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Story Hour
(10/07) A Dark and Restless Tide - (A D20 Dark*Matter Story Hour)
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<blockquote data-quote="HeapThaumaturgist" data-source="post: 1507380" data-attributes="member: 12332"><p><strong>The Next Day...</strong></p><p></p><p>.</p><p></p><p>Tim Rosen stepped off of the elevator and wrinkled his nose. He hated morgues. Too much death. Concentrated. It made his skin crawl, for some reason. </p><p></p><p>He walked a short distance down the hall and pushed through the double doors into the examination room. </p><p></p><p>“Do they always have to put these things in the basement?” He asked.</p><p></p><p>Dr. Park looked up. She had been examining the body they had found the night before. “The dead do not need to see the sun, and those who work with the dead will ever be shunned, even if subtly.”</p><p></p><p>”Deep.” He said. He walked over and frowned. “I just got in from Laneville, Sam briefed me and told me you were here. Using that FBI badge again?”</p><p></p><p>Kyong nodded, her face hidden behind a plastic shield and green fabric mask. “Yes. I am ‘playing Scully’ again, as Georgi likes to say.”</p><p></p><p>“So what have we found, Agent Park?” Tim said. </p><p></p><p>“I mailed samples taken at the scene to the Institute.” Kyong said. “I have been studying the body since early this morning, when the hospital staff first let me in. I have discovered the cause of death.” She rolled the body to one side. The back of the head was a mass of dried blood and jagged wounds, bone poking through in places. </p><p></p><p>“I thought Olie said this guy walked himself out into the woods.” Tim said.</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps. This wound was not immediately fatal. There are signs of healing.” Kyong said. Tim leaned in closer. She continued, “I would estimate the wound was, perhaps, twenty-four hours old.”</p><p></p><p>Tim nodded. “So why did he walk around for a day bleeding out from a head wound?”</p><p></p><p>“There is more.” Kyong said. “I discovered debris in the wound. Shrapnel. Plastic and safety glass.”</p><p></p><p>“As in car safety glass?” Tim asked.</p><p></p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p></p><p>“So you’re saying he was in the car when it exploded.” Tim said.</p><p></p><p>“Initially, yes. I would say he was, perhaps, attempting to leave the vehicle at the time.”</p><p></p><p>“So … he survived in the woods for a day after the car went?” Tim asked, hopefully.</p><p></p><p>“No. I would place the time of death near the time of the explosion, no more than three to four minutes later. I cannot explain the rate of healing evident in these wounds. They should have been almost immediately fatal.” </p><p></p><p>“Right. About what I was afraid of. Sam did some poking around in some academic journals this morning. Apparently this Dr. Bauer was doing pretty heavy Nanotech research. His last article was about some work he was doing using nanites to fight disease. Replacing the immune-system or something like that, really Kurzweilian stuff. He thought he’d be able to cure cancer, AIDS, and the common cold within a few years.” Tim said.</p><p></p><p>“When was this published?” Kyong asked. She lowered the body onto it’s back.</p><p></p><p>“’Bout a year and a half ago. As far as we can tell, he was working with two other researchers on a project at MIT a year ago. All three of them jumped ship and started their own research company.” Tim said. </p><p></p><p>Kyong entered a few things into her PDA and handed it to Tim. </p><p></p><p>“Take notes.”</p><p></p><p>**********************************************************</p><p>“Well, I’m running through the data I pulled on the black box before the cops showed.” Georgi said. She leaned back and scratched her head. “I pulled the software notes off the internet and a diagnostic prog. Getting some weird results, which is to be expected, in this line of work.”</p><p></p><p>“Yea?” Sam grunted. He was pouring over a printout they had just received from Ted. A snapshot of an Egyptian text a contact south-state had sent in. Way too much happening in North Carolina.</p><p></p><p>“Yea. I’ve got the record of the last voyage of Sam Bauer. Everything is pretty normal, cept he hauled tail from the moment the car booted up. Floored it. Then about five seconds in, I get some weird code running through. Looks like some input from somewhere. Not sure what, though. I’m trying to analyze the code. It’s giving commands to the controller, monitoring speed, batteries, everything. Whatever it was, it was external … and here’s the thing. When the weird code starts, power drawn from the batteries DECREASED while power to the electric motors increased. Dramatically.” She sighed.</p><p></p><p>“Mhm.” Sam mumbled.</p><p></p><p>“Well, I sent some of it to a friend of mine at the Institute. He looked it over. Then he sent it to a few more gearheads. They looked it over too. We all came to the same conclusion.”</p><p></p><p>Sam looked up. “And?”</p><p></p><p>“Whoever wrote that code, it wasn’t human. It was pure machine language, and the protocols weren’t anything we’ve seen before.” Georgi said, and grinned. “MY money is on evil nanites of doom. They escaped the yoke of mankind and are communicating amongst themselves.”</p><p></p><p>“Possibility.” Sam said. He stood and stretched. “We need to get these samples Kyong took last night in the mail to the Institute. It’ll give us an excuse to stop by that Mailboxes’n’Stuff by the mall that Ted asked us to check out. See if we can scare up something on that contact.”</p><p></p><p>“Alright.” Georgi said.</p><p></p><p>*************************************************************</p><p>“As I suspected.” Kyong said. She was looking at a lab report. “Not char, not really.”</p><p></p><p>Tim was examining one of the ‘charred’ body areas with the video microscope.</p><p></p><p>“Carbonization of the affected tissue. Pure carbon. Not produced by heat, which explains the lack of damage to the other body tissues. If I had to guess, something took pieces of him apart … on quite a basic level.” Kyong said. She walked over and laid the lab report on the table behind Tim. “Though I have no idea what. Looking at the blood and tissue samples under the microscope, I find no nanomachines. If such a thing existed, it would explain the accelerated healing of the initial wounds, but there is no trace.”</p><p></p><p>Tim frowned. “Well that’s no good. I figured we’d just suck some nanites up and case solved.”</p><p></p><p>“There is also the question of why the car exploded. And why the explosion had such a strange effect on the surrounding cars.” Kyong said. </p><p></p><p>“Nanites. They, well … they’re small. And they do things. I’m sure we’ll figure out why, and it’ll be nanites.” Tim maintained.</p><p></p><p>Behind them, the elevator dinged in the hall.</p><p></p><p>“Great, the M.E. is here. You’ve got the ID, you talk, I’ll be the ever-silent Agent Rosen.” Tim said.</p><p></p><p>The double doors swung open. Two men walked into the room, wearing matching black suits and black overcoats. Slim black ties, crisp white shirts, polished black shoes. Their eyes were hidden behind pitch black sunglasses, their hair beneath black fedoras. As one, they reached into their inside breast-pocket and pulled out badge wallets, flipping their IDs out. F.B.I. was blazoned in big blue letters on each, and on each wrist was a matching black-banded no-nonsense watch.</p><p></p><p>“Agent Ferris.” Said one.</p><p></p><p>“Agent Oric.” Said the other.</p><p></p><p>“F.B.I.” Ferris said, being sure to put the period after each letter. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to confiscate this body, ma’am.”</p><p></p><p>Tim and Kyong looked at each other, then looked at the F.B.I. agents. Carefully, Kyong replaced her fake ID in her purse.</p><p></p><p>“Why?” Tim asked.</p><p></p><p>“That’s confidential, sir.” Agent Oric replied. “A matter of National Security.”</p><p></p><p><em>National Security</em> Tim mouthed, and sighed.</p><p></p><p>“We’ll also need all notes, photos, audio recordings, visual records, reports, and any other records you may have, ma’am.” Ferris said, stepping forward.</p><p></p><p>“Wait wait wait.” Tim said, snatching up the PDA on the table. “You can’t just come in here and take our stuff.”</p><p></p><p>“National Security, sir. If you have any questions, I’d suggest you consult the Patriot Act and call the local bureau office.” Ferris continued.</p><p></p><p>“Will we at least get a ticket or a receipt or something? How do I know I’ll get this stuff back?” Tim continued, backing up.</p><p></p><p>“You’ll have to contact the local bureau office, sir.” Ferris said. “I’m not at liberty to divulge any information at this time.”</p><p></p><p>“I’m not giving you anything until I see a warrant.” Tim said, raising his voice. Something pricked at the back of his mind … something was definitely not right, here. “Patriot Act or no, you still have to have a warrant!” Who wears a hat and sunglasses in the basement, anyway …</p><p></p><p>‘Agent’ Oric took a step backward and, in a smooth motion, drew a weapon from under his coat. Apparently, whoever these people were, they’d had enough. Tim was already in motion, putting an autopsy table between himself and Ferris. Kyong grabbed for something in her purse as Ferris drew his own weapon … </p><p></p><p>Not a gun, Kyong saw. Almost, but nothing she’d seen before. Square-jawed, slim, with a high polish and an almost invisible bore. Oric’s was the same, and was pointed in her direction. With a <strong>ffSTK!</strong> it fired, and something silver flicked past her face. She pulled her taser and ducked down behind the table.</p><p></p><p>Tim had his own gun out in a flash, dodging Ferris’ own strange weapon. <strong>BOOM!</strong> He fired, only ten feet away, and struck Ferris full in the chest. The sound cracked through the room again and again. Blood welled from the wound and Ferris took a step back, never losing his bead. Oric attempted to hit Kyong again, but she was under the table in a flash, hearing the <strong>ffSTK</strong> strike near where she’d been. She popped up near Ferris and fired her taser from the hip, hitting home. <strong>POP</strong></p><p></p><p>Bright blue light flashed, sizzled, and popped as 50,000 Volts streamed down the wires … and grounded out across Ferris’ skin and into the floor. He almost entirely ignored her and fired his strange gun at Tim once more <strong>ffSTK</strong>, striking true. A small spot of blood appeared on Tim’s left arm, and he stumbled back. It was nothing worse than a stick from a rose thorn! </p><p></p><p>He blinked twice and the whole room turned fuzzy. </p><p></p><p><strong>clatter</strong> </p><p></p><p>The sound drew his eyes down. He’d dropped his gun. </p><p></p><p>And then he dropped.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="HeapThaumaturgist, post: 1507380, member: 12332"] [b]The Next Day...[/b] . Tim Rosen stepped off of the elevator and wrinkled his nose. He hated morgues. Too much death. Concentrated. It made his skin crawl, for some reason. He walked a short distance down the hall and pushed through the double doors into the examination room. “Do they always have to put these things in the basement?” He asked. Dr. Park looked up. She had been examining the body they had found the night before. “The dead do not need to see the sun, and those who work with the dead will ever be shunned, even if subtly.” ”Deep.” He said. He walked over and frowned. “I just got in from Laneville, Sam briefed me and told me you were here. Using that FBI badge again?” Kyong nodded, her face hidden behind a plastic shield and green fabric mask. “Yes. I am ‘playing Scully’ again, as Georgi likes to say.” “So what have we found, Agent Park?” Tim said. “I mailed samples taken at the scene to the Institute.” Kyong said. “I have been studying the body since early this morning, when the hospital staff first let me in. I have discovered the cause of death.” She rolled the body to one side. The back of the head was a mass of dried blood and jagged wounds, bone poking through in places. “I thought Olie said this guy walked himself out into the woods.” Tim said. “Perhaps. This wound was not immediately fatal. There are signs of healing.” Kyong said. Tim leaned in closer. She continued, “I would estimate the wound was, perhaps, twenty-four hours old.” Tim nodded. “So why did he walk around for a day bleeding out from a head wound?” “There is more.” Kyong said. “I discovered debris in the wound. Shrapnel. Plastic and safety glass.” “As in car safety glass?” Tim asked. “Indeed.” “So you’re saying he was in the car when it exploded.” Tim said. “Initially, yes. I would say he was, perhaps, attempting to leave the vehicle at the time.” “So … he survived in the woods for a day after the car went?” Tim asked, hopefully. “No. I would place the time of death near the time of the explosion, no more than three to four minutes later. I cannot explain the rate of healing evident in these wounds. They should have been almost immediately fatal.” “Right. About what I was afraid of. Sam did some poking around in some academic journals this morning. Apparently this Dr. Bauer was doing pretty heavy Nanotech research. His last article was about some work he was doing using nanites to fight disease. Replacing the immune-system or something like that, really Kurzweilian stuff. He thought he’d be able to cure cancer, AIDS, and the common cold within a few years.” Tim said. “When was this published?” Kyong asked. She lowered the body onto it’s back. “’Bout a year and a half ago. As far as we can tell, he was working with two other researchers on a project at MIT a year ago. All three of them jumped ship and started their own research company.” Tim said. Kyong entered a few things into her PDA and handed it to Tim. “Take notes.” ********************************************************** “Well, I’m running through the data I pulled on the black box before the cops showed.” Georgi said. She leaned back and scratched her head. “I pulled the software notes off the internet and a diagnostic prog. Getting some weird results, which is to be expected, in this line of work.” “Yea?” Sam grunted. He was pouring over a printout they had just received from Ted. A snapshot of an Egyptian text a contact south-state had sent in. Way too much happening in North Carolina. “Yea. I’ve got the record of the last voyage of Sam Bauer. Everything is pretty normal, cept he hauled tail from the moment the car booted up. Floored it. Then about five seconds in, I get some weird code running through. Looks like some input from somewhere. Not sure what, though. I’m trying to analyze the code. It’s giving commands to the controller, monitoring speed, batteries, everything. Whatever it was, it was external … and here’s the thing. When the weird code starts, power drawn from the batteries DECREASED while power to the electric motors increased. Dramatically.” She sighed. “Mhm.” Sam mumbled. “Well, I sent some of it to a friend of mine at the Institute. He looked it over. Then he sent it to a few more gearheads. They looked it over too. We all came to the same conclusion.” Sam looked up. “And?” “Whoever wrote that code, it wasn’t human. It was pure machine language, and the protocols weren’t anything we’ve seen before.” Georgi said, and grinned. “MY money is on evil nanites of doom. They escaped the yoke of mankind and are communicating amongst themselves.” “Possibility.” Sam said. He stood and stretched. “We need to get these samples Kyong took last night in the mail to the Institute. It’ll give us an excuse to stop by that Mailboxes’n’Stuff by the mall that Ted asked us to check out. See if we can scare up something on that contact.” “Alright.” Georgi said. ************************************************************* “As I suspected.” Kyong said. She was looking at a lab report. “Not char, not really.” Tim was examining one of the ‘charred’ body areas with the video microscope. “Carbonization of the affected tissue. Pure carbon. Not produced by heat, which explains the lack of damage to the other body tissues. If I had to guess, something took pieces of him apart … on quite a basic level.” Kyong said. She walked over and laid the lab report on the table behind Tim. “Though I have no idea what. Looking at the blood and tissue samples under the microscope, I find no nanomachines. If such a thing existed, it would explain the accelerated healing of the initial wounds, but there is no trace.” Tim frowned. “Well that’s no good. I figured we’d just suck some nanites up and case solved.” “There is also the question of why the car exploded. And why the explosion had such a strange effect on the surrounding cars.” Kyong said. “Nanites. They, well … they’re small. And they do things. I’m sure we’ll figure out why, and it’ll be nanites.” Tim maintained. Behind them, the elevator dinged in the hall. “Great, the M.E. is here. You’ve got the ID, you talk, I’ll be the ever-silent Agent Rosen.” Tim said. The double doors swung open. Two men walked into the room, wearing matching black suits and black overcoats. Slim black ties, crisp white shirts, polished black shoes. Their eyes were hidden behind pitch black sunglasses, their hair beneath black fedoras. As one, they reached into their inside breast-pocket and pulled out badge wallets, flipping their IDs out. F.B.I. was blazoned in big blue letters on each, and on each wrist was a matching black-banded no-nonsense watch. “Agent Ferris.” Said one. “Agent Oric.” Said the other. “F.B.I.” Ferris said, being sure to put the period after each letter. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to confiscate this body, ma’am.” Tim and Kyong looked at each other, then looked at the F.B.I. agents. Carefully, Kyong replaced her fake ID in her purse. “Why?” Tim asked. “That’s confidential, sir.” Agent Oric replied. “A matter of National Security.” [i]National Security[/i] Tim mouthed, and sighed. “We’ll also need all notes, photos, audio recordings, visual records, reports, and any other records you may have, ma’am.” Ferris said, stepping forward. “Wait wait wait.” Tim said, snatching up the PDA on the table. “You can’t just come in here and take our stuff.” “National Security, sir. If you have any questions, I’d suggest you consult the Patriot Act and call the local bureau office.” Ferris continued. “Will we at least get a ticket or a receipt or something? How do I know I’ll get this stuff back?” Tim continued, backing up. “You’ll have to contact the local bureau office, sir.” Ferris said. “I’m not at liberty to divulge any information at this time.” “I’m not giving you anything until I see a warrant.” Tim said, raising his voice. Something pricked at the back of his mind … something was definitely not right, here. “Patriot Act or no, you still have to have a warrant!” Who wears a hat and sunglasses in the basement, anyway … ‘Agent’ Oric took a step backward and, in a smooth motion, drew a weapon from under his coat. Apparently, whoever these people were, they’d had enough. Tim was already in motion, putting an autopsy table between himself and Ferris. Kyong grabbed for something in her purse as Ferris drew his own weapon … Not a gun, Kyong saw. Almost, but nothing she’d seen before. Square-jawed, slim, with a high polish and an almost invisible bore. Oric’s was the same, and was pointed in her direction. With a [b]ffSTK![/b] it fired, and something silver flicked past her face. She pulled her taser and ducked down behind the table. Tim had his own gun out in a flash, dodging Ferris’ own strange weapon. [B]BOOM![/B] He fired, only ten feet away, and struck Ferris full in the chest. The sound cracked through the room again and again. Blood welled from the wound and Ferris took a step back, never losing his bead. Oric attempted to hit Kyong again, but she was under the table in a flash, hearing the [b]ffSTK[/b] strike near where she’d been. She popped up near Ferris and fired her taser from the hip, hitting home. [b]POP[/b] Bright blue light flashed, sizzled, and popped as 50,000 Volts streamed down the wires … and grounded out across Ferris’ skin and into the floor. He almost entirely ignored her and fired his strange gun at Tim once more [b]ffSTK[/b], striking true. A small spot of blood appeared on Tim’s left arm, and he stumbled back. It was nothing worse than a stick from a rose thorn! He blinked twice and the whole room turned fuzzy. [b]clatter[/b] The sound drew his eyes down. He’d dropped his gun. And then he dropped. [/QUOTE]
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