(Untitled)

[bloody_awful]

Another day, another hangover, another Hair of the Dog that bit him... and that was one hell of a nasty dog. Demonically possessed bulldog, red eyes, frothing, and let's not even begin to think about the toxic farting

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[a1enzo]

[[OOC: Third time's the charm, right?]]

"Hey! Mr. Constant!" Enzo comes running up, looking around nervously to make sure there are no adult sprites in sight. "I got you that comic."

[bloody_awful]

[OOC: Soooo sorry we missed each other! I saw your tags but with one thing or another... well, I'm an arse. Thanks for being persistent!]

John looks up. Kids. Kids and bunnies, bulldogs and hangovers. He takes a long pull of his pint and tries to smile. It looks kinda bleary. "Hey kid. Not so loud, all right then?"

A bottle of aspirin appears on the Bar. John takes a couple and washes them down with more Guinness.

[a1enzo]

Enzo was actually speaking that last part in a conspiratorial undertone, but when it comes to hangovers, volume is relative. He obligingly lowers it to a whisper: "Sorry. You all right?"

[bloody_awful]

John chuckles. "I will be. Nothing I haven't been through before, except the dog bite. No, strike that. I've been through that before as well."

He realizes he might be rambling. "Ah right. Grab yourself a seat and let's see that book. You want a drink or something?"

[a1enzo]

Enzo nods sympathetically; he knows how nasty dog bites can be. His dog bites people all the time.

"Sure, thanks!" He hops up onto the next stool. "Surge, please." The liquid that appears is, somehow, even brighter green than the User soda of the same name.

Enzo takes a sip, then palms at his belt and removes a small square, which immediately rises and expands until it's a flat rectangle about the size of your average comic book, hovering at a convenient reading height. "I got the earliest issue they had."

The grubby-looking man on the 'cover' is obviously John, except his skin is blatantly mustard-yellow, and considering Enzo himself, the lack of nostrils and the way the hair spikes up without any visible loose strands probably can't be attributed to the artist's style. But he has a trenchcoat and a small golden ear-stud and what looks like a cigarette, and the window's title bar reads JOHN CONSTANT: WEBBLAZER.

[bloody_awful]

John looks at the picture and snorts. "Well, at least they got the skin tone right. But I'm much prettier."

No, really. This morning, at least, mustard yellow is only a slight exaggeration.

"So, is it a good book? How do you turn the pages on this thing?"

[a1enzo]

"Scrollbars." Enzo taps the down arrow twice, and the image jumps past the copyright page to the first page of the comic proper. "I think it's good. It's kind of confusing. There wasn't anything really dirty in this one, though."

The story doesn't seem to correspond to any of Constantine's actual adventures, though some of the elements might well be familiar. Something to do with a worm that's been slithering through the 'Net and laying eggs in systems. It makes it clear that it's nasty business, anyway. Phrases like deep magic and heavy wizardry and voodoo programming are much in evidence.

Worthy of note is the fact that the little spherical person driving Constant around in a flying car appears to be named Chas Charset.

[bloody_awful]

John sees Chas and chuckles. Then he winks at Enzo. "Nothing dirty? You must be disappointed." He flips through the pages a bit. "I don't understand half this shit, but I look impressive, so that's fine then." He's more interested in the copyright page, looking at the publisher and author. "Can I buy this off you? I know a lad like you must not have much pocket money."

[a1enzo]

Enzo's sister pretty much owns the city, but he's not about to complain! "Sure, but, uh, you can't take it into real Userspace. It'd be deleted. Unless you know the right magic to turn it into matter?"

While he's flipping, one thing about halfway through that might grab his eye is a binome - one of the ones that look like stacked blocks - with a ponytail and spectacles (one spectacle, anyway) and wearing a star-shaped pendant. He's saying something to Constant about being able to contact Userspace.

[bloody_awful]

"Really, now. Well, I can take it to my room upstairs, can't I?" He flips through the pages and notices the ... thing ... with the pendant. "Who's this, then?"

[a1enzo]

"Oh, sure!"

Enzo peers at the figure John's indicating, then pages up, looking for a mention of his name. "Oh, he builds some command to let him visit Userspace. Only it's nothing like Userspace really, but the writers didn't know that. His name's, uh... Ritchie Simplex."

[bloody_awful]

John starts at the name. "Jesus Christ." He drops the comic on the Bar, then lights a cigarette and thinks for a moment. "Tell me, kid. Can a bloke like me get into where you live?"

[a1enzo]

Except that the comic actually stays hovering above the Bar, but... you know.

"Sure, if we digitize you. Not like you are now, it'd kill you."

[bloody_awful]

"I don't die that easily," John points out. "But I can't say I'm fond of the idea of being digitized. No offense," he adds.

[a1enzo]

Enzo smirks a little. "That's okay. It freaks some people out. Bob said it was scary for him turning human the first time."

So he won't judge you. Really.

[bloody_awful]

"What's itfeel like, do you know? Have you ever been un-digitized?" He's truly curious. "It must be... strange."