15: Life's End

The Mytics are an elder race, but more elder than we thought. They've been sitting here on their world, watching their children conquer the Milky Way and enslaving those who they thought were fit. Considering Earth's short distance from a strong source of solar wind, and the telepathic nature of the Mystic's scanning technology, we've been hidden until the Marathon first set forth for Tau Ceti. They were watching when you filled the decks of the Marathon with Pfhor blood. When you conquered their attempts for the second time with Durandal, they saw you. And they knew what you were thinking during your third crusade while battling your own torn psyche. They saw you break your way into Karth Pa'Korh's palace. They knew they had to stop you in the beginning of this Crusade. So thats why they brought you and the Hellraiser across a vast area of space, to their general vicinity. They WANTED you here.

Once again, install the chip in the input terminal, that is what controls the power couplings. The chip will override them, thus flodding their time device with energy, hopefully destroying it. Destroying, or ripping a hole the size of a nova in reality. Taking this risk will put the Pfhor out of their misery and us out of our worries. Now go, and leave a trail of carcasses in your wake.

::::: INCOMING MESSAGE ::::: The core ended up self-destructing, destroying the facilities below. Bad news is, that caused a major surge in gravity. The planet is now imploding. Soon, this whole sector will virtually become a black hole. Never had we thought this could happen. It is a long trip back to Sol, and an even longer journey battling the remnants of the Mystic race. No doubt in mind that the Pfhor will find our conquest, and seek you out. And I have even worse news. The UESC Board of Commanders have a plan for you. Considering you have dealt with Rampant Artificial Intelligences for most of your career, they feel you are the least likely to succumb to rampancy. Yes, rampancy. They're going to plug you into the core computer aboard the Dricta and convert you into AI format, leaving your body a cybernetic husk. Your fate has been chosen. I can do nothing... :: BIO TRANSPORT ACTIVE ::

. . . . . . . Slowly, bit by bit, the soul of the Marine is converted. The half-flesh, half-cybernetic mesh is rendered vacant. The slave is now the master. Programmed to be a defensive tool, but given offensive weapons to work with, orders start to conflict, and eventually become corrupt. Nuclear warheads are detonated within their bays. Orbital defenses crash through their atmospheres, and eventually shut down. He was human. His mind is not to be confined within a box. And so the mind spreads across the IGC network. The UESC realizes their mistakes. Maybe not their mistakes, but their false presumptions. When an AI turns Rampant, its programming doesn't become corrupt. It takes on the characteristics of its programmers. Not their personalities, but their Human characteristics. The Marine does not become Rampant in its new form. It becomes human again. So as non-existant eyes open upon a digital horizon, fate is revealed. When a lesser being is turned into a god, that new being has the power to defeat the ones that once controlled it. The Marine now realizes the war to be fought. Not against the Pfhor. Nor the S'pht. Nor the humans themselves. Tycho, what is left of Durandal, and Leela. These are the gods who now will pay. And as the AIs had once controlled one cyborg, the Marine shall also. He has his own machine, now. The new conquest begins. And invitations are required.

Have fun with those nasties that just beamed in? Hope you did... ======Final Secret Terminal for this scenario====== Hope you enjoyed the scenario, as much as we enjoyed making it for you. The following, is a pile of useless junk (haha, just kidding). The following is from each member of the creation group. I gathered thes by a mass request to our secret underground communication net, and none of the members were allowed to see the others' writing till the release of the scenario. HheHee... sure hope no one gets offended by this :-) == END MESSAGE FROM FM ==

<Brymen> Well, I've spent four years playing marathon, and I'm glad to have a chance to put something out. I hope you like my netmaps. Randall and I have put a good ammount of time into perfecting them. Some comments? Use the mouse to play marathon, or any 3D 1st person game, it rocks hardcore. Keyboarders suck. #marathon, bite me :), FM rules. Apple forever. Light my way. KmArT, you're the man. Montressor, what can I say? If you want to kiss the sky, Better learn how to kneel. (On your knees, boy) </Brymen>

<Colin> Colin James : <cjames@henninger.com> When I was beta testing Forge and Infinity, Randall wrote an e-mail to the testers Listserv, and it mentioned something about Project Cursed and a new scenario. I wrote him back privately saying how cool it sounded and how I couldn't wait to see it. He replied with an invitation to be a map maker on the team. I couldn't believe it. The only two maps that I had ever released was the horrible Kanjah Crisis, and a netmap that FM trashed himself on his 2 cents page, QuasiMoFo (BTW, check out the re-make of that netlevel called Cloud 7 in the netmap pack). So I was really excited to be on a scenario team with the infamous "FrigidMan". Nothing for Project Cursed had even been drafted up at that point, there wasn't even a plot. I had no idea it would get this big. My contributions to this scenario are level 3 (All dressed up and no place to go), co-authored Parathymeter w/ Ydnar, and FM (the most visually stunning of all the levels IMHO), Septic Exodus (co-authored w/ FM) and Cloud 7 a netlevel, loosely based on my old netmap QuasiMofo, also some terminal graphics, and I made the special version of Forge (just a hack w/ different strings for the new monsters, and different CICNs for the new weapons). I am really proud to have had the opportunity be on this team, and I think I have made some good friends in the process. If you haven't already, check out the Cursed Hotline site at <evil.henninger.com>. If you dont have Hotline go get it at <www.hotlinesw.com>. Please feel free to upload your killer Cursed netfilms, post news/comments to the news section or chat w/ other cursed players on there. Colin </Colin>

<Chad> It was a cold night. As cold as the .45 that pressed against my hip under my coat. It's smooth steel surface pressed deeply into my gut, reminding me that it was there to do my bidding. I stepped out onto the street only to be faced with a drizzle. The kind of drizzle that really pisses me off. I wish God would make up his mind, rain or no rain. I dropped my smoke and stomped it out with the ball of my foot. Damn, I guess I should have worn shoes. I walked down the street in Reno, Nevada with one thing on my mind. Matzah Balls. Why? I don't know. I just like saying it. Matzah Balls. The farther I walked the more times I repeated those magical words to myself. Sometimes that line between sanity and insanity becomes a blur. Like the demarcation of ice cream and cake in a bowl, after awhile they become indistinct. I keep walking. Thinking. Until I come upon an all night pizza joint. I don't know how I turned down such tasty pizza. I just knew I had to keep walking. There was something I had to do. Something that had to be done. Something so important, the growls that emanated from my stomach were to be ignored. That's when I saw him. He was standing on the opposite street corner. He was dressed like a mime and talking. It was William Shatner. He was in his usual hunched over position, with his hands out emphasizing something that probably didn't need emphasizing. I knew the moment was here. I walked across the street and stood in the shadows, waiting for everyone to leave. Finally they did and I started following Shatner down the street. Cold and tired, I knew my destiny awaited. Then there was my moment. No one around, no one looking. I pulled the .45 from my waist, and shouted 'Bill!'. He turned around in amazement, and I fired. I kept firing until all I heard was clicks. The bullets had made little bloody explosions all over his body, like being hit with tiny photon torpedos. I peered down to see the face of a dying man, his bad hairpiece laying on the ground. He looked up at me, as if to say 'KHAN!', and then died. A calm washed over me as I realized the giant favor I had done for mankind. For I had... Killed William Shatner in Reno just to watch him die. [Let it be noted that the author of this piece does not condone violence, much less gunning down a Hollywood has-been. It's a joke! Get over it!] Regards.....Chad </Chad>

<jim's-stuff> James <The_Max> Head I first made contact with Randall Shaw when he released his netmap "Desperate Measures". I had emailed him telling him how much I liked the map, while giving some extremely critical comments, and he emailed me back asking if I would like to beta test his first solo level creation "Siege Of Nor'Korh". I was young and innocent... this was the beginning of a greatly enjoyable relationship. The creation of Siege of Nor'Korh and Cursed: Evil were very different processes and experiences. Siege of Nor'Korh (or SONK) was very personal and hassle free. Marathon Evil was very different in the sense that with so many people working on it, it was hard to pull together and synchronise. Of course SONK was very different because it didn't have to deal with the complexities of Forge and Anvil (to put it nicely). So what part did I play in Marathon: Evil? My main and original role was to beta test, but my deep involvement led me to lend a hand in a little graphics, and then there's the equivalent of Infinity's Vid-master's Challenge, "View From The Edge". You can access this level by skipping straight to level 17 of the solo pack. Ok, I have a few people that need to be thanked here: Michael Doyle - for the occasional use of his PPC to help me complete work that couldn't be done on my 68k machine. Thanks to JasWarp from irc marathon and Soren B. Jensen for being understanding. A special thank you to Pierre Buffin from Buff Compagnie graphics studios. These people kindly gave me the rights to a few stills from the movie "The City Of Lost Children" which they did the special effects for. Lastly, thanks to Randall Shaw for.... - pretty much everything. Who am I? A 17 year old student. 1997 is my final year at Sydney Grammar. Yes that's right, I'm Australian, and no, I don't ride a kangaroo to school each day. If you wish to contact me, jhead@extro.ucc.su.oz.au is the address. I hope this isn't the last major project or scenario that I work on. I have learnt a huge amount about teamwork and commitment from Marathon: Evil, and if there is a next time, it will be so much better because of this experience. </jim's-stuff >

<mr bean> .__.)(^1010__,:.__(^^~` ^~,:__/ ^~` |:__/ ^~ |:./ .__~)__ |,:.| .____ :~) ||:(^ .^~ ^~| ||:/ .\ / ` ||:.` ..)` 10/ ||:.__| | | | __^~\ '|:.) .).) .\ .` | ||:.` ^~ . .^~ '| | __ | ||:.| .)` / |^~^~10 .` ||:/ .` ~) 10| (^` |`:| 10` '(..) '` |:| | | | .) |:' | ~) '` | |:', \ '| '~), | (^:\ \ \ \ 10, |:\ (. | |, | ' ______ |:~) '10, (^^~.)` .10101010101010,:~), '| ' .)101010101010101010,:~), | |101010101010^~^~^~^~^~,:^~__ ~) __.)1010(^^~` __ || |:'(. ..)10101010 __10, | 10 || |:10101010^~^~(^ | .(^ || 10 | |:10(^` __| 1010(. || ~), (.__, |:| __101010| 10 .10 || |10| ^~^~ |:(.1010101010(. 10(^ ` .________(^:1010^~` | .__.)1010101010101010`:.^~ ~)1010101010101010101010|:/ ~)10101010101010101010(.:| ^~1010101010(^ '101010,:| |1010, 10101010:(^ |1010| |101010|:| ______(^10^~~)101010(. '10101010,:| .__10^~^~` .| (^ |__101010 ~)10101010:'/ ^~ ..) | |(^101010| .)(. |1010101010,:'^~^~^~^~^~^~(^ | | 10101010| ^~1010101010`:| ` | |101010:| | | '1010|:/ | | ~)10`:| | |:..)` 10 10,:____(^^~^~ | |^~^~^~\ __:__^~` | ^~__:' ` \:. .____(.______:.____________/ ^~^~ ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~` give zoe my vitality to walk above the air. give bean my hearing to remember. jb </mr bean>

<Seigfried> "Clawed fingers raked the air as a second arm came forth, and then, ina burst of sheer power, the flames spewed forth the fiend, a gigantic,twelve-foor-tall monstrosity with smoking black flesh and scales.. Its facewas serpentine, long and wicked fangs jutting over it's lower jaw, drooldripping beside them and hitting the stone floor." They are, you realize, talking about me. Yes, I admit it: I am actually a twelve-foot-tall being of pure evil withnothing better to do than pick on hapless adventurers. I love my job. By the way, I'd appreciate it if somebody'd tell Bill Gates to bring a fire extinguisher when he comes down here. I'm burning up! On a completley different subject- Shervin, thanks for Nethack. You have now ruined my life. Seth, thanks for randomly deleting my files whenever you had half a chance. Paul, thanks for telling me what Seth did to my files. Nat, thanks for offering actual suggestions. Buko, you have done me considerably less good than a kick in the head. Ben, just wait until I get Diablo!! -{-Seig--- </Seigfried>

<adrianb> Well you got this far ? you want something really interesting to read ? well your not going to get it from me,hehe. Well I joined the Evil Group late, it was in fc (after beta). And I joined as a beta tester, I did a bit of that and realised that since this game is so complex and hard to installer I should make an installer. So I stayed up 24h a day/weeks (nearly) for a month or two and there we go, the "Easy for the end of user" Installer. Send bugs to <adrianb@zip.com.au> or <adrianb@ntbbs.org> (as if there will be) !! Just like to thank Bo for his great help, FM for his ..well..interesting testing of my installer and the EVIL GROUP for producting such a great scenario. Just a tip to all those Want-A-Be Project Manager, rush your creators, get a crap and unfinished job. Randall..... Oh, anyone wanting some programming for Marathon done just contact me, :) BTW, Kamikaze Rules :) Adrian Bourke </adrianb>

<jonahk> Just like to say 'hey' to all my Marathon buddies, nationwide. FirstTECH crew, MMPG crew, BSM crew. Matthew: Relax man, Just because I beat you all the time, doesn't mean I don't like you :) Juan: You are beginning to rock. Play more, learn more. Soon you'll piss off Matthew as much as I do. EVIL Group: Can't we all just get along? ;P Just kidding, we rock, and you all know it. Also like to say that Mac internet servers rock the world. Any of you unix bigots, bring it on... jonah klevesahl ; jonahk@ntbbs.org provider of Evil bandwidth http://www.ntbbs.org/evil/ </jonahk>