From: pel@maximo.enet.dec.com (Phillip E lujan)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo
Subject: STORY:  Knightsrun
Date: 29 Dec 92 21:40:29 GMT
Reply-To: pel@maximo.enet.dec.com (Phillip E lujan)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

Hello, everyone...

I've been lurking around here for a little while, enjoying the stories,
and I thought I'd make a little offering of my own.  Yes, I would enjoy
comments, criticism (no flames please), or just to chat with someone else
who shares a common interest.  Nuff said, here's the story...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KNIGHTSRUN

He'd know in a minute if it was going to work.

Johannes smiled to himself as he wired up the explosives to the
detonators.  Forty-five seconds until the whole works went up in
smoke.  After that, the land-grubbing industrialists would have a
hard time getting power from this dam, that was for sure.

Last block of plastique; last wire crimped to detonator; insert,
and run.  30 seconds to reach cover; enhanced nervous system
driving clone-tissue boosted muscles to reach incredible speeds.
Diving behind the improvised barricade with milli-seconds to spare.

Then the world exploded.

------------------------------------------------------------------

DATELINE NEWS  --  24 DECEMBER 2042  --  DATELINE NEWS

Hey, hey, hey, Merry Xmas Eve to you all out there, this is
Chip Carson with the dateline news.  Flash and Boom!  The
Hudson River Hydroelectric Plant has just been bombed; no
details have yet been released, but it wouldn't surprise me
if the Greeners were behind this latest attack...  Other
eco-terrorist actions recently have included the new strain
of algae that's clogging Greater New York's sewer system and
the 'plastic pellets' now littering the Potomac River...
Seems that most of these attacks are centered on waterworks
of some kind, or maybe it's just coincidence...  Chip Carson,
signing off; remember, no eco-terrorism means we're not
polluting enough!  Bye bye and buy bonds... something from
the late, great TwenCen!

------------------------------------------------------------------

The room was dark.  Amid the clutter which littered the floor,
a dark shape on a futon stirred.

"Hangover, level one, execute," said a voice.

A few minutes pass.  "Damn," the voice mutters.  "What's wrong
with the bleedin' voice-recog?"

The shape makes its way to the wall, where an old-fashioned light
switch is mounted.  The switch is flipped two or three times, with
no results.  Finally, the figure moves over to a low table and
strikes a match.  Lighting the stub of a candle, the young man
that is revealed stretches, then checks his 'deck.  A small backup
power supply sits underneath the device.

**  LOCAL POWER GRID DISRUPTED  **
**  SYSTEM OPERATING ON BACKUP POWER SUPPLY  **
**  WARNING  **
**  POWER LOW : MINIMAL USE RECOMMENDED  **

'Yeah, no shit,' he thinks.  'Let's get some power routed this
way; I've got a run to make.'

------------------------------------------------------------------

Blackness, a few points of light scattered around, everything
blurry.

**  RENORMALIZATION ALGORITHMS ADJUSTING  **

Faint, blue letters at the outer edge of vision.  Stars approaching
your face, streaks of light rushing at you.

**  RENORMALIZATION ALGORITHMS ADJUSTED  **
**  INTERFACE SUPERIMPOSITION EXECUTING  **

The 'stars' are now visible as lights of varying intensities, and
the streaks are lightbeams connecting the stars - until the stars
are replaced by castles, the streaks by roads.  A fantasy land
stands revealed before you.

**  LOCAL ACCESS ACCEPTED.  WELCOME, STARKNIGHT.  **

Seen from afar, a large castle sits atop a metaphorical hill:
DataComm, the satellite linkup.  The knight in his armor spurs
his steed to approach.  Coming close, he spies telltale signs of
watchful guard.  Raising his right hand, he says, "Lower the
drawbridge!"

>>  ACCESS DATACOMM : SIGMA ALPHA, PRIORITY ONE  <<
**  WORKING ACCESS PROCEDURE  **

A guard leans his head out of the gatehouse and asks,  "Where from,
Good Sir Knight?"

**  ACCESS ACCEPTED : PASSWORD, PLEASE :  **
>>  EXECUTE WORMWORD : ALEPH NULL DELTA LAMBDA  <<

The knight leans forward and states: "My background is my own to
tell, when I should have a wish to do so.  My business here is
with your castle's lord."

**  WORMWORD RESPONSE : PASSWORD FOUND  **
**  PASSWORD LOCKED INTO SYSTEM  **

"Oh, aye," responds the guard.  "Right this way, Sir Knight."

The knight enters a room containing several doors, and chairs to
sit upon.  A guard stands before each door, save the one the knight
entered through.  Several other cyber-selves sit in chairs, waiting
for their turn to pass through to the datastores beyond.

The knight mutters, "Well, so far, so good.  That ICEbreaker got
me through the outer walls; now, it's up to me."

>>  EXECUTE SEQUENCE 1 2 DELTA ECHO : TARGET ALL  <<
**  SEQUENCE EXECUTED : NO MATCH FOUND  **

"Damn, no-one close enough for an easy match.  Maybe..."

>>  EXECUTE DOPPELGANGER : TARGET rensvaal : REFIT : REAPPLY  <<
**  TARGET rensvaal REFITTED TO LOWER OS STATUS  **
**  UNABLE TO MAINTAIN CAMOUFLAGE MORE THAN 30 SEC  **

"OK, let's go for it..."  The knight rises to his feet, surrounded
by a shimmering light.  The guard at the door stands back to let
him pass...

He finds himself in a large room, with a cross dominating the far
wall.  A portly man, dressed as a Catholic priest, approaches.

"Yes, sir, may I help you?"

The knight speaks easily.  "No, Father, I would hold vigil here,
and seek to wring an answer from heaven with my entreaties..."

**  DATALINK : DATACOMM 7  **
**  PLEASE ENTER ACCESS PRIORITY :  **
>>  EXECUTE SCRAMBLE ACCESS : JOVE TITAN EROS  <<

The priest began to frown.  "You would refuse the good offices of
a man of the cloth, Sir Knight?  Perhaps you are not as pious as
is seemly..."

**  WARNING : ICE NOW IN OPERATION  **
**  ANALYSIS : LOW-LEVEL PROGRAM : CODED AS WATCHDOG  **
>>  ACCESS EXECUTE LOUDMOUTH : SIGMA 5  <<
>>  EXECUTE SHIELD : EXECUTE SWORD > WATCHDOG  <<

"I WILL NOT HEED YOUR BLANDISHMENTS, SPAWN OF SATAN!!" screams the
knight.  Quickly drawing his sword, he runs the priest through,
to be rewarded by a shriek, a gout of blood, and the sight of the
priest collapsing, changing into a dog-like beast.

Quickly, then, the knight steps forward to the altar.  Kneeling
before the marble slab, he prays.  "Dear lord, allow me to find
myself in the fortress of my enemy..."

**  ACCESS TO DATALINK ACCEPTED  **
**  DESTINATION :  **
>>  TAITO-MITSUBISHI : CENTREX  <<
**  WORKING  **

Blurred streaks of light carry the knight to a new palace.  As before,
he finds himself in a temple, although this one is a Shinto shrine.
The knight quickly changes his garb for that of a ronin.

>>  EXECUTE MUSASHI : SHELL  <<
**  MUSASHI PERSONA ACTIVE  **

The ronin bows to the priest at the temple, then turns and walks through
the stone arch.  Beyond, a dirt road stretches into the distance.  The
ronin pauses, considering; he should probably seek the information he
wants first, so as not to waste valuable time.  He walks to a nearby village.

>>  SHIFT NODE : TENGU::  <<
**  NODE TENGU::  **

"Iie, Ronin-sama, we have not that information," says the village's headman.
"But a messenger passed by here with the data you seek...  He was on his way
to Tokyo."  The ronin turns and leaves.

>>  SEARCH OPLOG : FIND terminus  <<
**  WORKING : terminus MESSAGE MOVED : TOKYO::  **

The ronin approaches Tokyo, his swords at his side.  This will not be easy,
he knows, but he welcomes the challenge to his skills.  Rumours abound
about the quality of the guards at the Tokyo complex.  Approaching the castle,
he scouts the territory.

>>  EXECUTE ACCESS SCAN : DETECT MODE  <<
**  WORKING  **

'All approaches well guarded; I shall have to bluff my way in,' determines
the ronin.  He walks toward the front gate, determined to enter.

>>  ACCESS TOKYO :   <<
**  WELCOME TO TOKYO:: : PASSWORD :  **

"I seek employment with your lord," states the ronin.  "Allow me to pass."

>>  EXECUTE WORMWORD : RHO EPSILON DELTA  <<
**  WORMWORD EXECUTION DENIED : LOCKED BY ICE OGRE  **

Up close, the ronin can see that the guards are not men, but ogres.  'This
would account for the rumours,' he thinks.  The ogres close in, menacingly.

>>  EXECUTE BLIND : LEVEL DELTA TAU  <<
>>  SHELL EDIT WORMWORD :  <<
	>>  COMBINE CRACKER | FILE:SWORD > KATANA  <<
	>>  SAVE : EXIT  <<
>>  EXECUTE KATANA > OGRE  <<

The ronin draws his katana, angling it to catch the light of the sun.
A brief flash confuses the ogres for a split-second, giving the ronin
time to strike down one of them.  As the ronin faces off against the
second ogre, he hears running footsteps from the castle.

**  ALARM CONDITIONS DETECTED  **
**  ICE CONSTRUCTS APPROACHING  **

------------------------------------------------------------------

In the smoking rubble, nothing stirs.

Large blocks of concrete, steel beams and various twisted pieces of
machinery cast eerie shadows in the half-light of the emergency lamps.
Patterns swirl in the blackened smoke; the scents of ozone and cordite
mingle in the air.

In the smoking rubble, nothing stirs.

Save for a slight rhythmic pulsing of one pile of rubble, all is still.
Perhaps some piece of machinery still functions, serving no useful
purpose: such is the way of machines.

In the smoking rubble, nothing stirs.

Then the pulsing seems to get more intense,  until a figure arises through
the heaped-up bits of concrete, machinery, etc.  A human figure, moving
where nothing could have survived.

In the smoking rubble, something stirs...

------------------------------------------------------------------

'Best to finish this quickly,' thinks the ronin.  A quick, practiced
gesture brings a bluish tinge to his katana, and he strikes at the ogre
with practiced ease...

>>  SHELL EDIT KATANA :  <<
	>>  INCLUDE FILE:FREEZE  <<
	>>  SAVE : EXIT  <<
>>  EXECUTE KATANA > OGRE  <<
**  EXECUTING  **

As the katana strikes the ogre, it seems to slow down.  The ronin strikes
again, then passes the paralyzed ogre on the run.

>>  EXECUTE TRACKER : TARGET terminus  <<
**  EXECUTING : WARNING : CYCLE TIME SLOWED  **
>>  RESTORE KATANA : REMOVE FREEZE  <<
**  KATANA RESTORED : CYCLE TIME INCREASING  **

The ronin finds himself inside his enemies fortress, even if only in the
courtyard of the Oyabun's castle.  It's farther than he expected to get.
A small dog leaps out from behind him, and runs through a doorway.  The
ronin follows his dog...

**  ICE CONSTRUCTS STILL APPROACHING  **
**  ANALYSIS INDICATES : WATCHDOG BLOODHOUND TIGER  **

'Hunting constructs,' thinks the ronin.  'Best to take them out, rather than
running.'  He considers for a moment, then readies his bow.

>>  SHELL EDIT ARROW :  <<
	>>  INCLUDE FILE:POSTMAN:ADDRESS  <<
	>>  INCLUDE FILE:RANDOMIZE  <<
	>>  CLONE 1000  <<
	>>  SAVE : EXIT  <<
>>  EXECUTE ARROW > ICECONSTRUCT : DELAY VISIBLE (3) <<

As the ronin draws an arrow, three creatures burst into view.  Two dogs
and a tiger rush into the courtyard.  The ronin fires his arrow, which
turns into a flight of small birds, each singing a different tune.  The
attacking animals appear confused, so the ronin steps back out of sight.

Hearing a soft growl, the ronin turns to find the small dog waiting in a
doorway.  Stepping through, he is greeted by the sight of a large rack of
scrolls.  As the dog pulls one of the scrolls from the rack with his teeth,
a large samurai steps into view, his katana drawn.

**  ICE CONSTRUCT NOW IN CURRENT LOCATION  **
**  ANALYSIS INDICATES UNKNOWN TYPE  **
**  PRIMARY STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS : ACTIVE  **
**  SECONDARY STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS : LETHAL  **

Recognizing a worthy foe, the ronin prepares for battle.  He gestures, and
again his katana glows with a blue light.  Gripping the weapon in both hands,
he waits for his foe to move...

>>  RESTORE KATANA : INCLUDE FREEZE  <<
>>  KILL TRACKER  <<
>>  EXECUTE PARRY :  THEN EXECUTE KATANA > ICECONSTRUCT  **
**  WORKING  **

The samurai-construct was fast.  The ronin barely had a chance to parry its
first blow, and completely missed his counter-attack.  'Must be an AI,' he
thought.  'Time to change tactics.'

>>  CODE ICECONSTRUCT > SAMURAI  <<
>>  SHELL EDIT KIAI :  <<
	>>  INCLUDE FILE:LOUDMOUTH  <<
	>>  INCLUDE FILE:CONFUSION:SCRAMBLE  <<
	>>  SAVE : EXIT  <<
>>  LOOP : EXECUTE PARRY : THEN EXECUTE KATANA > SAMURAI  <<
**  WORKING : CYCLE DELAY 13 COUNTS  **

A few more blows are parried by the ronin; his sword is beginning to chip.
The samurai begins to wind up for a death-blow.

>>  BREAK LOOP : EXECUTE KIAI > SAMURAI  <<
**  WORKING  **

As the samurai's sword begins to descend, the ronin lets out a great
shout.  "KIAI!"  The samurai misses his stroke, and staggers back,
confused.  Wasting no time, the ronin rains blows on his foe...

**  ANALYSIS INDICATES SAMURAI CONFUSED  **
**  SUGGESTED ATTACK : KATANA  **
>>  LOOP : EXECUTE KATANA > SAMURAI : BREAK ON ICEDESTRUCT  <<
**  WORKING  **

Shortly, the samurai is no more, slain by the ronin's fierce blows.  The
ronin staggers over to the rack, retrieves the fallen scroll, and glances
briefly at the writing within.   Wrapping the scroll around an arrow, he
fires it out of a window towards a lone figure in the fields.

>>  MAIL FILE:MESSAGE terminus : ADDRESS NULL : CODE peasant  <<

The samurai begins to stir on the floor behind the ronin.  'Time to leave,'
he thinks.

**  WARNING : ICE REFORMING  **
>>  EXECUTE CHOIRSOFANGELS : NODES FILE:LUCIFER  <<

And then the ronin was no more.  The samurai, peering through the eyes of
an incredibly sophisticated machine, saw a brief flash as the ronin appeared
simultaneously at over 10000 net locations, with a surprisingly non-musical
sound:

"Thhphhpbbbttttt!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

In a room lit only by a candle, a young man sits hunched over his cyberdeck.
Swearing, pounding the casing with one hand, he finally achieves some
success; the lights come back on.  Checking the real-time display on his
'deck, the young man groans.

"I'm late; Toshiro's gonna hang me out to dry."

Nevertheless, the young man plugs the optical cable into the jack behind
his right ear, and activates the 'deck.  A few seconds later, he begins
to move to a rhythm only he can hear; the beat of cyberspace.  Hands play
the keys as if they were a musical instrument.

Occasionally, he speaks aloud:

"No, that's not it...  Try another path...  AH HA!  Right where Toshi said it
was!"

More time passes.  The young man speaks again:

"Bloody nippers, forcing everyone into their bleedin' fantasy world...
Huh?  This must be it...  That nipper in the window just shot this to me..."

Fingers tap on keys, electronic/neural impulses combine, and the man jacks
out of the net.  Trembling fingers pull a datacard out of the write slot.
The same hands pour three fingers of a dark amber liquid into a glass.
The glass is set down empty.

"Dante, my boy, what have you gotten into?"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Out of the rubble comes a man in torn and tattered clothes.  The scrapes
and scratches don't bother him; his other wounds are a slight annoyance.
He knows that there is a place where these things can be treated; he must
get there to announce his triumph to the General.

Things were going according to plan...

------------------------------------------------------------------

All rights reserved.  All characters, especially Starknight and Dante, are my
own inventions, and should bear little to no relation to reality.

Sean Roberts, 29 Dec 1992
------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, what do you think?
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo