A DEMON IN THE NET -- Outline

[Note:  not clear yet whether we really want traditional chapter
 divisions.  We may settle for just the event tags and maybe some
 major breaks.
]

[Note:  it is possible that we may want to recast this in first
 person, as told by Judith.
]

[Note:
      Lady M is a separate story in the same universe; it should do as
      a short story.  Note that it may require someone else in the
      place of Lady M in Demon.
]

0.  Background

	[Character: Geoff Kalman; deceased, note: {the Hackers' poet 
	 laureat.}, died: {doing inspection on Spaceport One's shield
	 during construction}, note: {(ex?)wife stayed behind on Earth.}
	]
	[Character: Melody; instanceOf: (Succubus Hack Songbird), livesWith:
	 Geoff Kalman, nowCalled: The Lady M, note: {stayed in Spaceport One
	 to get away from reminders of Geoff}
	]



	The HackTown flag:

		sable, in dexter chief the constellation of the Big
		Dipper, argent, in sinister base a winged cockroach 
		rampant or, armed with mace, sword, buckler, and 
		spraycan, argent.

1.  Demon Attack (An Interrupted Visit)

	[Character: Judith; instanceOf: Succubus, livesWith: David]
	[Character: Ozma; instanceOf: Succubus, livesWith: Dorothy Samuels,
	 nodeName: Oz]
	[Character: Elspeth; instanceOf: Succubus, livesWith: Jake]
	[Character: The Lady M; instanceOf: Succubus, nodeName: Clubhouse, 
         formerly: Melody, retired]

       	Elspeth is the first victim of the attack; she was the target,
	although they don't know it yet.  The demon was able to destroy
	her process first because it had her ID.  She is attacked at home
	as well, and destroyed.	 She manages, however, to encode some vital
	information in a holo display.

	Ozma manages to fight the demon to a standstill using a 
	replicator, but her node is a mess and most of her data gone.

	It is not yet clear whose friend gets killed at this point.  My
	guess is Ozma's, which leaves it for her and Elspeth's friend Jake 
	to get together when it's over.

	Judith and the Lady M escape by the same trick:  powering down
	their network taps.  This, however, leaves Lady M stuck in the
	Clubhouse.  Here she and the others living there manage to pool
	enough knowledge to construct a good demon trap. [?]

	[Note:  The original plan was to fill out the chapter with
	 J's memories of the visit, but it would also be possible to 
	 fill in what happened to the other characters.  On the other
	 hand it might be better to let most of that be discovered later.
	]

	[Note:  I'm dubious about Rose.  She may not be necessary.]

	[Hole:  The relationships need fleshing out.  My guess would be
	 Dorothy and Jake, with Dorothy being a recent fling of
	 David's.  Rose, I think, belongs with Spaceport One's
	 florist, or maybe Hacktown's.	Let's say Hacktown's, and
	 meet her later.  Rose is deleted from this chapter.
	]

2.  Meeting (A Remembered Meeting)

	Flashback, from Judith's point of view, of her meeting with
	David..

	[Character: David Hallings; occupation: life support engineer]

	[Note on occupation:  we need something that's not too
	computerish.]

3. Party (A Remembered Party)

	Flashback; a party a few months ago.  

	I think we need something like this to build up characters,
	esp. David, Jake, and Dorothy.

	This is about the time when Dorothy starts going heavily with
	Jake rather than David.

	[Character:  Jake Alcorn; occupation: propulsion systems designer.]

	[Character:  Francis X. "Wild Bill" Williams; occupation:
	 some kind of administrator, inChargeOf: Spaceport One
	]

	[Character:  Marty Greenspan; worksWith: Jake, occupation:
	 propulsion systems construction engineer
	]
	[Character:  Alice; instanceOf: Succubus, livesWith: Marty]

	D. may very well meet some HackTowners here, i.e. the
	Nordstroms and possibly Lex.  Good opportunity for a
	difference of opinion.


4.  Flight (Reunion and Retreat)

	J. gets in touch with D, and he comes home.

	D's trip home would be good for getting in some details about
	the layout of Spaceport One, and more recollections (from J's
	p.o.v.) about their life together.

	D. and J. escape to HackTown.

	Before leaving they reconnect their comp; the demon attacks
	it.

	There ought to be some difficulty getting out, but I'm not
	sure how to arrange it.	 Something around the Hub.

	This is a good place to expound on the local geography.
	The trip through the HackTown Bridge takes about an hour.

	[Later:  not a bridge--a capsule ride.]

5.  HackTown (Haven, with Hackers)

	D. and J. arrive in HackTown, find shelter, and take the lay
	of the land.

	[Note:  I am seriously considering making the hotel etc. be
	 in the zero-g sphere.  This would require only rather minor 
	 rewrites at this stage, but ought to be done before proceeding
	 with the next chapter.

	 Ok, talked me into it.	 [Date: 871208]
	]

	They make the acquaintance of HackHack and Jeeves, and make a
	first foray back to Spaceport One.

	We then find out what happened to Ozma, Elspeth, 
	and their companions.

	Dorothy has been murdered.  Elspeth has been erased; Jake
	is nowhere to be found.  Ozma's node has been wiped,
	but she and Dorothy were keeping off-site backups, and the
	last memories have been transferred there.


6.  HackTown Fry

	House specialty of the Golden Cockroach, HackTown's prime
	feedbag and watering hole.  OF COURSE we include the recipe
	(in the form of a frame, natch).

	[Note:  HackTown cooking tends to be heavily into (dim sum,
	 sushi, and other bitesized items), things stuck together
	 with thick sauces (e.g. HackTown Fry), and sizeable lumps of
	 meat or vegetable that can be speared or hand-held and
	 nibbled, frequently with a dip.
	]

	D. and J. make the acquaintance of Lex, a hacker (female)
	and her familiar Yack.  This will eventually develop into 
	a love interest, so it would be best if they don't hit it 
	off at first.  [Note:  may have clashed briefly at the party,
	above.]

	We also meet the real sleuth:  Old Hack.  Also several other
	hackers and Worms.

	[Character:  Alexandra (Lex | Lexer) Kalman; age: 19, 
	 note: {second- or third- generation hacker}, 
	 note: {blames Spaceport One for her father's death, with some
	        justification.}
	]
	[Character:  Yack; instanceOf: (Succubus Hack), livesWith: Lex
	 note:  {This name is, of course, a _very ancient pun, derived
	         from the common cliche, "go together like lex and yacc".}
	 note:  {living near the Nordstroms, but very much a loner
	         since her father's death.}
	]

	[Character:  Violet Nordstrom; occupation: florist,
	 marriedTo: Red Devil Nordstrom, originalName: Frances]
	[Character:  Rose; instanceOf: (Succubus Hack), livesWith: Violet]
	[Character:  Red Devil Nordstrom, hairColor: red, marriedTo:
	 Violet Nordstrom]
	[Character:  Bub; instanceOf:  (Incubus Hack), livesWith: Red
	 Devil, longName: Beelzebub]
	[Character:  Amethyst Crystal (Amy) Nordstrom; childOf: (Violet,
	 Red) Nordstrom, age: 9]

	[Character:  Old Hack; instanceOf: Hack, note: {probably the
	 _initial instance (exemplar) of Hack}]

	[Character:  Frank Wong; proprietorOf: Golden Cockroach;
	 fullName: Benjamin Franklin Wong; marriedTo: Susie]
	[Character:  Archie; instanceOf: (Hack Cookie), livesWith:
	 Frank Wong]
	[Character:  Susie Wong; proprietorOf: Golden Cockroach;
	 marriedTo: Frank]

	[Note:  observe that hackers' names are frequently "handles", 
	 and that the names of their familiars are often closely
	 related, usually by a pun.
	]

.  Wreckage

	D looks for physical clues using a cleaning robot, with
	Old Hack (or maybe Yack) co-piloting.  The
	robot, called a Dust Bunny, is fuzzy (for dusting, of course)
	and about the size of a large rabbit.

	Lady M and the others besieged in the Clubhouse are sprung.
	(Actually, met as they are getting out is more likely).

	Another possibility is that the Clubhouse node is picked up
	and rescued by Jake.

	Both Jake and David are suspects for Dorothy's murder; in
	Jake's case he actually _was there, shortly after the deed.
	[Query: why did Jake go and hide afterward?  It's likely he 
	 went back to _his apt and found similar wreckage; he _may
	 have found something else as well, i.e. evidence that it's
	 an official plot.
	]
	
	[Query:  _where did Jake go?]

.  Backlash

	Sometime around here there is a massive computer
	"malfunction" in Spaceport One's life-support system.  Blame
	is quickly assigned to the Hackers, with Jake and David
	thrown in.  They are, after all, known computer lovers.

	[Note:  it would work best if Dorothy is one of the few real
         programmers on the Spaceport; probably working in Life
	 Support (yes, with David).
	]

	Demands are made.  This sets things up for HackTown becoming
	independent later on.  D and J will end up living there.

	Officialdom starts muttering about "shutting down" HackTown,
	which was the idea all along.

.  Reconstruction

	Wherein some more clues begin to emerge.  Fuzz in the holo
	tank in Elspeth's apt is recognized as data; it turns out to
	be a bit of Elspeth's personality profile and recent memories.

	It's Ozma that assimilates Elspeth's save set.  
	At this point it is realized that a Plot is in progress.

	This may be just against HackTown, or even against the whole
	colony.

[PlotNote:  Things could go two ways at this point.  In the one case,
 plot against HackTown, the Hackers probably end up cutting loose and
 going their own way.

 With a plot against the colony, the Hackers end up saving the day and 
 get popular, possibly even rising to a leadership role.  
 In this case, the official disapproval of HackTown would be a smokescreen
 for the real plot.

 It could even be a hybrid--initially anti-Hacker or anti-Computer,
 and ending up anti-Space.

 The roots in either case go back to the Grand Hack, since it was the 
 neo-Luddite attitude that the Hackers were escaping.

 It works best, I think, if it is a semi-official plot against
 HackTown.
]

[PlotNote:  On the other hand, this may be a thriller/utopia rather
 than a mystery.  We'll see how it develops, and whether the accent
 is on the puzzle or the action.
]

[Note:  I'm having trouble figuring out where Jake fits into all
 this.  Why does he hide?  Does he know or suspect something?
 Who does he end up with?  What is he really working on?
]

.  Wheels Within Wheels

	There are actually _two plots going on, though this doesn't 
	become apparent until later.  The "official" scheme is to fake
	some mildly alarming computer problem and blame it on the
	Hackers.  The whole thing is sort of nebulous and ad-hoc, the
	idea of a "plumbers-like" group somewhere between the NSA and
	NASA.

	The religious fanatics, meanwhile, have put some agents on
	board Spaceport One to see about "getting the Godless out of
	Heaven."  Their plan was to cause some kind of accident that
	will be sufficiently expensive to get the project canned.
	If it resulted in the total destruction of HackTown and its
	"perverts", so much the better.

	Part of the key to this is the space-based laser that
	Jake is working on as a booster for solar sailing craft.  
	Officially it has other uses, i.e. "traditional"
	laser-powered propulsion.  Unofficially, some people are
	hoping it will turn out to be a weapon.  The fanatics see it
	as the hand of God.