[IC] The Echo Game! Something Different! Always Recruiting! Exclamation Marks!

[SpookySquid]

CC-

Either the giant killer bunny had no clue what CC was saying or it didn't care what CC was saying. It didn't respond to CC's questions but it was't prepared for the surfboard attack. However, instead of damaging the carrot eating creature, the surfboard collapsed. It neatly folded into a little package about the size of a toaster oven. That must have been how the surfboard fit into the backpack! Perhaps the sniper rifle was also collapsible?

Although CC didn't physically harm the creature, she startled it. It slowly backed away from her, fangs bared, preparing for a second attack. "Oh my!" said Carnegie. "Quickly! Run or defeat it! I'm sure that there are more Giga-Rabbits! Normally, they are fairly rare, but... in this room... I don't know. Hopefully, the others aren't so hostile."

Now CC, could see what BB was pointing at. It was a map with the words "Global Rabbit Locations" on a plaque above it. A map of the world was underneath of it... but something seemed a little...off. Before CC could examine it too closely, the Giga-Rabbit lunged at her once more.

Chuck-

The room was very strange. There was no bed. Or furniture. Or anything, except for a panel on the wall with the words "Customize Room," and a small window that gave a nice view of the city.

Jack-

The computer booted up. The screen glowed to life and displayed a regular interface. But there was not option to enter Internet Explorer, or Google Chrome, or even Safari! There were four icons on the screen. They were called Skype, SpyCopter, Doomsday, and Custom. Doomsday looked like a word document, Skype looked just like it had in the real world, SpyCopter had a little picture of a helicopter with an eyeball on it, and Custom... flickered around strangely on his screen. It looked like a regular black box, but then it became green and purple and orange.

[Eklispe]

Jack sighed, of course it couldn't that easy. He was still playing a game after all, it simply wouldn't be fair if he could look up a walk through while playing. Though it would make it a heck of a lot easier he thought grumpily. Well Skype looked the same, Doomsday could wait, he wanted to find out what SpyCoptor and Custom were. Spycoptor sounded and looked most helpful but Custom... for some reason he felt an urge to find out what it was. Overwhelmed with curiosity he clicked the strange color shifting box and eagerly waited to see what would happen.@SpookySquid

[SpookySquid]

Jack-

Jack was no longer in his room, he was no longer in the yacht. He wasn't even on the Echo planet. Instead, he was sailing through space and he could see the Echo planet clearly for the first time. Something was wrong though. The British Isles were gone. They were replaced by a few small islands Jack hadn't seen before. There was some strange, large structure at the poles, and islands that Jack had never seen before scattered around.

One thing did remain with him. The computer, which had a big red button asking him if he wanted to exit. The words "China's Unlimited Time & Space Utility Module," appeared in front of Jack. Not on the screen, but seemingly out of nowhere. Then they faded away. Suddenly Jack was hurtling towards China. Fire raged around him, but he didn't get burnt. He felt like he was in the original simulation where he had selected the backpacks. He could make up the individual pixels in his hands. He didn't feel the fire, like he felt the ground beneath his feet in Echo.

Finally, he landed on flat surface. Their was a small red box on the ground near him. A wooden sign in the middle of the ground said-

"Welcome to China. Feel free to edit the terrain. You are a God. At least within your 30 x 30 foot red square. Just imagine. Also, land is somewhat scarce here. Don't let others take it from you."

Around Jack, there were similar boxes of different colors, with signs in the middle. They all had signs that read "Away" or "Dead."

Was this an Massive Multiplayer version of Echo... within Echo...? Or was it something else?

*Dramatic Music*

[Genni]

Either the giant killer bunny had no clue what CC was saying or it didn't care what CC was saying. It didn't respond to CC's questions but it was't prepared for the surfboard attack. However, instead of damaging the carrot eating creature, the surfboard collapsed. It neatly folded into a little package about the size of a toaster oven. That must have been how the surfboard fit into the backpack! Perhaps the sniper rifle was also collapsible?

Although CC didn't physically harm the creature, she startled it. It slowly backed away from her, fangs bared, preparing for a second attack. "Oh my!" said Carnegie. "Quickly! Run or defeat it! I'm sure that there are more Giga-Rabbits! Normally, they are fairly rare, but... in this room... I don't know. Hopefully, the others aren't so hostile."

Now CC, could see what BB was pointing at. It was a map with the words "Global Rabbit Locations" on a plaque above it. A map of the world was underneath of it... but something seemed a little...off. Before CC could examine it too closely, the Giga-Rabbit lunged at her once more.

@SpookySquid

Facing off against the Giga-Rabbit CC looked as though she was going to try standing her ground against the large beast, but just as it lunged towards her the small girl quickly dropped down onto her knees and with a quick push against the floor behind her slipped right between the over-sized beast's legs. Jumping back up onto her feet CC quickly turned around and planted her foot squarely between the bunny's buttocks, which although large were nowhere near as appealing as BB's delightful derriere.

Without stopping to see whether her unbalancing attack had worked or not CC quickly turned and darted over to where BB was waiting, taking a good look at the map for a long moment as she tried to memorise it as best she could, while at the same time glancing back over her shoulder to keep an eye on the giant rabbit in case it came at her again, and darting a sneaky peek at BB's bosom whenever she could.

[SpookySquid]

CC-

The Giga-Rabbit staggered forward after CC's attack, yet it quickly recovered. It turned around and quickly raced towards CC. "Ugh, don't worry. I gotcha mate," came a voice. Suddenly, there was a large bang, some blood, and smoke. The Giga-Rabbit was laying down in a pool of blood, dead. A man with a short beard and a pair of sunglasses. "Been a while since I've seen anyone around here. Hell, the most interesting thing around here is my own piss. But anyways, name's Mundy. Mr. Mundy," said the man with a strong Australian accent. He then smiled and tipped his hat.

[SimplyJohn]

@SpookySquid

Stepping over to the window Chuck spent a few moments memorising landmarks and points of interest in the skyline, looking for anything which would stand out or seem unusual given the city setting they were in. This was a computer game after all, despite how authentic everything felt inside the simulation, and Chuck was sure this city wasn't anything like a place on the real Earth.

Having finished perusing the buildings Chuck turned his attention to the window itself, and the more immediate view down the side of the building outside, trying to assess its usefulness as a possible escape route, if needed. Once done, and with nothing else to inspect about the bare room, Chuck made his way over to the wall panel and gave it a closer look. Reaching out his hand he pressed the panel, looking for a way to get a computer and the internet access he so urgently required.

[Genni]

@SpookySquid

For a moment CC was stunned by the hunter's sudden intervention, but then her face broke out in a relieved smile to see another friendly-ish face, even if the hunter might be competition for the wonderful BB's affections. If only he were a stuffed toy too, perhaps Carnegie knows how that curse of his works, she wondered to herself for a moment before pushing the thought aside.

"It's very good to meet you Mr. Mundy. My name's CC, this is Carnegie the talking stuffed polar bear, although you need to touch him to be able to hear him, and this is... my girlfriend BB." It was only a casual lie, and it wasn't as if the mute supermodel was going to correct her or anything. Just in case and knowing it was only good etiquette to offer a hunter food when first meeting them, CC reached into her backpack, dropping the collapsed surfboard inside and pulled out the fruit snacks, before holding the bag out as an offering for their saviour before BB even had a chance to interrupt.

"Would you like a jelly baby? Err... I mean a fruit snack." She said, picking one of the treats out at random and popping it into her own mouth just to show they weren't poisoned. As she carefully chewed the juicy fruit bite CC suddenly realised that she didn't even know whether the fruit treats were poisoned or not, but it was too late now. SHe couldn't exactly perform an analysis on one right here, and to spit it out after offering one to Mr. Mundy would just be an insult.

Quickly swallowing the half-chewed fruit, and fervently hoping for the best, CC turned back towards the map, point over at it while talking to the armed gunman behind her. "I take it this map has something to do with you then? Locations of hunting grounds, or something?"

[Eklispe]

Jack blinked rapidly his mind working in overdrive as he attempted to compute information. Apparently he was on an earthlike planet, those there were clearly some differences in the islands and they were some massive structures that he could see even from out here on both poles. Then he came back down like a meteor but didn't feel anything, regardless of what his brain was trying to convince him of with the flames raging around him.

Finally he landed on a section of land with a sign kindly informing him that he was a god of this 30 x 30 feet area. Just imagine hmm? Well Jack didn't have any reason to leave yet and this was certainly interesting though he had no idea what the purpose of this was. Experimentally he tried to make a 12ft high stone wall all around the edges of his "area", if land was scare and he shouldn't let others take it from him the first thing to do was secure his borders. Although given the vacancy of the nearby lots perhaps he should be more focused on taking land rather than protecting it...

[SpookySquid]

CC-

Mundy seemed too surprised about her talking bear statement to register what she said about BB. "Andrew... Carnegie?" he said. BB frowned and punched CC in the arm. "Not... deaf," said BB.

Mundy cleared his throat, "is that really him? Oh god..." he said, "erm... uh, the map... uh yes... it's a great hunting map if your fine with only shooting rabbits. Shows the location of all the ones that aren't in here," he said, tightening his grip on his sniper rifle.

He then greedily grabbed a fruit snack. "Thanks. I've been munching on rabbits for years," said Mundy.

@Eklispe @SimplyJohn My nephew has a big ceremony for Boy Scouts, I'll post once I get back.

[SpookySquid]

Chuck-

The city had almost no cars. The streets were full of goblins, most of them either on foot or horseback. One was even riding on a lion. A building was on fire and a few people were running around it chaotically, but none seemed to care about putting it out. Every once in a while, there was a gunshot or scream heard in the distance.

The panel showed a list of furniture items, including a computer and bed. Apparently, if Chuck selected an option, it would be "instantly delivered to his room."

Jack-

The wall didn't raise from the ground magically. Jack simply blinked, and suddenly, the walls were there, just as he had envisioned them.

[SimplyJohn]

@SpookySquid

Staring at the options available for a few moments Chuck quickly selected a computer, along with a suitable desk, a comfortable looking chair, a desk lamp and writing pad and finally what appeared to be a small hula dancing desk ornament with an exceedingly shirt skirt.

As he waited for delivery Chuck wandered back to the window and spotted that the lion-riding goblin had made it to the burning building and was now helping. Helping his lion to a nice, fresh helping of roasted pauper that is.

[SpookySquid]

Chuck-

Moments later, the items were sitting in his room. Nobody had delivered them. There were little stickers on all of the delivered items that read, "Made in China."

The computer turned on slowly and barely seemed to function. The only things that popped up on the screen were "Super Pinball 5, Lost in New York," Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word.

[SimplyJohn]

@SpookySquid

With nothing better to do than wait for Brakeel to report back on progress with the little goblin mugger Chuck went to sit down at the desk only to change his mind. Turning back to the panel he quickly selected a telephone, as there didn't appear to be one anywhere in the room. As he made his way over to the desk he wasn't at all surprised to see the phone sitting there waiting for him.

Picking up the receiver Chuck tapped the star button on the keypad and waited until a member of staff answered. Quickly giving his room number he asked about room service, fully aware that it had been several hours now since his arrival and he'd not even eaten anything in the real world, let alone here in the simulated one.

"We have the widest selection possible, Sir." The concierge assured him and so Chuck ordered a foot-long sandwich made with whichever was the freshest meat in the kitchen along with a breadknife so he could cut it himself, three bottles of energy drink served in a bucket of ice, a chocolate fudge sundae with plenty of ice cream and a selection of cold meats with dipping sauces to be delivered to his room as soon as possible.

With that done Chuck turned to the computer and pulled open several windows for Internet Explorer.

• In the first he quickly googled whether it was possible to download Chrome onto the machine rather that the piece of s*it software he'd been provided with;
• In the second began a search for all references to 'the Great Wizard of the Ring';
• The third he dedicated to searching for information on the city, including street maps and lists of important buildings and individuals;
• The fourth he dedicated to searching for information on Macheel and Mateel, to see if he could learn exactly who he was allying himself with;
• The fifth was more difficult, as he wasn't entirely certain what to look for, so he simply began a search for 'freezing glass eye' to see if there was anything useful to be found about his little trinket;
• And finally in the sixth window he began an international search for reports of strange people appearing out of nowhere within the last few hours, giving the specific time of his own arrival as a search parameter. Hopefully that should be enough to try and locate his fellow players, or at least give him a clue to their whereabouts.

While the system was running, and with his food on its way, Chuck loaded up the pinball game, more out of idle curiosity more than anything else.

[Eklispe]

Jack hmmed, it seemed like he really was a god here. He could summon anything seemingly at will. The question then was, what to do? Would any of his actions here affect his body back at the yatcht. Speaking of which was his body still at the yatcht? Was he some kind of astral projection? Well he would worry about that later, right now he still wanted to test some things. If land was precious he should grab as much of it as he could. Jack set alarms around the his area so that if anyone else, appeared or whatever he would know about. He didn't know how the alarms worked but he was a god right? So it shouldn't matter. Next step, he looked at one of the vacant lots that read "dead" and tried to do the same setup as with his patch of land. Walls and alarms. Though of course, if everyone else here had godlike powers as well then the walls wouldn't matter much but it helped Jack's sense of conformity.

@SpookySquid

[SpookySquid]

Jack-
Jack was able to snag four patches of land within walking distance. Jack realized that, although he was able to move freely through the land marked "Away" he was unable to influence anything occurring within them. Suddenly a slip of paper appeared in Jack's pocket. "Really? Playing games? Al is waiting outside- Calla." Suddenly, Jack turned to see a large tank in the distance, with a barrel pointed directly at him.

Chuck-

"Congratulations! You're our 1,000,000th visitor!" claimed a large pop up that immediately appeared on Chuck's screen. Before Chuck had half of a chance to react, more and more popups appeared in front of him. "Free elf women! Trust us! This isn't a joke! You're computer might be at risk! Make 1 million dollars now!" and similar popups appeared, covering his screen. The took a long time to close down and made using internet explorer nearly impossible. However, the pinball game seemed to work fine.

[SimplyJohn]

@SpookySquid

Growling deep in his throat Chuck slammed his fist down hard on the desk. He should've expected it wouldn't have been as easy as that, but he could still make use of the computer in a way. Clicking on the 'Free elf woman' link he pulled up the advert. After all, it wasn't his computer so there wasn't anything they could do to harm him, and if the advert was true he could potentially gain a contact who'd previously been connected with a number of powerful people within the city.

Stepping away from the desk Chuck lifted his mask off for a moment to rub his eyes before putting the covering back into place and sitting back down. He'd learnt the hard way that even in private it was best to keep his identity hidden, you never knew who might be watching. Once he'd managed to calm himself down a little Chuck opened up the pinball game and waited for his dinner to arrive, hoping the room service in the hotel was better than the internet service.

[Eklispe]

Calla? Must be some sort of maid, so his body was probably back in the boat. He viewed and was about to exit when a tank appeared, and he could've sworn the barrel was pointing at him. He encased his area in some induestructable material and pressed the large red exit button. No doubt the tank was just someone else playing around in this place.

[SpookySquid]

Chuck-

Room service arrived with heaps of food. It didn't magically appear out of thin air, or come with stickers claiming that the food was "made in China." Steak, green beans, rolls, sweet potatoes, and purple gelatin were placed in trays on a little cart, and then left for Chuck to consume. After that, room service disappeared out into the hallway.

Clicking on the "free elf girls" resulted in a message saying "Good job. You have freed the elf girls from imprisonment." Followed by an image of a smiley face. The computer began smoking and soon caught on fire. Dang. Right as Chuck was approaching a high score on pinball too.

Jack-

Jack was standing next to the laptop. He was back in the Echo Game. "Jack, you got my message. I know it said from Calla, but that's just what she called me. My real name is Kyle... uh..." said the boy who had asked about Ahmad, "anyways, Al was just knocking on the door. I told him you were taking a nap. Do you want me to tell him that we can't eat with him?" the child seemed exhausted, like he had talked more than he had never said so many words in his life.

In the mean time, the other two children had seemed to have made a mess. There were empty soda cans, crumbs, and plastic wrappers littering the floor. Currently, they were both dipping Doritos into a chocolate fountain that they had put on top of the bed, which was now coated in chocolate.

[Genni]

"Not... deaf," said BB.

"Andrew... Carnegie? is that really him? Oh god... erm... uh, the map... uh yes... it's a great hunting map if your fine with only shooting rabbits. Shows the location of all the ones that aren't in here,"

@SpookySquid

CC quickly turned and gave BB a cheeky smile along with a shrug of her shoulders, "No harm intended, darling," she said gently, leaning over and giving BB a playful peck on the cheek.

Reaching out CC plucked Carnegie up from his perch between BB's luscious lady lumps, her hands lingering perhaps a moment than they should have as she did. She gazed down with a raised eyebrow as she tilted Carnegie back to look into his glass eyes. "Andy, is it?"

Shifting round CC held the stuffed animal out for Mundy to take hold of him. "This 'telepathy', or whatever it is, seems to only work if you touch the bear, otherwise you'll just think we're a bunch of raving idiots talking to a stuffed toy. I take it you know 'Andy' then? Have you met him before?"

[SpookySquid]

CC-

"Uh... you see... I do know Carnegie. I don't think he'll want to talk to me... I... hate to admit it but..." Mundy hesitated. "I was tasked to burn down this Tempire, alright? I just needed the cash... and that's exactly what I was promised from the South Africans and the Egyptians and the and... I didn't think they would... kill all those people." Mundy, who had seemed like a bit of a tough guy before, looked like he was about to cry, but then stopped himself. "Look, I don't think I can reason with him," he said sadly.

"I can reason with him alright," said Carnegie. "I think it would be reasonable if I could bury him alive with a wasp nest. He ruined my life! He's filling your brain with lies! He's a heartless killer!"