About 9 months ago, I wrote a short story. It's a piece of fanfiction based on the Destiny videogame franchise; I wrote it mostly to prove to myself that I could. I incorporated things that I felt Destiny was lacking: Exploration of the interiority of characters (what does it feel like to be a human consciousness running in a robotic shell infused with Space Magic), exploration of things Destiny, as an MMO, can't ever really do (strategic consequences for player actions, personal stories based on character background), and a few references to my favourite SF authors.
I posted it around, got some positive feedback (not a lot, but still), and then kinda forgot about it; concepts for a sequel still sitting on my harddrive waiting for me to have time and energy to write more. That, I thought, was the end of it.
Late this April, I got a personal message on these forums. In it, the person writing me exhorted me to "JUST DO IT", accused me of hacking their windows tablet, and told me that their sister was an actual lawyer chomping at the bit to sue me. But read for yourself:
Oh please. You've hacked my WINDOWS tablet. A tablet that was given to me by an old lady belonging to her son who left it for her when he attended college, because she hated it. I haven't even changed the password. And I won't. I want it to be as easy as pie for you since you've got a real hardon. Three of my friends use the damn thing. Squirming? Go ahead. Make my day. I'm waiting for it. Go on. The power of the purse compels you.
Go on. Hang yourself. I'M DARING YOU! Well go on! All talk and no bank account. You've already misstepped. Who has whom at their mercy?
My sister's bugging the hell out of me to pull the legal trigger. She's my corporate lawyer and she wants to cook some fries. I'm waiting for the fries to be burned. GO ON. MAKE HER DAY AND STOP YAPPING!
I'm waiting!
At first, I was a bit mystified. I thought, well, sure sounds like that person was a wee bit careless with that PC (note how they note that it was a second-hand PC that is used by multiple people and, presumably, all running on one account) and got themselves cryptolockered. How exactly that person figured I was behind that was a complete mystery to me; I am neither a producer nor distributor of malware. Ultimately though, I shrugged it off; this isn't the first time I've had run-ins with insane people on the internet.
I did, however, pass this on to Duckk: After all, who knows what that person was deciding to do next; maybe he'd like to know about it.
I also wrote this answer:
What?
I am not entirely sure what you are on about, but I can guarantee you that whatever is happening with that tablet is none of my doing.
Let me be absolutely clear about something though: I do not appreciate being threatened. If you truly believe I have done you harm in any way beyond making posts on these here forums, go ahead and file all the lawsuits you want against me. I am confident that nothing will come of them aside from you wasting your own time and money on a Vendetta that, as far as I am concerned, is kind of hilarious (and definitely not serious enough for me to even contemplate breaking laws over).
Furthermore, I am not in the business of uttering threats I cannot back up and have little to no respect for people who do. So, that "Just Do It" thing? Right back at you. I'm curious to see how far you're willing to take these delusions of yours.
Now, you might be wondering why I was talking about that piece of fanfic in the beginning.
Duckk informed me that the inciting incident, the incontrovertible evidence that I had hacked that PC, was apparently that that story incorporated something (and I am really not sure what that something is; that, more than anything, is what I am curious about in this) that only the person threatening me would know. No, don't ask me how a story about a spacefuture robot magic man based on one of the biggest franchises in videogames right now happens to include something so secret, but there we are.
Why am I posting this now?
Well, as I said, I am not a fan of people making threats they can't back up. Since I threatened to post this story here, publically, if I wasn't getting a private apology and retraction or a lawsuit delivered to my door, and since neither has happened, this is me delivering on that threat.
You see that, unnamed person? This is what happens if your delusions stray into being mildly annoying to me. A callout post, carefully constructed to omit anything that might hint at your identity.
This is all I have ever done to you. Posts on this forum. Nothing more, nothing less; I literally do not care enough about you, your identity or what you do outside of this small corner of the internet to ever do anything more.
But let me tell you: Should the unlikely happen and you manage to a) figure out who I am, b) find a way to convince a lawyer to draft a lawsuit and c) figure out how to serve me, then I will happily hire an actual lawyer with an actual law degree to defend myself, win, and get damages from you.
), a friend and I had the same route to and from school, so we often talked as we walked.