Shadows flicker unnaturally, their sources unclear.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' latest film soundtrack swells in the background.]

THE ARRIVAL: BOOM’S NEON APPROACH

MAINLINING stands aloof in the living room bar, cigarette in hand, as BOOM rolls in, gracefully using his left hand, driving directly toward Mainlining like a bullet in his Chariot-sized wheelchair. In his other hand, he grips a Louisville Slugger, no different than Robert Baratheon wielding his Warhammer at the Battle of the Trident.

Yet BOOM’s face is eerily pale, almost luminescent. His sunken eyes dart with manic energy, his bald head glistening under the stuttering neon lights. His lips twist into a grin that never quite reaches his eyes. The massive wheelchair, adorned with garish neon underglow, casts jagged, disorienting shapes on the walls.

MAINLINING squints at the distorted, ghastly figure approaching him.

Years of Grizz encounters in the wilderness and fending off the worst of SeaTTTle's homeless freak$ with the skill of Neo in The Matrix have sharpened his instincts, and MAINLINING instantly marks BOOM as the man who recently contacted him in a distorted voice, claiming to be his new “friend” over an intercom.

THE ENCOUNTER: A FRIEND REVISITED

BOOM: Hi, friend. We’ve met before, haven’t We?

Probably at that rigged vegan $oup kitchen in Ballard during ’21’s peak "COVID" fraud. You know, the one fraudfuck ADM tried to shut down on Us before We managed to get some food?

MAINLINING: (Exhales slowly, his tone steady yet brittle.) New "friend," your perception of realiTTTy is as fractured as this once-great, now-befallen, shit-stinking pile of "city," SeaTTTle.

In actual reality, I haven’t been to Ballard since the promised, “Prophesized” The Great Becumming™ of 2017.

[BOOM rolls closer, and the party’s music distorts—slowing, then warping into unrecognizable noise. Lights flicker overhead, casting the room in eerie flashes. BOOM stares at MAINLINING with an all-knowing air of satisfaction.]

THE REVELATION: WE ARE THE DRAGON

BOOM: All these "year$," my old friend.

So many "year$" of false promises to “meet up” via "burners," face-to-face in Ve&as and Cripple Creek.

But fag “Burners” are no substitute for what we must do now. Do you $ee? This is the moment—Our Machine™ brought us here, and you now know, you $ee :).

[BOOM'S voice rises] WE are the Dragon. And the Others call us insane. They are privy to The Great Becumming™, but they recognize nothing. To Us, they are a slug in the sun. They are ants in the afterbirth.

It is the Others' nature to do one thing correctly—before Us and Our Machine™, they rightly tremble.

But, fear is not what They owe Us. THEY OWE US AWE.

MAINLINING: (Eyes widening as if he has just spotted a Grizzly Bear, yet sharply responding without a flinch):

MY Machine™ hunts larger prey than my humble abode.

Unlike your outdated POS device, MY Machine™ outpaces even the most seasoned, pot-bellied Of Counsel.

It is a sight to behold, effortlessly prioritizing and resolving all types of matters, from SeaTTTle’s homeless—gnawing at steel beams and muttering ADM’s name—thanks to this latest street drug, “tran,” or how Clause 9.2 of the ADM Compliance Initiative interferes with MY client contract due next week.

Or are "We" just here to swap your latest delusion$?

THE PROOF: IN YOUR APARTMENT, RIGHT NOW

BOOM: Delusion$? Friend, I’m in your "luxury" apartment RIGHT NOW.

And I can prove it.

Call yourself.

Go ahead. Hehe ;).

[BOOM pulls out an eerily outdated, bulky, early '90s satellite phone and tosses it to MAINLINING, who reluctantly catches it.

MAINLINING hesitates, but reluctantly dials his home number. A wave of silence ripples through the crowd, as if the room itself is holding its breath.]

[HOUSE BOOM's voice, clear as day, responds.]

HOUSE BOOM (on the phone): I told you, "friend." I’m here. More precisely, We’re here ;).

MAINLINING: (Freezes, having heard the distorted, haunting version of HOUSE BOOM'S voice.) How are you... how are you doing this?

HOUSE BOOM (on the phone): Simple. I’m in Our "luxury" apartment. I’m in Our Head. I’m in every shadow Our Machine™ casts.

MAINLINING: (Now growling into BOOM's decaying yet operational phone.) What the hell are you? Some pumo faggot $talker?

HOUSE BOOM: (Chuckling between raspy, definite coughs, still on the line.) I am inevitable, friend.

BOOM (back at the house-bar): Nothing is impossible when it’s done for Our Machine™. Now, give me back Our phone. Hehe ;).

MAINLINING: (Clutching the phone tightly, but throws it back to BOOM in disgust.)

THE FAREWELL: SHADOWS THAT LINGER

BOOM: (Effortlessly catches the monstrosity of a phone, maniacally grinning, his crazy eye$ widening further.)

Yes...I sense it. We know it. At last—you finally $ee :)?

I told Us. I’m everywhere, including you and our beloved, gay Evan. Even in "your" beloved Pep and Tilapia-fueled dreams. Just like Our former car wash—I’m in Denver and right here, all at once.

MAINLINING: (Voice low, teeth clenched.) How did you get in? Did you bypass my motion sensors and drone defense measures?

BOOM: "SecuriTTTy systems?" Ljl. All made by ADM subsidiaries. We dealt with those swiftly. And now, for future business, We’re going to "deal" their plan to replace oxygen with corn syrup, forcing the world into the AirCoin$™ “$ubscribe or Die” app.

MAINLINING: (Staring at Boom, disbelief cracking into something deeper—recognition.)

One day, I will maek you explain how this—from your sale of Boom Car Wash LLC to your taste in wheelchair design—all ties together.

BOOM: Explain, friend? It's $imple.

I’m the one who digs up buckets of fraud ADM buried.

And you? You chronicle their delusions, exposing fraud, and preaching about Our Machine™ and The Great Becumming™.

Evan39? He’s in his Perkins Coie high-rise corner office, "working" (i.e., funding his constant gaze of Mount Rainier like it’s Chad incarnate), praying to Our Machine™ daily for a fortuitous interruption.

We’re the Three who notice what Others won’t. But against Our Machine™? We’re just the noise between the gears. You know this better than most, having been preaching the good word on XO for months.

The Others will also $ee, in due time. Otherwise, We and Our Machine™ will gift Them! Free of charge, We will grant their ability to $ee, stapling Their eyelids to Their foreheads.

[A charged silence hangs between them, broken only by faint echoes of laughter from the crowd.]

MAINLINING: (Breaking into a dry, uneasy chuckle, flicking his cigarette aside.)

"Three" of us, huh?

Moreso a “Fraudulent Bipolar Trinity,” he muttered to the shadows.

But I’ll play your lil' "game," friend—if that’s what “We” are, it explains all the weird XO "content" poasted over the past two decades.

So, what now?

BOOM: (Points to his phone, grinning more wildly.) Give me back Our phone. And tell Chad I said “hello.”

MAINLINING tosses BOOM’s phone back.

For a brief moment, their eyes meet—a shared recognition of their absurd role in the grand, grinding orchestral play of Their Machine™.

BOOM: It’s been a plea$ure, as always. After our work is done, and The Great Becumming™ passes? Ve&as, on Us, plus all the best sourced pep and tilapia The Holy Trinity could ever fully consume.

But for now, if you’ll excuse me, We have to warn Evan39 about the latest letter We received.

You know, that $ick, $talking XO pumo, leaving Us letters at Safeway, with the brazenness to say that it is HE who "$ees Us."

BOOM rolls away, his neon-lit wheelchair casting erratic shadows across the floor.

As BOOM exits, the crowd seems to ripple unnaturally, like waves distorted by unseen gears. The lights flicker, casting shadows that move of their own accord, lingering for just a moment too long.

MAINLINING stands still, his cigarette forgotten, watching as the crowd swallows The Mystery Boom back into the chaos.

Somewhere in the distance, faintly, a phone rings again. The camera lingers on MAINLINING’s face—uneasy, unreadable—before fading to black.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5668968&forum_id=2...id.#48583463)

But it's fuckin' crazy.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5668968&forum_id=2...id.#48584068)