h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

~in the pocket~

*giggles*

Thash made a mesh ....... and itsh gon all over your side of the duvet

~In the pocket~

Thash only cause you're *wearing* your shide of the duvet. I don need no duvet anywaysh - I got thish blanket I found on the table. It washn't easy to get it off the table either - shomeone had put dishes an cutlery and shtuff on top of it.

~in the pocket~

shhhhhhh

~barely muffled buzz saw sounds~

*after a few minutes of careful watching and listening (too far from sea's pocket to hear the ruckus inside), Lil determines that the floor is indeed deserted*

*she rolls off the carpet and indicates that it should go down and bring up the others in stages, then steps carefully away from the exposed balcony and to the thread indicated by GL in the previous LED*

*Checks the rat-ant picture*

Nice! It's not a rat-ant from Zork by any means, but a very nice picture.

Maybe they've evolved and shrunk through exposure to stuff in h2g2?


*Hops onto the carpet, rides up, and jumps off just as the carpet descends again*

What does a Zorkish rat-ant look like?

*steps on to the carpet, then on to the balcony as the carpet draws level*

*follows Lil and Affy, as the carpet drops down to the path*

Not too different from what you've got there, but it walks on six legs with no arms. Roughly the size of a dog. No opposable thumbs. Aside from that, it looked about right.

However, I just went over some of my rat-ant info and found that Infocom also used rat-ants in some other non-Zork games, and the rat-ants from the game "Starcross" are described as being really short and capable of wielding primitive tools. So what you've drawn there could easily just be a Starcross rat-ant a few hundred years in the future.

*Ascends the carpet lift and steps onto the balcony joining the others.*

Last one up be sure to bring Amos along, please.

*waves off assistance*

*stands up very straight and puts his hands together in eastern fashion*

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

*So saying, Amos levitates to the balcony and follows the others*

*fascinatedly looking at Amos but decides to use to carpet and not try levitating herself*

*Uses the carpet to get up onto the balcony*

C'mon Zeppo, we don't have nearly enough orchids to float.

/* Steps on the carpet */

*the carpet takes d'E and Zeppo up to the balcony, then wafts down again to wait for Ivana*

*climbs aboard the carpet with a little trepidation but is transported unharmed to the upper level*

*slings his carbine over his shoulder, dons the backpack, and easily shims up a supporting post to the balcony*

*to the carpet* Ook! [Thanks anyway.]

*has a good look around. Across the crater, he sees the glint of glass and signals that everything is fine, then adjusts his forage cap, unslings the rifle, and follows the rest of the party into the office*

*stops at the glass office to peer at the mummified entities, then shakes his head and follows the rest of the group into the Shrine of the Calling Card*

Ook! Ook! [Be careful in here! This is sacred ground!]