ic: I stood in the far back of the room, leaning
against a post. Dark Stars was a good band, and I
liked listening to them. The singers were good,
guitars and keyboards were awesome,. and the drums
were a hit. I looked around, and started to move
forward, flipping the chip in my pocket around, and
then I was at the restroom, then the stage door. I
pushed it open, and entered. I slipped into some
shadows, and waited. At 10, the managers pushed their
time up by an hour because of the crowd's reaction,
and I guess one of the others had backed out, I saw
Marick walking with his keyboard, a happy smile on his
face.
"Yami." I said, deliberately using that name because I
knew he would understand who it was.
He stopped, set down the keyboard, and walked over.
"Carl?"
"Good show."
"How'd you get in here?"
"The door. I have something for you." I handed him the
chip.
"Huh? A chip?"
"Plug in later. I found it on a history site. It talks
about six legendary warriors called the Millenial
Warriors, and two of them were Lucien Nightblade, and
Yami Eien."
"Huh?"
"Trust me."
"Marick! Ya comin?" called a voice.
"Yeah, be right there." Marick looked at me.
"I don't know Marick. I have to work tommorrow, so
maybe I can ask around the Central and see what's up."
"Good idea."
I shook his hand, went home, and slept...
From "Chys Lattes"
A night alone...
Marick POV:
'Strange Chip,' I thought, as I contemplated wether or not to plug in that night. I slipped it into my pocket and placed my hand on the ID scanner to unlock my door, then smudged my fingerprints from the glass cover once the door had clicked opened. (A little trick that helps to stop intruders who may have similar fingerprints. You never know, with all the 'clones' running around these days....) I had just gotten home and had only been accosted on the street once by a mean little blue haired guy with a sword who thought he could take my keyboard. Let's just say he's gone on to better things... somewhere far away from me in the Dark Realm... now, back to me:
I stepped into the dorm room 114, turned on the light and immediately was attacked by Issean's damn black labrador, Mac. I had barely set my keyboard down on the table when this gigantic creature knocked me to the ground and began to nuzzle my face and lick my hands. Sick. Dog licked. And his breath stank of toilet water. Great. I was willing to bet I would need an antiviral shot of some sort soon.
"Yo, Asshole!" I called to get Issean's attention as I knocked the dog to the rug and shakily stood, leaning on the back of the couch in the main room. No one answered. Funny, I had thought he would be home by eleven or so, and it was already fourty-five past. I slipped my jacket and shirt off and tossed them in the hamper as I passed through my room, shutting my door to the annoying mut, and trying to remind myself that I would need to wash those dog licked clothes later. After a quick shower and a good long restful nap, I awoke with a start and realized I hadn't checked out the chip, still in the pocket of my jeans.
After retrieving the chip, I looked it over again with a new point of view. Perhaps this Carl guy didn't mean any good will at all... It could have been Viral. If it were, it would be extremely dangerous to plug in and check it out, even if it did appear in the guise of a simple data file. While Issean provided me with the state of the art protection every time I plugged in, even his own home made programs couldn't prevent a mind capture on a dreamscape in someone else's encrypted data chips. Ours were designed as safeguards for when plugged into a hand held, when linked on a widespread sattellite system, or our personal servers, or the mainframe at the College. Usually these are only used for surfing and school related research. There was no telling where this thing had come from or who had messed with it. It's like taking candy from strangers.
Always the curious type, I logged it into the computer I kept as a spare and ran the usual tests to be certain. All our protections turned up safe, and it seemed perfectly compatable with my extra handheld...so what would it hurt to do it now? I figured, with strange things like this, it would be a good idea to plug in to a network and get a registered supporter on the line, but I would rather have had Issean here to help should something try to perform a crash or a mindcatch, possibly resulting in a loss of memory or a comatose type state, which are the more common 'drug' type viruses that are mass produced by the hour by the weirdest of the weird. Also, getting a guide is considered a 'childish' thing to do, or the action of one who is overcautious, as it is logged permanently in open databases, everyone knows who the 'chickens' are. Still, it was a good safeguard, as there would be someone there to digitally unplug you should something hazardous occur. Otherwise, you'd be dead or close to it for a while before anyone in the real world could come, and by then it's usually too late. It was true, though; when there was actual danger, no one thought a guide to be a laughing matter after the fact. I knew some people who had had close brushes with this type of danger, and others who had died from it, alone, simply because they didn't want to pay the network's guide fee.
I decided to get Ran, our percussionist, who was a good 'Catcher', or guide, and would likely provide his services, under the table, and cheaper than the average registered worker would. That fact in mind, plus the fact that he owed me a couple lunches, got me to call him up and have him log on to my spare server. I was going to check it out. I figured it wouldn't hurt to be cautious though, and my curious nature always seems to win out. Funny thing, that.
Who would have known that one little damn data chip could permanently alter a person's life??
From: Delith Nightblade
Date: Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:43 pm
Subject: History...
The history chip.
I had saved it on impulse, and then, on another
impulse, I had given it to Marick.
Why?
A roar came from an alley, bringing me back to the
present. I was in the street, walking home, and there
was a pale yellow cloud spreading out of an alleyway.
I slowly drew my nine-millimeter, and backed across
the street. I slapped a clip home, and locked it in.
The cloud stopped spreading, and another roar came out
of it. I leveled my nine, and kept my aim tight on the
cloud.
The two buildings beside the alley exploded outwards,
and a creature from myth was there.
Nine feet of solidly powered muscle.
The body of a man, gird only in a loincloth.
The head of a raging bull.
Minotaur.
I thumbed the safety on the nine, and opened fire.
Three shots cracked into it's chest, and two more into
it's right knee. The Minotaur charged across the
street, and leapt to the side, one hand ahead of
myself, so I could vault into the air, and I spun,
bringing myself back into line with the monstrosity,
and opened fire again. I landed on my feet, and slid
back a bit. When I pulled the trigger, there was a
dull clack. Empty. I holstered it, and drew my knife,
which I sent flickering through the air to sink into
it's chest, then my hand alighted on my sword. I drew
it, and suddenly, I was in the Zone.
The Zone was, for me, a perfect battling feeling.
Everything was smooth, and I knew almost instinctively
what was going to happen before it did. The Minotaur
charged, and I sidestepped, and slashed smoothly,
drawing a spray of blood from it's knee, but not
dropping it. Thick flesh and tough tendons. I jumped
back as it turned again, and charged, vaulting off of
a fire-hydrant, then a wall, and then, I was on it's
shoulder. I reversed my sword, and slammed it through
the thick vein that was the Minotaur's jugular. I
jumped clear as the beast fell to the ground, and then
it faded away, leaving behind only a small golden pendant...
From: "Chys Lattes"
History's Mysteries...
Marick/Yami POV:
***???***
It was raining again. My fault. "You made it rain again, Yami! When will you get ahold of yourself and stop doing things on impulse!" The taller woman complained in my ear as we walked down the darkened dirt road. Meriko always blamed me, with good reason, but at least it gave her reason to watch the lightning in the sky, which was her element, or so it seemed. That woman was always charged up about something...
Her sister walked along beside us, Jena being herself and waving her arms around in the air, letting the rain cover her hair and fall into her mouth. She hummed and laughed, enjoying the night. For an older woman, I would have assumed her to act her age, but she always seemed to act more childish than nescessary. Cute. Meriko sent her disproving glances but smiled regardless...
"Eien, where are we going?" She asked me suddenly as she spun around and grabbed my shoulder. I looked up to meet her pretty eyes and shrugged.
"Wherever the road takes us!" Both women laughed at that as they walked along ahead of me.
Then disaster struck in the form of a shadow at my back...
***Zanarkand, Tech Star College, Dorm room 114***
I leaned back on the couch, still hooked to my computer, with Ran on the line as support should the need be. So far, so good. I read through the history chip curiously. There wasn't a lot there pertaining to this Yami character, not much was known about him other than general appearance, which, like many of the old races, had ancient bloodlines and an odd visage, like an elf. It was even written that he may have had a set of dark black wings to boot. He was good with the sword, and had the element of Ice, or Water, could make it rain at the tip of a hat, and was extremely fast, having been descended from a family of Sauron origin, which could be anything really, though considering the wings, he was probably a dark angel. One thing about that though, only the Sirens and Banshees of Sauron had pointed ears and fanged teeth. Not much to go on, but there was a lot of information on the way that the world was shaped at that time... A place called the "Promised Land" by its inhabitants. What a surreal place... There were even pictures that had been recorded in the electronic archives. I wondered if such a place still existed, and if any of the ancient races were really still living there. If humans could survive the millenia...well, maybe I would do a personal search for that later... Now, back to the mystery at hand....
Yami Eien, called 'Darkness Eternal' in the history chip, lived millenia ago, and a person named Lucien, something about elemental powers, but the gist of it eluded me. There was an element assigned to every name on the list. I noticed a name I felt I recognized in there as well, Meriko. Also with the elemental powers-lightning. More names flickered on the list... Miyu and Kai, fire and shadow, and several others were included but their names were unknown. I scrolled down the list and accessed Lucien, but something blocked me from accessing the files properly and my digital view freezed. Ran pulled me out without asking, causing my head to swim and hurt terribly for a moment. He talked to me for a while as I recovered my equilibrium and apologized, saying it could have been a burner glitch on the chip, or a viral trap, either way, it was better to back off while I could. I thanked him and went on with my search. I figured that Carl probably found a way in on his own, and since he was more interested in that name anyway, it would be his department. Whatever it was, it had a very large file size, either a lot to do with that character or a big digital trap. Then I noticed a large file simply called: "Eien". I figured I should look into it.
When I accessed the file, Ran screamed at me to stop. Something was terribly wrong, I heard him cry out to me. I couldn't though, it wouldn't let me back out and Ran's voice began to fade into the background... It almost felt like when I hooked up to my keyboard, only a little more ethereal. It was good. Soft, like floating in a void, just existing, then I was feeling the pain in my chest and legs. I had landed on my feet, after falling for what felt like ages. There was a beautiful white sword in my hand and I marveled at the old style in which it had been forged. That thing must have been worth a fortune! I didn't have much time to think about it as I felt my feet move, not of my urging, but on their own, as if someone else was in control of my body.
A woman screamed and I heard a thud on the ground behind me. It was cold, raining. There was lightning striking the ground all around me. That shouldn't have been happening...should it? Running, far, fast, can't see the trees, nor the buildings, but being vaguely aware that they had been there, then were gone as I passed, faster than I should have been able to. It was all a blur, but I didn't dare move. I really couldn't. Movement ahead...a woman in grey armor, her hair flying behind her as she races along infront of me. I am not chasing her, but running with her. Someone is escaping, yes, we must kill him!
"Jena..." the woman seemed to cry, her tears sweeping away in the wind behind us. "She's dead, you bastard! Yami! Get him! GET HIM!"
Something hit me, hard, blood on my chest, but I kept running untill I fell, and even then I didn't want to give up. I pulled from the sky a deluge of water, and it covered the land ahead of us. Without anywhere to go, our prey paused and backed up, letting the woman...Meriko... begin her attack....
After casting a healing spell, I was on my feet again, and after the bastard who had killed my friend. He had run away, to the right, and my water shield was doing no good any longer. I released it and let it fell to the ground to soak the forest floor. Meriko was gone after him. She would be enough to handle him, her rage pulling her forward. I followed to be certain the deed was done. When I got to the clearing where they had been fiercly grappling, I saw a puddle of water and blood. Meriko's blood. The murderer had escaped, and scarred the woman's once so beautiful face for life...
Ran slapped me across the face and I awoke. I had been laying on the floor, still plugged in, my head swooning and that god damn dog was sitting on my leg. I must have fallen from the couch when trying to rationalize the digiral world around me. Why had I reacted so strongly??
"I rushed over as soon as I could, man. Sorry I didn't come over first thing, but I thought that a manual digital override would be enough. No, come on, unplug and calm down." Ran ordered me to sit as he kicked Mac, who nipped at his leg, aside. The dog walked around the couch and rested his big black paws on the arm of the couch, one on either side of my head, where I had layed down to rest after pulling the plug.
"If you drool on me I am going to own a new fur coat..."
Mac barked and hopped down to sit under the table where my keyboard had been resting since I got home. Ran sat across from me at the table and glared at me thoughtfully. "Don't do that again. That was some...weird...shit..." Right then, the door opened and I glanced at the clock above the vid screen. It was right after one in the morning. Issean set his books on the table and glanced about the room, then noticed Ran and myself and said hello offhandedly. He walked into his room and sat at his computer, immediately plugging in and chatting with his friends. So much for the company of friendly roommates...
WOC 2
WOC1 again
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