Fan Fiction
The following piece of fanfic is by By EternalSpark of the Deus Fortress mod for Deus Ex. This story, edited by Genghis (of the same project), won PlanetDeusEx's Fanfic contest of 2000/2001. Enjoy!
And if you've got a piece of fanfic of your own, then submit it to us.
Deus Fortress
It was dark, as was to be expected at this hour. The lights shone dimly to conserve power and to help the complex’s occupants sleep. Charles Dustan walked unhurriedly to his quarters. On the way, he passed the same hundreds of doors he had passed every day. He knew he would never discover what lay behind them. Such was the way at the complex he lived in - secrets were a part of life.
Reaching his quarters, he placed his hand on the pad at the entrance dejectedly as it scanned his palm with a faint whir sound. With the annoying chirp he had heard for the past 40 years of his life, the door opened, revealing his modest quarters.
It wasn’t a bad place to rest his head, he knew. It was far away from the outside of the complex, so the wind and debris didn’t bother him too much as they banged against the walls. He had the new Mark 5 video simulator to use when he was bored, and a television set as well. And of course, he had the couch, passed down to him from his father, and to his father from his grandfather. It was a warm felt couch he usually fell asleep on.
Charles sat down on his couch, which seemed to welcome him. He put on the video simulator, then flicked the switch to "sleep" and sat back. The vidsims could always help him relax, even if they never put him to sleep.
A few moments later a tug at his pants pulled him out of the video. Taking the vidsim off his eyes, he saw six or seven young children standing near his legs, eyes wide and innocent. The kids of the complex frequently came by for one reason or another.
"Mister Dustan, you said you would tell us more of your story tonight!" The brown haired child who had tugged at his pants looked up hopefully. Charles couldn’t remember who the child was, but he guessed it was Comerford’s kid, Billy
"Oh yes, you are correct..." Charles replied, pulling the vidsim off his face and putting it on the dull table behind the couch. "Where were we last time?"
"Denton! He had to chose what to do!" a kid in the back squealed.
Charles chuckled, nodding in agreement.
"Ah yes... I was telling you about the old days, back before the Wars. Now see, Denton had to choose how to get rid of the bad Bob Page. A benevolent AI, Helios, wanted Denton to merge with it, in hopes of making a perfect society. An ancient group, whose name I can’t recall, wanted JC to blow up Mr. Page, but keep the rest of his fortress intact. A man by the name of Tracer Tong wanted Denton to blow up everything, so that nobody like Bob Page would come back again!"
"At last, Denton decided that he didn’t like that Ancient Group, and he didn’t want to blow up everything, so the only thing he could do was join with the AI, Helios. Denton almost died a couple times, but he managed to destroy some key computers so Helios and Denton could become one entity. So they merged, creating HelioDenton, as I’m sure most of you kids have learned about in the history vids."
"For forty years, HelioDenton ruled the world wonderfully. I never saw it myself; I wasn’t born yet. But, there was no war, no disease, no ignorance... some people even wanted to change the name of the planet to Eden."
"Then bad things started to happen. Some people say that the Denton part of HelioDenton died. Some say that part of what used to be Helios - an AI by the name of Icarus - took over the Trinity. But that is all rumors. All everyone knew for certain was that humanity was hungering for independence from HelioDenton for the first time in forty years. Of course, HelioDenton didn’t like that."
"It started small, according to the history books. Some people started to disappear; a couple of TV stations promoting independence were shut down for "inappropriate use of airwave media." Soon, though, HelioDenton was destroying whole nations that wanted to break free of its rule. Mass executions to "keep the peace" were commonplace. It was only a matter of time until HelioDenton started sending out nano-augmented soldiers to keep the peace."
"The OmniSphere Corporation - The "business" version of the UEA... This group of companies merged to form a monopoly over the natural resource market, but because of their advancements in nanotechnology and weapons, they found themselves with an opportunity to gain a monopoly over something a bit more profitable... Earth. Using their "Security" forces, "Buying out" large and small companies, areas, and even countries has become an easy task for this conglomorate powerhouse. Now, only the opposing superpower stands in their way of owning the planet...."
"They fought in the land, the sea, the air... for over 160 years, before it all ended."
Most of the kids were asleep by this time, as was always the case. They liked Charles’s stories, but they always fell asleep by the end. One of them was still awake, just like always. It was little Billy Comerford.
"Misser Dustan?"
"Yes, Billy?"
For a moment, Billy seemed to wrestle with his thoughts. Finally, he whispered, "Who won?"
Charles sighed, and took off his vidsim. He was alone again, just like every night.
There was no Billy Comerford, nor were there any other kids. There were no children at all. Everyone was grown in nano-vats for the HelioDentonites or the Lords of Terra. This was not in the past, like he had recounted in his virtual future, but right now, in the present.
Charles gingerly laid the VidSim down on the table beside his couch. His eyes grew distant, and he breathed the same words he did every night:
"I wish I knew..."
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