Alex walked through the door and closed his eyes as a wave of sound and light washed over him. Various Agents, only a few of whom he recongized, were standing around nibbling on appetizers and holding drinks. They were mostly humanoid, although there was an Andalite and what looked suspiciously like a Dalek.

Looking back, Alex saw that it was indeed a Dalek and quickly backed away until it was out of sight. Wandering aimlessly, he wondered what Drental was doing: the Mandalorian had decided to return to their RC instead of indulging in what she saw as decadent and wasteful. Seeing a table loaded with refreshments, he made this way through the crowd, eyes fixed on the neat stacks of plastic bottles.

The nurse had called it Bleepan or something like that, but Alex didn't care what it was called. All he knew was that things had become a lot less unpleasant once he'd taken the pill. Supposedly there were more bottles of this Bleepan on sale in the General Store, but there hadn't been any when he'd visited. It looked like his luck was finally beginning to turn.

I watched with some amusement as Alex eagerly slid through the crowd towards the refreshment table, sipping my Coke as I discretely followed him. Closing my eyes for a second, I reached out to the others and saw the plot threads which connected them all to each other and to Alex. I knew everything there was to know about Alex, not only because he was my creation. In many ways, he was me. It was the differences which made him interesting.

I'd dropped in shortly before Alex had stumbled across the party; I'd made it quite clear that I was to be out of sight and in the middle of the crowd by the time he arrived. No wonder Vonnegut went a little mad in Breakfast of Champions: this sort of power is quite intoxicating. On a whim, I made a random Agent spill his drink onto Alex. The Bleeprum splashed onto his grey jacket, staining it and leaving him spluttering. As the Agent started profusely apologizing, I approached him from behind, blending in perfectly with the Agents and my fellow Boarders. I couldn't quite repress a chuckle as I planned the next few accidents; they'd come close to topping his last mission. Not quite topping, but it was the best I could do when there were so many others limiting my control. I looked up slightly and saw Alex looking back at me. He seemed to be frozen in shock for a moment, which was all the time I needed to spin around and flee. Unlike Vonnegut, I had no intention of meeting my creation here or anywhere else, but this was especially unexpected. As I dropped the charade and began to run in earnest, one thought echoed inside my head.

This is NOT supposed to happen...