ref: cde05f4187aed1c77b8efb57ee5dabe8d5d5106d
dir: /troff/023.ms/
\" This master file produces text suitable for a 6"x9" paperback. .ds CH \" turn off page numbering (top) .B .nr HM 1i \" header margin .nr FM 1i \" footer margin .nr LL 4.25i \" line length .pl 9i \" page length .po .87i \" page offset (from left) .nr PS 8 \" font point size \" .kern \" pairwise kerning (groff only) .hy 14 \" automatic hyphenation \" .nr VS 24 \" double space .fp 1 R GA \" URW Garamond .fp 2 I GI .fp 3 B GM .fp 4 BI GMI .fp 5 CW H \" Helvetica .LP \& .nr % 59 \ " start with this page number .ds CF [%] \" first numbered page (bottom) .SH .ps 10 .ce .B TUMMY RUBBISH \& .ps 8 tags: 1966, mars3, maude_mold, tab2 .R .PP .ps 10 5 January, Maude Mold's birthday. .PP .ps 10 The Bifröst flag flapped on the front of her Maude's new apartment building as she loaded old hard drives onto a wooden shelf Plinth had mounted on their bedroom wall. Sometimes memories were good. .PP .ps 10 She secured the shelf with her thumbprint and locked her room. Spiro would still be at school, but he was far from the only little shit running around here these days. Some of them didn't even bother with their classes. They probably wormed their way in here while she was gone, digging around for cigarettes and classified folders. Wait 'til she caught one of them... .PP .ps 10 "For it is the lot of some men to be assigned duties about which they may not speak. Such work is not for every man. But those who accept the burdens implicit in this silent labor realize a camaraderie and sense of value known to few. These memories cannot be stolen. They will last always, untarnished, ever better." .PP .ps 10 TAB2's stomach hurt. He removed his visor and tried to wipe the words away, but the unwanted message remained flashing in his near vision. God, Dad. Nearly two years past his installation date, and still he wasn't used to this thing. They were always fixing bugs in front of his eyes. And then there were the waves and currents of pixel floaters, miscegenating disparate objects and connecting the square dots in a confusing moire\(emTBQH, he'd rather be left alone. Some conclusions he still wanted to stave off. .PP .ps 10 He was here. Pulled open the screen door. .PP .ps 10 "Hey, Maude," he said, as the older woman squinted down at him and exhaled purple smoke directly into his face. She spit. .PP .ps 10 "Stay out of my room," she said, and let the door slam behind her on the way out.