It was a dark and stormy night...(I couldn't resist, sorry.)

The time:.

The Present. Evening.

The Place:

The library in the mansion of Rupert Springer, international media tycoon, who owns almost all of Britain's newspapers, half of the Web, and the odd television station. There are drinks. There are hors d'oeuvres. And there is a butler.

Dramatis Personae:

Arthur Cleghorne, a 57-year-old retired civil servant from Guildford.

Olga Lupinova (nee Peggy McNair, from Lubbock, Texas), a 28-year-old internationally-known fashion model.

Cuddles, Olga's miniature Yorkshire terrier. He has a hair ribbon and an attitude.

Simon Fairweather, the 30-something editor of the Stoke Poges Weekly Warcry, a Socialist paper, one of the few not owned by Rupert Springer.

The Set-up:

All three of the humans in the room have come here in answer to the following email sent by Rupert Springer:

Dear Friend:

I will never forget our first meeting. Will you?

Please join me at the manse on 13th September, inst., where you will learn something to our mutual advantage.

Yours sincerely,

Rupert Springer

Obviously, each of them has met Springer once. Their fates are connected in some way.

In addition, Cleghorne and Lupinova have been having an online romance with one another for six months, but have never met, and each only knows the other's username.

The Task:

Bring these people to life. Figure out what they're doing there. Feel free to move them around, explore the territory. You may introduce Springer if you like, or not - dead or alive.

If necessary, the editor here will throw in a factoid or two, but basically, the rest is up to you.

The starting gun will be the posting of the thread on the UG birthday page on 13 September.

Good luck and have fun!

Dmitri Gheorgheni