An Ode to Activision

[MidKnight Lament]

I loooove the way my character's turning out

- MKL
[This message has been edited by MidKnight Lament (edited April 06, 2000).]

[Locutus]

quote: Originally posted by Slingshot on 04-05-2000 12:07 PM She turned to Locutus and said "I certainly hope your colleage here is as flirtatious as he is handsome!"

Is that Silica sucking up to me or you, Slingshot? I'm not exactly what you'd call handsome (to the contrary ). Or is plastic surgery part of the training program for Apolyton Agents?

Anyway, I can't wait for the next installment. Gimme more!
[This message has been edited by Locutus (edited April 10, 2000).]

[Slingshot]

I figured that since this whole story is a ficticous spin on a meager assemblage of fact, why not make everybody look good?

But let's be more tounge-in-cheek serious. (I mean that!) Rumour has it that all Apolyton agents go through rigorous training. It is so rigourous, in fact, that everyone looks like a soldier off the movie "Predator(TM)."

Further, Apolyton agents are screened through intense combat and covert op simulations, not unlike those you would see in movies like Mission Impossible(TM), MIB(TM), and every movie with a bomb that has to be defused. But that's not all! The final test for every agent is a rigorous IQ test. It has to do with quantum physics and the postulate reality of alternate universes. (See the post MarkG has 4.70635559131134352373290426387772 more posts that DanQ) in the Apolyton section for more information!)
[This message has been edited by Slingshot (edited April 10, 2000).]

[Slingshot]

Eis awoke in a cold sweat. "I can't believe I fell asleep!" he thought. How long had it been since he last heard the footsteps fading off in the distance? The young agent had meant to wait about 10 minutes, to make sure the coast was clear.

The room was unnaturally dark. Shadows seemed to appear and fade in the blackness. He strained his ears for some hint of movement. Nothing. Then Eis remembered Midknight loosening the straps around his wrists. They had been pinned behind his back for so long that he couldn't feel them. The sensation was unsettling. He felt like he was a fish that had been removed from water, beaten and shrink-wrapped in one fell swoop. The more he tried to move his heavy, unfeeling arms, the worse he felt.

Eis stopped trying. He now wished that his arm still hurt from Midknight's subdermal implant - anything to let him know that they were still there. He tried to wriggle his legs, but they were still strapped tightly to the stretcher. "Holy cow!" he thought " I can't even feel my toes!"
With that, Eis no longer cared about making noise. He struggled fiercely, like an animal caught in a trap. The stretcher started to move, although in what way he couldn't tell. Encouraged by the movement, Eis kept struggling. Suddenly his stomach hit his throat, and with a loud crash the agent fell sideways on the floor. The impact jarred his senses, and his rubber arms moved out from behind his back.

The poor agent took a rest from struggling. Now every part of him hurt, and for once that made him feel better. Slowly his arms began to fill with warm, oxygenated blood and he could move his fingers. In his left hand he felt a rectangular piece of plastic.

Moments later, Eis performed a sideways sit-up, and moved his hands towards the straps binding his feet. It took several minutes to find the latches in the dark, and figure out how to undo them. When he finally broke free from the stretcher, Eis lay back down on the cold, tiled floor. He felt like a truck had ran over him, but knowing he still had two arms and two legs made him feel like it was the greatest day in his life.

The agent crawled along the floor until he felt a wall. Using it wall for support, Eis tried to stand. The hardest part was the fact it was so dark, and he fought hard to keep balance. Slowly he groped along the wall, looking for a doorframe or light switch, the card still clutched tightly in his left hand. Finally, Eis came upon a switch that glowed dimly near a corner of the room. The fact that he hadn't seen its glow until now bothered him. He shook his head "I must have been drugged. It's probably taking a while for the effect to wear off." That thought reassured him, although there was something about the air that was stifling, as though he were in a disease-stricken camp somewhere in the jungle. Something smelled like the sap of a rotten palm tree.

Elated by the sense of progress, Eis' nerves calmed. He wondered if it was smart to flip the switch. The bad thing was the fact he felt so blind. Either the room was sound absorbent or he was deaf, because his ears refused to pick up anything except his own breathing. Eis looked around and still saw nothing. He was worried about groping along the wall and tripping over a table full of scalpels, or something worse. After a few long moments, Eis closed his eyes and flipped the switch.

[Slingshot]

It was a warm Californian night. The sun had set hours before, and the city was alive with lights. In a dark corner on the ground level of a car park sat a gray van. A door opened and out stepped Locutus. He was dressed in a dark jacket and wore a black ball cap. Over his shoulder was a modest-looking back pack. Loc looked like one of the many students that frequented this area.

He turned around to close the door. Nordicus and Pintello peered up from glowing terminal screens. Pintello removed his headset mic and said "Good luck, Sneak."

Locutus gave his friends the thumbs up and closed the door. He walked across the street, down a sidewalk and blended in with the rest of the city.

Minutes later, Locutus turned down a dark alleyway. The agent stood against a tall, abandoned brick building. About two meter above him was a broken window.

Loc reached into his pack and pulled out a Walkman. He donned some headphones and switched the tuner to 100.3. On the bottom of the Walkman was a second tuner. This he set to 92.5. On his collar was a mic, which he plugged into the DC-in port. "All set, commander," he said.

Pintello heard the transmission in the van. "Good to hear you again, Sneak! I was worried you wouldn't figure out the wiring."

Loc snorted. "It's obvious you did this yourself. I'm ready."

Ignoring the poke, Pintello continued. "Sounds good, Sneak. Your first job is to get into that window above. Then I'll direct you to the underground passage."

Locutus looked at his point of entry. It was about 3.5 meters from the ground, a not-so-scant 12 feet in old-style units. The Sneak tightened his Walkman, gritted his teeth, and climbed up the old brick face.

[Locutus]

quote: Originally posted by Slingshot on 04-12-2000 12:23 PM For those Alberta natives, I gave two clues as to which major city I live in. The clues are two posts back!

Well, I'm not a native (hell, I'm not even from the same continent as you are), but I'll try anyway because I love this kind of thing.
I'm wearing a black baseball cap in the story and the only Albertan baseball-team I could find with black caps (or at least it appeared to be black, the only photo's I could find were of relatively poor quality) are the Edmonton Trappers. The radio frequenty 100.3 is that of Bear Edmonton Radio. I couldn't find the other frequenty but I bet it's of Power 92 (the link to the website was broken so I couldn't check), apparently another Edmonton local radio station.
So my conclusion, you're from Edmonton. Am I right?

What you can't do with a simple search-engine (It was quite a challenge to find out I must say, I encountered a lot of broken links. Is that normal in Canada? )

Locutus

[Slingshot]

Well done, Locutus!

(Now I know why Pintello calls you the Sneak!)

I figured Noricus would be the fellow who got it.

Actually, Alberta is supposed to have the best internet and IT infrastructure in the country! Alberta produces enormous amounts of natural gas, oil, forest products, coal, etc. The taxes from oil alone put billions of dollars into the coffers of the provincial government, and they are trying very hard to diversify the economy.

I had better not say too much more, or my Canadian brothers from the other provinces will get mad... People from British Columbia (the province west of us and north of Washington) get most upset about Albertans talking about the land of milk and honey.

[Slingshot]

Light streamed around him like a thunderbolt. Eis felt twice as blind now as he did in the darkness. He knew now that if anything was near and if it wanted to kill him, the agent was a sitting duck. For what it was worth, Eis lurched about and ducked his head, fighting to open one eye.

Slowly, he began to see images in a small, padded room. It had a sink on the other side, and in the middle was a mess of a stretcher that had been ripped to pieces during Eis' stuggle for freedom. Next to him were two other stretchers. Each had a body on them. The first was completely covered by a white sheet. The second was covered from the chest down.

Eis was shocked. "skorpion!" He hobbled over to his comrade, who had been stirred by the bright light.

"skorpion! Its me, Eis. Can you hear me?"

skorpion's head moved back and forth. Then his eyes opened with a look of terror. "I'm stuck!"

"Don't worry, I'll get you out." With that he released the straps that secured skorpion to the stretcher. "It'll take a few minutes to recover. I'm going to look around some more.

There was not much more to the room, aside from a closed door near the switch. Eis made his way over to the door, finding a keycard lock just below the doorknob. He looked at the card in his hand, fit it into the lock and heard a click. Turning the doorknob, Eis carefully opened the door and peered through. He was at the end of a long hallway.

Encouraged, Eis opened the door completely and peered out. There was no one to be found, just a long hallway that was occasionally illuminated by fluorescent lights. The smell of rotten palm sap was just as strong here.

The young agent looked back and saw skorpion sitting up on the stretcher. Eis decided to venture down the hall. He took about six steps when suddenly a door opened out of nowhere in front of him. Out stepped a surprised-looking janitor, holding a mop in one hand and pulling a wheeled bucket behind him. In an instant Eis slammed the newly opened door and turned back toward the room from which he came.

Things happened quickly. As he entered, Eis saw skorpion crumpled on the floor. Bewildered, he looked around to see the third table devoid of body and white sheet. He heard something move to his left, and as he turned, Eis felt a rigid hand close over his skull. On the other end of the hand was a silvery arm, which was owned by a burly Actigator. Eis swung hard at the monster, his fist slamming into its chin. There was a geasy pop and the Actigator's jaw ripped away from the depraved face. Eis' opponent returned the blow by kicking the agent's legs out from under him. Instead of falling, Eis was left hanging by the Actigator's grip on his head. The pain was horrible, and he felt consciousness slipping away.

Suddently, there was a crash in the hallway. The janitor flew into the room, wielding his mop. With a yell, the man rammed the handle through the Actigator's neck and delivered a heavy blow to its back. There was another pop, and the creature folded backwards like a rotten stick. Eis fell to the floor as the janitor pulled out a plasma pistol. Two shots later, the Actigator lay motionless on the floor. The owner of the pistol returned it to a holster and picked up a communicator. "HQ, this is the head mop-pusher."

"What the heck's going on up there, Sieve? You tryin' to start a war?"

Sieve Manicotti surveyed the carnage. "I found the Apolytons, but they're in pretty rough shape. Send some paramedics on the double."

[Slingshot]

I guess they should be called "Actimedics."

Sorry, I'll try harder next time.

For those Alberta natives, I gave two clues as to which major city I live in. The clues are two posts back!

Yesterday, I found out about a nasty, recurring weather pattern the Americans call the Alberta Clipper. But we don't call it that. The bad weather comes from The Siberian High, and good weather tends to come from the Idaho low.

So you can see how fondly we think of our neighbours to the south.
[This message has been edited by Slingshot (edited April 12, 2000).]

[Locutus]

quote: Originally posted by Slingshot on 04-12-2000 05:10 PM Well done, Locutus! (Now I know why Pintello calls you the Sneak!) I figured Noricus would be the fellow who got it.

Thanx. Yeah, that is indeed a suitable nickname for me (for more reasons than just this).
No, I didn't really count on Nordicus. He has the strangest habit of dissappearing suddenly for a few days or weeks and then reappaering again. He's been gone for several weeks already (so he could come back any moment and be amazed by this fantastic story ), and this time even I don't know why (usually we keep in touch through email but not since I went offline myself a while back).

quote: Originally posted by Slingshot on 04-12-2000 05:10 PM Actually, Alberta is supposed to have the best internet and IT infrastructure in the country! Alberta produces enormous amounts of natural gas, oil, forest products, coal, etc. The taxes from oil alone put billions of dollars into the coffers of the provincial government, and they are trying very hard to diversify the economy. I had better not say too much more, or my Canadian brothers from the other provinces will get mad... People from British Columbia (the province west of us and north of Washington) get most upset about Albertans talking about the land of milk and honey.

LOL, yes I know what you mean. I have the same enthousiasm about the part of the Netherlands where I come from (it's called Twente)
But I think the problems I had yesterday were just a server that was down or something, most links that were broken yesterday worked fine today.

Locutus

[Slingshot]

Well, as the leader of Apolyton's Western Canada chapter, Nordicus has a rigorous schedule of travel and international espionage, I'm sure.

What, with DanQ slaving away with the network, I'll bet that Nordicus has had to take over the entire North American diplomacy front. With help like Pintello, its a wonder that poor Nordicus has any time to help out!

(Actually, I was hoping that some creative soul could help out with the chicken vs. Apolytoner space time theorem. sammyboy7's genius has fallen into maniacal laughter, and its time we saw some new creativity there.)

[Pintello]

Hey, I resent that last statement! The reason I let Nordicus do all the work is because he needs the practice. After all, part of being the commander is making sure the agents around me get all the training they need.

Pintello

[Slingshot]

Skorpion59 was in a land of chocolate rabbits and houses made of gingerbread. He danced atop the cloud-like streets, where drinks ran freely from fountains and a fresh plate of nachos was on every corner. Everywhere he looked, there was something good to eat.

"I'm in heaven!" he shouted aloud. "This is heaven and I'm sooooo hungry!"

With a swoop of the hand, he grabbed a nacho from the open hand of a beautiful marble statue. Skorpion59 took a delicious bite and swallowed.

That's when he began to choke. The agent awoke in a panic. His vision blurred, cotton-clouds were replaced by fluorescent lights. He saw the silhouette of Eisduetres next to him, with two hands clasped tightly around his neck.

Eis was livid. He had all sorts of bruises on his face, and three large bumps on his head from the last run in with an Actigator. "First you get me to come along on this mission." cried Eis. " 'Live the adventure!' you say. Then you push me off the building and into hell. I've been beaten, then drugged, and then beaten to a pulp. What have you got to say for yourself?"

"Urgle - aaaack!" came skorpion's best reply.

From the other side of the room lunged Sieve. "That's the only answer you get if you kill him!" With that the actigrammer broke up the two quarreling Apolytoners. "You see, it's hostility like that that scares us programmers from contributing to the Forums."

Eis returned to a state of calm. "I'm sorry," he replied "this has been a rotten few days. Heck, I don't even know how many days it's been! Actually, it's that Midknight Lament I'd like to get my hands on. He was nice enough to help me escape, but what's he doing here, anyways? And what's with the shot in the arm?"

Sieve watched as skorpion's face reverted from purple to a more natural tone and smiled. "Actually, you both should thank MidKnight. He's been an excellent double Agent - and has risked an awful lot for the cause."

Eis gave Sieve a hard look. "Midknight is a double agent.* You mean for the Apolyton cause?"

"That and more. You see, we're about to stage a mutiny. Any day now, we'll try to overthrow the Actigators. Midknight has been instrumental in getting us the information and resources we need to launch our offensive."

Eis' expression softened. "What about the shot in the arm? Can I at least get him back for that?"

Sieve looked serious. "Actually, that shot in the arm probably saved your life. He implanted an immunity chip so you would survive the bio-security system."

Skorpion, who had recovered his voice shot up a hand. "Um, excuse me, but we were never told about a bio-security system."

"Nobody was. Midknight found out about a month ago. He was trying to tell Apolyton, but was having trouble getting a secure message out. The bio-security system is that rotten sap smell. It's actually an airbourne carrier of four mutated viruses. The pathogens cannot mutate when they infect a host, so the required antibodies are not hard to produce. The fact that each pathogen can work with the others makes them difficult to thwart. The trick to full immunity is in the way each viral DNA has been recoded. It reacts to variations in carrier gas chemistry. To make it more aggressive, they add some of chemical 'A'. To make it more dormant, they add some of chemical 'B.' They can even make the pathogen attack certain forms of life, like mammal or reptile, vertebrate or invertebrate, carbonaceous or -"

"silicaceous," finished Eis. "That's pretty tricky!"

"Exactly," replied Sieve. "We have been working on a version of the carrier that would circumvent the natural immunity of an Actigator. We think we've got the recipe down, but it will be another day before we have enough to infiltrate Activision."

Sieve paused for a moment. Then he said "Actually, Midknight did us another favour."

"What's that?"

"By saving both your lives, he gave us two extra pairs of hands for the mutiny."

The thought of revenge made Eis happy again. "And I hope you have some weapons for us…"

For you guys, nothing but the best. How does proprietary NATO hardware sound?"

Eis cracked his knuckles. "To me it sounds like payback time!"

* Enter, the denouement!
[This message has been edited by Slingshot (edited April 17, 2000).]

[Slingshot]

How true indeed, Pintello!

More of the story to come in a day or two.

[MidKnight Lament]

coooooooooooooool let's get some!

- MKL

[MidKnight Lament]

Disclaimer: Any insult to nice Activision employees who remain informative to Apolytoners, such as Mr. Ogre, is made purely in jest, and should not be misinterpreted as dissent.

- MKL

[Slingshot]

Thanks MKL.

I wonder if any Actigrammers are reading this stuff, anyways.

If they would like to give me permission to use real names, that would be much appreciated!

[Slingshot]

Well this is the big time!

Super top secret sources say that some Actigrammers are reading this post!

I wonder about the Apolyton chiefs...

[skorpion59]

Slingshot,

How could they not be reading this, it is great. I'm constantly amazed at all the new twists you come up with for the story as well as the ability to keep it fresh and interesting. I, for one, am glad. It keeps the CtP2 forum going when there is no CtP2 info.

As for Activision, while they might not post anything, I would hope they are smart enough to visit the Apolyton forums on a fairly regular basis to see what the public (ie, people BUYING their product) is saying and wanting. Seeing how far-reaching Apolyton is, if I was running a game company, I would hire an intern to do nothing but interact with the Civers here at Apolyton. The benefit would far outweigh any costs associated with it.


------------------
Don,
CtPMaps (Hosted by Apolyton)

[Slingshot]

"How's it going, Sneak?" asked Pintello.

Locutus grunted. True to his nickname, he had been sneaking around a labyrinth of underground tunnels, painstakingly tracing a route, and marking the floor with an ultraviolet paint. "I've reached the service corridor. It's got a steel door - welded shut. Just like you thought it would be."

"Good thing you have that cutting laser. Your signal is strong, so I'll be able to monitor the proximity sensor for you."

With that, Loc unstrapped his backpack. From it he pulled a black metal box that was an Apolyton proximity sensor. He stuck the magnetic side to the center of the door, standing along a short hallway that ended about 10 meters to his left. Loc had come from the right, which turned 90° about 3 meters to his right.

A red light started blinking from a corner of the box, as it began scanning for vibrations on the other side of the door. Pintello stared at his flat-screen terminal from within the back of the van. He waited for a few seconds as the instrument ran a self-test. Adjusting his mic, he said "looks good, Sneak. The air is static… I think there might be a couple rats running around on the other side. That's good. Nothing else."

"Okay, Commander" replied Locutus. He reached into his pack, pulling out some Kevlar gloves, a special pair of goggles and the laser cutter. As the invisible laser light heated the rusted lock, the metal glowed red, then yellow, then a painfully bright white. His goggles automatically darkened. It took a few minutes to cut through the lock, but finally he was through. As the metal cooled, Loc returned the laser and black box to his pack. Eyeing the door, he scrounged again and retrieved a can of WD-30. Not wanting the door to squeak, he sprayed some on the hinges. The strong odour of petroleum distillate filled the air. Loc put the can away and put the pack on his shoulders. He grabbed the handle and with a strong pull, convinced the door to swing reluctantly on its hinges.

The room was dark, and stale tropical air mixed with the smell of WD-40. The mixture made Loc's stomach turn as he adjusted his visor to low light. "I'm in, Commander." he said. "Gee, this place reeks! Are you sure this is a computer room? It's more like a rotten greenhouse down here."

Pintello was perplexed. "Huh? You're in the right place, Sneak. Look at the end of the room - you'll find a panel. Open it and plant the bug. Five more minutes and you're done."

"All right, Commander. It looks like an old, dusty office." To his left, Locutus saw the convulsing forms of rodents. "Now that's weird."

Pintello looked at Nordicus. "What's weird? You saw the rats?"

"They look poisoned. Some exterminator must have laid a trap nearby." He walked on to the panel and opened it. Inside was a mess of wires. From his left coat pocket Locutus pulled another small box. This one had a multi-pin connection on the side. He carefully traced through the mess of wires.

"What's it look like, Sneak?"

Sweat poured off Locutus' face. "Man, it's freezing here. Um, this is a signal multiplexer. My guess is that one, two, three … twenty-four inputs are being routed into each of … a dozen boards. This should give us some good data!"

"Can you locate the terminal brick?"

Locutus coughed. "Ouch. Yeah." He coughed again. "Hold on … I'll have to put a gender-bender on the free connection, though."

"Let's get going. Something's got me nervous. I want you out of there right away." Pintello clenched his teeth. He heard a thud. "Sneak?"

Silence. Then some rustling.

"Hey buddy! What's happening?"

Still nothing.

Pintello slammed his hand on the desk as Nordicus moved to look at the monitor. "The bug's still inactive, Nordicus. Darn it, he's not responding!"

Nordicus tried to keep some calm. It was obvious the young commander was full of fear and adrenaline. "Think now. Any clues about what's happening?"

But Pintello was far beyond reasoning with. "A man is down and that's not going to happen. Nobody gets taken down under my command!" he shouted.

Nordicus grabbed his shoulder. "And if you think that way, you'll make yourself out to be a liar. Think harder. Why do you think he's down?"

"Oh heck. Just give me my gear!" yelled Pintello as he grabbed his roll bag. The youth opened the rear van door. As he left, Nordicus threw over a respirator.

"What's this for?"

"He said that the place stunk. He said he thought the rats were poisoned. He said he was cold and he almost coughed up a lung. Twice. Don't breath too much in that room, and take samples! Paul's been stationed at the airport for backup. I'll get him to mobilize a chopper to pick you two up. See you later!"

Pintello took the respirator and ran through the parkade. His footsteps echoed along the concrete as his form disappeared into the darkness.

[Slingshot]

MidKnight Lament thought hard and fast. With ten Actigators moving toward him, time took on a precious quality. Funny enough though, his first thought was pride. It wasn't too often that ten agents were called in to apprehend a troublemaker on the inside. The worst part was that his gun contained only six bullets.

His first action was easy. He leisurely stood up and gave his captors a Han-Solo smile. The second was pretty simple, too. As the first agent approached, he raised his hands in surrender. Surprised by the lack of resistance, the Actigator lowered his gun to grab a pair of handcuffs strapped to his belt. It stood there in front of him, waiting to receive a pair of hands for the cuffs.

What it got was a swift kick in the crotch. The impact wasn't meant to neuter an already genderless creature, but MidKnight's foot did manage to spring the agent off its feet.

That gave him some more time. In a single sweep he grabbed his pistol and slammed its handle deep into the Actigator's temple. With his other hand he positioned the agent-shield to block a barrage of unfriendly projectiles. MidKnight fired six rounds and grabbed the gun holstered in his agent-shield's belt. Each round had found a mark and six more agents fell dead.

That was when the easy part ended. The remaining three had drawn assault rifles. MidKnight threw what was left of his shield, barely dodging a blazing storm of armour-piercing slugs. As he hit the ground, his ears went numb with the noise and he saw the wall behind him turn into a flurry of wood and stone. The effect was scary, and he almost lost his courage for the next move. The Apolytoner somersaulted to an adjacent wall, scurrying behind another desk. He popped his head up and fired three more rounds. This new pistol was huge, and the kick threw off his aim. Two headless Actigators fell to the floor, but the third escaped with only a few cuts. In a flash the opponent rolled behind some furniture, and it was MidKnight's turn to wonder where to shoot. He was about to make a guess when he saw a motion from the corner of his eye. "Silica!" he thought. "Darn! I forgot about -"

The room went dark. Silica had been taking cover near MidKnight's last hiding spot with a stun stick and took advantage of his distraction. Silica stood over her victim, shaking dust from her hair. "Good night, my Knight." she said. "Never again will you betray me."

[This message has been edited by Slingshot (edited April 24, 2000).]

[Slingshot]

"This will do nicely!" said Eis with a wide grin. He, skorpion59 and some Actigrammers were in an arsenal, looking at an impressive array of weapons. "Sieve, you guys sure know what to stock!"

"Call me Steve. Steve Marrioti* at your service. This is my colleague, Mr. Orge.*"

Eis offered a handshake. "Mr. Ogre, an honour."

"Mutual. You and I have been assigned for an important mission. Skorpion will go with Steve on another."

"What are these missions about?" asked skorp.

The Ogre's face hardened. "We just heard that MidKnight has been found out. He was apprehended after a brief skirmish with Silica and some Actigators. You and Steve need to get to him before they execute him. Steve can tell you more later."

Eis whistled. "What about the second mission?"

"You're a tough nut Eis, that's for sure," remarked Steve. "You and the Ogre need to hunt down the Goblin."

"The Goblin?"

"Yep. The Goblin is an ex-Actigrammer. He joined the 'gators a few years back. We tried to stop that, but he was blinded by their allure of power. Now it's too late- he's more silicate machine than man. You two need to take him out personally, since his unique biochemistry will be immune to our mutagen carrier gas."

Skorpion's eyes widened. "I totally forgot about that! When will the carrier be ready?"

"About six more hours," replied Steve. "We're already mobilizing some units. The plan is to hit a wide number of communications targets and concentrate on some strategic takeouts in a few areas."

"Well, that's good enough for me!" replied Eis. They each grabbed some rifles, proximity mines and a few choice trinkets.

Steve turned towards and handed him a particularly choice trinket. "Eis, this is a gift for you. Use it carefully, though."

Eis' grin got even bigger. "Wow, you shouldn't have. I've always loved the smell of napalm in the morning!"

*Names used with permission.

[Pintello]

Hi Slingshot,

Cool, I see you actually conned, I meaned politely asked, some Activision Programmers, I mean Actigrammers, into letting you use there names and they fell for it, I mean agreed to it. Way to go!!!

Interesting twist you game my character too! One never knows which way you are going to go with these stories. I like that. I look forward to seeing what else happens.

Regards,

Timothy Pintello

[Slingshot]

Pintello was furious. He knew that Nordicus was right about being cautious, but he couldn't stand the thought of being outsmarted by Activision. "If it's a war they want, it's a war they'll get!" he said. He had already donned a pair of low light goggles, and was scaling the brick wall of the abandoned warehouse. The goggles illuminated patches of ultraviolet paint that had been placed by Locutus.

He found the stairs that led to a series of underground service tunnels. Before going down, he reached into his bag and pulled out the respirator Nordicus had given him. He found a fuzzy badge and clipped it near one of the filters. The badge was designed to capture and preserve viruses and bacterium. On his chest he placed another badge, made from radiation sensitive film. After putting it on, he grabbed an 8mm pistol. With the pack still in his left hand, Pintello descended the stairs.

Minutes later the commander reached a steel door that had been opened by Locutus. He didn't smell anything, and that was good. It meant that the respirator's bio-filters were working. If a high level of pathogen or bio-toxin was captured, the fuzzy badge was designed to give off ultraviolet light. He checked the film badge and saw that it was red - another good sign. If the film turned black, it meant that he had received at least a year's worth of normal radiation.

Pintello reached into his pack and pulled out twelve pairs of ion grenades. He set the six black and the six red buddies about 3 meters on either side of the door. The commander found various pieces of garbage and used it to cover the weapons of destruction. Reaching again into the pack, Pintello grabbed the remote detonator switch and fastened it to his belt. Raising the gun, he carefully walked to the door, which was still ajar.

The room was completely still and dark. Pintello stole a quick glance and saw nothing but furniture, illuminated through the green field of his goggles. There was nothing. He heard nothing, yet he felt like something was waiting…

Pintello put his back to the wall, the open door to his left. He crouched and spun in between the door and its frame, getting a full view of the room. Directly in front of him was Locutus, lying on the floor, a black box close to his outstretched hand. There was no blood. No signs of a struggle. Locutus looked pale and drenched with sweat. On the left side was a closed door. He took a step, still crouching. Still nothing.

Then there was a rustle to his left. Pintello rolled to the right and lay on the floor, gun held with both hands in front of him.

Nothing.

The commander crept around, going counterclockwise. His eyes fixed on desk from where the sound came. Finally he saw the outline of a rat. It's tail twitched, then remained motionless. A few seconds later it twitched again, then fell still.

Pintello continued circling. He scanned the room again and strained his ears for something new. As he closed in on Locutus, he could hear the Sneak's shallow breathing. Suddenly the filter badge on his respirator glowed brightly. Pintello stood up and pulled a communicator from his pocket. "Nordicus, I found Locutus… He's alive, but this place is full of a toxin or something. I'm going to plant the bug and then we're out of here!"

Nordicus radioed back. "Sounds good. I'll have Paul fly in a safe distance away. You will find me in the alleyway by the warehouse. See you in ten."

"Roger," replied Pintello. He put the radio away and picked up the black box. The gender bender was nearby and he picked that up as well. As he fitted the pieces to the terminal block, Pintello started wondering why everybody always expected a person to say 'Roger' over the radio instead of 'okay,' or 'you bet.' After installing the box he closed the panel and went over to his fallen comrade.

"Don't worry pal, I'll get you out of this. Don't you-"

There was a sound by the metal door. It sounded like a boot scuff. Pintello froze and placed his left hand on the detonator button. There was another sound, and the commander quickly dropped behind a desk, dragging Locutus along the ground. Suddenly the metal door burst open and bullets from an automatic weapon roared through the room. Pintello pushed the detonator twice, and a hellish explosion ripped across the doorway. The light was so intense it made it made his goggles turn opaque, like a welder's mask. His last image was that of an Actigator, lit up like a tungsten filament between the grenades and a steel doorframe. The ionized Actigator acted like a huge magnet. It became glued to the door, pulling Pintello's gun and the ten other ion grenades to itself. The result was a tenfold detonation, which made a field so strong his hair stood straight out like a mad scentist. The steel door was caught like a newspaper in a hurricane. It swung mightily on its hinges and closed with a monsterous clang against the doorpost.

Pintello's goggles returned to low light as he held his hears. They had never rung so hard - not even after last month's rock concert. "That was a bit of overkill" he thought. The commander ran to the steel door. It was wedged hard in the door frame, and looked as though it were welded shut. The lower half of the Actigator was on this side of the door, and Pintello's gun was a half-molten puddle on the floor.

Now nothing worked. Nordicus would be waiting for them, but he couldn't get there. Quickly, the commander ran back and opened the only other door. He saw another dark hallway. Pintello slung Locutus over his shoulder and walked, once again, into the darkness beyond.

[Slingshot]

I'm glad that you people like this story.

It's what keeps me going!

[Slingshot]

Steve Mariotti and skorpion59 ran quietly through a maze of underground tunnels. "We're almost to the elevator," said Steve in a low voice. "MidKnight is being held in a cell about four levels up. When we get to the elevator, I'll show you how we reach the cell without detection."

Skorpion was amazed at the complex of tunnels. They seemed to run in all directions, some ending at peculiar spots, only to turn again at an unexpected angle. "Whoever built this place? It's worse than an ant hill!"

"Actigators think differently. Note the construction, too. It's mainly glazed sand. Anyways, here we are." The two stopped at an elevator doorway. Steve pulled out a pass card and swiped it through a panel. The doors opened, and they walked in. Immediately the Actigrammer pulled a translucent card from his shirt pocket and he insterted it in a slot just above the floor selection buttons. The doors closed and the system paused. "Well it's a great day for rain!" exclaimed Steve.

An electronic voice was heard over an elevator speaker. "Rain indeed. Which floor, please."

Steve gave skorpion a knowing look. "Third floor, but be quiet about it. When you get there, don't open the door and report a malfunction to your master. Run a diagnostic and tell it that you'll be better in a few minutes."

"Better in a few minutes. Yes sir" replied the voice.

Skorpion59 felt the elevator begin to move when suddenly he got a strange feeling. It was like the air was charged, and his fillings tingled. Then there was a deafening sound, like a thunderclap. The elevator lurched to a halt and the lights went out. "What the heck was that?" shouted skorpion.

"Darned if I know," came the reply. "Now we're really stuck!" Steve produced a flashlight and turned it on. The air was heavy with the smell of ozone. "Help me get this door open. Let's see if we can find a way out of here."

With that the pair began working on the door. Within a minute they had managed to pry it open halfway. They found that the elevator had only moved upwards a meter or so. It was an easy job to crawl back out to where they had started.

"This really puts a damper on our plans. I think some large capacitor must have discharged. Whatever it was knocked out the local power supply. Let's find another way up."

Steve and skorpion backtracked about 30 meters, and then took a right turn. "There's another elevator about 70 meters down this hallway. We'll try that one."

Running again, the two heard some shouting as they passed a connecting hall. Steve screeched to a halt, pistol drawn. He motioned skorpion to cover him as he took a quick glance around the corner.

"What did you see?" whispered skorp.

"One person, average height and build. He's carrying another person and he looks panicked."

"Actigators?"

"Probably not. He's wearing a mask. They don't wear masks." The pair waited around the corner, weapons drawn and ready. Seconds later Pintello ran out from the corridor. Steve stuck out his foot and Pintello went flying, landing in a heap next to the still-unconscious Locutus.

"Freeze!" shouted skorpion. "If you move I'll shoot!"

Steve stood up as Pintello put his hands over his masked head. "Who are you?"

"Burn in Alpha Centauri, you Actigators!" was Pintello's only reply.

"We're Actigrammers - and Apolyton."

"Apolyton? I'm Apolyton. It's me, Pintello!"

"Skorpion was stunned. Who authorized your operation?"

MarkG* and DanQ* authorized it - through Nordicus."

It was Steve's turn to ask questions. "Then why the mask? Are you the only one without an immunity chip?"

"Pintello sat up. What's an immunity chip?"

"Oh boy, are you two in trouble. MidKnight will have to wait a few more minutes. Follow me!"

[skorpion59]

Slingshot, when did you say the book was going to be out?

[Locutus]

*BUMP*
Well, it looks like it didn't keep you going after all. What happened? Surely you didn't forget about it? I can't wait for the next episode and I know I'm not the only one!

[Pintello]

Hi Slingshot,

I am back from moving/vacation and I have just read up on your post. I like them, they are still going every which way, which is good.

What happened? You haven't posted anything else in over a week. Run out of ideas?

Regards,
Timothy Pintello

[St Swithin]

Sorry the CTP2 team hasn't replyed in a while. We were too busy getting ready for E3 and watching the Toronto Maple Leafs get eliminated from the SC playoffs (I've got my money on Jaromir, BTW). Give us some time to 1) get done with E3 and 2) get clearance from our PR dept. and we'll try to get on here more often, 'k?

Thanks for the buzz, guys. We love ya!

-WSL