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

*red eyes glow scandalised*
What is Garius idea?

What was yowzupman doing? He thought water came from a flooding device and tried to blow it up. Blew up nest instead and finished job! And then kidnapped two ratants for himself. STUMPED very disorganised!

heh heh, Food Lady is funny, gets in trouble and doesn't know it. But she stopped kidnap, did good.

*high fiving Ant with whiskers*

OK Rat! What's next on the menu? Killer rabbits?

*whiskers twitch*
Styx exploring. Don't hurry! Fallout of this adventure might not be over. I got message frm Grigor by crow, rats still setting up new Rathome so I wait and see if they need help. Can't go there yet, Lizard might follow.
*washes face and hands*

*grins*

I'll await further instructions then.

*GL comes in with a Rat-Ant at his side.*

Amy, Styx, Lil, I would like to introduce Rat-Ant 872. Or rather the Rat-Ant formerly known as Rat-Ant 872. Since he has left the organization that numbered him, he would now like to be called Earl. I have told Earl about our, um, egg problem and he has agreed to, er, work with us.

*Earl flushes with embarassment.*

heh heh heh King for a day! *bowing to Earl then stops laughing*

Important to keep new Rathome hidden. Earl comes with me. Better wolf and ant don't know, can't leave trail. Rathome become real place soon but not till finished. Ant and wolf can help rats soon though.

*looks uncomfortable* hem, hem. Please.

*so uncomfortable, Styx nods to wolf and ant then signals to Earl* Earl follows Styx scurrying away*

*waves at Styx and Earl*

There's still the matter of this egg that KL has managed to rescue from the nest. I wonder what the gestation period is for ratant eggs.

*Carefully averts his eyes from the path taken by Styx and Earl.*

Yes, it looks like he will be able to start another colony. But at least we will be able to match him with our own Rat-Ant troops. The killer rabbits are another story, however. I don't know how to counter them. An KL has now removed the Rat-Ants and the killer rabbits to Planet X, so we can't combat them directly. Any ideas for an opposing force? How about the giant monkeys in Moxon Wood?

Giant Monkeys are beyond my expertise. I will do some snooping around to see if I can figure out what STUMPED's next targets might be.

*comes skipping in, red eyes glow pleased*
heh heh heh Long live King Earl!
*Sits down and washes hands* Ratant Queen change her name to Hillary and married Earl. Earl now Duke of Earl. Rats built nursery. Ants now tending eggs.

Wolf Boy, I give you coordinates, you extend CLI defenses to cover Rathome?

Certainly! You don't actually have to give me the exact coordinates, just a region the size of a city block. If it is adjacent to the CLI labs, then I can extend the shields to encompass the new area and I can assign some securibots to guard the perimeter. If it is not adjacent, then I will need to set up a remote shield generator (or, rather, give you one and tell you how to set it up). I can still send the securibots, though.

Oh, and something else I thought of. *Hands Styx a box of CLI stickers*. When the Rat-Ants are full grown, put one of these on each one, so that they can be distinguished from KL's Rat-Ants.

*Begins singing quietly to himself: As I, I walk through this world, Nothing can stop, the Duke of Earl ...*

*scratches numbers in dirt, lets wolf boy read then rubs them out*

See? right under CLI. Easy. shields to go under Rathome.

*sits up, red eyes glowing* Rats found vein of spam near river. Ratbots not as good as CLIbots, but good enough to dig spam. Rathome feeding monsters at sewers, blubottle keeps roses away and builds bridge for rats n Pipe 42.

But securibot not needed. Soldier ants like work.

I'll send a message to the soldier ants. They will be delighted - they love an underground posting.

Okay, then. I'll modify the CLI shields to extend down around Rathome. It might take a couple of days, though, so I'll let you know when it is working. The rats will all need tags to allow them free passage through the shields. I'll bring a carton of them here later and you can distribute them. You'll have to be careful that none of them fall into the wrong hands, so keep careful count of them. If one does go missing, then I can change the frequency on the shields and reprogram the tags. You would have to return all the tags to me for me to do that, so it would be best if it wasn't necessary. See you soon.

*Exits*