Greetings! I haven't posted for a bit...but...I bring goods!
A few of you might remember a story I used to do on the old board called
SciBoard Fiction (
here).
Well, just for Easter, I'm doing a short, one-off, standalone story with enough stuff from the original in it for it to be called
SciBoard, but it doesn't really fit in anywhere in the original, so can't really be called a sequel, and you don't need to read the old one to read this.
So...here's the start...
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Team Leader 'Cynical Youth' signalled for the man flanking his right to run up ahead. The man did so, taking cover behind some shrubbery. Cynical Youth himself stood with his back to a tree, an assault rifle in his hands and a pair of night-vision goggles over his eyes.
The first man in place, he signalled again, and a second man made his way to some foliage on the other side, getting there in a crouching run. The man peered through the leaves using goggles of his own, his vision green and slightly fuzzy.
The concrete bunker was several metres up ahead, past a stretch of open ground. There appeared to be no one in sight.
The man looked to his left, and the other man nodded in affirmation. The Team Leader watched them sprint across the open ground and pin themselves to the bunker wall, clutching their weapons tightly, standing either side of a small, rectangular entrance.
Cynical Youth signalled once again, and another two men materialised out of the darkness and followed suit. Cyn breathed deeply, closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the tree to focus himself, but only for a moment. His eyes snapped open and he turned from the tree, bolting across to meet the others.
He was first into the bunker, lifting his goggles up out of the way and sweeping the area with his flashlight. The others did the same--the goggles were useless in complete darkness. They edged down a claustrophobic corridor, the rough, concrete walls barely a metre apart. The corridor sloped very gradually downwards as they progressed. A noxious, stale smell choked the air.
Cyn kept his gaze locked on the way ahead as they worked their way down, breathing through his mouth. His men paused to kick open doors leading to small, empty rooms, shining light into their dark corners before moving onto the next.
Their descent suddenly steepened, and the doors that had so far sparsely lined the walls disappeared altogether. The corridor ended and they passed into a large room, the temperature dropping even further.
There was an ominous, low-pitched hum coming from something in there. Their flashlights revealed thick lengths of wire snaking across the floor and over and into the backs of giant hulks of dust-covered metal. Cyn felt warm, putrid air against his face as he passed a ventilation fan.
'Computers?' asked one of the men.
'It would appear so,' replied Cyn.
The men made their way further into the room, which seemed to go on for a considerable length. Cyn, who had been making his way straight down the middle, was stopped in his tracks by a dusty and inactive flatscreen monitor, suspended lopsidedly at roughly head height by a thick vine of wires leading up to the ceiling. Affixing his flashlight to his belt, Cynical Youth cautiously reached out to touch it--
--and it switched on, his finger still inches away. The screen lit up with an extremely bright, painful light. Cyn felt his pupils sharply contract, and all five members of the team had to shield their eyes until they became more accustomed to it.
Cyn squinted at the screen, at the words that had appeared on it...
BaMessenger™ 2.0
Ba light, Ba bright, the first Ba inferior sees tonight!
SinisterPresence: You're too late.
'What?' said Cyn, as the other members of his team appeared beside him.
SinisterPresence: They've moved on.
'
What?' cried Cyn. 'No!'
SinisterPresence: Toodles.
The persistent hum of the encased machinery grew louder. The screen went blank. One of Cynical Youth's men cried out as green gas billowed out from a fan right by his head, vile and toxic.
The same started to happen throughout the room.
'Ooh shit,' said Cyn, as the man clutched at his throat and fell to the ground. 'We need to get out of here!'
The other members of the team were looking around in bewilderment.
'
Now!' yelled the Team Leader, picking up the fallen man and slinging him over his shoulder. '
Come on!'
* * *