03-06-2010, 05:12 AM
In some ways, Gamer felt a little…off.
Kill Town was, in a word, perfect. The concept was flawless, and up to that point, its execution was nearly as good, though there were a few hiccups along the way. He had made all of his robots himself, although some new ones had been planted with the rest. They all had the mark of a different creator—it was Magnus, no doubt, since he held an odd sort of humor underneath his terribly gloomy exterior. Although the liberties that the man had taken with Gamer’s project made his blood boil, risking a tarnish on the entire process, some of them were priceless. The cowboy robot that had identified itself as Wess, for instance, was awesome in many respects. It was almost a shame that he would have to scrap it after the game’s events, just to ensure his own personal integrity.
Lance had all but figured out his role in the game—much to Keith’s relief, as the kid had spent several hours designing his own in-game costume. He understood the need for flash and flair, but he couldn’t comprehend how much time could have possibly gone into making a Megaman suit knock-off. Regardless, he was jacked into the game, and every piece was beginning to fall into place. The players themselves could not have been more entertaining to watch, even for such an early part in the game. Some of the results from such reactions, however, were more…violent than he had anticipated, especially from the blue-haired girl—Sage, as he noted when he opened her file. Luckily, the damage was minimal, especially for someone with the programming capabilities of Magnus.
However entertaining Keith found it to be, however, he knew that it was time for things to officially begin. Flicking a switch, he leaned in close to the microphone in front of him, keeping an eye on the monitors as he began to speak. “...testing.”
He said it in an intentionally soft tone, curious as to who would look up. Some were too busy in their emotional breakdowns to react, and even the ones who seemed to hear him made no efforts to look up. Frowning, Gamer shook his head and tapped on the microphone with more force. “Hey! Losers, look up here!”
The newest reactions were more…tangible. That same Sage girl who had been teetering on the edge of violent temper and despair nearly jumped out of her own shoes, her head jerking back and forth in an apparent attempt to look for answers. The man she had been speaking to merely crossed his arms, shaking his head with his eyes closed. On another monitor, the blonde couple that he had spoken to earlier simply looked to the sky with blank expressions—their experience in Dante’s Abyss had apparently hardened their nerves—while the ginger that had recently tagged along looked inside a nearby popcorn machine to see if that was where the voice had originated.
In fact, everyone who was present had started paying attention. Satisified, Keith smirked. “There you go. As most of you have gathered, I’m not actually there, so you can stop looking around. No seriously, it’s distracting,” everyone who had been moving stopped. “Thank you. Anyway, here I am, and here you are. Welcome to Kill Town.”
“Why are you doing this?” the question came from the one-eyed Saiyan, who had been playing a game up until his announcement. Orion, from a quick glance off-screen to the roster, was his name. It was odd where his emphasis landed in his speech—odd, however, until he realized what he actually meant.
“I don’t really know what to tell you,” Gamer shrugged, though they couldn’t see it. “I got bored. It wasn’t fair that Damon Dukes got to have all the fun. I figured I could put you in a…much better game.”
“You say that like you’re doing us a favor!”
“Your reaction is more or less what I expected,” the boy replied, “and mostly why I felt it necessary to capture you. And before we turn this into a Q&A session, let me tell you that there’s absolutely no hope for you to escape. You see, you guys aren’t actually here.”
“…what?” served as a good summary of the collection of responses that his comment had garnered.
“You are inside a game of my own creation, like I told you,” he explained. “You’re all napping quite peacefully in a secluded room while plugged into a machine. Kind of like that one movie…um…with Keanu Reeves…uh…”
“It’s The Matrix, you ignorant bastard!” the blonde man with the red jacket informed him rather…forcefully.
“Yes, that one,” Gamer nodded. “So you probably won’t escape. End of story. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s go over the game rules, eh? It’s pretty simple—win as many events as you can, earn monies, and buy enough badges to win by the game’s end. More will be explained later, but I expect most of you to get the hang of it after a while.”
“So we play until we have a winner? After that, we’re all free to go?” someone asked, Gamer was taken too aback to determine the source.
“Oh, heavens no,” Keith responded. “When you lose, you guys will be killed. You know…splat. Only one of you is walking out today.”
A dreary silence fell upon the area as Gamer turned off his microphone and sat back. With a few buttons, the portals would be summoned, and they would be on their way to potential Kill Town supremacy.
No less than their lives were at stake.
*
“Hey, there you are.”
Keith waved at Magnus as he silently stepped through the threshold of the control room. The man had always creeped the teenage trillionaire out a little bit, but he proved to be his most invaluable partner in creating the machine that he now controlled. The man, a fair bit taller than himself, merely gave Keith an acknowledging head nod, brushing his greasy long black hair out of his pale face. He hadn’t slept in ages, it looked like, and he had probably been drinking again. Sometimes, Summers wondered if the guy could even function without the sauce. He was almost afraid to find out.
“…you started the game, I’m assuming,” the older hacker eventually spoke, glaring intently at the many monitors lining the walls. “Foolish. I told you not to start without me.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Keith waved him off, turning his chair back to the control panel. “I can handle it myself.”
“Hmph…well, at least you haven’t messed anything up…” the hacker said, “…yet. Has our enforcer settled in yet?”
“Yep. Baller has gained administrative status and he’s logged in as we speak,” Gamer tapped the screen as he made his comments. “He’s still getting used to everything. Those new powers you gave the enforcer status can be a little overwhelming.”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Baller spoke through his radio, making Keith realize that he still had communications open from when they were speaking earlier. “And I resent my user name, by the way.”
“What do you mean?” Gamer inquired innocently.
“You know exactly what I mean!” he snapped back.
“Be silent, both of you,” Magnus rolled his eyes. “You there, Boy. Continue adjusting yourself to your new abilities. You will be needed soon.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Baller gave him the “okay” sign before he turned off his radio.
“Are you going to log in soon?” Keith looked back up at the tall man.
“Not yet. I’m still working on the Tarrasque,” he replied, turning towards the door. “I’ve given your friend ample abilities, but something’s still concerning me. There are too many unknown quantities, including your sister and her new-found…friend.”
“Friend? You mean Kepler?” the boy shook his head. “I think he’s given up trying to get out long ago. He knows that it’s impossible. And my sister is too…timid, and content from the looks of it.”
“You underestimate them both,” Magnus shook his head. “But no worry. My program will solve it all.”
“Do you really think giving the security protocol an AI is really wise?” Keith frowned. “I can understand Mixie, but…”
“If you want to play the game, you must have all the pieces in place,” the hacker explained as he stepped out of the room. “Fear is a necessary implementation when dealing with living beings.”
Gamer rolled his eyes and returned his eyes to the game. That was all that mattered anymore.
Kill Town was, in a word, perfect. The concept was flawless, and up to that point, its execution was nearly as good, though there were a few hiccups along the way. He had made all of his robots himself, although some new ones had been planted with the rest. They all had the mark of a different creator—it was Magnus, no doubt, since he held an odd sort of humor underneath his terribly gloomy exterior. Although the liberties that the man had taken with Gamer’s project made his blood boil, risking a tarnish on the entire process, some of them were priceless. The cowboy robot that had identified itself as Wess, for instance, was awesome in many respects. It was almost a shame that he would have to scrap it after the game’s events, just to ensure his own personal integrity.
Lance had all but figured out his role in the game—much to Keith’s relief, as the kid had spent several hours designing his own in-game costume. He understood the need for flash and flair, but he couldn’t comprehend how much time could have possibly gone into making a Megaman suit knock-off. Regardless, he was jacked into the game, and every piece was beginning to fall into place. The players themselves could not have been more entertaining to watch, even for such an early part in the game. Some of the results from such reactions, however, were more…violent than he had anticipated, especially from the blue-haired girl—Sage, as he noted when he opened her file. Luckily, the damage was minimal, especially for someone with the programming capabilities of Magnus.
However entertaining Keith found it to be, however, he knew that it was time for things to officially begin. Flicking a switch, he leaned in close to the microphone in front of him, keeping an eye on the monitors as he began to speak. “...testing.”
He said it in an intentionally soft tone, curious as to who would look up. Some were too busy in their emotional breakdowns to react, and even the ones who seemed to hear him made no efforts to look up. Frowning, Gamer shook his head and tapped on the microphone with more force. “Hey! Losers, look up here!”
The newest reactions were more…tangible. That same Sage girl who had been teetering on the edge of violent temper and despair nearly jumped out of her own shoes, her head jerking back and forth in an apparent attempt to look for answers. The man she had been speaking to merely crossed his arms, shaking his head with his eyes closed. On another monitor, the blonde couple that he had spoken to earlier simply looked to the sky with blank expressions—their experience in Dante’s Abyss had apparently hardened their nerves—while the ginger that had recently tagged along looked inside a nearby popcorn machine to see if that was where the voice had originated.
In fact, everyone who was present had started paying attention. Satisified, Keith smirked. “There you go. As most of you have gathered, I’m not actually there, so you can stop looking around. No seriously, it’s distracting,” everyone who had been moving stopped. “Thank you. Anyway, here I am, and here you are. Welcome to Kill Town.”
“Why are you doing this?” the question came from the one-eyed Saiyan, who had been playing a game up until his announcement. Orion, from a quick glance off-screen to the roster, was his name. It was odd where his emphasis landed in his speech—odd, however, until he realized what he actually meant.
“I don’t really know what to tell you,” Gamer shrugged, though they couldn’t see it. “I got bored. It wasn’t fair that Damon Dukes got to have all the fun. I figured I could put you in a…much better game.”
“You say that like you’re doing us a favor!”
“Your reaction is more or less what I expected,” the boy replied, “and mostly why I felt it necessary to capture you. And before we turn this into a Q&A session, let me tell you that there’s absolutely no hope for you to escape. You see, you guys aren’t actually here.”
“…what?” served as a good summary of the collection of responses that his comment had garnered.
“You are inside a game of my own creation, like I told you,” he explained. “You’re all napping quite peacefully in a secluded room while plugged into a machine. Kind of like that one movie…um…with Keanu Reeves…uh…”
“It’s The Matrix, you ignorant bastard!” the blonde man with the red jacket informed him rather…forcefully.
“Yes, that one,” Gamer nodded. “So you probably won’t escape. End of story. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s go over the game rules, eh? It’s pretty simple—win as many events as you can, earn monies, and buy enough badges to win by the game’s end. More will be explained later, but I expect most of you to get the hang of it after a while.”
“So we play until we have a winner? After that, we’re all free to go?” someone asked, Gamer was taken too aback to determine the source.
“Oh, heavens no,” Keith responded. “When you lose, you guys will be killed. You know…splat. Only one of you is walking out today.”
A dreary silence fell upon the area as Gamer turned off his microphone and sat back. With a few buttons, the portals would be summoned, and they would be on their way to potential Kill Town supremacy.
No less than their lives were at stake.
*
“Hey, there you are.”
Keith waved at Magnus as he silently stepped through the threshold of the control room. The man had always creeped the teenage trillionaire out a little bit, but he proved to be his most invaluable partner in creating the machine that he now controlled. The man, a fair bit taller than himself, merely gave Keith an acknowledging head nod, brushing his greasy long black hair out of his pale face. He hadn’t slept in ages, it looked like, and he had probably been drinking again. Sometimes, Summers wondered if the guy could even function without the sauce. He was almost afraid to find out.
“…you started the game, I’m assuming,” the older hacker eventually spoke, glaring intently at the many monitors lining the walls. “Foolish. I told you not to start without me.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Keith waved him off, turning his chair back to the control panel. “I can handle it myself.”
“Hmph…well, at least you haven’t messed anything up…” the hacker said, “…yet. Has our enforcer settled in yet?”
“Yep. Baller has gained administrative status and he’s logged in as we speak,” Gamer tapped the screen as he made his comments. “He’s still getting used to everything. Those new powers you gave the enforcer status can be a little overwhelming.”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Baller spoke through his radio, making Keith realize that he still had communications open from when they were speaking earlier. “And I resent my user name, by the way.”
“What do you mean?” Gamer inquired innocently.
“You know exactly what I mean!” he snapped back.
“Be silent, both of you,” Magnus rolled his eyes. “You there, Boy. Continue adjusting yourself to your new abilities. You will be needed soon.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Baller gave him the “okay” sign before he turned off his radio.
“Are you going to log in soon?” Keith looked back up at the tall man.
“Not yet. I’m still working on the Tarrasque,” he replied, turning towards the door. “I’ve given your friend ample abilities, but something’s still concerning me. There are too many unknown quantities, including your sister and her new-found…friend.”
“Friend? You mean Kepler?” the boy shook his head. “I think he’s given up trying to get out long ago. He knows that it’s impossible. And my sister is too…timid, and content from the looks of it.”
“You underestimate them both,” Magnus shook his head. “But no worry. My program will solve it all.”
“Do you really think giving the security protocol an AI is really wise?” Keith frowned. “I can understand Mixie, but…”
“If you want to play the game, you must have all the pieces in place,” the hacker explained as he stepped out of the room. “Fear is a necessary implementation when dealing with living beings.”
Gamer rolled his eyes and returned his eyes to the game. That was all that mattered anymore.