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Story Hour
Modern/Delta Green - The Beginning of the End (COMPLETED)
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4756428" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p><strong>Dreams: Part 15 – For Whom the Bell Tolls</strong></p><p></p><p>The carillon was a thirty-foot circular tower of stone blocks. It housed an elevator, the normal access to the Institute’s emergency power and, Caprice suspected, the Datamaster computer. When the power went out and he wasn’t able to raise Jim-Bean or Hammer, Caprice decided to strike out on his own and track the source of the loud buzzing that could sometimes be heard accompanying the power outages.</p><p></p><p>It led him to the tower. When Dinosaur Lodge was a vacation attraction, the tower held a carillon, a number of differently-toned musical bells. </p><p></p><p>Judging by the amount of security on the doors, it was a carillon no longer. Caprice spent several minutes disabling the alarm on the door. Then he popped the lock. </p><p></p><p>Within the base of the tower was an elevator leading down and stairs leading to the elevator mechanisms above. By the doors stood a narrow length of pipe topped by a palm-sized disk perforated by a keyhole. An elevator call plate.</p><p></p><p>Caprice used his cistron to hack the elevator call plate. It dinged and opened for him. He took it down to the basement.</p><p></p><p>He faced an entrance with a keypad. He could see a computer room beyond an antechamber blocked by sliding glass doors. </p><p></p><p>On the floor before the doors was a black pad. Caprice recognized the room: it was a sterilization chamber. The tacky pad used a harmless electric current to remove dust particles from the clothing of anyone entering the sterile room. </p><p></p><p>Caprice hooked up his cistron to the keypad and went to work. A minute later the doors whisked open.</p><p></p><p>“Easy as pie,” said Caprice. He stepped onto the pad… </p><p></p><p>Electricity tore through his body, jolting him spastically. His only saving grace was that he had already opened the doors. He was blasted into the sterilization chamber.</p><p></p><p>His body smoking, Caprice tried to clear his head. He looked over his shoulder just as the doors whisked closed. A red klaxon whirled above him.</p><p></p><p>A sign flashed over and over: STERILIZATION IN PROGRESS.</p><p></p><p>Caprice shook his head. The tacky pad was supposed to be harmless too. He caught a glimpse of a security camera in one corner of the room focusing on him. The Datamaster was defending itself.</p><p></p><p>Fans whirred to life. This was normally to prevent outside air from contaminating the filtered, temperature-controlled atmosphere of the computer room. But they kept on whirring, sucking the air out of the room.</p><p></p><p>Caprice stumbled over to the keypad and hooked up his cistron. He had only a few seconds before he ran out of air.</p><p></p><p>He typed furiously, running several hacking programs of his own design. The only way to get to the Datamaster quickly was a brute force attack, pinging it from multiple nodes. Except that Caprice didn’t have that luxury from within the limited access of the carillon tower. He was more like a mosquito to a giant, poking at it feebly. </p><p></p><p>The world turned gray. Caprice was starting to black out.</p><p></p><p>The Datamaster’s firewall had been compromised. Intentionally, it seemed. Someone had shut down its defenses. Someone on the inside. </p><p></p><p>Caprice’s vision faded. All he could see was the cistron’s display. He felt light-headed…</p><p></p><p>Another program was running, this one separate from the Dreamweb. It was Fielding’s Dream Imager!</p><p></p><p>Caprice changed tactics and ordered his programs to mimic the Imager. Sure enough, it had full administrative rights. He just had to pretend he was the Dream Imager. Caprice clicked a button and promptly blacked out…</p><p></p><p>He awoke, gasping. The door was open and cool air brushed his face. </p><p></p><p>How long had he been out? Caprice ran into the computer room. The Datamaster itself covered three walls of the room, with a single terminal. Two metal consoles on either side of the doorway contained hundreds of discs. A security camera swiveled menacingly in each of the room’s four corners.</p><p></p><p>Caprice tapped into the security cameras and communications system. What he saw was complete chaos.</p><p></p><p>There was a flash of something over the nearby lake. It might have been a person, floating in mid-air, sweeping a beam of light like a lighthouse across the Dinosaur Lodge grounds. Fires were raging. </p><p></p><p>“Dr. Perov?”</p><p></p><p>Caprice flipped through the cameras. He found Dr. Perov’s horribly mutilated body in the computer lab. The corpse appeared to be covered in horrible bites, with large chunks of him missing. </p><p></p><p>“Dr. Ivanovna?” </p><p></p><p>There was no response. Caprice flipped through the log until he found her in one of the rooms where other patients were sleeping, all of them hooked up to IVs. </p><p></p><p>The warning monitors were blaring as all of the sleeping patients thrashed and gasped. Caprice confirmed the warning code; they were all having massive heart attacks. The alarm was supposed to alert the doctors on call, but nobody was responding. Dr. Ivanovna walked past them as if in a trance, injecting each IV with a long needle.</p><p></p><p>“Dr. Ivanovna,” Caprice shouted through the intercom, “Stop!”</p><p></p><p>Ivanovna, needle in hand, plunged it into her own eye. She screamed as the chemical she had used to murder her helpless patients was pumped directly into her brain. Then her suffering was over too.</p><p></p><p>“Hammer?” shouted Caprice into the intercom, everywhere at once. “Jim-Bean?”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 4756428, member: 3285"] [b]Dreams: Part 15 – For Whom the Bell Tolls[/b] The carillon was a thirty-foot circular tower of stone blocks. It housed an elevator, the normal access to the Institute’s emergency power and, Caprice suspected, the Datamaster computer. When the power went out and he wasn’t able to raise Jim-Bean or Hammer, Caprice decided to strike out on his own and track the source of the loud buzzing that could sometimes be heard accompanying the power outages. It led him to the tower. When Dinosaur Lodge was a vacation attraction, the tower held a carillon, a number of differently-toned musical bells. Judging by the amount of security on the doors, it was a carillon no longer. Caprice spent several minutes disabling the alarm on the door. Then he popped the lock. Within the base of the tower was an elevator leading down and stairs leading to the elevator mechanisms above. By the doors stood a narrow length of pipe topped by a palm-sized disk perforated by a keyhole. An elevator call plate. Caprice used his cistron to hack the elevator call plate. It dinged and opened for him. He took it down to the basement. He faced an entrance with a keypad. He could see a computer room beyond an antechamber blocked by sliding glass doors. On the floor before the doors was a black pad. Caprice recognized the room: it was a sterilization chamber. The tacky pad used a harmless electric current to remove dust particles from the clothing of anyone entering the sterile room. Caprice hooked up his cistron to the keypad and went to work. A minute later the doors whisked open. “Easy as pie,” said Caprice. He stepped onto the pad… Electricity tore through his body, jolting him spastically. His only saving grace was that he had already opened the doors. He was blasted into the sterilization chamber. His body smoking, Caprice tried to clear his head. He looked over his shoulder just as the doors whisked closed. A red klaxon whirled above him. A sign flashed over and over: STERILIZATION IN PROGRESS. Caprice shook his head. The tacky pad was supposed to be harmless too. He caught a glimpse of a security camera in one corner of the room focusing on him. The Datamaster was defending itself. Fans whirred to life. This was normally to prevent outside air from contaminating the filtered, temperature-controlled atmosphere of the computer room. But they kept on whirring, sucking the air out of the room. Caprice stumbled over to the keypad and hooked up his cistron. He had only a few seconds before he ran out of air. He typed furiously, running several hacking programs of his own design. The only way to get to the Datamaster quickly was a brute force attack, pinging it from multiple nodes. Except that Caprice didn’t have that luxury from within the limited access of the carillon tower. He was more like a mosquito to a giant, poking at it feebly. The world turned gray. Caprice was starting to black out. The Datamaster’s firewall had been compromised. Intentionally, it seemed. Someone had shut down its defenses. Someone on the inside. Caprice’s vision faded. All he could see was the cistron’s display. He felt light-headed… Another program was running, this one separate from the Dreamweb. It was Fielding’s Dream Imager! Caprice changed tactics and ordered his programs to mimic the Imager. Sure enough, it had full administrative rights. He just had to pretend he was the Dream Imager. Caprice clicked a button and promptly blacked out… He awoke, gasping. The door was open and cool air brushed his face. How long had he been out? Caprice ran into the computer room. The Datamaster itself covered three walls of the room, with a single terminal. Two metal consoles on either side of the doorway contained hundreds of discs. A security camera swiveled menacingly in each of the room’s four corners. Caprice tapped into the security cameras and communications system. What he saw was complete chaos. There was a flash of something over the nearby lake. It might have been a person, floating in mid-air, sweeping a beam of light like a lighthouse across the Dinosaur Lodge grounds. Fires were raging. “Dr. Perov?” Caprice flipped through the cameras. He found Dr. Perov’s horribly mutilated body in the computer lab. The corpse appeared to be covered in horrible bites, with large chunks of him missing. “Dr. Ivanovna?” There was no response. Caprice flipped through the log until he found her in one of the rooms where other patients were sleeping, all of them hooked up to IVs. The warning monitors were blaring as all of the sleeping patients thrashed and gasped. Caprice confirmed the warning code; they were all having massive heart attacks. The alarm was supposed to alert the doctors on call, but nobody was responding. Dr. Ivanovna walked past them as if in a trance, injecting each IV with a long needle. “Dr. Ivanovna,” Caprice shouted through the intercom, “Stop!” Ivanovna, needle in hand, plunged it into her own eye. She screamed as the chemical she had used to murder her helpless patients was pumped directly into her brain. Then her suffering was over too. “Hammer?” shouted Caprice into the intercom, everywhere at once. “Jim-Bean?” [/QUOTE]
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