�� To synopsize -- for the nonce -- we came across a world of fairies! � FAIRIES ! Mythological creatures who -- ostensibly -- only existed in stories! � Yet THESE fairies were real enough! � BUT! � There was a cruel twist in their existence! � They NO LONGER knew they were fairies! � How could this be, you ask? � Why was it that WE immediately recognized them for what they were when they DID NOT ? � And could anything be done about it? � SHOULD anything be done about it? � Well, on the answers to those questions thereby hung a tale -- and it was a passing strange tale indeed! � And I see by the piquing of your interest that I will not be allowed to synopsize for long!

�� Let me back track a moment before I get to the side track part. � You have to understand something about Perki to understand her amazement. � I said that she was an alien! � I said that she was a member of an ancient alien race, but what I failed to mention was that her race had once upon a time, back on earth, been considered, by various factions, to be either mythological or demi-gods! � But of course she was neither. � And was well past being tired of being considered such. And had no patience for anyone who believed in either implausibility. � So now, perhaps, you can understand better her amazement at finding out that something considered unreal WAS real after all! � And more -- ! � How had she missed it after all her travels, after all the millennia?

�� Well to answer that and to get back on track I need to back track to the side track! (If you think THAT'S convoluted, then -- just wait! � It gets even MORE convoluted! �

�� Like I said we were side tracked!

�� Edgar is a Time Machine cleverly disguised as an elevator. � Because he looks like an elevator he is not large enough inside to hold more than cargo/people space. � That is to say, he is not larger on the inside than he appears from the outside. � Usually there is no need for extra space, like living quarters, sleeping quarters or food prep or some such. � Edgar usually travels much too quickly from HERE to THERE to need the room for those sort of accomadations. � So when we came to a stop, obviously were not on earth and it appeared that we were going nowhere any time soon I became concerned. � What would we do if we were forced to remain in such relatively close quarters for any length of time? In fact how were we to get going again? � It was obvious that we could not get out and push. � Not even Weslee is that strong!

�� I addressed Edgar: "What is going on? � Why have we stopped here? � In fact why have we stopped at all? And lastly, old man, what must we do to get going again?" �(Edgar likes to be thought of as a gentleman's gentleman, hence the "old man". It was no conceit or anachronism on my part.)

�� "I must confess, sire, that I am at a loss for the moment --"

�� Weslee, who has no great love for or faith in Edgar, groaned, "Great! � Now I suppose I'll never get a new T shirt again -- let alone live to see another day!" (Weslee had an inordinate fondness for T shirts. � His current T shirt read: " I'm just a strange bear in a strange bear land!" � As usual the witticism expressed on the T shirt was a bit dry for my taste, but live and let live, I say.)

�� In melifluous, perfectly cultured tones that ALMOST managed to mask his annoyance with Weslee, Edgar replied, " HOWEVER -- I AM working on it!"

�� I rolled my eyes towards "realtive" galactic upwards and then shared an amused glance with Perki. � Then we waited. � And waited.

�� After what seemed like an eon or two and just when I was aboout to ask Edgar what the holdup was, he cleared his "throat", harrumphed a time or two and then finally spoke, "Sire, Madam, I am afraid I have a bit of an enigma on my hands, well, er, my relative hands, as it were." and then he lapsed into near silence, muttering to himself.

�� Weslee was endeavouring to appear to be monumentally unconcerned, but he was giving it away by the fact that the hairs on the back of his neck was completely upright. � I shared a look of alarm with Perki. � Edgar NEVER muttered. � That would be too, too improper. � What WAS going on?

�� After a bit more muttering (muttering?!) Edgar exclaimed, "Aha! � I have it! � Er, at least I think I do! � It is what one would call an anomalous propagation, well, not strictly speaking, but in any case that planet down there IS there and HAS been created and yet NOT created." Edgar ended on a querulous note.

�� I didn't know what concerned me more. � The fact that a planet was there that wasn't there and yet was or the fact that Edgar was querulous. � Edgar NEVER was querulous! � But I realized that there was only one thing to do: We had to go down there and see what was snagging us and what we could do about it. � I told Edgar so and got a confirming nod from Perki and a shrug from Weslee that indicated he might as well go along for the ride.

�� There was a long moment of utter, complete slilence. � Then Edgar, ever the gentleman, politely cleared his "throat". � "Um, Sire, it will not be quite that simple."

�� There was an awkward moment when I was sure that I detected a certain embarrassment in Edgar's silence. � Going for broke, I asked, "Why?"

�� "Well, you see, Sire, they don't believe in us!"

�� "What!" � Weslee growled, "What do you mean, you over rated box of techno tricks, they don't believe in us?"

�� For once Edgar refused to be baited back into their continuing squabble. � That stopped Weslee cold. � For a moment I was thankful. � But then I was chilled to the bone. � I had already realized that this was serious. � But the fact that Edgar had remained mute in the face of Weslee's taunting made me realize that it was beyond serious, more than likely DEADLY serious. � Despite being a perfect gentleman when addressing me, Edgar almost never passed up a chance to give as good as he got from Weslee. � I looked at Perki. � The look on her beautiful face said that she was DEFINITELY sharing my concern. � I looked up over the doors where the numbers on an ordinary elevator would be. � That's where Edgar's Holographic "face" was located. � Instead of looking at us Edgar seemed lost in deep thought. "Edgar?" I queried, to get his attention.

�� He snapped out of it after a moment. "Sorry, Sire, I was refining the diagnostic of my latest sensor sweep. � I should say, more properly, that they CAN'T believe in us." Without waiting for the obvious question Edgar went on, "You see, sire, there is, among other things, an illusion field covering the whole planet. � I have not been able, to present, isolate the source, but it is definitely there."

�� Edgar saw that I still didn't get it. "What I am saying, Sire, is that we CAN land, but it will be very dangerous. � Seeing the impatience and confusion on the faces of all of us, Edgar went on, "You see, because of the illusion field and the source of it which I am still attempting to locate, I CAN take us very near the surface of the planet, but then when I reach a certain height, which I am unable to determine, due to flucuations in the source beam, I will have to come down as an ordinary elevator. � Surely you see the problems inherent in that?"

�� Weslee can be such a coward sometimes. � He prefers to call it strategic non-engagement. � But this time I was pretty sure he was employing theatrics when he he threw up his big hands and said, "We're all gonna die!"

�� I gave him a look mixed with amusement and disgust before turning to Perki. � I was going to let her do the "honors", put into words the obvious. � She didn't flinch. "Yes, it could be very tricky --"

�� "Tricky?" Weslee looked at me in (I think!) mock horror. "She said tricky, Doc! �Does the woman realize it's MUCH more than tricky?" Turning to Perki, he snarled, "How could you say TRICKY ?" � Then he went into the corner and cowerd with his hands over his head. �

�� Perki gave him one of her sweet, indulgent, understanding smiles, before going on, "Yes, tricky, Weslee. � Since Edgar is NOT a real elevator that means that he has no cable to suspend from nor any shaft to guide him down. � That, of course, means, we will crash land. � And if the crash begins from too high up then Edgar may be irreparably damaged and we all may be killed. � However, in our favor is the fact that we are all stronger than the average human so we may be able to survive. � She looked at me (while Weslee still muttered something about wishing he'd never met Edgar) and waited for my input.

�� "Well, I think we only have one choice unless --" I turned to Edgar, "something's changed and you can get us out of here NOW ?" Edgar reluctantly demurred, � "I certainly wish I could, Sire, but this is a paradox. � Since they can't believe in us we do not exist as we are and cannot continue on as we were. And yet we do, obviously, exist, to a certain extent, as I've already indicated so that gives us a certain leeway, but only down into their existence -- where, as I have already indicated, I will cease to be as I am now." � That was what I was afraid of, but I thought I had better make completely, completely sure. � "Well, then, I guess we DO only have two choices. Either we stay here until we rot or we take our chances by going down. � At least down there, wherever down there is, we can try to do something about this."

�� Perki nooded gravely. � Weslee continued to cower. � Only now he had added whimpering to his repertoire. � I looked at Edgar. � As the ostensible leader it was up to me. "Edgar. � Take us down. � And, Edgar? � Try to find some place soft to land?" � And I gave him a wry smile to show that I was only half joking.

�� Now that our course was set Edgar was the consummate gentleman's gentleman. "As you wish, Sire." � he said in the correct tone of dignified subservience. � At least it was good to have Edgar back to his old self -- for however long that would last!

�� We started down. � We hadn't descended very far before Edgar spoke up. "Oh, Sire, I see I have been a bit remiss! � I did neglect to put as fine a point on this as I might have."� I looked a question at him. � "Well," Edgar said in the embarassed tones of a servant found to be lacking in his duties, I did say that I will be in control if I move towards this world. It's only when someone SEES me that I will cease to be myself. � That sight of me will determine the level I can descend before I lose my abilities that I have now. �� I wish I could explain why seeing me is the precipitating event, but all I can tell you is that my sensors are telling me that I CAN move towards this world, but that my power peak will diminish with the probable proximity of a sighting. � It more than likely has something to do with the illusion field since -- my sensors are also informing me -- should we come down in the vicinity of several individuals the effect will increase exponentially, BUT -- just EXACTLY why that is I cannot tell."

�� In Edgar's defense, I thought, he has never been in such an anomalous position before. � Perki came to Edgar's defense too, but in a roundabout way,�� "I've encountered something like this before, but not in quite this way. � In any case, I HAVE noticed that disbelief somehow attracts proof which is then promptly doubted even more. � Perhaps because the mind is a universe unto itself then disbelief and proof and doubting that proof are like three equally charged particles which are attracted to each other -- no matter how far apart in the universe they might be! � Perhaps this is a case of something like that being harnessed -- somehow! -- for no good? � If so, I shudder to think of the level of science involved here. � Do we have any chance of defeating such a thing?

�� I wanted to laugh at that as simplistic or superstitious, but I knew that Perki had seen many a strange thing in this strangest of all universes and so I knew I could discount nothing. � It was a case of Ckarke's Law here, again. � On that glum note I fell silent and Perki and I watched Edgar's monitor for lack of anything better to do! � I DID feel like telling Edgar to make sure he landed somewhere deserted, but that was obvious and besides, what good would it do? � However there was one possible "bright" spot. � Edgar WAS small and therefore we stood a halfways good chance of getting fairly close to the surface before being spotted. � On the other hand -- how close was fairly close?

�� Weslee, seeing that we were ignoring him, quit his theatrics and came to join us, looking over Perki's shoulder. � Ironically, it was Weslee who noticed the world first. � I had gotten bored looking at a blank screen for so long and had started rummaging through Edgar's drawers, looking for something -- anything! -- we might be able to use to help cushion our landing! � And Perki had looked away, curious to see what I was up to. � Our attention was brought back to the monitor by Weslee exclaiming, "Holy Uncertainty Principle, Doc! � Ya gotta see this!" � We quickly joined him at the monitor again.

�� There was a planet out there -- well, sort of! � But it was insubtantial. � However, it was getting more substance as we stood and watched the monitor in disbelief. � How does a planet come into existence as an observer observes? I wondered. � I turned to Weslee. � "What did it look like when you first saw it?"

�� "It was like looking through fog or water or a bad holograph," Weslee answered, "I mean, I wasn't even sure I WAS seeing anything! � It was kinda spooky, Doc!" � He gave me a wry gri n and smoothed down the hackles that had risen on his ne ck.

�� I imagined that it was. � It was disturbing enough seeing the planet smeary looking -- as if there was something wrong with Edgar's monitor, which I knew wasn't the case -- so I could imagine how spooky it would be to see it appear as if it were a ghost materializing out of some fantastic ether. � But then I noticed something else strange that Weslee had either not seen or neglected to mention. "The Stars!" I exclaimed.

�� "Huh? � What? � Oh." Weslee said, "Yeah, I see what you mean, Doc. � It IS kinda strange they way they all look like they're jewels lying in seperate beds of cotton candy or something."

�� Weslee was right -- even if he had understated it a bit. � The stars were shining like real stars, but they looked like ACTUAL jewels. � Some were green and looked like cut jade. � Some were red and looked like shaped rubies. � Some were blue and looked like polished moonstone. � And some were white and glittered with coruscating light like diamonds with many wondrously wrought facets. � It was if some master jeweler had crafted these giant stones, lit them from within somehow and had then placed them here in beds of some cottony, candy like substance to display them at their best and to light this portion of space, to make it a magical, special corner of the universe. � But then I placed that mysterious sight in the back of my mind, perforce. � We had entered the atmosphere and the light from the stars went all uniform white and receded to points of light. � We were definitely coming down!

�� The planet from the height we were at looked very much earth like. � I had noticed that most planets that were inhabitable DID look earth like. � Of course there was variations in topography and flora and fauna. � I wondered what the variations would be on a planet who's origins were as thaumaturgic seeming as this one was. � But all we could see with Edgar's now failing monitor was the fact that we were coming down in a what looked like a forest -- at least I hoped the tall, TALL forms below us were trees!

�� But then I didn't have any more time for wondering and trying to observe. � Edgar warned us all that he was even more rapidly losing power! � With my last glance at the monitor I saw that it looked like we were, probably, at best, about fifty feet from the ground. � If my estimate was anywhere near correct it was going to be a BAD crash after all!

�� We got lucky. � Well, sort of. � Later Edgar told me that it was like as if some one HAD believed in us for a moment or two and that slowed our rate of descent somewhat -- just enough, it appeared. � As it was we WERE bounced around quite a bit. � We all had minor injuries and Edgar was shaken up quite a bit, but it appeared that he was relatively intact. � And we were down in one piece! � Now we just needed to get out of Edgar and see what was what!