This is the first of a series of orgin stories for the characters of a TORG campaign I ran many years ago. It is one of my favorites.
As Marie watched the jackpriest and the angel move by the window, she knew that her number was up. This was the third dive this week, and everything was easy until she hit the CATHEDRAL1 exchange. Francis had promised some time off, but his new client laid out a lot of francs for this run. It was supposed to be an inside job; get into the monestary's data structure, get the file marked SPAIN.Coordindates, get out, and get paid. If only life in the GodNet was that easy.
The GodNet is the conglomeration of all telecommunications services in France including radio, television, telephone, and computer systems. It is Virtual Reality, Cyberspace. It was created a month after all technology stopped returning France to the middle ages when the day the Cyberpope appeared the GodNet did also.
Marie was in Germany at an EU Developer's Conference. Being the development manager for one of France's major software firms allowed her to attend these. When the world began to end and technology stopped working in France, all flights to France were cancelled and the borders closed. Staying in Berlin not knowing what had happened to her family, friends, or company was painful. Not wanting to live in Germany forever, Marie took the opportunity to cross into France once the storms began to rage on the border of Germany and France.
"Marie, wait for me. This rain is too much." Max called out. Her assistant for 6 years, Max had been with Marie professionally and personally for most of that. The road they were on already had two inches of water covering it. The rain was unlike anything she had ever encountered. It seemed wetter and sticky as if it would rather stay were it landed on you than run down with gravity. Their car had spun out and ended up in a ditch a few miles from the French border. They decided to walk the rest and hope to find shelter and transportation by her countrymen.
"Keep moving, Max. The border is" she started to reply, but the flash of lightning and resulting thunder drowned out the rest of her words. She looked up to see the storm getting worse. Lightning was streaking in all directions. At times, it looked like the earth was shooting lightning back at the clouds then chaos really happened.
The ground began to twist making it seem that the rain fell up. She reached out to take Max's hand. Together they continued on towards the border and home. Shapes began to appear in the storm. They looked like distorted shadows at first. They then changed to things best left in nightmares. Gargoyles and demons seemed to be flying all around them. The creatures called out to the duo. "Come with us", "Die", and "Feast on your souls" were many things they heard. The creatures did not try to grab at them, but the experience was unsettling at the same time.
"Please God, someone help us" Max cried out, and help did come. However, it was not in any way they had ever expected. Angels flew down from above driving off the gargoyles, and then they began to battle the demons. The angels were different though. They looked like a Hollywood mix of angles meet the bionic man. Their wings had metal razors. Their arms sprouted razor claws from a metallic hand. They tore into the demons who wailed at the damage.
"What is happening, Max? None of this can be real." Marie shouted into Max's ear. She looked to see Max transfixed by the sight of the angels. He began to pray, not to God but to someone named Jean Malraux. "Max. What are you doing? Snap out of it" She shook him violently.
"He has seen the light, child. You too must see and embrace the salvation of the Cyberpope for only he can keep the minions of the AntiChrist from consuming your soul." One of the large angels with a mechanical eye and wings from behind her preached. "Embrace the holy word made flesh." He then spread his arms and the wind around her and Max began to whip up. Flashes of blue and red appeared between her and the angel. She watched in horror as Max's face began to change metal replaced flesh on the left side of his face. It covered the eye, replacing it with a silver orb. It covered the ear, replacing it with what looked like a small communication device. She could not see any red and blue flashes around Max and thought that those were somehow protecting her.
When the transformation was complete, Max turned his face to her the mechanical eye seeming to see more than just flesh. "I have been made pure, Marie. The Holy Cyberpope has given me a new life. We can still be together. Accept the truth, love." Could it be? Could this be what would save mankind? There had been so many rumors and strange happenings around the world that perhaps God had sent this Cyberpope to help mankind. She fell to the ground as soon as the pain began. Her arm and her head were in so much pain. Through blurred vision she saw her right arm change. It became metallic. It felt almost holy.
"NO!" she screamed at the angel. "I am not a believer in this. Stop what you have done to us." The angel stood there, and she saw his face change from one of Love to one of Hate.
"Well Stormer, it seems that you must be destroyed. It is too bad though. Your knowledge of computer systems would have been helpful. Nonetheless you must now be destroyed as a heretic." The angel then pulled out a sword that contained circuitry patterns that ran down its length.
"Marie, please. It will still be ok. Please. Marie…" Max called out as another angel came and took him away.
"In the name of Jean Malraux, the Vicar of Christ, I condemn you as a heretic and sentence you to death in Hell." the angel raised his sword for a killing strike. Her life flashed before her in the knowledge of her imminent death. Memories of her childhood flooded to the surface her loving parents, her first kiss on the playground in middle school, her first computer, and her time with Max. All these flashed before here as the sword came down, but something else flashed. In the speed it takes an electron to orbit the nucleus of an atom, her mind was flooded with images of a computer system to advanced and so complex that she knew this was for her. A dream of technology and software that she had only experienced in her mind at night showed her how to access the angel's sword. At the speed of thought, she altered the sword. Instead of bringing death, it brought her understanding. The angel howled as his sword passed through this stormer. It howled again as it was torn apart by the red and blue flashes arcing out from Marie.
Then the rain stopped, and Marie found herself somewhen else...
TORG is a pen and paper RPG.
Copyright info: TORG, GodNet, Cyberpapacy, Jean Malraux are copyright WestEndGames. www.westendgames.com
As Marie watched the jackpriest and the angel move by the window, she knew that her number was up. This was the third dive this week, and everything was easy until she hit the CATHEDRAL1 exchange. Francis had promised some time off, but his new client laid out a lot of francs for this run. It was supposed to be an inside job; get into the monestary's data structure, get the file marked SPAIN.Coordindates, get out, and get paid. If only life in the GodNet was that easy.
The GodNet is the conglomeration of all telecommunications services in France including radio, television, telephone, and computer systems. It is Virtual Reality, Cyberspace. It was created a month after all technology stopped returning France to the middle ages when the day the Cyberpope appeared the GodNet did also.
Marie was in Germany at an EU Developer's Conference. Being the development manager for one of France's major software firms allowed her to attend these. When the world began to end and technology stopped working in France, all flights to France were cancelled and the borders closed. Staying in Berlin not knowing what had happened to her family, friends, or company was painful. Not wanting to live in Germany forever, Marie took the opportunity to cross into France once the storms began to rage on the border of Germany and France.
"Marie, wait for me. This rain is too much." Max called out. Her assistant for 6 years, Max had been with Marie professionally and personally for most of that. The road they were on already had two inches of water covering it. The rain was unlike anything she had ever encountered. It seemed wetter and sticky as if it would rather stay were it landed on you than run down with gravity. Their car had spun out and ended up in a ditch a few miles from the French border. They decided to walk the rest and hope to find shelter and transportation by her countrymen.
"Keep moving, Max. The border is" she started to reply, but the flash of lightning and resulting thunder drowned out the rest of her words. She looked up to see the storm getting worse. Lightning was streaking in all directions. At times, it looked like the earth was shooting lightning back at the clouds then chaos really happened.
The ground began to twist making it seem that the rain fell up. She reached out to take Max's hand. Together they continued on towards the border and home. Shapes began to appear in the storm. They looked like distorted shadows at first. They then changed to things best left in nightmares. Gargoyles and demons seemed to be flying all around them. The creatures called out to the duo. "Come with us", "Die", and "Feast on your souls" were many things they heard. The creatures did not try to grab at them, but the experience was unsettling at the same time.
"Please God, someone help us" Max cried out, and help did come. However, it was not in any way they had ever expected. Angels flew down from above driving off the gargoyles, and then they began to battle the demons. The angels were different though. They looked like a Hollywood mix of angles meet the bionic man. Their wings had metal razors. Their arms sprouted razor claws from a metallic hand. They tore into the demons who wailed at the damage.
"What is happening, Max? None of this can be real." Marie shouted into Max's ear. She looked to see Max transfixed by the sight of the angels. He began to pray, not to God but to someone named Jean Malraux. "Max. What are you doing? Snap out of it" She shook him violently.
"He has seen the light, child. You too must see and embrace the salvation of the Cyberpope for only he can keep the minions of the AntiChrist from consuming your soul." One of the large angels with a mechanical eye and wings from behind her preached. "Embrace the holy word made flesh." He then spread his arms and the wind around her and Max began to whip up. Flashes of blue and red appeared between her and the angel. She watched in horror as Max's face began to change metal replaced flesh on the left side of his face. It covered the eye, replacing it with a silver orb. It covered the ear, replacing it with what looked like a small communication device. She could not see any red and blue flashes around Max and thought that those were somehow protecting her.
When the transformation was complete, Max turned his face to her the mechanical eye seeming to see more than just flesh. "I have been made pure, Marie. The Holy Cyberpope has given me a new life. We can still be together. Accept the truth, love." Could it be? Could this be what would save mankind? There had been so many rumors and strange happenings around the world that perhaps God had sent this Cyberpope to help mankind. She fell to the ground as soon as the pain began. Her arm and her head were in so much pain. Through blurred vision she saw her right arm change. It became metallic. It felt almost holy.
"NO!" she screamed at the angel. "I am not a believer in this. Stop what you have done to us." The angel stood there, and she saw his face change from one of Love to one of Hate.
"Well Stormer, it seems that you must be destroyed. It is too bad though. Your knowledge of computer systems would have been helpful. Nonetheless you must now be destroyed as a heretic." The angel then pulled out a sword that contained circuitry patterns that ran down its length.
"Marie, please. It will still be ok. Please. Marie…" Max called out as another angel came and took him away.
"In the name of Jean Malraux, the Vicar of Christ, I condemn you as a heretic and sentence you to death in Hell." the angel raised his sword for a killing strike. Her life flashed before her in the knowledge of her imminent death. Memories of her childhood flooded to the surface her loving parents, her first kiss on the playground in middle school, her first computer, and her time with Max. All these flashed before here as the sword came down, but something else flashed. In the speed it takes an electron to orbit the nucleus of an atom, her mind was flooded with images of a computer system to advanced and so complex that she knew this was for her. A dream of technology and software that she had only experienced in her mind at night showed her how to access the angel's sword. At the speed of thought, she altered the sword. Instead of bringing death, it brought her understanding. The angel howled as his sword passed through this stormer. It howled again as it was torn apart by the red and blue flashes arcing out from Marie.
Then the rain stopped, and Marie found herself somewhen else...
TORG is a pen and paper RPG.
Copyright info: TORG, GodNet, Cyberpapacy, Jean Malraux are copyright WestEndGames. www.westendgames.com