Open Forum |
Writing: David Hyatt and Brian Schoner Additional Writing: Robert Boyle HTML Conversion/Layout: David Hyatt |
Rumor is a pipe blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures. William Shakespeare; Henry IV, Act II, Introduction |
All right, kids, let's hear it. Somebody out there has to have a clue as to what's going on inside the arcology. It's already looking a bit too much like the Chicago bugfest for my tastes, so let's get to the bottom of it. Some of you have friends or relatives inside; others might be thinking that solving the mystery could be profitable. I know some of you have stories about what happened the night the arc shut down. Some of you might even know the truth. As always, please refrain from speculation, conspiracy theory and hearsay. We want facts: dirty, grubby, we-don't-like-it-but-we'll-believe-it paydata.
:: Posted by Captain Chaos on 3 February 2060 at 12:01:52 (EST) ::
I was on a run against a local Renraku subsidiary a few weeks ago, digging out trid recordings of a few board meetings. Before we turned the recordings over, we scanned through them for anything interesting. One took place on the night of the 19th, with a Renraku rep "attending" the meeting though one of those virtual boardroom holo-projector things that Renraku's been using lately.
Anyway, toward the end of the meeting, the virtual suit starts to
speak, then jerks his head around and yells, "What the hell was that?!?"
Then he puts his hands up, like he was pushing something away, and
then something came into the holo-projector's view and knocked him off
his chair and out of the picture. As far as the boardroom was concerned,
he was just gone. I slowed the recording down to quarter speed, but I still
couldn't make out what hit him. Whatever it was, it was pretty fraggin' fast ... and I bet it trashed the suit pretty good, from the way he screamed.
:: Posted By Clawed Reins ::
Talk about making an exit ...
:: Posted By Psycho-Pirate ("Ahhhhrrrr!") ::
Anybody know who or what this "Dayus" is that the kid's referring to?
:: Posted By Smiley ::
Maybe it's "Deus." That's Latin for "god." If that's it, then whoever it is has a high opinion of themselves. Or they're a bunch of religious fanatics.
:: Posted By Dead Deckers Society ::
Correct on both counts.
:: Posted By Ronin ::
There may be more to it than just ego. Anybody familiar with the term "deus ex machina?"
:: Posted By Professor S ::
Umm ... "god's former machine?"
:: Posted By Whatzit ::
*Sigh* ... don't they teach you children anything nowadays? "Deus ex machina"
literally means "god out of the machine." Apart from its obvious literal
significance here, it's an ancient Greek term-well, actually, it's a Roman
translation, the original Greek being theos apo mekhanes. In any event,
in ancient Greek and Roman dramas, whenever the hero got into a sticky
situation, they would use a complex set of stage machinery to lower a "god" o
ut of the heavens to rescue him. Now it's used to refer to any too-convenient
plot device used by an author to resolve a difficult situation with a minimum
of effort-for example, "Suddenly, in the nick of time, Lone Star came over the
hill and drove the shadowrunners off."
:: Posted By Professor S ::
Or how about, "Suddenly, in the nick of time, the shadowrunners rescued me from the clutches of the evil Deus?"
:: Posted By Dr. Parisian ::
What are you saying, DP? You think the kid's story is a fake?
:: Posted By Renraku Fox ::
Doesn't it seem a little too convenient? Our only source of inside information gets to see the entire operation, and is then saved just in time to bring the information to us? Come on. Fuchi has been running this whole operation from the start, and they're playing you all for fools with this nonsense.
:: Posted By Dr. Parisian ::
I've met Cal, Dr. P., and I believe he went through exactly what he described.
:: Posted By Professor S ::
With everything that happened on the night of the 19th-the gas, the gunfire, the chopper crashes (I saw at least two), and all the Lone Star and corpsec personnel running everywhere-how are we supposed to believe that "Cal" and his family didn't know anything was amiss?
:: Posted By Skeptic ::
Think about it. Only the outer edges of the residential floors even have windows, and it's damn tough to see what's happening directly below you when you're twenty stories up, much less two hundred. Other than that, where are the arc residents going to get their news on what's happening? Through the arc's own Matrix and trid systems-which the occupiers control. If the talking head from the arc's own trid station pops up and says everything's okay, why wouldn't folks believe it? Any broadcasts from outside the arc could be censored or misdirected. Most of the arc's food and supplies are generated internally; unless something interrupts production, nobody inside would know that anything unusual was going on. If somebody in the arc tries to call someone outside, you hand them a line about "system problems" caused by the alleged computer glitch, or maybe you piece together a simulated call from bits of previous conversations. If an AI really is running the arc, it knows who all the residents are and who they usually talk to, and can access records of all their previous calls.
Take over a few floors at a time and leave the rest thinking everything's all right; that's one smart plan, if you ask me.
:: Posted By Kaptain Krude ::
I can't vouch for the lad's story, but what I saw myself leads me to believe the AI theory.
I was working personal security for a corporate executive-no names, but he didn't work for either Renraku or Fuchi-on the night of the 19th. He was conducting some off-the-record business in the restaurant at Rumpelstiltskin's, one of the nightclubs in the arc's sixth floor Club Quarter, and I was there to prevent any unpleasantness. My client's contact arrived at 1745 hours, right on schedule, and they began the dinner-and-chat phase of negotiations. Everything went brilliantly until 1802 hours, when all the lights in the club kicked off at the same time. I immediately drew my Alta and pushed my client to the floor while I sussed out the situation. Thermo didn't show anything untoward, just a lot of confused-looking human-shaped blobs of heat. There didn't seem to be any lights on in the rest of the Club Quarter, either. For that matter, even the landing lights on the helipad outside were out, though I could make out the Ares Executive helo we'd arrived in by the lights from the rest of downtown.
There was no yelling or shooting, just the low murmur of disgruntled diners and irritated staff. My client was bellowing at me to let him up because it was only a power failure, and his contact seemed just as surprised as we were, so I figured that whatever was happening, it wasn't directed at us. I was just about to pick him up, dust him off and sit him down when I smelled something funny in the air. Now, I've encountered gas attacks in the past, so I got a gas spectrometer installed in the old sinus cavity. I let it have a go at the interesting odor, and when the diagnosis came up on my retinal link, the text was in that striking red color that I've learned to translate as, "Move your bleeding hoop, term!" So I scooped up my client, told his contact that I didn't recommend staying for dessert, and started propelling my client toward the exit to Sky Pad 12.
As we wove through the tables of increasingly panicked customers, I took a closer look at the composition of the gas. It looked like a nasty mixture of Hyper and something in the Neurostun family, which meant it would knock most people out and render the rest so overstimulated as to be almost helpless. My tracheal filter protected me from the Hyper, but the sleep gas was working its way through my skin, and my client had no real protection, so I knew we'd be in trouble if we didn't get outside quickly. Then a containment barrier slammed shut over the exit door, and I knew we were already in trouble.
:: Posted By Hadrian ::
Will you skip the melodrama and get to the fraggin' point?!?
:: Posted By Angus ::
Patience, Angus. Doesn't anyone appreciate a tale well-told these days?
In any event, I wheeled my client around and made a break for the exit into the Club Quarter, hoping to find an alternate route to the helipad. My client was choking and staggering so much that he was more of a hindrance than a help. I considered knocking him out myself because he'd be easier to manage, but instead I pulled out the mini-respirator I keep on hand for just such occasions and strapped it to his face. That calmed him down after a moment, and he could follow me out into the arcology proper.
The place was in utter chaos. We could see a little light from the surrounding buildings leaking in through the skylights, and some security folks had portable flashlights out to try to direct the crowd to the exits. But all the exits were sealed off, half the guards were out cold, and the conscious members of the crowd had progressed from concern to outright panic. Beams of light from fallen flashlights were cocked at crazy angles, lighting up weird portions of the scene, and the gas shrouded the entire room in a fog.
I started to feel my way along the wall toward the exit doors. I knew they'd probably be sealed, but they were our best hope for escape. Someone kicked a flashlight on the ground and sent it spiraling around; it eventually came to rest at the top of the stairway that led down to the mall. In its beam I saw a panicked elf hurrying up the stairs, packages spilling everywhere. Suddenly, she fell forward and slid-or was dragged-out of sight down the stairwell. I could see her hands grasping for purchase, then nothing. About the time we got to the helipad door-sealed, of course-I glanced back at that stairwell and saw what had been behind her.
I only saw it in the light for a moment, but it's one of those sights you never forget. It looked like ... well, like nothing I've seen before or (thankfully) since. I remember seeing at least six limbs attached to a body covered with what looked like long, silvery fur, which looked almost like it was moving. The thing had no recognizable head or face, and it didn't move like an animal, but it sure didn't move like a machine, either. And there was blood on its forelimbs. I remember that clearly. It hunched there for a moment, pivoting its body as if to look around, then sprang up and out of the light. That's when the screaming really started.
My client was leaning against the wall beside me, barely conscious, covering his ears against the noise; he looked like he'd already gotten some Hyper into his system. I pulled him a few steps away from the door and called the helo pilot on my wristphone. The pilot started to ask some pertinent questions on the nature, color and consistency of the particular drek that was hitting the fan, and I politely suggested that he shut up and open the helipad door post-haste. His response was a terse but exhilarated, "Stand back." He happened to be flying a top-of-the-line helo loaded with exciting security features that he never got to play with, including a state-of-the-art multi-purpose rocket launcher. It wouldn't have been my first choice of door-opening methods, but at the time I was more concerned with speed than property damage.
As I pulled my client back to a safer distance, I started yelling at the crowd to back away from the door. Unfortunately, panicked mobs are notoriously difficult to reason with; they heard the word "door" and started pressing in closer, hoping to find some way out. Something was paying attention to me as I backed away, however. It swung down from the ceiling and slashed at me with shiny metal claws. I got a glimpse of chrome fur in the half-light and felt burning pain down my left arm, and then I started emptying my Alta into whatever it was. I'd shot about half the clip when the pilot's calling card shattered the containment barrier protecting the door and sprayed the crowd with bits of molten metal, hot shrapnel and fire. The poor bastards never knew what hit them.
The force of the blast knocked me to the floor and made me slide for a few meters, but the crowd in front of me absorbed most of the shrapnel. The explosion knocked whatever I'd been shooting at away as well, so I hoisted my client to his feet and headed for the still-smoking door, trying not to look at the bloody shambles around me. I shoved my client through the hole in the door and was about to follow when I heard-or rather, felt-something land heavily behind me. When I turned to look, I saw the same kind of construct I'd been shooting at. I emptied the rest of my clip into it and it finally dropped.
I made it through the door in time to see our helo lifting off without me. The bastard couldn't wait ten seconds for the man who'd saved his life in the past ... there's gratitude for you. I was standing on the pad, shouting every invective I could think of in every language I knew, when I heard machinery whirring to life behind me. I turned around, expecting to see another of the furry drones in the door. Instead, I saw the barrels of the arcology's automated sentry guns spinning up into position.
The guns roared for a few seconds, the loudest sound I've ever heard, and tracer rounds formed what looked like a continuous beam of light pouring into the helo. Then they stopped. In an eerie silence, the helo dropped to the street six stories below in a flaming ball. Splattered all over Fourth Avenue. Served the fragger right.
:: Posted By Hadrian ::
So what did you do?
:: Posted By Whatzit ::
Well, I thought about staying on the helipad for a while, hoping things would calm down, but I wasn't sure the sentry guns would limit their targets to helicopters. So I grabbed a few mooring cables from the landing pad and slid down to about the top of the second floor, then dropped to the street from there. Broke one ankle and twisted the other pretty good, but I could still limp away as Lone Star was showing up. I think a few civilians tried to follow me down, but I didn't stick around to see if they made it.
:: Posted By Hadrian ::
You heartless bastard. First you let your chopper pilot blow away a pack of innocent people, and then you flee the scene when lives are at stake? What kind of gutless coward are you?
:: Posted By Magilla Guerrilla ::
The kind who knows when to walk away from a fight he can't win. Whatever was happening in there was going to happen with or without me. I tried to clear the door before the rocket hit, but taking the time to explain the situation to the pilot would likely have gotten us all killed. I wasn't about to fight an opponent I didn't know, in an area I didn't know, for reasons I didn't know, for people I didn't know. My priorities are my client's life first and my own second; anyone else is on their own. That's the way my biz works. Sorry if it clouds your utopian vision.
:: Posted By Hadrian ::
Moral issues aside, it's an interesting story. What makes you think an AI was behind it rather than Fuchi or another corp?
:: Posted By The Dark Wight ::
Mostly the logistics of it. How could another corp have gotten that much gas into the arcology-into the main ventilation system, mind you-without being noticed? How could they get those drones, or whatever they were, into the building unseen by anyone outside? How could they have gotten control of the arcology's main power and security systems, all located deep underground, so quickly? And to top it all off, what good could taking over the arcology possibly do them?
I think the gas and drones were manufactured inside the arcology, and the security systems were likewise taken over from within. That means that either Fuchi bought dozens of Renraku employees without a whisper of it hitting arcology security, or something inside the system took over the arc. And after seeing what's been posted here, I believe it was an AI.
:: Posted By Hadrian ::
What about this Leonardo slag they were going on about in the UCC meeting? Granted, he sounds more like a story CEOs tell their top programmers at night, but the guy obviously has them bugged. Anyone got the scoop?
:: Posted By Defcon 1 ::
He's as bright as they say, with an ego to match, but he's not the one behind this. I suspect his hand was in the cookie jar at some point, but he's dead now.
:: Posted By Orange Queen ::
There's got to be some evidence of what happened in the arcology's Matrix host systems. I'm not real anxious to dive in there, but I'm sure somebody like FastJack could get in and snag some clues as to what's happening. Any volunteers?
:: Posted By Jackal ::
I appreciate the vote of confidence, but right now nobody can get into the arc's Matrix hosts because they're still isolated from the rest of the 'trix. From some of the other data Cap has collected, it looks like the arc's internal Matrix is still running, but there's no connection to the outside. The only way to get into the arc's systems would be to walk inside and jack in, and I have no intention of doing that.
:: Posted By FastJack ::
Of course, the takeover means that Renraku is also cut off from its own data ... which means there's probably a lot of "lost" paydata in the arcology systems. The trick is staying alive long enough to get to it.
:: Posted By The Dark Wight ::
If you're stupid enough to go into the arcology after money, you deserve what you get.
:: Posted By Syzygy ::
I'm sure there's all sorts of interesting research projects and the like in the arc just waiting for a shadowrunner to come and pick them up, though I don't think this is the best time to decide to run the arc. Of course, there are also plenty of Johnsons out there willing to pay finder fees for Renraku secrets.
:: Posted By Slater ::
I'd like to hear more about this AEP. Is it an AI or what?
:: Posted By Twister ::
I don't believe so. The AEP is an absolutely incredible system ... it has
access to all of the arcology hosts and can also link into the SeaSource
public database, a city-wide information system that used to be maintained
inside the arcology. (Since the shutdown, it's been rerouted to a secondary
system somewhere outside the arc.) Dr. Huang designed the AEP
himself to help with arcology operations, and he's no slouch in the
programming department. The AEP fetches information and mines
data to discover correlations between items that you never knew existed.
It was a fantastic accomplishment ... but still comprehensible from a decker's point of view. Of course, if Cliber or others have been messing with it recently, there's no telling what might have happened to it.
:: Posted By Renraku Fox ::
Cliber?
:: Posted By Ellie ::
Dr. Vanessa Cliber. She was the director of computer systems for the arcology prior to the shutdown, and the head of Renraku's Artificial Intelligence Project.
:: Posted By Smiley ::
AIs don't exist. Frankly I'm tired of hearing about the "Renraku AI." There's no vast and powerful intelligence lurking in the Renraku system. There's no machine mastermind behind this shutdown. You're just swallowing Fuchi's propaganda. That's what they want you to believe. Get over it and move on.
:: Posted By Dr. Parisian ::
If it was another corp, I doubt it'd be Fuchi; they have enough to worry about with Villiers and Novatech splitting off. In fact, I'd say Novatech is a better candidate for a stunt like this than Fuchi.
:: Posted By Beancounter ::
Not really. Novatech may be big, but it's on shaky ground right now. Fuchi still has the strength to take on a AAA corp like Renraku, and Villiers' departure gave them even more motivation to pull something like this-they're getting desperate. If one of your partners leaves with a third of your company, why not just take over somebody else's?
:: Posted By Angus ::
Has anyone scanned anything on Renraku's plans for taking the arc back? Or what the UCAS is planning?
:: Posted By MoleMan ::
You didn't hear it from me, but they've developed several options: everything from surgical military strikes to taking it back floor by floor, to flooding the place with Strain III astral bacteria that can eat any Awakened nasties. They've even got a plan to whack it from orbit with a mass driver if necessary-hopefully after they evacuate the city. Right now they're adopting a wait and see attitude. Whatever's inside doesn't seem to want to get out and wreak havoc ... yet. Just in case, they've been talking to the Tir about magical barriers, too. They don't seem to want to move in until they know for sure what they're up against.
:: Posted By Flak ::
I think it's pretty fraggin' scary when
even the corps don't know what's
going on. We're talking serious
power here! Like, on the scale of a
dragon ... but I don't understand the motive behind taking over the arc. Hostages? Food?
:: Posted by Smokin' Jo ::
Maybe it's all just a big experiment of some kind...
:: Posted by Dr. Demento ::
I think someone-or something-was definitely trying to manipulate the arc employees. Shortly before the lockdown, I made a run into the Black Tower to search for medical records on a potential extractee, and found a largish psych profile cross-linked with a series of similar cases. Seems like a lot of arcology residents were suffering from severe nightmares and delusional behavior around that time. Initially, I wrote it off as a side effect of living in a sealed environment for too long, sort of a large-scale version of cabin fever. Now I think there might have been more to it than that. Here's a few excerpts from one of those files.
:: Posted by FastJack ::
Patient: Donna C-
12/02/2059
Patient exhibits symptoms of insomnia, restlessness, dissociation, sense of separation from family and co-workers. States she feels as though someone has been talking to her in her sleep. Divorced 6 mo.-probable reaction to isolation, loneliness. Suggested increased social activity, holidays with friends/family. Prescribed Dimethrazone 15 mg as needed for sleep. Follow-up visit in one week.
12/09/2059
Donna returned with symptoms similar to last week's. Dimethrazone is helping sleep, but she feels as if she is still not in control of her life. Patient works in Infrastructure Services, overseeing elevator, walkway and monorail routing in SCIRE. States she feels as though she has been tampering with these systems, but cannot remember specifics, and computer records show nothing unusual. Reports intermittent periods of "lost time" for 5-30 min., several times per week. Still feels as though someone is communicating with her during sleep. Assured her that AEP will prevent tampering with systems. Blackouts may be side effect of Dimeth.; changed prescription to 50mg Morex. Follow-up visit in one week.
12/11/2059 After patient left, spoke to Capt. Ellis @ security. Suggested he check on patient's activities previous night, sent recording of session. He will follow up as needed.
Donna called in at 0715 asking for emergency consult. Arrived 0900 in obvious emotional distress. States that her manager was killed last night in his office, and feels that she is responsible. Denies any animosity toward manager. States that he had been monitoring her Matrix activity lately and she felt as if he was looking for signs of the tampering she had described (of which there is still no sign in the computer systems). States that she does not recall visiting manager's office last night, but had a long (1 hour?) period of lost time between finishing work and arriving home. No blood, etc. on her person or in her home. Patient cannot explain why she feels she killed her manager. Possibly delusional? Suggested she take remainder of week off, remain in her apt. Prescribed Valcyon 300mg as tranquilizer. Assured her that we would follow up this PM, tomorrow AM.
WHAT!?! This man just violated every rule of doctor-patient privilege known to man! One of the fundamental rules of psychoanalysis is to make the patient know that she's safe to say anything without fear of reprisal! FastJack, send me this quack's name if you have it; I'll see that he gets disbarred.
:: Posted By Doc U-Dub ::
Nice thought, Doc, but I'm afraid it won't happen. The shrink in question is probably a Renraku corporate citizen, living and working in Renraku corporate territory and licensed by Renraku's own special psychiatric board. I can't say for sure, but I'm willing to bet that the board's charter allows-or maybe even requires-its members to alert Renraku security to any potential threats against Renraku personnel or property, doctor-patient privilege be damned. It's foul, despicable behavior. Welcome to the corporate world.
:: Posted By Dr. Demento ::
Besides, the doctor in question is still in the arc as far as we know, which means he's going to be a bit tough to extradite for trial. Anyway, in there he's probably undergoing something a lot worse than disbarring.
:: Posted By FastJack ::
12/11/2059 (cont.)
Message from Capt. Ellis. Surveillance cameras show Donna C- remaining in her office until 1704 and then going directly home. Victim was killed at 1752. Computer analysis shows no sign of tampering with the camera footage. He has no suspects, but has cleared Donna of the crime. Called Donna to set up appt. for tomorrow morning to discuss apparent delusional behavior.
12/12/2059
No-show for appointment at 1000. Called her apt. to follow up; no answer, left message.
12/12/2059 (cont.) Consulted with Dr. Bowden over lunch; he mentioned several other patients reporting similar symptoms since mid-November. Hearing voices, lost time, dissociation, feelings that they have committed crimes, and frequent violent or masochistic outbursts. Obtained list of patients for research; Dr. Bowden and I will be forming a team to study them. Probable paranoid schizophrenia, though lost time is uncharacteristic. Discussed possible biological causes and social triggers for this behavior.
Donna arrived at 1058, agitated and hysterical. Burst into my office, interrupting my 1045 session. Tried to calm her down until security arrived. Patient drew a large kitchen knife from her purse and threatened to kill me if I didn't "make the voices stop." Repeated claims that she had killed her manager. I told her that the surveillance footage proved she did not kill him, at which point she accused me of being one of "them" and attempted to stab me. Security arrived and incapacitated her via taser. Asked for and was granted permission to continue to treat her during her incarceration.
12/15/2059
Examined list of related patients with Dr. Bowden. Spoke to doctors at several Seattle-area clinics; they report no increase in frequency of such cases-appears to be confined to SCIRE. No obvious patterns of age, gender, socioeconomic class or home or work location within arcology. Possible dietary link?
12/16/2059
Visited Donna in psych. wing of security level. Not currently on medication, but appears much calmer. Delusions still prominent, however; patient apologized for attacking me, but stated that she would soon be released by her "new boss." Asked if this was the person who replaced her deceased manager; she laughed and said that she worked for "a bigger boss" now. Stated that this boss would soon be running the entire arcology. Tried to obtain more details about this delusional theme, but patient would only repeat, "You'll see." Scheduled follow-up visit for 12/22. Patient agreed, but stated she would probably not be there.
I also got a look at some of the other files the doctors were cross-referencing to this one. The symptoms are all pretty much as he described them, though the details vary. There were at least two dozen reported victims; some worked in internal arcology operations like security, food processing, transportation or ventilation, while others were involved in the design and manufacture of cyberware, electronics components and so forth. A lot of these sound like fields that would interest an AI involved in a takeover attempt, don't you think? Me, I wonder how many similar cases went unreported.
:: Posted By FastJack ::
Those various fields sound like areas that would interest anyone who wanted to take over the arcology. So let me get this straight. This previously unreported AI has been ... what? Hypnotizing people? Talking to them in their sleep? Brainwashing them?
:: Posted By Skeptic ::
Why not? The AI has all the psych records on everyone in the arc, knows where they live, where they work, what they like, dislike, eat for breakfast and so forth. Assuming it's based on the AEP, it was designed from day one to recognize patterns in human behavior and learn to predict that behavior. If the AI wanted to take over the arc, for whatever reason, it's only a short step from predicting human behavior to manipulating it.
:: Posted By Doc U-Dub ::
There's also been a lot of research into behavior modification and control through cyberware implants. Remember the uproar about that cybered street gang, the Futuremen, last year? That was a Renraku project, though the corp never admitted it, and it proved that behavior-control implants added to regular cyberware could work. If an AI learned from that project, who knows what's been going into the patients at the arc's own cyber-clinics?
:: Posted By Special I ::
Okay, so an AI could subvert the arc's electronic defenses easily, and maybe it could subvert people into working on the physical defenses. What about magic? From the reports I've seen, the arc is still being actively defended by magical means. I doubt any of the arc's security mages got cybered up, and mages usually have enough willpower to make traditional brainwashing difficult. That sounds more like a rival corp to me.
:: Posted By Wizbang ::
Magic doesn't necessarily imply live mages. The arc was designed with defense in mind, against magical as well as physical assault. An AI might not be able to activate wards and elementals, but Renraku had a lot of those permanently installed, and it could certainly trigger the release of astral bacteria and such around various important areas. For that matter, Renraku probably had some elementals on tap ordered to serve non-magical personnel (like security chiefs), so controlling those people would give an AI a magical arm as well. Plus, mages are as vulnerable as anyone else to good old-fashioned blackmail, and a lot of them probably have family in the arc (and thus under an AI's virtual thumb).
:: Posted By The Dark Wight ::
I was on a monorail going to the arc on the night of the 19th. We went right through the station on the south side of the arcology without stopping. I thought that was a little odd, but nobody complained; I guess nobody in my car was going to the amusement park, being more concerned with their Christmas shopping. Once we were past the station and in the tunnel, a guy in a Renraku security uniform materialized in the car. He must have been an astrally projecting security mage, and he decided to manifest right in front of me, maybe because he could see I was magically active. He said, "Please, you've got to help me ... something went wrong inside ... floor 211 ... no air ... send help ... please!" His voice was getting hoarser and raspier at the end, and then he just shimmered out. Nobody else in the car said anything; I think they were all practicing their not-my-problem-don't-look-at-me skills.
I hit the emergency stop button and the monorail began to slow down as we got to the northern terminal. I started looking out the window for a security guard, or somebody I could tell about this. If the mage had lost consciousness, I figured he didn't have much time left. But when we got to the station, I forgot about getting out to find security. The platform was packed with people, and they all looked terrified. They were grabbing for the monorail while it was still moving, sometimes being dragged for five or ten meters before they fell off. Then most of the platform lights went out and the screaming started. The monorail picked up speed again, and we glided out of the station and out of the arc without stopping. The conductor came on and made an announcement about technical difficulties, but everyone on that train knew something much worse than a software glitch had happened.
I remember something splattered on my window. It was too dark outside for me to tell what it was until we reached the next station, where I could see that it was blood. A lot of blood.
I missed the train before this one by about fifteen seconds. If I'd caught it, I would've been inside the arc when whatever happened, happened. I'm shaking just thinking about it.
:: Posted By Tahrah ::
He said "No air?" What's that all about?
:: Posted By Quicksilver ::
Most of the arcology's enchanting labs are located on Floor 211. It's equipped with a sophisticated ventilation system designed to whisk off hazardous gases and other by-products; in emergencies, entire labs or the entire floor can be sealed off and have all its air pumped out. It's meant as a fire control system, but somebody who had control of the arc's computer system could set it going any time. Good way to take out a lot of potentially troublesome mages, I guess.
:: Posted By Renraku Fox ::
I took an astral pass through the arcology last week, more out of curiosity than anything else. Didn't see much in the way of magical activity, though the place has already started to pick up a nasty background count. Some areas were blocked off by spirits and wards, but most of the building was relatively open. It's almost impossible to navigate inside, though, because it's difficult to read floor markers, instructional signs or anything else. I think I was about 150 stories up when I ran into a pair of extra-large hell hounds running loose in a stairwell. I got out of there fast, believe you me. I know there were some paranormal animals living in the arc's various zoos and such. I wonder how many of them got free, or were released to provide an extra measure of astral security?
:: Posted By Pendaryn ::
I took an astral flyby through the arc myself recently. Renraku and the Army have set up astral patrols of their own, making it a bit difficult to get in. Once I got past them, I went looking for spirits, just to see for myself whether or not bugs were involved. I found a spirit, all right, but not the insect kind. It was toxic, and it was nasty. I'm pretty sure I caught it in the act of corroding someone's body away.
:: Posted By Shetani ::