Turn 8.0 "The Big Freeze & Happy Geneva Day!"
Dr. Lugwig twitched nervously all over and said, "Let'ssss go now
and help the otherssss before they expire. In my medical opinion if
we do not go now..." His voice trailed away, but his tone left no
doubt as to what would happen to Teri Reed and the other engineers if
help did not arrive soon.
Lugwig asked Dimitrio to bring the lift back on-line while looking
for an alternative way down just in case Dimitrio couldn't, or wouldn't,
help out. He ignored the debate concerning the robot as he knew little
about them, but he didn't think Repo represented much of a threat.
Perhaps the security folks knew best, though...
Dimitrio answered the twitchy t'sa by saying, "Alright Doc, hold on
a second and I'll go with you but we got to take care of the 'bot
first." He turned to the robot and stated, "OK Repo, now listen to me.
This is very dangerous and it would be best if you laid low for awhile.
Why don't you turn yourself off and program so that you can restart
yourself refreshed tomorrow again? Just give us some time to work this
thing out. I mean you said it yourself that you ain't no security 'bot
so just cooperate."
The mechanic pointed toward Nola, and said, "Now that big woman over
there? The one givin' out orders? She's head of security now and she
wants me to disable you or she'll just shoot you, so please just lay low
for a while, eh?"
"Ummm...sure," Repo spoke, "I guess I could just power-down. I'll
go into passive-mode, how's that? I can run a few self-diagnostics and
see if I can't work out that glitch in the power circuit for my left
track..."
Alex listened with interest to the debate about Repo. He had a soft
spot for robots and he didn't want to hear about another AI going offline.
"Hey, Repo can stay with me. Cal and I can keep him out of trouble," he
offered, "Turning him off could prove to be more trouble than it's worth."
He looked at the others expectantly.
Repo looked toward the pilot and blinked his photoreceptors in
gratitude, then turned to look back at Dimitrio and finally Nola. What
would they decide?
Interrupting everyone, Lugwig began to plead once more, "Pleassse
sssomeonesss come with me," his thoughts immediately turning to the
trapped engineers again. He felt it was imperative that he go and free
the freezing crew members.
Dimitrio turned toward the t'sa. He put all his tools back on his
kit and took off his computer gauntlet while picking up the shotgun.
"Nola, I'm going down to open up the frezeer for them people unless you
got somethin' better for me to do," he said, "The way I see it is that
more people will help us secure the station faster. C'mon Doc let's
go..."
--------------
Meanwhile, across the room...
As the others debated which way to go, Zach had pondered the
consequences of following his idea. Try to access the ComTech system and
bug security and help figure out what the hell was going on or sit back
and do nothing. Like there was much of a choice! And seeing how Reed
might tell him otherwise once she recovered from the fridge, he figured
he'd better start now. He got so consumed about the thought of running
ComTech's grid that he forgot to tell everyone what he saw.
He finally got up and said, "Hey guys, I'll be down in the Pit.
There's something that I have to try that might help us. Someone might
want to get the engineers some blankets, though..."
"You're going alone?" asked Alex when Zach started to move off. "Uh
uh... I'm coming with you. No way you're going off alone." He
moved to follow behind Zach. "Tell me, now, why the rush to get to
the Comm Pit?"
Zach somewhat distractedly said, "I have an idea. There's another
camera that's controlled by ComTech. They have a better power system.
They might not have a ten minute show of static."
Nola listened to everyone around her, as she soon realized that there
would be different groups going everywhere, and someone needed to act as
the central point. "Okay, Dig why don't you go down with the others to
open up the crew compartments? At the very least your experience will
help them out. As to the robot don't worry about him now. We'll discuss
it later. I'll take the others down into the Comm-Pit and make sure no
one comes to harm. Keep your Comm gear on channel 1, let's keep each
other informed. And guys watch out..." Nola still gingerly walked as
she escorted the others to the Comm-Pit making sure nothing was amiss.
As they went, Alex continued to carry on his soft conversation with
Cal. "You know, I don't expect you to remember *everything* that you're
missing. Just try and remember the times that you accessed some part of
your data that you can't access now... like, the time we had to jury-rig
repairs on the floater about two years back. You probably had the
schematics somewhere in your database... make a short list from those
memories."
"I'll see what I can do," Cal replied, though her voice sounded
uncertain.
As the group of three filed down the stairs and into the Comm-Pit
area, the hacker side of Zach relished the thought of what he was about
to do. It should be a lot more challenging than setting up node relays
and communication protocols. This was big league, shadow operations
stuff...!
As he was starting to jack in, Alex and Nola started to ask more
questions, but he simply said, "Shhhhhhhhhh...", urging them to let him
get to work. He readied his gridcaster and looked over the access
panel, pausing momentarily to enjoy the rush. He rubbed his palms
together eagerly, and then connected his gridcaster. He thought to
himself, 'Let's see if in all the haste to get this set up they may have
left a couple of backdoors open.'
Zach started poking about trying some relatively simple procedures
to see if he could get lucky. As his cyberconsciousnes appeared on the
plane of the Grid-world, he gasped in astonishment. This was nothing
like the station's main computer. The ComTech technicians had designed
a masterpiece of computer engineering. It was a sculpted system, giving
anyone that interfaced with it the feeling that they were truly in
another world... just as lifelike as the one he lived in 'real' life.
He opened his eyes and blinked as the world began to take shape
around him. First the landscape rippled into a small colonist town on
some Class 1 world just like right out of a holovid... like that
documentary show on the hardy colonists of the Verge. Then, other people
began to take shape... shadows, he assumed... independent programs
running around the town, busily going about whatever administrative
duties had been assigned to them.
He began to walk into the town and called out to one of the
passersby, "Excuse me? Could you direct me to the town office? Perhaps
the Mayor's office?" He assumed that whatever passed for the local
government in the place might also represent the central processor and
main control program for the ComTech system. "But where would the
cameras be?" he thought.
The shadow-person standing before Zach turned its head and looked at
him. Its eyes sparkled briefly with a flash of green computer code
scrolling across them as it attempted to recognize Zach. It shook its
head and quietly spoke, "You're not from around here, are you?" It
pointed one arm back toward a specific building, "You might want to
check in there first. You've gotta have a visa to come and go through
here. The police check for them periodically... and if you don't have
one... well, they aren't always so nice and polite to those that don't."
Zach watched the shadow move away, and thought to himself, "Hmmmm...
a visa? Some sort of passcode key? It looked like he'd have to pull out
the big guns to crack this nut...unless he obtained one of those visas."
--------------
After Zach and Alex had settled into their terminals, Nola checked
out that the security door was still secured by walking across the
Comm-Pit. Everything looked normal, the door's status clearly displaying
that it was locked down just like the rest of the station. Nodding in
satisfaction, she then checked out the toilet across the room.
Everything was clear...no one was hiding there either.
After all of that, she spoke into her Comm gear, "Guys I'll keep an
eye out at the elevator after I secure the top level." Zach didn't
acknowledge her, but Alex nodded without looking her way. A burst of
garbled static came back on her commlink. "Yeah, I copy that, Nola," Jake
said, "We'll expect you when we come back up. Don't be trigger-happy on
us when we get there...and we'll check-in before we start up anyway."
Nola then went back upstairs to check the Electronics room. It was
really nothing more than a wiring closet, filled with circuit boards
and... wiring. "What else?" she thought to herself, then walked back
across the catwalk to keep an eye on the elevator shaft. As she
approached the lift, one thing caught her attention. The robot, Repo,
was no longer there. Thinking that the machine had intended to shut
itself down, she looked around but couldn't see him anywhere.
"Um...guys?" she spoke into her commlink again, "I don't suppose
any of you took that robot with you, did you?"
"Nah...he should be up there with you folks," Jake replied, "Didn't
Alex say he was gonna keep an eye on him? He's not with us... why?"
"Oh...nothing," Nola replied, "I'm sure he's around here
somewhere... I'll keep looking."
--------------
Meanwhile...
On the trip down the lift, Lugwig kept watching Jake and thought
to himself, "Thank C'hkauul, Misss Reed isss ssstill alive! Thisss
command thing wasss not fun. Perhapsss Lugwig doesss not come from an
egg-clutch of leadersss?" As quick as those thoughts crossed his mind
he had already forgotten them, his curiosity now perked about the
descent downward...and their arrival on Level Three.
The cage's doors swung open and Jake, Dimitrio, and Lugwig all
stepped out into the now-familiar red-limned hallway. "Down here,"
Jake pointed, leading the way toward Berthing Compartment Gamma. As
they reached the door, they could hear no sounds from within. Either
the people inside had given up hope... or they were dead by now.
"Let me get to work," Dimitrio said, shouldering Jake out of the
way in a friendly manner. Lugwig hovered behind them, hopping
energetically from one foot to the other, his concern plainly-written
upon his face.
The mechanic popped the access panel on the door and had it open
in record time. "This is starting to get easy," he said to the others,
and stepped back so the Doctor could go to work.
A cloud of cold-fog erupted from the chamber as soon as the door
was opened, spilling outward and raising goosebumps on the flesh of
everyone except the t'sa. Nevertheless, Dr. Lugwig did feel the
cold as he stepped inside.
Jake switched on his flashlight, playing it across the room. The
frozen bodies of up to ten people could be seen. Frost covered their
exposed faces. Many were huddled together, obviously having tried to
stay warm.
"Oh... thisss isss bad, yesss!" Lugwig hissed, moving from person
to person and using his medical gauntlet to scan their life-signs. He
shook his head over most of them. "Too late... too late... no
fixey-fixey," he mumbled. Jake and Dimitrio looked at one another,
shivering in the cold. "Hell of a way to go," Jake commented.
Dimitrio nodded in agreement, and simply said, "Akers did this..."
Finally Lugwig gave a satisfied hiss, "This one... and that one
over there... and this one, too. It'sss Misss Reed!" Only three were
still alive. He quickly administered a few drugs to help stabilize
them, thinking to himself that his leadership role might not be over
so soon, unless he could nurse Miss Reed back to health. Hopefully,
he could do more for her in the sick bay. "We have to move them," he
told the others, "But carefully... gently, yesss?"
"I can help!" A voice called out from the doorway.
Jake wheeled around and raised his rifle, then lowered it as he
spotted Repo standing in the doorway. "Where did you come from, you
little devil?! You're supposed to be upstairs!"
"I thought I might be able to help," Repo offered, waving his two
heavy arms and gesturing to them with his smaller one, "I can carry a
lot... and carefully too. Besides, I didn't want to stay up there with
that woman... she might decide to shoot me!"
Dimitrio shook his head and stifled a laugh. "Damn fool 'bot
didn't know when to stay put," he thought.
"Uh, Nola?" Jake spoke into his comm-unit, "Looks like the robot
followed us down. We've got him with us... we're gonna put him to use
down here. Over."
"I copy you..." Nola's voice came back, sounding worried, but
relieved at the same time.
--------------
Meanwhile, in the electron universe...
Zach gritted his teeth in frustration as he searched the hallways of
the building that the shadow-person had directed him toward. Sitting
next to him, in the real world, Alex watched the gridpilot carefully,
wondering what he saw. "What's taking so long?" he wondered silently,
not wanting to interrupt, but wishing he had more answers.
Zach finally found an office clearly labeled with a sign reading
"Visa Applications". He stepped into the room and up to the desk. No
one was around so he banged his hand down onto the bell on the counter.
Before the small chime had even faded into the background, another
shadow-person appeared in thin air behind the desk. This one wore a
pair of glasses, the same green computer code flickering across the
lenses. For a moment, Zach imagined it was Jonah Akers... but then
shook his head, clearing that image from his mind.
"How may I help you?" the shadow-person asked.
"Yes, I'd like to apply for a visa," Zach responded, tweaking a
couple of programs from his gridcaster in order to influence the
system's response, "All of my papers are in order...so there shouldn't
be any problem with that, right?"
The green computer code froze in place on the shadow's glasses as
it processed his request. "I'm sorry...all visa's are being denied
today. The office is closed."
Zach shook his head. "What do you mean it's closed? You're here,
aren't you?"
"There's always someone available to hear the requests of our
visitors," it responded, "But that doesn't mean that the other
employees of our office are available to process that request. It's a
national holiday, you see? So, as a federal office building, we're
not officially open."
"A holiday? What holiday?" Zach asked, becoming even more confused.
"It's Geneva Day," the shadow replied, "And the festivities are
scheduled to begin in..."
The computer code on the glasses began moving again, and a message
clearly flashed across them, "GENEVA 1:14:55... 54... 53...", a
countdown of some kind.
"...in approximately one hour and fifteen minutes," the shadow
finished saying, "Have a Happy Geneva Day, sir." It then winked out
of existence, leaving Zach standing there alone.
--------------
Meanwhile, down below...
Repo had assisted Dr. Lugwig in lifting Teri Reed, holding her
gently cradled in his arms. "Yesss, carefully... yesss," the t'sa
murmurred. Dimitrio was busy tugging the other people, frozen but
still alive, out of the pile of bodies. Jake stood with his back to
the door, patiently waiting for them to finish.
Suddenly, a shot rang out and a charge-slug of some kind smashed
into the doorjamb, mere inches from the back of Jake's head. The
marine immediately ducked around the wall and took up a firing
position on the hallway. It was still as dark and blood-red as ever.
"Damn!" he sucked in a breath, "That was close. And whoever it is
down there, they've got us pinned down in this place!"
He fired a burst from his rifle down the hall to keep back
whoever might be hiding in the dark. Another shot came in reply,
appearing to have come from somewhere close to the lift itself.
"There goes our exit strategy," Jake grunted, "Time for a new plan..."
Dimitrio and Lugwig looked down at their patients. How much
longer could these people last without proper medical care? They
needed to be moved...and soon!
-------------------------------------
---------- Turn 8 Comments ----------
-------------------------------------
1. Apologies to everyone for my absence. Real life can get
in the way of fantasy on occasion. I ran into some recent problems
with my car. Suffice it to say that I was struck from BEHIND while
going 60mph on I-85 here in North Carolina after returning from a visit
with my fiance up in Virginia. The lady that hit my 1-month old
new-car was 35 weeks pregnant and claimed that a bee had stung her,
causing her to lose control of her 1987 Pontiac Firebird. The good news
is that I'm okay (although skidding all over the interstate at 60mph
with a blown tire isn't much fun) and she's okay, too. The bad news is
that it looks like she doesn't have any insurance, and my insurance
company is giving me the run-around so far. So, the only physical
effects to me after being involved in this high-speed accident is that
I'm getting a headache trying to talk to the Adjuster from the insurance
company.
2. In addition, I thought I only had replies from 4 of you.
Obviously, Paul/Jake must still be having some problems... I'll pick him
up as an NPC for the time being. Brian, I had thought I was missing a
response from you as well... perhaps your response didn't include me
originally? Regardless, after thoroughly reviewing Fabian/Dimitrio's
post, I gleaned Lugwig's words from the material he had copied.
3. Aside from all of that, I'd like to say that I really appreciate
everyone's patience and prompt response (at least, those that I received).
Hopefully, I can provide the same... thanks for sticking with me.
4. Actions?
-- Neil, DM
OOC Questions:
1. Was there a concensus from the group as to Repo's fate? As in, is
there any reason why Alex would notice that Repo is not with him? Or
would he assume that Repo went with someone else?
2. Umm... I had a question about piloting, but I'll talk to about it
later when I've thought it through...
3. Sorry about your car.
-- Hai, Alex
OOC Questions:
1. Was there a concensus from the group as to Repo's fate? As in,
is there any reason why Alex would notice that Repo is not with him?
Or would he assume that Repo went with someone else?
I was never able to glean a consensus, no. As such, I chose to
resolve in the manner that I did. I hope everyone can understand that...
I also got the impression that Alex became a bit more interested in
what Zach was intending to do than stand by and discuss Repo's fate at
that particular moment. Dimitrio, Nola, and Lugwig all seemed to have
that matter well in hand... thus, the move away. Also, the last response
that any of you gave me was Jamie's/Nola's where she basically said,
"Let's not worry about the robot right now..."
So, that's where we left it. Of course, you guys can make a new
decision at this point, if you want to. For the time being, though, Repo
appears to making every opportunity to 1) not shut himself down, 2) follow
you guys around, and 3) stay away from the "woman that might shoot him"
which Dimitrio explained to him. :)
2. Umm... I had a question about piloting, but I'll talk to about it
later when I've thought it through...
Okay...take your time. :)
3. Sorry about your car.
Yeah, me too. :(
-- Neil, DM
Happy Geneva Day to everyone!
1. Buzz Killer about the car Neil. Perhaps your egg-clutch luck is
running on par with my egg-clutch luck at the current time.
2. Not sure why you did not get my post from last turn. If it happens
again I will switch to my other e-mail account. It was definetly a
malfunction or a mistake, sorry.
3. Nice turn eight!
4. Perhaps one of the Lurkers could temp. for Paul at the current moment.
Just a suggestion.
-- Brian, Dr. Lugwig
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