TBM: Mastatec Beginnings

**MXOMastatec** · 08/29/2008 13:59:21

ACT I

Baldwin Heights, Year 2000

Ramon Puente, a beer delivery truck driver, was always on the move for business because money was his God. The delivery gig left much to be desired for Ramon as he always pondered the meaning of life. Was his destiny just to deliver beer to Downtown or Westview sleazy clubs?

Unfortunately, the fastest way to make money in the City for him was either by procuring fast women from clubs to the highest Asian bidder or selling illegal substances to the weak minds dragged down by the city's many perils.

Ramon was also into other clandestine activities such as producing ghost cell phones, fake passports, bogus insurance policies, unmarked fire arms compliments of the local gangs and smuggling Asian and Mexican illegal aliens into the City for kicks. Many times it was not beer he was delivering but smuggled Laser Rifles hidden in beer kegs.

It would be often that Ramon would be hired to be the getaway driver for many heists in the City since he was a delivery truck driver. He was best at knowing where traffic was, what streets were under construction and more importantly which doughnut shop the Police were hanging out at. All this extracurricular activity was nothing but fun for him but it was getting a bit played out and those pesky FBI Agents in fine gray suits were beginning to notice him. He knew that black van outside his apartment complex was not the usual fixture in his neighborhood.

Eventually, he gathered enough money to take some computer classes to learn about the internet, this news about Hackers breaking into banks was very appealing to him. Ramon quit his beer delivery job to start a more flexible work schedule at the Chateau Marmont as a waiter. To his surprise, he made decent money off tips from this well dressed French man and his crew so this waiter job worked out with his school schedule. Ramon thought the French man and his cronies were a bit different and excentric than the usual patrons but that didn’t bother him any since the French people were helping out with school costs.

Ramon was learning about hacking expeditiously since the class he joined was full of teenagers raving about “Red Queen”, the hacker that broke into the IRS database and caused havoc. In no time Ramon was a multi-platform application writing guru and an operating system security hacking horse.

The more time Ramon spent with a computer the higher his understanding of coding became. The more he coded the more Ramon became disconnected with the Real World and assimilated to the Virtual World. When Ramon finished with school he was intrigued with the term “The Matrix” that his co-eds had mentioned so many times. He searched the internet and all he found was hot links to red pills medicine merchants or consulting companies and never to what he had heard while eavesdropping.

Ramon started a web hosting company and was not doing as he would like for himself so he continued to work as a waiter at Chateau Marmont. Ramon kept wondering about “The Red Queen” and wanted to measure up to her. Ramon hacked into a Motion Picture Company Secure Network to retrieve everyone’s salary and sent it to the company’s main distribution mailing list for everyone to see. Ramon thought this was hilarious and the event might gain him some respect from fellow hackers including Red Queen.

Later on in the month, Ramon received a phone call from his old underworld contacts for a job to retrieve a classified electronic technology called "AMOSE" in a Downtown Baldwin Heights building and the job was worth 8 figures. Peaking Ramon’s interest he accepted the job wondering how this technology worked and who would be crazy enough to heist a government corporation. Apparently, the technology was composed of artificial intelligence software that allowed a mass online marketplace that virtually ran itself.

Ramon was informed to contact GTactics, an obscure underground trader, and assist him to extract the high tech equipment within the next few days.

November, 2004 02:00AM

Downtown Baldwin Heights

Ramon: Mr. GTactics?

GTactics: Who wants to know?

Ramon: I am your transportation and security systems technician for the event.

GTactics: God Dammit! I said I wanted a redpill with experience….

Ramon: Sir! Rest assured that experience I have. I was not informed of the high standa…GTactics: SIGH! Just watch your *CENSORED* and mine. Just stay outside the perimeter and loop the video security feed. Let me have the transceiver. I will stream over the encrypted camera as soon as I get into the target room…OH! Another thing…don’t play hero tonight!Ramon: We are exactly one block away from the target building you will need to infiltrate through the sewer system in case we have any surprise 5.0 patrols.

GTactics infiltrates the building posing as a janitor and a good hour passes by when the camera data stream starts feeding Ramon the interior of the building.

GTactics: Are you getting a good signal?

Ramon: No, I need you to get into the main security operation room and wire the transceiver to their main switch. Good Luck!

GTactics: On the double! Nice gadgets by the way.

Ramon: Yah?! I built it myself!

Gtactics: Interesting...manipulating the code. There may be hope for you yet Ramon.

Few minutes later…

Ramon: Great signal! I’ve hacked into the video system and ready to switch to the video loop.

GTactics: Not too shabby kid. Like i said..nice Tech. Don’t do anything until I give you the word. Red Queen is not in position yet.

Ramon: Did you just say Red Queen?! She is running this op with us?

GTactics: F$#@*& amateurs. Red Queen is in position now. Disable security at 3.

Ramon: Roger!

GTactics: 1..2..3.

Ramon: Security Video loop in effect.

GTactics: Great! AMOSE Disk 2! I have secured the data disk extraction. I am exiting building in a few I will cut radio off for now.

Ramon: Wait! You set off the silent alarm! Get out there quick!

GTactics: What?! I thought you had disabled all security systems.

Ramon: GTactics! I have hostiles appearing all over your floor. They weren’t there milliseconds before its like they appeared out of nowhere. The silent security system was not there in my preliminary scans...its like they installed the system in less than a minute. Run!

GTactics: They've re-written this building's code. They were expecting us. This is where Red Queen comes in. She is our divertion.

A slim figure in a black vinyl motorcycle suit walks to the front of the building pulls out a Semi-Automatic Tek and starts shooting the windows, after shattering the windows she produces a smoke bomb and throws it into the building. Next she enters the building pulls out a Desert Eagle handgun and shoots at two security guards.

Red Queen: Dodge This!

Back at the Acura Ramon watches on through the laptop.

Ramon: Whoa! Red Queen is an assassin! She just capped two innocent security guards...wait all of those hostiles just transferred to the lobby where Red Queen is. How!?

GTactics: Don’t believe everything you see in The Matrix Ramon. I am entering sewer system, on my way to the vehicle.

Ramon: The Matrix?

GTactics is advancing through the underground tunnel and hesitates...

Ramon: GT, whats wrong? Why are you stopping?

Two white blurrs of white gas take shape into two well-dressed albinos with long white dreads in front of GTactics.

GTactics: Now what?!

Twin 1: The Merovingian would be very happy to employ your services.

GTactics: Right now is not a good time.

Twin 2: We need you to provide us with some very coveted items. Ninja boots.

GTactics: Didnt you hear me?!

Agent Shouts: You are not authorized in this area!

Ramon: GT?

Twin 1 + Twin 2 in unison: We must leave now.

GTactics: Leave it up to the Merv to leave me in a sewer with Agents. Lovely!

Agent Shouts: Escape is impossible!

GTactics: Yeah right! Ramon start the engine!

GTactics start running and shooting at Special Agent over his back.

Ramon turns his altered Acura’s engine ON and waits for GTactics. Glances to the side and notices a homeless individual with a Jack Daniel’s bottle. Looks at his laptop and through the hacked video feed sees Red Queen running from the hostiles. Special Agents appearing out of the flesh of security guards and other bystanders. Ramon is amazed at what his eyes are witnessing. All of a sudden he receives a shock from the laptop and the computer system shuts down.

GTactics enters Acura…

Agent 1 Shouts: You are not autorized in this area!

GTactics: *swears* Agent!! Lets go kid! This is not a vacation! Hustle! Hustle! We have to rendezvous with Red Queen….

In front of Ramon’s eyes the helpless homeless morphs into a Special Agent.

Agent 2 shouts: Escape is impossible!

GTactics: Is that a Nitro Switch?

Ramon: heh! Yah!! i built it myself!

GTactics: yah great! Use it!!

Gunshots ring through the Acura’s window and Ramon and GTactics speed off at the burst of the Nitro.

Ramon: What was that!? The Matrix? What the hell is going on!??

GTactics: Shut up and drive! Have you ever heard of The Other Side of the Looking Glass? The Matrix?

Ramon: Only of The Matrix in my computer class.

GTactics: You're a coder?? Turn RIGHT here.

Ramon: ....amongst other things.

As they turn right on Broadway, the Downtown Baldwin Heights street is full of fires and turned over vehicles. Semi Automatic weapons can be heard in the distance.

GTactics: Stop! Let’s ditch this vehicle. Red Queen is entertaining hostiles a few hundred meters North of us.

Ramon: What?! Do you know how much money I put into that car?

GTactics pulls Ramon out of Acura and then pulls out a semi-automatic weapon Ramon had never seen and shoots the vehicle until it explodes.

Ramon: NOO!! What the f@(k Gcraptics! I'm gonna make you pay for that!

GTactics: The car was bugged by the Machines. While you were talking to me theyve must of changed the code of the vehicle and planted a tracer on it.

Ramon: ....change the code of the vehicle?

GTactics: This what you see is not real. None of it is real. It is all an illusion made up of code. The Matrix code.

Black GTO pulls up with the Red Queen at driver’s seat staring down GTactics and Ramon. Red Queen nods at GTactics. Gtactics pulls out a briefcase from the GTO.

GTactics: Ramon here is your payment. It should cover your lousy car. If you wish to know more about the Matrix please join us. But I will tell you know that those Agents will be after you until you are dead or worse...assimilated.

Ramon hesitates, when a gunshot shatters the back window of the black GTO.

Red Queen: Are we waiting for Christmas? More Agents!! Come on Ramon today!!

Ramon jumps in car and they drive off managing to escape the Agent threat. Later, in an abandoned building Ramon is escorted to a room with something that looks like a dentist patient chair and electronic equipment.

GTactics: Ramon, we don’t have time for this. This world you believe to be real is an illusion. It is not real. If you wish to know the truth, take this red pill. If you wish to forget this incident, take this blue pill. The choice is upon you.

RedQueen and GTactics look on as Ramon takes a long glance at both pills and decides for the Red Pill. Ramon begins to feel sick, stumbles to the ground and passes out….

End of ACT I

**Madbent**

/bigcheer

Can't wait for the next act! Very creative.

Madbent, ML

**Demoana**

Wow nice Masta! Love the detail, and the way you bring coding/smuggling into it....nice going, tying it in to your faction :smileyvery-happy:

Would love to read more of your work.