"Lady B!" cried Darrell as the cat woman appeared, seemingly from behind an impossibly slender tree.

"Where the hell did *you* come from?" blurted out Auroara, munching on a piece of dried fruit."

Avatars have...interesting methods of travel," replied Bast with a smile and a little shrug. "I have come to provide you with game information regarding controls and saving."

"What about objective?" asked Ian, every inch the soldier.

"More importantly...what about the other players?" interrupted Darrell. "Is Suzene here or not."

"All in good time," smiled the feline. "First it is important that you know about the statistical charts and control panels which can be called into existence." She demonstrated as she spoke, the maps and gameboards floating before her. "But they will not appear if there is sentient game sprite nearby," she cautioned. "Which isn't always so bad...it's an easy way to discover whether or not you're being followed."

"Unless it's by another player, of course," said GB Jazzman, nonchalantly.

"Unless it's by another player," repeated Bast with a smile.

"Okay, so we can use the quit function to leave the game for a while," mused Ian. "But if we're continually saved and the game goes on without us...how do we get back in?"

"Well to leave the game, you have to be away from any actual Thundercat characters," said Bast. "The trick is to come up with a really good excusefor why you're leaving. This way, if you're delayed in coming back it won't look suspicious. You'll appear in relatively the same spot you left; it will vary only if there are people watching that area. Then you will appear in the next safest place.

"As for the story...well, it will have gone on without you. You'll have to catch up. But I think that you can get yourselves fairly well organized to leave within moments of each other. The game will not progress unless there is at least one player connected...myself excluded."

"Why's that?" asked Auroara, somewhat suspicious.

"I am character, but I am also a game function," smiled Bast. "When everyone is gone and the game shuts down I can scan the game and repair any damages. The next true player to come along reactivates the game."

"Even if we don't leave all at once, it shouldn't be too hard to catch up," shrugged Casca, kicking back. "I mean...we've been here for hours and nothing much has happened."

"Oh, but game time is accelerated," laughed the cat-woman, explaining about the date and time function. "When I spoke to Cheezey only moments ago, she had been here less than five minutes in real time...and she was the first to arrive!"

The others in the group tested the date and time theory on their own computers, but Capresono picked up on a different detail. "You talked to Cheezey? Where the hell is she? I've been looking for her!"

"She's around," grinned the Avatar wickedly, "but I'm not giving away all the secrets. That would make it too easy. I *can* tell you in which directions lie the largest structures of Third Earth such as the Tower of Omens or Mumm-ra's Pyramid, but that is as far as I will go for you." Catching Darrell's look of irritation, she quickly added: "Although I *can*say that both Suzene and Laura were with Cheezey when I spoke with them."

"Well you *know* that Cheezey's headed for Skytomb," snorted Casca with a grin. "Too bad...I would have liked to meet up with her earlier in the game. I'll probably catch up to her eventually...I plan to hang out with the evil side for a while myself."

"Oh yeah? Where you headed?" asked the Jazzman.

"Hopefully Castle Plun-darr. It's easier to find...it stands still," grinned the Jaguar, flicking his tail at Capresono who punched him lightly on the arm.

"Bastard," the dark-haired human snorted.

"I'll probably make for Cat's Lair," said GB Jazzman. "I'd like to meet up with the Mad Bassist or Seth and they'll probably both head that way."

"Actually, Lefty...Seth...has declined to join us," said Bast regretfully.

"Disappointing...but I'm not surprised," said Darrell. "These group things are not his style."

"And he's a bit of a purist, I think," added Bast. "It sounds unpleasant, but we're all parasites on the Thundercat universe in the name of our own pleasure."

"I do everything in the name of my own pleasure," grinned Auroara.

"I do things in the name of other people's pleasure...that's why I'm LadyBast," said the cat-woman slyly.

"You can do a few things for my pleasure," offered Darrell.

"Mmmmm...you know what I meant," replied the Avatar, her grin turning feral.

"Yes, but it doesn't sound dirty if I just agree with you."

"Okay, so we come back where we left off," said Ian, trying desperately to change the subject, "but what if we don't leave. What if we die?"

"Oh, shit...don't die!" said Bast suddenly. "There's no *fun* in dying. Mainly because you can't come back...not as that character anyway. You'd have to start again at level one!"

"What?" snarled Casca. "I *like* my character!"

"Well then, don't die!" repeated Bast with annoyance. "Should be easy enough if you plan on being with the villains...the good guys never kill their enemies."

"Good point," mused Casca, settling back again with a dreamy grin.

"Does that mean that any show characters we kill stay dead too?" said Capresono suddenly. "*That* would be...almost disturbing."

"Nah...if there are no other sentient game sprites around, I can restore the individual character. If there *are* others around I can reset the game to a time before they died."

"Well why can't you do that with *our* characters," cried Auroara, insulted.

"Because you aren't part of the game, silly, you're from outside the system," said Bast sweetly. "If I set back the game to revive Thundercat characters, none of you players will be affected. You'll remember what happened before. Hopefully, you won't do the same thing again."

"That's no fair...we should get revived too," sulked the crossbreed.

"Well, I didn't build the game and cousin Jerry didn't want people taking stupid risks to get all-powerful and just coming back to where they saved."

"As long as I get my evil cohorts," mumbled Casca, as he dozed in the sun." Gonna torch me a Berbil..."

"He's trying to act tough because I had him carrying my bags," snorted Auroara.

"Relax...just because we picked up on your little trick," grinned GB Jazzman. Auroara glared.

"Now, now, children...don't fight," mocked Capresono. Ian punched him in the arm.

"We've come to a temporary truce...let's not screw it up now," said the soldier with some irriation. "Well, I think Laura will probably head for the Cat's Lair. If you could let us know where the main structures are, we'll be able to pick up and go our separate ways come morning."

The cat-woman did so, using the system map to outline the direction that should be taken in order to find the main bases of those characters found in "Thundercats." Then she stood with a long stretch.

"Well, there are still a few more camps to go if I want to share out the necessary information. You guys should be alright...I'll be around and about if you need anything else. Although most of what I told you...and possibly more...can be found with the help function on the control board."

"Wait," said Darrell as Lady Bast prepared to leave. "You already spoke with Suzie, right?" Bast nodded. "Did anyone in the group mention their plans?"

"Much the same as yours I imagine," shrugged the Avatar. "A night's sleep and off to their preferred destinations. Why?"

"I'm going to have to get up early and strike out for the Tower of Omens," replied Darrell. "I've got to get ot her before Bengali does!"

Bast laughed as she disappeared in a shimmering of light.

*********************