The taxi pulled up to a small brick house. The driver was the first to leave the car.
"Hey, you gonna need any help with the suitcase?"
The passenger, Dave Monroe, shook his head.
"Naw, I should b'good."
He stepped out of the car, stretching as he did so.
"Long drive. This should cover it..." As he spoke, he pulled out a wallet and handed over the fee. He then proceeded to pull out an overstuffed backpack, a suitcase, and lastly, his PET. He paused, than pushed some more money into the drivers hand.
"Here, have a tip." Dave grinned. "Last chance I'm gonna have in a while to waste my parents money, so I think I'm gonna take it. Thanks again, mate!"
"No problem, no problem at all."
Dave turned and hefted his possessions up the front steps, and unlocked the door. Yawning, he nudged his suitcase into the front hall whilst determining where the best place to dump his backpack would be. He eventually decided to toss it into a nearby couch. The cloud of dust that arose caused him to sneeze loudly.
The chattery voice of his Net Navigator, Tranum, eminated from his PET.
We're here then?
"Yeah. Wonder why the house got left to me?"
Iunno. Probably drew names from a hat.
"Heh. That would make sense. Give me a minute to finish setting up and we'll get you jacked, m'kay?"
Sounds good to me
Dave spent several minutes locating a phone jack and a power outlet. He then began the slow process of booting up his laptop, and hooking up his speaker system.
Hooking up the music?
"But of course."
Dave reached into his suitcase, which was crammed with music and books, and pulled out a CD at random, and put it in the player perched atop the kitchen counter.
Kenny Loggins immediately blasted from the speakers at a level slightly higher than Dave's comfort zone.
"The hell? Could've sworn I had Powerglove at the top of the pile..." He turned the volume down. He looked at his computer. It had frozen at some point. Grumbling, he rebooted it. His eyes wandered around the room aimlessly. Suddenly, something caught his attention.
"Huh. That's something you don't see everyday."
What?
"Les Paul 1969 Standard in perfect condition."
As cool as that is, I'm getting bored here.
Dave glanced back at the laptop. It had loaded.
"Well, looks like you're in luck. Stupid thing finally loaded. Let's get you jacked into the Net."
Sounds like a good plan!
"Aren't they always?"
No, Dave, they really aren't.
Dave sighed, and sent Tranum into the Net.