Dan Dan and the Noodles of Despair

The Machine - Part 2

A strange and unfamiliar sense of calm descends upon Daniel as he realises that he is powerless, that he cannot change what is about to happen.

Turning to look at the Machine, his fear fades away, and he is filled with peace that warms his entire being. Remembering the words of Anaximander when they first met, he turns back to look Bill directly in the eyes and replies.

'You will fail, you know, your kind always does - eventually, because you forget about the power that people possess to create change. Enormous change in their own lives and the world around them. United together in the face of oppression, they possess the power to overcome those who are convinced of their own superiority. You will fail because nature is ruled by laws, just like human societies, and anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long. You and your futile plans are doomed to failure before you even start.'

Filled with a rage so hot it turns his face purple Bill grabs Daniel. He pulls him towards the ominous black cube where he presses a small red button. A hatch opens to reveal a bright stream of numbers flowing like atomic alphabetti-spaghetti into a luminous rotating sphere.

The moment that the hatch opens a brilliant arc of plasma shoots out of the sphere and connects directly with the front of Daniel's jumper. Bill is thrown back against the wall with such force that his left leg is broken, he lays writhing in agony, reduced to a helpless spectator to what is about to unfold.

Fixed to the spot with his arms outstretched and his head arched back, Daniel watches in wonder. His jumper lights up with blinding force, all the colours of the rainbow radiating outwards, filling the room with technicolour magnificence.

The Machine makes a droning noise which falters up and down as it struggles to maintain its regular operation. The colours from Daniel's jumper start to bleed up the plasma arc and fill the globe before a massive flash of light punctuates the end of the flow of numbers. There is a loud crack as the plasma wisps into a small curl of smoke, and judder of the floor as The Machine starts to shut down. The high pitched whine slowly descends in tone to an ominous silence as the black cube silently radiates nothing but an evil outline in the brightly lit white room.

High above Bill's castle, the sky paddock starts to descend with alarming speed. Wobbling and rocking from side to side, the sheep are thrown back and forth as the air fills with birds who no longer enjoy the company of a once placid flock, now bleating loudly in distress.

The ground level remnants of the reality distortion field cushion the sky paddock as it makes an abrupt landing on the roof of the castle. The impact destroys the upper three floors. The thunderous crash of splitting concrete and shattering glass echos across the lake. Then teetering out of balance, the sky paddock leans precariously to one side as it slides down to make contact with the ground, resting at a steep angle.

The sheep roll down the sky paddock in a tumble of Merino wool and twigs like a bag of cotton candy balls dropped to the ground at a country fair. Landing on top of each other, they bounce and spill in an avalanche of quadrupeds onto the grassy clearing.

The army of numbers, now in disarray, stuck on the far shore, watch helplessly as the castle starts to collapse after the impact of the sky paddock. With limited water transport and Bill's launch moored on the island, they can only watch in horror as the mayhem unfolds.

Anaximander, Jackson and Floyd rush from the woods to assist the heavily laden sheep, who, in need of shearing, have significantly benefited from the elastic quality of their fleeces. The sheep are under no illusions. Their prolonged imprisonment and the excitement of their descent has impressed upon them that now is the time to leave and they gladly follow Floyd to the cave.

Meanwhile, in the remains of the castle, Tiddlepuss finds Daniel unconscious on the floor of the white room. He arrives just in time to see Bill, severely injured, dragging himself in agony towards an event horizon that looks like a giant lens hovering next to The Machine.

A bright orange rim frames the glowing blue wormhole as it snakes off into the infinity of the spacetime continuum. Bill sneers back at him with a look of utter disdain as the event horizon seems to turn inside out. Bill and the Machine fold into the wormhole like water swirling around a plughole in a sink. It shrinks from view like a peacock closing its feathers, and in an instant, they are both gone. The last remnants of the wormhole disappear with a fizzing noise and an orange glow in the air, like the elusive smoke of a candle.