Message in an Electronic Bottle

Like a vampire with a deep hunger for a taste of blood, so does Max hunger for combat and change. Sitting alone in his apartment, his radio attuned to a station where the music was nothing like the ones he listened to.

Tell me something.

There were three cigarettes butted out in the ashtray beside him. A fourth cigarette smoldered in it, the smoke drifting out like a signal from the past. He was bored, really bored, and he really didn't know what he wanted to do.

A fly had landed on his arm and Max turned to ask it, "What do you think?"

The fly continued to walk along his arm until it finally headed off elsewhere.

"Et tu?" Max muttered and he sighed.

His laptop was open and the screensaver had kicked in hours ago. A swirling mass of lines intermixing with each other in some form of sexual innuendos. He heard the blip of someone messaging him.

He got up from the chair and walked over to the desk. His finger hit the screen and the screensaver disappeared; at the bottom of the screen in the system tray the blue flashing signalling him. He touched it and it called up the messenger.

This Transmission is coming to you.

A LEGACY Break In

She turned when she heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching; she saw a huge, 14 foot tall beast plodding through the walls coming towards her. She ran towards it, her hand on the handle of the katana strapped to her back.

Maggie leapt into the air, and on the ascent she drew the katana, raising it high. She moved as if she was being guided by unseen wires. She brought the sword down upon the skull of the huge beast and split the beast in half.

Landing on her feet, she sheathed the katana and brought up a handgun, firing away at the unnamed mooks who were sent out to die by her hand. Bullets flew and found their mark as she made her way deeper and deeper into the complex.

"This is no picnic," she muttered to herself.

The Decision

INT. GOOD TOMES, GOOD TIMES - EVENING
MAX, FRANK, MAGGIE and ANGST are around a low table; all of them have a mug of something in front of them. Frank has a newspaper folded up and is reading a section. TRUMP is also with them but he is resting on MAGGIE's lap.

Other customers in the shop are scattered about and not paying too much attention to what's transpiring before them.

ANGST
So that's it then?

MAX
Pretty much.

FRANK
When are you thinking of putting it into action?

MAX
Soon. You'll know when.

ANGST
Fuck.

FRANK
Now Angst.

ANGST
This blows Frank. How could you accept that?

FRANK
It's more their war. I'm willing to stand to one side and wait for the call.

ANGST
Goddammit Max, when I was pulled into this group it was all-for-one and one-for-all. Why are you doing this?

MAX
It's final.

ANGST
This fucking sucks.

ANGST gets up and storms off the set.

MAGGIE
She didn't take it too well.

TRUMP
Well, I am not sure if she ever would agree. I don't think I am partial to your decisions.

Before the ReAwakening

Max looked up at the screens and sighed. There had to be more than life then sitting behind a desk and watching empty halls in a building. He looked down upon his name tag and shuddered. 

There was something wrong and he could sense it, but he really couldn't quite put his finger on it. For the past few days he had this nagging feeling of being watched, studied like a rat in a maze and he really couldn't understand why.

"Your turn," Kent told him, snapping Max out of his thought process. It seemed like whenever he got to this thought process something would happen to snap him out of it.

"What are you doing anyways?" Kent asked. "Thinking of some hot chick?"

"No," Max replied; he slipped into his boots. "Just going off on a tangent. I guess."

"Well, you can go back to it once you finish your rounds," Kent stated with a wink.

"Kay," Max said; he got up and took his flashlight. "Be back in 45 minutes."

"Not unless," Kent said and he drew his forefinger across his heck. "You know we are the expendables."

Max chuckled and headed out the door. In every movie security guards were slain in the beginning of a plot, or when the heroes tried to do something in a museum and the bad guys come in, or a monster chews them up good.

He walked down the hallway.

Morganfokker looked up from the stasis tube where a body floated like a specimen in a jar; he tapped the glass and a smile cracked his face. Then he turned and approached the assistant.

"How is he taking to the stimuli?" Morganfokker asked.

The assistant glanced over at the monitor and then down at a flimsy sheet. "Just like predicted. His neural patterns are low. He's actually bored, like projected."

"Good," said Morganfokker. "He's just about prepared for his assignment."

I Would Run Right Into Hell And Back

"I love you," Maggie told him.

"I love me too," Max replied.

The next thing Max saw were stars and then he fell to the floor like a tree struck by lightning.

Signals Sent

Goner entered the room and saw Frank and Max sitting at the kitchen table with a small device; it looked like one of those crystal radio kits you buy at a store. The radio was tuned to a classical station and Mozart was emanating from the speakers, which made Goner cringe. He hated that type of music.

"What you doing?" Goner asked after he opened the fridge and got a cola out.

"Influencing the past," Frank replied; he didn't look up from what he was doing. His left hand was on a keyboard while his right hand held a thin stick and his head was tilted to one side of a makeshift speaker.

Max just gave Goner a wink as he sipped from his coffee mug.

"Really now?" Goner said as he sat down at the table. "And how are we doing that?"

Frank replied with a smile, "Simple if you know what your doing."

Max let a chuckle slip from his lips.

"Well, time is a illusion, like ripples in water and I am just skipping some signals into the mix," Frank replied. "I was just showing Max here how slight signals sent back in time could influence the present. Sending flashes back into time, until the signal is caught and understood."

"Is it working?" Goner asked. "I see that you are listening to music and have a mic up to the speakers?"

Frank reached over and turned the classical station off and hit a top 40 station. A song was playing and then Frank's fingers danced on the contraption, holding the mic close to the speakers. He could hear some tween queen sing lyrics of a song trying to be more sexy than her age, and the beat was funky as well.

"Listen closely," Frank said.

Goner listened to the song as it was being played. Saw Frank's left hand dance across the keyboard, the stick in his hand, hitting a few tiny switches on the board, and that's when Goner heard the slight difference emanating from the radio.

"Whoa!" Goner said.

} Messages in the Black - for T.B.

Max walked across the street. Plopped several bills onto the counter and took 13 random newspapers off the shelf. He walked into a nearby cafe and promptly sat down; he signaled for a coffee and then proceeded with opening up the first paper.

"Now that's strange," said Maude; she had just gotten back from a wedding for which she had taken a week off.

Gladys looked up from the magazine she was reading and spotted Max. "Yeah, he's been coming in ever other morning with a stack of newspapers."

"Any idea why?" Maude asked.

Gladys shrugged and went back to her magazine. "Just bring him an ashtray and keep refilling his cup and he will leave you a nice tip."

"But didn't we go no smokin..." Maude began but promptly shut up and did what she was told.

He opened up the paper to a random page. Looked down at a word and then took a pen and circled it and jotted it down off to one side and then he did the same with the other papers. The waitress gave him a curious glance as he constantly opened up the newspaper at random pages and circled a word.

She glanced over his shoulder as she set the cup down and noticed what he had written: FIND TABLE MARKED WITH SYMBOL GANGLAND... Which she thought was weird but made kind of sense.

The Countdown

INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DAWN

MAGGIE sits at the kitchen table. MAX is leaning up against the counter. He's got a cigarette and a coffee mug beside him. Coffee mug has a slogan on it stating "Be Prepared!"

MAX:
You know what this means.

MAGGIE:
That I do.

MAX:
I think it's the only course of action we have to take at the moment.

Maggie looks up into the eyes of Max. Max looks like he has thought this one out, looks like he hasn't slept in a long while.

MAGGIE:
So when do you think?

MAX:
Soon. Very Soon.

EXT. BUILDING ROOF ACROSS FROM MAX'S APART- DAWN

A figure in black is lying close to the edge with a listening device.

MAGGIE (V.O):
Okay then.

MAX (V.O)
Let's hope that I'm not wrong about this.

INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DAWN

MAGGIE:
Then we shall see. Make the call.

Max reaches for the phone.

A Book is a Book

Control walked into the conference room and threw down a children's book in front of the trio that was sitting at a table. The trio looked at the book and then at Control, who took a seat.

"What's this?" inquired one.

"It's a book," Control replied. "It's a good read."

One of the gentlemen turned the book to read the title. It was a preschool Prince-Fish Book. The title read 'Cube'.

"Go on," Control urged; he sat back in the chair and folded his arms. "Skim through it and read."

The trio looked up and then at the book and one of the fellows opened it up. The illustrations were manga-ish but done in pencil style.
 
Max & Maggie
by Tym Billion
Illustrated by Dan Synnik

Max likes shooting. He shoots well.
He could shoot the moon like William Tell.

Maggie likes fencing. She fences well.
Her katana is like a symphony as you could tell.

Trump likes meowing. He meows well.
The talking cat likes to complain as you can tell.

Goner likes sitting. He sits by the well.
When he's not sitting, he's got secrets to tell. 
One of the trio closed the book after skimming the first several pages and asked, "What does this mean?"

"It means," Control said. "that we've moved into another territory."

Chakra Up

INT. ABANDONED HOUSE - TOP FLOOR - DAY
MAX is sitting on an old wooden chair with his hands behind him. In front of him THE FUTURE paces across the floor. The Future is clearly agitated.

THE FUTURE:
You know eventually I will have to kill you.

MAX:
I know you do.

THE FUTURE:
You seem pretty calm about it.

MAX:
Well, we all die sooner or later.

THE FUTURE:
You don't have to be smug about it.

MAX:
I am not as smug as I look. Can I ask you a favour before my life expires?

THE FUTURE:
That depends on what the favour is?

MAX:
Can I have a smoke?

The Future pauses and then reaches for a pack of smokes. As he opens one, the camera zooms in on the cigarettes and each cigarette has a miniature chakra engraved on them.

The Future pulls out one and puts it in Max's mouth and lights it. Max closes his eyes as he puffs on the cigarette. Letting the smoke down deep into his lungs, and then exhaling a purplish fog.

MAX:
Now that hits the spot.

THE FUTURE:
You know you are this close to dying.

MAX:
I have been this close for a long, long time now.

She's Fine Until Someone Says Something They Shouldn't Have Said...

Cue music.

A SERIES OF CUTS while the music begins from darkness: various shots of the city. Subway platform. City square. Tall building. Busker strumming guitar. Man with a fedora looking at some kids playing across the road. An abandoned building with boarded-up windows. A gum wrapper blowing in the breeze. Kids playing in the park. A teen in a car zooming past a corner store.

CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON THE DOOR as MAX steps out of a convenient store. He is dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt with the words LIFER. He heads down the sidewalk walking towards the subway.

CUT TO ALLEYWAY:
THUG 1, THUG 2 and GOON step out of the alleyway as Max passes. They proceed to follow him.

EXT. SUBWAY PLATFORM
Max heads down the stairs walking towards the camera. We see the Thugs follow.

INT. SUBWAY PLATFORM
Max standing off to one side. SUKI is skipping rope at the far end. AKIMOTO is leaning up against the wall his nose buried in a book.

THUG 1
Hey Man.

THUG 2
Yo.

MAX
Hello.

THUG 1
You got change for a dollar. I need to make a phone call.

GOON and THUG 2 are giddy.

MAX
(reaching for front pocket)
Sure.

Thug 1 pulls out a handgun and aims it at Max. While Thug 2 and Goon look at the others on the platform.

THUG 1
Good because I am going to take it all.

THUG 2
No one else move or else there's gonna be trouble.

Suki is skipping over.

Akimoto glances up over at Suki. Suki gives him the 'I can handle it' look so Akimoto goes back to reading the novel.

AKIMOTO
(softly to Suki)
You're not going to let this one slide are you?

Suki throws Akimoto the 'Hey It's Me' look. Akimoto shakes his head.

THUG 2
Yo Bitch. Stop skipping.

MAX
(muttering)
oh boy.

Moments of Distraction

Max sipped from the mug, tasting the liquid as if for the first time. He marveled at the little sensations that he had taken for granted, tantalization of the taste buds. He hadn't had a good cup of coffee like this in a long, long while.

This is as close to coming home as possible.

Though he knew he could never go home again, that things constantly shifted now and then to obscure truths and changing lies. He was glad that things he liked were still around in the plurealities that he had visited and stayed in awhile. Things like his brand of smokes and coffee.

He butted out his cigarette and then reached for the cellphone. His thumb danced over the keypad and he brought the phone to his ear. It was time to get some answers. Time to see what was happening, time to uncover this reality's secrets that were hidden.

Ring.

Pick it up.

Ring.

He needed to get to the bottom of this and wanted a question or two asked. But the phone kept on ringing, no answer.

Ring.

Max looked at the phone. And ended the call. He placed it on the table and reached for a pack of cigarettes. He lit one up and leaned back in the chair, exhaling a huge cloud of blue fog.

I can wait.

> Debashis in Plureality 2

Flaps up, throttle on. Gear in.  Lift off, climb high and soar.  Everything is smooth rolling.  Not a hitch, a couple of bumps but, nothing really.  This machine has gotten more cumbersome, but nothing we can*t handle.  We still love it.   Just gotta adjust the throttle on this thing.  Say what?  You want us to take on a bit more baggage?  Sure, but we*re gonna need some help.  Hmmm?  Yep, not a problem.  We can make it work.  Just need some fine-tuning.  But you gotta know, the more you give me, the bumpier the ride.   Hey, the first part of this journey is going well.  Sunny skies all the way, the cargo is not moving around much and it*s a great flight.  Couldn*t ask for better.  Some wanna get off a bit early, so we*ll make some stops.    Say it again?  Great to hear it * yeah, they*re liking the ride.  A bit of nausea for a few, but we got puke bags and some kind of homeopathic stuff on board for that.  There*s also Gravol for those who want it.  Yeah, we know there*s a bit more bumps, but hey, we got an old machine and lots of stuff on board, so it*s going to be a bit tougher to get this ride smooth, but they*re still liking it.   Hold on, can*t quite hear you.  Switching channels.  Say that last thing again, will you? Oh, things are fine overall for us*how about you?  It*s busy for us all, eh?    Ummm, hold on, different message coming in.  Says that something*s not right but we*ll fix it later on.  Not to worry.  Not to worry?? Geeez!  We*re like way up high right now and you*re telling me not to worry?  But, hey, you*re the boss.  But I will worry a bit.   Hey, listen, I*ve got a couple of problems on board and I*ll get you the documentation in a bit, but I*m also running into some clouds. So, the paperwork will wait, ok?  Lots of clouds, some dark ones.  A storm?  What is this?  Hmm. The instruments aren*t working properly.  There is NO WAY that the altitude can say THAT!  Oh well, time to fly without instruments.  We can do this.  Ride*s getting rougher.  But the clouds are still weird.  No storm yet, but something*s a-loomin*.  The luggage is moving around a bit more and the passengers are getting a bit upset.     Oh, for goodness* sake!! Rumours of an imminent crash?  Are you kidding!?  Tell them it*s not happened before and never will.  What??  They*re telling each other what?  Oh well, we gotta fly this thing.  The field*s not so far away.  They*re talking to the boss now?  But the boss is miles and miles away from up here.  Nothing the boss can do and why the heck don*t they just hang tight!?  Someone wants up into the cockpit?  Sure*gotta make the customers happy, I guess.     Well hi there.  How old are you?  11 years old, eh?  And who do have with you?  Oh yeah?  What*s your dog*s name?  You want to fly for a bit?  Can*t really allow you to do that.  Yes, it takes years of practice and training.  You know a lot about these machines?  Tell me more.  Yup, that makes sense*probably once you grow up, you can really get into learning about this stuff.  If you like this, do not lose your passion.  You can do this, it*s fun and I love it.  Look, I got a book or two for ya.  Hey, we*re getting into some air pockets, so I need you and everyone else to go back to your seats and get secure.  No, nothing to be scared about.  But, we gotta be safe.  Thanks for coming in.  Take care of that dog and I will see you when we land.     Ok, let*s get a handle on this thing.  What?  Someone else wants to see the cockpit?  We can*t right now.  They have to wait, or it might not even happen.  No, I*m not trying to be rude or whatever.  We gotta get through this storm or whatever it is and get down.  Someone*s complaining about the dog now?  The kid can fly better than us?  But the kid don*t even a license yet.  The kid ain*t tall enough to reach the pedals.  The kid needs time.  Is anyone still enjoying the ride?  Well, that*s good.   Oh, wait, here comes a transmission.  You*re telling me to go through the clouds and be careful for the mountains.  I can*t even see through the mountains.  Aren*t there some automatic beacons that are supposed to be around here somewhere?  Oh well, I know they*ll blink when they need to.  We*re all in this together, right?     SLAM!!!  What the heck was that?  We*re still flying, but what was that?!  A bird?  This high?  Oh, luggage?  Can someone please go down and secure all that?  What now?  Less fuel?  I thought I told you to keep check on that.  I thought you filled up before we took off*.  But don*t worry, I*ll just make this adjustment to the flight plan and we should be ok.   Ok.  I*m tired and I don*t know what*s coming next.  I*m not good anymore.  I*m just ok.  I don*t like it.  We*re in trouble.  We won*t crash.  I will make sure of that.  But what if I do. It*s all my fault,  none of it*s my fault.  Doesn*t matter.  Got keep this boat afloat.