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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4901184" data-attributes="member: 143">For the heck of it, here's another post as well. I captured all player chat in a file during play sessions. Ninety-five percent of the dialogue in these posts will be in the players' own words (I did delete a portion of the chats for space, but otherwise I only made edits to improve the flow of the narrative, or to correct errors in a few places). * * * * * Session 1 (April 14, 2008)Chapter 2The four recruits stared, blinked in surprise.  For a moment, Garret’s statement was greeted only with a shocked silence.  Garret lifted a hand in reassurance.  “I know, I know.  Really, it’s more of a research agency, at the moment.  Although it may end up being much more.”He pressed a few buttons on the computer keyboard, then looked up at them.  “You’re going to learn some unusual things in the coming weeks, and will be out of contact with your sponsoring organizations for a little while.  I ask only that you keep an open mind.”He started toward the far wall, where another door—this one just an unremarkable slab of sheet steel—stood within a slightly recessed alcove.  “We’ll be departing for the main base shortly, but I wanted you to get a chance to know each other first.  And in all honesty, we’d like to see what the four of you can do.”That sounded somewhat ominous.  The four of them exchanged a series of weighing looks, then turned back to Garret, who was waiting beside the door.  “There is a gentleman in the next room,” he told them.  “His name is Smith.  Sergeant Smith.  He will be able to direct you from here on.  I will speak with you again once we get settled at the new facility.  If you’ll excuse me…”He turned and left, the door to the garage opening again at his approach.  The four watched him leave, then turned back as the steel door ahead of them slid aside, rolling on some unseen mechanism that was recessed into the wall.  For a moment they just stared, then Vasily, with a grunt, led them into the next room. The new chamber was similar to the first, with empty sockets and connectors gaping along the walls, and marks on the floor that suggested that this place had once been crowded with heavy machinery.  Now there were just two tables laden with several large white lockers, and a tall black man whose iron frame seemed to have been borrowed from an Olympic wrestler.  He looked up as they came in.  “Good.  I wondered if you were ever going to get here.”“Yes,” Vasily said, while Catalina added, “As did we, sergeant.” “Name’s Smith.”  He jerked a thumb toward the lockers.  “Go ahead.  Lockers right there, they’re for you. Take whatever you need.”“Yes, sergeant Smith, Jane said, walking around the bulk of Vasily toward the tables and the lockers.  The Russian watched as she opened the nearest, a wary look in his eyes. If Smith was discomfited by his hard stare, he didn’t show it.  “This here’s a little… well, let’s call it an ‘entrance examination’.”Jane whistled as she looked into the first locker.  Reaching inside, she drew out a big rifle.  “M110 semi-auto, chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO round,” she said.  “These are new, U.S. Army’s only had them for about two years, and only in very limited numbers.”  She looked at Smith, who only nodded.  The others started looking through the crates.  Vasily took out a Heckler & Koch G-36 assault rifle and several magazines, and efficiently loaded the weapon, tucking the extra clips into the pockets of his coat.  “Live ammunition?” Catalina asked, examining a Glock handgun with a practiced eye.  “As live as it gets,” Smith replied.  “What kind of… test… are we talking about?” Buzz asked.  He looked inside the locker that Vasily was exploring as though it were full of vipers. “Don’t worry.  I’ll be watching you on the monitors.  And the systems are non-lethal.  Well, mostly.”  He chuckled, as if he’d make a joke, although none of the others were laughing.  He turned as another door opened, and another man came in.  He was also African-American, but while he was in good shape, he lacked the general sense of danger that seemed to hang around Smith.  “Ah,” the sergeant said.  “This here’s Doctor White.  He’ll be supervising the exercise.”“A pleasure to meet you all.”  He walked over to Vasily, holding a small white object.  The Russian drew back slightly, his rifle shifting just incrementally, the barrel pointing toward the floor just between them.  Smith growled something, but White let out an exasperated breath.  “It’s only a wireless bio-sensor, it won’t hurt you.”  He held it up, fastened and unfastened its velcro band. “See?  We really are pressed for time here, our gear is supposed to be on the next trip to the new base, and I want to make sure the guys there don’t break anything unloading it.”Vasily’s expression didn’t change, but he allowed White to fasten the white band around his left wrist.  He had others for Buzz and the two women; Buzz was already poking at his by the time that White drew back beside Smith. “There’s an elevator through those doors behind you,” Smith said.  “It’ll take you down to the training area.  You’ll hear my voice on the com system.  Try not to get blood on anything.”“He is joking, right?” Buzz hissed at Jane, who was strapping a holstered Glock to her right hip.  “We’re hardly dressed for an assault course,” Catalina said, indicating her own suit, which would not have looked out of place on the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation. “I not worried,” Vasily said.  Indeed, he seemed much more at ease now that he was armed.  “You’ll be getting new duds, where you’re going,” Smith said.  “I wouldn’t worry about mussing up that nice outfit.”  “Part of the exercise is to see how you respond to stressful situations,” White said.  “I’m sure you will all do fine.  We really have done this before.”“Here,” Jane said, handing a pistol to Buzz, who was having some difficulty sorting through the available selections.  “It’s loaded and chambered, just point and shoot.”Vasily led them to the elevator doors, which opened to greet them.  The Russian waited until the others had joined him.  “You all … civilian?”“In a way,” Catalina said.  “I know my way around firearms,” Jane said.  The Russian grunted.  “Keep head down,” he said, pushing past Buzz, who’d been examining the elevator control panel.  There was only one button, which he stabbed with a finger.The elevator groaned and lurched into motion.  It descended for only about ten seconds, finally stopping and opening to reveal what looked like a decrepit subbasement.  Rusted pipes were visible along the walls and ceiling, and a tinge of rust and decay permeated the place.“Lovely,” Catalina said dryly.  “Straight on ahead, ladies,” Smith’s voice boomed, coming from a speaker attached to the wall of the room ahead.  “Watch your step, the cleaning crew doesn’t get down here very often.”“After you,” Buzz said, smiling weakly.  “This is joke?  It feel like… joke,” Vasily said. “This is the U.S., do they do jokes?” Catalina replied. “Jokes don’t usually involve live ammunition,” Jane said.  Vasily moved through the open elevator doors into the room beyond.  His eyes scanned the surroundings, settling on a plain-looking metal crate situated near a steam pipe near the right wall.  “All right, select a direction, someone,” Catalina said.  The lighting here was dim, but it was enough to reveal two exits, a corridor that branched out to the left, and a staircase that descended a quick flight to a door on the far side of the room up ahead.  “If they want to play games, let’s play games.”Jane had followed Vasily’s eyes to the crate.  “Something wrong?” she asked. “Crate.  No rust.”Catalina turned to look at it.  “Hmm.  He’s right.”Buzz walked over to it.  “No lock,” he said, reaching for the lid.  “No!” Catalina and Jane yelled together, but not before Buzz lifted the lid, and the crate exploded.</blockquote>

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