Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka VIII

Max could see the six-sided dice through the data stream and he smiled.

Hovering about with a lot of strings he looked like a little kid holding balloons and was afraid to let go. The techno-trance song Suki was playing was getting louder as it began to bleed through the versions, realities, what-if's and what-could-be's. It was the signal he was waiting for.

"Okay Frank," he said. "Let's rock."

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka VII

"'This transmission is coming to you', why is Maggie constantly saying that?" Chance asked. He pick up his coffee mug to take a sip. Spilling a little on his character sheet. So far this session had been pretty interesting and intense considering that he had shown up late to the session to begin with. "Is it a code of some sort? A clue maybe?"

Dan had been sketching out the scene Tim had described. It was in ink and looked like a quick sketch of Max hovering off the floor in a futuristic bunker with his arms outstretched and his hands picking at data threads around him. With the face of Morganfokker at his right ear and Maggie at Max's left ear.

"I think Tim is trying to give us a clue, that's why Maggie keeps repeating it," Amanda chimed in. She had written out the phrase on a sheet of paper and was also using an anagram app on her cellphone to work out the phrase. "I really don't understand the whole Morganfokker thing though."

"That was before you joined," Dan replied.

"Ah," Amanda said.

Dan looked down at Max's character sheet and then picked up his six-sided dice. One was red with white pips, which was the positive die, and the other was black with red pips, and this was his negative die. "Okay, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to pour all my Fu points and Fortune points out of the pool and add them to my Intrusive Skill."

Since Max was using the strings of data like a keyboard he figured it might just work. He had a hunch what Tim was getting at and he could see the look of approval on the Game Master's face as he had seen it before, knowing that he was write on track.

Dan rolled both dice. Chance, Amanda, Peyton and Mark all waited for the dice to stop rolling. The red die rolled a six and the black die came out a two.

The players around the table erupted because a positive six meant that Dan could roll again and add that to the roll...

Neo Static: Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka VI

No matter how much tried to manipulate the strings the outcome was virtually the same: very bad. There was a solution to the task at hand and he was simply winging it as he went along. It was all gut instinct.

"Just let it go, Max. You've done as much as you can do," Morganfokker whispered.

"Don't listen to him," Maggie said. "He's still holding a grudge after having his head blown off."

Max chuckled.

A bead of sweat streaked down his cheek as he was playing the strings and working a tangent. He now knew how DJs felt on the stage working their magic from other peoples' sounds to make music. It was skill, inspiration and all heart. Max could see himself floating in a tube; he could also see many versions of himself aware of what is happening around him.

That's why I stopped for a fraction of a second in Rio. He knew that pieces of the puzzle were still missing but a large chunk of the picture was there. That also explains the hiccup in ... Why didn't I see this before?

It's so simple that children see it and when they get older they are blinded by the cold world around them, Maggie said. Now, you are seeing it... you can see it... since this

This Transmission Is Coming To You.

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka V

Darius skateboarded down the ramp with Twofeathers flying a little ahead as a scout. Suki kept up with them as she jogged, making sure the Godhammer was on and ready to sing a song of death or two. Darius held a three dimension projection of the area in his hands, casually pointing to the direction they needed to go.

"Why is this Ul'ran invasion important?" Twofeathers asked as she flew back. She was bored and just wanted to talk. "We've seen a few timelines crumble in our journeys - what makes this one special?"

"Everything and nothing," Darius replied. "It's all part of the plan. What we are doing has to be of great significance or.... it could be a set point in time as well as..."

"I've learned a long time ago to just go with the flow," Suki chimed in.

Twofeathers drifted over to Suki and looked her over, as if checking for defaults. After all, hadn't they been talking with another version?

"I never thought there were any other versions of me out there," Twofeathers said. "Maybe I'm a mighty dragon in one of them."

"Or a bug on a windshield in another," Darius quipped.

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka IV

Frank's fingers danced over the keyboard; he was coding as fast as his brain would let him. The laptop that Max had given him was way beyond the years that it should be from. But he didn't question where he had gotten it or how; he knew that didn't matter when you finally looked at the whole situation at hand. He keyed the mic.

"Aqua," he said. "You girls are in position?"

"Oh hell yeah," Aqua replied. She was knee-deep in water in a tunnel beneath a facility in some remote city. The transmission seemed to be coming from a billion light years away; there was heavy static and Frank's baritone voice was coming in tinny. It also didn't help matters that Suki, who was at a juncture box, was listening to a techno-trance track as loud as can be. "We're ready to kick the tires and start the fire, Old Man."

Suki gave Aqua the thumbs up.

Aqua didn't know where they were at the moment, just that Max had brought them here and told them to be here when the signal was given. She had given up trying to fathom just how many realities they were away from the prime. Or if there was even a prime and they were just part of an ongoing simulation.

"I'm sending you the code now," Frank stated.

"Got it," Aqua replied. She took the flash drive from her wrist device and handed it to Suki. "Here ya go, j-pop!"

"Thanks, Rhonda Rousey," Suki replied.

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka III

Munson and Hyllensen, along with a few other scientists, were in the Clean Room. Eyes on the monitor as they witnessed the base slowly rotting from within. A cancer eating away at the cells that were healthy and turning them dark.

Munson looked at his pistol like a man dreading what he was going to do next.

Hyllensen looked around at the staff. Some of them were monitoring what was going on in the chamber.

"I don't frakkin' believe it!" someone stammered.

"What is it?" Munson asked.

"Max's got company," the intern replied. "I don't know where they came from!"

"How is this possible?" Munson asked.

Hyllensen heard something and tilted his head as if he was fine-tuning a station. He was listening to the klaxon wailing away like a banshee in the night but he thought he could hear some type of rave music with it.

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka II

Ruffo was down to her last clip, her anti-biotic pin had reached the maximum limit and she knew her time was going to come. She would save a last bullet for herself since she didn't want to be a drone in the Ul'ran horde.

She was in the meat locker, secured in the confined space with a few other souls that had managed to escape the chaos. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something wonderful was going to happen; she got this feeling once in a blue moon and she attributed it to just plain dumb luck.

Could there be someone pulling the strings? she wondered. Could this be just a game of some sort and I'm just a ...

Nope... Well, maybe.... or it could be a movie... a voice entered her head. It was Max. Well, one cannot answer that question honestly though, since it's only a matter of how you look at things.

"Cap, are you alright?" Denmark asked. He raised the gun on her in a precautionary manner and he was ready to put a bullet in her brain-pan if she was infected.

"Yeah," she said. "Save your bullet for when you truly need it."

Denmark cracked a wry smile; she was okay.

You can open the door in about 30 seconds.

Outside the hammering and pounding on the steel door stopped and she could hear the rattle of Uzis and the sound of shells dancing on the floor like an erratic drummer at a punk concert. Then all was silent.

Ruffo looked at the others in the freezer and she went to the door and pulled a tie from the handle.

"What's going on?" someone asked. "Did they send a rescue unit?"

"I don't know," Ruffo said. "But, I think whoever it is ain't takin' no crap from Ul'rans."

The door opened and Ruffo looked and saw two young ladies in different cheerleader outfits. Why they could be twins. She didn't know who they were or why they were here but she was glad to see them.

"Max needs to see you now," one of the cheerleaders said.

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka I

"... now you understand what must be done," Max said to them all. He had turned to the three-dimensional projection of Suki and Aqua hovering before them. "Time is of the essence, though the essence of time is not up for question. Comprehend?"

Aqua nodded as if she understood. She banged the battle gauntlets she was wearing together to activate them.

Suki just shrugged, lifting her hands in a 'comme ci, comme ca' motion. Her 13 year old brain was still trying to wrap around the fact of seeing herself, or another version of her, in the room with Max while he was giving them their task to do. And she was still trying to figure out if this Max was the Max.

"You got it, dude," she finally said. Then the holographic projection disappeared.

Max turned to the others he had gathered; a cup of coffee materialized before him and he took a sip of the elixir.

Suki glanced up at Max and smiled; same old Max. Then she looked at the others in the room where they had gathered:

Darius and his sidekick, Twofeathers, resting on his shoulders.

A much older version of Frank, his hair grey and his face clean shaven standing with what she had first thought was a version of Angst but turned out to be her daughter, Angelissa. Suki presumed the various strings in the plex intertwined and changed and off-shoot to various other alternatives which were endless and constantly changing like waves on a beach. 

And standing beside them was the Angst that she knew and loved but it wasn't her Angst, or maybe it was but it was not too easy to tell these days.

And then there was the Suki and Aqua which Max had contacted, wanting them to...

"You sure you are up to this, Suki?" Max asked her.

"You got it, dude," she told him.

Neo Static: What May Be, What Might Be, What It Is IX

"So what you gonna do?" Suki asked Aqua. "Do you wanna go or not?"

Aqua sat in the booth and picked at the plate of fries in front of her. She didn't know what she wanted to do with the spare time that she had; she was used to being on the go, one minute battling a gazillion robots, the next battling giant mutant wasps in some secret lair of some mad scientist. Now the biggest decision of the moment was whether to go to an Anime Convention uptown or to just rest her bones. Suki wanted to go ever since she saw the signs and she didn't want to go alone, and she had been hounding Aqua for the better part of an hour now.

"Please," Suki said, pouring on the charm. "Pretty, pretty, pretty please."

"Okay doke," Aqua said. "But if we are going to do this, let's do this right. We need to pick up some cosplay outfits!"

"Done," replied an excited Suki. "I checked MapsApp for some shops and there just happens to be one around the corner! 'Mally's Manga Mall'. They have a whole slew of styles from The Reverend..."

As the girls got out of the booth they saw Max hovering there before them.

"Max?" Suki said. "What's the deal?"

"I can't take you with me but I do need you girls to do a big favour for me. I need someone I can trust for this task," he said. "You ladies are my ace up the sleeve. Everything depends on it."

"Sure thing, Boss," Aqua replied. She was leery, seeing that the Max before her was Max but not the Max that left with Goner, Frank and Pretty George to see Clipboard Jones at a club for some items. "What's the task?"

Max took something out of his pocket and held it open-handed before the girls.

"甘いイエス·キリスト" Suki said.

Neo Static: What May Be, What Might Be, What It Is VIII

They were sitting around a campfire, relaxing and taking it easy. It seemed like months since they had had a break in the action, that's for sure.

Max and Maggie were lying by the fire, Maggie enjoying the summer breeze as Max sipped coffee from one of those old tin can coffee mugs they had picked up at a flea market a few days back.

Angst sat cross-legged on a blanket field-stripping the Uzis, which made Frank shake his head and chuckle. Here they were on a beach in North Carolina admiring the summer evening.

Goner was picking stones and seeing how far he could toss them into the water; well, after what had happened in North Africa with the grenade he could use a little practice on throwing.

Aqua and Suki sat on a log reading Manga and both were fan-girling on how different and vastly improved the series The Reverend was in this version of Earth.

Akimoto sat away from the group, sitting on a rock and meditating as usual.

All was quiet and peaceful for the moment, a time to catch one's breath and enjoy the scenery for a change of pace.

"You there yet?" Maggie asked of Max.

"Huh," Max replied.

"Nope, not yet," Maggie stated and she turned to kiss him.

"What brought that on?" he said, as if she needed a reason to.

"Just saying hello to an old friend," she replied. Then she saw the sparkle in his eyes, as if an ancient door was opening, letting light into a room that was completely dark.

"Dammit," Angst said as she looked around the blanket.

"What?" Frank inquired.

"Nevermind," she replied. "I think I left it in the car."

"Want me to get it?" he asked.

"No, I'll do it," she said, getting up. "Besides, I think I have a kink in my leg to work out."

"Well, considering you've been doing that for a while now it would kink up," Frank joked.

Angst stood and headed for the car.

Max had glanced over and then he looked back at Maggie and she just smiled and nodded. "You see it now, don't you."

Angst headed to where the vehicles were parked and she heard a noise and looked to see Max, hovering off the ground.

"What the hell, Max," she said. "You scared the bejesus out of me."

"Angst, you're needed," Max said to her.

"Well, no guff," she chided.

"Take my hand and we'll go," he said as he reached out. "You'll only be gone from here a fraction of a micro-second."

Neo Static: What May Be, What Might Be, What It Is VII

Frank sat at the kitchen counter, reading the paper and sipping away at his coffee. The television was turned on at a low volume, just enough to provide background noise. He glanced at the clock and noticed the time.

"Sweetheart," he called. "We've got to go."

"In a minute," came back the reply.

He took the last sip from his coffee and folded the paper neatly and put it on the counter. He brought the cup to the sink and ran the water over it, gave it a good rinse out and then set it in the sink.

"How's this?"

Frank turned and his mouth fell open.

She stood before him in a cheerleader outfit and her hair in ponytails.

"Oh... my..." he stammered. Seeing his daughter, Angelissa, in her school uniform showed that she was the spitting image of her mother.

"Oh, Dad, I'm so sorry," Angelissa said. She approached him to give him a hug. She could spot the tears building in his eyes. They had lost her mother ten years ago to cancer.

"No, Angel, it's okay," he said. "I wasn't prepared to see you in your new outfit, that's all. I will be there this evening for the game. It's your first performance and I wouldn't miss that for the world."

"Dad? Whose your friend?" Angelissa said as she looked at the counter. Frank turned to see Max there on the other side.

"Jeeze Frank, just how old are you?" Max asked with a sly smile. "The grey in your hair suits you."

"Max!" Frank said. "What the hell? I thought... I thought..."

"Well, that's another Max," Max said. "Or I'm that Max but just not the same Max you knew."

"Dad?" Angelissa questioned.

"Sweet Mother of Mary, she's the spitting image of her mother!" Max said, looking at Angelissa.

"What's happening?" Frank said, snapping Max out of the flashback moment of Angst in his mind.

"I need your magic, Frank," Max stated. "Of all the Franks in the Plex you are the one with the edge."

Neo Static: What May Be, What Might Be, What It Is VI

Darius and Twofeathers were resting against a tree; well more like Darius was resting while Twofeathers seemed to fly from branch to branch looking for a particular roost that seemed comfortable. It was spring in New York City and Central Park was lovely this time of the year. Darius had only been here once before but that was New Year's and he really didn't have time to enjoy it due to the circumstances that were happening at the time.

"Damn it to hell," Twofeathers replied.

"Just get some shut eye will ya," Darius told her. '"We've got a big job to do tomorrow."

"How bout a big job right now," Max said, sending Darius out of his slumber.

"What the hell?"

Max was hovering one metre off the ground before them. "I got a job for you guys."

"Sweet!" Twofeathers stated. "But, who the frak are you?"

"This is Max," Darius told her.

"Max?" she repeated. "You mean the Max?"

"The one and only," Max answered. "And I need your help... Well, not me but some people that are going to need some help."

"You don't need to explain anything to me," Darius stated. "I'm in."

Neo Static: What May Be, What Might Be, What It Is V

Suki sat there on the subway car, sipping a soda and watching the darkness blend with neon signs as the subway continued onwards. She was unsure what was going on but she knew she was going somewhere where she was needed.

The newly acquired Godhammer rested in her lap; the weapon was as big as her forearm. But it felt natural to wield in her tiny hands. Her new friends were resting as well as the train moved on and that was okay, it was giving her time to think.

Her old life was behind her and she was going to forge a new one in this weird thing called life that she was at. She glanced at Max who had closed his eyes and apparently nodded off, and she knew that she could trust him with her life. Her new life, riding a subway car and visiting various stations where their particular skills were needed.

She took a sip from the soda and thought about maybe catching forty winks herself - that's when Max tapped her on the shoulder.

"You're wanted," he said.

"For?" she asked.

"Not here," Max said; his eyes seemed to have aged a million centuries and he looked at her as if he had known her for decades (when in fact they had just met days before). "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she told him.

"Okay," he nodded as he reached up his hand and touched her shoulder. "Blink!"

She blinked and in the moment of time she was not in the subway car but standing before a hovering Max.