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Stories from the Verse
Re Verse All
Chapter 96: Beam 90
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Hastings 216
Another night in borrowed apartments and another morning of breakfast served by robots--this time Beam ordered steak sandwiches cut in three-inch lengths, with lots of onion rings, breaded mushrooms, and fast food breakfast potatoes for vegetables. His mother would have insisted that this was not breakfast, but the way their days were going they were only getting two meals, so he could call it brunch. Milk and orange juice were again the beverages of choice, and he was missing beer and whiskey but knew that he had to keep pushing to reach the surface.
Reaching level twenty-four, he had to rush people out of the ramps when he realized a truck was coming down from twenty-three. Mercifully it continued down; he was not able to move everyone quickly enough to make a path in the hallway.
He spied an Italian restaurant with all you could eat pizza and salad bar, and knew that his people could handle pizza and salad, so that’s where he went. For himself he ordered veal scaloppini and availed himself of the salad. He was also pleased to see that they offered fried cows brains, a Florentine dish he had never himself tried but which might be palatable for Bob, particularly if he could get them rare.
The world was about to change for these people, in less than a month at the rate they were going. Right now they were experiencing full bellies and comfortable beds. That would all come to an end when they reached the surface, and it was likely that many of them would not understand, might even turn back to reenter the world they knew, where they would undoubtedly die as the computer slowly malfunctioned. Slowly? He did not know. For all he knew, tomorrow they would reach level twenty-three and freeze to death. Anything could go wrong at any moment.
He slept fitfully; he hoped it wasn’t the veal. He forgot to order breakfast, but decided upon rising that he would get hoagies--preserved cold cuts, fresh vegetables, vinegar and oil, the most hazardous part was probably the bread. He also shifted to sodas, worried that the milk and orange juice might spoil. He realized he was getting paranoid, but then, it was entirely likely that this computerized automated world was now out to get them.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with five other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #388: Versers Climb. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
