Part 2: Prologue - Part 2

Track—Hologramm




"Okay! Here it goes!"

Track—Weißer Hund


"Once there was this guy who was talking to the ghost of his dead grandfather. So he asked him a question."

'How long is a million years to a ghost?' he wanted to know. And the ghost answered.

'A million years is like a second to me.'

Next the man asked...'How much is a million dollars to a ghost?' And the ghost answered.

'A million dollars? It is but one, small, cent to me.'

When he heard that, the man pretended to smile all nice and then said... 'Well then, gramps, how about giving me one of your cents then?' Laughing the ghost replied.

'Sure. Right away. But can I get you to wait just a second?'"


"..."



"Hee, hee, heee... Waaa! Ha, ha, ha!”






“Yes, that's right, the earphones that everyone is using right now.”




“LeMU is pumped full of helium gas, so without these on your ears, you'll sound like a duck."

He removed his voice alternators, to see what would happen.



(Then again, maybe they sound more like aliens than ducks.)

The voices of the people around him jumped to a strange, higher tone.




"Like what?"
Her voice jumps up about a half-octave or so and is mildly distorted. My ears.


"Ha, ha, ha. Your voice is hilarious."


“Huh? My voice?"

Coco hadn't been listening to the explanation.


"Can you tell me that joke one more time?"


"Why?"


"C'mon, just do it."
Please don’t.


"Once there was this guy who was talking to the ghost of his dead grandfather. So he asked him a question.

'How long is a million years to a ghost?' he wanted to know. And the ghost answered."


"Heee...heee... Waaah, Haaaah!"


Your voice needs to be thiiiis painful to make a joke funny.

He put the voice alternators back in his ears and looked back at the staffer.




”In approximately one minute, the door on this side of the room will open. On the other side of that door is an elevator, and at the bottom of it a brilliant paradise awaits. We hope that you enjoy yourself to your hearts’ content, here at the marine theme park, LeMU."



Just as he headed for the elevator...


"So, are you here by yourself?"


"Who, me? No, I got separated from my friends."


"So you're lost?"


“Not exactly. But something like that. I'll head down the elevator and take a look around."




"Oh, I suppose I could do that. Excuse me..."

Looking back he saw that the employee had already disappeared.


Switching perspectives back over to the Kid

Track—Ersteboden




"Yup. That's right."


"Even so..."

After bending down to wipe away the white stain on his pants, You stood up.
How very subtle.


"You don't see that very often, a guy coming to a park like this alone."

That was true. It was paradise—an amusement park. In that instant he had almost forgotten even that.




"Why arrange to meet inside LeMU?"


"Huh? Th-that's because..."

Now that she mentioned it... Who HAD said to wait on that bench...? Who's idea was it anyway?


"Oh, well. Whatever. I won't push you."


"..........."

Who was it...?


"But, I suppose that...well, I mean..."


"You've kind of been stood up...right?"


"What? Stood...up?"

Stood up... It took a moment for the meaning of the word to register.


"............"


"Wow! I hit the nail on the head didn't I? Uh...sorry..."

She shrugged slightly, embarrassed.


"Well, well. Don't get depressed about it!"

She changed modes abruptly and let out a hearty laugh. She slapped him solidly on the back.


"I'll look out for you. Alright?"


"Al...alright."

He nodded, a bit overwhelmed.

(So...I was stood up...I must have been dumped...Huh...?)

Then again he wasn't sure exactly what had happened.


"But..."




"Aren't you working right now, You?"


"You'd make a scary boss."

No matter how many times he checked, she was definitely still wearing a LeMU uniform.


"I didn't have anything to do anyway. It's perfect timing. Yeah."

They got in an egg-like elevator together.



It felt like they were slowly floating up.


"Going up..."

She whispered mischievously.


"............"

The elevator was terribly crowded. And everyone was packed in like sardines.


"Whoa...it's a little hot, huh?"


"I'll say..."

Her face was so close he almost bumped into it. Their bodies were flush against each other. She was soft and warm. He was surprised. All of the sudden he felt embarrassed and started to squirm.


"Hey, kid. Hey don't go touching places you shouldn't..."

She whispered into his ear, puffing out her cheeks. Crammed in the elevator, he couldn't even move an inch.


"That tickles...don't move so much."


"I don't have a lot of choice. I can't...breathe."

He couldn't move, but he couldn't bear standing still either. As he gasped for breath, he noticed her light perfume. Finally the egg arrived at the top floor and his suffering was over.



He let out a cry, and bolted from the elevator.

Track—Klamauk





He sprinted away leaving You far behind.



He'd seen something. At the edge of his vision, he thought he'd seen someone. Up ahead...that someone was still visible. He chased after whoever it was, like a man possessed.

(I've seen that face before...I'm sure I've seen that face before.)

That was what his instincts were telling him. But where had he seen them? He tried to sort through his foggy memory. As he sifted, he kept running forward.


"Wait...!"

He felt a desperate need to meet the person. But, he had to hurry.



Eventually, he ran out of breath. Holding his pounding chest, he looked up.


"Ah!"



Mixed amongst the other people was a girl, standing. He was sure that the person that he had been searching for was this girl.

It was in the middle of the holidays, but for some reason she was wearing her school uniform... He wondered why she was alone here.

"Oh, yeah...I've got to talk to her..."

She was by herself. She was all alone. Just like him.

(What should I say...? Where should I start...let's see...)
”Hi, I’m a complete stranger, but I really need to talk to you. I’m running a survey about stairs, you see.”

He needed to calm down and focus.

(Huh...? Why is it I have to talk to her...? Why in the world?)

Who was she?

Who was...she...?

She's...

I mean she's...



He was caught up in a wave of people.


"..."

He got pushed into an elevator. It started to rise toward the surface.



He got off the elevator as if he were being spit out.

This floor was called Erste boden... He glanced around at his surroundings. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. He thought that they had both ridden on the elevator together... But he had apparently lost sight of her in the crowd when he got off.

I lost her...

He hadn't even been able to say a word. He felt really depressed.
”Now I’ll never know if she preferred stairs or elevators ”

(Maybe... Did she call out to me?)

That idea suddenly popped into his head.



His heart was still beating furiously.



A uniformed staff member, different than You, was talking to him.


"Are you looking for someone?"

She gave him a warm smile as she said this.


"Eh! Uh, uh...yes, I am."

Feeling that he seemed a little desperate, he quickly blurted out an answer.


"I'm trying to find someone! I was supposed to meet up with them, but we must have missed each other."


"Who is it? What is their name?"


"Uh, their name..."

[??]: "Hey! You there! Wait!"

Patter, patter, patter.


Mysterious totally-couldn’t-be-a-future-heroine disappeared shortly after guy-we-totally-don’t-know interrupted the Kid.


"Huh? You mean me?"


"Yes. That's right..."

Running feet braked sharply beside him. The guy was out of breath.


"Actually, I want to ask you something."


"Huh?"

Surprised, he slowly opened his mouth.


And now it gets even more confusing, yaaay



There was nothing to do but see where the conversation went.


"Sorry to ask you like this out of the blue, but you don't know, do you? You haven't seen my friends around here, have you? One of them is about 5'1 and around 140 pounds. Kind of good-looking, with dorky sunglasses and probably not the type girls would go for.”

Another was wearing a suit, no tie, short hair and has three piercings in his ear and one in his nose.... He likes to knit..."

And then there was the only girl in the group, who had on a kind of simple color flower print one-piece with frilly lace... You know, three people you might see anywhere...”
Stunning observation, my good sir.


“Did you see them?"






"Nope."

The young kid shook his head.


"I see. Well, sorry about stopping you like that."

Waving slightly, he left.





He thought he had seen her before.

(Huh...I wonder if she knows that kid.)

But a troubled expression appeared on his face.




"Huh? What? Who are you?"

(So that's it...)

She was probably one of those kind of people that would talk to anyone about anything anywhere, whether you were interested or not.



The elevator arrived soundlessly and swallowed the waiting patrons. He went with them further into the depths of LeMU.


Let’s go look at the rides!


Dolphin Carousel, check.

Everyone had beaming smiles and yelled happily all evidence of LeMU's popularity.

But still...wandering around a packed and lively amusement park all alone was a bit torturous. He couldn't help trudging around with heavy feet and slumped shoulders. He was on the verge of looking depressed, but held his expression in check.


Jellyfish Gondola with a creepy fishman standing outsi—_{There’s a creepy fishman standing outside the ride}

Walking around in this place blindly he thought he might never run into his friends. The floor was a lot wider than he'd imagined.


"Oh, right, my cell phone..."

He took his PDA multi-purpose communication device out from his pocket. He pushed a button. He didn't have any messages. No mail either. But the problem seemed to be...

It was out of range.

At least that was what the display said.


"Are you serious!? I didn't think you could get out of range in this day and age..."

Then he recalled they'd said something about this being a giant tunnel in the middle of the ocean, where only select radio waves could reach. And that LeMU used special electronic equipment, which wasn't very compatible with mobile equipment.

More than anything, they didn't allow PDA's to work inside, so the facility would be completely separated from the world above, as part of the attraction.

...At least that's what they'd told him at the entrance, but he hadn't listened to a word of it.



He thought it might be best just to ask a staff member. He decided to look for one. But there wasn't a uniformed person in sight. There weren't many people walking around the corridors either.




Lemur. Ring-tailed, by the looks of it.

It was the one he'd seen at the gate coming in... The tanuki was operating a panel on the wall...

(I'll bet that's a LeMU employee.)

Thinking it perfect timing, he saddled up to the tanuki and called out.
LEMUR.


"Excuse me, I'm looking for someone. A friend. Could I get you to make an announcement over the intercom or something. The name is...uh..."


It’s a fucking lemur for chrissakes. Would you jus—Never mind. I give up.


"............"

But it didn't say anything.


"Uh? Hello? Hello?"

The tanuki turned away, avoiding him. He was being ignored.

(I wonder if it didn't hear me.)

The tanuki was wearing a big stuffed suit, and was a full head taller than him. There was the definite possibility that his words weren't even reaching the ears inside.



He asked the question nicely as he poked the tanuki in the ribs.
Somehow, poking somebody in the ribs while asking a question doesn’t seem ‘nice’.


"Hey, you've gotta lot of extra flesh here, buddy."
Uh, you might not want to piss him off, Takeshi. You don’t know who’s in there.

He continued talking as he pinched, pulled and released the tanuki's flank.



Upset at that, he grabbed the tanuki's shoulder.
I mean, it could be anybody: A retired pro-wrestler; an escaped prisoner; a disgruntled furry making minimum wage…


"Hey! What kind of an attitude is that? And when a visitor's in trouble!"


What the fuck?



“ ~~~~~~!?"
Tildes: Now for showing pain and discomfort.

He'd been gut-punched. The tanuki had actually slugged him.
Toldja.

Not even his parents had ever even really spanked him before.

It had been a totally cheap shot - the tanuki had landed a solid uppercut.
You totally deserved it.


"H-hey--! Tanuki--! Yeah, I mean you!"


"........."

He went down to his knees and keeled over. Nearby visitors reacted.


"Is everything alright?"




"Are you having stomach pains?"


Just as a heads up, I'm aiming for a Mon-Wed-Fri update schedule.