then, with few interruptions. Buck’s face is smeared with grease, but he finishes all the meat on his plate. They finish, for the most part, and prepare to leave.]
Tim: I’ll go pay. You guys leave the tip.
Lily: Oh… thanks so much. I’ll get the next one.
Tim: No problem. ::he heads to the cash register::
Lily looks over at Buck. “I’m going to take him and try to get a washcloth or something. Some napkins. I dunno. We’ll meet you at the car.
Ethan looks down. The potatoes are spread across the entire plate. He has even dug away beneath the edges. The whole thing looks like a white, whipped frisbee… though more like a golf disc than one used for Ultimate. He shakes his head, then stands to follow the gang.
Tim is waiting for him at the register. He has a toothpick in his mouth, and he’s pocketing his change.
Narrator: [As they get into the car, a MIDI version of the Star Wars theme starts playing.]
Ethan: Hey man. Is that your car phone ringing?
Narrator: Nice work, gang. Let’s stop there for the night.
Lucy: What?! I didn’t even do anything!
Tim: OK. cool with me. Later.
Narrator: You will. The story’s not over. It just probably won’t be in this format.
Lily: Oh, man. I thought more was going to happen.
User Tim has left channel #chapter23
Buck: I wish my character had more going on. But I understand why he doesn’t
Ethan: I don’t know where all that last bit about the potatoes came from.
Narrator: heh heh heh
Lily: I hate when he does that.
User Ethan is now known as SwingKid
User Narrator is now known as ChaoSpiral
Lucy: So… what? What’s going to happen now?
Buck: Yeah, that’s a weird cliffhanger, isn’t it?
ChaoSpiral: Well, Kara, your character is on the phone.
Lily: Huh?
Lucy: So what? My character is talking on the phone to someone? Big deal.
User Lily is now known as Imogen
SwingKid: OH! Lucy is on Tim’s phone?
Buck: Ohhhh… very interesting. But wait… how does Lucy know Tim’s phone number? I’ve been reading all along, and I know you’re skipping around some, but…
ChaoSpiral: You’ll have to wait for the next bit to find out.
Imogen: Suck.
Lucy: Great. Glad I could help.
ChaoSpiral: I’ll talk to you guys later. Take it easy gang.
Buck: yeah. I gotta go write a lesson plan.
Lucy: Spanish homework.
SwingKid: Suckas! I don’t have to do jack!
Imogen: You suck, too. I have to read Chaucer.
ChaoSpiral: I have to figure out how to write the rest of the damn story without relying on this chatroom schtick. SIGH.
SwingKid: See you later man.
Buck: Peace. Out.
User SwingKid has left channel #chapter23
User Buck has left channel #chapter23
Lucy: Goodbye!
Imogen: Bye all
ChaoSpiral: g’night.
SIGNOFF: ChaoSpiral
MESSAGE: “slan go fo ill”
Closing IDENTD Connection