Ozymandias

*claps* All I can really say is damn... I need to work on Possessions!

Didn you guys think that Pig was going for a clever plan that involved a 50/50 chance of partner sacrifice? 'Cause that's a good idea...!

Congrats! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

That would be the inestimable Akallabeth.

The dice broke that one, and TheResearcher was lynched. Thusly, you caught the wolf, and by extension, saved humanity from the Matrix by keeping an old cabbie's family. safe from the agents. Well done. :>) (if anyone would like to add more for their characters, or anything else, feel free!)

Alex scanned the airport calmly as he passed the final security gates. He spotted someone holding a sign that he could just make out as saying simply, "Alex". The person holding the sign started to wave, then suddenly flipped the sign downwards, and strode off briskly. The young chemist had time enough to begin to wonder at this behavior before he saw the glowering man in black sunglasses and balck black suit step in front of him and stop righ tinto Alex's path. "Mister Scott. ou have been instrumental in apprehending four the criminalsb that we had warned you about. Thank you. Sadly, we only caught a fifth thanks to a stroke of luck with local police spotting another one through their dilligence in using wanted posters. Now that you and your comrades have come to the states, we no longer hav eneed of you to track the final three." Alex swallowed uneasily. Order, Codex and Vesdisembarked to a similar scene from each of their planes, but were hustled off to a waiting yellow cab that sped them on their separate ways to, of all things, a 7-11 conveinience store. Ves was last to arrive, and was politely pointed toward the back, her cabdriver having nonchalantly escorted her in. The weather beaten old black man took his hat into his hand and gestured for Ves to lead the way. Warily, she did, and let out a small gasp when she saw Nathan Lestrova and Don Black give her a weary wave when she entered. They were occupying two of four chairs that had been set up around, of course- a television and VCR. Silently, he turned on the TV and a tape. EJLAD.JPEG's familiar spandex mask and black sunglasses greeted them. "If you're watching this, that means you're alive. Good job. Those bastards are tenacious- it's no small feat to lose them, even with help. After all of this, the leats I owe you is a proper introduction. You already know my name. I do go b EJLAD.JPEG, but if that's still a mite uncomfortable, my given name is George." With no further preamble, EJLAD removed his mask, and on the screen before them was the face of their cabbie. Gaping, the three looked to the real life version as the tape ended there. He had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Hey. Seriously, glad you could make it. But we're not quite done yet. No, don't worry! No more flying," he said with a sympathetic grin. "My grandson should be here soon to help. His name's Morpheus- really doesn't like using his 'given' name." George/EJLAD produced what appeared to be a silver pill case. "While we wait, let's have a chat."

We danced Our fingers lacing and unlacing apart and then again We danced our bones folding and unfolding as a clockwork bird's wingbeats We danced shoulder to shoulder cheek to cheek We danced brushing, grasping, caressing without a touch We danced Twirling, curving, stepping tracing waves on dry land We danced we never kissed our eyes did more than that

GAME OVER The final tally to follow.

Awright, folks. I hate to see last day end on such an abrupt note, so just in case scehduling has not already whisked you away, I'll extend day phase until 3:00 PM, EST. One way or another, though, awesome stuff, all. I've really enjoyed reading. :>)

I'd say so. It refers to the other person as being a fool who is 'holding on even after they have been rejected', which works because you referring to them as foolish after saying that they lie, conveys that other person having a personality utterly comfortable with doing the *wrong* thing with good intentions...thus they are a fool for holding on, because it's obvious to all but them that they're no good for you, because they, for whatever reason continue to be so, and oblivious to that fact (the tone is too casual to suggest any forcefulness on the other person's part, so oblivious was the most logical conclusion for me).

NIGHT PHASE IS OVER and so is Pico. *CONTINUE? (YES (NO Lord Panther/Zach Petit/Pico Akallabeth/Don Black/Codex Tanuchan/Anya Lestrova/Chaos Gryphon/Jarod Green/Altor Kikuyu Black Paws/Anzu/Bob WOLF Degorram/Lindsey Mitchell/Ves TheResearcher/Alex Scott/Hassium Guinea Pig/Pig Patrick/Nathan Lestrova/Order Your Host/EJLAD.JPEG/(NPC) Day phase begins again, and will end at Feb. 17, 8:00 AM EST. This is the last one!

Pico got off of his plane packing two Walther PPKs, two knives, and a much calmer, if not clearer head. He couldn't begin to understand why, but he'd slept like a a baby the whole trip through and now felt vitalized like he'd not been in years. He strolled very carefully off of the plane, heading toward the baggage claim. Before he could even set foot on the stairs, he'd been surrounded by five grim-faced men in utterly nondescript clothing. One brandished a badge, announcing, "Zach Petit, you are under arrest...." and began the litany of charges. Zach looked at the ring caerfully, weighing his options. He thought about his guns. He looked at the fifty foot drop over the railing the to the bottom floor of the airport. He considered his favorite movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

PIG IS DEAD. LONG LIVE PIG. The coin decided the tie. /404/Killer not found. Lord Panther/Zach Petit/Pico Akallabeth/Don Black/Codex Tanuchan/Anya Lestrova/Chaos Gryphon/Jarod Green/Altor Kikuyu Black Paws/Anzu/Bob WOLF Degorram/Lindsey Mitchell/Ves TheResearcher/Alex Scott/Hassium Guinea Pig/Pig Patrick/Nathan Lestrova/Order Your Host/EJLAD.JPEG/(NPC) Night phase begins, and (due to work concerns) will end at 6:00 PM EST on Feb. 15, or 7:00 AM EST, if I have the specials' PMs in by then.

ERROR//redo from start scanning... scanning... scanning... Unknown symbol detected in RUNTIME LOG 1138...Could not communicate packet...VIRUS DETECTED Somewhere else, red and yellow lights strobed across room after room. Alarm klaxons filled the air with panicked wailing. People ran in all directions. "SHIT!" "What, what is it?" "We've been traced! We've gotta pull the plug!" "Now??!?" "If we don't, they'll have us in minutes." "@#$%&. Do it." On flight 401 from Rockhampton to New York, Alex realized with a sick feeling that Pig didn't move. VIRUS ELIMINATED

'Tis indeed. Thankya sir.

The beauty of nature found in sexual encounter? Ecstatic joy found in peace with nature? Both? I can't tell, and I like that. Sometimes unanswered questions work the best for provoking thought. :>)

"Tommy, Can You Hear Me?" isn't the title of that song? Whoops. And thank you.

So the plan is to keep the Dreamer internet exclusive for the foreseeable future? If so, I'd have to agree with you, and say stick to yer guns. One mpre exposition note, tho'- would it need to be an all at once reveal? If you'd rather space such a thing out- if you *do* it- why not do so?

PITY POOR ALTOR. Day Phase begins again. There is still a wolf in the fold. *CONTINUE? *SAVE? *QUIT?

It was a much grimmer group that inspected those weapons collected that which they felt would be realistic and necessary for the time ahead. They said little to one another for the rest of the day; too much had happened today for that. Despite it all, noone strayed far from the rest. Perhaps it was out of distrust, perhaps out of a desparate need for stability...perhaps out of hope. Night crept in, and Dennis along some sleepless ones by turns stood watch until dawn. They left with the rising of the sun. Jarod Green was last to leave. Dennis bade him a somber goodbye, offering the odd warning, "Remember how explosive decompression really works." Mystified, he thanked the strange man once more before he boarded his plane in the dark. Hours later, the scant few passengers on the flight were all fast asleep. Jarod had watched three of the most boring movies he'd ever seen since high school biology. He still couldn't sleep. His overstimulated thoughts wandered toward stewardess and alcohol. Lots of alcohol. Noise in the seat behind Jarod's brought his thoughts back into sharp focus. It was the noise that for hours more had plagued his dreams every time he'd tried to sleep. A hand attached to an arm that wore a white shirt and black jacket sleeve clamped onto his shoulder with all the give of a steel clamp. He was aware of the owner's head being placed near his. "Good evening, Mr. Green. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. For a man who works a help line for a living, you're quite skilled at vanishing. That's something the people I reprsent want to talk to you about that." Ten flights from Australia landed in New York that day. Two passengers never made it to where they wanted to go.

Phase change delayed by work. Change to Day Phase will be posted in nine hours.

Nathan and Pico finished burying Anya as the others finished a silent lunch. Having waved off offers of help, Dennis finally hauled himself to his feet with a small moan. His bandages had stopped staining. Going to the drink cooler first, he produced two beers and handed one each to Nathan and Pico. He stepped haltingly to the television, and turned it on. Readjusting his loincloth, hip pouch, and bow, the aborigine sat crosslegged in the dirt. His eyes were closed. The screen sprang to life, and a familiar yellow-masked, black sun glassed face appeared. "Yo! Sorry to do this folks, but you guessed it. It's point, click, and ship time. Here's what more I can give you on this stop: These guys who're after you, not the cops, the ones with the awe-inspiring sense of style- they know. They know when people are trying to lift the veil. They're very good at finding them. They can, as I'm sure you are now valium-necessitatingtly aware, be anywhere, be anyone. They're not strictly human. Thus, some security measures. Look under your tents when this is done. The appropriate identifications needed to carry them on the airlines are down there too. Memorize the names on those IDs. Here's the next stop." Another notecard was thrust into the camera lens as he continued. This one had ten separate airline companies listed, and flight times leaving at ten separate times. "This'll be the last one. Ever been to NYC? Wonderful food. You should have enough time to sleep for at least one night. Go get some rest." The tape ended. Dennis calmly stood, walked over, and pulled one of the tents up, and revealed a very wide hole filled to the brim with Magnums, Colts, Walther, uzis, ...guns. Lots of guns. And some knives that appeared ceramic.

Ha! Well played. That reminds me- I need to make some notes on a villainous time traveller for something of my own. A gent named 'Justin Time'. My first friend I told that I do believe began internal haemorrhaging on the spot. I was proud. Which makes perfect sense when you explain it, but the hints still seem to remain excessively hard to find, between the rarity of their appearance, and the utter lack of them the rest of the time. Take your last paragraph above; does anything, other than his scars, show up in any discernible way to a reader? You should. To understand the world better, the change from mortal to planeswalker, and for that matter, the transition from Planeswalker to...whatever the name for what he is now. They seem like rather important details!

So the Dreamer functions a bit as the "ultimate" plot device then?