Records of the Observer

[Taneru]

:System Online:
>_ access.video.files
:Accessing video files:
:Files Encrypted. Access Code Required:
>_******
:Code Accepted:
>_ access.log.032
:Accessing Data Log 032:
:WARNING. This video file contains a unknown element. This file may not display correctly. Do you wish to continue?:
>_ yes
:Commencing Playback:

The camera feed flickered to life again, with a view of the same lab as the previous clip, but this time lit by a dim red glow. This time, it seemed to be from a desk-mounted camera, the type that would be used for audio logs or the like, rather than a ceiling-mounted security feed.
The camera shook for a moment, as something hit the desk it was fixed to, and then a man's face filled the screen, the face of the scientist from the previous clip. His clothing was in disarray, and his movements were frantic, almost panic-filled, as he adjusted the camera. A cluster of wires trailed out from the side of his head where his neural net implant would be, leading down off the desk and out of view of the camera.

As Cameron flicked on the camera's audio, the sound of klaxons almost drowned out his words, and he had to shout to be audible.

"Log entry thirty seven, date.. I don't care! This place is under attack! We've been discovered, and they've gotten aboard! It's some merc group, or something! It doesn't matter anyways! No success in awakening the subject using normal means, so we've grafted a neural net interface into it. I've been trying to link to it and stimulate its mental functions with my own implant."
He slammed his fist down on the desk, shaking the camera again. He seemed visibly agitated now, and his shouting had become much more forceful.

"This will work! It MUST. I will not let fourteen years of work be disrupted by a band of miserable guns-for-hire!"

He turned away from the camera, stalking across the lab floor as he continued. "The security teams are incomptent! Useless! If I was allowed to pick my own teams, this would have never have happened!"

Suddenly, he spun around, dashing back to the camera and grabbing the arm supporting it as he screamed into it. "NEVER! That stuck-up bureaucratic bitch knew I needed more funding! She KNEW! And did NOTHING! And now I'm stuck here with nothing but pathetic rent-a-cop guards standing between those Mercs and my greatest work!"

A thin trail of a whiteish-green liquid oozed down from the corner of the man's mouth, but he barely seemed to notice as he continued ranting.

"Not the only thing I was working on here.. Oh no. I'll use the toxin.. Yes... yes.. CXTY-24. Airborne transmission vector.. highly infectious, lifespan of only a few hours." As he spoke, Cameron hammered away at the keys of the nearby computer terminal with a speed born of panic.

"Already set up, too. I'll have it pumped into the air circulation system.. It will kill them, yes.. Kill them all!"

The man began cackling maniaclly, but that soon gave way to sobbing, and he hugged himself, looking around the room in fear.

"Oh god.. What am I doing here? I could be.. could be out there.. somewhere. Somewhere safe.. But I'm here.. Stuck here.. with my life's work. And they want to take it. They want to take it away!"

As he hit the keyboard one last time, the door to the lab suddenly exploded inwards, nullifying the room's soundproof properties, and letting in the chaotic sounds of faint screams, gunfire, and shouting voices. Standing in the door frame was a trio of men dressed in light, helmetless body armor and carrying particle rifles. The center one pointed at Dr. Cameron, shouting, "That's him! Stun him!"

Cameron screamed in rage at the mercs, and dove over the desk, upending it behind him. The camera fixed to in swung down hard against the lab floor, and then the picture cut out.

The feed suddenly changed to the security camera from the previous entry, which gave a clear view of the lab, the desk which Cameron ducked behind, and the three mercs. It also gave a clear view of the tank in which the specimen still rested, a cluster of wires now linking the tank and Dr. Cameron together.

As the merc vaulted over the desk, Cameron lunged at him with a medical scalpal, his moves frantic and panic-driven. The merc casually deflected the inept strike, and jabbed a stun baton under Cameron's ribs. As the scientist spasmed, the creature in the tank twitched and jerked along with him as the electrical current travelled along the makeshift wires to the specimen's tank. Almost in unison, Cameron and the specimen both went limp, and Cameron slumped to the floor.

The merc stepped over his body and knelt down, pressing two fingers to the scientist's neck. "Damn... He's gone..", the merc muttered, standing.
The leader shook his head. "God damnit, there goes the bonus. Let's g-" Suddenly, all the klaxons went silent. For a few moments, there was nothing, then the air vents all around the room began to emit a hissing sound. The mercs all swore, and tried to run for the door, but each only got a few steps before they collapsed, blood streaming from their mouths, eyes and ears. While the last two attempted to crawl forward a bit more, the leader reached down to his belt and pulled off a small cylinder, staring at it with his bloody eyes.
"Screw it."
He flipped up the cover of the detonator and hit the trigger.
The entire room shook, and as the camera feed flickered, a calm mechanical voice spoke over the intercom.

"Station Orbit Destabilized. Biohazardous materials present. Venting atmosphere. Warning. Decompression Event Imminent. Reentry Event Imminent. Evacuate Immediatly."

-Discontinuity-

It was so..... quiet.

There was not a sound, save for the soft whispering of the wind and the echoes of fleeting dreams.

The man stirred. For a moment, his eyes fluttered open, to be met with a blur of brown and blue, mixed with a hulking mass of grey. For a moment, he could feel the cold fingers of an icy breeze blowing across his face.

Then the darkness swam back in, and there was nothing.

In time uncounted, awareness returned to the man, but with it came.... questions.

So many questions filled the man's mind, but for each one, no answers arose.

The eternity of unconsciousness drew back with a, snapping sound, a sudden jolt and a feeling of motion; the man's eyes flashed open in time to watch a curving glass surface rush up to meet his face.

As he hit the glass, he braced for the pain, but.. oddly, it did't seem to hurt as much as he'd expected. He tried to move his jaw, thinking it had gone numb from the impact, but he felt nothing.

There was another loud snapping sound, like a guitar string snapping from too much tension, and he felt his body jolt again as whatever was supporting him started to give way with a loud snap. There was another snap, and he started to fall, his body twisting around in the air. Suddenly, there was a sharp, painful tug on the side of his skull, and, instinctively, he reached up with his arm to dislodge whatever it was. Something felt wrong, though.. His arm seemed too thick, and without structure. Eventually, he managed to wrap his 'arm' around the offending object and yank it out, letting it, and his arm, drop.
A cluster of wires, held together with a makeshift tie fell down into his view, along with a pale-ish thing that looked nothing at all like an arm.
Then, whatever was holding him up gave out completely, and he dropped to the floor, head first. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness took him was a huge hole in the wall beyond the glass, and a flat, dusty plain beyond.

Then it was dark again.

---

Characters
Alan Markson: The Hellfire Legion's Lord Commander
The Perihelion: Freeport Four's guardian, and yet much more. Missing and assumed Lost with all hands.
Eric Dresmund: Junker, smuggler, thief. Last seen drunk on Beaumont
Vayrn Wyard: IMG Recon pilot turned Neo-Terran Captain. Last location unknown