(( This might be long or short deppending on how long I can keep intrest in it. I'm actually sick right now, so the first part may not be too incredible, but if you have any comments or USEFUL critique, please PM it to me. I don't want my chapters all cluttered up with comments and ramblings, 'kay? Glad we have an accord. ^^ ))
Blasting Slayer out loud from my apartment at three in the morning was my usual pass-time. I never really had much consideration for the mundane or the 'normal' people that lived around me. I usually didn't consider myself shallow, but if I were a puddle of water one certainly wouldn't drown in me.
I know my name; River West. I know my parents and I know my cat. I know a few people whom I sometimes consider friends, but some of them could drive one off the proverbial bridge. On that topic, I also know I love proverbs. Old quotes that stimulate one's thinking capabilities into over-drive to find a deeper meaning behind what the words appear to be. There are some of these I know I'll never quite get, and yet there are some that would easily trick someone with pathetic intelligence. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everyone's an idiot but me... That's already been proven. The name River West is the name of a certain hacker. A person that no one's brain-power can match. I've crashed stock markets, hacked into the computer systems of military jets and have re-set coodinates for cruise ships to send them hundreds of miles off course. It's a nice hobby to say the least, and for lack of a better word, this 'life' of mine was anything but normal.
If anything the day I was facing was a typical one. Fighting off dangerous viruses with the most powerful firewall at my disposal, which is, ironically, mine. The little hackers were always after my information, but what they lacked was that I could easily crash their pathetic computers with a simple little code. I had gone outside to check the mail when I felt something hit me hard in the back of the head. The mail slipped from my fingers and I hit the ground before the letters did.
What seemed like hours later, I awoke in a small white room that looked eerily familiar to a jail cell. My heart skipped a beat, but then soon calmed when I realized I wasn't in jail at all. The room, as before said, was small. Eggshell white in colour with a small cot nest to a wall and a tiny, barred window across from me. My whole body ached and throbbed and soon enough I remembered why. Quickly, I felt the back of my head, feeling dried blood. At this my stomach turned a full 360. I scowled, whiping my hand off on my shirt. I had more important things to worry about than mere bloodstains. My life could really be in danger.
Suddenly, the door to my cell slid open and in walked a young man, possibly around my age. He smiled, inclining his head.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, approaching and then stopping about five or six feet away from me. Narrowing my eyes, I nodded.
"That's good. I assume you're the infamous Glacier?" Glaceir was my online alias. If I had used my real name I would have been caught and given a life sentance. I kept silent, merely nodding once more. "My name is Shark," the man held out his hand for me to shake, "I'm honoured to finally meet you in person." He nonchalantly pulled his hand back when I didn't take it. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"Aside from an explenation as to why I'm here?" I said, completely in a venomous monotone. Shark grinned, blue eyes seeming to glow with an electric tensity that he dare not show. This caught me off guard for a moment, but I schooled my expression into a cold glare.
"You are here... Because we need your expert skill, Glacier," he said, "If you refuse, I will be given strict orders to kill you." Shark's voice was still calm and easy, "What do we need, you ask?" I nodded. Wrenching another smirk from this enigmatic stranger.
"That's easy," he stated, crouching in front of me, "This organization works Operation STRIFE." Shark began his story. My jaw nearly dropped at this. Opperation STRIFE was a program to delete all information from every important computer system, causing world panic. Everyone would have to start over again and all military records, geographical records and other such things would be lost forever. Now even though hacking was deffinately in my jurisdiction, I could never fully opporate STRIFE. These people were insane, no doubt about it. They wanted global control and, through this program, they could achieve it. Either I was in hell or I was going to experience it soon.
"Are you mental?" I asked incredulously, "I'm good at what I do, that may be, but I could never accomplish something this big. I don't care what you say, sir, but STRIFE is not going to be run by me alone."
"Don't worry about that. We've got three others working on it as we speak. You have two choices, Glacier: Either you come with me to start running STRIFE, or I kill you." Said Shark.
"And either way it's a loose/loose situation." I replied, in a much sharper tone than I probably should have used. This thing was out of control already, and I still had no idea as to where I was. Needless to say, I was nervous, but not enough to go into fight or flight mode. I put my hands up in defeat, "I'll try it. I cannot guarantee you anything, but as long as you let me go afterwards I swear I'll not tell a soul about this place." Shark let another smirk pass, and at this moment I noticed all of his teeth were sharp and jagged, which an apparent second row behind them. My heart jumped and I felt every hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Glaring again, I stood. The dizziness that shot through me was astounding and the floor slipped out from under me.
Shark caught me before I fell and helped me to my feet. "Oh, and I forgot to mention; you've been injected with a toxic poison. The boss is the only person with the cure so even if you do try to escape, you won't last long. While you're working on STRIFE you will be given small portions of the cure to keep the poison from entering your central nervous system." Scowling again, I pulled myself away from him, pushing him back and staring at him with such killing intent it was a wonder he hadn't burst into flames.
"If looks could kill." He seemed to have read my mind at that moment as he turned to the door, entering a password. His body blocked it, so I couldn't see which buttons he pressed, and thanks to a silent keypad, I wouldn't be able to memorize the combination. With this, Shark reached back and took my arm, pulling me to the door and then shoving me into the dimly lit hallway. It was obvious that this place, where ever it was, had spent more money on security than lighting.
He lead me down the hall and into a room at the end of it, punching in another code and sliding open the door. If I survived this it would be a miracle...
Blasting Slayer out loud from my apartment at three in the morning was my usual pass-time. I never really had much consideration for the mundane or the 'normal' people that lived around me. I usually didn't consider myself shallow, but if I were a puddle of water one certainly wouldn't drown in me.
I know my name; River West. I know my parents and I know my cat. I know a few people whom I sometimes consider friends, but some of them could drive one off the proverbial bridge. On that topic, I also know I love proverbs. Old quotes that stimulate one's thinking capabilities into over-drive to find a deeper meaning behind what the words appear to be. There are some of these I know I'll never quite get, and yet there are some that would easily trick someone with pathetic intelligence. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everyone's an idiot but me... That's already been proven. The name River West is the name of a certain hacker. A person that no one's brain-power can match. I've crashed stock markets, hacked into the computer systems of military jets and have re-set coodinates for cruise ships to send them hundreds of miles off course. It's a nice hobby to say the least, and for lack of a better word, this 'life' of mine was anything but normal.
If anything the day I was facing was a typical one. Fighting off dangerous viruses with the most powerful firewall at my disposal, which is, ironically, mine. The little hackers were always after my information, but what they lacked was that I could easily crash their pathetic computers with a simple little code. I had gone outside to check the mail when I felt something hit me hard in the back of the head. The mail slipped from my fingers and I hit the ground before the letters did.
What seemed like hours later, I awoke in a small white room that looked eerily familiar to a jail cell. My heart skipped a beat, but then soon calmed when I realized I wasn't in jail at all. The room, as before said, was small. Eggshell white in colour with a small cot nest to a wall and a tiny, barred window across from me. My whole body ached and throbbed and soon enough I remembered why. Quickly, I felt the back of my head, feeling dried blood. At this my stomach turned a full 360. I scowled, whiping my hand off on my shirt. I had more important things to worry about than mere bloodstains. My life could really be in danger.
Suddenly, the door to my cell slid open and in walked a young man, possibly around my age. He smiled, inclining his head.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, approaching and then stopping about five or six feet away from me. Narrowing my eyes, I nodded.
"That's good. I assume you're the infamous Glacier?" Glaceir was my online alias. If I had used my real name I would have been caught and given a life sentance. I kept silent, merely nodding once more. "My name is Shark," the man held out his hand for me to shake, "I'm honoured to finally meet you in person." He nonchalantly pulled his hand back when I didn't take it. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"Aside from an explenation as to why I'm here?" I said, completely in a venomous monotone. Shark grinned, blue eyes seeming to glow with an electric tensity that he dare not show. This caught me off guard for a moment, but I schooled my expression into a cold glare.
"You are here... Because we need your expert skill, Glacier," he said, "If you refuse, I will be given strict orders to kill you." Shark's voice was still calm and easy, "What do we need, you ask?" I nodded. Wrenching another smirk from this enigmatic stranger.
"That's easy," he stated, crouching in front of me, "This organization works Operation STRIFE." Shark began his story. My jaw nearly dropped at this. Opperation STRIFE was a program to delete all information from every important computer system, causing world panic. Everyone would have to start over again and all military records, geographical records and other such things would be lost forever. Now even though hacking was deffinately in my jurisdiction, I could never fully opporate STRIFE. These people were insane, no doubt about it. They wanted global control and, through this program, they could achieve it. Either I was in hell or I was going to experience it soon.
"Are you mental?" I asked incredulously, "I'm good at what I do, that may be, but I could never accomplish something this big. I don't care what you say, sir, but STRIFE is not going to be run by me alone."
"Don't worry about that. We've got three others working on it as we speak. You have two choices, Glacier: Either you come with me to start running STRIFE, or I kill you." Said Shark.
"And either way it's a loose/loose situation." I replied, in a much sharper tone than I probably should have used. This thing was out of control already, and I still had no idea as to where I was. Needless to say, I was nervous, but not enough to go into fight or flight mode. I put my hands up in defeat, "I'll try it. I cannot guarantee you anything, but as long as you let me go afterwards I swear I'll not tell a soul about this place." Shark let another smirk pass, and at this moment I noticed all of his teeth were sharp and jagged, which an apparent second row behind them. My heart jumped and I felt every hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Glaring again, I stood. The dizziness that shot through me was astounding and the floor slipped out from under me.
Shark caught me before I fell and helped me to my feet. "Oh, and I forgot to mention; you've been injected with a toxic poison. The boss is the only person with the cure so even if you do try to escape, you won't last long. While you're working on STRIFE you will be given small portions of the cure to keep the poison from entering your central nervous system." Scowling again, I pulled myself away from him, pushing him back and staring at him with such killing intent it was a wonder he hadn't burst into flames.
"If looks could kill." He seemed to have read my mind at that moment as he turned to the door, entering a password. His body blocked it, so I couldn't see which buttons he pressed, and thanks to a silent keypad, I wouldn't be able to memorize the combination. With this, Shark reached back and took my arm, pulling me to the door and then shoving me into the dimly lit hallway. It was obvious that this place, where ever it was, had spent more money on security than lighting.
He lead me down the hall and into a room at the end of it, punching in another code and sliding open the door. If I survived this it would be a miracle...
Mid-Day Coffee Break© `The Mistake 'o7 @GaiaOnline.com
