Fragments from the Ostracon #1
“Dinner is served, numb-nuts!”
“Jesus, you scared me. How did you get past the door guard?”
“You mean sleepy Charles? I come here so often, man, he and I are practically family.”
“Well what did you get me?”
“Either mixed veg with crispies or...sweet and sour wings.”
“Ah, c’mon. The Last Chance canteen? There’s a food stand right outside.”
“Oooh, city boy doesn’t like Sprawl chow, huh? I picked it up on the way in. Take it or leave it, fancy-lad. I’m happy to eat both.”
“Fine. Gimme the wings.”
“Bon appetit. So what’s the latest young hacker? Anything coming down elevators?”
“Nothing. Besides the usual, I mean. Thought I saw something weird coming off Ogiso but it was just a bugged media template.”
“Well what are we even looking for?”
“Hard to say, really. Something that wants to stay hidden but also get found, right? So we’re looking for...anything suspicious. Signals in the noise. Could take all night.”
“When does your Mom get home?”
“Pff. Never. She caught an emergency call. Some kind of botched eye surgery? She’ll be at Haggerty all night. What about your Dad?”
“Same. He’s on deep patrol. Out past the sprawl, even. My DMC visa is good for 8 hours.”
“Settle in then, because this could take...hold on.”
“What?”
“No way.”
“What!?”
“This just came down the Yunti vine…”
“Indonesia? Is that even operational anymore?”
“Yeah. Barely. Anyway it’s exactly like last time: buried in a shipping manifest, a text file directed to ‘My Dear Aunt Martha.’”
“Well what is it?!”
“I don’t know yet! Some kind of...magazine? Sh*t, I dunno!”
“Well open it up already numb-nuts!”
“I am! Get offa me! I’m clicking it! I’m clicking it!”
--END TRANSMISSION
(Read and download in full size: https://imgur.com/a/3itlP7g )
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“Jesus, you scared me. How did you get past the door guard?”
“You mean sleepy Charles? I come here so often, man, he and I are practically family.”
“Well what did you get me?”
“Either mixed veg with crispies or...sweet and sour wings.”
“Ah, c’mon. The Last Chance canteen? There’s a food stand right outside.”
“Oooh, city boy doesn’t like Sprawl chow, huh? I picked it up on the way in. Take it or leave it, fancy-lad. I’m happy to eat both.”
“Fine. Gimme the wings.”
“Bon appetit. So what’s the latest young hacker? Anything coming down elevators?”
“Nothing. Besides the usual, I mean. Thought I saw something weird coming off Ogiso but it was just a bugged media template.”
“Well what are we even looking for?”
“Hard to say, really. Something that wants to stay hidden but also get found, right? So we’re looking for...anything suspicious. Signals in the noise. Could take all night.”
“When does your Mom get home?”
“Pff. Never. She caught an emergency call. Some kind of botched eye surgery? She’ll be at Haggerty all night. What about your Dad?”
“Same. He’s on deep patrol. Out past the sprawl, even. My DMC visa is good for 8 hours.”
“Settle in then, because this could take...hold on.”
“What?”
“No way.”
“What!?”
“This just came down the Yunti vine…”
“Indonesia? Is that even operational anymore?”
“Yeah. Barely. Anyway it’s exactly like last time: buried in a shipping manifest, a text file directed to ‘My Dear Aunt Martha.’”
“Well what is it?!”
“I don’t know yet! Some kind of...magazine? Sh*t, I dunno!”
“Well open it up already numb-nuts!”
“I am! Get offa me! I’m clicking it! I’m clicking it!”
--END TRANSMISSION
(Read and download in full size: https://imgur.com/a/3itlP7g )
You can now sign up to the Fragments from the Ostracon mailing list, to receive new stories from the universe straight to your inbox! Sign up here