“Welcome to Midas Bank,” Felicia said with more enthusiasm than she felt. It was nearly 5, City Time, and she was ready to close up. The boy was blond, young, and handsome. He had a very nice smile.
“Thank you,” he said, and he leaned in towards her. “I’m interested in making some deposits. Can you help me get started.” He winked at her. Normally, she would have immediately blocked such a creeper line, but she giggled instead. He was just her type. The receptionist failed notice the crowd that came in behind him, or the gun under his coat.
The City: 081: Felicia
January 19, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Felicia, Ingmar, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
The City: 080: Taddeo
January 16, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Midas Corp, Norm, Taddeo, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
While his coworker Matilda sat gaping at the ruined tower, Taddeo was busy tapping out texts into his messenger, all cyphered and encrypted of course. The Cops weren’t letting them text, but he had a special hack from Renee. It let him text without sending any signals to his avatar, so he could type away while its hands were still.
TOWER ON LOCKDOWN. ABORT THE MISSION!
Norm was quick to reply.
ACKNOWLEDGED. MOVING TO SECONDARY TARGET.
Taddeo wanted to hit something. They were going ahead with the robbery at a branch location, which made him culpable, but with no cut.
The City: 079: Matilda
January 15, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Matilda, Midas Corp, The City, Zombies Leave a comment
Matilda sat huddled with the car park with the other Midas Corp evacuees. The police weren’t letting them go yet, but wether this was for investigative reasons, or merely a show of power had yet to be seen. The building was sealed off, but she could see the zombies, avatars, whatever they were, banging on the doors. The blast had triggered some kind of AI virus, hijacking the avatars and putting them under a single control. They weren’t very smart or agile, but at least they knew enough to avoid the blasted out windows. The ones that fell stayed dead.
The City: 078: Peng
January 14, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Peng, The City, Zombies Leave a comment
Peng walked as much as he could in The City. He had gotten a special treadmill for it and everything, which his husband had rolled his eyes at. He had called it a waste of money, but three months of daily exercise outside of the smog had really improved his heath.
He heard the moans and growls before he saw them. They were avatars, but violent and moving erratically, like wild beasts. He turned and ran, hearing his treadmill motor whine with unexpected stress. The zombies followed. He was only a mile from his login house. He almost made it.
The City: 077: Blanca
January 13, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Blanca, CPD, Drabble, The City, Traffic Leave a comment
Blanca directed the flow of digital traffic and felt a pang of regret for her decision to study Criminal Law over Medicine. Usually, she loved her job, hunting down hackers in The City as well as the physical world was a thrilling puzzle. But with the sudden set of crises today, everyone was working double shifts doing grunt work to keep up. She wished she had drawn something a bit more interesting than traffic duty. She waved a blue sports car past, and heard a scream from a few blocks away. She should have been careful what she wished for.
The City: 076: Phil
January 12, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Phil, The City, Traffic Leave a comment
Phil sat in traffic and waited. The day had been a complete mess. A river of red taillights spread out ahead of him, mirroring the color of the slowly sinking City Sun. It was usually sunny, and inclement weather was rare in The City. Rain you couldn’t feel took away from the illusion and freaked people out. Finally, traffic began to move. There was a cop directing things somewhere ahead of him, manipulating a pair of giant glowing sticks like an air traffic controller. Finally. Phil had places to be. He needed to log out and pick up his kids.
The City: 075: Erin
January 9, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, CPD, Drabble, Erin, Midas Corp, The City Leave a comment
Erin stood in the crowd that ringed the barriers, and hoped her record function was getting all of this. The crowd was full of Citizens and Daytrippers. In a disaster, class was irrelevant. She was a reporter, and this was her moment. The fire and smoke had cleared away, leaving half the building ruined and sooty. The glass had vanished rather than shattered. The top few floors were gone as well, as though they were never there. In their place, there was a tear in the sky, pulsating violet and black. It was like staring into the face of God.
The City 074: Harold
January 8, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, CPD, Drabble, Harold, Kumar, The City Leave a comment
While his partner swore and tried to find a non-clogged street route towards the bay, Harold frantically checked the police band. Something bad was happening back at Midas Tower, but in the chaos, he couldn’t sort out what it was. The system didn’t have a dispatcher, and the computer algorithm couldn’t keep up with the traffic
“We should go back,” He said. Kumar scoffed.
“We should get the bastard that did this. Maybe he’ll know how to stop it.”
“But there could be officers down back there.”
“Virtual avatars. Just bullshit to cover his escape.” Kumar blared the siren
The City: 073: Sol
January 7, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Midas Corp, Sol, The City, Zombies Leave a comment
Sol worked on the 87th floor. She was an accountant, and she thought working ‘on site’ in The City to be the most tedious and ridiculous part of her job. The commitment to simulation cost her at least ten man-hours a week alone! She was in the supply closet, searching for virtual toner her virtual printer, grumbling, when the wall of fire hit. As a result, she was the only survivor. Afterwards, she peeked her head out, and saw the charred ruins and the prone bodies, horrified. She screamed and ran when the dead stood and shambled towards her.
The City: 072: Kastor
January 6, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, CPD, Drabble, Kastor, Midas Corp, The City Leave a comment
Kastor stood by the stairs and listened to the chatter on the police band cut off. Floor by floor it just cut out. In an analog system there would have been static, but it just cut to eerie silence in a staccato rhythm as whatever was happening hit floor after floor. The disarming didn’t go as planned, apparently. He swore and patched in.
“This is Petrosky on Floor 75. Change of plans. This is now an evacuation. Get the whole building cleared out, on the double.” He opened the door to the cubicle farm and hoped there was enough time.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 