From: | Anissa Mathias anissamr@*****.com |
---|---|
Subject: | Opinions Please (Chapter 1 revised) |
Date: | Tue, 24 Oct 2000 10:35:40 -0700 (PDT) |
I say chapters one through four?
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Chapter One
July 20, 2061
A young man in his early twenties sits down on a
rickety crate in a run down part of the CAS Sector in
Denver. He looks to be a shade taller than six feet
and underweight for his height. He tests the crate to
see if it will hold him before he makes himself
comfortable. He then moves over a lock of his dark
blonde hair so that he can insert the data cable into
his jack.
Pacing the hotel room across from the man is an
Amerindian male that seems to loom over Michael.
Ragingbear is six-foot-six and close to four hundred
pounds of muscle. His chocolate brown eyes scan the
hotel room.
The place has but one light that hangs from the
center of the room as it sways and casts an eerie
light on the rest of the room. There is a blue cloth
chair that sits next to a boarded up window across
from the front door. The fact that half of the chair
is missing tells Johnny why Mike didn't sit there.
The kitchenette sits in small corner and looks like
someone had tried to take it with them when they left.
The only thing in the place that seems to pass for
the bed is a military cot that sits opposite the
chair.
"Well my friend," Mike says to Johnny, "Let's see
what we can find today." Johnny nods as Michael slips
the end of the cable into his jack. His sapphire blue
eyes glass over as he goes in. Johnny positions
himself by leaning against the wall directly across
from the door.
Chapter Two
Michael's view shifts drastically as he looks around
the Matrix. His persona is one of a nineteen forties
Jazz player. A dark brown longcoat covers his black
zoot suit which is accented by white pin-stripes. On
his head is a fedora to match his coat, and the
wing-tips on his feet match his suit. He carries a
saxophone that gleams in the virtual light of the
Matrix. He tips his hat as he leans against a lamp
post and looks around.
The silvery amorphous figures of the standard persona
programs are the first things he notices as he gazes
up and down the streets that represent the Denver
Metroplex. The icons of the various convenience
stores and shopping malls quickly mix with the nodes
for Lone Star and other security forces. The icons
for the megacorps dwarf everything in comparison.
Just as he is about to step away from the street lamp,
he receives a tap on his shoulder.
He turns and greets the sec guard as he hands over an
ID. The guard smiles and gives a short salute to
Jazzman as he turns to leave. Jazz waits until the
guard rounds the corner before he makes another move.
Jandering down the main drag of the plex searching
for a node that he needs, he comes to a stop in front
of the steps to the Aztechnology node. The shadow of
the pyramid engulfs him as he makes his way up the
steps. Two barrier programs in the form of full grown
jaguars are taking turns pacing back and forth in
front of the double doors. Jazzman sits down halfway
up the stairs and begins to play a lullaby. The code
that floats toward the IC is in the form of musical
notes. As the code is greeted by the huge cats, they
fall asleep. He then makes his way to the front doors
and tests them. Noticing that they are not trapped,
he lets himself in.
He quickly scans the area inside the node. An
endless maze of corridors and offices faces him as he
slips into an office directly to his left. He makes a
few adjustments to his persona. His fedora melts into
a hood as it joins with his longcoat to form a black
cloak. His suit turns dark gray and his shoes switch
to gray soft sole boots. The colors of his clothing
seem to blend in with the colors that surround him.
Peering through a crack in the door, Jazzman begins
to make another melody emanate from his sax. The
notes float down each hall carefully searching for the
file that he was hired to retrieve.
He notices that one has stopped in front of a set of
mahogany doors. He puts the note in his pocket as he
ducks into an office behind him just before an Aztec
warrior makes his way down the hall. He hears the
guard grunt as he tries the doors to make sure they
are locked. Frag it, Jazz thinks to himself, Well, I
knew this was going to be a tough one. Let me wait
this out a bit and see if he goes away.
The warrior abruptly turns around and heads to the
door across from where he is standing. He opens the
door and looks around inside the room. As he steps
in, Jazzman hits the IC over the head with his sax and
pulls his cloak over the program to suppress it. A
new cloak takes the place of the one he removed as he
makes his way to the double doors.
He pulls a thin piece of metal out of his pocket and
commences to unlock the door. With a soft click, the
doors open. Pulling the note out of his pocket so
that it can continue its search, Jazzman locks the
door behind him. No sense in leaving it unlocked.
That would attract attention. Now, let's see what's
in here. He looks around and finds himself in a large
room facing rows of filing cabinets.
The note, he witnesses, stops in front of one of
the bigger ones and changes color to a crimson hue. I
love these ident programs. Let's see what surprises
are in store for little ole me.
He smiles as he approaches the files and plucks his
note out of the air. As he stretches the note, a code
runs across it warning him of the counter measures
that lace the cabinet. Hmmm, Scramble with trace and
dump, very nice.
A hammer and chisel appear when he tosses his sax in
the air. The sax disappears and a block of marble
materializes in front of him. He begins to form a
likeness of himself and throws in a few tricks for
good measure. Realizing that his "diversion" will
need running room, Jazzman unlocks the door and then
hides himself behind a file cabinet directly across
from the one he needs to look through.
The program activates and heads towards the file
while it pulls a lock pick kit out of one of its
pockets. Once it chooses which tools to use, it
rapidly begins to work on the scramble program. The
trace and dump jumps out of the file cabinet the
moment the other IC has been defeated and chases
Jazzman's program out the door and down the hall.
Okay, I don't have much time left. He thinks this to
himself as he finds the file and begins to download it
into his headware memory. Once that is completed, he
turns to leave, and finds himself face to face with
two black ice and one of the deckers of the system
node. The two ice are in the form of Aztec warriors
while the decker himself is clad in the gear of a
tribal elder.
He whistles and two sprite bodyguards appear beside
him. One takes on the appearance of a nightclub
bouncer and the other resembles a street samurai. The
headache begins. He sends his sprites to engage the
ice while he deals with the decker. His sax splits
into two tommy guns when he spins it. Ripping through
the silence of the node, the bullets strike across the
knees of the decker bringing him falling to the floor.
Meanwhile, the bouncer disarms his ice and begins
to wrestle with it while the street sam is locked in a
sword fight. Taking the warrior by the right arm, the
bouncer swings the counter measure into one of the
large cabinets directly behind them. The warrior
leaves a dent in the doors as it slides down to
regroup. The street sam turns to parry the thrust his
ice strikes with, but instead, receives a gash from
his right shoulder to his waist. The sprite falls to
the floor and flickers for a second or two as it
attempts to heal itself.
As Jazzman closes in, the decker lashes out and cuts
him in right leg with a dagger and drags him down.
Jazz winces and takes the opportunity to reform his
tommy guns into a revolver. He puts the Colt 45 to
the head of the decker. As he pulls the trigger, the
decker's persona disappears and the bullet goes flying
into empty space.
He looks over as the bouncer cuts loose on the
warrior that it is engaged with by breaking its back
and then its neck. It then makes its way behind the
other warrior and does a foot sweep to knock him to
his feet. The sam lumbers onto its feet and heads
toward the warrior. Jumping back to a standing
position, the IC leaps away from the two sprites and
directly towards Jazzman.
It finishes its leap and plants its foot squarely
into Jazz's chest. He flies backwards and lands in
between to cabinets. Geez, this thing doesn't know
when's enough. He opens fire on the counter measure
and the bullets strike across mid-torso. As Jazzman
stands, he is knocked back into the wall as the
warrior hits him in the chest again. Jazz's two
sprites jump on the warrior and finish it off when the
street sam slashes off the head.
Jazzman calls his sprites to him and they all make
their way back out of the node. He checks to see if
he is followed, and upon realizing that no attempt has
been made, he jacks out.
Back in the run down apartment, Johnny catches his
friend as Michael falls off the crate. "Harder then
you thought it would be I take it, chummer." He says
as he helps Michael up and out the door.
"The Azzies are known for having a tough nut to crack.
I'm going to have this headache for days, my friend.
Let's buzz turbo."
Chapter 3
July 21, 2061
In the main pyramid, in the heart of Aztland, a
gentleman of considerable power sits behind a desk of
oak and listens to the latest security breech over the
telecom.
"We don't know who he was, sir. The counter measures
activated to follow his trail either came up empty or
badly disrupted."
"That is unacceptable! Someone must know who and
where he lives."
"Sorry, sir. We keep finding dead ends."
"No one is untraceable! Do what you have to, but
find him! He has stolen something too valuable to
dismiss!" He slams the phone down and turns his chair
to get a better view out of his window. He stands for
a moment and heads to the door to get something to eat
when the com beeps again.
"Yes."
"Sir, one of the matrix security personnel that
worked last night is on the line."
"Put him on then."
There was a series of clicks and, "Hello, sir. This is
Chad Espinosa."
"Son, as I understand it, you were working security
that night, correct?"
"Yes, sir." The nervousness was seeping through the
com wire.
"Can you tell me anything about this who this person
was that you came across?"
"I don't know for certain who was, but I can tell you
that he was like no other decker that I has come
across before."
"Oh?" The man leaned closer to the telecom. "Tell
me more. Come to my office in two hours."
"Yes, sir."
Chapter 4
At a diner in one of the least desirable places in
the Sioux Sector, Michael sits at a booth and
patiently waits for his employer to show. Johnny
watches from another booth as he begins to eat a
rather hardy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs,
sausage, and hashbrowns. A pitcher of soy caf is
placed on his table. Michael scans everyone that
comes in the door. Having seen no sign of the
Johnson, he orders breakfast and waits its arrival.
Just as the bowl of cheese grits is placed on the
table before him, he receives a tap on the shoulder.
He motions for his employer to sit, and the parlay
begins.
"Were you able to get the package?"
"Yes, but I will have to up the fee by a small
percentage."
"I see. This means you more trouble than you
expected?"
"Let's just say that I needed to exact some repairs
that may need a little extra compensation."
"You got it. I will need to see the package first.
Can you meet me at a more secure location in two hours
so that I may look it over?"
"Yeah. Where and when?" The Johnson slides a small
piece of paper in Michael's direction and leaves the
diner. Shortly after, Johnny joins him at his table.
Michael staggers a little as he stands to leave.
"Mike, you okay?"
"I think we need to take a trip to see Boneweaver.
That ice hit me harder than I thuught."
"Boneweaver's it is chummer. Let's buzz."
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Here you go. I hope it's better.
Anissa
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