This is the first part of a two-part story I hacked out today. I sort of have most of the second part in my head except for the ending. You decide whether he gets caught or not and I'll write the ending you vote for  

'On the Run' - Part I: 'Breaking the Law' 


It was the year 2006 and I was on the run. It seemed like everyone on Calypso was after me. Not just the new npc police force (npcp) but also dozens of specialised man hunting teams that had sprung up since the new bounty system had been introduced. 

But I was innocent I kept reminding myself. Not guilty of any crime as such just a series of stupid blunders. That was no excuse though in the eyes of the new laws here. I knew I had to accept my fate, however things turned out. My only chance was to evade capture or death for the next 72 hours of in-game time. If you are clever and lucky enough to evade capture for this length of time your crimes are forgiven and your criminal points are wiped. This meant finding some quiet place out in the wilderness where I'd be unlikely to be found either by the npcp or bounty hunters. 

Since MA had introduced the new criminal system at the end of 2005 one had to be careful not to get trigger happy anywhere in the formerly pvp Ametheran cities. Now they were full of closed circuit cameras that whirred into life whenever a gun was fired in anger. If you took a shot at someone in a city now consequences soon followed. 

Firstly you'd see the camera flash and you knew you'd be for it. Depending upon the severity of the offence a warning box would spring up showing the criminal points incurred: 3 points for a standard city shoot on a passer by; 6 points for a hit on someone in an apartment building; 10 points for a tp killing; 12 points for each revival killing. 

But that's just the start of it. If it was just about points the lawlessness on the new continent would have continued indefinitely. 

If you gain 10 or more points then a bounty is automatically set-up - there is a price on your head. Whoever kills you gets 10 peds for each point you have racked up and the money is drawn directly from your account and transferred into your killer's account. If you don't have enough deposited you have the chance to deposit to pay the fine, failing that your items will be automatically tt'd until an amount sufficient to pay the penalty has been raised. 

The CCTV cameras automatically send your image to be printed onto bounty posters which will appear in every city, town and outpost. 
You are constantly looking over your shoulder. There is no-one you can trust any more. Teams of noobs desperate for money will make suicide attacks on you. Even if they fail the attention they draw can be very bad news. You start to wonder about your friends, your society mates even. 'Now I'll find out who my real friends are' I thought! 

As if the bounty hunters weren't enough to worry about the real problem was trying to avoid the NPCP. If I could evade them for 72 hours ingame time then at least I'd avoid the dreariness of a prison sentence. 

The NPCP respond directly to their vast array of cctv and mobile cctv cameras and alarms, springing up in increasing numbers all over the place. If they got you before you were killed by mobs or hunters then you faced 24 hours of online time or more in the new Island Prison off of Northern Amethera. People had nicknamed it Alcatraz because nobody had ever escaped. And those who tried were quickly re-captured or were eaten by the ferocious sea mobs in that area. Escapees had to re-start their sentence from scratch so that was another factor that made you think twice about trying an escape bid. Prison life was grim....but more on this later in our story. 

But, I hear you ask, how did such an honourable person as Oracle get into such trouble with the law? Well, it all started one bright, sunny day when I decided to visit my apartment in Omegaton West Habitat. I had looted some furniture and was just dropping it off there before doing a little hunting in the area. 

Just as I was about to exit my apartment block I heard a shot whistle past my ear. Instinctively I span around and blasted a nearby guy holding a rifle who had accidentally discharged his gun. As he dropped to the ground my heart sank as a box appeared in front of my eyes informing me I had incurred a 6 criminal points penalty. This in itself wasn't a major problem because I was still under 10 points and therefore had incurred no material penalty as such. I looked on it as a warning though and promised myself I'd be more careful in future. 

At this point in our story I should mention that I'd been fortunate enough to loot the magnficently powerful unique blp rifle in July 2005. In my view it was better than the unique laser rifle, unique axe, swords and daggers put together. It had awesome firepower with its new rapid pulse system enabling 10 pulses per second each pulse giving a potential 50 max damage! Not only that you can stick a Dante on it and then the numbers just get silly! 

Well, in my trials with the gun I'd added it to a little used menu. And foolishly I'd added it to the F8 key, the one I use for the 'add to friends list' command on all the other menus. You've probably guessed what happened next my friend. But the outcome is far worse than you are imagining I'm sure. 

Despite the unfortunate incident at my apartment block I had decided to carry on with my planned hunt. Nearing the edge of the city I saw a lone figure I had never met before. He looked an experienced citizen who might know the area better than me. I asked him if he knew a good hunting spot nearby. He sounded extremely well informed and gave me some directions for decent hunting. He was also very friendly, but I got the impression he was in some way being a little evasive and holding something back from me. He sounded familiar and his name rang a bell, but from where? 

I thanked him and said goodbye. But before I did I decided to add him to my friends list. I hit the F8 key a few times, the key I always use for this. To my horror my new toy appeared in front of my eyes whirred into life and peppered my new friend in an amazing onslaught of blp pulses. 
As he fell I realised in horror who it was....'Marco, I've killed Marco!' I cried aloud. 'This isn't good' I thought 'killing MA's reprsentative'. 'It will sure cause me problems'. 

As I was pondering my fate another penalty box appeared in front of me....'3 points added, you now have 9 penatly points.' 

Enough is enough, I'm out of here now. I had been inside the prison once to visit a friend and it's not a place I want to return to in a hurry. Also I could do with the inevitable 100 ped fine if I offend again in Amethera in the near future. So it was back to Troy for me now and bye-bye to the excitement of the new continent. 

En route to the teleport I passed a revival terminal. A guy in orange revived as I passed, he was very low on health as you might imagine. *Thinks* 'I'll do this noob a favour and heal him, maybe this will redeem me a little and MA and my fellow citizens will realise the previous shootings were mistakes?'. I double-clicked F2, the key I always use for my best Fap kit. WHOOOOOMPH!!! A loud exposion and the orange guy was now a ghost. Unbelievably I was still using the dodgy menu and I'd put my Adjusted Cannon on the F2 key. 

What followed next was a bit of a blur. Message comes up announcing a further 12 points making a total of 21 points (210 peds fine I'm thinking to myself and a possible long spell in prison), a whirr and a flash from a nearby cctv camera....by now my heart was racing and sweat dripping beneath my Ghost mask falling on to the front of my Nemesis harness....the sound of laughter.....four guys next to the teleport......they will kill me for the 210 peds bounty I thought in panic so I quickly blasted them with my new blp gun (they were probably just chatting but I wasn't thinking straight)......Message comes up........a further 40 points now......bounty of 610 peds, this is getting way too serious.....a siren sounded.......the npcp are closing in...I couldn't go back to Troy because the npcp can still get you there, so I hit the teleport chip key and tp'd as far out of town that I could, praying that I wouldn't revive next to a pack of uber mobs! 

I was on the run and I was desperate. Could I and would I survive? 

Part 2.1 ;)

Only a few minutes had passed since I had become a fugitive from justice. A wanted man, on the run 
for transgressing the new, strict laws against pk'ing in safe zones around tp's and revival centres. 

MA had briefly experimented with safe zones around these areas but they were perceived as too boring 
and were replaced by a police/prison/bounty system. There was a mixed reaction to these changes 
but nobody could say it was boring! 

After my first tp jump away from the dangers of the city my heart was still racing, my breathing rapid 
and my brain empty with fear. I had no idea where I was but the sight of many green dots grouped together on the 
radar screen did little to reduce my anxiety! 

I was in a semi-desert area. To my relief the group of citizens showed litle interest in me. 
On closer inspection I could see they were working on the new Maglev Monorail system, building 
the first railway line across the Amethera continent. The Great Western Line would then become the 
cheapest way to travel across the continent since MA started charging for teleport travel 
and reduced the amount of sweat available from mobs making teleport chip 
Mind Essence a luxury item. 

'Bah!' I thought to myself. 'The rich land owning investors who started this first Rail Consortium will get even 
richer'. Still, I know I'd have done the same if I'd had the peds so I can't really moan about it. And I know 
I'll be amongst the hundreds of people buying the first tickets, if only to see in safety the 
intense battles between The Beast and the Big Bulks in the newly discovered 'Pit of Despair' in the remote 
Western area of Amethera. 

But my daydreaming had to stop; I had to get out of here, I was still in danger. Another tp on 
my Moderate chip, not the most accurate at my skill levels but good on distance. Whoosh! I materialised in a desert 
area close to a small oasis of purple fringed palms surrounding a small lake. A few Allos were 
wading to their deaths in a lemming-like manner. There was nobody in sight so I sat down amongst some psychedelic shrubbery 
under a palm. 

The shock of the day's events was beginning to hit home. I felt tired and needed to recuperate. My mind started to shut down 
but the occasional Allo getting too close stopped me falling asleep. I killed 4 or 5 of them 
before realising the danger of hoffing or globalling could help pinpoint my position. Fortunately for me they were all 'no loot's  

But the tiredness could not be held back any more. My day dreaming became real dreaming as I 
drifted into a semi-sleep. I saw myself in the dingy, windowless prison cell. Darker and smaller than 
even the cheapest apartments on Calypso. It felt like it was always night-time there. The screams of 
anguish from fellow prisoners, I've heard, is enough to drive you crazy alone. Tales of torture for those foolish enough 
to disrespect their Uber Prison Guards, well paid professional pk'ers who seemed to get a kick 
out of bullying you. 

Some of more sadist guards would leave your cell door open to tempt you to try to escape. Only idiots and those driven stir-crazy 
ever tried this though. If they succeeded in finding their way through the maze of corridors, out across the main courtyard and through the massive heavy 
gates (surviving the automated machine gun turret towers all around the outer walls) they might temporarily delude themselves that they had made it. 
But once they had swam across the moat they were doomed. Patrolling the outer perimeter was the most feared guard of all. His name was Faustianoid, 
half man, half robodroid and he lumbers around that area riding his pet Atrox Stalker. 

Rumour has it that he was kidnapped by robots who carried out some kind of grotesque experiment involving a transplant of robot parts and some of Professor 
Barton's organs. He managed to escape the robot ship and somehow get back to Calypso. Not everyone trusts him though, half man, half machine, where does his real allegiance lie? He hardly ever speaks now but has been heard to make the occasional 'beeping' sound. And someone swears he once saw Faustianoid kill an escapee by blasting him with lasers which he emitted from his eyes! He is the only guard who works for nothing, apparently because he enjoys his work so much. And his Atrox must have been fed on steroids so there is no chance of an inmate outrunning it. 

I awoke with a start as I became aware of a figure right in front of me. How stupid and careless I chastised myself, reaching for my gun. But the stranger in front of me was the oddest sight I have ever seen on Calypso (and I've seen some!). It was a guy dressed from head to foot in pink. He had a snazzy pink top hat, pink shades and even some pink streaks in his long curly hair! 

His name, I noticed, was something like MrPink Pinko PinkStrutter. Most bizarre of all he seemed to have some kind of tattoo on his cheek shaped like a lipstick kiss mark. As I gazed in astonishment at this sight before me Pinko did a jumping twirl around which went straight into a somersault landing on his feet right in front of my face. 

'I've never seen that emote before!' I thought to myself as he greeted me with 'Howdy Flipperty Doo Dah Day, it's a great day to run away!'. 'This guy is seriously weird', I thought. 

But he said 'run away', he must know who I am! Before I could blast him I was distracted by a sudden noise in the palm leaves above me: the unmistakable whirring sound of a Jam Raider followed by a bright flash. 'This must be one of the cops new surveillance devices 
I'd heard about, modified Jam Raiders with cameras that can transmit images and location back to police headquarters. The Jam Raider was in pieces before I had even finished this thought and I turned my aim towards Pinko. 

'Now waidy one momento my brother' said Pinko. 'I too have made some enemies and I know safe places you can hide: I am no friend of the pigs'. 

'Go on', I said, 'I'm listening' though to be frank I didn't trust him. 

'Well my friend, the safest place you can hide now is in the shed on Longu Land'. 'Are you crazy?' I said 'that land area is crawling with hunters ever since the success of Akoz's Adj Fap competition and the follow up Imp Fap and Mod Fap competitions'. 

'You are so out of touch dudey dude', Pinko countered, 'In his last comp. he gave away a land area as the prize. Well the dude who owned Allotopia won Longu Land and decided to move his Allos to Longu Land and Longus to Allotopia. Well you can imagine how disorientated those poor critters were! 

They tried to find their ways back to their respective homelands. And when those Longus saw that their home had been taken by Allos they got real angry and this was the start of the Great Allo-Longu war. Them critters are now fighting each other all over the place but you hardly ever see any in the land areas now'. 

I think Pinko could tell by my glazed expression that I didn't believe a word. It was the most preposterous story I'd ever heard and sounded like a trap. Now I just wanted to waste him. But the good/sensible part of me was saying 'No Kev, you got into all this trouble through senseless killing, it has to stop'. 

Pinko suddenly sat down beside me. He sat uncomfortably close to me. Too close. I edged away. 

He broke the silence. 'Do you want me?' 

'What?' I thought to myself. 'First I have to listen to his damn fool ramblings and now this weirdo is making some kind of 
pervy move on me!'. This was too much, I couldn't take any more. I decided to do the world a favour and blasted him full of blp from short range. 

As he slumped backwards in shock, his pink clothes now spattered in red, I heard him gasp out his last words. 

"No dudey, I meant ME, do you want any Mind Essence for your teleport chips?'. 

He keeled over lifeless. I'd done it once more. I was back 'on the run'. 


to be continued...(hopefully)