[500x]

The Drones of Corporation G7*5-28, New World Center, came out of REM into semi-consciousness, again, with the visual of the green sphere with the abstract white fish lady swimming around inside of it singing her siren's song in harmony with Sousa's classic blarring from all directions, and a monkey-like wind-up toy banging symbols together and walking around in circles. This was nothing unusual.

However, for Mickie Mouse, this was no ordinary morning. Drone #146, who until ten years prior had been and would later again be named Blythe, began to show strange signs to Mickie Mouse... So Mickie Mouse contacted G7*5-28 President, Sergent Lee (Red Bird), his Master, and described what he saw.

Sergent Lee checked the readings for himself and saw that this was, indeed, alarming... the vital signs seemed to be flipping in and out, while the duties of the Drone were still being fulfilled... Sergent Lee contacted his master, Emporer Saint George Washington Bush of Anglsey, one of the Servant-Cousins of the Kings. ESGWBA was fishing, at the time, in an anchored speed-boat off the coast of Wikiki.

"Lee? What the fuck are you calling me for??"

"Something strange is happening with one of my Drones..."

"A Drone??? Have you lost your mind?? If you call me one more time because of a Drone I'll strip you of your rank and you'll be mining quartz in the rings of Saturn within a week, do I make myself clear?!?" (*click... dialtone*)

Lee figited... contemplated the ramifications of the readings he saw... if something were to happen on his watch and in one of HIS buildings... If this Drone were to remember her life... to infect the others... he took off his red helmet and wiped the sweat off his brow and began flying toward the building, which was about 15 minutes away, then directed his com-link back to Mickie Mouse:

"Terminate her."

Mickie replied, "Understood" and turned to where the virtual image of the Drone had been, and saw nothing.

Sergent Lee arrived at his building to find a circular pane of glass about a meter in diameter cut out of the side of the building, and the bed nearest to the incision was empty.

Lee's heart raced, and he began to scratch and pull at his hair... Why do they do this? Don't they know Drones never survive the disconnection?

-----

"Anonymity is the name of the game in most of the Black Web. Well, that and revealing your true identity. It's all a matter of timing, and it's all usually pretty intuitive," said a leather-clad lavendar-faced androgenous human-form in the voice of James Brown with a heavy metallic reverb, who calls himself 'The Brit'. He continued... "Now... The Lincoln has been so kind, considering your heroic reputation, as to grant you an apartment overlooking the Colloseum. You can observe the games and expand your knowledge of the art of violence, and participate in them whenever you wish, by simply challenging a worthy opponent and scheduling your meeting when there is an opening there...

"Within your apartment you will have a plane of undefinite proportions to work with, as much as you can create with the gigamegs alloted to you. You could have an infinite plane of individual growing and dying sunflowers or a single fully duplicated German Shephard, the one being the equivalent to the other in the memory required to maintain such a program. If you require more space for your use, contact The Lincoln by raising your middle finger on your right hand on high and proclaiming 'Hey Asshole! Come here now!'. You can do this at any time and in any place within the UA Grid and The Lincoln will appear and hear your request.

"You can invite whomever you wish into your apartment for any duration of time. I have no doubt that you will use this as a base of operations for the resistance... however please be aware that many of our citizens would rather live their lives in peace, and create their legacy outside of the Machine, and outside of the opposition of the Machine... It is generally consitered to be, in the long run, a more affective resistance to the Machine... and it is also consitered a bad idea for a former drone to be involved in direct resistence.... however, consitering your past, your training, and your reputation thus far, I imagine you will be one of our acceptions.

"In Conclusion I would like to personally congratulate you upon your full liberation from the Machine, and to welcome you to Underground America. Do you have any questions?"

"Yes I do," Blythe said without any hesitation. "I would like to meet the VSD who replaced me in that hellhole and shake her hand."

"I'm afraid that even if I know the whereabouts of the one you speak of, I would not be at liberty to divulge the information as to their wherabouts within the grid. That would be an issue only The Man himself could address for you, and a good opportunity for you to practice the Call of The Lincoln."

Blythe cleared her throat, and gazed upward at the nearest burning flag atop a silver pole against the indigo night sky, squinted her eyes and pursed her lips to one side. Then, straightening herself in an almost formal manner, held the bird up on high and proclaimed:

"Hey Asshole! Come here Now!" and heard a clap of thunder, as the image of the Abe on the Throne before the Black House emerged from the flames and became larger until the throne was directly in front of her.

The Lincoln bowed low, "I am your slave."

"As it should be," Blythe said automatically, her nature being already in alignment with the nature of the strange traditions of this land. "Where is the VSD who replaced me? I wish to shake her hand."

The Lincoln raised an eyebrow, "You assume your surrogate was a female... his name is Charles, and you can find him at Billy's. It's a coffee house on Hendricks Avenue and 5th. He's got green eyes and a black suit, you can't miss him."

-----------------

When Charles and Blythe arrived at the Gate of the First Palace of New Ancient Land, Charles instructed her in the first of the Traditions of the Sacred Capital of Free Humanity.

"You will remain here, alone, without any senory input at all. Your cerebral activity will be monitored. You must remain focused on your breathing. Every single inhale, and every single exhale must be observed by your conscious awareness. When you have sucessfully completed 24 solid consecutive hours of such consciousness, then you will gain entrance to the First Palace of the Ancient Land."

------------------

It wasn't until Blythe had undergone the trails of, and learned the Divine Wisdom of, the first 4 Palaces that Charles revealed to her that on that first day he himself was both The Brit and The Lincoln.

-------------------

"What should I do?" Blythe asked as they gazed out beyond the edge of her checkerboard porch at the mathematically generated ocean which seemed about 100 meters below them, heard the seagulls and felt the mist envelop them.

She had seen 5 of the Palaces, and opted to return to her body in the subways, as it was now fully regenerated from ten years of atrophy. First, though, she had asked Charles for a few minutes of his time, and had discovered this presetting after figiting around with her new controls for a few minutes, along with two comfortable chairs hovering at just the right height.

"To be honest, Blythe, I don't know. Every organ in the body has its own function... and if no one fights them they will only grow... and will hunt down the free... yet I beleive freedom is in the way of non-violence...

"Every flower.. every tree, every... grain of sand has its role... it's place and destiny to fulfill, and I remind myself to live my life in a constant state of oneness with my own present footsteps while seeking to better understand and clarify a direction in order to fulfill my own destiny... There's no way I can tell you what your destiny is or is not. 'Should' doesn't even come into this...

"Were you to tell yourself your judgement is flawed and therefore surrender your free will to me and say 'tell me what to do and I will do it' then one of six things would happen... I would tell you what I would do in your place which would be to not fight them, and to build a life far away from them, then you would do that half-heartedly for the rest of your life, or do it for some temporary amount of time and then rebel against that imposition of will, or rebel immediately and do the opposite of what I would tell you - OR I could tell you what I think you want to hear which would be to fight, then you would do that half-heartedly for the rest of your life, or do it for some temporary amount of time and then rebel against that imposition of will, or rebel immediately and do the opposite of what I wouldn't really ever tell you, so it really doesn't work very well either way.

"I can tell you that my motive for doing what I do in the UA is indeed partly to give ex-drones a place to build a world and forget about their anger, so that the pain and bloodshed be not perpetuated any further at all... this is what drives me... what speaks 'Truth' to the core of my soul...

"And yet your place may very well be ordained by you and the Vast together that you lead the very movement I seek to oppose... in my own way. Yet, I am here to serve you. Do what you will with what you have, and what I have... And I will support you in your decision, whatever it may be... I just won't be doing these things myself, that's all."

"Thank you..." Blythe said, nodding slowly, taking his human-form hand in her own.

"Of course, Blythe... Just don't force anyone else to fight against their will... nor manipulate those of... weaker... foundation... I will never support that...

"and please... please don't get yourself killed..."