Since that first night I stayed up reading UF CORE #1, the EPU stories have almost always WOWed me. Reading CORE #1 was like experiencing an entirely new paradigm in fiction (fan or otherwise). The seamless blending of text, music, poetry, Unix, and imagination. ReRob's "The true power of Unix" line has become a core tenet of my view on technology. And that was just UF #1, a prototype.

Then I read "Hopelessly Lost." I remember reading it on Windows telnet one night while I installed computers in a math lab. I think that was my second encounter with Cyberpunk. I've not looked back. Then there was "God's Willing," the stories that introduced me to my favorite anime of all time. Then "Warrior's Legacy" and someday I will read ".45 Caliber Angel," how could I not. Tonight, though, this whole week in fact, is another that will be etched in my mind forever thanks to EPU.

NXE is amazing. It may not have the berth of UF, but I'd wager it's equal in mass. UF has an entire galaxy to experience gods, aliens, devils, governments, and heroes. NXE has a planet. What it -- what the writers -- do on that planet, though... I dare say my imagination aches from the sheer magnitude of it all.

In the last chapter, they talked about WeatherStation 51 growing in an organic way. I think that's an accurate analogy for NXE. The stories plant seeds, and as you read and ponder them, the magnitude expands and grows like a fruitful tree of concepts, characters, and so much more in the mind. It's glorious. It's beautiful. It's NXE.

All that and Agent K. :)

Static-Pulse
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edit for typo

Norgarth