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Mr. Angkarn comes to New Babbage – Chapter 3

Orpheus grabbed the gear, preparing himself for the leaping sensation that would accompany it. He felt as if he had been leaping from place to place for weeks, and still was no closer to returning to Captain Nemo and the Nautilus. For all he knew, the Nautilus had already arrived in New Babbage without him. He grabbed the gear and felt that he was leaping into darkness.

When the darkness cleared, he found himself in a darkened room. The room was empty. There was no gear, no clue, nothing. A door was on one side. Orpheus pushed on the door and heard a latch click. The doors slid open, and a sudden rush of wind almost pulled Orpheus outside. He could see that the room he was in was hovering hundreds of feet above the ground. Orpheus leaned against the door, which slid back into its original position.

Suddenly, Orpheus was startled by the voice of another man. [img_assist|nid=2048|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=640|height=370]

“Who are you?” asked Mr. Angkarn. The man turned and laughed. “We have been waiting for you Mr. Angkarn. You do not belong here.”

“Well, then perhaps you can tell me how to leave. There is no gear, no way out.”

The mysterious man  pointed towards the door. “You must make one final leap of faith” said the stranger, who vanished as mysteriously as he had appeared. Orpheus felt frustrated, not knowing who the man was or how to get home. He opened the door once more, bracing himself for the rush of air that would follow. When the air pressure returned to normal, Orpheus stepped outside and had a seat on the ledge outside. On one end was a transmat pad, but with no control panel to operate it. Orpheus sat down to ponder what the man had said.

You must make one final leap of faith…. one final leap of faith…..” The words kept repeating over and over in Orpheus’s skull. “Surely,” he thought, ” he did not mean for me to LITERALLY leap…. the ground is probably a few hundred feet down!” The more Mr. Angkarn thought about it, the more he realized there was no other option. Either he must jump, or he would be trapped in this floating prison. He really wanted to see the murky waters and smog filled air of New Babbage again. Without any further thought, Orpheus set his resolve. He would jump. He would make a leap of faith. He stood up, swallowed hard, and jumped.

As Orpheus fell, he could feel the wind blowing through his hair, against his face. His cape flapped behind him as he fell. The ground moved closer, the strange buildings growing larger and larger. “This is it, this is how I meet my end,” thought Orpheus. He shut his eyes tight, preparing for the end when….

[img_assist|nid=2049|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=640|height=370]

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