House of Cards (fanfic)!

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 6:03 am

CHAPTER ONESeveral months later
What is the real difference between new blood and old blood?Jones gently massaged his right hand. Still sore.And what has happened to you when you can no longer tell the difference between new blood and bad blood?This room does not exist.Not in the existential sense. Not in the nihilistic sense. Not in any sense of the mind, or in any of the body.It was built to most careful blueprints and to exacting specifications, with every bolt and wire and every chip and circuit delicately placed within the walls thicker than your arm.It was built decades ago, based on technologies we can

T Campbell · Post by **T Campbell** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 7:42 am

(No, I haven't stooped to writing fanfic for our OWN SITE. That's kinda cheating. This one is courtesy Ted Anderson. I'm just helping transfer the first part to the boards...)PROLOGUE"Tudor.""Tudor?""Tudor. It's the timbering. For the gentry, probably, or at least a merchant."William scratched his chin. It was a nervous habit that he'd developed about the same time as the announcement of a goatee-in-progress, and it was one he couldn't break despite the cramped helmet about his head and the gauntlet on his hand, both of which were constructed of very solid-looking metal.Katherine had no comment as yet on the goatee -- the final result would either make him twice as villainous, perfect for the late-night LARPing, or twice as silly-looking, in which case she'd pull out the sternest look she could manage, usually reserved for fencing bouts, and order it off. Currently, though, it was slightly out of place, it being the Middle Ages, but Katherine knew the fun of a good anachronism.And she knew the fun of the Renaissance Festival.It always took place in autumn, early autumn, which gave the air the cool tingle and light wind that seemed so proper. At the end of the ocean of improvised parking lot was the massive hand-lettered sign (with that overly curly script that no one in their right mind would've used back then), announcing the Annual Renaissance Festival to be Here, and underneath that, the festive little pictures of knights hacking each other to bits.And beyond the sign was the festival itself, with booths stretching along the crazy half-streets, banners that never did blow gallantly in the wind but still managed the effect, the street hawkers selling the plastic replicas, the food stalls which Katherine scrupulously avoided until the last hour, the games and quests and tourneys which she never tried but loved to watch, and above and around it all the leaves flocking on the wind and the clouds peering down in such shapes that, yes, dammit, they really did look like horses and knights and the swords of war.It was beautiful.Katherine pointed to another booth. "Victorian. Now that's pushing it a little. And you couldn't really walk this far without seeing at least a few hovels.""But who pays twelve-ninety-five to see a bunch of hovels?" Shanna mumbled from Katherine's right, where she was looking rather disinterestedly at the scene around them."Just be glad the guy at the gate gave me the discount for my S.C.A. card," Katherine replied. "And if you really want to look like a handmaiden, be more behind me. And don't talk so much.""I only came because you begged me, not so I could be given a job as chief handmaiden. And you got that discount only because we were all in costume."Katherine had outdone herself in the costumes, digging a flowing red-and-gold number with puffed sleeves from out of her voluminous closet for herself, finding dresses both simple and complimentary for Shanna and Rumiko, and her actual complete set of armor for Will with only a few dents and hardly any rust. How she managed to pay for her costumes had been debated at the club for almost as long as how the same armor fit both her and Will."I didn't beg you. I coerced imaginatively.""You're discussing semantics in a place where they said things like thee and vittles?" said Will, who had folded down the visor on Katherine's honest-to-god suit of armor and was thus getting some interesting echoes."If you really want to get into the spirit of things, you should be talking in Middle English. Hw

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 11:23 am

(Just a note

AGSilver · Post by **AGSilver** » Fri Sep 07, 2001 12:02 am

This is really good. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.------------------
Whoever said "crime doesn't pay" obviously wasn't very good at it.

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 5:16 am

"They don

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 5:17 am

The man who came into the bank was ordinary in that he was completely normal because he was nothing special. He was in a plain black suit and pants, an overcoat hanging on his left arm. His shoes were not wingtips, but that

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 5:22 am

That concludes chapter one of 'House of Cards'. What is this latest division within the F.I.B.? What has happened to Alisin? Who is this mysterious man and the more mysterious contents of the deposit box? Be here for chapter two, where discoveries are made but new dangers are found...(Note to all fanfic writers and readers: did you know just how hard it is to get Alisin's dialogue to sound right? Especially when it's not in a word balloon? Took me forever, it did...)------------------
"Whatever you do, you'll regret it." -Allan McLeod Gray (1905-1975)[This message has been edited by EWHPTIV (edited 09-22-2001).]

T Campbell · Post by **T Campbell** » Sat Sep 15, 2001 5:00 am

If you're a fan of fanfic based on your stuff, what does that make you?*boot*

Ralph#s · Post by **Ralph#s** » Sat Sep 15, 2001 7:14 am

Nice fic so far, excellent in character dialog. Any chance of bringing a certian CRFH character or two in? It seems appropriate given your main new character.

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Sat Sep 15, 2001 10:57 am

I'll probably stick to just the Fans in this. I want this to be more of a 'serious' fanfic, and though I'm a huge fan of CRFH they're better characters for humor.Incidentally, this story is taking place directly between 'Hell' and 'Mad Science', so the current story (Passus Chronos and all that) won't affect the fanfic.And T? It makes you a Fans fan's fan.------------------
"Whatever you do, you'll regret it." --Allan McLeod Gray (1905-1975)
[This message has been edited by EWHPTIV (edited 11-07-2001).]

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Thu Sep 20, 2001 6:42 am

CHAPTER TWOThere was a large black box on a rolling stand with wires running to her fingers.There was a smaller box, red and gray, that had wires running to her heart.There was a box that had a pair of electrodes on the crown of her skull. There was a catheter hidden under the sheets. There was a clear plastic tube of oxygen hooked below her nose. There was the snake-line of an IV drip going into the vein of her arm.There were spotless white bandages covering her palms.Rikk sat in the corner, watching Alisin and forcing himself not to cry.His time with Alisin was temporary. He

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 3:59 am

"Good morning, sir.""Morning, Johnson. What

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 6:46 am

Tim Mitts, as far as most people know, is a simple man.His wants are limited to food, sleep, a computer, and pornography. Caffeine also ranks high, and in fact takes the place of sleep at most times. He prefers to spend his time in realms which are not real, whether they are animated, computerized, or caffeine hallucinations.What they do not know is that he is a genius.Tim has, since his birth, most carefully practiced the usage of the computer, a mastery of its language, a technical knowledge of the global internet down to its bits.He has found himself, on more than one occasion, dreaming in binary.His mind has tuned itself to the computer, so that the faces of webpages don

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 6:54 am

Here ends chapter two of 'House of Cards'. Alisin is down but not out, but how will this affect the Fans? Who are these mysterious men and their mysterious bids? And just what has Tim discovered, what new terror on the web? Join us for chapter three, as we delve deeper into the murky waters of the F.I.B....(Note: I'm completely inexperienced in most things technological, so Tim's section is intentionally a bit hazy on details. If I've made any gross mistakes in my description of the net and its various components, please mail me at GlnnMiller@aol.com and let me know.)------------------
"Writing is a legal way of avoiding work without actually stealing and one that doesn't take any talent or training." --Robert A. Heinlein, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls[This message has been edited by EWHPTIV (edited 09-22-2001).]

Quinch · Post by **Quinch** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 11:05 am

Great 'fic, Ted... looking forward to the rest...------------------
Master of <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/retrograde" TARGET=_blank>http://members.fortunecity.com/retrograde</A>
Part-time Cthulhu follower {also available for children's parties, weddings and Barmitzwahs}
Winner of the Planet Baldur's Gate Official Longest Thread Ever Contest

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Wed Oct 03, 2001 3:54 am

CHAPTER THREEThe office of Mr. Jones is sparsely furnished this time.Jones has learned many things as the head of the F.I.B.

TrueRaijin · Post by **TrueRaijin** » Wed Oct 03, 2001 5:35 am

Great stuff, man.
By the by, your Tim section wasn't that far off. Not too bat for a layman.
Keep at it.

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Wed Oct 10, 2001 5:25 am

The phone rang suddenly, somewhere on the floor. Tim

TrueRaijin · Post by **TrueRaijin** » Thu Oct 11, 2001 5:51 am

THIS should be good. Wonder how Junior's doing?

EWHPTIV · Post by **EWHPTIV** » Thu Oct 11, 2001 7:26 am

(Editor