NetherWorld by Daniel Pagan (each kindness read aloud .TXT) 📕

guards looked capable of doing sizable damage to a much smaller Whizzy. One swipe with their tubes and Whizzy would be cracked and bleeding.
“Look up, stupid.” One of the burly Bytes rotated Whizzy to see the booth upstairs. There was a DJ booth with an odd looking creature inside. Through the haze, they could not make out the image.
“Sorry to have bothered you. Thanks, we’ll just be going now. Please tell Cache WhizzyWig said hello. If he ever wants to hang…” The big Bytes ignored Whizzy and turned towards the V.I.B. room. A dejected Whizzy and plunged his way to the stairs leading to the DJ booth. Nick followed behind.
As they moved out the same litany of comments accompanied their efforts to part the crowd.
“C’mon!”
“That’s rude! Don’t push!”
“Psst. Over here,” came one high pitched voice from the outer layers of the crowd. Nick looked for the source. It was hard to spot through the haze of Silicate sweat swimming in the air.
“Looking for some taint friend?” said another horrific looking silicate. His rotting tubes hung limp on his green sphere. “Got the good stuff, need a taste?”
“Get lost pusher! We don’t don’t need your junk,” warned Whizzy.
“Easy friend. Just trying to spread the joy of taint. One taste. C’mon.”
“Don’t make me get violent. I’ll rip you rotted tubes right from your head. Don’t mess with us.”
“Okay. Okay.” The sickly pusher slipped back into the dancing crowd looking for another junkie. Many of the Silicates began to embrace taint. As bad as it was for them, the taint produced euphoric sensations and allowed the Bytes to see the world in a different way. Taint abuse became rampant in many sectors. The very worst cases were often in SpamTown. Green Bytes rolled in desperation in deserted alleys, near deletion from the taint.
Flash Playas was a haven for taint intoxication. Bytes wobbled with artificial energy. The taint also made Bytes far more amorous. They tangled tubes with others in the heat of passion. Under the flashing lights, anonymous tangles were the rave.
Tangled tubes were the primary method of sharing affection between Bytes. The High Council frowned upon such data exchanges. In their view, this improper behavior leads to corruption that threatened all functions. Any Silicates caught with their tubes entangled were sent off to the Shredder for deletion. Still, such exchanges were common in the shadows of the Walled City.
As one hard driving song transitioned to another fast paced pulsing tune; a voice addressed the crowd.
“That was ‘Byte Fever’ by ChekDisc. Don’t lose you orbit, comin’ next is Bad Sector with ‘Disc Burn’. We are non-stop ‘til Downtime. I can feel the tainted love out there, so grease those tubes for tangles in the dark. Nothin like anonymous tube tying. So spin back and rotate baby Bytes. This is the Duke of Floppys, shakin’ it til Downtime!” The crowd was energized by the sultry stylings of the Duke. His deep, baritone vocals dug below their surfaces and stirred repressed protocals.
Nick and Whizzy finally reached the stairwell leading to the DJ booth. They could see light outlining the door. After climbing the steps, they knocked.
“Duke? You in there? Duke?”
“Who wants to know?” said the deep voice they just heard over the loud speaker.
“Visor sent us. Let us in.”
“Visor. Hold on. I’m coming.”
The door slid open revealing a tiny little sphere. He easily half the size of Whizzy. They approached the tiny Silicate.
“How do you know Visor?” asked the diminutive gobe.
“We were formatted in the same nursery. I knew him before he was the cool cat called Visor. We used to race the streams back then. He was the fastest I ever saw.”
“Ok. Ok. I am the Duke of Floppys,” he said.
“You! But you’re so tiny! Your voice. I just thought-” said Whizzy.
“I get that all the time. This keeps the Blue Guard from crashing my party. What I deal in ain’t exactly legal. A lot of people would love to see all the taint removed from the city’” the Duke replied a deep baritone at odds with his petite shape.
“I gotcha,” Whizzy said with understanding.
“What do you want from me? If Visor sent you, I know your cool cats.”
“We’re looking for the purest taint around. Visor said you know where to find it,” replied Whizzy.
“Don’t take that crap they peddle downstairs. They dilute it, very bad for you.”
“We need the absolute best?”
“If you’re looking for pure taint, go to the HateAsh.”
“Yeah, the purest taint they can make.”
“You mean the Owsley. They got that at the HateAsh. The Bytes are a bit burnt, but they have the best around. Tell ‘em the Duke sent you. But, don’t tell no one else, you dig?”
“The HateAsh, that’s near BroadStream right?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks Duke.”
“Anything to spread the taint. Pure taint is the way. NetherWorld would be a better place if we all did the taint, pure taint that is. You’ll see. It will change the whole way you look at things. Makes you see this world for what is really is…and that ain’t pretty Byte.”
“I am sure it rocks.”
“Hey, what do you think of my disco Byte? We hold the best taint raves in NetherWorld. Tell your friends, yeah.”
Whizzy and Nick looked out onto the dancing crowd. With pulsing lights and primal beats, the scene was nearly orgiastic.
“Ok Baby Bytes, it’s time for the Forbidden Circle! Are you feelin’ Virtual. Time to show it off. Gather round and spinout my brotha Bytes,” announced the Duke to the dancing Silicates.
A tight orbit of Bytes opened up in the center of the dance floor. Each Byte making the circle retracted their plunger legs and commenced spinning.
“Blasphemy! How deliciously wicked!” exclaimed Whizzy, transfixed by this wanton act.
“What’s so wicked Whizzy?” asked Nick.
“Spinning is strictly forbidden for common Bytes likes us. Only the Big Wigs are allowed to do it,” answered Whizzy, still gawking at the orgiastic orbit of spinning globes below.
“Why can’t everyone spin? You all seem capable of it. That seems odd.”
“Spinning corrupts those not worthy. That is what our code states, anyway. We cannot handle the rush of emotions that spinning stirs up.”
“Are you serious? That is jacked up Whizzy!” said Nick confused by this odd rule. Spinning was reserved for those who command the most power, despite the risk of corruption the motion elicits.
“We don’t follow the proletariat protocols in Flash Playas brotha Byte,” added the Duke while he adjusted the sonics for the crowd below. “We believe spinning is freedom. The High Council just don’t want us to taste it. Always tryin’ to keep us in order. We play by our own protocol here.”
Within the orbit of spinning globes, a single Byte levitated. As the beat pounded, it spun and bounced against the circle of globes. With each bounce, the Byte spun faster and faster. As the beat quickened, it became more frenetic. The tubes of the the spinning circle of globes were completely entangled in passionate twists and turns.
At the peak, the bouncing Byte exploded in the center of the orbit, showering neighboring Silicates with yellow blood.
“What just happened?” asked Nick
“A combustible. Too much diluted taint with crazed wobbling can lead some Bytes to spontaneously combust. Damn Special T is killin’ my party.” A bunch of large Bytes approached the mess and began to remove all traces of the deceased. Within half a cycle, the crowd closed in on the gap and the party raged.
“Wow, no one missed a beat. Don’t they care?”
“They about the taint man. Taint frees the Bytes to spin and taste the sky. They on a trip and they ain’t gonna stop until they get there, you dig?”
“Not really, but we gotta go,” inserted Whizzy.
With those parting words, Nick and Whizzy left Flash Playas and headed for HateAsh.


Chapter 11
Phish Pirates and Lumpy the Deleter

Book of TranFor:

The Awakened understand the Why and the How. To know only one is more dangerous than knowing none. There must be a balance to these two facets. When one outweighs the other, nature has a way of restoring equilibrium. Overindulge one and subject yourself to the consequence of imbalance.

As they left the snowy Spammer streets, Whizzy and Nick turned down the darkest alley yet. Nick saw countless Green globes wobbling in small groups, or orbits. They looked like the Tainted Ones Nick encountered in the Silver Forest. Tortured moans came from everywhere. The Tainted globes spotted Nick and Whizzy. They began to encircle them. Levitating in a most menacing manner, they trapped the duo in a tight knight orbit.
“Looky brudders. We’ve a twix widda hellty tubes, prime for da pluckin,” observed the largest of the Tainted globes. His fire orange tubes pulsed with energy.
“Why yes. Quite da feast for weez Tainted. Such tasty lookin’ tubes. Weez can almost tasty da data. Ahhhhh,” added a Tainted globe with the same high pitched helium sound Nick heard in the forest.
“Sorry guys. We didn’t mean to cross your turf. Really. Just a mistake. We’ll be going now. Soooo if you don’t mind just open up the circle and we’ll be on our way,” offered Whizzy with a hint of nervousness trembling through his speech.
“No one escapes da circle Byte. You both belong to da Tainted. Weez own you. Weez will pluck yooz tubes one by one til yooz boat bald. Den da Batchers take yooz to Tasher,” said the leader of the circle.
“Whizzy what should we do?” asked Nick shaking under his holographic glow.
“We have to…” Whizzys voice trailed off into a soft ramble.
The Tainted Ones began spinning, orbiting Whizzy and Nick. The circle moved faster and faster. They chanted the Ethereal creed in unison. Their orange cobra tubes danced in hypnotic fashion.

“Skyden fronik klicken kow
Slissing slath slittering slats”

They repeated this phrase over and over. Their voices escalated each time. The sounds spun with the circle, creating waves that disoriented Whizzy and Nick. The sonics couple with the cobra gyrations mesmerized Whizzy and Nick. They were falling into some sort of trance. It became harder and harder to hold on to consciousness. They began to join in the Tainted chant.

“Skyden fronik klicken kow
Slissing slath slittering slats”

Words raced around the circle. The Tainted Ones began to reach for their now helpless tubes. Of course, Nick’s tubes were merely a holographic projection. Notheless, the tried to entangle the tubes. Once they secured a strong grip, they would rip the tubes from Whizzy’s globe. A painful process that would normally cause a Byte to cry out in agony. It was rumored that NazKlan engaged in such torturous practices to extract critical information for the Analogs.

“Skyden fronik klicken kow
Slissing slath slittering slats”

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