"This panel will need 'fixing.' Why don't you do the honours, MidKnight."
"Sure, but why not just try that 'It's a nice day for rain' thing?"

"That won't work here. We need to bypass systems without activating them."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"We'll be scaling the shaft without help from the elevator. Just keep it from hitting us on the way up."

"Roger, mate!" With that MidKnight opened the panel and examined the circuits. "Wow…With these glasses, I think even a moron could do miracles!"

"Why do you think we developed them? Not every programmer is as talented as the guys on the CTP team."

"I suppose morons are cheaper, too. We have our own 'mix' of talent. One fellow apparently jumped down a flight of escalators while playing the new dino game."

Steve looked stunned. "Civers playing with dinos! My goodness, what's this world coming to?"

MidKnight chuckled. "Civers are starved for attention these days. We're so desperate for a new title that some are willing to try anything - even real-time strategy."

"All right, that's enough from you two," blurted skorp. "You're depressing me already!"

"Don't worry, you're saved. I'll be opening this door … now." MidKnight took his hands from the panel and pried the elevator doors apart.

Skorpion59 peered inside and gave a whistle. The shaft extended hundreds of floors up and down.

"Holy cow! I thought we were already at the center of the Earth down here, what's below?"

"Material for another story, maybe," answered Steve. "I'll tell you the tale if we get out of this one."

Even MidKnight looked doubtful. "So I suppose you think we're going to climb a kilometer upwards under our own steam? We won't have anything left for fighting."

Steve grinned. "Ne'er would I be such a knave as that. We've developed a technology for focusing gravity, and the best part about it are these babies!" Steve pulled out three odd-looking bars from his pack. Each looked something like an obsidian tire iron. "This is about four generations of development from the Yttrium-Barium-Copper-Oxide superconductor. It's good up to 400 Kelvins, and it's wrapped around something even more special. The conductor holds about half a Coulomb of charge and spins it inward. Hold it with both hands and twist the one end to shift the 'focus.' These are actually designed to bend gravity around, so you'll float upwards like a helium balloon. We'll adjust to neutral buoyancy first, and then walk through the doors."

The three adjusted their instruments and 'walked' into the middle of the empty shaft. Steve looked happy. "Good stuff, men! Now turn the handle left and up we go!"

It took a while for Skorp to get used to the antigravity. He kicked his feet and swung wildly, keeping a death-grip on the floating bar. "Are you sure this is safe?" he shouted.

Glad to see your still doing your story telling since it can be quite addictive. And.. getting those key words in there.

Seconds later, two other beams shot out from behind the door. These cast small speckles of light, looking a bit like snow on an old television screen. Nothing else moved in the room, although occasionally one of the beams would stop and focus on a panel in the ceiling or wall. Then they vanished.

More time passed. Finally, the doors were pried open and out stepped two Apolyton agents, followed by an Actigrammer.

Steve patted skorpion59 on the back. "Good show with the Actigator! You're sure getting the hang of those glasses."

"Like you said, Steve, they're from Activision… If only SLIC was this easy!"
"If indeed!" laughed Steve. "Well you boys know where the sensor panels are. Let's trip them up and be on our way."

The three split up and found a circuit access panel in the lobby. The objective was to rewire the security system so that it couldn't tell the difference between active scanning and a self-diagnostic command. Then the team was to remove the active scanning loop entirely.

Skorpion59 removed the panel door and looked at his circuit. It was a series of I/O boards with a single processor. That processor was linked to a node connection that looked like it went to another floor.

"Wow this is easy!" remarked skorpion59. He placed his left glove over the circuit board and took a closer look at the system. The CPU in his glasses continued to test circuit paths through inductance sensors on the glove. About a minute passed before it isolated the nodes that needed reconfiguring. Then a 'Analysis complete. Rewire?' prompt lit up on the left lens. It looked like the words were 10cm high, and about 1m away from him.

"Rewire? Yes, go ahead! Umm - Steve? How do I rewire the circuit?"

Steve looked up from his own panel across the room. "Actually, the glove is rewiring the circuit for you. Can you feel your glove getting warm?"

"Yes. Why's that?"

"The palm of your glove is made up of layers of conducting foil. The paths are being cut out right now. Keep that glove still until it says so."

Soon after, he saw 'Wiring complete. Reanalyze?'

Skorp smiled. "Sure. I mean yes. Reanalyze."

The words were replaced by a picture of a magnifying glass. A few more seconds went by, and then he saw 'Analysis complete. Rewire?'

Skorpion59 shook his head. He removed the glove and scanned the circuit with the glasses. The glasses stuck coloured symbols over things he saw, identifying what was what. He could see pieces of foil that had been deposited over the circuit board, but still it all looked wrong. "Hey Steve!" he shouted.

"What's wrong? Didn't it work?"

"You tell me. Things seemed okay until the circuit was fixed. Now I don't know what we've got. It's weird - like the original circuit has changed or something… Activision isn't owned by Microsoft®, is it?"

Steve finished his work and walked over to skorpion59. "Ha ha. That's a low blow if I ever heard one. Let me see what you've got."

The Actigrammer took a long look through his glasses. Well, I see the problem. These three terminals should be grounded here."

But they were grounded. Last time I looked that point was a ground point.

"You sure it wasn't a closed gate? It's an easy mistake. Let's just rewire and see." Steve put his own glove over the circuit board and waited. After a while he said "Yes, reanalyze." Then there was a "Hmmmm."

MidKnight had finished his work and was looking over the Actigrammer's shoulder. "You forgot about this ground connection here… and here. This one's wrong as well. It should be before the resistor."

"Another easy mistake, I guess. Looks like we both screwed up!" said Steve.

MidKnight saw the tension growing. "Don't worry, we'll get it this time. Heh heh, did either of you notice that the CPU here looks like a happy face?

Skorp looked back at the panel. "Well, more like a happy skull. See? Look here. That part's flat. Here looks like a jaw, and this - hold on. Where did the eyes go?"

The three exchanged glances. "Where's the CPU?" asked Steve. "It was right here!"

Skorp gave a weak laugh and took off his glasses. "So much for good hardware. I just saw Pac Man float by with these stupid things!"

But his buddies weren't listening. They kept staring into thin air - jaws open.

Afraid of missing something, Skorpion59 hurriedly put his glasses back on. The circuit had become a rainbow of patterns, swirling in on itself like a kaleidoscope.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. The Skorpion was thinking about another smart remark when the swirls turned into a very real-looking skull - a skull with a voice.

The first sounds were fuzzy, like sand falling on a drum. Then it turned deeper, like the sand had turned into water and finally a beautiful, womanly voice.

"You should have died hereafter. Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day. But this night you will die. The Actigrammers have committed their final atrocity against the Activision Elite. There is nothing you can do to stop me!"

MidKnight recognized that voice. "Silica!" he shouted.

The voice continued. Activision is not what it used to be. Your ancient vigor is gone, and it is time you become extinguished. My Actigators are in every way superior. Your attempts to dismantle the new regime will fail. You have become too sterile and uniform in thought. I can read you like a book."

Silica's face reverted to the skull. "Fools! The first rule of survival is diversity!"

quote: No, I didn't really count on Nordicus. He has the strangest habit of dissappearing suddenly for a few days or weeks and then reappaering again. He's been gone for several weeks already (so he could come back any moment and be amazed by this fantastic story ), and this time even I don't know why (usually we keep in touch through email but not since I went offline myself a while back).

Yes, and I've been having computer problems of late--my email has been whacked for about a week now

quote: I had better not say too much more, or my Canadian brothers from the other provinces will get mad... People from British Columbia (the province west of us and north of Washington) get most upset about Albertans talking about the land of milk and honey.

Quite true, Slingshot. A little rivalry is okay, though, IMO--as long as one doesn't start making fun of the way they drive over there

Steve was livid. "Darn glasses!" He tore them off and took a quick scan around the room. There was only one way out - the elevator shaft from where entered in the first place.

"15…14…13," warned Skorpion59. "Let's get out of here!"

"Don't go near that elevator!" barked Steve. He was running around like a cat on fire. "Find another way out. FAST!"

MidKnight grabbed a table and found a blackened window. He heaved the object through the glass. Wind streamed in and the agent faced the night sky, high above city streets. He grabbed his gravity stick and jumped. Skorpion59 hesitated for another second and then followed suit, wondering if Steve was behind him.

MidKnight swung in the air, twisted the gravity stick and started to descend. The height was dizzying, and Skorpion59 struggled to hold on. A wind caught the pair and pushed them sideways. Skorpion was having trouble changing his elevation in the dark, and helplessly watched MidKnight descend away from him.

Suddenly an explosion ripped out from the broken window. It shot flaming debris in a plume that looked like dragons' breath. The shockwave beat out a large section of wall, narrowly missing Skorpion59 as he struggled to hang on. Before he knew it, the detonation reversed direction as air returned to the vacuum it had created while leaving. This time the agent got caught in the swirl and he was pulled back inside the building, a piece of human debris in a hellish maelstrom.

There was fire and smoke everywhere. Skorpion59 had let go of the gravity stick during the 'flight' back inside. He crawled around piles of burning junk, looking for solace in the terrible heat.

Suddenly he felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders. The hands pulled Skorpion59 across the room and through a freshly made hole in a concrete wall. There he was dropped, and as he turned around the agent heard Steve's voice.

"Hey buddy, were did you and MidKnight rush off to?"

Skorpion59 was stunned. "We high-tailed it out of the building. I got caught by the back draft and was pulled in again. How the heck did you survive that explosion?"

"Where's MidKnight now?" asked Steve.

"He knew how to work the gravity stick better than I. MidKnight's probably on the ground now."

"Good for MidKnight. He can update Actigrammer HQ on the situation. Let's move fast. I want to find out if Silica has given us the slip or not. Then we'll get out of here."

Steve was looking at a sensor in his left hand. "This one's better at scanning than the glasses. It won't be fooled so easy, either." The pair raced along some corridors and then arrived at a door. They each pulled out a pistol and kicked the door in, police-style.

It was empty, save for a table with a burned out computer. "This is where Silica should have been. This is not good."

The smoke was getting very thick now. The two had to crawl on hands and knees back to the elevator shaft. The shaft itself was where the explosion had originated. "Silica had expected us to run from the bomb. Good thing we weren't thinking about running!"

"Maybe you weren't. I was halfway in the door when MidKnight told me to follow him!"

Slingshot, whatever happened to Nordicus, Pintello and me? Not to mention yourself. Oh well, guess we'll just have to wait until the sequel

Anyway, the story is still as good as ever, where *do* you get the inspiration for keeping it good for so long?

Hi, man. Yes, I guess we just have to be patient as he outlines further plot intrigue.
I'd like to know what the hell happened to me also!--Even in the story

Oh, I just set up a new email account--the old one is gone, as are any messages that might have been there Oh well. Shit happens. Waiting for it to be activated, so if you have a peek at this before I can send ya a message, send me that last message again, please--the new address is nordikus@home.com. They killed my C! You bastards!

"Man, you're scaring the heck out of me!" shouted Nordicus.

"Aw, c'mon boss! Back in the good 'ol days, this sort of flying was expected!"

"The good 'ol days! Sounds like you've been listening to too many of MarkG's war stories. These days are exciting enough, let me tell you."

Paul decided to change the subject. "So no Pintello at the rendezvous point. Are you worried?"

"I'm more worried about Locutus and whatever is wrong with him. Pintello's a tactical genius - even though at times he leaps before knowing what he's getting into."

Paul smiled. "You're right about Pintello, I'm sure he's doing more for Activision on the inside than out here. Where should we go to now?"

"The top of the Activision building. Let's start there and work our way down. Maybe we'll see something useful. If not, I'm scrubbing this mission and we'll contact DanQ for some advice."

"No problem, boss!" shouted Paul, giving Nordicus a salute. With that he pulled the copter into a spin, did an aerial loop and shot straight upwards.

Nordicus turned purple as he hung on to the seat. "AAAgh. Copter - doesn't - fly - this way!"

Paul laughed. "Maybe not an ordinary copter, but that's why I joined Apolyton. These stealth copters are the best in the world!"

Seconds later, Paul flipped the flying machine right side up, about 50m above the top of Activision. He could have performed the maneuver with the grace of a swan, but such grace wouldn't have produced a blood-curdling roar from Nordicus.

"How would you like it if I threw up all over you, Paul!?"

Paul was laughing too hard to feel bad. "Sorry! It's just that these copters have so much power. Plus they probably need some abuse - you know, to make sure they're good and broken in!"

"I'll break you in!" shouted Nordicus. Normally he would have been proud of such skill - if only flying didn't make him so queasy!

Paul flipped some switches. "Going into stealth mode."

The change in noise level was amazing. It sounded as though the helicopter engine had shut down and the rotors had disappeared. Then Paul slowly brought the machine downwards.

Nordicus had recovered and began watching the surveillance equipment. "Looks empty," he remarked.

"Roger that," replied Paul. He maintained a slow, steady descent.

Suddenly there was a beeping from Nord's panel. "Look over there! About 4 stories down."

Paul tilted the copter so they could get a better view. "It looks like a big desk went through one of the windows!"

"Sure did! Well c'mon now. Let's investigate!"

Paul modified the pitch of the rotors, and the copter plunged downwards. They fell so quickly that even he felt his stomach in his throat. The agent was just about to slow the descent when he saw two forms fly out of the building.

There was a huge explosion. The shockwave pushed the silent copter backwards, almost straight into another building. Paul saw sparks fly where his rotors cut into the windows.

"Hang on!" shouted Paul. He quickly adjusted their pitch, and resumed the freefall. Above him was a fireworks display, and then a huge, dark mass fell. It was a part of the building wall, and it was directly above them.

Paul thought fast. He cut nearly all lift to the rotors and tried to keep the wall from hitting them. Paul worked like a mad man to push the copter's nose straight downward. He hit the power return switch - and nothing happened.

"Holy crap! The systems are down. Reset!" Paul's hand slammed the reset button. Everything went dark, and then buttons began to glow. The copter continued to fall. Paul knew that they were getting close to the ground.

"C'mon, reset already! Son of a gun! You piece of junk, reset!"

The copter was loosing stability. It took everything Paul had to keep the nose down and stop the machine from spinning out of control. Finally, the engine power light glowed, and the engine roared to life. Paul jammed the rotor pitch lever to full, and the copter moved sideways - out from under the falling wall.

Nordicus recovered his voice. "The ground, darn it! The ground will still kill us!"

But Paul had already thought of that. He waited until the engine redlined, and then he pulled the copter into a savage arc away from the ground. Below him he could see the streetlights and cars racing along. The copter ploughed through the air, knocking over some traffic signs. Cars now swerved out of the way as drivers saw the copter swoop in front of them like an angry bird of prey. Just behind them, the big chunk of wall crashed onto the middle of the street, crushing cars and turning the bustling street into a disaster zone.

Finally the machine steadied, and Paul wasted no time at such a low elevation. He quickly climbed away from the carnage below and followed a path upwards along the Activision building.

Paul let out a rough breath of air. "Well that - cough - that was - cough. Yeah." He took some time to recover. "I'd say the copter's broken in enough now. Heh heh."

A bit of euphoria took over. Nordicus and Paul felt giddy from the experience. "Holy smokes! We need an 'impending explosion' sensor installed," cried Nordicus.

"Yeah, and maybe some extra sets of underwear. I could use a new pair right about now!"

The two burst out laughing. It was great to be alive.

Paul brought the copter to the blown-out level. Nordicus turned on a search light as Paul tried switching to stealth mode again.

"Hey, isn't that Skorpion59?" shouted Nordicus.

"I think so. But who's that with him?"

Stuffing the stick in a pocket, MidKnight used his free hand to punch an access code on a dimly lit panel. There was a click, and the hatch cracked open. The agent pulled, expecting it to swing out freely but the rusty hinges had seized and the door opened only half way.

MidKnight grabbed the side handle with both hands - all this hanging was tiring. He began to think about his problem when he heard the explosion. The whole building shook and the agent was rattled so hard he nearly fell. Blood oozed from a cut to his forehead and something made his ears roar. MidKnight looked beside him and saw a dark helicopter whiz by. It scared him so badly that he lost his grip on the handle. He swung his arms wildly about in the darkness, searching madly for a hold in the wall, his feet pushing against brick and then nothing.

MidKnight went frantic. His left hand finally caught hold of a sharp ledge outcropping. The edge dug into his palm something terrible, but it slowed his descent enough to catch the corner with his right hand. He looked up and saw a terrible shadow. It was the section of wall that had been knocked loose from the explosion. Not wasting any time, he took the good hand from the ledge and felt for a hold underneath. There was a seam between two large blocks of stone. He wedged a foot and two hands within the seam and cringed, hoping the ledge above would provide some cover.

The dark mass of fire and bricks smashed into the access hatch above him. It ripped the hatch door off with a loud clang. Part of the wall crumbled into a flurry of rock chips and big chunks of concrete that hammered the ledge above him. MidKnight closed his eyes and felt a swoosh of air as the wall rushed past. Both his hands hurt and he held on so tight he fingers started to go numb. He waited until he heard a sickening thud on the pavement below.

"You'd make an ugly vulture yourself," replied Pintello. "But I'm assuming this is your bad humour showing through. "

"True enough," replied Locutus. "Man my head hurts!"

"Small price to pay. You almost died. These Actigrammer medics can work wonders, you know! Anyways, Mr. Ogre and the gang are just about to begin the major offensive. MidKnight and Eis are here too. They're about to join the resistance movement to locate Silica. I'll be over there. When you're ready, join us and we'll see what you can do to help.

Locutus groaned and let his head fall back on the stretcher. He figured it would be a while before he felt like running around and getting shot at.

In the far corner Mr. Ogre was conferring with MidKnight and Eis. "If Silica is gone, we could have a lot more trouble than we ever bargained for. I was really hoping we could taker her out of the picture early on. So what do you make of her soliloquy?"

MidKnight was thoughtful. "Silica stole it from Shakespeare. The words are from MacBeth, a man whose fatal flaw was over-ambition. He's just lost his wife, the lady MacBeth and laments her death. Silica didn't finish, though. She stopped just before the words 'And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death' and then 'Out! Out brief candle, life is but a walking shadow' - and on and on. She really thinks the Actigrammers are doomed to walk into oblivion, and I think she's saying the mould was set a long time ago."

Mr. Ogre grinned. "That's quite a commentary. You must be a poet! But regardless, we need to strike now. The major offensives have already begun, and I think we're having some success in knocking out the Actigator communications." He looked over at a colleague who was working at a control panel. "Hey Cadet Joe! Are you ready with the carrier?"

"Sir yes sir!" came the reply. "On your command."

Mr. Ogre cracked his knuckles. "Son of a gun - it's time. Do it!"

Cadet Joe pressed a big red button on his display. "Project Fumigator is a go. The carrier has been released. Ten minutes to building saturation. Anything else?"

"No. Just monitor the kill rate. I'm especially curious about their new command center." Mr. Ogre turned to Eis. "We think we've found their new HQ. Judging from what MidKnight has told us, I don't think they'll be running any operations from the top of the building."

"So what would you like us to do now?" asked Eis?

"Two things. First we hit 'em where it counts and then we clean up. In fact, I was hoping you would help by leading a demolition team to the new HQ. Your second task would be to confirm the effects of the carrier."

"Sounds good!" exclaimed Eis, but don't you think it'll be a little risky? I mean any living Actigator is going to shoot us on sight!"

"You're right. Of course you'll have some good weapons, but we've also got some special armour for you, too." Mr. Ogre handed him a belt that looked like it was made from steel cable. "We've got three of these - one for each member of your team."

"Looks like my mid-section is protected all right. But what about the rest of me?"

"Well first you've got to turn it on!" Mr. Ogre reached for Eis' waist and punched him in the gut.

Eis instinctively moved backwards. The belt shimmered and became translucent.

Mr. Ogre then leapt in the air and gave the Apolyton agent a swift kick in the jaw. His foot slowed from lighting fast to a snails crawl, but Eis still felt the blow. It was like being hit with a nice soft pillow, although the force still knocked him off his feet.

The same thing happened when he fell. Eis felt like he had landed on a pile of hay. Mr. Ogre grabbed a pistol and squeezed a few rounds, point-blank at Eis' chest. Eis watched in horror as the bullets slowed to a crawl. The funny part was that he still felt the bullets push him against the floor.

Eis brushed the bullets off his chest and stood up. "Okay, this is weird! What gives?"

"That belt is a diffuser. It will diffuse all sorts of energy, taking concentrations of force or EM radiation and convert it into a flat wave-front. That's why you still feel the push - it's just that the push doesn't end up going through you."

"So it works with energy weapons as well?"

"Yes, but it changes the beam focus into a wave of heat energy. Remember the dangers. You can take an assault round straight in the chest and live, but it'll probably knock you off your feet. You can get lasered in the back and live, but you could get burned. Don't stand in any one spot too long."

Eis folded his arms and grinned. "Okay, this could be fun! Let me select my team members now." He looked over at the sleeping Locutus. "Hey Loc, are you in or are you out?"

Loc groaned and sat up. "Yeah, yeah. I'm in - but only if Pintello comes along too."

"Sounds good to me! Why should Loc have all of the fun?"

I'll be away for a week in Vancouver Island.

You probably won't hear from me for a while.

The Actigrammer was on his own mission. He knew that Silica would not be there. She was far too savvy to be caught like a mouse in a bombarded room. Steve knew what he had to do. He donned a huge set of gauntlets and broke a hole in a dead elevator shaft.

Steve crawled inside and stuck a palm to the shaft wall. It held fast, and he fastened the other a little higher. For the next 20 minute he scaled an impressive height, his teeth clenched during the whole climb. Finally he stopped and punched another hole in the wall. On the other side was a secret room - a space without doors or windows. In the center sat an ornate computer and some equipment.

After a few more punches the hole was large enough for Steve to enter. He casually walked toward the machine, took off one of the gauntlets and placed his hand over a dull-leadish mat.

Pintello, Eis and Locutus had figured that any route would be heavily guarded, and all agreed that the most direct route would at the very least be easier to get to. Locutus didn't want to be sneaking around in some air vent - he figured it was better to die from bullets that were aimed at you than to die from some random explosion on the other side of a wall.

That made sense, Pintello thought. As they made their way towards Actigator HQ, the fighting between Actigrammers and Actigators only intensified. In fact, Pintello now had a veritable army of conscripts the party had taken along the way. He was glad of that now. The group had just come across a handful of well-entrenched Actigators… Mean Actigators with a lot of firepower.

The smoky air was thick with the smell of tree-sap, although it was different now. He could also smell a heavy - burnt plastic odour. He knew that it meant the modified carrier was present here. The perplexing part was the fact that most of the Actigator casualties seemed to be from weapons fire, and not carrier-gas poisioning.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion to his left. Pintello's head spun towards the fury of steel to see jagged chunks of shrapnel slow to a halt in front of him. At the same time, he felt himself slide across the room. "Dang it!" he thought. The worst part about these explosions was the sound. He couldn't seem to hear very well any more.

"That's it!" screamed Eis. He leapt up from behind a now obliterated piece of cover and threw a savage-looking grenade at the bunkered Actigators. His dance of fury was returned with a hail of bullets, which stopped Eis cold in his tracks. But Eis' grenade sailed true to the opposite wall. The Apolytoner fell flat on the ground as it detonated. Pintello turned his back to a wall of silent fire and waited for the ground to stop shaking.

Pintello ducked his head, and saw Eis fly past, his mouth open in a Charlie Brown 'AAAAAHGH.' The sight was almost funny - Big Eis blowing around like a feather in the wind. The Apolytoner looked back to see what was left of their assailants. His jaw droped and Pintello had to rub his eyes.

There was nothing left - of the Actigators, the floor, the walls. Nothing.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Pintello. He turned to the human heap that was Eis. "What kind of grenade was that!?"

Eis said something in reply, but Pintello only saw a pair of lips move.

"I - I can't hear very well. What kind of weapon was that?"

Eis didn't speak again. Instead he just pointed at his backpack, grinned and gave Pintello two thumbs up.

Locutus stepped forward. "Bloody good job, I think! Of course, there's nothing left of the hallway now. So which way do we go?"

Eis took a few bold steps to the end of the floor. He saw a monsterous cavern of caved in floors above and below. "The Actigator HQ is about 100m ahead and then 300m downstairs. I say we climb down here and look for an exit. The quicker we leave, the better!"

Locutus motioned for the other Actigrammer troops to follow, and the three Apolytoners began to make their way down the rubble.

"So you've been holding out on us, eh Eis?"

Eis looked at Locutus with another grin. "Sort of. Steve gave me lots of great weaponry. That one I hoped to save for later. It was marked 'outdoor use only.'"

"Ha! I wonder why! It's a good thing that this place is built so solid. You would have thought an explosion like that should bring the whole building down." Locutus' face changed. Poor Pintello, I think he caught that last explosion point-blank. Hopefully his hearing returns."

"Hopefully," replied Eis. "With any luck we'll be at the HQ in a few minutes. But I'm worried that the modified carrier gas isn't working the way it should."

Locutus nodded. "I agree. Is seems that these Actigators are tougher than anyone thought. I do think it's doing something to them." The agent looked at his com-watch. "The Actigrammer HQ says they've killed almost 500 000 so far. That's pretty good for any product!"

"Sure, but it isn't getting them all. In fact, the modified carrier looks like its giving the rest a headache!"

Locutus looked at his watch again. He pressed some buttons and said "I'm updating our progress… The Actigrammers say they're working on a modification to the originial recipie. It's going through QA and should be out shortly."

"QA! Where have I heard that before? Well here's hoping that it works, or I think we'll be hopelessly outnumbered at the Alamo!"

Good to see you back. How was your vacation? I was wondering what happened to me, now I know. I am looking forward to future developments.

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."

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.

- 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!

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."

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.

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!

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

Suddenly their section of the corridor broke and rotated from horizontal to near-vertical. Eis swung from the floor, now hanging off his makeshift anchor. He felt a pair of hands clasp around his left ankle and then a shout.

"Pintello! Darn it, I couldn't get a hold!"

Eis let go with one hand and looked down. Locutus was hanging from his ankle, searching frantically for a sign of Pintello. Then he looked up at Eis.

"I hope you've got us, buddy! Pintello was behind me, and he fell. I can't see where he went - it's too dark!"

"Just keep hanging on," said Eis. He grabbed a second knife with his free arm and punched it into the wall a little higher than the first. Slowly, Eis climbed up the broken corridor, Locutus in tow, until he got to stable ground. With one last thrust, Eis set the knife through a level piece of flooring, returned the other to his belt and offered his free hand to Locutus.

As soon as Loc grabbed hold, Eis lobbed his buddy onto the ledge in a heap. Locutus was about to say thank you, but he only managed an 'Aaaug!'

Eis calmly climbed over the ledge and stood beside his now-recovered comrade. "You said that Pintello fell? Where?"
"He fell behind me. I didn't see him fall, but when I grabbed your ankle and looked back he was gone. I think some kind of wrecking ball hit us."

"Yeah, it was something big all right. Can you locate Pintello with the scanner?"

"Nope. I had the scanner in my hand. It got dropped in all the commotion." Locutus looked beyond the ledge, down the toppled corridor where they had climbed from. The whole thing looked like a garbage shoot that ended in blackness.

"What do you suppose is down there?" asked Eis.

"I dunno. Maybe it's part of the crater you made with that grenade of yours. You got any more of those?"

"One more, safely packed away!" said Eis with a grin.

"Be sure to use that one with a little more caution. I'm surprised the last one didn't bring the whole building down on us!"

"Me too. Do you suppose we should look for Pintello now?"

Locutus throught for a while about that. Below them were sounds of large objects being bashed about. "I don't know if we can. Whatever is down there sounds dangerous. I'm worried that if we tried to follow, we might land in a bunch of gears or maybe a crushing mill."

"Do you suppose that's what happened to Pintello?"

Locutus paused. "I'm not saying that. Gee, this is hard! Eis, we've got to keep on with the mission. If things go well we can come back and find Pintello. Jumping down there is too risky!"

Eis looked at Locutus to see if he was serious. "I can't imagine leaving a fellow agent."

"Do you want to risk completing the mission?" asked Locutus.

"Do you think Pintello is dead?" returned Eis.

Loc was feeling angry now. "Pintello is crafty. He's got a diffusion shield and he's smart. We finish the job and then we search for him. That's my decision and that's my order!"

Eis' stare went cold. "Lead on, sir."

Locutus wanted to say more. He opened his mouth to do so and then thought better of it. 'What was the point?' he thought. It was obvious that Eis disagreed. By saying more, Locutus risked having Eis doubt his ability to command. That was all there was to it.

Their third encounter was a result of their skirmish with the second patrol. One of the Actigators managed to call for reinforcements before Eis broke the creature in two with a savage kick. His foot traveled with so much force that it got stuck in the opposing wall. Instead of trying to break free, Eis pulled out his gattling gun and waited for the owners of hurried footsteps to round the corner. It was the third patrol, and they lasted about three seconds before the Apolytoner's torrent of depleted uranium shells.

Moments later the two figures reached their target - a ragged-looking human dressed in Apolyton uniform.

"It's unconscious and wearing a diffusion shield," said one of the Actigators. "The flux dart worked," it continued. Then the guard lifted the body off the ground.

"I see another set of tracks," said the other. The first Actigator shone the flashlight on its comrade, revealing its part humanoid, part maggot-like form.

"You hunt for it. We have this one for hybridization. You can kill the other agent when you find it."

Mr. Ogre didn't laugh. "Whoopass sour jawbreakers a codename for a weapon. It's produced at an Activision subsidiary in Denmark. We own a small shipping company that delivers stuff around the world, and they have a modest manufacturing arm. We need to smuggle them into various countries and customs agents ask a lot fewer questions when you tell them it's candy your importing."

"I can imagine that. Candy sounds so much better than weapons. Does it look like a jawbreaker?"

"Oh yes. Just don't try and eat it!" exclaimed Ogre. "It's got a protective shell, but once that's penetrated, the weapon detonates."

MidKnight gave a nod. "So it's like a grenade or a land mine?"

"Mmmm. Sort of. Actually, it's a miniature black hole - like the kind you would see in space."

"A black hole! Ha! As if it were that easy to make a black hole. Especially one you could fit in your pocket."

"It's easy enough to make one if you know what you're doing. One way is to collapse a star under its own gravity. Another way is to - well that would spoil the secret now, wouldn't it!"

MidKnight threw his hands up in the air. "So one of our best agents has six black holes in his pack. I suppose this is going to suck the life out of California if it goes off!"

"It's not that bad. The technology was developed by a leading scientist - Dr. D. Hoffman. He's big into cosmology and found a way to make sort of a quantum vacuum. It'll suck maybe 10 tonnes of material into a cubic micron, turning a small fraction into X-rays."

"I doubt Eis' head weighs 10-tonnes. I hope it's not the size of a cubic micron when he gets back, either!"

"This is it!" exclaimed Locutus. Beyond the door is our target, the new Actigator HQ."

Loc continued. "Eis, I need you to put a scope through the wall. Try the proximity imager first, and if there isn't too much activity you can drill the hole for the scope. I'll be behind you guarding your flank and searching for control circuitry. When we're ready we'll cut power and blow their little Popsicle stand!"

"You mean 'blow them to smithereens.'"

Locutus looked confused. "Huh?"

"Blow them to smithereens," Eis repeated. "You always use that expression."

"Well this time I'm saying that we blow their little Popsicle stand. A guy can change, can't he?"

"Not in my books." Eis's stare was cold again. He turned away and started to do his work while Locutus simply stood there. Finally, Loc pulled a pair of silver 'electron-sleuthing' sunglasses, and then backtracked some distance away.

Finally Eis finished his work. He had scanned through the doorway with a proximity sensor and found that there were three individuals next door. The room was big enough, so he chanced drilling a hole and setting up the spy scope. Work took longer than expected, as both the wall and door ended up being about 2m thick. In fact, he had failed a couple of times and ended up making some jagged, shallow holes with sharp edges around them near the centre of the door.

Looking through the instrument, the agent gave a low whistle. It was Silica and two of her goons. All faces were turned away from his door, and Eis could tell that the three were very involved in some tactical data on a monitor. Beyond them was another door that opened, and in came another individual dressed in a white lab smock, and a conversation ensued. Eis was bad a reading lips, so he couldn't tell what was being said. The conversation continued for several minutes, and Eis decided to stop looking for a while.

Feeling bored, the agent grabbed his pack and rummaged through. He found one of the cans that Switchthin had given him and felt hungry. He pulled the can out and set down his pack. The label had a cartoon with a kid's mouth all puckered in after eating something. It read:

Whoopass® Jawbreakers. So sour we had to put them in a can!

Candy wasn't what Eis had hoped for, but any form of energy would do right about now. The agent looked at the lid and found it was a screw cap. The whole can was awfully heavy for a jawbreaker, and upon opening it he found out why. The can itself had about a 2cm wall of stainless steel. The agent popped the jawbreaker in his mouth just as Loc rounded the corner, returning from his own mission.

"You got what you wanted?" Eis asked.

"Yes, I did," returned Locutus. "And I see that you finished your job." Loc walked straight past Eis and looked through a jagged hole, pressing his face against the door.. "How come you made so many drillings? Isn't one hole enough?"

"The surface is hardened, and the door is 2 m thick. I had to use a physical drill to get started before the laser drill took, and that wasn't so easy. Watch yourself, those edges are sharp!"

Just as Eis gave the warning, Locutus moved his head to get a better look and jumped back with an 'ouch!' "Darn it!" he continued, holding both hands over the cut, facing away from Eis.

"Let me see. Is it bad? I've got a bandage here."

"Stay away!" shouted Locutus. "It's not bad. I - uh - want you to go down the hall and double check my work. Here's my glasses." The agent took a hand off of his face and threw the silver sunglasses Eis' way.

'Gee, what a wimp!' thought Eis. After all they had seen, you'd think that a tiny scratch would be nothing. But then again, Loc was acting like a real jerk. His decision to leave Pintello was a surprise and it seemed like all sorts of things were going through his head that shouldn't be there. Eis figured that Locutus was thinking how bad it would be for a superior officer to bleed in front of a grunt-Apolytoner. He shook his head in disgust and walking away. What was worse was the jawbreaker. So far it had no taste, and Eis started gnawing at it in his mouth.

As he walked, Eis looked down at the sunglasses. He had used them a few times now, under the direction of some Actigrammers the day before. 'They sure like stylish tools!' he thought. It was then he noticed that one of the arms was slimy to the touch. 'Must be Loc's blood, the jerk!' Then he heard a voice in the back of his head.

'What colour is blood, Eis?'

The agent answered aloud. "Blood is red, of course! Unless you're an actigator, then its sort of green and sli-"

Eis stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around and slipped on the glasses. "Adjust to sense for silicon!" he barked. The glasses adjusted their view and the words Scanning - Si blinked on an off in front of him. Eis went to grab a weapon when he realized that he had left everything but a knife behind. He hadn't been thinking about danger at the time - only about what a jerk Loc was.

The agent's footsteps quickened now. He was anxious about what was waiting for him when he got back, and where his real buddies had gone. He slowed to a walk and rounded the last bend, expecting to see Locutus.

There was nothing.

In the corner of his eye, Eis caught a movement. Then before he could react a hand swung around and caught the agent in the head. He got slammed clear into the opposing wall, and despite the diffusion shield, the agent made a crumbly dent on its stony face.

Without taking time to get his bearing, Eis sprang up from the floor. It was a good thing, too, because the dent he made suddenly dissolved into rock chips as a second blow struck. The agent ran towards the other side of the wall and launched himself up into a flip. He heard another boom that had been meant for him. Eis landed facing Locutus who was holding a harpoon-like weapon. Loc's form glowed brightly through the Eis' silicon-sensing glasses. The agent grabbed his knife and meant to throw a deadly lob at Loc's throat when he heard a click from the harpoon, and Eis' left shoulder became pinned against the wall.

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

Huh? To what are you refering? Vancouver Island? "Someone check the IPs while I make another appointment to see my psychiatrist"? Or the part about Pintello being thru worse sh*t?

Excellent stuff--consistently gripping, says the New York Times.
Rolling Stone exclaims: "An instant classic...a masterpiece...and just plain narly, dude."

"There are some weapons that are immune to diffusion shields - especially when the projectile is made from Beryllium," said the Locutus doppleganger. He loaded another bolt in the harpoon. "I have another projectile to kill you with right here. The only question is where to shoot you."

Eis gave a look of pure hatred. He said nothing.

The creature grinned back. "I could shoot you in the heart and you will die instantly. I could also shoot you in the stomach. That would really hurt and you would end up bleeding to death in about an hour. The choice is yours - and all you have to do is tell me something. Give me an access code to the Apolyton network."

The agent struggled some more against the long beryllium dart. It held his shoulder tight against the wall. "You win. I'll tell you," he said. "Just tell me what happened to my comrades."

"One of your comrades will be made into an Actigator hybrid. The other is dead. Now tell me the code!"

Eis waited for the creature to lean forward. He was furious about being fooled, and stared into the slime-streaked face of his betrayer. "Go play a real-time strategy game!" he snarled. Then Eis spat the jawbreaker at the creature's face.

The candy-bomb hit its mark and fell innocently to the floor. "That was a mistake," said its victim. The Actigator stooped over and picked it up in his hand. "Now you die!" It squeezed the marble in its hand until there was a loud 'pop.'

Then it happened. Suddenly, the Actigator's hand disappeared in a vacuous black cavity. The black sphere turned bright white and hung in the air. The next thing Eis saw was the Actigator's arm get half-sucked, half-stretched into the blazingly bright floating marble.

Eis watched in horror as it grew. After eating the arm, it went from the size of a marble to the size of a baseball. Air started to rush towards it with tornado-like fury. Eis pressed himself against the wall as the rest of the Actigator fought to stay standing. The creature turned, slimy green blood oozing from its open arm socket. The blood was swept up with the wind and got gobbled by the sphere, which was now the size of a basketball and as bright as a welding torch.

Finally, the Actigator lost its ground and got slurped into the fiery void. The effect was like adding gasoline to a fire, and it pushed the sphere down the hall towards the doorway Eis had been monitoring. With a rubbery crash sound the doorway, a huge chunk of floor and ceiling collapsed in a burst of radiation. The wind screamed past, and Eis's body swung on it's beryllium hinge. He shouted in pain and held frantically onto the shaft of the dart with his good hand. His feet felt like they were on fire. The sphere was collapsing most of its lunch into a 10-tonne grain of sand, but it ate like a junkyard dog, and some of the scraps were getting thrown out in a torrent of X-rays. Eis' diffusion shield red-shifted the X-rays to mostly visible light, but some of it was ultraviolet and the radiation caused his boots to catch fire.

Seconds later everything went quiet, and the agent fell back on his flaming feet. "Aaaugh! Fire!" shouted Eis. His boots were ablaze and the agent danced like the river dance guy until the flames were extintuished. His soles had begun to melt, and even his pantlegs were scorched black.

The agent stood there against the wall, exhausted. He knew there was no way to break the dart or pull it out of the wall. He looked down and saw that its shaft extended about 20cm from his chest. "The things I do for Apolyton!" he cried, and Eis pushed his shoulder along to the dart's end, until finally he was freed from its hold.

Eis fell to the floor and almost lost consciousness. With the dart free, the agent's uniform oozed an antiseptic foam that covered the wound on both sides of his shoulder, protecting it from the elements. He spent a few minutes resting while the foam hardened to a flexible, rubber-like form and the foam's painkiller set in. His left arm was useless now, but Eis was fighting mad. His pack had been sucked into the sphere and all he had on him were two combat knives.

The agent walked over to the doorway. There was a hole in the floor that exposed the level below. The same thing had happened to the ceiling. The hole itself was about 2 m in diameter, and Eis easily leapt across.