Myth 13 - Myth Alliances by Asprin, Robert (ebook reader online free .txt) 📕

“Uh ... well, not at present...”

“Good,” I beamed. “Then you can leave the job to us. All right?”

“You'll, uh, let us know how you progress, won't you?” Gubbeen asked, very timidly.

“Of course,” I smiled. “I'm not against consultation, but you have to understand I'm under no obligation to use your advice. With that in mind, then I think we have a deal.”

“Well said, Master Skeeve,” Zol applauded. “Well said.”

To give them credit, the Wuhses looked relieved, espe?cially Wensley.

“I think we all understand one another very well,” Bunny said, favoring the big Wuhs with her sexiest blue-​eyed glance. “Perhaps,” she purred, taking her cue from the traditional Wuh form of circumlocution, "we should depart from this subject? Master Skeeve has a long day

ahead of him tomorrow. Why don't we let him and my other associates go to bed? But I would like to talk to you all for a little while longer."

“It would be our very dearest wish,” Gubbeen ex?claimed.

“Good!” Bunny grinned, showing all her teeth and folding her hands on the table. “Now, about the matter of payment...”

Gubbeen and the others shuddered. Suppressing smirks, Tananda, Zol, Gleep and I followed Montgomery towards the stairs to the sleeping rooms.

Myth 13 - Myth Alliances

SEVEN

“Have I got a product for you!”

PROF. H. HILL

“Sorry I'm late,” Niki apologized, closing the door behind her. “I had to check the assembly lines in Factory #5. The cutting machines jammed, and the damned sheep didn't know how to fix it.”

“We just started,” Vergetta replied. She and a handful of the others stood at a big table as Monishone demonstrated the features of her invention. Caitlin, as usual, sat at her computer keyboard, uninterested in the proceedings. Charilor hovered beside Vergetta, ready to run errands if the older female needed her to. “Come here a minute, darlink. Tell me, are they behaving themselves today?”

Niki grinned, showing every one of her pointed fangs. “They don't dare not to. But they gripe on and on in that mealymouthed whine so much that I want to tear their heads off.”

“Never do they understand this is all for their own good,” Vergetta sighed. "All right, Monishone, honey. So,

tell it to me like Paldine's going to put it in the sales brochure."

Monishone tucked her hands into her long sleeves. “You put on the goggles, you become part of the story that you see. You can change the whole plot inside the setting just by using a tiny spark of magik to activate commands that will be visible on a scroll at the side of the illumina?tion. As you've seen, it is a very realistic illusion, but it is no more than that: an illusion.”

“Very nice,” Vergetta said. She remembered how vivid the image had been, and how enjoyable it had been to plunge into it knowing she could depart from it just by tak?ing off the glasses, not having to cast a dimension hopping spell. “But how about the variations?”

“No problem. The stories I've already bespelled are tra?ditional fairy tales, or archetypal tropes. For a nominal in?vestment we can hire bards and poets to tell new stories into the master spell, which will translate their words into pictures, characters, even scenarios. We can support this product almost endlessly. To change the stories it holds, one only has to take it for recharging to a qualified wizard who will get our new scrolls on a regular basis. The fee per tale ought to be nominal.”

“It'll keep the punters busy for ages,” Paldine gloated, making notes on a scrap of parchment. “This is perfect for, Scamaroni. Their society is advanced enough so the inhab?itants can understand the difference between fact and fic?tion, and wealthy enough so at least half the population has disposable income that can be used for hobbies.”

“There's more,” Monishone continued with a little smile that showed the tips of her fangs. “The spectacle can be shared. One can unite with others in a group quest, and take any or all parts of a drama. If one would prefer to be the banshee on the battlements instead of the heroine res?cuing the hero, then one can. You can be the hero, the vil?lain, a minor character, or just an onlooker.”

“I like it,” Oshleen declared. She was dressed for the

day in tailored military camouflage with a black beret and boots and a white scarf tucked jabot style into the neck of her jacket. She swept a riding crop down and tapped the side of the goggles on the table. “Is that what the many pointed star is for? A sigil to join the wearers together?”

“Yes.” Monishone demonstrated. “Just touch the star, then bring your finger to the star on the next pair of gog?gles. Anyone you touch becomes part of the group. Of course it means all of you have to have that story in your pair...”

“More recharging fees,” Tenobia crooned, licking her fangs, “and no significant outlay except for royalties to the bards. We can make a fortune. They'll forget about every other personal entertainment device they've ever had! Hundreds of dimensions will be clamoring to get their hands on this!”

Paldine shook her head. “You'd be surprised. Of all the dimensions that support magik, only a few fall into the right niche. Many are too advanced for a toy like this, but many more aren't at the level to buy this or use it. I'd say thirty or forty at most.”

“That would be plenty,” Oshleen emphasized. She smacked her riding crop down on the desk.

“It's more likely