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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): Interaction
[UPDATE?] Aug 13 Email from Margaret
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BoonIsha
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Joined: 31 Jul 2004
Posts: 207

 		[UPDATE?] Aug 13 Email from Margaret
New email from Margaret came today:

here it is:

Quote:

I can make my own words now. Watch:



It's rather lonely in the Castle.



There's clouds of fireflies around the Queen, but most of the time where I am it's dark, and empty. The hallways are empty and they echo, cho, cho. Sometimes the Queen staggers past, her head buzzing and crawling, with the Pious Flea whispering in her ear. Used to be, the only other thing you heard in the corridors at night were the Widow's thin legs, click clack click clack like knitting needles chattering across the stone floor. Course she's not around anymore. Can't say I miss her much.



Didn't stay quiet for long, though. Now the Queen is trying to build a voice. Strange, sad, broken thing; just hearing it makes me feel frightened and lonely.



I was surprised when the Queen sent her away, but Her Majesty DOES have a temper, and the Widow had been making a lot of mistakes. I was hiding behind the throne during their last argument. For days the Queen has been ordering her to build the most extraordinary number of little roads out from the castle. Turns out she was very particular about where she wanted them to go: more particular than the Widow understood. Widow hears, "Build a road," she just starts shoveling. Hard-working old biddy, the Widow, but not the sharpest pin in the cushion. She kept getting into fights with the Flea, when she could SEE him riding around up there on the Queen's shoulder, proud as a lord. The last time they quarreled, the Queen had just discovered the Widow had built one path mindlessly straight INTO THE SEA. This is what I mean about an Arachnid of Very Little Brain.



Usually I am a pretty good hider, but I made a terrible pig-snorty kind of laugh when I heard about the underwater road, and I think they would have caught me, if the Queen hadn't been busy breaking up the Widow at just that moment.



Anyway, I get the feeling the Queen is very grumpy. She has totally taken over the road-making business; I'm sure the paths will be better now. She's not always a lot of fun, the Queen (and quite mad, of course) but she does get things done.



Sometimes I sneak away to my very own secret garden, and pretend I am waiting for Dickon to come and teach me how to speak to the animals. I feel I should be getting stout and rosy-cheeked if only I could go out and play on a moor somewhere: but I never get outside. Just say in here, in here, in here….



Sometimes, to cheer myself up, I tell myself stories. In these stories, I am always the hero, Gretel or Lambkin or Gerda. I like stories where the girl takes care of things.



I think…



I think that's part of the reason I wanted Dana to come back. It's easier to be brave when you're looking out for someone else.



So now I feel better! You lovely people brought Dana back! I promised you that if you did, I would show you a page I snuck from the Queen's diary, so here it is!



McKaskill, I said. Got a moment?



Sure, Operator!



They call me the Operator because, you know, I work the system to take care of my crew.



McKaskill was a nice kid, family from Durban, on the outer colony world of Biko, which had been glassed years ago. But he'd grown up in refugee apartments in the inner colonies and he had the look of someone who spent his childhood in concrete places under artificial lights.



Weedy.



He was doing a check in the tool crib now. The go-to kid for tools and parts. The stacks of shelves were his little kingdom, probably more his own than anything he'd had growing up. I liked him a lot.



McKaskill, I said, I was checking the slipstream packets. I do that before I send them out. You knew that, right?



His eyes went to the grating at his feet and he got all casual inner city don't screw with me, because he knew I was onto him.



Somebody has been talking to you, I said. And now you're sending him a message back.



So?



I sighed. McKaskill, bad people are putting bad thoughts in your head.



He tried to get righteous. Op, that thing…whatever it is, in the hold. They're keeping big-time wraps on it. You know that. I heard the Captain. The way she's talking, they're not gonna let people look at, it's goin' to a basement in ONI. A sub sub sub basement. They can't just take something that big and…shove it away somewhere.



McKaskill, I said, sending messages off to people without clearance, you know, that could be construed as treason.



Op! Melissa! I didn't mean—



And we're at war, crewman. Which makes treason a capital offense.



His eyes got wide. But-but-but you got it, he said, it didn't go nowhere.



You're my crew, and no one is going to touch my crew without going through me. I've got your back, McKaskill. But you're going to have to tell me about this contact.



Some old guy. You know, bad taste in clothes. But he was cleared to come aboard, so he has to be Intel.



You know his name?



Probably not his real one.





Just starting a thread to discuss this

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 11:57 am
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earlfish
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 		New Email from Margaret
I can make my own words now. Watch:



It's rather lonely in the Castle.



There's clouds of fireflies around the Queen, but most of the time where I am it's dark, and empty. The hallways are empty and they echo, cho, cho. Sometimes the Queen staggers past, her head buzzing and crawling, with the Pious Flea whispering in her ear. Used to be, the only other thing you heard in the corridors at night were the Widow's thin legs, click clack click clack like knitting needles chattering across the stone floor. Course she's not around anymore. Can't say I miss her much.



Didn't stay quiet for long, though. Now the Queen is trying to build a voice. Strange, sad, broken thing; just hearing it makes me feel frightened and lonely.



I was surprised when the Queen sent her away, but Her Majesty DOES have a temper, and the Widow had been making a lot of mistakes. I was hiding behind the throne during their last argument. For days the Queen has been ordering her to build the most extraordinary number of little roads out from the castle. Turns out she was very particular about where she wanted them to go: more particular than the Widow understood. Widow hears, "Build a road," she just starts shoveling. Hard-working old biddy, the Widow, but not the sharpest pin in the cushion. She kept getting into fights with the Flea, when she could SEE him riding around up there on the Queen's shoulder, proud as a lord. The last time they quarreled, the Queen had just discovered the Widow had built one path mindlessly straight INTO THE SEA. This is what I mean about an Arachnid of Very Little Brain.



Usually I am a pretty good hider, but I made a terrible pig-snorty kind of laugh when I heard about the underwater road, and I think they would have caught me, if the Queen hadn't been busy breaking up the Widow at just that moment.



Anyway, I get the feeling the Queen is very grumpy. She has totally taken over the road-making business; I'm sure the paths will be better now. She's not always a lot of fun, the Queen (and quite mad, of course) but she does get things done.



Sometimes I sneak away to my very own secret garden, and pretend I am waiting for Dickon to come and teach me how to speak to the animals. I feel I should be getting stout and rosy-cheeked if only I could go out and play on a moor somewhere: but I never get outside. Just say in here, in here, in here….



Sometimes, to cheer myself up, I tell myself stories. In these stories, I am always the hero, Gretel or Lambkin or Gerda. I like stories where the girl takes care of things.



I think…



I think that's part of the reason I wanted Dana to come back. It's easier to be brave when you're looking out for someone else.



So now I feel better! You lovely people brought Dana back! I promised you that if you did, I would show you a page I snuck from the Queen's diary, so here it is!



McKaskill, I said. Got a moment?



Sure, Operator!



They call me the Operator because, you know, I work the system to take care of my crew.



McKaskill was a nice kid, family from Durban, on the outer colony world of Biko, which had been glassed years ago. But he'd grown up in refugee apartments in the inner colonies and he had the look of someone who spent his childhood in concrete places under artificial lights.



Weedy.



He was doing a check in the tool crib now. The go-to kid for tools and parts. The stacks of shelves were his little kingdom, probably more his own than anything he'd had growing up. I liked him a lot.



McKaskill, I said, I was checking the slipstream packets. I do that before I send them out. You knew that, right?



His eyes went to the grating at his feet and he got all casual inner city don't screw with me, because he knew I was onto him.



Somebody has been talking to you, I said. And now you're sending him a message back.



So?



I sighed. McKaskill, bad people are putting bad thoughts in your head.



He tried to get righteous. Op, that thing…whatever it is, in the hold. They're keeping big-time wraps on it. You know that. I heard the Captain. The way she's talking, they're not gonna let people look at, it's goin' to a basement in ONI. A sub sub sub basement. They can't just take something that big and…shove it away somewhere.



McKaskill, I said, sending messages off to people without clearance, you know, that could be construed as treason.



Op! Melissa! I didn't mean—



And we're at war, crewman. Which makes treason a capital offense.



His eyes got wide. But-but-but you got it, he said, it didn't go nowhere.



You're my crew, and no one is going to touch my crew without going through me. I've got your back, McKaskill. But you're going to have to tell me about this contact.



Some old guy. You know, bad taste in clothes. But he was cleared to come aboard, so he has to be Intel.



You know his name?



Probably not his real one.

EDIT - merged topics - SG

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:01 pm
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CoffeeJedi
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 		WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shocked Silly Shocked Silly Shocked Silly Shocked Silly Shocked Silly


this definitely counts as MAJOR

OMGWTFBBQ!!!1
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:01 pm
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BoonIsha
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 		first thing i found about the coordinates..evidently they are roads for the queen.....

look at this quote!

Quote:
"had built one path mindlessly straight INTO THE SEA"



obviously refers to the coord in the middle of the ocean?[/quote]

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:02 pm
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CoffeeJedi
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 		and then references how she fixed it.... cool
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:03 pm
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Cortana
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 		I just received the same message...

From: Margaret Efendi <ladybee777@hotmail.com>
To: ladybee777SPLAThotmail.com
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 08:58:21 -0700

This section struck me:

For days the Queen has been ordering her to build the most extraordinary number of little roads out from the castle. Turns out she was very particular about where she wanted them to go: more particular than the Widow understood.

Sounds like our points...

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:04 pm
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BoonIsha
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 		also...starting with the line that says McKaskill, I said, the font changes, its from the diary.

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:05 pm
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Danzilla76
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Joined: 03 Aug 2004
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BoonIsha wrote:
first thing i found about the coordinates..evidently they are roads for the queen.....

look at this quote!

Quote:
"had built one path mindlessly straight INTO THE SEA"



obviously refers to the coord in the middle of the ocean?
[/quote]

And how the Pious Flea screwed it up. Should the coord aspect of this go to the Puzzles page? And the rest be discussed here?

Because I think that I know who the guy in plainclothes is. I believe he is an Admiral in the Halo universe. He's mentioned in the Fall of Reach novel, and also is a larger part of the First Strike novel. I can't remember his name though!!
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:05 pm
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lure x
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 		i also recieved this email, just within the last half-hour or so. guys, this is MAJOR.
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:06 pm
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BoonIsha
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 		did the coords change today? it says the queen took over and the roads will be better.. anyone notice any changes?

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:07 pm
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Danzilla76
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 		delete duplicate post here. - AD
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:10 pm
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Speaker
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 		http://www.online-literature.com/burnett/secretgarden/19/

Dickon reference... Secret Garden
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:10 pm
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MrToasty
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 		Is it just me, or does the language of this diary entry sound different than the previous Melissa/Operator memories?

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:14 pm
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Danzilla76
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 		Pretty much. Look at the first line:

Quote:
I can make my own words now. Watch:



Rather interesting, hmmm? She seems to have absorbed enough data to remember how to speak in complete and intelligent sentences.
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:18 pm
Last edited by Danzilla76 on Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Dorkmaster
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 		Ok, so

(1) The Princess is coherently speaking on her own now, which says heaps about her learning curve

(2) our assumptions about SPDR were correct (and that SPDR DID write the origninal Coordinate list) and that SPDR is toast

(3) That the Queen IS Melissa IS the Operator CONFIRMED, FINALLY

(4) That the Princess is definitely more mobile inside this "castle" now... so maybe the casket just referred to her being trapped inside... (the roads apparently don't work for her)

(5) that the GPS coordinates are "roads" the Queen needs to travel on... (makes what to look for a bit more narrow)

(6) We get another reference to the Castaway (in the last section there)

(7) We know that Melissa was subversive when it came to her own crew...
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:18 pm
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