Chester Browne had led John Taylor to a clearing more beautiful than anything he'd seen in recent years.  It actually shocked him that such a place was located just minutes from the murky forest through which he'd earlier trekked in search of the mysterious old man.  To Taylor's genuine surprise, they'd come to rest at a familiar-enough styled slab of rock right in the middle of this garden clearing.

"Sit on that side, Lord Taylor", came Chester's next instruction, gravely and methodical.  

Taylor saw no reason to argue at that point and so he sat down.  Only then did he notice the chessboard lying on the flat slab in front of him.  "You got me out here to play chess?"

"No, John.  I got you out here to think."  Said Chester, ambiguously enough, as he sat down himself on the far side of the slab.

"Think about what?"

"You tell me.  What's on your mind?"

"A lot."

"That's a start.  A very good start."

"What, is this supposed to be counselling or something?"  Asked an altogether unimpressed Taylor.

"Do you want it to be?"

Getting progressively more irritated at each slow, plodding yet calm word that came out of the old man's mouth, Taylor couldn't even find it in himself to answer.

"What's the matter?  Not used to somebody not walking into every verbal trap you usually set?"

"Huh...?"

"You've become so accustomed to the vocal shortcomings of your fellow wrestlers that once a free conversationalist comes along, you become indefinitely tongue-tied."

"...And you're some avid wrestling fan?"

"If you like."

Taylor sighed heavily, on the verge of exploding.  "Alright...  Just who are you?"

"What does it matter who I am?  Do you feel threatened that you aren't in complete control?  Would you have preferred an extensive video library documenting my past as opposed to the old fashioned note on the windscreen?  Does it, for some implausible reason, get to you that I didn't give you the time or resources to check up on me?"

"I'd hardly call it implausible, Chester."

Chester smiled as he reached into the pocket of his heavy duffel coat and retrieved a pair of thick glasses.  "Now you're talking...  Literally.  That's good.  Convince me that it is plausible."

Taylor whet his lips in preparation but promptly lost interest, instead deciding that "it's pointless.  You're encouraging me to partake in a pointless exercise.  Why?"

"Tell me why it's point-"

Uncharacteristically, Taylor snapped and shot up to his feet.  "That's ENOUGH!!!  You tell me what the fuck is going on here right now, you piece of-"

"Sit down, John.  Losing one's head is the first step to failure..."

Fuming but on another level still irresistibly curious about the old man, Taylor sat back down.

"Good.  Perhaps I should do the talking now?"

"Right."

"My name is Chester Browne.  You've never met me before, but I know you far too well not to intervene when you are so close to fully asserting yourself."

"Asserting myself as what?"

"This whole thing with Sincere...  What do you think it is?"

"Short answer?  A desperate old man's last grasp at having his name etched into-"

Chester simply shook his head.  "You know that's not it, John.  His name is already up there.  He's had the title reigns and acclaim as being the smartest, most conniving man in GZW history-"

Taylor raised his right hand as if to cut the old man off.  "I'm sorry, I just find this eerie having an eighty-year-old man dropping names like 'GZW'..."

"I'm sixty-two, John, and I don't see what's so eerie about it."

"Well, you're-"

"You don't know who or what I am.  Perhaps it'd be better if my message was delivered to you through a host like Paul Terry or Weston Bentley?  They could ask you all the right questions and you'd leave the promo room none the wiser.  The game between you, Sincere and Gabriel doesn't conform to the sample of simple chess, John."

"I'm well aware of that.  It's more akin to losing chess, actually."

"From your perspective, perhaps it is.  But that's not the way Sincere plays.  He doesn't want to be seen as a loser in any regard.  That's why his return was such a high risk for him.  You yourself made quite a big deal about Sean Fiery's return after Return To Glory, did you not?  You said something about leaving the halls of immunity and getting back into the mud.  Am I correct?"

"It was something like that..."  Taylor conceded.

"Right.  Fiery didn't achieve a thing during his 'return' other than notable losses to yourself and Justin Sharp.  Sure, he got the last word on Nathan Williams, but who hasn't?  My point is that he took a risk coming out of retirement and, for most intents and purposes, it didn't pay off."

"I agree, and I know where this is going."

"You do?  Enlighten me, John."

"You're going to argue that Sincere is too smart to make the mistakes that Fiery made.  In practice, that means he's got one specific goal, or a number of smaller, still specific goals, preset for himself to carry out.  If he's doing it right, he'll confine himself to achieving these, so as not to get distracted and wander off into unsuccessful terrain.  Right?"

"Partially.  John, we're talking about a man whose best days, in the ring at least, are behind him.  He knows that.  As such, he's really limiting his appearances so as not to expose the effects of a tough career.  At the rate he's going - one match every month-and-a-half or so - he's succeeding.  Even if you defeated him by disqualification, he still left with the upper hand.  But that's all building up towards the transfer."

"The transfer?"

"Don't tell me you don't see it, John?"

"..."

"What do you think this is all about?  Is there a reason that Sincere singled out you when he had the entire roster to choose from?"

"I personify what's wrong with my company..."

"So he says.  If he were truly out on a modern day witch-hunt, does it not cross your mind that he would've gone after somebody doing more bad than good for the company overall as opposed to one of the greatest competitors in it's history?  Nobody in their right mind could say that Pimp Bizkit or Justin Sharp were better main eventers than you, John.  Certainly not Sincere."

"And this ties into this transfer?"

"John, he's got something within him that needs to be passed down to the next generation."

"The Old Guard legacy..."

"Call it that if you like.  Call it knowledge or power.  It's name doesn't matter."

"Then what is it?"

"Neither a name nor a description would do what Sincere has in his possession justice.  Think of it as 'his blessing', perhaps.  Destiny Fulfilled showed that you can more than match up to him in the ring.  He knows that.  What he has to pass down to you is deeper than a simple physical lesson."

"So it's psychological?"

"Let's say it is."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing.  Forget it.  Think about Sincere for a moment...  Realistically, he isn't famous for his matches.  He hasn't had all that many...  For years, he has been billed as 'The Professor Of Psychological Warfare and Mastermind of Mind Games'.  The list of those he's outsmarted and tricked in his time is far more impressive than that of those he pinned in the middle of the ring."

"That's common knowledge, Chester."

"Of course it is...  Now.  But think about what the GZW will be like five years down the line.  Ruled by the likes of Bane, Jay Jameson, Eclipse and Amun Ma'at."

Feeling his ego tarnishing every so slightly, Taylor glares at his host.

"...And you, John.  As long as you play your cards right, that is.  That's the whole point of what Sincere is doing."

"Are you trying to tell me he's doing me a favour, Chester?"

"Not entirely.  We know he's selfish.  Certainly more so than you.  But part of what he says about the changing face of the company is true.  His mistake, intentional or not, is that you're not to blame.  Or, more accurately, you're as much to blame as you are to commend."  Chester comes to a halt as he sees Taylor's near-dumbfounded expression.  "Bear with me.  If you are the cause for the disrespect shown to legends of yesteryear like Sincere, then you are equally responsible for the development of new legends, yourself at the forefront, and the continuing growth of GroundZero Wrestling 2K1."

"Something tells me Sincere wouldn't exactly buy into that."  Taylor said, trying his hardest to appear as though he wasn't taking Chester's word as seriously as he truly was.

"Oh?  In time you'll find he's the one selling it."

"Riiight...  He's orchestrating the whole thing like the evil dastardly being that he is."

"Evil?  Very rarely do we come across true evil in wrestling.  There was a time that even I would've considered Sincere evil, but now he's just looking out for the company he helped create.  He's playing the part of the wise businessman on one level, John.  He's trying to raise the standards back to-"

"Bullshit.  The standard of today's GZW is higher than it's ever been.  The fact that I haven't retired and been awarded by inevitable Ring Of Honour position is the ONLY thing that separates me from Billy Bond and Deacon Kane."

"Calm down...  I wasn't taking a pot shot at you.  What you're saying is as close to the truth as anything, but that's not the issue here.  In order for your promotion to achieve it's fullest position, Sincere believes that there are certain roles that need to be filled."

"Such as...?"

"You can't build a company on one man, John.  You've come close since the Restart, but it still needs to have more depth.  It needs to be more flexible.  To do that, you need all sorts of characters and supporting characters in place.  For every Billy Bond, there had to be a Deacon Kane...  'Smooth Operator' would've been nothing without 'The Wicked One' there to stand in his way."

"Seven could've told me that, Chester..."

"Fair enough.  Look at it like this: GZW2K1 is not GZW2K1 without Sincere or somebody playing the role that Sincere defined many years ago."

"And what, you and he expect me to do that?"  

"Something along those lines."

"I've done too much for myself to simply squirm into another man's boots.  It's a matter of principle..."

"Of course it is!  That's it, John.  You couldn't count on five hands the amount of grunts and foot soldiers Sincere has had working under him here and abroad - the various incarnations of the Chaos Theory, his own family - but nobody has matched up to him as being that cunning and calculating and still possess the backbone to do things on their own terms.  It's all one big training exercise, John.  A test."

Taylor felt the urge to laugh it off, but couldn't.  "Don't start with that clichéd crap, Chester.  Look me in the eye and tell me two months of mundane misery and cheap sneak attacks are all part of one big 'test'.  Please."

"They're all part of one big test."

"..."  Taylor tried to say something, but couldn't even think of the right words.  "......"

"It can't be that surprising."

"Surprising, ridiculous...  It's all the same.  I just don't know where you're getting this from."

"From common knowledge, Lord Of The Coliseum.  2004 for John Taylor was the 'perfect year' model to which every wrestler, young or old, aspires to.  And you handled it remarkably well.  You showed that you John Taylor was capable of playing centre stage...  As long as the getting was good.  Titles, awards, tournaments.  Quite the little motivators, they are.  But that was only half of the screening process."

"There's a screening process now?  Fantastic..."

"That World Heavyweight Title tournament was where it started, John.  The search began for the one man to lead GroundZero Wrestling 2K1 to the next level in the place of the Monarchs, Spartans and Deacon Kanes.  Nathan William's involvement in the main event at Return To Glory was unforeseen by us, and so-"

"Us?  Who the hell are-"

Raising a hand, Chester went on.  "Unforeseen by 'them', I apologise.  The point is that, those administering "The Screening" whether that's Sincere or this "Entity" you speak of, were mistaken in thinking that Pimp Bizkit was the man for the job.  They soon realised their mistake when Tonya Glory became a double champion.  It was un-American to be lead by a female, unbreakable or not, and so they went back to the drawing board.  Tonya Glory was promptly wiped from the face of the company by a conveniently pissed-off DisOrder, you won her vacant title and it was smooth sailing.  And you did exceptionally well.  You took the ball, and you ran with it.  Further, certainly, than anyone could have anticipated..."

"Who are you talking about, old man?  Who's pulling these invisible strings?"

"That's the right mentality right there, John.  I knew you had it in you.  You're nearly there, John.  You're a few key situations short of passing with flying colours."

"You're telling me that becoming Lord Of The Coliseum wasn't enough?  Being CCW Unified Heavyweight Champion wasn't enough?  Your words don't make sense."

"Oh, they make sense.  A lot more than you'll realise for some time.  But that's not for here and now.  You're here to get your head straight and realise what you're doing.  You're still being tested, John.  You had the prosperous phase in 2004.  About half way through Aftermath 2K4 was when the second phase - 'The Drought' - kicked in."

"The...  Drought?"