Nora frowned after the cat and sat down on the bench next to Hiro. She furiously typed into her messenger. Between the six of them, they spoke ten languages, but there was not one they all shared fluently. So they typed, and used translations to be understood.
Paulo and I had an awful time getting here. The trains are all shut down. Nora wrote.
A woman got hit by one. Hiro replied.
Impossible.
Is it? Dawn typed. Or is it just so unlikely that it never happened before? The Man sold out and the trains stop. No such thing as coincidence.
The City: 029: Nora
November 6, 2014
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The City: 028: MacBeth
November 5, 2014
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MacBeth the Cat sunned himself on an outer wall of Osaka Castle. He enjoyed the spot because it was always warm and sunny during the day, and there were many small birds and squirrels to chase. Below him, a crowd of humans, teenagers, he noted, was gathering. Lazily, he cataloged and recorded their identities and conversation. He wasn’t listening, but the recording went on automatically. A pair of additional humans climbed the steps and joined the group. A female, identified as Nora O’Reilly, location: Donegal, Ireland, reached up a hand to pet him. He hissed, and bounded into the grass.
The City: 027: Renee
November 4, 2014
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The shoebox apartment wasn’t much to look at. It didn’t even have a window. It was just a single light bulb, a card table, and a phone. The only thing she had to look at was Norm pacing and mumbling to himself three feet away. She knew enough about virtual architecture to know that this room could be any dimensions, filled with whatever they could imagine. But they needed to remain anonymous and inconspicuous. Breaking The City’s rules would bring notice. The phone rang and she answered.
“I understand. The meeting’s tonight. You know where.” She hung up. “Frank’s in.”
The City: 026: Nick
November 3, 2014
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After Julia cleared him to leave, Frank still had to meet with his manager, Nick. He was in no mood to deal with the weaselly paper pusher.
“How the hell could you screw up like this, Frank?” The little toad asked.
“She shouldn’t have been able to do that. I was going the right speed.”
“But you hit her anyway, just like you hit that kid…” Frank got up and decked him. His avatar registered the hit and collapsed. Nick didn’t feel it, though. Frank was too angry to care.
“That was the last straw, Dumbass! You’re suspended, without pay!”
The City: 25: Marcy
October 31, 2014
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Fiction, Julia, Marcy, Nick, Sandra, The City Leave a comment
Marcy, along with Commissioner Jenkins and a delegation of IT and QA people met Julia and the corpse in the City Morgue. As far as she knew, it was the first time it had ever been used. After pleasantries, one of them played coroner and conducted a thorough examination. Aside from its already missing head, the corpse remained intact.
“Well, it’s certainly malicious code,” he said.
“Can you ID her?” Marcy asked.
“No, her credentials have been scrambled. This is nasty stuff.”
“Can we boot the user?” Jenkins asked.
“The eject code isn’t responding.”
And then the corpse sat upright.
The City: 024: Hiro
October 30, 2014
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They gathered in Midas Park. It stretched for miles, in the middle of The City, a patchwork of famous public spaces from a hundred terrestrial cities, and more so fanciful they could only have been designed there.
Hiro waited in front of Osaka Castle. There, the cherry blossoms always fell, and it had an excellent view of both the Sphinx and Old Faithful. Plus, he could see the building-sized screens covering the announcement. A crowd of milling Daytrippers and uncertain Citizens was already gathering beneath them. It was several hours before Dawn and the others arrived, looking completely frazzled.
The City: 023: Dorothy
October 29, 2014
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Dorothy was an assassin of improbable accidents. She specialized in Houses, but had other tricks and devices. She made her living off of a loophole in the laws of The City.
Even though it was a simulation, The City was a real place. An avatar was fragile; subject to gravity, fire, trauma. And an avatar only had one life to lose. Dying in The City could be as financially devastating as anywhere on Earth. Of course there were no guns in The City, but Dorothy had her methods. On the morning Midas was sold, her email account crashed from overuse.
The City: 021: Zophia
October 27, 2014
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Zophia set her spiders to work. Thanks to the anonymous email she received that morning, many were already prepared. They made their webs in every stock market across the world. And as the world spun and each woke up to the news that The City was changing hands, her programs feed on the panic. As the girl watched her bank accounts fatten, she almost felt bad for Sizemore, and the foolish little brokers who were watching their charges’ retirements slip through their fingers. Because they weren’t prepared. Later, she would have to back trace the message. For now, she fed.
The City: 020: Floyd
October 24, 2014
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The Meal Delivery Truck arrived at the house on time for breakfast. Floyd readied the tray and rang the bell. Sandra was one of his favorite clients. She had seen a lot of hardships in her life, and a bad car accident had left her housebound. She fought on though. She had a job with Midas, and was so proud of the complicated rig of goggles and gear that let her lead a normal life in The City. When nobody answered, he peeked in a window. He saw her body sprawled in her office, and immediately he called emergency services.
The City: 019: Melinda
October 23, 2014
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Melinda looked into the camera like it was the face of every one of her hundred-million viewers.
“Once again, our top story this morning: Augustus Sizemore, CEO and Majority Stockholder of Midas Corp has reportedly sold his shares and is stepping down from his role as management. A statement released this morning did not name the purchasing party, and the Company itself has yet to make a statement. Midas Corp is the operator of “The City,” a realistic virtual environment which employs hundreds of thousands of people and has millions of users. Markets are reacting sharply to the announcement.”
Hugh J. O'Donnell 