A Few Years From Now...
This RP is set in the future where Neural Interface Technology has been perfected and is now as common as the Internet today. Instead of staring at a screen and opperating a keyboard, computer users plug their mind directly into the computer and take control of their Avatar as though they were inside the computer themselves! "Surfing the Net" takes on a whole new meaning as many users adjust their Icons to appear to be surfing the memory streams as they browse. Chat Rooms become massive rooms of code, where Avatars gather and simply talk, as they would at a normal party, to each other.
But with the Neural Interface came a whole new danger. Cybercrime. Since the brain was linked directly to the computer, it could be hacked just like a hard drive! A new form of criminal appeared, the Cyberphile. Also known as Cyber Stalkers, these expert hackers would invade a person's computer and indeed their mind, some for money, some for more sordid reasons, some simply because they enjoyed the power...
A whole new police branch was set up to deal with the Cybercrime, made up of the best Netware operators in the world. With access to the machine code and excellent programming capabillities, they started a war against the Cyberphiles, bringing many of them to justice.
But some were too much, even for them! In these rare cases they had only one option...to call the Cyber Angels.
Beings of myth and legend, few even knew of their existance! They were civillians from all over the world who had seen the masses of computer crime and made a desicion to help in the best way they could...
...they uploaded their minds onto the net. Not just a temporary and incomplete link, like normal users. It was permanent, and complete. Becoming computer programmes themselves, they gained phenominal power over the computer coding, and exceptional speed and intelligence, but at such a cost...without their minds, their bodies died. They could never return to the real world, condemmed to live eternally on the Internet, hiding out in backwater lines of code until their powers were needed.
It was a heavy price to pay, but they accepted it, to bring the Cyber Stalkers to justice.
Rules:
This is a Human RP; no furries please. That being said, your online Icon could be anything you like^^
You can be anyone: Civillian, Cyber Police, even a Stalker if you wish. The one thing I would ask is if you want to be a Cyber Angel, please EZmessage me first. Firstly the Angels won't appear at the very beginning, they'll start a few posts in. Also, playing a Cyber Angel must be done very carefully, to avoid crossing the line into powerplaying.
A note about the net: This is not a Matrix style city that the characters run around in or anything. Each web site can be designed into pretty much anything a user likes, but the net connection between them is simply like a psychadellic tube that users can fly their icons through. Refer to the IC post below for a little example, and feel free to contact me if in doubt.
For your profile we will need the usual bio, appearence and history etc, plus:
Online name:
Online icon:
(If a Cyber Cop) Cybercrime experience:
(If a Cyber Stalker) Previous offences:
(If I think of anything else I'll edit it in lol)
Start off your character as though it was just any other day, a normal morning in the life of your character. I'll intro the main plot etc in my next post.
IC:
The room was just the standard Windows Webroom. She didn't bother making it anything fancy. She was here to work, not for fun. She had heard of some other sites, like, for example, the book company Amazon, who's site was like a gigantic ancient libary, and the Search Engines were librarians. Not for her. She prefared simplicity.
She was working late again. She loved her work, and had set up a link between her home computer and the office. Right now she was sorting the company accounts, trying to see if some of the other companies they were dealing with were defrauding them.
The Webroom was plain silver, quite a small room, with large windows on the walls like a picture gallery. She moved her Icon from window to window, checking statistics and information.
And she didn't have enough, it would seem. She moved her icon over to the main window. She hadn't been adventurous about her icon either, just a digital representation of herself. She reached into the main window and activated the Search Engine.
It took less than a minute to program in the required information. She selected the icon of a Golden Retriever to house it, and the program jumped down from the window, wagging it's tail. It barked once at her, then ran off out he door, setting off on it's search.
An alarm sounded through the room. Nine pm already? She was hoping to have this finished! Well, maybe a little longer...
Suddenly the main screen of her Webroom flickered, the standard Microsoft opperating system replaced with strainge fuzzy lines, like the interference on an old television set. She looked at it, puzzled. Slowly she reached into the window again, looking for the virus scanner.
Instantly the room went black, as though someone had cut the electricity. She began to feel scared. What was going on here?
The light slowly faded back up, only this time it was not the cool, ambiescent glow of Windows, but flames from wooden torches on the wall! The macrotexture on the walls of the webroom had changed, no longer the silver metal, but dull grey stone, like a castle dungeon! Where the door should be, a massive spiral staircase ascended out of view!
Her mind was racing. A virus? No, no virus would be able to do this. Once set, the perameters for the Webroom were buried so deep in programing that it would take years for a virus to access them, and the semi-intelligent virus scanner would have picked it up long before it could!
She tried to move, but her arm was still embedded in the wall...
Then she heard the growling. Slowly, terrified, she turned to look towards the staircase.
It was her Search Engine! It had changed much, but it was still recognisable! But where the happy, helpful deminour had been, now it was a wild animal! The fur had turned grey, and was matted with grime. It's jaws drooled foam and blood. It's eyes were a dull grey, almost like it was blind!
The woman suddenly felt weak in terror, as she saw, behind the Search Engine Icon, a figure descending the stairs. It was over fifteen feet tall, and had to duck to enter the room! It was a Skelleton, it's body made up of old, yellowing bones. Inside it's ribcage and skull, a vicious fire burned, siluhetting the skeleton's shape and making it even more terifying! The empty eye sockets regarded her, turned red by the fire behind, then the skull tipped back, the jaw dropped open, and a deep, echoing laugh roared around the chamber.
A Cyber Stalker!
Still trapped in the wall, all the woman could do was scream, as the Search Engine bared it's teeth and lunged forward...
OOC: O.O I'm in! Hmm...I'll need a bit of time for a char...
Will any of the RP be done outside of the Cyber World? I guess that would make things more complicated...but still, a thought.
(OOC: Actually yes some of the RP will also take place in the real world. Characters (apart from Cyber Angels) will have an offline side as well as an online one. Please put the regular Bio and History information down that you would find in any RP^^
I'll intro the main plot of the story, to give you more info.)
IC:
Name: Max Hunter
Age: 44
Appearence: Almos seven feet tall, and built like a tank. Straight blond hair, thinning and greying due to his age. Neatly trimmed moustache. Grey eyes. When at work wears a blue suit, with white shirt and blue tie.
Job: Metropolis Police Force: Cyber Crime Unit, Sargent.
Past Experience: Ever since he was young Max had a flair for computers and programming, and when he was attacked online at the age of fifteen he decided to use his talents to stop attacks like that. Fortunately he wasn't physically hurt, but the experience scared him and left him with emotional scars. Now he is the best Cyber Cop in The Metropolis, and persues his work with a relentless determination.
Online Name: The Hunter
Online Avatar: Icon he designed himself, a tall, faceless figure in a long trenchcoat and trilby hat. Has a shotgun slung across his back, but only for show.
Max guided his car along the peaceful suburban street, staring out at the small houses. It was nice around here...very quiet and calm. When he retired he may even look into moving into a place like this, but that would be a long way off yet.
As he rounded the corner though, he realised peace was something he would NOT get!
A massive crowd had gathered round the house in question, and the inevitable reporters where hanging round like vultures. As they saw his car they ran over and began firing questions at him as he opened the door.
"Mister Hunter, can you confirm that this incident was actually a Cyber Rape as well as a Murder?"
"Do you have any leads on the perpitrator yet?"
"What is your personal responce to all this?"
Hunter gritted his teeth and pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the shouts. Finally he reached the incident line, and quickly ducked under.
The house was your average gable-ended home, with white walls and a small lawn. Stood in the doorway was an African man, Hunter's second in command. He had a bald head, and was wearing a blue police shirt.
Hunter stepped up to him, his unusual size dwarfing everyone around. "What have we got Win?
Winston looked around. "Hey Chief. It's nasty. Cibercide high degree."
Hunter peered in through the doorway at the room beond. It was a quaint little room, with nice furnature and a thick carpet. In the corner of the room was the computer terminal, and the "jack seat" attached to it. And in the seat, was the red haired woman. She looked pretty. She didn't deserve this!
Hunter shivvered as he looked at her face; her eyes were open, and her mouth. She was screaming...or at least...had been. Several forensics officers in white coats were leaning over her, examining the body.
"Harriet Kelly." muttered Winston, looking down at a paper in his hand. "Thirty-two years old. Worked for Global Parcel Deliveries. Looks like she was working late, she had a wire out to the company computer at the time."
"Cyber forinsics finished?" asked Hunter quietly.
"Yeah."
"Okay, let's go in."
"Okay Chief, but I should warn you, it's not pretty."
Hunter turned and set off towards the "jack van", a Cybercrime department veichle that sported several computer terminals in the back. It was use for on-site access to the crime scene. "I've been in this work for a long time, Winner, I'm used to nasty sights."
Winston shook his head. "No man, I mean, it's NOT pretty!"
The two officers stepped into the back of the van and sat down in two of the seats. A few button presses and suddenly the world dissapeared, replaced with the jack van's private connection room. Hunter looked around the small metal room to see Winston's avatar, a large Phoenix-like bird, floating a few meters in front of him. "This way." said Winston, and the two avatars stepped out of the room and onto the Web.
As they cruised down the psychadellic tunnels they passed hundreds of other avatars, all intent on their own buisness. The web itself was like a massive psycadellic tube, joined at intervals by other tubes. Fortunately Winston knew where to go. Without a guide or a Search Engine, it was easy to get lost in the maze!
They reached the site quickly, moving over to one of the many doors in the tube wall. Cyber-reporters were waiting here too, and they once again had to push their way through the mob. This time it was more interesting though, as few of the crowd looked Human.
They entered the room, and Hunter caught his breath, despite himself.
The walls were painted red with blood. Body parts, the woman's avatar, were strewn all over the floor. Winston was right, it WASN'T pretty!
"She wasn't just killed." he mumbled. "Her mind was torn apart!"
Winston nodded his eagle-like head, and Hunter turned to him. "Do we know who it was?"
"Unfortunately yes." Winston moved over to the main window and reached a wing into it. "We were going over the data files and found they had all been deleted and replaced...with this." The window flickered, then showed a picture of a laughing skull, with a fire burning inside it. Hunter took a deep breath.
"The Skull. I hoped we'd finished with him for good."
"Looks like he's back. The time when he went quiet was just a ruse to put us off guard. He's the most notorious Cyber Stalker on the planet, and he's never been caught."
"We've been chasing him for years." muttered Hunter. "I don't think we can take this guy down alone."
Winston turned to look at him. "Are you thinking...?"
Hunter just nodded slowly. "We have no choice. The leads on The Skull have gone cold, we're back to square one again. We need their help."
Winston nodded thoughfully, his eyes fixed on the floor.
"I'll sort it out." said Hunter, adjusting his trilby hat. "Let's just get out of this room."
OOC: I guess if I had read it a second time, I would have guessed it without asking, but yeah, the second post clarified it!
I'll go with a Civilian:
Name: Casper R. Holyoak
Age: 33
Appearence: An average man, though slightly overweight and wears glasses. He commonly wears a blue button-up shirt, and dark brown casual slacks. His relatively short brown hair and green eyes don't go badly with his choice of attire.
Job: Internet Therapist
Online Name: Lion of Peace
Online Avatar: A humanoid lion, wearing white pants and a white shirt, and human hands.
IC:
Lion entered a forum for a news station, which appeared as a lounge with several areas for different topics. He noted a new topic, and went over to check it out. He scanned the information about the crime mentioned, and shook his head. "So sad...I wish I could talk to The Skull. Maybe he could still be helped."
OOC:
If not acceptable, please let me know.
OOC: Sounds like fun
Name: Jerry Amos
Age: 27
Appearence: Relatively short at five foot two. His brown hair matches his brown eyes and is always combed over in a perfect part. Being fairly young, he's not too noticeable and distinctive other than a faint scar on the underside of his chin. You wouldn't even notice it if you weren't looking for it. In real life, he usually wears a black suit and tie, and when on the job a dark blue FBI Special Task Force wind-breaker over it.
Job: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Task Force on Cyber-Crime
Past Experience: Like many of those on the FBI's special task force on cyber-crime, Amos used to be a cyber-stalker. Nothing too major, he was busted for multiple accounts of identity theft. What the arresting officers noticed however was that many of the identities he had stolen were experienced cyber-stalkers themselves. Because of the FBI's desperate need for agents with a knowledge of the net for fear of becoming obselete, he was able to plea bargain himself into an analyst's job with the bureau. From there it wasn't too long until he made it to full agent. As a member of the special task force, he is many times sent ahead to "spec" out crimes in cities and determing whether or not the local law enforcement can handle it, or whether he should call in the cavalry and have the FBI take over the jurisdiction. As a result he has grown quite good at dealing with local police, until he doesn't need them anymore and calls in the FBI to take over.
Online Name: Under the Federal Identification Act, FBI agents are required to use their actual names in cyber-space. Amos simply uses the handle Agent Amos.
Online Avatar: Amos's only icon is as simple as his name. A brown suit under which he wears a stylish turtleneck. In addition, he's erased his scar and added a pair of wraparound orange sunglasses that he uses for data display.
IC:
The sun shined brightly on the National Lawn, reflecting off the perfect pristine surface of the Washington Monument. Even through his sunglasses, the glare was a bit much for Agent Amos and he shielded his eyes.
A man came and sat down on the bench next to him. Amos recognized his handle and avatar immedietly as that of Deputy FBI director Arnold Skalling. IF the deputy director was here, he knew this was more important than just another credit card scam.
Skalling tossed Amos a data packet. He picked it up and unfolded it to see that they were plane tickets encoded to his I.D. Physical copies were probably already printing out on his terminal.
He raised an eyebrow at Skalling. "Metropolis?" he asked.
Skalling nodded gravely. "Local P.D. just picked up a rather nasty case there of cyber-murder. Preliminary forensics say it's The Skull."
Amos's ears perked at the name. It was well known around the bureau. DoJ had been building a case against him for years, but so far had little luck.
"So let me guess," Amos began. "You want me to fly to Metropolis, assuage the press, tell the local P.D. that we're not taking over, accompany them on their investigation, and then as soon as it looks like they're nearing an arrest, call in the U.S. Attorney to take over?"
Skalling grinned slightly, "They told me you were the right man for the job. You've done this before I see."
"Sure," said Amos standing up. "I'm the go to guy for whenever the bureau needs someone to be a jerk."
"Enjoy the flight," said Skalling who also stood and began to walk off in the direction of the Smithsonian.
Amos watched him walk away, then mutterred under his breath, "Command console: Logoff."
The pristine Washington D.C. landscape fell away as Amos fell through a hole in ground right into his body in his small apartment. Turning to the printer, he grabbed the new printed out plane tickets and his overnight bag.
He had a plane to catch.
OOC: Let me know if there are any problems with that intro or my character.
(OOC: Looks good Srol, thanks for joining^^ Still room for some more if anyone wants =) You'd be most welcome.)
IC:
Hunter stepped through the doorway of his home and hung his coat up on the hanger. It had begun to rain, and in the short time it took him to run from his car to his house he had become well and truly soaked.
It suited his mood though. "Lights." he muttered as he stepped through the house. The lights in the dwelling faded into life, lighting up the spacious and comfortable single-storey home with a warm, cheery glow.
Hunter wasn't a millionaire, but he had enough money to make himself comfortable. His home reflected his personality, neat and well ordered, with not a single item out of place. He moved through the sitting room to the bathroom, picking up a towel to dry off his hair.
A loud bleeping called for attention from the main room, and he turned and stepped over to it's source, the small ear-fitting phone on the desk. He picked it up and fitted it into his ear. "Hello?"
"Chief, I got news." said Winston's voice on the other end. "Seems The Skull's reapearence has caught the attention of the FBI. They're sending a representative to assist our investigations."
Oh great, hat's all we need! thought Hunter bitterly. In his experience with the FBI they usually did little more than get in the way. "Okay." he replied quietly. "I assume he'll arrive tomorrow?"
"Yeah." confirmed Winston. "Have you contacted...them yet?"
"I'm about to." replied Hunter. "I think it's best the FBI don't know we're asking them yet, Winner. They still consider them to be Civillians and may not like their involvement."
"True. I'll see to it."
"Okay. See you tomorrow."
Call over, Hunter put down the earpiece and movd over to the large computer terminal in the corner of the room. Every time he jacked in he felt a small twinge of apprehension. His terminal was as protected as any other, and his online identity was a closely guarded secret, but there was the emotest chance that someone who had a personal vendetta against him may be waiting for him as he arrived.
There was no one this time. His Webroom was Windows Standard too, although he had added a few personal touches to make it more comfortable...some pictures on the walls, a virtual plant in the corner...
How to get in tough with them...there was no clear way. They never left personal links or callers cards. "Too dangerous" they would say.
He hadn't had any dealings with them himself, he hadn't needed to until now, but he had heard that the only way to call them was to mention them in conversation somewhere online. They would hear, somehow, and respond.
He moved out into the net, making for one of his favorite sites: The Cyber Club. It was a civillian site dedicated to all things Cyber, and lots of the people there were expert programmers! He arrived in seconds, using a shortcut he'd set up to warp there quickly, and entered.
The room was massive, set up like a large nightclub, with tables, chairs, music, and even a bar, but the walls and floor were shifting psychadellic patterns of code. From Machine Code to programming languages, lines of symbols and numbers slid like liquid across the surfaces, merging and breaking with each other like water.
Hunter soon spotted some of his friends sat at one of the tables, and moved over to them, grinning.
"Hunter man! How you doing?" cried a large Gundam style robot as he spotted him.
"Not bad Ace. And you?"
"We're fine. We've been working on our Neural AI coding again. We're finally getting somewhere with it!"
Hunter shook his head, smiling. "I still say it can't be done. Pseudo Intelligence, like that that Norton have put in their latest Antivirus, but full blown AI is impossible."
"You always say that!" retorted Ace. "Have some imagination man!"
"The only sentient programmes I'll believe in are the Cyber Angels." replied Hunter. "Anything else...I'd have to see it to believe it."
Ace shook his metal head. "See now you're being silly! Everyone knows theydon't exist!"
"I believe they do," Hunter muttered, "and I'd so love to meet one..."
He stayed in the chat room for a few hours, then came back home and logged off. Before he disconnected, he set his Webroom status to OPEN, meaning that anyone who wished could enter and request to see him. All he needed to do now was wait for the alarm to show someone was there...
He stood up and wondered into the bedroom. He'd need an early night for what lay ahead...
Back in his homeroom, Lion was chatting with another therapist about the latest article in the Cyber-Psych magazine. The other therapist glanced at his watch, and said, "Hey, it's getting kinda late. I've got a long day tomorrow, so I'll catch you later, alright?"
Lion nodded. "Sure, tomorrow. I'll be up for a while longer, have to write a report."
"Coolies. You take care!"
His friend dashed off, and soon Lion was alone in his room. Pulling up a desk, he began to write his report. After thirty minutes of this, his mind began to wander to another case he had been involved in...
The person he was thinking of had been sent to him, because he specialized in crisis cases, and this person was at severe risk for suicide, both in the real world and in the virtual one. He thought of this case, because one thing that had been laying heavily on his mind was the fact that, "technology may have advanced so far, but psychology is still limited. There's only so much that can be done."
He thought for a while longer, and then snapped back to reality, continuing his report.
The bar was one of those trendy hang-outs where thirty-something yuppies went to hang out. As a result, it was pretty easy to find "Digs" Malloy. He was the only one in the entire bar who didn't have a human avatar, choosing instead to take the persona of a minotaur, the lower human part of his body wearing a fashionable suit, while the upper half had a fearsome bulls head on it with a diamond ring coming out of its nose. He was in the corner of the bar whispering into the ears of a few ladies.
Amos shook his head and made his way over.
"Well, well, look who we have here," said Digs looking up at Amos. "Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to my good friend FBI Agent Jerry Amos." He put out his cigarette in an ash tray, "What's shakin' Jer?"
"The usual Digs," said Jerry standing next to Digs' booth. "I'd like to have a word with you in private."
"Aww, c'mon Jer! A word with you can mean 20 to life." The minotaurs head motioned slightly to women on either side. "Could you come back later,"
The grin quickly faded from Amos's face. "No I could not," he said. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and slapped them on to Digs's wrists. The flashed pink, and Digs shudderred in shock as the code enterred into his terminal. Amos reached down and grabbed him by the nape of his shirt and dragged him off the stool.
"We'll be right back," he said, smiling to the ladies, before dragging Digs out into the lobby of the bar.
"What's the deal?" Digs protested loudly.
"I'll tell you what the deal is," said Amos. "You're under arrest for cyber-crime. Your terminal is now suspended and you cannot log-off or leave this site. Law enforcement agencies are now on their way to your physical location and will charge you there. Anything you do, say, emote, or send can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you."
Digs snorted, "You don't have anything on me,"
"Oh I don't?" said Amos. "So you're telling me if I try to look up a certain Mrs. Natalie Merriweather, I won't find a front for your drug-smuggling friends in the Russian Mafia?"
Digs' avatar went pale in the face, "Alright, alright, I get the idea. What do you want to know?"
"The Skull," said Amos. "Tell me what you know."
"The Skull, what are you, a moron?" Digs turned even whiter. "No one I know runs with the Skull, or even talks about him. Too hot."
Amos feined looking at his watch, "That paddywagon should be reaching your house real soon Digs." He tapped his foot for dramatic effect.
Digs drew himself closer to Amos and his voice went into a whisper, "Look, I'm telling you the truth. No one wants to be caught even talking about the Skull, because they don't want to be his next target. I knew this guy, ran a hack-shop in Reno. He's the kinda guy who's always bragging about stuff he'd never do. Well he said he was going gto try to hack the Skull. BS, I know. He doesn't even know who the Skull is, how's he gonna hack him, right? Next week, the guy turns up dead. Local police said it was mob debts...I know better, and I stay away from the business of serial killers." Digs looked down at his handcuffs then back at Amos. "So are we cool?" he asked.
Amos turned away and waved at the handcuffs which fell off the minotaurs hands, disintegrating on the ground. Off in the distance, he thought he heard a voice asking, "Excuse me sir? Excuse me sir?"
"Command console: Disconnect," Amos mutterred quickly, falling out of the bar and into his body, staring up at a flight attendant.
"Excuse me sir, but we're on final approach to Metropolis, could you please buckle your seatbelt?" she said with a smile.
Amos obliged her with one of his own and buckled his belt.
It was just about time to get down to business.
Suddenly the lights went out!
Lion blinked for a moment, looking round. This was unusual! He'd heard about power cuts when someone was logged on, but the jack chair had an emergency disconnect system for that! If that was hat had happened, how come he wasn't sat back in his home?
The he heared it...quiet at first, but steadily growing louder. A deep, sinister laugh, repeating again and again, almost manic in sound! The noise echoed through the darkness, sounding like it came from multiple places at once!
Slowly Lion stood up, using his hands to find his way because of the darkness. His spine was tingling with aprehension. "Wh...who's there?" he called, his voice sounding hollow and flat in the cloying darkness.
Suddenly a light flashed behind him and an impossibly deep, gravely voice thundered around the room. "ME!"
Lion spun round, jumping backwards in horror as he saw the figure...the old, yellowing bones, the raging fire burning in the skull and rib cage...
Though he had never seen him...he knew instantly. "The Skull...?" he murmured, barely able to speak!
The fifteen-foot tall skelleton stared down at him, it's lipless jaws open in a vicious leer. Slowly it reached an arm across it's middle, the bones cracking and rattling together with the movement, and bowed stiffly from the waist down. "THE SAME." the thunderous voice boomed. "YOU SAID YOU WISHED TO SPEAK TO ME..." The figure chuckled a loud, rumbling laugh that shook the Webroom to it's foundations. "...YES, I HEARD YOU. I HEAR EVERYTHING. SO...HERE I AM."
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A loud bleeping penatrated into Hunter's subconcious. With a start he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Someone was in his Guest Room! Quickly he jumped up out of bed and moved into the living room. He lay down on the jack seat and his Webroom sprung into view around him.
The Guest Room was over by the entrance, a small room seperate from the main Webroom, that only appeared when the Webroom status was OPEN. It was designed as a place for people to wait while the Webroom owner responded to their call. Hunter took a deep breath, unsure exactly what to expect inside the room, and stepped through the doorway.
What he saw was the last thing he expected! The room was empty! He looked around at the small padded benches, provided for people to sit. Nothing!
He turned and stepped back into the main Webroom, a puzzled expression on his face. The alarm had definitely sounded! And yet...
Slowly he moved over to his chair and sat down. Maybe it was some kind of glitch. Maybe it was even his imagination playing games with him! He was on edge with all this, and maybe...
The lights in the room went out, and he was plunged into darkness. He tried to jump up, to stand from the chair, but he felt a weight on his wrists and ankles! The chair itself was no longer the soft, comfortable recliner it should have been, but a hard, metal-like substance, cold to the touch!
A light flashed on up above him, blindingly intense, picking him and the chair out from the blackness like a spotlight. Looking down, he found his chair had indeed become an upright, unyealding, metal construction, with shackles on the arms and floor, binding his hands and legs!
Was his dream coming true? Had some hacker with a personal grudge located him? Narowing his eyes, he tried to peer into the darkness beond the spotlight, but it was to no avail. He could see nothing at all.
He could hear something though! Footsteps...quiet, light, but there! they seemed to be slowly circling him, staying in the shadows just beond the ring of light. Taking anothr deep breath, he spoke out into the darkness: "Who's there?"
"You should know who we are." The voice was female, warm and soft, almost musical. It didn't sem to fit at all with the cold, harsh situation. "You called us. We have come."
The voice was slowly moving round his back, following the footsteps. He turned his head, facing (as best he could considering his confinement) the footfalls as they moved round to his side. "If you really are who you say you are, then why this treatment?" he growled. "You're supposed to be on the good side!"
"For our protection." replied the voice. "As computer programs we have no saftey protocols, no emergancy disconnects. Many of us have been lured into traps in the past." The footsteps continued round his side and stopped directly in front of him. "We have learned to be cautious."
Hunter sighed, fixing the darkness in front of him with a stare. "You must know who I am." he replied. "Surely you can see that I mean no harm."
"Time will tell." muttered the voice quietly. "Why did you bring us here?"
Hunter leaned back in the chair, making himself as comfy as he could be considering the circumstances. "The Skull." he replied simply. "We need your help capturing him."
A second voice spoke, this one a man's voice, neither loud nor quiet, neither harsh nor soothing. "The Skull? Has the situation really escalated that far? There hasn't been a Cyber Hacker that dangerous for quite a while..."
Lion recovered his composure quickly, the appearance of fear and surprise fading. "Wow. It's really you! I...If you have some time, I would like to begin by asking you a question...: What motivates you? What is the fire that gives your life, what others call a 'Cyber Hacker' and 'Criminal', purpose?"
The Skull's jaw dropped open and a harsh laugh echoed around the room. "YOU HAVE GUTS, FOR A FOOL!" he rumbled. "WHY, YOU ASK? THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE..." A skeletal arm reached forward, and suddenly Lion found himself consumed in fire, his skin burning like paper! He cried out in agony, and fell to his knees.
Then, intantly, the fire dissapeared again.
"...BECAUSE I CAN!" leered The Skull evily. "WHAT MORE REASON DO i NEED?"
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Hunter jumped and looked round, but the darkness hid the second figure too. He could still see nothing. "I know." he replied. "But we are at a loss! We have no leads whatsoever."
"We're aware of him." the female voice continued. "He is very powerful. He's managed to avoid even our attempts to track him."
"If we work together, we can bring him down." replied Hunter, narrowing his eyes.
There was a pause, then: "Very well." A figure stepped forward into the light...
She was small, barely five feet, but her appearence gave her a charisma that would be hard to miss! Her face was feline, with short, pointed ears, a small nose, and long, silky fur. Her fur was ghostly white.
She wore a tight fitting white catsuit, made of some kind of plastic substance, with multiple pockets all over it. It excentuated her impressive form...looking at her shape, Hunter could see why they were called Angels...but the most noticable thing about her was her eyes. They were devided up like normal eyes, but the whites and pupils were both jet black. The irises, though, were a luminous, glowing blue, looking like there was electricity running behind them!
"My name is Venus." she said in her soft, silky voice. "We'll assist you in bringing The Skull to justice, with just one rule...tell only those who absolutely need to know about us. Nobody else. Understood?"
Hunter nodded slowly. Venus raised a hand, and the shackles holding him to the chair mellted away. He quickly stood up, rubbing his wrists, and looked down from his height at the small figure in front of him. She looked tiny, delicate, but he knew that in this world, she posessed a power far greater than he could ever hope to achive!
And the other? He spun round as the second figure stepped into the light...
(OOC: Looking good all^^ keep it up! In a few days I'm going on holiday, just until Sunday or so, so when I do if it's ok we'll just pause the RP for a few days...
Mainly to allow a few more ppl to join^^
then when I get back we can pile into it again lol. Keep posting for now. I won't be leaving just yet 
)
Lion had fallen to his knees, gasping as the fire left. "I...I see. That's a good reason. It's a talent you have, and you're developing it. You've proven your power to me. Is there anything I can do to help you achieve your goals?"
Hunter met the eyes of a human man. These eyes were much like Venus', only instead of blue, there was yellow. He stood tall, more than six feet, and had a powerfully-built body. His bald head reflected the light. He was wearing clothing that Hunter recognized only as white with grey trim Priestly robes and vestments, with the symbol of a shining sun with a peaceful face emblazoned all along it. "I'm glad you've been paying better attention to this situation, Venus. I have been occupied with...other ventures, as of late. I am Com."
The Skull leaned forward, the bone of his face barely inches from Lion's nose. "ENTERTAIN ME." he replied. "I WANT SOME FUN, AND YOU ARE GOING TO PROVIDE IT! AS LONG AS I FIND YOU AMUSING I WILL LET YOU LIVE."
The massive figure stepped backwards, once again towering over him. "UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE LITTLE TIME NOW, BUT I WILL RETURN!" The skelleton raised a finger, and the fire in it's rib cage suddenly flamed up like someone had poured fuel on it! "BUT BE WARNED...BREATHE A WORD TO THE CYBER POLICE, AND YOU'LL PAY DEARLY!"
The familliar deep laugh echoed around the room again, as The Skull's avatar slowly faded out of existance and the lights in the Webroom returned to normal.
============================================================
"I can't thank you enough for your help!" replied Hunter, secretly a little annoyed at his treatment, but deciding to ignore it. "We'll give you all the info we have so far..."
"We already have it." replied Venus casually. "We'll start running some searches, see if we can dig anything up." She turned as if to leave, but Hunter called to her.
"Wait, I'd like to get to know you both better if we're going to be working together."
"Time waits for no one, Mister Hunter." replied Com quietly. "There'll be time for that later."
"Well at least we should co-ordinate the investigation together, to figure out..."
"You have your ways, we have ours." replied Venus, fixing him with her cold blue eyes. "We'll meet with you tomorrow to inform you of our findings." With that, she turned and stepped off into the shadows again. Hunter was about to protest again, but suddenly the lights in the Webroom flashed back on and everything returned to normal. Turning, he saw Com had dissapeared too.
With a sigh he sat down on his now normal arm chair and jacked out of the system. That wasn't what he had been expecting at all! Still, truth was he hadn't known what to expect...
He glanced at the clock...4:42 am. Pretty soon he'd need to get up for work anyway! There wasn't much point in trying to sleep now.
And of course there'd be that FBI Agent to deal with too...darn. Things weren't going as expected at all!
Amos sat cross-legged in his personal web-room. It didn't deviate too much from the standard room other than a few posters. Amos sometimes held meetings here with fellow employees, witnesses, and even un-aware suspects. He didn't like to give too much away about himself.
In reality, his body was in a limousine, being taken to the Metropolis central police precinct, while his bags were being taken to a hotel in another car.
He stared down on the desk in front of him. On it sat two cubes. Inside one was a perfect replica of the crime scene, while inside the other sat a perfect replica of the cyber crime scene. He had pulled both of them off of the Metropolis P.D.'s mainframe shortly after landing. Something seemed...off however.
He waved his hand over the virtual crime scene replica, and it began to play. Two avatars stepped into the room. For identifications sake, names had been afixed over their heads on the replica of Sgt. Hunter and Officer Winston. They were inspecting the crime scene and talking, but they didn't seem to be having much look making sense of the scene.
"We've been chasing him for years," Sgt. Hunter said. He paused briefly before continuing, "I'll sort it out. Let's just get out of this room."
Amos waved his hand over the recording again. The flow of the conversation didn't seem right. Also, when Amos replayed it in slow motion, he saw a micro-second disconnect between Sgt. Hunter's facial expression during his pause.
There was no doubt in his mind, the recording had been docterred some how. But who?
Amos was usually very good at picking up cyber-footprints. Usually, whenever anyone did anything in cyber-space, it left some sort of tell, some sign that they had been there. Amos hadn't risen as far as he had in the FBI without being able to ascertain these signs.
However, Amos was shocked to find that he couldn't ascertain any signs that the recording had been tamperred with. Every trick in the book said that this was the crime scene, as it was recorded, but at the same time, every instinct in his body told him that this was wrong.
Perhaps this would require more than just a simple cyber-space investigation. Something Sgt. Max Hunter had said was coverred up.
Dropping back into the real world, he stepped out of the limousine as it came to a stop in front of the police precict. Walking up the steps inside, he approached the clerk at the front desk. He flashed his badge, which was immedietly scanned by every camera in the room. Within a moment, the clerk cleared him and asked what his purpose was.
"I'd like to speak with Sergeant Max Hunter if it wouldn't be too much trouble."
Once The Skull had left, Lion immediately logged out!
Back in his study, he reflected on what had just happened. He wasn't sure of the right word for it, but Casper could see now that The Skull was a sociopath! "No negotiating...and I'm his next victim!"
What made it worse was that he might strike elsewhere...maybe he wouldn't be The Skull's next victim! "But how do you entertain a sociopath?"
Casper shuddered as he considered the possibilities. Deciding to catch some sleep, he made his way to his bed.
"I could stay safe by just not logging in again...and calling the Police from here. But no matter what, I have to go back in. I have appointments tomorrow, and I can't miss them. I have some very fragile cases...I have to go back. What do I do?"
(OOC: okey kokey, intro completed^^ This is where the RP really starts!
This will be the last post I make on this RP before going on holiday...don't want to do way too much and put people off joining. You guys can still post after this though^^
And when I get back we'll motor into it
For continuity reasons we'll assume Srol's post is the morning after last night.)
Hunter stood up from his desk as through the window he saw the FBI agent enter the room. It was a long room, but instead of desks and computers, it was full of jack chairs. Cyber Officers were sat in the chairs, their eyes closed, working on their individual cases. Hunter's office was seperated from the rest by a thin wall with a large window in it.
The agent was being led by Winston. The two threaded their way between the two rows of terminals and up to the office.
"Come in." called Hunter as they knocked on the door. They entered the room.
"Mister Amos." said Hunter, stepping forward and extending his hand to the man. "Good to have you here."
============================================================
Her name had been Elise. Elise Stevens.
That was a long time ago.
But she still missed those days. She always would.
That was how it worked. The blessing of incredible power and speed, of almost infinite knowledge at your fingertips...
...and the curse of confinement, trapped forevermore in a world where no sun shined, no grass grew, and people were thin copies of themselves.
Did she regret it? No. It had to be done. She had had no choice.
But still, what she would give to feel the sun shine down on her head once more...not simulated, but real.
She had wanted children at one point. Needless to say that was impossible now.
But the worst of it all, was the loneliness. To stay safe she and the others couldn't reveal themselves to the public. Some had created other Avatars to use when mingling with others, but even when doing this they had to be careful. It was all too easy for somone to spot a glitch in the code, like the lack of an inbound signal. Most, herself included, prefared not to risk it at all, instead merging into the Machine Code at the very base of the programming and observing things from there.
But this ment that the only contact they had with others was with each other, with a victim or someone recruiting them, or with the hacker they were fighting.
Venus let out a long sigh as she traveled the Machine Code, looking out at the various figures passing by, unable to see her embedded in the coding beside them. She was bitterly lonely...
Suddenly she spotted something near one of the webrooms. She homed in on it, stripping away the lines of code above it with her mind. It was small, but it was there!
A red mark, almost like a small blob of molten lava stuck to the wall. The Skull's footprint!
He was good, very good, to have cut down his trail so much! But even the best had weaknesses. She set off down the code, her eyes scanning for any more footprints.
(OOC: Still room for others to join! Come on in, and welcome^^
I'll make my next post as soon as I get back from holiday, around Sunday. Keep checking here for updates^^)
EDIT: back all^^ I was hoping one or two more would join while I was away. Ah well.
lol were you guys waiting for me before posting again? Feel free to post whenever you like 
Also: you guys still wanna continue if it's just us three in the RP? I'd be happy to carry on if you like, but if you'd rather pull out I'll understand. Let me know what you think.
And there's still room for more to join if anyone wants^^ hint hint *cough*)
OOC: My personal opinion: The RP Guild seems to have gotten quieter, since the time I arrived anyway. Of course, I haven't been spending as much time here myself, so who am I to talk?
IC:
Com found an old, less used data stream, and stopped to catch his breath. He laughed out loud, realizing that he had no breath with which to catch! The irony of his very existence struck him. He had not been here long, and he personally never wanted to prolong his life, but...this was a different world than the one of misery he left. "It has risks, I always have to hide and be careful, but it is a lot more fun! My limits are so small here."
He closed his eyes, concentrating on a segment of data that was now far away. While he did this, part of his mind wandered. Venus...that was the only name he knew she had. In a way, he wanted to know more about her, but she also only knew his name. He didn't want to share his history with anyone. It was all in that pain-filled world, the one he had tried so hard to leave. "But...a priest!?"
There was the irony again. He had hated the religious leaders he had met; they were too zealous in their beliefs, he thought, too unwilling to accept anything that didn't fit their views of the world and how things worked. Of course, he had only met two in person, and there were hundreds. Surely, someone out there was good and kind.
Again. Again, that plaguing thought of hope! "Why should I have hope, when I am hopeless!"
He finished linking with that distant data stream, and so he began to move on again.
Casper was scared. He was looking at his computer, and the data jack, and he felt an overwhelming fear. After a moment of frantic running, he found himself hiding beneath his bed! "This is silly," he thought, "a grown man scared of his computer?"
No, he realized the fear wasn't the computer, but of the danger that lurked just beyond. He mentally coaxed himself from beneath the bed, and then controlled his breathing to help calm himself as he walked, step by step, back to his computer. He helped keep his mind from panic again, by thinking how fascinating it was that one experience could have so large an impact. Of course, stories in the news of similar cases influenced him. Some people have actually developed intense paranoias of the 'Net, with much of the credit going to the volumes of those stories.
Keeping himself occupied with these thoughts, Casper sat in his comfortable jack-in chair, and allowed himself to be dragged in. He had an appointment, in a special chamber built next to his homeroom, and he would only have to wait a few minutes before the person he knew as Gregg926 would arrive.
(OOC: I hope this is alright Wraith...correct me if my post isn't right, and I'll edit.)
Name: Samantha McGrey (Sam)
Age: 35
Appearence: About6"5, slightly muscular yet has a lean build. Orange shoulder-length hair, very straight. Green eyes and pale skin. Black-rimmed glasses. When at work, she wears a white, long-sleeved blouse with a navy-blue sweater over top and kahki pants.
Job: Metropolis Police Force: Cyber Crime Unit, Detective.
Past Experience: Samantha, at an early age, had an unusual IQ average. She finished 500 piece jigsaw puzzles within three hours and was always found at her computer. When her friend was attacked by Cyber-stalkers, Sam made it her mission to avenge her friend by digging up clues. Disguising herself with a fake identity, the girl of fifteen secretly passed the info she found on to the Cyber Police, eventually helping them capture three more Stalkers over the next few months. One day, though, one of the officers discovered her identity, but instead of getting in trouble, Samantha was asked to join the police force.
Online Name: Firefly
Online Avatar: A tall anthro-ish fox with long orange hair in a braid and green eyes. Sam designed her avatar to have a sky-blue tank-top, jeans, and a jean jacket to match. Also has brown high-heeled boots.
---------
She sighed annoyedly, her long fox tail swishing in an irritated fashion behind her. Samantha brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face as she shoved another drawer closed. The file container instantly went back into storage with a simple 'bleep', leaving Detective McGrey to mull over the latest case.
So far nothing had been found to point her and her team in the right direction. Although the Skull was clearly the criminal, they had yet to find out where he was. Even she, one of the most praised detectives in the Cyber Police Force found herself running into a dead end. She had been here, searching the main database for any usable information on this guy, and reading her brains out.
Sam watched as one of her fellow colleagues passed by, an eagle with muscular hands and legs with talons. The fellow detective read her face like a book, "Nuthin'?"
"Nope. Not a single lead today, Tobias. Zippo. Zilch."
Tobias sighed, shaking his head. "Well, keep lookin'. And while you're at it, check in wit' Sargent Hunter. He may be able ta help."
Nodding, the vixen left the database, returning to the familiar atmosphere of the detective department.
(OOC: Looks good SL, welcome to the RP^^ Thanks for joining.
I'm still waiting on a reply from Srol to my message...he seems to have gone AWOL and Hunter is waiting for his character to reply lol. Until either he returns or he gives permission for his character to be played, we're a little stuck >< I'll keep you posted, and if he doesn't come back soon I may play Amos for a little while.)
EDIT: (OOC: Okay I haven't seen Srol on or heard back from him for a long time, so I'll take over his character. Srol if you do come back, I'm sorry, but you're welcome to reclaim him at any point^^)
IC:
"A pleasure." replied Amos, nodding respectfully. Both of them suspected the other was bluffing somewhat, but neither said anything to the affect.
"Needless to say I'm only here to observe." continued Amos, sitting down in one of the chairs in the office. "The investigation is still very much in your court, Mister Hunter."
Max nodded, sitting back down behind his desk. "If there's anything you need, feel free to ask Winston." he replied.
"I've been reviewing what we have on The Skull." said Amos, pulling a holosheet out of his bag and touching the thin plastic to activate it. "There isn't much." The plastic sheet in his hand lit up and began to desplay a series of images and text. "Identity: Unknown. Computer System: Unknown. Method of Codebreaking: Unknown...he was once tracked to a home in the downtown area of this city, but when investigated the home was empty and all leads related to it were useless."
Hunter nodded slowly. "After that he went into hiding." he replied. "We didn't hear anything about him for nearly two years."
Amos placed the holosheet down on the desk. "And now he's back, and we're lost." he said, fixing Hunter with a less-than-comfort-inducing stare. "For all we know he could be in a different country by now." He had deliberately decided not to mention the doctored crime scene recordings yet.
"Very possible." muttered Hunter, nodding. "We're persuing all lines we can find, but at the moment we're pretty much clueless. We'll be sure to let you know if we find anything."
Samantha stood up and moved away from the jack-seat, running a hand through her hair. She stretched, picked up a folder that had been dropped off, and sat down in her normal chair. Sighing, McGrey began to leaf through the information. After a few moments of scanning the carefully made notes and the photographs she closed the folder and placed it back on her desk, almost thoughtfully.
So far, no leads had been found, true. Sam had read about previous cases involving the Skull, examined evidence and such. There were only two things she hadn't yet done. First off, she needed to talk to Sargent Hunter to see if she could glean any helpful hints from him. Second, it might be a good idea to search the various chatrooms.
Her mind made up, Samantha stowed the folder away in one of the file-cabinets and got up. She straightened herself out and turned to leave, heading for Hunter's office.
As he flowed through a data stream, Com noticed a familiar pattern and name. He altered course, and ran a quick scan. "Him!?"
Com laughed out loud, as he moved for a closer look. It was the same home computer address that he had seen in the behavioral services office. His former psychologist, from back in the real world, was talking with a cyber-client at this very moment! Com began to ponder a course of action.
Gregg926 and Lion were chatting. Lion had reviewed the case beforehand, and it reminded him of a case that he felt responsible for...a case where the client couldn't take it anymore, and finally snapped, committing self-cybercide. Lion would be more careful this time. He was more experienced now, and wouldn't let his anonymous client get trapped in those horrible negative thoughts.
At the same time, in the back of Lion's mind, he was worried about his own well-being, because he knew The Skull was due, anytime...
The trail had dissapeared. It was only small to begin with, and he had done a good job eraising most of it.
Venus sighed slightly as she looked around. There were various webrooms nearby, most of them private rooms, not run by companies. The trail could have ended here because The Skull had gone into one of these rooms, or it could be that he managed to delete it from here on.
The best thing would be to check all the rooms nearby to see if she could find anything useful. She slid herself through the walls of code and into the coding of the Webrooms.
She stayed embedded in the machine code as she checked. She rarely left it. It was too dangerous to be seen, plus if no one knew she was there, no one would be able to forbid her access to anything they might not want her to see. It wasn't particularly nice, to pry into people's personal lives, but it was her job.
Cyber Stalkers did it, and they may have left clues there, so she had no choice but to do it as well.
None of the Webrooms in the area were turning up anything, and she was about to give up, when she felt something, a fluctuation in the code, a desturbance, so small that it was barely noticable...
...but years of experiance had atuned her to things like that. She began to scan around the code, looking for the anomaly.
"Com?"
============================================================
"...we believe he may still be in the city somewhere, but we just don't know."
Amos nodded slowly. "Where do you go when you don't have a clue..." he muttered quietly.
"Exactly." agreed Hunter. "Right now all we can really do is hope that the Cyber Ahhhemm...I mean Cyber Police can dig something up."
Amos raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond. His mind was working though...was that just a slip of the tongue or was Hunter about to say something else there...?
Suddenly there was a knck at the office door. Hunter sat back in his chair. "Come in." he called.
Com jumped at the mention of his name. "Venus! Good grief, sorry, I'm still not used to that. What brings you here?"
