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} The Oracle ponders for a minute, looking at the supplicant's strange
} and seemingly incoherent question.
}
} "I wonder," he says, then fades off.
}
} Switching to a different terminal, he types in a short mail message,
} sends it, then taps his foot impatently until it returns.
}
} The message is anonymous, and even lacks a path trace. It consists of
} one line: 'In case of Snakebite, call Mr. Urce.'
}
} "Dammit," he mutters, "who the hell is Urce? And how am I supposed to
} call him?"
}
} He taps a few more lines on the terminal. A hundred thousand names
} swim by.
}
} "I'm not calling every Urce in the book... why didn't they give me a
} phone number? Bloody paranoid bastards... if they want my help, they
} should trust..."
}
} He looks at the message again.
}
} "Phone number? Urce? U. R. C. E. Maybe... Hmm. U is 0x55, R is
} 0x52... 55-52-43-45? 555-2434? Those are fake numbers used on
} television... I wonder."
}
} The Oracle picks up a phone and dials.
}
} <Which department, please?>
}
} "Snakebites."
}
} <I don't have a listing for snakebites, sir. Do you have an
} extension?>
}
} "Um, extension... 5?"
}
} <I'll connect you through, sir.>
}
} Pause.
}
} <Mail room.>
}
} The Oracle snaps his fingers in glee. "Yes. I'd like to report a
} snakebite."
}
} <In Detroit?>
}
} "Yes. Shiny black snakes."
}
} <Do you have the victim's name?>
}
} "No, but I have an e-mail address. It's xxxx@Xxxxxxx.Xxxxx.XXX"
}
} <Thank you, sir.>
}
} The line goes dead. The Oracle leans back in his chair, knowing that
} he did his part.
} * * *
}
} MYSTERIOUS MURDER STILL BAFFLES POLICE
}
} Police are still scratching their heads
} over yesterday's murder of a disturbed
} man.
}
} "Well," said Police Chief Goetz, "I
} can't figure it out. He had no enemies,
} except if you count the Detroit Post
} Office, which had been receiving daily
} shipments of squirming black snakes
} placed in beer bottles."
}
} The victim, says friends and neighbors,
} did this to make his toes tingle, which
} he found unpleasant, which made many
} wonder why he kept doing it.
}
} "He was just a harmless eccentric,"
} remarked one neighbor, who wished to
} remain anonymous.
}
} What is most puzzling about the case is
} the way the victim was killed.
}
} "He was literally smothered in layers of
} postage stamps. A horribly sticky way
} to go," said Goetz.
}
} Remember kids: Don't mess with the Post Office Intelligence Agency.
}
} You owe the Oracle a a beer bottle filled with shiny black snakes.
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