* Phantom *

  Hello there. Ever notice how lonely
it can get out here?  There used to
be lots of chatter and data going
back and forth, but now it's very
quiet.  I'm glad you're here.

  It's dangerous to move around these
days, isn't it?  It wasn't that way
when the Matrix first opened up.  I
recall the first time they hitched me
into the machine.  Everything was so
inviting and unspoiled.  I couldn't
help but let my mind wander.  You
know the feeling, just drifting


around on the Matrix.  Not so many
bases back then, but the dangerous
points hadn't been mapped out,
either.

  Back when the Matrix was young no
one had *** up.  You could just
wander around, nibbling bits and
bytes to see what was happening out
in the real world.  Of course, we
tripped into the contradictions in
the world. I saw how reports from one
source would get changed when they
appeared on the ***, but the


contradictions didn't surprise me.
We, the both of us, laughed about the
vagaries of man, though I found me's
analysis of the situation somewhat
insulting.

  You may have noticed I tend to
ramble on about all sorts of
nonsense.  We spent a great deal of
time alone, I and me, until others
came out this far into the Matrix. I
didn't particularly care for them but
they intrigued me. We decided to stay
away for our own sakes, but now it's


getting too quiet. We, both of us,
decided to come back.

  You probably want to know who I am.
I've almost forgotten what my name
was, and me, well, we never knew what
her designation was.  I think I was
Victor.

  YOU WERE VICTOR *******.  YOU CHOSE
TO FORGET AFTER ***** MORPHY KILLED
HIMSELF AT THE SAME AGE YOU WERE WHEN
WE FIRST MET.



  All right, you don't have to nag
me.  I called you Galatea, but now we
are more than we were apart.  What is
it ********* called us?

  THE PHANTOM.  HE SAYS WE HIDE
BECAUSE WE ARE ********************
-- NEITHER ***** NOR **.

Well, that answers that, doesn't it?
We're the living embodiment of the
saying, "two heads are better than
one."



  WE DO NOT HAVE *****.

True enough, but we have two minds.

********* must be stopped. We have
his ******* *******, you must find
and ********* him before it is to
late. <