tom_mai78101 (tommai78101, tom.mai78101, tom mai78101) is a nickname, which is a portmanteau of the account creator's name, the teenager's name, and the date it was referencing to. The nickname is also used in the "Name in the Game" for Prison Architect.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
History edit
Paul Branson, (born October 1, 1978, male), was the founder of the basis of the nickname. In 1996, he was accused of murdering his family, charged first-degree murder in Mississippi, and was taken to the Mississippi State Penitentiary. While he was in prison, his cellmate, known as "The Storyteller," told him many short stories, most of which originates from a single word, namely "motami" ("Word Friend" in French). Paul wrote the stories down on a piece of cloth torn from his shirt with food stains.
On April 4, 2005, his cellmate was taken away and transferred to Oklahoma State Reformatory. Paul found a piece of paper under his cellmate's bed, stating that he had promised to someone whom he trusted to spread the stories around.
Paul was released from the Mississippi State Penitentiary on June 16, 2005. While playing Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos with a laptop he borrowed from a co-worker, he discovers a way to give his messages out to others at home.
He bought Warcraft 3, signed up for an Battle.net account, and uses the /emote feature available on Battle.net. There, he made many messages containing the source of idealistic imaginations in the Public Chat discussion room.
An unknown teenager playing Warcraft 3 saw the /emote messages in the Public Chat room, grew curious, and decided to ask about the messages. The teenager sent an email to the recipient claiming that it wishes "for the knowledge based on your errors", before going back to play custom games. Branson himself noticed the mail after logging out Battle.net, realized the sender is requesting the stories he was telling in the Public Chat room, and decided to pass on down the stories to him.
He replied to the email with all of the stories told by his cellmate during his time in prison, ending with the signature, "Word Friend", before wishing the teenager good luck.
What Paul didn't realized the teenager was also sent to prison to serve time for the crimes the teenager did.
Origins edit
Tom
1. From the teenager's English name, Thompson.
2. Referencing Tom in Tom and Jerry series.
3. Also the teenager's little brother shorter name, Tommy.
Mai
1. Stands for wheat, which is an ingredient of a food usually eaten by Paul Branson during his years in prison.
2. When drawn from the top to the bottom in order, it becomes a horizontal hourglass and a cross. Only appears in the email sent from Paul himself.
Tom_Mai
1. Blank space indicates two different things.
2. An anagram of motami, transliterated as "Word Friend".
3. Sounded closely to "vine" in Chinese, representing "Similar to a rope that leads to wilderness.", mentioned on the email sent from Paul himself.
78101
1. 1978, October 1st
2. Possibly the tag number given to Paul in prison.
3. Transliterated in Chinese, it means "Let's go (to) 101." 101 could be referencing Taipei 101.
4. 781-OI, possibly referring to car license plate number. Paul only mentions a car license plate in the email.