Post by Kaine Chandler on Mar 15, 2010 2:58:17 GMT -8
I become aware of space. There is no floor or walls, but I am not falling. I become aware of myself. I'm dressed... I'm dressed in the outfit I wore to that party, that one time. I loved that outfit, I idly wonder what happened to it and why I should find myself dressed in it now, but my attention is drawn to the formation of other solid objects in the not space.
I watch him float down in front of me. There can be no mistake, it is the same hottie face, now attached to an equally hottie bod. I suppose I should be used to hanging out with hotties now, but I'm not. At least having my own hot threads make me feel more secure. As he lands, a floor manifests under his feet and the idea of walls space out into the distance. I realize with some sense of ironic humor that I'm in the Matrix, but I can tell its not really the whole thing, its a shard, like that room where Neo goes to get all his guns before heading out into the real Matrix.
"Hello Aine" He pronounces it correctly, 'aih-nyah', the Traditional name my mother left me with that no teacher or administrator could ever pronounce. "It's really a shame", he goes on, "You are really quite talented. But I'm afraid you Garou are rather troublesome, so I have no choice but to kill you."
In his right hand, a sword manifests. I can see the code writing itself up the blade. I am weaponless, but this is a program, and I am a hacker. I look for the exit, but even a cursory glance down the binary pathways shows me that the locks and traps he's placed to keep me in will take more than the split second I have before he's coming at me with a weapon that, while made of code, can surely destroy that part of me that's here, and I'm willing to bet that if I die here, I'm never waking up in that Starbucks.
I've never been here before, I've only read about it, Writing code on a keyboard is easy now, but this... I try to focus on a defense, or something to destroy his weapon with. I feel the code wrapping around my body as the hi fad rave digs shift into a more utilitarian black armor suit. I can sense that the panels that cover my armor are themselves corrosive to foreign code.
He catches the change in time and diverts his swing to avoid hitting me. "Clever little girl. I knew I liked you." he says grinning as he reabsorbs the code.
I'm starting to get the feel of this place, but its distracting, so much raw data, my synapses, so capable of converting visual or auditory input into meaning, have only rudimentary skills at translating this kind of code into sights and sounds. I see a gun forming in place of the faded sword. Look at the code, look closer, it's a blaster, how sci-fi can you get? But I can see the sense, the blast will carry destructive code to me, and won't leave a trail for my code to reach him.
"We don't have to do this." I blurt, hoping to stall him, "We obviously have alot in common, maybe we can help each other out?"
In answer he fires the blaster at me. The first shield that comes to mind is the shield belt from Dune. Only the slow blade shall pass. But more importantly, the energy of the shield reacts with energy weapons, a quick mod and I can make that reaction a reactive force blast. My shield sprang into place at the last second, forming right in front of the orange light of the blast and bouncing a weaker percussive blast back on my assailant.
He kept his feet, but was knocked backward, grimacing. "Damn, but you Garou are hard to kill."
"I don't want to have to fight you." I said, and I found I meant it. I had known I was playing a dangerous game with this guy, but I couldn't help hoping he could become an ally, maybe teach me some of the cool tricks he was using. "Look, you're being transfered, right? Can't you just let me go and we can both move on with our lives?"
"I don't have a choice Aine. You see, they have my body. They feed me, the keep me alive." He holds up one arm and I can see living wires attached to his flesh and I can see the code drifting off into the distance.
"Maybe we can get your body?" I say, but without any real conviction. This man is bound to his computer as firmly as any spirit to a fetish, and I doubt there is anything I could do to save him, even if he wanted to be saved.
My attention was diverted by the trailing strands of code coming out of his outstretched left hand, so I almost missed the action of his hidden right hand. I barely noticed the subtle shift of code in the blaster as he brought the gun back up to fire, not a burst of energy, but a projectile that slowed its path right at the edge of my shield and so was able to penetrate it. I tried to dodge, but felt the dart enter my shoulder. The sensation was not one of pain as we know it in the physical realm, but I could feel pieces of myself disintegrate, and I knew then that that part of me in this cyber realm was not just a code representation of my consciousness, but my soul itself. If it were to be ripped apart in here, I would be beyond the reach of Gaia or Luna.
I felt the Rage surging up through me. Not so much to send me into a frenzied state, but enough to make me mad. I couldn't think as well. I needed time to think, to consider my options. So I'll make time, I think of a paralytic toxin. I know it won't hold him forever, but it will give me what I need. Feeling my shields sync up with one another, so that the second dart that penetrates the shield gets dissolved by the corrosive armor.
"I was trying to be nice." I half growled through gritted teeth.
In my hands, the gun begins to form. It is beautiful. It fills both my hands with shining gunmetal gray, the stock fits my shoulder, but I know there will be no kickback here. And when I fire, the crystal blue bolt reaches out to the tip of the gun in his hand.
The code moves faster than I imagined it would, blue and hard, it freezes the code of his gun in place and then moves on to his arm. Horrified, he summons a knife to his left hand and tries to cut his right arm off at the shoulder, but as the knife stabs into the code of his sinews and bone, my crystalline code reaches the knife and moves on to his left hand. Before he can even cry out, his vocal chords are frozen solid, and soon his whole body follows. The shining blue statue of my former foe stands before me for a moment and then crashes onto the floor, the cords connecting him to his body back in the meat-space flying free, and the statue itself smashing into nothing but ones and zeroes to be absorbed by the matrix itself.
As the consciousness holding this room in place disappears, the room too and all my senses fade once more into blackness. I expect to awake back in my body, slumped over my computer with a panicky barista fluttering around me hoping, her manager hoping to avert a lawsuit, but instead the blackness remains. I can't feel my body. I can't feel Minerva!
Alone in my mind for the first time since I met my pack, I am afraid.
I watch him float down in front of me. There can be no mistake, it is the same hottie face, now attached to an equally hottie bod. I suppose I should be used to hanging out with hotties now, but I'm not. At least having my own hot threads make me feel more secure. As he lands, a floor manifests under his feet and the idea of walls space out into the distance. I realize with some sense of ironic humor that I'm in the Matrix, but I can tell its not really the whole thing, its a shard, like that room where Neo goes to get all his guns before heading out into the real Matrix.
"Hello Aine" He pronounces it correctly, 'aih-nyah', the Traditional name my mother left me with that no teacher or administrator could ever pronounce. "It's really a shame", he goes on, "You are really quite talented. But I'm afraid you Garou are rather troublesome, so I have no choice but to kill you."
In his right hand, a sword manifests. I can see the code writing itself up the blade. I am weaponless, but this is a program, and I am a hacker. I look for the exit, but even a cursory glance down the binary pathways shows me that the locks and traps he's placed to keep me in will take more than the split second I have before he's coming at me with a weapon that, while made of code, can surely destroy that part of me that's here, and I'm willing to bet that if I die here, I'm never waking up in that Starbucks.
I've never been here before, I've only read about it, Writing code on a keyboard is easy now, but this... I try to focus on a defense, or something to destroy his weapon with. I feel the code wrapping around my body as the hi fad rave digs shift into a more utilitarian black armor suit. I can sense that the panels that cover my armor are themselves corrosive to foreign code.
He catches the change in time and diverts his swing to avoid hitting me. "Clever little girl. I knew I liked you." he says grinning as he reabsorbs the code.
I'm starting to get the feel of this place, but its distracting, so much raw data, my synapses, so capable of converting visual or auditory input into meaning, have only rudimentary skills at translating this kind of code into sights and sounds. I see a gun forming in place of the faded sword. Look at the code, look closer, it's a blaster, how sci-fi can you get? But I can see the sense, the blast will carry destructive code to me, and won't leave a trail for my code to reach him.
"We don't have to do this." I blurt, hoping to stall him, "We obviously have alot in common, maybe we can help each other out?"
In answer he fires the blaster at me. The first shield that comes to mind is the shield belt from Dune. Only the slow blade shall pass. But more importantly, the energy of the shield reacts with energy weapons, a quick mod and I can make that reaction a reactive force blast. My shield sprang into place at the last second, forming right in front of the orange light of the blast and bouncing a weaker percussive blast back on my assailant.
He kept his feet, but was knocked backward, grimacing. "Damn, but you Garou are hard to kill."
"I don't want to have to fight you." I said, and I found I meant it. I had known I was playing a dangerous game with this guy, but I couldn't help hoping he could become an ally, maybe teach me some of the cool tricks he was using. "Look, you're being transfered, right? Can't you just let me go and we can both move on with our lives?"
"I don't have a choice Aine. You see, they have my body. They feed me, the keep me alive." He holds up one arm and I can see living wires attached to his flesh and I can see the code drifting off into the distance.
"Maybe we can get your body?" I say, but without any real conviction. This man is bound to his computer as firmly as any spirit to a fetish, and I doubt there is anything I could do to save him, even if he wanted to be saved.
My attention was diverted by the trailing strands of code coming out of his outstretched left hand, so I almost missed the action of his hidden right hand. I barely noticed the subtle shift of code in the blaster as he brought the gun back up to fire, not a burst of energy, but a projectile that slowed its path right at the edge of my shield and so was able to penetrate it. I tried to dodge, but felt the dart enter my shoulder. The sensation was not one of pain as we know it in the physical realm, but I could feel pieces of myself disintegrate, and I knew then that that part of me in this cyber realm was not just a code representation of my consciousness, but my soul itself. If it were to be ripped apart in here, I would be beyond the reach of Gaia or Luna.
I felt the Rage surging up through me. Not so much to send me into a frenzied state, but enough to make me mad. I couldn't think as well. I needed time to think, to consider my options. So I'll make time, I think of a paralytic toxin. I know it won't hold him forever, but it will give me what I need. Feeling my shields sync up with one another, so that the second dart that penetrates the shield gets dissolved by the corrosive armor.
"I was trying to be nice." I half growled through gritted teeth.
In my hands, the gun begins to form. It is beautiful. It fills both my hands with shining gunmetal gray, the stock fits my shoulder, but I know there will be no kickback here. And when I fire, the crystal blue bolt reaches out to the tip of the gun in his hand.
The code moves faster than I imagined it would, blue and hard, it freezes the code of his gun in place and then moves on to his arm. Horrified, he summons a knife to his left hand and tries to cut his right arm off at the shoulder, but as the knife stabs into the code of his sinews and bone, my crystalline code reaches the knife and moves on to his left hand. Before he can even cry out, his vocal chords are frozen solid, and soon his whole body follows. The shining blue statue of my former foe stands before me for a moment and then crashes onto the floor, the cords connecting him to his body back in the meat-space flying free, and the statue itself smashing into nothing but ones and zeroes to be absorbed by the matrix itself.
As the consciousness holding this room in place disappears, the room too and all my senses fade once more into blackness. I expect to awake back in my body, slumped over my computer with a panicky barista fluttering around me hoping, her manager hoping to avert a lawsuit, but instead the blackness remains. I can't feel my body. I can't feel Minerva!
Alone in my mind for the first time since I met my pack, I am afraid.
