It was nearly dawn. After a big night Dead Man had returned to his circle in the centre of the park to think. He had made up his mind to go to Greece with Jim Cradock. After all, he had learned pretty much all he could from staying in Hub City. Albert, the old man, had been a help, although Dead Man couldn't get a word of sense out of him until he agreed to go to the factory where Chloe his granddaughter worked. Once they were there, the old man was at peace and could start to think about other things.

"We can't do what we want, we are being controlled, Sometimes I just want to sit and watch television or eat one of those donuts you keep talking about but if the desire gets too strong and it distracts from our labour, things just start to turn green and the desire goes away. If we try to fight against it, everything goes completely green and we regain consciousness later on, finding that we have been working all the while. I often think that I would happily comply if they would just let me give Chloe a hug or a chance for us to talk to each other."

"Sometimes when I am between sleep and awake I see a sun in my mind, only it is green."

" I can tell you that most of the metals we are working with are not like anything I've ever seen. We are making parts for something, you can see that we are making the ...errm...electronical parts. We just put them together and load them into boxes and they are taken away on trucks. At first I didn't know what I was doing but I was controlled and made to do it. Now that I know what to do it doesn't feel so much like I am being controlled, it's like team work now."

The trucks that came into the city to feed the factories, came from every direction, but Dead Man knew that the trucks full of the parts made by the factories all headed north out of the city. He figured they were headed to Dakota City. There were trucks full of metal plates, others with very large electrical cable, others with large gizmos and gadgets and huge circuit boards, all heading north. He and Craddock would have to go to Greece via Dakota city to check it out.

Morning finally dawned. Boston had been contemplating the horrors of the day before. Craddock's awful face for one, sometimes it was just a monocle and cigarette holder floating above his cloak and sometimes it was the face of a skeleton, manifesting Craddock's true evil intent. Craddock the evil bastard would have laughed and embraced the repugnant sight of humanity eating itself to survive. He would've stood there while a sick child was being slain, ready to capture the child's soul with some demonic artefact or other. Craddock was not to be trusted on any level. This brief allying of forces was strictly an information gathering exercise. Dead Man would have to keep a very close eye on the Gentleman Ghost. If he tried anything Dead Man would be ready, and if by chance the Gentleman Ghost caught him unawares; well Boston had a special Secret waiting for such an occasion. A Secret he had organised during the night.

"Top o da mornin to ye dere Boston.", a voice called out. It was Gary Lester wearing a leprechaun's hat and laying on an extra thick Irish accent.

"Gary frickin Lester, I haven't seen you since the last time I watched someone playing The Witcher. You were trapped in cyberspace. How the hell did you get out?"

"Well when "Da Greening" began oi was released from moi computer cairn. Oi cant say how it happened but oi do recall a flash in moi moind. It were da shoining green glow of a leprechauns arse hole...or maybe it was just the sun oim not sure."

Dead Man was torn between amusement and the need to get on with things."Yeah I've seen that in my mind too. Ok, I'll bite, what's with the accent and the hat?

"Well I thought it would be appropriate and all, given that I'm joining forces with this top hat wearing blatherskite." replied Gary in his normal voice as he motioned toward Craddock who appeared from behind a tree, mounted on his horse.

"And given that the world has become a somewhat permanent St Patrick's day, if only in colour, our friend has seen fit to celebrate his Irish roots." Added Craddock as he appeared.

'Oh nuts" thought Boston, "Im gunna need to get Gary onside. He's not a bad guy but he is extremely unreliable and very easily suggestible, and we all know Craddock is a master of suggestion."

"Well its a blessin from St Patrick himself ta meet anoder foin Oirishman on dis foin day." Said Boston. Will ya be headin ta Dakota City wit us den?"

"Haha" Gary was pleased. "Yes I will mate. Yes I will."

They all headed north to Dakota City. Craddock didn't seem to mind a slight delay from his trip to Greece. In fact it made sense to him that they should uncover the destination of the trucks, he would no doubt be showing them something important when they came closer to Dakota City anyway.

Gary and Boston began to play a teleportation game. Boston made a point to invite the snooty Gentleman Ghost to play but he was riding his horse and he didn't care for childish games.

"Hey Gaz, I will teleport into an object on our path and you see if you can guess which object I have teleported into, you get one guess."

"Ok, go........erm......The tree?"

Boston glided out of a parked car. "Nope sorry. Try again and win a prize." Boston teleported ahead again into another parked car.

"erm......the phone box?"

"Wrong again, I tell you what, I.ll have one more go and then its your turn."

"erm......the yellow car?

"Ding ding ding ding you win a soft sweet warm donut, well done."

They played this game all the way from Hub City to Pittsdale and every time Dead Man teleported, he hid inside a parked car. At first this seemed stupid to Gary, then it got so ridiculous that it was funny, then it became more like a game of guess the car rather than find the ghost. Finally it became tiresome and Gary began to wonder about Boston's intelligence quotient, still they had reached Pittsdale before nightfall and the game had kept them occupied. Boston and Gary then became absorbed in a to and fro of Irish jokes and limericks.

Craddock was up ahead and he had stopped still. The two Irishmen looked up and their smiles and laughter melted away. Craddock was pointing up ahead in the sky at a huge space craft that floated, seemingly without sound. It was circular with five points coming out of it like a star. They could just make out smaller ships ascending and descending to and from the city sized mother ship.

"This is what I thought we would find" said Craddock. "This sort of thing is happening all over the globe."

Okay, still building up. Curious to see where it goes.

@cbishop:

Yeah I've got a few plans, laying a few foundations. I have an overall story middle and ending in mind. Hope I can pull it off.

@spareheadone: I have no doubts. Do it! Do iiiiiiit! :)

@cbishop:

: D

@spareheadone glad to see you are still writing Imma have to start from the beginning. How have you been?

@ccraft:

Hey it's great to here from you. Ive been good thanks, better now you're back in town.