This began as an attempt for me to figure out how Ornix and xeno met and knew about each other. As I progressed, the writing became more and more difficult, until finally I was completely and thoroughly stuck and did not know why. I eventually figured it out though: Ornix and xeno are the same person, xeno being the new and improved version, I guess you could say.

Or better, say that Ornix is c. '96 and xeno is c. '00 and onward.

Anyway, here it is.

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I've a tale to tell you. I do not think it will take very long. Really, I can not even label it a tale. Call it a relay of a conversation, if you will.

It was a dark and stormy night, as I eventually found was frequently the case whenever you were near Ornix. He seemed to enjoy it. He and a few Others, not quite Them, but definately not Us, were sitting around a small round table in front of the fireplace at what I'll simply refer to as The Cabin. It was a meeting spot for Us, though I didn't know it at the time. I'd just wandered in out of the storm.

Ornix was drinking some sludge of a brew. I don't think he noticed really, as he was quite drunk by the time I'd walked in and sat down. Actually... that's something else I discovered about him later. He was pretty much always drunk. It was his way of Coping, I guess.

The thread of the conversation reached me eventually, as Ornix was a bit loud. Something about possession. Intrigued, I walked over to introduce myself.

Ornix stopped his discourse and shakily stood up. "I couldn't help overhearing-" I began. Ornix interrupted me. "You're not with Us without eshtablishing shome cred," he said. The captial U was immediately noticeable.

"Credentials? Like what?"

Ornix paused a moment, then said "You said you overheard part of what we were talking about. Credentials. You know, what you know about Stuff. About the Other Side."

I remained silent for a moment.

"I've seen and communicated with what you would term spirits... ghosts. I've seen psychic echoes. I've projected. I've Travelled. I've Blinked, I've Popped. As for my encounters with the Other Side, I'll just say I've had enough of them. Enough that I prefer not to anymore."

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That was that. Nothing else came out. Period.

I've only placed it in Output because I feel it's helpful to see where things are going.