Ken sat perfectly still, seated cross-legged on his meditation carpet, surrounded by candles, with his eyes close and his brow furrowed in concentration. He was so close, so very close, to unravelling the mysteries that had been plaguing his mind in recent weeks.

He had been having dreams that would cause him to wake up in a cold sweat. Night after night, the same visions would haunt his slumber. As he sat concentrating on these images, they came clearly into focus. There were visions of the town under attack by an agent unseen, of people crying out in terror, and of death. AlphaWorld was burning, and there might be nothing he could do about it. He had to find out what these visions meant, and a means for preventing them from coming true, or else all would be lost.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, startled out of his trance by the sudden chiming of the grandfather clock that was in the other room. Soon, his first class of students would be coming for their daily Tae Kwon Do lessons. The mysteries of his dreams would have to wait until later.

Ken carefully got up from his mat, blowing out the candles that were circling him as he did so, and prepared the dojo for the day's work ahead.

"Yo, Helmut! Over here, man!" Shred yelled across the crowded room as Helmut stepped through the doorway, waving his arm frantically. Helmut weaved his way through the tables of patrons and sat down next to Shred at the bar.

"Sorry I'm late, dude." breathed Helmut as he motioned for the bartender to come over, "Had a sudden inspiration for a drawing, and-"

"Yeah, whatever." cut in Shred, "You and those crazy drawings, man. Still haven't made any money off 'em, have ya?"

"Nope. Guess no one around here is intersted in buying anything 'artsy'." Helmut sighed as the bartender poured him a drink. "Besides, like I told you before, I don't do it for the money."

"Uh-huh. Sure. Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. You're still in time for the big show."

"Cool." said Helmut as he sipped his drink. The "show" he was referring to was the weekly performance by Shanubia, the local singer who was the definite crowd favorite at the AlphaBar. They may say they don't like anything artsy, Helmut thought sourly to himself, but they'll sure as hell go for it if it's got a hot bod attached to it.

And that was an understatement. Whenever Shanubia performed at the AlphaBar, it was always to a packed house. People who would never be caught dead in a bar would come out of the woodwork and line the walls of the establishment awaiting her arrival on stage. Helmut himself always enjoyed the show because Shanubia's songs seem to speak to him in a way that other performers never did. As for everyone else, it didn't take a psychologist to see the anticipation in some of their eyes as the announcer came up to introduce her.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!" shouted the announcer into the microphone, which was really nothing more than a pole sticking out of the stage. Helmut had to sympathize with the performers that came here, having to work with such cruddy equipment. In fact, judging by the general state of disrepair the bar was in, he was surprised Tanya, the owner of the AlphaBar, was still able to afford acts like Shanubia.

"Heeeeeeere's Shanuuuuubiaaa!" the annoucer shouted again. This, of course, was met by the many hoots and cheers and whistles from the crowd as Shanubia herself strode out onto the stage and the curtain was pulled back to reveal the rest of her band.

Even Helmut had to admit, she looked pretty damn good. She was wearing her "little red dress" number that the crowd loved so much, her dark brown skin almost shimmering in the stage lights. Her black, wavy hair framed her face and fell past her shoulders, giving her an almost lazy look. She waved to the crowd and then turned to the band, indicating she was ready. And so the show began.

"Mmm MMM! What I wouldn't give for a piece of that!" Shredd grinned as he watched the stage. It was at times like this that Helmut wondered why he was such good friends with Shred, a guy who always seemed to have hormones on the brain.

"A skin transplant, maybe?" Helmut smirked. "She is black, y'know."

"Pfft." Shred scoffed, "So? All I'd hafta do is get a really good tan while I'm out on the waves and no one'd know the difference!"

Helmut sighed. That was the other thing about Shred that he could never get over. If he wasn't drooling over some babe, he'd be out on the beach doing his crazy stunts on the waves to try and impress those same babes. Helmut always wondered if Shred would ever realize the futility of his "struggle".

He looked at Shred to see his attention once again riveted to the stage. Oh well, Helmut thought to himself as he sipped his drink, he was here to watch the show, not agonize over Shred's troubles. He joined in with the cheers and hollers of the rest of the crowd as Shanubia's first song ended. He was here with his friend at his side and a drink in his hand. Might as well enjoy himself.

It was just another day at the AlphaBar.

Hunched over his books and reading intently, Harold didn't realize that Barbra had come into the room. So enamored was he in the studying of these manuscripts that he even failed to notice her take a seat directly across from him. As she sat down, she glanced at some of the books that were strewn across the table, and Barbra could tell that Harold was very interested in AW history. Of course, that went without saying. Harold was the lead scientist in her little band of explorers who were planning an expedition into the uncharted regions of AW to see what there was to see. If Harold didn't know anything about what was going on, they would all be in trouble.

"Ahem" Barbra cleared her throat and Harold visibly jumped in his seat, completely unaware of her presence until now. Barbra had to admit, he may be the most knowledgeable of the group, but he still seemed a bit absent-minded sometimes.

"The rest of the team is waiting for you in the conference room." she said, now that she had most, if not all, of his attention, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, sorry." Harold stammered, still a bit shaken, "Was just checking up on a few minor details before we set out."

"Of course." she replied. That was another thing about Harold. Always the perfectionist. Even minor details turned out to be a major hassle for him. Talk about turning a hill into a landscape...

"I must say I'm rather excited to be exploring the Northern Wastelands. I've heard all sorts of stories about what could be up there, and I'm anxious to see what we'll find." Barbra said, trying to get some enthusiasm going so Harold could take his mind of his so-called "details".

"As am I." he answered as he gathered up the books and papers. "I just hope we brought enough supplies. It's going to be quite a long trip."

"You practically packed enough rations to allow us to circle AlphaWorld twice!" she said jokingly, "I'm sure we'll be just fine. It's just too bad we can't 'port there and begin exploring at once."

"Well, you know how it works." Harold said, resigningly. "One can only teleport to a place that one has already been to. Can't very well go teleporting to some unknown place. You might end up inside a wall or who knows what else!"

Barbra sighed. Oh well, she thought to herself, she always enjoyed trips as much as she did their destinations. Even the areas she'd explored a hundred times over still offered new and amazing things just waiting to be discovered. That's why she loved this job. There was almost never a dull moment for her.

"Shall we go, then?" Harold said, bringing her back to the present.

"Of course." she said, closing the door to the library behind her. As they walked down the hall towards the conference room, Barbra made a mental note to bring plenty of paper with her so she could record everything she saw. She knew, in the core of her very being, this was definitely going to be an interesting trip.