gnat took the stores exit ramp off the highway, which turned into another parking lot of vast proportions...but not a single car.or truck....the yellow parking space lines were briliant against the black asphalt...he crossed over to a large building and entered thru a revolving door.. inside were all kind of stores.. merchandise stores.. . there were clothing stores and more clothing stores ....mostly for women .everything looked very prosperous and fashonable..there was a store window that had a hat shaped like a shoe.and another hat shaped like a crow... the next store window had a pair of boots that went up to the thigh and another boot with the toes coming to a point with a small bell on the left toe ....a little calm music was playing in the background and everywhere were pictures of happy people, at least thats the way they looked...only a few people were walking around. ..and .there didn't seem to be any customers.in any of the stores .. ..they all had just a single clerk . .in each store . . .Each clerk was just standing around , busy dusting the merchandise ..keeping busy..... he explored the mall .he went in one store , , ,and the clerk came to his side . . .
clerk>>how can I serve you????
gnat>>you can't serve me if your a robot .. . . .
clerk>>what gave me away....
gnat >> you just did, goodbye
he went back to the mall and started looking for a human clerk . . .
...he was about to give up when he noticed one store that was different from the rest... It had a salesperson who , unlike a robot, wasn't dusting or keeping busy... She was sitting there, reading on her sphone. .gnat was feeling lonely so he went in..
.gnat>> "hey",,,,
lorrie she was lost in reverie.. immersed in her sphone..with earbuds in...
gnat>>: louder "hey tsup?" and he touched her shoulder...
lonnie>>: she was startled .. she removed the ear phones and stood up, she was tall and slim and pretty,,couldn't be more than 25......"oh wow a customer.. Hi there, last time I checked my name was lonnie.......ha ha ... welcome to 'Fab Custom Fittings'...where you pay a little more, but you get alot more, you can get exactly what it is you want...custom hats, custom shoes, pants, shirts, a suit.. you name it , we'll custom make it for you right on the spot..only take a moment ..not many like to pay the extra price for a total custom fit .but it is definately worth it. People can tell its Fab Custom Fittings.....allow me to serve you...lets get started .. can I have your name and will you please scan your sphone"
gnat>> " my name is simple enough,,, its gnat,,its spelled lower case g n a t ,,,,but I am afraid my sphone scan is not gonna be in the system. I tried a iphone scan at the food court and it came back a blank,," he tensed... ready to run away...
lonnie>>: "wow , what happened then....'
gnat:>>: well then the food server robot called the robot enforcers and they came around later and I got out of there pronto,,,
lorrie>> gnat...thats a weird name ..and your sphone is not in the system huh..wow how about that..if I were a robot I'd have definitely report that and you would have been in a heap of trouble............. muchos aqua caliente.. But I'm no robot .....and I hate my job and I hate Babel Land.. so I dont give a fig about the system..I've never met anyone that wasn't scanned in ....you must be some kind of a rebel, right?.."
gnat>>:"Me, a rebel ? I don't know what's going on here in Babel Land, I haven't been here very long but I do know that I dont like alot of what I see. so if I had to follow my heart and pick a side it wouldn't be on Babel Land's side..I'd be on Natures side....my heart lies with nature .. . .
lorrie>> " well all I know is that I like you alot and that I'm on your side and I want to help you any way I can...whatever it is your doing . so, here, lets take your measurements. put these glasses on.and step into the booth and spread your arms and legs" gnat put the glasses on and couldn't see a thing.. so he entered what looked like a round shower stall...he stood in the middle and closed his eyes. raising his arms and spreading his legs...... lonnie shut the door .soon lights were flashing and a wooshing sound bathed his body...this went on for about 15 seconds...then there was a release of steam sound and then all was quiet . ..gnat: felt none the worse so he opened his eyes and took off the glasses ,, the door opened,.. he stepped out of the machine...handed the glasses.back to lonnie
lonnie>>: "your every dimension is now on file..from a hat size, to your inseam...to your pinky size.. .. well, what would you like us to make for you?...a top hat, some ruby red shoes with a cuban heel ,so trendy..so now... a pair of shorts maybe..some yellow plaid shorts ..something unique and outragious is all the fashion now....i personaly like the hat with bird effect...very shocking....whatever you can dream up..and I tell you what,..... for you since your not in the system, its on the house...how does that sound? so, what do you want?.."
gnat:>> he thought about it awhile and came up with, "how about a green baseball cap? "
lonnie>> "no problem,." and she turned to address the back wall....." .. computer.darling could you please whip up a baseball hat..and make it green ...." suddenly all the shades of green possible appeared on the wall screen ..."gnat .. why dont you go over there and pick the shade of green you want for the cap..."
gnat>>: he approached the wall. he thought about which shade of green to pick.....and decided on the plastic green that John Lennon wore on the Beatles album "Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and touched the screen with the shade of green he fancied..immediately there on the screen appeared a picture of a large green cap that rotated just a little bit...
lonnie>>: "lets soup it up a bit......how about some letters or a logo, or maybe even a picture of a duck or a buffalo?....".
gnat>>: he thought about it for a second...." how about the word
" getbacktogreem "" . . . . . no spaces . . ..
Wall Screen>>: a not so bad looking man's face appeared on the wall....it looked right at gnat and spoke.."I seem to be lacking some information here ..namely ..how do you spell the word "greem"?
gnat>>: he thought it over and realized that he had never seen it spelled out before..." well' I guess its spelled
g r e e m "
Wall Screen>> "very good, and now what color for the letters?"
gnat >> "white"
The screen once again showed many shades of white.. ..gnat touched one patch of white with a little bit of grey....and again the cap was displayed on the screen ... ..this time with the letters "getbacktogreem"...he studied the image and said ..."the letters could be taller.." the screen updated the cap with slightly taller letters.. "thats good and the letters could be a little thicker.." the image was instantly updated. he studied the image.."now the three words are in lower case ...and all runtogether . . .no spaces. . . .. wow it looks perfect... "
lonnie>>: "you're happy with that???" gnat nodded his head. " fine...computer...go ahead and make the hat..." she turned to gnat "...this will only take a minute....By the by where is GREEM..?"
gnat>>: "Its a place I've never been, but it has been highly recommended,,,so I'm sure its nice.. I think its a place where the people all follow the rules of nature. a kind of Taoist Tao Utopia..Taoism Tao being an ancient Eastern philosophy about living as part of nature. and has no negative metaphysics.... .So I'm tired of this Babel Land and I'm trying to get back to greem ,., , .somehow"
they waited while the cap was made,
gnat>>: "you know,, if you want, you can come with me to try to find GREEM...."
lonnie>>: "wow sounds like an adventure...thanks for the offer,,,," she mulled it over..."your very nice and all, but I've got a lot going on here..so I think I'll pass.." and she kissed him on the cheek.."good luck and thanks for telling me a little about Taoism tao...I think I'll read up on it....".
gnat>>:everyone should know about Taoism Tao
loorie>>: why do you say TAO twice???????
gnat>>: I want to have tao tao in my life and this focus' me on it randomly....kind of snapshot of where I am....also when I make a mistake...drop something, spill something,,break something,, I always say..... "thank you tao tao",,,,,,,.. I made a mistake out of lack of attention and saying thankyou tao tao brings me back in focus... help me not make another serial mistake and also say that I'm ok with the reality of the mistake,,,
lorrie presented gnat with his one of a kind cap . . ...the cap, not suprisingly, fit perfectly...it didn't need any adjustment . . .one size fits you.....
gnat>>: he looked in a mirror,,,,,:"I love it ...... thanks for the cap.
then lorrie noticed two men slowly walking by the store window .. .. they were dressed identically in blue suits. This led her to believe then that were likely robot enforcers doing a sweep..as lorrie and gnat watched.. the enforcers stopped.....looked into the store. winpow.. then turned and made for the entrance to the store............
lonnie>> : "come on" .. and she took gnat by the hand and led him into the backroom , where they stored their stuff in boxes...in racks that soared way into the air....they walked quickly down the aisle.. there was a door,,lonnie tried it but it was locked..it had a little window thru which gnat could see a field of green..the only feature he could see a gray hose a foot in diameter going off into the distance..the hose convulsed periodically....This end was upright...verticle about two feet and there was a robot shoveling paper into the open end of the hose..... . gnat knew intuitively that the grey tube was syphoning off money. Gathering up all the money and delivering it somewhere else...
they went on and on until they finally found themselves back out in the parking lot in front of the stores...they squeezed hands..looked into each others eyes ..
gnat thanked her for being so friendly..for maybe saviing his life..and that he'd like to stay and get to know you better much better but that might endanger her....i hope that some day some way we can be together again,,,
lorrie>>: I wish you didn't have to go.. but you must.,,tears came to her eyes,,,she bit her lip...i cant let you go,,,and they embraced....a wet kiss...passionate.....he felt her back,...they were getting aroused..
so,gnat got her phone number and then he hi-tailed it out of there. and back out to the highway .. again it went downhill. to the next highway sign that said:
this exit GAMES