"Then one day they saw us on a TV news program and then every time we came in it was 'Boss!'" explained Zai.

The night after etoy and eToys finally cut a deal that will -- eventually -- dissolve the "hold" placed on the www.etoy.com domain name and give etoy US$40,000 in expense money, the four celebrated by heading to a nearby Spanish restaurant. The proprietor greeted them warmly, and asked, jokingly, "Pistol?"

A little while later, a Swiss television program reported on the victory over the big toy retailer and the proprietor was back. "Big project? Big project?" he asked, genial in his bewilderment.

That's exactly what etoy wants to do: keep people guessing, make them take a step or two toward a new position. Sly laughter has been the hallmark of its war with eToys -- and now Network Solutions, which has yet to restore its domain name.

Zai (they still don't use full names) studied media art in Vienna and was among the etoy agents who spent time in San Diego and San Francisco. That was where etoy built its container -- 12 tons of steel, self-contained, and puzzling to anyone trying to figure out why anyone would build such a thing. The main spokesman for the group, Zai also turns out to be one of the key strategists.

Back in the early days, all etoy agents were interchangeable -- bald, wearing sunglasses and life-vest orange jackets. They used to make a game of starting and finishing each other's interviews without an unsuspecting reporter even noticing. It was one of their concepts, the relativity of identity -- especially in the Internet context -- where everyone chooses whom he or she wants to be.