Magnus Mazed
One of your pals calls you up.
"Hey Magnus, I just got a new PC..."
"And you'd like me to load it up with Linux, and optimize it for you."
There is a short pause.
"Um, yeah, but it does have the new Scriff Inside! feature."
Your ears perk up. You've heard rumors, and carefully dressed up press releases that pass for actual reporting, but no real hard data. Its supposed to be super-fast. The conspiracy nutzoids claim its alien tech, and that it violates lightspeed.
"Um, well, I could..."
"Great, see you in thirty."
Your pal hangs up and you realize he saw through you. Now you're going to have to fix his computer, and when it comes to buying pizza he's going to be 'out for the moment'. Usually you at least get free pizza when you fix someone's computer...
Later, you arrive, and the pure sweetness of the new machine makes up for a lot of the aggravation. Of course, having your pal put a 44 oz. Juiceblaster cup next to your keyboard where your hand knocks it over so that it falls to the carpetted ground to splash...
On electrical sockets, and to see the surge leap to the computer with unnatural ease, and as you leap back a white bolt of light reaches for you....
=================
You wake with a coppery smell in the air, and hard stone under your head.
Your adventure continues in Temple of the Dying Sun...
