In an effort to tighten up their sound and really make a push for success in the music business - which phrases belonged to, firstly, Eric the drummer, and secondly Steve the singer - the TerrorFractals had designated Thursday to be their official rehearsal day. For about two months they'd all been meeting up at Eric's house at four o'clock, or as close to four as work and temperament would allow, to work on their act: revising songs or (in one memorable but unfortunate instance) scrapping them altogether, improving their musicianship both individually and as a unit, and just generally treating the band as something more than a fun thing to do with their weekends.

To that end, Eric at the beginning of this week's meet-up suggested changing the name of the band. "No way!" protested Mal, and Steve even more so.

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because Chas came up with it" argued Steve, referring to the band's erstwhile guitarist. "Solidarity, man. Lest we forget."

"Fucking hell, man, he didn't die in combat. He quit the band. Voluntarily. And he was completely fucking useless as well. Why the hell would we want to remember him?"

After a prolonged pause, but before Steve could think of a counter-argument, Mal said:

"But it's also the name everyone knows us by. We're always promoted as the TerrorFractals. If we change it now we'll be starting from the bottom again."

"The only people who know us are our friends and family. And a few people who've stumbled into our gigs, and were probably too drunk to remember" said Eric belligerently.

"But dude" said Steve earnestly, "You're missing the point! We're the 'Fractals. That's who we are."

"No" replied Eric, "we're the fucking TerrorFractals. Even just 'Fractals' would be a better name."

"What's in a name, anyway?" said Eric with unexpected poetry. "I mean come on, don't tell me 'the Beatles' wasn't a fucking terrible name."

"They were a bit more talented than us, mate."

"Speak for yourself!" Steve laughed.

Eric stared at him. "You know" he said, "sometimes it's really hard to tell when you're joking, and when you're being serious."