Compartmentalization (Part 18)

Part 18: Letters

I sit in the bathroom with my head in my hands. What in the world have I stepped into? Jordan, the man whom I thought was my enemy, thinks I’m his friend? My hate was irrational in the first place, based on assumptions and jumps of logic. Where is my MCN now? Why can’t the answers just pop in my head like they are supposed to?

I look at the letters Jordan gave me and each of them says “For Josh Only.” They also have a number (1, 2, and 3) at the top right corner. I guess to indicate the order I should read them in. I am pretty sure it is my handwriting, which I have gotten good at recognizing. It looks like print trying its hardest to be cursive. Each letter is easily readable, but the letters in each word is connected, as if my pencil never left the page whenever I wrote a word. It seemed deliberate, as if I knew only I could write this way. Though, I wonder how intentional it was.

I have nothing else to go on, so I open the first letter. It reads:

Dear Josh,
Make sure that no one is around when you read the other two letters.

Your Self,
Josh

Huh. Well, that is a check. I open the next letter:

Dear Myself,

If you are reading this letter you are almost there. Please check the 3rd letter for the rest of the plan, and I just want to make sure I say in advance, I’m sorry.

Your Self,

Josh

Cute, me, real cute. It is easy to say you’re sorry to somebody that you will never meet. I sure did like sending letters. I guess that is typical for someone who doesn’t remember the past. There is a constant struggle to maintain some sort of continuity. Well, I guess the only thing left to do is read the third letter:

Josh,
This is important.
Please make sure events have gone as planned:
1. Lead U. to OL17L66
2. Reset
3. Take car
4. Maxwell
5.Turret
6. Club
7.Meet J.
8.Take J. to OL17L66
9. Remember password (AN)
10. Reset

If things have gone as planned you should be at step 7. Remember CHARLES for OL17L66. In worst case scenario, move to step 10. Good luck.

Your Self,

Josh

I sure loved that complimentary close, “Your Self.” Bet I thought I was being pretty clever then.

I look at the list, and it looks like everything happened as planned. The car crash, forgetting everything, meeting Maxwell, dealing with the turret in the warehouse, the club, and meeting Jordan. I hated how simple it looked, like everything that I have gone through just is summed up in 7 steps. All that manipulation, all that scheming, it’s not even ten complete sentences, just fragments. I imagine the list was composed this way to make sure it made no sense to anyone reading it but me, but it is another example of how inconsiderate I imagine myself to be. I didn’t even say why I am doing this, just that I should do it. What a crock. What a rip-off.

I don’t know what the hell OL17L66 is, so I close my eyes, and repeat the name, “Charles, Charles, Charles….”

I step into a dark room, with the only thing illuminated being a small metal stool. I walked to the stool and sort of stood by it. I’m guessing this is where I need to sit, but I was too nervous to just sit down.
Suddenly another light switched on with a loud thunk, and a door across the way opened and a heavy-set man walked towards me. I begin to realize that the room is much bigger than I thought it was, and I now see a table with a much more comforting looking office chair across from me.
The heavy-set man takes a seat at the table in the office chair, and gestured me to sit down on the stool. I sat down and noticed that he has a well trimmed beard, and has streaks of grey in his full head of hair. He is wearing dress pants, a white button down shirt, with a plaid tie, and laid out several files the table. He put on glasses and looked at one of the files.
“Josh, Josh Stimpleton.” The man said.
“Just, Josh. Just Josh is fine, sir” I replied. I expected myself to seem less confident, but I guess I was just more professional back then.
“I knew your father. He was a good man. We worked together.”
“All due respect sir, he wasn’t my father.”
“Oh, right. Adopted father, right? Through the ‘Home for Children’ program?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I know that program got in a lot of trouble for what they did to ya’ll, but I am glad that you are back working with us. This isn’t the same UWG, I assure you that!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Anyway, Josh, we recently got your application for the bodyguard position.”
“Yes, I want to be body guard to then be able to go into intelligence, sir”
“Stop this ‘sir’ nonsense. You’re not in the military. Call me Charles.”
“But, sir…”
“You seem to think you know a lot about the UWG after being away for so long. What makes you think that being a bodyguard will lead you to intelligence?”
“Well, I used to be an anti-assassin, and in my close workings with the United World Government officials there, I learned,”
Charles then interrupted me, “Okay, we need to cut the bullcrap here.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“I am a busy man, and we owe you a lot, but I don’t have time to do this little dance you got planned out. I’m sure you got all your responses laid out and filed away in that brain of yours, but let’s not waste time here, hmm?”
“I am not sure what you are talking about.”
“You used to be an anti-assassin with one ‘Jordan Steinman’ correct?”
“Yes.”
“And now Jordan Steinman is quickly rising in the Smoker assassin guild, is that correct?”
“I am not sure, sir.”
“See, you keep saying ‘sir,’ and that tells me you aren’t paying attention. That is an insult, because I sure have been paying your file some attention.”
I could feel something in me crack a little bit, some insecure, small part of my self was screaming in fear, but the rest of me was stone cold stoic.
“Josh,” Charles continues, “You are a big believer in this Mind Compartmentalization thing, right?”
“Yes, I use MCN which allows me,”
“God damn,” Charles interrupted me again, “You keep on underestimating my intelligence and I don’t have time for it!”
“Sorry…Charles.”
“Good! Making progress here. That is what the UWG is all about, progress. It has been a hard road Josh, and Lord knows there have been bumps in the way, but we have to try hard everyday to improve, right? So, I ask again, are you a believer in MCN?”
“Yes. I believe everyone should utilize MCN. A big reason why I’m here is to prove its effectiveness.”
“You are aware that we reviewed MCN, and passed on it.”
“Yes, I am aware.”
“And are you aware why we passed on it?”
“I believe the UWG passed on MCN because it couldn’t be proven useful in a lab.”
“Is that all you believe?”
I could see in his eyes that he could tell I was not telling everything, and I couldn’t believe how much my mind was failing me. MCN is supposed to kick in whenever I need to forget key information in interrogation, but it wasn’t, so I had to tell him the truth.
“Dr. McNabb and I believe that the government didn’t want MCN because it could be used to overthrow the UWG.”
“Dr. Cornelius McNabb. I haven’t heard that name in a long time. I knew him too, you know. Good guy, not quite all there when it came to people skills. Couldn’t quite mesh in with the rest of the group. A bit eccentric. Also a bit paranoid. For good reason though. All and all, a good man. Not good enough to see a bad idea when it was right in front of his nose, but a good man.”
I didn’t like where this was going.

“Cornelius McNabb was too invested,” Charles said as he closed my file and looks right at me as he takes off his glasses, “He couldn’t see the big flaw in Mind Compartmentalization. You see, I am a long term type of guy. Too many people around here are concerned about making people mad, that not much gets done sometimes. You got to look ahead to change the present sometimes. Just last week I was talking to HR and,”
“What does that have to do with MCN?” I interrupted earnestly.
“If you let me finish, I’ll tell you! Anyway, MCN is nice for the short term. A guy can come in some place; fool them for a couple of months and then whisk themselves away before anyone knows the wiser. MCN does a whole lot to hide and get around many unconscious errors that people make. The problem is that the longer one uses MCN, the simpler their subconscious becomes. Once the subconscious becomes obsessed with an idea, or has a plan, the conscious mind has no more real faculties to really deny the subconscious. This obsession leads to single-mindedness. It makes it easier to figure them out.”
“What, what does that mean?”
“It means that while you are thinking you are being all sneaky, look into one facet of your past and all the secrets that house of cards is holding is going to reveal themselves. I know that rings false to you at first but let me ask a question, what happened to your real parents?”
I see a single tear of sweat get into my eye, but I don’t let it distract me as I say, “I don’t see what my parents, real or adopted, has anything to do with this meeting.”
“Oh really? Then you wouldn’t mind me taking out this file and reading you a little bit.”
“NO!” I could almost hear an audible crack, as my façade breaks away.
“That is what I thought. Somewhere in that complex noodle of yours you realized that if anyone knew your past, then they could, step by step, reveal all your motivations. The only real sure fire way to try and avoid that is to forget them yourself.”
I don’t start to cry, but I am now staring at the desk, unable to meet his eyes.
“Don’t worry Josh! I’m on your side here. My colleagues said I shouldn’t deal with you, that you are a lost cause, but I have faith in you!”
“Why?”
“Because I looked into your past and I saw a little boy just looking for some revenge.”
I looked at him, my urge to cry replaced by anger, “What do you mean?”
“Haha, don’t mean nothing insultin’ about it, it is just young men like yourself need to have someone believing in them sometimes. So here is the deal, you act as a bodyguard for Terran McNabb, and on your off time, you can do your own little research project,” Charles then threw me a keychain full of keys and keycards.
“Sir, uh, Mr. Charles, I’m not sure if I can handle this much responsibility.”
“Naw, you’ll be fine. Mr. McNabb already has a ton of security. He just wants you by him because he wants to keep on eye on you. He is just as paranoid as his brother.”
“I assure you that you won’t be disappointed in me.”

“I plan on it Josh, oh, also there some things I need you to look into.”

“What, what’s that?”
“I need you to look up as much as you can about UWG. If you find anything about Terran McNabb and some sort of ‘obelisk’ thing he is trying to cook up, you call me,” he hands me his business card,” And, the amount you research into the UWG, you look an equal amount into that Jordan Steinman friend of yours. You can even send him any info you find, if you like.”
“I am not sure if I should be sending any information to an assassin guild member of all things.”
“You sure are dense huh? I told you not to underestimate my intelligence. You send that sonoabich everything that you can find. Let him know exactly how much we know.”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Then don’t. Thank me by giving me results.”
Charles then gets up, and all the lights turn off except the one that illuminates me on the stool I am sitting on. Charles then walks through the darkness, and goes out the same door he came in.

Then the light over me goes out.

In the darkness I hear a phone ringing, I hear my voice, “Charles, are you there?”
“Josh!” I could hear Charles on what sounded like the other side of a phone line, “Its been awhile! How is it going?”
“I found the location of the Obelisk. It’s around latitude 17, longitude 66.”
“Good. Hopefully once we expose McNabb, he’ll get what he deserves. I doubt it though. He’ll probably just get demoted to messenger.”
“I, I also found out about Jordan.”
“Well, well, well, I guess that cat is out of the bag.”
“How could he do all that?”
“A man can do many things if he thinks he is right. The question is, are you man enough to do what you think is right?”
“You planned this all along, didn’t you?”
“A person doesn’t have to have a special mind technique to plan ahead. And to be honest, it isn’t that much of a plan. I am just hoping once I lead you on the path, you’ll make the right decision.”
“Right? What the hell is ‘right’ here? This is just so messed up.”
“Josh, I want you to listen to me here. How long do you think it will take before he takes someone else? How can you live knowing that your friend is capable of that?”
“I don’t know!”
“How long will it take before he takes someone you love?” Amelia flashed in my mind, if only for a half-second, “How long do you think until he takes you?”
“What do I do? The UWG can’t touch him! If they try, they’ll make him a martyr!”
“That is up to you. Alright, I need to go back to bed. Call me if you need anything else, alright?”

The phone hung up and I am filled with confusion, rage, sadness. I did the research. I knew the UWG wasn’t the ideal that people needed it to be, but Jordan was a monster; a beast that needed to be taken care of before he hurts anyone else. I took out a pen and paper, and started to write a plan.

I was back in the bathroom. I felt like I was back where I started when I entered the club. I had the pieces now, and I just needed to link them together. OL17L66, the obelisk. McNabb’s secret project. What was it for? And what did Jordan do? Murder? I can only guess. Was it bad enough that I killed a man to get to him? It was. I have to stop fooling myself. Whether I hate myself, or believe in myself, I have my path. My destiny. My narrative, and I am going to see this story to the end.

“Josh, you okay in there?,” I hear Jordan call from the bathroom entrance, “You didn’t fall in did you?”
“No! Everything is fine! I just, well, I gave myself a lot to read!” I say trying to sound as cheerful as I could.
“Well, I made us some tea so we can talk business! It isn’t going to be hot forever!”
Jordan leaves, and I stand up.

My faith has been placed in my past self, because if I was wrong, there is nothing I can do now to change it.

Compartmentalization (Part 17)

Part 17: Another Thing Coming

I feel oddly calm in the shower. I can feel the hot water spray onto my face, and with my eyes closed, I imagine that I am somewhere else. Maybe somewhere sunny. Maybe Autumn, and I could just walk around and look at all the leaves on the trees changing colors. I think I should just run outside and go far away. Start a new life somewhere. I open my eyes, half hoping that I am already there, that I already made that decision and I don’t have to worry about what is going to happen. But here I am, still in the shower, still needing to get ready, still needing to confront Jordan.

Ever since I woke up from that car crash, I have had this nagging, lingering hate of my past self. The more I remember, the more I realize that I don’t want to remember who I was. I guess this is why I usually think in the present. Maybe that is why I can’t remember anything in the first place. I doubt it though. I am not sure if I was ever that aware until now.
I made this cage for myself, this plan. I know I am so very close to accomplishing it, but I am not even sure what it is yet. Though I know it involves beating Jordan. Jordan Steinman. I am sure in the past I had strong feelings about him. Feelings of intense friendship, or intense hate, but all of that is gone now. All I have left is the consequence of those feelings, without any of the context. I am sure if I had those feelings, then I wouldn’t do what I am about to do, but I think it backfired. What I didn’t realize is that forgetting it made it unimportant to me. Without that drive, I am just left with this shell of myself. I keep on trying to take off this mask, this persona I am left with, but the more I try and tear it off, the more I realize that the mask is just my face. There is nothing deeper. There is just me, having to pay for things I did before.

Did I really kill a person? Was Jordan just lying to me? That seems so against who I used to be. But who was I? It all is lost on me now. I remember the black platform, but I didn’t shoot anybody. The flames rose, and as far as I can tell, it engulfed us both. Maybe I was just watching. Maybe it was just a dream. Maybe, maybe maybe. I am sick of maybes, I want something real to hang on to. The only thing that is real that I can really hang onto is that need to take all of Jordan’s idealism and smack his face with it. Who is he to think he can change the world? Jordan, he always was the idealist. That is why he stayed with me even though my mind was broken. That is why he is head of the Smoker guild. That is why he thinks he can just invite me alone to his club and think he is safe. He has another thing coming.

I get out of the shower, and get dressed. I am thinking too much, and before I know it, I have a whole outfit on. I am not sure whose clothes these are, but I assume they are Max’s because there is no way I could fit into anything Ben wears. I assume this must have been the plan, because I have no other clothes. I assume. I always assume. Maybe this ‘plan’ I think I have for myself is just the accumulation of my assumptions.

There I go again, ‘maybe, maybe, maybe.’

I put on a necktie I find in the closet, and I go up to the room. It is quiet. I am not sure if it had been quiet before, or if my entering silenced it. Dan motions to Gwen and we head downstairs together. Gwen says something but I am thinking too much again to really hear it. That song ‘Amelia’ pops into my head again. I imagined seeing Amelia again would have been the revelation that ended all this, but much like the pop song, she just doesn’t mean much to me anymore. I couldn’t imagine why I was so smitten with her to the point of obsession. It isn’t like she is ugly, it is just that the difference between what she looked like, and what I imagined this woman looked like before I blocked her from my mind, is an uncanny valley I have created for myself. She was something special to me once, and now she is just a piece in a puzzle I can’t solve.

Amelia, the black platform, Jordan, Tarren McNabb, UWG, assassin, body guard, anti-assassin, they all linked together I just needed to find the missing piece.

By the time I finally aware of my surroundings, Gwen says that we are here. I get out of the car and look at the club. Before, you could hear the base of music shaking the building to its core, but now, it stood there silent, like an obelisk. Obelisk. I get a surge of déjà vu thinking about that word.
I enter the building and everyone seems to have departed. Most of the lights are also off, and the only lights that are on create a path to the stairwell. I decide to take the path and start walking up the stairs. This is it, I think. I walk up the stairs and I begin to get anxious. I remember somebody telling me that whenever I am anxious I just need to imagine the word ‘stop’ in my head. I flash the word ‘stop’ in my head three times, and each time it is accompanied with a familiar red, octagonal shape. It helps keep the anxiety down, and I feel confident. I then start needing to go to the bathroom. I debate whether I should go up and ignore it, or try to stumble in the dark to find the bathroom. I decide to just go up, and that I just need to go because of my nerves. I get to the top of the stairwell, and immediately regret my decision. Luckily, on the top floor there is a bathroom right there, and I prop the door open so what little light there is can shine it and give me some clue to where the urinals are. I relieve myself, and start walking down to the black doors with the golden J.S. As I approach the door, I start needing to go to the bathroom again. I think this is ridiculous, and I begin to realize that my anxiousness has turned to dread.

I have a revelation.

I couldn’t do this before.

There was so much I needed to forget to get here.

I hated myself back then too.

I guess I was a coward. Well, I will do what I needed to do now. I was such a child. I let people take care of me because I can’t take care of myself. Now that changes. I will end this.

I grab the door and fling it open. I am filled with the urge to go forward. I am ready to wring Jordan’s neck and get Maxwell back. I rush in. I see Jordan at his desk, now wearing just a grey shirt and sweatpants.

“Holy shit! How the hell have you been?,” Jordan stands up, “Sorry about that whole performance before, had to keep the whole façade up, you know. Did you manage to find the room okay? I tried to get the lights to show the way up here, but I am not sure if it was clear enough.”
I was taken aback by his tone of voice. This wasn’t the same Jordan I saw three hours ago.
“Do you want to sit down? We have so much to talk about!” Jordan says while moving two office chairs to where I am, “Hold on, let me hug you.” Jordan hugs me, and it completely deflates me.
We sit down.
“So how much do you remember? Are you totally in shock right now? I thought that I was way too over-dramatic, but your friend seemed to buy it. Getting everyone out of here was problematic, but hey, when you are the boss, you can do that sort of thing!”
“Jordan,” I say, “What is going on?”
“Wait, did you buy it too? Oh man! I couldn’t believe you when you said that the only way to really act well is to fool yourself, but this is ridiculous! Though, in order to fool the UWG, I guess you have to, huh?”
I am having trouble thinking of a response, and Jordan hands a letter to me.
“Here read this,” he says to me. I read it.

Dear J,
I found the library. Start operation ALEXANDRIA.
Your Friend,
J

“I don’t understand, “ I say, and I feel like I have been in this exact situation before.
“You wrote this! This is your handwriting!” Jordan says.
This was becoming a cliché in my life. I sure wrote down things a lot. I must have picked it up when I was in that cabin.
“If this is my handwriting, then what is operation Alexandria?”
“Do you want to talk about business now, or later?

I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to talk about it ever. I sort of just wanted to leave, but I couldn’t come back without Maxwell, especially with this tracker in me.

“No, uh, I mean, how have you been doing?” I ask weakly.
Jordan starts up, “Pretty good! Especially with things finally moving along. I can’t believe it! How are you?”
“Um, okay.”
“It really is good to see you, you know. It has been much too long. You took quite the fall there! I could never understand your madness, but your methods have gotten us this far I suppose.”
I struggled to think of something to say, but I was being distracted by how happy he seemed. I spoke up,”So, the Smoker guild? Seems like one heck of an organization”
“You can say that again. Getting to the head was hard as hell, but not as hard as being a UWG guy. I heard you were even assigned to Terran McNabb. I can’t imagine being next to him and resisting the urge to punch him in the face.”
“I can’t really remember.”
“I imagine remembering him could be dangerous. Talking about remembering people you worked for, how has working with Maxwell been going? Is he still stealing my style? I swear, that guy has been trying to copy me since he got into anti-assassination.”
“I would think you would know better than me.”
“What? Why? Just because I kidnapped him? Are you worried about him? Don’t be. Last time I saw him, he was about to take a bath. The ‘cell’ I gave him is better than most hotels. It is certainly better than the dump he came from.”
I am relieved that Maxwell is doing okay, but I am still confused about what is going on exactly, so I decided to ask a question I am curious about, “How did you manage to get to be the boss anyway? Since you worked for the UWG and all.”
“You know, when we first started working as a pair, I never thought about how well calling ourselves ‘J’ was going to work. Most people thought the ‘J’ stood for ‘Josh’ in the end. I think the only one who figured it out was Dan from Maxwell’s group. Man, I still can’t believe that we managed to rise so high up without joining a real organization. I guess with my experience and your training, we beat out the rest.”
“Training?” I ask.
“Anyway,” Jordan goes on, I am not sure if he heard me, “Getting in wasn’t that hard because nobody could prove the connection that I was one of the ‘Js’ in J. Everyone was suspicious with me at first because they knew I worked for the UWG to some capacity, but once I really sucked up to Ulysses Smoker, I was on the path to succession in no time. I became like a son to him. I changed the Smokers from a bunch of fangless aristocrats to my pawns. We are so close, we are so close to exposing the UWG for what they really are and giving them their retribution!”

I tried faking remembering what the hell he is talking about, but both my nerves, and my still needing to go to the bathroom, were getting the best of me. I needed to get out of there, if only for a second, and try to remember what the f___ (I still have that word blocked) did we do.
“Uh, sorry, but do you have a bathroom? I kinda need to go,” I say desperately.
“Didn’t you just go? I thought I heard you...” Jordan says.
“I need to go again.”
“Oh...yeah sure! It is out the doorway to your left, by the staircase. We got plenty of time, I’ll turn on the lights over there. Here, take these with you. They are the three letters you wrote to yourself. You told me that they were for ‘your eyes only’ so you can use them as reading material. Take the tie off while you are at it!”
I take the letters and run out of the room, and to the bathroom. The lights in the hallway go on, and I sit in the stall, hands on my head, trying my best to process what I need to do next.

Compartmentalization (Part 16.5)

16.5 Dan Remembers

It was approaching dusk in the desert, and the hazy yellow of the sand began to fade into an orange-ish brown. Two young men are in the middle of a trailer park in the middle of nowhere. One young man is leading the other young man around a winding path that that probably seems completely unnecessary to the outside observer.
“Follow the path now,” the young man in front said, “you step off it, and you might not like what you find.”
“I know how a mine field works, Alex,” the young man following said.
“Who knows what lies under these sands, I am not even sure if J knew.”

The young men eventually reach a big trailer door with a wooden finish. The man in front puts his gloved hand on the door handle.
“I am thinking of calling it ‘Maxwell House.’”
“Like the coffee?” the man behind responded.
“Yes! It is a play on my name you see.”
“I can see that, but can you see that name might be a copyright violation?”
“This is the future, Dan! No one cares about copyright anymore, right?”
“I don’t know how you convinced me to come out here…” Dan said.
“We won! We were in competition with them for so long, and we are now going to take in the spoils!” Alex says gesturing his hands in a wide motion while opening the door.

Inside was a messy office that looked like something a college professor might have used, but it looked like all the books, papers, and most of the furniture were pushed up against the wall. In the middle was a little table with two plates of spaghetti, two wine glasses of wine, lit by candlelight, and with a slow violin record playing.

Dan immediately turns his back and begins to walk out.
“Wait! Where are you going!?”
“I can’t do this Alex! We are over! We have been over! I don’t care if you stole all of J’s stuff!”
“Steal!? I’ll have you know…”
Before Alex can respond Dan points at the “J.S.” on the vest Alex is wearing.
“Well…finders keepers right?”
Dan began to turn away and mutters, “Of all the asinine…”
Alex stands in his way, “Dan, it isn’t how it looks. Really.”
“Oh, okay. So how am I supposed to interpret a candlelit dinner date for two with romantic music on?” Dan said sarcastically.
“First of all, the electricity isn’t working yet, so we need candles to see what we are eating, and second of all, this isn’t romantic music at all it’s,” Alex removed the record from the player and reads it, “’Romantic Music?’ What? Is that really the title? Who names music like that?”
“I am leaving Alexander, and if I have to go through you, I guarantee I can take you.”
“What, Dan, are you really going to drive all the way to Sumiwake and eat a bad meal in a cheap hotel?”
“Yes, that sounds like exactly what I am going to do.”
“I cooked all this food. And I had to push everything away so that we can eat here. We agreed that we could still be friends. Can’t a friend cook his friend a meal?”
Dan sighed.
“A victory meal, Dan! After all we’ve been through together! I owe you one! Let’s eat together to celebrate!”
“I don’t really consider it a ‘victory’ when the competition forfeits, but alright, I’ll go with it, for old time’s sake,” Dan said as he sat down at the table. Alex sits down too and starts to eat. Dan just stares at Alex with his arms crossed.
“Aren’t you you going to eat?” Alex said.
“No, not really hungry,” Dan says gruffly.
“You really are not going to enjoy this are you?”
“Not until you tell me why you really brought me here.”
Alex sighs, “Ha, you can read me like a book, can’t you?”
“Just spit it out, Alex.”
“Dan, to be completely honest, I need you.”
“Too bad.”
“No, no, for the UWG.”
“Why?”
“Well, it turns out, they are going to turn down my AAO application.”
“You were never the greatest anti-assassin, getting a whole organization to yourself wasn’t ever going to be easy.”
“I know that. I…I just thought that after J and his crony left they would need somebody to pick up the slack.”
“That makes sense.”
“But they are going to turn me down next week, and unless you help me, they are going to throw me out of here.”
“So you WERE stealing!”
“No! They assigned me here to gather good enough agents to be a group! I have no connections out here so I was screwed.”
“’Screwed’ my ass. You knew exactly how this was going to go down, and you waited until the last minute to call me up and make yourself the ‘poor sympathetic loser’ to convince me to go with whatever crazy scheme you came up with!”
“That isn’t how I wanted it!”
“Then how did you want it?”
“I know how hard it is out there. I see all the poor souls out there, jobless, listless, and directionless. I know how that dread and ennui feels. There are too many people who need, and not enough people who give in the world today. So I was going to create an Anti-Assassin Organization that just didn’t hire the top of the line people. I want to give those who didn’t get a chance, or want a way to change direction in their lives. I want to give a house to those people who don’t feel at home anywhere.”
“Alexander Maxwell, the savior to the people.”
“Somebody has to do something right? And if you don’t help me, I will be just another homeless nobody leaching off whatever the UWG gives me.”
“So you need me to join your little group?”
“You are the best in the business Dan! You were the best even when J was around! You never got the attention you deserved, and if you joined me, I wouldn’t even need to get anyone else! We could hire those people that deserve to be more than nobodies!”
“You can’t just hire random people you think deserve it! Being an anti-assassin isn’t child’s play, Alex! It is dangerous and you are going to get people killed!”
“C’mon, I was a petty thief before I did this, and you were just a private that had no chance of promotion. Being anti-assassins gave us the chance to improve ourselves and have the support of the UWG to boot.”
“Do you really think that somebody like, I dunno, like Max is going to make a good anti-assassin?”
“Sure! Hell, I’ll hire my brother first thing, and I’ll show you exactly what I mean!”
Dan rolls his eyes, “This is crazy Alex. But I have to admit, it might just work.”
“So you’ll do it!?”
“Hold on, if I am going to do this, I have conditions that need to be met.”
“Okay, like what?”
“First of all, I don’t want to be in the field, ever. I already have two bad knees, a bad back, and too many close calls to ever go out there again. I’ll be backup, or shadow like that Josh guy, but I am not going to put my neck out there for any UWG official or whatever charity case you got out there.”
“We can do that.”
“Second of all, I want you to take care of all the financials, supplies, everything. All I want to do is target practice, read some books, and relax. I’ll also be the driver, but only if I get a good car with a sound system of some sort.”
“I can figure that out.”
“And lastly, I don’t want any tricky stuff, I want you to be completely transparent with me and tell me everything that is going on. Okay?”
“Done, done, and done! Now can we please eat? I am starving.”

They start to eat. There is a silence as it was apparent that they were both famished. After they finish their plates, they sit in their chairs, listening to the recorded violin slowly play a note.

“You know, I know we have our history, but I am feeling good about this,” Dan said, “You finally are putting that ego of yours to good use.”
“Well, I have only you to thank. Without you I don’t know where I would be,” Alex said.
“Probably still trying to steal something big.”
“Hah, probably. Thank goodness I got out of that business. The only thing I could manage to do is lock pick, and I wasn’t even good at that.”
“Whatever happened to J anyway?”
“Heard he joined the Smoker Guild.”
“Yeesh, you have to really hate the UWG to join those jokers.”
“Yeah, U. Smoker is a bit of a joke himself. I don’t think they’ll get anything accomplished other than just annoying people.”
“What about the ‘other’ J?”
“’Josh?’ I wasn’t even sure he existed until he joined the UWG.”
“I would love to see what that guy is really like.”
“Don’t bother. I heard that he is a total head case.”
“How so?”
“The guy uses some sort of mental technique, MBN or something, and it makes him forget stuff to remember it, or something.”
“I mean, the guy supposedly has been training in the UWG since he was little.”
“Really? Where did you hear that?”
“Something about some UWG people adopting him when he was a child.”
“I haven’t heard that.”
“I think it came up because people were asking how he could just join up the UWG after him and J went their separate ways.”
“By the way, which trailer do you want?”
“I’ll think I’ll get my own, thank you very much.”
“This is the beginning of something special, I can feel it.”
“Alright Maxwell House, I am counting on you.”
“Haha, Maxwell House?”
“Hey, you are turning over a new leaf! ‘Maxwell’ sounds more authoritative. You should use that.”
“Maxwell, huh? I think you’re right.”
“This will either be amazing, or it will completely crash and burn.”
“Who says it can’t be both?”