[Desc] The Lone Gunmen attends an annual
computer convention show in Las Vegas to expose an online
bachelor's auction company only to find themselves caught up in
their own web.
[Written by] The Resident Web Vampyr © 2001.
[Date] 22.04.01
[Rating] PG
[Notes] LoveMatesToGo.com is a fictional Internet
company | This is my first venture into the realm of The Lone
Gunmen fanfic but I loved them since day one at the X-Files.
[Credits] The Lone Gunmen is the creation of
Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz.
[Characters] Byers, Frohike, Langly, Jimmy,
Yves.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
18:15
Our heroes got out of a taxi that took them from the Las Vegas
airport to the hotel which they will be staying for three days.
Paradise Park Resort at Las Vegas, it was called, was a few
minutes walk from the Las Vegas Hilton where the computer
convention will be held 12 hours from now.
Byers, wearing the same conservative suit, was the first to come
out of the taxi, followed by Frohike in his usual leather get-up,
and Langly in black jeans, black t-shirt, and a frown in his
face. All of them seemed to be irritated by something, or
someone.
Jimmy, the last one to emerge from the taxi, was in a knee-length
shorts, a Hawaiin shirt, dark sunglasses, and a nose sun-block.
He's overly excited since it was his first trip to the City of
Sin and can't help requesting the taxi driver to make frequent
stops to get pictures at different tourist attractions along the
way.
"Look Jimmy," said Frohike, "this is not Hawaii.
This is Las Vegas, desert not beaches, gambling not
surfing!" said Frohike.
Byers and Langly, clearly tired from the trip, grabbed their
things which consisted of a two notebooks, a portable network
wireless gear, and a bag of communication devices. Byers
approached Jimmy and said "Jimmy, you may want to lose that
lei in your neck, before somebody strangles you with it."
"Uhm, sorry guys," said Jimmy. "I thought Las
Vegas is a sunny place with lots of sands? Besides, this place is
called a resort, right?" he asked innocently.
"Said here in the brochure!" Jimmy produced a partly
torn attractions brochure and showed it to the guys.
"With no beaches!" Langly snatched the brochure from
Jimmy and read, "It says Las Islas, not Las Vegas!" he
hissed. "Where did you get this anyways?"
"From Yves."
THE LONEGUNMEN HQ, [one week ago]
8:00
The trio got an anonymous tip from fellow hacker and often rival
Yves that something big was happening in the online bachelor's
auction cum online dating Internet company based on Las Vegas
that preys on elderly women.
Yves said there was a complaint reported by a 65 year-old woman,
whose name she did not disclose, against an Internet company
called "LoveMatesToGo.com" for stealing money and not
keeping their end of the bargain. The complainant said that she
received a complimentary CD with free Internet access from the
said company to try their latest venture online. She did and
found herself bidding for a date and eventually getting one.
On the night of the date, the person she put a bid on did not
show up. She claimed that she already paid a handsome price for
that person but didn't get anything in return, and now she wanted
her money back. The company on the other hand, contest that it
was out of their hands once the bidder and the biddee agreed
mutually on their date, and once the bidder paid the company's
retainers fee after the fact.
They also said the before the woman entered the online auction,
she should've read the terms of agreement, which clearly stated
that in the event of a no show, LoveMatesToGo.com were not liable
for anything.
"Tell me if you know anyone who still reads those 'Terms Of
Agreement' stuff anymore?" asked Byers, making a statement
rather than an inquiry. "Virtually nobody!"
Langly and Frohike were skeptical about the tip since first, it
came from Yves, which they all know often hides information from
them; second, it was a dead-end case, and third, both of them
were not too keen on the idea of looking under elderly women's
skirt, figuratively speaking.
"You know what? This is just a plain and simple act of
stupidity, in my opinion," barked Langly.
Byers and Jimmy on the otherhand strongly believed that those
people needed to be vindicated. And why wouldn't they consider
this case? They're publishers of truth, defenders of the
oppressed. It's what they do: expose the truth and not
discriminate.
After all the discussions whether or not to investigate the case,
Langly and Frohike finally agreed. Besides, FED CON will be
having an annual convention in the same hotel they were billeted
and during the same days. They missed last year's convention of
the underground hackers organization due to circumstances beyond
their control. They were unable to network with fellow security
specialists and now was a good chance to hang around with those
who share their common interests and expertise.
"C'mon guys," said Byers, "it's a computer
convention. The things we love best are there: New technologies,
product launchings, free beta softwares..."
"And babes!" Jimmy excitedly blurted out.
The three gunmen looked at him. Frohike approached Jimmy and
placed his hand on his shoulders.
"The only babes that you're going to see there are
a bunch of guys that looks like us," said Frohike, "And
they're not even wearing skirts."
"Yeah, moron," said Langly "We're talking about
computer conventions here! Not some beauty contest."
LANGLY AND FROHIKE'S ROOM, PARADISE PARK RESORT HOTEL
[present day]
21:30
Langly decided to sleep early, he had been sick the whole day
because of the flight eventhough he popped up a couple of
bonamine earlier that day to control his headaches. Langly has
motion sickness syndrome, the reason why he hated flying. He'd
rather die than ride another plane.
It had been 5 minutes after he dozed off when Byers and Jimmy
came banging on their door.
"Change of plans guys," said Byers. He laid the piece
of paper which looked like a blueprint on Frohike's bed. Jimmy,
Langly, and Frohike gathered around.
"What do you mean change of plans?" asked Langly, eyes
half closed. The drowsy effect of the medicine was still evident.
"I got this at the lobby," Byers showed a revised
program for tomorrow's convention. "Booth 46,"
"That's the LoveMatesToGo.com booth," Jimmy quickly
added.
Byers darted a glance at Jimmy then resumed what he was saying,
"Booth 46 added a new activity in their list," he said.
"Live Bachelors Auction at 3:00 pm.
Both Byers and Jimmy looked at Langly and Frohike.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
eXposed
By: The Resident Vampyr
The Lone Gunmen attends an annual computer convention show in Las Vegas to expose an online bachelor's auction company only to find themselves caught up in their own web.
Rated: Fiction K - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 4 - Words: 4,818 - Reviews: 13 - Updated: Jun 19, 2001 - Published: Apr 26, 2001 - id: 266525
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