Ingmar shook his head. More patrons followed and someone slammed the heavy oak door shut. “I don’t understand. Why would you want me to shoot you?”
“Because it’s a clean logout,” Mike said. “A boot’s a mark on a user’s system privileges, but this zombie thing’s a virus. He looked at the gun, and looked at the people huddled behind the counter. Zombies rammed the counter and banged on the glass. The barrier held, but he could hear more zombies shambling in, and the infected avatars climbing to their feet. It was only a matter of time.
“Who goes first?”
The City 102: Mike
February 17, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Ingmar, Mike, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
The City: 101: Katie
February 16, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Ingmar, Katie, The City, The Robbery, Zombies Leave a comment
In the lobby, Katie watched the zombies pour in through the shattered door. They attacked indiscriminately, clawing and biting at robbers and hostages alike. One of the robbers shot at them repeatedly, but the boot gun had no effect. Finally, she pulled the receptionist girl and the kid with the robbers back behind the counter. Two of the tellers were there, hunkered down behind the oak and glass. They waited for the sounds of carnage to die down. She looked at the gun.
“Can you use that thing?” she asked.
“It doesn’t work,” Ingmar replied.
“Not on them, on us.”
The City: 100: Darien
February 13, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Darien, Drabble, The Cat Lady, The City, The Daytrippers Leave a comment
“Have any of you tried to log out today?” The Cat Lady asked. Darien raised his hand.
“The door to my apartment was locked. There’s no public space anymore either. It’s like we’re trapped in here.”
“I thought so. He’s trying to maximize the number of infections and overload the system. That’s what the hole in the sky is. An overload. And it will happen again.”
“But why? What’s his end game?”
“His virus is malware stolen from my AI cats. They observe The City and learn. His zombies are slow, but learning, and soon The City will be theirs.”
The City: 099: The Cat Lady
February 12, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Nora, Paulo, The Cat Lady, The City, The Daytrippers Leave a comment
“Because they’re building something else.” The old woman appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the group of teens and twenty-somethings. “The virus overwrites an Avatar, boots the user, and replaces it with a massive AI module.”
“What happens to the user?” Paulo asked
“Forced to log out, but it’s an unsafe boot. Somewhere between ten and fifty percent will suffer acute Boot Syndrome. Midas hushed up the figures about the problem. It’s why I quit in the first place.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Nora asked.
“I’m The Cat Lady, and I believe you have something of mine.”
Hugh Likes Comics: Superman Birthright
February 11, 2015
Hugh Likes Comics DC Comics, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Lenil Yu, Mark Waid, review, Superman, Superman Birthright Leave a comment
Superman Brithright
Written by Mark Waid
Drawn by Lenil Francis Yu
Published by DC Comics
The retelling of a superhero’s origin story really only works if the writer and artist truly ‘get’ the character. Extraneous details can weigh the character down, and updated elements can seem forced. Fortunately, that isn’t the case with “Superman Birthright,” Mark Waid and Lenil Francis Yu’s take on the origin of the Man of Steel.
Originally published in 2003, this graphic novel served as an inspiration for 2013’s “Man of Steel” film, but don’t hold that against it. This comic soars where the movie feels heavy and grim.
The comic starts out much like the film, with Clark Kent traveling around the world looking for a sense of identity. Clark feels that his powers separate him from humanity, and he looks for a way to both live among humans and use his powers to do good. With the help of his parents, he prepares his alter-ego and takes a job at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. As he struggles to establish himself both as a journalist and a superhero, he quickly comes into conflict with the brilliant but twisted Lex Luthor. This is the heart of the story, and it is handled masterfully. This version of Lex is an astro-biologist exhaustedly hunting for intelligent alien life. Clark briefly knew Lex when they were teenagers. Clark was his only friend when Lex’s prodigious intellect, and accompanying ego, separated him from his classmates.
The two meet again, and their meeting as adults goes just as poorly. Lex is an exceptional man looking for an equal among the stars, but Superman is disgusted by his actions. This is a great modernization of the basic plot of a Superman comic, and is typical of Waid’s treatment of the characters and their motivations.
Motivation is the key to “Birthright.” The reader knows what Superman does. This retelling cements why he does it, and how the people of Metropolis react to it. Fear of the unknown, both ‘out there’ and inside ourselves is a central theme. How the characters each react to it is what makes them special.
Yu’s designs are also great, and the comic does a great job of making these seventy year old icons breathe in a modern context.
“Superman Birthright” is available as a graphic novel from Amazon, Comixology, or your local comics shop.
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The City: 098: Michio
February 11, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Michio, The City, The Daytrippers Leave a comment
“We’re getting distracted,” Dawn said. She was only fifteen, but determined to take charge, as usual. “We’re safe here from the Zombies for now, but we need to figure out what’s going on here before we can stop it.”
“From my data a virus was released into the system on corporate channels at three PM City Local.” Michio said. He was one of Hiro’s buddies. “About an hour later, a second vector spread the virus in the from of a programmed explosion, that also created the rip in the sky above Midas Tower.”
“So Midas is the source, but why?”
The City: 097: Sibeal
February 10, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Sibeal, The City, The Daytrippers, Xue Leave a comment
Xue cracked her knuckles and bit back a scream of frustration. The large group gathered in a hidden spot in the park. Over forty people had answered, but not Ingmar They had the manpower, but what they didn’t have was a plan.
“What’s wrong,” Sibeal asked. She was one of Aoife’s friends.
“I can’t reach Ingmar. We were hoping to get his input.”
“On what?”
“This.” Nora set a green collar down on a picnic table. He examined it.
“Where did you find this?”
“On a cat, of course.”
“Cats aren’t a part of The City’s programming. Who made this?”
The City: 096: Tobias
February 9, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Mina, Renee, The City, The Robbery, Tobias Leave a comment
Tobias had been taken at gunpoint to the bank by Renee and Mina. With Joseph booted, he was the ranking manager. They took him to the vault and demanded he unlock the terminal with his keycard. When he refused, she reached into his inventory and grabbed it.
“We don’t need you, just access.” She plugged it in and the machine chirped as it came to life. She typed feverishly for five minutes before the machine shut down and faded away. “There. Now we’re all very rich.”
“Midas will never let this stand,” Tobias said.
“Silly man. We own Midas now.”
The City: 095: Chandra
February 6, 2015
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Chandra saw the man by the door boot the hero before he got the gun away from the kid, then point the weapon at him.
“You left your goddamn phone on?” Norm asked. There were four that she could see, all with guns. There were others in the back, doing something in the vault. She just came in to check her balance before logging off.
“Sorry sir. Something weird is going on outside.”
“Something weird? You idiot. You’re off the team.” Norm never got a chance to fire. The glass doors burst inward and the zombie was on him first.
The City: 094: Paul
February 5, 2015
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“What is going out there?” Paul was the cook, although like the maid and the butler, there was nothing in the virtual house, so he was very well connected to The City. And the things he had heard disturbed him greatly.
“The City is changing. The system that runs it is breaking down under stresses it didn’t know it had, because Sizemore was more interested in playing make-believe than using what he had. Resources are being realigned.”
“And those people, the ones with the virus?”
“They aren’t attached to real people, not anymore. They’re just code, and they’re learning.”
Hugh J. O'Donnell 