Digital Underground - uXu - Underground eXperts United #uxu-130

### ### ### ### ### #### ### ### ### #### ### ### ##### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##### ### ### ########## ### ### ########## ### ### ### ### Underground eXperts United Presents... ####### ## ## ####### # # #### ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## # ## ## ## #### ## ## #### # # ## #### ## ## ## ## ## ## ##### ## # ## ## ## ## ## ####### ####### # # ###### ####### ####### [Castle Chronicles The Sequel, Chapter Two] [ By The Chief ] ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ###### ###### ###### ###### ## ###### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ###### ###### ## ## #### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ###### ## ## ###### ## ###### ###### ###### ## ## ###### ###### ## ## ## ###### ## ###### ###### The ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ## ## ## ## ## ## Sequel ## ###### ###### ## ## ## ### ## ## ## #### ###### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ###### ## ## ## ## ###### ## ## ## ###### ###### ###### ###### THE SERIOUS SERIES CHAPTER TWO "All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world..." -Ministry Five years. It had only been five years since Conrad J Coppacio founded Coppacio Corp and built the pyramid. Seemed like a lifetime. Government officials had been bought, one after the other, only to be replaced by CC executives. Two months. Then, there was no difference between the Coppacio board of directors and the government. By the time the colonization of Corp Zone and Roundgaarden started, Coppacio owned it all. Owned everything. The other corporations, the police force, the military, the space colonies. Right down to the people themselves, and no-one had noticed. Two years after the pyramid was finished, Coppacio sealed off the lower floors. Crime, they claimed, had caused the change. Granted, the crime rate on Floor 1 had climbed to an alarming rate, but everyone knew that that wasn't the reason behind it. No one said anything at the time. Who'd argue with those who owned you? The CC then abandoned Floor 1, left everything. The old computer terminals, the machines, the works. One day, it was all gone. The CC logo, the only thing left that reminded them of what had once been there. Making it the prison it resembled today. Today, the black blocks, the lower floors, kept the citizens where they were. Leaving the only way out of MegaCity through the upper floors. Pain. Fire burning where it hurts the most. A moment of silence, a touch of cold hands, then.. nothing. Sharp sticks made out of crystal and patched with silicon trodes found their way down Castle's scarred back. Found the second spot, then, more pain. Jaqueline Briskin. He watched her as he rose from the stretcher. Her tiny, well-placed nose, her green custom made eyes and high cheek-bones together with her long reddish hair made her look like a doll. A good cover. Jaqueline Briskin, who worked the streets, though not as a whore, but as one of the best, and most hired, implant surgeons on Floor 1. 'That'll take care of it,' she said, placing the sticks neatly back into the black whizzing plastic module with artistic movement. 'It better.' Explosions, with fifteen second intervals, shook the foundation of the building, shattering the cement that hid the steel underneath, still screaming with pain from unknown hours of torture. A corporate intercom voice announced the well known and disbelieved Coppacio Corp. information about "scientific experiments that had to be done, the underground atomized explosions were merely a troublesome, but harmless side-effect. No need for alarm. I repeat, no need for alarm." 'If it don't, you're dead, Castle. Pause. 'You know,' she sighed, 'it will only work for another week, then you'll have to come back for a complete re-scan again. Another treatment.' 'Yeah..' Castle said reaching for his shirt. 'But it's worth it.' 'They'll find out. Sooner or later, they'll know. You don't screw Them and get away with it. You don't change your P-Scan code unless you really, and I mean REALLY have to.' Jaqueline looked at him with serious eyes. 'Oh, I've told you before, and I know you pay me good money for this, but..' Silence. 'When they know, they know,' he said. 'You must understand. This is something I have to do without them knowing it. I have to go places, I have to talk to people. I have to do certain things, and they mustn't know about it.' He shrugged. 'This is the only way.' Silence. 'I've fucked them before, and I can fuck them again. Don't worry about it. Anyways, I owe you one,' Castle said, looking at her troubled face. 'You owe me plenty!' She walked around in the small, crummy basement, touching the torn walls here and there where cracks had grown into holes. 'But there's only one thing I want from you, Castle,' she said, opening the door to let him out, 'and that is to have you back here again, in seven days. In one piece.' Castle smiled and took her hand. Stairs. The street. Stirring with life, and yet so full of death. It rained. Two Human Carbon Copy whores winked at Castle as he emerged from the cellar, crossing the street. No time, he thought. He had seven days to do what ordinarily would have taken him six months. Five minutes later, he had the amount of Pentaminehexadiamyl that would take him through the week. That would keep him alive on the street. Thunder smashed the black skies, tearing the rain apart in large quantities. Blue-gray search beams wandered the alleys from above. Gun-shots somewhere down one of them. Screams. Back at the apartment, he noticed the IML still flashing. Hadn't checked the messages. Thrifleman had interrupted. Thrifleman with his threats, with the assignment. He picked up the dossier and looked through the pictures again while turning on the IML. They looked so innocent, he thought. Who would ever believe that... 'Castle, we need to talk.' A scrambled picture on the IML. Someone didn't want to be known. 'They're breathing down my neck. I have the information, but I can't give it to you over the line, y'know.' Chen. It was Chen. 'Meet me at Paulie's, eight thir..' Snow on the screen. An eerie sound through the speaker. Damn! Why hadn't he checked the messages?! Why.. He never finished the thought. Another message came up on the screen. Thrifleman. 'I'm not sure what your game is, Castle, but you won't get away with it. You weren't there when we came to pick you up, and you know what we said about that.' Castle picked up his gun and three magazine clips, throwing them together with some clothes and electronics he thought he might need into a small colorless bag. 'Well, tell you what. I'll be a nice guy, Castle,' he continued, 'If you report to me within the next twenty four hours, I'll forget about it, okay?' A hideous grin on the screen, and then, the CC logo. Click. He didn't touch anything. Two minutes later, he was on the street. Just in time to see his apartment, along with two thirds of the building, explode in a flash of red, green and blue. Large pieces of metal and stone, falling down the 47 floors to the street smashed whatever had been there before into juice. Flesh and blood. Screams, sirens, beams of gray and blue. Run. Away. He had to hide. Pinching one of the black derms against his wrist, to release the drug into his veins, he managed to make his way through the relentless crowd. Alley. Dark. Hiding place. Down the four steps and to the right. He took the first hit. Swaying in the darker areas. A numb feeling spreading through his body. Someone asked him about directions, but he didn't answer. He watched a couple of street girls trying to find a job that'd help them through the night, but he never saw the outcome of the event. Suddenly he stumbled into Jake in front of 'Selectronics. Jake seemed to ask him about a delivery he was supposed to have made, but Castle dismissed the accusations about the delay with something about his grandmother. Castle didn't think Jake would question that, and he was right. They made another deal, and Castle promised he'd deliver within two weeks. Three thousand kee's of Mendiathyl - he didn't know how to, but it was easier to make a promise than to stand arguing the whole evening. Anyway, Jake was kind of a friend, and you never let friends down. Not in this world. You treasured friends more than mutagens. Ten million years of anger screamed through the city's veins. Ten million years of insanity. The years of mankind. Castle felt every one of them through his body, trying to scratch the skin off his body. Then another feeling spread along his back. A tingling feeling. Searching. They were after him, in a bad way too. They didn't even bother to hide it - people around him looked as if they were dying. They had hit the P-Scan, hard. Castle knew, even his oldest and most trustworthy friends would gladly hand him over to the CC after this treatment. The scan would never find him though. Question was, if they'd continue the unshielded scanning after they realized he'd changed his codes. He had to take the chance. Had to trust Jake not to tell, to handle the pain. He left him laying on the ground, no time to help. Anyway, there was nothing he could do. When he saw Paulie's further down the alley, something told him not to go there. A feeling of uncertainty. Two steps and the bullet hit his shoulder. Head hit the ground. Screams again, three CCV's appeared right above, searchlights nailing him down. It was as bright as a 20th century day. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Castle Chronicles, the sequel, is not continuing the *first* set of chapters in the first chronicles. This is the serious series, based in a not so-far future, taking over where the not yet finished Castle Chronicles series will end. These two series will co-exist for a couple of chapters. Finally there will be a link between the finished first Chronicles and the sequel, which will tie them together. You will not miss anything by not reading the first series, but you won't get the overall picture when the two links together. Be on the safe side, check out the first chronicles if you haven't already. Take a ride with Castle's humorous side before embarking on the black, real and scattered future of MegaCity. - uXu Mania 1993 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- uXu #130 Underground eXperts United 1993 uXu #130 Call SEDES DIABOLI -> +46-586-43766 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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