Stories tagged “mephisto”

  • Cataclysmic Cybersearch for CyberID

    Collar up, hat low over my eyes, hands in my pockets, breeze whipping my trench away from my legs as I hurried the two blocks up and two more east to my home, satisfied that I had the necessary data. “You gotta light?” some bum asked me, ge...

  • The Truth About Mephisto

    “Precisely,” Acrylic replied, taking out a rag and wiping down a long metal object. “I would like it very much if you would.” He moved back to the table and indicated an area on the building blueprints. “My details are som...

  • The Epitome of Virtual Technology, and What to Do About It

    “So…y-y-you mean that Mephisto’s…” I let my voice trail off. “Mephisto is the epitome of virtual technology,” Acrylic furthered. “One hundred twelve floors up, an isolated AI core controls remote units via a Catb...

  • The Memo

    CLASSIFIED — EYES ONLY — CLEARANCE LEVEL Q-37 To: Personnel cleared Q-37 and above From: The Shell RE: Implementation of MEPHISTO Architecture To whom it may concern: The Shell writes this memorandum because the Shell is highly pleased and ...

  • Food for Thought

    “So I’ve got two questions,” I began, between bites of the chow-mein-and-pepperoni pizza that Acrylic had bought for us. The blue and pink neon lights of the roadside stall rimmed its metal structure and the clear plastic umbrellas th...

  • Gestation

    The ship displayed itself on all of the Jumbotrons and all of the network screens within a thirty-meter radius or so. The disruption was noticed, and most activity in the city square was suddenly halted, replaced with chatter and people pointing at the...

  • An Endeavor

    The first thing I noticed about Fetus when we exited through the side door was how impossibly pale she was, especially considering how strong the UV rays given off at the bar were—even her hair was white. It contrasted rather starkly with the dark en...

  • An Abridged Biography

    Acrylic took a deep breath. “Some time ago, MegaCorp executed a new research program into neurocomputational interfaces, ostensibly for the enhancement and betterment of the computational experience and of mankind as a whole. As I am sure that yo...

  • Failure

    Acrylic drank deeply from the faded mug. The decal, which read “MORAL CODE” along with some lines of programming language, was highly scratched. “The procedures were…” He searched his databanks for the correct word. “…...

  • Lethologica

    “Project Lethologica,” Acrylic breathed. “My parents owed MegaCorp a debt that couldn’t be repaid on the corporation’s time,” Fetus continued. Her continued monotone was downright spine-chilling. “MegaCorp deci...

  • Harvest

    “In our combined forays into the labyrinth that is the MegaCorp mainframe,” Acrylic recounted, “we were successfully able to pilfer the details of Lethologica.” His face grew grim. “Abductees by MegaCorp’s hand were ...

  • You In?

    “The last time anybody tried to break into MegaCorp HQ,” Fetus dryly informed us in her creepy, even monotone, “it was the TLF versus the corporate goons.” “The Techno-Liberation Front?” I asked. “Their best, b...

  • Toys

    If we were going to pull this job off, we were going to need help; namely, two specific kinds of help: Tech support and weapons support. I’d mentioned that I had weapons stashed at my backup pad, but Acrylic reminded me of our earlier encounter a...

  • We Now Interrupt Your Regularly-Scheduled Programming…Sort Of

    I pushed past Hard Drive, Acrylic and Fetus in tow, and quickly made my way into the short corridor that led to the Council Room. The thick, rectangular metal door was a drab grey-green; I burst it open, emerging in the midst of the current meeting. I ...

  • …Wait for It…

    “A virtual curtain had inadvertently been revoked,” Acrylic explained, “and I seized the opportunity to ambulate around the inner workings of the MegaCorp systems. I was appalled beyond words. At this point, there was no uncertainty i...

  • Plans

    “This,” C:\ declared, “is the War Room.” “It’s a maintenance closet,” Shortcut interrupted. “This,” C:\ reïterated, “is the War Room. Virus, the plans.” Virus cleared off the table and ...

  • Backdoor

    “What?” C:\ asked, incredulously voicing the question the rest of us were asking internally. “The building schematics were in a relatively unprotected location among the MegaCorp internal network. There exists a section of the sewage ...

  • Walla Walla

    “In forty-five minutes,” continued C:\, “a group of us is going to gather up everything that they need and is going to break into MegaCorp Headquarters. They are going to hack and slag MEPHISTO.” As he said this, the gathered Sc...

  • Radio Armenia

    “Radio Armenia,” Acrylic breathed, his voice quiet in wonder. Terminal screens and blinking lights were clustered in the side room. Too many cables to count snaked and wormed their ways to and from all the screens, computer units, servers, ...

  • Chamber

    As we made progress through the tunnel, we could just barely make out the faint clatter and thud of the sewer door closing. We came out the pipe when it emerged into a small depository designed for waste trolleys to dump their contents in. Metal footho...

  • Two Hundred

    The guard was quickly knocked out while I took the droid out of commission with the sabretaser. The jolt threw the droid into diagnostic mode, which only lasted a few dozen seconds. It was all the time, however, that Fetus needed. She removed the indus...

  • A Brief Respite

    Those of us who had run paused at the door. I could see the concentration written all over Acrylic’s face—hacking through various networks as he came within virtual earshot, dropping them as we left. I had no idea how he managed. “Gotta g...