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 Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:44 pm
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Monday, November 14th, 2005 11:37am
I can't remember the last time I was warm.
Well, that's not true, not exactly. But I'm so ashamed to admit it...
It was when they wheeled Him into the operating room. The other elves were frantic, we were all terrified He'd die...and then our worst nightmares all came to pass only moments later. It was like having a huge J- (Just hearing that name makes me sick) (okay, I'll write it) -- Jack-in-the-box go off sideways into your stomach...you know, that sick, furious, your-life-just-ended feeling.
But as the gurney went by me...It was the blood. A big dollop of His blood...dropped off His hand as it swept by overhead...that valiant hand, fighting Jack, fighting Destiny and Fate, to the very last.
It was as if that drop of blood were a flaming match flying into a pile of gasoline-soaked old rag dolls...I couldn't stop it, couldn't stop that feeling of utter hatred and rage... Oh, I know we're supposed to be cheerful and happy but I just feel so EMPTY inside now...except for how much I want to see Jack's head baked into a pie...four and twenty blackbirds I have for you, Jack, baby...
Oh, yeah, we're hard at work; making sure a crucial part of the model's missing, or trimming puzzle pieces so they don't fit...coal went out of style years ago, and it's so expensive now...
But where is Christmas? And what now will become of us? It's all gone. He's gone.
Damn you, Jack.
Damn you.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:07 pm
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 5:26 pm
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Monday, November 14th, 2005 1:25am
I used to love this place at night.
There comes a time during the day here, right after the whistle blows... They apply the brakes to the the windmills up on the roof, they stop the conveyors, and the squirrels in their wheels are warmed down for their dinner and their nights' rest.
The whole factory becomes quiet, and there's a hush in the air; you could call it a very loud silence, yet it brims with a mystery and magic all its own.
We all usually eat right after that time, and then trundle off to bed to sleep.
All except me.
Years ago, when I came here for the first time, I can remember ElfTech013 shaking me awake in the middle of the night, and daring me to follow along with him on one of his infamous midnight adventures. Oh, there was nowhere we would not go... His and Her-self's private bathroom, the Development Lab, and the Holy Grail...CARPA...the Christmas Advanced Research Projects Agency lab in Sub-Basement Three...
The sheer genius and scale of the work I saw there did, at times, make me want to worship Santa as a god.
ElfTech013 grew tired of the game after a few years, but I have to admit...I never did. Eventually, I lost all fear of the dark passages and learned how to slip past and evade the guards and the automated security monitor droids Santa invented to help them.
Though I'll admit there were plenty of narrow escapes over the years...
Lately, though, during my midnight wanderings, every shadow seems to flicker with a gleam of Jack's glowing yellow eyes; every dark corner where the moonlight never strays seems to be wrapped in shreds of Jack's foul cloak...and I've taken to moving slowly, quietly, as only an elf can do.
Tonight was the worst it had ever been.
Even at night, the shops here are never silent. You hear the creak of metal slowly cooling from the heat of the day, you hear toys settling in their bins; if you listen closely, you imagine you can even hear the deep, elemental hum of the moonlight streaming in the high clerestory windows.
But tonight there was a new sound, and I've never heard it before.
I couldn't decide where I wanted to wander to; the magick I'd done, normally so easy to perform, took miles of effort. It didn't provide me with any clear answer, either. So I did what I usually do in situations like that...
I followed the moonpath.
What that means is that you walk in the light -- and only the light -- of the moon; the series of diagonal paths of light thrown from the windows and skylights over the floors and worktables and cabinets. You climb the tables, the mountains of cupboards; you leap over the shadowy chasms of the aisles. And you have to be quiet -- for you are throwing caution to the wind, walking in the light, in a place where watchful sentries are walking.
Tonight, as I knew, as I dreaded it must...the moonpath led directly to the basement lift, the only lift that goes to Sub-Basement Three. Where all the noises were coming from.
The Holy Grail.
CARPA.
Just before I pressed the button, I looked around at the silent shop, the mounds of materials on worktables. One deep breath. Santa, for all you were to me...and then I clicked the button.
There's a complicated bit of business you have to handle here; getting to the basement is no simple trick. There's a security badge reader, a keypad, and a keyed lock; all three must be used in order to access the basement levels. For little me, that's no problem: Elven Magick, just like they used to do up at Ye Olde Hollowe Logg. A twist, a pull, a knock, and a jigger...and down I went. Computers are so gullible.
My first real linkling of trouble came when the doors opened at the bottom of the shaft. The first corridor was ablaze with light. Normally, after hours, the halls here are swathed in a gloom so deep that only elven sight can pierce it, and only then with difficulty. This was the first time in memory I'd ever seen it any other way.
The CARPA lab is to the right, around the wide oval racetrack corridor that is the basement. Doors lead inward off the inner side of this oval, to labs and intermediate rooms. Most of these rooms have a door at their other ends that leads to a smaller inner corridor. I have no idea where this corridor might lead...peeking under doors has its limitations, and elven magick is no good against whatever secures those doors.
Drawn by dread, against my will, I moved to the right from the lift...toward the CARPA lab.
The door was closed, but alternating brilliant flashes of red and green light surged from beneath it, lighting the floor and chasing batwing shadows around the ceiling. A powerful, toneless humming filled the air, pulsing in time with the flashes. This was the sound I'd been hearing for hours, the sound my weary imagination had hoped it was...well...only imagining...
I stood there, mesmerized and blinded by the flashing lights, and then as I watched, the flashing slowed and faded, and the thrumming, loud enough to rattle the walls, faded away to nothing. I froze in my tracks, then came up to the door and pressed my ear right to it.
The door on the far end of the room opened and closed as someone entered. Quick footsteps moved about inside the lab, and then a female voice came: "How are you feeling?"
I heard a reply. I swear, upon the name of Christmas, I heard someone answer. The cadence of the reply seemed familiar, but in truth, it was too faint, just too faint to make out for sure...but my heart began to race.
Could that be...is it...could it possibly be...
Santa?
I could barely breathe because of the lump in my throat. Blindly, I groped my way back along the corridor wall toward the lift. I could barely hear anything over the roaring in my ears.
Stupidly, I blundered directly into a trashcan.
It rolled across the hallway with a clatter. And no doubt people would be popping out of labs and offices to see what was the matter. So I bolted for it, straight for the lift...and then I was ascending into darkness...the doors opened onto the main floor, and I shot from the lift and under a table, just in time as a thundering herd of sentries raced by. Still dazzled by the light show, I just lay there under the worktable and waited for them to take me.
They didn't. ninja
They gave the room a quick once-over before piling into the lift, and then they were gone. Dazed, I lay there for some moments before picking myself up and flitting from shadow to shadow back to my room.
I decided to write all this down before going to sleep; my heart was still racing but at least I made it back before bed check at 1:30.
It took awhile for me to figure out what the other emotion warring with my terror was. I realized for the first time since Halloween that I'm feeling hope.
You know, I still love this place at night. whee
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:27 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:35 pm
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Tuesday, November 15th, 2005; 10:43am
I'm rambling; I'm in shock and I can't figure out what the frack to do next. I've gone back to my room because I feel sick to my stomach and I'm dizzy. But it wasn't what I ate for breakfast this morning.
I saw the hard suit when they brought it back after the fight in Barton. That thing was in a million fracking pieces; yet somehow, I'm supposed to believe they patched it up in a week and it was standing right there behind the podium as if nothing had ever happened!
Given the work that went into making that (don't ask; I'd have to kill you if I told you, and I AIN'T gonna do that) I don't see how it could possibly have been repaired, let alone come marching in that room all fine and dandy...the power packs alone took six months of work, and the electrical shorts when the suit crashed completely fried them...
But let's say that Second Crew did get it repaired and working; after all, they handled the final details of construction...that only leaves one glaring question. Well, two, actually.
How could they have repaired it so fast? Or was there a second hard suit made? If so, why? Did Herself have one made as well? But that doesn't make any sense...how could there be another construction crew we didn't see? Or was the first hard suit only a prototype for a more advanced model? Either way, most important (and disturbing) of all, who the frack was in that hard suit?
Everyelf's saying Santa's fine, they're all glib about it; everyelf goes on and on about it...but they're forgetting that none of them have actually SEEN Santa.
And I've seen Herself marching around here lately...as hateful as she's been, as cold as ice she's been, it's as if she's about to explode, like something terrible is welling up inside her...she marches around with her face set, not a muscle moving, like she wants to scream and cry and fly apart...and yet she's got this icy calm about her, holding it all together...
...Scary...
I have the greatest respect for Herself.
Whatever she's hiding must be terrible. I do hope Santa's really all right. I don't buy all these too-glib explanations flying around. It really could have been him in the suit; if he's not as well as advertised and is recovering from injuries, that hard suit is really the safest and best place for him, healthwise.
Things that make ya go...hmmmmmm...
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:21 pm
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Thursday, November 17th, 2005; 3:21pm
My oh my, was 247 in a foul mood this afternoon...I'm getting packed off to Durem to report on which kiddies have been naughty and which have been nice. The whole "peeking-through-the-windows" bit always turns my stomach a bit (you wouldn't believe what some of these kids hide under their beds) (no, you really don't want to know).
I was actually looking forward to a night's ramble about the place...the accident down in the loading dock this afternoon piqued my interest. I know we're not doing heavy weapons platforms, or at least haven't been in that business for a few years...so it was with quite a shock I saw the notices about the gatling gun and the grappler spilling out into the loading yard.
I guess I can figure out, there's only one big bit of heavy hardware we've been working on, recently...no mystery there, is there?
I'm supposed to be taking the 4:55 reindeer ride to Durem, but I don't want to freeze to death on the way, nor do I care to die of boredom. More elven magick. Translocation is such a pain, especially over long distances.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:34 pm
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Saturday, November 19th, 2005 10:40pm
Durem sure has changed since I was last here. Of course, first thing I did was slide over to Moira's to catch up on her news. She's a great place to get started with this job; your typical bad girl, and we have an understanding...it's not a question of whether or not she's on my list or not, you understand. It's more about how far down she's going to be...and finking out your fellow do-badders gets you points on my list. I mean, get serious, there's only so much window-peeping I can stand...
But this year she's done pretty well for herself. Nothing like turning over a new leaf or two, you could say. Besides, I could never resist that smile.
I do miss Akea; Liam's your archetypal cool person, and he's more or less in the same boat Moira's in...another bad boy on the list. I hear from ElfTech 977 that he's doing pretty well for himself these days as well. What's the world coming to; everyone's on the up and up...maybe I should start looking for another job...somewhere warmer!
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:45 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:50 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:00 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:11 pm
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Tuesday, November 29th, 2005 2:19am
I am working the magick required to link my own mind to this Grimoire. Everyelf is terrified about what's going on around here; noelf will even talk to me, but I'm going to go exploring as soon as it's fully dark. Someelf has to get to the bottom of all this.
The following Grimoire entry has apparently been recorded by way of a form of Elven Magick that allows the writer to record thoughts as writing from a distance. It may indeed be magick, but is far more likely a very advanced technological tool designed for this express purpose. For this reason this device has been preserved for further study.
The yetis are on the loose, they're pissed, and they're dangerous.
They're also all over the place. Not all the elven magick in the world can stop these guys; it's why I hate them so much. Smart, strong, fast as hell too.
It was the same thing as last time, except thankfully there was no moon at all. No wind, either, and that's helped quite a bit. One thing the yetis aren't, and that's silent. They make a terrific amount of noise getting around; all snuffling breath and scraping claws. Talk about a bunch of knuckle-draggers; that's surely these boys...although they have one trick they do real well, and it's the most dangerous one.
They're patient.
They'll sit down somewhere, hardly moving, hardly breathing. You don't notice them. And then...WHAM. It doesn't help that we have half a dozen different toys around here that look just like the darned things...
I'm rambling. Well, of course I am. I just got scared out of my mind.
I started out by heading toward the CARPA lab. I mean, it just makes sense. That's where we built the first Hard Suit for Himself anyway.
I had gone down the hall from my room, and turned the corner by the break room. The lift to the production floor is at the end of that hall, and I'd gone down the adjacent stairwell because at night when the machinery's off you can hear the lift. For whatever reason, the night lights in the stairwell were off. It was as dark as the inside of my head. I didn't hear anything; I stood there in the darkness, listening for what felt like five minutes, before I even moved.
Quietly, stair by stair, I went down. Fortunately, it's only one flight down to the production floor. Then I was out the door, breathing a sigh of relief, letting it close silently behind me.
And all of a sudden, for no reason I could fathom, I felt the hair go up on the back of my neck. I was looking around the room as fast as I could, but I saw nothing...nothing at all.
I decided the best thing I could do was move quickly, so that I did, hugging the workbenches, milking every bit of cover I could get out of each and every shadow.
Keep in mind, though, that there's at least a hundred yards of workshop between the dormitory door and the basement lift.
I'd covered about twenty-five yards before I knew I was in trouble. I'd turned around to get my bearings, and to my absolute horror, saw a yeti swing down from the fluorescent fixture on the ceiling right above the stairwell door. That thing had been hiding directly above me as I came out the door! It landed awkwardly on the floor, claws scraping on the asphalt tiles.
I ducked back deeper into the shadows, and, on impulse, moved about twenty feet to the right. The yeti I'd seen swing down from the light had recovered, and looked around the room, its eyes glowing red in the dark. It whistled softly, an eerie sound that made my skin creep.
And then there came an answering whistle from the end of the aisle to my left. I turned my head slowly that way, and saw a pair of red, glowing eyes floating there in the dark.
It was all I could do not to lose it on the spot. I willed myself to be invisible. No such luck, of course; we're not that powerful in magick. So instead, I froze. None of us moved for several minutes. Then, the yeti at the end of the aisle started coming toward me. Obviously, trying to flush me out.
(That's one thing about the yetis...those glowing red eyes of theirs are terrible to see out of in a dark shop. My eyes, on the other hand, do not glow unless I want them to, so in this I have a natural advantage -- in a dark environment, the yetis are all but blind; they can only see things that are moving quickly).
The yeti to my left went straight for the spot where I'd been standing only a moment before. When it didn't find warm Elf meat there, it whistled again...that mournful sound that gives me the creeps to hear it. This time, though, I heard a chorus of answering whistles, coming from places all over the workshop. The yeti near the stairwell door loped over and joined the one standing near me; the two of them swept their baleful red eyes around the surrounding territory, trying to see me if I moved again.
I stood there in the shadows, frozen. My heart sank. A hundred yards of yeti-infested workshop. Lovely.
A gauntlet.
Well, okay, kids, if that's the way you want it...
Ever so slowly, I slipped around the corner of the cabinet I was standing against, while the two yetis were standing there scratching their heads and trying to figure out how I'd disappeared. Good thing they're not that smart.
Quietly, I climbed the shelves of the cabinet, peeking carefully in all directions before emerging onto the cabinet top. This was a big one, some twenty feet tall, towering over the shop. And the great thing about that cabinet was, it had a neighbor about six feet away, as did that cabinet, and it's next neighbor. In fact, I realized...these tall cabinets ran in pairs the length of the entire production floor...all the way to the lift at the far end of the room.
I have only one thing to say: When faced with incredible odds, and an invincible enemy, you have only two recourses: cheat, or run. I opted for both.
A running jump, and then I was leaping from cabinet top to cabinet top. A chorus of whistles assailed me; I was up where they could see me, but I was moving too fast for them to catch. That wouldn't help much at the end of the room, but I still had a way to go before that...
Halfway there, I became aware that one enterprising yeti had picked up on my trick, and was loping along about a cabinet behind. With those long legs of theirs, he was gaining on me pretty quickly. I cheated left, and jumped into the top of a tall Christmas tree someone had placed in the middle of the aisle between the cabinets. The tree bent, startling the crap out of a yeti who'd been climbing the tree in an effort to cut me off. With a frightened squeak, it, let go of the tree and fell, vanishing into the lower branches.
The tree bent over under my weight, until it was within reach of the next cabinet top...and then I let it spring back.
The yeti which had been gaining on me took the thing square in the face; there was a dull thud as the treetop smacked it back, out of sight, and then a crash as it landed in a pile of tools and picture frames below.
I didn't stick around to admire my work.
I made it to the end of the row, jumped down to a table, and headed for the lift at full speed. Then I was there, at the door, banging on the button. Come on, you fracking thing! I turned around, in time to see a crowd of yetis come surging around both ends of the long work row.
They started edging forward. There was, of course, nowhere for me to run. And Translocation requires a calm, focused mind in order to work properly...needless to say, that wouldn't be happening here. The yetis looked pleased, obviously enjoying the fact they had me trapped.
Then the elevator dinged, the doors slid open, and I jumped inside. Thumbed CLOSE DOORS.
Nothing happened.
The whistling outside became a sustained and cheerful hooting. Oh dear Santa, I'm trapped in the fracking lift...
I'm thumbing CLOSE DOORS over and over, and now the yetis are surging across the empty space...the last few yards...and then the lift doors start to slide closed. The doors are barely two inches open when a long, hairy arm thrust itself within the elevator, trying to grab me. Without thinking, I sank my own teeth into the arm. There was a roar of pain and fury from the owner of the arm, which was swiftly withdrawn.
The doors bumped shut, and the lift began to drop. I was safe.
For the moment.
The doors scraped open again, onto a dark and empty hallway. The only light came from the ceiling light in the elevator itself. I was half tempted to just stay there, but then, from far above, came the screech of tearing metal.
And then the lift car was bobbing violently up and down as bodies landed on top of it...and then came the scraping sound of claws on the roof of the cab. Seeking. Trying to find a way in. I charged out of the car, into the hallway. And then I had an idea.
Get in. All the way in.
The door to the CARPA lab was open. Shock of the Nineties, by the grace of the Gods, open. Both ends of the lab. The door I could not open before.
From somewhere behind me, there came the roar of many pissed-off yetis landing in the lift car. I didn't waste any time; didn't stop to look at the armor, the weapons, the diagrams hanging on the walls...frack, all the answers I wanted to find...they're all here, all of them. But there's no time to stop and look, no time to analyze.
No time for anything but my little sixty-four-thousand-dollar idea.
There was a faint, blue glow ahead of me which was becoming stronger with every step I took toward it...
Then I was through the lab and out into the inner racetrack corridor, heading for the source of the light. I saw it then, through the windows that line the inner walls of the corridor.
The windows looked out over a thirty-yard-wide sphere, which was smoothly mirrored and completely filled with a blue, glowing light. It was a lot like looking at a miniature, blue sun...and is apparently what powers this whole place. Control cables and wires and sensors littered the mirrored surface,...all snaking away toward one point...
I'd always wondered how they keep the lights on here...
I followed the cable runs toward the end of the oval hallway, which ended abruptly at a control room. My tiny little idea suddenly went from seed to full bloom, and it came to me that I was seeing this forbidden place for the first and last time. Kids, next time, if you wanna play, better pick on someone your own size!
I turned to the door beside me, touched a control. The door slid shut with gratifying speed and a hollow boom. I touched another control, and there was a snick of lock bolts. Through the control room windows, I could see the yetis emerge through the door to the inner corridor I'd just come through; they milled around, looking at the light, and then they loped down the passageway, up to the door of the control room.
Glowing red eyes, glowering in at me.
Okay, kids, this ain't gonna be magick. But it will be quick. Although...there's something I can do here that way, if this is how it's gotta be...elm nayech sod, may tayeh varr, elm nuchno...show me the way, show my hands the way, show my soul the way after...
My hands float over the controls. I know exactly what to do.
The light outside brightens, the dull flickering becomes an angry, lashing blue light. The dials and indicator screens on the various control boards slowly begin changing color, turning from green to yellow, to red. The sleepy humming sound I heard when I entered the room has risen to a dull rumble.
Somewhere in the distance, an alarm goes off. I couldn't care less. There's a blinding flash from outside, and the room rocks slightly when the windows to the corridor blow out as a wave of energy strikes them. The corridor, and everything in it, becomes a raging inferno.
Several indicators on the panel are now blinking red. The rumble in the walls has risen to a low, electrical moan. If I do nothing, then there's nothing left to do, except my last spell...
I look at the yetis, close my eyes, and smile. Calm. Relaxed. And now...focus...
The whole world turns white, a brighter light than I can imagine...
And in the end, on dreams we will depend...'cause that's what love is made of...
At this point, the journal entry ends. The explosion in the power room appears to have vaporized everything and everyone in the vicinity. The security cameras in the power room record that ElfTech 571 apparently triggered a reactor overload which ruptured its containment field, causing a catastrophic explosion and fire. No trace of ElfTech 571 has been found.
We regret to inform you that the journal of ElfTech571 has been sealed due to a security compromise. Please do not attempt to contact him through this address any further. Thank you for your cooperation.
-S CORP
"Making Christmas..."
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![[NPC] ElfTech571's avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/sys/npc_elftech_571.png)
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