You find yourself in E1M1

[foq]

>insert silver keycard

[metchsteekle]

//heh, i forget all bout the keycard

[Patton]

//Was hoping we would have performed the monthly maintenance on the forklift first but whatever

[Cobalt]

Cute. Sounds like Zork :

Zplet: Zork I: The Great Underground Empire

[Shadowswift]

//Was hoping we would have performed the monthly maintenance on the forklift first but whatever

((Diagnostic said that Forklift is fine for now. Besides, it served its purpose. If Ray ever needs it again, which...I'll be perfectly honest, I don't know if he will or not (im honestly just making most of this shit up as I go), then I might add repairing it and Flatbed into a questline. Flatbed needs more work anyway, it got fucked up by the barrel blast!))

>insert silver keycard

You take the shiny Silver Keycard from your inventory and stick it into the 2-ish inch slot. Theres some action on the terminal screen.

Authenticating...

Keycard accepted. Please enter Username and Password.

>Ray
>shotgun

Authenticating...

Welcome, Ray.

C:\>_

There are no commands to choose from. Crap. You may have to enter your own commands into the mainframe. It should be a very smart computer, hopefully the crack commands you enter will be recongnized. The big question is, though, what to do first? Now that you've wiped out the enemy (you think) and successfully hacked into the mainframe, the base is pretty much under your command.


>

[foq]

You attempt to run a slew of commands in hopes you can get the computer to tell you more about the base, where you should go next, and hopefully setting up coms with HQ.

>run diagnostic

>help

Oh, and since I seem to have administrative access now...
>del c:\doom2

[Phenom]

>Slap the corpse(s) around

[metchsteekle]

>Base Map

[foq]

hmmm...
>dir

[Shadowswift]

>Slap the corpse(s) around

You slap the corpses around a bit with a large trout.

...wait, what? You don't have a large trout...

>del c:\doom2

"Beginning uninstallation. This may take several minutes...
...
....
......
Uninstallation complete."

There, you heartless bastard. Now the rangers and marines will have nothing to play in their downtime. Happy now?

>dir

"Processing............
.......
.............
......................................
1100101001101001110100001000101101$&*#%^$$#%!$&000 1110100101011&@$%^

Warning, file has been corrupted. Checksum error 89006."

Hm...isn't that the same error you got when you tried to cheat in your console? There seems to be some sort of all-consuming corruption in this dimension. Hope its not affecting your brain...nah, thats crazy-talk, right?
Near as you can tell from the previous terminals, there should be 3 folders on C:/, local processes specific to that terminal (like >activate bridge and >activate Flatbed), universal files (like doom II, email, and interent) and another specifically for processes only allowed on the Mainframe.

>Base Map

"Printing..."

You sieze the printed map and study it. Seems you've already explored most of the base except...well, look at that. Seems theres a secret door straight to your right. You examine where it should lead to...hm, looks like that terrible, horrible watery tunnel of bloody doom leads right behind that secret door. Hm...you have some better weaponry. Maybe you could explore that secret now without getting ripped limb from limb...

>help

A long list of basic commands accepted by the Macrosuave Ventanas command prompt fills the screen. Most of them you already know. Basic commands don't seem like they'd be helpful, unless you want to delete more videogames...

If you want to get anywhere with this mainframe, you'll need to be a little creative and enter your own commands.

>run diagnostic

Most of the diagnostic is the same as the one from before, except now it lists you among the Personelle Report, and says that Flatbed is unavailable. You could try enabling some of the disabled features now that the Mainframe is yours...though they may not all work like you'd hope. This dimension is pretty crazy, after all.


You take another look at your map.

Right in front of you is....the Mainframe. Duh.
Theres a passageway ahead of you that leads to a Slipgate
The secret door to the terrible, horrible watery tunnel of bloody doom is to your right
To your left? Its a wall. Just a wall.
Behind you is all the crazy crap you've already seen.

You check the mainframe to see the status of the base's slipgates. It says the one at the entrance is offline. The one ahead of you is online, but the mainframe can't get a clear connection as to where it leads.

Maaan, you can't wait to get outta this place...you scratch your chin and wonder if plunging yourself into the unknown would be worth getting out of here.

[metchsteekle]

> man up, arm up, and open secret door

[foq]

>look for more info about these disabled features

>stuff map under keyboard

>leave silver keycard next to keyboard

>place Pheonix's dogtags around his neck

>using the edit command, save a log file to the mainframe explaining the current situation (and try to get it to be available to all the smaller terminals as well)...

"If anyone can see this... this is Ray, USMC. I don't know how I got here, and I don't know what's going on. The base seems to be home to a number of hostile creatures. I worked my way through to the mainframe by salvaging equipment from wherever and whoever I could get it from, and getting creative with some of the base's equipment to take out some of the hostiles. I have no communication with the outside world. The comms link with HQ is down. I'm completely alone out here, except for these hostile creatures and the ever-dampening aura of evil.

I printed a copy of the base map and, after looking it over, stuffed it under the keyboard. There's some sort of secret passage to the right... I'm heading there next. I don't know what's down there. If anyone sees this... pray for me. -Ray

P.S., you'll find the body of a young marine nearby. His name was Phoenix. Please, somebody make sure he gets a proper burial.

Oh, and sorry for deleting DooM II. I didn't want those damn shadow people to be having fun with it."

[Shadowswift]

((excellect post))

>look for more info about these disabled features

You remember the diagnostic telling you that the Securty Grid, Alarms, External Network Connection and Water are all disabled. Add Flatbed to that list, and that should be everything that is not currently working.

>stuff map under keyboard

You take one more quick look at the map, making sure there was nothing else you missed. Hm. In the water tunnel, it looks like theres a lift that leads back up to the entrance. Theres an automatic door there that only opens from that side. If you're reading the map right, it looks like the wall with the horrific claw marks on it is actually that door. So thats why it wouldn't open for you. Imagine that...

You stuff the map under the keyboard.

>leave silver keycard next to keyboard
>place Pheonix's dogtags around his neck

You opt to leave the keycard in the Authenticator slot. If more Shadows show up to take it, you'll just have to take it from them like you did before. Won't that be fun?! You slide Phoenix's tags back around his neck. They'll do more good there than in your inventory.

>using the edit command, save a log file to the mainframe explaining the current situation (and try to get it to be available to all the smaller terminals as well)...

"If anyone can see this... this is Ray, USMC. I don't know how I got here, and I don't know what's going on. The base seems to be home to a number of hostile creatures. I worked my way through to the mainframe by salvaging equipment from wherever and whoever I could get it from, and getting creative with some of the base's equipment to take out some of the hostiles. I have no communication with the outside world. The comms link with HQ is down. I'm completely alone out here, except for these hostile creatures and the ever-dampening aura of evil.

I printed a copy of the base map and, after looking it over, stuffed it under the keyboard. There's some sort of secret passage to the right... I'm heading there next. I don't know what's down there. If anyone sees this... pray for me. -Ray

P.S., you'll find the body of a young marine nearby. His name was Phoenix. Please, somebody make sure he gets a proper burial.

Oh, and sorry for deleting DooM II. I didn't want those damn shadow people to be having fun with it."

You save the log into Drive C, more specifically, to the Universal Files folder. That way, it should be an available command on all the terminals in the Slipgate Complex. You don't know if anyone will ever see it, but should some hapless bastard find himself in your same position after you bite the big one, maybe they'll be a little wiser.

> man up, arm up, and open secret door

You're really not sure you want to do this just yet, but the overwhelming amount of testosterone in your brain overrides your fear. You approach the wall where the door should be and pull out your axe. You smash your axe into the wall, but nothing happens. This door doesn't open like a typical secret door does. Maybe it only opens from the other side? Or maybe you have to use the Mainframe to open it. Or maybe.....

...oh dear God. You smell something on the other side of the door. Its like a slaughterhouse that hasn't been cleaned in a month and that month was a really hot one. You damn near vomit. Your eyes water. Your ears.....hear something...breathing? Not small human breaths, deep, gutteral, hungering, monsterous breathing. Testosterone gives way to fear and nausea. Theres no way in Hell you're going in there yet.


>

[foq]

>inquire security grid

>enable external network connection; see if you can make any contact with HQ...

[Shadowswift]

>inquire security grid

You return to the Mainframe and ask it about the security grid.

"The Slipgate Complex is equipped with a Bowmet Insignia Edition modified Security Grid. A highly sophisticated network of sensors, cameras, and automated laser turrets spot the entire complex. Request print-out?"

You scratch your chin. Yeah, sure, why not.
>Y
The mainframe prints out another map of the complex marked with various dots and X's that represent the base's security grid. The map indicates that theres a camera and a turret in the water tunnel...

>enable external network connection; see if you can make any contact with HQ...

You tell the mainframe to re-establish the external network connection.

"Searching for network. Attempting to negotiate server-client keepalive.
Trying...
Still Trying...
Still Trying...
No response. Attempting to re-establish connection. Searching for alternate path...
...
.....
..........
No response. Contact your ISP."

Mkay. You have no idea what most of that meant, but it sounds like the External Network Connection couldn't be enabled. There may be a pathway flaw somewhere between the Mainframe and the ISP. Gawd....you wish you paid better attention when they tried to teach you networking. You have a really farfetched idea that most likely won't work and even if it did, it will not be at all easy to accomplish. If you could perhaps find the flaw in the connection and connect it to the slipgate at the entrance, maybe the interdimensional connection of the slipgate will be able to wirelessly connect the mainframe to an ISP. It sounds like it might work, but again, networking really isn't your strong suit. The other problem is, the slipgate at the entrance isn't even online. You'd have to figure out how to get it back up and running. Interdimensional networking DEFINITELY isn't your strong suit.

Maybe if you had a Complex Networking For Dummies Manual...



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