Once again its late at night and I have been locked outside in the cold. I'm gonna post this then knock manically on the door again.


*Chapter 3: Employment*

Tier rustled the page of his magazine and stared at the headline 'Long live the king! Shell ends corrupt governemnt!' Dear lord! This thing was almost a decade old! He stared at his surrounds, they had the usual sickening limey green colorscheme seen in government buildings everywhere. Once it had been bright and fresh and efficient, but as usual it had become grimy and rundown. There were a lot of other shellions here, slouching around, and even a few rabbits. Say what you will about politics, lazyness was universal. The clock ticked over to 11:00 and a smartly dressed clerk walked over to the main display board and tacked up a small list of new jobs avalible. Erst was of course, the only one to eagerly hop up and examine the list, Schrock followed behind, so far none of the jobs had required their particular skills of waiting tables and general culinary expertise. Erst waved a small sheet of paper under his nose. 'Look! There's a vacancy at the palace! For a waiter! The Queens head waiter was knocked out cold and quit! One of us can-" Schrock cut him off cold with a stare. "NO No way in hell Erst, , that (-) rockheap is a nuthouse, and I won't have anything to do with it."

A small yellow rabbit scurried in and pinned something to the board, Schrock glanced at it then ripped it off. He stopped the rabbit before she got to the door. 'Excuse me miss, do I read this right? Two vacancies?" The rabbit nodded. "Well be tending bar?" Another nod "And this 'Peace Tavern, it has, had, and will have any connection with famous people, living or dead, legends or anybody by the name of Jacrabbit?" The rabbit stared. "Err, generally we're pretty lucky if we get customers that can pay in cash.' Schrock smiled. Excellent, you have your turtles madam. The rabbit looked perplexed. 'You want to be hired? Actually hired? To work in the peace tavern? I mean, as a job?' Schrock considered this. 'I'm going to regret it, but surely not as much as I would going to work in that (-) castle. Give me the details and we'll talk salaries.' Erst followed his brother and the rabbit; she was the same one he'd seen yesterday evening. Small world.


* * *

The entity blinked. Or would have done had it any eyelids. It examined the turtles mind in annoyance. Yes, it figured; a poison to stories. So its plan had failed, no matter, it had been working on this for so long, and in so many ways, they couldn't resist it now, they were it. All it had to do was wait, and, as usual, nudge things a bit.

* * *

Larrock Scwartz looked gloomily at his fries before tossing them absentmindedly into the trash can. His aim was perfect, it always was; sometimes the trashcan moved to ensure this. If you'd told him that there were starving children who would die for that, he'd reply that he knew Larrock knew a lot. They had no nutritional value either, at least, not for anyone with enough to eat. He knew this as well. (-)! He'd spent too long here; what was it? Fourty? Fifty years? Far, far too long. He sipped absentmindedly at his soda. This had no nutritional value either, but the patrons at the surrounding tables were consuming theirs with gusto. Larrock knew this, and knew why, and hated it. There was a whimper next to him and he turned to see what could easily have been mistaken for some comic paradoy on the odd couple. The two rabbits watching him with awe couldn't be more different, one was blue, short and almost as wide as tall, the other was almost twice her size, and a quarter of her width. Larrock could see that there was one simalarity, they were both starving to death. It wouldn't take long, a few months at most, they were probbably aware of the fact, just blanking it out like so many people did. The thin one was clutching a battered copy of a small book Larrock had learned to dread.

She coughed surreptiously. 'Dr L Schwartz? I've been following your diet plan for eight months now, and Amy is just about to start! I can't thank you enough for what you've done! Could you please, Pleeeeaaase sign my copy?' Larrock cringed inwardly, but pulled a sleek black pen from his pocket and wrote a brief crisp message on the inside cover. It was 'Staying slim with Willpower' another one of his many publishing efforts. 'Whats your name? Cindy? With a 'y' right? Okay.' He watched the two toddle away in awe. It was entirely possible they'd live of course, but Larrock still shuddered at the though, then hated himself for thinking it. He got up, this was just too much; he'd started this resturant; it had been one of his first and at the time, finest actions, but he hated the very sight of the place now.

Outside the night air was cooler; he could relax. The two rabbits from earlier were leaving also, having been unlikely to purchase any of what passed for food inside. In the dark, in the alleyway Larrock looked like the stereotypical serial killer. He hadn't meant to,it was just that bodies had a mind of their own, and some things went with the job. As it was he looked more raven than rabbit; impossibly slick black fur on such a narrow frame, neat and natty black suit and snazzy black sunglasses. Larrock liked black, he-

There was a gleam in the darkness.

Larrock pulled it out; it had been half burried in the days trash but he could see it- There was a dul clatter as the pair of golden scalesfell from his hands, tinkling onto the ground in a way that suggested they were a lot heavier than they looked. Technically gold would have deformed, hit the ground with a thunk like plasticine, but this wasn't gold, not exactly anyway. No. No. No, this couldn't be happening now Larrock paled and took a step backward. But he knew what he had to do, a small part of him had no choice. He picked up the scales and shoved them in his shirt pocket, badly tearing the lining, not that it mattered anyway.

"They're pretty, lucky you found them huh?" Larrock whirled around to face the two rabbits from earlier. The scales were the old fashioned balance type; two dishes, one crossbar, to weigh one thing aginst another, they were exquisitely crafted. He clutched for a respone 'Uh, yeah. Look, Cindy; about the diet; I think you're lacking in iron, you might want to have a decent steak when you get home, its an... an error in the diet sometimes." He left the two rabbits standing there and headed to his car. Like him it was sleek and black, capable of exceeding any speedlimit you could set, including what the odometer could show. It unlocked itself, it always did. The lights went on automatically, as usual, a small dent in the paintwork caused by a hurried commuter healed itself, leaving nothing but a smooth black finnish.

Larrock was right, the rabbit wouldn't live to see the new year.

They probbably didn't have good odds of seeing next month either.