I hope everyone enjoys this the first chapter of the final version before final editing.

Let me now introduce Nibola Calton or as she prefers to be called Nibs or the Blackfairy. The story starts on the few days before the final exams of High School.

The Making of Nibs — Volume 1:The Beginnings

Chapter 1

Sat in the living room of Damien Cameron’s home in Suraban were Timaus, Damien and K-Dog.
Timaus thought about the fact he was about to suggest the one person he thought would be the best Academy student he had found since he had graduated 37 years ago. He placed his mug of coffee down asking, “Do you think I should put Nicholas Calton forward for selection to the Academy of the Street?”
Damien stood, he walked to the window and said as he went, “Yeah, the work he did for us on the Tecbos Publishing raid was excellent. If that is a sample of the work Nicholas has the ability to do, then yes. The only issue is how will he react to the truth about what is happening here?”
K Dog looked at Damien and then Timaus, after a pause he said, “I think Nicholas will excel in the environment as long as we give him the training he needs to defend himself. He may be fit but how strong is he and what are his fighting skills like?”
“Those I have an idea on already, they are not bad. He uses short staves as his preferred close combat weapon,” Timaus said.
“With that, I would not have a problem seconding your choice then,” K Dog replied before taking a mouthful of coffee.
“Right then I will send the netmail to the Selection Committee and let them know to start the observation of Nicholas.”
*****
“You know selection for next years Academy intake is coming up in the near future Gaz?” Sarah said as she leaned back into her leather office chair.
She sat behind a four by one and a half metre desk, in the front left hand corner was a 27” Liquid Plasma Display Monitor. Rotating on the screen was a wolf’s head encircled by the words ‘The Gangrel Gang - Let us be victorious by any means’. In front of the screen were a wireless keyboard and mouse. Sat on the opposite side of the desk was her PDU which was sat in its charger.
The LED on the top was green which indicated it was on the net waiting for Sarah to need it.
“Yes I do. Are you thinking of forwarding a Gangrel Street Gang Unit or something?” Gaz replied while he went about sorting out coffees for himself and Sarah.
Sarah replied as she sat forward, “Yes.”
She lent forward reaching for the keyboard and mouse. She brought up the unit rosters of all the Gangrel Street Gang Units, scrolling to the line entry for the Bitch Vixens. She pressed the return key and the screen displayed the database entry for the Bitch Vixens. Listed on the screen were all the operations the unit had completed since it joined the ranks of the Gangrels some 25 years ago. She scrolled down and stopped when the screen displayed the operations of the unit for the last four years.
“Which unit you planning to forward to the Selection Committee then?” Gaz asked as he walked to one of the three leather chairs in front of the desk.
“The Bitch Vixens,” she replied taking the mug of coffee Gaz put on the desk.
Gaz smiled and nodded his head in an approving way. “Good choice. But are they ready to join the ranks of The Conspiracy, especially with what happened to Paul and Sandra’s mum and dad?” he asked with a you sure about it tone to his voice.
“I think so. I think they will take the truth in their stride when they know the complete picture of what’s happening here.”
*****
14th Juwar Frodar 19:30.
Nick walked down the stairs from the first floor of his family’s home, which was located in Central District. The two storey building was built on one of the standard patterns. Three bedrooms, one bathroom on the first floor, one large living room that ran from the front to the back of the house, one kitchen and one dining room. Located on the left hand side of the house was a two car garage. One of the family’s two cars was parked in front of the closed garage doors; it belonged to his mother, who was sat at the computer in the living room. His father was out on site sorting the last bits and pieces of the latest contract. He knew his mum and dad were heading to South Sea Metro and a security upgrade of a Bastal Technologies Production site there. With being a three major student he had been given a scholarship by the MegaCorporation C.Industries to attend one of the leading colleges that had electronics and computer courses.
At this point he was not sure if he wanted to go. The scholarship would lead him to a well paid job as either a computer programmer or an electronics engineer. During his time in Suraban he had not been idle with the school work the corporate run high school threw at the students. He had been busy in a sideline business of upgrading residential security systems. Rather than install a brand new system that the thieves would more than likely know, he upgraded the system already present. He knew instinctively that when a thief came looking for targets they would hit the houses with a security system they knew. His ideas and plans revolved around presenting thieves with systems that he had no idea how to break. With Damien Cameron’s upgrade he had overlapped improved movement sensors.
The first set of sensors activated a second set, these pointed at right angles to the first, and it was this set that actually fired the alarm. It had been that overlap and the detection improvement that had stopped K-Dog and Cutters, two Street Ghosts, Damien had asked to test the system. It was that job and the month he spent researching the boring and dull stuff for Cameron’s Raiders that had been the most enjoyable time he spent in Suraban. The research work included information on corporate finances, bios for the main people on the corporate site the team was hitting. Timaus had upgraded his Associate listing to one of a full Street Ghost. It included a proviso that he should be treated as an associate until he was 18; his birthday was only a few weeks away now, when he was legally allowed to move out and become an independent person.
Nick walked towards the front door and realised that his posture was one of being depressed, which it should not be. The exams were finished; he was going to a party to celebrate the fact. He was wearing a feminine crop top cum sport’s bra and a pair of high leg knickers under his outer clothes. As he passed the coat hooks beside the door he called to his mum, “I am off out to the party I told you about. Do not expect me home until sometime tomorrow.” He made the conscious effort to straightening his slouch and afterward he felt much better. He was happy at the fact school had finished.
He thought, ‘Payback is going to be a real bitch,’ his thought tones were ones of being evil as now the school could not do a thing to stop him breaking the bones of the main bullies. This was the main reason for the depression, the bullying from the footbaal team.
“Ok hun. Have fun tonight, and do not get drunk,” his mum responded, turning from the work on finalizing the report to the board of ATDS.
He thought, ‘Jacket or no jacket? Jacket.’
He opened the front door and a few steps down the path, leading from the house to the road, he turned to look back. He thought, ‘I think this weekend will be the start of something new and a lot of fun. I wonder why Paul and Sandra invited me to the party? They know I have nothing that even comes close to the clothes they wear.’ He started the short walk to the bus-stop, heading for South Central 6 Plaza Bus Station.

*****

Sat in a living room were four young people, three women and one man all dressed in black baggies and various dark tops and t-shirts. All of the tops had logos of popular bands famous on the rock scene or the traditional wolf’s head of the Gangrels Gang. They were smoking pure cambar cigarettes and drinking large glasses of cabilla, a dark coloured, fizzy soft drink.
The living room was roughly eight metres wide by nine metres long. The front of the room was a split kitchenette with a breakfast-cum-eating area sticking out into the room. On the far wall was a computer area, beside which was an open fire place with small flames licking around a couple of pieces of pallet wood. Sat beside the fire was a pile of more wood and in front of the fire place were a couple of arm chairs. The man sat in the armchair closest to the main seating area. The three women were sat around the coffee table with Sandra sitting on one of the sofas and Tina and Abs both sitting on a pile of bean bags.
“Sandra?” Paul asked and turned to look at Sandra.
“Yes Paul?” Sandra replied turning to look at him, her shoulder length dark red hair shifting for the shoulder it had been on.
“Do you think Nick will come tonight?”
“I hope so; I think tonight he will find out that he has a lot more friends than he thought he had.” Sandra thought, ‘I do hope you come Nick, please come, even if you are not the person I think you are, I want to show you a good time before you leave Suraban.’
“So how are we going to make sure he knows where to come?”Abs asked looking at her bringing her back to the conversation.
“I sent him a netmail with the local area map, but we all know what SRa87663 is like, and that is where you two come in, Tina, Abs.”Sandra said and nodded at Tina and Abs. She took a drag from her cambar cigarette. “He said he would be arriving at the pub around 20:30 and with where he lives I would say at about 20:20 he’s going to be getting off the bus from Central district. Basically you two meet him somewhere near the bus-station and escort him to the pub.”
Tina took a mouthful from the glass and after placing it back on the coffee table said, “What makes you so sure he will come tonight; he has always lived the corporate life. What makes you think he is going to want to stay and live on this side of the street?”
“Gut instinct,” Sandra replied.
The front door opened and in walked a group of five, three women and two men, all of them looking and acting in a happy mood.
Abs called, “Hi Darla, Angel, Damieel. Oh hi Mike, Wayne, how’s things with you two?”
“Better,” Wayne replied as he took off his leather jacket and went to hang it up in the corridor. “Mike told his father about me and was pleasantly surprised, were you not Mike?”
“Yeah, he is ok with it as long as I do not flaunt it around him, which I do not as I spend more time at the South Central Sharks Home-base than I do at home. Oh thanks for the invite,” Mike said and handed his jacket to Wayne.
“Hey your welcome man,” Tina replied and she sounded and looked really happy. “You still not signed on the dotted line then?”
Mike moved into the main room and sat on one of the sofas. “No, I am waiting for a couple of months, until I am 18, before I make the jump. Let me just say dad is not likely to understand my choice this time. At the first Gathering following my 18th birthday Wayne is going to introduce me.”
Wayne walked back in and Sandra looked at the pair and saw the love of partners in their eyes, she smiled at the fact two good friends of hers were going to spend the rest of their lives together.
“You will enjoy the thirteen weeks at command. Basic Training it is an adventure all of its own,” said Wayne as he sat on Mike’s lap and took out two cambar cigarettes.
“We should be heading to the pub now, remember Tom is coming and we said we would meet him at the pub along with a few others,” said Paul standing up so he could collect his jacket and holster rig.
Sandra, Abs and Tina all followed him so they too could collect their jackets and holster rigs.
*****
Nick turned on to SRb780065 and headed for the bus-stop that would take him to South Central 6 Plaza.
On both sides of the road where single evenly spaced holes in the pavement from which grew either Sweet Fudam or Mardoshan trees. The houses that lined the road on both sides looked the same as the one Nick had just left. Some had cars sat outside the garages, other homes had garden furniture, some had flowers in small beds around the edge of the lawns. His home had nothing like that as he had only arrived ten months earlier from Ne-U-Bar.
He had enjoyed the time he had spent in Ne-U-Bar, especially the time he had spent with Uthura learning the combat form of Lappellr. That and the training he had had from Cubbadar and Sensei Hume meant he could survive fights and hand the attackers their arses rather than have them hand him his. It would have come as a shock to all of the bullies in the school that he was more than capable of handling more than one attacker at once. He also understood it would not look very good if he had broken some bones, as the school thought the sun shone out of the footbaal team’s arses. This was due massively to the time he had spent with Wong-Ma and Jum-Fu in Teabban. That period in his life was the best, those two had been brilliant friends and the training Sensei Hume had provided them had given him a founding in not only the martial arts but the world of street fighting. He fought the honourable combat; one on one, no holds barred street fighting, that’s until more than one fighter got involved, then the velvet gloves he would have been fighting in would come off and creator help the attackers. He knew that he was more than capable of ramming his fist right through a human, but he controlled his massive strength through martial arts discipline.
Since arriving in Suraban he started to noticed that his hearing, sight and sense of smell were also improving. He was capable of seeing detail in objects at a far greater distance than anyone else, hear sounds everyone missed or didn’t know was happening. He was also definitely reacting faster than nearly everyone including some professional Street Ghosts and they had modifications like Boosted Reflexes.
As he walked up the road to the bus stop he carried his jacket over his shoulder. His face was one big smile, he was very happy at the adventures and the people he had met over his 18 years. The sun was warm and the sky was a light blue, off to the east the sky was getting a little darker as evening drew on. He reached the bus-stop which was a short distance down SRb654435 from where it joined the street on which his home was located. He had walked this street every school day he had been in Suraban heading for the High School. On the opposite side of the street were large 9 to 20 apartment buildings, each had a main exit and a path that ran to the back areas.
Waiting at the bus-stop were two women, both of them wore smart clothes and looked like they were heading home after a day in the office. The bus-stop was one that had had a cover and a three line information board hanging from the roof. He looked up at the sign which was indicating the arrival times for the next three buses. After looking down the list, the last item displayed was the bus he wanted. The arrival time indicated it was due in five minutes. ‘I think tonight will be fun, and who knows,’ he thought and a subtle smile grew on his lips at this thought.
He watched the two women standing under the bus shelter and saw that they both looked like they had just finished work for the week and were looking forward to the weekend off. The second one in the queue saw the bus she wanted and moved out from under the shelter so she could stick her hand out. The bus slowed and stopped, the doors opened allowing her on, she paid the bus driver the cost of the ticket she needed and the doors closed.
A couple of minutes later Nick saw the single deck bus he wanted and he too moved from under the shelter and stuck his right hand out. The driver slowed and stopped the bus almost in front of him. The compressed air hissed as the system forced it into the door opening mechanism; the doors open to allow both Nick and a second man, who had just arrived, to board.
Nick dropped the two decks for the ticket into the hopper; the machine buzzed and the ticket appeared from the slot in the side. He took the ticket and moved down the bus to a free pair of seats where he sat so he could look out of the window.
The bus was one of the standard designs with 54 seats, space for 12 people to stand or six people standing and two wheel chairs. The inside of the bus was painted the same colour as the outside, a light midnight blue. On the curve of the roof coming down to meet the windows were various posters advertising local shops, services and special offers the bus company had on offer.
He took out his digital player’s wireless headphones and stuck them into his ears. The player followed and he pressed the play button. He pressed the forward button until 'To Lover's Heaven Giths Go' by Dark Legion started. He knew that he would have to go and see Dark Legion play; he had never been to a MegaBand Gig, and Dark Legion was one of those, one of the biggest MegaBands.
At the front of the bus on the boarding behind the driver was the route the bus took, he counted the number of stops before the bus-station and saw that he had 25 stops. The bus first went north and at the border of North Central District it turned south and the stop Nick wanted was South Central 6 Plaza Bus-station.
As the bus drove its route he looked out of the window at the houses, office blocks, and the various corporate run shops and boutiques. He thought, 'Is tonight the start of a new page in my life. Will I be in control of my life or will things over take me? Who knows, but I bet it will be fun finding out.’

*****

In a darkened alley near the bus-station exit stood Abs and Tina, they both stood waiting for the bus carrying Nick to arrive at the bus station.
Abs took out her mobile and saw the time was 20:18. After putting it away she dropped her Coltanar 2-6 Machine Pistol and checked the magazine and the breech. “It should be here soon.”
“Good,” Tina said, who was making a point of having her jacket slightly open and the bulge under her armpit as obvious as she could make it to those who looked at the pair.
As the bus from Central Main bus-station turned into the entrance Tina said, “There it is.”
Abs looked at the bus and her vision easily picked out Nick stood at the front of the bus. ‘What the hell,’ she thought, 'that's way too much detail.' She saw the wireless earphones Nick was wearing.
She heard Tina zip the zip up a bit more and Tina shifted her Theaban 44 Heavy Automatic so it was less obvious.
Tina smiled at her life partner Abs as they watched the passengers exit the bus station.

*****

As the bus approached South Central 6 Plaza Bus-Station Nick stood, pressing the bell to indicate someone wanted to get off at the next stop. He said, “Thanks mate,” to the bus driver and the driver closed the door pulling away heading for the exit and its next stop. Stood on the pavement beside the bus stop he took out his PDU and checked the map Sandra, one of his only friends in the high school, had sent him in a netmail earlier in the week.
She was known as a Gangrel in school as she wore black or dark coloured clothes and lighter than normal makeup. She also wore contrasting dark and rich colours, mainly reds, blues and violets. This surprised him as around the rest of the world he had seen people who dressed in the same way call themselves Giths.
He pressed the stop button on his Digital Player and removed the earphones as he walked out of the passenger exit and turned down SRa87663. The street was lined with small shops belonging to small companies and sole traders trying to survive against the massive buying and selling power of the Corporations. Every so often a shop frontage was boarded up against squatters and the like who used the empty shops as drug dens, brothels or squats.
The road and pavements on both sides of the street were dirty and unkempt. Sticking up through the tarmac and the pavements were various trees. From what Nick could see Attarbar, Common Brattiss and Zurbark Oaks were most numerous but other trees and bushes also appeared. The pavement and road itself were filled with pot holes and worn tarmac. A couple of beaten up old cars drove past him heading down the road to the main road. More old and beaten up cars were parked on the side of the road, some had people leaning up against them, he guessed they were selling drugs or black market items.
The contrast between the two districts hit him hard; he had seen slums in other cities, but never this close to the main governmental district. The bus ride down from the north of Central District, through various Corporate Enclaves that existed through out 20%, if not more, of the city. As the bus had approached the borders the difference in the condition of the housing slowly changed from being pristine on the enclaves to more run down and dilapidated.
As Nick walked towards the main road he neither looked at the people nor did he spend time wondering about them. His senses were at a very much heightened level, as he wanted to be able to react to a threat before it became a problem. His plan, should it happen, was to stop, face the problem and stare the person down, using his clenched fists as a sign that he was ready to fight.

Tina looked at Nick and how he held himself, thinking, ‘I wonder about Nick’s upbringing. He looks like he knows how to fight. Interesting, I wonder what else we don’t know about you Nick. I think Sandra’s idea of inviting you to join us may pan out better than we initially thought.’

Fifty metres down the road Nick bumped into two girls he had seen hanging around with Paul and Sandra. He looked at the pair and saw that the left one was wearing black baggies and a t-shirt with a wolf’s head on it coupled with the words ‘Gangrel Street Gang’. Over the top she was wearing a leather jacket, the zip just over a third of the way closed. Her face was oval in shape but she had friendly hazel eyes and a pleasant smile, her brown hair hung to about her shoulders.
She said, “Hi, I’m Tina and this is Abs. Sandra asked us to meet you. She is waiting at a local pub for a couple of other people to arrive.”
He heard a male sounding voice, not a female one as would the clothes and the pair of breasts would indicate. ‘Interesting,’ he thought.
Abs was wearing a similar pair of baggies, a Dark Legion top and, like Tina a leather jacket except Abs had two buttons done up. Her hair was matt black and platted all the way to her waist. They were both wearing a similar style pouch on their left hips.
As the three walked, Nick looked a little more closely at the pair. Even though they both were wearing leather jackets he swore they both had bulges just under their left arm pits. He also thought the right hand side had similar lumps.

*****

After walking and small talking with the pair they arrived at a set of stairs leading down to the basement of an old tenement block. The window frames were of toughened environment resistant plastic. The block still had all its windows intact and appeared to be being looked after by the inhabitants as the front door, which was up two steps, had a fresh coat of paint on it and the walls were white washed. The railings that protected the steps down had a fresh coat of paint and looked newish compared to the rest of area.
“Here we are,” said Tina turning down the steps heading into the basement.
Nick followed Abs down the ten concrete steps which led to the front door of the pub. The door was painted red and had a small window on each side. Tina opened the door, went in and Tina held the door open for both Abs and Nick to enter.
As Nick was coming through the door he saw Paul and Sandra sitting at one of the tables along with eight more people. Some he had seen hanging around with Paul and Sandra others not. The walls of the main tap room were lined with what looked like Oraka panels, but, from the neighbourhood, it was likely fake or laminated. The rest of the fixtures, which were made from natural wood, turned it from an underground bar into an old style pub of the mid 1900AM. The rest of the cliental looked like good people and most of them seemed to keep to themselves, chatting about life, loves and work.
The three walked towards the bar where Nick ordered a pint of Caferras; an alcoholic drink that originated from the country of Eban. Tina and Abs ordered a pint of Cabilla each.
Whilst Nick was standing at the bar he watched the barman pour the drinks and noticed that he looked happy to be serving customers. He thought he knew why. From the way the people who used the bar looked it wasn’t the normal reason at least I have a job and am earning a little money. It was one of more general happiness at being there; making sure friends and the customers had a good service.
The barman placed his Caferras on the bar. “Three decks, please.”
Nick handed the barman three deck coins, picked up the glass and turned to face the group he was meeting before going to the main party.
He saw Tom sitting with his friends from school and Tom was looking happy. Nick had heard he was the main target for the bullies since they had arrived at the school two years earlier. Tom had been, he wasn’t big in size, but Nick knew he had an intellect that few people realised.

After taking a mouthful of lager, Tom looked up happy at the fact Nick had been able to find the bar and had made it in one piece. He called, “Hey Nick.”

Nick approached the group carrying his glass, he looked around and saw a spare wooden chair nearby and grabbed it. He moved the chair so it was close to the group. He placed the glass down on the table and turned to face Tom.
“Hi Tom, good to see you here, at least I’m not the only person out of place. Anyway I thought you weren’t going to be able to make it?”
“No. I put my foot down and walked out. I needed a party to celebrate the last exam and not having to go back after I return my books, which I’ll do on Moroth.”
Paul looked at Nick and said, “Hello Nick, it’s good to see you made the party.”
“Yeah hi Nicki,” said Sandra, she turned to face Nick and her face wore a big smile, it included both her mouth and eyes. As Tina and Abs sat down, Sandra said, “Hi you two.”
Nick heard Sandra say, ‘Nicki’, but decided to make nothing of it, shrugging his shoulders. He then took the glass and drunk a mouthful.
“Hi Sandra,” both Abs and Tina responded.