Thom stared down at the desk in consternation. He was the chief bomb disposal technician for the CPD. Up until now, the job description had been a joke. Explosives, along with most other kinds of weapons, not only didn’t exist in The City, but supposedly couldn’t. But he was an expert in the code used to build and break down buildings in The City, so he was what they had.. He examined the clock face, the coils of multicolored wire, and the cartoonish red dynamite sticks they were attached to, and was sure that this was a different beast entirely.
The City: 066: Thom
December 29, 2014
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The City: 065: Lucinda
December 26, 2014
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Debbie followed Lucinda’s call into the CEO’s office and stopped dead when she saw the impossible object counting serenely down on the holographic glass.
“Luce, tell me that isn’t what I think it is.” The other woman shrugged.
“I didn’t want to touch it, but the bastard left a note.” Lucinda handed it to her superior.
“Good luck?” She read. “For fuck’s sake. I’d better radio it in. Best case scenario, maybe we’ll just make fools of ourselves.” She opened her comm channel.
“I’m going to need an immediate evac of the building. There’s a bomb sitting on Sizemore’s desk.”
The City: 064: Kumar
December 25, 2014
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On The City’s streets, The Midas Corp. Limousine led a dozen patrol cars on a merry chase. No matter how they diverted traffic, finally easing after a morning of unprecedented congestion, the luxury car was one step ahead.
“Who the hell is driving that thing?” Patrolman Kumar cursed.
“I heard that Bob Tolstoy was Sizemore’s driver. Might be him.” His partner said.
“The king of the racing underground? When’d he turn Citizen?”
“A few years back. Everybody’s got to eat.” The limo made a sudden u-turn, slipping through a gap in three lanes of traffic and disappearing towards the bay.
The City: 063: Deborah
December 24, 2014
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Deborah’s team was the one that got the short straw: The CEO’s top-floor office. She took point, her stunner and boot gun out. The palatial offices of Midas management were deserted. All they found were empty rooms. The digital marble echoed with her simulated footfalls. She shivered, forgetting she was in an Arizona office park.
She went to a filing cabinet and opened it. It was entirely empty. So was the next one. Every bit of information in the office was gone. It wasn’t possible. “Deb, you’ll want to take a look at this,” someone called from the inner office.
The City: 062: Miles
December 23, 2014
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Miles closed the cuff on the last lobby guard and gave the commissioner a thumbs up. The cops dug in and relieved the guards of any stunners they still had in their inventories. While they waited for the cops to recover from stuns, Jenkins dug in and gave orders.
“We go floor by floor. We don’t know what we’re looking for, so report anything suspicious. If any remaining security resist, stun and cuff them.” In the parking garage below them, the stretch limousine formerly belonging to Augustus Sizemore revved its engines, and burst like a thoroughbred out of the gate.
The City: 061: Georgia
December 22, 2014
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In the lobby of Midas Corporate Tower, the tide was turning in the Police’s favor. Sgt. Georgia Ramirez remarked that it was a very strange sort of assault, as neither side could physically harm the other, and the primary weapons of each side, the boot gun, was useless. The cops has their cuffs, which immobilized a target, but were difficult to use. Midas Security had stunners, which were easier to use, but wore off quickly. In the end, it came down to numbers. Moving in tight circles, Georgia and the other officers circled around the guards, tackled, and cuffed them.
The City: 060: Douglas
December 19, 2014
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“Let’s bring in our Tech Corespondent on this point. Douglas, could a train in The City kill a person?” Douglas pushed the glasses up on his nose.
“Well, it isn’t a real train, but ‘deaths’ in The City are often traumatic. Video of the accident has been streaming all over Youtube, and the lines were completely shut down. As for how it happened, some users are reporting suspicious malware disguised as a firmware update causing glitches. She may have downloaded a virus.”
“We’ll take a closer look at the causes of Boot Syndrome after a pause for local news updates.”
The City: 059: Starla
December 18, 2014
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“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: 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.”
Hugh J. O'Donnell 