‘There’s that dog again,’ thought Stanley as he watched a nearby computer screen. ‘Sometimes I just wish they’d leave the poor guy alone. I mean, how many times are they going to keep attacking the first intelligent dog in history. As if anyone still believes that he’s somehow evil,’ he thought while shaking his head.

“I need to stay focused. That Madrian Corporation sure is like a squirrel with a toy gun. Always commanding my attention when I need to be doing something important,” he said to himself before quietly laughing at his own joke. ‘Hmm, would be awkward if someone heard me talking to myself again, oh well,’

Stanley stretched as he slowly worked up the courage to leave the oh so comfortable but ultimately unproductive exercise he was currently engaged in. “Okay, I got some time. Time to set some pancakes on fire,” he said with a strange grin.

This man, who some may occasionally question the sanity of, was in possession of a brown head of hair. Much to his happiness, it required little to no extra attention from him. People never commented on it, so he figured he must be doing something right. The apparel he had on was up to par with his usual home dwelling clothes. A single colour tee-shirt and some contrasting pants. The only change he might consciously make in this regard is to change his single colour tee-shirt into one with a print on it, and this only if he was going leaving the house.

Upon entering the kitchen, despite his earlier comment, Stanley proceeded to actually attempt to make pancakes, without setting them on fire. “Wow, I knew I’d figure out how to cook these things eventually,” Stanley said while admiring the pale yellow shapes in the pan. Despite his happiness, a passive observer would notice that all was not well with him. He would occasionally glance towards a small dot on a nearby wall with an expression of ‘why do you still exist? Just to suffer?’

‘Just ignore it, just ignore it….’ he thought as the sound of an explosion not for the first time came from the other side of the wall.

“I hate cars without wheels!” Came a subdued shout that seemed to originate from the same source as the explosion.

”Okay, that’s it. I’m going over there,” he said with finality. “As soon as I’ve eaten breakfast,” Stanley added when he remembered that his pancakes weren’t entirely ready yet.

As it turned out, the noise wasn’t a taxi driver that just realised his wheels had been stolen. Instead, it originated from a room within the same small house that Stanley had called home for much of his life. He stood quietly outside the door while he contemplated what he should say.

It was painted white, like much of the interior walls of the single story building. Plain. He could still remember when his family first moved in, cold and empty as it was, and yet, also inviting, as if an open space positively brimming with possibilities. Uncluttered by objects that in Stanley’s memory had just always been there.

‘I could just tell him that Charlie is actually intimately involved in that movement that seems to admire the number ‘17’ more than the rest of the human population. That’d get his attention for a few minutes, until he realizes I was joking. Ah, it might be unwise to always be attempting to politicise conversations. I’ve heard it’s a bad way to make friends haha,’

Stanley abruptly reached for the doorknob, then gently let himself in. He found himself confronted by a person unnaturally focused on the computer in front of him. Unnatural unless you consider that he was playing the newly released video game ‘Fast Cars that SoMeTiMeS Explode’.

“Hey, Toby,” Stanley said to get his attention. He waited for Toby to pause the game before continuing. “It’s time, let’s change the world,” he added in the most dramatic voice he could manage.

“Alright. The bridge thing again right?” Toby asked in apparent understanding. He didn’t even bother to save his game before turning off his computer, a rare occurrence.

“Yeah, I think I’m finally at the point where I’ve put in enough effort to where I wouldn’t be wasting our time,”

“Okay, let’s get started,” said Toby ominously.