McEdifice Returns: Chapter It’s Grimdark Oop North

By Tim “bobbins” Cat and Straw “fettled keks” Puppy

It were grim all right. Grim and grey. Grim and grey and the air was sulfurous and full of grit.

“This is must be an aspect of the hell dimension,” said McEdifice as the trio trudged up the hillside on the outskirts of the fume enshrouded city.

“It cannot be,” replied Qzrrzxxzq, “the populace was too relentlessly chirpy.”

“Service is required when belt lubrication is low,” stated ScanScan.

“He thinks it is the vast quantity of tea that they drink,” translated McEdifice, “Perhaps the demonic overlords of this place put something in the tea.”

“What I don’t get is the rain,” said Qzrrzxxzq changing the subject to the near incessant drizzle, “When it isn’t raining it is foggy. The air is constantly near the point of saturation but that is manifestly impossible. At some point the water has to evaporate to get into the atmosphere and yet it nearly never stops raining. The water cycle here defies logic – it is completely implausible.”

“Paper jam in the bypass tray,” said ScanScan.

“He says not everybody was chirpy,” explained McEdifice, “there were occasional angry young men with big ideas who were going to challenge the system.”

“Frankly I preferred the constant music-hall jokes,” mused Qzrrzxxzq, “but I think if I’d encountered another colliery brass band I would have enacted violence on a tuba.”

They had wandered the city for days but the polluted damp air had made it impossible for ScanScan to use his transdimensional abilities. After much effort to communicate with the locals they had been told that “thing might be different in Yorkshire.” When asked where this fabled place might be, the locals just waved vaguely at the hills to the east.

The trio had marched out of town and up onto the moors.

On the third day, like a miracle, the clouds parted. Above the smog and coal-fired fumes, ScanScan re-activated the ansible projector.

“But where to now?” asked Qzrrzxxzq.

“I have so many unanswered questions. Why did the vampires send me back to that planet of hippies? Why didn’t they just kill me? And why did they invade Planet Campus?” mused McEdifice.

“There’s only one place that we can find those answers,” stated Qzrrzxxzq.

“Draculon 6 – The Vampire Planet of the Six-sixty-six System.” said McEdifice.

“Settings entered,” said ScanScan.

“Lets kick some vampire butt,” said McEdifice.

“I think they say ‘vampire arse’ around here,” corrected Qzrrzxxzq.

And with that they were sucked into the transdimensional gyre.

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