One day, Security Bear decided to spend a bit of time in one of his favorite spots, the Golden Crystal Room in the Caverns. He climbed around and found a nice place to sit and contemplate. He thought about how important security is Inworld and what a shame it is when people don't think before they act. He tried to think of something to help people keep security in mind and came up with a plan! Bear decided that he would write down some of the stories of things that he had witnessed here in the DreamScape and put the stories up around the Island. To each of the stories, he would add a security clue... a reminder to everyone of what they can do to help themselves Inworld. Each of the situations in his stories have really happened although the details (names, locales and items) have been altered for obvious reasons. Security Bear then put together a game where people hunted for his stories then answered a trivia question about the stories. Once the games were over, he decided to put all of the stories together on one page for everyone else to read! Here are his stories! Outside Temple Street Terrace
| Outside Meditation Park | At the Beach
~ Outside Temple St. Terrace ~ One day while outside the Turf Building, Security Bear noticed an Avatar named "Looking To Scam You" running a macro, listing the items he had for sale. "I'm A Fool" walked up and started talking to Scam. From the conversation, Bear could tell that they had never met before. Fool was interested in buying a Fuzzie that Scam was selling and asked how much he wanted for it. Fool then proceeded to pull out the tokens and, before Bear could say a thing, hand them to this total stranger. Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Scam gave an evil laugh, told Fool what a Fool he was and ghosted. Bear asked Fool why he hadn't paged an Acolyte to be a middle person on the deal. Fool said that he thought he could trust Scam and that things like this happen to other Avi's, not him. Bear explained to him that it is ALWAYS best to ask for a middle person. He pointed out that it doesn't take long to page an Acolyte and they are always willing to help with this sort of thing. Bear leaves Fool with the clue: Better to be safe than sorry.
One sunny afternoon, Security Bear decided to head over to the Park. Little did he realize what he was about to stumble upon. As he entered the locale, he saw a magnificent display that some Avatars had obviously spent some time (not to mention quite a few Tokens) creating. Items covered the ground, adding to the fall theme of leaves, trees, pumpkins, cats, scarecrows and other autumn treasures. The group had obviously been very careful to keep the locale filled as they built their monument to fall. He took a moment to really appreciate the magnificence of their creation when suddenly, one of the artists crashed. Almost as soon as she "Poofed", another Avi swooped down from the ghost cloud and started picking things up as fast as he could. The cries and pleas of the artists fell on deaf ears as "I'm As Greedy As Can Be" continued to pick up and pocket items, obviously prepared with a pocket full of chests. Bear tried to console them but also reminded them that anything that they put down in a public locale can be picked up. Anytime you put something on the ground, you run the risk of someone taking it. The moment you set it down, it is no longer yours... it belongs to who ever picks it up. Of course, they already knew this (which is why they tried to keep the locale full). He tried to pick up their spirits by reminding them that their main purpose was to have a good time and to make something fun that passerby's would enjoy seeing. They realized he was right and that they had succeeded with both of their goals, even though they also got a bit carried away and put some things down that they wished they hadn't. Their spirits renewed, they decided to head off and find a good game to play. As for Greedy, well, as is usually the case, his reputation suffered greatly from this. What might surprise you a bit is that Bear actually felt sad for Greedy. Why? Think about it... someone who's only enjoyment comes from ruining the fun of others simply can't be a very happy person. Bear leaves this clue as he continues on his walk: Put it down on the ground and it won't stick around!
Security Bear had decided to take a stroll along the beach and enjoy the sunset one evening. He sat down, not realizing that he was somewhat hidden from view. He heard the sound of someone deghosting behind him and turned, just in time to see "I'm Playing A Trick" set a large chest down on the ground and ghost again. He noticed the ghost hang around for a moment then leave. A few moments later he saw "I'm Innocent" enter the locale and pick up the chest. She looked around the locale and discovered Bear. "Is this your chest, Bear?" she asked. Before he could answer, Trick deghosted and started yelling "Thief, Thief" while pointing at Innocent. Next thing he knew, an Acolyte appeared on the scene (having been paged by Trick). Tricks cries of "Thief" had drawn a crowd. Of course, they hadn't witnessed what had really happened, they simply took Trick's word for it. Lucky that Bear had witnessed the whole thing and could help to set the record straight. Poor Innocent was terribly confused by the situation until she finally understood that Trick had intentionally set it down in order to be able to call someone a thief. As strange as this may sound, some people will do anything for attention, sympathy or simply to amuse themselves. Trick received the attention that she wanted, even though it did not turn out the way she had hoped it would. Bear reminded the crowd about two things: 1) When you set something down, anyone can pick it up and 2) Don't jump to conclusions when you hear someone's story. Often, there is more to a story than meets the eye. Bear left the crowd with this clue: Don't Assume! Things are not always what they seem to be.
During a stroll through the Jungle, Bear found a very nice, large tree to climb that gave him a wonderful view. While he was relaxing, two Avatars appeared on the path below him. He watched as one of them took off an Anime accessory and handed it to the other one then immediatly logged off or crashed. Quickly, Bear climbed down the tree. "Too Trusting" was standing there, waiting for "But I Am An Honest Avi" to return. She told Bear that she had let Honest borrow her Anime item to try on and see if it worked on his head. Honest had simply crashed and would be back any moment. After talking to her for a bit, Bear found out that while she knew Honest, she didn't know him all that well. Bear hoped she was right and that the Avi would return but he was afraid that she had just lost her item. After awhile, Honest returned, giving Trusting a hug and a huge "Thank you" for the wonderful gift. Trusting appeared to be stunned. She insisted that she gave it to him just to try on, he insisted she said it was a gift and started calling her all sorts of names for trying to take back her gift. Bear wasn't sure what had happened but he knew that he could not simply assume for all he had seen was the item handed from one Avatar to another. Had Honest really thought she was giving him the item? Had he misunderstood her action? Was he simply pulling a scam? Had Trusting given it then changed her mind or was it really just a loan so he could try it on? Security Bear shook his head as he realized that it boiled down to one fact: Trusting had handed the item to Honest. It would be impossible to determine the truth past that one fact unless one of them changed their story. Bear wished that more people would think before they act. Afterall, no one can grab an item out of someones hand or pocket. The only way an item can be "taken" from someone is if that person GIVES it to someone else. Bear left them with this clue: Hold it tight or it might take flight.
While standing under the huge tree that houses the Jungle Turfs, Security Bear saw "I Have A Wonderful Home" invite everyone in the locale up to see his great turf and all of his wonderful treasures. Bear was a bit concerned by this, knowing that it is NOT a good idea to advertise a turf address and decided to join the group that went up to Wonderful's turf. He arrived to see a very distraught Wonderful and quite a few other upset Avatars. Wonderful had glued everything down but had left some of his prize possessions in chests. "I'm A Thief" had deghosted, started opening chests and taking items from them. Bear immediately told Wonderful to kick everyone out of his turf and to lock the turf. Wonderful was concerned about what everyone would think but Bear insisted that he do it immediately and that the others would understand. He finally did. Afterwards, Bear sat Wonderful down and talked to him about turf security. He explained about gluing everything and not leaving things in chests, setting the room option to ghosts only if he is having visitors and not inviting total strangers to his turf. Bear suggested that he get to know the turf security options very well - and to use them. He pointed out that the security options are there to keep Avatars (and their items) safe. Under normal circumstances, the only way something can be "taken" is if the turf owner chooses to ignore the turf security features or forgets to use them. Bear left him with this clue: Thieves can't steal unless YOU let them.
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