Deltaview Force: An Opco Boone Adventure: Difference between revisions

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Deltaview Force: An Opco Boone Adventure (view source)

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{{a|opcobooneadventure|{{image|DeltaView Force|png|The diff-sensor swept for semantic content. A.J. watched the display. The hourglass flipped.}}}}{{Smallcaps|Boone made the}} window. He elbow-smashed the pane. He reached in, lock-snipped, pivoted and mule-kicked the door, in a single fluid motion. The door smacked on its hinges, quivered and timbered onto the rubble.
{{a|opcobooneadventure|{{image|DeltaView Force|png|The diff-sensor swept for semantic content. A.J. watched the display. The hourglass flipped.}}}}
===Raid===
{{Smallcaps|Boone made the}} window. He elbow-smashed the pane. He reached in, lock-snipped, pivoted and mule-kicked the door, in a single fluid motion. The door smacked on its hinges, quivered and timbered onto the rubble.


{{indent|A.J. was jazzed. This was ''sweet''.  
{{indent|A.J. was jazzed. This was ''sweet''.  
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The diff-sensor swept for [[Semantic structure|semantic]] content. A.J. watched the display. The hourglass flipped. It flipped again. After a few moments it rendered:  ''zeroes across the board''.  
The diff-sensor swept for [[Semantic structure|semantic]] content. A.J. watched the display. The hourglass flipped. It flipped again. After a few moments it rendered:  ''zeroes across the board''.  


“We’re clean, sir. No material alterations. The text-field is Delta-1 as we left it.”  
“We’re clean, sir. No blues, no reds. Zilch material alterations. The text-field is Delta-1 as we left it.”  


Boone looked concerned. “Odd. To what significance?”
Boone looked concerned. “Odd. To what significance?”
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The kid re-ran the analytics. The diff binoc whistled and beeped.  
The kid re-ran the analytics. The diff binoc whistled and beeped.  


A.J. shrugged. “Point nine-nine-seven. As good as clean, sir. You could eat your dinner off that.”
Aggie: “There! In the schedule!”


''As good as'' clean, but ''not'' clean. ''Interesting''. “Recalibrate it, lad. Let’s go find those missing diffs.”
A.J. squinted. A.J. shrugged. He ran his finger down the margin. “Point nine-nine-seven. Some quote-curl inconsistency in the defs, but that’s a routine re-type job. As good as clean, sir. You could eat your dinner off that.”
 
''As good as'' clean, but ''not'' clean. ''Interesting''. “Re-type? Who does a ''re-type''? Recalibrate it, lad. Let’s go find those missing diffs.”


“Whatever you say, sir.” A.J. twiddled dials and hit ''RENDER''. “Okay, team: Stand by. All material DVs should now show up.”
“Whatever you say, sir.” A.J. twiddled dials and hit ''RENDER''. “Okay, team: Stand by. All material DVs should now show up.”
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“Text deltas down to individual ascii level, sir. Can’t get more granular than that.
“Text deltas down to individual ascii level, sir. Can’t get more granular than that.


“Moves?”
“Formatting?”
 
“Off.”
 
“Punctuation?”


“Marked green. Formatting off. Punctuation off.”  
“SMART.”  


Boone shot the rookie a quizzical look. “Why so?”
Boone shot the rookie a quizzical look. “Why so?”
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Aggie looked down. Her cap was jammed tight. A sweat drop swelled on the brim. The unit didn’t ''breathe''.
Aggie looked down. Her cap was jammed tight. A sweat drop swelled on the brim. The unit didn’t ''breathe''.


This time ''two'' curtain beams shot out of the DV generator: one red and one green.
This time ''two'' curtain beams shot out of the DV generator: one red and one blue.


They swept back and forth. The sensor chirped. The lights doused.
They swept back and forth. The sensor chirped. The lights doused.
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The DV re-rendered on the HUD.  
The DV re-rendered on the HUD.  


This time some changes showed up: some straight-to-curly action on the quote-marks round a definition. ''Something — or someone — had tampered with the docscene''.
This time some changes showed up: a thin red line through a blank half page: some dolt forced a carriage return with some tab-work. A stuttering burst of line breaks to force a new page.
 
''Something — or someone — had tampered with the docscene''.


“That explains the point oh-three deviation, I guess, Commander.” The kid holstered his DV unit and moved forward.
“That explains the point oh-three deviation, I guess, Commander.” The kid holstered his DV unit and moved forward. “But — why? Who would do that?”


“Stop right there, lad.” Boone’s voice was urgent.
“Stop right there, lad.” Boone’s voice was urgent.
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“Can’t be what, Sir?” AJ was wide-eyed.
“Can’t be what, Sir?” AJ was wide-eyed.


Boone looked up at his 2ic. “What do you reckon, Aggers? What’s your read?”
The DV unit bleeped and re-rendered. The familiar blue/red display was riddled ''green''.
 
Green ''strikethru''.
 
Green ''underline''.
 
Boone looked up at his 2ic. “We have ''movement''”


The old veteran leaned in.  She peered at the display. She whistled. she caught the commander’s eye. “It ''could be'', you know, Boone.”
The old veteran leaned in.  She peered at the display. She whistled. she caught the commander’s eye. “It ''could be'', you know, Boone.”
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Algy shrugged. “But I don’t think it ''is'' a [[Biggs hoson]], though”. It just ''looks'' like one. Hosons are not stable. A hoson would have degraded into entropic tedium by now. This has a much longer half-life.
Algy shrugged. “But I don’t think it ''is'' a [[Biggs hoson]], though”. It just ''looks'' like one. Hosons are not stable. A hoson would have degraded into entropic tedium by now. This has a much longer half-life.


At the back of the room, a dusty murmur in the rubble. Something moved. Another groan. Some planking shifted in the wrecked cube.
The kid looked up at the commander. Boone caught the yearning.  The boy ''wanted'' it.
Boone nodded. “Careful, lad.” He nodded. He let him off the leish.
===Cubicle===
A.J. cocked his GMSLA. And kicked off the planking.
“Don’t move.”
The poor little punk was in a state. Dust-caked, dehydrated, eyes red and rolling wild in wide sockets.
“Di-Alpha head”.
“No, no, no, I’m clean, man. I’m straight. I'm goldboy through and through.
It seemed implausible. He had the likely pedigree a and squid-like air is assurance. He was clutching a fat book.
“The future.”
A.J. tried to grab it but the squid hung on tight. He pulled it to his heart. It was fat, typeset small, laid out on custom narrow margins and US letter.
What is it?
It was a [[red herring]] for PetVan, or BluBeenz, or [[Lexrifyly]] or some such thing. The squid’s glowing eyes rolled in their sockets.  All this little analyst could do was mutter, over and over, “''I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE”''. 
[[A.J.]] snatched the doc  — prospectuses only had two or three hundred back then, so you could lift them unaided. He flipped the pages. He scanned the risk factors. He glommed the financial projections.
“What the hell is ''[[lexrifyly]]''?
“The future” gurgled the squid. “''So'' clever.”
A J. screwed up his nose. “But, it has no forecasted revenue, let alone profit, in the next nineteen years. It even says so in the prospectus.”
The squid wore a lapel badge. It said “RENFIELD” He convulsed in bubbling, foamy laughter. “''That’s'' what’s so clever, man.”
“How is having no hope of making money so clever?
“Yes it is! It is all ''disclosed'' man! We’re only taking orders stapled to [[big-boy letter]]s! We’re 'wildly'' over-subscribed!”
“But this company won’t make any money?”
“You fool,” he cried. “Revenue is ''irrelevant''! This is the ''internet''! There ''is'' no ''[[money]]'' any more! Money is irrelevant! ''I'' am irrelevant! ''You'' are irrelevant —”
“Now hold on —” 
Renfield laughed like a maniac. “We are ''all'' irrelevant! Everything is free! We are liberated! There are no bricks [[and/or]] mortar!  we are going to be rich!”
The poor squid kid then dissolved into a gurgling hysteria, then rolled over and shot me with intense, red-beaded eyes. “How much can I put you down for? We’re full on our lines but I can get you a piece —”
“Alright, A.J., bring him in”
Ten days later the market imploded, taking the young tadpole, PetVan, BluBeenz and [[Lexrifyly]] with it
}}
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