Heroes
An MR Story
Chapter 1 – Finem Forum Surrounding a certain place in the NET was a barrier. One that protected the buildings and the people from the erosion of the datastream. But even with the barrier an ominous current seemed to wash over the walls that could keep out a dozen titans.
A man that could be considered a “titan” in some regards stood atop the MangaRaiders HQ rooftop. His hands rubbing together with hunched shoulders and a retreating chin.
“Cold day out.” Corycaly, the mistress of MR who happened to have a sharp tongue and blunt words let out this surprisingly normal comment.
“Hmm.” Hasith agreed with a mumble as his mouth was pushed into his shirt collar.
Hasith was wearing a sweater. A rare sight for the man who was almost always seen in his j?nin outfit, in fact it was such a rarity to see him wear anything else it was a popular rumor that the Admid actually had a comic closet with dozens of the same outfit.
Cory on the other hand, being the fashionista that she was, was wearing something more appealing to the eyes. It was not alluring in a physical attraction sense but something men would call “romance”. She was in a garb like a long pea coat, it was a deep crimson with black trim giving off the air of a bourgeois woman (which was really the only thing a certain MR member could imagine her as), and the buttons were covered in a soft velvet with each and every one adorning the image of MR on them.
“Like it?” Cory showed a proud smile as she asked this to her equal noticing him looking at her attire. Spinning around in a hurry Hasith only caught a glimpse of an image on the back but with his sharingan other eye covered he couldn’t catch it.
“What is it? Hasith asked with a piqued interest.
“A Hero Coat.” Cory said striking a pose like you’d see on the cover of Vogue. “I designed them to make being a “Hero” in MR a little more prestigious, I mean, even our most prestigious members don’t even have a badge or medal to show for their hard work.”
“Are you sure you didn’t just want to design an MR uniform?”
“Haha, you caught me.” Cory let out a small laugh but showed little guilt. “I was going to make something for all of MR but I ran out of material.”
“Material? It looks like a normal coat to me.” Hasith notes with a raised brow. Sadly it was the one under his mask so the expression served little purpose.
Clicking her tongue synced with pointing gesture of her index finger in the air Cory shook her head.
“Fashion over function has never been my policy.” Corycaly said with a disappointed look at Hasith who she had expected to have known that after so many years. “These coats are as practical as they are pretty.”
“Where’s mine?” Hasith asked getting straight to the point.
“You don’t get one.”
“Hah!?” Hasith let out a sound of surprise, disbelief, and disappointment.
“It would have gotten in the way of your little green vest.” Cory said mockingly.
Kicking the figurative dirt on the wayside Hasith looked down over the edge of the rooftop in disappointment mumbling something around the lines of ‘it’s not like I wear it because I want to, it’s just what ninjas wear’.
“When you’re done moping be sure to lock the door behind you.” Cory said leaving Hasith to sulk in solitude. Shivering as an extra strong breeze blew by them Cory rushed inside. “Did Coryn break the weather controls?”
“Achoo!” Coryn sneezes. It was a strange thing for him to do as he was more mechanical than the average person but nonetheless he seemed to be chilled by the cold weather just like everyone else.
Wearing a coat similar to Cory’s, Coryn’s coat seemed almost inverted in color with a pitch black coat with a deep red trim, the biggest differences would have been his shiny gold buttons (still with the MR logo) and his famous triangle on his back, though this time it was in an ash white rather than the usual red on black.
“Did Ever mess with the weather control system?” Coryn mumbled to himself as he stepped into the MR HQ.
He had just come from the Science Division’s own HQ after being tasked with delivering Lego’s coat. Clearly he wasn’t happy about the menial labour that could have easily been passed off to one of his drones. Yes, he knew that the last time he delivered something via drone it falsely recognized the Raider as an intruder and tried to eliminate them but that wasn’t his fault. There was simply a line of code he happened to put in as a joke that he forgot to remove when he finished. If he really wanted to slaughter the members of MR he would use the deadly gas he made last week to exterminate the rats in the ventilation system. Of course he happened to let slip form his mind the notion to tell Ever about it. She was in critical condition for a few days but he managed to create an antidote at the last minute saving her. No problem, right?
After going over his flawless track record of keeping Raiders alive Coryn took a scan, quite literally, of the MR building for Lego. Surprisingly though the diligent mod was absent from his post.
Letting out a sigh of powerless frustration Coryn sat down. He couldn’t return to his experiments before delivering the coat without reprimand from Cory. He couldn’t help but regret not putting that tracker in Lego’s head after the MR New Year’s Party.
Members of MR were easy to find for Coryn, he had the whole city on his network of surveillance with a direct feed at all times as well as a way to track any member at any time. But as with all things there were exceptions to the rule. Mods and admins were exempt due to a rule Cory laid down, even if she didn’t they could probably escape Coryn’s “vision” if they wanted to. There were also certain members that managed to trick his system and those that disappeared for unknown reasons. The truth of the matter was that even with all his technology Coryn could not keep up with a city full of supernatural powered beings. Destroying them was one thing but simply keeping a hands-off eye on them was near impossible.
Letting out another sigh Coryn got comfortable planning to wait for Lego to show up, either at HQ or on his sensors.
In the Writers’ Grand Library (there was nothing really grand about it, but nobody was going to argue a fellow writer’s naming sense without preparing themselves for a few bruises) Litt leaned back in his chair taking a break from his writing.
“Why did my laptop have to go and fry itself?” Litt moans as he puts down his quill.
Why was he using a quill and not a pen? Because it was all that was available for some reason in the Library. He pinned it on the reason that it was supposed to help create ‘atmosphere’ or something as the entire library had an ‘ancient’ feel to it, but that couldn’t be authentic since MR was relatively new as a settlement.
“MR, huh…” Litt falls into his usual pondering pose and begins to ruminate on MR’s origins but before he can a breeze enters through an open window making him shake like a wet dog in winter. “W-w-w-what the h-he-hell is this w-wind?” He asks himself through chattering teeth.
As a man of breeze and gale himself Litt could tell the wind was unnatural. Though all winds on the NET were one way or another unnatural in a sense this particular draft was not something as innocent as a push of air.
“I don’t like this…” Litt mutters as he grabs his cloak placed over the shoulders of the chair only to place it on his own.
There was one thing that was maintained in the minds of those on the NET. Something programmed into their subconscious almost as important to the human body as breathing: sleep.
Though their physical bodies were simply imitations of what reality they once lived and regardless of the inhuman powers they wielded, they were still human, existing while still abiding by human rules. They still had the urge to eat, a thirst to quench, and a mind to rest.
I say this only to explain why many of the citizens of MR may seem to never run into one another. They simply have different sleep schedules based upon their original internal clock. Of course it is a simple matter to alter the schedule as would be in the physical world but comfort over function was a popular saying in MR.
Speaking of sleeping members a particular one lay napping carelessly near the edge of the Silent Forest of Song. A part of MR where each tree represents a song or poem written by a Raider but was never spoken aloud. Here the age old question of a tree falling falls on deaf ears. Or the trees don’t make sounds when they fall so there is an answer. Maybe it was ‘if a tree falls in the forest and if someone is-‘ Gah. Whatever. The point is the forest is like a vacuum, no sound in or out. A completely serene place.
But still this man with hair ruffled, unable to be held down by the headphones on his ears, tapped his fingers on the ground. He was most definitely asleep yet his fingers kept rhythm in 4/4 time and a slow bobbing of the head could be observed even though he was lying down.
Here in the silence a NO1SE could be seen.
The man with more beats in his head than a farmer has in the fields and more songs than a Chinese province rest in silence.
Unfortunately there was an alarm to his Z’s. No sound was needed when the chilling wind permeated his body causing him to shiver.
‘Wha…t?’ NO1SEY thought to himself as he woke up in a sudden yet sloth-like, or should I say relaxed, manner.
Rising to his feet he walked away from the forest with a yawn. His mouth was still mid-yawn when he stepped through the sound barrier and so even though he was immediately bombarded with the sounds of explosions and high pitched resonating of energy blasts he was unable to express his surprise without choking on his gasp.
Sound got to NO1SEY first, as it usually did, and so secondly with light NO1SEY gazed upon MR.
The Writers’ quarter was ablaze.
The Artists’ hub in shambles and shambling more.
The General buildings were simply gone.
The Manga & Anime centres thrown around like jacks.
And finally MR HQ, the stronghold and almost permanent residence of the most powerful beings in all of MR City, falling. Split in two as if it were a giant bamboo stalk sliced by a samurai.
‘It’s the end…’ Was the only sound in NO1SEY’s head, echoing.
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I thought of this after coming across a riddle and thought, 'Wouldn't this be a fun game for a forum?' And thusly brought it here to you. The rules are simple and the game is fun (in theory):