The Chaos Hour

Cthulhu winced, gritting his teeth and clasping a hand over his empty eye socket. He didn't appreciate getting stepped on.

"You OK?" he heard Rorschach ask, and he nodded.

The girl who'd stepped on him looked down, making eye contact. Her eyes widened, and Cthulhu's heart skipped a beat.

"Shxt!" he hissed, and Rorschach turned to him. "She saw me."

"What?"

"She saw me. She's looking at me right now."

Rorschach looked down at the girl, biting his lip. He wanted to leave, but Cthulhu couldn't leave without his eye. And if he called it back, the girl would spot them for sure.

Not good.

 

Suddenly, red was flashing throughout the Com.

"Program code 009T2 coe lock removing" a voice heard throughout the Com said "Two hours until program activation"

From a blank space above, a small growl emerged, however muffled.

(there we go, a little plot twist to get things moving)

 

J.J. stared. It stared back.

The others were so clearly consumed with each other that she felt confident they did not see what had just transpired. Nor would they see what she was about to do.

She secured the medal around her neck, all the while keeping an eye on the eye. What she did next, though, she had no explanation for.

She bent down and gingerly took the eye into her palm.

Then flashing red.

 

Cthulhu shuddered. She was touching it - she was touching his eye. He could feel her fingers gripping it gently and was seriously grossed out.

He ran a hand over his empty eye socket, trying to rub the weird feeling out. His fingers tangled in his avatar's thick, black bangs and he jerked away with a shudder.

A flash of red, a booming voice.

"Program code 009T2 coe lock removing. Two hours until program activation."

Cthulhu froze. Rorschach jerked his head upward at the sound of a faint growl. His heart gave a nervous jolt. That didn't sound good - that really didn't sound good.

 

"Program code 009T2 lock removing...two hours until program activation..."

Alethea swore under her breath.

"Whatever happened here, we have to put it aside. The Com is unlocking a code block. Its going to change something." She looked around at the red light that was seeming to come from nowhere in particular. She swore again, wishing for the life of her she had spent more time with the techs and their programming contingency manuals. She hadn't even the slightest idea what 009T2 was or what it would do.

"I don't know what, but if its big enough to elicit a warning, it won't be a cakewalk."

 

After looking over what Magus believed to be the coolest costume ever made, he left The Closet in search of fun. Or at least, what passed for fun nowadays. As soon as he sees a group of people, The Com unlocked a damn code block. He heaved a heavy sigh. Chaos Hour was known for it occasionally, but he really wasn't in the mood for a change in the scenery. The scenery was most likely already changed enough, due to Magus' inactivity. He smirked it off and moved closer to the ruckus that was slowly dissipating. The growl got his attention. His eyes were staring blankly ahead, they shifted quickly to the vicinity of where the growl was heard.

"You knew the dangers before you logged on," he said to himself.

 

After hearing the announcement, Cain swore. This had to have been related to the use of the Chaos Hour. This strange version of the Com with bizarre lights wasn't worth getting caught. He turned and ran away, firing a few shots behind him.

 

"Program code 009T2 lock removing...two hours until program activation..."

"What the hell is this?", shouted Drake. He had stood so awkwardly that he spilled his epresso.

"009T2, 009T2. Try to remember something Drake", muttered Drake to himself; "Ah! I remember. Maybe it is that but you are not sure Drake.

 

"1 hour, 20 minutes remain. All helmets locked, all currently within must remain so" said the same voice.

 

Rather than working together, the group had instead decided to immediately split up. One of their number dashed off, firing a few wild shots behind him. Ali focused her mind, and the simulated space-time fabric warped around her slightly. She jumped backwards, planted her feet into the brick wall, then jumped again, landing solidly on the rooftop of the building. If it was a sweep program being activated, she'd have to get someplace where a lot of users clung together.

The Pix Club.

She turned on her heel and leaped impossibly over onto the other rooftop, the virtual reality warping slightly around her. She made several such jumps before landing on the ground, rolling, and making it back up onto her feet. She didn't have credentials for the club...she'd need to hack in.

The Pix Club was a social networking program. Kind of. In the Com, social networking had gone beyond just meeting people; full interaction between avatars was possible. That being the case and, since the Com headsets were able to beam images and sensations directly to the pleasure centers of the brain, and because avatars were generally customized with perfect looks, sexual exchanges became one of the main attractions of the Com.

The Pix Club was a place to mingle and party and hopefully get lucky with someone digitally. It was also always crowded. A feasible, though not entirely safe, place to hide.

The two guardians stood, their faces blank and plain. Anyone with a plain and blank face was generally a program. Or someone trying to look like a program. One held up a hand.

"Can I see your login credentials, m-" He was cut off as her foot came up, smashing him across the face. He stumbled back, and his friend leveled his gun at her. She came around, kicking the gun from his hand. Spinning again, she kicked him hard in the gut. The first guard had recovered and came forward, sending a flurry of blows toward her. Using her hands expertly she deflected his strikes. Her foot lanced out, and caught him in the groin. As he doubled over, she struck him again, sending him back onto the floor.

Flipping a strand of her bangs out of her face, she charged inside the Club.

 

Magus caught sight of a woman handling his lightweight into the Pix Club. It was well known to the frequent users, and had a bit of a reputation. As the lady's fight with the guard indicated, this place is not open to the general public. Thanks to said lady, Magus didn't have to worry about it. He simply walked in after her and smirked at the defeated men that were laid out.

"Looks like it hurt, gentlemen," Magus said. "What did you say to get on her bad side?"

He stepped over them and scanned the crowd in attendance.

 

Ellin was sitting on the ground thinking of whether to stay here of go play WOW.
He really hadn't gotten his best knight back though.

 

J.J. was alone, finally. She wasn't sure about this new program.

'All helmets locked? Can they do that? Still,' she thought. 'It should be enough time to see what's going on. Surely the helmets will unlock when the program ends.'

J.J. decided to search a room. She grabbed the door knob and almost fell over backwards from the shock. "Ow!" she screamed. "I have to stop doing that!"

 

Cthulhu swore loudly. He hated this. His eye was too far away. He couldn't see clearly. This sucked.

"C'mon," Rorschach grunted, pulling him along. Cthulhu was helpless now - Rorschach was his eyes for the time being.

Rorschach saw her, the girl with the eye. "There," he said shortly, and Cthulhu growled, "Hey! You!"

The twins skidded to a halt in front of the girl. Cthulhu's vision was coming back - he had both eyes on her.

"Hey," he panted, "Give it...Give it back..."

 

Her eyes widened at the two children who suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Hey," he panted, "Give it...Give it back..."
She grasped the eye in her pocket.
"This is yours?" she asked. "What are you doing here? Why were you spying on me?"

 

Swimming through a sea of crazy clubbers, Magus blended in the best he could. Looking like a superhero, this was much easier said than done. He walked up behind a girl who was dancing as if she was drunk and grabbed her to join in her motion.

"You come here a lot?" he asked her as he looked around for guards.

"Not really," she said as she didn't seem to mind dancing with him.

"Well, if we find a bathroom, maybe I can change that for you," Magus said as he started to loosen up a bit.

He looked around and spotted the lady that helped him get in. He nodded to her and mouthed the words, "thank you."

 

Alethea shrugged off the leather coat, trying to blend in. Although it did a little better, it didn't quite work. The tanktop revealed a thin band of skin around her waist, clung nicely to her frame, and flattered her chest. But even at that, most of the women were dressed far more scantily.

She looked about the crowd and locked eyes with one particular gentleman who gave her a nod and mouthed a thanks. He must have heard the program warning too. She began to wade through the crowd toward him, ignoring the pawing attempts by male and female alike.

 

Drake heard a notice. He moved out of the bar where he usually looked for other Lurkers to team with and Spots to deal with. Wading through the crowd was all he'd been doing.

He was looking for some Spot. To finish his hunger he wished to kill at least one Spot.

 

Magus looked around the club again, eyes out for guards or THE OTHER THING. He was also enjoying his dance partner for the moment. These virtual games are so damn realistic now. After sneaking a peak down his new ladyfriend's cleavage, he turned to see the woman walking towards him. Was she after him? Of course not, she must have heard the warning like he had. She looked the part of a veteran to the Chaos Hour, she knew what THE OTHER THING was that he was watching out for. A big grin was on his face as he continued to ham it up on the dance floor. Magus watched the lady nearly molested by groping hands on the way to him. She must really want to talk to him.

 

"This is yours?" the girl asked. "What are you doing here? Why were you spying on me?"

"Why would...I wanna...spy...on you?" Cthulhu panted. "Give it...back..."

Meanwhile, Rorschach kept looking around nervously. They'd gotten some kind of warning - something was happening. He really wish he knew what.

 

They were only kids after all. J.J. pulled the eye out of her pocket and tossed it to them.
"What are you two doing in here anyway?" she asked.

 

Cthulhu caught his eye and popped it back in. It felt kinda weird, but it a good way. He was glad his 20-20 vision was back.

"Following you," was Rorschach's quiet reply.

"Yeah," said Cthulhu, "Why'd you all take off like that? And where are we, anyway?"

He looked around the room they were in, and couldn't exactly remember how they'd gotten there. Rorschach leaned into him, and Cthulhu turned to see the boy running his hands over his eyes and ears. He looked worried.

"What?" Cthulhu asked.

"My headset," mumbled his twin.

Headset?

Cthulhu reached up to adjust his. His hand bumped against his virtual headphones, but in the real world, he couldn't feel anything.

He swore. "I'm stuck."

The boys tried to remove their real-world headsets, but it was no use. They couldn't feel anything outside of the Com.

Cthulhu turned to the girl. "Can you reach yours?"

 

Cthulhu turned to the girl. "Can you reach yours?"

"Of course not," she replied. "Why do you think I'm trying to find the freaking control room? Not that I would know where to look... but there's got to be somewhere inside where we can stall the program, or at least find out what it is."

J.J. went to the next door, but it wasn't open. She kicked it at the lock and it flew open. Another empty room. But if it was empty, why was it locked?

 

Cthulhu looked back at Rorschach. He didn't know much about computers, but his brother sure did. Rorschach gave him a meek smile and they followed the girl.

They stepped into the empty room and looked around. Rorschach was the first one to see it - the thin, blue threads crisscrossing like the streams in the streets. He grabbed Cthulhu's arm to stop him from going in.

"Wait," he said, just loud enough for the girl to hear, "Look."

Cthulhu looked closely and saw them, too. He exchanged glances with his brother and looked up at the girl, not sure what to do.

 

"Look," said one of the boys.

She felt it before she could see it, something tugging at her electricity. J.J. had to squint to see the thin blue thread-like lines. "What is it?" she wondered aloud.

J.J. reached out to touch one of the threads, small sparks leaping from her finger.