Hive IC Story

[Vev]

I was hoping to start up an IC story and I think it would be more fun played out here by the Hive members.

The sea crashed against the cliffs of this strange new world. Comrade Wujiang stared into the sea while he waited for the perimeter patrol squad to finish taking the sensor readings. The marine-botanist were in their boats further out into the sea busy collecting data and experimenting with the fertile patch of sea. It is proving to be extremely promising terrain that would be put into good use in the future.

The survery results showed everything is normal, no native fauna activity or human contact. Comrade Wujiang's limited experience with mindworms so far have been with sporadic nests that were easily handled. Nothing like the giant rolling boils rumored to be spotted by border patrols. The survey team have finished packing their equipment and begin their walk back to glorious city beneath the surface.

The underground streets were lit by pale sunlight, collected from surface ports, and reflected into multiple outlets. Artificial lighting augments the sunlight when the sun is setting or the ports were closed due to an attack. After the debriefing, comrade Wujiang went to the communal kitchen and queued for some food and drinks after his hard day's work patrolling the city surface.

[Jamski]

What is an IC story?

-Jam

[Vev]

In Character. If done well, I've found it to be great fun, builds interesting (sometimes wacky) stories and loads of spamming.

[Vev]

Somebody please join in!

[Jamski]

Comrade Deputy Chairman Jamski paced around his vast apartment, one of the few in Hive Base to be built near enough the surface that light could penentrate - natural sunlight. He was bored. An idle glance at the network node listings - nothing. Nothing of interest unless you were a Drone, that was. Comrade Forlani wouldn't visit for at least 3 more hours, to dicuss the PRAVDA-Tonight show, and perhaps this time she'd stay the night...

He walks over to the large viewscreen set into a main bulkhead wall and watches as an endless millitary parade streams past. He notes where the tape has been edited into a loop, and smiles to himself, confident that whoever was responsible for this work is already being served in the communal kitchens. The parade runs silently past. Being a high Party official has some advantages, like the ability to adjust the basic viewscreen settings such as volume...

Damn, he was bored. Only half interested, he starts to flick though various security monitors on the lower levels. Another small advantage. A factory workshop....an empty corridor... a cubical being used by one of the communal wives - a moment of interest, but no, Claire would be coming later...flick, flick... a school room, slightly overcrowded, a communal kitchen for the mindworm scientists...

Jamski turned away from the viewscreen. There was only so much space in the Hive, so many people. He felt like he'd seen them all now. Perhaps a bit of mindless terror was in order? It whiled the time away, and helped keep the drones in line. But, then again, it was such an effort to go down to the cells, right down on the lowest levels of the base, and he'd have to rush things.

He pours himself a whiskey from a small cabinet next to the viewscreen. Hmmm, communal kitchen 23-b was still showing. He walks over to his black dress jacket hanging on the back of a chair, and presses a stud on the collar.

"Yes Comrade Deputy Chairman?" comes a voice.
"Bring me one of the worm-scientists from Comm-Kitch 23-b."
"At once sir - any particular scientist, or should I get one at random Comrade?"
He looks over at the view screen... one scientist is queuing dreamily reading something... he presses the zoom button...
"Turn around..."
"Sir?"
At last the scientist turns so Jamski can read the nametag on his overalls....
"Bring me Comrade Wujiang... tell him his dinner can wait."
"Yes Comrade Deputy Chairman, at once."

He picks up a pocket dart gun, and settles into an armchair to wait.... perhaps something interesting will happen this afternoon after all...

-Jam

[Vev]

Wujiang's pager went off and has a brief message "URGENT: Report to room A012-02"

This doesn't look good, if I'm lucky nothing bad will happen. Damn, I'm going to be hungry tonight.

Rather than risking the wrath of the CCC, Wujiang briskly walked towards the A012-02 through the ever gloomy underground walkways. Comrade Wujiang have no worries of being mugged or assualted in these poorly lit paths. The real worries are the CCC party and their secret police. Now that he was reminded of them, Wujiang better double step it. Within ten minutes he arrived at the reception room, and coated with a thin slick of sweat.

"Comrade scientist Wujiang reporting as requested".

The ever efficient receptionist continued typing for a few seconds before pressing a button. Without looking up, she motioned with her hand towards the waiting area, which have no chairs. Wujian moved as suggested and stood against the wall.

[Jamski]

(OCC - yes, Jamski is expecting a scientist not a patrol officer)

-Jam

[Jamski]

A camera shows the view of a small grey cubicle. The number A012-02 can be seen stencilled on one wall. The door opens, and a man enters, wearing overalls. His nametag is obscured. He speaks - there's no sound pickup on this monitor. Two men enter the camera's field of vison. They wear millitary uniforms of the deepest crimson red. Thier faces are obscured by the peaked caps they wear. They appear to be discussing something with the first man. The sweat can be seen, forming a dark patch on his overalls. One of the men in red produces a small box, with a long wire extending from it, and moves the wire toward the victim's neck...

Deputy Chairman Jamski turns away from the view screen. How inelegant the Crimson Guard can be. He tabs the comstud on his collar once more.

"When you are finished Comrades, could you kindly bring the Comrade Doctor up to my private rooms"

He almost laughs as the guardsman practically hits himself with the nervestapler in his hurry to replace the box in its holster. Just like children, or insects perhaps. If only there was a way to control their minds more directly, instead of all these ugly bully boy tactics, a more elegant solution...

But the worm scientist might be able to help him with that problem.

-Jam

[Vev]

Wujiang heard footseps coming but before he could turn around, he felt his nerves burn in agony and his muscles clenched rigid. The pain was excuriatingly delightful. He could see himself being dragged away by two burly crimson guards.

This isn't looking good.

[Jamski]

Comrade Jamski, Deputy Chairman of the Human Hive, sat and waited... soon the scientist would regain conciousness. He poured himself another whiskey... come on...

Wujiang groaned...

"Ah, Comrade...um...Wujiang. So glad you could join us. Don't worry, I don't bite"

Wujiang blinked in the blinding natural sunlight... is that the Deputy Chairman? So hard to tell... feeling sick...

"I expect your cooperation," continued Jamski, "With a very important experiment I need to try. You shall be the main researcher on this project. You will report directly to me. You will inform noone about this project. Not even the Crimson Guards. Noone."

Secret research project...? Tell noone...?

Jamski opens a panel in the wall behind the view screen and removes an envelope.

"This contains the notes from your predessessor. He is currently being re-assigned to the recycling tanks. He talked. You won't, not even to the Chairman if he asks you... which I very much doubt will happen. You will produce results. Your team will be waiting for you in Lab25-75c. They will do whatever you want. You will also be responsible for gathering your own mindworms for the experiments into..."

The door slid open with a hiss of compressed air. In one fluid movement Jamski had pulled the dart gun from his body, fired at the person entering and dived behind the chair. There was silence, followed by a groan from Comrade Wujiang and the thud of a body hitting the floor. Jamski straightend up and looked over the arm of his chair.

Comrade Forlani lay stretched out in his doorway - she was early. Jamski thrust the envelope into Comrade Wujiang's hands and pulled him stumbling to his feet by the collar of his overalls.

"You," hissed Jamski, inches from Wujiang's face "Have seen NOTHING, understood." Wujiang nodded. He was sweating again. Jamski pointed the dart pistol at the viewscreen on the wall.
"I will be watching every step you take, Comrade Doctor Wujiang"

Doctor? Still so hard to think straight...

He pushes Wujiang towards the door, before physically throwing him clear over Claire's body and into the lift corridor.

"Lab25-75c" calls Jamski as the lift door closes, taking Wujiang back ito the depths of the Hive.

Jamski looks down. Now this was either going to take some explaining, or it was a wonderful possiblity. Grabbing Claire by one high-heeled boot, he drags her into the room and shuts the door. He tabbs the comstud as he takes his jacket off :

"Comrades, I am not to be disturbed for the next three hours..."

-Jam

[Rokossovky]

(While Comrade Jamski is having his fun with a not quite so consenting Comrade Claire.....)

A deep rumble fills the air around the Marshal as a column of rovers screams by, heading to the front. There has been reports of increased mind worm activity.

Mind Worms.... That word brings memories of sporadic reports from the Director of Military Intelligence... What was it? Oh yes, something regarding upper Party members and thought control. Fools. Knowing them they will unleash it upon themselves. Things would be much better if the Chairman would JUST give me the power I need to enforce control.....

Marshal Rokossovky is brought back from his thoughts as a runner approaches.

"MilNET reports 1st brigade has sighted the worms, Colonel Pustyovik is requesting permission to attack," the young, fresh faces lieutenant reports. He has obviously just graduated the Academy, probably pulled into the service by the new Comrade Claire campaign.

Brilliant idea that was, if I do say so myself...The Marshal opens his mouth to confirm, but then hesitates.. If the CCC is engaging in mind worm experiments, the worst thing to do would be to get left out of it..... in order to carry out any experiments they will need specimens...

"Tell the Colonel to capture as many samples as he can without compromising the safety of TOO many men. Incinerate the rest.... then order him to return the samples to the Department of Military Intelligence and proceed to conduct reconnaissance of the fungal regions.."

"But sir," the junior officer protested, "they'll be slaughtered."

"I know." If I want to get involved with this plan and get out alive, I best keep it on the low down, can't have witnesses compromising "state security"...... now to find out what is going on, and where is Comrade Claire? She was supposed to meet me for a late dinner 30 minutes ago...

The Marshal accesses the civilian communication net as he gets into his car.... Jamski will know what is going on, he always has his hand in things such as this

[Jamski]

At that moment Jamski had his hands in his pockets...

He had a problem... this was taking too long. The drugs in the dart-pistol should have worn off 4 hours ago. A glance at the woman sprawled on the couch in the corner confirmed that they still hadn't.

Damm... what now?

A quick check of Comrade Forlani's appointments by hacking into her palm-pad had been of interest. It also added another worry to the many he already had. The Marshal would not be amused at being kept waiting... although strangely people seemed quite happy to wait for a certain Claire Forlani...

Hmm, the Marshal... I assume he already knows about the planned experiments. His spies are everywhere, under the guise of millitary intelligence, of course. He won't know the final goal of the tests though... Only I know that... Perhaps we should meet up sometime to discuss things....

He looked again at the couch...

...but probably I should visit his quarters tonight...

Jamski was caught in that eternal Hive problem - who can you trust? If the plan was to go ahead he'd need help, either from the millitary, or the "other army" of the security forces. However, who could he reveal the plan to, who could be trusted not to run straight to the Chairman to denounce him?

I've known from the beginning that the Chairman would never approve of this plan... he'd just call it a kind of "thought control" and have the research programm halted...

And that was Jamski's second problem - finding scientists who would keep their mouth shut about their precious discoveries. They were egotistical fools in his opinion, telling people what "they" had discovered, when really all they'd done is notice what was always there to be found...

Good, Comrade Forlani was still there to be found too. She was still breathing. That was one problem less.

This Wujiang was strange... hardly seemed like a scientist at all... most scientists didn't have the common sense to be scared of him... he'd better produce some results, and fast...

Jamski had an idea - he could kill two birds with one stone. He tabbed the commstud again.

"Comrade Corporal?"
"Yes Comrade Deputy Chairman Sir?"
"Come to my chambers immediately, I have a task for you."
"Will I need the full squad sir?"
"That won't be nesscessary, I need you to help an drunken woman out of my rooms and take her to Lab25-75c. There you will give her to Comrade Doctor Wujiang. He'll know how to fix her up."
"We'll be there in 5 minutes Comrade Deputy Chairman"
"Good"

Jamski started an small electronic timer running in one corner of the viewscreen. It counted down from three minutes. He quickly grabbed a message tablet from a small pile on a nearby shelf and jotted a memo :

MEMO-OFFICIAL
FROM : DepChair Jamski
TO : ComDoc Wujiang
This girl is a perfect test subject to see if the worms can produce simple thought pattern distortions. I suggest you start by trying something easy, make her forget the events of the last 24 hours, for example.

That should do the job... a "suggestion" was better than a direct order with these people....

There was a knock at the door. Jamski dropped the message tablet into a delivery slot and pressed the code for Lab25-75c.

* * * * *

The loyal guardsman had gone. Jamski had to admit to himself that had been so very entertaining to watch the man apologise for being exactly two minutes late. Speaking of the time... PRAVDA tonight would go on air live in 6 hours. Soon everyone would know the face of Comrade Forlani...

I hope the CCC are making the right choice with her... and I hope she makes it tonight for her debue show... 5 hours 58 minutes to go... its up to you Doctor Wujiang now...

-Jam

[Jamski]

(OOC) Cool, we have two men with different ideas of control, and a beautiful girl, and an innocent hero caught in the middle. All we need now is a sub-plot... *thinks* (/OOC)

-Jam

[Jamski]

Me and Tass have just done a joint chapter... please have a few hours patience while Tass edits it together... (this is a big plot event, so hold fire a minute...)

-Jam

[Nubclear]

GLORIOUS COMRADES!!! Jamski and I have made quite a long post which will require 2+ hours of editing, and then maybe two more hours of additional posting. So.....Pateince is a virtue