From: wolf@cheshire.oxy.edu (Clinton Richard Wolf)
Subject: Freddie Phelps' Fatal Initiation, part 2
Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041 USA.
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 01:42:52 GMT

    Drew looked the young candidate over for what seemed like forever, his
blue eyes taking in every aspect...
    Not bad, thought Drew. Looks like he's got a good enough nog, and can
skip in a hurry if he needs to. But still, he may crack under the Press...
    'Allright. Step the init up here.' Two Runners flanked Freddie as he
approached Drew's 'throne'. 'Fred, I nog you wanna join up, is that pos?'
    Fred nodded, smirking. 'S'why I'm here, Drew. I wasn't lookin' to temp
a cup o' sugar...'
    Drew grinned wide. 'Sugar! Pos good, Fred!' he laughed, and the others
joined in. 'Course, we wouldn't ave a cup a sugar to temp you, anyways, mate.
Right, chummers?' More raucous laughter and whooping. In the back, someone
broke out a jug of cheap Low City ale and passed it around. Fred smiled ner-
vously...
    'Now don't get nervy just yet, Fred. That's for later. That's for the Cen-
ter...' At the mention of the Center, a hush fell over the group once again.
The fire crackled quietly as Drew again studied the figure before him, this
time with an intense seriousness in his eyes. Fred stared back, trying his
best to make a good impression. Neg good, thought Drew. The boy's got some-
thing to prove, or he thinks he does. Hope he gets that flick out of his nog
before it gets him killed...
    'Ere now, Fred, you're sure you wanna Run? Center's a bad place. All of us
here do it 'cause we have to, to support our families. And we know each trip
could be our last...'
    'I know, Elder. Me da's gone and jacked 'is leg, and me ma's at Yirma's...'
Hisses and boos echoes from the assemblage at Yirma's name.
    Drew nodded. 'Yirma's got neg path. Your mum is prob'ly a write-off. Not
meanin' to hurt you, chummer. That's just the way things is...'
    As one, the group recited the ancient mantra. 'That's the way things are
in the Buff'...'
    Freddie's eyes watered, but he remained resolute, although his voice wav-
ered a bit when he next spoke. 'P... pos... Drew. I nog you. But you see, you
chummers are all I got left, to keep me da alive.'
    Drew nodded again. 'Then if you're pos, we'll begin... you know what you
have to do. Didj a 'jeckt from the SC and be back before dawn. Has to be a
good-lookin' jeckt, too. Neg on rocks and such. You win, you're in. You lose...
well, you can always try again, if you've got the nog for it... and you come
back...' Drew looked for any sort of nervy reaction on the boy's face, but he
showed no sign. 'Remember, when you get in, you'll start feelin' the Press.'
    'The Press?' asked Freddie.
    'Pos. The Press. All of us 'ere feel the Press when we're Runnin', even me.
The Press is strong, chummer. It'll blast your nog if you let it...'
    'What exactly is it?'
    'No one really nogs 'zactly what it is, but I'll tell you what it DOES. 
It's pure fear, chummer. It'll take your imagination and skip with it. You'll
start vizzing things out of the corners of your ocks, and auding things just
around the corner. Then the walls'll seem to be closin' in, like as they were
gonna choke you, and every shadow'll seem to hold a Creepy Charlie waitin' for
you to turn your back. And if you let the Press get ahold a you, chummer,
you're dead. Bang. 'Cause Creepy Charlie really IS hiding in some o' those
shadows, and he'll have you for lunch...'
     'You mean... the ledges are TRUE?!? There really are slimes crawlin' the
Center?'
     No one said a word. No one needed to. The less talk of the Slimes, the
better for the nogs of all concerned. The Press was bad enough...
     'You still pos, now, Fred?' asked Drew. 'The Center usually only gives
you one try. If you fold in there, you're meat. And Creepy Charlie likes his
meat. Raw.'
     Freddie steeled himself. 'I'm pos, Drew. I got nothing to lose...'
     Drew slowly rose. 'Kay, then, mates, you auded the init. Take 'im to the
Edge. We'll all meet there tomorrow at dawn...'
     'POS, DREW!' they shouted, and filed out the door with Freddie, who cast
one last, nervous look back at Drew as he disappeared into the night...
     Drew looked after him, thinking. 'You still do have a lot to lose, Fred. 
All of us do...' Instinctively, he pushed the thought away. To dwell on such
things in the Center invited death... or worse. Drew muttered a silent prayer
for Freddie's soul...

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ADMIN: Coming up... the final installment. Hey, you know what's gonna happen
       already, sure... But getting there is half the fun! ;)
 
 
 



  
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