MegaCity 1

[Manni]

Welcome to MegaCity One and Home City of the Authority, the Original and Best MegaCity on Altech! Here, loyal citizens get the benefit of comfortable and largely hassle free living, free from fear of death from the Outsiders and random raiders and such. Obey the Law and Report any Dissident Activity to your nearest Member of Authority Security as well as any Viral Activity. Remember, It is Also a Citizen's Duty To Help Stamp Out Virals and Threats to Order! 

This Authority-run MegaCity is one of the two remaining MegaCities on Altech that are enclosed in the Wall, an impenetrable barrier that was deployed upon the two MegaCities to both protect the cities from the larger World War and to cut them off from the Outside World. However, this had the effect of obviously cutting off the MegaCity 1 and 2 from the Outside World and from help. No supplies or assistance from the outside is available...largely. However, due to the immense technological abilities of Altech and the numerous amount of resources available in the lands within the Wall, it doesn't appear that natural resources will run out any time soon. In fact, most people do not think about the outside world anymore! Most people go about their normal lives in the city, not thinking about the outside world. In the middle of the City lies one of the tallest building in the City, Authority HQ. Here, the Authority oversees the security and protection of the City from major threats including those from the Monsters (likely those Outsider remnants, Virals or worse) and from Dissident activity. Given that Authority HQ is in the middle of the City, it is of equal distance from most major places within the CIty as city planners have made it as to allow easy access for those with the Authority to get around easy. Nearby the Authority HQ, in an equally tall and imposing building, is the Consortium's MegaCity 1 Division Building which is pretty much the HQ of the Consortium in MegaCity 1. The Consortium is partnered with the Authority in making the defensive and offensive systems that protect MegaCity 1 from Outsider attacks. The Consortium is also responsible for the research and development into Game Images, both new and old. Though no communications from the outside world have been received from quite some time...not even from other Altech cities...not many seem to mind or care...

 

Main Places in MegaCity One:

 

Authority HQ - Located in the Middle of MegaCity One, the Authority HQ is an imposing sight to behold. It is the tallest building in the MegaCity and the most heavily defended out of all the buildings, given that the Security Forces operate out of this building as it's their main HQ. Obviously, there are quick dispatch points, armouries and supply points throughout the city for those on patrol to use but this building is the central hub of government as well as defence. 

Consortium Building, MegaCity One Branch: The MegaCity One Branch of the mysterious Consortium, the supplier and developer of the GIs( Game Images) and the GAs (Game Armaments) that the GIs come with. They are the ones that develop the GIs and GA and keep the supporting apparatus up and running and to their credit, they do that especially well. Not many people actually go to the Consortium Building unless they are needed or work there. It is a bit odd but people get an rather eerie feeling getting close to the building, hence why not many people go there. Those that work there sign rather restrictive NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements)  upon employment which do prevent them from talking much about what goes on there. Though not like the rank and file employees know much...

Patriots' Park: Kind of like a botanical garden and a large open public space for the masses to enjoy nature without going outside the MegaCity. It's a beautiful sight for sore eyes but really, does it match the outside? It's quite a nice place to chill and relax, though. It's got a nice vibe and hey, the monuments to some of the great heroes of the past are here!

Great Market District: Where all the big shops and fancy restaurants are, where people spend their hard earned money on things they want to buy.

Convenience Place: Where all the good convenience or chain stores are!

Residential Districts: Where all the people live.

Military Checkpoint (No Checkouts, Please): Set at the major Exit Points in the MegaCity, which control the flow of things in and out of the MegaCity. Obviously, since the Wall was up, not much comes INTO the City...except for the Outsiders. So, what's the use of the Checkpoints then?

 

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by Manni
Adding more content.

[Neptune]

Donovan stared at the computer screen in front of him with blank eyes, barely registering the words that were displayed, the text blurred and out of focus. He seemed unable to bring his attention back towards it, despite knowing that he needed to read it. He had even forgotten what it even was supposed to be about. But he was deep within his thoughts, wondering about where it had all gone wrong between him and Charlotte, his wife. He was beginning to doubt that she had any feelings for him to begin with, and was merely attracted to the uniform that he wore at the time when he had been a patrol officer. Now, as a detective, he wore plain clothes which usually consisted of a smart looking suit due to his dislike of casual clothing. He figured that he was unfortunately far too deep when it came to his marriage. They had a child, after all, and he wanted to have her within a stable relationship. Besides, he doubted he would actually find anyone else at this point. He was far too quiet and reserved to go out and meet someone new. And a part of him was admittedly scared of failure. 

“Donovan? Are you even paying attention?” A voice said, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. His eyes moved over to his partner, Laura. She was a woman of medium height, with brown hair that was cut off at the shoulders. She looked pretty, although her nose was a little too large for her face, but her brown eyes were compassionate. It made her great for dealing with the victims of crimes, as she could make them feel at ease and thus open up more about details they might otherwise hide. He rather liked working for her, and viewed her as a good friend.

“I apologise.” Donovan said softly. Laura rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest before she said, “I said, we should leave it for the day and head home.”

Donovan glanced at the clock and saw that it was the end of the shift. He gave a slight nod and started shutting down his computer for the night. He would read whatever it was tomorrow in the morning. Laura spied him out of the corner of her eye a couple of times before she asked, “Would you like to go for a drink, or something?”

Donovan glanced at her before standing up and shaking his head, “No. I need to be home to look after Lily.” He replied.

Laura looked disappointed, but didn’t outwardly state so. She sighed and asked, “Isn’t that the third time this week?”

“Yes.” Donovan said, before leaving the office. Laura was quick to follow him, “What about Charlotte? When does she look after Lily? Where is she this time?” She asked, sounding a little scornful.

Donovan frowned, not really liking this invasion into his life not the tone that she was taking, “With her friends. She spends all day looking after Lily.” He said. The slight note of reproach in his tone made Laura snap her mouth shut as it was clear that he didn’t want to discuss it any further for which he was relieved. She rather meekly excused herself and darted down another corridor of the police station, leaving Donovan alone as he made his way to the carpark. He quickly found his way to his car and got inside, snapping the door shut behind him. He let out a sigh of relief now that he was in relative silence. He stuck his key in the ignition before turning it and starting the engine. He then pulled out and began the drive towards the closest Residential District, his home. 

He would be glad to get home, and see his beautiful daughter again. She was the main reason he kept going with Charlotte. She was the most important person in his life and he would do anything for her. Even put up with the cold and distant Charlotte. A vague thought wormed into his mind, wondering if she was cheating, but he quickly shook that thought from his mind. He couldn’t allow thoughts like that to threaten the fragile peace that existed between them. He knew Lily was his. She looked too much like him to not be his child. When he paused at a traffic stop, he glanced at some of the people that were walking down the street, chatting happily and not disturbed by any kind of negative thought. He envied them that, but he would never begrudge them their happiness. 

He turned his eyes back to the road as he started driving again as he took the very familiar route back home. A route he had been following for years, ever since working at the police station. A job that he wasn’t likely to give up anytime soon. While his life had become quite predictable and routine, he wouldn’t trade it for the world. He had a stable job, a good house and a beautiful daughter. He was quite content, if it had not been for the thorn that was Charlotte. But he knew that everything had its ups and downs. He could put up with it.

He pulled into the driveway of his home, bringing the car to a full stop before he pulled the keys out and got out of the car. He closed the door behind him and walked up the short path to the front door. He glanced up towards the dome that covered their city, not paying it any second thought. It was, after all, as permanent as the air to them. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, closing the door, “I’m home.” He called out, as he usually did as he took his shoes off to leave them by the door as they had a strict rule about shoes in the house.

“About time.” Charlotte called from the kitchen. Slipping his keys into his pocket, he moved towards the kitchen and paused at the door. Charlotte was inside, putting her things in her small bag. She was tall for a woman, just a little shorter than himself and she was quite slim with a luscious curvy body. Her long blonde hair was curled up in a bun, and her blue eyes stood out with the make up she wore around them. She was wearing a tight pink dress that went down to her knees and she was wearing white high heels. She glanced at him, but then turned her attention back to what she was doing, “She’s in her bedroom.” She said in a disinterested tone.

Donovan didn’t respond verbally, merely nodded his head as he continued to watch her. She was quite the catch, physically speaking, but he was beginning to wonder what else he had seen in her. Personality wise, he was beginning to see that she was quite shallow. Charlotte pulled her bag up, slinging it over her shoulders as she said, “I’ll be out late. Don’t wait up for me.” She then walked past him to the front door and then left. Donovan had been hopeful for at least a peck on the cheek but, as usual, he was disappointed. Ignoring the bitter taste in his mouth, he turned and headed upstairs.

He went to Lily’s room and slowly opened the door where he saw a beautiful little blonde haired, blue eyes girl playing with her favourite toy. A purple teddy bear that he had gotten for her. All thoughts about Charlotte disappeared as a smile twitched at the corner of his lips. He stepped inside, drawing the attention of the toddler. Lily smiled widely, “DADDY!” She called out happily as she jumped up and ran towards him. Donovan swept her up in his arms, holding her close, “Hey, sweetheart. How about we play some games together?” He asked, causing her smile to widen as she nodded vigorously.

Later, when he had put his daughter to bed, Donovan sat alone in his study, reading a book that he had been meaning to find time to get to. This was one advantage to Charlotte not being demanding on his time. He could use his free time to do what he wanted. A sudden beep distracted him though. He looked down at his left arm where his Arm Computer was. It looked almost like a tablet that was attached to his forearm with a black, metallic looking case. He saw that a message had popped up saying that there was an update. 

Donovan frowned, as he couldn’t remember there being a scheduled update. Closing his book, he placed it carefully on the table before looking closer at the screen of his arm computer. He then frowned a little in confusion when he saw that it was the ‘Hero OS’ update. He was a little taken back by that, as he didn’t recognise it. Erring on the side of caution, he pressed the dismiss button. However the arm computer beeped at him again and an alert message came up saying that the update couldn’t be cancelled. His frown deepened even further and he once again tried to cancel the download but again he wasn’t able to. He sighed, feeling annoyed. 

Well, perhaps he could download it and get it removed tomorrow. Or see if he could get a new arm computer. He accepted the update and watched as it downloaded and installed itself. The arm computer restarted itself, booting up with the Hero OS instead of the standard OS that he was used to. When it finally got into the actual OS, he saw that not much had changed. It looked the same, although there were some new functions, and new files. He looked at the files, seeing that there was a video file, as well as a text message from someone. What kind of malware was this? He really needed to hand this into the police, for them to look over so that they could find whomever it was that was hacking arm computers. 

[Manni]

*Inside the video file, once Donovan decided to view it, was actually the same video that all Authority Security Force users of the Hero OS got upon getting it. It was known as the 'Induction Video' by most and was made the the Consortium, much like most Arm Computer related technology. In the Induction Video, there was a representative from the Consortium with one of the high ranking officials of Authority's Security Force attending. It was quite a high production value video, it must be said with all the bells and whistles. Donovan could pick and choose what sections of the video he wanted to watch, much like a Blueray movie. In the video, the representative of the Consortium was talking about the HERO OS product and the related product, the Game Images (GIs for short). Now, if Donovan was up-to-date with his news, he would know that the Consortium had won a large government contract to help develop a new 'defense program' a year ago and it seemed from the video that this was the result. It appeared that this "Hero OS' update was in limited release for security and police personnel. From the sounds of it, this was not so much a live 'beta-test' where there were still bugs but a full release prodcut specifically made for the Security Forces, including police personnel. As the video continued, the various functions of the Hero OS were described and demonstrated. As it turns out, the Hero OS does a few things more than the ordinary OS that Arm Computers have. For example, the Geo-Location and 'Map' capabilities have been changed and modified to allow for real-time information on sighting of threats to be uploaded and tracked. In other words, if anything bad in MegaCity 1 happened, those with the HERO OS would get a notification on the threat, its location and its nature and be able to track it in real-time. Another example of the functionality of the Hero OS was access to a special 'App' Store, linked to the Game Images. It turned out that one could purchase special functionality and quality upgrades for the Arm Computer and the Game Images from this Store, which was unusual as most Arm Computers were not easily upgradable.*

*Also, the video would speak of the Game Images or GIs for short. It seemed that the GIs were essentially kind of like a specialised 'loadout' or configuration that people could use to defend themselves with. It seemed to be some sort of advanced technological development that allowed for rapid deployment of armed units to react and respond to threats. There were limited  livedemostrations of the technology in the video, showing how the GIs functioned and what exactly they did. The operation of using the GI was quite easy, almost idiot-proof despite how mindbogglingly compelx the actual technology was. From the video, Donovan would learn the basics of how to use a Game Image and that there were more advanced tutorial features in the Hero OS product, under the How To Guide section in the OS GUI itself. It appeared to offer advanced simulations and helpful advice on how to use the OS and the GIs.*

*The text file...was probably the oddest and more disconcerting bit of the update. Not only was the file encrypted and asked for a password...but the strange thing was that it gave a hint of the password in plain text. The password hint was 'Your daughter's name'. Inside the text file appeared to be a letter from someone, addressing Donovan by name. The letter said the following...*

To Donovan,

I would have loved to have done this in a less obtuse and mysterious manner but circumstances have prevented me from doing so, please accept my humble apologies for this. By now, you would be wondering how you have received this 'Hero OS' update and why tomorrow, you will receive your first Game Image at work tomorrow. Unfortunately, all I can say to you now is that you have been chosen by myself to partake in what I hope will be an ultimately fulfilling experience, one that will have drastic and major ramifications for Altech. There are those that would have me stay silent and do nothing in the face of what is and will occur and my conscience will not allow me stand by and do nothing. I cannot say much now, even though you must have many questions about this. What I can say is that you must trust and belief in yourself, no matter what happens after tomorrow. If all goes well, I will contact you again and perhaps be able to answer some of your questions.

Name Redacted

 

 

[Neptune]

Donovan frowned at the contents that showed on this new OS and after a few minutes of hesitation, he opened up the video and allowed it to play. His eyebrows shot up when he saw that it had a representative from the Consortium and one of the high ranking officials of the Authority’s Security Force. It looked as if it cost a lot of money to produce, and had the air of authenticity. Now he wasn’t entirely sure what to think. He had assumed it was something that had been created by some hacker. If it was, then this was a very high effort hack but he wasn’t sure if they could create a video such as this, using the images of other people. He concentrated on the contents of the video and listened as they explained the functions of this Hero OS and demonstrated them, causing his eyebrows to raise a little. He rather liked the sound of this Geo-Location and ‘Map’ capabilities as it showed threats in real time, a feature that Donovan thought of as immensely useful especially in his capacity as a police officer. This ‘App store’ was interesting as well, and Donovan made a mental note to have a look at it later. 

He continued listening as the video went on the speak about the Game Images and instructed him on how to use them. Despite how complex the technology was, it sounded pretty easy to use although Donovan still had his doubts about this. When the video ended, Donovan sat there for a few moments, feeling quite confused. Where had this sprung from? He had not heard of this particular update being publicly talked about. He had kept an eye on the news, as he often did, and he didn’t remember anything about a Hero OS. The only thing that he could remember being spoken about a defense program was that last year, the Consortium had won a government contract to help develop a new defense program. Perhaps this was it? This was not… what he was expecting to come of that. 

He turned his attention to the letter and clicked on it. His eyes narrowed a little when it asked for a password. He stiffened a little when the hint told him that it was his daughters name. He glared almost suspiciously at his Arm Computer, not liking this in the slightest. Slowly, he entered in Lily’s name and it caused the text file to open. It was a letter addressed, personally, to him. He read his way through it, his eyes widening a little with each line he read. The first question that popped up in his mind was ‘why me?’. Why choose him? He wasn’t really that special; a detective in the police department. Sure, he was quite young for a detective, but what made this person think he was a good candidate for this… Hero OS? 

He sighed, shifting his eyes to the time and seeing that it was almost midnight. He pushed himself up and left his study. He shoulder get to bed, although he doubted he would get much sleep. Not when he had so many questions floating around his head. But he ultimately knew that it was useless to sit in his study and stew all night, not when he would not get any answers until he had a chance to speak to this mysterious person. And he was curious as to what this first Game Image was. As he passed the front door, he glanced down at the shoe rack and saw that Charlotte’s shoes weren’t there, meaning she had still yet to come back from her night out. Donovan turned and headed up the stairs, intending on heading to his own bedroom. He paused on the way, though, and looked into Lily’s room to make sure that she was alright. He smiled at the sight of her sleeping soundly in her own bed, cuddling her teddy. 

He quietly closed the door and moved onto the master bedroom. Here, he stripped and folded his clothes before putting them into the hamper to be washed later in the week. He pulled on a pair of loose fitting pajama trousers but didn’t bother with a top. He only did that during the winter when it was cold. He turned off the light and slipped into his side of the bed and settled down in an attempt to sleep. He was curious about this mystery person. Who he was, and why he was distributing this software to people. Why pick Donovan? It was clear that the man knew details about his life, such as his daughters name as well as where he worked. But then that information was hardly private. Still, he found it an uncomfortable thought, that someone had been observing him and decided to pick him for whatever the hell was going on. 

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and the light turned back on. He raised his head and looked over to see Charlotte stumbling into the room, clearly quite drunk. She stopped when she saw him and blinked owlishly at him, “I thought you would be asleep already.” She slurred.

“I have a lot on my mind.” Donovan replied. He briefly considered telling her about the strange Hero OS, but at the sound of her uncaring grunt, he decided not to. She closed the door and stumbled towards their en-suite bathroom. Ten minutes later, she came out in her nightgown and stumbled to the bed. Donovan pulled back the duvet, getting a small grunt of thanks before she crawled into the bed and turned so that her back was towards him. Within moments, she was deeply asleep, snoring lightly. Donovan shook his head and threw the cover over her before he settled down himself and closing his eyes. After a while of restlessly tossing and turning, he fell asleep. 

The next morning, Donovan awoke to the sound of alarm blaring, followed by a pained groan from Charlotte. He reached out, pressing the stop button on the alarm before he slipped out of the bed. He glanced at Charlotte who tossed and let out a louder snore before falling quieter. He then moved into the bathroom where he started his morning routine of using the toilet, having a shave and a hot shower. He emerged from the bathroom with his towel wrapped around his waist. He had also taken some painkillers from the medicine cabinet and filled a glass from the sink with water. He put them down on the bedside table next to Charlotte before he turned to his wardrobe and got dressed in a black suit and a white shirt but lacked a tie. He then left the room after making sure that his hair wasn’t too unruly before he went to Lily’s room. He opened it up to find that she was already awake and playing with her teddy.

She smiled happily at the sight of him, “Daddy~” She said happily. Donovan smiled at her as he stepped into her bedroom, “Come on, sweetie. Let’s get you dressed and then get you something to eat.” He said. She nodded and followed him over to her chest of drawers where he helped her get dressed in a pair of elastic jean-like trousers and a T-shirt that had the words ‘Daddy’s Little Princess’ written across in pink letters. She picked up her teddy again before holding her arms up to him. 

Even though she could easily walk on her own, Donovan obliged her and picked her up, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he did so. He took her down stairs and into the kitchen, sitting her at her place at their table which had a booster seat. He then served her a bowl of cereal while he cooked up some toast for himself, as well as a cup of coffee. As he was finishing up his breakfast, Charlotte came into the kitchen looking a little worse for wear after her night of drinking. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat herself down at the table, not really paying attention as Lily tried to talk to her. She merely hummed at the things her daughter said, her eyebrows creased a little in pain.

Once Donovan was finished with his breakfast, he put his dishes away in the dishwasher before he came over and gave Lily a kiss, before kissing Charlotte’s cheek, “I’ll be back.”

“Bye daddy!” Lily said, pouting a little. Donovan stroked the top of her head affectionately as Charlotte said, “Have a good day at work.”

“I hope so…” Donovan said with a slightly thoughtful frown as he left the kitchen and went into the main hallway where he slipped on his shoes and picked up his keys. He then left his house and moved over to his car where he slipped in and turned on the engine before he pulled out of his driveway and headed to work. 

[Ice Queen]

sunday morning rain is falling, 

The Great Market District.

===================================================================

It was early morning, a time she didn’t usually wake up at, but today was special.

A cold French Vanilla Lotte’ was sitting directly in front of her on a mostly empty table within one of the cities’ resident cafes.

There is a glance at her watch every second following her anxiety, clearly, she was waiting on something or perhaps…someone?

Regardless she is alone right now, one of the waitresses seems to frown over towards her before whispering to one of her coworkers and making her way over to the table itself. Lilian had been a customer here for over a year now and making friends with people came easy for her, she was very approachable and welcoming, so not many people had problems with her, outside of the occasional spat with women who didn’t like her being friendly with their interests, but it wasn’t like that. She wasn’t the type to steal someone else’s man, despite her ugly habit of flirting without consciously being aware of it – it just happens, and it isn’t really meant to be of malicious nature. Either way, the waitress drops by her table, noting the obvious to begin a conversation with Lilian,

“Your drink is getting cold, Lil’.”

Maybe this was a reoccurring scene – maybe…. this happened so often the women were used to it happening by now? While it felt embarrassing to wait for someone that didn’t show up more than he did, she wouldn’t just succumb to it, her loyalty and stubborn behavior was more than enough to keep her seated. “Yeah, don’t worry about it, Kat. It tastes good cold too!” The woman wasn’t in the best of moods, but that didn’t stop her from giving the waitress – no, her friend of a year a reassuring smile, though it seemed to only make the other feel worse over the fact that she was waiting here – by herself.  “Maybe you shouldn’t wait.”  Lilian felt her heart drop at the suggestion – to a point where her smile briefly welted – before swiftly returning to her lips in an attempt to keep prepared for him not actually coming today. 

“No, no. He’ll be here. I swear! He is just late because of the traffic, it must be really hard driving in that.”

Denial hit her hard when it came to him, the telltale signs of him being more interested in something or someone else didn’t register, everyone saw it, but her. And until he said it himself, she probably wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t stop believing that he’d love her – cherish her to end of their relationship. It was just a small issue, something that could be repaired, to her- he was just busy.

“Right.”

The waitress gives Lilian a weak smile in return, “How about I get you at least a new cup and maybe a dessert? All on me, of course.” Then there’s a light chuckle, she couldn’t have people spending their hard-earn cash on her of all people. Not many knew of her background or the like – so they probably couldn’t imagine that she was rightfully stacked and didn’t really need assistance – even if she was working on her own right now, at any moment the girl could return to her home or be sent unlimited money resource, “No way! I’ll buy my own way, Kat. But you can do that for me, I’ll be paying, however! No favors, remember? I gotta do this on my own.”  Then she'd tap at her Arm Computer momentarily in order to try and calm her nerves, before peering back at her friend, "Don't worry about me." Her tone is serious -- not that usually cheery, nothing is wrong, happiness and high-pitch squeaking one. So Kat knows to drop it and nods her head to get the girl a new and refreshing drink.

 

 

                                                     

Edited March 12, 2019 by Ice Queen

[Neptune]

Donovan arrived at work earlier than he had anticipated. Traffic had been almost non-existent on the road that morning. It was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because it meant that he wouldn’t be late to work, and a curse because it was likely that he was earlier than most of his colleagues which meant sitting around waiting for them to show up. Laura was the type to either show up on time, or late. She was never early. When he got out of his car, he closed and locked the door before looking around to see that the car park was relatively empty. The Superintendent was in, as well as a few that worked with him, but otherwise it was empty. Due to his rather recluse nature, Donovan knew of the people that were already here but he wasn’t friends with them. Casual acquaintances at best. Still, he had a book hidden in his desk which he could read while waiting. Unless of course, he found that Game Image the note was talking about.

He paused just before the doors of the side entrance, frowning a little. He pulled out his identification card and swiped it through the card reader, causing the door to buzz as it unlocked. He opened it up and stepped inside, his feet carrying him towards his office. He was uncomfortable with someone knowing so much about him. Like where he worked, and his daughters name. They no doubt knew where he lived as well. He hoped that the person would not use that information for ill, but the cynical side of him doubted that. He would need to watch his back. 

He arrived at his office, where he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door before slipping inside and closing it behind him. He moved over to his desk and slipped into his seat, pressing the power button on the computer as he did so. He looked around his desk, analysing everything carefully. It looked as if everything was in order. Nothing was out of place, as far as he could tell. He opened up the top drawer of his desk, peering into the neatly laid out contents. He then froze when he found himself looking at a small cardboard box that had not been there the day before. It had a label on it, with printed text on it that spelt out his name. Carefully, he picked it up and turned it over. It was sealed carefully, and done with a professional flare. 

He hesitated a few moments before he pulled out a penknife that he usually kept on his person. He sliced through the tape before opening it up and finding a USB-like device inside which was light blue in colour. Slowly, he snapped the knife close and put it away before putting the cardboard box down on the desk. If this was some hacker, than they had some serious dedication to their prank. If it wasn’t… He shook his head as he couldn’t quite believe what was going on. Out of everyone in this city… why him? What did this person hope that he could do?

Carefully, he picked up the USB and turned it over in his hand before he looked at his personal computer that, like the night before, sported the Hero OS. He sighed through his nose, before he decided to bite the bullet. His curiosity was getting the better of him. But he was determined to find out who this mysterious person was. If this was a high ranking person in the government or consortium, then he would need to be careful. But as a Detective, he had access to certain resources that a normal person would not. He would send the box to forensics, and see what they make of it as well as hunt down any leads regarding the Hero OS. Such as if others had it, or he was the only one. 

As for the USB… he plugged it into his arm computer. It slid satisfyingly into place before he looked at the screen to see what happened. It seemed to be loading something onto the computer, and a glance at the files it was something to do with the Tutorial Game Field. He remembered from the tutorial video, which told him that in order to start the tutorial, he needed to say ‘Tutorial Start’, as it was voice activated. So he waited for the loading to finish before he said, “Tutorial Start.” He continued watching the arm computer to see what would happen. Whether it would die on him due to some virus, or something completely different. However the world around him disappeared… 

[Manni]

5 hours ago, Neptune said:

Donovan arrived at work earlier than he had anticipated. Traffic had been almost non-existent on the road that morning. It was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because it meant that he wouldn’t be late to work, and a curse because it was likely that he was earlier than most of his colleagues which meant sitting around waiting for them to show up. Laura was the type to either show up on time, or late. She was never early. When he got out of his car, he closed and locked the door before looking around to see that the car park was relatively empty. The Superintendent was in, as well as a few that worked with him, but otherwise it was empty. Due to his rather recluse nature, Donovan knew of the people that were already here but he wasn’t friends with them. Casual acquaintances at best. Still, he had a book hidden in his desk which he could read while waiting. Unless of course, he found that Game Image the note was talking about. 

He paused just before the doors of the side entrance, frowning a little. He pulled out his identification card and swiped it through the card reader, causing the door to buzz as it unlocked. He opened it up and stepped inside, his feet carrying him towards his office. He was uncomfortable with someone knowing so much about him. Like where he worked, and his daughters name. They no doubt knew where he lived as well. He hoped that the person would not use that information for ill, but the cynical side of him doubted that. He would need to watch his back.  

He arrived at his office, where he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door before slipping inside and closing it behind him. He moved over to his desk and slipped into his seat, pressing the power button on the computer as he did so. He looked around his desk, analysing everything carefully. It looked as if everything was in order. Nothing was out of place, as far as he could tell. He opened up the top drawer of his desk, peering into the neatly laid out contents. He then froze when he found himself looking at a small cardboard box that had not been there the day before. It had a label on it, with printed text on it that spelt out his name. Carefully, he picked it up and turned it over. It was sealed carefully, and done with a professional flare.  

He hesitated a few moments before he pulled out a penknife that he usually kept on his person. He sliced through the tape before opening it up and finding a USB-like device inside which was light blue in colour. Slowly, he snapped the knife close and put it away before putting the cardboard box down on the desk. If this was some hacker, than they had some serious dedication to their prank. If it wasn’t… He shook his head as he couldn’t quite believe what was going on. Out of everyone in this city… why him? What did this person hope that he could do?

Carefully, he picked up the USB and turned it over in his hand before he looked at his personal computer that, like the night before, sported the Hero OS. He sighed through his nose, before he decided to bite the bullet. His curiosity was getting the better of him. But he was determined to find out who this mysterious person was. If this was a high ranking person in the government or consortium, then he would need to be careful. But as a Detective, he had access to certain resources that a normal person would not. He would send the box to forensics, and see what they make of it as well as hunt down any leads regarding the Hero OS. Such as if others had it, or he was the only one.  

As for the USB… he plugged it into his arm computer. It slid satisfyingly into place before he looked at the screen to see what happened. It seemed to be loading something onto the computer, and a glance at the files it was something to do with the Tutorial Game Field. He remembered from the tutorial video, which told him that in order to start the tutorial, he needed to say ‘Tutorial Start’, as it was voice activated. So he waited for the loading to finish before he said, “Tutorial Start.” He continued watching the arm computer to see what would happen. Whether it would die on him due to some virus, or something completely different. However the world around him disappeared…  

*As the world around Donovan disappeared, a new one formed around him. No longer was he in his office at work but it looked like he was somewhere near the centre of Patrioit's Park, where the Amplitheatre was and where the statues of the heroes that died during the Outsider War were. It looked like an excellent reconstruction of Patriot's Park by the look of it, apart from the fact there was no people here. Everything like all the seats, water fountains, rubbish bins, paths, lights and utilties were all where they were in the 'reali world'. Whoever made this had done a really good job in modelling it. This was very odd, as Patriot's Park was always full of people and life. Here, he could not hear any signs of life. There didn't seem to be anyone here but himself. For a few moments, silence would reign in this strange place. Suddenly, his Arm Computer let out a beeping noise as it projected a screen out in front of him. It stated that the 'Game Field Stage' had been automatically selected for him for the sake of convenience but if he wished to change the 'Stage', he could do so by saying 'Stage Select' and using motion controls (via swiping and pressing the projection in front of him) to select a new stage for himself. Of course, the screen made obvious that he could skip this step by making an appropriate voice command. After selecting an appropriate stage, if he chose one or stuck with the one he had, the projected screen in front of Donovan changed to a new one telling him that he would notice that he had now 'transformed' and that his clothing was now changed. The computer gave Donovan a few moments to register this as the screen on his Arm Computer changed to something like a status screen like those found in RPGs. It was then that the Arm Computer projected a new screen explaining that he was about to meet an AI character that would help him learn about how to use the functions of his Arm Computer.A few seconds after Donovan read the screen completely, the projection ended and the screen disappeared. It was then that something really odd took place. Out of the ground, a metre or two in front of Donovan, what seemed to be a comically large green 'pipe', like a overly large piece of plumbing pipe, phased into existence. It didn't look natural, that was for sure! In fact, it looked like something ripped out of a video game, straight from an ingame CGI movie. Whether Donovan would move closer to investigate or not didn't matter as a moment after the pipe appeared, he could hear a voice of a male shouting loudly echoing from deep down...in the pipe...whether it was.*

"WHOA~!" came the male voice as something really really odd came out of the pipe!

*A moment later, a figure emerged from the pipe...though from the look of it, they were shot out of it with some force as they somersaulted in the air several times before landing on their feet in front of the pipe...which strangely sank back into the ground without disturbing its surroundings. Donovan would have a few moments to take in the appearance of this strange figure, who was around half his height and overly stocky. In fact, it looked like...yes. this person was a small adult human...dwarf size human maybe. They were wearing a ridicuolous looking suit/armour thing that looked like padding one would wear to protect oneself from injuries while skating or blading.  It looked really il-fiting but something told Donovan that this was not ordinary stuff. Especially the fact that the figure was wearing his own status screen on his chest!*

 

[Neptune]

Donovan looked wildly around himself as the world around him disappeared only to be replaced by something he instantly recognised as Patriots Park. He had been there many times, sometimes on dates with Charlotte or with Lily. However it was quiet. Eerily so. It made him feel quite uncomfortable, as he was used to it bustling with activity and noise of patrons who visited the park. Despite his lonely nature, and the fact that he would love to walk through an empty park, this screamed wrong. On so many levels. He couldn’t shake it off. It made his skin crawl. His arm computer then started beeping at him and he raised his arm to look at it. His eyes then raised at the projection that was now hovering in front of him, stating that the Game Field Stage had been automatically selected for him. There seemed to be an option for him to change it, however he decided to stick with what he had for the meantime. He had little idea what was going on, and he was wondering if he had somehow been kidnapped from his office. He saw that he could use voice commands, to tentatively tried it,

“Stick with current Game Field Stage.” He said. It indicated that it registered his command, before the screen told him that he had now been transformed. He blinked before looking down at himself, “What the hell?” He asked out loud. His suit had disappeared, to be replaced with something entirely different. He was wearing some kind of military uniform which was white in colour. He had a black belt wrapped around his waist, as the torso piece stopped just below his arse. The collar and shoulders were black in colour, with a gold trim. He also had some kind of golden broach that was a circle, with two small ‘legs’ that came out from the bottom, arching away from each other. There was also a piece that striked through the middle of the circle horizontally. His cuffs were black in colour as well, with two bands of gold that wrapped around it.

He had skin-hugging white trousers that seemed to reach his ankle but he wasn’t entirely sure as he had a pair of black boots that reached up to the middle of his thigh. On the outside of the boots were three golden buttons. Wrapped around his shoulders and falling down his back to mid-shin was a clark that sported a hood. It came together at the front in a bow-like fashion, bound together by another broach. This one was a golden, slightly elongated pentagon with a cross in the centre. There was a gold piece that emerged from the side, with a golden chain that attached itself to a golden circle that was attached to a black shoulder pad that lay across his left shoulder. It was an interesting outfit to be sure, and he wondered what he looked like. 

Movement out of the corner of his eye made him look back up at the screen which told him that he was about to meet an AI that would help him learn how to use the functions of his arm computer. One of his eyebrows rose, and he found himself curious as to who this was. At yet at the same time, his body tensed in anticipation of the unknown. He then stared ahead as a large green pipe like structure. It looked like something taken from some kind of game but he couldn’t be sure as he wasn’t one to really play many games. It was either that or some poor CGI movie.

He took an involuntary step back when a male voice sounded from within the pipe. His gaze sharpened as he watched the pipe carefully. However his gaze blanked out when the figure jumped out to stand before him. It was the strangest thing he had ever seen. It looked like some kind of real life anime character. He couldn’t help but to be rendered speechless by it. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. He glanced around cautiously for a moment before he looked back at the figure, “Who the hell are you? And what the hell is going on?” He asked. He normally wasn’t one to swear so much, but after the strange events of the last couple of days, he felt he deserved a few allowances. 

[Akira]

Soma was in his office looking through some recent data in his computer. The lens from his stylish glasses reflecting the light from the screen. It was a good thing that those lens granted extra protection against light, since Soma had to use his computer pretty much all day long. He kept scrolling through the information on the screen, taking mental notes - and a few physical ones on his notebook - about the most important parts. Increases/decreases on sales, new ideas from employees, the company's public image, progress on current research and developments... it sure was a lot to take in, even though he had been Futurae Tech's CEO for two straight years now, he was still not completely used to that and he knew that he could - and should - improve as much as possible if he wanted to see the company grow. After a few more exhausting moments going through all that info, he pushed himself away from his desk a bit, took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes a bit, before putting the glasses back on and heading to the employees room for a much needed cup of coffee. 

He made his way though the hallways of his workplace until he had finally reached the white door with a "Employees and authorized personel only" sign on it, he calmly opened it up and got himself inside. Once there, he was casually greeted by a few of his employees who had that same brilliant idea as he had: a well deserved cup of coffee. While many of Soma's co-workers were a bit older than him, they all shared a great respect for the man. Despite his age, Soma was a good leader, not only being able to improve the company's status depite having so much competition around, but also capable of making the work place actually pleasnt to be in, or at least as pleasnt as possible...

After greeting his employees back with a polite nod, Soma reached one of the machines and got himself a nice and warm express coffee without caffeine, otherwise he wouldn't be able to sleep well at night. His coffee break would be short lived however, he barely had time to drink half of his cup's content when Jane, his recently hired administrator, approached him with a file on her hand and greeted him with a "Good day, boss". That caused Soma to sigh a bit before replying "Came on Jane... we talked about this already. There is no need for you to call me that." he said in calm tone so she wouldn't get the impression that he is scolding her "But it is just natural for me to call you that, you are the boss after all" I simply shook my head slightly while also chuckling a bit "Just call me Haruki like everybody else does alright?" "Very well...  I have a few files that require your attention Mr. Haruki" truth to be told, Soma would still prefer to be simply called Haruki, but he figured that would be the best he would get for now. He took another sip while Jane was speaking before sighing once again "What are those files about?" he asked drinking the remains of his coffee "It's about Futurae Tech's relationship with other technological companies" she replyed handing Soma the file. He was able to do a quick reading of the file's contents before closing it and returning it to Jane "I think the production team is taking the wrong idea there. Instead of trying to create a better version of already well-established products, try to create something new, or maybe even some support programs to what we have already. There is simply no need to waste our time and resources clashing with other companies like that ok? Why swim against the flow when you can just go with it?" Jane's eyes shinned a bit during Soma's little speach there, she felt kinda touched and motivated by it "R-right, I'll report this to the production team right away" she bowed a bit before going away. Soma then returned to his office.

After a few more hours Soma was finally able to go home, his house and car were actually quite modest for a man of his status. Once inside, he made himself a quick meal from the leftovers inside the fridge and took a seat on his favorite armchair before turning the TV on and scrolling through the channels looking for something interesting to watch. He then felt a little vibration on his right forearm and also heard a little bipping noise. Soma knew that it was his Arm Computer making that comotion. He pulled his sleeve up to reveal the device. Soma had actually customized his Arm Computer quite a bit. It was a light grey armlet with half of a small blue sphere sticking out. From that blue sphere a light came out that quickly took the form of a holographic version of the normal interface. There was a message from the system, informing about an update called Hero OS. *Huh... that is weird. A system update out of nowhere like this? hmmm the anti-virus didn't show any negative response, so I can only assume it to be real... well, whatever. I just hope it doens't take long to download...* he tought to himself as the update was quickly downloaded and installed. After a quick reboot, the Arm Computer was working normally again, but there didn't seem to be any major changes. Before he could think about it, though, Soma noticed that there was a private message sent to him. Once he opened it, a video began to play and there was also a written message under said video.

[Manni]

On 20/03/2019 at 16:59, Akira said:

Soma was in his office looking through some recent data in his computer. The lens from his stylish glasses reflecting the light from the screen. It was a good thing that those lens granted extra protection against light, since Soma had to use his computer pretty much all day long. He kept scrolling through the information on the screen, taking mental notes - and a few physical ones on his notebook - about the most important parts. Increases/decreases on sales, new ideas from employees, the company's public image, progress on current research and developments... it sure was a lot to take in, even though he had been Futurae Tech's CEO for two straight years now, he was still not completely used to that and he knew that he could - and should - improve as much as possible if he wanted to see the company grow. After a few more exhausting moments going through all that info, he pushed himself away from his desk a bit, took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes a bit, before putting the glasses back on and heading to the employees room for a much needed cup of coffee. 

He made his way though the hallways of his workplace until he had finally reached the white door with a "Employees and authorized personel only" sign on it, he calmly opened it up and got himself inside. Once there, he was casually greeted by a few of his employees who had that same brilliant idea as he had: a well deserved cup of coffee. While many of Soma's co-workers were a bit older than him, they all shared a great respect for the man. Despite his age, Soma was a good leader, not only being able to improve the company's status depite having so much competition around, but also capable of making the work place actually pleasnt to be in, or at least as pleasnt as possible...

After greeting his employees back with a polite nod, Soma reached one of the machines and got himself a nice and warm express coffee without caffeine, otherwise he wouldn't be able to sleep well at night. His coffee break would be short lived however, he barely had time to drink half of his cup's content when Jane, his recently hired administrator, approached him with a file on her hand and greeted him with a "Good day, boss". That caused Soma to sigh a bit before replying "Came on Jane... we talked about this already. There is no need for you to call me that." he said in calm tone so she wouldn't get the impression that he is scolding her "But it is just natural for me to call you that, you are the boss after all" I simply shook my head slightly while also chuckling a bit "Just call me Haruki like everybody else does alright?" "Very well...  I have a few files that require your attention Mr. Haruki" truth to be told, Soma would still prefer to be simply called Haruki, but he figured that would be the best he would get for now. He took another sip while Jane was speaking before sighing once again "What are those files about?" he asked drinking the remains of his coffee "It's about Futurae Tech's relationship with other technological companies" she replyed handing Soma the file. He was able to do a quick reading of the file's contents before closing it and returning it to Jane "I think the production team is taking the wrong idea there. Instead of trying to create a better version of already well-established products, try to create something new, or maybe even some support programs to what we have already. There is simply no need to waste our time and resources clashing with other companies like that ok? Why swim against the flow when you can just go with it?" Jane's eyes shinned a bit during Soma's little speach there, she felt kinda touched and motivated by it "R-right, I'll report this to the production team right away" she bowed a bit before going away. Soma then returned to his office.

After a few more hours Soma was finally able to go home, his house and car were actually quite modest for a man of his status. Once inside, he made himself a quick meal from the leftovers inside the fridge and took a seat on his favorite armchair before turning the TV on and scrolling through the channels looking for something interesting to watch. He then felt a little vibration on his right forearm and also heard a little bipping noise. Soma knew that it was his Arm Computer making that comotion. He pulled his sleeve up to reveal the device. Soma had actually customized his Arm Computer quite a bit. It was a light grey armlet with half of a small blue sphere sticking out. From that blue sphere a light came out that quickly took the form of a holographic version of the normal interface. There was a message from the system, informing about an update called Hero OS. *Huh... that is weird. A system update out of nowhere like this? hmmm the anti-virus didn't show any negative response, so I can only assume it to be real... well, whatever. I just hope it doens't take long to download...* he tought to himself as the update was quickly downloaded and installed. After a quick reboot, the Arm Computer was working normally again, but there didn't seem to be any major changes. Before he could think about it, though, Soma noticed that there was a private message sent to him. Once he opened it, a video began to play and there was also a written message under said video.

*Inside the video file, once Soma decided to view it, was actually the same video that all Authority Security Force users of the Hero OS got upon getting it. It was known as the 'Induction Video' by most and was made the the Consortium, much like most Arm Computer related technology. In the Induction Video, there was a representative from the Consortium with one of the high ranking officials of Authority's Security Force attending. It was quite a high production value video, it must be said with all the bells and whistles. Soma could pick and choose what sections of the video he wanted to watch, much like a Blueray movie. In the video, the representative of the Consortium was talking about the HERO OS product and the related product, the Game Images (GIs for short). Now, if Soma was up-to-date with his news, he would know that the Consortium had won a large government contract to help develop a new 'defense program' a year ago and it seemed from the video that this was the result. It appeared that this "Hero OS' update was in limited release for security and police personnel. From the sounds of it, this was not so much a live 'beta-test' where there were still bugs but a full release prodcut specifically made for the Security Forces, including police personnel. As the video continued, the various functions of the Hero OS were described and demonstrated. As it turns out, the Hero OS does a few things more than the ordinary OS that Arm Computers have. For example, the Geo-Location and 'Map' capabilities have been changed and modified to allow for real-time information on sighting of threats to be uploaded and tracked. In other words, if anything bad in MegaCity 1 happened, those with the HERO OS would get a notification on the threat, its location and its nature and be able to track it in real-time. Another example of the functionality of the Hero OS was access to a special 'App' Store, linked to the Game Images. It turned out that one could purchase special functionality and quality upgrades for the Arm Computer and the Game Images from this Store, which was unusual as most Arm Computers were not easily upgradable.*

*Also, the video would speak of the Game Images or GIs for short. It seemed that the GIs were essentially kind of like a specialised 'loadout' or configuration that people could use to defend themselves with. It seemed to be some sort of advanced technological development that allowed for rapid deployment of armed units to react and respond to threats. There were limited  livedemostrations of the technology in the video, showing how the GIs functioned and what exactly they did. The operation of using the GI was quite easy, almost idiot-proof despite how mindbogglingly compelx the actual technology was. From the video, Soma would learn the basics of how to use a Game Image and that there were more advanced tutorial features in the Hero OS product, under the How To Guide section in the OS GUI itself. It appeared to offer advanced simulations and helpful advice on how to use the OS and the GIs.*

*The text file...was probably the oddest bit of the update. Not only was the file encrypted and asked for a password...but the strange thing was that it gave a hint of the password in plain text. The password hint was 'What you value most'. Inside the text file appeared to be a letter from someone, addressing Soma by name. The letter said the following...*

To Soma,

I would have loved to have done this in a less obtuse and mysterious manner but circumstances have prevented me from doing so, please accept my humble apologies for this. By now, you would be wondering how you have received this 'Hero OS' update and why tomorrow, you will receive your first Game Image at work tomorrow. Unfortunately, all I can say to you now is that you have been chosen by myself to partake in what I hope will be an ultimately fulfilling experience, one that will have drastic and major ramifications for Altech. There are those that would have me stay silent and do nothing in the face of what is and will occur and my conscience will not allow me stand by and do nothing. I cannot say much now, even though you must have many questions about this. What I can say is that you must trust and belief in yourself, no matter what happens after tomorrow. If all goes well, I will contact you again and perhaps be able to answer some of your questions.

[Akira]

Soma kept on watching the TV as the update was downloaded. Since there wasn't anything really interesting on TV, he decided to simply watch the news. At one point, one of the reporters mentioned a very curious piece of information "We were recently able to confirm that Futurae Tech, the emprise that recently displayed incredible and latent growth potential, is developing new support programs for their already very well established 'Block Wall' program. In a recent interview, Soma Haruki, Futurae Tech's CEO, said that their main goal with this program is to keep the user's personal information away from the hands of hackers and the like. And that he doesn't doubt that Consortium's base security program is efficient, but at times like these, when information is such a prescious and important thing, one can never be too secure. He finished the interview saying that best part about the 'Block Wall' program is that it was made to be completely compatible with the Computer Arm's base configuration. Being easy to install and uninstall according to the user's preference. According to recent research, over 90% of 'Block Wall's' users are satisfied with the program. Consortium has yet to make an official statement about their position and thoughts on the 'Block Wall' program." Soma couldn't help but to feel satisfied. None of that information was exactly new to him, but it was still very gratifying to hear once again that public was liking the program that both himself and the production team worked so hard to design.

Soma's attention was taken away from the TV however, when he once again felt his Computer Arm vibrate slightly and make a faint bleep like noise. It was a sign that the update had been downloaded successfully. Soma then proceeded to reboot his Computer Arm so the update could be installed. The rebooting process didn't take more than a couple of seconds and once it was done he scrolled around the programs looking for anything different, but found nothing. He began to wonder what had changed before noticing that he had recieved a new mesage containing a video and a text message that was encrypted and also required a password. Soma decided to go for the video first. The moment the video began playing, Soma was able to tell that it had been made by Consortium. The quality was too high to be made by some troll or hacker. There sure was a lot of information to be taken from the video. The HERO OS program and GIs seemed to be quite complex. Thankfully, the video was very good at explaining what they were. Soma then remembered that the Consortium had made a contract with the government about producing a new defense program a while back. Could this HERO Os be said program? and if so, why would they task Soma of all people to test it? It would have made much more sense to contact a cop or a soldier about it, but Soma was just a CEO with little to none actual combat experience. 

Once the video was over, Soma then proceeded to check the text message. It asked for a code that the man didn't have. There was a clue written there, though. *'What I value the most' eh?* Soma thought to himself. He knew the real ansewer, but he didn't expect the Consortium to know, so he went with what he thought that the Consortium thought he valued the most: 'money'. It was the wrong ansewer. 'profit', 'fame', 'success', 'popularity'... these were all wrong. Without any other options Soma finally decided to type in 'time'. To his surprise, that actually was the right answer. The fact that the Consortium knew about how much he valued time was a bit concerning, since that wasn't really something he shared with anyone, but he decided to let those thoughts aside for now and read the text. The message itself felt more like a warning than anything else for Soma. Not only was the message a bit ominous, but it also told the man reading it to trust himself, which wasn't exactly something that he had to read very often. 

Once he was done reading, Soma then closed all the programs in his Computer Arm and the TV before going to bed. He was too tired to think about everything that was happening in such a short time period. He made his way upstairs, took off his business clothes and put on his pajamas. He laid on his bed and soon drifted to sleep. The next day began as usual. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, dressed up and had himself a nice breakfast before going to work once again. When he arrived at the building he was greeted by his employees, to which polietly greeted back, before reaching his office. Once there, he was surprised to find a cardboard box over his desk. Soma, took a moment to analyse the box, looking for anything unusual, but he found nothing. He then took a small pair of scissors from one of his desk's drawers and use it to open the box. Inside he found a strange USB device that had a dark red color. He was a bit unsure on what to do at first, but he then remembered about last night. The HERO Os program and stuff. After a small hesitation moment, Soma finally plugged the USB in his Computer Arm that had a USB port right beside the small blue orb that emmited the holograms. The screen then displayed a loading screen and the progress of the download of the USB contents. Once it was done, a text saying 'Tutorial Game Field' which was something Soma remembered seeing on the video he watched last night. *If I remember correctly, I am supposed to say 'Tutorial Start' now, right?* he tought to himself, and so he did "Tutorial Start" he kept close attention on his Computer Arm to see if anything would happen, but what he wasn't expecting was that the world itself around him would change...

Edited April 15, 2019 by Akira

[Manni]

On 14/03/2019 at 11:33, Neptune said:

Donovan looked wildly around himself as the world around him disappeared only to be replaced by something he instantly recognised as Patriots Park. He had been there many times, sometimes on dates with Charlotte or with Lily. However it was quiet. Eerily so. It made him feel quite uncomfortable, as he was used to it bustling with activity and noise of patrons who visited the park. Despite his lonely nature, and the fact that he would love to walk through an empty park, this screamed wrong. On so many levels. He couldn’t shake it off. It made his skin crawl. His arm computer then started beeping at him and he raised his arm to look at it. His eyes then raised at the projection that was now hovering in front of him, stating that the Game Field Stage had been automatically selected for him. There seemed to be an option for him to change it, however he decided to stick with what he had for the meantime. He had little idea what was going on, and he was wondering if he had somehow been kidnapped from his office. He saw that he could use voice commands, to tentatively tried it,

“Stick with current Game Field Stage.” He said. It indicated that it registered his command, before the screen told him that he had now been transformed. He blinked before looking down at himself, “What the hell?” He asked out loud. His suit had disappeared, to be replaced with something entirely different. He was wearing some kind of military uniform which was white in colour. He had a black belt wrapped around his waist, as the torso piece stopped just below his arse. The collar and shoulders were black in colour, with a gold trim. He also had some kind of golden broach that was a circle, with two small ‘legs’ that came out from the bottom, arching away from each other. There was also a piece that striked through the middle of the circle horizontally. His cuffs were black in colour as well, with two bands of gold that wrapped around it.

He had skin-hugging white trousers that seemed to reach his ankle but he wasn’t entirely sure as he had a pair of black boots that reached up to the middle of his thigh. On the outside of the boots were three golden buttons. Wrapped around his shoulders and falling down his back to mid-shin was a clark that sported a hood. It came together at the front in a bow-like fashion, bound together by another broach. This one was a golden, slightly elongated pentagon with a cross in the centre. There was a gold piece that emerged from the side, with a golden chain that attached itself to a golden circle that was attached to a black shoulder pad that lay across his left shoulder. It was an interesting outfit to be sure, and he wondered what he looked like. 

Movement out of the corner of his eye made him look back up at the screen which told him that he was about to meet an AI that would help him learn how to use the functions of his arm computer. One of his eyebrows rose, and he found himself curious as to who this was. At yet at the same time, his body tensed in anticipation of the unknown. He then stared ahead as a large green pipe like structure. It looked like something taken from some kind of game but he couldn’t be sure as he wasn’t one to really play many games. It was either that or some poor CGI movie.

He took an involuntary step back when a male voice sounded from within the pipe. His gaze sharpened as he watched the pipe carefully. However his gaze blanked out when the figure jumped out to stand before him. It was the strangest thing he had ever seen. It looked like some kind of real life anime character. He couldn’t help but to be rendered speechless by it. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. He glanced around cautiously for a moment before he looked back at the figure, “Who the hell are you? And what the hell is going on?” He asked. He normally wasn’t one to swear so much, but after the strange events of the last couple of days, he felt he deserved a few allowances. 

*The figure that came out of the pipe looked at Donovan curiously, though it was kind of hard to tell if that was the case given that Donovan wouldn't be able to see the person's expression under all of that suit. Donovan would have to guess how the other was acting based on their body language and what they said.*

"So you're the one that THEY chose, huh?" the figure said to themselves mysteriously as they checked Donovan out. "Well, I guess we'll see if they made the right choice. Anyway, on to introductions! I guess you can call me 'Mighty Action X' for now!" the figure said, performing a pose for seemingly no reason at all. Perhaps this really was a game character or some sort of weird AI. If so...what kind of person designed this?! "Right, now we need to get you armed up and get a bit of training into you before you start."

*It was at that point that an update came up on Donovan's Arm Comptuer screen, saying that the Game Armanent(s) had been unlocked and to pick a primary weapon. A new 'touch screen' projection came out of the Arm Computer, showing him the options he had to select. From the looks of it, they had quite a selection of small arms to choose from. She could also choose to go single handed or dual wielding as well. Once he chose their weapon, the comptuer would tell them she could customize the 'skin' or appearance of their weapon at any time at no cost.

*It was then that the projection did mention what the figure just said and indicated that the Shop option had been unlocked. It looked like the Shop option used a different currency than what Donovan was used to, so that the money he had at the moment in the 'real world' had no bearing on what currency they had at his disposal in the Shop. It could be advantageous or disadvantageous. The computer also mentioned that the currency for the Shop was a special currency for itself and the Hero OS. After Donovan picked his primary weapon and his preferred cosmetic skin, the figure calling itself Mighty Action X then snapped their fingers...causing rather strange block to appear in random places in the area, some even floating in the air!*

"Right! Now, let's start off with some of the basics shall we." MIghty Action X stated as he raised his right arm into the air, his hand wide open as if to grab something. Suddenly, a strange looking hammer-like weapon phased into existence into their hand and he lowered his arm. "We're going to spar for a little while, so you can get used to how things are done here."

[Neptune]

At what the fire said, one of Donovan’s eyebrows rose as he wondered what they had meant by that. Was he someone they weren’t expecting? Perhaps they were expecting someone else in the force? The figure seemed to stare at Donovan, but with the suit he wasn’t able to tell where they were staring nor what his expression was like. A fact that rather irritated Donovan, as he liked being able to talk to someone face to face rather than through a mask that hid their expressions and motives. His head tilted a little when the figure introduced themselves as ‘Mighty Action X’ before performing a pose for no reason. This quite confused Donovan and he wasn’t sure what to make of it exactly. Thankfully, the figure moved on to say that he needed to get armed and do some training.

Training? What kind of training? And armaments? His Arm Computer beeped at him and he brought it up to see that there was an update that allowed him to access the weapons shop to pick a primary weapon. It also said that he could dual wield, which was a nice option to have. He began to look through the weapons, skipping over the guns. Guns he knew how to use with ease. He was a fully trained officer after all. What caught his attention was the selection of melee weapons. Some of them held no interest to him such as the mace, or a punching glove. What caught his attention was a longsword. It was quite slim, and rather basic. He could no doubt ‘update’ it as he went along. But it was the only thing that drew his attention. So he selected it and entered the customisation. He was about to simply exit but paused as he looked through some of the skins that were available. He selected one that would make the blade of the sword red in colour. He finished the customisation, causing the sword to appear in his hand.

He then saw that the shop was now open and he decided to take a small browse of it. It seemed that he was right. He could improve the weapon later. Of course, he lacked the currency that this strange HeroOS seemed to be using, and he wondered how he could get his hands on some. He dismissed the shop and looked back up at the strange figure. He then glanced around when Mighty Action X clicked his fingers and made strange blocks appear around them, with some even floating in the air. He turned his attention back to the figure as they spoke, stating that they were going to start with the basics. He watched as the figure summoned a hammer like weapon, causing Donovan to tense a little before he tilted his head a little, “Alright…” He said slowly, gripping his sword with both arms. He set his feet on the ground, one slightly placed in front of him aiming straight out front. The other was a half-step behind him, turned at a slight angle. He sword was held out in front of him, tilted up at a forty-five degree angle. 

[Manni]

On 03/04/2019 at 02:08, Akira said:

Soma kept on watching the TV as the update was downloaded. Since there wasn't anything really interesting on TV, he decided to simply watch the news. At one point, one of the reporters mentioned a very curious piece of information "We were recently able to confirm that Futurae Tech, the emprise that recently displayed incredible and latent growth potential, is developing new support programs for their already very well established 'Block Wall' program. In a recent interview, Soma Haruki, Futurae Tech's CEO, said that their main goal with this program is to keep the user's personal information away from the hands of hackers and the like. And that he doesn't doubt that Consortium's base security program is efficient, but at times like these, when information is such a prescious and important thing, one can never be too secure. He finished the interview saying that best part about the 'Block Wall' program is that it was made to be completely compatible with the Computer Arm's base configuration. Being easy to install and uninstall according to the user's preference. According to recent research, over 90% of 'Block Wall's' users are satisfied with the program. Consortium has yet to make an official statement about their position and thoughts on the 'Block Wall' program." Soma couldn't help but to feel satisfied. None of that information was exactly new to him, but it was still very gratifying to hear once again that public was liking the program that both himself and the production team worked so hard to design.

Soma's attention was taken away from the TV however, when he once again felt his Computer Arm vibrate slightly and make a faint bleep like noise. It was a sign that the update had been downloaded successfully. Soma then proceeded to reboot his Computer Arm so the update could be installed. The rebooting process didn't take more than a couple of seconds and once it was done he scrolled around the programs looking for anything different, but found nothing. He began to wonder what had changed before noticing that he had recieved a new mesage containing a video and a text message that was encrypted and also required a password. Soma decided to go for the video first. The moment the video began playing, Soma was able to tell that it had been made by Consortium. The quality was too high to be made by some troll or hacker. There sure was a lot of information to be taken from the video. The HERO OS program and GIs seemed to be quite complex. Thankfully, the video was very good at explaining what they were. Soma then remembered that the Consortium had made a contract with the government about producing a new defense program a while back. Could this HERO Os be said program? and if so, why would they task Soma of all people to test it? It would have made much more sense to contact a cop or a soldier about it, but Soma was just a CEO with little to none actual combat experience. 

Once the video was over, Soma then proceeded to check the text message. It asked for a code that the man didn't have. There was a clue written there, though. *'What I value the most' eh?* Soma thought to himself. He knew the real ansewer, but he didn't expect the Consortium to know, so he went with what he thought that the Consortium thought he valued the most: 'money'. It was the wrong ansewer. 'profit', 'fame', 'success', 'popularity'... these were all wrong. Without any other options Soma finally decided to type in 'time'. To his surprise, that actually was the right answer. The fact that the Consortium knew about how much he valued time was a bit concerning, since that wasn't really something he shared with anyone, but he decided to let those thoughts aside for now and read the text. The message itself felt more like a warning than anything else for Soma. Not only was the message a bit ominous, but it also told the man reading it to trust himself, which wasn't exactly something that he had to read very often. 

Once he was done reading, Soma then closed all the programs in his Computer Arm and the TV before going to bed. He was too tired to think about everything that was happening in such a short time period. He made his way upstairs, took off his business clothes and put on his pajamas. He laid on his bed and soon drifted to sleep. The next day began as usual. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, dressed up and had himself a nice breakfast before going to work once again. When he arrived at the building he was greeted by his employees, to which polietly greeted back, before reaching his office. Once there, he was surprised to find a cardboard box over his desk. Soma, took a moment to analyse the box, looking for anything unusual, but he found nothing. He then took a small pair of scissors from one of his desk's drawers and use it to open the box. Inside he found a strange USB device that had a dark red color. He was a bit unsure on what to do at first, but he then remembered about last night. The HERO Os program and stuff. After a small hesitation moment, Soma finally plugged the USB in his Computer Arm that had a USB port right beside the small blue orb that emmited the holograms. The screen then displayed a loading screen and the progress of the download of the USB contents. Once it was done, a text saying 'Tutorial Game Field' which was something Soma remembered seeing on the video he watched last night. *If I remember correctly, I am supposed to say 'Tutorial Start' now, right?* he tought to himself, and so he did "Tutorial Start" he kept close attention on his Computer Arm to see if anything would happen, but what he wasn't expecting was that the world itself around him would change...

*As the world around Soma disappeared, a new one formed around him. No longer was he in his office at work but it looked like he was somewhere near the centre of Patrioit's Park, where the Amplitheatre was and where the statues of the heroes that died during the Outsider War were. It looked like an excellent reconstruction of Patriot's Park by the look of it, apart from the fact there was no people here. Everything like all the seats, water fountains, rubbish bins, paths, lights and utilties were all where they were in the 'reali world'. Whoever made this had done a really good job in modelling it. This was very odd, as Patriot's Park was always full of people and life. Here, he could not hear any signs of life. There didn't seem to be anyone here but himself. For a few moments, silence would reign in this strange place. Suddenly, his Arm Computer let out a beeping noise as it projected a screen out in front of him. It stated that the 'Game Field Stage' had been automatically selected for him for the sake of convenience but if he wished to change the 'Stage', he could do so by saying 'Stage Select' and using motion controls (via swiping and pressing the projection in front of him) to select a new stage for himself. Of course, the screen made obvious that he could skip this step by making an appropriate voice command. After selecting an appropriate stage, if he chose one or stuck with the one he had, the projected screen in front of Soma changed to a new one telling him that he would notice that he had now 'transformed' and that his clothing was now changed. The computer gave Soma a few moments to register this as the screen on his Arm Computer changed to something like a status screen like those found in shooters. It was then that the Arm Computer projected a new screen explaining that he was about to meet an AI character that would help him learn about how to use the functions of his Arm Computer.A few seconds after Soma read the screen completely, the projection ended and the screen disappeared. It was then that something really odd took place. A giant treasure chest, the kind you would find in an RPG game, phased into existence a few metres in front of Soma. Now, the treasure chest was SO big that it towered over Soma, as it was a few metres in height! It didn't look like it was immediately threatening to topple over or anything, it being flat on the ground. However, before Soma got to react, his Arm Computer indicated that he was receiving a phone call from somewhere. Now, usually when one receives a call from another person on the Arm Computer, it would have Caller ID on it. However, this call did not have anything on it, not even a number! Assuming Soma would answer it, which he should, he would get a rather strange call.*

"Hello Soma, I am the AI that has been assigned to help you." the AI started the conservation politely and seemingly professionally. The voice seemed male and a bit too formal though. "I'm calling you from inside the chest I've been mysteriously spawned it. I don't know if this is someone's idea of a joke but it's preventing me from doing my job. So if you would kindly back away from the chest...just a metre or two would do, it would be appreciated. Please stay on the line."

*Assuming Soma complied with this strange request and backed away from the chest, which he would hopefully do, something even weirder happened. A few seconds after Soma backed away, the front of the chest mysteriously...was cut diagonally in half and the bottom half of the diagonal cut started to fall forward towards Soma...but it never reached him as it quite quickly disintegrated into 'light'...as did the rest of the treasure chest! Inside the treasure chest stood a figure, who looked like some sort of person wearing a knight's armour*

"Sorry about that waste of time but this looked like someone's attempt at a challenge. But as I always say, there's is nothing I cannot cut."

[Matty]

The sun had barely started to intrude its way through the shutters of Takeshi's apartment when his arm computer had pinged him for its HERO OS update. Groggy and still half asleep, he couldn't be bothered to check the ping and slapped the arm band to shut it off before shoving his arm back under his pillow. It was Takeshi's day off after all so his still foggy mind was quick to reason that he had forgotten to turn his alarm off and promptly fell back to sleep. Days off for Takeshi meant abstinence from the arm comp. in the morning. The thing had become associated with so much more than just himself, constantly being pinged by Authority HQ for new issues or patients, the news network and more. It tended to be a source of stress more than anything else for the young man. The only thing he had to look forward to on that thing was usually his gacha game updates. Of course, abstaining from the body locked computer was ill-advised for any grown adult in Mega-City One which lead Takeshi to sometimes wonder what the arm computers for Mega-City Two were like, and if their lives were as dependent on the things as much as his was.

A few hours passed until Takeshi was pushing his nude form up from his bed, forcing the inertia out of his bones an into something more fitting of an adult of his stature. His hair was a wild mess, plastered to one side of his yawning face with his back hunched over. Takeshi stared at his art covered wall, second guessing whether or not he should have stayed up to play games with his friends back in the outer city. With a groan Takeshi reluctantly jumped from his bed, forcing his body into some sort of motion. He arched his back, spreading his arms over his head as his second yawn for the morning broke from him before starting his morning routine. The precious coffee maker, a hand-me-down from his mother, was purely analog with three chambers to it. One for the hot water, another for the coffee grounds and the third for the mix to boil up into. It only took somewhere around five minutes to boil into a couple of cups which was more than enough time for Takeshi to get in his "work out". It wasn't anything grand like Authority HQ had suggested since Takeshi leaned more on the lazy side of life, opting instead for a few sit ups, push ups and a good-morning stretch. The first cup of coffee was usually his breakfast and would wait for him outside of his shower while the second cup would either wait for him to come home from work or, on his days off, serve as company to a good-morning gaming session. Nothing got the blood pumping and the brain firing for Takeshi like couple of matches in his favorite fighting game. But the cabin fever never failed as it started to fill him with a lingering sense of anxiety. Takeshi couldn't tell if it was just too much coffee or the strain of responsibility that gave him that daily feeling but it was there with him just as much as any other feeling was.

Takeshi's apartment was. . .homely. It was far from impressive as it was small and boxy in design but, despite this, he did do his best to make the most of it. The bedroom was only separated from the rest of the apartment by the bathroom and a hallway where, beyond it, was the living room that shared the same room with the kitchen. Luckily, Takeshi had a small balcony that came out from the living room where he could people watch whenever he stepped out to take care of his petunias. While he wasn't as involved in the local art scene as he was back in his University days, Takeshi tried his best to support the up-and-coming local artist by adorning the walls of his apartment in their works. Some were abstract, with a myriad of colors or simply monochromatic while others were portraits of the artists friends, landscapes or photographs of generic city settings. Takeshi didn't have to live in such a cramped space what with his healthy check from Authority HQ. Psychiatrists, especially by Authority HQ, were in high demand as the sophistication and complexity of society lead to more and more stress related illnesses, but he had figured that it was best to save his money while he didn't need to spend so much. In fact, he was hoping to save up to open a Psychiatric firm of his own one day.

He had started to make another pot of coffee for his looming trip outdoors when he finally noticed the flashing red notification light on his chrome arm comp. Takeshi rolled his eyes, sighed, and tapped the device to life. To his surprise, the user interface had completely changed. Sort of. "Well it's 'bout time!" Takeshi exclaimed to himself. "Oh! This was went off this morning?" Takeshi wanted to dive into the new features, to appreciate all the new bells and whistled the UI had. Takeshi was a bit of a geek when it came to little things like that and had been asking for a UI update on the forums for almost a year now. While the changes were simple, mostly cosmetic, he greatly appreciated the new colors, smoother animations as well as the new chimes that came from interacting with it. Nothing looked out of place, which was nice to know. The last time he had received an update the changes had moved all of his files and load orders out of place. He had to spend hours fixing things because of that. Instead, the only thing that was different beyond the aesthetics was the version update in the top left corner that read "HERO OS" and a single file located underneath it. Takeshi quickly poked the file with all of the curiosity that one could manage and then suddenly stopped, the glee and color dropping his face.

". . .The hell?"

Edited May 1, 2019 by Matty
typos :^]

[Manni]

On 02/05/2019 at 07:56, Matty said:

The sun had barely started to intrude its way through the shutters of Takeshi's apartment when his arm computer had pinged him for its HERO OS update. Groggy and still half asleep, he couldn't be bothered to check the ping and slapped the arm band to shut it off before shoving his arm back under his pillow. It was Takeshi's day off after all so his still foggy mind was quick to reason that he had forgotten to turn his alarm off and promptly fell back to sleep. Days off for Takeshi meant abstinence from the arm comp. in the morning. The thing had become associated with so much more than just himself, constantly being pinged by Authority HQ for new issues or patients, the news network and more. It tended to be a source of stress more than anything else for the young man. The only thing he had to look forward to on that thing was usually his gacha game updates. Of course, abstaining from the body locked computer was ill-advised for any grown adult in Mega-City One which lead Takeshi to sometimes wonder what the arm computers for Mega-City Two were like, and if their lives were as dependent on the things as much as his was.

A few hours passed until Takeshi was pushing his nude form up from his bed, forcing the inertia out of his bones an into something more fitting of an adult of his stature. His hair was a wild mess, plastered to one side of his yawning face with his back hunched over. Takeshi stared at his art covered wall, second guessing whether or not he should have stayed up to play games with his friends back in the outer city. With a groan Takeshi reluctantly jumped from his bed, forcing his body into some sort of motion. He arched his back, spreading his arms over his head as his second yawn for the morning broke from him before starting his morning routine. The precious coffee maker, a hand-me-down from his mother, was purely analog with three chambers to it. One for the hot water, another for the coffee grounds and the third for the mix to boil up into. It only took somewhere around five minutes to boil into a couple of cups which was more than enough time for Takeshi to get in his "work out". It wasn't anything grand like Authority HQ had suggested since Takeshi leaned more on the lazy side of life, opting instead for a few sit ups, push ups and a good-morning stretch. The first cup of coffee was usually his breakfast and would wait for him outside of his shower while the second cup would either wait for him to come home from work or, on his days off, serve as company to a good-morning gaming session. Nothing got the blood pumping and the brain firing for Takeshi like couple of matches in his favorite fighting game. But the cabin fever never failed as it started to fill him with a lingering sense of anxiety. Takeshi couldn't tell if it was just too much coffee or the strain of responsibility that gave him that daily feeling but it was there with him just as much as any other feeling was.

Takeshi's apartment was. . .homely. It was far from impressive as it was small and boxy in design but, despite this, he did do his best to make the most of it. The bedroom was only separated from the rest of the apartment by the bathroom and a hallway where, beyond it, was the living room that shared the same room with the kitchen. Luckily, Takeshi had a small balcony that came out from the living room where he could people watch whenever he stepped out to take care of his petunias. While he wasn't as involved in the local art scene as he was back in his University days, Takeshi tried his best to support the up-and-coming local artist by adorning the walls of his apartment in their works. Some were abstract, with a myriad of colors or simply monochromatic while others were portraits of the artists friends, landscapes or photographs of generic city settings. Takeshi didn't have to live in such a cramped space what with his healthy check from Authority HQ. Psychiatrists, especially by Authority HQ, were in high demand as the sophistication and complexity of society lead to more and more stress related illnesses, but he had figured that it was best to save his money while he didn't need to spend so much. In fact, he was hoping to save up to open a Psychiatric firm of his own one day.

He had started to make another pot of coffee for his looming trip outdoors when he finally noticed the flashing red notification light on his chrome arm comp. Takeshi rolled his eyes, sighed, and tapped the device to life. To his surprise, the user interface had completely changed. Sort of. "Well it's 'bout time!" Takeshi exclaimed to himself. "Oh! This was went off this morning?" Takeshi wanted to dive into the new features, to appreciate all the new bells and whistled the UI had. Takeshi was a bit of a geek when it came to little things like that and had been asking for a UI update on the forums for almost a year now. While the changes were simple, mostly cosmetic, he greatly appreciated the new colors, smoother animations as well as the new chimes that came from interacting with it. Nothing looked out of place, which was nice to know. The last time he had received an update the changes had moved all of his files and load orders out of place. He had to spend hours fixing things because of that. Instead, the only thing that was different beyond the aesthetics was the version update in the top left corner that read "HERO OS" and a single file located underneath it. Takeshi quickly poked the file with all of the curiosity that one could manage and then suddenly stopped, the glee and color dropping his face.

". . .The hell?"

 

*Inside the video file, once Takeshi decided to view it, was actually the same video that all Authority Security Force users of the Hero OS got upon getting it. It was known as the 'Induction Video' by most and was made the the Consortium, much like most Arm Computer related technology. In the Induction Video, there was a representative from the Consortium with one of the high ranking officials of Authority's Security Force attending. It was quite a high production value video, it must be said with all the bells and whistles. Takeshi could pick and choose what sections of the video he wanted to watch, much like a Blueray movie. In the video, the representative of the Consortium was talking about the HERO OS product and the related product, the Game Images (GIs for short). Now, if Takeshi was up-to-date with his news, he would know that the Consortium had won a large government contract to help develop a new 'defense program' a year ago and it seemed from the video that this was the result. It appeared that this "Hero OS' update was in limited release for security and police personnel. From the sounds of it, this was not so much a live 'beta-test' where there were still bugs but a full release prodcut specifically made for the Security Forces, including police personnel. As the video continued, the various functions of the Hero OS were described and demonstrated. As it turns out, the Hero OS does a few things more than the ordinary OS that Arm Computers have. For example, the Geo-Location and 'Map' capabilities have been changed and modified to allow for real-time information on sighting of threats to be uploaded and tracked. In other words, if anything bad in MegaCity 1 happened, those with the HERO OS would get a notification on the threat, its location and its nature and be able to track it in real-time. Another example of the functionality of the Hero OS was access to a special 'App' Store, linked to the Game Images. It turned out that one could purchase special functionality and quality upgrades for the Arm Computer and the Game Images from this Store, which was unusual as most Arm Computers were not easily upgradable.*

*Also, the video would speak of the Game Images or GIs for short. It seemed that the GIs were essentially kind of like a specialised 'loadout' or configuration that people could use to defend themselves with. It seemed to be some sort of advanced technological development that allowed for rapid deployment of armed units to react and respond to threats. There were limited  livedemostrations of the technology in the video, showing how the GIs functioned and what exactly they did. The operation of using the GI was quite easy, almost idiot-proof despite how mindbogglingly compelx the actual technology was. From the video, Takeshi would learn the basics of how to use a Game Image and that there were more advanced tutorial features in the Hero OS product, under the How To Guide section in the OS GUI itself. It appeared to offer advanced simulations and helpful advice on how to use the OS and the GIs.*

*The text file...was probably the oddest bit of the update. Not only was the file encrypted and asked for a password...but the strange thing was that it gave a hint of the password in plain text. The password hint was 'What you value most'. Inside the text file appeared to be a letter from someone, addressing Taekshi by name.*

 

To Takeshi,

I would have loved to have done this in a less obtuse and mysterious manner but circumstances have prevented me from doing so, please accept my humble apologies for this. By now, you would be wondering how you have received this 'Hero OS' update and why tomorrow, you will receive your first Game Image at work tomorrow. Unfortunately, all I can say to you now is that you have been chosen by myself to partake in what I hope will be an ultimately fulfilling experience, one that will have drastic and major ramifications for Altech. There are those that would have me stay silent and do nothing in the face of what is and will occur and my conscience will not allow me stand by and do nothing. I cannot say much now, even though you must have many questions about this. What I can say is that you must trust and belief in yourself, no matter what happens after tomorrow. If all goes well, I will contact you again and perhaps be able to answer some of your questions. 

*However, there was something else on the end of the text file that was not written in the same manner as the rest of the text file. In fact, it didn't seem to be the same author at all.*

gOd iS nO lOnGeR iN tHeIR hEaVen.

tHe bAsTaRd's sPaWn cLaIm hEaVeN'S mAnDaTe

tHe cHiLdReN tHiNk tHeY rUlE,

bUt tHeY aRe bUT puPpETs oN fAtEs sTrInGs.

 

 

 

[Akira]

On 4/17/2019 at 12:28 PM, Manni said:

*As the world around Soma disappeared, a new one formed around him. No longer was he in his office at work but it looked like he was somewhere near the centre of Patrioit's Park, where the Amplitheatre was and where the statues of the heroes that died during the Outsider War were. It looked like an excellent reconstruction of Patriot's Park by the look of it, apart from the fact there was no people here. Everything like all the seats, water fountains, rubbish bins, paths, lights and utilties were all where they were in the 'reali world'. Whoever made this had done a really good job in modelling it. This was very odd, as Patriot's Park was always full of people and life. Here, he could not hear any signs of life. There didn't seem to be anyone here but himself. For a few moments, silence would reign in this strange place. Suddenly, his Arm Computer let out a beeping noise as it projected a screen out in front of him. It stated that the 'Game Field Stage' had been automatically selected for him for the sake of convenience but if he wished to change the 'Stage', he could do so by saying 'Stage Select' and using motion controls (via swiping and pressing the projection in front of him) to select a new stage for himself. Of course, the screen made obvious that he could skip this step by making an appropriate voice command. After selecting an appropriate stage, if he chose one or stuck with the one he had, the projected screen in front of Soma changed to a new one telling him that he would notice that he had now 'transformed' and that his clothing was now changed. The computer gave Soma a few moments to register this as the screen on his Arm Computer changed to something like a status screen like those found in shooters. It was then that the Arm Computer projected a new screen explaining that he was about to meet an AI character that would help him learn about how to use the functions of his Arm Computer.A few seconds after Soma read the screen completely, the projection ended and the screen disappeared. It was then that something really odd took place. A giant treasure chest, the kind you would find in an RPG game, phased into existence a few metres in front of Soma. Now, the treasure chest was SO big that it towered over Soma, as it was a few metres in height! It didn't look like it was immediately threatening to topple over or anything, it being flat on the ground. However, before Soma got to react, his Arm Computer indicated that he was receiving a phone call from somewhere. Now, usually when one receives a call from another person on the Arm Computer, it would have Caller ID on it. However, this call did not have anything on it, not even a number! Assuming Soma would answer it, which he should, he would get a rather strange call.*

"Hello Soma, I am the AI that has been assigned to help you." the AI started the conservation politely and seemingly professionally. The voice seemed male and a bit too formal though. "I'm calling you from inside the chest I've been mysteriously spawned it. I don't know if this is someone's idea of a joke but it's preventing me from doing my job. So if you would kindly back away from the chest...just a metre or two would do, it would be appreciated. Please stay on the line."

*Assuming Soma complied with this strange request and backed away from the chest, which he would hopefully do, something even weirder happened. A few seconds after Soma backed away, the front of the chest mysteriously...was cut diagonally in half and the bottom half of the diagonal cut started to fall forward towards Soma...but it never reached him as it quite quickly disintegrated into 'light'...as did the rest of the treasure chest! Inside the treasure chest stood a figure, who looked like some sort of person wearing a knight's armour*

"Sorry about that waste of time but this looked like someone's attempt at a challenge. But as I always say, there's is nothing I cannot cut."

Soma watched closely and calmly as the very world around began to dissapear before slowly but surely taking a new form. Obviously, Soma wasn't in his ffice anymore. The new location he currently found himself into seemed to be a reconstruction or simulation of the Patriot's Park, and a prtty damn good one at that. Even though, Soma wasn't exactly the kind of person to frequent said park often, he could tell that he hadn't been teleported to the actual Patriot's Park for one simple reason: people. Contrary to the actual park, this one was completely empty, aside from Soma himself that is. Almost like some sort of ghost town. After a few silent moments lokking around the area and visually analyzing it, Soma's attention was taken by sound coming out of his Arm Computer. A screen was displayed in front of him, giving him the option to change the scenario if he so desired, but Soma simply chose to don't change it "Skip" he said. The screen then changed and displayed a message telling Soma that his appearance had changed. Soma took a look at his clothes and noticed that message was correct, he was now wearing black jeans pant with a small chain attached to the back of his hips, a white T-shirt with a light brown symbol of what seemed to be crossed swords, white shoes and a black leather jacket with a hood covering his head. Soma barely had time to process his new clothes, which liked quite a bit by the way, before the sceen changed once again and displayed some stats, very similar to the shooting games Soma uses to play in the rare occasions in which he has some free time for himself. It was displaying a main weapon slot, which was filled with was seemed to be a pair of very cool looking hand cannons, some stats such as fire rate, damage, reload speed, etc; and a area dedicated to a skill tree. After the man had glanced through said screen, it dissapeared right before a enormous treasure chest like object suddenly appeared in front of him. Then, Soma's Arm Computer began to emit a noise. When Soma checked it, he noticed it was call from someone. The weird part was that there was no number or ID displayed on the screen. Being the cautious person that he is, Soma didn't want to answer the call, however, he didn't really know what was going on or how to actually get out of this simulation by himself. Without options, he decided to take the call "Hello?" the voice from whoever was on the other side of the call seemed to be of a young male person. His voice tone was very formal and he presented himself as an AI who was there to help Soma. The AI then asked Soma to beck off a bit so he could break out of the treasure chest. Without taking his eyes from the giant object, Soma did as he was asked and took a few steps backs until he was about two meters aways from said thing. Soon, a diagonal cut was made from the inside of the chest, causing it so dissipate not long after. From there, the AI's form was finally revealed. It looked like some sort of knight, with shiny armor and sword included. Once the 'dust had settled' so the speak, Soma approached the figure with his usual calm expression on his face "If you are here to help me, then how about you begin by explaining why I was called to this place?" he asked in cold tone.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Akira

[Manni]

On 23/05/2019 at 07:41, Akira said:

Soma watched closely and calmly as the very world around began to dissapear before slowly but surely taking a new form. Obviously, Soma wasn't in his ffice anymore. The new location he currently found himself into seemed to be a reconstruction or simulation of the Patriot's Park, and a prtty damn good one at that. Even though, Soma wasn't exactly the kind of person to frequent said park often, he could tell that he hadn't been teleported to the actual Patriot's Park for one simple reason: people. Contrary to the actual park, this one was completely empty, aside from Soma himself that is. Almost like some sort of ghost town. After a few silent moments lokking around the area and visually analyzing it, Soma's attention was taken by sound coming out of his Arm Computer. A screen was displayed in front of him, giving him the option to change the scenario if he so desired, but Soma simply chose to don't change it "Skip" he said. The screen then changed and displayed a message telling Soma that his appearance had changed. Soma took a look at his clothes and noticed that message was correct, he was now wearing black jeans pant with a small chain attached to the back of his hips, a white T-shirt with a light brown symbol of what seemed to be crossed swords, white shoes and a black leather jacket with a hood covering his head. Soma barely had time to process his new clothes, which liked quite a bit by the way, before the sceen changed once again and displayed some stats, very similar to the shooting games Soma uses to play in the rare occasions in which he has some free time for himself. It was displaying a main weapon slot, which was filled with was seemed to be a pair of very cool looking hand cannons, some stats such as fire rate, damage, reload speed, etc; and a area dedicated to a skill tree. After the man had glanced through said screen, it dissapeared right before a enormous treasure chest like object suddenly appeared in front of him. Then, Soma's Arm Computer began to emit a noise. When Soma checked it, he noticed it was call from someone. The weird part was that there was no number or ID displayed on the screen. Being the cautious person that he is, Soma didn't want to answer the call, however, he didn't really know what was going on or how to actually get out of this simulation by himself. Without options, he decided to take the call "Hello?" the voice from whoever was on the other side of the call seemed to be of a young male person. His voice tone was very formal and he presented himself as an AI who was there to help Soma. The AI then asked Soma to beck off a bit so he could break out of the treasure chest. Without taking his eyes from the giant object, Soma did as he was asked and took a few steps backs until he was about two meters aways from said thing. Soon, a diagonal cut was made from the inside of the chest, causing it so dissipate not long after. From there, the AI's form was finally revealed. It looked like some sort of knight, with shiny armor and sword included. Once the 'dust had settled' so the speak, Soma approached the figure with his usual calm expression on his face "If you are here to help me, then how about you begin by explaining why I was called to this place?" he asked in cold tone.

"You have been chosen to take part in a rather important..." the AI began speaking with a foreign but seemingly high brow accent before they paused to consider the words they were about to say. "....Experiment, the result of which will have a large bearing on Altech's Future. Now, before you ask, there are things that I cannot disclose to you at this present time due to my agreements...no, my programming. Question dealing with subjects such as my employer/designer and the exact nature of the experiment are examples of subjects that I am not permitted to answer."

*This...was interesting, especially the mysterious slip of the tongue and the AI's choice of words...if they indeed an AI construct. Now, in Altech, AIs and robots were quite a commonplace thing and quite advanced but there were still certain things that they were not permitted to do or become as part of the law of the land. This was mostly to allay concern of humanity being made redundant by machinery and also to allay fears of not being able to appropriately distinguish between an organic and artificial intellgience. Whether Soma would make much of this was up to them but if they did, they might consider not raising the issue as there were certainly a large information assymetry between the two and goodness knows what kind of information this AI or whoever this was had. Soma might feel they may need to tread carefully in this strange environment, given that they really did not know what they were getting themselves into.*

"I see you have been familarizing yourself with the Hero OS and have selected your primary loadout. That is good to be prepared. Now, in the immediate, I will be helping you further familiarize yourself with the Hero OS' other functions such as the Shop and your task for today."

On 06/04/2019 at 04:33, Neptune said:

At what the fire said, one of Donovan’s eyebrows rose as he wondered what they had meant by that. Was he someone they weren’t expecting? Perhaps they were expecting someone else in the force? The figure seemed to stare at Donovan, but with the suit he wasn’t able to tell where they were staring nor what his expression was like. A fact that rather irritated Donovan, as he liked being able to talk to someone face to face rather than through a mask that hid their expressions and motives. His head tilted a little when the figure introduced themselves as ‘Mighty Action X’ before performing a pose for no reason. This quite confused Donovan and he wasn’t sure what to make of it exactly. Thankfully, the figure moved on to say that he needed to get armed and do some training.

Training? What kind of training? And armaments? His Arm Computer beeped at him and he brought it up to see that there was an update that allowed him to access the weapons shop to pick a primary weapon. It also said that he could dual wield, which was a nice option to have. He began to look through the weapons, skipping over the guns. Guns he knew how to use with ease. He was a fully trained officer after all. What caught his attention was the selection of melee weapons. Some of them held no interest to him such as the mace, or a punching glove. What caught his attention was a longsword. It was quite slim, and rather basic. He could no doubt ‘update’ it as he went along. But it was the only thing that drew his attention. So he selected it and entered the customisation. He was about to simply exit but paused as he looked through some of the skins that were available. He selected one that would make the blade of the sword red in colour. He finished the customisation, causing the sword to appear in his hand.

 He then saw that the shop was now open and he decided to take a small browse of it. It seemed that he was right. He could improve the weapon later. Of course, he lacked the currency that this strange HeroOS seemed to be using, and he wondered how he could get his hands on some. He dismissed the shop and looked back up at the strange figure. He then glanced around when Mighty Action X clicked his fingers and made strange blocks appear around them, with some even floating in the air. He turned his attention back to the figure as they spoke, stating that they were going to start with the basics. He watched as the figure summoned a hammer like weapon, causing Donovan to tense a little before he tilted his head a little, “Alright…” He said slowly, gripping his sword with both arms. He set his feet on the ground, one slightly placed in front of him aiming straight out front. The other was a half-step behind him, turned at a slight angle. He sword was held out in front of him, tilted up at a forty-five degree angle. 

*Now while the hammer shaped weapon didn't look threatening as it was comically large and almost game peripheral-like (plasticy toy), the fact was...it was a deadly serious weapon and could actually do damage...and kill someone though it doesn't look like it. The AI looked calmly and unfazed at Donovan, though it would be impossible for Donovan to tell as the expression on the helmet never changed. Which might make Donovan ask what kind of AI construct looked like this? Seriously? Looked like something out of a kid's cartoon. The AI readied itself for close combat, as it looked around the area for 'things it could use'. Now the AI had 'instructions' to take it easy on Donovan and not to mess them up too badly. After all, they needed them and whomever else got the HERO OS alive and well. Its instructions didn't prevent the AI from having 'fun' with the candidate and if they showed them a few tricks at the same time, it would be fine wouldn't it?*

Alright, it's GAME START! the AI seem to think to itself, as they started on the offensive by starting to run straight at Donovan, seemingly intent on directly attacking him head-on. Now, this would be normally a stupid idea given that this person's hammer was at a small range disadvantage versus Donovan's sword, which was slightly longer. Also, given the height difference, you would think the AI wouldn't be able to reach Donovan that easily. However, the AI was moving a fair bit faster and was more agile on their feet than one would expect in such a bulky and unwieldy suit. How would Donovan react to the AI's upfront approach? The AI's eyes were seemingly looking straight at him, but Donovan could not be sure if they were eyes or just part of the design of the suit, like a mask. A few steps before the AI would reach Donovan and probably get hit by Donovan's sword, it didn't something unexpected. It jumped! And quite high at that! It appeared that the frontal assault idea was a ruse! But for what purpose? Now Donovan could still seemingly attack the AI as it was seemingly wide open...

 

[Neptune]

Donovan tensed a little when he saw the AI figure running directly towards him, his movements a lot faster than he would have expected. He then forced himself to relax a little so that he could move more fluidly. He shifted his rear feet back a little more, ready to spring into action to block the attack that seemed to be coming. But as the figure jumped up, Donovan’s eyes snapped up to follow them as they leapt into the air. They were able to jump far higher than Donovan would have expected. He figured that they were about to come down on him with a hammer blow, which would be difficult to block with the sword as the AI would have gravity on their side as well. So he jumped back, dancing out of the way. He didn’t want to attack, not just yet. He wanted to get an idea as to how this AI operated first, to get an idea of their attacks and the way that they moved so that he could counteract against it. 

He came to a stop several metres away, once again resuming his defensive stance as he watched. Of course, as he had no idea about any of special attacks available to him, he couldn’t utilise them to attack the AI, and thus was relying completely on the Martial Arts training that he had done over the years. While he had practised with others, mainly with practise swords, this was the first time he had actually fought with a real blade against an actual opponent. 

[Akira]

On 6/4/2019 at 1:55 PM, Manni said:

"You have been chosen to take part in a rather important..." the AI began speaking with a foreign but seemingly high brow accent before they paused to consider the words they were about to say. "....Experiment, the result of which will have a large bearing on Altech's Future. Now, before you ask, there are things that I cannot disclose to you at this present time due to my agreements...no, my programming. Question dealing with subjects such as my employer/designer and the exact nature of the experiment are examples of subjects that I am not permitted to answer."

*This...was interesting, especially the mysterious slip of the tongue and the AI's choice of words...if they indeed an AI construct. Now, in Altech, AIs and robots were quite a commonplace thing and quite advanced but there were still certain things that they were not permitted to do or become as part of the law of the land. This was mostly to allay concern of humanity being made redundant by machinery and also to allay fears of not being able to appropriately distinguish between an organic and artificial intellgience. Whether Soma would make much of this was up to them but if they did, they might consider not raising the issue as there were certainly a large information assymetry between the two and goodness knows what kind of information this AI or whoever this was had. Soma might feel they may need to tread carefully in this strange environment, given that they really did not know what they were getting themselves into.*

"I see you have been familarizing yourself with the Hero OS and have selected your primary loadout. That is good to be prepared. Now, in the immediate, I will be helping you further familiarize yourself with the Hero OS' other functions such as the Shop and your task for today."

"Tch. Fine then" Soma clicked his tongue and replied in a somewhat irritated tone. He wasn't really surprised by the fact the AI was unable to give him the info he desired. After all, pretty much every single company with a considerable value has it's fair share of secrets to keep, and as the CEO of one, Soma understood that very well. Still, it was farely annoying for him, since he doesn't really like to act without a good grip on what was happening. His calculist and cautious nature was something he was actually quite proud of. Soma decided that, for now at least, it would be best to forget the subject and focus on understanding more about this new found digital world and what he could or should do while there. While he was pretty sure that he had the basics on how to operate the Hero OS thanks to his knowledge and experience with computers and video games, he was also curious to find out how exactly he would be putting the loadout he had select to use. "Very well... please go on then. I am curious to learn more about this program" he replied in his calm tone.

[Manni]

On 15/06/2019 at 18:53, Neptune said:

Donovan tensed a little when he saw the AI figure running directly towards him, his movements a lot faster than he would have expected. He then forced himself to relax a little so that he could move more fluidly. He shifted his rear feet back a little more, ready to spring into action to block the attack that seemed to be coming. But as the figure jumped up, Donovan’s eyes snapped up to follow them as they leapt into the air. They were able to jump far higher than Donovan would have expected. He figured that they were about to come down on him with a hammer blow, which would be difficult to block with the sword as the AI would have gravity on their side as well. So he jumped back, dancing out of the way. He didn’t want to attack, not just yet. He wanted to get an idea as to how this AI operated first, to get an idea of their attacks and the way that they moved so that he could counteract against it. 

He came to a stop several metres away, once again resuming his defensive stance as he watched. Of course, as he had no idea about any of special attacks available to him, he couldn’t utilise them to attack the AI, and thus was relying completely on the Martial Arts training that he had done over the years. While he had practised with others, mainly with practise swords, this was the first time he had actually fought with a real blade against an actual opponent. 

*However, the blow that Donovan was expecting never came. In fact it had no way of happening given...that through some twist of fate, this 'Mighty Action X' landed on a 'block' that mysterious appeared in midair! This block looked like something out of a video game, like an old school platformer. Never mind that having some sort of platform block appear out of thin air despite not being there a second ago was against any sort of reality that Donovan was used to, there simply didn't seem to be a mechanism that could result in this. The AI, however, seemed nonplussed by this and more bothered than Donovan's lack of action. He peered over the block and asked Donovan the following question.*

"Wait...why are you just standing there? You DO have ranged attack options with that game! I should know, I've played it already!" the AI said, seemingly shocked that Donovan had no idea what he was doing. It was just then that some sort of musical jingle could be heard coming from the AI, who then seemed to know that he was getting a message from somewhere...perhaps on his phone! Perhaps that jingle was a ring tone for the Messenger App on his Arm Computer...though he didn't seem to have one on him. In fact, he didn't seem to have a phone or communication device on him at all. Then again, this thing was an AI and probably didn't need one.

"EHHH?! He just got it TODAY?! Oh, that explains everything!" the AI exclaimed, its voice more emotive than one would expect out of an AI. "In that case, let me teach him the ropes! There's no need to read the manual when you have a Pro Gamer on-site!"

*The communication between 'Mighty Action X' and this mysterious third party continued for a few moments more before the AI ended the conversation and jumped from the block back on the ground...which disappeared after he landed. Now, given that Donovan was NOT a gamer, this would make absolutely no sense to him but anyway...*

"So, I've been told not only that you have just got this Game Image TODAY but you HAVE NEVER played a video game in your life." the AI said to Donovan, looking incredulous that this person had never played a game in his life. "In that case, we're going to have to go back to basics. I wouldn't worry though, you have a PRO GAMER here to help you!"

[Neptune]

Donovon frowned when he saw that the strange figure was stopped suddenly by a block that appeared out of thin air. It seemed to float, defying gravity as it held up the weight of the strange figure. This was getting stranger and stranger by the minute, and Donovan almost loosened his grip on his sword so that he could see if there was a way out of this place. It just didn’t seem to make any kind of sense and he was feeling more than a little lost. He then frowned at the figures question. Ranged attack options? He glanced down at his sword, once again feeling baffled. How can one turn a sword into a ranged weapon unless one threw it? And that would be a completely silly move to make. Not only was the sword heavy and unwieldy, making it difficult to throw, but it would rob you of your only weapon. Thus throwing them away made one defenceless. 

He raised an eyebrow as there was the sound of a jingle coming from the strange figure before he seemed to speak as if he was talking to someone on the phone. Donovan was getting weirded out more by the moment. This figure was extremely strange, one of the strangest he had ever dealt with. He was beginning to think he had either fallen asleep at his desk, or someone had slipped him something. He stepped back a little when the figure jumped down in front of him, his aggressive posture disappearing. Donovan glanced towards the block that he had been standing on, noting that it was now gone. He was just filled with questions. Where did it go? Where had it come from, in the first place? How was it able to float like that, and take the strange figures weight with ease? 

He refused on the figure as it addressed him once more. He tilted his head a little, frowning a little before he allowed his sword tip to lower to the floor, “I’ve never played a game in my life because I’m far too busy for that kind of thing.” He said, before asking, “Basics of what, exactly? What am I doing here? Where is this, exactly?” 

[Manni]

On 19/07/2019 at 05:43, Akira said:

"Tch. Fine then" Soma clicked his tongue and replied in a somewhat irritated tone. He wasn't really surprised by the fact the AI was unable to give him the info he desired. After all, pretty much every single company with a considerable value has it's fair share of secrets to keep, and as the CEO of one, Soma understood that very well. Still, it was farely annoying for him, since he doesn't really like to act without a good grip on what was happening. His calculist and cautious nature was something he was actually quite proud of. Soma decided that, for now at least, it would be best to forget the subject and focus on understanding more about this new found digital world and what he could or should do while there. While he was pretty sure that he had the basics on how to operate the Hero OS thanks to his knowledge and experience with computers and video games, he was also curious to find out how exactly he would be putting the loadout he had select to use. "Very well... please go on then. I am curious to learn more about this program" he replied in his calm tone.

*It was at this point the AI started to explain about the various functions of the Hero OS, from the Shop where one could use the 'Induls' currency to buy upgrades, weapons and new stuff for your Game Images to the fact that the Arm Computer with the Game Image was able to create a localised distortion in space that created a seemingly perfect battlefield. That function seemed like a good idea so that innocents and targets unrelated could remain out of the line of fire. Why on earth these GIs and the Arm Computer could do this the AI did not specify. Perhaps it was too complicated to explain in a short tutorial. Anyway, the Shop sounded rather handy as it seemed these Induls, gained from dispatching foes and doing missions, were key to doing upgrades and specialisations for the Game Images and the Arm Computers. The AI also explained some of the other features of the device, that included upgrades to the GPS system which would allow Soma to find foes, marks and other weird things that could come up, an scanning system that gave users a good indication of enemy strength, abilities and other useful info. It also seemed to be a game in itself. As the AI finished talking, which was comprehensive though sounded like they were reading the textbook to the class...the AI indicated to Soma that they were going to practice a few things dealing with combat.*

"Unfortunately, I have no information regarding your combat experience and your ability to fight. If you don't mind, I would like to see a demonstration of your present ability." The AI said as they seemed to move into a defensive posture. "Don't worry, this is merely a sparring match."