So XyLORN introduced me to a guy who calls himself Pierre Menard (I would also meet him through another UI reader named Borges), from France. Turns out he also got off MindFeed and wants to Mask, like us. We thought of writing a mask together. We've got two ideas, here's what we have so far:

So there's an old guy named Alonso, who's so rich he doesn't have to work or NapSpace to get his MindFeed. And, like every other bonjo, he's on it all the time.

But the poor bilto goes too far. Like a bunch of my former FeedMates in Anderson, he gets to believing that what's on it is true. That Angela Taylor really does want him and nobody else, and only if he drinks Quik-E. And in the process, he doesn't go crazy (like the folks at Media Rehab), but simply "loses his judgement."

So changes his name from Alonso Quixota to something more regal and official sounding, like, I dunno... Don Quixote. He makes it his quest to convince people that Quik-E really does make you live longer, and that Coke really does curve your spine, the way the Adverts say. He does this with some plucky sidekick... let's call him Sancho.

Together they crusade the world in search of some lost quest, like turning all Coke drinkers into Quik-E addicts. And in the process, hilarity and social commentary ensue.

Problem is, I don't think this is too big a stretch...

IDEA 2:

The Government is running out of ways to keep the people docile, and MindFeed just doesn't cut it. Thing is, they are getting way too thought-hungry for their own good.

So they come up with a new product, we'll call it MindFeed Green, which magically produces stories on a continuous basis, stories that are as rich as a regular person's entire memories.

But here's the kicker: the stories are taken from a reverse jack-in of dead people's brains! They take the most entertaining brain matter of the deceased via a search algorithm before they recapsulate their bodies!

A detective will discover the source, and the final line will be said very convincingly: "MindFeed Green is People!!!"

Menard has some silly ideas, let me tell you. He says these story ideas might have been told already, but it's somehow different if we Mask them ourselves.