Chapter 1: Alice and the White Rabbit
Iren Conner sat at her computer, typing furiously. Her large headphones were over her ears like always. Her hacker alias was Alice, and that was who she was currently. Ever since her old friend fell from the roof, she'd been doing this. She supposed it was a tribute to him. She just knew something was wrong in this world. A pop-up window appeared. Curious, she clicked on it.
Blackjack: what r u looking 4?
Alice: why do u care?
Blackjack: ur getting 2 close 2 my op
Alice: suck it
Alice: i don't care
Blackjack: ur causing me problems
Alice: 2 bad
Blackjack signed out.
Iren just shrugged and closed the window. It wasn't the strangest conversation she'd had, but it was certainly up there in the top ten. The window popped up again. Iren suppressed a sigh of exasperation.
Blackjack: since u insist on causing probs, u want 2 join our op?
She thought. It might be fun. She was only doing this because it provided a challenge.
Alice: ok?
Blackjack: the abandoned hotel outside town
Blackjack: at midnight
Blackjack: we'll be waiting.
Blackjack signed out.
Iren frowned. Midnight could prove difficult. A knock on the door startled her. She closed the window quickly and pulled up a document. "Come in!" It was her mother.
"I just wanted to let you know that Jared and I are going to dinner." Jared was her mother's boyfriend. After her father disappeared, her mother had moved on quickly. Jared was the only boyfriend that had lasted more than two weeks. Iren had an idea that Jared might actually love her mother. He might actually stay. He was pretty cool.
"You have fun, Mom. I'll be fine," she assured her mother. Her mother smiled and shut the door behind her. Iren returned to what she was doing. Usually, her mother's dinners lasted till after midnight. But Jared was different. Their dinners only lasted until a reasonable hour. She called after her mother. "Hey Mom, why don't you guys go to a late movie?"
"I'll ask Jared!" her mother called back. After a few minutes, she shouted back, "Alright, we're going to a late movie!"
Iren sighed in relief. Jared had seemed like a married man, based on her previous experience with one, but she'd checked right away. She didn't want her mother to be hurt. He was just a really good guy.
She listened for the car to drive away. When it was gone down the street, she extricated herself from her little nest of cables and computer parts. Her MP3 player was clipped to the belt loops of her jeans. An electric green t-shirt covered a long-sleeved bright purple tunic. She tugged absentmindedly at her guitar pick choker. Her brown hair was cut short and stuck out in all directions. Her other hand tapped the grip of a .44 pistol. Her mother had no idea about that baby.
Iren slipped out her window. The trailer park was silent. She began to run, all the way to the east side of town. All the while, her headphones stayed locked on her head. She couldn't survive without music.
The abandoned hotel looked quite decrepit. She wrinkled her nose at the scent of mildew. A sound caught her ear. She could hear extremely well, despite the metal music pumping out of the headphones covering them. Her pistol shot out and aimed at the sound. A boy her age rose up from behind a pile of junk. He also had a pistol and it was aimed squarely at her.