Fine print: Lady Sad Eye, Grandma, Sphinx Entertainment and David Alexander belong to me. Everyone belongs to Marvel entertainment. Don't sue me. This is purely for entertainment. Again, don't sue me. If you E-mail me please use the heading "Characterization". Characterization. (Part 1 of In the company of a lady.) A story by kaz (ckazmierc@aol.com) ************** Where does one start a story? Does it start the moment a character is conceived? Or when an event occurs? An event that will mold a characters actions? Maybe any one story started with the big bang scientists talk about? My name is David Alexander. I've played this game for a long time. If the scientists are wrong... If a story didn't start with the big bang... then I've started quite a few myself. Stories that is... However, it wasn't supposed to go down like this. Not for any of them. But then again, fate has a way of dealing with those who would get in the way. Get in the way of what? Get in the way of a person with power becoming a player. Myself, I am a business man. A rather well off one. I don't really own twenty multinational corporation. I just control them. I am just another majority shareholder. I am also a player. Madison is like a daughter to me. One of several daughters, who, throughout the centuries have also become players. All the others were ready so young. Almost at the moment of conception. All the other died young. But not her. I didn't want this to happen to her... not yet. She was to be the most powerful one. Because of that, in every other time stream, she is dead. Mostly by Merlyn's hand or influence. This one was to die too. But fate intervened. Merlyn figured she would die anyway. Fate gave her the worst childhood of the lot. That is why she survived. New characters have entered the stage. They aren't new to me. But they are new to her. I have played with them before. Not always with the results I wanted. But when the free computer magazines found their way into the hands of Ms. Pryde and Mr. Wisdom (thanks to one of my subsidiaries), I knew it was only time before they would read the advertisements. Only time before they wanted someone to talk to. Only time before those two 'lost souls' found their way here. [I will have to make a note to promote whoever was responsible. Handing the first issue out to whoever passed by in any major tourist city was a stroke of -- well -- good luck. Good luck I will capitalize on.] How I want them to be together. They would make a good force against the evils that will come. However, they need to learn a few lessons. They still believe that Apocalypse and death are the worst things they could ever face. They are wrong. Perhaps it was fate that put them together. Then again, perhaps it was me. ************** ----2:00 a.m. Two more hours and Lady Sad Eyes is off line. Two more hours and I can finally get some sleep.---- Room TWO Shady: Look, I was angry. Haven't you ever yelled before you looked? (at what was being said) LSE: nope. Room THREE Icepop: So there I was... LSE:? Icepop: Three inches away from the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on... LSE:? Icepop: then I notice the interior was all shaggy plaid and my dreams of owning this muscle machine disappeared... saved me a bit of money Room FOUR Grandma: THE kids came down again from Minnesota. Room SIX LSE: you actually said that! Smoker: Well, I edited the version you got. LSE: how did I know that? And how long ago was the conversation? Smoker: As I have told you before, you are one of those psychic twits. And as a psychic twit you already know it was two weeks ago. ---- There's a knock at my door. A little after 2:00 a.m. and there is a knock at the door. I would have expected a call from the guard at the front gate but then again I am on line.---- *bing* Room TWO Room Two has been ignored for one minute Room THREE Icepop has logged off. *bing* Room FOUR Room Four has been ignored for one minute *bing* Room SIX Room Six has been ignored for one minute ---- All my rooms are going dead... but I can't just... can't... my life is spinning... Dead. There's an appropriate word. After five minutes the Daemon will send out a message. "The operator you have been talking to is unavailable for some time. Would you like to continue this chat?"---- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She looked at her screen. "What the hell? I've never seen that before... Time to do a little online snooping." Her voice was a quiet whisper. She was in her room, talking to herself. She probably didn't want to wake the other 'students' of Xavier's school. Which didn't seem to keep her from typing. "Yada... Yada... Six rooms! No wonder she knows so many jokes. I would too if I were talking to that many people every shift. (15 seconds) Emergency Override? What the...?" She began typing faster. (One minute) A green dot appeared in the middle of her screen. The dot grew larger. The dot became an image of fluke worm -- growing bigger in an ever expanding spiral. The fluke 'ate' the pictures on her screen. Then ... a message. Shady, You have tried an illegal operation. You have tried to hack into the system of Sphinx Entertainment. According to paragraph 23, section b, of your contract with Sphinx Entertainment you will be suspended for 4 days. If, after this suspension, you continue such conduct, your contract will be considered null and void and the last payment you made to your account will be forfeited. Sincerely, Sphinx Entertainment. "Right. But not before I got the 'address' of one other person her ladyship was talking to. Sayonara Suckers. Time for an Instant Message." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Of course I want to keep talking." He sat back in his seat. He was now in Buffalo, New York. Downtime after a successful excursion into Canada. He had destroyed some plant which chemically manufactured mutated teenagers. Or something like that. He was rewarding himself with a bottle of Scotch and a little nonsense. *ding dong* He eyed his screen suspiciously. "And this would be... 'Kp102@nightlock.com would like to instant message you? Do you wish to receive?' No one I know -- never gave out this address -- no one knows it but me. Even the name and driver's license were someone else's. I may not really know my way around this thing but I ain't answering you. So sod off you stupid prat." *ding dong* "Persistent bugger." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---- Room Six is the only one still up. I never expected that of him. No, I always expected that of him. --- Smoker: You okay? Smoker: Your scaring me... Smoker: Fine. I'll stay here until you get back on the bleeding line. Smoker: What is an instant message? LSE: someone trying to contact you... Smoker: Is it you? LSE: no Smoker: How do I get rid of them? They just keep trying to get me to talk. LSE: disable your instant message system Smoker: How do I do that? LSE: what type of operating system and browser do you have ... Smoker: Right. I'll tell them to sod off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kp102: Look, I don't know you. But I know you were logged on to one of Sphinx's rooms. You were talking to Lady Sad Eyes. Richman: Leave me alone. Kp102: I want to know what was with that thing about whether we want to stay in the conversation. She has never done that to me before. Richman: Sod off. Kp102: Look you stupid git you can either help me or I will IM you all night Richman: I'll get off the line Kp102: Then you won't be able to find out what happened either Richman: %-| Okay, you have me ... it will just take me a while to get some information. Leave me alone. Kp102: Now that didn't hurt, did it? Richman: Time. Now. Or I will hunt you down and shove that screen in front of up your Kp102 has left. "Figures. Right before I tell 'er where to go. 'Er? Has to be a bird... only ones who do that sort of thing. Besides I can't call the thing an it? Can I?" He raised an eyebrow. "Time for another shot..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smoker: What you up to? Talk to me... I have waited here 12 minutes here not knowing whether I should be calling emergency services. Please... LSE: I got some bad news and I was selfish. Smoker: Everyone gets some bad news, luv. Just tell this old man what happened. LSE: my husband is dead and all I can think about is how he won't be there to keep away the nightmares... No, I am in shock. It will hit me tomorrow. Tonight, I'll have the nightmares. Smoker: I have a few myself. Tell me. It will help. LSE: did you ever hear of the 'archive incident'? Smoker: Nope. LSE: not surprising. Happened about the same time as Moira MacTaggert was found out to be the only 'human' alive with the Legacy Virus. Anyway, its was covered live on UPBS (United Public Broadcasting Services). I had just started the police academe when I was assigned to an archive. That's a nickname for the places where the federal government stores information it uses in its criminal prosecutions. Kinda like what was at the end of that Indian Jones movie... Smoker: Doesn't sound like police work. LSE: it wasn't. I was on loan to the FBI academy and they had to find something to keep me busy till the next group of training sessions began... Smoker: should you be telling me this... LSE: AS I SAID its was covered live on UPBS. You can probably find a copy at your local public library if you want. Anyway, two of my friends and I were assigned to this archive in Virginia. This guy was doing a documentary on the thing. My friends and I, we were putting away evidence from this illegal pet smuggling operation. One of the items looked like an ostrich egg. But it had been in some sort of glass containment cage. I remember thinking that an ostrich egg wouldn't have bothered the smugglers enough to encase it so, maybe some carton ... with hay but... My friend, Alex, was explaining the storage system where the egg was going to be placed when I went for lunch... Smoker: Why do I sense -- what's that term -- going on here? LSE: foreshadowing? I came back from lunch. The first thing I notice when I opened the door to the archive was the blood running over my shoe. I hit the panic button out of instinct. They were all over the place. The panic buttons I mean. Sealed the room off until the teams could get an angle on the situation and decide what to do. Anyway, I next saw the videographer lying on the ground clutching what was left of his stomach. And the egg was broken on the ground. My eyes trailed up and I saw several exoskeletons on the ground. Then I saw Alex. What could only be described as a cross between a praying mantis and a leech had a mandible inside him. The thing was 4 feet tall. Smoker: This was being broadcast? LSE: it was a live video feed to some junior high and high schools... and no one was thinking of turning it off in the time the thing... you know kids, they understand that whole eat or be eaten thing much better then adults ... they also got counseling... Anyway, I took one look at Alex laying there. And I became super calm. I just walked up to the thing and began pounding its head into the nearest wall. And I kept pounding. Into the wall. Into the glass case it came out of. Into the two pails of kitty litter and baking soda kept on hand in case of spills. Time had stopped -- the only thing that existed was my calm. I remember thinking how sick I was of all these assholes out there who thought they could play god. People who thought they could bring these things in. People who believed they had a right to flout the law. Then I began ripping its body apart with my bare hands. I started with a mandible. Then the antenna and then the ... well you get the picture. I am told it was 1.5 minutes between the time I hit the panic button and the time the sharp shooter got a bead on the thing. I wasn't in a state to notice. Just as I wasn't in a state to notice that the thing had an arm in my gut till the sharp shooter took that same arm off at the 'elbow.' I remember thinking that it may have given me a one way ticket to hell but I was taking it with me. Even if I had to pave the road there myself. I didn't start puking to the black liquid started to pump out from its sheared off appendage... Smoker: I think I am going to puke meself... LSE: join the club. I had to sit there with the thing's arm hanging out of me till I was taken to the medical lab. That way I wouldn't die from internal bleeding before I got... The arm was the only thing keeping me from spilling my guts on the floor... Smoker: And that thing? LSE: was dead as soon as the sharp shooter hit it. But not before the thing 'laid' a few dozen eggs in my left kidney. Smoker: Christ! LSE: which is why I no longer have a left kidney. Or a career in law enforcement. And will probably die from failure of my right kidney. But I have a really pretty metal. Apparently I saved a higher up in the line of duty. Garbage huh? And Alex - my friend - was in the intensive care ward a few doors down from me. I heard it when he went flat line. A few days before I had gotten sick of this attraction/dislike/respect thing we had going. I had walked right up to him and without reservation told him that I was falling in love with him. Smoker: When did you tell him that? LSE: that morning... you see I was right about there never being a luxury of time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ironic? SO here I am. The biggest, most sarcastic, resentful, bitter git in the world. Killed hundreds of people. And except for missing a few -- unnecessary parts -- I am still a functional human being. All its been through and still my body ain't going to fall apart any time soon. Not without some help. And here is some girl -- pardon, some woman -- who probably never seriously hurt anyone in her life..." *ding dong* Kp102: So... what's the 411? Richman: 411? KP102: THE STORY HERE. Richman: Give me a minute. KP102: I've given you thirty. (Taps feet impatiently) :-} Richman: IamcuttingandpastingasfastasIcanbut you keep interrupting me before I have it down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She was absently pulling her hair up in a pony tail. Her glasses perched on the end of her nose. She took a swig of her diet cola. A swig which promptly landed on her computer screen as she saw what this 'Richman' was sending her. "Shit!" She was cleaning off her screen when she someone knock on her door. "Kitten?" "Nothing, 'Ro. You know us computer types. We always get nervous when we spill a drink near our machines. My bad." She could almost hear Ororo blinking at her on the other side of the door. "I suppose... Do try to keep it quiet. It is the first full night's sleep any of us have had in weeks." "Will do." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kp102: So what are we going to do about it? Richman: What are we going to do about what? Kp102: She is obviously distraught. We should do something. Richman: We are not having a conversation here -- you are listing in on a conversation I am having. You will not be responding to it. Kp102: As if. Look I am going to do some digging... if it was broadcast live then I should be able to get her name and address. Or at least an in on who would know it. I'll give you four days to e-mail me or I am on my own. Capiche? Richman: If you think for one bleeding minute I will let you anywhere near this bird you have another thing coming. Kp102: Fine. I am going to do this with you or without you. You have my number. Kp102 has logged off ~~~~~~~~~~~ Smoker: What will you do now? LSE: I am going to sleep. Everything else will wait till morning. Smoker: Give me your number so I can check up on you? LSE: its against the rules... Smoker: Do you want my number in case anything happens? I am traveling; but I will be here a few days. LSE: no. ---- Just let me sleep. Don't have me add this to my nightmares. It is already a bad dream. Let the nightmare begin tomorrow. Is it too much to ask for one night of peace before the storm? Well, at least my world is starting to grow black.---- Smoker: It will make me feel better. LSE: all I want is sleep. Smoker: Here is my emergency number. It is an answering service. But I check my calls regularly. You won't have to give a name. Just tell them the message is for #43. LSE: like a Swiss bank account... ---- I am writing down the number. I need to call my boss. Tell him I need some down time to take care of the body. David will give it to me. He is a good guy after all. A true friend.---- ********* My name is David Alexander. I am a story teller. Not a good one. But I do keep track of my characters.