“If I may,” said the American woman live on feed from Virginia.
“Yes, Ms. Roberts, Go ahead.”
“I’m at the home of Sandra Davis, a City user who was discovered dead early this morning. Investigations are still ongoing, and the CPD and Midas Corp have not commented, but reports indicate she was struck by a commuter train in The City itself. Ms. Davis was already in frail health after a car accident last year, and the trauma gave her a heart attack.”
Jonathan cut her off. “The only way for that to happen is if she illegally modded her system.”
The City: 059: Starla
December 18, 2014
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, News, Sandra, Starla, The City Leave a comment
The City: 058: Jonathan
December 17, 2014
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Jonathan scoffed. “A few cases, Doctor? The City has a user base of over a billion people! It has been running for over five years, and since the beginning, proper use of Logout Housing has effectively proven that the technology running The City is safe and reliable. There are even safeguards for interrupted connections and power outages with the latest updates. The City is perfectly safe!” He slammed his fist on the table for emphasis. He was a paltry stockholder in Midas Corp, but even his few shares had made him a rich man. He planned on staying that way.
The City: 057: Ophira
December 16, 2014
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Ophira sat back in her chair and tried not to look contemptuous as the host, an idiot, she decided at the first, worked his way to a halfway intelligent question. He didn’t quite get there. “Virtual Reality Displacement Syndrome,” or what we are referring to Boot Syndrome, is a new phenomenon, only prevalent in higher level simulations such as The City. Because of the realistic nature of the environment, the human mind has trouble parsing a sudden shift between the two, with a wide range of heath effects, including headaches, blackouts, neurological trauma, and in a few cases, even death.”
The City: 056: Nigel
December 15, 2014
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“Welcome back to News Focus, I’m your host Nigel Smythe. Today’s topic is “The City: virtual paradise, or secret health risk?” With me today is Dr. Ophira Notingham, an expert in what is called ‘Boot Syndrome,’ futurist Jonathan Isaacs, from America Starla Roberts, and BBC Tech Corespondent Douglas Pine. Thank you all for being here.” Nigel turned to the table of panelists. He had been against the topic. He could barely use his laptop, and now he had to sit as four nerds sat debated the health effects of eye strain. He smiled warmly. “Doctor, let me start with you…”
The City: 055: Mina
December 12, 2014
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Ingmar, Mina, Renee, The City, Warren Leave a comment
Frank whistled, but the others just stared at them, as though Warren had released a deadly snake in the two room apartment. Mina eyed him suspiciously. “How did you get so many clean guns?” She asked.
“CPD headquarters has been going nuts all day. It was easy to sneak down to the supply terminal, fake my boss’s access, and grab them. We’ll hit the bank and be gone before he knows they were fabricated.”
“But how will we bond with them?” Ingmar, the youngest of the group, asked. “We don’t have clearance for that.”
“Leave that to me,” Renee said.
The City: 054: Warren
December 11, 2014
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Norm, Renee, The City, Warren Leave a comment
In a quieter part of The City, Warren knocked on the door of a shoebox apartment. The others were already inside. Renee peered out from behind the chained door, then let him in. There were seven of them in total. Not a big crew, but large enough that there could be complications. He didn’t know most of them.
“Do you have them?” Norm asked from his seat at the head of the card table. Warren recalled his inventory and pulled out a bag. He upended it onto the table.
“Seven boot guns,” he said. “stripped and ready for avatar bonding.”
The City: 053: Tina
December 10, 2014
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Loraine, Mario, Midas Corp, The City, The Smiling Man, Tina Leave a comment
Tina shot Lorraine a smug look as Mario knocked on the towering mahogany obelisk. She’d been after Loraine’s spot on the Executive Security Team, and now it was practically her’s! Unless the cops downstairs did something stupid like try and occupy the building or invoke Emergency Powers. A Coup would ruin everything.
Mario opened the door and went in.
“I’m Sorry to disturb you, ladies and gentlemen, but there is a security situation, and we may have to ask you to evacuate.” Twelve smiling faces turned at once to look at them.
“We’re just about done here anyway,” Babbage said.
The City: 052: Mario
December 9, 2014
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Lorraine, Mario, Midas Corp, The City, Tina Leave a comment
Mario glared at Lorraine. There was a goddam riot going on downstairs, with City Police no less, and here she was raving about magic and disappearing doors. He did not have time to deal with her stupidity.
“You can’t change the physical reality of The City. It’s one of The Rules,” he said.
“Rules set by Sizemore. What if this guy got past Sizemore to get to the board?”
“A billionaire assassin? Well, I have to report the riot anyway. Let’s go. Lopez, you come with us.” The door was perfectly visible when the three of them got there. “See?”
The City: 051: Cynthia
December 8, 2014
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Boot guns work on a simple principle. Normally, a person can only exit or enter The City from a house that they have access to. Some allowances are made for access interruptions such as computer failure and power outages, but improper logouts are considered criminal offenses. This was because beta users developed ‘Dropout Syndrome.’ Midas created user houses and covered up the damage. But they made Boot Guns to drop problem users. Which is why Cynthia was surpassed to find her gun had no effect on the man groaning and thrashing in the street. He lunged at her and howled.
The City: 050: Rosencrantz
December 5, 2014
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Rozencrantz the cat was hunting his digital prey, mostly interesting shadows and blowing leaves, as there were very few mice or insects to catch in The City. He began to notice the humans acting strangely. They stood very still, often in the middle of the street, an action he barely understood to mean their attention was elsewhere. Then, they began to change, to slump or growl, to move in unnatural ways and behave oddly. Rosencrantz didn’t understand what a ‘zombie’ was, but as panic erupted throughout The City, he slunk back into the shadows. Shakespeare would know what to do.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 