Todd's morning started off ordinarily enough. He woke up, showered with the wife, grabbed a quick cup of coffee, cursed the world for having to get up so early, then headed off to work. He got there early and made his way to his cube and started in on his work. The one good thing about getting there early was that the office was nearly empty and he could get a lot of work done fast because no one interrupted him. This morning, however, Todd noticed that his boss, Henry Montegue, looked like he had spent the night in his office. Henry looked terrible; his clothes were ruffled, his hair greasy and disheveled, and he had a two day beard growing. Todd was making good progress when Henry approached his cube. "Morning Todd", he said, "I got something for you." He was holding an ordinary manilla envelope, the kind everyone in the office used. "Sure thing boss. I'll put it in the queue." Todd said cheerfully. Henry grinned wearily, then added, "I'm afraid that's not going to be good enough, Todd. I need you to focus on this right away." Todd was beginning to worry. He asked, "So you want me to de-prioritize my current project and make this my Primary Action Item?" Henry looked relieved, "Thank you, Todd. Here you go", and he handed Todd the envelope. Todd foolishly opened the folder, wondering what was so urgent...

"Oh my God!" He uttered! He quickly looked up and Henry was shuffling off into the elevator. "What am I going to do with this?", he thought to himself. "I know!" he said out loud. He tucked the manila folder under his arm and speedily headed to the room with the red door marked B.R.A.I.N., took out the "special" key and opened the Bionic Reactive Artificial Intelligence 'Noid Room. The 'Noid was short for humanoid. What stood before Todd was a very expansive laboratory geared with the highest technical and biological equipment. Todd quickly headed to the far end of the room and entered another door which hissed open. The room he entered would seem rather bare by human standards. A few cubes over here, a table with two chairs over there a large wallsized monitor covered on side of the room and in front of it watching and mimicking Kung Fu Lessons was the android. As Todd entered the nuclear powered android otherwise known as "Bruce" aka BRAIN, stopped amidts a roundhouse kick and in a monotonous voiced addressed Todd, "Good morning Todd, I'm picking up high stress symptoms from you including an increased heart rate, are you all right?" Todd took a deep breath and walked over to the android. He took the folder from under his arm which was now beginning to dampen with sweat and handed it to Bruce. After quickly scanning it and handing it back to Todd the android said, "That does not look good, Todd. What are our directives?". "I don't know, Bruce, we don't even have protocols in place for such an event. For ninety years our corporation has strived to push the envelope of technology." Todd said as he paced around the room,"Now it seems it's pushing back." The android with his fixed expression face somehow managed to look worried. "Todd," The android began,"it's time we came up with a protocol, and quickly. According to my calculations a paradox of this sort will cause the space time continium to collapse into itself." "I figured as much." Said Todd, "I figured as much..."

"Yes, that's right," the android continued. "My evil twin is on the loose, and if he is not stopped, his actions could destroy the very nature of existence." Todd wiped the sweat from his brow with a shaky hand before asking "What are our options?" The andriod stopped to consider for a moment. "It's clear he must be stopped, and I have been practicing my Kung Fu lessons, so if it comes right down to it, I may be able to physically stop him. But we must find him first. Are you ready for a journey, Todd?" Todd gulped, answering "Will we be back in time for dinner?" The android laughed loudly with a hint of desperation. "Time has no meaning where were going, Todd. Now go and check with Henry how to mark this on your time sheet, and then, we're off on the wildest adventure of your life!"

Thirty minutes later, his time sheet properly filled out, and having called home to tell the wife he might not be home for dinner, Todd stood again in the vault with the android, nervously adjusting and tightening his clothing. His shirt and pants were both black, and he wore a strong black belt, with several different pouches, and a holster, containing some kind of a gun. Todd looked up to see Bruce, the android, similarly clothed. "What's the deal with the clothes, and this gun...?" Todd asked. Bruce lifted an eyebrow, a curous gesture on an android, oddly remenicsent of another android Todd had once seen on Star Trek. The comparison made him laugh, and almost miss Bruce's answer. "Come with me Todd. We must start our journey. I will tell you what I can while we walk." With that, Bruse led Todd out the door and into the hallway. Down the hallway they went, into another, then up a flight of stairs, then down an elevator, through several more hallways, up some more stairs, up in an elevator, then down in another one. Shortly Todd was lost in the maze that is modern office building, and before long, he was sure he had never seen this part of the builiding before. The hallways were becoming colder, damper, and dustier. There was a general feeling of disuse, and now all the rooms along the hallways were blocked by steel dors wiht keypads. Todd looked at Bruce in utter confusion. Bruce smiled, and that pissed Todd off just alittle. after all, sure a damn android wouldn't be lost down here. The android smiled wider, and said "I detect a quickeing of pulse that can only be one thing, Todd. Anger. But hold your anger, I ill explain. It is partly a bit of a history lesson. You see, shortly after the Second World War, the world became gripped by a long, expensive, and sometimes fatal conflict known as the Cold War. Your people, constanly fearing invasion by the Russians, spent money on Defence without hesitation. Very quickly, something historians and economists like to call the military-industrial complex was born. Scientific and technological corporations, along with the Department of Defence, devoted millions to odd and obscure projects. Many things were born of that marriage; your internet is one, and I am another. As you may have guessed, your company is one that profited from this unprecedented surge in spending. But, as with all large and unwieldy adminstrations, the military-industrial complex became departmentalized. The left hand didn't know what the right was doing, and the feet were completely out of the loop. And so, projects continued, changed, took on their own life. After all, it was all payed for. And time passed. Soemtime during the early Seventies, I was designed, unlike so many other projects, with a purpose. Or really, many purposes. I'm sort of an all-purpose problem solver, but only for the really big ones, like this one. So, with the end of the Cold War, these corridors fall into disuse, and are little travelled today. but they are still in use." Todd felt his anger dissapate as he digested this new information. Some was known to him already, but much of it was new. Bruce stopped in front of one of the steel doors, bearing a number, 42. Todd looked up, and asked "42? What...?" Bruce again lifted an eyebrow, reminding Todd more and more of Data from Star Trek, and punched a combination into the keypad. The door hissed open, and inside the room was...

an anaemic Hitler look-alike staring directly at him. General Zedrich had been trained in the British forces - an uneasy attempt at diplomacy following World War II. As a result the General was indoctrinated with the severely dated 'gentleman' mentality of the army's higher ranks who seemed still convinced of the empire's existence. In actual fact the General's behaviour frequently surpassed this stiff upper-lipped folly. His piers had gone to great lengths to insure he single-handedly made a start at reversing the simply 'un-gentlemanly' actions of his country. The moustache was, not intended as a shrine to Hitler, it was a left over, grown in Britain which symbolised order and masculinity. It failed to symbolise either, but Todd couldn't take his eyes off it. In fact he nearly jumped out of his skin when the General pursed his lips to speak. He had forgotten for a moment that the auburn rug draped between Zedrich's nose and upper lip was not resurrected road kill but in fact an immaculately trimmed strip of facial hair. The General was an observant man but didn't need to be to notice Todd's concentrated stare. Guessing quite rightly that he wasn't listening, the General motivated the small mammal on his face into action once again, and this time Todd was listening. "Listen God Dammit, zis is no time for laying about. I will give you zi directives straight away, and you muzt begin preparations immediately, but first..." The General frantically pushed a control, the kind of control that could only be operated by an 8 year studying at Georgia Tech. But Zedrich was a geriatric used to operating a TV remote in the way that only those over the age of 50 are capable of doing. He Pointed Nagashumi's latest remote control masterpiece like a gun, and frantically stabbed a fat index finger at the minuscule buttons. Finally, as the situation approached humiliating, a large map on the wall whirred into action. As with everything in the building it made a show of being activated, and unfolded mechanically making impossible shapes, and swoosh sounds that appeared to defy aerodynamics. A few impressive seconds later and the holographic screen was fully unfurled. Low and behold out popped a projection of Bruce's evil android brother. Todd had been impressed by the difference between the robots in Terminator 1 and 2, but this was ridiculous. Bruce shrunk into the corner as he studied in awe the most spectacular piece of technology his LED's had ever scanned. Bruce's evil sibling, who was named...

BRAIN as well, was much different than Bruce and much the same in some ways. This one's acronym stood for something different: Bionic Reactive Assassination and Infiltration eNforcer. This BRAIN was assembled at the same time as Bruce for the purpose of sabotague and assult. Bruce was designed to solve problems as quickly as possible in a defensive manner. His "sibling" was designed for the same purpose but in the opposite manner. Bruce would solve the problem of a fast·spreading lethal disease through quarentine and research for a cure. His "sibling" would also quarentine the sick, but soon without a cure in sight engulf the area of the afflicted (with them in it) in flames. There was no nickname such as Bruce for his counterpart, as it had never been activated until recently and never needed to be referenced anything other than BRAIN (since Bruce wasn't refered to as BRAIN). Nearly almost all of the company Todd worked for lacked any knowledge of this BRAIN (which was another reason it never received a nickname). A few years after their design, a bit of personality was programmed into them (though BRAIN still remained inactive). Bruce was made more friendly, though still very utilitarian in nature. BRAIN was programmed to be deceptive if possible and intimidating if not. Todd only knew of the malevolent BRAIN's existance by stumbling upon some old files in the company's archive files, shared via the company network amongst many employees. Due to the files' age, they went largely unnoticed. They were supposed to have been removed from the shared archives but due to some past employee's error were not. This was most likely the result of the confusion that occurred when the company transferred all its records from paper to digital text files. Todd had first noticed them when browsing for other, unrelated records. The dates of the files had caught his eye and so he accessed them. He mentioned the files to his supervisor, who reported the findings to his supervisor, who alerted this to her supervisor, who alerted someone much higher in the company chain of command that might know what to do. Todd and many of the people he told were too valuable to the company to fire and organise smear campaigns against to prevent the secret existance of the offensive BRAIN from being well·known. Instead, the files were removed from general access and Todd and many others involved received significant increases in pay in return for continued secrecy. Todd was now sick with fear. He'd never seen Bruce retreat into a corner from a mere hologram. He knew nothing more of the "evil" BRAIN than of its existance and differing programming from that of Bruce and now, from the report Montegue gave him, that it was activated with an astronomically destructive intent. It was difficult for Todd to comprehend the paradox that had been implanted in this other BRAIN's programming, but he easily saw how disasterous it would be to all of existance. Todd difficultly gulped down his emotions, turned to Bruce and told him "Get ahold of yourself. You're a BRAIN. Don't you remember what I told you? We need to stop this thing!"

Bruce stood up, said "Please hold," then stood absolutely still for 3 minutes, after which he returned to his usual self. "I'm sorry Todd, I don't know how that could have happened... Actually, I do know, and it could prove to be a significant help." Todd and General Zedrich both looked at Bruce strangely. Bruce elaborated, "I am a robot, a simple machine. Though I have become self aware, I still rely a great deal on my original programming. For some reason, I was programmed to intensely fear my counterpart. Once I recognized what was happening, I was able to remove the appropriate code, but I was incapacitated during the process." The General looked confused, "But what does zis have to do with anyzing?" Todd recognized the significance and said, "Someone in this company let BRAIN go and whoever it was wanted to make sure Bruce would not get in BRAIN's way; so he added some traps to Bruces programming. Bruce, have you checked for any other malicious code?" "I have already started a query, but it is impossible to know the extent of the sabotage." "General Zedrich, I need to know everyone who was involved in the original coding of Bruce and BRAIN." The General immediately made his way to a computer terminal that folded out from under a table and began to clumsily type and click. Todd, amazed that the General was able to access files without filling out a stack of forms, turned his attention to Bruce. "This could get tricky Bruce..."

"...It seems that all of the files that General Zedrich is looking up are in Binary." "No, not Binary, but Psuedo-Binary. Let me elaborate. Any unsuspecting fool would mistake it for Binary, but as you can plainly see, 01001010110100111011011010101 makes no sense at all. At least not in Binary. But if you look at as if it were Trinary, obviously missing the 2's, you would see that it makes absolute perfect sense." "Hmmm, it is tricky, isn't it?" said Todd. "No not at all. It says, 'The carrots are dying as a result of the harvest, or the Carrot Armageddon as they consider it.'" Zat makes no zense at all, zilly robot," exclaimed the General. "Sure it does, your insignificant processing abilities make you quite inferior to me," explained Bruce in a condescening manner. "Hey, are you feeling okay Bruce?" asks Todd. "I am functioning within normal parameters. Why do you ask, Todd?" Suddenly, before Todd gets a chance to answer, a deep, foreboding voice and a more feminine, calm and soothing, voice say, "Anata no chi, niku, hone, Minna watashi tachi no mono." "So Da. Subete Wareware no mono da. Rakuin, Rakuin, RAKUIN" "Ver is zat coming from?" asks the General. Once again, Bruce cowers back into the corner again. Todd, with a very serious look on his face, asks, "Bruce, What does it all mean?" Bruce mumbles barely audible, "It means...."

it means.....hmmm....it means...I don't know. Quickly Todd, was I programmed to understand Japanese? If so, I have forgotten it!" "Dammit all," Todd said,"We will have to get our linguist, Ethueqer down here at once....but does he even work here any more?" "This is most urgent, Todd. We must be on our way at once. Quickly now." Bruce said. "I will attempt to access that part of my programming which can decipher Japanese as we go." Bruce led Todd out of the room, away from Generla Zedrich, who only stroked his outrageous mustache in infuriated confusion. Why had he ever decided to come work for this silly American company anyway? Damned Americans. Couldn't even get a good cup of tea over here. As Todd and Bruce left General Zedrich brooding over the lack of decent tea, they headed even deeper into the complex. Lower and lower, down more stairs and elevators, into dustier and dustier corridors, unitl they came to a final door, blocking the end of the corridor. There were no other options; one could only go forward. This door inexplicably was labeled "42" as well. Todd looked at Bruce for elaboration, but Bruce only comitnued staring blankly ahead. Finally he seemed to snap out of his reverie, and quickly entered a combination into a heretofore obscured keypad. The door clicked unlocked, and Bruce and Todd entered....into a dusty, unused janitnor's closet. Moving past the mops and brooms, they opened the outer door, and stepped into a busy subway station. Todd's jaw dropped. The only time he had been more surprised was the time a snowplow had hit his parked car and torn offf the bumper. Bruce glanced his way an chuckled. "Did you think your company would build all this and not have access to the 'T'?" Todd recognized the coloquial term for the subway in Boston, a term he had previously studiously avoided, not wanting to seem like the nearly uniformed Harvard Square yuppies or the millions of tourists that came to Boston every day. His confusion only slightly abated, he and Bruce entered a car, Bruce having waived a mysterious card at the token slot which allowed them entrance to the subway. He an Bruce rode the car in slince for what seemed like an eternity. The only points of interest to Todd during his long journey were the inevitablesurly 'T' drivers, and the women who sat across form him, engrossed in a book. "Foucualt's Pendulum" was the name upon closer inspection. Why did that strike a chord? Somwehre in Todd's subconscious, an alarm bell began ringing. Something about that book....something....images of a pendulum flashed through his mind, images of books, and hooded men, and secret plans....it all had to mean something. Abrubtly Bruce stood up as the 'T' shuddered to a stop. "Come, Todd. Destiny awaits..." Todd and Bruce exited the mildly dirty 'T' car into the cold Boston winter night. The streets were jam packed with angry vocal drivers, as only Boston's streets can become. Todd looked around, hoping to gain his bearings. Nothing looked like it usually did. Maybe it was the fact that it was evening, one of those dark, cold early winter nights, or maybe it was the extreme circumstances. Abrubtly, Todd thought of his boss, Henry. How quickly he had forgotten him. Henry had seemed to be such an important figure in his work environment. Todd chuckled to himself. How quickly his idea of a day at the office had changed.

"Bruce, what are we doing here? Are we really accomplishing anything just standing here? I'm cold. And what did that Japanese mean? You bum, why aren't you answering me? Why can't we just go home?" "Todd, Be quiet, I hear something." Minutes pass and Todd can't hear anything. "What are you talking about? What did you hear?" "You mean you didn't hear it? It was the sound of inevitability." "Huh!?! What the heck are talking about?" "You're so full of questions. Here drink this, it will answer all your questions." Todd looks at it suspiciously and wonders about its bright green color. "What is it?" "Just drink it!" "Okay, okay, chill." Todd slowly swallows a sip. *Flash* Todd finds himself waking up in his office. His face was sore from laying on the keyboard. He noticed that his Primary Action Item folder had a small piece of paper in it that he hadn't noticed before. It said, "We are always watching you. Everything is ours. Damnant Quod Non Intelligunt." At the very moment he finished reading it, he felt an unsatiable burning on his right forearm. Charred black was a symbol that he couldn't decipher: §||\|. But right now, he didn't care what it meant, all he knew was that it hurt like the fires of hell. He rushed to the water fountain and ran some water over his burn. Ahhh, that felt much better. Suddenely, he realized that no one was even in the building, it was completely empty. People should be here right now. Where was Bruce, Henry, the General? He ran to the area where the red door marked B.R.A.I.N. should have been, but it was just someone's office. What's going on? What did that message mean? Did I just imagine everything, am I imagining stuff now? No matter how Todd looked at it, it simply did not add up. Todd remembered how Bruce said drinking the green liquid would answer all his questions, but he just had more. Todd sat back down at his desk. Just then, Todd's phone rang, giving him one heck of a startle. Cautiously, he picked it up. "Hello?" A soothing voice answered, "We know you have a lot of questions, just be patient and everything will become clear. Follow the white rabbit." "Who is this? What do you want with me?" "Remember, follow the white rabbit." *Click* The line was dead, they hung up. What white rabbit? Wasn't there something similar to this is in the Matrix? Why can't people be a little more original? "Hello Todd." Todd swooshed around in his chair to see a giagantic white rabbit staring him straight in the eye. "My name is Peter. I have orders to guide you on a journey that will answer all of your questions." "Uhhhhhhh...." "Do you have a problem with this." "Uhhhhhhh...." "Good, then let's be on our way." Peter turned around and started walking toward the elevator. Todd, still sitting in his seat, was in awe. "Well aren't you coming?" "Uhhh, yeah." "Then hurry up." Todd got up and followed Peter into the elevator. "Where are we going?"

"To my office," Peter said as he sat down behind a small desk in the elevator, "I understand you have some questions?" "You're damn right I do! What the hell is going on? Where are we? Why can't I just go home?" "Please, Todd. Calm down. You drank an elixer called Blorgenfut, an ancient formula for accelerating ones brain functions. You are in somewhat of a controlled dream state, exploring your memories among various other information banks. Its all very complex and mostly baffling to humans, but it works. You could go home if you want, but you must eventually face up to your destiny. If you wish to do so, I am here to answer your questions. You will return to the street with Bruce when we are finished." Todd considered for a moment, then said "Ok, so where do we start?" Peter sighed, and say "Well, we can start with the Japanese if you like." "Yea, what did it mean?" "It is roughely translated as 'Your blood, flesh and bone, Everything is ours.' and 'That's right. Everything is ours. The Brand, The Brand, THE BRAND.'" Todd was very confused, "Riiiiggggght. And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" "The company you work for is much older than you know, and it has survived in many different incarnations. It has a specific purpose for which it was designed, and that purpose is unknown to anyone, even those involved. It is believed that this secret organization found a mysterious power source the likes of which this world has never known. It could very well interrupt the very fabric of reality." Todd recognized this, "Right, Bruce had mentioned something about the space time continium to collapsing into itself." Peter smiled at Todd's interjection, "Exactly. The Japanese you heard was one of the old hermetic codes this organization lived by, meaning that everyone belongs to the organization whether they realize it or not." Todd was again confused, "But why did the Japanese play when it did?" "It was triggered by the exodus of BRAIN. BRAIN is, of course, only acting on the orders of various members of the secret order." "Let me guess, the orders were given independant of each other and those giving the orders did not know what the end product would be?" "Exactly! You are catching on quite nicely now, Todd!" Todd smiled, then sat back in thought. From what he could understand, he too was a part of this conspiracy. After all, he had been ordered to take on this project by Henry Montegue. "Is Henry Montegue one of those people?" Todd asked, afraid he already knew the answer. "Yes. Your next order of business is to meet with him. He is most likely unaware of his part in this crisis, but he will be able to point you in the direction of the others: Ethueqer, Diotavelli, and Belbo. You must gather them all together and piece together the PLAN." Todd was sublimely confused. This whole conspiracy was difficult to understand. But then, that was the point of the conspiracy, wasn't it? "I suppose I should go back to reality now, huh?" "Whatever you like. But the clock is ticking and you task is now clear." Todd wasn't sure about it being 'clear', but he needed to get back and he suddenly found that he was back on the Boston street with Bruce standing next to him. "Whoa..." he said in an ironicly Keanu-Reeves-like style...

"Hey man, what happened here?" Pete murmured under his breath. "I mean, it's as if I took fifty times the normal dosage of LSD and was shown the true meaning to life, the universe and everything. And then, as i was at the epitome of enlightenment, basking in the love and light of the universe, a dark haired madman ran in and accused me of being the devil, while at the same time threatening to uncover my plot to enslave humanity." "Of course, that's not what really happened," says Bruce. "I mean, we did put half a vial of liquid LSD in your coffee yesterday morning, but that was yesterday, and now we're safe in Boston." "No. That can't be. We were just all over the place doing a bunch of crazy shit. I mean, it's as if the flow of the past day or two or whatever was a disjointed storyline that didn't flow on account of every paragraph being written by a different person, many of which had no idea of what the story was even about. Ok, I'll admit that i was tripping pretty hard a while ago, but not until we smoked that hydro. I mean shit, i think i saw god. Oh well. Hey, I still have my cell phone." Pete takes his cell phone out and calls his boss. "Hey bossman. I'm sick today on account of my bugger of an acid trip for the past 30 hours. I'm gonna smoke a blunt and pass out." "Cool. Hey, did you come to the enlightening realization that we are all of one conciousness experiencing itself subjectively, that there's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're an imagination of ourselves?" "Hell yeah i did. All's well that ends well, right?" "AwL - READY. Peace and buds man." -click- "Hell yes," sez Pete, "I got the day off work. Do you know where we can get a sack?" "Lemme page my boy with your cell phone," Bruce sez, flipping thru his address book. "But for now i got a joint we can smoke. Straight northern lights up in this." "Hellz yes. Every day is christmas. Just so long as we keep retreiving people's credit card no.s from the database at work, that is."

Todd, Peter, And Bruce all looked up from the TV program they had just been watching. "Isn't it funny how the people on that show shared our first names?" Todd asked. "And they seem to be experiencing some things similar to us." Bruce only shrugged. Peter looked annoyed. "Enough of this neo-hippy stuff. We have more important things to do than watch television programs about a bunch of druggies. For one thing, Todd, I think you should call your wife. You haven't been home for several days now." Todd dialed the number, listened to the ring, and nearly dropped the phone when a voice on the other end said "You don't have time for this right now. The end is closer than you think. Find the sub-sub-sub-basement, door 13QVX-BLZT6. Hurry!"

Todd blinked as he reached for the sub-basement door marked "13QVX-BLZT6." It seemed almost as if an awful lot of time had passed during his short journey downstairs. Strange how a two minute wlak felt like a year and a half. Todd shrugged off the feeling, and turned to Bruce. "This is it, buddy. Behind this door is your evil twin, and whoever is controlling him." At Bruce's lift of an eyebrow, Todd smiled and said "So your android brain couldn't figure taht one out? Someone else has to be controlling your twin. Someone very high up in the illuminati, whatever the name they have given themselves this century is." Bruce thought, and said, "Of course! You're right, Todd. My twin could not have gotten out on his own. He was not programmed to be able to open doors, Someone must have opened the door for him. But who........?" Todd took a deep breath, and turned the doorknob. The door slid open, revealing a carbon copy of Bruce. His evil twin. And, standing next to the twin, was the culprit, the man who had set these events in motion. Todd gasped. "It's so obvious! Why didn't I see it was you?" The man stepped forward, fully into the light, allowing Bruce to see that it was...