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Post by Reaper on Nov 20, 2008 15:35:19 GMT -5
This business is a telecommunication building it consist of several main offices, several cubicles, and a break room.
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Post by .name//Technomancer on Mar 14, 2010 23:05:05 GMT -5
/./Ash meant business. She was raring to get out of here. The dialogue exchange between her and Thomas could have gone smoother, but this was the way things were. As quickly as Ash loaded up and prepared the truck for departure, Thomas did the same. All of the supplies he had "liberated" from the fire station were neatly packed away in the trunk of his IROC. His Asus and Issac's PDA sat on his driver seat, which were promptly moved to his passenger seat. A quick check of the area surrounding the Chevy secured Thomas' fear of leaving items behind. Ash started the truck up. Issac opened the garage doors. And they were off.
Ash had pulled out first, the uncontrollable beeping emitting from the truck grabbing attention for miles. Metal Wave would do her part too.
The Native slid into the driver seat, slamming the heavy door closed. Ignition key in. A turn. And life began.
Metal Wave roared, waking up after a nice little nap. Clutch out, E-brake off, roll forward. Slowly, the Camaro inched forward, after the Pierce. Ash's easy-going exit was partially for Issac to jump back into the truck, but also for Thomas to take lead. Gas to the floor. Metal Wave's rear deep dishes peeled out a bit, lunging forward with all the might her Turbo-Ready 305 could generate in first.
Thomas showboated a little. He had to. A powerslide around the front of the truck, using nothing but torque, placed Metal Wave in front of the fire engine. When Issac rejoined the squad, they took off. The Camaro acted as, and performed wonderfully as, a scout. She beamed forward on every straight, flipping b*tches and checking side-streets. The alternative routes they had available became a short list, fast. Each turn either increased, or depleted, the signal provided by the Sisco Telecom-. They followed the PDA's nose. The goldmine of information and communication, as well as potentially portable net, would provide the crew with all they need in terms of maps, intel, and possibly... Clues for Ash's search of her sister. One could only be so hopeful.
The signal only continued to improve as they climbed a little ways into the mountains. There was little to stop them. A stray Zack here and there, the occasional dead body. Nothing special on the way up. It almost seemed boring, twisting up the hillsides. Just across the horizon, the three spotted their destination physically. Huge com dishes dotted a mountainside, along with a massive broadcasting tower. Sisco Telecom. The signal continued to grow. There had to be a way to stay in communication with this place out on the road, or in Raccoon City. Thomas and the others would find it here. In some form or another... The front security gates were in sight...
It was what anyone would expect from a telecom company. Grey exterior. Small, almost meaningless window. Drab, dull cars out front. And not a Zack in sight on the inside. Metal Wave, having lead the charge, pulled to the side of the road, slowing enough to allow the Pierce to pass. Anyone with eyes could see the gate was locked. A big ol' steel wrought thing, the kinda gate that kept people from just walking in.
The designers of the gate didn't count on fire trucks being introduced to the equasion././
[Thomas, Metal Wave, Ash, and Issac have arrived in Sisco Telecommunication.]
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 15, 2010 1:06:54 GMT -5
Gravel, dirt trembling; the hot cement and bitumen under the doggedly hot sun trembled as the maroon behemoth crammed itself through a ridiculously tight corner at a ridiculously high speed. The convoy had exited the built up urban area to a main street and followed it through out of town, back to the sweet pines and yelling valley breeze. A hundred metres ahead of the red paragon ran the Chevvy cruising around the countryside biting easily at the steep slalom they had going for a moment before the road evened out to a clearing.
Pearl had to receive some grunt to keep up with Metal Wave and get up the hills, Ashleigh thrashed her; an impression left that there was a fire somewhere. Ahead were some random carriers cross the road, might have seen a hare dart through some shrubbery; whatever. Ash had something different in mind. She was a little concerned when Wave came close to each of them, not just that the carriers would make her look ugly after total evisceration but also because Ash wanted Pearl to have a little bit of fun as well. She'd been cooped up in the station for a month or more, least she deserved was some close combat action with the menace that kept her there.
Ashleigh grinned as the Chevvy moved out of the way, dodging the rest of the carriers along the road as well. Seemed Thomas was quite fond of the paint job. She leaned down close to the steering wheel, "Eat'm up girl..." she whispered, "Windows closed Isaac," she reported; his window wasn't down but it was a classy way of saying 'heads up'. The carrier grew closer, having turned to reach hands out to Metal Wave it turned back to the new thundering growl with surprised eyes and gaping moan. For a few seconds even the fire engines motor couldn't be heard...
BAM
Pearl roared in the explosion of organs and washed rind, bits of dark red residue and soaked torn clothing stuck to the screen; Ash flicked the windscreen wipers on in time to see subject number two, she wasn't quite close enough to hit it dead on. Instead the carrier fell forwards under the front left tire, all of its insides being pushed to its head and exploded forth from the fire engine spraying thirty or more metres. Fireworks... only not quite the same substances.
Item No. 3 was a haggard old carrier, decomposed much more than the previous two and was at the stage where it couldn't even hold its own weight anymore. It was leaning forwards, probably held up by nothing but its spine by now, "Oh look at this one, look at this-" Ashleigh spoke, whether it was to Pearl or to Isaac was uncertain. The truck was commandeered well enough for the front right-hand side to collide directly wish the zombies head, smacking it clean off its neck. It must have flown fifty feet, practically gone airborne. The headless muck in the rear view mirror stumbling before crumpling to the ground.
A whirring sound reported from the front of Pearl, water sprayed up onto the windscreen while the wipers pulled off the rest of the mess. Ashleigh rubbed the inside of her door thoroughly, "Who's a good girl, huh?"
Rounding a corner, their destination panned into view. There was a short gully breached by a wide stone bridge which lead to the head of the complex. Ash was taken aback slightly, once inside all they'd have was a huge mountain wall behind them and the bridge; the gully was rushing with water at this time of the year. A hold off would be deeply intriguing, but at the same time the location would be relatively decent for a base of operations; all of the workers must have filed out once the word of outbreak made it to their ears, the car park would have filed out and it would have become a ghost town. High up on the mountain top sat a row of massive dishes, "That big enough for ya," Ashleigh asked while casually covering the bridge.
Metal Wave had pulled over to the side of the road and slowed somewhat, Ash was curious as to what was going on until she'd noticed the gates to the complex. Easy, "It's just like pulling a tooth out baby, don't think," Ash said just before breathing in and stabbing the gas. Pearl was about ready to gain altitude once they'd reached the wrought iron gate, Ash predicted they had enough of a front bumper to stop the windscreen from smashing; the stuff was made to hold either way, Pearl would manage it without a scratch.
The gates flew, Thomas' clear prediction of them being potentially locked was correct as a chain and busted deadlock glided through the air. Ash's brow creased in thought, not a huge point locking up a place you weren't going to return to. She spotted three... four cars still remaining in the almost entirely deserted parking lot. Some of the employees had decided to stay...
Pearl came to a hazardous stop near the primary entrance, no point in keeping with parking regulations. Ash opened the fire engines door and hopped out, "Here we are," she walked around Pearl, took an accurate prediction where Metal Wave was planned to stop. She only waited for the door to open, "We may have carriers here, not too much to worry about but enough to watch your back," she said, brief gesture to the cars in the lot.
Ash turned to face the main lobby. The right and left wings of the building had huge glass windows as a front wall, each level could be easily seen. Ash drew her sidewinder, "Alrighty Tom," she started while moving towards the entrance, "Do whatchou have to do," - 'To help my sister.' Ash nudged her way through the glass door into the moderately dark lobby. Overnight lights were the only illumination asides from the 7 o'clock sun which was currently hitting the side of the mountain at an angle right now. Down in a far off hall a fluorescent flickered, typical zombie environment.
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Post by RabidMaggot93 on Mar 15, 2010 12:45:22 GMT -5
Ambrose silently ghosted through the open gates not long after the car had driven up here. He'd been following it all the way up the mountain and now his body ached for a rest and his would allow it that. He also had to dig the knife out which would be a pain. He cast a glance inside of the compound but decided he'd take his revenge at a later time. With a soft growl he padded away into the deep underbrush and down the mountain. [[Ambrose has left Cisco Station but you'll meet him again ]]
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Post by .name//Technomancer on Mar 16, 2010 17:41:41 GMT -5
"f**k YEAH FIRE TRUCK!!"
/./Unaware that Ash had named her shiny red rig, Thomas simply referred to it in a general stance. Comparatively, the engine lulled by Metal Wave when she decided to change lead. It was assumed that the truck would have very minimal resistance from the barred gate, and in this conclusion, Thomas decided to play the Brave Racer-type and immediately flew behind Pearl, tailing the truck on the inside of ten inches. It was unknown if the gates would decide to rebel and swing hard back out once they collided with the walls they hinged upon. All the driver could hope for was that IF by some freak nature occurrence the gates bounced back, they would pin and promptly ricochet off of Pearl, before squishing Metal Wave. She was a Camaro, but let's be honest. That paint job is not worth it.
The explosion of metal fragments a la gate and chrome chips off of Pearl's face was, unfortunately, seen indirectly. This small, barely relevant break-in reminded Thomas of the flipHD he had lifted from the Sam's Club in Montana, and his ignorance in not taping everything. These videos, when the world calms it's s*** down, would be the first uploads on NuYoutube. Not everyone had to live in such desperate squalor, and those so privileged had to see what happened on the outside.
Snap back to reality. Metal Wave's tailing of the fire truck was a spectacular idea, the first few seconds Thomas actually went through with it. Ash apparently decided to pull in only so much before letting off of the gas. A hair-raising moment for the draft-ee, as just nanoseconds split the ass of the Rescue vehicle and Metal Wave. Quick reflexes would save him today. Clutch out, light braking. Duck out to the left. And she was around the left side of Pearl././
"A noteworthy idea,"/./Belmont grumbled to himself, dropping into formation with Ash after the little incident..././ "Stop drafting trucks."
/./This was a fleeting self-loathing moment. A small flicker of Issac's PDA and his own Asus' screen en tandem distracted Thomas' peripheral vision. Inadvertently, he showboated s'more with a pull of his handbrake. A powerslide parking stop covering four spaces and a handicap spot near the front iterated his surprise. The 305 still running, only footbrake, clutch, and handbrake keeping the IROC from rolling away would have never been acceptable for Thomas, except for this second, right here. Right now.
Full signal.
Thomas would have punched Metal Wave's roof in excitement and acclaim, but his judgment decided otherwise. A glass T-Top wouldn't fair so well against the attack.
An acceptable parking job, with Metal Wave's nose minimally facing the only known way out, Thomas proceeded with the shutdown process. His right hand swatted away all of the charging cables connected to the laptop, PDA, and his own personal phone before killing Metal Wave for a while. He moved with impressive agility and slickness, clipping his IROCs keys to his wallet chain and pocketing both the PDA and his Chocolate2 simultaneously, [and] grabbing both ends of Gungnir while sliding out from his bucketseat. In reality, describing the scene is less impressive than what truly took place, but this journalist can only work with so much information. I digress.
Before locking away Metal Wave, Thomas leaned both ends of Gungnir against her driver-side rear wheel well, and re-equipped himself moderately. He also took enough time to dress himself properly, pulling a muscle shirt over his head, down and across his torso, before tucking it into his pants. This moment was utilized to equip the only sense of security he had while outside of Metal Wave: his power collar. These, and duct tape, his Asus, and the smaller [and pocketable] tool kit, came with him. All else was left under the protection of the Goddess of Naturally Aspirated Horsepower.
Issac had not yet emerged from the engine; perfect. All equipment, including his Asus Eee, within various pockets, Thomas' hands were left free to assemble Gungnir and re-arm her by sliding the custom scabbard off and away. He approached the engine, nodded in acknowledgment to Issac's presence.
"Hey man, I'm just throwin' this out there, but if you feel it's a 'tactical' "/./Insert finger gesture././ "decision, I say park this beast in front of the gate. You guys carted over a few corpses, but there are still others out there, and it's unsettling how many we can't see. If you think it's for the better keeping of our safety, go for it, I say."
/./He turned to leave, grasping Gungnir with his left hand and placing the unbladed end across his back, preparing to depart. He paused a moment, and looked back a moment, his matte copper eyes remaining straightforward././
"And uh, thanks for the PDA, dude. I honestly can't tell you I can give it back in 100% condition, but I'll mod you an iPhone or something."
/./He began his approach on the telecom center with a sense of trust. Issac seemed genuine in his recovery and protection of survivors, and was thankfully lenient towards this goal. Ash, while still somewhat of a mystery, also had a sincere approach to this attack. With any luck, he could find all of the information she needed to find her sister. Determination drove her through her injuries, and passed her pride. Asking a total stranger for help in this kind of situation truly spoke of one's soul. For someone who was often the anonymous source of evil deeds in the world, even if they had a slight positive end of means, Thomas felt both relieved and honored to assist Ashleigh in her quest.
Perhaps her first acknowledgment of his existence was proper. Thomas had, for all intents and purposes, been scripted as the role of White Knight. He accepted gracefully, and modestly.
On first glance, the structure oozed with ho-hum, drab, and oddly outdated exterior and interior design. Odd, in the sense that the type of signal, as well as the minimal signal strength Thomas had set the PDA to detect, was relatively modern. A push of the front glass doors began yet another epic Dungeon Crawl. So many months had passed since the initial attacks. Certainly, this place would have treasures, even if it is simply information.
He would treat it as any other locale he had raided. A small anomaly would be the presence of allies.
Immediately, he beelined for the directory. Copper eyes scanned the black and white board, with Thomas speaking silently to himself././
"Lesse... Uh... Offices... Delivery/Docking... Intel/Comm.... Hrm..."
/./For as low-tech as this place looks from the outside, it sure sounded complex from the inside. Solution: Thomas fingered his right pocket for his Mint Blue Chocolate2, threw the custom Flash on, and snapped a silent 1600x1200 of the entire directory. Again, he sent it to himself, relying on his advanced tech to store the image on his Asus. It worked, of course.
He zoomed in on the directory using his phone, assuring he could read the text without the use of his Asus, and set off again. True, Ash was only so far away, but her hesitance to proceed down true Zombie Lane would not deter Thomas. It was unfortunate, but he had faced Zacks in the last months with little more than his spear and his pair. Looking Ash in the eyes bravely, he nodded to her, assuring that he had her back, if she again had his, and st off into the flickering hallway. The office numbers ascended as they would proceed. This was the way they needed to go. They needed a stairwell to gain a floor, too. He didn't make a note to Ash, as silence was decidedly the key factor to a successful raid././
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Isaac
Survivalist
Posts: 70
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Post by Isaac on Mar 16, 2010 17:58:28 GMT -5
After the entire commotion went down, Isaac had shut off and removed his night vision goggles from his eyes. The bright light had hurt quite a bit, momentarily blinded him as well. Luckily it dissipated quickly but it left him a head ache well enough to be a nuisance. Luckily for him his friends knew enough to put down the other small dogs, but the big one had gotten away. Left him without his knife as well, but it was lodged in the stomach of the animal. That would definitely cause some serious damage.
Isaac's arm was bitten as well, a very unfortunate thing. Immediately after the threat was gone he hurried to the sink, peeling back the sleeve of his torn BDU. Immediately he began washing it out, squeezing tightly on the wound to draw out anything in his open wound. As soon as he was done he grabbed a near by rag and scrubbed hard on the wound until it was red.
He winced a little as he did so but finished, quickly wrapping it with gauze in the first aid kit and rolling his sleeve back down. He reloaded his clip, securing his weapon and keeping his wits about him. They needed to leave soon, which luckily everyone had agreed to do. Isaac helped quickly load up the firetruck until everyone was ready. He offered to get the garage opened and let everyone out before he would hurry back to the truck.
"Alright, lets go!" He lifted on the bottom of the garage door, pushing it high enough for the firetruck to slide out, slowly with a terrible beeping noise. His muscles strained as the door held open, the fire truck taking off. Luckily, Thomas did the same, but much faster and moved ahead of the heavy machine. Isaac let the door go and sprinted for the firetruck, it wasn't far away. He still heard the door slam shut as he hurried to the passenger side and climbed in.
He strapped the seat belt tight, he had learned to do that when he was in a vehicle. Crashes were not entire unknown, more frequent than usual these days. Last thing he wanted was to die by flying through a windshield. He remained silent the whole drive, he didn't feel like talking, not right now. He had nearly been killed back there, we all had. It was likely that the giant animal would be back eventually. It was wounded, not terribly for what that thing was.
He smiled as the firetruck collided with bodies. It wasn't the smart thing to do, but it felt good to kill more of these damn monsters. As they reached the complex he could easily tell they weren't driving any longer. He unstrapped his belt and climbed out after Ash, grabbing a first aid kit and securing it to him before he left.
"I'll take the rear." He followed them at a bit of a distance, looking through the scope of his M4 the entire time. His eyes carefully watched in front of them as well as occasionally lurking behind them. It seemed quiet enough, nothing moving yet. He knew how quickly that could change though.
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 17, 2010 5:42:18 GMT -5
A swirly light show went on about the floor, dim but visible; it seemed to situated in its own square without moving anywhere else. The velvet muse stepped over the mirage and looked down at it, pushing her hair out from over her left eye. She looked up at the ceiling, every metre or so a square window was situated among the ceiling plaster. One window in particular, seemingly random in selection, had water spilling all over it. Ashleigh took two steps back, far enough to see the copper pipe jutting out on the roof, 'Hmm... refrigeration's broken. Air con'd be out--ahh...' she held the palm of her hand out to the floor, temperature felt a shade warmer inside than out, 'Probably nothing-'
Then there was that smell. Ashleigh sniffed. Sweet. She slowly made her way towards the reception desk, a slumped figure lay from behind the commissions bench with a white sheet covering it. Ash used the barrel of her revolver to lift it up enough to see the dead body; bright, wet blood slipped off the hardwood, "Oh yeah..." pulled the sheet up further revealing the bite mark to the ark plus bullet wounds all around the chest; a little further and the head was visible, one hole residing just inside the left cheek. She considered telling Thomas and Isaac, but they already knew the likelihood of carriers.
Ash dropped the sheet. Whoever had taken care of the mess knew what they were dealing with; the possibility of running into discombobulated survivors was there too.
A flash, white noise burrowing into the corner of Ash's right eye. She looked over to see Thomas had taken a snap of the directions map, 'Smart guy,' considering Ash's original plan was to kick doors open until they found what he was looking for.
The flickering corridor didn't end up being that bad, Thomas was convinced they'd be okay; the group had reached the end of it without being jumped at least. Ashleigh had jumped though when the flickering fluorescent they'd passed under suddenly went super bright and popped sprinkling glass all over the floor; an overwhelming sense of gratefulness engulfed her, glad that her finger had been against the receiver rather than on the trigger at the time. To add to things the former globe pop had been a surge which put the rest of the lights in the hall that were on... off; replaced by red emergency lighting, "Cool, I really like this corridor. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Ash jested. Surely enough the refrigeration pipes in the ceiling were dripping; each AC vent had a lining of condensation on along one edge leaving a puddle on the floor directly below them.
The only sound any of the survivors could hear was the annoying 'tap' of each drop. Ash took the liberty to kneel down and feel one of the puddles, 'Warm,' more evidence towards her speculation; although the lack of a particular evidence gave her hope.
Fingers snapped twice, issuing Thomas about to show the map, "Where to," she said looking at his phone, following paths and finger points. The stairs they were looking for weren't particularly far off; the heat that accumulated while moving in its direction made things feel a little distant however. The smell Ash had been waiting for finally crawled up her nostrils; registering, she furrowed her brow, narrowed her eyes, and braced her lips: The evidence she'd waited for.
A very thin veil of smoke covered each step of the stairs, gaseous grey waterfalls dropping between each of them; a small gathering of it was at the very foot. Ash kicked about lazily disturbing the stable gathering of molecules before climbing the stairs, as she'd guessed it became thicker the closer they came to the second floor; by this time Ash guessed that both Thomas and Isaac were aware of what was going on, "Keep low, breathe carefully," she noted while climbing two at a time.
Second floor, charming amount of smoke, still couldn't hear the blaze. Ash kicked a chained floor extinguisher off the wall and rolled it to Isaac, "Lets locate this fire and get it out. Tom, find what you're after; we'll meet back up once sh*t's dealt with," Ashleigh glanced down each available hallway, choosing to go down the one with the lowest amount of visibility from the smoke. Eventually stiff crackling with a steady shallow roar could be hear, rounding a corner showed orange light dancing against the next.
The fire was covering a hall entirely blackening most of the walls and ceiling, what had set it off probably would never be located but it had popped a thin refrigeration pipe in the wall letting the water rush through the cement and woodwork; that was why the sprinklers hadn't come on and was probably the same issue with the electricity surge on the floor below. Ash looked about herself, 'umm'ing, 'ahh'ing, then bashed into a nearby office block going by the simple theory to waste your time looking for a fire extinguisher somewhere obvious.
PC's were the main feature, desks lining across the room in three perfect rows. Ash looked up and down the entrance she'd made, following a row of desks down to one end of the room; at the lead of the desks sat another extinguisher, "Thank--you'p" Ash finished at the same time as the ping reporting that it had snapped off of its hook. She returned to the scene of the blaze and pulled the pin from the extinguisher, "Fire at will,"
Unexpected isn't what Ash would have called what happened next. Perhaps more along the lines of "Bullsh*t"... like a ghost out of the sudden thick foam that shot out of the red cylinder came a carrier, latching onto the extinguisher, "Oi!" Ash snapped as it came in for a snatch. With her free left hand she whopped it on the side of the head.
Now, given the level of decay from time and burn from the fire it would be okay to associate a zombie in that situation with some sort of giant marshmallow. The entire face of the carrier practically slid off the rest of its head with the punch, its hands let go of the extinguisher and it dropped to the floor. Ash stomped of what remained of its temple several times just to make sure the thing was dead. Dead-dead.
Quick readjustment, Ash checked her surroundings to make sure she was clear before returning to put out the blaze. It snaked around the corner, how much room it took up was beyond her but if they could control it then they'd be able to contain it and stop it from burning the building down.
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Post by .name//Technomancer on Mar 18, 2010 7:14:38 GMT -5
"Lets locate this fire and get it out. Tom, find what you're after; we'll meet back up once sh*t's dealt with."
/./Simply peering into the billowing smoke would have deterred those fearful of absolute unknowns. True, the air was only slightly clouded, but coupled with the low light situation, it was a compounding factor. Side-rooms and closets, stairwells and offices. Some doors closed, others wide open. At any moment, a previously hunkered-down group of survivors-turned-corpses could bend the next corner, and overwhelm the three of them. Well, at least Thomas. Thus the danger of traveling alone.
But this must be done././
"Gotcha. I'm headed to the north end of the building."
/./Ash and Issac flew into the darkened hallway silently. A thought casually poked it's way into Thomas' mind... "Man, they'd make freaky-assed Zacks. All silent and s***."The horrific image of ninja zombies sneaking up to Thomas and robbing him of life would be difficult to dismiss. Popular theory dictates that zombified humans retain memories and traits from their previous lives... Would he be easily drawn into the open when presented with shiny tech? Was he a gullible zombie? With any luck, he would never have to find out.
With the other two headed off to secure the fire, and ensure the safety of potential survivors and their own asses, Thomas sped off in the opposite direction.
Okay, sped isn't a word I'd use. It was closer to a jog. The smoke would more than likely damage his Asus, so speed was key here. The issue also surfaced when considering Thomas' own body. The smoke inhalation would most likely kick Thomas' ass. Even secondhand cigarette smoke was enough to dry his throat and cause small fits of coughing. The native controlled his breathing, keeping pace with his steps. His destination was the intel offices. Any data comm devices, software, and hardware would be here.
His massive black-clad frame disappeared into the light haze, only the echo of his heavy steps confirming his location..././[/i][/b]
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/./Breaking away from his fellow survivors, Thomas began to assess all of the issues he could face. Tele-comm dishes that have died. A severe lack of signal. Network computers on fire. Who knows. In the event of simple coding errors, or a system that needs to be flushed and rebooted, Thomas could work out any kinks. It was the hardware problems that he couldn't work out. It's not like he could run down to a Raccoon City Microcenter and pick up new parts. As he continued to discuss among himself potential hang-ups, the numbered offices continued to ascend. 1003, 1004, 1005, 1005... The steady pace at which he traveled kept counting easy. He could concentrate on peeling his copper eyes for any potential threats.
Sadly, and luckily, there were none down on this side. The office blocks began to become larger, indicating expansive server rooms and info swapping management cells. 1029, 1030. 1031..././
"And.... 1032. Here we are..."
/./He panted aloud to himself, slowing his breathing down some to control his heart rate. The smoke-littered hallway made breathing alone difficult. He gave himself a moment to catch his breath, in the meantime he drew his Asus from his cargo pocket one handed, shouldering Gungnir in the process. Supporting the mini-laptop with his right arm, and opening/powering it on with his left, he prepared to enter the closed room.
He could feel more effects of the smoke. His eyes began to water slightly. Oxygen was, ever so slightly, less abundant. For now, it was only light physical issues.
Once his Asus was powered up and operational, he made a few short touchpad strokes, and clicked twice on his closed-screen protection. It was simple: when you close a laptop, it hibernates, forcing the user to restart the system from the log-in menu, killing vital seconds of time. This program simply turned the power-saving program off, allowing the laptop to be closed, and still operational.
He pocketed the laptop again, the quickly-heating-up CPU aimed outward for better air-intake. With a deep breath, he positioned Gungnir in stabby-mode with his left hand, prepared to skewer anything that tried to eat him beyond the simple, unassuming wooden portal././
"Here goes nothin'..."
/./His right hand's digits surrounded the brushed aluminum door handle, clutching lightly for a quick release, and popped the handle up. He pushed the door lightly open, readying Gungnir fully by placing his right hand on her upper-middle staff just below the disassemble point. Gungnir's tip grazed the door, pushing it open the remainder. Huzzah! Not a single body seemed to be inside. From the door, all of the equipment seemed to be operational. Some of the software maintenance machines were in hibernation, others were online. Best day ever.
Unfortunately, his luck quickly took a s***.
Nanoseconds before he placed his first foot within the maintenance room, a thud and clunk simultaneously sounded just feet from his position, to his seven o'clock. He had time enough to pivot on his right leg before being assaulted by... A Zack, of sorts.
The creature had silently bolted towards Thomas, only to shuffle-run into a small can of refuse that had been tilted over. This sound prompted the Native to pivot just in time. All he saw before he was tackled to the ground were red eyes, and a seemingly burning head. Thomas lifted Gungnir horizontally between the two now-battling organisms, the staff planting itself on the chest of the red Zack. It's left arm was beneath Gungnir, the right above, jaws snapping at Thomas. This one was unbelievably strong, pressing Thomas against the door jam of the telecom technical room. It's claws scraped across Thomas' arms and face, some nails digging in, other grazing. This thing wasn't going to be an easy one to kill.
This thing tried with all of it's might to pull Thomas' head and neck closer in for a kill. There's no way in hell this was happening. With a burst of adrenaline, Thomas roared with intensity, pushing away the creature and slashing it two-fold. The slash was mid-sectioned, across the chest. Not a kill. It continued pursuit, with Thomas jumping away from the wall into the middle of the corridor. He began to back-step, Gungnir pointing directly at the thing's chest. It's erratic movement wouldn't allow for a head strike or decap. He formulated a plan while the thing continued to rush him. Time and time again, he would slash at the creature, occasionally shallow-stabbing it in the chest. It was smart enough to back away when faced with danger, but it continued to attack.
Finally, a break. The thing mis-stepped, sending the Zack stumbling a little. Just enough for Thomas to swing up and bring Gungnir's flat-end against it's red head. The crushing blow cracked it's skull; the Crimson Head fell to the ground in a pile of wheezing, convulsing rotted flesh, it's back exposed. Before the creature regained it's motor skills, Thomas jumped atop it, one boot against it's neck, another at it's tailbone, and stabbed it right in the base of the skull. Hard. This drained the life out and away from the Crimson. Still freaking out just a tad, Thomas pulled his phone out from his pocket, and took a picture of this... Zombie. It's teeth had extended past their original anchors. Claws replaced nails, sharp as knives. What was it? And were there more?
Not wanting to find out, Thomas fled for the software maintenance room he had originally opened. Door shut, locked. Time to calm down, and get s*** done././
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 21, 2010 5:50:22 GMT -5
Shining amber flames rolled up the walls and licked the ceiling, underneath the walls of the inferno remained charred and broken. Objects; ceiling lights, switches; everything it touched whined and eventually popped from the heat, every so often a ping sound could be heard with a resulting shatter. A thought crossed as to what might be in the adjacent rooms: Electronics; cleaning detergent? Carbon fiber? If the fire hit any of these; in summary; explosions, fuel for the flame, potential poison to breathe in. It had to be contained fast, but the view of it stretching further down into the forked corridors wasn't promising. Moreover, there was the threat of the fire hitting something major. What sort of equipment was stored in a telecommunication building?
White foam spat all over the casual flames; careful footing; regarding to how long the fire has been given for making the flooring weak enough to fall through. Dropping down one level and landing on top of a carrier would be at the bottom of the To Do list... sh*t; shouldn't have gone on the list in the first place.
Paint on the walls had well and truly been stripped; if you squinted hard enough the embers falling off of the plaster would be visible, a little more and electric cabling could be seen; the colour of each wire covering turning white. Glance. No carriers creeping up behind. The inferno made it difficult to hear anything, quite similar to exiting a concert venue and having your sense of sound knocked off a couple of levels. Was not comfortable. Was not welcome. The familiar feeling of a lack of strength shot through the Velvet muse's body, the foam from the extinguisher gradually losing its arc and length. Soon enough it only dripped dry.
A scowl nuanced the scenery, Ash threw the red cylinder down in frustration turning to the fire once more. Black ash marked and dotted her features and mucked her clothing, the rising humidity in the air caused her hair to dampen and stick to her face. Ash flicked at it while trying to think, 'There are probably more extinguishers in other rooms... but where precisely?' it probably would have helped to be a part of the employees here, induction taught you where each extinguisher was situated; considering the fire hadn't been tended to for so long meant everyone in Sisco was dead. Ash growled 'This fire's moving faster than I can contain it, just chasing an impossible problem here,' Ash looked up at the sprinkler system sincerely wishing they would just sputter to life. The occurred thought was she'd have to find a way to turn them on.
The muse turned on her heal, "I'm not a freaking plumber!" she shouted, hand to her head, breathing heavily. Ashleigh paced on the spot, so to speak, 'Damn it! Why the f*ck didn't I get my own copy of the building map?' a minute passed, it clicked that she knew she'd have to make a decision eventually; rather than choosing a particular path she ran with her gut. Ashleigh turned on her heal once more back to the flame, revolver drawn; she fired two shots for each two fire extinguishers further down the hall. White poured out, the pressurized nitrogen spilled onto the floors and walls. The cylinders shook violently from the force and snapped out of their chaining spinning dramatically up and down the halls, 'Should keep it occupied,' Ash thought while turning to run in the opposite direction.
The path back to the stairwell wasn't long; Ash skidded to a halt for a brief second for what appeared to be no good reason, trying to figure out what it was precisely that had caused her opposing thoughts. She turned to the row of windows, all along the front wall of the building; it appeared they were made to be opened. Ash pushed a hand against one of the panels, her idea being to open all of them and let the smoke out; no dice. She took a step back, grunted, about to bring her foot up - then noticed the crank on the wall underneath the Western most windows. Ash dropped the barrage run and strode over to grab the crank, twisting it round and round. All of the windows in the row began to open up, her lips beginning to smile in similar synchronization. 'That made things a little easier,'
Back to the stairs, the Velvet muse practically gliding down them. Quick footsteps rather than two at a time. The smoke had made it down into the lower level now, coupled with the shattered light brought vision down to ground zero. Ash popped on her flashlight and roadie ran through the brief darkness; nothing had grabbed her or followed her out into the lobby so it seemed all swell. The difference from when they had first arrived though was the refrigeration pipes on the roof had finally distributed enough water to drop through the panel of glass in the ceiling; a large pool remained in the middle of the lobby, glass everywhere, and a constant stream of water trickled downwards. Almost convincing enough to be a sun shower. Flicking the light off Ash crossed the room to the directory, "Let's see, wouldn't make a habit of putting important water stuffs anywhere near computer stuffs..." she shrugged, keep sh*t simple, "So it'd have to either be underground or..." outside.
The latter seemed that way, either it was outside or nobody had wanted to make it evident to the public where their primary water and generator were stored.
Just to be sure Ash crossed over to the reception desk. She grabbed the heels of the dead person and yanked them off the desk, tugging them across to one side of the room before returning to the reception PC. There was always the possibility the surge had effected electricity in the reception, Ash glanced about; there was a down-light still on which lightened the glass cut directory, so the chance was there. She stabbed the power switch on the tower, a second passed, and the on screen cues popped up to indicate its booting.
Ashleigh hissed a "Yessss" of relief then pursed her lips as the login screen faded in. Orange Windows 9i interface:
ADMIN Reception Customer Commission
Selection > ADMIN > Password...
"F*CKS-sake."
Yes... it had occurred to her that this would be the inevitable issue right from the login screen, "Where the f*ck is Thomas... God..." there was nearly a point where she would admit defeat, but it didn't have to be like that. Sometimes you didn't have to be a crack shot with something other than a firearm to get what you wanted from a computer. Ash cancelled the password entry.
Selection > Reception > Password...
Yep, she expected that. Onto the next.
Selection > Customer Commission... Logging you in. Note: Sisco Telecommunication building status: Code yellow, please advise with the further information--
"Yeah-yeah-yeah I know there's a fire going on in the building, that's what I'm trying to work out for freaks sake," Ash figured it was about time to tone down on the cursing, tapping the return key to speed things up. Eventually the notice window disappeared and the desktop remained, "Awesome," now to put her theory to practice.
Start tab > My Computer > Shared Documents... File: Sisco Telecommunication layout.
Pow.
Instantly several .png images showed up in their own window, Ashleigh scrolled through all of the familiar images from the directory; scrolling back up once after passing an out of place image. Double-click. It was of the outside area, a smaller offshoot building disconnected from the main compound. Outside of the walls to keep things simple. It wouldn't be too far... "Would it?" Ash wasn't sure; she could climb over the wall, that might save time.
Ashleigh pushed away from the desk striding around it before breaking into a run for the exit. She stopped momentarily when noticing a disturbance in the valley below, far off into a fork in the mountains:
Trees were being knocked over, and fast; as soon as one was leveled a second started to shake violently. Flocks of white birds scattered into the air to escape the calamity. It was too far off to hear anything, which made everything appear all the more bizarre (for what it was). Ash pushed her way out into the parking lot to get a better view; there was the ever so faint sound of cracks, you needed to seriously strain your ability to hear to pick up on it though. Moreover, it was delayed with the distance.
Ash suddenly felt very, very small. Whatever caused the 20 metre tall pine trees to topple was certainly big.
The chaos stopped, trees keeping to their upright position; whatever had occurred had passed and the sightseeing had caused Ashleigh to waste time. She turned and made for Pearl, hopping into the engine and gunning it heading straight for the back end of the complex, "Just need'ya to help me for a sec, girl," Ash brought her up close to the compound wall and jumped out, climbing on top of the fire engine. She braced herself with the jump, reaching up and over the cement wall.
Soft grass, "Thankyoup," and the Velvet muse took off for the maintenance building.
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Post by .name//Technomancer on Mar 22, 2010 0:57:43 GMT -5
/./A notable sense of singularity suddenly presented itself. Even surrounded by modern communications technology, and surprisingly, the net... Thomas felt... Alone. As if Ash and Issac had simply... Poofed into thin air. Neither of his two fellow survivors fit the description of abandoneers... So it was a suspicious shiver to run up Thomas' back.
His encounter just moments ago proved enough to also instill caution in the Native. The comm service offices didn't give off any curious noises, like those outside... And there was a considerable lack of gore, when taking into consideration other rooms they had passed. Maybe it didn't make the greatest place to hide...? Who knew. Time would unravel this mystery. Shouldering the still blood-laced Gungnir, Thomas casually slipped his right hand into his waist pocket... Then his right cargos... A furrowed brow accompanied the hastened exchange of his spear, instead adjusting it against his right shoulder, and searching his left pockets..././"Goddamnit, if I left my flashlight in Metal Wave, I'm gonna pop a vein..." /./The grumbled self-narration wasn't enough to rectify the situation. Where-ever that fire was, it knocked out power. And while yes, sunlight did pour over the dusty, cramped cubicles, they didn't shed enough light into all of them, especially the ones facing away from the windows. A solution would have been to run all the way downstairs, through all of the corridors and stairwells that he had taken to get here, back out to the IROC, and fetch the simple aluminum LED flashlight.
Or...
He could simply throw caution to the zombies, and consider the room cleared, seeing as nothing has sprung up and tried to kill him. Yet. The latter would prove to be less time consuming... And he could always set up a few traps as he searched for the proper terminals. To this end, he once again readied Gungnir for an attack. Steadying her blade towards the ground, a steep angle perfect for a heavy upward slash. He proceeded.
Each step was as silent as he could force it; each still echoing out into the softly-lit communication technician offices with a grave-rattling thud. Matte copper hues pierce the light and darkness alike, searching for the small LED indicators of sleeping machines. So far, monitors only display error messages, or system link compliance issues. Nothing of interest...
If there was still a machine with uplinks, this is the place to find it. And so far, one can refer to the case of Needle V/. Haystack for results. If that fire out in the corridor didn't kill the electricity, or water, it was the Net. Goddamnit. One could only press on.
The shadow fluttered within the office for what seemed like forever, but in reality was closer to six or eight minutes. All of the cubicles nearest to the entry door had been verified as unusable. Nothing seemed to be of interest otherwise. None of these machines would provided greater equipment than tiny 512m ram, tiny internal HDDs, and corded EVERYTHING. None of them proved useful, and to compact matters, none of them had... Net?
Before I proceed, let me make something very apparent. Each cubical Thomas inspected was much like the structure, and the few cars parked outside. Bland. Devoid of personality. Grey. What you'd expect from a "Professional, no nonsense" company. And it would seem that even in this "Professional, no-nonsense" setting, a seed of the Nerds thrived. As usual, Thomas rounded the corner to tackle the next block of sixteen cubicles... Each as empty and desolate as the last. The third to last, on the left, proved a remarkable discovery, however. Out of the corner of his eye, as he peered into the third from the right, his peripheral vision caught a bright white and blue figure. A massive gray weapon seemed to be in it's robotic arm. An anime model. Immediately, he turned to face this model, one probably 1:100 scale of it's purposed likeness. And more like it. As if he had stepped into his own cubical in the offices, blinking network lights indicated live links. Japanese Anime robot models and borderline Hentai printed images lined the upper shelves and backwalls of the cubical. Two 17" LG LED monitors, along with a mildly-customized Lenovo IdeaPad S10 lay on the desk. To his feet sat two towers: One, being bland, gray, and simply slow looking which was supposedly for work, and a nearly unidentifiable Gateway tower. It had been painted, cut up, had Plexiglas and mesh inserts installed with multiple fans and neon strips glowing purple. Either a reformed Slicer, or one new to the game lurked here, and the S10 was a dead giveaway. Thomas owned one at the beginning of his Blackhat days, as did many old hackers. They are ideal for mobile netbreaking and wildly popular for base customizing. Fully charged, jacked into a hardline along with an installed Verizon 4G wireless card. It even had a charger. Immediately, he gave thanks for this bounty in his own little way././".... The Mother Goddess, whom shall smile upon my quest; cruel yet forgiving, present yet subtle, lay the fruits and grains of life before my eyes..." /./He whispered to himself, bowing his head in sincerity, before raising his eyes to the ceiling, a grin stretching from central LA to Manhattan plastered across his complexion. His lips were chapped and brittle, which the smile caused to crack open just a bit. He did not mind, and continued on, proclaiming just a hair louder than his last Thanks././ "Gaea, I love ya, ya f**kin' b*tch!" /./Cue victory fanfare and battle stance. With the speed of persistence and excitement, Thomas touched both mouses for the Two Towers, and tapped the power restore button on the S10, before fiddling with the touchpad to wake it up. With the machines awakening, he turned to the empty cubical row... He thought of the best way to trap himself in for a moment... All he could come up with was pulling out four or five office chairs at a time, lining them up in a triangular formation on the outside of each cubical block, effectively blocking himself in. Sure, they were chairs, but any Zack dumb enough to try a sneak-up-and-bite on Thomas will fumble over the chairs. Perfect alarm.
Returning to check the progress of the machines, Thomas was met with multiple password screens. The lock on the S10 would be fun to pop, as challenges are Tom's specialty. It would take time. Time he didn't have. For now, he shut the nameless Lenovo down, preparing it for departure. The custom Gateway was less fun, and easier to break in. Running Linux, oddly enough, the could simply jack into it with his own Linux-ASUS and perform algorithm backtracking to find consistent words in it's keylog. This was the password.
The work computer was the most boring of all. It had the Sisco "Standard Operations" menu up front. He needed Admin access. Bypassing into a Guest account wouldn't work here././ADMIN LOG-IN
WELCOME TO SISCO TELECOMMUNICATIONS, CUSTOMER SERVICE
WELCOME BACK, A. Glassaer.
Selection > ADMIN > Password..."This is all they can throw at me?" /./Simple. He downbooted the machine, and held CTRL+ALT+DELETE, forcing it into a restart. From there, he started it back up, and began it's operations bios. It wasn't even so much as a hack, than simply fooling the system in believing the password was never introduced. It took all of eighty-five seconds to log in as his own administrator, with full security access.
The password he chose: All_Your_Sisco_Are_Belong_To_Us.
This password, if used anywhere in the facility, would unlock anything at this point. Their digital security was a joke././"That's probably why they hired this uh... Glassaer dude on. They needed someone on the inside to keep their s*** in line." /./A whole lotta help that did. Perplexing, though, was why all of his equipment was still lying around... Did they stage a faux-Fire Alarm test, and evac the building, only to have all employees bolt when the Zack attack happened simultaneously? And, ironically, a fire breaking out? These are questions for later.
This guy knew what he was doing, though. All of the hard work Thomas would have had to do, including opening a long-distance comm channel between his ASUS and any wireless devices he would acquire, and securing that channel for private, secured use, have been taken care of. His user settings verify the Sisco's uplink with multiple other channels on various hotspots around the country, mostly in the western states... And, they've all been logged to allow the 4G card in the S10 of Glassaer's access. Why the hell was he here then?
The fire running rampant down and around the hall was an ever-present threat, and with the narrowing time-window, he started a wrap-up. He shut down the Gateway, and proceeded to unplug all of the external components. Not much in the way of external memory, or devices, but it had an extra keyboard and mouse. This one was coming with him. The non-descript one... Eh... It had no use in his hands. It was slow as balls, had low hard memory, and outdated components. The monitors both were hooked up to, however.. These would come as well. They were moderately sized, and both the same make. Perfect. A quick shuffle around the cubical didn't return enough luck to expose a bag, tote, or coat or something.
An idea sparked. He could tie off the sleeves on his shirt, and carry the monitors out in his shirt. He'd also make a Compy-cradle out of his gothic straps, at least for the Gateway... Unfortunately, before he could proceed, A small flashing box appeared on this still-operational monitor. A security line had been tripped. Something on the outer wall... Following the prompts, and security cameras, Thomas saw a small, lithe figure leap the outer concrete wall. It was Ash. He didn't have time, nor the resources, to attempt communication with her. Based on an estimated guess, and by pulling up recently accessed documents at Reception, Thomas saw her destination: Maintenance.
There was a manual over-ride for the sprinkler systems, and this was both a good, and a bad thing. Obviously, the fires would be put out. But, on the flip side of this coin, there was one of said sprinklers right above Thomas.
And he was surrounded by necessary tech.
As quickly as his nimble digits could, he organized a message for her at the maintenance building. The lock was electronic, ironically, and he would pop it. But he stressed to her his problem on the screen just outside, the access terminal: She would either need to arrange the water to only hit certain areas, or give him six minutes to pull out safely. It was short and sweet, to the point. Ash would appreciate the message length././Before you go in, Agent Ashleigh, keep this in mind: The fires have so far only affected areas 2-A, 2-C, 2-D, and Minus-1-6. Avoid water damage. Please try to keep the sprinklers contained in this area. Otherwise, you'll short out all of my tech. Then we're f**ked.
If you can't control the areas affected, let me know from the terminal inside. I'll see what I can't do to help. It's all manual, so I can't help directly, but I can help tell ya what to do.
Best of luck, and don't kill my 'puters plz. :<
[The Technomancer]
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 22, 2010 7:35:13 GMT -5
A flash of Olive Drab pants. Needle sharp pines jutting up from the mountain side sat between the main building and maintenance access; the smell of bark and sap drifting around the huge trunks. Trunks wide enough to provide cover for a whole platoon if need be, which was what made the approach for Ashleigh easy; moreover with the pines grounded to the side of the mountain some of the larger roots protruded out for her to back up against. The slope was what made it an issue; slick grass and brown twigs threatened to wear out grip; it required Ash to split her attention 50-50, foot holds first. Gradually the trees separated more displaying the location of the maintenance building. It was a clever spot actually, limited access from being built into the side of a freaking mountain no doubt, and appeared quite unique. The entire structure looked nothing less than a giant block of vanilla ice cream stabbed into the side of a hill. As much admiration was shown for the view Ashleigh kept her thoughts on the subject at hand. There was a... 'path'... somewhat cutting through to directly above the vanilla block. She maintained her lower posture, left hand up to protect from being whipped by the buffalo grass; the gentle breeze traveling down the mountain shuffled all the blades, somewhat like sprinting through a green ocean which was about to swallow you up. It was amble cover though, nothing above or from below would spot the tuner chick without a pair of 40 fold binoculars. This made her comfortable. The decent lay ahead, Ash pulled on the corner of her mouth. It became clear how precisely the maintenance workers reached their stations from the dirt road coming up from the valley, simple, "Probably never had to swap buildings," and all communication went by phone, none of the plumbers ever had to mingle with the IT crowd. That path did appear legitimate though, it stopped abruptly above the ice cream block and then had haggard dirt stairs dug out; more of a nature ladder considering the angle and foot hold liability. Ash shook her head, it was begging her to fall down rolling; she assessed it a little more, "F*ck that,"One step to the side and the Velvet Muse was sitting on the grass; She ran her fingers over the grass blades, rough to the touch but smooth as a whole, "Here we go..." Ash counted to three and propelled herself down the slope. She held her arms in and laid back, a stinging grass burn was the last thing she wanted out of this encounter. Yes. Even more than a broken leg. Grateful for her racing experience, her reflexes were tuned perfectly for this sort of situation. Her mind conjured a analogue ticker marking how many metres she'd traveled, once reaching a calculation Ash dug her heals into the dirt slowing down rapidly before the soles of her shoes smacked onto the top of the maintenance buildings white roof. Recover. Ash held her arms up to her face; it hadn't clicked before but the white vanilla glared violently in her eyes. She kept one hand covering the view of the roof enough to see the edge, progressing towards it. Dropping down wasn't easy; there was nothing to hold on to. A split second survey of the roof reinforced the fact there were no hatch entrances. Ashleigh peered over the edge, grimaced. There was nothing but an old, late 60's International Scout flatbed. A bit banged up and rusted, big wheels, jacked up suspension; it would support and soften her landing. Ash shook her head as she started to lower herself off the edge of the roof. She let go once she had gotten as low as possible and slammed into the hood of the Scout; she let out a little yelp through her teeth and rolled off, a massive dent now remaining. Ashleigh pulled through the pain as she hobbled over to the entrance of the building; a small, rusty iron door. Seemed inconsistent with the vanilla, like someone had dropped a rotten peach into the tub. Like any rotten peach the door was locked too, 'Great...' Ash groaned. Interestingly enough the door seemed loose, it appeared more like a gate than a proper entrance; there were reasonable gaps at the top and bottom meaning it wasn't completely sealed. Ash raised an eyebrow, stood back, hands on hips. She casually brought her foot to the door and tapped it hard. A jingle reported, 'So it's padlocked from the inside?' Ash glanced back at the Scout, 'Great. Survivors hideout,'Pushing the door in left enough of a gap for the shine of the chain link, "Stuff's new..." Ash started while lifting the chain with the barrel of her sidewinder, then leaned back to look at the entire door itself, "...Door isn't..." Ash stepped back, brought her foot up for the second time and crash landed her heel directly into the center weight, right next to where the chain would be hooked up. Surely enough the entire thing came off its hinges, plus where the chain hooked up onto the wall. Chain remained intact, door remained busted with a lovely dent in the centre. Ashleigh smiled to herself. The inside of the vanilla block was in fact an alcove covering up the real main entrance to the maintenance building. Careful observation of the wall opposite the door showed that it opened up, large hydraulics were set into the roof to lift the huge concrete slab outwards. There were rope and barrels stored here and there but otherwise most of the place was fairly bare. Amazing. It seemed as if it were a storm water drain. Observation of the main entrance showed it as a larger gate. The door Ash had just busted probably rusted from all the rushing water in the wet season. As intriguing as it was the time to ponder on trivial, useless subjects wasn't really appropriate. Ash approached the new door, this one looking much more modern... shiney. There was actually an LCD pad built in next to it; likely it never got drenched from the water because it was high up in the dry. It was flashing too, Ash raised an eyebrow. New message. Ash tapped the screen: Before you go in, Agent Ashleigh, keep this in mind: The fires have so far only affected areas 2-A, 2-C, 2-D, and Minus-1-6. Avoid water damage. Please try to keep the sprinklers contained in this area. Otherwise, you'll short out all of my tech. Then we're f**ked.
If you can't control the areas affected, let me know from the terminal inside. I'll see what I can't do to help. It's all manual, so I can't help directly, but I can help tell ya what to do.
Best of luck, and don't kill my 'puters plz. :< [The Technomancer]
Ash squinted. How did Thomas know where she was? She shook her head and shrugged, "Whatever," ... ''Least I can tell the guy's looking out for me,'As for the message? Fair enough, it hadn't struck Ash yet that the water would affect Thomas' equipment. The whole idea of getting the fire out mostly overrode everything else. She put her hand to the metal bar (The only thing possible to open the door with) and a mechanical 'clank' sound resonated. The electronic lock sliding out of place, Ash pursed her lips and tug on the door. Huge round tunnel, floor grating; moss was growing on the circular walls, a little dry for style. Further up a set of stairs disappeared from one side of the tunnel while further up the tunnel was blocked off by huge bars. Considering how intimidating the other end of the dark tunnel looked Ashleigh put her bets on the rising staircase leading into maintenance. Sidewinder drawn, she took care with her footsteps; each boot drop made a clank which bounced off the walls ridiculously easily. She would have crawled along her stomach if she had felt so obliged. Up the stairs. The halls of maintenance were moderately sterile and well kept, copper piping lined most of the walls along with electric wiring. It was a linear path to the room proper. LCD panels lined one wall, readings beeping off all of them; what stood out though were the small pieces of yellow, sticky, square paper stuck next to each screen... Then the smell, Ash brought one arm up to cover her nose and the other holding her sidewinder. Brow creased. No carrier in sight, just a dead and rotten body sitting in a swivel chair. She lowered her revolver, "No way that's a carrier... damn thing's just skin'n'bones," Ash noted while walking over and crouching down, "Starved to death, huh?" she said to his face. It would have been the owner of the Scout, and from what features remained he looked to be late 60's. Probably worked at Sisco from the beginning fixing stuff, "Guy starts going senile..." Ash guessed, "...has to put notes next to each screen to remind himself of what each selection does. Might've even stuck around to work on just that, world goes to hell and he didn't know what to do with his life. No carriers would find him here either," Ash mourned, it would have been a strange way to go in her opinion; for this old man though, it was probably normal, and he wouldn't have had to put up with a single zombie. Ash pushed the deadite on the chair with her foot to the other side of the room while turning to face the displays, "Okay. Senile old dude must've kept a log for each action, plus go by Thom's guides... let's see," the Muse rifled through all of the paperwork and general crap on the bench under the screens, spotted a brown pad with the word 'manual' on it. She checked, flicking through; general notes on stuff she didn't understand until reaching a page with the title 'Sprinkler System'. Each screen had its title on the yellow cards, Ash went down each row until spotting the one with the same name. She gave it a small tap, unsure whether things would explode determined on how hard you hit it. A map of the Sisco building was displayed with multiple areas blinking red. A message strobed: Refer to monitor 09Ash looked over each screen; The manufacturer of the hardware was some kind of stupid, using an inane font for the numbers. It looked like a completely different language. She leaned back and counted them manually, tapping the assumed 09 monitor screen. Temperature bars popped up reading 'CRITICAL'. Ash gestured an open palm, 'Obviously,' each gauge were the same numbers and letters as Thomas had described in his message. Ash tapped random spots on the screen to see if anything would change but it was unclear on the UI as to what you could and couldn't touch. She referred to the manual: For the retic to come on at specific locations, click each gauge for each area you want the sprinklers to come on. EASY Ash wasted no time; a blue gradient wafting across each gauge with each tap. She took a step back, 'Umm'ing, 'Ahh'ing, went back to the original monitor after spotting the flashing green word 'Initiate' and punched it. Red lights, blaring, "What!?" Ash covered her ears. A screen in particular shone red, she crossed over to it: Damage to interior piping. Realign.She'd forgotten the pipes jutting out of the wall. Ash sounded the F constant and strangled thin air with her fists, "OKAY..." unimpressed. Please refer to The Manual. Page 16. Paragraph 7: The major grid uses one inlet, separate smaller inlets spot the building; choose inlets for specific sectors. Inlets = Purple. Cool. Some of the inlets were damaged as well though forcing Ash to waste precious seconds connecting sectors together. "Revise-revise... all goooood... Thomas, forgive me if I accidentally ruin your equipment. Just cover it with a tarp or something." Ash prayed to thin air before chanting 'not a plumber' over and over again. Pause. She thought for a second, "Agent Ashleigh?" the title had only just clicked in her head, shaking it out with a giggle, ”Guy’s’n’idiot,”She punched the activate key, "Initialize!" straight away the map displayed on the Sprinkler system showed each of the areas lighting up blue, the message 'Sprinklers Active' displayed. Ash pumped her fists into the air, "VICTORY," turned to the dead man and dropped the manual in his lap, "Thanks chief," and left the maintenance room. She skipped down the tunnel exit.
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Post by .name//Technomancer on Mar 24, 2010 4:18:01 GMT -5
/./Uncertainty seemed to be a great influence on surviving in a zombie apocalypse. Every step forward one takes is potentially the last. On the reverse, every moment in place, unmoving, could potentially end with similar results. Thomas' superior logical consideration swayed his caution to both ends. The chair traps set to alarm him of oncoming terrors would have worked, had anything come in to see him dead. He kept his spear quite close by, never out of reach, to ensure a hasty battle-ready position. The unseen, however, remained. A disaster from above evident. Any serious Tech freak trembled in fear at the installed systems to protect against an easily-preventable man-made error. And, as Gaea's cruel sense of humor made clear, Thomas sat directly beneath one of the hazards of Technomancy, surrounded by an old romance, and new fling.
These, and other thoughts dazzled Thomas as he sent along the word of caution to proceed with his assumption of Ash's plan. True, they needed to see way through the oddly-slow-moving inferno. But if it were to destroy the Sat-Com Guidance and Service that lay beyond the blaze, and worse yet, the only possible ability to communicate with the Net at their disposal, this entire mission would become compromised. Already planning ahead to see their way through this ordeal, Thomas prepared for the absolute worst.
He took extra care in disabling the machines further, completely stripping the ever-so-slightly recognizable Gateway of all external components, leaving the tower by itself, completely disconnected from the world. The wireless mouse, illuminated keyboard, and HDMI connecting it to the flat-panel LED all flew directly into Thomas' various pockets. He would have taken extra caution and Ziplock'd everything like he usually does, but in this case, he had left all unnecessary equipment in his IROC. It would seem as if he missed a few items, however.
With the Tower stripped, and Ash presumably already on her way through the side Maintenance, Thomas had little time to work. Still with two of his smaller rolls of Duct Tape with him, he flipped the tower on it's component-side. He shoveled the contents of his left Cargo out onto the desk, flipping out one of the rolls, which happened to be pink for all unknown reasons, and his Husky multi-. As quickly as his nimble, skilled fingers would allow, he unscrewed the rubber grounding pegs from the Gateway, sticking them to a length of the tape. This he wadded up into a crude sphere, and pocketed. The tower, although custom and filled with holes, was still made of Plexiglas and aluminum. Every single gap, every possible entry point for the potentially life-threatening shower was sealed off with the pink tape. The bottom, top, component connectivity, disc drives, all of it. Taped off. And double taped-off.
The LG monitors would neigh be as lucky. Yes, Thomas would take them if the opportunity presents itself. But the situation warranted looting restraint. All that would come, if the s*** hit the fan, would be the tower, and... Laptop!
Security system trips recognized the not-far-off facility being unlocked, and entered. One choice to make, and little time to prepare. His brand new S10 was the first of the two Lappies to be taped up as well. With the machine off and cooling down, he closed it up, and taped all of the sides and gaps off, including the cooling fan. Were it alive, it wouldn't last too long with this plugged off, like his Asus. But it was a tactical decision to protect this one first, as in the case of an emergency, Thomas could simply shield the Asus with his body. A brave man, that.
He had just taped off the battery cover and locking pins off, setting the sealed-off, and effectively water-resistant custom S10 atop the desk, before the pipes overhead began to rattle. A cold sweat spelled forewarning././
"Sweet Jesus!"
/./He was certain Ash had done all within her power and abilities to quarantine the spray off, but it seemed for naught. Thomas backed away from the desk, still seated in the comfy office chair, and dove beneath the simple plaster office arrangement. He hugged his Asus to his chest, assured that before this was over, his little baby girl was going to suffer greatly.
The rattling grew intensely, with small drips piercing the valves. As if it were the calamity of the century, Thomas held fast. All was silent. Even the loud, cranky old "business" PC was dead-quite, despite being right next to Thomas' right side. Instead, his hearing picked up on every single individual drop of short-circuiting, electronic-demolishing H20 slapping against the desks all around him. It was the calm before the storm, if one will accept the analogy. After a few seconds of huddling up under the poor protection system above his head, the flood unleashed. The Native of Colorado braced for impact.
Yet, the biblical apocalyptic spray sounded off far away, muffled as it were. Not from behind the desk, or even right outside the door. But further on. Past the corridor where he had faced the deadly Red Zombie, and beyond even the point of the office where the team spread it's assets thin. She'd done it!/./
"Hell yeah, Ashl--"
/./In a triumphant cry, Thomas raised his head and upper body in congratulate, applauding Ash's ability to control the faulted system. The strenuous situation caused a small lapse in Thomas' linear memory, leading to the back of his head to collide with the bottom of the office desk with a mighty crack. Partial curses ensued.
"Rrrrrrr---Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffwhy did I do that..."
/./His whispers of complaint were short-lived. His new, and old computers were all alive, and as of yet, undamaged. Ash wouldn't understand why he had attempted to save so many systems, but he couldn't allow it to seem as if he brought a false personification of himself to light, hiding a Techno-klepto behind a smile and joyful copper eyes. These were useless to only but the Technologically robust, and each one served a proper purpose. This in mind, and considering Ash's supposed distance from the main facility, Thomas worked quickly.
Abandoning all self-protection, he disassembled Gungnir, sliding her halves through his tasset's beefy beltloops. Each laptop sought refuge in one Cargo pocket apiece. He flew to work, taping together the two LED monitors together, face to face, and tape them well. These two together were beneath Thomas' flat-folded right arm, holding them from the bottom; the taped-up Tower was to follow suit. As far as Thomas could remember, no doors stood between him and his IROC, save the push-opens at the front, and the door between him and his kill. Any opponent forces met, he would flee from. Only in dire situations would he set his new toys down, and engage in battle.
A sigh of the terms ahead, and Thomas was off. He weaved around the cubical he sought defense within, kicking away the office chairs with a fair bit of racket. A jog rounded each corner he could cut, making his way for the office doorway; this was the difficult part.
He stood mere inches from the unassuming door, trying again and again with failure each time to open the portal. His balance, which usually was rather good regardless of weight distribution, was displaced by the sheer amount of tech he carried. His fingers flicked at the horizontal handle, until a firm press released the lock././
"Finally, jeeze, that only took thirty seconds of my life..."
/./The hallways beyond the door was eerily silent. The distant roar of the fire was dying out. Nothing way popping out of any doors. The deceased Red Zack lay on the floor, lifeless and still, coagulated gore dotting the floor and walls all around. A natural instinct to slowly side-step past the creature overcame Thomas, and he proceeded in this fashion until he had passed it entirely. A jogging dash assisted in his fleeing of the corridor, finding again the stairway, where he last saw Ash and Issac. He jostled down the stairs as quickly as one could carrying vital electronics, keeping his balance pressed backwards to ensure a mis-step would have him fall backwards onto the steps, not forwards to a broken neck. The darkness of the stairwell was brief, with the glare of the noon-ward sun shedding light only in a few key areas, not all.
Within seconds of hitting the bottom step, he nearly dropped his new monitors in an effort to step up his pace. He corrected his carrying style to tighten his grip, and continued on. The water which had previously been washing over the tiled, ruined floors was quieter, the flow redirected obviously sapping away from this source. He side-stepped each torrential downpour he was able, navigating as were it a maze. The reception desk came into sight just sixty-two seconds after he had left the offices. What a good time.
He sliced the apex of the reception desk, rounding to face the glass doors. The last obstacle. He turned his left side to the doors upon approach, pressing the door open with his shapely rear, and proceeded. The epic voyage was done with. He had made it out with new machines. And damn good ones. A few steps from the door sat, in rest, his beloved. He lay the tower next to her driver-side rear tire, and fumbled around his pockets for her remote. A button press later, Thomas began to load her up trunk with the new machines, leaving only his Asus on his person. A hastened re-assembly of his spear, and return to the comm center after off-loading his encumbrances showed signs of consideration for Ash. If she had caught him looting the way he was, she would become suspicious of his person. He did mean well, but those machines were necessary. His heavy steps lumbered through the main corridor on the first floor again, returning to the second floor with very little drama. A notable difference was made by setting those fires on water. The air was cleaner, and actually breathable. A raging thunder was no longer occupying ears, allowing for deeper perception of one's surroundings. He began to tread where Ash and Issac had left him, then paused a moment..././
"If Ash is going to... Er... Nah."
/./He had considered going back to the terminal he had "liberated" the new company-wide security code from, and looting that as well. But better judgment, as well as a quick analysis of it's poor performance in his head, caused him to think twice. He didn't need a second tower. One would do fine. To this end, Thomas continued in Issac's presumed direction. He hadn't seen Mr. Marine since he'd left with Ashleigh, and Thomas' new security system hadn't detected a second body crossing the perimeter, thus concluding his presence in the offices. At least he hoped so...
The Native Hypergoth set on, moving towards the charred away corridor he had been avoiding. All that remained, after securing proper Admin codes for the network, was to configure a long-lasting signal for wireless connectivity on the go. If he was lucky, the system was outdated, like this entire building is... And the procedure would take all of six minutes to arrange. this was considering nothing tried to kill him within those six minutes././
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Post by Lunapocalypse on Mar 24, 2010 6:49:01 GMT -5
There would have been a time where Ashleigh appreciated surprises; new parts to thrown in or on her car was always a great birthday present! Generally a nasty surprise never ended up on the ethereal list of everyday life; this zombie apocalypse proved that every day life could be a nasty surprise itself. So really when she sees a massive creature sitting on the side of the mountain further down the bank of the valley she doesn't appreciate what she's been given at all.
The creature was indescribable... yet. What looked to be its back was facing Ashleigh on the upward slope of the hill. She was frozen in place standing next to the Scout, biting her lip. It shuffled; Ash became more of a statue than before. As it started to move more and more she receded further and further behind the Scout crouching in the cover of the front tires. The mutant waddled, slowly, towards the river in the valley. From the way it walked it looked as if it had been movement impaired from birth (whatever it was born from), but looks could be deceiving. Gradually the monster went further and further down under the water of the river. Against the flow. It didn't seem to mind the rushing water at all; downright the force of the water didn't affect it at all. A small lump of itself remained just above the surface of the river, Ash guessed the thing was big enough to touch the bottom; probably dig a hole to bed rock at the same time. It disappeared up stream.
Ash wasn't too sure how long she'd been staring at it; Thomas might have learnt how to play the piano by now. She stood up after feeling the sense of dread pass her, confident the creature wouldn't swim back down and spot her. Ash turned to the hill, groaned. It'd be a menace to climb up it. One hand covering her face, she peeked between her fingers at the Scout.
"You look like you've been through 'Nam girl. Care to test your might?" it was a gamble, recollection of the last time Ash had taken a vehicle up a 75 degree incline had it almost flip backwards twice. She'd made it though. The suspension and light weight would aid all things too, but it was old and dingy; past its used by date from how well it had been looked after. She rounded to the back and yanked the tarp off of the flatbed, kicked the rear panel down (disconnected it in fact) and proceeded to push all of the flatbeds contents off. Side panels were disconnected, and the Scout was ready to go. Ash entered through the driver’s side window, fished about in the cabin, discovered a Stanley knife and stabbed it into the ignition. She gave it a turn and fired the old dog up.
The Scouted croaked, to be precise; Ash was surprised the maintenance worked hadn't died driving it, the two were meant for each other. She faced the hillside, having to reverse a little to hit it head one, slowly edged up the side before gunning it entirely. The long grass was a menace; it hid important stuff that Ash really needed to see to keep the entire thing stable. She was flung about the place but with the ease of speed it made the entire deal worthwhile. A bit more and the two of them were past the ocean of green buffalo blades and climbed the dirt ground around the pines. Once the pines began to thicken Ashleigh had to be a little more strategic as to where she drove; there had to be a wide enough gap, the roots couldn't be too high, the ground couldn't be too soft or moist. She detoured a fair bit but the primary problem in the end being if she drove directly sideways on to the hill, ol' Scouty would go tumbling down. Thankfully if the front tires lost grip and the Scout simply rotated in the direction, a roll would be broken by the trees below. Ash would just have to hope the trunk didn't collide with the cabin otherwise she'd be crushed to death. Lovely food for thought.
Scouty made it though! Ash was just about to do another Victory pump when the front right axel snapped, wheel jutting out at a ridiculous angle. With that same loss the weight caused Ashleigh's accelerator foot to drop hard onto the gas and what wheels remained on the Scout propelled it straight into the compound wall. Ash smacked back into her seat, heart pounding and lungs expanding beyond their realistic threshold. She tapped her chest, or the seatbelt to be exact. Seemed like the old codger had a very harrowing opinion on personal safety and at least kept the belts in check.
She frowned, "I'm sorry girl," Ash remorsed and stroked the steering wheel twice. Scouty made a good stepping stool though to get back over the wall, Ash had Pearl on the other side as the stepping stone back down, "Hey baby," she said in return greetings before hopping down and hopping inside. Pearl was already facing towards the exit, so it was a slick 30 seconds across the parking lot to reach reception. Ash turned her off and hopped out leaving to driver’s side door open; hands in pockets, she strolled towards the entrance. In the time it took her to pace over she casually picked where on the wall she would lean triumphantly while waiting for Thomas.
As quickly as she'd appeared casual though, she cringed; eyes wide and gritting teeth. An enormous roar obliterated the calm of the parking lot to oblivion. Ash turned rather comically, hands still in pockets, towards the location of where the noise had been manufactured. Her bottom jaw trembled for a second as the sight of the monster from the valley stood in front of her... well, in front of her 70 or so metres away. It blocked the exit out. The 'thing' in question looked reptilian, all except for Its rather pushed in snout; Its 4 legs finished with the appeal of a dog in mind and Its tail shone bright white in the midday sun, glaring metal. The monster didn't move, neither did Ash.
When It did move was when Ash roadie ran back to Pearl, the monster turned its head to the side and took a step further in. It was huge by Its footsteps didn't make any noise. Ash went down onto her knees and pressed her back against Pearls passenger side wheel, very much feeling the need to hyperventilate. Her mind ran; sprinting. She looked about the lot but all that was between her and the monster was Pearl, an old, brown Volkswagen and a sh*tty hatchback. While down on her stomach and observing the monster from underneath Pearl Ash noticed the creatures footing; when It brought a foot down the foot in question seemed to spread out, not making a sound. Ash assumed that was only when It hobbled slow enough; going at high speed It probably made a terrible racket.
Another step, the creatures suddenly arched Its neck and brought Its head down to the ground. Ash panicked quietly and pushed off from under Pearl back to her spot at the passenger side wheel, "Resist the urge to call for help, Resist the urge to call for help!" another glance.
DRREEEEEAAAD
It stood exactly on the other side of Pearl. Ash's mouth went more pursed than ever before as her legs were instinctly pushing at the ground, the action being 'push away' but not registering properly and effectively not working properly. Seconds later a massive claw reached from underneath Pearl, Ash's eyes went wide as she scrambled. What to do!? The rather surprised Muse turned and grabbed hold of Pearls passenger side door handle then tucked her feet neatly above the tire. The entire front of the fire engine was lifted upwards. Ash heard furious nostril sweeps, looking out and down to see the ose of the monster just enough; she scrunched her eyes closed, hid her mouth in the collar of her jacket, and hunched right up against Pearls door. A little bit longer and the fire engine was lowered down halfway, and dropped the rest. Metal scraped and the front wheels bounced once before Pearl calmed down. Ash had lost grip and landed straight onto her back slightly winded from the scenario.
The monster turned around and headed for the exit, tail slammed into the hatchback throwing it across the lot and up into the second floor of the Sisco building, then proceeded to cross the bridge and down the highway. Ash leaned out to watch the beast disappear.
In Ash's summary, It had detected her back at the maintenance building. Rather than going in for the kill there and potentially losing Ash back inside the tunnel It decided to let her go and flank her later on. Timing would have been perfect after hearing the Scout crash against the wall and Pearl humming across the lot; just climb up the mountain wall under the bridge after swimming upstream and creep up to her there. Unfortunately inspection of the fire engine likely brought no evidence to Ash's existence there; the smell of the pine would have jarred its senses considering the amount of time Ash spent among them. Coming up empty the idea that It might have been spotted by the survivors from inside the building seemed appropriate, and thus hunker off to try again later when they pull out of the structure in their vehicles.
It was smart, she gave It that much, but adding on to what she'd picked up on It the deduction that It was blind stood out well and true.
The monster would be back, no doubt there. Ash just hoped Thomas would hurry his technological ass up and get his stuff done so they could get out of here before it returned.
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Post by .name//Technomancer on Mar 27, 2010 5:26:12 GMT -5
/./The progression deeper into the facility seemed... Uneventful. While yes, there was a sense of danger lurking around each corner, behind every door, and within every shadow, the attack on Thomas' person by the red zombie and the near-miss involving the sprinkler system proved to be the only true problems. This proved itself more evident with every passing moment. The fires extinguished, but good. The charred remains of a Zed laying several yards in front of Thomas; a mess of it's former self, most likely felled by Ash, as it wasn't riddled with holes. And the lack of any movement ahead. The only sounds echoing throughout the corridor were the dwindling spray from the fire-prevention system, and Thomas' own thunderous steps. Caution was still a greater asset than bravery; Thomas continued on, Gungnir at the ready.
The fire consumed plenty of the facilities' interior. The hideous scent of burnt plastic, laminates, and wood replaced the heavy smoke. The walls, floor, and ceiling alike all crispy and flaking to the touch. Ashen particles floated through the smokey air, choking oxygen away from the Technomancer as he waded through the remains of Sisco Telecommunications. The building was in a bad way. Hopefully, for all of their sakes, the net uplink and confirmation software and systems are still operational. It seemed a long shot, but you never know.
Charred tiles crunch beneath Thomas' Brahmas. As wet as the tiles may be, they still cracked and strained under his weight. His proceeding deeper into the facility was going smooth and cautiously. No zombies were rounding the nearest door, lunging for his throat, and no gigantic enemies were attempting to turn him into brunch. All is good.
Then, as all day has been, his luck took a dump.
As if the sky had opened to a beast most foul, a thunderous roar pierced the near silence. Thomas' first reaction was as any other human's reaction would have been: hit the deck. He dove face-first into the burnt ground, unsure if the sound originated from outside, or behind him. A roll onto his back, looking down through the empty hallway negated the latter. About ten feet to his left was a window, to which he scrambled. He peeked outside for a moment, and little besides. If he had any less composure than he forced upon himself, Thomas literally would have shat himself then and there././
"Ohfu*kohfu*kohfu*kohfu*kohfu*kohfu*k---"
/./Beneath his breath, many curses were released into the world. With all of the firepower the three had, between Thomas' shotgun, Issac's multitude of weaponry, and Ash' revolvers, there was no way they could take that thing down. It's sheer mass would have simply ignored the lead spray. Unless there was a grenade launcher in Sisco, or a mortar somehow landed on it's ass, there was no walking away from this confrontation. They would die here.
Thomas watched the horrors unfold. Ash's attempt to thwart the beast's search of a potential snack. It's ability to simply lift the Pierce with little effort. And, thankfully, it's wandering away. Not a retreat. But perhaps a loss of interest, or simple misguidance. Either way, Thomas' own venture could continue.
What Thomas failed to see was the monstrosity's flicking of the Beetle at Sisco.
The Hypergoth rose from a laying position to more of a crouch, beginning to move in his intended direction once more. He glanced out the window every moment or so, ensuring the creature's retreat. As he looked away to consider his footing, he looked back to see the image change. What was once a parking lot; sunny, bright, and occupied by a hulking mutant, suddenly resembled the undercarriage of a '66 Volkswagen Beetle. For the nanosecond that this image registered a result in Thomas' head. He thought to himself a moment, the Motorhead within taking precedence. The imminent impact was an afterthought././
"Huh. That Beetle's camber on the driver-side is outta alignment. And I can see daylight through the rear-driver floor panel, that'll rust right through if someone doesn't patch that up."
/./The next few seconds were fuzzy. Thomas didn't even hear the Beetle colliding with the side of Sisco. The spray of glass, concrete, and metal was soundless. Gray dust filled the void left by the smoke just minutes ago. As if frozen in place, Thomas still in his half-crouched, half-laying position, felt a daylight warm rusted VW frame run across his left cheek. A graze more than a collision. Concrete and glass fragments peppered his black attire, and Gungnir as well. The force that was a half-intact Beetle continued on through the corridor, rude as it was impolite in passing Thomas. Not even so much as a nod and a smile. What a dick.
Fifteen seconds after the Beetle decided to seek employment in Sisco's Development and Research department, firmly embedding it's rear end in a pile of desks and soggy floorboards, Thomas was still in the same position. The scrape along his left cheek bleeding somewhat, only compounded by the attacks done by the zombie before. The speed from the injury alone stung, but less than the remaining wound. It wasn't profuse bleeding, but something worth cleaning up when time allowed. His matte eyes still looking directly forward, trying to figure out where the Beetle had gone to. Was it disbelief? Or was it blind-assed luck? Had he seriously just played the most violent form of Punch Buggy in history?
Where there more on the way?
Not one to wait and see, Thomas scrambled to his feet, grabbing Gungnir from the ground, and absolutely tore ass through the now rather breezy office building. Reckless abandon was a perfect way to describe it. His feigned silence and caution simply peeled away, most likely left with the remains of his left cheek on the VW. The door was all of sixteen or so yards from the collision zone, and Thomas was taking no more chances. He had to get that sat link now.
He simply flew inside. The door seemed to open itself to him, accepting him. The next few minutes were a blur, a furious onslaught of data. Thomas on an adrenaline high, darted around the crowded, dank office. It was set up much like the Telecom Customer Service wing, but on the other side of the building. Not too much difference, aside from the department. Again, much like before, his eyes only looked for blinking or constant LEDs. Any serviceable PC. Anything.
His search was, again, fortuitous. An operational machine whirred away beneath a nondescript desk. No mentionable tech here, sadly.
The seat was pulled away, and simply dumped outside of the cubicle. No sitting for him. Thomas logged in with his admin password and admissions, and set to work. His complicated tasks was simple in his eyes: Without proper authorities to unauthorize the account networking, his wireless signal sent out by Sisco would simply be picked up, and carried along by other Telecom companies. Any building utilizing RF send/receive dishes would accept the signal, transfer it into data, and broadcast it once more. Amplify. Multiply by every operational wireless signal in the Zombie Apocalyptic Wasteland, and bingo. Net for all. Free wireless net, too. There was no individual party to unauthorize the signal. Even so, with his Administration authority, Thomas' signal would simply continue to broadcast. Only if an individual sliced into Sisco's system and disabled the frequency, or someone personally destroyed the building would the net be lost again. This, however, was an unlikely event. Everyone needed this. Any laptop within ten miles of an RF dish suddenly showed net signal. Civilization was this much closer to realization.
Mouse clicks and keyboard taps flooded the office. Murmurs of approval and disbelief in the simplicity of the system, as well as it's lack of serious security implements rolled out of Thomas. Anyone could have done this, were they aware. This was the plan In Case Of Anarchy. Any self-respecting net-junkie would preserve the net. It was a way of life. Stripping that away would leave... Well.... A motor-maniac with a pension for sharp objects. Not much there.
The plan was ingenious. All it needed was preservation of the signal. To this end, Thomas dedicated as much of the signal strength he could muster to pinpoint on Verizon 4G Wireless Networking cards, specifically ones with 0300AD-F serial codes. They were outdated by a year or so, but indeed it was the model card number used by the S10 laptop now in Thomas' possession. And with this, he could also base his selection of wireless cards for future use to outdated, abundant tech. Ingenious.
With the same blinding rage which lead Thomas to the office, he fled in the same manner. The only difference was, obviously, the Beetle now parked on the Sisco second floor, and the gaping hole left in it's wake. The breeze was nice.
He fled the compound with all of his remaining sanity. The scratches left by the red zombie, the Beetle's mean right hook, and the dust settling in his lungs carried out with him. He barely remembers running down the hallway, less does he recall when he tripped over the VW's passenger mirror littering the floor. Glass embedded itself in his cuts and scrapes. His black clothes were closer to gray, thanks to the concrete dust. In reality, it would have all annoyed him to the point of stopping and correcting himself. But this place had to be abandoned. Fast.
He leaped down the stairwells, avoiding jumping directly into puddles of water pooling on the landings. He made it to the ground level with no incident, as well as to the reception area. Before he got outside, he disassembled Gungnir once more, and readied his keys. Remotely, before he hit the glass doors, he triggered his IROC's silent door locks. He planned it all out. He'd jump into Metal Wave, stack Gungnir's parts in the backseat, and on Ash's mark, they'd leave. He wouldn't risk starting Metal Wave up without Ash getting ready first. No use in attracting that monster of a B.O.W. if she can't get away. With a heavy sigh, hopeful in no more horrible incidents, Thomas opened the Sisco doors for the last time, and bolted for Metal Wave././[/i][/b]
[Thomas and Metal Wave are prepared to leave Sisco Telecommunications.]
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Post by NotAvailable on Oct 18, 2012 1:02:11 GMT -5
[Li, Grace and Mr.Gahn are.....]Li's eyes began opening partially as he finally began to regain consciousness. His entire body ached from the head down, it felt like he'd been hit by a bus. Trying to rub at his eyes, he found his arms bound as well as his legs. He was sitting up in an office chair in what appeared to be someone's cubicle. Where the hell am I...? he asked himself, looking around to see if there was anything he could use to free himself. Unfortunately, the desk before him was wiped clean and the cubicle walls were bare. Dammit...Suddenly, he heard voices coming from somewhere behind him. It sounded like a woman and a man. "I think he's conscious now," the woman said.
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