Crisis In Infinite Plexes - Anomaly One

v.Genderbent

Magnus swung the sword in an arc that severed the hand of the first guard and the gun barrel of the second. Neither opponent stopped – their brainwashing was routing all the pain stimuli through carefully crafted subliminal pathways that actually amplified their reflexes – and neither did Magnus, dropping into a crouch as the first threw a roundhouse kick, blood spraying out behind them from the stump, and the second smoothly exchanged the ruined firearm for a knife. Magnus tucked into a roll, trying to put some distance, but the guards pressed and Magnus straightened up but off-balance...

Except it was all theatre, all a lure to move the guards into the sight-lines of Francine's sniper rifle. As they lunged at Magnus their heads exploded. On the roof of the apartment building two blocks away, Francine began disassembling the weapon. Moving to the second perch to cover exfil.

Magnus was already inside the warehouse, after dropping one of the Professor's counter-security blankets. The presence of the two modified guards confirmed that this was an Omega site, so the first part of Trump's tip was true. Now, about the second...

Back in the van, pictures from Magnus' phone began appearing on the screen of Goner's laptop. She fiddled with some software to enhance the images. Tapped her earbud. “We got it, Mag. Head on back.”

“I have overwatch,” Francine's voice came in on the channel.

“Copy that,” Magnus' voice followed.

Angst was in the driver's seat. “So?” he asked, rubbing his hands together – it was a cold night.

“Just forwarded it to Mackenzie,” Goner said. “It's weird looking, whatever it is...”

Goner's phone buzzed. Then Angst's. Francine's, on the roof of the adjacent factory. Magnus' as he retrieved the blanket-emitter and slipped outside past the corpses.

A text from Mackenzie. 

CODE WHITE.

Crisis In Infinite Plexes - First Wave

v.Super 

“What is it?” Seraphim asked. She was typing some calculations into her tablet. 

The Shifter looked thoughtful. “Channel is transmitting some live media feeds to me from downtown. It's starting.” 

The Tower stood up from the table. His head almost brushed the ceiling of the hidden bunker under the old factory. “Alright team. Remember, this won't be like the regular street gangs, corporate criminals or mad scientists we've tangled with before. The Alliance of Terrorists, Tyrants and Contract Killers is a threat unlike Plex City has ever seen.” 

The Silhouette nodded. “Time to counter-attack A.T.T.A.C.K.” 

“We need a cool name like that,” The Heretic chuckled. 

“The batteries on the Holo-copter are charged and ready,” Seraphim said. 

Shifter began focusing on the images of the city that Channel was sending him. “I'll port to the scene and start recon.” And with a crackle of autonic energy he was gone. 

v.Dungeons&

Maighread had followed the strange tracks to the ruins of a Spider Temple. The Order of the Spider were famous for laying clever traps, and even though they had fallen years ago to the Children of the Pyre, it was possible that their lethal snares remained. Freeman crouched and conjured a Scrying Eye to search out the way ahead for any hidden dangers. The Faded Knight stood watch while the mage was in trance. 

“Let's just charge in,” Hammer said impatiently. “We don't want to let this thing get away again.”

Maighread didn't entirely disagree with the Changeling – this was the third time they had come across the mysterious markings and each time the maker had eluded them. If some new creature was prowling the realm then they needed to learn its nature quickly; if it be foul then to stop it from causing harm, or if it be fair then to protect it. 

“There is something strange...” Freeman whispered, his eyes closed, seeing through the Scrye into the shadows of the ruins. 

The Lady Dread suddenly dropped nimbly down from the trees. “A patrol of the Ashen Tradition approach from the ravine!” 

Hammer grinned and hoisted her enchanted mallet. 

v.Space 

“Modulating the emitters... There it is! I have the signal, Captain,” Lt. Lokk said from his station on the bridge. 

Capt. Magenta stood up from her chair. “Set an intercept course, Commander Washington. Chief Angellus, we'll need full-speed-plus if we're going to beat that Legacy vessel to the prize.”

Lt. Angellus nodded and began tapping and gesturing on the haptic display at the Engineering station, trying to maximize the synchronization of the Plexdrive with the local quantum-gravity conditions to squeeze out whatever extra power that he could. 

“Course set,” Comm. Washington said, studying vector simulations on his display. “But it's going to be close.” 

Two days ago, Lokk's routine Metawave scans intercepted a Pyro-type Exo probe registering an unknown vessel appearing near the border of a nearby Ether-type Exo territory. Anomalies like this attracted attention, especially Legacy attention, and the crew of The Dragon wasn't about to let them get the first look at it. 

Lt. Cube's voice came in over the comm from the hangar bay. “Send us out, Cap. I'll buy us some time.” 

The crew awaited Captain Magenta's order. 

“You in a Hangman, plus Lt. Comm. Wraith and Ensign Bisaillon in a Reaper. Don't get killed.”

v.Reunion 

Angst sprawled on the bed. Kicked off her shoes. They landed on the floor beside the bag from the convenience store. “I made sure to get you some milk duds,” she said, yawning. “Do you still like milk duds?” 

Frank and Goner were checking out an old local supply cache, to see if it was still intact. Max was meditating in the bathtub. Suki was peering out the motel window. 

Angst stretched. “What are we up to? Fourteen? I'm losing count, I can't remember what's been happening, what changed. After seven years of nothing...” 

Suki glanced at the revolver in her hand. She kept hoping each shift would bring back the Godhammer. Maybe some things were lost forever. She thought that she had been, but... “Maybe we should go shopping tomorrow, see if we can find you a cheerleader outfit.” 

Angst looked thoughtful. “Hm. I don't know. I don't know if that's me anymore.” 

“Is shooting things still you?” Suki asked. 

Angst sat up. “Why?” 

“Because more of those weird-eyed motherfuckers just showed up in the parking lot.”

v.Cadre 

Gauntlet leaned the shotgun beside the door, within easy reach. Peered through the peephole. Opened the door and let in Viking. 

“How do you know where my apartment is?” she asked. Then she noticed the blood dripping from his nose, staining his beard red. “What the - ?” 

“I saw it, saw everything, is what it felt like...” Viking muttered as he stumbled to her couch. “I ran an invocation of all three of the Trimurti, dosed on Type 1 Mana...” 

Gauntlet helped him sit. “You asshole! We had decided to wait!” 

“You know we couldn't, Peyton...” 

“How do you know that name?” 

“Mirk is getting too close, Cube isn't coming back... I had to try something.” 

“You tipped our hand, V. He'll know.” She moved to the window, glanced out. “I hope you got some useful intel at least.” Three black SUVs, an MK-Omega cleaner squad. She headed back to the door for the shotgun. 

Viking pushed himself back to his feet. Took a deep breath. Held out a flash-drive. “There's an audio file, I tried recording everything that came through the divination. I'll buy you some time. You need to get to the nearest subway station.” 

*

Aqua woke up. The rattle and hum of the subway must have lulled her to sleep. Her headphones were still on, but instead of music playing it was the sound of Akimoto's voice. He was rambling about all sorts of things, the kinds of things that he and Max would sometimes talk about. 

She looked down the car to where the barbarian-poet used to sit and meditate. Then she glanced back to where Max used to sit and read. The car was empty. It felt like she had been alone here for a long time. The door to Bishop's booth was closed. It felt like there hadn't been a stop in a long time.

Instability - Prelude to Crisis

Max picked up the cellphone as soon as he heard 'Gotta Get The Job Done' by The Plastik Kyngdom. It was his ring tone for messages, alerting him that something was up. A series of long numbers appeared: 

Lat: 38.990156264858015
Long: -94.61059659719467
Temporal Instability: 88.89% 
Liable Crunch: 98.02%
3 Days and Counting. 

"Sweet Mother of all things ..." he muttered as he slid his phone across the table and showed the screen to Maggie. "We need to get there in a hurry."

"That's pretty damn high," Maggie replied. "The Professor sure about this?"

"As sure as toast landing on the buttered side once it's been dropped," he replied. He dialed #333 on his phone and sent it. It was the call sign for the team to gather pronto.

Whatever was going to happen in 3 Days was going to be big.

+ PLEX TOURS .8 The Cast

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

Max Cube: test subject, metaphysical mystery

Maggie Magenta: haunted warrior, guardian angel

Morganfokker: mad scientist, dreamweaver

The Professor: scholar, guide, seer

Control: the director of operations, the voice of fate



The Dragons

version.Diner

Dexter: v.MaverickCop, v.Minus, v.Fallen, v.Super, v.Space, v.Western, v.Little, v.Upgrade

Wraith: v.Ninja, v.Minus, v.Fallen, v.Super, v.Space, v.Western, v.Little, v.Upgrade

Callan: v.MysticWarrior, v.Minus, v.Fallen, v.Super, v.Space, v.Western, v.Little, v.Upgrade

Darius: v.StreetKid, v.DeviantAngel, v.Fallen, v.Super, v.Space, v.Western, v.Little, v.Upgrade



version.Plureality

Frank: v.Hitman, v.Minus, v.Reunion, v.Genderbent, v.Dungeons&, v.Thespian, v.Little, v.Upgrade

Angst: v.Cheerleader, v.Minus, v.Reunion, v.Genderbent, v.Dungeons&, v.Thespian, v.Little, v.Upgrade

Goner: v.Mercenary, v.Channel, v.Minus, v.Reunion, v.Genderbent, v.Dungeons&, v.Thespian, v.Little, v.Upgrade

Suki: v.SchoolKid, v.GrownUp, v.Minus, v.Reunion, v.Genderbent, v.Dungeons&, v.Thespian, v.Little, v.Upgrade



version.Subway

Aqua: v.KungFuClubKid, v.Minus, v.Cadre, v.Cyber, v.Thespian, v.Little, v.Upgrade

Akimoto: v.TimeDisplacedBarbarianPoet, v.Minus, v.Cadre, v.Cyber, v.Thespian, v.Little, v.Upgrade



version.Initiated

Mayganne: v.Church, v.Escapist, v.Channel, v.Minus, v.Upgrade

Donnelly: v.Priest, v.Principal, v.Minus, v.Upgrade

Riveta: v.Detective, v.Seeker, v.Minus, v.Upgrade

Stone: v.Detective, v.ConspiracyTheorist, v.Minus, v.Upgrade

Scorpio: v.Legacy, v.LARP, v.Minus, v.Upgrade



version.Citadel

The Guard: Serisia, Chem Finder, Vlad, Kitty, Rand, Drake, Stryker, Dakk & Bekki, Severin



Allies and Anomalies

Pretty George: finder and fixer

Trump: talking cat

Bishop: the conductor

Simon: secret agent, Max's shadow

Marshal: quester, Max's secret identity

Mick: the writer, Max's nemesis

Tatterdemalion: strange girl from another planet

Alice: psychic waitress, Angst's daughter

Susanna: comfort, beacon

Hank: not everyone survives initiation

Twofeathers: shape-shifting imp, Darius' ally

Crow: initiation spirit



Travelers

Danny Leung, Jex, Raven, Penelope, Natasha, Connor, Memphis, Precious, Amber, Summer, Miranda, Gabriel 7



Adversaries

LEGACY, Logollos, demons, mercenaries, monsters, Brogan, MK-Omega, criminals, paramilitary forces, MJ-13, Lucy Morningstar, The Beast, cyborgs, dictators, Purgatides, conspiracies, The Future, cults, aliens, Acers, Lanight, spies, gangsters, Throckmorton, Morbid, slavers, corporations, The Legend Gangs, terrorists, Jak, Jakk, Bolo, pirates, Meelos&Legos, undead, Nell&Ally, Angus Mode, assassins, Verdi, Weldwood Que, Mortif, The They, Anti-Max, 'Fingers In A Glass Of Water', Mr. Clean, Exos, The Ashen Tradition, the Children of the Pyre, the Red Cadre, The Ul'ran, The Infrared and Ultraviolet Lodges, The System/Counter-System

version.Little

 Aki

 Angst

 Aqua

 Cal

 Dar

 Dex

 Frankie

 Goner

 Mags

 Max

 Sook

 Wraith

> And for more version.Little check out The Metaplex Mall Incident in Issue 23 of Protodimension.

BEDMAS

"Well, space usually has three dimensions. And we tend to move about within them relatively easily. Time has seven more dimensions, three of which we are usually travelling through without really noticing. And the other four require specialized technology. Psychic or mechanical, of course," Crow said.

"Okay, so that's ten dimensions so far..." Trump said.

"Right, plus the micro-dimension of biology, the hyper-dimension of neurology, the macro-dimension of planetary awareness, the mega-dimension of galactic awareness, and the ultra-dimension of cosmic consciousness."

"Fifteen."

"Multiplied by the 333 dimensions of mythic experience, and multiplied again by the 777 parallel universes, all to the power of 999 - the exponential number of interfaces that are commonly referred to as 'imagination'..."

"Um, I think I need to grab a calculator..."

"Don't bother, the exact number isn't necessarily relevant. Although the Professor would, of course, argue otherwise. And I don't pretend to know what kind of math his Plexotron operates on, only that what he thinks is his great invention is in fact a manifestation of the archetypal Initiation Chamber."

"Ah, that's interesting," Trump purred.

"Not to stray from the point, however. Which is that due to his XXXXXXXXXXXXX Max has the ability to travel through space, time, the body, the mind, the planet, the galaxy, the cosmos, mythology, parallel realities, media, dreams, and art."

"Which, in turn, might explain why he seems so confused a lot of the time."

"And keep in mind that this very description of Max as an Omni-dimensional Traveller is only one version of plureality."

Trump pawed at his whiskers. "You know what? I'm sorry I asked."

"Actually, I have a chart here somewhere that-" Crow continued.

"I need a nap."

> Chance in Plureality 6

January 12th, ????

I'm leaving this floating in the stream. I still don't understand it, but I've come to feel its pull from time to time. The Angel and the Demon tried their best to explain it, but it's never fully taken hold.

I've kept moving like they suggested, never stayed in one place too long, never made waves; just observed them.

I can't count the number of places I've been in, nor the number of 'instances' I've participated in... I usually know when a jump is coming though. It's like a tremor, you could be doing anything, then you notice it. Things just seem off, or far too clear. Police describe the adrenaline rush they get as heightening sounds or sensations, things are louder, clearer... More focused. It's a shame I've never been able to adapt to it and use it like I feel I should be able to. I just get lost in it, fall into the life I've taken on during that instance... Try to cling to it, like it'll make a difference this time around...

I've made my way by assuming lives. Easiest way to start, gather up some money... Starting from the bottom in some instances, beg, borrow, steal... Get some bankroll. After that, hit up a storage auction. You'd be surprised what kind of a start you can get from that... Little bits of a person or a family, all conveniently stowed awaiting retrieval. You can use that, set yourself up, assume a life. 

I know I'm supposed to observe, and wait... For what I still don't know, but I see them sometimes, during those tense moments. The kid and the girl with feathers in her hair. Often the man with the amusing or ironic t-shirts is there. Sometimes others... Recurring characters in a story I'm not allowed to know, but I play a part in apparently nonetheless.

I'm writing this now because I don't want to do this anymore.... I'm tired... I wish I'd never taken the time to listen to those two. Maybe I'd still be bouncing from cube to cube, making my ends meet, instead of digging through other peoples forgotten life fragments, trying to make some facsimile of a life. 

I want the meaning I was promised by those two that day over breakfast... I'll even take part of that meaning... Something will be better than nothing... And yet... I still gets that feeling... Like the other night in that noodle shop. 

There was a car accident outside, I'd swear that happened in slow motion... A white car narrowly avoided the wreck... It sped off into the night, leaving one of its passengers behind. I'd never met him, but he had that feeling about him, as I watched from the sidelines as I usually do. I knew this man somehow. He walked in the same stream as we do, and if you're reading this you know what stream I mean. 

While onlookers swarmed the car crash, the suited man from the car stood staring down the street, all but unnoticed by the onlookers. He had a worn out look to him... He looked like I feel. Tired... Worn out... Just done. 

Another man came out of the crowd then, also seemingly unnoticed by any of the onlookers. He walked with him and led him to a bench, where they sat down. It was then the scene enveloped me as they usually do... I could hear the sizzling of the kitchen behind me... The rustling of the man across from me as he turned to look at the chaos taking place in the streets, the overhead fans thrummed in tune to the footsteps of the people crowding the accident outside.

The two suited figures on the bench talked, the scruffy and worn man in his dirty suit and pristine crucifix; His head slowly leaning to one side. The old man in blue beside him, shaking his hands at him in an almost chiding manner, leaning on a cane, as if to reiterate a point already discussed. Still, no one but I seemed to notice them.

This carried on for some time, until the police showed up outside. A recurring character, the large detective among them this time for some reason. It was then the man in the blue suit took notice, of the detective I assume... When he placed his hand on his listeners shoulder and patted it. It felt like goodbye from where I was seeing it.

A man rose from the noodle counter inside with me and headed out to street. I'd seen him before... I'd recognize him every time, the angel mentioned him a lot, made a point of it even, he wore a black t-shirt this time with a large yellow infinity symbol on it. He rushed out to the nearby bench to the suited man's side, whom now alone raised his head to look at him with a smile. Then he closed his eyes and let his head sink into his chest. 

The normal merge feeling I get turned to nausea then, and I felt like I couldn't breath... I knocked over my noodles when I ran to the bathroom, and once I hit the door I shifted... I'm leaving this letter on the typewriter I found amongst the clutter in the old shop I ended up in...

If you're riding the same stream... Please... I'm done... I want to go back to how it was... Before the man on the bench... Before that morning in the diner... Hell. I'll take getting fired, I'll even take getting creamed by that white Buick that morning instead of missing it. Just let this all make some sense...

Signed... KEANE.

Continuity

Control says, "Current analysis of the newest Iteration of the Metaplex suggests that there are increased levels of Continuity occurring between events... That there are higher amounts of cause and effect... That things are starting to connect, to make more sense... Whether this is helpful or harmful to Max remains to be seen." 

The Professor says, “Don't pretend that this isn't all part of your design. Whatever your intentions, I have to believe that by achieving Continuity Max will finally have some peace...” 

Morganfokker says, “Continuity is the greatest of all lies, and the greatest of all traps.” 

Maggie says, “Maybe it means something finally coming true, for better or worse.” 

Max says, “I barely remember it now, being in the mansion, fighting that monstrous cyborg, and hoping that maybe it would be the thing... I was hallucinating messages from a television producer, or maybe the cyborg was the hallucination... I believed that if things worked out we would get picked up, if we were a TV series, or get to stay together if we were a team of supernatural warriors... I kissed a girl – was it Maggie? I hoped that the romance would make it count more, mean more. I wanted it all to mean something. To matter. I wanted Continuity more than anything. Now, sometimes, it scares me... I can't make up my mind.”

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka - Epilogue

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.


His eyes flickered open and he could see the clear blue sky above him. He felt a little woozy and he sat up as a cool, late spring breeze caressed his skin. He let out a big breath and glanced around the park.

"Well, look who it is," Aqua stated as she approached.

"C'mon Max," Suki said. "We're heading to Kelly's to meet up with the gang and get some grub."

"You girls okay?" Max asked of them as Aqua helped him up.

"Yeah," Aqua said. "I had this strange dream this morning though..."

"Tell me over breakfast," Max said as they began to walk across the park.

"Yo Max," Suki said. "I think you forgot something."

Max looked back and saw the pack of smokes on the grass; he walked back and picked them up and looked at them. It was a brand new pack, unopened. He looked up at the skyline and back at the girls and to the surprise of the girls he crushed the pack in his hands.

"Well, now," Aqua said. "I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks."

They headed to the gateway and Max tossed the cigarette pack into a garbage bin.

"Today is a new day," Max said. "Breakfast is on me!"




fini

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka - End

Aqua was in the middle of the tunnels; she was cut up and badly bruised but she kept swinging. It wasn't long before Suki was with her and she let her know that the job was done.

Darius, Twofeathers and Suki ran through the complex as Ul'ran zombies clambered after them. Wanting them to join the party.

Frank looked at the countdown on his chronometer. Only 18 more seconds to go before they were all aligned.

Angst, Ruffo and Angelissa sat at a table sipping tea as others walked past.

Max hovered off the floor, his fingers moving about seeing the data-streams of timelines before him and shaking his head 'no', dropping a few strings and gathering more and shaking his head 'no'.

Dan picked up the dice once again as everyone around the table waited for what was going to happen. It all resulted in this dice roll. It was all or nothing on this one.

"It's about time you joined the fight," Aqua shot at Suki.

"Sure thing, girlfriend," Suki said. "You think what I was doing was a picnic?"

"Yeah," Aqua replied. She took out a huge beastie with a punch, sending it sprawling back into its buddies. "Now, let's see if we can hold them off!"

"Madness," Twofeathers replied. No matter what corner they turned or what room they entered it seemed that the Ul'ran were already there. "This is madness."

"You don't know the half of it, sister," Suki said. She was rubbing her elbow; her arm was sore after dispensing a lot of charges with the Godhammer. She hoped Max was correct with whatever he was doing since it seemed like it was going to be the end.

Darius took out his cross necklace and gave it a kiss for luck. Twofeathers did a double-take at him and then she let out a chuckle.

Frank checked the shotgun and was about to join Suki and Aqua in the tunnels.

"There's nothing you can do there," Max said to him.

"What?" Frank looked at him. "You're kidding right?"

"Frank, when have I ever misled you?" Max asked.

"The question is when haven't you misled me," Frank said. His impulse was to go and help the kids out in a overwhelming battle. But he trusted Max to the very end of his life.

"Can I get you ladies anything else?" the waiter asked.

Angst nodded and flashed him a smile and the waiter turned a little shade of red.

"Mom," Angelissa said.

"I'm not your mother," Angst said to her, "Well, I... I could be your mother... Wait... I am your mother?"

"What are we doing waiting here?" Ruffo asked. She had a sound of agitation in her voice. She didn't know where they were and what they were doing but it was nice just to sit and catch their breath for a little while. "What are we suppose to be waiting for?"

"You will know when you see it," Angst said. She leaned over and gave Angelissa a kiss on the cheek, letting her know full well that she would be the mother she would never know.

Max's fingers were moving across like he was playing a huge harp. That's when he noticed blood on the tips of his fingers.

"Now you know how Bryan Adams felt," Maggie whispered.

Max noticed that his fingertips had thin slices like papercuts but it wasn't stinging at all.

"... and that's when you notice the cuts on Max's fingertips, each finger that he's been weaving with has left tiny droplets of his blood in it..." Tim said.

Dan's mouth dropped and everyone around the table looked up and he added, "You mean?"

"Yep," Tim stated with a sly smile. "Exactly. Now make your roll and let's just see how well the code was written."

Dan shook the dice in his hands and let them drop onto the table. They did their dance: the negative dice landed on a 1 (which was good to see) and the positive dice landed on a 6 and this meant he rolled it again and added it to the total.

Dan picked up the die to roll, Tim turned his attention to Peyton.

Aqua had taken a critical wound to the neck. Blood was pumping out due to her adrenaline being pushed to the limits, but she cracked a smile since she was going out on her own terms. She grabbed the huge beast in front of her and with all her might snapped its neck like a twig, letting out a primeval scream of victory before she staggered back.

A wall of beasties swarmed toward her.

"Nooo!" Suki screamed and that's when her face changed from a tween to a woman of rage. Mustering every ounce of strength she had she took the Godhammer in her hands and snapped it in two. "She you losers in hell!"

The explosion ripped through the tunnel.

"What is it?" Darius asked of Suki. She stood still for a second and let out a gasp.

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "It just .... I don't want this to sound corny... but I felt like something bad happened."

There was the sound of an implosion echoing off in the distance. A ripple and a wave of energy began washing through the area.

"Sweet," Twofeathers said. "Now what!"

Frank let the shotgun drop to the floor and he hung his head in shame. "Was this all for naught?"

The waiter placed another round of ice tea in front of the ladies, and they all smiled and raised their glasses in a toast.

"Ha! I win," Morganfokker whispered. "You lose, like the failure that you are!"

"Would it kill you to know that this was the game plan all along?" Maggie said with a knowing smile. "A sleight of hand so simple that you'd not be paying attention to what the other hand was doing."

"What?" Morganfokker said. "No, it can't be."

Max let the strings go from his bloody fingertips and let out a sigh of relief.

"Game. Set. And Match, Morganfokker!"

It was a sound like someone receiving a call on their cellphone, a little ding that seem to echo about the realms. Max hovered off the ground, light shining around him like beams from multiple lighthouses as cracks began to appear across his body. The ultimate sacrifice, he turned to the apparition of Morganfokker and lifted up a hand and simply waved at him, like he was waving to a friend who was moving away... and that's when Max seemed to implode on himself... creating a black hole sucking in the streams, data, and other realities with him.

Before everything went dark...

Neo Static: The Permutation Particles Polka IX

Long way from home
Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Suki slipped the flash drive into the slot. Her fingers danced over the keypad like a spider crawling across hot pavement. Aqua activated her gloves as she heard the sound of ripping and space and time began to fold down the passageway.

"Max was right," Aqua muttered. "It wasn't too long before they'd be onto us!"

"You do what you are paid to do, Aqua," Suki said. "I just need to finish coding and I will join ya."

"I got this," Aqua said as she made her way up the passageway.

Shooting stars never stop even when they reach the top
Shooting stars never stop even when they reach the top

Beads of sweat ran down from Frank's forehead as he closed the laptop.

"Done," he said to Max.

Max let a few strings go while grabbing a few more and moving them about his fingers like someone weaving a tapestry would do. Max could see the results unfolding in the infinite as his fingers were working, creating a better possibility.

There goes a supernova what a pushover-yeah
There goes a supernova what a pushover

Angst, Angelissa and Ruffo were rushing through the complex. Ruffo had thought it was her base of operations but it wasn't actually her base. It looked like everyone there was going about their business and paying no heed to her as she ran through the corridors with two cheerleaders.

It looked like they were late going to the prom. Ruffo was trying to fathom what was going on and how what they were doing was related to her own homeworld being invaded by an alien race, and how that seemed to be of no significance at all.

"Is this always like this?" Ruffo asked.

"And then some," replied Angst.

We're a long way from home
Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Suki, Twofeathers and Darius where in the middle of a huge battle with 13 foot tall mechanical robots. There was a dozen of them still left while a huge pile of scrap metal was scattered about. Suki's Godhammer made it very easy but it was still a nuisance, like mosquitoes at a summer camp as you try to enjoy the campfire.

"GOT IT!" Darius shouted. He threw the item into a rucksack and then lifted his weapon.

"It's about freakin' time!" Twofeathers said. She was tired of being swatted around.

"SUKI, WE ARE LEAVIN'," Darius shouted.

"Awww." Suki seemed saddened by the fact that she had to break from battle. "Just one more?"

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...