Where are the Fish?
Created | Updated Jun 20, 2003
Has anyone else noticed that Fenchurch M. Mercury's famous fish have gone missing? All over h2g2 empty spaces exist where Ms. Mercury's fish previously resided. When one clicks on the space to get more information, a message appears from GeoCities stating:
'We're sorry, but this page is currently unavailable for viewing. Please try again later, or search Yahoo! GeoCities for other pages that interest you.'
What does that mean?
As the newly-elected 'Virtual Mayor of London', is Ms. Mercury being blackmailed by a rogue political splinter group (or by a disgruntled defeated mayoral candidate)?
When asked about the disappearances, Ms. Mercury had this to say:
'I have received reports of the missing fish from as early as December 2, 1999. I am aware of the situation and am working to correct it.'
We have word that the fish may have been kidnapped by everything from crack mimes to vegan terrorist groups, but rumours are not to be taken seriously as of yet; as a rational explanation for the disappearances is still quite possible. No notes were left by the fish other than 'Error: Site is not responding. Server may be down, try again in a few minutes.' and 'We're sorry, but this page is currently unavailable for viewing. Please try again later' or 'search Yahoo! GeoCities for other pages that interest you.' What do these cryptic messages really mean?"
She continued, saying:
'We encourage everyone to keep their cool, panicking will not help the situation. I feel that it is safe now to assure the safe return of everyone's fish within the week. This has nothing to do with the pending destr... err, I mean, alleged pending destruction of the Earth. Hearsay and dirt will not aid in the safe return of the fish. My advisors tell me I cannot reveal any other information at this point in the investigation. I will be answering no other questions, thank you!'
Off the record, but quoted here because we don't do that 'off the record' stuff, Ms. Mercury states:
'I'm really mad at Geocities, and am planning to send my mafioso buddies over to regulate.'
Computer industry experts suspect that the real cause of the disappearances can be put down to GeoCities server errors. Ms. Mercury's technical advisors have suggested that she copy the fish to an alternative site as a back-up in the event that GeoCities ever goes 'haywire' again.
The h2g2 Post plans to follow this story and will update readers with any breaking developments
