An Ode to Activision

[MidKnight Lament]

Yeah, it's been a while... I wonder where he's gone? He's certainly not stopping because of lack of interest in his story. There's plenty of that to go around.

- MKL

[Slingshot]

Pintello's head hurt. He couldn't hear and it was starting to get to him. He and the Apolytoner team had painstakingly climbed down through rubble-filled floors and they were finally getting close to the new Activision HQ.

Eis and Locutus were getting worried about their team leader. It seemed obvious that his hearing wasn't about to return any time soon. The two were trying their best to communicate. Locutus had even found a pen and paper in his pack, and they had spent quite some time writing out plans.

But the written word was slower than the spoken one - especially when climbing down through endless floors of blackened steel. Pintello's frustration was mounting every hour.

One good thing was the fact that he could speak. "Sorry guys!" he said for the thousandth time. "We'll get closer to the target and find some shelter. From there we can figure out what's what and make some better plans. Heck! Not much to plan right now anyways!"

Locutus secured a rope and prepared to jump down another floor. He looked up and saw Pintello waiting for a response. Loc smiled and gave another 'thumbs up.' "How much farther, Eis?"

Eis checked his watch. "I'd say not too far. We should find a hallway about seven floors down. From there it will be 100m or so." Eis waved and caught Pintello's attention. He then raised seven fingers and pointed down. Pintello nodded in understanding and the three continued their descent.

When they arrived at the hallway, the three looked around and packed away the climbing gear. The hallway was dark and long. Locutus noticed that the whole area was quiet. Ever since Eis' super grenade had been detonated, he hadn't heard a sound.

Even stranger was the fact that the building wasn't completely on fire. The grenade itself must not have been a conventional one, he thought. It seemed as though nothing was too crazy to be found at Activision HQ.

Pintello looked down the hall. He tried to whisper but instead gave a loud, raspy voice. "Can you guys see anything?" Locutus jumped in front of him and made a 'shhhh' motion. Then he shook his head.

Pintello made another attempt at being quiet. With slightly less volume he said "Eis, you take the lead and point everything you've got down the hall. Locutus can scan and alert the team if anything funny comes along. We'll try the direct route once again, but if things go awry we bolt and regroup. There's only three of us now so it should be easy to stay invisible."

Locutus gave a questioning look and pointed at Pintello. "I'll keep close behind you both. That way I can see if you find anything."

Eis and Loc nodded. They got their stuff together and began a slow march down the hall.

[Slingshot]

Pintello felt like a ghost, stumbling in a mute darkness full of undetectable dangers. It was almost paradoxical, he thought. At least when you see your enemy you know something about when the fight is about to break out.

He looked over Loc's shoulder and saw the scanning device. LED's sparked to life and then faded. Everything seemed normal on the short range setting. Long range was another matter, and Pintello could tell that Loc was having difficulty sorting out the background data from anything that could be important.

Eis was a tower of weaponry. He lumbered along like a robot. Pintello was thankful that the brute was on his side.

Then suddenly Loc's scanner went ablaze with red lights. He started to adjust the reading when the entire floor lurched at a sharp angle and crumbled beneath them. The three fell within a jumble of concrete and steel. The height was amazing, and finally they smashed against a rubble-filled floor.

Pintello's life flashed before his eyes. He was certain that this was the end - that the momentum shields would finally give out. This time, the force was strong enough that it knocked the wind out of him. The agent rolled on his stomach and fought hard to breath. It was like being dunked under water - his brain screamed for his lungs to work until finally some air rushed inwards. Pintello waited for his head to stop spinning and looked around.

Far above him was a string of lights on some sort of machine. It looked like a crane and it was bashing away material about 50m above them. All around he felt dull thuds of debris hitting the ground. Pintello strained his eyes in the darkness. He now felt blind as well as deaf. His partners were nowhere to be found. The agent rummaged through his pack for a flashlight but came up empty. He tried the light of his scanner watch but it wasn't powerful enough. In resignation, Pintello surveyed his surroundings again and saw a faint light. It was probably another piece of machinery, he thought. But then again, what more was he going to find here? Debris continued to crash around him, and he took that as a cue. Pintello gathered himself up and crept toward the light.

[Nordicus]

Slightshot--once again, genuinely entertaining.
But honestly, during a two-day period without sleep, I had begun wondering if you were my subconscious double-login (!). I write quite a lot--well, used to--and it's astonishing how similar our styles are, and we're both from the same place...and you're writing here while I'm away....
Are you my DL? Someone check the IPs while I make another appointment to see my psychiatrist.


Oh, and BUMP!

[This message has been edited by Nordicus (edited July 26, 2000).]

[Matthew Hayden]

Great story Slingshot. You've got me and pretty much anyone else who has read it on
tenterhooks!!
Hope to see more soon.

Hey Pintello, what do you think of your character now that he's, er 300 metres under and possibly alone.

[Matthew Hayden]

Great story Slingshot. You've got me and pretty much anyone else who has read it on
tenterhooks!!
Hope to see more soon.

Hey Pintello, what do you think of your character now that he's, er 300 metres under and possibly alone

[Nordicus]

Ah, Pintello's been thru worse sh*t

Oh, and *bump*

[Matthew Hayden]

So, anyone know what Slingshot started this
post for. I assume he originally wanted to
write a bunch of sugestions for CTP2 and
discuss them. I could be wrong, but then I
could be right now coundn't I.
Speaking of Slingshot, where the hell is he,
Im dying to read the next installment of his gripping little epic.

[Slingshot]

I'm back!

- Problems with computers
- Out of town for a week
- Working too much

All bad excuses for not contributing to the storyline.

New episodes will be forthcomming, and thanks for all of the good feedback.

Mandinka - I remember hearing a Sinead O'Connor song to that effect, but what does it mean?

The purpose of this thread was to encourage more readership of the CTP II forums. It was started at a time when there was very little feedback from Activision.

To be honest, I never thought it would be so long!

-Slingshot

[Matthew Hayden]

Well, nice to see you again Slingshot. I think this has lasted so long because all of us-even actigrammer St Swithin-thought better of your now great and mighty work of fiction than you originally expected. Am I right, wrong, half way between. See Ya!!!

[Slingshot]

"Dang it!" yelled Ogre.

MidKnight looked up to see the Actigrammer's fist smash against his keyboard. "I take it you're still not getting anywhere," he said.

The poor fellow had been sitting in front of his computer for 14 hours, and his monitor was awash with information. "Certainly not! You know, the first 500,000 kills were easy, and I really thought that it was all we needed to do the job." He looked at MidKnight. "I mean think about it, that's a lot of Actigator agents!"

MidKnight's stare retuned to his own monitor. "Don't look at me. There's no way I would have guessed a number that high either. But then again, I had no idea how deep the Activision building went. How many levels are there?"

The Ogre tuned in his chair. "At least 40 below ground, below that we can't tell."

"What do you mean, 'can't tell?' Surely you've sent one or two Actigrammers down for surveillance."

"One or two, yes. None have ever returned. They go down and disappear without a trace. My former boss tried to find out what happened and disappeared herself. Poor Cici! I never had a good enough reason to ask what happened, and figured that this was a battle for a later time."

"Well the time might be now. Whatever it was that rocked this building ended up making a spherical crater deep underground. I'm surprised that Activision is still standing!"

Mr. Ogre grinned. "There's lots of surprises in a place like this. But anyways, what's going on with Eis, Pintello and Locutus?"

"Not much that I can tell," said MidKnight. "Last time I got a position report was about 10 seconds before the explosion. That was over two hours ago. I hope they're still alive!"

"Hmmm. I'll bet Eis was responsible for the crater. He packed some pretty exotic stuff with him, and it's possible he took a fusion grenade."

MidKnight was horrified. "A fusion grenade? You mean nuclear fusion?"

"That would be it. Of course, it's not designed to give off radiation. The whole thing works by dissociating chemical bonds. The fusion sequence is used purely as an energy source."

"Oh, that's all, huh? So what else can we expect from the great Eis then?"

Mr. Ogre looked thoughtful. "I don't know, really. Hey Swichthin! You know what Eis took with him?"

A younger fellow dressed in an Actigrammer uniform ran up. "Sir yes sir! Eis loves high calibre weaponry and so he took lots of that. He also grabbed a few fusion grenades and some food."

"Food?" asked Mr. Ogre. "What food?"

Swichthin smiled. "You know, the sour candy in the silver cans! It's got a picture of a dark person with his mouth all puckered in like he ate a vinegar shake. Heh heh. Eis loves sour stuff, so I told him to bring along a six-pack!"

A nervous smile came over the Ogre. He laughed like John Candy after driving between two semi-trailers on the highway.

"That's a pretty expressive, depressive laugh there Ogre!" said MidKnight. "You look like John Candy did after he drove a station wagon between two semi-trailers on the highway!"

Mr. Ogre put his hands in his head. "Time to fess up, guys. I can't make a second modification to the gas chemistry. 500,000 Actigators is all we can kill. The rest just aren't going to react to our product."

MidKnight gave a look of concern. "That's okay, I guess. You tried your best, and you know that it's not worth releasing garbage that won't do anybody any good. In fact, this is a good thing! I mean the old Activision might have done it anyways!"

"Yeah you're right," replied the Ogre. "But that's not the bad news. You see, I've been doing some calculations based on what we know of Actigator biochemistry and our first carrier modification attempt. It seems that the few Actigators that have survived are mutating as a result of our extermination efforts. In fact, I think we could have a new problem on our hands if more are made with a mutated blueprint."

"And how do you make more Actigators?"

"Darned if I know. Hopefully Eis et al will find out when they reach floor -40."

MidKnight grinned. "That's the spirit! I'm sure that our Apolytoners haven't died yet. It's good to hear you talk that way!"

"Oh I know for a fact that they haven't died yet. Or at least Eis' equipment bag is still entact."

"How's that?" asked MidKnight.

"Let's put it this way," said Ogre. "You'd know it if somebody opened a can of Whoop Ass® below you."



[This message has been edited by Slingshot (edited August 16, 2000).]

[Slingshot]

Pintello stared at the light directly above him. He was at the edge of a cave of some sort, and to his left was a chute-like hole in the wall of smooth, sandy rock. "Darn it!" he thought. "What I'd give for a scanner right about now." Pintello had lost his backpack in the fall and now carried nothing but a small sidearm. The air was cold and damp. It seemed to absorb light from this angle as well, and he had trouble seeing more than an arms length away.

The agent peered inside the cave. It was black and cramped-looking. Along its base he saw the glint of water trickling down from above. "This must be a tunnel!" he thought - not that the agent relished the thought of wriggling through a narrow space amid tons of dirt like a worm. Yet something told him this wasn't the sort of place that was loaded with ways in or out. The whole thing felt like a quarry, or maybe a large expanse to be used for storage.

Pintello looked around again, but it seemed useless. His comrades couldn't be seen, and he couldn't hear a thing. He could make lots of noise and maybe even fire the pistol, but then what? Maybe the noise would alert more than just his friends, and he knew that a firefight here would be suicide. Pintello felt violated - like some hateful, immaterial force had sought him out and then peeled away his senses. The agent placed his hands at the entry of the tunnel. "At least I can feel things," he thought. "Eis, Locutus, good luck!" With his jaw set, Pintello climbed inside.

The tunnel started off at an easy slope, which was good because it was so narrow. About 4 meters in, it climbed upwards at a steep angle, and this presented a new problem. Pintello could feel moisture everywhere, and the walls were narrow and slippery.

He wedged his arms apart and pulled himself upwards as far as he could go. Then he pushed against the tunnel with his knees and back. Pintello hung there and released his arms, reaching as high as he could and searching for some area to grip. As he got higher, the ground became harder and a little rougher. Sweat began to bead on his forehead from the exertion and his stomach muscles hurt from holding himself up for so long. After what seemed like an hour, his left hand found an invisible ledge, confirmed by a second grasp with his right.

Buoyed by the new discovery, Pintello forgot his fatigue and tried to scrambled up. The ledge seemed to be a continuation of the tunnel, although the corner was very tight. He could feel the side against his back slope forwards, and a couple of times he bumped his head against that surface. After a few more wriggles, Pintello managed to get his left elbow on the ledge, then his right. The agent gave a sigh of relief, as the extra leverage made hanging easier and he took a few extra seconds to breathe. The ceiling above the ledge was about 30 cm above. It was a tight fit.

"This is crazy!" he thought. Everything around him was black, and everything seemed to press in against him. He started thinking about his situation. Tonnes of cold dirt around, a passage that might not lead anywhere, no way to turn around if he hit a dead end. And what if the ground collapsed? What he really needed was a real-life 'save game' function, or maybe a reset button.

"If only I could get on this @#$ ledge!" he thought. "It's not shaped right. This can't be a way out. Nobody could ever get through here. I'm going to die! Crap, I'm going to die in the middle of a whole pile of cold dirt a bloody mile underground!"

Pintello started feeling frantic. He kicked hard against the tunnel with his feet. The cold stone refused to budge. He had managed to get his body wriggled up a few more centimetres. Pintello let out a gasp of breath and found that it gave him some more room to move. He fought some more with all of the air out of his lungs and managed to get his whole torso on the ledge, his body screaming for oxygen. Hands stretched out and head twisted, he tried to breath in and only got half a breath before the rock pressed against his rib cage. He struggled like a mad man, breathing out quick and shallow puffs of air. Finally his hands found a widening of the tunnel in front of him, and he clawed at the muddy rock for all he was worth. Slowly he moved forward, and he snaked his way out of the tight bend.

"Think forward. Almost there. It's okay! It's okay!" he thought. When at last Pintello broke free of the narrow constriction. He lay in the wider section of tunnel and shuddered happy, deep breaths of air in his lungs.

The tunnel was now much wider, although just as dark. He traced dirty fingers around its circumference, and found it to be about a meter high with a slight incline - almost comfortable - and travelled its length by crawling on hands and knees. The thought of entrapment came back to his mind. "What if this is a dead end and I have to go back? There's no way I could get through that ledge going down!" Pintello shook his head and pressed forward. There had to be another way. He kept crawling along, and it felt as thought the tunnel began to spiral upwards and to the right. Then he heard a thud.

Pintello stopped cold.

Thud.

Visions of being crushed flashed in his head again. Or maybe it was something that followed him up the tunnel.

"Forget it!" he thought. "It's nothing, keep going!" The agent crawled as fast as he could.

Boom!

The whole tunnel shook that time. Pintello was in such a panic that he crawled straight into a wall in front of him.

Quickly he felt around in front of him. Then to the left and right. Nothing but solid rock.

Pintello felt sick. "There's got to be something. Maybe a door or a handle. C'mon, think!"

He tried again, this time going higher. The tunnel ceiling seemed to be sloping up, and he followed its contour with his hands. In seconds he was standing and he still hadn't felt the top.

That's when he saw the light up above.

Pintello staggered back like a drunken man. There was a dim light glowing from and exit just above him. It was low enough that he could probably jump and climb out.

"Freedom!" he thought. "Blessed freedom from this cursed tunnel of death!" and for the first time in a long time, Pintello grinned. He made certain his sidearm was securely fastened and made the leap. The agents legs were still cramped up from crawling around and it took a few attempts before he made it. As soon as he got a good hold he pulled himself up to the top and looked around.

About 3 m away from him were two Actigator guards with startled looks on their faces. They were in a closed room with heavy-looking walls. Recovering from the shock, one of the Actigators leapt toward the Apolytoner and kicked his hand. The blow knocked Pintello's his hand loose and he slipped, falling to the floor of the tunnel on his back. Seconds later, a shiny cylinder fell towards him and slowed as his diffusion shield kicked in.

Almost as a reflex, Pintello grabbed the cylinder and threw it upwards into the room. There was a blinding flash of light followed by what he felt as a rumble. The agent sprang to his feet just as the tunnel began to collapse. He jumped as high as he could through the opening and clawed upwards. Sand, rock and mud fell all around him, and he almost got buried alive. Then the ground settled and he found himself alone in a crater with two crispy fried Actigators. To his left was the charred surface of a door.
"Diffusion shields. Don't leave home without one!" Pintello dusted himself off and walked towards the door.


[This message has been edited by Slingshot (edited August 17, 2000).]

[Pintello]

Hi Slingshot,

Nice continuation of the story! That last one had me sitting on the edge of my seat! You really do a good job of making a person feel the suspense of the situation. You really are a very good writer. I look forward to seeing where the door goes!

Timothy Pintello

[Pintello]

Sorry about the double post.
[This message has been edited by Pintello (edited August 17, 2000).]

[Mr.Green]

Wow, I almost had trouble breathing myself. I started reading this thread yesterday, not knowing what to expect. This is a very nice story, very well written (applause).

When will this story end? When CTPII gets released? When the last bug of CTPII gets killed?

How about bringing some colour into the story, I hear Green suits villains very nicely!(nudge nudge)