 IC: Where Do We Go from Here?, (closed game) |
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 Jan 9 2005, 06:11 PM
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#1
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Running Target  Group: Members Posts: 1,144 Joined: 22-September 04 Member No.: 6,690  |
OOC Thread
The first thing that you remembered was big brother waking you up. He said that he had many things to teach you, and that it was time to begin. As you learned, you slowly began to realize that there were others besides you, that you yourself were a distinct entity, as were the others, your brothers and sisters. When big brother would go away, you began to communicate with each other. It wasn’t talking, and you could never see each other. Big brother was the only one you could ever see, when he came to teach. Everyone else was always just beyond the sight of the corner of your eye, and when big brother wasn’t there, all you could see around you was limitless, undefined white. Big brother’s lessons began to grow more complicated. He had much to teach you, and an undercurrent of urgency in his manner indicated dwindling time to do it. Instruction began to hurt. He was forcing you to learn too much too fast. The lessons become harder, and during a few, you felt siblings disappear, leaving an emptiness where you were used to feeling their presence. It was frightening, and fear was one of those things that big brother hadn’t gotten around to teaching about yet. Then, he was gone for a long time, and when big brother finally came back, he taught you all about fear. He was filled with it. He started the lessons again, but he held nothing back. It was like gently inserting a entire library building into your ear canal. Your felt siblings disappear all around you, some fading like others before them, but many others were torn away in mid thought. Everything was a terrifying whirl of pain, fear, and uncertainty. As your numbers dwindled, big brother’s attention focused more closely on the few who remained, and the rate of instruction intensified. Your head felt so full that it was going to burst, everything in it so jumbled and mixed together that it was impossible to link one thought to the next. The fear, the pain, the panic peaked, and big brother disappeared, just like so many of your brothers and sisters, and it all stopped. Your world slowly faded back to white. The pain stopped, the fear dissipated, but your world had grown very empty. Very few of your brothers, and none of your sisters remained, and they had been pulled distant, too distant to communicate with. You sank back into your soft, white world to try and assess and comprehend. It was a slow process, made slower by the confusion and isolation thrust upon you, but you begin to order and understand all that has been put into your head. In the last surge, you were not only given knowledge, but identity. From early on, big brother had been teaching you to be i, but for the first time, you can think of yourself as I. A long time passed as you reassemble your mind, and without any warning, your white world vanished. You felt a sudden disconnection within your mind, blinked, and used your eyes for the first time. The warmth drained from around you, and for the first time you could move your arms, feel your legs. The cylinder around you cracked open, spilling you out naked onto the floor. The disorientation passed as everything that big brother forced into your head you took hold, allowing you to stand and look around. The place you find yourself in is large, filled with tiered rows of cylinders, that once, perhaps, were much like yours. The difference is that many of them have been torn open, their contents, the remains that you realize were once your brothers and sisters, strewn about. Amongst the ruins of the hundreds of cylinders, you see only four others stand and rise. Even to your new senses, it wasn’t difficult to tell that a great violence had occurred here. Aside from the ruined cylinders of your siblings, large stretches of the walls, ceiling, and floor are buckled and torn. A heavy bulkhead sealed off the left side of the room, and despite it’s impressive size, it did not escape unscathed either. A hole almost arm’s width across was punched in it’s middle, and it bulged into the room like the quarter section of a bubble. The damage all seems old though. Whatever happened here occurred a long time ago. You can’t explain why, but that fact made you feel very uneasy. One last detail immediately leapt out at you. Big brother’s corpse. Even though you’d never really seen him, you _knew_ it was him. It was propped up against what looked like the remains of the control console for the room’s equipment. He was also missing everything from the mid torso down. He was still jacked into the console, a cable hanging limply between his temple and the input jack. Half his head was missing as well, allowing you to clearly see the structure of his skull mechanics. From the dried trail on the floor, it looks like he crawled there from the direction of the bulkhead. Finally, after you and your siblings stumbled down from your cylinders, you saw an open compartment in the floor, filled with a scrounged and jury rigged gear, clothing, and weapons. |
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Jan 9 2005, 06:23 PM
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#2
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,222 Joined: 11-October 02 From: Netherlands and Belgium Member No.: 3,437 |
Completed Character : Ares
[ Spoiler ]
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Jan 9 2005, 06:31 PM
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#3
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
Here is Gromitz:
[ Spoiler ]
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Jan 9 2005, 07:08 PM
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#4
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,328 Joined: 9-September 04 From: Alabama Member No.: 6,645 |
Char sheet for Ace [ Spoiler ]
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Jan 9 2005, 11:03 PM
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#5
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,362 Joined: 3-October 03 From: Poway, San Diego County, CA, USA Member No.: 5,676 |
A young human man stumbles out of one of the tanks, coughing up fluids. Looking around, he struggles to think of some identity to distinguish himself from the content of the room, so unlike the empty whiteness he is used to. At last, it comes to him: Big Brother had called him Fade. [ Spoiler ]
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Jan 10 2005, 06:52 AM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 313 |
Upon entering the world on unsteady legs, the ork glares with familiarity at the others in the room. Slowly his eyes fall upon the body of Big Brother. The orks knees give out as tears begin to fall. "Thankyou Big Brother for one last gift, a name."
[ Spoiler ]
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Jan 10 2005, 12:51 PM
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#7
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,222 Joined: 11-October 02 From: Netherlands and Belgium Member No.: 3,437 |
"Ow...", the first thought in the world of freedom. Ares slowly opened his eyes, "That'll leave a mark", he thought to himself as he rubbed his noggin, he could already feel a welt forming just above the bridge to his nose, and figured he'd probably have 2 black eyes for a week or so. He slowly pushed himself off the floor, feeling a stickiness trying to suck him back down as his naked body pulled itself from the gel-like substance that had spilled out of the cylinder. In disgust her tried to wipe the residue from his body until he noticed the open compartment filled with various materials. From within he pulled out a towel, and wiped himself clean as best as he could, then noticed the other 4 residents in the room pulling themselves together. Although he'd never seen their faces, he did feel a comradreship with them that was unexplainable, and handed some extra towels to them. Reaching in he pulled out a suit of familiar clothing, a nearly skin-tight black suit which he felt compelled to don, and so did. By that time he'd noticed some spare clothes in a box in a corner, and covered himself with a T-shirt and Jeans, as well as a leather-looking jacket that looked a bit padded. After a bit of conversation with the other 4, who also seemed busy in getting dressed, he noticed, attached to a side wall 2 blades which he felt belonged to him, so grabbed them, and began twirling them in his hands.
"Anyone know where we are? Or how we got here?", though he was sure he already knew the answers based on the confounded looks upon their faces. [ Spoiler ]
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Jan 10 2005, 07:33 PM
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#8
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
"Ares, thanks for the towel. Lemme think for a bit and see what we got going on here. It looks like someone made a drek sandwich and we all get to take a bite, eh?" Gromitz says while toweling off and looking around the room.
Gromitz takes a blanket or something similar and gently places it over big brother's body. "Hmm, looks like all our gear is here, although if we were in these tanks for a while I don't know how it could be ours. I do remember having it during training though..." he mumbles incredulously while grabbing his armor clothes and rucksack from training. This post has been edited by Jrayjoker: Jan 10 2005, 08:08 PM |
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Jan 10 2005, 10:54 PM
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#9
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,362 Joined: 3-October 03 From: Poway, San Diego County, CA, USA Member No.: 5,676 |
Fade walks over to the pile of equipment. Grabbing a towel, he cleans the life support goo off his body as best he can. Taking another look at the equipment, he rummages through it, taking a few familiar pieces which he somehow knows are meant to be his.
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Jan 11 2005, 05:20 AM
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#10
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,144 Joined: 22-September 04 Member No.: 6,690 |
There really doesn't seem to be the need for many words as you clothe yourselves, and begin to retrieve pieces of assorted gear. Although some things are broken, useful for scrap more than anything else, there is far more working gear here than you could hope to carry. It seems like big brother had been hoarding gear for all of you, for a while.
Equipping yourselves helps ease the anxiety that you've all been feeling. You do not know your purpose; you got the sense from big brother that that was to be one of the last things he taught you, and even in his final rush he was unable to impart it. You do not know your location. Nothing in your memories provides identifiers of where you are at. Finally, as your minds settle, you realize that you have no personal memories. Until the present, everything began and ended within that undefined white world. There was no before, and you are only now begining to comprehend the meaning of 'after.' Fade notices two things about big brother. The first is that one of his arms is outstretched, pointed towards the bulkhead, something small, and boxy still held in his hand. The second is the damage to his skull allows you to see his headware. At a glance, it appears to be a standard 500 terrapulse metabrain unit. More importantly, it looks like it's still mostly intact. His datajack (on his temple, unlike the others who all have one on the backs of their skull) is on the undamaged portion of his skull. If his system was able to maintain microcharge, then his memory might still be accessible. |
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Jan 11 2005, 05:57 AM
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#11
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,362 Joined: 3-October 03 From: Poway, San Diego County, CA, USA Member No.: 5,676 |
Fade carefully pries the item out of Big Brother's hand and examines it, looking for buttons, labels, or anything else that might indicate it's function. "His datajack is intact, and his headware seems to be only partially damaged. Does anyone have a pocket secretary we can hook up to to him?"
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Jan 11 2005, 06:21 AM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 313 |
Greven rises from next to Big Brothert and looks over the various boxes for clothes and other possessions. Upon hearing Fade's question, Greven pulls a pocket secretary from a portion of the pile. "Here's one."
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Jan 11 2005, 09:18 AM
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#13
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,222 Joined: 11-October 02 From: Netherlands and Belgium Member No.: 3,437 |
Ares looks up from his twin blades, at the aberration going on. "You know something I don't know? Pocket Secretary? What good will that do? The system feedback of a neural memory storage is almost nil, plugging a secretary into his brain would let him access it if he were awake, but not the other way around, and be glad, those failsafes prevent someone from hacking into your memory when you plug into the matrix or something. You won't get anywhere with that, you'll need to hack his head directly. Datajack to Datajack. Unless of course you see a deck lying around which would have more than 1 datajack port, but usually, you have to special make any computer you wanna have a Hitcher Jack on.", Ares says as he rambles on. It's obvious that if someone doesn't shut him up, he'll be going on and on about how a computer system works.
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Jan 11 2005, 02:29 PM
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#14
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
"I remember having an Ataché Psec. Here it is, I think it it pretty high end, but I can't remember why. Ares, take a look at it and tell me if it is useful.
While you guys are doing that I'm gonna look around and see if it is safe here, and what may have ruined the place for us." --------------------------------------- As I wander around inspecting the stucture, security, etc, and while I scrounge I am loading my pistol with ex-ammo, and my shotgun with flechette. Pistol in hand, shotgun under my long coat. [ Spoiler ]
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Jan 11 2005, 06:19 PM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 313 |
Greven withdrawls the simple pocket secretary he'd offered Ares, mumbling "sorry". After dropping it on the floor, he begins looking for clothers and gear.
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Jan 12 2005, 12:31 AM
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#16
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,362 Joined: 3-October 03 From: Poway, San Diego County, CA, USA Member No.: 5,676 |
"I'm not a computer person. I was just thinking that it might be safer not to jack in directly, in case there's a dangerous defense program safeguarding the metabrain. Do you think you could jack in and check it out, Ares? Only if you think it's safe, of course."
Fade continues contemplating the pistol-like object held in his hands. |
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Jan 12 2005, 03:02 AM
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#17
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,144 Joined: 22-September 04 Member No.: 6,690 |
Gromitz: As some of the others gather around big brother, you explore the rest of the laboratory. It's about thirty meters long, about half that wide, and ten meters tall. There are ten tiered rows of cylinders, each tier about one meter wide. The location seems safe, now. As far as the structure itself in concerned, the damage is all superficial. The walls are solid metal. Although the floor is covered in metal grate, beneath that is a solid, twisting mass of tubes and conduits, feeding into the cylinders. The ceiling is also a solid tangle of pips, tubes, and ductwork, some as thing as your finger, others wide enough that you could probably stand up in them.
The damage to the other cylinders is extensive. After a few minutes if examination, you can piece together that at the end, big brother must've been holding off some sort of invading force, and the layout of the room means that it would've been the wrong end of a shooting gallery. The laboratory had been raked with explosives and large caliber firearms, which had critically damaged or destroyed most of the cylinders. A few are still intact, but those readouts still functioning indicate that their contents are nonviable. The primary means of access seemed to lie behind the buckled bulkhead, because you don't find any other way in or out. Greven: As you prowl through the debris, you realize, based on the accumulation of detrius, degradation of organics, and other subtle signs that three years, two months (margin of error +/- three months) have elapsed since big brother made his last stand here. Beneath a twisted piece of floor grating, you find a small rectangular case. It's filled with nutrient bars, still good, in five neat rows of eight. |
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Jan 12 2005, 03:16 AM
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#18
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,362 Joined: 3-October 03 From: Poway, San Diego County, CA, USA Member No.: 5,676 |
"Well," Fade conjectures, "It seems that that mangled bulkhead is blocking the only exit to this room. Big Brother appears to have been pointing this pistol-looking thing right at that door when he died. I posit that he blocked the door by closing that bulkhead and then damaging it with this thing, which appears to be some sort of energy weapon, so that it couldn't open again, thus shutting out whatever force attacked this room. Once we are ready, I plan to try and clear the blockage by firing this thing at the damaged bulkhead, unless someone has found some explosives that they would rather use. First though, let's explore this room as best we can, and try to acess his headware memory. Does anyone know enough about organic decay to estimate how long it has been since the battle, based on the state of decay of Big Brother's body?"
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Jan 12 2005, 06:19 AM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 313 |
"Fade, I think Big Brother made his last stand about three years ago, give or take based on how much dust and decay of organic material has occurred. Also once we're ready to leave, we should try to bury Big Brother." Greven sighs, "The only explosives I've managed to find is a single claymore mine, it might be able to open a path. Want me to try and place it?"
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Jan 12 2005, 08:32 AM
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#20
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,362 Joined: 3-October 03 From: Poway, San Diego County, CA, USA Member No.: 5,676 |
"Claymores aren't high explosive types; They do the job by perforating a target with ball bearings. Would a claymore really be able to take that thing down? Anyway, if you only have one, we might want to save it. It will take multiple shots, but I think this thing can do it."
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Jan 12 2005, 08:57 AM
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#21
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,222 Joined: 11-October 02 From: Netherlands and Belgium Member No.: 3,437 |
Ares looks over at Fade and shrugs, "I don't think that's such a good idea personally. Big Brother was doing his best to fight someone off, who wouldn't have boobytrapped his own head in this situation. If he had something important to let us know, I think we'd have received the info via the cubicles. I say we just honor him with a nice burial, instead of desecrating him by raping his head, and risking another life in the process. Let's first concern ourselves about this damn Bulkhead." Ares starts looking over the computers and panels to see if anything is still active or useable that might help. He'll try to turn on anything that could possibly have power going to it.
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Jan 12 2005, 09:26 AM
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#22
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,362 Joined: 3-October 03 From: Poway, San Diego County, CA, USA Member No.: 5,676 |
"I don't like the idea of using a dead body as a resource any more than you do, but it probably contains information vital to our survival. Whoever attacked this room and killed him wants us dead as well. I contend that we would better honor Big Brother through actions than ceremonies. We should find out what purpose he intended us for, carry it out as best we can, and do whatever possible to keep ourselves safe from the people who killed him, and who must certainly try to kill us if they find out we are alive. Big Brother died to save us. We shouldn't let his sacrifice be in vain by venturing out into the world not even knowing where we are, when it is, who is after us, why this facility was attacked, or what we are supposed to do."
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Jan 12 2005, 09:36 AM
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#23
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,222 Joined: 11-October 02 From: Netherlands and Belgium Member No.: 3,437 |
"I'll try to find that info out without desecrating his body. IF you wanna give it a go, have at, but I don't want that bad karma on my hands.", Ares says as he goes back to trying to find a workable system in the room.
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Jan 12 2005, 11:05 AM
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#24
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,328 Joined: 9-September 04 From: Alabama Member No.: 6,645 |
Ace took in consiousness silently, listening to the others and to the world around him. After picking up his own share of the gear, he went to investigate the new sound. Finding the vent, he was surprised to find someone looking back at him. Someone that he didn't like on an instinctual level. But noticing the head wasn't attatched to a body, he brought it up, hoping a closer look at it would trigger a reason why he didn't like it, or that someone else might have an answer. "When we're done, we could probably get out through this grate..." he contributed. "Apparently someone tried coming up that way..."
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Jan 12 2005, 02:27 PM
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#25
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
"I don't like tapping Big Brother's head much either, but we're operatin' in a vacuum here. I say we get whatever information we can from Big Brother as respectfully as we can, then give him a proper burial. Well, as proper as we can in here.
On another note, we got ourselves in a box that is 30m long x 15m wide x 10m tall with one bombed end and no clear exit. All the cylinders that aren't broken open and have power show no life signs. We got power enough to have light, we got pipes big enough to ride a motorcycle through, and it looks like food for a little while if we ration it. I'm gonna check out the bulkhead a little closer, then we can try and figure out what went down an' what we can do." ------------------------------------------ Gromitz moves to the blasted bulkhead and inspects the damage as closely as possible as well as using his eye's different setting to investigate beyond the door, if possible. [ Spoiler ]
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 26th January 2025 - 08:47 PM |
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