Date: Tuesday, July 02, 1996 9:55AM

It was all part of an extended dream about living in a world of shadows and 
cyber weirdness and that we were street scum that could do pretty much what 
we wanted at the street level, but that we'd be called occassionally to do 
weird shit that the authorities needed humans to experiment on and it was 
all very underground.  We were illegal and what they were doing was illegal, 
but it was all okay because they were doing bad things to 'bad people'.

I was tall and strong and my love was bantam (kinda like Rick Strifel, rude 
but right and true to the heart, and very practical and ruthless when he had 
to be... and black as coal in hair and beard).  We were walking down a dirty 
alley towards something we had to be at and next to us was a big blond woman 
about my height and build, and very obviously younger than I.

She challenged me, said that she thought she could take me in any contest, 
especially if what was coming out would involve a contest, she wouldn't mind 
taking me on.  I just shrugged.  Youngster, looking to stick her chest out, 
maybe impress my love.  He just grinned and looked at me and I knew that he 
knew I was worth at least five or six of her simply for my battle 
experience, and my ability to be solid in that world.

We gathered in a room with a roomful of others 'like' us in that we were all 
ragged, dirty, obviously poor.  Up on a platform above out heads were two 
apparati, each looking like a big cylinder lying next to a coffin.  One of 
the Masters said that it was worth gathering us there for the 10% that might 
be useful for him in his experiments and that he needed two who were fairly 
closely matched.

My love asked, "What about our resident Vayans?" and pointed out two very 
alien aliens who were green and spotted and wrinkled and both of whom nodded 
very politely in complete synch and whom looked identical in every detail. 
He clearly remembered the girl's challange and did not want her to pick
up enough huberis to think that surviving one of the Masters'
experiments was a good idea.  So, he was trying his best to steer things
away from us.

"No.  Vayans don't burn right." said the Master and there was a mutter 
around the room as the cheerful grins on the Vayans disappeared. "We have an 
experiment that seems to work on some but not on others, and if we have a 
matched pair and if one suceeds and the other doesn't, we'll have 
significant data as to why it didn't suceed."

Oh, fuck, thought I.  The Master inevitably pulls out the blonde and I, 
obviously not caring as much about the subtleties of race differences.  The 
stupid bitch just laughs and winks at me and says, "Guess I get to win now." 

I look at the apparatus as they're opening it up.  I catch her eye.  "Breath 
it in."  I said.  She blinked at me in surprise.  I get wacked upside the 
head for speaking.  We are stripped and stuffed in the coffins.

It's dark in there and metal, so every bang echoed with metal sounds.  And 
then the cold liquid rushed in, of the consistancy of new Jello, where it's 
not set yet, but is gelled a bit.  No lights in there, but the level of the 
liquid covered me and was over me, but there was still a good six inches of 
air at the top of the coffin.  I went to work, putting it in every crevice I 
could, eventhough the stuff burned as it touched sensative tissue.  I even 
ate some and then breathed out as I swallowed to work it up through my 
sinuses and nose.  Then, when I'd put it off for as long as I could, I 
breathed in and out hard and deep, four times, and then went under the 
surface of the liquid and breathed as hard as I could, in through my mouth.

UGH!

Then, as any good asthematic or any bong user would have the control to do, 
I held that breath in for a count as everything burned.  As I held my breath 
I remembered something else and I opened my eyes under the surface of the 
liquid and I came up screaming from the pain, but there was no sound but a 
big glop.  It was gross and I was coughing so hard and the coffin lid opened 
and they pulled me out.

I was blind.  I was also crying and coughing and wretching the stuff out 
every which way, and I heard that poor blonde's voice say, softly, "I 
thought you were kidding."  I just sobbed at that.  The assistants then 
chained us up, next to each other, and I thought I was never going to be 
able to see again because even after the burning sensation went away I still 
couldn't see.

Then I heard the roar, and heard her scream; and within an instant I could 
see again, by the light of the mother of all fires.  They had turned a flame 
thrower on the both of us, and through the heat, I could see her screaming 
and when she took a breath in of the flames, it was as if she suddenly 
crumpled from the inside.

I woke up coughing as if my lungs should come out, as I was still trying to 
recover from my cold.