Wake Up, Neo.

After about eight hours I had started to feel run down. ACRONYM Headquarters was divided into three rooms, a working room (where we solved puzzles), an anteroom (where visitors could be entertained without worrying about them seeing answers on the walls) and a sleeping room. I went into the last of these, and stretched out on a table. I wrapped my winter coat around me and closed my eyes.

It had been a hard eight hours. After a strong first round, we were starting to get worn out. I was, at least. There was still a bunch of shredded paper, there was a whole new round of puzzles that I hadn't looked at, and it was very, very, very, very, very, very cold. That last one bugged me the whole weekend. I was starting to wonder how much I could really help, and what I was doing there. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.

I didn't stay asleep for long. I was restless. There was so much work to be done. It was cold. Also, they past eight hours had been very frenzied, compared to a very slow, relaxing, rejuvenating week in Providence. So I lay on the table with the coat over my face. I could see a faint light from outside the window, and two years away. From two rooms away, I could hear Sax's voice explaining something. I couldn't understand what it was she was saying, but it was present enough that I couldn't return to my brief, blissful slumber. It was like a splinter in my mind, bringing me back to life, toward reality. I pulled myself up, rubbed my eyes and went back to work. I was about to realize what I'd gotten myself into.

( The Matrix )

( Round Three )

( Whoa--I Know Training )

Boy these things are long. Next episode: Round Four, the Acme Fight Song, Acme starts to Hint, Climbing the Stairway to Heaven and the Round Two Metapuzzle.