Quick a/n: I'm looking for a beta. One that's familiar with action/real time kind of stuff, and one that doesn't mind tons of bad language. Sure, it's in bad taste, but I've noticed that criminals don't speak like dapper gentlemen from the 16th century. (If they did it would be downright weird.) Oh, and one that doesn't mind adult themes and brackets.
I don't really want my grammar/spelling checked, but it's always a bonus :), but more my plot is bad/ideas suck/too many italics/am I moving too slow or too fast/is this confusing/this is confusing, change it!/ohmegawd, he just used six swear words in a ten word sentence, change plz/this chapter sounds really half-hearted, rewrite pl0zz/hmm it'd sound nicer if you wrote it like this insted of this/ stuff like that. (:
I know that's asking quite a lot but if there's anyone out there that wants to give it a shot, PM me please!
This is a story of an:
Alice falling down rabbit holes
a God burying himself in an urban land
a decadent and debauched Peter Pan and
the runaway shadow of a gingerbread man.
Hey, no one ever said that living in Kerning City would be easy.
Ha ha.
There is no god, thus exists the gangland.
The gangland exists and thus there is no god. (except from Lukas, because Lukas is special)
I. ALPHA
The CC phone flashed to life, the numbers on the left hand corner blinking- 8:15:20.
YOU HAVE 33 UNREAD MESSAGES
kent you bastard have you made the delivery yet? client is hopping mad
FROM: Korey
8:05:17 PM
YOU HAVE 32 UNREAD MESSAGES
raid is still on at 22:00
FROM: Lukas
8:09:34
YOU HAVE 31 UNREAD MESSAGES
you annoying son of a balrog why aren't you answering your texts? don't bother answering if you're dead if you aren't I'm killing you tmr
FROM: Joe
8:12:51
DELETE ALL MESSAGES: YES/NO
YES
Kent laughed and stubbed out his cigarette on the concrete floor, tossing the butt over the side of the high-rise apartment flat. Well Joe, I never knew you cared, he smirked to himself. He sighed as remembered the first text. Korey was probably going to be very angry with him, but he didn't really feel worried about that. Kent didn't think he could be bothered to feel worried at that moment anyway. Everyone had only one life to live, didn't they? Well he definitely wasn't going to spend his as a worrier. Still, he'd better take care of it before he was accused of neglecting everything the gang stood for. Which according to Korey, was drugs and supplying them to the suckers who bought them. Such a drama queen, Korey is.
Dial.
…
Ring.
…
Ring.
"What." Alex held the CC phone to his ear and frowning as he lifted the cap off his dyed red hair. He glanced in the toilet's cracked mirror and groaned as he ran a hand through his thick red hair. Damn it, the dark brown roots were starting to show. He'd have to head to Dr. Andre's and get it touched up. At least the good doctor didn't charge a bloody premium like he did for non-gang members. Alex would rather go around with two-tone hair than pay the price the normals did.
Kent rolled his eyes as he waited patiently for Alex to regain his senses. The kid wasn't usually this slow, even when he had just woken up or was drunk on power elixers. "Is your caller ID broken?"
Oh god it's Kent Walker…! Alex's eyes widened; it wasn't often one of the higher-ups called him themselves- this call could make or break a gang member. "Sorry," he said quickly, "didn't know who it was."
"Obviously," Kent sounded amused. He half-heartedly considered lighting up another cigarette, but decided against it. He'd gotten his nicotine fix already, and any more would just be a waste. Plus, chain smokers were disgusting. "Hey, I want you to make a delivery. 50 grams of fairy dust to Perion. Perion's been IDed with brown hair and eyes, wearing a skull shirt and cap. Weapon's a Vaulter 2000. Level 43. Male."
Alex nodded into the receiver, even though Kent couldn't see it. "Will do, boss."
CALL ENDED
00:02:47
II. BRAVO
"Quiet tonight, innit?"
There was a silence as Kent took a long drag of his cigarette. He'd gone through a pack already, but he didn't think he was addicted. It was just another thing he liked to do; a dedication. You either smoked or did drugs in Kerning. If you didn't do either, you were either a kid or a cop. Or, he thought vaguely fondly of a certain homeless person, a philosopher. Kent frowned. Or maybe he was just another crazy- it was hard to tell the difference these days.
A shuffle.
A pleading, crooning sound. "Hey, Walker…"
"No."
A pout that Kent easily ignored. He ground the cigarette against the wall and chucked it away, watching is it dropped to the ground. "Everyone's been a bit worried 'bout you, mate. Who d'you reckon's gonna come after you first?"
"Your mum. She's been missing me quite a bit, 'asn't she?" Kent mocked Icarus' accent. The teen frowned at him but made no noise. It wouldn't do to mouth off to a JR. Leader, a sort-of mate or not. He didn't want to be a dead man walking any time soon. Plus, it was almost kind of funny if a bit crude. But crude was the best you got in Kerning on a good day when a savage beating was the alternative. "You're stoned off your mind, Ic."
The teen nodded. "Yeah, but I'm runnin' out, sadly enough. Got some more magic powder on you?" Kent didn't move. "The black ones," Icarus elaborated, hoping that Kent was in a good mood. The man was inscrutable most days, and if he wasn't in a good mood, then all Icarus would be taking tonight were pain meds for the savage beating he'd get.
"You've got expensive tastes," Kent frowned, and Icarus let out a sign of relief quietly. Good mood, then. Kent didn't like the request though. Black magic powder was quite a commodity here, everywhere. The normals wanted it for making their weapons or whatever, the druggies wanted to snort it up their noses. Ergo, it was hard to get. His gang was lucky to have found steady suppliers. "Have you got the money to back it up then?"
Icarus smiled lazily, his eyes automatically going up to the dying sun. It looked, he thought, like a giant egg yolk. "You know me, Kent." No, I 'aven't got any money. A kid with his head down barged past him, muttering an insincere apology as he started talking quietly and rapidly to Kent. Icarus could catch a few strands of the whispered conversation.
"I thought… ID-ed, he told me, ID-ed… the little idiot. A plant. Damn. A plant."
Shrugging, Icarus left the little alley and headed back to his perch right next to the Niora hospital. Jokingly to himself, he thought that he was in a good place if he ever fell off that perch. A sudden thought occurred to him that made him laugh bitterly. Far too bitter for a teenager, but bitter enough for a Kerning one.
The sun never really was going to set, was it?
Icarus smiled to himself. He should probably say something to the sun right about now. Something about how being alone sucked, maybe some metaphors. Maybe try to mutter a silent prayer to his dead dad and ask for forgiveness for all the shit he had done.
The teen smiled again and shook his head.
Nah. Kerning City didn't have a place for poets. Or for people with hearts, for that matter.
III. CHARLIE
TO: Agent W
FROM: Agent E
SUBJECT: KPO
Kerning Purge Ops isn't going well. All attempts to infiltrate prominent organizations have failed, and some operatives have vanished. Recovery teams have been sent out, but so far there has been no success.
We have tried to extract assistance from the Dark Lord, but he refuses to cooperate, and we can't legally take action against the Wise Men of Victoria, nor do we have the resources.
Nexon Corp refuses to fund us any longer until they see results, such as the takedown of a prominent organization. They are threatening to remove us from the case and turn it over to the GMs. This is unacceptable. A scanned document is attached.
Requesting further orders.
E.
ATTACHMENTS: (censored)
DO NOT FW WITHOUT RANDOM BIT ENCYRPTION
TO: Agent E
FROM: Agent W
SUBJECT: Re: KPO
SPO has failed after the Flaming Raccoons synchronized with other minor gangs in Showa to launch an attack against our units. Nexon Corp has dissolved our units in Showa and sent in their own. You should have seen it on the news.
Gang activity has been off the charts for some time, E. All attempts to cull it have failed. I have doubts about the KPO as well, so you should get ready to move your units out ASAP before the Hunter units of the Nexon Corp move in. They can't seem to recognize friendlies. There is a chance that they may synch with you. Kerning is the criminal capital after all.
Special Investigator Popo has been taken as hostage by the Flaming Raccoons. Hostage-taking is a favourite with gangs. Take care of your own, E.
W.
TO: Agent W
FROM: Agent E
Subject: Nexon Corp & KPO
You are right. Nexon Corp sent over various GM units today and forcibly synched with our units today at 03:51. Hunter, Investigative and an Alpha unit were included.
They are far more ruthless than I thought, W. I mean the Alpha unit, of course. I have heard the rumours, but they are every bit as cold as I thought. There are only five in the unit, and any attempt to converse with them about the infrastructure of the Alpha unit has been brushed aside.
Monsters have been sent in to deal with monsters, W. Is this effective?
E.
TO: Agent W
FROM: Agent E
Subject: RE: Alpha units
I fear for Kerning City, not for the welfare of the Alpha Unit.
W.
IV. DELTA
"Hey, Liz. Take a look at this," Kade laughed. He swiveled the screen over to his friend, watching her waste no time in scanning the document. A moment later, she laughed shortly.
"Our Agent friend is a blabbermouth," Lysanne said, flippantly tossing her glossy blonde hair over her shoulder. "But we can't get rid of her… She's from the whatsit. SIG, they call themselves." Kade nodded. The Special Investigation Group was a pain in Nexon Corp's butt. There had been talks of wiping them completely, but nothing had ever gone through, and Kade doubted that it ever would. SIG was getting to be too big an organisation to quickly dispose of.
Kade shrugged away his thoughts and tapped a few more lines of code into the computer, smiling to himself as it was quickly processed and executed. Call him a technogeek, but the equipment from Omega Sector handled like a dream. It hadn't been terribly professional to nick it from the facilities like they had done, but Alpha units weren't really known for being conventional. They were just borrowing it, anyway. For quite a long time.
EXECUTION: 100% COMPLETE
He now had eyes and ears to SIG's every technological move. And seeing as SIG was one of those ultra high-tech organizations, he had access to everything they did. But information down to the click was terribly annoying, so he set a few trigger words.
KPO, SPO, NEXON CORP, NEXON, ALPHA UNIT
There, that had to be enough for now. He set the trigger count to five before he was alterted and sent the file. Wouldn't do to have every little thing clogging up his memory now, would it? He blinked once, and immediately sixteen documents opened in front of him. Kade sighed. Honestly, he had to get an assistant to read these for him. But it was totally illegal to hack into SIG's network of mainframes slash supercomputers, and he couldn't bring himself to trust sensitive information to anyone outside their Alpha unit. But everyone was busy, and Liz had left, the little skiver. He cracked his knuckles.
So.
Back to work, Kade.
V. ECHO
Kent checked his watch, the bright neon numbers dully telling him it was 21:02. Too early for the drug raid on the boat from Orbis tonight, too late to have dinner. He gritted his teeth at what had made him miss said dinner: the police plant. They were really stepping up their game, the police. Korey, that son of tramp, had told him the Perion client had been ID-ed! A more thorough check by the resident techno whizzes revealed that there was nobody listed in the Nexon Corp database going by that name, and the ID card was in fact unregistered.
A fake, to be precise.
The cigarette in his hand was crushed, Kent noted, and he let it fall to the ground unlit. He was going to have words with Korey, and maybe more than that. For god's sake, the man had never gotten stuff like that wrong before, and Kent didn't want him starting now! Now that the police were wising up to them, they had to step up their defence too. There wasn't any room for sloppiness in the gangland these days. If you were sloppy, you got caught and that was that. The gang didn't have place for people who were going to get them caught.
"Hey handsome, going to PC?" A tall leggy brunette winked at him, her long sweeping eyelashes brushing against her cheek. She was gorgeous, and looked like an airbrushed model straight off the pages of the glossy NX Fashion magazines in extremely form-fitting clothes, but with a tad too much make up. PC stood for Party Central, a place notorious for it's drug scene, extreme violence and other... activities. Well, it wasn't like he had anything to do, so he hit the party scene with an arm around the brunette's slim waist.
An hour of drugsexkissesdancemusicdrugs later, Kent dumped the brunette in an alley with a few throwing stars in her head. Someone from the guild would pick up the body later and dispose of it, because he wasn't going to mess around with some rotting corpse. He picked up her ID card and raised an eyebrow at the name etched onto the plastic. Well, Kino Kinoko should have stuck to her sweeping job, because if she was going to sign up as an undercover cop, you'd think she'd be a little cleverer going about it. Kent shook his head as he rummaged for her CC phone, his fingers not lingering for a second more than neccessary (she was a corpse, and he didn't really go for that). Kino Kinoko must've not been on top form that night.
Badgering him about drugs and his guild slash gang every few minutes? Honestly, what an amateur. Before Kent could go on and on making snide comments about the girl's ability, his CC phone rang loudly, playing an obnoxious tune that came on a commercial for some stupid kid's toy.
Hungry hungry balrogs
Hungry hungry balrogs
Hungry hungry balr-
"Lukas." Kent laughed quietly as he flipped off a few curious onlookers. His ring tone for Lukas was weird, yeah, but at least he knew immediately who was calling. That, and it pissed his guild master off immensely when he heard that. Annoying Lukas wasn't smart of him, but he'd be damned if it wasn't fun. "How's tricks?"
"Remember your appointment with the hairdresser? If you don't hurry up, you're gonna miss it."
Kent blinked and glanced at his watch. Damn, he was going to be late. It was 22:08 already, and the ship was probably going to be heading into Sixtopia. "Ah, sorry. I'll head to the salon ASAP."
"Good. Your hair's getting a bit shaggy."
He didn't bother grabbing a taxi, instead just keying in the co-ordinates of Ellinia to his phone: 101000300 to be precise. The techs had ripped the technology off the VIP teleport rocks and synched it with their CC phones. Sure, there had been a few bad mistakes, like missing body parts and the like, but Kent had never missed any of his limbs and he'd never met the poor shmucks who tested the device. He hit the red teleport button on the touch screen of his CC phone and blinked once. When he opened his eyes again, he was at Ellinia station. No ceremony, no unpleasant feelings and with all limbs attached and functional. Just the way he liked it.
"Chuck your phone to Joe, Kent," Lukas barked at him immediately, "Joe, show him what we picked up a few hours ago."
Ah, Lukas. Ever the dictator, minus the unfashionable moustache, Kent thought to himself. Still, the man was his dictator and a good friend at that, so he shrugged and gave his phone to Joe. He did wonder why Lukas wanted to get his phone off him, and to give it to Joe- a surefire sign he wasn't going to get it back intact. He allowed himself to mourn his loss of contacts for one second before pulling himself back together. He managed to drop the CC phone he managed to relieve Kino Kinoko of into Lukas' hand. Joe tended to get a little volatile what with his pyromaniac tendencies when he was angry. Ergo, he burned anything within three metres of him. Kent took three careful steps backwards. He didn't feel like being barbeque meat today, thanks very much.
"The techs picked up this at 20:02:31 today. CC firewalls went up immediately of course, since I programmed that myself, but the bugs disabled the firewalls. Then this happened."
Joe held up his own CC, showing Kent the scrolling field of text and symbols that meant absolutely nothing to him. He was a hitman, a paid killer if you wanted to put it bluntly. He didn't have a head for technology like Joe did. "English, please."
"I'll give you english. Every single bleeding computer, CC and electronic device we had control over went down," Joe snapped angrily, flames bursting from his Kage. The fire engulfed Kent's CC phone and turned it into a thick goo of melted plastic, rendering it useless "Total blackout, technologically. English enough for you? It lasted for 07:03, then the systems went up. Everyone thought it was just a glitch, y'know? But guess what happened when we did a system sweep?"
"What."
"Spyware. Millions of the little bugs. Spin the clock back an hour and a half- the system was spotless. 7 minutes and 3 seconds of system failure later, we had bugs."
Kent nodded thoughtfully, looking at the molten plastic dripping from his friend's hand. If it hurt, Joe didn't seem to notice or care. Kent admired that, because it looked bloody painful to him. Maybe fire mages got resistant to heat over time. That would come in handy at times, Kent thought to himself. "Not a coincidence, then."
"No," Joe agreed, wiping the plastic on some passing teen in disgust. The teen looked like he was about to complain, but wisely kept his mouth shut. "The bugs all had the same signature, originating from one network. Guess what the network was?"
"Do tell."
"NXC-138273. The government," Joe spat, slamming the bottom of his Kage into the wooden platform. "They've sent the bloody cavalry after us, Kent. And you know what that means, Kent, and don't give me innocence."
Kent nodded again, letting a smile flit across his face briefly. Hell, he knew it had been coming for some time, and it felt like he could let out a breath of relief. The wait was over.
"War."
Joe smiled condescendingly at him. "Smart cookie. Gold sticker for that, Kent." Worried, he looked at his hand which had turned an attractive lobster red and the skin had started to peel. Kent winced. Not pretty. "Bloody ow. Get me a flippin' cleric!"
VI. Foxtrot
You have an instant message from: LYSANNE
Lysanne: kino's dead. her cc sent her vitals to us moments before it was destroyed
Kade: thought so. i have a feeling for these kind of things. i knew she wasnt gonna make it
Lysanne: thats a bit cold even coming from you
Kade: hey thats life liz
Lysanne: whatevs
Lysanne has logged off
Kade: blonde princess
Kade: dammit, she logged off on me
…
TO: Lysanne
FROM: Kade
SUBJECT: What was that for?
That mushroom girl made you log off on me? Uncalled for
TO: Kade
FROM: Lysanne
SUBJECT: YOU INSENSITIVE PRICK
She's dead and all you said was thought so? SO called for!
TO: Lysanne
FROM: Kade
Subject: WHAT
People die all the time, Liz. You don't see clerics crying for every one of them
You have an instant message from: LYSANNE
Lysanne: im gonna go to pc coz you made me DEPRESSED
Lysanne: if dan finds my dead and naked body in some RUBBISH BIN in fusion bar
Lysanne: you can tell him that YOU made me go down there
Lysanne: hate you hate you hate you hate you!
Lysanne has logged off
Kade: sob sob sob sob
TO: Lysanne
FROM: Kade
SUBJECT: Re: Your death
If you die can i have your mesos? Pretty please with a cherry on top
Technological war.
People can have streetfights, people can aim their little weapons around and Henesysians can pretend they're still living in medieval times.
Well, whatever makes sense in their little minds. Honestly, with pistols and claws, and a mixture of the two, who needs metal sticks and bows anymore? Magic, now that's fascinating. It still can't really be fully explained by science. Still a bit mysterious. That was why I chose it.
Technosavant.
That's what they call me. Brilliant with technology, a bit of an idiot with normal things. I can barely make toast, and that's nothing to be proud of. I could learn, but what would be the fun in that? I live for the fun. I once tried to stop messing about with computers, coz sitting in front of a screen twenty four seven isn't my idea of fun. I went out and killed a bunch of sea monsters in Aqua Road Dungeon, and it was kinda fun, if a little bit repetitive. But Lukas had a quiet talk with me, so I've never done it again. Still, it had been fun.
Lukas.
A good boss. I'm scared of him, but who isn't? He doesn't mind getting his fingers dirty every now and then. He's a condemned man anyway, he says, but I don't think so. He's off the NXC database: no mention at all, for some scary reason. Even I'm on it. Not sure when Lukas turned up at Kerning, but personally, I think he's god. You have to be, to survive as a gang leader in KC. He's done good though. He managed to hire Kent Walker, the man notorious for turning up his pretty little nose at what we call 'gang loyalty' and gangs in general.
Kent Walker.
Scary as Zakum, if you ask me. The thing that bugs me is that Kent's been smoking for years now, and he hasn't got the smoker's cough or anything. His fingers aren't even nicotine-stained for god's sake! But he's a good guy, for a Kerning hermit. Well, not really a good guy. But he hasn't tried to sell me drugs, at least, and that's saying something when you live in Kerning. He used to be the top hired assassin, never sticking to one gang. But Lukas managed to get him, which has got lots of gang leaders scratching their heads as to how he did that. But they can keep wondering. Lukas is god, and it's not that surprising that he managed to get Kent. God of Kerning, we joke in our coffee breaks. God of Kerning. Well, if Lukas is God then Kent has to be some minor deity of war and everything that's gone bad with the world. Hold on, I'll get a clip of his interview and give it to you in the next chapter of this twisted "research" of mine.
Kerning City. (KC)
Shittiest hell hole you can land yourself in. We call it HH in shorthand, because we're just so bloody classy. Let me just say this, though: no one comes or stays in Kerning by choice. Except maybe Lukas but he's God, isn't he?
Nexon Corp.
Shorthand: NXC. We don't like to talk about the guv, because that's when crazy shit starts to happen. People start to disappear, or turn into one of those zombies you see in El Nath. Or if you're one of them unlucky ones, NXC just offs you and leaves our carcass out as a warning: don't mess with the guv. We've got plenty of disappearings over the years: never heard of those poor saps again. I combed every NXC computer just to find any mention of 'em, but apart from the normal mentions, nada. It's plain creepy, that's what it is.
Anyway, I'm Joe. Just Joe no last name. They're overrated anyway.
CC phone: Comm-Cator Phone
CC: Comm-cator
DP: Daggerpoint. That's the name of our gang slash guild. Gangs are quite a different thing from guilds, actually. Gangs aren't guilds and guilds aren't gangs. Simple, hey?
There, that'll get you through this. What's this, you ask? This is nothing, really. Just a little project of mine that Lukas has chosen to ignore. Sometimes I like to pretend that Lukas doesn't know about it, but that's a lie. Lukas is god; he knows everything. It's just a small collection of blurry film clips (bloody surveillance cameras hadn't been upgraded), email excerpts... small little technological echoes, really. Echoes of Daggerpoint's bloody clash with NXC. Most of us would just like to forget it, you know? Stick our heads down and get on with it. But I'm just weird, I guess. I don't want to let go. No, actually. That's wrong.
I can't let go of it.
