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Fox 042: Searching for Fox

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[AN: This is the forty second in the Fox Tale series.  Please read them in order.]
[Creative property of Lady Quindecim]

Page Forty Two: Searching for Fox



    By the time I finished my homework I was really sleepy and run down.  I was ready - no, eager - to just fall asleep.  I contemplated not even bothering with getting undressed but decided I would enjoy the better sleep I would get if I did.  Fumbling through my pockets provided me a brief mystery until I recognised Mags’ thumb-drive and recalling having moved it from coat to pants earlier in the day.
    Curiosity fed me that little bit more energy and I could not just leave it for the following day.  I had to try it out. Thinking back on the instructions, I shutdown my computer, starting it up again with the device from Mags in the appropriate port.  I jumped a little bit when I was presented with a screen I was completely unfamiliar with.  I was reading the options when I noticed the timer, just as it clicked over to zero and the computer continued, starting up normally.  I shutdown the computer once more and when presented with that new menu, I used the arrow keys to highlight the rows as I was reading them, cancelling the 5 second timer.
    “Select Boot Device:”
    “: HDD0”
    “: HDD1”
    “: CD/DVD Removable Boot Media”
    “: USB HDD or Other Removable Boot Media”
    “: PXE”
    It is not that the menu took long to read, but I really had to think about the choices until it dinged in my head that it was the “USB” I was looking for.
    Once I had that selected, the rest was just like Mags had said, with the password and everything.  There was a cute little penguin on the wallpaper, some numbers and graphs scrolling up in one corner, and the familiar browser icon up in the other.
    I launched the browser, expecting to see something out of the ordinary, letting me know that I was tunneling from somewhere, or whatever it is called.  Uncertain, I just started browsing around, looking at news and headlines, but that was quickly draining the burst of reserve energy.
    I opened up the launch menu and looked around at the categories there.  Accessories, Development, Graphics..., Office, System..., etc.  I went back to the Office menu where I expected a word processor, spreadsheet program, and those sort of things, but all that was there was a dictionary.  I figured I would probably need to use a cloud app for notes and documents.
    Then a window popped up, startling me.
    _________________________________
    x ICQ - down5piral     - + x
    down5spiral (21:46): It is me, the one who gave you the stick.
    _________________________________
    : _

    I looked at the window blankly.  Obviously, that had to be Mags, but she did not say “hi, it’s me, Mags” so, she probably did not want to use real names.  I typed back:
    _________________________________
    x ICQ - down5piral     - + x
    down5spiral (21:46): It is me, the one who gave you the stick.
    _________________________________
    : K

    When I hit enter, I noticed that I was logged into this chat thing with the same name she was.
    _________________________________
    x ICQ - down5piral     - + x
    down5spiral (21:46): It is me, the one who gave you the stick.
    down5spiral (21:48): K
    _________________________________
    : Do I need to make my own name on here?

    _________________________________
    x ICQ - down5piral     - + x
    down5spiral (21:46): It is me, the one who gave you the stick.
    down5spiral (21:48): K
    down5spiral (21:48): Do I need to make my own name on here?
    down5spiral (21:48): As tired as you were I did not expect to see you on here tonight
    down5spiral (21:49): Yes, I will show you how, but first, I am going to open the video thing.
    down5spiral (21:49): Click accept when the message comes up
    _________________________________
    : _

    Following her instructions granted a view of her with no hat, damp hair - purple bangs looking darker, black hair looking blacker - sitting on her bed in what looked to be pajamas.  There was another, much smaller window where I could see that she was seeing that I had not changed clothes and that the walls of my room were still mostly void of decoration.  It looked like there was a corner of a shelf visible.  I moved the computer a bit.
    “Hi,” she said.
    “Hi.  Figured it was you.”
    Mags talked me through getting my identity set up and how to save it on the thumb drive so it will ‘persist across reboots.’  She said it should be free from anything that anyone would be able to associate with me, so obviously anything drum related was completely out.  I wanted something cool, but was not coming up with anything.
    Then that key on the keyboard caught my attention.  “Alt Gr”  The one that lets me use all those special characters and things.  I turned that over in my head, “Altgr,” the, “GrAlt,” which reminded me of one of my favourite words, ‘gestalt.’  Mom, long time back, had explained it to me with an example from a book she had read. The ‘media gestalt’ described the way the media can not only report events, but impact events by influencing public opinion and inciting reaction.  Having that example in the back of my mind, I saw examples of it everywhere in all sorts of things, and here, now, I thought about Midwest Textiles was not just the economic foundation, it made Twin Rivers a company town and at the top, was Boss Johnson, the boss gestalt.
    I was not consciously aware of my fingers making the next step in the process, twisting that notion around and back on itself, but I watched them type the chosen name into the field and commit the identity.
    _________________________________
    x ICQ - down5piral     - + x
    down5spiral (21:46): It is me, the one who gave you the stick.
    down5spiral (21:48): K
    down5spiral (21:48): Do I need to make my own name on here?
    down5spiral (21:48): As tired as you were I did not expect to see you on here tonight
    down5spiral (21:49): Yes, I will show you how, but first, I am going to open the video thing.
    down5spiral (21:49): Click accept when the message comes up
    jestralt (21:57): K.  Got that.
    _________________________________
    : _

    I saw in the video window, Mags widen her eyes ever so slightly, very quickly, and she replied, “Oh, Okay.  It makes me think of ‘gestalt’ and ‘jester’ like... cool.  I like it.”
    “Not sure exactly how I got there, but my hands seemed to just figure it out.  I guess I have talented fingers.”
    Mags bit her lip, clearly holding back a laugh.
    “What?  I can see you, you know.”
    “Oh, yeah, I was just thinking... talented fingers are good to have when you are single.”
    “I am not even going to respond to that.”
    Mags could no longer hold in the laughter and, tired as I was, I fell into a fit of giggles myself.

    _________________________________
    x ICQ - down5piral     - + x
    down5spiral (21:46): It is me, the one who gave you the stick.
    down5spiral (21:48): K
    down5spiral (21:48): Do I need to make my own name on here?
    down5spiral (21:48): As tired as you were I did not expect to see you on here tonight
    down5spiral (21:49): Yes, I will show you how, but first, I am going to open the video thing.
    down5spiral (21:49): Click accept when the message comes up
    jestralt (21:57): K.  Got that.
    jestralt (21:58): G’nite  ;P
    down5piral (21:58): XD good nite
    _________________________________
    : _

    I saved the chat program’s settings with no login like Mags had instructed and shutdown my computer.  I thought about that little drive, protruding out from the port on the laptop, deciding that I need to keep it safe and it was not safe where it was.  I pulled out a drawer on my desk, finding a nook I had used before, several moves previously.  Unlike my little box where I hide things that I was trying to keep from even myself, this spot would be easy enough for me to grab it when I need it, a person really would have to know it was there, or completely take apart my desk to find it.
    Sleep came and found me fast and hard.

[You have been reading the forty second installment of the Fox Tale Series by Lady Quindecim.]
[If you received this text from a source other than DeviantArt, please let the author know via e-mail to lady.quindecim@gmail.com]
[I hope you have enjoyed this installment]
I was happy to get to this one as 1) no sappy relationship malarkey and 2) this is the first real step towards something I have only gotten to hint at as of yet. It opens the door to things that really start digging into the plot.

Obviously, there is plenty more relationship malarkey on the way, or whatever. (I have read ahead, seeing as how I am writing it and all) and I am eager to get to posting these upcoming pages. (Really want to get Halloween posted, but I think I mentioned that before.

If this is the first one you are reading, by all means please stop and read the first one [link] first, then proceed in order, if you would be so kind.

And if you like it/them, let me know. If you do not, I would still like to know. If you are completely indifferent and do not feel it is worth your time to comment, that's okay, you can let me know that as well.


Part One: Fox at First Sight → [link]
Part Two: Foxy Lady → [link]
Part Three: Still a Fox → [link]
Part Four: Fellowship of the Fox → [link]
Part Five: Fox Free Period → [link]
Part Six: Fox, but not Forgotten → [link]
Part Seven: Fox Report → [link]
Part Eight: Fox in socks → [link]
Part Nine: Lingering Fox → [link]
Part Ten: Bargain with a Fox → [link]
Part Eleven: Speechless Fox → [link]
Part Twelve: Fox Filled Dreams → [link]
Part Thirteen: In a Box, With a Fox → [link]
Part Fourteen: Fox and Stone → [link]
Part Fifteen: Chef Fox & On the Spot → [link]
Part Sixteen: Fox Proud → [link]
Part Seventeen: Fox is Watching → [link]
Part Eighteen: Foxless Day? → [link]
Part Nineteen: Cornered Without a Fox → [link]
Part Twenty: A Fighting Fox → [link]
Part Twenty One: What Fox Can Never Know → [link]
Part Twenty Two: The Wounded Fox → [link]
Part Twenty Three: The True Fox → [link]
Part Twenty Four: Holding On To Fox → [link]
Part Twenty Five: A Box for Fox → [link]
Part Twenty Six: A Locked Box for Fox → [link]
Part Twenty Seven: Putting Fox Aside → [link]
Page Twenty Eight: The Fox Path → [link]
Page Twenty Nine: Fox Has Secrets → [link]
Page Thirty: Happy Fox → [link]
Page Thirty One: Walking With Fox → [link]
Page Thirty Two: Fox’s Gift → [link]
Page Thirty Three: A Foxed Conviction → [link]
Page Thirty Four: Fox’s Town → [link]
Page Thirty Five: Fox at Hand → [link]
Page Thirty Six: A Foxy Habit → [link]
Page Thirty Seven: I Can Dream About Fox → [link]
Page Thirty Eight: Chef Fox 1 → [link]
Page Thirty Nine: Chef Fox 2 → [link]
Page Forty: Chef Fox 3 → [link]
Page Forty One: Chef Fox 4 → [link]
Page Forty Two: Searching for Fox → You are Here ←
Page Forty Three: Morning Fox → [link]
Page Forty Four: Quiet Fox → Coming Soon ←

If, for whatever reason, you want to use any of this/these, please check with me first.

As always, comments and feedback are welcome.
© 2013 - 2024 LadyQuindecim
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