Fade in: Cleggy, Guy and Kara are outside the a pub in Camden Town. New Model Army can be heard blaring on the jukebox inside.

Guy: The Devonshire Arms. You will never find a more wretched hive of punks and crusties. We must be cautious.
Cleggy: Do you really think we're going to find a net.goth here that can upload the files to NME?
Guy: Well, some of the nicest net.goths can be found here. Only watch your step. This place can be a little rough.
Cleggy: I'm ready for anything.
The young Cleggy and Kara follow Guy into the smoke-filled pub. The murky, moldy room is filled with a startling array of weird and exotic punks and goths at the bar. Guy moves to the far end of the bar. The bouncer at the door stops Kara.
Bouncer: We don't serve their kind here!
Kara: What?
Bouncer: Your laptop. You'll have to leave it outside. We don't want them here.
Cleggy looks at Guy, who is busy talking to someone. He notices several of the dodgy-looking punks along the bar are giving him very unfriendly glares. Cleggy taps Kara on the shoulder.)
Cleggy: Listen, why don't you wait outside. We don't want any trouble.
Kara: I agree completely.
As Kara takes her laptop outside most of the punks at the bar go back to their drinks.
Guy is standing next to Pete, a very tall and skinny scruffy- looking goth. Guy speaks to the Quarrier, pointing to Cleggy several times during his conversation and the tall fellow suddenly lets out a horrifying laugh. Cleggy is more than a little bit disconcerted and pretends not to hear the conversation between Guy and the Quarrier.
Cleggy is terrified but tries not to show it. He quietly sips his pint looking over the crowd for a more sympathetic ear. Guy returns to the bar next to Cleggy and points to Pete
Guy: This is Pete. He's mates with a net.goth with a dialup account which might suit our needs.
The Clash plays on the jukebox as Cleggy, a bit tipsy, downs the rest of his drink follows Guy and Pete to a booth where Nic is sitting.
Nic: Nic Gibson. I work for Demon Internet. Pete tells me you're looking for internet access.
Guy: Yes, indeed. If it's a fast ISP.
Nic: Fast ISP? You've never heard of the Demon Internet?
Guy: Should I have?
Nic: It got .net magazine's award for the least down-time for a public ISP.
Guy reacts to Nic's attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation.
Nic: She's fast enough for you. What's the data?
Guy: Only a CD. About a gigabyte. And no questions asked.
Nic: What is it? Some kind of hacked software?
Guy: Let's just say we'd like to avoid any legal entanglements.
Nic: Well, that's the trick, innit? And it's going to cost you something extra. Fifty in advance.
Cleggy: Fifty quid? We could almost buy our own account for that!
Nic: But who's going to maintain it, kid! You?
Cleggy: You bet I could. I'm not so bad with computers myself! We don't have to sit here and listen...
Guy: We haven't that much with us. But we could pay you twenty quid now, plus a Virgin Prunes box set and 3 cans of Aquanet Super Hold when we've uploaded it.
Nic: All that, huh?
Nic ponders this for a few moments
Nic: Okay. You guys got yourself an ISP. We'll meet at my flat when you're ready. Take the bus one-thirty-four.
Guy: The one-thirty-four.
Guy and Cleggy leave to go find Kara
Nic: (to Pete) Heresie and Aquanet! Those guys must really be desperate. This could really be worthwhile. I should get back to my flat and get things ready.

Fade to black.

Fade in. Pete leads the group off the bus on Archway road and shows them into Nic's flat. In the front room, on a table is a large, beat-up, pieced-together hunk of junk that could only loosely be called a computer.

Cleggy: What a piece of junk.
The tall figure of Nic Gibson appears with a few mugs of tea.
Nic: She'll do nearly one-sixty-six megahertz, with a thirty-eight-four modem. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've added some special modifications myself.
Cleggy scratches his head. It's obvious he isn't sure about all this. Pete grabs a cuppa and urges the others to do likewise.
Nic: We're a little rushed, so if you'll sit down we'll get started.
The group head toward the futon, passing a grinning Nic Gibson
Nic: Pete, start the SLIP connection.
Pete sits down next to the computer and boots it up, as the group on the futon start drinking.
Kara: Oh, my. I'd forgotten how much I hate camomile tea.
The computer starts to whine with the sound of a successful dialup connection. Nic sits down in his chair next to Pete, who babbles away as he points to something on the screen. Nic frantically types into his computer.
Nic: It looks like a bad connection. Demon must have heavy traffic tonight. Try another line. Switch the parity while I adjust the number of stop bits.
Nic's computer redials and makes a new connection. The monitor spouts line after line of gibberish. Cleggy and Guy look over his shoulder as Nic continues his typing.
Nic: Stay sharp! There's alot of noise on this line; it's probably going to cut us off.
Cleggy: Why don't you send the files? I thought you said this thing was fast.
Nic: Watch your mouth, kid, or you're going to find yourself walking home. Everything will be fine once I make the FTP connection. Besides, I know a few tricks. We'll do it.
The computer beeps as Nic successfully logs in to his account
Nic: (typing frantically) Here's where the fun begins!
Guy: How long before you can start the FTP transfer?
Nic: It'll take a few moments to resolve the domain from the DNS server.
Cleggy: Are you kidding? With that much line noise?
Nic: Sending packets via FTP ain't like Fidonet, boy! Without the right sockets we could fail a DNS lookup or send the packets to a downed server and that'd kill your connection real quick.
Cleggy: What's that beeping?
Nic: We're getting too much line noise. Go stand back, I'm going to try another dialup connection.
Everyone in the room stands quiet as the computer dials a new number. The modem is silent for a few seconds. Then it squeals with the sound of a successful dialup connection. The tension in the room dissipates as Nic logs in.

Dissolve to to Nic's living room where Kara and Pete are sitting on the sofa, while Guy watches Cleggy drinking from his new mug. Guy suddenly turns away and sits down. He falters, seems almost faint.

Cleggy: Are you all right? What's wrong?
Guy: I felt a great pain in my head...as if millions of voices suddenly screamed in my ears, and then did it again. I fear I may have a hangover.
Guy rubs his forehead and takes an aspirin. He seems to drift into a trance. Then he fixes his gaze on Cleggy.
Guy: You'd better get on with your drinking.
Nic enters the living room.
Nic: Well, you can forget your troubles with the line noise. I told you we'd make a connection.
Cleggy is once again drinking from his large mug.
Nic: Don't everyone thank me at once.
Kara watches Pete engrossed in a game on the laptop in which three-dimensional figures move along a chess board.
Nic: Anyway, we should be be finished uploading the files at about midnight.
Cleggy stands in the middle of the living room; he seems frozen in place. A mug of ice-cold vodka is held just inches from his lips. Guy watches him from the corner, studying his movements. Nic watches with a bit of smugness.
Guy: Remember, a goth can feel the vodka flowing through him.
Cleggy: You mean it controls your actions?
Guy: Partially. But it also makes you giggle.
Nic: Hokey subcultures and fancy mugs are no match for a good pint of lager, kid.
Cleggy: You don't believe in vodka, do you?
Nic: Kid, I've travelled from one side of this planet to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful alcoholic beverage.
Guy smiles quietly
Guy: I suggest you drink some more, Cleggy.
Guy places a large scarf over Cleggy's head which covers his eyes.
Guy: This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct.
Cleggy: (laughing) With a blindfold on, I can't even see. How am I supposed to drink?
Guy: Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.
Nic skeptically shakes his head as Guy holds out a bottle of Smirnoff black label. The vodka pours out the end. Cleggy swings the mug around completely missing the stream of liquid, which pours onto the floor into a little puddle. He lets out a painful yell of disappointment.
Guy: Stretch out with your feelings.
Cleggy stands in one place, seemingly frozen. Guy moves the bottle leftward and starts to pour. Suddenly Cleggy spins around and catches the stream in his mug before it hits the floor. Guy stops pouring and Cleggy takes a large swig.
Guy: You see, you can do it.
Nic: I call it luck.
Guy: In my experience, there's no such thing as luck.
Nic hears a faint beeping from the far side of the flat.
Nic: Strange, looks like we're done FTPing the files.
Nic and Pete head back to the computer.
Cleggy: You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the bottle.
Guy: That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world.

Cut to the front room.

Nic: Stand by, here we go. Pete, check the internet connection.
Pete starts tapping at the keyboard, as Nic looks over his shoulder
Nic: What the...? Aw, we've lost the connection due to some weird net traffic or something.
Nic takes the keyboard and quickly types glancing between many windows at once. Cleggy makes his way into the room
Cleggy: What's going on?
Nic: The traceroute worked fine, the domain name is correct, except...no FTP site!
Cleggy: What do you mean? Where is it?
Nic: Thats what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It's been totally shut down.
Cleggy: What? How?
Guy enters the room behind Cleggy
Guy: Hacked...by Melody Maker.

Fade to black.


Part 4
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Writ by Bob
<Bob@darkwave.org.uk>