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- Hitch Hikers Guide To The Net
- Episode 10
-
- (Xaphod, Rod, Gillian, and Marvin are still on their way to find out
- more about Life, the Net, and Everything. From off in the distance they
- hear a hollow roar punctuated by gunfire. Before they have a chance to
- grasp the situation, a huge battle tank screeches to a halt in front of
- them. It is a fearsome device with great nasty teeth painted on it. The
- cannon looks as if it could punch a hole through a small planet. A hatch
- opens and a rightly uniformed man steps out, crushing a passing cat
- under his boot.)
-
- Cat: (splat)
-
- Rod: Wh . . . who are you?
-
- Roarin' George:I'm General Roarin' George Pahton. I heard there was some
- Singularans around here. Thought I'd do some American
- style joggering.
-
- Xaphod: Oh yeah, they went that a way.
-
- Arnold Lint: Why does everyone pick on the Singularans? They only seek
- meaningful personal relationships with people they find
- special.
-
- Roarin' George:Right, that's it, we're gonna have some order around
- here. No more of these damn cliches. From here on out,
- the following rules will apply: Anyone who uses the
- phrases 'special', 'personal relationship', or
- 'meaningful relationship' WILL be fined twenty dollars
- for the first offense. Subsequent offenders will have
- their genitalia removed with a sharp rock. Anyone who
- corrects the spelling of another, WILL be fined 100
- dollars. I won't stand for any namby-pamby intellectuals
- checking spelling when there's so much to do. Anyone
- caught agreeing with anything an oppositely gendered
- personnel says in an obvious attempt to make points, WILL
- have both kneecaps shattered with a ball-pean hammer.
- Likewise, anyone saying things which are right out of
- soap operas with the intentions mentioned above WILL also
- have his (or her) kneecaps shattered with a ball-pean
- hammer. Remember, this is the NET, it's tough out there.
- Keep your emotions to yourself, do you want a bunch of
- commies to read that gooey crap? Why they'll think we're
- wimps, then they'll invade. They've started infiltrating
- already - ever been to one of the dating service places?
- They're all commies, draining away our precious bodily
- fluids. Now, get back to work!
-
- (With that, he climbs back into the tank and drives off, casually
- blowing a 4 foot hole in a nearby wall. Just then, the 12" CRT on
- Xaphod's shoulder springs to life. On it is a man in a white suit with a
- bible in one hand and a microphone in the other. He speaks: "Friends.
- Why are we here today? We are here to hear the words - (Amen) - to hear
- the holy words from the Holy Box - (Amen). Oh blessed be the Holy Box,
- and it's disciples: Prophet Ronko, Prophet K-Dul, and the Prophet Popeel
- - (Amen Amen Amen). Yes, they lead is to immaculate spending. We here at
- the Church of the Divine Vision believe in Johnny and Merv and Mike. TV
- is the reflection of life, and life is a reflection of reality,
- therefore TV IS REALITY. Yes, Mrs Olson may be a Nazi, but if you buy
- Foljers, you can bake just like her. And Robert Yung may have multiple
- personalities and a penchant for farm animals, but if you drink his
- coffee, you can remain calm in the midst of a nuclear explosion . . . ")
-
- Rod: Shut that OFF.
-
- Xaphod: Bloody religious fanatics.
-
- Arnold Lint: What an odd religion, worshiping a TV, seems hard to
- believe.
-
- Martin: Not really, just another awful attempt to deal with this
- miserable Net. It's all a cop out. You can't understand
- something so you pretend that there is something else in
- control. It's all rubbish.
-
- Gillian: Quiet. Of course there's a supreme being.
-
- Martin: If you say so, but if God didn't already exist, he would
- have to be invented.
-
- Rod: It's hopeless talking to him.
-
- ("The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Net" indicates that the members of the
- Church of the Divine Vision are basically agnostics. They prefer to
- believe what they see on the tube to what some half starved people wrote
- about over 2000 years ago. They can't meet God, but if the TV gives them
- trouble, they can always replace it. Their belief led to the writing of
- the Video Testament, which is the gospel for all believers in the Holy
- Box. Although it seems unlikely, the Church of the Divine Vision was
- supposed to have formed some amazing concepts as to how the Net exists.)
-
- Gillian: Let's go.
-
- Martin: Do we have to?
-
- (They all ignore Martin and press on. Two days later they arrive at
- their destination. In front of them is a rather bug-eyed looking
- lizard.)
-
- Xaphod: Hey man, are you the one with the dope on Life, the Net,
- and Everything.
-
- Lizard: Yes, I am Teddy the Wonder Lizard. I know all there is to
- know about Life, the Net, and Everything.
-
- Rod: Well, tell us!
-
- Gillian: Please do!
-
- Teddy: You won't like it.
-
- Martin: (sarcastically) Now that's a real surprise.
-
- Teddy: Are you sure you want to know?
-
- Arnold Lint: Yes, what is it, got to more than forty-bloody-two.
-
- Teddy: Yes, that was the answer we told the Net. We figured that
- the real answer was so awful, they'd rather get something
- vague and argue about it forever.
-
- Xaphod: Well, out with it.
-
- Teddy: It's all here, in the Video Testament!
-
- (He hands Xaphod an old looking book, pops about a dozen valiums, and
- then switches on a nearby TV set. He is watching 'Real People'.)
-
- Xaphod: Well, that should finish him off.
-
- Arnold Lint: The drugs?
-
- Rod: No, 'Real People', lowers the IQ so much that the brain
- just packs it in and you die.
-
- Gillian: Find the answer already!
-
- Xaphod: Okay, now lets see . . .
-
- ******************** End Of Part 10 ********************
-
- What is the answer to Life, the Net, and Everything? Why are we here?
- Are we here? And why is it that vampires never attack Jewish
- neighborhoods? For the answers to some of these questions . . . Tune in
- next time . . . same Net-time . . . same Net-channel.
-
- danielle