It was going to happen eventually. Urban legends about bands develop slowly, and over time. *NSync was so big that it had to happen. They had reached the critical mass and it was only a matter of seconds before someone would tell someone else that Justin had died, that "*NSync" stood for "National Satanic Youth Nazi Coalition", that they were part of a huge underground conspiracy to subvert the worldwide paradigm.

They'd point to the cover of "No Strings Attached" and tell people that if they looked closely, they could see little white pins on their jackets. Those pins meant they were part of a group -- a secret group -- that worked to create anarchy, that worked to prevent homogenization, that was going to change the world for the better, or, at least, more chaotic.

Anarchy for the masses -- on sale now!

Most people scoffed, of course. A boyband? Against homogenization? They were the dictionary definition of "homogenization" -- slick processed pasteurized lyrics up against robotic beats, five precious little white boys in designer rags doing synchronized movements with utterly blank expressions on their faces.

But a few, only a few, and usually not their usual teenage girl fans, but the ones that listened, and understood, and created their own little worlds around them, held their CDs to their chests, drew little circles with whiteout on their posters, and dreamed of a universe where everyone could get exactly what they wanted.