Starlight Tango

Max sat on the rock watching the horizon as the sun set. Twilight time. He was looking for the first star he could see. He waited with an unlit cigarette between his fingers, it was ready for sentry duty.

He heard faint music coming from Angst's mp3 player, she was listening to some mash-up tune. She was lying on the hood of the car with her eyes closed, listening.

His cellphone chimed and he answered.

"Yo," he said.

"Max," Suki chimed in. "Do you see her yet?"

"Keeping my eye open," he replied.

"Should be any second now."

And as if on cue Max spotted the twinkle in the sky. "There she is," he replied and he tapped Angst on the shoulder. She straightened up.

"Time to tango," Angst said. She looked up to where Max pointed and smiled. She slid off the hood and put the player into the car.

"We only got one shot at this, kiddo," Max said. "Let's not screw this one up."

What Series IS This Anyway?

On the morning train Max blended in with the other commuters who were heading off to work. There were over two dozen commuters in the car and Max didn't mind it at all, since Bishop seemed to have something in the works. It was rare to find this many people in the car. 

Even though his eyes were closed and he looked like he was dozing off, Max's mind was going over a number of future unwritten scenarios that might occur. He was interrupted from his morning process when someone plopped into the chair next to him.

"Is this seat taken?" the fellow asked. 

Max shook his head and straightened himself up; he glanced out the window.

"Do you mind if I asked you something?" the commuter inquired after several moments of silence. 

"Fire away," Max told him.

"I was told that if I needed something done that I was to find a certain person that rides a certain subway car and he might help me with my problem," the commuter said in a low secretive voice.

"Well," Max said as he leaned over to the man. "It all depends on who you where you looking for. But, by the sounds of it you are looking for a fictional character called Hannibal Smith."

+ PLEX TOURS .1 The Lab

• The Bunker
• The Lab Level Two
• The Cast
• The Bookstore
• The Brownstone
• The Subway
• Metafesto
• The Diner
• Chronoplex

Suki lowered her voice as they stepped from the hallway into the room. “This is the Lab.” 

Tatterdemalion shivered; it was cold in the room, or creepy, or both. The banks of machines, tubes arcing and twisting in the corners, the sounds of chemicals and calculations. Sterile smells. Her brow furrowed.

Suki noticed. “It’s familiar to you because this is where your Plex-unit was implanted. The memory won’t be conscious, of course.” 

Tatter suddenly felt ridiculous. Standing in this super-sci-fi hi-tech room in her baggy sweater, listening to a uniformed schoolgirl with a massive handgun perched on her hip tell her about brainwashing and psychological modifications.

Angst put her hand on Tatter’s shoulder. “Breathe. Do your visualizations.” 

Tatter jumped a bit at the touch of the cheerleader, but did as she said, and felt a little calmer.

Angst slipped her arm through Tatter’s, gave a comforting squeeze. “That feeling of absurdity, the doubt about the reality of what’s happening to you… That’s residue from the equipment.” 

Suki was watching some of the screens flash arcane equations. “Morganfokker’s tech emits fields that destabilize the mind’s sense of ontological certainty.” She smirked. “That’s how the Professor describes it anyway.”

Tatter shivered again. “So who’s this Morganfokker?” 

Angst led her over to one of the machines. A steel frame housing hundreds of slender glass vials, threads of light weaving across their surfaces. “We’re not exactly sure. He’s like Max and Maggie.” 

“In what way?” Tatter asked. 

Suki answered. “Well, you know how the Dragons have what the Prof calls 'Continuity'? I’m me, Frank’s Frank, Goner’s-“ 

“-a spaz,” Angst interjected, and the three girls shared a giggle. 

“But Maggie and most of all Max can be, like, all sorts of people? How they change during shifts, not just the place?”

Tatter sighed. “I’m not sure I follow…” She was remembering the day that she was abducted from her homeworld… but staticky flashes of another scene kept interrupting. Her parents dropping her off at University… Meeting her dorm-mate Maggie, talking about role-playing games… 

Angst scanned the vials. Her eyes looked sad. “In one of these I had a baby….”

Suki looked at Tatter with a serious expression. “He can give you things, and he can take them away. He can make you dream, and he can wake you up.” 

Suddenly all the screens in the Lab flickered. Flashed. The machines started to hum and thrum and whine. 

“What’s happening?” Tatter shouted. 

“We shouldn’t have come here,” Angst said, echoes of tears in her eyes.

Suki was staring at the strange, swirling patterns that were storming across the monitors. “I see… It’s Max… He needs our help.”

A Grinding Halt

The train came to a sudden stop, catching all the occupants off guard and sending them stumbling about. Max's head rammed off a metal pole, knocking him for a loop. Maggie maintained her balance as well as Wraith, but the others were scattered on the floor of the car.

"What happened?" Goner questioned. He was picking himself up and felt his temple. He was bleeding.

"We've stopped," Suki replied.

"No guff," Goner shot back.

The car was in total darkness, then the emergency lighting kicked on giving the area an unholy glow.

"This doesn't look good," Frank said.

"It's just that tip of the iceberg," Mags whispered.