Metaplexperiment: Remix 2 - the Mashup

Archived Fragment: I Know The Secrets... 
Archived Fragment: The Train Kept On... 
Archived Fragment: The Snake Moon
Archived Fragment: The Element of Surprise
Archived Fragment: A Matter of Music
Archived Fragment: A Difference of Opinions
Archived Fragment: The Ballad...
Archived Fragment: Wounded Puppy
Archived Fragment: After the Fire...
Archived Fragment: Unlike a Flesh Wound
Archived Fragment: Out of the Frying Pan
Archived Fragment: The Decoy
Archived Fragment: When Do Bullets Cry?
Archived Fragment: Gunfire Choir

The train rumbled on.

Max lay across a row of chairs; he couldn't sleep and hadn't been sleeping properly for the past few nights. Though he didn't feel tired at all; he hadn't been since the events that had transpired a few weeks ago. 

If I truly fall asleep I will slip away from here. 

He didn't want that. He was growing into this comfort zone, he was liking the company, the adventure he was having, and he would die if this reality faded away into the nothingness, like a dream after waking.

He'd grown accustomed to the shunting of the train, and the companions he had met along the way. For the first time in what seemed liked an eternity he felt the feelings of bondship. 

It would be shame if I were to disappear. 

And then one of the voices – he could never be sure which was which, and they were more of a feeling than an actual voice – said: You know it will end some time.

clickety-clack 

A few seats away, Goner plopped down beside Suki. "What's going on at the moment?" he asked.

"A whole lotta nothin'," Suki replied with a smile. She was sipping on a soda and watching the platforms passing by, merging realities into one plureality. "Just watching the worlds meld before me. It's better than television!"

Goner chuckled. He had begun to miss some of the shows he had grown accustomed to.

"We've been traveling for a long while without any stops," Goner noted.

"I know," Suki said. "And I have to go to the bathroom!" 

clickety-clack 

On a subway platform several men in dark suits took position. They began ushering out people waiting for a train; flashing ID's and assuring them that all was going to be okay. Andy and Jeremiah kept strumming their guitars, cases open before them with a scattering of coins inside, each wearing their busker permit around their neck. They exchanged a wary glance when they saw the swarm of suited men. 

clickety-clack 

Suki fished a comic book out of her school-bag, the latest adventure of a group of mutants who were at a special school due to their gifts. She enjoyed reading since it helped pass the time between here and there. Depending on where there was and how long it took to get there, she would indulge in a trivial form of reading.

Her attention was focused on the sound bubble of each page, reading the story that unfolded. Drawing her in deeper and deeper into the continued story arc. 

She was just getting to a good part when she flipped the page and the story arc was To be continued... and that irked her to no end. 

“What's the matter?” Goner asked.

“They just met this cool new hero named Raven – she's got this awesome sortof telepathic reality-warping power – and now I'll never get to find out what happens next! The chances of finding the next issue in the next version are pretty slim...” 

Goner nodded. Living a life broken up into strange fragments and shifting moments, it always felt like things were 'to be continued'. You always knew that eventually things would get weird, or dangerous, or both. 

clickety-clack 

The suits continued their sweep of the platform; Lee wasn't buying it. He knew the type, knew that their motives were usually suspect, and he was pretty sure that the ID's they were flashing were fake. He looked around, trying to see if there was anyone nearby who wouldn't think he was just being paranoid... 

Adam watched the suits on the march, then noticed Lee, the suspicious look on his face, that rare moment when you know for certain that someone else is thinking the exact same thing as you... 

clickety-clack 

Angst sat looking out the window, watching the blur and listening to her mp3 player. She was listening to a classic song and moved her head to the rhythmic beat. 

Suki sat behind her re-reading the comic book and sipping on a soda... 

clickety-clack 

Kelly gently nudged the group of children along the platform. The teacher had gone to the washroom, which left her and the other volunteer in charge of the field trip, and now these strange men in suits were herding everyone.

"What's going on?" the other volunteer asked. "Terrorists?" Kelly frowned; some people were so eager to believe some lies and so reluctant to believe some truths.

One of the suits barked at one of the kids to move along and Mark stepped in, back from the washroom, eyes locking on the man's sunglasses. “There's no need for that,” Mark said. 

clickety-clack 

"No way," Goner said. He had moved on down the subway car to where Frank was sitting. "Did you even watch the same game as I did?"

"Yeah, I did," Frank said. "You must be watching some fantasy version in your head."

"Clearly Redgrin had the ball in his possession before the whistle blew," Goner stated.

"The whistle blew before Redgrin could do the recovery," Frank grinned. "You are just a sore loser. You still owe me."

"Well, I don't have the cash on me," Goner said. "Wait to see if there's an ATM at the next stop and I will get it to you."

Frank rolled his eyes back and said, "That's if you do have an account in this version." 

clickety-clack 

Debashis and Joy stepped off the escalator onto the platform. “Consequences aren't merely arbitrary effects designated by the person with the power, they become the way that the person being helped understands that their actions are significant and important, as long as the person with the power is exercising it with self-awareness...” Debashis was saying.

“Or as we say on the frontline, 'shit's gotta mean shit',” Joy replied. Debashis laughed, until he saw the scene playing out before them and a suit started walking menacingly towards them.

Joy's cell made a strange beeping noise... 

clickety-clack 

Mags was sitting beside Bishop's booth, keeping the conductor company. She knew better than to ask him when their next stop was going to be. She hummed a tune as she dragged the whetstone along the blade of her katana. And then a strange feeling came over her...

She stared down the length of car, Max dozing, Suki reading, Angst listening to music, Frank and Goner chatting, the new girl Summer knitting. And someone else, a man sitting at the far end of the car; he was writing in a notebook and paused to roll some oddly-shaped dice. When he did, Maggie suddenly noticed a soft grey glow around Summer, then Frank, then a darker one around Suki...

clickety-clack 

Chance and Peyton were listening to the buskers and talking about anime when the suits began their push. They watched for a moment then looked to each other. “Do they look familiar to you?” Peyton asked.

Chance nodded. “Do you feel that? It's the same feeling... from years ago...”

Peyton's eyes widened. “I remember,” she said. Then looked down at her hands, where two massive battle-gauntlets had appeared. Then at Chance's chest, where a gold cross suddenly materialized.

clickety-clack 

Tim rolled the dice again. 

clickety-clack 

Most of the crowd had been chased off. Another LEGACY cell moved onto the platform, carrying some cases and setting them down. They moved with the purpose of a strike team. Opening up the cases revealing heavy weapons. They began to mount them on the platform, quick and efficient; with pressurized drills they were putting the mounts into the floor.

Anthony had been waiting on a bench, reading Nagel's 'What is it Like to be a Bat?'. He had watched the first LEGACY cell move in and begin clearing the platform. It was as if he could see it from different angles. He had noticed the way that the buskers' playing provided a soundtrack for the scene. And he had started having these brief flashes, like jump-cuts, to the interior of an approaching subway car, a strange group on board. A sense of tension rising.

And when the second team appeared and began setting the weapons, that's when the music stopped. And the silence was as loud and as profound as the noise had been. And that's when the shouting started and Anthony knew something very bad was about to happen. 

clickety-clack

There were three dozen LEGACY members waiting. Three mounted cannons and each soldier armed to the hilt with weapons.

Jeremiah and Andy were standing now, clutching their guitars. The appearance of the weapons had surprised them, but not as much as seeing the cross materialize around Chance's neck and the gauntlets on Peyton's hands.

“That's very cool,” Jeremiah said.

Andy looked to the LEGACY team, then back to Chance and Peyton. “I think we're with you guys on this.”

Lee and Adam had instinctively moved towards each other. They were staring down a handful of the suits, who seemed surprised that the two men hadn't followed the order to leave. Close enough now that Lee could see some of the devices that they were carrying. “Dark Tek,” he whispered.

Adam held up a pack of handmade Tarot cards, cutting the deck and handing half to Lee. “Light tech.”

When the LEGACY suit tried to shove Mark backwards he got himself rugby-tackled. The kids behind Kelly cheered, “Yay Mr. Haskins!” The other volunteer started to run. Kelly sighed. “Alright kids, stay behind me!” And she faced the oncoming soldiers, and noticed that the suit Mark had tackled had dropped a device...

Joy was trying to understand how an app that she had dreamed about – there had been a spooky well, and this weird guy, who she somehow knew – was now actually installed on her phone and warning her that an 'OMEGA CLASS ANOMALY' was being detected. Debashis had advanced and was trying to negotiate with an approaching suit, with little effect. Joy was tapping the screen, trying to understand the strange software, trying to remember the dream, the odd conversations she had had with the weird guy...

Debashis, using every counseling trick he had to try and connect with the expressionless agent before him, had his own dreamy memory – a pathworking ritual, years ago, a vision of some trolls attacking a defenseless deer, and the knowledge that sometimes you had to stand up to the bullies...

Anthony stood up. And there was a woman beside him. She was looking at the chaos erupting before them on the platform. Anthony asked, “Aren't you a character from a comic book? A friend of mine reads a lot of them...”

Raven looked thoughtful. “I might be, in this version. What do you say? Shall we watch or shall we join in?”

Anthony smiled back. “Fight scene?”

Raven smiled. “After you, Butch.”

Anthony nodded. “My pleasure, Sundance.”

Kelly grabbed the device, thin like a pen but with a glowing light on the end. Mark was on his feet again, throwing a block at another agent. “You know how to use that thing?” he asked.

Kelly smiled. “I watch a lot of sci-fi.”

Adam smiled as he drew the first card from his deck and began accessing the necessary trance-state to engage the symbolic interface for tulpa summoning. “Do you know how to use those?” he asked Lee.

“I'll figure it out,” Lee said. “I play a lot of role-playing games.” He smiled.

Debashis turned back to Joy. “I'm gonna punch this guy out, if you're okay with that?”

Joy smiled as she finally figured out how to use the app to send a signal over-ride to the LEGACY heavy weapons systems, effectively shutting them down. “I accept that,” she answered.

Chance smiled at Peyton. “Alright, just like the old days!” And he charged the agents.

“Follow us!” Peyton shouted at Jeremiah and Andy, and she followed Chance into the fray, gauntlets swinging wildly.

“This is some pretty weird shit,” Jeremiah said, smiling. “I'm kinda freaked out but kinda excited.”

Andy nodded. “'It's the duplicitous edge which we all walk upon'.”

They raised their guitars and charged. 

clickety-clack 

clickety-clack 

clickety clack 

“Hey,” Suki said, tapping Angst on the shoulder. “Did you see that?"

Angst popped out her earphones. “Yeah... The last station we passed through, some kind of crazy battle going on... Did you guys see that?”

Frank and Goner were playing cards. They shook their heads in sync. Summer was still knitting; it was the first time that she looked even a little bit relaxed since they had brought her aboard the subway car.

“How about you, Maggie?” Suki asked. “Should we wake up Max?”

Mags watched as the strange glows surrounding Summer, Frank and Suki faded away. She looked to the end of the car where Tim was packing up his dice and notes.

Maggie smiled. “Let him sleep for a while longer.”

Epilogue:


Bailey skipped down the escalator. She was worried that she was going to get in trouble for getting separated from the rest of the kids on the field trip but she had been sure that woman had been the actress who played Katniss and she wasn't going to miss the chance for an autograph. Not her though, so now she was late with nothing to show for it. Mr. Haskins was a cool teacher but he would probably still be upset.

When she arrived on the platform she was amazed at what she found. Dozens of unconscious men in suits scattered about. Some bullet-holes and scorch-marks on the walls. A group of people were gathered at the far end of the platform, shaking hands and laughing. Mr. Haskins was there, and Kelly the volunteer. And was that her sister, Peyton?

Bailey wondered what had happened. Then she noticed that one of the men in a suit was still moving... His hand was reaching slowly towards a weird device that looked like some kind of futuristic bomb. No one in the group noticed...

His hand was almost on the button when Bailey stepped over him and punched him squarely in the face. Knocked him out cold. She pulled a bunch of wires out of the device so that it wasn't a threat anymore and headed towards the group. It had been quite a field trip.

Remix: The Hellcat

Archived Event: The Hellcat 

 

There was a rap at the door. 

The doorman turned towards the door and was about to slide the peep-hole open to see who it was, his gun drawn in case it was danger. He didn't realize what hit him and sent him down on the floor.

Maggie kicked the door open and charged in, her katana swung and she caught the other doorman off guard. Sending his head one way while his body fell another. 

She was a hellcat unleashed and she was showing no mercy. Her hair alive and looked as if it was on fire, her eyes seemed radiant with the intensity of hate.

"You wanted me," she shouted. "You got me!"

Everything suddenly froze around her. Blood splatters hanging in mid-air like a 3D Jackson Pollack painting. The decapitated head suspended over the floor like a macabre moon. The first doorman cowering in fear at Maggie's feet, still like a statue.

Maggie growled. "What the f-" And then a needle of pain lanced her frontal cortex, right down into her temporal lobe.

The scene around her started to strobe. Horror-movie-meets-rave lighting effects. She winced with pain, had a strange memory of Max telling her once that the secret to a good party was the lighting. The blood in the air casting strange shadows on her body.

And she saw Max's body. On the floor of the room. Still like a statue. Her katana was sticking out of it. But it was also still in her hand. But it was hers in his body too, she could feel it.

"This is how it has to end," the man said. The man had stepped into the stillness from outside it all. Shadow-man, angles like razors. "Surely you know that by now."

Maggie sheathed her katana, the one still in her hands. The other was in Max's body. She felt nauseous.

The man said, "The Professor is trying to use a Plexotron Device to mix Max into this event. I've hacked the signal so I can show you this. Show you the future."

"I know who you are," Maggie said.

"But do you know that the war you fight, the demons you battle, are because of him?" The man pointed at Max's body. 

"That's a lie."

"He didn't start it. But the way he Shifts, the way he is always coming and going, it makes it worse. It summons the demons, it weakens the borders."

"Max helps me fight the demons." The pain was getting worse.

"And every time he follows you into battle, there is mission left unfinished, a world somewhere left unsaved. It won't end until..."

Morganfokker pointed at Max's corpse.

"Welcome to your Remix."

Remix: Waking with the Marmalade

Archived Event: Waking with the Marmalade

Max awoke. He was lying on a bed in a small room, and no one was saying "Poke him again," which was a good sign.

He glanced around his room; the window was open and he could hear the sound of the city beyond it.

His first thought that he was somewhere European, maybe a bed & breakfast kind of establishment. 

He swung his legs from the bed and touched the wooden floor, and as his feet moved he could feel a tingling sensation shoot up them.

Outside his window he heard Frank arguing with a man, though it sounded French.  

I don't know French. 

And yet he could make out the gist of the conversation. Frank was asking the man about a tall slender fellow that was rumored to appear in a blinding flash of light, naked as a jaybird.

Max leaned out the window and saw Frank standing below, and off to one side he could see Angst leaning up against a car painting her nails. He was going to say something but the door to his room opened.

Max turned to see who entered. He instinctively reached for his guns but they weren't there. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Are you Max?" she asked back. "Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Karen."

Max could still hear Frank outside. He was feeling pretty confused and vulnerable, and he thought about calling out to Frank and Angst.

"Wait," Karen said. "This is probably going to sound strange..."

Max smirked. "I'm okay with strange..." 

Karen continued. "Have you ever heard of keeping a dream journal? I keep one, but every night I've been on this vacation I haven't been able to remember my dreams..."

Max was very aware that Karen was blocking the only exit to the room, except the window. He couldn't hear Frank anymore; it made him nervous. He slowly edged his way towards the windowsill, glanced outside. Frank still down there, talking to Angst.

"Until last night," she said. "Last night I had a very specific dream, very vivid. A young girl, I think she was Japanese, told me an address - this address - and said... Well, I wrote it down..." 

She reached into the pocket of her coat. Max tensed. Frank and Angst looked up to the window and saw him. Karen pulled out a piece of paper and read from it:

"She said, 'Max, that's not Frank and Angst. They are LEGACY shape-changers.'"

Max saw Frank and Angst start towards the front door of the building.

"What does it mean? What does all of this mean?" the woman asked.

Max held out his hand. "It means, Karen, that we have to get out of here."

Remix: Cube

Archived Event: Cube

Max sipped from a water bottle while waiting in a lounge room. He wiped sweat off his brow with the towel draped over his shoulder. He was tired and very sore and he didn't think he could press on. 

So this what it feels like to be past your prime. 

"Man, that was intense," Goner said as he strolled over. His t-shirt was soaked through and he was starting to reek from sweat. "Best yet, I'd say."

Suki smiled from the corner where she sat tuning her guitar.

"Well, like wine one improves with age," Maggie said. She was sitting on the edge of a sofa teasing her hair. 

"Or turns into vinegar," Frank added after taking a long pull from a beer.

"You always have to see the negative in everything, don't you Frank," Goner said to him, shaking his head. "That's one thing that I didn't miss."  

Suki said, "Frank's just a realist." Then she started humming a melody.

"You know, I never thought I'd be back here today with you guys," Frank said. He was sitting on a director's chair, with a bucket of beer on ice beside him. "I think I'm getting too old for this kind of shit. But when an opportunity like this comes up, nostalgia kicks in."

"You'll never get old in my books," Angst said as she emerged from the bathroom. She was having trouble doing up the zipper on the back of her mini-dress. She turned her back to Max, who reached over and zipped her up. Angst noticed the tune that Suki was singing, saw her begin to pick out some notes on the guitar.

"Didn't you wear that in Vegas?" Aqua chided Angst. "Looks like the same one."

Aqua received only the finger from Angst.

"Getting bitchy in our old age, eh?" Aqua shot back at her with a smile. She dropped down into the corner beside Suki, listening to the quiet music coming from the instrument.

The door to the room opened up and Morganfokker strolled in. "I think you guys better get back out there. It's going to get wild if you don't."

Max nodded and he turned to the rest and said, "Let's rock." 

Goner ripped off his t-shirt and grabbed his drumsticks off the stand. "What's the encore going to be?"

Max noticed the song that Suki was playing. Everyone paused for a moment, all together again after so long, the faint roar of the crowd like a storm in the distance. They all listened to her play and looked at each other and nodded.

"Let's do something new," Max said. "Anyone got any new material?"

And Suki looked up with a huge smile on her face.

Remix: Into the Well of Darkness...

Archived Event: Into the Well of Darkness 

 
"You sure about this?" Goner inquired. He stood at the edge of the well and looked down; he was shaking off the unsure feeling. Of all the weirdness he had been through in the past few days, this was certainly unnerving. 

Joy scanned the treeline, shadows and branches and fog woven together. Menacing and spooky. She could tell that Goner was getting creeped out, so she put on a brave face and joined him at the well's edge. Gave him a playful tap with the barrel of her shotgun.

Max walked up beside them and glanced down. "The old lady said this was the way." Joy was pretty sure that Max sounded less-than-certain, and she hoped that Goner wasn't picking up on it.

Goner picked up a brick that was off to one side and dropped it over the edge; they watched the brick disappear into the darkness without a sound. Joy saw Goner shiver.

"I hope the hell you are correct with that old lady," Goner said. "I hope she didn't lead us into a trap. You know there could be that demon girl from that horror movie I watched waiting to feed on our souls." Joy could tell he was trying to make a joke, except given how the last few days had gone, it wasn't all that funny.

Max took a long puff from the cigarette; he exhaled the smoke into the air and then he flicked the cigarette off to one side. He was stalling. Joy had been through enough shifts with him to know that was a bad sign.

She holstered her shotgun over her shoulder and pulled out her phone. Tapped the screen. "There's this new app..." she said. "Measures the ectoplasmic vibrations of nearby spatial nodes that could indicate the presence of paranormal entities..."

Goner looked at Max. "Is she joking? Paranormal entities?"

Max said, "AKA Ghosts." He smiled and winked at Joy.

Goner looked at Joy. "You're joking, right?"

Joy looked up from her phone. "We're clear," she said. And shoved Goner into the well. Max nodded a thank-you and jumped in next. Joy unholstered the shotgun and jumped in after them.

Remix: A Realization In Time Saves Nine

Archived Event: A Realization In Time Saves Nine

The bullets zinged past him like angry hornets after a bear. Max stood there looking about the scenery, assessing the situation. Suki was firing the godhammer back at the pack of hellhounds down one hallway, while Mags did her dance among two dozen no-named mooks with the katana sending body parts parcel post. Frank watched it all from the van, studying the streaming feeds from the drone hovering just above Max.

He saw Max bring his hand to his face, staring intently at it. Frank tweaked the camera angle to get a better view - the Dragon Girls were in the thick of it, but something about Max was making Frank uneasy... He saw Max take the pointing finger from his right hand and slowly bring it to the palm of the left, and Frank saw Max's finger disappear into his hand. Like a magician amused at a parlor trick he did it a few times. Frank checked the feeds to make sure it wasn't a glitch in the camera.
 
Max muttered something, too low for the drone's mic to pick up, looking up at the ceiling, as if looking up from a table-top. Looking directly into the camera. He spoke again, louder. "Show yourself, you bastiche."

Frank toggled the panel-mic. "Max? Who are you talking to? What the hell just happened?" Then he saw the hellhound on the second camera feed, it managed to dodge the blast from Suki's weapon, it was leaping towards Max, Max was still staring at the drone, the strange look on his face, the hellhound's teeth like razors and fire...

"Max! Be here or don't be here but pick one!" Frank shouted into the mic.

Max blinked and spun and drew his guns.

Remix: The Long Drive to Hellenbach

Archived Event: The Long Drive to Hellenbach 

While gas fed the hungry car, Goner continued to talk about ramen noodles. The Professor snored in the backseat. Goner was sitting in the passenger side and was making light conversation; trying to stay awake. Max chuckled.

"All this talk about food is making me hungry," Goner said as he spotted a sign declaring Husky's House Truckstop to be just a mile down the road. "How about you?"

Max shrugged a little, but now that Goner had suggested it he could feel the pangs of hunger growing. The Professor murmured something in his sleep. Max glanced back to check on him; it was rare to have him in the same plex coordinates. Max liked it but it also made him feel uneasy.

"There's a restaurant another mile or so up the road," Goner said. "To my recollection they serve the best hash browns and sausages evah!"

The car pulled into the nearly full truckstop, with several rigs lined up like soldiers ready to roll at a moment's call. Max found an empty parking space in front of the diner. The Professor yawned and stretched. Max killed the engine and then turned to the Professor and said, "You're buying!"

Goner looked at the empty backseat. "Max, who are you talking to?"