Halloween Party
By Autumn-FreezeMarcel was one of those people that thought rules only applied to other people. He was an Internet thief, bully and liar. He stolen art and stories. He would do simple recolors or changed a few words in a story. He would then put these things up on his page. He never asked permission to work in another artist's style. He lied whenever it suited him.
Marcel cursed over the 'net at anyone who called him on his behavior. When word got out, he changed screen names and accounts. Marcel was building up a group of very nasty FC's and story characters. He thought it was all in what he considered 'fun'.
Marcel was unknowingly setting the stage for an actual war in the RP world of earth. But what Marcel failed to realize was that every time he did something wrong, his bad intentions were actually giving real power to his group. His computer wasn't going to be able to hold them back much longer. His hard drive and backup had about reached the breaking point.
There is that place between true sleep and true wakefulness. You just lie in bed, and you're not really sure if you're still asleep, and dreaming, or if your mind is really working. You have to decide if you want to just slip back into a dream state, or if you want to shrug off sleep, and push forward into another day. The things that happen in your mind during that period are always open to question! Was I really thinking that, or was it just a weird dream?
Usually, the only way FC's can cross the barrier (known as the veil) between the RP world of earth and the physical, or reality world of earth; is when owners and creators are thinking about the FC's, and the owners and creators thoughts draw energy from the veil. When that happens; the veil gets thin, and FC's can cross over. However, there is one other time when FC's are allowed to cross over freely. It's that state a human is in between true sleep and true wakefulness. For that moment or two when things are in limbo, FC's have free reign to move about and openly communicate with people.
Kevin was 21, he lived in his mother's basement. He had no girlfriend, and had dropped out of college. However, Kevin made a pretty fair living writing software for a small company. He worked from home, and that was a good thing! Kevin's mother had to constantly remind Kevin to shave, get a haircut, and occasionally, she had to remind Kevin to shower. Kevin wrote software, sent it in as a zip file, and the checks came. Karen, Kevin's boss, had a front man to explain the software to customers. There was no way Kevin could be put out front.
When Kevin was in High School, he occasionally wrote viruses. They were not the kind that could go from computer to computer. They went to one computer as an email attachment. The email could not be forwarded. Any attempt to forward it would cause the virus to delete itself. When it was opened, the hard drive and any backups were totally fried. The hard drive could not be re-formatted. Data recovery wasn't possible. The virus would self-destruct along with the hard drive and any backups. Kevin knew how to route the email through several servers in at least 4 countries. Kevin only did it to bullies that liked to pick on smaller, unpopular or weaker kids.
One of the 'popular girls' decided to dump her water into Mandy's backpack on the buss. Mandy had complexion troubles. The 'popular girl' said, "Mandy, have a drink to go with your pizza face!" She then quickly dumped her water in Mandy's backpack. Several of Mandy's books and much of her work was ruined. The 'popular girl' tittered about it, and told all her friends. She wasn't tittering when she opened an email from what looked like a national beauty contest. All her term papers were lost along with the hard drive.
A jock decided to give Kevin a 'wedgie' in the hallway at school. Many people saw it happen. The joke was on the jock when he got an email from someone he thought was a sports talent scout for a well-known college. The hard drive of the jock's very new, and very expensive computer went up in smoke. Kevin stopped doing such things after awhile. He decided it was only revenge, and that wasn't the way.
Kevin was lying in bed, in that state between true sleep and true wakefulness. That's when the group of FC's freely crossed the veil and got into Kevin's head. They were on a mission. They wanted top avert the war that was brewing, and had come to enlist Kevin as the point man. Along with Sonic, Amy and many of the SonicX characters, were a host of FC's and story characters created by individuals. Kevin thought he was still dreaming when the FC's got into his head.
Sonic said, "Kevin, It's Halloween, and there's going to be a war tonight unless you help us. Halloween is the strongest night of the year for fantasy. Power will be flowing in all directions. We need you to shut down a guy that is about to unleash all the bad ideas and feelings in the RP world of earth. If things go really bad, it could spill over into the physical world of earth."
Kevin, still thinking he was in a solid dream state replied, "I don't understand, what do you mean. Whom are you talking about?"
Amy, who had been hanging on Sonic's arm said, "You know that mean & nasty Marcel? He's the one. He's been stealing FC's and remaking them into something evil! Unless he's stopped before tonight, all of us in the FC world of earth will have to fight his FC's."
"Yeah, I know about that guy. No one will deal with him on the 'net. He's a thief, liar, and all around jerk! But, how do you mean he's going to start a war?" Kevin asked.
"Well, his computer is about ready to burst. He thinks he's only stealing & remaking FC's, art and stories. But, his bad intentions have taken on a life of their own! Marcel has no idea what is about to happen. Those intentions are about to break out of his computer in the form of mutilated FC's and mutilated story characters. They will try to change the entire RP world of earth! If we have to fight them we will, but there's a simpler way. You know how to crash a single computer remotely. You can stop the war. We need you to be our point man" Sonic replied.
Kevin wasn't sure what to say, he still thought he was dreaming when he said, "Look, I don't do that anymore. Besides, how do you even know about that?"
Amy said, "We know all about you Kevin. Now we need you to remember the email address we are going to give you. Copy it down as soon as you get out of bed. Write a virus that will destroy Marcel's hard drive, and email it to him. Don't wait! He needs to open the email before dark."
"Kevin, you want some eggs for breakfast?" His mother shouted from upstairs.
Kevin awoke with a start. There was an email address in his mind. He wrote it down. Then he thought, oh, this is stupid! He dropped the paper in the shredder before going upstairs. As he ate eggs and toast, he was thinking, what a weird dream! I almost felt like it was real! After eating, Kevin went to shower. After he got out of the shower, the email address appeared in the steam on the bathroom mirror! And the words: WRITE THE VIRUS, HURRY
Kevin was shaking as he told his mom he would be busy. He went back downstairs and copied down the email address. He wrote the virus, and created what looked like an email from a national comic company. In the email to Marcel, the company wanted to buy some of Marcel's FC's for a new comic series. The email promised a great deal of money. Kevin shuttled the email through several servers and across Europe, Asia and South America before it went to Marcel.
Just before dark, Marcel arrived home and checked his email. He had a message from a national comic company! They were offering to buy some of his FC's for a new series. Wow! They were offering a huge amount of money too! Marcel thought, so what if I stole those FC's and just did recolors or slight modifications? This will put me on easy street! Then Marcel scrolled down to the contract page. Suddenly, the image of a hand grenade appeared on the screen, and the pin fell out. The computer's hard drive and backup fried exactly one second later. Marcel could not do anything with it.
In the RP world of earth, FC's were high fiving and hugging each other. Kevin had done it! The war was averted! Halloween could go on as scheduled.
Later that night, Kevin was helping his Mom hand out candy. The bell rang and, and Kevin got up to get it. There were two trick or treaters at the door in the most realistic looking Sonic and Amy costumes Kevin had ever seen! Kevin smiled and said, "Well?"
The 'Sonic' one said, "Thank you".
"But, I didn't give you anything yet." Kevin said.
The 'Amy' one said, "Oh yes you did."
Kevin turned to his mom and said, "Mom, you got to see this."
Kevin's mother came to the door and said, "Oh, what an adorable princess!"
Kevin turned back and saw a mother with her 5-year old daughter! The little girl was in a princess costume. Kevin said, "Where are the others?"
The little girl said "Trick or treat".
Her mother had a puzzled look on her face and said, "Others? We're alone."
Late that night, Kevin went to the basement and running across his monitor were the words: KEVIN, GET OUT OF THE BASEMENT! YOU BELONG OUT FRONT! Then the word disappeared.
On Sunday, Kevin got his hair styled, and went shopping. On Monday, Kevin walked into his bosses' office in slacks, dress shirt & tie. He said, "Karen, I want to do the briefing today, I'm ready to go out front!"
NOTE: Sonic & Amy are property of SEGA.
POSTSCRIPTCountries, states, provinces, etc., have rules. They call those rules 'The Law'. Laws are formally written down. One can go online, or go to a library and look up those laws, and see the punishments for breaking those laws.
Formal clubs have their rules written down too, usually in the form of bylaws. Social communities and groups also have rules. Such groups or communities may not write their rules down formally, but the rules are there! If a person wants to join, or remain in a community, they are expected to follow the rules. If they are not sure what the rules are, they had better ask, or else! The 'or else' means word gets out on them fast. That person is shunned. Don't steal FC's or stories, and then claim the art or story as your own. Don't do simple recolors of another artist's original art, and then claim the art as your own. If a person creates a certain type of FC, another person must ask for permission before doing an FC in that style. Adopt an FC, and there are certain things one is required to do. If you use another artists base; you must credit them, and show them your work. 99% of people simply follow the rules. Of course, there is always the 1% that thinks the rules don't apply to them. Don't be like Marcel!
NOTE: Sonic & Amy are property of SEGA.