Techno by charles duncan One day, Daydreamer, as she boarded the grand neverrest, noticed something odd about its crew members as Halifax and some of the others seemed down in the dumps.. as well as Brush and Long-glory, and she wondered what happened.. and Casey said.. "I think Arden's gone." "Uh, really?", Daydreamer said, as she sighed.. "What happened to him?" "Well, apparently he was stranded during a reconnaisence mission to personally, like, see if he could get the drop on where Luminary might be hiding out.. especially in light of recent events concerning the destruction of reality in whole new areas of the Andromeda Galaxy recently rebuilt after Moore and Thessun's battles of months gone by,", Said Casey.. "Not that I've ever been there, I mean, Moore has lately.. But sadly , he hasn't checked in.." "Well, don't worry about it", said Daydreamer.. "I really haven't thought much of him lately since he did the same to me at times." "Well, I'm going to worry about it.. because he's like a legend. So I will get the word out to find him. But really.. You two did love each other at one time." "yeah, I know", said Daydreamer, as she went to her room.. and had to kick Sunflower out because she got in the wrong room. "Sometimes, though, I wonder what life would bring.. If i'd never met arden." Later that night, as a girl known as Daydreamer Jr was in the same room who had her own bed slept, Daydreamer had strange dreams of loud music being pumped in.. and the world going totally grey around her.. as she felt like she made the music. And she wandered around the room, as she looked for a source of the noise..and saw herself in the mirror. Aside from having some strange wires in her head and lots of makeup, she didn't feel very different.. but she indeed felt mad sometimes.. and she left the room, looking back at daydreamer Jr, who somehow grew to adult size.. and was sleeping soundly. So, she left the room, and noted how grey everything was, and how much of those she knew were wearing business suits and dresses, and were sitting around, yelling at each other.. and asked them, "What's going on?" "It's Kingston Day, and I'm known as Angie", said a being she didn't really recognize.." And I was recently looking for a being named Technosavage who escaped recently looking for a group of beings called the sports team, who was out to escape into the primary plane... but I decided not to bother with them." "Really", said Daydreamer.. "And where's Casey?" "Casey has been dead for 4000 years now", said the strange woman, "And you really ought to get more sleep during these long battles, Techno.. Because you have some like wild dreams". "Uhh.. My name is Daydreamer.." "A likely story.. Just stand by, we should be in the clear of this battle and return to the home world of Summerien II and we can explain everything." "Ohh.. Kay", said Daydreamer, who just sat down on the floor. "And btw, if you see anyone named Wilson, they're meant to be punished forever and must be punched in the face if they look into ours.. as our founder of the Incorporateds, Speedster, would have wanted when he died 3,100 years ago.. after a great war decimated much of the planet Catica, and the nearby planets Mursalas, Hara, Viola, and New Thessun.", said the strange young woman. "And believe me, no thanks to a being named May bee who destroyed a chupacabra sent in war... Earth is pretty much gone, too." "Uh.. not where i last stood", Daydreamer said. "Anyway, this is where I live", said the strange woman as the ship landed. "And be very careful, for there are wild tribes of blue gorillas wandering the planet you must try not to talk to, for all they spout is nonsense." "You sure.. Casey won't mind about this?" "No, he's been dead a long time, Techno", said the young woman. A very long time. " In a great hall of violet beams going back and forth, Daydreamer wandered much in there, looking at portraits of chefs and hyenas scattered all over the place, and often she heard screams of "I thought this was mustard!", in the back, as a young woman dropped out of nowhere into the seat of reality, sat down in the central hall and yelled, "We have returned from the darkness victorious, and alive! All bow to Dark Attenna Girl, the current victor of all the 2nd plane!" "Gee", Daydreamer said, "You sure this isn't some wild dream of mine?" "NO,", said Attenna girl, who yelled to the skies, "It is our reality. A reality where we shall soon end the chaos of Harold the Hyena, the creator of a action figure called Luminary who somehow influenced pain and suffering in its emergency release. And this is our good friend Angie, a traveler from another realm who often makes boyfriends like crazy.. Who helped us track down the Wilsons and made them pay," "That's nice", said Daydreamer, who wondered if anyone was sniffing pens behind her back... "So do I go home now?" "There is no real home for anyone who have come into my world", said Attenna girl, "Save to help me end Harold's desires.. and remember the bravery of an long -gone woman named Mindy Aritera who once gave a legend of ours named Ar-Den hope in his long quest for peace." "Well, there is a problem.. You see, Last night, I was in a different world. It was a world where Luminary was causing chaos all over with strange ideas..." "Really, well, that reality can have Luminary.. for those action toys break apart so easily, and demand constant service. I wouldn't even buy one for fifty cents at a demon's meeting place on the 74th plane of the 37th omniverse, where I know a being named sweater came from trying to sell phoenixes as a food product and a hat you couldn't take off. And you shall know this much.. end all hope of your own life as we shall strive to end Harold's existence, even his name! But first, feast on energy bars that a being named Kingston once ate, before he turned his life totally towards technology and ruined a once proud world..he blew up trying to get rid of, of a being named Arden... who ate too much and quite frankly, deserved to be removed for being a bad teacher for 18,000 years. " "Really.. ", Daydreamer said. "That's so interesting." Daydreamer walked off and ran going "MOM!", as she ran down the hall..and no guards stopped her, really, though she did trip over the carpet and landed head first and likely injured herself, passing out. Later that day, Daydreamer awoke to find herself on a ship, where two Wilsons, tied together, were piloting. One of them called herself Myra Mobeal, a crazy woman who caused a lot of pain in an ironic universe some time ago, and had been disfigured and punished for her pain... and had gone back in time to try to make sense of a collapsing world that was so much like hell it was scary, but then she uploaded herself right back knowing she wasn't long for the world. "Are you two.. uh.. supposed to bother me", she said.. "Because I feel like i've been hit on the head." "It is our job to cause pain", the wilsons said.. "because it is our only good thing. And ahead is a being named Harold who causes great pain.. and he is a source of Orange and Jackals who never really get their dues and we must end this Harold for this giant chicken named taor told us to." "But why should you bother", said Daydreamer, "Because I think this attenna girl is a pain in the ass.. don't ask me why." "Well, All we ever do is make people suffer with our loudspeakers of anguish and disaster", said both Wilsons, "And look, there is Harold ahead.. we believe if we pilot this ship right into the center, we can asorb his essense, plunge into the sun, and bring peace to the universe of dark zombies and evil plagues by us not being in it." Daydreamer looked at the thing ahead.. "That doesn't look so evil", she said, as she saw the orange mass about 5,000 miles wide close in... "That's because you've never been in his teeth or had to clean his hair when he needs a bath after having trillions of chickens and ducks to feed his undying hunger for revenge... And be wary if you ever meet this entity named Jaques Jackal for they are in league with this freak named Sure and the amazing Blimpmen who someday plan to buy up the TV airwaves back in the 1970's." "Do you have an Escape Pod", said Daydreamer as she got up. "Yes, we have several. And they stay crunchy even in milk", they said, as they ripped their faces off in unison to reveal robot faces, and said "We no longer need our brains for this final task, we are done. ". "Yeah.. Nice Idea", said Daydreamer as she walked off the bridge and left in a hurry, just as the ship went into the center of a being named Harold, and self destructed as neither Wilson, who had their brains replaced while they slept and never knew it..really cared anymore, being robots and such. Daydreamer got on one of the escape pods, and flew back the way she came, and tried to ask for directions back to a place where there was this.. lake. But all she got was static as a ship much like the Grand Neverrest took her onboard. Later that day, she got out of the escape pod and asked.. "Ok.. Is there a Casey on board", she said, as she saw someone familiar on the board. "Not really, she, our grand and glorious leader who was also known by her last name of ximitous, died about 2,000 years ago when anti-wrenchien fell on her from above while playing rap music way too loud", said a being that looked much like Speedster but had three heads, one of which was a grey one that had a bow on it. "Well, at least I'm getting closer", she hoped, "Can you drop me off somewhere named Okura?" "Not really, Okura has been banned as a illegal substance for 62,000 years, but we do know somewhere you can go." "Really, where", said Daydreamer, as she still had the wires in her hair.. wires she pulled out nervously, yelping as they came out.. "Well, there's always the planet Harold Junior you can land on, they have a portal to someplace called Havens where they have lots of portals into the past. And perhaps, you can find your own way." "Really", said Daydreamer. "Does Catica exist?" "As far as we know, Catica does exist, but it is full of badgers and mongooses and it does have passage into the past. Would you like to go there?" "Sure I would", said Daydreamer. "Fine, We'll be there within the hour, but please do me a favor, Tell anyone you ever meet called Harrietta that I said hi and to forgive my sending her into another reality with her neck cut open.. as well as these entities called the kiljam who caused a lot of pain in wanting to darken the universe so long ago it's not even funny.. yeah, a Harrietta who was looking for someone named Longgloria to give her immortal life purpose, as she escaped from a den of demons in an ironic universe trying to eat her alive from a ton of rabbits who seem intent on devouring each other in a ratings war..... Yeah, If you ever meet her, though she's been dead for hundreds of years." "Suuure", said daydreamer as she sat in the hall, removing the last of the wires. After landing, and getting passage no thanks to someone named Miss Thessun who was really out of it, but at least she could fly a spaceship, back to her own time, Daydreamer managed to make it back to what she hoped was the Grand Neverrest , which barely left without her as she pulled up.. and told someone she hoped was Casey about her wild dream.. of crossing space and time, indeed. "Tell me, Is arden Ok?", she said as she reboarded.. and noticed Scarf was lying in her basket, really upset about the whole deal of Daydreamer vanishing..Especially since something called Mus-lim tried to get her autograph for free, and got it.. but Daydreamer never got to meet her. "Well, he's apparently been missing for a week, while you've been gone a day.. And what happened to Daydreamer JR, anyway? It's like she somehow grew up." "I have no Idea", said Daydreamer.. "But I still wonder anyway.. Do you have any idea what happened to me when I disappeared?" Casey said, "Yeah... apparently something crossed paths with our reality on a level above ours and tried to shift you out of it.. a ship we thought might be a more modern version of the Genetic Ranger from what we got of it.. but it was indeed in a reality only briefly in sync with ours. And sadly, we have little idea of what happened there, or why." "Well, let's just say I had a really wierd dream.. and If you find someone named henrietta, tell her I said Hi.. and that I've a bad feeling about someplace called earth.. having our faces in it somehow in spite of us rarely being there." "Don't we all", said Casey. "Don't We all." Daydreamer later cleaned up, and went to bed, noticing the other daydreamer doing the same.. And wondered indeed if she should be off cereal forever.. at least the kind made with honey and phoenix sauce that Wilson's distant relations were trying to market since he grew to like it in his older years, and it was legend from where he came from. And in her dreams she kept hearing "fern" in the back of her mind. ---- In another reality, a being named Harold the hyena, once a proud chef but now a madman who couldn't take the taunts of pink beavers anymore, finally died a horrible death as he had deserved when a ship looking for a being named Fern who liked to 'cover things up that offended her with dark thoughts' plunged into his center after recovering from a stroke, and broke apart, and the wilsons floated in space for eternity, to crash on a distant world, and give it life.. full of apparently annoying, yellowish slug-headed creatures and roaches, who couldn't help but choke each other as they never grew older and irritated each other... But that's another tale. We all hope.