Deception is the name of the game. The stakes? Your life and the lives of billions of people back home. Matthias von Batavia dunked his head into a basin of hot, clean water and worked his fingers through his hair. He repeated the action several times to thoroughly wash all of the hair dye out. His once blond hair was now a somber brown. Pushing a button on the edge of the basin, the water drained and the spigot began spouting fresh water as Matthias worked the conditioner into his scalp to seal the color in. Before rinsing again, Matthias looked at the package of dye.
'After applying conditioner, let sit for two minutes then rinse in hot water.' Okay, it's time to wait. Matthias pulled off the rubber gloves that still had brown specks of dye on them, and tossed them into the garbage bin. It wouldn't be much longer until he began his journey through Bretonia to Liberty for his assignment. Matthias stood and looked in the mirror in his transport's quarters to rehearse his story. He was pleased that almost all traces of his Rheinlandish accent had disappeared and been replaced by a Bretonian one.
"My name is James Maddison. I'm a shipyard worker being transferred from Southampton to Baltimore because I was laid off. I'm thirty eight years old. I have a sister named Cande Maddison living on New London. I have no stake on the war, but would prefer to see Liberty victorious because I feel Rheinland is too imperialistic."
His family in question were Rheinland sympathizers who agreed to pretend to be his family in case he was questioned. As long as he didn't make too much commotion he would be able to legally immigrate into Liberty to perform his assignment. He would be receiving more detailed instructions when he arrived in New York from an inside contact.
For now, Matthias rinsed his hair and waited for his transport.
[font=Times New Roman]The trip to Bretonia was monotonous, a lot of transport shuffling. Matthias had to stick to civilian space lines to avoid rousing suspicion. New London rolled by through the window, lit by the pulsing lights of the trade lane. He didn't talk with the other passengers, preferring instead to stay in silence. His music player blared music from across the sector; Kusari garden tunes, Bretonian drinking songs, Rheinland patriot chants, Libertonian techno. It helped to pass the time.
In Manchester, Matthias boarded the final transport to Liberty. This would be the hard part, as Manchester was where the immigration and customs office was located. Hours of wrestling with the staff in that building ultimately paid off. James Maddison entered a Bretonian citizen and exited a Libertonian. Upon boarding the transport, his luggage caught up with him. There was a new briefcase in among with his bags of clothes and hygiene materials. He hauled all of it into his cabin and checked the room for bugs. He found a security camera in the wall above his bed, but saw it had a blind spot in the far corner. That is where he opened the briefcase, and found a stack of papers. They were letters from his 'family', wishing him luck and enclosing a handful of credit cards for buying food for a few days. The letters were written in code, and he used a blank piece of paper to begin taking notes as he scanned his disguised assignment.
The goal was to place sabotage charges throughout Baltimore Shipyard in eight weeks, when a Bretonian shipwright would be visiting to unveil plans for a new civilian transport line; however, he was to place the charges in places where they would be found. When the station went placed in lockdown and quarantine, Matthias was to contact the shipwright who was actually Rheinland agent. The agent would give Matthias his report, and then would arrange a patsy so that Matthias could escape and return to Rheinland.
It would be a risky and complicated mission, but Matthias' training had prepared him for it. After he had memorized his assignment, Matthias shredded and ingested the note before vomiting it into the toilet in his cabin. It was a crude but effective way to dispose of the translated message while passing it off as space sickness. He kept the original letters from his 'family' in case he ever needed to refresh his memory.
The transport shook slightly as they made the jump into California. In another hour, they would dock on Baltimore Shipyard and his assignment would start. There was a lot of preparation to work out before the Agent arrived on the shipyard and delivered his report. Matthias already had his social interactions worked out. He would have to forge realistic friendships with his co-workers and use that inside knowledge of their lives to select a patsy to take the fall for him when the time came to execute the sabotage. To make things even more believable, he was prepared to forge a romantic relationship with the most suitable man on the station. Matthias was married to a man back in Rheinland, but they both knew what it meant to be an undercover agent.
Matthias packed up his luggage and prepared to unload. To kill time, he wandered into the ship's mess and socialized with the other passengers for the first time that week. He laughed, joked, and gave the appearance that he was a simple Bretonian shipyard worker. He had mastered the slang and was now trying his hand at Liberty's variety. In order to give the best performance possible, Matthias had no prior experience with Libertonian speech. He really would have to learn it as if he was a beginner.
He learned that most of the other people on the transport were not headed for Baltimore, but there was one man who would be disembarking with Matthias. He was a Liberty-born Bretonian citizen who was headed back to his homeland to work. The man's name was Jack, and Matthias noted that he was very attractive; he had the tough build of someone who hauls metal beams and welding equipment all day. His blonde hair was a darker shade than Matthias' natural color. Jack's blue eyes were flecked with hazel. And from what Matthias could tell, Jack was flirting with him. Matthias smiled and flirted back. Perhaps his eight week stay wouldn't be so bad after all.
[font=Times New Roman]Matthias and Jack were given separate living quarters, but they were still relatively near. They began working the day after they disembarked, and Matthias found that shipbuilding was harder than he gave credit for. He worked very closely with Jack, who turned out to be his supervisor. But Jack didn't just sit around and bark orders. He assisted with a lot of the physical labor, and often held the metal that Matthias was welding in place. They worked ten hour shifts and then spent fourteen hours off. Matthias and Jack would head to the shipyard's recreation room where the dirty workers could shower. There was one shower for his section of the shipyard, a large, central co-ed shower where metal spigots stuck out from the wall above your head. The floors and walls were white and cream-colored tile. The workers would strip down outside, toss their dirty clothes in the hamper and pad into the shower room. Naked men and women ignored each other for the most part, choosing instead to wash themselves in silence. Regardless, Matthias observed a wide variety of body types, some more attractive than others. When he had the energy, he made simple observations. Jannette, a woman who worked on engines, had bruises and scars on her sides and back that weren't caused by accidents. When he talked with Jannette, she always had a veil over her emotions. She smiled and spoke normally, but as a trained liar Matthias could see through it.
Jack was less appealing without clothes than Matthias had hoped. The supervisor had a strong, muscular build but his chest and arms were scarred and flabby from a poor diet and almost no aerobic exercise. And he didn't shave. Matthias almost considered dropping the romantic farce between them, but Jack was in the perfect position for Matthias to exploit. His access codes and trust could go a long way when it came time to plant the demolition charges; however, Jack would not work as a patsy. He simply had no motive, no prior experience with drastic loss or trauma. It simply wouldn't be believable.
Matthias turned his thoughts to Jannette. Out of all of the workers he had talked to, she seemed the most obvious to set up as a patsy. She was outwardly emotionally stable- but rigid. She's been through enough hardship to harden her exterior but with the right leverage her shell would fall and she could be blamed without anybody doubting her guilt. The hard part would be to get to be her confidant while still pursuing a relationship with Jack. It would have been easy if he'd had six months, not just eight weeks.
Matthias ducked his head back into the steaming water and felt the grime of the day was off him. He started slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Jack, holding some soap. Matthias smiled and nodded as Jack began to wash his back.
Everything was going according to plan. This was going to work.
[font=Times New Roman]Jannette grunted as the heavy engine bit into her shoulder. Her partner had been struck on the head and was lying on the floor, unconscious. She was about to call for help when she felt he weight get lighter. She twisted her head around and saw one of the newcomers helping her. She had seen him in the shower, checking out the other workers when he thought nobody was watching. But she had been watching him. Together, they were able to get the engine into a cargo container and seal it. The engine had been attached to some cables, but they snapped as the engine was being lowered on to a conveyor belt. One of the flailing cables struck her partner Kiefer and threw him back. The engine had tipped and fallen off the line early. Jannette had barely caught it.
Jannette rubbed her aching shoulder as she looked at Matthias. He had a bleeding cheek where one of the thrashing cables had scratched him. "Thanks," she said, her mouth dragged down into a frown of pain. Matthias nodded, tearing open a gauze package from his coat and pressing it to his cheek. Jannette looked the man over. Lithe build, but strong. He did more for exercise than lift heavy objects, she could tell from his long, lean legs and tight waist. His face looked to be in his mid twenties, but there was age in his eyes at least twice that. He reached his hand out in greeting. She grasped and shook it.
"I'm Matthias," he said, trying not to move his jaw too much.
"Jannette." she replied. "I think we should get these injuries looked at." she looked down at Kiefer, who was groaning on the floor. "Oh, and him too." Jannette's shoulder was too injured to lift him, so Matthias tried. Kiefer was a fat, short man and Matthias could only drag him. Jannette hooked her good arm around Matthias' waist and helped him drag the unconscious man to the infirmary.
The doctor in the Shipyard was constantly dealing with injuries like this. He removed the bloody bandage from Matthias' jaw and applied a sticky resin that sank into the cut, sealing and numbing it. Matthias tried speaking, but only made flabbering nonsensical words.
"Mah moupfth feelpfth drah." He tried, but gave up after his second attempt. The doctor put Jannette's arm in a sling, then pushed her into a red room where the cast melted into a substance that flowed like liquid but still clung to her arm. It took Matthias a moment to realize that the room had no gravity and the cast had indeed liquidated. Jannette's face screwed up in revulsion as the cast literally soaked into her bones. The doctor snorted. "It's not comfortable medicine, but it gets the job done." His voice was gruff, and Matthias noted a pack of cigarettes in his coat pocket. The doctor moved to Kiefer, who had a simple head bandage on. The doc looked at the fat man for a moment, then slapped him. Kiefer yelped and clutched his cheek. The doctor snorted again, and said "I knew you were awake. Come on, you're still technically on the clock."
Jannette stumbled back into the room, adjusting to the sudden change in gravity. Her arm looked stiff and pale but usable. Matthias's cheek was no longer numb or bleeding and Kiefer was grudgingly standing up to get back to work. The three headed back to the assembly line, but Matthias and Jannette ignored the fat Kiefer while they talked.
"Would you be interested in dinner tonight?" he asked.
"That depends on if your boyfriend is going to be there, I'd like to watch." she replied flirtatiously. Matthias pretended to be embarrassed. "We're not dating, we're just friends." Janette laughed in response. Matthias could hear the edge in it, though. She was upset by his offer even if she didn't say so.
[font=Times][color=white]Three days passed since Matthias and Jannette were injured by a falling engine component. They had been rotated to another area of the shipyard to promote 'a more balanced and varied working environment'. Unfortunately, this separated Matthias and Jack, who were now officially dating. They had to wait until their ten hour shifts were up, though luckily they were still on the same time block so their spare time was spent together. Jannette was his 'side project', and he spent whatever time they had to themselves together. They worked together on the assembly deck, putting together the transports and freighters that Baltimore produced. It wasn't very intimate, as they were always in EV suits because the assembly deck remained at a steady .1G to allow crews to work on all sides of a ship at once. They bobbed and floated around, welding or cutting metal to be affixed to the ships.
Matthias's date with Jack was incredibly romantic, even though Matthias was already married. The two men sat alone in the recreation room and looked out the window at the pearl-sized Manhattan. Matthias sighed and touched the fiberplastic sheet window between him and open space. Jack was sitting across from him on the sofa, and touched Matthias' hand. The Rheinlander looked at Jack, staring into his eyes.
"James," said Jack, using Matthias' fake name, "I'm really glad we met." Matthias smiled back, and cupped Jack's cheek in his hand. The man's face was warm and rough with stubble. In one movement, Jack leaned forward and kissed him. Matthias could feel his own day-old stubble scratch Jack's face, but neither man seemed to care. A sweet, romantic kiss began to build in passion as both men leaned into it more and began to grasp at each others' clothes. A voice startled them into stopping.
"Might want to move into your quarters for that. A passing transport might crash." It was Jannette. The woman had been skulking in a darkened area of the room, apparently watching them. Like children caught by their parents, Jack and Matthias scooted apart. Jannette laughed. "Oh please, don't stop because of me. Let's go." She beckoned for them to follow her as she left the room, turning right down the corridor. The two men looked at each other, smiled and shrugged. They followed after Jannette, pulling their coats back on as they did so. As they entered the hall, their hands grabbed the others'.
Jannette apparently had her own 2-person cabin to herself since her last room mate left. Three adults crammed into the space was slightly claustrophobic, but Jannette sat on one of the cots and began to get 'comfortable', taking off her boots and placing them in the ventilation chamber. Matthias and Jack stood awkwardly and watched as the woman stripped down. She was at her underwear when she scowled and told them, "Don't just stand there, either stop staring and get naked or get out. You two are just being rude." Matthias didn't need to wait. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it into the dirty clothes hamper on top of Jannette's. "We've all seen each other in the shower," he said to Jack as his pants were tossed aside. The other man gave a nervous titter and glanced at Jannette who scoffed. "I'm not going to judge you. I've already gotten through that in the shower. I've seen worse."
That joke apparently convinced Jack, who stripped just as naked as Matthias and Jannette. While they had all seen each other naked, that was when they were exhausted and trying to get clean. This was another situation entirely. And Jannette noticed that the men were ready for action. The woman made sure her communicator was safely hidden. Her mission wasn't complete until she discovered which of these two men were the Rheinland spy she was here to kill.
[font=Times][color=white]Matthias woke with Jack laying on one side and Jannette on the other. The woman was awake and drawing circles on Matthias' side. When he stirred, she looked up into his eyes. Her brown eyes were large and beautiful. Her skin was a lovely brown but was laced with pink scars. They looked to have been inflicted by a variety of sharp objects; knives, glass, whips.. When she noticed him looking at her scars, she began to explain.
"My husband.. Ex-husband. He had a temper. The drink didn't help much either. He's the reason I got this job, so I could be away from him. He came to drag me home one day. He said he'd changed but his breath stank of booze. So he pulled a knife on me right there on the spaceport and I shot him. Twice. The trial was swift and I was released. I know you and Jack are together, but these last three weeks have been.. Great. I just want you to know that." she leaned over and kissed him. She hoped he didn't feel the small microchip that she pushed into his mouth.
Jack slept heavily, even as Matthias and Jannette rolled away from him. At least, they thought he was asleep. He had been listening to their conversation and was trying to deduce who the terrorist's informant was. He had been following a lead that led him here in his hunt for the Monarchal Bomber, a notorious terrorist that had almost killed the Bretonian Queen. He had been sent by Bretonia's Secret Anti-Terrorist Service to arrest and retrieve the offender.
Each of the three supposed 'lovers' were plotting against one another as part of their assignment. And each had a time limit; in five weeks, the Bretonian agent would be arriving. That was when Matthias had to plant the charges and collect his reports, Jannette had to find the Rheinland operative and Jack needed to arrest the terrorist's informant. But only one party could manage to fulfill their objective and leave alive.
[color=white][font=Times New Roman]Subsequent nights followed in the same pattern; Matthias and Jannette would toil in the shipyard, shower, and then Jack would join them on a three-way date followed by a night of passion. They shared their fake stories, lied about their emotions and read the other two for any sign that would condemn them.
Jannette's strong, warm hands rested on Matthias' chest as she straddled him and he cupped her buttocks as she lowered herself down onto him. Jack was resting on the other side of the room, but behind his closed eyes he was accessing his neural implant to run background checks on Matthias. Something about the man didn't sit right with him. Occasionally his accent would slip and he could swear he heard Rheinland in his voice. Jack had also spotted hair dye that had stained his lover's forearms. He wasn't sure that Matthias was the terrorist's informant but he was certain that he was not JUST a shipyard worker. Jannette was even harder to read. The dark-skinned woman's scars were real, and she did have a criminal record following her husband's slaying. But his instincts told him that she too was hiding something. He smirked. The sex they had every night was a farce, a ploy to learn about the others. But for now it was best to keep his cards to himself. Switching off his neural implant, Jack got back into the action. Jannette was still on top of Matthias but guided him behind her. Jannette gasped and dug her nails into Matthias' chest as Jack competed with Matthias for 'best performance'.
Matthias slipped out of the room while the other two were sleeping. He walked down the brightly lit corridor to his quarters, which were dark. He left the lights off and let his eyes adjust as he walked to his bed. He stubbed his toe on the desk in the middle of the room. Under his bed, which was a firm cot suspended on a metal frame, was a brown sack. He pulled the sack out and looked inside. It was half-full with explosives. When he arrived on the station four weeks ago, it was full. Over the past two weeks he had been placing the charges in out-of-sight but obvious places. Hearing footsteps approaching his door, he stuffed the sack under his bed. He had just stood and turned when the door opened. Janette was silhouetted in the door frame. Her body was bare and he realized she had walked here naked. Matthias beckoned for her to enter before anybody saw.
He approached her and embraced. They kissed- but this was different. It wasn't raw passion that filled this kiss but something deeper and more profound. She helped him get his clothes off and then something happened that surprised him; they made love. Guiding her to the mattress, he lay her down and lay between her already warm and open legs. This time, instead of racing to finish first the two slowly pushed and thrusted, kissing and grabbing each other in a slow acceleration of movement. It lasted for hours, neither reaching their peak but simultaneously loving every bliss-filled second. Just after their matching climax, Jack entered the room. He stood in the doorway for several seconds before the ecstatic lovers noticed him. The only thing Matthias saw was a twitch of Jack's mouth before he said, "I hope you two are happy together." and left.
Matthias moved to follow him out, to explain, but Jannette grabbed his arm. "Don't go." she said. Matthias felt a pang in his heart. He genuinely cared for this girl. Fear flowed into him soon after. That wasn't good, he couldn't develop feelings for the girl whose life he was going to ruin in another month. But she as she slid up his back with her breasts against his skin, he consented. He draped her arms around his neck and he kissed her by turning his head to the side. He sat back on the bed, laying on her legs. He looked up into her face, then noticed that she had a mole beneath her right breast. Without thinking, he sat up slightly and kissed it. She giggled and pushed the hair out of his face. Her hand trailed down his temple, then traced his jaw line. Finally, her hand danced on her throat- just before she grabbed it in a vicious grip. Her voice turned to poison as she said, "Rheinland spy."
Matthias' eyes bugged out as she strangled him. Then his survival reflex kicked in and he retaliated. Hooking him arm into he crook of her elbow, he levered her hand off of his neck. He then used his other hand to strike her in the face with his palm, knocking her head back. Matthias rolled forward, grabbing his gun from under the desk and turning to point it at her. She had her own gun pointed at his heart. It was now that Jack returned. He stopped in the doorway, startled. He then cautiously stepped inside and locked the door behind him. Matthias and Jannette kept their eyes and guns locked on the other. Then Jannette said, "I'm from the Liberty Security Force. I was told that a Rheinland agent would be on board to sabotage the station, and I was right. It took me a while to figure it out but now I know it's true." Her voice was laden with fury. Matthias was furious too- with himself. His feelings for this woman blinded him from noticing that she was an enemy counter-spy. The ground was uncomfortable where he was crouching, still naked. "I am indeed a Rheinland spy," he said, reverting to his old accent.
"And I will not be stopped by you, Jannette." he finished. He heard the clicking of another gun being readied. He flicked his eyes to Jack, who was pointing a gun at him. "No, you'll be stopped by me. I'm placing you under arrest for conspiring to commit terrorism against the House of Bretonia." Matthias glared at him. "I have no ide-" he didn't notice the lithe Jannette silently approach him and strike his head with the butt of her gun.
Matthias woke up to a splitting headache. A gag was shoved into his mouth and he was blindfolded. His body was cramped, and he found himself curled up in some kind of box or container. Dried blood covered his face and he struggled to remember what had happened. The box he was stuffed into jostled, and he realized he was being transported. He felt himself moving, and jostled again when he was set down. His hands and feet were bound tightly, palms facing away from each other and the cord biting into his skin. He was still naked, he noticed wryly. The inside of the box stank of blood, sweat and rotting semen.
The box began to vibrate as the ship he had been loaded onto activated its engines. He felt himself go weightless, completely vulnerable to the movements of his new transport. He felt queasy as they went through Trade Lanes, and was jostled around as they approached their destination- a planet from the feel of the gravity. No matter how hard he tried to get the bindings off, they wouldn't slip off his wrists. They were tight and had small hooks on the inside to grip the skin. The mouth gag was also too tight to work out and the blindfold was tied too tight to just rub his face on the side of the box to get it off.
The transport landed and a minute later the box was opened. Strong, gloved hands grabbed Matthias and hauled him out. He was forced to hop along as he was guided to wherever they were headed. When they stopped walking, he was shoved down to the ground. Grass and dirt cushioned his fall. His blindfold and gag were torn off, and Matthias saw Jannette standing over him, gun pointed at his skull. She was dressed in a blue flight suit, and as Matthias flicked his eyes around he saw they were on a planet- Manhattan, most likely. This looked like a park, but nobody else was around. Matthias' hands were trapped behind his back, driven into the ground by his body weight. Jannette glared into his eyes, not saying anything. Her gun was trained on him the entire time.
"What was your assignment?" she asked. Matthias licked some blood off of his lip. Jannette aimed the gun at his right foot, and fired. Her gun was an advanced spec-ops pistol. It made only a slight popping noise as it discharged a metal bullet through his foot. Matthias cried out in pain. Jannette grabbed his face by the cheeks and forced him to look at her face. "Why did you do it, you son of a bitch?" Angry tears flew from her eyes. Matthias' eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't asking him about his assignment anymore. He began to tear up himself as he struggled to find words.
"I hate you." she said, more tears flowing from her eyes. "Because I loved you so frakking much." Matthias blinked stupidly. He nodded slowly, his tears finally spilling over. When they touched her hand she recoiled like she'd been burned. He looked up at her and said, "I still love you. This was supposed to be an easy assignment." Jannette gritted her teeth. Her gun hand trembled, and finally fell. "Damnit," she hissed. "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!." She covered her eyes with her hand and turned away. She couldn't look at Matthias- dirty, bloody, naked Matthias. "Matthias," he said, "That's my name." She turned back to him, eyes red and puffy. "Harriet," she said, her voice breaking.
She moved behind him and untied his hands. His cold fingers wouldn't move. His feet were the same story. His limbs were useless, but she knelt next to him and kissed him. When she pulled away, he asked, "How did you find out?" Harriet smiled and said, "When we kissed I passed a microchip into your body. It read your DNA and matched it to Rheinland. Then I just used my Neural Net implant to look at your backstory- nowhere near Rheinland. The LSF received a tip that a Rheinland saboteur would try and blow up Baltimore. I was sent to check out any new arrivals to the shipyard. If it makes you feel better, I did the same thing to Jack. He really is Bretonian."
Matthias still couldn't feel his hands or feet- they had turned a pallid blue tinge. He knew they were useless and would have to be amputated. The foot that was shot had already stopped bleeding. His concussion still throbbed in his skull, and he could tell that he was going to die soon. Harriet knew it too, but she didn't cry. They made love one last time, Matthias' face slowly draining of color. Matthias choked up, and thrusted hard up, almost bucking Harriet off. The weakened blood vessels in his brain ruptured and he died with one last spasm of ecstasy.
Harriet sat on top of Matthias' corpse, feeling the body below her grow cold. The heat he had left inside of her remained, and after she cleaned herself up she put her space suit back on. She had to turn his body into LSF HQ to complete her assignment, so she loaded his body into the same box she had brought him here in. She loaded back up into her fighter and took off, Manhattan's urban smog obscuring her vision until she broke the cloud cover.
[font=Times New Roman]Harriet Janeway was commended for her efforts on Baltimore Shipyard; after her debriefing and award ceremony, she made contact with Jack again. He had arrested the Bretonian shipwright who had gone to visit the station. On a hunch, Jack had pretended to be Matthias. The shipwright, actually a Rheinland agent, handed over the security reports that he had collected. Jack had arrested him then, and later learned that this agent was responsible for the Monarchal Bombing. They talked about Matthias, and Jack did his best to console the grief-struck woman. She began to tell him of her past love lives, which had been short and tragic. Matthias had been everything she wanted- honest, strong, and willing to indulge her fantasies. She fell for his story easily because she wanted to believe it. She then told him something that shocked him; she was pregnant with his child.
She felt it was a fitting irony. She had killed him, but he had given her new life and a taste of love. She would carry the child to term, but didn't know what she would do with it afterward. She couldn't keep the child and continue her work in the LSF, at least not easily. She could send the child to Rheinland but that would be a mistake. The most likely option is that she would put the child up for adoption. She had been adopted, and turned out alright.
No, she couldn't do that to her child. She would find a way to stay in the LSF and be a mother. Matthias was her enemy and her love, and she couldn't just dismiss that. The child would stay with her. For now, nobody but her and Jack knew of the pregnancy; and she intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. She was being put on a new assignment, soon. Something about rooting out a Cardamine smuggler. Maybe she would find someone else to love like she had loved Matthias, but she would be a lot wiser about it now. She had already killed two of her loves. Third time, in this case, would not be a charm.
// Now, what to do with this character. Write more stories about her, make her an in-game character..? I have a feedback thread open. Go ahead and write your thoughts there.
![[Image: 16106_s.gif]](http://signavatar.com/16106_s.gif)