A man of wisdom once said, "Never eat at a restaurant on the
top of a building.  If you must do so, at least make certain it does
not revolve."
        The restaurant at the top of the CN Tower in Toronto is called
"360".  You can work out for yourself what that means it must do.
        Nevertheless, the food was good, and the view spectacular.  It
was another beautiful night, sparkling clear, and though the Tower was
no longer the city's tallest building, it was still a respectable
height, providing a good vantage point from which to overlook the city
and the lake (depending on the orientation of their table at any given
moment).  Sometimes aircars would pause by the windows so their
occupants could wave to restaurant patrons before darting away.  Utena
found herself nostalgic for the airships of New Avalon.
        "Do you suppose we're higher than the dueling platform?"
Saionji wondered as he looked down at Lake Ontario.
        Utena looked too, then shrugged.  "I dunno.  I never could see
the ground from up there.  There were always clouds in the way."
        "The guidebook says there are 1,769 stairs to the top of the
tower," Miki pointed out.  "I wish I'd thought to count the ones
leading to the platform."
        "First time I had to climb up there, it felt like there were
about a million," said Utena.  "Wait a minute.  You mean to tell me
you didn't time how long it took you to get to the top?"
        Miki shook his head.  "I was always too preoccupied."
        "Huh.  Tsk, tsk... sloppy."
        "However," Miki went on, consulting his watch, "it takes this
restaurant almost exactly 72 minutes to complete a full revolution."
        Utena looked across the table at him, an odd look on her face;
then she burst out laughing.  Miki blinked at her.
        "What?" he asked.
        Saionji gave him a dry smile.  "Say what you just said again,"
he told Miki.
        "It takes this restaurant almost exactly 72 minutes to
complete a full revolution," said Miki.  "... Oh."
        "I just had this image... " Utena gasped, "of you two... and
Juri... and Touga... having a Council meeting... in a REVOLVING
RESTAURANT at the top of the belltower... "
        "Wouldn't have been much stranger than some of the meetings we
-did- have," mused Miki.
        Saionji drew himself up and intoned impressively, "If a diner
cannot lift the lid of his entree, he will die without ever eating
dessert."
        "We are the diner," said Miki.  "The world is our entree.  If
we cannot lift the lid, we will die without ever eating dessert."
        "Lift the lid of the world!" Saionji declared grandly.
        "For the Revolution of the Restaurant!" the two former
councillors said together, raising their water glasses in a toast.
        Kaitlyn reached to prop her hysterically giggling roommate up
from sliding out of her chair.  People at neighboring tables turned to
stare.  Kate gave them non-hostile mind-your-own-business sorts of
looks.
        "OK," she said to the three Cephireans, "you g-guys are
off-f-ficially p-punchy."  She glanced at her watch.  "N-not even
el-leven yet."  She shook her head.  "S-sad."
        "Remarkable," observed R. Dorothy dryly.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/