<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Amanuel</strong></span><br/><br/>The water was warm and contained motor oil. It was not immediately apparent whether this was a conscious decision on the part of the canteen bearer or an inevitable consequence of their life decisions up to this point. It mattered not to Amanuel, who drank deeply and gratefully from the offered vessel, letting the remainder of the canteen's contents spill down onto his skin and cool the already dry and cracking patches that formed a webwork between piercings.<br/><br/>The most painful spots were nearly six centimeters apart, he noticed. The frequency of the oscillator on the altar was 2450 million cycles per second, according to the faded label on the element he had scrounged.<br/><br/>"Velocity is frequency by wavelength, you see?" he croaks to Rez. It was not required that she understand. Uttering truth made the world wiser, even if that wisdom remained lodged in unwashed crevices only to drop onto fertile ground some time much later. Knowledge was like apple seeds buried in shit. "Three by ten to the eighth. As always! As ever! My body bears the mark of universal truth."<br/><br/>He knew they considered him crazy. In part it is what kept him alive in such a place. He laughs joyously at the symmetry of the thing. He was mad, in a mad place, in a world of madness, and from him the seed of sanity would spread. It lived within him, within this ball of shit.<br/><br/>Amanuel sits up, crossing his ankles in front of him and resting his arms on top of those. He is too weak to stand, but he can converse, and he is unashamed by his nakedness. "I am ever and always at your service, My Lady. Your business is mine."<br/><br/>There was something he had meant to tell her. Something about the kegs... Yes! "They have told me to tell you, as one who can act when things are heard, that they come from the north-east. There are others, peaceful others, wealthy others. There is more of the sweet liquor, if the clowns have not destroyed it all." He pauses. "About the kegs, I'm speaking. Did I say that out loud?"<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc</div><div class="spoiler_body">Play along at home, kids!<br/>http://orbitingfrog.com/2008/05/13/measure-the-speed-of-light-using-your-microwave/<br/></div></div>