| From: | Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Yeah, Sharpe boy? Sharpen this! |
| Date: | Sun, 12 Apr 1998 15:08:52 +1200 |
>>>>>[She's dead. Send me my money.]<<<<<
-- Sharpe <15:30:04/04-11-59>
*****PRIVATE: WhiteTyger
>>>>>[Faerie here, using someone else's account... I think I broke my
leg. You know some healing magic, right? Could you come in and patch me up?
I'm at the warehouse, making extensive use of assorted pain killers, some
of them legal.]<<<<<
-- Sharpe <15:32:22/04-11-59>
*****PRIVATE: Faerie
>>>>>[File.
Dronecam.
+++++Begin footage
The drone is following a tall elven woman as she walks along the street,
hanging about 5 metres behind her. She appears to be in a slight hurry, her
long black skirt whipping back and forth with each step. The sky is
overcast, but it's not raining yet, and the usual downtown street trash are
out, panhandlers, ganger punks on display, suits walking quickly and
nervously. Flying silently, the drone avoids other people on the street by
keeping to an altitude of about 5 metres.
The elf woman turns off the street and enters a door in a Fed-Ex building,
and the drone stops outside, still 5 metres off. Hovering slightly lower to
keep the woman in view reveals that the door leads in to a long narrow room
with post boxes on each side. The woman has opened one, and is checking the
contents for anything of interest. Two advertising circulars are screwed up
and thrown over her shoulder, and an envelope goes in her belt-bag. As she
pulls it open, a data cord between her temple datajack and something inside
the bag draws attention to itself by swinging about. She brushes it out of
the way impatiently, closes the bag, and leaves the building, flicking the
middle finger of her left hand at a "no littering please" sign.
"Then don't fill my box with crap," she mutters.
Once again the drone swings about to follow her, as she heads back the way
she came. It rises to about 5 metres, and stays there. The woman covers a
block, stopping at the lights, looking around as she stands there. The
lights change, she crosses, and starts to walk along the next block.
About halfway along it, she glances around, a questioning look on her
stereotypical elf-babe features, then turns back with a shrug. A small
remote controlled car enters the screen, heading towards her, fast. She
looks back again, a look of dawning irritation on her face, then leaps into
the air, disappearing from view. The car explodes suddenly about halfway
between the woman and the drone, catching several passers-by and throwing
the drone backwards.
The screen flickers, static bursting across it, as the drone seems to be
flying backwards, then it stabilises it's flight. The screen still flashes
occasional static, and the sound is lost altogether. The elf woman is
nowhere to be seen.
Words appear at the top of the screen - "Sitrep" - followed on a lower line
by "Visual range sensors 80%, Thermosensors 50%, Sound sensors 0%,
Ultrasound 0%, Radar unreliable, Control systems 100%, Targetting systems
30%". After a second, the words "Orders received" appear, and the drone
rises, rotating as it does so. Thermographic imaging overlays the visual
display, though it flickers occasionally. Further words appear - "Signal
located". The drone reaches roof level of the building next to it, and
cruises slowly over it, in what appears to be a searching pattern.
A humanoid form, lurking behind the dip at the change of roof height
between two buildings, becomes visible by thermo, and the drone heads in
that direction, rising and sliding sideways in a quarter circle to get a
look at this lurker. Once the visual sensors can get LOS on it, the figure
is revealed to be a male elf, tall and lean, checking the load on a
Remington hunting rifle. A remote control device of the sort used for RC
cars lies on the ground next to him. He looks up, appears to spot the
drone, and brings the rifle up fast, letting off two quick shots before
leaping over the dip in a diving roll. The first shot scores, the drone is
rocked but still functional, and it fires a grenade at him. The grenade
hits the roof a couple of metres to the left of him as he rolls to his
feet, the explosion throwing him off his feet again. Once again, he rolls,
but slightly less gracefully this time, gaining his feet a touch unsteadily
and raising his rifle to aim at the drone again. Then a humanoid form
visible only on thermo appears from behind him, moving at extreme speed,
leading with its knee. The knee strikes the elf in the back of the head,
and the figure flies past. The elf goes over on his face, his neck twisted
at a strange angle.
After a moment, the thermographic form appears again, gliding down to the
elf's side. As it lands, the leg with which it struck the elf buckles, and
the form falls to its hands and knees in the posture of one screaming in
agony.
+++++End footage
]<<<<<
-- Sharpe <15:37:35/04-11-59>
