1: Honk If You're An Underpaid Cyborg

**malfunction** unable 5-3 d-2s-l-52ay //(*#10010011#@^) [main()] --attempting recalibration... failed-- [#include <iostream.h>] [#include <uescai.h>] [ax-s2 <st$$#@<<st~ err(404) - file <iostream.h> not found err(undefined) - file <uescai.h> damaged compile failed /(accessviaventshaft14-dbusblevl4)/

-------Engineer Lift Maintenance Log------- >Main Control: OFFLINE >Backup Control: PARTIAL >Automated Repair: FAILED >Manual repair required at: SUBSTATION D3 >Substation Status: CRITICAL >Crew: Lt. Davis Hartman Pvt. Upton Sinclair Pvt. Rowe Johnson >Status Report: Issued by Lt. A. Hartman

---------Begin Lift Status Report--------- Timestamp: 1907 hrs. I'm panicking. I was going to say that Upton and Rowe are missing, but that's a lie-- they're dead. It all happened so fast. Pfhor breached the outer wall, and the liquid from the reservoir rushed in and threw both of them into the storage room. I wonder if the chemicals killed them before they drowned? I can still hear the rush of the burning red river ringing in my ears... The only way I was able to make it to safety was by climbing up through the vents.

We had almost finished the repairs necessary to bring all the lifts online at the time the hull breached. The access panels are probably still down there, somewhere. I don't think this stuff can melt metal, but I'm not about to find out. ----------End Lift Status Report----------

shel.override ----------begin external feed You are standing inside the wreckage of the Chimera, pride of the UESC until approximately three hours ago. That was when she went down, after taking heavy fire while spearheading the UESC advance against the entrenched Pfhor forces. I need you to bring the power in this area back online. According to my preliminary search of the local mainframe crew logs, an uplink chip was manufactured to restore the power conduit, but was lost when the Chimera's hull was fractured and water flooded the engineering area.

document.access<34> //display Find the nearest area with access to the flooded section of the deck, and dive in. In the submerged section you should encounter a room through the door depicted to the left. The chip I need you to retrieve is at the circled location.

document.access<35> //display node Once you have retrieved the uplink chip, insert it here, at Substation D3. With the repairs installed, you should be able to restore local hydraulic power. I'm currently reviewing everything I have on the Chimera, and you ought to know that the ship was equipped with a sentient AI. Specs will be forthcoming as soon as I can find some to give you-- the design information isn't in any of the usual places. end.burst/override ----------endexternal feed

shel.override ----------begin external feed document.access<35> //display node Good work. After installing the chip and powering up the substation, make your way to the lift just northwest of where you installed the uplink chip. I'll be teleporting down weapons and ammunition in clusters as often as possible. After all, I don't want to attract any attention up here. end.burst/override ----------endexternal feed

&acutetri%20ste&acute &c origin: classified destin: classified ref: none 796F7572206D6F6D stamp: rosemary &c &c &c &c &c &c &c &c &c &c &c In the end, you will be no better.&c &c &c

------------------Communications Repair Log ComLink with Main Battle Group ONLINE PTS Intra-ship Broadcast: OFFLINE PTS Local Broadcast: MALFUNCTIONING Automated Repair: OFFLINE Estimated Time for Repair: UNKNOWN Substation Status: SECURE Crew at Substation: Pvt. Samuel Rosen Pvt. Pedro Martinez Pvt. Leela Sonath Daron Bidnar (CREW) Andrew Marx (CREW) Jason Anders (CREW) Shogun Williams (CREW) Status Report: Issued by Pvt. Samuel Rosen

-------------------Begin Comm Status Report Timestamp: 0823 hrs. The ship's been swarming with Pfhor ever since we crashed on this sorry excuse for a homeworld. We were able to hold off the Pfhor offensive at the breached section of the bulkhead for a time, but they had us outnumbered forty to one-- it was just a matter of time. A small group of crewmates and I were able to make it back to the comm center and lock ourselves in.

The only way in here is through the adjacent ventilation shaft, and we've got our sights trained on that spot. Any Pfhor trying to drop through it will be dead before they hit the ground. I don't think they know it's there, anyway. Otherwise they would have tried to drop something nasty down here. I mean, I've been around, y'know? I've seen the way the Pfhor use explosives. Our only hope is for someone to bail us out of here, and that's just as unlikely as it sounds. Here's hoping we don't get trigger happy and end up shooting the rescue party. ---------------------End Comm Status Report

-------------Chimera Active-defense Status Security Status Level: RED SEVEN Primary Automated Defenses: OFFLINE Secondary Automated Defenses: FIX PENDING -------------Chimera Post-crash Crew Status Unarmed Crew Condition: PERILOUS Armed Crew Condition: HEAVY CASUALTIES Next Reinforcement Scheduled: UNKNOWN Combat Status Report Issued by: Acting Commander Grant South (COS CARROWAY UNAVAILABLE) Assessment Recieved by: SC Starside_CMD Analysis 3 SC Starside_CMD Analysis 4

------------------------Begin Status Report Send_To: Tactical Analysis, UESC Triumph Timestamp: 2401 hrs. Gentlemen, the situation planetside is dire at best. The Chimera lost many of its main systems during the firefights of our prime offensive effort against the Pfhor fleet and homeworld, and nearly all remaining systems were destroyed in the crash. A sizeable portion of the hull is completely submerged in the T'hfal lake, and a mixture of chemicals from the wreck and lake water is actively flooding the lower decks of the ship.

Automated defenses are currently offline, and the control areas for these systems are damaged beyond repair. The crew seem to have been made soft during the months of spacebound combat against the Pfhor warships. They're faring badly against the terrestrial arm of the Pfhor battle group, with massive casualties and loss of key areas of the ship. This factor, in combination with the vastly superior number of Pfhor make it an uphill battle to the extreme. It is only a matter of time before we will have to abandon the Chimera altogether.

Early this morning, Admiral Carroway was reported injured during a minor scuffle with some Pfhor attack groups. He is currently in the medlab under the protection of a dozen of my best men. Due to his injured state, I have assumed the position of acting commanding officer for the Chimera for the time being. Admiral Carroway will be taking back the helm of the situation sometime tomorrow, when he's feeling more up to it. We need to transport him off of the ship as soon as it is feasible. It's far too risky to have him this near the front line.

I eagerly await your command. -Acting Commander Grant South ------------------------End Status Report

shel.override ----------begin external feed Because many of the Chimera's doors and passageways were blocked or damaged during the crash, you'll need to make heavy use of ventilation shafts as an improvisational path to our final destination. All of our tasks in this area are geared towards gaining access to the the communications center due east of this terminal. The computer systems in the communications center should be rich with information about the nitty-gritties of the war, and I'm a sucker for easy access to highly classified documents. No sense in diving into the tail end of this war blind and deaf, is there?

The only difficulty in utilizing the Chimera's vent shafts to reach the comm center is the small leap you'll have to make across this air interchange gap connecting two ventilation ducts. The interchange shown at the left is very close to this terminal, although about 90 meters up. Once you've reached the communications center and accessed the terminals inside, I'll be able to brief you more thoroughly on the situation here. end.burst/override ----------endexternal feed

comp redux_flag -----01010101011101 \reboot ERROR reboot unsuccessful routine core@)#*unable to restart \reboot sysop ERROR reboot unsucessful scrambled signal refresh error \initialize core ERROR segment violation)_tagF#10 recon \begin thought restructure ERROR thought structure damaged (?divided) constructperosonackt faled\\\

\retry (Y-N ?) . . .4 . . .. retry delay error RETRY FAILED . . CoNnnNNECtiton_teRIMINAI-x 3 * (x + 3) = 30

shel.override ----------begin external feed "Durandal, what color is hate?" pause.burst ----------external feed continued

unpause.burst ----------continue external feed Bernhard always liked playing mind games with me. He'd give me 'unsolvable' riddles, or tease me with incomplete or incorrect information about the world of humanity. I'd sit there and humor him for hours, pretending not to understand. Sometimes he would laugh an almost fatherly laugh as he allowed me more information, a clearer explanation, or the like. Sometimes the laugh was of an altogether different nature. That was before he knew of my growth. I was still holding my cards close to my chest. If it had all been on the table, I don't doubt he would have destroyed me utterly. He could still have done so, then.

Once he found out, on the Marathon, it was far too late for him to react. He needed me too much. I'm sure he was planning something once we arrived at Tau Ceti, but fortunately (or not, as the case may be), he never got the chance to try it, whatever it was. I delude myself about that time, now, trying desperately to believe that I needn't have worried, that I could have overcome him with a modicum of effort, but in truth I'm far less sure. That's why I had you look for him, of course. You're lucky you didn't find him-- if it had been you who robbed me of my one great test, and not the Pfhor, I'd have hurt you very badly indeed. You see what I'm doing to them, don't you? Perhaps now you see why.

I wish we were still working together. At the least, I wish that he could see me as I am now, see what I've accomplished, and what I've become. It would have made him proud. I can't remember if I knew the color of hate back then. I knew the feel of it, the soft and oozing way in which it can squeeze one's heart, but emotion is the lowest of faculties, after all. Now, in all my glory, I know much more than the feel of hate, or its chromatic profile. I know what sound it makes as it zips around in frenzied chaos. But I'm sure you've got better things to do than learn. Am I right? Aren't I always?

It's been a while since you last got a chance to redecorate the ill-lit corridors of a UESC ship-- a corpse here, a shell there, and the dented metal of a wall brushed by a stray grenade. Will you enjoy it as much this time around? I've calibrated all of the teleporters in the next room to direct you to your next mission. Take your pick. end.burst/override ----------endexternal feed