"Is it not time that we awaken from the deceitful dream of a Golden Age?" - Alexander Hamilton

(Death- if there is one constant that New York, Canada, and America share it is that. Taxes? The rebels don't pay for Britney. Sex? Britney only does it to have kids, so she says. Hope? What do the brainwashed have to hope for, and what do the rebels hope for but the demolition of false hope? So death, like any war, is the lone common denominator between the two sides. However, death itself is not well defined. A death to the rebels could very well be a birth for Britney and the death of a brainwashed is a victory to the rebels. As is the case here, while the world mourns the loss of a great leader, America celebrates her with her own TV special on Channel 1. Eva may very well be on every channel in the world, but a morbid chill goes through the air as Kate's reunion special plays side by side with Eva Cohen's funeral in some countries. Such is life in 2020, although this is unprecedented even for Britney's reality. Never has such a great leader and unifier fallen victim to Britney in such a way. Some are not surprised, but that is irrelevant now. Todd is in Israel, mourning the loss of his beloved. The look in his eyes shows that he will never give up, because he owes his Eva more than just to walk away after one defeat. He speaks at Eva's memorial service but he can barely form words. The look on his face shows his grief turning into unspeakable anger. Even his closest confidantes worry about him. He meets with Avi Katz, Prime Minister of Israel and the former second-in-command to Eva when MOSES was overthrown. He sits with Todd and goes over what happened.)

Avi: You had no choice, you know. No way she would have let you make her walk away from that mission. Any chance for her to destroy Britney would never be turned down. Trust me when I say that. I couldn't keep her from some suicide missions here. She barely survived them but I think she'd rather have it that way. She'd rather be dead trying than not know if she gave up a chance. That's how she destroyed MOSES- she sent the entire unit to attack the Knesset from all sides. She paratrooped onto the roof and broke in from above, fighting countless men alone. I don't know how she survived. Looking at the floor plan, there is no plausible way for her to succeed, but she did.

Todd: Lemme guess, she let a pig loose in the hall.

Avi: I doubt it, although I still wonder. She never told. Destroying the systems was the only way she would be happy.

Todd: ...Or safe?

Avi: I don't know. All I remember is that when it was all over and she was set to head Israel, was that she gave me full responsibility and then fled. It was a great mystery here, then she came on TV and said that she had to finish the job. You know after Britney overloaded the system and brought England into the same God-loving madness as America, Eva helped the IRA in their failed attempt to destroy BECKY?

Todd: The IRA? That was who was bankrolling the situation? She *was* desperate to destroy the control systems. I read about that attack. It freed the north and made Ireland safe from Becky's grasp once and for all but they didn't want to enter England when the North was liberated. They'd rather just stay terrorists.

Avi: That wasn't the half of it. The IRA was so disorganized they put all of Ireland of danger of falling to Becky's systems. They tried to attack by armed conflict and beckoned the British Army.

(Todd winces)

Todd: Smart, allow the army to invade and take over your land by force.

Avi: Eva freed them. She slipped behind enemy lines and bombed the transmitter in Belfast, the only one on the island. She then hightailed it to Canada.

Todd: She never told me about that.

Avi: She was still embarrassed that she helped people who were basically terrorists and held the same views as the brainwashed without any control system. But that's how much she hated the systems, she had to kill them all. She worked 5 years to find a way.

Todd: ...and not even I could stop her if she saw a chance to beat Britney.

Avi: I'm surprised she stopped to love you. She was afraid of love. She thought that it would weaken her, allow the control signals to enter her brain and make her just another housewife. She knew she was already weakened because she had to dress like her sister. It was all she saw herself as, but she was too strong to let any other part of her go under.

Todd (with a slight nasty edge): You and her?

Avi: Yes, I could see it in her eyes, and I adored her. But she would always push me away- she told me she loved me but she was afraid. We would go out but she just... I don't know if it was fear or if really it was making her feel the programming, but she would run. That's why I was sent to the front while she snuck in alone.

Todd: She came for me. I guess she felt like I would keep her safe.

Avi: Don't blame yourself. I think whatever part of her soul is left still loves you. It was her resistance that killed her.

Todd: It still makes no sense! She caused Britney to overload, Natalie collapsed, and then she's just like the rest of the actresses?

Avi: We checked our own data. Britney diverted her power to her substations. One of those was on the lot of that studio. Natalie collapsed when Britney had to briefly shut off to reload into her main station.

Todd: That would mean Eva went under before everything overloaded. But why no change in speech?

Avi: We are still figuring that out. You should ask your expert.

(Todd grumbles)

Avi: I would not be angry at him. He had a good theory.

Todd: Setting up a death trap is a good theory? He should have thought it through before telling it to Eva.

Avi: True, but you can't blame him for everything.

Todd: He was irresponsible. Besides, he didn't know as much as he let on.

Avi: And you know that how?

Todd: I know him. He did two experiments and failed once, and then got the idea that someone like Eva could destroy Britney.

Avi: Still, he couldn't know that there was a substation 50 feet away.

Todd: Maybe you're right. I'll leave it be, but I wouldn't call him an expert. It was nice talking to you.

Avi: You too. Any time you need assistance, Israel is behind you.

Todd: I'll keep that in mind.

(The scene shifts to New York. Death is an action that has more than one equal and opposite reaction. Whitey realizes this and has fled to the asylum state. Dee has held out hope for the unit to reunite, and as such he has been sent to find Eva's successor. He stays at the Refuge and interviews many candidates to find the right replacement. First up is Chris and Bree.)

Whitey: So what do you know about Britney?

Bree: That's that bitch who makes blacks into factory slaves and whites into Klansmen, right? Enough to know never to watch television ever again!

Whitey: Umm, ok, I'll keep in touch.

(Next is Alex Sloan, high priest of the Lady.)

Whitey: You're a little young, what could you bring?

Alex: Ummm, right, umm... EXCUSE ME! Would you please tell Gina to get off your back? I know you haven't exactly seen each other in a while but can she stop necking you during my job interview? Show some respect! Get a fuckin' room!

Whitey: What the?! (Looks behind him) Umm... NEXT!

(Next is Arturo Giafonne, lead don of the Bronx Society.)

Whitey: So what do you have to offer?

Arturo: We offer... protection.

Whitey: What kind of protection do you offer?

Arturo: What kind of protection do you need?

Whitey: We don't need protection, we need action! We are at war with Britney.

Arturo: We protect the city, we don't like all of it. You work with queers, right? Well, we don't like queers. We protect queers because they are part of New York. New York is what we protect. It is the concept of this city that we welcome all types. We welcomed coloreds when they were still slaves, we welcomed immigrants when they were seen as little more than sweatshop labor, we welcomed Jews when they were being gassed by the millions, and we accepted queers when no one else would. We are here to protect the legacy of this city. We don't like everyone and we don't hate everything Britney stands for, but we'll be damned if she lets innocents die. We have our territory to protect, and you have your computer to overthrow. Call us if you feel that the city is threatened.

Whitey: Okay, thanks. I think. We'll keep in touch.

(Next up is Manuel Diaz, better known as Manny from Miami. He now has spent the past two months, working his way up the ranks of Los Metros.)

Whitey: You just escaped Britney, how could you avoid her again if you left here?

(Manuel responds in a profane Spanish.)

Whitey: Ok, but how can you help us destroy Britney?

Manuel: ¡La puta mató mi querida!

Whitey: Have you forgotten all English and swung to all Spanish?

Manuel: No, but I be damned to el infierno if I used this curse more than I need to, ese. Besides, I come here not for me but for all Los Metros. ¡Somos sus hermanos!

Whitey: Well, we need someone to help destroy Britney, a programmer to find her weakness.

Manuel: Sí, sí... mira, ese, we ain't hackers, we fighters, but somos locos unidos forever! You ever need backup, we are here.

Whitey: Then where is Rey?

Manuel: Está in Jersey, we taking out some revenge for her killing Todd's novia.

Whitey: We don't kill innocents.

Manuel: Since when are piñatas innocent?

Whitey: That's what you call actresses?

Manuel: Putas de las noticias. A las seis, ese, you watch the news!

Whitey: I'll try not to. Tell Rey we'll think of them if we need men to invade.

(Whitey grows disgusted in his quest and leaves the Refuge for a while. He walks toward 57th and 7th, the memorial for his beloved Slash. He walks by the glass center of industry at Columbus Circle. Now it is the headquarters for the Street Merchants Union, not to mention one of their biggest malls, offering phony merchandise for a reduced price to brainwashed, without the brainwashed's knowledge. He remembers when it was the high-class mall of the past world. Now it sells phony Rolexes and the real versions of songs done as God-fearing covers by Britney's puppets. He sighs as he passes, then heads toward the memorial but is stopped by a man in all white, a large man with a matching white hat the wrinkles of the old south, the ruggedness of the old west streaming across his face, yet the stare of a civil businessman. He is an older man and he smiles when he sees Whitey. He looks familiar to Whitey but he only remembers him from the television and besides, wouldn't he be at the forefront of the government?)

Ames: Howdy, son!

Whitey: Ummm... my dad died years ago. Who are you?

Ames: You northerners are all alike, hear a word, take it at face value. No wonder Boston went under so fast.

Whitey: And you know this how?

Ames: Hell, son, you ought to know me. I'm surprised you didn't try to shoot me by now, so you must know I didn't follow the blonde like the other media heads. Aaron Ames, at your service.

Whitey: Okay, so I wasn't hallucinating again. But well, how do you know me?

Ames: You and your crowd have been making a lot of noise the last few months. I have folks in Toronto helping me put all the pieces together about who's who. Isn't that your name in the Daily News want ads asking for hackers and other forms of destroying the blonde? Daily News, great paper, but it could be a little more truthful. At least it believes in news unlike that other popular New York paper. I guess you got your man, because otherwise you wouldn't have left your post.

Whitey: I took a break. They weren't kidding when they called this a nuthouse state.

Ames: Son, it was crazier before Britney. Back then, you had God freaks having to interact with the crazies. Now, you just have the crazies and the drunks. Why do you think I ran everything from Atlanta? Least there you know where the crazies are.

Whitey: So which one are you?

Ames: You alive right now?

Whitey: Yeah...

Ames: So you KNOW I ain't siding with the Union. I'm a real Southerner, I don't side with the Union and I don't pass up a case of good liquor. Besides, I told Ken way back in 2004 to quit that nonsense. We are a nation of freedom, and what's freedom without people who are truly free?

Whitey: Wait... so you opposed Britney?

Ames: Hell, I competed head to head with ADAM. Remember, son, I ran my network with integrity, because I WAS the network. AIS never, and I mean NEVER, stooped to those levels. We reported the truth, not the news, and we still do, just not here.

Whitey: So what are you doing in New York? Shouldn't you be in South America with the other deposed CEOs? Or maybe at home reading your Bible and having some Russian drooling over you?

Ames: I like you, son. You have spunk, and you have a brain, not just a gun. I went to Costa Rica until last year, then I came here. I couldn't let my country rot like this, it's my home. So I helped the street merchants learn how to run a business better and used my fortune to build a resistance from New York. Who needs to destroy Britney to beat her?

Whitey: But Britney controls, doesn't lead.

Ames: I know, but there is always someone out there to be better than anything, or so I thought. Then I lost my daughter to the machine, and that was with her safely in South America! Had her run back to Atlanta in the middle of the night. That's when I knew I had to destroy the machine. I was working with the Bronx Society and some of the merchants, small things. But those fellers don't know moonshine from a moonpie. Then I saw the opening day special. You had the right idea, you just had the WRONG person. That girl had one foot in the grave from the day she freed Israel. Hell, she was on Britney's side all along!

Whitey: What?!?! Watch it! She was a good friend and a good fighter.

Ames: Oh, she didn't know she was fighting for Britney, but lemme tell you, Britney wanted MOSES dead. I know. Ken and I still talked every so often. He wanted me to come over and take my piece of the pie and help with the programming. He told me he just built MOSES to be co-opted by Britney and secure the Middle East just like he co-opted BECKY to take over England. See, the 500 aren't owned by Britney, or at least they weren't before the war. They just need a way to further sell their goods, and sell they do. They couldn't care less if the average weight has gone up 20 pounds in the past 12 years, they still sell and keep the money. They built it, made it, and created a system that made people only want to buy their products, a new marketing economy to save the industry.

Whitey: And build up the CCP's message of Aryan hate.

Ames: Rule #1, son, it ain't about no fucking fanatics. It never was, and never will be. Hell, all they did was rook them for money to build the damn thing and the power to build substations. Never, ever was it about God. God's just her blonde hair to blind the people, morality's nothing more than her perfume to draw the people into her commercial arms. If it was about God, why the hell are they all gluttons? Truth be known, first thing they did is let the CCP go under so they didn't have to put up with their crap.

Whitey: Then why do they continue with the godly platform, not to mention the war and hate?

Ames: They need something to keep the people entertained so they don't get any ideas, like improving things and creating competition. Hey, hate is fun, son, don't forget that.

Whitey: Then why the segregation?

Ames: They need distribution of wealth, and they need their goods made. So they used the Bible to build more hate while at the same time getting good workers. Ken's idea, he didn't think about creating segregation, just a way to apply the same feelings of self-worth that control the rich to the poor. You can guess who made the division racial.

Whitey: And the anti-gay platform?

Ames: You need an enemy at home and abroad. It never was supposed to reach this level, though. That's why I came over here. Son, no group is so bad that they all must die. Not even the CCP.

Whitey: I still don't believe this. You never went with the consolidation?

Ames: I competed with them until my investors bought me out. That's when I took my whiskey to Costa Rica. Besides, I did well for myself over there.

Whitey: Oh?

Ames: AIS still rules the international television market, but we're even starting to lose that to pirate broadcasts.

Whitey: ELIAN.

Ames: They want the world now, son, and shit, I ain't allowing that, not with the power I have.

Whitey: I see. So how do you think we can destroy her?

Ames: Her? Son, it ain't no girl, it's a marketing tool. You see a girl, you may be headed for church on Sunday to lynch a queer.

Whitey: Homosexual.

Ames: I don't pretend to like 'em, but I aint gonna judge 'em, I don't think they should be marrying but they are humans, and no one should be killed all at once. Remember who blew the lid off of the holocaust in the Middle East?

Whitey: AIS.

Ames: And who stole the tape of the White Widow being raped in prison by her guards and aired it?

Whitey: True.

Ames: But you still don't trust me. It's fine, son, I don't trust myself! But I don't lie. They wanted me to repeat lies, have AIS retract their stories and smear gays. CCP wanted a homosexual genocide way before 2019. It took a war first, get all the aspects of the system firmly planted in the brains of the people before they could implement it. Hell, even now, too many are escaping.

Whitey: You say that with a smile, right?

Ames: Yes, no set death camps yet and too many are right here in New York. Besides, son, there ain't no army, they're all overseas.

Whitey: For now. We are close to peace.

Ames: I know, they are waiting for baseball to end, I can feel it. Then in the winter with the hate well groomed in the people, it'll be bye-bye, queers and bye-bye, New York. AIS already uncovered plans to break the treaty years ago. But their men were still in China.

Whitey: Why didn't Canada hear of this?

Ames: Because we can't get signals to the supercontinent anymore. You bet your life that Canada is next after the gays.

Whitey: So we need to act now, we were right.

Ames: You got a good man in Todd, but lemme tell you, he is not right in the head.

Whitey: THAT'S your advice? I've known that since I laid eyes on him!

Ames: No, son, but I was with him in the nuthouse. He's come a long way, but he still has Britney in him. He was part of the unit that started it all. I was at the MACC camps on the condition that it never be released and that there be no cameras. He isn't right. There's a reason why he's the only original left. I don't know if he could survive this loss.

Whitey: How did you know he loved her?

Ames: Because he's male and she was the only girl he could love... who liked men, that is. Remember, son, to beat Britney, know that everyone and everything is predictable right now. Britney lives on it. Your "victories" were predictable until now. Then she killed Eva, made her a part of her like Natalie. The hope is that Todd will not survive his latest short-circuit, and if that happens, I don't think Britney can be destroyed.

Whitey: What?

Ames: Todd Carter is Britney's estranged husband, son! Always was, he was gonna be the male image to seduce women. He escaped the hospital and they never launched the subcomputer, but his image was still burned inside everyone's brain. It's a superpower, but it's also what I think killed Eva.

Whitey: You mean that her love for Todd let Britney seduce her into her with his image?

Ames: Not sure, but I reckon it's something like that. All I know is that division between the real Todd and the old Todd is what keeps the country from being a complete fantasyland.

Whitey: But they can't tell that Todd is opposing them.

Ames: No, nor can they tell them that. You know that much, son. But without him, the old Todd image can be built. Just like the real Britney was murdered in Egypt to make her image unflappable.

Whitey: The real Britney is dead?

Ames: Died in 2011. I found out myself just recently. I was looking for her. I had a similar idea to yours with Eva, but this one involved the people seeing Britney as an old hag. She might be Channel 1, but with that image being so much, and using her youthful image and voice, it should have at least caused a spark, and a spark can start a fire. That's when I discovered her cheap grave in Louisiana. They even made her change the spelling of her name and take her husband's name. The U.S. flag above the headstone told me exactly what they did to her.

Whitey: Wow! They were merciless! Besides, aren't the images more now part of the 10 commanding comics and the other actors and actresses?

Ames: Take a long look, son. The clothes may be different but they are all the same, all blonde except Natalie just to have some leader. Those girls and boys aren't images for Britney, they ARE Britney!

Whitey: So they still dream of the original.

Ames: One icon to lead so there can be no confusion or contradiction. Ken was a hard-ass about that.

Whitey: So well, what can you tell me about destroying her? Again.

Ames: You gotta kill the 500, one by one, find the controllers, and change the control, let them down nice and easy.

Whitey: Would it matter?

Ames: You mean would they just follow the same path anyway? No. I don't think so. Maybe for a few years, but I have more faith in people than that. Some long to be free. There are a ton of people who leave for reasons other than being gay or sterile.

Whitey: Hmmm, so we can make a difference. But what will happen? Don't they want utopia?

Ames: Wants and needs are different, and we have to give them what they need or 2028 will happen and the human race itself will crumble at Britney's hands.

Whitey: Britney's children grow up.

Ames: Right. That's why they need the supercontinent to keep the cycle going.

Whitey: I see. Okay, so where do we start?

Ames: We need a contradiction. One that won't tackle the people, but one to make Britney flinch so she exposes the 500 and we can start.

Whitey: I have an idea and I don't think Todd will want me back for a while.

Ames: Good, son, because for now we don't need him.

(Ames and Whitey return to the Refuge to plan. Meanwhile Todd returns to Toronto. He seems fine until he sees Kate's game show on Channel 1. Something inside him snaps at the sight of Eva, and not even Dee can speak to him rationally.)

Todd: WHERE IS HE? Where is that murderer?

Dee: I sent him to New York to find a replacement for Eva.

Todd: I don't need a whore! I need to kick his ass!

Dee: We need him! Now give him a month!

Todd: He better find someone good. Meanwhile, get ready to follow the Jays. We will wreak havoc there!

(And with that the scene fades to the American League standings. After the first two weeks of the season- 9 games, 3 series, two home, one road- the Blue Jays are 7-2.)