| From: | Ereskanti@***.com Ereskanti@***.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | [Story] Log Entry (Fourth Translation) |
| Date: | Mon, 31 May 1999 12:28:05 EDT |
CTAC <06:31:51/02-27-61>
[Daisy] Where are we?
[HAL] MAP.
###We're on B14. second of three levels for water filtration. We're moving,
and we're moving fast. We're trying to avoid groups of people, and anyone we
run into, we make our way past. We find our way to one of the stairwells,
and work our way past it's door. Deus has apparently removed all the
accessway maglocks and replaced them with a hardwired access system to
himself. His people would all have permission, and he'd just open the doors
of course. But beyond that, everyone else is screwed.
He sends toxic nerve agents through the system's ventilation down on top of
us, and Greaser sets a small, yet potent, little device up on the level we
entered the stairwell at. About 4 minute later, we are at the access to B16,
the first of the aquaculture floors where we were planning on originally
arriving at via the magtube, and the device above us explodes. We don't even
want to know the effects.
We force open the hermetically sealed door. I took care of the gas, and
between Tempest/Artemis, they opened the door.
What we had hoped were still functional tanks, turns out to have apparently
been shut down for quite some time now. The smell is almost overwhelming. I
cast my spell again, just to let us have a chance to breathe. Hell, just to
give us a chance to see, the brine is so thick.
And that's when we see them.###
[Greaser] Tracks. People's tracks. Anyone have a recognition on the pattern?
[Metal] I would say the corp logo in the pattern says enough to me. Renraku,
what did you expect.
[Greaser] Ha Ha. Anyone have an idea how old they are?
[HAL] judging by a quick visual analysis of the grime on the floor, and a
chemical analysis via the viewtracer, I would say some of them are actually
recent. Not more than 1-2 days old at most.
[Daisy] Could this be part of the resistance you mentioned last time Padre?
[Padre] It's possible I suppose, but it could just as easily be Deus' people
moving about down here. He's got the supplies necessary to move through this
level without doing anything with the air. I am curious why he wouldn't have
kept this place alive though. This is a large part of the food supply for
the Arc in times of proposed shutdown.
[Daisy] I'm trying to keep a more positive approach to thinking, let's hope
it's the resistance.
[Metal, Hive, Artemis, Frankenstein] Agreed.
###We make our way through the floor, and occasionally wonder why Deus isn't
pursuing us. He's probably trying to plan and foreplan our actions. He
might be powerful, but he's not absolutely limitless. Neither are we, but we
are obviously moving in a set direction. And it's not towards his main
computer housing.
After a bit, we do encounter some of the resistance, about the time we are
moving from B17 to B18, quite a while later. They are tired, and most of
them are nervous about seeing us. At least 10 red samurai are basically the
head of this group, with a couple of residents that were down here when the
lockdown occurred. They want out, and are stunned to discover that we are
trying to go deeper down. When all is said and done, we basically leave them
alone, they basically watch us from a distance.
Then we learn why.###
(cont.)
