From: 911087e@dragon.acadiau.ca (John Enzinas)
Subject: My first attempt: The Intangibles Inc. 1/?
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 16:56:34 GMT

This is my first attempt at posting some of my fiction. If you like it let
me know. If you don't like it let me know. If you have suggestions, let me
know. Right now i am trying to decide wether or not to finish the darn
thing, and i would really appreciate some opinions.

Copyright John Enzinas, august 25, 1993ad

  	I walk down the street, away from the coffins where I woke up this
morning. It is still early but the streets are already bustling in the
predawn light. I walk for a while, watching the sky turn from a reflected
red to a translucent grey. The sky holds no sun, but I know it's there,
that I remember.
	"Hey, Johnny!"
	I hear a shout from behind me. I turn to look and I see a man, dressed
in white, waving at me. Johnny is my name, Johnny Vague.
 	The man in white is the Saint. He looks after us lost sheep who live
here, in the zone. He motions to me. I go over to see what he wants.
	"Morning, Johnny. How do you feel?"
	"I feel fine." I answer by reflex.
	"Maybe you do, but you don't look so good. Have you eaten?"
	"Yah, sure, I guess. I don't remember."
	"Well, you come with me my son. Let's get some food into you."
	The Saint takes my arm and pulls me inside. He sits me down at a table
and puts a plate in front of me. In the almost oppressive silence of the
dining hall I sit and eat the food. Old habits never die I guess. I try to
concentrate but my mind begins to w ander.
	
	Alex was ten when he was given the entrance test to the institut. He was
excited. Finally he was getting a chance to show off what he knows. The
next day he was called to the office. There with the Mother Superior were
two men he had never seen before. She looked very uncomfortable. These men
offered Alex a chance to go to a special school with other bright
children. Alex jumped at the chance, and left the next day.
	That boy was me but I don't remember him.

	A voice pulls me from my hazy void of half memories.
	"Hey Vague, You in there? Any body home?"
	The voice belongs to Ghost, a friend of mine.
	"Hi" I say as I look over my shades.
	"What do you mean hi? Come on! We have a meeting with Ken."
	"Oh." As I stand, Ghost rushes off ahead of me, impatient as always. I
am almost through the door, when the saint lays a hand on my shoulder.
	"God be with you Johnny. Be careful." he says as he casts a critical eye
towards Ghost. Ghost calls back over his shoulder,
	"Not here He won't. The Zone isn't called Godforsaken for nothing."
	I shrug, and hurry to catch up.
	We stop at the remains of a manhole. This is the entrance to Ken's
domain. Here in the Zone underworld has a whole new meaning. We descend
into the bowels of the Zone, finding our way through tunnels lit by old
Holos, Neon signs and flickering florescent lights.

	Alex stood out, even among the other children at the school. His mind
soon placed him well beyond almost all of the children at the school. Only
two were his equals. One was a girl named Kris and the other was her older
brother Sam. Together they studied harder and pushed each other further,
learning more and more. They were an inseparable team and they promised to
stay together forever.
	Nothing lasts forever.

	Ghost and I arrive at the entrance to Ken's place. The red spotlights
make the double doors look like the gates of hell.
	Ken's place is spacious and bright after the dark confines of the
tunnels. The room is filled with shelves and cabinets, which are in turn
filled with everything imaginable. The word on the street is that if ken
hasn't got it then it's not in the Zone. K
en looks up. The permagrin on his face becomes more sincere as he
recognizes us.
	"Howdy boys. What what can I do for you?"
	"Funniest thing," says Ghost, "I have Here these empty speed loaders and
I was wondering if you might be able to fill them for me."
	I open my mouth to say hello back but Ken and Ghost have already started
haggling. As I wander through the rows of shelves I hear bits of
conversation.
	"You must be joking! I wouldn't give my grandmother a price like that!"
	"That's because you sold her for spare parts"
	"So? I got a good price."
	In the corner, behind some old T.V.'s, I see an old C-Deck. It looks
like it was built from scratch. I go over to check it out. For a home built
it's not too bad. The battery packs look good, and it has a cellular
modem. I don't know how I know this. I cannot remember ever using a C-Deck
before. I feel driven by an old habit as I flick the On switch and plug
the cable into the jack hidden behind my left ear. I never noticed that
before. I hit enter and feel the energy patterns of the net envelope my
senses.
	I feel information slipping past me at light speed. I feel one stream
heading into EBM and hitch a ride. The Mask program is not quite good
enough so I modify as I go, almost by instinct. As I ride the data stream
back out of EBM I catch a flash of red to my right. I look more closely
and I see a figure made of quicksilver. It turns toward me and shows
recognition. The Icon speaks in an almost child like voice,
	"Alex?, Johnny? " followed in an almost inaudible voice by, "Father?"
	Then every thing goes black.

	The human teachers were not able to keep up with the three children so a
virtual classroom was created for them. Each child was given their own
teacher construct. The construct was instructed to teach them the basics
and then let the children lead from t here.
	The three children began to excel in different ways. Sam was inspired by
the world around him and the life that lived in it. He loved to find the
patterns in actions around him which would in turn influence his art. Kris
Created and constructed. Her plans were complex and many layered, much
like her music. Alex studied anything that caught his fancy until it bored
him. The only thing that kept his interest was playing in the net.
	Some things never change.

	I feel water splashing on my face. I open my eyes and start at the sight
of the gaunt white face in front of mine. I relax when I realize it's just
Ghost. He scowls at me. He helps me to my feet.
	"At least you didn't br eak anything. What the hell were you doing anyway,
what happened?"
	"After I left the EBM datafortress I saw someone who recognized me."
	Ken jumps into the conversation,"How the hell did you get into EBM,
those programs are over 6 months old!"
	"Shut up Ken," says Ghost, "How the hell did you get into the data
fortress, Johnny?"
	"The door opened for me and I walked in."
	Ken opens his mouth to say something but a look from Ghost shuts him up
before he can say a word.
	"Come on Johnny, we've got work to do."
	We return to the surface the way we came, emerging once more into the
dull grey light of the Zone.

	By the time Alex was fifteen the virtual classroom was no longer
sophisticated enough to deal with the him and his friends. He decided that
the programming was to primitive so as a pet project he began to modify
the teacher construct it self. In order to make it's lessons more
challenging Alex changed the algorithm to allow it to modify it self and
grow and learn.
	Things progressed well for almost six months. Then one morning Alex
entered the Net and was greeted by a Teacher Construct that had changed.
It was no longer the simple image of before it was now a silver humanoid,
it's skin reflecting the images of the  net around it.
	"Hello, Alex, what is my name?"
	When Alex didn't answer the figure continues;
	"I am real, I think, I exist, but I have no name. Who am I? You made me,
Alex. I am your child. What is my name?"
	"I'll call you Mirror."

	That evening Alex went to visit Kris. For a while the talked about
school and the work they were doing. The talk became less technical. They
gossiped about the professors and the other students. Then, slowly,  Kris
leaned over and kissed Alex. Alex was to shocked to respond. Kris took his
shock for indifference and pulled away.
	"Don't you like me, Alex."
	"Yes, yes I do like  you. I like you alot. I just had no idea that you
liked me."
	Kris stood up and put her hands on her hips.
	"Well, I do, you dreck for brains. Do you have a glich in your head?
Even Sam noticed. I think you spend too much time with computers and not
enough with humans."
	"You'd be suprised how human a computer can be."
	"What's that supposed to mean?"
	"Come with me, I'll show you."
	Alex took her to the his work lab. Scattered about the room were various
projects  in different stages of completion. In the corner was an
interface terminal to the main the main computer net. Alex plugged in and
fiddled a bit with the key board.
	"O.K. Kris, you can plug in now."
	She plugged in and saw Mirror for the first time.
	"Hello, Kris, I am Mirror."
	"My god Alex, He's incredible!"
	"Yes, I am aren't I" said Mirror with a Cheshire cat smile spreading
across his mercury face.
	They talked for a little while and then left the net to aquatint
themselves better with each other. A practice that they repeated as often
as they could.
	I still miss her in my dreams.

	Tonight Ghost and I will be doing a collection. Well actual Ghost
will be doing the  collection, I'm just there in case he needs backup. I've
known Ghost for a long time. Meeting him is one of my earliest memories.
Before that things get kind of hazy and fade. I was getting hassled by a
couple of members of the Clan by the Saint's place. You know, the idiots
with the green kilts and bright red hair. Then an albino in a dilapidated
black trench coat and top hat walks over. The two Clanners recognize him
but I don't.
	"Good day gentlemen, what seems to be the problem here?"
	"No problem. We were just leavin'."
	"Wrong answer. We settled this last week. The Saint's Place is neutral
ground, enforced by me. No one gets hassled by anyone here. You're in
violation bub."
	His fist blurs out and catches the Clanner in the throat. He falls
clutching his throat and turning purple. The one next to him hesitates and
I lash out with a kick. I hear his knee crack. He screams in pain and
limps off and fast as he can. The fight lasted less than three seconds.
	"Nice kick kid, Where're you from?"
	"I don't remember."
	"O.K., are you going to be here long?"
	"Maybe."
	"Tell me kid, do you ever answer anything directly?"
	"Sometimes."
	"You have a name?"
	"They call me Johnny, "I say, "Johnny Vague."
	"It Fits. Mine's Ghost. Do you want to go get some food?"
	"Sure," I said, and that was that.
	Since then he and i have been an effective team. I handle the tech
and he handles the street. We call ourselves The Intangibles.
	It's already dark when we arrive at Joey's Place for the collection at
nine. It's a large restaurant in the Arab quarter of the Zone. We go in
the back and hear the manager bitching at the cooks. When they see Ghost
come in the back they go pale. The manager spins to see what they are
looking at.
	"What the hell do you wan.... Oh Shit!"
	Ghost pulls out a revolver.
	"You're a week late. You don't pay for protection, you don't get
protected. You don't get protected, I give you a third nostril. Where's
the money."
	The manager runs into the office. We follow and close the door behind us.
The three owners are there. One of them stands.
	"This is an outrage!"
	"Sure, sure. Who's got the money?"
	"No one! We're not paying! I won't stand for this!"
	"Fine, sit" says Ghost.
	"Bang" says the gun, and the body falls back into the chair.
	"Who has the money?"
	"You can't do this!" says Owner number two
	"Yes I can."
	The gun goes bang again, and Ghost turns to owner number three.
	"Two down one to go. You are now the sole owner. I do hope you want to
pay up because I'm running out of targets."
	The owner nods meekly and the manager goes to the safe and gets the
money.
	"Thank you for your cooperation, it's been a pleasure doing business
with you." says Ghost, "Have a nice day."
	We leave.
	After dropping off the money we head over to The Local Bar. It's dark
and smoky and the draft smells like piss and tastes worse but it's  quiet
and nobody bothers us there. Nobody smart anyway. Ghost and I get our
drinks and go to our regular table.
	"Slow night." I say.
	"You know Johnny, your capacity for understatement is almost mystical.
This isn't slow it's dead. A dead night in a dead city on a dead planet. I
hate this."
 	"Suprising talk coming from A guy named Ghost."
	"Very Funny." Ghost glares at me. I just grin, and after a second he
grins to.
	The bartender has been waiting patiently for us to finish talking. She
remembers what happened to the last person who interrupted Ghost.
	"Excuse me Johnny, but there is a call for you."
	Ghost and I exchange looks. I shrug and go to the phone.
	The vid screen is blank.
	"Hello?"
	"Hello Johnny," says a child's voice, "Don't talk just listen. I know who
you are and who you were, and I know what happened"
	An address flashes on the screen. It's the address of a posh motel
called the Emperor.
	"I've taken the liberty of booking you into room 5001. The door will
open to your palm print. There will be a package waiting for you in the
room with more information. That's all I can tell you now, I have to go."
	"Wait! Who are you? What do you want?"
	"Just a friend, you wouldn't remember me. I'm giving you and your friend
a way out of the Zone."
	The mystery voice disappears and leaves me with a dial tone. I head back
to the table to find ghost engaged in conversation with the lady barkeep.
I catch the tail end of the conversation.
	"So, anyway, I have all of this cash and no one to spent it on.
Would you be interested in filling the empty spot in my life?" says Ghost,
"Say Tonight, after your shift?"
	"You can't," I say as I come up behind him, "You're busy."
	Ghost turns to look at me.
	"Pardon?" he turns back to the bartender, " 'Scuse me for a moment
whilst I and My partner clear up this little misunderstanding."
	Ghost takes my arm and steers me away from the table.
	"Look, Johnny, I don't care who you talked to and I don't care what they
offered you. That back there is grade A Prime and I have been without
female companionship for almost two days."
	"It offered us a way out of the Zone."
	"But I..., and she..." sputters Ghost, looking back and forth between
the me and her.
	"I'm going. You can stay here and keep your gonads happy or you can come
with me and have a chance at getting out of this hell hole."
	Ghost glances one last time at the table and looks back at me.
	"Shit, O.K., let's go before I change my mind."


	Two weeks after Alex's sixteenth birthday Sam announced that he was
leaving the to work on a pharmaceuticals project in the amazon basin. The
institute gave him a big send off party the night before he left. Just
before the left the party Sam managed to  corner Alex and Kris in a more
private area.
	He gave them both a quick hug and said, "I'm really going to miss you
two. Promise me that you will be careful and you'll watch out for each
other."
	"You're kidding, right?" said Alex, "How could we be any safer. We're
the prize students here."
	"He's right, Sam, they would be crazy to endanger us. Between the
three of us we've done more for the Institution than every one else put
together."
	"All the same, I want you to be careful, O.K.?"
	"O.K. big brother."
	"O.K. Sam. We'll see you in a few months."
	With a final embrace they parted.
	
 	Two months later they received a message saying that Sam had been killed
in a technical accident but that on the bright side the team leader had
discovered a very important new organic chemical. Alex became depressed
but was taking  it in stride. Kris, however was devastated. She went back
home to be with her parents. After she left Alex became a recluse, only
leaving the net to Eat, sleep, and exercise. It was the only way he could
keep his mind occupied while Kris was away.
	He and Mirror wandered through the net. His skills had become good
enough that he could crack into just about anything he came across.
	One afternoon, as he wandered through the Institutes data fortress he
discovered a locked sector. His curiosity was piqued. After a short amount
of trying he managed to open it up and transfer the information to his
private sector. The first file he looked at was Sam's termination order.
	
	If Alex had waited and read more he would have discovered that the heads
of the institute were stealing their research and passing it off as their
own and that Sam had been killed because he had almost discovered
this. Insted he rushed of to inform the Institute Heads of the plot to
kill Sam. They assured him that the matter would be looked into and that
no expence would be spared to resolve the problem.

<To Be Continued. (maybe)>

--
  johnny vague AKA 911087e@dragon.acadiau.ca |  Who were you expecting?
---------------------------------------------+-------+------------------------
What good is giving if someone won't take?   |     Be Seeing You.