Search Results

Because all of the cool kids are doing it, I thought I would write a KHV story. Enjoy, though It's nothign compared to Carnival and Cascade.

Spoiler: Chapter I

Chapter I

The girl stared up at the sunset sky, the orange and blue hues, seemingly disparate, blending into each other like a river to the sea. A light breeze played around her long black hair. She closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her alabaster cheek, and turned around. To face the ghostly, incorporeal panel of light that was behind her.

Do you wish to proceed? [Y/N] |

Her finger paused in front of the spectral keyboard in front of her, shaking as she summed up the will to press the key. She knew her decision would change her life forever, either for good or ill, depending on her choice. Her finger began to descend on the key.

“Sabby! Stop!â€

***

​

The boy jerked open his grey-blue eyes, his hair tousled up by a night’s sleep. He looked over to his alarm clock which was emanating a raucous dissonance. He slammed his arm down on it frustrated, angered that once again the night had passed without him seeming to find any repose in his sleep. He looked over to the time on the clock, then realised he could not see. Sighing indignantly, he snatched his ever present pair of glasses from his nightstand and put them on. The clock displayed half past seven. He groaned as he got out of bed, dazed slightly as his semi-circular canals rebelled from the sudden movement. He made a mental note to start showering in the mornings as the ends of his long hair were still damp from the night before when he had showered before sleeping. After brushing his teeth, among other things, he dressed. He looked out of the window. It was a brisk, but chilly looking morning at the interface between autumn and winter, the frost and condensation on the bottom of the window a clear indication that is was “bloody freezingâ€. He donned a pair of jeans, a blue t-shirt and a long sleeved jumper. After this, he elected to choose a long scarf from one of his drawers and twine it around his neck. He then pocketed his MP3 player (slinging his headphones around his neck), wallet, phone and one other interesting artifact into his jeans. After doing so, he retrieved a key from his computer desk, left the room and locked the door behind him.

​

As the pale skinned boy walked down the hallway towards the stairs out of the apartment complex, he stopped at one of the tall windows to look out onto the courtyard below. It seemed a distant dream since he had first looked upon the tall buildings and bustling streets of the city. He remembered all too well his first forays into netcraft, shuddering at the awkwardness he had displayed.

He heard a door open down the hallway, which snapped him out of his reverie, followed by a thump and a loud curse. The boy sighed, recognising the voice, and turned around. Half in and half out of a doorway was another young man, a little older. His short black hair and the back of his purple t-shirt were all that he could see, aside from both of his hands outstretched in front of him, cradling a small purple fruit.

“Need a bit of help there bro?†the boy asked, a wry smile appearing on his face.

“Just ... gimme a minute, it’s kinda comfy here ... I might ... justâ€

“This is no time to be sleeping Plums; we have to get to class! RvR said he’d “tan our hides†if we were late againâ€, the boy rebutted.

“Jus’ gimme five minutes Claw ...†Plums moaned.

Claw sighed, and reached into his pocked, pulling out the small object he had put in there along with his mundane belongings. It was a small, turquoise orb. He held it in from of him and dropped it. It hovered momentarily in the air, before flashing and turning into an incandescent keyboard of the same colour, with a small display screen.

Awaken, Claw typed.

Do you wish to proceed? [Y/N] |, the screen displayed in reply.

Y, Claw typed, and pressed the enter key on the glowing keyboard. The whole terminal vanished, replaced with an arrow of light. Claw snapped his fingers and the dart streaked towards Plums. At once, Plums opened his eyes, and pulled himself off of the floor, sitting cross-legged on the hallway’s deep blue carpet, the plum now in only one hand.

“How long was I out ... I feel totally rested for some reason.â€

Claw sighed, and put a palm to his face. “You were only “out†for about 30 seconds, broâ€, he chuckled. “I had to wake you up with netcraft. I’d bet money on the fact that you tied your laces together again.â€

Plums looked incredulous at this, but sure enough he had. He blushed, and then went about correcting his mistake.

A few minutes later, they were both standing in the courtyard outside of the apartment complex. It was now 8:15.

“I hope there isn’t any traffic again todayâ€, Plums muttered.

“Well, if we’re late because of traffic, I don’t think RvR’ll mind.†Claw said cheerfully, “Shall you do the honours, or shall I?â€

“You do it ... I can’t be botheredâ€

Claw opened the Turquoise ghost-terminal again.

Transport: Claw && Plums @ Apartments Sector 549 => Campus 4 ~ hyper

Do you wish to proceed? [Y/N] |

Y.

A white and turquoise door appeared where the terminal had been.

“Ladies first,†Plums smirked.

“Men just beforeâ€, Claw rebutted, smiling as he stepped into the portal.

As they stepped though the door, they found themselves in a small white and turquoise carriage of what looked to be a bus or train. They took seats opposite each other, and the door closed behind them, separating them from the tangible world. The windows displayed not landmarks and scenery, but streams of 1s and 0s of various colours zooming in various directions. A clock above where the door had been said “ETA 8:45 - 0%â€.

Claw retrieved his MP3 player and phone from his pocket, put his headphones in his ears and began tweeting, tumbling and other various things. Plums retrieved a book from the satchel he was carrying on his shoulder, and started reading. They continued in this manner for the majority of the trip, occasionally remarking to each other on recent activity in the city, or the latest update of Homestuck, a product of the neighbouring MSPA city.

Suddenly, everything went black as pitch. The turquoise colours of the carriage turned blood red and the walls and seats around them dissolved, causing the two to fall onto the ground, leaving them in an eerie, sanguine landscape. An alarm began to sound loudly in the abyss.

“Warning, warning, Bots detectedâ€.

Claw jumped up from where he had been, and summoned the mote from before. Plums did similarly with one of purple.

“Ready?†Claw asked

“Alwaysâ€, Plums replied.

In unison, they summoned their spectral keyboards and typed one command:

Summon Weapon.

Do you wish to proceed? [Y/N] |

Y.

Both terminals vanished in a flash of teal and lavender light. In front of Claw, there appeared a blue and white staff with intricate scrollwork depicting lightning, clouds and gears. In front of Plums, there appeared a boomerang depicting vines and what looked to be speech bubbles with multiple, interconnecting speaker lines.

Out of the sanguine abyss, shambled three silver like forms – like a Dusk, but more angular with bony protrusions from arms and legs, and back-facing joints in the legs like a canine.

“Haste!†Claw shouted, snatching the staff out of the air in from of him, and he felt time around him and Plums slow down, as the spell took effect, causing himself and Plums to appear to have increased speed.

The bots began to, run towards them, at what would appear to be a breakneck speed if not for the spell Claw had cast.

You ready? Claw felt Plums speak into his mind.

Stop speaking into my brain, I’m right here, Claw laughed inwardly, But yes. I’ll set ‘em up, you knock ‘em down.

“STOP!†Claw shouted as he spun his staff around several times. The creatures slowed slightly, and then stopped altogether.

Claw crouched on the ground, using his staff as support as the strain of keeping the spell up drained him.

Now Plums, I can’t keep maintain it for very long!

Okay bro!

Plums raised his hand in front of his boomerang, as if to take it as Claw had done, but the with a flick of his wrist, it streaked off, spinning towards the immobile bots. It then circled the three of them four times, while leaving behind a trail of durians, watermelons and pineapples. Then, as the boomerang whipped back toward Plums, it slowed in front of his arm again, and simultaneously Claw released the spell.

The bots cried out, a horrible, metallic screech, a cross between static and the scrape of metal on glass. The two males gritted their teeth at the sound, and then looked back towards where the bots had been standing. One had been killed, and was beginning to fade, the others had gashes, and cuts from the fruit, and were covered in the sticky juices. They regained their composure and began to run towards the duo, their arms crackling with black lightning.

Shall I finish those two off? Claw asked.

Go on ahead; that attack cost me a bit of energy.

Claw stood up once again using the staff as a crutch to gain purchase on the ground, and then held it in front of him once again. It began to glow with silver light, as motes of blue and white began to spin around it. After a few seconds, the hounds drawing ever closer, Claw pointed the staff towards them and shouted “Aero!â€

They were trapped once again, this time by tendrils of air, which billowed out of the staff and made Claw’s hair and clothes billow in the wind. They began tearing at the cords, trying to weaken them with their lightning claws and teeth. Claw raised the staff again, air currents billowing beneath him as he began to hover into the air. He swung the staff in one huge arc, and it began crackling with blue energy. Another swing and a dark cloud appeared over the bots, which began scrambling once again against their bonds, but to no avail.

“Raijin!†Claw shouted, as he swung the staff one final time down from the clouds to the bots, the swing carrying over into a somersault. A flash of blue energy blinked in the crimson expanse, before, moments later, a clash of deafening thunder sounded in the void, silencing the screams of the bots as their metal bodies rebelled against the surge of electro-static energy. They began to crack and splinter in odd patterns and finally dissolved into dust, which faded from existence, as did the one killed by Plums' fruit attack.

All was silent.

Claw felt the air currents keeping him afloat subside as he gently lowered to the ground. He dismissed the staff, transforming it into the orb form once again, and pocketing it. He looked at Plums for a second and grinned. Then, he felt his strength leave him and his knees gave way, causing him to slump onto the floor with a dull thud. Plums ran forward and knelt beside him, a concerned look in his eye.

“You over-worked yourself Broâ€. Plums murmured in his ear.

“Just ... gimme a minute, it’s kinda comfy here ... I might ... just-“but it was never specified what he would do, as he passed out on the floor, and everything faded into comforting darkness.

Thanks very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I will be writing a glossary of terms everntually, so anythign you're confused about, I can probably explain. COmment and Criticism are always welcom, as per da rulez.

Once again, thanks for reading.

UPDATE: Glossary now up:

Spoiler: The Almanac

KHV: Continuum ~ Almanac

The World:

Imagine that the internet were instead of being websites, were in fact cities and towns. KHV is one such city, existing on the borders between reality, fantasy and technology.

Netcraft:

Netcraft is the internet’s equivalent to magic. It can take many forms, but most commonly it takes the form of consoles or terminals.

Consoles/Terminals:

These are static, mundane computer-like terminals. Most people have one in their house/apartment, and there are many in the streets of KHV. These allow limited access to commands, as well as the Internet itself, a connection of these terminals throughout the world. They are not portable, as there are many in the streets. Ordinary members and Premium members can access these at any time and make small manipulations to the world around them, creating rooms or buildings (called threads) in the city to use to hold discussions about various matters. The names are interchangeable.

Holo-Consoles/Interminals:

These are highly portable, multi-purpose consoles/terminals, commonly refered to as “holosâ€. One can gain one in multiple ways:

1. Becoming a staff member on KHV or a similar site. Access to these is non-transferable across cities.

2. Becoming a respected or revered member in the community can give you a reputation strong enough to summon one without a staff member’s powers, however this is very rare.

3. One may appear in a moment of dire need or desperation, these once their purpose is fulfilled tend to vanish quietly and are not often missed for a long time.

4. A personal conflict or intense desire being overcome or achieved (a quest if you will) may trigger one to appear. This is also very rare.

Once one has acquired the use of a holo, they will be able to summon it at free will. They appear in an inert form, as a small sphere about the size of a walnut. The colour of the holo is unique to the individual, and they cannot be stolen from their owner by conventional means. If one dies or otherwise becomes incapacitated, unless otherwise instructed, the holo will vanish to whatever realm they come from, however, one can leave a holo to an inheritor, in order to complete unfinished business. After this is completed, depending on the outcome, the holo will either vanish or metamorphose into the person’s own holo permanently.

In practise, they become the same as regular consoles, although there are notable differences. Depending on the method of acquisition, they will have access to more complex, higher level commands.

Commands:

Commands are used to perform actions in the City and surrounding area. There are a myriad, but only few have actually delved deep enough to understand. A command takes the form of a word, which is entered into the console. We’ll use the example of Claw waking Plums for this:

The command here is the Awaken command. The root command here can be used to awaken the nearest sleeping person in Line of Sight to the caster. Variations on the command can change this. For example:

This variation would wake up both Sabby and RvR if they were asleep. If one is awake, the command fulfils itself as much as is possible. More variations are possible, and will be discussed when relevant.
Let’s look at a more complex example, the transport command. Obviously, you need a little more detail than a regular command, as transport refers to movement:

Let’s break this down a little bit. First, we have the initial command:

This simply means transport the users Plums and Claw, which initialises the command, i.e. Claw and Plums are about to be transported to a location. However, before this, we need to specify where exactly they are at the moment, in case there are other versions of “Claw†or “Plums†present on the server, however that might happen ...

The @ sign, refers to their current position in this case, and the Apartments Sector 549 refers to the apartment complex where Claw and Plums both live. Luckily for them, these apartments are reserved for high-ranking users only, and are rather nice.

Next, we have the descriptor clause, which describes many things. In this command, we have two of these clauses. The first, a necessary clause, represents where they are going (=>) which is to Campus 4. The second is a different matter. Transport commands usually take time to execute, and are often slow and like a bus. However, staff members have the ~ hyper command unlocked, which means that they can use ~hyper to skip the loading time of the transport, and arrive at their destination a lot faster, like a taxi.

So, if we put this all back together, what do we have?

This we now know, means:

Take Claw and Plums from their apartment block to Campus 4 as soon as possible.

Starting to get the hang of it? Good, because it’s gonna get a hellova lot more complex as the story develops :3.

Other Forms of Netcraft:

Other forms of Netcraft can be used, but these are practised infrequently. One form is present in Claw and Plums’ weapons. These weapons are gifted to new staff members upon initiation, but not a lot is known about their creation. One thing is certain: they pertain, without fail, to a person’s Major and Minor Arcantrica. These are personal energies which are unlocked as potential at certain times during one’s life, though most commonly, the Major potential is unlocked during one’s assention to Premium, and the Minor if one becomes Staff. Major Arcantrica tend to be Offensive or Defensive, as seen here, Claw’s is “Stormâ€, and Plums’ is “Fruitâ€. The Minor Arcantrica tends to be more support based, however can be weaponised: the examples seen here are Chronomancy (Claw) and Telekinesis/Telepathy (Plums). The weapons channel the mysterious netcraft energy in the same way that a Terminal does, but in a more readily useable form in combat.

Another, even more mysterious form of, presumably, Netcraft is the dark art of Intermancy, the dark twin of Netcraft. Where netcraft creates, intermancy destroys. Bots, Database Errors and, more seriously, Viruses, are all forms of Intermancy. Intermancers are normally trolls.

Links, Hyperlinks and Broken Links:

When I person uses the “Transport†command, they create a link. In passing through the door to the link, one enters the Void, a world filled with data. The void is a dangerous place, so the Transport command spawns a transport vehicle. People using the regular transport command are normally fine.

The problem comes when using the ~hyper command. The reason, other than mobility, that staff members are the only ones allowed to use the ~hyper descriptor is because when one uses it, the transport vehicle is less well defended and therefore, the bots and other malefactors existing within the Void while one is loading into their destination. If enough damage is done to the vehicle while in the Void, then the link will break and the passengers will be left in the void to fight whatever was attacking them. Leaving the void is as easy as creating a new transport command, but being attacked while you do so is common, so it’s good practise to destroy whatever attacked you as soon as you find it and quickly leave.

I think that that's everything I have to tell you in the Almanac for now, but this will be updated regularly, probably after every few chapters. Thanks again guys ^^.