Choose Thy Quest (Part 3)....

The Doctor

Roland Deschain, adopted son of Inquirer's father, steps forward and speaks. Taking it upon himself to explain this part.

Strange chap, that Gunslinger. Even with the TARDIS' translation cannot always fully translate what he says, even after all this time here on Terra Prime. Sometimes one has to really think when he speaks to try to follow some of his archaic speech patterns. Then again, that comes from having grown up where he did and lived the life he's lived.

....

Really odd chap. So odd of life he's led, topped off with an act of Debt of Honour Repayment which should have dispensed with his old family name, instead taking on Inquirer's family name. However, that's the problem. Inquirer's family, though raised in Rank to Aristocracy in Ethiopia. . . . They hadn't chosen a family name yet! Hadn't been the AI way, as it were. So, in the act of giving up his name, he KEPT it by somehow by the rather . . . odd customs of Probe's people. Bottom line, Roland's old family name remained to become Inquirer's family name.

Ah my dear, and if you think that sounds odd, then let me tell you sometimes the beliefs and dreams Roland had of his precious Dark Tower! But then again, even his weirdest beliefs/dreams about the Dark Tower proved to pale against the reality.

...

But that's beside the point.

I shall spare you the somewhat torturous task of trying to cypher out what Roland says. Instead, let me lay it out for you.

This Jake Chambers is a younger duplicate of present day Jake Deschain, the adopted son of Roland Deschain (as opposed to his genetic son, who the Gunslinger had thought been killed by fire, only to find out later had been spared through some time travel Probe had been involved in, exact details too convoluted for this casual setting). The whole story of Roland and his companions is rather . . . involved. Something that is still somewhere in Betty's "to read" pile, if I remember correctly.

Bloody odd business, other people's lives being works of fiction in other realities. My own in a children's science fiction/adventure television series....

Bottom line here is that RF had played a rather ingenious, but illegal move, if you think of this business of trying to save the Dark Tower as some kind of game (which I am told is what that Demon thought it as). Seems that Roland's group (which included Jake) was at least one means (or moves, if you will) to save the Dark Towers very existence (and all of the multi-verse with it). But Flagg had pulled a fast one, implanting a Key Component within Jake which would have been "harvested" upon the boy's arrival to the Dark Tower via prescribed/pre-approved means. Jake's arrival would have been a means of defeat instead of victory, as it were. The Demons would have gotten one more piece to mastery of the Tower . . . That is, without the Champions having stepped in and lend Roland and his companions aid. It was an . . . illegal move not allowed by the Higher Up(s) (as I understand it). Instead, when the Champions intervened it short circuited the matter. Jake Deschain arrived at the Dark Tower, and nothing adverse came of it. But in the course of things (means of which I cannot even begin to fathom, so eldritch is the inner workings of the Dark Tower and it's citizens within) a duplicate of the boy was made. Jake Deschain is now years older, well into his teen years. This young boy, however, is still the exact same age as when the Champion came and gave Roland's group a "leg up". Something like ten (or a little older) years old, Jake Chambers is here. Ten years old and still having a Key Component within.

Our first component for our new Quest which we are chaperoning. The Dark Elves are the new Champions needing chaperoning after a few things are taken care of before hand!

Uhura is going to at least be introduced to Freida's parents (both sets of Dredricks and Champlains) before being sent off to join up with the nearest local centaur herd, to forevermore after join them in centaur nomadic life. We would give her a lift, ourselves, but . . . Uhura now is too set in her centaur instincts and ways to allow anything but her hoofing it herself there.

....

Well, she did make her choice, despite how radical and far reaching it would turn out.

We still have to learn from the former "blocks" what happens to others after the Rules and Agents get done with them. From what I gather what happened to the Dark Elves and the pixie was quiet the exception. Do not think that anything unmerited or unwanted happened to the others , but I and my Companions would like to know what will happen with Belinda and Hannah. Will Hannah get her memories restored? Will they get returned to their homeworld? Something will happen, but until we get a chance to speak with our new Champions we shan't know, shall we?

And that will be some time after Jake speaks with his analog brother, Jake. Jake and his father, Roland.

Boy looks very taken aback by things, right now. Shall not envy Roland's task of explaining things to the poor child. Then again, Roland and Jake Deschain (probably what you could call an "analog" / "doppleganger" for this business) are up to the task.

At least he looks up to it as he comes back and hands some . . . keys? . . . to Artizza.

"You'll need those for this Quest," he explains after he practically orders us to not blockify (his words) him.

My! The boy's rather . . . mouthy. Odd. His older self always struck me as being better mannered. Then again, his older brother hadn't just been sandbagged like this one, eh?

He goes onto explain that this Quest will NOT involve travel by TARDIS. Nor by any conventional means of space travel. Not any conventional means of travel, really.

No, it will involve nothing less than traveling by those that strange pathway/backbone to reality which is called The Beam!

First part will be through one of those strange old fashion seeming Victorian doors into a version of New York city, ala Earth. Namely, Jake's old homeworld and home city. Once there, we need to track down the second carrier . . . which something tells Jake is somehow related to Chiana in one fashion or anther.

Oh joy. Yet another Farscape character running around? This time on some unsuspecting Earth, I take?

Well, could be worse. Could be an Avon analog we need to collect. Rather am tired of the one Avon we've been dealing with recently. Do hope that the doctors back at Babylon 5 will be able to cure him because I and Inquirer do not fancy taking him along to Xanth on our honeymoon to get him cured at a Healing Spring there!

Chiana, meanwhile, is sighing and heading over to the aquarium we'd hauled out of storage for those odd fish we'd inherited from our last Quest.

"Uh, we don't need them, Chi!" Sigin says, waving something at the dragoness who has one Babblefish halfway out already of the water.

"Wha....oh!" she laughs, dropping the fish. "Universal translator? Drad!"

Must say that while a lot better than nothing, the Babblefish had been a bit . . . clamy in the old ear. Rather didn't fancy having to plug one in yet again.

"What?" Jake blinks, looking at the device he gets handed. "This some kind of joke? Last I heard these things were only found in that one scifi show called Star Trek."

"Gotta lot to learn there, kid!" Chiana smiles, patting the boy on his shoulder. "Trust me, it'll blow you!"

"Uh....blow you away, Chi." Betty mutters, slightly embarrassed. "It goes 'Blow you away.'"

"Oh!" Chiana laughs, a little embarrassed but playing it off. "Like she says!"

"Okkaaay," Jake sighs, looking at the exuberant gray girl. "Fine, but what's with the gray faicepaint and wig? You some kind of mime or something?"

Meanwhile

A disoriented stranger looks around at her new surroundings, licking her lips and half remembering something . . . delicious she'd just eaten.

Strange, considering that last she remembered she'd been landed in a situation that was sort of "frelled up", memories. John's plan had backfired and Moya was burning! Toxic dren everywhere and the only other person alive being John. Memories of saying that since his plans had failed that they should try one of her plans. One last thing before death. One last thing that made her feel good. Memories of engaging and John shouting no. Struggling against it and even a chunk of her own hair getting torn out....

Then there were other, strange memories. Memories of some kind of . . .what she had thought (or prayed) was some kind of game. Memories of John pointing a pulse pistol at her. Memories of not John shooting her (though to think that he'd ever even consider threatening her that way), but some leather clad....stranger....

And now here?

And a delicious aftertaste and....her face kinda stinging a little in pain and her clothing . . . kind of hanging oddly on her body.

Managing to shake some of it off and figure out that perhaps the odd switches on the wall might bring light, the grey girl switches on the light and.....

"Wha....?" Chiana gasps, looking at her old face in the mirror before one of Crichton's fahrbot wormhole experiments had somehow altered it to look like a combination of Aeryn Suns and herself....

1. Somehow, John's frellup to her own body (though it had only been cosmetic . . . and very minor when compared to some of the others of Moya) had been undone!

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