Pids Be Wary: An Intro

Pids Be Wary: An Intro: Recently I started cleaning out a closet and I found a box of old odds and ends. One thing which caught my searching eyes was a bundle of stories that I had written long ago, probably between 1993-1997.

Object desired

Seren looked at the shiny object with serene pleasure. His trembling hands slowly and deliberately extended towards the rock upon which the jewel so sparkling and magnificently radiant shone. As his hands hovered over the jewel so sought, there arose a multitude of voices from inside the aura which surrounded the object of his heart's desire, "For whom wilt this pleasure be taken?!"

In A Time Not Known

In a time not known, a small ship descended quietly to settle in the middle of a field somewhere no one knows of. Steam hissed out from small holes in the side of the ship. Everything was suddenly very quiet. Somewhere, off in the distance, an animal made a noise. At least, it sounded like an animal. A click and twist sounded from behind the hatch of the ship. More steam. The door slowly opended. Light flooded out into the rapidly darkening field. A silhouette stood in the doorway; not moving. It couldn't move because it's coat sleeve was pinched between a closet door from which the coat had been taken. A quick pull and the sleeve came loose, but the figure was thrown forward from the force of the pull, and it came flying out the door to land in a small, wet puddle situated outside the ship on the dirty ground.

* * *

Jamen X Funil was very frustrated. He needed to get out of his chair and go out for some fresh air.

T O K Y O

(this was written on the backs of printed emails from my brother when I was living in Tokyo in November, 1996)

[part 1]

The floor's wet. Hallway moist. Shitty cats! A door slams somewhere: Tokyo. I hold my breath. Click. Cocked, now. A strong wind hits the windows of the penthouse. Dark here. City lights so far below. Thunder; a passing skiff-car. Its lights momentarily shine on metal in my hands. No shaking. Steady. A line of brightness coming from under the black door. Pull now, or kick first? Quick decision as my heavy black boot slams into the middle of it. A scream, a huffy bellow before a gruff yell. BOOM! I pulled. He drops, what's left of him to drop. She tries to run into the bathroom. BOOM! Pulled again. I love the pressure. I love the power. The sheer black force! She splashes the wall; what an artist. Me or her? Don't give a shit, really. My shotgun smokes from it's mouth. It loves to talk. I like what it says. I smile, admiring my handiwork. Silence. A meow. Behind me in the living room. I fuckin' hate cats. Pussy, I love. BOOM! I shoot into the darkness. Cat fur and hot liquid hits the windows. The wind buffets them again. Orchestrations in the dark. Blow the mouth of my gun. A kiss for my lover. Smoke wafts out. Smells do damn great. My perfume. Well, better split this place. Too much noise for one night. Even for Tokyo. Wet. Dark. Exciting. Sexy. Tokyo. Only one. Fog now filling the city. Open the window. The clean one. Black gloves on my hands. Black scarf around my neck. Black overcoat on my shoulders. Black boots on my feet. Black hover-scooter on the ledge. Mine! Motor still running softly. Purring. Yes. Jump onto the soft black leather seat. Punch the turbo thrusters to life. Lift off the ledge. Wave good-bye to the dead penthouse. Dead! Left no trace. Never do, never will. Down. My gun now in my overcoat. Hidden. Think about the dough. New Yen never was better!

[part 2]

I swerve into traffic from above it all. A bitch on a pink, brand-spanking-new scooter honks and yells in Japanese. I flip her off and gun it. Speed. She's lost in traffic. The city folds all around everything. Steam rises from the streets below as I maneuver deeper into the heart. Vendors of every kind, migrated here from Bangkok right before the assimilation of its inhabitants. Now, Bangkok is totally digital - even the people living there. These guys, the ones makin' the steam, escaped before the digitizing law went into effect. Lucky bastards??!! A truck driver just about hits me from the right. Mutha! I almost pull it on him. Not in public though. Maybe someday. Not tonight. A big blue bug hits my windshield. Damn. I reach out and try to flick it off. Idiot! Loose my balance. Hit the accelerator. My scooter slams into the back of the truck. WHAM! Metal scrapes. Sparks. Must have been a fuel truck? Big red and yellow ball surround me suddenly. Heat. I tumble off. Down. My disabled scooter. Fire ball now. Follows me. The truck, also. No time. I hit something hard. Can't breathe. Look down. People running. Look up. Fire. Coming to me. Traffic getting all fucked up. I hit another vehicle on my way down. Leg breaks. CRACK! No pain. No time. Yellow convertible. Keep falling. Screams. People suck! THUD! Hit the hard ground. Shotgun flies out of my overcoat. Gasps! Look up. No time. Can't move. Fireballs hit me. SHIT! Tokyo.

HNet

[ London Sector - 3:32:10 AM ]

38.45 Million lives were suddenly ended, lost forever when every single Hnet port-access to London Sector was instantly terminated. There was no warning, no foreshadowing of the event, it just happened...right out of the blue. Port Authorities were caught utterly and completely off guard; absolutely no time to activate alternate routes, other ways out. Panic ensued. People who were caught inside, mid-transfer, had no warning, no idea what was about to befall their sorry souls; complete loss of all data paks, complete loss of their lives! Those waiting for up link or waiting for route transfers where the lucky ones: they had the mercy of Brother to stop them once the appropriate safeguards and route closure algorithms had come online and activated (?; which took mere micro-seconds after the initial tragedy?).

Jak Din was one of the lucky ones, barely. Just outside the Skaiwahkur cafe, in a booth, credit swiped and waiting for the green light....the unimaginable happened, that which was touted as impossible came about to the shock and horror of all earthly civilization: the alarm went off across the entire busy world and everything suddenly came to an utter standstill.

..."Hnet has gone offline, please stand-by. Your patience is greatly appreciated. Brother Sincerely Apologizes to you for this inconvenience."...

..."For your own safety and for the safety of your family and friends, please remove all data connectors from yourself and any of those with you who are unable to do so. Compliance is greatly appreciated. Brother Sincerely Apologizes to you for this inconvenience."...

..."Please stand-by."...

Sitting there stunned, unable to fully comprehend what was happening, he stared into the small display screen directly in front of him. He turned his head and with glazed-over eyes looked out through the dark and foggy glass door of the UpLink Booth at the multitude of people wandering about, now aimless, no way now, nowhere now, no way or nowhere to go now. Jak slowly reached up and pulled out the data connectors from their sockets in his neck. The never-fading sickly thurplunk of disconnect, the connector needles sliding and pulling out of their wet skin-sockets with a very unnatural and vacuumy sucking feeling, was totally ignored due to the shock of loss and uselessness that overtook his entire psyche.

If he had entered the UpLink Booth just a few moments sooner, plugged in and activated the Upload, he would be nonexistant at this very moment.....with just a remembrance of him a hollow shell in Deep Freeze Sleep.

He snapped out of his horrid trance as a body slammed against the booth, shaking it violently. The crowds outside where going crazy from the news of the Hnet crashing on London Sector and the rest of it shutting down in Emergency Stance.

"I've got to get outta here," he thought to himself suddenly, "....before they come for me."

He knew that the Authorities would soon be, or had already been, alerted to his location and be rushing to this exact Booth to collect him and most likely take him away in a Zippie Bag, in either one or multiple parts, depending on which device they had available to them.

He hit the Open button to the UpLink Booth's door. Click....nothing. What?!? Press. Nothing. "SHIT! This cannot be happening!" He yelled out loud in frustration at the stuck door. The person who had fallen (thrown? pushed?) against the Booth must have jammed it closed. He tried a few more times to no avail. There was nothing on his person strong or hard enough to crack the glass of the Booth. These things were made to withstand almost any form of attack to break the glass. He'd heard of Bounty Hunters launching hand helds at Booths in order to collect their Score

He now heard, above the noise and chaos of the crowds outside a distinct sound which made his flesh crawl. The pulsating, throbbing hum and squeel of sirens. They were coming! He'd almost rather have had been in mid-transfer when the Hnet shut down just now....at least he wouldn't have to deal with any further escapades with the Authorities, nor now, with them barrelling down upon his jammed Booth, with him securely snug as a bug, stuck inside, no where to run this time!

No! There was possibly another way out....IN! It would most likely be the death of him, but sometimes you just gotta do what seems impossible and take a chance.

He reached under the seat and felt along the back wall. He knew what to look for, yeah, that was it...the switch. He pressed on it and suddenly the wall behind him cracked open slightly, a mist and hissing sound escaped from the opening. It was terribly cold. He grabbed an old newspaper from the dirty floor and wrapped it around his hand and then with all his might, he slowly pried open the Booth's rear door, the door to the huge underground system of Deep Freeze Sleep chambers where all bodies were stored while their owners were in Hnet, either in transit or having fun in the endless worlds of pleasure and work.

Hnet, as it is commonly referred to, stands for Human-Net, the virtual net for humans to travel in, pleasure in, or do whatever they want to do.... much like the long gone and forsaken ancient system called the Internet, where only information was transferred, thrown around and used. The Hnet is a complex system which takes your actual self, you, your DNA, thoughts, everything, into a virtual system where you can roam amongst the playgrounds of the resorts of the rich (special access required of course) to the junkyards of the junkies and hackers, or just use it to travel to another physical location on the planet, instantly. At the exact time your person is digitized and transferred into Hnet, your body is then instantaneously frozen and the rear doors open. A Grabber extends into the Booth and encases the body into a small capsule. The Sleeper Capsule is then coded with your ID info for ReEntrance later when you decided to come back to the real world. Some people, prestigeous ones, will most always have their bodies physically shipped to the location at which they wish to continue, then once the body is at the destination, always in an expensive hotel lobby (and some directly into the hotel suite's Booth!) they would commence ReEnt and come out of Hnet to continue their pretty lives.

Others, and this is 99.9999% of the population, will use a quickly programmable and easily disposable Hnet Hologram. There are a few different types of Holograms; Type A to Type C.

Type A are pure spectral light holograms with your person inside controlling them, sort of like an extension of Hnet itself. These types are usually used by those who wish to stay outside Hnet for only short times (business men going to meetings, friends meeting for chats or going to see events or gaming, etc), not requiring too much sensorial input from the real world. All senses are given to your person through crudely faked and often badly scrambled data paks: tasting a pizza will not taste exactly like a pizza, in other words. Touch is the worst, and no one relies on the Type A for any physically enticing activities.

Type B holograms are mainly used for recreational purposes as they are more advanced than Type A in the feedback they give to the rider, the person loaded into them. B Holos (as they are referred to) give your person a toned-down touch sense on top of the other senses, most notably taste; which is much more refined than the A Holos.

Type C Holos are the best, naturally, and they are used by those who wish to stay outside Hnet for very long periods, such as chronicaly ill patients whose bodies are no longer usable. They are the top of the line in terms of sensory delivery to the Rider. Senses are delivered via high quality sensor generators that are actually made of physical light particles floating, unseen, through the Holo at all times, millions of them. The main difference between Type C and the other two types is the fact that C Holos can actually BE touched, although the feeling is not very close to a real skin, it comes close enough to be accepted.

Since it is possible to live inside a Holo ones life could, in reality, be extended forever...imortality, this is why a law was passed that only those whose bodies are not usable can Ride a Holo for an unlimited period of time. All other people have timed Holos which deactivate after a certain time which is set by the Rider upon Activation of the Holo.

0: Type 01 Interface

00: Type 01 Interface▒
01: Enter Data Sequence: X-04B8-001▒
02: Sequence Ready For Input▒
03: Data Initialized, Proceed▒
04: Run Program X-04B8-001▒
05: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .▒
06: Program Start-up Successful▒
07: Beginning Loop-Feed To Dampers▒
08: Dampers Ready▒
09: Dampers 65%▒
10: Dampers 85%▒
11: Thrust Capabilities Authorized▒
12: Thrust 45% at 105°▒
13: Thrust 65.7% at 109°▒
14: Thrust 89.2% at 107.8°▒
15: Velocity Constant: 89.2% at 107.8°▒
16: Course Plotted▒
17: ETA: 4.4 Light Years▒
18: Internal Environment Stabilized▒
19: Stasis Maintained▒
20: Systems Nomilized▒
21: Auto Mode Set: ON▒
22: Self-Timer Set: 4.4 Light Years▒
23: Program Waiting. . . . . . ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒▒▒

story number two

Long bright beams of dusty lite shown down onto the ruins. They played over the ancient surfaces, searching for something. A movement caught the attention of one beam and it deftly trained in on the spot. In plain site, a grey figure hunched over, knowing what to expect next. And what was supposed to happen, happened according to Program. The beams of lite silenty and suddenly went off, and in the same instant a pencil thin beam of red lite shown down onto the still figure. The figure disappeared and the lazer beam shut off. Somewhere aboard a huge alien craft a monitor full of grids, lines, symbols and numbers flashed.

A huge, scaly, yellow sleepy head rose to look at the flashing message: ONE MORE HUMAN EXTERMINATED. Location: Downtown Seoul, Korea. Continuing sweep for survivors...

The sleepy head yawned and was back asleep on the console before it even finished reading the entirety of the message displayed.

We are not alone.
We are exterminated.