Cyberspace: Grand Metropolis - Poking in the Dark

[The Huggernaut]

Anansi had been online for several hours now, causing minor hiccups in various systems, except for one instance where she randomly swapped the balances of several people's bank accounts... But this was all boring, she'd done it all before... she needed something new.

And she was pretty sure she'd found it. She'd been pinging several IP addresses, to see what she found, when THIS appearred on her screen.

"Hm... this could be interesting... let's crack this baby open, shall we?" With a crack of the knuckles, the spider got to work.

The system's firewall put up a pretty hard fight, which was a pleasant change for the hacker, but she made it through, and began poking around in various files.

"The Dark Legion? This is their mainframe?" The girl grinned maliciously as she starting poking around further.

"This could be fun."

- - - - - - - - - -

After a few minutes, the spider had found out something VERY interesting... that she intended to use. With a little hacking on a second computer, allowing her to keep tabs on her new playground, the hacker sent an email to this "Dr. Finitevus", but used a VERY familiar email address to do so... that belonging to Dr. Zachary H. Acerbus.

The email read as follows:

"Hello, Doctor. I know who you really are, and would like to talk. Meet me in Grand Metropolis' central park tonight. Please come by yourself, or I may have to bring some police with me.

Signed,
Anansi the Web"[rand=6743581047387736482907805553326747668611489798088962980713237092]

[Jamie Lee]

It wasn't until a bit later that that e-mail would finally be read. Dr. Finitevus stepped into his office, mumbling something or the other to himself under his breath. After having to set things straight at the hospital, he had left straight back for his base and made a beeline to the lab where he'd spent his last few hours. Having managed to acquire a small vial of blood from the lobster boy he'd been mistakenly called in for, and witnessing first hand the crustacean's ability to regenerate, he was eager to study his new prize.

Now, providing his beeper wouldn't grace him with anymore misplaced emergencies from the ER staff, all he wanted to do was curl up in his easychair, relax, and watch the evening news.

But first, he figured he may as well check his e-mail and do a few other quick rounds online.

Unfortunately, he only got as far as his e-mail. His brow arched as his own name appeared in the from slot, and as he opened and read it... his eye twitched.

Know who I am? He pondered on that for a moment, frowning as he stretched his metallic fingers out toward the keyboard. He paused before he could press reply however, and his frown became even wider. Whoever this person was hadn't only used his real name... they'd used his actual e-mail address.

He leaned back in his seat. So much getting to relax. He couldn't deny that he was certainly curious to see who this person was and how they had managed to break into his security. But he was also no fool. Go by himself? Into what could possibly be a trap? Perish the thought, did they really underestimate him that much?

He hefted a deep sigh, pulled himself up from his seat and exited the room. This would be a job for one of his droids.

[The Huggernaut]

That night, about 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting, the spider girl entered the park, locating a very visible bench, and placing, of all things, a laptop on it, the back of the monitor emblazoned with a stylized spider. She then attached a webcam to the top of the monitor, and walked back to her apartment, from which she could see the park, and the bench the laptop rested on.

If someone tries to steal the laptop, I can just fry it from here... and now, Let's see if he takes the bait....

And so, like any spider, Anansi waited for her prey.

[Jamie Lee]

Five or so minutes after the scheduled time a figure appeared. Wearing a black robe with a hood that obscured their face, the figure seemed to materialize from the shadows as he slowly stepped into the light of the over head street lamp. It's head jerked to either side, looking about for signs of any intelligent life; but all that presented itself were the moths and flies that flitted about in the lamp light. Slowly it began to approach the bench from behind.

[The Huggernaut]

As if the laptop sensed the approaching figure, it powered up, activated by a remote switch, which resided on Anansi's desk. The laptop sat open, as if waiting for the figure to move into its field of view.

Come into my parlor, Doctor...

[Jamie Lee]

Having reached the bench, the figure glanced over the back, spotting the laptop. It paused for a long, quiet moment, staring at it, before it finally walked around and knelt in front of it to examine it more closely.

[The Huggernaut]

The screen lit up fully as the figure knelt in front of it, showing the silhouette of someone, against the backdrop of her various other screens, having been careful to ensure that no screens could light up her face.

After a moment, Anansi spoke, her voice unaltered, since, without a face, it wouldn't matter too much.

"Hello, doctor Finitevus... or is your name Zachary?"

[Jamie Lee]

"Finitevus," the figure spoke firmly in the pangolin's voice. "Good evening, Anansi."

[The Huggernaut]

The girl chuckled, crossing her arms as she leaned back, ALMOST lighting her face, but not quite.

"As you can see, I couldn't come here in person. The reason, of course, is that I'd rather have my internet between myself and any threats... I'm surprised you actually came at all, Finitevus."

[Jamie Lee]

The hooded figure also chuckled, as well as shrugged. "Curiosity can be as tempting as it is dangerous, my dear."

He straightened, clasping his hands behind his back. "Not that I don't find idle chatter to be amusing, but I am curious to know why you've summoned me. You're not trying to be a hero, now are you?"

[The Huggernaut]

For a moment, the girl seemed stunned by the question, her silhouette shaking a little, until a soft laugh, quickly growing louder almost exploded from her.

After a minute or so of this, the girl collected herself, looking up, in a sense, at the figure.

"A hero? Please. I have no need of heroes, nor do I wish to be one. People are sheep, and I simply use my skills to ruin their pathetic little lives. I simply wanted to see if you would serve as an actual challenge for me."

The spider examined her fingers, cracking them before smiling, although the gesture was useless with the lighting she sat in.

"And something tells me you'll do quite well."

[Jamie Lee]

Again Finitevus chuckled. Apparently he had found the girl's answer to be quite amusing. "I see. That's very enlightening. Though I wonder; how are you so sure I qualify for this challenge?"

[The Huggernaut]

"Call it a hunch... but perhaps it's the fact you were willing to examine this laptop rather than simply walk away." Another smile, again unseen.

[Jamie Lee]

This only seemed to trigger another amused chuckle. The cloaked figure raised what was revealed to be a mechanical hand up to cover his unseen face. "Anyone can glance at a piece of hardware though. You make it sound so uncommon."

[The Huggernaut]

"You would be surprised how many people would have simply walked away, thinking this some sort of game."

Anansi leaned forward, smiling slightly. "Although, if examining a piece of hardware is so common, why did you stay, rather than walk away?"

There was a soft chuckle, the girl crossing her arms again. "And please, be honest."

[Jamie Lee]

At this, his head tilted, and in an amused voice he responded; "Curiosity, of course."

[The Huggernaut]

"That's what I thought. Now... down to business."

The spider grinned maliciously, flexing her fingers.

"I'll make a little wager with you... If you can catch me within... let's say a week, I won't tell anyone who you really are, and save you quite a bit of trouble."

Anansi then shrugged as she continued. "Of course, should you FAIL to catch me..."

[Jamie Lee]

"Ah yes. Down to this nasty but of business, I see..." he cleared his throat, his tone simultaneously becomming a twinge more serious. "And if I should refuse your challenge at all? I'm a very busy man, you see."

[The Huggernaut]

Anansi's voice, in response, also took on a more serious tone.

"Then I'm afraid you lose, and I make you a MUCH busier man."

[Jamie Lee]

He smiled. "Au contraire. You of course assume that you can prove that myself and this Zachary fellow are, in fact, the same person. And that you're also capable of proving that this evidence isn't a forgery that your no doubt talented hacking skills have planted."

He bent forward, the smile spreading wickedly as it became visible in the monitor's glow. "You also assume I haven't been tracing you this entire time."

[The Huggernaut]

There was a moment's silence on the other end, and in a flurry of motion, the girl has shut off the link to the laptop, and begun gathering crucial parts of her computers, namely, the hard drives, packing them into a backpack.

Stupid, stupid, STUPID! I should've realized he would try tracing the laptop! I just gotta hope he doesn't have an EXACT location!

[Jamie Lee]

The figure threw his head back, laughing at the spider's sudden exit. In an instant, however, he went completely silent.

Elsewhere, the doctor behind the puppet was now communicating to a different puppet entirely. Heat should have already been on the move once the laptop signal's location was pinpointed. Funny thing was that the signal came from only a couple blocks away.

"Alright Heat," Finitevus spoke to his creation. "If she's not in the exact location, search the area. You're looking for a female arachnid of some sort, most likely a teenager. She'll be on the run and likely have some sort of electronic device on her person. I want you to bring her to me, preferably alive, but if otherwise happens... so be it, then."

Confident enough in Heat's ability to handle things, the pangolin doctor turned his focus back to his look-alike puppet. The laptop could prove itself to be quite useful indeed, especially if Heat failed in apprehending her. He was aware of the possibility it could be booby trapped... but, of course, the droid was expendable. If something happened, he could easily self-destruct the internal hardware, in the process killing the hologram being transmitted over it, to prevent any tracing; thus leaving behind only a generic robotic shell.

But that, of course, wouldn't have been the preferable outcome. As the figure picked up the laptop to examine it, it also shut it down and removed the wireless adapter (storing it away separately). As there were no immediate consequences, the doctor proceeded to have the droid carefully open the casing and examine the inside for any explosives that could be detonated later by remote.

[The Huggernaut]

Anansi really had no access to explosives, and besides, she never liked the things. Destruction of information was much tidier. So, the laptop had no explosives, but it DID have a deactivated electromagnet, attached to its hard drive, that had a timer set... that had appeared to have been triggered by opening the casing.

Three seconds later, a soft VVMP sound was heard, and the hard drive of the laptop was completely ruined.

Meanwhile, Anansi herself had decided going out the front door was a bad idea, so used the fire escape, heading for the roof, while cursing Fini under her breath.

[Leedzie]

Propelled through the air at blazing speeds by the twin rockets attached to his back, Heat's dark form was nearly invisible against the black night sky. If anything, he probably appeared to be some kind of shooting star. Unfortunately for Anansi, this shooting star was actually aiming to shoot something.

Locking in on the location of the trace, the robohog's altitude dropped drastically. As there was not enough light for his typical optics to pick up on, Heat's vision had long ago switched to night vision, making the rooftops appear as cleanly as if the sun shone overhead. The robot took another dive, and just at that moment, spotted a figure climbing from a nearby fire escape onto the rooftop. It appeared to be a young, female arachnid.

"MISSION STATUS: Target aquired. Initiating retreival," was the transmission sent back to Finitevus' computer. Having sent in his progress report, Heat abruptly cut his engines and plummeted to the rooftop -- landing just three feet in front of Anansi, and sending a tremendous shudder into the ground. The robohog momentarily seemed shorter than usual, as he had deeply indented the masonry below each foot. Heat wasted no time in extricating himself from his twin craters, and immediately made a grab at the spider.

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[The Huggernaut]

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Acting on instinct, the girl JUMPED over the grabbing hand, landing on the Hedge-bot's head, and springing away, leaping so far as to land on the next roof over... It was only AFTER landing that she realized what she'd just avoided.

HOLY CRAP. He's sending ROBOTS after me!?

After a moment to recover from her landing, she seemed to crouch, then spring again, landing on the NEXT roof.[rand=953681277831638551610684781593229808693095710514891929437343833]

[Jamie Lee]

Finitevus grit his teeth in agitation upon realizing what had happened to the hard drive. Well, there was no harm in bringing it back anyway. Perhaps something useful may come from it. He ordered for the droid to be recalled.

And then smirked when Heat's message was received. Well at least something good may come out of this. If nothing else it would put a fear in her. What was it about kids that made them feel so invincible anyway? Oh well.

[Leedzie]

Heat quickly turned to follow after Anansi, but she covered more ground than he had calculated she would with each leap. After a quick evaluation, it seemed that the best option would be to limit the spider's escape possibilities.

The robohog rocketed back into the air and pursued overhead, charging up plasma into each cannon as he closed in. Heat crashed into Anansi's path for the second time and released his charges -- but not at the hacker. One was sent to the building ahead and the other to the structure behind, setting them each ablaze. That taken care of, the cold robot swiped at his target with each clawed hand.

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[The Huggernaut]

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Anansi, with a startled cry, dodges the first swipe... right into the second. In a sudden shift of locale, Anansi found herself grabbed by the neck, and having sudden trouble breathing.

"Nngh!" The girl kicked at the robot, trying to get free.

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[Leedzie]

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Under most circumstances, kicking your assailant when you find yourself in a precarious situation is a good idea. However, when that assailant is more or less a walking tank, it doesn't seem to make that much of a difference.

Heat's shell resonated with a dull thunk with every attack Anansi landed, but none of them so much as scuffed his armor. The robohog's black, empty eyes scanned over her frightened face with his night vision, and eventually made a new transmission to Fini.

"MISSION STATUS: Target aquired. Target status: Excellent. Returning to base." The image file take by his optic scan accompanied the message.

Wrapping his free claw around her middle (yet not releasing the one already clamped around her throat), Heat sprang into the air, his rockets kicking on a second later. In an instant the robohog and his captive were indistinguishable against the night sky, save once more for the streak of light from the robot's rockets.[rand=7187537896736238686515098302839381479283649878736885655211394529]