Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thanks to Keen for introducing this series to me. It's on YouTube, of course. It's about a secret organization that uses walking cellphones to fight cybercrime. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-tai_Investigator_7 Phone Braver 5, part 1
The door slid open at a touch. Arisha shoved back the hair from her eyes again, focusing on the small apartment's open foyer. She pulled out her cellphone and flipped it open, entering the four digits that would cause the phone to expand into its other form, a two-legged, two-armed, small man-like figure, with wide grey eyes and a perpetual smile along its screen.
The door slid open at a touch. Arisha shoved back the hair from her eyes again, focusing on the small apartment's open foyer. She pulled out her cellphone and flipped it open, entering the four digits that would cause the phone to expand into its other form, a two-legged, two-armed, small man-like figure, with wide grey eyes and a perpetual smile along its screen.
"We need to find the computer, buddy," uttered the phone.
Arisha was gazing around the room, looking at all the different artwork. She could easily be distracted by what was on the walls, or a sculpture in a corner, being initially an art student before being recruited into Under Anchor just a short year ago. Although her art appreciation got their initial attention, it was her underlying ability with akido that kept her there. She was a short, half-French woman that carried mostly Japanese features, with the exception of her eyes not being quite as almond shaped and her skintone betraying her southern-French bearing. Darker than most Japanese, she could still easily blend into a crowd.
"But this vase is from the Edo period - "
"Buddy, come on!" The phone was already racing into the apartment.
Sighing at having to step away from the ancient piece, she followed the green colored cellphone down the narrow corridor. It skidded to a stop as something turned the corner to face his buddy.
"What're you doing here?" snarled a man.
"Your door was open," she said, advancing, her hands up in a gesture of submission. "I wanted to make sure you're all right."
"I'm fine," he growled in response.
"You shouldn't leave your door open," she continued, backing away with one step, attempting to draw him away from the cellphone that darted into a nearby room. She kept her eyes on the man, and smiled gently. "Are you trying to attract pretty young women?"
The man snorted at her. At any other time, she would have taken offense, but she needed to keep him busy while her buddy examined the hard drives on the computer to find out whether or not the cyberporn that was pouring onto the local city website actually came from this computer. Instead, she smiled sweetly, trying to turn on all her charm.
"Get out, if you please, and I won't report you to the police," the man said.
She counted mentally in her head, the necessary five seconds it would take for her cellphone buddy to access the computer. "I will," she commented, "but I was just admiring your vase over here..."
The man's face lit up for half a second before returning to a serious mode again. "What about it?"
"It seems it's from the Edo period, am I correct?"
Now his eyes narrowed. "How do you know?"
I used to track art thefts before being hired by Anchor, she could have said, but instead smiled again. "Oh, I know a little bit about artwork. Do you have any other pieces?"
Glancing down, she saw her cellphone, Fiver, peek around the corner and give her a thumbs-up. She focused her eyes on the man again. She bowed slightly and watched as Fiver hugged the wall, barely passing the man's foot. "I have taken up too much of your time," she said, then reached out her hand. Fiver jumped from the floor, retracting his form and landing squarely in her hand. Arisha didn't stop to see the man's reaction, and instead bolted out the door.
"He saw you," Fiver cried.
"No shit," Arisha replied, turning a corner swiftly and running down the stairs. She threw open a door to outside then doubled back, ducking under the stairwell. As she expected, a man's heavy footfalls echoed around her, and the door flew open, sending light and dust in her direction.
"How long do you plan on staying here," whispered Fiver.
"Sleep mode," Arisha snapped.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Jack watched his friend, Penitency, as he let loose with another blast from his Nova form. Lodestar, his own Kheldian, had never changed forms, and, in fact, preferred that Jack didn't even discuss him. But Pen knew from a distance that there was a Kheldian in Jack, and so a bond formed, more than just mere heroes together for the sake of duty.
Penitency named himself such because he knew he wasn't long for this world. His Kheldian chose to keep himself alive, at the expense of his host, so his host aged naturally. Fifty years ago, the two men were on opposite sides of a war that had a clear ideological bent. Fifty years ago, Penitency was named Heinrich, and wore a black uniform with the flashing silver SS on the collar. He had long ago sworn off his National Socialist ways after being "de-Nazified" and moved to America.
He kept his heroism under wraps until the most recent Rikti invasion, and then struggled again to use his abilities. He had no short term memory, relying entirely on his Kheldian to feed him information. When Jack found him and began working with him, the two so-called Golden Age heroes hit it off well. Knowing from his own Kheldian to protect Pen, he went first against Void Slayers and Quantum gunners. This was the typical tactic.
The tactic they always used.
Except this once.
The Void Slayer had his back turned, and Pen had the element of surprise on his side. He fired once, but the Void deflected it. Pen looked behind him - but Jack wasn't there this time.
Jack had been easily overwhelmed by a group of Council, with an archon that tore his uniform and soul. He had limited defense against such attacks so hadn't disengaged - that is, beaten - the rest of them. He finally finished and plowed toward the room where Pen had gotten into, but before he could get there, something flew through the plywood wall, the glass of a nearby office, and landed with a thud into a credenza.
Jack turned around to see the Void Stalker step through the carnage of the wall, and, ignoring the form in the credenza, Jack charged at the Stalker. Knowing he was a Kheldian, he fired his weapon but missed; Jack planted a solid haymaker and knocked him out cold, then slapped a teleporter disk on him.
Council swarmed him immediately, as he fought them off one by one, figuring that Pen had already been teleported to the hospital. He finished with that group and turned toward the office where Pen...still lay.
Jack narrowed his eyes in confusion. The hospital teleporter should have taken him. He rushed to him, seeing the extent of his injuries. The area the teleporter had been implanted was gone - in fact, the left side of his neck and most of his left shoulder had been torn off. His arm hung by a bit of flesh connected to the side of his chest.
Jack looked at the blood, all the blood from both the host and the symbiote. The cut was clean, but the blood...
He knew from looking at the blood there was nothing left he could do, but pick up the body and carry it home.
Penitency named himself such because he knew he wasn't long for this world. His Kheldian chose to keep himself alive, at the expense of his host, so his host aged naturally. Fifty years ago, the two men were on opposite sides of a war that had a clear ideological bent. Fifty years ago, Penitency was named Heinrich, and wore a black uniform with the flashing silver SS on the collar. He had long ago sworn off his National Socialist ways after being "de-Nazified" and moved to America.
He kept his heroism under wraps until the most recent Rikti invasion, and then struggled again to use his abilities. He had no short term memory, relying entirely on his Kheldian to feed him information. When Jack found him and began working with him, the two so-called Golden Age heroes hit it off well. Knowing from his own Kheldian to protect Pen, he went first against Void Slayers and Quantum gunners. This was the typical tactic.
The tactic they always used.
Except this once.
The Void Slayer had his back turned, and Pen had the element of surprise on his side. He fired once, but the Void deflected it. Pen looked behind him - but Jack wasn't there this time.
Jack had been easily overwhelmed by a group of Council, with an archon that tore his uniform and soul. He had limited defense against such attacks so hadn't disengaged - that is, beaten - the rest of them. He finally finished and plowed toward the room where Pen had gotten into, but before he could get there, something flew through the plywood wall, the glass of a nearby office, and landed with a thud into a credenza.
Jack turned around to see the Void Stalker step through the carnage of the wall, and, ignoring the form in the credenza, Jack charged at the Stalker. Knowing he was a Kheldian, he fired his weapon but missed; Jack planted a solid haymaker and knocked him out cold, then slapped a teleporter disk on him.
Council swarmed him immediately, as he fought them off one by one, figuring that Pen had already been teleported to the hospital. He finished with that group and turned toward the office where Pen...still lay.
Jack narrowed his eyes in confusion. The hospital teleporter should have taken him. He rushed to him, seeing the extent of his injuries. The area the teleporter had been implanted was gone - in fact, the left side of his neck and most of his left shoulder had been torn off. His arm hung by a bit of flesh connected to the side of his chest.
Jack looked at the blood, all the blood from both the host and the symbiote. The cut was clean, but the blood...
He knew from looking at the blood there was nothing left he could do, but pick up the body and carry it home.