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dogsofwar.squiffy
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dogsofwar.squiffy
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@title DogsOfWar
[[Header]]:
/ _____/ \ / \/ _ \__ ___/___ _____ _____
\_____ \\ \/\/ / /_\ \| |_/ __ \\__ \ / \
/ \\ / | \ |\ ___/ / __ \| Y Y \
/_______ / \__/\ /\____|__ /____| \___ >____ /__|_| /
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
1998 - 2010 - Hacking, Phreaking & Anarchy in the UK
<date> - Author davethefan
----------------------------------------------------------
Fiction: Dogs of War
----------------------------------------------------------
You are stood on a busy city street.<br>
TV Screens all over The City cut short for one second: a brief of blackness
as a new video is input to the queue; forced to start playing; there are no transitions.
A cold hard shove into broadcast - the entire city looks as if it had been rebooted. <br>
'Ladies, Gentlemen - and hybrids, of course...' a voice booms from around the Metropolis
in immense surround sound; as the entire cities billboards play the same content.
An announcement.
You can [[listen to the announcement]], or visit [[The Bootwasher]] pub.<br>
[[listen to the announcement]]:
...I'm glad I have your <i>undivided</i> attention, now.
I am going to say some things to you, and I am going to say them very fast,
so you better damn well concentrate.<br>
You are being lied to. Your identities stolen. Your life-force drained.
You are being manipulated and you don't even know it.
They feed you lies on a daily basis, and you buy into it because you need the drama.
<br>
Got all that?<br>
Good. Something big is coming. You'll like it.<br>
You'll get your drama.
End transmission.<p>
The screens return to its scheduled advertising, and the [confused murmurs] around you
catch your ear, and you [[walk towards your Hotel]]. It's about a mile from here.
[[confused murmurs]]:
<ul>
<li>Who do you think it was? Was it a warning? To <i>us</i>?
<li>Probably just some gimmick for an aftershave or something
<li>Social is all talking about it already!</ul>
[[walk towards your Hotel]]:
The map overlay on your yellow-hue glasses reads 1.2 mile North,
along the same busy high street you are walking.<br>
Peak hours are exhausting, and you are walking against the flow of people.<p>
As you pass the monstrously large Sitek HQ building, the height of your destination
dominates the skyline:<p> [VictoriaRoseHotel].
[[The Victoria Rose Hotel]](VictoriaRoseHotel):
Beautiful, majestic, and most noticeably of all, tall.<br>
The highest building in New District City, she is a monolith, a status symbol
for those who stay there; the height of luxury that only the elite can afford.
[[The Bootwasher]]:
The Bootwasher: A downtown bar with a homely but lively atmosphere - serving fine lagers
and locally brewed ales, a home from home for the patrons.
A pleasant environment to walk into for the first time: even the two suits at the bar,
talking into each others shoulders conspiritorially don't look too out of place
amongst the rockers, young and old - hovering around the orb-pool table.<p>
The television above the bar offers a display of the Red Zone vs South Quadrant United football match,
and an overly-excitable audio description of the events of the game spoke loud enough to those
who were interested enough to get close, but didn't distract those with no interest in the
[[transactional exchange]] of an inflated ball.<br>
[[transactional exchange]]:
'Chelson. To Blark. Back to Chelson.... he's speeding up now - breaking into his famous sprint.
Along the inside - he's in with a chance here!<br>
Just a little bit further, he knows it! <br>
He's in range now...takes the shot! <br>
it's flying hard... <br>
it's going..' - his excited, nasal commentary giddy with anticipation was on the crescendo<br>
of reaching the next octave, when for a fraction of a second, the screen blacks out<br>
and is replaced by a news report.<p>
'We interrupt your viewing experience to bring you Breaking News.'<br>
the Breaking News echoes dramatically, accompanied by the kind of <br>
intense sound effect used in a horror movie trailer to build suspense.<br>
[[watch report]]<br>
[[watch orb pool]]
[[watch report]]:
The anticlimax of a news anchor, in her drab, unappealing, burgundy suit; stern faced and
serious.<br>
Blue background, with an image of a Comms device with a green wireframe grid around it,
and a sequence of binary that when translated, equated to random nonsense.<p>
'We are hearing reports from multiple sources worldwide, that an as of yet unnamed politicans
mobile Comms device has been used in an attempted attack--'<br>
'What the hell is this?! Turn it back!' You yell.
The barman, who's name you have already forgotten was just as annoyed because he was watching
it too, and protested his innocence<br>
'I haven't touched it. This better not last long.'<br>
[[what about other channels]]<br>
[[can i have a free beer then]]
[[what about other channels]]:
'Nah, they lock them out for the news - it takes over every channel. Fucking annoying.'
'Damn straight. You pay good money for that shit, if you wanted the news, you'd look for it yourself, eh?'
You are really upset and angered by this, the one thing you have been looking forward to all day.<br>
You thump your fist on the bar, making everybodies glasses jangle a little.<p>
He takes pity on you, and buys you a drink.<br>
'Just don't tell the others' he winks.<br>
'Cheers bud, thanks.' <br>
Behind you, are [[two men in suits]].<br>
We're going to play as them for a while.
[two men in suits]]:
You're Judge Mark Galnington, and you've managed to get involved in a heated discussion<br>
with local lawyer; drunken public speaker, the outwittingly exceptional,<br>
Don While. A xenophobic bore.<p>
[[can i have a free beer then]]:
'No you bloody well cannot, you cheeky little shit.<br>
You can finish that quickly, and go enjoy the news somewhere else.'<p>
As you leave The Bootwasher, you hear the football return.
[[watch orb pool]]:
The two contenders stand around a rectangular table, the game is stylised to look like classical
pool table. The holographic, coloured balls sit on the table, semi-transparent and
glowing slightly.<br>
The players use laser guided cues to aim their shot, and a wireless clicker to shockwave the balls
into the pocket.
Stripes are winning, but only by two.
Player swings his cue to his hip, and lines the laser up on the table, knowingly.<br>
Having the advantage of seeing the pointer through the balls has its advantage, but you
never know how a shockwave will make the table react.
He lines up his shot, and <i>click</i> from his cue, and the laser turns green.<p>
A few second pause<br>
'He's not...' a voice from around you; at that, the blast.<br>
Holoballs explode into a frenzy, sending them careering around in their invisible dome that
contained them - bouncing off the interior, loop-de-looping from one end to the other in a
destructive, magical dance.<p>
'Oi!' Uh-oh, the owner.<br>
'What have I told you about that? You're barred!"<br>
He looks around at everyone else around the table.
'Now I'm in a bad mood because there have been some nasty texts sent out, and I got one.<br>
I don't want to be harsh on you guys, and I know you were only having fun - but I'm irritable
tonight.<br>
Just leave the table alone tonight, please?<br>
[[what nasty texts]]<br>[[can I have my credit back]]
[[what nasty texts]]:
'What nasty texts are they?' You blurt out.
'Some politicians Comms got hacked, or cloned or whatever - and they used it to send out
thousands of insulting messages to just about everyone.<br>
// I did that, i wrote that list.
// See report on the news.
[can I have my credit back]]:
'I put a credit in the machine, can I get it back?... You know, if we're not using the table?', you ask.<br>
'You cheeky little bastard, get out.'<p>
You have left The Bootwasher.