Rita was ostensibly the maid, but the beach house never got dirty. It was the one thing she thought they should have implemented but they never did. She supposed it would have been too complex a task, to model the path of each grain of sand realistically. But cleaning would have given her something to do all day. She took Babbage’s coat and hat instead.
“What happens now, sir?” He looked at her with that fixed grin, like he knew some joke that she couldn’t fathom.
“I wait. The program is running, now I just need for it to finish.”
The City: 093: Rita
February 4, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Rita, The City, The Smiling Man Leave a comment
The City: 092: Mark
February 3, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Mark, Midas Corp, The City Leave a comment
Mark’s official title was Head Butler. What he really did was security, bookkeeping, and keeping up appearances. The house had a fabulous kitchen filled with gleaming chrome objects resembling appliances. The house had been painstakingly designed by a team of architects and engineers, and it was the ultimate shrine to skeumorphism. It was fitting for the mansion of the owner of a city that only existed in digital displays. Doris held the door as Babbage entered.
“Welcome home, sir.” The man smiled. Behind him, the sky above the ruins of Midas Tower pulsated with green and violet light, like auroras.
The City: 091: Doris
February 2, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Bob, Doris, Drabble, Midas Corp, The City Leave a comment
The gate on the palatial beach house buzzed just before sunset. Doris answered from the security desk. “Yeah?”
“It’s me,” Bob said. “I’ve got the new boss.”
“What the hell happened out there?” She had heard garbled reports of security clashing with CPD.
“Hell if I know. This guy’s spooky, though.” She checked the cameras. It was the limo, alright. She let the car in and called the rest of the staff to greet their new employer. Sizemore’s City beach house belonged to Midas, and had been a part of the sale. They gathered in the entry hall and waited.
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
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: 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: 084: Carlo
January 22, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Carlo, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
Carlo watched the gunman boot his boss. It was the first time he’d ever seen anyone booted before, and it was surreal. He fired, and the bullet, a black dot streaking faster than the eye could follow, lashed out and struck Joseph in the back. And then Joseph was just gone, with no animation. And he wouldn’t be back for, what? An hour? A day? Was this a robbery, or just a joyride with an illegal mod? How the hell were they supposed to close up? With a sense of irritation, he locked his cash drawer and pocketed the key.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 