Fred Wu's House o' Unexplained Phenomena Page

Don't look for it on your map.

The Project

Eighteen months ago I was taken off the projects I was working on and given a new assignment.

Highest Priority

This new assignment, I was told, was the companies highest priority. Any and all resources of this mighty corporation were to be made available for the successful attainment of this as yet unnamed goal.

Byzantine Security

Security for this project was to be nothing short of bizarre.

I no longer even knew who I was working for. I received all instructions via unsigned messages and only when I was OT.

I was to be a member of a team but I was not to know who, if anyone, the other members of this team were.

I was given to understand that my contribution to this project would involve searching the hypersphere. The tricky part is that I was not to know what it was that I was searching for. Of course this immediately begs the question, "How do I know when I've found what I'm not supposed to know what it is I'm looking for?"

"Not a problem," says the anonymous message.

Business As Usual

Whoever it was I was now working for (henceforth referred to as 'they') didn't want me to locate whatever it was I was looking for (henceforth referred to as 'it') directly. 'They' wanted me to find target or targets unknown that would lead them to 'it' without revealing to me just what 'it' was.

Naturally, the first thing I did on my next trip OT was to try to find out just what the hell 'it' was. How could 'they' have thought I would do otherwise?

The Cogito Ergo Sum of Its Parts

I checked a few activity logs, scrutinized the comings and goings of my fellow hypernauts whose work patterns had suddenly changed, did some backtracking, sent a few AutoFerrets down a few LinkHoles, and went 72 hours without sleep for three nights running. It wasn't long before 2 and 2 began to look like they could both use a drink. Child's play--unfortunately I didn't happen to have a child handy so I had to do it myself. But that's all right because I am, after all, a trained professional. Finally a pattern or two began to emerge.

It looked like there were five of us assigned to the 'it' project, including your faithful narrator. Of course it's entirely possible that there were others who have been on the trail for some time--knowingly or not.

And the quarry of our collective double-blind man's bluff? We were looking for the primal meme. We were looking for evidence that we were no longer alone. We were looking for the great awakening.


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Flightless Hummingbird:  A Pseudo-Periodical