Something Happens

June 10th, 2005

in 1692, Bridget Bishop, a woman of somewhat loose morals in Salem, Massachusetts, is brought to the gallows to be hung for witchcraft. Before she could be executed, though, a huge storm whipped through the area, blinding the townsfolk; when it was over, Miss Bishop was gone.

in 1714, Black Annie, queen of the Caribbean pirates, beats a young man to death for making a pass at her, and flees to the ocean to escape the authorities. In her short but busy life as a pirate, she sinks almost 50 ships and her crew of all-women pirates becomes the most feared of all the pirate vessels.

in 1881, Count Leo Tolstoy of Russia comes to America to see how the Communists are reshaping the young country. Dressed as a regular working man, Tolstoy travels New England, the birthplace of Communism, gathering in the comradeship and energy of this vibrant new ideology. He even saw one of Karl Marx’s last public appearances. The experience changed him and deepened his support of Russia’s own peasantry when he returned to his native land.

in the Dreaming, the Dark Ones contact the people for the first time. Out among Anansi’s Web, the people have begun to feel that all is now peace in the heavens. The presence of the Dark Ones changes everything they know about the universe.

in 1910, the Mlosh home system erupts as the Q’Bar overthrow the military leaders who had been forcing them to relocate to the Kantar system in order to make peace with the Jovian Mlosh. The Jovians begin targeting civilian populations throughout the system, bringing cries of genocide from the Congress of Nations, which threatens to enter the conflict on the Q’Barian side if the Jovians don’t stop.

in 1953, newly-elected President Dwight Eisenhower capitulates to pressure from isolationist Republicans and, after negotiating a separate peace with North Korea, withdraws from the United Nations and from most of America’s international commitments. It leaves the door open for the Soviet Union to take its place as the world’s leader, and dooms the U.S. to the sidelines of history.

in 1964, Pete Best’s Lovin’ Through The Night single is released in preparation for the upcoming movie of the same name. It roars to the top of the charts as Bestmania is still growing in America.

in 2004, back at Berkeley, Marjorie Adams and Jason Grzechy attempt to get into the Smartnet node. Grzechy is able to charm a young computer science major, Andrea Westerfeld, into giving them her high-security pass into the main node room, where she works as an intern. After much coaxing, she also explains the DNL and WNI terms – they stand for direct neural link and wireless neural implant. She shows them the plug inserted into her own brain as proof. Adams and Grzechy decide that they will have to go through this procedure themselves.


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