"Take a number," Sid muttered. "Actually, the last one just left." He looked the new guy over suspiciously. At least this one seemed relatively friendly -- he was offering his hand. Sid took and shook it.
"Why don't you have any shoes on?" Sid continued, noticing this particular irregularity.
The new author smiled. "Oh, I'm not going to stay long. It's my nature, you see! I flit about the AddVenture, dipping my toe in here, dipping my toe in their, sometimes staying for several episodes, generally not, tasting of the story in its fullness and adding little bits to it when the mood strikes me."
"Ah!" said Sid. "You must be Dabbler, then!"
"That's me! I've actually been adding little bits to your 'backstage' threads for some time -- it really caught my imagination. But I never thought to drop in myself, until I saw what a trend it was getting to be."
"Oh, you follow trends, do you?"
"Sometimes, sometimes not. And of course, I also wanted to meet my prospective son-in-law."
"Come again?" asked Sid, surprised.
"Actually, it's already happened, in a neighboring thread -- and the way your master keeps linking other threads into the event, I'd say it seems destined to be your main reality, back here. I must say, you seem an okay sort. Bit old perhaps, but nothing's forever in the BE AddVenture. And what the heck -- maybe the girls'll dig old."
"I'm middle-aged!" huffed Sid, somewhat miffed. I'm not old!"
"Whatever."
"And what's all this about becoming your son-in-law, anyway? How can a character marry the daughter of an author?"
Dabbler smiled apologetically. "Two daughters, actually. Of course, they're not really my daughters, you understand, just the children of my mind. Characters, in other words, just like you. I created them for a B-Movie being watched in a different thread quite some time ago, but unfortunately, other authors did not appear to share my high regard for them, and left their adventures untouched. So I brought them to a nearby thread of the Backstage, left them with you, and tied up their other options -- making you a gift of them, as it were. And I must say, you didn't seem to have any objections -- nor did they. In fact, I understand they've become quite useful to you since."
"It seems my fate's all been laid out for me," grumped Sid, still miffed.
Dabbler laughed. "Well, nothing's for sure in the AddVenture! I figured I'd look you over and see if I liked what I saw before turning them over to you in this thread!"
"There's hope then," Sid muttered.
"Not much. Sorry. I do like what I see. Obviously, you aren't just out to take advantage of what fate throws your way."
"Possibly," Sid pointed out, "because what fate's thrown my way so far has been mostly authors. One takes advantage of them at one's own peril."
"As I understand you've been finding out elsewhere. Seems to me you're due for a change, Sid. And I think you'll like what's lined up for you."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd just like to get on with my job."
"Oh, you will, you will -- you may find it more of a job than you bargained for, in fact! But you will have help. Have fun, son-in-law! Maybe I'll stick my toe in again and throw rice at you sometime!"
"Don't trouble yourself on my account," Sid muttered, as the idiotically cheerful Dabbler took himself back to reality.
Left alone again, Sid decided he'd better bone up on just what did lie in store for him. He went back to his reading of the AdVenture documentation...
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Fri Feb 23 16:09:39 2001
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