The Cardboard Box Adventures - Part 15 (813 hits)
Category: GeneralLabels: cardboard_box_Adventures
Rating: 2 on 21 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <brdn_nkd.at.yahoo.com> (View user info) at 2006-01-18 15:38:57 EST
Part 14 - http://www.ubersite.com/m/82323
I returned to the city, to Ben's cell, to find Ben pathetically curled up on the floor of the cell. I felt an almost insatiable need to kick him through the bars of the cell, in fact, before I could decide that it would be the worst way to get him to help me, I found my foot drawn back ready to deliver the blow. Realizing what a mistake that could be I redirected my foot to kick one of the bars of the cell. "Hey Ben, rise and shine, time to get a move on and make what's yours mine."
Ben didn't move, for a brief moment I thought maybe he hadn't heard me or maybe he was asleep. No, he couldn't be asleep, when your mind slows itself to sleep mode the imagination starts to go into overdrive, providing dreams, thinking about those things you can't seem to focus on when awake and some even think it might clean out the garbage of your daily life. No, he can't be asleep in a cell like this one; the imagination inhibitor would make it impossible to really achieve any meaningful sleep. So this time I did kick him, not nearly as hard as I'd like to, just a tap with my toe. "C'mon Ben, time to get up."
"I'm not going anywhere until you can give me a guarantee I can believe. I'll help you out of here to have you gone but you have to give me something I can believe."
"A promise won't do? C'mon Ben, we're pals. How about we shake on it."
"I may be young but I'm not that stupid Pickle. I need more than a promise, a pinky swear, or a blood oath. What can you give me that will make me believe?"
"I really don't know, how bout I show you my real face and promise without the mask?"
"You need to start there but I will need something more."
"What else can I possibly give you?"
"Um..... your real name, and control to the device that will take what you need to get out."
"Ben, that device is a highly complicated piece of machinery, you can't just control it, it takes a lot of time and training to operate it, I couldn....."
"Shut up Pickle! I don't need to know how to operate it. I need to know how to turn it off. Give me your name, show me your true face, promise, and either teach me yourself or have one of your friends do it."
For the first time in all the time I've been doing this I took off my mask, I pulled it off and revealed my true face and swore my oath providing my real name. "I, R. Imag....."
"Your full name Pickle."
"Fine, fine. I, Regent Imaginator Pairum, swear that we will not take more than we need and will immediately leave after we have what we need." I was vague, I don't want to lie to the kid so I didn't, but I also made my promise so vague that I could drive a semi through it.
"I guess that's ok, one other thing I need from you though. I need you to promise to exclude my friends from any future harvests."
"Ben I can't do that, this isn't recreational, this is my job. We search for a harvest and then take it, that's how we live. I can't make that promise Ben."
I watched as he mulled this over and wondered what he was thinking.
"Fine, I'll do what I can on that front. How do we start?"
"We go to the source, we go for a walk."
Pickle is still trying to fool me. I know there's something he thinks is good for him in his promise but I haven't figured out what yet. I wish I had some help. How can I stop him? How can I make sure he follows through on his promise? I asked for his real name because some of the books dad reads me say a person's real name is a source of power over them. I asked to see his face because I was curious but when he took off his mask I thought it might be important after all.
Pickle took me out of the cell again attaching the portable imagination inhibitor before deactivating the cell. Once I was free of the cell I was able to stand and look around, I noticed at once that it looked like every banger was there. Pickle motioned to all around him and prodded me forward.
"Where to Ben?"
"To the castle."
We started walking and all of Pickle's people fell in behind, the ones carrying the equipment were right behind us. I tried to think of a way to escape but every time I got further than something as unimaginative as "run" I felt the beginnings of the pain the imagination inhibitor could provide. I was stuck. I led in silence until we reached the castle, then Pickle started for the front door. "Not there, we have to go through the maze."
"Impossible, we helped you design and build the maze; it can't be hidden in there. Don't play games with me Ben or I'll make sure you and everyone you know regrets it."
"I'm not playing games, you may have helped but I actually built it. We go through the maze."
Pickle looked at me as though he was trying to decide whether or not to believe me, he must have decided he didn't have a choice because he allowed me to lead him and his crew to the beginning of the maze.
I stopped at the entrance and looked back at Pickle and those behind me. I looked at the equipment and felt a shiver of fear run through me. Each device looked like a vacuum, on the end of each hose was a nozzle with four shiny metal hooks that reminded me of the eagle's claw in that grabber game at the arcade, except these hooks looked very sharp and they were much larger. Pickle gave me a poke to get me going again and as I turned to enter the maze I heard my grandfather.
"Ben! Run! I figured it out, run to the source! They can't hurt you, just go!"
Pickle pointed to a few of the bangers in the back of the group and then looked at me. "You better ignore the old man Ben."
He took off his mask and repeated the comment. He looked so mean and nasty that I took a step back. As I stepped back I slipped and fell forward landing on another banger. Without thinking why or how I tore at the mask on his face until it was off.
The face beneath the mask was one I was all too familiar with, it was fear, meanness, anger, and hatred all in one, it was Pickle's face, it was Pickle.
"Ben, get going, lead the way."
I heard Granddad again. "Go Ben run, lose them in the maze and go to the source."
I pushed myself of the banger/Pickle, and ran for the door of the maze. Pickle tried to sting me but missed me as I ran past and into the maze. I could hear him trying to follow me so I ran as fast as I could into the maze until I could no longer hear him.
I sat down to take a break and removed the pieces of the imagination inhibitor that were still attached to me. I thought for a minute before I realized I was actually free and then I flipped granddad to me.
"Ben! You did it. We're not safe yet but we're a lot closer to it. You need to rearrange the maze and set traps; any kind you can think of and then we need to go to the source. I'll tell you my idea when we get there."
User Reviews
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-04-12 02:48:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2006-01-19 05:54:32 (#)
Ranking: 2
Either way, I will rate each episode as an individual piece, as I believe that the effort and quality of the individual post should be reflected.
-Dave
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Yeah, what Dave said.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-03-15 21:04:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Pentameter (user info) at 2006-02-03 16:46:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This one was...I don't know.
I do know that you beat the word "cell" to death in the first paragraph...a little distracting.
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2006-01-19 15:52:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
a little anticlimactic with pickle's face maybe?
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-01-19 09:54:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Nellypaal (user info) at 2006-01-19 09:46:00 (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm sorry to say that this was possibly my least favourite installment.
something in particular?
Submitted by Nellypaal (user info) at 2006-01-19 09:46:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm sorry to say that this was possibly my least favourite installment.
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2006-01-19 05:54:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Good stuff.
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I usually try to read something as it goes up, but if for whatever reason, I miss a few installments, then I will usually wait until it is finished to read the whole thing.
Either way, I will rate each episode as an individual piece, as I believe that the effort and quality of the individual post should be reflected.
-Dave
Submitted by ripple (user info) at 2006-01-18 21:46:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
i am so excited to find out what happens! it is absolute torture that this is broken up!
thank you so much for the wonderful reads!
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2006-01-18 19:12:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-01-18 18:16:49 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
AshK, that would be awsome, I'd love to hear his opinion.
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2006-01-18 17:35:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I would love to have enough restraint to read these all at once, but it just isn't going to happen. I can rarely read part of a book, I have to read the whole thing at once. With Snark's Necro, I read it all as it was posted and then went back to read the whole thing from start to finish when he was done.
Anyhoo, this is excellent and I can't stay away. I will wait untill the end to give it to my son, though. Expect a double rating after that!
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2006-01-18 16:55:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I need to read these from the beginning.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2006-01-18 16:48:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"I guess I would ask those of you who generally do this if you find more inconsitencies then if you were reading it section by section. I know that I certainly have problems in a few places in this series and in Survivor and since this is all rough draft written right before it's posted none of it is edited aside from what I keep in my head. The other question I would ask of those who read/rate this way is do you rate? Do you rate each section? Do you give one rating at the end? Sorry Glall I haven't looked to see if you did anything on survivor or not."
"Those that read series as they come, do you have a hard time keeping it altogether? do you have to refer back to the prior post when the poster's a little slow with the next section? Do you like reading like this knowing there's something to look for the next day? I'm personally one of these. I do generally keep it straight unless someone takes a really long break."
========================
You're answer's to these questions can be found at the end of other long series that have been posted on the site.
Check out the reviews for the last installment of The Caes's ATP series or the Epilogue for Necrosiac.
I'm way to lazy to do it myself but I think you'll be able to draw some conclusions, from what I remember, there was a mix.
There are more people reading this than you know. I still get the odd email about Necro.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-01-18 16:10:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
hey on a side note to everyone, Glall says he likes to read series all at once, I totally understand why especially when an author has breaks between sections or quits halfway through.
I guess I would ask those of you who generally do this if you find more inconsitencies then if you were reading it section by section. I know that I certainly have problems in a few places in this series and in Survivor and since this is all rough draft written right before it's posted none of it is edited aside from what I keep in my head. The other question I would ask of those who read/rate this way is do you rate? Do you rate each section? Do you give one rating at the end? Sorry Glall I haven't looked to see if you did anything on survivor or not.
Those that read series as they come, do you have a hard time keeping it altogether? do you have to refer back to the prior post when the poster's a little slow with the next section? Do you like reading like this knowing there's something to look for the next day? I'm personally one of these. I do generally keep it straight unless someone takes a really long break.
I have more questions and more to say on this but this is getting long so I may just have to do a post or maybe someone else wants to. if you do link whore away.
Thanks for reading, B
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-01-18 16:02:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Glall,
"and the guy hunting the final contestants was really strong, too, though it reminded me of a story I read in high school that was similiar to that line."
Are you referring to the hunter being introduced or the whole story? I would agree the hunter is somewhat overused, one of my favorite books is about contestants on a game show trying to outwit a hunter who's sole job is to kill them, but it seemed like the next and final progression after all they'd been through. I think it worked pretty well and I'm glad you read it.
thanks for the comments, hopefully you'll leave me something at the end of this story.
Submitted by wookie (user info) at 2006-01-18 16:01:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2006-01-18 15:53:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Just wanted to say I read your entire Survivor series and really dug it, especially the multiple endings involving the death of Jeff Probst (I also like how you made him to be a complete asshole - which he is) and the guy hunting the final contestants was really strong, too, though it reminded me of a story I read in high school that was similiar to that line. I'll move on to this series once it's finished; I usually like to wait until it is totally done and posted so I can read them back-to-back (the exception being Snark) so I don't forget anything.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-01-18 15:50:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
sweet mullet
Submitted by The_Yellow_Dart (user info) at 2006-01-18 15:48:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Bout Chime.
What's the maze made of?
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2006-01-18 15:47:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
sweeeet
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-01-18 15:43:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Sorry! I forgot to add the section break when I moved this to Uber. son of bitch!
The end is near, thanks for reading.