Keith was no hero. He’d read a lot of articles on Boot Syndrome, and it did nasty stuff to you. Some people went into comas and just never came out of them again. So he wasn’t going to try and stop those robbers. Better to let them take what they wanted and let Midas sort it out. But if there were an opportunity… He considered the accolades from his hiding place in the manager’s cubicle. The boy, he was the weak link. But how to get his gun? That was when the kid’s phone went off. Keith sprang into action.
The City: 090: Keith
January 30, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Ingmar, Keith, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
The City: 089: Aoife
January 29, 2015
140 Characters, The City 140 Characters, Aoife, Drabble, Nora, The City, The Daytrippers Leave a comment
“You shouldn’t be logged in,” Aoife said when her younger sister called. She was inside The City. Hadn’t she seen the news? The software was glitching like mad, and there Nora was merrily meeting with her team of international hackers, or whatever they did all day. Hang out, she supposed. That’s what she did, when she was that age. But she did that in a proper coffee shop, not a trillion euro VR playground.
“I know. Things are weird, but I need a favor.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t think this is a glitch. It’s a takeover.”
“What do you need?”
The City 088: Oberon
January 28, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Oberon, The Cheshires, The City Leave a comment
Oberon sat on a rooftop and watched the chaos spreading out on the ground below. Oberon liked the rooftops, surveying The City as traffic passed this way and that, cataloging the cars and the data signatures as they sped through the network. He didn’t know why he liked it. His simple AI mind was that of a cat watching traffic and chasing bugs. But the data all fed back someplace that even he didn’t know. Suddenly, he felt hands wrap around himself and lift him from the ground. He hissed at the girl.
“What do we have here?” she smiled.
The City: 087: Faiza
January 27, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Faiza, The City, Zombies Leave a comment
Faiza had a long day. The train had been late, her office had been a madhouse, the train had been late again. There were weird rumors circulating, and cops everyplace. Even virtually, the police eyed her hijab as though she could somehow suicide bomb a server from the inside. Now, all she wanted to do was logout and rest her eyes. Her City apartment was at the very top of one of the Bayside towers. Once she climbed the stairs, she found the door to her apartment was locked. All the doors were locked. She heard growling down the hallway.
The City: 086: Trevor
January 26, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Midas Corp, News, The City, Trevor Leave a comment
“Good evening, I’m Trevor Hollingsworth.” He looked into the camera and made his grave face. “Public health officials are warning users to refrain from logging in to popular computer program “The City,” as rumors of widespread ‘Boot Syndrome’ are sweeping the globe. Midas Corporation, the owners of The City have yet to issue a statement. The virtual environment software is used by billions of people worldwide, and is used for everything from virtual chatting to finance to virtual reality office environments. The program has been plagued with errors since former CEO Augustus Sizemore announced his sale of Midas stock shares.”
The City: 085: Alba
January 23, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Alba, Drabble, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
Alba watched the gunman from her window, and wondered if a boot gun could shoot through glass. She watched the rest of the people in coats cover the other exits and pull their own boot guns.
“Listen up, this is a robbery!” She almost laughed. No one had ever pulled off an ARMED robbery in The City. How could you? The money wasn’t even real, just the a representation. Couldn’t Midas just erase their whole take? Or were they there for something else, and the robbery was just a cover? She put up her hands and waited to find out.
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.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 