An Ode to Activision

[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