| From: | The Deb Decker <RJR96326@****.UTULSA.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | The PiggyBack |
| Date: | Sun, 25 Jul 1993 15:44:49 -0500 |
as Piggly Wiggly, has suffered some serious setbacks. We discovered a lot
of unsettling information, bits and pieces that point to a secret group of
genetic researchers more powerful than we could have anticipated, and they
may be affiliated with our old friends Trevor, Lowe and company.
But first, a summary.
They didn't seem as taken aback with the drones as we anticipated. Mind
Throttle circled them around the compound time after time, changing direction,
putting them in assault formations, and deliberatley tripping motion sensors.
But they didn't come. Belle and Stormblade made their way over, matching
the behavior of the drones with random, erratic maneuvers. No guards were
present outside, just a couple of drones that Mind Throttle casually
overrode when their sensors were in range.
They entered through a service door next to the parking basement. They then
crawled through air shafts until they reached the elevator shaft, where
Stormblade jacked into a camera node and overrode the controls. Belle climbed
down and into the third level.
I jacked in and dialed up the system, making my way through the maze of hi/low
nodes that Stormblade and I mapped out earlier. Once I found him, we went
browsing. I must say that Stormblade ahs a knack for guessing info; he's just
as good if not better than my program. We directed Belle to the primary
research area.
There were two orderlies that questioned her while she was there; they ate
flechette and were stuffed in closets. The Kim showed up in our node and
we began the fight of our lives. My ship was rocked hard and I lost many
crewmates. Not being a fighter, I left the more capable Stormblade to
battle Kim while I continued the search for information.
I wish I'd had space to download everything I found. These people are doing
some really high-level stuff. ..grafting organic computers into brains,
making animals into drones. . .the scary thing is, a lot of it looked
familiar, given our encounters with Tommy Harada, DOA, and William 6174.
I feel bad because Stormblade must've taken a beating, given the condition
of his deck. But it's not irreparable, and he's ok. His honor bought me
the time to direct Belle to what the only room that Kim's name was attached
to. I'll turn the story over to her now.]<<<<<
-- Jaez <18:05:54/7-26-54>
>>>>>[It was quiet, like a hospital, except with more security. They were
checking IDs a lot upstairs, to hear the other employees chat, but apparently
they didn't anticipate me climbing the shaft down a few levels, because I was
able to avoid inspection.
Anyway, I made my way to Kim's room. Listening to the audio feed off
Stormblade's deck, I knew I didn't have much time. When I got there, I
was expecting a posh bedroom, or a decker's cubicle. It wasn't.
The room was full of banks of medical equipment: regulators, tubes, vats
of fluid. They were all centered around a pedastal, on top of which was
a glass case housing a brain. It was connected electronically to something;
I assume it was the Matrix. The room was utterly still while I heard the
roar of battle fro Stormblade's deck. It was weird.
I've seen some scary stuff, but this was viscerally unsettling. Figuring
Stormblade was about to snuff it, I started shutting things down, flipping
switches and unplugging things. Lights went off and alarms sounded, but they
weren't security alarms. They were warnings that the life support was off.
I left.]<<<<<
-- Packard Belle <18:10:32/7-26-54>
>>>>>[I got to that node and deactivated the alarms. Then I went back to
Stormblade to see how he was. Before I got there, I passed Kim as he
raced back toward the ls control nodes. I followed him and tried to buy
time; every time he turned something on, I turned it off. He finally
turned and glared at me.
I stopped. It was too late for him to do anything. The pesona was motionless,
just glaring back at me as Stormblade arrived. It twitched, and four minutes
later the persona flickered out of existence as the neural signal ceased.
I escorted Stormblade back to the camera node. The curious thing was that
Kim had not activated any alerts or alarms; he had taken us without help
from the system. If he hadn't been that arrogant, we might not be here to
tell what happened.]<<<<<
-- Jaez <18:17:32/7-26-54>
>>>>>[I made it out with no trouble. After hearing about the ID checks
upstairs, I climbed all the way up the elevator shaft to Stormblade. You'd
be surprised at how long that can take.]<<<<<
-- Packard Belle <18:20:12/7-26-54>
>>>>>[No, I would not.]<<<<<
-- Brave <18:21:12/7-26-54>
>>>>>[Well, once they got out and made it back to the rally point, I
dropped
the drones and rigged up. You know, the roads there are remarkably well
paved and great for high-speed maneuvers.]<<<<<
-- Mind Throttle <18:22:34/7-26-54>
>>>>>[Not one of the vandals gave chase to us, m'lady.]<<<<<
-- Stormblade <18:22:58/7-26-54>
>>>>>[Yeah, but it was still fun.]<<<<<
-- Mind Throttle <18:23:35/7-26-54>
>>>>>[One thing still bothers me though: They knew we were coming. Who
leaked
it? Especially since so many of the real details were worked out privetely,
on our own telecomms.]<<<<<
-- Packard Belle <18:24:34/7-26-54>
