Virtual reality is, for some, an escape from the hassles and 

stress of real life.  But as Mr. Bungle proved, it can be just as 

dangerous and terrifying as real life.  It was on the Lambda Moo that Mr. 

Bungle "cyber-raped" two women named Legba and Starsinger.  Although they 

were not physically raped, it was treated on the MOO as if they were.  

And the two women themselves were emotionally scarred.<BR>

<BR>

	Apparently Mr. Bungle raped the two women in the living room by 

using a voodoo doll.  This enabled him to force the women to perform 

sexual acts on him.  The voodoo doll left the women virtually helpless, 

only able to speak, or yell as the case was.  He was ejected from the 

living room but continued from his room, since the doll worked just as 

well from a distance.  Finally, Zippy, an old timer who brought with him 

a gun of near wizardly powers which could penetrate the powers of the 

voodoo doll, teleported into the room.  He fired the gun at Mr. Bungle 

and silenced the laughter and stopped his actions by putting Mr. Bungle 

in a cage.<BR>

<BR>

	So the time came to decide what to do with Mr. Bungle.  Contrary 

to "real life," the only real punishment that could be inflicted was the 

act of Toading, which is a procedure by which a character is removed from 

a Moo by a wizard.  The procedure is called toading because the character 

is said to be turned into a toad.<BR>

<BR>

	A meeting was held, at which nearly everyone discussed what 

action to take.  During this meeting, Mr. Bungle himself showed up and 

was asked why he did what he did.  He replied, "I engaged in a bit of a 

psychological device that is called thought polarization, the fact that 

this is not RL (real life) simply added to heighten the effect of the 

device.  It was purely a sequence of events with no consequence on my RL 

existence."  After realizing that Mr. Bungle was a psycho, the time came 

to decide on his toading and who was to do it.  Only a wizard has the 

power to commit a toading.  Joefeedback, a wizard, finally decided.  

Although he saw no excuse for what Mr. Bungle had done, he saw the 

toading of a fellow player just as serious.<BR>

<BR>

	He decided to perform the toading.  He did it quietly and alone.  

But a few days after the death of Mr. Bungle, a new character arose with 

the same characteristics as Mr. Bungle.  His name was Dr. Jest.  Even 

though toading may be the only punishment on a Moo, this proves it is not 

necessarily a sure thing.  As it turns out, Dr. Jest stopped logging on 

shortly after he arrived.  And if someone is to ask were Dr. Jest is, 

they would get the response that he is asleep.<BR>

<BR>

	It may be that the virtual reality world may not be as great as 

everyone thinks.  Some people take virtual reality seriously.  Others 

find it hard to take seriously because of the lack of order.  If there 

are no means of punishment for crimes, it may be hard to take a virtual 

environment seriously.  Mr. Bungle proved that as long as a society, real 

or virtual, allows anyone into it, it runs the risk of its members being 

harmed.<BR>


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