Tremble by Digital Ebola -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They met on one of the less popular hacker hangouts on the net. It was a place, where either the people were incredibly skilled, or incredibly lame. Nightly talks ranged from defeating intrusion detection measures, to their latest "real life" exploits. Some of the discussions were completely off the wall, and some were serious. On one of the more serious nights, it all started. "I'm not happy here.", she typed out. "Then you can get a place with me.", he tapped. "Sure. Why don't I visit for a while?", she said. "Fine. I'll see if I can find a flight.", typed the male. "No. Come get me. I'm in Philly. Here is the address.", the female typed, thinking there was no way he was going to agree with this. "I'll be there in two days. Pack your bags.", the man said, and then logged off with a sigh. He sits in front of his many terminals. The fish in the tank swim. The clock ticks. Out of work, and dazed, the man gets up, shuts off the monitors, and removes his clothes. Naked, he looks at himself in the mirror, wondering why he was all of a sudden motivated, as he had lost his energy weeks ago, living off a fat severence from one of the latest dot coms to go bust. Feeling another one of these strange bursts of energy, he gets in the shower. The water runs. He becomes clean. Two days later, the man powered his Porsche 911 Turbo onto his exit, now driving into Philidelphia proper. Driving down the Philly streets, he sees people doing their day to day routines, wearing sock caps, and heavy jackets. Philly gets cold. The man doesnt plan on staying long. Reaching the address, the man hesitantly gets out. Goes into the apartment, knocks on the door. A woman answers. The woman. Beautiful. Very. Hello she says. The man stands in awe. Takes her bags. The woman didnt pack much, which is good. Love, at first sight. This is going to be a fun drive. On the way back to Texas, driving down the Penn State turnpike, they talked about all kinds of things. Getting to know each other was fun. There were mutual feelings. This wasn't going to be just a visit. They had found each other. The man rushes to get back home. He stomps the accelerator, the speedometer reading 120 mph. The woman laughs. She likes this. Happiness has found them both. The road begins to fog. Another hour later, no cars on the road, 120 mph through the fog, the two intrepid explorers, hell bent on spending their lives together now at this point, hit a semi truck head on. Death did not find him that night. He awoke in the hospital bed the next day. A representative from the semi-truck company is sitting in his room. Suit. "Can you speak?", the suit asks. "Yeah. Wheres my girl?", the driver asks. "She has already been released.", the suit replies. "I am going to write you a check, and you are going to sign a liability form. You can elect to take us to court, but I doubt you will get such a generous return. We have replaced your car, a black Porsche 911 Turbo. Here are the keys." The driver takes the keys, and the check. Big figure. His head hurts. He signs the waiver, and the suit leaves. The driver gets up. Finds his clothes. Walking to the front desk, limping slightly, the head nurse sees him. "I see your walking now, leaving so soon?" coos the nurse. The man nods. He signs the hospital releases. Asks about the girl. "She said that she would meet you. Go home.", the nurse says and smiles. The driver limps to the parking lot, to his new car, and he looks at the check. Large sum. Lucky to be alive. He opens the door, and squeezes gently into the car. 10 miles on the odometer, new car smell, and his clothes bag in the passenger seat. The man drives home. The drive back to Texas was uneventful. The man still shaken about the entire incident, and wondering how the girl was going to find him. Upon pulling up to his apartment, the man feels relief, but is shaken. Where is the girl? Meet him? This worries him. He has to make a lot of phone calls. Unlocks the door to his apartment. The man walks in. The girl is sitting on one of his computers, engaged in what looks to be one of those late night chat sessions, the ones where all serious talk came out. "I am so glad to see you! How did you get here so fast? How did you know where I lived?", the man asks excitedly. The girl does not answer, she continues to tap on the keyboard. Ignores him. "HEY! I'm here!" the man shouts. The girl does not reply. He starts to tap her on the shoulder, and the phone rings. The man, turns and gets the phone. "Hello?" "Is this Robert?", a female voice asks. "Yes, this is he.", the man feels confusion set in. Turns and looks at the girl.She is still typing away. "I have some, uhhh, bad news for you.. This is Nurse Fields from the Penn Street hospital. The girl that was with you, died. I know we said she would meet you, we didn't want you to be so upset, so far away from home, after all, you hit a semi-truck head on." "Thats impossible! She is right here, typing on the computer!", the man says frantically. "No, sir, she is dead. I am sorry.", the nurse replies. *CLICK* The nurse hangs up. The man turns around. The girl is gone. The man sits down, and begins to cry.