So this machine, a prototype Leonardo had designed, was inspired by his friendship with B.; B. arriving on the scene had stirred things up. New ideas and a fresh outlook— there was a definite buzz in the air down at the studios and workshop since Coeur and B. and their retinues had pulled up in Italy, their brief sojourn in spaghetti country was proving a worthwhile sideshow to the main event, which was of course the troll down to Big J— Holy Land. At any rate so far they were happy to be in holiday mode.
But I digress. This machine was an engine for looking down the time corridor. On entering, groups of up to twenty adults could get a glimpse at some possible futures or possible pasts.. The concept was based on a trick from the folk down in that big antipodean island— Ozztralia. With a series of sharpened bones, smooth stones of many varieties and colours, bundles of leaves, part of an ant colony and an involved ritual with body paint, dancing, stamping and the drinking of a concoction of mouldy grass, lemon juice, beetle blood and good Verona wine, and by acting out this ritual, the voyagers could actually see their lives as if seen from afar- that is- very far, like from actually outside of the known universe. This produced an alienation so powerful that most couldn’t really stand to bear it and had to leave the craft, quite a few bottling it unfortunately- but the sturdy crew that did stick with it - well, boy, they got one hell of a ride and saw their lives and their possible/probable futures, which weren’t pretty in many cases — mmm suffice to say scimitars were involved... Anyway to cut a long story short, the machine was deemed too ‘unstable’ and was shelved for a rainy day. And actually proved to be pretty useful as a place for L’s stoats to hang out. The exception had been B, she’d embraced the whole ritual element and had been in her element, travelling through the back passages of the cosmos and gaining great strength of character ie esp after meeting the monks and that bit where she had to fight off the blind fire worms from The Crab Nebula. Plus she got a nice tan and learned how to hypnotise herself and do 200 press-ups while singing - and with her feet on a chair! Sent from my spyphone
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