Necrocode - Grueberfest 2007 (616 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 1.26 on 42 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (View user info) at 2007-10-02 12:51:53 EDT
I first stumbled across the Necrocode while surfing the web. I noticed its presence on a website one day while I was surfing. A simple thing, it was tucked into the corner and made the same color as the background so that the only way you would see it is if you highlighted that section of the page. I happened to want to copy the entire page and had hit ctrl+a to select everything. I noticed it right away but didn't think much of it until I pasted the page into the document I was working on and saw the little piece of code didn't paste.
ﺶﻒﻚﻹﻬﺊ
Curious I tried viewing the source code of the page and found that the symbol did not exist in the source code. I tried printing the page and found it missing from that too. Perplexed, I drew the symbol out and finished my work on the computer. I shoved the piece of paper with the drawing in my back pocket and decided to take it to my language arts professor to see if he'd know what it meant.
I spoke to several different people, friends and acquaintances, as I crossed campus to the Languages building. It was a beautiful fall day and they were all asking me if I'd be at the homecoming celebrations later that evening. Finally I knocked on the professor's door and he welcomed me.
"Hey Doc, do you recognize this?"
I showed him the piece of paper and watched him cringe.
"Where did you get this?"
I told him about the webpage and how I couldn't copy it or print it and how I'd finally just drawn it out so I could find out what it was.
"What you've "drawn" is the word pestilence in Arabic. Did you spend any time with anyone on your way here?"
"No, not really, I stopped and talked to a few friends but just in passing."
"You should try to reach all of them and tell them to go to the hospital. "
"What? Why would I do that? What's wrong Doc?"
"Matt, I've heard of this. I've seen some of the text. I've heard rumors about the power behind it. What you have here is a piece of the Necrocode. I am going to the hospital immediately but I think you should take this and see my friend Jonathan Raines. Hopefully he can tell you how to overcome this and can fill you in more on the Necrocode. Do not talk to anyone on your way to see Jonathon and please tell your friends to go to the hospital."
"Doc, what the fuck is this? What are you talking about? Just tell me why you're so freaked out about this."
The Doc was putting on his coat and was nearly out the door as I said this last. Before leaving he turned and said to me "Go see Jonathon immediately." I began to protest once more and the Doc cut me off "Go! Get going NOW and remember, talk to NOONE." With that he was out the door.
I took the directions the Professor had given me along with the piece of the Necrocode and began walking to Jonathon's. As I walked I tried calling some of my friends, DOC had never reacted as violently as he had to the drawing so I did not doubt that he was sincere in his plea that I contact my friends. The only problem was that as I reached each new person I found that I could not articulate any particular reason they should go to the hospital. Most of them dismissed my request telling me I'd finally gone off the deep end.
"Whatever" I thought to myself, "I did my part. I wouldn't go to the hospital either if I called me and said go to the hospital right now. I can't tell you why or for what, you just have to go.
I finally reached Jonathon's door and knocked, still wondering why I was even going through this. I really questioned my sanity when a man wearing a purple dress and combat boots answered the door.
"You are Matt?" he asked and, catching the surprised look on my face, added "The Doc called and said you were coming. He said you have a piece of the Necrocode."
"Yeah, I guess, what the fuck is this all about?"
"The history of the Necrocode is long and, unfortunately, very incomplete. Doc said that he'd already told you that the piece you copied is pestilence. Very basically, the act of copying that and carrying it with you has bound pestilence to your soul. Everyone you've come in contact with today will be affected by it. I will help you cleanse yourself of it but I need to warn you that until you cleanse your soul you will be the messenger. The Necrocode was originally found in ancient texts and its affect on those who took it has been well documented. Few people today know of its existence but there are some who are trying to resurrect the Necrocode to begin a purging of humanity.
Its creator was a shaman or magic man of sorts who had studied the dark arts for years. He found that he could embed his "message" in text and anyone who copied it out of the text would then carry his message wherever he went. The invention of the printing press, while a great boon to society was also a great bane throughout Europe. Pestilence was printed over and over until finally Much of Europe suffered its wrath in the form of the Black Plague. Every generation seemed to resurrect this evil from the 15th century until late into the 18th century.
Those that have resurrected it have found three of the five messages that comprise the Necrocode. Deception is the first and causes its hosts to dismay as all they encounter in life after discovering it is shrouded in deception. Pride is the second, causing its host to wallow in pride until they can no longer abide the existence of anyone who would dare challenge their superiority. Pestilence is the third. The host acts as a carrier spreading pestilence to all they encounter. The fourth and fifth elements of the Necrocode remain buried in history, thus far. The fourth is dismemberment and the fifth is Death. In the end all of the various elements of the Necrocode amount to the fifth element spreading death and dismay to all who encounter a host of any piece of the Necrocode.
As the host of Pestilence you've brought the plague back. It is already spreading from those you encountered today and even now I am being infected. As its host you are impervious to it as the creator of the Necrocode wished to harness these harbingers of death so that he could purge the world of those he deemed unfit.
In order to rid yourself of Pestilence you will need to complete the Necrocode and destroy it."
"And what if I don't believe you?"
"You will. If not now then soon you will see it and accept it. Begin your journey today to lessen the suffering you will encounter and cause. Start today Matt."
"I need to think about all this, this sounds like a load of shit. I need to get out of here."
"Son, I know that I've dumped a lot in your lap but you WILL have to take responsibility of this in order to overcome it. I can help you but may not be able to much longer. Start today."
My thoughts were circling in a frenzy of denial, fear, confusion, and anger and I decided I just had to get out of there and, shamefully, I have to admit that I turned and ran from Jonathon, from his house, from the destruction that I accidentally began and had yet to accept.
I went back to my dorm and lay in my bed and slept. I dreamt in disturbing clarity of a world purged of the "lesser" class of man. I dreamt of people destroying all that humanity wrought and destroying each other. I dreamt of people walking, dead, through the streets, their flesh sloughing off in gooey drips. I woke from this vivid nightmare when I saw my mother taken by Pestilence, her face falling from its precarious perch on her skull, revealing all beneath it. I woke screaming as I watched her pick up a child and begin to gnaw on the child as though it were a gigantic drumstick.
I woke screaming and covered in a sickly, cold, sweat. When I finally recovered my senses I felt stupid and angry that I'd been talked into believing in this Necrocode. I sat down at my computer and out of curiosity returned to the site I'd seen earlier that day, the site that started all of this nonsense, and found that the symbol was no longer there. I poked around some more on the web and even tried searching for "Necrocode" and found nothing else. I decided to check my email and after doing so was returned to Yahoo's home page and saw a headline that sent shivers through me.
"23 dead after mysterious illness sweeps across college campus"
"Impossible" I thought. I turned the computer off and turned on my television. Every station was broadcasting images I could not accept. Images straight out of my dream. Broken people stumbling around in sickening lurches, bits and pieces of their flesh hanging and falling from their bodies. I got up and opened my window shade, and looking out the window, saw the very same images in person.
I stared until a kid ran to my window and started pounding on the glass. I looked at the kid, his face an explosion of color, one eye hanging on a thread from its socket, his teeth black, and worst of all I believed I could actually see the disease eating him. I turned and ran from the room feeling sick, scared, and filthy. I ran from that room knowing I had to hope that Jonathon was still alive, still intelligent. I ran hoping that my accident could be remedied before worse began to happen.
It started so innocently and ended so badly but this was the beginning of my quest for the Necrocode and now I must implore you to stay well away from me unless you have information that will further my cause. I am a carrier of pestilence and spread it to all I encounter. There are few who are immune or impervious to it and I know you don't want to find out the hard way if you are one of those. That was a mere week ago and much has happened since then. When I have the time I will continue this chronicle to preserve whatever knowledge I gain of this attack on humanity. In the meantime, steer clear of me. Avoid me like the plague motherfucker because I AM the plague incarnate. All because of the Necrocode.
User Reviews
Submitted by ColchesterDr (user info) at 2007-10-07 13:03:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
This needs to be a novel or something.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2007-10-05 15:44:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
There were too many wtf moments in this for me, but you gave it a goddamned good shot, so no negative rating.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2007-10-03 19:42:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 12:52:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
huh, what the fuck is that garbage? oh well... I know this is long and doesn't really come to a solid conclusion but I have so much more to go that I figured I'd just have to serialize it if anyone is actually interested in seeing it come to an end. thanks in advance for reading. B
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Yeah, I know what you mean.
I hate to seem reciprocal, but you're getting a 1.5 also. 2 for a great idea; 1 for execution.
Nah fuck it. You can have a 2. There's no time to develop a story without the weekend. I'm going to take this up with the boss. Some of us work for a living and like to watch baseball.
Submitted by TechnoRatty (user info) at 2007-10-03 15:55:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
A fantastic concept, especially as I'm sitting here supposed to be studying c#, javascript and SQL..
Submitted by triangle_man (user info) at 2007-10-03 13:33:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
core of a really cool story
Submitted by zwerg (user info) at 2007-10-03 08:42:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Some of the writing was akward, but I really liked the plot.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2007-10-02 23:12:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Great idea.
Needed more development.
Submitted by experima (user info) at 2007-10-02 22:55:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-10-02 20:02:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'd like to see you flesh it out, it could be a really good series.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-10-02 20:01:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This is a really cool idea.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2007-10-02 19:10:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm looking at this like a rough draft. You should expand on it because mixing terror with technology always works because of people's inheriant paranoia about things they don't understand, and most people don't understand computer technology.
Eyeballs hanging out....ew!
Submitted by baronMunchausen (user info) at 2007-10-02 18:25:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
This was very close to being really good-the lack of commas in obvious places and some other editorial errors really threw off the whole feel for me...it could have been a certain +2 with one editing.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-10-02 18:01:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked it. But then, I've worked in computers all my life.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2007-10-02 16:24:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ah this is what happens when you surf YouTube.
I thought the beginning was too technical and didn't really grab me. The middle was awesome but it all ended rather abruptly.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2007-10-02 16:07:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
and I need to study how you use dialogue as well, I suck at dialogue.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2007-10-02 16:06:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think it would have been awesome scary, if you had pasted an image of "code" at the bottom.
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2007-10-02 14:55:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Not bad for as tough a title as it was. Though the plot needed much more development before you started writing, it was an excellent idea.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 14:54:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
despair would have been the better word and probably IS the word I was looking for though dismay still works... it's just not as strong. good catch though.
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-10-02 14:50:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
And you meant despair, not dismay.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 14:23:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
funny thing about the symbols.... when I pasted it in the submit window they displayed as intended they didn't change to that shit until i submitted it.
thanks again.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 14:22:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
don't ever feel bad about giving me honest criticism. I appreciate it.
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-10-02 14:19:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sorry for being stingy. I liked this, but you threw me slightly by being so matter-of-fact in the beginning.
And as you said yourself, it was a lot of backstory and not a large amount of actual plot.
This is just a personal preference, but I'd have chosen to not do this; ﺶﻒﻚﻹﻬﺊ
because I like it better when the symbols are all mystical and spooky and undefined; they could be ANYTHING.
But I think you have something here, work the kinks out and entertain us some more, please.
Submitted by Coleslaw_Murphy (user info) at 2007-10-02 14:05:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The arabic certainly doesn't look infecting, but I'm sure it is.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:58:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:52:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
THORNS IS CARRYING THE PLAGUE EVERYONE!! PLAGUE I TELL YOU! THORNS IS THE PLAGUE
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:51:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I copies and pasted that into a text file and viewed it in my web browser, before I even continued reading the story.
Does this mean I'M infected, now?
DAMN YOU BARRY
DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Submitted by ChaosJester (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:45:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-10-02 12:53:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This had potential, but somewhere in the mix, it lost its focus.
Submitted by ShapeShifter (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:33:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Almost, but not quite. Good effort, however.
Submitted by lostnphound (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:32:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This was good. I would definitely like to see a series or continuation of some kind.
I've also enjoyed some of your other works.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:30:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I like it.
but I hate gruberfest. too gory!
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:25:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I'll come back and be constructive later.
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:19:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:09:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I think part of the problem I had is I had to provide some sort of context or definition of what the Necrocode is and after building enough of that had a ton of "story" already. i have more in mind for this, ie the other four elements of the Necrocode, maybe I'll finish it sometime.
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Agreed. Like I said, you have a strong idea, but the scope of the project was too big. You need more time and space to "flesh" it out, allow it to grow. Again, good concept.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:13:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:09:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I think part of the problem I had is I had to provide some sort of context or definition of what the Necrocode is and after building enough of that had a ton of "story" already. i have more in mind for this, ie the other four elements of the Necrocode, maybe I'll finish it sometime.
Submitted by ilikesteak (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:05:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Horror must be hard to write here.
I'd think it would be, seeing as there's nothing here that would lead me to the end result of a horror piece.
Maybe I've been desensitized.
Awesome work despite tyhe title given to you though. I'm blaming this on the title, and rating this as what you worked out under the circumstance.
Submitted by Hilarity_Ensues (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:04:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I love the idea, but it could've done without this bit: 'Avoid me like the plague motherfucker because I AM the plague incarnate. All because of the Necrocode'.
I dunno, it just threw off the end. I'd love to see it become a series though.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 13:01:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
who you calling noob, noob?
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2007-10-02 12:59:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
LOL N00B
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2007-10-02 12:56:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
yah this just needs developing.
(imagine ME saying that. jesus)
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 12:55:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
yeah I know.... I actually do like the idea a lot but it needs a lot more room to grow than I can afford time or space for. thanks again.
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-10-02 12:53:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This had potential, but somewhere in the mix, it lost its focus.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-02 12:52:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
huh, what the fuck is that garbage? oh well... I know this is long and doesn't really come to a solid conclusion but I have so much more to go that I figured I'd just have to serialize it if anyone is actually interested in seeing it come to an end. thanks in advance for reading. B