Book 1: CyberPunk Londinium

The Hideout

When we arrived, I was still in shock, because according to mother the rest of my family had gotten out of Londinium before the CyberWall was constructed. Why was Ron here? Where is he taking me? He mentioned a crew whilst we were getting away from the guards, who are they? "I know you may not trust me yet, but when you meet the team, we call ourselves Anonymity by the way, you will see why you have to." Ron informed me.

We ended up at a vent behind some bins in an alleway. "Go on in" said Ron "It'll be fine, don't worry." I was skeptical at first, but I crawled through and came out in an old forgotten bunker of sorts. There were wires all over the walls, and screens set up monitoring different locations. Now, I wasn't the smartest hacker back then, I still doubt that I am now, but I knew enough from Mother and Father to get by. "What are you thinking?" asked Ron. "My father...is he truly gone?" I had had no experience with death via gun wounds back then, but I couldn't see him moving when we hit the ground. Ron bowed his head, and reluctantly replied "Yes, but don't worry. We'll take care of you. Now, let's go and meet the ga-" "Wait." I interrupted, "Is that camera pointing at my home?!"

Ron sat me down and sat next to me. "James, we would've warned you, but it would have meant blowing our cover. We knew that CyberCorps's military had tracked down your father, who had taken data from them and hidden it away, and that they would strike soon, and as soon as we saw half of our cameras disappear," 'The EMP father created?' I thought. "we knew that you were trying to leave." Ron didn't like explaining that to me, but I'm glad he didn't keep it a secret. "Now, let's go and meet the team. For real, this time."

He took me to a room near the back of the bunker, containing a single laptop, a blackboard with one map per district of Londinium, and 4 people, all dressed in similar outfits to Ron. They told me their names and positions, and I knew that they were serious about their desire to take down all of CyberCorps. There was Sarah, who preferred her name spelt as 54R4H due to her family's love of computers, and whose mother was killed by a Superior Guard, just for refusing to let the guard into a restricted area. There was Jake, a tall and muscular man who was beaten nearly to death just for mocking CyberCorps. And finally, there was Karim, who was Ron's older brother, aged 36.

"What are the maps for, Karim?" I enquired, eager to study and learn from this group of people like me. "Why, they are places that we need to secure and hack into before we take down CyberCorps Tower." he replied with confidence. "Interesting. Well, I have got to say that it has been a rather eventful evening and I would love it if I were to be taken to a place where I can have some sleep?" I eagerly anticipated the response, hoping that this place had half-decent beds. "Of course, but get ready, because now that you're part of Anonymity, we shall train you to be a brilliant hacker" replied Ron.

A few minutes later, I laid in bed and drifted off to sleep. However, I woke up only moments later, after hearing someone yelling, as though they had fallen onto the floor from a rather dangerous height. I inched closer to the door, but it just vanished in front of me. I could see a tunnel ahead, and against my wishes, I unwillingly ran through it, halting as I saw a child and a man laying at the end of it. The man wasn't moving but the young boy was curled up in a ball. I then realised that it was me and father. But I couldn't stop myself. My dream forced me to raise an electronic rifle at them, meaning I was the Superior Guard, but as the weapon powered up, I see the outline of Ron leap into the way of the rifle and aim his handgun between my eyes. The next thing I know, I hear a gunshot and I wake back up in the bunker. A few hours later, 54R4H walked in and asked "Hey, James, you ready for your first day of training?" and my reply was the first thing that came to my mind:

"I am ready. But I have one request that I wish for the entire crew to remember. My name is no longer James Elshire....My name is Maverick."